CHapter Fifteen Speaking of CourageHow does this chapter speak of courage?

In this chapter Norman has a flashback to a moment in Vietnam when he found it impossible to be brave and save his friend. He just couldn't do it, and he feels humilated by his weakness. It was the stink of the place and other small details that undermined his courage, he figures out as he thinks this through. Understanding this (to the extent that he does, because the entire incident is told through a hallucinatory experience)causes him to think that courage is fluid and inconsistent, made up of trivialities and sometimes undermined by trivialities as well, determined by elements of the situation that would seem to have little to do with the matter.  Courage is much more complicated that he knew.

A ray of light strikes a mirror at an angle of 30 degree to the mirror surface. What is the angle of reflection?

According to the law of reflection in a plane mirror, incident , the point of pncidence of the incident ray on the surface of the  mirror , the normal drawn to the surface of the mirror at the point of incdence and the reflected ray from the mirror are all lying inthe same plane. Also  the angle incident ray makes with the normal is equal to the angle the reflected ray make with the normal.

If IO is the incident ray, ON is the normal at the point of incidence, and OR, is the reflected ray, then , IO,ON and OR are all in the same plane.

Also,  angle ION is the angle of incidence.

NOR is the angle of reflection,

Then angle  ION = angle NOR.

In this case angle IOR = 90-30 =60.

Therefore angle of reflection = NOR = 60 degree.

Please answer the following question about The Kite Runner:Why is it symbolic to Amir that Soraya's desire to be a teacher is based on her success...

Soraya has overcome a rather sordid past. She defied the strict culture of her people, ran off to live with another man, and was shunned by the Afghan community in the United States because of this. She is constantly treated as if she were wearing a scarlet letter by her community, and yet she is strong and wants to pursue a career as a teacher to help others. In this way, she is not cowardly, and Amir is probably contrasting her courage with his lack of courage in his past.

He remembers reading stories to Amir but he also recalls that he often would become impatient in trying to teach Hassan to read, unlike Soraya. Worse, he didn't really care whether Hassan learned to read or not, and as he progressed in school, did not even bother to read much anymore to Hassan, often kicking Hassan out of his room when he would pop in to visit and see what Amir was doing.

Comparing himself to Soraya makes Amir feel guilty.

What group of poets was Ezra Pound a member of and what was unique about its poetry?What was the name of it and What was unique about the poetry...

Hi, thanks for your question.

Ezra Pound was part of Des Imagistes, or Imagists, which included other poets such as William Carlos Williams, James Joyce, and Amy Lowell among the most well-known.

The Imagists were against the rules of poetry of the Georgian and Victorian periods, and insisted in a modern approach to the use of language and description.

A famous intent from Des Imagistes was its use of the phrase "to treat 'the thing' as 'a thing". In other words, forget the over representation and over-metaphoric traditions so typical of baroque poetry, forget excessive symbolism an go straight to the image you are describing, and describe its properties and elements for what they are. Present an CLEAR visual.

It would, in itself, create a sense of logic and imagery at the same time, which will ultimately lead to a much clearer and direct form of poetry. These are the same principles that rule Modern poetry and, ironically, is also a salute to the Classical forms of poetry.

Why is Big Sam in Atlanta in Gone with the Wind?

In many respects, Big Sam represents how the Confederate viewed people of color towards the end of the Civil War.  Desperate for anything in terms of soldiers to offset the massive losses being sustained, slaves were "drafted" to fight for the South, who began to fully grasp that they were losing and defeat was inevitable if they did not respond quickly.  Slaves like Big Sam was their response.  His presence in Atlanta also serves to help Scarlett fully understand how the world has changed from the start of the war to the end of it.  The setting in which Scarlett could dismiss the Tarleton Boys with a "Fiddlee Dee" and be content with slaves singing about "quittin' time" on the plantations has now been supplanted with a new reality, where Scarlett must befriend those who might have been either beneath her or opposed to her in order to maintain viability.

What strategy does Toni Morrison use to develop the main theme in Sula?

The main theme of Sula by Toni Morrison is racism, the suppression of African Americans, and the correlated ideology of bigotry. In order to develop this thematic concern, Morrison uses thematic elements that illustrate poverty and the hopelessness that an impoverished life and dream-crushing restrictions almost inevitably lead to. She also develops her main theme by exploring and illuminating the metaphysical and moral battle between good and evil while attempting to redefine how good and evil are understood. Morrison also turns the examination inward to the African American community to explore how racism, bigotry and restriction affect family relationships, especially between mothers and daughters.

How has Jonas changed over the course of The Giver?

In the beginning of the book Jonas is a young boy who views his world the same way as everyone else in his society.  There are some differences in Jonas though.  He has eyes which are lighter than the others.  The second difference is that when it comes time for him to be given an assignment at 12 years old, he is chosen to be a receiver.  It appears that Jonas did not even know that there was such a position in his society.

Jonas begins to change from the first experience he has through the transference of the memories.  The more memories Jonas receives, the more alienated from his society he becomes and the less tolerable he is of their way of life.  The situation becomes so intolerable for Jonas that he decides to leave the community.

Jonas who generally obeyed the laws of the community, now makes a conscious effort to deny the laws and leave the community.  He risks his life to leave the community and he takes the infant Gabriel along with him.

What are the most five important scenes in "Lamb to the Slaughter"?

While this question is open to interpretation, 5 crucial moments that develop and resolve the conflict can be identified.  This is how I see them:

1) Patrick drains his drink, and refuses dinner.  Mary becomes aware that there is tension because of this.

2) Patrick announces his desire to leave his pregnant wife.

3) Mary kills her husband with the frozen leg of lamb.

4) Mary calls to police to announce that she has "found" her dead husband.

5) The police eat Mary's dinner, including the leg of lamb, and theorize about the murder weapon.

Dahl really ends on an ironic note here, with the investigators not aware that they are eating the murder weapon.  Readers are left with the understanding that Mary will be spared. 

What is the plot of "The Last Leaf?"

In this story, there are two artists who live together in an apartment.  Johnsy (a woman) is very sick.  She believes that she is going to die as soon as the last leaf falls off a vine she can see outside her window.  Sue, her roommate, keeps telling her she's not going to die, but she believes she will.

Their downstairs neighbor is an old man, a failed artist who always says he's going to paint a masterpiece.  He goes out in the night and paints a leaf on the wall behind the vine, right where the last leaf is.  Johnsy sees that the last leaf never falls off and she recovers.

Ironically, the old man dies of the same disease Johnsy had, but at least he painted his masterpiece.

In Chapter 10 of Animal Farm, what is the final dramatic point regarding the old rulers and the new rulers?

The pigs run the farm as old Mr. Jones did before the rebellion. Napoleon and the other pigs are walking around on two legs, herding the other animals with whips, and asserting that all animals are NOT equal, some are more equal than others.

They remove the hoof and horn from the flag and change the name back to Manor Farm, which was the name of the farm before the rebellion. They no longer refer to each other as comrades, meaning the rebellious age is over.

The pigs form a friendly camaraderie with their fellow farmers, drinking and playing cards with them as they discuss the issues of running a farm and dealing with animals.

How does Shelley perceive the relation between spring, autumn and winter in his "Ode to the West Wind?"

Shelley composed  the "Ode to the West Wind" while in Florence, Italy in the year 1819. It was published in the year 1820. The gist of the poem is that Shelley considers himself as a poet prophet campaigning for reform and revolution using the "wild west wind" to destroy everything that is old and defunct and plant new and progressive, liberal and democratic ideals in its stead. The poem describes a storm arising in the autumn season in the Mediterranean Sea and being driven towards the land by 'the west wind.'

In Canto 1, Shelley addresses the west wind directly as the "breath of autumn's being" and the sight of it driving away all the fallen leaves is  compared to a magician or an enchanter driving  away all the evil spirits. At the same time it carries with it the fallen seeds to deposit them in a different place where they will blossom in the spring season after being safely preserved during the cold winter season. The west wind is thus both 'destroyer' and 'preserver.'

In Canto 2 Shelley vividly describes the meteorological process of the gathering storm in the distant horizon of the Mediterranean Sea.

In the first stanza Shelley compares the storm clouds which are being formed at the horizon ("tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean") and being driven inland by the west wind to decaying leaves shed by the trees during autumn.

In the next two stanzas, the storm clouds are compared to  "angels" which carry the rain inland. They announce their arrival by fiery flashes of dazzling lightning which reach up into the sky from the ocean at the horizon. The flashes of lightning are compared to the bright hair of the maenad (the maenad is a frenzied  spirit which attends on the Greek God Dionysus.

In Canto 3 Shelley  describes the action of the west wind on the Mediterranean Sea and on the Atlantic Ocean. The west wind announces to the Mediterranean Sea that summer is over and autumn has arrived. The clear view on a bright summer day of the under water palaces and towers in Baiae's Bay off the coast of Naples near the island made up of volcanic rock is disturbed by the west wind which blows across it. Similarly the west wind creates deep valleys as it blows across the level Atlantic Ocean and reminds  the underwater vegetation deep below  that it is autumn and that they too must disintegrate like the vegetation on the earth above.

Canto 4 is an earnest plea by Shelley to the west wind to infuse him with its raw power and liberate him from the bout of depression which has temporarily overwhelmed him - most probably caused by the death of his son William in 1819. Shelley tells the west wind that when he was a boy he was also as "uncontrollable" as the west wind is now, and he would have easily matched the west wind in its speed. But now, he is depressed and weighed down by the cares and anxieties of life and prays to the west wind to liberate him. He pleads with the west wind that just like how it lifts up the leaves on the earth and the clouds on the sky and the waves on the sea it should free him also from the "thorns of life" on which he has fallen.

In Canto 5, Shelley the poet directly and explicitly asks the west wind to make him an instrument and tool of political and moral change: "make me thy lyre" and "drive my dead thoughts over the universe." The poem ends optimistically with Shelley echoing the popular saying "if Winter comes can Spring be far behind?"

In "Scandal in Bohemia", who is Irene Adler and how does Holmes think Irene will show him where the picture is?

