Write the standard form of the complex number.

You need to go from trigonometric form in standard form of the complex number, hence, you just need to simplify it replacing the values of trigonometric functions for and  , such that:

Hence, the standard form of the given complex number is

Why did Benjamin Franklin invent bifocals?

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), one of the Founding Fathers as well as an author, printer, and scientist, invented bifocals because he suffered from presbyopia, a condition that means "age of sight" and that makes it harder for the eye to adjust to seeing objects at different distances as one ages. He had suffered from vision problems for a long time, probably dating back to the 1730s, and a print from 1764 shows Franklin wearing an usual pair of glasses that are likely bifocals. While Franklin was in Paris serving as the American envoy to the court of Louis XVI, Franklin wrote a letter dated August 21, 1784 to his friend George Whatley that read, "I cannot distinguish a letter even of large print; but am happy in the invention of double spectacles, which serving for distant objects as well as near ones, make my eyes as useful to me as ever they were.” This letter suggests that Franklin had already invented bifocals.

Bifocals have an upper part (which is less convex) that allows people to see objects at a distance and a lower part (which is more convex) that allows people to read. During Franklin's time, it was difficult for glassmakers to cut two separate lenses to make bifocals and to fuse them together in the same frame. Franklin also made several discoveries related to electricity. 

What are the names of all of Lyddie's family members in Lyddie?

Lyddie lives with her mother, brother, and two sisters because her father left them.

Lyddie is the adult in her family.  Her father left them on the farm and went west to seek his fortune, because he was unlucky at farming.  After her father left, her mother was not able to take care of them.  She was just too unstable, something that had started when Anges was born.  Lyddie, the oldest, had a brother a few years younger named Charlie and two “baby” sisters.  Agnus was the youngest, followed by Rachel.

In the beginning of the book when Lyddie is describing the incident with the bear, she lists the ages of her youngest siblings.

No, Mama had never laughed, but Lyddie and Charles and the babies had laughed until their bellies ached. Lyddie still thought of them as the babies. She probably always would. Agnes had been four and Rachel six that November of 1843‐the year of the bear. (Ch. 1)

Lyddie was thirteen and her brother ten when they first went off to work.  Lyddie had to go to work at a tavern, and Charles at a mill, in order to pay off the family’s debts.  Since she does not last long at the tavern, Lyddie loses track of what is happening to her family.  She gets a factory job and tries to make some money, but she worries about her mother and sisters because they are staying with her aunt and uncle, who are not nice people. 

She hadn't seen her mother for two years.  She had no way of knowing what her true needs were. And surely, as mean as Judah was and as crazy as Clarissa might be, they would not let their own sister or her child go hungry. (Ch. 13)

Lyddie’s uncle drops Rachel off, even though she is too young to work at the factory or live at Lyddie’s boarding house.  She finds out her mother has been sent to an insane asylum by her aunt and uncle so they could sell her family farm.  

Lyddie tries to come up with a way to help her little sister.  She is not supposed to stay at the boarding house because it's for workers.  Rachel wants to be a doffer, but Lyddie wants her to go to school.  She regrets never having gone to school herself.

How does Juliet to arrange to meet Romeo?

In Act II, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the famous balcony scene, Romeo and Juliet pledge their love for each other. Although Juliet fears she has been too forward and that the speed of their relationship is too fast, Romeo presses the issue, declaring his devotion. Eventually Juliet brings up the idea of marriage, telling Romeo she will send someone to discover his plans the very next day:

Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed.
If that thy bent of love be honorable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow,
By one that I’ll procure to come to thee,
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite,
And all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay
And follow thee my lord throughout the world.

She sends the Nurse, her dedicated confidante, to talk to Romeo who has arranged for the couple to be married by Friar Lawrence that same day. The Friar believes that such a marriage will end the terrible feud between the Montagues and Capulets. Juliet then uses the excuse that she is going to confession (shrift) to meet Romeo at the church where Friar Lawrence will marry them. In the meantime, the Nurse secures a rope ladder in order for Romeo to ascend to Juliet's bedroom for their honeymoon that night. 

How did the enslavement of Africans affect the slave codes?

Slave codes were a consequence of the enslavement of West African people. They were laws passed in virtually every colony with slaves, and they enforced the legal and social aspects of slavery. Slave codes established enslaved people as property, legally attached to their owners. They generally established slavery as hereditary from one's mother, meaning that the offspring of enslaved mothers and free white men would be slaves. Many slave codes outlined criminal procedures for slaves, who were not allowed to testify in court, and could be convicted and punished without a jury trial. Slave codes underscore the extent to which slavery was an institution based fundamentally on violence, as most offenses by slaves were punished by violence even long after similar punishments were being abandoned for white criminals. Slave codes in most colonies gave masters the power to discipline slaves with impunity. They mandated that enslaved people keep papers when they traveled between plantations or within a town, and in many cases, they banned such activities as private meetings and reading. Slave codes, in short, were the legal foundation for the enslavement of African peoples.

Write the partial fraction decomposition of the rational expression.

Multiply through by the LDC 

Equate the coefficients of like terms. Then solve for A, B, and C.

Use the elimination method to solve for B and C.

_______________

What could have affected the sniper's actions while he was on the roof top in "The Sniper" short story.

Fear, the enemy’s knowledge of his location, his wounded arm, and the time of day affected what occurred on the rooftop that night. 

Due to a cigarette the sniper lit, and the old woman indicating his position on the rooftop, the enemy now knew his location.  When he shot the old woman and the machine gunner she reported to, he was shot by the enemy across the street.  Although only wounded in the arm, he could no longer use his rifle.  It was too heavy. He also knew that he had to move before daylight.

“Morning must not find him wounded on the roof.  The enemy on the opposite roof covered his escape.(pg 2)

 He had to figure out a way to shoot his enemy with a revolver because it was the only weapon he could handle.   That is when he devised his plan to bring out the enemy and bring him within revolver range.  He placed his cap over the muzzle of his rifle and lifted it over the parapet of the roof.  A bullet pierced the center of the cap.  He then hung his hand llifelessly over the roof and dropped the rifle.  This trick was meant to show the enemy that the sniper was dead.  It worked.  The enemy soldier

“……was now standing before a row of chimney pots, looking across, with his head clearly silhouetted against the western sky.” (pg 2)

Although a difficult shot because his hand was shaking and his arm hurt, he was able to shoot the enemy soldier with his revolver. 

My copy of the story comes from the internet and may not coincide with your pages, but since the story is so short, you should be able to find the quotations without too much trouble. 

What quote in "The Gift of the Magi" displays situational irony?

Situational irony is defined as an incongruity between what is expected and what actually happens. Both Della and Jim have expectations about the Christmas presents they have bought for each other. But this is really Della's story, so the situational irony would have to pertain to her expectations. She has sold her hair in order to raise twenty dollars to buy Jim an expensive platinum fob for his prized gold watch. The best quote illustrating situational irony occurs after Jim has seen her without her hair and after he has presented her with the set of tortoise shell combs. She gives him the beautiful watch-fob which has cost her such a sacrifice. In one of O. Henry's famous surprise endings he responds as follows:

“Dell,” said he, “let's put our Christmas presents away and keep ’em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on.”

Irony is usually like a joke that would be funny if it were not so painful to the person or persons affected. Here we have two foolish young people who sacrificed their most treasured possessions for nothing. They must look and feel foolish. Della would look especially foolish because her loss is so conspicuous. But the reader does not feel like laughing at them. Only the Devil himself would laugh at Della and Jim. It would be "sardonic laughter." 

How does management planning compare to 25 years ago? Is planning becoming more important or less important when everything changes so quickly and...

