What is a positioning map in marketing? How can we create one?This is related to segmentation.

Positioning refers to the perception of a product in the minds of consumer in relation to its competing product. Positioning map is a graphical device to study and analyse the positions or perception of each of a group of competing products in respect of two specific product characteristic.

It is a basically a graph that represents the strength or extent of the two product characteristics on x and y-axis. For example, to find relative position of different brands of cars in respect of customer perception of superiority of their styling  and technical features, the graph may represent the the styling attractiveness of the model along x-axis and technical superiority along y-axis. Then each of the model to be plotted on this graph according to the assessment of customer perception in respect of these two characteristics.

Positioning map can help a company classify existing market products in different position categories. This insight can be used by the company in several ways. For example, it shows identifies the product which are the closest competitors of the company's product and the strength and weaknesses of the company's product in respect of its competing products. It cal also help company to identify market segments with specific product requirements where new products may be launched by the company.

Who where the main characters in The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks?

Most of the plot revolves around Wilson and Jane, and Noah and Allie as mirroring characters that reflect Wilson and Jane's problem and foreshadow a solution.

Wilson and Jane Lewis are a couple who have been married 30 years by the time Wilson narrates the story. He is narrating in past tense explaining how the year before, for their 29th anniversary, he forgot the ocasion, and then tried to make it up lamely.

It is because of this that Jane and Wilson realize the emptiness in their relationship, and what prompts Wilson to use his notes and previous experiences to fix his marriage.

Similarly, Jane and her sisters go back in time to the time when her parents, Noah and Allie, were married (in the story "The Notebook"). It has been 5 years since Allie died, Noah is deeply depressed and has now decided that Allie has reincarnated into a swan by a pond near the house.

Yet, the importance of this complex conundrum is that Allie is a very much real character in the story. Allie is Noah's deceased wife. She does not formally appear in the novel, but most of Noah's problem is directly linked to her death. He  continuously mentions her throughout the story, and even his doctor, Dr. Barnwell, has to treat him considering  the reality of Allie as a very present entity in his life.

Conclusively, like stated previously, Wilson and Jane are both the main characters living a parallel conundrum as Jane's parents Allie and Noah, in that both couples within their circumstances were forced to command their inner strengths to ensure that their relationships endure against the odds.

Does the author's background influence the novel Frankenstein? How?

There are several things you need to consider when reading Frankenstein which will help you understand the themes running through the novel with more clarity.  First, one theme is that of abandonment.  Mary Shelley's mother died shortly after giving birth to her.  She learned about her famous mom, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, only through the works her mother wrote--most of them dealing with the rights of women.  Victor also abandons the creature shortly after his birth, therefore setting into motion all the hard, cruel events in the creature's life outlined in the chapters written from his POV.  Second, there is the theme of parent-child relationships and responsibility.  Mary Shelley's definition of love as stated in the book is in a nutshell, "We are responsible for those we bring into the world and must treat them with unconditional love."  Again, it's obvious that she has issues with feeling abandoned by her mother's death.  Probably, although there is no real evidence that her father neglected her, Mary felt that something essential was missing from her life.  Third, the book came from a dare.  Mary, her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and several others were in Switzerland one summer.  They dared one another to "write a ghost story".  Hers came to her as a result of the famous scientists of the time who often attended dinners at her father's home.  Charles Darwin's theories among others were often discussed. 

I need help analyzing these quotes from MacBeth.Analysis of the quote from MacBeth. "Which honor must not unaccompanied invest him only, but signs...

1) King Duncan, after achieving victory in the battle, decides to bestow his kingdom on his eldest son Malcolm. But, at the same time, he declares that Malcolm is not going to be honoured alone at this night; along with the prince, other noblemen who fought courageously like brave warriors will be endowed with proper tribute too.

2) Duncan and his companions have come as guests to Macbeth's house. Lady Macbeth is telling his husband that if he fails to hide his nervousness and does look such troubled, it may arouse suspicion in others’ minds. He should welcome the king with a warm expression in eyes and hands, and with noble, greeting words. He has to wear a mask, should look as innocent as a flower, but has to be venomous and fatal like the serpent which remains hidden under the flower. Here Lady Macbeth is instigating her husband and preparing him mentally for the step they are going to take. Actually, the playwright is paving way for Duncan to face a dramatic irony.

3) Macbeth is in dilemma thinking whether he should kill his king or not. The king has the divine power, besides, he is Duncan’s relative. Duncan is very good and popular not only as a king but also as a human. And there prevails a fear in Macbeth’s mind of being punished in the afterlife for committing such heinous crime. It is only his ambition which is forcefully stimulating against these logic: “Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself/ And falls on th' other”. So, he just wants to finish the task of murdering Duncan as soon as possible, and give his ambition fulfilment. He, as a morally weak person, does not have the strength to bear the torment any longer. He wants to hurry, otherwise his dilemma can distract him.

4) By this time, Duncan has been killed, and Banquo has begun to suspect Macbeth more than ever. A feast has been arranged at Macbeth’s house. Macbeth is worried for he knows Banquo is now a danger for him. Anxious Macbeth says to his wife that at tonight’s dinner-party, she must greet the guest, Banquo, with a cheerful face wearing a mask, and must flatter him in order to win his trust. Here, Macbeth is saying to Lady Macbeth to do the same thing in front of Banquo what Lady Macbeth asked him to do once in front of Duncan (act 1, scene 5).

