What did James Madison believe were the strengths of democracy?

Many have misconstrued James Madison's Federalist No. 10 as an argument against democracy. However, it was an argument for a republic, which is a form of democracry.

Madison opposed the idea of a pure democracy. He believed that focusing on local issue would make those local issues more important than larger national issues. Madison supported the idea of having a stable and just republican government. Government should represent the best interests of all the people in the nation. Madison strongly favored the ideas of checks and balances in the Constitution.

Madison was also greatly concerned with factions making decisions for the whole of the nation. He was concerned these factions may be part of the majority and determine policies that were not fitting for the minority. 

What can you say about the form of John Dryden's poem "Absalom and Achitophel"?

The poem "Absalom and Achitophel" uses an aa, bb, cc, etc. rhyme scheme and is set in iambic pentameter.

Every two lines rhyme in this poem; for the most part, the rhymes are perfect, as in "begin/sin" or "bore/before," although the poet also uses near rhyme as in "none/Absalom."

The iambic meter means that an unaccented syllable is followed by an accented syllable. Each pair of unaccented/accented is identified as an iamb. Here is how that works out in the first line, which establishes the meter:

in PI- ous TIMES, ere PRIEST- craft DID be- GIN

There are five iambs in each line, which is the "pentameter" of iambic pentameter.

It is fitting for a very long poem to be in iambic pentameter. After all, Shakespeare wrote parts of his plays in iambic pentameter (but did not always use rhyme). Much later in poetic history, Robert Frost used a loose form of iambic pentameter in his long poem "Birches."

What are the key features of an empire?

A country has established an empire when it has inflicted its military, economic, political, or cultural will on territories outside of its original realm. Empires tend to be driven by strong, advanced military institutions. They use the military to acquire territory that may be used for the acquisition of people, resources, and prestige. Empires tend to be ruled by a monarch, despot, or oligarchy and power is centralized in the capital.

The leader of an empire tends to organize a large bureaucracy with governors of different regions. Successful empires are able to efficiently manage a large number of people over vast distances. This can only be achieved with an organized government bureaucracy.

Empires tend to assimilate their subjects to the dominant culture. The reason for this is to create unity within the empire. This makes it easier to collect the tax or tribute that empires charge their conquered regions.

`12i` Write the trigonometric form of the number.

The trigonometric form of a nonzero complex number is

`r*(cos theta +i*sin theta),`

where `rgt0` is the absolute value of a number and `theta in [0,2pi)` is the argument.

For this number the absolute value is obviously 12. Also this number lies on the positive half of the y-axis, therefore `theta=pi/2.`

The answer: `12i=12(cos(pi/2)+i*sin(pi/2)).`

What is an example of imperialism in Africa?

There are so many!

Countries have been invading other countries for just about as long as there have been countries---but some of the worst examples of imperialism involve European countries such as France and the UK invading African countries such as Algeria and South Africa.

From about the mid 1700s to the early 1900s, European countries basically invaded and carved up pieces of Africa between each other without any regard for what the people living there thought on the matter. They extracted and sold natural resources such as gold and diamonds. They even captured and bought and sold people in the Atlantic slave trade.

Many of the problems Africa still has today can be traced in part to this history of imperialism. We can even see a difference in outcomes between French and Belgian colonies, which were almost entirely extractive, and British colonies, which at least made a small effort toward building local infrastructure. Countries such as South Africa and Egypt that were colonized by Britain are now generally doing better in terms of economic development than countries such as Burkina Faso (colonized by France) or Congo (colonized by Belgium).

There are so many examples to choose from, you could pretty much pick whatever country in Africa most interests you and look up its history---odds are, you'll find that it had some history of European imperialism.

In Julia Alvarez's ¡Yo!, how does Yolanda act in the Dominican Republic versus when she is in America?

Yolanda’s journey from the Dominican Republic to America is also a journey from innocence to wisdom.  As a result of this journey, Yolanda acts differently in the two places.

Yolanda’s actions reveal her journey from innocence to wisdom.  When Yolanda is young and living in the Dominican Republic, she is ignorant of the evil and the severity behind the dictatorship of Trujillo.  Her actions indicate this, especially when she watches a movie and insists that her father has a bigger gun than the man in the movie.  Unfortunately, Yolanda is watching the movie at General Molino’s house and, under the Trujillo dictatorship, citizens are not allowed to have guns.  Yolanda is acting out of pride for her father, not out of hatred of the dictatorship (yet).  Unfortunately, this comment about the gun makes Yolanda’s family suspect.  As Yolanda grows and becomes accustomed to the United States, she learns the evil behind the Trujillo dictatorship and acts against it:  Yolanda begins to fight dictatorship through her writing.  In this way, and through her loyalty to her country of origin, Yolanda becomes a successful novelist and writer; however, she does live her life “mostly on paper.”

It is also important to note that Yolanda shares a lot of similarity with the author, Julia Alvarez.  Their actions in the Dominican Republic and America can also be successfully compared.

How does "Boys and Girls" by Alice Munro relate to imagination?

In Alice Munro's story "Boys and Girls," gender roles are explored and one of the ways the narrator finds her voice is through her stories. At night after she and her brother sing, she makes up stories in her mind where she is in nontraditional, masculine roles in which she is the hero. By creating these stories, the narrator is using her imagination to picture an alternate reality where she isn't limited to the role of a girl. She can be anything she wants to be in her stories. By the end of the story, unfortunately, reality has set in with her father's dismissive phrase, "She's only a girl." With this, she is forced to recognize that she will not be the character in her stories in real life. She will be only a girl.

Who are the main characters in "The Fly" by Katherine Mansfield?

"The Fly" by Katherine Mansfield has two main characters and one minor character. Unless of course you include the fly!

First, we are introduced to Woodifield, who is constantly referred to as old, yet treated the opposite. His wife and daughter don't let him out of the house since his stroke, and when they do, he is only allowed out once per week, and they get him ready as if he were a child. Even the man he is visiting, known only as "The Boss", keeps referring to him as a baby. Remember, the drink he offers Woodifield "...wouldn't hurt a child..." (Mansfield). Woodifield is described as old, frail and treated as a baby.

The Boss, who is actually older than Woodifield, is still thriving in the workplace, but suffering from a serious case of denial. His son died in the war, and he has not dealt with this loss. He built the empire of his business planning on leaving it to his son, but now has nobody to carry on his legacy. He changed everything in his office in a recent renovation except the photograph of his son, and when he looks at it he can't even recognize his son in that image. He is obviously rattled when Woodifield brings up the fact that his wife saw the Boss' son's grave.

What is the basis of Locke's argument that human beings have natural rights? Does Rousseau agree? Why or why not?

Although he was an Enlightenment philosopher, Locke was also a man of God, in the sense that he believed in a higher power who had endowed humans with not only superior intelligence and self-awareness, but also inalienable rights. It is very possible that Locke, like many other Enlightenment philosophers, was a Deist, meaning that he believed in what Descartes termed a "Watchmaker God," one who set the universe in motion but then stepped back and did not intervene in the daily fate of the world that he/she had created. Nevertheless, when Locke sought to make the argument that humans had inalienable rights, he likely looked at how monarchs had justified their own rule, through the "Divine Right of Kings," which he opposed. 

Yet he judged that in order to make the then-extraordinary argument that ordinary people had rights, he would need to draw upon the moral authority of the highest power ("God"), who had imbued humans with these rights. After all, Locke still lived in a very Christian society, and was himself at least outwardly religious, as most scholars and other prominent figures had to be at the time in order to maintain their positions in society. So the most straightforward answer to the question is that Locke claimed that humans were born with certain basic rights as a consequence of their uniqueness, which was understood to be a direct result of being made in "God's image." Yet the term Locke used to describe the the moral authority he sought was "The Law of Nature." Still, Locke argued that God had given human kind this so-called law of nature, and thus it served as the moral backbone of his other contentions.

Rousseau also believed that humans were born free, endowed with certain rights by their “creator,” although he famously observed in the opening of "The Social Contract," that "Men are born free, but everywhere they are in chains." What Rousseau meant by this was that men were indeed born with certain inalienable rights, conferred by God, but that the systems of government, education and commerce of large, modern societies had stripped men of their free will, by damaging their moral compasses and by limiting their freedom of expression, thought action with laws aimed at keeping order. 