Management planning has continued to evolve in line with management theories over time. Matters arising in the business world have necessitated the evolution of management theory and practice over the years. Frederick Taylor introduced the Scientific Approach to address the issue of production standards and redefined the role of managers as specialized foremen. Other approaches followed, such as the Administrative Approach by Henri Fayol and the Bureaucratic Approach by Max Weber among other approaches. One of the most significant aspects that these approaches shared was the need for organization and planning in the management of business enterprises.

Management planning remains important because it provides avenues for improved efficiency and effectiveness of business practices. Despite the unpredictable nature of the environment, previous approaches have confirmed that it is important for businesses to develop a sense of direction. This is achieved through the establishment of clear goals, objectives, and appropriate procedures guiding business practice.

There has been a noticeable shift towards crisis management and the need for contingency approaches in management planning. Thus, planning considers the importance of developing crisis management systems, which entails some level of flexibility in the overall plan. This enables the business to maintain awareness of risks and absorb the shocks emanating from the environment.

In the book Bud, Not Buddy, what lie does Bud tell the man in the fancy car?

Let me add some further specifics before answering your question.  The “fancy car” is driven by a kind man named Lefty Lewis.  The car is “fancy” because Lefty is a chauffeur who drives between one hospital and another.  In this case, Lefty is carrying blood for an important operation.  (This originally bothers Bud quite a bit.)  Further, there is a fairly simple answer to your question.  Bud lies by telling the driver of the car that Bud has run away from Grand Rapids, Michigan instead of telling the driver of the car that Bud has run away from Flint, Michigan.  The orphanage where Bud lives is located in Flint.  Further, the latest foster family (the Amos family) who Bud was forced to stay with is also located in Flint.  Bud wants to get to Grand Rapids very much because that is where he thinks is father is located.  Bud figures this lie is the best way to get him to Grand Rapids.

What does the shepherd ask from his love In return?

If I am not mistaken, you are referring to the poem The Passionate Shepherd To His Love by Christopher Marlowe. In the poem, the shepherd offers his love many gifts. All he wants in return is for his love to come and live with him.

As we read, we realize that the shepherd hopes to entice his love with flamboyant gifts. He promises her 'beds of roses' and a 'thousand fragrant posies.' As the poem progresses, the promised gifts become even more elaborate in substance. The shepherd shifts from the promised 'kirtle/Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle' to lined slippers with buckles of 'purest gold' and a belt made with 'straw and ivy buds,/With coral clasps and amber studs.' The modern equivalent would be an infatuated, young lover promising expensive cars, jewellery, designer clothing, or any number of ornate gifts to his girlfriend to entice her into moving in with him.

In the poem, the shepherd also plays up the attractions of his surrounding home by drawing his lover's attention to the natural beauties of the 'valleys, groves, hills, and fields,/Woods, or steepy mountains.' He tells her that he is willing to make her life very happy if she would just consent to come and live with him.

What is a dowry?

A dowry is the transfer of parental property to their son-in-law's family on the day of their daughter's wedding. Aside from a house or multiple houses, a dowry might include furniture, jewelry, clothing and, sometimes, money. The purpose of the dowry is to help set a daughter up in her new marriage and to provide for her in times of widowhood. In some cases, the dowry might also have items which are passed on to her own children. 

Historically, dowries have been in existence since ancient times. They were widely used in ancient civilisations like Babylon, Greece, Rome, India and China. Their use continued into the Middle Ages and was widespread across Europe. Later, when the British colonised North America, they took with them the practice of dowries, though there is evidence that the Native Americans used dowries too. 

While the custom of the dowry has virtually died out in the modern west, it remains popular in South Asia. 

I need to write a thesis statement comparing Lord of the Flies and Julius Caesar. Any suggestions?

While the two works of literature vary greatly in topic, time frame, etc. there are commonalities between them.  One interesting topic to tackle would be the role of "mob mentality" in the violent actions that take place.  

Mob or herd mentality is the idea that people are influenced by their peers to perform certain acts, perhaps even acts that they would not perform on their own.  Certainly, a noble statesman like Brutus would not conceive of murdering the emperor; however, as part of the group, he does just that.  Likewise, Roger in Lord of the Flies had likely not contemplated murdering another boy before arriving on the island.  However, the group treatment of boys like Piggy leads him to do just that, rolling a large boulder at Piggy that knocks Piggy off a cliff and kills him.

What are ten ways that Pierre Trudeau affected Canada?

Pierre Trudeau was the fifteenth prime minister of Canada, and before that, the attorney general of Canada. He impacted the lives of Canadians in a number of ways.

• Trudeau, as the Justice Minister of Canada (similar to the U.S. Attorney General), was the man responsible for authoring the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1968-1969. This amendment modernized Canada's criminal statutes and affected modern Canadians in the following way:


• Homosexuality was no longer to be considered a crime and, therefore, could not be punished. Prior to the law, citizens could be punished with jail time for homosexual acts. Today, Canada is one of the most progressive countries in the area of gay rights.


• He was instrumental in granting the women's right to abortions as this was part of the Criminal Law Amendment that he proposed. In a related note, this led to another law decriminalizing the sale of contraceptives.


• The Criminal Law Amendment that he proposed dealt with modern issues that affect Canadians even today. This included legislation for drinking and driving, regulation of gambling, telephone harassment, and cruelty to animals.


• He made divorce for women much easier, he was a champion of women's rights in Canada.

Trudeau continued his work as a progressive as Prime Minister. His tenure is widely considered a success, particularly through the lens of a liberal or progressive. As prime minister he achieved the following:

• Trudeau extended the reach of the welfare system, benefiting the less fortunate of Canada. He fought for a universal health care program. Today, Canada's system of free health care is viewed as a model of success.


• Trudeau established diplomatic relations with China and was a friend of Fidel Castro in Cuba. The global view of him as a peace seeker improved the opinion of nations towards Canada. He broadened Canada's international profile and entered Canada in the G7 group of major world economic powers.


• Trudeau was able to defeat a referendum by Quebec to leave Canada and become independent in 1980. With sheer political acumen and drama, he was able to keep Canada as one. At the same time, Trudeau was a champion of bilingualism.


• Through his efforts to pass the Constitution Act of 1982, Canada was able to sever the remaining ties that it had with the government of England and it was finally truly an independent, sovereign state. This action assured new and widespread rights that Canadians still enjoy today.


• It should also be noted that Trudeau's son, Justin, is now the Prime Minister of Canada, so there is that legacy as well.

What did the slaves eat on the American plantations of the South?

There are two sources from which historians gain information about the diet of the slaves on plantations. First-hand accounts by slaves themselves, through diaries or other journals, is an important source. Another source of our information is from archaeologists excavating former slave quarters to examine remains. What is certain from both sources is that the diets of slaves were extremely inadequate in terms of nutritional value. Slaves were especially deficient in iron, calcium, vitamin A and Vitamin D. Each of these deficiencies causes its own set of health risks.

The slave diet was very simple. They were given a ration of food every week, generally foods that were not desired by the plantation owners family. The two greatest sources of food were pork and corn meal from Indian corn. Slaves were assigned a small plot of land to grow vegetables, so their diets could be supplemented with their harvests at different points of the year. There is also evidence that slaves hunted small game such as squirrels, opossum, ducks, and even deer. Catfish and sturgeon were also in the slave diet. These meats could also supplement the rations given to slaves by their owners. There are accounts of slaves having to eat the feed of pigs during lean times. Many of the foods eaten by African-Americans during slavery have become cultural or "soul" foods to this day.

How does the narrator feel about his prison in "The Pit and the Pendulum"?

