I need to write an essay for world history (grade 12) the question was (which renaissance characteristics also describe the ideas of the protestant...

Just like the Renaissance claimed to be forming nothing new--only getting back to original principles, so did the Protestant Reformation claim to get back to the original teachings of the New Testament.  One event that accelerated the Protestant Reformation was the spread of literacy with movable type with Gutenberg's printing press.  Now more people could read the Bible and the lay clergy could point to chapters and verses in order to strengthen their points.  Both the Renaissance and Reformation ideals claimed that by getting back to the original ways of doing things (learning from classical civilization, the original words of Jesus and the Apostles) that life would be better and the people could decide for themselves their destinies.  Of course, this had unintended consequences--the divine right of kings to rule was called into question when readers discovered the Roman and Greek republics and church authority was questioned especially when that authority came from the Pope or the King of England.  Also, the Protestant Reformation made other splinter groups possible--people who claimed that the Reformation did not go far enough so they formed their own churches.  

What are controlling ideas in The Great Gatsby that can be supported with motifs that are present in the novel?

There are many ideas in this novel. Here are a few that are easily supported by the text.

Wealth and class:

Nearly all the characters in the novel are part of the American upper class. They live a life of luxury and partying. The characters clearly place a large amount of importance on wealth. Daisy is married to Tom partly for his wealth. She cries when she sees Gatsby's expensive wardrobe. He seeks wealth by questionable means hoping to make something of himself and attract her affection. Even so, his neighbors criticize him for being new money rather than old money.

Time and memories:

The novel is obsessed with idea of time and memory. Gatsby looks back fondly on his youth, when Daisy was his lover. He believes that he can turn back the clock and relive that beautiful time of his life again. He even claims this outright, saying that of course we can turn back the clock. His failure to return to a happier time of his life is one of the great tragedies of the novel.

The American dream:

Like the theme of wealth, this idea deals in materialism. The characters all seek happiness through wealth rather than good character. Tom has money, but he cheats on his wife. Jordan has money, but she cheats at golf. Gatsby has money, but he gets it through questionable means. None of these characters really seem to find what they are looking for. This is a criticism of the American Dream and its apparent obsession with wealth rather than character. Gatsby's only redemption is that he only wants the money because of his love for Daisy.

Why is the legend of Devil's Tower important to the Kiowa tribe in The Way to Rainy Mountain?

This is an interesting question just because Rainy Mountain (located in Oklahoma) is the usual mountain asked about in reference to The Way to Rainy Mountain; however, Devil's Tower (located in Wyoming) is important to the mythological section of the Kiowa tribe of Native Americans as well.  Any research on Wyoming's Devil's Tower will tell you its significance to the Kiowa.  According to Momaday and to Kiowa myth, a few Kiowa girls were out playing and suddenly saw a few giant bears.  Unfortunately, the bears began to chase them.  The girls climbed a rock in an attempt to escape the bears, but the rock they chose was too short.  At this point, the girls prayed hard for their safety.  Their prayers were heard, and the small rock the girls were standing on grew up beneath their feet.  This saved the girls from the bears.  The bears tried to climb the rock (leaving claw marks in the sides), but were unable to get to the girls.  The girls ascended into the heavens where they eventually became an important constellation:  Pleiades.  According to the Kiowa, it was Devi's Tower that was left behind.  The Kiowa tribe, however, refers to Devil's Tower as either "Aloft on a Rock" or "Tree Rock."  The name "Devil's Tower" was bestowed upon the monolith later in history.

I have recently done something so stupid and have the possibility of getting expelled or suspended from school due to academic dishonesty. I...

This must be such a painful and upsetting time for you.  I cannot definitively answer your question because what your options are is a function of the policies at your school, but I can steer you in the right direction and outline the possibilities for you, so that you are making an informed decision about what to do.

Approximately half the colleges and universities in the United States do not show disciplinary actions on transcripts.  If your school does not, you will have withdrawn for no reason at all.  You need to get in touch with the registrar of the school to find out.  Generally, while faculty and students are off until the January term begins, most schools do not shut down completely and most regular staff continue to work. This means you should be able to communicate with the registrar. You need to explain clearly what your situation is, so the registrar understands what is at stake for you and can inform you of the school's policies regarding transcripts.  I encourage you to be transparent about this because otherwise the registrar is not going to be of much help. 

If you find out that the disciplinary action will not appear on your transcript, then you can await the final disposition of your infraction proceedings. That is a difficult wait, I know, but at least you will not have gone through an unnecessary withdrawal.  If you find out that the disciplinary action will appear on your transcript, then you can ask whether or not withdrawing from the school would prevent that from occurring.  If that is the case, then you may very well want to withdraw.  If that is not the case, then you can wait and decide, if you are not expelled, whether or not you want to remain at the school, but remember that if you have the choice of remaining there, running away is not likely to be the best decision.  Remaining at the school, you can prove that you have learned your lesson and graduate with your head held high. 

Some schools also have a policy of permitting expungement of disciplinary actions on a transcript, so you need to inquire about this, too, if the disciplinary action is going to be on your transcript. If that is a possibility, you need to inquire about the process for clearing your record.  The registrar should be able to explain this, too, if there is such a process.  It may very well be that if you maintain a clean record from this point, that will help you make the case for expungement. 

I also think that you should find out if you have any means of appealing the school's decision.  This is something you can ask the registrar about, too. Some schools probably do have some sort of appeal mechanism. 

I am including below a link to an article, which is mostly about how schools track infractions of violence, which is certainly far worse than what you have done, but the principles are the same, and this will give you a good overview of how schools handle transcripts and notifications.

Please do not despair. I know this is a terrible situation for you, but no matter what, you can put this behind you. You have learned a valuable lesson. And now you can move on to the new you, an academically honest person who can graduate with pride!  

What are the similarities between the jobs of lawmaker and representative?

A lawmaker and a representative are basically the same things under most government formats that have democratic values. Lawmakers are responsible for making laws. The people elect them for a specific period of time under most government formats that involve freedom and democracy. If the government is a pure democracy the lawmaker could be any citizen of the government and might not be elected.

In our system of government, we have what is known as a democratic republic. We elect people to represent us in government. These people are called representatives because they are supposed to represent the will of the majority of people that elected these people to office. They aren’t supposed to do what they, personally, think should be done. They are to do what the majority of their constituents wants them to do. Our representatives are also involved in the process of making laws. Based on the wishes of the people they represent, they should vote for or against a bill. They may also propose a law based on what their constituents are asking them to do. Having a government system where people elect representatives to represent them makes it much easier to do things instead of having to involve all of the citizens of the country in making decisions about laws and other issues.

Analyze the impact of technological change on the American industrial worker between 1865 and 1900.

The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.  --Karl Marx

Industrialism had a profound effect on the American worker. Before machines were utilized to produce goods, they were fashioned by hand with simple tools. The production of goods required a high degree of skill and sophistication. The craftsmen that produced these goods had a great deal of pride and were respected in the community. Craftsmen were usually, at the least, middle class on the socio-economic hierarchy. The manufacture of goods was a very personal affair and paid a decent wage. To become a craftsman normally required years of working for one as an apprentice.

With the introduction of machinery to the manufacturing equation, workers that produced goods were not required to possess a high degree skill or sophistication. Machines, for the most part, had replaced the handiwork of the craftsman of the past. The emphasis moved from quality to quantity and thousands of unskilled workers were hired to work in factories. The wages of the workers were barely at a subsistence level and the work was very dangerous with very little reward. Factory work was very impersonal and elicited very little pride in the people performing the work.

A great example of the monotony of the work is found in the 1936 Charlie Chaplin film by the name of Modern Times. Chaplin expertly parodies the plight of the American worker in the factories of the cities. A link is provided below of a humorous clip from the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewNLCkA0oBk

Why did the South secede after the attack at Fort Sumter?

The South seceded from the Union in two waves. The first group of southern states seceded after Abraham Lincoln was elected President. Seven states seceded at this time. They were concerned that President Lincoln would end slavery, even though he never said that he would do that.

The second group of southern states seceded after the attack at Fort Sumter. Four additional states left at this time. These states left because they had concerns about what would happen to slavery now that the fighting had begun. They waited until the Civil War began before leaving the Union. These states were convinced after the battle at Fort Sumter that their needs would no longer be met in the Union. They feared that slavery would end once the Civil War had begun. They were worried about what would happen to the southern way of life if slavery ended. They knew that joining the Confederacy was the best way to protect slavery and the southern way of life.

The southern states that seceded after the attack at Fort Sumter did so to protect everything that they had known for so many years.

In the story 'The Lady or the Tiger" which choice must an accused person make?

The accused person has to choose a door.

This kingdom is ruled by a semibarbaric king who believes that fate is the best justice.  He has devised a trial that involves only luck and (in his mind) fate.  If a person is accused of a crime, he is taken to an amphitheater where everyone watches him make a choice. 

Directly opposite him, on the other side of the enclosed space, were two doors, exactly alike and side by side. It was the duty and the privilege of the person on trial to walk directly to these doors and open one of them. 

