Can you explain why witch-craft and witch-hunts flourished during an age of scientific enlightenment?

There are two standard answers for this.

First, at the time of the Salem Witch Trials, for example, the ideas of the Enlightenment had not penetrated all of society.  Enlightenment thinking was still more of an elite phenomenon than something that had reached the masses.  Therefore, many of the people who pushed for the witch trials would not know much about Enlightenment thought.

Second, the Enlightenment (and other forces) brought change to the societies that it affected.  Fundamental change is always uncomfortable and people who are experiencing it often want to fight it.  The witch hunts are often seen as reactions to the uncertainty of life.  So, as change made life uncertain, people looked for scapegoats and settled on witches (because of #1 above many still believed in such things).

Do you agree with Emile Durkheim that deviance provides certain functions for society?Be sure to describe Durkheim’s main thesis regarding...

Durkheim's strain theory of social order basically sets store on similar axioms proposed by other social scientists in that all systems are both dependent, interdependent and intradependent on each other. Action and reaction are paradigms within such axiom. The implication is that whatever inner force moves within the epicenter of society will no doubt have a influence in the outer and upper echelons of the social nesting tables.

In the case of deviance it is defined as a detour from the norm. In Durkheim's multi level construct, social integration, or coming of age in society comes with its own set of normative processes that, with the proper social support systems, will undoubtedly help the individual succeed.  But, when there is a detour of the norm in the form of disorganization, mismanagement, underfunding, over expectations, lack of follow-up, or carelessness on the part of such support systems, they are themselves being deviant and they are propitiating individuals to be deviant as well.

Hence, if you study violent cultures such as gangs, for example, you will see that all their social surroundings were direct contribuitors to the culture, indirectly and unknowingly, albeit, but still an element to what deviant behavior would eventually become.

What is the tolling of the ebony clock meant to symbolize and how does the sound make the members of the affair feel? I NEED MAJOR HELP!!! I'm a...

The clock is symbolic of the passing of life.  It's tolling means that the party (life) will soon be over.  Also, note that the clock is "ebony," black, traditionally a symbol of death.  However, the revelers take little heed of its stern warning, even though Prince Prospero is begging them to listen.  The party-goers think they are safe in the castle, away from the "red death" that is killing hundreds outside its protective walls.  The lesson here is that none will escape death, but many people just don't want to realize (or are too foolish to understand) that the party is definitely over.  No one escapes death. 

Why does Ralph believe that the savages will not let him alone?

I assume that you are talking about the beginning of Chapter 12 here.

Ralph is lying there wounded, thinking about the prospects for his future.  He tries to convince himself that they will just let him alone, but he doesn't believe it.

Instead, he realizes that what the savages have done, the evil they have unleashed, is essentially out of control -- it is covering the island and will not go away.  He also feels that there is too much rivalry between him and Jack and Jack will not just want to let him get away.

Carroll Smith-Rosenberg- " The female world of love and ritual" What is her arguement ?

Smith-Rosenberg wrote her essay in 1975, at a time when there were few women's studies at all.  At that time, she stated, "virtually no one has written about" (1) this subject. She also stated that to the degree relationships between women were studied, they were studied from a psychosexual perspective, and she urged that such studies could and should be conducted from a more social and cultural perspective.  The psychosexual perspective, based on Freudian principles, tended to focus on the idea that female friendships were a form of latent homosexuality, an idea that was becoming largely discounted as Smith-Rosenberg was writing.

In her article, she examines through primary sources the lives and friendships in 35 families in the 1700s and 1800s.  Her findings are too complex to be briefly summarized, but she speculated that in the periods she studied, there was an environment that supported female relationships in a way that the twentieth century has not supported female friendships.

I do not know if you have read the entire article, but you should if you have not. It is a most interesting glimpse into a very different world, and Smith-Rosenberg's conclusions and findings are an important part of women's studies.  I have included a link to the article itself. 

Why does macbeth question banquo about his evening plans in Act 3, scene 1?

Macbeth needs to know, with some amount of certainty, the approximate time Banquo and Fleance will be returning to Macbeth's castle. Remember, Banquo and Fleance come under a surprise attack, so it is important (to Macbeth) that he arrange for the murderers to be in the right place at the right time. Most importantly, however, this sets up the transformation of Macbeth from a superstitious and somewhat impulsive killer (Duncan), to a calculating murderer. The murder of Duncan is much different than the murder of Banquo and Fleance. Macbeth slips further and further into the darkness as he plots the death of his closest friend, Banquo.

Explain how to derive a production possibility curve.

Production possibility curve, also called production-possibility frontier (PPF) is a graph showing the different combination of maximum quantities that can be produced by economy given its resources. Theoretically the PPF can be determined for any numbers of goods, but the limitation of two dimensional graphs permit representation of only two alternate goods.

Typically economist use the example of guns and butters to explain the concept of PPF. An economy has a choice of producing consumer goods for its people, represented by butter, or producing goods for waging war, represented by guns. We can draw a PPF for these two goods by representing quantity of butter produced on one axis (say x-axis) and quantity of guns produced on the other.

If all the resources of the economy are used for making only butter with no guns produced at all, this will be the maximum quantity of butter that the economy can produced. combination of maximum butter and no guns will be represented by a point on x-axis corresponding to maximum quantity of butter. Similarly the the combination of maximum numbers of guns and no butter will be represented by a point on y-axis.

Instead of producing only butter we can divert some of the resources to produce guns. Thus we can determine the quantities of guns that we can produce with different quantities of butter, giving us different point on the PPF graph. We continue this process, till we find the quantity of guns we ca produce with just a small quantity of butter. We can plot all these combinations of quantities of butter and guns on the PPF graph, and join them with a smooth curve to get PPF or production possibility curve.

Why was Charlotte depressed about reaching Rhode Island in True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle?

Charlotte is depressed about reaching Rhode Island because during her long journey, she has changed. The society in which she lives is highly ordered; there are strictly delineated roles which children, especially girl children, must play. Charlotte is a child of privilege, and her father is adamant that she be educated and act decorously. When she first begins her voyage on the Seahawk, she is an obedient, well-mannered little girl, but due to the circumstances on the sailing vessel, she discovers a very different life indeed.

Charlotte's first impression of the ship and its crew is very negative. Having had such a sheltered upbringing, she is at first insulted by the cramped and squalid quarters, and repulsed by the ragged crew, who are the type of people whom she has been taught to look upon as inferior. Because the Captain is in a position of authority, she looks up to him, but as time and miles pass on the sea, she discovers that things are not as they seem at all. Captain Jaggery is, in fact, a madman, while many of the crewmen are upright, reliable, and kind. When Charlotte's help is needed in the running of the ship, she rises to the task, putting aside her fancy clothes to don the garb of a common sailor. She learns and performs the work necessary to ensure the ship's safe passage over the sea, and revels in the excitement and freedom of this new way of life.

Charlotte's parents are aghast at the change in her when she rejoins them in Rhode Island. Her tanned skin and roughened hands are an affront to their sensibilities, and her father is particularly scandalized by the writings in her journal, which he considers to be the product of an overwrought and unguided imagination. Charlotte's father burns her journals and confines her to the house so that she can redirect her wayward spirit through study, but Charlotte is no longer the same child who left Liverpool alone so many weeks previously. Her voyage across the sea was also a voyage of self-discovery, and as a young woman with a newly-found identity of her own, Charlotte refuses to conform to the expectations of her previous life, and boldly runs away to sail again on the Seahawk.

What is the effect of the final paragraph of "A Rose for Emily"? Although Faulkner does provide clues throughout the piece that something is not...

The effect of the final paragraph is to create shock and horror. Throughout the entire piece, Faulkner does give clues that Miss Emily could have inherited some of her family's insanity, but because the narrator's view is peripheral, the reader doesn't know anything more about what goes on inside the Grierson home than the town does. It is only in the final paragraph where all the puzzle pieces come together to answer the questions created throughout the story. Why did Miss Emily buy poison? Why did she purchase men's items in the store? What had happened to Homer Barron? What had happened to Miss Emily? The answers to these questions are shocking and disturbing. The reader is left staring at the gray hair and indentation on the bed along with the town, and Faulkner never directly says what happened, but the implications are clear.

Love, especially as shown through loyalty or sacrifice is an underlying theme in Great Expectations...Show how this is evident in two characters...

In Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, Biddy displays great loyalty, respect, and love for Joe Gargery. For instance, in Stage I as Pip anticipates his journey to London, he asks Biddy to assist Joe in his learning and manners.  Biddy mocks Pip' pompous request,

"Oh, his manners!  Won't his manner do, then?"

"My dear Biddy, they do very well her---"

"Oh! the do very well here?" interrupted Biddy...

 Defending Joe, Biddy asks Pip if he has not cosidered that Joe is "proud," and explains,

"pride is not all of one kind--....He may be too proud to let anyone take him out a place that he is competent to fill, and fills well and with respect."

Pip, then, accuses Biddy of being envious and grudging, but she tells Pip,

"If you have the heart to think so...Say so over and over again, if you have the heart to think so.

She later writes a letter to Pip, informing him that Joe is coming to London to visit.  Biddy includes a personal message which demonstrates her feelings for Joe:

I hope and do not doubt it will be agreeable to see him enen though a gentleman, for you had ever a good heart, and he is a worthy man.

After Mrs Joe is injured, Biddy comes to the side of Joe, showing support for him when Pip says that he will visit:

Are you quite sure, then, that you will come to see him often? [Pip has not visited much since going to London]

After Pip heals from his burns, he determines to return to the forge and propose to Biddy, but he learns that he has come on their very wedding day. Pip says,

"Dear Biddy...you have the best husband in the whole world...you couldn't love him better than you do."

"No, I couln't, indeed," said Biddy.

