Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Microorganisms that move using hairlike projections are called?

The hairlike projections on the external surface of microorganisms is called cilium or flagellum. Their primary role is locomotion of the microorganism, but some of them can also act as sensory organelle. Thus, microorganisms that move using such hairlike surface projections are called ciliates or flagellates.


Cilia and flagella are structurally different, though similar in functions. Cilia is present only on eukaryotic cells, while both the eukaryotes and prokaryotes have flagella. A cell may have only a few very flagella, which are long and move in whip-like motion, very slowly. Eukaryotes have a large number (few hundreds) of small cilia on their surface. Cilia rotate and move very rapidly. Many researchers tend to reserve the term flagella to bacteria, while using cilia for eukaryotes. 


Hope this helps. 

How did Scout and Jem learn about the sin of killing a mockingbird and how did their lesson relate to Tom, Arthur, or both?

Uncle Jack bought Scout and Jem air rifles. In this context, Atticus gave them a stern warning. He stated that they could shoot at all the bluejays they wanted, but they should never shoot a mockingbird. To do so would be a sin.  In fact, these words are so memorable that Scout remembers that this was the first time Atticus called something a sin.  Here is the quote:



Atticus said to Jem one day, “I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird."


That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it.



As the story progresses, both Scout and Jem are able to relate this concept to life.  It is a sin to kill a mockingbird, because all they do is good things.  Therefore, it is a sin to harm anyone who only does good.  Tom Robinson is an example.  So, when Maycomb hurt him, Maycomb killed a mockingbird.  Boo is also a mockingbird.  All through the story, he only did good things for the children. Therefore, it is imperative to protect him. 

At the end of Chapter 3 in Freak the Mighty, where was Max pulling Kevin?

At the end of Chapter 3 in Freak the Mighty, Max picks Freak up, places him in the wagon, and pulls him to his house to show him his room (14):



I figure it's easier to show him than explain all about Gram and Gram and the room in the cellar, so I pick up the handle to the American Flyer wagon and I tow him over.



This moment occurs after Max helps Freak get his ornithopter unstuck from the tree. While this may seem like a small, insignificant moment in the novel, it’s important to note that this is the incident that their friendship really kindles. As Max is pulling Freak in the wagon, he notices that Freak is really happy (14):



It's real easy, he doesn't weigh much and I'm pretty sure I remember looking back and seeing him sitting up in the wagon happy as can be, like he's really enjoying the ride and not embarrassed to have me pulling him around.



This small act demonstrates that they have a mutual respect and trust for each other, which is the foundation to any friendship. Freak trusts Max enough that he feels comfortable in the wagon, and Max trusts Freak enough that he’s willing to show him his room in the down under, which is one of the only places he has ever felt safe.

Monday, December 30, 2013

What is an effective strategy for making good healthcare decisions?

This question can be answered differently depending on who is making these healthcare decisions.


As a healthcare provider/practitioner, evidence-based research, guidelines, or case studies should be used to make effective healthcare decisions. This is particularly true when making decisions about which therapies (pharmacological or non-pharmacological) to start a patient on because it provides well-researched reasons behind why a medication is preferred in a particular patient population. For example, evidence-based guidelines for the treatment and management of type 2 diabetes mellitus are the 2016 American Diabetes Associations's Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes. It is also important to use recent/up-to-date sources of information that applies to the patient's specific characteristics (i.e. age, gender, race, disease-state, allergies, etc). 


As a patient/care-provider, it is important to consider credible public resources when making good healthcare decisions. For example, there are "report cards" available that grades physicians and hospitals based on the care they give. By using these report cards, patients are able to compare different providers/institutions and decide which ones fit their needs. If looking for the best insurance plans, healthcare.gov is a great resource. 

The consumption of alcohol causes the muscles in the artery wall to relax.Taking this into consideration, suggest why people who work in...

Alcohol doesn’t just cause the artery walls to relax. Alcohol also causes the blood vessels in the skin to expand. When blood vessels widen, relaxation of smooth muscles within the vessel walls of large veins, large arteries, and smaller arterioles occurs. This is known as cutaneous vasodilation. Vasodilation usually occurs naturally when the body is too hot. During vasodilation, warm blood flows to the surface of the skin so that heat can be lost to the air. This is the last thing that a person that is working in cold temperatures wants to happen.


Needless to say, the body’s ability to warm itself in the cold temperature is inhibited. The muscles of the body are not able to contract and shiver. When a person shivers, his or her muscles continuously expand and contract. This cannot occur appropriately during cutaneous vasodilation. Therefore, people that work in temperatures that are below five degrees Celsius should be advised not to drink alcohol in excess.  

Sunday, December 29, 2013

How useful are postmodern critiques for contemporary social policy?

Social policy refers to policies that govern the approach to questions or issues that arise relevant to well-being and living. Churches can have social policy (e.g., community food need policy, member income loss policy). NGOs (non-government aid organizations) can have social policy (e.g., fresh water acquisition policy). But most often, "social policy" refers to the policies set by governments for the management of questions and issues related to living and well-being among the populace, for example, in these fields and concerns:


  • economic and labor development

  • psychological health

  • criminal justice

  • drug trafficking and abuse

  • pregnancy and abortion

  • equality

  • equal opportunity

  • education

  • fair and reliable housing

  • health care

Postmodern critique refers to intellectual and philosophical analysis and criticism stemming from the postmodernist approach to understanding society, culture, history, government, politics and other aspects of contemporary sociopolitical cultural life. Postmodernism emphasizes, among other things, the collapse of society and its hierarchies; the threat posed by shifts in society to consumerism and away from intellectual development; post-colonial placelessness; disorientation, fragmentation and the rise of plurality power to supplant unitary power.


If postmodern critique (1) highlights the displacement of individuals through the forces of famine, war, climate change, or other global conditions in such a way as to engender discourse and voice for the rising plurality or (2) redresses (a) declines in universities' roles in building society or (b) increases in materialistic consumerism or (3) heightens the diffusion of human- and healthcare so as to blunt fragmentation and crisis, then it is possible to say that postmodern critique is useful for contemporary social policy. If, on the other hand, postmodern critique of contemporary social policy stops at pointing out sociopolitical contradictions and  inconsistencies and the lack of clarity, then postmodern critique itself will be blunted by failing to ascertain meaningful answers to relevant social questions and issues and, consequently, will not be useful for critique of contemporary social policy.

What is mRNA? What is its job during protein synthesis?

Messenger RNA molecules (mRNA) are responsible for transcription along the length of the DNA molecule for a protein-coding gene. Transcription occurs in the nucleus.  Translation of this gene results in the synthesis of a polypeptide which uses the information encoded in the messenger RNA to assemble the appropriate amino acids into the polypeptide which ultimately will become part of a functional protein. Translation occurs in the cytoplasm. The flow of genetic information is known as the central dogma--DNA--> RNA-->protein. This idea was put forth by Francis Crick.


mRNA copies one of the strands of the DNA double helix known as the template strand. Base-- pairing rules apply except RNA lacks the base thymine and uracil is substituted during transcription. For example, if part of the DNA code reads:  TAC GGG ACA then the corresponding mRNA would read:                                    AUG CCC UGU. Note that uracil is subsituted for thymine in the mRNA.


The process of transcription occurs in the nucleus in three stages. First is initiation whereby transcription factors attach to the promoter region in DNA and the enzyme RNA polymerase unwinds the two DNA strands. Next, is the process of elongation where nucleotides are added to the growing transcript at the 3 prime end. Eventually, a termination sequence is reached called a polyadenylation signal after which the mRNA transcript is cut from the polymerase enzyme.


The initial transcript of the DNA by mRNA results in pre-mRNA. This must be further processed to produce mature mRNA. This includes splicing together of exons (containing the protein-coding information) and the removal of introns (non-protein coding sections of DNA). Also, both ends of the pre-mRNA are modified. The five prime end receives a cap made of a modified guanine molecule and the three prime end receives a poly-A tail made of many adenine nucleotides. The cap and tail will help the mRNA leave the nucleus and travel to the cytoplasm, protect the mRNA from damage by enzymes and facilitate the later attachment of ribosomes to the five prime end of the mRNA where the process of translation will begin.