In the king’s mind, if the person chooses the door with the lady, he is innocent.  If he chooses the door with the tiger, he is guilty.  As you can probably predict, if he chooses the door with the tiger he will be immediately mauled to death.  The lady leads to happily ever after.

But, if the accused person opened the other door, there came forth from it a lady, the most suitable to his years and station that his majesty could select among his fair subjects, and to this lady he was immediately married, as a reward of his innocence. 

It seems perfect to the king, and the people love it.  They come to the spectacle knowing that they will witness either a bloody execution or a wedding celebration.  Either way, they will be entertained. 

The irony is that while the person cannot know what door he will choose, someone else might.  The princess learns which door is which when her lover is accused, and he knows she will know—and signal him.  However, what does she really want?  Does she want him to live, or will she let him die so no one else can have him?  The author does not tell us what happens.  He wants us to follow the clues, or perhaps our interpretation is based on our own feelings about human nature. 

Discuss the American art scene during the 1920s, as well as important works.

The 1920s in the United States were a time of overall prosperity.  The United States had survived The Great War (World War I) and the horrific Spanish influenza epidemic that had swept through the world.  The 1920s were a fresh start.  Visual arts flourished during this time.  

The art deco style became popular in the 1920s.  Art deco style incorporated many different geometric shapes.  In architecture, these shapes were used with metals, such as aluminum and chrome.

City Night was a famous piece by Georgia O'Keeffe from the mid-1920s.  O'Keefe was an important painter during this time period.  Norman Rockwell created illustrations for a Boy Scouts calendar during the 1920s.  

A realist style became popular among many American artists.  This style depicted candid scenes from every day life.  Grant Wood, who would later paint the iconic American Gothic, painted Woman with Plants in the late 1920s.  It depicted his mother holding plants. Edward Hopper's well known painting called Automat was also painted in the late 1920s.  This painting showed a lone woman, sitting at a table at an automat in the evening.

Many painters came out of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920s.  Aaron Douglass was a painter who created such works as The New Negro.  His paintings depicted layers of shadowy silhouettes.

What are some examples of structural analysis of a short story?

A great example of a rigorous structural analysis of a story is Barthes' S/Z, which is a line-by-line reading of Balzac's "Sarrasine." "Sarrasine" is a complex tale of a castrati who sings in the opera, and Sarrasine, who falls in love with the castrati, thinking him a woman (as he is unfamiliar with the customs of Italy, where the story takes place). The tale of Sarrasine and the castrati is told by an unnamed upper-class narrator who tells the tale in order to win over a society woman, Madame Rochefide. 

Barthes' analysis of the tragic story focuses on five different codes: the hermeneutic code, the proairetic code, the semantic code, the symbolic code, and the cultural code. The hermeneutic code deals with obscure parts of the text that serve to propel the narrative; the proairetic code also deals with how the narrative moves forward, but has more to do with sequences of actions; the semantic code has to do with connotations that arise indirectly and are not necessarily stable or fixed; the symbolic code has to do with how the semantic parts of the text are organized through a deeper structure, often coming about through the many oppositions in the text; and the cultural code has to do with wisdom, especially historical wisdom, or knowledge of norms. 

Barthes' use of these codes in his exploration of "Sarrasine" casts it in a fragmented light. The story has largely to do with knowledge and blindness (the knowledge of the narrator on the level of the narration, and the knowledge of the people around Sarrasine on the level of the story; the blindness of Madame Rochefide and of Sarrasine — until the truth is revealed). This is accordingly a very complicated analysis, but one that is ultimately very rewarding, if you can follow Barthes' handling of the text.

Discuss the "functional" status of the drug war and similar crusades (keep in mind the various groups which serve as reserve labor forces) for such...

This question seems to be founded in the conflict theory of deviance, on which the concepts of which behaviors are "normal" versus "deviant" depend upon who has power and privilege in society. The idea of "reserve labor forces" (not a standard economic concept) suggests specifically a Marxist approach. While I do not particularly agree with this theory, I'm willing to discuss what it would say about the matter. It's worthwhile to understand what a given theory would say even if it is wrong, in order to more clearly grasp why it is mistaken.

One thing that has been aptly noted about the War on Drugs, for example, is its strong focus on racial minorities. There definitely has been a strong tendency for law enforcement to crack down hardest on Black and Hispanic people, especially young men, even though the evidence suggests that Black and Hispanic individuals are not particularly more likely to use drugs (indeed that almost no demographic factors strongly affect drug use at all---people with more money use more expensive drugs like powder cocaine and synthetic opiates instead of less expensive drugs like crack cocaine and methamphetamine, but that's about it).

On this Marxist theory, this is an attempt by the ruling class to use racial divisions to rally the proletariat against itself. By enlisting some of the working class as police officers and then deploying them to brutally punish others of the working class who engage in behavior perceived as deviant, the ruling capitalist class can simultaneously provide a source of artificial employment (hiring police officers) to offset the falling labor demand due to increased productivity, and also keep the proletariat from revolting against their true enemies by keeping them occupied with infighting.

This artificial employment is what is meant by "reserve labor force"; another term often used in Marxian analysis is "surplus population"---the "extra" people who don't have any particular work to do but nonetheless must be fed and kept out of trouble. (The idea is quite ancient: In Classical Rome the phrase was panem et circenses, "bread and circuses").

Thus, at least on this theory, the War on Drugs functions as a means for the ruling class to retain power and create the illusion of full employment. Thus it is not in their interest for the crusade to actually be effective; on the contrary, if it succeeded in reducing drug use it would have to be scaled down, and then what would we do with all these extra people? On this theory, the failure of the War on Drugs to reduce drug use is not a bug, but a feature.

I don't buy it for a couple of reasons:

One, you can't manufacture these intra-class hatreds whole cloth. Racism had to already exist in order for racism to be deployed as a means of social control. And once racism does exist, do we really need to explain it in terms of social control? I can imagine some leaders manipulating racism in this way; but racism itself runs much deeper. It's probably genetic, an ancient evolutionary program that motivates us to love the ingroup and hate the outgroup.

Two, there does not appear to be a clearly defined "reserve labor force"; while labor force participation does exhibit a slow secular decline of late, it's much slower than the rise in productivity. While productivity has risen by a factor of 4 since the 1950s, labor participation has only fallen from a high of 67%, and that is coming down from a peak in the 1990s. Labor force participation in the 1950s was actually lower than it is today. Nor can this be accounted for by the rise in police and military---while that rise is genuine, it's far too small a portion of the population to account for the labor force participation. As productivity rose, income did as well. Inequality did increase starting in the 1980s, and this is definitely a problem; but real median income is still higher now than it was in 1950.

Three, even if we conceded the existence of this "reserve labor force" or "surplus population", there would be much more efficient ways to solve the problem than military and police forces, which are extremely expensive. Rather than pay police to try to keep people down, it would make more sense to establish social welfare programs that lift people up, or even create actual "fake jobs" in the government that guarantee employment (admittedly a policy that was not very successful in the USSR). This would not only maintain control for a comparable expenditure, it would also make the ruling class more popular and repress the desire for revolt as well as the capability.

In "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," give 3 examples of imagery and 3 examples of personification that support the theme: "He prayeth well, who loveth...

Coleridge's poem is rich with imagery and contains interesting uses of personification as it develops the theme of respect and love of nature, especially living creatures. Imagery is description that appeals to the senses; personification gives human characteristics to non-human things or animals, or animal traits to inanimate objects.

Sound imagery occurs in lines 61 - 62, speaking of the ice: "It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, like noises in a swound!" In this dire state the crew first meets the albatross, and they treat it "as if it had been a Christian soul," displaying the proper attitude, according to the poem's theme. Because of that, the ship breaks free of the ice.

The intensity of the sailors' thirst when they are caught in the doldrums is another powerful use of imagery: "With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, we could nor laugh nor wail; through utter drought all dumb we stood! I bit my arm, I sucked the blood." This is part of their punishment for killing (and approving the killing of) the albatross.

Visual imagery describes the water snakes in lines 279 - 281: "Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, they coiled and swam; and every track was a flash of golden fire." The love that springs up in the mariner because of the beauty of the water snakes is what redeems him for his sin of killing the sea bird.

The wind and the sun are personified in the poem. Although they are not "creatures," personifying them advances the poem's theme of reverence for nature. In lines 179 - 180, the sun behind the ghost ship is described as a prisoner's face: "As if through a dungeon-grate he peered with broad and burning face." The wind is described as a powerful ruler that has "o'ertaking wings" in lines 41 - 42: "And now the storm-blast came, and he was tyrannous and strong." 

Line 282 contains a pathetic fallacy, a type of personification that attributes emotion to a creature that cannot feel emotion in order to establish a mood: "O happy living things!" This ascribes happiness to the water snakes, a way of elevating them to the level the poem's theme espouses. This is the point where the mariner redeems his past sin by loving and blessing the creatures God made.

Coleridge uses both imagery and personification to advance his theme of respect and love for all of God's creatures. 

What is the social significance of The Great Gatsby?

