How do you think WWII might have ended if the United States didn't drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Agreed with the statements above, but let's also be
clear.  The war would have ended the same way - with a Japanese surrender to the United
States.  Consider the military position Japan was in by early August 1945, with no
remaining air force or much of a navy to protect the home islands with.  Vulnerable to
all other kinds of bombing as well, as they had been for a year or
more. 

While historians consistently argue that the war
ended sooner with a lower cost in lives, we will never know this for sure.  The war
ended not because of the atomic bombs, but because the Emperor of Japan told the
military to lay down their weapons.  Who is to say that the Emperor would not have done
so after five more firebombings of Tokyo?  How can we accurately say what was in his
mind in early August before the bombs were dropped, or how strong his will was by that
moment?  We will never know, and at least part of why we argue that the bombs saved
lives, in my opinion, is because we find a need to justify our actions as the only
country ever to use nuclear weapons in war.

Analyze in detail the character of Skeeter in Kathryn Stockett's novel The Help.

Skeeter Phelan is one of three narrative voices in Kathryn
Stockett's novel The Help. She is a single woman who has graduated
from college but finds herself living back at home with her parents because jobs for
women are scarce in Jackson, Mississippi. During the course of this story, Miss Skeeter
becomes independent and strong.

Though it takes her some
time to figure it out, she wants to write and she wants to make a difference. In a world
of white women who take their black maids for granted, Miss Skeeter becomes an advocate
and a voice for the black women in service to white women in Jackson. This must be done
in secret because there is great danger involved for all of them; however, she and a few
others are brave enough to tell the stories of the help. Unlike so many of her
colleagues and friends, Skeeter does not think black maids carry diseases or should have
to be relegated to a bathroom in the garage--and yet there is a bathroom in her own home
into which she has never been. It belonged to Constantine, the maid in her home as she
was growing up.

It is only as Skeeter loses her friend
Constantine and begins to see some injustices done by her white friends that she begins
to change herself and then desire to change others. Skeeter begins as a rather naive
girl who does not have much of a plan for her life. Through the course of the novel she
becomes a woman determined to right whatever wrongs she can and give a voice to those
who have never had one.

The Jazz Age (roaring twenties) and what role it had on Fitzgerald's perceptions of America.

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald's
perceptions of the roaring twenties can probably be best seen in chapter three, the
chapter that contains the elaborate descriptions of one of Gatsby's
parties.

Nick says:

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At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers
came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a
Christmas tree of Gatsby's enormous garden.
(44)

The buffet tables are
"garnished with glistening hors d'oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of
harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold" 44). 
Extravagance is also evident in the bar, which is stocked with "gins and liquors and
with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know
one from another (44), and the band is no band, but an orchestra, with "a whole pit full
of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos and low and
high drums" (44).

And the people at the party appear to be
wealthy, to have a great deal of idle time, to be freeloaders, to come to the party even
though they are not invited, and to be extremely reckless and
careless. 

The majority of people at the party "were not
invited" (45) and "conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated
with amusement parks" (45).  Lucille is one example:  "I never care what I do, so I
always have a good time " (45).  And recklessness and carelessness are further
demonstrated in the final party scene with its drunk driving and wrecked car and hurt
driver and gawking spectators.  This, apparently, reveals the author's perception of the
roaring twenties.   

The novel as a whole shows the
American Dream to be a sordid myth--one achieves it only at great personal and ethical
costs, and it is in some ways an illusion and hollow.

Why won’t Brutus swear an oath in Scene 1 of Act II of Julius Caesar and what does this reveal about Brutus?

If we look carefully at this scene when Cassius asks all
the conspirators to "swear our resolution" together as a form of a pact, the response
that Brutus gives is tremendously revealing in terms of what it shows about his
character. Let us see how he responds to the suggestion of
Cassius:

No,
not an oath. If not the face of men,

The sufferance of our
souls, the time's abuse--

If these be motives weak, break
of betimes,

And every man hence to his idle
bed.

You have to love the
honesty and moral integrity of Brutus, even if it is a quality that is abused by Cassius
and the other conspirators. He argues against taking an oath, because he argues that the
honesty of their faces should be enough. If, he says, that actually they are not honest
to unite together, then they should end this conspiracy now, because it is not worth
proceeding with it because of their moral lack. However, if they are honest enough, the
conspirators should need no oath to spur them on, only "their own cause," which Brutus
obviously believes is for the ultimate good.

Clearly Brutus
reveals himself here to be politically naive. He is a man of his word, and yet he is
blind to how this is a weakness and a strength. His nobility and bravery and courage is
clear from his speech, but at the same time we have already seen how easily an
unscrupulous character like Cassius can manipulate him, which leaves questions in our
mind about the characteristics that he dangerously lacks.

How are the settings in which Jane Eyre is set important to the novel?

I would want to argue that the different settings are
tremendously symbolic in the novel, and trace the development of Jane as a central
character and how she grows and matures during this bildungsroman. If we consider the
names of each of the five settings, we can see their
importance.

Note how the novel begins in Gateshead. In a
sense, we see that this location is one of oppression. Jane's "head" or intellect is
gated up. From the very first sentence of the novel it is clear that being trapped and
restricted is a key theme, and Gateshead through its name summons up images of being
restrained and trapped, just as Jane is trapped through her situation in the world and
Aunt Reed's opinion of her.

Lowood likewise represents a
very "low" time in Jane's life in many ways as she faces the hypocrisy of Brocklehurst
and then the death of her best friend, Helen Burns. The name thus represents a time of
suffering.

Moving on to Thornfield, it is clear that the
name indicates the pain that Jane will experience and suffer during her time their with
her abortive relationship with Rochester. It is a time of great suffering for
her.

Moor House conjures up images of solitude and the
desire to be by yourself, which is something that Jane in a sense needs after her
experiences at Thornfield. She needs time to regroup and to heal herself, and Moor House
gives her that experience as she is healed through the discovery of the family that she
never knew she had.

Lastly, Ferndean is a softer, gentler
name in comparison with Thornfield and is therefore suitable for the location of Jane
and Rochester's happy life together, as both of them have softened and learned so much
through the course of the novel.

Hope this helps! You might
want to extend this now by considering the events that occur in each location and see
how they can be linked to the name.

Find the variance for the given data. Round your answer to one more decimal place than the original data. 18, 20, 18, 2, 7

The mean of the given data is (18 + 20 + 18 + 2 + 7)/5 =
13

To calculate the variance we need to find the difference
between each term of the data, find the square of the value and then determine the
average of the squares.

18 - 13 = 5 , 20 - 13 = 7, 18 - 13
= 5, 2 - 13 = -11 and 7 - 13 = -6.

The average of the
square is:

(5^2 + 7^2 + 5^2 + 11^2 +
6^2)/5

=> (25 + 49 + 25 + 121 +
36)/5

=>
51.2

The required variance is
51.2

How is Macbeth gothic in Act 1?

Although gothic literature was not established as a major
literary genre until the 1800s, strong gothic elements can be identified in
Macbeth, even in the first act. The primary elements that create a
gothic tone in the drama are mystery, blood, death, and the presence of the
supernatural. These are introduced in Act I and are incorporated throughout the
remainder of the play. Act I makes it clear that Macbeth will be
dark indeed.

The immediate appearance of the witches brings
mystery and supernatural beings into the play. They are indeed the "weird" sisters,
clearly malevolent in nature. Their powers are mysterious, yet to be fully defined, but
powerful they are and quite frightening. Also, the detailed description of Macbeth in
battle creates vivid images of bloody death. Blood will become a major motif in the
drama, and Macbeth's life from this point on will be bound up with death. In the very
beginning of the play, the gothic tone of Macbeth is clearly
established.

Compare Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt.

There are many points of comparison between these two
presidents.  Perhaps the one that offers the clearest contrast between the two is the
area of foreign policy.

In foreign policy, Roosevelt was
avowedly looking out for the interests of the United States.  He was not trying to be
idealistic or spread democracy or anything like that.  He practiced his "big stick"
diplomacy, throwing the US's weight and power around to get things that he felt would
help the US (like the Panama Canal Zone).

By contrast,
Wilson tended to try to be idealistic.  For example, he took actions in Mexico that (you
can argue) were against US interests.  He chose what he saw as a democratically elected
leader over one who would be more friendly to the US.  When WWI came around, he tried to
broker a peace based on ideals rather than on power.  In these ways, he was clearly
trying to be idealistic.

In "Dulce et Decorum Est," the "lie" is old because it has been told: -by old men -by old women -for a long time -long ago -none of these

This is actually a bit more complicated than it at first
appears to be. It is of course in the final stanza that the speaker of the poem, having
moved through the different persons, starting off with third person, then moving into
first person, then lastly moving into second person to angrily accuse the audience of
the poem of spreading the "lie" of the title with such "high
zest":

My
friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children
ardent for some desperate glory,

The old
Lie...