Irene Adler appeared in the first Sherlock Holmes short story "A Scandal in Bohemia." The King of Bohemia approaches Holmes and tells Holmes that he, the King, is afraid that Irene will reveal their previous relationship or blackmail him for money, since a photograph of them as a couple was taken, and he is now engaged to another woman. Holmes then goes to her home, and in p lan to discover the photo, finds out that she soon leaves for the US with the photo and has no reason to cause any harm to the King. Holmes later refers to her as "the woman" in other places in the series.

In The Grapes of Wrath, what does the slot machine symbolize?

The slot machine symbolizes both the luck of the draw in society in who comes up lucky and who loses out, and those who take risks versus those who never take the chance. The Joads can be seen in both of these categories. Clearly, they have fallen on hard times. They are travelling in the hopes of work and survival. Yet, they also take a risk-literally gambling on the chance that leaving all they know will turn out all right in the end.

What were Malcolm X's religious beliefs and how did his beliefs affect his actions?

Malcolm X was once an American Black Muslim minister.   He also was one of the leaders of the Nation of Islam. It is the disparity between these two belief systems that has led to some confusion about what Malcolm X did  & did not believe.  The Nation of Islam was separatist, believing that white people are the products of the devil and that black people were supposed to be atop the social order.  However,  after a pilgrimage to Mecca, in 1964, X became a Sunni Muslim & left the Nation of Islam.   Malcolm X now viewed Muslims of different races as equal & thought that all could get along eventually.  (Excluded, however, were persons of differing faiths.)

This quotation from Autobiography describes his religious & social outlook:

My thinking had been opened up wide in Mecca. I wrote long letters to my friends (about) my search for truth and justice. “I’ve had enough of someone else’s propaganda,” I had written to these friends. “I am for truth, no matter who tells it. I am for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I am a human being first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” ... I believe in anger. I believe it is a crime for anyone who is being brutalized to continue to accept that brutality without doing something to defend himself. ...(L)et me remind you that when the white man came into this country, he certainly wasn’t demonstrating non-violence."

What are the positive and negative traits of Wickham from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice?

Wickham's good points are that, because he was raised at Pemberley, he has just as much of a gentlemanly air as Darcy. He is also very handsome, tall, and very polite. He converses very easily and lacks arrogance. Elizabeth was easily beguiled by him because he was so friendly and easy to talk to, unlike Darcy, who is reserved and has a sense of pride that makes him seem arrogant.

Wickham's negative traits are that he is manipulative and a liar. At supper at the Philipses, Wickham engages Elizabeth in conversation because she is attractive and he suspects she is rich. Probably having seen her take note of how Wickham and Darcy received each other when they met on the street in Meryton, he begins a conversation about Darcy. He feeds her plenty of lies about how he was mistreated by Darcy, when the truth was that he had tried to take advantage of Darcy's sister.

Another negative trait is that Wickham is mercenary. Everything he does, he does to try and capture a rich wife for himself. He flirts with Elizabeth when he first thinks she is rich, then switches to Miss King when she inherits £10,000 from her grandfather, he attempted to seduce Miss Darcy for her fortune, and even though he let Lydia run off with him, he had no intention of marrying her because he had still hoped to find a wealthy wife. He is bribed to marry Lydia by Darcy.

What was meant by the quote "I don't know, but they did it... Good night"

Atticus says this in response to Jem’s question, “How could they do it, how could they?” which, the text says, Jem asks “bleakly” because he is very upset about the jury’s decision to find Tom guilty in the face of all evidence to the contrary.  Atticus means that injustice is common, that many times people will make the easy decision instead of the right decision, and that only children have the sensitivity to understand this enormous gap between right and wrong, and because they understand it, be sad and lament such human weakness.

Who did Billy get the dogs from in Where the Red Fern Grows?

In the book Where the Red Fern Grows the book never tells who Billy Coleman bought the pups from.  He finds an ad in a paper and brings it home to his grandpa.  There is a kennel in Kentucky that has coonhound pups for sale for $25.00 each.   He asks his grandfather to order them for him and dumps his money out in front of his grandfather.  He tells him that he had saved up for two years.

Billy's grandfather orders the puppies for Billy, but it still does not even state the name of the kennel.  Billy finds out that the price of each dog had dropped by $5.  He also learns he has to go to Tahlequah to the station to pick up the pups.  Billy had to sneak off to the station in Kentucky to pick up his pups.

What are some of the subtexts in Carrie? What themes are present in the movie?

While the book and movie are not exactly alike, the same themes run through both. Carrie is primarily a struggle for identity, and the pressures one faces when establishing it. For example, Carrie's mother is a religious fanatic, who regularly beats Carrie and locks her in a closet for imagined sins. Of course, this is an extreme, but it is rooted in every girl's deep-seated fear and confusion during puberty. Carrie is unsure of how to be a woman, and thus how to be herself, because her mother sees womanhood itself as a sin, and therefore a thing to be avoided. Carrie's utter terror at her first menstruation, and the other girls' reaction to that, becomes a comment on what roles females play in society, and the ways in which they turn on each other. Of course, pressure on teenagers to conform to societal standards of beauty, and the cruelty that results from these standards is another prevalent theme. Carrie is essentially tortured psychologically by Chris and her boyfriend, and her powers manifest as a result. Carrie is powerless to control her abilities, in much the same way that all people are powerless to control the forces acting upon them. There is much social commentary here about the divisions in society. Carrie is looked down upon for being weird, for being poor: for being everything that the other girls fear they may become.

What are the similarities between the stories "The Yellow Wallpaper and "The Cask of Amontillado"?

In terms of unreliable narrators, the two stories are similar. In "The Cask of Amontillado," the narrator, Montresor, seems to be confessing to the murder of Fortunato, possibly on his death bed, but the reader is never really sure what is real and what has been fabricated by Montresor over the 50 years since the crime happened.

In "The Yellow Wallpaper," the narrator is also unreliable. We get snippets of her story from a journal she has been keeping that chronicles her descent into madness at her confinement in an upstairs bedroom at a house she and her husband are renting for a few months. Throughout her narration, the reader becomes aware of several things that the narrator is not aware of, like her descent into madness. Since she is losing her grip on reality, we too much question her take on the events in the story like one might question Montresor's interpretation of the events in "The Cask of Amontillado."

What is the difference between a leader and a boss?

As the first answer states, the difference lies in the semantics.  Generally, a boss is someone who has been designated to a position of authority over others.  That designation does not mean, however, that a boss is a leader or even a respected individual because one can earn the title of boss through education, advantageous relationships, etc., without having any leadership potential.

A person can be a leader without having any official designation as such.  Humans naturally follow people who inspire confidence (often unknowingly) or who command respect for various reasons (experience, attitude, eloquence).  Of course, someone can be both a leader and a boss, but if someone has to choose which title he or she would prefer, I would guess that the answer would be "leader" because it carries a much more positive connotation than does "boss."

As far as origin goes, the word "leader" most likely comes from the word meaning "to travel" or "to go"; so it is easy to see how following someone who is willing to take the initiative (travel or go) would be perceived as an act of respect for that person's wisdom. In contrast, "boss" originates from the Dutch word for a master or male who holds a high position in a household.  Because it is a term which breeds more familiarity than it does respect based on someone's actions or character, its modern, less positive connotation fits its origin.

Please write a short note on the background of the Romantic Age and the important features of Romantic poetry.

Literary critics consider 1798, the year when Wordsworth and Coleridge published their "Lyrical Ballads," to mark the beginning of the English Romantic Movement. However, its actual beginnings date back to the poetry of Gray, Collins, Blake and Burns who are regaded as 'Transition Poets' who lived and wrote at the end of the Neo-Classical Age. Critical opinion is divided as to when the Romantic Movement actually came to an end; infact, some critics consider the Victorian age to be a continuation of the Romantic Age and that the English Romantic Age extended till the beginning of the Modern Age in the twentieth century. The characteristic features of English Romantic poetry are:

1. Love and worship of Nature and dislike for the urban life. I quote from Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey":

and this prayer I make, 
Knowing that Nature never did betray
The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege,
Through all the years of this our life, to lead 
From joy to joy: for she can so inform
The mind that is within us, so impress<
With quietness and beauty, and so feed
With lofty thoughts.

2. Love for the Medieval Age. Keats' "La Belle de sans Merci" clearly illustrates the fondness Keats had for the medieval form ballad and the medieval age.

3. Love for the supernatural and the mystical. Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner" is completely pervaded by a supernatural atmosphere.

4. Poetry came to be regarded as the spontaneous expression of the poet's own subjective feelings and did not conform to the poetic conventions of classical doctrines. Wordsworth's famous definition of poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" is echoed in Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale" in which the nightingale  "singest of summer in full-throated ease."

5.Completely abandoned the 'Heroic  Couplet' and substituted it with simpler verse forms like the ballads which belonged to the English rural Folk. In fact the 'Ballad Revival' is said to have sparked off the English Romantic Movememnt.

6. The 'poetic diction' of the Neo-Classical Age was completely  done away with and the language of the ordinary people became the language of Romantic poetry. Wordsworth remarks that the language of the ordinary rustic people was the most appropriate language for a poet to express his feelings because,

"such a language, arising out of the repeated experience and regular feelings is a more permanent, and a far more philosophical language, than that which is frequently substituted for it by Poets."

7. The subjects of Romantic poetry were often ordinary people for instance Wordsworth's "The Idiot Boy."

Autumn is personified. What personality is indicated? What does the detail all three stanza contribute to that personality?

There are different aspects to Autumn given in this poem, but I would say overall that Autumn is portrayed as a generous and mellow (not too busy or driven or stressed out) woman.

In the first stanza, we see Autumn working with the sun to create all the fruits and vegetables that will feed the people (and even flowers for the bees) through the winter.

In the second stanza (as it gets later in the Autumn) we see the mellowness of her personality.  She can be seen lying out in the fields, falling asleep at times.

What conflicts does Gawain face in the castle in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?

