So in debate class we have a game called the balloon game. Everyone picks any one person, alive or dead, but real, and argues why they should stay...

There are so many possible answers to this question!  Here are some possibilities.  I will focus on figures from Europe and America since those regions have dominated the world for most of the last 500 years.

• Jesus or Saint Paul.  Christianity has been one of the major forces in the world, particularly in Europe.  It helped to create Western civilization (which has dominated the world for the most part) and it helped bring about such things as the Age of Exploration.  We can credit Jesus with starting the religion or St. Paul since he was the main force that we know of behind the spread of the faith.


• Martin Luther.  Luther was one of the most important figures behind the Protestant Reformation.   The Reformation redrew the map of Europe and introduced religious conflict into that region.  These conflicts had a profound effect on the development of Europe.


• Karl Marx.  It is not clear that we can say that Marx’s influence on history has been positive, but it has been important.  Marx’s ideas gave rise to socialism and communism.  These ideologies brought about the Cold War and they helped to shape conflicts within industrialized societies.


• George Washington.  Washington was important for the major role he played in bringing about American independence.  Perhaps more importantly, he was instrumental in making the US a democracy.  By giving up the presidency and retiring, he helped ensure that the US would really be a democracy and not a country ruled by a series of strong men.  This was important because America’s democracy has helped to shape the world, particularly in the last 100 years or so.

There are any number of other people you could mention.  You could mention James Watt or Henry Ford as examples of people who drove industrialization in the Western world.  You could mention Abraham Lincoln for his role in keeping the US together and in ending slavery.  You could mention figures like Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, or Emmeline Pankhurst as people who led struggles for the rights of oppressed groups. Any of these would be defensible choices.  Who will you choose?

I need 2 quotes about Jem in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Jem Finch is an important character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.  He is the older brother of Scout, and together they share many experiences.  Their primary interest at the beginning of the novel is their preoccupation with Boo Radley.  As the novel goes on, their interests take a more serious turn as they become consumed with Tom Robinson's trial.  Near the end of the novel, they survive a murder attempt by Bob Ewell.  Here are two quotes about Jem that reveal more about his character:

- Jem and Scout are motherless and are being raised by their father.  Scout, the narrator, discusses the loss of their mother and the impact it has on Jem:

Jem was the product of their first year of marriage; four years later I was born, and two years later our mother died from a sudden heart attack.  They said it ran in her family.  I did not miss her, but I think Jem did.  He remembered her clearly, and sometimes in the middle of a game he would sigh at length, then go off and play by himself behind the car-house.  When he was like that, I knew better than to bother him (Chapter 1).

Jem feels the absence of his mother.  He does not talk about it.  Rather, he prefers to be alone and reflect on his memories of her.

- Like his father, Jem cares about justice.  When Tom Robinson is found guilty, Jem is devastated.  He knows in his heart that Tom is innocent, and he is devastated that an innocent man is being charged with a crime:

It was Jem's turn to cry.  His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd.  "It ain't right," he muttered, all the way to the corner of the square where we found Atticus waiting (Chapter 22). 

What sound does the narrator hear at the end of the story that causes him to confess to the murder?

The narrator invites the officers who have come to investigate the cry his neighbors heard to sit directly over the spot where he has buried the corpse of the old man, his victim.  Before long, however, he says, his ears began to ring.  Then,

The ringing became more distinct -- it continued and became more distinct: I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling: but it continued and gained definitiveness -- until, at length, I found that that the noise was not within my ears.

The narrator believes that he must have begun to grow pale as he heard this sound that he now believes is coming from outside his own body, and he continues to speak effortlessly so as to distract the officers.  As he talks, he becomes more and more aware of the sound, increasing in volume, saying, "It was a low, dull, quick sound -- much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton."  This line reiterates the narrator's earlier description of the sound he believed the old man's heartbeat made when he was scared; right before the narrator killed the old man, he said, "there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton [....].  It was the beating of the old man's heart."  Thus, he believes that the sound he hears beneath the floorboards is the sound of the old man's heart, somehow beating again even though he'd confirmed the man to be dead. 

However, it isn't the old man's heart.  It can't be.  It turns out that the hellish tattoo the narrator hears is actually his own heartbeat, growing louder and stronger and faster the more excited the narrator gets.  This explains why, as his adrenaline began to flow just prior to committing murder, he could hear his own heart, but he interpreted it as the old man's.  Now, nervous in the presence of the police officers, his heart begins to race again, and he hears it.  He has said several times, throughout the story that he is "nervous," and anxiety tends to increase one's heart rate.  Therefore, in the end, it is actually the narrator's own heart that he hears, but the fear that it is really the old man's is what causes him to confess.

In The Odyssey, is the cyclops a good host or bad host? Why?

Polyphemus, the Cyclops and son of Poseidon, is a terrible host.  He is described as "lawless," but that doesn't quite do justice to his true nature.  In Ancient Greece, the highest law was known as Xenia.  Xenia is the ancient Greek word for "hospitality."  This law declares that any traveler is to be fed, sheltered, and taken care of by the inhabitants of a home.  It is protected by Zeus himself.  In many stories, people attempt to "get around" the concept by sending guests off on what are thought to be impossible tasks, hoping that the guests die in the process.  However, Polyphemus takes it to an entirely different level, and suffers terribly for it.  

This law is so well known and universally obeyed that Odysseus naturally assumes that entering Polyphemus's cave and eating from his table is perfectly acceptable, even though the Cyclops isn't at home when he and his men arrive.  In fact, when his men wish to return to the boat, he wants to wait for the Cyclops to return because he believes that Polyphemus, being a good host, will also present Odysseus with a gift.  When Polyphemus returns to his cave, he rolls a huge rock in front of the door to keep his sheep in.  He then notices Odysseus and his men.  Odysseus introduces himself and says

"But chancing here, we come before your knees to ask that you will offer hospitality, and in other ways as well will give the gift which is the stranger's due.  O mighty one, respect the gods.  We are your suppliants, and Zeus is the avenger of the suppliant and the stranger; he is the stranger's friend, attending the deserving."

Odysseus asks for Xenia, evening invoking the name of Zeus, but the Cyclops responds that his race "pay no need to aegis-bearing Zeus, nor to the blessed gods; because we are much stronger than themselves."  Polyphemus then eats two of the men; he eats two more for breakfast the next morning and two for dinner.  This is not the behavior of a good host, or even a mediocre host.  Polyphemus eats his guests, directly defying Zeus, and says that he is stronger than the most powerful god.

Polyphemus ends up paying for his actions and words as Odysseus thinks of a way to trick him.  Odysseus shares his wine with Polyphemus, eventually getting him drunk.  Once the Cyclops falls asleep, Odysseus and his men pull out a piece of the Cyclops's club they had sharpened, charred, and hid in the dung around the cave.  They then reheat it and use it to stab him in the eye.  There's a lengthy description of how terribly the Cyclops suffers as a result of being stabbed with the flaming stick, and Odysseus and his men sneak out of the cave by attaching themselves to the underside of the Cyclops's giant sheep.  Unable to see them because he is now blind, Polyphemus has no idea they are under the livestock, and the men quickly escape to the sea.

If Polyphemus had simply shown respect to the gods by obeying Zeus's law of Xenia, things would have turned out much differently for him.  Instead, he is one of the worst hosts ever and is left blinded, humbled, and sheepless because of it.

What kind of story world is presented in "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" by Le Guin?

At the beginning of the story, the world presented seems like some idealistic utopia. It seems like a paradise. The world is full of joy and this is exemplified by the upcoming Summer Festival. The people are happy but still as complex as we are. The notion that happiness must correlate with simplicity or even ignorance ("ignorance is bliss") does not apply to Omelas. In other words, these people did not have to sacrifice knowledge, complexity, and even some luxury in order to obtain this kind of joy. They are not "noble savages" living in simple purity. They are complex, we might even say Modern in some ways, but with the same notions of joy and happiness. It is, in a sense, too good to be true. But this is false. The narrator reveals that Omelas is not perfect. Therefore, it is not too good to be true. In fact, it is actually more realistic than at first described. 

The happiness of Omelas depends upon the suffering of one solitary child. There is no explanation of why this agreement has been made or with whom. The bottom line is that the majority of Omelas live in joy and peace as long as one child suffers terribly. So, it is not the perfect utopia it seemed to be in the initial descriptions. In fact, it bears striking resemblance, literally or at least allegorically, to cities and towns in actual existence. Aren't there cities, towns, and nations where a large portion of the population is relatively happy but a majority of that same population suffers? And although some people protest the suffering of others, doesn't it seem that most people simply accept the fact that while they are happy, others will suffer? These are some questions that the story suggests. So, the world of the story initially seems idealistic, but in the end, it seems all to realistic. 

How would you describe Montag's feelings as he burns his own house?

Montag enjoys burning his own home because it means he is destroying all of the emptiness that it represents. He wasn't happy in his home with his wife Mildred. When Montag finds out Mildred was who called the alarm on him, he decides there's no reason to save a home for a broken marriage. The text describes what Montag thinks and feels as he goes from room to room with the flamethrower. First, he goes to the bedroom and burns the twin beds. Their marriage was so divided that he and his wife didn't even sleep together in the same bed. He is actually surprised when the beds burn "in a great simmering whisper, with more heat and passion and light than he would have supposed them to contain" (116). It's as if there is more emotion involved burning down the bedroom than was ever felt therein.

