How did the railroads in the west influence miners, ranchers, farmers, and Native American Indians?I am supposed to write a short paragraph for...

The railroads primarily helped most businessmen--including miners, ranchers and farmers--to move their merchandise at a much faster speed to customers in other parts of the United States. They were also able to purchase merchandise from the East and West Coasts and have it delivered at a much quicker rate. Railroads soon reached nearly every corner of the United States, enabling people and products to move to these locales as well.

As for the Indians, the railroads brought more people and more industry, causing the Native Americans to move from their own lands to new ones and, eventually, to the reservations which ended their old way of life.

What do the Puritan magistrates hope to accomplish with this punishment? (The punishment for Hester Prynne of Adultery)

Due to the fact that there is no proof that Hester's husband is still alive, and therefore she could technically be a widow, coupled with her young, beautiful appearance, the magistrates feel that "branding" her with the scarlet letter is adequate punishment. Hester will be reminded daily of her sin, as she is never to take of the letter in public. It also serves as a public notice, everyone she comes into contact with, will see her sin. Knowing she will be humiliated every day(or so they think) seems just punishment.

Where do I find insults by Shakespeare?

There are lots of good places to find insults in Shakespeare.  He has a lot of characters whose main function is to insult others.  And a lot of characters who insult people even if that's not their job.

Characters whose job it is to insult include the clowns or fools in plays (like the fool in King Lear, or the Clown in 12th Night).  Other characters who insult people a lot are Katharine in "Taming of the Shrew" and Kent in "King Lear."

For specific insults, look at any lines of Katharine (or those speaking to her) in the early parts of "Taming of the Shrew."  For insults by a man, look at Act II, Scene 2 of King Lear -- look at how Kent insults Oswald from the beginning of the scene.

What is the theme of the poem "Divination by a Daffodil?"

The theme of the poem 'Divination by a Daffodil' by Robert Herrick is the ability to guess something, perceive something through intuition or prescience. In the case of Robert Herrick, his premonition is of his own death, and he is sparked to think of it by the sight of a daffodil as it blooms, withers and dies. Many people, such as William Wordsworth have been moved to glorious feelings of joy by the sight of daffodils, but Herrick is more preocccupied with their withering than their blooming. In this neat, careful economical little poem he describes the stages 'first I will decline my head.' He envisages old age and frailty, and by intuition can sense (helped by the image of the dying flower in front of him) the way that all this life will play out towards its end. In this, he he 'divines' or senses his, and our, future under the earth.

What were some qualities Buck needed to become leader of the dogs in The Call of the Wild?

Mainly, Buck needed to be brave and strong, but he also needed to be be clever and to learn about how a dog team worked.

When Buck got to the Yukon and began working as part of a dog team, he quickly became strong.  He had always been brave.  But those were not enough to make him qualified to lead the pack.

Instead, he needed to learn the ways of dog sledding.  He had to learn what the men needed from all of the dogs.  But more importantly, he had to learn how to be clever.  It was only by being clever that he was able to beat Spitz.  He used his wits to undermine Spitz's authority so the other dogs would not respect him any longer.  That really helped Buck be able to take over as leader.

What lesson did Paulsen learn from seeing the wolves and the doe? Why did Paulsen's friend give him four sled dogs?

Paul was running the dogs when a doe jumped out and fell into the snow.  It was a beautiful white tailed deer and the snow was around two feet deep.  The deer appeared to be frightened and the dogs were reacting to her fright.  He saw why she was scared.  Wolves were present.  They were hunting the doe in a pack.  The dogs tried to follow but he was able to wedge them.  He watched the terrified doe.  The wolves were finally on top of the doe.  Watching the wolves kill the large animal was terrible.  He had not seen it before and the experience was so awful that Paul said he would always remember it.

"Wolves do not kill "clean.” It is a slow ripping, terrible death fro the prey "(6)

He watched the wolves tear her apart piece by piece while she was still alive.  He had to hold the dogs back.  He yelled at them to leave her.  The wolves noticed him once the deer was down.  They studied him. He realized that he should not have yelled.  It was out of place.  The wolves were covered in blood as well as the snow.

Paul began to realize then that wolves were just wolves.  They did not know they were wolves and that:

"they were not wrong or right, they just are."(8)

Form the experience with the wolves, came the desire for Paul to learn more about nature and animals.

"And it started with blood."(8)

To make some money Paul decides to trap for the state.  He was running traps on foot by himself.  He was not very successful trying to accomlish laying trap lines on foot and in snow on skis.  He had some friends hwo hard about his problem and so one of them gave him four dogs named Storm, Yogi, Obeah, and Colmbia.  They also gave him a broken sled.  He had no idea how to run dogs but once he fixed the sled he started to learn.

What comes to Ponyboy's mind when he sees Bob's picture in the yearbook?no

Basically, when Pony sees Bob's picture in the yearbook, he just starts to wonder about Bob as a person.  He had never really thought of what Bob was like -- he had just seen him as a sterotypical Soc who was always a jerk (or worse) to the Greaser types.

But now he starts to wonder about Bob.  He wonders about the Bob that Cherry Valance knew.  He wondered about whether Bob had a brother.  He wondered how it was that Bob was (according to Randy) the best friend a person ever had.

He wonders a lot of things like that, but the overall idea is that now he is seeing Bob as a real person.

For more details, look this up in the book -- it's right at the start of Chapter 11.