I have to pick a topic and write about it the story I have to use is "Girl" by Jamaica Kinkaid, any suggestions.I basically have to come up...

"Girl," by Jamaica Kincaid, is not really a story, but rather a long series of instructions and advice that a mother gives to her daughter.

Some of the instructions are about very simple matters of housekeeping:

Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry;

this is how to make a bread pudding; this is how to make doukona; this is how to make pepper pot; this is how to make a good medicine for a cold;

Other pieces of advice are on a more serious note: the mother suspects that the daughter is becoming a "slut," and she wants to prevent this.

on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming

this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming;

this is how to behave in the presence of men who don't know you very well, and this way they won't recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming

For your paper, perhaps you could discuss the kind of instructions and advice that your mother gives to you.  What does she stress: education, cleanliness, morality, money?  How does she phrase her instructions?  Do you agree with them?  Would you give the same advice to your daughters?

What are Mitch's 2 overwhelming desires during his acquaintance with Morrie in Tuesday's with Morrie?Explain how Mitch and Morrie react when they...

I shall start with the second question which you asked. Morrie was Mitch's professor in college. He was Mitch's favorite teacher. Morrie was the kind of teacher who tried to make a difference for his students. He had even been known to have given his male students As one semester to keep them deferred from entering the military during the Vietnam War. Morrie is somewhat of a slob when he eats and gets food on the outside of his mouth.

Mitch says that the two overwhelming desires he has are to "hug him and to give him a napkin."(31)

I could not find any reference to Mitch meeting Morrie at Brandies. I know there first reunion occurred at Connie's and Morries home. Mitch found Morrie in a wheel chair. Mitch was nervous because he felt like he had abandoned his friend. However, Morrie greeted him with so much love that time and the past became irrelevant.

In Chapter 19 of "To Kill a Mockingbird," why does Lee have Link Deas interrupt the trial?This was Chapter 19.

There are several reasons why Lee might do this. The most basic is, it shows how high passions are running. There's no reason to interrupt a trial unless you're overcome with emotion. It adds excitement. Next, it shows that Atticus is not alone, and that others know Tom is a good man and unlikely to do what he's accused of. Finally, with the judge's reaction, it shows the effort the community is will go to trying to keep order.

How does Robinson Jeffers use alliteration in "To The Stone-Cutters" to draw our attention to important words and phrases?What meaning or effects...

To me, Jeffers is trying to tell us that both stone cutters and poets are trying to create things that will last forever.  He seems unsure as to whether it's worth it.  He says that everything's going to die in the end, but that poetry and stone work can last a long time even so.

I think he uses alliteration to point out the first of these -- that everything falls apart.  If you look at a couple of the places where he uses alliteration, they are in the parts where he's talking about this -- both for rock cutters (rock, records, Roman) and poets (blotted, blithe, brave, blind, blackening).  I think the alliteration draws our attention to this idea.

What will happen to Magwitch if he's caught in England?

Magwitch is an escaped convict who meets Pip in a churchyard on the march and demands that Pip give him food and a file to break his chains. Petrified, Pip complies and Magwitch escapes. He is later recaptured and shipped off to Australia where he grows rich. He is forbidden by law to ever return to England. Unknown to Pip, however, Magwitch is the one who provides the money for Pip's "great expectations" out of gratitude for helping him escape. Later on in the story when Pip is grown up, Magwitch returns to England, curious to see how Pip is getting along and if his money has made Pip into a proper gentlemen. By returning to England, however, Magwitch puts himself in jeopardy. He says "It's death to come back" - because he has violated the law in coming back. In fact, he is captured after he has a fight with Compeyson and sentenced to death, but he is so badly injured in the fight that he dies before he can be put to death. Pip then learns that Magwitch is Estella's father. And the plot thickens.............

How does the King of Brobdingnag view English history of the preceding hundred years?

Basically, the king of these giant people thinks that the history and governmental system of the British proves that they are horrible people.  After Gulliver explains British history and government, the king tells him

I cannot but conclude the Bulk of your Natives, to be the most pernicious Race of little odious Vermin that Nature ever suffered to crawl upon the Surface of the Earth.

In general, what the king says is that British history is just too full of violence and other evils.  He says it shows that the British are, among other bad things, hypocritical, lustful, and malicious.

Swift tells us of a number of questions that the king asks Gulliver.  These can be found in Chapter 6 and they can show you specific things that the king thinks are bad.

What is the appropriate age group to read the novel (not the movie).I have an 11 year old who is interested in reading the book we still do not let...

I first read the book when I was about 19, and it deeply disturbed me.  When I go through it again now, at 23, I find that it both dazzles and disturbs me.  The beauty in the novel is superb, as is the writing style itself.  The story is based on Sebold's own rape, and a woman who was murdered in the same way Susie Salmon is in the novel.  The murder took place in the place where Sebold was raped, thus she took the two true stories and turned them into a wondrous novel.

However, the book is very tragic, graphic, and difficult to read (emotionally) at times.  As I mentioned, it still disturbs me as much as I love it, and I'm over twice your daughter's age. 

The novel has a rape scene, a murder scene, an "after murder" scene, and a sex scene, not to mention the emotions described by Susie as she enters "the in-between."

Honestly, I would never recommend this book for an 11 year old, and possibly not even for a young highschooler.  You, however, would benefit from reading it.  The Lovely Bones is one of my favorite novels, but it is emotionally a very turbulent read.

Hemingway employs a direct, unadorned style of writing in order to:A.remove all uncertainty about what he is trying to say. b. allow the reader to...

I'm not sure that there's a single correct answer in that multiple choice question about Ernest Hemingway's writing style, but I think that I can safely rule out two answers.

"A. Remove all uncertainty.." is not a plausible answer. No self-respected modernist would try to use language without uncertainty, and Hemingway definitely presents uncertainty in a number of his works. For example, it's never completely clear what the topic of discussion is in the short story "Hills Like White Elephants: or what the nature of Jake Barnes' wound is in The Sun Also Rises. The reader gets a pretty good idea, sure, but the characters and narrator tend to talk around subjects rather than about them, a tendency that creates rather than removes uncertainty.

"C. Deemphasize the importance of language..." is equally impossible as an answer. Like all serious writers, Hemingway was closely attuned to language and often worked very long and hard to get the right word for what he meant. The drafts of his manuscripts are full of extensive revisions and rewritings of his material.

Of the remaining two answers, B and D, I think that I prefer the answer B. Or D! I really can't decide which seems most true. I also don't even think it's true that Hemingway always uses a "direct, unadorned style of writing." This characterization does not fit his very long and rich descriptions of the Spanish landscape in The Sun Also Rises, for example.

In "The Giver" what can we learn about Jonas from examining his internal thoughts?

From Jonas' inner thoughts we learn that he has begun to experience adolescent feelings of sexual arousal and love.  He has to take the pills because of the feelings that have begun to stir inside him.  We learn that the lessons and memories that have been shared by the Giver are weighing heavily on Jonas.

When Jonas learns about the feeling of love he begins to contemplate he level of feelings that people in his society have, and he comes to realize they have never really felt love or hate.  Through Jonas' thoughts the reader understands that the playing the game of war can feel as destructive as the real thing if one equates it to the real event.

One of the greatest realizations about Jonas is that he had learned what death means and he has taken his memories and used them to formulate new ideas of his own needs and strengths.  A good example is that he decides to share memories with Gabriel and that he takes Gabriel with him when he escapes.

What is the difference between strategic plan, tactical plan and operational plan?can you please give specific examples.

Each of these is an approach to achieving the organization's goals at their respective strategic, tactical, and operational levels.  Once the organization sets strategic, tactical, and operational goals, it should develop respective plans achieving the goals at each level.

A strategic plan focuses on the entire organization, at a high level, and establishes a formula for how the business will achieve the goals that meet the mission statement.  The strategic plan might establish a target number for improving a business process. 

A tactical plan describes actions (tactics) that various divisions or departments will take to meet the demands of the strategic plan.  Not as high level as, and more specific than, the strategic plan, it establishes general actions and/or deadlines that support the strategic plan .  The tactical plan might establish target numbers for how the divisions or departments will meet the target numbers set in the strategic plan. 

An operational plan focuses on how the tactical and operational plan will actually be carried out.  This should include specific numbers, deadlines, staffing decisions, and other information that details who, what, when, where, and how the division or department will do its part to achieve the organization's mission in line with the strategic and tactical plans.

Here's an example from the non-profit world:
If part of the mission is to eliminate the conditions that cause poverty, then one of the strategic goals might be to change the regulations that prevent low-income people from getting public assistance if they have any assets (such as a car or home).  The strategic plan would include getting public and legislative support for such a change in federal and state policy.

A tactical goal would be to educate legislators about the adverse effect the current policies have on low-income people struggling to get out of poverty and how these policies create roadblocks that keep them in poverty (people need a car to get to their job, for example).  A tactical plan that supports this would be identify which public policies are creating the roadblocks, what types of policy changes are needed, and to develop those educational materials,

The operational plan might include a series of a series of breakfast meetings with state and federal legislators.  It would identify who would participate (staff, community members, which legislators,etc.), how many meetings, what pieces of legislation need to be changed or created, etc.

In "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," how do the tasks of Mitty's daily life compare to those of his fantasy life?

In his daily life, Walter Mitty is a bored, hen-pecked husband who has little control about what goes on around him. He runs errands for his wife and then listens to her complaints each and every day. In his fantasy world, he is able to tune out his wife and daydream about exciting activities which he will never be able to accomplish. Whenever things begin to become too stressful, Walter switches to fantasy mode. In the end, even a firing squad seems to be preferential to his daily grind.

Should Darcy have interfered with Bingley's love for Jane?