Saturday, December 28, 2013

What do the pigs reveal on pg. 23 of Animal Farm? What is the first act using this new skill?

In chapter two, the pigs revealed that they had taught themselves to read and write from an old spelling book that had belonged to the children of Mr. Jones. Technically, the first thing that they did with their new skill was to change the sign from "Manor Farm" to "Animal Farm." However, the more significant action was that they wrote the seven commandments on the wall of the barn.  These commandments outlined what were prohibited activities among the animals and included anything previously attributed to human behavior such as sleeping in beds, and wearing clothes.  Most significant was the first commandment which read, "Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy."  This solidified the fact that animals and humans were never to be allies, and also set the stage for the pigs to later change the commandments to suit their needs.

Who found the theory of reflection of sound?

The theory of sound being produced in waves was introduced in the first century, A.D, by Seneca, the Roman philosopher. There are actually several well-known Italians who dabbled in the science of sound and its properties, of which sound reflection would be one. Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo, two other well established scholars, also experimented with sound waves and their properties. The establishment of just who was first to discover the theory of sound reflection is a little enigmatic, outside of that.


Sound propagates itself in longitudinal waves, which have compressed areas and longitudinal areas. Sound, since it travels as a longitudinal wave, requires a medium through which to travel, such as air. Sound waves can strike a hard reflective surface and reflect, or rebound, in an angle which is complementary to the angle of incidence. We call this reflected sound an echo. Areas that have hard, polished surfaces produce the best sound reflection, while areas that have softer surfaces tend to absorb sound waves.

Charles Darwin noticed that the geology of the Galapagos Islands suggested that the islands were sinking. Explain what he meant by this statement.

In his journeys on the Beagle during the 1830s, Charles Darwin made some of his most famous observations on the Galapagos Islands. One of his theories developed there was that the islands were sinking, based on the apparent progression of coral reefs surrounding the islands. Darwin hypothesized that as the islands sank (though he did not know why,) a coral reef built up in the surrounding areas. Darwin thought that the different types of coral reefs he saw (known as fringing, barrier, and atoll) represented the stages of this geological change. Though the theory of plate tectonics would not be developing for another century or so, Darwin believed there was some sort of "compensatory action" going on whereby the sinking island contributed to the building-up of coral. 

Friday, December 27, 2013

Compare the condition that led to the formation of the inner planets with those that led to the formation of the outer planets.

The prevailing condition causing the difference between the two formation zones is that of temperature. 


The inner planets, or terrestrial planets, were formed by accretion.  Accretion is an accumulation of smaller rocky materials colliding with each other, sticking to each other, and forming an evolving larger mass.  The inner planets were too close to the sun to be formed from ice and methane, which is the primary constituency of the outer planets.  So they formed by small particles bombarding each other, sticking to each other, and building a protoplanet with a rocky exterior.


The outer planets, or Jovian planets, contrastingly, were past the hot zone that bound the inner planets to rocky, solid materials.  The outer planets are composed primarily of a collection of gasses, namely methane, water (ice), hydrogen, and helium.  These planets were cold enough to accumulate large quantities of gaseous materials, with a low percentage of heavy materials. 


The inner planets, in order, are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.  Jupiter is the largest and first Jovian planet, followed by Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus.

According to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet their love was both fate and free will, but can anyone give me evidence of how it was free will please?

It is very difficult to argue that Romeo and Juliet's love was purely based on free will because the Prologue clearly states that their doom is written in the stars. But that doesn't hold the lovers back from attempting to exercise their free will. The phrase "free will" suggests that a person can make a conscious choice on his or her own without the influence of fate or the universe. There are  a couple of times in the play that the lovers seem to make comments or choices based on their own conscious desires in order to fight against fate.


One specific time that Juliet tries to take her destiny into her own hands is when she threatens to kill herself in front of Friar Lawrence. At this point Capulet is forcing Juliet to marry Paris soon, yet she is already married to a banished Romeo. Rather than give herself over to Fate, Juliet desires to end it all with a knife she is holding. She says the following:



"God join'd my heart and Romeo's, thou our hands;


And ere this hand, by thee to Romeo's seal'd,


Shall be the label to another deed,


Or my true heart with treacherous revolt


Turn to another, this shall slay them both" (IV.i.57-61).



When Juliet says "treacherous revolt," she's saying that her "true heart" will betray Fate's decided path for her. Up until this point she has believed that Fortune and Fate have had a hand in bringing Romeo into her life. But she can't take being blindly faithful, now and thinks that she can take control of her Fate by making her own decision.


Romeo has a similar experience when he is pushed too far with frustration. for example, when Balthasar tells Romeo that Juliet is dead, he can't take what life throws at him any longer. He says the following:



"Is it even so? Then I defy you, stars!


Thou know'st my lodging; get me ink and paper


And hire post-horses; I will hence to-night" (V.i.24-26).



Thus, Romeo recognizes that Fate has had a hand in his life, but he believes that he can make choices against it. Just like Juliet, he chooses to end his life rather than live without her. One could argue that this is where he uses free will; but again, it's really difficult because it can be argued the other way as well--that he's just playing into Fate's prophecy from the Prologue.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Can you comment on the relationship between utilitarianism and compassion in A Christmas Carol? What are the differences and the similarities?

The theory of utilitarianism posits that the moral course of action is that which benefits the greatest number of people. At the risk of muddling the issue, one can cite the father of the theory of utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham as articulating this central point:



“By the principle of utility is meant that principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question: or, what is the same thing in other words to promote or to oppose that happiness. I say of every action whatsoever, and therefore not only of every action of a private individual, but of every measure of government.”



Basically, then, doing good for the benefit of mankind is moral; doing bad or remaining neglectful of the common good is immoral. That’s a bit of an over-simplification, but it should suffice for purposes of the current discussion.


Charles Dickens, in describing the existential transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge from that of miserly, bitter old man to joyful, munificent gentleman, has presented in his protagonist the personification of the theory of utilitarianism. As A Christmas Carol begins, Scrooge is presented, as noted, in the most negative of terms, as a “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner.” An extension of Scrooge’s personality, Dickens emphasizes, is the bleakness of the atmosphere that encompasses the town he inhabits. Read, for example, the following passage from early in Stave I in which Dickens describes this emotionally-toxic environment created by Scrooge’s temperament:



“Once upon a time—of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve—old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already . . .”



Winter in England is, in fact, cold and bleak, but Dickens has made a point of depicting the bleakness of the English winter as an extension of Scrooge’s personality. Contrast this depiction of Scrooge with that of his nephew, who merrily greets his miserly old uncle in a manner more befitting the season:



“‘A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!’ cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge’s nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach. ‘Bah’ said Scrooge, ‘Humbug!’ He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge’s, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.”



Basically, Dickens has begun his story by emphasizing the unhappiness and all-around dreariness of the atmosphere in a town financially dominated by the exceedingly uncharitable Ebenezer Scrooge (“No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle”). Scrooge’s business practice and philosophy towards life in general has condemned his sole employee, Bob Cratchit, to a life of destitution, Bob’s son Tiny Tim seemingly destined to die for want of the financial resources that only Scrooge possesses. In other words, the greater good is sacrificed at the altar of Scrooge’s bank account and disdain for those less fortunate than himself.


Now, contrast those images with the transformation that Scrooge experiences as a result of his dream, in which he is visited by, first, his late business partner Jacob Marley, and then by the three spirits representing past, present and future. Having seen the error of his ways, and the distraught with which he greets the suggestion that he is destined to die alone, forgotten and certainly unloved, Scrooge instantaneously undergoes a miraculous transformation into a joyful, generous person eager to spread his wealth for the benefit of the greater good—the ultimate manifestation of utilitarianism. Note, for example, Scrooge’s sudden willingness to materially improve the lives of Bob Cratchit and his family. In dispatching a young boy to the local butcher’s shop to purchase the largest turkey available, Scrooge now relishes the opportunity to have this magnificent bird delivered anonymously to the same Bob Cratchit he previously deprived of physical warmth through his control of the coal supply within his office:



“I’ll send it to Bob Cratchit’s!” whispered Scrooge, rubbing his hands, and splitting with a laugh. “He sha’n’t know who sends it. It’s twice the size of Tiny Tim. Joe Miller never made such a joke as sending it to Bob’s will be!”



