What is the limit of the function (sin2x-sin6x)/4x, x-->0?

First, we'll verify if we'll have an indetermination by
substituting x by the value of the accumulation
point.

lim (sin2x-sin6x)/x = (0 - 0)/0 =
0/0

Since we've get an indetermination, we'll apply
l'Hospital rule:

lim (sin2x-sin6x)/4x = lim
(sin2x-sin6x)'/(4x)'

 lim (sin2x-sin6x)'/4(x)' = lim (2cos
2x- 6cos 6x)/4

We'll substitute x by accumulation
point:

lim (2cos 2x- 6cos 6x)/4 = (2cos 2*0- 6cos
6*0)/4

lim (2cos 2x- 6cos 6x)/4 = (2*1 -
6*1)/4

lim (2cos 2x- 6cos 6x)/4 =
-4/4

For x->0, lim (sin2x-sin6x)/4x =
-1

What point of view is employed in the novel the Great Gatsby?1st person 2nd 3rd,t

I'll add a few things as well, concerning narration in
The Great Gatsby. 

First, almost all
fiction is told in the past tense.  Very little fiction uses present tense and tries to
make readers pretend that the story is occurring simultaneously with their reading of
it.  It just doesn't work well.

Telling a story in the past
tense, after the events have occurred, doesn't make for a story told in flashback. It
makes for a story told in past tense.  Nick's narration is no different from most other
fiction in this respect.  He openly talks about the fact that he is writing about the
events after they've occurred, but that doesn't make the story
flashback.

A flashback reveals occurrences previous to the
present in the novel.  When Nick describes Gatsby's pursuit of Daisy five years before
the novel opens, he is using flashback.  The entire novel is not flashback,
however.

To add to what you know about the first-person
point of view, Nick is an unreliable narrator.  That is always a possibility with any
narrator, but especially with a first-person
narrator. 

Nick makes a point to inform the reader at the
beginning of the novel that he is objective and doesn't judge people.  He uses an
anecdote to explain to the reader that his father taught him to not judge people,
because others didn't necessarily have all the advantages that he had.  Nick emphasizes
that he always tries not to judge people.

Of course, this
shows that he often judges people.  You don't have to excuse people for their
backgrounds if you don't judge them negatively to begin with.  And you don't have to
concentrate on not judging people, if you don't judge
people.

And Nick often judges people.  He condemns Tom
immediately, the first time he describes him, going back to his days at Yale with him. 
He also judges Jordan when they first meet.  He makes value judgments throughout the
novel.   

What are the Renaissance and anti-Petrarchan elements in Shakespeare's Sonnet 18?

During the Renaissance, English poets adapted the
Petrarchan sonnet, originated by Italian poet Petrarch, to suit English tastes,
language, and ideas. There were several changes from the original Petrarchan model in
structure and in expression of ideas. href="http://www.petrarch.net/">Petrarch, or Francesco Petrarca, lived from
1304 to 1374. English poets
Wyatt and the Earl of Surry developed the Renaissance English sonnet in the early 1500s,
roughly two hundred years later. Spenser modified Surry’s sonnet form and his form was
in turn modified by poets like Drayton who perfected the English form later made famous
by Shakespeare.

Petrarch
developed his form to express two contrastive ideas that end by revealing the tension
between them or submitting to a resolution of the tension. For example, in Petrarch's
sonnet that begins, "She ruled in beauty o'er this heart of mine," Petrarch contrasts
the qualities of his deceased beloved at her death (“blessings must resign”) to his
suffering ("crushed with care") and the philosophical realization of what death is:
“Assuredly but dust and shade we are, ….”

The
English sonnet added a broader base for contrast so that
English sonnets often progress through three distinct contrastive stages that end in a
final ephiphanic resolution. For example, in Shakespeare's Sonnet
18, the speaker answers his question for 8 lines in the negative saying
why he will not compare his love "to a summer's day." In lines 5 through 8, a minor
contrast turns from a discussion of nature to a metaphorical philosophical consideration
of the cause of fading beauty: "By chance or nature's changing course
untrimm'd."

At line 9, Shakespeare brings in the major
contrast element by turning to consideration of the metaphorical beauty of the "summer's
day" of his beloved. He calls her beauty "thy eternal summer" and says it "shall not
fade." This leads to the turn to the contrasting epiphanic resolution in the couplet
that states his beloved shall live eternally, "So long as men can breathe or eyes can
see," in the sonnet he writes in praise.

While
Petrarchan sonnets have one major contrastive element with
a resolution to the contrastive tension, English sonnets
may have two, with a contrastive resolution, often in the form of an epiphany. This
change developed out of the change to href="http://www.sonnets.org/basicforms.htm">Petrarch's
structure. Petrarch wrote sonnets of an octave (or octet)
followed by a sestet [8 lines followed by 6 lines]. The turn to the contrasting
comparison comes at line 9; the turn is called the
volta. The fixed rhyme scheme of the
octave is a b b a a b b a. It was
followed by a rhyme schemes in the sestet which may be any of
these:
c d c d c
d
c d d c d
c
c d e c d
e
c d e c e
d
c d c e d
c
These rhyme schemes created a tight formal and
ideological structure with the resolution lines being an integrated part of the
sestet.

The href="http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5791">English sonnet
structure changed to three quatrains with rhyming pairs in each:
abab cdcd efef. The quatrains are
followed by a couplet: gg. The couplet
separates the resolution from the quatrains thus facilitating the epiphanic resolution.
The three sets of rhyming pairs separate the three quatrains from each other so the
English sonnet may have two voltas,
turns in contrastive thought, at lines 5 and 9.

How does the images of vision and blindness relate to the theme of the Oedipus Rex?

I think that this becomes the most important element of
the drama.  Oedipus, with sight, wanted to know the truth, to "see" it all and commanded
everyone, including Chorus members, to disclose what they know.  In many respects, this
desire to see caused his blindness.  When he is confronted with the results of his
demands, it becomes too much and he blinds himself.  The act of blinding himself causes
him to "see" more than he was able to with eyesight.  Through his blindness, he is able
to see that his children (actually his siblings) will suffer more in their lives because
of actions that are not theirs.  He also sees that their lives' difficulty has to prompt
pity from the citizens of Thebes.  More importantly, Oedipus sees his own reality, not
as a king, but as a human being.  His desire to be exiled and live a humble life, in
constant pain and seeking to minimize it, is an element that he sees only after his
blindness.  It is through this action of becoming blind is Oedipus able to understand
that humility that is intrinsic in being human, something he was unable to see with
physical sight.

In The House on Mango Street, why does Geraldo have no last name?From the information Cisneros provides, do you believe that his death was...

In The House on Mango Street,
Esperanza describes a guy whom Marin meets one night at a party.  Marin does
not have a chance to get to know him; all she knows is that his name is Geraldo.  Later
that night, he is in a car accident and rushed to the hospital.  Marin goes with him,
but she cannot tell the doctors any details about him.  On the literal level of the
story, Geraldo does not have a last name because he only has a brief relationship with
Marin at a local dance.  However, on a figurative level, Geraldo is symbolic of many
young men who leave their home countries to find better lives in America.  Near the end
of the vignette, there are references to men working any job they can get, living
frugally, and sending money home to family.  This is the reality for many people, and
Geraldo is representative of this population.  He, like many others, tries to find some
dreams in the Mango Street area, but loses his dreams to harsh
reality.

Where does Wang Lung decide to move his family in The Good Earth?

In The Good Earth, Wang Lung does
decide to move his family south when a drought takes over the land, but this happens
earlier in the novel.  In Chapter 29, Wang Lung and his family have already returned to
their land, and they have met prosperous harvests over the years.  Wang Lung has taken
Lotus as his second wife, and his sons are older--the eldest married and his wife is
soon expecting a child.  Wang Lung buys the House of Hwang and decides to move his
family from the farm to the courts at the big house.  The women continually fight, and
Wang Lung wants peace, so he figures that moving them to separate courts in the House
will be a good decision. 

What are five incidents within the plot of Hamlet that help to define Hamlet's character?

First of all, there is the ever-important death of his
father, and his mother's marriage to his uncle only weeks afterwards.  That event sends
Hamlet into a downward spiral of rage and depression, causing him to mope about the
castle, break up with his girlfriend, reject his friends, and want to kill himself,
essentially.  Those events are the foundational groundstone for all else in the play;
they help to define him as a deeply emotional and disturbed young
man.

