Why do Jim and Della feel light and happy as they prepare for supper in "The Gift of the Magi"?

Jim and Della are happy and content before their supper because they have both received the greatest gift of all: the affirmation of unselfish love for one another.

Both Della and Jim have sacrificed their most prized possessions for the other. Indeed, it is a testimony to her deep and genuine love that Della, whose luxurious hair shines "like a cascade of brown waters," is willing to sacrifice her single most-valued possession so she can purchase a watch fob for her beloved Jim. Although her face loses its color when she decides to sell her hair, her eyes are "shining brilliantly" as she excitedly realizes she can procure the gift for Jim that she wants to give him.

Similarly, Jim, who is proud of his heirloom gold watch, is willing to sacrifice his most valued possession in order to purchase a set of beautiful combs for his beloved wife's hair.

Even though Della and Jim are disappointed that the other cannot use the Christmas presents for which they made such sacrifices, they are both blessed with the greatest gift of all: the gift of unselfish love and devotion. Because they are the recipients of such meaningful acts, Jim smiles and places his hands behind his head as he suggests to Della that they put away their gifts.

Certainly, their sacrifices and love express the most valued treasure of all; therefore, they are content as they prepare for supper.

How do adults treat children in The Human Comedy? Cite at least two examples, and consider whether this treatment is realistic. What larger ideas...

Adults treat children very respectfully and as equals in The Human Comedy. For example, in Chapter 3, Mr. Spangler, Homer's boss at the telegraph office, asks Homer how he likes working at the office and then reassures him that he shouldn't be afraid to deliver telegraphs at night. Even though Mr. Spangler is Homer's boss, he is more invested in helping Homer grow than in pushing Homer to work harder. In Chapter 12, Miss Hicks, Homer's teacher, tells him that she has only punished him because she likes him and wants him to realize that he can get along with Hubert Ackley, even though they are from different classes. Miss Hicks is far more interested in educating her students and helping them grow personally than she is in punishing them. 

The adults' treatment of children in these examples could be read as unrealistic, as it is far more idealistic than that of most adults. Saroyan is trying to convey an attitude of respect towards children and the idea that adults should not just regard children as workers to exploit or pupils to discipline but as human beings who need moral and social guidance. 

What is an explanation for both the literal and figurative meaning of "Sonnet 130" by William Shakespeare?

Shakespeare's Sonnet CXXX is written as what is called a blazon, which is a literary poem that catalogs the characteristics and virtues of the beloved, while at the same time it mocks the Elizabethan conventions of poetry that praise love. In addition, it satirizes the Petrarchan sonnet that compares the lover to Nature in terms that seem hyperbolic.

• Literal meaning

Literally, the speaker's lover is nothing like the women for whom sonnets and other poetic forms are usually written. Her hair does not flow in luxurious tresses; instead, it is as though"black wires grow on her head"; she has no rosy cheeks, and her breath "reeks." Nor is her voice mellifluous as "music hath a far more pleasing sound." And, when she walks she "treads on the ground." Yet, the speaker truly loves her because he feels that his love is more valuable than that of any poetic fancy because he loves her despite her flaws.

• Figurative meaning

The anti-Petrarchan comparisons of the lover to various things lend humor to this sonnet. For instance, Shakespeare parodies the roses in the cheeks, eyes like sunbeams, perfumed breath, and walking on air. She has none of these or any other goddess-like attributes. Her eyes "are nothing like the sun," there is no "perfume" in her breath; it "reeks," and she "treads on the ground" rather than walks. She has no snowy white complexion or goddess-like attributes; yet, the speaker loves her dearly:

And yet, by heaven, I think my love
As rare as any she belied with false compare (ll.13-14)

Any false comparisons for the sake of poetry, Shakespeare says figuratively, are meaningless. It is her unique qualities that endear her, not flowery metaphors and similes.

Please explain "To Sleep," a poem by William Wordsworth.

Overall, someone who has been suffering from insomnia describes his difficulties in Wordsworth’s poem, “To Sleep.”

The title and the first two lines of the poem hint at the theme of sleeplessness even before it is clearly identified. For instance, the idea of counting sheep to put oneself to sleep is very common in the face of sleeplessness—even to a contemporary audience.

In the first four lines, Wordsworth describes the images that come into the speaker's mind as he tries to fall asleep.

A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by, 
One after one; the sound of rain, and bees 
Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas, 
Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky... (1-4)

The speaker lists the things he has laid awake imagining, in an attempt to sleep. "One by one" gives reference to the act of counting sheep. "Leisurely" refers to the rolling gait and relaxed pace of the moving sheep (1-2). The speaker refers to the soothing sounds of rain, "bees murmuring" and waterfalls—"fall of rivers" (2-3). He also describes the visions of "smooth fields" (perhaps a part of an afternoon nap in the country), as well as a "pure sky," with no hint of storm and nothing in it that would cause anything but a quiet calm within, conducive to falling asleep (3-4).

In lines 5-8, Wordsworth's speaker explains that he has done all he can think of to bring sleep upon himself (5). However, he has had no success—he has remained awake all night long—until he finally hears the sound of birds that utter in the orchard, breaking the silence with their song in the early morning, we imagine just before dawn (5-6). Even the first cuckoo makes a melancholy: we can assume it is because the speaker is still awake to hear it, having had no respite from the day before. Note that the bird does not sing, but cries—it is a sound of distress (7-8):

I have thought of all by turns, and yet do lie 
Sleepless! and soon the small birds' melodies 
Must hear, first uttered from my orchard trees; 
And the first cuckoo's melancholy cry. (5-8)

The theme of sleeplessness continues into the next three lines, giving the reader a deeper insight into the depth of the speaker's difficulty: for it is not just this one sleepless night, but the third in a row—

Even thus last night, and two nights more, I lay, 
And could not win thee, Sleep! by any stealth; 
So do not let me wear tonight away... (9-11)

With all the tricks he has tried to use, the insomniac has not been able to even steal—"Sleep! by any stealth..." (10)—any relief. In line 11 the speaker directly addresses sleep (as if it were a living, hearing thing), asking that it not allow him to remain in the same condition as he faces the approach of another night.

The poem's last three lines describe just how important sleep is:

Without Thee what is all the morning's wealth? 
Come, blessed barrier between day and day, 
Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health! (12-14)

The "morning's wealth" (12) refers to all of the wonders of a new day. "Wealth" indicates that the morning is filled with things that are extremely valuable. He has already pointed out the sound of birds that welcome the day. They are a blessing at the beginning of the day, but only after a time of rest; the sound is very different when one has remained unable to experience rest, but instead has counted the long hours until the day breaks. What good, what joy is to be found in the coming of morning without rest from the night before?

The speaker praises sleep, referring to the "blessed barrier" (13), the thing that separates one day from another. He goes on to provide details of the benefits of a good night's sleep: "fresh thoughts" and "joyous health." (14)

Whereas the title might first lead the reader to believe the poem is about the pleasures of sleep, the content demonstrates that it is actually about the hardships created when one is unable to sleep; it points out the negative ramifications—most especially when the insomnia continues over subsequent nights.

 

What are some characteristics that helped Squeaky overcome her problems?

One characteristic that Squeaky uses to overcome her problems is her toughness. She protects her brother, Raymond, who is developmentally disabled. As she says, "But now, if anybody has anything to say to Raymond, anything to say about his big head, they have to come by me." She is willing to risk knocking people down, even though she is a small girl with, as she describes herself, "skinny arms and a squeaky voice." She also has a great deal of determination, and she constantly practices running. As she says, "I’ll high-prance down 34th Street like a rodeo pony to keep my knees strong." She goes running early in the morning to practice, and she also stays up all night to study words in preparation for the spelling bee. Finally, Squeaky is very empathetic. While she knows that she can easily win the May Day race and other races in the future, she thinks she will become Raymond's coach in the future and give up her own running career. She'd rather see him win than continue to bask in the glory of winning her races. 

Where did the pigs get the money to buy whiskey in the end?

In Chapter Nine of Animal Farm, the pigs have a crate of whiskey delivered to the farm. The other animals are uncertain where the funds to buy the crate have come from:

The word went round that from somewhere or other the pigs had acquired the money to buy themselves another case of whisky.

Arguably, the pigs were able to buy this crate as a result of Boxer's death, another key event in Chapter Nine. When Boxer is taken away in a van, for example, Squealer says that he is going to see a vet in nearby Willingdon but the writing on the van suggests otherwise:

Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler, Willingdon. Dealer in Hides and Bone-Meal.

It appears, then, that the pigs have sold Boxer to a glue manufacturer and will profit from his death. When the animals express outrage over this, Squealer says that the writing on the van is a mistake; that the van was recently purchased by the vet who has not had time to change the writing. But Squealer and Napoleon have deliberately misled the others: the farm is doing so badly and food is so scarce that the money must have come from Boxer's death.

Rousseau has been interpreted as a liberal, a conservative, and a totalitarian. Which of these interpretation of you agree with and why?

I would argue that trying to apply terms such as liberal, conservative, or totalitarian really get in the way of understanding Rousseau rather than contributing to our knowledge of him. The terms liberal and conservative, especially, have changed meanings so much over the centuries that they seem to obfuscate rather than clarify our understanding of earlier figures.

Calling Rousseau a totalitarian seems the least helpful of the three possibilities, given his emphasis on individual freedom and his opposition to Hobbes' philosophy of human nature and governance.

Rousseau's idealization of the "noble savage" is in many ways nostalgic, hearkening back to a pastoral state intermediate between primitive brutality and modern decadence. In some ways, this nostalgia is conservative, as is Rousseau's focus on spirituality, but his notion of the natural goodness of human nature and opposition to many forms of convention make his position quite different than that of many groups that would call themselves conservative. His emphasis on human freedom and opposition to convention might seem to align him with liberalism, but the liberals of his period were secularists and enthusiastic about the progress of technology and knowledge, views Rousseau did not share. 

Perhaps it is best simply to say that he was an iconoclast whose views do not fit neatly in any narrow category. 

What are three metaphors and three similes in chapters seven and eight of The Outsiders?

