Discuss at least two characteristics of Romanticism in John Keat's poem "Ode toa Nightingale".

The poet in Ode To A Nightingale  is an escapist .He escapes through imagination .On his way the bower of the bliss wher the nightingale is singing in full-throated -ease , , and returning from the same , he employs Medieval ism and Hellenism .The references of Ruth , emperors and clowns  and magic casement opening in the foam , speak of Keats' love for the middle ages . Again Keats had fascination to Greek arts and culture .The installations like , Flora and country green festivals , Bacchus and his parade , light winged Dray ad of trees , etc vivify the poet's love for the ancient Greek -life .

Medieval ism and Hellenism are the two major branches of Romanticism .

What is the summary of "West Wind" by John Masefield?

Away from his homeland in the west, the speaker yearns to go back home. With the blowing of the warm west wind, the cherished memories of his native place in the month of April are instantly evoked. They turn him nostalgic and upset. 

I never hear the west wind but tears are in my eyes. 
For it comes from the west lands, the old brown hills. 

The west wind is the harbinger of spring. After the harsh winter, the warm west wind is soothing. It's perception reminds the speaker of the pastoral beauty of his native place, where he longs to return.

During this time, the birds begin to chirp, daffodils and “apple orchards blossom,” "the air’s like wine," “there is cool green grass there, where men may lie at rest”, thrushes can be heard “fluting from the nest,” “the young corn is green,” the rabbits run,” the sky is blue and the clouds are white, both the sun and the rain are warm and the buzzing of bees is like “song to a man’s soul” and “fire to a man’s brain.”

These pleasant memories of his native land make him all the more homesick and wistful. 

The phrases "tired feet," "bruised hearts" and "aching eyes" suggest the pain and discomfort that afflict the speaker away from his motherland. It seems to him as if the west wind is insisting on his returning home.

"Will ye not come home brother? ye have been long away,”

The urge to go back home is so strong in the speaker that he can't prolong his stay in the alien land any more. He makes up his mind to set off for the place he actually belongs to:

It's the white road westwards is the road I must tread 
To the green grass, the cool grass, and rest for heart and head, 
To the violets, and the warm hearts, and the thrushes' song, 
In the fine land, the west land, the land where I belong.

How far is Iago justified in hating Othello?

Iago hates Othello for some of reasons. First reason could be that Othello promoted Cassio in his place; however, Iago wants it and he cosidered himself more superior than Cassio for that possition but when Othello promoted Cassio instead of Iago neglecting Iago's calibre. Hate for othello increases in Iago's heart. Secondly, Iago's thinks that othello has illegal relationship with her wife. Also, Iago hates him because Othello married Desdemona. Othello got the wife and according Iago Othello is not capable for such a beautiful and caring wife like.., Desdemona. He also hates him due to the differences in their race. Iago hates othello but the revenge he took is quite inappropriate. In his hate, he ruined the life of a married couple.

What information do we learn about conditions in Alabama in 1935? Why might this information be significant to the plot?

The information that we obtain which is directly important to the plot is the following:

The plot is based in the city of Maycomb, a place which like the story says is "tired with time" (stuck it its ways so to speak), and in which blacks and whites were separated. Furthermore, it was a very prejudicial town in that even the white families discriminated against each other just for the sake of their last names. Note how the "Ewells were considered white trash", the "Haverfords were considered jack asses" and the "Cunninghams were poor".

On top of the white on white prejudice there was the imposing white on black prejudice, since the blacks had no basic human rights.These were the days prior to MLK and Rosa Parks, and the black race was still treated as second class citizens, admittedly by many, and quite openly.

On another note, we even see prejudice in the form of Ms. Caroline, the teacher,who is repulsed by the young boy Ewell, and who herself is rejected by the rest of the town from being from North Alabama, which is a town of "peculiarities".

Concisely, the first part of the novel shows us a place in which nobody is safe from criticism, pressure, dislike, prejudice, hatred, stereotyping, and disdain. For this reason, Robinson's trial was all the more poginant, and all the more scandalous and powerful. It was like exploding a bomb in an already burning town.

What is the metaphorical significance of Oswald's shouting, "the sun --the sun" in the last part of the play?

The sun represents light and truth.  However, in this play, deception is a central theme.  All the truths are hidden by the characters, who manipulate, hide and use subterfuge.  They must pay the consequences for this. 

The main conflict of this play stems from the fact that Mrs. Alving feels remorse for her part in helping to deceive the world about what sort of man Captain Alving was. She feels that she should have told the truth to Oswald long ago. If she had been honest with him all along, the disease that he inherited from his father may still have been unavoidable, but she could have saved him the confusion that he felt upon finding out that his father, who he thought was morally pure, had syphilis. His own character might have been less cynical if the truth about his father had not come as such a shock. 

Oswald's last words are "the sun" in recognition of what he has missed and avoided throughout his life. 

How does Shakespeare make Act 1 Scene 1 an effective and dramatic opening to "Romeo and Juliet"?"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare.

Opening with arguments and discord, tempers flaring in the old Montague and Lord Capulet, Act I, Scene 1 of "Romeo and Juliet" rolls out the red carpet of discord that the Prologue has just presented the audience.  By the first act's presenting of the motif of antipathy between the families, the infatuation of Romeo for Juliet becomes much more dangerous, fulfilling the Prologue's term of "star-cross'd lovers."

The first act clearly foreshadows discord ahead.  Like the hot-tempered Sampson, In Act III Mercutio banters words with Tybalt when the choleric cousin of Juliet appears in the third act.  Much like Sampson and Abraham, Mercutio and Tybalt argue and do some posturing as well.  Sadly, this behavior gets cared away and Mercutio is slain.

Why does Beowulf hang Grendel's arm from the rafters of Herot?

In addition to Rene's answer, I would also argue that the showing off the Grendel's arm is a way for Beowulf to symbolically "shout from the rafters" his success where other warriors have failed.  He quite literally lords his success over them.  Remember, Grendel has been snacking on Danish knights for a dozen years and none of the men could stop him. 

Beowulf could just have easily left the arm where it was, or chucked it into the sea after its dying owner.  Instead, he uses the arm to cement his own reputation. 

Why does Montresor feel he has the right to take justice into his own hands?

Montresor is insane, but you should also consider his family's motto that no one harms a Montresor without being punished. Even his family's crest is of a snake biting a heel, so acts of revenge run in his family. We don't know whether other people in his family took revenge to the extent that Montresor does against Fortunato, but he believes he has the right to take justice in his own hands partly because of his family's  name, but mostly because of his madness. He has taken revenge to the extreme, and the reader isn't sure whether Fortunato even did anything to Montresor. Because he's insane, Montresor may have just imagined that Fortunato had insulted him.

Where do Julia and Winston set up their rendezvous in 1984?This question comes from part two in the book.

In Part Two of this book, Julia and Winston meet a number of times in the course of their affair.  I am going to assume that you are asking about the first time they meet and have sex with each other.

This rendevous is set up for a secluded area out in the country.  We are not told where it is -- like what town it is near or anything.  Julia has been there before, but Winston has not, except in his dreams.  She tells him exactly how to get there, what train to take, which way to turn going out of the station, how far to go, etc.

For what reasons is much of the first chapter devoted to Boo Radley?

I believe that Boo Radley is mentioned so often in the opening of the novel because he is an essential factor in the growth of Scout/Jem's maturity throughout the novel. As the feared scapegoat of the indolent society, Boo's inferiority (as labeled by society) relates directly to the harsh, supercilious views Maycomb imposes upon African-Americans who have done nothing.

Atticus tells the children never to kill a mockingbird because they have done nothing but provide lovely melodies for people to listen to - because they are innocent. Boo Radley and the African-American community both symbolize mockingbirds in that they have done no wrong deed yet are blamed for all the failures of society. The children, believing the unlikely rumors exchanged throughout Maycomb, are at first frightened by this mysterious figure. Their childish curiosity leads them to accept a number of dares, each involving Boo Radley (touching the Radley Place, sending him a special message through the usage of a fishing pole, etc.). However, as the novel progresses and the trial of Tom Robinson arises, the children are able to relate the similar injustices both Tom and Boo are forced to face because they are different from the typical white mold of society. THe society prefers to remain loyal to their southern traditions and reject those who act as iconoclasts to their quintessant society.

In Chapter 4, how come Ponyboy and Johnny go to Dally for help?

After killing Bob the Soc in the park, Pony and Johnny know they need to hide from the police, since turning themselves in doesn't seem to be an option. Johnny decided that

    "We'll need money. And maybe a gun. And a plan."

Johnny knew that Dallas Winston would know what to do, so they headed to Buck Merril's place, where a party was underway. Johnny knew that Dallas's street savvy and his hatred of both Socs and the police would help him to come up with a plan. Dally had previously staked out the abandoned church on Jay Mountain and planned to use it himself as a hideout, if necessary. Now, it was the perfect place for Pony and Johnny to use. Dally provided them with money, a gun, some dry clothes, and the route by train to the church. There he would meet them later in the week.

Describe how Beowulf becomes King of the Geats.

Beowulf is the hero who embodies the religious faith and the qualities that his people admire--bravery, loyalty, honor, strength, integrity, determination to do the right thing, and a will to protect the weak.

It was always understood that such a man would someday be the leader and King of the Geats, Beowulf's people.  Of course, he is born or noble blood, since the King of the Geats at the time of Beowulf's travels to rescue the Danes from Grendel is Hygelac, Beowulf's uncle.  As Beowulf spends his youth gaining experience and fame through his travels and successes against such monsters, it is literally in his blood to return home and some day be named as the King. 

Furthermore, he does not just sit on his laurels upon the throne, but he dies a valiant death fighting a dragon which threatens the safety and well-being of his kingdom.   Upon his death, he names his own cousin, Wiglaf, to be King.

What is the problem and the goal in the story "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan?

In "Two Kinds," Jing-Mei Woo narrates the difficulty that she had with her mother over the piano lessons which she no longer wanted to take.  Early in the story, Jing-Mei says that she practiced piano because it was a popular thing to do according to the media.  Jing-Mei thinks that her mother Suyuan wants her to be a piano prodigy because she pushes her to practice and perform.  Jing-Mei, however, never excels at the piano and she makes an embarrassment of herself at a recital.  She tells her mother that she wants to stop playing, and her mother rebukes her.  Jing-Mei brings up the two daughters that Suyuan abandoned in mainland China.  The statement hurts her mother and drives a wedge between the two.  The goal of the story is to explore the cultural divide and difficulty in understanding and communication that exists between the mother and her daughter.

