How is Safie a feminist character?

Safie is the young foreign woman who comes to live with the DeLacey family at the cabin where the creature is hiding.  She is a feminist character because she travels virtually alone (with only one chaperone who does end up dying on the journey leaving Safie at the mercy of locals to lead her to her love) to the man she loves, Felix.  She defies her father's wishes and the mores of the time period regarding young women (they were expected to do as they were told, first by their fathers and later by their husbands.  It was not appropriate for women to travel alone and unprotected as she has done). 

After she has arrived safely at the cabin with the DeLacey family, she strives to learn their language through lessons from which the creatures also benefits, unbeknownst to the cottagers.  She is a strong, independent spirit who works hard to reach the goals she has set for herself and lets little trip her up on the way to her destination.

I would say these things point to a very "women's rights" sort of feminist character, although I confess I never thought of her in this light before your question appeared on my computer screen.  Thanks for making me think today!

Good Luck!

Why did Willy get demoted from his job?

Willy is not demoted; he is fired. It is clear from the start of the scene with Howard, that Howard is not at all interested in the exhausted and distraught man in his office. Indeed, he is more involved with his tape recorder than with a human being.

Howard is the son of Willy's first boss, now dead, who hired Willy long ago. Willy tries to tell Howard promises Howard's father made to him many years before Howard was born, but Howard doesn't care. As said so well above, this is a modern world of selling, and the bottom line is all. You pull your weight or you're out. It seems that Howard has only been keeping Willy on for old times sake anyway. When Willy loses it on Howard and starts to yell at him, Howard takes that as his cue, his opporunity to unload Willy, a man who Howard sees as a drag on the business and an embarassment:

HOWARD Look, Willy...

WILLY (pressing his hands to his eyes): I gotta get myself some coffee. I’ll get some coffee... (Willy starts to walk out. Howard stops him.)

HOWARD Willy, look...

WILLY: I’ll go to Boston.

HOWARD: Willy, you can’t go to Boston for us.

WILLY: Why can’t I go?

HOWARD: I don’t want you to represent us. I’ve been meaning to tell you for a long time now.

WILLY: Howard, are you firing me?

HOWARD: I think you need a good long rest, Willy.

WILLY: Howard...

It's not just that Willy isn't making the money he needs to make (and he hasn't for many years), nor that he's cracked up his car; Howard doesn't want to Willy to represent the company any longer. He fires Willy there and then.

This scene sets in motion a cascading series of events that will, by the end of the evening, lead to Willy's suicide.

What are examples of foreshadowing in the story "The Leap" by Louise Erdrich?

Some elements of foreshadowing in The Leap by Louise Erdrich are as follows. The Avalon trapeze act foreshadows the later window rescue of the narrator as a little girl by her mother. The Avalon's blindfolded act foreshadows the mother's eventual blindness from cataracts. The dramatic weather changes in New England foreshadows the several sudden and dramatic changes that occur: the lightning strike, the second marriage, the fire and rescue.

The kiss in midair foreshadows the midair window rescue from the fire. The trapeze act foreshadows the leap to the roof's edge during the fire rescue. Finally, the title foreshadows the mother's choice at the lightning stirke, the second marriage, and of course the fire rescue.

What is the meaning of "Quinceanera" by Judith Ortiz Cofer?

“Quinceanera” by Judith Ortiz Cofer portrays a girl getting ready for her fifteen birthday celebration.  In the Spanish culture, this celebration is important as a rite of passage from a girl to a young woman..  It also has roots in spirituality as well.  The Quinceañera celebration is filled with traditions, many of them rooted in religion.  Through the years, some of the rituals have faded, but those that remain hold great meaning for the young Spanish woman.

The narration in this poem is first person point of view.  The main character is the speaker or narrator.  She is the fifteen year old girl who is getting ready to celebrate her Quinceanara.

The speaker announces a symbolic move into womanhood by putting up her dolls as though they were her dead children.  She will save them for her children when she marries.

Adding a slip to her undergarments is another sign of maturity.  No one should be able to see through her dress to her thighs.  The girl is feeling her new sexuality and reacting to the softness of the inside of her legs. 

Still, the narrator is a girl.  Her mother fixes her hair and pulls it so tightly that her eyes are pulled open. Her hair is twisted into a bun which shows the nape of the neck. 

Since she is growing up, her mother is now expecting her to take care of her own bedding. Apparently, her mother does not want to deal with her sheets any longer. The girl believes that her mother thinks that her bodily excretions are like poison.  If she bleeds on the bedding from her menses, her mother thinks that it is shameful. 

I am to wash my own clothes

and sheets from this day on, as if

the fluids of my body were poison, as if

the little trickle of blood  travels

from my heart to the world were

shameful….

The narrator asks the question relating to her mother’s comment.  “Is not the blood of saints and men in battle beautiful?"  She feels that this is just a part of her growing up and her mother should accept it. She takes her concern to the next level when she remembers that Christ bled on the cross.

The girl describes her growing pains at night.  She believes that she can almost hear herself growing. Her feelings wake her up at night with her hands rubbing the skin as it stretches over her bones. 

The emotions of young womanhood make her feel uptight inside.  The narrator is experiencing all the intricacies of the change from girl to woman. With changing hormones and new feelings about her body, the girl is caught between the two aspects of her life.  She is not quite a woman but neither is she just a girl.  She knows and feels her body has changed.  With an interesting simile, the poet compares this young girl’s experiences to a clock with its insides wound too tight, just waiting to be turned loose on the world.

Describe Miss Maudie and Scout's relationship with her. What insight do you think Scout gains from speaking to Miss Maudie about Mr Arthur?