The simple answer is also the most obvious one: he does not like his prison, as it is a prison. The less obvious answer is a little more tricky. He quickly rules out that he is not dead, but he fears in what condition he might be. He remembers all of the "vague rumors of the horrors of Toledo", and he starts to wonder if they were not rumors at all. Worrying that he would be left to die of starvation or worse, he starts to investigate to the best of his ability, despite the fact that the absolute darkness of his cell prevents him from seeing anything. His mood becomes less frantically paranoid as curiosity takes over and he starts trying to figure out his surroundings. It seems almost that he develops a clinical interest regarding his cell, and although there is still fear of the dangers he faces (such as the pit and the pendulum and the walls literally closing in around him), the frantic fear from the beginning when he had absolutely no idea where he was does not make a reappearance, particularly once the lights come on, allowing him to see his surroundings.

In the end, although he is first incredibly fearful of his unknown prison, once he sees what he is dealing with, he becomes less blatantly terrified and more interested and curious.

Can you offer three quoted examples from Into The Wild that show why Chris McCandless was a rebel?

Chris is a rebel first because of anger at his parents, people he accuses of trying to buy his love with material goods. He rejects their values and tries to live as simply as possible. He writes:

I'm going to have to be real careful not to accept any gifts from them in the future because they will think they have bought my respect.

Second, Chris rebels against the materialism of U.S. culture because he believes a simpler life is a more joyful and fulfilling life, writing: "The freedom and simple beauty of it is just too good to pass up." Later, he writes that he has found "the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent." 

Finally, he believes the core of life lies in embracing adventure, not living a monotonous middle-class existence. As he writes to his friend Ron Franz"

The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an ever-changing horizon ...

Chris's reading of Thoreau and Tolstoy, his strong will, his desire to live fully and authentically and his rebellion against his parents' values led him to adopt a counter-cultural lifestyle, one, he said, that filled him with great joy. 

What are interactions like between Holling and Doug Swieteck's brother in Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars?

Throughout The Wednesday Wars, though Doug Swieteck's brother is described as a juvenile delinquent bully, Holling emerges triumphantly in all of his interactions with Doug's brother.

The first time Holling emerges triumphantly is when he has to face Doug Swieteck's brother in a soccer game at recess in the opening chapter of the book. The brother is playing forward against Holling, who must play defense. When he sees Doug Swieteck's brother charging him with the ball, Holling first tries to stand his ground, but then flees. He says he leaves his "right foot behind," though. Doug's brother trips over Holling's foot and flies like a missile through the air, crashing into the metal frame of the goal post. Everyone congratulates Holling for taking out Doug Swieteck's brother, even though Holling didn't trip him on purpose.

Another time Holling emerges triumphantly is when Doug Swieteck's brother tries to humiliate Holling by plastering the town's schools with the picture from the front page of the newspaper depicting Holling playing Ariel in The Tempest, dressed in his costume of bright yellow tights decorated with feathers on the backside. Within the same couple of days that the brother goes around taping the picture up all over the town's schools, Holling is also photographed being injured while rescuing his sister from a bus sliding out of control on the icy road. This picture is also featured on the front page of the newspaper, and Holling arrives at school the next day to find someone replaced all his humiliating pictures with his new heroic picture, making Holling triumphant over Doug Swieteck's brother once again.

What is kinaesthetic sense?

The kinaesthetic sense, also called kinaesthesia or proprioception, is one of the senses our body uses to keep track of our movements. The term kinaesthesia means "sense of movement," and refers to the information our brain receives when our muscles are stimulated through movement.

One way to help understand our sense of kinaesthesia is to try and isolate it from other senses we rely on. If you close your eyes and wave your hand, do you still know where your hand is in relation to the rest of your body? If you plug your ears and tap your toe, do you still know that your foot is moving? 

People with certain conditions like Ehler's-Danlos Syndrome may suffer difficulties in their sense of kinaesthesia. Depending on the nature of the condition, the muscles may not "communicate" effectively with each other, or the brain may have trouble interpreting the message it receives from the muscles. Sometimes people who have no medical conditions experience mix-ups with their sense of kinaestheia! Have you ever tried to take a sip from a straw but missed your mouth? Though it makes us feel silly, it's not at all uncommon for signals from our muscles to get mixed up on their way to the brain.

The sense of kinaesthesia is very important to athletes and dancers, as well as people who may have one of their other senses damaged. Many people who are visually impaired rely on their sense of kinaesthesia and spatial awareness of their surroundings in order to navigate their daily lives.

Describe the sniper's ruse or plan for deceiving the opposite sniper in the short story, "The Sniper"

In the process of shooting the man in the armored car and the woman on the street, the sniper has been shot and has given his location to the shooter on the other roof.  He knows that he must kill the other shooter if he is going to survive.  

“Morning must not find him wounded on the roof.  The enemy on the opposite roof covered his escape.  He must kill that enemy….” (pg 2)

The fact that he has been shot creates another problem for the sniper.  He cannot use his rifle any longer.  It is too heavy for him.  The only weapon available to him is his revolver.  He needs to pinpoint the exact location of the other shooter and get him to reveal himself.  If the other shooter thinks the sniper is dead, then he will probably get careless and stand up.  So, the sniper creates a ruse to make the other shooter think he is dead.  

Taking off his cap, he places it on the muzzle of his gun.  Then he lifts the muzzle over the parapet of the building.  The cap is visible from the other side of the street.  The enemy, thinking it is the sniper’s head, shoots, piercing the center of the cap.  The sniper moves the muzzle of the gun a little forward, allowing the cap to fall into the street.  He then takes the rifle in his good hand, holds the hand lifelessly over the parapet, and drops the rifle into the street.  He then sinks back onto the roof.

The enemy shooter now thinks the sniper is dead. 

“He was now standing before a row of chimney pots, looking across, with his head clearly silhouetted against the western sky.” (pg 2)

The sniper shot, and the man, his enemy, fell onto the street below.

I was ignoring books... until I learned how much reading is important and helpful. So, I want you to suggest for me some novels or short stories...

You can't imagine what a pleasure it is for us readers to recommend books to someone who is just starting to appreciate reading. While I don't know what level you are in at school, I will do my best to suggest a few books you might enjoy. 

You may follow the updated Sherlock Holmes on television, but have you ever read the collected stories, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle? Sherlock Holmes solved mysteries with the help of his friend, Dr. Watson, through his incredible powers of logic and observation, a long time before there was such a thing as criminal forensics.  These are fascinating stories that also give us a glimpse into another time and place, 19th and early 20th century England.  These stories were so popular in their day that Conan Doyle, who had killed off Holmes in a final story, had to bring him back because his reading public demanded more of Holmes.

For a combination of adventure and science fiction, Michael Crichton is a wonderful author.  You might try Congo, The Andromeda Strain, or Jurassic Park. (Yes, this was a book before it was a movie.) In the first, explorers discover a mysterious and dangerous culture that I don't want to say too much about for fear of ruining the story, in the second, a group of scientists must track down a deadly virus that is extraterrestrial, and the third, you no doubt already know something about.

Many people find Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom, to be an inspirational read. This book discusses a series of Tuesdays that Albom has with his old professor, who is dying of a terrible disease.  Morrie is an inspirational character, passing on his profound thoughts about life, learning, and death to Albom.

A book that I have always liked is Enders Game, by Orson Scott Card. This is science fiction, about the training of a young man who is the earth's best hope of conquering enemies from space.  Don't be deceived by the babyish cover. I first read this book when I was over fifty, and I enjoyed every page.  It is exciting and surprising to its very end. 

Probably my most favorite book is The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It takes place in the American Roaring Twenties, featuring the mysterious Gatsby, who may or may not have been a gangster, but who has acquired enough wealth to remake himself, in an effort to win the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan, who is from a wealthy family and who has now married Tom Buchanan, one of the ugliest characters in American fiction.  Daisy is Gatsby's dream, representing the American Dream, that anyone can succeed here.  The first time you read it, you will be probably be reading it just to see what happens to Gatsby, but each time you read it, you will discover more and more, about the rich and the poor, about character, and about feelings.  I reread it myself every few years, and I still notice things that I hadn't previously.