Additionally, Dickens now emphasizes the effects of Scrooge’s new-found generosity on the wider world:



“The chuckle with which he said this, and the chuckle with which he paid for the Turkey, and the chuckle with which he paid for the cab, and the chuckle with which he recompensed the boy, were only to be exceeded by the chuckle with which he sat down breathless in his chair again, and chuckled till he cried.”



Scrooge’s change in temperament and outlook has now translated into greater distribution of wealth to incorporate the world beyond his walls, including the cab driver and the aforementioned young boy. More, Dickens now presents Scrooge has bestowing joy upon all those with whom he comes into contact, even when that joy may be at his own expense. Scrooge has, in the early sections of the story, repeatedly expressed disdain for the notion that one could be happy despite being financially poor. He ridicules his nephew and Bob for their joyful demeanors during the Christmas season despite the fact that both exist on the opposite end of the economic spectrum from him. It is his sudden generosity upon waking form his sleep, however, that most noticeably connects financial resources to happiness, as when Scrooge encounters the gentleman he has earlier dismissed with typical disdain for the latter’s request of provisions for the poor. Scrooge is now more than happy to contribute financially to the cause of those less-fortunate them himself.


As A Christmas Carol approaches its ending, the atmosphere in the town has brightened.  Scrooge has turned a new leaf, so to speak, and the entirety of the community he inhabits has benefited from his transformation. Dickens includes the following passage to illuminate the transformative effects of his protagonist upon the world around him:



“He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset. . .”



If the theory of utilitarianism posits that the decisions or actions that benefit the greater good are those that are most moral, then Scrooge’s transformation has demonstrated the validity of that theory. He has experienced a fundamental metamorphosis from angry, bitter and miserly to happy, optimistic and generous, and Dickens makes clear that this change has been for the greater good.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

What is the setting of the story "Cranes" and when and where do the events take place?

This story takes place in Korea and is set during the Korean War. The war began in 1950 and ended in 1953. At the end of World War II, in 1945, the Soviet Union took control of Korea north of the 38th parallel. In this post World War II period between 1945 and 1948, the United States occupied Korea south of the 38th parallel. This led to the establishment of two governments: one in the north and one in the south. Note that at the beginning of the story, the narrator adds that the setting is in a village just north of the 38th parallel. This is the division between North and South Korea. 


Tokchae lives in North Korea and serves as Vice Chairman of the Farmer's Communist League. Songsam is an officer of the Public Peace Corps, a South Korean organization. When Songsam learns that Tokchae has been arrested and is to be taken to another police station, he offers to take him. Songsam is initially angry with his childhood friend, demanding to know how many people he's killed. But when he recalls their childhood and the temporary pet crane and how it escapes, he has the impulse to help his friend escape as well. Friendship overrides any notion of the national/cultural war between North and South Korea. 

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

What is an allusion in the book A Separate Peace?

Allusions are cultural or historical references specific to the time period in which the book is set. For example, if you were writing a story set during the present time, you might reference President Obama or Peyton Manning. Any specific pop culture reference or reference to a specific historical or political event, or even the names of books, movies, songs, etc. can be used as allusions. Allusions help works of fiction, especially, seem more realistic, and they give readers a sense of the time period without the author having to explicitly state the year.


A Separate Peace contains many allusions. Since the novel is mostly set during the early 1940s, right in the middle of World War II, there are many allusions to the war. For example, in Chapter 3, the boys invent a game called "blitzball" which they name after a "blitzkrieg," the name given to German firebombing during WWII.


In the same chapter, Gene mentions in his narrations:



"The war was and is reality for me, I still instinctively live and think in its atmosphere. These are some of its characteristics: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the President of the United States, and he always has been. The other two eternal world leaders are Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin" (Knowles 17).



FDR, Churchill, and Stalin are all examples of allusions that Knowles includes to set the time period of his book and make it seem more realistic. Even though A Separate Peace is a work of fiction, each of these historical figures was real.

Monday, December 23, 2013

Why is there a flashback in "The Bet" by Anton Chekhov?

Anton Chekhov, author of "The Bet" chooses to tell his story primarily through flashback for a couple of reasons. First of all, it is an interesting way to tell a story! Secondly, and perhaps the most important reason, is that if Chekhov had told the story in chronological order, it might have been a novel instead of a short story. The flashback technique gives the reader the story much more quickly. We learn the reason for the bet, we learn bits and pieces about each of the main characters. We learn how the lawyer spends his time while he is imprisoned. Finally, we see the story play out as the banker decides to kill the lawyer, the lawyer writes his letter saying he will forfeit the two million dollars, and the banker feeling temporarily ashamed of himself as he discovers the letter.


In other words, the flashback moves the story forward and develops the characters quickly. If this story had been written in the order in which it occurred, we readers might have had to go through all those fifteen years of imprisonment with the lawyer. The flashback gives us enough information that we can get to the deeper story and meaning without doing that. 

Why does James Joyce describe Eveline as a "helpless animal"?

The entire quote to which you are referring is this: “She set her white face to him, passive, like a helpless animal. Her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition.”


At this point in the short story "Eveline," the title character is set to run away to Buenos Ayres and start a new life with her lover Frank, a sailor. However, Eveline is bound by duty to her father, whom she shops, cleans, and cooks for. This idea of her being bound by duty to her father conjures up a master-pet relationship, which can be seen in her inability to leave home.


In addition, there are a couple of images that suggest an animal-like quality to Eveline. Like a dog, the story begins with Eveline sitting in her front window watching the neighborhood pass by. Meanwhile, Eveline, whose father never actually hit her, "sometimes felt herself in danger of her father’s violence. She knew it was that that had given her the palpitations." This imagery, while not clear-cut dog-related gives the idea of someone who is afraid like a dog cowering in fear of its master with his hand raised ready to strike.


Joyce ties all of these ideas together with the simile at the end of the story comparing Eveline to a "helpless animal." For Eveline, this is an apt analogy not just at this point in the story, but throughout it as well.

My drama teacher asked us comment on Juliet's conception of names when she begins to say : "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou, Romeo?..." until...

The is one of the most famous speeches of Shakespeare. The word "wherefore" here means not where, but why: Juliet is musing aloud about Romeo and the family feud that keeps them apart. She wonders why fate dictates that his name must be Romeo (and therefore Montague), which makes them enemies. "Deny thy father, and refuse thy name," she says, meaning, don't let tradition make you go against what you feel, and be willing to give up your identity for our love.


She continues, perhaps realizing this is an assertive request for someone she has just met: "or, if thou wilt not then be but sworn my love and I'll no longer be a Capulet!" Here, she is suggesting that if he seriously loves her, they can be married and her name will change, which might also nullify the family feud. Of course, she believes she is alone, but Romeo can hear her, and as the scene continues, this knowledge emboldens him to accept that she loves him.


"That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet," she says, and this is one of Shakespeare's most famous quotes. She means Romeo would be as wonderful as he is no matter what his name. She then playfully lists the parts of a man's body that are not his name; thinking on Romeo and the physical attraction she feels for him, and exploring the idea that physical romantic love is not about identity but about intimate union of body and soul. She wants this union very much, enough to give up her own identity and name, and finishes the speech, "Romeo, doff thy name, and for thy name, which is no part of thee, take all myself!" She is begging him to forget everything that has been, to leave his family behind, and to move forward into the future with her.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

How does Mildred break the news of Clarisse's death to Montag? Why is it important that she does it this way?

While Montag is laying next to Mildred in bed, he pulls the Seashell headphone out of her ear and asks her if she has seen their neighbor, Clarisse. Montag is worried because he hasn't seen her in three or four days. Mildred tells Montag that she forgot to tell him that she thinks Clarisse is gone. Mildred goes on to tell Montag that her entire family moved out, and Clarisse is gone for good. Mildred says she thinks Clarisse died after getting hit by a car, and that's why her family moved away. Montag is shocked and asks why she had not told him earlier. Mildred casually says that she had forgotten, and it happened four days ago. Mildred tells Montag "Goodnight," and rolls over to fall asleep.