Of all of Scout's neighbors, Miss Maudie Atkinson is her favorite. A widow like Atticus (the use of "Miss" is just a Southern use of respect from a child to an adult), Maudie "was our friend," according to Scout.

She had never told on us, had never played cat-and-mouse with us, she was not at all interested in our private lives.

She also makes the best cakes in the neighborhood and always bakes small, individual ones for Jem and Scout.
She gives good advice, defends Boo Radley and Tom Robinson, and always speaks highly of their father, Atticus, with whom she also has a special rapport. As hard as Aunt Alexandra tries to make a lady out of Scout, she discovers feminine and ladylike behavior from Miss Maudie instead.

Miss Maudie tells Scout that

"I remember Arthur Radley when he was a boy. He always spoke nicely to me, no matter what folks said he did. Spoke as nicely as he knew how."

She also gives Scout background on Boo's father, a severely religious man and a "foot-washing Baptist." Scout slowly comes to realize that Boo is a confused young man, and not some kind of night-stalking monster.

Evaluate the marriages of Charlotte and Collins and Jane and Bingley.

Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" raises important moral issues concerned with the central theme of the novel namely the institution of marriage and other important aspects associated with the institution of marriage.

Jane Austen belongs to the Romantic Age in English literature.

"Pride and Prejudice"(1813) like all of Jane Austen's novels reflects faithfully the socio-economic conditions of what historians term as 'Regency England'(1811-20).

Since women of this period had no right to ownership of property they were financially dependent on their husbands,and hence the urgency and anxiety throughout the novel for the ladies to get married to "young men of large fortune" (ch. 1). This is why Mrs.Bennet is very anxious that somehow Bingley must marry her daughter Jane.

Love and romance certainly play an important role in the relationship between Jane and Bingley. Both of them are romantically inclined towards one another. However, Bingley is under the control of his friend Darcy. It is Darcy who is both responsible for separating Bingley and Jane and then reuniting them. One of the important reasons Darcy gives for separating Bingley from Jane is that he felt that Jane did not reveal much warmth or affection for Bingley. He writes to Elizabeth in ch.35:

Your sister [Jane] I also watched. -- Her look and manners were open, cheerful, and engaging as ever, but without any symptom of peculiar regard, and I remained convinced from the evening's scrutiny, that though she received his attentions with pleasure, she did not invite them by any participation of sentiment. Ch.35

However, later he accepts that he was mistaken and reunites them both.

Charlotte in conversation with Elizabeth advises her that Jane should take the initiative and quickly make it clear to Bingley that she is interested in getting married to him:

In nine cases out of ten, a woman had better shew more affection than she feels. Bingley  likes your sister undoubtedly; but he may never do more than like her, if she does not help him on.'' Ch.6.

Elizabeth disagrees, but the readers realize that Charlotte has been right after all, because Darcy separated Bingley and Jane as he wasn't convinced that Jane was really in love with Bingley.  If only Elizabeth had accepted Charlotte's advice and if Jane had boldly taken the initiative Jane and Bingley would have got married straightaway.

Charlotte is entirely unromantic. All that she is interested in is financial security in marriage. She is not interested in getting married to anyone in particular. She tells Elizabeth that the only thing that she is interested in is a comfortable home:

I am not romantic, you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins's character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state.'' Ch.22

So as soon as she hears that Elizabeth has rejected Collins she wastes no time and makes it plain to him that she is ready to marry him. Collins proposes and Charlotte immediately accepts.

Jane and Bingley and Charlotte and Collins represent the problem of how forthcoming the girl should be in matters of love. Should she be reticent like Jane and bide her time or be bold like Charlotte and take the initiative and grab her man.

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

In Ch.33 Col.Fitzwilliam tells Elizabeth "I may suffer from the want of money. Younger sons cannot marry where they like." Clearly hinting at her impoverished status.

The central theme of the novel--how much money is necessary for a successful and a happy marriage--is explicitly stated by Elizabeth in in Ch.27 : "Pray, my dear aunt, what is the difference in matrimonial affairs, between the mercenary and the prudent motive? WHERE DOES DISCRETION END, AND AVARICE BEGIN?"

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

The contrasting lifestyles of different social groups is structurally central to a Jane Austen novel. In "Pride and Prejudice" the landed gentry represented by Darcy  is contrasted with the newly rich trading class represented by Bingley and his sisters.

The novel was written against the background of the threat of an  invasion by Napoleon. The militia was a temporary voluntary force raised especially during times of a national emergency. Wickham was a member of this militia. Col.Fitzwilliam Darcy the younger son of an earl, on the contrary, is a fully commissioned officer of the regular army. In those days only an aristocrat or a member of the gentry could afford to purchase a commission in the army. In "Pride and Prejudice" Darcy purchases a commission for Wickham so that Wickham agrees to marry Lydia.

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

Explain briefly the Allied plan to win WWII.

Before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, many Americans were undecided (and against) our nation getting involved in another war in Europe. However, the surprise attack in Hawaii solidified the nation's resolve to join England in its fight against Germany and Japan and their allies. The British were well aware that once America brought its massive military and financial reserves into action that it was only a matter of time before Germany and Japan succumbed to overwhelming numbers. Germany's attack on their former allies, the Russians, brought Russia into alliance with the U.S. and Great Britain, providing another nation capable of supplying huge armies to attack Germany from the north. Once the D-Day Invasion succeeded, the plan was to defeat the Germans and Japanese by sea and air as well as on land. American naval superiority soon asserted itself in both the Atlantic and Pacific, and the once-mighty German Luftwaffe was also weakened significantly. Allied forces soon surrounded German armies from three sides, and Japan's military force eventually withdrew back to its home islands to brace for the expected Allied invasion.