Explain how symbolism in "Design" by Robert Frost aids the reader in understanding the overall theme of the poem?

Central to this poem is the way that the spider, the
flower and the moth are symbols of death, destruction and decay. Notice how Frost
describes them as "Assorted characters of death and blight" and ingredients of a
"witch's broth." However, as the second stanza establishes, the real theme of the poem
is to what extent any power or divinity "designed" such an event. Frost seems to be
grappling with the question of how we balance such symbols of death with a loving and
ultimately caring deity. Linked with this are questions of God's role in nature: how
involved is God in such minor events or is He only involved in larger, more important
things: the big "design." Frost, by asking a series of questions in the second half of
the poem, profoundly unsettles us with these issues, and refuses to conclude anything,
not giving us the satisfation of having an answer. We are left mulling over the same
questions that Frost asks, pondering how death and life sit side by side and to what
extent are things "designed" by a deity.

Thus the symbolism
of the flower, spider and moth forces us to confront the central issues of the poem. By
connecting them to death and decay we are challenged to think about God's invovlement
(if at all) in such events.

In the Robert Frost poem "Fire and Ice", why does the persona choose "fire" and "ice" as the two possiblities?

I think it is important when you answer this question to
make sure you realise how Frost uses fire and ice respectively as symbols. Of course,
various scientists and other people have predicted that the world will end by being
burnt to a crisp or by another ice age that will freeze us all up, but Frost uses fire
and ice as symbols of desire and hatred respectively. Note how lines three and four end
with "desire" and "fire" and then lines 6 and 7 send with "hate" and "ice." Thus Frost
selects ice and fire as the two possibilities as he is commenting on various predictions
about the end of the world and how they seem to focus on another ice age or an inferno,
but then he goes on from this to make a larger point about the two emotions of desire
and hatred.

Please list some bad consequences of Columbus' voyage in 1492.

The most important negative consequences of Columbus's
voyage were the consequences that it had for the Native Americans.  They were hurt both
in the short term and in the long term by his "discovery" of the
Americas.

In the short term, the voyage (and the ones that
followed) caused various of the Indians to essentially become enslaved.  They were, for
example, forced to mine gold for the Spaniards.  This was certainly a major negative
consequence for them.

In the long term, things were worse
still.  With the coming of Columbus came epidemic diseases.  Europeans and other Old
World people had some immunity, but those of the New World had none.  These diseases
decimated the Native American populations as disease spread throughout the Americas. 
This was surely the worst consequence of Columbus' voyages.

What is an example of the difference between kinesis and taxis?

Kinesis and Taxis
are both terms that relate to how an organism responds to positive or
negative stimulation.  The difference between the two is that with kinesis the organism
responds by moving either toward or away from
the source of the stimulus.  Taxis has the organism just moving
randomly.

This concept is easier to understand when looking
at examples:

1) A big ugly bug is sitting there and you
shine a flashlight at it.  The bug, because of some instinct, walks toward the light (or
flies, like a moth.)  Its direction is based on where the light is coming from.  This is
kinesis.

2) Different ugly bug doesn't
like the smell of wet dog.  The bug's instinct will make it run around randomly trying
to find a spot where it doesn't have to smell wet dog.  This is
taxis.

Do you see the difference?  One
has movement directly toward or away from a stimulus, while the other one has movement
that is caused by the stimulus but the direction of which is
random.

Hope this helps!

prove that: (tanA-secB)(cotA-cosB)=tanAcosB-cotAsecB

We have to prove that (tan A - sec B)(cot A - cos B) = tan
A *cos B - cot A * sec B.

We use the definitions: tan x =
sin x / cos x, cot x = 1/tan x and sec x = 1/ cos x

(tan A
- sec B)(cot A - cos B)

=> tan A*cot A - tan A*cos B
- sec B*cot A + sec B*cos B

=> 1 - tan A*cos B - sec
B*cot A + 1

As can be seen we cannot get the required
result using this.

Instead of (tan A - sec B)(cot A - cos
B), it should be (tan A - sec B)(cot A + cos B). In that
case:

(tan A - sec B)(cot A + cos
B)

=> tan A * cos B + tan A * cot A - sec B * cot A
- sec B*cos B

=> tan A * cos B + 1 - sec B * cot A -
1

=> tan A * cos B - cot A * sec
B

The accurate identity using the given
trigonometric functions is (tan A - sec B)(cot A + cos B) = tan A*cos B - cot A * sec
B

What are some reasons the conspirators desire to see Caesar in Julius Caesar (with the exception of Brutus thinking Caesar will become king)?

As the conspirators plan Caesar's murder in Act 2, they
voice the concern that Caesar might decide against going to the capital--in which case
the conspirators will be unable to carry our the murder.  Decius, recognizing that
Caesar can be flattered rather easily, volunteers to visit Caesar at home and convince
him to go to the capital. Though Caesar does initially decide not to leave his house
(Calpurnia initially convinces him that something bad might happen), he changes his mind
when Decius suggests that the Romans might view him as a coward if he doesn't go to the
capital.  Caesar agrees, and leaves with Decius.

In 3.1,
The conspirators gather near Caesar and approach him under the pretense that they wish
to have Publius Cimber pardoned.  When Caesar asks "What is now amiss/That Caesar and
his Senate must redress," Metellus Cimber requests that his banished brother, Publius,
be given permission to return to Rome.  Pretending to support Metellus's petition,
Brutus and Cassius kneel beside Caesar and also plead on Publius's behalf.  Though the
conspirators' pleas seem sincere to Caesar, they are just excuses for the conspirators
to get close enough to Caesar to murder him. 

What does Ralph do once at the entrance of the Castle Rock?

As the boys approach Castle Rock, they are very nervous
about the whole situation, the drop to the sea below them, the fact that the other boys
are hiding, etc.  Ralph steps forward as the leader and takes the conch and begins to
blow on it, as though he is calling the boys to an assembly in the old
way.

He tries to tell the boys that he now sees as savages
that he is calling an assembly, expecting that perhaps they will respond out of a sense
of duty.

Once Jack returns from his hunting trip, however,
it becomes apparent that they are not going to be able to resolve their situation.  The
hunters are not willing to give back the glassesand the conflict leads to Piggy's
death.

Discuss the different characterizations of Antigone, Creon, and Ismene in Antigone.

While they are connected to one another in the drama, each
of the characters possess some distinctly different traits.  Creon is shown as a male
ruler of the time period.  He believes in the rule of the political realm and that what
is declared as law must be seen as justice.  In addition to this belief that the law is
justice, Creon is autocratic, with no other limitations or checks to his
power:

readability="11">

Holding on to power and suppressing rebellion of
any kind are Creon's main objectives when he orders Polyneices to remain unburied. When
notified by a sentry that someone has defied his order, he holds the sentry responsible
until the culprit is caught. Creon is unbending and will not listen to the advice of his
elders (the Chorus) or Teiresias, the prophet. He is an autocrat, an absolute
ruler.

When the analysis
shifts to Antigone, the primary division in the drama emerges.  Antigone believes that
the law might not be the same as justice, with its pursuit being of a higher caliber. 
Antigone's quest to honor her brother in a just and honorable fashion puts her on a
collision course with Creon, with both being unrelenting in their beliefs.  Antigone
demonstrates the idea that social and political dissent must be acknowledged within a
political setting if individuals prove to be committed to ideas that go against the
Status Quo:

By defying Creon's edict, she
[Antigone] is showing her faith and sense of duty to her family. She personifies the
belief that family and human relations should be placed above politics. Antigone is
committed to her ideals.

Antigone also represents
the non- traditional view of women, in that women could use their voice in political
manners.  For Ismene, her characterization is one that embraces the traditional role of
women in terms of being consensus driven and subservient to the political structure of
the time.  In this respect, she is the opposite of her
sister:

Ismene
acts as a foil for Antigone; while she demonstrates a woman living according to the
traditional rules governing the behavior and status of Athenian women, Antigone
represents a pioneering woman who governs herself according to a sense of personal
empowerment and self-reliance.

Give examples of how Greek mythology appears in contemporary religions.

There are several different approaches to this question. 
On a very practical level, the notion of a polytheistic set of beliefs can be linked to
modern religions such as Hinduism.  Both Hinduism and Greek Mythology accept the premise
that there are multiple gods and avatars of these gods in the spiritual pantheon of
worship.  On a larger level, the manner in which Greek Mythology constructed the
relationship between mortal and the divine is a theme present in the structure of
contemporary relationships.  The idea of being able to construct a relationship in which
individuals are at the mercy of the divine is something that is seen as far back as
Homer and in the modern dialogue of religion.  Greek Mythology provided a window in
which individuals were able to understand their own senses of identity in the eyes of
that which they worshipped.  This becomes one of the fundamental issues in all
religion:  How am I seen in the eyes of the divine?  The manner in which individuals
seek assistance from the divine, how justice is delivered, and how the righteous are
blessed and the wicked punished are elements that are foundational in Greek Mythology
and present in contemporary religious worship.

