What is George thinking about his son before the "twenty-one gun salute?" What has happened to Harrison?

George begins to think about how and why Harrison is in jail. The narrator refers to Harrison as "abnormal" in this section of the story and the meaning behind this is explained shortly thereafter. The twenty-one gun salute is part of George's mental handicap. Any time he tries to engage in deeper thought, his handicap kicks in and disrupts his thinking. Such handicaps are designed to prevent smarter people from using their intelligence. The goal in this dystopia is to make everyone equal. Therefore, stronger people have physical handicaps and smarter people have mental handicaps. 

Later in the story, George and Hazel are watching television and a news bulletin is read. We learn that Harrison had been arrested for plotting to overthrow this oppressive government. Harrison has now escaped from prison. The narrator goes on to describe Harrison's handicaps: 

Nobody had ever born heavier handicaps. He had outgrown hindrances faster than the H-G men could think them up. Instead of a little ear radio for a mental handicap, he wore a tremendous pair of earphones, and spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were intended to make him not only half blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides. 

Harrison is seven feet tall, and he is more mentally and physically gifted than anyone else. That is why he's been given such oppressive handicaps. However, he is so strong that he will eventually discard the handicaps effortlessly. 

In "The Masque of the Red Death," how do the chimes of the clock affect the guests? What are their costumes like? What do you think might occur in...

The chimes from the clock send a wave of unease over the guests at the party. When the clock chimes, the musicians stop playing, leaving the chimes to be the only sound throughout the rooms. Poe says that the sounds of the clock make even most carefree people become pale with anxiety; the most reserved people "passed their hand over their brows" out of nervousness.

I do not think much occurs in the black room because the room made the party goers nervous. Any who entered looked so freaked out that there were not many people who wished to actually go into the room. Those who did probably just stood in silence or chatted lightly, as is normal behavior for a party.

It is my understanding that the dreams represent the people at the party in their magnificent costumes, walking around the party, in and out of the various rooms. Poe describes them as freezing where they stand when the clock chimes, just like he describes the guests doing.

The guests are described as being "grotesque," and their costumes were influenced by Prince Prospero and his "guiding taste." They wore clothes with shine and glitter, and the costumes were exciting and strange to look at. Some people wore clothes that did not quite match each other, that were unusual. There is one quote that describes it well:

"There was much of the beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust."

Can someone make a summary and list of themes of Paul Auster's "City of Glass" graphic novel?

I am happy to attempt a summary and the themes of City of Glass for you. Let us begin with the summary and conclude with the themes.

The story begins with Daniel Quinn accepting a strange detective assignment due to a wrong phone number. The person on the phone is trying to reach Paul Auster, a famous detective, but Daniel Quinn decides to take the case anyway. The goal? To keep close watch on the caller's father, who teaches language at a university and has done some strange experiments on children as a result. Throughout the story, Daniel loses track of his client, his own apartment, all of his things, and even who he really is. It is a story very different from many others because of its unusual use of plot and character. We soon learn about the extensive identity issues of the client, Peter. Peter refers to himself continually in the negative as Peter Nobody, Anything, or Not Here. Peter also has trouble identifying others. In fact, every time he meets Quinn, Peter doesn't recognize Quinn. Therefore, Quinn pretends to be a different person each time. Please note how the author even pretends to be the detective in the story.

In conclusion, I would say that the main theme is altered identity. This is so in the case of the detective, the author, the client, and many of his pseudonyms.

Which is more economical when renting a vehicle? LG's Rent a Car : Php 1500 per day plus Php 35 per kilometer traveled Rent and Drive : Php 2000...

It comes down to a question of kilometers traveled.  If we restate Php as $, The comparison is LG: $1,500 + $35n Km vs. Rent and Drive: $2,000 +$25n Km. 

If we compare the two values as an equation we can find the value of n that will make the two rentals the same price:

 

We subtract $25n from each side and we get

We subtract 1500 from each side and we get

Divide each side by $10 and n=50. 

So if you drive exactly 50 km each day, both rentals will cost the same amount.  Then we test the values with bigger and smaller compatible numbers to verify which is cheaper for shorter or longer daily travel distances.  In this case I'll use, 10 km, and 100 km.  If you drive 10 km each day: vs

So for trips shorter than 50 km each day, LG is the better deal. 

While if you drive 100 km each day vs.

so for trips of longer than 50 km each day Rent and Drive is the better deal. 

How would you describe English society, including issues of social relationships, gender, social class, and social mobility, at the time this play...

Pygmalion premiered in 1913, a period during which gender and class roles in British society were changing rapidly. Shaw himself was aware of these changes and generally favored them, regarding both the older, more rigid class system and the patriarchal oppression of women as both morally wrong and irrational. 

Conventions concerning social and sexual relationships varied with class, with the middle classes opposing sexual activity outside of marriage but the lower classes tending to have a more open attitude towards such relationships. In general, there was a double standard in which having sexual relationships outside marriage proved a man's virility but was considered improper for women. When Eliza states "And I'm a good girl, I am," she is referring to a large degree to her only selling flowers, not her body, a theme that recurs towards the end of the play in her notions about marriage. 

The rapidly changing role of women is reflected by Mrs. Pearce's concern about Eliza's role in the household. For a single woman to live in the house of an unwed man would be improper unless she fit into an established role such as that of a servant or relative.

Although the play is, to a great degree, about social mobility, it also portrays a rigid class system, in which socioeconomic status is reflected in speech and manners as much as money. A central issue in the plot is what happens when people's self-perception, education, and behavior would place them in one class but their income is that of a different class. Mr. Doolittle and Eliza are both suddenly raised in class, but the Hill family portrays people of an aristocratic background who are descending in class due to a lack of money. In all cases, this class dislocation is portrayed as emotionally traumatic.

Explain the geologic event that occur slowly but results in significant changes to the land.

Weathering is a geological process that occurs slowly but can result in significant changes to the land. Tors, weathering pits and caves, rubble fields and slopes, alcoves, and arches are types of landforms that can be created by weathering.

Weathering is the process by which rocks are deteriorated, broken, or disintegrated into smaller components over time. Weathering can be a result of either mechanical or chemical processes.

Mechanical weathering is sometimes referred to as physical weathering. Mechanical weathering is a result of a physical change in rock. Below, several contributors to mechanical weathering have been identified.

• Wind may be strong enough or strike a rock for such a long period of time that rock is mechanically weathered.


• Frost wedging begins as water seeps between the cracks of rocks.  Next, the water freezes and expands. The force of the expanding water may act as a lever and split the crack in the rock. Thus, the rock would be severed in half.


• As the temperature changes, the rock may expand and contract. This may result in fissures and the weathering of the rock.


• Animals may burrow in the rock and cause it to break apart.

Chemical weathering causes rock to undergo a chemical change. During chemical weathering, chemical reactions break down the bonds that hold the rock apart, causing the rock to fall apart into smaller and smaller pieces. Agents of chemical weathering include acid rain, oxidation, hydrolysis, carbonation, or dissolution.

Should we allow restricted freedom in order to protect "Freedom" overall ?

While many people view the United States as a country with lots of freedoms, there are some restrictions placed on our freedoms. These restrictions are necessary for us to truly have freedom.

If people could do whatever they wanted to do, we would have chaos in our country. We limit our right to freedom of speech so people can’t say false things about somebody that might ruin a person’s reputation. During a war, the government has limited our freedom by restricting protest activities, or in the case of World War II, by restricting what products we could buy and how much we could buy. We have laws that limit our actions so we can be kept safer. There are speed limits to make our roads safer. There are restrictions and regulations businesses must follow to protect our workers, our consumers, and our environment. We have limits as to what we can take onto airplanes, and we must be screened and searched before we are granted access to the concourses of our airports. These restrictions limit our freedom, but there is a purpose to each of these restrictions that try to make things better for us.

In order to really be free, there need to be some restrictions or limits to the freedoms we have.

What are the three contact forces?

Contact forces are the forces (as the name suggests) that act when two bodies are in contact with each other. In comparison, non-contact forces work without direct contact between bodies. Some examples of contact forces are frictional forces, tension forces, spring forces, air resistance forces, etc. These forces need contact between bodies and this contact may be continuous or momentary. Think about what happens when a person kicks a ball. The momentary contact, between the person and ball, imparts force to the ball and enables its motion. On the other hand, when we push a cart (while shopping), we are constantly supplying force to it. When we are driving, road and air friction constantly works on the car. 

In comparison, forces such as gravitational forces and electrical forces work at a distance. 

Hope this helps. 

What are some metaphors in Act 1 of Julius Caesar?

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is about the political intrigue surrounding the assassination of the Roman dictator in 44 B.C. The main characters include Caesar, his ally Marc Antony and the main plotters against Caesar, Brutus and Cassius. Shakespeare, of course, is the master of figurative language and Julius Caesar has several metaphors. Here are five examples from Act I.

In Act I, Scene 1, the tribune Marellus compares the men who have come to worship Caesar to blocks and stones, because they are as unthinking as those objects: "You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things". Marellus and Flavius are against Caesar because he has recently defeated Pompey, and they were supporters of that Roman leader. 

Later in Scene 1, Flavius compares Caesar to a bird who would "soar above" the masses and take away their freedoms. He says that bird must be "plucked":

These growing feathers plucked from Caesar’s wing

Will make him fly an ordinary pitch,

Who else would soar above the view of men

And keep us all in servile fearfulness.

Many Romans were afraid that Caesar would bring an end to the Republic and that he would prove to be a ruthless dictator.