Thus it appears that
out of the possible answers you give the best one is that the lie has been told for a
long time, and so because of this the lie is "old." Thus it is that youths such as those
depicted in the first three stanzas are still conned into going off to fight for their
country based on old, innaccurate notions such as glory and honour, when in fact the
reality is completely different, as indicated by the gassed
soldier.

Why does the Director choose the Fertilizing Room to meet Bernard, and why are people more curious about John than Linda? Chapter 10 of The...

In Chapter 10 of Brave New World, a
reading of this chapter reveals other reasons for the Director's choosing the
Fertilizing Room are that he may wish to remind Bernard's of his birth "accidents" which
have caused him to be somewhat of an aberration from the other Alphas, who also will
witness this confrontation between the Director and Bernard, thus effecting even more
humiliation for Bernard.  He tells Henry Foster that he is
going to make Bernard

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'A public example...In this room, because it
contains more high-caste workers than an other in the Centre.  I have told him [Bernard]
to me me here at half-past
two.'

When Bernard arrives,
the D.H.C. announces before everyone there
his intention to transfer Bernard to a "Sub-Centre of the lowest order,"
explaining that Bernard has "grossly betrayed the trust imposed in him" and
that Bernard's unorthodox attitudes and
behavior threaten Society as he tells an inquiring Henry
Foster,

'The
greater a man's talents, the greater his power to lead astray.  It is better than one
should suffer than that many should be corrupted.  Consider the matter dispassionately,
Mr. Foster, and you will see that no offence is so heinous as unorthodoxy of
behaviour....'

Of course,
the main motivation of the D.H.C.'s is his concern
about Bernard's revealing his past.  But, of course, his
efforts are too late. For Linda appears, running to the Director, who repels her. 
Desperately, she clings to him, calling him "Tomakin," saying, "You made me have a
baby."  With these words there is "an appalling hush."  Then, when John appears, he
hurries to the Director, falling on his knees before him, exclaiming, "My
father!"

The
word (for "father" was not so much obscene as--with its connotation of something at one
remove from the moral obliquity of child-bearing--merely gross, a scatological rather
than a pornographic impropriety); the comically smutty word relieved what had become a
quite intolerable tension.  Laughter broke out, enormous, almost hysterical,...as though
it would never stop.

Because
of their conditioning, to the people of the New World, John is something ridiculous,
something like a bathroom joke.  The people of the New World would certainly be curious
about this man born in the obscene process of human intercourse since they have never
before encountered such a creature.  Thus, they would prefer seeing John instead of
Linda, who has aged and grown fat with a "blotched and sagging face" that the Alphas
would find grotesque and repulsive, rather than obscenely interesting and
curious.

[please note that what John believes in has not
yet been revealed in this chapter.]

In Hamlet Act III scene iii Claudius is found "praying" and Hamlet comes upon him doing so. Does Claudius know Hamlet is there?I ask this because a...

Well, according to the stage directions in the play,
Hamlet enters after Claudius gives his soliloquy, which is intensely spiritual and
focused on his soul and the afterlife.  Observe:

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O, my offence is rank it smells to
heaven;

AND

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O, what form of
prayer
Can serve my
turn?

AND

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O wretched state! O bosom black as
death!
O limed soul, that, struggling to be
free,
Art more engaged! Help, angels! Make
assay!

You can't
have Hamlet step on those lines with an entry.  They are full of apostrophes to pain and
suffering, and to have another body on stage will diminish their power and
relevancy.

Hamlet enters and says his monologue, so the
audience should be watching and listening to it, for it is a response to the soliloquy.
 You can't have the audience's eye drawn to Claudius acting like he knows Hamlet is
there.  It's just too hoaky.

Plus, there's not enough time.
 Claudius only has a couple of lines after that, and then he's gone.  Not to mention
that when Claudius says, "My words fly up...," he's talking about the silent ones in
prayer, so he's obviously busy praying.  His praying is dramatic irony enough: the main
thing is that we know Hamlet is there, not him.  You can't have him praying and noticing
Hamlet.  Too busy.

The scene is about spiritual crisis for
both Claudius and Hamlet, not about the closeness of two actors.  It's about Claudius
worrying about his soul, maybe for the first time.  Hamlet, too, is worried about
Claudius' soul: he doesn't want to send him to heaven, only hell.  He realizes that it's
spiritually not the right time to kill, which is ironic and
funny.

Let the audience focus on the words, not some
non-verbal action on stage.  Shakespeare's all about the language, not the action, and
certainly not subtext and subtleties.  I wouldn't diminish those words for anything.
 That's what a movie adaptation is for.  You might be able to do it with a close-up, but
not on stage, not even in the round.  Too much can go wrong.

In Pride and Prejudice, how does Elizabeth feel about Caroline Bingley's attempts to attract Darcy by undervaluing her own sex?

In Jane Austen's novel, Pride and
Prejudice, Elizabeth's attitude about women settling for less than they
deserve is a strong theme in the story. However, she is also concerned about how a woman
will show no compunction whatsoever about "taking out" her competition by "undervaluing"
the female sex in general (which ironically may spell disaster for the scheming woman in
question anyway).

Elizabeth is very unhappy when her friend
Charlotte accepts the proposal of Mr. Collins, knowing that her friend does not love the
man. Charlotte represents a woman in Austen's society that was not always fortunate
enough to wait for a marriage based on love, but on convenience, as a woman's choices
were limited: without a family or husband, a woman had few acceptable career choices,
and faced a lifetime of drudgery and want. Charlotte is being practical, but Elizabeth
struggles with the concept that this situation exists within her
society.

In keeping with Caroline Bingley's attempt to
attract Darcy by undervaluing her own sex, this is also something that Elizabeth cannot
countenance. Caroline is responsible for driving a wedge between her brother Charles and
Jane Bennet, something that eventually comes to naught. In trying to condemn Elizabeth
in Darcy's eyes, Caroline is responsible more for undervaluing women in general: besides
being a snob, she places too much importance on one's appearance, discounting the value
of the woman beneath her beauty or lack
thereof.

Ironically, this behavior backfires, as Darcy
resists Caroline's attempt to dissuade him from his attraction to Elizabeth; if
anything, he is more determined to have her.

Austen, in
speaking through Elizabeth, shows the reader that here, once again, is another kind of
woman within England's society, who though she may be motivated by love (which Elizabeth
would admire), is willing to demean the personage of another woman
who presents any competition.

How do Shakespeare's "Sonnet 31" and Donne's "Holy Sonnet 10" compare and contrast with each other? It's just to give me an overview, which...

The sonnets contrast with each other on subject,
underlying metaphor, entity being addressed along with problem and solution.  On the
other hand, they compare with each other in regard to optimistic tone and on the
thematic topic of eternal life, although they contrast once again on the means of
attaining eternal life.

In Donne's sonnet, "Death Be not
Proud, Holy Sonnet 10," the subject is the real or feigned power of a personified Death.
Donne asserts that Death's power is feigned. The underlying metaphor is the comparison
of Death to a pleasant refreshing sleep. The entity being addressed by the poem is
Death, itself. The problem or situation presented in the octave is that Death has no
power to kill the speaker and that those who Death takes are only resting. The solution
presented in the sestet is that Death is the pawn of fate and kings and that when the
dead awake to eternal life, then Death itself shall die.

In
Shakespeare's "Sonnet 31," the subject is the nature of the poetic speaker's beloved in
whom all hearts reside and who is Love personified. The underlying metaphor compares
past loves lost to death with the quality of all-encompassing love in the present
beloved. The person being addressed is the living beloved. The problem or situation
presented in the octave is the tears of mourning shed for lost loves that now are
accumulated in the beloved. The solution presented in the sestet is that the beloved,
who embodies all who have preceded, is now the sole recipient of the speaker's love and
devotion.

Both speak of eternal life, Donne's of eternal
life through victory over Death, a victory in which Death will die, and Shakespeare's of
eternal life through metaphorical resurrection through the all-encompassing qualities of
the newly beloved one. The final contrast is that Donne is theologically serious while
Shakespeare is entirely metaphorical.

The rhyme scheme of
Donne's marks it as a Petrarchan sonnet in an a b b a a b b a  c d d c  e f scheme with
no rhyming end couplet, while the rhyme scheme of Shakespeare's marks it as a
Shakespearean sonnet, which is an innovation on the Petrarchan sonnet. It is in an a b a
b c d c d   e f e f  gg scheme with a rhyming end couplet. Both sonnets have subject
changes at the fifth and ninth lines as established by Petrarch as the definitive sonnet
structure. In Donne's the changes, or turns (called voltas), are
from those who have died to (5) the metaphor of sleep for death to (9) Death being the
slave of kings and chance, etc. In Shakespeare's, the turns are from Love to (5) the
speaker's tears for those past to (9) the new love being the grave of the past loves,
their embodiment, their completion.