Definitely from a modern-day point of view, we would say Darcy should have minded his own business.  But let's look at it from Darcy's point of view - that of a 19th-century upper-class gentleman.  He knew what society was like at that time - he knew that if Bingley had aligned himself with a lower-middle-class family (particularly one with an obnoxious, shrewish mother and very flirtatious younger sisters), his future in society could have been damaged.  Darcy truly cared about Bingley and his future, and he didn't know Jane from Eve.  It seems cold and unfair to us, as we have the point of view of knowing what a good woman Jane was, and that she truly had fallen in love with Bingley, would have tried (and probably succeeded) to be a good wife to him, etc.

But again, Darcy didn't know any of that.  All he knew was that his friend was potentially making a very damaging mistake, and that society at the time was unforgiving concerning these types of situations.  Darcy did not want Bingley to suffer.

What is Jimmy's atitude toward women in Look Back in Anger, and is Jimmy an anti-woman sexist?

A contemporary reading of Look Back in Anger includes a reading of sexism in which Jimmy's anger and hatred is directed at women in general. The examples in the play that are taken to represent a greater sexism on Jimmy's part are his relationships with Alison and then Helena, the most striking point of which is that after a time, Helena stands silently and emotionally passively at the ironing board on Sunday night just like Alison used to do.

However when the play was first performed in 1955, the emphasis wasn't on sexism but on class identity and limitations. The similarity between Helena and Alison is that they are both from the upper class and are both religious with "establishment" church affiliations. Jimmy's great invective is against the complacent, unthinking privilege given to and assumed by the upper classes who have no need to think or be intelligent, as Nigel represents, or feel, as Alison and Helena represent.  When Jimmy's treatment of Alison and Helena are seen from a 1950s perspective as representative of Jimmy's hatred of a class division that defrauds individuals--on both sides of the class divide--of their humanity, the undertones of sexism take a secondary position.

Why was Moeshe important to Elie?

Moshe the Beadle in the book "Night" was important to Eli because he represented his town and a way of life.  Moshe was loved by all.  He was a gentle Jewish man who always made people feel good around him.  He was poor and humble. He sang and chanted but did not speak much.  Moshe represents Elie's devout faith in the Talmud and Hebrew doctrine.  He would study during the day and cry over the destruction of the Jewish temple at night.

On day Moesha is expelled from the land because he was a foreigner.  Moesha had been put on a cattle car and shipped out by the Nazis.  He came back though.  He had some terrible things to tell the people.  He told them about the Jews who had been taken to the forest, forced to build their own graves, and then executed.  He even told about the babies being thrown into the air and shot at.

Moshe escaped because he was only wounded.  He spent his time since escape going from Jewish house to house telling them what had happened.  He lost his songs in his heart and felt no more joy.  The people made a choice to stop listening to his stories.  They did not believe them.  They thought that he wanted pity.

Even Elie and his family did not believe what Moshe had to tell them.  Elie chose to use Moshe to demonstrate how truly blind they all were about the offences of the Germans.  By the time they all started believing what Moshe had to say, it was too late.  Later, Elie would lose his own light and spirit with God just as Moshe had lost his.

What could be a topic of one of the stories Richard wrote that are mentioned in Chapter IV of Black Boy?I'd like some sugestions about what could...

Regarding the stories Richard began to write at the end of Chapter IV in Black Boy by Richard Wright, these stories as he describes them were emotional stories filled with "atmosphere and longing and death." At this point in his life, Richard has not read extensively, so his subject mater must be restricted to what he knows or can imagine that is in keeping with boyhood. He also makes it clear that these stories gave him an escape from, a liberty from, the pain in his young life and a way to express himsefl that was free from the limitations to expression that had been forced upon him from family and society begining with the day he set the house on fire, which is a nice metaphor for the restrictions on the author's life setting Wright on fire for the right of expression, a fire that burned brightly in him illuminating the world.

Supposition is all that can be called upon in guessing what he might have written. I'm imagining a story about a black boy, Edward, who is not a schoolboy but who has been taught to read by another schoolboy and who meets a new black boy in the neighborhood.

This new boy is smaller and poorer. He has a father who is always away from home taking any and every scrap of work he can find and a mother who is always working over a hot washtub and a hot iron doing other people's washing while her son, left to his own idle, lonely devices, wanders in old, torn, dirty clothes. Edward watches silently as the neighborhood boys pick on the new boy, Jackson, and one day gang up on him because he is so small and so silent that they despise him and beat him.

While Jackson is trying to recover, Edward goes to him and reads to him, reading anything he can lay his hands on, like labels from old cans. He even manages to teach Jackson to read a little. One day, Jackson isn't to be found. His mother is wailing over her ironing board. Jackson has died in the night from a cerebral hemorrhage. Edward only has the labels that read together left to remember him by and in his grief vows he will always speak his mind and not stand idly by to witness cruelty.

Can you please write a story for me using some 1920's slang?people living in the 1920's spoke differently than we do today, write a story using...

Instead writing a story I will give you a list of 1920s slang and examples of how it was used.

• Bee's Knees-a great person


• Baby-sweatheart


• Bank's closed-no kissing


• Attaboy-well done


• Bell Bottom-sailor


• Caper-a criminal act


• Bull-cop


• Cat's meow-something great


• Chassis-female body


• Deb-a debutant


• Dogs-feet


• Dolled up-dressed up


• Dry up-shut up


• Earful-enough

Two sentence examples are: 

1. The bell bottom was all dolled up because of the Deb he thought was the bee's knees. 


2. He got an earful from the bull who told him to dry up.

After a long class, teacher stretches out for a nap on a bed of nails. How is this possible?+) Why is the spacing between successive bands smaller...

A nail can prick the human body causing a wound only when the pressure exerted by point of the nail on the body. When someone lies down on a bed composed of very large number of nails, the total body weight pressing on the bed gets divided among the nails, with the result that each nail is pressing up against the body with a very small force.

For example let us consider a bed made up of 20 rows of nails with 120 nails in each row. This makes 2400 nails in total. When a person of 60 kilogram sleeps on this bed, the average body weight supported by each nail is just 0.25 or quarter of a kg. The pressure exerted by 0.25 kg of weight is much less than the pressure required for the nails used in such bed to puncture the skin. Of course the bed of nails of this kind would still be quite uncomfortable.

The question about successive bands being closer together, given in the supplementary information to the main question, appears to be part of a question on some thing other than bed on nails. There are no bands on bed of nails. Therefor, I offer no comment about it.

Geography of the Cascade MountainsMy little sister (who is in 4th grade) was assigned to a project on the geography of the Cascade Mountains. I...

Wow! That's a tough 4th grade assignment.

I would have her look up information about these things regarding the Cascade Mountain Range: climate, elevation, soil, vegetation, population, land use, industries, or states involved.

If it is a display board, this kid could find a picture and write a paragraph about each of the above topics after a little bit of research.

Try to look for resources that are set up for children. Google 'children's encyclopedia online free'. You'll find lots of goodies that are appropriate for her. Check the one below to begin with.

How accurate is Huck’s information about dukes and kings? Why?

I assume that you are talking about the part in Chapter 14 where Huck reads the books the have about royalty and then he and Jim discuss the subject a bit.

Their conversation makes it clear that Huck does not really know very much about kings and dukes and royalty.  He talks, for example, about kings executing everyone in their parliaments and spending most of their time in their harems.

I think that this is meant in part to show how Huck is a real American with the aggressively republican attitudes of his time.  Americans do not know about royalty because we never had such things and Huck cannot really imagine what royalty would be like.

What is Newton's Third Law?

I've always had a little trouble getting my head around this third law, the idea that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. I try to keep two examples in mind:

A book lying on a table is pushing down on the table, because it's being pulled downward by gravity. The table is pushing back, and its capacity for pushing back to the same extent that the book is pushing on it is what keeps the book from crashing through the table.

That example is everyday, but it's not very dynamic. Here's the second example that I like to keep in mind:

If an astronaut in space, just floating there, throws something forward -- say, a spare screwdriver -- the equal and opposing force will propel the astronaut backward. The force of the backward movement of the astronaut will equal the force of the forward throw of the screwdriver. (Why an astronaut would carry a spare screwdrive in space is another problem altogether!)

Those examples have always helped me. The website below, written for students, gives more discussion and examples.

What values are expressed in Gilgamesh and Hamlet. Also, how did the values change over time?

In Gilgamesh and Hamlet both, strength and power are both valued in the beginning.  Gilgamesh and Ekindu have the strength to defeat their enemies and establish their reputations.  Gilgamesh seeks the power of immortal life, to continue to achieve beyond the mortal failings of his friend.  Hamlet seeks the strength to avenge his father's death, and Claudius seeks the power of the throne.

However, all of these characters realize, over time, that the beauty of a life lies in the living of it.  Gilgamesh accepts that he lived fully, completed his journey, and that his "immortality" must come in the telling of his tale.  He accepts that neither strength nor power are ever-lasting.  Hamlet sits in the graveyard, in Act V, and examines the skull, recognizing finally that life is meant to come full circle, and that he should have been living it, rather than struggling for strength.  Upon Gertrude's death, Claudius accepts that his relentless search for power has caused the death of his love.  He search was meaningless, as was Hamlet's.  In both stories, the value of life for life's sake is finally emphasized in the end.

sir Thomas wyatt : AND wilt thou leave me thus ........................... I want paraphrase this poem ?

This poem is a love poem.  The speaker in the poem is begging his (I assume) love not to leave him.  Here is a brief paraphrase of each stanza.

Will you leave me?  Say no, so that you will not be responsible for making me sad.

Will you leave me when I have loved you so much for so long?  Is your heart that strong?  Say no!

Will you leave me when I have given you my heart and would never take it back?  Say no!

And will you leave me and not have any pity?  Alas for your cruelty?  Say no!

When doing a polemic essay, can I use I to argue my topic since it is my opinion, "like I believe that this is"....?

Yes, you certainly can use "I" in an essay, but generally it's better not to. Many teachers don't like the use of "I" at all, even in a polemical essay. (The link given below, for example, states: "Using the first person weakens your argument.") Instead of writing "I believe that this evidence is unconvincing," these teachers would probably suggest that you should write "This evidence is unconvincing." Unless this statement is clearly attributed to someone else (e.g. "Many experts believe that this evidence is unconvincing"), readers should understand that this polemical statement is coming from the writer (you).

