What is the main idea of A Defence of Reason by Percy Bysshe Shelly?

The main idea of A Defence of Poetry is really a simple one. The majority of Shelley's essay lays out arguments in support of the main idea. Shelley asserts that poetry is the herald of beneficial changes in the world because poets, including the celebrated poets of Shelley's age, are the prophets and legislators of the world.

Shelley defines poetry as generated by a force unlike and even opposite to reason. He says reason synthesizes thoughts and "enumerates" their "qualities" while preserving the "differences" of their qualities. Shelley claims imagination, not reason, as the seat of poetry and says imagination analyzes thoughts and perceives the "value" of their qualities while preserving the "similitude of things," the similarity of things. Reason and imagination are thereby shown to have opposite natures and functions. He further defines poetry as music with melody and harmony:

Poetry ... produces not melody alone, but harmony, by an internal adjustment of sounds.

He then goes on to lay a case for understanding poets as the "institutors of law," the "founders of civil society," the "teachers," "prophets," and "legislators" of the world. He suggests that it is these capacities that press poetry and poets into the forefront position of receiving the "wind" of futurity as an "ever-changing wind over an Aeolian lyre" from which vantage point they are:

The most unfailing herald, ... of the awakening of a great people to work a beneficial change in opinion or institution.

What are the three stages of Winston's reintegration in 1984?

All three of these stages take place in Part III.  Having completed the first phase of his treatment, “learning,” Winston moves to the second stage, “understanding,” which he must complete before being allowed to advance to the third stage, “acceptance.”

Why is The Canterbury Tales an important piece of literature?

Although it may not be the easiest thing for modern ears to interpret, the signifance of Chaucer's work cannot be overstated.  For one thing, Chaucer championed the vernacular in his work, that is, the real language of everyday citizens.  Prior to Chaucer, works of literature were written in Latin or French; while there certainly were English writings, they did not make use of the vernacular. Chaucer's tales helped bring meaningful stories of life to the everyday man.

Furthermore,  due to Chaucer's efforts, scholars are able to discover much about the past through his stories. The people Chaucer depicts, their ways of life (work, love, sex) were not the stories recorded by the elite.  We are, therefore, able to gain insight into the middle and lower classes which might have otherwise been lost. 

What are some activities that Tom Sawyer enjoys?favorite activitieslikestom

While Tom is a rambunctious boy who will do most anything to stay active - even if it is just watching a bug while he sits in church - his favorite activities revolve around his "adventures".  He likes to get together with his male friends and re-enact scenes from adventure stories.  Made-up robberies, hijacking, treasure hunting and the like are how he best spends his time.  In addition to this, he likes to lead and interact with as many people as possible.  He also likes Becky Thatcher and will do what he can to show off for her.

What is the role of sports in promoting World peace? considering the olympics and other competitive sports.

I don't disagree with the answer above, but let me play devil's advocate just so you have another point of view to consider.

With the Olympics, we are talking about world-inclusive set of athletic contests that happen every two years, winter and summer games alternating.  Every country can participate if they wish.  Every country is validated in opening and closing ceremonies.  They are broadcast worldwide, watched by billions of people, and are a set of contests resolved by peaceful competition.  While this doesn't directly cause all countries to be at peace, it is a peaceful event, a positive event, an egalitarian (based on equal opportunity) event, and certainly creates an atmosphere for peaceful relations.  During the Cold War, it was one of the few ways in which Americans and Soviets interacted.

With World Cup soccer matches, this is a huge event in many countries, and growing in popularity in the United States.  While many of the fans themselves have been violent at times, most of that is based on alcohol rather than true tendencies towards violence, with some notable exceptions.  I think anytime countries come together to compete, it is overall a positive experience.

Why URINATION frequency is increased during winters?

The quantity of water that we intake in our food or in any other means need to be flushed out by one means or the other. The primary means of these are urine, stool, perspiration and breath. The frequency of urination in a day is roughly proportional to the quantity of water we need to flush out during a day. This in turn depends on the total water intake less the water loss through other means (stool, perspiration and breath). In summer, when the temperature is high we tent to perspire a lot losing a lot more water that way. As a result, in spite of higher water intake in summer, there is less water to bu flushed out as urine. IN contrast in winter we perspire very little, and therefore need to flush out more water through urine. Therefore, urination frequency is higher in winters.

Why is Thackeray's Vanity Fair called a "Novel without hero"?

What is a hero? Is it a super-human being? Is it someone who is noble and courageous and performs feats that nobody else can perform? Is it someone who saves someone else? Is it someone who overcomes extraordinary obstacles? Is it someone who achieves something that nobody else can?

If any of these apply to Becky Sharp, then perhaps she really IS a hero.

Although Thackeray subtitled his novel A Novel Without a Hero, there are some critics that have argued that Becky Sharp is more than just the protagonist - that she is both a hero and a villain at the same time. Thackeray used her character to condemn the society in which she lived, the society in which she tried to climb the social ladder. In spite of the awful things she does throughout her life to achieve wealth and status, she is honest with herself about her motives. She is a woman who knows what she wants and goes after it, regardless of the consequences. Then, when she rises to the top and achieves her goals, she is struck with a sort of  "ennui" - evidence that a society that espouses that wealth and status equal success is empty and meaningless - full of "vanity", like the town Vanity Fair in Pilgrim's Progress, after which this novel is entitled.

If society is the villain and not Becky, a case can be built that Becky is heroic because she succeeds in conquering society, even though the prizes it offers are, in Thackeray's view, not worth it. Becky, though, possesses many heroic qualities: she is smart, she is brave, she is bold, she has perseverance. True, she is also immoral, conniving and manipulative, but is this not society's fault? Are these not the qualities that the society forces her to resort to in order to rise?

If you contrast Becky with some of the great female characters of literature (Emma Bovary, Thomas Hardy's women characters such as Tess, etc.), you will see that while these women were destroyed or subdued by their societies, Becky overcomes hers, even if it is a hollow victory for her in the end.

Is Vanity Fair a novel without a hero, then? Is Becky an anti-hero - someone like Holden Caufield who lacks many of the traditional qualities of a hero but with whom the reader identifies and even admires?

I am playing the devil's advocate here to give you some ideas of what various critics have had to say about this novel. You must decide what YOU think, and then write your essay proving your point. Make sure you use specific evidence from the novel to support your views. You could write a good essay on any of these ideas, and perhaps you have some of your own.

See the link below for a discussion of the novel.

When does the reader feel pity and affair in Oedipus Rex?During the study of play oeidpus rex feeling of reader change rapidly. i concern abut just...

This is what Aristotle meant in Poetics regarding katharsis, the purgation of pity and fear:

Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.

We certainly feel both pity and fear for Oedipus. We pity him because he is a good man, a good king, and a good husband and father. He is so good, in fact, that he suffers from hubris (excessive pride).  He has become so good at solving the Sphinx's riddles that he cannot solve his most personal problems.

We pity Oedipus' childhood most of all. As a baby, his ankles were pinioned and the tendons tied together; he was left for dead by his own parents. Certainly, the shepherds and the king and queen of Corninth pity him; they save him from death and make him a prince.

We pity Oedipus's search for truth because it leads to suffering.   Oedipus voraciously plays the role of prosecutor, defense, judge, and jury in his own trial to find his father's murderer.  We pity that, like Oedipus, our search to uncover our identities will lead to tragedy.

We also fear that what happens to Oedipus can happen to us: we all have secrets in our families; we are all born with handicaps beyond our control; we all suffer, even when we do all our power to make good decisions. We all fear that our mythical search for our heavenly father is all in vain.

We fear that, as males, our fathers' expectations are impossible for us to live up to, to the point that we take for granted the females (mothers and wives) in our lives. We certainly fear that we will make the same mistakes as parents that our parents made with us.  And, heaven forbid, we fear that we will marry someone just like our mother.

Tables or relations I am not sure but I need help?The question has the following data in a table, then it gives some equations. My question is, do...

As it looks, the numbers in the x column are 1, 2, 3, 4 and the numbers in the y column are 59, 123, 187, and 251.  If you are just given this table and equations, then I would substitute an x value into each equation to find a true solution.  If one works, try another of the table's x values just to be sure.  Like this:

y = 64x - 5  Let's try 1,59

59 = 64*1 - 5

59 = 64 - 5

59 = 59 so this works.  Let's use another ordered pair from the table just to be sure.

Let's use 3, 187

y = 64x - 5

187 = 64 * 3 - 5

187 = 192 - 5

187 = 187 so this works also.

The correct equation is y = 64x - 5.

Should the first equation not work for you, move on to the next equation and complete the same process until you confirm which equation is true.

Describe the 'Disability of Discrimination Act 1995' and give a simple example of what a student working with IT in a school/college should...

The DDA 95 is an 8-part document legislated in the United Kingdom which is the equivalent to the American ADA/IDEA Acts which watch and safeguard the rights of individuals with any physical or mental disability from becoming discriminated in

Employment (Part II), specifically for job opportunities, comments or bullying from others or from enforcement (situational discrimination)

Other persons particularly co-workers, union,guilds, trade organizations, or lawmakers who are unwilling to make changes for people with disabilities.

Premises-Locations with barriers of movement for people with disabilities (these would have to be modified for disabled individuals)

Occupational Pension schemes- There are some organizations that, in order to get rid of people with disabilities would scheme some negotiation of some form in the shape of early retirements, etc. which is an illegal thing to do, because you are preventing the individual with disability from having the same opportunities as others.

Part III of the DDA prevents discrimination in additional premises such as goods and services.

Part IV prevents discrimination in educational institutions, Part V prevents it with systems of transportation, and Part VI establishes the official National Disability Council.

A student in an IT program must understand that differentiation and accommodations are a requirement in a learning institution, and any student with disability who enters a room has the same academic and social opportunity to succeed in a college as a student who is not disabled.