Mildred broke the news to Montag in a casual manner because she was unaffected by Clarisse's death and dismissed it in her mind. Mildred is completely unattached and emotionally callous. Her husband had been mentioning Clarisse, and when she hears of Clarisse's death, Mildred doesn't even have the decency to tell her husband. It is important that Mildred broke the news to Montag in this casual manner because it portrays her cold, unsympathetic attitude towards life. Mildred doesn't care about someone who Montag had a friendly relationship with, which foreshadows their future marital conflicts. Mildred is the antithesis of Montag and this moment only highlights the extent to which Mildred has become emotionally unattached to Montag and his feelings.

Friday, December 20, 2013

In a TEEL paragraph, please explain: What do you think Golding wants to convey by the phrase “the darkness in mans heart” and the event of...

It is quite evident that Piggy represented the epitome of an intelligent, yet meek, person who posed no physical threat to the hunters' leader, Jack, or the rest of the hunters.  At the time of his murder, for it was indeed murder, his glasses had been stolen and he was virtually blind.  Add to these facts the limitations of his being an asthma sufferer and more than a little overweight and it is easy to see that the hunters had no reason to fear him. One can only conclude that it was "the darkness in man's heart" that would have overcome Roger and filled him with the urge to dislodge the boulder that came crashing down and sent Piggy to his watery grave.  

The corporate nature of the American media has causedA. most newspapers to increase coverage of business news.B. advertisers to dictate the content...

The best answer, of the options available, is to say that the corporate nature of today’s media tends to make newspapers become remarkably similar.  This is because the corporate nature of the media means that it is imperative that newspapers make as much profit as they can.


Because newspapers are run by big companies now, it is more important for them to make money.  Shareholders in large companies want the highest profits more than they want to run high-quality newspapers.  Therefore, there is pressure on the newspapers to run the sorts of stories that will attract many readers.  This makes the newspapers rather similar to one another because readers across the country tend to want to see the same kinds of stories.


The second best answer here would be Option B.  However, it is more accurate to say that the corporate owners’ interests dictate what the media covers.  This is a greater conflict of interest than the conflict with what the advertisers want.  Therefore, I would say that Option C is the best answer.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

In chapter 5, Gatsby's dream seems to be fulfilled. What indications are there, though, that reality cannot satisfy his dream?

Right after Gatsby tells Daisy about the green light at the end of her dock, Nick notices a change in him. It is the green light that was a beacon to Gatsby for five years while he waited for this opportunity to reunite with her. Nick narrates, "Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever." Nick follows this with, "His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one." Gatsby is certainly happy to be with her again, but the reality can't possibly live up to the perfect aura and idea of Daisy he had built up in his own mind. These enchanted objects and ideas like the green light suddenly have lost their luster. The reality of their reunion is great but the perfect vision he had imagined was too great to match in real life. 


Later in the chapter, Nick notices a subtle indication of doubt in Gatsby. He notes, "There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams—not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion." For five years, Gatsby had idealized Daisy. All of his efforts went into building himself up as well. Gatsby's planning, effort, anticipation, and idealizations were all too great for Daisy to live up to his perfected dream. This novel describes the notion that the American Dream is an illusion. This parallels the "colossal vitality" of Gatsby's illusion. 

Please provide a few examples of metaphors from the second part of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

Metaphors are types of figures of speech that compare two unlike things not using the words "like" or "as". They are used by authors to appeal to readers' imaginations in order to make deep connections with the message or theme. They also help to create mental pictures or images in the brain while reading. In Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, there are many metaphors about fire and books connected to the imagination. Here are a few examples.


Montag imagines Beatty teaching him to burn books and three different metaphors are used to connect the burning pages of books to butterflies, then to cigarettes, and finally to moths. The passage is below as follows:



"'Light the first page, light the second page. Each becomes a black butterfly. Beautiful, eh? Light the third page from the second and so on, chain smoking, chapter by chapter'. . . There sat Beatty, perspiring gently, the floor littered with swarms of black moths that had died in a single storm" (76-77).



The first metaphor compares the burning pages of a book to black butterflies and Beatty sees them as beautiful. Then, by using one page to light another one up, he compares the act to chain smoking and how one might use one cigarette to light another. Finally, from Montag's perspective, the ashes from the burned pages float all around Beatty and the third metaphor refers to them as dead black moths, which brings a not-so-beautiful image to mind.

Evaluate the indefinite integral.

You need to evaluate the indefinite integral by performing the substitution 1 - 2x = t, such that:




You need to use the following formula of integration, such that:




Replacing back 1 - 2x for t yields:



Hence, evaluating the indefinite integral yields

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

How can I analyze this passage from Chapter 28 of Great Expectations? It begins, "The waiter (it was he who had brought up the Great Remonstrance...

This passage is from Chapter XXVIII of Great Expectations. When Pip stops at the Blue Boar, the waiter brings him the local newspaper and Pip reads that Pumblechook has taken all the credit for Pip's social success.


After making numerous excuses to himself of why he should stay at the Blue Boar rather than at the forge, Pip gets off the stagecoach and goes into the Inn. When he orders his supper, the waiter brings him the local paper, and Pip reads a rather pretentious article about Pumblechook.



It is not wholly irrespective of our personal feelings that we record HIM as the Mentor of our young Telemachus, for it is good to know that our town produced the founder of the latter's fortunes.



The allusion to Telemachus suggests that like the son of Odysseus who is in search of his father, Pip, a fatherless young man, also has gone to London in search of finding his way. And, like Telemachus, Pip is an "honored guest" of Miss Havisham in the eyes of the townspeople.


The other allusion is to Quentin Matsys, a Flemish painter of the Renaissance who was trained as an iron smith, but he abandoned his career because he became too weak. But the legend states that he left the smithy to woo his wife. Of course, the comparison is made to Pip, who was apprenticed to Joe, but quickly abandoned his position when Mr. Jaggers informs him of his "great expectations."


Of course, these allusions and Pumblechook's flamboyant claims are all hyperbole. Reading this passage in the local paper impresses upon Pip his own pretensions and falsehoods. Like Pumblechook, Pip is a fake and a swindler.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

In the Great Gatsby why does Nick go East?

In the Great Gatsby, Nick, who's full name is Nick Carraway, is established as the narrator of the story at the beginning of the book. In chapter 1, the reasons why Nick decided to go East are established. Nick talks about his service in the Great War, and states on page 3 of chapter 1, that upon returning home, "the Middle West now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe." This quote illustrates to the reader that Nick now finds himself bored in the Mid-Western community where he grew up, and alludes to the fact that he feels life in the East will be more exciting. After this revelation, Nick states that he decided to go East to "learn the bond business." Later, at the end of chapter 1, Nick reveals that he also decided to travel east because of rumors of him possibly being engaged being spread around his family and the community. This is shown on page 19 of chapter 1 when he states "The fact that gossip had published the banns was one of the reasons I had come East." Hope this helps!

Why is it important to encounter the choragos throughout the entire scene?

As you haven't mentioned which particular scene you are referring to, I'll address how the choragos functions in the play as a whole and why his presence is significant.


The choragos is the leader of the Chorus, which consists of the elders of the city of Thebes. One feature of this chorus that is distinctly characteristic of Sophocles is that they are actually part of the debates in the play, rather than just performing odes in which they pray or reflect on the nature of life and fate.


The choragos is the only member of the chorus who speaks individually rather than dancing and singing as part of the group, and therefore his presence allows Sophocles to give voice to the opinions and view of the general populace.


The most interesting scene in terms of the role of the choragos begins at line 320, when he has a dialogue with Oedipus. The first thing the dialogue shows is that Oedipus is a good ruler rather than a tyrant; instead of simply giving commands, he asks for the opinions of his subjects and takes them seriously. We can see this in the following exchange:



OEDIPUS


You may indeed [make a suggestion], and if there is a third course, too, don’t hesitate to let me know.


CHORUS LEADER


Our lord Teiresias, I know, can see into things, like lord Apollo.



The choragos remains on stage to witness the words of the blind seer for two reasons.