At the same time, however, I think there are some very effective ways in which to use "I" in a polemical essay. For me, it's often important in an argument to express your perspective on the issue, and your perspective is always closely tied to who you are as a person and to what you have experienced in life. You may have personal experience to draw on, for example, or you may belong to a particular group that is involved in the issue that you are discussing. For example, I could write a polemical essay on how Americans are the cause of all sorts of problems because they are often overly eager to sue and could briefly explain my own experience of being driven off the road by an 18-wheeler yet choosing not to sue. Just because I've experienced something, of course, doesn't make me the ultimate expert, and every experience is different. The best I can do in any argument, I believe, is to explain where I am coming from and present the evidence as I see it.

In short, you definitely should not use "I think that..." or "I believe..." at the beginning of every sentence in your polemical essay, but you may find it useful (for both you and your readers) to articulate your individual perspective (using "I" when necessary) of the topic that you are discussing.

William Faulkner liked to write about odd, strong-willed "survivors." In what ways is Miss Emily a "survivor"?

To add to the excellent responses above with specific examples, you could examine how she survived her father and his scrutiny over her suitors.  She survived the disgrace of her betrothed abandoning her (and through her strong-will got revenge).  Another example is how she absolutely refused to pay her property taxes.  The former mayor once, because of an obligation to her father, made her exempt from property taxes.  However, once that mayor is gone, the preceding ones try to get her to pay the taxes, once even venturing to her house and sitting down with her, but through her strong-will and utter refusal, they eventually cave and allow the old tradition to exist.  That incident reveals a lot about Emily's character.

What is the summary of Chapter 20 of To Sir With Love?

The Headmaster arranges for a newspaper to visit the school, with the idea that it would provide a means for him to present his views and policies at Greenslade's to the wider public. The staff, all except Mr. Braithwaite, is enthusiastic about the project. Mr. Braithwaite objects because he feels he will be singled out as an oddity, to be used as proof that racism is on the wane in England because of his presence as a black teacher at a white school. As he expects, the reporters request to interview him personally, but he declines.

When the newspaper article resulting from the visit is published, Mr. Florian and the staff are dismayed, because the school is presented in the worst possible light. The students are made to look "sleazy and uncouth," and the boys are pictured "with cigarettes hanging from their mouths and wearing expressions of bored depravity." Mr. Florian is especially nonplussed, because he feels responsible for what has transpired, but Gillian Blanchard speaks up, putting everything in perspective. She says that it is the editor who decides what is published based on what the publice wants, and that the public, being fickle, "will have forgotten it all by tomorrow." Her words defuse the difficult situation, and business at the school resumes as usual.

In early December, the mother of one of Mr. Braithwaite's students, Seales, dies. The children take up a collection to bring flowers to the family, but when the time comes to actually deliver the flowers to Seales' house, no one volunteers. The students confess that, because Seales is of mixed race, they would be exposed to public censure if they were to be seen going to his house. Mr. Braithwaite is heartbroken, feeling that he has taught them nothing during his time with them, but Mr. Florian rebukes him, telling him to be patient and to "show (his students) some of the same tolerance and patient good will (he) hope(s) to get from them." When Mr. Braithwaite returns to his classroom, Pamela Dare bravely volunteers to deliver the flowers, declaring that she is not worried about gossips. Mr. Braithwaite, somewhat heartened, goes to the funeral of Seales' mother on Saturday, and discovers to his surprise that virtually his entire class is present there, with Pamela. Mr. Braithwaite is moved to tears by the courage his students show in daring to defy deeply ingrained social conventions because they see that they are wrong, and he hurries to join them, proud beyond words (Chapter 20). 

Which is the best innovations made in Barbie doll business?The best innovation made in the barbie doll business and it would be useful to me if I...

While the continued popularity of Barbie Dolls and the business succes of the company marketing these dolls for more than half a century is a well known. A lot has been written about the history of evolution of different designs of the Barbie Dolls and the accessories to go with the doll. However not much management literature ezists on the management methods of and business strategy of barbie doll business. Therfore I rely on what can be inferred from general information available rather than specific knowledge of business methods and strategires.

Of course, the basic ingredient in the success of the Barbie doll business has been the attractive design of the doll appealing to the taste of people, and high quality of manufacturing which includes, accurate and detailed reproduction of features of the doll, product that wears well over time and consistency in quality. I would like point out tat specific designs of the model such as changes in ethnic look are part of implementation of basic policy of designing the doll as per preferences of the customers rather than the basic policy. The designs of dolls have changed and multiplied over a period, but the policy of designing the doll according to tastes and preferences of customer has remained unchanged.

Given that the basic product was and appeals to the customers the most important contributor the success of Barbie doll business is giving the doll a well developed identity under the name of Barbie. The significance of this strategy becomes very clear when we realize that the only toy that may be more popular than Barbie Doll is the "Teddy Bear". Thought this is not toy marketed by a single company under proprietary brand name, it is definitely a toy with a very well developed identity. The strategy of giving Barbie doll has enabled the company to utilized very well the concept of product positioning to market the product.

Next most important business strategy appears to be introduction of accessories for the barbie doll. These accessories no only add to the total business volume of the company, but also enhance the value and image of the basic doll for the consumer. These accessories provide ways of playing with the basic doll in many additional ways. Also these accessories strengthen the image of Barbie Doll as a real person rather than just a toy.

Finally willingness to change and adapt to changing times has been a major contributor in the continued success of the company for extended period. As a matter of fact this is an essential requirement for continued success of any company over extended period. While I do not know all the changes that Barbie doll company has introduced in their business practices. But what can be seen very clearly is the positive approach they have adopted for redesigning the existing products and introducing new ones.

In the poem "Annabel Lee," to whom might the speaker have been referring when he speaks of "highborn kinsmen"?

The "highborn kinsmen" are Annabel Lee's relatives. We are not told why they disapprove of the speaker's relationship with Annabel Lee, but we can infer that he is from a lower socioeconomic class. After Annabel Lee's death, her relatives take possession of her remains and won't even allow the speaker to attend her funeral.

Some scholars believe this poem is about Poe's love for and marriage to his cousin Virginia Clemm. Their families objected to their relationship not only because they were cousins but also because of the difference in their ages: he was 27 and she was 13!

See the eNote discussion of themes in the poem.

How does Golding use Simon to convey his own ideas?

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is on one level a novel about good versus evil.  Golding uses Simon to convey his own ideas in several ways.  First, Simon, like Piggy, is the voice of reason.  He is rational, intelligent, and independent.  He is the only one on the island who realizes the children need not fear a monster or beast; they must fear themselves.  The beast lives inside of all of them.  When the boys mistake the dead parachutist for the beast, Simon is the one who eventually discovers that there is no beast waving and flailing from the top of the mountain.  However, before he is able to convince the boys that there is no beast, he is savagely beaten to death by the others.  Obviously, Golding's hope for human nature must have been fairly low if Simon, a character who is beaten to death, was a representation of his ideas!

Why is Amir's time with Farid significant? Why would Hosseini include him as a character in the story?

This is an interesting question because Farid is introduced as a means of transportation, so it is not immediately obvious what part he plays in the story. However, he is important for a few reasons.

First, his character in contrast with Amir's character shows us how Amir has changed in his twenty years in America.  Amir tells Farid, "I feel like a tourist in my own country" (231). And we can see how Farid knows his way around, what to do and where to go, in a way Amir cannot manage.

Second, Farid's attitude gives us a glimpse into the attitude of Afghans. Farid clearly disapproves of those Afghans who have left for greener pastures.  And you can also see his disdain for Americans in his conversation.  Also important is the understanding we have about socio-economic divisions in Afghanistan.  Farid has been through hell. He is a poor man who is missing two toes and three fingers. He has wives and many children to support. When Amir says some part of him will always be Afghan, Farid snickers and points out to Amir what a privileged life he had led when he was in Afghanistan, not the life of the typical Afghan. 

When Farid learns of Amir's reason for being in Afghanistan, his attitude changes,and he becomes important in other ways. He is a kind of "tour guide" to Amir, so Amir is able to see what has happened to his country. (And in fact, in this sense, Amir is a stand-in for the author, who is quite active in several important Afgan causes.)  Farid also becomes an active participant in the search for Sohrab and ultimately rescues Amir and Sohrab, after Assef nearly kills Amir.

So, all in all, Farid, the lowly taxi driver, is a most important character. 

What are the deities of Judaism and Islam?

Islam, like Christianity, is a religion that has evolved from Judaism. All these three religion believe in only one god. In Islam the name of their God and the term used to describe the concept of god is same - Allah. The God of Judaism is called by different names such as Jehowah, Yahweh and Yahwe.

However it should be noted that Islam has elevated Hazrat Mohammed, the founder of Islam, to almost god like position, just as Christianity has elevated Jesus Christ, whose teachings led to formation of Christianity, to almost god like position. In Judaism there is no such religious leader elevated to God like position.

What do you suppose was Fitzgerald's goal in writing "Babylon Revisited"?

My position is that the narrator is expressing his discomfort with the American ex-patriot community living in France.  Charlie Wales, the main character (one hesitates to call him a protagonist), lives a life of thorough excess, so much so that he has a god-complex.  Charlie, irritated that his wife after a drunken quarrel, locks her out of the house, leaving her in the snow to die of exposure. 

Fitzgerald writes about the hubris of American men like Charlie, saying, his ilk were   "(t)he men who locked their wives out in the snow, because the snow of twenty-nine wasn't real snow.  If you didn't want it to be snow, you just paid money." 

Money, in this story and in many other of Fitzgerald's works, is both the utmost desire of Americans, but ironically their most assured downfall.  The ex-patriots no more escape their materialism (in fact, seem to be more likely to be consumed by it) than the capitalist culture they ostensibly shun. 