Then, we have the fact that he sees his father's ghost
and is told by said ghost that he was murdered by the hated uncle and to top it all of,
he wants Hamlet to enact revenge. That shakes Hamlet's world, first of all by revealing
that his uncle is a conniving murderer and manipulator of women, and secondly, by giving
him command to commit murder himself.  He spends the rest of the play mulling over this
task of revenge, and trying to decide how, when or even if to do it.  The entire play is
centered around Hamlet's moral quandary and hesitation to act out that revenge; this
incident defines him as a contemplative, hesitant and thoughtful person who is tentative
about killing someone.

The next significant event is the
play that he stages, in which it becomes quite clear that his uncle is guilty of
murder.  This event defines Hamlet in a couple ways.  First of all, it defines him as
clever; he was pretty smart to set up that play.  Secondly, it shows that he wants to be
totally sure that the man is guilty before taking his life.  This defines Hamlet as a
moral, conscience-driven person who has set boundaries and rules of
conduct.

Another event that defines Hamlet is his refusal
to kill Claudius while he is praying.  This shows that Hamlet is a very religious person
who has the fear of God in him, and that he truly believes in Hell, and wants to ensure
Claudius goes there.  It also defines him in a negative way as it highlights his
cowardice; he is assured of his uncle's guilt and has the perfect opportunity to kill
him, but doesn't.  He's kind-of a chicken.

I think one
significant even that often gets overlooked is his reaction to seeing the dead Ophelia
being lowered into her grave.  In a moment of true candor, he jumps into the grave and
declares that he loved her with all his  heart, more than any brother could have loved
her.  This is incredibly defining, because it shows that when he was rude to Ophelia
before, it was all a show, a farce, and that he wasn't being sincere.  It also shows him
revealing a bit of sadness and remorse over the fact that his actions might have harmed
someone else.  We see him exposed, vulnerable, and for once, not putting on a show for
someone else's benefit.  It defines him as a deeply feeling
individual.

I hope that those give you a couple ideas; good
luck!

Can Caroline Bingley and Elizabeth Bennet (in Pride and Prejudice) be compared?

The characters of Caroline Bingley and Elizabeth Bennet in
the novella Pride and Prejudice are hard to compare and easier to
contrast.

Caroline Bingley is unmarried and rich, but does
not have any aristocratic background. For this reason, she is very subservient to Mr.
Darcy and basically woos him to get his attention. She seems to be unsure of herself,
which is manifested in the way that she tries not to speak her mind too much, and is
agreeable to everything that Darcy says and does. Her ultimate goal is to become the
future Mr. Darcy. She clearly sees that Elizabeth is her competition and, for this
reason, she talks about her negatively.

Elizabeth was also
unmarried. She was not rich, nor did she have a dowry  substantial enough to propose
herself as a potential wife to a man as rich as Darcy. She was not an aristocrat either.
Yet, in contrast to Caroline, Elizabeth did not care at all about rank, position, nor
money. All she wanted was to truly love someone. She was an independent thinker, spoke
her mind, and did not make distinctions when it was time to say what needed to be
said.

If the two women were to be compared, the only things
that they had in common were that they were both of a "marriageable" age, that they were
not aristocrats, and that they got along well with Jane (until Caroline betrayed her).
Other than that, the women contrast almost completely.

Compare the two female protagonists in A Rose For Emily by William Faulkner (Emily), and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (the wife)?

Faulkner describes Emily Grierson as a fallen monument
when dead, and a  tradition, a duty, and a care or hereditary responsibility for the
town when she was alive. Emily represents the old gentile ladies of a South that no
longer exists. She had been soft and kind and demure, all reasons why her father's
absolute control over her life made sense.Emily is considered eccentric at
best.

Gilman's narrator/wife claims herself to be ordinary
(financially) and emotionally or physically sick. Her husband does not agree with
her.

Both women are emotionally unstable. Emily is driven
to lunacy by a controlling father and father-figures. Gilman's narrator is driven to
lunacy by a controlling husband and other prominent figures in her life such as doctors.
Both women represent a lack of female autonomy in respectable society and the sciences.
Neither woman is allowed to make decisions for herself or her well-being, and both are
driven mad by the very people and situations that control them under the guise that it
will keep them sane and respectable.

In Othello, what happens during the meeting between Roderigo and Iago at the end of Act I Scene i?

Having confessed and explained his hatred of Othello to
Roderigo, Iago secured the help of Roderigo in his first stratagem against Othello. They
go to the house of Brabantio where they awake the household with the news that
Desdemona, Brabantio's beautiful daughter, has eloped with Othello. Having roused the
household successfully, Iago decides to leave Roderigo before he has to face Othello,
saying that although he desires to hurt and damage Othello, he is too popular at the
moment to oppose openly:

readability="12">

Though I do hate him as I do
hell-pains,

Yet for necessity of present
life

I must show out a flag and sign of
love

Which is indeed but a
sign.

Having employed
Roderigo to his dirty work for him, Iago therefore goes to be with Othello so he can
appear innocent of the attack that he has unleashed on his
master.

How was September 11th a TERRORIST attack?

For the reasons stated above, to be sure.  I would add
that the method of attack, using hijacked planes full of involuntary victims as a
suicide bomb, was designed to be high profile and to spread
terror.

Hitting the World Trade Center was intentional, in
that it panicked our financial markets and was instrumental in causing a recession.  In
other words, the fear they caused with these attacks hurt our economy, exactly as
planned.

Al-Qaeda was not sponsored by any nation state,
they were acting as an independent group with unconventional methods of
fighting.

The attacks were designed to topple the WTC
buildings (bin Laden is a civil engineer by training), and timed separately, so that one
strike would look like a horrible accident, and the second strike would instantly spread
the terrible knowledge that we were under attack.

In Anne Bradstreet's poem, "To My Dear and Loving Husband," what are some poetic elements that show she does not love him?

This question is perplexing! Unless you consider the
entire poem to be an expression of verbal irony (hardly Bradstreet's style), its content
and employment of various poetic elements create a strong and unified expression of
Bradstreet's deep and lasting love for her husband. The first couplet establishes the
tone and theme of the poem:

readability="9">

If ever two were one, then surely
we.

If ever man were loved by wife, then
thee.

In the context of
Bradstreet's strong Christian faith, her allusion to two people being one reflects her
belief in marriage being a spiritual union. Thus she presents herself as a woman who
loves her husband and is joined with him in the most profound way. Throughout the
remainder of the poem, she expresses the depth and passion of her love, celebrates it,
and prays that her husband will be rewarded by heaven for his devotion to her, since
there is no way she can repay him.

The only word in the
poem that invites any conflict in interpretation is found in the final
couplet:

Then
while we live, in love let's so persevere

That when we live
no more, we may live ever.

If
the word "persevere" is interpreted in terms of enduring to complete a difficult task or
journey, then it might be argued that she sees their "love" as only a matter of
Christian obligation to be honored so that they have eternal life after death. Nothing
in the poem, however, supports such an interpretation. It is more consistent within the
context of the poem that "persevere" is chosen simply to mean "to continue strongly."
Her hope, in these final lines, seems to be that she and her husband will love each
other so deeply that they will not be parted, even after death.

What concerns does the narrator have regarding Bartleby in the story "Bartleby the Scrivener"?

Carl Jung, famous psychiatrist and long-time associate of
Sigmund Freud, coined the terms “introvert” and “extravert” which quickly became part of
all modern languages. Possibly the best example of an introvert in all literature is
Herman Melville’s Bartleby, who works as a scrivener, a
law-clerk whose chief duty is to make exact copies of important documents in the days
before the unrelenting Industrial Revolution destroyed many dreary but formerly secure
office jobs by producing photocopy machines, word processors, scanners, and fax
machines. Melville’s short story “Bartleby the Scrivener” has received considerable
attention from critics searching for its “meaning.” But
Melville, like Moliere in “The Misanthrope,” may only have
meant to call attention to the fact that such people as extreme introverts exist, not
only in convents and monasteries, but in law offices and everywhere
else.

Bartleby’s job is ideal
for a man of his introverted personality type. The work can not only be done in complete
isolation but actually requires solitude because of its exacting nature. Interruptions
or distractions could cause the scrivener to make mistakes, which would not only
jeopardize the accuracy of the document but even jeopardize the outcome of a legal case,
since lawyers characteristically seek flaws in their opponents’ evidence and can make
much out of a punctuation mark. Melville’s intention may be
deduced from the interest readers have shown in this particular story.
We are interested in Bartleby as a character because we
recognize him as an example of introverts we have personally known, perhaps even as a
caricature of ourselves.

Perhaps what we like about
Bartleby is that he refuses to pretend to be anything other
than what he is. He is a sort of introvert-hero, and we other introverts only wish we
had his courage. The narrator of Melville’s story is a
quintessential extravert, created, no doubt, to serve as a foil to his
employee.