From Joe and Biddy, Pip learns about loyalty and love.  He, then,applies these lessons in his relationships with Herbert and with Magwitch, whom he attempts to save from the hangman's noose, and later, whose pain he seeks to assuage as the old convict lies dying.  For Herbert, Pip has a fondness grown from their friendship.  After he learns that Herbert is in financial distress, Pip tells Miss Havisham that he has a secret partnership with Herbert, who is her relative.  He has money for Herbert to continue, but it is not enough; so, he asks Miss Havisham to nine hundred pounds.  Thus, Pip saves his friend from financial ruin as he can work in a small branch banking house.  When Herbert visits Pip soon thereafter, he reciprocates this love as he offers to hold a position for Pip.  

Choose and explain a key passage in The Scarlet Letter.The entire passage and who said it.

In Chapter XX, "The Minister in a Maze," the Reverend Dimmesdale learns that the ship for England upon which he and Hester plan to depart will not leave for four days.  "That is most fortunate!" he remarks, for he will be able to deliver his Election Day sermon;  this occasion, he feels, will be suitable for him to terminate his career.

'At least, they shall say of me,' thought this exemplary man, 'that I leave no public duty unperformed, nor ill performed!'

Hawthorne, as narrator comments,

Sad, indeed, that as introspection so profound and acute as this poor minister's should be so miserable deceived!  We have had,...worse things to tell of him; but none, we apprehend, so pitiable weak; no evidence, at once so slight and irrefragable, of a subtle disease, that had long since begun to eat into the real substance of his character.

Poor Arthur Dimmesdale has been deceiving the residents of his community for so long that he has begun to deceive himself.  This sad delusion is the "subtle disease" of which Hawthorne writes.  Guilt leads to hypocrisy which, in turn, leads to self-deception.  Hawthorne profoundly remarks,

No man, for any considerable period can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.

In the final chapter, XXIV, Hawthorne cautions against this condition in his statement of theme:

Among many morals which press upon us from the poor minister's miserable experience, we put only this into a sentence:  'Be true!  Be true!  Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!'

When Napoleon thinks he is dying, what is really the matter with him?

This is in Chapter 8, towards the end.

I do not think it is clear that Napoleon actually thinks he is dying, but whether he does or not, what's really going on is that he is drunk.

The pigs find a case of whiskey in the cellar.  Then Napoleon starts running around acting funny.  Then they think he is dying.  After that, Squealer comes out and announces that no one should drink alcohol.

Put that all together and it implies to me that Napoleon was drunk, even if they do claim that he has been poisoned by Snowball.

Why is the theme of determination being the only theme in the novel The Old Man and the Sea?when can such question be asked

Concerning Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, I would suggest that determination is not the only theme in the novel.  It may be the dominant theme, but it is not the only theme. 

When reading the work, we find situations that concern loyalty and friendship.  We find issues that raise the subject of poverty.  We find individualism.  We find isolation.  The human condition is examined in this novel.

We also see Santiago represented as a Christ figure. 

Santiago is a complex character in a complex situation.  Much more than just his determination is present in his story.

I'm not sure what you mean by when can such a question be asked.  Your question is appropriate here.  I would certainly suggest you go to the link for The Old Man and the Sea Themes, though, for further reading.

Describe the 'Race Relations Act 1976' and give a simple example of what a student working with IT in a school/college should look out for?

The RRA of 1976 has been ratified and amended several times. It is basically the equivalent of the American Bill of Rights, and the EEO. The difference is that this was produced in the UK by the Parliament in order to safeguard the rights of people of diverse cultures by ensuring that none of them will ever suffer discrimination in terms of gender, religion, ethnicity, color, race, or orientation.

Before May 31st, 2002, the commission made specific amendments directly involving schools, student bodies, and the likes (such as , in your case, collegiates going for IT degrees). The specific words of the amendment are:

It is unlawful to discriminate in employment or training on grounds of religion or belief:

(2) Such a body shall,

(a) maintain a copy of the statement, and

(b) fulfill those duties in accordance with such arrangements.

(4) It shall be the duty of [such] a body to

(a) assess the impact of its policies, including its race equality

policy, on students and staff of different racial groups;

(b) monitor, by reference to those racial groups, the admission and progress

of students and the recruitment and career progress of staff; and

(c) include in its written statement of its race equality policy an indication of

its arrangements for publishing that statement and the results of its

assessment and monitoring under sub-paragraphs (a) and (b).

(5) Such a body shall take such steps as are reasonably practicable to publish annually the results of its monitoring under this article.

Concisely, students should be alert on whether they are denied participation in academic organizations, financial aid, systems support, student governance, servant leadership, volunteer opportunities, internships, changes in student schedule or anthything that would jeopardize the success of the student.

Similarly, a system should be in place where an organized group of students representing the Race Relations Act is available to file grievances and make motions to the student body. It is a system of negotiation which should remain active and passively consistent.

With whom does Elizabeth dance the first two dances at the Netherfield ball How do Elizabeth and Darcey get along when they finally dance at the ball

She danced the first two dances with Mr. Collins, who was

 awkward and solemn, apologising instead of attending, and often moving wrong without being aware of it, gave her all the shame and misery which a disagreeable partner for a couple of dances can give. The moment of her release from him was ecstasy.

When she finally danced with Darcy, it was at first an awkward silence which she broke with making a "slight observation of the dance" to which he remained quiet still. After that, she insisted in making him talk and it went like:

It is your turn to say something now, Mr. Darcy.—I talked about the dance, and you ought to make some kind of remark on the size of the room, or the number of couples."

He smiled, and assured her that whatever she wished him to say should be said.

"Very well.—That reply will do for the present.—Perhaps by and by I may observe that private balls are much pleasanter than public ones.—But now we may be silent."

"Do you talk by rule then, while you are dancing?"

"Sometimes. One must speak a little, you know. It would look odd to be entirely silent for half an hour together, and yet for the advantage of some, conversation ought to be so arranged as that they may have the trouble of saying as little as as possible."

"Are you consulting your own feelings in the present case, or do you imagine that you are gratifying mine?"

"Both," replied Elizabeth archly; "for I have always seen a great similarity in the turn of our minds.—We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the eclat of a proverb."

"This is no very striking resemblance of your own character, I am sure," said he. "How near it may be to mine, I cannot pretend to say.—You think it a faithful portrait undoubtedly."

"I must not decide on my own performance."

This was the moment when she found the opportunity to mention Mr. Wickham's acquaintance to try to find out why the two men are such enemies.

What is the theme or message of this poem?

The reply matches stanza for stanza the style and rhythm of the original--The Passionate Shepherd to his Love.  The Nymph has an edge to her reply since in her sarcastic way she says that nothing the shepherd has to offer promises anything of length or commitment.  He does not promise marriage, he only says, "come live with me and be my love."

The Nymph does say that IF the shepherd could make time stand still and all the things that he offers (the flowers, the buttons, belts, and slippers which all dry up, die and fall apart eventually) could actually last for any substantial amount of time she might be tempted.  However, it is all temporary like the Spring, Summer.  Nothing lasts into the Fall or Winter.

Discuss Gatsby's character as Nick perceives him throughout the novel . What make Gatsby great ?

The term "great" as used in the title of The Great Gatsby is part hyperbole, part ironical, and part true, as Nick relates Gatsby's story to the reader.

The story occurs in the roaring twenties, when pomp ruled and money was flowing in and parties like those thrown by Gatsby were popular.  Exaggeration was common place, and this probably contributes to the title.

But calling Gatsby great is also partly ironical.  Does fulfilling the so-called American dream the way Gatsby does make one great?  He is a poster boy for the American dream, but look how he achieves it.

Finally, Gatsby loves like every human should love.  His love is all-encompassing and relentless.  Gatsby is a great romantic.  In this sense, he fulfills expectations of being called great.  Whatever else The Great Gatsby is, it is first a love story.    

In lines 204 – 209, what is the contrast that Polonius makes between sanity and madness?In Act II, Scene 2

Because the lines referred to in Act II, Scene 2, are said as an aside, they are private revelations of the thoughts of Polonius.  Here in Shakespeare's "Hamlet," Polonius, the corrupt sycophant of the Danish court, attempts to convince Claudius and Gertrude that Hamlet is mad.  When he talks with Hamlet their conversation has many non-sequiturs in it, such as the lines in which Polonius asks Hamlet what he reads and Hamlet replies, "Words, words, words" (II,ii,190) and punned insults in which Hamlet says that Polonius might grow old as Hamlet is if "like a crab, you could go backward."  So, when the conversation continues between Hamlet and Polonius and the courtier asks,  "Will you walk out of the air, my lord?"(II,ii,202), and Hamlet queries, "Into my grave?" (II,ii,203), then Polonius says in an aside, "How pregnant...." 

Polonius remarks are much like those of Emily Dickinson's in her poem "Much Madness is divinest Sense."  That is, the mind that loses its focus on reality is sometimes better able to discern other matters--perhaps, in much the way intuition works, by a sixth sense.  For, Hamlet, perhaps, intuitively senses that Polonius, too, wishes to do Hamlet ill, just as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern do.  "How pregnant," how full of meaning, Hamlet's remarks are, like the 'divinest sense" (divine as in to guess) of which Miss Dickinson writes.

Are there any stylistic devices for Willy's understanding of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman?

"Hallucination" is one major stylistic device used in association with Willy's view of the American Dream in the play. While Willy does speak with Charley about what it takes to get ahead and succeed, the greater articulation of his vision of the American Dream is carried out during his episodes of flashback and delusion. 

Willy discusses success with Ben and Willy's own definition of success is symbolized by his brother. This symbolism works in two ways. First, Ben's history and his character are examined. Ben is bold. He takes risks. He gets rich. He is a "great man". Second, he appears as an apparition, a figment of Willy's delusions. Ben is a dream, literally. 

These qualities (of success and fantasy) are paired so closely as to become related. In this way, Willy's view of the American Dream is implied to be grand but delusional through the use of the device of the hallucination. 

In addition to this stylistic device, repetition is used. Willy repeats his mantras of success and in this way demonstrates his fixation on an idea (an idea of questionable reality). 

What are three of the major events in All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes?

