What is the proper role of government in the provision and funding of education heath care housing job security care of the elderly and public...

It is too late, and society has changed too much, to return to the day when government paid for almost none of these services (social safety net).  Government decisions about imports/exports, work conditions, retirement age, health care, how to handle bankrupt organizations' pension funds, etc., all affect the people that the social safety net tries to help.

The question, and its answers, are loaded with emotion for many people who think that the recipients of these services are lazy, don't want to work, etc.  We do have people in the system who think they never have to work and contribute to the tax base.  But the safety net also provides for many people who are unable to work and provide for themselves through no fault of their own.

Putting the emotional aspect aside, if we consider ourselves a civilized society, we will be judged by how we cared for our most vulnerable citizens.  The social safety net is designed to aid those most vulnerable citizens.

My opinion is that we should fund it but that we must find new, innovative ways beyond just taxes to fund it.  And there must be a balance between federal and state funding so the social safety net works without bankrupting states or the federal budget.  Services provided must be structured to be cost-effective, efficient, and actually provide them in a way that does not demean the recipient.

What is the major conflict of The Old Man and the Sea?

The central conflict of Hemingway's novella is man vs. nature.  Santiago is at odds with nature because he makes his living by it, as a fisherman.  However, the sea is not providing him with enough catch to survive on.  He is able to catch the large marlin, but the sea will not allow him to have it, and he returns to shore with nothing but the skeleton.

Symbolically, however, the conflict is representative of man's conflict with overpowering forces in society, and man's resilience against those forces.  Despite being beaten by the sea, Santiago goes to sleep dreaming of more adventures.  He may have been physically beaten, but he is not emotionally beaten.

How did military service affect the lives of those who served in World War 2?

It took millions of men who had never been far from home at all and sent them thousands of miles away to places they had never seen.  It aged them, quickly and brutally, by exposing them to carnage, destruction and death on an scale difficult to imagine.

It made them appreciate life, and led many of them to try and live it to the fullest when they returned home.

But it was difficult for some to live with the things they had seen and experienced, much less explain them to loved ones in a way that they could understand.  So many veterans of that war, my grandfather included, just buried it, and never spoke of the conflict until much, much later in their lives, if at all.

PTSD was undiagnosed at the time, and society did not adjust well to those unable to mentally deal with civilian life in a post-catastrophe world.

WHY WHEN THE AGGREGATE DEMAND CURVE SHIFTS RIGHTWARD DOES PRICE LEVEL IN THE ECONOMY RISE?

When the AD curve shifts to the right, it means that people are willing and able to buy things at a higher price level.  If people are willing and able to buy things at higher prices, then of course prices will go up because businesses will rise their prices (all other things being equal).

So imagine that people get a bunch more money (in aggregate).  They are more willing to buy stuff and so prices go up.  If supply does not go up to keep up with this demand, prices will rise -- this is demand pull inflation.

Wiesel defines indifference as a "strange and unnatural state." What is your definition? How can indifference be unnatural?in reference to "The...

I would define indifference as a state in which you do not care about something -- you do not care about what happens in a given situation or to a given person.

I think that you could say that indifference is unnatural because (you can argue) people are naturally inclined to care about things.  I think that people naturally want to take sides and "root" for one side or another in just about all conflicts.

However, Wiesel is saying that we can only be indifferent if we do not think that other people truly are people.

What are the features that make this play an absurdist or avant garde play?What characterizes this play as absurdist drama?

Some of the characteristics of absurdist drama, or theatre of the absurd, are a general sense that life has no meaning, a lack of belief in any kind of god, and absurd or unusual characters set in absurd or fantastic situations.

Cloud Nine can be called absurdist, first of all, by the fact that its characters serve more as caricatures, or types of people, rather than fully developed people. Each one serves as a type to portray the ills of colonialism. Just as the characters serve as stereotypes of colonialism, so also they embody elements of the absurd: Edward is played by a woman; Joshua, the black African servant, is played by a white man; Cathy, the four-year-old daughter, is played by a man. Her mother is also played by a man. The play has the element of the fantastic as well in that in Act 2, while being set one hundred years in the future, the characters have aged only twenty or thirty years.

The author uses these absurd elements to make a statement about gender and racial oppression, making them to be what is the true aburdities.

How does Roger Chillingworth change during the course of the novel?

At the beginning of the novel, Chillingworth is an intelligent older man who has been held captive by the Indians for over a year. When he sees Hester and finds out what she has done, he is shocked, angry, as well as regretful for what he feels is his part in causing the affair. He seems to be a rational, reasonable older man. After meeting with Hester however, he vows to discover and take revenge on the man who had an affair with Hester. As he continues to seek revenge against Dimmesdale, the novel says he becomes more and more evil looking. His entire life revolves around this revenge, and he becomes bound by it. The book even says that at times he looks like the very devil. His appearance becomes more ugly and misshapen. By the end of the novel, when Dimmesdale confesses, Chillingworth has no option except to die, because his whole life has been centered around revenge, and the revenge is no longer possible.

How does the conch become a problem?In any ways does the conch become a problem to the boys in Lord of the Flies by William Golding

In concurrence with the above post, the conch is mainly a symbol of control.  Unfortunately, Piggy does not understand this symbolism at the beginning of their being stranded on an island.  For, when he tells Ralph about observing some others once use a conch and get attention, he seems to attach some power to the conch itself.  It is as though the conch is a talisman to Piggy, and later to Ralph, as well.

Then, in the later chapters when, in an attempt to arrest the anarchy of Jack and the hunters, Ralph calls a meeting and holds the conch, he is very nonplussed when the boys do not react properly at the sight of the conch.  The "problem" with the conch, then, is that it has significance only when the boys attach significance to it.  This difference between true meaning and symbolic meaning is illustrated when Jack declares that he can build a fire, and all the boys but Ralph and Piggy run off to build this fire.  This action of the boys indicates the dilemma of civilization:  rules must be agreed upon and honored with symbols recognized as representative of the civilization.  Otherwise, there is anarchy.

What are two personal qualities Granny values and possesses?

