Why is the topic of justice such an important one in philosophy?How would you come come to grips with a problem of justice?

Several reasons.  Because philosophy is the basis for all forms of government, and because justice is a natural human desire, so it is therefore manifested in that philosophy.

The desire to change government or society often arises out of real or perceived injustices.  Humans have a natural desire for fairness, though we often don't observe that.  It is because of this desire, the philosophical changes that follow, and the societal and governmental actions that result that humans make progress in terms of justice over time.

As far as "coming to grips" with a problem of justice, it is essential to first acknowledge and recognize that an injustice exists, and to understand what its root causes are.  Philosophy helps us to understand those causes, the natural precursor to any positive action towards justice.

Is this sentence okay Could I get some tips with my yr 11 Romeo and Juliet essay?Their houses are sworn enemies; their hate deriving from an...

Concerning your essay about who is most responsible for the deaths of the two young lovers in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, I suggest that you don't need to change your topic.  While it's possible a consensus might exist that Romeo and Juliet and their impulsiveness carry the most responsibility for their downfalls, one can certainly argue for the predominance of other causes.  Multiple layers of meaning and ambiguity exist, so there certainly is no problem making an argument other than the lovers' impulsiveness.   

Concerning the sentence you ask about, is it your thesis?  Or a topic sentence?  It would help us to know.  If it's a thesis you would have some work to do.  I'll assume it's not.

If you want to keep punctuation similar to what you have, I'd suggest the following:

Their houses are sworn enemies:  their hatred of one another derived from an  "ancient grudge" that has recently flared up into "new mutiny." 

You should, of course, have references in parentheses after the quotes, but I suggest you avoid the awkward references here (The Prologue, etc., is cumbersome), by simply indicating to the reader ahead of time that that's where you are quoting from. 

For instance:

In the play's prologue, their houses are revealed to be sworn enemies:  their hatred of one another derived from an "ancient grudge" that has recently flared up into "new mutiny."

If the passive voice of "are revealed to be" bothers you, you can play around with it and eliminate it. 

In Chapter 7 of Lord of the Flies, what does Ralph ask Jack?

When Ralph manages to hit the boar he gets caught up in Jack's world. This shows us that although Ralph and Jack are opposites, Ralph is, as we all are, susceptible to the wildness that dictates Jack.

At one point in chapter Seven, Ralph asks Jack about the pig-run he has found. Ralph wants to know if Jack knows where it leads to and he wants the boys to follow it in search of the beast. This starts a conflict between Jack and Ralph and foreshadows the much bigger conflict which arises in the following chapters.

When I grow up I want to be a social worker or child psychologist. What are the the first 3 steps I need to follow to make my job true?

mkcapen1's comments are good. I want to add a couple of items.

You can find an entry-level job as what's called a "Psych Tech" with just a bachelor's degree in Psychology. That sort of job can give you a lot of valuable experience, but it probably won't be exclusively in the area of child psychology and may not be the sort of job that you'd want to have for your entire career.

The steps that I would identify are:

1. Learn about the similarities and differences between a social worker and a child psychologist, and learn the differences within each of those professions. What sorts of social workers are there? (mkcapen1 is right about the differences between having a bachelor's and a master's degree in Social Work; a higher level degree is the door to greater professional opportunities).

2. Explore ways to strengthen the skills that are most important to those sorts of jobs. Good reading and writing skills are certainly always good to have, but other skills -- such as interpersonal communication -- are probably at least as important.

3. Be willing to review and even reconsider your dream job. You're still very young and are in a position to try on any number of different hats. While you're learning about possible future professions, you'll probably come across wonderful opportunities and possibilities that you've never even considered before.

Solve the following systems of linear equations, showing all work: 2x+y-z = 14 x+2y-z = 12 2x-2y+z = 3

The given simultaneous equations are:

2x + y - z = 14   ...  (1)

x + 2y - z = 12   ...  (2)

2x - 2y + z = 3   ...  (3)

Adding equation (2) and (3) we get:

x + 2x + 2y - 2y - z + z = 12 + 3

3x = 15

Therefore:

x = 15/3 = 5

Substituting this value of x in equations (1) we get:

10 + y - z = 14

y - z = 14 - 10 = 4 ...  (4)

Substituting this value of x in equations (3) we get:

10 - 2y + z = 3

- 2y + z = 3 - 10 = - 7  ...  (5)

Adding equations (4) and (5) we get:

y - 2y - z + z = 4 - 7

- y = - 3

y = 3

When we substitute value of x and y in equations (1), (2) and (3) we get different values of z.

Substituting values of x and y in equation (1) we get:

10 + 3 - z = 14

- z = 14 - 10 - 3  = 1

Substituting values of x and y in equation (2) we get:

5 + 6 - z = 12

-z = 1

z = -1

Substituting values of x and y in equation (3) we get:

10 - 6 + z = 3

z = 3 - 10 + 6 = -1

As we get different value of zwhen substituting in different e equation, thegiven equations are not consistent with each other. Thus there no unique values of x, y, and z can be determined using these three equations as simultaneous equations.

How to write a sonnet into prose?I've got to rewrite Sonnet 18: "Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?" I'm having a difficult time figuring it...

Every sonnet has three major qualities:  There is a problem or question posed, there is the "turn" or "big BUT", and there is the solution or answer.

The first 8-12 lines usually houses the problem/question.  There is a transition or change in mood/tone which indicates the BUT, and the last lines incorporate the solution/answer.

In sonnet 18,

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:

is the question/problem.  I will compare you to a summer's day. You are lovelier more even tempered.  Summer is too unpredictable--rough winds, hot sun, and it is too short (only 3 months).  The sun is dimmed, and beauty for beauty's sake doesn't always last...it is either by accident or time taken away.

BUT (here's the big BUT)

thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

your beauty will never fade--you will not lose it no matter what (death, time, accident) because time will hold your beauty in these lines and as long as men read it, you live.

What role does Leper play in A Separate Peace? what does the author suggest about the nature of his relationship to gene and finny?contrast brinker...

Leper is a minor character whose role in the novel is to show the boys at Devon the harsh realities of war. No young man wanted to get out of serving his country in WWII, and Leper joins up on an impulse, thinking only of the romanticized view of war rather than the realities of war. He leaves boot camp when he suffers a nervous breakdown, and Leper never fully recovers during the novel.

Brinker Hadley is "the big name on campus". He is straight as an arrow in his thinking and in his political beliefs. He's law-abiding and very conservative in his thinking and in his beliefs. He makes sure to keep order at Devon, and he always uses logic to make his decisions. However, he's totally insincere in his behavior toward people. Brinker arranges the mock trial that leads to Finny's second fall and his death, even though Brinker isn't totally serious. This does lead to a confrontation between Finny and Gene where Finny tells Gene he knows Gene caused his accident on purpose. Brinker is cold, much like the winter. His behavior and thinking is cold and calculated.

Finny is the school's best athlete, both handsome and self-confident. He's also naive and innocent. He never gets in trouble for the things he does. He is carefree, a person other people gravitate toward. Finny represents the carefree, fun days of summer because that is his personality.

