Explain in detail what is meant by the term zoonosis?

Zoonosis refers to the transfer of some diseases from
animals to humans. Many animals carry the same pathogens that cause illnesses in us,
though whether the animals show the same symptoms or suffer from any ailments themselves
may differ.

The organisms are able to move from the carrier
animals to humans in many ways. Some organisms are air-borne and can spread just by
being in close contact with the carrier animal, some spread only when humans are bitten
by the infected animal, some are spread by consuming the meat of infected animals which
is not properly cooked at a high enough temperature for an adequate amount of time,
others may be passed on by insects like ticks and
fleas.

Whenever a disease in humans is detected which is
zoonotic in nature it is important to identify the animal carrier so that others can be
protected and a rapid spread of the illness avoided.

In 1984, Winston said tragedy does not exist in his world. How is tragedy important in our lives?

Tragedy is important in our lives because it indicates
that we are human.  If we were not human and we did not have any human feelings, we
would experience no tragedies.  In 1984 the Party has created a
society in which there is no tragedy by taking away the basic humanity of the people. 
This is one of the major themes of the book.

We can see
these things in two quotes from Chapter 3.  When Winston thinks about the idea that
tragedy no longer exists in his society, he thinks that
tragedy

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belonged to the ancient time, to a time when
there was still privacy, love, and friendship, and when the members of a family stood by
one another without needing to know the
reason.

This illustrates how
tragedy comes out of the things that make us human.  It comes out of our ability to love
one another and to care about one another.  When we love and care, we open ourselves up
to tragedy.

A few lines later, Winston reflects on what the
current society is like and why there is no tragedy in that society.  In contrast to the
old days when people loved each other,

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Today there were fear, hatred, and pain, but no
dignity of emotion, no deep or complex
sorrows.

With no dignified
emotions like love, there are no longer any deep sorrows; no
tragedy.

The Party has taken away all the human emotions of
the people and, in doing so, they have made tragedy impossible.  They have done so in an
attempt to make the people depend completely on the Party and the State, not on one
another.  This is a major theme of the book.

Which were the methods used by the US government to ensure public support for the World War I?

One of the primary means of ensuring public support was
the formation of a Committee on Public Information eight days after the formal
declaration of war. Journalists, photographers, and artists were encouraged to spread
information about the war in a positive mode. The committee promoted saving food and
fuel and the sale of war bonds to support the war effort. The committee promoted the
idea that anything German was tantamount to disloyalty to the American cause. For that
reason, German Measles were called "liberty measles," dachhunds became "liberty pups,"
and that most German of dishes, sauerkraut became "liberty
cabbage."

Additionally, the Espionage Act of 1917 and the
Sedition Act of 1918 provided severe punishment for attempting to interfere with the war
effort or distributing literature or materials abusive about the U.S. Government or its
armed forces. Also, the Lever Food and Control Act created a U.S. Food Administration
which encouraged Americans to observe meatless Tuesdays; wheatless Wednesdays, and
porkless Saturdays, all in an effort to garner support for the war. Finally, Americans
were encouraged to plant "victory gardens" to save food and promote the
effort.

How does Eliza Pinckney exemplify the traits of Republican Motherhood?

Eliza Lucas Pinckney was one of the most accomplished
women in colonial history.  It was due to her efforts that the colonial economy of South
Carolina came to be based on the cultivation of indigo.  Her experiments with growing
indigo and producing dye showed people how to do those things in South Carolina's
climate and soil conditions.

Pinckney's connection to
republican motherhood comes from the fact that she was, herself, so accomplished.  She
managed plantations both before her marriage and after being widowed.  She came to be
very well educated, reading many of the classics from her father's library.  This was in
line with ideas of republican motherhood, which held that more educated women would make
better mothers.

You can argue that her children proved that
she was a good mother.  For example, her oldest son was one of the signers of the
Constitution and was twice a candidate for president.  Her other surviving son was
ambassador to Spain.  Since their father died when they were 12 and 8 respectively, it
is clear that their mother had much to do with educating them, just as ideas of
republican motherhood said she should.

Eliza Pinckney was a
very accomplished and educated woman whose sons became very prominent themselves.  This
is taken as an example of republican motherhood because it proves the idea that more
educated women could do a better job of raising "republican" children who were fit to
participate in a republican form of government.

What are the effects of the present global financial crisis on Multinational companies?

I would say that multinational companies are in a way
better off in the present global financial crisis as all countries have not been
affected by it equally.

Though the global financial crisis
is affecting all countries in some way or another, the drop in consumption in many
countries is not as high as that in the US. This is one of the advantages that
multinational companies have over those that focus only on one country. The geographical
diversification allows companies to shift focus to countries that are affected to a
lesser extent and try to increase sales there to compensate for the drop in revenue in
other countries.

For example, with the financial system in
the US having crashed, banks and other financial institutions have increased their focus
on gaining more clients in other countries and are investing more money in assets
outside the US.

Why was Reverend Bulkeley so interested in Kit in chapter six?

Reverend Buckley is interested in Kit because her
grandfather was knighted.  He is impressed by that, as it is a significant honor.  He
asks her if she was a loyal subject of King George.

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“So, young lady, your grandfather was knighted
by King Charles, you say?  A great honor, a very great honor indeed.  And I take it he
was a loyal subject of our King James as well?” (p.
60)

Kit doesn’t understand
the question, because it does not occur to her to be anything else.  The reverend
suggests that she needs to keep her loyalties.  Buckley uses Kit to insinuate that
Matthew is a traitor because he is interested in protecting the rights of the charter. 
He is suggesting that by living in Matthew’s house she would become a
traitor.

Write a literary analysis of some aspect of "A Rose for Emily."

You might want to approach this question by examining one
of the themes in the story and its development in the tale. The theme of isolation is an
interesting one to look at, as Emily Grierson is part of this tightly-knit community
where clearly everybody knows everybody else's business, and yet somehow, Miss Emily
remains strangely isolated throughout her entire life. Note how at the beginning of the
story Miss Emily is described as "a fallen monument" for which the men have a respectful
affection for. She is likewise described as a "tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of
hereditary obligation upon the town." This is a rather strange statement to make when we
consider how little Emily has been involved in the town and how defiantly she has kept
herself to herself. In her childhood, it was her father who kept her isolated, but after
his death, this is something that she continued herself, apart from her few shopping
trips, jaunts with Homer Barron and the art classes that she
gives.

However, although it appears Miss Emily couldn't
care less about the town, she is clearly a topic of hot gossip. Again and again, the
narrator talks of how her actions excite comment from all of the townspeople, especially
concerning her relationship with Homer Barron:

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So the next day we all said, "She will kill
herself"; and we said it would be the best thing. When she had first begun to be seen
with Homer Barron, we had said, "She will marry him." Then we said, "She will persuade
him yet," because Homer himself had remarked--he liked men,and it was known that he
drank with the younger me in the Elks' Club--that he was not a marrying
man.

Throughout the story
then, the townspeople hotly comment on her life and actions, revealing an interesting
conflict. Even though Miss Emily regards herself as separate from the rest of the town,
they regard her as one of their own.

What point is Cervantes making when he lets Quixote have delusions of knighthood?

I think that Quixote was ahead of his time in articulating
the need for dreams in the individual subconsciousness.  Quixote is driven by the need
to be a knight.  It is a dream, a pursuit, embedded in his identity and allows Quixote
to appropriate the world in accordance to his own subjectivity.  This becomes part of
his character and when Cervantes creates it as such, the author is making a statement
that who we, as human beings are, is determined in large part by the dreams we pursue. 
Setting himself apart from previous authors on the world scene, Cervantes is suggesting
that our own visions and conceptions of self help to define our own reality, such as
Quixote.  This is also brought out in full force when the historical context of the
novel is revealed.  At a time when Spain's "Golden Age" was at its zenith, Cervantes
understood that while animated by individual dreams of conquest and glory, if one, like
Quixote, does not understand how external factors can impact individual subjectivity,
failure is almost assured.  Spain sought glory and conquest, akin to Quixote's pursuit
of the world of the knight.  Yet, the failure to understand the changing nature of the
world, such as the growth of industry, like Quixote's pursuit, ends up seeing a dream
become blighted.  The message is a complex one.  Dreams are a part of our identity, and
allow us to appropriate the world in accordance to our own subjectivity.  Yet, there are
limitations to this condition and failure to properly understand such limitations  can
result in personal destruction, seen in both Spain and Quixote.

Determine all the points of intrsection of the lines y=12/x and y^2=(3x^2+5)/2?

To determine the intercepting point of the curves (not
lines), we'll have to solve the system of equations of the
curves.