However, the non-disabled student will have to understand that the professor and other colleagues will have to be a part of the accommodation process , either by physically locating themselves somewhere in the room where the individual with disabilities can make the most out of the learning, or being peer assistants to the student, or expecting for changes in the class schedule or format.

These are not problems, however, but signs of social change and of the importance to bring out the full potential of every student. This is also a window into the diversity that is to be encountered in the college arena, and in life itself.

What is the role of fate in Oedipus Rex?

To add to the superb answer above...

Fate all too often seems like some nebulous catch-all.  An excuse.  A scapegoat.  Something unforeseen.  Dramatic irony.  All this commentary about "fate catching up with Oedipus," I think, is pandering nonsense.

Fate in Oedipus cannot be confused with punishment or suffering.  Fate is not the Sphinx, or the plague, or suicide, or exile.  This kind of analogy-making is non sequitir, faulty logic.  To permit this is to negate humankind's responsibility and ability to rise above suffering.  To place so much emphasis on fate diminishes the play as a whole.  Fate renders the play deterministic, not a thoughtful craft at all.

Fate is only what Oedipus is thrown into, as it is with all of us: our family, our gender, our blood--that which is completely out of our control.  Obviously, we cannot choose who are our parents, or what genetic abilities or handicaps they have passed on to us.  For Oedipus, it was his crippled leg.  He had no choice in being crippled.

The only fate sealed in the Oedipus trilogy comes when his parents decide to cut his angles and leave him for dead.  This is the dark secret that sets tragedy in motion.  The rest, in my opinion, is a series of choices: some good, most bad.  I don't think it was fate that Oedipus killed his father or married his mother or brought the plague to Thebes or caused Jocasta to suicide or blinded or exiled himself.  These were all choices he made, not the results of fate or oracles or the gods.  Nothing is working behind the scenes--only Sophocles!

Yet, in the end, Oedipus takes responsibility for each of his  choices.  He suffers with dignity.  He does not suicide, like Jocasta.  In the end, he has a kind of victory over these choices, as he is given a sacred burial.  Camus calls him a hero for this.

But, in the end, after Oedipus dies, his family continues to succumb to suffering and death.  Were they destined to suffer?  Of course not.  Did they suffer from hubris?  Of course.  Is hubris the same as fate?  Of course not.  Is hubris the result of bad choices and decision-making?  Of course.

In other words, fate is only that which is completely and utterly out of Oedipus' control.  It is his gender, the color of his skin, hair, and eyes.  It's family secrets, an inscrutable past.  In particular, it's that crippled leg.  I can't think of any other instance of fate that is any more crucial to the plot of this play.

"Management is an art of getting things done through people." Do you think this definition is adequate for the present day concept of...

The only way in which I would disagree with the statement is to say that you should include "science" in your statement.  In other words, management is the art and science of...

Management has always included some amount of science, or at least it has ever since Taylor's Scientific Management movement over 100 years ago.  Science is needed in the planning of the activities that the manager will have the people do.  This is becoming ever more important as competition gets fiercer and supply chains and such become more complex and international.

While dealing with people is an art, there is also a great deal of science involved in making sure a firm is trying to get those people to do the right things in the right ways.

When they left the pig's head there after they killed it in Chapter 8, what did it symbolize?

When the boys leave the clearing where they killed the sow, they decide to leave an offering to the Beast. They remove the pig's head and impale it on a spear, which they then place in the ground. But, the clearing where the boys killed the sow is also the clearing where Simon frequently goes to be alone. In fact, when the sow is killed, Simon is hiding in the leaves, watching. When the hunters leave, Simon emerges and stares at the pig's head. It is as if the head has put him into a kind of trance. The flies that have gathered swarm around the head, attracted to the blood. Simon beings speaking aloud and imagining that the head is talking back to him. Golding refers to the head as the Lord of the Flies.

The author's choice to call the head "Lord of the Flies" is important, both literally and symbolically. Literally, the name is an accurate way of describing what Simon sees: a disembodied head with flies buzzing around it, as if the head were their master. But there is a symbolic meaning to this name, too. "Lord of the Flies" is actually a literal translation of the Greek word, "Beelzebub." "Beelzebub" is a name for the devil, the figure in the Judeo-Christian tradition that is considered to be the embodiment of pure evil. By calling the pig's head the "Lord of the Flies," Golding is making an association between it and evil.

1) What is one major difference in the style Shakespeare uses for scene 5 versus the others? Why does he do this?

First, let me assume that we are talking about Act 1, Scene, 5 because it is certainly different and singularly important. It is the scene in which we meet the other half of a deadly duo of Macbeth and his Lady.

This scene begins as Lady Macbeth is reading aloud a letter written to her by her husband, Macbeth. It tells her about the meeting he had with the three witches and what they had promised to him, most notably that he will be king in the future. After she finishes the letter, she has a little conversation with her self in which she shows how excitied she is about becoming the queen of Scotland and how she will get Macbeth to kill Duncan so that he can become the King.

Just then a messenger rushes in and tells her that Duncan is coming to her castle for dinner that very night. Lady Macbeth is sure this is part of the witches' prophesy and begins to ready her body and all her dark being for murder.

Macbeth then enters. Filled with excitement, Lady Macbeth greets her hubby and tells him of her nefarious plans for the evening... not exactly dinner and a movie.

No, there is no other scene in the play like this. It is used to introduce us to a very unusual, strong-willed, cold-blooded and malevolent individual.

Critically comment on the theme of Willaim Congreve's "The Way of the World."

The meaning of the expression "the way of the world" literally means 'the way people behave or conduct themselves' in this world.  However, in the Restoration times which was notorious for its promiscuity and loose morals the expression "the way of the world" connoted adultery.

Adultery is the most important theme of Congreve's play "The Way of the World," and it is underscored by using that expression as the title of the play itself.

The expression "the way of the world" occurs thrice in the play:

Firstly, at the end of Act 3 Mrs. Marwood reveals to her lover Fainall the details of the conversation between his wife Mrs.Fainall and Foible which she overheard when she was hiding in Lady Wishfort's closet. Fainall becomes acquainted with the bitter truth that his friend Mirabell and his wife Mrs. Fainall had been former lovers and that Mirabell had got him married to Mrs.Fainall to use him as a shield in case Mrs. Fainall were to become pregnant. Fainall is shocked to learn of the betrayal of both his friend and his wife and expresses his resentment thus:

Fain: And I, it seems, am a husband, a rank-husband; and my wife a very errant, rank-wife,—all in the way of the world.

Secondly, in Act 5 Mincing the servant steps forward to testify that she and Foible had seen Mrs.Marwood and Fainall in a sexually compromising situation, at once Fainall very boldly remarks:

Fain: If it must all come out, why let ’em know it, ’tis but the way of the world.

Fainall defends himself saying that he couldn't care if he is exposed as an adulterer because he knows the truth that his wife is also an adulteress. Adultery, according to Fainall,  is too common a practice for anyone to complain about.

Thirdly, again in Act 5 Mirabell taunts Fainall by remarking,

Mira: Even so, sir, ’tis the way of the world, sir; of the widows of the world.

Mirabell snubs Fainall by revealing to him that his wife, a former widow, Mrs.Fainall who was actually his secret lover has been wise enough to trust him with her share of her property and that every thing had been recorded precisely in a legal document and that he had no rights over her property.

Mrs.Fainall even as she was committing adultery had been shrewd enough to protect her financial interests unlike her cuckolded husband Fainall.

Why does Napoleon blame everything bad on Snowball?

There are two reasons, in my opinion, that Napoleon blames everything on Snowball.

First of all, it is important that Napoleon himself should not be blamed for anything.  There are problems on the farm, and so it is helpful to blame them on Snowball. If animals started blaming Napoleon for things, he might lose his position of power.  So he has to blame Snowball to make it look like he himself is perfect.

The other thing is that it helps him keep power by making the other animals afraid.  If they think that Snowball is out there trying to ruin their farm, they will rely more strongly on Napoleon to keep Snowball away, to defend them from Snowball.

So both ways, the main idea is to keep Napoleon in power.

How is Aunt Alexandra a good mother figure to Jem and Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Aunt Alexandra believes in discipline and family togetherness.  She tries to teach Scout and Jem how to behave like acceptable children of their time - meaning like a little lady and little gentlemen.  She tells them of their family history to give them pride and a sense of belonging.  She tries to protect them from what is happening in town by withholding information from them.

However, the children do not react well to her.  They feel that she is condescending, and that she does not listen to their own opinions.  They prefer the parenting of Atticus, who allows them to establish their own identity and believes in giving them information with which to assess the world around them, in an unbiased manner.

In what ways does Golding portray the downfall of civilization on the island in Lord of the Flies?I was wondering everybody's opinion on this. I...

I do think you are right that the "presence" of the beast helps cause the downfall and that the downfall is shown by what happens to the conch.  However, to me, the main way that the downfall is shown is by having Jack and his hunters win out over Ralph.

Ralph, to me, represents civilization and Jack represents more savage impulses.  As the book goes along, Ralph loses control over the boys.  They stop being interested in things like huts and signal fires and come to care mostly about hunting and violence.

What does the note that Julia gives to Winston say?

The note says "I LOVE YOU."  

It's an odd sequence in the book, because other than Winston, the reader sort of assumes that all of the other characters are emotionless automatons.  Perhaps anger and fear are felt, but love?  That's not something the reader really sees.  Nevertheless, Julia discreetly passes the note on to Winston while he is on his way to the bathroom.  Julia is walking toward him, fakes a trip and a fall right in front of Winston, and Winston helps her get back up.  It's a completely innocuous encounter, and Julia uses the moment to pass the note on to Winston.  

 Nevertheless it had been very difficult not to betray a momentary surprise, for in the two or three seconds while he was helping her up the girl had slipped something into his hand. There was no question that she had done it intentionally.