For more details, go to the links below.

Why is Taylorism an inappropriate theory of motivation for engineers within a modern workplace setting?Motivating employees is an important role...

Taylorism makes people work to the pace of machines to increase production (output);  it’s premised on "one best way" to work. Employees are paid to produce, not to think.  Linking pay to output seemed logical and still has some value today.

Employees had to keep up with the production machines. Think of the "I Love Lucy" episode where Lucy is in a chocolate manufacturing plant trying to keep up with the conveyor belt that goes faster and faster.  Unable to keep up, she stuffs the chocolates in her shirt, pockets, mouth, etc. so she doesn't get yelled at for chocolates slipping by. By the end of the episode, Lucy's productivity has fallen below what it was when the conveyor belt was going more slowly.  If pay per product were the motivator, her motivation would have slipped badly by the time she was done.  

For many years, employees did try to keep up as the manufacturing pace increased.  Over time, quality suffered as employees took shortcuts and even missed problems because the machines moved too fast to keep up.  Pay was often a motivator, but the point of diminishing returns can result, where it begins to cost too much to add more production and where motivation goes down as employees realize that every time they reach a goal, the goal is increased and they will never keep up.  The "goal" keeps moving.  

Production environments today do not typically follow the "one best way" for everything philosophy. Nor do they focus on pay for output as the top motivator.  The Saturn Division of GM (link below) is an example of a new production environment philosophy that, in 1985, was a huge step away from GM's typical way of producing cars.  The difference was that employees were involved in the process, being asked to use their brains instead of just being "tools" that had to keep up with the machines.  One of the most motivating aspects of this new way of doing business was that any Saturn production worker could "stop the line." That meant they could shut down the production line if they spotted a flaw or ran into trouble.  The result for Saturn was a product that employees were proud of and worked very hard to produce as cost-effectively as possible while maintaining high quality.  Their motivation was high because of factors beyond pay for output.  

Engineering is not about producing physical products in a production environment.  Among other things, engineers design physical products that get used in a production line.  But much of their job requires thinking.  The "creative process" is very different from the production process.  Taylorism requires people to work to the pace of a machine, without thinking about how to do the job; somebody else has already done their thinking for them.  Engineers need to sit and think or even dream about new ways to do things.  While engineers must produce their product (designs) on a deadline and within some parameters, one good design that reduces overall cost of producing a product may be more valuable to a company than several designs that do not produce as much cost-savings.  The important, measurable result is not qualitative product but is quantitative product.  Motivating people for quantitative results is very different from what Taylorism values.  

While I won't get into the specifics, you can do a more thorough analysis of what motivation may work for engineers by looking into Maslow and Herzberg, among others, for more information.

What is an example of verbal, dramatic, or situational irony in Through the Tunnel?

Hey there!  I have not read this story, but I can give you examples of these three types of irony, and perhaps you can go back through the book and locate them for yourself.

Irony is basically something that happens that is opposite of what you expect.

Situational Irony--someone does something you didn't expect.  For example, two young people are dining and he, nervously, drops to one knee in front of her.  They have been dating for five years, and he says, "Darling, would you do me the honor of being my wife?"  She responds, "Are you kidding?  This has been a fun ride, but you're not my type." 

Verbal Irony--when what someone says something that is opposite in meaning of the words said, or opposite of what you expect them to say.  For example, if someone says, "I could care less" but we MEAN, "I couldn't care less" that is verbal irony.  Or, with a tone of voice "That's a nice dress" when we really mean the dress is hideous and we wouldn't be caught dead in it, that's verbal irony.  This is often mistaken for sarcasm.

Dramatic Irony--is when the audience or another character has more information than other characters on the stage.  The best and maybe most famous example of this is when Romeo is hiding in the bushes under Juliet's balcony.  She has no idea he's there, but the audience does.  She is confessing her love to Romeo without knowing it.

Hope this helps!

Quote from "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail": “A man‘s conviction is stronger than a flame or a bullet or a rock." Identify and explain.

This quote is found in Act I, in my edition, page 20.  Here, Thoreau is speaking to Bailey, and thoughtfully commenting on Bailey's position that he is an honorable man who acts with conviction.  When Bailey says he would never burn down a barn, for such a thing was against his principles, Thoureau cynically replies that he might as well be guilty of doing something if everyone is convinced beforehand of his guilt.

Henry:  I'll put it in plain Anglo-Saxon, Mr. Bailey.  You're an uncommon man.  You were protesting against the barn-builder who shut you down with clapboard and daily work hours.

Bailey: Don't say that to no judge!  If I burned down a barn, they'd throw me in jail.

Henry (thoughfully):  Good for you.  Fire inside burns hotter than fire outside.  A man's conviction is stronger than a flame or a bullet or a rock." 

Bailey is certainly less educated and thoughtful than Thoreau, and completely misses Henry's analysis: that is, that he is reacting primarily against the strictures of a set location and the hours prescribed for his working life.  However, while the subtleties may go over Bailey's head, Thoreau is convinced that the man's innate integrity will eventually cause him to rise up against this type of oppression, and in the end will be a tougher opponent than bullets or rocks, or barn burnings, ever could hope to be. 

What are five reasons why slave narratives are important?

Slave narratives are an important contribution to the early American republic cannon. This type of literature demonstrates how persons that were enslaved reacted to their situation and how they found a way to live in the world. For example, Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745 – 31 March 1797,) also known as Gustavus Vassa, was one of the most prominent Africans involved in the British movement of the abolition for the slave trade. His autobiography depicted the horrors of slavery and helped influence British lawmakers to abolish the slave trade through the Slave Trade Act of 1807. Despite his enslavement as a young man, he eventually purchased his freedom.

Offering a fragmentary, microcosmic representation of slave life, slave narratives remain a peerless resource for understanding the lives of America's four million slaves. Some of the most compelling themes of nineteenth-century slavery, including labor, resistance and flight, family life, relations with masters, and religious belief can be found in these texts.

Challenging the conscience of a nation, James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, Nat Turner, Harriet A. Jacobs, Sojourner Truth, William Wells Brown, Henry Bibb, and Frederick Douglass are among others who have written an account of their lives as a slave.

Why did Mr. Neville St Clair always disguise himself as Hugh Boone? How did it benefit him?'the man with twisted lip" by Conan Doyle The...

The reason that St. Clair always disguised himself was that he could make a lot of money by doing so.

St. Clair was a good actor who found out that he was able to impersonate a disfigured beggar with a twisted face.  By doing so, he was able to make a lot of money.  This allowed him to marry and to buy a very nice home in the country.  He would not have been able to live so well on the salary of a journalist.

So, by disguising himself as a disfigured man, he was able to make much more money than he could any other way.

Find examples of personification, simile, and metaphor in Julie of the Wolves.

The first section of the book, entitled "Amaroq the Wolf", is rich in figures of speech.