Chapters seven and eight of S.E. Hinton's novel The Outsiders take place in the aftermath of the church fire where Ponyboy, Johnny and Dally distinguish themselves as heroes. Johnny is badly injured and will later die, while Dally is severely burned but will survive. Chapter seven describes the events leading up to the rumble between the greasers and the Socs. In this chapter, Ponyboy speaks with Randy and comes to the realization that the Socs are "just" people and have problems too. In chapter eight, Ponyboy and Two-Bit visit Johnny and Dally in the hospital. Hinton uses figurative language such as metaphors and similes in a few instances in these chapters. A metaphor is a comparison of two unlike things with the intent of giving added meaning to one of them. A simile is a metaphor which uses the words like or as in the comparison:

Metaphors:

• At the beginning of chapter seven Sodapop is joking around with the police and the reporters who have come to the hospital to talk to Ponyboy about saving the kids from the fire. Ponyboy compares Sodapop to a "long-legged Palomino colt" because he always has to be involved in whatever is going on and have his "nose" into it.


• A little later in chapter seven, Two-Bit and Steve have come to see Ponyboy, who has just come home from the hospital. Two-Bit takes a look at Ponyboy's hair, which Johnny cut as a disguise while they were at the church, and compares Ponyboy to someone who has been scalped by "wild Indians." He says, "What little squaw's got that tuff-lookin' mop of yours, Ponyboy?"


• The greasers compare Darry to "Superman" because he is extremely muscular and strong. 

Similes

• Ponyboy compares Darry's muscles to large baseballs. Ponyboy describes the time that Two-Bit's mother warned Darry about leaving the door unlocked because of burglars. Darry said he wasn't afraid of burglars, "flexing his muscles so that they bulged like oversized baseballs..."


• While Ponyboy and Two-Bit are visiting Johnny in the hospital, Johnny is so pale that Ponyboy compares his color to the pillow: "he was as pale as the pillow and looked awful."


• After confronting Johnny's mother, who is quite bitter over her son's choice of friends, Ponyboy thinks about his own mother and compares her beauty and personality to that of Sodapop and Darry: "I remembered my mother...beautiful and golden, like Soda, and wise and firm, like Darry" 

Do you think Manifest Destiny helped shape the United States?

Manifest Destiny was the nineteenth-century concept that the United States had the right and "destiny" to expand its borders to encompass everything west to the Pacific. The phrase, first used by journalist John O'Sullivan, connoted American racial and cultural supremacy, and trumpeted the uniqueness of American democracy. It was a powerful ideology that drove the rapid expansion of the United States in the 1830s and 1840s, a period that witnessed the annexation of Texas, the settlement of a border dispute with Great Britain in the Oregon Territory, and the conquest of a vast expanse of land controlled by Mexico. Clearly, Manifest Destiny shaped the physical expanse of the United States. In many ways, though, it was one iteration of a persistent idea in American history—the idea of American exceptionalism. This concept was influential in promoting American imperialism and in U.S. global leadership during World War II and beyond. The ambition and the self-confidence central to Manifest Destiny have remained important in American history.

How would you describe the character of Puck as he is portrayed in the first scene of Act II of A Midsummer Night's Dream?

Puck is probably one of the most memorable Shakespearean characters of all time, so it's worth analyzing his entrance in Act 2, Scene 1. One of the best insights into Puck's character comes in the form of the following quote at the beginning of the scene:

I am that merry wanderer of the night.

I jest to Oberon, and make him smile

When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile,

Neighing in likeness of a filly foal;

And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl

In very likeness of a roasted crab,

And, when she drinks, against her lips I bob,

And on her withered dewlap pour the ale. (43-50)

Puck's humorous description of himself in Act 2, Scene 1 provides a valuable insight into his portrayal as a whole. Overall, he is portrayed as a mischievous prankster, one who delights in amusing his lord, Oberon, and playing tricks on unsuspecting mortals. This characterization is important in the context of the rest of the play, as Puck's mischievous, mirth-loving personality is ultimately responsible for the convoluted (but still hilarious) relationship dynamics amongst the Athenians.

However, though he's fond of pranks, it's important to note that Puck is not ill-spirited or evil; rather, he's a good-natured jokester who loves to jest but does not ever cause serious harm. Puck's portrayal in the first scene of Act 2 suggests this important distinction, as his mischievousness is always shown in a cheery and benevolent light.  

Who of the French Enlightenment thinkers inspired Thomas Jefferson?

Jefferson was very widely read in French Enlightenment thought, and like many Americans, he especially admired Voltaire. He kept a bust of Voltaire at Monticello, and had many of his works in his library. Perhaps the aspect of Voltaire's thought that most appealed to Jefferson (who also, it must be said, admired many other French philosophes) was the French thinker's support for religious tolerance. As Merrill Peterson, one of the most influential Jefferson scholars of the twentieth century, once wrote, Jefferson "sounded like a Virginia Voltaire" in his support for the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom, which abolished the established church in Jefferson's home state. Like Jefferson, Voltaire's thinking about religion as well as the need for limited government was strongly influenced by English philosopher John Locke. Voltaire, who belonged to a somewhat older generation than Jefferson (the two never met), was somewhat more conservative than Jefferson, not rejecting, as Jefferson did, monarchy as a valid form of government. Indeed, Voltaire much admired the English government that Jefferson dismissed as hopelessly corrupt. But of the French philosophes, Voltaire was probably the most influential on Jefferson.

Why are sticks called sticks if they're not sticky and other things that are sticky aren't called sticks?

In every language, there are pairs of words called homophones.  These are words that have the same sound but which have different meanings.  Languages are very likely to have such words because there are not all that many possible sound combinations and there are huge numbers of words in most languages.  Therefore, it is not at all uncommon to have words like this that do not have the same meaning even though they sound the same.  As you can see in the link below, by one count there are 441 pairs of homophones in the English language.

Other languages have homophones as well.  For example, in Japanese, “hashi” can mean “chopsticks,” but it can also mean “bridge.”  As another example, in Spanish, “llama” can mean “call,” but it can also mean “flame” and “llama,” the Andean animal.

In other words, it is not at all unusual for there to be words that sound alike but which mean very different things.  Therefore, we should not be surprised that sticks are not sticky.

What are some reasons why Calpurnia is a better mother figure than Miss Maudie in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Calpurnia is a better mother figure than Miss Maudie because she is stern as well as loving. 

Miss Maudie never really serves as a disciplinarian.  To be a mother figure, you have to be both affectionate and stern.  Calpurnia lays down the law while also being supportive of Scout.  She calls her baby.  Miss Maudie is more like a friend to Scout. 

Calpurnia is the only mother Scout has.  She teaches Scout right from wrong.  A good example of this is when Scout complains when Walter puts syrup on his dinner.  Calpurnia scolds her for being rude, and tells her that any visitor to her house is her company. 

Scout describes Calpurnia.

She was all angles and bones; she was nearsighted; she squinted; her hand was wide as a bed slat and twice as hard. She was always ordering me out of the kitchen, asking me why I couldn’t behave as well as Jem when she knew he was older, and calling me home when I wasn’t ready to come. (Ch. 1) 

Miss Maudie, on the other hand, is supportive of Scout.  She is there for her when Jem wants to play with Dill instead.  She stands up for her when the other women, like Miss Stephanie Crawford, pick on her. 

I hadn’t meant to be funny, but the ladies laughed. My cheeks grew hot as I realized my mistake, but Miss Maudie looked gravely down at me. She never laughed at me unless I meant to be funny. (Ch. 24) 

Miss Maudie is always supportive of Scout.  She always tells her the truth and never talks down to her. While Cal is her mother figure and Atticus says they could never live without her, Miss Maudie is her friend.  Scout needs both women in her life.  They balance out the influence of people like Stephanie Crawford and Aunt Alexandra. 

In Freakonomics, though Levitt and Dubner write about some highly charged topics, they write in a manner that does not offend most readers. How do...

The authors of Freakonomics make some bold claims. For example, they claim the legalization of abortion contributes to a decrease in crime in the United States. 

Such challenges and assertions are primed to make people angry. The authors manage not to offend most readers by refraining from using emotional language and by tying these social concepts to economic principles. For example, when dispelling myths of conventional wisdom, they refrain from incendiary language implicating that those who buy into conventional wisdom are foolish or believe in conventional wisdom for stupid reasons. Rather, they lay out straightforward, uncomplicated explanations explaining why these wisdoms are false and then similarly present their alternative hypotheses. 

By avoiding the use of emotional language or insinuations about the reader, Levitt and Dubner manage to avoid the type of prose that could provoke a strong, offended reaction. 

In Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, what was unusual about Stargirl's gift giving practice?

In Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, not only does Stargirl sing to each student on his/her birthday, but she also gives out a lot of gifts. What is unusual about this, is that she does it anonymously. She checks the newspapers and bulletin boards for clues as to which people might "need" a little pick-me-up. For instance, if she sees in the paper that someone is recovering in the hospital, she might leave a little plant (sometimes plastic) on that person's doorstep, so that when the person gets home, there's something there to make him/her feel better. Stargirl is very generous of heart and wants everyone to feel loved. Most people give gifts, not just for the person given, but also to feel good about themselves. It's only natural, but Stargirl is different.

Describe how reconstruction politics play out in section VI of "The Haunted House" by George W. Cable?

Section VI demonstrates the reconstruction politics of the time clearly and unequivocally. In the section, members of the White League terrorize teachers into expelling their black students. As my colleague has already documented the important details for you, I will concentrate on the type of reconstruction politics that led to this terrible state of affairs.

After the Civil War, President Johnson continued what was called Presidential Reconstruction, which lasted from 1865 to 1867. However, unlike his predecessor, Lincoln, Johnson was pro-slavery. He allowed each of the Southern states to decide on the best course of reconstruction, and pro-slavery legislators took full advantage of this. In many cases, former Southern legislators who were pro-slavery and who fought on the side of the Confederacy were returned to power. States like Louisiana enacted what was called the Black Codes, which essentially denied freed blacks the same rights as white citizens.