Granny values hard work.  She remembers "all the food she had cooked, and all the clothes she had cut and sewed, and all the gardens she had made...she had fenced in a hundred acres once, digging the post holes herself and clamping the wires with just a negro boy to help".  Looking back at all the work she did gives her a sense of pride, and she says, "Well, I didn't do so badly, did I?"

She is also a mother-figure and nurturer.  She raised four children who seek her advice even in their adulthood, and she recalls "riding country roads...when women had their babies...sitting up nights with sick horses and sick negroes and sick children and hardly ever losing one."

What kind of imagery is used in Sir Thomas Wyatt's poem "And Wilt Thou Leave Me Thus"?Please examine the imagery in this poem?

Imagery can be of two sorts: trope and scheme. Imagery refers to the word and phrase choices a writer makes to inspire mental pictures or visions of his poem or prose that make his work live in the reader's mind.

Trope based imagery is a means of turning a sensory impression, like the feel of a cold wind, into a concrete representation in words, which then recreate the sensory impression for the reader. The means of creating trope imagery are (1) individual words (e.g., cold; brisk), (2) phrases (e.g., an icy blast), or (3) figures of speech (i.e., [a] tropes like metaphor, simile, or personification and [b] schemes like parallelism or antithesis).  The categories of trope imagery match the senses: tactile for the sense of touch, olfactory for the sense of taste, aural for the sense of hearing, visual for the sense of sight, and gustatory for the sense of taste.

Scheme imagery also refers to the creation of mental pictures or visions through word choice. However, whereas trope imagery depends on a "twist" in the meaning of the words (e.g., wind is not really a soft rustle), schematic imagery depends on the arrangement of words, for instance, "Careful men cherish things, clumsy men break things" or "Literature is full of beauty, morality, and complexity." The tools of the figures of speech in scheme imagery are (1) letters, (2) sounds, (3) word order, and (4) syntax, whereas the tool of the figures of speech in trope imagery is word meaning.

In "And Wilt Thou Leave Me Thus," Thomas Wyatt's major device for building imagery is employing figures of speech of the scheme kind. Wyatt often uses parallelism such as "grief and grame," and "wealth and woe." Wyatt also uses repetition. He repeats "And wilt thou leave me thus," and "Say nay! Say nay!" creating a parallel stanzaic structure that embraces each stanza in a repetition that is mirrored in the last line, which has internal repetition of words (diacope). In thus doing, it might be said Wyatt innovatively applies a variation of epanalepsis (repeat first at last place: "year to year") to the whole stanza. In addition, Wyatt employs scheme imagery in assonance (repetition of vowel sound: say nay, say nay; save, blame, grame). He also uses consonance (repition of consonant sounds: grief, grame; wealth, woe.)

In chapters 30 and 31 of To Kill a Mockingbird, what were Mr. Tate and Atticus arguing over?

They are arguing over Bob Ewell's death.  Tate wants to concoct a story about it being an accident.  But Atticus knows what happened and he will not go along with the falsehood.  Here is an exerpt of their exchange (my edition Ch 30, pg. 315-318). 

"Mr Finch."  Mr. Tate was still planted to the floorboards. "Bob Ewell fell on his knife.  I can prove it."

Atticus wheeled around.  His hands dug into his pockets.  "Heck, can't you try to see it my way?  You've got children of your own, but I'm older than you.  When mine are gorwn I'll be an old man if I'm still around, but right now I'm -- if they don't trust me they won't trust anybody.  if they hear me saying downtown something different happened -- Heck, I won't have them any more.  I can't live one way in town and another in my home."

***

As Atticus has already painfully learned, right doesn't equal justice.  Tate replies, "I may not be much, Mr. Finch, but I'm still sherrif of Maycomb County and Bob Ewell fell on his knife.  Good night, sir."

Atticus is forced to ask Scout, "Can you possibly understand?"  Scout does.  She runs to him, hugs and reassures him. 

The children have not lost their respect for Atticus.  Having witnessed the injustice of the trial, they now know the injustice of the world.  And though they can no longer view him as a god, they can view him as a man who consistently acts morally. 

In To Kill a Mockingbird, how is the culture of the negroes in Maycomb different from the culture of the white people that Jem and Scout...

When attending the Zion church, Scout and Jem first notice the different speech of Calpurnia.  When she is around the Finches, Calpurnia speaks with a traditional white and educated dialect.  However, amongst her fellow negroes, she slips into slang that is more common there.  During the service, the children become aware of the poverty that the church suffers from.  There are not enough hymnals, so everyone has to echo the lyrics of the hymns from another.  The church displays a sense of community that Jem and Scout have been unfamiliar with.  There is a lively atmosphere and a strong reliance on the aid of neighbors.  No one is allowed to leave the church until money has been raised for the Robinsons.  Scout and Jem have been used to a more formal setting, and enjoy the sociable air of the Zion church.  Lee uses this chapter to display the negro community as strong and united, very positive; this will control the reader's attitude as she begins to unfold details of the trial.

In Beowulf, from whom specifically is Grendal descended?

The poem also mentions various and sundry other undesirables such as giants and monsters, but Cain is the most ominous ancestor.  This is ancestor is chosen to make more clear the Anglo-Saxon loyalty to family and kings.  Those to whom you are related and to whom you pledge your life are bonded...however, Cain is considered the most evil because he rebuked that bond.  Anyone who commits this crime in Anglo-Saxon times and literature is usually considered an outcast...therefore, Grendel, being descended of this murderer, is the ultimate miserable outcast.  And so, the setting/background info is laid for the remainder of the poem.  Good Luck, and happy reading!

Why doesn't The Road by Cormac McCarthy have a typical structure with a beginning, middle and end?

The novel The Road begins in medias res, which is a Latin phrase for "in the middle of things."  The reader is thrown into the story much like the characters who fight for survival.  A traditional exposition and rising action are not the hallmarks of horror or science fiction, which are organized around suspense and wonder.  McCarthy places the reader in the middle of the action, walking on the road with the man and boy, staring at the ghastly images along the way.  The climax has already happened (the apocalypse), and now we journey where none have gone before, as if into hell.