The title refers to the biblical Babylon, in which God caused the people to be completely unable to communicate.  Such is the case between "regular" Americans, and those trying to shed their identity. 

What does Ponyboy learn about himself through Soda Pop's outburst in Chapter 12?

Sodapop's outburst serves as a catharsis for Ponyboy. He seems to snap out of his depression and is able to think of Dally and Johnnie without overwhelming sadness. His brother's want him to still be the sensitive, thoughtful kid he always was.

Ponyboy realizes his experiences don't have to harden him, that he can tell his story to show that unresolved anger can lead to violence, senseless violence.

Can you explain with quotes the sort of names Lord Capulet calls Juliet in act 3, scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet?

Lord Capulet, none too pleased to learn that his daughter is refusing to marry Paris, calls Juliet a "mistress minion", a "green sickness carrion" and a "tallow face."  This is a very interesting question, because its explanation requires some knowledge of the superstitions of Renaissance thinking.

Mary Fissell, in her article "Girls in Green," explains the meaning of being threatened with "green sickness": 

This worrisome condition was caused by the cessation of menses. Contemporary medical theory reasoned that the stoppage of menstrual blood led to dire consequences, since menstrual blood was full of harmful substances that the body sought to expel. Young women with this ailment turned a delicate shade of green or white because blood left all other parts of the body and converged in the womb or liver.

Being called "tallow faced" was not nice either (of course).  Tallow is the fat of animals used to make fat or soap.  Perhaps calling name was to make her feel ugly (so why would she reject such a good match?) 

As for "mistress minion" one would need to consider the archaic definition of "minion" which was "one who pleases rather than benefits."  Lord Capulet is being very sarcastic....he's essentially calling Juliet "baggage."   

How has Leper changed in Chapter 10 of A Separate Peace? What is a Section Eight discharge? Why didn't Leper want...

Leper is a psychological mess. He had always been different, but he had always been impeccably friendly, courteous, and reserved. When Gene goes to visit him at his house, however, he is bitter, ranting, and rude. His speech is harsh and laced with curse words, and he seems to have no filter for what he says. Gene notes with dismay that "the careful politeness" that had always characterized Leper is gone, and as Leper describes the horrors he sees in his mind, Gene realizes that "none of this could have been said by the Leper of the beaver dam," the Leper of before the enlistment. Leper had been completely unable to handle the realities of military life. His mental state had deteriorated to the point that the army had been about to release him on a Section Eight discharge.

In Leper's words, a Section Eight discharge is "for the nuts in the service, the psychos, the Funny Farm candidates." It is worse than a dishonorable discharge because it marks an individual for life. Leper says that he would not ever be able to get a job if he had taken the Section Eight discharge, and that people would always look upon him with disgust.  In his words, "you're screwed for life, that's what a Section Eight discharge means" (Chapter 10).

How does Jane Austen employ irony at different levels in Emma?

Irony is shown when Emma considers her attraction to Mr. Churchill. She is such a match maker toward Harriet that it is ironic she can't tell when she herself is in love.

This irony is compounded with her indecision in how to respond to the news of Mr. Churchill's secret engagement to Miss Fairfax. She knows she ought to feel wounded by his insincerity, but knows she isn't wounded--and so feels ambivalent. Yet, another irony creeps in...how will society perceive this shift in affection?

Not knowing how to feel due to the concern of the way society interprets the situation is ironic in itself, but this was a concern of great import at the time.

So now that Emma is all grown up, she is ironically still in need of Mrs. Weston's guidance in the matter.

This is one example of the way Austen shifts from personal to intrapersonal and social irony.

Where is this play set?

This play is set in a couple of places.  The play starts out in Athens where Hermia is supposed to be marrying Demetrius.  She is trying to get out of doing this, but her father and also the prince of Athens say she has to.

Then, the play moves to the forest (presumably this forest is in Greece since they walk to it, but it sounds a lot like England).  Most of the rest of the play happens in the forest where the fairies (Oberon, Titania and Puck) have a great deal of impact on what happens to the mortals who are running around in the woods.

What happened in the bloody scissors incident with Boo Radley and his father?Why did he want to do this to his father? Did it succeed or was it...

It may also be useful to keep in mind that the scissors incident was speculation - it is mentioned in the novel that nobody was certain if it actually happened, like most of the other Radley stories. In fact, one neighbor, Miss Maudie I believe, voiced her opinion that it wasn't true at all. Then again, she was a firm supporter of the Radley's and their right to privacy and to not be the center of the gossip circles. Miss Maudie reminds the reader that people should not be judged unfairly - just one theme of the novel.

When Israel declared itself an independent nation, its neighbors in the Middle East reacted militarily. Why?

In order to look at the entire picture of the conflict over Israel, one would have to look at the relationship between the Jews and the Muslims.  The conflict has existed since the earliest of civilizations.  When the people of Israel moved into the territory it was occupied by the Palestinians.  They were suddenly bombarded with the Jewish culture, faith, and language.  The presence of the Jews in the area had been established for over 3,300 years.

Great Britian began to recognize that Israel belonged to the Jewish people, but was concerned what to do about the Palestinian people who already occupied the area.  The state was divided into two states, Israel and the other half stayed an Arab state.  In 1948 the state of Israel was established with the agreement of the United Nations.

The Arab countries were not in agreement and the following countries, Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon and Iraq, invaded Israel.  (1948 War of Independence)  They wanted to remove the newly established State of Israel and give it back to the rule of the Arab people.  In addition, the Holy land of Jerusalem was also a place of honor for several significant religions in the world. 

The War for Independence continues and the following other wars happened after the first attempt to take Israel down; 1956 Sinai War, 1967 Six Day War, and the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

The people of Israel believe that the land was promised to them by their God and the Arabs believe that the land is their own Holy place. 

What role did geography play in the outbreak of WWI?

World War I was caused by tensions that had gripped Europe for years. Prior to 1914 there had been many changes effected in European geography.  Beginning in the 1860s Prussia, in a series of short wars, began to conquer the separate Germanic states.  Prussia then defeated Denmark; furthermore, with its Germanic tribes and Denmark under its rule, Prussia, was able to defeat France, thus chaninging the political geography of Europe. 

Following the Franco-Prussian War, the Germanic states unified their twenty-six independent states into the German Empire, declaring Prussian King Wilhelm I the Kaiser and Bismarck the chancellor [like a prime minister].  Wishing to penalize France for its recent defeat, Germany claimed Alsace-Lorraine for its own and forced the French to pay reparations.  This act led to implacable hatred between France and Germany.

Hoping to avoid having to fight both France and Russia, Germany sought to form an alliance with Russia.  The emperors of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia pledged friendship to one another in the Reinsurance Treaty of 1887; however, this did not last after the Kaiser died and Bismarck, who was architect of the peace, left office.  Relations soon broke down, and Russia formed an alliance with Germany's enemy, France.

When an Austro-Hungarian Empire was formed, it was destined to failure as the Hungarian Empire was composed of ethic groups left over from the old Ottoman Empire that had extended across Europe.  Consequently, the ethnic divisions among Serbs, Slavs, Croatians, Romanians and Austrians led to the break-up of this empire.  Here conflicts developed from changes made in geography that had moved peoples from their original homelands.

Then, too, across the English Channel, lay the country of Great Britain, a puissant country with the greatest empire in the world.  Certainly, Britain did not want Russia or Germany or France to expand their empires, so it kept watch over them and protected its own geography by allying itself with Russia and France.

What is the subject,object and verb in these questions sentences? "When does one become an angel?" "Who must have spoken eloquently?

I think that the previous poster did a good job explaining how to go about answering your question, with a detailed step-by-step process, but I'm not sure that one of the answers (and the process that produced the answer) is entirely correct.

The sentence "When does one become an angel?" does not have a direct object. It has a predicate noun, instead.

It is indeed a good idea to first move the adverb to the end of the sentence: "One does become an angel when." However, simply asking now "who" or "what" won't distinguish direct objects from predicate nouns. One clear distinction between the two is that a direct object is very different from the subject whereas predicate noun renames or redescribes the subject.

One = the subject

does become = the verb (it's a linking verb)

an angel = the predicate noun

"One" and "an angel" are much too similar to be subject and direct object. Also, I believe that "become" is always (or at least almost always) a linking verb.

Here are some more examples:

I like you. = "you" is the direct object

I like myself. = "myself" is the predicate noun (or, more precisely, a reflexive pronoun functioning as a predicate noun)

She drives a Mercedes. = "Mercedes" is a direct object.

The car is a Mercedes. = "Mercedes" is a predicate noun

Even supposedly simple grammar can be tricky to do and even trickier to explain. I teach this stuff, too, and correct myself in the middle of class all the time.

How does Jim react when he sees Della's gift? Why does he react in that way?

Jim reacts in complete disbelief and almost in a laughing manner. The poor guy has just come home to find his wife has cut off all her hair, and he's probably thinking something like, "I just sold my watch to get her those combs...sigh!" Then he finds out why she cut her hair - to buy him the watch chain for a watch that has been sold!

He realizes that there's no point in being upset about the turn of events, and he also realizes that he is a very lucky man to have such a loving wife.  He realizes that they are truly rich, despite their poverty.

What are Jordan's and the Buchanans' reactions to Myrtle's death in The Great Gatsby?

Fitzgerald offers Tom's reaction first in Chapter 7.  When Tom hears from the policeman that Myrtle is dead, he is dazed and can repeat only what the police officer said.  However, just seconds later when an eye witness states that Myrtle was hit by a yellow car, Tom's reaction switches to anger and self-preservation.  He immediately approaches the grieving George and explains that the yellow car he was driving earlier is not his. As Tom drives away from the scene, he does cry and assumes that Gatsby hit Myrtle without even stopping.

Daisy: The readers only knows Daisy's reaction from what Gatsby relates to Nick.  Gatsby asks Nick if Myrtle was killed, and when Nick responds that she was, Gatsby states,

"I thought so; I told Daisy I thought so. It's better that the shock should come all at once" (144).

