Why does Victor refuse to make a female monster?

Concerning Victor's refusal to make a female in Shelley's Frankenstein, actually, Victor eventually agrees to make a female.  At first he refuses, but then he agrees.  He travels to England to learn from experts there, then travels to Scotland and finds an isolated area to work.  He has the female partially built, when

I trembled, and my heart failed within me; when, on looking up, I saw, by the light of the moon, the daemon at the casement.

The "monster" surprises Victor at the door of the cottage.  Victor has a knee-jerk reaction to the look on the monster's face:

As I looked on him, his countenance expressed the utmost extent of malice and treachery.  I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like to him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged.

So his "refusal" to make a female is actually a passion-filled gut reaction to the monster's facial expression.  It's not reasoned out, but, instead, is an emotional reaction to the monster's surprise presence at his door.

What is the exact meaning of globalization?

I do not know that there is an exact definition of globalization, but I can tell you what it is.

Globalization is the process by which countries come to do more trade with one another.  In other words, we say globalization is happening when there gets to be more trade and more different kinds of trade between more countries.

Right now, there is a lot of globalization going on.  Part of this is due to easy communication, like the internet, that allow companies in different countries to stay in contact with each other quite easily.

Two good examples of globalization are

• How so many of the things we use are made in China and exported to the US.


• How many jobs like customer service are done in India -- they communicate with us through telephone and internet connections.

How does Dimmesdale appear as he leaves the church after his triumphant sermon?Chapter 22 or 23

As he leaves the church after his triumphant sermon, the crowd is shocked to note that Dimmesdale looks "feeble and pale...energy...withdrawn...the glow...burning on his cheek...extinguished...it seem(s) hardly the face of a man alive, with such a deathlike hue".  The minister can barely walk as he "totters" from the church, turns toward the scaffold, and beckons to Hester (Chapter 23).

What is the conflict in the story? I need all the conflicts in the story thanks alot

One primary conflict in Stephen King's novel, Misery, arises when Annie Wilks discovers the ending to the new Paul Sheldon novel. Annie is Sheldon's "Number One Fan," and her whole life revolves around his recurring star character, Misery Chastain. But when Paul decides to kill off Misery, his top fan goes ballistic. The ending must be changed, and Misery must live. She keeps the injured writer captive until a suitable new ending is concluded. Sheldon realizes the seriousness of the situation, and he must cut through the writer's block that plagues him in order to come up with a satisfactory new tale.

What does the play's title mean? Why does Marlow act so rudely in the Hardcastle home?

I believe the title refers to Kate and her efforts to capture Marlow's heart. Her father has selected her husband and neither of them has even seen him. Kate is afraid she won't like him because of the way her father describes him. In order to know Marlow's true feelings, Kate pretends to be a barmaid. When Marlow is willing to go against society and annnounce his love for Kate even though she is not of his class, Kate knows Marlow is a good trustworthy person. In order for Kate to " conquer" Marlow's heart, she must "stoop" by pretending to be a barmaid.

Marlow is rude at the Hardcastle home because he believes Mr. Hardcastle is a simple innkeeper and not a gentlemen. Tony has led Marlow to believe this. Since Marlow believes Mr. Hardcastle isn't of his class, he treats him rudely as a member of the working class.

What is the dramatic effect of Act 1 in Much Ado About Nothing?

I wonder if you are referring to dramatic elements that are employed by Shakespeare in Act I.  If so, consider these choices of the playwright:

Rather than including the war or any of the battle scenes in the play, Shakespeare uses a messengar to deliver news of the outcome.  Beatrice jokes with the messenger, who announces that the friends of the group have been victorious and are safe.  Shakespeare wants readers to know that the visitors are coming from battle, but doesn't want any of the seriousness of war to affect the mood of the play.

In Act II, Shakespeare has Antonio tells Leonato that his servant has overheard Don Pedro tell Claudio that he loved hero.  Obviously this is wrong, and the servant has given bad information.  But the dramatic technique here is that we do not see the servant telling Antonia this.  We see Antonio tell Leonato this.  This removal from the source of the information is important, because it introduces one of Shakespeare's themes:  "noting".  Noting is the overhearing and passing on of information.  It causes many many problems for the characters. and so Shakespeare uses it as a device to underscore its importance.

Look to stage directions and consider how characters present information to see more examples of "dramatic technique".

What is significant about the fact that Grendel attacks at night, and what descriptions associate him with death or darkness?

It is significant that Grendel attacks at night because he is described as being evil and the darkness symbolizes that evil.  Grendel is described as being the spawn of Cain (the Biblical character who was the first murderer).  Also, Grendel's nighttime attacks make him seem more sinister because he attacks while the warriors are sleeping - they are helpless at the time.  He is called the monster of evil, he leaps and laughs after killing thirty men, and he continues to come back night after night.

The following lines from section II have more language that supports Grendel's link to death and evil.

The monster of evil fiercely did harass,
The ill-planning death-shade, both elder and younger,
Trapping and tricking them. He trod every night then
The mist-covered moor-fens; men do not know where
Witches and wizards wander and ramble.
So the foe of mankind many of evils
Grievous injuries, often accomplished,
Horrible hermit; Heort he frequented,
Gem-bedecked palace, when night-shades had fallen

In Hamlet, how are Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius, and Hamlet killed?

Gertrude drinks a poisoned cup that Claudius had meant for Hamlet. When Gertrude faints and Claudius excuses this by lying "she swoons to see her son bleed," Hamlet hears Gertrude say it was the cup that killed her.

Laertes is killed dueling with Hamlet. He uses a poisoned foil and cuts Hamlet's flesh, barely, but enough for the poison to do its work to kill Hamlet. Hamlet, continuing the fight, picks up the tainted foil by mistake, so when he wounds Laertes, Laertes is thus poisoned. Hamlet hears a confession from Laertes, then stabs Claudius with the same poisoned sword and pours the rest of the poisoned drink down his throat, thus killing him three ways: sword wound, poisoned sword, poisoned drink.

The notable quality of all these deaths is that they are all wrapped in lies, deceit and treachery. Hamlet finished this tawdry mess by revealing the hidden and by assuring that Horatio would tell his story. There could be no honorable conclusion for these characters. Hamlet is our hero who pursued his quest by using a clever and cruel web of lies. He used lies and pretense to uncover larger lies. In his death, he begs for an honest telling of his life.

What is the difference between modernism and modenaty?my Q about poetry subject

I agree-- I'll add that besides the particular interests jk180 identified for modernist artists and writers, modernism is characterized by a commitment to stretching the potentialities of form (language, image, etc.).  Thus in modernism you'll find experimental styles and techniques like stream-of-consciousness, free verse, montage, etc.

While modernism describes cultural production, modernity is a term for a historical period.  The reason I think the terms feel so hard to define is that modernity is demarcated by a series of technological advances that deeply influence and determined the concerns of modernism.  (This as opposed to more rigidly demarcated periods, such as the Victorian Age, which coincides with the reign of Queen Victoria of England; note that the Victorian Age is coincident with modernity.)  Modernity is the period after the medieval period for some, since that's the technical transition from agrarian production to a more urban-centered, market economy.  Some think of modernity as beginning with the advent of (mechanical) industry, the Industrial Revolution (1830s).  The end date is likewise indefinite, but it is important to note that we are no longer in "modernity," according to the perspective I personally adhere to; we're in "postmodernity."  Generally the transition from modernity to postmodernity is located in the shift from national markets to global capital, and is also associated with a sense that the modernist (Enlightenment) faith in reason and progress has not delivered.