Next, Montag burns the bedroom walls and cosmetics chest before moving into the dining room to torch everything there. As he is torching the dishes, he remembers how empty he felt in this house "with a strange woman who would forget him tomorrow" (116). He is really feeling the futility of their relationship and their life together as he burns everything. As a result, he feels the joy of burning something again. Montag rationalizes his feelings by thinking that since there was no solution to the emptiness he felt in his life, then burning down the house that represented his emptiness is not problematic.

When Montag reaches the dreaded parlor, he takes full pleasure blasting that room with fire. He's more than happy to throw flames on the walls and screens in an effort to destroy the emptiness they always seemed to cause him.

"The emptiness made an even emptier whistle, a senseless scream. . . He cut off its terrible emptiness, drew back, and gave the entire room a gift of one huge bright yellow flower of burning" (117).

Montag really works up a sweat burning his own house. It's as if he is symbolically burning down his old life to replace it with a new one. At the end of it all, it seems as if Montag is relieved, in a way—relieved to have some closure to the unanswerable questions about his life and his marriage. All of those concerns go up in smoke just like his house.

Are any of Charles Darnay's actions portrayed as heroic?

While Sydney Carton is usually held up for his heroic sacrifice at the end of the novel, Charles Darnay also has his moments. His rejection of his wealth and estate because of the oppressive nature of the French upper class is heroic from the start. To start over in a new country with nothing but his own knowledge with which to earn a living shows great sacrifice, which he will continue in many instances. In his conversation with Doctor Manette about his intention of courting and marrying Lucie, he is very forthright, or at least tries to be. He has no idea of the cruelty that has been done in the name of Evremonde, but he is still willing to tell his future father-in-law the truth. His return to Paris to help his servant Gabelle in the midst of the Revolution shows great courage. He faces his death with firmness, and his only grief is for what it will mean for his wife and daughter. Dickens does not tell us what his reaction was on learning of Carton’s sacrifice, but it would be consistent with his character to pledge himself to honor Carton throughout the rest of his life.

Say I have a sphere that has a volume of 0.330 liters, contains 0.075 moles of an ideal gas and has a temperature of 293 K. I need to calculate...

In this question, 

V = 0.330 l

T = 293 K

and n = 0.075 moles

As you rightly stated, we can use the ideal gas law (PV = nRT) to determine the total pressure exerted by the gas on the container.

And hence, P = nRT/V = (0.075 x 0.0821 x 293)/(0.330) = 5.47 atm. (about the same as you have mentioned).

To determine the pressure exerted by each atom, we need to determine the total number of atoms in the sphere. 

1 mole of any substance has an Avogadro's number of atoms. Here we have 0.075 moles of gas. Thus, the total number of atoms are

=`0.075 xx 6.023 xx 10^23` = `4.52 xx 10^22` atoms.

Since the total pressure exerted by the gas is 5.47 atm, the pressure exerted by each atom can be calculated as:

Pressure by each atom = total pressure/number of atoms

= `5.47/(4.52 xx 10^22)`  atm/atom

 = `1.21 xx 10^-22` atm/atom.

Thus, each atom exerts about `1.21 xx 10^-22`  atm pressure.

For a sphere of volume 0.33 l, we can calculate its radius.

Volume = `4/3 pir^3`  =0.33 l = 330 cm^3

solving this equation, we get, r = 4.29 cm

The surface area of the sphere is `4pir^2`  = 231.27 cm^2

Area per atom is 231.27 cm^2 /4.52 x 10^22 atoms = 5.12 x 10^-21 cm^2/atom = 5.12 x 10^-25 m^2/atom. 

Since, force is the product of pressure and area, the force exerted by each atom can be calculated as:

Force = pressure x area = `1.21 xx 10^-22 atm xx 5.12 xx 10^-25 m^2`

= `6.2 xx 10^-47`  N/atom

Here a very simplifying assumption has been made that each atom is on the surface of the container and is applying force only on the container surface and not each other. 

Hope this helps. 

Describe how Bowen's reaction series affects the processes of partial melting and fractional crystallization.

Bowen’s reaction series was created by N. L. Bowen to describe how minerals are formed as magma heats and cools. Because minerals have different melting points, they can be found in rocks at different temperatures.

Fractional crystallization is the term used to describe how different minerals crystalize out of magma at different temperatures during the cooling process. For example, according to Bowen’s reaction series, mafic minerals will crystallize out of magma while the temperature is still relatively high, whereas felsic minerals will not crystallize out of magma until lower temperatures are reached.

Partial melting is the opposite of fractional crystallization. This term is used to describe how different minerals in magma melt at different temperatures as magma is heated. For example, according to Bowen’s reaction series, felsic minerals in magma melt first at around 700 degrees Celsius. On the other hand, mafic minerals remain solid until the temperature reaches around 1200 degrees Celsius.

What is the meaning of Diaspora?. Discuss why is it important for contemporary historian to understand the phenomenon?

Diaspora is the dispersal of a group of people from their original homeland. It may refer to the event of travel outside the homeland, and/or the act of settling in a new location. It is different from immigration in that it involves a specific ethnic or cultural group leaving their homeland on a mass scale, to the point that these people may no longer occupy the homeland as a majority.

As historians, we most commonly use the term "diaspora" to refer to the dispersion of Jewish people outside of Israel, and their experience of settling (or not) in another nation. There has been a shift towards talking about diaspora of cultural groups other than Jewish people, but this is the popular, historical usage.

It is important to understand both the cause and effects of a diaspora. For example, a majority of the Jewish populations were pushed out of Israel and Palestine beginning with the Babylonian conquests of the 6th century, BCE. Not only does such mass-migration remove a cultural presence from an area, it creates a cultural presence in the areas settled. In these new settled areas, identity takes on multiplicity and there is often a blending of cultures.

Today, a diaspora is occurring as much of the population of Syria is being uprooted from their homeland and these people are moving into other nations. 

What are some reasons the colonists wanted to separate from Great Britain?

When the American colonists declared independence from Britain in 1776, it was the product of tensions which had steadily risen over the last decade. Britain's taxation policy was one of the reasons why the colonists wanted independence: they had introduced the Sugar Act in 1764, to levy money on molasses, and the Stamp Act in 1765, to raise taxes on printed products. When the colonists had protested these pieces of legislation, on the grounds of 'no taxation without representation,' the British responded with the Declaratory Act, which stated that Britain had supreme power over taxation. 

The Great Awakening, a religious movement which swept through the colonies in the 1730s, also encouraged the colonists to pursue independence. This religious revival emphasised equality: ministers did not have to be ordained, no single denomination was more important than another and this was one of the first 'national' movements of the era. It united all the colonists and helped to break down the differences between them. More importantly, it highlighted the differences between the colonists and Britain, therefore helping to create the revolutionary spirit. 

What does Miss Maudie say that silences Mrs. Merriweather?

In Ch. 24 Aunt Alexandra is hosting a meeting of the Missionary Circle and Atticus has been nice enough to supply the food for the meeting.

During the meeting the conversation moves from the  missionaries in their church who are trying to convert an African tribe to Christianity to the topic of the black help there in Macomb. Miss Merriweather says that she doesn't know why some black people are so cranky because Jesus was never cranky. She then goes on to say there are some white folks in town, who she won't name but she is clearly referring to Atticus, who think they are helping but they are really just stirring up the black people. It is in response to that comment that Miss Maudie says,

"His food doesn't stick going down, does it?"

She is referring to Atticus's supply of food for the meeting, of course, and she points out directly to Miss Merriweather that she is happy to sit in his home and eat his food while hurling insults behind his back and directly in from of his family (Aunt Alexandra and Scout) and friends (Miss Maudie). This effectively silences Miss Merriweather.

What reasons does Hooper give Elizabeth to not desert him? For what reason does he smile after Elizabeth breaks their engagement and leaves?

Mr. Hooper gives Elizabeth two reasons to stay by his side.  First, he says, "'[...] hereafter there shall be no veil over my face, no darkness between our souls!  It is but a mortal veil -- it is not for eternity!'"  He promises her that the veil will not always be between them.  In life, it will always be there, but once they are dead, he will no longer have to wear it.  In other words, life is short (and so will his time with the veil be), but eternity is long, and there will be no veil then.  Second, he exclaims, "'O! you know not how lonely I am, and how frightened, to be alone behind my black veil.'" He feels very isolated as a result of his veil, and to know that he retains the sympathy and love of one person would render his isolation much more bearable.  

When he will not show her his face even one more time, she leaves him forever.  

But, even amid his grief, Mr. Hooper smiled to think that only a material emblem had separated him from happiness, though the horrors, which it shadowed forth, must be drawn darkly between the fondest of lovers.

In order to understand why he smiles, we must understand what the veil symbolizes.  Mr. Hooper has come to the realization that all human beings are fundamentally separated from one another by their failure to admit their own sinfulness to their fellows.  It isn't our shared sin that separates us -- we all sin -- it is our unwillingness to be open about our sins with one another; it is our unwillingness to be made vulnerable and so to really know one another that divides each person from everyone else.  We all participate in the same deception, that we are each sinless, thus we all wear the same figurative veil.  Once we die, and our sins are made known to God, we will no longer feel the need to hide our true natures from one another; this is why Mr. Hooper says he will not wear it for eternity.  In life, however, Mr. Hooper no longer wishes to keep up this charade and has chosen to wear the veil as a literal representation of the symbolic veil that we hold up between ourselves and others when we portray ourselves as sinless.  