Summarize the main differences between Australian society and the New Zealand multicultural reality.

It's been nearly 35 years since I lived in Australia, but
from what I've been able to tell I don't think the situation has changed that much. I
think you would find more similarities than differences between the Australian and New
Zealand cultures.

Both areas were originally settled by
immigrants - the aborigines of Australia coming from Asia and the Maoris of New Zealand
coming from the islands of the South Pacific. Both received large influxes of population
from western Europe, although New Zealand's European settlers were not prisoners as was
the case with Australia's penal colonies. In recent times, both countries have seen
increasing numbers of immigrants from Asian countries.

New
Zealand probably has more ethnic diversity and accepts it more readily than does
Australia, particularly in urban areas. However, both countries recognize the importance
of all the cultural heritages that are contributing to the continuing development of
their societies.

What does this sentence means in "The Interlopers"? "The chance had come to give full play to the passions of a lifetime."The question is about...

As Ulrich von Gradwitz patrols the dark forest in "The
Interlopers," he steps around a huge tree trunk; then, by chance he suddenly confronts
the very enemy he seeks:  Georg Znaeym. This random act of fate, or chance, brings
together two men who have passionately hated each other all their lives since they have
been the "inheritors of the quarrel" between their grandfathers over a strip "of
precipitous woodland." 

In this astounding instant of
recognition of enmity, the two men who have hate in their hearts and murder on their
minds--"the passions of a lifetime"--hesitate but a brief moment.  However, that
infinitestimal instant is long enough for Nature, also by chance, to send boughs of the
massive beech tree upon them, pinning them and rendering them incapable of serving their
vengeance upon one another. This act of the untamable forest serves as the nemesis of
the two men who have been so consummed in the passions of their lifetime that they have
underestimated the power of Nature to control men's lives.  For, although they reconcile
their differences under the dire conditions in which they are captive, their turn of
conscience is too late.  With a sense of their fatality, Ulrich with a humorous laugh
tells Georg that it is wolves, not men, that they hear
approaching.

Describe the origin and meaning of the term "manifest destiny".

"Manifest destiny" was the term coined by John O' Sullivan
in the mid- 1800's; he was writing about his belief, shared by many, that the United
States was destined by none other than God himself to expand from the Atlantic Ocean all
the way to the Pacific, implementing democracy in very corner of the
continent, regardless of who might be in the way.  This term caught the imagination of
many Americans at a time when the United States was eyeing the British-controlled Oregon
Territory in the Northwest, and O' Sullivan stated, among other things, that since
Britain would not be implementing democracy in the territory, the nation did not have a
valid claim to it. 

What are the important points to note while doing psychoanalysis criticism of the kite runner by Khaled Hosseini?

This novel touches upon some issues that have
psychological ramifications. For example, the destructive effect of abuse. When Hassan
is raped, it affects him in a profound way psychologically. Also, later, when his little
son is kidnapped and raped by the Taliban member (who turns out to be Assef), this
abusive treatment has almost destroyed the boy mentally. The complex relationships
between fathers and sons is important to discuss. Amir's relationship with his father as
a child while they are in Afghanistan differs from their relationship as men, when Amir
is grown and can understand his father's actions from an adult perspective. Growing up
as a child, however, Amir never felt accepted by his father. He always felt that his
father loved Hassan more, so this can be explored. How did this constant striving to be
accepted by his father affect Amir's adulthood relationship with his father? Also, how
does finding out the truth about Hassan, that he is really Amir's half brother, affect
Amir psychologically? Finally, I think it is interesting to explore why Hassan was so
devoted to Amir. What made him, as a child, grow up with such fierce devotion? Amir
mistreats Hassan and even frames him for stealing, and yet Hassan never wavers in his
adulation of Amir. Amir does not deserve this admiration, and yet Hassan is steadfast
and keeps trying to win back Amir's favor.

Who is more to blame for Macbeth's downfall: Macbeth or Lady MacbethNeed a nice thesis for an essay of William Shakespeare's Macbeth

The French pilot who became the famous author of The
Prince, Antoine Saint-Exupery, wrote, "etre homme, etre
reponsable." {To be man is to be responsible].  That is, man himself must be
responsible for his own existence.  In one of his soliloquies, Macbeth admits to this
axiom of St. Exupery within himself when he reflects upon his desire to give credence to
the predictions of the three sisters. As he struggles with his conscience which
recognizes the evil in his consideration of murdering Duncan, his kinsman and his king
who possesses virtues, Macbeth, instead, gives way to his "Vaulting ambition, which
o'erleap itself/And falls on th'other--" (1.7.27-28)

And,
yet, he still has some misgivings; for these, Lady Macbeth chides
him,

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...Art thou
afeard

To be the same in think own act and
valor

As thou art in desire? Woulds thou have
that

Which thou esteem'st the ornament of
life,

And live a coward in think own
esteem,

Letting "I dare not " wait upon "I
would,"

Like the poor cat in' th' adage?
(1.7.43-49)

While Lady
Macbeth embarrasses Macbeth in questioning his bravery and manhood, she does encourage
him to commit the heinous acts he does.  However, as a man with his own conscience,
Macbeth is ultimately responsible for his own actions, and, by his own admission, his
"vaulting ambition" overrides his conscience.  Even his wife points this out when she
says, "Are you afraid to be the same man that you wished to be?" in lines
43-44.

How can I get of stretch marks naturally?I have stretch marks, and some are so red. How can I make them disappear forever?

Stretch marks, or striae, are lesions that tend to form in
the dermis during periods of hormonal flux, with weight gain or loss, pregnancy, and
other periods of hormone change.

Due to loss of elasticity
in the fibers found under the epidermis,these marks
emerge.

These are difficult to remove but their appearance
can be improved greatly using:

chemical peels: The skin is
cleansed with an agent that removes excess oils and the eyes and hair are protected. One
or more chemical solutions, such as glycolic acid, trichloroacetic acid, salicylic acid,
lactic acid or (phenol), are applied to small areas on the skin. These applications
produce a controlled wound, enabling new, regenerated skin to
appear.

   microdermabrasion:
The affected area is thoroughly cleansed with an antiseptic cleansing agent and then
your doctor will apply a special spray is applied that freezes the
skin.

A high-speed rotary instrument with an abrasive wheel
or brush is used to remove the outer layers of the skin and improve any irregularities
in the skin surface.

lotions and creams :
with retinoids - specifically, retinaldehyde, tretinoin or isotretinoin
trigger skin's regeneration, promoting new skin growth to repair and replace the lost
tissues.

 diet  and
exercise: Be sure to consume foods that promote skin health: foods rich
in zinc, such as nuts or fish; foods high in vitamin A & Cwhich are natural
antioxidants, such as carrots and citrus fruits and milk; protein-rich foods, such as
eggs.

What would be the best description of the relationship between Walter and his wife?

I think they fit the cliche, "agree to disagree" to a tee.
Each have determined their own ways to deal with their irritations of one another and
have agreed to stay together. I think all marriages have to be this way to a degree, but
theirs certainly does not appear positive.

Although it's
pretty sad, at least they have a commitment they are keeping in spite of
struggle.

They are like water and oil, they don't mix well,
but if you throw a lot of other ingredients into the mix, you just might be able to get
water and oil working for the benefit of the consumer. This works in cars (as long as
the water's in the radiator and oil is going through the engine) and salad dressings
(throw in some sugar and vinegar and the water and oil will play nicely when
stirred).

What symbolism is used in the poem, "Desert Places," by Robert Frost?

In Robert Frost's poem, "Desert Places," the symbolism
used seems to be that of nature, specifically snow, to represent a
separateness or loneliness as the world becomes covered, blanketing not only what is
seen, but what is heard as well, giving one the sense of being isolated or cut off from
the world.

As the snow falls quickly, so does the night,
adding to a sense of isolation. The snow is all-encompassing, much as loneliness is: the
poem reflects that it covers the last vestiges of growth in the fields, and even the
lairs where animals sleep or hibernate. Frost indicates that it will get worse before it
gets better:

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And lonely as it is that
loneliness

Will be more lonely ere it will be
less--

The snow represents
not only loneliness, but later in the poem it seems to also symbolize the inability of
one to communicate because of that loneliness.

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With no expression, nothing to
express.