The Great Gatsby addresses life in a very particular time and place.  The United States of America was a very different place in the 1920s, post-World War I, than it was prior to the war.  After the war, there was a sense of innocence having been lost.  The world seemed like a much bigger place than it was before. Even Nick returns feeling "restless" and no longer convinced that the Midwest was the "warm center" of everything.  So, he goes east in search of employment and distraction.  The novel captures the sense of restlessness and disillusionment felt by so many Americans in the post-war era.

Further, with the advent of Prohibition, which made the distribution of alcohol illegal, the country's leaders hoped to curb crime.  Instead, crime actually increased during this period, as did the number of establishments where a person could purchase alcoholic beverages, and drinking in general.  Bootleggers like Gatsby could make a quick fortune by exploiting the public's desire for this forbidden fruit.  The novel captures the social significance of Prohibition as well.

What is the narration of this story? Is it first person retrospective?

First person narratives always employ the words "I," "me," "mine," "my," etc. Edgar Allan Poe's famous story "The Cask of Amontillado" is a good example of first-person retrospective narration. "To Build a Fire" could be told in the first person, but it isn't. The narrative form is third-person with an anonymous and seemingly omniscient narrator. The narrator knows all about what is going on inside the man and even what is going on inside the dog. This anonymous narrator always refers to the man as "he," which is what makes it a third-person narrative. The narrator also knows all about the climate conditions in the Klondike and about such things as the ancestry of the dog. 

Vladimir Nabokov quotes a little rhyming couplet which he offers as a rule for first-person narration. 

The "I" in the story
Cannot die in the story.

If the "I" telling the story were to die before the end of the story, the story could not go on because the narrator would be dead. In "To Build a Fire," the protagonist dies before the story is over. The narrator tells the rest of the story from the perspective of the dog. 

Later, the dog whined loudly. And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death. This made the animal bristle and back away. A little longer it delayed, howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky. Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew, where were the other food-providers and fire-providers.

This is another indication that this cannot be first-person retrospective, or any other kind of first-person narration. The story is told in the third person and mainly limited to the points of view of the man and the dog, although the author Jack London interjects some straight prose exposition about such things as the setting and the weather conditions. 

In their excellent anthology titled Points of View: An Anthology of Short Stories (Revised edition 1995), the editors, James Moffett and Kenneth R. McElheny, have arranged the stories according to the narrative points of view, starting with the most subjective (e.g., "I Stand Here Ironing") and moving up to the most objective (e.g., "The Lottery"). "To Build a Fire" is not included in Moffett and McElheny's collection, but they would classify it as ANONYMOUS NARRATION--DUAL CHARACTER POINT OF VIEW. The dual characters are, of course, the man and the dog. 

What is the difference between a non-rechargeable and a rechargeable battery?

Batteries are commonly used to power small devices, such as cellphones, flashlights, watches, etc. These batteries generate electricity by chemical reactions. As the reaction progresses, electricity is produced and this, in turn, powers the devices. Some of these reactions are reversible, while others are not.

The batteries that run on non-reversible chemical reactions are known as non-rechargeable batteries or primary batteries. The batteries that operate on reversible reactions are known as rechargeable batteries or secondary batteries.

The concept of rechargeable batteries is that the chemical reaction, that supplies electricity, can be reversed by supplying electricity from an external source, thus recharging the battery. Some examples of rechargeable batteries are Ni-Cd and Lead-acid batteries. Rechargeable batteries have made the large scale adoption of cellphones possible. Rechargeable batteries are more expensive to buy than non-rechargeable batteries.

Note that rechargeable batteries have a fixed number of recyclings possible and hence can not be recharged again and again indefinitely. Non-rechargeable batteries have to be disposed off after a single use (once they are drained of all the charge) and hence require frequent replacement.

Hope this helps. 

Is our environment a driving force in who we are and how we behave?

Yes.  A person's environment is not only a driving force, but it is a critical factor in determining how a person behaves.  At the core of your question is the classic nature vs. nurture debate.  Is a person's behavior determined by the genes that they are born with (nature), or is behavior a result of outside factors (nurture)?  

Science has been attempting to answer that debate for quite some time, and one tool that scientists use is twin studies.  Various studies have shown similar behavior traits in twins that have been separated at birth.  That is great evidence for the nature side of the debate.  But at the same time, there are plenty of children that have been adopted that exhibit incredibly similar behaviors to their non-adopted siblings.  That is great evidence toward the nurture side of the debate.  

Personally, I think the debate isn't worth the time being invested.  I don't believe that one factor is more critical than another.  I do believe that both factors are very important in determining behavior though.  Genetically, a person could be as gentle as a kitten; however, that person could be taught to overcome those feelings and become more aggressive.  

What questions would a political scientist have about the Mississippi River?

Political scientists ask questions about how physical characteristics of the land, like a river, might relate to the power structures that surround it. In answering the question, I'll try to avoid questions that would be better asked by geographers, geologists, or sociologists. 

• Rivers often make up part or all of border lines. Is the Mississippi River a border of anything? 


• Water is an important resource, and often it's fought over by the people around it. Is the Mississippi River the main supply of water for surrounding communities? Is there conflict over who owns and controls the river? 


• What government actions have been taken about or around the Mississippi River? Is it regulated? Are there laws in place to protect it or control it? 


• What interest groups or lobbyists have stakes in the continued existence of the Mississippi River? 

The important thing to remember in writing further questions is that a political scientist wants to understand the power structures that are involved. 

How does the Bible verse Matthew 25:29 connect to Outliers?

Chapter One of the book is titled, “The Matthew Effect.” Gladwell begins it with this verse from the New Testament text of the Gospel of Matthew:

For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. ~ Matthew 25:29

In other words: Those who are talented at something will continue to grow their talent. Those who are not talented will continue not to be, to an even greater extent. It’s also known as the “self-fulfilling prophecy.” This “Matthew Effect” was first coined by sociologist Robert Merton. To illustrate this point, Gladwell introduces the example of the Canadian hockey system for training young athletes. Because of the standard January 1st cut-off date for registrations, anyone with a birthday soon after this day will essentially get an extra year to practice. For this reason, most successful professional hockey players have birthdays in the months of January, February, and March. Certainly these athletes also have talent. But early on, they also had the advantage of extra practice and development time, tracing back to the seemingly random days they were born.

What does Piggy do after the meeting breaks up in Lord of the Flies?

In chapter 5 Ralph calls a meeting to emphasize the importance of keeping the signal fire lit at all times so they don't miss another chance at being rescued. At the same time, he tries to deal with a number of "housekeeping" issues such as sanitation and work duties. However, the meeting deteriorates as the boys start discussing their fears. Jack speaks against "the rules" and leads most of the boys away in a "random scatter." 

Piggy's reaction to this is notable because he reacts as the voice of maturity and logic. He laments, "What's grownups going to say?" He prods Ralph to use the conch to reassemble the rowdy boys. He tells Ralph, "You got to be tough now." Ralph is afraid that doing so would seal the boys' rebellion and all order would crumble. When Ralph voices his confusion about ghosts and beasts, Piggy scolds him like a parent would. He then encourages Ralph to keep on in his role as chief, explaining that Jack is a dangerous threat, not just to order, but also to their lives. The three boys, Piggy, Ralph, and Simon, then begin to extol the virtues of adult life. 

In this scene, Golding uses Piggy to play the part of the "grown up" and to depict how the boys are straining to hold on to the last bits of civilized society. 

How does the novel Monster connect to your life?

The concepts of right and wrong are explored throughout the novel Monster. Similar to many of the other inmates in jail, Steve Harmon attempts to justify his actions by "spitting moral hairs." Steve questions his morality and conscience as he tries to cope with an extremely stressful situation. Steve tells himself that he was simply going into the drugstore to pick up some mints and not to serve as the lookout before the crime was committed. Myers purposefully makes Steve's participation in the crime ambiguous and explores the ways in which Steve attempts to justify his decisions. Throughout life, we all have made bad decisions that may or may not have escalated into something as serious as what happened to Nesbitt. Whenever our bad decisions, no matter how minor or significant, have unintended outcomes, we seek to justify ourselves. Similar to the way that Steve downplays his involvement in the crime, I have excused my immoral behavior in order to make myself feel better about a negative consequence.

What are three explicit and implicit quotes in the short story "Through the Tunnel," by Doris Lessing, which show that Jerry is growing up?

Implicitly, the description of Jerry's longing to be accepted by the older, local boys in the wild bay, help to show that he has begun the process of growing up.  "To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body [....].  They were big boys -- men to Jerry."  His mother's company used to be enough for him, but now it is not.  He wants to "be a man," to fit in and be accepted by those older boys that he sees as "men."  Their acceptance of Jerry, to Jerry, makes him feel "happy.  He was with them."  This is the longing not of a child, but of a person making the transition to adulthood.

Further, the description of his first conversation with his mother implicitly shows that Jerry has changed and is beginning to mature.  He longs to go to the "wild bay," away from the "safe beach" where he and his mother have always gone in the past.  But "Contrition sent him running after her.  And yet, as he ran, he looked back over his shoulder at the wild bay; and all morning, as he played on the safe beach, he was thinking of it."  The wild bay seems to represent maturity and independence and freedom; the safe beach stands in for protection and childhood.

