How does having the right animals give a country power?

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond tries to answer Yali's question of why Europeans have so much more "cargo" than people from New Guinea. The book offers up as an answer what might be called a form of geographical or ecological determinism, arguing that it is not mental habits or culture which lead to such disparities, but accidents of location.

Geographical location, for Diamond, determines the forms of food production readily available to a given civilization. Although much of the human diet consists of plants, and easily domesticated plants help with the "neolithic transition" to geographical stability and urbanization, the right kind of animals play several important roles in developing the sort of wealth and economic surplus that leads to relative power.

First, domesticable animals add to the available food supply, providing milk and eggs as well as meat. Next, draft animals make plowing fields far more efficient. Finally, animals such as camels and horses are major means of transportation, able to move faster and carry significantly more weight than humans on foot. In many countries, animals also allow for direct military power as nations employ cavalry, or mounted soldiers, to overcome foot soldiers in wars.

In general, wealthier civilizations with more advanced technologies are more powerful than poorer ones, and thus the economic contributions of the right kind of animals enable countries to grow powerful. 

What is the internal and external conflict in "Charles" by Shirley Jackson?

Internal conflict is conflict that happens within the character's mind. Essentially, he or she is fighting with himself over choices or a decision. In "Charles", the main character Laurie experiences inner conflict. The reader does not find this out immediately but rather at the end of the story when we realize that the character Charles who is causing trouble in Laurie's class is not another student but is Laurie himself. A conflict between doing right and wrong waged inside Laurie and as a kindergarten student, he decided to make up a character.

An external conflict, one that happens between a character and another person, the world or nature, is that between Laurie and his parents. While not always an outward manifestation of arguments, the parents and Laurie struggle to maintain a calm relationship and to effectively communicate. Additionally, the simple fact that the parents do not realize that Laurie has fabricated Charles, provides an example of conflict in this constant struggle to communicate that exists between Laurie and his parents.

What techniques of characterization does Hughes employ in creating the character of Mrs. Jones?

Langston Hughes uses several techniques to characterize Mrs. Jones. First, she is characterized physically as a large and imposing woman. At the beginning of the story, Hughes writes, "She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but hammer and nails." Mrs. Jones's size gives her an advantage over Roger, and she is described as being physical towards him: "Mrs. Jones stopped, jerked him around in front of her, put a half-nelson about his neck, and continued to drag him up the street."

Beyond just categorizing her physically, a more significant technique that Hughes uses is characterizing Mrs. Jones through her actions and through her words. Because she doesn't turn Roger in to the police but instead takes him in to feed him, we come to see her as a mentor or even a mother figure. When she asks, “Um-hum! And your face is dirty. I got a great mind to wash your face for you. Ain’t you got nobody home to tell you to wash your face?” we can see that she's already got a sense of concern for Roger and an understanding of why he tried to steal her purse.

She goes on to say, “You ought to be my son. I would teach you right from wrong. Least I can do right now is to wash your face. Are you hungry?” and as she drags Roger home against his will, we can see that she is serving in the role of a temporary caretaker. We see this role further play out back in Mrs. Jones's apartment when she tries to teach Roger a lesson by telling him, “Well, you didn’t have to snatch my pocketbook to get some suede shoes,” said Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones. “You could of asked me.”

First through physical description, and mostly through her actions and words, Hughes characterizes Mrs. Jones as a dominant and intimidating but kind and motherly figure.

Why does the young man spend several nights at Mrs. Tilley’s cottage?

In the story, the young man is an amateur ornithologist who has been hunting and appears to have lost his way. At least, that is what he tells Sylvia, whose grandmother, Mrs. Tilley, promptly offers the stranger lodging for the night.

Eventually, the young man admits that he enjoys hunting birds and having them 'stuffed and preserved, dozens and dozens of them...' He tells Mrs. Tilley and Sylvia that he is particularly interested in a white heron he has seen flying close to their home. Meanwhile, Mrs. Tilley's pride in Sylvia's knowledge about surrounding bird species causes her to boast about her grand-daughter's prowess.