We'll write the
system:

2y^2 =3x^2+5

3x^2 -
2y^2 = -5 (1)

xy = 12 (2)

We
recognize an a homogenous system and the solving strategy is to eliminate the numbers
alone.

For this reason, we'll multiply the 1st equation by
12 and the 2nd equation by 5:

36x^2 - 24y^2 = -60
(3)

5xy = 60 (4)

We'll add (3)
and (4):

36x^2 + 5xy - 24y^2 =
0

We'll divide by x^2:

36 +
5y/x - 24y^2/x^2 = 0

We'll substitute y/x =
t:

-24t^2 + 5t + 36 = 0

24t^2
- 5t - 36 = 0

We'll apply quadratic
formula:

t1 =
[5+sqrt(25+3456)]/48

t1 =
(5+59)/48

t1 = 4/3

t2 =
(5-59)/48

t2 = -9/8

We'll put
y/x = 4/3

y = 4x/3

We'll
substitute y in the 2nd equation:

x*(4x/3) =
12

4x^2 = 4*9

x^2 =
9

x1 = 3 and x2 = -3

y1 = 4
and y2 = -4

y/x = -9/8

y =
-9x/8

-9x^2 = 8*12

-3x^2 =
32

x^2 = -32/3

This equation
has no real solutions.

The intercepting
points of the curves are represented by the following real solutions of the system, that
are: {(3 ; 4) ; (-3 ; -4)}.

I need help writing either a response or a continuation to "I Wander'd Lonely as a Cloud."It must be at least 12 lines long and in the same form....

You will obviously have to write the response or the
continuation for yourself, but here are a few features of the poem that you should take
into consideration when you craft your assignment. First of all you should notice the
very regular rhyme scheme.  In each group of six lines there is an ababcc rhyme pattern.
 You will have to repeat that pattern 2 times when you write your 12 line assignment.
 You don't need to use the same rhyming sounds in each set of 6
lines.

Another feature of the poem is that it has a very
regular meter. These lines are in iambic tetrameter, so you will need to try to follow
that meter as well.  An iambic foot is one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed
syllable.  The sound of the line should sound like this: ta DA, ta DA, ta DA, ta DA.
 Those syllables can be in single syllable words (but that is kind of restrictive), or
can carry over several syllables.  You can hear the meter of the lines if you read the
poem aloud and over stress every other syllable.  Try reading the bold words/syllables
with more stress:

For OFT,
when ON my COUCH I
LIE

In
VAcant OR in
PENsive
MOOD

In regards to
what you could write about, you could do a lot of things.  You could extend the poem by
explaining some other feature of nature that also inspired the poet's joy with nature.
You could write about some other feature of nature that brought him sorrow or fear to
serve as a contrast to the poem above. You could write about a scene that inspires
you when you reflect back on it in your quiet
moments.  The themes expressed in this poem, the power of nature and imagination/memory,
are central to the Romantic period, so it would a very safe route to use those as a
place to start your response.

Why is Mrs. De Ropp to blame for her own death in Srendno Vashtar?I see everything so subjective, that is, the boy only "desires" she is dead...

Of course, Mrs. De Ropp does not actually deserve to die. 
Her offenses against Conradin are grave, but they are not capital crimes.  However, she
is to blame for her own death because she makes a concerted effort to make Conradin
unhappy.

We are told that Mrs. De Ropp dislikes Conradin
but won't admit it to herself.  We see her doing things specifically to hurt him.  She
sold his hen just to hurt him.  She saw that he had the hutch and decided to get rid of
whatever was in it.  She is doing these things just because she likes to make Conradin
unhappy (though she tells herself she is training him).

So
this is a woman who is really being quite cruel to a child that she is raising.  She
doesn't deserve to die, but she does bring her death on
herself.

WHY DID THE WOMAN ASK THE FAT MAN "THEN IS YOUR SON REALLY DEAD"?DIDNT SHE HEAR THE SPEECH THE FAT MAN WAS GIVING TO THE PEOPLE ON TRAIN? WHY...

In the story, the author says that she asks him
this

just as
if she had heard nothing of what had been said and almost as if waking up from a
dream

To me, this means that
you can definitely argue that she has not really heard all of what he has said.  She
must have heard some of it to know that he had a son, but maybe once she heard he was
dead she sort of got lost in her thoughts.

In terms of the
story, though, it makes sense for her to ask this.  Because what she is really doing is
confronting him about what he is saying.  She is really implying that what he's saying
can't be true if his son is really dead.  He can't have those grand feelings if his son
is dead.

She's right -- once he thinks about it, he
dissolves into tears.

So to me, I don't know if it's
believable for her to say it if this were real life.  But for the story, it makes
sense.

In TKAM, does the author of this text highlight specific experiences where prejudgment, prejudice and social expections are evident?

These are three of the major themes discussed by author
Harper Lee in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. There are many
different
examples.

PREJUDGMENT.  Many
of the various characters are prejudged due in part to social bias and expectations.
Scout's immaturity is evident throughout much of her narrative. Boo Radley is probably
the best example; rumors about his unusual behavior make him out to be some sort of
monster, but those few people who have contact with him know better, as Scout discovers
in the final chapters. African-Americans are blamed for most unexplained circumstances
in the town, and Dolphus Raymond is presumed to be mentally unbalanced because of his
preference to live with
Negroes.

PREJUDICE.  Racial
prejudice is rampant in TKAM. African-Americans are scorned by most
(but not all) of Maycomb's white population. Many of the town's white families (the
Ewells and Cunninghams) are also treated with disdain; likewise, women do not receive
social equity. The mentally unstable are also looked down
upon.

SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS. 
There are several different social classes evident in Maycomb. Jem describes the four
different "peoples" as people like the Finches and their neighbors; people from Old
Sarum, such as the Cunninghams; people like the Ewells; and Negroes. Aunt Alexandra
particularly does not approve of mixing with any of the last three groups, though
Atticus mixes freely with them all (though he, too, is not fond of the
Ewells).

In George Orwell's 1984, did O'Brien have any other intention apart from gaining Winston's trust by giving him "The Book"?

When he meets Winston Smith O'Brien obliquely refers to a
member of the Outer Party--the philologist Syme--now officially an unperson. This small
act of unorthodoxy emboldens Winston to visit O'Brien at his luxurious apartment to pick
up a newer edition of the Newspeak Dictionary. Accompanied there by Julia O'Brien
reaveals that he is a member of the shadowy Brotherhood, the purpose of which is to
overthrow the Party at some ideterminate future date; to the co-conspirators O'Brien
gives "The Book"--both an explanation of 1984's totalitarian society and a manifesto of
liberation from it. Of course, the whole plan is a ruse to flush out a disloyal member
of the Party. But is that the sole reason O'Brien has for giving Winston "The
Book"? From the beginning to the end of the novel Winston depicts the Party as a mystery
wrapped in an enigma, doing what it does for its own inscrutable reasons in the cause of
doublethink. And O'Brien personifies this. He is a fearsome believer in the gospel of
power for its own sake and at the same time a kindly grandfather, a symbol of Big
Brother, deeply concerned about the sanity of his favoured patient, Winston. After his
arrest, when Winston asks if the Party had also captured him, O'Brien replies that "they
got me long ago". This mysterious assertion seems to imply that the strategem of "The
Book" is not simply to capture Winston, the thought criminal, but to 'cure' him of his
insane attachment to a reality outside the Party's
control.           

Discuss your thoughts on the current situation with Swami Ramdev, especially in light of this past weekend's events.

There are a couple of issues here which make it a complex
one.  The first would be that the overall issue of Swami Ramdev's fast is quite a
legitimate one.  The issue of corruption has been present in Indian politics and
government for some time.  If nothing else, Swami Ramdev's fast and arrest this weekend
shines some much needed light on an issue that must be rectified should India wish to
make serious inroads in the world community as a legitimate political and economic
power.  Having said this, I think that there are some questions as to Swami Ramdev's
motivations and whether or not there is some political posturing in his stance. In this
light, whether or not Swami Ramdev is an actual "outsider" to the political scene, or
merely antagonistic to the current Status Quo is brought into question. Some have
criticized his fast as one motivated by publicity, suggesting that others have been
doing the same thing for some time.  The most immediate name that comes to mind is Anna
Hazare's stance on political corruption, in which his fast was not as widely covered as
Swami Ramdev's, but actually achieved the passage of legislation in response to it and
governmental assurance to adhere to his demands.   Certainly, the Congress Government's
response of arresting him Swami Ramdev late at night, at a service with his followers
present has brought on the unfavorable comparisons to Emergency and 1975, only enhancing
Swami's activist stance and perhaps generating more support for
him.