This should get you off to a good start, with some variety, since it is difficult to know what your interests and tastes in literature are going to be.  The more you read, the more you will enjoy reading, because you will get better at it and get more meaning out of it. It is important, and it's wonderful that you are beginning to realize this.

Do we have any proof for the existence of dark matter?

It depends on what you require for something to exist. Dark matter does exist, in the sense that we have experimental proof from which we can infer its existence and characteristics.

All the observed effects are of gravitational nature so far. One evidence is the observation of gravitational lensing (the bending of light by massive objects) caused by "invisible" structures. We can use this method to pinpoint areas of the universe where there is dark matter. 

The main problem is that we do not know what dark matter really is. All we know is that there is something with the properties given by the data we observed (all the gravitational lensing, for example).

So given the experimental data, we believe is that dark matter has mass but does not interact at all with other matter, nor with electromagnetic forces ( the reason why dark matter is invisible). One of the most accepted hypothetical explanation for dark matter is that they are made up of particles that interact only via gravitational forces and the weak force (responsible for the decay of atoms), called weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). But these particles have not been detected so far, by direct or indirect detection. All experiments have been inconclusive so far, and thus, its existence has not been verified to this time.

What led Americans to distrust paper currency?

During the days when the Articles of Confederation was our plan of government, we had serious financial issues. Because there was no unified currency, both the state governments and the federal government printed paper money. Additionally, the federal government didn’t have the power to levy taxes. Thus, money was an issue for the government.

Because the state governments and the federal government were printing money, there was too much money in our economy. This caused inflation as people had the money to buy things, but there weren’t enough goods to meet the demand. As prices rose, the purchasing power of our paper money decreased. As a result, people lost confidence in the value of the paper money. In some places, people stopped accepting paper money as payment for goods and services. They only accepted gold and silver coins because they knew gold and silver had value and would be accepted as payment anywhere.

Printing too much paper money is not a wise economic decision. It leads to inflation and a decrease in the purchasing power of paper money. This, in turn, can cause people to lose confidence in the paper money if inflation is really high.

What waste is produced as a result of obtaining or using geothermal energy?

Geothermal energy generation facilities operate by extracting hot water from the ground.  The extracted water can contain large quantities of sulfur, salt, and a myriad of other chemicals.  Generally, the system through which this is done also involves pumping the water, after having been utilized for energy generation, back into subterranean containment tanks.  This is done to prevent any contamination of the surrounding grounds.  Thus far, there have been no reported breaches of these containers, but it remains a possibility.

Additionally, water is required to cool the generators.  This water is drawn from a reservoir, put to use as a coolant through which some of it is lost as steam and then finally recycled back into the original reservoir.  The water contained in these reservoirs is not clean water, but no less does not contain any additional contaminants.  In some cases these reservoirs use processed waste water.

As for atmospheric impacts, if a geothermal facility is using a closed loop system all gasses removed from the ground are returned, rendering no affect on the air.  Other facilities release the extracted gas, after processing, directly into the air.  This released gas contains a myriad of "not-so-great" substances, particularly sulfur dioxide.  Scrubbers can be implemented to filter the expelled gas but this process produces a toxic mixture of water, mercury, nickel, arsenic and other metals.  This toxic waste is disposed of at a dedicated waste containment facility.

Summarize Chapter 1 of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird?

In Chapter 1, the narrator, Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, is telling the story in retrospect, of why her brother Jem broke his arm. Scout explains her family's history, specifically, how her ancestor Simon Finch immigrated from England and settled on the banks of the Alabama River, building a homestead that he named Finch's Landing. She describes her father's background and mentions that he left Finch's Landing to study law in Montgomery. Atticus paid for his brother, John Hale Finch, to study medicine before returning to Maycomb County. Scout describes the town of Maycomb as an old southern town where people move slowly. She writes about the family cook, Calpurnia, and explains how her mother died of a heart-attack when she was two years old. Following her introduction to the novel, she begins to tell the story starting when Charles Baker Harris, better known as Dill, arrives in the summer. Scout describes the personality of Dill and mentions the myths surrounding the Radley household. Scout and the children believe the false neighborhood rumors of the "malevolent phantom" named Boo Radley. Boo's unfortunate personal history is discussed, which includes his youthful antics and seclusion from society. The chapter ends when Dill dares Jem to touch the side of the Radley house. Jem touches the house and runs back into his yard unscathed.

What do Jonas' and Gabe's eyes represent?

No one in the community can see color, but they can see shades of lightness and darkness, and the eyes of Jonas and Gabe are light, unlike everyone else in the community, all of whom have dark eyes. We can infer that Jonas and Gabe have blue, green, gray, or hazel eyes and that everyone else has brown eyes. Because of Sameness, this is clearly an anomaly, and that anomaly seems to symbolize a deeper difference in Jonas and Gabe, a difference that is not clear until later in the story. 

Sameness is a ruling principle of the community, even to the degree that people should look the same, but the community has not been able to successfully breed out all differences. Fiona, for example, is a redhead, which we know because Jonas compares her hair color to the color of an apple, after he begins to see colors.  His eyes and Gabe's eyes are another example, but it is considered rude to comment on differences, and Jonas has no real reason to think his and Gabe's eye color are particularly significant. 

However, Gabe turns out to be the only person to whom Jonas can transmit any memories, without even trying.  He has tried to transmit memories to Lily and his father, but this has been completely unsuccessful.  This suggests that there is some relationship between eye color and the ability to receive memories, and it may very well be that this was the basis of the choice of Jonas as the Receiver. We do know enough about genetics to know that traits are sometimes "bundled" together, and this makes this a plausible interpretation of what the eye color is meant to represent in the story.  When Jonas runs away from the community to Elsewhere, his choice to take Gabe is not only to rescue him from release, but also because Gabe is the only person with whom he can share memories.  Gabe is his soul-mate in some way, and there might even be a biological connection, since Jonas has no way of knowing who his or Gabe's birth parents were. 

Thus, the light color of Jonas and Gabe's eyes represents a departure from Sameness and it is reasonable to infer that their eyes also represent the ability to receive memories.  They do not fit in to the community, and throughout the entire story, the stage is being set for their leaving. 

Who is the protagonist in the story "Raymond's Run"?

Protagonist is a literature teacher word for "leading character."  In the short story "Raymond's Run," Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker is the protagonist.  She is also known as "Squeaky."  I like describing "protagonist" as the "central character."  The reason I like the word "central" is because it makes me think of a pivot point that turns or that things can revolve around.  Thinking of a protagonist in this way really highlights his/her central importance to the entire story.  It also shows how a protagonist can turn/change.  That's definitely true of Hazel.  She begins the story as an aloof and tough girl.  She cares most about herself and intentionally distances herself from her peers.  She sees other girls as competition to be beaten.  But by the end of the story, she has taken on a softer persona.  She begins coaching her disabled brother and realizes that other girls are not always there to be competed against.  

And she nods to congratulate me and then she smiles. And I smile. We stand there with this big smile of respect between us. It’s about as real a smile as girls can do for each other, considering we don’t practice real smiling every day, you know, cause maybe we too busy being flowers or fairies or strawberries instead of something honest and worthy of respect . . . you know . . . like being people.

One of the interesting issues that we might consider is the role of faith in American literature until 1870 or so. In John Winthrop's "A Model of...

In Winthrop's sermon, Christian faith is the foundation of identity. The people of God on board the Arabella are knit together as different parts of the one body of Christ. However, individuals do have separate identities and a social hierarchy exists. Winthrop says at the start:

God Almighty in his most holy and wise providence, hath so disposed of the condition of mankind, as in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity; others mean and in subjection.

