To what does Dickens compare the crowd in Chapter 3 ("A Disappointment") in A Tale of Two Cities?

In Chapter 3 of Book the Second of Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, the symbolism attached to the simile of blue flies in the courtroom during the trial of Charles Darnay cannot be overlooked.  Traditionally, the fly represents evil, death, destruction, and corruption--even Beelzebub himself.  Thus, in this passage in which the flies swarm around the French aristocrat, Charles Darnay, foreshadows the other "blue flies" of the swarming revolutionaries in France who congregate to bring death and destruction to the aristocrats and Charles Evremonde after he returns to his country.

Even the crowd in the London courtroom parallels those of the other city in their degeneracy as they sadistically listen and await the condemnation of a man that they do not know, but hate because he is aristocratic.

What is the message conveyed and effect caused by the details of what the men carry?

This powerful story is set in the Vietnamese war. The story itself is unusual because of O’Brien’s emphasis on the details of "the things they carried" and also because of the many characters who make themselves instantly real. In the story’s brief duration, O’Brien successfully conveys the entire way of life of the men in the unnamed platoon. He does not make claims about the ugliness, dirt, and horror of the war, but arranges the story’s accumulating details to point toward this conclusion.

We learn about the life and thoughts of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross from the omniscient limited narration, which is alternated with detailed materials about what the men of the platoon carry on their patrols. Cross is therefore a centralizing, unifying character. He loves Martha, the girl back home, but he also concludes that thinking about her has diverted his attention away from his duty as a leader of his men. After Lavender is killed Kiowa believes that Cross is grieving over the death, when actually Cross is grieving "mostly" for "Martha, and for himself, because she belonged to another world" (paragraph 43). In addition to the unity provided by Cross, the story is unified by the many references to Lavender’s death (both before and after) and by the many concentrated descriptions of the things that the soldiers must carry.

The many repetitions about the weights, the need to carry things, and Lavender’s death build up a pattern of realism in the story. This sometimes overwhelming detail literally transfers the experience of the men directly to readers, who cannot weigh the things but who nevertheless feel the heaviness of the burdens and also the threat of death that the men face each minute of every day. The soldiers' emotional baggage that they carried with them in their5 minds was far heavier than any physical object; as it is obvious with Cross's pebble that he kept in his mouth.

At first, Mitchell Sanders is not articulate or expansive in expressing the meaning and moral of the severed thumb. The most he can do is to point to the dead man and say, "There it is, man" (paragraph 37). Dobbins says that there is no moral. Later on (paragraph 75), the men consider the moral further.

Paragraph 39 is skillfully detailed and is the central as well as the longest paragraph in the story. The men carry objects of all sorts, psycjhologically, emotionally, and physically, and also infections, tropical parasites, and, literally, the soil of Vietnam itself, and they do so endlessly. Sometimes they die, as Lavender dies. It is fair to say that the paragraph encapsulates the experiences of these men and the threats under which they live.

How did music affect the Americans in the 1920's?

I'd agree generally with the above posts.  The music of the 20s was indeed a reflection of a more carefree time, when the economy was booming, drinking was against the law and there was enough of a middle class to consider things like leisure activities.  What Jazz did, in my opinion, was reinforce some Americans' wilder side, encouraging them to embrace the rebellious side of themselves and society and enjoy life to the fullest while it lasted.

It's also historically true that a society is generally more creatively and musically expressive during good economic times.  Certainly the 1920s were no exception and jazz is an example.

In The Giver, why do people have to report their dreams and share their feelings in Jona's world?

Jonah's world is based on everything being safe and the same.  All of the memories and emotions are only carried by The Giver.  People have to report their dreams and share their feelings to make sure no one has any negative dreams or feelings and to stop them early if they do.  So when Jonah reports the dreams that signify his "stirrings" they can give him medicine right away to take away the stirrings and the emotions they cause.

In Macbeth, which phrase in the letter best summarizes Macbeth's relationship with his wife? (Act 1, Scene 5)

I would choose the phrase that precedes the "partnership" descriptor.  Macbeth says that he wrote of the witches prediction because "This have I thought good to deliver thee."

This small phrase is very illuminating.  He is deferring to his wife.  He "thinks" he should make her informed of this news and that she'll be happy.  He doesn't say:  look, I have good  news.  He doesn't say "this is what we are going to do".  He says he thought it "good to deliver thee".  Macbeth is subservient in all aspects - to Duncan, to the witches, and to his wife.  This describes their marriage because, as later scenes will show, he does what she asks of him.  Hence all the trouble!

In Julius Caesar, Act I, what is the soothsayer's advice to Caesar?

In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, the Soothsayer warns Caesar to beware of the ides of March.  "Ides" means the 15th of the month.  This is just one of several signs in the early stages of the drama that warn of the chaotic, unnatural state of local politics in the play.  Caesar, however, doesn't heed any of the warning signs and dismisses the Soothsayer as if he's speaking nonsense. 

Of course, Ceasar ends up being assassinated on the 15th of March.  Ironically, Caesar is superstitious, as shown when he arranges for his wife to be touched by Antony while Antony is racing, due to a myth that this may heal her inability to conceive.  But he ignores the truly important omens and warnings that might have saved his life.

IASB & its predecessor organisation have as a stated objective to narrow worldwide differences in accounting practices & the presentation...

IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) is an organization committed to development of uniform accounting practices and standards across different countries so that the same set accounting data is understood easily by investors and other stakeholders from different countries easily, and they can use it to compare performance and position of  companies from different countries.The set of standards released by them is called IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standard).

Specifically, when adopted by Chinese companies, it is likely to benefit also the Chinese investors, investing in Chinese companies only. This statement is made on the assumption that an international standard is will be better than current local standards because of addition care that goes into making of such international standards.

Convergence of Chinese accounting standards and IFRS would mean that the the American investors will get information on Chinese companies in the same format and having the same degree of reliability as the information they get on American companies. This will benefit the US investors investing in Chinese company by making it easier for them to evaluate performance and position of Chinese companies.

Why does Johnny like it better when his father is hitting him?

As other answers have stated, Johnny prefers to be hit by his father than ignored wholesale by his parents, which seems to be the usual state of affairs. His terrible emotional neglect by his family highlights his sense of vulnerability. For him, the Greaser gang really does become a vital substitute for his own cold, uncaring family. He finds the love among the gang which is so markedly lacking for him elsewhere. In fact, he is described as being 'the gang's pet'.

Although the other Greasers might sometimes scrap amongst themselves, they won't ever do anything to Johnny. This is best illustrated in the incident when Dally is annoying Cherry, the pretty Soc girl, at the cinema, and Johnny intervenes and warns him to 'leave her alone'. Dally is thereby thwarted, but he can't retaliate against Johnny - although, as Ponyboy notes, if it had been any other Greaser, Dally wouldn't have hesitated to beat him. However, he can't lay a finger on Johnny, who holds a privileged position in the gang:

But Johnny was the gang's pet, and Dally just couldn't hit him.

Dally, in fact, appears to be closer to Johnny than to anyone else; and when Johnny dies near the end of the story, Dally is completely unable to cope.

The Greaser gang, then, becomes Johnny's substitute family. Ponyboy sometimes feels aggrieved at his own family life - the loss of his parents, his constant run-ins with Darry - but he comes to appreciate that he still does have the love of his brothers, whereas Johnny has absolutely no-one outside of the gang.

What is the symbolic role of fences in this play?

As Renelane suggests, Rose has a perspective that is different from Troy's sense of "fences."  At the opening of Act I, Scene II, Rose sings, "Jesus, be a fence around me every day / Jesus, I want you to protect me as I travel on my way."  Wilson himself commented, in the Savron interview about this play, that by the conclusion, most of the characters are closely associated with one institution or another--the military, a hospital, prison / workhouse, or (in Rose's case) the church--and the connections with these institutions do not bode well for the possibility of their exercising control over their own lives.  Despite her own incredible strength, Rose has retreated into a space she sees as protected by divine power; she relies on the comforts of her religious faith to keep those she loves safe from the forces that threaten her family.  At the center of the play is a problem of control for each character over his or her destiny, as well as a problem of control for all of them over the threats to their family unity.  Rose represents the desire for a unified, safe family group, but her Jesus-fence is not an effective way of exercising the needed control.  (Wilson did not, however, reject the role played by the chuch in African-American history.  The African-American church has had obvious liberating and empowering influences.)

How is the theme of appearance vs. reality developed by Leroux in Phantom of the Opera?

In Phantom of the Opera the central theme of reality versus appearances takes shape in three manifestations. The first is the opera house itself, the second is the Phantom's physical aspect and the third is the role the phantom plays within the confines of the reality behind the scenes of the opera's fantasies.

The opera house can be and is well known by those who frequent it or work there. The audience can become well acquainted with its public aspects and even with the theatrical workings to some extent. the dancers and actors are well acquainted with both the public and private backstage workings as are the stage craftsmen. The business men and financiers are well acquainted with all the former and with the financial and operational aspects of the opera, which the others know nothing or only very little about.

There is one further aspect of the opera that very few know of and that is the labyrinth of tunnels, furnaces, prisons and other mysteries beneath the opera house. This symbolizes that for buildings, organizations, art and people, on top is the appearance and beneath is the reality--at least for some, anyway. 

The second manifestation is the Phantom's appearance. He certainly embodies the conflict between appearance and reality in the mask he wears and the darkened hidden life he lives. This leads to the third manifestation, which is the Phantom's pretense of being an angel of music when in reality he is the phantom of the tortures of a hall of illusions.

In "The Pit and the Pendulum" the narrator is confused as to his location and situation. How does this add to the suspense?

The story opens with very vague references to what is going on.  We learn that it is the Spanish Inquisition, where many people who wouldn't convert to Catholocism were arrested, tortured and killed.  Somehow, the narrator himself has been captured.  We don't know why, or by whom.  He just mentions judges.  He is groggy, he can't see their faces clearly, it's in a dark room with candles and curtains, and then all goes black before he awakes in his prison.  Being totally dark in the prison, he has to explore and discover for himself the horrors that await him there.

Not having specific details increases the suspense because it leaves the reader free to fill in gaps with their imaginations.  And, our imaginations tend to come up with much better, much more frightening scenarios than if we had been given the facts.  Who are these judges?  Are they evil men bent on torturing the narrator?  Why is there?  Did he do something awful and horrible?  What will his punishment be?  We imagine all sorts of horrors.  The narrator himself gives into these frightening imaginings himself.  Then, when he is in the pit, we have no idea where he is or what is going on. The darkness appeals to everyone's stress levels--no one likes being in the total dark.  The suspense is taken up even further; we, like the narrator, feel lost, confused, and imagine awful things, just as the narrator himself does.