Concerning your question about Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, I'm not completely sure which castle you're referring to, but I'll assume you mean the Green Knight's castle.  The main conflict Gawain faces during his stay at the Green Knight's castle involves the agreement he and the "camouflaged" Green Knight make to exchange with each other anything they might receive during the three days of Gawain's stay.  The Green Knight gives the wild game he kills when he goes hunting to Gawain, for example.  But Gawain is given a magic girdle by the Lady of the house, and the girdle, she says, will protect him from harm.  On the third night of his stay, Gawain does not give the girdle to the Green Knight.

Secondly, Gawain is repeatedly tempted by the Green Knight's wife.  She repeatedly comes to his room and offers herself to him.  He is tempted, but he passes this test and does not accept the wife's offers.

Both of these conflicts are interior and tests of Gawain's character.  In fact, both conflicts are created by the Green Knight to test Gawain.

Who is Scyld? Where does he come from? Where does he go? What does he do?

Scyld (Shild in some versions) is the father of Beo.  Beo was Hrothgar's great-grandfather and Healfdane's grandfather.  Scyld was also, like his descendants, a Danish king, but he is the first in this family line of kings.  He is mythological in origin having some ties to Scandanavian mythology.  Some scholars have suggested that his presence has agricultural or relgious meaning.  According to the story, he traveled alone to the land of the Danes, rose from one who beat people into submission to one who was honored.  He was a brave king who ruled lands all around him for a very long time.  When he died, according to the story, his body was put in a burial ship that waited in the harbor.  The ship was loaded with treasure to accompany the dead Scyld and the ship was set sail to go wherever the wind would take it.  This was a highly honored treatment of the dead and reserved only for a very select few.  Most of this is explained in the opening 53 lines of the poem.

What is the main idea in "The Scarlet Ibis"?Midterm study guide.

There are several main themes that run through James Hurst's short story, "The Scarlet Ibis." In addition to those already posted, you may want to consider the following:

LIFE IS FLEETING.  Life is short, and it was obvious since the day that Doodle was born that his existence would not be a long one. Spurred by his brother, Doodle overcame many of his physical deficiencies to accomplish more than could have ever been expected of him: running, swimming, fighting, climbing. Had he lived a bit longer, he may have eventually attended school as well.

APPEARANCES.  Many of Doodle's big brother's goals were based on a desire for others to see that he had a normal brother. Big Brother was embarrassed to pull his brother around in a wagon, and he wanted Doodle to fit into his own world. At the end, when he saw that Doodle would fall short, he abandoned him.

BROTHERHOOD.  Brothers are supposed to feel a bond between one another, and Big Brother may have felt that his relationship with Doodle was a bit one-sided. Although the narrator helps Doodle to accomplish many things, Doodle, too, has given his brother many memories--good and bad. Since the story is told in retrospect, it is obvious that Doodle's passing has not eliminated his brother's memories of the "craziest brother a boy ever had."

My question is how to conclude my introduction? And who can give me some suggestions about what this research paper wants to prove?I am writing...

I think what you need to do in your essay is analyze
Sylvia Plath's poetry from a feminist perspective.  You might start out with several research questions:

• What roles do women play in the poems?


• How are women characterized in the poems?


• How does Plath's being a woman effect her perceptions in the poems?


• How are women treated in the poems?


• What place in society do women occupy in the poems?


• Who is the target audience of each poem?


• What is revealed about society's treatment of women in the poems?

A feminist analysis of literature involves the issues raised by the questions above.  You first study the poems and determine what if anything that concerns women is present in the poems.  Then you prove what you believe to be true about feminism in the poems, by supporting it with evidence from the poems.

A feminist approach to literature usually involves several issues:

1. The writer as male/female.


2. Roles given to women.


3. Characterization of women.


4. What the portrayal of women reveals about the contemporary society's attitude toward women.

Cover these and you'll be fine doing the essay.

I'll let other editors answer the rest of your question.

Outline how offender profiling techniques were used to solve the case of 'The Mad Bomber of New York'?

Profiling of suspects, now a common occurrence when locating serial criminals, was in its infancy during the 1940s and 1950s. However, quick thinking by a profiler during that period led to the break in the case and the capture of the suspect.

George P. Metesky, the “Mad Bomber of New York” left bombs in busy public places in New York, terrorizing the city. Most of the bombs had notes attached, explaining that the attacks were retaliation for injuries the bomber had received at work. The notes and related letters written to a newspaper, along with cooperation from an observant clerk, aided in the criminal profile.

The profiler determined the equipment the bomber had used, the bomber’s handwriting style, psychological condition, gender, educational level, and relationships affinity. The profiler even correctly predicted what Metesky would be wearing when he was captured.

The positive identication came when police got Metesky to respond to a series of newspaper articles. The responses coincided with letters the clerk had flagged as being suspicious.

Before Metesky was apprehended sixteen years after the attacks began, 16 people were injured in an explosion at a movie theater.

Are there any other reasons why Vera lies in the story besides simply enjoying it?

Vera's behavior in Saki's "The Open Window" suggests that she frequently makes up stories since she does so twice within the tale.  When she lies to Framton Nuttel, Vera may be trying to prevent the man who is recovering from a nervous breakdown from staying at her aunt's home.  Vera, the only female child in the home, may feel that the newcomer's presence may threaten the amount of attention she may receive from the family.  Since Vera lives with her aunt and uncle, it is probable that she is an orphan and, as such, may crave the attention of others.  This seems to be demonstrated in the tale she tells her aunt, Mrs. Sapleton, about Mr. Nuttel's supposed terrible experience with a dog.  It is filled with exaggeration, and Vera seems to captivate the family with her descriptions.  Their reaction and the narrator's subsequent comment about how Vera is quite good at creating "romance at short notice" suggests that she is successful in drawing the attention she craves.

Does popular culture influence media

Well, there are various kinds of "media", so if you mean traditional media - TV, newspapers, magazines, then certainly one could say that media reflects popular culture simply because media is profitable based on what is popular.

But movies are also media, as is music, radio, even art in some ways.  This kind of media tends to influence popular culture more than news and information media.  It can reflect it too, but what is trendy, what is artistic expression, what is musical style can to some extent determine and shape popular culture.

In chapter 25, why did Jem not want Scout to tell Atticus about Bob Ewell's comment? Was this a wise thing to ask her to do?

In Chapter 25 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem tells Scout the story of how he and Dill saw Helen Robinson receive the news of her husband's death. Later in the chapter, Jem tells Scout what he overheard when Stephanie Crawford was speaking with Aunt Alexandra:

"Mr. Ewell said it made one down and about two more to go. Jem told me not to be afraid, Mr. Ewell was more hot gas than anything. Jem also told me that if I breathed a word to Atticus, if in any way I let Atticus know I knew, Jem would personally never speak to me again" (page 245; page numbers may vary according to the edition).

Bob Ewell wanted Tom Robinson dead, and he most likely wants to go after anyone else who defended Tom, including Atticus (who is likely one of the "two more to go"). Jem does not want Scout to tell Atticus that he has told her this news, as Atticus would not want her to worry. However, Jem feels that Scout is getting older and is capable of hearing this news.

This is likely not a wise decision in some ways, as even if Scout knows about Bob Ewell's threats, she has no way to defend herself. On the other hand, Jem is helping her become more mature by revealing to her the reality that Bob Ewell is an evil man. Jem should have also told Scout not to trust Bob Ewell and not to put herself in a vulnerable position, but he tells her that it's likely an empty threat (while Bob Ewell's threat is not at all empty). By playing down the likelihood that Bob Ewell will carry through with his threat, Jem does not give Scout a serious enough warning about what Bob Ewell is likely to do.

Who is Creon, and why is he important to the plot of Sophocles's Oedipus the King?

Creon is the brother of Jocasta, the wife of Oedipus, the king. He's accused by Oedipus of conspiring with Tiresias to take the crown from Oedipus. As a master of manipulation, Creon sounds convincing until the end of the play. It is then we know that his interest all along has been to become king. Creon does become king in the end when Jocasta kills herself and Oedipus blinds himself. Ironically, Creon becomes king through no actions of his own, but we see his true nature in the two plays that follow. Basically, Creon is used in Oedipus the King to set up the plots of the other two plays, which center around Creon as king.

What is the Summary of Chapter 21 of To Sir with Love?

As the term draws to a close, Rick Braithwaite's life is filled with work and with his deepening relationship with Gillian Blanchard, and he is content. Before meeting Gillian, Mr. Braithwaite had never considered marrying a white woman because of the deep prejudice which exists in England against mixed marriages, but, having met Gillian, everything had changed in his mind. The couple go to meet her parents, whom Mr. Braithwaite finds to be "very nice people." The meeting is at first cordial but somewhat strained, with the topic of the relationship between Gillian and Rick being carefully avoided.

Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Braithwaite have both been to Aruba, in South America, and find much to talk about concerning the island they both know so well. To Mr. Braithwaite's consternation, Mr. Blanchard begins to reminisce about the prostitutes which were brought to the island regularly, to service the men who worked in the American Refinery. Mr. Braithwaite remembers that Aruba was quite a barren place before the Americans came, a place where both food and water had to be brought in by ship, and where women were a rare commodity. He is a little worried that the subject of the prostitutes, and the long queues that formed to greet them is a little too delicate to discuss in front of Gillian and her mother, but Mr. Blanchard assures him that they have heard it all before. Both Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Braithwaite admit to never having associated with the prostitutes during their respective times in Aruba.

Finally, after lunch on Sunday, the pressing topic of Gillian's and Rick's relationship is addressed. Mr. Blanchard admits that he and his wife are concerned about the possibility that the two might marry because of the difficulties they will have to face as a mixed couple in British society, and because their children will "belong nowhere." Mr. Braithwaite listens respectfully, but he is somewhat perturbed, having heard these arguments before. Mr. Braithwaite responds a bit defensively, telling Mr. Blanchard that he (Mr. Blanchard) and Mrs. Blanchard had not had any guarantee that their children "would be strong, healthy or without physical deformity" either, and assuring him that he need not worry about any children that might result from a union between himself (Rick) and Gillian. Mr. Blanchard replies that he is speaking dispassionately and is only concerned that the step that the two young people are taking will be very difficult, and he asks that Rick and Gillian wait six months "before taking further action." He closes the discussion by telling Rick that they do like him very much, and that if Rick is going to be "joining this family (they) might as well be friends." Mr. Blanchard then extends his hand to Mr. Braithwaite, and the two men shake hands (Chapter 21).

