In the Crucible, who were the girls dancing in the woods for?

In the woods, the girls were conjuring up spirits under the leadership of Tituba. The girls danced nude according to a statement made by Parris, who stumbled on their activities in the forest. According to Mrs. Putnam, she had asked her daughter to participate in the dance so she could obtain information from her siblings’ dead spirits. She was aware of Tituba’s ability to conjure the spirits and believed that the dead spirits would offer insights into the murder of her children. Basically, the dance was part of the conjuring process and was conducted to invite the dead spirits.

Parris, to Abigail: Then you were conjuring spirits last night.

Abigail, whispering: Not I, sir - Tituba and Ruth.

Parris: Why, sir - I discovered her - indicating Abigail - and my niece and ten or twelve of the other girls, dancing in the forest last night.

Hale, surprised: You permit dancing?

Parris: No, no, it were secret -

Mrs. Putnam, unable to wait: Mr. Parris.’s slave has knowledge of conjurin.’, sir.

Parris, to Mrs. Putnam: We cannot be sure of that, Goody Ann -

Mrs. Putnam, frightened, very softly: I know it, sir. I sent my child - she should learn from Tituba who murdered her sisters.

It was only after they were discovered by Parris, that the girls falsely implicated innocent members of the Salem community. They did this to escape punishment associated with their activities in the forest. Abigail accused Tituba, who was forced to make false accusations against Mrs. Sarah Good and Mrs. Osburn, marking the onset of the witch-trials in Salem.

In the story "Kath and Mouse" by Janet McNaughton, is the narrator inside or outside the story, and how does this impact the point of view?

In “Kath and Mouse,” the narrator is Kevin, Kath’s twin brother.  Kevin plays an important role in the story, and we are seeing the action unfold through his eyes.  The narrator therefore is inside the story, and not only does he experience the plot, he affects it.  We know this from the very beginning, due to the use of the pronoun I in the story.  Because we only get Kevin’s perspective on the events unfolding in the text, and all our understanding of the other characters stems from his own understanding (that is, we don’t get inside anyone else’s head, and can’t know their motives and feelings), we can say that the point of view is first person limited.  Take, for example, the following lines:  “As I put the music on the piano, [Helen] rushed off stage. For a minute, I thought she‘d bolted, but she came back with a stool to sit on.”  We are limited to Kevin’s thoughts on Helen’s actions, and can’t know what her intentions are until Kevin knows, and tells us himself.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Dill dares Jem to run the Radley house and touch the wall. When Jem does this, what do the children notice?

Jem, Scout, and Dill were fascinated with the rumors they had heard about Boo Radley.  They were determined to catch of a glimpse of this mysterious figure.  Dill dared Jem to go up and touch the side of the Radley's house.  This was an unusual request, because the Radley family kept to themselves.  They did not welcome visitors, as other local families did.  They preferred to stay inside with the windows shut and the shutters closed.  They did not leave their front door open on Sundays, and they did not even have a screen door.

With hesitation, Jem approached the Radley house.  He looked around carefully before running through the gate and touching the house.  He ran out of the yard quickly.  The three children ran back to the Finch house and stopped at the porch.  They stared back at the Radley house and they noticed something:

The old house was the same, droopy and sick, but as we stared down the street we thought we saw an inside shutter move.  Flick.  A tiny, almost invisible movement, and the house was still (To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 1).

Why did Wiesel give his knife away?

During a selection in Buna, Elie’s father thought he had passed the selection, however, he was asked to stay back at the blocks together with other inmates who failed the selection. When he realized the turn of events, he tried to communicate his last words to his son before the inevitable happened. He thought he was going to die, so he gave Elie his spoon and knife and asked him not to sell the items.

Elie tried to console his father, but soon after he had to leave for the depot leaving his father behind. Elie was in no mood to work on that particular day because he was worried about what was going to happen to his father. He was given lighter duties while Yossi and Tibi tried to reassure him. On arrival back at camp, Elie ran to his father’s block and found him there. His father had passed the second selection, so Elie gave him back his knife and spoon.

is honors biology hard? What does it cover? I am going to be a freshman in HS in 2016-17. Will it be better to take honors courses and get B's...

The University of California website states that one of the factors considered in admission is “UC-approved” honors, AP and IB courses and that extra weight is assigned to grades received in honors courses. You should check with the counselor of the high school you’ll be attending to find out if the honors biology course meets this requirement. UC also considers “academic performance related to opportunities available in your high school" which suggests that taking advantage of rigorous courses will improve your standing.