This state of affairs infuriated the Radical Republicans, who wanted to ensure that freed slaves received the full rights they gained as a result of the Civil War. In 1866, the election saw two thirds of congressional seats gained by Radicals who were now able to overturn any of Johnson's presidential vetoes. After the election, Congress passed the Military Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which required any Southern state that wanted to join the Union to ratify the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution. These states had to accept the right of freed slaves to vote, to hold public office, and to become judges and members of law enforcement.

Meanwhile, pro-slavery Southerners were furious at the new developments. In New Orleans (where Section VI is set), school integration had already taken place, and this angered white supremacists who insisted that integration was anathema to social stability. So, supremacist organizations such as the White League formed in order to terrorize freed blacks as well as their white supporters.

In New Orleans, the White League was especially strong. Members participated in random and indiscriminate raids and lynchings. The main purpose of the killings was to terrorize the entire city into compliance. A major event, the Battle of Liberty Place, was fought on September 14, 1874 on the streets of New Orleans. The purpose of the battle was to wrest back control of New Orleans from the Radicals and to thwart the further integration of freed slaves into society. Read about the Battle of Liberty Place from the online encyclopedia of Louisiana.

After taking back control of New Orleans from the Radicals, the White League and members of other supremacist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan were able to set their own politicians in power. This led to a series of school riots in December of 1874, where White League members terrorized whole schools, demanded the removal of suspected black students, and vandalized buildings in New Orleans. So, the events in Section VI are realistic: black students really were forced to leave their schools under duress, and white mobs often waited for them.

Because of white supremacist organizations, the South was terrorized into completely rejecting the major tenets of Reconstruction. As my colleague states, the Southern Democrats did take over much of the South after these events. For more, please read PBS's excellent account of Reconstruction (1865-1877).

Why is it that different economic sectors are growing at different speeds?

At their core, economic sectors are just work that people do. When the work that needs done changes, economic sectors shift accordingly. One of the central benefits of a free market economy is that it allows industries to be created and destroyed as the work that needs done changes, a process called creative destruction.

Probably the biggest cause of shifts in economic sectors is technology.

As new technologies are invented, they make old technologies obsolete, and demand goes up for people who can use the new technologies and down for people who can use the old technologies.

For example: There aren't a lot of people employed as computers anymore! That used to be a profession, in case you didn't know; it was mainly done by young women, who used slide rules to perform and check calculations for statisticians and engineers. Once microchip technology allowed us to build the machine computers that were faster and more accurate (and today, millions of times faster!), people who were employed as the profession computers lost their jobs and had to do something else, while suddenly there is a huge new market for software programmers and web developers.

Technology can also radically alter productivity in a given industry, so that far less labor is needed to achieve the same output, thus reducing labor demand in that industry. Agriculture used to be basically the only job, done by about 95% of the population; but then we invented fertilizer, irrigation, industrial farming equipment, etc., so that now one farmer can produce as much as a hundred farmers did a thousand years ago. As a result, we produce more food than ever---even per person, despite a rapidly growing population---despite having only about 1% of our population engaged in farming.

Related to changes in technology and productivity, there is also a general pattern we tend to observe as a country becomes more economically developed; first, people shift out of farming into labor-intensive manufacturing, then they get into more capital-intensive manufacturing, and finally they start moving over to services, ranging from restaurants to healthcare to banking. First World countries usually have a huge service sector, typically dominated by finance and healthcare, while the poorest Third World countries are almost all agriculture and moderately-developed countries have manufacturing as their largest sector.

In the 1850s, why did Harriet Tubman feel compelled to escort her escaped slaves all the way to St. Catherines? Why, for example, didn’t she stop...

There were a few reasons why Harriet Tubman escorted her escaped slaves to St. Catharines, Ontario instead of stopping in Albany, New York. One reason was that the Fugitive Slave Law that was part of the Compromise of 1850 changed everything. Prior to the passage of this law, a slave that escaped to the North, by crossing the Mason-Dixon Line, was generally safe. The likelihood of being captured and returned to the South was very, very low. However, when the Fugitive Slave Law was passed, Northerners were required by law to help capture runaway slaves. As a result, it was no longer certain that reaching the North would ensure freedom for the runaway slaves. The only way to ensure freedom was to escape to Canada.

St. Catharines was a town in Canada that was friendly to African-Americans. There were many abolitionists who lived here. Slaves who got to St. Catharines were safe from recapture and from being returned to their owners. As a result, in order to ensure the safety of the runaway slaves, Harriet Tubman had to get the runaway slaves to Canada.

What is one character flaw Bill or Sam has in "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry?

Both Bill and Sam assume too much. First, they assume that all the people of the small town of Summit are "undeleterious." This means they assumed the people were harmless. Bill and Sam also assumed "philoprogenitiveness" (the love of one's children) is strong in small towns such as Summit. From their research on Ebenezer Dorset, Bill and Sam assume he would break down immediately and give up whatever ransom they demanded for his son (Red Chief/Johnny). This makes Sam and Bill presumptuous. They also show some arrogance in supposing that everyone from small towns behaves the same way. Their major flaw is assumptions. One might add that Bill is weak and/or has no babysitting skills. If Johnny is the terror that Sam describes, though, this is not really Bill's fault or flaw. 

Sam and Bill's assumption of the town's "philoprogenitiveness" comes back to bite them when they demand the ransom. The first ironic twist that counters their assumptions is that Johnny is too much for them to handle. Johnny has the time of his life being kidnapped. The second twist is when Johnny's father makes them a counteroffer and demands Sam and Bill pay him to take Johnny back. This counteroffer disproves the con men's notions that people in small towns are simpleminded and love their children absolutely. 

`int_0^1 sqrt(x^2 + 1) dx` Evaluate the integral

`int_0^1sqrt(x^2+1)dx`

Let's first evaluate the definite integral using the standard integral,

`intsqrt(a^2+x^2)dx=(xsqrt(a^2+x^2))/2+a^2/2ln|x+sqrt(a^2+x^2)|+C`

`intsqrt(x^2+1)dx=(xsqrt(1^2+x^2))/2+1^2/2ln|x+sqrt(1^2+x^2)|+C` 

`=(xsqrt(1+x^2))/2+1/2ln|x+sqrt(1+x^2)|+C`

Now let's evaluate the definite integral,

`int_0^1sqrt(x^2+1)dx=[(xsqrt(1+x^2))/2+1/2ln|x+sqrt(1+x^2)|]_0^1`

`=[(1sqrt(1+1))/2+1/2ln|1+sqrt(1+1)|]-[(0sqrt(1+0))/2+1/2ln|0+sqrt(1+0)|]`

`=[sqrt(2)/2+1/2ln|1+sqrt(2)|]-[0+1/2ln(1)]`

`=sqrt(2)/2+1/2ln(1+sqrt(2))`

Since `arcsinh(x)=ln(x+sqrt(x^2+1))`

`=1/2(sqrt(2)+arcsinh(1))`

How did globalization change the world in the early 1990s?

"Globalization" is a process that has been going on for a long time---there has been international trade for as long as there have been nations, and we've found coins from Ancient Rome in China.

But the process of globalization accelerated in the 1990s, largely because of the fall of the Soviet Union. During the Cold War there was resistance to globalization of capitalist markets by the United States due to the counter-pressure of globalized communism led by the Soviet Union; once communism fell apart, the US attained economic and military hegemony, and there was a lot less holding back capitalism from spreading around the world.

What does it actually mean to spread globalized capitalism? Mainly it means that more and more countries were opened up to international trade and investment; where previously tariffs and regulations had kept businesses tied to their own countries, under a globalized regime businesses are much freer to move between countries and set up production and distribution wherever they see fit. In theory this should allow them to produce goods in the most efficient places; in practice it's more complicated than that, but the general trend is still toward improved efficiency and greater economic growth, particularly in the very poorest countries.

Because globalization was led by US hegemony, the language and culture of the US have been spreading around the world. More and more people around the world are speaking English and trying to organize their societies around democracy and free markets.

The consequences of globalization have been enormous, and while it was not uniformly beneficial, the costs have clearly been outweighed by the benefits. Global poverty is now at the lowest level ever measured, as is the death rate due to warfare. These two facts alone are sufficient justification for globalization.

The more rapid shifting of products and businesses across borders may increase economic insecurity, making people's jobs and lives more precarious; but then again most people's jobs and lives were already fairly precarious, and the surge in economic growth due to globalization could actually reduce economic insecurity for most people. A more likely cause of insecurity due to globalization is financial markets, the underregulation of which has triggered a large number of financial crises around the world. The interconnected nature of global financial markets spreads the risk, so the impact on any individual country may be less but the impact on the world as a whole is greater. But this is not a reason to disconnect countries from the global financial market; it's a reason to better regulate the global financial market so that crises don't occur as often and aren't as harmful when they do.

Another potential downside of globalization is the expanded power of multinational corporations, which sometimes engage in "regulatory arbitrage", moving their business from country to country to evade regulations such as labor standards and pollution limits. We need more international cooperation among regulators to ensure this can't happen.

It's often said that globalization is "inevitable", but that isn't true. We could easily reverse the direction of globalization just by establishing a whole bunch of huge trade barriers in major economies such as the US, Europe, and China. What is true is that globalization is worth it; the upsides are much bigger than the downsides. Economists around the world of whatever political views are in almost complete agreement on this point, and we're honestly a bit baffled that most people don't seem to appreciate that.

In Elie Wiesel's Night, Juliek gives his final performance to a mass of dying people. In the morning, Elie describes Juliek's broken violin as...

In Elie’s Wiesel memoir, Night, Elie recounts a haunting scene after he and a group of other prisoners are forced to march between two camps on a cold winter’s night. Exhausted at the end of the journey, Elie is almost crushed by a mass of men trying to sleep. In the darkness he hears an impossible sound: Juliek playing his violin. In the morning, Juliek is dead, his crushed violin “an eerily poignant little corpse.”

There are many ways to interpret this visual metaphor. Like Juliek and the other men who did not survive the night, the violin will never ‘speak’ its beautiful music ever again. Also, something to note is that Juliek plays a Beethoven concerto. As Beethoven was German, this could represent the ‘death’ of what made Germany a noble country. Looking at the violin this way makes the moment extremely poignant for Elie, who after the Holocaust learned English and French so he would never have to speak German again.  