The next few pages are a lesson in building suspense, because the reader, and Winston, are not allowed to read the note immediately.  Winston has to keep the note hidden, but deeply wants to read it.  He has to unfold it within his pocket while using the bathroom.   Then Winston has to casually toss the note on his pile at work, so as to make it look like a useless piece of scrap.  Then he goes about working and tells himself to wait "five minutes" before looking at it.  Only then does he read it, and he tries to make sure it looks like a normal part of his work routine.  

How does Millay use rhyme and rhythm to create a musical tone in her poetry ?

Edna St. Vincent Millay had a knack for infusing freshness, delicacy, and musical quality to her works by her use of personification and lilting cadences.  She also wrote with energy, often using comparisons of nature to create a picture in the reader's mind.  When reading her poetry, the reader is transported through time and space and actually feel like they're in the place described in the poem.

Though often considered laborious by some students of poetry today, in her day (the 1900's) she was considered one of the foremost poets of her time.  In 1922, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for one of her books of verse.  She also wrote the words for the opera. "The King's Henchman," which was produced by the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1927.  It was one of the few American operas ever written.

Ms. Millay learned the fine art of showing deep understanding of human emotions and she was skilled in using words that displayed those emotions in the finest way.

What are some quotes that would help show the various types of conflict found within the book Misery by Stephen King?Any help would be greatly...

In Stephen King's book "Misery" the antagonist is a female who is infatuated with a series of books and characters created by a writer named Paul.  When he has a car wreck and nearly dies she finds him, gets him breathing and stable, moves him to her isolated home, and begins to nurse him back to health.  However, after she reads his most recent and last in the series, she finds out his intent is to kill off her favorite character.  The woman is unable to maintain a distance between the real world and the world of the characters in the book.  She begins to torture Paul and commanding him to rewrite the novel so that her character can continue to live.

"She was crazy but he needed her."

In one scene she is giving him some pills to take.  She is already angry with Paul.  Instead of giving him fresh water to drink her lifts up her floor mop bucket that is filled with gross water and demands he drink it with his pills.  She has threatened to make him vomit up the pills if he tries to dry swallow them.

“Do it,” she said. “I know you can dry-swallow them, but please believe me when I say I can make them come right back up again. After all, it's only rinse-water."

The woman also becomes attracted to Paul.  This creates another conflict as he does not have any feelings for her other than to escape.

"“You're good, she said gently. “I knew you would be. Just reading your books, I knew you would be. A man who could think of Misery Chastain, first think of her and then breathe life into her, could be nothing else.” Her fingers were in his mouth suddenly, shockingly intimate, dirtily welcome. "

Paul needs to escape but he can't.  He looks out the window and thinks to himself.

"Here, all unseen, was the door to another world.

In order to protect her secret about kidnapping Paul, Annie, the woman, kills a trooper.

"Paul now knew as much of the story as he needed to know, he supposed. Annie had listened to the radio constantly since her long sleep, and the missing state cop, whose name was Duane Kushner, was big news. The fact that he had been searching for traces of a hotshot writer named Paul Sheldon was reported, but Kushner's disappearance had not been linked, even speculatively, with Paul's own. At least, not yet."

The final conflict is a physical cofrontation with the insane woman.

Who is John? That is, what is the history here? How does Granny Weatherall feel about him?

     John is Granny's husband who had died many years previously.  On the day she was jilted, her world was collapsing, but John's "caught her under the breast, she had not fallen."  John rescued her and saved her from total despair.  He said that he would kill George for her, but she said "for my sake leave something to God."  When John says "Now, Ellen, you must believe what I tell you..." we do not know what John said, but we can suppose that he professes his love to her and asks her to marry him.

     Granny loves John as a wife and mother of his children, but she still thinks of George in a romantic way.  Near her death it is George that she wishes to see after 60 years.  It is also George who is tied to her lack of spirituality because of her feelings of guilt.  Her bitterness results as a wasted fruit which could have been the love they shared

  

Do you think that Eveline made the mistake of her life by staying at home?

This is a two-fold answer, the one the reader feels cathartically, and the one the reader feels cathartically under the same circumstances that Eveline had. It is hard to determine whether it was "the mistake of her life", because her life, as she knew it, was no life to begin with.

Eveline had not known freedom, love, belonging, peace, comfort, satisfaction, a fullfilled womanhood, nor that feeling of being special that all women love to feel when we have spent time and efforts sacrificing for others.

She, instead, was expected to sacrifice, and was demaded to give up herself. Having to change that would have been the end of the world as she knew it, and a very huge change of pace. In the end, she could only live in one world: The one that was set out for her from the beginning. The rest, would be just another dream.

Is acid rain an invisible threat? Explain this.

Acid rain occurs when chemicals accumulated in the water cycle return to earth as a toxic substance.  The rain has elevated levels of hydrogen ions which gives it an acidic quality.   It can be formed as a result of natural decay but the depth to which it has formed in today's society is directly related to the use of fossil fuels which emit sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

Acid rain has had and continues to have a strong negative effect on the environments on earth.  It has resulted in the over acidification of lakes and streams and other water systems.  Forests in high elevations have been killed or become diseased by the precipitation.  The rain itself does not kill the trees but weakens them to the point that they are vulnerable to disease and insects.

Acid rain has a decomposing effect on marble and limestone which has been used in buildings and structures.  Its effect on them can be seen by placing a piece of chalk in a bowl of water overnight.  The chalk will begin to dissolve as the water starts to break its outside coating down.

Acid looks, tastes, and feels like rain that is non-acidic, so it is hard to identify it from other rain.  At present it is not known to have any direct effect on humans.  However, the emissions caused by the same agents that create acid rain are also harmful to humans.

What are some specifc examples of the Palestinian conflict?I am writing a essay for my World History class and i would like information regarding...

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is also increasingly about human rights.  In order to ensure their own security, Israel has built large segregation walls around sections of the West Bank occupied territories.  This funnels Palestinian workers through heavily guarded checkpoints that are slow, and closed or open at random.  Most of the hospitals are on the Israeli side, so its difficult for Palestinians to get access to health care.  They have had two separate, long-running uprisings in the occupied territories called intifadahs.

Many diplomats and regional experts say that one of the only obvious solutions is the Palestinians getting their own country.

On the Israeli side, they suffer terror bombings from a group called Hamas, based in the Palestinian territories, especially the Gaza Strip.  They claim they have the right to protect their citizens and their borders.  Unfortunately, they also rely on Palestinian workers for their economy to function, much as our economy relies on immigrants for the lower paying jobs.

Some of the issues at stake for a solution are the fate of Jerusalem, and the Right of Return, as argued above.  Israel also demands formal recognition of its right to exist as a country, which Palestinians have steadfastly refused to do.

What is jetlag? Why the birds don't suffer of it during their migrations? why only humans?

In international travel, especially by fast means of transportation such as by jet planes, people often travel from one  place to another with big difference in their time zones within short span of few hours. This does not allow the biological clock of the person to adjust to the new time zone. As a result the body function are out of their normal rhythms, and efficiency falls, and people feel tired. This effect effect of travelling across different time zones in a short time is called jet-lag.

Migrating bird don't experience jet lag, has nothing to do with their being birds rather than humans. Birds do not experience jet lag because they do not fly as fast as the planes that carry people. This birds do not need to adjust with the time zones that fast.

Jane believes in "presentiments," "sympathies," and "signs." What is an example of each from chapters 20 to 27?

Jane mentions all three in the opening sentence of Chapter 21, but we see these in Chapter 20, too. In her use of Romantic conventions such as its emphasis on nature and the supernatural, Brontë creates a recurring feminized image in the form of the moon, which functions as a maternal figure providing guidance and protection, a tangible representation of power struggles in a patriarchal society, and a symbol of women’s strength. Thus, when Jane sees the moon “look” at her at the beginning of Chapter 22, she notices it is “beautiful, but too solemn,” for it is watching over her to protect her from mischance (a natural sign of maternal love that she lacked as a child) and a presentiment that mischance might soon happen, as it does when she hears the screams in the middle of the night, just as she rises “and stretch[es] [her] arm to draw the curtain.” In Chapter 27 we again see the moon as an important symbol. Here, in a moment of moral strife when Jane struggles to maintain her resolve to leave Thornfield after discovering Rochester’s wife, the moon appears as a moral guide, also offering sympathy, as if she knows the difficult decision Jane is facing: “She broke forth as never moon yet burst from cloud . . . then, not a moon, but a white human form shone in the azure . . . It whispered in my heart—‘My daughter, flee temptation.’” Then, in Chapter 21, Jane has a series of dreams about an infant. How do these dreams function in the story?

What is the overall message about luck as it pertains to happiness in "The Monkey's Paw"?"The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs

The old adage, "Be careful what you wish for; you may just get it," holds true in "The Monkey's Paw."  Because the greed of the White family is excited by the prospect of having wishes fulfilled, they do not consider the ramifications of their initial wish, nor the warnings of the old soldier to burn the paw, or if they are going to wish, "wish for something sensible."

So, despite the warnings, the father, insensibly, wishes for two hundred pounds.  Of course, this wish is fulfilled, but there are conditions attached to this wish that the Whites have not "sensibly" considered as the sergeant has warned. And, it is these conditions that effect the horror attached to W. W. Jacobs's story.

What other method does Fitzgerald use to persuade the reader that Nick is credible in The Great Gatsby?

While as narrator, Nick Carraway does declare that he "reserve(s) all judgments" and states, "I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known," he does not always refrain from giving opinions, especially near the end of his narrative as realizes that he is thirty and he, like Jordan, is also "a bad driver." Nevertheless, he is a fairly objective narrator.

One way in which he attains objectivity is in presenting the reactions and dialogues of others, reserving his own comments and allowing readers to form their own assessments from the characters' own credibility or lack of credibility as they are measured against other characters. For instance, in developing the biography of Jay Gatsby, Nick describes Gatsby's parties and the reactions of various guests; he records the observations about Gatsby of different characters, such as Owl Eyes who remarks on the genuineness of Gatsby's library, but also compliments Gatsby's deception, "It's a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism!"; further, the racketeer Meyer Wolfschiem states that Gatsby "went to Oggsford College in England." Later, Nick hears from Gatsby that he attended Oxford, but Gatsby's credibility is shaken by an inaccurate timeline.