McCormac creates suspense by giving the man a gun with two bullets (there's two of them), and intermingling the horrific flashbacks of the mother's suicide along the way.  Not only are there marauders and cannibals that the man  must fight, but we wonder if he will end his son's life the way his wife wanted him to.  In this way, the turn of each page could be a potential climax or resolution.

McCormac's novel is episodic in structure.  It is series of episodes, vignettes, with no chapter titles or markers, only double-space breaks, so that the novel is organized very much like an unmarked journey, much like The Odyssey, Huckleberry Finn, and Catcher in the Rye.  All these stories involved lonely characters who journey to unknown destinations, who have been alienated by the world around them, who battle antagonists and nature along the way.

The ending has elements of a Deux ex Machina, but if you go back and look for clues, you will find out that the man with the shotgun (and family) have indeed been following them for some time.  And still, McCarthy leaves the novel open-ended, as the boy's future still looks bleak.

In "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell, why does the general "study" Rainsford?My question is about this passage: "But there was one small...

A key word here in this foreboding passage from the narrative of "The Most Dangerous Game" is the word narrowly.  Not only is General Zaroff evaluating Rainsford as potential prey, but he has become so distorted in his thinking that he now sees men only as prey.  This "narrow" perspective becomes, of course, Zaroff's nemesis as, in his surety of his own superiority, he affords Rainsford a second chance when he spots Rainsford in the tree and turns back so that he can hunt another day.  For, as Rainsford shudders in terror, he resolves to not lose his nerve. 

It is this "nerve" of Rainsford that Zaroff has underestimated in his narrow appraisal; it is this nerve of Rainsford that alters him into "an animal at bay" who pants "nerve, nerve, nerve" and returns to defeat his hunter in the end.

There is, then, also some situational irony to this passage that foreshadows later events since Zaroff is "studying" Rainsford, but he does not find all the answers to his potential prey.

What exactly is the scholarship boy in Hunger of Memory?

In the Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriguez uses the construct of the ‘scholarship boy’ to put his own experiences into context. In discussing the concept, he examines what it means to be a scholarship boy both in a general sense as well as in his own specific situation. In this way, he helps the reader understand the tensions and contradictions that afflict him during his education and his early employment.

In general, a scholarship boy, according to Rodriguez, is a student torn between two worlds. Such students at once feel the pull of family and tradition while also trying to fit an academic ideal. They are often self-conscious of both aspects of their life, and the introspection that comes from this causes them to doubt themselves. They are not, he believes, good students even though they may be able to perform well on academic tasks. They focus on regurgitating knowledge rather than true learning:

For although I was a very good student, I was also a very bad student. I was a "scholarship boy," a certain kind of scholarship boy. Always success­ful, I was always unconfident. Exhilarated by my progress. Sad. I became the prized student - anxious and eager to learn. Too eager, too anxious - an imitative and unoriginal pupil.  

Rodriguez also explores the sense of loss, especially with respect to his place in his family, that he felt as a scholarship boy:

The scholarship boy reaches a different conclusion. He cannot afford to admire his parents. (How could he and still pursue such a contrary life?) He permits himself embarrassment at their lack of education. And to evade nostalgia for the life he has lost, he concentrates on the benefits education will bestow upon him.

As Rodriguez recounts his academic life, he sees his successes and failures through the eyes of the scholarship boy that he believes he was. He finds that his self-doubt follows him to college, where he attempts to balance his academic performance with concerns that he is not deserving of his success. He fears that he is a mere product of affirmative action, not his own merits, and that the interest that professors and other students show in him is a result of novelty, not his ideas. These self-doubts follow him into his professional life, leading him to avoid employment that he feels is based on his ethnicity rather than his accomplishments.

What is the median for 50,60,70,80,90, and 100?I got 75 but the only choices in my book are a)70 b)65 c)60 d)55

In statistics median of a group of values or numbers is defined as the value which is in the middle of all the values when these are arranged in increasing or decreasing order. Thus there are as many values more than the median as the values that are more than the median.

When the number of values are odd there is clearly one value which has equal number of values more and less than it. This is the median value. However, when the number of values is even there is no value which has equal number of values more and less than it. In such situations, one way to calculate medians as the average of the two central values. Th value 75 calculated by you is correct as per this method.

However in the question posed, you have to choose from the given values, and the given values contain only one of the two central values. That is the option includes only 70 as a possible answer, while 80 is not included. also among the given values 70 is closest to answer of 75 calculated by the other method.  Therefor, 70 appears to be the best choice among the given values.

What symbols exist in "When I Have Fears"? What do they represent? What are some powerful verbs used? also, please tell whats at the heart of the...

The pen is a symbol of the speaker’s creative power. It is the manner in which he can express all of his ideas and intelligence and share them with the world so that he may remain even after his death.

The “night’s starr’d face” is a symbol for the unknown, but also possibility. The “symbols of a high romance” are cloudy and exist in shadows because he cannot know for sure what their true meaning is by just looking, but at the same time they do exist as a possibility for his life and he has a “chance” to try to decipher them and find his “high romance” in his life, given he has enough time.

The “shore of the wide world” is another symbol for possibility in the speaker’s life. He has the opportunity to fully dive in, live and explore, but standing on the shore is daunting with so much possibility because of the fear that he may not have enough time to accomplish all that he wants and is offered in the world with the short span of time that his life offers.

The reader can argue that the speaker is Keats himself, but more likely it is an unknown narrator/poet reflecting Keats’ fears, as well as those of the poet in general,  whose main goals are to find inspiration through love, and write his legacy down so that he does not die before he feels that all of his creative power and intellect is used and he has written everything that exists in his brain.

At the heart of the poem is man reflecting on death, life, and time. At one point of another most human beings think about their impending death, even if that death is still far in the future. The speaker has a lot he wants to accomplish with all that the world can offer to him and his mind, and he fears he will not have enough time to achieve everything he desires.