Why is foreshadowing used/effective in The Veldt, and what do you think would happen next if the story continued?

I believe that foreshadowing is used in this story to build up tension and to make us feel like something really bad is going to happen.  Everytime we get a look at the inside of the nursery, it feels really dangerous.  It is hot and dry and the animals seem really scary.  The screaming also really sets up the idea that something bad is going to happen.  I think it is done very effectively.

If the story hadn't ended there, I think Mr. McClean would probably have died too.  The kids don't hate him, but they probably realize he would tell on them if they let him go.

How does Lady Macbeth react when Macbeth says he has seen Banquo's ghost in "Macbeth"?What similar things does she recall?

In Shakespeare's, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, when she is chastising Macbeth for what she sees as acting so stupidly and foolishly in front of their guests (and looking guilty, which she has repeatedly told him not to do), does refer to the bloody dagger Macbeth saw in his vision in Act 2.1, just before he assassinates Duncan:

O proper stuff! [Oh, nonsense!]

This is [like] the air-drawn dagger which you said

Led you to Duncan.  Oh, these flaws and starts,

Impostors to true fear, would well become

A woman's story at a winter's fire,

Authorized [validated] by her grandam.  Shame itself!

Why do you make such faces?  When all's done,

You look but on a stool [not on a ghost].  (Act 3.4.62-69)

The reader does not see Macbeth tell her about the dagger, but there are at least two explanations for this.  First and most likely, we can assume Macbeth tells her the night of the assassination or soon after.  After killing Duncan, Macbeth is out of control, obsessing over his inability to say "Amen" when he overhears someone praying, worrying about the blood on his hands, regretting what he has done.  It is not a stretch to assume he mentions the bloody dagger at some point to his wife.

Second, it's not really the kind of question that presents a problem in a work of art that is not realistic.  Macbeth is not realism.  If Lady Macbeth knows something and we don't know how she knows it, that isn't a problem.

Lady Macbeth tries to cover for her husband by lying and saying this is just an ailment he has had since childhood, then berates him as a coward.  In the process, she compares the fit he is throwing now to his seeing the bloody dagger.  We don't know when he tells her, but apparently he does, or, if not, this is an Elizabethan tragedy, not a modern work of realism.

Which of the following organisms would be a better candidate for your investigation?Scientists often want to know if the genetically transformed...

Both kinds of organisms would be good candidates, depending on what you are looking for.

The problem with organisms that develop and reproduce quickly is that they usually do not live very long so they die quickly as well. This may make it very difficult to study.

If you choose an organism that develops and reproduces slowly then this allows more time to observe the organism.

It also depends on which traits you are looking for. For example, a question to think about is - is the trait immediately transferred to its offspring or are you looking at natural selection. If you are looking for traits passed on immediately then studying organisms that develop quickly may be your best bet.

What mood is stressed at the outset of the play?

The mood is tense and suspenseful in Act I of the play. The ghost appearances leave everyone with a different interpretation for the ghost's arrival, yet none of them are of a positive nature. Hamlet is the only one privy to the ghost's need for vengeance.

Hamlet is also presenting tense and mysterious behavior. His mother speculates it is from his father's death and Claudius is suspicious of it, as well, but for different reasons. Hamlet is contemplating the actions he will take, yet he has not yet committed to act on the ghost's words.

This creates the suspenseful tension that sets us up for the coming events. Although the suspense of Hamlet's inaction will last most of the play.

How is Darnay's philosophy different from his uncles' in book two chapter 9?

I think that the differences between Darnay and his uncle, the Marquis, are deeper than merely the circumstances of their lives.  Darnay appears to be deeply influenced  by the Enlightenment Philosophy of the 18th and 19th centuries, led by thinkers such as Locke, Rousseau, and Voltaire.  Enlightenment philosophy held that all men are equal before their creator and that all men are responsible for contributing to society.  Human reason was elevated above all else.  We can see the reflection of these philosophies in Darnay's rejection of his family fortune which was based on birth rather than ability, and his desire to earn his own way in society.  We can also see it in his concern for the peasantry under his uncle's control and in his determination to help his steward even though it puts him in danger.

His uncle, the Marquis, reflects the older, more medieval school of thought which maintains that certain rights and privileges come to a man because of his birth.  He believed that his noble blood made him superior to those beneath his station and that this was a part of God's plan.  In earlier medieval thought, these privileges came with distinct responsibilites as well, but by the Marquis' time the concept of noble obligation was lost and only the privileges remained.  Thus each represented a distinct philosophy which would have been known to Dicken's contemporary readers.

What is a summary of the poem "The Faithless Wife" by Federico Garcia Lorca?

The first stanza of "The Faithless Wife" by Federico García Lorca describes circumstances leading up to the incident that occurs later. The speaker, narrating a first person, personal experience, without really telling his feelings while he narrates events and his impressions, tells that he took a woman to the river who said she was a virgin although she had a husband. The reason for this seems to be reflected in the later lines "but I did not fall in love / for although she had a husband..." It seems the unfaithful wife's desire was to seduce the speaker who describes himself later on as a Gypsy.

He also declares that it seemed he was almost obligated to take this wife, who claimed to be virgin, to the river for a seduction of intimacy. His corroboration is to state that it was St. James night. St. James, along wiht being the Apostle John's brother, was one of three chosen to witness Jesus' Transfiguration. The allusion is to the "nard," "mother of pearl" and "nacre" transformation the speaker will witness later by the river.

He also describes the crickets, providing orchestral choral tones; her uninhibited responsiveness; and the breaking down of physical barriers as her petticoat seemed to be torn by "tens of knives." What may seem at first reading to be a foreshadowing of warning in large trees and barking dogs, is actually part of the reason for the experience feeling "obliged": the silver lighted enlarging trees and the dogs barking as on sentinel duty "far from the river" are  benediction and protection.

The second stanza describes how they undressed, with a bit of irony as she removes "her four bodices." She is likened to spikenard ("nard"), an herb growing in the Himalayas with a rose purple blossom; to mother-of-pearl, a luminescent lining in some mollusk shells; to a silvered glass; and finally to a mother-of-pearl ("nacre") mare (female horse).

The next-to-last stanza, one two final short stanzas, describe their retreat from the river and ends with an allusion to the duel the Gypsy would surely have had with the husband after the seduction of a woman who claimed to be married. The Gypsy ends by saying that, true to Gypsy ways, he gave her a small parting token gift and more importantly, by saying that he didn't fall in love with her. the phrasing using "for" functioning like "because" suggests that Gypsies never fall in love with maidens. This way, she gains her goal and he avoids that duel with something other than lilies battling in the air.

Why must brewers take special care to prevent air from entering fermentation tanks?

Brewers must take special care to prevent air from entering fermentation tanks during the production of beer.  Because the fermentation process is such an exact science, most ales and lagers are produced in sealed, sterilized vats, under strictly controlled conditions. Only the desired type of yeast is introduced into each vat along with sterile air, keeping out unwanted yeasts and molds that could spoil the flavor and appearance of the finished product.

There are certain lagers in Europe that are made in open fermentation vats, making the risk of outside infection greater.  To compensate for this greater risk, extreme care must be exercised in the sterilizing, handling, and use of the equipment and in the atmosphere of the fermentation chamber.  The air entering the chamber is conditioned and filtered, and persons attending the vats wearing sterilized clothing and masks.  By this means, a superior product is usually obtained.

Having made homemade wine and beer before, I'm personally familiar with the pleasure an excellent bottle of beverage provides-one that turned out due to scrupulous cleanliness and diligent care.  I've also experienced the bitter disappointment that came from a batch of spoiled brew, due no doubt to a "wild" yeast, mold, or fungus that got into it.  The lesson learned is that one can never be too clean!

What happened to finny at the end of chapter 4?

In A Separate Peace, Finny's falling from the tree is the pivotal moment in the novel.  It is the catalyst for the plot, conflicts, themes, etc.  It leads to the examination of illusions, friendships, loyalties, competitions, and the disintegration of all of the above. 

The pivotal passage follows:

Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb.  Finny, his balance gone, swung his head around to look at me for an instant with extreme interest, and then he tumbled sideways, broke through the little branches below and hit the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud.  It was the first clumsy physical action I had ever seen him make.  With unthinking sureness I moved out on the limb and jumped into the river, every trace of my fear of this forgotten.

With Finny turning to look at Gene with interest, the passage creates a particularly poignant scene.  With the sickening, unnatural thud and Gene diving without fear, the passage showcases the hideous nature of what Gene does.

Why does Roger shove his way past Jack, only just managing not to edge him aside?

Roger, always eager for violence, is edging past Jack in order to "show him" how to attack SamnEric.  Roger is the symbol of animal brutality, but it is a brutality barely contained by authority.  Jack is the authority.  Roger is shoving Jack, almost but not quite pushing him aside, in a symbolic action to discard human morals and turn fully to animal desire.

To outline the historical perspective on management.This should include the classical, human resource, quantitative & contingency approaches to...

Managers today use many practices, principles and techniques developed over a long period by pioneers of management. These developments in management thinking and concepts have undergone many transformations and witnessed changes in emphasis on different aspects of management. Tracing the history of these perspectives of management we can identify different schools of management that constitute theoretical frameworks for study of management.

There are some variations in the way these different schools of management are defined. One commonly used classification of management schools identifies the following five schools of management>

1. Classical School


2. Behavior School


3. Quantitative or Management Science School


4. Systems School


5. Contingency School.

The Scientific management school, which became popular during late nineteenth and early twentieth century is often further classified in three broad areas - Scientific management, administrative management and bureaucratic management. This school focused on managing the operations of workmen more efficiently. Its focus was more on the physical aspect of work rather than human psychology.

Behavior school recognized the importance of human aspects of management. It emphasized the importance of understanding the human behavior in organization and using this understanding to improve individual motivation as well as group effectiveness. It started to became popular in 1930's with emphasis on human relations. By 1950's it was supplemented by application of knowledge of behavior sciences to improve management performance.