Bartleby
is an introvert who, unlike most introverts, is true to himself. He refuses to pretend
to be like his employer or his three co-workers, who are all—let’s face it—fools. They
all react violently to Bartleby because he is a silent
reproach to them. He makes them aware of their pettiness, and of their mortality,
although he probably hasn’t the slightest desire to do anything of the
kind.

Melville’s story shows
how extraversion is so important in America and how introverts are often disliked and
feared. Bartleby differs from most introverts in that he
cannot and will not change or even pretend to change. It is the narrator who undergoes
the change. The poor narrator almost seems like Coleridge’s ancient mariner who has to
keep on repeating his story because he feels it is so essential to get every detail
right, hoping perhaps that someone else will understand it and then explain it to
him.

In The Kite Runner, what is the significance of the statement "For you, a thousand times over"?

There is also a class and ethic dynamic in The
Kite Runner that I believe is reflected in the use of this statement, first
by Hassan to Amir and then later by Amir to Sohrab.  Amir and Hassan are not from the
same class or ethnic group, and this difference is central to the plot and themes.
 

Amir is a Pashtun, and Hassan is a Hazara.  The Pashtuns
are the ruling class in Afghanistan, and it is clear that the Hazaras are a lower class
and ethic group, historically treated quite poorly, and also shown as treated quite
poorly in the setting of the novel. Hassan and his father Ali are servants in the
household of Baba and Amir, and while Amir and Hassan are raised together, there is a
clear line in Amir's mind of their differences.  Amir
notes,

But in
none of his stories did Baba ever refer to Ali as his friend. ... I never thought of
Hassan and me as friends either
(25).

Amir looks down upon
Hassan, and the relationship is such that Hassan saying "For you, a thousand times over"
is really what Amir expects from Hassan, because he perceives him to be an inferior
servant.  He really does not see that Hassan is a true friend and is saying this out of
love, not out of duty as a servant.  

On his long journey
of learning and repentance, as Amir finds himself and his father looked down upon in the
new land, the shoe is on the other foot. They are subject to small, daily humiliations
in the United States, for example, Baba's humiliation at collecting any kind of benefits
and Amir's concern about not being quite good enough to wed Soraya, whose father is a
general. Amir begins to understand what it feels like to be regarded as inferior.  By
the time he rescues Sohrab and says to him, "For you, a thousand times over," this is
meant to represent not only his repentance for what he had done to Sohrab's father, but
also his understanding that we must all be servants to one another and that class and
ethnicity should play no part in our willingness to do so. He is saying this out of love
and friendship, as Hassan had said it to him. 

So, while
there is no question that the use of this declaration represents Amir's repentance for
all he has done wrong to Hassan (and Ali), I do think that the class and ethnic tension
are part of the meaning behind its use, too.

In Lord of The Flies, what does The Lord of the Flies symbolize literally and figuratively?

William Golding uses the book's title- Lord of
the Flies- symbolically and gives the reader an immediate unpleasant
sensation at the thought of flies. Initially it seems a strange title for a novel about
a group of schoolboys who are stranded on an island without any adult supervision and
adds that sense of apprehension as the story proceeds. There are various symbols
including the "pig's head on a stick" (ch 8) as Simon recognizes it to be and the
symbols collectively allow the boys to represent a microcosm of society as they struggle
with their realization that they do need to do the right and the best thing, but as
children they also have a childish need to have fun and act
impulsively. 

The conch shell represents the closest thing
to democracy and is used to call the boys to order, have meetings, make decisions and
hear anyone who needs to speak. It gives Ralph confidence as leader and as its power
diminishes so too does Ralph's confidence in himself as leader. Piggy's glasses add to
the boys' perception of good decision making as they are used to start the fire and,
when they are misused by Jack, not only Piggy but the whole group is affected. The
signal fire is the boys' hope for rescue and a reason to keep trying to survive because
as Jack ironically states in chapter 2, "we're not
savages." 

The Lord of the Flies itself then is a sharp
contrast to all the boys' best efforts and defies everything childlike, innocent and
good. Literally, it is the head of the pig which Jack killed so that they can have a
feast and invite everyone to it.  Symbolically for Jack, it proves his ability to
embrace his compulsive side and gain some measure of control. It effectively gives him
permission to behave erratically, irresponsibly and brutally. On Jack's instructions the
boys sharpen a stick and he impales the head on the stick and leaves the head as a gift
for the personified beast which the boys are convinced that they have
seen.

For Simon, the Lord of the Flies is the image which
he encounters and discredits. Simon is not easily fooled and the pig's head is
threatened by Simon's attempts to warn the others about the beast. It reminds Simon that
the island is for fun and that he cannot stop the fun. It is clear that the Lord of the
Flies version of "fun" is not at all childlike and is violent, vindictive and
merciless. 

In a Tale of Two Cities, how do Darnay + Stryver speak of their desire to Lucie, and who seems more likely to marry Lucie?A Tale of Two Cities by...

In Book the Second, Chapter 10 of A Tale of
Two Cities, Charles Darnay displays a certain
obsequiousness toward Dr. Manette.  Having established himself in England as a teacher
of the French language, Darnay yet expects to work hard.  So, as he approaches Dr.
Manette to ask permission to marry Lucie, Darnay is very respectful toward the old
doctor.  Having waited a year to declare his love, Darnay approaches
with acknowledgement of his and Lucie's closeness, and Manette expresses gratitude for
this show of respect.  Darnay apologizes,

readability="14">

Dear Doctor Manette, ...always seeing her and
you with this hallowed light about you, I have forborne, and forborne, as long ...and do
even now feel, that to bring my love--even mine--between you , is to touch your history
with something no quite so good as itself.  But I love her.  Heaven is my witness that I
love her!

However, when
Darnay tries to reveal his real name and explain, Manette stops him, asking Darnay not
to tell him anymore until Lucie's and his wedding day.  The poor doctor has been
disturbed by Darnay's announcements and regresses to his work table at night, cobbling
shoes.

On this same evening, in contrast to the
respectfulness of Darnay and Manette to each other, Stryver works Sydney Carton late
into the night.  He boldly announces that he intends to marry Lucie
Manette:

readability="17">

Accordingly, Mr. Stryver inaugurated the Long
Vacation with a formal proposal to take Miss Manette to Vauxhall Gardens; that failing,
to Ranelaigh; that unaccountable failing too, it behoved him to present himself in Soho,
and there declare his noble mind.

Toward Soho, therefore,
Mr. Stryver shouldered his way from the Temple...bursting in his full-blown way along
the pavement, to the jostlement of all weaker
people...

Also, in his
"shouldering way," Stryver announces to Mr. Lorry his intentions.  Distraught at the
news, Mr. Lorry tells Stryver, "you know there really is so much, too much of you!"  As
crass as ever, Stryver does not understand when Lorry asks him to postpone his asking
Lucie to marry him, but Stryver perceives himself a suitable match.  Nevertheless, Lorry
persuades Stryver to wait until he talks with Dr. Manette and Lucie.  Later that night,
Mr. Lorry confers with Stryver, telling him that they would refuse his proposal.  As
Stryver listens,

readability="6">

The necessity of being angry in a suppressed tone
had put Mr. Stryver's blood-vessels into a dangerous
state....

Mr. Stryver tells
Mr. Lorry that this news "beats everthing past, present, and to come," and he
rationalizes that this decision of Lucie to reject Stryver of King's Bar is a "vanity"
of an "empty-headed " girl; then he storms out of Tellson's Bank after requesting that
Lorry say nothing of this affair.  He vows to "put you all in the
wrong."

The sharp contrast between the suave and perceptive
Darnay and the brazen and obtuse Stryver is easily apparent.  In fact, Chapter 12 of
Book the Second offers much comic relief from a serious tale with the satiric
descriptions of Mr. Stryver. 

Verify if the equation has any solutions 2x/(x+5)-x/(x-5)=50/(25-x^2) .

First, we'll impose the constraints of existence of the
fractions. All denominators have to be different from zero, for the fractions to
exist.

x + 5 different from 0 => x different from
-5

x - 5 different from 0 => x different from
5

The solutions of the equation can have any real value,
except the values {-5 ; 5}.

We'll solve the
equation:

2x(x-5) - x(x+5) =
50

2x^2 - 10x - x^2 - 5x =
50

We'll combine like
terms:

x^2 - 15x - 50 =
0

We'll apply quadratic
formula:

x1 = [15+sqrt(225 -
200)]/2

x1 = (15 + 5)/2

x1 =
10

x2 = (15-5)/2

x2 =
5

Since x2 = 5 is an exceted value, we'll reject this
solution.

