How did the alliance system that developed in the early 1900s help cause WWI?

There were two main alliance systems: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance. These were the primary political relationships leading to the war's early escalation.

The Triple Alliance was formed first, between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. This was one of Otto von Bismarck's early efforts to establish the newly-unified Germany as a strong political entity with clear political avenues, and maximizing its alliances and minimizing the chances of a multi-front war was one of his priorities. The Alliance was drafted as a defensive measure, and this later caused a schism with Italy that led to its failure to abide by the terms of the alliance during the war.

The Triple Entente was the corresponding alliance between Britain, France and Russia, created at least partially in response to the Triple Alliance, and strongly encouraged by the end of hostilities in Asia between Russia and Britain, leading to a renewed focus on European politics. 

While it is sometimes argued that the two alliances "dragged" multiple nations into the war, as if they were forced to do so against their will, when in fact the reasons were more complicated. For example, Britain was more strongly motivated by direct negotiations with Germany over the latter's invasion of Belgium, and to a sense of commitment to France.

In ch.12, Does Ralph understand why he must be killed?; what is the irony of Samneric's behaviour?

The bitter irony of the story’s end is that the smoke the boys use to flush Ralph for the kill is the signal for their rescue. Jack, or perhaps even Roger, unleash their power in order to kill Ralph: the last remaining vestige of civilization. They do not seem to care, or perhaps they do not understand, that what they have done will destroy them all. Like Ralph, Jack is unable to see the other side of his own nature. Ironically, it is Ralph’s vision that is realized when a ship arrives after having spotted their smoke. Ralph knows he will die, even though he may not completely understand the reasons for his death.  The only two truly non-violent people--Simon and Piggy--don't survive the island.

The irony of Samneric's behavior is that they allow Ralph to pass by them through the forest without signaling the others.  They are to "hunt" Ralph like all the other boys, but they recognize that Ralph has been good to them and allow him to pass even though they realize Ralph's death is eminent.

In Hamlet, what is the atmosphere of the court routine that begins in Act I, Scene 2?

The atmosphere is unsettled at best.  Claudius begins with the "happy" announcement of his marriage to Gertrude, praising her beauty and celebrating his position as king.  He speaks lavishly of his love of his wife and his people, including Hamlet.  But then he immediately launches into his concern that Fortinbras will challenge Denmark in war.  At the same time,  Hamlet is moping off to the side, making snide comments to himself and responding with bitter remarks to the loving comments of his uncle and mother.  The audience is left to feel that this is a country - and a family - in turmoil.

how does the fellow traveler undermine goodman browns' faith?

The traveler, the devil, shows Brown that humans have more in common with evil than with goodness.  Notice how as Brown begins his journey, he believes he is destined for heaven.  However, the farther the devil lures him into the woods, the more he undermines Brown's faith.  Whether or not Brown's relatives really were in league with the devil is never clear, but the devil just plants enough seeds of doubt in Brown's mind to shake his faith, which he never really recovers, for he is never able to look at his fellow citizens of Salem the same ever again.

In fact, the devil so completely undermines Brown's faith that he reduces him to the most frightening presence in the woods, despite the devil himself and all those gathered at the black mass.

What does "ready to quarrel over a truffle mean"?Its in Act 2 scene 4 of Romeo and Juliet.

I do not believe that this phrase appears in Romeo and Juliet at all, and I particularly do not think it appears in this scene.

In this scene, the character Peter uses the word "quarrel" but he does not use it in anything like the phrase you mention.

I thought that maybe you were referring to a part in Act III, Scene 1 where Mercutio is telling Benvolio that Benvolio is always ready to quarrel.  Your phrase would fit there, but it's not there.

I would think what the phrase would mean is that the person is ready to fight over any little thing.  It would mean that even more if it were "ready to quarrel over a trifle."

How does Conard uses contrasts to achieve his purpose(s) in Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer?

Conrad is a master of dualities, contrasts, foils, doppelgangers paradoxes, oxymorons, and analogies.  In short, every major character has a double and every major element (symbol, theme, image) has a contrasting element.  Also, Conrad infuses his stories with Freud's psychoanalytic theories to show the dualities of human nature.

• light vs. dark


• good vs. evil


• white vs. black


• European civilization/colonialism vs. savage paganism


• soul/heart vs. mind/body


• Kurtz vs. Marlowe


• The Captain vs. Leggatt


• id vs. ego vs. superego


• women vs. men


• children vs. adults


• water vs. land


• sanity vs. insanity


• faith vs. fear


• secrecy vs. sharing


• individual vs. society


• blindness vs. sight

From Heart of Darkness (dualities in bold):

...Soul! If anybody ever struggled with a soul, I am the man. And I wasn't arguing with a lunatic either. Believe me or not, his intelligence was perfectly clear—concentrated, it is true, upon himself with horrible intensity, yet clear; and therein was my only chance—barring, of course, the killing him there and then, which wasn't so good, on account of unavoidable noise. But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself, and, by heavens! I tell you, it had gone mad. I had—for my sins, I suppose—to go through the ordeal of looking into it myself. No eloquence could have been so withering to one's belief in mankind as his final burst of sincerity. He struggled with himself, too. I saw it—I heard it. I saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, and no fear, yet struggling blindly with itself. I kept my head pretty well; but when I had him at last stretched on the couch, I wiped my forehead, while my legs shook under me as though I had carried half a ton on my back down that hill. And yet I had only supported him, his bony arm clasped round my neck—and he was not much heavier than a child.