Repetition is used to emphasize the speakers thoughts, and fears. We know that he is turning thoughts over in his mind and he is telling us, in a sort of list form, what it is that leads him to reflect on time and death: When I have fears, When I behold, when I feel, Before my pen, Before high-piled books, of unreflecting love, of the wide world. Those are some examples of the repetition Keats employs, once again emphasizing his continual thoughts that spark his fears, as well as making the urgency of time in the things he needs to accomplish “before” that time is taken from him.

What was your initial reaction to Swift's "A Modest Proposal?"

Concerning Swift's "A Modest Proposal," I'm not sure if you're asking how I or other's react to the essay, or if you have to answer this question and you're asking for ideas. 

If you're asking for ideas, I suggest you don't read any of our comments.  You should go with your initial reaction, rather than anyone else's. 

If you're asking for reactions from others, then you might as well hear mine.

The first time I read Swift's essay I was taking a satire class while working on my B.A., and I thought it was absolutely brilliant.  What an idea!  What a way to satirize a target!  Could there be any better way to condemn the English wealthy and the English government than what Swift does? 

And I thought it was hilarious.  Even those shots at we vulgar Americans were great laughs.

Any discussion about whether or not it was successful goes to the heart and effectiveness of satire itself, rather than to Swift's essay in particular. 

By the way, now I know that this was Swift's last-ditch effort to influence his targets--he'd tried everything else and nothing worked.  This didn't work either.  That would have taken some charity and compassion on the part of the English for the Irish.  And that just wasn't the case.

I am writing an essay on the 'goodness' of both Finny &Gene?I have found several situations where one or both are good.My problem is that in...

Concerning the essay you're writing about A Separate Peace, I suggest you alter your thought and thesis slightly. 

First, well-developed characters in good fiction are usually mixtures of positive and negative personality traits, or good and bad, as you say.  You seem to want to show that both are just good, since you mention wanting to ignore the character that doesn't show goodness in a particular scene.  That's probably a mistake.  A literary character doesn't have to be completely good.  It doesn't take anything away from the character to show the negative.  That makes a character more realistic.

Furthermore, just because both characters have goodness in them, doesn't mean they have to show it in the same scene.  Can't you just show goodness in Gene is a few scenes, and goodness in Finny in a few different scenes?

I guess what I'm suggesting is that you really don't have a problem.  Just make sure your thesis doesn't try to argue that either character is completely or totally good.

Act IV:Why has Hale returned? How and why has he changed?How and why does Giles die? Why wasn't he hanged?

Hale has returned in an attempt to fix what he helped cause. On his arrival into town, he seemed boastful of his ability to take care of the situation. As the panic and hysteria grew to new heights, Hale has realized that innocent people are dying, and justice is not being served. He attempts to get those imprisoned to lie and "confess" to save their lives, and he has attempted to get the court to postpone any further executions, but he is having no luck.

Giles Corey is not hanged. He is pressed to death using heavy stones. He was given this sentence because he went to court and accused Putnam of getting the girls to accuse people he had issues with, and those who he could profit from their imprisonment. When he refused to name his source for information, he was jailed for contempt of court. He was pressed to death to get a confession from him, and if he confessed, he would have been hanged. In historical transcripts, they say the last words he ever said was "more weight".

Why does Ralph call a meeting? chapter 5

Ralph calls the meeting after the fire was allowed to go out, and their chance at rescue ruined. However, Ralph is not doing a great job of holding a constructive meeting. He has important ideas, but does not express them well. He tries to get the boys to see that their survival and rescue should be the top priorities, instead of hunting for meat.

Ralph maintains that the huts need to be fortified, fresh water must be attained, a fire needs to be constantly nurtured, and some sort of bathroom facilities need to be structured for hygiene's sake.

Jack grows impatient with this meeting, and leads the boys into  a disruption with his boasts of being a great hunter, and belittling Ralph's concerns.

I need to find examples of light and dark imagery in Romeo and Juliet that are easy to understand.

Traditionally, light has symbolized good and dark evil, or at least not-so-good.  While this is sometimes the case with Romeo and Juliet, the standard interpretation is not always true.  In the traditional sense, the balcony scene fits the criteria, for Juliet hopes for the sun to banish the "envious moon" and turn night into day.

But on the other hand, when the lovers spend their first full night together as man and wife, day is shunned for the pleasures that night has delivered.  Both the young lovers try to try to pretend that it is still night, and that the light is actually darkness.  Romeo hears the call of the lark, a bird of the morn, but Juliet desperately wants to pretend it is a nightingale they've heard (thus meaning it is still evening): 

 She says: Wilt thou be gone? it is not yet near day: / It was the nightingale, and not the lark, /  That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear; / Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate-tree: / Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.

And Romeo replies:  It was the lark, the herald of the morn, / No nightingale. Look, love, what envious streaks / Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east (3.5.1-9)

What is the character motivation for the narrator in "Blues Ain't No Mockin Bird"?

Character motivation is by definition the force that drives a character to act or react, which includes behavior actions, thoughts, or feelings. Action, resulting from motivation (reasons), can do several things. It can unleash activity; it can reveal character traits; it can reveal plot points; it can drive the conflict, etc. There may be active motivation or two kinds of passive motivation.

Active motivation results from the inner qualities of the character in question and is when the character acts. S/He is motivated to give her/is last few coins to a poor mother of two children because of a deep sense of compassion, as was the case more than once with Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment. Active motivation reveals the inner qualities of the character and usually renders energetic action in the story.

Passive motivation results from external influences and is when a given character reacts, not acts. Passive motivation requires an influence to which the character can react. The influence may be either direct or indirect.

Direct influence is when something occurs directly to the character. For example, a brick falls from the top of a building and lands on Her easel, to which She reacts.

Indirect influence is when something occurs indirectly to the character. For example, She hears that Her brother's fiance is a jewel thief, to which She reacts.

In "Blues Ain't No Mockin Bird" the narrator is a passively motivated character who is reacting to indirect influences. The indirect influence to which she is reacting is the encroachment of the filmmakers on their quiet family life. The narrator's reaction is to take note of every detail that comes to her attention and write it in a narrative.

