In chapter 2, what is the significance of the chapter's title, "Fire on the Mountain"?

Fire is symbolic in the novel.  Fire is generally a symbol of civilization, but the boys, twice, let fire get out of control.  The first time the fire gets out of control it is purely unintentional - they have set a signal fire.  The second time the fire gets away from them, they have started it to smoke out Ralph.  The boys go from using fire as a form of civility to using it as a form of savagery.

Who is more brave, Daniel or Joel?

The meaning of bravery is an important theme of the novel. At the beginning, Daniel often seems to be more reckless than brave. He is brave when he does the right thing out of goodness but less brave when he does it because Rosh orders him or out of hatred and revenge. For example, he is brave when he disobeys Rosh and helps the man he has just beaten and taken money from, and he is even brave when he risks the ridicule of the village by getting water and food (women's work) to care for his sister. When he spits at a Roman soldier or refuses to pick up a bundle when required by Roman law, he is more reckless than brave, especially because he endangers Thacia. Joel does not act out of selfish reasons, however. His bravery arises from love of country and desire to help others rather than a personal hatred for personal injuries. Often Joel shows himself ready to sacrifice personal interest, not out of bravado (which often motivates Daniel), but because he thinks it is the best thing to do.

In The Lovely Bones, what stages of grief do each character (Susie, Jack, Abigail, Lindsey and Buckley) go through? When do these stages appear?

We are limited for space, so I'm going to focus on just one or two characters.  However, first lets establish that all the characters are able to travel through all 5 stages of grief by the end of the story. 

The 5 stages are:  Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance

As is the case in real life, the characters of the story don't move from one to the other in a clear line.  There is always going to be some back and forth movement.  Even after acceptance, a person can travel back into depression.

Of the living characters, Jack and Lindsay experience the stages in the most developed way.  Jack refuses at first to accept that Susie might be dead.  When he is presented with the body part and must accept, he does so for the sake of his family.  But he quickly retreats to anger.  He smashes all the ships that he and Susie worked together to build.  He shifts into bargaining as he finds a target for his anger in Mr. Harvey, and works with the police - harrasses the police - to get Mr. Harvey arrested. He bargains with Lindsay to find more evidence. His anger comes out again in the cornfield when he attacks who he thinks is Harvey.  After ending up in the hospital, his anger slowly subsides into depression, a depression so deep that Buckley, left alone at home with his dad, feels alienated and ignored.  Finally, at his heart attack, Jack starts to let Susie go and accepts a life without her.

What is a major theme in the play Proof by David Auburn?

This is my take on the theme of Trust. What do you think? Am I spot on or going out of point?

Catherine is shown to distrust Hal in Act 1, Scene 1. Her distrust of Hal and suggested paranoia of Hal stealing a notebook could be due to the fact that she had been taking care of Robert for 4 years, resulting in her dropping out of school, losing her friends and hence, her social skills. She repeatedly accuses Hal of having "a notebook in that backpack". Despite Hal reasoning out with her that he would have nothing to steal since Catherine herself stated they were "full of bullshit", she still snatched his backpack and rifiled through his things. What is hypocritical of Catherine is that while she distrusts people, she expects them to trust her. When Hal did not believe she wrote the proof in Act 2, Scene 2, she told him that "[she] trusted [him]" and asking whether she was wrong to trust him. In Act 2, Scene 5, she berates Hal, telling him nothing would prove that she wrote the proof and that he "should have trusted [her]". While she takes a long time to open up her true emotions and feelings to others (ie trusting them), she expects others to trust her immediately.

Hal himself did not trust Catherine's capability in Math in the beginning of the play as while Hal has a PhD, Catherine had only taken a few classes in Northwestern. In Act 1, Scenes 1 and 3, he constantly attempts to explain Math terms (explaining i means imaginary number and what Germain Primes were) to her, despite her already stating that she understands. He openly tells her what he thinks of her capabilities, stating that there was no way she could understand any Math (if any) in Robert's notebooks. In Scene 3, both open up to each other. At this time, Hal begins to trust Catherine, believing her to be a strong and independent woman. In Act 2, Scene 2, Hal again does not trust Catherine. He does not believe that Catherine could write the proof, stating that it was in Robert's handwriting, that it was impossible for Catherine to come up with such Math and that it is too advanced. In Scene 5 however, Hal has renewed his trust in Catherine, having respect for her capabilities in Math as well as her independence.

Unlike Hal, Claire does not even trust Catherine at all. She treats her as a little girl, viewing her as fragile and unstable. She feels that Catherine is in need of professional help and care. Claire does not believe that Catherine can look after herself, stating that "[Catherine] couldn't even take care of [herself] for 5 days" (Act 2, Scene 5) even though Catherine has looked after Robert for 4 years! Claire refused to believe that Catherine wrote the proof, suspecting that she had passed off Robert's work as her own. She constantly cut Catherine off, believing Hal, a complete stranger, rather than her own sister about the proof. Throughout the play, Claire's view and lack of trust for Catherine does not change at all and at times, she distrusts Catherine even more.