Quantitative school developed in 1940's primarily in form of operations research (OR) to improve effectiveness of war activities during World War II. This approach concentrated on increasing the quality of management decision making through the application of mathematical and statistical methods. The quantitative approach to management was supplemented by the concept of Management Information System in from about 1950 to 1970's, that concentrated on better use of all kinds of information in an organization and not just quantitative analysis.

Systems school that started to become popular in 1950's emphasized understanding of the organization as a system, which is defined as a structure of interrelated parts working together to achieve a common objectives,  that transforms the input resources of an organization in to the organizational outputs. The organization exists within its external environment and constantly interacts with it. The system is influenced by its environment, and in turn also influences the environment.

The contingency school that developed in 1960's believed in applying management principles and processes as dictated by the unique characteristics of each situation.

A summary of the poem "The Fairies" by William Allingham?I read the poem, its irish and i really don't understand it but i can't seem to find...

In Irish literature and folklore the faeries are a mischievous bunch.  They have been entrusted with the care of nature and watch out for the forest.  However, they are good at making mischief for mankind.  Mankind is the enemy for the faeries and forest dwellers because man serves to disrupt their lives by hunting and searching for things that are the faeries.

Fairies were known to steal away babies in the night.  The poem talks about the little girl who was stolen away and had died from grief.  The fairies live for an endless amount of time, far longer than a man, so they don't understand that the child had died.  They believe she is sleeping so they make her a comfortable forest bed and watch over her.

One of the ways that the faeries protect themselves and the forest as well as making mischief is by planting the thorns shrubs.  They keep mankind out but when they fail to do so, a man wakes up with them injuring him in his bed.  The faeries put them there so that the man will not go back to the forest glen.

In the movie "Willy Wonka" the first lines of the poem are recited by Gene Wilder.

What are some of the opinions among the missionary circle concerning blacks?

I agree with the first answer as far as it goes.  I would also point out a couple of other things.

First of all, the main idea that the women have about blacks (in my opinion) is that the blacks should know their place and be grateful for what they white people are giving them.  The women talk about how people who think they're helping blacks (Atticus) are really just giving them ideas about getting uppity.

Second, as to your second question, Aunt Alexandra is thanking Miss Maudie for scolding Mrs. Merriwether.  Aunt Alexandra is kind of stuck up herself, but she does not like how badly Mrs. Merriwether is talking about Sophy.  I think it's because she thinks high class people need to be more gracious toward the people beneath them.

What do the Master's words/actions tell us about him and how do the Lake-men escape Smaug?

The Master of Lake Town does not speak very often or say anything of substance.  The reader can see the weakness and selfishness of his character through his words or lack of them. When the Dwarves first appear at his dinner with the Elves, he asks a question as he hesitates unsure what to do.  The people cheer Thorin so the Master just goes along with what the people want at that moment.  When the Dwarves are leaving the Master speaks fair and insincerely to them.  He provides them with supplies which is cheaper than keeping them on as indefinite guests.He doesn't speak at all to urge his men or encourage them during the Dragon attack, he tried to escape on his gilded boat, while his men, including Bard, fought the dragon.  Later when the people want Bard as king, he uses his words to make the people forget his cowardly behavior and turn their anger on the Dwarves again showing his weak character.

The people of the lake protect themselves by jumping in water. The Master tries to escape in his boat.

Beginning in Act 2, Scene 2, why does Shakespeare change Hamlet’s language from poetry to prose for much of the rest of the play? act 2, scene 2

Shakespeare uses prose for specific reasons: to denote madness, to mark a character who is of a low station in life, in letters, etc.  In Act 2, sc. 2, when Hamlet is talking with Polonius, the prose serves two purposes.  First, it helps to make Hamlet appear mad, and second, it shows Hamlet's contempt for Polonius by treating Polonius like he is lowly.  When Hamlet is talking with the players, he talks in prose, possibly, to attempt to be on their level because he is a gracious host.  Throughout the play, whenever Hamlet wants to seem mad, he speaks in prose.

Does the author use figerative language, please give examples

Personification is vital in D.H. Lawrence's, "The Rocking-Horse Winner."

The refrain that furthers the plot, emphasizes the conflict, and adds unity to the work involves personification.  The refrain,--"There must be more money!  There must be more money!"--comes

"...whispering from the springs of the still-swaying rocking horse, and even the horse, bending his wooden, champing head, heard it.  The big doll, sitting so pink and smirking in her new pram, could hear it quite plainly, and seemed to be smirking all the more self-consciously because of it.  The foolish puppy, too, that took the place of the teddy bear, he was looking so extraordinarily foolish for no other reason but that he heard the secret whisper all over the house:  "There must be more money."

The horse, the doll, and the puppy are all personified, here, as is the refrain itself, which comes "whispering."

In case you need more than one form of figurative language, you can find metaphor in the opening paragraph:

"She married for love, and the love turned to dust." 

What is the personal response for "Ozymandias"?Is there alliteration, metaphor? Is the theme that pride goes before a fall?

I like the question and the comments by the previous poster, but I want to pont out some small details in lines 4-8 of Shelley's short poem "Ozymandias" that may indeed support the theme (or moral, or even cliche) of "pride comes before the fall." The poem describes the head of the statue of the long dead king (or pharaoh) as follows: 

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.

The poem states that the facial expressions on the statue capture the essence of the man whom the statue represents, and these facial expressions are hardly ones of humility, compassion, or anything else that we might see as the opposite of pride. In fact, that "sneer of cold command" suggests to me that the ruler was just about as full of himself as he could be, and the very order that a huge statue be erected in his honor (a statue showing that very sneer) is a sign of his excessive pride.

To end my post in a summarizing statement, as did the previous poster, I think it's possible to say that the statue's head fell and shattered because it was so huge and so high up -- much like the man represented by the statue, who built himself up so much ("king of kings," indeed!) that he had nowhere to go but down. For the record, I don't normally like reading literature for moral lessons or reducing the meaning of literary works to what often sound to me like cliches, but in this case, such an approach has some merit.

For a metaphor, what about the "big head" in the poem. The literal big head is the shattered "visage" of the statue; as metaphor, it might refer as well to the king's excessively inflated sense of importance.

For alliteration, there are a few more that haven't been mentioned. One line has a repeated "h" sound -- "The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed" -- and later lines have other repeated consonants: "boundless and bare" and "low and level." Alliterating words don't have to be right next to each other.

In Hills Like White Elephants, are both characters static, and is there indirect characterization?

Well, no, I can't confirm the first element. The characters weren't fully static. There was a decision reached in the story—to have an abortion—and this will reshape both of them, especially the woman, and their relationship.

 

There was, however, considerable indirect characterization in the story. Hemingway characterizes the two characters by what they say, the pacing, what they don't say, how they interact, descriptions of the landscape, etc.

In the book The Great Gatsby, what function is served by the image of "the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg" brooding over the valley.

The novel The Great Gatsby is centered around illusion, or blindness.  The novel is the story of Gatsby trying to recapture the past, trying to recapture the love he and Daisy previously had.  The trouble is, the past Gatsby is trying to recover never really existed--it's an illusion.  Daisy never loved Gatsby the way Gatsby loves Daisy.  So the eyes of the eye doctor reflect the blindness of Gatsby.

Of course, numerous other examples of blindness exist in the novel as well.  Tom and Daisy are blind to the hurt they cause with their affairs, Wilson is blind to his wife having an affair with Tom, Nick is blind to his judgmental nature.   

There's more symbolism in the eyes, but I'll let other editors handle that.

What would your advice be to Johnny and Ponyboy if they had come to you for help instead of Dally in The Outsiders? Explain.Basically, if Johnny...

Just to play the devil's advocate here...

Had the two boys turned themselves in, Pony (and possibly Soda) would probably have been taken into custody and removed from the care of Darry. Johnny would probably have been released into the care of his parents, who would have beaten him for causing them trouble. The two boys would have been charged with some form of murder or manslaughter; perhaps this charge would have been overturned if Cherry and/or Randy decided to tell the truth. However, Randy may not have chosen this path if he was immediately questioned by the police; he and Cherry only decided to tell the truth after Pony and Johnny became heroes by saving the children from the church fire.

If they had turned themselves in immediately, Pony and Johnny (and Dallas) wouldn't have become heroes; nor would the kids at the church been in danger since it was Pony and Johnny's carelessness which caused the fire in the first place. Johnny would not have been injured, and Dallas would not have felt the need to choose suicide by cop.

In retrospect, of course the two boys should have turned themselves in, and any responsible adult would have suggested as much. Johnny and Dallas would have lived much longer lives, and Ponyboy would have been much happier living without the additional notoriety.

What do we learn about Sir Gawain's character from this selection from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?'Would you, my worthy lord,' said Wawain to...

We learn several things about Sir Gawain from this passage in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Gawain fulfills the requirements of chivalry in this passage.  The challenge by the Green Knight is below the exalted King Arthur, says Gawain, so he politely requests that the king allow him to take up the challenge.  Gawain says he knows that he is the least of all the knights present, and that the only reason he is anything at all is because he is related to King Arthur.  The challenge is more fitting for Gawain to accept, than it is for King Arthur.

We learn, then, that Gawain is honorable, considerate, polite, and humble.  He is a chivalrous knight of the round table.

What was a common job in the 1920's for a teenager who still was attending high school?

You may get a different range of answers. What is fact is that, prior to the fall of the market and the Great Depression, the 1920s were prosperous post-War years and jobs were very easy to be found. Teenagers did not even need to finish High School and they were quite free to make a living on their own.

As far as what they could do, just focus on the service and consumer industry for what would have been the easiest to get: In the restaurant industry, car shops, servers, gas station attendants, theatre clerks, ushers, cooks. Anything that has to do with industry, customer service, and services to consumers would have been their first hit.

In Act 1 Sc. 4 line 109 it says "and keep in-a-door" what does that mean?

The whole speech: (paraphrased)

Mark it, nuncle. (Pay attention, uncle)
Have more than thou showest, (Own more than you seem to)
Speak less than thou knowest, (Say less than you know)
Lend less than thou owest,
Ride more than thou goest,
Learn more than thou trowest, (learn more than you teach)
Set less than thou throwest, (keep more than you discard)
Leave thy drink and thy whore (quit the booze and the slut)
And keep in-a-door, (and stay home instead)
And thou shalt have more  (save your money)
Than two tens to a score
Hope that helps.