What was the significance of the Dred Scott decision?

The Dred Scott decision was one of the incidents that
helped to lead to the Civil War.  It did this because it essentially made it impossible
for the North and the South to make any further compromises on the issue of slavery in
the territories.

In this case, the Supreme Court ruled
(among other things) that Congress had no right to make any laws regarding whether
slavery would be legal in US territories (at that time, territories were areas that were
not yet states because they lacked the population).  The status of slavery in the
territories had been a major point of contention between North and South and had been
somewhat solved by such things as the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. 
With the Dred Scott decision, such laws became unconstitutional.  Congress could no
longer forge compromises on the issue.  This mean that conflict was much more
likely.

In that way, this decision helped cause the Civil
War.

What theme does Lucille Clifton present in her poem "Miss Rosie?"

The time and circumstance are volatile in nature. The
change of fortune and the old age shouldn't deprive one of his or her deserved regard
and honor. Miss Rosie or Georgia Rose, as she was called when she was young, must have
been popular and admired in the prime of her life. But, in her old age, she’s turned
into a wretched and neglected old woman.

The three-worded
clause “I stand up,” repeated twice, encapsulates the main theme of the poem. It’s about
paying respect and homage to a lady who has shrunk into an insignificant and
ugly-looking old woman.

By repeating “I stand up,” the poet
honors an old woman who’s a representative of every old person who once really mattered,
and so was respected and cared for in his or her best
years.

With age, Miss Rosie has grown infirm and physically
unattractive. She is of no worth to the society and the people around her. To them,
she’s just a "wet brown bag,” and one who’s “wrapped up like
garbage.”

In her unique manner, the poet Lucille Clifton
condemns the neglect of old people, who ought to be looked after and cared for, by
standing up for them “through” their
"destruction."

why does Salman Rushdie divide Midnight's Children into three books?I want to learn the importance and function of these separation....

Midnight’s Children is neatly divided into three parts to
give the novel coherence and tie the it together. Overtly the three parts serve no
purpose other than making the reading a bit simpler but if analyzed closely there is a
structure to the three parts.

The first part builds up the
momentum for the birth of the protagonist, Saleem. Rushdie provides information about
Saleem’s  family background and gives a brief description of the major historical
events. Only towards the end of the book he come into the
picture.

In the second part all events, accidents and
happenings surrounding Saleem and his family are described. In this part we see the
protagonist grow and eventually lose his entire family. Along with the growth of Saleem
the development of India is also traced.

The last part is
variously described as being gloomy and depressing because in this part the gory details
of wars, eviction of slums and tyranny of government is explained. It is almost as if
both Saleem and the country of his birth have failed and lost their
vitality.

Why did Aunt Alexandra silently thank Miss Maudie in To Kill a Mockingbird?

During the ladies social in chapter 24, Aunt Alexandra is
barely holding it together.  She is worried about her brother Atticus, and is having a
hard time with the hypocritical and racist remarks of others.  When Miss Maudie
intervenes, she is grateful to have someone on her
side.

She says:

readability="6">

“His food doesn’t stick going down, does
it?”

This statement outlines
the hypocrisy of those who are willing to enjoy Atticus's hospitality and eat his food,
even though they talk about him behind his back.

Scout is
surprised that Aunt Alexandra could be grateful for anything.  She is puzzled by what
her aunt would thank Miss Maudie for.

readability="10">

She gave Miss Maudie a look of pure
gratitude, and I wondered at the world of women. Miss Maudie and Aunt Alexandra had
never been especially close, and here was Aunty silently thanking her for something. For
what, I knew
not.

This is an
example of Scout not understanding the adult world.  She doesn’t understand how
politeness requires Miss Maudie to say what she means to say indirectly, and Alexandra
to thank her indirectly.

When the narrator wasn't around Emily how did he get his information?

When the narrator was not directly in Emily's presence
(which, because she isolated herself for so long was much of the time) he gathered his
information about her from other people. Even in his opening description of her, he
sites a tale invented by Colonol Sartoris:

readability="12">

Not that Miss Emily would have accepted charity.
Colonel Sartoris invented an involved tale to the effect that Miss Emily's father had
loaned money to the town, which the town, as a matter of business, preferred this way of
repaying. Only a man of Colonel Sartoris' generation and thought could have invented it,
and only a woman could have believed
it.

He sites, too, the tales
told by the ladies of the town who complained about the smell emanating from her home.
He indicates that they were not surprised about it because her house was being kept by a
negro man and, in their eyes, a man could not possibly be expected to keep a kitchen
clean.

In fact, a close reading of the text allows you to
note that the majority of the narrator's information comes from an undefined "they" -
meaning various people of the town ranging from government officials to gossipy women.
He associates himself as a member of the town among a group of people simply known as
"we" such as in this statement:

readability="14">

We had long thought of them as a tableau, Miss
Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in
the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the
back-flung front door. So when she got to be thirty and was still single, we were not
pleased exactly, but vindicated; even with insanity in the family she wouldn't have
turned down all of her chances if they had really
materialized.

Note the
repeated use of we in the narrator's observations. It is evidence gathered from the
collective consciousness of a town that has built up a legend around this woman and who
do not become privy to the truth until after her death. If you continue a detailed
examination of the piece, this becomes evident and you are afforded with many other
examples of second-hand information about Emily's actions.

How are aspects of Modernism apparent in Araby by James Joyce?How does Araby typify the social and psychological realities of England between the...

Araby as a story seems to be a little too Romantic in
spirit to be a Modernist text. But with deeper examination what we realize its
deep-rooted critique of the Romantic notion of love. Jacques Lacan had defined love as
"giving something that you do not have to someone who does not even want it". The boy
wants to give a gift bought from Araby. The girl had never demanded it from him and he
does not even want it.

The radical conflation of the sacred
and the sexual is another Modernist element in the story. Mangan's Sister is both a
chalice and an object of beauty, arousing a moment of impregnatory orgasm  and that too
in the dead pries's back drawing room.

The story is
definitely concerned with loneliness in the city---a squalid and drab cityscape, typical
of Modernist literature e.g. Ulysses or Eliot's Waste
Land.

The proto-stream of consciousness style, the emphasis
on internal rather than external action, the epiphanic realization of a disillusionment
about the Romantic and Oriental fantasy of Araby.

Describe several events from Ethan Frome that demonstrate the positive and negative aspects of the lack of communication.For example: Ethan gets...

The theme of communication is a central one to this
novel.  As your post suggests, communication has its positives and its negatives.  On
the positive side, good communication fosters a tighter relationship between people; it
can foster truth; it makes life more clear because a person "knows where they stand"
with others.  On the negative side, good communication can bring out truth that one
might rather not know.  These are all relevant to a discussion of the theme of
communication in Ethan Frome.

In your
first example above, Zeena is clearly communicating to Ethan that she notices
his attraction to Mattie, as evidenced by his shaving and paying more
attention to his grooming.  This lets Ethan know where Zeena is on the topic of Mattie. 
It increases Ethan's guilt over his feelings for Mattie.

In
your second example, Ethan chooses to communicate with a lie, to spare Mattie's
feelings.  This is in an effort to keep her close to him.  This type of communication
though always carries the price-tag of guilt and concern over the eventual revelation of
the truth.

In your third example there are a couple types
of communication going on.  The unspoken communication of Ethan and Mattie "playing
house" bonds their relationship.  They don't actually talk about what they are doing
because that would break the spell.  They don't actually talk about their feelings
because that would make them more real and then they would have to deal with the
potential aftermath of all that.  The surface conversations are light and companionable,
bonding them in that way.

In your last example, it is the
unspoken communication that is the tension that Powell senses.  Zeena resents the threat
that is Mattie; Ethan is torn between his obligations and his dreams; Mattie wants a
life of stability and is uncomfortable in the current situation living in the Frome
home, but has no other choices.  None of these characters is willing to get it all out
in the honest open, so they all walk around in the secret worlds of their own thoughts. 
This ends up destroying them in the end.

What happened to each of the rocket boys after graduation? Describe each situation.