The first one would have to be when Guy, her son, breaks his neck, forcing Maya to have to look for a job and a place to live in Ghana.  A second one is when Maya is chosen to drive Malcolm X around when he visits Ghana, and they discussed civil rights issues. The third one would be the experience Maya has just before she is to return to the U.S. and head up the office of the Organization of African-American Unity for Malcolm X. Maya took a trip to a village called Keta, and she had to cross a bridge to get into the village. Going over the bridge, she felt this unexpected, great fear of crossing the bridge. Later, she was mistaken for a relative of some of the villagers who had been taken away by slave traders many years ago, and this experience provided Maya with a sense of coming home, something she had been looking for since she had come to Africa.

What are symbols/ allusions in sonnet 30, and how do they connect to the overall meaning? Is there any diction that reveals a specific pattern?

The web link given below leads to a website offering a line-by-line discussion of William Shakespeare's Sonnet 30.

This website discusses, for example, how a number of the words used in the sonnet (in other words, the diction) indeed reveals a pattern. Many of the terms used in the sonnet are also used in legal discourse, including "waste," "expense," "grievance," "cancelled," "tell o'er," and "paid." The site goes on to explain, for example, that "tell o'er" is "an accounting phrase, referring to the reading over and summation of lists of figures. We still have tellers in banks, although the word is falling into disuse."

I hope this information helps as you continue to work out the answer to your question.

What play are these lines from? "What light is light if Sylvia be not seen, what joy is joy if Sylvia be not fine?"

The lines that you mention are indeed from a play by William Shakespeare.  To be specific, they are from the play "Two Gentlemen of Verona."  They are spoken by the character Valentine.  The lines are spoken in Act III, Scene 1.

The context is that the Duke has just found a letter in Valentine's cloak.  The letter shows that Valentine intends to elope with the Duke's daughter Silvia (as it is spelled in the play).  The Duke tells Valentine to leave his court.  Valentine is sad at the idea of being separated from Silvia and he speaks the lines you mention.

What accomplishment of Meyer Wolfsheim's does Gatsby describe to Nick? How does Nick react?

Concerning your question about The Great Gatsby, I don't know if "accomplishment" is the best word to use, but Gatsby tells Nick about Wolfshiem's fixing of the 1919 World Series. 

Here's Nick's reaction:

The idea staggered me.  I remembered of course that the World's Series had been fixed in 1919 but if I had thought of it at all I would have thought of it as a thing that merely happened, the end of some inevitable chain.  It never occurred to me that one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people--with the single-mindedness of a burglar blowing a safe.  (78)

Gatsby then explains that Wolfshiem simply saw the opportunity, and took it.  When Nick asks why Wolfshiem is not in jail, Gatsby tells him that Wolfshiem is a smart man--they can't get him. 

Nick then spots Tom in the room, and the conversation ends.  Nick is staggered and, if you will, flabbergasted.  The idea that a single man could be behind something so big never occurred to him.

What are the conflict, climax, and resolution of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?

There are many conflicts in this book, ranging from Harry's quest to retrieve a very important memory from Professor Slughorn, to the love triangle between Ron, Hermione, and Lavender Brown. The most serious conflict would be Harry and Dumbledore's continued fight against Voldemort via investigation of Voldemort's past, especially Voldemort's knowledge of Horcruxes. An important gap in Dumbledore's records of the past is a memory that Professor Slughorn is unwilling to relinquish. Once Harry finally retreives the memory, the next task for Harry and Dumbledore is to actually find the Horcruxes and destroy them.

Another conflict would be Draco Malfoy's suspicious activities and the question of whether he is the cause of the various nearly-fatal accidents that have been occuring around school. Harry suspects throughout the book that Draco is a Death Eater, but is unable to find solid proof of this.

Harry is also very much put-off by Slughorn's attempts to include Harry in his "Slug Club", a group of students that Slughorn favors. And finally, several romantic conflicts arise between Harry, Ginny, and Dean, as well as Ron, Hermione, and Lavender. These conflicts are eventually resolved in various ways.

The more serious conflicts are resolved in the climax of the novel, a single night. Harry and Dumbledore successfully retrieve what they thought was a Horcrux, though it turns out to be fake. It is revealed that Draco is a Death Eater who had been plotting Dumbledore's assassination, and through his efforts many Death Eaters have entered the school and are attacking its students and teachers. A fight breaks out between the Death Eaters and the students and teachers, culminating in the death of Dumbledore and the relevation that Severus Snape is the Half-Blood Prince.

The resolution to the novel would probably be Harry's determination to find the Horcruxes, with Hermione and Ron's help.

What is the overall meaning of Frankenstein?It has to do with an essay that asks what irony contributes to the overall meaning of the novel.

The irony in the novel "Frankenstein" is that while a human is trying to emulate God under a fit of hedonistic and scientific ambition and tries to create another human, it is the morbid and monstrous creature that comes as a result of this project who really shows the behaviors expected of a true and decent human being.

The creature goes through all the stages of need that every human being experiences: the quest for identity, the need for company, the want of connection, the desire for love, the love for philosophy and literature, the rage of injustice, the fear of the unknown, shame, and guilt.  His creator, however, aside from anger and fear, is not as three-dimensional as his creation. Could it be that, in the making of a monster, he created a jewel in disguise?

And yet, as much as he might want to be a part of a natural world, the creature simply cannot. The poor creature has every single human need and desire inside of him, but is invariably shun from the world due to its grotesque aspect, and to his horrible nature.

In Act 4 Scene 3, what dramatic purpose is served by the short scene between Lady Macduff and her son?In what significant way does the murder of...

The short scene, in which Lady Macduff and her son share a tender, butintimate conversation serves several purposes.

Firstly, it gives us an insight about the kind of understanding the mother-son duo shared. They talked to each other frankly, letting the other in on their innermost feelings. Secondly, we understand Lady Macduff's feelings regarding her husband's unannounced exit. Macduff did not tell his wife everything, unlike Macbeth, whose wife was his 'partner in crime' and whose advice he took in everything. Macduff fleed giving his wife no prior explaination. This gave her full right to feel sorry for herself and her son's future. She was extremely upset and felt cheated by a husband, who at their wedding, had promised to be by her side at all time (marraige vows). This was the promise, she said he had broken while referring to her sons' 'traitor' question. What is important to note down though, is that eventhough she said thigns like he was a traitor, who had broken his promise and had lied and was not good a father or a husband, she said it out of anger. However, when the murderers sent my Macbeth arrive to kill her and her son, she immediately satdn up to the defence of her husbnad. Her son does as well. This shows the love they had for him. We also get a clear understanding of her son's wit and wisdom beyond his years.

Introductory paragraph help for an essay about "wisdom and foolishness" in The Odyssey: I need a good topic sentence and a general introductory...

There are several ways to proceed with this.  One such way is to explain how the protagonist can be seen as both wise and foolish, revealing that human actions are always multi- dimensional and complex.  Perhaps, a part of this could be seen as reflective of one's point of view.  For example, to Poseidon, Odysseus' actions with the cyclops are foolish and filled with hubris. Yet, in his own mind, he sees his actions as wise and filled with a sense of guile.  In analyzing his actions with Circe, one might say that he acted in the interests of his family in leaving her, while to her point of view, he acted quite selfishly.  I think that much in your work can be driven by the fact that making judgment calls on his behavior is highly determinant on context and point of view, highlighting the intricate nature of human action and freedom.

Describe Juror #3 and his reasons for wanting to find the defendant guilty in Twelve Angry Men.

The American jury system is evaluated in the drama Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose.  After six days of testimony, the play begins with the judge giving the jurors their instructions for deliberation. 

The setting for the play is New York City.  A young man has been accused of killing his father.  He is a deprived teen who has had some previous criminal activities.  He is a minority but what kind is never stated.

The twelve men on the jury are stereotypes of the kinds of men that might serve on a jury in the 1950s.  Luckily for the accused, Juror # 8 has the integrity to stand up against the prejudice that runs rampant among several of the jurors.  If he had not been on the jury, the boy would have been found guilty in the first vote.  Juror # 8 serves as the protagonist in the play.

Juror # 3 is a prejudiced and deeply unhappy man.  His son had problems with anger and struck his father in the face.  #3 places his anger toward his son on the back of the accused.   In many ways, he is the antagonist to the constantly calm Juror #8.

When the first vote is taken, everyone votes guilty except for #8.  Immediately, #3 attacks #8, voicing that the case was simple and the defendant is obviously guilty. Juror #3 is immediately vocal about the supposed simplicity of the case, and the obvious guilt of the defendant. He is quick to lose his temper.  He is often infuriated when Juror #8 and other members disagree with his opinions. He believes that the defendant is absolutely guilty.

Initially, #3 in his mind believes that the boy has committed the crime. He says that this kind of boy is capable of anything.  He also believes the testimony of the old man and the woman who could hardly see.  The switchblade and how the man was stabbed indicate to #3 that all of the other jurors should be able to see that the boy is guilty.  Part of #3’s problem is an unwillingness to admit that he may have made a mistake.

Juror #8 insists on discussing the various parts of the evidence.  He explains that the boy deserves that from the jury.  #3 grows more irritated throughout the process and explodes in a rant: "He's got to burn! He's slipping through our fingers!"

Juror 8 takes him to task, calling him a "self-appointed public avenger" and a sadist, saying he wants the defendant to die for personal reasons, not the facts.

During Act Three, #3’s emotional baggage is revealed. His poor relationship with his own son may have biased his views.

NO. 3: (pleading). Listen. What's the matter with you? You're the guy. You made all the arguments. You can't turn now. A guilty man's gonna be walking the streets. A murderer. He's got to die! Stay with me.

Juror 3 loses his temper and tears up a photo of himself and his son, then suddenly breaks down crying and changes his vote to "not guilty", making the vote unanimous. Only when he comes to terms with this can he finally vote “not guilty.”

Reginald Rose’s drama ends with the jury agreeing that there is enough reasonable doubt to warrant an acquittal. The defendant is found “not guilty” by a jury of his peers. However, the playwright never reveals the truth behind the case. Did they save an innocent man from the electric chair? Did a guilty man go free? The audience is left to decide for themselves.

Describe the first of the three spirits and explain how its appearance relates to its lesson.