The equation will have only one
real solution: x = 10.

What you think are the key concepts in understanding biodiversity.

Biodiversity is the variation that exists within a group
and can be generalized to a population, ecosystem or the biosphere.  Biodiversity is not
consistent across the globe and it is dependent on genetic
variation.

Think of the different types of biomes that
exist (desert, tundra, tropical to name a few) and think of the types of organisms that
live in these environments.  Each environment hosts its own biodiversity and as you
expand to the entire earth the diversity increases.  The organisms best suited to live
in each environment are able to survive and reproduce; increased ecological variation
leads to increased biological diversity.  As humans continue to destroy various
environments biodiversity is lost.

Genetic variation leads
to new adaptations and creates differences within a species and creates new species. 
Genetic variation is a result of sexual reproduction.  Without sexual reproduction DNA
would not be "mixed up" and therefore would not lead to differences with in species,
natural selection and evolution which in turn would not develop a world rich in
biodiversity.

What is the difference between the success achieved by power and the success achieved by hard work?please help me in my question if u can .... i...

Success comes in many forms and from many directions.
Often it does not come easily and all the obstacles and distractions thrown in our
direction will do their best to stop us from acting on our dream and achieving the
success we want.

I find it helpful, when I'm going through
a difficult time and the obstacles look insurmountable, to read about how others have
succeeded -- in whatever way they were pursuing their dream and working to make it
real.

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Opportunity is missed by most
people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
-- Thomas
Edison

As
I find them, I'll be posting success quotes here from the famous and not so famous.
Perhaps you'll find one or more of them to be inspirational and maybe this will be a
small help in motivating yourself to act on your
dream.

When I started thinking about this page, I was
thinking of success quotes like the ones that follow this poem. But, when I ran across
this beautiful poem about success written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, I knew I had to
include it first. In just a few short phrases, he has illustrated a successful life that
isn't defined by wealth, power, and fame. Using this as a guide, any of us can change
our life and achieve the level of success we
want.

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To laugh often and much;
to win the
respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn
the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false
friends;
to appreciate beauty,
to find the best in
others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life
has breathed
easier because you have lived.
This is to have
succeeded.

Ralph Waldo
Emerson

Many
of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when
they gave up. --Thomas
Edison

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Victory belongs to the most persevering.
-- Napoleon
Bonaparte

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It is a rough road that
leads to the heights of greatness.
-- Seneca

Success
is how high you bounce when you hit bottom. -- General George
Patton

A man is not
finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits. -- Richard
Nixon

Sometimes our best
is simply not enough.... We have to do what is required. -- Sir Winston
Churchill

With particular reference to Great Expectations, discuss how Dickens uses the novel as a vehicle for social criticism.Charles Dickens's Great...

Dickens was a social critic of several aspects of his
Victorian society:

The plight of abandoned,
abused children

Great
Expectations depicts little Pip and the orphan Biddy as often mistreated.
Mrs. Joe physically and verbally abuses Pip, and Mr. Wopsle's great-aunt makes little
Biddy works in her small general shop keeping accounts of all that is sold.  In other
areas, too, Biddy acts as the
servant.

Inadequate education

Dickens perceived educational institutions
of his time as unconcerned with intellectual improvement or care, finding them instead
mere institutions where profit was to be made in the housing of children.  At Mr.
Wopsle's great-aunt's school, the woman is incompetent and the children learn virtually
nothing.  It is Biddy who teaches Pip how to read and
figure.

Alcohol
abuse

Orlick represents the dangers of
alcohol abuse as in Chapter 53,he attacks Pip who enters the old sluice-house.  There,
Orlick accuses Pip of coming between him and a woman he fancied.  Also, in drunken
ramblings, he tells Pip  of his connections to Compeyson and that he was on the stairway
the night Magwitch arrived. Vowing revenge, Orlick calls Pip his enemy.  Fortunately, as
Pip cries out when Orlick takes a swing of liquor and picks up a hammer, Herbert and
some other men rescue him.

Social snobbery

Pip's first two visits to Satis House
introduce him to the elitist attitudes of a frivolous upper class.  Passing through the
gate outside  held by Estella, Pip hears, "Why, he's a common labouring boy!" as Estella
mocks his coarse hands and boots and his vocabulary, such as calling knaves jacks when
they play cards. With irony, Dickens points to the importance of mere appearance as
Estella herself is not upperclass, but has merely been adopted by an aristocrat, and a
decaying, eccentric one at that. 

Satire in his criticism
of this aspect of Victorian society appears also, as Dickens portrays Uncle
Pumblechook's sycophancy in his efforts to advance himself socially. Farcical is Sarah
Pocket's supercilious treatment of her servant who must constantly save her children who
tumble dangerously underfoot or with scissors as their vacuous, oblivious mother sits
continuously reading from a book on social titles as though she were among the
aristocrats mentioned.  Further, within the element of farce are the thespian ventures
of Mr. Wopsle who fancies himself a Shakespearean
actor.

Hypocrisy and
selfishness

The "basest of swindlers,"
Pumblechook is the greatest hypocrite in the novel.  While using only cruel words to Pip
until Pip's social rise, in Chapter 28 Pumblechook boasts to the local newspaper of
Pip's social success, crediting himself as Pip's
"mentor."

The Pockets, "toadies and flatters," appearing
each year at Miss Havisham's birthday really just hope the eccentric will die so they
can receive inheritances.

Abuses of the legal
and penal system

The unscrupulous Mr.
Jaggers bespeaks of a corrupt justice system in which clients who cannot pay are not
served.  Often he operates outside the law, such as cautioning Pip not to say his
benefactor's name or mention anything about his being in London.  Only Wemmick who
visits Newgate Prison displays any concern. Magwitch, who as a gamin of the
streets, forced to steal to eat,victimized by unjust system, receives a graver sentence
than the evil Compeyson simply because Compeyson's appearance is that of a
gentleman.

What are some comparisons between "Bliss" and Mrs. Dalloway?

The narratives of both "Bliss" and Mrs.
Dalloway cover a day in the life of the heroine and both center on the day's
major event, that being a dinner party hosted by the heroine. In "Bliss," Bertha goes
through her day with a wonderful sense of peace and happiness. She contemplates the pear
tree in her garden and sees that its beauty symbolizes her life and her expansive
happiness. While she admires the projection of herself in her pear tree, cats run across
the yard, and Bertha views their presence as a marring
one.

In contrast, Mrs. Dalloway goes
through her day in a contemplative mood, not exactly unhappy but thoughtful. At home,
she has words with her daughter, has to mend her dress, and is surprised by the visit of
a past suitor.

After Bertha's dinner party, during which
she is filled with a wonderful sense of happiness with her life and husband, she
unhappily discovers that her husband is having an affair with the woman whom she has
just shared a special bond with--the woman named Pearl. Her first instinct is to run to
the window to look out at her pear tree, seemingly expecting to see it withered and
dead. However it looks just as it did when she shared the bond of the beauty of it with
Pearl earlier.

Similarly, Mrs. Dalloway is exceptionally
pleased with the progress of her dinner party, feeling that her hostessing of parties
such as these fills a good service in the lives of her guests. She too receives a shock
in the news of the violent and sudden self-inflicted death of a young man (ironically
one she had shared a park with earlier in the day). However, Mrs. Dalloway's party ends
with self-confirmation rather than self-deterioration because she confirms her choices
in life and reappears at her party after retreating for a moment of adjustment to the
entrance of death at her party. The narrative ends with the confirming statement: "For
there she was."

Discuss elaborately plot and subplot in Twelfth Night.

Of course, the best way for you to find out the answer to
your question is to read or see the play. There are some very good film editions
available as well which can also help. But remember that these are no subtitute to good,
rigorous textual analysis. Rather than give you a complete breakdown of the play, I am
going to talk you through one of the chief features of the play - the central confusion
of love between three characters in the main plot - which you can then go back to and
"flesh out" with your own reading.

Typically as one of
Shakespeare's comedies, this play involves mistaken identities, cross-dressing,
disguises and people falling in love with people they shouldn't fall in love with. Thus
it is that we are introduced in Act I scene i to the Duke Orsino, who is swift to
declare his undying love for Lady Olivia:

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O, when mine eyes did see Olivia
first,

Methought she purged the air of
pestilence.

That instant was I turned into a
hart,

And my desires, like fell and cruel
hounds,

E'er since pursued
me.

This situation is
immediately complicated by news of Olivia's unremitting resolution to not marry for love
of her dead brother:

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The element itself, till seven years'
heat,

Shall not behold her face at ample
view,

But like a cloistress she will veiled
walk...