Ultimately, both Locke and Rousseau believed that humans were uniquely blessed with God-given rights. Rousseau was more critical of organized religion, education and what he deemed a materialistic society, which turned men against each other and away from their purer, more benevolent natures. At the center of both of these men’s philosophies was the idea that a new system of government could bring out the best nature of man, instead of the worst, and that system needed to derive its power not from an authoritarian ruler, but from the will of the people.

How does Macbeth meet the witches?

Macbeth meets twice with the witches; for the first time in Act 1, Scene 3, and the second in Act 4, Scene 1. 

In Act 1, Scene 1, the witches confer and decide when and how to meet Macbeth; they settle upon "the heath", which is a common environment to find in Scotland, translated as a place with grass and shrubs, characterized by poor soil and somewhat marshy conditions. Sometimes translated as a "wasteland", it simply means a place that isn't especially vibrant and full of life, and it might also be a reference to the way the battlefield will look once the fighting is done. Later, when Macbeth meets them at the expected place, the meeting is characterized mostly by Macbeth reacting in curiosity and surprise, with the witches leading the conversation through their riddles and prophecies.

The second time Macbeth meets the witches is in a cave (although, if you consider Hecate to be a legitimate aspect of the play, she mentions the "pit of Acheron" as the intended meeting place at the end of Act 3, Scene 5, which might indicate either that Macbeth has actually descended into hell, or that the cave is a sort of meeting point between earth and hell). In this meeting, Macbeth is much more confident and dictating, but also anxious and indebted to the witches' favor and assistance. Here they act more as counselors and guides as Macbeth receives further prophecies, although they do nothing to actually explain their dubious meaning.  

What is the theme and message of "Refugee in America" by Langston Hughes?

Langston Hughes was the poetic voice of not just a generation, but of an entire race. Born in the mid-west in the early 1900’s, his work became synonymous with the struggle for equality during the middle of the twentieth century. His work “Refugee in America” is a short verse with haunting echoes.

There are words like Freedom

Sweet and wonderful to say.

On my heart-strings freedom sings

All day everyday.

The first stanza of the poem references freedom as a mystical idea which brings with it nothing but hope and a yearning for greatness. He personifies freedom as being able to sing to the rhythm of his heart, indicating to the reader that freedom is an integral part of being American, if not human.

There are words like Liberty

That almost make me cry.

If you had known what I knew

You would know why.

In the second and last stanza of the poem Hughes analyzes liberty which is often used inter-changeably with freedom. Hughes hints at the dichotomy between the two as the message. Liberty, the ability to act out on freedom, is not an abstract quality of society but a real and defined set of rules or law. The laws hamper blacks, effectively robbing them of liberty despite the freedom they are guaranteed.

The theme of the poem is the struggle of blacks to achieve equality in early twentieth century America. There existed a dual reality for blacks. They were free from the bondage of slavery, yet were not fully liberated from the effects of it due to Jim Crow laws and covert racism across America. The message the poem sends is clear; regardless of the words applied to a group of people, it is the actions which compel those ideas that matter. The title conveys a powerful message as well. Blacks felt like refugees despite living in America. They were lost and seeking liberation even though they had freedom.

Which medication is best for someone hypothyroidic and suffering from loose motion?

Hypothyroidism refers to a condition in which the thyroid glands are underactive and therefore do not produce enough of the important hormones. It is most likely to occur in women aged 60 years. It upsets the balance of various chemical reactions in the body. The condition is characterized by digestive manifestation such as loose motion. A daily dose of levothyroxine, a synthetic thyroid hormone, is the standard medication. It normalizes blood levels of triiodothyronine (T3), the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and thyroxine (T4). This oral medication reverses hypothyroidism signs and symptoms. Due to the suffering from loose motion, a more “pure” levothyroxine formulation contained in a gelatin capsule should be prescribed rather than the traditional tablets. The treatment is usually life-long, and it includes the adjustment of the levothyroxine dosage. The absorption of levothyroxine by the body may be affected by certain foods, supplements, and medications.

What role did the American media play in the Vietnam War?

The American media played an important role in the Vietnam War. The government told the public things were going well in the war and that it would soon end. The reports and pictures from the media suggested this wasn’t true, though. This war was the first war that had continuous television coverage the American public could see on a daily basis. The pictures the public saw didn’t match what the government claimed. Interviews with soldiers also suggested things were going very differently than what the government told the public. Every week, month, and year, national news programs reported how many American soldiers were killed or wounded during that time period. The coverage of the My Lai Massacre also showed how brutal and dehumanizing this war was.

The media also covered the protests over US involvement in Vietnam. As these protests received more coverage, the protest movement gained more followers. People began to realize they weren’t alone with their thoughts and concerns about the war and how it was going. The media also covered the violence that occurred at Kent State, which further eroded support for the government.

In The Crucible, what does John Proctor do when his wife Elizabeth is arrested?

John Proctor becomes very angry when Cheever arrives to arrest his wife. They have been visited by the Reverend Hale and by Giles Corey prior to Mr. Cheever's appearance with the arrest warrant, and as the Proctors learn of the events at court that day, they grow increasingly concerned about their own position; Elizabeth tells John she thinks Abigail will accuse her because she wants her dead. Cheever arrives as the conversation has become very heated, as Corey reveals the arrest of Rebecca Nurse and other pious members of the community.

When Cheever sees the poppet Mary gave to Elizabeth, he is convinced the arrest warrant is justified, because this seems to be evidence of the accusation made by Abigail at court earlier in the day, when she felt a stabbing pain and a needle was found in her stomach. John tries to get Mary Warren to expose the lie, and when Elizabeth learns the extent of Abigail's vicious plan, she exclaims that she must be "ripped out of the world" and thereby causes Cheever to further suspect her desire to harm Abigail. At this, Proctor becomes angry and rips the warrant out of Cheever's hand, ordering him to leave his home. Hale tries to calm Proctor, saying that if she is innocent the court will spare her. But Proctor sees the hypocrisy afoot and speaks strongly: 

"Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God‘s fingers? I‘ll tell you what‘s walking Salem—vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrant‘s vengeance; I will not give my wife to vengeance!" 

Elizabeth agrees to go with Cheever, believing her innocence and her husband's determination, as well as his good reputation, will help them avoid conviction. Elizabeth is distraught, not wanting to leave her children, but John takes her hands to comfort her. John vows: "I will fall like an ocean on that court! Fear nothing, Elizabeth."

Do humans need rules and order to maintain a stable society, according to William Golding's Lord of the Flies?

Lord of the Flies is William Golding's answer to the Victorian novel The Coral Island, in which boys left to themselves have adventures. Golding's novel relates how boys left to create their own society actually degenerate into murder and mayhem. The reasons are that they reject the basic foundations of civilization, namely order, purposeful work, and morality.

Throughout the story, Ralph is the one who is the greatest advocate for order and purposeful work. As the elected chief, he wields the conch, the symbol of authority. He makes decisions and assigns duties, giving permission for Jack's choir boys to be hunters, Simon to help with the exploration of the island, and Piggy to take names of the little 'uns. He also oversees the building of the shelters and establishes the rule of having a signal fire burning on top of the mountains at all times. However, from the beginning Ralph does not have a firm moral core; he immediately hurts Piggy by telling everyone the nickname Piggy had asked him not to reveal. Rather than apologizing sincerely, he takes the morally neutral road of saying, "I'm sorry if you feel like that," and then redirecting Piggy to a task.

Ralph finds it difficult from the beginning to maintain order among the boys and keep them focused on their tasks. Only a couple of boys are committed enough to erect the final shelter. Jack's hunters operate as a kind of savage band who follow raw instincts rather than order. They have been assigned the purposeful work of keeping the fire going, but they let it go out and miss having a passing ship see it. 

Simon is the character who represents the inner core of morality that the boys truly need to survive. He alone realizes that the beast "is only us." When he "meets" with the Lord of the Flies and receives a fuller realization of the "beast within," he learns that the moral darkness is "the reason why it's no go." Simon, of course, is murdered by the boys in their savage dance in the dark of night, symbolizing the complete loss of morality.

Ultimately, the conch--the symbol of order--and Piggy's glasses and Piggy himself--the symbols of purposeful work--are shattered as the boys plunge into complete disorder controlled only by savage instincts. Golding shows that their society has failed due to lack of order, lack of purposeful work, and lack of morality.

`int sin(sqrt(x))/sqrt(x) dx` Evaluate the indefinite integral.