In Scene 2, the conspirator Cassius attempts to convince Brutus that Caesar has grown too powerful. Because Brutus is well respected in Rome, Cassius believes he is the best man to lead a rebellion. Cassius compares Caesar to a carnivorous predator feeding on the meat of power:

Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed

That he is grown so great?

A little later in Scene 2 Caesar, understanding that Cassius may be against him, compares the man to a hungry wolf. Caesar prefers those who are less ambitious:

Let me have men about me that are fat,

Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights.

Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look.

He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous.

Finally, when Casca explains to Brutus and Cassius that Caesar has epilepsy, or the "falling sickness" Cassius denies it, but admits that he and the other conspirators will have it because they will fall from power:

No, Caesar hath it not. But you and I

And honest Casca, we have the falling sickness.

Explain the theme of "appearance versus reality" in "The Most Dangerous Game". Find two examples from the story to illustrate the theme.

Richard Connel's short story "The Most Dangerous Game" is about a big game hunter who has the tables turned on him as he becomes the prey in a deadly contest on a remote island.

Sanger Rainsford accidentally falls from a yacht and swims to an island where he comes upon the "palatial chateau" of General Zaroff. Zaroff lives in splendor. His house features every comfort including a "canopied bed," clothes from a "London tailor," a "baronial hall," "linen," "crystal" and much more. Zaroff comments:

"We do our best to preserve the amenities of civilization here. Please forgive any lapses. We are well off the beaten track, you know. Do you think the champagne has suffered from its long ocean trip?" 

The general's observation, of course, is ironic. The appearance is of "civilization" but what Zaroff is doing on the island is quite savage. In reality, he may live in luxury, but he is a barbarian who get his kicks by hunting and killing men.

Another example of appearance defying reality is at the end of the story when the general is shown reading a book by the Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius:

In his library he read, to soothe himself, from the works of Marcus Aurelius. 

Aurelius's stoicism preached virtue and ethical behavior. It is highly ironic that the sociopath Zaroff would be reading works of philosophy which were far removed from his own reprehensible behavior. 

How do you determine the number of neutrons in an atom from the mass number?

The mass number of an atom is the sum of protons and neutrons. The number of protons is an atom's atomic number and doesn't vary for a particular element. The number of neutrons can vary. When atoms with different numbers of neutrons exist for an element, they're called isotopes. To find the number of neutrons in an atom of a particular isotope you subtract the atom's atomic number from its mass number.  

Here's an example using lead, with has four stable isotopes and an atomic number of 82:

The notation "lead-204" means the isotope of lead that has a mass number of 204. Since lead has 82 protons, the number of neutrons in an atom of lead-204 is 204-82=122. Similarly, lead-206 has 124 neutrons, lead-207 has 125 neutrons and lead-208 has 126 neutrons. 

What are the two factors that determine an object's thermal energy?

An object's thermal energy is dependent upon its temperature and mass. The higher the temperature of a given quantity of a substance, more is its thermal energy. Similarly, for the same temperature, higher mass of a substance will contain more thermal energy. When we supply heat to a substance, its temperature rises and so is its thermal energy. Consequently, a substance loses its thermal energy and consequently its temperature. The only exception is the phase change, where the substance will change its phase (by absorbing heat), without a change in its temperature. To demonstrate the effect of mass on thermal energy, try heating two different quantities of water and measure their temperature. The container with a higher quantity will need higher heat input for the same temperature rise and hence has higher thermal energy.

Hope this helps.

Use matricies to solve the system of equations (if possible). Use Gauss-Jordan elimination.

The augmented matrix is

On applying we get

On applying we get

The corresponding system is

Let is any real number and , now substitute value in the above equations to find and values.

the solution set is

Why does Dill say he will be a clown when he grows up?

In Chapter 22, Dill says that he wants to be a clown when he grows up. When questioned as to why he wants to become a clown, Dill says, "There ain't one thing in this world I can do about folks except laugh, so I'm gonna join the circus and laugh my head off." (Lee 289) Dill chooses the unusual career of becoming a clown because, in Dill's mind, clowns are always happy.

Dill is a sympathetic character who experiences several emotional struggles throughout the novel. He does not know his biological father and envies Scout and Jem for their positive relationship with Atticus. Dill's parents constantly dismiss him and give him little attention when he is at home. Although Dill receives plenty of tangible items, he truly craves his parents' love and affection. Dill runs away from his parents' house because he is lonely and upset. In addition to Dill's struggles at home, he mentions that his Aunt Rachel is a heavy drinker. Dill also experiences the harsh realities of racism during Tom Robinson's trial. He cries at the way the prosecution questions and belittles Tom Robinson. These negative experiences throughout Dill's young life lead him to his future career choice. Dill's reasoning is simple: clowns do nothing but laugh, and he would rather laugh than experience sadness throughout his life.

In Antigone, who is this quote about: "You shall have a son of your own loins/ To death, in payment of death- two debts to pay:/ One for the life...

In Antigone, the quotation noted above regarding the "two debts to pay" is given by Tiresias to Creon. In Scene 5, Tiresias comes to Creon to give him advice about his decree and his actions to punish Antigone. In the past, Creon has revered the word of Tiresias, so all assume that here Creon will be open to good counsel. However, Creon accuses Tiresias of taking a bribe to undermine him as king. Tiresias leaves Creon with a prophecy stating that he will pay for the death of Antigone and the unburied body of Polynices with a death of one from his own loins. Creon's eldest son Megareus is already dead--killed in the battle of the Seven Against Thebes--so this leaves the younger son Haemon, who in the Exodus ends up killing himself after finding Antigone dead in her tomb.

The writer addresses "you" several times in the poem. Who is meant by "you," and how can we tell?

Maya Angelou is speaking on behalf of all African-Americans in this poem, addressing the white people who have subjugated African-Americans in innumerable ways since they came to this county as slaves.  The poem recounts the damage done, the response of white people who are offended by any African-American insistence on being treated as equals, and the ways in which the African-American will triumph in spite of it all. Let's look at a few passages from the poem to show this.

First, Angelou says this:

You may write me down in history

With your bitter twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt...(lines 1-3)

In fact, this is a fair description of how African-Americans have been and in some instances are still treated. Some states have insisted, for example, in changing history textbooks so as to minimize the horror and impact of slavery.   

She also says,

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness... (lines 21-23)

In fact, African-Americans have been literally shot, cut, and killed, not just in the days of slavery and Jim Crow, but also in America now. So this poem is not mere rhetoric. 

The second point she makes is that she is an African-American female with pride who sees that her pride offends white people, who persist in the belief that she should stay in her proper place, beneath that of white people.  Here is one example:

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room (lines 3-8).

In other words, anyone who acts as though she is entitled to be treated as a regular person is considered to be "sassy" and disrespectful.

But the nearly constant refrain through the poem is "Still I'll rise" (12), which is varied slightly from one stanza to the next.  Angelou is saying to white people that no matter what they do to her, she will continue to rise and insist upon her dignity, her value, and her equality.

Steinbeck uses animal imagery to describe Lennie, the larger man. Cite two examples of this type of imagery from the first few pages of the book.

Steinbeck uses simile, metaphor and other imagery to describe the setting and characters in Of Mice and Men. In the first few pages of the book, Steinbeck describes George and Lennie. Steinbeck often compares Lennie to animals. On the first page, Steinbeck writes, "he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws." This allows the reader to see that Lennie is very large and perhaps a bit uncoordinated as he is walking. It is an important comparison because Lennie seems to be very slow and innocent, but does have the ability to be dangerous like a bear. Another instance of comparing Lennie to an animal is also in the first chapter when it is said that, "Lennie dabbled his big paw in the water." Again, this comparison demonstrates Lennie's immense size. This sentence about his hands is an example of foreshadowing and is important because he crushes animals, and ultimately a human, with his paw-like hands.

What was the hatchet good for and how did having it help Brian to survive his ordeal?

One of the first ways that the hatchet is important to Brian is that he feels it is something useful. When he takes inventory of the things he has, it is the one thing that he considers to be a useful tool.

The hatchet is what allows him to make fire. It takes him quite a while to figure out how to do it, but with the hatchet he can strike rock in order to make sparks and eventually get a fire going. This provides a great deal of comfort and the potential for cooking meat if he can get his hands on it.

He then uses it to make the fish spear and nearly all of the other tools and bits of shelter, etc. Perhaps he could have found a way to survive without it but as the story is told, it is likely the most important possession he had after the crash.

According to Kevin, what is robotics and how is it used?

The first time Kevin visits the "down under," Max's basement bedroom, the two boys have a conversation that begins with Kevin explaining why he calls his mom the "fair Gwen of air."  This, of course, is what Max has misunderstood Kevin as saying, when he is actually calling Gwen "Guinevere."  Kevin begins explaining the legends of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table in order to help Max understand his nickname for his mom.  Kevin says that knights 

were like the first human version of robots. They wore this metal armor to protect them and make them invincible.

When Max tells Kevin that he thought robots were only in the movies, Kevin says:

I suppose I must make allowances for your ignorance. On the subject of robots you are clearly misinformed. Robots are not just in the movies. Robotics, the science of designing and building functional robots, is a huge industry. There are thousands of robot units presently in use. Millions of them. . . . Many robotic devices are in fact sophisticated assembly units, machines that put together cars and trucks and computers.

Robotics is so important to Kevin because he sees this field as his future.  He believes robotics will be the answer to his physical handicaps and will eventually give him the ability to walk.  His passion for robots and their study is admirable and understandable.

In Act 2 of The Crucible, where does John Proctor decide to go and what does he plan to do there?