More explicitly stated, "that other [safe] beach, [...] now seemed a place for small children, a place where his mother might lie safe in the sun.  It was not his beach."  Unless Jerry were growing up, their original beach would have remained perfectly acceptable to him as it has always been.  It is the change within him that now makes it seem like an inappropriate place for him.

Moreover, when he went to the wild bay again, "He did not ask for permission."  A child asks permission; an adult does not.

Further, though he thought he might be able to make it through the tunnel at this point, he decides to wait.  "A curious, most unchildlike persistence, a controlled impatience, made him wait."  Children often struggle to delay gratification; when they want something, they want it now (much the way Jerry begged for the goggles he needed earlier).  Adults, however, are supposed to be better at delaying in this way; a sign of maturity is one's ability to wait to gratify one's desires.  Jerry now exhibits this kind of ability.

If the earth is pulling on Jimmy with a force of 600 N when he is standing on its surface, what will be the gravitational force pulling Jimmy on...

Newton's law of Universal Gravitation states that any two bodies, in the universe, will attract each other with a force given by:

where, F is the force of attraction, m1 and m2 are the masses of the bodies and r is the distance between them.

If the planet W has the same size as Earth, distance between Jimmy and center of planet W will the same as that on Earth. Planet W has a mass which is 1/4 that of Earth's mass. Since, the attractive force is directly proportional to the mass of bodies (and everything else is same between the two cases: Jimmy on Earth and Jimmy on W), the gravitational force puling Jimmy on planet W will be 1/4 or 25% of the gravitational force on Earth. 

i.e. gravitational force on Jimmy on W = 600/4 N = 150 N

Hope this helps. 

Explain the origin of Earth's motion based on the origin of the galaxy and it's solar system.

There are numerous theories as to the origin of our galaxy and our solar system within our galaxy.  I have attached two references that will detail several of them.

As far as motion of the earth, our planet has a prograde revolution around the sun. Prograde motion would be a counterclockwise motion.  All the planets in our solar system have this prograde revolution.  They all accomplish this revolution in the same plane.  Most all the planets have a prograde roatation, like earth, as they perform this revolution.

One of the theories about how the universe and the galaxies and solar systems were formed after the Big Bang is a theory called the "nebular theory."  A nebula is a gas and dust cloud.  According to this theory, the gas and dust particles collided with each other, were gravitationally attracted to each other, and got progressively larger.  As this formation happened, a centripetal force was created by the force of the collisions and the mass of planets began to spin and revolve.  It should be noted there is room for the revolutions and rotations to go one way or another, depending on the angle of incidence in the collision of said gas and dust particles.  This would be one accounting for the present motion of the planetary constituents in our solar system.

Compare Snowball and Napoleon's contrasting leadership styles as they are presented in Animal Farm.

There were marked differences between Snowball and Napoleon in their roles of leadership. An initial description of the two reads as follows:

Napoleon was a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way. Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of character.

The contrasts between the two are quite clear. One can immediately gauge that Napoleon had a more dominant physical presence, which this early suggests that he will use force to achieve what he desires. He comes across as intimidating. The fact that he is not 'much of a talker but with a reputation for getting his own way' also alludes to his using his strong physical presence to get what he wants. It also implies that he is not a good orator and that he probably lacks the intellect to express himself well. Snowball, conversely, is much more lively and a good speaker.

The fact that Snowball is described as 'inventive' intimates that he is creative and is a natural planner. That he does not have the same 'depth of character' as Napoleon, seems to suggest that Napoleon appeared to be a deeper thinker, since he hardly expressed himself whilst Snowball came across as somewhat shallow.

Their styles of leadership were also quite different:

Soon after the Rebellion Snowball formed a variety of committees on which he worked very hard in order to educate and better the lot of all the animals. All of these were, however, a failure. It was also he who had shortened the seven commandments to one maxim: 'Four legs good, two legs bad,' so that the animals would understand the basic principles of Animalism better. It was clear from his actions that he had the interests of all the animals at heart.

Napoleon, on the other hand, took no interest in these committees and stated that the education of the young was more important than anything that could be done for those who had already grown up. It is in terms of this approach that he removed Jessie and Bluebell's nine puppies soon after they were weaned and kept them in a hayloft under such secrecy that the farm animals soon forgot about them. It would later become apparent what a devious move this action had actually been.

Napoleon and Snowball could never agree, and in meetings they were constantly at loggerheads with each other. This lead to much confusion among the animals for whenever they were asked to vote since they would sway from one proposal to the other. it appeared that the two agreed to disagree. Snowball came up with numerous suggestions.

Napoleon produced no schemes of his own, but said quietly that Snowball’s would come to nothing, and seemed to be biding his time. But of all their controversies, none was so bitter as the one that took place over the windmill.

In his final meeting, Snowball achieved great support for his plan to build a windmill. His arguments were very persuasive. Napoleon realized that he was going to lose the vote and thus played his trump card.

On a signal from him, nine huge dogs came bounding in and headed straight for Snowball. He just about avoided their snapping jaws and they chased him off the farm, never to be seen again. This signified a dramatic turning point. Once Snowball was gone, Napoleon had sole leadership and his rule would go unchallenged. He started changing the commandments to favor himself and the pigs. Eventually, he was nothing better than Mr Jones had been. The animals on the farm were brutally slaughtered or punished when they opposed him. Snowball was demonized and anything that went wrong on the farm was blamed on him. 

Napoleon had deviously plotted his ascension and became a dictator who practiced tyranny on his own kind. 

Fatherhood is a major theme in Fences. Comment on Troy’s childhood and how it has influenced his parenting.

Though Troy does not admit it directly, it becomes clear, through his recollections, that he is repeating the mistakes of his father. These mistakes are a lack of compassion for his son, Cory, and infidelity.

Troy's father was a sharecropper down South. Though Troy makes it clear, in a conversation with Bono, that his father stayed with his family ("My daddy ain't had them walking blues!"). However, "he was just as evil as he could be." Troy's mother, he says, couldn't stand him and "all his women run off and left him."

Troy then goes on to tell about how his father disrupted what would have been his son's first sexual encounter with a local girl of fourteen. He does this, Troy recollects, because his father had wanted the girl for himself. His father is thus revealed to be not only a moral reprobate, but also disloyal toward and extremely insensitive toward his son and to Troy's mother.

By having an affair and, later, a child, with Roberta, Troy demonstrates that same disloyalty and insensitivity toward his own family. He, like his own father who had many children with many women, is proud of his virility. However, his code of manhood demands that he also take care of his responsibility. He insists on raising the child that he has with Roberta (though this eventually becomes Rose's responsibility), just as his own father insisted on remaining with his family, in spite of his distaste for commitment.

Arguably, Troy's understanding of what it means to be a father is limited to being a provider. In one of the play's most significant monologues, he responds harshly to Cory's question, "Do you like me?" He insists that he does not have to like his son, but that he takes care of him because it is his responsibility, a matter worked out between him and Rose. Cory is the only child that Troy has made an effort to raise. He left his older son, Lyons, it seems, in order to be with Rose. 

"I have done things, too, which I would not tell you, son—neither tell God, if he didn't already know." What do you think the woman has done?...

That's a great question! Mrs. Jones is an extremely sensitive woman, who genuinely wishes to inspire Roger to change and become a gentleman. She can understand quite well the discomfiture Roger feels in her company.

Roger is stupefied and can't really make out what’s going on. It’s beyond his grasp why a lady, whom he had tried to rob, has brought him to her home and is being so hospitable.

By telling him she, "too," had done things that can’t be shared with anybody, not even with God, “if He didn't already know,” Mrs. Jones, as if, steps down to come and stand on the same platform where Roger does. It's like she wants to tell him that, now, there’s not much difference between him and her. So, he should just forget that he had tried to run away with her purse, and simply relax.

Mrs. Jones is not lying when she admits to having done things she shouldn't have done. She knows that it’s human nature. However, it’s not really important to know, neither for Roger nor for the readers, what Mrs. Jones actually did that she wouldn't like anyone to know.

What really matters is the fact that at present, she works hard to a make a living with dignity. Even if she did something she wasn't supposed to, she doesn't do it any more; she realizes that it's wrong. 

Through this precise intimate statement, Mrs. Jones is able to strike a chord with Roger and move him deeply.

So, we clearly see Mrs. Jones intentions when she utters the quoted line in the question. She tries to make Roger feel light and comfortable, and more importantly, she wishes to ignite a positive change in him.

She hopes Roger might give it a thought to forgo the path he has already chosen, and find a respectable way of earning a livelihood, like she had.

Kristen must travel a toll road for a total of 120 miles. After 70 miles she realizes that she has traveled for one hour. How fast should should...

Kristen must keep her average speed at or below 65 mph.

In the first hour of her journey, she travelled 70 miles. This is too fast. If she continues at the same speed she will have to pay the $100 charge.

The total distance Kristen wishes to travel is 120 miles. So one hour into the journey, she has 50 miles remaining to travel (120-70=50).

We can calculate Kristen's average speed over the entire journey as follows, where V2 is her second speed.