Likewise, in the character development of Daisy, Nick first gives his impression, then records Daisy's behavior and words; later, Jordan relates the story of Daisy's youthful past and her marriage to Tom. For example, Daisy's carelessness at the end of the novel is indicated earlier as in Chapter Seven when she flirts openly with Gatsby, kissing him while Tom is in another room; when Jordan says, "What a low, vulgar girl!" Daisy exclaims, "I don't care!"  

Please summarize the first and second stanza of the poem "The Cold Within."

If we are talking about the same poem, then the answer is as follows (I am providing a link so you can see what poem I am referring to).

The poem as a whole is about the need for human beings to tolerate one another.  It speaks of how hatred of other people because of their race or religion or some other characteristic ends up hurting all people.

In the first stanza, we are introduced to the basic setting -- there are six people around a fire each with a stick of wood.

The second stanza shows us the first instance of bigotry.  One of the people notices that another of the six is black.  Because she saw a black person, she did not put her log in the fire because she did not want to help a black person.

What happened to Kemmerich's boots and how do the doctors react to his condition?

When we first meet Kemmerich in the opening chapters of All Quiet on the Western Front he is suffering with an amputated leg in an army field hospital.  When his friends, including our narrator Paul Baumer, go to visit, it is evident that he will die from his wounds.  Kemmerich owns a pair of beautiful, very functional boots, and with no ceremony or prevarication, Muller asks bluntly if he can have them.  Kemmerich is reluctant to give them up, but when he does die Baumer collects his friend’s things and the boots are given to Muller.

This is an indication of the impersonality of war, of the way a soldier’s perceptions and priorities must be altered in order to survive—to cope with the situation in which he finds himself.  This is highlighted by Maria’s comments on Muller’s desire for the boots.  It is not that Muller is unsympathetic, or that he doesn’t care for his friend.  Rather, “he merely sees things clearly… the boots are quite inappropriate to Kemmerich's circumstances, whereas Müller can make good use of them. Kemmerich will die; it is immaterial who gets them.”  It is this sort of practicality and distance that must be adopted in the midst of war—any sentimentality leads to waste, any confrontation of one's emotions could have dire consequences, could be a distraction that a soldier cannot afford.

The doctors, too, are operating with limited resources and cannot attend to each patient with time and care; they can only do what they must.  They are overworked and faced again and again with death and suffering and therefore must work through the day with mechanical efficiency.  They must preserve their own sanity with detachment.  When Baumer approaches a doctor as Kemmerich is dying, asking for help, the doctor replies, “How should I know anything about it, I've amputated five legs to-day.”

War turns men into bodies both before and after they have died; to the doctors, Kemmelich is just another sick body, taking up a bed they sorely need for more wounded.  His is the seventeenth death of the day, one of countless amputees, and the hospital staff have jobs to do—too many jobs.  Emotional detachment is the only way they can survive, leaving the mourning to those who have the time.

Does the poem "To Daffodils" have a regular metrical pattern?I guess I don't really understand what a regular metrical pattern is. Could you...

Robert Herrick's poem "To Daffodils" does have a regular meter, I would say, but that doesn't mean that the meter is exactly the same in line after line. To me, "regular meter" means that the poem sets up and sticks to a certain pattern. Herrick's poem does just this.

Read the poem out loud, slowly and in a natural voice, and put a little mark above the stressed syllables:

fair DAFoDILs we WEEP so SEE

you HASTE aWAY so SOON

as YET the EARly RIsing SUN

has NOT aTTAINED his NOON

It's ugly, I know, but using all capital letters for the stressed syllables is easiest for me to do on this website. You'll see these four lines alternate between four and three stresses each, and all are in iambic meter. This same pattern is used again in lines 11-14.

Other sections of Herrick's poem will follow a different pattern, of course. (You can figure those patterns out for yourself, I'm sure!.) The important point is that each section of the poem does indeed follow a pattern. Following a pattern is what makes for regular meter.

Why did the community refer to the former Receiver-in-training as a failure? How did this failure affect the rules that applied to Jonas?Characters

The community refers to the person who had been being trained to be the Receiver (Rosemary) as a failure because she had been unable to deal with the pressure of getting all these memories.  She had been unable to handle the pain, among other things.  Because of this, she asked to be released.  The way the rules were, she had this right and they had to release her.

This caused a great deal of trouble because of the memories affecting the community.   Because of this, the rules were changed and Jonas was not allowed to ask to be released.

In Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff managed to ruin a number of the characters' lives. How did he ruin Isabella's life? And Edgar's life?Please give...

In the novel 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte, Heathcliffe ruins Isabella's life by encouraging her infatuation with him even though he knows full well he has nothing but scorn for her - worse, due to his childhood experiences of her indulgent family, he actually hates her. So, just as she was spoiled by her family, and just as his own chances for happiness and success were spoiled, so he spoils her chances of a happy and financially successful marriage. Readers may infer that, actually, she spoiled her own life chances through her arrogant, imperious and self-centred ways and that no man would have been attracted to her through love anyway. Heathciffe was not attracted to her through love either. He saw her as a useful pawn in his power game and used and emotionally tortured her mercilessly.

What do you see as the three most pressing social issues in Canadian society?

Though Canada is made up of distinct provinces with varying languages, population centers and history, social issues that are common throughout fall into three (3) categories.

(1.) Economy, which examines issues including employment, poverty, welfare programs, housing, taxation, and health care.

(2.) Education, which examines issues including mobility, government programs/project funding (the environment, for example), private institutions, opportunities impacted by gender or ethnic bias.

(3.) Ethnic or Racial discrimination, which includes areas of provincial differentiation, increasing Muslim population and impact of political theory on community.

Multiculturalism impacts every aspect of daily life in Canada and encompasses federal and provincial relations as well as community based needs requiring local and federal support.

In-depth research on any one issue (i.e., health care) must embrace acknowledgment that Canada has both a unique character and responsibility in putting forth practical solutions for its population.

Discuss how the Age of Enlightenment affected the authority of the social and religious establishment.

The Age of Enlightment came to full blown on the 18th century (the 1700's) and one of the biggest proponents and leaders of the moement was none other than Isaac Newton, whose discoveries had altered the role of mankind in the invention of things, much like in previous years God had taken the lead role in the creation of all that surrounds us.

Suddenly, the Newtonian Era began to put questions in everyone's brains because, not long before the time, the Clergy was nearly hand in hand with the Kingdoms in terms of ruling everything from politics, to education, to even what was permitted  to be known and what was not allowed to be learned.

Prior to the Enlightement, it was true that people were "blinded" or "in the dark" *hence, the paradoxical term "Enlightement". Just a couple of centuries prior the Spanish Inquisition and all the other witch hunts that occured in Europe meddled in everything from which way the Earth moved to who moved against who, how far the stars were located, how big the moon was, and even wheter gravity was real or not. Come on?!

The clergy was literally a JOKE, with popes and cardinals having orgies, wives, children, and spending money in debaucheries. In other words, the people have had enough and something HAD to give.

This is why once the doors of science opened into floodgates of new knowledge and experience, all that was considered "sacrosanct" came with a big "WHY" sticker, and this time there was enough proof to show who was right.

This is how the Age of Enlightment facilitated the social shift and intellectual growth that opened the doors to the world as we know it today.

How does Victor react to the monster throughout the novel and why?"Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

In Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," Victor relates his history and describes his obsession with his "secret toil':

My limbs now tremble and my eyes swim with the remembrance; but then a resistless, and almost frantic, impulse urged me forward; I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit....and I shunned my fellow-creatures as if I had been guilty of a crime. (3)

Then, on a "dreary" night in November, he completes his experiement.  The "wretch" which he has created has limbs in proportion and Victor selected what he believed were beautiful features.  However, when life enters the being, when movement comes to the "watery eyes, the yellow skin that barely covered the work of muscles," Victor is absolutely horrified, fleeing the room, digust filling his heart.

As he attempts sleep, Victor is distrubed by his dreams; he thinks of Elizabeth as she walks in the streets of Ingolstadt.  When he embraces her and kisses her, her lips become "livid with the hue of death" as she turns into his dead mother's corpse, with worms crawling out of it.  Then, when the "demonical corpse" to which he has given life enters, it holds out its hand to Victor, while a grin "wrinkled" its cheeks.  But, repulsed by the horror of its face, Victor does not understand or recognize the loving recognition of the newborn for its parent; instead, he rushes out of his dwelling and seeks refuge in the courtyard:

A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch.  I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then; but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived. (3)

As the narrative continues, Victor essays to erase the memory of his terrible creation.  But, when his little brother is murdered, he realizes that his family has paid for his sin:

Did any one indeed exist, except I, the creator, who would believe, unless his senses convinced him, in the existence of the living monument of presumption and rash ignorance which I had let loose upon the world? (7)

When Victor encounters his creation, he reproaches it,

'Devil,...do you dare approach me?  and do not you fear the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on your miserable head?  Begone, vile insect! or rather, stay, that I may trample you to dust!and, on! that I could with the extinction of your miserable existence, restore those victims whom you have so diabolically murdered! (10)

To this, the being relates his own history and tells Victor that he, having been rejected by humans, wishes to have a bride.  If he has someone who will not be horrified by him and reject him, Frankestein's creation promises to not bring further harm to Victor's family.  Victor agrees; nevertheless, he is later filled with shame and horror that he may unleash a second monster, so he destroys the new creature. Promising revenge, the "daemon" vows to be with Victor on his wedding night.  Then, Victor's friend is strangled.

Still Victor cannot bring himself to disclose his terrrible secret to anyone.  Yet, words woul "burst uncontrollably" from him.  For instance, he tells his father,

I am the assassin of those most innocent victims; they died by my machinations. (22)

Truly, Victor Frankenstein is wretched with his guilt, and tortured by the "imperious voice of wretchedness, which sometimes desired to declare itself to the whole world...," but he cannot bring himself to confess his crime against Nature.