The human imagination is a powerful force for suspense--it fills in details and can think of tales and possibilities that are far beyond what is even possible at times.  If authors just give a few details, it forces the reader to use his imagination, which is quite powerful, to create suspenseful possibilities. Not knowing engages the mind in powerful guessing games, making us question and become completely involved in the story.  I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!

Are charecters in othello fools(Othello, Desdemona, Brabantio, Roderigo and Emilia)?

I'm not sure if you mean a fool in the classic Shakespearean sense of the word, as in court jester.  If so, then no.  But it can definitely be argued that all of the characters listed were made foolish by love or another strong emotion.

Othello felt foolish by being in love with Desdemona because he thought she was having an affair, but he was *really* made foolish by the friendship-love he had for Iago because he was so insecure in his love for Desdemona and blinded by the friendship-love he had for Iago that he believed Desdemona was having an affair.

Desdemona was so in love with Othello that even though he treated her badly and eventually killed her, she was foolish enough to think that they could somehow just work past things.

Brabantio was made foolish by his racial prejudice.  Even though he did not approve of Roderigo, he approved of Othello even less just by the virtue of his skin color and so he never approved the marriage based on that fact alone (which can also add to the argument as to why Othello became even more desperate to fit into Venetian society).

Roderigo is so blinded by his love for Desdemona, he doesn't realize that Iago is using him as a pawn in his machinations to destroy Othello.

And though Emilia is very strong willed and eventually stands up to everyone at the end, she too is blinded by love of her husband and attempts to please him by engaging in his plot, though she has no idea the depths of it.

In chapter 5, why does Ralph call a meeting?

Ralph calls a meeting because he is trying to reestablish the importance of the fire in everyone's minds.  In the previous chapter, a ship had passed the island, but Jack and his hunters had let the fire go out so there was no smoke to signal the ship.  In the meeting, Ralph also hits on a number of other issues - he wants the other boys to think seriously about their survival instead of being lazy or getting so caught up in hunting that they neglect other necessary things.  Once again, Ralph, Piggy, and Simon are the only ones who see the importance of the things Ralph brings up.  The others do not have the maturity of insight or self-control to understand.

In The Shawshank Redemption, how does Andy fight for his own justice?

Andy fights for his own justice by exposing Warden Samuel Norton and Capt. Byron Hadley as the real criminals in Shawshank Prison.  Through books, Andy reveals that they embezzle and launder money from the state and murdere and torture prisoners to cover it up.

Andy fights for his own justice by using the Warden's "books" against him.  At first Andy tries to educate the prisoners by building the library, but then the Warden shuts it down and kills Tommy Williams, who threatens to free Andy through his testimony.  Knowing he cannot win against the Warden legally, Andy resorts to crime: he steals the Warden's books.

Books are very important in the novella/movie.  The Warden pretends to practice what the Bible preaches, but he is really corrupted by greed.  As his secret middle-man, Andy replaces the ledger from the safe with the Bible in which he kept the rock hammer, thus enabling him to both escape and expose the Warden and Hadley.

Why do think Johnny wasn't scared despite the obvious danger in chapter six page 92?

People are what matter to Johnny the most--the important people in his life, especially Dally and Ponyboy, as well as the children who were trapped in the church; children who needed saving much like Johnny had needed from his abusive parents.

Like most heroic figures, one of the traits that make them heroic is the ability to put others first. He put Ponyboy first in the fight with the Socs, and he put the children first in the fire. The fact that he could do something to save them brought new energy to his life and allowed him to face the danger without fear.

Johnny spent much of his life trying to be invisible, trying to survive. Saving the children from the fire gave him purpose and meaning that helped him transcend his struggles.

Why does "white ashen dust" veil Mr.Wilson's "dark suit and his pale hair" in The Great Gatsby?

Fitzgerald uses color and light and dark as symbolically as possible.

If you make it all the way to the end of the book, you discover that Wilson believes a crime has been committed which hurts him. He's right. Someone is having an affair with his wife... he just doesn't know who.

The white ashen dust covering his dark suit represents the innocence covering his sin. His innocence is that something or someone else is wronging him. Another truth is that he isn't providing his best for his wife and he eventually commits a severe crime because of how he can't provide anything all that good for his wife.

So he is evil on the inside, but doesn't want to be. He wishes to be a good man. Not knowing where you are in the book, I  don't want to give too much away.

Discuss the significance of the title Fences as it relates to characters & themes & events of the play.

The significance of a fence in this play is that it serves a dual purpose -it keeps people in and it also keeps them out, both literally and figuratively.

The most obvious fence is the literal fence that is being built throughout the play. A physical fence implies ownership (and this play can be viewed as the African American version of the American Dream theme of home ownership). Building a fence around your home is a way to claim it as yours by determining who can and cannot leave.

For Troy, there is a figurative fence that keeps him stifled at work. He asks the question of why the blacks are always lifting the trash while the whites are driving the trucks. He sees this as a fence created by the white majority to keep the black minority in their place socio-economically.

Another fence is the fence that kept Troy in place during his time in prison. In this case, the walls kept him inside. When he builds a fence around his own home, he is able to keep his family inside (not literally, but it acts as a barrier between his family and the dangers of the world around him).

Finally, the characters build fences between each other. Troy and Rose have a fence between them from the standpoint of gender difference. Troy cannot express to Rose the same emotions he can express to Alberta. This is one example of fences built between people. Another lies in the Troy and Cory dichotomy. Troy tries to fence Cory in by keeping him from pursuing his dreams because he believes that Cory will fail and wants to protect him from that.

Each character has a fence of some sort that he or she has created either to keep others out or to lock himself or herself inside. Gabriel is the only exception. The simplicity of his beliefs, while flawed from the perspective of "normal" society, actually allow him to transcend self and societally imposed fences.

In Chapter 11 of The Light in the Forest, what exactly were the stories that Little Crane told Uncle Wilse that offended him?I just need the...

The first story Little Crane told concerned some Mingue who stayed the night with a white missionary, and automatically put their horses in the missionary's field to graze. The missionary chased the horses out of the field, saying that he planned to mow the grass to use as hay. The Mingue pointed out that the field was on Indian land, but the missionary replied that regardless, the grass was his, as he had fenced the field in. The Mingue then asked who provided the grass, and the missionary had to answer that the Great Spirit did. The Mingue concluded that since they were children of the Great Spirit, they had a right to the grass, and put their horses back in the field, laughing at the audacity of the missionary who believed that just by fencing in the land, he could claim it as his own.

The second story Little Crane told had a similar theme, the outwitting of the white man by the Indian. A Shawano owed a white man money, and the white man insisted he pay up immediately, even though it was summer, a time when beaver and fox pelts were not prime. The Shawano asked if cattle hides taken in the summer would be acceptable, and the white man said they would. The Shawano agreeably paid his debt with cattle hides and the white man was satisfied, until he realized that the cattle were his own.

Little Crane was not aware that these stories, which were common and received with much amusement by the Indians, would not be taken kindly by the white man. Uncle Wilse and his friends were so infuriated by the stories that one of them shot and scalped Little Crane in retaliation, even as Little Crane was marveling at the white man's lack of a sense of humor (Chapter 11).

Considering the events portrayed in Schindler's List, how did they affect the Jews' views on their place in the world, and with their God?

In Schindler's List the Jews were affected just like all the other Jewish people in the Nazi occupied areas.  They were denied basic rights and then cattle cared towards internment and concentration camps.  Everyday of their lives they were scared and hungry.  Their basic needs were seldom met and they struggled to try and survive let alone maintain any form of dignity.

Shindler's crew of Jewish people did not trust him at first but as they knew what he was doing for them, they made a hard effort to produce what was expected of them for survival.  They lived in fear that the solders would pull them out of work or kill them.

The Jews that survived the Holocaust suffered from many of the same psychological problems.  The damage done by the horrible treatment of the Jews left a significant mark.  Even though the Jews that worked for Shindler had different opportunities they were still prisoners who had lost many family members.  Many of them suffered survivor's guilt.  Some went on to have children of their own and shared stories about their survival while others chose not to discuss the events.

The relationship each individual had with God depended on the individual himself.  Some were not practicing Jews but they were still held accountable for their Hebrew blood.

What is a quote the nurse told Juliet when she found out about the affair?

In Act 2 Scene 5 of the play 'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare, Juliet is alone waiting for the Nurse to come home. Like every impatient young person waiting for news, she grows more impatient and cross by the minute. Shakespeare is building tension and suspense, and helping to draw Juliet's personality for us - and the Nurse will pick up on that in her quote to make sure we 'get it' that not only Juliet but Romeo also, are impetuous and impulsive in their wish to be together. The poor Nurse finally arrives all out of breath and hot from the Verona weather. She complains of her tiredness and then starts to tease Juliet by protracting the story of her meeting with Romeo. At last,among other things, she says in response to Juliet's loss of temper 'O God's lady dear, are you so hot?' Then she finally tells her the plan.

Give another example of a bad way to choose a sample that doesn't use voluntary response.

Another way that you can choose a sample badly (without asking for volunteers) is if you choose a sample that is likely to not be representative of your student body as a whole.

For example, let's say you are trying to determine the average height of students at your school.  If you decide to use the basketball and volleyball teams as your sample, you are likely to get an incorrect average.

Similarly, if you want to measure how much body fat the average student has, you will not get an accurate average if you choose to measure only the cross-country team.

What are some significant events which occur when Julia and Winston go to O'Brien's, that connect to the theme of this scene?

The primary themes in the novel are as follow:

• The Power of Big Brother;


• Freedom and Enslavement/Free Will;


• Appearances and Reality;


• Loyalty and Betrayal;


• Utopia and Anti-Utopia;


• Patriotism;


• Information Control;


• The Degradation of Language;


• The Triumph of Drudgery

In Part II: Chapter 8 (or Chapter 16 overall), Winston and Julia visit O'Brien's.  The following evens are significant (themes in parentheses):

1.  O'Brien's place is too good to be true (appearance vs. reality, the power of Big Brother):

"The whole atmosphere of the huge block of flats, the richness and spaciousness of everything, the unfamiliar smells of good food and good tobacco, the silent and incredibly rapid lifts sliding up and down, the white-jacketed servants hurrying to and fro -- everything was intimidating."