The young man's ears perk up when he hears that Sylvia knows all about the birds near her grandmother's home. He offers ten dollars to them if Sylvia can lead him to the white heron. Yet, Sylvia finds that she cannot bring herself to tell the stranger where the white heron lives. In the end, he leaves empty-handed. His initial intent was to track and hunt the white heron, and that is why he stays at Mrs. Tilley's home. However, he finds his goal thwarted by a little girl who loves her avian friends more than she values monetary gain.

What are electrically charged atoms called?

Atoms that have net electric charges are called ions. Positive ions are called cations and negative ions are called anions.

Atoms have two types of charged particles:

• Protons have a positive charge and are found in the nucleus.


• Electrons have a negative charge and are found outside the nucleus. Electrons can be gained or lost.

Atoms are neutral if they have the same number of protons and electrons.

A cation forms when an atom loses one or more electrons. This results in it having more protons than electrons and therefore a net positive charge. Metals, which are in the groups on the left side and the center of the periodic table, lose electrons to form cations.

An anion forms when an atom gains one or more electrons. It now has more electrons than protons and therefore has a net negative charge. Nonmetallic elements gain electrons to form anions.

How is Arnold smarter then some of the people he is with?

Around Thanksgiving, Arnold is pulled out of his loneliness at the all-white Reardon High School to discover that he is smart. Not just smart for an Indian, as he says, but smart, period. 

In geology class, his teacher Mr. Dodge is discussing petrified wood and says that it's "pretty amazing that wood could turn into rock" (pg 84). When Arnold raises his hand and explains that the actual wood in petrified wood is dissolved and replaces by minerals that keep the wood's shape, Mr. Dodge mocks him, saying "Where did you learn that fact? On the reservation? Yes, we all know there's so much amazing science on the reservation" (pg 85). It isn't until class genius Gordy backs up what Arnold says that Mr. Dodge acknowledges that it might be true. 

Aside from his book learning, though, Arnold is also socially smart. He understands relationships and how and why people are loyal to one another. Most of all, he understands his parents and respects them for their sacrifices, even when they don't live up to the ideal parents a kid might want. When there is no money to help his dog Oscar, for example, Arnold's dad takes a rifle to shoot him, putting him out of his misery. Even though Arnold is furious and wants to hate his parents, he knows he can't, because they "came from poor people who came from poor people, all the way back to the very first poor people" (pg 11). Arnold has a deep understanding of his poverty and can avoid the trap of blaming his family for problems that stem from beyond them. 

What does "previous obligations" mean? Also do you think that the author's tone in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is suspenseful,...

"Previous obligations" can be described as responsibilities that a person has prior to something else coming up.  Most people read the line, "But I have promises to keep," as the speaker's explanation of why he cannot remain in this lovely forest, even though he might prefer to (line 14).  In saying that he has "promises to keep," the speaker makes it sound as though he has previous obligations, i.e. responsibilities or duties to which he'd committed before he was halted in his progress through the forest by its beauty and which he now feels bound to keep.

I'm not sure I would choose any of these three words -- suspenseful, peaceful, or cold -- to describe the tone of this poem.  A description of tone is typically a word that describes a feeling, like indifferent, judgmental, or approving, because "tone" describes the way the author feels about the subject.  Therefore, I would call the tone of this poem sympathetic.  The author presents the speaker in a simple way, with a simple and perfectly relatable desire: the speaker is very tired and very busy with many responsibilities, but he stops to appreciate the beauty of the nature around him and finds that he'd prefer to rest in tranquility there for awhile.  The author is clearly not judgmental of this desire.  The speaker isn't complaining, and he doesn't exaggerate or whine about his duties.  He presents them in an almost matter-of-fact way.  

"Peaceful" could certainly be used to describe the mood of the poem.  "Mood" refers to the emotional atmosphere of a text, often created by the connotations of the words and images used.  Most of the words in his poem are simple and positive.  Many of the words, especially, in the first stanza, are monosyllabic (meaning they only have one syllable), and this, along with the rhyme scheme and meter, help to make the poem sound steady and reliable (just like the speaker).  The lovely images of the woods, the way the forest looks and sounds, also contribute to the peaceful mood.