In Chapter 21 of The Scarlet Letter, what are the Puritan values as exemplified by their celebrations?Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

While the lengthy discussion which Hawthorne which injects
into Chapter XXI of The Scarlet Letter may appear to be an
irrelevant digression from the narrative, it attests to the author's knowledge both of
the Puritans' history and his attitude toward their society. For instance, there is
clearly pointed satire in Hawthorne's remark,

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Into this festal season of the year—as it
already was, and continued to be during the greater part of two centuries—the Puritans
compressed whatever mirth and public joy they deemed allowable to human infirmity;
thereby so far dispelling the customary cloud, that, for the space of a single holiday,
they appeared scarcely more grave than most other communities at a period of general
affliction. 

The instillation
of the new governor, which allows for a "holiday," is nothing like those celebrated in
the "merry old England" from whence the Puritans have come. For, this day differs only
from other days in the lives of those who "wore the blackest shade of Puritanism" with
the exception of stopping work by in

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relaxing the severe and close application to
their various modes of rugged industry, which, at all other
times, seemed of the same piece and material with their
religion.

That
this is the only digression from the quotidian is also evinced with the usual position
of Hester in the community.  For, she is yet isolated from the
others:

As
was usually the case wherever Hester stood, a small vacant area—a sort of magic
circle—had formed itself about her, into which, though the people were elbowing one
another at a little distance, none ventured, or felt disposed to
intrude.

As Hawthorne
mentions, work and religion are the staples of Puritanism with no deviation.  Gone,
writes Hawthorne, are ancestral vestiges of the theatrical and celebratory England of
Queen Elizabeth or even that of King James.  Pointing to the hypocrisy of this grim
civilization is the fact that the sailors, who "transgressed without fear or scruple the
rules of behaviour that were binding on all others," are able to revel in the day and
smiled at by the Puritans "not benignantly at the clamor and rude deportment of these
jolly seafaring men." 

What major role does Lady Macbeth have to the murder of King Duncan in Macbeth?

In a sense, Lady Macbeth is responsible for Duncan's
death. In fact, she admits that she would have killed him herself had he not resembled
her father sleeping. Repeatedly, Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth's manhood when he has
second thoughts about murdering Duncan. She uses manipulation to convince him that the
murder of Duncan must occur.

Lady Macbeth pushes her
husband into kiliing Duncan. After, the murder, she pretends to be happy and content.
However, that all changes for the worse. She begins to lose her mind. She cannot wash
the bloodstains from her hands.

Ultimately, Lady Macbeth
takes her own life for she cannot deal with the guilt of forcing her husband to murder
Duncan. Had she not been so convincing, one wonders if Macbeth would have actually gone
through with his plans to murder Duncan.  

What is the meaning of the title "Everyday Use"?

The title refers to the quilts but more metaphorically, to
the basic conflict in the story.

Literally, the phrase
"everyday use" refers to the way in which the mother wants the quilts to be used.  She
sees the quilts as useful objects, rather than as heirlooms to be hung up and looked
at.

The title also refers to the general conflict that is
going on in the story.  It refers to the conflict between the old-fashioned "everyday"
type of people like the mother and people like Wangero who has all these new ideas.  The
everyday people are down to earth and practical, the others are more interested in ideas
and philosophical statements.

How does the absence of women affect the plot and theme of The Road?

Well, women are not completely absent from The
Road, although the female characters are temporary and tragic.  There is the
argument flashback between the father and mother, where the mother has decided to take
her life rather than face the reality of the post-apocalypse world.  Her decision, and
her absence from the book is a major theme: the absence of hope, the absence of future. 
Most of the other women in the book are horrible victims, those held captive and bred
for food, which simply reinforces McCarthy's theme of
hopelessness.

Only at the very end of the story does he
give a glimpse past the hopelessness, with the woman who embraces the orphaned
boy.

Can anyone help suggest topics for a dissertation? It can be anything on any novel, a poem, indian writing in english etc. Please suggest some...

What makes a dissertation a dissertation is that it will
either answer a question that you feel is important or solve a problem you feel has not
yet been dealt with. The best dissertation topic for you will be on a topic that you
really enjoy. When choosing your dissertation topic, ask yourself what book, poem, or
author, etc. did you really enjoy reading and would like to learn more about? Once you
start analyzing or researching the piece further, then the question you would like to
ask about the text, or the problem you see in present analysis will eventually come to
you.

That being said, here are a few dissertation topics within your
age group that may spark your interest:

• You may
  want to analyze John Donne’s poetry for love and what it
  means.


• You may want to think about what role religion
  plays in George Eliot.


• You may want to think about life
  as portrayed by Jane Austen.


• You may want to think about
  how Charle’s Dickens uses costumes in his novels.


• You may
  want to think analyze the use of certain images in Virginia
  Woolf.


• You may want to analyze how the Time Machine uses,
  and refers to, the concept of time.

What does Obama learn in Kenya in Dreams from My Father?

The full grasp of Obama's identity is the central focus of
the time he spent in Kenya.  The comprehension of one's racial and ethnic identity for
someone born of heritage that is not the cultural norm is always a complex issue. 
Obama's background certainly fits such a description.  An absent father, as well as
being raised by a White mother and grandparents helped to create a void of questioning,
to a certain extent.  This was understood when he was able to go to Kenya, embracing a
part of his life that lay, up to that point, beyond his reach.  The memoir addresses
this with his exploration of what Kenya represented in his own life and how this is a
part of his identity.  At the same time, the exploration of his roots in Kenya also
explores how there is an aspect of choice that lies in all individuals from varied
backgrounds.  While individuals might not be able to control their backgrounds or the
parts of their identities that happen before their birth, Obama's narrative reflects
that individuals can appropriate whatever aspects of their identity and background that
they wish in defining who they are and how they interact with
others.

How might memory be influenced by internal and external factors?

Short-term and long-term memory can be influenced by both
internal and external factors.  The time and place where the memory occurred can have an
impact on its formation.  Internal factors affecting memory have to do with the neurons
in the brain.  If the brain is not developed, such as a in a baby, or is deteriorating,
such as in an older person, then the memory may not fully form.  Conditions in the
person, such as someone who is tired or scared, can also have an impact.  Adrenaline can
impact memory formation.

External factors involving memory
can include sensory input.  Smell is  a particularly strong association in memory
formation.  Other factors might include the social conditions (who a person was with),
location and even time.

What could environmental groups do to response to air pollution? thanks

Pollution is hard to control. Many things that cause
pollution are of benefit to us: factories make our essential needs and provide us with
jobs, motor vehicles get us around and power stations produce the electricity we use.
Seeing that it is impossible to totally prevent pollution, steps should be taken by
environmental groups to identify and eliminate the more dangerous forms of pollution.
Environmental groups should encourage factories to use electricity in place of fossil
fuels, since burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas is another source of
pollutants in the air. Combustion releases harmful gases like sulphur dioxide, carbon
dioxide and nitrous oxide into the air. The constant release of these gases into the
atmosphere can create problems. As an example, excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
creates a temperature barrier known as the ‘Greenhouse Effects”, making the whole Earth
heat up. This then causes change in the climate and also disrupts rainfall. If this is
not prevented, the Earth’s whole eco-system might be altered or even destroyed. Apart
from these, they can put forward a proposal plan to the government to impose stricter
laws to restrict the release of harmful gases from vehicles and factories. They should
also take efforts to clean up air contaminants and plant more trees in the cities to
balance the carbon dioxide content in the air. Another environmental groups’ response to
air pollution would be to launch an important campaign. As you have probably heard, the
campaign is called “Green campaign” and aims to combat Greenhouse Effects. As a result
of all these actions, this will deter the public from getting involved in practices like
open-burning of rubbish.

Find the slope of the line that is perpendicular to the line that passes through the points (1,3) and (2,6)?

We know that 2 line are perpendicular if and only if the
product of the values of their slopes is -1.

We can find
the slope of the line that passes through the given
points.

m1 = (y2 - y1)/(x2 -
x1)

m1 = (6-3)/(2-1)

m1 =
3/1

m1 = 3

The product of the
slopes is:

m1*m2 = -1

-3*m2 =
-1

We'll divide by -3:

m2 =
1/3

The slope of the perpendicular line to
the line that passes through the points (1,3) and (2,6) is m2 =
1/3.

How does “The Rocking-Horse Winner” portray the quest for material wealth?

To add to what has already been said, the obsessive
rocking on a horse that is, in reality, going nowhere presents an interesting parallel
to humankind's search for wealth. The rocking horse is stationary. It sits in one place
and does not move in spite of the fact that he keeps on rocking. This is a lot like life
in that we often pursue wealth incessantly with no clear direction for where we are
going. It is the vicious cycle of questing after possessions that, essentially, are
meaningless to us after we are dead. The family gets the money, and the father clearly
values the money more than the son, but in the end when we die we can't take material
wealth with us to the grave (well, we can, but what is the point?). Therefore, the story
asks a critical question - how important is wealth? Is money truly as valuable as we
make it out to be? And, in the end, which is more important: money or a life well-lived
in pursuit of something more tangible than spinning one's wheels in place for all
eternity?