What are some positive and negative effects that Peter the Great had on Russia?

Like most historical figures, Peter the Great was a complex person. He introduced a number of positive changes into Russia. Most prominently, he sought to "Westernize" Russia by importing Enlightenment ideas and technology. For example, he organized the government bureaucracy, modernized the Russian armed forces, and afforded women some new rights (such as the ability to attend public theatrical performances).

However, not all of Peter's accomplishments for positive. Peter believed that, in order for Russia to modernize, it must adopt western European culture as well as its ideas. For example, he forced all the Russian nobles to shave their beards. Additionally, he exacted heavy taxes to finance his Westernization projects. Finally, he instituted compulsory civil service, particularly for the nobility. This meant that nobles were forced to work for the government in some capacity, even if they did not want to. While well-intentioned, most people would consider these negative attributes. 

In Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, are we meant to sympathize with the moneylender's daughter? Does Shakespeare seem ambivalent in his...

It is clear from the text that Shylock is an extremely protective father who zealously wishes to shield his daughter from outside influences. Since he is a deeply religious and devout man, one can assume that he wants to safeguard her from corruption, especially from Christians, whose celebrations and festivities he deems unacceptable. He despises Christians and wishes to have almost no contact with them except out of necessity, and he wants Jessica to share his sentiment. He had earlier told Bassanio in Act 1, scene 3:

...I
will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you,
walk with you, and so following, but I will not eat
with you, drink with you, nor pray with you.

Later, in Act 2, scene 5, just before he is about to leave for his 'enforced' dinner date with Bassanio and Antonio, he gives her very specific instructions:

Hear you me, Jessica:
Lock up my doors; and when you hear the drum
And the vile squealing of the wry-neck'd fife,
Clamber not you up to the casements then,
Nor thrust your head into the public street
To gaze on Christian fools with varnish'd faces,
But stop my house's ears, I mean my casements:
Let not the sound of shallow foppery enter
My sober house.

It is obvious that he wants her to lock herself up in the house and not even peep through a window to watch the festivities in the streets. He believes them a mere foolishness and clearly believes that the Christians' behaviour in this regard is immoral. The irony is pertinent, though. Jessica had been planning to elope with her Christian lover, Lorenzo, that very evening.

If one assesses Shylock's overall demeanour, he comes across as a hard taskmaster who gives no quarter, as is evident in his treatment of Antonio and his attitude towards his servant, Launcelot. Since he is also a single parent, one would expect that he would be much harsher with his daughter.

Later, when Shylock discovers that she had eloped, it becomes clear where his real sympathies lie. He curses and damns his daughter, stating that he would rather see her dead than sacrifice his precious possessions. He is quite vocal about this and states, in Act 3, scene 1:

I would my daughter
were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear!
would she were hearsed at my foot, and the ducats in
her coffin!

He expresses greater concern for his prized jewels than he does for his daughter so, obviously, one can sympathize with her. If her father thinks so little of his only child, why should she be loyal to him? He expresses no grief or remorse but has only malice for his own flesh and blood. He even wishes later that she had rather married a descendant of Barabbas, the thief who the Jews chose above Christ to be freed from crucifixion, instead of a Christian. He despises her for her betrayal and there is no forgiveness or sympathy in his cold heart.

Shakespeare portrays Jessica as a prodigal. She spends the money that she stole from her father freely and does not seem to care about its value or the sentiment attached to it. This seems irresponsible and vengeful. It appears that Jessica has an issue with her father and wants to punish him for perhaps having been too strict and limiting her freedom. She has, however, within these circumstances, managed to meet Lorenzo and fallen in love with him. In this sense then, Shylock must have given her some liberties that she, perhaps, exploited.

The question arises, though, knowing her father's sentiments, was it really necessary for her to betray him to such an extent? She rejected her faith and her father. The impression is created that, somehow, her hand was forced and she obviosly had no choice but follow this route to escape her father's overzealous control. In this regard, she did something good in attaining her freedom and exercising her choice.

The ambivalence which you speak of arises when one has to make a final assessment of her character. Are her actions motivated by revenge? If so, she is not much different from her father. Does she want to teach him a lesson? Once again, that is precisely Shylock's purpose with Antonio.

Jessica is otherwise painted as a loving and caring individual who truly has real affection for Lorenzo. This is contrasted with the fact that she despises her father. One has to decide which of the two aspects of her character truly defines her. In the end, one has to choose her better nature since the other is borne not out of choice, but of circumstance.  

How does Kipling depict the native populations of colonized areas in "The White Man's Burden"?

In "The White Man's Burden," Kipling depicts the native population in a uniformly negative way. In the first stanza, for example, Kipling suggests that these people are "half devil and half child," which emphasizes their cultural inferiority and religious differences. This is also reinforced in the final stanza when Kipling calls them "heathen."

In the next stanza, Kipling switches his focus and looks at the personal characteristics of the colonized people. They are excessively proud ("to check the show of pride") and have a propensity to violence ("to veil the threat of terror"). In addition, Kipling says that the colonized people are less intelligent than the imperialists through his suggestion that they need "open" and "simple" speech in order to understand.

Finally, Kipling stereotypes colonized people as being disease-ridden and suffering from famine:

Fill full the mouth of famine

And bid the sickness cease.

In other words, the colonized people need imperialism to save them from this life of suffering and sin. 

What attacks Brian as he stands in the lake? Why does it attack him?

As Brian stands in the lake, a moose rushes him and throws him out into the water. The moose then charges a second time and pushes Brian down into the bottom of the lake.

When Brian is able to resurface, he sees the moose calming chewing on a lily pad root not ten feet away from him. The female moose ignores Brian as long as he is not moving from his position. However, she soon becomes agitated when she sees Brian attempt to emerge from the lake water.

The moose charges Brian again, and this time, she pushes him down into the water with her head and hooves, badly injuring Brian in the process. It is at this point that Brian realizes the moose feels intimidated and vulnerable in his presence. The moose's antagonistic stance is a reaction to what she sees as a perceived threat. When Brian realizes this, he refrains from making sudden movements; instead, he slowly inches his way out of the water and crawls to some nearby brush. Eventually, the moose makes her way out of the deeper water and walks away along the shallow shore line.

Why should freedom be sacrificed in the name of national security?

This subject is one that has been debated often throughout our history. During times of crisis, Americans have seemed willing to accept restrictions on their freedom in order to promote a feeling of security or to help our country during times of war.

There are many examples where people’s freedoms were reduced or eliminated for a period of time. In the 1860s, Abraham Lincoln arrested legislators in Maryland who were going to vote for secession. This is one reason why Maryland, a slave state, remained in the Union. During World War I, the Alien Act and the Sedition Act were passed. These laws restricted what people could say and what they could do. This was done to help facilitate the war effort. We didn’t want our enemies thinking our people didn’t support the war. In World War II, Japanese-Americans were forced to move to relocation camps because they were perceived as a threat. During World War II, people also accepted the rationing system that was established. This limited what products could be bought and how many of certain products could be bought.

As we fight terrorism, some of our freedoms have been reduced. We go through screening at airports. Our luggage is examined and may be searched. People are being placed on watch lists or “do not fly” lists because of concerns about acts of terror. The government’s surveillance powers increased with the passage of the Patriot Act.

In each of these cases, rightly or wrong, most Americans have accepted the restrictions on their freedom in order to promote our fight in a war or to promote our safety. Not everybody has agreed these actions have been good for the country because it could set a precedent for additional restrictions or for future restrictions. For many Americans, the positive effects have outweighed the negative effects and most people have accepted the restrictions.

I need help writing a critical appreciation of the poem "My Last Duchess".

A critical appreciation focuses on the literary qualities of the poem rather than simply being a summary.

Your introduction might mention that the poem was written by Robert Browning and first published in 1842. It is an historical poem, being set in Renaissance Italy rather than England of the Victorian era.

Next, you might discuss meter. The poem consists of 28 heroic couplets meaning that the lines are written in iambic pentameter and have the rhyme scheme AABBCC, etc. It has no stanza breaks. Browning's frequent use of enjambment, in which syntactical breaks do not coincide with line breaks but rather sentences run unbroken from one line to the next, make the poem flow in almost a pattern of ordinary speech, unlike, say, the work of Alexander Pope in which the lines are end-stopped and rhymes emphasized often for humorous effect. 

The genre of the poem is a dramatic monologue, in which we overhear the speaker talking to a messenger. As the speaker talks, he reveals elements of his character which gradually undermine his credibility, revealing himself as selfish, cruel, jealous, paranoid, and perhaps a murderer. 

A theme this poem has in common with many others by Browning is that of the "collector", a character who is obsessed with collecting, owning, and possessing, and who treats people as possessions. 

What are 15 rules in the book The Giver?

The community that Jonas lives in with his family has many rules.  The purpose of these rules is to maintain order and particular standards.  The people in the community are controlled by the many rules.  The following are some of those rules:

-  "Two children--one male, one female--to each family unit.  It was written very clearly in the rules" (The Giver, Chapter 1).

-  Children are not permitted to ride on bicycles until they become Nines (though this rule is usually broken).

-  Comfort objects must be surrendered when a child becomes an Eight.

-  Food is supposed to be consumed daily and not hoarded for future use.

-  Things cannot be removed from certain areas.  For example, nothing must be removed from areas of recreation.

-  One should not look at a child or adult while they are naked.

-  Medication must be taken to prevent the Stirrings.

-  Planes are not permitted to fly above the community.

-  No lying is permitted.

-  Bragging is not permitted.

-  No one may leave the community without permission.

-  Precision of language is a required skill.

-  Doors are not allowed to be locked.

-  Elevens are required to complete volunteer hours.

-  People who repeatedly break the rules in the community must be released.

What is the allusion to a cockatrice in Romeo and Juliet?