((70 miles * 70 mph) + (50 miles * V2 mph))/120 = average speed

Kristen wants her average speed to stay under 65 mph. So we can solve for V2 as follows:

((120*65)-(70*70))/50=V2 = 58 mph

In order to avoid the charge, Kristen must finish her journey at 58 mph or slower.

What is fictional narrativization of history ?

A great question.

To narrativize something means to tell a story about it. (A narrative is a story.) A fictional narrativization would be a story that is fictional. A fictional narrativization of history would be a fictional story about history.

The most common form of this would be what's known as historical fiction, in which authors take the facts of history as the base or framework for their story. They then present a fictional story within that frame. These stories might focus on famous historical figures, bringing the inner life of these figures to life, like Robert Graves did in I, Claudius. Other authors invent their characters, so they can provide an observer's perspective on famous people or events, like Gary Blackwood did in The Shakespeare Stealer, which invents an orphan who tries to steal copy of Hamlet (for complicated reasons).

There are more complicated forms of fictional narrativizations of history. Some are what are known as "alternative history," which rewrites the actual facts of history, asking what would have happened if things were different.

In Things Fall Apart, what is the punishment system in the Igbo tribe?

The punishment system of the Igbo presented in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is apparently comprised of a series of customs that have been passed down from generation to generation. There are two instances in the novel in which Okonkwo is reprimanded, and both punishments are based on customs. During the Week of Peace, Okonkwo gets into an altercation with his wife, and he must sacrifice a goat, a hen, and other items to appease the gods. Interestingly, Ezeudu bemoans the fact that the punishment for breaking peace has become less serious over time:

“My father told me that he had been told that in the past a man who broke the peace was dragged on the ground through the village until he died. But after a while this custom was stopped because it spoiled the peace which it was meant to preserve” (31).

Even though the customs surrounding punishments seem like static, long-held customs, they have in fact changed over time.

The major moment in the novel that demonstrates how customs dictate punishment occurs when Okonkwo inadvertently kills a young member of the tribe. Here, readers see the arbitrary nature of a facet of the correctional system of Umuofia:

“Violent deaths were frequent, but nothing like this had ever happened. The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan. It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee from the land. The crime was of two kinds, male and female. Okonkwo had committed the female, because it had been inadvertent. He could return to the clan after seven years” (124).

Thus, the Umuofian punishment system is largely based on customs and traditions.

In the novel Tears of a Tiger, why was Andy so focused on Robbie's life rather than his own life?

Robbie and Andy were best friends.  They had known each other since third grade, and they did everything together.  However, now Robbie is dead.  In a fatal car accident, he was trapped in the car and burned to death.  The friends could hear him screaming.  Andy had been driving the car and was responsible for his friend’s death.  Not only did Andy face the responsibility of Robbie’s death, but his life had been so intertwined with Robbie’s that it was hard for Andy to face daily life.  They had both been on the basketball team, and when Robbie died, Andy got his position.  When he went to the mall with Keisha, the experiences he had with Robbie and Santa haunt him. When Robbie’s mother called at Christmas, it sent him into a depression thinking of other Christmases he had spent with Robbie’s family.  On the advice of the psychologist, Andy wrote a letter to Rob’s parents.  In it he detailed all the wonderful memories he had of Robbie.  Most of them were everyday events. 

“Spending the night at your house…….Going for ice cream after practice…..Playing basketball with a rolled up sock in Rob’s bedroom.... Finishing off two extra-large boxes of Frosted Flakes…..” (pg 104)

Everything he did reminded him of Rob.  He was unable to escape his memories of Rob because they did everything together and now there is a big hole in his life that he is unable to fill except with heartbreaking memories.

In the play Julius Caesar, how does Shakespeare establish that there are some opposed to Caesar?

Shakespeare demonstrates that Caesar has opposition in Act 1 by allowing his opponents to speak against him.

In Act 1, Scene 1, we learn about the mindset of Caesar’s opponents.  Marullus and Flavius are chastising the common people, the Plebeians, because they want to celebrate Caesar’s victory against another Roman general, Pompey.

O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome,
Knew you not Pompey? Many a time and oft
Have you climb'd up to walls and battlements,
To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops,
Your infants in your arms, and there have sat
The livelong day, with patient expectation,
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome … (Act 1, Scene 2)

Marullus and Flavius do not approve of celebrating the victory in a civil war, where Romans died.  They take down the decorations from Caesar’s statue, a move that gets them punished.  We are told later that they were, “put to silence” (Act 1, Scene 2).  The fact that they faced consequences just bolsters the conspirators case, making it seem as if Caesar does not tolerate opposition.

In Scene 2, we hear about how the senators and other members of the Patrician class feel about Caesar.  While Caesar clearly is wildly popular and has support among the common people, as seen by the cheering crowds at the Feast of Lupercal, he also has major detractors.  Cassius comes to Brutus and feels him out, to see if he also is worried about Caesar too.

Cassius tells Brutus that it is their responsibility to overthrow Caesar, because he is too arrogant.  They fear what he will do if he remains in power and only gets stronger, feeding on the people.  Cassius compares them to slaves if they do not act.

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.
Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings. (Act 2, Scene 1)

Brutus assures Cassius that he feels the same way.  Also disgusted by Caesar’s behavior are Cicero and Casca.  Clearly they do not buy into the hype of Caesar.  They are also annoyed when the people cheer Caesar for refusing the crown Mark Antony offered him.  They do this three times, which makes things even worse as far as Brutus, Cassius and Casca are concerned.

Shakespeare establishes all of these little discontents before it is even clear that an assassination will take place (for those who do not know their history, at least).  He introduces the conspirators, starting with Cassius convincing Brutus to join, in this act.  Then later, we will better understand why they pursued the course they did, and why they felt that the people would go along with them after they killed Caesar.

In physics, two cyclists start out on the same trail together that is overall 20km long. At what point along the path should the second cyclist...

Cyclist A completes the entire 40km course -- she travels the first 20 km at 20km/hr, and the final leg at 15 km/hr.

Cyclist B will not complete the entire course and travels at a constant 10km/hr.

We are asked to find the point at which cyclist B should turn around in order to meet cyclist A at the starting point.

I. One way to approach this is to find the time spent on the course for the cyclists. The time will be the same for each cyclist as they end at the starting point at the same time.

Cyclist A travels the first 20km at 20 km/hr which takes 1hr. The return trip at 15km/hr requires 4/3 hour (80 minutes). So the entire trip takes 7/3 hr (140 minutes.)

Cyclist B will also need to travel for the same time: the distance travelled at 10km/hr for 7/3 hours is 70/3km. This is the total distance -- to ascertain where Cyclist B should stop we divide by 2 to get 35/3 km (or 11 2/3 km).

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Cyclist B should stop at the 11 2/3 km mark and return to the starting point to meet cyclist A.

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II. An alternative is to find the "average" speed of cyclist A to determine the timne spent on the course. You must realize that you cannot take the arithmetic mean of the rates, you must use the harmonic mean.

Here the average speed for cyclist A is (2*20*15)/(20+15)=120/7 km/hr.

At this rate, cyclist A will take (40km)/(120/7 km/hr)=7/3 hour and you can proceed as above. (Note that the arithmetic mean is (20+15)/2=17.5 while the harmonic mean is 120/7 or approximately 17.14285714...)

The important point is that you must use the harmonic mean when averaging rates.

Two atoms absorb thermal energy when joining together to form a molecule. What happens to that thermal energy?

Energy is released when chemical bonds form and it's absorbed when bonds break. The amount of energy needed to break a chemical bond is called the bond energy. The net energy absorbed or released by a chemical reaction is equal to the sum of the bond energies of all of the bonds that were broken minus the sum of the bond energies of all the bonds that formed. If this value is negative then more energy was released than formed and the reaction is exothermic. Conversely, if this value is positive then the reaction is endothermic.

In the situation you're describing there's a net absorption of energy. This energy went into breaking the bonds in the reactant molecules, freeing up the atoms to form new bonds. The joining of the two atoms actually released energy, but since it's less than what was absorbed the reaction is endothermic and it cools its surroundings. 

Did Wiesel succeed in writing Night?

I think that Wiesel succeeded in writing Night.

One reason that it is a success lies in the meaning of his work.  With Night, Wiesel has added a new dimension to the study of the Holocaust.  In 1967, Wiesel asserted that “In the beginning there was the Holocaust. We must therefore start over again.”  Night represents one way to "start over again" because it probes the nature of religious faith.  There are significant moments in Night where spiritual identity is integral to understanding the Holocaust.  From Moshe the Beadle's belief that true faith means asking questions more than it means receiving answers, especially to the problems of where God is at the moment a child is executed and of Akiba Drumer's insistence that the others recite the Khaddish for him, Wiesel has succeeded in embedding the role of the divine into the study of the Holocaust.

One of the basic questions that guides most examples of Holocaust studies is how human beings could permit such cruelty to exist. Wiesel's Night is successful because it places God in this discussion.  In initiating a way to "start over again," Night has to be seen as successful because it forces the reader to ask questions about the role of the divine in human suffering.

What is the short definition of imperialism?