2.  Winston meets O'Brien's servant (enslavement):

"O'Brien's servant, however, had admitted the two of them without demur. He was a small, dark-haired man in a white jacket, with a diamond-shaped, completely expressionless face which might have been that of a Chinese."

3.  O'Brien turns off the telescreen (power of Big Brother):

You can turn it off!' he said. 

'Yes,' said O'Brien, 'we can turn it off. We have that privilege.'

4.  O'Brien presents himself as a double agent, a member of The Party and The Brotherhood (appearance vs. reality):

'We believe that there is some kind of conspiracy, some kind of secret organization working against the Party, and that you are involved in it. We want to join it and work for it. We are enemies of the Party. We disbelieve in the principles of Ingsoc. We are thought-criminals. We are also adulterers. I tell you this because we want to put ourselves at your mercy. If you want us to incriminate ourselves in any other way, we are ready.'

5.  O'Brien gives them a test of allegiance ceremony, and they are prepared to commit atrocities for the Brotherhood; except Julia is not prepared to leave Winston. (loyalty and betrayal)

You are prepared to lose your identity and live out the rest of your life as a waiter or a dock-worker?' 

'Yes.' 

'You are prepared to commit suicide, if and when we order you to do so?' 

'Yes.' 

'You are prepared, the two of you, to separate and never see one another again?' 

'No!' broke in Julia.

What do you think happened at the end of the story, when Madeline Usher appeared?

I assume you are asking why it is that she reappears after she has already died and been buried.  There are three possibilities that I can see:

First, her brother Roderick might have been wrong when he said she was dead.  He might have been fooled by her having one of her spells where she would appear to be dead.

Second, Roderick could have known she was not dead but put her in the crypt anyway, hoping she would die.

Third, she could be a vampire.

Of these, I like the second one best.  I think Roderick is a pretty evil guy and I don't think it would be beyond him to try to get rid of his sister this way.  Maybe that would account for how guilty and jumpy he seems.

Is the God of Small Things a tale of suffering twins Rahel and Estha?

Yes, very much so.  Set in Kerala, India, the novel shows the devastation that occurs within a family as a result of the love affair between the twins' mother (Ammu) and an Untouchable (Velutha).  When this love affair is made public, Estha is deceived into betraying Velutha, a man he loved as a father.  This betrayal were the last words the badly beaten Velutha heard before he died.  As a result of these developments, Ammu is exiled, Estha is returned to his father and thereby separated from his two-egg twin Rahel, Rahel is sent to boarding school where she becomes rebellious.  Other family members suffer major disppointments and betrayals as well, but the suffering of the twins is probably the most poignant.  The story is told primarily from the adult Rahel's viewpoint through flashbacks as she returns to her hometown to see her brother Estha who has not talked since he left Kerala many years ago.

Other heartbreaking incidents occur--the death of Sophie Mol and  the molestation of Estha by the man with the piano teeth.  Roy unsparingly shows us the "cost of living," or the terrible price that is paid when people break "the love laws."  We also learn much about the vulnerable world of children.

In A Raisin in the Sun, why did Beneatha say she wouldn't marry George?

Beneatha experiments with different identities as all young people do.  At this point in the novel, she is interested in her African identity, something which she thinks George, as an "assimilationist," eshews (which he does). This is why Asagai has so much appeal to her for he represents that new (or original) identity in that he is an educated man from Nigeria, having a tribe to claim as part of who he is. The contrast between George and Asagai represents a theme in the novel concerning what direction the Younger family should go as they move toward the future.  Indeed, Walter Lee's chief dilemma is discovering who he is, finding an identity as a black man in a society that denigrates that identity.  Langston Hughes' poem, which the title of the play alludes to, engages this topic through the metaphor of a dream.

What does Sherlock do with the person who stole the blue carbuncle?The blue carbuncle . The adventure of Sherlock holmes

The blue carbuncle is a very valuable jewel that belongs to the Countess of Morcar.  It is worth a huge amount of money.

It is stolen by a man named James Ryder.  He is the "Head Attendant" at the hotel where the Countess was staying and where the jewel was stolen.

He admits to Holmes all that he did and explains it to him in detail.  Holmes decides to let him go.  Ryder says he will leave the country and that will let Horner off the hook.  Holmes decides that Ryder will never commit another crime and, besides, it's Christmas time and he feels forgiving.

What is on Banquo's mind at the start of Act 3 in Macbeth?

A couple of ideas appear to be on Banquo's mind at the start of Act III in Shakespeare's Macbeth. 

First, he suspects Macbeth of treachery, of assassinating King Duncan:

Thou hast it now--King, Cawdor, Glamis, all

As the Weird Women promised, and I fear

Thou played'st most foully for't....

Second, he wonders whether or not the part of the weird sisters' prophecy that pertained to him will come true, also:

...If there come truth from them--...

May they not be my oracles as well,

And set me up in hope?

He's wondering if his heirs will rule Scotland, as the witches predicted.

Ironically, the one thing Banquo should be thinking about he isn't.  He does not realize that Macbeth is plotting against him and Fleance with the same thought in mind--the prediction that Banquo's heirs will rule.  Since gaining the crown, Macbeth's ambition has deepened, and having the throne for himself is no longer enough.  He now wants to create a dynasty in his own name, and Fleance stands in the way.  In a matter of seconds following Banquo's speech, Macbeth will ascertain from Banquo that he is riding this afternoon, and that Fleance will be going with him.  That will prove to be the opportunity Macbeth is looking for.

How does Mr. Beach feel about young men fighting against England in My Brother Sam is Dead?

Mr. Beach "like(s) peace".  He tells Sam, "God meant man to obey.  He meant children to obey their fathers, he meant men to obey their kings". He espouses loyalty and thinks young men shouldn't question the King.  Mr. Beach thinks that agitators "can always manage to stir up the passions of the people for a week or so, but it never lasts".  He is against the young men fighting against England, and believes that cooler heads will prevail (Chapter 1).

In the play All My Sons, even though Larry is not seen throughout the play, how does he affect the many characters in the book?

In All My Sons by Arthur Miller, Larry is not seen throughout the play, yet he is a major influence on several characters in the play.  Chris says that Larry has been a road block for the family and that he and his parents have not been able to move on with their lives because they cannot deal with the loss of Larry:  "We're like at a railroad station waiting for a train that never comes in."  Kate refuses to accept the likelihood that Larry has been killed in the war, and she goes so far as to get their neighbor Frank to look up Larry's astrological chart to prove that his supposed day of death was actually his favored day.  Kate cannot accept Chris's proposal to marry Ann because she's "Larry's girl." 

Chris, on the other hand, claims that he has forgotten his brother, yet he does not openly propose his plans to marry Ann.  He says that he does not want to hurt his parents, yet he seems to regard his brother's memory as a barrier in his own life.  Although he has had feelings for Ann for years, he has waited to approach her which suggests that he may feel the sliver of possibility that either his brother is alive or that Ann has not accepted his death.

Ann has known all along that Larry killed himself in the war, but she did not immediately move on to a new relationship.  She says that she has been thinking about Chris, but she has never revealed these feelings to anyone.  She is also aware that Chris's mother does not want her in the house, but Ann does not stand up to Kate and therefore allows Larry's memory to continue to cause tension in the family.

Finally, Larry's letter is the catalyst which prompts Joe's suicide at the end of the play.  The reader is left to consider whether or not Joe has killed himself as a way of making amends with Larry and "all his sons" of the war, as a way of escaping his guilt, or as a way to avoid going to jail and dealing with his fatal decision; however, it remains that Larry's words and memory have prompted this action.

So, Larry's memory (and his words via his letter at the end of the play) greatly affect the characters in the play.

What role does fate play in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night?

A profound sense of Fate underlines all Shakespeare's tragedies;but the characters of his pure comedies "are so confident in there happiness that they can play with it,and mock it,and put it to trials that would break fragility.They are equal to circumstance,and the most surprising adventures do not disconcert nor depress them.In a sense they too,like the tragic heroes and heroines,are the antagonists of Fate.But Fate,in the realm of comedy,appears in the milder and more capricious character of Fortune,whose wheel turns and turns again and vindicates the merry heart.'Who can controle his Fate,'says Othello."tis but Fortune;all is Fortune",says Malvolio,when he believes himself to stand in favour with Olivia;'Jove,not I',is the doer of this,and he is to be thanked'. Olivia,ensnared by thebeauty of the disguised Viola,gives voice to the same creed:

            I do not know what,and fear to find

            Mine eye too great a flatterer for my mind;

            Fate show thy  force;ourselves we do not owe

            What is decreed,must be;and be this so;

            And Viola,in like fashion,trusts to the evet-

            Time,thou must untangle this,nor I;

            It is too hard a knot for me to untie.

How does Proctor resolve his internal and external conflicts?two examples from the play

John Proctor had an affair with Abigail in the play "The Crucible."  His first effort to resolve his inner conflict was to tell his wife of his situation.  He did not reveal the whole situation initially.  There is the belief that if something is spoken aloud that one can be self-absolved from the act and gain a clear conscience, thereby healing within.  Later in the story after Elizabeth has been charged John wants Elizabeth to expose his act instead of himself.  As the story progresses and he sees that Elizabeth is in danger of further prosecution and the death brought to others, he goes to Abigail and tries to get her to tell the truth.  However, he gets nowhere.  He is still carrying the guilt and Elizabeth is still likely to be put to death (external conflict).

John at one point grabs Abigail and pulls her up calling her a whore. (Page 110).  Danforth is shocked and asks him what he is doing.  John then tells him the truth that he has known her as a man knows a harlot.  It is at this time that Elizabeth arrives and she is asked by Danforth the reason for Abigail’s dismissal.  Elizabeth is still protecting her husband and unaware he had told.  She says she dismissed the girl because she was not pleased with her.

John still can not let go of what he had done nor free Elizabeth from the accusations.  Mary Warren then accuses Proctor of coming to her after she is accused by Abigail of sending a demon bird towards her.  The other girls are aware of the power Abigail holds and agree with her.  John Proctor recognizes the damage of the situation and despite the attempts of Reverend Hale to defend him; Danforth continues to find him guilty.  John is fed up with the whole mess and he yells out, "God is dead."(119)

Elizabeth is taken to John and she pleads with him to lie to save himself.  John confesses lies and signs a paper reluctantly, but he snatches it up.  John finally can stand the lies no longer and tells Danforth it is a lie.  He has sealed his fate to be hanged, but he has cleared his soul before God.