In what places does Holden attempt to act like an adult? In what places does he enjoys being a child? How does each affect him emotionally?

Holden attempts to act like an adult when he visits the home of his aging professor, before he leaves Pencey Prep. He takes the advice given to him, however begrudgingly, but basically sits and listens politely. He does not put up much argument when he is told to make something of his life (I can't remember the professor's name, but it occurs in Chapter One.) He also attemps to act like an adult in a similar way when visiting Antolini, near the end of the novel. He listens, but his throbbing head and overall depressed attitude make it impossible for him to really focus on Antolini's words. To answer the other part of your question, one of Holden's most obvious demonstrations of immaturity, or "acting like a child" is during the scene with Sunny the prostitute. He is punched in the gut by her pimp, and suddenly he is pretending that he was shot, just for fun. Holden also enjoys visiting the museum of natural history, as it reminds him of his childhood (a place Holden longs to be but is cognizant at some level that he cannot go back, hence the depression.) What emotional impact do these places/scenes have on Holden? Like almost everything in the novel, the impact is that of depression. Holden is depressed at every turn. He can't go back and he can't go forward, and he knows it.

How does Mr.Collins interpret Elizabeth's refusal of his marriage proposal to her?

In Ch. 19 Collins proposes to Elizabeth who straightaway makes it plain to him that she is not interested in marrying him. However, Collins assumes wrongly that Elizabeth is only pretending that she does not like him and he tells Elizabeth,

"however your natural delicacy may lead you to dissemble"

Its a classic example of a situation of comical dramatic irony: the completely unromantic lout that Collins is he thinks that Elizabeth is pretending to be coy and hard to get!

A little later, after he has formally proposed to her and has been firmly rejected by Elizabeth he replies to her arrogantly and complacently in the following words:

``I am not now to learn,'' repliedMr.Collins with a formal wave of the hand, ``that it is usual with young ladies to reject the addresses of the man whom they secretly mean to accept, when he first applies for their favour; and that sometimes the refusal is repeated a second or even a third time. I am therefore by no means discouraged by what you have just said, and shall hope to lead you to the altar ere long.''

Once again, Collins assumes that Elizabeth is really attracted to him and wants to get married to him but that she is only playing hard to get and teasing him in the conventional manner of all young women.

However, Elizabeth firmly rejects him saying that she is not the conventional young lady who likes to be proposed to twice and that her rejection of him is final:

``your hope is rather an extraordinary one after my declaration. I do assure you that I am not one of those young ladies (if such young ladies there are) who are so daring as to risk their happiness on the chance of being asked a second time. I am perfectly serious in my refusal.

Even then Collins doesn't give up and remarks that when he next proposes to her she will accept him:

``When I do myself the honour of speaking to you next on this subject I shall hope to receive a more favourable answer than you have now given me;

To which Elizabet exasperatedly replies:

Do not consider me now as an elegant female intending to plague you, but as a rational creature speaking the truth from her heart.''

Finally the truth of the matter sinks into the thick headed Collins and he quits the place in deep embarrassment.

What are three events and charactaers that contribute to Montag's change?

Two other important events and characters that influence Montag to change in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451are Montag's first meeting with Faber, which the reader is told occurred before the opening of the novel, and Montag's encounter with the mechanical hound.

Faber leaves enough of an impression on Montag that Montag remembers him, and when Montag wants to learn to comprehend what he reads he knows to call Faber.

The mechanical hound spooks Montag, and demonstrates that the society is just not right.  It's threatening actions toward Montag place Montag as an outsider, even at the fire station.  The hound is just one more eerie aspect of the society for Montag to rebel against. 

What is the rhythm, tone, and figurative language of "The Secret Heart"?

The tone in the poem "The Secret Heart" is one of nostalgia, warmth, and love.  The rhythm is set to the aa, bb, cc pattern.  Metaphors are used to represent different things in the poem. 

"His love had kindled in the dark" means that his presence in the room has demonstrated that he loves his son.

"too tender for the day to trace.” means that his father hides his love because he does not express it openly.

The whole poem represents something to the child different and yet the same as the father's intentions.  The father enters the room to check on his son.  His presence and concern for his son's safety and well being demonstrates his love.  The boy sees something different that represents his father's love.  He sees the light from the match enclosed in his father's hands in the shape of a heart.  It is symbolic of his father's love. 

True or false? Warren Harding was a 1920 presidential candidate who called for a return to "normalcy".

This statement is true.  Warren G. Harding was the Republican candidate for president in 1920.  One of the things he talked about was the idea that the country needed to return to normalcy.

What he meant by that was that the US was tired after all the changes and disruptions that were caused by World War I.  The people of the US were also tired after all of the changes and reforms that government was instituting during the Progressive Era.

Harding ended up being famous for the corruption in his administration, although he himself was not corrupt.

Character Sketch of Ralph the Rover.

Robert Southey's literary ballad "The Inchcape Rock" written between 1796–8, and published in 1802 is based on the legendary 'Inchcape Rock' which is situated off the east coast of Angus Scotland near the mouth of the river Tay. The Abbot of Aberbrothok who had tied a bell to the perilous rock to warn passing ships had become very popular because of this benevolent deed.

Southey's poem tells us of a pirate who was jealous of the abbot's fame and reputation and out of spite he cut off the bell gloating maliciously and sadistically,

Quoth Sir Ralph, “The next who comes to the Rock,
Won’t bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok.

But the poem ends with Sir Ralph being punished for his evil deed. Once when he was returning home with the loot he had plundered his ship sails into a fog and he becomes completely disoriented:

So thick a haze o’erspreads the sky, 
They cannot see the sun on high; 
The wind hath blown a gale all day, 
At evening it hath died away.

From the sound of the waves breaking they realize that they are near the shore. Even as one of the sailors wishes that they could hear the inchcape bell and be warned of the danger ahead the ship strikes the inchcape rock. The pirate ship sinks with Sir Ralph tearing his hair and cursing himself. The ballad concludes with the sound of the funeral bell ringing for Sir Ralph and Satan waiting to receive him in hell:

But even is his dying fear, 
One dreadful sound could the Rover hear; 
A sound as if with the Inchcape Bell, 
The Devil below was ringing his knell.

The character of the pirate Sir Ralph the Rover has been plainly presented in a straightforward manner. He is an evil and jealous person who could not accept the popularity of the good Abbot and tried to spoil his fame and reputation by cutting the warning bell. However, poetic justice prevails and the wicked pirate  ends up in a watery grave when his ship is wrecked on the very same inchcape rock.

What is motif, and how does Golding use Biblical parallels as motif?"Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

A motif is a recurring literary device, structure, or contrast that helps to develop and inform the major themes of a narrative.  In William Golding's "Lord of the Flies," there are Biblical motifs that assist in the development of the theme of Good and Evil, especially if the novel is read as an allegory. As such, the island represents the Garden of Eden in which the boys are as close as possible to a state of innocence, having been removed from the influences of modern society.  However, like Adam, they fall victim to the forces of evil; but, this evil is not in the form of a serpent.  Rather, it is an intrinsic defect in human nature.  That this evil is inherent is underscored especially in the character of Roger, the

slight, furtive boy whom no one knew, who kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy.

Early in the novel, when little Henry plays on the seashore, Roger throws rocks near him, but not at him because he has been conditioned by society.  Later, however, once the restrictions of society have been loosened for some time, Roger's sadistic nature is emerges--much like the appearance of the devil--and he releases the rock that kills Piggy and he tortures the twins Sam and Eric until they join the other hunters.  Finally, representing consummate evil, he is the one who prepares a stick, sharpened on both ends, on which to impale the head of Ralph.

It is only Simon, representative of the untarnished soul of man, who understands the intrinsic nature of evil in man.  At one meeting, he essays to communicate this, but becomes incoherent; leaving the group he retreats to his secret spot on the mountain where he encounters the "lord of the flies."  This name represents Beelezebub, or the devil.  The pig's head, with evil surrounding it in the form of flies, tells Simon,

Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill...You knew didn't you?  I'm part of you?  Close, close, close!  I'm the reason why it's no go?  Why things are what they are?

In the denouement of the narrative, Ralph/Adam, after his many conflicts with Jack and the hunters, realizes that the inherent evil of man has taken over the boys; he weeps

for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy [who represents rational thought].

Clearly, in Golding's allegorical novel, the Biblical representation of the island as a Garden of Eden, the golden-haired Ralph as an Adam-figure, the secretive and sadistic like the force of evil present in Roger and the black cloaked hunters led by Jack, as well as the Lord of the Flies, representative of Beelezebub, act as motifs that further the theme of Good and Evil.

Describe Dimmesdale's view of his position as the respected minister. How does he react to people who admire him and why?

Dimmesdale is haunted by his sin.  In chapter eleven, the narrator tells us that "Mr. Dimmesdale was thinking of his grave...[questioning] himself whether the grass would ever grow in it, because an accursed thing must there be buried!"  The narrator continues to tell us that the public's response to him was torturous.  Dimmesdale valued truth and he felt he was empty of any value, and couldn't stand that his parishioners didn't know that.    He had a desire to speak out and tell them but when he tried, they worshipped him all the more thinking he was just being humble.

Of the 7 Greek virtues, which does Odysseus show in Book XIII of The Odyssey?

In Book XIII Odysseus does a lot of complaining, which certainly is not a virtue, but in the midst of it he shows the virtue that Greek champions and heroes are most noted for, that being courage. Of course the champions and heroes always had help from the gods and the case Odysseus is no exception for Minerva, the niece of Neptune (who did not forgive Odysseus for blinding his son in battle and swore his vengeance against Odysseus (watch out whom you offend...)) had helped Odysseus all through the Trojain war and had begun helping him once again after a brief hiatus, as she explains to Odyesseus.