What are the central ideas, ironies, and the mood of "Barn Burning"?

The themes of "Barn Burning" are related to cultural and
socio-economic class distinctions, namely family
clannishness.  The Southern agrarian tradition holds that family justice
supersedes national legal justice.  This is why the South seceded from the Union and why
Snopes expects his son not to sell him out to the
judge.

Another main theme is Faulkner's
disregard for "past." He
says:

“The past is never dead. It’s not even
past.”

AND

“[T]o
me,” Faulkner remarked, “no man is himself, he is the sum of his past. There is no such
thing really as was because the past is. It is a part of every man, every woman, and
every moment. All of his and her ancestry, background, is all a part of himself and
herself at any moment.”

Sarty's decision to run
away from his family is noble, but--according to Faulkner--the boy can never escape his
father's and the South's legacies.  They will forever haunt
him.

Irony is mainly
situational: Snopes' plans to soil De Spain's rug and burn his barn are spoiled by
Sarty.  Snopes expects family clannishness to win out over social justice, but this, of
course, backfires.

Mood is
mainly Southern Gothic, with its focus on the grotesque Snopes, fire imagery, soiled
rug, and violent ending.

Describe how to find the inverse of function y=3x+12?

The inverse of the function f(x) is
f^-1(x).

To prove that f(x) has inverse, we'll have to
prove first that f(x) is bijective.

To prove that f(x) is
bijective, we'll have to prove that is one-to-one and on-to
function.

1) One-to-one
function.

We'll suppose that f(x1) =
f(x2)

We'll substitute f(x1) and f(x2) by their
expressions:

3x1 + 12= 3x2 +
12

We'll eliminate like
terms:

3x1 = 3x2

We'll divide
by 3:

x1 = x2

A function is
one-to-one if and only if for x1 = x2 => f(x1) =
f(x2).

2) On-to function:

For
a real y, we'll have to prove that it exists a real x.

y =
3x + 12

We'll isolate x to the right side. For this reason,
we'll subtract 12 both sides:

y - 12 =
3x

We'll use the symmetric
property:

3x = y - 12

We'll
divide by 3:

x = y/3 - 4

x is
a real number => f(x) is an on-to function

Since the
function is both, one to one and on-to function, then f(x) is
bijective.

If f(x) is bijective => f(x) is
invertible.

The requested inverse function of
f(x) = 3x + 12 is: f^-1(x) = x/3 - 4.

Did Charlotte Bronte effectively address all the issues throughout the novel Jane Eyre in the resolution?

This is a seriously interesting question to consider, and
you will find that there are a whole range of responses to this question. My own
personal feeling is that there are some issues that are not so easily resolved as the
happy ending that is suggested in the novel would
indicate.

Let us remember that this is a novel that is
focused on the internal conflict within Jane Eyre herself and the way that she is shown
to battle between cold, intellectual reason and fiery passion. We see these two extremes
again and again through the novel, such as the incident in the red room when she is
dominated by passion, and then when she decides to leave Thornfield when she is
dominated by reason. In a sense the rest of the characters she meets are dominated by
one of these two extremes.

However, by the end of the
novel, with the events that have transpired, and in particular the maiming and blinding
of Rochester, himself a character who is shown to be dominated by passion, that somehow
Jane has reached a stage in her life where she is able to balance both of these extremes
and live a happy and conventional life as a result. In particular it is strongly
suggested that one of the reasons that their marriage is successful is the way that
Rochester has been "taken down a peg or two" and reduced to a position where he is
physically dependent upon Jane, making them equals. Note what the text tells
us:

Mr.
Rochester continued blind the first two years of our union: perhaps it was that
circumstance that drew us so very near--that knit us so very close! for I was then his
vision, as I am still his right
hand.

However, I personally
find myself doubting that the image of Victorian respectability that Jane manages to
exude is something that can be easily balanced with the extremes that Jane demonstrates
during the novel. I am not so sure that the powerful symbol of repressed female
sexuality suggested in the character of Bertha Rochester can be killed off so easily, or
hidden away metaphorically in the attic of Jane's mind. My complaint is that I find the
ending too neat.

Does Hamlet feel "the readiness is all" and the rest is up to providence, or does his fit of passion in killing Claudius reveal he is still...

Your question refers to Shakespeare's tragic play,
Hamlet, Act Five, scene two. Horatio is concerned that some kind of
trap may be lying in wait for Hamlet. Hamlet says,

readability="19">

HAMLET:

Not
a whit, we defy augury; there's a special

Providence in the
fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to

come, if it be
not to come, it will be now; if it be not now,

yet it will
come. The readiness is all. Since no man has

aught of what
he leaves, what is't to leave betimes? Let be.
(V.ii.211-215)

In this
speech, I do not believe that Hamlet is undecided. Horatio urges him to wait if he has a
bad feeling about the "sword play" with Laertes. However, there seems (to me) to be a
certain resignation to Hamlet's attitude. He is committed: "we defy augury" means that
he will stare down bad omens, ignore them, and move forward. An especially beautiful
line, "there's a special / Providence in the fall of a sparrow" seems to allude to the
Bible verse that speaks of God's universal knowledge—he knows even when a sparrow
falls:

Look at
the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew
6:26)

Hamlet speaks of
providence: God. I believe he is saying, there is God's hand in all things: even in
Hamlet's meeting of Laertes. He may being saying, too, that whatever is to happen is
something God has planned
(predestination).

Hamlet
now knows that Claudius has killed Old Hamlet for certain. He also
knows that Claudius tried to have Hamlet killed in England. Hamlet
is fairly certain that Laertes blames Hamlet for the death of Polonius, as well as
Ophelia's sad fate, and so Hamlet expects treachery from Laertes, even though Hamlet has
admired him almost like a brother. Laertes' grief and need for revenge are deep, and
have been coated with poison by Claudius.

Hamlet explains
that whatever is to come, will come. If not today, then tomorrow,
but it will come. Hamlet's light spirits while he jests at the
beginning of the "game" entertain those who watch, but it may speak to Hamlet's
acceptance of the inevitable: God's plan for him. I do not think Hamlet goes into the
ring without knowing what his fate may be.

Hamlet is
prepared to kill Claudius if opportunity allows it. Hamlet could have killed Claudius
while he prayed, but he did not want his uncle to go to Heaven having just prayed (he
thought). Old Hamlet never received the mercy of being absolved of his sins before
he died. Later, because Hamlet believes the King his in Gertrude's
room in the midst of some incestuous act, he stabs through the curtain (arras) and kills
Polonius believing it is the King—and does so
without hesitation.

Of course, once
Hamlet realizes that Claudius is responsible for his mother's death—Claudius' own
wife—and for the treachery with Laertes, Hamlet does not kill Claudius because he knows
he is dying from Laertes' poisoned sword. Based on what Hamlet said to Horatio earlier,
I believe he expects that things will end one way or another now, and if Hamlet dies in
the process, that is what is meant to be.

I believe that
Hamlet is resolved to face his fate, recognizing that providence will have a hand in
what happens.

What is the equation of the tangent line to the curve f(x)=3x^2+1, at the point x=1?

We'll recall the fact that the derivative of a function at
a given point is represented by the value of the slope of the tangent line at the
curve.

The equation of the tangent line, in the point x =
1 is:

y - f(1) =
f'(1)(x-1)

We'll calculate f(1), by substituting x by 1 in
the expression of the function:

f(1) = 3*1^2 +
1

f(1) = 3 + 1

f(1) =
4

To calculate f'(1), first we'll have to differentiate the
given function with respect to x:

f'(x) = (3x^2 +
1)'

f'(x) = 6x

Now, we'll
replace x by 1 in the expression of the first
derivative:

f'(1) = 6

Now,
we'll substitute f(1) and f'(1) in the expression of the equation of the tangent
line:

y - f(1) = f'(1)(x-1)

y
- 4 = 6(x - 1)

We'll remove the
brackets:

y - 4 = 6x - 6

We'll
add 6 both sides:

y = 6x - 6 +
4

y = 6x - 2

The
equation of the tangent line, to the curve f(x) = 3x^2 + 1, is: y = 6x -
2.

What impact did the Korean war have on the American people?

Don't know why the poor rating on the answer above, I
agree completely.  I would add a couple of other effects the war had on Americans at
that time too.