These distinctions should not separate people, but, on the contrary, bring them closer together. God, says Winthrop, chose not to directly help the poor himself. Instead, the rich, after providing for their own families, must aid the less fortunate to demonstrate more fully God's love and compassion as spread through human acts. This merciful behavior will build the community into a stronger force through developing bonds of mutuality, such that:

...Every man might have need of others, and from hence they might be all knit more nearly together in the bonds of brotherly affection.

The rich should remember that one day they might be poor and themselves in need of help. The rich should show mercy to the poor and the poor gratitude to the rich.

Love is the glue that binds the community together as one. "This love among Christians is a real thing, not imaginary," Winthrop says, and essential to the body politic.

This spirituality enables the author to maintain a status quo in which some people have wealth and privilege and some don't by insisting this hierarchy is ordained by God and is for the common good. Winthrop is no leveler or social radical. We can see in this sermon why, for example, the Quakers, with their notions of radical equality, would not be welcome in his new community. At the same time, this sermon, with its emphasis on American exceptionalism, on the Massachusetts Bay Colony as the "city on the hill" that the world is watching, critiques the European status quo, in which hierarchy lacks love and in which the "ligaments" of the body are not properly held together by the compassion he hopes will characterize the new world. 

Winthrop's literary construction of an identity built on exceptionalism continues to resonate in the American psyche.

Is Serena in Serena by Ron Rash like Shakespeare's Othello?

Serena is not like Othello.

One reason why Serena is not like Othello is because of her confidence. Serena is a very self- assured woman.  She is George's equal in business and in life. She does not carry herself with any insecurity.  Serena assumes a controlling interest in the timber business, expands it to South America, and consolidates her power in a very brash manner.  She is determined to exert emotional control on Pemberton to a point where she will eliminate her competition in the form of Jacob and Rachel.  Her determination is shown in how she poisons her husband and establishes the way he will die.  Serena's focus and drive are significant elements to her character.

Othello's insecurity makes him different from Serena.  While Othello exudes confidence on the battlefield, he is different in his personal life.  In describing his relationship with Desdemona, Othello says that "she had eyes and chose me."  He cannot believe that someone like her would choose someone like him.  This reflects an insecurity at the center of Othello's being.  It is for this reason that he is susceptible to Iago's manipulations.  He is swayed into believing them because he lacks a confidence in both himself and his relationship with Desdemona. When Othello's "occupation is gone," it shows a lack of control.  It is difficult to see Serena as one who would lose control. Serena would not allow anyone to take her away from what she desires.  

Serena is as study as the lead material that she boasts will form her coffin. She is impervious to external elements, focused on what she covets. She does not possess the uncertain or insecure traits that define Othello and leads to his downfall.

In A Tale of Two Cities, how does the title "Substance of the Shadow" Book 3 Chapter 10, relate to the chapter?

In this chapter, Doctor Manette reads the confession and curse that he wrote many years before when he was imprisoned in the Bastille. This is the secret (the shadow) that he has carried all this time, which relates to the secret of Charles Darnay’s connection to the Marquis of Evremonde and to the Doctor. He reveals that he had helped the victim of Charles’s father’s violence, who also happened to be Madame DeFarge’s sister-in-law and family. It is for this reason that Madame de Farge denounced Charles to the tribunal, leading to his arrest. The Doctor, in his despair, cursed the Evremonde family forever, and in this way also served as a denouncer of Charles, despite the fact that he had no idea that Charles was an Evremonde until the morning of Charles’s wedding to his daughter Lucie. This revelation thus gave substance to the shadow of these secrets.

Why does Tobe stay with Emily in the story A Rose for Emily?

In A Rose for Emily, Tobe stays loyal to Miss Emily until the end of the story when she has died. There are many expert opinions on why he stays, especially since it's pretty likely he knows about the dead body in the closed room. I have always thought it had to do with the fact that Emily's family were once plantation owners and would have owned slaves. It's possible Tobe was a relic of that time period, and stayed with her for a variety of reasons. Maybe he stayed because it was all he knew in life. He'd been with the family for so long that he wasn't sure what to do, possibly even afraid to be out on his own. It's also possible that he stayed because he thought he had to wait until she died to leave. Or it was just plain loyalty Tobe felt to the family. Miss Emily was giving him room and board, and he didn't know what to do and where to go when he left.

For more information on the story, see the link.

Why do you think there was no laughing between Mrs. Johansen and her brother as they sat down to talk?

Although there was usually laughter when Mrs. Johansen and her brother, Henrik, when they spoke, there was none on this night because the subjects they were discussing were so serious. The book is set in Denmark in 1943. The Nazis are "relocating" Copenhagen's Jews and the Johansen's friends, the Rosens, are Jewish. The discussion that Annemarie's mother is having with Henrik is about how to save the Rosens from being sent to concentrations camps and near certain death. Henrik is a fisherman and has been smuggling Jews by boat to Sweden. Annemarie's family takes in her friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their third daughter, using Lise's baby pictures to explain Ellen's dark hair. The Rosens are successfully smuggled out of Denmark through use of a coffin, Henrik's boat, and a cloth containing a chemical that confuses the Nazi's dogs ability to detect humans.

What happened to the old woman in "The Sniper" by Liam O’Flaherty?

A sniper's bullet hits and kills the old woman from Liam O'Flaherty's short story "The Sniper." 

The old woman in question is actually an informer working for the Free Staters.  While the Republican sniper is under fire from the opposing Free Stater sniper, he sees an armored car pull up near his position.  The Republican sniper sees an old woman in a shawl approach the vehicle.  She begins talking to the soldier in the vehicle, and then she points toward his own position.  

Then round the corner of a side street came an old woman, her head covered by a tattered shawl. She began to talk to the man in the turret of the car. She was pointing to the roof where the sniper lay. An informer.

This puts the sniper in a very tough position.  He is now pinned down by another sniper, and ground forces have been alerted to his position.  In order to get out of his predicament, the Republican sniper needs to kill everybody that knows his position.  That means he must kill the man in the armored vehicle, the old woman, and the other sniper.  The Republican sniper does exactly that, and he does so in that order as well.  

The turret opened. A man’s head and shoulders appeared, looking toward the sniper. The sniper raised his rifle and fired. The head fell heavily on the turret wall. The woman darted toward the side street. The sniper fired again. The woman whirled round and fell with a shriek into the gutter.

What human attributes does author Anna Sewell give to the animals in Black Beauty?

Reason, compassion, and bitterness are some of the most important human attributes Anna Sewell gives her horse characters in Black Beauty.

One example of a horse's ability to reason can be seen in Black Beauty's thoughts after experiencing the fire. In Chapter 16, Beauty observed that the fire was started when a young man carelessly left his pipe lying in the stable. After James successfully leads Beauty and Ginger away to safety, Beauty reflects how thankful he is for the rule of the coachman at Birtwick Park, John Manly, that pipes were forbidden in the stable:

I remember our John Manly's rule, never allow a pipe in the stable, and thought it ought to be the rule everywhere. (Ch. 16)

The horses also demonstrate their ability to feel compassion for those who suffer. For example, though Black Beauty and Ginger make it safely out of the fire in Chapter 16 because James is smart enough to know how to lead them out of the stable, two other horses do not make it out; Beauty reflects that he and Ginger felt very badly when hearing the "shrieks of those poor horses."

Like human beings, the horses can't help but feel bitter about the unjust treatment animals receive from men. Beauty first begins to feel bitterness when hearing from his horse friends about all of the inhumane treatment dogs and horses receive even though, early in the story, he is far removed from the inhumane treatment himself, being under the good care of Squire Gordon at Birtwick Park:

I found a bitter feeling toward men rise up in my mind that I never had before. Of course Ginger was very much excited; she flung up her head with flashing eyes and distended nostrils, declaring that men were both brutes and blockheads. (Ch. 10)

Beauty's bitterness and resentment continues to grow as the story progresses and as he finds himself in the care of crueler and crueler masters until he is finally once again in a safe home.