Why do you think Pip stops hating Magwitch and starts to love him?Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

As a bildungsroman Great Expectations by Charles Dickens tells of Pip's different stages in life.  In the Second Stage of the novel, Pip becomes very haughty as he believes himself a gentleman and above associating with Joe and Biddy.  When Magwitch arrives in London as Provis, Pip is repulsed by the crude way that he eats and acts, although he does shelter the old convict. When the old convict relates the history of his life in his poverty and exploitation by Compeyson, Provis looks at Pip with affection, an act that is yet abhorrent to Pip, but he admits, "I had felt great pity for him."

With the realization of the life to which Magwitch has been forced into, Pip begins to perceive that the man is undeserving of condemnation.  That he so loved Pip that he gave his money and risked his life to see the boy made a gentleman, touches Pip.  And, in his maturation, Pip recognizes that he has misjudged Magwitch.  So, as the convict stays with Pip, Pip begins to worry that Compeyson may discover the return to London that Magwitch has made and either report him to the authorities or kill him.  Therefore, out of respect for what Magwitch has done for him, Pip tries to effect an escape for Magwitch.  And, when this escape fails, Pip lovingly tends the man who had but few moments of happiness in his life.  He tells Magwitch--"Dear Magwitch, I must tell you, now, at last--of Estella and comforts the old convict, who dies shortly thereafter:

I thought of the two men who went  into the Temple to pray, and I knew there wer no better words that I could say beside his bed than, o Lord, be merciful to him, a sinner!

Because of the generosity and love of Magwitch, Pip truly learns how to be a gentleman.

In Julius Caesar, what is the immediate cause of the quarrel between Brutus and Cassius? How does Cassius defend himself? (Act 4, scene 3)

Cassius and Brutus are fighting over Brutus' accusations against Lucius Pella, who Brutus believes to have taken bribes.  Cassius defended the man, a friend of his, and is angry that Brutus punished Pella anyway, despite the fact that Cassius wrote letters in his defence.  Brutus then goes on to accuse Cassius himself of accepting bribes, and is also angry because he had requested money from Cassius for the troops, which Cassius refused to send:

"I did send to you for gold to pay my legions, which you denied me."

Cassius denies this, and finally the argument is ended when Cassius offers Brutus his sword, telling him to go ahead and kill him if Brutus truly believes such things of him.

Cassius doesn't seem to really have much defense.  It is difficult to tell if he has really done the things Brutus accused him of, and his method of ending the argument is to appeal to Brutus' honor...Of course Brutus isn't going to stab Cassius, and Cassius' offer takes the wind out of Brutus' angry sails.

Check the link below for more information.  Good luck!

If Rainsford wins the hunt what does Zaroff promise him?

The "promise" made by Zaroff is that Rainsford will be allowed to leave the island if he manages to evade Zaroff in the hunt for three days; however, the reader is left to make a judgment call as to whether he is to be trusted or not.  Please do keep in mind that this is the same man who hunts people for fun; in the end, we are left, once again, to make a decision.  What does Rainsford do with Zaroff in the end, once he has him at his mercy in Zaroff's bedroom?  Do you release a master hunter back into the jungle and give him the opportunity to hunt you down again, or do you become a killer yourself and sleep at peace?

What are the conflicts of the story "The Most Dangerous Game"?

Man vs. man, man vs. self, man vs. nature, and man vs. animal are also examples of the types of conflict present in the story.

The first, man vs. man, is the most apparent and obvious conflict in that it presents the primary conflict for the protagonist, that being Rainsford finding himself pitted against his host, General Zaroff, in a fight for his life.

Man vs. self is the personal and internal struggle that Rainsford is experiencing.  At the opening of the story, we learn that he finds hunting to be the greatest sport and shows no care for the feelings of his prey as evidenced in his conversations on the ship before he falls off and arrives at Shiptrap Island.

Man vs. nature occurs as he is running through the jungle away from Zaroff.  He must use his surroundings to his advantage to save himself from Zaroff's gun.

Finally, man vs. animal is quite specific in that it occurs when he running from Zaroff's dogs. He must use one of his hunting traps to save himself from their menacing jaws.

Why does the woman refuse to leave her books? What effect does this have on the firemen, particulary Montag?

The unnamed woman refuses to leave her books because they are vital to her.  In this shallow society of the future, they are all that are valuable to her.  She is also making a statement by igniting the flames herself - that she would rather die than lose what she believes in. 

This is a pivotal moment for Montag.  For it causes him to question what the firemen are doing.  If a person could so love books and find them so important as to burn alive with them, then what is the power and mystery of books and the words they contain?  It is no wonder then that Montag stashes away one of the lady's books.

During the night he cannot sleep.  He keeps thinking about her and searching for meaning in his life.  One might wonder if Montag isn't questioning himself on whether he has anything so meaningful in his life that he would die for it.

Did the narrator first respond to Roderick Usher with anger or disregard?

Wow, I have to completely disagree with the first answer simply because the question can be taken in a totally different way!  Yes, it could mean the narrator's "first response" to Usher when Madeline appears, ... but that is NOT the narrator's first response!  The first response (NOT in person) is through letter.  The first response (IN person) is when the narrator arrives at Usher's home.  So, let's look at these possibilities, just in case that is what you mean by your question.

Well, the best way to look at this question is to find the quotation and put it in context.  The first instance would be when the narrator receives the letter:

A letter, however, had lately reached me in a distant part of the country--a letter from him--which, in its wildly importunate nature, had admitted no other than a personal reply. The writer spoke of acute bodily illness--of a mental disorder, ... which allowed me no room for hesitation; and I accordingly obeyed forthwith.