After hitting Daisy hits Myrtle, she cannot drive, and Gatsby takes over to drive her home.  So, Daisy is obviously horrified by what she did but only briefly.  For, that very night she sits with Tom, and they seem to agree how to handle the situation without either of them being implicated or affected by her action.

Jordan: Jordan has no reaction to Myrtle's death.  It seems like just another event in her party lifestyle.  When Nick, Jordan, and Tom reach the Buchanan home, Jordan waits with Nick, doesn't mention the accident, and becomes sulky when Nick doesn't want to do anything with her.  She thinks the night is still young, and has no concern about the grieving George Wilson, his dead wife, or Gatsby.

How does Juliet feel about the Nurse? Make sure to tell me what clues gave away the tone of her feelings.

In the play 'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare, the character of the Nurse is very close to Juliet. it is important to know a little about the social customs of the time in respect of the bringing up of an aristocratic or merchant family, in order to fully understand why this is. In that time, it was considered low-class and unseemly for well-to-do ladies to 'nurse' their own offspring that had been born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Posh ladies were expected to be ladylike, refined and perfect hostesses at all times - and this did not include breast-feeding a baby- especially in public. So, a so-called 'wet-nurse' would be hired. Sadly, this could often be a low-bred woman from a nearby village who had lost her own baby and therefore had milk. This woman, in effect, would be the posh baby's 'mother' or Nurse (nanny.) That is where the word 'Nurse' in the play comes from.

In the Canterbury Tales, how does the knight in the Wife of Bath's tale, go about completing his task? What lesson does he learn? Describe his...

The knight is ordered by the queen to find what women really want. He travels all over asking women this question, only to find all the answers are different. He is in despair because if , at the end of a years time, he does not have the correct answer, he will die.

As he is returning to face his fate, he encounters an ugly, old woman. She promises him the correct answer in return for granting her any request. He agrees. When the knight tells the queen women want to control their husbands in all matters, the queen tells him he is correct.

The old woman tells the knight that she wants him to marry her. With much reluctance, the knight agrees but is horrified by the thought of being married to an old hag. She tells him that he has a choice, she can become beautiful and young yet untrustworthy, or stay old, ugly, and faithful. After much deliberation, the knight chooses for her to remain the way she is. He would rather have trust.

He is rewarded for this, she is young and beautiful, and trustworthy.

The knight has learned that by letting himself give over all control to his wife, whom he is very happy with, he is very content.

How did Elizabeth I die?Theres many rumors to how Elizabeth the Great died, what are some of them?

It is understood that Queen Elizabeth died of blood poisoning. This is presumed to have been caused by her make-up! It was used to make her face look very white, but the mixture had vinegar and lead mixed into it... very poisonous.

There was no autopsy performed, and guesses range from cancer to old age as she died quite peacefully in her bed.

Check the link before for more specifics.

Why did Shylock refuse to eat with Antonio and Bassonio in Merchant of Venice?It is in act 1 scene 3.

In HOW TO READ LITERATURE LIKE A PROFESSOR, the author points out that all eating in books is communion.  Not just the kind of communion you take at church, but a sort of putting yourself at the mercy of the others in your company when eating.  It's a vulnerable time...when others can see that you may not eat neatly, or that you over or undereat, or that you order a salad instead of the steak and lobster that you really crave.  It also indicates a sort of fellowship or friendship...at least a willingness to come together and learn more about one another in a friendly setting. 

Shylock  wants none of the above with either Antonio or Bassonio.

In "A Rose for Emily" what happened to Homer Barron ?

This answer can be found by a very close reading of the text, and through using inference.  It is never directly stated what happened to Homer, although there are many, many clues scattered throughout all of the text itself.  You have to read in-between the lines, and piece everything together in order to puzzle out the answer.

Take the timeline for instance.  Emily meets Homer, they spend a lot of time together, but the townspeople know that he is not the "marrying type," and that he has told people that he prefers the company of men instead of women.  So, we can guess from this that Emily likes the guy, but that there is no hope for romance there.  Then, she goes out and buys a vanity set that is engraved with his initials, AND she buys rat poison.  Homer goes to her house one day, and then is never seen again.  Soon thereafter, there is a nasty smell emanating from Emily's house.  Put all of these clues together, and we can assume that Homer rejected Emily, and that she killed him with rat poison, and that his rotting body was in the house.  Those clues, all put together, lead us to that conclusion.

The ending of the story only confirms those suspicions.  The townspeople go into the upper bedroom and find a decayed corpse on the bed.  In the room is the engraved vanity set that Emily got for Homer, and next to the body, is a strand of Emily's gray hair on an indented pillow.  These clues lead us to believe that she did indeed kill Homer, and then spent time lying next to his corpse on the bed.  Kind-of gross, and if you pair it with her previous refusal to let her dead father's body leave the house, it is consistent with her behavior.

Emily was afraid of rejection, and of being alone, and she took that fear to horrifying new heights.  It takes a lot of work piecing together clues to figure out what happened to the unfortunate Homer Barron.  I hope that helped; good luck!

Define a periwound?

The periwound (also peri-wound) is easy to define; the importance of the periwound is less easily explained.

The periwound is the tissue surrounding the wound itself. This tissue ideally provides a barrier to the wound, which protects it and confines the area of healing, ideally, so that the wound does not spread. Complications to this ideal function come because periwound tissue can be adversely affected in terms of texture, strength and integrity, and moistness or dryness.

Texture: Edema, or tissue swelling, is a continual potential problem because fluids or blood may accumulate in the periwound area surrounding the actual wound and cause a change in skin thickness and other texture changes. According to Continuing Education for Health Professionals (atrainceu.com), texture classifications might be "moist or dry, warm or cold, rough or smooth, thick or thin." This various changes in the periwound may indicate such things as reduction or hyper-action in the vascular blood supply or unbalanced or excessive pressure points or excessive lymph fluid.

Strength and Integrity: Periwound skin has not got the skin strength and integrity that mature scar and uninjured skin has, so extension of the wound to soft periwound tissue is highly possible as is independent injury to the periwound tissue. Since wounds surrounded by periwound tissue heal by secondary intention, without benefit of surgical closure, but with the gradual filling from the outer edges inward with connective tissue in the process of granulation, the strength of the new connective tissue and the integrity of the unity of the connective tissue may be compromised (atrainceu.com).

Moisture and Dryness: An initial wound, one surrounded by periwound tissue, releases fluid excudate that contains blood, water, proteases, and sweat, which all have the effect of breaking down skin, especially in the periwound area. The process of excessive moisture accumulation, called maceration, begins with the secondary intention healing process itself. Inflammation begins the process, triggers the process of healing but also triggers local edema (also oedema) because the release of histamine in the inflammation causes the release of plasma from local blood vessels. Initially a clear serum, the plasma, over time, if healing is retarded, takes on a different aspect since it then contains "leucocytes and other constituents such as albumin, macrophages and cellular debris" (Keith F. Cutting, nursingtimes.net). Ideal healing conditions keep the wound dry and control moisture while facilitating prompt healing through granulation of new connective tissues.

An indication of maceration that might pose a threat to periwound tissue is seen in the margin of the wound. If the periwound tissue has a swollen appearance and if the tissue beyond the periwound takes on an overly moist white coloration, then maceration has spread past the periwound barrier to the surrounding tissue indicating threat to the integrity of the periwound, due to its lesser tissue strength, and thus to the wound itself as an injury to the periwound increases the size and severity of the original wound. This discussion of the importance of the periwound helps to illustrate the definition of the periwound--i.e., the tissue the surrounds the wound--by illustrating its critical role and function as a barrier around and a protector to the original wound.

In chapter 3 of "The Great Gatsby", how does Fitzgerald tell the story?What are the narrative techniques used and what is the relationship between...

Chapter two describes the Valley of Ashes. Everything is gray-no color and no real form. The billboard of Dr. T. J. Eckleberg is shapeless as well. He is just eyes, no nose or face to accompany them. This chapter is meant to illustrate the wasteland of industrialism.

By contrast, chapter three has numerous color images, vibrantly described, with rich hues. Cars and eye symbols still continue, but the descriptions are vivid rather than gray. There are a lot of descriptions using the color yellow, which is a sharp contrast to the bland gray of chapter two.

How Does the character and reign of King Lear in William Shakespeare's 'King Lear' relate to Queen Elizabeth I and King James I?I am studying...

You could say that the character of King Lear relates to Elizabeth and James I because both had a reputation for preferring fawning courtiers over true advice.  With Elizabeth the courtiers were usually men seeking her favors.  With James I, many say the same is true, he preferred good looking young men who fawned over him, protesting their love.   But I really think that Lear relates more to Henry VIII, the father of Queen Elizabeth. 

 Henry also had three children, by three different women and he played them against each other to the detriment of the kingdom and was more interested in lip service than in true loyalty.  He even had his best friend, Thomas More, put to death for a treason which was only verbal.   Henry could not abide anyone disagreeing with his smallest whim.  He divorced two of his six wives and beheaded two for disloyalty.  By the time Henry died he had managed to alienate anyone who had ever truly cared about him so that his death was essentially unmourned.  While he did not abdicate his throne, the succession games he played with his three children wreaked havoc on the country. Edward's reign was dominated rival regents.   Mary Tudor (not the Mary, Queen of Scots referred to above), a bitter spinster when she came throne spent her reign killing Protestants and suffering hysterical pregnancies in her desperate and unpopular marriage to the King of Spain.  Thus Elizabeth is more like Cordelia as she is the true and responsible heir.

Why are Anne and her family in hiding in Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl? Who are they hiding from?

The Franks and people they knew went into hiding because Margot received her orders to go to a work camp.  In order to prevent their deportation, the Franks had pre-established a hiding place with Miep.  They hid in an Attic behind a book case.  The Franks lived in Amsterdam.

The Nazi party was collecting the Jews for deportation to Ghettos and concentration camps.  The Franks knew there was eminent danger ahead for their children.  Initially, the Jewish stores and businesses were closed.  Then homes were ransacked and families started to be rounded up.  The rights of the Jewish people were being striped away and their lives were in danger.