"Foregrounding" is a major stylistic device amongst creative writers. Discuss giving examples.

According to formalist critics, foregrounding is a stylistic device that draws attention to itself by way of its defamiliarization from everyday speech.  According to an abstract by Maiall & Kuiken (1994):

Stylistic variations, known as foregrounding, hypothetically prompt defamiliarization, evoke feelings, and prolong reading time. These possibilities were tested in four studies in which segment by segment reading times and ratings were collected from readers of a short story. In each study, foregrounded segments of the story were associated with increased reading times, greater strikingness ratings, and greater affect ratings. Response to foregrounding appeared to be independent of literary competence or experience. Reasons for considering readers' response to foregrounding as a distinctive aspect of interaction with literary texts are discussed.

Also, according to Walker Gibson, there are three styles of discourse: plain/tough, sweet, and stuffy.  Plain/tough is the language of prose fiction; sweet is the language of advertising; stuffy is the language of Academia (textbooks).  If any of the other two styles creep into the other, it is foregrounding, as the author, by way of style, is calling attention to the shift in discourse.  His overall premise, of course, is that in a piece of writing, the audience identifies the author by style first and foremost; style breeds trust.

My favorite foregrounders are Faulker, who infuses his experimental fiction with poetic devices (Sound & Fury; As I Lay Dying), and Nabokov, whose creative uses of punctuation (parentheses) in Lolita, both draw attention to themselves, more so that their narrators.

Give the reasons for what country should English belong to?This question is related to the view of the role and nature of English

I think this is a very interesting question. Certainly, the name of the language ties it to its home country, England, but even there it never was a truly native language. Around 450 AD, a number of Germanic tribes (primarily the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes) invaded what is now England and brought with them the Germanic language that would become known as English. Before that invasion, people were speaking languages from prior invasions, including Latin and Celtic.

Even the history of the language, then, complicates the idea that any one country or group of people owns it. (lorijayne's comments seem to me right on the mark!) Today you'll even hear a number of language scholars talking about World Englishes, which suggests that there's no longer one language that can be owned by any one group of people.

In your question you mention "the role and nature of English," which seems to suggest to me that you, too, understand how English has become a global language and has undergone any number of transformations in the process.

How could ash from a massive volcanic eruption affect the energy intake of nearby plants and animals?

As the question points, volcanic ashes are very much dangerous to the flora and fauna near by. During volcanism molten magma rises toward the surface and the gases held in the melt begin to form tiny bubbles. The increasing volume taken up by gas bubbles makes the magma less dense than the surrounding rock, which may allow the magma to continue its upward journey. Closer to the surface, the bubbles increase in number and size so that the gas volume may exceed the melt volume in the magma, creating a magma foam. The rapidly expanding gas bubbles of the foam can lead to explosive eruptions in which the melt is fragmented into pieces of volcanic rock, known as tephra. If the molten rock is not fragmented by explosive activity, a lava flow will be generated.

Together with the tephra and entrained air, volcanic gases can rise tens of kilometers into Earth's atmosphere during large explosive eruptions. Once airborne, the prevailing winds may blow the eruption cloud hundreds to thousands of kilometers from a volcano. The gases spread from an erupting vent primarily as acid aerosols (tiny acid droplets), compounds attached to tephra particles, and microscopic salt particles. This acid/chemical rain also destroys the plants and animals nearby.

The most abundant gas typically released into the atmosphere from volcanic systems is water vapor (H20), carbon dioxide (C02) and sulfur dioxide (S02). Volcanoes also release smaller amounts of others gases, including hydrogen sulfide (H2S), hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen chloride (HCL), hydrogen fluoride (HF), and helium (He). These gases when pumped in huge amount has its own adverse effect on the near by biological system

What are the modern attempts of bureaucratic reform and have these reforms been successful? Why or why not?

Bureaucracy and and bureaucratic reforms are common around the world. It appears the question refers to some specific organization and bureaucratic reforms that have taken place in over a given period. Without identification of these details, is not possible to discuss them. Therefor in may answer below, I have covered bureaucracy and bureaucratic reforms i general.

The term bureaucracy primarily referred to the system of management and administration proposed by the German Sociologist and economist Max Weber (1864-1920). This model of administration has greatly influenced the systems and procedures for management and administration of large organizations including the governments and other public organizations. Because of use of bureaucratic system of administration used, the government organizations as well as the systems and procedures followed by governments across the world are called "bureaucracy".

Though the basic system of bureaucracy had many good points, it also has many limitations, which tend to slow down and delay the work. Because of this the term bureaucracy is also associated with long cumbersome procedures, delays and inefficiencies.

Governments and other public organization around the world recognize the limitation of their bureaucracy and try to improve their system and procedures. Any such major efforts are termed as bureaucratic reforms. Starting from late 20th century many countries in the world have undertaken major bureaucratic reforms in the form of introducing computer based systems to improve speed and efficiency of government departments.

List three specific techniques Edwards uses in this sermon to persuade his congregation.

Hyperbole, or exageration, as he is angry and trying to depict an image of the nature of man which is basically evil, and worthy of punishment and pain. He also uses hyperbole to actively describe the cause and effect of the ruin of man.

He uses social engineering, or the gathering of fake data to comply with what people need to hear and convince them to do what he wants them to do. I am not saying what he was saying was totally fake, that is up to his belief system, but certainly the manner in which he is decidedly willing to feed them this information about who we are, and what they are doing, and about how bad it is to deviate from his ways, is deceptive to a point, and geared to proving his point right.

Without knowing it, he is using the classical Monroe Motivated Sequence of persuasion which consists on:

Grabbing the Attention- If he hadn't he wouldn't have had an audience.

Trigger the need of the listener (the fact that, according to Edwards their ways will send them to hell)

Proposing a way for them to not go and burn due their actions (by changing their ways)

Visualization of an objective (in this case, he let them visualize themselves as the title states "in the hands of an Angry God" and about to be dumped in the burning flames of Hades.

Action: When he is done telling them all that they will suffer, he subtlely suggests a change of hearts and behaviors, so that they sinners can be saved.

In Great Expectations, the marriage of Biddy and Joe comes as a surprise to Pip. What two passages in previous chapters foreshadow this relationship?

At the end of Chapter 35, after Mrs. Joe has died, and after Biddy has told Pip lovingly "how Joe never complained of anything...but ever did his duty in his way of life, with a strong hand, a quiet tongue, and a gentle heart", we see Joe "already at work with a glow of health and strength upon his face that made it show as if the bright sun of the life in store for him were shining on it".  We know good things are coming in Joe's life, and it wouldn't be surprising if they concerned Biddy, who had such genuine concern for him even then.

A few pages into Chapter 57, when Pip first revives enough to converse with Joe, Joe tells how he learned of Pip's illness through a letter the postman brought Biddy, and characteristically goes off on a tangent about the postman "formerly single he is now married though underpaid...but wealth were not an object on his part, and marriage were the great wish of his hart".  It is arguably not the postman, but Joe himself of whom he is speaking. Underappreciated by Pip and unconcerned by wealth, his marriage to Biddy will indeed be revealed one chapter later.

What are some metaphors in "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote?

Metaphors are all around us in everyday speech; when someone says, "You're a rockstar," for example, it's a metaphor—because, sadly, you're not really a rockstar. It's just a more interesting way to say, "You're great!" So a metaphor is just one type of what you've probably always called a figure of speech, like when you call someone who's really boring a "stick in the mud" or a "wet blanket."

A metaphor is a tricky balancing act: if it's too similar to what you're describing, it won't be interesting. If it's too different from what you're describing, it won't make any sense.

It's also hard for a writer to come up with new and original metaphors; when everyone's already heard them a million times, they become uninteresting and what we call cliché—like all of the examples above! That's why Truman Capote's metaphors are so interesting. They fit their situations perfectly, and he made them up based on the way he saw the world.

Let's think about the elderly woman's "cartwheel" hat early in the story. It seems like a metaphor to us—a big, round hat like a cart's wheel—but in the 1950's, cartwheel was a common name for that particular type of hat. So to Truman Capote it wasn't really a metaphor. But, then, think about this: way back when those hats first came into style, their name began as a metaphor, because that's what those hats reminded somebody of! Language is always changing!

Have fun looking for metaphors! They're everywhere! And don't get confused if you see some metaphor-like figures of speech that have the words like or as in them. They're called similes—like the word similar—and they compare two things, using like or as. So instead of saying you are a rockstar, a simile would say you are like a rockstar.

Good luck!

Comment on Miller's expressionistic modes and techniques in Death of a Salesman.

I don't think "expressionistic modes and techniques" is the correct phrase to use in relationship to how Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is presented. Certainly there are special theatrical techniques used in the play. These techniques are utilized because the play sets out to express the state of the main character's psyche, his inner world.

The play takes place during the last day of Willy Loman's life, and, in that brief time, much of his adult life is bared to the audience. To show what the playwright needs to show about Willy, his past and present co-mingle and intermesh on a single stage, and the viewer needs to know what is now and what was then. In a real sense, Willy Loman is the sum of his misfortunes, his soaring hopes and his dashed dreams. That's a lot to show in a few hours, so special techniques were employed in order to expose Willy's inner life to the audience. Here is the technique used, in Miller's own words:

The entire setting is wholly or, in some places, partially transparent. The roof-line of the house is one-dimensional; under and over it we see the apartment buildings. Before the house lies an apron, curving beyond the forestage into the orchestra. This forward area serves as the back yard as well as the locale of all Willy’s imaginings and of his city scenes. Whenever the action is in the present the actors observe the imaginary wall-lines, entering the house only through its door at the left. But in the scenes of the past these boundaries are broken, and characters enter or leave a room by stepping »through« a wall onto the forestage.