Compare Mitch to the other men in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Mitch is passive, awkward, and easily manipulated. This is not direct characterization, but what we can infer as readers. He is be passive, as opposed to the larger-than-life Stan, which is the reason why Mitch continuously gravitates around him. While Stan vies for attention, Mitch duly cedes his way, allowing Stan to take over everything from card games to conversations, and to even telling Mitch to stay away from Blanche.

From that latter fact we can also describe Mitch as an easily manipulated guy. Not only did Stanley, toward the end of the play, manipulate him so that he moves away from Blanche. Blanche herself, whom we can easily assume had no true feelings for him but rather the need to be with someone, also manipulated him. We know as much in chapter 6 when Mitch coyly admits:

You need somebody. And I need somebody, too. Could it be — you and me, Blanche?

Mitch is also awkward in the way that he cannot seem to find the gumption to be his own person. He is a follower. He is still attached to his mother, and he is crassly inexperienced with women.

Stanley is the proverbial Alpha who leads the pack and diminishes everyone else with his large and brash personality. He is egocentric, as he demands all the attention from Stella.

He is also misogynistic, as he beats his wife, psychologically abuses Blanche and then rapes her. Stanley is nothing short of a sociopath that has not yet killed. It is clear that his ego is easily bruised each time Blanche attempts to use her Southern charm to annoy him playfully.

His insecurities lead him to take the upper hand and “get dirt” on Blanche so that he can have ammunition to destroy her ego and separate her from Stella. Stanley is essentially a broken man acting the part of a dominant macho man. Unfortunately for Blanche, Stella ends up siding with her husband and Blanch ends up in a mental institution and with no future.

What clues are given in the "The Red Headed League"?

The very oddness of the league is a clue in itself. Who would pay people to do this sort of tedious copying--and who would limit their request to those with red hair?

After that, Mr. Wilson's helper's habit of disappearing into the cellar, and the fact that he brought the league up, signal more generally that something is up. Combine that with the fact that Wilson had not heard of the league before, and you've got some oddity. The biggest clue, though, is that Wilson cannot leave during the period: they want him anchored in place.

Later, there are others--the shop's location, the assistant's knees--but early on, those are the main clues.

Define Domestic Policy and Foreign Policy. Give an example of each. How do they impact the U.S.? Which one is more important and why?U.S....

Domestic policy are laws, policies, etc. that are set in place within a specific country. An example of a domestic policy within the Unites States would be social security.

Foreign policy are those policies that deal with the relationships we have with other countries. It has to do with the interaction that a country has with another country. An example of a foreign policy is the United Nations.

Both of these impact the United States. Domestic policy has to do with how we live each day, including education, taxes, environmental protection/laws, welfare programs, etc. Foreign policy has to do a lot with international trade, peace keeping, etc.

I do not think that one is more important than the other. Both types of policies effect the way we live our lives every day.

What is real "war" fought in each of the three governments? Please include the party slogan, "war is peace."

War is Peace is true.  The three governments are equally matched, so they would never hope to conquer the other two.  The real war is keeping the people working so that society runs smoothly.  However, with all this production, there is not an scarcity, and then everyone would be equally wealthy and find no need to continue doing his or her job effectively.  War solves the problem by creating the necessary destruction and a general state of scarcity increases the importance of small privileges and magnifies the distinction between one group and another.

What is the atmosphere in the short story "Private Tuition by Mr Bose" by Anita Desai?

Atmosphere, also called mood, in a literary work is the emotional feeling created by the work from within the setting. It is a literary element and as such is a literary device common to all works of literature and requires description. Thus it does refer to the author's, narrator's or any character's state of mind. The other category of literary device is that of literary technique, which are techniques the writer may pick and choose from at will: e.g., sensory detail, symbolism, metaphor, personification, etc. Atmosphere is created by diction, setting, theme, description, dialog. Atmosphere is distinct from tone, which does refer to the narrator's state of mind.

"Tuition" refers to private teaching or instruction. In the short story "Private Tuition by Mr Bose" (not all English varieties employ a period following titles like "Mr" or "Dr"), the atmosphere is established in the first paragraph in which the gagging oppressive air is described. What begins as oppression and virtual strangulation builds in intensity as the story progresses leading to urges of violence then to urges arising from being taunted and ridiculed. This atmosphere continues even into the quiet and comfort of Bose's kitchen with his wife whom he loves and adores where she all but gags him with too many peace offerings in the way of the food she had been preparing during the private tutoring sessions.

How does Everyman describe the nature and destiny of humankind?

By nature, humankind wants to avoid death's call, and everyman (we) spend most of our energy absorbed in activities that help us avoid thinking about what happens when we die. However, according to Everyman, there is no escaping death, and there is no escaping being called into account for what we've done while we've been alive. When death comes, Everyman is unprepared: he thinks he has more time, and tells Death he is not ready to accompany him: none of us are. Certainly, none of Everyman's earthly companions are either. Each, in turn, agrees to be with Everyman until he finds out where Everyman has to go; then each, in turn, refuses to accompany him. Just like Everyman, humankind must all face Death alone. There is no avoiding the final call, either, and no postponing it until a more convenient time. When Death comes, everyman even tries to offer him money to come back later, but no earthly goods have any effect on Death. It is our destiny to die, and we will all die when God sends Death to collect us. We should, therefore, be prepared, for the only thing we can bring with us when we meet our reckoner is the accumulation of good works that we have accrued in our lifetimes (according to Everyman).

What is Candy's role in buying the land?Its found in Chapter 3

Because Candy has money saved up (he received money when he lost his hand), it makes the dream of the farm seem possible to George. Between George and Lennie, they never have more than $50 at any given time, so George never really believed that they would have enough money to buy land, but when Candy says that he will give them his money, George begins to believe they could actually do it.

I need to know a few things on the democratic economy. For a debate i need topics and information to talk about on the democratic economy.please...

I think a good way to approach this question is to examine what type of economy usually thrives in a democracy. When you look at it from this point of view, usually we are in the realm of capitalism, but not exclusively. For example, some would say that the Chinese are the best capitalists today! Just think of their growth compared to ours. With that said, democracies usually have a capitalistic economy. The benefits of this economy are that it allows people to work hard and get ahead, at least theoretically. It also promotes competition and investment, since the government is not really supposed to intervenee to regulate things. In short, I think what capitalism does is create forum where greed can compete with greed.  

How are Victor's monster and Prometheus different?

Victor Frankenstein is the main character of Mary Shelley’s gothic tale Frankenstein. He is a young student steeped in the mysteries of science.He describes his explorations into the unknown through his obsession to create life from the dead . He produces a great monster which is bent on taking revenge. Perhaps, since Percy Shelley allegedly aided in the writing of Frankenstein, he may have been attempting to allegorize the ever-growing liver as a symbol of the Monster's immortality, meaning that the Monster, like Prometheus's liver, can never die and is eternally damned . Prometheus of Shelley is also eternally damned  by Zeus.

Mary Shelley included "The Modern Prometheus" as part of her title for the novel  and she attempts to compare Victor Frankenstein with Prometheus .

Prometheus was Greek God who breathed life into man and brought fire to earth after stealing it from Mount Olympus. Two years after the publication of Frankenstein , Shelley wrote Prometheus Unbound. There is the same obsession in Prometheus to create life by stealing fire from the storehouse of Zeus.He resembles Frankenstein’s Monster in many ways. He created life , stole and got punished for what he did. Both are clever deities. He enlightened man.

Victor attempts to explore in the field of life and death bypassing the tradition of scientific research. Like Frankenstein , Victor continues to read because he wants to penetrate the secrets of nature. He wants to bring human knowledge to a higher level. In a similar manner the Prometheus of Shelley also tries to enlighten human beings.Both are rebellious and innovative. Both are rebels against the authority and the institutions. Both are in this sense romantic in their new thoughts.

Dr.Ratan Bhattacharjee

India

As she looks down on the farm, what are Clover's thoughts?

This is the only time in the novel that Orwell gives the reader a glimpse inside the head of one of the characters.  For a brief instance, we are able to read Clover's feelings and understand her opinions.  She doesn't trust Napoleon.  She sees that things are not going well on the farm.  But she doesn't know how to change things.  She is scared and confused, and does not have the skill that Squealer does to rally the other animals around her and convince them with speech.  Orwell lets us know that the animals of the farm are to be pitied; they are not allowing themselves to be controlled because they lack independent thought, they are simply too afraid to challenge their leader.

In The Lovely Bones does someone say, "You loved him more than he loved you"?I've been thinking of this quote since I read the book last week and...

I just read Sebold's novel once again with your question (as well as many others) in mind.  I can firmly tell you that this quote is most certainly NOT in the book.  However, there is certainly a discussion of love in some form.  Ray Singh has a romantic love for Susie.  There is also agape love in the novel itself.  Susie's father feels that kind of unconditional love for his daughter.  This is probably best revealed on page 279:

His devotion to me had made me know again and again that I had been beloved.  In the warm light of my father's love I had remained Susie Salmon--a girl with my whole life in front of me. (279)

Ironically, the focus of the novel is not particularly upon these two types of love, but on the "lovely bones" that Susie herself connects to the title:

These were the lovely bones that had grown around my absence:  the connections--sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent--that happened after I was gone.  And I began to see things in a way that let me hold the world without me in it.  The events that my death wrought were merely the bones of a body that would become whole at some unpredictable time in the future.  The price of what I came to see as this miraculous body had been my life. (Sebold 320)

In other words, just as bones connect a body together the events that happened after Susie's death created a kind of "body" of its own that Susie was allowed to watch.  Seeing this beautiful "body" of events, this new world without Susie living in it, was what let Susie "let go" so-to-speak.  Unfortunately, her life was sacrificed in the process.

How are these used in conjunction with the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments in protecting individual rights?The Equal Protection Clause does not...

This same question was asked a couple days ago.  Here's a link.  Please note that I disagree with the second answer where it says the 14th Amendment was passed in response to Southern states discriminating.  It was passed as part of Reconstruction AND THEN Southern states discriminated against blacks until the 1950s.

In addition, that answer implies that the 14th Amendment automatically made states have to obey the Bill of Rights.  They did not have to obey the Bill of Rights until the Supreme Court started using the DP Clause of the 14th Amendment to incorporate the rights from the BOR.  This didn't start until the 20th century.