So, he smiles because of his realization that Elizabeth is leaving him as a result of this "material emblem" which is of little importance compared to what it represents: our fundamental human inability to really know anyone because we all hide behind this "veil," deceiving others as to our true natures.  Ironically, she leaves -- not because she understands this reality, that they would always be separated by the figurative veil -- but because of the actual, literal veil that is only a symbol.

Is Gregor Samsa from The Metamorphosis sane?

Is Gregor Samsa from Kafka's The Metamorphosis insane?

In order to answer this question, we must look at the point of view from which the story was written. The Metamorphosis is written in the third person -- the "he, she, they" style of narration -- and not from the first person -- the "i, me" style of narration. This indicates that the narrator is reliable, and we can take at face value that the facts relayed to us via the narration are true. In fact, right from the first line of the story, we know what kind of world we're in:

When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed into a monstrous vermin.

This sentence is an anacoluthon, which is defined as "syntactical inconsistency or incoherence within a sentence". At the beginning, it is logical that Gregor Samsa would wake in the morning from unsettling dreams, but not that he would find himself changed into an insect. Right away, the expectation for the whole story is established, and we know that we are no longer in a place of strict naturalism. As such, it can be concluded that Gregor Samsa is quite sane, and also that he is definitely a bug.

What are the similarities between Petersburg and Antietam?

There are some similarities between the Civil War battles of Antietam and Petersburg. In both instances, the South was not victorious. In the Battle of Antietam, the South had hoped to win a battle in the North. This would have possibly brought foreign aid to the South. It also might have weakened the morale of the northerners who expected the Civil War to be an easy win for their side. However, General Lee was forced to retreat back to Virginia. He was unable to accomplish his goals in this battle. While this battle could be considered a draw, it certainly wasn’t a southern victory.

The Battle of Petersburg occurred just before the end of the Civil War. The Union troops won this battle as well as the battle at Richmond. The defeat of the South was inevitable. One week after the South was defeated at Petersburg, General Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House. The Civil War had finally ended.

The uncertainty in the position of an electron orbiting an atom is 0.3 Å. What is the uncertainty in its speed?

According to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, we cannot simultaneously determine the position and momentum of a particle precisely and that there is always some uncertainty in this. Mathematically, the principle is given as:

`deltaxdeltap>= h/(4pi)`

where, `deltax`  is the uncertainty in the position and `deltap`  is the uncertainty in momentum of the object, while h is the Planck's constant.

Here, the uncertainty in the position of electron is 0.3 x 10^-10 m. The mass of an electron is 9.12 x 10^-31 kg and the value of Planck's constant is 6.626 x 10^-34 Js. 

Thus, the uncertainty in velocity of the electron is

`deltav >= (6.626 xx 10^-34)/(4pi xx 9.12 xx 10^(-31) xx 0.3 xx 10^(-10)) = 0.193 xx 10^7`

Thus, there is a minimum uncertainty of 1.93 x 10^6 m/s in the velocity of the electron. 

Hope this helps. 

Who gave Ancient Egypt a new religion?

In ancient Egypt, the people believed in many gods. Individuals could join cults for whatever god they chose, but still revered all of the gods. Egyptians were accustomed to respecting each other's belief systems and rituals. The most popular religious sects in the Egyptian system were the Cults of Ra, Osiris, and Amun. By the Eighteenth Dynasty when Amenhotep IV came to power as pharaoh, the Amun Cult was very prestigious and wielded significant political influence. The Aten Cult did exist also but was not as popular.

Amenhotep was not pleased with this fact and found it unfathomable that the priests of the cult would own more land than the pharaoh. Amenhotep resolved this situation by moving the capital from Thebes, changing his name, and introducing a new religion.

Amenhotep changed his name to Akhenaten in honor of the sun disk. He elevated Aten to become the official god of the state. He essentially instituted a monotheistic religion and discredited the priests of the other cults. As you can imagine, this did not go over well with the elite priest class. The lower classes were not on board either. After Akhenaten died, King Tutankhamen reinstituted the traditional religious traditions.

Identify the abuses in the railroad industry and discuss how these led to the first efforts at industrial regulation by the federal government.

There were many abuses perpetrated by railroad companies, which were among the biggest and most powerful in the nation in the late nineteenth century. But the abuses that most directly led to attempts at regulation involved two closely-connected practices. One was the formation of monopolies through acquisition, the formation of trusts, and "pooling" prices (basically agreeing not to compete with each other) and the other was charging unfair and exorbitant rates to farmers. The railroads, in the absence of competition, could demand whatever prices they wished to ship farm produce and equipment. There were several attempts at the state level to regulate these practices, but the first federal regulation was the Interstate Commerce Act, passed in 1887. It created the Interstate Commerce Commission, which was intended to enforce bans on many of the unfair practices mentioned above. This marked an unprecedented effort at government regulation of business and industry, albeit one that had little immediate effect. 

What would be good names for the chapters in Gary Soto's novel Buried Onions?

Authors often leave the chapters of their books unnamed. They may not want to give away any details of the chapter or they may not want to influence the reader's impression of what is happening in the book. Great books such as Great Expectation, The Grapes of Wrath and Animal Farm, for example, leave the chapters untitled. On the other hand, both Jonathan Swift in Gulliver's Travels and Miguel de Cervantes in Don Quixote use very descriptive chapter titles. 

In Buried Onions, Gary Soto opts for the former style and leaves each of the nine chapters untitled. But, I have suggested titles that seem representative of each chapter.

Chapter One: Mortuary Students—In the beginning of this chapter Eddie, the protagonist, is contemplating the deaths of the people around him, including his father, two uncles, his best friend from high school Juan and, most recently, his cousin Jesús. It is appropriate then that as he sits on campus at Fresno City College he sees the students who are taking classes to become morticians. He even imagines that the coffee the students drink turns cold as soon as they touch it.

Chapter Two: The Road to Salvation—Eddie goes off to his job painting curbs in this chapter. He hopes that honest work will help deliver him from the grip of poverty and violence he experiences in his Mexican-American neighborhood in Fresno.

Chapter Three: Mr. Yellow Shoes—In this chapter Eddie tails a guy with yellow shoes to a class at Fresno City College. He has been told the guy who murdered his cousin Jesús was last seen wearing yellow shoes. Like many things in the novel it is hearsay, or "chisme." Eddie never discovers who really killed Jesús.

Chapter Four: Buying Onions—Onions are symbolic for the grief which pervades the neighborhood where Eddie grows up. He imagines an onion buried under Fresno which causes the people above to cry. Even Juan's sister Belinda has a tattoo of a tear on her cheek. One of Eddie's best childhood friends, José, has returned home on leave from the Marines. While out for breakfast they are accosted by a man selling bags of onions. José, out of a sense of philanthropy, agrees to buy three bags. Not long afterward he is stabbed by "cholos" while trying to recover a truck which had been stolen from Eddie. The scene seems to represent that José, even though now in the service, can never escape the grief of life in Fresno.

Chapter Five: Queenie—Violence and death haunts the novel and in chapter five Eddie volunteers to help his nina, or godmother, take her old dog Queenie to the SPCA to be euthanized. Appropriately his godmother's eyes are full of tears.

Chapter Six: Barbecue Chips—Because Eddie can't seem to escape his plight by going to college or through working, his playground coach suggests he join the military. When he arrives at the recruiting office he is at first nervous. He is greeted by posters of nuclear submarines and the president. When the recruiter appears, Eddie's nervousness increases as he is asked several questions and told to fill out a form. The formality of the situation is broken when a "stoner" Eddie knew from high school arrives. That and the fact the recruiter is eating barbecue chips in his cubicle leave Eddie unsure about his decision. The military may be no more redeeming than college or work.

Chapter Seven: Cockroaches—While spending time alone in his apartment Eddie discovers several cockroaches have also made his apartment home. He attempts to kill them by trapping them in an ice cream carton. When they return he resigns himself to their presence. They seem to represent the "cholos" like Angel, Lupe and Juan who always seem to be lurking. No matter how hard he tries, Eddie can never escape them.

Chapter Eight: Homeless—While trying to avoid Angel, who he believes is out to get him, he jumps over a fence and is greeted by a little boy who thinks Eddie must be homeless. At this point in the story Eddie is homeless. He can't return to his apartment for fear of confronting Angel and he seems rootless after failure at college and in work.

Chapter Nine: Chisme—"Chisme" is the spanish word for gossip. Much of the violence in the novel, especially the fight between Angel and Eddie, is caused by gossip. Eddie has heard that Angel was really the one who killed Jesús but neither the reader nor Eddie is ever sure.

What are the uses of chemistry in industries?

There are several uses of chemistry in industry. Simplest of these are cleaning, painting, storing, manufacturing, preserving, etc. One can name several industries such as, pharmaceuticals, food, beverage, rubber, metal, dairy, nanotechnology, manufacturing, etc., that uses chemistry extensively, for their daily operations. All the medicines that we use are chemicals and have been manufactured by using concepts of chemistry. Food and beverage industries use preservative and other chemicals for processing, preparing and storing these items. Metal extraction from ores is generally a chemical process. Dairy industry uses chemistry concepts in storing and preparing the various dairy products. Nuclear energy is based on concepts of chemistry and physics. Most of the new products we see in the market are a result of application of chemical concepts, examples can be phones, cars, materials, etc. One simply has to name an industry and a product and we can see  (or guess) the chemistry behind it.

Hope this helps. 

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald seems to communicate a message about people’s failure to accomplish their dreams—Nick, Gatsby, Tom, Daisy all...