In addition, transitions between past and present are accomplished using lighting and music. After a brief time experiencing the play, it becomes clear when Willy is in the present and when his mind wanders into his past.

What is the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?How has it been used by the judiciary to apply the Bill of Rights to the actions of the...

The clause reads that no state can "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

Various guarantees in the Bill of Rights create zones known as penumbras, that establish a right to privacy. In the case discussed below, the right to privacy in marital relations was conflicted.

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965). The court found that Connecticut had violated the Fourth Amendment right to privacy along with other portions of the Bill of Rights and the statute was struck down.

Resources on the clause and other cases for reference:

Griswold v Connecticut: Overview of the case involving the Fourteenth Amendment and the violation by a state government of the Bill of Rights.

National Paralegal: Explanation of substantive due process and fundamental rights.

FindLaw: U.S. Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment text and annotations.

Critically analyse Hardy's treatment of Egdon Heath in The Return of the Native.

‘The Return of the Native’ is the book of Egdon Heath. In his other novels the scene could be transported to some other part of Wessex, but in this novel, it remains unchanged. Egdon is the scene of the story, she dominates the plot, she determines the destiny of the character. She is an antagonist of the novel and almost all major characters except the rustics are more or less victims to her wrath.

Hardy’s descriptions of Egdon reveal her mystery. In Hardy’s description Egdon is the ‘vast tract of unenclosed wild’. It has its advent on his earth before ‘astronomical hour’. Its nature its something about which ‘no body could be said to understand the hath’. It could best be felt when it clearly be seen. It had waited unmoved during so many centuries. It is haggard. Hardy observes it as haggard Egdon appeal to a subler and carcer instinct. About its friendship and love-making and its association Hardy comments, - “The storm was its friend”. It became “the home of strange phantoms and it was found to be hitherto unrecognized original of those wild regions of obscurity which are vaguely felt to be compassing us about in midnight dream of flight and disaster”. It is again singularly colossal and mysterious in its swarthy monotony. It remains with its unchanged phenomena. Civilization was its enemy. It has worn the same ‘antique brown dress’. Hardy discovers its ancient permanence for, -‘the sea changed’, ‘the fields changed’, ‘the rivers’, ‘the villages, and the people’, - yet Egdon remained.

Egdon the heath is alert of those who either try to leave her or who pass an opinion against her or who show their disgust to her. Such attitudes from the dwellers appear to nature a kind of betrayal. And she at once wages her weapon to dash the enemy to the dust or teach a severe lesson.

For, instance, Clym Yeobright evoked Egdon’s wrath by leaving away her to Paris. Clym violated nature’s code by making himself an engineer and later by taking an earnest effort of establishing a school at the heart of Egdon. So, Clym, showing sense and intellect initiated conflict with nature. And for punishing Clym, she upsets all his hopes and plans. Misfortune, followed by suffering came upon him. He has betrayed by his wife-Eustacia.

Thomasin had no quarrel with Egdon. But Egdon appeared to her, drab, lifeless, uninteresting. Egdon’s super sense could read that. And nature punished him by leading her in misfortune and troubles.

Hardy’s novel, ‘The Return of the Native’ is a novel of conflict between man and nature. Here we find a perfect representation of what Hardy thinks of nature. And Hardy reveals nature’s motive, desire, will, sense and feeling. If men were the senseless product of instinct, then there had been no conflict between man and nature.

While Rousseau and Wordsworth, only find in nature a kind another, and they never living in the heart of nature give us their wordy message, - Hardy in that case, gives us the total representation of the reality of nature. And what he records about nature,- is the out come of his experience. So, the conflict between man and nature as is represented in Hardy’s novel,- is a discovery. As in Shakespeare’s tragedies, the conflict is between good and evil, like wise, in Hardy’s novel, the conflict between man and nature, is the conflict between stagnancy and progress.

Subrata Ray .Uluberia West Bengal .India .

In Night, why does Eliezer Wiesel try to remember the holocaust?Please give me as much information as you can.

Initially after enduring the horrible conditions in the ghettos, mistreatment of the Jews and other unwanted citizens, horrors of the concentration camps, and the death of his family members, Elie Wiesal sought to be silent and to try and not face the issues that haunted him.  However, after discussions with friends he began to realize that unless the atrocities continued to be in the minds of men, they could continue to look away.  If mankind looked away from similar situations the same thing could happen again.

Wiesal had never expected that humanity could be so cruel and that nations of people would do nothing to help people who were so badly mistreated.  He knew that they had not done anything wrong.  Men, women, and children had been allowed to experience torturous situations and death because people had looked away.

Wiesal wrote his book "Night" and several others to demonstrate to mankind what atrocities men were capable of committing.  He also wanted his books to serve as a witness and testament to the experiences of the Jews and people the Nazi government considered to be waste products.  His desired outcome was  that by writing of his experiences he could prevent future generations from making the same mistakes. He thought if the truth stayed hidden it would happen again.  His truth was mean to help others to feel inspired to take action and prevent such occurrences from ever happening again in our world.

Unfortunately, it has happened again to the people of Dafur and other countries due to the concept of ethnic cleansing.  When the Taliban took over in Afghanistan the process also occurred.  Man's nature stills hides within.  The work of Eli had not been created in vain though as it has been used by groups that have rallied together to raise public awareness, funding, and resources to try and protect the citizens in other lands who are being or have been harmed due to ethnic cleaning.   There are other countries where ethnic cleansing has occurred and may still be occurring.

What is the difference between liberal humanism and cultural materialism?

Liberal humanism is a set of beliefs about what is most important in the world.  Cultural materialism is a theory about how culture is produced.  So cultural materialism would try to explain how liberal humanism has come to dominate our culture today (here in the West).

Liberal humanism is the belief that human beings are the most important things in existence (as opposed to God).  People make their own destinies because they are free.

Cultural materialism is influenced by Marx.  It says that cultural ideas are produced by the dominant class in a society.  It says that the dominant class produces these ideas to help it stay in power.  The culture is part of the rulers' way of keeping power.

So cultural materialism would say that liberal humanism is meant to keep the ruling class (capitalists) in power.

How could the role of point of view reveal the theme of "After Twenty Years"?

First, I think that the theme of this short story is that different people are different, no matter how much they like one another.  In the story, the two men were like brothers and grew up in the same context doing the same things.  But Jimmy went on to become a policeman and Bob a criminal.

The point of view in the story is that of a third party narrator, but one who does not see what is in the characters' thoughts -- they speak for themselves.

To me, the point of view in the story helps to reveal the theme because it does not give us any clues as to how the story will end.  We are forced to try to figure out for ourselves what is going on.  If the narrator were omniscient, we would know more about the characters and the suspense would be lost.

Why would a nut hatch, peck on our windows like it is trying to get in? All day long and for 3 days now. It goes from window to window.

Spring is mating season for birds. Birds see their reflections in a shiny surface and assume it is an opponent to the object of their affections. The pecking is the attempt to drive it off and keep the mate field limited to just themselves. Even when it is not mating season, birds cannot distinguish themselves from a reflection. They want to chase off the interloper who challenges their territory. We have a cardinal family that does this to my husband's truck-the bumper, the mirrors, the windows, anything shiny. The mother cardinal is the worst offender. I guess she's afraid papa bird will run off with another woman (but I don't think birds emulate people). You might try putting some pictures in the window, especially of predators. That would scare the bird off. Luckily, it is just a nuisance and not dangerous (except for the bird poop that tends to pile up).

Simplify the following expression by removing the grouping symbols and collecting like terms.m-(m+1)+(m-3)-(4m^2+6m+4)

The rules for simplifying an expression of the type given in the question by removing grouping symbols, i.e. parenthesis, are simple. When the parenthesis is preceded by a positive sign, all the term within the parenthesis retain their original signs after removing parenthesis. When the parenthesis is preceded by a negative sign, all the term within the parenthesis have their original signs reversed after removing parenthesis, that a positive sign is changed to negative and a negative sign is changed to positive. Please not that when no sign is explicitly indicated before a term it means a term with positive value.

Using this rule we simplify the given expression as follows.

E = m - (m + 1) + (m-3) - (4m^2 + 6m + 4)

= m - m - 1 +  m - 3 - 4m^2 - 6m - 4

= - 4m^2 + m - m + m - 6m - 1 - 3 - 4

= - 4m^2 + 2m - 7m - 8

= - 4m^2 - 5m - 8

Describe the scene in Chapter 3 of The Scarlet Letter: Why doesn't Chillingworth reveal himself?

It is, indeed, helpful to the reader of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter to always consider the context of the narrative as built around the strict Puritanical code of the Massachusetts colony.  In the previous chapter, for instance, the cold, smug glee with which the goodwives condemn Hester and suggest more violent torture dramatizes the "fire and brimstone" tactics of early American Puritanism.

Because even the tiniest infraction of Puritan law was met with severe punishment--a fact that Hawthorne found objectionable in early Puritanism--Roger Chillingworth does not reveal himself.  For, if he were to come forth and admit to being Hester's husband, he himself would be interrogated by the Puritan leaders and possibly punished for abandoning his wife, living with the Indians, and anything else that could be held against him. Furthermore, he does not wish to draw attention to himself as he plans a plot against the man who has made him a cuckold.

The fact that he feels some guilt about Hester's being abandoned is evident in Chapter IV when he visits Hester, telling her, "We have wronged each other." When Hester asks him, "Why not announce thyself openly, and cast me off at once?"  Chillingworth replies,

It may be...because I will not encounter the dishonour that besmirches the husband of a faithless woman.

Then, Chillingworth tells Hester that he seeks no vengeance against Hester, but

the man lives who has wronged us both!....Let him hide himself in outward honour, if he may!  Not the less he shall be mine!

In the Most Dangerous Game, can someone identify personification, metaphor, and simile?

There are examples of each of these in "The Most Dangerous Game," but the fact that you need help suggests that you are not familiar with these literary terms, so before I offer each example, I will explain each term. 

First let's talk about personification. That is a way of suggesting that an object or an animal is a person, or is doing something that a person would do.  For example, if I were to say, "The sun smiled down on me," I would be suggesting that the sun can smile like a person, which of course it can not!  In the example below from the story, the writer is suggesting that the night is a person who could press himself against the yacht.

