In what ways did the US pursue imperialism in the 1890s? And how did the Spanish American war affect US foreign policy in the 20th century?

After the Spanish-American War, in which we inherited the Spanish colonies of Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, we became the dominant empire in those regions of the world in terms of our military and economic control. 

Teddy Roosevelt, a veteran of the SA War, established the Roosevelt Corollary declaring the Caribbean essentially an "American lake" and taking a lot more direct interest and involvement in Central and South America.  He acquired the Panama Canal Zone and started construction of it as US territory.  These are areas and territories we would have to defend over the long term as an Empire.

Lastly, one of the reasons the Japanese attacked us at Perl Harbor and the Philippines was because our empire threatened theirs by our very presence in the region.  They simply wanted to remove the threat, especially in the Philippines, which we would not have been in at all if not for imperialism in the 1890s.

What different types of themes are there in The Merchant of Venice?

There are certainly plenty you can pick from, as in all of Shakespeare's plays. You might choose to focus on love, marriage and friendship, justice and mercy or identity for example. However, I will focus on one of the main ones: money.

It is interesting that money is a theme of the love plot as well as the hate plot. Bassanio's need for money to pay court to Portia is of course what puts Antonio in the power of Shylock. Antonio and Shylock are very different merchants, yet all merchants try to make money. Jessica as well, when she elopes with Lorenzo, brings money with her, stealing the savings of her father. She then spends extravagantly what her father gained with such care and diligence. Attitudes to the getting and spending of money are a theme of the play. Wealth by itself does not bring Portia happiness. She needs to be loved and to give love. Spending money is more fun than getting it, and generosity is better than meanness. However, the actions of Jessica in exchanging a ring that her mother gave to her father for a monkey show her to be reckless, uncaring and impudent.

Contextually, Venice was a mercantile city, and its luxurious life was based on commerce, law and credit. Great wealth was made on the back of extremely risky merchant ventures that could win or lose millions and bring around tremendous reversal of fortunes, as in the case of Antonio at the end. Of course, Bassanio himself tries a risky venture, trying to wind the hand of Portia. He deserves Portia because he is not taken in by "outward shows" or the glamour of precious metals - he is granted moral insight. Portia's wealth is fabulous - she is the metaphorical Golden Fleece won by Jason. But Portia's readiness to give her fortune and herself away for love is matched by Antonio's. This loving and giving is in stark contrast to a greed which prefers ducats to a a daughter and a hate which prefers a pound of flesh to thousands of ducats.

In chapter 3 of Animal Farm, what are four examples of the pigs' clever use of language to gain there own ends?

The question your teacher is asking is this:  How do the pigs use language to get what they want?  In other words, how do they speak cleverly to convince others to do everything just the way the pigs want it done.

For example, the pigs want the animals to hate humans.  So the pigs come up with an easy slogan to remember "Four legs good, two legs bad."  It is so easy to remember, the other animals can't forget it and will eventually start to believe it.

The pigs also try to make work sound more interesting so that the animals will want to work harder.  Instead of just "providing wool" or "giving eggs", the sheep are part of the Winter Wool Movement and the hens are part of the Egg Production Committee.  This makes them feel more important.

The pigs use rhetorical questions to make the other animals agree with them.  When the animals seem like they won't work too hard, Squealer ask "You don't want Jones to come back, do you?"  This makes it seem like the farmer will come back if the animals don't work their hardest.  Its a threat.  It isn't true, but it convinces the animals through fear.

Finally, the pigs control which animals learn to read.  This way, the pigs can claim to know more and they can sound more important because they can read things and their vocabulary is bigger.

Compare Emily Dickinson's poetry with Walt Whitman's.

Even though both authors are the founders of New American Poetry, a movement which pulled away from the Romantic authors' strict structure, Whitman and Dickinson write very different poetry. While Whitman often writes in free verse with no standard meter or rhyme scheme, Dickinson follows rhyme patterns and usually a very strict meter (almost all of her poems--because of their meter--can be sung to the tune of "Gilligan's Island").

Another difference is that Whitman stresses an undeniable optimism in mankind.  He follows Emerson's view that man cAN be self-reliant and find answers within himself.  His "I Hear America Singing" praises the common worker. In contrast, Dickson's poetry is often very personal and discusses inner struggles.  Her "Heart, we will forget him" demonstrates this theme, and much of her poetry seems unconcerned with one's role in the community (most likely because of her reclusive nature).

A similarity between the two poets is that both veered away from the Romantic poets' traditional view of God or a Higher Being.  Whitman stresses an Emersonian Oversoul or a "god within one's self," while Dickinson is more concerned about earthly emotions and relationships.  Admittedly, both poets include aspects of spirituality in some of their poetry, but those spiritual elements vary drastically from the Romantic poets' themes.

What dramatic elements emerge at the beginning of Act 4, Scene 3?PLEASE AND THANKS!

Also signficant here is the way that Macduff acts as a foil for Macbeth (and Lady Macbeth, too, perhaps).  His first inclination upon hearing of the death of his family is to grieve. "All my pretty ones? / Did you say all?" he moans. When Malcolm says "Dispute it like a man," meaning go and fight Macbeth, Macduff says "I shall do so;/but I must also feel it as a man" (4.3,216-221). Here we have a new definition of manhood not yet seen in the play. Indeed, Lady Macbeth at the beginning worries that her husband is "too full the milk of human kindness" and would herself dash her babe to the ground in order to carry out the murder of Dunca.  Macduff is both warrior and father and husband, a man who can love as well as fight.

How many dimensions does the universe have?

Einstein's theory states that the universe would have four dimensions (3 of space and one of time). Our everyday experience of life clearly shows us that space is three-dimensional (so we perceive it) and time is considered the fourth dimension.

However, there are modern theories in science (still unproved experimentally) which suggest that the universe has more dimensions, additional dimensions of space. Einstein tried to discover and formulate a "theory of everything", to unite the four fundamental forces which exist. Through this theory, Einstein has considered that he could explain the entire Universe. He has failed to build such a theory. Yet another theory, which has stood for the title, was developed later and it was called "String Theory". This theory predicts the existence of a universe, composed of 11 dimensions.

Even though mathematically it is easy to extend the idea that there are more than four dimensions, the question is whether all these have physical meanings. According to the studies of Albert Einstein, time and space are closely linked.

Using pink ribbons, describe them as a link between the two conceptions of Faith?

This is a difficult response for “Faith” is very ambiguous in the story, carrying more than two meanings.  The ribbons are mentioned in conjunction with Faith when we meet her “thrust[ing] her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap.” Her ribbons are mentioned two more times immediately: “Faith with the pink ribbons” blesses him as he leaves, and he looks back to see “Faith still peeping after him, with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbons, causing him to think “Poor little Faith.” Putting these introductory passages together, faith can be bold, sufficient unto itself so that it can play “in the wind” and retain itself; faith can be good and trusting, which we see when Faith blesses Brown, and finally faith can be sad because it is not sufficiently strong to withstand adversity (“poor little Faith”).  It is this final aspect of faith that the story leaves us with at its conclusion, for Brown’s faith was insufficient to trust in his wife and his neighbors, insufficient to allow him to retain a sense of humanity even if its sometimes marred by evil and guilt.