After Odysseus and Minerva stow his treasures in the cave and while she is filling him in on the situation at his house so that he won't go unadvisedly in and wide up murdered on his own threshold, Odysseus rises to the need at hand. He starts by seeking Minerva's aid whereby she puts courage in his heart as she did on the day that the Achaeans successfully "loosed Troy's fair diadem" and conquered the city. The virtue that Odysseus displays is courage, which is also called fortitude, and, in keeping with beliefs and customs, he attributes his courage/fortitude to Minerva who is his patroness and helper.

[Note: There are generally said to be four Greek virtues and three Christian virtues, which together make up the Seven Cardinal Virtues of the Catholic Church. The Four Greek virtues are said to be Fortitude (courage); justice; temperance; and prudence. The three Christian virtues are said to be faith; hope; charity, which is interpreted as love. Together these comprise the Seven Cardinal Virtues of Catholicism. In this usage, cardinal means central or pivotal, meaning the virtues upon which every other virtue depends and/or is sprung.]

In chapter 5 why does Gatsby deliver so many goods and services to Nicks house?

Gatsby asks Nick to help him set up an event so that Daisy would come to it.  It is supposed to be a tea. Nick tells him that he can't because he has no time.  Gatsby assures him that it will be worth his while for he will ensure that he makes some money and everything will be taken care of by Gatsby.

Gatsby has so many flowers sent that it looks like a greenhouse at Nicks.  There are cakes and food.  Twelve lemon cakes arrive from the delicatessen.  Gatsby is concerned that there will not be enough food for the tea.  Gatsby has overdone everything in order to impress Daisy.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, where is--The Courthouse, Tom's House, Maycomb Jail, The shortcut from the school, The Dump and Church located in...

Below are the locations of the requested places from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.

THE COURTHOUSE.  The courthouse is the main building on the downtown sqare, with a porch and clock tower on the south side, and large columns facing the north.

TOM ROBINSON'S HOUSE.  It is situated in the Quarters outside the town's southern limits on the public road that crossed in front of Bob Ewell's house.

MAYCOMB JAIL. The local jail is also located downtown on the square on "a lonely hill... wedged in between Tindall's Hardware Store and the Maycomb Tribune office."

THE DUMP.  It is situated directly in front of Bob Ewell's house, about 500 yards from the main Negro settlement.

THE CHURCH.  The First Purchase AME Church, of which Calpurnia is a member, is in "the Quarters outside the southern town limits, across the old sawmill tracks."

THE SHORTCUT FROM THE SCHOOL.  The school was just "around the corner and across the yard" from the Finch house.   

What makes A Streetcar Named Desire a Modernist play?

Tennessee Williams's "A Streetcar Named Desire" is certainly modernist in its themes of alienation and ambivalence, as well as its conflict between the Old South represented by Blanche and the uncivilized, Darwinian character, Stanley Polowski.

In a criticism entitled, "Tennessee v. John T. Scopes" by John S. Bak, the author sees the play as a reechoing of the famous trial.  In "A Streetcar Named Desire," the main conflict is identified as the modernist, secular conflict with traditional, fundamentalist thinking.  The Old South, Blanche, comes into conflict with Stanley, the New South that has intruded from the industrial North. (His Polish--the Polish traditionally were blue-collar workers in factories and steel mills.)  Furthermore, in his essay, Baks likens Stanley's "tearing down of the columns" of Belle Reve, an act that Stanley tells his wife, "you loved," to the conquering of Darwin's "apes" over the Fundamentalist, religious foundation of the culture of the Old South. 

In Williams's play, Blanche DuBois arrives and, after staying a while, she decorates the house to make it more "dainty."  But, Stanley rips down the paper lantern over the bare light bulb, as well as stripping Blanche of her facade of gentility, assaulting her in the end of their argument with raw sexuality. Thus, there is a rejection in "A Streetcar Named Desire" of the moral precepts of the past as well as the aesthetics.

Like other Modernists, Tennessee Williams also emphasizes the psychological state of character through interior monologue and stream of consciousness.  Blanche DuBois is a neurotic, psychologically deluded character who vacillates between reality and the one she creates in her mind.  With this vacillating character of Blanche, also, Tennessee Williams himself comments upon the conflict between Victorian thinking and that of the moderns,

When I think of her, Blanche seems like the youth of our hearts which has to be put away for worldly considerations: poetry, music, the early soft feelings that we can't afford to live with under the naked light bulb which is now.

What does Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" reveal about the psychology of a person in a life or death situation?I have spent two days...

Some of the confusion surrounding this story is Bierce's use of various points of view and the shifts between present and past. That being said, if you consider the basic events of the story (a man who longed to fight for the Southern cause is misled by a Union scout into giving away information on how to sabotage the Union advancement into the South and is summarily sentenced to death by hanging), it makes it a little easier to comprehend.

As Peyton Farquhar stands on the plank of the bridge with a noose around his neck, the important elements of his life flash through his head. He even fantasizes about escaping and returning home safely to his wife and children. Bierce devotes quite a bit of the story to Farquhar's fantasy which advances the idea that when someone is in a near-death experience, time seems to move in slow motion. The exaggerated ticking of the watch adds to this effect. The story's ending which is shocking to many first-time readers precisely mirrors Bierce's realistic style--in this case, reality conquers illusion, and Farquhar hangs for his "crime." If the story were told from the earlier American Lit. era (Romanticism), you would not see a realistic portrayal of a life-or-death situation. Most likely, the hero would make an incredible escape and return home to protect his innocent family.

A similar story to Bierce's is Jack London's "To Build a Fire." London, also a realist, writes about a character who dreams of his rescue from the cold elements before he drifts off to his death. Both stories demonstrate that most humans cling to life until the very end and cope with the seemingly inevitable coming of death by dreaming of ways to escape it.

You have been selected to be one of the primary “change agents” of the company.From your research, prepare a communications plan for the...

Perhaps you could refine your request for help.  For example, what is the primary target of your message: employees in general, upper management, board of directors, consumers, vendors, ???

Before you can prepare a message, you need to know your audience, anticipate their questions, and see how your presentation can answer some of those questions in advance.

If their is a specific area of communications plan you'd like assistance with, share that with us so we can help you.

What is the first major crisis in "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens?

In the exposition of "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens, little Pip finds himself not alone in the marsh churchyard as he visits the graves of his mother and father.  A "man in grey" suddenly appears and shakes the boy after turning him upside down.  Frightened by this "fearful man," Pip tells him that he lives with the blacksmith, whereupon the man orders him to bring him a file and "wittles."

Upon his return, Pip steals the file and robs Mrs. Joe of bread and butter, half the mincemeat meant for Christmas dinner, and some brandy, refilling the bottle from a jug in the kitchen.  When Christmas Day arrives and Pip's relative, Uncle Pumblechook, comes to dinner, the pompous uncle proposes a toast:

The wretched man trifled with his glass--took it up, looked at it through the light, put it down--prolonged my misery....I saw the miserable creature finger his glass playfully, take it up, smile, throw his head back, and drink the brandy off.  Instantly, the company was seized with unspeakable consternation, owing to his springing to his feet, turning round several times in an appalling, spasmodic whooping-cough dance, and rushing out at the door; he then became visible through the window, making the most hideous faces and apparently out of his mind.

Terrified by Pumblechook's actions, Pip fears that he has "murdered him somehow."  When Pumblechook chokes out "Tar!" Pip realizes his critical mistake.  Mrs. Joe, Pip's sister, resolves this crisis by procuring gin, hot water, sugar, and lemon peel which she mixes and administers to Uncle Pumblechook.  Thinking the worst is over, Pip hears his sister say that she will bring out the savory pork pie which Pip has stolen.  He tries to run for his life, but a "file of soldiers" appear at the door in search of the blacksmith, Joe.  Thus, another crisis--this time a very serious one--develops as the search for Pip's convict and yet another convict is conducted.  Terrified that his secret be revealed, Pip accompanies Joe on the marshes along with the soldiers.  But, this crisis is also resolved as the convict protects Pip by saying that he has stolen these "wittles up at the village over yonder."

What is ironic about the missionary circle's conversation, in Chapter 24?

The ladies are condescending and judgmental, pious and gossipy, hardly the appellations one would attribute to true Christian behavior.  But above all, they are prejudiced.  Ms. Merriweather who Scout says was known as "the most devout lady in Maycomb," has this very unlady-like and un-Chrisitian assessement to offer:

"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 your kitchen.  You know what I said to my Sophy, Gertrude?  I said, 'Sophy,' I said, 'you were simply 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."

In act 2 of Othello, what lie does Iago tell Montano about Cassio?

In Act 2 Scene 3 of the play Othello by William Shakespeare, Iago is setting the wheels in motion for his convoluted plan to destroy Othello. He needs to do this in a very convoluted fashion, going all round the houses to get what he wants - the final outcome where all his prepared and primed evil jigsaw pieces fall into place. In this scene, he is trying to discredit Cassio and knows that reputation is all and a bad one gets round to gossipers and bosses alike. Little by little he will destroy Cassio's credibilty as a tried, tested and true comrade of Othello's. He starts by lying about a "drink problem." We can see the unlikeliness of this in Montano's incredulous reply at first "But is he often thus?" He wants to give him the benefit of the doubt that this is just a one-off, but Iago persists, saying he is (in effect) an alcoholic or drink-dependent who can't even sleep if "drink rock not his cradle."

Why did the Spanish & English settle in the Caribbean in the 15th & 16th centuries?

The first attempt at colonization was made on Roanoke Island on the coast of North America in 1585, by Sir Walter Raleigh. The settlement did not last, and England will not have any tentative exploration and colonization in the Americas until 1604, after the peace  with Spain.

 In 17th century, Great Britain established the first empire, which had its center in the western hemisphere, ie the Caribbean islands and North America.Settling down in the Caribbean was holding Empire strategic naval superiority.It began with the establishment of tobacco plantations in the West Indies and religious colonies located along the coast of North America.