Another thought: modernity is often quite different in its commitments from modernist artistic production; especially in the case of the avant-garde, modernism is often a direct rejection of modernity.  Not always.  For instance, the modernist movement Surrealism rejects the modern emphasis on the empirical, the rational, etc., by emphasizing subconscious or aleatory sources for art.  On the other hand, Russian constructivism is committed to a practical use of art toward social progress (a modern ideal), and American precisionism finds beauty in the geometrical shapes of factories.

What does Romeo and Juliet teach us about identity?

In Romeo and Juliet, the characters are judged on account of their names.  The Montagues hate the Capulets, and vice versa.  It doesn't matter what a person is really like, only what their name is.

However, the characters of Romeo and Juliet challenge this.  Their love shows that they do not connect identity with name.  In one of Shakespeare's most famous quotes, Juliet says the following:

"What's in a name?/a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

This demonstrates that identity is a result of define charactersitics about the person himself, and not tied into the name - or even the background - of that person.

Discuss the theme of disguise in the play.Please consider the function of disguise beyond the fact that Portia and Nerissa wear a disguise when...

Disguise has much to do with appearance, and disguise can, by changing the appearance of things, hide the reality of them. Through disguise of Portia and Nerissa, the play makes a point about gender, suggesting gender identity is in part constructed by clothes, meaning that it is surface rather than the real identity of a person. Disguise (the festival) earlier allows Jessica to escape the house of Shylock. The "reality" of Jessica--if she is really a Jew because she is "at heart" a Gentile--(within the value system of the play) is also tied to appearance vs. reality and the issue of disguise.  Does Jewishness disguise a deeper humanity?  Can we not see a person as a human being because he is on the outside a Jew?  Or does Jewishness (again, in the value system of the play) go through and through a person, so that it is his reality, not just something on the surface.  In all of these ways the play uses disguise as a way of considering the difference between who a person appears to be and who she/he really is.

What are the initiating incident, the setup, and setting for Everyday Use?I still does not know the difference between these three temrs.

In Walker's "Everyday Use," the set-up (it's a noun and is hyphenated) is the way in which the writer has constructed and contrived the visit by Dee, about which the story tells.

The initiating incident (the visit) is a part of the set-up, as is the setting.  The story prepares the reader for the visit by describing the mother, Maggie, and Dee when she was younger; by revealing the friction between Dee and the other two; by revealing Dee's attitude toward the two and their home and their lifestyle, as compared to her attitude toward the outside world.

The set-up prepares the reader for the confrontation that occurs once Dee arrives.  The writer constructs the story in such a way that the relevant issues are revealed once Dee arrives.

In the poem A child said, What is the grass? What are the principal values that may be enhanced?Any help is useful

One principle value that grass seems to have in this poem is that it is democratic and not prejudiced since it grows everywhere between all peoples.  It is also found on graves - indicating it does not matter who the dead were, the grass will grow there. Below is a short analysis of some of the things grass is suggested to be in Section Six of the poem "Leaves of Grass"

One suggestion is that it is, "...the handkerchief of the Lord" meaning that every time you see and ponder grass, it leads you to the question of whose it is?  If you compare finding a dropped handkerchief to grass to the Lord putting grass on the ground you can understand this line.

Another definition of grass which Whitman gives is to compare it to a child - in that grass is the fruit (or child) of vegetation.  

 He also calls grass a “uniform hieroglyphic” which can be found everywhere in every area of the earth. In the same stanza he indicates that grass is democratic and not prejudiced as it grows everywhere among all peoples.  

He calls grass "the uncut hair of graves" seemingly indicating that grass grows over everyone's grave and the fact that it is uncut might be referring to the fact that grass will grow over anyone - even those for whose family does not care and groom the grave.  

What game are the firemen playing when Montag returns to the firehouse?

If we are thinking of the same time in the book, the game they are playing is poker.

I am thinking of the first time that Montag comes back to the fire station after he has taken some time off from work.  He took the time off because of how shaken up he was from the old lady killing herself.  Beatty had to come and give him a pep talk before he was able to come back to work.

So he comes back to work, with the "bullet" from Faber in his ear.  The other firemen are playing poker when he comes in.

In the novel In the Time of the Butterflies, what do the butteflies represent?Please provide a quote to support your answer.

Butterflies are the beautiful yet remarkably strong, tenacious creatures who, despite their outward fragility, are capable of remarkable feats. Butterflies can travel hundreds of miles, a seemingly impossible ability given their apparent delicateness; likewise, the very feminie Mirabal sisters are able to withstand challenges to their lives few could match.

Not many creatures on earth can maintain such a veneer of fragility but possess such interior strength.  Like butterflies, the accomplishments of these remarkable women seem "impossible for us, ordinary men and women" (from the postcript, page 324).

Define Romanticism. Why William Wordsworth is considered as a romantic poet considering his poem The Prelude and others.Pl. ans. this question in...

First, your question looks at the issues you're wondering about from an angle that is a little bit backward.  Wordsworth pretty much defines Romanticism.  One doesn't really define Romanticism then look at Wordsworth to see if he fits the definition.  He is the definition.  The term came after Wordsworth, and whatever Wordsworth and a few other poets do is now called Romanticism.  Wordsworth is a romantic writer so whatever he writes is Romanticism.  If you study his poems, whatever you find is Romanticism.

That said, I'll give you an example.  In "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey," Wordsworth focuses on nature experienced in the distant past, nature experienced in the recent past, and the effect the experiences had on him both times.  Romantics emphasized the transcendental (beyond reason, beyond human understanding) in nature.  Humans should commune with nature and thoroughly experience and learn from it.  This is what Wordsworth demonstrates in "Tintern Abbey." 

He writes that the experience he had in this spot greatly occupied his mind after his first visit, and led him to perform acts of kindness, and also led him to a state of mind or a mood.  The state of mind is the "sublime."  He describes the mood:

Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood,

In which the burthen [burden] of the mystery,

In which the heavy and the weary weight

Of all this unintelligible world

Is lightened--the serene and blessed mood,

In which the affections gently lead us on--... (37-42)

So you have nature, human response to nature, human contemplation of nature, nature's effect on humans, and the sublime, which is the result of all of the above. 

These should help you find elements that today we call Romanticism in all of Wordsworth's writings.

What's purpose of fat man in war?

The "fat man" is meant to offer the ultimate justification in sending boys and soldiers off to war.  His rationale in how parents must deal with their children going off to fight lies in the idea that the "love of country" must override all else.  In this light, parents and loved ones must take solace in the fact that "the ultimate sacrifice" is a revered one, a rationale that precludes all suffering, all inquiries, and all questioning.  His role is to support that of the state, to offer the government's line of argumentation in attempting to answer how parents can willingly stand by and send their children off to die in a war that lies outside of the control of the body politic.  While he eloquently offers a rationale, it is undercut by the woman's question that sends him into an uncontrollable terrain of sobbing and sadness.  In the end, his purpose is to prove that while many can seek to justify war, few, if any, can really substantiate the breaking of a parent's heart.

I need some help analyzing a poem written by a class mate. Can anyone shed some light on what it's about?What is the emotional centre? Examples of...

Well, I'll take a stab at it. To me, this poem seems to be about a relationship. It seems to be a love relationship and the author seems to be conflicted. The author seems to have been angered or hurt by his/her partner because twice the partner is referred to as "boorish".

The author is distraught emotionally at the beginning. He/she is upset with the partner and in dramatic fashion, declares: We can't make it! The author seems to be saying he/she has tried - but it just won't work. There was ecstasy once, but now that is gone. The author has rehearsed things over and over again and comes to the same conclusion - we can't make it. There is something in the relationship that is an obstacle - this is represented by the "steep stairs" down which the partner topples, "heels over head." The author seems to be in some sort of struggle with the partner because he/she refers to the partner as a "king" that he/she has toppled. And the author has emerged victorious - "I dodged you when you topple" and also "I toppled you king."