So, it is clear that
Olivia does not return these feelings, as we see from her distaste of being forced to
listen to them once more from Cesario. However, this situation is further complicated in
Act I scene iv by the irony of Viola dressed as Cesario being forced to take messages of
love from her master to Olivia when she is in love with Orsino
herself!

Yet a
barful strife!

Whoe'er I woo, myself would be his
wife.

Then of course note
Olivia's response to Cesario in Act I scene v:

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Even so quickly may one catch the
plague?

Methinks I feel this youth's
perfections

With an invisible and subtle
stealth

To creep in at mine
eyes.

So, three characters,
each involved in a crazy tangled up relationship involving disguises, secret loves and
unrequited love. The real question of course is how on earth is Shakespeare going to
resolve this situation in this "comedy". Now, as you read through the play, make sure
you pay attention to how the subplot relates to the overall plot - how do characters
such as Sir Toby relate to the confusion in the main plot? What about the relationship
between Sir Toby and Maria? This will help you think through how the subplot and plot
relate in this great play.

How do the themes of To Kill a Mockingbird help Scout develop in the book?prejudice (racial and general prejudice), tolerance, courage, knowledge...

Simply put, all of the themes mentioned above help Scout
mature at an alarming rate and better understand the world around
her.

PREJUDICE.  Scout sees
the various forms of prejudice--particularly racial and social--and she comes to better
understand Atticus' advice to climb into another's skin and walk around in it before
judging people. Although she uses the "N" word early in the novel (not fully
understanding its hurtfulness), she discards it when Atticus warns her that it is
"common." Scout is actually color-blind when it comes to the races; she loves Calpurnia
and wants to return to the church and visit her home; she feels sympathy for Tom
Robinson; and she feels at home in the courtroom balcony with the rest of Tom's friends.
She is also quick to see the hypocrisy in some people, such as Miss Gates and members of
the Missionary Circle, when they talk of helping others in faraway lands while speaking
hatefully of their own African-American
neighbors.

TOLERANCE.  Scout
learns about tolerance through her own experiences--having to hold her tongue,
restraining her temper (and her fists), and understanding her place in the world of
adults. She also sees that Atticus is right about people being different, and that
everyone deserves a right to be
accepted. 

COURAGE.  Scout
learns there are various kinds of courage: Atticus standing up to public scorn by
defending Tom Robinson; Mrs. Dubose going cold turkey to rid herself of morphine
addiction before she dies; and Boo Radley risking his life to save
hers.

KNOWLEDGE.  Scout gains
valuable information from a number of people--Jem, Dill, Cal, Miss Maudie, Dolphus
Raymond and Atticus being just a few. But she also learns that those with the capability
of passing on knowledge (such as her teachers) are not always
successful.

INNOCENCE.  Scout
may not actually recognize her own loss of innocence for many years to come, but it is
obvious to the reader that the three main children in the novel deal with problems that
few children of the time should endure. She also sees that the innocent--Tom Robinson
and Boo Radley specifically--are not spared the wrath of others.

How did American colonial rule shape the Philippines' experience of World War II?

One can argue that the Philippines' experience of WWII
would have been quite different if they had not been a colony of the United States.  It
is quite possible that the war would have been much less painful for the Philippines if
they had been independent or a colony of some other country.  The reason for this is
that the fighting in the Philippines was more intense and prolonged than in any other
Asian country occupied by Japan.

Because the US had
colonized the Philippines, there were US troops there, along with the Philippine Army
which had been created by the US.  None of the other Asian colonies had such a presence,
especially not of their own army.  This meant that the fighting was much more prolonged
in the Philippines, leading to the Bataan Death March in which most of the dead were
Filipino.

Because the US had colonized the Philippines,
there was the assumption that they had to come back and fight to liberate the islands
instead of simply defeating Japan and then accepting the surrender of the Philippines
(as was done with most other occupied areas).  The fighting to liberate the Philippines
(and the way the Japanese army treated the Filipinos as it became clear they had lost)
was very intense as well.

Overall, then, one can argue that
the Philippines would not have seen so much fighting if they had not been a colony of
the US.

What does Lady Macbeth mention about the assasinations of Duncan, Macduff and Banquo in Act V Scene 4 during her sleepwalk?in Macbeth

It is actually Act V, Scene 1 when Lady Macbeth
sleepwalks. She is paranoid with fear and guilt. This has led to an increase in her
general anxiety and resulted in her sleepwalking. She mentions Banquo’s murder and
alludes to one of the prophecies of the witches that Banquo’s sons will sit on the
throne. She does not mention anything about the deaths of Macduff's
family.

She never explicitly mentions Duncan’s murder. She
alludes to it. The most significant event during her sleepwalking is washing her hands.
Her fear and guilt have led her to obsessively wash her hands in her sleep. She is
trying to erase the stain of guilt. She mentions she still has the smell of Duncan’s
blood on her hands. This is the scene when she utters the famous line, “Out damn spot!”
She can’t escape the guilt.

What do you think of Atticus's rule: "You mind Jem whenever he can make you?" What problems might it cause and what advantages does such a rule have?

"'Who
started it?' asked Atticus, in resignation.

'Jem did. He
was tryin' to tell me what to do. I don't have to mind him now, do
I?'

Atticus smiled. 'Let's leave it at this:
you mind Jem whenever he can make you. Fair enough?'"
(138).

This new declaration
of policy between Jem and Scout helps to even the playing field in a way. Jem is older
and more mature, but Atticus knows that it is difficult to obey a sibling. In this case,
Jem had taken Scout aside to reason with her about not ruffling Aunt Alexandra's
feathers. He may have persuaded Scout to mind him in this endeavor had he not said that
he would spank her the next time she behaved that way. Jem will have to "make" Scout
mind him in clever ways, not physical ones. If, however, Jem does resort to using
physical means to "make" Scout mind him, he knows that she will fight back--and there
was at least one time she was able to land a strong punch on him. Be that as it may, Jem
is still older and stronger. If he became truly upset, he could hurt Scout pretty badly
if he ever resorted to physical violence to make her
mind.

Fortunately, Atticus must trust Jem not to physically
hurt Scout, even if he does threaten it. Atticus must also know that tempers flare, but
his kids tend to get over it pretty quickly, too. In the end, this ambiguous rule leaves
the sibling relationship in the hands of the brother and sister who must now work
together more effectively if they are to get along. Fortunately, Jem never takes
advantage of his physical advantage over his sister and this rule never really has to be
addressed again.

During the 1968 Pueblo incidentAnswer Choices: A) U.S. soldiers were caught smuggling guns and butter into North Vietnam. B) Mexican Americans...

The only one of these answers that is anywhere near to
being correct is D.   The USS Pueblo was an American spy ship that was captured by the
North Korean navy.

The Pueblo was on a mission to collect
electronic intelligence about North Korea.  This is intelligence about North Korean
radar, radio transmissions, and things like that.  While the Pueblo was doing that, the
North Koreans boarded and captured it.

This was an
embarassing incident for the US.  The sailors were held by the North Koreans for almost
a year.  North Korea used them and the incident for propaganda purposes.  The US had to
apologize and promise to stop spying before North Korea returned the sailors (though the
US retracted the apology and the promise after they were
released).

solve equation for xsin^2 x=du/dx-cos^2x*dv/dx u=2x^3+3x^2 v=x^2

To solve the equation, we'll have to differentiate u and
v, with respect to x.

du/dx =
d(2x^3+3x^2)/dx

du/dx = 6x^2 +
6x

dv/dx = d(x^2)/dx

dv/dx =
2x

We'll substitute du/dx and dv/dx by their
expression.

(sin x)^2 = 6x^2 + 6x - 2x*(cos
x)^2

We'll move 2x*(cos x)^2 to the left
side.

(sin x)^2 + 2x*(cos x)^2 =
6x(x+1)

But, (cos x)^2 = 1 - (sin
x)^2

(sin x)^2 + 2x - 2x(sin x)^2 =
6x(x+1)

(sin x)^2(1 - 2x) =
2x(3x+3-1)

(sin x)^2(1 - 2x) =
2x(3x+2)

(sin x)^2 = 2x(3x+2)/(1 -
2x)

sin x = 0 for x =
0

2x(3x+2)/(1 - 2x)= 0 for x =
0

The common solution of the given equation
is x = 0.

What is Gregor's role in the family, why does he have so much responsibility, and how does this role change?

As gpane's very clear and thorough answer shows, Gregor
brings in the only income in the single-income family, supporting his mother, father and
sister.