In chapter 6, how does Amir feel about Hassan? Why does he mean "my life as a ghost"?

In Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner, Amir is the privileged son of Baba, a prosperous businessman with important political connections.  Sadly, however, Amir lacks the courage and resourcefulness of his half-brother, Hassan, who, despite being a minority Hazara and illegitimate in the eyes of society, is possessed of precisely those masculine attributes that the boys' father prides.  The relationship between Amir and Hassan is complicated.  Hassan is a loyal friend and sibling to Amir, but Amir, while appreciative of Hassan's friendship, is jealous of the esteem with which the latter is held by Baba.  Amir determines, though, that, if we can win the kite-flying contest, his status in the home will be elevated, and Baba will view him with the same kind of respect he views Hassan. It is in this context that Amir, the story's narrator, suggests that such a victory will make him a more visible and prominent member of his family:

"I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite. Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all that his son was worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over."

That Amir will stand by and watch Hassan be raped by Assef, though, will serve only to further emphasize his lack of moral and physical courage and will alter his life forever.

What is the reason Napoleon claims for feigning opposition to the windmill? a. health b. selfishness c. wisdom d. tactics give me the letter and...

I don't like these four choices since B and D aren't really mutually exclusive.  Something can be both tactics and selfishness.  I think that this is both B and D.  But if I have to choose, I'll go with B.

I say that this is B because the only reason that Napoleon wants to pretend that he's opposed to the windmill is because he wants to be against Snowball.  He wants to have all the power so he wants to oppose everything that Snowball does so that he can try to get Snowball out of power.

What are a few historical events of the 1820's that influenced fashion?***1850's

Fashion of 40 and 50 years is characterized by a shift from deux-piece and streamlined materials to a rediscovery of femininity in clothes made by Dior.

Even after the Second World War, uniform  defines the best the style of any everyday civilian. The materials were rationed and wedding dresses were often replaced by the usual tight deux-pieces . Women turned trousers to skirts, were sewing blouses from the bedding and all fashion magazines encouraged them to operate within any resource. In U.S , the golden age film reveals gloves over the elbows, over-sized shoulders , mermaid dress from veil material ,high  heels and  brilliant accessories. 50 years marks a return to femininity through skirts with A letter form  and pencil skirts, , both emphasizing the waist.

The 50s are the beginning for synthetic materials,easy to use and care, such as nylon, polyester and acrylic. After the war, young girls begin to no longer dress like their mothers, the freedom they sought in pop music,little rigid and colorful clothes will soon define the lifestyle of young people who begin to distinguish increasingly than previous generations.

Why does W. Somerset Maugham use the title "The Kite" for a short story about human relations and what does it symbolize?Please help me with this...

Kites are a strong symbol in some nations, in dreams and in literature traditions. In all these uses, the positive symbolic meaning of kites represents variations of personal pride, independence, highest hope, accomplishment, freedom and expansion. The negative meaning is feeling out of control or at the mercy of surrounding conditions. In Somerset Maugham's short story "The Kite," Herbert begins flying kites when he lives happily with his parents and feels free and as though he can accomplish things in life. One of his accomplishments is to marry. Herbert continues to have the same positive feelings symbolized by his kite although his new wife has a different opinion and sees his kite as a childish diversion that needs to be released.

When they disagree about purchasing a new kite and she sends Herbert back to his parents, his wife breaks his kite, symbolizing the destruction of his freedom, independence and individual accomplishment. He refuses to pay alimony and therefore goes to prison because now the kite has reversed its symbolism and come to represent the negative meanings attached to it. The kite now means being out of control of his own life (his wife controls him now) and being at the mercy of surrounding circumstances. Herbert goes to jail to protest this and to reestablish--one way or another--control of his own life (One will worry about that choice turning out not so well, but...). Maugham chose a kite to symbolize human relationships because a kite embodies some of the most important concerns in human relationships: freedom, independence, accomplishment, control and manipulation.

In which chapter was Mayella "raped" by her father or Tom Robinson?I am uncertain whether it was Mayella's father or Tom Robinson, and I forgot...

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee there is no actual rape of Mayella Ewell, of course.  The charge of rape is issued against one of the novel's mockingbirds [who must sing another's song], Tom Robinson, who simply tries to offer some assistance to Mayella. 

In passages, however, there are a few allusions to Tom's case and the charges.  For instance, Atticus is heard on the phone remarking on the hysteria of the town as the charges have gone from more innocuous ones to rape, and in Chapter 14, Scout asks Atticus what rape is, for she has overheard people in a crowd as they shop:

'They c'n go loose and rape up the countryside for all of 'em who run this county care,' was one obscure observation we met head on from a skinny gentleman when he passed us.

The description of Mayella's so-called assault comes from Sheriff Heck Tate as he testifies in Tom Robinson's case.  He describes the bruises on Mayella's face and arms as well as the marks on her neck.  These marks, of course, have been made by her own father, who became apoplectic when Mayella kissed Tom.

How is suspense created in the story?

Suspense in this story is created by the ticking clock and the tension of completing their demolition without being caught or stopped before they are done.

The boys believe they have two days before Mr. Thomas will return, yet on the second day , the boys are shocked to discover he is back early. The suspenseful question becomes, what will they do to the houses owner? They do not wish to hurt the old man, so they lock him up in an outhouse.

Yet, the danger for him is still present with the collapse of the house. Each new catastrophe brings the suspense of not knowing the outcome for Mr. Thomas until the very end.

In Chapter 30, what insight is gained into Heck Tate's character?

We learn that he is going to cover up the murder of Bob Ewell.  He is doing this to protect Boo.  He doesn't want this reclusive and odd man exposed to the entire community in a trial.  So he explains to Atticus, who initially thinks Jem is responsible for Ewell's death, that Mr. Ewell just fell on his knife.  He even goes so far as to demonstrate what happened using a knife he took of a drunk man earlier (this is Mr. Ewell who was drunk when he attacked the kids).  While he wasn't able to do much for an innocent man, Tom Robinson (or maybe he wasn't willing to do too much for him - though Atticus explains earlier to Jem how Heck Tate really was on Tom's side), he is willing to cover for a guilty man, Boo.  Remember, Boo might be odd and reclusive, but he is white.  Is that the main reason why he covers up the murder?

What do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern fail to reveal to Claudius in Hamlet?Rosencrantz and Guildenstern didn't find out the cause of Hamlet's madness.

In Act II, Claudius has told these two men to find out what is wrong with Hamlet -- why he is acting so strangely.  The two were good friends of Hamlet and Claudius thinks that they will be able to find out what is wrong.

In Act II, Scene 2, the two men find out that Hamlet is only pretending to be crazy (or so he says).  He tells them that when the wind is coming from the right direction, he can tell "a hawk from a handsaw."

The two men keep this from Claudius, just telling him they don't know why Hamlet is crazy.

Please summarize and analyze "Mountain Language" by Harold Pinter.

Monks, (anyone) not knowing, not seeing eyes as it really is, not knowing, not seeing material shapes... visual consciousness... impact on the eye as it really is, and not knowing, not seeing as it really is the feeling, whether pleasant, painful or neither  nor pleasant, that arises conditioned by impact on the eye, is attached to the eye, is attached to material shapes, is attached to visual consciousness, is attached to impact on the eye; and as for that feeling, whether pleasant, painful or neither painful nor pleasant, that arises conditioned by impact on the eye- to that too is he attached.

While he,k observing the satisfaction, is attached, bound and infatuated, the five khandhas of grasping go on to future accumulation.  And his craving, which is connected with again-becoming, accompanied by attachment and delight, finding its pleasure here and there, increases in him.  And his physical anxieties increase,k and mental anxieties increase, and physical torments increase, and mental torments increase, and physical fevers increase, and mental fevers increase.  He experiences anguish of body and anguish of mind.

How did the debate over federalism contribute to the Civil War?

Remember that the Civil War was essentially about secession.  The southern states left the Union and the northern states remaining fought to restore it.  As historian Shelby Foote argues, the southern states never would have joined the country in the beginning if they didn't think they could leave.  Therefore they believed it was a state's right to secede and the federal government could not stop them.

The fact that Lincoln had been elected in 1860 without a single southern electoral vote (his name wasn't on the ballot there) was the last straw, as they felt his abolitionist tendencies would trample on their entire way of life regarding slavery.  So this was a war caused by the states vs. the federal government over issues of power.

What purpose do the firemen serve according to Beatty in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury?

As it turns out, the above answerer posted while I was typing.  I completely agree with her answer...

The firemen are there to keep people happy by making sure they don't have to think too much.

Beatty tells Montag this when he gives him a long speech at Montag's house after they have burned the old woman along with her books.

Beatty tells Montag that books made too many people unhappy by forcing them to think, or by telling them things they didn't want to hear.  THat's why Beatty tells Montag that

We stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought.

The firemen, along with things like the parlour walls, keep people from having to think because thinking would make them unhappy.

In chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby, how does Nick compare Daisy and Jordan?

Both of these answers seem to be correct, but in regards to chapter seven, a quote of Nick's compares them as well - "But there was Jordan beside me, who, unlike Daisy, was too wise ever to carry well-forgotten dreams from age to age". The answers above compare Jordan and Daisy in a similar way, but to compare is to also note the differences. I gather from Nick's quote that he recognizes that Jordan, unlike Daisy, would not let abandoned dreams weigh her down, such as how Daisy's lingering love for Gatsby that had remained for 5 years caused a fall-out between her, Gatsby, and Tom. Jordan, unlike Daisy, is wise enough to avoid that kind of situation.

Which is the value for the real number x, knowing that 2x-3, 5x+1, 4x-7, are the consecutive terms of an arithmetical progression?

I looked at it this way:

Some number (let's call it y) is added to each term to get the next, right? So, let's take the first term and write and equation that states this:

2x - 3 + y = 5x + 1

Now, use inverse operations to solve for y. If you add 3 to both sides, and then subtract 2x from both sides, you're left with

y = 3x + 4

Now, to get the third term, we need to add y again, right? So, let's do some fancy substitutions.