John initially decides to go to the village to speak to Abigail Williams, their erstwhile maid, at his wife's insistence. The Proctors have just heard from their current maid, Mary Warren, who is now an official of the court as a witness in the trials, that someone had accused Elizabeth of witchcraft. She refuses to mention the accuser's name but Elizabeth suspects that it is Abigail. She asks John:

John, with so many in the jail, more than Cheever's help is needed now, I think. Would you favor me with this? Go to Abigail.

Elizabeth is afraid that Abigail wants her dead and she wishes John to break whatever attachment Abigail thinks she still has with him by calling her a whore:

Then go and tell her she's a whore. Whatever promise she may sense - break it, John, break it.

Elizabeth accuses John of being unwilling to go and he becomes angry, telling her that she should not begrudge him his anger and think him base. He tells her that his anger is justified since doing what Elizabeth demands speaks of deceit. He had never promised Abigail anything and gaver her only

The promise that a stallion gives a mare ... 

He believes that Elizabeth will always hold his adultery against him and that he will never be free of her suspicion.

Elizabeth then passionately cries out:

You'll tear it free - when you come to know that I will be your only wife, or no wife at all! She has an arrow in you yet, John Proctor, and you know it well!

At this point, Reverend Hale arrives and the argument ends. Later, Ezekiel Cheever and Marshal herrick arrive to serve a warrant of arrest on Elizabeth. They had been told that Elizabeth had used a poppet to harm Abigail, who had cried out at dinner that night. A needle was found stuck in her stomach and she accused Elizabeth of having used the doll to perform witchcraft. A poppet is found with a needle stuck in its belly and when Elizabeth hears that it was Abigail who had accused her she cries out:

Why - ! The girl is mur-der! She must be ripped out of the world!

This, to Cheever, is ample proof that Elizabeth wants to harm Abigail and he is ready to execute the warrant. John angrily tears it up but Elizabeth tells him that she will go with the officers. She is then arrested.

John then decides that he will go to court the next day to defend Elizabeth. he insists that Mary Warren should accompany him to give evidence of Abigail's deceit. Mary had been fashioning the doll whilst in court and Abigail was sitting next to her, witnessing how she stuck the needle into the doll's stomach for safekeeping. John also intends to tell the court that Abigail had told him their accusations had nothing to do with witchcraft. He wishes to prove that Abigail is a liar and a fraud.

It is tragic that John's efforts come to nothing for Abigail and the other girls soon overwhelm Mary Warren and she turns against him. Furthermore, his attempts at proving Abigail's malevolence are a failure since Elizabeth unknowingly lies to the court, thinking that she was saving her husband. John is arrested and later also accused of witchcraft. He is ultimately hanged.

Why is Huck's apology to Jim so significant in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?

Huck's apology to Jim is very significant because with this act, Huck acknowledges an equality between him and Jim; he begins to perceive Jim as fully a human being about whom he has genuine affection. 

In Chapter XV Jim and Huck try to reach Cairo, Illinois, where they can connect with the Ohio River so that they get transportation to the free states. But, on the second night, a heavy fog comes up as Huck paddles ahead with the line from the raft. He can find nothing but saplings to tie the raft, and the raft breaks free. Consequently, Jim and Huck become separated as Huck goes downriver on one side of an island, and Jim down the other. As a result, there is no way for them to find each other in the fog.

When Huck does find Jim the next day, Jim is asleep with his one arm over the the steering oar. Huck ties the canoe and lies down under Jim pretending that he was merely asleep and does not know what really happened. Jim is so elated to see Huck that he cries, but after he figures out that Huck is having fun with him, Jim's feelings are really hurt. He scolds Huck,

"....I could a got down on my knees en kiss' yo' foot I's so thankful. En all you wuz thinkin' 'bout wuz how you could make a fool uv ole Jim wid a lie...."

Following Jim's words, Huck feels ashamed of himself. Still he holds the conventional thinking of other Southerners. After a while, however, Huck breaks from this conventional wisdom without regret:

It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a n****r--but I done it, and I warn't ever sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn't do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn't done that one if I'd a knowed it would make him feel that way.

More and more, Huck realizes that Jim is a sensitive human being with genuine affection for Huck. He, too, cares about Jim as he regrets having hurt the man's feelings.

What are the economic and social impacts of the national roads?

There were economic and social benefits of building and of expanding the system of national roads. The national road system was important for the economic growth of our economy. As the system of roads was built, it became easier to transport products to areas to where people were moving. This helped businesses increase production, helping our economy to grow. Eventually, businesses were also able to move to the new locations where people were going. Building the national road system also created jobs.

Socially, there were also benefits to building the national road system. It became easier for people to travel from one area of the country to another area of the country. This allowed families and relatives to visit each other more easily. The same was true for friends. As people moved to new regions, new ways of living were developed. People who moved to the west built log cabins in which to live. As they moved west of the Mississippi, they build houses made out of sod. The expansion created by the building of roads impacted how people lived their lives.

The building of the national road system had both economic benefits and social benefits for our country.

Did the Dred Scott case play a bigger role in the Civil War than Westward Expansion (Popular Sovereignty)?

This is a very interesting (and difficult) question, made more so by the fact that, strictly speaking, the Supreme Court's decision in the Dred Scott case invalidated the principle of popular sovereignty. Technically, according to the decision, no territory could constitutionally bar slavery. This ought to have made the principle of popular sovereignty a dead letter, but by this point popular sovereignty had already divided the nation.

The implementation of popular sovereignty in Kansas resulted in a divisive and bloody struggle in that territory as early as 1855. When the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 established popular sovereignty in Kansas, pro-slavery partisans quickly poured in to create a government that would permit slavery. A bloody struggle ensued for control of the state that lasted for years. "Bleeding Kansas," as it became known, was a highly divisive issue--people were dying by the hundreds over the issue of slavery. In fact, the Kansas-Nebraska Act resulted in the breakdown of the second two-party system--the Democrats and the Whigs, as Northern Whigs bolted to form a new party, the Republicans, that was firmly opposed to the spread of slavery and outraged by events in Kansas. When a Republican presidential candidate--Abraham Lincoln--was elected in 1860, South Carolina left the Union. Ultimately, I would argue that the issue of popular sovereignty was more divisive than the Court's decision in Dred Scott.

It is correct to assume photons emitted by the Sun are the whole electromagnetic spectrum, excluding gamma rays?

That used to be the prevalent thinking.  In contrast, the current thinking is that the entire electromagnetic spectrum is emitted by photons from the Sun. 

The electromagnetic spectrum starts with the longest waves, which are radio waves.  Next up are microwaves, which are a little shorter than radio waves.  Then, infrared, or heat waves, which are even shorter in wavelength.  The visible light spectrum comes next, followed by ultraviolet and X-rays.  Gamma rays used to be thought of as the product of the whole universe, but more modern thinking includes gamma rays as the product of photons from the Sun as well.  It is thought cosmic ray electrons collide with photons from the Sun, creating a large gamma ray laden light show for the inner solar system.  So all the lower end of the electromagnetic spectrum, and now, the upper end as well are believed to be emitted by the Sun: Gamma rays are no longer excluded from the concept of what parts of the electromagnetic spectrum are emitted by the Sun.

What are differences between Kurtz and Marlow in Conrad's Heart of Darkness?

There are a great deal of differences between Kurtz and Marlow in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, most of which stem from the fact that Marlow functions primarily as a narrator, while Kurtz often serves as the true focus of Marlow's narrative. As such, we learn much about the development of Kurtz as a character, while we learn much less about Marlow.

Though Marlow is not without his own complexities, his primary duty in the story is to relate the tale to the sailors waiting on the Nellie. While Marlow has intriguing personality quirks of his own (he quickly reveals himself to be an intellectual but cynical individual), the reader is given little insight into Marlow's deeper being, as he exists in the story mainly to observe and comment on the actions of others. 

Kurtz, on the other hand, is the definition of charisma. Originally a principled and idealistic individual, Kurtz quickly becomes drunk with power, and his grim descent into madness is one of the main points of the novella. As such, while Marlow tends to avoid the spotlight, Kurtz is notable for commanding attention with his hypnotic voice and infectious ideas. As such, the primary difference between Kurtz and Marlow is that, while Marlow is relatively nondescript and undeveloped (in general terms), Kurtz is a vividly drawn character with immense depth who largely commands the main arc of the narrative.  

How is the fire at Satis house, the ordeal with Orlick, Magwitch's capture and Pip's fever a symbol of suffering in Great Expectations?

Each of these events is symbolic of suffering in the lives of each person involved. Miss Havisham has severe burns which eventually (but not immediately) lead to her death. Orlick’s attack on Mrs. Joe also inflicts severe injury on her that in time will prove mortal. Magwitch’s capture and injuries cause enough damage that he dies in prison, after he has been condemned to death. Pip recovers from his fever (in the Romantic Age, extreme emotional distress is often accompanied by a fever), unlike the others. In part, each person’s suffering is brought about by himself, at least indirectly. In Pip’s case, however, the fever serves as a means to purify his soul, as gold is melted down to rid it of its impurities. This implies that suffering can lead to redemption, even if it leads to death, as it does in the cases of Miss Havisham, Mrs. Joe, and Magwitch. Before their deaths, their hearts were changed and thus they died in a state of “grace.”

Why do we need to study first the historical background of a certain place before digging deeper with its literature?