One way to define imperialism is to say that it is the practice in which one country uses various types of power to enable it to rule over another country.  Of course, this is a very short definition and there are many things that make it problematic.  However, it is a good short definition of the term.

Imperialism occurs when a country exerts its power to allow it to dominate another country or countries.  For example, the British were clearly implementing imperialism when they subjugated most of what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Burma.  They used their power to allow themselves to rule those areas.  However, imperialism does not have to be so obvious.  We can also say that Britain and other countries were engaging in imperialism in China when they forced China to give them the right to trade with China and to give them the right to have areas within Chinese cities that were subject to their own legal systems, not that of China.  In other words, imperialism can involve domination that comes short of direct and formal rule.

In general, then, we can define imperialism as the practice of using a nation’s power (whether it be military, economic, or other) to allow it to dominate other countries.

How does Shakespeare create drama and tension in Act 1, Scene 1?

Shakespeare had to simulate the effect of a ship in a storm with very little in the way of props. The Mariners would be wearing seafaring-type costumes and, of course, the King and his entourage would be wearing the kind of clothing they would wear at court. There would be a strong contrast between the two kinds of characters. The boatswain would be shouting all his lines at everybody regardless of whether Mariners or noblemen. The tone of his voice would suggest the seriousness of the situation, especially because he is obviously spent much of his life at sea and knows more about it than anybody else. This desperate shouting would be important in creating the impression that he has to make himself heard above the howling storm. There would be offstage sound effects. The stage directions at the beginning of Art 1, Scene 1 read simply:

On a ship at sea. A tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard.

Shakespeare himself would probably order the sound effects devices and tell the stage hands what he wanted them to do. Thunder can be represented with a big drum. Lightning might be represented by crashing cymbals or other metal against metal. Shakespeare uses similar sound effects in King Lear when he has the mad King shouting in the storm and at the storm in Act 3, Scene 2 of that play.

Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks!
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,
Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world!
Crack nature's moulds, all germains spill at once,
That make ingrateful man!

No doubt Shakespeare would instruct the stage hands to make noise at the ends of lines so that all the words could be heard by the entire audience. For example after, "Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder...", there would be a peal of simulated of thunder. The word "thunder" would be a cue for the men offstage to make noise. The same would be employed intermittently on and offstage in The Tempest.

The actual words spoken by the Boatswain would suggest the serious danger, as would the fear shown by the passengers. Both the landsmen and the Mariners are in fear for their lives. The Boatswain has some very good lines. For example, when Antonio asks, "Where is the Master, Boatswain?" the Boatswain replies:

Do you not hear him? You mar our labour. Keep your
cabins: you do assist the storm.

Antonio means the ship captain, but the Boatswain indicates that the real master is the storm. The Boatswain's bad manners suggest that he doesn't care because he doesn't expect to live much longer anyway.

Through costumes, shouting, body language, offstage sound effects, and much of the dialogue in this short scene, Shakespeare creates an impressive amount of drama and tension. And yet it will all be an illusion. There will be no ship, no sea, no wind, no rain, no clouds, no crashing canvas or rigging falling. Only actors on a bare stage. The play could be staged outdoors in a park in modern times and the audience would still have the illusion that they were watching a scene of great distress in a storm at sea. 

Near the very end of Act 1, Scene 1, the Mariners cry out that all is lost. Up to this point the dialogue has been shouted by single voices, but now all the actors representing Mariners would be urged to shout at once as loudly as possible.

‘Mercy on us!’—‘We split, we split!’—‘Farewell, my
wife and children!’—‘Farewell, brother!’—‘We split, we(60)
split, we split!’

When the scene ends, the audience does not know what actually happened. But their interest will certainly be captured and held for a long while.

In what ways is Luster a stereotype, and what do we understand about Luster because of this in "Split Cherry Tree"?

In the beginning of the story, Luster Sexton seems to typify the backwoods country bumpkin with very little education and knowledge of the world other than his immediate environment.

When Dave comes home late from school and informs his father of the reason, Luster immediately becomes defensive of his family and their socio-economic situation, a typical reaction for people with little education and money. He also criticizes Professor Herbert for being an outsider:  

"Poor man's son, huh,....I'll attend to that myself in th' mornin'. I'll take keer o' 'im. He ain't from this county nohow...."

In the morning Luster, carrying his .44 in a holster, accompanies Dave to school. There he appears too large and clearly out of place. Nevertheless, Luster Sexton is willing to listen and learn, unlike the stereotypical Kentucky backwoodsman. Further, he exhibits a knowledge and respect for nature that exceeds that of Professor Herbert, as, for instance, he explains how black snakes serve farmers by killing crop-damaging rodents, so they should not be killed. And, although he is from the backwoods, Luster is not unwilling to learn. So, when Professor Herbert shows him germs under a microscope, Mr. Sexton is not so ignorant that he refuses to understand what he sees. Instead, he acknowledges that learning has changed since he attended school, and Dave must go further in his education so that their family will not become close-minded and remain backward.

"School has changed from my day and time. I'm a dead leaf, Dave. I'm behind. I don't belong here....
You must go on to school. I'm behind Dave. I'm a little man...."

By the story's end, Pa has demonstrated that he is no longer stereotypical, but is many-sided and has displayed the capacity to learn and change.

At the end of Chapter 1, Jack is not able to kill the pig, although he would like to do so. What does this inability to act show about him at this...

At the end of Chapter 1, the three boys are walking home from their adventure around the island when they hear a pig squeaking in a frenzy. They follow the pig's cries and find a piglet caught in vines trying to escape. Jack approaches the piglet and draws his knife. He then raises his knife and pauses. Golding writes,

"The pause was only long enough for them to understand what an enormity the downward stroke would be." (Golding 31)

While Jack hesitates to stab the pig, it escapes the vines and runs off. Jack tells the boys that the reason he hesitated was because he was trying to pick a good place to stab the pig. When Ralph asks Jack why didn't he kill the pig, Golding writes,

"They knew very well why he hadn't: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood." (Golding 31)

Jack's inability to act is because he is still heavily influenced by society's norms and values. He has recently been removed from the civil society of England, and still acts according to its rules. Taking the life of another living being requires a certain primitive mind-state. Jack is just a child who has never experienced killing an animal. All Jack could think of is the "unbearable blood" and brutality involved in stabbing a pig to death. Later on in the novel, Jack gradually descends into savagery. Under the disguise of his face-paint, Jack transforms into a brutal savage with no morals. The longer Jack is away from civilized society, the deeper he descends into barbarism.

What evidence does the author give the reader that a nuclear explosion happened before the beginning of Ray Bradbury's short story "There Will Come...

There are two sections in Ray Bradbury's short story "There Will Come Soft Rains" where the writer indicates the city surrounding the house has been destroyed in a nuclear blast. The first two thirds of the story are broken up by the house indicating the time of day.

In the beginning of the story the reader may be curious that the automated house goes on with its daily routine despite the fact there are no humans around. The text tells us the house is "empty" and the prepared breakfast is left uneaten. At "ten o'clock" the text says the house is the only one standing in a city that has been left in ashes and permeated by radioactivity. 

At "ten fifteen" the text tells us one side of the house has been burned black except for five places where silhouettes remain on the wall. Silhouettes of a man mowing the lawn, a woman picking flowers, and a boy and girl throwing a ball are permanently marked on the wall. These people were presumably incinerated in the blast and only their shadows left on the scorched wall. These same types of images were found after the first atomic bomb leveled Hiroshima at the end of World War II.

How does "The Minister's Black Veil" relate to the Salem Witch Trials?

One idea that links the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and "The Minister's Black Veil" is the notion that human beings fear the unknown.  During the Salem Witch Trials, fear and hysteria spread like wildfire because people were so afraid of what they didn't understand.  The people of the village became convinced that darkness had invaded their village, beginning with the Barbadian slave, Tituba, and they sought answers by trying to examine things that could not be seen.  They very much feared what they could not see.

This same fear of what is not immediately visible is examined in the "The Minister's Black Veil" as well.  Mr. Hooper begins to wear a veil that covers almost his entire face because he recognizes that he, like all human beings, possesses "secret sin," sin "which we hide from our nearest and dearest [...]."  To admit one's own sinful nature would be to expose oneself completely to the world, and this is too frightening a prospect for us to bear.  We fear what would happen if we revealed our true, sinful natures, and so we keep them hidden, thus isolating ourselves from our peers forever.  Further, when his parishioners first see him, their lack of understanding about why he wears the veil creates fear within them as well.  Simply because his face is no longer visible, they begin to doubt the man's motives and identity.  One old woman says, "'He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face!'"  She cannot understand his action, and so she inherently fears it.  This fear of the unknown links the history of the Salem Witch Trials and "The Minister's Black Veil." 

Why was it difficult for the United States and Soviet Union to find common ground?

It was difficult for the United States and Soviet Union to find common ground for diplomacy because they held radically different ideologies. The United States valued private sector control of business, private property, and—for the most part—traditional, Protestant Christianity. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, valued government control of business and production, communal property, and materialism/atheism.