First, this was the second major war
Americans had fought in one decade, which meant another draft which means the younger
brothers of those who had fought in World War II, and sometimes the same ones who had,
would be leaving again to fight another war they may not come home
from.

Second, Americans were unclear what we were fighting
for.  It ws an unpopular war, and Truman was an unpopular President because of it.  Once
the war ended in a cease fire, many Americans, and veterans for that matter, were angry
that we hadn't "won" and what had all the blood and sacrifice been for if they weren't
going to be allowed to win?

And it surely made them more
afraid of communism and the Soviet Union, as stated above, and more likely to vote for
hard core anti-communist politicians like Richard Nixon.

Discuss As You Like It as an example of pastoral literature and say what features of the pastoral mode lend themselves to social criticism.

As You Like It is an oft cited
example of the pastoral literary convention employed in drama. Pastoral literature is
defined as that which focuses on country life of shepherds and depicts it as ideal and
sincere while contrasting it to court life (or urban, city life) that is depicted as
artificial and corrupt. It is the contrast between the genuine and the corrupt that
lends itself to social criticism and gives the poet opportunity to voice objections to
the dangers, evils, and harm of courtly or city life in relation to rulers and affects
of the environment and development of personal
relationships.

As You Like It fits the definition
in that the first setting is the court of the deposed Duke Senior, which is now
controlled by the Duke's younger brother, Duke Frederick. The fact that the throne was
usurped by a younger brother and the rightful ruler exiled is sufficient to illustrate
the pastoral element of corruption of the court. In further acts of corruption, Rosaline
and Orlando--in the midst of death threats--are also exiled from or endangered by the
corrupt court of Duke Frederick.

The second setting is the pastoral
land of Arden Forest where Rosaline and Celia (her companion in exile) meet shepherds
and buy a cottage and sheep herd of their own. Shepherds and sheep are a definitive
feature of the convention of the pastoral. That the principals meet and become shepherds
is sufficient to illustrate the idyllic element in the pastoral. Further illustration of
the idyllic are found in Orlando's proliferation of the forest with unschooled love
poems. The resolution of the play further illustrates the idyllic when Rosaline/Ganymede
properly arranges all the couples who blissfully marry and look forward to happiness
under Duke Senior's reestablished rule.

How would you explain determination in an essay on The Old Man and the Sea?

Determination is definitely one of the key aspects of the
character of Santiago in this excellent novel, and can easily be demonstrated in terms
of its meaning through his perseverance and unyielding attitude in catching the big fish
that is his goal. A dictionary defines determination as "firmnness of purpose or
resolve," and we can definitely see this in the patient yet determined way that Santiago
fishes for his big catch--a fishing session that takes days and results in Santiago
having to use every ounce of his energy, knowledge and perseverance to see it through to
its conclusion. Note how, just before stabbing the fish with his harpoon, Santiago
himself acknowledges exactly what his determination has cost
him:

I am
tireder than I have every been, he thought, and now the trade wind is
rising.

Thus when we think of
determination in the novel it is hard not to associate it with Santiago and the way that
he carefully and painstakingly brings the fish in and manages to kill
it.

Are the romantic images of the 1920s (gangsters, flappers, speakeasies, movie stars) really accurate?

Of course, people and eras are rarely portrayed in a way
that is 100% accurate.  This is true of the Roaring 20s.  However, much of these
portrayals truly does capture the reality of the 1920s.

It
is beyond dispute that the values and behavior of many (but not all) women was changing
during the '20s.  Flappers were real and they truly were different than women had been
previously.  However, it is by no means true that all women were flappers or that all
young women acted in these new ways.  Our vision of the '20s focuses on what was new,
not what was similar to the old days.  So it is probably fair to say that our views of
the '20s overstate the amount of change in women's lives but we must also realize that
real changes were happening.

The same goes for gangsters
and speakesies.  This was the era of Prohibition and gangsters truly did get rich off
illegal alcohol.  There were speakeasies with jazz music playing.  However, the average
person (especially outside the cities) was never going to end up in a
speakeasy.

Overall then, the image we have of the '20s is
somewhat (but by no means completely) exaggerated.  Our images of any decade tend to be
somewhat caricatured because it is impossible to capture the full diversity of life in
any given time period.

In Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, is Crooks lonely and/or isolated? Referring to section 4, explain why.

In John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and
Men, one of the themes of the novel is loneliness and isolation. Crooks is
both lonely and isolated.

The first
reason is that he is a black man in a country rife with racial discrimination. He is not
allowed to bunk with the other men because he is black, so he has a room to himself off
of the barn where he fixes harnesses. At the beginning of section four, the reader
learns that Crooks keeps to himself:

readability="6">

...Crooks was a proud, aloof man. He kept his
distance and demanded that other people keep
theirs.

At first it appears
that Crooks does all he can to guarantee his privacy, and is happy with it. The other
men go to town; Lennie sees Crooks' light and comes to his room; Crooks eventually lets
him in. While Crooks talks to Lennie, it is hard to tell what his intent is. He gets
Lennie upset by suggesting that George might choose not to come back or might get hurt
while in town. Lennie would be alone; he gets very upset. Crooks
insists that the plan George speaks of means nothing and will never come
true.

However, Crooks changes the direction of his talk in
admitting that it is hard to live such an isolated life with no one to talk to. Having a
companion allows a person to keep his perspective, and he reminisces of how nice it was
when he lived at home with his brothers.

Candy, who is now
in on the plan, enters Crooks' room, and Crooks tries to act angry, but he's really
pleased to have company. This indicates, again, how lonely and isolated he is. He starts
to tell Candy that their plans are nonsense and will never amount to anything. Perhaps
the dreams of others torment Crooks so that he tries to tear them apart. Candy insists
that they're not far from taking that step because they have saved almost all the money
they need.

Crooks has a change of heart and asks that
if it comes about, might he be allowed to join
them and work without getting paid? Candy seems fine with the idea, but then Curley's
wife comes in. She, too, is lonely, looking for company. She starts chattering until
Candy tells her she should leave. She will not, saying she could have had a better life,
and how she doesn't like Curley. Again Candy tells her to go home; she refuses. Then
Crooks gets up and tells her the room of a negro man is no place for her and she had
better leave.

Curley's wife immediately goes after him like
a snake chasing a mouse. She threatens him, reminding him of the power
she holds over him. He shrinks into himself. Curley's wife has
little or no power as a woman on the ranch, but she is white and is still more powerful
than this black man. She threatens to have him lynched, and he becomes meek and
respectful, while she rants on. Candy tries to defend Crooks, but she insists no one
would listen to Candy either.

Candy
says he hears the men, advising Curley's wife again to go. Eventually she does. George
enters to collect Lennie, surprised to find him there. (No one goes in Crooks' room
except Slim.) As George turns to leave, Crooks calls to Candy and tells him to forget
about including him in the plan. Candy seems uncertain but agrees if that is what Crooks
wants.

With one threat from the rancher's wife, Crooks is
again reduced to a lonely, frightened man. Curley's wife has demonstrated that the
American dream is not his. His life can be snuffed out simply on a
word from her. The flash of light we saw in him is gone. Crooks' isolation and
loneliness are greater than anyone else's in the book.

In the poem "We Real Cool," by Gwendolynn Brooks, what do you think is the theme, or message?

"We Real Cool," by Gwendolyn Brooks, is about seven
teenage boys who have left school to spend their time playing
pool.

The boys brag that they "lurk late," "sing sin" and
"thin gin."

They also celebrate that they "Jazz June." 
This phrase has become controversial, but Brooks herself has explained that she chose
the month of June as a symbol of "the establishment," the accepted way of doing things. 
By saying that they "jazz June," the boys are saying that just like jazz musicians take
liberties with standard melodies, they take liberties with the standard, conventional
way of doing things.

The poet, however, does not seem to
approve of the boys' abandonment of education.  She ends her poem with the sentence, "We
/ Die soon."  The poet is saying that the boys' "freedom" from education and healthy
living will not have a happy ending.

What is the importance of soliloquy in general in Macbeth?

Primarily, the soliloquies in Shakespeare's
Macbeth and seemingly in his other plays, is to give the audience
the opportunity to hear what is going on in a character's mind. We cannot read it on a
page, so we must listen to it in the drama.

In
Macbeth we hear several, most from Macbeth, though Lady Macbeth has
something like a soliloquy in her sleepwalking scene. Often we gain insights into
characters from what they say to other characters and how other characters react to
them. In this way, however, the thoughts that are shared are private, where no one else
but the audience hears them. In either case, it is for the benefit of the audience,
which receives important information to better understand the character's actions and
provides important elements that drive the plot. The soliloquy
is...

...a
device often used in drama where by a character relates... thoughts and feelings to
him...self and to the audience
[only].