Can't see it," remarked Rainsford, trying to peer through the dank tropical night that was palpable as it pressed its thick warm blackness in upon the yacht.

Now, a simile is simply a statement that describe something in terms of something else.  For example, I might say, "This cloth is lke sandpaper," indicating it is very rough or coarse. What follows is a description of the night, comparing it to velvet. 

"Nor four yards," admitted Rainsford. "Ugh! It's like moist black velvet."

Finally, a metaphor is a statement that describes something in terms of something else, much like a simile, but instead of saying,"This is like that," a metaphor says, "This is that."  An example might be my saying of someone I love, "He is my sunshine."  Actually, there is a song entitled, "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," now that I think about it.  The example from the story shows a metaphor that tells the reader that Rainsford is being hunted and that the General is hunting him, just as a cat will hunt for a mouse. 

The Cossack was the cat; he was the mouse.

This is a story that is filled with many examples of personification, simile, and metaphor.  See if you can find some, too. 

Describe the first test that Charlie took in Flowers for Algernon. Why did he think he didn't do well on it?

The first test Charlie took was a Rorschach Test - Charlie refers to it as a "raw shok test" - a psychological test in which the subject is shown an inkblot and asked what he or she sees in it. The subject's answer is analyzed using scientific methods; it is believed that the nature of the answer provides insight into the workings of the subject's mind. Charlie is frustrated when he takes the test, because he is unable to see anything in the inkblots beyond the ink on the paper. He knows that he is expected to see more, but is capable of doing so. He senses that he has not been able to do what the examiner is asking, and so believes he has done poorly on the test.

Because of his mental challenges, Charlie sees things very literally; it is beyond his capabilities to look at things more deeply than at that level. When Charlie is presented with the inkblot, he sees only what is right there before his eyes, "spild ink." He tells the examiner honestly that he "saw ink spild on a wite card." The examiner agrees, and Charlie, who seeks the approval of others like a child, is satisfied. To his consternation, however, the examiner presses on, telling Charlie that "there was picturs there." Though he tries and tries, Charlie sees no pictures, and when instructed to "imagen" what is there, he cannot ("progris riport 1-martch 4).

Why does Tom insist that Daisy go home with Gatsby? What do you think this tells us about Tom's character and his relationship with Daisy?What...

In the climactic Chapter 7 after Gatsby "plays his cards," thinking that he can get Daisy to deny having loved Tom and go with him, the argument in the New York hotel room takes another turn as Tom uncovers Gatsby's source of wealth:  he is a bootlegger.  As Gatsby attempts to defend himself, but only the "dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away."  Daisy loses her courage to stand up to Tom and Gatsby is defeated.

It is at this point that Tom, the cruel winner, tells Daisy to "start on home...In Mr. Gatsby's car."

She looked at Tom, alarmed now, but he insisted with magnanimous scorn.

'Go on.  He won't annoy you. I think he realizes that his presumptuous little firtation is over.'

In his victorious statement, Tom further insults both Gatsby and Daisy, making them go in the yellow car on a most uncomfortable ride.  Even in this scene the car is a "death car," for Daisy and Gatsby's infatuation has certainly been killed by Tom.  Nick narrates,

They were gone, without a sound, snapped out, made accidental, isolated like ghosts even from our pity.

Analyze Samuel Johnson's "Preface to Shakespeare" and isolate the major critical stand points in them that are relevant to the analysis of a text

Dr. Samuel Johnson's Preface to Shakespeare (1756) taught critics after him how to do critical analysis of a poet in terms of a) the relationship between literature and nature, b) locating a writer in his own times and judging his merits by comparing him with others of his times, c) how to evaluate a writer's works from the perspective of the critic's own times, and d) finally, the importance of balanced criticism.

The first critical aspect which has to do with literature and human nature was not new. Classical authors such as Homer and Virgil followed this principle: they tried to depict human nature as authentically as possible. What was new in Dr. Johnson's method was his rationality and sense of balance. He did discuss the merits of Shakespeare in terms of the bard's faithful rendition of human nature, but in the second part of the Preface he balanced it with his discussion of Shakespeare as an Elizabethan writer.

The importance of the literature/human nature discussion has to with another, still popular belief about great literature: that it is universal. Dr. Johnson tried to prove Shakespeare's greatness, not through the power of his own opinion, but through logic. Since human nature does not really change through the agaes, he argued, at least in terms of the raw emotions of love, hate, jealousy and such like, writers who are able to authentically describe these emotions stand the test of time. Ordinary writers, Johnson opines, fall away by sticking too close to their times. They are not able to depict human nature well. Shakespeare, by contrast, was able to portray human emotions in such a way that readers reading him after two hundred years could relate to them. It was after Samuel Johnson that this method of establishing universality of literature through the litmus taste of authentically depictiing human nature became a recognized method of criticism.

Johnson was also the first critic to discuss a writer in detail in terms of his life and times. He actually perfected the method in his Lives of the Poets where he showed critics how to use biography to interpret a writer's work. This method of criticism gained huge popularity immediately after Johnson, lasting right through the twentieth century, being challenged only when American New Criticism came into being and critics began to question the wisdom of reading too much into texts, influenced by the writer's biography and the history of the times. But again, it is important to point out that Dr. Johnson's greatness was his ability to balance biographical criticism with universality.

Johnson was also a big advocate for "fairness" in criticism. Literary criticism, he maintained early in the Preface is not a scientific treatise which, when factually accurate, cannot be disputed. But it is precisely because of this, that literary critics have the responsibility to be fair. Thus, he devoted a whole section of the Preface to what he considered Shakespeare's weakness, of which he pointed out three: a) Shakespeare didn't seem to care too much about moral instruction in his plays, b) he wasn't too careful about the historical facts in his history plays, and c), famously, Johnson detested Shakespeare's penchant for punning. Moden critics would now largely disagree with perhaps all three types of Johnson's complaints. But what is important in terms of his contribution to literary criticism is that he encouraged critics to discuss both the good and bad qualities of a writer.

Why did Orwell bother to write Animal Farm?

Tthakar's answer is excellent. From what I understand of Orwell, he was deeply disillusioned by what he saw as the corruption of the socialist ideal. He saw people rising to power who essentially carried on--even trumped--the abuse of power that happened under the monarchy. Animal Farm began, like 1984, out of resistance, but it became much more, which is why we still teach it today. As well as an allegory about the situation in Russia, it offers amazing insight into power relations. Look at what happens: the pigs rewrite the laws to suit themselves; the sheep blurt out whatever inane saying they are taught to say without ever once thinking about what they are saying and whether or not it is what they believe; the workers respond to stress by working harder, which, like Boxer, they do until they have worn themselves out completely, and so on. The animals correspond so perfectly to types of people in our society that the book has come to be not only a warning, but also a wry sardonic comment on the state of the willfully ignorant masses: we will forever be abused by corrupt authority unless we think and act with authority ourselves.

Are all objects electrically charged?

All objects are matter, which is composed of atoms.  Every atom has the potential to change is electronic composition by adding or subtracting electrons, which induce a negative or positive charge.  As atoms congregate to become the objects we are familiar with in the macro world, they still carry their particular charges, but the effect of any given atom is reduced by the sheer numbers around it.  In other words, the positive and negative electrical charges on any given object in the macro world balance.   However, this balance can be upset, usually by the addition of electrons.  Getting shocked when touching a metal object, for example, is explained by the slightly more electrons upon your body (for whatever reason) which are conducted away by the metal.  Before discharge, your body possesses an unbalanced electric charge.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, what did Jem do that made Scout say "he broke the remaining code of our childhood"?

In Chapter 14 of Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Dill has run away from home and taken refuge under Scout's bed, where he hid for two hours.  Jem, clearly understanding the gravity of the situation, insists that Dill's mother ought to informed of her son's whereabouts despite Dill's obvious pleasure in the thought of people back home searching for him.  It is then that Scout comments on Jem's decision to inform Atticus of this new development:

Dill’s eyes flickered at Jem, and Jem looked at the floor. Then he rose and broke
the remaining code of our childhood. He went out of the room and down the hall.
“Atticus,” his voice was distant, “can you come here a minute, sir?”

Scout is aghast that her brother would violate this childhood 'code of conduct' that precluded the provision of sensitive information to adults, especially information regarding their own conduct and that of Dill, their closest friend.  The episode, however, serves to illuminate the degree to which Jem has matured emotionally and is ready to make that transition towards adulthood.

In "Desiree's Baby," what is Madame Valmonde's reply to Desiree's letter?

When Desiree notices that her baby's complexion is the color of the "quadroon" servant boys who fan him while he sleeps, she panics and confronts her husband. He angrily accuses her of not being white. So she writes to Madame Valmonde, who had taken her in as an abandoned child. Madame Valmonde's response is to tell her adopted daughter to come home:

"My own Desiree: Come home to Valmonde; back to your mother who loves you. Come with your child."

 Madame Valmonde loves her, no matter what.

Give examples of when Macbeth equivocates in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth.

An equivocator is someone who lies and tells half-truths, or says something ambiguous to mislead another. In Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, the witches are generally considered the "great" equivocators in the play in the play. (In the second set of predictions they deliver in Act Four, they tell half-truths to trick Macbeth.) However, we can see instances, also where Macbeth is no better than the witches for telling lies.

The first instance where Macbeth outright lies is when he says he killed Duncan's guards because he was so upset over Duncan's murder at their hands. He actually kills them so they cannot raise doubts in anyone's mind that they were "framed."

MACBETH:

O, yet I do repent me of my fury,

That I did kill them. (II.iii.117-118)

He excuses his behavior, wondering how anyone could be levelheaded in the face of such horror: seeing his beloved King murdered.

Another instance is when Macbeth speaks to Banquo, ostensibly to ask him if he will be gone long when he goes riding—to remind him not to be late for dinner because Macbeth wants to speak to him. Macbeth is actually making plans to have his friend murdered because Banquo heard the witches' initial predictions that told Macbeth he would be king, and Banquo has told Macbeth that he will not be swayed from what he believes to be morally correct.