How does the winner in such an auction become the loser due to the ‘winner curse’?There is a lacuna in the present T-Bill auction system of...

In the passage you give us here, the winner of the auction becomes the loser in reality because he or she cannot make money on the bond that they bought.

The quote is saying that buyers at auction buy a bond mainly in order to resell it on the secondary market.  The problem with this, it says, is that there is pretty much a set value for any given bond.

At an auction, the "winner" has to bid more than anyone else.  This means the winner is offering to pay more than anyone else thought it was a good idea to pay.

Since bonds have a set value on the secondary market, the person who wins the auction may end up spending too much to get the bond and be unable to make much of a profit reselling it.

Can somebody please give examples of the figures of speech used in the poem "Ode to Duty" by William Wordsworth.

You can see a figure of speech right off at the very beginning of the poem.  The poem starts with an apostrophe, which is when a speaker in a work of literature addresses some concept or idea as if it were a physical thing that is present.  Wordsworth starts the poem by speaking directly to duty.  In fact, the whole poem really is one big apostrophe because he is addressing duty throughout.

While addressing duty, Wordsworth uses personification as well.  He refers to duty as a stern lawgiver and as the daughter of the voice of God.  He also has duty do a number of things, as if duty were an animate being.

Wordsworth also uses metaphor.  For example, in the first stanza, he says that is a light to guide and a rod to punish the people who are doing wrong.

How did Bruce Lee actually die?Everybody Ihave asked has different answers.

Bruce Lee died in a Hong Kong apartment in July 1973 when he was 32 years old. He suddenly fell into a coma while taking a nap and never woke up.

Investigation carried out to ascertain the death were not absolutely certain. Authorities attributed five possible reasons for Lee's death. But all these different opinions agreed on one thing that Lees death was caused by a cerebral edema - or swelling of brain caused by a congestion of fluid. But cause of edema itself could not be established with certainty.

As per fact's available, some time after 4 P.M. on the day of his death, Lee had complained of a headache and because of that had taken a tablet of Equagesic. Around 7:30 p.m. after that he lay down for a nap at the home of Betty Tingpei, a Taiwanese actress and never woke up after that. His death was known when Tingpei tried to wake him up after sometime later.

The subsequent medical examination showed traces of cannabis in Lee's stomach, but the amount was so small that it could have been because of drinking a a cup of tea that day. The death was probably caused by hypersensitivity to one of the constituent substance in  the headache tablet he took that afternoon. There were no other signs to indicate death by any reason other than edema - his skull showed no injury, none of the blood vessels were blocked or burst, no "foreign" substance other than the Equagesic was found in any part of the body.

A more detailed account of the circumstances of death of Lee and the examinations following it are availabe on the site referred below.

In A Separate Peace why does Mr. Ludsbury stop Gene, and who had called him?

In chapter six, Gene has a fight with Quackenbush--they exchange blows, and end up falling in the river together.  Gene was soaking wet from the incident, and as he tried to get back to his room unnoticed, Mr. Ludsbury intercepted him and started questioning him about where he had been.  Gene said that he accidentally fell in the river.  Ludsbury took the opportunity to then drill him about some things that he was dissatisfied with:  rumored "gaming" that had been going on in the dorms during the summer, Gene's slacking in his studies, and how disrepectful they had all been about following the rules and helping out around campus.  Gene stands there and guiltily takes the lecture, because he feels awful for what happened to Finny, and realized that he had ruined the entire summer with his bitterness.

The real reason that Ludsbury stopped Gene though was because someone had called for him.  The lecture was just a side-note that Gene's doused condition had sparked.  After the tangent of a lecture, Ludsbury tells him he has a call, and lets Gene go return it.  It is Finny--he called to tell Gene to hold his spot as a roommate, and that he was going to help Finny play sports by playing them for him.

I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!

What is the main theme of Vanity Fair?

One of the most prevalent themes in Vanity Fair is, as the title suggests, vanity. The characters are primarily worried about their own vanity and social position more than anything else. The characters are willing to do anything, lie, steal, cheat, etc in order to advance their social status, all in the name of vanity. Becky Sharp is probably the most vain of everyone. She is so proud of her good looks and her clever wit, and has quite an ego. She uses her husbands for advancement, not really caring about them personally. Her first husband is just a stepping stone to get her into different social circles. When she marries her second husband, she convinces him to take out a life insurance policy, and he dies very shortly after, from being poisoned. Becky is not above doing whatever it takes to satisfy her own vanity. 

What is the theme of "Romeo and Juliet?"What is the main moral of the story?

In the play 'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare, on of the most prominent themes is suggested by the quote 'a plague on both your houses.' The moral relating to this is that it is wrong, dangerous,pointless and counter-productive to bear grudges - particularly ones that ocurred so far back in time as to be history themselves, the original reason forgotten about. yet, the damge they do casts its shadow forward in time to influence wars, hatred,atrocities and even the emotional well-being of descendants hundreds of years later (such as the innocent children Romeo and Juliet.) Riots and public disorder have wreaked havoc in the towns of the Montagues and the Capulets as rival factions squabble and disturb the peace. The Prince is angry, and blames both,almost bringing down a curse on the families if they don't stop - Romeo and Juliet are lost to their families and die becuase of the pointless hatred between them.

Even though Beethoven is included with Haydn and Mozart as a classical composer, how does his style differ from theirs?

Although Beethoven's music is considered, for the most part, in the classical tradition of Haydn and Mozart, his style differs from classical in many ways, especially in his later periods. In his earlier periods, his music was more like the other classical composers, but he evolved and is considered a bridge between the classical and romantic periods.

He used larger orchestras and wrote music that featured the violas and cellos, not only the violins, so his music sounded richer. He also used notes and melodies in a different, unexpected way, making his works seem very much a departure from the strict classicists. Listening to his symphonies, you can really hear the grandeur in the composition, a style that was copied by Wagner and other artists of the Romantic period. His works are also very evocative and emotional, not as "neat" as classical music, much more "over the top". These are not musical terms, to say the least, but I am a fan of Beethoven and this is how I describe listening to his music - it's just so LARGE compared to Mozart and Haydn. Not something you could dance a minuet to, that's for sure.

This is very basic information that I remember from studying music. Perhaps a music expert can give you more specifics regarding musicality. There is much good information available if you do some digging on your own. See one good link below.

What is the physical and social setting of the story, The Most Dangerous Game? What makes the setting implausible?

As the men on the boat are talking about the island around them, they call it 'ship-trap island'. It seems there is superstition about it similar to how people talk about the Bermuda Triangle. Things just seem to somehow disappear in that area. I believe the location or setting of this story could be allusive to that location.

It also seem that an area so thickly vegetated would make it difficult for a larger game (like a human) to not leave much of a trace. For the most part, the story paints Rainsford as a very evasive prey. Leaves, branches and ground would be easily disturbed by a human no matter how awkwardly and slowly the human had to move as if not to disturb anything.

Socially, it just seems strange that a Russian of that period would head to an island in the Carribbean.

Whe coefficient of kinetic frictio.A 300-kg crate is placed on an adjustable inclined plane. As one end of the incline is raised, the crate...

We assume the crate is inclined at an angle ,x to the horizontal. Let us assume the mass of the crate m kg.

Now the force acting on the crate  are: (i) weight force of the crate (ii), the force along the plane of the crate due to its acceleration, a. (iii) th friction  opposing the force of accelatiing movement.

Resolving the weight force along and vertical to the surface of the plane we get:

Force along the plane = mg sinx, where g is the acceleration due to gravitation. But this is equal to ma.

Force normal to the plane = mg cosx

If  M is the coefficient of friction, then , frictional force = M times normal force = M*mg cosx.

given are m = 300kg, a = 0.7 m/s^2,  From scentific tables, g = 9.81m/s^2 .

So, the resultant of the force mg sinx and mg cosx is ma.Or

ma = mg sinx - M*mgcosx Or

a = g(sinx-Mcosx). Or

M cosx = (sinx - a/g). Or

M =(sinx -a/g)/cosx = (sinx - 0.7/9.981)/cosx.

M = (sinx - 0.71355759)/cosx is the coeefficient of friction between the crate and the plane.

So the value of M could be found using the different values of the adjustable inclination angle x with the help of the above equation

In "The Battle of the Ants," how does Thoreau blur the distinction between history and natural history? To what effect?ordinarily we speak of...

Referring to the battle of the red ants with the black ants, Thoreau remarks,

I was myself excited somewhat even as if they had been men.  The more you think of it, the less the difference.  And certainly there is not the fight recorded in Concord history, at least, if in the history of America, that will bear a moment's comparison with this, whether for the numbers engaged in it, or for the patriotism and heroism displayed.  For numbers and for carnage it was an Austerlitz or Dresden....I have not doubt that it was a principle they fought for, as much as our ancestors....

Thoreau likens the ants to Achilles who comes to avenge his friend Patroclus; the wounded ants, he wonders, may spend their last days at the Hotel des Invalides, a veterans' hospital in Paris where Napoleon is buried. Thoreau comments that he had had his feelings

excited and harrowed by witnessing the struggle, the ferocity and carnage, of a human battle before my door....

A keen observer of nature, Thoreau perceives the interconnection of all creatures, man or otherwise.  Just as man struggles against other men, so does the red ant struggle against the black, with every bit as much intensity as man.  It is, clearly, a part of life to have the battles of thee stronger against the weaker; animal instincts do exist in man, and there will be a struggle for dominance. But by the end of Chapter Twelve of Walden, in which this passage is located, Thoreau concludes that both the animal and spiritual natures coexist in animals and animals experience no conflict between the two, while men do.

What is the theme of the story?

The main theme of the story it to engage you into the lives of the Watsons, to the degree that you forget the race they are, the time there in and view them more like a regular family, with the older brother being rebelious, picking on the younger one, Kenny constantly. The youngest of all, their sister is the angel, as she is the least trouble maker in the house, the mother set the rules, the father is the fun parent, etc.

Then, the bombing happens bringing you back to the reality of things that occured in 1963, to the issues of discrimnations of whites against blacks. But Curtis do so in way of not just telling you blacks have been struggling for equality and instead they have these hatful crimes happeing all around them, he shows you the life of an African American family, and how they are just like us, so we can get a better understanding, which was VERY well done!