The cockatrice was a legendary monster with the body of a serpent and the head, wings and legs of a cock. The allusion to a cockatrice by Juliet occurs in Act III, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet. The Nurse's behavior and speech have led Juliet to believe at first that Romeo is dead. Juliet asks:

Hath Romeo slain himself? Say thou but ‘Ay,’
And that bare vowel ‘Ay’ shall poison more
Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice.

In medieval times the mythical cocatrice was supposed to have the power to kill with a glance of its eye or a touch from its loathsome body. The Nurse is so distraught that she is inarticulate. She says more ambiguous words that increase Juliet's fears for Romeo. The Nurse is not only concerned about the death of Tybalt but about the consequences for Romeo and for her Juliet. She tells Juliet that Romeo has been banished because of his violation of the Prince's ultimatum against fighting in the streets. This interchange between Juliet and the Nurse is both sad and comical, because the audience knows exactly what happened but the Nurse cannot find the words to convey the facts and Juliet gets them all garbled in transmission.

How would you describe the two roads the traveler finds in "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost?

This deceptively simple poem, "The Road Not Taken," has been subject to many different interpretations. The poem is narrated by a traveler who is walking in the woods. He encounters a fork in the road, and, realizing he cannot go down both paths at once, must choose to walk down one of the two roads. He regrets not being able to experience both paths and stands there for a while trying to decide between them. Peering down the first path, he cannot tell where it leads. 

And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

The traveler decides to take the second path, a path he describes initially as just as attractive and possibly even better than the first because fewer people have used it.

Then took the other, as just as fair, 
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

The traveler then changes his initial statement, however, and admits the two paths are just about the same. 

Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.

The traveler may have known the paths were the same initially, or perhaps he only sees this retrospectively. He takes the second path and regrets that he probably will never return to take the first path. 

Oh, I kept the first for another day! 
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

Here, Frost reflects on the continuity of our choices, and how they can lead us to places where we can no longer access the set of choices we once had.

The traveler in the poem projects a vision of himself telling this story long after it happened. He sees himself telling others he took the path fewer people used and that choice made a huge difference for him, even though the two roads were in reality effectively the same. 

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.

Some see these two roads as Frost's way of encouraging nonconformity and bold choices, but others see the metaphor of the two roads completely differently. From the opposing perspective, the traveler did not really choose the road "less traveled by," since both roads appeared equally traveled upon that day. He only presents his choice of the second road as picking the one "less traveled by" later on when he tells this story to others.

The poem does not tell us whether the traveler was happy with his choice of the second road, only that the choice was very significant. The traveler tells this story with a sigh, which seems to indicate he still has a measure of regret over some aspect of his choice between the two roads.

In Gathering Blue, how would you describe the society's physical appearance and design?

To picture the setting in Gathering Blue, one might imagine a melding of twentieth-century American suburbia with seventeenth-century Native American wattle-and-daub construction (see link). Since the story is a post-apocalyptic tale, its setting is in a village that has been rebuilt after a "Ruin" that has left only one building from before the cataclysm standing. That building is a large brick church with stained-glass windows and a tower bell. In the area that would formerly have been built up with suburban homes, the land was cleared, and in the clearing people built "cotts" with easily obtained materials, such as tree branches and mud. These were built within easy walking distance of the Edifice (church). Rather than manicured lawns, small garden patches accompanied each cott. An open-air marketplace allowed villagers to trade with each other informally. 

Beyond this area, considered the village, were several other areas that were also part of the larger community. A river ran close by the cotts, and people went there daily for water, clothes washing, and bathing. On the outskirts of the village was a poorer part of the town where the huts were closer together. Across the stream from that area was the Fen, a place of squalor equivalent to a modern-day slum. The cotts there were in disrepair, and the residents did not attend to the cleanliness of their homes or bodies to the same degree as in the main village. The river there was filthy, probably flowing with human waste and refuse.

A thick forest abutted the village, and citizens seldom went there, except when the men went on hunts for meat. Legends of beasts kept most residents within the confines of the village or Fen, but Annabella lived by herself in the forest, and perhaps others did, as well, although the story doesn't mention them. At a fair walking distance from the village was the Field of Leaving, a vacant, treeless plain where the community left their dead. 

Author Lois Lowry imagined a post-apocalyptic society that returned to the lifestyle of the Native Americans while retaining a bit of architecture and technology from the modern era.

In "Raymond's Run," is Squeaky a dynamic or static character? Why?

Squeaky is a dynamic, or changing, character because she matures through the course of the story "Raymond's Run." At the beginning of the story, she is relentlessly competitive and mainly thinks about winning. She walks down 34th Street like a pony to strengthen her knees, and she likes to brag in front of other people that she will win races. Squeaky does not get along with girls like Gretchen, who is also a runner, and she forces herself to smile at Gretchen when they are competing in a race together (but it is a fake smile).

While running in the May Day race, Squeaky begins to change. She suddenly realizes she has won enough races and she should now turn her energies to coaching her brother, Raymond, who is developmentally disabled, to run. At the end of the race, Squeaky smiles at Gretchen, as Squeaky comes to regard the other girl with respect rather than with wariness or a competitive spirit. By the end of the story, Squeaky is more interested in helping and respecting others than competing against them.

`cosh(x) + cosh(y) = 2cosh((x+y)/2)cosh((x-y)/2)` Verify the identity.

`cosh(x) + cosh(y) = 2cosh((x+y)/2)cosh((x-y)/2)`

proof:

Taking RHS , let us solve the proof

 RHS=>`2cosh((x+y)/2)cosh((x-y)/2)`

=`2(((e^((x+y)/2)+e^(-(x+y)/2))/2)* ((e^((x-y)/2)+e^(-(x-y)/2))/2))`

its like 2((A+B)*(C+D))=2(AC+AD+BC+BD)

on multilication

=`2[[(e^((x+y)/2)*(e^((x-y)/2)]+[(e^((x+y)/2)*(e^(-(x-y)/2)]+[(e^(-(x+y)/2)*(e^((x-y)/2)]+[(e^(-(x+y)/2)*(e^(-(x-y)/2)]]/4`

`=[[(e^((x+y)/2)*(e^((x-y)/2)))]+[(e^((x+y)/2)*(e^(-(x-y)/2))]+[(e^(-(x+y)/2)*(e^((x-y)/2))]+[(e^(-(x+y)/2)*(e^(-(x-y)/2))]]/2`

`As (e^((x+y)/2)*(e^((x-y)/2))) = e^((2x+y-y)/2)=e^x`

similarly

`(e^((x+y)/2)*(e^(-(x-y)/2)))=e^y`

`(e^(-(x+y)/2)*(e^((x-y)/2)))=e^-y`

`(e^(-(x+y)/2)*(e^(-(x-y)/2)))=e^-x`

so,

`[[(e^((x+y)/2)*(e^((x-y)/2))]+[(e^((x+y)/2)*(e^(-(x-y)/2)]+[(e^(-(x+y)/2)*(e^((x-y)/2)]+[(e^(-(x+y)/2)*(e^(-(x-y)/2)]]/2`

=`(e^x+e^y+e^-y+e^-x)/2`

=`(e^x+e^(-x)+e^y+e^(-y))/2`

= `(e^x+e^(-x))/2 +(e^y+e^(-y))/2`

= `cosh(x) + cosh(y)`

And so , LHS=RHS

so ,

`cosh(x) + cosh(y) = 2cosh((x+y)/2)cosh((x-y)/2)`

What are four character traits describing Ponyboy at the end of the book The Outsiders?

At the end of the book, Pony is grieving over Johnny’s death, but he is more self-assured because he has found a purpose.  Therefore, he becomes studious, forward-thinking and grown-up. 

While it may not be true that Pony has figured out his entire life by the end of the book, the book’s events have been a real coming of age experience for him.  Pony is still grieving for Johnny’s death, but at the same time he is looking forward.  Johnny told him to stay gold.  Pony slowly figures out what that means. 

Pony is coming to terms with his reputation as a hero.  When his teacher suggests that he focus on his education and gives him a chance to raise his grade by writing about something important to him, Pony writes about his recent experience with Johnny, the Socs, and the church fire. 

Soda’s candid conversation with Pony about why each greaser is where he is helps demonstrate Pony’s realization about his future. 

Ponyboy, I'm telling you the truth. I dropped out because I'm dumb. I really did try in school, but you saw my grades. Look, I'm happy working in a gas station with cars. You'd never be happy doing something like that. (Ch. 12) 

Pony is just different.  He is made for better things. He has the intelligence, the sensitivity, and the desire to make something of himself that will allow him to move beyond being a greaser.  The other greasers do not hold this against him.  They want him to move on to better things. 

Pony’s forward-thinking nature begins when he accepts Johnny’s death and why Johnny wanted him to stay gold.  He is still in pain, but he is able to move on and focus on his studies. 

Remembering--- and this time it didn't hurt--- a quiet, defeated-looking sixteen-year-old whose hair needed cutting badly and who had black eyes with a frightened expression to them. One week had taken all three of them. And I decided I could tell people, beginning with my English teacher. (Ch. 12) 

The reader realizes that the story we have told is the one Pony wrote for his teacher.  It demonstrates his commitment to making something of his life without forgetting where he came from, and the people who matter and mattered to him.  Pony is growing up.

In Diane Ackerman's The Zookeeper's Wife, why does the author use specific numbers or statistics?

In writing a nonfiction book, the underlying theme of which is the deliberate extermination of an entire people by the most technologically-sophisticated nation on Earth, there is a tendency among authors to be as precise as possible. The scale of death and destruction associated with World War II is almost unimaginable today, but that war was real, and those deaths did occur. Diane Ackerman's The Zookeeper's Wife, as with Thomas Keneally's fictionalized story about Oskar Schindler, the real-life German businessman who used subterfuge and no small amount of personal courage to rescue Jews from the Nazi concentration camps, presents a microcosm of a much larger event. The story of Jan and Antonina Zabinski's efforts to save a few hundred Jews from the Germans might seem insignificant when weighed against the six million Jews who perished, but it is the Zabinskis' courage and heroism that Ackerman sought to illuminate for English-speaking readers. Additionally, the fact that the setting of Ackerman's book is a zoo cannot help but create a somewhat surrealistic atmosphere. In order to emphasize the brutality and the reality of the true events she describes, therefore, Ackerman injects into her narrative a great deal of detail. Read, for example, the following three excerpts from The Zookeeper's Wife:

"Every bomb creates a different scent, depending upon where it hits, what it boils into aerosol and the nose detects slipping apart, as molecules mix with air and float free. . .Charred flesh and pine meant an incendiary bomb that blasted houses with a hot, fast fire, and that the people inside had died quickly."