However, whereas
Frost comments on the snow and how it represents loneliness, he (sadly) holds the
"trump" (winning) card. He explains that no matter what kind of loneliness snow may
present, he can beat even that. He is not frightened by the
aloneness he feels surrounded by snow, or the emptiness of the sky and stars, where no
human companionship can be found.

Nature cannot scare
him with its quiet snow or quiet night: Frost admits that he is
already frightened by the "desert places" that live within him
every day; by comparison to those places, the world of snow is no
match for his reality.

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I have it in me so much nearer
home

To scare myself with my own desert
places.

Were there successful farming plantations during the Great Depression?

Lanterns on the Levee is a memoir
about a plantation owner, his principles and ideals, and his plantation that existed
before and during the Great Depression.  It is by William Alexander Percy.  It was first
published in 1941.  (A memoir is a book that recounts personal knowledge of the
author.)  Lanterns on the Levee is a very highly regarded
memoir.

An excerpt from the memoir is found in vol. II of
Major Problems in the History of the American South by Paul D.
Escott and David R. Goldfield (1990, 110-114).  This excerpt is about the plantation
during the Great Depression.  It was a cotton plantation in
Mississippi.

Perhaps your public library can borrow one or
both of these books for you.

The link that I have provided
below, gives short reviews of the book.

You asked about
plantations; plantations are large farms that devote all of their resources to the
production of one crop for market.  Coffee plantation, cotton plantations, banana
plantations, and so on.

What would be good topic for a compare-and-contrast paper on Robert Frost's "Birches" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"?

Regarding Robert Frost's two poems, "Birches" and
"Stopping by a Woods on a Snowy Evening," perhaps you could compare and contrast the
speaker's involvement with nature as he observes it. 

For
instance, in "Stopping by a Woods on a Snowy Evening," the speaker's main desire is to
contemplate the beauty of nature, to take a respite from his obligations--"I have
promises to keep"--and simply revel in the peace and beauty of the woods.  However, in
"Birches," the speaker does not approach the observation of the trees from an aesthetic
perspective; instead, he is more analytical.  The pliable quality of the birches--"I
like to think some boy's been swinging them"--initiates an involved meditation on the
part of the speaker.  Unlike the contemplation of nature in the other poem, the
speaker's contemplation is the appreciation of the beauty of the birches is not the
final thing that interests the speaker; rather it is the strange association of the
trees with his reasoning that is most central to "Birches."  The tension between what
has actually happened and what the poet would like to have happened is central to this
poem.  Thus, the lines

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We may as well go patiently on with our
life

And look elsewhere than to stars and moon and
sun

For the shocks and changes we need to keep us
sane

while ostensibly similar
to the refrain "I have promises to keep" have a much different
implication.

Be sure to check out the sites below which
will assist you in more interpretation.  And, do not forget that in comparing and
contrasting poems, one always should examine how poetic devices are employed in each
poem.

What are the themes in Louis MacNeice's "Star-Gazer"?Hey, I am about to go to an oral exam, and there it is possible for me to draw a quesion...

This is a brilliant poem to look at. It is easy with the
poems of this author to be distracted by the conversational, everyday tone that he
adopts as he relates experiences and discusses themes to miss the deeper meaning in his
poetry. This poem, for example, starts off with a simple narration of an experience that
the speaker had when he was on a train at night forty-two years ago. Note what excited
the speaker about the "Holes, punched in the sky," which are described as being
"intolerably bright":

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which excited me partly because
Of
their Latin names and partly because I had read in the textbooks
How very far
off they were, it seemed their light
Had left them (some at least) long years
before I was.

Part of the
speaker's fascination with the stars then stems from the way that the light that he is
seeing now actually was first emitted from the stars before he even existed as a human
being. Note how this theme of time and mortality is developed in the second stanza as
the speaker talks about the distance and time of the speed of
light:

which
light when
It does get here may find that there is not
Anyone left
alive
To run from side to side in a late night train
Admiring it and
adding noughts in vain.

What
appears to have struck the speaker is a sense of his own mortality and that of humanity
as a whole. As he contemplates the starry universe, he is forced into a realisation of
how aeons of time go by in the galaxy, and how man has only been around for such a short
time and will probably not be around for much longer from that perspective. There seems
to be a note of futility in the "adding noughts in vain." Perhaps the speaker is
suggesting that instead of contemplating our mortality and trying to calculate
equations, we should just focus on admiring the wonderful, transcendent beauty of the
stars and live in the moment--because that, as a species, is all we
have.

Have technologized mass cultural forms (cinema and TV) enhanced or impeded the scope of literary studies?

There's a flaw, I think, in the nature of the question:
cinema and TV are types of literature.  I teach a class called Film Literature.  They're
not great literature, but literature nonetheless.  (Video games, I'll give you, are not
literature).

So, you're saying, "Does low-grade mass
literature impede or enhance literary studies?"  A bit of circular logic,
no?

They're all part of the study of literature.  Visual
mass media influences the mainstream culture in ways unimaginable.  Young people are
born into it.  It shapes their worldview.  Students must move through the visual to get
to the written.  The early visual literature is synthesized into the written literature.
 You can't distinguish them once they're all swimming around in there together, can you?
 So, how can they enhance or detract each other?  It's like saying what you see detracts
from what you hear.

Early cinema influenced the modernists
this way.  Steinbeck, Faulkner, and Camus were all influenced by silent film and early
talkies.  Visual rhetoric is very powerful.  Cubist painting, for example, lead to much
of Faulkner's free-style narration and use of stream-of-consiousness.  Lately, mass
media has creeped into the graphic novels and fictions of young novelists (e.g.,
Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud & Incredibly
Close).

For further study, you should read the
chapters on the written vs. visual in Annie Dillard's The Writing
Life.  She says:

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The written word is weak.  Many people prefer
life to it...Film and television stimulate the body's senses too, in big ways...The
printed word cannot compete with the movies on their ground, and should not....Why
should anyone read a book instead of watching big people move on a screen?  Because a
book can be literature.  It is a subtle thing--poor thing, but our
own.

Discuss Dickensian representation of women characters with special reference to his novel Hard Times.

It is interesting that while female characters in other
Dickens novels such as Lucie Manette in A Tale of Two Cities or
Agnes in David Copperfield represent the idealised view of women in
the imagination of Dickens, in Hard Times the characters who best represent this view is
Cecilia Jupe and Rachel, with Louisa Gradgrind and Mrs. Sparsit presenting incomplete
notions of womanhood.

Sissy Jupe, in spite of her lack of
educational achievements (from Gradgrind's point of view) shows herself to be the
character who is relied upon by both Louisa and Mr. Gradgrind at the end of the novel,
as she, unlike them, has not lost her imagination and the capacity to love. It is thus
Sissy who has the "happy ending," with a husband and children. Rachel, with her "pensive
beauty," is not given that happy ending, but her grace and beauty is shown through such
actions as her constant love and regard for Stephen Blackpool, best demonstrated in her
care of his drunken wife--the barrier to her and Stephen's
happiness.

In contrast, Louisa, because of her education
and upbringing, always has something absent. It is suggested that she is never fully
able to emotionally connect with those around her, and thus is left to play with Sissy's
children and be Sissy's companion, rather than having a productive and fulfillilng
marriage. Mrs. Sparsit is a character who is presented as cynical, interfering and
petty, and her attempts to manipulate Mr. Bounderby against his wife show the meanness
of her character.

What were the effects of the Salem Witch Trials on American society?American society in general.

From a theoretical or intellectual historian's point of
view, Salem shows the danger of homogeneous social setting committed to a singular
notion of the good.  The impact of Salem might have been negligent in terms of pure
history.  Yet, in tracing the development of American consciousness and how one
understands what it means to be "American," Salem plays a significant function.  The
notion of a social and political climate dominated by fear and silence, as opposed to
vocal advocacy and the spirit of dissent can only lead to bad things.  America,
consciously or not, used the moment of Salem to define itself as standing against these
values.  When America has reverted back to Salem form, "bad things" have not been far
off the pace, and a corrective measure has taken place afterwards to ensure that a
spirit of free discourse, heterogeneity, and individual dissent remains as part of the
blueprint of American identity.

In Gone with the Wind, where can the reader see a display of Melanie's personality?

While Scarlett occupies much of the narrative, I think
that one can find specific moments where Mitchell's praising of Melanie are present. 
When Melanie selflessly surrenders her jewelry to the Confederate cause, it is a moment
when the reader learns of her nature.  Whereas Scarlett is consumed with her own
magnitude and her own self interest, Melanie is overwhelmed with the Confederate cause. 
While her husband is part of this campaign, Melanie empathizes with the other women who
are sacrificing their own senses of self in order to embrace the collectivity of the
Confederate cause.  In this light, Melanie's personality is on display in this scene and
represents her nature as one that is unafraid of sacrifice and identifying herself with
a collective sense of identity.  Outside of her sense of personal responsibility, this
particular scene is one where Melanie does not hesitate to identify herself with a
reality outside of her own sense of the good.