In a Raisin in the Sun,what are some examples of how Walter shows ambitiousness or selfishness?I need about three big examples on how the examples...

What is interesting about your question is that what could
be two opposite themes are entwined in Walter's character.  Walter wants to make
something of life beyond being a driver for someone else.  He feels repressed as a black
man in this white dominated society.  Once he learns of the family inheritance from Big
Walter, he begs his mother for money to invest in a liquor store.  His
ambition is to make something for himself and to be his own
boss.  Unfortunately this ambition is at odds with what his mother wants.  She has
always dreamed of buying a house in a nice neighborhood.  She also wants to pay for
Beneatha's college education.  There is only enough money for one person's
dreams. Walter is selfish in wanting to take his mother's
dream away and in the way he guilts her into feeling sorry for him.  Walter acts most
selfishly when he takes the portion of the money entrusted
to him and loses it by giving it to his friend who was going to "pave the way" to
getting the liquor licence. This act threatens the family's livelihood and Beneatha's
education.

Once that portion of the money is gone, Walter
sees the truth of himself for the first time. Be is presented an opportunity to recoup
the money by accepting the offer from the racist Mr. Linder, but he finds his pride and
turns down the offer.  His final ambition is to do what is
right for his family, especially his mother, and he makes sure that they move into the
house that was his father's legacy.

What are some arguments I can use to support euthanasia?

If asked to support euthanasia (I assume you mean
voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide, not a situation where some other person
decides who lives and dies), I would make the following
arguments:

• Personal freedom.  A person should
  have the right to control their own life.  This should include the right to decide when
  (perhaps within some limits) they would like to
  die.


• Prevention of unnecessary suffering.  People who are
  suffering from terminal illnesses often have to deal with terrible pain for the last
  months of their lives.  People who are in the early stages of Alzheimer's have to deal
  with the idea that they will become a total burden to their families without even being
  able to recognize or love those families.  Both of these are terrible things and people
  should be able to avoid them.


• Economic reasons.  Imagine
  if you had to choose between dying at a given time or living (at huge expense) for a few
  more months.  Shouldn't you have the choice to leave your money for something (like your
  grandkids' college education) that means more to you than a few more months of
  life?

All of these are possible arguments for
euthanasia.

How many geniuses are there in the world?

There's all types of geniuses, just as there are all types
of intelligences and trades.  A MENSA genius may be a genius at taking a test that tests
for geniuses (there's bias in them), but he may not have that intelligence translate
into a successful or note-worthy speciality or a job.  In Malcolm Gladwell's
Outliers, he cites a study of so-called early childhood geniuses in
which the researcher discovered that only about half of them were even moderately
successful in the adult world.

There's 9 different
intelligences: bodily-kinesthetic, naturalist, musical, existential,
mathematical-logical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic, and
spatial.

Einstein, for example, was probably a genius in
spatial and mathematical-logical but certainly not in bodily-kinesthetic or
interpersonal.

Michael Jordan was a bodily-kinesthetic
genius, but not any of the others.  The same can be said for Mozart (musical), Faulkner
(linguistic), and Kierkegaard (existential).

Who's a
naturalist genius?  Survivorman?

How does the author of Oedipus Rex use dramatic irony to create tension?

In Sophocles's Oedipus Rex, the title
character is a classic example of Aristotle's tragic hero.  Oedipus, who unknowingly
kills his biological father and marries his biological mother, is widely recognized as
one of the most unfortunate victims of fate in all of
literature. 

The play opens with Oedipus making a vow to
find the killer of Laius in order to free the city of Thebes from punishment by the
gods.  A genuinely good man who cares deeply about his people, Oedipus vows to stop at
nothing to find and punish Laius's murdered.  The entire speech, along with many other
lines/situations from the rest of the play, can be labeled as dramatic irony since the
audience knows something (that Oedipus is Laius's biological son and murderer)
that Oedipus doesn't know:

readability="18">

Now, since I am ruler and hold this kingdom

that he held before—holding also the bed
and wife we have both
sown; and children
of the same mother would have been born to us,

had his line not been ill-fated—since chance(270)
has driven me
into that one’s powers,
therefore I shall fight for him in this matter,

as if for my own father, and I shall try
everything, seeking to
find the one who
committed the murder, for Labdacus’ son,(275)
son
of Polydorus, and before him
Cadmus and Agenor, kings of
old.

As the plot of the play
unfolds Oedipus finally comes to understand who he is and what he has done.  And keeping
his word, he banishes himself from Thebes for his actions.

What is the difference between Expressionism and Cubism in art?

Pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in
France, Cubism was a revolution against figurative art. 
For them, the human figure became more a series of planes moving through space, more a
machine than a human.  For instance, Picasso's Nude in an Armchair,
as one critic writes, "reconciles non-literal representation with a voluptuous awareness
of the body's opulence."  The term cubism was first used by the
critic Vauxcelles for the geometric simplications of Barque's L'Estaque landscapes. 
Picasso's Ambroise Vollard is cobsidered the epitome of the
"analytical" phase of Cubism.  For, the sitter is presented from a variety of
viewpoints, thereby appearing fragmented into a crystalline structure of interlocking
plances.  Color variety and texture are sacrificed in Cubism and perpectival effects are
replaced by a shallow, ambiguous sense of space.  Cubism had as its aim not complete
abstraction; rather it was a new kind of realism, one that sought a balance between the
depiction of reality and the autonomy of the painting as a physical
object.

Like Cubism, Expressionism was a reaction to
realism, but rather than reducing objects to their geometric distinctions, Expressionism
characterizes 20th century north European art with its subjective stress on heightened
emotions and the artist's inner vision.  The term was first used to describe an
exhibition of Fauve and early Cubist paintings at the Berline Sezession.  As a reaction
against the realism and naturalism of the late 19th century, Expressionist artists
insisted on their emotional response to their subjects from which they derived the
concept that genuine artistic form develops from one's inner necessity.  Artistic form
could never be imposed by tradition or convention.  For this reason, the expressionists
could justify the use of any artistic means which gave expression to their feelings. 
These means include distortion, violent and evoctive color combinations, and eclectic
absorption of such diverse influences as medieval, folk, and tribal
art.

How did religion affect the mindset of the average American in the 1990s?

Different religious beliefs by Americans definitely helped
shaped opinions on hot button issues like abortion, euthanasia, and gay marriage during
the 1990s.  The 1990s saw a significant number of evangelical Christians carry on the
political agendas of organizations like the Moral Majority from the 70s and 80s. This
included a clear stance against abortion, euthanasia, and gay marriage.  However, many
mainline Christian denominations made a more liberal turn where they became increasingly
more open to things like gay marriage as seen in the many churches that adopted polices
allowing gay ministers.

Another aspect to consider is the
affects postmodernism has had on religious beliefs in America. After the collapse of the
Soviet Union and subsequent end of the Cold War, and after racial and ethnic genocides
in the Balkans and Africa, many people in the West began to openly question modernist
notions of reality just like after the two World Wars. Many religious and nonreligious
people alike became uncomfortable with claims to absolute truth or certainty. They saw
the absolutist claims of Hitler, Stalin, Slobodan Milosevic, fanatical Muslim
terrorists, and even televangelists as dangerous to society. Postmodernism begs the
questions of what is truth and how can we know it along with if an individual claims to
know truth, how can we know that he or she really does know the
truth?

As a result of the explosion of postmodernism in
America during the 90s, people of all faiths, as well as the irreligious, have begun to
question foundational beliefs and doctrines with fresh perspectives and a more skeptical
outlook. The results were as different as the number of faiths in American society. For
some, postmodernism led them away from their faith in any type of official religion to a
more individualized form where they ultimately decide what they think is truth. For
these people any hint of someone or some institution trying to tell them what is truth
is seen as an invasion of privacy and disrespectful to their freedom of choice. For
others, postmodernism strengthened their faith as they shed some old assumptions and
embraced their faith in new and exciting ways. Rather than feeling threatened by other
religions, many of these people were more open to working with people of different
faiths. Others, like fundamentalists of different religions, saw postmodernism as a
threat to the belief in absolute truth itself and dug in their heels more in order to
protect their faith's truth claims.

Religion has always
affected the average American, but American religions like all others are not static
sets of beliefs that are practiced the exact same way over long periods of time. No,
religions change with the changes of society and the postmodern affects during the 1990s
on American religion can clearly be seen today.

In The Great Gatsby, if Daisy says she's never loved Tom, is there someone whom she thinks she loves?

In Chapter VII, Daisy's former relationship with Gatsby in
Louisville and the resumption of their love affair is brought to Tom's attention in a
dramatic confrontation in a hotel room in New York. Gatsby demands that Daisy tell her
husband that she never loved him; this is of critical importance to him. He needs to
believe that his and Daisy's love for each other years before had been so complete and
so pure that she never could have loved anyone else.