Out of the three spirits that visit Scrooge, the Ghost of Christmas Past is the strangest. Dickens spends a lot of time describing this one, much more than the others. But the lesson that this ghost teaches Scrooge is that he doesn't have to let his negative past affect his present and his future as it does.

The first description of the Ghost of Christmas Past is as a

. . .figure--like a child; yet not so like a child as like an old man . . . Its hair, which hung about its neck and down was white as if with age; and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it, and the tenderest bloom was on the skin. The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the same, as if its hold were of uncommon strength. Its legs and feet, most delicately formed, were, like those upper members, bare.

This represents all that Scrooge is at this moment, for he is an old man, but within him is still this child. It is Scrooge's childhood that causes him to loathe Christmas. And The Ghost of Christmas Past reveals this when it shows Scrooge as a very "lonely boy . . . reading near a feeble fire" at a boarding school during Christmas, while all the other boys have gone home for the holiday. Then it shows Scrooge at another Christmas "walking up and down despairingly" at another boarding school. These Christmases scarred him psychologically.

However, this image also suggests that Scrooge should not let his past affect his present and future. This is revealed in the duality of the child and old man image. Man is born innocent and loses this innocence through experience, but as he ages, he returns to a higher state of innocence. This notion can be seen in the combination of the child and the old man in the spirit. However, Scrooge never regained his innocence as he aged; he became more calloused and bitter toward mankind and Christmas. He never progressed from the experiences that he had during those two Christmases alone.

The idea of the past being a major factor in Scrooge's life is further revealed in the strangest description of the Ghost when it changes from

being now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now a head without a body: of which dissolving parts, no outline would be visible in the dense gloom wherein they melted away. And in the very wonder of this, it would be; distinct and clear as ever.

The body parts represent the dysfunctional mentality of Scrooge; he is so disjointed from reality, from mankind, and from all that is good.

The description of the light coming from the top of the Past's head clearly symbolizes the truth, and the truth of the matter is Scrooge had a terrible childhood and is taking it out on the world, but the Past shows Scrooge that his past wasn't entirely bad, for his sister Fan was a positive, as was Fezziwig. Ultimately, Scrooge had to be shown his past in order to fully understand himself.

In Act 1, Scene 2, lines 189-260 of The Tempest, what is the relationship between Prospero and Ariel?

Ariel has great admiration and respect for his master, Prospero.  He addresses Prospero with the words, "All hail, great master, grave sir, hail!"  He also obeys to the letter all the commands of Prospero and enjoys telling him in detail how he carried out his plan. He delights in serving and pleasing Prospero.  In turn, Prospero is greatly pleased with Ariel. When Prospero tells Ariel there is more to do, Ariel is disappointed because he believes he has earned his liberty, which Prospero had promised him.  Prospero rebukes Ariel sternly, almost as a parent would a child.  However, it is obvious that Ariel feels shame for demanding freedom when Prospero still needs him.  He answers Prospero's questions with very short answers which suggest shame and remorse. He is reminded by Prospero how the witch, Sycorax, had imprisoned him (Ariel) in a "cloven pine," and how Prospero had freed him from this torment; thus Ariel is bound to Prospero by ties of gratitude.

Why did Walter Mity imagine himself facing a firing squad?

Because Walter Mitty is so weak and hen-picked in his real life, he develops a fantasy world in which he is active and many times a hero.  Putting himself in front of a firing squad would initially be contradictory to his usual daydreams; however in this particular day dream, he plays the part of a noble hero who is put innocently in front of a firing squad.  This may also reflect his feelings about how he feels in his relationship with his wife.  She nags him constantly, and he silently endures.  It is also significant that his daydream about the firing squad comes right at the end of the real day he is having with his wife.  As he is standing on the street, he imagines himself smoking a cigarette bravely facing the firing squad whereas in reality he is standing in the rain waiting for his wife to return from the drugstore.  He knows he is likely to get more nagging the minute she returns.

How does society come across as an antagonist in “The Story of An Hour” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”?

In the two stories you ask about, "The Story of an Hour" and "The Yellow Wallpaper," society is the source of stereotypes, mores, and gender roles.  The protagonists in both of these stories live in patriarchal societies.  As women, they are supposed to fit feminine stereotypes, act in certain ways, value certain things, and play specific roles.  When a woman does not fit the stereotypes, believe in the same mores, and perform the "correct" roles, she is outcast, possibly in a literal sense (as in "The Yellow Wallpaper"), but certainly at least in a figurative sense (as in "The Story of an Hour"). 

These thinking, feeling, expressive women are doomed, doomed by the societies in which they live.  In this sense, society is an antagonist in both stories.

In "The Most Dangerous Game," how is Zaroff uncivilized in his actions?

General Zaroff is uncivilized because he lures unsuspecting ships to his island with lights that are supposed to indicate safe passage, but do not.  Like the Sirens in The Oddysey, Zaroff lures sailors to their doom.  The ships are destroyed on rocks, and the men are at the mercy of Zaroff.  He treats them well at first, offering them expensive food and drink in his mansion, but the illusion of civilization ends there.  Zaroff is merely attempting to physically strengthen his prey to make them better to hunt.  He believes that there are certain people in this world who are expendable, sailors among them, and that hunting them does no harm to the "civilized" world and may even be considered a service to the rest of humanity.

What is postmodernism and how do postmodern thoughts impact various fields such as arts, religion, politics, business, and the media?

I'll try to answer another part.  In terms of the media, the pervasiveness and the global nature of 24 hour news is part of the fragmentation which is another characteristic of postmodernism.  Fragmented, meaning decentralized: this is partly a description of the fragmented self where the postmodernist does not think of him/herself as one Main thing, but many things, sometimes even paradoxical.  To tie this into the media, where news is always on and all over the world, a sense of being stuck in one part of the world is not so stuck any more.  With so much, albeit indirect, access to other cultures, we're more integrated and therefore, less walled up in our own respective nations and selves. 

Todd Gitlin once described postmodernism as the need to be everything all at once.  As the previous poster noted, postmodernism rages against rational and scientific aspects.  Jean Lyotard, in The Postmodern Condition, talked about postmodernists "raging against metanarratives." A metanarrative is exactly what it sounds like a Big Story: examples being Christianity or any religion, Modernism, Technology, and any group of coherent ideas that supposes itself to be an ideal plan for society. 

So, summing this all up, for the postmodernist, there is no One Really Good Idea, no One Best Religion, no One Best Artform.  The postmodernist takes bits and pieces from all these "grand narratives" and meshes them all together: sometimes in art this is called "pastiche."  So, not only is the self fragmented but the stories, theories, religions are also fragmented, decentralized.  To be everthing everywhere all at once is, without strict adherence to One Main or One Oppressive idea is to be a postmodernist. And tying in to one of the previous poster's bullets, a self-conscious or self-reflexive postmodernist would make it known that he or she is, for example, a Buddhist Marxist Cubist Feminist Gun-loving Republican Vegetarian with ethnic roots in Liberia, England and Mauritania.  Everywhere and fragmented: a paradoxically futile and hopeful attempt to be a citizen of the world.

Everyone says to me that the earth will be destroyed in 2012. Is this true?

I have to start this answer with the following statement: This event is launched on the basis of Maya civilization forecasts, a civilization which did not survive to history.

Why forecast of a civilization which no longer exists  should be taken ad-literam?

Despite the huge publicity and ongoing discussions on account of this event that gets closer, Susan Milbrath, from the Florida Museum of Natural History, said, on behalf of the archaeological community,that it was not discovered until now, any document indicating that the Maya believed that the world will end in 2012, but only the fact that it will end a large calendar cycle, which no doubt it will have effect to the planet level also, but not necessarily apocalyptic.

The entire media hysteria triggered around this event is only a chance of winning for some parts.

 It is known for sure that the Maya civilization knew that it was such a cycle before, which implies that they knew that will follow another.

Some scientists agree that, despite scientific methods and means at our disposal, we can not predict the future exactly. For them the message of prophecy is that we must keep an optimistic attitude about the future. All the time people have thought that their end is near, they anticipated and waited. Until now, however,they were wrong every time.

What is the moral or lesson in "The Interlopers"?

The moral of the story is to lay aside feuds or arguments because they could lead down the path of destruction. Had Georg and Ulrich not been in the woods hunting each other in order to claim ownership of a worthless piece of land that their families had been feuding over for generations, they might not have met their fates with the wolves that night. Each man allowed this feud to consume him even though neither man really used this piece of land dividing their estates anyway. By the time the men were ready to lay aside their differences while trapped beneath the tree, it was already too late for their rescuers were not people, but a pack of wolves. The moral is to learn to compromise and resolve differences before they lead to the destruction of one's life.

If you want to know more about themes instead of morals like enmity (the ill feelings that the men felt toward one another), social class (the fact that the men came from different social statuses), or even man and nature (the fact that the men are felled by a tree and a pack of wolves), then check out the link below.

In "The Shawshank Redemption," how does Andy Dufresne help himself in the pursuit of achieving justice?

Andy helped himself while achieving justice for the other inmates because as he was ingratiating himself to the guards and warden, he was secretly planning his escape. While he was offering to help the guards out with their taxes, he was secretly digging a huge hole in his cell. Because he became trusted more and more by the guards and the warden, no one thought to look behind the poster he had hanging in his cell.

Andy improved life in prison for the other prisoners. He helped get a library going at the prison. He helped the other prisoners study for their GED exams so that when they got out of prison, they would be more employable. He played operas over the loud speakers so the men could enjoy the music. Even though many of the things he did for the other inmates landed him "in the hole" (solitary), he did it anyway, endearing himself more and more to the other prisoners.

As he helped the warden launder his money, he secretly plotted how he would use the information in the future to eventually turn the warden in -- only after he, himself, had escaped to Mexico.

Andy was very crafty. He helped himself while pursuing justice for others.

How do you explicate a book, creation story, narrative, and essay?

An "explication" or "explication de texte" is essentially a close reading of a specific text, usually a poem or short story but possibly something longer. (If you do have to work with something longer, such as a novel or other book, I recommend focusing on just one section and treating that section much like a short story first and then treating it as part of a larger whole.)