Daisy's American dream is simultaneously the simplest and the most difficult to achieve of all the main characters in this story, which is perhaps why people seem to gravitate around her. She is the catalyst for every slightly significant event in the entire tale, something that cannot be truthfully said for any other character. Without Daisy, Myrtle would be alive and possibly married to Tom, Nick would have accomplished his own modest American dream, and Gatsby would still be alive and likely much poorer.

Daisy Buchanan's dream is simply to live in financial comfort and to have security in as many areas of her life as possible. Contrast this with Tom's dream of living a grand life in which the world is his oyster and nothing is denied him and with Gatsby's dream of regaining Daisy and showering her with every extreme sort of thing he can find. 

Daisy's dream is to have a comfortable, safe and respectable life, which is the same kind of dream that everyone in life starts out with until they eventually set their sights higher. But for women in the 1920s, a stable life was the most that they could ever hope for. Financial independence was a rare thing for women back then and could only ever be accomplished by women like Jordan Baker, who was born into a wealthy family and possessed a highly marketable skill (playing golf).

For Daisy, who presumably doesn't have a skill that can make her famous and successful, her only recourse to sell her beauty and wealthy breeding to man of similar social standing as her. And Daisy does make a living off of her beauty and charms, make no mistake. Throughout the entire book Nick comments on the almost ethereal and magical qualities that Daisy possesses simply by being. In chapter 1 he states that "there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered 'Listen,' a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour."

Daisy has learned how to make every aspect of herself appealing in every way to anybody that even briefly encounters her. Gatsby himself eventually remarks in chapter 8 that he was surprised at how powerfully he was drawn to her. 

This is how Daisy survives in an incredibly sexist world where a woman can only make a good life for herself if she is alluring, preferably of high social standing, and certainly willing to shove aside her scruples and often her self-respect in order to keep a wealthy man. Even Myrtle, Tom Buchanan's "other woman" lacks the comfortable life that Daisy leads because she wasn't born to it and didn't possess beauty, only "vitality." One of Daisy's most notable lines is in relation to her daughter when she says, "And I hope she’ll be a fool — that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” This perfectly illustrates Daisy's mentality and resignation towards dealing with every mistreatment or neglect from Tom or any other man she's been involved with throughout her life.

Daisy's ambition is significantly less than that of every other major character, with perhaps the exception of Nick (and even that is dubious), yet the chances of her achieving and retaining it are slimmer than for anyone else. Jay Gatsby managed to pull himself up from nothing and he almost certainly became one of the wealthiest men alive, all of which was possible for him because he was a very dedicated man. As a woman, Daisy doesn't have anyway to support herself adequately on her own, let alone reach the heights that Gatsby rose to. 

Ultimately, Daisy doesn't fail completely in her pursuit of the American dream. She stays with Tom and presumably continues to lead her cushy, relatively-secure life. However, she does fail to attain the bright dream that Gatsby offered her. For one brief window of time he offered her something she hadn't dared to hope for: a loving, decent relationship. Gatsby's promise was to idolize her, never cheat on her, and provide her with greater respect than Tom ever did. Marrying Gatsby would still be a far cry short of the ideals that women today strive for, but back than a wealthy man that didn't cheat on or insult his wife was almost too good to be true.  

This is the dream that Daisy failed to achieve and while that was partially her own doing, it is difficult not to pity her when her considerable lack of security in such a sexist world is taken into account. This book is a wonderful commentary on the gender inequalities of the 1920s and it manages to speak equally on the flaws of the characters and the omnipresent flaws of the world they lived in. 

I need help to figure out how to do a demand and supply curve for my economics project. We are doing a project in which we had to ask people what...

If you already have the demand schedule, most of the work is done. I don't have your precise figures in front of me, so I'll just make up my own; the process is the same.

Suppose you interviewed 40 people, and asked them all the maximum amount they'd be willing to pay for a pizza.

5 said they would pay no more than $20.
10 said they would pay no more than $15.
15 said they would pay no more than $10.
5 said they would pay no more than $5.
5 said they hate pizza and would never pay for it.

Let's think about the supply and demand graph, with price on the y-axis and quantity on the x-axis. If we set a price of $20, how many people would buy? That's easy: 5 people. So graph the point (5,$20).

Now, what about a price of $15? There are 10 people who said they'd pay exactly that much, but we also need to add in the 5 people who said they'd pay more than that. Someone who will buy a pizza for $20 will also buy it for $15 (presumably; I don't think pizzas are a Giffen good or a Veblen good). So the total number of people who would buy a pizza for $15 is actually 15 people. So graph the point (15,$15).

Continuing on, in my little example there are a total of 30 people who would buy at $10, so (30,$10), a total of 35 people who would buy at $5, so (40,$5). Then when you include the people who would not pay anything, you can add the point (40,$0) as the number of people who would pay "at least $0" for a pizza.

Since nobody said they'd pay more than $20, you should also draw a horizontal line from (0,$20) to (5,$20). If you try to charge more than $20, you will sell no pizza at all.

Graph all those points, then draw lines connecting them. Maybe you could try to make a smooth curve to estimate the values in between; or maybe you should just make straight lines for simplicity. In any case, that's your demand curve.

If you have multiple different types of pizza (e.g. pepperoni vs. cheese), each type should get its own demand curve. In reality they are probably imperfect substitutes, so if the price of one falls demand for the other will shift down; but there's no simple way of representing that on the demand curves.

Now all you have to do is do that same process for your actual data.

What is the tone of "I'm nobody! Who are you?"

The tone of "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" is a light, humorous one, and one that is also inviting; however, at the same time there is an undertone of satire that is accompanied by sarcasm.

Emily Dickinson's playful invitation to her reader to join her in being a non-entity cleverly disguises her edgy satire so that it is not so stinging. For, she is really telling her readers that being a "somebody" and having fame is often deceptive in its true value, and, therefore, not something to really admire or envy.

How public--like a Frog--
To tell one's name--the livelong June--
To an admiring Bog!

Satirizing the famous, saying that they must keep their names in the public consciousness lest they be forgotten, and mocking the people who admire the famous, calling them an "admiring Bog," a swamp that is stagnant and without any distinction, suggests that the fans along with the famous people lack any individuality and initiative of their own. Comparing them to a bog is certainly sarcastic in tone.

Clearly, then, Emily Dickinson's tone may be playful, but it is also potent in its underlying satire of the sacrifice of individuality that both the celebrity and the admirer suffer.

 

If grass have 1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 joule of energy and deer gets 10 percent of it...

The given numerical is an example of ten percent law, according to which, only about 10% of the energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next. Here, the grass have 10^84 J of energy. The next trophic level, deer, get only 10% of the energy, or 10^83 J. Similarly, only 10% of the energy is transferred to the next trophic level. That is, the wolf will get only about 10^82 J of energy. Using the same principle, the lion (the highest trophic level and the topmost consumer) will get only 10% from the previous tropic level (the wolf) and hence, a lion will only get 10^81 J of energy from eating a wolf. Thus, in moving 3 tropic levels, from grass to lion, only 1000th part of the original energy is transferred. 

Some examples of biomagnification (or concentration of material in a food chain as we move up the trophic levels), include the biomagnification of pesticides, such as DDT along the food chain. Many other chemicals (such as PCBs, VC, etc.) and toxic metals (such as mercury and arsenic, etc.), also biomagnify along the food chain.

Hope this helps. 

In Chapter 3 of Pride and Prejudice, how does the first meeting foreshadow the true love between the two characters?

"Foreshadowing" refers to details in the story that suggest the possible outcome, that there is more story to come. Foreshadowing can take the form of a word, a phrase, or broader hints.

In chapter III of Pride and Prejudice, the Bennet sisters, Jane and Elizabeth, attend a local assembly. Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy are also in attendance. In Regency society, dances are important sites of social interaction; partners who dance with one another more than once are seen as a potential couple according to the period's social codes. So, when Bingley dances with Jane twice, and his sisters pay her special attention, it signifies that not only has Jane caught Bingley's notice, but his family approves of her also. Jane and Bingley's positive social interaction foreshadows the possibility of their becoming a couple.

Jane and Bingley's easy interaction contrasts sharply with Elizabeth and Darcy's. While the novel focuses upon Elizabeth and Darcy's evolving relationship, in Chapter III, their interactions are disastrous: Darcy insults Elizabeth, and Elizabeth retells the story to her friends and family and pokes fun at what seems to be his well-developed ego. This isn't exactly well-mannered either, so both are at fault in this scene.

The chapter ends with Mrs. Bennet speaking of how "horrid" Darcy is and how much she detests him. This strong emotion, expressed so early in the novel by both mother and daughter (Elizabeth) suggests strongly that the narrative will soon take a turn and force a re-evaluation of Mr. Darcy's character. (This re-evaluation will, as domestic narratives rely upon symmetry, be accompanied by Darcy's re-evaluation of Elizabeth too.)

What is the Samuel Taylor Coleridge trying to convey through his epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner?

Much is wrapped up in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The obvious is that there are consequences to every action. When the sailor killed the albatross, suffering and death were inflicted on the entire crew. The mariner was the only one from the crew who lived, and his punishment was to tell his story over and over. He was sentenced to a life where he is trapped between life and death.

Coleridge also had a fascination with the natural world and the power that it contains. Man, no matter how hard he tries, cannot control the power of the ocean or the weather. The mariner learns how very important it is to respect nature and the spiritual world as well.