Daisy
never intended to reach the point where she would have to confront her feelings and
choose between her husband and her lover, but she gives in to Gatsby's persistence and
does tell Tom she never loved him. Her words are weak and unconvincing, however, and she
takes them back almost immediately. In a state of great distress, Daisy turns on
Gatsby:

"Oh,
you want too much!" she cried to Gatsby. "I love you now--isn't that enough? I can't
help what's past." She began to sob helplessly. "I did love him once--but I loved you
too."

Daisy is telling the
truth, but it is truth that Gatsby does not want to hear because it destroys the
foundation of the dream he has lived for since leaving Daisy in Louisville when he was
called away to World War I.

Daisy says she loved Gatsby in
the past and she loves him now. The antecedent action in the novel supports the idea
that she had indeed loved Gatsby, her young lieutenant who went to war. However, her
behavior following this confrontation shows clearly that she did not love him anymore.
When forced to choose between Tom and Gatsby, Daisy remains with her wealthy husband and
responds in no way at all when Gatsby is soon murdered.

I am writing an essay, and we had to choose a theme to write our essay about To Kill a Mockingbird.I chose the theme " Education is not limited to...

I think you have made a good choice for your theme, and
one in which there are plenty of examples to be found in To Kill a
Mockingbird. If you have read the first few chapters, you are probably
already aware that Scout seems to learn a great deal more about life outside the
classroom than within. She does not care for her first grade teacher, Miss Caroline, who
is a new teacher fresh from college with modern ideas but little life or classroom
experience herself. She insists that Atticus stop "interfering" with her own educational
processes and leave the teaching to her. (Atticus' and Scout's reading time each evening
is one of her favorite bonding times.) Later, Scout learns that Miss Gates (another
teacher) does not always practice what she
preaches.

Scout's time with Jem and Dill, Calpurnia, Miss
Maudie, and even with Dolphus Raymond seem to provide her with greater experiences than
she finds in the classroom. Also remember that Atticus and his brother Jack did not go
to school; they were self-educated at home. When Scout wants to quit school and be
taught at home herself, Atticus reminds her that times--and laws--have changed, and that
it would be illegal for her not to attend
school.

I could only look around me: Atticus and
my uncle, who went to school at home, knew everything... I knew nothing except what I
gathered from Time magazine and reading everything I could lay my
hands on at home, but as I inched sluggishly along the treadmill of the Maycomb
County school system, I could not help receiving the impression that I was being cheated
out of something.  (Chapter 4)

In "The Storm" how does Chopin use the storm as a symbol? In other words, what does it represent?

In Kate Chopin's "The Storm," the "tempest" functions in
several capacities.

First and foremost is the literal
occurrence of the storm. It is what keeps Bobinôt and his son, Bibi, from returning
home. It is also that which leads Calixta outside to take in the laundry, running
into Alcée, (her lover from Chopin's previous story, “At the ’Cadian Ball”), who is
looking for shelter from the weather. (Since the affair, Clarisse has married Alcée and
they have children as well.)

The storm is the catalyst for
the events of the story: had the weather been clear, the lovers would not have been
forced together, and thereby given the opportunity to pick up where they left
off.

Symbolically, however, the storm refers to the passion
between the two lovers as they make love. It can also, however, refer to the angst they
feel in their "restrictive" marriages where frustration, boredom, responsibility, and
desire all explode with the violence of a thunder and lightning
storm.

The calm after the storm refers to the improved
state-of-mind for Calixta, who because of this physical release is joyful when her
family returns; for Alcée, who writes to his wife that evening (she is away) to tell her
he misses her, and to generously tell her that she can stay longer if she wishes (with
no evidence that he has plans to see Calixta again); and, Clarisse, who is also finding
marriage restrictive, welcomes the opportunity to enjoy her freedom a little
longer.

The lovers, from Chopin's
view, have had some "innocent adultery," (something I disagree with—but which
is typical of Chopin's themes); this allows them now to return to their lives happier
people, seeing to the greater good of all—as Chopin sees it.

Why was there increasing congressional opposition to Roosevelt’s proposals during his second term?

There are two reasons that are generally given for this. 
First, there is the idea that the successes of FDR's first term had lessened the sense
of urgency felt by Congress.  Second, there was the court-packing plan that annoyed
Congress.

During FDR's first term, the Depression was at
its height and Congress was anxious to do anything FDR wanted to try to improve economic
conditions.  By his second term, things were better (though not by any means completely
good) and Congress did not feel the need to do whatever FDR
wanted.

Secondly, FDR had annoyed many in Congress with his
effort to "pack" the Supreme Court.  This made it seem as if FDR was trying to take more
power than was rightfully his.  This caused something of a backlash in
Congress.

Up until chapter 2 in Of Mice and Men what are the main conflicts?It is for a plan so it needs to be quite specific. It also needs to see how it...

The main characters of Of Mice and Men,
George and Lennie, about whom Steinbeck himself wrote, "Lennie was not to
represent insanity at all but the inarticulate and powerful yearning of all men,"
represent the dispossessed of the Great Depression.  As these alienated men who became
itinerant workers, George and Lennie are dropped off miles from the ranch where they are
going to work.  Their solitude and alienation is symbolized by the location, the
vicinity of Soledad in the Salinas Valley. This is the first conflict. Pondering
the impersonal and gratuitously cruel treatment to which they have been subjected
earlier, George reflects angrily,

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"We could just as well of rode clear to the
ranch if that bastard bus driver knew what he was talkin' about. 'Jes' a little stretch
down the highway,' he says....damn near four miles, tha't what it was!  Didn't wanta
stop at the ranch gate, tha't what....Kicks us out and say, 'Jes a little stretch down
the road.' I bet it was more than four miles. Damn hot
day."

From the beginning, the
contrast between George and Lennie is apparent.  With the surnames of Milton and Small,
their intelligences are suggested.  Lennie follows George, moving like a bear,
submerging his head into the water of the stream and dabbling in it with "paws." These
actions of Lennie create the main conflict between the men, one of intelligence.  For,
George scolds Lennie, "You gonna be sick like you was last night....You'd drink out of a
gutter if you was thirsty."

When Lennie again asks where
they are going, George becomes irritated since Lennie has been told several times
already. Then, George becomes upset by having seen Lennie take a mouse from his pocket;
scolding, he tells Lennie, "Give it here!" These two incidences
describe the major conflicts involving George and Lennie:  mentally deficient, the
child-like Lennie has difficulty remembering things, and he disobeys George and finds
himself in trouble as he was in Weed when he frightened a girl and caused George and his
hurried departure. 

Reflecting on the trouble that Lennie
has caused him, George says,

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"I could get along so easy and so nice if I
didn't have you on my tail.  I could live so easy and maybe have a
girl."

Yet, if he were alone,
George would lose his external conflicts with Lenne, but, then, he would suffer from an
internal conflict, that of aloneness.  Similarly, Lennie suffers from this conflict with
George as he feels rejection.  In his love for George, he suggests that he could go away
and live in a cave; but, of course, he cannot sustain himself, and George realizes that
his conflicts with Lennie will never be resolved by leaving.  He must look out for
Lennie as the man needs him.

This dilemma of the desire to
protect oneself from others while facing solitude is the major conflict of  the
characters of Steinbeck's novella.  Deprived of family and friends, the men must be
protectively distrustful of each other, yet they also need companionship as they become
cruel and aggressive in their alienation.  It is a metaphoric chapter that John Steibeck
creates in his first chapter Of Mice and Men, one that represents
the need for a brotherhood of men to stave off the solidary deprivations of
soul experienced by the itinerant workers of the 1930s.

I need to write an essay on the loss of innocence of three characters in The Outsiders.

This is an excellent question to consider with reference
to this novel. Certainly, the world of the Greasers and Socs shows numerous characters
who lose their innocence very quickly in life. If I were you, I would probably want to
focus on Johnny, Darrel and Cherry.

Johnny of course is the
character that interprets the Frost poem that assumes such importance in the novel. He
is a character who, inspite of his youth and good manners, is haunted by being beaten up
by a gang of Socs. His loss of innocence was actually initiated long before the novel
began by the kind of treatment he receives from his parents. However, it is confirmed
when he ends up killing Bob Sheldon and his resulting
flight.

Darrel, as Ponyboy's elder brother, has had all of
his hopes and dreams dashed by the death of their parents and the need for him to
provide for his two younger brothers. We are told that Darrel could have been a Soc
under different circumstances, and it is clear that he has the intelligence and ability
to do so, but he is thrust into adulthood at an early age, and tries to perform the
conflicting roles of father and older brother to Ponyboy, which makes him doubt Darrel's
love for him. His innocence is lost by the harsh realities of poverty and circumstance,
that have robbed him of his dream and consigned him to a life of menial work when he
could have achieved so much more.