Some examples of personification in the description of the main character's life with the wolves on the vast tundra are "winds scream", "the frigid environment has sculptured life", "plants and birds pointed the way", "city...sat on a hill".  Each of these gives human attributes to things that are inanimate, or wouldn't otherwise have these qualities.

Examples of metaphor, which are comparisons between things that are not inherently alike, include "the great wolf's eyes (are) brittle yellow jewels", "the tundra was an ocean of grass on which she was circling around and around", "wolves are gentle brothers", "the pond...the tundra looking glass", and "the mitten was a trophy".

Finally, some examples of simile are "birds...like leaves in a wind", "tail like a semaphore signal", "fur...like metal", and the pup "was like water and slipped through her hands".  Similes are comparisons between two things using "like" or "as". 

In the story lord of the flies, why is jack act so viloently in front of the others?

The two leaders who emerge on the island are Ralph and Jack.  Obviously, they have different leadership styles.  Ralph, chooses to "rule" with logic and reason.  He appeals the boys' sense of what is necessary to survive and get rescued from the island.  Jack, who just wants to have fun, rebels at this.  His "let's just have a good time" philosophy appeals to the boys (go figure!) more than the collect the food, build the shelters, keep the fire going boring work that Ralph keeps emphasizing.  Jack, through his tough guy personality is the one who hunts the pigs, paints his face, and neglects what Ralph considers the priorities for the group's survival.  This breakdown in communication results in violence when Jack's group separates from Ralph's, which eventually dwindles to just Ralph and Piggy.  Piggy's glasses are the fire starters on the island.  They are stolen by Jack's group in a raid on their camp and Jack cruelly leaves Piggy without the benefit of sight--both literally and figuratively since Piggy has been cast as Ralph's second in command and voice of reason.

What did the colonists do to resist the English rule?

The major events in this book in which the colonists resist the English rule is the Boston Tea Party, and later, the stand at Lexington and Concord.  The first incident comes as a result of a new tax on British products including tea.  In order to resist the tax, the colonsits refuse to buy tea which is just sitting there.  The town of Boston would not let them unload the tea and the ships were not allowed to leave until it was unloaded.  So a group of colonists unloaded it (Johnny included) for them - into the harbor.   The severe punishment of Boston, the complete closing of the harbor until the tea was paid for, united the separate colonies together against the British. 

Later in the book, The British are marching to Lexington to try to capture the leaders of the rebellious colonists, Hancock and Adams, as well as a large store of munitions.  The colonists made a stand at Lexington and Concord after being warned by Paul Revere that the British were coming.  This stand resulted in the first true battle of the American Revolution.  

I have to write a fake letter to William Shakespeare as part of my school assignment but I can't think of what to write. Can anyone give me...

If there is room for one more response to this interesting assignment, I would add this:consider writing the letter from the point of view of one of the characters, such as Juliet. Using bits and pieces of Juliet's language in the play to make the letter seem authentic, she might ask her creator some pertinent questions as to why he has her do certain things, who she reminds him of, and so on.  Juliet might even express her displeasure at having to die at the end of the play, explaining that she would have preferred to live for that would have provided a different meaning to the play (you figuring out what the play would be like if, say, she lived but Romeo died, or she died but Romeo did not.  Choose one or two or three passages from the play and, in the voice of Juliet (or another character) express your approval or disapproval of the way Shakespeare wrote them, asking him questions in the process.

What is the origin of the expression "waiting like piffy (pipheus?) on a mountain?

This is not an American expression, that's why you cannot find its meaning.

It means to stand around doing nothing without much of a care or purpose. From what I can tell, it is a British expression and nobody seems to know who or what Piffy is. The more common form of the expression is to be "sitting like Piffy on a rock bun" (a rock bun is a cake, apparently). It is similar to the American English expression, "Sitting like a bump on a log." It is often used as an expression of irritation and is related to an older expression "sitting like Patience on a monument," another phrase that has no meaning whatsoever in American English.

See the link below for possible explanations.

In All Quiet on Western Front, what detail in Chapter 11 indicates the disintegration of the German army?

I believe the detail for which you are looking is expressed by the quote,

"we are falling back, we will not be able to atack again after this big offensive, we have no more men and no more ammunition."

It is the summer of 1918, and the war has been going on for years. The population of young men eligible for military service has been decimated by the number of casualties that have been suffered over that time. Paul describes the lengths to which staff sergeants will go to declare a man fit for duty, recalling the ludicrous story of "a fellow with a wooden leg" who is declared A1. The story has circulated widely among the men in the ranks, and although it indicates the amount of corruption among the military establishment, it also bears testimony to the extreme difficulty Germany is having at this point to provide fodder for its seemingly endless war. The men in the trenches feel this pressure acutely; they are sent back to the front time after time after time. When Kat is injured, his leg bone shattered, he asks Paul bitterly, "Do you think that I will be marked A1 again with this leg?"

There are many other details in the chapter that indicate that the German army is disintegrating as well. Paul says,

..."we are emaciated and starved...dysentery dissolves our bowels...Our artillery is fired out...we have too few horses. Our fresh troops are anaemic boys in need of rest, who cannot carry a pack, but merely know how to die. By thousands. They understand nothing about warfare, they simply go on and let themselves be shot down."

The lack of food, dearth of ammunition and fresh equipment, and the inexperience of the novice troops who are too young and improperly trained, if trained at all, makes it clear to the more experienced remnant of the army that the end is near. Kat says, wonderingly,

"Germany ought to be empty soon" (Chapter 11).

From what point of view is the story told in "The Necklace?"

The point of view of this story is that of a third person narrator.  The story is not told from the point of view of Madame Loisel or anyone else who is actually involved in the story.  Instead, it is just some uninvolved narrator.

The narrator is omniscient.  The narrator can see what the characters are thinking, although this ability is not used much in the story.  However, we are told, for example, that Madame Loisel is not happy because she thinks she has married beneath her -- that she married someone who was not high class enough for her.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, why does Lee introduce the character of Lula into the story?

Harper Lee introduces Lula in her novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, for several reasons. Firstly, Lula shows that personal, social and political history affect how people behave. Lula is bitter because the white people are allowed to come to her church but she is not allowed to go to the white's church. Her history of being a subject of racism ahs made her generally angry. When Lula becomes upset at Calpurnia for bringing Jem and Scout to the Negro church, the shows the theme of the evils of prejudice and segregation in the deep South during the 1930s. Lula is prejudiced against white people because they have been racist against her before. Lula is really the only black person in the novel who is angry about her white counter-parts. Tom, Helen, Calpurnia, Zeebo, Reverend Sykes and other black people in the novel expressed little or no resentment towards white people. This, in my opinion, is a flaw in To Kill A Mockingbird because many blacks, in reality, were angry at whites and their (the black's) situation...

Why is Paris at Friar Lawrence's cell at the beginning of Act IV?