You need to use the following substitution `sqrt x = u` , such that:

`sqrt x = u=> (dx)/(2sqrt x) = du => (dx)/(sqrt x) = 2du `

`int (sin(sqrt x) dx)/(sqrt x) = 2*int sin u du`

`2*int sin u du = -2cos u + c`

Replacing back  `sqrt x ` for u yields:

`int (sin(sqrt x) dx)/(sqrt x) =-2cos (sqrt x) + c`

Hence, evaluating the indefinite integral, yields `int (sin(sqrt x) dx)/(sqrt x) =-2cos (sqrt x) + c.`

What is a good thesis using morality as a theme in To Kill a Mockingbird?

The theme of morality is a good one in To Kill a Mockingbird.

The first step in creating a good thesis statement is to narrow your thesis down to one point that is debatable. 

If you are writing on the theme of morality, you might want to write on a topic such as courage.  If so, here is a possible thesis: "In To Kill a Mockingbird courage is the most important virtue and what separates good people from everyone else." 

Not all people will agree with this statement. This is what makes it a thesis. That said, this thesis is also defendable. This is what make the thesis a strong one. If you wanted to support this thesis, you can mention Atticus's courage in defending Tom Robinson in the face of a mob. You can also include his conversation with Scout when he says that they will lose. Here is the quote:

“Atticus, are we going to win it?" “No, honey." “Then why—" “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win,” Atticus said.

These thoughts should get you started. 

`y = ln(x), y = 1, y = 2, x = 0` Find the volume of the solid obtained by rotating the region bounded by the given curves about the specified...

You need to evaluate the volume of the solid obtained by the rotation of the region bounded by the curves `y = ln x , y = 1, y = 2,x=0` about y axis, using washer method, such that:

`V = int_a^b (f^2(x) - g^2(x))dx, f(x)>g(x)`

You may evaluate the volume

`V = pi*int_1^2 (e^y - 0^2)^2dy`

`V = pi*int_1^2 e^(2y)dy`

`V = (pi/2)*(e^(2y))|_1^2`

`V = (pi/2)*(e^(2*2) - e^(2*1))`

`V = (pi/2)*(e^4 - e^2)`

Hence, evaluating the volume of the solid obtained by the rotation of the region bounded by the curves `y = ln x , y = 1, y = 2,x=0` about y axis, yields `V = pi*(e^4 - e^2)/2.`

Why do the men of Umuofia call a meeting at the beginning of Things Fall Apart?

At the beginning of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the men of Umuofia are called together into a meeting in order to discuss how they should move forward after an Umuofian woman is murdered in the marketplace in Mbaino. Umuofia is known across Nigeria as a fierce warrior culture, and the men contemplate war as a justified reaction to this murder. A respected orator delivers the news, and incites the crowd with his narrative:

“'Those sons of wild animals have dared to murder a daughter of Umuofia.' He threw his head down and gnashed his teeth.... The crowd then shouted with anger and thirst for blood” (11).

Mbaino and Umuofia are on the verge of war from this act. However, the two parties do eventually come to an amicable, peaceful compromise. Indeed, Umuofia passes down an ultimatum in which Mbaino must offer a virgin woman and a young man, later revealed as the young lad Ikemefuna, in order to appease the region and avoid war:

“But the war that now threatened was a just war. Even the enemy clan knew that. And so when Okonkwo of Umuofia arrived at Mbaino as the proud and imperious emissary of war, he was treated with great honor and respect, and two days later he returned home with a lad of fifteen and a young virgin” (12).

In short, the men of Umuofia call a meeting to discuss how they should retaliate against the murder of an Umuofian woman in Mbaino.

How did Benjamin Franklin change the United States of America?

Benjamin Franklin changed the United States of America in more than one way. He was an extremely influential inventor, author and politician. Many argue that he is the most important Founding Father and that without him, the United States might never have been born, remaining under British rule. Having initially gained international fame as an extremely talented author and inventor, he was well-connected with the politicians of the day. Over the course of a decade leading up to the time of the American Revolution, he alternated living in London, France and the United States. Slowly he left behind his life of inventing and writing for more public positions, eventually becoming part of the growing group of colonists who would become the first governing body of the United States. He was a part of the Continental Congress and helped write the Declaration of Independence. Throughout the course of the Revolution, Franklin preserved ties with Britain and France, acting as an intermediary, eventually helping to maintain ties that led to support of the French in the fight against Britain. He was one of the delegates who helped write the United States Constitution. Clearly, the United States was influenced by Benjamin Franklin's works as an inventor, author and politician in ways that significantly changed it.

How does Dickens present Scrooge's character in stave one of A Christmas Carol?

In stave one of A Christmas Carol, the reader is presented with a number of scenarios which Dickens uses to convey Scrooge's character. 

In the opening paragraphs, Dickens talks about Marley's funeral. Scrooge was Marley's only friend in life and sole mourner at his funeral. But he appeared to feel no emotion about Marley's passing:

"Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral."

We see Scrooge, then, as a cold and calculating administrator who values his business affairs over his relationships with others. This is further emphasised by Dicken's description of how other people in society view Scrooge. Children and beggars, for example, do not stop to talk to him in the street, nor did anyone ever enquire about his health or well-being. He even spurs his own nephew who invites him for Christmas dinner. 

Further on, two gentlemen call on Scrooge to ask for a charitable donation to the city's poor and needy and this provides us more key information on Scrooge's character. His response is characteristically miserly: he feels nothing for the plight of the poor and, in fact, believes that their deaths would be useful in "reducing the surplus population." For Scrooge, poverty is the result of idleness and the gentlemen cannot inspire in him any feelings of empathy or philanthropy: 

"It's not my business,'' Scrooge returned. "It's enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people's. Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon, gentlemen!''

Identify two industrial uses of distillation and what components of the mixtures are separated in each use.

One way in which distillation is used in to separate ethanol from water in many alcoholic beverages. Secondly, fuel companies use distillation is also to remove hydrocarbons from petroleum.

Distillation is a process that is used to separate a mixture into its components on the basis of the differences in the components' boiling points.

During distillation, a mixture is heated in a flask. The component of the mixture that has a lower boiling point will begin to boil and evaporate first. This evaporated component is cooled and condenses inside a condenser. In this way, the evaporated component is liquefied inside the condenser. The other component of the mixture that has a higher boiling point is left behind in the flask. Hence, the two components of the mixture are separated.

What is the main argument in Wolf Hall?

Wolf Hall is Hilary Mantel's novel about Thomas Cromwell, who advised King Henry VIII. It is the first of a trilogy, followed by Bring Up the Bodies and the third, as yet unpublished, The Mirror and the Light. In Wolf Hall, Mantel traces the rise of Cromwell from a secretary to Cardinal Wolsey to chief minister to Henry. He is also portrayed as an enlightened, Renaissance man who is sympathetic to the reformation and against the abuses of the Catholic church. 

The main argument, which is contrary to many historical interpretations of Henry's reign, is to show Cromwell as a hero. Cromwell is seen as a benevolent father who takes the deaths, from sleeping sickness, of his wife and daughters very hard. He's also seen as a loyal adviser, first to Wolsey, and then to the king and the king's second wife Anne Boleyn. Contrary to many histories and studies of the period, Cromwell is the good guy in opposition to Sir Thomas More, who comes across as evil and dogmatic in his opposition to those who wish to bring the Protestant Reformation to England. In the novel, More is a torturer and a man who will do virtually anything to sustain Catholicism in England.

Cromwell, on the other hand, is open minded and reasonable when it comes to the changes which seem inevitable for England. One particularly poignant scene depicts Cromwell as a young boy witnessing the burning of a heretic. This memory stays with him as More begins persecuting those who would defy the Catholic church and bring in the ideas of Luther and English translations of the Bible. The novel closes with the beheading of More at the Tower of London. 

In Ralph Waldo Emerson's speech, "The Fugitive slave Law," what did Emerson want people to do? What did he want them to be?

On May 3, 1851, Emerson, a Transcendentalist writer, addressed the people of Concord, Massachusetts, about the Fugitive Slave Law. He was angered by the law, which was part of the Compromise of 1850 that ended the Mexican-American War. One of the stipulations of the compromise was a national fugitive slave law that compelled northerners, many of whom were abolitionists, to return runaway slaves to the south and therefore to slavery. 