 I had the chance to go through the Anne Frank house while I was in Amsterdam.  I was actually surprised how large the area they had stayed in actually was.  However, I had to remember that they could not move around in the daytime, and there were quite a few people.  The pictures of the magazine movie stars are still stuck on the walls were they had put them.  The house is located in a row of houses overlooking the river.

Why does Ross say the following in Act IV, Scene 3 of Macbeth?When Macduff asks Ross about his family, Ross replies, "...they were well at peace...

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Ross is hesitant to share such bad news with Macduff.  He simply doesn't want to break the bad news to him.

Notice that it just takes a little prodding before he gives up the information.  He is not trying to lie or keep anything from Macduff, he is just reluctant. 

He may be a little intimidated, too.  Macduff is a fierce warrior, and Ross's news is not good. 

When this is performed, actors who play Ross often show this in their facial expressions and verbal hesitations, as if Ross is sizing up the situation and just gives up saying what he should say at the last second. 

This is one of the moments that is left to directors and actors to interpret and perform accordingly.  But one thing is certain, Ross means no harm.    

What most surprises Caesar when he is attacked? What might Caesar have been thinking as he died?

"Et tu, Brute?  Then fall, Caesar."

Caesar mentioned his concerns about guys like Cassius way back in Act One.  Remember how he wished Cassius was "fatter"?  So it's likely that he wasn't too shocked to see Cassius and some of the others attack his leadership, but he never expected it from Brutus.  Brutus is a well respected leader in Rome, and, more important, a very good friend to Caesar.  When you're being attacked, you expect your friends to help you, not join the fray.

What was he thinking as he died?  Tough to say.  I'd like to think the last thing that went through his head was about how famous these eight guys will be because they've killed the mighty Caesar!  In reality, he was probably wondering what he did wrong to deserve this.  Remember that only a month ago he was returning to Rome as the hero that defeated Pompey; now he's being stabbed in front of everyone.  I'm sure he was quite confused about the inclusion of Brutus as well.  Ultimately, he was probably upset about never getting the chance to wear that crown.

What are the sources of short term finance?

Short term finance in business usually refers to the additional money a business requires for doing its business for short terms, which is usually a maximum period of one year. Some main sources of short term finance are bank overdrafts,trade credit, factoring, credit card, lease and bank loans.

Overdraft is a facility that bank provides to its customers in which the customer is permitted to draw money from banks in excess of the balance in heir bank accounts. In overdraft facility the bank specifies the maximum amount of debit balance in the account that is permitted. This limit is sometimes referred as bank limit.

Trade credit refers to purchasing goods and services a business need in the course of its business on credit. Depending on the trade practices prevalent in an industry, the credit worthiness of the company, and nature of business relationship between company and its suppliers a company may be allowed different time periods to pay for the goods and services they buy from different suppliers.

Just as companies get credit from their suppliers, they also need to give credit to their customers. Factoring refers to a system of selling the accounts receivable to specialist finance firms, who for a fee, pay the amount due to the company upfront, and collect it from debtors as and when due.

Credit card is a facility similar to trade credit, in which the  the buyer pays the credit card company which in turn pays the supplier. The credit card are generally not issued to companies bu to the individual employees or owners of the small businesses, who may then use this facility to pay for business expenses such as travel.

Strictly speaking lease is not a way of getting finance, but a way of managing business with less finance. IN this alternative a business leases some of he equipments required rather than purchase them outright.

Bank loans refer to term loans given by banks which need to be repaid in installment over a fixed period which may be a short term or long term period. Though called bank loans, these loans may be advanced by banks or other financial institution. Such loans are generally given for specific purposes such as for purchase of capital equipments.

What is the meaning of the poem called "The Bird" by patrick laneas in what are the literary devices, attiude, shifts and theme of the poem called...

The most important literary device that the poet Patrick Lane uses in "The Bird" is an extended metaphor, sometimes referred to as a conceit.   Throughout the poem, Lane compares freedom to a bird; the person that the poet speaks to is continually compared to someone who tried to capture a bird but ended up killing it.

To me, the poet seems to be addressing someone who is trying to accomplish something great by interfering with other people's freedom; perhaps he is addressing a dictator who is trying to "whip" his country to progress and success.  The poet refers to this as: "You wanted / to cage a bird in your hands / and learn to fly."

The poet warns that this cannot be done.  By limiting people's freedoms, they will not be able to accomplish truly great things.  The poet expresses this by way of a metaphor:

You must not handle birds.

They cannot fly through your fingers.

You are not a nest

and a feather is

not made of blood and bone.

How did Filipinos respond to American colonization just after they had gained independence from Spain?

Filipino feeling towards domination of their country by USA was not very different from their feeling towards the Spanish rule. They were strongly opposed to both.

Spain had ruled philippines for a long time, but towards the close of 19th century the desire of Filipino people for independence grew very strong. Under the leadership of Emilie Aguinaldo, they revolted in 1896 to throw out the Spanish rulers, and by 1998 they had gained control of almost whole of territory in Philippines except Manila. Also they declared their independence on June 12, 1998.

This way when Spain ceded Philippines to USA in December 1998, the presence of USA  in that country was also  limited to Manila. The relations between USA and the Filipino remained tense for few months following transfer, and finally in February 1899 a bloody and disastrous war broke out between them. In this war nearly one sixth of population of Philippines including women and children perished. Philippines was not able to march the superior military and economic power of the USA and Emilie Aguinaldo was forced to surrender in 1901. This ended the major resistance by the Filipinos but some revolutionaries continued their struggle even after that.

What page in Of Mice and Men does it say thtCandy is one handed?

There are several editions of Of Mice and Men. One of your best bets is going to be to look through chapter 2. This is when they arrive on the ranch and Candy, the swamper, is the one who sort of shows them the ropes...

I would imagine that if you skim the first 4-5 pages of your copy, you will find the exact quote or instance you might be looking for. The text describes Candy as a bit older, and a handicapped man who cleans the bunkhouse among other places.

Critically comment on the patriarchal society in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Is the patriarchal society embodied in Charlotte Lucus and...

Pride and Prejudice (1813) like all of Jane Austen's novels reflects faithfully the socio-economic conditions of what historians term as "Regency England" (1811-20). The family and social structure during this period was patriarchal. The father of a family was also the head of the family. This is most evident from the way the family of the Bennets is structured.

Since women of this period had no right to ownership of property they were financially dependent on their husbands,and hence the urgency and anxiety throughout the novel for the ladies to get married to "young men of large fortune" (ch. 1).

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

When first Mr.Bennet had married, economy was held to be perfectly useless; for, of course, they were to have a son. This son was to join in cutting off the entail, as soon as he should be of age, and the widow and younger children would by that means be provided for. Five daughters successively entered the world, but yet the son was to come; and Mrs.Bennet, for many years after Lydia's birth, had been certain that he would. This event had at last been despaired of, but it was then too late to be saving.

In Jane Austen's time women most often (though not always) did  not inherit the property of their father. The estate would most often pass on to the eldest son after the father's death. In case there was no son the estate could be 'entailed' to a male relative like Collins in Pride and Prejudice. Although Jane Austen does not explicitly criticize this principle, it is obvious that she disagrees with the convention of entailment, a convention lady de Bourgh did not see need to follow.

A central theme of all her six novels --how much money is necessary for a successful and a happy marriage--is explicitly stated by Elizabeth in Ch.27 of "Pride and Prejudice: "Pray, my dear aunt, what is the difference in matrimonial affairs, between the mercenary and the prudent motive? Where does discretion end and avarice begin?"

In Ch.33 of Pride and Prejudice Col. Fitzwilliam tells Elizabeth "I may suffer from the want of money. Younger sons cannot marry where they like." Clearly hinting at her impoverished status. Col. Fitzwilliam manages to charm Elizabeth within the short period he is acquainted with her. He is obviously a very wealthy man but because he is not the eldest son he will not inherit his father's estate and so he is determined only to marry a very rich woman for the sake of financial security. In fact Elizabeth would have been an ideal match for her, however he clearly hints to her that since she is poor he will not marry her. He is telling lies for he certainly will not "suffer from the want of money;" he just does not want to get married to her because she is poor.

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

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

the boys were relieved from their apprehension of Charlotte's  dying an old maid. [ch.22].

How does Atticus stand by values that he tries to impart to his children?

Atticus not only tries to teach his children fairness, he sees racism as a kind of "madness" that takes over the citizens of Maycomb.  Atticus represents reason in the face of that madness and shows this reason both realistically and symbolically.  In the scene at the jail when he confronts the lynch mob, it is symbolically significant that Atticus takes with him a light buld (the light of reason) and a newspaper (words rather than weapons), but he does not take a gun.  He uses the power of reason--with the help of his daughter--to quell the angry mob, and it is Scout's singling out of a single man, Mr. Cunningham, that makes the crowd dissipate.  Similarly, when Atticus shoots the mad dog, Tim Johnson, a rabid dog, we see a foreshadowing of the courtroom fight between reason and madness.  Atticus represents reason against the madness symbolized by the mad dog.  Atticus requires Jem to read (logic, reason) to Mrs. Dubose to apologize for the frenzy--a kind of madness--that led Jem to cut off the tops of Mrs. Dubose's flower.  Early in the novel Atticus reminds Scout to "fight with [her] head" as opposed to her fists--reason against madness again.

The real contest between reason and madness, however--which all these other events lead up to--is the trial itself.  With calm demeanor and reasoning, Atticus effectively proves that Tom Robinson, whose right hand was damaged in a cotton gin and is useless, could NOT have beaten and raped Mayella Ewell.  He shows that Mayella was beaten by someone who led exclusively with his left, thus casting suspcion on her father, Bob Ewell. Jean Louise (Scout), the adult narrator, lets us know that Atticus made talking about rape sound as dry and matter-of-fact as legal briefs, thus calming the rage, gossip, and heightened emotions that seemed destined to propel this case.  Despite the guilty verdict, reason has made a significant step forward, and we see this in the length of time the jury is out: in most such cases, the jury would return immediately with a guilty verdict, but Atticus has made the jury think and has paved the way for justice in other trials.  He truly believes there is a good chance for an appeal until Tom runs and is shot, UNreasonably, 17 times.