By way of contrast, Granny is also a passively motivated character, but she is reacting to direct influence: the filmmakers are attempting to persuade her; they are disregarding her; they are trespassing on her property and trampling her flowerbed.

What is the sort of the story The Grapes of Wrath?

Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is an epic novel written in the third person that depicts an Oklahoma family struggling against nature and society to survive.

As such, it is a work of naturalism, or a naturalistic work, featuring humans as victims of natural and societal forces.  The Joad family members are victims, but they are not passive, as is sometimes the case in naturalistic fiction.  Their struggle is epic, even though, perhaps, impossible to win.  They do manage to maintain hope, however, and are still struggling at the close of the novel. 

It is a work about the Great Depression, The Dust Bowl, and migratory laborers.   

One thing the novel does not do, however, is reveal a full study of the issues involved.  It presents the issues and themes from only the point of view of the victims.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, who are the Mrunas and who is J. Grimes Everett?

This is a good question. The Mrunas are an African tribe. J. Grimes is the missionary who is working among them. 

In chapter 24, Mrs. Merriweather is speaking to her missionary women's group about the work that J. Grimes is doing. On the one hand, this shows that Maycomb is a Christian town. It even shows compassion and charity to some extent. But the import of the chapter is really about the blindness of Mrs. Merriweather and the other women, who are representative of the people of the town.

Within this conversation, Mrs. Merriweather shows her true colors as a woman of little compassion and great blindness in her hypocrisy. I quote at length to show what kind of person she is.

Mrs. Merriweather faced Mrs. Farrow: “Gertrude, I tell you there’s nothing more distracting than a sulky darky. Their mouths go down to here. Just ruins your day to have one of ‘em in the kitchen. You know what I said to my Sophy, Gertrude? I said, ’Sophy,‘ I said, ’you simply are not being a Christian today. Jesus Christ never went around grumbling and complaining,‘ and you know, it did her good. She took her eyes off that floor and said, ’Nome, Miz Merriweather, Jesus never went around grumblin‘.’ I tell you, Gertrude, you never ought to let an opportunity go by to witness for the Lord.”

The juxtaposition shows that Mrs. Merriweather and the others in Maycomb are blind to their sins and issues. If they did a little more for their own community (instead of far off places), Maycomb would be a better place. 

Ethical issues in marketing??

The idea of ethics in marketing often centers around the idea of truth in advertising.  That is, does the advertisement help to increase sales of a good or service without directly and intentionally misleading the customers?  To be ethical, a marketing agency should employ all the known effective advertising techniques that do not seek to increase sales based on false claims, misleading statements, or appeals to fear or hate.

The bets ads make us laugh or think or even just watch and focus on the message without telling the audience something that isn't true.  All this being said, there is a limited amount of ethical practices in marketing today.  The quest for ever higher profits puts undue pressure on every part of a business, the marketing team included, and this often leads to unethical practices.

Why does George tell Leanie to remeber the spot where they are camping?no

If I recall correctly, George tells Lennie to remember the spot so that he will know where to meet should he get into any trouble.  George wants Lennie to have a safe place to hide until he can help him.

Ironically, it is in this safe place that Lennie meets his end, and George is the one who takes Lennie's life.  He does this to help protect his friend from an even worse fate--being caught by Curley and the lynch mob.

What held the community of Umuofia together in Things Fall Apart?

Religious and social customs, along with familial responsibility and tradition all contribute to the community's cohesion in Things Fall Apart. What is important to understand is that what holds the community of Umuofia together are the very same things that hold together the communities of the missionaries...That is, Achebe wants us to see that the Umuofian society is intact; it has social traditions, a complex language, judicial systems, and a committment to family, not unlike any other organized and civilized community, regardless of what the colonizers might believe.

Describe how does Jody gains maturity.

Jody has become adept at watching the animals, as they prepare to give birth. He must endure tragic life lessons, like the pain and death that happens in life. He applies the lessons he has learned with the animals to his own family.

By keeping his grandfather's secret, he understands that death is a part of life.

Do you agree with the message in Thornton Wilder's play Our Town that most people don't appreciate the beauty and wonder of life? Why or why not?

I think to a large extent this message is accurate.  It is similar to Whitman's poem, "The World is Too Much With Us."  We are busy, overwhelmed with work and school and family, and we tend to become to familiar with the flowers, the sky, a simple blade of grass.  We tend not to see these wonders of nature after a while since our minds are on the bills, the kids, the sports, and getting dinner on the table.

Wilder gives lots of examples of this in the play where the dead are speaking to one another and even with some of the instances of the speech of the living.  The subject of daily life becomes to some a ritual and one that is not all that interesting...filled with hum-drum routine.  Even Mrs. Soames comments from the grave,  "My, wasn't life awful--and wonderful." 

Emily's comments to the Stage Manager also reiterate this message. Speaking about her twelfth birthday party, she says, "We don't even have time to look at one another." After one last look at Grover's Corners and being alive, Emily tells the Stage Manager she is ready to go back to the graveyard. She asks, "Doesn't anyone ever realize life while they live it? Every, every minute?"

What are some ideas for an action research study that I could conduct about honor?I want to design and evaluate an action research study for a...

To begin, you will need to determine which form of action research you want to accomplish.....

The following is a list of some terms to help you decide:

Traditional Action Research

Traditional Action Research stemmed from Lewin’s work within organizations and encompasses the concepts and practices of Field Theory, Group Dynamics, T-Groups, and the Clinical Model.  The growing importance of labour-management relations led to the application of action research in the areas of Organization Development, Quality of Working Life (QWL), Socio-technical systems (e.g., Information Systems), and Organizational Democracy.  This traditional approach tends toward the conservative, generally maintaining the status quo with regards to organizational power structures.