2nd term + y = 3rd term:

5x + 1   + y  = 4x - 7

Substitute the equivalent value of the 2nd term (from the first equation) and of y that we found:

5x + 1       +       y    = 4x - 7

2x - 3 + 3x + 4  +   3x + 4  = 4x - 7

Combine like terms on the left to get:

8x  + 5 = 4x - 7

Use inverse operations to solve for x (on both sides: subtract 4x, subtract 5, and then divide by 4) and you get x = -3. Substitute this into each of the three original terms and check to see that you have an arithmetic progression (adding -5, which would be our y).

That was a more algebraic approach. I didn't do this as a first instict, but you can easily solve it with systems:

2x - 3 + y = 5x + 1

5x + 1 + y = 4x - 7

Subtract the second from the first and you eliminate the y. Your resulting equation is

-3x - 4 = x + 8

Inverse operations (on both sides: add 4, subtract x, and divide by -4) will lead to x = -3.

Always, substitute and check to ensure the accuracy of your answers!

What do Francois and Perrault expect of their dogs?

In Jack London's novel, "Call of The Wild," we meet Buck.  Buck has been stolen from his peaceful and relaxing life at Judge Miller's home.  He has been sold into a hard life of labor and stressful existence.  After being "broken" by the man with the club Buck is purchased by Francois and Perrault.  These men run a sled with supplies and mail.  The dogs they buy to pull the sled must be survivors and they must be strong. 

Francois and Perrault expect their dogs to work together as one.  They expect the more experienced dogs to train the new dogs and they expect the dogs to work to the best of their abilities to move from point A to point B with little or no trouble.  This does not really happen until after Buck kills Spitz and Buck takes over the team.

"They are just masters who treat the dogs fairly, although they get the maximum amount of work out of their dogs with the minimum amount of food."

In "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," what conclusions can you draw about Smiley's character?

Jim Smiley is an interesting character indeed, and Wheeler gives enough details to draw some pretty solid conclusions.  The first thing that we learn about him is that he is a curious man, meaning, he was curious about people and things around him.  Smiley's curiosity take the form of betting--he is curious to know just how fast something can go, how far it can go, and sets up bets to find out.  It's an interesting form to take, but Wheeler calls him "the curiosest man about."  Wheeler also concludes that he was pretty "lucky," because he often won the bets that he staged.  Some inferences, or guesses made by reading between the lines, that can be drawn here, is that Smiley was not a rich man (betting might have supplemented his income, AND, he had come to a mining town for work), and possibly addicted to gambling.  We learn that he would bet on anything with anyone at any time.

Smiley was also determined--Wheeler mentions how if he had bet on how far a bug would walk, he would follow that bug "to Mexico" to find out the answer.  I also gather that he was rather unsrupulous and tactless at times, given the fact that he even placed a bet on the longevity of the pastor's wife.  Betting was the man's life, and he did it even at the cost of offending people, and being incredibly rude while doing it.

Overall, Smiley seems like a man who would be amusing to tell stories about, but kind-of a pain to know in person.  I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!

What was the reason for an increase in voters in 1828 than 1824? What led to the nullification crisis?

The main reason for the increase in voters was the fact that suffrage was expanded.  Many more people were allowed to vote in 1828 than in 1824.  This was part of the changes of the Jacksonian Era.

The nullification crisis came out of the Tariff of 1828.  The South disliked the tariff very much.  They felt it hurt them and helped only the North.  So they tried to nullify it -- to say it was illegal and they would not follow it.  So then there was a crisis about what to do if part of the country said that.

Why does Montag turn to books when he is unhappy?the book he possession is the last of its kind in his part of the world?

Specifically, in Fahrenheit 451, Montag turns to books because he is unhappy.  He wants some of what Clarisse has.

Montag is smart enough to see that television is simple-minded, that his marriage is without love, that he is incapable of looking at nature and finding something of value in it.  He is smart enough to know that something is wrong with a society in which technicians that pump people's stomachs after overdoses of sleeping pills, do it so often that they are nonchalant about it. 

Montag simply wants more.  Clarisse and her family show him what conversation can be like.  She shows him the interest in nature and love that she has.  And he wants the same things.

He turns to books in the hope that they can change his existence.  And, eventually, they do. 

What is 'Love at first sight'? Is it scientifically correct? If yes give reason to explain your point.This time my project is somewhat...

I understand the term "scientifically correct" to mean that something can be isolated and tested (or otherwise verified) against some previously established scientific theories. I don't see how "love" (much less "love at first sight") falls in the category of things that can be scientifically verified. We can test the effectiveness of airbags in protecting drivers and passengers in car collisions, but we can't do the same for when people and emotions collide.

All sorts of scientific studies around the subject of "love" are possible, of course. Through extensive longitudinal studies (in which we could track specific people in specific relationships), we might be able to determine all sorts of things that can contribute to the success or failure of a long-term relationship. Similarly, we could get a sense of the power of first impressions by using hi-tech equipment to see what parts of a person's brain lights up when introduced to photographs of a range of different people in different situations.

In the end, though, I doubt that the idea of "love at first sight" is a suitable subject of scientific research. I suspect that there are multiple types of attraction (each of which certainly could be studied scientifically in some fashion), with some of these types of attraction being more important when people first meet and some only developing over time and with cultivation.

Through a Google search using the terms "Love" and "at first sight," I found a number of leads that you may find interesting. Three are given below. All of the studies I found on this subject are full of "mights" and "coulds," and at least one of them deals with fruit flies. Do fruit flies even love?

What's Nick's value in Gatsby's party? (chapter 3)

In The Great Gatsby, Nick's role in Gatsby's party is three-fold: his an observer-narrator, a poet, and a moral voice who sets himself up to be better than the others.  This last one is most important, as the reader will align himself with Nick and Gatsby against the others, even though they are all complicit in the immorality of the age.

As observer-narrator, Nick reveals the carnival atmosphere of the party:

But as I walked down the steps I saw that the evening was not quite over. Fifty feet from the door a dozen headlights illuminated a bizarre and tumultuous scene. In the ditch beside the road, right side up, but violently shorn of one wheel, rested a new coupe which had left Gatsby’s drive not two minutes before. The sharp jut of a wall accounted for the detachment of the wheel, which was now getting considerable attention from half a dozen curious chauffeurs. However, as they had left their cars blocking the road, a harsh, discordant din from those in the rear had been audible for some time, and added to the already violent confusion of the scene.

As a poet, he assembles a collage of imagery that rivals T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock":

There was dancing now on the canvas in the garden; old men pushing young girls backward in eternal graceless circles, superior couples holding each other tortuously, fashionably, and keeping in the corners—and a great number of single girls dancing individualistically or relieving the orchestra for a moment of the burden of the banjo or the traps. By midnight the hilarity had increased. A celebrated tenor had sung in Italian, and a notorious contralto had sung in jazz, and between the numbers people were doing “stunts.” all over the garden, while happy, vacuous bursts of laughter rose toward the summer sky. A pair of stage twins, who turned out to be the girls in yellow, did a baby act in costume, and champagne was served in glasses bigger than finger-bowls. The moon had risen higher, and floating in the Sound was a triangle of silver scales, trembling a little to the stiff, tinny drip of the banjoes on the lawn.

As the moral voice of the novel, Nick attempts to set himself up as morally superior to the others at the party:

Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.

What is 'condensed wisdom' according to Francis Bacon?condensed wisdom in Bacon's essays

I'm not quite sure what Bacon specifically meant by "condensed wisdom." But I do have an educated guess. Bacon was a fan of aphorisms (very concise sayings which convey a lot of meaning. He also was a reductionist-inductionist in terms of science. This means that he wanted to describe things in their simplest and most fundamental ways: for example, he would describe condensation by talking about the chemical reactions and atomic particles: as gas becomes water: it becomes more dense, more compact.

So, his goal was to break things down into their simplest and most concise terms: in other words, he liked to condense wisdom as a practice.

What I think he would've meant by "condensed wisdom" is the general sum total knowledge of a given society during a particular period n history. I.e., the condensed wisdom of the Ancient Greeks - broken down, simplified.

One of Bacon's famous concepts is that of the ancient-modern analogy. Instead of viewing the Greeks, Egyptians and Romans of antiquity as the "ancients," Bacon viewed the most current time (now) as ancient and those "ancient Greeks" as younger, because the world was younger then.

And for its value and utility it must be plainly avowed that the wisdom which we have derived principally from the Greeks is but like the boyhood of knowledge, and has the characteristic property of boys: it can talk, but it cannot generate; for it is fruitful of controversies but barren of works. From - Instauratio Magna.

For the old age of the world is to be accounted the true antiquity; and this is the attribute of our own times, not of the earlier age of the world in which the ancients lived; and which, though in respect to us it was elder, yet in respect to the world it was younger. From Novum Organum.

In other words, Bacon perceived that the world (like a person) is older now, so now is the ancient time, the wiser time (since the world and those in it have collectively more experience, more experimentation and so on.) The ancient Greeks (the centuries around 400 BCE) existed in the boyhood of the world and we are NOW in the adulthood.

This was Bacon's support of progress, Modernity, and the idea that each successive generation can and should improve on the last. Each successive generation would use the "condensed wisdom" of past generations to build from. So, we take the condensed wisdom of Greek philosophy, Egyptian geometry, Islamic science, etc. and we, the moderns (the actual ancients) improve upon what they've done, making us in the process, and over time, wiser.

The further back in history you go (to when the world was younger), the easier it is to condense the world's collective wisdom, because like a person, we knew less then than we do now.

IF THE WAGES WOULD FALL, THEN DO PRODUCES PRODUCE MORE OUTPUT BECAUSE NOW THEY CAN HIGHER MORE WORKERS AND THAT WILL TRANSLATE INTO MORE...

The total output of a good produced and sold in an economy is dependent on many factors. Fall in wages for a product only affects the manufacturing cost of a product, which causes its supply curve to shift to right. In other words, the producers will be willing to supply more quantities of the product for the same market price. As per this analysis drop in wages would result in increase in quantity of that product supplied. However, there are many flaws in the logic.

First we have considered only one product in our analysis, whereas there are many different products in economy, and if wages fall for all the products than we will need to consider impact of other products also. Second flaw of the logic, and this is the more important part, is that we have considered only the supply curve. We have not considered the impact of fall in wages on the demand curve. Reality is that fall in wages, directly impact the total disposable income of the consumers. This tends to shift the demand curve to the left. That is the buyers are likely to buy less of a product for the same market price.