Is it true that Darry is never sorry for anything he does like Ponyboy says?

No, it is not true. There are multiple scenes throughout the novel that depict Darry feeling sorry for the way he acts toward Ponyboy. In Chapter 3, Ponyboy returns home late after falling asleep next to Johnny while they are looking at the stars. Darry is sitting up reading the paper when Pony returns. Darry gets angry with Ponyboy and slaps him in the face. Ponyboy runs out of the house and Darry yells, "Pony, I didn't mean to!" (Hinton 50) Later on, in the novel when Ponyboy is sitting in the hospital, Darry walks in and begins to weep. Ponyboy finally realizes that his brother cares for him. Darry was under a lot of stress trying to raise Ponyboy and provide for the family at the same time, which is why he lost control and hit Pony. In Chapter 12, Sodapop becomes fed up with the way Darry and Ponyboy fight with each other. Sodapop runs out of the house, and Darry and Pony are forced to chase him. When they finally catch Soda, he laments at the way his brothers have been treating each other. Darry realizes that he's been too rough on Ponyboy and agrees that they will not get into any more fights. 

Why does Sheriff Tate come to see Atticus?

In Chapter 15, Heck Tate and a group of concerned citizens arrive at the Finch residence to discuss the possibility of a "change of venue" for the Tom Robinson trial. Heck Tate is worried that there might be some individuals that will cause trouble throughout the county and would like to see the trial moved outside of Maycomb. Mr. Link Deas mentions that the "Old Sarum bunch" might be planning something. Atticus is not worried about anyone causing trouble and thinks that it will be alright to house Tom Robinson in Maycomb's jail for one night. Later on in the chapter, Atticus decides to sit outside Tom Robinson's jail cell as a precaution. The Old Sarum bunch ends up coming to the jail house and attempts to harm Tom Robinson, but is unsuccessful.

How does Charles Dickens present ideas about childhood in staves 1 and 2?

In staves one and two of A Christmas Carol, we find very opposing representations of childhood. Early in stave one, for instance, we find references to children wandering the streets, avoiding men like Scrooge. In stave two, we see a painful image of Scrooge's own childhood. Though his background is a privileged one (his family are wealthy enough to send him away to school), he is generally a very lonely child who spends little time with the people he loves. As Scrooge comments, he was "a solitary child, neglected by his friends."

So, while these views of childhood are very different, they are universally sad. This is perhaps, because they are inspired by Dickens' own childhood. In 1824, for example, when Dickens was 12 years old, his father was imprisoned for debt. Being separated from his father was extremely distressing for the young Dickens but was made even worse by the family's financial situation. As such, Dickens had to leave school and take a job in a factory where he pasted labels onto pots of shoe blacking. This was a financial necessity, to support the family, but scarred Dickens for the rest of his life. For him, then, childhood was a scary and uncertain time which resonates in many parts of A Christmas Carol. 

Why did Hamlet write a letter to Ophelia?

Why does Hamlet write a letter to Ophelia?

Hamlet has composed a letter to Ophelia for the very best purpose--to convey his love for her!  But wait, I thought Hamlet and Ophelia are estranged from each other during the entire play?  To solve this confusion, we must consider just who it is that brings the famous love letter to Claudius--the fawning Polonius, who will do anything to curry the king’s favor and prove his own worth.

To investigate, let’s back up a bit.  In act 1 scene 3 Polonius orders Ophelia not to speak with or see the prince any more, and she has no choice but to obey him. In act 2 scene 2 she tells Polonius, “as you did command / I did repel his letters and denied / His access to me.”  Therefore, she has not received any new letters from Hamlet since before he put “an antic disposition on.”  It's possible that Polonius, to add weight to his “Hamlet is crazy for my daughter” theory, takes an old love letter Hamlet had given her. When he tells the king and queen his theory in act 2 scene 2, he vaguely says that Ophelia has obediently given him the letter.  They merely assume it is a recent letter.

Although Polonius mocks the language of the letter as he reads it out loud to them, we can hear that Hamlet is quite gifted in rhetoric, something actually considered unfashionable among royalty in the late middle ages, which the play is set in.  Hamlet himself tells Horatio in act 5 scene 2 that he once felt somewhat embarrassed that he writes so well, and even tried to forget how. But the skill comes in handy when Hamlet needs to rewrite Claudius’ letter to the king of England, the “changeling” bringing about the death of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern instead of Hamlet himself. It is also quite handy for wooing maidens, it seems. 

So Hamlet wrote the letter to express his deep and honest love for Ophelia, something we would never know about if not for those words written by a free and untroubled prince, perhaps before his father ever died.  The most convincing lines might be these: “Doubt thou the stars are fire / Doubt that the sun doth move / ...But never doubt I love.”  He signed the letter beautifully with, “Thine evermore, most dear lady, whilst / this machine is to him, Hamlet.”  He vowed to love her as long as he lived.  More so than the question of his sanity, whether he loves Ophelia until his last breath may be the true secret that Hamlet takes with him to “the undiscovered country.”

In The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, how is Simon a calm, positive force for the other boys on the island?

Simon, whose name might be a derivative of the apostle Simon Peter from the Bible, is the most consistently stable among the boys marooned on the island.  He realizes the truth about their predicament and about themselves early on in the novel. He repeatedly reassures the littluns, and he helps provide for them by getting them the fruit they can not reach for themselves. When Ralph is at a low point, he reassures Ralph that he will get home.  It is worth noting that in this moment, Simon specifies that Ralph, not himself, will return to civilization. Simon instead becomes the ultimate sacrifice after discovering the truth about the "beast," which turns out to be a dead parachutist.  Just as Christ Himself in the Bible attempted to bring Good News to an unbelieving people, Simon symbolically tries to bring the positive message to the other boys that their fear was unfounded.  Simon is a provider, a peacemaker, a protector, and finally a penance for the other boys on the island.

Analyze how the Atlantic slave trade reshaped sub-Saharan African societies and explain which groups benefited from Africa's growing entanglements...

Let us address Part 1 of the question first: how the Atlantic slave trade reshaped sub-Saharan African societies. The slave trade caused a general weakening of the African societies as a whole because able-bodied men, women, and children were being enslaved. This left the continent open to colonization by European settlers in search of diamonds, gold, spices, and any other valuable trade items.

In general, sub-Saharan Africa in the 1700’s was a series of small states or loose federations. These groups often warred among themselves in order to gain power and land. Around this time, the Europeans introduced firearms into Africa. They would help one particular city-state defeat another, then buy the captives for the slave trade.  It was common for European traders to ally with one tribe seeking to overthrow another. This caused wars to escalate, leading to a large increase in the number of people enslaved. Warfare of varying degrees occurred all along the Atlantic coast.

This fighting completely wiped out some groups while others became more powerful. Enslavement as a punishment for crime became a common practice. If someone were accused of witchcraft, theft, or some other crime, he or she could be sold into slavery.  Even those who were considered ‘social misfits’ could be subject to banishment by slavery.

As the slave trade intensified, families and communities were torn apart. Some groups tried to establish practices to limit the slave trade within their area to little avail. To protect relatives, some men and women offered to trade places with the loved one being given to the slave traders. Others tried to buy the person back.

Sometimes resistance to the slave trade became violent. Slave ships and depots were attacked and some enslaved groups tried to revolt. However, these efforts did little to stop the growing demand for slaves.

Politically, sub-Saharan Africa was fragmented. Several small city-states and loose federations could not support a strong enough government to slow the slave trade’s impact. Within these small political groupings, leaders often succumbed to greed. They controlled the ports and trade routes and were more than happy to encourage the slave trade with the Europeans, since it made them individually wealthy. The slave trade, especially the large loss of people (estimates range from 7.5 million men to 15.5 million people taken), prevented African societies from becoming large, strong, unified states. It also stunted economic growth, as communities did not focus on producing crops or making goods for trade. Europeans encouraged the factions to war in order to take the defeated onto the slave ships. This left the sub-Saharan continent in constant unrest; any peace was short-lived at best.