But, as with many relationships, there is drama and the negative emotion changes to a positive emotion. "I say no always I mean yes." Well now. Even though the relationship is rocky, the author asks the partner to "catch me as you topple" and together they roll along "down the garden path." So they get over their fight and move on.

The imagery is one of a person falling down some stairs and another person dodging the falling person trying to protect himself/herself. The author is trying to protect himself/herself in the relationship with the boorish head. The boorish head is a metaphor for the author's partner. The stairs are a metaphor or symbol for the challenge in the relationship, whatever it is. The journey that topples the partner is whatever wrong the partner has done.

There are some word/phrase twists - for example, the expression "head over heels" is represented as "heels over head." "Head over heels" is usually used when referring to love, as in "she is head over heels in love with you" but using it backwards signifies that something is amiss in this relationship.

What do you think?

Explain: "There the grown serpent lies. The worm that's flead hath nature that in time will venom breed, no teeth for the present".

Macbeth wanted both Banquo and his son, Fleance, dead due to the prophecies of the witches.  They foretold that Macbeth would be king, but not his sons and that Banquo would not be king, but his descendents for many generations will be king.

Macbeth considers them both threats, but Banquo is compared to the "grown serpent" and the "worm" or immature snake, if you will, is Fleance.  Macbeth recognizes that even though Fleance has no power right now, he has the capability of power in the near future, and is still a threat.  "The worm that's flead hath nature that in time will venom breed, no teeth for the present."

Interestingly enough, young snakes have teeth and their venom is more potent than the mature snakes' venom since it is more concentrated.  I don't suppose scientists of the time knew this, but Shakespeare was correct in having Macbeth predict Fleance's future power as he flees to England and allies himself with Malcolm and the English forces.

How is Macbeth a man of great potential and noble stature?and why ?

The character of Macbeth in Shakespeare's Macbeth is a man of great potential and noble stature.  He pretty much has to be to fulfill the role of tragic figure in Elizabethan theatre. 

The idea is that in order to do the level of great harm expected in a revenge tragedy, a character must be in a position of great power.  A commoner, for instance, does not have the kind of power, influence, and authority to do great harm to an entire kingdom.  A tragic figure must have this kind of power, influence, and authority.

Macbeth does.  He appears at the beginning of the play to be second-in-command of the military, second only to King Duncan.  And, in fact, Duncan does not appear in any way to direct the battle and be involved in any specific way.  He relies on others.  Also, Macbeth's position of authority is confirmed when Duncan is murdered and his heirs flee, and Macbeth is made king. 

Second, Macbeth is a castle owner, which means he is wealthy and influential.  He is a noble, though between his winning the battle at the beginning of the play, and his own fearless death, he doesn't act very nobly. 

Describe the difference between a Single Trade Discount versus a Discount Series?

A discount may be expressed as a single consolidated percentage of the total price, or at may be expressed as a series of discount percentages. When the discount is expressed as a series do discount each successive discount is calculated as a percentage of the net price after application of the previous discounts in the series.

For example let us consider a single discount of 40 percent. In this case product with full price of $100 will be sold at a price of $60 after allowing a discount of 40 percent on full price.

Against this compare a discount of 20% + 10% +10%. In this the net price of a Product with full price of $100 after application of the first discount in the series, which is 20%, will be $80. This second discount in the series which is 10% will be applicable on this net price of $80. Thus the second discount in the series discount will be $8 and net price will be $72. Similarly the amount of discount against final discount of 10% will be $7.2 and final net price will be $64.8. Thus the total discount amount works out to a single discount of 35.2%.

Companies frequently describe the discount structure as series discount make the customers feel that they are receiving more discount than they actually do. Some series discounts are linked to some specific condition of sale being met. For example, in the above example a flat discount of 20% may be given to all the customers. But the customers buying goods worth $1000 may be offered additional discount of 10%, and for customer buying goods worth $2000 or more the third discount in addition to first two may be applicable.

Can someone help me understand the short story "Sweat" as a whole?

Delia is a woman who must deal with oppression on two fronts. The outside world, the white community, work her so relentlessly that she must work on Sunday just to keep up with the demands.

Delia's husband keeps her cowed in her home. He has spent their marriage beating her, cheating on her, and taking her money to pamper other women. She works so hard to keep her "lovely" house, and yet, it is ironic that she loves the place where she cannot get any piece.

Her husband's favorite past-time is to torture her with snakes, which Delia is terrified of. He brings a rattlesnake in the house just to make her panic, and insists on keeping it in a box to live.

As time goes on, and the heat rises, Delia feels that something must be done. But her choices are limited by both her gender and race. Ironically, her freedom comes courtesy of the rattlesnake, who has gotten out and attacks her husband as Delia hides and watches.

In the play Trifles,what assumptions about women do the male characters make?In what ways do the female characters support and or challenge these...

The men think the women know little about law and even less about evidence. The men are trying to figure out the motivation for the crime, and make fun of the women who sit and talk about silly things like quilting and worrying about the preserved fruit freezing.  It is these details, of course, which provide the motivation for the crime. The play celebrates “women’s ways of knowing”, empathy, and female camaraderie, while it satirizes men’s “ways of knowing” and male condescension toward women.

In the novel "Things Fall Apart," describe the missionaries' way of refuting idolatry.

In chapter 16, the missionaries attempt to explain the Christian message to the men and women of Umofia. Through an interpreter, the missionary explains that all of the gods that the tribe worships are not really gods at all. He tells them that there is only one God. The missionary adds that the tribes gods are merely pieces of wood and stone. The people of Umofia respond with laughter. They think the white man (missionary) is insane. The people become even more confused when the missionary tries to explain Jesus. They can't understand how their is only one God if he had a son who was also God. Most of the tribesmen leave the missionary gathering believing the missionary to be insane, but Nwoye is captured by the message.

Later in the novel, others are converted because the missionaries actions began to prove to some extent that the gods of the tribe are not real.  

What does the ending say concerning Orwell's attitude toward Communism and Capitalism? Do either systems treat its lower classes well in the novel?

At the end of the novel, the animals looking into the window look back and forth between the pigs and the humans, and they can't tell one from the other. By this Orwelll suggests that the system the pigs started and the system the humans have been using, from the point of view of an onlooker, seem identical. The pigs now talk about the animals as "lower classes" just as the humans talk about their own "lower classes." While the animal revolution started with noble ideals, it became corrupted by the greed of its leaders, the pigs, so that it now, by the end of the book, suffers from the same class system that characterizes capitalism and which the animals originally found unfair and cruel.

Explain the process of sun shine and sea breeze during the day and night.

Areas close to sea or other large ware bodies experience cool breeze blowing from the sea to the land during day time and breeze in the reverse direction at night. This is due to the effect of the water and land mass getting heated and cooled at different under the effect of daily cycle of sun's movement. When the sun shines during the day, the temperature of land rises faster than that of the sea. Also when the sun sets the land cools faster than the sea. As a result during day time the land temperature is higher than that of sea, and at nights the sea temperature is higher than that of land.

Due to this temperature difference between sea and land, during the day time atmospheric air above land expand more than that above sea. This results in air pressure above land becoming less than that above sea, causing cool air from the sea to blow towards land. At night the temperature of land being lower than that  of water. the breeze blows from land to sea.

If interviewed after his rescue, what would Ralph say are the causes of Piggy's and Simon's deaths in "The Lord of the Flies"? Would Ralph tell the...

When considering what you will write, be sure to maintain verisimilitude.  That is, keep Ralph in character.  To do so, perhaps, you want to reexamine the second to last paragraph of the novel:

For a moment he [Ralph]had a fleeting picture of the strange glamour that had once invested the beaches.  But the island was scorched....Simon was dead--and Jack had...The tears began to flow and sobs shook him.  He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body....Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.