To become a great power, a country must meet three conditions or criteria. First, countries must be the neighbors of worldwide oceans, on considerable length and have access to oceans by an opened sea. Second,countries must  not have powerful neighbors in the immediate vicinity. Finally, they have to have a naval capacity and high military potential of the sea fleet. All these three criteria were met by Britain. Geographic position of this country, combined with its naval force, have secured for Britain the role of world power that it held so long. Both acquisition and especially the preservation of the British Empire, were dependent on ensuring control over the oceans.

Why were the Jews separated according to men and women in the concentration camps??

There are very few pictures taken inside nazi concentration camps while they were actively engaged in the business of mass murder. There is one book of photographs, however, taken by an SS officer, called the Auschwitz Album. It shows the initial selection process as the men, women and children were emptied from the cattle cars onto the ground at the Auschwitz concentration and death camp in Poland.

Look at the pictures at the link below, if you can stand to. You will clearly see that the first separation was made as follows: all able-bodied men, men who could at least be made to work for a while, were put into one long column. All other people (about three quarters of all who arrived): women, children, old men and the sick were forced into another colum. Most of those people were herded away to be gassed and burned.

The few women who were deemed healthy enough to work or usable for some other purposes, survived under unspeakably terrible conditions. Most of them didn't survive long and died of illness and/or starvation... or worse.

What do you think is the main message, or theme, of this story? Consider what the swim through the tunnel means to Jerry and why Jerry no longer...

Concerning Lessing's "Through the Tunnel," you should be cautious if you're looking for a cliche or a one-liner that tells the reader how to live life.  Fables and other kinds of literature do that, but sophisticated contemporary literature usually does not.  Life is more ambiguous than that, and sophisticated literature usually reflects that.

Theme in "Through the Tunnel" relates to the ideas raised.

First, the issues of parental control and protection and a child's independence are raised.  Jerry is apparently a little overprotected at the beginning of the story and his mom knows this.  The mother struggles with trying to give Jerry some freedom, and Jerry struggles with trying to be independent.

Second, Jerry's self-determination is featured.  He is immature at the beginning of the story, but grows tremendously during the course of the plot.  He trains himself in order to swim through the tunnel, and succeeds in doing so.  He accomplishes his goal in spite of great physical obstacles.  He has grown up.

In the resolution, Jerry is no longer interested in going to the bay because he no longer needs to.  He accomplished what he needed to, and proved what he needed to.

What is the principle of homogeneity of dimensional equation ?Posted question is related with - Research Methodology

The principle of homogeneity is that the dimensions of each the terms of a dimensiional equation on both sides are the same .

Any equation or formula  involving dimensions (like  mass, length, time , temperature electricity) have the terms with same dimensions. This helps us, therefore, to convert the  units in one sytem to another system.

This also helps us to check a formula or the involvement of the dimensions in a formula.

Example : It is conjectured that time of the period of the oscillation of a pendulum  is dependent on its mass,  length   and the acceleration  due to gravity.

So time = some constant K*(mass of the pendulum)^a*(length l of the the pendulum)^b* (acceleration due to gravity g)^c.Or

T = K*m^a*l^b*g^c. Dimensionally this is like:

[T] = [M]^a* [L]^b*[L*T^-2]^c.

Comparing the powers of each dimensions on both sides,(K being dimensionles), we get:

T: 1 = -2c. Therefore, c =-1/2

M: 0 = a. Therefore, a =0

L:  0 = b+2c. Therefore, b =-2c = -1. So the formula for the period T of the pendulum is :

T = K* m^0*L^(1/2)* g^(-1/2) = K*(l/g)^(1/2).

Can anyone help me on my project about Cupid??i'm in the outstanding figures and i have to do the present about the character that i like and i...

Cute!

The mythological orgins of Cupid go back to Greek but mostly Roman times, yet, Cupid himself has received titles ranging from angel, to fairy, to demon, to ghost, entity, god, demi god, semi god, seraphim, and as the god of love which is not accurate.

The best we know about this chubby lovable is that in the Theogony of Hesiod, Cupid is the son of Chaos and Earth. Some other times he is the baby of Venus and Jupiter, and other times he is the son if the goddess of the night *Nyx* and Eberous.

Cupid is witty doing both good and evil. If you remember, the earlier versions of cartoons depicting Cupid show a truth to the original myth that he is in fact a trouble maker, and that one arrow is the antidote to another, which is why he has to carry more than one. Hence, he can bring out any intense emotion, both hatred to be combatted by the arrow of love, and vice versa.

The novel Metaphorphoses by Apuleius gives us the coolest tale of Cupid in Cupid and Psyche. Psyche was Cupid's true and first real love, as he pricked himself with his own arrow, falling in love with her to the anger of Venus.Finally, with the intervention of daddy Jupiter Venus left Psyche alone and the myth was born.

Cupid is marketed nowadays much similarly to the Victorian Santa Claus, which means it had a religious subtletly of character, this time exemplified by his "angelic" looks.

Every since its first marketing, it has remained looking the same way (something quite unique to many icons which change with social changes) but nevertheless, as popular as ever.

Describe Nora and Torvald's relationship in A Doll's House.

Nora and Torvald do not have an equal partnership in their marriage. Torvald would never consider Nora his equal. He calls her silly little nicknames, scolds her like a child, and views her as his possession.

Torvald feels as if he should have the right to limit her intake of sweets, and chastises her when she cheats. He calls her a spendthrift, and she must beg for money for things.

Nora performs for Torvald at his request, as if she is an entertainer and not a wife. Nora has a secret that is causing her great anguish. Nora does not want to get into "trouble" with Torvald over a forgery that was needed to save his life. She struggles with this secret, and instinctively knows he will not tolerate her transgression.

Once the truth is out, Nora realizes she does not want to be in the type of marriage she is in, and walks away from it, leaving him stunned. Torvald would never have thought her capable of it. He thought she would have to live with whatever type of reaction he chose to have.

I have my point of view of what is happening in Death of a Salesman. I was wanting to hear someone else's point of view.

From your question, I'm not sure if you are asking about the plot, character, or theme.  Since the other responses focused primarily on theme, perhaps you might want more on plot.  Of course, the e-notes plot summaries are excellent for this type of information.

But, I'd like to give you my take on Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.  The play begins with a domestic scene--a tired man coming home from an unproductive day at work.  His loving wife attempts to console him and reassure him.  Willy's sons are also home, and what should be a happy scene becomes tense as Willy vacillates in his views of Biff, calling him a prince one minute and a lazy bum the next.  Biff's views of his father are also complex, and he is contemptuous of his father's mumblings and suicide attempts.  As Happy and Biff reminisce about old times and share their feelings about the present, we soon learn that Happy is a flagrant philanderer and Biff is a drifter.  Both think they are capable of much more.

So, with this setting, Miller shows us the past.  We gain an understanding of the past through Willy's flashbacks. As much as Willy would like to suppress these memories, they continually emerge to haunt him.  We see such flashbacks as Willy's focus on the young Biff and his neglect of Happy; Ben's visit to the family, full of bravado and intimidation; the young Biff treating the girls rough and stealing; and finally Willy's infidelity that Biff uncovered.

So we see clearly how the past affects the present family situation.  And yet, we see how the family clings to those same beliefs and values that caused the problems in the first place.  Willy cannot let go of the fact that Biff will be the success that he himself had been unable to be.  And Biff has a difficult time untangling himself from this expectation of him as well.  Happy feeds into it by suggesting a proposition that deep down each probably knows will fail:  the Loman brothers' sports-line, to be financed by a man Biff briefly worked for and stole from.  We learn that the Lomans are still chasing pipe dreams and are each failing miserably.  Willy is fired from his job, Biff is brushed off by his old boss, Happy is stuck in a low-level management job, not likely to advance.

So, much of the play is uncovering why the Lomans are dysfunctional, how the past affects the present, how unrealistic expectations can lead to disillusionment, and how illusions about self, family, society can converge to create failure on multiple levels.

How is Safie a feminist character?

Safie is the young foreign woman who comes to live with the DeLacey family at the cabin where the creature is hiding.  She is a feminist character because she travels virtually alone (with only one chaperone who does end up dying on the journey leaving Safie at the mercy of locals to lead her to her love) to the man she loves, Felix.  She defies her father's wishes and the mores of the time period regarding young women (they were expected to do as they were told, first by their fathers and later by their husbands.  It was not appropriate for women to travel alone and unprotected as she has done). 

After she has arrived safely at the cabin with the DeLacey family, she strives to learn their language through lessons from which the creatures also benefits, unbeknownst to the cottagers.  She is a strong, independent spirit who works hard to reach the goals she has set for herself and lets little trip her up on the way to her destination.

I would say these things point to a very "women's rights" sort of feminist character, although I confess I never thought of her in this light before your question appeared on my computer screen.  Thanks for making me think today!

Good Luck!

Why did Willy get demoted from his job?

Willy is not demoted; he is fired. It is clear from the start of the scene with Howard, that Howard is not at all interested in the exhausted and distraught man in his office. Indeed, he is more involved with his tape recorder than with a human being.

Howard is the son of Willy's first boss, now dead, who hired Willy long ago. Willy tries to tell Howard promises Howard's father made to him many years before Howard was born, but Howard doesn't care. As said so well above, this is a modern world of selling, and the bottom line is all. You pull your weight or you're out. It seems that Howard has only been keeping Willy on for old times sake anyway. When Willy loses it on Howard and starts to yell at him, Howard takes that as his cue, his opporunity to unload Willy, a man who Howard sees as a drag on the business and an embarassment:

HOWARD Look, Willy...

WILLY (pressing his hands to his eyes): I gotta get myself some coffee. I’ll get some coffee... (Willy starts to walk out. Howard stops him.)

HOWARD Willy, look...

WILLY: I’ll go to Boston.

HOWARD: Willy, you can’t go to Boston for us.