If this is the "first response" you mean, then I would say the narrator responds with neither anger NOR disregard, but with grave concern.  How would he NOT?  There is sickness and mental illness mentioned! ... of a dear friend!  As the quote implies, the narrator rushes to Usher's side.  How loyal of him!

However, you might also mean the "first response" when the narrator first SEES Usher after a long time:

Upon my entrance, Usher arose from a sofa on which he had been lying at full length, and greeted me with a vivacious warmth ... [and] sincerity.  We sat down; and for some moments, while he spoke not, I gazed upon him with a feeling half of pity, half of awe.  Surely, man had never before so terribly altered, in so brief a period, as had Roderick Usher!

Again, if this is the "first response" you mean, I would have to say is neither anger nor disregard again.  The narrator says plainly:  "I gazed upon him with a feeling half of pity, half of awe."  There you go.  There is concern there.  No anger.  No disregard.  He was "wan" and "cadaverous" with eyes "large and liquid."  Lips were "thin and very pallid."  This goes on and on to achieve Poe's "single effect" of horror.  There is still grave concern.

My guess, then, is that you don't mean the narrator's "first response" at all, but the response to Usher's call later in the story.  In this case, the first answer is correct.

1. Describe a major setting of the story.Provide vivid details. Tnx!2. What is the main Indroduction of a rose for emily?

The Emily's house described in the second paragraph of the story provides one important setting, which says as much about Emily as it does the house itself for it represents her.  It had "once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the [1870s], set on what had once been our most select street."  Emily, too, was once "pure" and young and beautiful, decorated in fancy clothes and designs because she came from a privileged family. Now, however, "garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood; only Miss Emily's house as left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay...."  Modernization has rendered her neigborhood as it has rendered her obsolete and  hidden by industry--the past has been obscured by the present.  But her house, as "stubborn and coquettish" as she remains, just as her legacy will not easily disappear.

What are some artists/works that link Magical Realism to photography?

Great question! 

Are you looking strictly for for photographers/ visual artists or writers?

If photography/ visual art, I assume you've started with Franz Roh? and, though he's more of a surrealist...Man Ray

also try: Shirin Neshat; Julien Pacaud

If you are willing to include other visual artists, you might also want to look at: Rob Gonzalves; Mati Klarwein;Ivan Albright;George Tooker; Lori Field; Richard Selesnick and Nicholas Kahn; Carrie Ann Baade (maybe too surreal)

Film

Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labrynth)

If text:

Marquez, Isabel Allende, Alejando Carpentier, Yan Martel, Salman Rushdie, Laura Esquivel

Hope this helps

Discuss some possible reasons why...Jewish people have the highest incomes, levels of education, and occupational prestige of any religion in the...

I would speculate that the main reason that Jewish people have the highest incomes, etc, is because they self-selected in terms of coming to the United States.

The majority of American Jews came to this country during the late 1800s and early 1900s.  They were coming from Germany and from Eastern Europe.  The people who had the initiative and the ability to get all the way here from there were clearly the ones with the most drive.  It stands to reason that such people would end up with higher status than a more random group.

A second reason is that they were discriminated against and therefore had to keep largely to themselves.  This made them build communities that were quite close and, therefore, put pressure on one another to conform.

So, you have a group of highly motivated people who stick together and pressure each other to remain motivated...

The setting of the novel in New york city during prohibition provides a conflict that underlies the whole story. What is the conflict?

The setting in The Great Gatsby is present throughout the novel, of course, but it isn't the foundation of the work or the central conflict.  Daisy doesn't reject Gatsby in the end because he's a bootlegger, she rejects him because he "asks too much"--because she will not announce that she never loved Tom--and because she never loved Gatsby in the total, all-encompassing way he thought she did.  She never loved him like he loves her. 

Gatsby is trying to recapture a relationship that never was, a relationship that was an illusion.  That is the central conflict in the novel. 

Gatsby's business is just the means he used to become wealthy enough to compete with Tom, and to get Daisy to notice him and take him seriously.  His business is one part of a means to an end, but the end is recapturing the relationship with Daisy. 

Furthermore, Gatsby's business is used by Tom in an attempt to discredit Gatsby, but with little success.  Gatsby's business conflicts with the idealistic American myth or American dream, but it is not an essential part of why Daisy rejects him.

In Poe's poem "The Raven," how would you describe the speaker's reaction when the raven first appears?

The speaker was rather surprised and bemused. In the first two lines of the eighth stanza, he says, "Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling...By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore". The sight of the bird, sitting so seriously above his chamber door with an almost human-like demeanor must have been a ludicrous sight, and it made him smile.

How is Phoenix viewed and treated by the white people she meets in A Worn Path?

The way Phoenix is treated reflects the suble discrimination black people experience at the hands of society.  The hunter helps Phoenix out of a ditch but patronizes her, poking fun at her journey, taunting, "I know you old colored people...wouldn't miss a chance to...see Santa", and menacing her with his gun, flaunting his power and asking her if she is afraid. The nurse is impatient with her and assumes she is a charity case, condescendingly offering her a few pennies. The hunter calls Phoenix "Granny" and the nurse calls her "Aunt Phoenix" instead of "Mrs. Jackson", names which deny her dignity and individuality and show no deference to her age.

What are the important topics and questions in Gulliver's Travels?