Judging from this paragraph, it seems in character for Ralph to be very truthful. (Do not forget that his is the British society of Australia that does have great respect for honor.)  In addition, his love for Piggy, especially, should provide the impetus for him to be very candid.  And, it seems that after Jack and Roger have burned the island and attempted to slaughter him, Ralph will have no problem in implicating them in their attempts at murder.  Probably, Ralph will mention the lack of adults and the fears of the small boys, their imagining of a beastie, etc.  These extenuating conditions may help to mitigate the descent into savagery by Jack and others.  However, in the British society of the 1940s, there would not be too much leniency.

So, with these ideas in mind, you can devise your interview as we editors do not write for you.  But, here is an example that may get you started:

Q:  All right, Ralph, we understand that you and the boys were stranded for ___months after the plane crash.  Tell us, now, what happened after all of you were there on your own.  Were there tensions among you?  You have said that you were the leader, but was there some rivalry with another boy or boys?  What happened?

A:  Jack Merridew was the leader of the choir.  From the first, he wanted to be in charge of his boys.  Later, he said he would be the hunter and kill the pigs that were on the island.  Well, there was another mean boy--Roger--who liked being a hunter.  I mean, he liked to hit and hurt.  Uh,....

(There should be some hesitancy on Ralph's part, so have the interviewer, who is an adult, draw the truth from him as Ralph tries to circumvent the brutal truths.)

Good luck!

Compare the characters of Jack and Algernon in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.

Jack (Earnest) Worthing is a man approximately in his late 20's or early 30's, presumably an orphan, and the guardian of a niece which is related to the man who adopted him after finding him inside a handbag at Victoria Station.

As it was, his protector was a rich man, and Jack enjoys a home in the country (where his name is Jack) and a place in the city, where he goes to entertain himself under the name "Earnest".  His character is quite favorable for marriage based on on his income, but his lack of family history makes it a burden for him to marry his lady love, Gwendolyn.

While Jack seems to be the symbol of decorum, Algernon Moncrief is the epitome of the Victorian Dandy.

Algernon is younger than Earnest. He is an aristocrat living way above his means in London. He is characterized by always being hungry, or eating. He does not have any cares for marriage, family, respectability nor responsibilities. He owes money to several debt collectors, and he is apparently more worried about being fashionable, acquainted and fed than stable. He depends on Earnest for his meals at Willi's and to reach his love interest, Cecily- Jack's niece.

In terms of similarities, you can conclude that Earnest (the character Jack pretends to be when he is in the city) is a mirror image of Algernon. However, Jack himself has also similar traits.

Both Algernon and Jack lead double lives: Algernon escapes to the country to visit a fake invalid friends he named "Bunbury" while Jack escapes to the city under the name of Earnest.

They both share a fascination with hunger and danger- When Jack is Earnest in the city, he too runs humongous bills at restaurants and gets in trouble with creditors. Also, like Algernon, he shares a love for the ladies. In the end we find out that they are actually brothers, and that their father's Christian name was Earnest after all-making them both "dully" Earnests

"Meditation 17".What is Donne trying to convey in this piece?

The bell and the island are extended metaphors, or conceits, in Jonn Donne's sermon entitled "Meditation XVII," which sometimes appears as a poem by the same name.

The bell's toll signals a physical death, but not a spiritual one.  He begins the sermon with a quote: 'Now this bell tolling softly for another, says to me, Thou must die."  The bell, Donne says, is not to be feared.  A bell is a welcome sound for Donne, a minister.  The bell signals the time when he and the congregation may worship together in the church.  Therefore, all should welcome it.

The same it is for God, the Eternal Minister, whose bell signals his congregation to assemble in heaven.  Donne says that we should not view the end of our physical life as if we are on an island, selfishly; instead, we should view the ends of lives as part of the interconnected bigger picture: a congregation of souls coming home.

How does Huck change when Tom comes?In chapters 32-39

Well at this point in the book, Huck is pretending to be Tom so he is understandably nervous when Tom really does arrive. He explains the situation to Tom and he agrees to the plan to steal Jim.  This leads to feelings of disappointment in Tom that he would agree to such a thing.  

During some of the complicated plans that Tom hatches to free Jim, Huck begins to lose some respect for him.  Huck looks up Tom but is also a very practical person and can see that some of Tom's plans don't make much sense and actually put Jim in danger. 

Why does Curley's wife threaten Crooks? What does she threaten him with?

Curley's wife is threatens Crooks because she has been left behind at the ranch while the men go out to the town and the brothel's, she feels very lonely and we must remember that she explains that she wants to be a movie star so while she is stuck in this place with curley she cannot do this, we learn that over the years she has grown to resent Curley and she only married him because her mother would not let her go to Hollywood with a man that thought she would be able to make it as a star.

So Curley's wife threatens Crooks because she see that he is in a weaker position than she is, in this time the blacks were said to be the inferior race also crooks himself had a disibility as he had a crooked back, these two characteristics were very important when Curley's wife decided to threaten Crooks as these were two of the worst things you could be at this time.

Crooks is threatened because there is no-one else that Curleys wife can take her anger out on except for Lennie but she has taken a liking to Lennie after seeing what he has done to her husbands hand (Curley) so she decides to take all her anger out on Crooks even though he has done nothing wrong she threatens him with rape saying that if he speaks out at her she will threaten to say that he has raped her, at this time it was unseen for a black man and a white woman to be together so this would be a very strong accusation and if she said this Crooks would surely lose his job and worse.

Who are the main characters in Among the Hidden?

In my opinion, there are three main characters in Among the Hidden.  The three main characters are Luke Garner, Jen Talbot, and Jen's father, Mr. Talbot.

Both Luke and Jen are third children.  They live in a society where they are illegal.  The government has said that families may only have two children so as to prevent overpopulation.  Because of this, Luke and Jen have to hide from the government.

Jen is killed while protesting against the ban on third children.  After that, Mr. Talbot (who is a member of the police who enforce the ban) helps Luke get a false identity and a new life.

What is the significance of George and Lennie's dream to the novel as a whole?

George and Lennie's dream of owning their own farm represents the pursuit of the American Dream during the Great Depression. The dream, while inspiring George and Lennie to continue working, is unrealistic and unattainable. In the final scene, George finally realizes that no matter where they go, Lennie will continue to find trouble. Thus, his recitation of the dream to Lennie and then his shooting Lennie symbolizes the death of their personal dream and the impossibility of achieving the American Dream.

What was the journey to the Promised Land?

I believe that you are referring to something that happened in Chapter 3.  Early on in the book, the family had been living down where they had first landed.  But the mother, especially, wanted to live somewhere else that would be cooler.

In Chapter, 3, the father and some of the boys were out exploring and found a tree that they thought would make a good place to have a tree house.  Later on in the chapter, they plan to move to that place.  They refer to their move as a journey to the Promised Land.

What did Scrooge do after his visitor left?

More details, please. Which visitor are you asking about? In addition to the four spirits (Marley and the three ghosts of Christmas) who come to Scrooge, he is also visited by his nephew and by two men seeking a donation for charity. Your question cannot be answered without more details.

Why is Viginia Woolfe's To the Lighthouse considered a modern text?

Virginia Woolfe's To the Lighthouse (1927) is a particularly modern work of fiction because of its structure, its treatment of time, and its development of character. Rather than following the traditional, linear structure of 19th-c. novels (this happens, and then this happens, and then this happens), "To the Lighthouse" follows the thoughts of its main character. Its movement is psychological, stream of consciousness rather than chronological. Time is also radically condensed--much of the story takes place on a single afternoon--a lack of movement that would have struck earlier writers are stagnant and illogical.  Finally, the novel's emphasis on psychological development shows the influence of such modernist writers are Freud and Jung.