The pressure on him suggests the family's lack of
resources and, perhaps, its lack of resourcefulness. Should we see the Samsa family as
lacking imagination or should we see them as a family that would like to shirk work?
Should we see them as a family adhering to social forms and so unwilling to entertain
the notion that anyone but the lone son should be a part of the labor
force? 

There is an implication that the family is
concerned with perceived social forms in addition to its practical
concerns. 

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"...what mainly prevented the family from moving
was their complete hopelessness and the thought that they had been struck by a
misfortune as none of their relatives and acquaintances had ever been
hit."

Gregor's disturbing
transformation is socially awkward, of course, but its greatest impact is a negative
shift in the family's financial situation. This fact is arguably the most prominent
element of the story and informs Gregor's emotional situation to a considerable
degree. 

The family's willingness to rely on Gregor - then
turn on him - suggests a willingness to also exploit him. However we characterize the
family's mentality, the fact remains that when we meet them they rely on an implied
assertion - only Gregor should work. 

The firm he works for
appears as demanding as the family. 

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"What a fate: to be condemned to work for a firm
where the slightest negligence at once gave rise to the gravest
suspicion!"

Gregor's value as
a person, it seems, is derived entirely from his willingness to submit to toil. Taken
for granted as a wage-earner and as an employee, Gregor is just a "bug" in the system,
as it were, identified with a function and not attributed any qualities of humanity.
While we may certainly want to be more sympathetic to the family in reading the story,
there is ample evidence to suggest that the commercial and social expectations of the
family lack a sense of humanity and instead focus on the
perfunctory and the superficial. 

I'm writing a research paper on romance novels and who reads them but I'm having trouble writing my statement of purpose.

Since you've put this in Social Sciences and tagged it
with "methods of social research" I assume you are writing some sort of social sciences
paper on this topic.  However, it would be helpful to tell us more about what you are
trying to accomplish with this paper.  Without that, we can only guess at what your
purpose is.

If I were trying to write a social sciences
paper about this topic, my most likely question would be about the demographic
characteristics of people who read romance novels.  I would want to know about their
sex, age, marital status, job status, and income.  I'd like to know about their
happiness levels too, but I doubt that would be available in the statistics.  My
statement of purpose (I am assuming that this is a very short statement) would be
something like:

"Romance novels are stereotypically seen as
the entertainment form of bored housewives, usually from the lower reaches of the middle
class.  In this paper, I will atttempt to determine who really reads these books.  I
will investigate the demographic characteristics, such as sex, age, marital status, job
status, and income to determine if there are characteristics common to most readers of
this genre."

if you're a guy, which member of your family should you look at to tell if you are going to go bald? why? use a punnett square. b is bald and B isn't

Male pattern baldness  has been studied and is not
completely understood, however, it is thought to be a sex-linked disorder. Since females
have two X chromosomes and males have one, a son who is XY would inherit the X from his
mother and the Y from his father. The mother passes one of her two X chromosomes to her
son. If the X she passes down came from the maternal grandfather and had linked to it a
gene for baldness,  it was thought that the son would become bald as an adult. If there
is a variant gene for the androgen receptor on the X chromosome, there is a likelihood
of male pattern baldness occurring in the male, since males only inherit one X
chromosome. However, there is an additional gene on chromosome 20 involved in baldness.
Even though in the past, one would look to the mother's father to see if he were bald or
not, both parents genetics have an effect on the son.

what is this poem about?what are 5 symbols in this poem and what are their significance?what season is referred in this poem? does it reflect...

I will help you get started on this, but it will be more
fun for you to figure out all of the symbols.

I think
that this poem is a lament for a lost love. The poem is written in the past tense, as a
memory. The speaker states that she was thinking about her love "on that day" but now,
that day is only a memory, just like the memory of her grandmother. The memory of the
love is not bitter or angry, but nostalgic, just like her memories of her
grandmother.

It is springtime, when everything is green and
new growth is appearing, but there is also rain, which is usually a symbol or metaphor
for tears, or sadness. The rain is like "long veils" - again, a veil is a symbol of
mourning, probably for things that no longer exist -- like her love and like her
grandmother.

So, now that I have explained this, look at
the second stanza. There are several things that could be symbols: green carpets,
geraniums, a trilling canary (notice, it is NOT a silent canary), the parlour (which IS
silent), rain and wind.....Can you see how these elements of nature are used in the poem
to convey different feelings towards the love and towards the
grandmother?

Good luck!

What conclusion did Stanley Milgram reach on his obedience study that he conducted?

What Stanley Milgram concluded based on his famous study
of obedience is that people will do whatever they are told as long as they believe that
whoever is telling them what to do has the right to order them.  They will obey orders
from what they think is legitimate authority even if they are ordered to do terrible
things.

Milgram reached this conclusion because of how many
of his test subjects were willing to continue to press the button even when they thought
that, by doing so, they were hurting another person.  The study found that 65% of the
subjects were willing to continue to "shock" the person at the highest possible level. 
The subjects did this even though they sometimes felt that it was
wrong.

Because of this, Milgram concluded that people in
general (or at least members of his test group) are all too likely to follow immoral
orders as long as they think the people ordering them are legitimate authority
figures.

What legends are there that say specific plants, herbs etc. protect people from vampires?Anything you know will be deeply appreciated, even if it's...

The first and most obvious answer is the history of garlic
as a means of repelling vampires. This legend traces its history to ancient Romania. The
Romanians believed that garlic possessed the ability to ward off evil spirits of all
kinds. As such, its use against vampires, seen as representative of evil, was a natural
choice. For more on that specific lore, see
http://www.garlic-cloves.com/garlic_and_vampires.html

Other
herbal remedies included Hawthorne and Rowan (Ash) and several other woods for use in
the stake that is driven through the vampire's heart:

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In many of these legends, the stake must be of
a
particular wood, such as ash, hawthorne, maple, blackthorn, buckthorn,

or aspen. The power of these woods is often claimed to lie in
Christian
symbolism. For example, ash has been cited as the wood from
which
Christ's cross was made. Plants with thorns, such as hawthorn, wild

roses, and blackthorn, are associated with the crown of thorns worn by

Christ at his crucifixion (Kuehl,
nd).

As less
successful but nonetheless used in literature method is the scattering of seeds in the
path of the vampire under the theory that he or she will become so caught up in counting
the seeds that he or she will forget about coming after the victim. This method has not
been put to all that much use, however, and it has not been effective in much vampire
literature and lore.

Although not an "herb" or plant, holy
water is another method of choice against the undead. Again, this relates to the fact
that they are evil and something good, like holy water, is toxic to
them.

In the poem "Same Song" by Pat Mora how do you interpret line 12—“not fair”? What two meanings could the word fair have here?"Same Song" by...

The word "fair" has two possible meanings as you say.  One
has to do with skin, one has to do with life as a
whole.

When we say someone has fair skin, we of course mean
that their skin is pretty white.  It is not a pejorative term like saying someone is
pale.  Instead, it is complimentary, meaning that their skin looks nice (obviously, this
is only applicable to "white" people).  The daughter is pretty critical of the way she
looks and so she could be looking at her skin and being unhappy because her skin is not
fair.

On the other hand, the word "fair" can refer to live
in general and the daughter's place in life.  She wants so badly to look some particular
way but she can't.  It's not fair, it's not right.  In this sense, then, the word "fair"
(or "not fair") is referring to her general dissatisfaction with her
looks.

How does Dr. Jekyll conclude that "man is not truly one, but truly two"?

In chapter 10 of Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the central topic of human duality is
partially discussed as Jekyll says the phrase

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“man is not truly one, but truly
two,”

At the most basic
level, what this quote means is that Jekyll agrees with his contemporary peers in the
idea that all individuals have a good and a bad side, and that each is independent from
one another.

Let's briefly mention that the duality of men
was a hot topic throughout the entire 19th century. Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde was published in 1886, which is 68 years after Mary Shelley published
Frankenstein, and 15 after Charles Darwin published the fascinating
The Descent of Man. All three of these publications are intertwined
by the essential questions: a) Who are we, really?  b) What are we supposed to be?,  c)
Are we supposed to be "this or that"? and, d) What is our life meant to
be?

As a result of the social changes, Victorian literature
often attempted to go in depth with the study of human behavior. A lot of paradigms and
constructs had been shaken from their foundation. The influence of the Industrial
Revolution, Darwin, Freud, the economy, science, and medicine, all together, caused the
19th century to literally see the world change, in a manner similar to how our modern
society witnessed the world changing after the advent of the
Internet. 

All this being said, at the time of
Jekyll and Hyde, psychology was budding into a social science, and
many ideas regarding human personality rocked the former idea that humans were entirely
static, rather than dynamic.