Do you think the students killed in the Kent State shooting felt that they were being patriotic? Explain your answer.

There is, of course, no way to know what the protesters at
Kent State felt.  However, it seems likely that they did believe that they were being
patriotic.

Most people who oppose government policies feel
that they are being patriotic.  They tend to feel that they have the right idea about
what America should be and that the government is the one that is doing wrong by the
country.  If you have this attitude, then protesting the government's actions is
patriotic.  If you love your country and you feel that it is being taken in the wrong
direction, it is patriotic to oppose the government and try to bring the country back on
the right track.  Therefore, the protesters probably felt they were being
patriotic.

In "Old Woman Magoon", who is the biggest beast?Who has the most flaws and who is the most evil inside?

This is a very poignant question given the Naturalistic
perspective by which the story was written. Typical Naturalistic pieces exemplified the
importance of "man as a beast", or animalistic behavior by man. Therefore, your question
poses one which can be looked at as simplistic or
theoretical.

To begin, let us look at the simplistic answer
to your question. Many would argue that old woman Magoun is by far the biggest beast in
Freeman's story "Old Woman Magoun". There are many reason as to why one would consider
her behavior beastly.

First, Magoun keeps Lily, her
granddaughter under lock and key. To say that Lily is sheltered is an understatement.
The one time in which Magoun allows Lily to leave on her own is the turning point of the
story (she meets her father Nelson Barry for the first time on her life). Lily's life,
and that of Magoun, is changed forever.

Second, the fact
that Lily is sheltered pales to the fact that she remains childlike in her appearance
and actions (Lily still, at almost 14, plays with dolls). Lily is described through a
conversation of Magoun and a friend of Magoun's (Sally Jinks) in the following
way:

“Some
girls at her age is thinkin' about beaux instead of rag dolls” said Sally
Jinks.

The grandmother bristled. “Lily ain't big nor old
for her age,” said she. “I ain't in any hurry to have her git married. She ain't none
too strong.”

“She's got a good colour,” said Sally Jinks.
She was crocheting white cotton lace, making her thick fingers fly. She really knew how
to do scarcely anything except to crochet that coarse lace; somehow her heavy brain or
her fingers had mastered that.

“I know she's got a
beautiful colour,” replied Old Woman Magoun, with an odd mixture of pride and anxiety,
“but it comes an' goes.”

“I've heard that was a bad sign,”
remarked Sally Jinks, loosening some thread from her
spool.

One can tell from this
conversation that Lily is not necessarily healthy. This, again, can be contributed to
the care that Magoun takes in the girl.

Lastly, and perhaps
the most poignant example of Magoun's beastliness is the fact that she poisons Lily.
Magoun cannot bear to think of Lily living a life with her father and believes that
death would be better for Lily.

Now, onto the more
theoretical answer to the question. Naturalists believed in the power of nature over
man. Nature "decided" the outcome of all which happened in life. Therefore, one could
justify an argument that Nature (used capitalized because of personification typical in
the movement's texts) is the "biggest beast" in the story "Old Woman
Magoun".

Nature is not concerned with anything. It simply
exists and what happens as a result of Nature's powers is simply because of the theory
of the survival of the fittest (Charles Darwin and Herbert Spenser greatly influenced
Naturalistic writers). That being said, one could interpret the "cruelty" of Nature in
allowing a young girl to die as representing the grandest beast in the
text.

It is not Magoun who takes the life of young Lily; it
is, rather, the nightshade berry. Magoun did not create the berry- Nature did. Magoun
even, earlier in the story, told Lily that she could not have the berries. (Although her
exact words were "You can't have any now.")

So, depending
on your school of thought, either Magoun or Nature can be defined as the "biggest beast"
in the story "Old Woman Magoun".

Explain the significance of the boxing match in To Sir, With Love.

i found out  pt session-Their gym teacher, Mr. Bell
(Dervis Ward), insists that 'Fats' Buckley (Roger Shepherd) participate in vaulting,
despite his classmates' objections. The vault collapses under Buckley's weight, and
Potter ( href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Chittell">Christopher
Chittell) threatens Bell with the vault's broken leg. Thackeray is called to
defuse the situation. In class, he demands that Potter should apologise for the
incident, pointing out that if a knife or gun was available, things could have been much
worse. Potter only agrees when Denham points out that Bell will press criminal charges
if he doesn't apologise, and that Potter will need Thackeray's recommendation for a job
interview when school ends.

bxing match-In gym, Denham
insists they have a boxing class, beginning with him and Thackeray. Thackeray
reluctantly agrees. Despite getting in some early blows, Denham is disabled when
Thackeray knocks the wind out of him. Thackeray draws back his fist to hit Denham again
but gains control of his emotions and declares the fight over. Afterward, Denham waits
to speak with Thackeray in the stairwell. Although Denham admits he was trying to hurt
Thackeray in order to convince him to resign from teaching, Denham is surprised that
Thackeray did not capitalize on his advantage. For his part, Thackeray admits that he
lost his temper, but that he understands the apparent unfairness of some of his
decisions. Thackary then offers Denham a position as a boxing instructor to the younger
students next term. Surprised that he would be regarded as a potential teacher, Denham
nevertheless promises to consider it. Denham is clearly impressed, and expresses his
admiration for Thackeray to his fellow students. By winning Denham over, Thackeray wins
back the respect of the rest of the class, too. He is invited to the class dance, and
when he shows up at the Seales funeral, is greeted by the entire class, who have come to
pay their respects.

What is the difference between the Canadian mosaic and the malting pot in the United States?

The idea of the Canadian mosaic claims that Canada is home
to ethnic minorities who do not assimilate and become generic Canadians.  Instead, like
Francophone Canadians, they retain a distinct culture even as they are contributing
members of Canada's society.

This is seen in contrast to
the United States where there is a melting pot.  In the US, it is said, immigrants
simply become Americans.  They lose their cultural distinctiveness in the "melting
pot."

This is a concept that is very hard to prove,
however.  Many Canadians feel that this is an incorrect view of Canada's society.  As an
example of why this vision of Canadian society may not be true, look at the statistics
on intermarriage shown in the "statcan.ca" links below.  We are told
that

In 2001,
11.3 million people, or 38% of the population, reported multiple ethnic origins, up from
10.2 million, or 36%, in
1996.

If 38% of the
population is made up of more than one ethnicity, then there is clearly some degree of a
"melting pot" dynamic occurring in Canadian society.

Even
so, Canada tends to see itself as a society where ethnic minorities remain distinct
parts of a "mosaic" rather than becoming generic Canadians through a "melting pot"
mechanism.

What does Napoleon do to chase Snowball off the farm?

Napoleon does not really do all that much to chase
Snowball off the farm.  Instead, he relies on his dogs to do it for
him.

At one point, Snowball is speaking at a meeting. 
Napoleon decides it is time to get rid of him and he emits a high pitched sound.  That,
apparently, is the signal for the nine dogs to chase Snowball.  Snowball runs for his
life and leaves the farm.

So all Napoleon really does right
then is to emit the high pitched sound.  Other than that, it's just that he had trained
the dogs.

What is Ishmael Chambers' war experience?

Ishmael's brief war experience is outlined in Chapter 16. 
His childhood and high school romance with Hatsue ends abruptly when her family is sent
with the other Japanese Americans to an internment camp.  He joins the Marines just a
few months later in the summer of 1942.  He first trains as a rifleman in South Carolina
then later becomes a radio operator in New Zealand.  He is part of the group aboard the
USS Heywood which stormed the island of Betio in Southeast Asia.  While many men around
him are attacking and quickly dying, Ishmael waits behind a seawall for night to fall. 
When he does emerge, with a small group of unharmed soldiers, his left arm is
immediately shot.  He goes in and out of consciousness, but ultimately wakes aboard a
ship and knows his left arm has been amputated.  His final thought and statement is one
of confused rage and hatred against Hatsue.

What is the indefinite integral of the function 3sinx-4tan^2x ?