In the play "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, the Friar (Friar Laurence) is often blamed by audiences and critics for his "meddling" and interference. His outlook,however, on Romeo and Juliet's quandary is different from ours. Presumably, being a man of cloth, or a man of God, his driving motive in life is the promotion of good and the prevention of sin, So when he sees Paris looming in on his cell, he sees sin coming - trouble with a capital T. Because, you see, for Juliet to go ahead and marry Paris would now be bigamy and a dreadful sin at the time because of what the Friar has already done in marrying her to Romeo. He must act quicky and think fast if he is to avert mortal sin, as Paris has come to him to arrange the wedding.

How do the black flowers initiate a discussion on hidden sins in chapter 10?

Chillingworth is pretty convinced that Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl, and he wants to test his theory by drawing the minister into discussions of hidden sin. He sees black flowers growing out of a grave in the cemetery, and he mentions them to Dimmesdale, saying that they might have grown out of the deceased's heart, possibly because of the person dying with unconfessed sins hidden in his heart. This causes Dimmesdale to defend people with hidden sins, making possible excuses for them.

This is Chillingworth's way of letting Dimmesdale know that he suspects Dimmesdale as being the one who had the affair with Hester Prynne, Chillingworth's wife (although no one in the town knows yet that Chillingworth is really Mr. Prynne).

Who are the dynamic and flat characters in Faulkner's "Barn Burning"?

Mr. Harris is a flat character in that he serves a function in the story –he has an historical grievance against the Snopes, but does not develop or change in any significant way.  He, like Major de Spain, provides background for the other characters to act. The dynamic characters include Sarty, because he changes  from allowing Ab to brutalize him through most of the story until the end, when he understands more clearly the difference between right and wrong and warns Major de Spain that Ab intends to burn another barn. Ab is the most complex character in the story. He seems, in ordinary parlance, plain crazy, a trait which manifests itself through his desire to dominate and destroy others and their possessions.  Critics often call this a ‘God-complex,” but what underlies it is a sense of lack and powerlessness for which he tries to compensate by, for example, burning down barns.

In act 4 scene 3 what does Malcolm tell Macduff to do with his grief?

Building on the last reply, this idea of "take it like a man" is repeated throughout the play.  Lady Macbeth first goads Macbeth into killing Duncan by suggesting that he is less than a man.  Lady Macduff, in her conversation with her son, also insults her husband's manliness.  Macduff, the "hero" at the end, is the only character to routinely exhibit elements of compassion.  Thematically, Shakespeare appears to be criticizing behavior that is overly "macho".  As he was writing this shortly after King James ascent to power in England, he might have been giving credit to the better leadership provided by a woman, in the form of Queen Elizabeth.

What is the full analysis of the poem "The Winter Evening Settles Down"?

Do you refer to the first of the four parts of Preludes or just the first one? If it is the first, here goes an analysis---

It presents to us a desolate image gallery that captures a squalid, pointless and boring cityscape and its random happenings which only reinstate stasis. The settling down of the winter evening is made to imitate the movement with which a cat settles down or takes its seat. There is a synesthetic imagery that combines sights, smells, taste and so on. There are  smells of steaks and the smoke that comes out of the burnt out butt of a cigar is what the end of the day is compared. There is a connotation of exhaustion and boredom everywhere in this landscape.

The random shower, the grimy scraps, the heap of withered leaves all symbolize a lifeless hollowness of modern day urban existence, so very characteristic of early Eliot.

The lonely cab-horse is the acute symbol of helpless rage, frustration and absolute alienation with which the fragment comes to a close.  The lighting of the lamps is like a switch from the darkness so far described and fleshed out in different ways but as the other fragments imply, this lighting is not at all non-problematic.

Why does Gatsby act like a little boy when he sees Daisy for the first time in a long time?The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, there is much of the youthful and idealistic in Jay Gatsby.  Indeed, his perception of Daisy with her white car and white dresses is much like that of the purified maiden and he the knight who seeks her.  In this infatuation, Jay stands on his lawn looking for the "single green light, minute and far away" until the day comes that Nick arranges for Gatsby to meet with Daisy.

In excited preparation for this meeting, the idealistic Gatsby offers to have Nick's grass cut; he orders "a greenhouse of flowers" sent to Daisy.  When he arrives, he wears

a white flannel suit, silver shirt and god cored tie...He was pale and there were dark signs of sleeplessness beneath his eyes.

'Is everything all right?' he asked immediately.

He is pale, with his hands

plunged like weights in his coat pockets,...standing in a puddle of wter glaring tragically into [Nick's] eyes.

Like a love-sick schoolboy, Gatsby has silent gaps in his conversation.  When Daisy remarks that they had not met for years, Gatsby knows the exact date:  "Five years next November."  Then, he takes Nick into the other room to talk with him privately.  Even Nick tells him, "You're acting likea little boy."

Much like the boy of James Joyce's "Araby," Gatsby has fabricated an image of Daisy that does not match the reality.  This infatuation with Daisy is another reflection of Gatsby's world of illusion which he has created from illegal gains, parties with guests whom he does not even know, and his materialistic American Dream--all of which are a tableau of the Jazz Age.

Paraphrase the story of Pyramus and Thisbe.

Pyramus and Thisbe were lovers whose parents wouldn't let them marry.  Their parent's properties were adjoining, and there was a crack in the wall between the two where the lovers could talk to each other.  Through this crack, they finally arrange a midnight meeting to see each other.

Thisbe is the first to arrive, and when she gets to their meeting place, she sees a lion feeding nearby.  Scared, she runs away dropping her head-piece in the process.  The lion, after feeding, is curious about the piece of clothing and muzzles it before moving on (leaving blood stains on it in the process).

When Pyramus arrives later, he sees the lion's footsteps and the bloody veil and assumes the worst.  In grief, he kills himself.  Later, when Thisbe comes back, she sees the dead Pyramus with her bloodied veil and understands what happened, so she, too, kills herself.

This is a well-known story throughout mythology also involving the color of mulberries - Pyramus's blood stained them red.

Do Victor and the monster become more similar as the novel Frankenstein goes on?

Absolutely! As Victor self-alienates himself because of his fear of the creature/monster he creates coupled with his guilt for having abandoned him, he becomes just as much a social outcast as the monster, who is shunned by all due to his hideous appearance.  In addition, the creature feels he is justified for his wrong-goings in the same way that Victor feels justified in denying blame for the actions of the creature.  Being the creature's father, Victor has a duty to accept and protect him; by neglecting this responsiblity, he indirectly causes the murders and may be looked at as a murderer himself.  The creature, regardless of how "wronged" he has been does not have the right to murder.  They almost become one and the same, at least psychologically.

What is the summary of the story The Lady or the Tiger?

The story begins with a king who believes that he has constructed a perfect system of justice. He allows fate and the accused to decide ones' own guilt or innocence. If the accused is innocent then he will choose the door that has the lady and will be married in front of the crowd. If the accused is guilty he will choose the door that has a ferocious tiger behind it and be ripped apart as punishment for his crime.

The king also has a beautiful daughter with a similar temperament who falls in love and has an affair with a man who is far below her social station. He hears of the affair and immediately has the man arrested.