Thus in general we can say that fall in wages will not necessarily result in net increase in production. To know exactly what will happen, We will need to understand the impact of fall in wages on demand as well as supply curve. Also we will need to consider the relationship between the demand for different products.

What is an example of when someone climbed into another's skin and looked through their point of view in TKAM?Please someone help me! i need four...

The first example of Atticus' maxim in To Kill a Mockingbird occurs after Scout's disastrous first day at school. She has been reprimanded by her inexperienced first-grade teacher, Miss Caroline, for having been taught incorrectly how to read and, later, had her hand spanked for defending Walter Cunningham Jr. When Scout told Atticus about the day's events and begged him not to make her go back to school, Atticus explained that she needed to "learn a simple trick."

"Scout, you'll learn to get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--"
    "Sir?"
    "--until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Atticus further explained that people could not expect Miss Caroline to learn the ways of Maycomb life in one short day. The rest of the school year was "no more auspicious than the first," but Scout apparently learned to accept Miss Caroline's ways, and no other problems with her are mentioned.

Where can I find sense and self-restraint in Pride and Prejudice?and how can I tackle it please.I have searched the net to look for critics who...

Jane Austen has managed to continue to gain new fans to her literature daily.  She has several websites dedicated to her as a writer which may help you in the future.  I will list them at the end of my piece. When one looks at sense and self-restraint one needs to look at words and how they were defied during the period in England in which the book takes place.

Some of the rules of the era:

Benevolence should radiate outward.  It made sense to be benevolent but benevolence in relations to sensibility would have meant each person in need should have accepted another's benevolence.  The environment and situation the mother and girls were placed in could have been one of greater benevolence by Mr. Dashwood, but his sensibility made him limit his funded donations and provision of housing to the women.

Delicacy was a trait a girl who had good sense would have to demonstrate at all times.  Several types existed for females, "delicacy of constitution" and "delicacy of mind," "heart," or "soul."  All were restrictive and suffocating for women.  In terms of sensibility, Marianne was the delicate sister.  Elinor demonstrated sensibility as she was more outspoken in the things she did not like.

Education can increase a person's sensibility by giving him/her more insight to experiences.

"Sensibility refined by a proper education can lead to moral excellence."

Self-restraint was a necessary part of the process of mating, marrying, and making any decision that was not  in proper alignment of the social definitions and rules of the era.

In Act 1 Scene 5 how does Romeo praise Juliet?

In addition to Romeo's remarks above, as he first encounters Juliet, he speaks to her in a religious metaphor in the first quatrain of a sonnet that conveys the theme of Romantic love:

If I profane with my unworthiest hand

This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

First, Romeo adresses Juliet with the metaphor "This holy shrine," and personifies his lips as two "holy pilgrims" that wish to worship the shrine by touching and kissing.  Juliet demurs, thinking his advances too strong; she suggests that the pilgrims' hands can also touch the saints' shrines, and such a touch is equal to a kiss.  Undeterred, Romeo then calls Juliet "dear saint" and asks her if he can do what pilgrims' lips do in prayer, and he steals a kiss.  Then, in a final metaphor, Romeo suggests another kiss that, by her kiss, his "sin is purged,'' thus continuing the metaphor of a saint who can obtain for a person the forgiveness of sin.

In A Rose for Emily what is Faulkner doing when he uses (towards the end) a lyrical and metaphorical account of old people's sense of the past?

Faulkner is demonstrating the human propensity to re-write the past.  The old people wanted to pretend that they knew her well and cared for her, but this clearly was not the case.  This theme is as much a storyline as is Emily's gruesome descent.  In Part V, Faulkner writes:

They held the funeral on the second day, with the
town coming to look at Miss Emily beneath a mass of bought flowers, with the crayon face of her father musing profoundly above the bier and the ladies sibilant and macabre; and the very
old men-some in their brushed Confederate uniforms-on the porch and the lawn, talking of Miss Emily as if she had been a contemporary of theirs, believing that they had danced with her and courted her perhaps, confusing time with its mathematical progression, as the old do, to whom all the past is not a diminishing road but, instead, a huge meadow which no winter ever quite touches, divided from them now by the narrow bottleneck of the most recent decade of years.

The way Faulkner makes this one long nearly stream-of-consciousness passage is the way the older generation seeks to comfort themselves, and quickly.  The men want to believe they had shown her social respect by including her in such activities as dancing, the women bring "store bought" flowers, a touch too little, too late; they didn't care enough to comfort her in life, and even in death their gestures are hollow, as are their feigned expressions of grief. 

Who were the so-called “Founding Mothers”? What impact do you think they had on the early origins of the American system of government?What...

The 'Founding Mothers' is the name usually attributed to the women who took on the partroit cause. The contributions made by women during the war extended from women's associations such as the Ladies Association in Philadelphia, an organization that raised over $300,000 for the cause. Martha Washington took the charge of delievering the money to her husband while he was in camp. The Medical Corps was another group that employed one woman at $8.00 per month plus one meal for every ten wounded. This was unheard of in 1777, women getting paid for their services!!!! In addition, many women such as Sarah Decker worked the front lines, carrying military dispatches and letters from the enlisted to loved ones. These women played a vital role in winning the Revolutionary war.

And then there was Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams who was hands down the defender of women's rights at a time when women had no social, political, or economic rights. Abigail was of the opinion that women were viewed in respect to their male counterparts, not of their own accord.  In a letter Abigail wrote to John before the Declaration of Independence was signed she reminded him and of his duty to convey to the Continential Congress to "Remember the Ladies"...imagine that...Abigail wanted a conversation regarding women's rights before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. If for nothing else the letter portrays Abigail Adams as THE 'Founding Mother' among the 'Founding Mothers' during the war. She was clearly a visionary at a time that spent little time on the plight of women. Abigail Adams stood her ground, just as the founding fathers stood their ground towards British injustice.

Describe the character of the nurse and her actions in "Romeo and Juliet."

The nurse is kind but coarse, loving but ineffectual, both a mother and not really a mother.  She gives poor advice and is not a good disciplinarian.  While she often provides comic relief, the character of the nurse was meant to be seen as problematic. 

As a surrogate mother, her replacement of the biological mother would have been seen as problematic for the majority of Shakespeare's audiences.  For one thing, she is of the servant class.  Although now we tend to think of the Renaissance elite mothers as constantly going to wet-nurses for the care of their infants, this simply was not the case.  Rudolph Bell, who studied Renaissance mothering extensively, said the overriding opinion was that "mom should do it."  Back in this era, it was believed that a woman's breast milk also carried with it character traits.  The nurse's tendancy towards bawdiness, her lack of education, her poor reasoning all are hints at Juliet's ultimate fate.

What does this line from The Great Gatsby mean: "The vitality of his illusion had gone beyond Daisy, beyond everything."?

The line is about Gatsby's obsession.  Gatsby had become consumed with the idea that he could one day win Daisy.  Gatsby had met Daisy some five years earlier and fell completely in love with her,  but Daisy decided to marry Tom Buchanan, who had much more money than he.  Gatsby believed that if he could be wealthy too, Daisy would be within his grasp.  He amasses a fortune much larger than Tom's, chiefly by means of underworld activities.  Gatsby erroneously belives that Dasiy will leave Tom and marry him instead.

Nick makes this comment as he watches Daisy and Gatsby in their long awaited reunion.  The rest of the line reads, "He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart."  The ornateness of the home, the lavish parties, everything shows a man obsessed and unwilling to acknowledge Daisy's considerable flaws or the fact that she will never love him as he wants to be loved, no matter what he does or does not do. 

What are some higher level questions on The Marriage of Geraint by Alfred Lord Tennyson?

Using Idylls of the King: Song from The Marriage of Geraint by Alfred Lord Tennyson as a small sample from a extensive work, "higher level" questions are those that require application, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation, as Benjamin Bloom lays out in Bloom's Taxonomy in which he defines the distinctions pertaining to levels of questions. Higher level questions require the discussion of more than knowledge and comprehension. They require the use of higher order cognitive skills.

According to Bloom's Taxonomy (BT), application requires problem solving or the production of a result through the use of "facts, rules and principles." These questions revolve around the phrases "example of," "related to," and "significance of."

BT says that analysis is the process whereby parts are examined to reveal overall structure and to reveal the underlying structure of a communication. Analysis also identifies motives and the separation of a whole into component parts. These questions revolve around the phrases "outline or diagram," "parts or features of," "classify according to," "compare or contrast," "list evidence for."

Synthesis according to BT is the creation of a "unique, original" product in either verbal or physical form. Some call this "creativity": taking the known to form the new by combining ideas to "form a new whole." These questions revolve around the phrases "predict or infer," "add ideas to," "create or design," "what will happen if combined with," "suggest solutions for/to."

Evaluation is the highest level in BT. It requires making value decisions about ideas, works, issues, events, etc. Based on evaluations, controversies or differences of opinion are resolved. In addition, but also based on value decisions, opinions, judgments or decisions are developed. These questions revolve around the phrases "agree with/on," "think about," "most important," "order of priority," decide about," and "criteria used to asses."

On the application level, a higher level question pertaining to Idylls of the King: Song from The Marriage of Geraint might be, "How does Tennyson's defiance of Fortune relate to religious belief?" On the analysis level, a higher level question might be, "What evidence does Tennyson give for his defiance of Fortune?" On the synthesis level, a higher level question might be, "Predict what Tennyson might say to someone whose child was drowned at sea?" On the evaluation level, a higher level question might be, "What criteria would you use to asses the soundness of Tennyson's opinion that Fortune is not to be dreaded?"

The menstrual cycle begins when the brain releases a hormone. Name that hormone.

The hypothalamus is a neuro-endocrine system, active in numerous processes. First, it conducts many slow actions, such as growth, by checking  the pituitary gland, the main center of production of hormones.

The hypothalamus is the source of our emotions and basic needs of hunger, thirst and sex.
Very important is the fact that, by a pulsating secretion, controls the pituitary activity and thereby, the ovarian cycle, cycle whose peak is  ovulation. A normal menstrual cycle would be impossible without some signs of ovarian steroid hormones, and without the involvement of brain centers.