That spiritual world also exists in this poem. The dead sailors come back to life for a time, inhabited by some sort of spirit, and the albatross is also connected to the other side.

Coleridge conveys much more in his poem--themes of being imprisoned, religion, and punishment. He tells a story through poetry that is beautiful, but also makes his readers think.

How do chapters 11-16 illustrate Atticus's advice to Scout to "climb inside someone else's skin and walk around in it"?

Atticus tries to explain to Scout the importance of empathy, and she gets a chance to test it out with Mrs. Dubose. Mrs. Dubose is a mean old lady, but Scout and Jem have to try to understand what she is going through. Mrs. Dubose insults them and their father, but he tells them to think about her condition.

“Easy does it, son,” Atticus would say. “She’s an old lady and she’s ill. You just hold your head high and be a gentleman. Whatever she says to you, it’s your job not to let her make you mad” (Chapter 11).

When Jem destroys Mrs. Dubose’s flowers because he is tired of her insults, Atticus has him go to read to her daily. Scout accompanies him. At first they do not know the purpose of these visits. Mrs. Dubose is still pretty horrible to them. Atticus tells them later that she was sick and kicking a morphine addiction. 

She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine. . . I wanted you to see something about her—I wanted you to see what real courage is. . . It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what (Chapter 11).

This is an important lesson for Scout and Jem because Atticus is fighting an uphill battle with his defense of Tom Robinson. He knows that, like Mrs. Dubose, his battle might be a losing one. He still feels he has to try his best.  

As Jem grows up, Scout finds it harder to understand him. He is older than her, and going through adolescence. She feels isolated from him, and Calpurnia tells her to give him his space. Scout is frustrated by his “maddening superiority” (Chapter 14). 

When Scout and Jem go to First Purchase African-American Church with Calpurnia, they get a glimpse into what life is like for African Americans in Maycomb. There are very few African Americans in Maycomb who can read. Some African Americans feel threatened by Scout and Jem's presence at their church. Scout learns Tom Robinson’s family is struggling because of the Ewells' accusation, and the First Purchase Church community is trying to help the Robinsons. 

When it came to Aunt Alexandra, it was difficult for Scout to put herself in Alexandra’s skin, but Atticus tried to do so. Knowing that it was important to his sister, he tried to explain the importance of the Finches’ place in the social heriarchy of Maycomb to his children. It was a disaster. 

“She asked me to tell you you must try to behave like the little lady and gentleman that you are. She wants to talk to you about the family and what it’s meant to Maycomb County through the years, so you’ll have some idea of who you are, so you might be moved to behave accordingly” (Chapter 13). 

This speech and the sentiment behind it were so unlike Atticus that it made Scout burst into tears, and he told her to forget it. After all, Atticus tried to teach Scout to get inside other people’s skin. That doesn’t mean putting yourself above other people.

When Dill shows up unexpectedly under Scout’s bed, she learns he ran away from home. His new father did not turn out to be what he expected. He tells them he wasn’t wanted. Scout empathizes with Dill’s situation, even though she has a father. She doesn’t tease Dill, and is upset when Jem tells Atticus where he is.

Empathy also allows Scout to jump into the middle of a lynch mob and break it up. She sees Walter Cunningham's father and remembers something her father said about his farming business and tries to strike up a conversation.  

“Entailments are bad,” I was advising him, when I slowly awoke to the fact that I was addressing the entire aggregation. The men were all looking at me, some had their mouths half-open (Chapter 15).

The members of the mob are so surprised at Scout's behavior that they leave. The calm intervention of a little girl brings them to their senses.

What main points make Shylock from the Merchant of Venice a villain?

Based on the text and historical context, it is clear that Shakespeare intended Shylock to be a villain. He does create some sympathy for the character, but it is widely later readings of the text from a modern perspective that paint Shylock as a victim. Here are a few examples of how Shylock is portrayed as the villain of the story.

He is a moneylender

The very fact the Shylock makes a living as a moneylender would be considered criminal in Shakespeare's day. Christians of this time viewed lending with interest as a sin. Members of the Jewish community were forced into this profession by necessity, but Shakespeare's audiences would likely have seen this as cruel and greedy behavior.

He demands a pound of flesh

If Antonio is unable to repay his debt he is obligated to provide Shylock with a pound of his own flesh. This would of course kill him. As demonstrated in Portia's final speech, this may be considered a demand devoid of mercy. Some consider this an exploration of the idealogical differences between the so-called Old and New Testaments of the Christian faith. From a mostly Christian Elizabethan perspective, this could be seen as an act of cruelty.

Jewish villains were common in the day

Many plays by Shakespeare's contemporaries portray Jewish characters as the villains. The mere appearance of a Jewish character in a play would often indicate villainy. It was a common archetype of the day. Modern readings, with less prejudice, have of course rejected this reading.

In Romeo and Juliet, how does Juliet feel about love?

Juliet is very young, barely a teenager, and has no experience of love before she meets Romeo. Yet the character's speech demonstrates that she is an intelligent and sensitive young woman with a rather mature take on love and romance. After falling in love with Romeo after meeting him at the dance, she stares out her bedroom window and speaks aloud of her love for him, not realizing that he can hear her. She complains about his name, because the feud between their families, the Capulets and the Montagues, means they cannot be together. She tries to think of ways to solve this problem. "Deny thy father, and refuse they name. Or if thou wilt not, then be but sworn my love and I'll no longer be a Capulet!"

She means that if they marry, her name will be the same as his and perhaps this will negate the feud. She appears to be displaying the impetuous and idealistic temperament of a young girl in love: first, by fantasizing about marrying a boy she has just met, and send, by assuming that the feud between two two clans could be erased by something so simple as changing her last name.

But once she realizes Romeo is there, she immediately warns him of the danger: "the orchard walls are high and hard to climb, and the place death, considering who thou art, if any of my kinsmen find thee here." She is both embarrassed that he overheard her, but also concerned for his well being. Her nurse calls her inside repeatedly, and she worries she will be found out. She is torn between her duty to her family and her newfound love, which inspires her to be impulsive. She is ready to submit to Romeo utterly and offers to marry him and go wherever he wants. "All my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay, and follow thee my lord throughout the world." For Juliet, love is all-consuming and infinite.

As the play goes on, Juliet's view of love is portrayed as wise beyond her years, and even grandiose at times, as when she speaks of Romeo while she waits for him, saying "Give me my Romeo, and, when he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars; and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night, and pay no worship to the garish sun." These words play on the "star-cross'd lovers" theme of the play, the notion that fate has destined them to be together, in this world and into eternity. Juliet believes she is destined to be with Romeo forever.

What is the importance of the ending of Lord of the Flies, other than that it is ironic?

At the end of Golding's novel, the boys are forced to finally face the reality of their actions on the island. The naval officer who comes to their rescue recognizes that the boys are playing at war and asks if any are killed. Ralph admits that two boys have gone, referring to the deaths of Simon and Piggy; however, he fails to include the boy with the mulberry birthmark that they lost in their first failed attempt at a signal fire. In fact, this first loss of life was never entirely acknowledged by any of the boys. 

The officer also wants to know who is in charge and expresses his dissatisfaction that a group of British boys could not keep it together better. In response, Ralph claims that they were civil at first, but his speech is cut short as he is overcome with emotion. Golding writes that Ralph "gave himself up to them [sobs] now for the first time on the island." One can infer that Ralph, and the others who eventually join him in his grief, has finally realized the gravity of their situation and the results of their actions.  Golding explicitly states that the boys are grieving the loss of their innocence on the island. No matter what happens next, they can never go back to being the young boys who once saw their island home as a shimmering, exciting adventure. 

Why did the men from Umuofia want to go to war with their neighboring tribe, Mbaino?

In Chapter Two, the Umuofia clan want to avenge the murder of Ogbuefi Udo's wife, who died at the hands of men from the Mbaino clan. The unfortunate woman was at the market in Mbaino when she was murdered.

After a meeting, the Umuofia clan immediately dispatches Okonkwo as an emissary to Mbaino. The goal is to threaten Mbaino with war if fitting compensation is not offered for the murder of the Umuofia woman. Because Umuofia has a fearsome reputation for prowess on the battlefield, Mbaino chooses to placate its formidable neighbor. A boy, Ikemefuna, and a young virgin are sent back with Okonkwo to Umuofia.

Accordingly, the young virgin becomes the wife of Ogbuefi Udo, and Ikemefuna is sent to live with Okonkwo until the clan decides his fate. Unbeknownst to Ikemefuna, his own father had participated in the murder of the Umuofia woman. Ikemefuna lives with Okonkwo for three years before the clan decides he must die for his father's guilt. Meanwhile, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, the oldest man in the clan, warns Okonkwo not to participate in Ikemefuna's death, but the formidable warrior ignores the warning, a decision he later regrets.

How does Henkel link rewards and incentives to strategically-important employee behaviors and the company’s targeted outcomes?

Rewarding is much more than what the word implies. It is not just giving people a token of appreciation for doing something.

Rewarding is rooted on the principles of operant and classical conditioning proposed by B.F. Skinner, Pavlov, and a plethora of other social psychologists and researchers. By "conditioning", we mean the molding, contouring and "crafting" of new behaviors.  What behaviors are those? In the case of Henkel's, the behaviors that the company aims to foster and increase among employees are:

1. Increased quality in work performance

2. Attention to detail

3. Focus on quality assurance

4. Keep up the pace of demand/supply

5. Ethical dynamics with co-workers

Why does Henkel do this? According to their organizational culture page, the company pays as much attention and gives as much importance to the process of creating products as to the final products themselves. 