The princess, hearing about this development, pays several people to find out which door holds the tiger and which holds the lady.She is tormented with her decision because she finds that the lady chosen for him is one whom she hates and is very jealous. She believes that her lover will be happy with his bride and forget her, but she also cannot bear the thought of him being ripped apart to his death in front of her very eyes.

On the day of this young man's trial he looks to the princess because he knows her and knows that she would do anything tho find out the identities that lie behind each door. She raises her hand indicating that he choose the door on the right. The story ends here and the reader is left to decide which door was chosen. It is a great example of ambiguity.

How does Winston withdraw from the society around him, like when talking to Syme? Quotes on his withdrawal.Quotes on alienation, loneliness and...

In Chapter 5, Orwell's imagery regarding Syme (whose name is a root for "Time" and "With") is characterized by existential death and torture, which--as you point out--makes Winston sound alienated, lonely, and withdrawn.  The narration reads like the Munch painting "The Scream":

One of these days, thought Winston with sudden deep conviction, Syme will be vaporized. He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly. The Party does not like such people. One day he will disappear. It is written in his face.

Syme's fate obviously foreshadows Winston, as he is a doppelganger (a ghostly twin).  It is ironic that Syme, an expert at Newspeak, should also be "censored" himself:

Syme's fate was not difficult to foresee. And yet it was a fact that if Syme grasped, even for three seconds, the nature of his, Winston's, secret opinions, he would betray him instantly to the Thought police. So would anybody else, for that matter: but Syme more than most. Zeal was not enough. Orthodoxy was unconsciousness.

Winston's thoughts are filled with angst, alienation, and morbidity: he dare not get too close to these men.  They are all on the brink of becoming unpersons, non-existent, vaporized by the secret police.

By Chapter 9, Syme will be missing (dead):

Syme had vanished...Syme had ceased to exist: he had never existed.

Later, in Chapter 14, when Winston finally gets a message from O'Brien, Syme is resurrected in his thoughts.  O'Brien writes:

'But you write it very elegantly,' said O'Brien. 'That is not only my own opinion. I was talking recently to a friend of yours who is certainly an expert. His name has slipped my memory for the moment.'

Winston surmises:

But Syme was not only dead, he was abolished, an unperson. Any identifiable reference to him would have been mortally dangerous.

Winston should have known that O'Brien had indeed talked to Syme during his torutue in the Ministry of Love.  This should have been a sufficient omen to not make contact with the double-agent O'Brien.  Instead, Winston unwisely follows the bait.

What does the term, 'Renaissance' mean ? Identify some of the key factors responsible for the spread of the renaissance in Europe.

I'll just elaborate slightly on the two answers above.  This may not fit with the idealistic view of the Renaissance, but one of the most important factors in the spread of the Renaissance was advancement in ship building.  Better, faster, safer ships meant more trade, and more trade meant more money. 

Art, mathematics, science, etc., until relatively recently,  were cultivated by wealthy white men.  They were the only ones with education and leisure time, and those are prerequisites for learning. 

More trade meant more money, and more money meant more educated men with leisure time.  That helped spread Renaissance ideas.  It also, by the way, is one of the main causes of the Renaissance.

What was the appearance of the pilgrim and the parson in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer?i need to know about the physical appearance.

All the people on the trip to Canterbury were pilgrims, there is no one character called "pilgrim".  The parson, however, is one of the pilgrims in the group.  The parson was one of the few members of the clergy that Chaucer liked and so he gave the parson favorable traits.  The General Prologue doesn't give a physical description of the parson, but based on the fact that Chaucer gives other favorable characters such as the Oxford scholar traits such as thinness, it's safe to assume the parson is thin.  Plumpness, such as was found in the character description of the Prioress and the Friar, were equated wtih undesireable characters who took advantage of their position and didn't share with the poor.  Chaucer tells us that the parson tended to his flock more than himself, so it is reasonable to conclude the parson was not only thin, but probably appeared to be very poor.  He was most likely dressed in very simple, humble attire.  Also, since he walked, as Chaucer tells the reader in the General Prologue, to visit any of his parishoners who were ill or grieving, he probably is not only lean, but physically fit.  The parson's tale and prologue do nothing to expand on a physical description.  But since his tale and his description in the GP both note that he is a somber and devout man, he probably wasn't a man to smile a great deal.

What does it mean when Darry tells Ponyboy that he is living in a vacuum?What do they mean by living in a vacuum

What Darry means by this is that Pony is ignoring the realities of his life.  He is acting as if there is nothing going on in his life, like it is a vacuum that is empty except for the deaths of Johnny and Dally.

Darry is telling Pony that he has to quit acting like this -- he has to realize that there are all kinds of other things going on that are important.  He has to realize, especially, that school is important and that he could make something of himself if he really starts to apply himself to school.

In Hamlet, Act I, scene 1, why does Marcellus tell Horatio to speak to the ghost?

In Hamlet, introducing the ghost of the young Hamlet's father, also Hamlet, allows Shakespeare to develop the plot somewhat before the ghost's real purpose is revealed. It would have been quite feasible to an Elizabethan audience that a ghost could share the stage with the other characters.

Marcellus and Bernardo are tasked with ensuring that the imminent military strike expected from Norway does not catch Denmark unawares. They have seen an apparition twice while they have been on duty and, in Act I, scene 1, they are searching for confirmation that it is not "but our fantasy" (I.i.23). Horatio is a good choice to corroborate their story as he is both a learned man, a scholar, and a friend of Hamlet's. Fortunately, Marcellus has brought Horatio with him, although Horatio is skeptical and does not expect the ghost to appear.

While Marcellus is recounting the previous night's occurrences and the vision of the ghost, the ghost does actually come before them. Bernardo is anxious to confirm that it looks "like the King that's dead" (41). Horatio watches the apparition which he says, "harrows me with fear and wonder" (44). He is prompted by Marcellus, who is anxious that Horatio should speak to it because it has not spoken to Bernardo and Marcellus and they believe that perhaps it will speak to a more educated man. 

Horatio does address the ghost, commenting on its likeness to the late king, "buried Denmark" (48), and on its "warlike form"; the "form" that will most mislead the characters and the audience in questioning the motives of the ghost. They all assume that the ghost has military motives and not personal ones. 

How does Jody's character begin to establish Hurston's theme of male dominance and aggression in Their Eyes Were Watching God?Contrast this with...

At first, it seems like Joe is exactly what Janie has been waiting for. He rescues her from Logan & takes her to Eatonville, where he can succeed in a way impossible in other towns. Although Janie is reluctant to go, Jody sweetalks her, offering a chance for adventure. But this dream turns sour soon. When Jody becomes mayor, Janie becomes a "pretty doll-baby," a token of his stature in the town. Jody defines himself by his position and possessions, and the most valuable of those is Janie. So Jody silences Janie's development and keeps her from participating in the town's talk on the porch of their store. Jody's world becomes a kind of prison for Janie, who realizes that her "image" of him has "tumbled down and shattered." The final straw comes when he ridicules her body in public, and she tells him, "When you pull down yo' britches, you look lak de change uh life." Standing up for herself becomes the breaking poit for him, as he quickly deteriorates after this incident. But Janie realizes that all he's given her is money-there's been no real change internally.