We'll apply the property of integral to be
additive:

Int [3sin x- 4(tan x)^2]dx = Int 3sin x dx - Int
4(tan x)^2 dx (*)

We'll solve the first integral from the
right side:

 Int 3sin dx = 3Int sin x dx= -3 cos x + C
(1)

Int 4(tan x)^2 dx = 4Int [(sec x)^2 -
1]dx

4Int [(sec x)^2 - 1]dx = 4Int (sec x)^2 dx - 4Int
dx

4Int [(sec x)^2 - 1]dx = 4 tan x - 4x + C
(2)

We'll substitute (1) and (2) in
(*):

Int [3sin x- 4(tan x)^2]dx = -3 cos x- 4 tan x + 4x +
C

The anti-derivative of the trigonometric
function 3sin x- 4(tan x)^2 is Int [3sin x- 4(tan x)^2]dx = -3 cos x- 4 tan x + 4x +
C.

solve 3sec^2x = 5 for 0

We have to solve 3*(sec x)^2 = 5 for x between 0 <
x < 2*pi

3*(sec x)^2 =
5

3*(1/ cos x)^2 = 5

=>
(cos x)^2 = 3/5

cos x =  sqrt (3/5) and cos x = -sqrt
(3/5)

x = arc cos
(sqrt(3/5))

x = 39.23 degrees and 320.768
degrees.

cos x =
-sqrt(3/5)

=> x = arc cos(- sqrt
(3/5))

x = 140.76 and x =
219.23

The required values of x are {39.23,
140.76, 219.23, 320.768}

"In A Doll's House more than one person, and certainly society itself, are to blame for Nora's plight.' Discuss.

This is a very pertinent question to ask about this
excellent play. Certainly there is ample evidence in the text to suggest that Nora's
situation is the result of more than one person and society. A key part to analyse
closely is the end of the play, when Helmer and Nora have their final showdown. Nora is
able to be completely honest with her husband and is able to express how she was treated
both by her father and then by her husband:

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When I lived with Papa, he used to tell me what
he thought about everything, so that I never had any opinions but his. And if I did have
any of my own, I kept them quiet, because he wouldn't have liked them... then I passed
from Papa's hands into yours. You arranged everything the way you wanted it, so that I
simply took over your taste in
everything...

Thus we can say
that Nora's plight is the result of the way she has been treated by her father and then
the way that her husband treated her in exactly the same way. This has resulted in Nora
being married to a complete "stranger" and has never been able to achieve independence
herself, because her father and then her husband have always protected her from the
world because she was supposedly so "weak and
fragile."

However, it would be unfair to lay all the blame
at the feet of Nora's father and Helmer. Ibsen equally blames society for the way that
it treats women as fragile objects or possessions that men need to dominate and protect.
Ibsen seems to be suggesting that we do society at large a profound disservice by
treating them this way and that women need to be recognised as human beings rather than
just another possession, like the "doll" that Nora identifies herself
with.

What are the rules for an elegy? I can not find any

Elegy in the beginning was related to a particular kind of
prosodic or metrical structure that was called the elegiac rhythm but now it is regarded
as a thematic notion. It is a lyric poem/song of lament, mourning the death of a near
one or beloved or at a deeper level even a phenomenon, an emotion, a state of the
matter, an ideology or an era.

Some of the conventions of
pastoral elegy are--

1. The mourning in the form of a
dialogue between two shepherds.

2. The active participation
of rural nature in the mourning.

3. The idealization of the
dead figure of the shepherd.

4. The description of some
funeral procession or other commemorative measure.

5. The
rather Christian conclusion where the elegiac emotions of mourning and melancholia are
undercut by the Christian rhetoric of belief where death is a happy occasion, a true
homecoming of the soul after the finite sojourn of mortal life on the earth or a reunion
with the God. This divine optimism is made to counter the elegiac mood in this final
movement of transcendence.

How did the events of the 1950s and 1960s help bring equal rights to those who deserved them?

People of all races fought for equality during this time
period. Not only did they risk their standing in their communities, but they risked
their lives as well.

"The Movement" consisted of many
people and groups including African Americans, college students, and religious groups.
They organized marches, sits ins, and freedom rides all with the intentions of bringing
awareness to the fact that equality was not a reality in the
US.

The events that happened during this time period
brought awareness out in to the open. Thanks to people like Martin Luther King who
advocated for peacefulness and non-violence, blacks were able to achieve equal
rights.

What are some causes and effects of the Battle of Little Bighorn?

The various Indian tribes of the Black Hills region had
been given until January 31, 1876 to voluntarily report to their new assigned
reservations. The U. S. military was assigned to round up all delinquent tribes,
including the Sioux, Arapaho and Cheyenne. Hunkpapa Lakota chief Sitting Bull had called
a meeting of these holdouts along the Little Bighorn River. It was part of Lt. Colonel
George Armstrong Custer's detachment of the 7th Cavalry Regiment that stumbled upon this
large group of hostiles. Custer had less than 600 troops separated into three large
battalions and several other small detachments. Combined Indian forces range from
1000-5000; in any case, the usually thorough Custer was heavily outnumbered when he
ordered the ill-timed assault.

Following the massacre at
Custer's Last Stand, the Lakota and Cheyenne regrouped and attacked the remnants
of Custer's command led by Major Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen. They held
off the attacks (until reinforcements under General Alfred Terrry arrived), and both of
these officers survived the fighting. The victory was a hollow one for the Native
Americans, however. A renewed effort by the military forced Sitting Bull's followers
into Canada, where they remained exiled for nearly four years. The remaining 200 Lakota
headed south, where they surrendered in July 1881. They were housed at the Dakota
Standing Rock Reservation after some shuttling for fear of another
uprising.

Sitting Bull eventually appeared in Buffalo
Bill's Wild West Show, while Custer's death cemented his place in American military
lore.

In Into the Wild, what did McCandless retrieve when he returned to the Detrital Wash?

Having been forced to abandon his car in the Detrital Wash
after a flash flood, Alex then leaves it to go adventuring into Mexico. When he
re-entered the United States, however he goes back to Detrital Wash, seven and a half
months after he had originally left his car. However, we were told that Alex had buried
some of his belongings that he might want later, and at this stage he unearths some of
these. Note what the text tells us about this:

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The Park Service had long since impounded the
vehicle, but he unearthed his old Virginia plates, SJF-421, and a few belongings he'd
buried there.

It is
interesting why Alex should choose to do this after having made such a statement by
burning his documents and ID cards. This act indicates that he was by far the detached
individual that he thought he was or pretended to be, and that certain elements of his
past and identity still had immense importance for him.

Why does Atticus tell them to forget it in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Another example of Atticus suggesting that Scout forget
about advice she has been given in To Kill a Mockingbird comes
after Miss Caroline has told her that

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"Your father does not know how to
teach."

Miss Caroline
believes that the reading sessions that Atticus and Scout so enjoy should be ended. When
Scout tells Atticus about this, he asks her if she knows what a "compromise" is. He then
explains that if she will agree to continue going to school, they will continue to read
each night--but without informing Miss Caroline of their agreement. The teacher might
not approve of their "activities," he tells Scout, so it will be just their little
secret.

Please summarize John Donne's poem "The Good Morrow" stanza-by-stanza.

STANZA ONE: The poem opens with the male speaker wondering
by his “troth” (1) – that is, his good faith – what he and his beloved did before they
loved. In other words, he wonders what their lives were like before they met and fell in
love. He wonders, in lines 2-3, whether, in their earlier lives, they not fully mature
(“not weaned” [2]) and whether they took pleasure in childish, simple things (3). Or he
wonders if they snored, like the famous Biblical seven sleepers, who slept for 187 years
(4). He then suddenly says that all these speculations must be true, because he now
realizes that all the earlier pleasures he enjoyed, before he fell in love, were merely
“fancies” – that is, insubstantial, imaginary fantasies, not real, substantive pleasure
(5). He tells his beloved that if, in the past, there was any beauty that he desired and
“got,” that beauty was merely a dream – a prophecy, a foreshadowing – of his beloved
(6-7). These lines are especially significant, because the word “beauty” in line 6 can
refer to any beautiful thing, but it can also refer to a beautiful woman. In the latter
case, the word “got” can suggest sexual possession. In other words, the speaker may be
admitting to his beloved that he has had sex with previous women. Such an admission
implies that he trusts his beloved not to be angry or jealous. He trusts the depth of
her love for him.

STANZA TWO: The speaker proclaims “good
morrow” (or “good morning”) to their “waking souls” (8). This phrasing may imply that
they are presently in bed together, which in turn may imply that they are married, since
premarital sex was greatly criticized in Donne’s era. In any case, the speaker suggests
that they have awakened spiritually (not just physically). His emphasis on their “souls”
suggests that this poem celebrates true spiritual love, not mere sexual desire. In line
9 the speaker suggests that he and his beloved do not feel jealousy (a claim relevant to
the use of the word “got” in line 7). In lines 10-11 he proclaims that when people are
truly in love, their love affects the ways they see everything. True love can make one
little room seem enormous, especially if that little room contains the beloved. In lines
12-14, the speaker invites anyone who wants to explore or map the world to do so; he
says that he and his beloved, instead, can be happy in the little microcosm of their own
loving relationship.