The important possibilities as far as questions about Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels are as follows

1. Can Gulliver's Travels be called a novel or an anticipation of the novelistic genre? If so, how?

2. Discuss the point of view in the text. Do you think Swift uses Gulliver as an authorial mouthpiece or there is a critical distance that marks their relationship?

3. Discuss the connectivity among the different books of Gulliver's Travels.

4. Is Gulliver's Travels a satirical work? What kind of a satire is it? How does the satire proceed from one book to another? What are the targets of the process of satirization?

5. What is the position of the satirist in Gulliver's Travels? Is he inside or outside the social frame that is satirized in the work?

6. Discuss the character of Gulliver. Do you see an ironic trace of the epic-hero in him?

7. Discuss Swift's notorious anti-humanism in the context of Gulliver's Travels.

8. Can Gulliver's Travels be read as a reflection of the period of its composition?

In Romeo and Juliet, what does her placing the dagger beside herelf as she drinks the potion signify?

She talks to the dagger, and says

What if this mixture do not work at all?
Shall I be married then to-morrow morning?
No, no: this shall forbid it: lie thou there.

She goes on to wonder if she's going to be in the vault before Romeo arrives, if the friar has poisoned her, if it is a trick so that she will marry Paris... and Paris is totally not what she wants. If the potion does not work, she is willing to commit suicide to prevent this marriage.

I think this moment is symbolic with the dagger because it foreshadows an upcoming situation. Keep that dagger in the back of your head.

Why is the town so stirred up by these events?

The town is ripe for the witch trials because of the strict Puritan religion, which forbids nearly everything but hard work and church.  To rebel against this strict code, the girls flee into the woods for their little ceremony.  However, once they realize Parris has seen them dancing and frolicking, they know what harsh consequences await them once words gets out.  So they feign mysterious illnesses.  Because the Puritans were so strict and believed that Satan was ever present in their lives, waiting to snare them, they were susceptible to the girls' lies about witch craft.  Once the accusations are leveled, the events compound. 

Soon this becomes the perfect opportunity for the townspeople to take revenge on those they envied.  So if one person coveted another person's land, they could spread rumors about that person being a witch and they would be seized by the court and stripped of all property and possessions.  Then the accuser could purchase the land.  Notice too that Giles states he has a source who claims Putnam persuaded his daughter to accuse people so he could get their land.

These are but a few of the reasons the town became so swept up in insanity of the witch trials.

Write a paragraph describing the flaw of Macbeth. Consider the question: "Does Shakespeare's treatment of Macbeth reflect Scriptural...

Perhaps you may wish to explore Macbeth's worship of "false gods" in the sense that he puts his faith in the witches, supernatural beings not meant to be so worshipped, and because of this false worship Macbeth went down an evil trail.  Of course, there are several passages in which this faith can be documented, such as Act I, Scene 3 in which Macbeth thinks to himself in an aside:

If chance will have meKing, why,/chance may crown me,/Without my stir.

Another Biblical principle is that of "Pride goeth before fall."  Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth himself felt themselves outside the moral scheme of retribution and pursued their evil acts, believing that they would suffer no consequences.  In Act I, Scene 7 Macbeth speaks of "vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself."  After Macbeth slays King Duncan, for example, Lady Macbeth declares that "a little water clears us of the deed" (II,ii,66). This latter principle may work well for you as your assignment is limited to only a paragraph.

You may wish to write a paragraph that has a topic sentence with two parts to it (this is like a mini-essay). After your topic sentence, write a subtopic that has the first point in it. Then, support this point with examples from the play, and cite passages as detailed support.  Follow with the second subtopic that includes the second point. Again, provide support and details. Don't forget the reworded topic sentence with a "clincher"--a reminder of the motivating opener you use at the beginning.

Good luck!

What is the symbolism of the candle buds in Lord of the Flies?

When I read about the candle buds in chapter three, as Simon retreats into his sanctuary, I think they stand for a couple things simultaneously.  To Simon, they appear to be something of a calming influence, the "riotous colors died and the heat and urgency cooled away" as they open up and he retires by himself to his quiet place in the woods.

But to the rest of the boys, they may in fact symbolize the coming terrors of the night as they spill out "their scent and [take] possession of the island.  The rest of the boys are absolutely terrified of the night and flock together in order to try and stave off the horror of it.

So in my mind at least, the candle buds stand for both things, at least at this point in the novel.  When Jack attacks them later, perhaps other symbols could be found there as well.

What is the role of the concept of "truth" in The Crucible?What role do the characters play with regard to this concept?

This is certainly an incredibly relevant concept for you to explore and think through as you re-read this amazing play. A key theme that is well worth investigating in relation to each character is how they regard "the truth". It is clear that the majority of the populace, in the way that they at least tacitly if not openly support the Salem witch trials, hold personal integrity and truth at a very low level. These characters range of course from the Putnams, whose outright abuse and manipulation of the truth is exploited for financial and personal gain, to characters such as Giles Corey, Rebecca Nurse and, eventually, John Proctor, who all die in their own way as part of an act of resistance against the lies of the Salem Witch Trials.

For me, however, by far the most interesting character to study in relation to the truth as a concept is Elizabeth Proctor. Consider the rock and a hard place that she is placed between when she lies to supposedly save her husband, but also think about the way that when Hale tries to persuade her to encourage her husband to lie to save his life, she calmly and quietly rejects this proposal as "the Devil's argument". She is very clearly a round character whose relationship with "the truth" would make a good essay topic.

What were the causes and consequences of the Japanese American internment program?

Mostly fear that there were among the Japanese population in the USA, people who would help Japan in its war against USA; there was fear in America of a Japanese invasion of California.