Contextural Action Research (Action Learning)

Contextural Action Research, also sometimes referred to as Action Learning, is an approach derived from Trist’s work on relations between organizations.  It is contextural, insofar as it entails reconstituting the structural relations among actors in a social environment; domain-based, in that it tries to involve all affected parties and stakeholders; holographic, as each participant understands the working of the whole; and it stresses that participants act as project designers and co-researchers.  The concept of organizational ecology, and the use of search conferences come out of contextural action research, which is more of a liberal philosophy, with social transformation occurring by consensus and normative incrementalism.

Radical Action Research

The Radical stream, which has its roots in Marxian ‘dialectical materialism’ and the praxis orientations of Antonio Gramsci, has a strong focus on emancipation and the overcoming of power imbalances.  Participatory Action Research, often found in liberationist movements and international development circles, and Feminist Action Research both strive for social transformation via an advocacy process to strengthen peripheral groups in society.

Educational Action Research

A fourth stream, that of Educational Action Research, has its foundations in the writings of John Dewey, the great American educational philosopher of the 1920s and 30s, who believed that professional educators should become involved in community problem-solving.  Its practitioners, not surprisingly, operate mainly out of educational institutions, and focus on development of curriculum, professional development, and applying learning in a social context.  It is often the case that university-based action researchers work with primary and secondary school teachers and students on community projects.

The second link is regarding a colon cancer patient living a life of honor.....maybe this will be helpful.

The third link gives examples of people living with cancer.

What's Jordan's value in Gatsby's party? (chapter 3)Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

In Chapter 3 of The Great Gasby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jordan Baker emerges from the party, standing at the top of the marble steps,

leaning a little backward and looking with comptuous interest down into the garden.

Jordan Baker is the prototype of the 1920s flapper.  There is an aura of amorality that surrounds this detached person whose world is only her own self-absorption. Jordan Baker acts as the standard for the jaded and dissipated guests at the party of Jay Gatsby.  She also represents East Egg condescending haughtily to West Egg.  

As Nick spots Jordan, she speaks loudly to him, then is addressed by twins in yellow dresses.  Nick and Jordan saunter through the garden and sit down at a taable with the two girls in yellow and "three men, each one introduced to us as Mr. Mumble." Later, Jordan asks Nick to leave, complaining that the place is "much too polite for me."  And, before they leave, Jordan comments that she likes large parties:  "They're so intimate.  At small parties there isn't any privacy."

By her attitude and actions, Jordan Baker provides a frame for all the other amoral and superficial guests of the party given by Jay Gatsby.

What happened to the house in the final hours?

Before the house burns, it makes breakfast for the family and asks the mother, want she wants to listen to, then it reads a poem of "Sara Teasdale".

The house begins to burn, because a falling tree crashes into the ktichen window on the stove. It tries to rescue/save itself but without success.

Then it dies.

In the Scarlet Ibis, who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist?

A protagonist is the main focus of the story. While in many works of fiction, the protagonist is the hero or inherently good, this does not always have to be the case.

The antagonist is the opposition to the protagonist.

In this story the protagonist is Brother. He is both the narrator and character. We are not told his real name, just that Doodle calls him Brother. Brother is ashamed of his crippled brother, and does not want to be embarrassed by him. He does love him, but does not think about anything other than his challenges. Brother pushes him to walk, then run, and this eventually kills him from the strain.

Brother is heartbroken by the death, and finally realizes that Doodle was a miracle.

At first, it would seem that Doodle is the antagonist to Brother. He causes Brother a lot of unease and trouble. Brother wanted a brother that could do the things all boys can, and was a constant embarrassment.

However, after Doodle's death, it can be seen that Brother was his own antagonist. He was unable or unwilling to see Doodle's wonderful qualities until after he had died.

What is the significance of the characters' names in the novel Jane Eyre? How does the name affect the way readers view the reader?

Your question petains to the "rhetorical" power names:  the sound of a character's name or perhaps its origin or what it might allude to--all of these convey meanings that add to our understanding of the character. Mrs. Reed’s name suggests her strictness, a “reed” being a tool that punishes children by whipping them. Mr. Brocklehurst’s same, with the “k” sounds in the middle, also sounds harsh, but it also sounds pompous, which in fact he is. Helen Burns is a passionate girl; in some ways she “burns” with life, and of course she dies from a fever as well. Blanche might sound elegant, but the name half-rhymes with “bland,” which she certainly is, for she lacks the strong moral compass that guides Jane. As for Jane, yes, her name is plain, but “Eyre,” although it too sounds plain in that it consists of a simple syllable, also conveys an ethereal quality in that it is a homonym with “air.” Insofar that “eyre” is also a system of justice in Medieval England, perhaps her name brings with it suggestions of the fairness and the sense of right she seeks and represents. Bertha originates from a German word that means “bright,” which is ironic in terms of the way Rochester has locked her up so that she now lives in the dark. Try using the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) or other online dictionaries to search for meanings of these words. I provide a link below.

What does pink ribbon symbolize, and how does it relate to faith?

The most common answer to your question is that the pink hair ribbons symboize Faith's innocence and when she loses it so that Brown finds them on the ground it signifies her loss of innocence.  But I wonder if the symbolism is as simple as that.  Pink hair ribbons would have been frowned upon if allowed at all in the austere of Puritan New England.  Most women, married or unmarried would have covered their hair with a cap.  So here goes my explanation which may or may not be right.

I believe that one of the theme's of Hawthorne's story is that there is sin in all of us no matter how pious we are on the outside.  This is what Brown realizes in his trip (or dream) to visit the devil.  Even though these people have claimed salvation, Satan still rules their flesh.  Thus the pink ribbons rather than symbolizing purity (they would have been white if that were the case), symbolize the mixture of good and evil (with white for good and the red of Satan for evil) in all of us, including Faith. They, I think, also symbolized the uncertainty of Brown's faith so that when he found them on the ground they represented his loss of faith, and Faith's apparent abandoment of the good half of her for the pure evil of Satan.  The fact that the ribbons are in Faith's hair upon his return would signify that she rejected Satan's total controll and signify Brown's still mixed faith.

After the conspirators kill Caesar, they bathe their hands and swords in Caesar's blood. What do these actions foreshadow?

