Where does Jonas live? Describe his community.

Lois Lowry's book, The Giver, focuses on a twelve-year-old boy called Jonas who lives in a rigid dystopian society. Though we never come to know the name or location of this community, we do learn that it is an intentional society where everything is highly regulated with the goal of "Sameness." Everything in Jonas's society is very organized and precise, and difference or deviation are not tolerated. Though everyone who grows up in Jonas's community is considered equal, people who do not fit into the ideals of productive society are "released."

Jonas's society is implied to be a self-sustaining one. At the age of twelve, community members are given their Assignment, or occupation. People may go to work in a variety of fields like agriculture and animal raising, public speaking, care for infants or the elderly, and teaching. In the interest of Sameness, people do not get to choose their Assignment. Instead, the community Elders decide based upon the community's need and the talents of individuals.

In the community, there are public recreation spaces, a home for elderly citizens, homes for families, and a medical center. In this way, Jonas's community is not so different from any real-world town or city. That said, there are strict rules about who can go where and what can and cannot be done. For example, Jonas once brings home an apple from a recreation area and is reprimanded over the public loudspeaker. Anyone who repeatedly breaks the rules, or breaks a very big rule, is released.

Though the equality and lack of suffering in Jonas's community can sound very tempting, Lois Lowry wrote this novel as a warning against the allure of a "perfect society." When people in Jonas's community are released for rule breaking, illness, or other deviation from the norm, they are killed as a means of maintaining the Sameness that prevents suffering. Much that was or could be is lost when someone is released, and it is Jonas's job to hold on to all of the memories of what has been sacrificed in the goal of Sameness.

Note the reference to the mockingbird in chapter 28 of To Kill a Mockingbird and explain the significance of it.

The reference in question is in chapter 30. Scout and Jem have been attacked on their way home from the Halloween pageant at the high school and attacked in the dark. There was a scuffle and someone yanked a man off of Scout (who was saved by her costume; the chicken wire that created it saved her from being knifed) and then there was a man coughing and wheezing. When Scout got her bearings, she saw the man carrying Jem home, and she followed. 

They find out shortly, when Sheriff Heck Tate arrives, that Bob Ewell is lying dead under the tree with a kitchen knife stuck under his ribs. The mystery man is Boo Radley himself. 

Tate and Atticus go to the porch to discuss what happens next. Atticus seems to believe that Jem killed Ewell, even if it was in self-defense, but Tate will have none of it. It's clear to him that Boo killed Ewell to protect the children, and he convinces Atticus of this--and also convinces Atticus that they can't tell the truth because Boo would suddenly be a hero, which would be cruel to a man as retiring and shy as he. So Tate says that Ewell fell on his knife, and that's all there is to it. 

Atticus finally accepts this, and calls Scout to him. He says, "Mr. Ewell fell on his knife. Can you possibly understand?" 

Scout says, "Yes sir. I understand. Mr. Tate was right." Atticus asks what she means, and she says, "Well, it would be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?"

Years earlier, Atticus had given his children air rifles for Christmas and had said they could shoot at any bird except mockingbirds, because it was a sin to shoot a mockingbird. All a mockingbird does is sing and bring joy to people. Scout here equates bringing Boo into the limelight with shooting a mockingbird. Boo has never hurt anyone; he's only done good, saving the children from a homicidal drunk. To bring what he did into the open would be cruel and pointless--like shooting a mockingbird. 

What are some quotes dealing with the TV walls in Fahrenheit 451?

The first time the TV walls are mentioned is when Montag meets Clarisse. Clarisse shares the fact that she is an atypical person in this society almost immediately, but cements that fact by stating, "I rarely watch the 'parlour walls' or go to races or Fun Parks. So I've lots of time for crazy thoughts, I guess." (3) The fact that Clarisse doesn't watch TV like everyone else is something that allows her the time to think, which sets her apart from almost everyone else, since they appear to be addicted to technology. 