The five indicators mentioned above are clearly process standards. What it means is that these behaviors are entirely based on the process of developing the product, and not on the product marketing or packaging, or even sales. 

When rewards are given for these five indicators, according to the rules of conditioning, employees will increase their levels of motivation. As a result, they will be more likely to shift their usual behaviors at work toward those which reward them the most. This is how motivation plays such an essential part in making a difference between something "good" and something "great".

Henkel also states in the mission and vision statements that the organization wants, indeed, to be the best at what they do. By focusing on the process, rewarding employees at this level, and by motivating them to do better each time, Henkel expects to meet its goals, and they will become better than many of the competitors who may still be abiding by the product-based assessment tools from previous decades. 

Compare the gooseberry garden and the lumber room.

Both the gooseberry garden and the lumber room are forbidden territory in “The Lumber Room” by Saki. Due to being “in disgrace” Nicholas is told he is not to enter the gooseberry garden. The garden surrounded by walls with a door at either end. Within those walls are natural delights such as artichokes and fruit bushes. The vegetation is thick and easy for a child to hide in. The aunt is sure Nicholas will attempt to access the garden, but he has another idea.

While the aunt is preoccupied with her gardening tasks, Nicholas gains access to the forbidden lumber room by using the hidden key. Much to Nicholas’ delight, the room is filled with mysterious objects. Much like the garden, the room has high walls, and its only source of light is a window that opens to the gooseberry garden. While in the lumber room, Nicholas examines a tapestry depicting a hunt scene that alludes to the image of his aunt who is on the hunt for him. As he moves through the room, he examines other curiosities stored away in the dark, dusty room.

In comparison, the gooseberry garden and the lumber room are similar in that they are both forbidden territory filled with delights. Both have high walls and limited access. One is filled with natural delights while the other is filled with material items that are valuable to the adults but off limits to the children. On this particular day, the gooseberry garden is restricted territory for Nicholas, the only child at home.  

Compare and contrast the two main characters of "The Most Dangerous Game".

Richard Connel's short story "The Most Dangerous Game" features a protagonist, Sanger Rainsford, a big game hunter from New York City, and an antagonist, General Zaroff, a Cossack military man who has fled Russia after the revolution. They share a similar passion. Each is adept at big game hunting. When Rainsford accidentally falls off his yacht on the way to South America to hunt jaguars he comes ashore at Zaroff's island. The general lives with his servant, Ivan, in a large palatial chateau with all the "amenities of civilization." The men are similar in their affinity for hunting, yet are very different in their assessments of the value of human life. 

When Rainsford first meets Zaroff the general recognizes his guest because he has read Rainsford's book on "hunting snow leopards in Tibet." While Rainsford is a celebrated hunter, the general is a total fanatic for the hunt. Each of the men has pursued big game throughout the world, and they share their stories. In the beginning they also share the opinion that the game they hunt have no feelings and simply exist to bring pleasure to the hunter.

In the opening of the story, Rainsford explains his theory about the animals he hunts. When his friend Whitney suggests that their prey actually have feelings and suffer, Rainsford scoffs at the idea. He says,

"You're a big-game hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares how a jaguar feels?...This hot weather is making you soft, Whitney. Be a realist. The world is made up of two classes--the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are hunters."

Zaroff has much the same opinion, yet with an insane twist. Because Zaroff has become bored with hunting animals, he hunts men who have been shipwrecked on his island. He rationalizes his murderous pursuit to Rainsford:

"Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong, and, if needs be, taken by the strong. The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure. I am strong. Why should I not use my gift? If I wish to hunt, why should I not? I hunt the scum of the earth: sailors from tramp ships--lassars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels--a thoroughbred horse or hound is worth more than a score of them."

When Zaroff suggests Rainsford hunt with him, the American refuses and the contrast between the characters becomes clear. Rainsford expresses his differences to the general:

"Hunting? Great Guns, General Zaroff, what you speak of is murder....Thank you, I'm a hunter, not a murderer."

In the last part of the story the tables are turned on Rainsford as he is hunted by the general, and the reader may assume that Rainsford eventually regrets his earlier observations about the hunted. He realizes what it is like to be a "beast at bay." 

The reader can label Rainsford as dynamic character because his ordeal has changed him and we feel relatively certain he will never hunt again after the episode on Zaroff's island. Zaroff, on the other hand, is static because he doesn't change. He feels no remorse in his sociopathic practice.

What were the effects of the Japanese being in internment camps?

There were several effects of the Japanese being in internment camps. The first impact was that the lives of the Japanese were interrupted. They had to sell their businesses and their homes. Japanese children could no longer attend the schools they were attending.

Life in the camps was hard. The weather conditions made life difficult. Hot summers and cold winters presented problems for them. The food also wasn’t very good. The housing that was provided was very basic. Trying to escape from the camps could lead to death. Adults had the option of working for $5.00 a day. It wasn’t easy being in these internment camps.

After the war ended, the Japanese faced a lot of discrimination. It was difficult, and in some cases impossible, for the Japanese to return to their cities and their villages because of this discrimination.

Finally, the government recognized its wrongdoings by making restitution to the surviving Japanese. Along with a formal apology, each surviving Japanese was given $20,000 by the government in 1988.

To what extent is militarism an important cause in the outbreak of World War I?

Militarism was a major cause of World War One, and it was a symptom of the deeper causes of the war. In the decades before the war, tensions increased between European nations and empires over a number of issues. These issues included colonial claims, ethnic disputes, old territorial squabbles, and other disagreements. An atmosphere of nationalistic rivalry led all of the major nations of Europe, including the Ottoman Empire, to invest heavily in their armed forces. The result was a sort of arms race that saw Germany, Great Britain, and France in particular develop huge armies and especially navies. The military buildup had a sort of self-perpetuating effect, causing nations to eye each other with increasing suspicion, which led to calls for even more military development. Germany, for example, spent millions on developing a navy to rival that of Great Britain, but the knowledge of what Germany was up to led the British to increase the size of their already vast naval forces. Militarism in this way contributed to tensions between the major European powers in the early twentieth century.

But militarism contributed to the outbreak of war in another way. In Germany especially, in the words of one historian, military generals had a "preponderance in public affairs." The civilian leaders of most European nations were in fact heavily influenced by military leaders, and many of these men, in short, were eager for war. When the crisis of the summer of 1914 broke out, all of the leaders of Europe (again, Germany in particular) were receiving advice from military leaders instead of others who were more eager for a diplomatic solution. So in this way militarism helped exacerbate an already urgent crisis that led to the outbreak of war.

Discuss how energy is generated in a cell.

I assume by cell you mean unicellular microorganisms, such as bacteria. (For cell, as in a battery, energy is generated by chemical reactions and depending on the compounds involved, the cell/battery is single-time use only or rechargeable). 

In cells, energy is generated by the process of cellular respiration. In this process, glucose is broken down in the presence of oxygen and carbon dioxide, water and energy molecules (ATP) are generated. The chemical equation for this reaction is:

`C_6H_12O_6 + 6O_2 -> 6CO_2 + 6 H_2O + ATP`

This is the aerobic decomposition of glucose and creates far more ATP per glucose molecule than anaerobic decomposition. The ATP molecules or adenosine triphosphate molecules are an energy currency for organisms. The conversion of ATP to ADP (Adenosine diphosphate) releases energy and when energy is generated by decomposition of food, it converts back to ATP. 

Interestingly, cellular respiration is complementary to photosynthesis, since each process uses the products of the other as its reactants.

Hope this helps. 

What does Steady Eddie ask Bud if he can take in Bud, Not Buddy?

The band member named Steady Eddie has a conversation with Bud about being a part of the band.  During this conversation, Steady Eddie asks Bud if he can “take” quite a few things.  First, Steady Eddie asks whether Bud can accept giving up his tattered suitcase and use something more acceptable for a band member.  Next, Steady Eddie asks whether Bud can accept practicing on an instrument for a full two hours a day.  This is what Herman E. Calloway requires.  Finally, Steady Eddie asks whether Bud can accept a simple “skinny wooden flute” (a recorder) until he is able to “move on to something a little more complicated.”  Bud answers in the affirmative to all of Steady Eddie’s questions.  In short (and in reference to your question), Bud is able to “take” all of these things.  In fact, Bud is ecstatic.

In conclusion, I should mention that your original question asked about a “phrase” that Bud could take.  In that regard, Steady Eddie is asking Bud whether he could “take” being called the nickname “Sleepy LaBone.”  Of course, Bud feels honored to be given a nickname by the band. 

How can focal length be equal to radius of curvature?

Hello!

It is not clear whether you speak about a (spherical) mirror or about a lens. Let's consider both options.

1. For a spherical mirror with the radius of curvature R the focal length is equal (up to a sign) to the half of `R,` i.e. `R/2.` Therefore the radius of curvature and the focal length cannot be equal.

2. There are more degrees of freedom for a lens with spherical surfaces: the radius of curvature of the second lens' side and the index of refraction (which depends on the lens' material).

Lensmaker's equation says that for a thin double convex lens in air

`1/(f) approx (n-1)*(1/R_1+1/R_2),`

where `ngt1` is the refractive index of a material.

(here `R_1` and `R_2` are considered positive to not think about the sign convention).