MACBETH:

We should have else desired your good advice,

Which still hath been both grave and prosperous

In this day's council; but we'll take tomorrow.

Is't far you ride? (III.i.23-26)

Later in the same scene, Macbeth meets with the men he has hired to murder Banquo. They are not professional killers, but simply common men whose lives have taken a turn for the worse. Macbeth has told the men that Banquo is to blame for their dire circumstances—when they had originally thought it was Macbeth. (The truth is that it was Macbeth who had beggared them.)

MACBETH:

...Know

That it was he, in the times past, which held you

So under fortune, which you thought had been

Our innocent self?

...“Thus did Banquo.” (81-84; 89)

Macbeth goes on to ask these men (much like his wife asked him with regard to Duncan) if they are kind-hearted enough to ignore what Banquo has "done," or if they will be man enough to do something about it.

Of course, the men believe Macbeth (as most of his peers do at the beginning), never expecting that this new King of Scotland is lying to them. He tells them that he could kill Banquo easily himself, but that he doesn't want to offend important men who are mutual friends to Macbeth and Banquo.

Macbeth does all he can not only to take the throne from Duncan, but to make sure it remains in his possession.

What is dramatic significance of the song in Act II of Waiting for Godot?

First, an interesting fact--Brecht had used the same song in his play Drums in The Night much earlier. His usage of the song had more overt political reasons than Beckett's where the former wanted to highlight the capitalist assault and the communist solidarity through the dogs coming in and digging a tomb for the dead dog.

In Beckett's play, the political angle of the commune is not missing from the song especially since it is Vladimir who sings this song. If one looks at the second act carefully, all the speeches of Vladimir tend toward the collective e.g. the 'was I sleeping' speech.

But, I think the song is also important in the way it underscores the infinitesimal repetitiveness of the situation at hand. The song gives us the impression that it will never end and the end will go back to the beginning. The circular structure of repetition echoes the form and the content of Beckett's play.

The song must be seen as a part of the farcical and vaudeville song-dance routine that the tramps set up.

There are pauses, interruptions in course of its rendering and all these gaps carry forward a sense of incompleteness and deferment that otherwise lies at the core of the world that the play projects.

There is the allusion to theft and punishment in the song. The two thieves of Matthew and Augustine are crucial to Beckett's play and they carry on their shoulders the fine balance of salvation and damnation. In the reference to the 'crust of bread', there is possibly a Christian symbolism at work too. The Kafkaesque dog-god (Christ, here) parallel may be operative here.

There is a self-reflexivity to the song that characterizes the Beckettian signature style. The inscription on the tombstone retells the whole story in the form of a meta-narrative or a narrative within the narrative. Here both the basic and the meta-narratives are the same and this sameness is also a trope of repetition.

What is the Wife of Bath's real name and occupation?

The Wife of Bath, or Alyson, is in a constant state of marriage.  Of course, she is married on the doorsteps of the church because of "company in her youth" which suggests she was a bit promiscuous as a young lady. However, it also makes her an expert in the language of love and husband acquisition.  She has married five times and states that she is on the pilgrimage in search of husband number six.   Some she loves, but all of them help make her wealthier which is why she can afford to go on all the pilgrimages she has been on...a well-traveled woman and quite independent in a time where woman did not have all the rights and privileges with which we have since become accustomed.  She is a professional wife in search of a man who will treat her as his equal...just like the woman who stars in the tale she tells on the way to Canterbury.

What are two ideas that "Elsewhere" represents or symbolizes in The Giver?

"Elsewhere" represents an unknown world where those who leave the community go.  The old, weak, and troublesome are "released" there - although in reality they are murdered, the people are led to believe that they are simply choosing to leave the community in a rite of passage, traveling to "Elsewhere".  In this case, "Elsewhere" is similar to a belief in an afterlife, an explanation as to what happens when a person leaves life as it is known.

"Elsewhere" also represents a physical place outside the community's boundaries.  It is the place to which Jonah travels after his escape from the society.

Write a note on Internal and External sources of recruitment?

I assume you mean worker recruitment for business hiring.  Internally, often times a workplace will transfer personnel from one department to another because they recognize talents or potential that could better serve the company in another area, or they want to train and develop key personnel with new skillsets. Especially in management, most companies hire from within because the workers they already employ are known quantities.

Externally, often times companies will rely on Temp agencies that screen employees for them and are used to fill specific tasks or short term jobs that don't receive the better pay and benefits of a long term hire.

Other external sources include the internet in terms of advertising and job search sites, local chambers of commerce, employment agencies and newspaper classifieds.

In Brave New World, what caste is Lenina in?

I have wondered that myself.  But I think what is going on is that not only each caste, but also each sub-caste has its own distinctive color.  Also, please note that Gammas do not wear mulberry.

In Chapter 4, Lenina is with Bernard and they are watching the shift change at a factory.  They are seeing all the people coming out.  The people she sees who are wearing mulberry are all Beta Minuses.

So, what I have concluded is that Lenina is simply a Beta without a "Minus."

As to the Gammas and green and Lenina's clothes, I have two guesses.  Either A) Huxley just lost track of his colors and no one noticed or B) her green clothes are a different shade than those worn by Gammas.

Explain the narrative technique of "Wuthering Heights."

Emily does not belong to the literary directions of that time, her novel  making an exception from the literary movements of that time. The novel is constructed by a technique and a unique literary style that makes her narrative  increasingly more compelling and more dynamic. The novel combines in a great way, gothic and fantastic elements.

Narrative technique is a non-linear one, with many "back in time" sequences of characters , and two characters that occupy the position of narrator: Mr. Lockwood and Nelly Deen. The novel is a fight for love, to survive, to forget the past and overcome the differences imposed by family and society. Love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw is the patron of all actions of the novel, a love unresolved and painful that  destroys them and those around them,a love  rarely  presented in this way in universal literature.

There are two times of reference in the novel:

-a “present narrative”, which is the correspondent of the present time, when, after renting Thrushcross Grange, Lockwood ,gets to know Heathcliff and asks Nelly Dean to tell about him the entire story.

-a “past narrative”, which is the correspondent of the  past time, when the story narrated by Nelly Dean happened.

 The reference time  balances between present and past with an exciting ease. 

The narrative technique used far from being easy to analyse. But, it is the best manner that an author could use when the readers has to be involved inside the story.

At a first sight, this technique could be a little bit restrictive, without the presence of a narrator to give informations and explanations about characters' feelings,but it was proved to be the best way to invlove the readers, in the core of the story,asking their imagination to work.   

What is Macbeth's state of mind before and after killing Duncan

Before Macbeth kills Duncan, the king, he is nervous and already feels guilty.  You can best see this in the part (in Act II, Scene 1) where he has the vision of the bloody dagger.  This clearly shows that he is uncertain about what he is about to do.

After he actually kills Duncan (Act II, Scene 2), he feels even more guilty.  He believes that he has heard people accusing him of murder.  He also finds that he cannot speak the word "amen" when he tries to pray.  Both of these show the depth of his guilt.

Discuss the themes of "Romanticism of war" and "Romanticism of love" in Arms and the Man.

Raina Petkoff, the young daughter of the Bulgarian Major, is betrothed to Sergius Saranoff who leads a cavalry charge against the Serbian artillery at the battle of Slivnitza. Sergius wins the battle for the simple reason that the Serbian artillery-men are supplied with wrong ammunition. Sergius, Raina's 'soul's hero', immediately becomes 'the hero of Slivnitza', though he wins just by fluke, wins because he ventures in the most idiotic and unprofessional manner.

Raina's worshipful adoration of Sergius and her great excitement about his heroic display in the battle-front suggest a combination of the theme of 'Romanticism of War' and the 'Romanticism of Love'. But the fugitive, a professional soldier in the defeated Serbian artillery, reveals to Raina how foolishly absurd has been Sergius's cavalry charge, a Quixotic adventurism, and he should have been courtmartialled for his absurdly romantic unprofessionalism.

Returning from the battle, Sergius, looks rather disillusioned for not being promoted. What is worse, he begins to flirt with the Petkoff maid Louka behind Raina's back. On the other hand, the figitve soldier, Captain Bluntschli, returns to win the love of Raina.

Shaw's play, 'Arms and the Man' is a wonderful critique of both 'Romanticism of War' and 'Romanticism of Love'. The Shavian protagonist, Bluntschli brings forth a new brand of 'Romanticism' far from Sergius's sentimentalism and showmanship.

In chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby, why does Nick change his feelings toward Jordan? What were his feelings before?

Nick's feelings about Jordon before chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby tended toward a sort of amused curiosity laced with affection.  After all the events that took place in the previous two chapters in particular, Nick is no longer amused by the spoiled, self-centered crowd Jordan is a part of.  He is now disgusted with these people, Jordan included, because he sees them for the shallow, self-absorbed, immoral people that they are.

Where does the story take place?

The Eyes of the Dragon takes place in Delain, a fictional kingdom which seems to resemble a medieval fiefdom or feudal structure. It certainly has a "fairy-tale" feel, and many of the plot elements (evil magician, unfairly imprisoned but ultimately vindicated prince) are archetypes of the fantasy genre. As the previous poster noted, Delain and the adjacent land, Garlan, are located in In-World, the homeworld of Roland Deshain of The Dark Tower series. There is also a suggested similarity to the Territories in The Talisman, which King wrote with Peter Straub. As the previous poster pointed out, The Eyes of the Dragon was written for King's daughter & Peter's son, Ben Straub. The characters of Naomi & Ben are named after each child.

The similarity between "Delain" & "Deshain" has been noted...perhaps suggesting King wanted a more concrete connection between the two stories. Roland is also the name of the king in The Eyes of the Dragon, another link. Finally, Flagg is a character that appears in several King novels, including The Dark Tower and The Stand. This book serves as an example of the intertextuality of King's writing, with Delain connecting to several other stories & worlds.

Describe your vision of a model economic system – is it capitalist, socialist, or somewhere in between?In your answer be sure to compare and...