In his speech, Emerson encouraged people to break the law and refuse to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law. Part of his speech reads, "An immoral law makes it a man’s duty to break it, at every hazard." He believed that each person had the right to decide what was right. Emerson thought that slavery was morally unjust and that slaves should be free, and he also thought that the state of Massachusetts should be able to decide their own laws without the interference of the federal government. Emerson believed, similar to members of the Free Soil Party, that slavery should be restricted to the southern states and then ended everywhere through the process of the federal government's purchase of slaves. His message was similar to the message his friend Henry David Thoreau had presented in his 1849 essay "Civil Disobedience," which argued that people could disobey unjust laws. Thoreau wrote that essay to protest the Mexican-American War.

What arguments did Mr. Otis give to suggest that the jewels belonged to Lord Canterville in The Canterville Ghost?

Mr. Otis says that under the English laws of "mortmain" or perpetual ownership, the jewels are actually the property of Lord Canterville, even though Mr. Otis has purchased Canterville Hall. Mr. Otis also argues that Virginia, though 15, is "merely a child," that she obtained the jewels in an odd way (from a ghost) and that she has no interest in items of luxury. In fact, Mr. Otis strongly argues that owning expensive aristocratic jewels runs counter to the ideals of "Republican simplicity" of this all-American family. He calls the jewels "vain gauds and toys." He is even bemused by his daughter's desire to keep the box the jewels came in (though not the jewels themselves), calling it "medievalism" and attributing it to Virginia having been born in a London suburb. He also mentions that the jewels are very costly, and implies the money would be useful to Lord Canterville.

Ironically, the all-American Virginia does keep the jewels and ends up as the Duchess of Chesire, an accurate reflection of the tendency of wealthy Americans to marry English aristocrats during this time period. 

Why was Helen Stoner afraid of her stepfather in "The Adventure of the Speckled Band"?

Helen Stoner is afraid of her stepfather because he has a violent temper and her sister is dead.

Helen Stoner comes to hire Sherlock Holmes.  When a person comes to see the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, it means that the person is in serious trouble.  Helen’s trouble is that she lives with her stepfather, and he is not a good person.  The bigger problem is that her twin sister is dead and she is suspicious.

Helen tells Holmes that her stepfather Dr. Roylott is from an old family.  He was a doctor, but when he married her mother he no longer worked.  They returned to the old family manor, and his behavior changed.

But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our neighbours … he shut himself up in his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his path. 

The violent quarrels with neighbors are just the beginning of Helen’s worries about her stepfather.  Helen had a twin sister, Julia, but she died under suspicious circumstances after they moved.  Helen is worried that strange things are still happening at her house and she might be next.

Helen is right to worry.  Holmes and Watson go to Stoke Moran to investigate. They stay the night, and hide in a room waiting for something to happen.  What happens is that a snake comes into the room.  It is a very deadly snake called a swamp adder.  It is what killed Julia.

Holmes explains to Watson that Dr. Roylott was dangerous because he was a doctor.  Doctors are supposed to do no harm, but this one did not stick to his oath.

When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. 

The snake turns on Dr. Roylott and kills him, so from that point on Helen no longer needs to worry about her stepfather.  She can be safe in her own home, as long as she gets rid of all of the roaming animals!

Why are there bumps around my nipples?

Believe it or not, everyone has some type of formation of bumps around the nipple area on their chest.  The purpose of these bumps are to secrete oils that are necessary to lubricate the skin.  The anatomy of the nipple area consists of the nipple itself which is a raised projection of the skin overlaying the pectoral muscle of the chest.  Around the nipple is a circle, or oval, of darker skin called the areola.  It is within the areola these extra bumps are located, some miniscule and small, others resembling small nipples themselves.  A common mistake is to assume these bumps are pimples and should be removed by one of the common treatment methods for removing pimples.  This practice should not be followed, as the extra bumps in this particular area of human anatomy serve a needed body purpose.

An ideal gas (γ = 1.40) expands slowly and adiabatically. If the final temperature is one third the initial temperature, by what factor does the...

The relationship between temperature and volume of an ideal gas, during adiabatic expansion or contraction, is defined by the following equation:

`TV^(gamma-1) = constant`

where, T and V are the temperature and volume of the ideal gas. This means that

`T_1V_1^(gamma-1) = T_2V_2^(gamma-1)`

or, `T_1/T_2 = (V_2/V_1)^(gamma-1)`

where, subscripts 1 and 2 denote the initial and final states. Here, the final temperature is 1/3 of initial temperature, that is T2 = 1/3 T1 or, T1 = 3 T2

Substituting this relation into the previous equation, we get:

`(V_2/V_1)^(gamma-1) =` (3 T2/T2) = 3

substituting the value of `gamma` in the equation, we get: 

`(V_2/V_1) = 3^(1/(gamma-1)) = 3^(1/(1.4-1)) = 3^(1/0.4) = 15.6`

Thus, the final volume of the gas is 15.6 times the initial gas volume. In other words, the volume changes by a factor of 15.6.

Hope this helps. 

What is one example of Odysseus, from The Odyssey, showing vice as a character flaw?

Odysseus, being the Greek hero that he is, has a lot of pride, or hubris. This excess of hubris is his worst vice and is shown in the scene with Polyphemus the cyclops in Book 9, The One-eyed Giant's Cave. First, when the men raid the cyclops' cave, they want to take the cheese and leave, yet Odysseus wanted to stay to "see what gifts he'd give" (218) based on the Greek value of hospitality. The Greeks valued guests, because they believed that the guests could be gods in disguise and would treat them accordingly. Therefore Odysseus was expecting great things from the inhabitor of the cave. Little did he know that the only gift he would receive would be the death of many of his men.

Upon fleeing Polyphemus and his cave, Odysseus' hubris returns in the form of gloating. Once he is safely in his ship and sailing away, he shouts out to Polyphemus "Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, Laertes' son who makes his home in Ithaca!" (227) Odysseus is so specific with his epithets, that there can be no mistaking that it could have been a different Odysseus. Polyphemus, who also happened to be a son of Poseidon, called out to his father to avenge him, making this another reason for Poseidon to curse Odysseus and his men. This is all according the Robert Fagles translation.

What is understood by active transport?

Active transport is used to describe the transport of molecules across the cell membrane, at an expense of energy. The phopholipid bilayer which forms the cell membrane is highly selective and does not allow the entry of a large number of molecules into the cell (from external environment). The transport of molecules across this highly-selective membrane takes by either active transport or passive transport. In active transport, molecules move from an area of low concentration to an area of high concentration. This movement across the concentration gradient cannot occur without energy expenditure. An example is the transport of potassium ion, that has a higher concentration inside the cell and lower concentration outside it. In contrast, sodium ion has to be transported out of cell and the concentration inside the cell is less than that on the outside. In comparison, passive transport takes place from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration and hence does not require energy expenditure.

Hope this helps. 

What is the mood in John Green's The Fault in our Stars?

On the top of the cover of the book, in blue hand-written looking text, there is a quote by Jodi Picoult that actually describes the mood perfectly: "Electric. . . Filled with staccato bursts of humor and tragedy." This is a wonderful description of the story as well as life. Green captures the human condition perfectly because even though people do face life-threatening illnesses, which is tragic, life can still be filled with love and humor around every corner. The mood reflects the themes and lessons of life, no matter how short that life may be.

One example of a scene in the book that shows both humor and tragedy all in one is when Hazel first watches Isaac and Gus play video games in the basement. Isaac is going through a breakup, so he is vulnerable, but the relationship between Gus and Hazel is just beginning. All three characters face life-threatening illnesses. But do they sit around moping about their plight? Well, maybe Isaac does, but he's more upset about the loss of his girlfriend than his eyesight. Gus has the best attitude of all and it is reflected in his speech.

"Isaac, I feel a growing concern about our position. If you agree, head over to that power station, and I'll cover you" (57).

Augustus is full of funny dialogue aligned perfectly with compassionate will-power. At the end of this scene, for instance, Isaac bursts into a temper tantrum and Gus, like the best friend ever, is right there by his side encouraging him. Isaac even breaks basketball trophies and Augustus tells him to "Get it!"

"Augustus stepped toward him and looked down. 'Feel better?' he asked.

'No,' Isaac mumbled, his chest heaving.

'That's the thing about pain,' Augustus said, and then glanced back at me. 'It demands to be felt'" (63).

This is a great example of life and the human experience. We can be faced with the most traumatic and devastating futures, but we can also have positive attitudes in the present if we choose. Readers are in for a definite emotional roller coaster in this book.