Another instance where the parlour walls are mentioned is when Mildred, Montag's wife, begins discussing her plans for the day with Montag after her suicide attempt from the night before. She's clearly much more comfortable with discussing the script for the upcoming TV show than discussing what occurred: 

She was quite obviously waiting for him to go. "I didn't do that," she said. "Never in a billion years." "All right if you say so," he said. "That's what the lady said." She turned back to her script. "What's on this afternoon?" he asked tiredly. She didn't look up from her script again. "Well, this play comes on the wall-to-wall circuit in ten minutes. They mailed me my part this morning..." (9)

Later on during this scene, Mildred begins to question Montag as to when they can get the fourth parlour wall put in, despite the expense. Even though Montag states that the cost of the parlour wall is a third of his yearly salary, Mildred doesn't seem to care: 

"How long you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and a fourth wall-TV put in? It's only two thousand dollars." "That's one-third of my yearly pay." "It's only two thousand dollars," she replied. "And I should think you'd consider me sometimes." (9)

The addictive properties of technology are something that many studies are beginning to highlight today, but Bradbury wrote about how technology was going to affect people and their daily lives long before it actually occurred.  At one point Montag even begins to think about how technology (and the parlour walls) have come between him and his wife. "Well, wasn't there a wall between him and Mildred, when you came down to it? Literally not just one wall but, so far, three! And expensive, too!" (20) Montag has begun to think that the parlour walls and technology are separating people from each other, instead of bringing them closer together and facilitating happiness. It serves to highlight a major change in his character. 

What is the main idea of The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen?

The main idea of this book is to reveal (and remember) the horrors of the Holocaust from a young adult point of view.  The main character, Hannah, is annoyed greatly by her Jewish faith as she travels to her grandparents’ house to eat the Seder meal.  During the meal, Hannah is transported back in time to 1942.  She finds herself part of a Jewish family and is suddenly called “Chaya.”  While entering the synagogue for a wedding, Hannah/Chaya and all of the other Jewish people are herded onto trucks and sent to a concentration camp.  This is where the horrors begin.  Women and children are sent to the gas chambers.  Others starve to death.  Still others are worked to death.  The story of Chaya is a tale of great bravery.  Chaya sacrifices herself for her friend Rivka when Chaya enters the gas chamber in Rivka's place, telling her to both “run” and “remember.”  This book is Chaya’s story.  As a result, the victims of the Holocaust are remembered in a very moving way.

How does Harper Lee generate tension in To Kill a Mockingbird in the mad dog scene?

First, Calpurnia calls Atticus, then runs up and down the neighborhood as far as is safe to warn the neighbors that there's a mad dog coming (and having the switchboard operator call everyone else). She even bangs on the Radley's door to warn them, although no one answers. Meanwhile, Tim Johnson--the mad dog--is slowly walking toward them. Atticus and the sheriff arrive and discuss what to do--go after him or wait. 

Scout--narrating--says, "I thought mad dogs foamed at the mouth, galloped, leaped and lunged at throats, and I thought they did it in August. Had Tim Johnson behaved thus, I would have been less frightened." She's a frightened child, watching a mad dog moseying toward her neighborhood while the adults--also clearly unnerved--try to work out what to do. 

Atticus seems to move slowly and speak softly from the moment Tim Johnson limps into view. Then Tate and Atticus argue about who will shoot the dog. Tate practically throws the rifle at Atticus and says, "I'd feel mighty comfortable if you did it now." Scout and Jem are shocked to their very core, of course, because they think their father is and always has been anti-gun. 

When Atticus walks into the middle of the street, Jem and Scout watch "in a fog": "He walked quickly, but I thought he moved like an underwater swimmer. Time had slowed to a nauseating crawl." We naturally witness frightening events as though they are in slow motion, because our "internal clocks," pumped with adrenaline, move so quickly that the outside world seems to move in slow motion. This is what's happening here. 