The ovaries also influences, through a negative feedback mechanism, pulsed secretion of the hypothalamus and pituitary. This translates into the fact that hormones secreted by the hypothalamus and "processed" by the pituitary, come through blood to the ovaries, and they secrete estrogen and progesterone which are returning again to the brain.This, according to the needs of the body, limits or extends beyond the production of hormones.

What caused the Sepoy Rebellion in India? What was the legacy it left behind?

The immediate cause of the rebellion was rumors that were spreading among the Indian soldiers regarding the new cartridges they had been issued.  The rumors said that they cartridges were made with either pork or beef fat (depending on whether the soldiers were Muslim or Hindu).  This would have made the soldiers violate their religious laws when they bit the cartridges.

The underlying reason, however, was basic dissatisfaction over the fact that the British were ruling India.  If the Indians had fully accepted British rule, the mutiny would not have happened.

In my opinion, the main legacy of this rebellion was greater mistrust between the British and their Indian subjects.

What is Atticus's explanation of rape in To Kill a Mockingbird?

This is a good question. As Scout learns about the trial, she naturally asks what rape is, as Tom Robinson is on trial because of an alleged rape. So, at first Scout asks Calpurnia. Calpurnia feels uncomfortable in giving an answer, so she tells Scout to ask her father, Atticus. When Atticus finally comes home, Scout asks. Here is the dialogue: 

“What’s rape?” I asked him that night. Atticus looked around from behind his paper. He was in his chair by the window. As we grew older, Jem and I thought it generous to allow Atticus thirty minutes to himself after supper.

He sighed, and said rape was carnal knowledge of a female by force and without consent.

“Well if that’s all it is why did Calpurnia dry me up when I asked her what it was?”

As you can see Atticus was not able to deflect the question. So, he answered her in a direct manner. However, he spoke is a lawyerly way - carnal knowledge of a female by force without consent.

The funny thing is that Scout acted like she understood this definition, when in fact she had no clue what Atticus was saying. The point is that Atticus gave her an answer, but it was above Scout's head and understanding. In doing so, this answer satisfied Scout (she was given an answer), but also did not explain what rape was, as Scout was too young to understand. In the end, Scout and Atticus were satisfied. 

In Chapter 4, why does Roger, throwing stones at one of the littluns, aim just to miss?

Roger is a bully. He entertains himself by producing reactions of sorrow, anger, or fear in others because that makes him feel powerful. As Roger and Maurice come down to the beach, Roger heads right for the littluns who are playing there, destroying their sandcastles with their landscaping.This actually doesn't produce the result Roger was hoping for because the children were not at that moment concerned with the castles Roger had destroyed. Only Percival starts crying because of the sand Maurice, and then Johnny, gets in his eyes. So Roger continues to watch the littluns, perhaps looking for another way to get under their skin. When Henry wanders off down the beach, Roger follows him surreptitiously, certainly with mischief in mind. 

Interestingly, Henry stops to entertain himself with some little transparent creatures living in the tide pools. In a way, Henry is doing to the sea creatures what Roger seeks to do to him. Henry blocks the path of the sea creatures and confuses them without actually bringing any physical harm to them. Yet "he became absorbed beyond mere happiness as he felt himself exercising control over living things." 

Roger, hiding from Henry under some palms, is showered by falling nuts that don't actually hit him. This gives him the idea to confuse and tease Henry. He picks up some stones and throws them around Henry, taking care not to hit him, not because of any concern for Henry but merely in observance of a "taboo of the old life." Henry looks around each time a rock falls near him, and Roger hides. In this way, Roger creates an emotion in Henry of confusion. Again, however, it is not the exact emotion Roger seeks. Roger was trying to create fear, but Henry laughs off the teasing and walks away. Nevertheless, Roger is satisfying his need for power and control, to make someone else yield to him. Later this innate desire for control and mastery finds fulfillment in his delivering the death stab to the sow and in his rolling the rock that kills Piggy.

Why does Hamlet tell his friends that he intends to appear to be insane? Is Hamlet pretending or is he actually going insane? Explain.the question...

Hamlet tells Horatio, and incidentally Marcellus (because he is privy to knowledge that the ghost has appeared and spoken to Hamlet), that he will feign an "antic disposition" because, in a very human way (and Hamlet is nothing if not very human) he needs an ally. Realize, Horatio is the only character in the play who is totally honest. Even Hamlet presents a false visage to everyone else in the play, save Horatio.

Hamlet is not crazy. His antic disposition is all guile, a shield and delay tactic that affords him some time to plan and test his theories. Claudius knows this from observing Hamlet in the nunnery scene "... what he spake, though it lacked form a little,/ Was not like madness." And any reader or theatergoer would be wise to not mistake moments of desperate passion for madness. The “mad in craft” aspects of the play give Shakespeare a chance to work through one of his favorite motifs–the metatheatrical awareness that so many of his characters possess. Throughout the play Hamlet is actor, director and playwright–never more keenly aware of his own role on the stage than in Act V when mortally wounded he says to the court who have been watching their monarchy implode:

You that look pale, and tremble at this chance,
That are but mutes or audience to this act,
Had I but time, as this fell sergeant death
Is strict in his arrest, oh I could tell you –

Analyze the scene in 1984 where Julia and Winston go to O'Brein's mansion.Any input on the following would be appreciated: - characterization (what...

This episode is very important to the overall plot.  When Winston and Julia go to O'Brien's apartment they seem to be on the verge of something big.  After all this time of wanting to rebel in some way, Winston is finally getting a chance to get involved with the Brotherhood.

As the party unfolds, it still looks as if Winston has finally found what he wants.  He is inducted, in a sense, into the Brotherhood and finds out something about the way it works.

So, in a sense, this is the high point for Winston.  He feels like he may actually be able to participate in a conspiracy to topple the Party.

What is the irony in the following statement from "The Most Dangerous Game"?Rainsford says, "The Cape buffalo is the most dangerous big game." The...

The irony is in the meaning of the word "game". This is a pun, a play on words. When Rainsford uses the word, he's referring to animals that are hunted by men, such as bear. Zaroff is using the word "game" to mean the hunting of men is a game to him, much like playing chess. This is why Zaroff decided to hunt men--they are more of a challenge. His hunting "game" becomes one of wits between Zaroff and the men he hunts.

What are the different qualities of boule de suif?

Many of de Maupassant's short stories are loaded with irony, and this one is as well. Boule de Suif is a prostitute. She and many others are fleeing from the French city of Rouen to Le Havre during the Franco-Prussian War. Along the way, the other travelers treat Boule de Suif with disdain, ignoring her and acting very superior to her, because she is a prostitute. The weather is bad, the voyage slow, the passengers are hungry. No one has any food except for Boule de Suif. She kindly shares her food with the others. The coach winds up being stopped by the Germans and they will not let the passengers go unless Boule de Suif agrees to sleep with the head officer. She refuses, but finally, the other passengers convince her to sleep with him for the greater good. After all, she IS a prostitute, after all. She finally sleeps with him, the passengers are released, and they go on their way.

The passengers revert back to their former behavior of treating Boule de Suif like a second class citizen. They won't even share the food they now have with her. The prostitute is the good person, the other passengers are the bad persons. Things are juxtaposed, another quality of the story.

The passengers claim to be patriotic Frenchmen, yet they are fleeing like cowards. Ironically, Boule de Suif is much more patriotic than they are. The reason she refuses to sleep with the German officer is because he is a German, even though the passengers comment that it IS her job to sleep with men, after all.

The short story has interesting characters. The author gives quite a bit of information about the occupants of the carriage. They are hypocrites and cowards, however. Maupassant spends a lot of time criticizing them and their greedy, petty, bourgeois ways. Despite the fact that the passengers believe themselves to be superior to the priostitute, it is she that obtains their freedom. The noble one, after all, is the prostitute. Interesting, huh?

In "The Tell-Tale Heart" what is your understanding of how the narrator evolves over the course of this story?

In the beginning of the story "The Tell-Tale Heart" the narrator is trying to let us know that he is in control and not crazy.  He is being very precise in his description of his reasoning that he had to kill the old man.

The reader begins to feels the tension increasing through the story through the repetition of words and the increased frequency of the use of some words as well as their spacing in the story.  The reader's mental disintegration is evidenced by his constant discussion about the man's eye and he effect it has on the narrator.

After the narrator kills the man, he is clam for a brief period but begins hearing the dead man's heartbeat.  Either guilt or the schizophrenic brain is hearing that which is not real to the policemen who visit.  The reader feels the insane intensity and stress of the man as he tries to ignore the sound of the heartbeat.  At the same time the policemen demonstrate to the reader that they do not hear anything.

When the man can no longer handle the situation he reveals everything to the police.  He has totally mentally deteriorated.

What sign "came down from world of grownups," and why are Sam and Eric scared when tending the fire?

In the book "The Lord of the Flies" the part of the plane crashing down is the sign that fell.  There had been some air battle going on in a distance.  The book states that the night sky was filled with more than stars. This is also foreshadowing for the later parts to come when the island becomes even more scarred at the hands of mankind.  The pilot has come down from the plane and later will be the beast that the children fear so badly.

Sam and Eric are scared because they are young and in an unfamiliar place.  The pilot ejects from the plane and had landed in the bushes up high.  The movement of the pilot caused by the wind jerking him back and forth frightens the two boys.

"When the breeze blew, the lines would strain taunt and some accident of this pull lifted the head and chest upright so the figure seemed to peer across the brow of the mountain."(96)

What is the parable here? How can you tell the age of "Barbie Doll"?

The parable in this poem is saying that women are killing themselves (literally and, more often, figuratively) in order to look more like Barbie dolls.

In the poem, the girl is a perfectly normal girl, but then people start telling her she's too fat (or her legs are) etc, because she doesn't look like some version of perfection.  This leads her to become very insecure and eventually kill herself.

The poem is most likely recent because concern about women and body image issues have only become prominent in the last 30 years or so.  Barbie has been around for about 50 years, but people didn't worry about her much before the '70s.

How does Hamlet procrasinate throughtout the play which leads to his death? Is this a tragic flaw? Please explain each as best as you can

The consensus is that Hamlet's delay, as it's often called, does lead to the concluding tragedy of Shakespeare's Hamlet.  The delay itself, however, is not the tragic flaw.  The tragic flaw is whatever personality trait makes Hamlet delay. 