Provide a short note of explanation of conversion as a morphological device.

Morphological, from morphology, refers to the formation of words in a given language. Morphology includes derivation, which is the creation of words from separate existing morphemes. One other kind of morphological formation is conversion. Conversion is the formation of new words from existing ones without changing the form (external structure) of the morphology of the originating words.

Conversion is a non-concatenative process that forms new words through modifying the internal structure of morphemes, which is specifically the meaning of morphemes. An example is shovel and shovel: these are shovel the noun and shovel the present tense form of the infinitive verb to shovel. The internal structure of the morphemes of shovel have been altered--meaning has been altered--to generate a new word. The verb "shovel" was converted from the noun "shovel" c. 1440.

Non-concatenative morphological conversion processes contrast with concatenative in that the latter describes formation of new words by putting morphemes together, for example, through derivation utilizing affixes.

Are there any allegorical elements in the story "The Life You Save May Be Your Own"?

In Flannery O'Connor's "The Life You Save May Be Your Own," the key to one allegorical elements lies in the name of the male character, Mr. Shiflet, who could easily be the prototype for the worthless, lazy type.  He also represents the conniving, selfish type as he expresses interest immediately in the old woman's automobile that has not worked in years.  This glance at the car calls the reader's attention to the title taken from the old billboards of the South that read, "Drive carefully, the life you save may be your own," a billboard that encouraged self-interest.

Indeed, the life that Mr. Shiflet saves is his own.  Of course, Mrs. Crater has her own interests in mind as well.  When, for instance, Shiflet suggests that he is a carpenter, she realizes that he can be useful to her.  Also, there is a suggestion of a savior since, Jesus, too, was a carpenter.

In an allegory there is more than one level of meaning--a literal one and one or more symbolic meanings.  In Part II of the story, "The Resurrection," Shiftlet gets the old car to run and 

with a volley of blasts, it emerged from shed, moving in a fierce and stately manner.

At this point, Mrs. Crater offers her daughter, Lucynell, to him.  Shiftlet, in his self-serving manner, replies that it takes money, displaying the avarice of the devil: his smile "turns into a weary snake."  Mrs. Crater succumbs to the "snake" and offers Shiftlet money and nature's darker side emerges.  Thus, the exchange between Shiftlet and Mrs. Crater's is more than a temporal one; it is a spiritual descent into falling for the temptations offered them.  The "savior" has transformed, revealing his devilish, shiftless nature.  Certainly, he is no Jesus.  The missing limb of Shiftlet marks a character who is not new; one who has already sinned.

Shiftlet's betrayal of Lucynell comes in the third part of the story in which he claims she is no more than a hitchhiker and abandons her.  Afterwards, Shiftlet was "more depressed than ever," so he picks up a boy who did not even have his thumb out.  As Shiftlet tries to recreate himself--as the devil does--by telling the boy romanticized stories of his mother, the boy interrupts him, flings the door open, and jumps into a ditch.

This action "shocks" Mr. Shiftlet.  He feels that

the rottenness of the world was about to engulf him....'Oh,Lord!....Break forth and wash the slime from this earth!

After a short time, there is a peal of rain and cracking thunder.  Although he steps on the gas, the storm, the "galloping shower" follows him into Mobile as he seeks to elude his washing from the earth.

The tension in the rope An 800-N billboard worker stands on a 4.0 m scaffold supported by vertical...

Let AB be the scaffold . The length of AB = 4m.

Let G be the centre of gravity of the scaffold . Then assuming AB has uniformly dense along the scaffold, AG = AB =2m.

Let postion of the 800N worker be at X and AX =1meter.

To find the tension in the ropes at A and B.

We also presume the system forces is in equilibrium.

The forces in equilibrium are : The weight force of 800N (down ward)  of the worker at X , the weight force of the scaffold 500N (down ward) Ta  and Tb  the tensions at A and B both upward. All forces are at equilibrium. Therefore,

Ta + Tb + 800N + 500N = 0 .....(1)

Taking moments about A,

Ta*0 + Tb*AB (clockwise) - 800* AX anti clock wise - 500* AG anticlockwise = 0 .

Tb*4m = 800*1 + 500*2 = 1800 Nm .

So Tb = 1800/4 N =  450 N upward

Ta =(800+500) - 450 = 850N upward

How does Montressor persuade Fortunato to follow him to the catacomb in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

He had a weak point -- this Fortunato -- although in other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared. He prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians have the true virtuoso spirit. For the most part their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the time and opportunity to practise imposture upon the British and Austrian MILLIONAIRES. In painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like his countrymen , was a quack, but in the matter of old wines he was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from him materially; I was skilful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could.

This is the third paragraph of "The Cask of Amontillado" quoted in full. It conveys two main ideas. One is that Montresor is not an Italian but a Frenchman. He distances himself from the Italians by his disparagement of their judgment of "painting and gemmary." His family may have lived in Venice for several centuries, but he is still an outsider as far as the upper-class Italians are concerned. His catacombs may be full of human bones--but these are not necessarily all bones of his ancestors. He may not have cleared out the bones that did not belong to his family because there was no place to put them; or there may be some law against such removal. In fact, it is quite possible that Montresor doesn't even own his palazzo but is renting it. He is obviously not affluent. He says that he bought largely (of Italian wines) "whenever I could." That should be interpreted to mean whenever he could affordto. There would always be plenty of Italian wines available.

The other main idea conveyed in Poe's third paragraph is that both Montresor and Fortunato are specialists in luxury goods and must both be earning their livings through buying and selling expensive merchandise to wealthy people. They are in the same line of business, but they are also competitors. While Montresor is poor, Fortunato is rich. It is very likely that the "thousand injuries" which Montresor does not explain are injuries suffered in business deals. Fortunato can outbid him. Fortunato can afford to buy in larger quantities. And Fortunato has family connections going back for over a thousand years. Italians would favor him because of his family status. If there is something good to be bought at a bargain price, Fortunato is more likely to hear about it before Montresor.

When Montresor tells Fortunato that he has bought a cask of Amontillado, Fortunato says, "Impossible!" What he really means is that it would be impossible for Montresor to learn about such a cargo of valluable wine before he did. But this is carnival season and Fortunato has been drinking and not attending to business. He thinks this is why Montresor has gotten ahead of him. However, Montresor has only bought one "pipe" (126 gallons) because, as he says, "I have my doubts" (about the genuineness of the wine). Fortunato is highly motivated to taste it--not because he needs any more wine, not because he is anxious to show off his connoisseurship, not to accommodate a friend--but because he wants to buy some of the Amontillado himself for resale. But he himself must taste it to make sure it is genuine, since Montresor has repeatedly expressed his doubts. Fortunato can afford to buy the whole cargo and make a big profit--and Montresor knows that is exactly what Fortunato is planning to do because that is exactly the sort of injurious thing Fortunato has done in the past.

What is the significance of precisely 1,369 light bulbs used in the basement in the prologue?

The number can be significant in a few ways: first, it contains the first 3 multiples of 3: 3, 6, and 9.  Three is a significant number in Invisible Man: the narrator is the third generation since slavery was abolished (grandfather - father - son).  As you know, "eighty-seven years" is also mentioned often, the elapsed time since slavery.  1952 is the year of publication.  1952 - 87 is 1865, the end of the Civil War.  Ellison has great respect for that generation of freed slaves, and he urges his narrator and readers not to be ashamed of them.  So, he's asking, "it's been 3 generations, 87 years, of freedom and we're still invisible?"

Three is a magic number in the novel.  When the narrator is in the hospital "three hundred years" is mentioned.  Another time he says it took "three hundred years of black blood to build this white mahn's civilization."  The student body count is 3,000.  There are 300 teachers.  It's $300 rent.  Three fans.  Three old women.  Three girls.  Three hundred dollar bonus.  And so on.