You will also need to ask a counselor about enrolling in honors courses as a 10th grader if you don’t do so in 9th grade. However, I think that starting out in honors courses will be beneficial if you plan to enroll at some point in high school. Students in their second year of honors courses will have already learned the expectations and adjusted to the rigor.

Biology is the study of life. You’ll likely be learning about plants, animals, cells, genetics and ecology. It’s likely that the curriculum for honors biology is similar to or the same as the regular biology curriculum. An honors section of a course usually involves learning concepts in more depth. You’ll probably be expected to spend more time outside of class on assignments for honors biology. Honors courses are designed to help prepare students for college, so some independence and self-motivation will be expected. Does your high school have an orientation day for freshmen in advance of registration? If so, this would be a good opportunity to meet the biology teachers and talk to them about the courses offered.

The benefit of taking honors courses in high school extends beyond college admission. You’ll be better prepared for the rigor of college coursework if you challenge yourself in high school. You’ll have the opportunity to learn study skills and time management. Do you know any college students who are graduates of your high school? If so, contact one and ask about his or her high school experience. Students who take challenging courses in high school usually have an easier time in college and are appreciative, although belatedly, of the hard work that was required of them in high school.

I know this doesn’t directly answer your question as I can’t speak for colleges, but I hope it gives you some direction in making your decision. Don’t forget to talk to your parents about your opportunities and choices.

How is Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias" a response to political change in Europe?

"Ozymandias" offers a keen insight into Shelley’s political ideologies. An advocate of political and religious freedom, he expressed his hatred for monarchy through his poems and other writings. Queen Mab, The Masque of Anarchy and Prometheus Unbound are some of his longer poems that demonstrate Shelley’s political thoughts and revolutionary spirit.

A few years before the first publication of "Ozymandias" in The Examiner in 1818, France under Napoleon had startled the world with his territorial conquests. Napoleon had taken control of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, most of Western Germany and northern Italy. However, he was captured by the forces of the Sixth Coalition (that included the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Prussia and a number of German States) in 1815. Napoleon finally died miserably in exile on St. Helena.

The poem may be read as an expression of Shelley’s hatred against tyrannical rulers. He was opposed to any kind of oppression—political, religious or intellectual.

During Shelley’s lifetime, Roman Catholics were facing oppression in a number of ways. The English parliament had passed the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the Penal laws. These imposed severe restrictions on Roman Catholics and Nonconformists for not accepting the Anglican Church established by the English state.

What the government of England and the Church of England were doing was considered religious and intellectual oppression by Shelley. "Ozymandias" can also be read as his response to such injustice.

The ruler Ozymandias, also known as Ramses II, was believed to be a mighty and tyrannical ruler who used to erect his statues across the Egyptian Empire. The words written on the pedestal reveal his self-obsession and vanity:

“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Drunk with self-pride and arrogance, he busied himself erecting his mammoth statues instead of caring for his subjects.

The poem presents biting satire of the vainglorious king by revealing the present ruined state of his statue.

“Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.” 

The great city and its big structures built by Ozymandias have all vanished and a barren desert has replaced them. The broken statue of the conceited king is the only remnant of his rule.

Here, the poet’s response rings clear as a bell. In his poem, Shelley presents a strongly worded warning against the growing political intolerance and religious hegemony.

It may also be read as his strong indictment of one country’s forceful occupation of another country, as well as the Anglican Church’s imposition of restrictions on Roman Catholics.

According to the poet, if a political government continues to remain intolerant, self-centered and indifferent to the issue of social justice, its end would be inevitable and like the derelict statue of Ozymandias it would be forgotten by posterity.

What changes can be made to make "The Bet" by Anton Chekhov more interesting?

Personally, I think famous writer Anton Chekhov did a fine job at making his story "The Bet" interesting, and I doubt there is anything any of us could do to make it better. However, if you want to rewrite his story in a different way, you might do it in real time instead of as a flashback. That would probably turn it into a very long book, but that way, you would be able to know each characters' thoughts as the years go by. Or, maybe you could, instead, just choose a couple of instances during each of the fifteen years, where the readers might gain insight into each character's thoughts and feelings and/or answer the questions some of us might have. For example, why did the lawyer stop playing music and then take it up again? What books did he read that had the biggest impact on him and why? How did he survive the loneliness of all those years? These are questions that aren't answered in the story as it is. 

Or, you could just change the ending. Have a big knock down, drag out fight after the lawyer wakes up while the banker is trying to kill him. The banker somehow ends up dead instead, and the lawyer is taken off to a real prison, where he has to spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement. Personally, I like Anton Chekhov's version better!