So how do you do a close reading? I've given an internet link below that, along with mstultz72's post, may get you started. Both guidelines are good because they both start with a lot of what's called pre-writing.

I recommend reading the text closely and carefully, more than once, and looking for specific things (such as in the SIFTT method). Think about this pre-writing activity as labeling and filling a bunch of boxes (e.g. a box labeled "symbols"). Only put things (your notes) related to symbols from your text in that one box. Once you've filled all the boxes with at least one item each, take an overall inventory and get a sense of which of the categories seem most worth discussing. Be sure to consider each category carefully, but if nothing stands out in terms of one category (e.g. "tone," for example), I would recommend that you not address that category at all in your explication. If there's nothing special to say about something, don't bother to say it (unless you've been told explicitly to address every item on a list, for example).

Finally, if you have time, your best course of action is always to ask your instructor for examples or clarifications. I teach, too, and love getting such requests from students; they give me a sense that students are thinking seriously about the assignments.

What are the character traits of Elinor and Marianne in Austen's Sense and Sensibility?

Elinor and Marianne in Sense and Sensibility have some character traits in common but most of their traits are opposites. The character traits that they have in common are that they are both well educated (though not formally educated), accomplished, sincere and loving young women. There the similarities seem to stop.

Elinor is practical and dependable. Her mother relies on her to give advice and counsel during difficult transitions as is illustrated by Elinor's important role in deciding what situation to move to after their welcome at Norland Park has expired following the death of Henry Dashwood, Elinor's and Marianne's father. Elinor is also steady in her emotions and believes that prolonged violent displays of emotion do no good for individuals or situations. She believes in guiding her heart by her head, which by no means suggests that she does not feel deeply, because she does, but that there are helpful ways and unhelpful ways of demonstrating and revealing ones deeply felt emotions. Elinor is the embodiment of the sense of the title.

Marianne is more beautiful than Elinor and leans strongly toward poetry and music while Elinor, herself certainly elegantly beautiful, has talents in painting. Where Elinor is practical, Marianne is poetical. Her concern upon being required to leave Norland Park is not for finding accommodations that will fit their needs and income but for saying farewell to Norland's leaves and the wind playing through its trees. Marianne is violent in her emotions and believes that any form or degree of restrained emotion signals insincerity and shallowness of emotional feeling. She believes that heart and head are inseparable and guide a person's way by working together, without restraint of one by the other. Marianne is the embodiment of the sensibility in the title.

These traits determine the young women's behavior in the romances that drive the plot, Elinor's hidden love for inexplicably stand-offish Edward and Marianne's loudly trumpeted love for Willoughby. Elinor respects Edward's slightly strange behavior and restrains the display of her deep feelings for him, which turns out to be to her advantage as it spares her humiliation in front of Lucy, who in jealousy confides to Elinor her secret engagement to Edward, thus explaining his strange stand-offishness. Marianne dives energetically into her deep feelings for Willoughby, even to the point of making herself ridiculous and the topic of censure for ill-judged behavior like her surreptitious visit with Willoughby to Miss Smith's home.

What happens to Biff during his visit to Bill Oliver?

Biff is locked in a cycle of deception and dysfunction in his life and his relationships with others, particularly his father. He has come back home after a failed attempt to live away from his father, mother, and brother. Despite his dislike of the city and office work, he allows his brother and father to talk him into seeing a former employer about a loan he can use to start a sporting goods business. In Act I the family, including Biff, imply that Biff formerly worked as a salesman for Bill Oliver. 

In Act II, Biff reveals he has spent the entire day in the reception room at Bill Oliver's office. After waiting six hours and even trying to flirt with the secretary to get an appointment, the man finally appeared at 5 p.m. Bill Oliver didn't even remember who Biff was, and he only spoke to him for about a minute. Biff found himself all alone in the waiting room. For some reason, he compulsively entered Oliver's office and stole his gold fountain pen. He realized he had never been a salesman for Oliver's company; he had merely been a shipping clerk. It dawned on him "what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been." After Biff stole the fountain pen, he ran out of the office and down eleven flights of stairs.

During the dinner at the restaurant with Hap and Willy, Biff tries to explain the situation, but Willy begins to lose touch with reality. Biff vacillates between making up a better story and telling the truth. He also reveals that in the past, presumably when he was employed by Oliver, he had stolen a box of balls from the company. Now having stolen from the man again, he can certainly never go back to speak to him about anything, let alone a loan of $10,000. Later he reveals that he "stole myself out of every good job since high school." However, stealing the fountain pen creates an epiphany for Biff. He looked at the pen and asked himself, "What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me to say I know who I am!" Through this experience, Biff is finally able to look at himself and his life honestly.

What is the definition of a literature study? and what is the definition of empirical research?i want to know the definition of both literature...

A literature study is also referred to a literature review.  When you embark upon a research project, the idea is that your research should not take place in a vacuum, without any reference to the research of others in your content area and topic. Your research should be rest upon the shoulders of those who have gone before you, within the context of the research of others. 

You are expected to review the work of others in your content area and subject, and write about the results of your review. This serves several purposes. First, this enables you to understand more fully the theories that your own research might rest upon and immerse yourself in the language of your discipline. Second, it allows you to justify the need for your own research. You might find out that what you propose to research has already been studied extensively, and you are not making any contribution to the world's knowledge if you follow a particular path. When this happens, you have a good foundation with which to think about what else you might research, a need in the discipline for further knowledge. Third, your review allows your reader to have a contextual backdrop to your research, a way of fitting what you have to present into the big picture. 

Empirical research is the research that you conduct through observation or experiment.  There are many kinds of empirical research, both quantitative and qualitative.  For example, empirical research might consist solely of a teacher observing a classroom and making detailed notes about the students, or it might consist of an anthropologist observing the behavior of the people in a particular tribe. Empirical research might involve counting how many cars pass a particular intersection or finding out how many sexually abused people in a given community are drug users. 

Generally, a formal paper will begin with an introduction, move on to a review of the literature and then move on to a discussion of your research, its rationale, methodology, and results, followed by the conclusions that you may draw from those results.  Sometimes schools have their own conventions or template for how this is done, so it is always best to find out the school's requirements and have a look at sample papers from your school. 

Why does Mrs. Crater want Mr. Shiftlet to marry Lucynell?

Mrs. Crater has various reasons for wanting Mr. Shiftlet to marry Lucynell. Mrs. Crater leads a very sedentary life and depends on her daughter to cook, clean, feed the chickens, do the laundry, grocery shop and care giver jobs on the plantation.  To get a son-in-law, she could have a full-time chauffeur, a laborer, a carpenter, mechanic, farmer, etc.  She would have the best of both worlds and wouldn't have to want for anything.  Whoever marries her daughter would have to stay on the farm because her mother would not be able to do any of the self-help skills the daughter does for her.  Mrs. Crater is being very selfish in her desire for a son-in-law.

What is the difference between literal language & figurative language and why poetry is often figurative?

A language is called literal when what is meant to be conveyed is same as what the word to word meaning of what is said. In contrast the figurative language, the words are used to imply meaning which is other than their strict dictionary meaning. Take for example the following two sentences.

The baby slept in lap of its mother.

and

The baby lived in lap of luxury.

In the first sentence the word lap is used to mean the physical lap formed by the body of the mother. Thus this sentence is conveying what the words used actually mean. Therefor it is literal statement. In comparison the word lap as use in second sentence does not represent a physical lap. It is only intended describe the cosy and comfortable conditions in which the baby lived. Therefor it is a figurative statement.

Poetry tends to use figurative language more than prose because, as compared to prose, it is intended more to appeal to emotions and described thing in imaginative ways rather than provide their precise and accurate descriptions.

What motivates Macbeth to take the evil path he chooses.

I would argue that it is a combination of things that does this.

First, I would start with the idea that Macbeth is ambitious.  If he were not ambitious, nothing else would have mattered.  However, his ambitions did not send him along the path to evil without help.  Instead:

Second, the witches' prophecy gave him reason to believe that his ambitions could be realized.  Before that, he had ambitions, but they were under the surface. Now, he sees an opportunity and that makes his ambition wake up, as it were.

Third, his wife pushes him.  She's ambitious too and she thinks he is not ruthless enough.

So it's a combination of those three.

What is the theme or lesson in the book? it was hard for me to understand it

A major theme in the work is the struggle for equality. Racism and the fight for equal rights has been a constant theme in literature, and is especially present in literature of marginalized writers (women, ethnic minorities) emerging during the Harlem Renaissance (1920's), the Black Arts Movement, the Civil Rights era, and beyond.

The main "lesson" taught by the work is that racism is a flawed concept. One example of this (though certainly not the only example in the book) can be found in the development of the character of Lily. Lily is challenged by racism throughout the piece, but she ultimately moves past her own mistaken perceptions to accept that difference is not always a negative thing. She starts the novel believing that all black people are uneducated, but when that idea is challenged when she meets and comes to know Boatwright she must revise that opinion. That is her "lesson learned" in the work.

What were some possible reasons for the ghost's appearance?

Which time?  The ghost appears in the first Act to urge young Hamlet to seek revenge for his murder.  No one other than Claudius, the murderer, knows for sure that King Hamlet has not died of natural causes during his nap in the garden, although there is the question of whether or not Gertrude was involved with the plan to get rid of the king.

Later on, the ghost reappears to Hamlet in Gertrude's bed chambers.  Here, the ghost may be continuing to urge Hamlet to action where the revenge is concerned, or the ghost may appear simply to have Hamlet take a more gentle approach with Gertrude. 

Do you think Rainsford changed overall after the experience? I.E: Rainsford feeling the same way about animals.

Since Connell never really tells us how Rainsford views hunting after he experiences it we are left to decide for ourselves based on what has happened. I think, based on his philosophical conversation with Whitney at the opening of the story that Rainsford can now say with a degree of certainty that animals feel fear and pain when they are hunted. I do not, however, think that Rainsford has changed his mind about hunting. He is a world renowned hunter. This is what he does for a living. He has a flippant attitude about the hunted, so I believe his attitude may have changed, but he will continue to be a hunter. After all, he did send Zaroff to the hounds in the end so he obviously has not changed his view on the fact that the world is made up of hunters and huntees. 