Upon viewing the play for the first time in 1599, the audience, well-versed in biblical tales, would have got the allusion of handwashing as a reference to Pilot and Jesus. Where Pilot uses water and "washes his hands" of Jesus and takes no responsibility for his actions and Jesus’ fate, Brutus, in contrast, takes full responsibility for the murder, ("..let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood/Up to the elbows...!") and Casca urges the other conspirators to do the same.  In III.1, Antony acknowledges those responsible ("Let each man render me his bloody hand")  and implies he is now in league with them since in shaking each hand he has bloodied his own.  ("Therefore I took your hands....friends I am with you all.") However, Antony reveals his true intent as Caesar's avenger several lines later when he is alone (Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!) and describes the bloodshed to come.

How does the blend of fantasy and realism add to the story's humorous effects? Is the conclusion a surprise? If so, how does the ending provide a...

Fantasy and realism absolutely contribute to the humor as a man who is dissatisfied with his "real" life seeks the adventure and excitement of a "fantasy".  By being able to pop into Madame Bovary and "play" a little, he escapes the hum-drum of his own life, but what's funny is that his fellow college professors recognize the odd little man who just shows up in the pages of the book as being none other than Kugelmass himself.

One expects that this "too good to be true" story will come to a screeching halt, although Madame Bovary proves to be a little high maintainance and readers realize that Kugelmass and his lover wouldn't last in a long-term relationship.  It is suitable that the machine is blown up and that Kugelmass is stuck in a Spanish textbook with the hairy verb "tener" chasing him all over the place. This is the Spanish verb "to have" which is what Kugelmass is seeking--having the mistress of his dreams.  Instead of having her, the "hairy" verb is determined to "have" him.

The tone itself is a sarcastic and humorous look at a man's mid-life crisis.  You could find more examples that having an affair is not the thing to do in the face of a dissatisfied life.  The boredom and nagging of Madame Bovary hints at this mistake, but the ending is an even more blatant warning against such straying.  Perhaps therapy would be a better choice ?

Why did General Zaroff hunt men, especially when he knew it was wrong?

Simply put, General Zaroff became motivated to hunt men because he found hunting animals to be of no challenge to him anymore.  He desired more of a challenge, and to achieve the challenge he desired, he required a more intelligent "prey."  To him the only prey that equaled his skill as a hunter and provided him with the challenge he desired was man--the ultimate prey.  Rainsford, and, indeed, most human prey, presented him with more of a challenge because they possessed the ability to outwit, out think, and out maneuver him during the hunt; therefore offering him the ultimate hunting experience.  As to the question of why didn't Zaroff stop once he realized he was doing wrong, I don't believe that he ever came to that realization.  Upon looking carefully at Zaroff's character, you see a completely self absorbed individual, concerned only with the fulfillment of his own wants and needs, no matter the cost to anyone else.  Did he know what he was doing was wrong?  Obviously he did, otherwise he would not have gone to such pains to hide himself away on his island away from prying eyes.  Did he care?  Obviously not because, once again, his own needs took precedent over even human life. Hope this helps.

What aspects of the ending of the novel made the greatest impact on you? Explain your reactions in detail.Can anyone please help me out, because i...

In the book The Slave Dancer is Jessie has an eye awakening experience after he is taken aboard the ship Moonlight to serve as a fife player.  His main job is to keep the slaves muscles developed through playing music and the men making the slaves dance.  While on the journey, Jessie begins to have a first hand observation of the unjust and cruel treatment awarded the slaves.

The horrific part in the story that demonstrates the ultimate cruelty is when the Captain orders the men to throw the slaves over board so that they won't get caught with the slaves on board.  Jessie witnesses women and men grabbed and kicked and tossed over into the water.  Men and women scratched their nails along the boards trying to prevent their deaths.  Little children were being thrown into the water and their screams echoed.  Jessie was howling and begging for the ships to arrive so everything would stop.

Jessie struggled to save one boy who had made himself get away from the others in his panic.  They hid in the ships bowels among the stench of the animals.  Later the ship had wrecked and the two boys were able to make it to an island.  They had landed on an island with an old man and chickens.  Ras and Jessie were treated to drink and then food by the man. The boat and the others who had been on it were all gone.

Daniel, the old man, helped Ras go with some black men to a safer place up North.  He also helped guide and feed Jessie to his own return to his mother.  However, Jessie never could listen to music because it reminded him of his awful journey.

The scenes in the end of the story as written above implied to me that the hardest part of the journey had bee at the very end.  The slaves had already endured so much hatred and pain.  Yet, they were thrown away as if their lives had no value to anyone.  They were no longer fathers and mothers nor children of parents.  They were only an item to be tossed to the sea.

Can anyone give me quotes for ambiguity?This is for an English power point, and my group and I have torn apart the whole book to look for...

In looking for quotes on ambiguity, reexamine the treatment of Arthur Dimmesdale by the community.  He is one of the central characters whose existence and actions illustrate ambiguity.  He has this secret sin in his heart which he is incapable of (or unwilling to) admit, yet the entire community holds him up to be a pillar of virtue and morality.  Then, when he finally does confess his sin, the people don't hate him; instead they say, "Oh, what a good man to admit his sins!" (My paraphrase, by the way! :)

Check the link below for information about this important theme, then have your group reexamine Arthur Dimmesdale - I think you'll be able to find suitable quotes, especially if you look closely at how the townspeople talk to and about him.

In what ways does Scout demonstrate sensivity and compassion in chapters 30 and 31?(Your answer should include two elements)

In chapter 30, Scout asks Atticus:  "It's sorta be like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?"  She is referring to the possibility that Boo would be arrested for Mr. Ewell's death.  Scout understands that Boo was trying to protect her, and realizes that if people knew and Boo was put on trial, it would be traumatic for this man who has spent his life as a hermit.

In chapter 31, Scout walks Boo home.  On his front porch, she turns and she imagines the street and the community as Boo sees it.  She understands that Boo loves his community and wants to protect it, and she finally "walks a minute in his shoes", as Atticus always urged her to do.

Who is talking in the poem "Once Upon a Time?" Who is addressed and who are "they" that are referred to in the poem?