These varying, deeply-held beliefs about politics, economics, and religion made it nearly impossible for the United States and Soviet Union to find any common ground. Since the United States represented one ideology many of its citizens believed to be true, a lot of Americans viewed the Soviet's nearly-opposite ideology to be evil, and vice versa.

This lack of common ground also bred suspicion and distrust. The United States, for instance, was incredibly paranoid about a supposed Soviet plot to infiltrate the United States government and make it communist. 

The same force is applied to roll a boulder and a small baseball down a hill. The baseball stops at a small group of shrubs, while the boulder...

In the given example, the boulder, which is more massive, needs collision with a large tree to stop. In comparison, the basketball, which is lighter, requires a small group of shrubs. This clearly shows that more massive objects require more force to stop. This is because of inertia. More massive objects (such as boulders) have more inertia as compared to lighter objects (such as a small basketball). And it is the inertia of a body that resists any change in its state of motion. One can think about by using simpler examples. It takes more force to move a cricket ball than a tennis ball (from a state of rest), since the cricket ball is heavier than the tennis ball (and that is why cricket bats are heavier as compared to tennis rackets).

Hope this helps. 

What are some examples of Macbeth not having a conscience?

With very few exceptions, Macbeth does have a conscience, even to the very end. There are a couple of noteworthy exceptions, but for the most part, he keeps trying to override and ignore his conscience, to no avail. 

Consider the murder of Duncan first. He fights with himself as he walks toward the room with the dagger. His wife has talked him into it, but he's still divided (hence the "is this a dagger I see before me?" speech). Afterward, he loses his nerve and exits the chamber, the daggers he just used to kill Duncan and his grooms still in his hand. When Lady Macbeth finds him, he cannot return to the chamber. He's already talking about how "Macbeth murders sleeps." She has to take the daggers and smear blood on the grooms to make the murders seem their fault.

Macbeth's next murder is Banquo. He hires murders to do the work for him, but he suffers "fits" when the ghost of Banquo appears at his banquet after the murder. He, of course, is the only person who can see this ghost. He is plagued with guilt, which indicates a very active conscience.

After this insane display, when Lady Macbeth dismisses the banquet guests, she turns to her lord and says, "You lack the season of all natures, sleep." His conscience won't let him sleep. 

The closest we come to Macbeth not being troubled by conscience is at the end of Act III Scene 4, when he says: 

I am in blood
Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o'er:
Strange things I have in head, that will to hand;
Which must be acted ere they may be scann'd.

In other words, he's convincing himself that if he's in for penny, he's in for a pound. He's already done so much that there's no point in turning back now, and he may as well plow on. He will try to act first and think later in order to do what he believes he must do. 

Even when Malcolm's forces advance on Dunsinane, Macbeth says to himself that the things that should accompany his old age, such as "honour, love, obedience, troops of friends," he cannot hope for. Instead, he can expect only "Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour"--lip-service from those who serve him--and breath, which he'd rather not even have (4.3). This suggests a conscience even now; he cannot completely subdue it. 

In Scene V Act 1, he as Malcolm's English army advances upon Dunsinane, Macbeth hears the cry of women and responds thus: 

I have almost forgot the taste of fears;
The time has been, my senses would have cool'd
To hear a night-shriek; and my fell of hair
Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir
As life were in't: I have supp'd full with horrors;
Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts
Cannot once start me.

Only at this point does he admit that his conscience seems to be completely gone. 

In Act V Scene 8, during the battle, Macbeth is standing alone in the battlefield and the thought of suicide occurs to him, then he says: 

Why should I play the Roman fool, and die
On mine own sword? whiles I see lives, the gashes
Do better upon them.

That is, there's no point in killing myself so long as there are other people to kill. This is the sign of a completely seared conscience. 

But then...when Macduff finds him, he says: 

But get thee back; my soul is too much charged
With blood of thine already.

He still has some conscience here. He's essentially saying, "No more blood. Enough!" 

When he learns that Macduff can, in fact, kill him, he does not want to fight him. However, this isn't because he's afraid of death, as is made clear by what follows. Macduff says he can live, but he'll be the "the show and gaze 'o the time," put in a cage or tied to a pole and paraded through the streets as the tyrant, to be jeered. Upon hearing this, Macbeth chooses death instead. This leads me to believe that his reason for not wanting to fight Macduff is as he said before: his soul was too much charged with blood of Macduff's already (having slaughtered his family). 

In The Bronze Bow, what are two reasons that Daniel feels he could never marry Thacia?

As Daniel gets to know Thacia better and as he begins living in the village and being exposed to people who live in family units, including his friend Nathan, he begins to feel angry at the fact that he could never marry Thacia. Two reasons stand out in his mind as insurmountable obstacles to a life with Thacia. First is his own commitment to overthrowing Rome. He has taken a vow, and he lives for one thing only, namely, freeing his people from Roman domination. This prevents him from taking a wife not only because he must remain single-minded to carry out his mission, but also because he will be putting his life in great danger, and that would be an unacceptable thing to do if he was responsible for a wife. Secondly, Thacia's position in society is much higher than Daniel's, meaning that Thacia's father would normally never consider such a match for her. However, Thacia's father and mother originally determined they would allow Thacia to choose her own husband rather than arranging a marriage for her. Nevertheless, Daniel made a bad impression on her father, and he no doubt feels embarrassed by that. The ultimate reason for not marrying, though, as he tells Thacia in chapter 22, is that because of the deep hatred and vengeance that fills his heart, "There is no room for anyone else." 

In Fahrenheit 451, who is Clarisse McClellan and why does Montag find her odd?

In Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse is a seventeen-year-old girl and a neighbour of Montag and Mildred. Montag meets Clarisse late one night when he is walking home from work and he is immediately struck by her unusual opinions and interests. In fact, he calls her an "odd one." Unlike other people in his life, Clarisse is disinterested in activities like watching the parlour walls and driving fast in the Beetle. In contrast, Clarisse likes walking, likes to "smell things" and "listen to things." Moreover, she is the only person who asks Montag if he is happy, a question which prompts great changes in his life.

Clarisse also mentions a time when firemen were responsible for putting out fires, not starting them. This, again, strikes Montag as a very odd perception of history, even though she is correct as Beatty later confirms. 

Sadly, Clarisse disappears from the story in Part One and Montag believes that she is the victim of joyriding teenagers. 

What is meant by, "Themselves compelled at midnight and at noon to watch with steadfast eye their destinies"?

Let's look first at the overall theme of James Garber's poem. He is a man ruminating over how brief and unsatisfying life has proven to be. This poem may be the most existential in the series, in that it seems to address the brevity and absurdity of existence.

Love cannot save him or anyone else, for, eventually, love is lost. The "faces of friends and kindred / Become as faded photographs, pitifully silent," meaning they have died. Those who are gone cannot help us.

The response, when one is left alone, is to "reproach mankind," or to be angry at the world. This, too, ceases because, according to Garber, all of mankind (those who are referenced by "themselves") must also recognize their unfortunate fate, which will be to lose loved ones. The phrase, "they are compelled at midnight and at noon" suggests that time will not release them. They must "watch with steadfast eye their destinies" implies that they must be strong—must carry on—in spite of their pain and losses.

By the end of the poem, there is no optimism, but there is a collective sense of existential dissatisfaction. Garber tells us, from the grave, that none of us can do anything to relieve the soul's longing. We will always want and will inevitably end up dissatisfied, but must carry on nonetheless.

Why does Truman oppose the Taft-Hartley act ? Why does Taft support it ?

President Truman and Robert Taft were on opposites of the Taft-Harley Act. Robert Taft opposed many of President Roosevelt’s actions to end the Great Depression. He felt some of the actions gave the government too much power over businesses. He was also concerned that laws like the Wagner Act, a pro-labor law, gave the workers too much power. There were many strikes after World War II, which concerned many people.

President Truman opposed the passage of this law, and he vetoed it. However, Congress overrode his veto. President Truman opposed this law because it hurt workers. Truman received a lot of support from workers, and he didn’t want any law to restrict their activities. The Taft-Hartley Act made closed shops illegal. This meant the businesses were forbidden from hiring only union members. The law also outlawed union shops. This is a situation where a worker has to join the union when hired. States were allowed to pass right to work laws. The law also made it illegal for unions to use their money for political activities. This law was an anti-union law. President Truman represented the workers and the working class. He was not going to sign a bill that hurt the groups that supported him a great deal.

In The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, why had Matt's mother insisted they travel to Maine, in spite of her weakened condition?

Matt's mother had insisted on traveling to Maine because she didn't want to miss spending Christmas together with Matt. More than anything, she wanted to make sure that Matt didn't have to spend the holiday alone in the wilderness.

At the homecoming reunion in the cabin, Matt's father mentioned that the whole family had come down with typhus fever; this is why they had been delayed from reaching Maine sooner. Matt's mother had been more affected by the fever than anyone else. Yet, despite her weakened condition, she had pushed the rest of the family to make haste so that they could all be together for the Christmas holiday. So, presumably after the baby had been born (the baby only lived for five days) and after waiting at the trading post for three weeks for the river to thaw, the whole family had made their way north to Matt.

What are direct quotes from Fahrenheit 451 that give insight into Montag?