One of the most powerful elements present in the ending of
the memoir is how it showed the post- "Rocket Boys" life of each.  All of them had gone
to college and wound up doing something that was outside the traditional path of boys
from Coalwood.  We learn early on that some few chosen ones from Coalwood go to college
or university on  football scholarship, while the vast majority go and work in the
mine.  The Rocket Boys forged a different path with college educations and some type of
professional job afterwards.  Insurance salesman, business owners, or Homer joining NASA
and training astronauts all reveal paths that were taken where dreams were pursued and
education being a vital part of this process.

How is disempowerment depicted in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Rad Bradbury?

In Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury,
disempowerment is a central theme in the story.

The members
of society live in homes with television screens on the walls, robbing them of the
desire to engage in meaningful conversation or the desire to develop original thought.
At night, as we see with Mildred, she is "plugged" in with the seashell devices which
control her subconscious.

Books are banned; houses with
books are burned. This removes the power of the public to know of the past and to learn.
Knowledge is power, but society has done all it can to rob society of learning. They do
not want people to question the world as it is presented by
society.

Ironically, Clarisse is empowered by her ability
to see beyond the surface of things into the heart of what matters in life: an
interaction with one's environment and the opportunity to learn about the world.
Clarisse ends up dead, killed by a car. Montag imagines it could
have been a car full of wild kids driving at a breakneck speed, but one is left to
wonder if she wasn't considered a threat to the numbness that society promotes in its
population. It doesn't take long for Clarisse's words to become meaningful to Montag,
though the fact that he has already started to secretly collect books shows that he has
begun to move away from a controlled environment that society would
prefer.

When Montag needs a teacher, he turns to Faber.
This is the first overt step Montag has taken to challenge
society's power over him. In contrast, Mildred welcomes the loss of power, and thereby,
her loss of responsibility to think or work out problems. She is so disempowered that
she is like a shadow of a person.

Ironically, those without
power to think for themselves are bombed and the civilization wiped out. Many of those
who have chosen to define the world on their own terms of power are walking through the
woods. Perhaps there they will be able to use the books they have and study the work of
many writers to find a way to rebuild society.

How do I cite these sources in APA format? I nearly completely forget how to format this correctly in APA format, could anyone...

As noted by the prior poster, APA format has recently
undergone a revision, so be sure that you are using the 6th edition (if that is what
your professor expects). All of the sources that you have listed are electronic sources,
but even electronic sources can be different in terms of the details that you need to
include. You will always begin by citing the author last name, followed by first
initial. Then, in parentheses, follow this with the date of publication. You will then
include the title of the work and the relevant publication information (Retrieval date
and URL for a web page; doi for a database article, city and publisher for a print
source)

For example, a database article would be cited like
this:

Steinbrook, R.. (2009). Lobbying, Campaign
Contributions, and Health Care Reform. The New England Journal of Medicine,
361(23), e52.  doi:1914852231

A web page like
this:

Political Advocacy (2010) Directory of
United States Lobbyists. Retrieved March 17, 2010 from href="http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/kfountain/">http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/kfountain/

And
a book like this:

Bogosian, E. (2008) Talk Radio. New York:
Samuel French.

The absolute best source that I have found
for APA is the OWL. Here is their page for on line
sources:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/

Also,
don't forget to include an in text citation for each time you use a source - for
example, using your source above: (Paz, 2010).

What effect has ancient Greece had on modern (American and European) politics?

The major impact that ancient Greece has had on politics
in modern day Europe and America comes from the political set up of the city-state of
Athens.  Athens was the first real democracy in the history of the world.  Because of
this, and because of the fact that Greek was one of the languages of classical learning,
the Greek ideal of democracy was passed down to political thinkers in Europe and then in
what became the United States.  The Athenian democracy was not, of course, anything like
modern Western democracies.  It was more of a direct democracy and lacked the personal
freedoms the West now affords all members of a society.  Even so, the Athenian democracy
inspired the people who made Western nations into the democracies that they now
are.

How is a pencil sharpener a wheel and axle for a simple machine?

Well, if you look at the simple definition of a wheel and
axle machine, namely that it must have a wheel and axle, the pencil sharpener fits
perfectly, particularly if the pencil sharpener is a non-mechanical one, just one you
have to twist.  As such, the pencil of course acts as the axle and then the sharpener
itself is the wheel as it goes around the pencil.  It gets a tad more complicated if you
are looking at the mechanical version, but likely could still be explained into the
definition if necessary.  The article referenced below has some other good examples of
simple wheel and axle machines.

Why did Dwight D. Eisenhower win the 1952 presidential election?

Dwight D Eisenhower achieved a landslide victory in the
1952 presidential election and defeated the democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson. The
main election issues were the spread of communism, foreign policy and corruption in the
government. Since the economy was prospering, it did not play much role in the
elections. 

Eisenhower was a five-star general, commander
of the allied forces in Europe during World War II and was the first supreme commander
of NATO. He was seen as a much more decisive personality compared to Stevenson, who was
considered an intellectual and excellent orator. Eisenhower's main election campaign
focused on the failure of the outgoing democrat administrations on Korea, Communism and
Corruption. 

The decisive personality and track record of
Eisenhower coupled with the discontent with previous government, complemented by the
weak democrat candidate, led to Eisenhower's victory. 

What are the allusions to "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" in Frakenstein?

There are two main allusions that I can detect. The first
comes in the initial framing narrative of Walton as he writes to his sister and is used
to describe his feelings about his impending expedition. Note what he says and how he
alludes to Coleridge's famous poem:

readability="10">

I am going to unexplored regions, to "the land
of mist and snow"; but I shall kill no albatross, therefore do not be alarmed for my
safety, or if I should come back to you as worn and woeful as the "Ancient
Mariner."

Here Walton
describes his voyage into uncharted waters with the same sense of wonder and mystery ("a
belief in the marvelous") as is depicted in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." However,
he assures his sister, he will kill no albatross and thus avenge a Polar Spirit.
However, it is ironic that this allusion comes just before he meets Frankenstein, for
Frankenstein, much like the Mariner, tells his story to an audience who is forever
changed by the knowledge.

The second reference comes in
Chapter Five as Frankenstein flees his creation and walks away, but as one in fear.
Frankenstein quotes the poem himself to describe his sense of loneliness and
oppression:

readability="21">

Like one who, on a lonely
road,

Doth walk in fear and
dread,

And, having once turned round, walks
on,

And turns no more his
head;

Because he knows a frightful
fiend

Doth close behind him
tread.

Note how this allusion
captures the way that Frankenstein is literally haunted by his creation and how the
monster dogs his steps from this point on in the novel, either physically or
psychologically. Frankenstein is never able to walk freely from this point on--the
knowledge of what he has done changes him utterly.

solve. 4+3x

You do this problem just the same way that you would do it
if it were not an inequality.  What that means is that you need to get the x term on one
side by itself and then simplify it down to where it is just x (instead of
3x).

So, what you do first is to subtract 4 from both
sides.  Then you get

3x <
24

So then you divide both sides by 3 and you
get

x < 8

And that is
your answer.  Plug in a number to check and see if it's right.  We'll choose
7.

4 + 3*7 < 28

4 + 21
< 28

25 <
28

True.  So numbers less than 8 make the inequality
true.

Now we'll try a number bigger than
8.

4 + (3*9) < 28

4 +
27 < 28

Not true.  So numbers bigger than 8 make the
statement false.

What is the allegory and what are the metaphors in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening?"

I'm not sure I would call Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a
Snowy Evening" allegorical in any sense.  One might say it's symbolic or that it
involves an extended metaphor, but I don't see it as an
allegory.

If the poem is symbolic or involves an extended
metaphor, it is in the sense that the absent land owner, separated from nature,
symbolizes humans who are separated from nature and don't realize what they're missing. 
Connected to this interpretation is the opposition of the man-made (such as the barn),
with the natural (the snow and woods).  The speaker/character, too, though he
appreciates the natural, cannot stay to admire it because of human
responsibilities. 

The poem may also close with a
metaphor:

And
miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I
sleep.

Some commentators
suggest this is a metaphor for death.  In this interpretation, though the speaker longs
for the peace of death (sleep), he chooses to fulfill his responsibilities and promises,
rather than to seek what he wishes. 

In "Geraldo No Last Name" by Sandra Cisneros, do the sound effects add to the story or detract from its power?

In "Geraldo No Last Name," Cisneros uses sound devices to
create dramatic effect.  For example, there is a "beating" rhythm in the line describing
all the places that Marin goes to party: "Uptown. Logan. Embassy. Palmer. Aragon.
Fontana."  The single-word lines mimic the rhythm of a drumbeat as the narrator lists
the names.  Further, there is rhyme throughout the story: "Somebody she met that night. 
That's right."  The rhyme creates a playful tone to suggest that the relationship
between Marin and Geraldo was simply one that created for fun on that night of dancing
and partying.  So the sound effects in the story do not detract from its meaning; on the
contrary, the sound effects add to the story's power.