Why was Victor from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein guilty?

Answering the "why" portion of this question all depends on what it is you are arguing he is guilty of. The argument could be made that he is guilty of several things. Here are three and the reasons why.

1) He is guilty of recklessly creating the monster because he is so focused on whether or not he can do it, he doesn't really consider whether or not he should do it and all of the possible negative consequences it might have. He only thinks of all of the wonderful things that he is sure will come of his experiment.

"A new species would bless me as its creator and source" (Ch. IV).

2) He is guilty of abandoning the creature and leaving it to its own devices because he is so scared of it and horrified by his own creation. It is not until the moment that it comes to life that Victor finally realizes the horror that could come of his experiment, and instead of staying to deal with the consequences, he runs away.

"Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room..." (Ch. V).

3) He is guilty of knowing that the monster killed William, and allowing Justine to be executed for the murder. He does this because he is so afraid of anyone knowing that he created the monster and that the monster has actually murdered someone. He is determined to handle this on his own and in the meantime, the creature is out of control. Although Victor has the ability to save Justine, he does not, so he is really responsible for her death.

"Thus I might proclaim myself a madman, but not revoke the sentence passed upon my wretched victim. She perished on the scaffold as a murderess" (Ch. VII)!

What is ironic about the ending of "The Interlopers"?

The ending of the story is ironic because Ulrich and Georg call for help and think that their men are coming to help them, but they can’t see clearly. They are relieved at first, but the reader is left with a sense of dread as they realize there are actually wolves running towards them. They have no chance of survival, considering they are stuck under the tree.

The irony is that when the story begins, Ulrich and Georg are the biggest threats to each other, but once they decide to be friends and remove the main conflict, nature takes charge, and there is no controlling nature. First, the tree almost kills them. Then, when they finally resolve their issues with each other, it doesn’t matter because they can’t stand up to the wolves. This irony emphasizes the theme of the story: humans believe they are in control, but nature is, in fact, in control.

How does Pip feel about himself as a gentleman when he no longer has money? What values of Pip's society is Dickens criticizing by calling...

Pip’s hopes in being a gentleman were wrapped up in his status as a “man of leisure,” meaning that he need not work for a living. To be a wage laborer, such as a clerk, was not within the realms of possibility for a gentleman, but its definition in the Victorian society in which Pip lived. More than education, more than parentage, it was the source of money (even more than the amount of money) that had become the identifying mark of a gentleman. It was not even his burdensome debt load that made him less than a gentleman, since this was almost common for the leisured class at that time. The fact that he would now have to find a job, such as he had provided for Herbert Pocket, meant that his “great expectations” had now come to an end.

Who are examples of flat characters and round characters in "Lamb to the Slaughter"?

There are only two important characters in "Lamb to the Slaughter." They are Mary and her husband Patrick. Mary Maloney is a good example of a round character because she changes quite impressively during the story. She is introduced as a very passive, dependent, devoted housewife who lives for her husband. She fawns on him when he is at home and thinks about him when he is away at work. However, when he tells her, as he obviously does, that he no longer loves her, is bored with their life together, and wants a divorce, she kills him in a sudden fit of blind rage. This change is startling to the reader, who doesn't think she was capable of such direct, independent, decisive action. Then she displays her nerve and cunning when she establishes an alibi and gets the investigating police officers to eat the leg of lamb, the very murder weapon they have been looking for. In the end Mary seems to be enjoying her triumph and her new freedom.

And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle. 

Patrick Maloney, on the other hand, is a flat character, pretty much a stereotypical cop. He is the strong, silent type. He is devoted to his job. He doesn't appear to have much of a life outside of being a policeman, plodding the same beat day after day. The fact that he wants to get out of his marriage to Mary does not prove that he is capable of changing. He handles the breakup with Mary in the same fashion in which he might deal with a woman suspected of shoplifting. He may have feelings, but he is not in touch with them. He has to get drunk in order to say what he has to say to his wife. He does not show her any pity or sympathy at all. He is brutal. But maybe his job has made him that way. If he were leaving Mary because he was having an affair with another woman, that would suggest some change in Patrick's character. But evidently he is not emotionally involved with anyone else, as indicated by his keeping regular hours at home and by his concern about avoiding any hint of misbehavior reaching fellow officers and superiors. He ends his long speech to Mary with these words:

"Of course I'll give you money and see you're looked after. But there needn't really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn't be very good for my job."

What is surprising and ironic about the ending of "The Interlopers"? What did you expect to happen, and what happens instead? Irony is what we...

The ironic reversal for which the reader is unprepared in "The Interlopers" is the appearance of the wolves, an occurrence which neither Georg and Ulrich have anticipated. The reader expects one of the two parties of men to arrive and rescue at least one of the foes.

When the two foes are pinioned beneath the large branches of the old beech tree, each man threatens the other with the arrival of his men, who will help him but punish the other. Ulrich tells Georg, 

“When my men come to release us, you will wish, perhaps, that you were in a better plight than caught poaching on a neighbor’s land, shame on you.”

And Georg threatens Ulrich,

When they drag me out from under these branches, it won’t need much clumsiness on their part to roll this mass of trunk right over on the top of you. 

However, as the two enemies must remain trapped together, Ulrich begins to consider the peril in which they lie, and he decides to end their feud because it seems rather foolish to him now. After giving Ulrich's offer some thought, Georg agrees, and they share the warming wine from Ulrich's flask. Now,

...each prayed a private prayer that his men might be the first to arrive, so that he might be the first to show honorable attention to the enemy that had become a friend.

At this point, then, the reader anticipates the arrival of one of the rescue parties and the shock of these men when they find their master in such a perilous state. The reader is utterly surprised by this new amity of von Gradwitz and Znaeym, who have so quickly reconciled. It is with even greater surprise, then, to the reader that wolves comprise the surprise ending.

To what degree does the play within the play parallel the situation in Hamlet, and how does Claudius react to its performance?

Hamlet says the play-within-a-play is The Mouse-trap, a piece which is meant to prick the consciences of his mother, Gertrude, and uncle, Claudius. In the play, the queen asserts that she cannot marry again if her husband dies:

A second time I kill my husband dead,
When second husband kisses me in bed.

This resembles the way Hamlet viewed his mother. In his eyes, she adored his father, but after his father's death, she married Claudius. Hamlet asks Gertrude what she thinks of the queen, and Gertrude responds with her famous line, “The lady protests too much, methinks.”

After the king’s nephew pours poison into the king’s ear, just as King Hamlet’s brother Claudius poured poison into his, young Hamlet announces that “the murderer gets the love of Gonzago's wife,” just as Claudius won over Gertrude. At this, Claudius stands and stops the play, declaring, “Give me some light: away!” To Hamlet, this is definitive proof of Claudius’s guilt.

How are things that we take to be natural socially constructed?

There are two ways in which we take things to be natural: either because a) something has become so normal, so commonsensical, so taken for granted, that it has become naturalized, or b) the object is considered natural, from nature, the stuff of the life sciences. Let's work through two examples to address this question: first, the state-citizen relationship, and secondly, the idea of wilderness.

Nationalities have become naturalized identity categories because power (on the world stage) is organized in the form of nation-states. Although we are born as citizens of particular countries as opposed to others and carry this designation with us, constitutively as part of our selves, whether we wear it proudly or implicitly, this mode of being in the world - as citizens - is a historical effect of the socially constructed idea of the nation-state that became universalized (as the only legitimate mode of organizing politics) through both rationalization and brute force.

In terms of wilderness, we can think of the way objects understood to be natural, such as national parks, are also the product of social constructions. To begin with, national parks or places of wilderness are produced through state policies that designate particular parcels of land for particular social purposes (site-seeing, hiking, taking pictures, camping, etc) accessible to those who have the time and money to escape their everyday lives (in the non- natural world). Moreover, to create wilderness as a space that is completely "natural," there cannot be human inhabitants or settlements. Thus, the bordering of places deemed natural can also be understood as socially constructed through the policies that removed all of the indigenous populations that supposedly "contaminated" the purity or authenticity of wilderness. So, even the idea of nature - as juxtaposed with the social and the human - is a socially constructed conception that has its origins in Western philosophical thought. 

What do the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions have in common? Differences?