Who kills the pig in "Lord of the Flies"?no

In the book "The Lord of the Flies" the boys with Jack as their leader try ad catch and kill a pig but have no luck.  Jack continues to track the pig but returns empty handed.  Finally, the tribe of hunters, with Jack as their leader, manages to trap and kill a pig.  They cut its head off and put it on a stake in the ground.  The flies buzz around the head.

Simon while having had a seizure and feeling sick comes upon the head of the pig.  He begins to communicate with it.  He is delirious and believes that the head is talking to him.

How was the United States involved in the Holocaust?

Similar to the previous posts, I would submit that the denial of what has happening helped cement the inaction of the United States regarding the Holocaust.  Many in the nation were gripped with the economic depression and the hard times forced on many.  In placing emphasis on Europe, many argued for an isolationist's point of view, suggesting that the United States had no reason to involve themselves in a "domestic matter" in Europe.  On some level, the anti semitism that gave rise to the Holocaust was evident on some level in America.  This was suggested as much in the previous posts.  In a speech delivered at the White House in 1999, Elie Wiesel intimated as much when he asserted that President Roosevelt and others took more than a silent role in seeking to not involve themselves in stopping Hitler:

And now we knew, we learned, we discovered that the Pentagon knew, the State Department knew. And the illustrious occupant of the White House then, who was a great leader -- and I say it with some anguish and pain, because, today is exactly 54 years marking his death -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt died on April the 12th, 1945, so he is very much present to me and to us.

No doubt, he was a great leader. He mobilized the American people and the world, going into battle, bringing hundreds and thousands of valiant and brave soldiers in America to fight fascism, to fight dictatorship, to fight Hitler. And so many of the young people fell in battle. And, nevertheless, his image in Jewish history -- I must say it -- his image in Jewish history is flawed.

The depressing tale of the St. Louis is a case in point. Sixty years ago, its human cargo -- maybe 1,000 Jews -- was turned back to Nazi Germany. And that happened after the Kristallnacht, after the first state sponsored pogrom, with hundreds of Jewish shops destroyed, synagogues burned, thousands of people put in concentration camps. And that ship, which was already on the shores of the United States, was sent back.

Can someone help me appoach an essay on Willy's and his sons' feelings in Death of a Salesman?

For Willy, the main feeling regarding his kids, his own life, and his reason to live is dissappointment. He was dissappointed at himself for cheating and being found out by Biff. Equally, Biff was disappointed by what his Dad did, and by what his Dad had become (a delirious man stuck in the past).

Willy also became disappointed seeing Biff transform from a Football star to a na'e doer, as well as his other son, Happy. He also could not forgive the fact that he had let life slip through his fingers, losing everything he had tried so hard to achieve.

Happy, who is literally a "happy go lucky" kind of dude, simply went along with the farce, and was just as fed up with the situation of Biff, his mother being such a martyr and a victim of his father, and of his father's condition. But, much like Willy, he is also irresponsible about his actions, and much like Biff, he is also trying to recapture something they used to have and now is gone forever which is their American Dream.

Lastly, as all dwell in all that is gone, each is just a mirror of each other's failures and for this reason, they are loveless, careless, and clueless. All of them are a piece on each other's puzzle, and none of them can change a thing about it.

When Willy commits suicide, it would maybe show how he wanted to break the chain of disappointment and misery that all of this highly dysfunctional family caused each other. He thought that it was the only way to end all the vicious cycle and perhaps start over, without the main instigator who was none other than Willy Loman himself.

What influenced Shakespeare to write As You Like It?

Shakespeare is really a scholar, he writes to explicit his wisdom. So it is his comedy and through it he points out that good nature always remains good and bad always bad. In this comedy Shakespeare describes about Duke who is dethroned by his wicked brother and at last he is banished. He, with his companions, stays at Arden jungle. Whenever he is found in trouble, his friend Amiens and Jacques sing a song to appease him and such things please him a lot. Now the main purpose of writing is to distinguish between materialism and nature, sincerity and treason and real friend and traitor. When we go through the song’ Under the green wood tree', It comes that the frank, sincere and pious person can stay there who always loves peace, love and equality. Because it is full of the merry notes of birds and land is green that is symbolizing for prosperity that is a head of you. In jungle there is no hatred and all work there for survival. Whatever they get, it is honest earning. As far as city life is concerned, it is full of materialism, hatred and deception. There all relationships are violated but money is embraced as the best friend. Again see the other song’ The seven ages of man' uttered by Jacques tells the seven ages of man-infant, unwilling school boy, lover, soldier, justice, the old and the childish. He divulges out psycho very honestly and humorously. He showers wisdom as well as humour.

What does Mike mean by his question, and what is Jimmy's response?

Mike Dolan is asking if Jimmy has another safecracking job lined up. This is intended to show that the two men know each other pretty well, but it is also intended to show that Jimmy doesn't trust even his best friends. He answers:

“I don't understand. I'm representing the New York Amalgamated Short Snap Biscuit Cracker and Frazzled Wheat Company.”

This is one of the drawbacks of being a criminal. Furthermore, O. Henry wishes to show that Jimmy is notorious as a professional burglar, the best in the racket. Jimmy must realize that his reputation is not doing him any good but could do him a lot of harm. The warden knows he is a career criminal. Mike Dolan knows it too. And worst of all, Ben Price knows a lot about Jimmy's modus operandi. When three safecracking jobs are pulled off a week after Jimmy's release from prison, Ben Price knows that Jimmy is back at work.

“That's Dandy Jim Valentine's autograph. He's resumed business. Look at that combination knob—jerked out as easy as pulling up a radish in wet weather. He's got the only clamps that can do it. And look how clean those tumblers were punched out! Jimmy never has to drill but one hole. Yes, I guess I want Mr. Valentine. He'll do his bit next time without any short-time or clemency foolishness.”

Jimmy is smart enough to realize that things are closing in on him. He must have been thinking of going straight even before he saw Annabel Adams and fell in love at first sight. She merely triggered a psychological change that had been evolving under the surface ever since Jimmy got arrested for the "Springfield job" and received a four-year sentence. He only served ten months of that sentence before getting "sprung" by influential friends, but that in itself was sobering because he had only expected to be in "stir" for three months at most. 

The fact that Mike Dolan runs a bar suggests that a lot of men know about Jimmy and talk about him. Bars were male hangouts in O. Henry's day. No doubt Jimmy was a common subject of conversation. Jimmy probably knew that if he told Mike anything about his plans in confidence, it wouldn't be long before everybody heard about them. It would be bad enough that Mike was sure to tell some of his regulars that Jimmy Valentine was back in circulation. They would all be wondering what he was going to do next. Jimmy goes to far-away Elmore, Arkansas in order to create a new identity as Ralph Spencer. But he finds he can't escape from himself.

Describe Bernard's new life in Chapter 11 of Brave New World.

After Bernard makes the Director look stupid and brings John the Savage to public attention, his life changes completely.  He is now a celebrity of sorts and everyone wants to be his friend so they can be near to John.

Huxley lists off a number of important people who are now "friends" of Bernard's.  Bernard himself brags to his friend Helmholz about how many girls he has gone to bed with in the past week and how many more he could have if he had wanted to.

So Bernard's life, for the time being, is the life of a celebrity.

During the American Civil War, what medicine did they have and use? And what diseases did they have?

Infections and diseases were much more deadly than battle in the Civil War, and claimed more lives.  Veterans wrote about a "camp cough" that would happen every morning when the army arose.  Knowledge about germs and sanitation and how disease was spread was limited at the time, which meant that often little was done to prevent or contain epidemics of Typhus, lockjaw, or fevers.  Operating conditions were horrible, with no sanitation of saws in between amputations, little training of the doctors and surgeons, and very limited amounts of painkillers.

Nurses provided cold and hot compresses, cleaned wounds of debris with alcohol, and used alcohol to anesthetize their patients.  In the heat of battlefield surgery, there wasn't time for that, as the limbs piled up and volunteers held down the wounded while their injured limbs and shattered bones were cut away.

Dorothea Dix, the early 1800's reformer, improved sanitation greatly during the war for Union hospitals, mostly just because she was a clean freak, but people noticed that survival rates in her hospitals went up.

What thoughts cheer up the speaker of the sonnet?William Shakespeare's Sonnet 30

In William Shakespeare's Sonnet 30, "When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought," the speaker acts as a judge in his nostalgia, summoning "remembrance of things past"; recalling his losses, the speaker seems to pay again for them:

And weep afresh love's long since cancelled woe,/And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight/Then can I grieve at grievances foregone/And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er/The sad account of fore bemoaned moan....

But, somehow by thinking of the fair youth, "all losses are restor'd and sorrows end."  However, it is odd that this new relationship compensates for the dead ones.  Perhaps, in by reflecting upon his melancholic memories, the speaker is reconciled by the friendship and love of the youth.

Interestingly, the line "rememberance of things past" was taken as the English title of the translation of the novel of the great French writer, Marcel Proust.

How does the film "Mr. Smith goes to Washington" depict machine politics/corruption, and how does it violate American ideals?

In the film, corruption is shown in a number of ways.  First of all, the way that Mr. Smith gets into Congress is corrupt.  He is chosen by machine bosses who want someone in Congress who will obey them.  Second, you can see it in how the machine frames Mr. Smith, claiming that he owns the land that he is trying to put the camp on.  They do it because they want the land for a corrupt deal they have going on dam construction.

These kinds of things violate American ideals because we believe that our political leaders should be elected by the people and should not use their offices to make themselves rich.  Political machines took government out of the hands of the people and used it for the benefit of the machine bosses.

Why is political democracy accompanied by social democracy?

Democracy comes from the Greek demos, meaning "the people" and kratia, meaning power, or rule.  Since Grecian times the concept was therefore one where the people ruled, or more importantly, engaged in self-governance.  The concept of self-governance implies that there is little or no superior group that imposes its will upon another; democracy tends away from oligarcy and towards consensus. It did not imply the concept of "majority rule,"  although in modern times it has sadly come to incorporate that undemocratic principle.

As individuals have the power to engage in self-governance, meaning that each shares and has a stake in the politics (from the Greek polis, meaning "having to do with the city,") the social and political relationships between individuals become the same thing.  In other words, where a democracy evolves, the social and political hierarchical structure, where one group or individual has more political power or social standing than another, becomes levelled.  Furthermore, democracy has this same levelling effect upon the economy -- where individuals possess self-rule or governance, they are free to engage in any transaction where they perceive a mutual benefit.  Economic opportunities are not restricted to a ruling class.  This is partially what is meant by the concept of a Free Market;  it's also the reason Democracy and Capitalism go hand in hand.