Why couldn't Scout go to Barker's Eddy, the swimming creek, with Jem and Dill? And why was Atticus's face white in Chapter 24?

Poor Scout! With as much fun as she has being a tomboy and running around with the boys all summer long, she's still a girl, and therefore isn't allowed to go skinny-dipping with them. The boys probably told her they were "going in naked" just to keep her away. By chapter 24, though, Scout is older and maturing. In fact, she's going into the third grade, which makes her around 8 years old. Aunt Alexandra is hosting one of her missionary teas that day as well, which is a perfect time for Scout to put on a cute little dress and join the party.

After the missionary business is over, Aunt Alexandra invites neighbors over for refreshments. It's during this tea party that Atticus comes home unexpectedly early and Scout notices that his face is white. As he goes into the kitchen to speak with Calpurnia, Scout goes in and overhears what's going on. Atticus needs Cal to go with him to Helen Robinson's home to inform of the following:

"Tom's dead. . . . They shot him. . . . He was running. It was during their exercise period. They said he just broke into a blind raving charge at the fence and started climbing over. . . . They fired a few shots in the air, then to kill. They got him just as he went over the fence" (235).

How is language learned according to Behaviorist theory of language acquisition?

Language acquisition according to behaviorists depends on human role models, imitation, rewards and practice. Behaviorist theory of language acquisition (Skinner) is one of four dominant language acquisition theories. The other three are innatist (Chomsky); cognitive (Piaget); and social interactionist (Vygotsky).

Behaviorist theory of language acquisition asserts that stimuli for language learning comes from the presence of humans. The rewards also come from the presence of humans. Humans who are present are imitated. Practice is with humans. Rewards are enhanced when humans, called role models, respond to language learning and acquisition attempts with praise and affection.

[For expanded discussion, see Language & Literacy Development, Mrs. Meadows, Crescent Elementary School.]

Explain how the practice of retaliation developed into a system of criminal law?

Retaliation, another word for vigilantism, is based on human primal urges for revenge, and the more primitive legal systems of societies past that allowed the victims or victims families to carry out the sentence of death as revenge.

As democracy and philosophy took hold throughout parts of Europe, and civilizations such as the Greeks and Romans developed further, the concept of law - that is a system of rules applied evenly across a population - developed along with them.  Ideas such as impartiality, and juries came soon after, especially once England's Magna Carta was written.

In essence, we still have a system of retaliation, but it is more organized, more uniform in its application, and the defendent has more rights than under previous systems. Vigilantism has been made into a crime.

How does Tom act when he first notices the new girl, Becky Thatcher? What small gesture does she perform to encourage his attention? Also What...

When Tom first sees Becky in the garden, he begins to "'show off' in all sorts of absurd boyish ways, in order to win her admiration" (Chapter 3).  Becky pretends to ignore him, but before she goes inside she tosses a pansy over the fence to encourage his attention.

Soon afterwards, Tom's brother Sid breaks the sugar bowl, and their Aunt Pollly, assuming Tom did it, smacks him.  When she realizes Tom didn't do it, she neither apologizes nor reprimands Sid, but tells Tom he probably deserved the blow anyway for something else bad he most likely did when she wasn't looking.  Tom knows that "in her heart his aunt was on her knees to him" (Chapter 3), and, to comfort himself, imagines scenes of himself sick on his deathbead or being brought home dead from drowning in the river, with his aunt begging forgiveness.

How does Rainsford manage to wound Zaroff?My question is about this passage: "I will not lose my nerve. I will not." He slid down from the tree...

Rainsford manages to hurt Zaroff just a little bit by setting a trap for him.

Specifically, Rainsford uses a big tree that is leaning on a little one.  We are not told exactly how he manages it with only a knife as a tool, but he is able to make it so that the big tree will fall when Zaroff touches a trigger (a protruding branch).  Zaroff touches the trigger and the tree falls.  But Zaroff is quick enough and is paying good attention so the tree only hits his shoulder a little.

How have myths and history been depicted in Yeats's poems?W. B. Yeats's use of myths and history.

One way William Butler Yeats uses history is to embed it in the language of his poetry and plays. During the struggles against England that ensued following Parnell's downfall, when Gaelic was receiving broad attention and revival, Yeats, as he tells in his 1923 Nobel Prize Speech, and his associates discovered, with the help of Lady Gregory, that rural peasants told the old stories of Ireland in a language that was "in a form of English which has much of its syntax from Gaelic, much of its vocabulary from Tudor English." Yeats found that their speech was "our most powerful dramatic instrument." As a result of studying and employing the speech of this peasantry, Yeats incorporated the fibers and the stories of history into his writing through modelling their speech.

An auxiliary point to this is that the theater begun by Yeats, Lady Gregory, financial subscribers and the players and others with whom Yeats worked, was caught up in the history unfolding in that moment and they placed themselves in the position of being the "somebody" who, in the midst of "some kind of revolutionary frenzy" of ill-judged actions and reactions, "must teach reality and justice." As a result, Yeats felt compelled to turn more and more to "become always more realistic, substituting dialect for verse, common speech for dialect."

One of the prominent themes in Yeats's work is what is generally referred to as the theme of the "impact of fate and the divine on history." Yeats valued the realities of history as keys to understanding. At a young age, he turned away from the Christian religion but always pursued a quest for knowledge and understanding of the divine. He immersed himself in the studies of mythology, spiritualism, Theosophy and philosophy. He developed his own theory of historical determinism affected by divine fate, which propounded the idea that historical events had been preordained by the divine: Events were as they were because they could have been nothing else according to the dictates of divine fate. Yeats's complex system, shown by interlocking gyres, details the development of the human soul and its reincarnation(s). He also believed that divinely determined historical fate could be revealed to mankind if and when the human and the divine interact. This unity of history, mythology, the divine and divine fate appear in his poetry in a literal form, in an abstract form and in the form of symbolic representations. Some commonly identified works of Yeats where this is readily recognized are "Leda and the Swan" (1923), where this unity appears literally; "The Second Coming" (1919), where it appears in the abstract; and "Sailing to Byzantium" (1926), where it appears in symbolic representation in the mosaics.

[For additional information on Yeats's Nobel Prize Speech, see NobelPrize.org where you can read his whole speech.]

Why do you think Golding used a deserted island as the setting for Lord of the Flies?

Golding needed a place that could be believable but at the same time would place the children in total isolation.  The island is in the middle of nowhere with no set bearings which will make it harder for the probability of rescue. 

There has been nothing to spoil the island prior to man's arrival on the island.  It is mankind who ahs brought the negative changes such as the scar on the earth, the cut limbs, the dead hog on a stick, and death and violence. He needed to be able to show the progression of evil against a backdrop of something pure.

Most people think of an island as a paradise.  However, a person still needs to perform the same basic needs; drink, eat, and have shelter.  He allowed for the things the boys needed to exist on the island, but he cost of attaining them would become great.

How does Brent change from beginnning to end?

In the beginning of the book, Brent is a very happy and lonely young man.  He gets humiliated by a girl that he likes who slaps him in front of others.  He decides to commit suicide and in the process he lives and an 18 year old girl dies. 

Brett goes on a joureny as recommended to help him by the girl's mother to recover and get past the guilt that he feels.  She wants him to make four whirligigs and place her daughter's face upon them and place them at four corners in America. 

Brent makes the journey and along the way makes discoveries about himself and other people.  He becomes more mature and self-satisfied.  He is also able to obtain healing. 

How do Simon's death and Piggy's death make powerfully clear Goldings idea of human nature?

In the book "The Lord of the Flies" the two boys represent different symbols.  Simon is Christ like and symbolizes purity.  Piggy is civilization and order.

The first death occurs after the boys have become wound up.  They are chanting and reverting to savage nature.  They are so into the moment that when they see Simon they only see the beast.  Even when they have him down on the ground, they continue to bite, beat, and claw at him.  His death is supposed to have been an accident, but he dies savagely.

The second death is Piggy's death.  By this time the boys have transgressed into the state of savage.  Roger no longer practices the laws of civilization.  With no boundaries and laws, he has nothing to stop him from deliberately leveling the rock onto Piggy and killing him.  His actions symbolize the total breakdown of civilization.

What is the characterizaiton, dialect, regionalism, verbal irony, Dramatic irony and irony of situation in The Secret life of bees

This is quite a broad subject, so I will give you an example of each of the literary terms you mentioned. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd tells the story of Lily Owens, a young girl growing up in the racially charged South during the 1960's. Lily is characterized by her defiance, which is surprising considering the abuse she suffers at the hands of her father. Lily's defiance can be found at many times during the story; for instance, when her nanny, a black woman named Rosaleen, is thrown in jail for spitting on a white man, Lily breaks her out and helps her escape.

Most of the dialogue in the book is written in dialect, which means that it is written how a person would speak it rather than in grammatically correct sentences. This device is used to reflect regional aspects of speech such as accent.

Dialect can be seen as a type of regionalism, as well as setting. The book's main setting is the small town of Tiburon, South Carolina. Many aspects of southern life are detailed, both the good and the bad. For example, the scene where Zach Taylor is beaten for trying to go to the movies with Lily recalls how tense and dangerous the sixties were for African Americans.

Dramatic irony occurs when the audience is aware of something the character is not. If we read carefully, we can understand why Rosaleen is crying as she watches Lyndon B. Johnson on the televsion, even though Lily has no clue why.

Situational irony occurs when an outcome is different than expected. It was hard to find an example of this in the novel, but this could be close enough: Lily's relationship with June goes from strained and unfriendly to suddenly loving near the end of the book.

Verbal irony is a figure of speech, something that is meant to mean something else. When August speaks to Lily about beekeeping, it is apparent that she is really speaking about relationships between people.

Which are the characteristics of Ophiophagus Hannah ?

 The Royal Cobra is the longest venomous snake in the world with a length of up to 6 m, weighting approximately 6 kg. It belongs to the family of reptiles called Elapide. Ophiophagus Hannah, its name in Latin means snake-eater of men. The largest in the world is at the London Zoo, which has a length of 5.7 m. The average life of a Royal Cobra is about 20 year.  The Royal Cobra is an endangered species due to forest destruction. World Conservation Union (IUCN) protects those species.