If `f=R_1` as you ask then  `1/(R_1)*(2-n)=1/R_2,`

so for `1ltnlt2` it is possible for `R_2=R_1/(2-n).`

One can also consider non-thin lens.

Although gemstones are not of strategic importance in history, they have been sought after and fought over. Explain why this is so?

Gemstones are rocks of little strategic significance, yet have resulted in wars over the human history. Gemstones, such as diamond, ruby, emerald, etc. have been prized for their luster and appearance. These stones are rare and this has increased their value greatly. The bigger and lustrous the stone, more is its value. Not only the kings, but rich people have also desired these stones and their wealth was estimated in terms of such stones. The clothes and personal artifacts of kings and rich people have always been adorned with gemstones. In some cultures, gemstones are also relevant due to their significance in astrology. It is believed, in vedic astrology, that wearing a certain type of gemstone can bring good luck or bad luck. Thus, people prize them for these qualities.

Hope this helps.  

What allows Scout to avoid Aunt Alexandra the first month she lives with the Finches?

Aunt Alexandra, Atticus's sister, moves into the Finch's house in Maycomb. Jem and Scout are accustomed to the independence Atticus gives them. They spend a great deal of time away from home, playing and exploring. Atticus does not mind this.

Scout describes Aunt Alexandra as fitting "into the world of Maycomb like a hand into a glove" (Chapter 13). She does not fit into Jem and Scout's world that well. When Aunt Alexandra arrives, it is summertime and the children spend much of their time outside because of the school holiday. They see Aunt Alexandra at mealtime and in the evening, after they have come back inside. Scout's summertime activities keep her busy enough that she hardly has to see her aunt.

Aunt Alexandra frequently invites church ladies over to socialize. She sometimes asks Scout to take part in the conversation. Scout prefers to be outside rather than talk to distant relatives and Aunt Alexandra's Maycomb friends.

In "The Most Dangerous Game," how does the author create suspense and inspire fear in the reader?

Suspense and fear are built into the fabric of the story from the beginning.  As the story starts, Rainsford asks about the mysterious island off to the distance.  Whitney says that even the most experienced sailors have a curious dread of the place.  This immediately sets an ominous tone and there is even a feeling that Rainsford will wind up there. 

As the story progresses, so does the dread of the island. Whitney comments that not even cannibals would live in such a forsaken place.  Here is the quote:

Even cannibals wouldn't live in such a God-forsaken place. But it's gotten into sailor lore, somehow. Didn't you notice that the crew's nerves seemed a bit jumpy today?"

Eventually, Rainsford falls off the boat and ends up on the island.  When this happens, he meets General Zaroff, who is an uneasy combination of sophistication and eeriness. This odd combination creates suspense and fear, as it is implied that there is much more than meets the eye when it comes to Zaroff.  

He was finding the general a most thoughtful and affable host, a true cosmopolite. But there was one small trait of .the general's that made Rainsford uncomfortable. Whenever he looked up from his plate he found the general studying him, appraising him narrowly.

When Zaroff's true colors emerge, the reader can clearly see that Zaroff is insane. As the contest begins between Zaroff and Rainsford, there is suspense. Who will win?  Zaroff has the clear advantage, and Rainsford is on the run. This point also creates fear. This fear persists until the end, where it is resolved in Rainsford's defeat of Zaroff. 

What are some metaphors in part 2 of the book Tangerine?

A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unrelated things. Unlike similes, metaphors usually don’t use “like” or “as” to make a comparison. Examples of metaphors in everyday life (not Tangerine, yet!) include “My best friend is a lifesaver” and “My mother is an angel.”

1. “Getting Mom to ditch my paperwork was beyond luck; it was another miracle.” Ditching Paul’s IEP paperwork isn’t actually a miracle. A miracle is an event that cannot be explained by science or logic. However, Paul’s newfound lack of an IEP shares the unexpected joy of a miraculous occurrence.


2. “I was in the far goal again. I may as well have been in Houston.” Paul compares being in the far goal during the Tangerine Middle School soccer practice to being as far removed from the game as Houston is from Florida.


3. "Lake Windsor—that team's a joke, man." Tino compares the Lake Windsor team to a joke to make the point that both are laughable. In this case, the Lake Windsor Soccer team’s skills are so far below Tangerine’s skills that the Tangerine players can only laugh at them.


4. “And mixed in with it, I could hear a sound, a predator's sound. It was the sound of Arthur Bauer's Land Cruiser on the other side of the back wall.” Paul compares Arthur Bauer’s Land Cruiser’s roar to the sound of a predator because both signal  a dangerous and potentially life-threatening arrival. Arthur and Eric are like predators because they prey on the weak and show no mercy.


5. “Of course, it wasn't really a game. It was a war.” Paul uses this metaphor to describe how the game against Palmetto Middle School because both the game and a war are brutal contests.

What is the moral lesson that Marlowe tries to convey with Doctor Faustus?

It's perhaps difficult to know Marlowe's true motives, since there is much speculation that he was an atheist who did not believe in God, nor hell. But the play itself seems to serve as a universal lesson on the dangers of absolute power, and the folly of searching for happiness and fulfillment in money and renown -- neither of which are inherently evil things. The almost comical aspect of Faustus' quest for dominion is the limitation that comes along with his power. Anytime he performs a "magic trick" there is always a caveat attached. The tricks he performs are petty, unhelpful and sometimes just plain cruel. Although the play does end with Faustus being dragged to hell, a very serious consequence for actions performed, the story can also simply be taken as a lesson to find fulfillment in things that truly make one happy and lead to a prosperous, selfless existence that benefits the lives of others. 

In Oedipus Rex, did the oracle at Delphi tell Oedipus to stay at Corinth?

In Oedipus Rex, the oracle at Delphi does not tell Oedipus to leave Corinth.  Oedipus hears a rumor that his parents are not his true parents, so he goes to consult the oracle to find out if the rumor is true.  But the oracle does not directly answer Oedipus' question; instead, the oracle tells Oedipus that he is destined to kill his father and bear children with his mother.  Horrified by this prophecy, Oedipus decides that the best thing to do is to leave Corinth in an effort to protect Polybus and Merope.  Once he makes the decision to leave, Oedipus does not try any more to get information on his original question, and he does not find out about his true parentage until much later when the old shepherd is brought before him to relay the acts of the past.  Thus, the oracle does not tell Oedipus to leave Corinth, nor does it tell him to stay--the oracle has an unexpected message for Oedipus.

To what extent is a focus on capitalism sufficient for understanding gender inequalities?

Capitalism is an important aspect of analyzing gender inequality because the wage gap between women and men is a major factor of societal inequality between the genders. Women earn less than men with comparable education and experience levels in the same position, and often have fewer opportunities to advance in company hierarchies. However, capitalism may not be a sufficient method of examining gender inequality, because women experience social inequality in addition to economic exploitation. Theorists who discuss gender point to many issues affecting women that are not related to economic position, such as domestic violence and harassment from men. While factors such as this are unrelated to the wage gap, they are still societal problems that impact women. An analysis of gender in capitalism would explain how gender inequality is manifested in employment, but it would fail to understand misogyny as a social phenomenon.

Johanna is planing tomatoes in the school garden this this year. Tomato plants come in packs of six. She need 80 plants in the garden and already...

We are told Johanna already has 28 plants in the garden, but she needs to have 80 plants total. So first we must calculate how many more plants she needs to buy given what she already has. 

`80-28=52`  

Johanna needs to buy 52 more tomato plants. However, we are told that tomato plants are sold in packages. Each package contains 6 plants. To determine the number of packages Johanna must buy we need to divide the number of plants she needs by the number of plants in a package.

`52/6= 8.67`  

Therefore, Johanna will need to buy 9 packages of tomato plants in order to get enough. 

`9*6=54`

Nine packages of plants contain 54 tomato plants. This is 2 more than the 52 she needs to reach 80, but it is the closest she can get given the plants are sold in packs of six.

How did the Enlightenment influence the French Revolution?

The Enlightenment influenced the French Revolution in several ways. One is that it called into question many aspects of French society under the Bourbons (the privileges of the clergy, for example.) While not exactly causing the Revolution itself, Enlightenment thought certainly helped to shape its course. The constitutional monarchy designed in the wake of the first phase of the Revolution, for example, owed much to the thought of the Baron de Montesquieu. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, issued by the National Assembly, was full of Enlightened ideals, including due process of law in court, freedom of religion, free press, and others. Even the Revolution in the hands of the Committee of Public Safety bore the influence of some of the more radical philosophes. Robespierre, the architect of the Reign of Terror, carried out his violent plan out of a desire to create and maintain the kind of republican virtue that, he had read in the writings of his idol Jean-Jacques Rousseau, was essential to the survival of a republic. So while it is not really accurate to say that the Enlightenment caused the Revolution, the Enlightenment certainly provided a language through which the Revolutionaries could criticize the old order, and, for better or worse, an intellectual framework that they could build upon in the Revolutionary state. 

An equation for the reaction of silver nitrate + iron(ii) sulphate + sulphuric acid?

Iron (II) sulfate and concentrated sulfuric acid can be used to test for contamination by nitrates.  This is called the (brown) ring test.  In your example, the sulfuric acid simultaneously reacts with both silver nitrate and iron (II) sulfate.  Iron (II) becomes oxidized to iron (III):

4 Ag(N03) + 4 H2SO4 + 4 FeSO4 --> 2Ag2SO4 + 4 HNO3 + 2 Fe2(SO4)3 + 2H2

(the coefficients appear to be doubled, but this is necessary for balancing subsequent reactions)

The nitric acid that is formed (HNO3) then reacts:

4 HNO3 --> 2 H20 + 3 O2 + 4 NO

The iron (III) sulfate then reacts with the NO formed in the previous step:

2 Fe2(SO4)3 + 2 H2 + 4 NO --> 4[Fe(H2O)5NO]SO4 + 2 H2SO4

The [Fe(H20)5NO]SO4 causes the brown ring (indicating the presence of nitrates).