Generally speaking, literature is directly influenced by what is going on in society at the time. Oftentimes, literature teachers ask students to know this because it is a form of literary analysis or criticism. For example, look at The Crucible by Arthur Miller. This is a story about the Salem Witch Trials, in which Americans tried and murdered women for being witches. But it was written in 1953, almost 300 years after this happened. If you were to research the time period, you would find information on the McCarthy hearings, which was similar to a witch hunt. Senator McCarthy was overseeing the search for communists secretly hiding in the United States. The two events were extremely similar, but since Miller would have been labeled a communist and blacklisted, he wrote about a similar situation, the Salem Witch Trials.

Hope that helps!

What were some economic consequences of World War I?

The Great War, or World War I, had remarkable economic consequences on the economies of United States, Europe, and by extension, the entire world. The United States actually was in better economic shape after the war than at any time in its history. The industrial and agricultural economy had been mobilized to supply the Allied and American war effort. In addition, American banks loaned large sums of money to Britain and France before and after the war. For these basic reasons, the United States emerged as an industrial power after World War I.

The war did not have the same positive effect on Europe. The economies of Britain and France were slowed by crippling war debt. These countries would recover somewhat in the 1920's. Germany, however, was a different story. The Weimar Republic was handcuffed with heavy war reparations to pay to France and England. Hyperinflation and unemployment had disabled the German economy. American banks bailed out Germany with $200 million in loans under the Dawes Plan, but this recovery would be short lived as the United States was plunged into an economic depression in the 1930's.

I need to compare and contrast the emergence of civilization in Rome and China and how these two civilizations conducted trade.

Although early Chinese historians mention the Xia Dynasty (c. 2100 – c. 1600 BC), we actually know very little about this period of Chinese history. The first major dynasty about which we have reliable information confirmed by multiple archaeological sources is the Bronze Age Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), which seems to have possessed the ability to craft bronze tools and well-formed pottery and had literacy evidenced by finds of oracle bones. The Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) developed in the region of the Yellow River. One of the key concepts it introduced was that kings had a Mandate of Heaven and thus that religion and dynastic power were connected. Although at times China was split into warring kingdoms headed by warlords, its form of government was always some form of monarchy or quasi-feudal system with power vested in a king and/or hereditary nobles or aristocrats, and supported by a large and complex bureaucracy. Chinese civilization was also distinguished by evolving on its own in place, rather than as a product of the clash and synthesis of many diverse traditions. The Silk Road, China's most important east-west land trade route was linked to the Persian Royal Road and strongly supported by the Han emperors. 

The Roman civilization, on the other hand, grew up in the shadow of two great civilizations, the Greek and the Etruscan, and also in the shadow of the general cultural ferment of the Mediterranean. Although Rome started out as a small kingdom, it became a Republic in 509 BC and remained one in name at least until 27 BC. Culturally, Rome was strongly influenced by Greece. It accumulated an empire not by natural expansion, but as almost an accidental side effect of the Punic Wars. Unlike China, the areas into which Roman expanded often retained their own distinctive local cultures and traditions. Rome traded extensively within the Mediterranean, importing much of its grain from Egypt, and had a stronger maritime focus than China.  Much of its eastward land trade was a result of the assimilation of the successor states to Alexander, which had retained the earlier Persian style of bureaucracy and road network. 

In what ways does an enzyme speed up a reaction?

Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts to speed up the rate of a biochemical reaction. Some enzymes are specific to one reaction only, while most can act on multiple reactions with similar properties. This is because enzymes will match the shape of only specific substrate active sites. Although enzymes speed up chemical reactions, enzymes are not used up within the chemical reaction.

Enzymes speed up chemical reactions by lowering the activation energy of the chemical reaction. The activation energy is the amount of energy required to start a chemical reaction. If less energy is required to start the reaction, then the reaction will start faster.

Enzymes are able to lower the activation energy of a reaction by one of three ways:

1.      Providing an alternative pathway for the reaction.

2.      Stabilizing the transition state (substrate + enzyme complex) of a reaction.

3.      Destabilizing the substrate ground state of the reaction.

Who is the antagonist in the story "The Lady or the Tiger?"

The young man, the courtier who is in love with the princess, is the protagonist. He is described as a typical hero. He is handsome and honorable, a "young man of that fineness of blood and lowness of station common to the conventional heroes of romance who love royal maidens." So, he is clearly the "good guy." 

The first antagonist is the king. The king's version of justice lacks logic and seems to be more for entertainment purposes than for a genuine practice of justice. The king is "semi-barbaric" and it seems that the "semi-" description implies that one of the doors leads to the tiger and one leads to marriage. Thus, only part of his cruel game leads to death. The king's authority is "irresistible" and he was given to "self-communing." This means that he took no advice from anyone else. He ruled absolutely and according to his own whims. Prisoners sent to the arena were at the mercy of this barbaric king. 

If we wanted to speculate further about the ending of the story, we could potentially say that the second antagonist is the princess. The author deliberately leaves the ending ambiguous, leaving the reader to guess as to whether the princess sent her lover to his death or sent him to marry another. Note that she is described as having a "soul as fervent and imperious" as the king's. This supposes that she might send her lover to the tiger's door because she may not be able to stand the thought of her lover being married to another woman. 

How does Golding create tension in chapter 6?

One of the first ways that Golding builds tension is carried over from the end of chapter 5. Percival's nightmare clearly foreshadows something negative happening. The violence of the fighter planes high above the island, unbeknownst to the boys, adds to the building tension. Following the explosion, the dead body of one pilot slowly drifting down to the island and getting hung up on the mountain top where he will be seen by the boys manning the signal fire continues to build the tension.

Then Golding switches back to  Samneric, slowly waking up and desperately trying to coax the fire back to life, totally unaware of the body of the pilot swaying back and forth in the wind. This brush with death, deposited on the island by the violence and war that exists in the larger world is an important step as the boys move towards their own savage violence of purposeful killing. 

What are two significant quotes in Chapter 15 of To Kill A Mockingbird?

In the beginning of Chapter 15, Heck Tate and some community members drive to the Finch household to speak with Atticus. They begin discussing whether or not the Tom Robinson trial should get a change of venue, when Mr. Link Deas makes the comment to Atticus, "You've got everything to lose from this, Atticus, I mean everything." (Lee 195) Atticus responds with the significant quote,

"Link, that boy might go to the chair, but he's not going till the truth's told." (Lee 195)

This quote explains Atticus' reasoning for defending Tom Robinson. Atticus is aware of the fact that he will lose this case because of the overwhelming prejudice of the Maycomb community, but he must preserve justice by exposing the truth. Atticus' goal in the Tom Robinson case is simply to reveal the truth to the community.

Towards the end of Chapter 15, the Old Sarum bunch has Atticus surrounded in front of Tom Robinson's jail cell. Scout surprises everyone when she runs into the middle of the mob, unaware of the precarious situation at hand. Scout seeks out a familiar face in Mr. Cunningham and attempts to make friendly conversation with him. Mr. Cunningham tries to ignore Scout after she tells him to say "hey" to his son Walter, and goes into detail about his entailment. He eventually gives Scout his attention and says,

"I'll tell him you said hey, little lady." (Lee 206)

After Mr. Cunningham acknowledges Scout, he tells the group of men to head out. This significant quote is the "ice-breaker" which ends the intense scene. Scout's innocent conversation makes Mr. Cunningham reflect on his actions, and his comment to Scout confirms that he made a noble decision.

The narrator sees the judges say his name but does not hear what they say in "The Pit and the Pendulum." Paraphrase lines 26-27. What are the...

In Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Pit and the Pendulum," the narrator, who is not named, appears before a panel of judges during the Spanish Inquisition. It is not clear what the narrator has been accused of. Poe writes (note that line numbers differ according to the edition, so these lines may not exactly correspond to lines 26-27), "I saw the lips of the black-robed judges. They appeared to me white—whiter than the sheet upon which I trace these words—and thin even to grotesqueness...I saw that the decrees of what to me was Fate were still issuing from those lips. I saw them writhe with a deadly locution. I saw them fashion the syllables of my name; and I shuddered because no sound succeeded." The narrator has just heard that he has been sentenced to death, but he is in a state of extreme shock and cannot comprehend what the judges who pronounced his sentence are saying. It's almost as if he has already descended into a tomb, or a state of near-death, as he awaits his fate. The whiteness and thinness of the judges' lips call to his mind ghost-like images and remind him of the deadly fate that awaits him. In this passage, Poe contrasts the darkness of the judges' robes with the whiteness of their lips, and the narrator swings between these two extremes of color in a state of panic.

The narrator later sees dark draperies in the judges' chamber and then seven white, thin candles that he first regards as "white slender angels who would save me." He then realizes that the candles cannot help him, and they become ghost-like figures. At this point, the narrator falls into a kind of delirium and can only think of the tomb that awaits him, and he gives up all hope of being saved. 

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, why was the sentence about the townspeople's reaction to Kit so effective?

When Kit arrives at the Meeting House for the first time, the townspeople react with surprise, as they have never seen anyone like her before, yet they do not say anything.

"As Kit moved behind her the astonishment of the assembled townspeople met her with the impact of a gathering wave."

This is effective because it shows the shock of the people and the gathering tension of the moment. The townspeople are stunned. They are watching, drawing in, and holding their opinions inside themselves, but (like a wave) that tension will eventually release with a spectacular force. This foreshadows the moment when the townspeople release their frustrations and long-held opinions of Kit at the trial. All of the things that the townspeople were thinking at the moment of this quote are vented when she is accused of being a witch.

In Nothing But the Truth by Avi, Philip gets a letter saying that his homeroom has changed. What do his parents take it as proof as?