Democracy, then, is the great leveller.  allowing individuals to exercise their own governance (politics), relationships with other individuals (social aspects), and economic improvements (business.)

The price-demand equation and the cost function for the production of table saws are given, respectively, by x = 8400 – 36p and C(x) = 60000 +...

Given:

Number of saws = x = 8400 - 36p

Total cost of production = C(x) = 60000 + 72x

Where p = price per saw.

Solution

(A) Price p as function of demand x

We get this by rearranging the terms in equation for x as follows:

x = 8400 - 36p

36p = 8400 - x

Therefore price as a function of x is represented by

P(x) = 8400/36 - x/36 = 300 - x/36

(B) Marginal cost

Marginal cost is represented by the slope of the cost curve C(x) = 60000 + 72x

This is equal to 72.

Therefor marginal cost is $72

(C) - 1. Revenue Function

Revenue is given by the function

R (x)= Price function * Volume = P(x)*x

= (300 - x/36)*x = 300x - x^2/36

(C) - 2. Marginal Revenue

Marginal revenue is represented by the slope of the revenue curve, R(x) = 300x - x^2/36

This slope is represented by Derivative of R(x)

Therefore:

Marginal Revenue Function = M(x) = R'(x) = 300 - x/18

(C) - 3. Profit function

Profit function = S(x) = Revenue function - Cost Function = R(x) - C(x)

= (300x - x^2/36) - (60000 + 72x)

= - x^2/36 + 228x - 60000

(C) - 4. Marginal Profit

Marginal profit is represented by the slope of the profit curve, S(x) = x^2/36 + 228x - 60000

Marginal Profit function = S'(x) = - x/18 + 228

In Lady Windermere's Fan, the fan has got a deep symblolic value.Can you explain its functon and its value?Different fans with different color!...

The symbolism of color is the same across the board in the Western culture, so you may see that, whether it is applied to a fan or to a ribbon, dress, or curtain, the color is what is sending out the message, not the object itself.

However- there is a specific language for fans, which is not in their color, but in the way it is waved, placed, and employed.

Click on the two links I am providing and you will get the entire symbolism of colors. Each color has a specific symbol representing an emotion, an event, or an idea.

On the second link there is the chart of the language of the hand fan as used in Victorian times. I believe both can help you.

**I would also include in your homework the previous editor's answer, because it has great information on how the fan is used in the play, and it gives a lot of insight into the story aside from the symbolism of fans themselves "*

Can you give me a summary of the poem "The Pasture" by Robert Frost and who is referred to as you in the poem? Robert Frost's "The Pasture"

Perhaps, in his usage of "you" Frost addresses an adult audience in his poem "The Pasture"; he may be inviting his readers to recall the beauty of nature as they peruse his poem. For, as he describes his own actions, there is the almost parenthetical afterthought, "Why do you not come along, too?"

And, Frost further encourages his audience to reflect upon their childhood memories of farm life as he describes what he is going to do.  Furthermore, his encouragement of "I shan't be gone long"  lets his readers know that he will not take much of their time for them to engage in their happy reflections of nature such as watching the water sweep away the fallen leaves of fall and winter, and the sweet and touching innocence of the little calf that "totters" as it nurses from its mother's udder--images that will cheer the mind of the reader who is stressed by urban life.

How does Claudius effect Hamlet with him going "crazy"? And how does Claudius help us get a better understanding of Hamlet?

Claudius affected Hamlet's madness in a number of ways.

First, he set its wheels in motion by killing Hamlet's father, King Hamlet. This in turn led to the visits by his father's ghost. Once Hamlet's father demanded his son avenge his death, Hamlet's madness began.

Claudius worsened the situation by chastising Hamlet for continuing to mourn his father's death. He suggested Hamlet should act like a man and get over the death. He also flaunted his relationship with Hamlet's mother and his new role in Hamlet's life (father). This only spurred Hamlet's hatred and desire for revenge, which ultimately led to his madness.

As Hamlet's hatred of his uncle grew, Claudius continued to interfere: sending childhood friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Ophelia's father to spy on his nephew/son. The spying added to Hamlet's instability by leaving him with few to trust.

We gain a better understanding of Claudius through his ruthlessness. Hamlet is first unable to murder his Uncle because of his conscience, which his uncle does not posses. He and Hamlet do share some qualities. They both use people as pawns and the depth of their plans grows as they become further entrenched in their conflict.

What was the one thing Soda really wanted in the book and what happened?

What Soda Curtis really wanted was that horse.  He was really into horses and he had been working down at the stable and riding that horse every chance he got.  But then it got sold and he was devastated.

The horse was described as a "buckskin horse" and it was kept at the stable where Soda worked.  The horse was named Mickey Mouse and it really "belonged" to Soda more than to its owner.

Soda was really proud of the horse.  He always talked about how he had an ornery horse -- he talked about it like it was his.  But it was a pure quarter horse and worth a lot of money and, like I said, the owner sold it and it was taken away from that stable.

In "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl, what happens to upset Mary?

Mary's husband, who she adores and worships, comes home from work and behaves a little bit differently than normal.  For one, he downs all of his whiskey, and gets another glass; normally, he just has one drink, and doesn't even get through it very quickly.  Then, he gives her some news that is very upsetting.  What is interesting about the way that Dahl tells the story is that he doesn't give the details of the news; he merely summarizes the main gist of what the husband says:

"'This is going to be a bit of a shock to you, I'm afraid,'...and he told her.  It didn't take long, four or five minutes at the most...'And so there it is,' he added, 'And I know it's kind-of a bad time to be telling you...of course I'll give you money and see you're looked after."

So, we don't get the details--it could have been any number of things, but the bottom line of it all is that she will be left alone.  He's leaving her, we just don't know why.  We can infer that he's in love with someone else, or not in love with her anymore, but we don't have the specifics.  Dahl leaves that up to the reader, to fill in the blanks however they want to.  But the details don't change the fact that he has betrayed her, and is completely abandoning her and their unborn child.  That is enough to upset anyone, and the shock of it really gets to Mary in this story.  I hope that helped; good luck!

As the blinded Oedipus curses his fate, what purpose does the chorus serve in speaking with the tragic king?

In Oedipus the King, Sophocles utilizes the chorus to function as the embodiment of the reasoning process. Throughout the play, the chorus’ personality gradually evolves as information pertaining to Oedipus becomes disclosed. The progression of the chorus’ personality can be divided into three distinct stages: supportive and reliant on Oedipus, uncertain about the circumstances presented against Oedipus and commiserating with Oedipus’ fall. In each stage, the chorus serves a background to all interactions and provides the perspective Sophocles wishes the audience to adopt. The chorus also creates a sense of unity and cohesiveness which pervades the entire play. The chorus’ evolving personality reflects the progressive revelation of Oedipus’ tragic fate. At the beginning of the play, the chorus’ personality is unaffected by Oedipus’ fate and shows full confidence in his abilities as a leader.

As a result of Oedipus’ rash temperament, the chorus often finds itself in a position where it must defend his actions. Eg Oedipus grows suspicious of Creon and speaks ill of him to Teiresias, the chorus protectively reasons to Creon that “it was a sudden gust of anger that forced that insult from him, and no judgement (pg. 32 line 525)

But Oedipus’ rash manner and the presentation of incriminating information finally result  in the altering of the chorus’ stance.

The feeling of uncertainty grows as the chorus, lacking confidence in Oedipus says, “God grant that now, too, you may prove a fortunate guide for us (pg. 41 line 695).” The chorus’ personality evolves over the duration of the argument with Creon and eventually the chorus realizes the tragic fate of Oedipus.

The final stage of the chorus’ personality progression revolves around the downfall of Oedipus due to his fate. In this stage, the chorus exposes the notion that the welfare of the state is all that truly matters. The chorus now views Oedipus with pity and states “I weep for you and cry a dirge of lamentation pg.65 line 1216).” The chorus which once praised and worshiped Oedipus, now looks down upon him in grief. The last lines on the play summarize the entire evolution of the chorus’ personality, they say, “You that live in my ancestral Thebes, behold this Oedipus,- him who knew the famous riddles and was a man most masterful; ……. Count no mortal happy till he has passed the final limit of his life secure from pain.” These lines characterize the three stages of the chorus’ progression and reflect the tragic fate of Oedipus.

Why must Paul die in the end of the "Rocking-Horse Winner"?

I would also like to add that Paul is a sacrificial lamb in many ways.  In order to break this vicious cycle of greed and dissatisfaction, something dramatic needed to happen to give the characters a wake-up call as to what is really important in life.  The death of an innocent, young boy is shocking enough to institute change; if he had lived, the characters in the story would have surely continued in a static, self-destructive state embedded in greed and materialism.

What is a person likely to do if his eyes sparkle with scorn for everything and everyone crossing his path? About the Precocious...

First, let's define "scorn" and its synonyms. Scorn is identified by Random House Dictionary (on Dictionary.com) as functioning as a noun and a verb. When functioning as a noun (a feeling), scorn means open contempt and disdain. The example is "His face...showed the scorn he felt." As a verb (a behavior) scorn means to treat someone or something with contempt or disdain and also to reject, refuse or ignore someone or something with contempt or disdain. The example of this latter one is "She scorned my help." A third meaning as a verb is to act in such a way as to mock or jeer.

Both the noun and verb forms of scorn are derived from Germanic words that entered Old French, then entering Middle English between 1150 CE and 1200 CE. The noun derives from the Old French word escarn taken from one of the Germanic words like skern meaning "mockery." The verb form of scorn entered Middle English from the Old French word escharnir, which is also derived from one of the Germanic words like skern. The Germanic word itself derives from the Latin word scornare meaning "treat with contempt."

Let's go a little deeper into the meaning and look at the synonyms that keep coming up, contempt, disdain and mock. The word "contempt" means having the feeling that someone or something is the object of complete disrespect; worthless or vile; despised. The word "disdain" also means to despise and treat as being completely unworthy. The word "mock" means to attack or treat someone or something with ridicule; to challenge or defy someone or something.

Now to your question. Someone whose eyes sparkle--or flare--with scorn for anyone and anything that crosses his path is likely to speak contemptuously, be antagonistic, be insulting, pick quarrels, always speak in a offensive manner, feel superior and arrogant, not make friends, not smile, sneer, frown, get into fights if the recipient of the insults is on the aggressive side.