In the camps, Wiesel must struggle to stay alive and to remain human. How well does he succeed with his struggles?

There are two parts to the question.  The first part is
how well Elizer fares in the struggle to stay alive.  The answer is that he does succeed
in this quest.  This is proven by the fact he is alive at the end of the narrative.  The
second part is naturally a bit more complex.  The notion of "remaining human" is
something whose definition changes over the course of the work.  It might be difficult
to suggest that he remains human by the end of the work because of the amount of changes
he undergoes throughout the course of the work.  For example, the typically human
experiences of collectivity through community, connection with family, and faith in
divinity are all repudiated throughout the course of the novel.  It is not as if Eliezer
chose to sever these bonds, but rather such choices were made for him, removing him from
specific aspects of his humanity.  In the end, when he stares at the mirror and is
unable to recognize the face staring back at him, it is because his humanity has been
robbed from him.  I am slightly bothered by saying that he "failed" at his struggle to
remain human because of this precise lack of autonomy.

“To A Mouse”What does Burns say about man’s dominance over animals? What does Burns reveal about carefully laid plans in stanza 7?

To me, Burns is saying that man's domination of the
animals is both unjustified and harmful.

You can see that
Burns thinks that this dominance is not justified from what he says in Stanza 2.  There,
he talks about himself as being a companion of the mouse -- they are both born of the
Earth and therefore he is not better than it is.

He also
acknowledges at length the fact that he has harmed the mouse with his plow.  Stanzas 2-6
all have this idea in them to a greater or lesser
extent.

Stanza 7 simply says that both mice and men have
their plans destroyed by forces bigger than them.

What is the result/significance of Germany's annexing Austria?

The German expansion into Austria helps to set the stage
for future designs of Hitler and the Nazi party.  The pattern that would be visited
repeatedly was first established in the overtaking of Austria.  On one hand, Hitler laid
out a type of "historical" case as to why expansion was warranted.  This perception of
history was distorted, but since no other versions were being offered (or those who were
offering it were being silenced by Hitler), there became a historical basis for the land
acquisition.  Some slight attempts at diplomacy was pursued, consisting of Hitler
meeting with representatives and essentially bullying his way to his own ends, and then
a military movement complete with social modes of control that emphasize the Nazi notion
of the good being absolute.  All of these were on display with the acquisition of
Austria.  If you believe MGM musicals, the Von Trapp family had much to say, or sing,
about this, as well.

Identify three scenes that show changes in Todd Anderson in Dead Poets Society and explain what develoment is suggested.

Well, certainly a big o is when Mr. Keating forces Todd
into creating a pneoem on the spot in front of the rest of the class. Although Todd is
obviously very embarrassed, his eventual success, thanks to Mr. Keating's promptings,
causes him to gain a new sense of confidence in his own
abilities.

Secondly, I would suggest the scene where Neil
gives Todd his present to throw over the side of the bridge where they are standing.
This represents another stage in Todd's ability to resist and stand up to
authority.

Lastly, I would say the final scene, when Todd
is the first one to stand up on his desk and say "O Captain my Captain" to Mr. Keating
as he leaves the classroom in shame and disgrace. This, if you like, represents the
final development of Todd. He appears to have conquered his timidity and is willing to
stand up (literally) for what he believes is right no matter what the
cost.

What are the reasons that Darnay's frequent trips to France result in a charge of treason in Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities?

In an ironic twist of Fate, whereas Doctor Manette is
first able to get his son-in-law released from his charge of treason against the state,
Manette unwittingly figures into Darnay's recapture and imprisonment.  For, at first Dr.
Manette is heralded as a heroic survival of political oppression in the Bastille, but
upon his second efforts for Darnay, Manette is recognized as the physician who suffered
by the hands of the Evremonde twins, one of whom is Darnay's
father.  

In Chapter 4 of Book the Third, Manette appears
before the court and Darnay seems at the point of being released,
when

the tide
in his favour met with some unexplained check, which led to a few words of secret
conference

and Darnay, ne
[born] Charles d'Evremonde, is returned to prison.  The secret conference that has
been held involves the connection of Dr. Manette with the brother of Madame DeFarge, the
young man mortally wounded after defending the honor of his sister, Therese DeFarge. 
Unbeknownst to Manette and Charles d'Evremonde (Darnay), Madame Defarge has knit his
name into her deadly cloth and has recognized Charles after his having come to speak on
behalf of the tax collector for the Marquis d'Evremonde, Monsieur Gabelle, who wrote him
a desperate letter.  She is in possession of a letter that Dr. Manette has written while
he was in prison ( 1757-1775) that describes the atrocities committed by the Evremonds
against her family.  And, as the son of one of the perpetrators, Charles
d'Evremonde will be held accountable.

In addition to the
vengence which Madame Defarge seeks against this aristocrat named Charles d'Evremonde,
the bloodlust of the revolutionaries has also risen and the "new era has begun."  The
Reign of Terror has begun: 

readability="9">

The deluge rising from below, not falling from
above, and with the windows of Heaven shut, not
opened!

In "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," how does the tone relate to the presentation of the subject?

Certainly this modernist classic opens itself up to a
multiplicity of different interpretations. However, one of the meanings that stands out
to me is the approach of Alfred Prufrock to time, and the way that time is viewed with
fear, trepidation and how this relates to indecision. Centrally, this poem concerns the
speaker's fear of committing to a woman and how this will in turn ensnare him in the
monotony of social conventions that make up life. Time is shown to be something that is
elusive for him and resulting in his premature aging. Note how time is viewed in the
third stanza:

readability="26">

There will be time, there will be
time

To prepare a face to meet the faces that you
meet;

There will be time to murder and
create,

A time for all the works and days of
hands

That life and drop a question on your
plate;

Time for you and time for
me,

And time yet for a hundred
indecisions,

And for a hundred visions and
revisions,

Before the taking of toast and
tea.

Note the emphasis on how
the speaker is trying to convince himself that "there will be time," shown by the
repetition of this phrase. He is trying to convince himself that he doesn't have to
commit yet, however at the same time he recognises that time is not infinite, and if he
does not commit and make a decision against the "hundred indecisions" that are still
open to him, he risks remaining lonely and old
forever.

This perhaps explains the somewhat whistful and
bleak tone regarding time, and life and how it slips away from us. The indecision of J.
Alfred Prufrock is shown to be reflected in the tone of bleak disillusionment with life
and society which the speaker seems to be both drawn to out of fear but also to
despise.

How is verbal, dramatic, and situational irony expressed in the story "The Necklace"? Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace"

In "The Necklace," a marvelous tale of the falsity of
materialism as a value, Guy de Maupassant employs with perfection the incongruity
between what is stated and what is really meant (verbal irony), or between what is
expected to happen and what actually does happen (situational irony), or between what
the reader and audience know, but the character does not
(dramatic).

SITUATIONAL
IRONY

In the exposition, Maupassant portrays the
materialistic Mathilde Loisel,who grieves for herself because she feels that she has
been born for "all the niceties and luxuries of life."  When her bourgeois husband, a
government clerk, brings home an invitation, he expects Mathilde to be
happy, but she is not.

In another instance
of situational irony, Madame Loisel's dreams of a better life worsen because of her
vanity and desire for material objects.   By insisting that she wear some pretty
jewelry, Mme. Loisel is told by her husband to borrow from a friend. When she does
borrow a beautiful necklace, Mme. Loisel loses it and this lost causes her untold
grief.  So, in her quest for materialism, she is left with less than what
she originally had as she and her husband pay dearly for her loss.  (She moves from
bougeoisie to poverty.)

In yet
another instance of situational irony, Mme. Loisel assumes that people of
the upper class only value expensive things.  When she  first sees the
necklace that she does borrow, Mme. Loisel asks

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"hesitatingly, pleading, 'Could I borrow that,
just that and nothing
else?'"

because she believes
that it is very costly. She cannot imagine that Mme. Forestier would have an inexpensive
article simply because she likes it.  Ironically, of course the necklace
is not expensive.

This situational irony
leads to the final, most crucial situation irony.  At the end of the narrative, Mme.
Loisel finally has lost her false pride which has kept her from telling Mme. Forestier
that she has lost the jewelry lent to her and she approaches Mme. Forestier on the
Champs-Elysees one Sunday.  When she confesses the loss and then boasts of having paid
for it by working and sacrificing, Mme. Forestier looks at her with pity,
saying,

Oh, my
poor Mathilde.  But mine was only paste.  Why, at most it was worth only
five hundred
francs!"