Another reason held by a few people was fear that mobs of Americans might attack Japanese residents in USA, and so, these few people thought, the Japanese needed to be put where they could be protected.

During World War I, there had been a lot of fear in America of German-Americans, but other Americans saw that they were loyal and by the time of World War II, were not so worried about them as about the Japanese-Americans.  Also the Japanese looked different so that there was more fear of them (that is probably racist) and they were more likely to become a target of mob action if left unprotected, since it was easy to identify them by sight alone.

Tom had been hiding the truth about Jim's freedom all along. How do Jim's and Huck's reactions fit with their personalities?

You seem to be talking about what happens in the last two chapters, where Tom reveals that Jim has been free all along because Miss Watson has died and freed him in her will.

Huck reacts by saying that now he finally understands how Tom could have helped to "free" Jim.  He thought all along that Tom had been brought up too "well" to help free a slave.  This shows how Huck still struggles to get free of society's values.  He still thinks "good" people obey societal values and that he himself is bad because he doesn't.

Jim reacts by saying this proves he was right in his superstitions.  This fits Jim's personality because he is portrayed throughout the book as believing in supernatural things, omens and such.

What is difference between baldness and alopecia?

Baldness involves the state of lacking hair, most often on the head.  The most common kind of baldness is what is called "male pattern baldness" in which the crown of the head and top lose hair.  This is medically known as androgenic alopecia.  This type of alopecia can also occur in women, but they seldom lose all their hair; it just gets thinner all over and the hairline does not recede.  This type of alopecia is hereditary and accounts for 99% of hair loss.

There are also other types of alopecia.  For instance, alopecia areata is manifested sometimes in patches on the head, often with one side more affected than the other.  Hair loss tends to be rather rapid.  Other alopecias occur after very high fevers or severe illness. high doses of Vitamin A, or retinols.  This hair loss is often temporary, however.

So, baldness is the state of lacking hair, while alopecia is a medical condition which causes various types of baldness. 

What is setting of The Things They Carried by Obrien?

The setting is the Vietnam War, but also postwar Vietnam as O'Brien's character, the narrator, revisits the country and the old battlegrounds where he had once fought.  The story focuses both on the things he remembers in the war and on the things they carried, and then he closes the circle at the end of the story by returning some of the things they carried to Vietnam and burying them.  The reader gets the impression its to honor not only his comrades in arms, but the land itself, the losses, and the unfinished business they left behind there.

Is Lady Macbeth really as "hard core" as she appears to be? Explain.

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is hard hearted to a certain extent.  She is certainly ruthless when it comes to planning Duncan's assassination, as well as manipulating her husband while she tries to convince him to go ahead with the killing.  Macbeth realizes this when he sarcastically says that she should be sure to have only male children, which implies that she is not fit to raise daughters.

At the same time, Lady Macbeth never really does anything.  She is worried that her husband won't go through with it, but when she has a chance to kill Duncan herself, she can't because the sleeping Duncan reminds her of her father.  She also has nothing to do with the killing of the grooms, Banquo, or Macduff's family--she doesn't even know about these until after they occur.  Plus, she is driven to a mental breakdown by her guilt, and ultimately commits suicide.

In fact, Lady Macbeth suspects herself that she may not be as ruthless and uncaring as she hopes she is.  When she pleads with the "spirits" to unsex her and make her ruthless and unkind like a man, she indirectly reveals that she is worried that she is not as ruthless and uncaring as she needs to be to carry out Duncan's assassination.  And, of course, she is right to worry--when she has the chance, she is unable to go through with it.

I need help writing an essay on a famous poem in English literature.

Unless you make a definite choice, it will be difficult to provide the lead. Yet you can try on the model structure as given below:

a) Some brief bio-critical observations on the poet, his/her period, and salient features of his/her poetic credo;

b) Date and particular occasion of Composition;

c) A crtical summary of the text of the poem;

d) Some special comments on its theme(s), genre, form/structure, metre, imagery, symbolism, message(if any);

e) Acknowledgement of major critical responses to the poem;

f) Your personal responses including reference to a parallel text, permanent value, blemishes(if any).

Why does Harry like Ginny?

Harry likes Ginny because she is no longer the little girl he met when he was 11; he likes her because she is no longer the little girl with a crush on him from second year who sent him a silly and embarassing Valentine's poem and whom he saved from the Chamber of Secrets.  Ginny talks to Harry now, and according to Hermione, she is "over him".  Although he still sees her in the beginning as Ron's little sister, the Amortentia tells the truth of his growing feelings as he smells her flowery scent, and the monster in his chest is growing ever more restless as his feelings for her grow.  To Harry, Ginny is like a soul mate who has shared some of his same experiences with Voldemort, and she is fiercely devoted to fighting for and with Harry for what is right.  She is with him at the Ministry and comes across as his biggest supporter and one of his best friends.  All of these things combined with the fact that Harry simply needs someone to love account for the fact that he not only likes, but literally comes to love Ginny.

In William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, I need an example of a poem that rhymes about Hamlet's and Ophelia's insanity.

Do you have to write one yourself, or are you looking for an example that is already written? Or, are you referring to the poem that Hamlet writes to Ophelia, which Polonius reads? I am guessing it is NOT the latter, because that poem is a love poem (sort of) and does not refer to any insanity.