Capitalism and socialism are two different models of organising the economic activities which may be considered as two directly opposing extreme models on a continuum of economic systems that combine the feature of these two systems in different proportions.

Capitalistic system is characterized by a means of production being owned and controlled privately and the economic decisions what is to be produced, how much, and how the the output of the economy is to be shared among different sections of society are the result of working of the market mechanism.

The other end of the continuum is socialistic system in which the means of production are owned and controlled jointly by the society, or rather by the government representing the people. Also the decision and what and how of production and of distribution of the products is decides by government policies and systems. This type of economies are also called command economies.

In real world neither of these two extreme or pure types of economies. It is not practically possible to have these pure type of economic systems. What does exist in reality are economise that are either predominantly capitalistic or predominantly socialistic. This indicates that the best system to have is a combination of capitalistic and socialist system.

Having agreed that a combination of capitalist and socialist system is the best, we are still left with the tricky question of how much of what system. The system that is appropriate for different countries may vary depending upon situation faced as well as effectiveness of implementation. For example, the experience of China with socialist economic system has been much more effective than many other countries.

Also a country may find it best to have one system to begin with and then to shift towards other system over a period. For example, India relied heavily on public sector for rapid development of heavy industries in India following its independence in 1947, but having achieved certain level of economic strength, it is now moving towards increasing reliance on private ownership. Another example is of countries like UK and USA. These countries are seen as hard core capitalist countries since beginning of industrial revolution. However over the years these countries are also gradually moving towards increasing government control of economic activities.

How does irony relate to the theme of "The Story of an Hour"?I'm working on a paper and trying to figure out how everything ties together. The two...

Quite simply, the greatest irony of Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" exists in the entire plot, not so much in  particular dialogues or scenes, although some characters misinterpret her reactions. That is, it is tragically ironic that shortly after the repressed Mrs. Louise Mallard watches the birds outdoors as they fly and senses her freedom, she walks down the stairs from her bedroom in order to enjoy the tremendous sense of relief that she feels, only to discover that her repressive husband is yet alive. Then, rather than finally escaping her dismal life of a subjugated woman, Mrs. Mallard suffers a shock so great that it deprives her of her life.  Thus, she is more subjugated than ever, for she must relinquish, not only her independence, but her very being.

With the theme revolving around Mrs. Mallard's repression, it is ironic that what sets her free works in contrast to be the agent of her death as the thought of relinquishing her new found freedom and sense of self is more than her heart can bear.

What kind of influence did the movies take in the 1920's?

I'm a bit unclear about your question. Do you mean, "What kind of influence did the movies MAKE in the 1920's?"

If this is your question, the movies of the 1920's served two main purposes. First some movies were pre-empted with news reels. These news reels where meant to educate people on current events. The actual movies were often for sheer entertainment. Critics of movies back then blamed producers for promoting and expanding the image and idea of the modern woman as flapper. Also, this was the time of pre-prohibition, and Dry groups (or supports of Temperance) argued that movies promoted drinking and other salacious activities.

Now if your question is about what influenced movies in the 1920's, a lot of movie ideas came from books, plays, and operas.

In "Two Kinds," what happens to Jing-Mei when she plays in front of the audience?

In Amy Tan's "Two Kinds," Jing-Mei fails miserably when she plays piano in front of an audience.  She thought playing wonderfully in front of an audience was going to be easy:

...I was very confident.  I remember my childish excitement.  It was as if I knew, without a doubt, that the prodigy side of me really did exist.  I had no fear whatsoever, no nervousness.  I remember thinking to myself, This is it!  This is it!

But when her performance begins she is so into how beautiful she looks, and she is such a poor player because she has not practised seriously, that first she hits one bad note, then another and another.  She thinks that somehow her hands will just magically correct themselves and the errors will stop, but they don't.  When she sees her mother's face she feels the shame she has caused her.

Her deaf piano teacher is exposed when he claps wildly and praises her, just as Jing-Mei and her mother are exposed.

What commandment is violated in Chapter 7?

Napoleon, in an attempt to maitain control of his farm in its weakened condition, has elevated his tyranny to extreme levels.  He violates the commandment "no animal shall kill another animal" by having the hens and the other "troublesome" animals gathered up and attacked.  He is trying to strike fear into the hearts of his "people" in order to keep them loyal.  However, like most tyrants, his immediate success will be followed by eventual downfall. 

After the deaths, the commandment is changed to "no animal shall kill another animal without reason".  In this changing of commandments, the last commandment is also being violated "all animals are equal".  Clearly, they have not been equal for some time.

T. S. Eliot praises Donne's ability to unify the intellectual thought and sensation of feeling. Why? T. S. Eliot's "dissociation of sensiblity"...

I haven't read T.S. Eliot's essay "The Metaphysical Poets" (1921) in quite a long time and had to review it briefly to make sure I wasn't completely off base, but I recall Eliot's argument to be that Donne's poetry reflects how things were for the poet before the supposed "dissociation of sensibility" set in.

Eliot explicitly contrasts Donne to later, Victorian-era poets: "Tennyson and Browning are poets, and they think; but they do not feel their thought as immediately as the odour of a rose. A thought to Donne was an experience; it modified his sensibility." He goes in the next paragraph to develop what he calls the "theory" of "a dissociation of sensibility":

We may express the difference by the following theory: The poets of the seventeenth century, the successors of the dramatists of the sixteenth, possessed a mechanism of sensibility which could devour any kind of experience. They are simple, artificial, difficult, or fantastic, as their predecessors were; no less nor more than Dante, Guido Cavalcanti, Guinicelli, or Cino. In the seventeenth century a dissociation of sensibility set in, from which we have never recovered; and this dissociation, as is natural, was aggravated by the influence of the two most powerful poets of the century, Milton and Dryden. Each of these men performed certain poetic functions so magnificently well that the magnitude of the effect concealed the absence of others. The language went on and in some respects improved; the best verse of Collins, Gray, Johnson, and even Goldsmith satisfies some of our fastidious demands better than that of Donne or Marvell or King. But while the language became more refined, the feeling became more crude. The feeling, the sensibility, expressed in the Country Churchyard (to say nothing of Tennyson and Browning) is cruder than that in theCoy Mistress.

So, to answer your question (I hope), Eliot praises Donne and the metaphysical poets in general and finds a deficit, if we can call it that, in the more modern poets. I've always understood Eliot to be talking here more about himself and his modernist contemporaries than he is about Victorian poetry.

Respond Emotionally. (Act 1) How do the events of the play make you feel at this point?

If I had missed the Prologue, I would be pretty happy at the end of Act I.  I really dislike sad endings (so why am I at a tragedy) so if I saw the Prologue, I would be pretty unhappy.

Without the Prologue, Act I would be a pretty happy thing.  The Prince has stopped the feuding in public.  Romeo and Juliet have fallen in love with one another.  This is looking good -- maybe it will be a case where the two can have a good life together and can even end the feud.

But the Prologue tells me this won't happen.  So it really is pretty sad.  I'm watching these two people fall in love and I know it's going to cause them both to die...

How does the archetypal epic hero stand in relation to his or her community as the hero?

In the epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf, represents the archetypal hero.  He is a man whose talents and abilities as a warrior are almost god-like.  He is undefeated until his final glorious battle.  His strength is phenomenal and his cunning matches his adversaries.  He is attractive and mighty.

"I have never seen a mightier warrior on earth than is one of you, a man in battle-dress" (Beowulf, 7)

Of course to be the archetypal hero, he has to fight the archetypal monsters that are causing harm to others.  Beowulf also has confidence in his ability to succeed.  He is a leader whose men follow him without question from region to region.  He is willing to fight to the death.

"I resolved, when I set out on the sea, sat down in the sea-boat with my band of men, that I should altogether fulfill the will of your people or else fall in slaughter, fast in the foe's grasp. I shall achieve a deed of manly courage or else have lived to see in this mead-hall my ending day."  (Beowulf, 13)

Despite the victor's confidence he must also have some degree of humility.  Beowulf demonstrates this after he has destroyed the mother of Grendel.

"The mildest of men and the gentlest, kindest to his people, and most eager for fame" (Beowulf, 52).

How was the life and work of cowboys on the Great Plains?

My father had 2 great uncles who herded cattle from Wyoming to Northern Texas in the mid to late 1800's.  The winter snows provided prime grazing for the cattle in Wyoming while Northern Texas provided the market to sell their livestock.  The life of these pioneers was hard.  The unpredictable weather was a big factor because the cattle were not able to go to markets and stock sales until mid summer through the fall. The ranchers usually would only be able to sell the cattle that were born in the previous spring.  The changes in the seasons often brought thunderstorms which could be fierce at times.   River crossings would cause obstacles for the drives because of these storms and flash floods were very common.  The cowboys might not even see a storm, but the flat land would funnel the runoff their way without warning. 

The cowboys were paid on their successful delivery of the cattle to market.  For this reason, they took extra care in their livestock so the majority would make it to the sale.  They usually recieved a percentage of the total profits.  Since there were so many cattle, it benefited the cowboys to look after one another so all the cattle would survive the drive. 

Common illnesses took a toll on cowboys.  They were far from doctors, usually more than a day or so.  The common cold could turn into Pneumonia or some type of infection and the cowboys would be forced to find another hired hand from a nearby town to finish the job.  The rancher usually did not know everyone who was driving his cattle to market.  He had only a couple of his "trusted" hands on the trip.  These trusted hands were usually his sons or other family. 

Thiefs would become more prevelant the closer to the market they traveled.  The herds were so large that it would be quite easy for someone to steal several head of cattle.  For this reason, half of the cowboys would keep watch at night and shoot anyone who they viewed as a thief or threat.  The laws of the "old west" applied.  It would be easy for thiefs to steal some cattle and sell them at market to give themselves a profit. 

Cowboys were ruff and rugged.  They had many obstacles to overcome.  Most were single, young men who had no other way to make a few bucks or they just wanted the adventure.  Cowboys could make a name for themselves on the great plains and this news got around.  A name as a cowboy could get them more work as a possible drive boss.  Drive bosses recieved a bigger percentage of the sale and more prestige. 

I hope this helps.