VERBAL
IRONY

Because she does not have what she believes is the
proper attire, Madame Loisel tells her husband,

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"Give the card to some friend at the office whose
wife can dress better than I
can."

Mme. Loisel, of course,
hopes by saying this that her husband will offer to buy her a new dress.
Then, as the day of the party nears, Mme. Loisel complains that she has
nothing to wear on her dress:

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"I'll look like a pauper:  I'd almost rather no
go to that
party."

Again,
by saying this Mme. Loisel means that she wants some jewelry so she can
go.

What was the driving force that compelled Amir to transform into the personality that was hidden within?How can I explain that the "cycle of...

Most of the impetus behind Amir's later actions,
particularly his return to Afghanistan to try to "make things right," are driven by the
guilt which has riven him ever since the day that Hassan was raped after chasing down
the kite for Amir.  He stood by and watched while his most loyal friend was brutally
molested, and that inaction has haunted him throughout the rest of his life, no matter
how far or how long he got away from the incident and the place where it
happened.

Particularly once he finds out that Hassan was,
in fact, his half-brother, Amir is desperate to find out whether he might be able to
somehow rectify the wrong he committed or felt he did at the
time.

In terms of a redemption cycle, it may be his
rescuing of Hassan's son from a possible future of constant abuse that he feels he has
finally atoned for his inaction after he is able to bring Sohrab back to the US with
him.

What does this quote (from Act 2, scene 4, line 38) mean, and does it relate to the image pattern of clothing in Macbeth?"Lest our robes sit easier...

The line reads,

readability="9">

Well, may you see things well done there.
Adieu,

Lest our old robes sit easier than our
new!

This especially
important line occurs at the very end of Act 2, scene 4.  It is spoken by Macduff to
Ross.  In this conversation, we learn that Macbeth is soon to be crowned king of
Scotland at Scone. Macduff has decided not to see Macbeth crowned king, but instead to
return to his home.  He asks Ross to see the ceremony is carried out properly, and then
he uses the clothing metaphor to express his concern about the changes in leadership
that Scotland is undergoing.

Macduff is worried that the
new leadership (new robes) will not be as good as the former leadership ("old robes").
 From this seemingly innocent remark, we see that Macduff doubts Macbeth's ability to
rule Scotland effectively and that he may suspect Macbeth as having a role in Duncan's
assassination. Before this line, Macduff has answered each of Ross's questions literally
and objectively.  He tells Ross that the guards killed Duncan, that the kings' sons are
suspected of hiring the guards to do the deed, that Macbeth has already been named king
and is going to Scone to be crowned.  However, the couplet you refer to seems to stand
out, because for the first time Macduff expresses concern for the future of Scotland
under Macbeth's rule, and he uses figurative language to express this
concern.

This line is part of the clothing motif that runs
throughout the play. For instance,   Macbeth asked Ross
earlier

Why do
you dress me in borrowed
robes?

when Ross told him
that he had been given the new title of Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth wondered why he had
been given this title when the current Thane of Cawdor was still alive.  Macbeth did not
know that the former was soon to be executed as a traitor.  Macbeth, in fact, did borrow
the robes of this traitor in his assassination of Duncan.   Clothing is a metaphor for
roles, and it is an especially appropriate symbol since clothes, like roles, may or may
not fit. Macbeth could wear the robes of a traitor;  can he wear the robes of a
king?

Discuss two different characteristics of Romanticism in the poetry of John Keats. Give an example for each.

Keats famously wrote that  a poet was a kind of
'physician' to humanity whose job was to 'pour out a balm onto the world.' Of course,
this 'balm' was created partly by a focus on nature as a source of solace to the
sufferings and trials of life. This is an aspect of Romanticism that can most clearly be
seen in 'Ode to a Nightingale' when the speaker achieves a transcended state and is able
to fly with the nightingale metaphorically through his
poetry:

Away!
away! for I will fly to thee,

Not charioted by Bacchus and
his pards,

But on the viewless wings of
Poesy,

Though the dull brain perplexeds and
retards...

Thus poetry and
its influence is able to help the speaker leave the earth, which is characterised as a
place of 'no light' and of suffering in which man is forced to joylessly live until his
death.

Another aspect of Romanticism which we can see in
the poetry of Keats is the way that meditation on beauty can give us a real appreciation
of life and the beauty within life. This can be seen in the focus on the eternal beauty
in 'Ode to a Grecian Urn':

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When old age shall this generation
waste,

Thou shalt remain, in midst of other
woe

Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou
say'st

'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,'--that is
all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to
know.

Note how beauty is
shown to be able to instruct humanity on some important truths that are necessary for
our survivial. The urn is therefore called 'a friend to
man.'

Thus by its focus on the beauty of nature and its
healing influence and the meditations on beauty, Keats establishes himself as a truly
Romantic poet.

How does one determine the angles formed by the inersection of the two diagonals of a parallelogram?

A parallelogram is a convex quadrilateral with two sets of
parallel sides.  The parallel sides are opposite to one
another.

The diagonals of a parallelogram bisect each
other.  Therefore, the point of intersection is located exactly half way along each
diagonal.

Opposite angles in a parallelogram are congruent
(equal).

Consecutive (adjacent) angles in a parallelogram
are supplementary (totaling 180 degrees)

As to the angles
formed by the intersection of the diagonals of a parallelogram, adjacent angles are
supplementary (totaling 180 degrees).  The opposite angles are congruent
(equal).

Using these relationships, plus knowledge that the
3 internal angles of a triangle total 180 degrees,  it is possible to calculate the
various angles in a parallelogram if the value of one of the angles is
given.

Please see the reference for an excellent graphic
representation and explanation of these rules as they apply to a
parallelogram.

In The Tempest, what is the conflict between Prospero and some of the passengers on the ship caught in the tempest?

In Act I of the play we discover the history of Prospero,
what led him to end up exiled on the island and also how the passengers we meet at the
beginning of the play were involved in his exile. Prospero tells Miranda his story and
how he had been a duke until his brother, Antonio, conspired with Alsonso the King of
Naples to overthrow his power and exile him. Prospero had left his brother in charge
whilst he studied and this gave Antonio the opportunity he was waiting for to become the
new Duke of Milan. Thus it is that Propsero and Miranda, who was three at the time, were
stranded on an old boat. Gonzalo, who was a member of the council of Alonso, was the one
character who showed some compassion and stocked this boat with food and water and also
Prospero's books. Now fate has brought Prospero's old enemies to his island, and the
rest of the play shows how this conflict is resolved.

Analyze the book's final chapter and its theme(s).Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper
Lee, the sympathy motif is introduced in Chapter 1 when Atticus instructs
Scout

'You
never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of
view-....until you climb into his skin and walk around in
it.'

Now, in the final
chapter this motif comes to fruition as Scout, as she stands on the porch of Boo Radley
and surveys the neighborhood from his point of view, arrives at an understanding of the
reclusive "mockingbird" that is Boo Radley as a man like any other
man:

Atticus
was right.  One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes
and walk around in them.  Just standing on the Radley porch was enough....I had never
seen our neighborhood from this
angle.

She also understands
how much Boo has done for her and Jem and Dill, while at the same time they have not
reciprocated:

readability="7">

We never put back into the tree what we took out
of it:  we had given him nothing, and it made me
sad.

This remark touches upon
the mockingbird motif which acts as a device by which the two plot elements are
unified.  For, the first part of the novel and the Boo Radley mystery, parallels the
second part which is concerned with the Tom Robinson trial. Harmless members of society,
both of these characters can be viewed as a mockingbird; for, while both are innocent
people, they both are persecuted by society.

And, as Scout
recalls that she feels very old, and there "wasn't much else for us to learn," the novel
ends with the maturation of Scout, thus defining To Kill a
Mockingbird as a bildungsroman, or novel of maturation. 
For, Scout and Jem have come to understand why their father has taught them what he has,
as well as why their father has chosen certain courses of
action.

Another motif present in Chapter 31 that is tied to
the first part of the novel is the recurring idea of education.  In Chapters 1 and 2 the
reader understands that the education that Atticus gives his children surpasses that of
the rigid classroom.  They learn much from Atticus--humility, fortitude, honesty,
fairness; they learn that simple observation of human nature brings great
knowledge. 

With Scout and Jem's new knowledge comes the
end of their superstitions and fears.  As Scout and Jem have learned more about their
world their fear of "haints" has disappeared as well as their fear of Boo Radley.  (The
bildingsroman theme is also
here.)