When Philip receives a letter telling him that his homeroom has changed in Nothing But the Truth, his parents take it as proof that Miss Narwin does not like him. Earlier, Philip told his parents that Miss Narwin won't let him sing the National Anthem in class even though he knows Miss Narwin is following the school rules. Philip has further given them the impression that his grades in English are poor because of the teacher instead of taking responsibility for his own lack of studying. He nearly failed a test because he did not read the assigned book, and he thinks he can get by through his sense of humor. Miss Narwin, however, has high expectations for her students, and even writes Philip a note telling him she knows he can do better. She gives him a second chance, but Philip would rather blame her than try harder. He basically lies to his parents, and they believe him. In other words, he has given his parents evidence (though false) that Miss Narwin has something against him, and the homeroom change just helps seal his story for them.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, chapter 24, why does Scout prefer the company of men as opposed to that of women?

Not only does she have to wear a dress for Aunt Alexandra's missionary circle meetings--and we know how much Scout hates dresses--but women make her nervous. She notes at the beginning of her time with them that "ladies in bunches always filled me with vague apprehension and a firm desire to be elsewhere" (262). 

At some point, Mrs. Merriweather makes oblique references to how Atticus thought he was doing the right thing, but all he did was "stir 'em up"--them being the black people of the town, and Mrs. Maudie instantly says, "His food doesn't stick going down, does it?" suggesting that at least Atticus could live with himself (and simultaneously suggesting that Mrs. Merriweather is a hypocrite). Scout notices that Aunt Alexandra gives Mrs. Maudie a look of gratitude, which confuses her because the two aren't really close. She doesn't really understand the world of women (266). 

Men, she says, "did not trap you with innocent questions to make of you," and weren't critical unless you said something stupid. She notes that women seemed "to live in faint horror of men," but she liked them, because even when they cussed and drank and such, there was something about them that she "instinctively liked." They weren't hypocrites. 

What facts are revealed about the history of the Radleys in chapters 1-7 of To Kill a Mockingbird? What gossip and legend about the Radleys is...

When determining the difference between facts and opinions (or gossip), consider the source and the number of people through which the "facts" are passed before believing anything. For example, Scout receives information abut the Radleys from Jem, who got his information from Stephanie Crawford, who got her information from who knows where from who knows how long ago. When people play "the telephone game," facts are sure to get watered down, lost in translation, and skewed at best. But when a person obtains information from a primary source, such as a witness or participant to an event, the facts are more likely to remain true. One must also decipher the difference between how someone feels about an event or topic, and cold, hard facts.

First of all, as mentioned above, Stephanie Crawford is known to be the community gossip. Gossips pass information around to show that they are important and to get attention. Sometimes they can jazz up a story simply to feel more important and so people will want to listen to them. What Stephanie Crawford can't do is change court documents.  For instance, Scout mentions an episode when Boo Radley was younger and out messing around with some Cunninghams one night. They were driving around the square backwards and an officer, Mr. Connor, stopped them. They locked the officer in the court's outhouse, so charges were brought against them. The boys appeared before a judge and were sentenced to go to an engineering school in Auburn. The Cunninghams went and Boo Radley did not on account of his father thinking it was a disgrace. All of these facts were obtained through Stephanie Crawford, but could also be challenged if anyone asked for copies of the case from the public records department.

However, Stephanie Crawford goes on to say that in an effort to keep Boo Radley out of jail, Mr. Radley claimed he would never let anything like that happen again if the county released his son to him. Scout explains what happened next as follows:

"Nobody knew what form of intimidation Mr. Radley employed to keep Boo out of sight, but Jem figured that Mr. Radley kept him chained to the best most of the time. Atticus said no, it wasn't that sort of thing, that there were other ways of making people into ghosts" (11).

Now within this passage, Jem is making up speculative stories that could be passed around town as fact. Luckily, Atticus jumps in to correct Jem's theory but ends it ambiguously. So the facts seem to state that Boo Radley got into some trouble and had to be on house arrest by his father. The gossip starts when people start to speculate how Mr. Radley has kept Boo in the house for so many years.

A lot of gossip, though, turns into creepy legends over time and some of the people of the community respond superstitiously. For example, when Mr. Radley passed by Scout and Calpurnia one time, Cal said, "There goes the meanest man ever God blew breath into," and then she spits into the yard (12). Scout also explains that no one from the black community will walk past the Radley house in the dark and kids in the school yard won't eat the nuts that fall from the Radley's trees for fear of death. Anything outrageous and unproven by court documents, scientific research or a primary witness should not be taken as truth.

What are reactants and products?

Reactants and products: these terms are commonly used in relation to chemical reactions, where some chemicals undergo chemical reaction and form new chemical species. The chemical species that undergo reaction are termed as the reactants and the chemicals that are formed are called products. In a chemical reaction, reactants are consumed, while the products are generated. 

We can understand reactants and products with an example, say photosynthesis.

In this reaction, the reactants are carbon dioxide, water and sunlight; while the products are glucose and oxygen. 

In order to figure out what the reactants and products are in a chemical reaction, one has to first find out the direction of reaction, whether the reaction is going forward or backward. The components being consumed or decreasing in concentration are the reactants and the components whose concentration is increasing are the products of that reaction.

Hope this helps.

Junior clearly did well academically his freshman year. How does he both highlight and downplay his success?

He highlights his achievement through his cartoon of his report card. Remember, his artwork is his preferred form of communication (Black Eye of the Month Club) to everyone and anyone. The cartoon is a standalone chapter and it stands out. The cartoon is simple: a drawing of the report card that shows his high marks in all of the academic courses. Yet Junior adds other elements in the drawing that downplay his achievements. He renames Reardan High as Reardumb (& High) He adds the title PhD to his name but it stands for "Pretty hot Dude" instead of the academic (and correct) title of Doctor of Philosophy. Another example of Junior downplaying his achievement is his reaction to his parents' praise. It's a muted response on both sides.

State and explain two reasons why Europe is not an Optimum Currency Area.

In concluding that Europe or, more precisely, the European Union, is not an Optimal Currency Area (OCA) one needs to first go back to the origins of the concept of an OCA and compare it with the lessons learned following the turbulent period of the past decade. The phrase "Optimal Currency Area" is attributed to a Canadian economist named Robert Mundell. Mundell studied, and wrote unbelievably dully about regional economic integration and the role of unitary currencies such as the Euro, the common currency of members of most members of the European Union. In his 1961 A Theory of Optimum Currency Areas, Mundell considered at length the feasibility of single currency unions such as the emerging European Common Market, also known as the European Economic Community. In his essay, he postulated certain criteria for the establishment of an OCA, including the ability of labor and capital to move freely throughout the defined boundaries of the region in question; a system by which member nations or regions shared the risks associated with a common currency, and sufficient similarity among local economies to ensure that each disparate region with the OCA functions at the same pace as the others, experiencing shocks and sustained growth at or near-simultaneously. In one of the -- to this educator, anyway -- more muddled of this Nobel Prize-winning economist's assertions regarding the feasibility of an OCA, Mundell wrote the following:

"In the real world, of course, currencies are mainly an expression of national sovereignity, so that actual currency reorganization would be feasible only if it were accompanied by profound political changes. The concept of an optimum currency area therefore has direct practical applicability only in areas where political organization is in a state of flux, such as in ex-colonial areas and in Western Europe."

Further along in his seminal study, Mundell includes a section titled "Upper Limits on the Number of Currencies and Currency Areas," the crux of which is difficult to decipher, but which comes down to this: grow too large, and you fail to sustain an OCA. As he wrote in this section of his paper, "we have, thus far, considered the reasons for keeping currency areas small, not the reasons for maintaining or increasing their size."

So, what does all of this mean for the European Union? Plenty, as it turns out. The European Union, as originally conceptualized, would have been a reasonable, but uncertain, zone in which to establish an OCA. There are two main sets of criteria for membership in the European Union, the "Copenhagen criteria" and the "convergence criteria," the former focused on larger questions of economic and political development, and the latter focused more specifically on economic and financial conditions. Each is summarized by the European Union as follows:

Copenhagen criteria:

"Any country that satisfies the conditions for membership can apply. These conditions are known as the ‘Copenhagen criteria’ and include a free-market economy, a stable democracy and the rule of law, and the acceptance of all EU legislation, including of the euro. [http://europa.eu/about-eu/countries/joining-eu/index_en.htm]

Convergence criteria:

"The convergence criteria are formally defined as a set of macroeconomic indicators which measure:

• Price stability, to show inflation is controlled;


• Soundness and sustainability of public finances, through limits on government borrowing and national debt to avoid excessive deficit;


• Exchange-rate stability, through participation in the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) for at least two years without strong deviations from the ERM II central rate;


• Long-term interest rates, to assess the durability of the convergence achieved by fulfilling the other criteria.

"The exchange-rate stability criterion is chosen to demonstrate that a Member State can manage its economy without recourse to excessive currency fluctuations, which mimics the conditions when the Member State joins the euro area and its control of monetary policy passes to the European Central Bank (ECB). It also provides an indication of the appropriate conversion rate that should be applied when the Member State qualifies and its currency is irrevocably fixed." [http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/euro/adoption/who_can_join/index_en.htm]

Now, we come to the reasons the European Union has failed to quality as an OCA as sketchily-defined by the concept's founder, Robert Mundell. The concept of economic integration was a bedrock of post-World War II diplomatic efforts among the countries of Western Europe -- in effect, those not occupied by the Soviet Army. Following not one but two catastrophic world wars, the hope was that economic integration would lead to political integration and, consequently, the elimination of the national differences that led to the two wars. For better or worse, however, early post-war concepts like the European Coal and Steel Community and the Common Market were relatively small, confined to the Western European democracies that were most helped and influenced by the U.S.-sponsored Marshall Plan. The European Coal and Steel Community was originally founded by six countries, France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Today's European Union, the modern-era culmination of a 60-year evolutionary process, has 28 members, 19 of which belong to the "Euro zone," meaning they discarded the old national currencies and share the common currency of the European Union, the Euro. 