In my opinion, the speaker in this poem, the person who is doing the talking, is a father.  He is speaking to his son.  That is, presumably, why the speaker calls the listener "son."

I think that what is going on in this poem is that the father is telling the son how much he (the father) misses his younger days.  He is saying that "they" (I believe that he means adults when he says this) are entirely fake.  He believes that adults do not say what they mean and do not really have genuine feelings.  This is why he wishes he could go back to his youth.

What theory about Dimmesdale's disease and its cure is expressed in chapter 9 of The Scarlet Letter? Page. 120 paragraph beginning "thus roger...

Chillingworth believed it was essential to know Dimmesdale well before he could cure him.  He needed to know about his mind and heart, not just his physical body.  The text says that for Dimmesdale "thought and imagination were so active...that the bodily infirmity would be likely to have its groundwork there."  In other words, Chillingworth doesn't believe that Dimmesdale's disease is physical.  The cure then, in Chillingworth's mind, was to find out Dimmesdale's secret.  Once the secret was out, then Dimmesdale might be healed.

From whose point of view is the story told?

Everything in the story is seen from the point of view of Jonas, the protagonist.  So I think that you would say that the story is told from his point of view.

However, you should not say that the story is told from a first person point of view.  You do not have Jonas narrating the story saying "I did this" and "I thought that."  Instead, this story is told from a third person limited point of view.  The narrator always talks about "Jonas" and not about "I."  That is third person.  It is limited because the narrator only knows Jonas's thoughts and not those of anyone else in the story.

how does the first sentence describing Atticus's first case give a different impression than when you hear the rest of the story?

The sentence in question is "His first two clients were the last two persons hanged in the Maycomb County jail." This leads us to think that he did not succeed in defending them, and that he was not a particularly good attorney. However, we learn he really didn't have much of a chance to defend them because they committed their crime in "the presence of three witnesses" and then were foolish enough to plead "not guilty." Atticus "was present at their departure," meaning he saw them hanged, which is why he now has a "profound distaste for the practice of criminal law." We learn in the story, however, that Atticus is a very accomplished lawyer, and that no one but he could have made the jury deliberate about Tom as long as they did.

How would you characterize Mr. Shiftlet and Mrs. Crater and her daughter, Lucynell in ‘‘The Life You Save May Be Your Own’’?

Mr. Tom Shiftlet and Mrs. Crater are grotesque characters.  Mr. Shiftlet's obsession with morality and Mrs. Crater's obsession with her daughter drive the story. Mr. Shiftlet and Mrs. Crater are similar creatures: both have selfish motives for their seemingly moral actions.  Mr. Shiftlet wants a car and Mrs. Crater wants a son-in-law to take care of the property.

Mr. Shiftlet is a misshapen drifter whose outer deformity (he is missing half of one of his arms) resembles his inward deformity (his twisted view of morality). His name, Shiftlet, mirrors his shifty and shiftless nature. He is an archetypal trickster and is amoral, which is ironic considering that he is obsessed with the idea that the world is rotten and immoral.  

Mrs. Crater is also portrayed as a trickster. She tries to trick Mr. Shiftlet by lying about her daughter's age.  She uses her daughter and treats her more like an animal than a human. Her loneliness causes her to use Lucynell as an object to get what she wants. Mrs. Crater, like Mr. Shiftlet himself, is the type of person that makes the world rotten.

Lucynell, a grown woman who has the mind of a child, is the one person who can redeem Mr. Shiftlet. Lucynell's innocence is a foil for Mr. Shiftlet's experience. Lucynell represents those who are preyed upon by amoral and cunning people such as Mr. Shiftlet and Mrs. Crater. In the end, instead of redeeming Mr. Shiftlet, Lucynell exposes his true character.

Why does the narrator of "The Tell-Tale Heart" wait till the eight night to commit the murder?He watched him for 7 nights and on the eighth night...

In certain cultures, the number eight is extremely significant.  In the Jewish culture, for instance, the concept of man having the ability to transcend his nature is represented by the number eight.  When the High Priest officiated, he wore eight garments.  And, from their eighth day onward, animals could be offered as sacrifices.  In Edgar Allan Poe's story, "The Tell-Tale Heart," there seems much importance given to the eighth day by the narrator.  It is the day of completion. Poe's narrator writes,

Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers--of my sagacity.  I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. 

Not only does the narrator sense the significance of the eighth day, but the old man feels the power of this night as well.  He knows that the narrtor is going to kill him.

Gatsby Opinion QuestionSome critics see at least two sides to Gatsby’s character. His unsavory and shadowy activities cannot be ignored, of...

While the motif of the American Dream is inverted in the early chapters of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby as the reader perceives the decadence and corruption of the Jazz Age, the character of Gatsby is not merely that of a vulgar and ostentatious criminal.  For, Gatsby does not have parties simply to display his wealth.  Often, instead, he watches "the silver pepper of the stars" and "stretches out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way" toward a single green light, far away at the end of a dock.  Clearly, Gatsby is a romantic. 

Even after Daisy has failed him in the tense confrontation in Chapter 7 when Gatsby asks her to tell Tom that she does not love him and she retracts her statements, Gatsby, dressed in his pink suit of innocent faith, keeps vigil all night outside her window after the fatal accident on the return trip--even while she and her husband conspire against him. And, it is Gatsby who does not contradict the idea that he was the driver of the "death car."  So, while he is satirized as Trimalchio and his car no longer has its mythological characteristics, the "young rough-neck whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd" is not ungenuine as Owl-Eyes discovers in the "high Gothic library" where the leather bound books actually contain printed pages.

It is this genuineness that causes Nick to react to Gatsby, "You're worth the whole damn bunch put together."  And, as Gatsby heads for his pool, Nick comments in Chapter 8,

I have an idea that Gatsby himself didn't believe it [the end] would come and perhaps he no longer cared.  If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream.  He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how raw thesunlight was upon the scarcely created grass.  A new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about...

Truly, Jay Gatsby is a tragic figure who put all his faith into an illusive dream.