First, there is no need for him to exit and he'll be leading a choral ode immediately after the dialogue; thus having him exit would be unnecessary and distracting to the audience. Next, his remaining on stage shows that the citizens of Thebes are active participants in the quest to locate the murderer, again showing Oedipus' leadership qualities.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Who is Roberto in The Giver?

Roberto is an old man who is released.


Roberto is a minor character in the book who never actually appears within his pages.  By the time Roberto is introduced to the reader, he is already dead.


When Jonas is participating in volunteer hours in the House of the Old with Fiona, he hears about the release of Roberto from Larissa.  She explains to Jonas that Roberto has just been released, and it was a wonderful ceremony.  This catches Jonas’s attention, because he remembers the old man.



"I knew Roberto!" Jonas said. "I helped with his feeding the last time I was here, just a few weeks ago. He was a very interesting man." (Ch. 4)



In Jonas’s community, people only have a family while they are raising children.  Then the adults go to live with the Childless Adults while they can still work, and when they get old they move to the House of the Old.  After a time, they are released.


The old are treated like children.  While they are pampered and cared for, they are also smacked with discipline wands for misbehaving.  After their period of time in the House of the Old, they are released.


Larissa tells Jonas that Roberto had a wonderful and important life, and she enjoyed his ceremony.  During the ceremony, they explain all about the old person’s life before releasing him or her.  Jonas asks Larissa where the Old go when they are released.



"I don't know. I don't think anybody does, except the committee. .He just bowed to all of us and then walked, like they all do, through the special door in the Releasing Room. But you should have seen his look. Pure happiness, I'd call it." (Ch. 4)



Jonas has no idea what release is when he first hears about it.  He does not realize that the old people are being euthanized.  Later, when Jonas does learn what release means, he also learns that his friend Fiona has been trained how to do it.


We only learn about release in bits and pieces.  Most readers will realize what it is long before Jonas does, because he has no understanding of death.  None of his community members do.  It is only after he receives the memories of death that he can appreciate the concept.  His father, Fiona, and the others perform euthanasia on a regular basis on babies and old people without giving it a second thought.  It means nothing to them.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Which door did the princess indicate for her lover to open in the arena?

Frank Stockton's short story "The Lady or the Tiger" is about a "semi-barbaric" king who believes he has invented the perfect system of justice. The most important crimes in the kingdom are decided in an arena. The accused is brought to the center of the amphitheater and given the choice of two doors. Behind one door is a ferocious tiger which, upon being chosen, leaps out and kills the accused, thus proving his guilt. If he chooses the other door, a lady comes out and they are instantly married, proving his innocence. 


When the lover of the king's daughter is brought into the arena for having dared loved the princess, he is presented with the two doors. The princess, as her lover had deduced, knew which door he should choose. Stockton writes:



Her right arm lay on the cushioned parapet before her. She raised her hand, and made a slight, quick movement toward the right. No one but her lover saw her. Every eye but his was fixed on the man in the arena.



This statement basically ends the plot of the story. Stockton never reveals whether the tiger or the lady came out of the door on the right. Some may guess the princess had mercy on the man she loved and was willing to give him up to save his life. Others, however, may surmise that the "semi-barbaric" princess would never want to see another woman marry her lover, and so the tiger leapt out of the door and ripped him to pieces.

Evaluate the integral


Let's first evaluate the indefinite integral by using the method of integration by parts,





Now let's evaluate using the method of substitution,


Let's substitute 








substitute back 




Now let's evaluate the definite integral,



 


 


Friday, December 13, 2013

In The Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka, what role does Sadiku play in Sidi's visit to Baroka?

Sadiku is Baroka's head wife who petitions Sidi to marry Baroka in the play The Lion and the Jewel on the Bale's behalf. Sidi initially declines Baroka's offer because she has become conceited after seeing her photographs in a magazine and thinks that the Bale is much too old for her. Sadiku is surprised to find out that Sidi neglects Baroka's offer, then invites Sidi to a meal at Baroka's palace. Sidi also declines Baroka's invitation, claiming that she's heard stories about how the Bale deceives the women at his suppers. Sadiku insists that everything Sidi heard about the Bale is a lie, but Sidi still refuses to attend the meal. Sadiku goes back to the palace and tells Baroka that Sidi neglected his offer. The Bale then tells Sadiku that he is impotent, and he hoped that Sidi would excite him again. Sadiku believes Baroka and swears to keep her mouth shut about his condition. That night, Sadiku enters the village and begins to dance and sing about winning a victory against her masters. When Sidi asks Sadiku what she is talking about, Sadiku tells Sidi that Baroka is impotent. Sidi is joyful to hear the news and tells Sadiku that she will agree to go to Baroka's meal so that she can mock him. Sadiku is unaware that Baroka lied to her, knowing full well that Sadiku would gossip about his impotence. Once Sidi visits Baroka's palace, he is able to woo her into sleeping with him. Sadiku unknowingly was an essential part of Baroka's plan to deceive and woo Sidi.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Give an example of a person vs. person conflict in the novel Fahrenheit 451.

Throughout the novel Fahrenheit 451, the most obvious person vs. person conflict is between Montag and Captain Beatty. Montag is a fireman who is conflicted about his life and occupation. After interacting with Clarisse and witnessing a woman commit suicide while her books burn, Montag has a change of heart and begins to look towards literature for answers. However, Captain Beatty, the novel's antagonist, tries to confuse Montag before he attempts to arrest him. Beatty tells Montag that literature is useless because it is full of contradicting opinions. Beatty attempts to persuade Montag that his intellectual pursuits are in vain and places him under arrest after Mildred calls the authorities on him. In a dramatic scene, Montag ends up killing Captain Beatty by shooting him using a flamethrower. Montag then becomes a fugitive on the run and seeks refuge at Faber's home before leaving the city.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

What does the whirligig symbolize in chapter 6, "Bellevue, Washington," in the book "Whirligig?"

In this chapter, we follow Tony, a fifth-grader with Korean ancestry who lives with an adoptive family. Because of his Asian heritage, his mother insists that he take Suzuki violin lessons. Tony would rather watch baseball or hang out with friends. During the summer, he and his family go camping in Bellevue, north of Seattle. They see the whirligig that Brent installed, which depicts Lea as an angel playing a harp. Tony hates it so much he throws a rock at it, and the rock bounces off the wood. His mother loves the whirligig and takes many pictures of it. She even frames one for inspiration. Tony isn’t inspired, however. When they get back home, he makes many mistakes during a music recital, and is obviously not committed to the instrument. He later complains to his violin teacher about the whirligig photo, and his teacher offers an interpretation. “The harp player plays her harp. Then she rests. Then she plays again,” he says. He understands that Tony needs a break. He recommends to Tony’s mother that the boy take a rest from violin for a time, just like Lea does on the whirligig. Her figure in the wood symbolizes Tony and his own music making.  

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Who is more ambitious at the opening point of the play, Macbeth or Lady Macbeth?

Macbeth never talks about his wife's ambitions, but she talks about his. Her soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 5 provides a good means to evaluate the relative strengths of their ambitions.



Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great;
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it.
.......................................................................
Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear,
And chastise with the valor of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crown'd withal.



Lady Macbeth obviously believes that her own ambition is stronger than that of her husband and that he will not act to become king unless she uses her persuasive powers. She is probably correct. We see throughout the beginning scenes that Macbeth has all sorts of misgivings about murdering Duncan. This should indicate that he is, as his wife says, not sufficiently ambitious to overcome his doubts and scruples. She is obsessed with the vision of becoming queen, but she cannot become queen until her husband becomes king. She overrides all his objections to going through with the plot to kill Duncan. She is so ambitious that she is blinded by her ambition. Macbeth is not blinded because he is not as strongly motivated. He sees all the possibilities of something going wrong and tries to explain them to her--but she won't listen. She believes or pretends to believe that all her husband's arguments against committing the murder are prompted by fear, which she stingingly calls cowardice.  It seems likely that Macbeth would not have killed King Duncan if his wife had not taken the lead, and this in itself seems to prove that she is more ambitious than her husband.

What are two important characteristics the United States adopted from Ancient Greece?