What this means is that the European Union grew too large and unwieldy to continue to function effectively as an OCA. This, then, is the first reason Europe is not an OCA. it is one thing to forge unity among a handful of countries sharing identical political orientations (i.e., democracy) and, within reason, similar levels of economic development. The current European Union, however, is comprised of dozens of countries of vastly different levels of economic and political development, as is evident in the ongoing debt crisis pitting Greece and other smaller EU economies against Germany, the union's largest single economy and the one most susceptible to being tagged with responsibility for bailing out the smaller economies when problems hit. And, this leads to the second reason that Europe is not an OCA: its member states are too economically dissimilar and experience economic perturbations at very different rates. Germany has emerged as one of the most economically powerful nations in the world, while Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and other smaller, weaker economies continue to drag-down the Union's aggregate level of development. The huge disparities in levels of economic development fundamentally conflict with Mundell's notion of an OCA.

There is a reason Mundell, in his 1961 paper, targeted his native country, Canada, as a viable candidate as an OCA. Canada is geographically very large, but its population is small, but industrious. While it consists of two ethnically-distinct halves, each a remnant of Canada's origins as a colonial possession of Britain and France, it meets Mundell's criteria for an OCA, being restricted in size with only two languages and a common currency. 

How can I write an outline for a comparison paper using two literary works?

The best way to write a paper that compares two works is to select an overall general theme as your thesis statement that will apply to both works. This will be something like, “The two novels, (A) and (B), are very similar (or “are very different”) in their treatment of _____ (life, death, social status, friendship, heroism, etc.).” Then you will want to find 3-5 sub-categories that explain what you mean in your overall thesis. These will become topic sentences for the paragraphs of your essay. For a longer essay, you just come up with more and more topics. Finally, for each of the paragraphs of your essay, you think of several – generally 3-5 or so – specific examples from each work that you can use to show why you believe that the two works are similar (or different).

The general outline of your essay will look something like this:

1. 
   

   Introductory Paragraph that states your thesis and a brief summary of your topic paragraphs

   
   


2. 
   

   Main Paragraph #1 – Sub-Topic that compares the two works

   
   

         A, B, C, etc. – make specific comparisons using examples from the two texts

   
   


3. 
   

   Main Paragraph #2 – Sub-Topic that compares the two works

   
   

         A, B, C, etc. – make specific comparisons using examples from the two texts

   
   


4. 
   

   Main Paragraph #3 – Sub-Topic that compares the two works

   
   

         A, B, C, etc. – make specific comparisons using examples from the two texts

   
   


5. 
   

   Conclusion – remind the reader what you believe you have just proven, in a restatement of your thesis statement

   
   

   This sort of outline repeatedly makes the comparisons between the two works. You will compare specific examples in each paragraph, for each of your Topics. By the time you are done, the reader will fully understand why you believe the two works are similar/different.

   
   

   Another way to write a comparison essay, though generally less effective, is to start with your claim that the two works are similar/different, and then write the first half of your paper explaining the treatment of that subject in the first work, and then write the second half of your paper explaining the treatment in the second work, and then at the end tie the two together. Many students often find this structure easier to write, but it is not as strong an essay.

   
   

What is the importance of confronting biases in social work practice?

This question is ambiguous.  I do not know if you are asking about the biases of the social worker or biases that the social worker encounters in his or her clientele.  Since I am not sure, I am going to address both. 

A social worker is meant to help people with their social problems.  A social worker who is biased is, simply put, an ineffective and potentially harmful social worker.  It is imperative to confront one's biases and eliminate them.  It really does not matter whether they are negative or positive biases.  All biases are potentially damaging to the client. At the very least, biases cause us to judge people, and no client is well-served by being judged.  Beyond that, biases lead us to circumscribe our actions for a client. If I have a bias against Latinos, I might offer a Latino client a more narrow range of services than I would another client. Those services might very well be inferior to what I would offer another.  Another instance might be a male who has experienced domestic violence. I might harbor a bias against males that causes me to be less helpful than I am ethically and professionally obligated to be.  A social worker needs to search deeply with him or herself, to confront these biases and eliminate them, or that social worker can never function fully and properly to help people.

On the client side, if a social worker finds bias in a client, I believe it is up to the social worker to confront that and challenge it as well.  If the mission of the social worker is to help people function effectively in society, a subsidiary of that mission is to help the client eradicate biases that are getting in the client's way of doing so.  A client who needs a job, one who is biased against African-Americans, for instance, needs some counseling to understand that he or she will not succeed in most work environments today if that bias is reflected in behavior on the job and that this bias is actually limiting the client's options.  As a teacher, I feel obligated to help my students with this, and if I were a social worker, there is no question in my mind that I would consider this to be part of my responsibility, too.  

Either way this inquiry is meant to be interpreted, bias should be confronted.  A social worker who is biased is not a good social worker. A client who is biased is not a good client.  Confrontation is a worthy endeavor. 

What can happen to a business when it doesn't do bookkeeping?

When a business doesn't perform bookkeeping, it is operating without having a true picture of its financial health. It is vitally important that a business has a bookkeeping/accounting program as part of its operations because it needs to know what money is coming into the business daily, weekly, and monthly, and what money is going out as well. It has to have a handle on its current cash position.

In addition, without a bookkeeping system, a business would not be able to accurately keep track of the taxes it owes the government - payroll taxes and otherwise. This could get it into trouble with the government in the form of fines and even imprisonment if the government deemed this withholding of the right amount of tax incessant and intentional.

Furthermore, without a bookkeeping system, a business would not know if it could afford (for example in the case of a retail store) to buy more inventory without going into debt. This is where knowing your cash flow situation, and cash on hand is important.

Accurate sales records (the accurate recording of revenue), accurate banking records, and accurate records of payments to suppliers lets a business know how much cash is on hand to fund new purchases. If a business just haphazardly makes purchase without knowing its true financial position, and then finds it doesn’t have ready cash on hand, it may find that it has to borrow to pay for its purchases.

As a result, it then may incur interest costs -  more expense – due to having to borrow money. If it had a bookkeeping system, its records would have showed them that they could not buy more inventory right away or not as much as they wanted to. This would have saved them from borrowing money and also possible having too much inventory sitting for prolonged periods in their back room not earning them any money.

Moreover, not having a bookkeeping system in place, makes it difficult for a business to present suitable documentation to creditors or venture capitalists who require accurate records from a business before advancing loans to them. A business may be doing very well in its sector and wishes to expand. It may require a loan to do so. It probably will not get the loan because it doesn’t have bookkeeping records to show lenders, which show proof of its performance.

Additionally, the government may offer grants to help businesses prosper. They would want to see financial records from a company before they issued the grant. A business is unlikely to receive the grant if they cannot show an accurate picture of their financial state or health. A grant probably won’t be advanced to this company because lack of a bookkeeping/accounting system shows they are unprofessional and not astute in their business operations because accurate record-keeping is vital to a company’s success.

Who were the Federalists and what were their arguments?

The term "Federalist" was used in two different contexts. The first use of the term emerged during the debate over the ratification of the Constitution after the Philadelphia Convention. Supporters of ratification gave themselves the name "Federalists" (and their opponents "Anti-Federalists") to denote their support for the new federal government. Generally, these men were merchants, financiers, and large property owners who believed that the nation needed a more powerful central government. Some examples of leading Federalists are Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, George Washington, and Gouverneur Morris. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay penned the Federalist Papers, a series of 85 newspaper articles in New York aimed at explaining the Constitution and persuading New Yorkers to support it. 

Shortly after the establishment of the new national government, during the Washington presidency, the nation witnessed the birth of two political parties. This is when "Federalist" took on its second meaning, as the Federalist Party was born. From the 1790s to the end of the War of 1812, Federalists argued for an expansion of the powers of the federal government and policies intended to favor business and emerging manufacturing interests. They were also sympathetic to Great Britain in its war with Revolutionary France. They were still dominated by wealthy easterners, with an increasingly secure power base in New England. Their opponents became known as Democratic-Republicans, and they coalesced around Thomas Jefferson. 

So the term "Federalist" is used to describe the original supporters of the Constitution as well as one of the nation's first two political parties.

How did Montresor know that his house would be empty in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Montresor knew the house would be empty because he told the servants to be home.

Montresor is an expert in reverse psychology.  He knows that if he tells his servants that he will not be home, but orders them to stay there, they will all take off.  Who wants to be home during carnival when the boss is away?

Montresor is trying to give himself an alibi.  He tells her servants that he would not be home until morning to make sure that they all leave his house. 

There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry in honour of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house. These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned.

If they are questioned, they will tell the police that they were at the house all night for fear of losing their jobs.  Thus Montresor is not there, and the servants are not there, but if anyone would ask they will all say that they were there.  No one will know where he actually was.

If Montresor returns with a trowel and the ingredients to make a brick wall, smelling of nitre from the catacombs, no one will be there to see it.  His servants are all out playing while he kills a man.

Montresor is a very clever man, and he plans the murder out to the most minute of details.  There will be no one to see him out with Fortunato, and even if they did they may not recognize him because of the costume.  Also, many people will be drunk.  There will be no one to vouch for the fact that Montresor was not home or describe the condition he was in when he returned.

I need help defining the word "robot" for the following assignment. Write your definition for the word robot: What does a robot look...