Cherry is an interesting
character to consider for this essay question. Despite Ponyboy's ideas of life as a Soc,
it is she that helps him to understand that life is hard both sides of the fence and
that Socs have just as many (albeit different) pressures that threaten to crush them.
Her loss of innocence is likewise sealed when her boyfriend Bob Sheldon is killed by
Johnny. Although she recognises that he was a brute, at the same time she loved him and
recognised how loving he could be. As she struggles to make sense of a world where such
a thing could happen, she turns informant to help the Greasers and try to avoid further
bloodshed.

What is Scout's attitude towards Miss Caroline in To Kill a Mockingbird?Thank you.

For someone who so looks forward to her first day of
school, things certainly go awry for Scout in Chapters 2 and 3 of To Kill a
Mockingbird. Her teacher, Miss Caroline, is fresh out of college on her first
teaching assignment, and she is not at all what Scout
expected.

She
looked and smelled like a peppermint
drop.

Although Jem was in a
haze over her youthful good looks, Scout is not impressed. Her new-fangled ideas
"mystified" Scout. Miss Caroline hailed from Winston County in North Alabama, an area
that, according to Scout, is inhabited by "persons of no background." Miss Caroline then
berates Scout because she already knows how to read, and condemns Atticus as a father
who

"... does
not know how to teach."

At
recess, she gets a pep talk from Jem, but things only get worse afterward. When Scout
tries to defend Walter Cunningham Jr., she is "whipped" and then sent to stand in the
corner. Later, Burris Ewell calls Miss Caroline

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"... a snot-nosed slut of a
schoolteacher."

Although
Scout joined her classmates in trying to comfort their crying teacher, her heart wasn't
really in it.

Had her contact been more friendly
to me, I would have felt sorry for her. She was a pretty little
thing.

Discuss the importance of the last scene of A Streetcar Named Desire.

I think that the last scene of the play is fairly
important.  Consider the sad and pathetic state of Blanche when she utters the line, "I
have always depended on the kindness of strangers."  It is a profoundly sad ending
because Blanche's words belie the condition of the word in which she finds herself.  Her
victimization at the hands of the world, a setting that does not even seem to stop for a
moment at the cruelty Blanche suffers, is a statement that Williams renders about the
condition in which human beings live.  The poker game goes on, Stella recognizes that
she might have made a mistake, but is soothed by Stanley.  The idea that "life will
continue" despite the fact that Blanche was raped and then institutionalized through
manipulation by others is an ending that reflects the lack of redemption present in the
world.  When one searches for why there is cruelty or why there is such a preponderance
of evil in the world, the last scene might go very far in suggesting why the modern
setting is constructed in the manner it is.

Offer a feminist critique of "The Awakening."I have to write a 5 - 6 page essay from the feminist perspective on The Awakening by Kate Chopin. I...

A feminist response to a piece of literature focuses on
what is being said (intentionally or implied) about the role of women in society and/or
the life in women in the society in which they live.  Every text can be read for a look
at this topic!  Clearly, The Awakening is a direct portrayal of
women and their lives in a traditional, patriarchal Creole society at the turn of the
20th century.  I think that outline #4 gives you some great ideas to consider in regards
to all of the different ways in which Edna awakens, but your feminist essay needs to
focus on what these awakenings mean in regard to Edna in particular
and women in general.  You must ask yourself, "what is Chopin's point in having all
these awakenings?"  "What are her readers supposed to understand about the role or
position of women from Edna's awakenings?" If you don't ask and answer these questions
your essay will be more of a plot summary and less of an analysis.  By answering those
questions, you will have done an interesting feminist analysis of the
novel.

Can someone please give me quotes from Lord of the Flies supporting the thesis: Jack imposes fear on the boys to remain powerful.this is my thesis...

In Lord of the Flies, Jack utilizes
"scare tactics" to ensure that most of the boys will view him as the most powerful boy
on the island.  Ralph, the elected leader, maintains that there is no beast on the
island; Simon, like Ralph, thinks that the children are wasting their time worrying
about the presence of a beast. 

Though it seems that Jack
is reasonable enough to know that there isn't a beast on the island, he does maintain
his authority by telling the others that if there is a beast, he will hunt and kill it. 
Since the children are so convinced that a beast does exist, Ralph's assurances that
there is no beast aren't good enough for them. 

During an
assembly in Chapter 5, Percival whispers to Jack that he believes the beast comes out of
the sea.  Instead of reassuring Percival that there is no beast, Jack voices Percival's
assertion to the entire assembly:

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Jack cleared his throat, then reported casually. 
"He says the beast comes out of the
sea."

With that, the
children's fears are justified, so they naturally gravitate toward a leader who vows to
catch and kill the beast. 

To what extent were Mozart and Salieri's tradgedies caused by themselves?

In Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, Mozart
has the God-given genius but none of the emotional or political savvy to be successful.
 A former child prodigy, he behaves, well, like a child still.  He makes crude jokes,
mocks the court, flirts with all the ladies, and pouts when not given his way.  Mainly,
though, he is haunted by his father.  He knows that he owes much of his talents to his
father, but he seems never to live up to his unwieldy expectations.  Whereas his father
and Salieri measure success by public and material show, Mozart measures it inwardly and
artistically--the way God intends.  In this way, Mozart works himself to death, trying
to please his father instead of his heavenly father or
himself.

Salieri is Mozart's foil in every way.  He has
none of the talent, but all of the political cunning.  An overachiever, Salieri suffers
from morbid jealousy, a need for spiritual revenge, and an intense inferiority complex.
 He curses God for giving Mozart all of the talent; more, he curses Mozart for taking
all his talent for granted.  A two-faced hypocrite, Salieri befriends Mozart, only to
destroy him.  He uses women and Mozart's memory of his father to drive the prodigy to
bankruptcy, near madness, and death.

What do the stories about former beaus, lost opportunity, and secret passages in houses relate about the grandmother?"A Good Man is Hard To Find"...

A satirical character, the grandmother of O'Connor's "A
Good Man is Hard to Find," is filled with petty superiorities as she feigns aristocratic
and genteel trappings. She does not want to go to Florida as the family does; instead,
she wants to visit "some of her connections in east Tennessee" and tries to persuade her
son Bailey to do so.

Then, on the day that the family does
depart, the grandmother dresses in a pretentious manner, wearing a navy blue straw
sailor hat and a navy blue dotted swiss dress.  "Her collars and cuffs are white organdy
trimmed with lace so that in case of an accident "anyone seeing her dead on the highway
would know at once that she was a lady."  Continuing her pretentions of being a lady,
she tells the children in the car that she was courted years ago by Mr. Edgar Allen
Teagarden, who was a gentleman who had bought Coca-Cola stock when it first came out and
became a very wealthy man.

After lunch, when the
grandmother awakens from a nap, she believes that she recognizes a road that she
contends contains a plantation that she has visited. 

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"There was a secret panel in this house...[where]
all the family silver was hidden ...whe Sherman came through but it was never
found." 

This mysterious
suggestion incites the children to demand that they visit this place.  Finally, the
father gives in, ironiclly stating a prophesy for his family, "All right,...but get
this:  this is the only time we're going to stop for anything like this.  This is the
one and only time." And, it is only because of the grandmother's selfishness and
 self-interest that the family takes this fateful turn off from their
destination. 

It is this self-serving personality of the
grandmother that prompts the Misfit to declare that she "would have been a good
woman...if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life" because it
is only at the moment of her death that the grandmother displays compassion for
others.

How does the setting foreshadow the conversation between Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley in "Roman Fever"?

This is an excellent question as it identifies how closely
the setting is tied in with the action of this wonderful short story. Repeated
references are made to the view in front of these two old ladies, and how stunning this
view actually is. But I think it is important to remember that the view that they are
focusing on is made up of the ruins of a former dead
civilisation:

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From the table at which they had beeen lunching
two American ladies of ripe but well-cared-for middle age moved across the lofty terrace
of the Roman restaurant and, leaning on its parapet, looked first at each other and then
down on the outspread glories of the Palatine and the Forum, with the same expression of
vague but benevolent
approval.

Glorious this view
may be, but we cannot escape the fact that they are looking at the wreckage of a dead
civilisation. Of course, in a sense, the view is symbolic of what the women do. As they
look at the past in front of them they also consider their own past, picking through the
wreckage and bring to light verious secrets or relics. Reference to the Colliseum later
on in the story likewise seems to add a gladiatorial element to the conversation between
these two women. Thus the setting definitely serves to foreshadow what happens in this
story.