Atticus is in the street, shoves his glasses to his forehead, and they fall off and crack on the pavement. Lee then turns our attention to Tim Johnson, who has finally worked out where the street is and starts coming down it again, having turned at the Radley place: "He took two steps forward, then stopped and raised his head. We saw his body go rigid." This is the moment--do or die. 

Then all at once, Atticus yanks the lever, pulls the rifle to his shoulder, and fires. Tim Johnson leaps and flops over in the crumpled heap. Up to this moment, we--like Scout and Jem--know nothing of Atticus's history. We don't know for sure until this moment that he is a sharpshooter, so we--like Scout and Jem--are on pins and needles watching the scene unfold. 

How did Sergeant-Major Morris acquire the monkey's paw?

Sergeant-Major Morris does not say exactly how he got the paw, although he says he got it from the first owner.

"The first man had his three wishes. Yes," was the reply; "I don't know what the first two were, but the third was for death. That's how I got the paw."

In answer to Herbert's question, Morris says that he too has had his three wishes, so there is only one more set of wishes left. It is possible that Morris bought the paw from the first owner, or had it given to him by that unfortunate man, or even that Morris killed him in some kind of military skirmish and took the paw. It would seem that Morris is not the kind of man who would buy such a thing just on the basis of a sales pitch from a stranger. He must have had some knowledge about its powers if he bought it. Maybe he knew the first owner. Evidently he knows more about what happened to that man than he is telling the Whites.

Morris indicates that he has kept the paw because he was thinking about selling it to someone but has recently changed his mind because "it has caused enough mischief already." This suggests that he would be open to an offer by Mr. White, who ends up becoming the third owner. Mr. White is therefore the only member of the family who can make wishes. This is a good thing, because Herbert would be likely to create disaster by wishing for a million pounds or something equally extravagant. And Mrs. White, who says she would like four pairs of hands, might wish for something truly outlandish. She does in fact persuade her husband to wish for Herbert to return from out of the grave.

W. W. Jacobs was clever in selecting a mummified monkey's paw as the talisman for his story because it suggests that there might still be some vitality in the thing. Also, it suggests a far-away place like India, because there are no native monkeys in England. And furthermore, it is a loathsome object which suggests sinister potential. Mr. White doesn't want to touch it at first, but Herbert picks it up. The father is older and wiser. The son is young and impulsive. White has premonitions of danger. Herbert is a character who could get himself caught in the machinery at the textile plant where he works--especially since he will stay up later than usual, drinking more than usual with Sergeant-Major Morris, who is perceptibly a heavy whiskey-drinker.

So the reader will never know exactly how Sergeant-Major Morris acquired the monkey's paw. But this is not terribly important, because the introductory part is mainly concerned with explaining how Mr. White acquires it. What happens after Morris relinquishes control of the diabolical thing and leaves the Whites to their fate is the dramatic essence of the tale. A lot in the story depends on the unknown. For instance, the reader will never know whether what happened to the family was fate or coincidence. 

In Lord of the Flies, what was Ralph's reaction to the idea that there were no grown ups on the island?

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is the narrative of a group of male adolescents who have been stranded on an island in the Pacific Ocean. It was published in 1954.  At the time, it was not much of what one would refer to as a success. However, over time, it achieved the recognition of making both the board's list and the reader's list of Modern Library 100 Best Novels. It has also been adapted into film three times.

The story begins with the introduction of Ralph and "the fat boy." They are making their way toward a beach through the heavy vegetation of a jungle. It becomes apparent that they are survivors of an airplane accident. As they interact, they begin to question if there are any other survivors from the planeload of young boys that were being evacuated.

As soon as Ralph realizes that the only adults on board the plane were sitting in areas that fairly ensured that they could not have survived the wreck of the plane, and it's subsequently being washed out to sea, he becomes giddy with the knowledge. He does a handstand right in the middle of the swept-away plane's trench. They are on an island, with no grown ups to rule over them. The possibilities far outweigh any drawbacks at that time.