The overall reaction is:

4AgNO3 + 4H2SO4 + 4FeSO4 + 18H2O --> 4[Fe(H20)5NO]SO4 + 2Ag2SO4 + 3O2 + 2H2SO4

What is Helmholtz Watson's job?

Helmholtz Watson is a lecturer.  In other words, he's a college professor.  Specifically, Watson is a lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering, which is also called the Department of Writing in the novel.  

In addition to his educational duties at the college, Watson performs a number of side jobs.  The text says that he works as an "Emotional Engineer."  In "Brave New World" that means Watson writes slogans and stories that are meant to manipulate people's emotions.  In other words, he writes propaganda.  

Watson is very good at his job too.  In fact, some people in the novel believe that he is too good at his job.  

“Able,” was the verdict of his superiors. “Perhaps, (and they would shake their heads, would significantly lower their voices) “a little too able.”

Part of the reason that he is so good at his job is because he is an "Alpha Plus."  He's been genetically engineered to be awesome.  But despite his incredible smarts and stunning good looks, he is unhappy with his station in life.  

This Escalator-Squash champion, this indefatigable lover (it was said that he had had six hundred and forty different girls in under four years), this admirable committee man and best mixer had realized quite suddenly that sport, women, communal activities were only, so far as he was concerned, second bests. Really, and at the bottom, he was interested in something else. But in what? In what?

What do you think are the top three most important issues in health and medicine in the United States today?

The single most important issue in health care in the United States is economic. Although the United States possesses the best possible health care in the world for the very wealthy, money is still a huge obstacle to health care for most people. Although the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, has made health care accessible to many people who previously lacked health insurance, many Republican governors have tried to block use of federal money to help the poor people in their states obtain medical care. Also, unlike the single payer systems in Britain and Canada, even with the ACA or employer-sponsored plans, access to health care remains quite expensive in the US, despite the fact that the US government actually spends more money on healthcare than any other wealthy country.

The second major issue is demographic. Longer life spans means that the US health care system needs to increase capacity for end-of-life and supportive care outside hospitals. It is far less expensive, and far more pleasant, for an elderly person recovering from hip or heart surgery to stay at home or in an assisted living facility than to recuperate in a hospital, and yet much of the current health care system prioritizes short term fixes over long term care.

A final issue is prevention of infectious diseases. Many of the common causes of illness and death such as measles, mumps, and rubella have been almost eradicated in the US, and much of the increase in life expectancy over the past century has been due to the use of vaccination to provide "herd immunity" against infectious diseases. Unfortunately, the scientifically ungrounded anti-vaccine movement is jeopardizing theses gains. While people injuring their own health is a matter of individual choice, threatening the health and lives of their children and members of their community is ethically unsupportable; the US needs to uniformly enforce regulations that prevent anti-vaxxers and similar members of the lunatic fringe from endangering the health of others. 

Why does Montresor not like Fortunato?

The text is being narrated by Montresor himself, but the reader does not realize that until toward the end of the story.  Sadly though, Montresor never gives the reader any specifics about why he does not like Fortunato.  The opening lines of the story indicate that the two men are more than mere acquaintances.

THE THOUSAND INJURIES of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, . . .

A "thousand injuries" is likely hyperbole, but only using 10% of that number is 100.  I have never been injured in any way 100 times by a mere acquaintance.  When the men meet during the festival, Montresor greets Fortunato in a very friendly manner, so it's clear that Fortunato doesn't consider Montresor an enemy.  

I said to him—“My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day. But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts.”

Going back to the opening line, Montresor admits his reason for wanting to kill Fortunato.  

THE THOUSAND INJURIES of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.

Montresor apparently doesn't have any problems with being hurt 1000 times, but he takes grave offense to being insulted a single time.  That's why Montresor doesn't like Fortunato.  The reader never finds out what the insult was though.   

What was the relationship between the Indians and the New England colonies?

By 1640, European settlers had established the New England colonies of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Providence Plantations, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In the early years, the Native tribes welcomed the settlers to their lands because of the opportunities for trade and commerce. Guns, knives and livestock, for example, helped the Indians tremendously while the settlers received much-needed food supplies and furs. 

This relationship, however, quickly turned sour. The Natives did not want to be converted to Christianity by the settlers nor did they appreciate the arrival of many contagious diseases that were brought to their lands from Europe, like typhus and measles. There were constant disputes over land, too.

In 1637, the Pequot War broke out as the Indians sought to stop further settlement in Connecticut. This uprising failed and many Indians were forced into slavery. The situation was even worse in the Plymouth Colony: an uprising led by King Philip, Chief of the Wampanoag, led to the displacement of Indians into reservations, with the settlers free to take their lands.

These uprisings were so serious that, by the 1680s, the natives numbered fewer than 20,000 in New England. This was a serious decline in their population and left them outnumbered to European settlers by 2-1. 

Apart from its length, what else makes a short story different from a novel?

It was Edgar Allan Poe who offered a definition of the short story which has been widely observed by authors ever since. In a review of Nathaniel Hawthorne's collection of stories and sketches Twice-Told Tales in Graham’s Magazine, May, 1842, Poe wrote: 

A skilful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he had not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived, with deliberate care, a certain unique or single effect to be wrought out, he then invents such incidents--he then combines such events as may best aid him in establishing this preconceived effect. If his very initial sentence tend not to the outbringing of this effect, then he has failed in his first step. In the whole composition there should be no word written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one pre-established design. 

A novel is not intended to produce a single effect because of its greater length than a short story. A short story is intended, as Poe established elsewhere, to be read at a single sitting. A novel is typically divided into chapters, and sometimes even into "books" or "volumes" because it is not intended to be read at a single sitting. Since a novel may be read in many sittings, each chapter can usually produce a separate effect. 

What Poe meant by the word "effect" is the feeling that is left with the reader at the end of the story. Poe maintained that every single word should be designed to produce that single emotional feeling. In some stories, such as those of O. Henry, the effect is usually produced by the ending. But there are many stories in which the effect is produced by the pervasive mood established from the beginning and sustained throughout. Edgar Allan Poe's stories "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Masque of the Red Death" might serve as examples of stories in which the single effect is produced by tone, mood, characterization, and setting. 

If a short story is intended to produce a single effect, then it would seem that a very good way in which to critique any short story would be to start by analyzing its single effect, i.e., the feeling the reader is left with at the end.

How does Jesse feel about Leslie's father when the Burkes first start working on renovations to the house in Katherine Paterson's Bridge to...

When Leslie and her dad first start working on renovations to their house, Jesse feels awkward and uncomfortable around Bill (Leslie's dad, otherwise known as Mr. Burke) and even feels a kind of vague dislike toward him.

The main source of all these negative feelings toward Mr. Burke is that he's taking up Leslie's time, making Jesse feel jealous. Jesse would much rather be playing with Leslie, having fun in Terabithia together, but instead she's busy with her dad. For that reason, Jesse resents Mr. Burke. We can understand his feelings: we'd also be annoyed if someone took away our best friend, resulting in our own boredom and loneliness.

Another reason for Jesse's awkward, slightly angry feelings toward Bill is that he can't understand why Leslie is so interested in spending quality time with and getting to know her dad. It's sad to realize this, but Jesse barely has a relationship with his own dad, so he doesn't understand it's normal to hang out with your parents and learn more about them. Deep down, then, Jesse may be feeling jealous of the mutual affection between Leslie and her dad. Jesse would love to have more approval and attention from his own dad; since he doesn't, it makes him vaguely unhappy to see Leslie bonding so well with her dad.

Happily, the tension between Jesse and Leslie's dad resolves itself when the two men get to know each other as Jesse joins the Burkes to work on the home renovation projects with them. It's the perfect solution: Jesse gets to hang out with his best friend Leslie again, and Jesse also gets to know Leslie's dad well enough that he no longer feels angry or awkward around him.

I need a brand new topic for my research in Education.

It's unclear if you mean a brand new topic for your own educational career or a topic never ever done before in the history of education.  If it's the latter, that's tough.  So much research has been done in the field of education that it's incredibly difficult to find subjects that haven't been glazed over in some way.  If you are just looking for a new topic that you haven't looked into yet, I can help there by offering some suggestions.  

1. Look into the effectiveness of homework.  Lots of teachers give it, but is it really an effective teaching and learning tool?  Perhaps it isn't.  Or perhaps certain types of homework assignments are better for student learners than other types.  


2. Does humor in the classroom benefit student learners?  Or should teachers just never crack a joke?  


3. Lots of schools (mine included) are becoming "1 to 1" schools.  Each student has a laptop or tablet.  How has student learning been impacted?  Are educators seeing the benefits that they were promised?  Or are the technology devices actually hindering student learning?  


4. School starts early in a lot of areas.  My school offers a 7 a.m. zero hour.  Are early start times beneficial to student learners?  Or would schools benefit more by starting later in the day and ending later as well?  


5. I've heard it said that student athletes tend to be better students, because they are better at time management.  Is there actual evidence to this, or is it just anecdotal evidence from teachers?