Thomas Jefferson's election in 1800 is sometimes called the Revolution of 1800. Why could it be described in this way?

Thomas Jefferson’s election in 1800 can be called the “Revolution of 1800” because it was the first time in America’s short history that power passed from one political party to the other. This was extremely important because it established the idea that, in the United States, a party would peacefully give up power if it lost an election. 

In its earliest days, the United States had two main political factions that would eventually become separate political parties.  The first of these factions was the Federalists.  Some of the more prominent Federalists included George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and John Adams.  This faction believed in a strong national government and was relatively less willing to trust in the people.  It wanted somewhat less democracy than the other faction.  The other faction was called the Democratic-Republicans.  This faction believed much more in democracy and in the power of state governments. 

Under George Washington’s presidency, everyone was relatively happy to remain within the Federalist camp because Washington had so much personal prestige.  After Washington left office, the Electoral College elected John Adams, who had been his vice president.  Adams, however, did not have nearly as much prestige and charisma and the parties started to drift apart.  The Federalists were very suspicious of the Democratic-Republicans and even felt that it was treasonous to oppose the government.  They passed the Alien and Sedition Acts that were meant to prevent Democratic-Republicans from airing their views and opposing the Federalist-controlled government. Things were very tense between the two parties.

It was in this atmosphere that the election of 1800 took place.  Jefferson eventually won the election.  This was extremely important because it established the idea that power in the United States could pass from one party to another without violence.  This is something that many countries have failed to accomplish. The fact that it happened in the United States is one of the major things that allowed our country to survive as a democracy.  This is the main reason why the election of 1800 can be characterized as a revolution.

Why are the Greasers proud of their tough, mean appearance?

Unlike the Socs, who come from affluent families that can afford nice clothes and possessions, the Greasers grow up poor and are considered lower class. The Greasers wear their hair long and are usually dressed in blue jeans, white t-shirts, and leather jackets. They admire their "bad boy" persona and appear to be rebellious, dangerous individuals. The Greasers do not have a lot to be proud of, but what they do have is a reputation as tough boys. Instead of being pitied by others for growing up poor, they would rather be feared. Their appearance essentially protects their self-esteem and is meant to intimidate others. They value the fact that they are feared and viewed as dangerous. Their "mean" appearance diverts attention and protects their self-conscious personalities.

How does Juliet interact with her parents?

Juliet Capulet is generally obedient to her parents, but their somewhat distant relationship becomes increasingly strained throughout the play. Lady Capulet has her nurse call Juliet for her. Lady Capulet seems a bit awkward around her daughter. She dismisses the nurse and then immediately calls her back: “This is the matter:—Nurse, give leave awhile, / We must talk in secret:—nurse, come back again; / I have remember'd me, thou's hear our counsel.” Juliet is much closer to her nurse, the woman who raised her, and is more formal around her mother.

Lord Capulet is a hotheaded older man who has perpetuated a feud with the Montagues. He also dearly loves Juliet. He initially tells the much older Paris that Juliet will decide whether she will marry him. Later, Juliet's relationship with her parents worsens when they try to force her to marry Paris. Pride and anger overtake Lord Capulet, who goes back on his determination that Juliet should have choice in her marriage. He rages against her, making all sorts of terrible threats. Even Lady Capulet, who attempts to assuage her husband’s fury, says “I would the fool were married to her grave!”

Juliet has secretly defied her parents by seeing Romeo behind their backs, with only the nurse’s and the friar’s knowledge. When told she should marry Paris within a few days, Juliet openly defies them. She is angry but also desperate, begging for them to listen and have pity: "Is there no pity sitting in the clouds, / That sees into the bottom of my grief?” Lord and Lady Capulet refuse to listen to their daughter. Because she feels she has nowhere to go, Juliet fakes her suicide. Juliet's parents, who were previously so hard on her, acutely lament her death. Lord Capulet says, “The earth hath swallow'd all my hopes but she, / She is the hopeful lady of my earth.” He and his wife pay dearly for their harshness.

What are key phrases or quotes from The Boy In the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne?

There are many important quotations from The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. First, let us look at a few that have to do with the characterization of Bruno and the theme of innocence.

What exactly was the difference? He wondered to himself. And who decided which people wore the striped pajamas and which people wore the uniforms?

This quotation shows Bruno (in all of his innocence) revealing true wisdom.  Bruno is speaking about the "difference" between the Jews imprisoned in Auschwitz, the soldiers under Hitler's control, and young Germans like Bruno. The beauty behind Bruno's words here is that there really is not a difference at all. They are all people worthy of love, respect, and friendship.