Also, 1,369 is the only 4-digit square number that has all its numbers in succession.  The square root?  37.  That's the age of the author, Ralph Ellison, at the time he began the novel.  Succession is a motif in the novel: ("Keep that nigger boy running").  The narrator goes from the South to the North, from job to job, and from society to his hole--trying to find out who he is.  Eventually, he will come out.  So, the novel builds on this, like the number itself.

It's also two sets of numbers (if you keep the 1): 13 and 169.  13 times 13 equals 169.  Another editor has this to say (her math is a bit fuzzy):

The square root of 1,369 is 13, a prime number. Identifying 13 as a prime number is important: 13 is only divisible by itself indicating the only way to seek truth is through enlightenment. The analogy “hibernation” is a metaphor for the protagonist state of contemplation. Only through contemplation can the protagonist decide what to do when he awakens from his den.

And, I'm sure, it has a lot to do with music.  Some scale or time signature or jazz number...

Which animal refuses to become excited about the windmill in Animal Farm?

I think that the answer to this is Benjamin, the donkey.  You can find this answer about midway through Chapter 5.

Benjamin is a very cynical animal.  He believes that things are going to be bad pretty much no matter what.  This attitude can be seen in what he thinks about the windmill.

Snowball says the windmill will make the animals' lives easier.  Napoleon says it will be better to have no windmill because then the animals will have more food.  Benjamin is cynical about both claims.  He does not think life will get easier with the windmill and he also does not think there will be more food if they don't build it.

What were the effects on WWII on the Japanese Americans?

The major impact of World War II on Japanese Americans was, of course, the internment of the Japanese Americans living on the West Coast.  The internment disrupted their lives for years and it cost many of them a great deal of money.  This was because they lost personal property that they had to leave behind when they were sent to the camps.

In a related effect, this ended up spreading the Japanese American population away from the coasts after the war.  There came to be many Japanese families who ended up living in places inland after the interment was over.

Japanese Americans were also affected because many of them fought in the war, but this is no different from the experience of other groups.

Who is the “wanderer, harried for years on end" in the Land of the Lotus Eaters?

The wanderer is Odysseus himself.  He has been trying to get home to Ithaca since the Trojan War ended, but he has been "harried for years on end".  This means that he has had troubles for many years.  He was stuck on Calypso's Island, and has faced many obstacles to his journey.  The Lotus-Eaters are one of the obstacles, as the Cyclops and others will be.

The poem "The World Is Too Much with Us" is a sonnet divided into an octave and a sestet. Where does the sestet begin?

Concerning your question about Wordsworth's "The World is Too Much With Us," there's more to determining an octave and sestet and studying how the poem works than just counting lines.  In fact, in this Wordsworth poem the octave and sestet do not consist of eight and six lines. 

Poems contain lines of thought.  In this poem the line of thought turns in the middle of ninth line, rather than after the eighth.  Notice the semi-colon at the end of the eighth:  the sentence continues into the next line.  This is not conclusive, by any means, but when paired with the context it certainly provides evidence that the turn occurs with the exclamatory

...Great God!  I'd rather be

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

In the first 8.5 lines, the speaker establishes that we ("us") are out of tune with nature and it moves us not, because other things get in the way.  That is the thought of the first 8.5 lines. 

The turn occurs with the "--Great God!"  The thought turns to the speaker insisting that he would, then, rather be an out of date pagan than be like people are today (in the poem's present), because at least pagans have a connection to nature. 

Those are the ideas presented in the poem, with a clear turn in the line of thought after the first 8.5 lines.

How did the village of Ketzah get its name?

Ketzah is the Hebrew name for black cumin, which was thought to have medicinal properties to detoxify the body of various ailments, as well as cosmetic properties to smooth and beautify the skin and complexion of women.  In addition, as the novel indicates, the seeds of the ketzah (cumin seeds) are “hot to the tongue.” These details, as well as the fact that it grows in a fertile valley, carry thematic significance. Ketzah as a place is fertile while the caves and rocks of the mountains, where Daniel lives with Rosh, are not. It is in this site of fertility that Daniel matures by working and caring for his sister, acts of nurturance, which correspond to fertility.  He, like the plant, has medicinal properties in that through love he helps to cure Leah of her “demons.”  That “ketzah” as a plant produces a spicy seed speaks to Daniel’s character, for his tongue is as hot as the seed. He often speaks and acts out of anger—he has a fiery temper that he must learn to subdue over the course of the novel.

What do you believe are some of the other major influences on developing our attitudes toward different things in life?

It is hard to answer this since you say "other" and you do not tell us what influences are already known...

To me the major influence in developing our attitudes towards various things is our family.  I am not saying that we end up believing all the things our parents do, but their influence surely affects us in ways that are both conscious and subconscious.

After that, the media surely influences us, depending on the extent that we expose ourselves to things like TV shows, advertisements, etc.

A third thing I will mention is peers.  This becomes more important as kids get to be of school age and especially as they move towards junior and senior high school.

What is the difference between the Ewells and the Cunninghams in To Kill a Mockingbird and why does Lee include them?

I think that Harper Lee includes the two impoverished families to illustrate that while one might be impoverished or part of a society's lower class, he does not have to be classless. Bob Ewell is obviously classless and raises his children to have the same lack of work ethic and ethos.  Mayella carefully plots to entice a married man and then frames him to save herself.  Similarly, her little brother Burris is truant and thinks nothing of insulting an authority figure. 

In contrast, the Cunninghams--while also being members of Maycomb's poor, struggling class--demonstrate class (for the most part).  Mr. Cunningham cannot pay Atticus with money for his legal assistance, but he is careful to pay in whatever manner he can (food goods, etc.). Walter, Mr. Cunningham's son, has obviously been raised with the same sense of diligence.  At the dinner table, he converses with Atticus about his hard work in the fields with his father, and Walter possesses such a sense of personal dignity that he is unable to explain to Miss Caroline why he does not have a lunch.

Thus, while both families suffer from the same physical effects of the Depression, they are completely different in not only their sense of decorum and decency but also in how fathers influence their children negatively or positively.

What is the significance of the title Les Miserables?

The title literally means, "The Miserable Ones" but it could also mean "The Wretched", "The Poor Ones", "The Wretched Poor", or "The Victims." In Les Misérables, the significance of the name involves the lives of the characters. Most of the characters, incluuding Jean Valjean, Cosette, Javert, and Marius are proof of that. With Cosette and Marius, it is almost like Romeo & Juliet being unable to see each other. Jean Valjean, being an inoccent man, now being hunted by Javert. Fantine, dying, being unable to see her child grow up, having to hand her over to Jean Valjean. Really, no one is happy in the story. Les Misérables has all the significance and the meaning of the whole story, because no one is happy until the end. The story actually has a lot to do with the struggles everyone goes through to survive. There is  a lot of pain the re, but eventually everyone is happy.

In chapter 8, why does Daisy always seem mysterious to Gatsby?

Gatsby doesn't know the real Daisy. Gatsby constructs his own idea of Daisy, and it is false because in reality, he has not had the opportunity to know who Daisy has become. Gatsby last encounter with Daisy occurred when they were both young. He has built Daisy up over the years, fantasizing about what would happen when they finally come together again. Eventually, the fantasy becomes real to him. Gatsby believes every giggle, comment, or action by Daisy, as mysterious and appealing. This is most likely a defense mechanism, because he does not want to face the reality of the situation. By giving Daisy a mysterious air, this helps him continue his romantic notions.

Does ‘Romanticism’ have anything to do with ‘romance’ in the modern sense associated with sexuality and courtship?Any sources to read would...