Janie's first husband turns out to be the opposite of what she expected from love and marriage. Forced to marry him by her grandmother because he can give her a house and sixty acres of farmland, Janie finds none of the awakening and vitality that she experienced from her first kiss. Instead, his ugly appearance and body odor repulse her and lead her to believe that although her grandmother wants security, she wants to live her life freely. When Logan tells her he is going to buy a mule for her to plow with, Janie decides that life with him is not what she bargained for. She leaves him when Joe Starks comes along. However, he's not overtly cruel; he just considers Janie another hand to work, and tends to ignore her.

How is Antigone's death by committing suicide significant to her beliefs?

Antigone's suicide is in keeping with the fatal and fatalistic atmosphere that surrounds her entire family. She professes devotion to her family, the doomed house of Oedipus. With the exception of her sister Ismene, they have all preceded her in death: her father, mother and two brothers (who killed each other); it seems fitting that she join them in death. As Creon tells her brutally at one point: 'Go and share your love with the dead'. She prefers to do that rather than go on living in a world which is largely meaningless to her. She has been entombed alive, but she prefers to hasten her end rather than wait for it.  

Antigone dares all for her family, and sacrifices all. She had earlier accompanied her blind, disgraced, exiled father Oedipus, and then she buries her brother Polynices, whose corpse had been left exposed as he was deemed a traitor. By this latter action she ensures her own condemnation by the state. For this action she sacrifices her own life, her own hopes for marriage and children - she was betrothed to Haemon, son of Creon, the ruler who officially condemns her. She bewails this loss but does not waver from her preferred course of action.

Antigone is heroically dedicated to her ideals and carries them out to the letter. Her devotion to family and family duties is an all-consuming passion with her. She is utterly inflexible and and determined, one of the most towering characters in all of ancient Greek tragedy. Her suicide is one final act of defiance against the world that condemned her for carrying out her family duty in burying Polynices. 

What would I list as Beowulf's related experience, education, projects, honors/awards, and skills on his resume?

Don't forget too, that he is the son of a worthy man and has learned from the very beginning all the lessons which go with his place in society.  He would have learned horsemanship, sailing, swordsmanship, perhaps how to use a bow and arrow.  He would also have lessons in managing and leading large groups of men as the future would most definitely hold a time for him to lead them into battle...like with Grendel, Grendel's mom and the dragon. 

This sounds like a fun assignment.  As long as whatever you put makes sense, seems like you might even be able to fabricate a little.  Have some fun with it...for instance, Beowulf took classes in how to handle all the adoring female fans he would later have, etc.

Does Montresor explain why he wants to take revenge?

It is that he has no bona fide cause for revenge (one that he states) that makes this story so horrifying.  By not identifying the cause for revenge, we cannot dismiss it as unworthy or outside of our range of experience.  Instead, the revenge achieves a universality, a flaw of human character, or perhaps more aptly, a commonality of human emotion that Montressor works out for us that we, only in our unconscious, would dare to think about.  Poe often treats such taboo subjects that he considers fundamental to human experience but too awful for a person to lay claim to.  Indeed, in an essay on poetry he calls such horrific experiences and emotions "beautiful."

What point is Shelly trying to make about parents and children in the book? My teacher keeps talking about it, and I am having trouble.

There is a very good reason your teacher keeps talking about this.  Let me outline some things for you:

1. Mary Shelley's own mother died from complications of giving birth to her.  2.  There are lots of parent-child relationships in the book.  To name a few:  Caroline Beaufort (Frankenstein) and her parents, Victor and his parents, Elizabeth and her childhood, Justine Moritz and her childhood, Safie and her father, Felix and Agatha and their father, Adam and God, and of course, the Creature and his "father".  3.  The underlying message that Shelley is trying to get across is this:

If you are going to bring a child into the world, you have to take responsibility for that child.  Clothing, food, shelter, education, and love are among the necessities.

The Creature is denyed all of this, and as a result, he feels angry and abandoned.  (Not unlike the feelings Mary Shelley had growing up without her mother.)

The parent-child relationship is a very important theme in the book, and understanding the message Shelley is sending will shed greater light on her message of unconditional love.  Had the creature been given this basic element, things would have turned out very differently for everyone. 

What do you make of the many references to how the Loman house has been closed in by other buildings in Death of a Salesman?What do you make of the...

The answer to this is key to understaning Willy Loman.  When the Loman's moved into their house, it would have been sometime in the 1920's, when Biff was around seven or eight years old (if I am recalling correctly).  At that time, the house was in a part of the city that was much more rural.  As time progresses, the city seems to creep up on the Loman house.  Trees are torn down and the encroaching apartment buildings block any sunlight, making it difficult for vegetation to grow.  This is ultimately a metaphor for the urban industrialization of America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

My students have read the Transcendentalists long before they read this play, so I ask them to recall Emerson and Thoreau's views on nature and the individual.  With that knowledge, students begin to see how Willy's frustration with the modern world is just like Thoreau's frustration with the pace of life in the 1840's.  Remember, Willy is good with his hands.  He can put up a ceiling and he talks about how great it would have been to work his boys in the outdoors of Alaska.  Willy also mentions he would like to build a house out in the country some day (a la Thoreau moving to his cabin by Walden Pond).  What Willy is expressing is the disconnect from nature America has experienced as it grew into a world power.  Willy has the sense of self-reliance and rugged individulism that helped build American in the nineteenth century; however, he finds himself lost in the world of modern America, unable to find his footings in a career he never should have entered.  Like most Americans, he chased the quick buck (sales profession) and abandoned his dream of working out in the open.  Thus, this disconnect coincides with the fact that the house has become closed in.  Willy is just as boxed in as the house.

Why can't Odysseus hug his own mother?From book XI

This is actually in Book XI (not XII).  Odysseus cannot hug her, no matter how much he wants to, for his mother is now a "shade," living in Hades.  There is a division between flesh and spirit that cannot be connected.  Here is the passage: 

  "So she spoke, and I wondered how I might embrace my dead mother’s ghost. Three times my will urged me to clasp her, and I started towards her, three times she escaped my arms like a shadow or a dream.  And the pain seemed deeper in my heart. Then I spoke to her with winged words: “Mother, since I wish it why do you not let me embrace you, so that even in Hades’ House we might clasp our arms around each other and sate ourselves with chill lament? Are you a mere phantom royal Persephone has sent, to make me groan and grieve the more?

          My revered mother replied quickly: “Oh, my child, most unfortunate of men, Persephone, Zeus daughter, does not deceive you: this is the way it is with mortals after death. The sinews no longer bind flesh and bone, the fierce heat of the blazing pyre consumes them, and the spirit flees from our white bones, a ghost that flutters and goes like a dream. Hasten to the light, with all speed: remember these things, to speak to your wife of them.”’

In Orwell's 1984, what is the purpose of the telescreen?