We're not supposed to be friends, you and me. We're meant to be enemies. Did you know that? 

This quotation is spoken by Bruno to Shmuel.  It reveals Bruno's innocence.  It also contains the realization that, according to Hitler, Germans and Jews are never supposed to be friends.  It is also the reason why Bruno immediately parrots that he is "superior."  

Next we should look a two quotations that reveal the purpose behind the book.  The first looks at the theme of friendship and how this type of love can transcend all boundaries.

He looked down and did something quite out of character for him: he took hold of Shmuel's tiny hand in his and squeezed it tightly.  "You're my best friend, Shmuel," he said. "My best friend for life.” ... Despite the mayhem that followed, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel's hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let go.

These are Bruno's and Shmuel's last moments.  The two best friends are holding hands and walking into the gas chamber to their deaths.  Willing to die for each other, the two face death together because of their great friendship.  This power behind this friendship theme is one of the purposes behind this book.  Friendship can transcend all obstacles.

Their lost voices must continue to be heard.

Finally, we come to another quotation that reveals a purpose of this novel:  to give a voice to the lost people of the Holocaust.  Many of these lost people were Jews from Poland, just like Shmuel and his parents.  In writing a book like this, John Boyne makes sure that these lost voices are, in fact, heard.

What are the similarities and differences in the living conditions between Night and Farewell to Manzanar?

Night and Farewell to Manzanar are two memoirs written by individuals persecuted during the Second World War. For an American, it is eerie to see the similarities between a concentration camp like Auschwitz and Manzanar: barbed wire fences, armed soldiers, and long rows of bunkhouses. Yet for the people inside, the living conditions in these two places were widely different.

In Auschwitz, the goal was to exterminate the Jewish race and others the Nazis found unacceptable. Some were immediately sent to the gas chamber and crematorium, while others were worked to death over a series of weeks or months. In Manzanar and other internment camps in the United States, the goal was to contain Japanese residents until the end of the war. Clothes and food were provided, along with education for children.

That is not to say, though, that living conditions in Manzanar were anything close to ideal. Thin shacks provided by the American military offered little protection against the cold desert nights. Restrooms and other sanitary accommodations were poor at the best of times. Also, as Jews in Europe experienced, Japanese Americans were forced to sell their homes, businesses, and other belongings before they were ‘deported’ to Manzanar or other camps.

Though very few people died as a result of internment, the similarities between Nazi concentration camps and American internment camps is an unsettling reminder about the power and destructive nature of racism.

What is ironic about Lady Macbeth's state of mind in Macbeth, Act 5, scene 1?

In Act 5, scene 1, Lady Macbeth is seen to sleepwalk as a result of her guilty conscience.  Ironically, it was Macbeth who -- immediately after he killed Duncan -- feared that he would never be able to sleep peacefully again, and Lady Macbeth found him cowardly and weak.  Now, it is she who cannot sleep peacefully.  Further, after the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth had said, "A little water clears us of this deed. / How easy it is then!" (2.2.86-87).  Now, however, she washes her hands over and over and over, believing that "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" (5.1.53-55).  She once thought it would be easy to wipe the guilt away from her mind, just as she could wipe the blood off her hands; now, she feels, ironically, that the blood remains on her hands because the crime remains on her conscience.  An additional irony is that, after Duncan's murder, she had told Macbeth that "These deeds must not be thought / After these ways; so it will make us mad" (2.2.45-46).  Now, she is the mad one, hallucinating spots of blood still on her hands, reliving the night of the murder, conflating the murder of Duncan with Macbeth's murder of Banquo.

How did the Enlightenment affect the lives of ordinary people?

Perhaps the most obvious way the Enlightenment affected the lives of ordinary people is the role it played in fostering revolutions in the eighteenth century. While the causal link between the Enlightenment and the American and French Revolutions is not a clear one, certainly these revolutions, which changed the lives of millions of ordinary people, were strongly influenced and justified by Enlightenment thought. The Enlightenment affected ordinary people in other ways. Enlightenment thinkers proposed legal reforms in a number of areas, including penal codes, marriage and inheritance laws, and laws regarding religious establishment. Many of these reforms were actually implemented in a number of places, including the United States, Great Britain, and France, and they affected ordinary people as much as anyone else. The "print revolution" that led to increased literacy throughout Europe in the eighteenth-century is also generally associated with the Enlightenment's push for greater literacy, even if most Europeans were not reading Enlightenment texts. At the same time, some changes that emerged among the people--the religious revivals of the Great Awakening, for example--were in many ways a reaction among ordinary people to the rationalism of the Enlightenment.