Each of these revolutions was very complex, so any brief answer will be very incomplete. That said, there are several points of comparison and contrast that we can look at. We should also bear in mind that these revolutions were interrelated. France's expenditures on the American Revolution helped create the crisis that led to the French Revolution, and the Haitian Revolution occurred directly as a result of the turmoil in France, of which Saint-Domingue was a colony. 

One major point of comparison would be that each revolution was influenced to some extent by Enlightenment ideals. We see this in the American Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, both of which express Enlightenment ideas about fundamental human rights. But the Haitian revolutionary leaders were also influenced by Enlightenment thought. Toussaint L'Ouverture, in particular, was deeply read in the French Enlightenment. Each revolution had liberty as its central goal, with both the Americans and the Haitian Revolutionaries struggling for independence from the mother country. Each revolution also involved a staggering amount of violence in a protracted war. 

A major difference was that the Haitian Revolutionaries (eventually) sought freedom for slaves. This was a major reason why the United States under Thomas Jefferson refused to give recognition to Haiti, and in fact the French under Napoleon attempted to crush the Haitian Revolution for this reason. Some historians have argued that the American Revolution featured less internal disagreement and strife than the French and Haitian Revolutions, but others tend to disagree, citing many places (like the South) where the Revolution was basically a civil war between Whigs and Loyalists. 

Which one of the following has nothing to do with Eisenhower's brinkmanship? (a) Strong Air Force (b) Massive retaliation (c) Flexible...

Brinksmanship is a strategy in which you force compliance by threatening an overwhelming, disproportionate response. It is very high-risk, but it can also be effective.

Eisenhower's brinkmanship policy in the Cold War was to threaten immediate retaliation with nuclear weapons if the Soviet Union attempted to invade any US allies. On the one hand, this made the Soviet Union wary about invading any US allies, which is a good thing; on the other hand, if they ever tried to call our bluff, we would either have to back down and lose credibility or launch a nuclear war.

Let's go through the options to see which has the least to do with that policy.

A strong Air Force isn't necessarily a brinksmanship policy, but in Eisenhower's case it was, as it was during this period that B-52s and ICBMs were developed in order to maximize the ability to deploy nuclear weapons. So that has at least a little bit to do with Eisenhower's brinkmanship policy.

Massive retaliation is the essence of brinksmanship policy; the whole point is that in response to any violation you retaliate with overwhelming force. Far from being unrelated, it's basically the exact same thing.

But "flexible response", that's quite different. In fact the term "flexible response" was first used by Kennedy---after Eisenhower left office---to describe a policy where we would maintain nuclear weapons as an option, but also build a large conventional army capable of responding to smaller threats in a more proportionate way. The idea was to prevent the Soviet Union specifically from using nuclear weapons---if they used nukes, so would we; but as long as they limited themselves to conventional arms we would as well. (Actually there was one exception; the flexible response doctrine allowed that if a US ally were about to be overwhelmed, even by conventional forces, they could deploy small-scale "tactical" nuclear weapons.) Kennedy was trying to de-escalate the Cold War away from nuclear annihilation. He succeeded, insofar as we are still alive; but there were definitely a number of close calls (such as the Cuban Missile Crisis).

The best answer is therefore (c), since that refers to a policy implemented by Kennedy, not Eisenhower, and furthermore a policy that was intended to reduce brinksmanship.

In the novel Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the descent of order and rules into chaos and savagery. What are five examples from the book that...

1) In Chapter 2, during an assembly meeting the littlun with a mulberry birthmark on his face mentions that there is "beastie" on the island. This moment is significant to the collapse of civilized behavior because it begins the perpetual fear that is the catalyst for their irrational behavior. One of Golding's themes throughout the novel is how irrational fear can become destructive. The boy's fear propels them to seek protection from Jack, while Jack uses the fear to manipulate the boys into following his lead.

2) Another scene in the novel that speeds up the collapse of civilized behavior takes place in Chapter 4 when a ship passes the island. Jack convinces Samneric, who were in charge of maintaining the signal fire, to go hunting. When Jack and his hunters return with a dead pig, Ralph dismisses their accomplishment and chastises the hunters for allowing the signal fire to go out. This moment increases the tension between Ralph and Jack and illuminates their different ideologies. Later on in the novel, the group of boys will split because of differences between Jack and Ralph's form of leadership.

3) In Chapter 7, Ralph and Jack tell the boys they witnessed the beast on the top of the mountain. Jack accuses Ralph of being a coward and a weak leader. Jack attempts to usurp power but is unsuccessful. He runs away from Ralph's group and invites the boys to join his tribe. Jack's tribe is the epitome of barbarism and brutality. This moment speeds up the collapse of civilized behavior because it forces the boys to choose between the two tribes. Ralph's tribe represents structure, democracy, and civility, while Jack's tribe represents savagery, totalitarianism, and primitive behavior.

4) In Chapter 9, Simon climbs the mountain and witnesses the dead paratrooper. He runs through the forest to tell the boys the news that the "beast" is actually a dead human. On the beach, the boys are engaged in a hunting ritual, jumping and screaming in a frenzy. As Simon comes out of the forest, they mistake him for the beast and attack him. The boys stab, bite, and beat Simon to death. This moment is significant because it displays the extent to which the boys have descended into savagery and become uncivilized. They have proven themselves capable of killing human beings.

5) The final significant moment in the boy's descent into savagery takes place in Chapter 11 when Roger rolls a boulder, killing Piggy and breaking the conch. Piggy's murder symbolizes their complete rejection of civil society. The conch, which is a symbol of order and structure, also breaks. At this point in the novel, the only civilized character left on the island is Ralph. He is forced to fend for himself as Jack's tribe hunts him like a pig.

What does "Make thick my blood" mean in Macbeth?

"Make thick my blood," which Lady Macbeth says in a speech in Act I, means the same as the modern phrase, "harden my heart." Lady Macbeth has heard from her husband the prophecy of  the three witches that he will become Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. He has unexpectedly become Thane of Cawdor, so his wife believes the entire prophecy is true. Lady Macbeth is extremely ambitious, and she very badly wants her husband to become ruler. To her mind, that means Macbeth must murder the current king, Duncan. Since Lady Macbeth has a conscience and feels terrible about the idea of killing an innocent man, she needs to harden her own heart to push her husband to do this evil deed. 

In this same speech, she says "unsex me here and fill me from the crown [head] to the toe top-full with direst cruelty." She asks the "spirits/that tend on mortal thoughts" to stop her from feeling remorse or sorrow over what she is demanding her husband to do. She realizes she is preparing to step outside of the bounds of morality. She is willing to sacrifice her morals to her ambitions: nothing matters more to her at this point than becoming queen. In the end, however, she will fail to stamp out her conscience, and her guilt will haunt her. 

How does a cell carry out basic functions of organisms?

All living organisms must carry out some functions such as metabolism, waste excretion, growth, reproduction, etc. These organisms could be as complex as a human being or a plant or can be as simple as a cell. All the life is composed of cells, thereby cell the basic unit of life. A cell is capable of carrying out all the basic functions that living organisms must carry out. This is made possible by use of cell organelle. In comparison, living organisms (multi-cellular organisms) have complex systems (consisting of organs, tissues, cells, etc.) to carry out these activities. The organelle of cells are analogous to organ systems in multicellular organisms. For example, multicellular organisms undergo sexual reproduction and produce another identical organism. Cells also divide and produce another cell.

Hope this helps. 

What's a parallax error?

The best way to understand this is through an easy experiment. While in your parked car, take a look at the needle gauge in your car's speedometer. You will notice that when you look at it directly from front, it may show some speed. However, when viewed from other angles, the speed may appear different. The same is the case with clocks (with moving arms for hour and minutes). Parallax error is introduced when we do not look at an object directly along a normal. That is to say, when our line of sight is not perpendicular to the object, we obtain a false reading of the object. 

Parallax error is commonly used by astronomers to determine the distance of stars by comparing the apparent shift with that of more distant stars. Since the more distant objects will have lesser parallax, the closer objects will be easier to measure against that background.

Hope this helps. 

What is the theme in Avi's The Man Who Was Poe?

It can be said that the central theme in Avi's The Man Who Was Poe concerns our abilities and inabilities to cope with our fears. Throughout the story, there are times when both the central characters, Edmund and Edgar Allan Poe, face their fears poorly and face them successfully.