The following quotes were picked in chronological order to show Montag's dynamic journey from being a fireman who burns books to a reader who wants to defend them:

"It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed" (3).

The above passage demonstrates that Montag starts out being all things fireman. He likes his job; he fulfills his duties; and he doesn't think twice about it. Once he meets Clarisse, though, things change. She starts to make him think about what firemen used to really do. Montag slips at work, though, and wonders these things aloud as in the following quote:

"Montag hesitated. 'Was--was it always like this? The firehouse ,our work? I mean, well, once upon a time. . .'

'Once upon a time!' Beatty said. 'What kind of talk is that?'" (34).

This vocal slip lets his boss Captain Beatty know what he's probably already been guessing--that Montag is reading. No one would have used that phrase without having read some fairy tales.

"There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing" (51).

A turning point for Montag, though, is when a lady burns herself with her books and her house. It is unfathomable to Montag for someone actually to choose to die by fire all in protest over some books! When once he dabbled in reading, now he wants to know what books can really offer him; and, he wants to see if they have something that will improve his life.

"Nobody listens any more. I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling at me. I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough, it'll make sense" (82).

Montag's life, he realizes, is depressing because he doesn't have children, he doesn't know and love his wife like he feels he should, and he doesn't know what direction he should be heading. He's amazed that TV and radio have distracted him and his wife so much that they have forgotten how, when, and where they first met.

"'Well,' said Beatty, 'now you did it. Old Montag wanted to fly near the sun and now that he's burnt his damn wings, he wonders why'" (113).

This last quote finds Montag caught for his crimes of owning and reading books. Again, these five quotes could be used to show Montag's dissention from being a law-abiding fireman to a criminal within Bradbury's dystopian society.

How did we preserve food when we didn't have electric fridges?

The main reason food needed to be preserved before the advent of electric refrigerators was to slow the action of bacteria and mold which caused food to spoil and could even be dangerous to people who ate the food.

One method was pickling surplus vegetables. By placing cucumbers for example, in a brine with salt and vinegar and spices and then placing in vacuum sealed jars, the pickled items would last a very long time.

If it was cold during the winter months, ice could be put into an "ice box" in a large chunk to keep foods cool. Streams could be used to keep beverages and food cool and if a cave was nearby, their naturally cool and stable environments are ideal to keep food from spoiling. Produce could be stored in a cool, dry environment such as in a cellar or basement to extend how long fresh produce or canned items could last.

Salting was another method of preservation. By salting and thus drying the food, it prevented the food from spoiling and slowed bacterial action. Salted codfish can still be bought today and when ready to use, it can be washed and soaked to remove the salt and soften it once again before cooking.

Drying meat to make beef jerky as an example, could allow the food to last very long and it could be eaten that way, or reconstituted when soaked in water. Produce like beans can be stored when dried for many months and fruits can be dried out and stored for a very long time as well.

Smoking meats has long been a method of preservation. Items like bacon, ham, fish and others are made by smoking over a low flame for a very long time. The smoking is a preservative which extends the shelf life of meats.

Using the action of microbes, fermentation is a process which can extend the shelf life of foods. An example is the making of wine from grapes or beer from grains. The alcohol produced by fermentation performed by microbes known as yeasts can allow these beverages to last a very long time. Fermented foods are also healthy-- sauerkraut can be made with lactic acid bacteria which are able to ferment the cabbage because starch and sugar are present in the leaves. The sauerkraut can last a longer length of time than the fresh cabbage would and can be stored.

The production of jelly or jam with some of the excess fruit crop would be used to preserve rather than have to discard fruit that spoiled quickly. The fruit would be boiled with sugar and cooked down and later placed in jars which were vacuum sealed. These fruits would be preserved for later use and would not easily spoil. 

These are some methods people used before refrigeration and to a great extent still use today in the constant struggle to maintain our food supply.

What was Johnson's role in the Civil Rights Act and the Great Society?

President Johnson played a critical role in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the development of the Great Society programs. When John F. Kennedy was President, he had little success in getting a civil rights bill passed. Kennedy didn’t have the same support and leverage with Congress that Johnson had. Kennedy didn’t campaign for Democrats running for office in the election of 1960, so he had few favors to call in from elected officials, especially on civil rights bills that were considered controversial at the time. Johnson, however, knew how to work with Congress and had many favors owed to him by other elected officials. President Johnson insisted that the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a way to honor the legacy of President Kennedy.

President Johnson developed the blueprint for the Great Society programs. He wanted to be viewed in the same positive manner that Franklin D. Roosevelt was viewed when it came to helping people by developing government programs. Therefore, President Johnson helped to develop various programs to help those in need. These programs included the Medicare and the Medicaid programs, which provided health insurance to the elderly and the poor. The Head Start program was also one of Johnson’s Great Society programs. This gave disadvantaged kids a chance to start school early. The Voting Rights Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act were other examples of Great Society programs that helped people. The Great Society tried to make life better for those who were disadvantaged or mistreated in life.

President Johnson was responsible for getting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed, and the Great Society programs launched.

What is text evidence that describes the setting of Divergent by Veronica Roth?

The setting of Divergent is revealed in the first chapter while Tris and her brother Caleb are riding the bus to school. As the first-person narrator, Tris describes the bus ride and briefly mentions what she sees.

The first clue she gives is that she can see the building they call the Hub, but that used to be called the Sears Tower. In Chicago today, the Sears Tower is known as the Willis Tower; the skyscraper's name was changed from Sears to Willis in 2009.

The second clue is in the very same paragraph. Tris mentions the bus traveling under the elevated train tracks that run all over the city. Anyone that has been to Chicago has surely seen, or even ridden, the "L" train, which is a system of elevated tracks that carry passengers to every corner of the city and beyond. 

What events lead to the two hangings that author Elie Wiesel describes in Night?

In Night, author Elie Wiesel describes two hangings that were particularly troubling for him. For the most part, the prisoners are so used to death that it is a part of their lives, but these trouble many of them because they involve a youth and a child. 

The first one happened soon after the camp was bombed by the Allies. A youth from Warsaw who had been in concentration camps for three years was brought before the other prisoners and led to the gallows. The head of the camp read aloud the verdict,

"In the name of Himmler...prisoner Number...stole during the alert...According to the law...paragraph...prisoner Number...is condemned to death. May this be a warning and an example to all prisoners" (Wiesel 59)

So, he was hanged for stealing--most likely food--during the earlier bombing.

The second hanging involved the Oberkapo, who was Dutch and had over seven hundred prisoners working under him, and his pipel--a young boy who served him. Most pipel were hated because of their cruelty, but this one, like the Oberkapo, was well-loved by everyone. Both of them were to be hanged because awhile back, the electrical power building at Buna was blown to bits, and the Gestapo traced the action back to the Oberkapo and the boy. Both of them refused to talk even though they were tortured for weeks. The Oberkapo was eventually sent to Auschwitz and probably gassed, but the young boy was hanged in front of all the prisoners at Buna along with two other men, whose crimes we are not told. This was one of the worst horrors Elie Wiesel witnessed in the camps.

Is Daisy as great as Gatsby thinks she is?

Daisy is not as great as Gatsby thinks she is. First, he has inflated her in his mind to such mythic proportions that no real woman could possibly live up to his expectations. Nick notes this on the afternoon that Daisy and Gatsby are finally reunited after five years:

Almost five years! There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams--not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything.

Second, even if Gatsby had not built Daisy up in his mind as the symbol of all his desires, she simply was not a person of great character. She was weak. Near the end, after her flirtation with Gatsby, she went back to Tom, despite all his adulteries. As Nick puts it:

the dead dream ... slipped away ... whater intentions, whatever courage she [Daisy] had had, were definitely gone.

At the end of the novel, Daisy lets Gatsby take the blame for running over Mrytle, even though she was the one driving his car.

Finally, she doesn't show up for Gatsby's funeral, even though he arguably laid down his life for her. Nick writes:

They were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money ...

The novel might show Daisy to be unworthy, but it both exalts and critiques the idea of having a dream: in fact, such dreams, for better or for worse, are at the heart of what America is and has always been, Nick Carraway maintains.  

What causes the shiny, clean line on the otherwise dull wire of Scout's costume?

The shiny, clean line found on Scout's ham costume came from the knife of Bob Ewell. Bob Ewell, Maycomb's most despicable character, carried a grudge against Atticus since Tom Robinson's trial. Bob Ewell threatened to seek revenge on Atticus for exposing the ugly truth that Mayella, Bob's daughter, tempted Tom Robinson, and Bob physically assaulted his daughter after finding out. On Halloween night, Jem and Scout were leaving from the school's auditorium following an organized Maycomb Haloween event, which included a pageant entitled Maycomb County: Ad Astra Per Aspera. Scout played the role of a ham in the pageant which displayed Maycomb's agricultural products. Mrs. Crenshaw made her costume out of bent chicken wire and brown cloth to resemble a ham. Scout's bulky costume hampered her movement but acted as a protective barrier during Ewell's attack. After examining Scout's battered costume following the attack, Sheriff Tate says, "This thing probably saved her life." (Lee 360)