With close reference to language and style, discuss the dramatic significance of this scene (Henry IV).

This is a very complex question and, you're right, there are internal definitions at play that prescribe certain kinds of information for each. Let's see if we can sort it out. Let's start with style. Literary style covers three main categories. The first is influence or literary school pertaining to classifications such as classicalism, postmodernism, metafiction, neoclassicism, Bryonism, etc. The second is the classification of overall approach to language, characters, problems and conflicts. Two examples are elevated, or formal, style for such writing as odes and epics, and a low, or common, style for such writing as Wordsworth's lyrical poems and 20th century novels. The elevated style comprises formal language and speech in narrative and dialogue; characters from the elite of society; and noble, important problems and conflicts. The low style comprises general English and colloquial language in narrative and dialogue, which even includes dialect: characters from any walk of life below the elite (there may be an elite character or two as well); and universal problems and conflicts common to all humankind, or they may even be particular to the class discussed, as in The Grapes of Wrath.

The third category of style focuses on how the writer expresses thoughts and speech within these broad categories of influence/literary school and elevation (ranging from formal to common to dialectal, etc.). Questions of literary elements that are present in all literature are encompassed in the broad categories of style discussed above (e.g., theme, which is related to problem and conflict; characters, which is relevant to elite versus common; and setting, which is related to both as well as to influence and school, e.g., a Gothic style set in a crumbling castle and a lyric style set in the country). The components of the third category of style range from tone to means of character development, including such literary techniques as tropes; allegory; imagery; mood; diction; punctuation; grammar; and pace; etc.

For your question (in which there is really some overlap of terminology because language is a component of style), in addressing the dramatic significance of language, you would look at metaphor, simile, allusion, assonance, mood, diction, figures of speech, authorial voice, tone, anything related to single words and word phrases or groups of words. In addressing the dramatic significance of style, you would look at influences or literary schools that are followed (or broken away from, as Shakespeare broke away from Aristotelian tragedy in some particulars); the kind of conflict, whether noble and elevated or common and universal to all people, etc.; and the kinds of characters, whether kings and princes or yeomen and country cobblers.

In addition, stagecraft refers to the technical aspects of staging a production; it does not refer to the artistic, or acting, aspects of play production. Some technical aspects are sets, makeup, costumes, lighting, sound, stage design, and more.

What are three differences between the movie and the book "Hoot"?

Although the movie "Hoot" stays very close to the main themes in the book of the same name, and in many places, the plot line and dialogue are exactly the same, there are a number of differences between the two presentations.  The following are just a few of these differences.

Beatrice's parents appear in the book, but not in the movie. 

Roy is hit by a golf ball on the golf course once in the book, but twice in the movie.

In the book, Beatrice provides Roy with an excuse for being late by biting a hole in his bicycle tire with her teeth, while in the movie, she uses a nail to do the damage.

Mr. Ryan is a history teacher in the book, but in the movie he teaches a marine science class.

Officer Delinko is given a golfcart/motor scooter to drive in place of his squad car when he falls asleep while guarding the construction site in the movie; this does not happen in the book.

When Beatrice and Roy take Mullet Fingers to the emergency room, Roy uses the alias "Tex" for himself in the book, but in the movie, he calls himself "Ling Ho".

Roy intentionally sets Dana up to take the rap as the construction site vandal in the book, while in the movie, Dana just happens to be pursuing Roy to beat him up yet again when he is nabbed.

In the book, Roy has Mullet Fingers attempt to get some pictures of the owls, but in the movie he does not.

Mullet Fingers' real name, Napoleon Bridger, is revealed in the book but not in the movie.

What is the rising action and climax of "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen?

Rising action is defined as the events that develop from the conflict of a story--beginning with the action that incites the conflict--and lead to the climax. The climax is defined as that point in the story at which the resolution is fixed and determined. The climax may be the most emotional moment in the narrative but emotionality is not a requirement; the climax may be a cognitive or psychological event as easily as an emotional or action-packed event.

In the case of "I Stand Here Ironing," the rising actions are the narrated events that take in the mother's abandonment by Emily's father and include the mother's giving Emily to the father's parents to look after; bringing her back home; the tragic incident of catching measles; the discontent with her siblings and her school experience; signing up for and competing in the school talent show.

These events of rising action lead to the climax. There are opposing point of view as to what the climax is or even if there is a climax to "I Stand Here Ironing." One opinion suggests that the rising action leads to the climax at which Emily wins the talent show and phones her mother in ecstatic joy. Incidentally, part of this view of the climax illustrates that even though Emily's mother doesn't know how to show her deep love for Emily and even though Emily was separated from her mother's care, they are bonded to each other in a great, if unspoken, way, which prefigures the upcoming resolution.

Another opinion suggests that rising action, including winning the talent show, leads to a climax that comes when Emily asks her mother, "Aren't you ever going to finish the ironing, mother?" This is a psychological climax at which point the mother has the slow dawning of realization that results from her contemplation and leads to the resolution, which is embodied in "Why were you so concerned? She will find her way." The final opinion suggests there is no climax to "I Stand Here Ironing."