Now, to the second part of your question: which groups benefited from Africa’s growing entanglements in global commerce?

Primarily, western European countries became the wealthiest from the slave trade. England had three major ports dedicated to human trafficking; Holland, Portugal, and France also had large ports to route the ’cargo.’ There was a huge demand for labor, especially in the Americas, and wealthy landowners didn’t really care where the workers came from.

European traders bought slaves from Africa communities for very little compared to the selling price. Commonly they would trade shells, iron bars, cloth, or small amounts of silver or gold for a human being. The profits were enormous.

Local African leaders also benefited by selling prisoners of war, those accused of a crime, those in debt, or even those who simply ‘didn’t fit in’ in the leader’s view.

Additionally, a growing pirate trade also benefited from the African slave market. Though smaller in scale than the European enterprises, these individual captains and crews also made huge profits selling human beings.

How does Lady Macbeth change from Act 1, Scene 5, to Act 5, Scene 1?

In Act 1, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth is confident, decisive, and ruthless.  In this scene, she receives the letter from Macbeth that acquaints her with the Weird Sisters' statements that he would become Thane of Cawdor and king, as well as the fact that he was shortly thereafter named Thane of Cawdor.  After she reads his letter, she immediately resolves that he shall be king: "Glamis, thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be / What thou art promised" (1.5.15-18).  She initially worries that Macbeth's nature "is too full o' th' milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way" (1.5.17-18).  In other words, she never doubts for a moment that Macbeth will be king; she only worries that he may be too gentle to be willing to kill Duncan in order to hurry the process along. 

When she learns from a messenger that Duncan's retinue approaches, she calls his arrival at her home his "fatal entrance," letting us know that she has already, even at this early stage, conceived of a plan to have him killed so that Macbeth can take his place (1.5.46).  She then requests the assistance of those supernatural spirits that "That on mortal thoughts," saying

[...] unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty.  Make thick my blood.
Stop up th' access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
Th' effect and it.  (1.5.48-54)

Lady Macbeth wants any nurturing, compassionate impulse of hers to be removed so that only her cruel and ruthless tendencies will remain.  She wants to make sure that she will feel no regret so that nothing in her womanly nature might dissuade her from the course of action on which she has resolved.  She requests that she be "unsex[ed]" so that she can be more like a man (or the way in which she and her society conceive of men to be): hard-hearted, implacable, and remorseless.

By Act 5, Scene 1, however, we see a very different Lady Macbeth.  It is clear that her earlier to become immune to "remorse" has not been granted.  As she sleepwalks, she is transported back in time to the night of Duncan's murder.  She imagines that his blood is still on her hands, crying, "Out, damn spot, out, I say!" (5.1.37).  Though she said right after the actual murder that "A little water clears us of this deed," it is clear that she no longer believes it to be so easy to escape one's guilt (2.2.86).  Even the doctor that her servant brings to watch her recognizes that her "heart is sorely charged" (5.1.56-57).  Lady Macbeth clearly feels the heavy weight of self-reproach, and even the doctor knows he cannot help her because her ailment is not a physical one, but an emotional/spiritual one. 

In this scene, she recalls trying to force Macbeth to quickly move on from the guilt he felt immediately after the murder, saying, "What's done cannot be undone.  To bed, to bed, to bed" (5.1.70-71).  There was no point in regretting what they did then because there was nothing they could have done to change it.  By this time in the play, though, it is clear that Lady Macbeth has not successfully managed to keep regret away, that her weaker (and, to her, more feminine) impulses have overcome her desire to be ruthless, and her former decisiveness -- and unwillingness to consider any other course of action -- can now be blamed for her current, sad state.

It is notable, too, that in Act 1, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth speaks in blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter).  In Act 5, Scene 1, she speaks in prose.  Often, in Shakespeare's plays, when a noble character's speech changes from verse to prose, it is an indication that they have "gone mad."  Such an interpretation certainly seems to fit here given Lady Macbeth's slipping grasp on reality and her later suicide.  Thus, we can also read this change in the way she speaks as further evidence of her character's transformation.

Where is the soldier's home in Hemingway's short story?

Since his experience in the war, Krebs no longer feels at home in the small Oklahoma town where he was raised. The people in the town want to basically carry on as before and forget the war, but because of his horrible experience Krebs can no longer relate, not to his parents or to the girls he sees on the street. I think Hemingway meant the title ironically. Krebs no longer has a home. It was one of the reasons why Hemingway himself and several of the characters in his literature expatriated to Europe in the 1920s.

Several of Ernest Hemingway's stories deal with soldiers coming home from World War I. The war was the most devastating the world had ever seen. It caused millions of casualties, dead, wounded, and also those suffering from, what we now call, post traumatic stress disorder. Both Jake Barnes, from the novel The Sun Also Rises, and Nick Adams, a character in many of Hemingway's short stories, have, in some way, been debilitated by the war both physically and mentally.

Harold Krebs, the main character in "Soldier's Home," is suffering from PTSD. He has obviously seen horrible things in the war and, at first, doesn't wish to speak about them. Later, when he wants to talk, nobody wants to hear about the "atrocities" of the war. Rather, he says, he makes up lies. We assume these lies involve heroic acts. Krebs feels bad about these lies because he is not able to apply the term heroic to anything that happened. The people in his hometown cling to old ideas about the glory of war. Krebs cannot relate to them. He has been changed by the war, but nothing has changed in the town:

Nothing was changed in the town except that the young girls had grown up. But they lived in such a complicated world of already defined alliances and shifting feuds that Krebs did not feel the energy or the courage to break into it.

The former marine, who had fought at Belleau Wood, is lost in this world he no longer understands. He lacks the wherewithal to fit into this milieu. And, even though he says he will go to Kansas City to get a job, the reader is left with the impression he has no home. He does not fit into the old life and ways of America. Not surprisingly, both Hemingway, and his character Jake Barnes, leave America in the 1920's to return to Europe because they felt, like Krebs, alienated from an America they could not relate to.  

How does racism affect the following Maycomb community members: Tom and Helen Robinson, Calpurnia, Scout, Jem, Dill, Mayella Ewell, and Dolphus...

Tom Robinson becomes a victim of racism when he is unjustly convicted. Tom, who is black, is wrongly convicted of raping Mayella Ewell based solely on the color of his skin. Racist jury members convict Tom Robinson because he is black and not because of the evidence presented during the trial. Helen Robinson, Tom's wife, has a hard time finding work because she is associated with Tom. If Tom had not been wrongly accused of raping a white woman, then Helen would not face discrimination from the Maycomb community.

Calpurnia was not given the chance to go to school as a child because she was black and learned to read from Miss Buford. Aunt Alexandra views Calpurnia with contempt because she is black and petitions Atticus to fire her. Calpurnia's job is in jeopardy because of Alexandra's racist views.

Scout and Jem are forced to contend with the racist community members of Maycomb, who insult them and their father because Atticus is defending a black man. Dill is emotionally disturbed after witnessing Mr. Gilmer badger Tom Robinson during the trial. Mr. Gilmer talks down to Tom Robinson because he is black and Dill feels that he is treating Tom unfairly. Dill has to leave the courtroom because he begins to cry.

Mayella Ewell falsely testifies against Tom Robinson because she has broken a "time-honored code" of society. Her father beats her because she has seduced a black man. In the racist community of Maycomb, it is looked down upon for a white person to have relations with a black person. This is the same reason Dolphus Raymond is discriminated against. He is shunned by society because he chooses to associate and maintain relationships with black community members.