..

Poland's "outnumbered, obsolete PZL P.11 fighters posed no match for Germany's fast, swervy Junkers JU-87 Stukas."

..

"Nazi bombers attacked Warsaw in 1150 sorties . . ."

The precision with which Ackerman relates the real-life story of Jan and Antonina Zabinski is demonstrated by the author's use of detail, whether in the physical descriptions she provides or in the use of numbers and statistics to inform the reader. We don't really need to know the precise number of German Luftwaffe sorties flown against Warsaw, but the use of the precise number adds to the author's credibility--no small thing in a nonfiction book--while ensuring that the reader is provided the requisite information with which to compare the scale of destruction and the imbalance of power between Germany and Poland. Authors of nonfiction history books (the late Tony Judt's Postwar comes to mind) use such levels of detail to emphasize the enormity of the events being described. Especially with respect to World War II and the Holocaust, the numbers are so vast, so overwhelming, that it can be difficult to visualize the extent of the suffering and destruction to towns and cities. The use of actual statistics, then, lends credibility to the author's work, provides important data that emphasizes the points the author is attempting to make, and enables the reader to better visualize the enormity of the suffering that occurred at the hands of Nazi Germany. 

The four alcohols, ethanol, butan-1-ol, butan-2-ol and 2-methylpropan-2-ol, are added to test tubes and reacted with acidified potassium...

These alcohols can be classified according to the carbon they are attached to:

• ethanol and butan-1-ol are primary alcohols


• butan-2-ol is a secondary alcohol


• 2-methylpropan-2-ol is a tertiary alcohol

Given that we have primary, secondary and tertiary substituents, and because hydroxides are a terrible leaving group, we can assume that we're going to see a variety of reactions (probably not Sn2 though) and that the hydroxide has a good chance of being oxidized by the chromate ion, losing its hydrogen atom and then undergoing further stabilizations. Reduction of the chromate would be indicated by a color change from orange to green for primary and secondary alcohols. 

• The ethanol, butan-1-ol and butan-2-ol would be oxidized, forming a carbocation and negatively charged oxygen, which would then stabilize into a carbon-oxygen double bond. Due to having an extra hydrogen on the carbocation, the ethanol and butan-1-ol could be further oxidized into carboxylic acids. All three solutions would show the expected color change from orange to green.


• There would be no reaction for 2-methylpropan-2-ol. The oxidation from the chromate ion depends on having two hydrogens on lesser-substituted carbons, but none exist in this molecule. It's possible that the hydroxide would be protonated by the acid, but this wouldn't produce much of a response from the chromate, and there would be no color change even if a reaction did take place.

How can I analyze the character Patrick in Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter" using the PIES model?

The short story "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl begins with a description of a seemingly happy marriage.  Mary Maloney sits alone in her living room eagerly waiting for her husband to come home.  Mary's marital bliss is made clear by Dahl's description of her anticipation: "Now and again she would glance up at the clock, but without anxiety; merely to please herself with the thought that each minute gone by made it nearer to the time when he could come."  Based on Mary's unwavering devotion, the reader comes to expect a loving demi-god of a husband to walk through the front door.  

However, when Patrick does finally arrive, he does not quite live up to these expectations.  He sits down, takes the drink his wife made him without a word, and finishes it in one big gulp.  When his wife desperately tries to lighten the mood by offering to get him another drink or dinner or even his slippers, he snaps at her with short replies of ("no," "sit down," and "I don't want it"). When he finally does speak, his words are cruel and harsh.  His wife is six months pregnant, but he appears to be leaving her.  There is no apology or kindness in his tone, but rather a cold briskness: "I know it's kind of a bad time to be telling you, but there simply wasn't any other way.  Of course I'll give you money and see you're looked after.  But there needn't really be any fuss.  I hope not anyway.  It wouldn't be very good for my job."  Mary, in shock, goes to continue making dinner.  Patrick responds by yelling, "For God's sake...Don't make supper for me.  I'm going out."  

It is clear from his delivery of this news that all he can think about is himself.  He downs his drink as if he is the one about to receive terrible news.  He insists that she leave quietly to avoid any embarrassment for him at work.  He is also "going out" immediately after delivering this news, leaving her to grapple with this alone after waiting all day for him to come home.  She is completely devoted to him, and he responds with callousness and self-indulgence.  With these descriptions of Patrick's actions and words, Dahl ensures that the reader will not be too aghast when Mary whacks him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb.  

Does the quote "a plague on both your houses" have any significance in the play of Romeo and Juliet?

Mercutio utters this line -- "A plague o' both your houses!" -- after he has been killed by Tybalt.  Tybalt came looking for Romeo in order to challenge him to a fight because he was offended by Romeo's presence at the Capulets' big party the night before.  When Tybalt eventually finds Romeo, Romeo has just come from marrying Juliet -- Tybalt's cousin -- and so Romeo refuses to fight this man who he is now related to, by marriage.  Mercutio, not knowing this, interprets Romeo's refusal to fight as a "dishonorable, vile submission" (3.1.72), and he fights Tybalt on Romeo's behalf.  Romeo comes between them in a well-meaning but ill-advised attempt to stop the fight and promote peace, and Tybalt is able to stab Mercutio under Romeo's arm.  For several reasons, then, Mercutio feels that his death is actually the fault of both Romeo and Tybalt: as he lays dying, he curses both "houses," or families, for their roles in his death.  He curses each family to have some tragedy, and, obviously, both families do experience tragedy when their children -- Romeo and Juliet -- kill themselves rather than live without one another.

In Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, why do Atticus and his children get such different reactions from Mrs. Dubose?

Atticus understands the generation from which Mrs. Dubose has come, and he also understands her underlying problem, whereas the children do not. Cleary, Mrs. Dubose does not approve of some of the things the children do and say, as well as their appearances, especially Scout's.

When the children pass by her house, Mrs. Dubose often sits in her wheelchair on her porch. Scout may say, "Hey, Mrs. Dubose." However, Mrs. Dubose does not return the greeting. Instead, she criticizes both her looks and her speech:

"Don't you say hey to me, you ugly girl! You say good afternoon, Mrs. Dubose!" (Ch.11)

When Jem refered to their father as Atticus, "her reaction was apoplectic." She considers Jem and Scout as "the sassiest, most disrespectful mutts who ever passed her way." And, like many "cranky, old people," Mrs. Dubose is suspicious of what Jem and Scout are doing. One Saturday she asks them what they are doing, all the while thinking the worst of them, and believing that the children are impudent.

But, when Atticus walks with the children and they approach Mrs. Dubose's house, Atticus takes his hat off with a grand gesture, and he waves "gallantly."

"Good evening, Mrs. Dubose! You look like a picture this evening." (Ch.11)

Then he replaces his hat and extends wishes that she will have a good day on the following day. It is at this point that Scout believes her father to be the "bravest man on earth."

How important is the technical description in Chapter 7 of Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein?

Starship Troopers was clearly influential in leading to actual military research on the subject of power armor. Heinlein's detailed technical descriptions were sensible enough in terms of real engineering that they formed the basis of actual attempts to create the technology. DARPA tried (and failed) to prototype a power armor system in the 1970s, and has been working on a power armor exoskeleton (more successfully, we think?) since 2000---and clearly got many of the ideas for it from Starship Troopers. The book has had a large influence on military strategy and culture as well.

In terms of science fiction, suggestions of things like power armor have been around since at least the 1930s, but Starship Troopers was the novel that most clearly codified the concept as we know it now.

It also appears to have been a major influence in the popularity of mecha (which are sort of power armor taken to its logical extreme) starting around the 1970s, particularly with Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979.

In 1984, a SF novel called simply Armor was published as a direct response to Starship Troopers, making essentially the entire novel about the experiences of soldiers in combat with power armor. Shortly after that came Warhammer 40K, which made an entire tabletop war game around an army of warriors with power armor. Their vision of power armor is essentially the modern one (that we continue to see in Starcraft and Halo, for example), and it is quite closely based on Heinlein's concept.

An elevator has to be designed for accidents. If it must withstand drops from a height of 48 m, what should be the tensile strength of the string...

A cable that is pulling an elevator should be able to withstand the maximum force that is exerted on it when the elevator is filled to its full capacity and its mass is at the maximum.

From the details provided in the problem, the maximum mass of the elevator can be 1080 kg. The cable supporting the elevator should be able to withstand the force exerted by this mass. This force is a constant; its value does not go up in the case of an accident. When the elevator is at its highest point, the force that is being exerted on the cable is equal to 1080*9.8 = 10584 N. This force remains the same irrespective of the height of the elevator.

The tensile strength of a material is given in terms of Pa, or force per unit area. For the same material a thicker cable can withstand a larger force without breaking. To determine the required tensile strength of the cable supporting the elevator, the diameter of the cable is required. A thinner cable would need a material with a higher tensile strength and vice versa.

What happens to Charlie's car in That Was Then, This Is Now?

In Chapter 3, Charlie allows Bryon to borrow his car to take Cathy Carlson to the school dance. After Mark ends up getting hit in the head with a bottle during a fight, Bryon rides with him to the hospital and leaves his car at the school. Right before Bryon calls a taxi for a ride home, Ponyboy arrives with Cathy at the hospital in Charlie's car. When Bryon asks Pony how he started the car without a key, Ponyboy tells him that he hot-wired it. At the beginning of Chapter 4, Bryon returns Charlie's car and explains what happened to him. Bryon mentions that Charlie wasn't interested in what he had to say because he just received a draft notice. Later on in the novel, Charlie dies in a gunfight, and the police give Bryon his car. Bryon mentions that he took the car because Charlie would have given it to them. 