When Jekyll ascertains that
all individuals have the same capacity to be good and evil, at will, he is also saying
that within each of us there is a battle between an "angel and a fiend".

The problem is that Dr. Jekyll's
hypothesis is deeply flawed and does not match the statement that we are analyzing. His
idea was to get a potion that would split the "angel" and the "fiend" that inhabits the
individual so that they each act individually. The potion would take the fiend (Hyde)
out of the "angel" (Dr. Jekyll) and each would be their own person. However, we know
that Hyde had more power, and that eventually evil was gaining territory. Jekyll ended
up creating a bad version of both.

What is the current situation in Afghanistan?

America has recently "doubled down" in that country,
sending an additional surge of 35,000 troops.  Afghanistan, to be clear, is not really a
country at all, but an artificial border around a series of tribes, many of which speak
different languages and do not get along well.

The
government of Hamid Karzai, a former warlord, is corrupt and tainted, some say
hopelessly so, and it appears they just cheated in the last
election.

Economically, the country is very poor.  The per
capita income is in the range of $200 per year per worker.  The entire country has but
one interstate highway. In conditions like these, it is pretty easy for the Taliban, the
group that is fighting us for control, to find
recruits.

Osama bin Laden and some of his al-Qaeda forces
reportedly move back and forth across the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, in
the high rugged mountains where our forces cannot easily
go.

Right now the US military, led by Marines, are invading
strongholds in the southern part of the country, where the Taliban started and where it
is most popular.  The Marines, part of the surge, are currently preparing to take the
largest city in the region and the largest one still under Taliban control, Kandahar,
with nearly 500,000 people.

It is a guerrilla war, which
makes it difficult to win. Our enemy often runs away when we come close and returns as
soon as we've left.  They are using heroin sales to finance the war, so another of our
objectives is to destroy this source of income for them.

How does Minerva cause harm to others in In the Time of the Butterflies?

It is fascinating to examine how each of the four sisters
responds to the terror of the Trujillo regime. Minerva, out of all of them, is the first
to be involved in the rebel movement, thanks to her friendship with Virgilio Morales.
Part of her character is her headstrong defiance of Trujillo's regime, and the way that
she is able to face Trujillo without yielding. Note how she refuses to give in to
Trujillo's sexual advances and then how she challenges Trujillo and gambles for the
right to study law. Clearly, as it says in the text, she sets herself in opposition to
Trujillo:

I
look down at the lopsided scales as he puts his dice back. For a moment, I imagine them
evenly balanced, his will on one side, mine of the
other.

As her mother has
already noted, Minerva is determined to "fight everyone's fight," even though this
endangers the situation and lives of her family and those nearest and dearest to her.
Unfortunately, although she did not desire it, part of being a rebel is the way that
your actions endanger those around you, and thus Minerva does cause harm to others
through her rebel associations.

What are the two most important quotes regarding identity in Chapter 11 of In the Time of the Butterflies?Maria Teresa's chapter in part III....

This is a very important chapter for the development of
the character of Maria Teresa, as we see her in prison and having to face the realities
of punishment, abuse and torture. Based on this, therefore, one of the most important
quotes regarding her identity and development as a character comes at the very end of
the chapter. Having been tortured, the guards look
shame-faced:

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Then Bloody Juan gathered up my clothes, but I
wouldn't let him help me. I dressed myself and walked out to the wagon on my own two
feet.

This shows the
defiance, anger and determination of Maria Teresa. Having been tortured in front of
these men, she refuses to receive help from them, instead weakly putting on her own
clothes and walking out "on her own two feet." She has greatly changed from the young
teenager we first met.

Secondly, I would pick a journal
entry that comes towards the beginning of the chapter that talks of how Maria Teresa
faces her fears but chooses not to give into them:

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The fear is the worse part. Every time I hear
footsteps coming down the hall, or the clink of the key turning in the lock, I'm tempted
to curl up in the corner like a hurt animal, whimpering, wanting to be safe. But I know
if I do that, I'll be giving in to a low part of myself, and I'll feel even less human.
And that is what they want to do, yes, that is what they want to
do.

Again we see a massive
change in her character. She is showing her courage, fortitude and also her intelligence
in this quote. Although she recognises her fear, she refuses to give into it, because
she understands that she would be "beaten" by the political system which wants her to
yield to fear.

In the renaissance periods, how did art come into existence?

Art existed long before the Renaissance. The Renaissance
was a cultural and intellectual movement that is thought to have began in Florence,
Italy and eventually spread to all of Europe. It began in the 14th century and lasted
until the 17th century.

Art was highly appreciated during
the Renaissance. There were also many renowned artists such as Leonardo de Vinci,
Donatello and Michelangelo.

People start looking for the
"beauty" in life. The Renaissance followed such disasters as the Black Death so people
were ready for a fresh, new start. During the Black Death there was a lot of death and
famine. People wanted to start over.

What are the main themes?

Harper Lee's great Southern novel, To Kill a
Mockingbird, deals with a number of important themes. Among
them:

PREJUDICE.  There are
many examples of prejudice--racial, gender, social and age among them--in the novel.
Perhaps the single most important event is the trial of the Negro Tom Robinson, accused
of raping a white women. Attorney Atticus Finch knows beforehand that he cannot possibly
gain a jury acquittal due to the racial climate of 1935, in part because no white man
will accept the word of a black man over the word of another white man. Tom's innocence
is obvious--to everyone but the
jury.

TOLERANCE.  Not unlike
the prejudices above, the novel is filled with acts of intolerance. Boo Radley is
routinely outcast by the entire community because of his unusual nocturnal habits and
past troubles. Many of the women, particularly the single ones, are treated as
peculiar. Children are held in less regard than in the 21st century, and the social
classes are stereotyped. 

LOSS
OF INNOCENCE.  The children's
loss of innocence is another major theme, since Atticus opens the door for his children
to observe the adult world in a manner unusual in small town America in the 1930s. Other
characters, such as Boo, Tom and Dill, are also
affected.

KNOWLEDGE
VS. IGNORANCE.  Intelligent
teachers are made to look foolish, and uneducated jurors have the power of life and
death in TKAM. Maycomb is a town that is still behind the times,
and many of the people are proud of it. Their ignorance of worldly matters is obvious in
several chapters.

Why is Clarisse "crazy"?

Clarisse isn't crazy in Fahrenheit
451.  She just seems like it to the people in the novel, so that's how they
label her.

She pays attention to nature, takes walks for
fun, likes to talk and have conversations, isn't afraid to talk about love and other
feelings, and belongs to a family that sits in their backyard and
talks.

Members of her society, on the other hand, sit for
hours in front of mindless television (hmm, sounds familiar), don't have real
conversations, don't consider nature, don't walk for pleasure, and don't think for
themselves. 

Clarisse is unusual for her society.  Thus,
they label her crazy.

What is the complication of this story?

Initial plot problem is thoroughly spelled out by the
narrator. Della wants to buy her husband a special Christmas present but she has only
managed to save $1.87.

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One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next
day would be Christmas.

This
is not a complication but the initial problem. The complication arises when she decides
to sell her hair. This makes the whole situation more complicated. She has made a
radical decision, and there is no way for her to undo it even though she has serious
misgivings. She thought she looked awful without her gorgeous long
hair.

When
Della reached home her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. She got
out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by
generosity added to
love. 

She does not care so
much about herself, but she is deeply concerned about how her husband Jim will react
when he comes home and sees her.

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She had a habit for saying little silent prayers
about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered: “Please God, make him think I
am still pretty.”

She is not
only afraid that she might lose Jim's affection but that she might even lose her
husband. O. Henry hints that she might be pregnant, in which case the loss of her
husband would be a total disaster resulting from the simple desire to buy a nice
Christmas present for the man she loves. The hint that she might be pregnant and has not
yet told Jim the news is contained in the following
line.

Poor
fellow, he was only twenty-two—and to be burdened with a
family!

The word family
suggests that Jim will not only have a wife to support but a baby. Assuming this is the
case, it makes Della's problem all the more complicated. Jim's affection means
everything to her. She is not only emotionally dependent on him but financially
dependent as well. Love itself can bring a lot of complications into people's
lives.

The fact that Jim has sold the watch for which Della
bought an expensive fob by selling her hair to raise the necessary money may or may not
be considered another plot complication. Jim's sacrificing his love to buy his wife a
set of combs for her hair resolves the whole complicated problem because it proves
conclusively how much he loves her. And he tells her so in
words:

“Don't
make any mistake, Dell,” he said, “about me. I don't think there's anything in the way
of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any
less."

The sacrifices Della
and Jim have made for each other brings them even closer
together.

Explain how Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an example of medieval romance. Describe at least two different ways that this work fits.