This conflict between reason and madness does not end with the trial or even with Tom's death.  Atticus continues to model his calm, non-violent beliefs when Bob Ewell spits at him.  Rather than fighting back or even acting outraged, Atticus calmly removes his glasses and wipes them off--the epitome of "turning the other cheek" in a moment of Christlike charity.  He later says that if letting Ewell spit at him saves Mayella another beating, it is worth it.

As the novel ends, Atticus worries that he is not standing up for his values if he hides the truth about Ewell's encounter with his children.  He actually thinks Jem has killed Ewell, but Sheriff Tate convinces him that bringing the story out in the open would be hurtful to Boo Radley, who has saved the children's lives.  Scout, demonstrating that she has truly learned the values Atticus has tried to impart, states that bringing Boo's actions into the limelight would be like "killing a mockingbird."  She learns about civility, kindness, nonviolence, and reason from Atticus.

How and why did Russia emerge as a great power but Poland did not? Please be specific.

The simple answer to this question is resources and territory.  Russia covers nearly one sixth the land surface of the Earth, and is rich with minerals, oil and other resources necessary for expansion and empire.

Russia is also geographically blessed in that its vast territories are unconquerable without the use of nuclear weapons.  Ask Napoleon and Hitler how their efforts at invading Russia turned out.

Poland, on the other hand, is sandwiched in between Germany and Russia, and has served as a natural invasion route for Mongols, Huns, Russians, Nazi Germany and later the Soviets, among others.  Therefore its very existence as a nation was frequently threatened as it was swallowed by armies and empires from each direction.  It also has far fewer resources, and a much smaller population than its powerful eastern neighbor.

One could also argue that Russia emerged as a world power due to leadership on the part of 19th century Czars, whereas Poland has suffered from centuries of misrule and conquest.

Discuss "creating the advertising message".This topic relates to the Marketing subject. I've to participate in a discussion on the above topic; so...

When you advertise, or promote information to be bestowed upon people, you have to make sure you have the right audience in mind, and that the audience receives the information in a way that helps them retain it and reproduce it through memory. The best way to create advertisements that are easy to remember is through the use of shape, form, color, rythm, repetition, and ease.

This is why when you see a commercial on TV you see numbers flashing while the message goes on, the volume is automatically higher during commercial breaks, and no commercial lasts longer than 30 seconds. It is like a crash course on memory retention.

How does a company like Siemens benefit from the use of motivation theories to influence its management style and strategies?Style of the company...

Understanding of motivation theories can play a very important role in influencing the management style and strategies of a large corporation like Siemens. These theories help companies to develop and implement effective policies and strategies for attracting right types of people needed by them to man the organization, to retain them in the organization, and to motivate them to put in their best efforts towards achievement of the organizational objectives.

It determines the kind of compensation schemes the company has. It also helps companies to design its jobs that provide maximum job satisfaction to the employees. Further the scheme is used to introduce specific programs like MBO (management by objectives) quality circle to encourage employee participation for improving management and operation of the company.

In the famous “to be” speech why does Hamlet decide not to kill himself? Why is it written in poetry?ACT 3 SC 1

All of Hamlet's soliloquies are written in poetry because these speeches reveal his true thoughts. He puts on an "antic disposition" for others to see and speaks in prose when he plays his role, but in the soliloquies he expresses his real feelings and thoughts. Immediately after this soliloquy, Hamlet speaks in prose to Ophelia; this type of speech, which Elizabethan audiences could easily recognize, was a clue that Hamlet was pretending to be mad. 

In the "To be, or not to be" soliloquy, Hamlet's decision not to kill himself comes because of one main fact: no one knows what comes after death. He notes that death can be like sleeping ("To die, to sleep/To sleep, perchance to dream...."), but the dreams may be nightmares. What would an eternity of nightmares be? Even more importantly, he decides that he is willing to endure the life he has ("grunt and sweat under a weary life") because of the fear of what comes after death, "the undiscovered country from whose bourn/No traveler returns." Melancholy and miserable though he is, Hamlet chooses life because he has no way of knowing what follows death.

Why does Rosh give up on Samson? What does this suggest about leaders?

Rosh loses interest in Samson because Samson turns to Daniel as his liberator and savior. Samson, despite his enormous strength, is, just as Daniel is, "soft," which is a quality that Rosh hates. As a leader, Rosh insists on blind commitment and complete loyalty; he does not want to be questioned; he enjoys power. Although he does not speak, Samson implicitly questions Josh's authority to lead and undermines his power by giving his loyalty and love to Daniel.

What are two examples of Amanda being an ironic character?

To answer your question about Amanda being ironic:

She is an icon that represents the stranded, stagnant, and quite unconventional Old South.

Amanda was strategically given characteristics that go hand in hand with her way of mind, and mannerisms: They conform to the dynamics of the US South its paradigms.

For example: Amanda is the typical Southern belle, expecting the "Gentlemen Callers", dressing up all pompous and over-working to over-entertain for a quite casual afternoon with Jim. She also has the Southern habit of embellishing her tales, repeating old stories, and being a charmer, hence, her Southern Hospitality.

In addition to that, she expects the same for her daughter, and is oblivious to the needs of his son, all for the sake of keeping up with the preoccupations that in another time and place would have mattered when she was younger.

Amanda is also preocupied with appeareances, and the need to keep them. Even though Mr. Wingfield had left the family in the most miserable manner, she still managed to stay firm to the tradition and had his pictured displayed huge in the living room. She also takes great pride on her pedigree, making comments about the grandiosity of her days in the South, and somehow always managing to remain there, in her mind.

What is IRONIC about all this is that she is living in a different time and place, where industrialism is drowning workers everywhere, where there is an economic depression going on, where her son and daughter are lost in cluelessness, and in a place where none of her actions would be considered typical in a fast-moving, dynamic city.

Imagine how ridiculous or strange her demeanor looked in front of Jim when she was being so extremely hospitable, witty, and exceedingly charming. She was also awkwardly over-dressed, and she had pre-planned way too much for a casual meeting. Jim, being a city guy, probably thought of this as the doings of an "odd old lady" and probably felt very weird in the process as well.

Why has the writer chosen "The Ultimate Safari" as the name of the story?

The author writes an epigraph before the story begins from a London travel advertisement that is trying to lure rich tourists to Africa for the "ultimate safari". Gordimer, the author, uses this epigraph and entitles her story from it to show the vast differences between the wealthy white tourists and the poor black refugees of southern Africa. In the epigraph, the word "ultimate" is used to mean the best. In the title, the word "ultimate" means last. For the many people who were forced out of the narrator's village, the dangerous and difficult trek to the refugee camps is indeed their "last" safari. While traveling through the game reserve that rich white tourists pay thousands of dollars to visit, the narrator's group can smell the food of the rich tourists, while the refugees themselves are hungry, having less to eat than the buzzards. Many of them die before getting out of the park.

In "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," how did Ichabod Crane treat his students?

According to the story, Ichabod Crane was a stern teacher, but a fair one, at least by the standards of those days.

Remember that in those days, it was assumed that teachers would hit their students a lot.  They would hit them when the misbehaved, but also, pretty often, when they made mistakes.

We are told that Ichabod really believed in the idea of "spare the rod and spoil the child."  We are told that his students were definitely not spoiled, which means he used the rod on them a lot.

Outside of school, he was also kinds to his students, being friendly with the older ones and helping the younger ones home (although he was doing this, in part, to get fed, or to meet their sisters...)

But it also says that he was somewhat kind.  He wouldn't beat on the kids who couldn't take it -- just on the stronger kids who weren't so afraid of being hit.

In "A & P" by John Updike, why would the setting matter to or affect Sammy's actions?

The story is really about young men’s fascination with young girls. Updike was an art student before he became a writer. His visual sensitivity is apparent in his stories. "A & P" is a picture of a supermarket in a small resort town. He brings the three girls into the store to create drama. It is definitely “small-town” drama. The drama is only there to intrigue the reader—but the real purpose of the story is to paint a picture. Without the three girls the piece would be just a sketch. It would be hard to interest a reader in a simple description of the inside of a small-town supermarket in the middle of an uneventful summer day. The girls also give a visual focus to the work because Sammy's eyes follow them around the store, up and down the aisles with which he is so familiar. The title of the story suggests that this is not so much about the people as it is about a typical American supermarket.

Updike's story is especially valuable in that it demonstrates a truth about writing. It is easy to get readers to visualize things they are familiar with, and very difficult to get them to visualize things with which they are not familiar. That is why there are so many analogies, similes, and metaphors in poetry and prose fiction. That is why we ourselves us so many analogies, similes and metaphors in our own conversation.

Updike's task was easy in "A & P." We have all seen supermarkets with their aisles loaded with colorful cans, packages and bottles. We have all seen those shoppers pushing their carts up and down the aisles and then lining up with such docility at the checkout counters. We have all seen women like the one in the story who watches the cash register hoping to catch the checkout clerk in a mistake. We can easily visualize the store manager because they all look so much alike, dress so much alike, and seem to be trying to be visible and invisible at the same time. And we can visualize those two boys checking out the customers and checking out those three girls. We have all seen girls like the ones Sammy describes, and we have seen them in bathing suits, bold and self-conscious, walking gingerly in their bare feet--but not usually inside stores, even today! 

I don't think we should attach too much importance to the happening but should enjoy the experience of being transported in our imaginations into a little world for a few moments. We feel sympathy for most of the little people involved, including Sammy, the store manager, the shoppers for whom this trip is the biggest event of their day, and for the three girls for whom this big adventure will end in success and embarrassment. It is a Norman Rockwell kind of setting, with Norman Rockwell characters, and even a Norman Rockwell message about life in the United States.