The purpose of the telescreen is to maintain control over the Oceanic society. The party uses it as a tool to differentiate between the supporters of Big Brother, a manifestation of the Party, and dissidents, those that want to oppose or rebel against an authoritative party. It functions as a form of surveillance; people are unable to escape the scrutiny and are never sure when they are being observed or listened to. This ensures that they are wary of not only their words and actions but also their thoughts as they are given away by their facial expressions.

What does this relationship reveal about both emily and her father as characters.

I'm unclear about your question.  If you are asking what is their relationship like, it would be one that reveals the power relationship between the Southern "lady: and "gentleman."He, as we see him in the tableau, represents the paternalistic, authoritative southern male, dominating his daughter, Emily, who, in the background, appears submissive.  He holds a whip and wears boots, she wears white. Much of Emily can be explained through this original relationship with her father, which she does her best to break out of through Homer, whom her father would have hated, and then by killing Homer when he seemed to want to leave her.

When she says, "Now we have found each other," what is Anne talking about in in Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl?

What she is talking about here is an episode from quite late in the book.  She is talking about a feeling she had while spending time with Peter Wessel.

In this episode (page 218 in one copy of the book, at least), she has been sitting with him on a couch.  They sort of accidentally start to kiss and she is overcome -- they come to be "clasped" and "in a whirl."  So she is having a sort of a young love moment.  She will later realize Peter is not for her, but for now, she feels a strong emotion.  That is what she is talking about when she says they have found each other.

Five vivid words to describe the red death image from "The Masque of the Red Death"Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death"

In his exposition to the short story, "The Masque of the Red Death," Edgar Allan Poe's narrator describes the "Red Death" as having long devastated the country; in fact, no pestilence had ever

been so fatal, or so hideous.  Blood was its Avatar and its seal--the redness and the horror of blood.

While the Prince and his light-hearted friends, knights and dames of his court seek refuge in the abbey, the Red Death, nevertheless, finds them.  Prince Prospero demands that this intruder be seized and unmasked.  But, the Red Death passes through the blue chamber to the purple, then the green, then the orage and white to the violet.  Enraged Prince Prospero runs through the chambers, brandishing a dagger, but to no avail.  Like "a thief in the night," the Red Death comes, staining the "blood-bedewed hall of their revel," and each guest dies in the "despairing posture of his fall." The life of the ebony clock goes out.

And the flames of the tripods expired.  And Darkness and decay and the red Death held illimitable dominion over all.

To pull from Poe himself there are these vivid words: "hideous," "a deadly terror," "blood-bedewed halls," "Darkness" and "Decay" with "illimitable dominion."

Why / how does Penelope have more power over Odysseus than Athena?

Love is a powerful emotion, and love is the force that drives Odysseus to return to Ithaca and, more important, Penelope. No matter what obstacles are put in his way, he remains steadfast in his desire to go home to her. Those obstacles are created by Poseidon, whom Odysseus has offended, and they are removed by Athena, who is Odyssues's patron goddess. I'm not sure it is correct to say that Athena and Penelope compete for power over him; they are both interested in seeing him regain his throne. Also, Athena is the patron of the "womanly arts," which is what Penelope is doing when she weaves. Athena also encourages their son to cause as much trouble as possible with the men who are vying to marry Penelope, keeping her free until Odysseus returns. So you might say that Athena and Penelope share influence over Odysseus.

What was Emily's relationship with her father?

Emily's relationship with her father can be vividly seen in what the narrator describes as "the tableau" they had constructed of her: Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung door." We see in this "tableau" his violence and dominance, and her youthful femininity. He was controlling, refusing her a life of her own or a husband, and he cared little, for in this picture (as the townspeople imagine them) he has his back to her.  The image of the horsewhip is particularly disturbing, especially when we consider how violent she was in killing Homer to keep him. One suspects that her father might have, in a similar way, used that horsewhip on her to keep her.

What is the setting of "Lamb to the Slaughter"?

 would suggest the setting is not England but Ireland - the names used Maloney, Noonan, Patrick all being Irish names but more importantly and very subtly "whiskey" is an Irish drink - the English drink "whisky" from Scotland.

An alternative which is probably as attractive is it being set in an Irish community in America.

The dating points towards the American setting being just as likely as Ireland if not more so.

The Maloneys had a home freezer - they were not introduced to the USA until 1940 and were much later becoming widespread in England or Ireland. They were not a rich family so clearly the use of home freezers had become quite widespread by the time the story was set. It was written in 1954 so probably set around then.

On balance I would plump for early 1950s in an Irish community in America.

Are there any similes, metaphors, alliteration etc. in the Poem "How soon Hath time" By John Milton ?1 How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of...

John Milton's "How Soon Hath Time" is a Petrarchan sonnet that contains much figurative language, among which are metaphors.  Three such metaphors are contained in the octave in which the speaker bemoans the loss of his twenty-third year by the personified Time that has wings:  "My hasting days." The implication here is that time is a thief.

One metaphor is "my late spring" which is an implied comparison with his youth now in its latter part. 

In another metaphor, the speaker bemoans that "no bud or blossom shows"; that is, he still looks young and has not achieved manhood physically.  Nor, has he accomplished any manly act.

In the octave, the speaker is resigned to the fact that what will happen is in the hands of his Maker.  Here God is compared in the metaphor "the will of Heav'n" and the "Task-Master" whose "eye" is metonmy as the one part represents the whole of the "Master."

In figurative language, the speaker resolves to go "where Time leads me," meaning he will follow the directions of God in his life.  In this figurative phrase, Time is personified since it has the divine power to direct the speaker's life.

In the Crucible, how has Elizabeth changed during her imprisonment?

Elizabeth has grown spiritually, I think, during her time in prison.  Where once she was quick to judge Proctor and to withhold her forgiveness, now she is free to forgive Proctor and to admit that whatever the problems in her marriage to Proctor, she had some responsibility for that: 

I have sins of my own to count.  It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery."

She realizes it is not her who is judging her husband, now, he is judging himself.  She sees him as good; it is him who does not see himself as good: because he wants to confess a lie and live; because he cheated on his wife.   This is why, although she wants him to live, she understands when he recants his confession.  He can't live with himself if he judges himself as evil.  He needs his goodness more than he needs his life.  The Elizabeth who spent time in prison is mature enough to understand this although she rues the necessity and hates the  false court and accusations that brought this cruel circumstances:  so she lets him go: 

He have his goodness now.  God Forbid I take that from him."

In the quote "So he's a bloody four-letter man as well as a bloody coward, he thought," what is the four-letter word Hemingway means?

What Wilson means by a four-letter man is a college athlete who goes out for many different sports. At the upper-class Ivy League colleges like Harvard and Yale, it was common for athletes to wear varsity sweaters with symbols sewn on them to show which sports they participated in. To have four letters on a varsity sweater would be unusual and distinctive. Varsity-level college athletes were often described as “lettermen,” and varsity sweaters and jackets were often called “lettermen sweaters” and “lettermen jackets.” The sports would probably be football, tennis, and perhaps swimming, golf, track, boxing, and almost certainly rowing. The varsity sweaters and jackets would be in the school colors. There are still plenty of them sold, as can be seen on Google. Hemingway never went to college and was probably both envious and contemptuous of men who did. Since Robert Wilson is an Englishman, he must have known about these varsity sweaters and jackets because they were imitations of the same sorts of garments worn by athletes in the upper-class English schools like Oxford and Cambridge, where cricket would have been included.