Some say he thinks too much, some say he is not capable of action that is not spontaneous, some say he is cowardly, some say he's "mad" or disturbed, some say he's depressed, some say he loves his mother in an abnormal way and that gets in the way of his revenge, etc.  Some of these explanations certainly make more sense than others.

Of course, textual evidence should be used to support whatever theory one holds to. 

By the way, some say Hamlet just uses good sense when he doesn't hastily kill the king of Scotland.  This theory pretty much eliminates the presence of a tragic flaw in the play, which may be a possibility. 

I'll cite one example.  In Act 3.3.73-78 Hamlet, watching Claudius praying and all alone, unprotected, says in one instant that now he could do it, this is his chance.  (Hamlet is now certain that the Ghost told him the truth about his father's assassination, so he knows that Claudius is guilty.)  But in the next instant he says, no, he won't do it now because doing so would send Claudius to heaven, since he is in the process of confessing and his sins would thereby be forgiven. 

This is a delay.  Determining why he delays determines how one sees Hamlet and his tragic flaw.  If you believe Hamlet is sincere, here, then Hamlet is playing God by trying to determine another human's salvation.  That is not a good thing.  And the result is a tragedy. 

Others, however, view Hamlet as coming up with just another excuse for his inability to act, and these commentators see that inability to act as the problem, not Hamlet's attempt to condemn Claudius.

Whatever interpretation one arrives at, one thing is certain.  Hamlet's assumption that Claudius is in the process of confessing is a mistake.  Claudius never really does confess.     

Why did the United States open relations with the Soviet Union in 1933?

The only time the United States appeared to have civil relations with the Soviet Union was during the 1930's and 1940's.  Prior to that time, the US had actually backed the "White" Russians during the Russian Revolution which began in 1917 and continued into the 1920's. Unfortunately, that was the losing side, and the new communist government didn't forget it.  Great Britain, on the other hand, had watched with growing interest the Soviet Experiment, and believed that communism was indeed the way of the future; much of Soviet business, industry, and technology was seeded by them.  In fact, counter to the remainder of the industrialized world, the Soviet economy expanded during the Great Depression.  By 1933, during the nadir of the Depression,  Germany elected a new leader; the US saw more danger in Hitler than Stalin, and for the remainder of the Depression and World War II, the Soviet Union under "Uncle Joe" was our best ally.  After the World War, the Cold War began, and the US and USSR remained at odds until 1989 until the Soviet Experiment was no more. Politics makes strange bedfellows.

Summarize the crowd’s reactions to Brutus’s and Antony’s funeral speeches. What can you infer about the crowd from their reactions?

Shakespeare had already demonstrated to the reader that the Roman people are easily swayed with the opening scene in Act I.  After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Brutus speaks to the crowd and convinces them that Caesar was ambitious and would have been a terrible leader.  Although he is not a skilled speaker, he is able to use logos to convince that crowd that what he and the conspirators did was the best for Rome. At this point, they call for Brutus to become king.

Mark Antony, on the other hand, plays on the emotions of the crowd and incorporates three dramatic acts within his speech.  First, he pauses to cry while speaking.  This creates sympathy in the angry mob.  Once they have been softened, he hints that Caesar had a will, but he says that he won't read it because it would anger them too much.  The crowd cries for him to read the will (he never actually SHOWS what's written; he merely waves a scroll).  He tells them that Caesar had made the citizens his heirs and that each one of them was going to receive gold. The fickle crowd, that had only moments before been ready to make Brutus king, begins to turn on the conspirators.  The third dramatic act of Antony's is to display Caesar's body, and the throng becomes murderous.  Afterwards, Antony's aside, "Mischief, thou art afoot" shows that he had planned to incite a riot with his speech.

How does "The Last Leaf" illustrate that a loaf of bread is more preferable to the hungry than simply telling them to "be filled"?Is it because the...

Your analysis actually does work for this story.  Johnsy, on her deathbed, is supported by her roommate, Sue.  However, Sue mocks Johnsy's fixation with the last leaf on the vine, and tells her to snap out of it and focus on getting better.  The gruff Behrman, however, does not say much of anything to Johnsy, and on the surface, might appear to be a bit insensitive about her illness and potential death.  It is his actions, in the end however, that probably had the most impact on Johnsy's recovery.  He didn't speak or give false comfort; he didn't mock her delusions (to her face at least), but instead fed her the hope and comfort that she needed in order recover from her illness.

As you mentioned above, if someone is starving, go out and get them bread, don't tell them to stop whining and get over it.  So although Sue was there, helping Johnsy along the way, physically, she did not offer the crucial emotional support that Johnsy needed, which was hope.  And even though it seemed ridiculous, and had nothing to do with recovery, Behrman went out and gave the poor girl the fulfillment of her clinging hope through the painting of the leaf.  He gave her what she needed to recover.

I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!

In Hamlet, what are the most important things to consider or help us to understand both Laertes and Ophelia, for example in Act 1 Scene 3 ?

This scene introduces the King's minister, Polonius;  along with his son and daughter.  The pecking order becomes apparent.  Laertes tells Ophelia what to do,  Polonius tells Laertes what to do,  and then for good measure, tells Ophelia what to do.  You learn that Laertes is off to Paris to attend a university;  and that Ophelia is being courted by Prince Hamlet, a circumstance that neither her brother or father see as favorable to her.  Laertes tells her somewhat patronizingly, not to take Hamlet seriously because he is not free as a prince to marry whom he chooses, and to safeguard her heart and her chastity.  Ophelia replies archly to Laertes:  "I will the effect of this good lesson keep as watchman to my heart: but good my brother, do not as some ungracious pastors do,  show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, while (you) ---the primrose path of dalliance treads, and recks not his own rede".  In other words,  I will be a good girl if you are careful to take your own advice.  It is the only instance in the play where Ophelia displays some spunk or wit.

After seeing Laertes aboard his ship, with an extended directive on how to behave in Paris, Polonius turns his attention to Ophelia, and in harsher terms, repeats the directive against Hamlet.  The scene ends with Ophelia's consent to avoid Hamlet. 

Laertes and Ophelia are on good terms as siblings, both somewhat henpecked by their overbearing father.  The scene is key as it not only introduces them, but advances the action and defines the character of Polonius. 

What is the significance of Act I, scene i?

The difference in public and private speech covers political intent. Preparing to celebrate Caesar, Marullus decries the plebeians as hypocrites when he reminds them of how vigorously they celebrated Pompey when he was in power before Caesar ("Have you not made an universal shout/That Tiber trembled underneath her banks/ To hear the replication of your sounds/Made in her concave shores?"--You praised Pompey so loudly it echoed across the river! So why celebrate Caesar now?) Flavius follows up by "guilting" the crowd into not celebrating and dispersing. This is the first example of authorities using speech to manipulate the populace. However, the tribunes themselves are hypocrites--they are not so much pro-Pompey as their words suggest, but rather are anti-Caesar, and wish to "drive away the vulgar from the streets" to lessen the public show of support for Caesar. In their private speech immediately following the disbursement of the plebeians, they confirm this by planning to "disrobe the images" of Caesar as a means of protest, because they cannot publicly speak out against him; but for even this minor protest, they are killed ("put to silence") in I.ii, which not only confirms the conspirator's suspicions of Caesar's tyranny, but foreshadows the widespread bloodshed to occur when opposing and shifting political alliances have no means of resolving their differences, except by killing the opposition.

In Treasure Island why did the Doctor return to the ship five times? Why was he willing to take the risk?Chapters 16-19

The short answer is that the doctor wanted to have plenty of supplies in the stockade.  He wanted to get as much as he possibly could off of the ship.  This would allow him and his men to hold out in the stockade for as long as possible.

So, for example, on the third trip from the ship, they brought gun powder, pork, and biscuits.  They brought pretty much the same kind of stuff on the fifth trip.  These kinds of supplies would allow them to defend themselves and to have enough to eat.

The doctor didn't think it was much of a risk because his side had better long-distance weapons than the pirates.

When does the play take place?

This play is set in "the present."  That is, it is set in the time when it was first performed.  Specifically, it is set in the year 1949.

The setting of the play is important for the themes that it is meant to explore.  For example, one of the major themes is that Willy Loman is up against forces that are larger than he is.  He is confronted with a society and economy that are changing.  During the late 40s and early 50s, the US economy was getting bigger and companies were more important.  Willy was not qualified to function in this economic reality.

1. St. John refers to Jane as “unfeminine.” On what grounds does he make this statement? How fair is his comment?

St. John is angry at Jane because she refuses to marry him and accompany him to India. She is willing to accompany him to India, but she does not want to marry him because she believes he does not love her. She accuses him of actually hating her and says "You are killing me." At this comment, he grows even angrier and tells her that her words are "violent, unfeminine and untrue." He states that if the Bible didn't command that he is to forgive 70 times 7, he would find these words even unforgivable. In Victorian society, it would be considered unfeminine for a woman to speak to anyone in such a way, let alone a man that has recently proposed. These are the grounds on which he makes the statement. How fair is his comment? It depends on your viewpoint. If you were a Victorian male, you would probably say that his comment is valid. Perhaps most Victorian females would agree that Jane is acting "unfeminine and violent" as well. For example, not too many of Jane Austen's characters would have replied in this way. Charlotte Bronte was herself an unmarried woman who had to write under a pen name. Some contemporary critics considered the novel itself "unfeminine". From our modern perspective, however, we would consider Jane assertive. Charlotte Bronte revealed much of herself in Jane's character - an assertive woman at heart forced to live in a repressive society that found women who defended themselves to be "unfeminine."

What is the main idea/purpose of endorsements and sponsorships, and what two facts would you show that endorsements influence people?

In economic terms, there can be two purposes for having these things.  You can do them to try to increase the demand for your product, or you can do them to try to decrease what is called the "elasticity" of demand for your product.

Once thing that determines demand for a product is consumer tastes.  If you can get someone popular to endorse your product, your product may become "cooler" and more people will want it.

Elasticity of demand is a measure of whether people will keep buying your product if its price goes up.  You want demand to be inelastic because that means when you raise the prices, you make more money (people still buy your stuff).  To make demand be inelastic, you have to convince people that your product is way better than other similar things.  So you have someone endorse it to try to create that idea.