The first documented use of the word robot was in the Czech language in 1921, in the play R.U.R. by Karel Čapek. Since that time, the term "robot" gradually became a staple of science fiction and eventually a term applied to real devices that automate many industrial tasks.

Although the robots of science fiction, especially those of Isaac Asimov, whose work had wide influence on the literary portrayal of robots, tend to be anthropomorphic, real world robotics focuses on creating devices that can automate certain groups of tasks, namely those that are simple and repetitive and can be more cheaply done by machines than humans (such as welding) or those which may be unsafe (such as inspecting areas with chemical spills or high levels of radioactivity). Increasingly, robots, who might be defined as autonomous devices capable of modifying their own programming, are used in a wide range of applications including medicine, space and undersea exploration, and industrial processes either to aid or replace humans. The appearance of robots varies with their function and can range from nanodevices to large machines. 

The Roomba vacuum cleaners are typical of the robots used in domestic, as opposed to industrial, applications. 

How does the Mississippi River act as a "spine" in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?

In Mark Twain's novel, Huckleberry Finn's adventures are more like vignettes than chapters; the flow of a single story is difficult to pin down, and some readers find this confusing and frustrating. The best analogy for Twain's style with this novel is to think of it like a TV show in which each episode features the same cast and many of the same themes, but the setting or conflicts might change: Scrubs, Law and Order SVU, 30 Rock, The Office, Master of None. These are all TV shows whose episodes slowly build characters and themes rather than an overarching plot, which happens in shows like Jane the Virgin, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Leftovers. 

However, over the course of the novel, there is one connective setting that ties each vignette (or episode, if you will) to the next and develops the main characters (Huck and Jim): The Mississippi River. Acting as a proverbial spine, each vignette branches from the River, which itself features much of the character and thematic development of the protagonists. Without the River, the story would have no rational means of connecting each story with the next - no backbone. 

How is Alex the protagonist of A Clockwork Orange?

One of the interesting aspects of reading complex literature is that readers begin to encounter protagonists who have a multi-dimensional relationship with good and evil. In many children’s stories and young adult books, protagonists are the center of the story because of their positive attributes, and because they are the epitome of good, while they face antagonists that are the epitome of evil. However, many literary books do not contain such clean-cut dichotomies between protagonists and antagonists. The simple definition of a protagonist is the character who is central to the narrative of a story, and who undergoes major change that drives the story’s development and often culminates in the climax of the plot.

Traditionally, protagonists are also called the heroes of a story, and oftentimes they are mostly good, but possess certain immoral character flaws. In A Clockwork Orange, Alex is the protagonist, but he is also known as an “antihero,” which is what we call protagonists who not only possess one moral weakness, but are actually mostly amoral. Despite the fact that Alex rapes, steals, and tortures people in the book, he’s still the protagonist and fulfills the basic requirements of a protagonist throughout the story. He remains the central character of the narrative and undergoes major changes that function as the climax of the plot when he is forced to undergo the Ludovico Technique and is tortured by the writer whose wife he raped in the beginning of the book.

What is King Arthur’s flaw and how does it affect him?

According to Aristotle's definition, a tragic hero is a noble figure whose desire to do good is affected negatively by their tragic flaw. This tragic flaw can bring about the hero's downfall. In the case of King Arthur, there are several qualities that could be said to be his tragic flaw. One is that Arthur, by way of his upbringing, is innocent and therefore naive. He has not lived among nobility until he suddenly is made king as a young man, and so he does not know of the sometimes capricious ways and corrupt dealings of the monarchy. This naivety makes it hard for Arthur to understand he must plot to thwart Mordred's plan to usurp the throne. He merely wants his son to acknowledge their bond, but Mordred was brought up to hate his father. Arthur is deeply conflicted about the situation.

Another tragic flaw in Arthur is his loyalty. He is so deeply loyal to both Lancelot and Guinevere that even when they both betray him, he cannot act in his proper role as king and punish them appropriately. He is also loyal to Merlin even when Merlin does not always act in Arthur's best interests. This loyalty causes him to forgo his proper duties as king.

What are some good characteristics of Macbeth in the play?

Most of Macbeth's good characteristics are only in evidence at the beginning of the play, before his ambition, the goading of his wife, and supernatural forces have conspired to turn him into a murderous monster. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as, in King Duncan's words, a "worthy gentleman," loyal to the king, his cousin. Indeed, in the first account (in Act I Scene 2) we hear of Macbeth's character, he is fighting for the King against a rebellion and invasion by a Norwegian king. In the fight, Macbeth kills the traitor Macdonwald, decapitating him and publicly displaying his head. As he learns of the witches' prophecy that he should become king of Scotland, he is filled with "fear" according to Banquo. Only later does he admit that "chance may crown me without my stir." Even as he is preparing to kill the King, Macbeth is torn by his own conscience. He acknowledges that nothing but "vaulting ambition" motivates him to commit murder, and has actually decided to put off the assassination until later before his wife challenges him to overcome his fear and his conscience. Macbeth, in short, is a decent man at the beginning of the play, and this only makes his descent into madness and violence all the more stark. 

In the book My Side of the Mountain, who is Mrs. O'Brien?

Interesting question! In the book My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, Sam Gribley encounters many new animals, including Mrs. O’Brien.

In the book, Sam expressed his fear of becoming lonely during the wintertime. Although he read extensively about people becoming lonely in the winter, this experience did not happen to Sam.

Instead of being lonely, Sam watched the different animals. For example, he watched a group of chickadees and named the chickadees. He named one of them Mrs. O’Brien. Subsequently, he humanized them through his imagination and observations. As the text reveals:

“Then there were Mrs. O’Brien, Mrs. Callaway, and Mrs. Federio [all chickadees]. On Third Avenue they would all go off to the market together first thing in the morning, talking and pushing and stopping to lecture to children in gutters and streets.”

Thus, Sam was not lonely because he utilized his imagination and spent time with the animals. For example, he often watched Mrs. O’Brien, the chickadee, who lived near Sam.

What is the conflict in the "Tell Tale Heart " ?

There are two conflicts within "The Tell-Tale Heart," one being the narrator's preoccupation with the Old Man's eye and the other being the narrator trying to convince the reader of his sanity. 

Firstly, the narrator is preoccupied with the man's eye, claiming that "[o]ne of his eyes resembled that of a vulture--a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold..." (Poe 836). Prior to, the narrator states that there was no passion in his plot to rid himself of the old man's eye nor did he want any of the old man's money; in addition, the old man had "never wronged [him]" (Poe 836). This conflict is simply created  due to the old man's eye that distressed the narrator and made him feel uneasy, so he had to be rid of it. The reason it is a main conflict is due to the fact that the conflict is resolved by the end of the story.

The second conflict--and less obvious--is the fact that the narrator is trying to convince the reader of his sanity: "...but why will you say that I am mad? (...) Hearken! and observe how healthily--how calmly I can tell you the story" (Poe 835). The narrator continues throughout the story bragging about his well-thought-out plan and his "sagacity" in carrying out the murder (Poe 836). Most notably, he states, "[i]f you still think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body" (Poe 839). Again, the narrator tries to convince the reader of his sanity--as he has done throughout the entirety of the short story--while his actions are vile and unspeakable, but the conflict remains unresolved at the very end whether or not the narrator has convinced the reader of his sanity.

Describe pre colonial Nigeria and the Igbo way of life in Things Fall Apart

The traditional Igbo way of life presented in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is considerably different from the culture of the colonial influences which eventually settle in Umuofia. The traditional Igbo culture is marked by their belief in personal gods, called chi, over the Western Christian God; they are polytheistic rather than monotheistic. Their actions determine how their personal gods react, which resembles what Hindus and Buddhists call karma.

The Igbo culture in Achebe's novel has customs that are substantially different from those Western readers are familiar with. The Igbo men take multiple wives; the number of wives a man has is equivalent to their social standing and wealth. Other customs include the labeling of certain areas taboo and forbidden for the clansmen to visit and the importance placed upon snakes. Snakes are sacred animals in Okonkwo's village. Finally, the village follows and deeply respects the advice passed on by the Oracle of the Hills and Cave. The Oracle is hugely important in determining various decisions for the clan. These are just some of the elements of traditional Igbo life Achebe depicts.

To what extent and in what ways do Beowulf, Sir Gawain, and the Wife of Bath conform to a stereotype, and to what extent do they differ from the...

Beowulf: Of these three characters, Beowulf is probably the one who conforms to the relevant stereotype the most. Beowulf is a typical epic hero. An epic hero is a character who is larger-than-life (but not immortal), so he is stronger, braver, and usually nobler than others. He is not necessarily flawless, but in epics like Beowulf, the line between good and evil is clearly drawn, and Beowulf is definitely "the good guy." In the epic poem, we hear that Beowulf has a pedigree -- his father was also a brave leader -- and we first see him in action when he decides to go to Hrothgar's kingdom to battle the violent monster Grendel. This monster has terrorized the kingdom for years and has taken the lives of many of Hrothgar's men. Although Beowulf has no specific allegiance to Hrothgar and Grendel is the most threatening and ruthless beast anyone has heard of, Beowulf volunteers to travel across the sea with his men to defeat this monster. When he arrives at Hrothgar's kingdom, he asks permission to fight Grendel, which shows the proper respect toward the king and his territory. Beowulf then says he will fight Grendel with his bare hands because he expects Grendel will use no weapons. Beowulf's superhuman strength is on display in the fight with Grendel, as he not only defeats the beast, but rips his arm from his body. Later, after Grendel's mother comes back to wreak havoc on Hrothgar's mead hall in revenge for her son's death, Beowulf volunteers to go to Grendel's mother's lair to fight her. He has some help from a magic sword, but Beowulf is successful. Before he goes into battle, he asks Hrothgar to take care of his men if he should be killed in the battle. This shows that he is loyal to his men and a good leader. Many years later, Beowulf's own kingdom is threatened by a dragon. Although he is older, Beowulf again volunteers to battle a monster one-on-one. Beowulf is mortally wounded, but one of his men steps up and kills the dragon in his honor because Beowulf has always provided for the men and has been a just king. After his death, he is honored with a funeral pyre and a tower built in his name.