Robert has always trusted Catherine and believes in her capability in Math. In Act 1, Scene 1, her vision of Robert is shown to see potential in Catherine and tells Catherine not to "waste [her] talent". In Act 2, Scene 1, Robert is shown to believe in Catherine's ability, supporting her descision to enroll in Nothwestern. In Act 2, Scene 4, Robert again shows his trust in Catherine's capabilities. He offers to collaborate with her, viewing her as his equal in Math.

What does "...proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten" mean in Chapter 1 of Things Fall Apart?

There is a saying in Igbo land that "when a proverb is used and explained to a man, that his mother's bride price was paid in vain." The mark of an elder in Igbo land is the ability to use proverbs dexterously in social conversations. A man who is not seasoned in the use of proverbs is seen as immature or foolish in talk. Proverbs are particularly useful because they are used to state the length and breadth of a matter in such a way that children and women are kept outside the loop, thus elders are able to freely converse in the presence of children and women without fear of letting too much out.

Palmoil is a very important staple used for cooking or even on its own for many purposes in the dietary life of the Igbo man. It is so important that there is hardly any food that palmoil does not feature as a part of the meal. Thus the use of the metaphor of proverbs, the oil with which elders eat words. The metaphor shows how important proverbs are in Igbo social discourse when we come to understand the important role of palmoil in the cooking and dietary culture.

What are some concrete examples of imagery in this piece? How successful would this poem be if the imagery were not there?

Langston Hughes' short poem "Harlem" is pretty much successful because of its imagery. Take away the imagery and you have nothing left aside from the opening question, "What happens to a dream deferred?". The poem has five or six images. The first five images are very clearly and concretely presented in more than five words and often in combination with a simile (the poem makes repeated use of comparisons using the word "like"): "a raisin in the sun," a festering "sore," "rotten meat," "a syrupy sweet," and "a heavy load." The final line of the poem -- "Or does it explode?" -- might be considered to include an image and a comparison, too, but these elements are much less developed in the final line than they are earlier in the poem.

On a side note, the first image is the most famous of the bunch and provided Lorraine Hansberry with a title for her widely read play on urban Afircan American life in the mid-20th century.

Explain how the 'Carpe Diem' theme is expressed in Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress."

- Marvell’s ‘To His Coy Mistress’ is built on ‘Crape-Dime’ theme. In his poem we find a lover more active in the courtship urges his lady-love to make love at her youth. The shy mistress remains always from the immediate response but the lover builds the logic of syllogism and concludes that the only way of courtship is enjoying life while ones are young.

These assumed prepositions are used to awaken the lady-love from her negation to physical union out of her shyness. The only object as we understand is to enjoy the bliss of mutual love hence the ‘Carpe-Diem’ theme becomes the supreme goal.

The second stanza introduces the reality of life. In the real world the lover and the lady-love are placed in a transient or they could surely be devoured by time and the lady-love would grow and die. The lover would not be able to make love in the ‘marble vault’. Her long preserved virginity would be tasted by warms. Again the lover can feel and it is sure that the lady-love has her ‘quaint honour’. She is within full of desire of love-making. But for her shyness she is simply making a ‘crime’.

Here once again we find that all arguments are made to show the lady-love the reality of life and to make her conscious of what she should do. The concept ‘Crape-Diem’ has been built on argument.

The concluding stanza becomes a conclusion of the lover. And the conclusion is drawn from the first two stanzas. As life is not placed in eternity and as the lover and the lady-love would grow and die, so they should not loss a single moment of youth. For, youth is fast-fading. This idea has been decorated, with a number of images as ‘willing soul’, (transpires) ‘instant fires’, ‘amourous birds of prey’, ‘one ball’, ‘rough strife’, ‘iron gates of life’. These images are suggestive to signify the quick and violent love-making. Besides, during the love-making the lover and the lady-love would be forgetful the effect of time upon them aesthetic delight in which they would be dipped into estasy would be to them the highest bliss of the mundane existence,

“Thus though we can not make our sun

Stand still yet we make him run”

Marvell’s ‘To His Coy Mistress’ is a logical exhibition of carpe-diem theme. In this lyric Marvell avoiding the emotional out burst of his predecessors, analyzes, explains, and concludes the essence of ‘Carpe-Diem’. That is “Gather ye rose, buds while ye may” or “Seize the day” (from Horace’s odes) or “To the virgins, to make much of time” or “Go, lovely rose” etc. hence the present poem in its contents bears the epitome of the essentials of ‘Carpe-Diem’.