Does this quote reference describe Yevgeny Yevtushenko or another individual in the autobiography? If it describes Yevtushenko, the above list is well suited because his biographers say he spent his young years in street fights with the other boys and that he had a way of speaking unpopular truths in school that got him into trouble.

I need a quote on Scout's being curious in To Kill a MockingbirdI need this asap

There are many instances of Scout's being curious in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.l For, whenever she hears something being said that concerns her father, she is quick to inquire about it.  One such instance occurs in Chapter 2 as she asks her father, "Why does he pay you like that?" when Mr. Cunningham pays Atticus in turnip greens.  It is then that Atticus explains the concept of entailment and how Mr. Cunningham is too proud to take a WPA job.

In another instance, Scout talks with Miss Maudie and asks her about Boo Radley's remaining in his house:  "Why doesn't he?...Nobody ever told me."  Then, she asks Miss Maudie to explain the term she uses, "foot-washing Baptist."  As Miss Maudie relates the history of Boo Radley and the foot-washing father who sees all women as Eves, Scout inquires," Is that why Mr. Arthur stays in the house to keep away from women?  In Chapter 10 after Atticus shoots the rabid dog, Miss Maudie talks again with the children, telling them that Atticus has always been an marksman.  In curious reaction to this statement, Scout says, "Wonder why he never goes huntin' now."

Scout also asks her father "Do you defend niggers?"(9)and "What is rape?" (14) when she hears these words used in reference to Atticus and his defending of Tom Robinson. 

Please help to address these questions about the character's behaviors.Q1) What purpose is served by the discussion of the different meanings of...

There are some very in-depth questions there, a bit much to answer all in the space I am provided.  Therefore, I will deal with Q2 - the development and revelation of animosity of Mrs. Slade towards Mrs. Ansley.

Mrs. Slade is a jealous personality.  She clings hard to what she has and envies what other's have.  Throughout the evening of the story, she demonstrates envy over Mrs. Ansley daughter.  Mrs. Slade's own daughter is quiet, serious, and unexceptional.  Mrs. Ansley's daughter, Barbara, is intelligent and out-going. 

During their conversation, Mrs. Slade not only becomes more upset by the "wonder" of Mrs. Ansley's daughter, but also by Mrs. Ansley's  belief that Mrs. Slade is unhappy with her life.  Mrs. Slade is, of course, but she doesn't want others to know that.

Because she is feeling inferior now, Mrs. Slade reveals the secret about the letter from all those years ago.  She lets Mrs. Ansley know that she did not trust her.  Mrs. Slade always felt that Mrs. Ansley was interested in her fiancee, and she wanted to not only trap Mrs. Ansley, but even cause her to get sick so she would be out of the way for awhile.  Then, Mrs. Slade could keep Delphin to herself and make sure she "wins".

Describe the kite flying incident that was a turning point in Hassan's life.

This incident is a turning point in the life of Amir, Hassan, Baba, and Ali.  As a result of what happens in an alley one day, all four of their lives are irrevocably changed.

On the day in question, Amir and Hassan are in the kite competition that occurs each year in Afghanistan. Amir is determined to win this competition to prove to Baba that he is worthy. Hassan, who is his devoted friend (and servant), is equally determined to help Amir win.

Once Amir has cut down the last competing kite, he is the winner.  But there is a tradition of retrieving the last kite that has been cut down, and this is where Hassan's great skills come in. He is always able to sense where a kite will land and retrieve it. That is why he is called "the kite runner." 

When Hassan goes to retrieve the kite, he finds himself in a grim alley, surrounded by the local bully, Assef, and the bully's friends. In the meantime, Amir has followed Hassan, and when he realizes that Hassan is trapped with the kite, being threatened by Assef and his friends, he hides and witnesses Hassan being sodomized by Assef.

The reason this incident is central to the story is because, while Hassan had defended Amir from Assef in the past, Amir does nothing but hide when Assef does this terrible deed, and the rest of the story flows from Amir's weakness. After, he pretends he is unaware of what has happened, but he is haunted by guilt and cannot bear being with Amir. He manipulates events so that Amir and Ali are forced to leave the household, by making it look as though Hassan has stolen from him. There are, of course, many more consequences that flow from that day, but I think it is safe to say that Amir spends the rest of the book trying to make up for his failure on that day. 

As the book opens, if you recall, Amir is told by Rahim Khan that he has a chance to "be good again" (2). That is a chance for Amir to repair the damage he had done as a child on that day, a chance at redemption, which is one of the most powerful themes of the book. 

What is Finch Landing in 'To Kill a Mockingbird'?

In Chapter 1 Scout tells us that Finch’s Landing is about 20 miles from Maycomb, where the story takes place. Atticus, whose last name is Finch, comes from Finch’s Landing, the place named after his distant relative Simon Finch.  Atticus left Finch’s Landing to study law and never returned. The significance of the name and place is that Atticus comes from a good family, in that they owned land and prospered, although not an aristocratic family.  This means a good deal to his sister, Alexandra.

In Chapter 6 of "To Kill A Mockingbird," what is Mr. Avery's claim to fame?

If you are talking solely about Chapter 6, then I would say that Mr. Avery's claim to fame is that he can urinate a long distance.

In Chapter 6, Jem and Dill and Scout are walking by the house where Mr. Avery boards when they see him (it's implied) urinating.  He is able to make the urine hit somewhere like ten feet away from him.

Lee doesn't exactly say that Avery is urinating, but it seems quite clear given that he is responsible for a stream of water.  Also, the two boys then hold a contest to see who can best copy Mr. Avery and Scout is "untalented" in that way, which implies that they are seeing who can urinate farthest, which is obviously not something a girl would be able to compete in.

Why did Mr. Cunningham's mob leave? What was the importance of Mayella's bruises being primarily on the right side of her face?

The children, Jem and Scout, have gone up to the jail and see Atticus sitting in the jail house door with his feet propped up.  The mob that gathered at the jail house was an angry mob that smelled of staleness and whiskey. They had arrived in cars.  The men are speaking in soft tones probably out of respect for Atticus.

The men try to get Atticus to get out of the doorway.  Atticus tells Walter Cunningham to go home.  Scout runs to her daddy pushing through the crowd.  Atticus tries to send Jem and the children home.  A burley man had grabbed Jem and Scout in reaction had kicked him.

The crowd continued to demand Tom Robinson. Scout sees Mr. Cunningham and starts talking to him about some of the things she had heard Atticus discuss. When Mr. Cunningham did not respond, Scout had asked him if he had not recognized her. She starts talking about Walter.  Mr. Cunningham then had signaled the crowd to dissipate.  The humility of the child trying to encourage small talk with her classmate's father had brought Mr. Cunningham back to reason.

The side of Mayella's bruises is significant because one of Tom's hands is useless.

Why is there no theme in "The Most Dangerous Game?"

I see how you could look at The Most Dangerous Game and believe there is so much focus on the development of the plot, complicating the story and developing the conflicts of man vs. man, even man vs. self, and man vs. nature. I agree that a theme that is present is the civility of mankind, or the lengths to which a man might go for his own pursuit of pleasure or sport, or even the question of what makes something sport. These are all obviously very related... which demonstrates your point that theme is indeed limited. The title in itself alludes to man as the most dangerous animal or game as well as the sport of hunting man. This connects to a theme which might once again questions the civility of man. Is it okay to hunt humans?

This piece is also a classic action story. You see these movies all the time and that one element they lack is theme. Sure there is lots of violence and you wonder who is going to get killed, but being just a story you don't question why human life is put at risk. It's not like those movies are trying to teach, they are there to entertain.

TMDG definitely has themes the explore the lengths humans go to in order to hurt each other, but the plot does indeed draw your attention away from that.

Assess the validity of this statement: The progressive era was a failure

In actuality there are two distinct Progressive Eras, one before 1901 during the Gilded Age, and one after, starting with the Presidency of Teddy Roosevelt.

The pre 1901 Progressive Era was quite unsuccessful, made up of suffragists, the temperance movement, novelists, socialists and others active against the abuses of the time.  They were largely ignored and had very limited success.

After 1901, Progressives enjoyed quick successes under Teddy Roosevelt with the Meat Inspection Act, Pure Food and Drug Act, conservationism with National Parks, and labor reform under the Square Deal.  There was also fairly aggressive breakups of large trusts during that time.  By Wilson's presidency, progressive amendments were adopted to the Constitution.

So it really depends which Era you're referring to.

What has happened to Lady Macbetch? What is the main cause for her behaviour? Act 5 Scene 1

Well, one thing is for sure; Lady Macbeth was not "unsex[ed]" by the "spirits that tend on mortal thoughts." If you recall in Act I, scene v before Macbeth comes home and before they murder King Duncan, Lady Macbeth asks the "spirits that tend on mortal thoughts" to "unsex" and to "Make thick [her] blood; / Stop up th' access and passage to remorse."  In other words, she doesn't want to be human anymore so that she will not be bothered by her conscience after they murder the king.

Well, in the act to which you refer, it reveals that her conscience is bothering her immensely, so much that it manifests itself in her subconscious causing her to sleepwalk, and while she is sleepwalking, she is attempting to cleanse herself of the evil deeds that she has been apart of, in what seems to be a confession, for in it she mentions Duncan's, Banquo's and Lady Macduff's murders.  But it doesn't work, for later in the Act she commits suicide.

This scene is extremely ironic when you take into consideration her earlier role in Act I.

In book 24 of Homer's Odyssey, what is the relationship between peace in heaven in Odysseus' household and on Ithaca?

In the Homeric world, the gods are constantly meddling in the lives of humans. Odysseus especially has many gods for and against him throughout his journey. 

Most notable are Athena and Poseidon. Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, is Odysseus's guardian and patron. She constantly tries to protect him and guide him. On the other hand, Poseidon holds a grudge against Odysseus for several reasons, mostly borne out of Odysseus's hubris. For instance, Odysseus blinded Poseidon's son, the Cyclops Polyphemus.

Athena and Poseidon have always had a kind of enmity between them. They often argue about different issues, and are nearly always on opposite sides of huge conflicts. This dates back to the founding of the city of Athens. The two gods fought over who would be the patron god of the city. They had a competition, which Athena won. (Thus, the name of the city!) Ever since, they have had a rocky relationship. Their respective feelings towards a human hero like Odysseus certainly affects the goings-on of the heavens.