Sir Gawain: In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is still heroic, but he is more human and flawed than Beowulf. In the poem, the Green Knight boldly rides into King Arthur's hall and challenges the king. Sir Gawain volunteers to take the king's place and accepts the Knight's challenge. This is significant because the Knight is huge and is carrying a gigantic ax (not to mention that he is green); in other words, he is an intimidating figure and Gawain is brave to take him on. Gawain, even though he is a young and lesser-known knight at the time, becomes responsible for upholding the Knights of the Round Table's reputation as the bravest and noblest knights in the land. At the banquet hall during the Green Knight's first appearance, Gawain comes to an agreement with the Knight and then beheads the Green Knight. To everyone's surprise and dismay, the Green Knight picks his head up and rides out, reminding Gawain that he is supposed to seek him out the next year to fulfill the rest of the bargain. This is enough to strike fear into any human, Gawain included, but he feels that it is his duty to fulfill his promises and complete the tasks. He eventually does so, but he eventually is able to defeat the Green Knight because he is wearing a magical green girdle. Although Gawain is brave and dutiful, some readers might think it's unfair that he uses the girdle; on the other hand, the Green Knight himself uses magic, so the girdle may just put the two on an even playing field. Ultimately, Gawain shows that he is chivalrous, brave, loyal, and strong, like a typical knight. 

The Wife of Bath: In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath (Alison) is an unconventional character who defies many stereotypes of women in the Middle Ages. First, she is traveling on this pilgrimage alone, not accompanied by a man (husband or father). Chaucer's "General Prologue" tells us that she has been married five times, which is certainly not typical. The Wife of Bath is social and some may say even has a bawdy sense of humor; this would not conform to the stereotype that women should be meek and proper. The Prologue also reveals that Alison has been on many pilgrimages and is an expert weaver. Her religious devotion and domestic craft are a little more stereotypical, but when combined with some of her other traits, we see that Chaucer has created a complex and ambiguous character. The Wife of Bath's tale has been read as a feminist text by some because the Wife suggests in her Prologue and Tale that she feels she should have power in her relationships with men instead of being subordinate to her husband.

In Herper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, what are some quotes that support why Atticus thinks that he will not win the case?

When Judge Taylor appoints him to take the Tom Robinson case, Atticus takes it very seriously. In fact, in chapter nine, he speaks to Scout about not saying the N-word and that this case affects him personally. He continues to say that he couldn't hold his head high in the legislature or as a father if he did not do his best for the case. Basically, Atticus is implicitly saying that due to the racial and social impact the case will take, he will not throw the trial simply to accommodate the white community. With that said, however, he knows that the chances of getting Tom off with an acquittal is highly unlikely.

During Christmas time, Atticus speaks with his brother Jack about the case. He says the following:

"Before I'm through, I intend to jar the jury a bit--I think we'll have a reasonable chance on appeal, though. I really can't tell at this stage, Jack. You know, I'd hoped to get through life without a case of this kind, but John Taylor pointed at me and said, 'You're it'" (88).

When he says that he may have a chance at an appeal, that means that he does not expect to win the case on the first try--Atticus, thus, knows that a white jury won't side with a colored man.

Another time that Atticus recognizes that he is going to lose the Robinson case is when Link Deas says that he has everything to lose by doing it. Atticus responds as follows:

"Link, that boy might go to the chair, but he's not going till the truth's told. . . And you know what the truth is" (146).

Again, Atticus is bound and determined to at least provide Tom with an outstanding defensive fight even though the odds are stacked against him.

Finally, Atticus knew he would lose the case long before it happened, but he discusses the laws surrounding it with Jem after the trial. Jem is shocked that Tom received a death sentence for rape and wonders if it is an appropriate punishment. Atticus tells his son that he isn't against the punishment for the crime so much as he doesn't like how the trial went. Atticus elaborates as follows:

"I mean, before a man is sentenced to death for murder, say, there should be one or two eye-witnesses. Someone should be able to say, 'Yes, I was there and saw him pull the trigger'" (219).

Since Atticus is an experienced attorney, he had these feelings and knowledge before the trial ever took place. He knew that the prosecution didn't have any eye-witnesses to the alleged crime, but that the case would go on as scheduled. Hence, he did his best to prove that the state didn't have any evidence to convict Tom, but again, since they live in the South in 1935, the case took place anyway.

Analyze how Faulkner chooses to structure the text. How does the way he begins and ends the story contribute to its tragic resolution?

The disjointed, non-linear way "A Rose for Emily" is written is intentional, suggesting the way the past and present can co-exist. By moving forward and backward through the decades and interrupting present action with abrupt flashbacks, Faulkner suggests the ways that the past and present affect one another and the people involved in these memories. That the story both begins and ends in the same afternoon of Emily's funeral, yet spans the decades of her life, demonstrates how closely events of the past can influence the present.

The nonlinear structure of the text also sets up a mystery for the readers to solve. By the time readers work out just what Emily wanted with the rat poison and what exactly happened to Homer Barron, it's the end of the story, and the townspeople are finding his body. The abrupt shifts in time, place, and event could almost suggest a group of the townspeople gossiping about the mysterious Miss Emily, interrupting each other to get across another piece of the puzzle that is her life. 

One reason that Miss Emily is seen (at least partly) as a sympathetic character despite being a creepy murderer is due to the plot structure. Her murder of Homer Barron is always suggested, never explicit. Furthermore, this climax of the story is buried in the middle, with her buying the rat poison. After that the focus is on whether or not she'll live happily ever after with Barron and how sad it is that he apparently has left forever. The focus is on Miss Emily for the rest of the story, and we don't return to Barron until finding his body in the final scene, which creates at least some tragic pity for crazy Miss Emily. 

What value is attached to the behavior of the littluns and biguns throughout the novel Lord of the Flies?

Throughout the novel, the littluns rely on the help of biguns to collect food, make decisions, provide shelter, and protect them from the "beasty." Initially, the littluns listen to their chief, Ralph, and participate in collecting wood for the fire and helping build the first shelter. As the novel progresses, the littluns lose interest in work, and prefer to pick fruit, play, and swim on the island. The littluns, with the exception of Percival, have not been conditioned by society and choose to satiate their physical needs. They become easily frightened by the thought of the "beasty" and do not differentiate between leaders. They follow either Ralph or Jack, depending on who seems more popular. After analyzing their behavior, one can surmise that Golding suggests that the idea of original sin applies to all humans. The littluns are void of society's restrictions and have not been conditioned by civilization yet. They act according to their physical needs and are generally immoral beings, which is evident by their refusal to listen to Ralph, and Johnny's choice to throw sand in Percival's face in Chapter 4.

At the beginning of the novel, the biguns attempt to establish a functional group that maintains a signal fire, builds shelters, holds assemblies, and hunts together. Their organization and democratic tendencies have been impressed upon them by the civilization they have recently left. As the novel progresses, the group of boys divide themselves amongst two tribes under the leadership of Ralph and Jack. The majority of the boys choose to follow Jack's tribe and live like savages. Eventually, barbarism and savagery reign over civility and structure, and Jack's tribe attempts to kill Ralph. Their behavior suggests that all humans are inherently evil, and void of society's laws and restrictions, primitive instincts will be exposed and thrive. Golding believes that without limitations and boundaries, humans' evil instincts will take over.

In "The Devil and Tom Walker," what does the devil plan to burn in the winter?

"The Devil and Tom Walker" is Washington Irving's tale about a greedy man who sells his soul to the devil to become wealthy. It is based on the German story of Faust. 

Tom Walker first meets the devil, or the "black woodsman," or "old scratch" in the dark swamps that were once an Indian fort near his house. The devil is described as a black man "begrimed with soot" who works among "fires and forges." He has partially cut down many of the trees in the swamp and marked down the names of important men on them. Tom Walker is sitting on one that has the name of Crowninshield on it and the devil remarks,

"He's just ready for burning!" said the black man, with a growl of triumph. "You see I am likely to have a good stock of firewood for the winter."

The reader presumes that the named men have all sold their souls to "old scratch" and when they perish he burns the wood from the trees. Later in the story Tom Walker dies a fiery death after selling his soul and becoming a money lender. After his death all that is found of his riches are "cinders" and his horses have turned to skeletons.  

What was the significance of the battles at Lexington and Concord?

The significance of  Lexington and Concord is that fighting in these two towns outside Boston marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War. On the morning of April 19, 1775, British troops sent by General Thomas Gage clashed with Boston-area militia on the village green of Lexington. The British soldiers had been sent to arrest area revolutionary leaders and to confiscate a weapons and power cache at the town of Concord. Alerted to the movement of the British, militiamen poured out of the countryside, and, after the initial skirmish at Lexington, they provided serious opposition at Concord, just a few miles up the road. As the British withdrew back to Boston, they fought essentially a running battle with hundreds of militia who sniped at them from the woods, killing dozens of men. Once the British returned to the city, the militia surrounded it, occupying the surrounding heights. This was the beginning of the war that would lead to independence for what would become the United States of America.