STANZA THREE: In lines 15-16, the
speaker proclaims that he can see his own face reflected in his beloved’s eyes when he
looks closely into them, just as she can see her own face reflected in his eyes. Their
eyes reveal their true love for one another. Their love resembles a perfect sphere (a
standard symbol of spiritual perfection). Anything that dies was made up of physical
elements insufficiently “mixed” and thus bound to fall apart. Finally, the speaker tells
his beloved that “If” (a crucial word) they can maintain their present loving, spiritual
union of souls, their love will never die (20-21).

For a
fine edition of Donne’s poems, see Theodore Redpath, ed., The Songs and Sonets
of John Donne [sic], 2nd ed. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
2009).

How is the MONSTER the true monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein?

The monster acts like an evil creature in the novel
Frankenstein when he decides to avenge his creator, Victor, by
killing all of his loved ones.

No matter how blindsided
Victor had been, his wish to create a living being was a result of his hungry ambition,
and not a pre-meditated nor evil plan to ruin someone's life. Victor had no idea what
the consequences of his actions would be, and there is no way to judge him based on the
gravity and the magnitude of what he did. In other words, Victor had no cannon to go by
as to how to treat his creation.

The monster, however, was
angry at Victor for having created him. He was also angry to be the way that he was, and
to be alone in the world. Although his anger is justifiable, the reality is that his
creation was a freak of nature, and so was he. Victor did not plan for that to happen.
Yet, the monster bypassed this reality and chose a very cruel way to avenge
Victor.

First, in what must have been a gruesome scene, he
killed Victor's little brother, William. Killing a person is bad enough, but killing a
child is unpardonable. It is attacking the truly innocent and that is indeed
monstrous.

Second, with utter premeditation, he set up the
child's caretaker, Justine, so that she would be blamed for the death of the child. She
was found guilty, and eventually died in the
guillotine.

Third, he killed Clerval who was Victor's best
friend and childhood companion. Clerval was also an innocent person who had a lot to
give to society. His death was indeed a huge blow to
Victor.

Finally, when the monster killed Elizabeth on her
wedding night, it displayed its biggest act of revenge and demonic anger. Why not just
kill Victor and spare all the innocent people? What the monster wanted was to make
Victor's life a nightmare, and he definitely achieved that. Yet, what this shows is that
the monster had a bigger capacity for hatred than Victor. Victor might have made one
huge mistake, but the monster caused the cruel and unnecessary deaths of multiple
persons. That is enough to establish that the monster was indeed a true monster in the
story.

What is the ultimate fate of Firs at the end of The Cherry Orchard?

Arguably Firs is the character that suffers the most
tragic ending out of all of the characters in this excellent play. Let us remember that
Firs is presented as a faithful servant to the Ranevsky family, so faithful in fact that
even after the emancipation of the serfs he willingly opts to stay with them and work
for them. However, in spite of his loyalty and dedication, at the end of the play, after
all the other characters have left the estate to meet their new futures, Firs enters and
realises that he has been forgotten and left behind. His lines as he contemplates his
fate are incredibly poignant and severely question the purpose of his
life:

Life has
slipped away as if I haven't
lived.

The play ends as he
lies down on a sofa, dejected at his fate. He, like the Cherry Orchard itself, has come
to represent an outdated anachronism that has no place in the modern Russia, and is left
with no future.

in outliers, what is gladwell main claim in chapers 1-3?just his main claims and what was his main arguement

gladwell says that, the succesful people are the ones who
stand before kings may look like they did it all by themselves. But in fact they are
invaribly the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and
cultural legacies that allow them learn and work hard and make sense of the world in
ways other cannot. For example in Canada. In the beginning, his advantage isn't so much
that he is inherently better but only thathe is a little older. In the first chapter he
also thinks that the story of hockey and early birthdays says about success. It tells us
that our notion that it is the best and the brightest who effortlessly rise to the top
is much too simplistic. But they also got a big head start, an opportunity that they
neither deserved nor earned. And that opportunity played a critical role in their
succes.
 In the second chapter, Gladwell says that success is equal to talent
and the prepreations. But the effect of talent is quite less than the preperation. So,
the most important thing for success is prepreation. The question is how long will this
time is. The answer lead us to 10000 hours. The professional athletes, writers,
cmposers, chess players are the proof of this 10000 hours theory. For example, hockey
player that born early, Bill Gates, Bill Joy, The Beatles etc. Gladwell believes that
those people are the ones who used the opportunities that has given to them. In the
third chapter, Gladwell says that, IQ works only up to a point. Once someone has reached
an IQ of somewhere around 120, having additional IQ points doesn't seem to translate
into any measurable real-world advantage. For example, Chris Langan's IQ is 195 and
Einstein's IQ is 150 but it does not means that Chris Langan is smarter than Einstein.
For, Gladwell the important thing for IQ point is its satisfactoriness. After having
enough IQ the important thing is the other qualities you have, such as imagination and
lateral thinking. In conclusion, success is not thing that we obtain by ourselves. There
must be an opportunity and other qualifications in order to achieve
success

What is the use of humour in Pride and Prejudice.The prime theme line of Pride and Prejudice has little to do with humour. But I would like to...

There are several places where Austen has her characters
speak in clever ways or where the reader can see that Austen is satirizing some aspect
of human behavior, but one of the best examples to look at is the character of Mr.
Collins -- especially in the scene where he proposes to Elizabeth.  Mr. Collins is
characterized as a man who loves to hear himself talk and who has no good sense about
his interactions with people around him.  He talks to much; he introduces himself to
people in social positions above his own; he insults the intelligence and condescends to
people; and he is just annoying in his conversations.  He talks too much about Lady
Catherine.  He knows that he will inherit Longbourne upon the death of Mr. Bennet, and
yet is rude to Jane and Elizabeth when suggesting that they should marry him -- almost
"rubbing it in their face" that they will lose their family
home.

One of the funniest scenes is his actual proposal to
Elizabeth.  He says one wrong thing after another and refuses to take her rejection.  He
explains that if Jane is already taken, then he will settle for Elizabeth.  He tells
that he is interested in marriage only because Lady Catherine told him to marry.  He
hears her heartfelt rejection, but then suggests that she is only saying no because that
is what ladies do, and assumes that she is really intending to say yes.  It finally
takes a firm no and her leaving the room for her answer to sink in.  He obviously isn't
all that heartbroken because the next we hear of him, he has proposed to Charlotte and
she has accepted! 

Collins is a great example of a
character established to illustrate Austen's satire on the subjects of marriage,
society's rules, and the general foolishness of some people.  His fussy attitude and
fawning nature are laughable every time we see him!

From the movie Swing Kids, when Peter and Thomas steal a radio that they saw a Nazi steal from a "traitor's" home, did this scene actually...

Swing Kids is a historical fiction
film.  This means that the story itself is not explicitly factual but the events in the
film could have taken place in real life - and likely did.
Events and people in the movie were based on actual
history.

There were real swing kids.  Peter and Thomas are
probably based on actual people and real experiences - but they were not meant to be
historical figures.  The original scene of the Nazis confiscating the radio was also a
realistic portrayal of actual events.  Many times, Nazis stole valuable items from the
homes of "traitors" and Jews.  The music played and jazz musicians mentioned were also
factual.  The HJ was real.  The costumes were realistic replicas of the actual uniforms
of different Nazi groups.

What made World War I so specifically "modern" and unlike any war prior?

World War I was modern for two major
reasons.

First, this was the first truly industrial war. 
This was the first war in which the outcome was really determined by industrial output. 
It was the side that could bring more guns and tanks to the battlefield that won.  This
is in contrast to previous wars in which tactics and martial spirit were more
important.

Second, this was the first war that really
recruited whole societies to get involved.  Because the war took so many people and
because it needed so much materiel, the war efforts depends on the mobilization of the
mass of the population.  New sources of labor had to be found (women, blacks in the
US...) to work in the factories.  Governments had to work closely with industry to make
sure that enough weapons were produced.  Governments had to push hard to get their
populations to loan them money.

In these ways, this was the
first modern war.  It was so big and so mechanized that it demanded that societies'
entire energies be devoted to waging the war.

What is the theme?

This is a deceptively simple question. A theme, in short,
is the main idea of a story. However, you have to keep in mind that stories, especially
good ones have many themes, and some of the best stories have two or more themes that
may even compete with each other. In this way, it leaves the reader to decide for
himself or herself what the theme is. Let me give you an
example.

In the tragedy, Antigone,
there are many themes. On the one hand, loyalty to family is a theme. This is why
Antigone wants to bury her brother even at the expense of the law of Creon. Creon, the
ruler of Thebes does not want anyone to buy Polynices, the brother of Antigone, because
he attacked the city.