In his book, Avi accurately characterizes the historical Poe as a man deeply troubled by grief over the deaths of his mother and young wife. His grief leads Poe to become paranoid of his fears and to be an alcoholic. Based on Avi's characterization of Poe, death is one of his greatest fears, and he copes with his fear of death by obsessively writing about death, just like he ends his story about Edmund with the deaths of Edmund's mother and sister, though both he and Edmund know in real life Edmund's family members are still alive and can still be rescued. Poe's fear of death makes it difficult for him to live his life well since he knows that life inevitably leads to death. Poe would have been living life well if he had actively sought to rescue Edmund's Sis, as Edmund pointed out in the final chapter:

You're always talking about death. . . but it's living you're frightened of (Chapter 22).

Despite coping badly with his fear of death and fear of life leading to death, there are a few fears Poe handles well in the book. For example, at Mrs. Whitman's tea party, though Poe first visualizes those he feels are critical of his work as demons out to get him, the more he speaks confidently of the feelings he expresses in his work, the more he is able to shift his thoughts and see his critics as normal people.

Similarly, as a child, Edmund starts the story off feeling afraid of being alone and helpless. When his aunt and sister go missing, he is so desperate for help that he asks Poe when he meets him though he begins to doubt that Poe, calling himself Mr. Dupin, is truly sane and sober enough to be of assistance. Multiple times, Edmund questions whether he should really trust Mr. Dupin. While it is Mr. Dupin who unravels the mystery near the end of the novel, it is Edmund who figures out Mr. Rachett and Mr. Peterson took his sister on board the Sunrise and goes after her. It is also Edmund, not Mr. Dupin, who rescues Sis from drowning, which is a strong example of Edmund doing an excellent job of coping with his own fear of helplessness.

What had Torres previously ordered (before coming to the barber's shop)? Why did he want the town people to see this? According to Torres, what...

According to the story, Captain Torres had ordered the execution and the hanging of four rebels at the local school prior to coming to the barbershop. On that particular day, he had made the whole town file into the patio of the school to witness the mutilated bodies of the rebels. Captain Torres' aim was to ensure that the whole town understood what the fate of those who rebelled would be.

As Captain Torres sits for a shave in the barber's chair, he engages in conversation with the barber. He invites the nervous barber to the school at six o'clock that evening. When the barber questions Captain Torres' intentions, Captain Torres tells him that he plans to have a newly captured group of fourteen rebels executed. The captain answers cryptically, however, when questioned as to how he plans to execute the rebels.

"Come to the school today at six o'clock." "The same thing as the other day?" I asked horrified. "It could be better," he replied. "What do you plan to do?" "I don't know yet. But we'll amuse ourselves."

When the barber timidly asks whether Captain Torres intends to execute the whole lot, the captain replies in the affirmative. The story ends with Captain Torres admitting that he came to test the barber, implying that he knows all about the barber's secret revolutionary activities.

One of the themes in The Pigman is the power of love. How can this theme be seen through the life of Mr. Pignati?

Love is demonstrated by Mr. Pignati multiple times as we learn about his past and present self through John and Lorraine's shared narration. Mr. Pignati from the very first moment is a man who receives others with warmth and generosity. When John and Lorraine initially pretend to be charity workers, he does not question the veracity of their lie, but accepts and engages them with his jokes and playful manner. John and Lorraine cannot help but respond with patience and kindness. They both regard Mr. Pignati as an ideal parent figure because of his complete acceptance of them and gratitude for their companionship. He shows more trust of them than either John's or Lorraine's parents ever do.

Mr. Pignati's loving nature is also shown in the way that he treats animals. We learn that he has a tradition of visiting the zoo daily to see Bobo the baboon, who Mr. Pignati refers to as his best friend. He brings Bobo peanuts and other snacks, and when Mr. Pignati is hospitalized after a heart attack, he even tries to arrange for John and Lorraine to carry out the visits he will be forced to miss while recovering. He is more concerned about Bobo missing him than he is about his own health.

It is clear that Mr. Pignati has always been a loving person as clues are slowly revealed about his wife Conchetta. He keeps a room full of pig knick-knacks as a sort of shrine to their relationship, explaining that one pig in particular was the first memento of himself that he gave to her when they first met one another. Every time Mr. Pignati mentions his wife he seems melancholy, and at last one night he breaks down crying and admits that she is dead rather than visiting his sister. John had already discovered the loss while snooping through Mr. Pignati's belongings, having come across a receipt for Conchetta Pignati's funeral, which was signed by Mr. Pignati. Mr. Pignati still keeps all of his wife's clothing and jewelry, and he speaks fondly of her when Lorraine asks about Conchetta's photograph.

Mr. Pignati's love and trust are repaid in the worst possible way. John and Lorraine get carried away by too much independence while occupying his house during the hospitalization, and their immature abuse of his generosity sets off a cluster of traumatic things that drive Mr. Pignati closer to his eventual destruction. First he arrives home from the hospital in a still-sickly state to find his house full of drunken teenagers. If this were not bad enough, some of them have destroyed the cherished relics of his marriage: the pig collection and one of Conchetta's lovely dresses. Mr. Pignati is deeply, devastedly affected by this trespass. Nonetheless, on the last day of Mr. Pignati's life John and Lorraine feel that he has forgiven them. After all, to love somebody requires forgiveness of faults, and he has always behaved lovingly to them.

When John and Lorraine invite him to the zoo to see Bobo, thinking this will bring Mr. Pignati some cheer, they inadvertently accompany him to death's door. He dies of some combination of grief, exhaustion, and shock when they learn that Bobo had died a week earlier, approximately at the same time when Mr. Pignati's heart attack had occurred. Having lost all tangible connections to his beloved wife, baboon friend, and former playful affection for John and Lorraine, Mr. Pignati simply ceases to exist. It is as if he had been made of love, and the gradual taking-advantage of his love basically has eroded his spirit until there is nothing left to do but die.

How did female monarchs change the Tudor court?

There were three kings in the Tudor line before a serious problem arose. The problem was that a male heir to the throne had not been produced and the Tudors were a relatively new monarchy. They were also somewhat of a controversial monarchy as Henry VIII had expelled the Roman Catholic Church from England and installed a new protestant state religion. Compounding this problem was the bias that existed in England, as in most of Europe, that women were not meant to be in a position of authority.

In an effort to maintain the Protestant faith in England and to keep the Tudor line in place, King Edward VI attempted to have his father's will changed and installed Jane Grey as the Queen. This foolhardy decision was not well accepted by the nobility and she was deposed in nine days. The first legitimate female queen to govern England was Mary I, a staunch Catholic. Elizabeth I, a Protestant, succeeded Mary's rule and was the last Tudor monarch.

Because of sheer poor luck in producing male heirs, the Tudors generated issues involving royal succession, including the succession rights of women. After those questions were answered and female rulers were in place, the role of the queen in government came to the forefront. Women in England were undeniably in a subservient role to men, even the two queens would not dispute this. These issues would ultimately affect the Tudor court in a way that would lead to its demise. The concern the citizens had during the rule of the queens was that if they married kings from other nations, England would lose its sovereignty. When the Catholic Queen Mary I married the Spanish King Philip of Spain, an attempt to overthrow her was hatched. Turmoil would ensue and she would eventually accuse her sister, the future queen of being involved in the plot.

Coup attempts by siblings in the royal court were not uncommon, however. The female monarchs of the Tudors changed court in the same way that the male Tudor monarchs did: by not producing male heirs. Elizabeth I was reluctant to marry because she rather enjoyed ruling and did not necessarily want her husband to take her place in that role. She resisted marriage until it was too late for her to have children, and, therefore, was not able to produce a male heir. This brought about an end to the Tudor rule of England upon her death.

I was recently accused of plagiarism. I didn't plagiarize. What should I do? The teacher that accused me is very hard to deal with, and there is...

Plagiarism is a serious accusation, and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly.  I would suggest you upload your writing to a free plagiarism checker like the one at grammerly.com.  You can print out your results and take them to your teacher.  Approach your teacher in a calm, mature way, and ask her to show you where she thinks you have plagiarized.  Sometimes when summarizing someone else’s words, we think that just changing a few words in another’s writing is okay.  If the excerpt you write has the same structure as the original, it could be plagiarism.  You have to make sure you not only change words but that you change the original style and structure.  Make sure you paraphrase and put everything in your own words except direct quotations.  Plagiarism could also include not citing your sources correctly. 