How has the information revolution changed life in the United States and the developing world?

That's a very large question, but I can get you started.  Consider the affect of the information age just on education, where resources from all over the globe are now available to every school as long as they have the internet.  Consider the amount of business Americans and others do over the internet with that communication.  We can find out information much more quickly now and we have a 24 hour news cycle instead of newspapers and the evening news each night.

American leaders live under a microscope since whatever they do is recorded in real time and broadcast immediately.  Our lives have also become much more convenient with access to addresses, phone numbers, directions, reservations, research materials, etc., and through our cell phones if we want to.  We can even get help with our homework on line, right?

On the negative side, humans in general and Americans especially are more plugged in to technology than ever.  Some say this has hurt our interpersonal skills, and added little but convenience.  We have come to depend on instant access to information without a significant value added benefit.

In the developing world, they can access business and education opportunities that would not exist otherwise.

In Tuck Everlasting, what is the big conflict between the characters from Chapters 12 - 16?If you know the answer, is it an internal or external...

There are actually two large conflics going on simultaneously in Chapters 12 - 16. The primary conflict is an internal one that is central to the book, concerning what Winnie should do about her newfound knowledge about the magic spring. The secondary conflict is an external one, having to do with the actions of the man in the yellow suit who will go to any lengths to gain possession of the land housing the magic spring.

In Chapters 12 and 14, the Tucks talk to Winnie, trying to get her to see their point of view on the magic spring. In Chapter 12, Pa Tuck himself speaks to Winnie in a passionate manner, explaining just why it would be dangerous for word of the spring's magic properties to get around to the general public. Pa Tuck believes that the idea of living forever sounds very appealing at first, but that once it is obtained, it is not at all the wonderful gift it appeared to be at first glance. He describes the despair of being left out of the natural stream of life, and says that by the time people who take advantage of the water's magic powers realize the situation they are in, it will be too late to go back and make things right. Pa Tuck sees the spring as a dangerous thing, and wants to impress upon Winnie the importance of keeping it secret.

In Chapter 14, Jesse presents another side of the dilemma to Winnie. He agrees with his father that the spring should be kept secret, but adds that as long as they all know about its magic powers, they might as well take advantage of it. Jesse wants Winnie to wait until she is the same age as he is - seventeen - and then drink some of the water so that she will be stuck at that age forever. At that time they could perhaps get married, and enjoy eternal life on earth together. Winnie does not know what she should do about her knowledge about the magic spring. Her conflict is internal; only she herself can decide what she is going to do.

The second important conflict occurring simultaneously to all this concerns the actions of the man in the yellow suit. He knows that Winnie has been kidnapped by the Tucks, and goes to Winnie's family, offering to secure her release if they will sell him their land, the land with the magic spring. This conflict is external, as the Fosters are being blackmailed into selling their land by the conniving and opportunistic man in the yellow suit.

____________ is a belief that one man and his military should control a country.Word Bank Winston Churchill, Fascism, United Nations, Harry...

Among the options given at the end of the question, Fascism is the only one that is represents a system of government, and to that extent appears to be the best suited answer. However, most certainly it does not be appropriate answer when we consider the basic characteristics of Fascism. Perhaps a better word to fill in the blank would be totalitarianism.

It should be noted that "belief one man and his military should control a country" is not only, or even the main characteristics. Also there are many other systems, like Nazism, all types of dictatorships, and monarchies that appear to support the idea of rule by one man and his military. Many communistic governments are also controlled by one dictator. For example, when Italy was controlled by Mussolini under the fascist system of government, at the same time Russia was controlled by Stalin under the communist system of government.

What is Abigail's monologue in the play "The Crucible?" or Elizabeth's?i need the full monologue. maybe when shes trying to explain what happened?

Abigail offers a great monologue in Act II, scene ii. The problem with this scene is that the author removed it in 1971. So, produced works after that do not always include it.

If you have it, her monologue starts:

Why, you taught me goodness, therefore you are good. It were a fire you walked me through, and all my ignorance was burned away...

A monologue occurs when a player speaks and monopolizes the stage for an extended period. It differs from soliloquy because other folks can be on stage at the same time.

Another example might be in Act I:

Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring you a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents' heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!

This is the fullest monologue Abigail gives throughout the piece.

Why does Atticus not want Scout to tell Miss Caroline about their compromise? What does this indicate about Atticus' character?Chapter 3

Atticus makes this deal with Scout in order for them to keep reading together.  If Scout tells Miss Caroline, who is a not only a new teacher but also new to Maycomb (she is from northern Alabama), she would continue to punish Scout.  Atticus obviously does not want this.  It likely reveals that Atticus recognizes Miss Caroline's need to appear like she is in control of Scout's education.  Remember, she is making a big deal about bringing 'new' education ideas to Maycomb's school, notice Jem's reference to the Dewey Decimal System.  Miss Caroline is unfamiliar with the families of Maycomb and their ways.  Had she known Atticus at all, she would have realized that no one in Maycomb holds education in a greater light than he does.  However, he realizes that Scout is special - as is their time together spent reading the paper each evening, which is why he has her keep quiet about their deal.  This reveals too how crafty Atticus is.  He is willing to keep things quiet to please everyone.

"Maybe people are younger when they are asleep." What do you think about this comment (chap. 7, pg. 104)?

This is an observation made by Ponyboy after he sees Sodapop sleeping and thinks he looks younger than 17 years old. He had also noticed that Johnny looked younger when sleeping as well.

In considering the meaning of the statement in the context of the book, it is important to note that the important people in Ponyboy's life, "the Greasers," have all had to grow up quickly and deal with adult responsibilities. This can age people. In their sleep, however, they are not dealing with the struggles of survival and keeping family together; therefore, they may look younger and more peaceful.

Why did Barlow want to speak privately with Charlotte?

Barlow wanted to warn Charlotte that all is not as it seems on the ship. Captain Jaggery is not the nice man Charlotte thinks he is; in fact, he is so abusive to his crew that they are near mutiny. It would be best for her to get off the ship as soon as she can.

What evidence can you give me to support the claim that Roderick and Madeline are not vampires?

It is easy to see how it might seem they are vampires. The setting of an old, creepy house, and strange seclusive inhabitants live inside. The Usher family has survived many generations in that setting. Yet, a few details point to the idea that they are not in actuality, vampires. First, and most obvious, Roderick was a school chum with the narrator of the story who comes to visit. Clearly he was able to leave the ouse in daylight hours at some point, and according to vampire lore, daylight is deadly to vampires. Madeline dies, as well, and vampires are supposedly immortal. True, it appears she becomes the undead, but this only gives evidence of some supernatural activity, as does the house destructing in such an unrealistic manner.