Hunting : Like other snakes, the Royal Cobra receives chemical information (scent) through her tongue split. Moving prey may refer to 100 m away. After injection of venom, cobra started to swallow prey. As with any snake, jaw bones are connected by very flexible ligaments, which enable the snake to swallow animals larger than he. Are able to hunt at any time of day, although it is rarely seen at night.

 Feeding : Usually, the Royal Cobra eats other snakes such as Python,  Bungarus , Indian Cobra and small vertebrates, such as iguanas, birds or rodents.

 Venom : Venom, which is composed of proteins and polypeptides, is produced in specialized salivary glands, behind the eyes. From a single bite, the snake may inject into prey to 8 ml of venom. The venom is neurotoxic and thus causes pain, blurred vision and drowsiness, when injected into a creature. At two minutes after the bite occurs circulatory collapse and the victim falls into a coma. Red Cross in Thailand and Central Research Institute of India produce an antidote but both are produced in small quantities and are not widely available.

Multiplication : the Royal Cobra reproduces by eggs. The female makes a deposit of 20-40 eggs each in the soil that acts as an incubator. The female stands as guard near the eggs .

Related Species : There are over 200 species of elapide found worldwide except Antarctica and Europe. All are aggressive and venomous but may differ in habits, behavior and their appearance. The most famous and important species are elapide: Coral snake, the Black Mamba,  Royal Cobra and Black Cobra.

Is Shakespeare right to let Hamlet die?

Yes, I think he had no other option.  To begin, as others have mentioned, the play would not have technically been a tragedy without the death of Hamlet.  More importantly, however, we must consider what Hamlet's life would have been like had he survived.

His father, mother, and lover were dead.  Hamlet killed Polonius, Laertes, and Claudius, and his mother was accidentally killed in the process.  His own friends betrayed him, with the exception of Horatio.  Fortinbras would likely have remained a shadow in the sidelines, waiting to take over.

To add to that list, Hamlet had many unanswered  questions about life, love, and death.  He had met and spoken with his father's ghost. 

Imagine the repercussions all of those events would have on a twenty-something man.  Considering Hamlet's fragile emotions, he probably would have ended up killing himself anyway.  Looking through "To be or not to be," there is such a fine line between survival and letting go of life.  I do believe that Hamlet would have either ended his life or gone mad: possibly both.

Besides those two reasons, a writer had every right to decide who should or should not die in anything he/she writes.  Sir Arthur Conon Doyle killed off his Sherlock Holmes character, but the public outcry was so tremendous that he had to create a plot in which the beloved detective secretly survived!  While this gave us many more wonderful Holmes stories, it should have been Sir Arthur Conon Doyle's choice, not the public.  A character becomes so close to its writer that, often, it becomes akin to reality.  When that happens, it is as if the character is writing the story. 

At some point when writing any story, you will find that you no longer have control over what you are creating.  Characters you planned to live may die, while characters you thought should die might live.  It is a fascinating psychological event, and to take that away from a writer is to spoil, in many ways, the pure intent of the story.

What is the beef trust?

A "trust" in the Gilded Age setting of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle was an organization of businesses whereby they tried to control an entire market or industry by an agreement between several different owners within that industry to control production and fix prices.

In this manner, they can act like a monopoly and every owner in the trust can make larger profits. In Sinclair's day, especially in the socialist circles he traveled, to set prices in this manner was immoral, and led to exploitation of workers and consumers alike.  To him, this was the point of the book, that trusts needed to be ended and socialism adopted for there to be social justice of any kind.

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald often uses the word hope or dream. Why does he do this?

This book really is about unrealized hopes and dreams, isn't it?  The most prominent of these are Gatsby's hopes and dreams, to achieve a social status that he was not born with, to achieve wealth, and to win Daisy, whom he has loved since they met.  The entire book is about his longings, as he buys a mansion, acquires numerous material possessions, gazes at Daisy's house across the water, and holds magnificent parties in the hope of attracting her to his house. 

But these hopes and dreams of Gatsby's are a symbol, too, of the hopes and dreams of those who have come to America.  Nick expresses this on the very last page of the novel, when he says,

...I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes....Its vanished trees, the trees that ad made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, ...face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity to wonder (189).  

Nick goes on to say the dream "eluded us then" (189), but it does not matter because we will continue to pursue this dream. Gatsby is a symbol of the American dream of a fresh start, of an ability to leave one's lowly beginnings behind, to invent oneself in a New World, and to woo and win an unattainable princess. 

Kindly explain in detail what is the diffrence between Sir Francis Bacon's & Bertrand Russell's prose style

Bacon exhibits a stuffy style of writing:

• -low frequency words; -multi-syllabic words


• -few contractions, articles


• -3rd person pronouns


• -nomenclature, jargon


• -Greek, Latin words


• -complex, compound sentences


• -lots of subordination (clauses, ideas)


• -3rd Person (It-oriented)


• -objective


• -formal


• -logos (logical)


• -consistent in message


• -structured, academic focus


• -thesis-based


• -deductive reasoning

Russell exhibits a plain/tough style of writing:

• -high frequency words


• -monosyllabic words


• -contractions, articles


• -1st person pronouns


• -action verbs, active tense


• -colloquial


• -Anglo-Saxon words


• -simple sentences


• -short, choppy


• -compound sentences (lots of coordinating conjunctions “and”)


• -1st Person (I –oriented)


• -subjective


• -informal (causal)


• -male (macho)


• -ethos (credibility)


• -trustworthiness of the writer or


• speaker


• -inductive reasoning

Where do you think the idea of "sameness" came from, and why were there no differences in the people other than gender and assigned jobs?

I believe that the "sameness" came around because of a desire to make sure that A) people would not be sad and B) that people would not make bad choices.

If people are not all the same, then some people are going to be better than others.  They will be more successful or have smarter kids or make more money.  This will cause dissatisfaction among many people who will be jealous of those who have done better.  With the sameness, this will not happen.

With the sameness, people will also not make mistakes.  They will not choose jobs that make them unhappy.  They will not have too many children or get divorced.  This will make the whole society run more smoothly.

There are no real differences between people because the community does not want these things to happen.

In The Odyssey, please quote the first epithet seen in Land of Lotus Eaters and in Sailing from Troy?

An epithet is a word or phrase used to describe a quality of that thing.  In the Land of the Lotus Eaters, the description of the lotus flower itself is an epithet:

"the honey-sweet fruit of the lotus" (Odyssey, Book 9)

In Sailing from Troy, the epithet is in description of Odysseus' men:

"an evil fate from Zeus beset us luckless men" (Odyssey, Book 9)

What information and directions do the Heirs receive from the Will

The reading of the will indicates that the heirs will be paired with another person and that each pairing will be given a set of clues which they are to keep secret from the others.  They are to use the clues to figure out who killed Sam Westing.  It's a great big "whodoneit" mystery, but the thing the heirs don't realize is that Sam isn't dead.  Only the young girl who kicks everyone (Turtle Wexler) figures out the use of Sam's aliases which all have to do with the directions (Julian R. Eastman, Barney Northrup, and Sandy McSouthers).  Anyway, the pairing who figures it out will win the contest.  Each pair is given 10,000 to use as they see fit while they play the game.

The partnerships are decided in order to provide the "help" each member needs...love, acceptance, guidance, consolation, companionship...whatever that may be.   As they seek the Westing fortune, each pair becomes a partnership, friendship, and eventually part of the community.  So, everyone gains something...even those who don't win the game.

What would be a good thesis for the short story "Eveline"?

The first two paragraphs of the story provide evidence of elements that lead Eveline to meditate about the past and to contemplate the possibility of change in the future. An interesting section is the paragraph that comes before the major cut in the narrative, (“She stood up...”), that defines the emotional clash between the forces of change and tradition going on within Eveline’s mind. This paragraph motivates the reader to examine the emotional impact of the forces that drive Eveline toward the possibility of change and her urge to escape and construct a new life and a new sense of self.

If you could find one, two or three things that reveal an emotional clash between the forces of change and tradition going on within Eveline’s mind; you would have a great thesis.

You can use some social conditions that are highlighted in this story are:

1) The life of unmarried and married working middle-class people like Eveline and

2) Family and societal pressures

3) Male drunkenness and its consequences for the Irish family

4) Intellectual and economic paralysis

5) Irish attitudes towards religion and sexuality

Who gives Clarisse most of her information about the way life used to be in the book Fahrenheit 451?

As far as we know, Clarisse seems to get most of her information about the way life used to be from her uncle.  She talks about her parents some when she is speaking to Montag, but she talks way more about her uncle and what he says.

For example, her uncle says 17 year-olds are always crazy.  More to the point, he tells her how kids did not used to kill each other for fun.  He talks about how people used to believe in responsibility.

He is the only one we really hear about who tells her about how things used to be.

I need help writing an essay of 3000 words on a period/lit. group in british poetry/a british poet/a british poem

When choosing a poet or poetic style from England to write about, you can hardly choose a more English one than William Wordsworth. Also, in choosing this poet you could kill two birds with one stone by covering An English Poet and The Romantics at the same time. Wordsworth is a truly English choice, as his joy and delight in the nature and scenery of the cool green english lake country in which he spent so much time runs right through his works. He was born on the banks of a beautiful but often floody river, and near the lake District where the weather could turn moody and treacherous at a moment's notice. This gave his poems an atmosphere of the danger and power,as well as the beauty, of Nature.

What impact did wartime failures have on Russia?

I'm assuming you mean failures during World War I.  Russian troops were poorly prepared and had limited supplies or adequate clothing for most of the war on the eastern front.  This led to a large number of casualties (3.3 million), battlefield losses that surrendered large amounts of territory to German troops, and it ultimately led to the Russian Revolution in 1917.

The Czars, unable to fight both the Germans and the uprising at home, made a quick peace with Germany at Brest-Litovsk, ceding the Ukraine and more to the German empire.  The population turned against the Romanov dynasty and imperial Russia became Soviet Russia by 1924.