In what ways did the Gulag help the Soviet regime in terms of gathering allegiances, crushing dissent, and economically?

The Gulag was the penal system of the former Soviet Union. Prisoners were sent to labor camps and were forced to work without pay for long periods of time. Citizens could be sent to the Gulag for serious crimes, but also for petty infractions like missing work, showing up late for work, or stealing food from the fields for your starving family. Many prisoners were also there for political purposes. If you spoke out against the government, or if party officials saw you as a threat to their power, you could be sentenced to forced labor in the Gulag.

The Gulag was very effective at creating allegiance to the state and also for crushing dissent. The reason for its effectiveness in this end was because of the cruel conditions in the camps. The Gulag was located in isolated parts of Russia where it was very cold. The workers were tasked with difficult menial tasks and worked long hours with only simple tools. It was likely that you could die if you were sent to the camps as food rations were meager and conditions were very unsanitary. Violence upon the workers was common. For this reason, you dared not do anything to draw the suspicion of the Soviet party officials. Fear can be an effective tool for gaining loyalty and crushing dissent.

The economic benefits for the party are obvious: the use of free labor to draw profit. The Gulags performed many essential economic functions such as the mining of coal, deforested areas for lumber, mining copper, and sometimes large scale projects like the construction of canals. The cost of acquiring and maintaining this labor force was very low. For this reason, the Gulags provided an economic advantage for the Soviet Union.

Can you please explain how the application of microscopes affected people or environment negatively?

Microscopes have had a huge impact in science and society, most of it positive. Advances in medicines, food safety, agriculture, chemistry, material sciences, microbiology, etc. have been mostly possible because of microscopes. In fact, field of nanotechnology would not even exist in absence of microscopes. It is really tough to find negative impacts of microscopes. Advances in weaponry can be considered one negative impact. Most virulent strains of biological agents, such as anthrax bacteria and smallpox virus, have been developed to be used as biological weapons. Similarly, advancements in material sciences have resulted in better weapons and armors. Another negative impact can be related to the implications of genetics. Advances in genetics have made GM crops possible and pesticides are also possible only because of advances in microbiology and chemistry (and our ability to more closely study the pests). Both the GM crops and pesticides have had their share of negative impacts on environments and people. Pesticides are responsible for water and soil pollution in a number of regions and is a cause of concern.

Hope this helps. 

What is the negative connotation in the last stanza of "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold?

Matthew Arnold's poem "Dover Beach" is about the loss of faith and the continuity of sadness in the history of the world. He begins his poem listening to the sea, and then the sounds brings him back to ancient times in the second stanza. When Sophocles heard the sound of the sea, it brought "Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow / Of human misery" (lines 17-18). Arnold writes that "The Sea of Faith Was once, too, at the full" (lines 21-22). These lines mean that at the creation of the world, people were full of faith and love, just as the sea is full.

However, in the last stanza, Arnold remarks on the dismal state of modern affairs. He writes:

"Ah, love, let us be true / To one another! for the world, which seems / To lie before us like a land of dreams, / So various, so beautiful, so new, / Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, / Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; / And we are here as on a darkling plain / Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, / Where ignorant armies clash by night" (lines 29-37).

These lines mean that Arnold is calling for a return to true love and faith. The world, he writes, looks majestic and dream-like, but it really promises no happiness or love or any kind of reassurance. Instead, the world is like a plain on which armies are fighting in the dark. Only romantic love, his call to "be true," promises a release from the never-ending sadness of the world. Arnold starts the poem in the modern day, thinks back to ancient times, and then returns to the present. The continuity in the poem is sadness, meaning that humans are destined not to find their wishes fulfilled. Arnold is stating that humans are eternally sad and that only love can provide a respite.

Is Ambrose Bierce biased toward one side of the Civil War? Does the narrator describe the Union soldiers more positively than Farquhar or vice...

Since Ambrose Bierce fought on the Union side in the Civil War and was involved in several important battles, he was undoubtedly sympathetic to the Union cause. However, he does not show any such sympathy in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." We are naturally sympathetic with Peyton Farquhar because we are held firmly in his point of view and he is being hanged. The Union soldiers who are performing the hanging and those who are watching it happen are not portrayed unsympathetically. They all seem like faceless automatons. If Bierce had wanted to create sympathy or antipathy he could easily have created a Union officer who would have had some conversation with the condemned man. But Bierce chose to keep the Union soldiers anonymous. They are all military men holding rigid postures and dressed in identical blue uniforms. There is no animosity; they are just obeying orders. Our sympathy is entirely with Peyton Farquhar. It is quite possible to feel sympathy with an enemy after he has been defeated. He is, after all, a fellow human being. Perhaps it was Bierce's intention to emphasize that Farquhar is a fellow human being and that it is tragic that men have to be so cruel to one another. This feeling was particularly common during the Civil War, when men who had nothing against each other found themselves enemies without quite understanding why or how it had happened.

We do not feel sympathy for Peyton Farquhar because of the cause he represents but in spite of it. We feel sympathy for the man because we can easily understand his feelings. He wants to live and to return to his wife and his home. We cannot even condemn his intention to burn down the Owl Creek bridge because it shows his remarkable courage to attack the Union army single-handedly. It is natural to feel sympathy for the underdog, and Farquhar is certainly the underdog in this story. The narrator describes the large assemblage of Union soldiers who are all involved in the execution of a single man. They include the following formidable group: 

Midway up the slope between the bridge and fort were the spectators--a single company of infantry in line, at "parade rest," the butts of their rifles on the ground, the barrels inclining slightly backward against the right shoulder, the hands crossed upon the stock. 

In the eighth line of the poem "Love is not all," Edna St. Vincent Millay says, "Even as I speak" What is the relevance of this clause? Does it add...

Written in the sonnet form, the poem’s main theme is to bring home how important love is in one’s life. Interestingly, Edna St. Vincent Millay deals with this ever popular theme in quite an unconventional manner. She opens the sonnet with the ironic statement - “Love is not all.”

Until line six, Millay defines love in terms of what it is not or what it can’t do or achieve. This is a special literary device named litotes, that employs an ironical understatement in negative in order to further affirm the positive side of something. 

The poet says love can’t fulfill the needs essential to sustain life. For instance, love can’t satisfy appetite for food or quench thirst for water; nor can it cure diseases or save the life of a drowning man. Nevertheless, it’s vital. She says,

Yet many a man is making friends with death
Even as I speak, for lack of love alone

There are a lot of people that embrace death because they haven’t found love in their lives. They may posses every fundamental thing they need to survive, yet "for lack of love" they choose death over life.

The clause “Even as I speak” emphasizes the point that at every moment somebody is choosing death because they haven’t found love. Millay wants to make sure when a reader goes through this line, he or she must realize that at that very moment too, somebody is exchanging death for life as they have failed to find the warmth of love.

In this way the poet wants to emphasize that though love may not meet the basic requirements, it’s still indispensable part of life. Thus, using the clause "Even as I speak," Millay underscores the essential character of love, without which life may be unimaginable. 

What does Steinbeck suggest the relationship of wealth and destruction is?

It is not that money is the “root of all evil,” but the love of money. In Kino’s case, it is what that money can bring to his life to change it for the better. In Chapter 1, it is clear that Kino is content with his lot in life. He has a wife, a child, a home, and a means for making a living for them all. It is only when he discovers the pearl that he begins to dream bigger dreams of material prosperity (relatively speaking). He wants an education for his son, a wedding for his wife, and perhaps a rifle for himself. To him, this means a great advance in his station in life.

The underlying theme is that money itself cannot buy happiness. In fact, more often it brings sadness, discontentment, even death. The “siren call” of the wealth that the pearl represents finally disappears when Kino and Juana throw back the pearl into the sea from whence it came.