In Ayn Rand's Anthem, what are some examples of imagery that appeal to our senses of taste and smell?

We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us. And we thought suddenly that there was a great satisfaction to be found in the food which we need and obtain by our own hand. And we wished to be hungry again and soon, that we might know again this strange new pride in eating (from part Eight: It has been a day of wonder, this, our first day in the forest).

The above is an example of gustatory (taste) imagery. Here, Equality 7-2521 kills a bird, cooks it himself, and eats it. It's his first kill in the forbidden forest, and he finds that he enjoys this transcending experience of autonomy and independence. The food tastes better than anything he's been forced to eat for most of his life. The imagery illustrates Equality 7-2521's wonder and delight in being able to savor the taste of roasted bird meat.

 We feel it also, when we are in the Home of the Street Sweepers. But here, in our tunnel, we feel it no longer. The air is pure under the ground. There is no odor of men. And these three hours give us strength for our hours above the ground (from Part Two: Liberty Five-Three Thousand).

The above is an example of olfactory (smell) imagery. Here, Equality 7-2521 revels in being alone in the tunnel he has discovered. The air is clean in the tunnel, and he tells us that, in his opinion, "there is no odor of men" to mar the immaculate purity of the place. The imagery illustrates how special this tunnel is to Equality 7-2521; it smells clean and is a cocoon of peace to him.

Why does Bill ask Sam if they can lower the ransom demand in "The Ransom of Red Chief"?

Bill wants to lower the ransom amount because Red Chief, the boy who Bill and Sam have kidnapped, is terrorizing them, particularly Bill. Red Chief continually lets out blood-curdling war cries, and he also threatens to scalp Bill by sitting on his chest and holding a knife to his head. Later, the boy drops a hot potato down Bill's back and smashes it with his foot. Red Chief threatens to hit Bill with a rock, and then tosses a rock that hits Bill behind the ear. As a result, Bill falls into the campfire. Red Chief seems in no hurry whatsoever to get home, as he's having a grand time camping out with Bill and Sam. While Sam wants to ask for a $2,000 ransom, Bill begs him to lower the ransom to $1,500, as Bill doubts Red Chief's parents will want to pay the higher price to get their rowdy and troublesome son back.

In "The Nightingale and the Rose," how does the student come to realise the reality of love through the support of the Nightingale?

Tragically, the student does not realise that the Nightingale sacrificed her life so that he could have a red rose. In fact, he has no idea about this sacrifice because he could not understand the words of her song. Instead, it is through the red rose (the symbol of her sacrifice) that the student learns an important lesson about the reality of love. Specifically, he learns that love can be shallow and empty because the girl quickly changes her mind about the red rose. At the beginning, for example, she tells the student that she will dance with him if he brings her a red rose. By the end of the story, however, she no longer wants one, as she explains:

"I am afraid it will not go with my dress," she answered, "and, besides, the Chamberlain's nephew has sent me some real jewels."

In the eyes of the student, the girl now appears "ungrateful" and he realises that love is a "silly thing." He could never have reached this conclusion without the Nightingale's support because it was she who brought him the rose. 

When does Lady Macbeth use flattery on Macbeth whilst persuading him to kill Duncan in Act 1, Scene 7?

In this particular scene, Lady Macbeth uses a great deal more insult that she does flattery to sway her husband.  However, after calling him a coward and saying that he's not really acting "like a man" at this point -- now that he's ambivalent about committing the murder of Duncan -- she does say, "When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man.  Nor time nor place / Did then adhere, and yet you would make both" (1.7.56-59).  In other words, she says that the decision Macbeth had made earlier, to kill the king, was a really manly decision, and he will be even more manly if he goes through with that decision now.  At the time, when he'd initially conceived of the plot to murder Duncan, nothing was ready -- it wasn't the time or the place -- and yet he still thought of and determined to enact this plan.  She seems to admire this and think it courageous and masculine.

Further, Lady Macbeth claims that if Macbeth can just pluck up the courage to move forward, there is no way that they will fail to succeed.  She says, "screw your courage to the sticking place / And we'll not fail" (1.7.70-71).  She makes it sound as though the whole plan hinges on him: if he can muster his courage then there is no possible way for things to go wrong.  This is relatively complimentary.

Was the emperor Constantine part of the Western Empire or the Eastern Empire?

Constantine was, in fact, among the first rulers of the Byzantine (East Roman) Empire, which is also known as the Byzantine Empire. The name "Byzantine" is a historical term and not one used in the time of Constantine, as during the time both "sides" thought of themselves as the Roman Empire. In 308 AD, the Roman Empire was split between the "Greek" East and "Latin" West--Constantine was appointed in the East. Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire, also sometimes referred to as the East Roman Empire. It was founded by Constantine in 330 AD to centralize the empire. He was also the first Roman Emperor to popularize Christianity and to declare the Christian faith as the official faith of the Empire. 

However, a few chief differences separated Constantine's East Roman Empire (the Byzantines) from the Western Roman Empire. The biggest is that the Byzantines spoke Greek and had Greek stylings. In fact, the Eastern Roman Empire was sometimes referred to as "Imperium Graeocorum" ("Empire of the Greeks") by those in the west, whereas the Byzantines referred to themselves as Romans. 

What right did the Supreme Court claim in Marbury v. Madison?

Marbury v. Madison was heard by the Supreme Court in 1803. At this time, the Constitution was still young, enacted only 14 years earlier. The full powers of the Supreme Court were still being worked out in practice.

This case involved a dispute that called the range of the Court's authority into question. After hearing Marbury's case, in which he correctly claimed he was illegally denied his rightful position as a justice of the peace, the court found it did not have the power to force James Madison to deliver his commission—which would make Marbury a judge—even though Marbury was legally in the right.

In making its determination, the Court had to look at the Judiciary Act of 1789, which Marbury claimed gave the Court the power to compel Madison. The Court found the Judiciary Act violated the Constitution because it assigned the Court powers not stipulated in the Constitution.

This established the concept of judicial review—the power of the Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional if they conflict with the Constitution. Judicial review has been an accepted function of the Supreme Court ever since.

The word “ring-giver” is an example of a kenning. What are some other examples of kennings in Beowulf?

Kennings are compound metaphors common in literature derived from Old Norse linguistic traditions. Functionally they appear may appear frivolous or unnecessarily abstract, but are intended to provide imagery and dexterity to the poet in order to avoid repeating words or to improve the narrative creativity of the work. "Ring-giver" is intended to emphasize the role of a king or leader as a benefactor and source of reward for good service, rings (or torcs, a type of collar or necklace) being a form of jewelry that often conferred status.

Kennings are found throughout "Beowulf" and comprise a significant portion of the text, both in narrative illustration and word count. "Ring-giver" is found on line 1102, and others in this portion of the text include "hate-bites" on 1122, referring to wounds, and "battle-light" on 1142, referring to a sword. 

How is the conflict in the book Wintergirls resolved?

Wintergirls is a young-adult fiction novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson about best friends Lia and Cassie. The two girls have been friends for years, through thick and thin. In a cruel twist of fate, both girls have developed eating disorders. The story jumps back and forth between the present and memories of the time Lia and Cassie spent together as Lia tries to make sense of her best friend's death. Cassie struggled with bulimia nervosa and was found dead in a motel room after a binge-purge episode that caused her stomach to essentially tear open. In the days leading up to her death, Cassie had tried reaching Lia by phone several times, but Lia did not pick up. Lia feels intense guilt because she feels she might have been able to prevent her friend's death, but would it have been worth risking her own safety?

In order to reconcile her guilt and try to make sense of Cassie's death, Lia tries to follow in the steps she took over the last few days of her life. Lia tracks down the motel Cassie died in and visits the room, even trying to sleep there. Lia has been haunted--both literally and figuratively--by Cassie's ghost and her own troubles with self-harm. In the motel room where Cassie died, Lia takes a handful of sleeping pills and goes to sleep. When she wakes up in the hospital, Lia realizes that she wants to live, despite her failing to be there for Cassie and in spite of the sorrow they shared. By retracing Cassie's steps and having her own near brush with death, Lia is able to move on from her trauma. 

Please explain "tragic sense" in relation to Moby Dick.

If one uses "tragic" and "Moby Dick" in the same sentence then he should be talking about Ahab. Ahab first appears to speak to his crew, he reveals their true and only goal, hunting Moby Dick. Many of the crew members have heard of Moby Dick and know how dangerous he is. Starbuck tells Ahab that how foolish it is to chase after Moby Dick. However Ahab does not listen to him at all and insists that they will go forward with their hunt of the great white whale. Although Starbuck is below Ahab in terms of authority, he is giving some great and logical advice. It is probably his revenge which drives him to pay back the whale for eating his leg. Others say it is his inability to forgive, which also can be seen in his interactions with other crew members. In fact knowing the result of the story, it makes all the sense in the world. Just like a commander telling his soldiers to go and die. But not like Atatürk ordering soldiers to “not to fight but die”, this is different. Ahab leading himself and his crew to death, blindly.

We learn later in the story that Ahab was struck by lighting, which explains his scar. We also knew that Moby Dick had eaten his leg before. This makes twice that Ahab has been severely injured by things formed in nature. Most people may choose to not ever come close to these things again, but his response is again defiance against sense and in this case against nature. We see later that a big storm comes, and instead of trying to move the ship or get away he decides to go right ahead through the storm. Here he is basically saying that he does not care what nature is telling him or what it has done to him before.

Ahab does not only challenge the nature but also authority of God. He told his crew that whoever catches the whale will receive a gold. Then he nails this gold up onto the post, mocking the crucifixion of Jesus. We can also consider the sermon in the beginning of the story. Jonah disobeyed God and so was swallowed by a whale as punishment. Ahab continued to challenge God and his practices and he paid it in a tragically similar way to Jonah.

Defiance is captain Ahab's most consistent flaw and also a major theme of the story. It is his cause for going against the whale, and in turn going against nature and God. Maybe he should have read the bible and realized, you can never win against a whale.

Would an Elizabethan audience have believed Macbeth was fated to murder King Duncan because of the witches' prophecy?