The most notable characteristic the United States has adopted from Ancient Greece is the idea of a democracy. Democracy, or the Ancient Greek demokratia, literally means "people's power," and refers to a system of government where the people are in charge of the decisions. There is some ambiguity to the actual meaning of democracy- who really has the power? Who is part of the "people?" Everyone, or only the wealthy elite? It is difficult to say who actually had voting or decision making power in Ancient Greece as there is no regular census data, and most of the contemporary first-person accounts of Ancient Greek politics are from the perspective of a wealthy, educated, elite person.


In the United States we experience some degree of ambiguity in our practice of democracy, too. While every American citizen has the right to vote, many do not, and their voices go unheard in the decision-making process. There are also criticisms of the democratic republic system, whereby populations elect a representative to vote or act on their behalf in the government. People may be unhappy with their chosen representative if their ideals differ from the elected official's, and there are criticisms of how easily some politicians may be swain by bribery.


Another aspect of culture the United States has acquired from Ancient Greece is architectural style. Many government or public buildings and monuments are built in a style called Neoclassical architecture, meaning it incorporates new symbolism and motifs but is heavily based on Classical (Ancient Greek) architecture. If you look at Ancient Greek structures, you will likely see lots of columns, domes, and decorative carvings. These, too, are evident in the architectural styles popular in the United States during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.


The fact that Neoclassical architecture is employed in the style of many public buildings like courthouses, banks, and government offices serves as a visual reminder to where much of the United States' sociopolitical ideology comes from.

What does Winterbourne's efforts to understand Daisy reflect about his personality in "Daisy Miller"?

Appropriately named, the cold and calculating character of Winterbourne is the epitome of what, in the 21st century, we would call a kind of "hipster".  He has designed his life to play the part of the dandy, the society man, and the connoisseur of everything. While Winterbourne is quite a heavy character to digest, personality wise, it is through his dynamics with Daisy Miller that we realize the extent to which this man is willing to give up his happiness for the sake of keeping up with his social masks. 


In reality, Winterbourne is quite fond of Daisy. Deep inside, the reader can tell that he must have been somewhat jealous of the fact that this girl gets to experience life to the fullest, without any fears of being called out by her peers.



Miss Daisy Miller looked extremely innocent. Some people had told [Winterboure] that, after all, American girls were exceedingly innocent; and others had told him that, after all, they were not. He was inclined to think Miss Daisy Miller was a flirt—a pretty American flirt. He had never, as yet, had any relations with young ladies of this category.



He is curious about this American girl. He is also definitely attracted, to a point, and for someone who lives to look "cool", Winterbourne would have caused a sensation with a young American gal.


Still, while he wants to join in the fun, he cannot get over the social mantras that he grew up with, and which are expected of him to fulfill. It is, in the end, easier for him to suppress his emotions and revert back to the annoying person that he is, than risk his reputation, nay, his status, for the sake of carrying on with someone who is, by all accounts, a naive "nouveau riche". 


Hence, his efforts to understand Daisy denote that there is an interest on his part of getting to know this girl at a deeper level. He does appreciate her joie de vivre, and he may look condescending in his treatment of her, but he is a product of his society: All that he can do is look from the outside in, and wonder about this interesting and strange creature named Daisy. 

Monday, December 9, 2013

Write the partial fraction decomposition of the rational expression.


To decompose this to partial fractions, factor the denominator.



Then, write a fraction for each factor. For the repeated factor x, form a partial fraction for each exponent x from 1 to 2. And assign a variable for each numerators. 


  ,     and    


Add these three fractions and set it equal to the given fraction.



To solve for the values of A, B and C, eliminate the fractions in the equation. So multiply both sides by the LCD.




Then, plug-in the roots of the factors.


For the factor x^2, its root is x=0





For the factor (2x + 3), its root is x=-3/2.






To get the value of A, assign any value to x, and plug-in the values of B and C to:



Let x = 1.








So the partial fraction decomposition of the given rational expression is:



This simplifies to:




To check, express them with same denominators.




Now that they have same denominators, let's proceed to add/subtract them.





Therefore,   .

Sunday, December 8, 2013

How does Winston's and Julia's dysfunctional relationship cause Winston to struggle to find happiness?

For Winston, his relationship with Julia is problematic because it violates party rules. As a result, every moment he spends with her is fraught with insecurity and prevents him from being truly happy in her company. This sense of insecurity is summed up perfectly in Part 2, Chapter 5:


"Both of them knew -- in a way, it was never out of their minds -- that what was now happening could not last long. There were times when the fact of impending death seemed as palpable as the bed they lay on, and they would cling together with a sort of despairing sensuality."


To find permanence, Winston comes up with all sorts of ideas which might enable him and Julia to stay together and be happy. In one such idea, he and Julia become proles and get a job in factory so as to avoid the watchful eye of Big Brother. But, ultimately, Winston knows that none of his ideas are truly plausible; they are all "nonsense" and cannot ever result in the end he most desires. While this belief creates a sense of hopelessness in Winston, he does not end his relationship with Julia by choice. (Their relationship only ends when the pair are arrested and betray each other during torture.) He clings on to the idea that they might stay together but, in the closing chapter of the book, we see that happiness belongs only to the party: Julia and Winston have been brainwashed and they only feel love for Big Brother, not for each other. 

Why does Granny not clearly identify the man pushing the cart (Death) and the man "cursing like a sailor" in "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall"?

As Granny fades in and out of consciousness, the lines between the present and the past, reality and memory are blurred. For this reason, Granny's recognition of the presence of the priest, Father Connolly triggers her memory of his having held her up when the groom failed to arrive at her wedding. She does, in fact, remember that he "cursed like a sailor" and offered to kill George. But, because she is fading from life, she does not recognize Death as the man holding the reins of the cart that she imagines when Father Connolly arrives to give her the last rites.


Katherine Anne Porter's short story "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall," while told from third-person narrator, much of the narration comes from Granny's interior monologue. Because of this stream-of-consciousness narration, objectivity is missing as she slips into other dimensions. For, Granny is dying and her faculties are diminished; for the most part, she becomes absorbed in her old memories. One of these is her longstanding remembrance of the hurt of having been left at the altar by George so many years ago. 


It is the use of these two narrative techniques that enables Porter to connect the present and the living with the past and those who are dead, such as her daughter Hapsy. Ironically, the use of these techniques makes the story more credible, while also providing insight into Granny's character.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

How do the boys start the fire in Lord of the Flies?

As the boys' first day on the island draws to a close, Ralph holds a second meeting to report on the findings of the boys who went exploring. He then suggests that they can help themselves get rescued by making a signal fire. The boys go wild, and everyone works together to make a huge mound of sticks and branches for the fire. However, when it comes time to light it, Ralph sheepishly realizes he has no way to do so. He asks if anyone has a match, and some boys discuss the process of rubbing two sticks together to make sparks, but no one is quite sure how to do that.


Piggy has been the only boy not involved in the boisterous wood gathering. As he comes huffing up to the place where the other boys are, Ralph asks him if he has matches. Jack suddenly points at him, saying, "His specs--use them as burning glasses!" The boys surround Piggy, and Jack snatches the glasses off his face. Ralph uses the lenses to focus light on a rotten piece of wood. It begins to smoke, and a flame appears. The dry fuel burns quickly, and soon the flame reaches 20 feet into the air. 

In "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs, how is the end of Part II an example of situational irony?

Part II of "The Monkey's Paw" takes place the day after Mr. Whites makes his first wish, two hundred pounds to clear the mortgage. The mood of that day is light and playful, as the family sits at the breakfast table, joking and laughing, before Herbert sets off to work. However, by dinnertime, the mood has turned dark and tragic.


Situational irony is when the opposite of what you expect happens. The situational irony found at the end of Part II is that the two hundred pounds, something positive, came as a result of Herbert's horrific death, something negative. Additionally, earlier, Mr. White had mentioned that Sergeant Major Morris said it would happen naturally and would seem to be a coincidence, but there was nothing "natural" about Herbert falling into a machine and becoming unrecognizable. More ironic still is the fact that the money will have to go towards Herbert's funeral expenses. With the realization of the paw's sinister power, Mr. White drops "a senseless heap, to the floor."

How did Gandhi's religion help him change the world?