There is a funny poem about Hamlet that is a parody of Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Suess, called Green Eggs and Hamlet:

Green Eggs and Hamle

Green Eggs and Hamlet
I ask to be or not to be.
That is the question I ask of me.
This sullied life, it makes me shudder.
My uncle's boffing dear sweet mother.
Would I, could I take me life?
Could I, should I end this strife?
Should I jump out of a plane?
Or throw myself before a train?
Should I from a cliff just leap?
Could I put myself to sleep?
Shoot myself or take some poison?
Maybe try self-immolation?
To shudder off this mortal coil,
I could stab myself with a fencing foil.
Slash my wrists while in the bath?
Would it end my angst and wrath?
To sleep, to dream, now there's the rub.
I could drop a toaster in my tub.
Would all be glad if I were dead?
Could I perhaps kill them instead?
This line of thought takes consideration -
For I'm the king of procrastination.

This poem is available at the link below, for authorship information. It shows Hamlet's depression - do you think he was really insane, or profoundly depressed, angry, etc.?

There is also a sonnet about Ophelia that shows her depression. It also refers to her mental instability:

Ophelia

He holds me no longer in his weary heart,

His words are concave, his mind wanders

To the time he awaits; when he depart

This iniquitous place and no one ponders.

My heart now collapses in its wintry fears

And with my profound knowledge, I shall die

And leave this murky place of sorrow and tears

With no melancholy, shallow words, no goodbye.

My saccharine love for him has broken me

And sent my spinning mind into the abyss;

I shatter, drowning in the icy shadowy sea

And be left naught but a spectre, to reminisce.

Hamlet, I leave thee with my innermost regret,

And entreat that I will not be a girl to forget.

This poem is found at the second website below.

If this is not what you are looking for and you need to write your own poem, please re-post your question so we can help you.

Discuss the significance of the title'road not taken'. would it have been more appropriate to use the title'road taken'?can u just give a brief...

Frost's "The Road Not Taken" is a lighthearted look and revisionism.  The speaker in the poem chooses one path for no real reason, since both of the paths are actually about the same.  Notice in the poem that there is no real difference between the two paths.

The speaker imagines himself in years to come, pretending there was a difference, and telling a yarn or white lie for the sake of entertainment.  He imagines himself making up a story about how he took the less-traveled path and that made all the difference. 

Therefore, since the poem deals with making up a story about the road not taken, it wouldn't make sense to call the poem "The Road Taken." 

How can I put a conjunction into this sentence?A saxophone player stands on the sidewalk. He stands there each afternoon.

To refine the first answer just a bit, the correlative conjunction is not only...but also, rather than just but, since but is really a coordinating conjunction.  The sentence then can read "Not only does a saxophone player stand on the sidewalk, but he also stands there each afternoon."  This use of these correlative conjunctions is a fitting relationship between the two ideas as the second can logically be an additional idea to the first.

With the use of although in the second sentence there may be some confusion since in this sentence the idea denoted is that the saxophonist stands on the sidewalk even though, in spite of the fact,[which mean the same as although] he stands there every afternoon. 

Perhaps, then, another way to write the sentence using a subordinating conjunction is by using as, which can function as a conjunction meaning in the same manner:

A saxophone player stands on the sidewalk just as he stands there each afternoon.

At the beginning of the novel Scout tells us about the Finch family history. Why is this?

In my opinion, the reason for this is to give us a good idea as to how the Finch family fits in with the rest of the society in Maycomb.

As we see later in the book, the structure of the society in Maycomb is very important.  Various kinds of people are expected to take on very different roles in the society.  People like the Ewells are expected to be the scum of the society, people like the Finches are expected to be the cream (sort of how Aunt Alexandra acts).

By telling us who the Finches are, the author gives us a sense of where they fit in.  At the same time, she gives us an understanding of how Atticus is something of a rebel because he does not take his expected role in society -- he doesn't act like part of the elite.

What was the American Dream in the 1950s? Did Willy Loman attain it, or did his American Dream turn into a nightmare?

The American Dream in the post-World War II era, the setting of Miller's play, was essentially the same as it is today: to build a successful life. Financial success and home ownership were certainly a part of it, as were raising a family and living to see one's children graduate from college and succeed on their own. Willy Loman reached for the American Dream, but it eluded him for various reasons.

Despite his years of hard work, Willy's career as a salesman falls apart; at the end of his life, he is unemployed and almost penniless, living on loans from his friend to support his wife Linda. Ironically, as he moves toward old age, the time when he should be enjoying the fruits of his labor, Willy is worth more to his family dead than alive, in financial terms. After he commits suicide, it is the proceeds from his life insurance that pay off the loan on the family's house.

An even more painful failure for Willy is the way his sons turn out. Both Biff and Happy grow up to be irresponsible adults, never succeeding in life in any way, personally or professionally. Willy's dreams of college for his sons end when Biff fails to graduate from high school and Happy does not apply himself in any productive activity.

Willy Loman's American Dream does indeed turn into a nightmare for him, and he himself is responsible for much of it. Part of Willy's tragedy is that he never recognizes how or why his dreams fall apart.

During the American Revolution, what problems provoked political leaders to consider changing the government?

It was less about changing the type of government, and more about creating a nation with a new type of government.

The more cynical view is to say that Americans seperated themselves from the British because they--the colonials--wanted to be imperials.

Americans had been experimenting with government since the founding of the colonies.

Only when the colonies became important to the British Empire did Parliament and the King attempt to make the colonies pay their share of costs as a member of the empire.

American elites, the ones who controlled the upper and lower houses of the colonial legislatures, struggled to define what exactly the new type of government would look like. Many did imagine it would be a republic. Educated gentlemen would court the votes of landless men. But there would be no direct democracy.