That is a great question and it has been addressed accurately by the previous answers. I would like to add that it is interesting that Romanticism would actually be the opposite of romance in the modern sense. When you read a modern romance novel you see a lot of exaggeration, and utter rubbish. The language might be overworked, the characters described quite superficially, and the purpose of romance modern novels is mainly to purely entertain.

The Romantics of the Romantic movement had a different purpose: They wanted to break with the superficial, and indulge in accepting nature and pure character as two very beautiful things, no matter if they were not aesthetically "pretty".

If you think about it, Frankenstein, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and novels of this sort are considered part of the Romantic movement. Even with their deformed and disgusting characters, what they try to do is to convey the beauty of life, and the charm of existence. They explore the essence of the self, and not the qualities of outer beauty. This is what makes the biggest difference.

What is Raymond Carver up to in the story Cathedral?

Greetings from Carver Country (Raymond Carver graduated from the high school I started my teaching career at in Yakima, Washington, where he grew up.  His dad worked in the Boise Cascade lumber mill that only recently shut down here).

As with many of Carver's stories, there is tension and darkness.  The narrator, who drinks a lot (many of Carver's characters do) and uses drugs in the story, is a little upset that Robert, a blind friend of his wife's, is coming to visit.

The story is tight and subtle.  Carver liked to leave the endings to his readers to figure out for themselves.  I think carver is trying to get the reader to look through the eyes of the narrator as he undergoes a fundamental change in how he sees life.  He gets to this point by talking to Robert and witnessing the way he sees life, and deals with his blindness.  But Carver doesn't tell us this directly.  At the end of the story, Robert and the narrator are drawing a cathedral on a piece of paper with their eyes closed.  Simulated blindness, and what the narrator can see in his mind.

How might the story And of Clay Are We Created change if it were narrated by Rolfe Carle or Azucena?

Whenever you get a question like this, stop and think about the characteristics of the people. If Azucena told the story, what things could she tell us that the narrator can't? From Azucena's point of view, we could know how Azucena feels being stuck and the pain she feels. We would know how she feels about Rolfe and what they say to each other for the three days. Rolfe Carle changes in this story. For the first time, he's unable to remain objective about the story he's reporting because he becomes involved personally in what Azucena is going through. He grieves for her at the end and through this experience, Rolfe confronts his own pain from the past and begins his healing. Rolfe would fill us in on his past from his perspective, how he feels about Azucena, and how he feels when she dies. We would also know how Rolfe feels after Azucena dies and how he's trying to cope with what happened.

In Chapter 5 of The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, why does Mrs. Watson speak Southern style when she gets angry?

Mrs. Watson, or Momma, was raised in Birmingham, Alabama, and, because of this, she naturally speaks with a Southern accent. When she got married fifteen years previously, she moved to Flint, Michigan with her husband, and in the intervening time, picked up the nuances of the way people speak in the North. Having lived in Flint for so long, Momma normally speaks like everyone else in the city, but when she is upset, she reverts back to the way she learned how to speak as a child, which is "Southern style."

In Chapter 5, Momma catches Byron playing with matches, something she has warned him a million times not to do. Momma is especially fearful of fire, because when she was a little girl, her house caught on fire, and although fortunately no one was hurt, she and her brothers had to wear clothes that smelled like smoke for almost two years. Momma had just reprimanded Byron about playing with matches a week earlier, and had sworn to God that if she caught him doing it again, she would burn him. Byron does not get the message, however, and Momma is truly irate when she catches him burning toilet paper parachutes in the bathroom even after her threat. Kenny says,

"We all could tell Momma was super-mad 'cause she started talking in that real Southern-style accent" (Chapter 5).

Momma had reverted back to her natural way of speaking once before in the narrative, when Byron got his lips frozen to the mirror of the family car. That time, Kenny explained,

"Momma started talking Southern-style when she got worried. Instead of saying 'here' she said 'he-uh' and instead of saying 'you all' she said 'y'all'" (Chapter 1).

In Twelfth Night, is Malvolio the victim or the mastermind of his own downfall?I need alot of facts and reasons.

It's a complicated question, because it really could be argued either (or even both) ways.  Some points you may want to consider:

* He starts out as a very stiff character, so it wouldn't seem out of place that other characters would want to take him down because of this.

* He is extremely ambitious and thinks that Olivia would think to marry him even though he is below her station.

* He is made to look foolish in such a way by Maria and Sir Toby that even the audience feels uncomfortable watching him.  We've all been the brunt of others' jokes and made to look socially foolish, it's something we instinctually feel pity for another about.

* His suffering comparatively to a Shakespearean tradegy is fairly minimial, he spends a night in complete darkness rather nobly and never loses sight that he is sane unlike Hamlet for instance.

* But, unlike most Shakespearean comedies, there is no remedy for his suffering.  He ends his part of the play by stalking out, snarling, "I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you," which is unusual in a Shakespearean comedy.

* It can also be argued that he was a sacrificial character - that he was the physical embodiment of propriety and could have no  part of the hi jinx that ensued in Twelfth Night so he needed to be put somewhere out of sight for the merry comedy to take place.

Explain the Literary Term:1.Anti-hero, 2.Anagnorisis,3.Aside,4.Denouement, 5.Hamartia,6.Catharsis,7.Comic Relief,8.Three Unities,9.Masque.

1. Anti-hero--This is the modern day notion of the hero as a rogue or picaro, a grey character and not the pristine hero of the heroic ages. This is not to be confused with the villain, however e.g. the characters in William Burroughs's fiction.

2. Anagnorisis--A term used by Aristotle in Poetics. It means understanding or realization. This is the juncture when the tragic protagonist becomes at one with his tragic predicament, realizing his reversal of fate e.g. Macbeth's 'tomorrow and tomorrow' speech.

3. Aside---It is a kind of solo speech on stage where other characters are also there but the speaker either speaks to himself or to one other, with the others not hearing the words spoken.

4. Denoument---In the Freytag-triangle of plot, this is the falling action after the peak of action is reached in the climax.

5. Hamartia---It is the error of judgement of the tragic character that leads him to his tragic destiny.

6. Catharsis--- This is the emotional function of tragedy according to Aristotle. It is the process in which the experience of tragedy evokes and by evocation, neutralizes the emotions of pity and fear.

7. Comic Relief--- It is a phase of comic situation, exchanges or character-antics in a gloomy or serious or tragic body of work. It provides some relief thus. The porter-scene in Macbeth is an interesting example where the comic relief still does not create a real distraction.

8. Three Unities---These are the unities of time, place and action. It was not directly advocated by Aristotle in Poetics. He only referred to the unity of action, but the three unities were theorized by the Neo-classic revisiting of Poetics.

9. Masque---It is a particular kind of comic and satirical form of theatre in vogue in Elizabethan times, catering to the royalist court audience. Ben Jonson wrote quite a few of them.

In The Yearling, why does Grandma Hutto tell Oliver a lie about how the fire started in the house.

Grandma Hutto doesn't want Oliver going after the Forresters and probably getting himself killed. The Forresters don't always fight fairly, and Grandma knows Oliver wouldn't stop until he had tried to kill every one of them. There are more Forresters, and one of them would most likely kill Oliver before he could kill them. She wants to move to Boston the next day because she knows if she stays, Oliver will find out that the Forresters did start the fire, and she would rather have him alive than live where she has all of her life. Plus, she will get to see more of Oliver since Boston is usually where he ships out of.

Describe the "apparition" Abigail and the other girls see in the courtroom.the question is in act 3 of the book

John Proctor forces Mary Warren to go to the court and confess that she and the other girls have been lying about being possessed by witches. He also insists that she tell them that it has been Abigail that has been the ringleader of the court circus.