Actually, Shakespeare's audience would not have liked the idea that fate is ultimately in control of one's destiny. Unlike the ancient Greek audience, who would have been much more comfortable with the idea of fate, Elizabethan audiences wanted to think of themselves as being in control of their lives. If one's choices are sealed by fate, then one cannot actually make any decisions other than the ones fate already determined; the individual really has no control over anything in his or her life. He or she is simply the pawn of fate, subject to whatever has already been predetermined.  Shakespeare's audience very much wanted to believe their choices had meaning and impact in their lives, that they were ultimately in control of their decisions and were not influenced by some uncontrollable, unknowable force. Thus, they would not have wanted to believe Macbeth had to kill Duncan; they would have preferred to believe that Macbeth simply made his own terrible decision.

How does Fiona from The Giver fit into a utopian society, a dystopian society, and our society?

Fiona is Jonas’s friend. By all accounts she has a big heart and is conscientious and intelligent. She is chosen to be Caretaker of the Old because she often volunteers at the House of the Old before turning twelve and has a knack for caring for the elderly there. She is thrilled with her appointment.

It is not until later that we find out more about Fiona. We learn she has red hair, which bothers the community. Red hair is different from what everyone else has. The community works hard to keep everyone the same.

The Giver chuckled, suddenly. "We've never completely mastered Sameness. I suppose the genetic scientists are still hard at work trying to work the kinks out. Hair like Fiona's must drive them crazy" (Chapter 12). 

Other than her red hair, Fiona fits into a utopian society very well. She believes her community is a utopia. From most community members' perspectives, everyone is happy and everything is perfect.

The society in The Giver is actually dystopian. Jonas learns about this later when he finds out what release really means when he sees his father kill a newborn baby. It is at that point that he remembers Fiona is a Caretaker of the Old, and the Old are routinely released. He finds it difficult to imagine Fiona knows about this, but The Giver tells him she is.

"Fiona is already being trained in the fine art of release," The Giver told him. "She's very efficient at her work, your red-haired friend. Feelings are not part of the life she's learned" (Chapter 20).

Since Jonas does have feelings, and has experienced memories of death, it is difficult for him to imagine his friend killing old people, but this is part of her reality. As The Giver explains, Fiona doesn’t know better. No one but Jonas and The Giver actually understand or feel anything about death. This behavior in the community is what makes it a dystopia.

This does not make Fiona a bad person, though. If she were in our society, I sincerely doubt she would be going around murdering old people. She is a good person, and if she lived in a society where it was not okay to kill people, she would not be doing it. If Fiona lived in our world, she would not be a killer.

The author uses Fiona and Jonas's father to create shock and understanding in the reader and reinforce the concept of dystopia. Jonas's father and Fiona have no idea they are murderers. This makes the reader realize Jonas's society is very different from ours, as its members routinely practice what our society considers immoral behavior. 

what leads to revolutions? what did it look like for France?

The question asks what leads to revolutions and what did “it” look like for France? Restated, this asks how those factors played out in leading up to the French Revolution. 

In a very generic sense, revolutions occur when the governed feel that their expectations for government cannot be met through the established mechanisms of that government. All governmental systems (even dictatorial/despotic ones) have mechanisms for conveying popular desires to those in power, and for determining which of those desires will be addressed and to what extent. That being said then, the transition from social stability to revolution typically occurs when expectations change and the established governmental mechanisms prove unable or unwilling to adapt to those new expectations. 

The change in expectations can come from many directions, and often more than one force is at work. Economic change often leads to changing views about proper political structure. In the case of the French Revolution, the key causes can be analyzed as follows: 

1. 
   

   The control of substantial economic productive capacity by an expanding middle class (bourgeoisie) which was not matched by control over policies affecting that production capacity (most importantly taxation).

   
   


2. 
   

   The allocation of important institutional roles (military, clergy, senior bureaucratic) through birth and connection rather than a clear meritocracy.

   
   


3. 
   

   The rise of enlightenment political thought regarding the role of reason rather than divinity in determining the proper course of human affairs.

   
   


4. 
   

   The failure of the existing structure to provide for basic human needs when food production faltered.

   
   

Looking at these factors, one can see economic power shifting to those without political power, coupled with changes in political thought which taught that reason (accessible to all) should drive political decisions rather than divine right (as reflected in birth circumstances). When the existing system proved unable to meet basic needs, but recourse for those whom it failed was not available, the stage was set for rebellion.

How much money did Henry VIII spend on foreign policy?

It's very difficult to put a precise figure on it, let alone adjust that figure appropriately for inflation since then; but the general consensus among historians is that Henry VIII spent a large amount of money on warfare and many of England's financial problems at the time were traceable to that.

Henry VIII fought a number of wars during his reign, chiefly against Scotland and France, and several wars he fought became costly wars of attrition with little success. The most precise estimate I was able to find for how much Henry VIII spent on his wars was 2 million pounds, 1.3 million from currency debasement, 430,000 from higher taxes, and 110,000 from forced loans along with 160,000 from existing taxes.

It's very difficult to make a precise inflation adjustment, but the figures I have say that pound fell in value by about a factor of 267 from 1550 to 1997, and then official UK inflation figures say that it fell in value by about a factor of about 1.7 since then; so that's about a factor of 450 over that whole period. So that 2 million pounds would have been about 900 million pounds in today's money, which is still a small fraction of modern UK military spending.

It was, however, a large portion of England's wealth at the time. Henry VIII was not popular by the end of his reign, in large part due to the high taxes and inflation he imposed to pay for his endless wars.

I didn't have room for all the sources I consulted in the usual place, so here they are:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/tudor-england/henry-viii-and-foreign-policy/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/majesty_menace_01.shtml
http://faculty.history.wisc.edu/sommerville/361/361-06.htm
https://militaryhistoryblog.wordpress.com/tag/wars-of-henry-viii/
http://www.markedbyteachers.com/as-and-a-level/history/henry-viii-foreign-policy.html
http://www.freeinfosociety.com/article.php?id=409
https://prezi.com/majolaxdtr9y/henry-viiis-foreign-policy/
http://faculty.history.wisc.edu/sommerville/361/361-06.htm

Why is the glove cleaner/ life cleaner more expensive than the love potion in "The Chaser"?

The old man in the story uses the terms "glove cleaner" and "life cleaner" as euphemisms. Obviously, he doesn't want to use the word "poison" too openly, so he uses circumlocutions to hint to his customer that he might want to use something to get rid of his beloved in the future. The reader learns in the course of the narrative that the love potion only costs one dollar, while the "chaser," the "glove cleaner" or "life cleaner," costs five thousand dollars. The old man is confident most of the young men who buy his love potions will be back to buy his poison at some time in the future. He explains to Alan Austen:

"I look at it like this," said the old man. "Please a customer with one article, and he will come back when he needs another. Even if it is more costly. He will save up for it, if necessary."

"And how much," said Alan, "is this wonderful mixture?"

"It is not so dear," said them old man, "as the glove-cleaner, or life-cleaner, as I sometimes call it. No. That is five thousand dollars, never a penny less. One has to be older than you are, to indulge in that sort of thing. One has to save up for it."

In other words, the old man makes all his money off the poison, and his young customers who buy the love potion will not be able to afford that lethal "chaser" until they have reached middle-age. The old man obviously has a very cynical view of love. He seems to believe that love leads to marriage and marriage—for many people—becomes so unpleasant that they will do almost anything to get out of it.

In "The Canterville Ghost" by Oscar Wilde, why does Sir Simon become disappointed and start to think about his existence?

In Chapter Five of "The Canterville Ghost," the ghost admits to Virginia that he wants to enjoy eternal rest in the Garden of Death:

"For three hundred years I have not slept, and I am so tired."

The ghost's sudden interest in death is a result of two factors, the first of which is his treatment by the Otis family. Since taking possession of Canterville Chase, the family has thwarted his attempts to frighten them and reduced him to a state of depression, as described in Chapter Four:

His nerves were completely shattered, and he started at the slightest noise.

Secondly, as a result of his depressed mood, the ghost is no longer able to fulfil his supernatural obligations. As the ghost of Canterville Chase, for instance, it is Sir Simon's duty to frighten the family by appearing in the corridor every week and "gibbering" from the window twice each month. Suddenly unable to complete these tasks in earnest, Sir Simon experiences a crisis of identity. In his mind, the only solution to this problem is to die and be permanently freed from the Otis family and his ghostly duties.

What is the The Icarus Girl about?

The Icarus Girl, by Helen Oyeyemi, explores the strange and sometimes frightning life of eight year-old Jessamy "Jess" Harrison, a sensitive and alienated girl with a Nigerian mother, Sarah, and an English father, Daniel, who meets another equally (if not more) strange young girl on a family trip to her mother's former home in Nigeria. 

Once in Nigeria, Jess continues to feel out of place, but is drawn to the presence of an odd girl, Titiola (or "TillyTilly"), who appears to have mysterious powers and who Jess catches drawing a frightening picture of a woman with long arms that reach to her ankles. Although they part ways, TillyTilly assures Jess, "You'll see me again." 

Jess returns to London and finds it no more hospitable to her quirks than before. TillyTilly shows up shortly, claiming that her family has moved her to London. This is when things begin to get very scary: TillyTilly behaves wildly and irrationally the longer she is around Jess, and Jess eventually comes to realize that she is the only one who can see the girl. TillyTilly informs Jess that she had a stillborn twin named Fern, a story that is corroborated by Jess' parents; her parents then share the Nigerian belief that twins may exist in the real world, the spirit world, and the Bush, and that a wooden carving should have been made to represent the dead twin and to protect the living one (an action which Jess' parents failed to appropriately take).

TillyTilly begins to injure people and threatens to take over Jess' body and mind completely; her actions and desperation escalates until the inconclusive ending of the book, in which Jess is thrown into a coma after a serious car accident and finds herself wandering around, unable to distinguish between or wholly reach the "real world" and the "Bush" lands that twins have access to.

This ending--as well as the continued conflict between Jess and TillyTilly throughout the book--suggest a crisis of identity and double consciousness that cannot quite be resolved.