The war did not change that view. That image basically stayed the same throughout the war. The only people who objected to this republican vision were the landless, and the new class of businessmen who ran for office in the lower assemblies. During the war, this rising class of men struggled to participate in colonial politics. When the decision was made by the Second Continental Congress to declare independence, a wave of constitution-writing fever hit the colonies, and each newly sovereign state wrote constitutions that attempted to settle the issue of representation: who could participate; who could vote.

With that, the argument over who would rule the newly created United States took shape during the war. Yet it did not affect the constitution of the U.S. during the war--the Articles of Confederation. Yet it can be argued that, with the creation of new state constitutions, the seeds of the change of governmet were expressed during the war.

What is the theme of 'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost?

The theme of this poem is the direction you take in life:
‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference’.

The theme of this poem is the poet’s inner conflict in dealing with difference:
‘sorry I could not travel both’.

The poem shows how difficult it is to make a choice:
‘sorry I could not travel both and be one traveller’.
The theme is that people would like to avoid decisions.

The theme of this poem is that people don’t like to miss out on possibilities:
‘I shall be telling this with a sigh
somewhere ages and ages hence’.

The theme of this poem is indecision:
‘Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same’.

The poet shows that human beings are never satisfied:
‘sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller’.

The poet shows his tendency to change his mind:
‘Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back’.

The poet values a fresh or individual approach:
‘having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear’.

The poet urges that people should be individuals and not follow the majority:
‘I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference’.

The poet shows that humans cannot fulfil their intentions:
‘I doubted if I should ever come back’.
Humans cannot control their destinies.

What is a good thesis statement for the novel Candide using 2 literary elements?

A good way to approach this would be to focus on Voltaire's satirical intentions in the novel. That way, you can identify two literary devices, and analyze the way in which Voltaire uses them to satirize an aspect of society. You can pretty much choose anything about human society here, as Voltaire is mocking everything from war to love to gender roles to materialism to optimism. I'll give you an example using optimism, since attacking that particular philosophy was Voltaire's purpose in writing this text.

• Voltaire satirizes the philosophy of optimism, using juxtaposition and irony in the speeches of the character Pangloss.

Those two literary devices are probably the most common in the text, as the impact of his writing comes primarily from setting up situational and verbal irony. Of course, humor is closely tied to these techniques, creating absurdly funny situations for all the characters. Other devices used include hyperbole and understatement, as well as puns and wordplay.

What is the irony of the story "Hills Like White Elephants"?

Another irony in the story "Hills Like White Elephants" is in the fact that this young man and woman have been traveling around together and presumably making passionate love, but then when the inevitable happens and the girl finds herself pregnant, the man doesn't want her to have the baby. The pleasure of love-making did not evolve for the sake of enjoyment but for making babies and bonding men and women together so that they could both provide protection and nurturing for the baby. The girl called Jig understands this, but the man--like many men--does not understand the connection between love and reproduction.

How do I create a good summary of each act of this play and analyze it?

A good way to make your own summaries is to read carefully, and make a note everytime something happens. Then, look over your notes and decide what was the most important event or revelation of that act. Then, expand upon those events in two ways-- one, explain what happened and what it means to the story which is the summary. Then interpret what you think the events mean in a more general sense and you've got the beginnings of an analysis. Good luck!

Why did Gemma hide her past from her family and only reveal certain parts to Beeca and no one else?

Gemma's memory of the past has been wiped out by Nazi gassing during the Holocaust; she can only recall what happened in connection with snippets of a fairy tale.  Becca's sisters are scornful of Gemma's seemingly irrelevant tales, her mother is a shadowy, inconsequential character, and her father, although sympathetic, has a scientific mind and is not interested in unraveling the meaning behind Gemma's stories.  Gemma senses that Becca is the only one who possesses the caring, tenacity, and imagination to listen to her stories and take them seriously.  Only Becca will investigate the clues to uncover the secrets of her grandmother's life.

Who played the executioner that ran the generator and threw the switch in the movie The Green Mile, and where have I seen him before?The guy is...

It's been a while since I have seen this film, but I believe the actor you are referring to is David Morse.  He has a long list of credits in theater, TV and movies and played Brutus "Brutal" Howell in The Green Mile where he plays a character who's sort of like Tom Hanks' right hand man.

You might also recognize him from the TV show Hack which ran for three seasons, where Morse played cop Mike Olshansky.  He also had a small role in the Academy Award winning film from 2009, The Hurt Locker.

Is "The Lottery" a collective act of murder?

This is a slippery slope because of the society presented in the story. On the one hand it certainly can be viewed as a collective act of murder, but perhaps if it were viewed as an act of a society's culture it might not.

The world is made up of a plethora of different cultures who prescribe to different sets of moral codes. What is taboo in one society might not be viewed as such in another. For example, in American culture we keep dogs as pets and are deeply offended when we hear stories of people treating animals cruelly. There are some Asian cultures where dogs are a delicacy and no one bats an eye when a dog is killed and served as a dish at meal time.

The same parallel can be drawn in the Lottery. Our society would view this as a collective act of murder, but supposing there was a society like this where these types of rituals were commonplace and viewed as a cultural norm it might not actually be considered a murder.

A sound argument can made in either case.

What are John's conflicts in "By the Waters of Babylon " and how did he solve them?

To me, there are two major conflicts within John during this story.

First, there is conflict in his heart or his soul about going across the river to the forbidden Dead Place.  He solves this conflict simply by mastering his fear.  He just decides that he will not let the fear stop him.