Clearly, the final chapter ties together the two
parts of the novel as well as underscoring certain motifs and
themes.

Please provide a brief summary of the story "Lamb to the Slaughter."

The story begins with the pregnant Mary Maloney waiting
for her husband, a police officer, to arrive home. The way she looks after the house and
cares for her husband clearly demonstrates her devotion to him, and this is reinforced
by comments that show that Mary Maloney builds her life around her husband. However,
when he does finally arrive, she notices that something is wrong. He tells her that he
will be leaving her, presumably because of another woman. Shocked, Mary goes to the
freezer to get a leg of lamb to cook for dinner. Her husband says that he is going to go
out and Mary hits him on the head with the frozen leg of lamb, killing him
instantly.

Although she is not worried about her own life,
she is worried about the life of her unborn child, and so she carefully plans how to get
away with the murder. She puts the lamb in the oven and starts to cook it and then goes
to the grocery shop, planning her alibi. When she returns from the grocery store, having
kept everything "natural," she "finds" her husband's body lying on the floor and calls
the police in a shocked state, telling them that Patrick was murdered whilst she was
out. Once the police arrive, who all know her of course, they start looking for the
murder weapon, which to them always leads to the conviction of the murder. Mary asks
them to eat the meal she had cooked for Patrick for her and the story ends as she
listens to them eating the murder weapon that they are looking for, knowing she has
escaped being linked to the crime.

Why does Montresor seek revenge on Fortunato, and why does he say, "A wrong is undressed when retribution overtakes its redresser"?

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," the
narrator, like so many of Poe's narrators, is unreliable in that he does not provide any
reason for his revenge other than the vague
statement,

The
thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon
insult,I vowed revenge.

Then,
ironically, the narrator assumes that readers know
him: 

You who
so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to
a threat.

Obviously, then,
there is a great deal of ambiguity about Montresor's "revenge" that he feels (1) he must
seek and perform with impunity as well as (2) receive acknowlegement of this revenge on
the part of the victim.  Both of these goals of revenge are attained:  Montresor walls
in Fortunato in the tomb/catacombs, and Fortunato is well aware of what Montresor has
done as he calls to him, asking to be allowed to return to the carnival, and finally
crying "For the love of God, Montresor!"

Is Natty Bumppo a flat or round character?

If we can define "round" characters as complex or ones who
are multidimensional, then I think that Natty Bumppo could be seen as round.  He is not
singular or monolithic in Cooper's descriptions of his
experiences:

readability="18">

Hawkeye [Natty Bumppo] is in his
thirties, at the peak of his physical powers. Civilized, mannered, and garrulous, he can
at times be humorous and long-winded, or give over to boasts and superstition. He is a
man of dual natures, however, and can be as stoic and silent as his Indian companion,
Chingachgook. Although a somewhat idealized character, Hawkeye is not without his flaws.
He is always quick to point out his "blood without a cross," making sure that none
mistake him for an Indian or even someone of mixed heritage. He is also prejudiced—quick
to pass judgment on the Indians of the tribes other than the one with which he is
allied.

Of
particular mention would be the idea of Natty being of "dual natures."  This makes him a
round character because of the complexity present, allowing him to be seen in multiple
lights and not completely in one mindset.  As Natty grows in the narrative, he reveals
this complexity in turning his back on White culture and embracing the idea of being
"the last of the Mohicans:"

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....the character of Hawkeye (or
Nathaniel Bumpo, also Natty) grows in small yet subtle ways, developing as a human being
who has shunned the “civilized” world of the white man in favor of the natural
environment of the Native Americans by whom he was raised. Yet Hawkeye retains some
characteristics that he learned exclusively in his youth and have transferred with ease
into his new
life.

This
conception makes him a complex and round
character.

What are the radius and the center of the circle x^2-6x+y^2-2y=14 ?

Given the equation of the
circle:

x^2 - 6x + y^2 - 2y =
14

We need to find the radius and the center of the
circle.

Then, we need to rewrite into the standard form as
follows:

(x-a)^2 + (y-b)^2 = r^2 such that (a,b) is the
center and r is the radius.

To rewrite we need to complete
the squares.

==> x^2 - 6x + 9 -9 + y^2 - 2y + 1 -1 =
14

==> (X-3)^2 + (y-1)^2 - 9 -1 =
14

==> (x-3)^2 + (y-1)^2 =
24

Then we conclude
that:

The center is the point (3,1) and the
radius is r=sqrt24= 2sqrt6

What is the imagery of sight and sound in "To Build a Fire" by Jack London?

From the very beginning of the story, imagery is used
(like many of London's stories) to convey the feeling of the place and at times to also
foreshadow events to come.  In the first paragraph, London
writes:

There
was no sun nor hint of sun, though there was not a cloud in the sky. It was a clear day,
and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things, a subtle gloom that
made the day dark, and that was due to the absence of
sun.

The fact that this
absence of sun does not concern our intrepid traveler is a clue as to what will happen
to him down the trail.  It also helps to build the idea that this "intangible pall" will
likely bring about some future tragedy that no one can quite put a finger on yet, but
will become clear.

London uses images like this throughout
the story.

If x=3^y, what to you think you would write to solve for y? Explain

To solve the equation for y, we'll have to take natural or
decimal logarithms both sides.

Why? Only using the power
properties of logarithms, we'll get down the variable y from superscript position, where
it is actually.

ln x = ln
(3^y)

We'll use the power
property:

ln x = y*ln 3

Now,
we'll use the symmetrical property:

y*ln 3 = ln
x

We'll divide by ln 3:

y = ln
x/ ln 3

The required y is: y = ln x/ ln
3.

How did freedom change between the Gilded Age and the 1920s?

I would argue that the conception of freedom in the Gilded
Age was more of a concept of economic freedom.  By the time the '20s came around,
freedom was defined more in terms of personal choices.

The
Gilded Age was an era of laissez-faire capitalism.  It was also an era in which only the
rich had a great deal of freedom.  The rest of the people did not have as much freedom
because they did not have enough money.  Therefore, their lives were circumscribed by
the need to work.  During this time, freedom was seen as the freedom to compete
economically.  The "robber barons" were the ones who won this
competition.

By the '20s, there was a much larger middle
class than there had been.  This middle class had the money and the time to do things
for fun.  Because of this, freedom came to be defined in terms of personal choices. 
Freedom now was the freedom to go to a speakeasy or to wear the clothes of a flapper. 
There was still laissez-faire to a great degree, but the common idea of freedom was more
of a personal freedom as opposed to an economic type of
freedom.

So, the major difference is that freedom in the
Gilded Age was economic freedom and freedom in the '20s was personal
freedom.

What concerns does Friar Laurence have about Romeo and Juliet's relationship in Romeo and Juliet?

To me, Friar Lawrence's concerns about the relationship
between these two is that they are totally rushing into it.  I think you can sum up his
concern in the following line.  It comes from Act II, Scene 3.  He says to
Romeo:

Wisely
and slow; they stumble that run
fast.

Friar Lawrence is
concerned because up until this point, Romeo had been so hopelessly in love with
Rosaline.  The friar could not believe that Romeo could really fall in love with someone
else so quickly.  He counseled patience.  Too bad they didn't listen to him... maybe
they would not have died if they had taken it a bit slower.

Why is Esperanza afraid of Sire? What do her parents think of him? Why is she so curious about what he does with Lois?The House on Mango Street

I don't know that Esperanza is so much afraid of Sire
(though he does have a bad boy reputation) as she is afraid of her feelings for him.
He's her first real crush and feeling those feelings for the first time as a young girl
can be overwhelming. Her parents think he's a punk, which probably adds to his allure to
her. She's curious about what he does with Lois because she wonders what it would be
like to be Lois, to have someone tie your shoes for you and to ride on someone's bike.
But she's probably also curious as to what her parents mean when they say she's the type
of girl who goes into back alleys.

In the Chapter I of The Great Gatsby, what is the purpose of the introductory section?

The novel begins with Nick Carraway introducing himself to
the reader, commenting upon the concept of romanticism, and then turning his memories to
a mysterious someone named Gatsby. Nick recalls Gatsby as having possessed "an
extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness" greater than any Nick had ever
encountered and never expected to find again. He then makes this intriguing
observance:

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No--Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it
was what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that
temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of
men.

The passage acts as a
very effective narrative hook in the novel's beginning, raising several questions for
the reader: In what way did Gatsby turn out "all right"? At the end of what? What
dangerous force "preyed" on Gatsby creating "foul dust" in relation to his dreams? What
could have happened that affected Nick so deeply that he was no longer interested in
others' pain and brief happiness? The narrative hook creates
mystery.