What images of light and fire does Juliet inspire in Romeo?

In this play, Romeo often talks about Juliet in terms of lights and fires.  I believe that this is meant to emphasize the pure and light (as opposed to dark and impure) nature of their love for each other.

This starts with the first time he sees her.  That happens in Act I, Scene 5 when he goes to the ball at her house.  The very first words that Romeo speaks about Juliet are about light: "O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!"

The other really famous place where Romeo compares Juliet to a light or fire is in the balcony scene.  When he sees her, he compares her to the sun.  He says:

But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief

In 1984, what is the main conflict and is it external or internal?

I agree that Winston's conflicts are both external (man vs society--i.e. the Party) and internal (Winston vs his conscience). The most interesting thing about the internal conflict in this text is that, for most of the book, it is half formed. Winston begins defying the party with only instinct and trace memories to guide him. He doesn't struggle within himself because he doesn't know who he is. For the most part, his struggle with the Party is also half-formed. I think this is part of the point of the novel: Winston does not know who or what the actual opposing force is, so he does not know who or what he should be in conflict with (yes, he understands that he should resist "the Party" and all that it stands for, but he does not know who, precisely, the Party is).

Explain the poem "The Vagabond" by R.L. Stevenson?

Robert Louis Stevenson's (1850-1894)  poem "The Vagabond" celebrates the glorious freedom and independence of a tramp's life. All the four stanzas of "The Vagabond" repeatedly emphasize the unrestrained joys of an independent life in the outdoors free from all its hassles.

All that the vagabond is interested in is a life of unlimited travel. He wants to completely avoid all human associations - "nor a friend to know me."All that he wants to do is travel and travel from one place to another without any restraint whatsoever, not concerned about the weather or material wealth or possessions or anything else around him:

"Give the face of earth around,
And the road before me.
Wealth I ask not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I ask, the heaven above
And the road below me."

He would like to spend his entire life in the outdoors even in the cold autumn and winter months with the sky as his roof:

Not to autumn will I yield,
Not to winter even!

Most importantly, he wishes for a completely carefree life and is not bothered or frightened about death at all:

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o'er me.

In the last stanza R.L. Stevenson reiterates what he has already emphasized in the earlier three stanzas, namely, all that he wants to do throughout his life is to travel and to travel till he drops dead.

In the second stanza the verb "seek" would mean 'to endeavor to obtain.' The action is voluntary, conscious and deliberate. He says that all that he will endeavor to obtain is a life of travel and travel only.

Whereas, in the last stanza "ask" would imply a prayer to God. All that he asks of or requests God is to give him a life of travel and travel only.

What are three examples of selfishness in "Animal Farm?"

Chapter 9 watches the tragic death of Boxer. Readers assume by the end of the chapter, that Napoleon made a great deal of money on the sale of Boxer's material worth as at the same time, a wooden crate presumably filled with whiskey arrived.

Napoleon also selfishly wanted to watch the improvement of his own race(oooo... I mean species). Thus he made other animals move to make way for the pigs, build the pigs a school, and work so that the pigs could have food, enough to make them fat.

Finally, a last example of selfishness is the repeated changing of commandments to suit the needs, rather the vices of the pigs.

To what extent does class play a role in the short story "Barn Burning"?

Just to pick up from and add a little to epollock's excellent answer above, economic class is further demonstrated in Faulkner's "Barn Burning" by Abner's method of holding on to his dignity.  He is a man without power and without money, and when he feels he is wronged, he holds on to his dignity by burning barns.  He sees doing so as his only way to "even the score," right wrongs, get revenge on those who have wronged him.  As a bitterly poor man, he sees this as his only option.  It is how he attempts to hold on to his dignity. 

As Faulkner writes:

...the element of fire spoke to some deep mainspring of his father's being, as the element of steel or of powder spoke to other men, as the one weapon for the preservation of integrity, else breath were not worth the breathing, and hence to be regarded with respect and used with discretion.

In a sense, Abner does what all powerless people (most of us) wish they could do.  We just know better and are not willing to destroy our lives like Abner has.

Who is the antagonist in Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums"?

A superb story, John Steinbeck's "Chrysanthemums" has been one about which critics are divided over whether the main character, Elisa Allen, is sympathetic or unsympathetic, powerful or powerless.  In conflict with her need for aesthetic expression and appreciation, Elisa struggles within herself and, thus, is her own antagonist: 

Her face was eager and mature and handsome; even her work with the scissos was over-eager, over-powerful.  The chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her energy.

However, this internal conflict of Elisa's for artistic expression does seem to overlap with an external conflict with her environment. Employing the images of dogs, Steinbeck clarify's Elisa's position in her environment is:  She is subservient.  Her "terrier fingers" destroy the pests, she kneels in the garden, looking across the yard at her husband; when he approaches her, she "starts at the sound of her husband's voice." While talking with the pot-mender, Elisa eyes shine when he praises her chrysanthemums as beautiful, excitedly digging up the soil with her fingers in order to plant some seeds for him.  Still kneeling on the ground, Elisa touches his pants leg, then her hand drops as she "crouches low like a fawning dog."  Finally, she stands and her face is ashamed as she realizes that the man has looked away self-consciously. 

And, although the man rejects her as an equal then even when she informs him that she is strong, too, and can sharpen scissors, she watches him drive off with straight shoulders, whispering to herself,

'That's a bright direction.  There's a glowing there.'

hoping for some resolution to her inner conflict. Yet, the "sound of her whisper startled her."

After she bathes, however, Elisa looks at herself before putting on her red dress, "the symbol of her prettiness."  Seeing Elisa, her husband tells her that she looks "different, strong and happy."  But, when he talks to her again, "his eyes...were his own again," meaning Henry still does not understand her aesthetic nature.  As they drive on the road that the pot-mender has taken, Elisa spots the dirt and seeds she has given him; she cries.

Perhaps, more than her inner desire for expression of her artistic passion, Elisa's environment, represented by Henry, her husband, and the pot-mender, is her antagonist as she struggles for equality and recognition in a world in which women are not recognized as equals. In 1974, critic Charles A. Sweet found in Elisa

Steinbeck's response to feminism...the representative of the feminist ideal of equality and its inevitable defeat.

How does Hester's relationship to the past contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole? I put that it is both positivie and negative...

Since the greatest villain in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter may be Puritanism, the characters of Hawthorne are more symbolic than human.  As such, Roger Chillingworth represents the greyness, the steeliness of the retributive power of Puritanism.  Appearing in each scaffold scene, he serves as a reminder for Hester, the Puritan who cannot subdue her passion, that there is no escape from Puritanism's stultifying and punitive powers.  In the first scaffold scene, Chillingworth stands in the crowd outside the grey prison, a reminder from her joyless past of her having married a man whom she did not love.  In the second scaffold scene, Chillingworth looms as the foreboding presence, waiting to steal the soul of Arthur Dimmesdale--"he will be mine."  It is not until the final scaffold scene that Hester and Dimmesdale escape the now ruined, depraved man in their confessions of sin.  This is the redemptive, positive scene as they are finally free of the sin of conformity to the false codes of priniples of Puritanism.  For, they must, as Hawthorne writes,

Be true! Be true!  Show feely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait wherby the worst may be inferred!

It is Hawthorne's indictment against the hypocrisy of a religion that demands its followers never sin.  When they do, as they must, being human, Puritanism demands that they must keep these sins secret, or be ostracized from society.  But, in such secretiveness the worm of conscience eats away at the soul, and the retributive Black Man, Chillingworth, the representative of the rigid, hypocritical religion, in its blackest hypocrisy, waits for this most vulnerable of victims.

What are some good quotes about communication between Chris and his parents?please include page numbers

In the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless and his parents had a difficult relationship.  Chris had grown up in a financially comfortable situation.  However, he was disappointed and upset with his father's promiscuity.  He was also resistive to the establishment and his parent's way of life and the busisness world.

Chris had a small Datsun that on weekends and school breaks he would take on mini trips.  His parents had been in contact by letter with him and asked Chris to visit with them before he left for his summer break.  Instead of him contacting them or going by they received in the mail;

"Here is a copy of my final transcript.  Grade wise things went pretty well and I ended up with a high cumulative average." (21)

He thanked them for some items he had received from them but did not tell them anything about his own plans.  He had already taken off on his trip.

Chris' parents tried to prevent Chris from going on his after high school trip but when he refused to stay they tried to get him to take their credit card.

"We had our hearts in our mouths the whole time he was gone," says Walt, "but there was no way to stop him."(118)

Chris did not call or contact his parents to tell them that he had entered the Alaskan Wild.  Instead they found out his initial where about by receipt of a hitchhiking ticket that came in their mail.

What is the epiphany that takes place in "The Chrysanthemums"?

This is just my opinion and what I got out of the story when I read it.

Throughout the whole story Elisa wants to be something more than she is. She wants to be important. Which is why she is upset that she isn't included in the deal her husband makes.

When the salesman comes Elisa has a chance to show her knowledge and be the one in control. She feels like a part of her hard work is being brought beyond her farm and out into the world. She feels important because she can do something that another couldn't and she got to show her expertise.

After the salesman leaves she has a change of character because she feels strong and empowered. She feels like she DOES have purpose and she IS important. Hence she becomes more assertive with her husband.

When she sees the flowers on the side of the road her epiphany is basically that she will never ammount to anything more than what she already is. Her hard work was litteraly cast to the side of the road. She realizes that she is not important and never had any power, quite the opposite. So she reverts to her old ways and tells her husband that they will go to the fight and gives up any illusions of having any power.

The salesman obviously is the villain in the story but he's a lot smarter than you would think. He realizes that giving Elisa the illusion of having the upperhand he can make her do whatever he wants. He uses sexual innuendos and references to make her think that he is attracted to her. What woman doesn't feel like she has the upper hand when you know a man is attracted to you?            

Now this is all just my opinion but I think it does makes sense. The whole story is about having importance and power and the realization that she neither.