Ghandi was first and foremost, in his religious views, open and embracing of all creeds. He was personally a Hindu, but he believed in the ideas of Jesus, Buddha and respected all religions as having a degree of the universal truths common to humanity.


In his actions, which changed the world, his basic belief was non-violence. This was the platform Ghandi used in all his social and political movements. Absolute non-violence. Jesus, of course, asserted this tenant, but remarkably few Christians today follow that teaching.


Even more so than non-violence, Ghandi could be seen to follow the philosophy of Henry David Thoreau, in his essay, "Civil Disobedience." Thoreau's essay of non-acceptance of the law of the land in which one resides struck a central core within Ghandi, and he used the Thoreau's societal lesson as a template for all the sweeping changes he carried out, throughout India and the world.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Explain what dichotomy is and what the dichotomy was in the 1920s between modern and traditional ideas. Explain how World War 1 left America in a...

A dichotomy is a tension between two concepts that are opposites, or perceived as opposites. Dichotomies are found all over the place; some are true dichotomies---they really are opposites that basically exhaust the options---while others are false dichotomies---they may be mutually compatible, or there are other alternatives not being considered.

An example of a true dichotomy is even versus odd numbers. Every integer is either even or odd, by definition. There are no exceptions and nothing in-between.

An example of a false dichotomy is male versus female. There are a number of intermediate states, as well as many species that have no sexes or more than two sexes.

Shortly after WW1, the US and Europe went through a period of deep disillusionment. Prior to the war, there was a general sense among both intellectuals and the public at large that the world was getting better, that modern ideas and technologies were finally solving the world's problems and bringing us toward something greater, perhaps even a utopian future.

The war destroyed that vision; as the bloodiest single conflict in human history up to that point, it made people feel as though all of this progress was a dangerous illusion, which only served to amplify the inherent violence and treachery of human nature with fancy new technologies like tanks and machine guns.

Thus, there was a profound tension in people's minds---a dichotomy---between wanting to embrace the hope that technology and modernity offered us, and wanting to give it all up and go back to a time that was perceived to be more peaceful and moral.

We are fortunate that humanity ultimately chose to embrace modernity. In fact, even if you include the World Wars, total rates of violence in the world have been declining for centuries. Despite two depressions and many recessions, our standard of living has risen by a factor of 20 in First World countries since this period of disillusionment. We aren't in a utopian future (yet?), but in most ways the world really is getting better over time.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Which is more important to the story "The Yellow Wallpaper"—the character development or the setting?

I think you are on the right track and I agree with your thinking so far. I would go on to argue that the setting of the story is the driving force of the protagonist's character change and descent into madness. 


First the story has many conventions that mirror the Gothic literature popular in the 1800s, not in the least the setting. The narrator describes the house as an "ancestral hall" and a "hereditary estate" in the very first paragraph – she even wants to call it a haunted house, the epitome of the Gothic tradition. Images of abandonment and ruin litter the grounds: broken greenhouses and abandoned cottages. While Gilman states that her intention was for the novel to "keep people from being driven crazy" by rest cures like the one she suffered, the narrator's insanity is a critical feature of the book, and one that follows in the tradition of Gothic novels. The Gothic setting and narrator's descent into madness are absolutely linked by genre.


Additionally, the isolation inherent in the setting plays a major role in the narrator's shift from the beginning of the novel to the end. The house is described as being:



"quite alone, standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village. [...] there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people"



Not only is the house itself set apart from the rest of the village, but even within the grounds and house there are all sorts of devices to keep people apart – locking gates and walls. Most isolating of all is the narrator's bedroom. Instead of the downstairs room that "opened onto the piazza," John insists that the narrator take the attic bedroom, which is so isolated that it even has bars on the windows. 


The narrator's emotional isolation begins to mirror her physical isolation. She often notes that she cannot be open and honest about her condition with John, and he frequently demonstrates his patronizing responses to her concerns. She hides her writing, stops telling him how the room affects her, and even censors her own self in her diary. By the time she is locking John and Jenny out of the room and ripping the woman out of the wallpaper, it's far too late. The isolation has driven her mad. 


Finally, the narrator's room suggests how the setting reflects her character. The room used to be a nursery, which is fitting for the way the narrator is infantilized by her husband. John calls her "blessed little goose," playfully mocks her feelings and concerns, and disregards all that she says. After the reader has become very suspicious about her mental health, the narrator asks John if they can leave the house, fearing that it is harming her. He responds that he would do so in a second if she were in any danger, but continues to say that she is getting better,



"...whether you can see it or not. I am a doctor, dear, and I know. You are gaining flesh and color, your appetite is better, I feel really much easier about you."


"I don't weigh a bit more," said I, "nor as much; and my appetite may be better in the evening when you are here, but it is worse in the morning when you are awav!"


" Bless her little heart!" said he with a big hug, "she shall be as sick as she pleases!"



They do not, clearly, leave the house. This treatment of women as foolish and childish was not uncommon in the 19th century, but it is definitely shown to be destructive here. Instead of listening to his wife's concerns, John coops her up in a former nursery, with bars on the windows – showing her real position as both child and prisoner to her husband. The "rings and things" bolted to the wall increase the sense that the room is a prison, as does the pattern on the wallpaper. Though the wallpaper at first looks random, it eventually appears to the narrator as women trapped behind the bars of the front pattern, shaking it to try to get out. As the narrator descends into madness, she moves between wanting to help the women and wanting to keep them trapped. Sometimes she even thinks she is one of them, escaped from the paper. Clearly, her isolation and husband's disdain have forced the narrator to focus on the only thing available to her, until it has driven her mad.   

What did Prometheus want to give to man and why?

In Greek mythology, the Titan Prometheus was tasked by the gods with providing mankind with the comforts that were needed to thrive.  Prometheus recognized that humans were suffering naked and afraid in the cold.  He decided to break into Mt. Olympus, the home of the gods and steal fire to help the humans.  Prometheus took the fire from the workshop of Athena.  Prometheus also gave metalworking to the humans as a gift, but fire was the big coup. Zeus was so angered by the theft that he heavily punished the Titan. The punishment for the immortal Prometheus was that he was exiled by Zeus to the East.  The exile itself was not nearly as unsettling as the fact that Prometheus was to have his liver eaten by a bird of prey on a daily basis.  This was the cost of fire, according the Greek mythology.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

What is the full form of PDF?

PDF is a term commonly associated with computers and stands for "portable document format". PDF is a file format and is used to save and read documents in a format which is independent of the software used to prepare it. For example, when we create any document, say a text document using Microsoft Office, and try to open it in another computer, that does not have Microsoft office (or the same version of it); the document would not appear the same and may suffer from lose of information (font, format, content, etc.). Converting it into pdf solves the problem, because would be fixed in its original place and the document would always appear the same in a pdf reader. Adobe's Acrobat Reader is a free program for reading pdf documents. There are a number of pdf converters and many software also allow the file to be converted directly to a pdf. 



Hope this helps. 

Describe glucose and where it is produced.

Glucose is a simple (single molecule) sugar. Sugars are organic compounds chemically referred to as carbohydrates. Like most simple sugars, glucose follows the typical carbon and hydrate pattern of a certain number of carbons plus a certain number of H2O groups (hence the name), often written as:



From an energy standpoint, glucose is the carbohydrate most readily used in the series of chemical reactions that facilitate the production of ATP, the energy currency of all multicellular animals. Animals and other non-photosynthetic organisms, including fungi and bacteria, cannot produce glucose and must take it up from their environment; animals do this by eating other animals or plants. Plants can make glucose via photosynthesis, which, in a nutshell, results in the following chemical reaction:



Plants absorb the reactants, carbon dioxide and water, from their environment. Photons from light provide the energy that powers the steps that produce this chemical reaction. Plant cells in all green parts of plants, including leaves and stems, contain organelles called chloroplasts, which is where photosynthesis takes place. Most chloroplasts reside deep within leaves in cells called mesophylls.