Second, there is a conflict within him as to what lesson he is going to take from what he sees in the Dead Place.  Will it make him lose faith when he learns that the gods were really just people?  He resolves this, instead, by having faith in people and saying that they will learn to build again.

How is Atticus Finch a good person?

Atticus Finch, Harper Lee's creation in her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is one of the quintessential good guys in all of literature. Based on the author's own father, Atticus, though a single parent, is a superb dad to Jem and Scout (though his sister, Alexandra, may disagree). He allows his children enough independence to discover the realities of life and make decisions on their own. As an attorney, he is peerless. Real-life lawyers actually use Finch as a standard for the profession. His innate honesty and fairness in all aspects of work and life are recognized by all around him. He seems to be color-blind, treating all races and classes alike. The ideas that he passes on to his children, especially the famed quotes from the story--that "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" and to "climb into his skin and walk around in it"--have become a part of the American vernacular.

I have to interpret a work of art during modernism. Was this written during the modernism era?

Yes, T.S. Eliot's, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," is definitely a work of modernism.  Eliot himself is often mentioned in handbooks, etc., as an example of modernism.  This avant-garde movement, as far as poetry is concerned, is known for moving away from the rational presentation of ideas, and toward "collages of fragmentary images and complex allusions," according to The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms.  

You will find fragmentary images and complex allusions in abundance in "Prufrock."  The speaker starts thoughts and doesn't finish them, speaks of a retreating crab, uses extended animal metaphor/imagery, alludes to Dante and Michelangelo.

Modernism is, at least somewhat, defined by Eliot's poetry, and "Prufrock" is a good example.

In Heart of Darkness, why do the faithless pilgrims not succumb to the inner darkness as Kurtz does?

The pilgrims are concerned with seeking something externally, namely ivory and  therefore they are safe from succumbing to the inner darkness.  In order to succumb to inner darkness you must be able to look inside yourself.  The pilgrims do not do this.  In a similar way, the other characters in the book, the Manager, the Accountant and the Brickmaker also do not fall prey to the madness that occurs when one falls into the heart of darkness.  They are not looking introspectively.  

Marlow identifies with Kurtz and recognises what might happen were one to look too deeply.  Marlow even says at the end that he has been to the edge but did not succumb like Kurtz did partially because he witnesses Kurtz's descent. At the end of the novel we return to Marlow on the Nellie retelling his story.  He says he is apart from other men because he has gotten close to the darkness and this makes him different.  

To sum up, the Pilgrims cannot fall prey to the inner darkness because they keep busy externally searching for material wealth. This search keeps them from looking inside themselves. 

Was President Johnson's approach to foreign affairs similar to or different from Kennedy's? Explain your answer.

If you are examining a textbook, refer to that first in terms of progressing towards your answer.  Sometimes, teachers and instructors are assessing you on what the text says and your text might hold a specific view that has to be understood.  Having said this, I would say that the question is fairly difficult to answer because the sampling of data we have from Kennedy's administration is not as present as Johnson's.  On one hand, we understand that both were driven to defeat Communism.  Kennedy's stance in the Cuban Missile Crisis and LBJ's stated initiatives in Vietnam would confirm that both were motivated by defeating Communism.  We can also presume that there is some level of similarity in their foreign policy approach as many of the staff that advised Kennedy were also there to advise Johnson (McNamara, Bundy, Wheeler, as well as George Ball, as examples.)  The largest area of divergence would have to be Vietnam.  Simply put, we don't know if Kennedy would have pursued escalation and its disastrous consequences as LBJ did.  Johnson did argue on many occasion that he was merely carrying out the will of his predecessor, but there is a fairly large belief that argues that Kennedy would have found ways to minimize U.S. involvement in Vietnam.  At the same time, there is an equally sizable contingent who argues that Kennedy's placement of "military advisors" was a first step that would have increased had he been alive.

Female foeticide, who is responsible male or female?

In India, the practice of female foeticide has become quite common. The reason being simple: people do not want a girl.

After working with an NGO for a couple of years, I have observed that men play but little role in deciding for an abortion. The women are not totally responsible too, the obvious reason being that a mother can not, without any plausible reason, put an end to her own child's life.

Female foeticide, most of the time, is not an individual decision.

The mental pressure by the society and relatives is the main reason behind such a decision.

Now the question comes what does society has to do with it? The answer is: a lot. The reasons are many. Dowry, a girl's first and foremost burden, is the first one.  Then comes the son being the heir, an unsafe atmosphere for girls, societal restrictions and lack of religious privileges. There are numerous others, but these are the ones, that people give most of the time, when asked- "why don't you want a girl?"

It's a serious issue and the government is doing a lot. But nothing important can happen until it doesn't take more than parents' blessings in their daughter's wedding and women can step out of the house unaccompanied by their fathers or brothers.

So, the answer to the question: who is responsible?

The people, men and women.

How do I put these ideas into a thesis statement? Even though not everyone eats at a fast food restaurant, we are still in danger of risking our...

Sometimes you can take a question and turn it into a statement/argument and use it for a thesis statement to begin the writing process.

For example, the question, "Do we all suddenly abandon our local supermarkets and head to the farmers market?" can be restated as: To insure healthy bodies we should eat locally by shopping at the local farmers' market where organically grown local produce is available. To support this idea you could list all the reasons why (giving each a paragraph of their own) and the positive results from making the change to eat locally. Google "Slow Food Movement" you may find some interesting ideas.

For a really great article on how to write a thesis statement look at Perdue University's online writing lab (OWL).