What types of books does Scott O'Dell write?

In short, Scott O'Dell writes books that are realistic fiction. According to interviews with the author, the majority of his inspiration comes from one of two places: his memories or his interests, primarily in historical topics. O'Dell was born just before the turn of the century in 1898 so his early experiences were those of the late pioneer-frontier days in California. His memories from childhood and teenage years include days spent near the shore and in particular an area of small islands. It was these memories that he used when writing the story "Island of the Blue Dolphins" which was based on a true story of a young girl but in which he put a great deal of detail about island life based on his memories. O'Dell enjoys research and so many of his books are based on topics he enjoys researching. Some of these include historical fiction based on time periods such as the American Revolution, Ancient Mayans and Spanish Explorers.

How can I compare and contrast the structure and poetic elements of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnet 43 and Gerald Manley Hopkins' "God's...

Most of the themes of both poems are different from one another, and this would be a stark contrast between the two. Where "Sonnet 43" focuses on love and mortality, "God's Grandeur" examines the cost of the Industrial Revolution on the natural world. However, it is worth noting that the two can also be seen as love poems. Browning's is a poem directed at her lover and Hopkins' poem is directed at God (he was a priest after all).

Although both poems were written within a generation of one another, the changes that have happened in technology have made their worlds far different. For example, "Sonnet 43" was written in 1850 and "God's Grandeur" was written in 1877 just as the Industrial Revolution was beginning to really gather steam (pun intended!). Browning's more traditional rhyme scheme makes sense in 1850, whereas Hopkins' use of a more modern and free rhythm may have been more successful in the timeframe he wrote it rather than in Browning's.

How can one create a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth?

Because Shakespeare's plays are so powerfully written, and the stories so enduring, many theatrical productions have sought to decontextualize them for different historical eras. This makes sense because many of the problems and situations are timeless, and portraying the plays with period dress would tend to fossilize them in the 16th century when most of them were written. For example, I have seen a production of Much Ado About Nothing set during World War II, and some of Kenneth Branagh's films of various Shakespeare plays have successfully used modern settings and costumes.

Macbeth is at its heart a play about a troubled, corrupt monarch who allows superstition to make him paranoid, and lets his wife manipulate him into committing murder. These situations can all be applied to a modern or contemporary context. The witches, for example, could be portrayed as either supernatural or imaginary beings, or as fortune tellers, or as young Puritan servants (a reference to The Crucible, itself a play using the Salem witch trials as an historical metaphor for a contemporary situation: the McCarthy hearings), or as new age shamanic healers, depending upon the historical context of the production.

Updating Macbeth's status as a monarch is a simple change: he can be a high-powered politician or famous celebrity. His vulnerability to belief in the supernatural or his wife's manipulation can be explained by any number of modern-day psychological disorders, or simple job-related anxiety.

In what ways is war romanticized in Arms and the Man?

The main aim of George Bernard Shaw in his play Arms and the Man is to debunk the romantic image of war; as a playwright, Shaw deromanticizes war by mocking or undermining characters who have the unrealistic view that war is glamorous.

While Shaw himself does not consider war romantic, several of the characters in the play do start out with that position, although the events of the play and Captain Bluntschli's arguments eventually move both the characters and the audience to a more realistic view. 

Raina originally has a glamorous ideal of war based on a combination of epic and romantic poetry. She projects this ideal onto Sergius, who himself is caught up in the problem of trying to live up to the mythos of the war hero. 

The difference between the practical approach to war of mercenaries and the romanticism of amateurs is seen in Bluntschli's description of Sergius' charge:

He did it like an operatic tenor—a regular handsome fellow, with flashing eyes and lovely moustache, shouting a war-cry and charging like Don Quixote at the windmills. We nearly burst with laughter at him; ...

Does a suspicion of a traffic violation qualify as a Terry stop?

No it does not. Traffic violations are considered "civil infractions" rather than crimes, and the ability of the police to "stop and frisk" under Terry vs. Ohio specifically applies to suspected crimes, which means misdemeanors or felonies. (I've given as an example a very cogent explanation of the difference under Massachusetts law; while it does vary by state, it's generally about the same.)

This is also why if you are asked on a job application "Have you ever been convicted of a crime?" you can (and should) answer "No" if you've only been fined for traffic violations.

The reason for this is twofold: It's generally agreed that traffic violations are not as serious a harm as actual crimes, and also most people are guilty of some traffic violations at some point in their lives, so if that counted as a crime we would all be criminals.

What literary techniques are used in Lucy Christopher's novel Stolen?

One of the most prominent techniques that Christopher uses is flashback. A flashback occurs when an author takes the audience away from the present time of the narrative to an earlier time. In fact, Christopher's novel is one prolonged flashback; however, the reader does not catch on until the end, when it is revealed that Gemma is telling her saga through the letter she is writing to her captor, Ty. 

Though this exaggerated use of flashback is engaging, it is not a new concept. Christopher's flashback technique used in Stolen is similar to that found in Homer's Odyssey. Much of the first part of The Odyssey is from the perspective of Odysseus telling his tale to King Alcinous's court. A huge difference between the two, however, is that Homer's audience is aware that they are engaged in a flashback, whereas Christopher's audience is left guessing until the end, which adds to the novel's intrigue. 

How does Kashmir support a Motif of Terrorism, Globalization and the Postcolonial Reality in Rushdie’s Shalimar The Clown?

Kashmir supports as motif of terrorism, globalization, and postcolonial reality in Shalimar the Clown because of the way that Rushdie describes it.

Rushdie describes Kashmir as "heaven on earth."  It was a place where harmony reigned supreme. Kashmir was tucked away amidst "lush descriptions of the fertile valleys and formidable mountains." Within this, is life of the Pachigam villagers where people love and respect one another.  It is here where Noman embraces his identity as Shalimar the Clown.  He loves who he is and what he does in the same selfless way as the people of Kashmir respect other people. Rushdie depicts Kashmir as principled and ordered.

Rushdie writes that "Everywhere was now a part of everywhere else,” and “Everyone’s story was a part of everyone else’s."  This intersection of culture and identity makes Kashmir a postcolonial reality.  Once Kashmir succumbs to outside intervention, it loses its principled and ordered condition. The troops that occupy it change it culturally.  People like Max corrupt it both symbolically and literally in terms of what he does to Boonyi.  This corruption takes place on a global scale, with people and forces from other parts of the world intruding and destroying the purity that once defined it.  Outside influences ensure that Kashmir's flowers have become replaced with explosive devices.  Its pure sky has been blocked out by the air fighters that drop bombs from above.  Kashmir becomes a postmodern world where its story is no longer its own because it belongs to other people and other forces.

From this, Rushdie is able to draw out the terrorism motif.  As Kashmir becomes corrupted, the people in it respond with anger and violence.  They are not able to transcend the wrongs done to them.  Firdaus's last words are curses on the Indian soldiers that ruined her land and life.  Shalimar the Clown becomes a committed terrorist.  He embraces violence as a means to soothe his own personal pain, believing that his mission will assuage his feelings of betrayal.  Rushdie suggests that the roots of terrorism are personal.  When people experience the intensity of personal hurt, they are more likely to embrace terrorism, thereby confusing the political for the personal.  Kashmir represents this.  Rushdie suggests that Kashmir gives birth to terrorism out of a personal hurt in seeing something so beautiful be reduced to something so ugly.