After Mary Warren has giving her testimony, Abigail is questioned about the allegations and she starts to scream and writhe, she asserts that she is being attacked by Mary Warren. She mimics the things Mary says.The other girl's follow suit and the courtroom is in bedlam. Abigail swears she saw a bird that Mary Warren sent out.

Proctor attempts to get Abigail under control, but he is not successful in this. In the end, Mary Warren is worn down into recanting her previous recantation. She swears that Proctor is doing work for the devil, and she did not want to do this.

Describe the role of popular culture in promoting the war effort at home.If you can please be as detailed as possible, that would really help, thanks.

There were all sorts of ways in which popular culture promoted the war effort at home during World War II.

There were many movies made about the war.  These typically showed the Americans and their allies fighting valiantly against the evil enemy.  One example of this is the movie Bataan.

Similarly, you can even see support for the war effort in cartoons.  Both Popeye the Sailor and Bugs Bunny had cartoons in which they directly fought against the Japanese.  In various Bugs Bunny cartoons there are references to the need to do things like avoiding unnecessary traveling so as to help with the war effort.

What is the Wife of Bath's opinion of marriage (including her five) and how does she control her husbands?

The Wife of Bath feels that all control in a marriage should be given to the woman, both financially and sexually speaking. Her constant accusations of unfaithfulness and lying as well as ceaseless criticism of their every action kept the husbands of her first three marriages very busy trying to please her with attention and material wealth. While she does not give up her love for other men, they do not have the time for it. Her practice of obtaining all their worldly possessions before marriage has worked well for her.

The fourth husband does not comply as meekly as the other three before him.He has a wandering eye, and does not easily give over control to her. Therefore, they enter into a mutual game of causing the other jealousy. She enrages him with her taunting of Jenkin's desire for her.

When she marries Jenkin, she makes a mistake. She gives up her practice of maintaining control, and he has all her wealth from her previous husbands, as well as her emotional assets. She is constantly berated for her actions, just as she used to use this ploy on her previous husbands. She, to this point, has been unable to gain back the control in her marriage.

Finally, after a physical fight in which Jenkin thought he killed her, she regains the control and they live very happily until his death.

Why does Atticus tell Jem and Scout they have to change their snowman?

Atticus thinks Jem should change the snowman because it too closely resembles their neighbor, Mr. Avery, and not in a very complimentary way either. "Using bits of wood for eyes, nose, mouth, and buttons, Jem succeeded in making Mr. Avery look cross" is the way Scout describes Jem's creation.  Even Miss Maudie is a bit appalled, encouraging Jem and Scout to modify the snowman so as not to hurt anyone's feelings. Because Mr. Avery "is sort of shaped like a snowman," his feelings would be hurt with this caricature.

In "A Rose for Emily," why does the negro servant answer the door and then leave out the back door when the women arrive?I find this confusing...

It is important to remember that this story takes place in the South, post-Civil War. A very simplistic answer could be that Miss Emily kept Toby as her servant, even after the Civil War. Her death may have been his only way of escaping into freedom.

Another (debated) idea is that although Toby remained a faithful servant to Miss Emily all those years, he would be the only living soul to have witnessed the remaining years of Miss Emily's life and be able to answer many of the questions posed by the townsfolk: What happened to Homer? Did Miss Emily in fact poison him? Was she sleeping with his body? What else happened in this house?

We as the readers are well aware of how nosey the townsfolk are, especially the women; therefore, they would have pestered him for a response. His means of escaping with Miss Emily's secrets intact came when and only when she passed away.

What makes The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger relevant to today?

"Now he's out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute. If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me." So begins Holden Caulfield’s caustic assault on the Hollywood studio, a symbol of burgeoning 1950s materialism and artistic hypocrisy and, closer to home, the corruptor of his brother's fiction. This self-professed censor of film, however, goes out of his way to mention movies, movie-goers, actors, and even depicts his own stylized death scene, patterned after a gangster-film hit, all indicating that Holden is caught between an abhorrence and a love affair with movies. What a hypocrite!  And yet, what a funny hypocrite!

Holden was the first literary teenager in the age of the teenager.  Before the war, teenagers were not much different from adults: they could work for a living, as there were few child labor laws.  Only a relative few went to college or had any mobility or disposable income.  None of them had much of a personality.  None of them rebelled.

And then there was Holden Caufield.  After him, there have been a lot of Holden Caufields.

In the post-war boom, teenagers like Holden were going off to prep schools, movies, clubs, and friends' houses like never before, largely due to the automobile and disposable income.  And largely due to him.  His rebellious voice gave them rebellious voices.  Their freedom has been as such ever since.

Holden gave a voice to this new subculture of American youth.  He echoed the same spirit of rebellion that Huck Finn echoed generations earlier.  He too was disenfranchised by the materialism of the mainstream culture.  Holden broke away from the illegitimate society and formed a traveling community of one.  His humorous voice resounded with his readers then and now.

In Frankenstein, why did Victor not create the mate he promised?

In chapter IX, the "monster" and Frankenstein discuss this. When the creature presses Frankenstein for an answer, he says, "You may render me the most miserable of men, but you shall never make me base in my own eyes.  Shall I create another like yourself, whose joint wickedness might desolate the world...you may torture me, but I will never consent." Victor does vacillate, however, thinking he owes the creature, and that a mate will enable him to be moral, for he will have someone like himself and in that way be less of an outsider. Then, in Chapter III of the next book, after he is almost finished creating the mate, he destroys it because he sees the monster looking at him, and he sees on his face "the utmost extent of malice and treachery."  He cannot create another, no matter what the consequences.

Explain Clay's concepts of emergent literacy.

As explained by Whitehurst and Lonigan, Clay's concept of emergent literacy stands as an alternative understanding to the traditional idea that literacy beings in a specific moment in time, that being when formal instruction is begun. This is the present commonly used "reading readiness" approach, which draws a distinction between the phases of "prereading" and "reading." The reading readiness approach contends reding acquisition is dependent upon--and thus measures for skill acquisition--categories such as language use and reading concepts.

In contrast to reading readiness and similar approaches, Clay's emergent literacy is dependent on the idea that reading acquisition occurs across a continuum. The emergent reading approach involves the same skill acquisition categories as reading readiness does but includes an additional set of categories of skills. The first categories, shared by reading readiness and emergent literacy approaches, are termed in emergent literacy theory "outside-in skills," which are, as has been said, skills such as language use and reading concepts. The second set of skills, which are particular to emergent literacy, are termed "inside-out skills" and comprise such skills as phonological awareness (language sound differentiation) and letter knowledge.

Emergent literacy theory holds that these two sets of skills come from different experiences and are influential for the child's literacy at different segments of time during reading acquisition. Therefore, in emergent literacy, literacy acquisition originates early in the child's life instead of beginning with formal instruction. Further, because in the emergent literacy approach two skill sets, or "domains," are integral to reading acquisition, there is no demarcated division between prereading and "real" reading.

["Child Development and Emergent Literacy," Grover J. Whitehurst and Christopher J. Longin. Child Development, June 1998, Volume 3, Page 848-872.]

[Act 5] What is the significance of Malcolm's ascension?

Finally, the mirror carried by the last king in the Show of Kings during the witches' Show of Kings in Act 4 Scene 1 represented the Stuart posterity stretching out "to th' crack of doom" (4.1.117); the the overthrow of Macbeth and the Malcolm, the rightful heir, meant not only a general purgation of the country's evil, but the establishment of a line of kings, one of whom sat in Shakespeare's audience hundreds of years later and was almost morbidly aware that the same evils continued to beset great men. The Show of Kings confirms the words of King James himself, who expressed the hope that he and his descendants would "rule over [Britain] to the end of the world," almost exactly matching the prediction of the witches.