 On the other hand, there is a theme
of obeying the laws of the land. So, what should a person do? This is not an easy
question. So, here is an example of many themes and in this situation there are two
themes that oppose each other.

What are the specific roles nature has played in poetry?

Nature has played a role in many different periods of
literature. Perhaps the two most important periods in which nature held a very important
role are those of Romanticism and Naturalism.

During the
Romantic period, 1800-1860, nature's role in society was one that was erected as a
contradiction to the previous literary period, The Age of Reason. For Romantics, nature
was important because it exemplified the importance of imagination and denounced the
importance of limiting rationalizations. Nature, for the Romantics, exemplified the
importance of creativity of the human mind. Nature became a meditative function for the
authors of the period.

The Naturalistic period (1880-1940)
placed a very different importance on nature. Typically nature was personified given the
power that nature held over man. Influenced by both Herbert Spenser and Charles Darwin,
Naturalistic literature tended to place more power in the hands of nature and man was
left to simply survive- if nature allowed him to. Free will did not exist given nature
held all of the power. Imagery in Naturalistic texts tended to personify mines and
ordinary characters using terminology related to nature. Mines were described as
monsters or beasts that would swallow men whole (Germinal- Zola).
Here, Nature (personified to show highest power) held all of the
power.

What is the exposition, complication, climax and resolution?Please help me.

EXPOSITION.  This is the
background information regarding the two characters and their previous relationship. We
find that Fortunato has in some way offended Montressor, who has decided that he must
seek retribution against
Fortunato.

COMPLICATION. 
Montressor must find a way to kill Fortunato, but without the possibility of being
caught by authorities. He decides to lure him into the Montressor family catacombs
located beneath his home. But how will he do this without arousing Fortunato's
suspicion?

CLIMAX.  Montressor
suddenly thrusts chains upon Fortunato and secures him to the floor in a far corner of
the catacombs. Montressor begins to wall Fortunato up--building a wall of bricks that
will leave his chained prisoner no chance of
escape.

RESOLUTION.  Many
decades later, the older Montressor relates his story, assuring the reader that
Fortunato's body has never been found and that his revenge is
complete.

In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, why does Montag begin to think about the sun and other things that burn?

In Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit
451, as Montag is floating down the river, having evaded the helicopters and
The Hound, he starts thinking about the sun. In fact, since he met Clarisse, he has been
thinking about many things, more than ever before. As he glides along in the water, he
imagines in his mind's eye, how the sun burns: it burns Time, he concludes. He imagines
the sun burning every clock. After a time, Montag, once a fireman, comes to a
realization as to why he cannot burn anything ever
again.

The sun
burnt every day. It burnt Time. The world rushed in a circle and turned on its axis and
time was busy burning the years and the people anyway, without any help from him. So if
he burnt things with the firemen and the sun burnt Time, that meant
that everything
burnt.

He realizes the
burning has to stop: either he has to stop or the sun. Since the sun will not stop,
Montag and other firemen will have to do so, so the world can begin again,
fresh.

Why does Montag start to think about things that
burn? For the first time in many years, Clarisse looked at him and
saw him; she
heard him. Instead of feeling
one-dimensional, he started again to feel alive. Reading allows this to happen to him as
well, as he uses his mind to think and try to make sense of what he has read. He is
forced to find Faber to help him change. As Montag becomes a reasoning, thinking human
being, he cannot help but contemplate things that he has not had to think about before.
He also has to learn who he is, but must do so by thinking about who he
has been.

As he floats along in the
water, perhaps the symbolic burning within him for change brings to mind the concept of
burning, and he begins to look at it from a new vantage point. And he realizes that in
order to survive this new life ahead of him, he must change first. Though the sun will
not change, men can, and he believes he must do what is in his power to effect change
where he is capable of doing so, hoping that others will
follow.

Please analyze W.H. Auden's poem, "O what is that sound that so thrills the ear", also known as "The Quarry."Please pay special attention to how it...

W.H. Auden's poem "O what is that sound that so thrills
the ear" speaks to the Romantic lie as the first seven stanzas
avoid the sense that the soldiers the speaker sees are harbingers
of death for someone. The speaker treats their presence as
something special, for the sounds they make and the beautiful sights they
provide.

In the first stanza, the drums "thrill the ear,"
as if it is music they hear instead of the beat of the drills the regiment steps to in
unison. The second stanza romanticizes the flash of light, as if it were the sun or a
shining trinket; it is really the weapons they carry, deliverers of death. The third
stanza treats the marching men as soldiers carrying out the mundane, daily ritual of
practice: without intent. There is no threat as the speaker sees
them: just routine...except for the inference presented in the word "warning," which is
ignored.

The fourth stanza is where the action of the poem
pivots. The soldiers have changed their direction. The speaker wonders if they have had
a change in orders. The only suggestion of danger is the figure now kneeling at the
speaker's side: to pray? To aim a gun?

In the next stanza,
the speaker wonders if the soldiers are not stopping at the doctor's home, though none
of them are wounded. The suspense starts to build here. The mention of the doctor's
house and "wounding" might be seen as foreshadowing. And still, the speaker thinks
nothing of it; believing that all is well, he continues to observe as if the coming army
means nothing to him. The next stanza mentions the parson. Once again, the inference may
be that the parson's services will be needed for those who are about to die: another
instance of foreshadowing, perhaps, but still the speaker is
unmoved.

The energy and movement of the poem changes in the
seventh stanza. As the soldiers move ever closer, the speaker hints that maybe they are
after someone: the cunning or sly farmer, except that they pass the farmer's house and
now are running. At this point, the speaker seems to
finally pick up on the impending danger as the running army draws
quickly closer.

The fact that the poem is also called "The
Quarry" has more significance now. First the speaker notes that his wife is leaving him,
and he reminds her of her vows: but he suddenly is (too late) aware that he also must be
leaving, regardless of the vows he spoke of moments before.
Or...is the speaker a woman, speaking
all along to her husband, seeing the beauty in the drumming and the flash of light on
weapons as something beautiful, learning at the last minute that perhaps her husband is
the quarry?

Finally, the soldiers' intent is clear in the
splintering wood of the door, the broken lock, passage through the gate, and their
booted heels heavy on the floor, with savage intent burning in their
eyes.

Regardless of who the speaker is, the idea of the
Romantic lie can be seen in the lack of concern for the movement of this approaching
army, sure they look for others and not the speaker or his/her company. The reality, of
course, is that any army represents the power to control or destroy. The speaker acts as
if nothing could happen because it is a beautiful day, and reality comes along quickly
toward the end, leaving the reader to wonder why it took so long for the speaker to
notice the soldiers' true intent, and what happens with the breaking of the
door.

Does Horatio love Hamlet, and is it more than just a brotherly love in Shakespeare's Hamlet?

There is certainly no textual suggestion of a sexual
relationship between Hamlet and Horatio.  They aren't even together in more than a
handful of scenes in the play.  Horatio's purpose in the play to serve as an example of
a loyal friend, to contrast with the disloyal friends of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
who are really only with Hamlet at the King's command and for the hope of earning a
"king's remembrance" (reward) for finding out what is wrong with
Hamlet.

Horatio has been at Elsinore since King Hamlet's
funeral--coming to comfort a friend at the loss of his father.  He learns of the ghost
and takes it upon himself to tell his distressing news to Hamlet.  He is  a sounding
board for Hamlet' anger over the King's carousing. Horario is rightly justified in
warning Hamlet about the potential dangers of going off to talk with the ghost.  Horatio
shows his loyalty when he swears to Hamlet to keep secret everything that transpired the
night with the ghost.

We don't see Horatio again until the
middle of Act 3 when Hamlet asks Horatio to help him observe Claudius for signs of a
guilty reaction during the upcoming play.  Hamlet is again relying on the loyalty of a
friend.  He compliments Horatio for his balance of "blood and judgement," meaning that
he admires Horatio for his balance of emotion and
intelligence. 

In Act 4 Horatio is the recipient of a
letter from Hamlet telling him that he has escaped the boat to England and returned to
Denmark.  In Act 5 he meets up with Hamlet in the graveyard and they talk about all that
transpired on the boat.  He is there to again warn Hamlet about the potential danger of
this fencing match that Claudius is proposing.

In the final
scene of the play he devastated by the poisoning of Hamlet and says that he would like
to commit suicide, claiming to be more "antique Roman than a Dane."  He is alluding to
the noble suicides of Cassius and Brutus in the story of Julius Caesar.  Hamlet tells
him his must live on the explain the story of what happened here and why.  This is
exactly what Horatio does when Fortinbras arrives.  Horatio is the best kind of friend
Hamlet could have.