WILLY: Why can’t I go?

HOWARD: I don’t want you to represent us. I’ve been meaning to tell you for a long time now.

WILLY: Howard, are you firing me?

HOWARD: I think you need a good long rest, Willy.

WILLY: Howard...

It's not just that Willy isn't making the money he needs to make (and he hasn't for many years), nor that he's cracked up his car; Howard doesn't want to Willy to represent the company any longer. He fires Willy there and then.

This scene sets in motion a cascading series of events that will, by the end of the evening, lead to Willy's suicide.

What are examples of foreshadowing in the story "The Leap" by Louise Erdrich?

Some elements of foreshadowing in The Leap by Louise Erdrich are as follows. The Avalon trapeze act foreshadows the later window rescue of the narrator as a little girl by her mother. The Avalon's blindfolded act foreshadows the mother's eventual blindness from cataracts. The dramatic weather changes in New England foreshadows the several sudden and dramatic changes that occur: the lightning strike, the second marriage, the fire and rescue.

The kiss in midair foreshadows the midair window rescue from the fire. The trapeze act foreshadows the leap to the roof's edge during the fire rescue. Finally, the title foreshadows the mother's choice at the lightning stirke, the second marriage, and of course the fire rescue.

What is the meaning of "Quinceanera" by Judith Ortiz Cofer?

“Quinceanera” by Judith Ortiz Cofer portrays a girl getting ready for her fifteen birthday celebration.  In the Spanish culture, this celebration is important as a rite of passage from a girl to a young woman..  It also has roots in spirituality as well.  The Quinceañera celebration is filled with traditions, many of them rooted in religion.  Through the years, some of the rituals have faded, but those that remain hold great meaning for the young Spanish woman.

The narration in this poem is first person point of view.  The main character is the speaker or narrator.  She is the fifteen year old girl who is getting ready to celebrate her Quinceanara.

The speaker announces a symbolic move into womanhood by putting up her dolls as though they were her dead children.  She will save them for her children when she marries.

Adding a slip to her undergarments is another sign of maturity.  No one should be able to see through her dress to her thighs.  The girl is feeling her new sexuality and reacting to the softness of the inside of her legs. 

Still, the narrator is a girl.  Her mother fixes her hair and pulls it so tightly that her eyes are pulled open. Her hair is twisted into a bun which shows the nape of the neck. 

Since she is growing up, her mother is now expecting her to take care of her own bedding. Apparently, her mother does not want to deal with her sheets any longer. The girl believes that her mother thinks that her bodily excretions are like poison.  If she bleeds on the bedding from her menses, her mother thinks that it is shameful. 

I am to wash my own clothes

and sheets from this day on, as if

the fluids of my body were poison, as if

the little trickle of blood  travels

from my heart to the world were

shameful….

The narrator asks the question relating to her mother’s comment.  “Is not the blood of saints and men in battle beautiful?"  She feels that this is just a part of her growing up and her mother should accept it. She takes her concern to the next level when she remembers that Christ bled on the cross.

The girl describes her growing pains at night.  She believes that she can almost hear herself growing. Her feelings wake her up at night with her hands rubbing the skin as it stretches over her bones. 

The emotions of young womanhood make her feel uptight inside.  The narrator is experiencing all the intricacies of the change from girl to woman. With changing hormones and new feelings about her body, the girl is caught between the two aspects of her life.  She is not quite a woman but neither is she just a girl.  She knows and feels her body has changed.  With an interesting simile, the poet compares this young girl’s experiences to a clock with its insides wound too tight, just waiting to be turned loose on the world.

Describe Miss Maudie and Scout's relationship with her. What insight do you think Scout gains from speaking to Miss Maudie about Mr Arthur?

Of all of Scout's neighbors, Miss Maudie Atkinson is her favorite. A widow like Atticus (the use of "Miss" is just a Southern use of respect from a child to an adult), Maudie "was our friend," according to Scout.

She had never told on us, had never played cat-and-mouse with us, she was not at all interested in our private lives.

She also makes the best cakes in the neighborhood and always bakes small, individual ones for Jem and Scout.
She gives good advice, defends Boo Radley and Tom Robinson, and always speaks highly of their father, Atticus, with whom she also has a special rapport. As hard as Aunt Alexandra tries to make a lady out of Scout, she discovers feminine and ladylike behavior from Miss Maudie instead.

Miss Maudie tells Scout that

"I remember Arthur Radley when he was a boy. He always spoke nicely to me, no matter what folks said he did. Spoke as nicely as he knew how."

She also gives Scout background on Boo's father, a severely religious man and a "foot-washing Baptist." Scout slowly comes to realize that Boo is a confused young man, and not some kind of night-stalking monster.

Evaluate the marriages of Charlotte and Collins and Jane and Bingley.

Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" raises important moral issues concerned with the central theme of the novel namely the institution of marriage and other important aspects associated with the institution of marriage.

Jane Austen belongs to the Romantic Age in English literature.

"Pride and Prejudice"(1813) like all of Jane Austen's novels reflects faithfully the socio-economic conditions of what historians term as 'Regency England'(1811-20).

Since women of this period had no right to ownership of property they were financially dependent on their husbands,and hence the urgency and anxiety throughout the novel for the ladies to get married to "young men of large fortune" (ch. 1). This is why Mrs.Bennet is very anxious that somehow Bingley must marry her daughter Jane.

Love and romance certainly play an important role in the relationship between Jane and Bingley. Both of them are romantically inclined towards one another. However, Bingley is under the control of his friend Darcy. It is Darcy who is both responsible for separating Bingley and Jane and then reuniting them. One of the important reasons Darcy gives for separating Bingley from Jane is that he felt that Jane did not reveal much warmth or affection for Bingley. He writes to Elizabeth in ch.35:

Your sister [Jane] I also watched. -- Her look and manners were open, cheerful, and engaging as ever, but without any symptom of peculiar regard, and I remained convinced from the evening's scrutiny, that though she received his attentions with pleasure, she did not invite them by any participation of sentiment. Ch.35

However, later he accepts that he was mistaken and reunites them both.

Charlotte in conversation with Elizabeth advises her that Jane should take the initiative and quickly make it clear to Bingley that she is interested in getting married to him:

In nine cases out of ten, a woman had better shew more affection than she feels. Bingley  likes your sister undoubtedly; but he may never do more than like her, if she does not help him on.'' Ch.6.

Elizabeth disagrees, but the readers realize that Charlotte has been right after all, because Darcy separated Bingley and Jane as he wasn't convinced that Jane was really in love with Bingley.  If only Elizabeth had accepted Charlotte's advice and if Jane had boldly taken the initiative Jane and Bingley would have got married straightaway.

Charlotte is entirely unromantic. All that she is interested in is financial security in marriage. She is not interested in getting married to anyone in particular. She tells Elizabeth that the only thing that she is interested in is a comfortable home:

I am not romantic, you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins's character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state.'' Ch.22

So as soon as she hears that Elizabeth has rejected Collins she wastes no time and makes it plain to him that she is ready to marry him. Collins proposes and Charlotte immediately accepts.

Jane and Bingley and Charlotte and Collins represent the problem of how forthcoming the girl should be in matters of love. Should she be reticent like Jane and bide her time or be bold like Charlotte and take the initiative and grab her man.

Mr.Bennet's estate is 'entailed' to Mr. Collins because Mr.Bennet does not have a son. In 'Regency England' only male heirs could inherit the title and the estate of their fathers. The third paragraph of chapter 50 clearly reveals the 'economic' necessity of having a son and the disappointment at not being able to have one and the consequent predicament which Mr.Bennet faces in not being able to personally meet the financial demands of Wickham.

In Ch.33 Col.Fitzwilliam tells Elizabeth "I may suffer from the want of money. Younger sons cannot marry where they like." Clearly hinting at her impoverished status.

The central theme of the novel--how much money is necessary for a successful and a happy marriage--is explicitly stated by Elizabeth in in Ch.27 : "Pray, my dear aunt, what is the difference in matrimonial affairs, between the mercenary and the prudent motive? WHERE DOES DISCRETION END, AND AVARICE BEGIN?"

Was Col. Fitzwilliam Darcy 'discreet' or 'avaricious'?

The contrasting lifestyles of different social groups is structurally central to a Jane Austen novel. In "Pride and Prejudice" the landed gentry represented by Darcy  is contrasted with the newly rich trading class represented by Bingley and his sisters.

The novel was written against the background of the threat of an  invasion by Napoleon. The militia was a temporary voluntary force raised especially during times of a national emergency. Wickham was a member of this militia. Col.Fitzwilliam Darcy the younger son of an earl, on the contrary, is a fully commissioned officer of the regular army. In those days only an aristocrat or a member of the gentry could afford to purchase a commission in the army. In "Pride and Prejudice" Darcy purchases a commission for Wickham so that Wickham agrees to marry Lydia.

But most importantly the harsh reality of a bleak future  for a dependent unwed old woman is hinted at when Charlotte Lucas' brothers are relieved that Collins  is going to marry their sister, for otherwise they would have to look after her in her old age.

Explain briefly the Allied plan to win WWII.

Before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, many Americans were undecided (and against) our nation getting involved in another war in Europe. However, the surprise attack in Hawaii solidified the nation's resolve to join England in its fight against Germany and Japan and their allies. The British were well aware that once America brought its massive military and financial reserves into action that it was only a matter of time before Germany and Japan succumbed to overwhelming numbers. Germany's attack on their former allies, the Russians, brought Russia into alliance with the U.S. and Great Britain, providing another nation capable of supplying huge armies to attack Germany from the north. Once the D-Day Invasion succeeded, the plan was to defeat the Germans and Japanese by sea and air as well as on land. American naval superiority soon asserted itself in both the Atlantic and Pacific, and the once-mighty German Luftwaffe was also weakened significantly. Allied forces soon surrounded German armies from three sides, and Japan's military force eventually withdrew back to its home islands to brace for the expected Allied invasion.