Before telling the story of his experience with
Gatsby, however, Nick continues to tell the reader more about himself, his Midwestern
background, and the Carraway family. He mentions his college education and his having
gone to World War I. He explains why he left home to go to the East and begin a career
in finance.

This part of the introductory section is very
important because it establishes Nick's character; he is a responsible young man from a
traditional family of several generations rooted in Midwestern values. Thus when Nick
lives in New York, he is an outsider observing a different culture, viewing it and
eventually judging people and events through the prism of his own Midwestern moral code.
The contrast between the East and the Midwest/West functions as an essential motif in
the novel, and its primary themes are rooted in it.

In the book The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler, what kind of person is Phillip Marlowe?

Marlowe is very much a loner. He lives alone and works
alone. He does not employ a secretary, so most of the time he is alone in his office
when he is there. He has a strong sense of independence and a strong sense of honor.
Being a private detective should expose him to all sorts of opportunities to make money
illicitly. For example, Vivian offers him a lot of money to remain silent about the fact
that Carmen killed Rusty Regan, but he refuses to accept it. He is not a happy man or he
would not be doing so much drinking; but in this respect he resembles his creator
Raymond Chandler, who was an alcoholic. Chandler used to work for the Los Angeles
District Attorney, but he tells General Sternwood he was fired for insubordination. Then
he adds that he tests very high on insubordination. He is guided more by his feelings
than his San Francisco counterpart Sam Spade. Marlowe likes some people and dislikes
others, and he takes his feelings about people seriously. For instance, he likes Harry
Jones, although Jones is just a grifter. He likes Norris the butler. He likes General
Sternwood very much. He dislikes Carmen and Geiger, among others. He gets emotionally
involved with clients in "The Big Sleep" and in other novels. Dashiell Hammett's Sam
Spade seems relatively cold and selfish by comparison.

How does Shakespeare use images of light and darkness to reinforce an idea about the duality of love in Act 3?Please list a quote or two.

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses
chiaroscuro, "an effect of contrasted light and shadow created by
light" as symbolic imagery used to contrast the other dualities in the play: "love and
hate"; "life and death"; and love-sickness and
mating.

"Light" is mentioned 46 times in the play; "day,"
its synonym, is used 88 times:

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Away from the light steals home my heavy
son,
And private in his chamber pens
himself,
Shuts up his windows, locks far daylight
out

Here, Montague
describes Romeo not in terms of darkness (that's not very nice), but in terms of light
(the lack of it) to show his melancholic love-sickness over
Rosalind.

"Dark" and "darkness" are used only 9 times.
 Other words, though, stand for it, namely "night," used 100
times.

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Earth-treading stars that make dark
heaven light:
Such comfort as do lusty young men
feel
When well-apparell'd April on the
heel
Of limping winter treads, even such
delight
Among fresh female buds shall you this
night
Inherit at my
house

Here, Capulet
uses the whole gamut: "dark," "light," and "night" to show how "lusty young men feel"
during April's mating season.

All in all, "light" and
"dark" reinforce the dualities of emotional and physical love.

When Henry is sprinting to the trees in one of the last battles it said "he ducked low like a football player" but they didn't have football back...

As pohnpei397 has tried to point out, formal 'American
Football' (I presume you are asking about this, as 'Soccer football' hs been around very
long indeed!) began in the 1850s and 1860s, and the Rutgers vs Princeton game (see
above) was supposedly the first proper one played in the USA. In addition it hs also
been pointed out that Crane wrote his novel rather later and so, by that time American
football was around.

However, informally speaking, even if
we consider that the Civil War soldiers knew the game, it was probably played in some
rough form or the other for quite some time and no doubt, was probably derived from
English Rugby football. Rugby is very much like American football to look at you know,
'ducking low' et al.

Hope this helps a bit to put things
into simpler perspective! Good luck

Explain "Beware the Ides if March" in Julius Caesar and what it could mean today.

In the Roman Empire, the Ides of March would have been the
common way to identify the fifteenth day of the month, with no particular significance
attached to the date.  The fifteenth day of the month continued to be known as the
"ides" of that month after the fall of the Romans.

In
Julius Ceasar, Ceasar is warned that there may be problems or
threats to his safety in his future, with the prediction that they may come to pass
sometime on or before "the ides of March."

The only real
significance of the phrase today might be as a general comment that a deadline on or
near March 15 is approaching.

In "Rules of the Game," how does Waverly start playing chess?

In "Rules of the Game," Waverly begins playing chess when
she agrees to let her brothers use her Lifesaver candies as replacements for the missing
chess pieces in their chess set.  The children have received gifts from an annual
Christmas party, and the chess set that Waverly's brother receives has missing pieces. 
Their mother instructs them to discard the game, but Waverly's two brothers refuse to
give up the chess set, and they instead read the rules and learn how to play.   Waverly
wants to be included; however, her brothers do not want her to play.  She uses the
Lifesavers (her gift from the Christmas party) as a bribe to be let into the game. 
Afterwards, she learns the rules of the game and goes on to continue playing
chess.

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, what happens between Pap getting drunk and the judge inviting him to dinner?

I think your question is slightly confused. Pap actually
spends most of his time in the story drunk or otherwise under the influence of alcohol,
apart from the time when he apparently is reformed by the well-meaning but incredibly
naive Judge who tries to correct his alcoholism. It is Chapter Five that these events
occur, and you might want to re-read it to remember what happens
precisely.

What happens between Pap's first drunken scene
in the novel and the new judge's attempts to reform him is that "the judge and the
widow" try to legaly remove Huck from pap by going to the court. They ask for one of
them to be his guardian. Note the new judge's response to this
plea:

...but
it was a new judge that had just come, and he didn't know the old man; so he said courts
mustn't interfere and separate families if they could help it; said he'd druther not
take a child away from its
father.

Thus Judge Thatcher
is foiled in his attempts to save Huck, much to the delight of Pap, who sees this as a
personal victory and forces Huck to get some more money for him which he spends on
getting drunk.

Why were President Ford & Carter considered ineffective leaders? Is the criticism valid/invalid?

I think the statements is more justified with President
Carter than with Ford.  Jimmy Carter was an exceptional diplomat and negotiator, with
the Camp David Accords and nuclear disarmament as real and lasting achievements during
his administration.  Most Presidents get blamed for the economy during their term, and
it usually isn't their fault, but Carter was a little timid on dealing with inflation
and job creation.  He was a micromanager, handling things that the President shouldn't
handle, like assigning parking spots at the White House, and some say he waited far too
long to act in the Iranian Hostage Crisis.

Ford on the
other hand never ran for President. He was handed a shattered Oval Office by disgraced
outgoing President Richard Nixon.  As a member of the same party as Nixon, it was
difficult for him to fix the damage.  He pardoned Nixon, perhaps for a valid reason - to
protect the Office of President and not Nixon himself - but it sure looked bad to the
public who wanted him held accountable.  As if that wasn't enough, Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia fell in one month in 1975, and our long national tragedy in Vietnam appeared
pointless, and Ford impotent to do anything about it.  In this case, I feel he was more
a victim of circumstance than lack of talent.

Give a brief, clear concept of what "Politics and the English Language" written by George Orwell is about.

In a brief summary, George Orwell's objective in " title="Politics and the English Language. George Orwell. www.orwell.ru"
href="http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit">Politics in the
English Language" is twofold. First, he intends to illustrate and prove that
the academic and political English language of his day was "in a bad way." His
contention is that meaning was being either intentionally or inadvertently obscured. In
the case of politics, the obscuring of meaning was intentional. In academia, it was
seemingly inadvertent.

One of his central points of
persuasion to gain credibility for his argument is that cause produces effects that
themselves also become cause of similar effects. This is relevant to a discussion of
language because of the theory that language is beyond control and that things just
happen to language along the way.

Orwell's major concern,
as reflected by his title, is how this obscuring of meaning is used in political
situations. A precise example of his concern and point regarding what he describes as
"The inflated style [that] itself is a kind of euphemism" is as
follows:

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Orwell: Consider
for instance some comfortable English professor defending Russian totalitarianism. He
cannot say outright, ‘I believe in killing off your opponents when you can get good
results by doing so’. Probably, therefore, he will say something like
this:
"While freely conceding that the Soviet regime exhibits certain features
which the humanitarian may be inclined to deplore, we must, I think, agree that a
certain curtailment of the right to political opposition is an unavoidable concomitant
of transitional periods, and that the rigors which the Russian people have been called
upon to undergo have been amply justified in the sphere of concrete
achievement."