Each mesophyll contains an average of 30 chloroplasts. The chloroplast is a double-membraned envelope filled with stroma, a viscous fluid within which reside membranous sacs called thylakoids. These thylakoids contain chlorophyll, the chromophore which gives plants their green pigment. The wavelengths which are of most use to plants are outside the green area of the visual spectrum; the chlorophyll thereby reflects the green wavelengths and absorbs only the light that is most useful to the chloroplast.


There are two reactions that comprise photosynthesis, the light reaction and the Calvin cycle. In the light reaction, a photon provides the energy to split a water molecule and produce oxygen, a compound called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate hydrogen (NADPH), and ATP. In the Calvin cycle, carbon dioxide from the air is complexed into organic compounds in a process known as carbon fixation. NADPH and ATP are used to add electrons to the compounds (termed reduction) and build a three-carbon sugar called glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, or G3P.  


Some of the G3P produced is used to make sugars, including sucrose and glucose. Some goes back into the Calvin cycle to allow the cycle to repeat, and the rest the plant uses for its own structures and energy stores.


REFERENCES:


Alberts B., Johnson A. Lewis J. et al. (2008) Molecular Biology of the Cell. 5th edGarland Science: New York, NY


Loudon, M. (2009) Organic Chemistry. 5th ed. Roberts & Co Publishers: Greenwood, CO


Reece, J.B., Urry, L.A., Cain, M.L. et al. (2011) Campbell Biology. 9th ed. Benjamin Cummings: San Francisco, CA




How does Paine feel Americans were being enslaved?

American revolutionary and Enlightenment philosopher Thomas Paine was a strong advocate for the American War for Independence. Most notably, he drafted Common Sense, a pamphlet which laid out a brief, yet forceful, argument for war against Great Britain. Paine also wrote a series of newspaper articles collectively known as "The American Crisis."


In the first installment of "The American Crisis, published December 23, 1776, Paine alleges that the British are attempting to enslave the American colonists. He writes:



Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth.



In other words, Paine believes that since Great Britain has declared its supremacy over America and threatened to use coercive, violent action to maintain that supremacy, she is no different than a slave-owner who uses violence to maintain control of his slaves. Such coercive action, Paine says, is a power which can "belong only to God."

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

How do we know whether a redox reaction is taking place in an acidic or alkaline medium?

Redox reactions are those that involve both oxidation and reduction. In the oxidation half reaction, one or more electrons are lost, while in the reduction half reaction, one or more electrons are gained. When these reactions are combined, we end up with a redox reaction. These reactions can take place in either acidic or basic or neutral medium. If the redox reaction takes place in an acidic medium, proton (or ) will appear in the chemical equation for redox reaction. On the other hand, if the reaction took place in an alkaline medium, hydroxyl ion (or ) ion will appear in either sides of the redox reaction equation. If neither of these ions are seen in the redox reaction, the medium is neutral.


The presence of these ions is used to balance the redox reaction equation. 


Hope this helps.

Monday, December 2, 2013

In World War I, what did "mud cruncher" refer to?

During World War I, infantryman were given many nicknames to denote their lowly status. These nicknames included footslogger, ground pounder, rat, and gravel crusher. A favorite nickname for soldiers during World War I was the mud cruncher. Being an infantryman during World War I was a thankless job. You spent your time in the trenches for months on end in miserable conditions. Your life was in constant jeopardy from mortar attacks. As an infantryman, you were expendable.


The moniker is the name of a book by Matt Riddle that chronicles the experiences of a Carolina farm boy and his experiences in the trenches. The genesis of the nickname mud cruncher is uncertain, but it probably refers to dead bodies in the trenches with their bones being crunched by tanks.

Explain how "The Fall of the House of Usher" is uncanny.

The uncanny or unheimlich is the uncomfortable or the strange. The German word unheimlich, meaning unhomelike, best captures the eerie feeling of the uncanny, the sense of the ordinary being "off" in a weird or uncomfortable way.


To Freud, the uncanny represented death and was most clearly symbolized in the corpse. A corpse is uncanny because it is both completely human and completely inhuman. The twin, known as the doppelganger, also represents the uncanny, both "you" if you are part of its pair, and yet not you.


In "The Fall of the House of Usher," a twin becomes a corpse, which is about as uncanny as it gets. Roderick's twin sister Madeline dies, and with the help of the narrator, Roderick entombs her in a coffin covered with a heavy lid in a thick-doored vault in the dungeon of the house. However, it happens that his twin is not really dead--one symptom of her fatal disease is that she can look as if she is dead when she is, in fact alive--and somehow, eerily, she emerges from the coffin and the vault. When Roderick sees her, his nerves already shot from anticipating her return, he dies and becomes "a corpse."  


Many believe Madeline, Roderick's twin, is simply a projection of himself created by his fevered brain. Whether she exists or not, a twin is uncanny and a dead twin doubly so. Furthermore, the entire setting drips with the uncanny: the mildew-covered house of Usher, with its dark, creepy tarn, isolated setting and Gothic features, is anything but "homey." It is an appropriate setting for the dark, repressed wanderings of the unconscious, everything we don't want to face in our everyday life. 

Sunday, December 1, 2013

What is the result of government price controls?

According to economic theory, the result of government price controls is either a surplus (if the government imposes a price floor) or a shortage (if the government sets a price ceiling).  Either way, there is an inefficient result and things would be better if the government would refrain from trying to control prices.


One way of controlling prices is to prevent them from dropping too low.  Governments do this, for example, by guaranteeing certain prices for agricultural products.  They do not want farmers to have economic problems so they prevent prices from dropping.  This encourages farmers to plant more of the crop in question because they know they will get a high price for it.  At the same time, it discourages consumers from buying as much of the crop because the price is higher than the consumers would like.  This means that supply is greater than demand and prices are not allowed to drop to create an equilibrium.  This situation results in a surplus of the particular crop.


Governments can also impose price ceilings.  One example of this comes when governments try to cap the price of something that people need to use, like gasoline.  The government hopes to improve people’s lives by making a vital good less expensive.  When the government sets an upper limit on price, it causes people to want more of the good.  The good is cheap, so people are able to buy more of it.  At the same time, however, the low price means that it is less profitable to sell the good.  Suppliers are not eager to sell at low prices so supply is low even as demand is high.  This situation results in a shortage of the good.


Thus, when governments control prices (economists say) bad things happen.  In some cases too much of a product is produced while in other cases not enough is produced.

Why was The Great Gatsby important during the Jazz Age? How was it influential and what is its meaning?

The Great Gatsby represented all the excesses and exuberances of the Jazz Age, the time between the end of World War I and the stock market crash in 1929 that led to the Great Depression. The novel reflects the spirit and the texture of life in that period. As readers, we witness the sense of optimism, consumerism and good times that characterize the Jazz Age, primarily through Gatsby's wild parties. The parties show the period's rebellion against Prohibition: in this novel, the booze runs freely, and Gatsby builds his fortune, in part, on bootlegging. The novel also depicts the new sexual freedom of the age, as well as the New Woman, represented most fully by Jordan Baker, an athletic golfer with short hair (a new and daring style for women in the 1920s) and the freedom to come and go as she pleases.


For the first time, millions of Americans owned cars, and cars become an integral part of Gatsby's story, carrying legions of guests to Gatsby's parties on the edge of Long Island, causing Myrtle Wilson and Tom Buchanan to meet through her husband's gas station, carrying our main characters to New York City and finally, creating tragedy. 


The Great Gatsby became most influential during (and after) World II, when the army gave out copies to the troops. The book did not sell as well as expected when first published, but two decades later came to represent a lost and hopeful period of American life.


The book captures the flavor of the Jazz Age like no other, by one who lived through it and was one of its chief representatives. Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda, young, beautiful, partying and audacious, were the face of a new age that rejected Victorian repression--and this novel also became its face.


However, the novel's meaning is more complex. While writing it in 1925, Fitzgerald couldn't have foreseen the stock market crash that ended the decade-long party, but he did show the undercurrents of careless and excess that, in the end, would undo the economy. Beneath the celebration, the book is a somber look at the problems caused when we base our lives on illusions, in the champagne bubble of a dream. 

How does author Elie Wiesel use symbolism to contribute to the meaning of Night?

In his book Night , Elie Wiesel uses symbolism throughout to enhance the text. First of all, the title itself is symbolic. The word "ni...