Medieval Romances typically exhibit the following
characteristics:

-Arthurian tales which deal with the
quests and challenges of Arthur and his knights.

-Tells a
story of a single knight and a single quest.

-The story
exists within the constraints similar to a fairy-tale.

-The
story contains elements of courtly love- Courtly love is the relationship between a
knight and his lord's lady. The knight is required to love and respect the lady within
the same way which he loves and respects his lord. The love the knight holds for the
lady is fueled by his desire to please her and, therefore, to be worthy of her love
and/or to win her favor.

-Typically, the knight must face
the challenge of maintaining a balance between chivalry and
love.

Based upon these characteristics, Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight contains many of the elements to be considered a
Medieval Romance.

First, the story deals with one knight,
Sir Gawain, and a single quest. Gawain promises to meet the Green Knight one year from
their initial meeting to receive a blow from the Green Knight in exchange for the one
Gawain gave to him.

Second, the story contains elements
which includes fairy-tale like aspects. The Green Knight is mystical. The fact that he
was able to lose his head and stay alive alludes to a supernatural element seen in
typical fairy-tales.

Third, the story contains elements of
courtly love. Gawain must show both Lady Bertalik and Guinevere courtly love. As charged
by his position as a knight to Arthur, Gawain must show Guinevere love and respect. In
the same way, given Gawain is sheltered at Bertalik's, he must show Lady Bertalik the
same kind of respect and love.

Lastly, Gawain greatest
challenge is finding a balance between chilvarly and romantic love for Lady
Bertalik.

In "The Metamorphosis," what are some changes in Gregor's father's charaterisics/personality?

This is a very interesting question, as you will find if
you read the story carefully that the metamorphosis of Gregor actually triggers other
transformations in his family, including his father. Note how at first he is described
as a failure who is dependent on his son's income. When Gregor reveals his transformed
self, he shows his weakness and also his anger towards
Gregor:

The
father clenched his fist, glaring at Gregor as if trying to shove him back into his
room, then peered unsteadily around the parlour before covering his eyes with his hands
and weeping so hard that his powerful chest began to
quake.

Although he shows
weakness, what stands out in his relations with Gregor is his anger. Notice how when
Gregor attempts to leave his room, it is his father who violently forces him back,
hurting Gregor both times.

It is the fierceness that
dominates, however. The first two times Gregor ventures out of his room, his father
forces him back in, the first time brandishing a walking stick and a newspaper at him,
the second time bombarding him with apples. He does injury to Gregor both
times.

Yet what is key to realise is how Gregor's
tranformation galvanises his father, turning him from a "failed businessman" into the
head of the family who starts dealing with their financial affairs with
skill:

From
time to time, he rose from the table to fetch some document or notebook from his small
strongbox, which he had salvaged after the collapse of his business five years
earlier.

Interestingly,
though, he still shows elements of his weakness by the way he craves pardon from the
lodgers. It is only when Gregor has actually died that he conquers his inner weakness,
dismissing both the charwoman and the three tenants, who suddenly see in Mr. Samsa a new
strength:

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"Well, then we'll go," he said, looking up at
Mr. Samsa as if, in a sudden burst of humility, he were requesting sanction even for
this decision. Mr. Samsa, with bulding eyes, merely vouchsafed him a few brief
nods.

It is key to note that
Mr. Samsa is only referred to as such after his son's death. It is as if Gregor's demise
gives him the release necessary to become the new man he has always shown the potential
of being. Yet Kafka's text asks us a very hard question of why it takes his son's death
to transform his father.

Whhich is the limit of the function lim (x^3-1)/(x-1), x-->1? Explain the technique used.

In order to evaluate the limit, we'll choose the dividing
out technique.

We'll apply the direct substitution, by
substituting the unknown x, by the value1 and we'll see that it fails, because both,
numerator and denominator, are cancelling for x=1.

Also,
because x=1 is a root for both, that means that (x-1) is a common facor for
both.

We'll write the numerator using the
formula:

a^3-b^3=(a-b)(a^2+ab+b^2)

x^3-1=(x-1)(x^2+x+1)

Now,
we'll evaluate the limit:

lim (x^3-1)/(x-1) = lim
(x-1)(x^2+x+1)/(x-1)

Now, we can divide out like
factor:

lim (x^3-1)/(x-1) = lim
(x^2+x+1)

We can apply the replacement theorem and we'll
get:

lim (x^2+x+1) = 1^2 + 1 + 1 =
3

So, lim (x^3-1)/(x-1) =
3.

In "The Catcher in the Rye," what is signified when Holden misplaces the foils?

In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden loses the fencing foils
and keeps the team from competing.  The significance of Holden losing the foils is
two-fold.  First, Holden does not seem to want to move on from his life as it is.  He is
afraid of graduating, hence his repetitive removal from schools.  The foils represent
responsibility and Holden fears responsibility.  The loss of the foils shows that Holden
refuses to fully accept the responsibilities that are given to him.  Secondly, Holden
replaces the missing foils with a red hunting hat. Holden states that he bought the hat
immediately after he realized the foils were missing. This replacement of the foils with
the hat represents Holden's inability to accept his place in the world.  The hat
represents Holden's compulsiveness, not his responsibility.  Therefore, Holden's
replacement of the foils with the hat solidifies his inability to be
responsible.

In The Bronze Bow, what plan do Joel and Thacia devise so that Joel can get the information he needs without being suspected?

I take it that you are referring to Chapter Sixteen of
this excellent novel, when Daniel, Joel and Thacia meet to discuss how they can gain the
names of the rich who are going to be away from home at a banquet for
Rosh.

Note how this chapter reflects Joel's eagerness to
work for Rosh and to do anything that will oppose Roman rule. Thacia's idea is that her
brother sells fish to slaves of these rich families, who might reveal what their masters
are doing. Thacia then says she will dress up as Joel and go into the city, providing an
alibi for Joel whilst he engages in this plan to gain the information Rosh wants.
However, Thacia is reluctant to pursue this plan, as she thinks that Jesus would be
disappointed in her to discover her involvement in
deception:

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"It's just that I don't want to face Jesus with a
lie. I couldn't bear the way his eyes would look at
me."

Thus it is that Thacia
and Joel plan to fulfil the request of Josh and remove Joel from being suspected by
Thacia herself pretending to be Joel, thus giving him an alibi.

Has the conclusion been anticipated by you as a reader? Did you think of another more suitable one ?"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin

Because there is much foreshadowing in this story, a close
reading--and, certainly, a second one--will detect the hints that lead to the denouement
of "The Story of an Hour."  For instance, in the first sentence, Chopin suggests that
Mrs. Mallard's health is precarious, but it also creates an ambiguity about what really
troubles Mrs. Mallard: 

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Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with
a heart trouble, great care
was taken to break to her as gently as possible the new of her husband's
death.

It strikes the reader
odd that Chopin employs the article a. Had she written "heart
trouble," the reader could assume that the problem is physical; however, with the
addition of the indefinite article [a], the condition of one of some kind; the reader
does not know whether the problem is physical of one of the
spirit. 

Another example of foreshadowing in the exposition
of Chopin's story, one that Mr. Mallard may not be dead is in the
line,

He had
only taken the time to assure himself of its [the telegram]
truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall
any less careful, less tender frined in bearing the sad
message.

Nevertheless, the
masterful use of irony and purposely constructed sentences in the passive voice create
an ambiguity that results in the cautious reader's yet being surprised at the ending. 
Critic Madonne M. Miner argues in her essay,"Veiled Hints:  An Affective Stylist's
Reading of Kate Chopin's 'The Story of an Hour'," that the story's theme of autonomy and
identity are undermined by its grammatical structure.  For instance, many sentences
begin with the word there, a word that is somewhat vague. And, the
repeated use of she rather than Mrs. Mallard's name distances the
reader from a particular subject.  The passive constructions indicate that Mrs. Mallard
does not "possess" her feelings, but is instead "possessed" by them.  Even the first
sentence is in passive voice.  Therefore, with the reader distanced from the story, the
question of "a heart trouble" is mitigated, and  readers only return to the idea after
reading the "surprise ending" that they should have anticipated, after all.  For, it is
the final irony among many, a "joy that kills."

Kate
Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" is a skillfully written story whose ending is absolutely
suitable, given the clever and subtle devices employed by the author to develop her
theme of feminine repression in the Victorian Age and its consequences.  Mrs. Mallard's
heart condition is a result of her surpressed desires, her repression.  When she
finally believes that she can be her own person, released from her subjugation to her
husband, and she emerges a "new" woman only to learn that she must return to the prison
of her repression, her spirit dies.