Orwell offers
concrete steps for avoiding inflated stylistic euphemisms. The first and most important
is to visualize your meaning until you have it clearly in your mind and then select
words that best describe what you visualize. He gives a list of rules to use to help
steer away from the vague and euphemistic toward the specific and concrete, which is a
path illustrated by his paraphrase that
follows:

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Orwell: Here is a well-known verse
from Ecclesiastes:
I returned and saw
under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither
yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of
skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Orwell: Here
it is in modern English:
Objective considerations of
contemporary phenomena compel the conclusion that success or failure in competitive
activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a
considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into
account.

Orwell's rules for
clarity are:

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1.  Never use a metaphor, simile, or other
figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long
word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always
cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the
active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if
you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules
sooner than say anything outright
barbarous.

What is the basic theme of the poem "The Second Coming"?

Your original question asked a number of questions. Enotes
only allows you to ask one question at a time, so please do not ask multiple questions
in future.

Key to understanding this poem is the way that
the poet uses irony to challenge our expectations. The title, "The Second Coming," leads
us to believe that this poem concerns the traditional belief of the Second Coming of
Jesus, a time of peace and justice for all humanity. However, the second coming of this
poem will, by contrast, be associated with a new era of warfare of savagery,
characterised in the following lines:

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Things fall apart; the centre cannot
hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the
world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and
everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is
drowned.

The poem ends with
an ominously ironic tone as the "rocking cradle" at Bethlehem in which Jesus the baby
was born is placed next to the arrival of a "rough beast" that seems to symbolise the
advent of the grim epoch that humanity will face in the
future.

Thus the poem points towards a horrendous future.
It is important to remember that this poem was written in the aftermath of World War I,
which was a historical event that shocked so many people. Thematically therefore, Yeats
uses this poem to express his distrust in the comforting belief of the Second Coming.
For Yeats, looking at history only reveals how, more and more, "the ceremony of
innocence is drowned" and mankind is characterised by darkness, warfare and violence, as
in the First World War. Looking ahead, Yeats sees no light at the end of the tunnel, but
an ever more marked collapse of society.

use either product, quotient or chain rule to calcuate d/dx squareroot of 2x+ (3x +4x^2)^3 

Given the function:

f(x)=
sqrt(2x) + (3x+4x^2)^3

We need to find d/dx or
f'(x).

We will use the chair rule to find the
derivative.

f'(x) = [sqrt(2x)]' +
[(3x+4x^2)^3]'

We know that sqrt2x= (2x)^1/2 = sqrt2 *
(x^1/2)

==> (2x^1/2)' = sqrt2 * (1/2)*x^-1/2 =
sqrt2/ 2sqrtx

Now we will differentiate between
brackets.

==> Let u=
3x+4x^2

==> du = 3+ 8x
d

==> f'(x) = sqrt2/2sqrtx +
(u^3)'

                = sqrt2/2sqrtx+ 3u^2
du

Now we will
substitute:

==> f'(x) = sqrt2/2sqrtx + 3(3x+4x^2)^2
* (3+8x)

               = 1/sqrt2x +
(9+24x)(3x+4x^2)^2

==> d/dx = 1/sqrt2x
+ (9+24x)(3x+4x^2)^2

Persuasive essay help in Romeo and Juliet?Need help writing a persuasive essay on the following topic: Prince Escalus should have ended the feud...

Regarding Shakespeare's Romeo and
Juliet, and Escalus' responsibilities, if I were to write a persuasive essay
on this topic, I think that I would discuss the sense that this has been going on a long
time—much too long for a Prince not to do something
constructive.

Escalus should have done something sooner
because the feud has been going on for so long that no one even knows what the original
fight was about—and still Escalus done nothing.

I would
include comments from the beginning (Act I, scene i) that show how pervasive the hatred
is, which must be obvious even to Escalus: it's not just that the
families are fighting, but it has reached down to the servants who are willing to kill
each other for the sake of the family. (I don't think I could be paid enough money in
any job to put my life in jeopardy for the sake of my boss and his personal problems:
this simply shows the obsessive trend that has permeated all levels of their
society.)

Another situation that points to how out of
control the situation is can be seen (in Act III, scene i) when Tybalt kills Romeo's
friend, Mercutio. Being related to the Escalus himself, I would have thought this would
have been the last straw for the Prince. Just because Mercutio is a friend to a Montague
does not constitute reason for his death at Tybalt's hand. And even though Tybalt is
after Romeo for disrespecting the Capulets by attending their party, he reaches
past Romeo to kill Mercutio—other than emotionally hurting Romeo,
it would make no sense, except that Tybalt is a hot-head. And in doing this, Tybalt has
lashed out at Escalus, not just Romeo. This should have been the wake-up call Escalus
needed.

In essence, when looking for blame, is it not
possible to find Escalus at fault? If he, as their ruler, is interested in protecting
his people as a father would protect his children, shouldn't he have taken steps prior
to Romeo's banishment, rather than waiting for tragedy to take place? Based on the depth
of this problem within the society, it was inevitable that something truly tragic would
ultimately take place. Escalus should have been more concerned and more
forward-thinking.

How does the novella's conclusion complete Steinbeck's moral arguments?The Pearl by John Steinbeck

In the novella, The Pearl by John
Steinbeck, the moral arguments that wealth does not buy happiness, and there are no
quick fixes to one's problems are, indeed, completed in the
conclusion.

While the Pearl of the World provides the
opportunity for Kino, the Indian pearl diver, to obtain the assistance of a doctor for
his little son who has been bitten by a scorpion, it causes him much
consternation. For, Kino is attacked by prowlers and kills one, his house set abaze, and
he fights with his wife who wants him to throw the pearl back into the ocean.  Kino
tells her, "The pearl is my soul."  When Juan Thomas tells him to sell the pearl, Kino
replies that if he sells it, he will lose his soul.  During their attempt to leave the
village, they are followed and the boy, Coyotito is shot by an attacker. This accident
causes Kino and his wife, who were "one thing and one purpose" to now be divided
and become "removed from human experience."

When Kino
stands at the water's edge and looks at the pearl, it now appears grey and ugly "like a
malignant growth."

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And Kino heard the music of the pearl, distorted
and insane....[he] drew back his arm and flung the pearl...And the music of the pearl
drifted to a whisper and
disappeared.

Like Kino and
his wife, Juana, the pearl is tarnished, and it has no music.  Without their child, Kino
and Juana have no music, no happiness.  They have put too much value on the
pearl.

How would you characterize the philosophies of life at which Adah, Leah, and Rachel arrive in The Poisonwood Bible?

Barbara Kingsolver weaves the theme of each girls'
different approaches to life all throughout the novel.  She leaves a trail of symbolic
references.  Take for example Rachel's reaction to the ant infestation; she says
she

"stuck my
elbows very hard into the ribs of the people who were crushing in around me, and kind of
wedged myself in...instead of getting trampled I simply floated like a stick in a river,
carried along by everyone else's
power."

This is indicative of
her entire approach to life--don't ruffle feathers, let everyone else do the work, and
take the easiest, most convenient route to comfort and prosperity.  Later, she describes
herself as "the Fourth of July," to reflect her rather sparkly, noisy personality. 
Earlier, in listing all of the girls, Kingsolver uses the phrase "carry us" to describe
Rachel; she lets Axelroot and a series of other marriages and circumstances carry her
about and determine her destiny, just as she did with the ant situation.  She is also
the "lock" of lock stock and barrel, because she locks on a way out, and takes it.  It's
just easier that way.

For Leah, she is described as "marry
us," to symbolize how she takes Africa into her heart, and essentially, marries Africa
and its causes, making them forever her own.  She is also described as "day," because
she is straightforward, bright, and proactive in her approach to life.  Later, she is
described as the "barrel" of "lock, stock and barrel," beause she "barrels forward,
setting everything straight."  She is aggressive, takes on other people's problems, and
fights to fix them.  She is a bright force for positive change, and takes it all on
herself.

Adah is an interesting one; she is "night,"
because of her dark cynicism and inward thoughts.  She is a bit cryptic and depressing,
and plays the role of cynical judge for everyone else's behavior.  As she says of
herself, she has great flavor because she is "spiced with the flavors of vice," or bad
thoughts.  She is the "stock" in lock, stock and barrel, because she "quietly takes
stock" of every situation and analyzes it.  She also is ferried out of Africa, helped
out, and eventually comes into her own.  She is a deep thinker, an analyzer, and
approaches life slowly and with forethought.

I hope that
those thoughts helped; good luck!