Does the play distinguish between honourable and dishonourable violence? Can this very bloody play be seen as a plea for peace and human harmony?

All is fair in love and war.  In the battle scenes where the countries are at war, the "good" armies are given words with positive connotations to describe them and their actions--"worthy" "good" "honorable" and the like.  This is especially true when Macbeth helps to defeat the armies in the beginning of the play for King Duncan and also when Edward, Malcolm and Macduff are gathering their forces in Act V against Macbeth.

On the other hand, the deeds that Macbeth does in secret--the murder of Duncan, the murder of Banquo, the massacre of Macduff's family--are all shadowed with bad omens (crazy stuff going on in nature like the horses breaking free of their stables and eating each other) and words with negative connotations.

It is very possible to read this play as a plea for peace and human harmony.  The play begins and ends with a battle and a funeral.  There are speeches given for the purpose of thanking those who are loyal and dedicated to an honorable cause.  There is a period of peace after both battles, although Duncan's is very short-lived.

What argument (implied and explicit) does Jacobs make against slavery? Refer to passages.

In the third chapter of Jacobs’s narrative “The Slaves’ New Year’s Day,” Jacobs implicitly and explicitly states her views against slavery.  At the beginning of the chapter, Jacobs uses a more objective tone when describing the normal events that occur on the slaves’ typical New Year’s day which is hiring day in the South:  the slaves are taken to the trading grounds and are expected to go with their new masters.  Jacobs details the beatings that ensue if a slave is unwilling to go with his master.  These details imply that Jacobs has negative feelings towards slavery.  Towards the end of the chapter, Jacobs abandons her objective tone and makes a plea to the audience:  “O, you happy free women, contrast your New Year’s day with that of the poor bond-woman!”  In this plea, Jacobs makes it clear that she feels the difference between the lives of slaves and free persons is unjust.  Throughout the narrative, Jacobs weaves in and out of implicit and explicit disagreement with slavery.

Can someone explain Fitzgerald’s contrasting of Daisy and Gatsby’s love in The Great Gatsby?

The contrast Fitzgerald uses for Daisy and Gatsby's love teaches us quite a bit about the era and human nature.

Gatsby, obviously infatuated with Daisy by a variety of evidences, would go to any length to get her and have her. Being unable to do this in the past because of his previous poverty while it appears Daisy came from old money that expected her to marry money, he actually succeeds for a time capturing her attention and affection again. But Daisy won't go that far.

During their relationship, a murder occurs and Gatsby cares not a bit about the death of Myrtle, but about how Daisy felt about seeing it. Gatsby's love is no holds barred, love her under any circumstances... even if she's married.

Daisy was indeed taken with Gatsby and may have had desire to be with him, but not at that cost. Perhaps a Catholic background and the fact that there was a child involved or that Gatsby tried to hurt her husband Tom by saying, "She never loved you," contributed to her disdain for this insane approach to love. Although a victim of the 20s party era, Daisy had order to her approach to love. Gatsby, chaos. Daisy loved the Gatsby that she spent alone time with as her affair, but not the one who suggested a disruption of everything else.

What does Giles Corey charge in his deposition against Thomas Putnam?

In Act III, Giles Corey brings in a deposition against Thomas Putnam.  In that depostion, he claims that Putnam has had his own daughter falsely accuse another man (a man named George Jacobs) of being a witch.

According to Corey, Putnam wants Jacobs's land.  He knows that if Jacobs hangs for being a witch, his land will get auctioned off.  Corey says that Putnam is the only person around who has enough money to buy such a big plot so he will get it for cheap.

So Corey is saying Putnam is using the witch trials for his own economic benefit.

What is the significance of inserting discordant notes in written music?

Discordant notes are a kind of musical spice. 

Most people like the taste of mayonnaise in their food, and most people enjoy vanilla ice-cream for dessert.  But imagine if every night your dinner was made with mayonnaise, and every night your dessert was vanilla ice-cream.  Boooooring, right?

Your meals need spice.  Sometimes salt and pepper, sometimes curry, sometimes burning-hot jalapenos.  And then sometimes, when you go back to good-old mayonnaise and vanilla ice-cream, you'll appreciate that more, too.

Music is the same.  A steady diet of C-chords is pleasant but boring.  A flatted fifth (G-flat) in the middle of a C-scale is a little spicy and mysterious.  Duke Ellington was known to arrange pieces that had a bass instrument play an E at the same time that an alto saxophone played an F--two notes that are right next to each other and are not part of any "normal" chord.  The result: interesting, spicy, attention-grabbing, unforgettable.

Of course, you can go overboard.  A piece that has nothing but discordant notes can give you a big headache. Unless you're interesting in creating a musical replica of a headache, it's best to compose using a reasonable balance of both harmonious and discordant notes. 

The metaphor and the onomatopoeia in the Legend of the sleepy hollow. and cite the page. ( please answer me as soon as possible)i need the example...

There are several examples of onomatopoeia in the story. As far as a page number, I do not think we have the same texts, but an example would be, ". . . how often was he thrown into complete dismay by some rushing blast, howling among the trees." Remember that an onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like what it is.

A metaphor that appears directly following the above quote is, "All these, however, were mere terrors of the night, phantoms of the mind that walk in darkness."The metaphor is a comparison between two things without the use of "like" or "as". This metaphor is comparing the terrors he discussed previously to "phantoms that walk in darkness".

What is Nick's socio-economic background?

You can find answers to this in Chapter 1.

I guess that you would probably say that Nick is from the upper class.  That depends a bit on how you define the upper class, but he would most likely qualify.

We know that he is from a family that is pretty rich.  He says that the family has been "prominent" and "well to do" for three generations in some city in the Midwest.  We know also that he went to Yale, which in those days was a college that you only went to if you were pretty well-off.

However, Nick is not so rich as to be able to afford a really big house while working in New York, so he must not be filthy rich.

What did the Lion and the Witch symbolize?

C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" series reflects his views on Christianity. Specifically, the books are written as simple hero's journeys that deal with the theme of good-versus-evil.

The lion represents good while the witch represents evil. The lion's character is omniscient, nurturing, and long-suffering. His journey closely parallels that of Christ's in the New Testament.

The witch's character is vengeful, self-involved, desperate and destructive. Her journey parallels that of Satan.

It is important to have this strong contrast between these two characters so that the young reader can readily identify them and understand the issue of imbalance versus balance.

When the world is out of balance, in the first book, it is always winter and never Christmas. The reader immediately understands how terrible that is! When the world is in balance again, Spring comes -- representing the restoration of life and harmony.

Who dies in Chapter 8?

Actually, two characters met their demise in Chapter 8 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. The mother of one of the novel's most important characters passed away.

    Old Mrs. Radley died that winter, but her death caused hardly a ripple--the neighborhood seldom saw her, except when she watered her cannas.

It snowed during Chapter 8, a rarity in Maycomb, and during the extreme cold snap Miss Maudie's house caught fire. One of the novel's most comic characters succumbed due to the fire. Earlier in the day, Jem and Scout had constructed a snowman of dirt and snow. Because of its anatomical body parts (or lack thereof), it was nicknamed the "Morphodite Snowman." The heat left only Miss Maudie's sunhat--"suspended in a thin layer of ice, like a fly in amber"--and her hedge-clippers as a reminder of the "Morphodite." 

In one sentence, what is the general idea of the play Hamlet?

Hamlet seeks the objective truth of his new situation, believing he has been wrongly overturned from being the Prince/heir to the throne,though his apprehensions puts him in a treasonous position, he perseveres craftily, even after having moral proof, to obtain general objective evidence,  in the last scene when Laertes states the King is responsible, even after an interlude when the court, calling 'Treason' , does not make it clear if they mean Hamlet's stabbing of Claudius with the poisoned foil, or Claudius' preparing both it and the poisoned cup which kills Gertrude. At his death, he is vindicated, but he knew the game was very dangerous.

What does Huck witness while hiding in the tree in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? What is his reaction to what he sees?

While Huck is hiding in the cottonwood tree in Chapter 18, he sees the feud between the Sheperdsons and the Grangerfords come to life (or perhaps I should say to death).  He sees Buck Grangerford and a cousin of his fighting against a group of Shepherdsons.  He sees the two of them end up getting ambushed and having to jump in the river while the Shepherdsons are yelling about killing them and shooting at them while they tried to escape.

Huck is revolted by what he has seen.  He says that he will never be able to rid himself of the images.

How does Fitzgerald use Gatsby's parties to present a satirical portrait of the Roaring Twenties?

In F. Scott Fitzgerald'sThe Great Gatsby, the narrator Nick Carraway accompanies, yet stands apart from, his very wealthy and very immoral friends, the married couple Tom and Daisy. Tom and Daisy and their many rich, shallow friends, care nothing for one another; their lives are spent going from one lavish social engagement to the next.  Gatsby house is one of their most frequent stops.  Gatsby serves his guests the most expensive dishes; the champagne flows freely all night and into the mornings in his mansion with its marble floors and crystal chandeliers.  As Nick discovers when he attends his first Gatsby party, however, Gatsby's guests are not his friends. 

Nick finds Gatsby all alone by himself, away from his guests.  They are simply using him, and he allows them to do so in the hopes that Daisy will be impressed with his fortune and leave Tom to be with him.  In short, the parties thrown by this self-made man--Nick discovers after Gatsby's death that he came from the humblest of beginnings--are a waste of money and effort: Daisy will never love Gatsby because, money or no, he is not of her social class.  So his attempts to impress her with all he has achieved are for naught.  The twenties, a time of plenty, in which men like Gatsby made their millions, was less a time of success than it was a time of excess.  Spoiled and idle, Gatsby's partygoers treat Gatsby and each other as expendable.  All they care about is having a good time.  So the plenty they have is not appreciated or conserved; their wealth destroys them emotionally, spiritually, and physically.  They treat one another as if they are disposable, like the money they spend so quickly.  The parties show a society that seems on the surface to reflect happiness and prosperity, when really, it is a society in moral decay.