So, it’s important that you find out exactly where the problems are.  Take a copy of your proof, talk to your teacher respectfully and calmly, and if you still feel you are being wrongly accused, see your principal or guidance counselor. 

Good luck!  I hope this works out for you.

How can inferences be made about the outcome of a story?

An inference is an "educated guess" based on the context of what you are studying or reading. For instance, if I told you that I took my little brother to get his learner's permit today, you might make the inference that he is around 15 or 16 years old. This is because it is general knowledge that you can get a learner's permit around that age. You would also be able to easily make the assumption that I am over 16 years old, since I said that he is my "little" brother, and therefore must be older.

For your story, I would suggest outlining a list of what you know about the story, especially what has happened in the end that you know for sure. Then you will be able to make an educated guess about what you are unsure of in the story you are reading.

State the claim of William Butler Yeats about his own poem, "The Second Coming."

Yeats provided a note for his poem "The Second Coming." The first line ends with the word "gyre," and Yeats explained that word with this statement:

"The end of an age, which always receives the revelation of the character of the next age, is represented by the coming of one gyre to its place of greatest expansion and of the other to that of its greatest contraction."

That may seem to provide more confusion than clarification, but it actually does help us understand this poem. Yeats believed in a theory of history based on 2000-year cycles. The cycle he was living in at the time (1919) began with the birth of Jesus Christ. Now that gyre was reaching the widest part of its cycle--think of it as a cone. The next cycle's beginning, the narrow end of the cone, would come from the widest part of the previous cycle. The wide part of one cycle, the end, would take on the characteristics of the coming cycle. The devastation of the Great War, recently experienced by the world, was presumed to be the nature of the coming cycle. The "second coming," then, is not the second coming of Christ as Christians understand it, but the coming of the next gyre or cycle. Thus the "mere anarchy" the world was experiencing in Yeats' day was a portent of an even more dire and dangerous world to come. 

What type of inheritance includes several genes that effect a single trait?

Some phenotypes are due to the additive effects of multiple genes rather than on simply a single gene pair. This type of inheritance is known as polygenic inheritance. 

Height and skin color are inherited in this fashion and are hard to predict by simply looking at the two parents' phenotypes. That is because each parent contributes several genes to produce the characteristic of height or skin color. And, the combination of which alleles and subsequently their additive effects, contribute to the phenotype of the individual. Based on the combination of alleles that are inherited, there will be a wide range of phenotypes that follow a bell-shaped distribution with most individuals clustered around the intermediate phenotype. On either end, will be the extreme phenotypes for that trait.

For example, if there are three gene pairs for skin color which all combine to produce a phenotype, and if each pair has one light allele and one darker allele the following would occur. If an uppercase letter represents the darker gene and the lower case letter represents the lighter gene and there is incomplete dominance, consider the following gene pairs to determine skin complexion. AaBbCc  are the six possible alleles that can be passed down to offspring.

If someone inherits  the combination of AABBCC, this person would be an individual with a very dark complexion  and if someone inherits aabbcc, this person would have a very light complexion. The number of these individuals in a population are not very high.  However, usually, the majority of people will have a complexion which is intermediate between the two. For instance, a person may inherit Aa Bb cc where they only have two darker genes A and B and the rest are for the lighter skin tones. Remember it is the combination of these alleles and their additive effects which produces the polygenic trait. The more dominant genes a person inherits will have a greater effect on the phenotype that is produced.

Also, it is important to note that environmental factors such as how much sunlight a person is exposed to will affect the trait of skin color and for the trait of height-- exercise, diet and being a non-smoker all have an effect on the person's phenotype.

What does the house recommend in "There Will Come Soft Rains"?

In "There Will Come Soft Rains," the house asks Mrs McClellan what poem she would like to hear. As the family are not there, (they have been killed by a nuclear blast), the house recommends Mrs McClellan's favourite poem, "There Will Come Soft Rains," by Sara Teasdale. (It is also worth noting that the story is named after this poem which demonstrates its overall significance).

Teasdale wrote this poem in the aftermath of World War One and uses it to argue the futility of human conflict. For Teasdale, the world will continue even if humans wipe each other out:

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree

If mankind perished utterly.

It is ironic that the house would recommend this poem to Mrs McClellan because in Bradbury's story,  humankind really has wiped itself out and the house, just like Teasdale's portrayal of nature, has no idea what has happened. In using Teasdale's poem, then, Bradbury argues that nuclear war has achieved nothing and that the world, depicted here as the house, will go on without humans in it.

Which quote from Romeo and Juliet shows that Friar Laurence is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet?

Even though Friar Laurence warns Romeo not to move so quickly with his love for Juliet, he marries them anyway. This isn’t the only time that the Friar makes a hasty decision. In fact, the Friar makes several decisions throughout the course of the play that can be connected to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet - for example, he supports Romeo in his banishment, he sends a letter to Romeo that Romeo never receives, he covers up the “death” of Juliet, he leaves Juliet alone in the tomb, just to name a few.

However, the one quote that really connects the Friar to their deaths is in Act IV, Scene I.

“Take thou this vial, being then in bed,

And this distilled liquor drink thou off,

When presently through all thy veins shall run

A cold and drowsy humor, for no pulse

Shall keep his native progress, but surcease.

No warmth, no breath shall testify thou livest.

The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade

To paly ashes, thy eyes’ windows fall

Like death when he shuts up the day of life.”

Juliet has just learned that Tybalt has died, Romeo is banished, and that she must marry Paris on Thursday. Desperate for a solution or she’ll commit suicide, she pleads for the Friar to help her. The Friar then realizes what a mess this hasty marriage between Romeo and Juliet has caused. In an attempt to cover his tracks, he comes up with an elaborate plan: Juliet will drink a potion that makes her appear dead so that she is buried in her family’s tomb, and when she wakes up the Friar and Romeo will be waiting for her so that they can run away together in Mantua. Supposedly, Romeo will hear of all of this through a letter.

I chose the quote in which Friar hands Juliet the vial of potion as the quote that is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet because it is that vial that causes confusion and suicide. Upon making it to the tomb (without receiving the Friar’s letter), Romeo believes that Juliet is in fact dead. This is reason enough for him to commit suicide and drink the last of the potion. When Juliet wakes up from the potion, she sees Romeo and uses a sword to kill herself. Without that vial of potion from the Friar, the deaths of Romeo and Juliet could have been avoided.

In the novel, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, does Bruno and Gretel's tutor take advantage of the children's innocence in what he teaches them?

Herr Liszt, Bruno and Gretel’s tutor, is what Bruno’s father would call a good countryman.  All young people in Germany were indoctrinated in the beliefs of Nazi, Germany.   As the tutor, Herr Liszt had a captive audience.  He only had two students to teach, and he chose what they should learn.  The tutor was especially fond of geography and history, specifically German history.  Bruno was partial to reading and art.   Herr Liszt tells Bruno,

“Those things are useless to you….. A sound understanding of the social sciences is far more important in this day and age.” (pg 97)

When Bruno protests and tells the tutor that his grandmother always let them perform plays when they lived in Berlin, the tutor responds,

“Your grandmother was not your teacher, though, was she?..... And here I am your teacher, so you will study the things that I say are important and not just the things you like yourself.” (pg 97)

Herr Liszt explains to Bruno that books are important, but not fiction books, not storybooks.  He questioned Bruno on how much he knew about his family’s heritage and history. When Bruno said that he didn’t know very much, Herr Liszt told him,

“Then this is what I am here to change…..To get your head out of your storybooks and teach you more about where you come from.  About the great wrongs that have been done to you.” (pg 98)

At this point in time, the children know very little about their homeland, so they can easily be influenced by this tutor.  He is obviously going to concentrate on the wrongs that Germany has endured.  So, in that way, he is definitely taking advantage of the innocence of the children.  They know nothing or very little, so everything they will learn, he will teach them.

Later, Bruno complains to his father.  He had asked Herr Liszt is they could read one day a week.  Herr Liszt responded that that would not happen while he was in charge of their education.  Bruno’s father says that he is sure that the tutor has his reasons.  Bruno replies,

“All he wants us to do is study history and geography…. And I’m starting to hate history and geography.” (pg 143).

Bruno calls his studies boring.  His father responds with a lecture about how important the knowledge of history is to Bruno. 

“….it’s history that got us here today.  If it wasn’t for history, none of us would be sitting around this table now.  We’d be safely back at our table in our house in Berlin.  We are correcting history here. (pg 144)