Are the the feelings of love expressed in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night based on appearance or personality?

There is definitely a lot of falling in love with a woman’s looks or money in this play.  However, Viola falls in love with Duke Orsino because of his personality.

Duke Orsino specifically mentions Olivia’s looks, and so does Viola when she is trying to convince her to fall for the duke as Cesario.  Olivia actually makes a joke about the fact that they are so focused on her appearance.

I will give
out divers schedules of my beauty: it shall be
inventoried, and every particle and utensil
labelled to my will: as, item, two lips,
indifferent red; item, two grey eyes, with lids to
them; item, one neck, one chin, and so forth. Were
you sent hither to praise me? (Act 1, Scene 5)

Sir Andrew also wants to marry Olivia even though he does not really know her.  He is more interested in maintaining his status by getting a hold of her money, though.  Either way, neither of them are in love with her for her personality.

The best example of a person who marries just for looks is Sebastian.  He marries Olivia even though he doesn’t even know her.  (She thinks that she is marrying Cesario.)  He even wonders if she is crazy, or he is, but figures he might as well go along with it.

SEBASTIAN

What relish is in this? how runs the stream?
Or I am mad, or else this is a dream:
Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep;
If it be thus to dream, still let me sleep!

OLIVIA

Nay, come, I prithee; would thou'ldst be ruled by me!

SEBASTIAN

Madam, I will. (Act 4, Scene 1)

Viola, on the other hand, loves Orsino.  She has a chance to get to know him while she pretends to be Cesario, and she cares about his personality and not just his looks.  When Cesario finds out she is a woman, he seems quite ready to switch affections and love her.  Of course, he also knows her personality, even if it was in the guise of a man.

Who was the thirteenth president of the United States?

The thirteenth president of the United States was Millard Fillmore.  He was president from 1850-1853.  He was a member of the Whig Party.  He took office in 1850 after the death of Zachary Taylor.  During Fillmore's presidency, America opened up trade with Japan under the leadership of Commodore Matthew Perry.  Fillmore was also the president who signed the Compromise of 1850, which was an attempt by Congress to prevent civil war.  The U.S. government did not have a clear plan of what would become of the lands ceded to it by the Mexican government after the Mexican War.  Some wanted the dividing line between free and slave drawn by the Compromise of 1820 extended to the Pacific.  This was put to the test when California voted for immediate statehood in 1850 thanks to the population boom from the gold rush.  Fillmore signed the Compromise of 1850, which brought California into the Union, ended the slave trade in Washington D.C., and strengthened the Fugitive Slave Law.  Fillmore ran for president again in 1852 but his stance on slavery angered Northern Whigs--this led to the election of Franklin Pierce.  

What is the importance of doublethink to the Party's control of the citizens of Oceania?

Doublethink is a form of "reality control" in which people accept two ideas, even when these ideas are contradictory.  For the majority of the novel, for instance, Oceania is at war with Eurasia but, suddenly, during Hate Week, the Party declares that it is fighting against Eastasia and always has been.

You will notice from the text that nobody questions this sudden change, even though they can remember the war against Eurasia. This is why the Party is so successful in maintaining control: it manipulates the popular understanding and perception of the past and the people of Oceania willingly accept it because they have been brainwashed to do so. On a practical level, this means that the Party can do as it pleases, safe in the knowledge that nobody will ever question its actions. 

This is, perhaps, best summed up in the following quote from Emmanuel Goldstein from Part Two, Chapter Nine:

"For the secret of rulership is to combine a belief in one’s own infallibility with the power to learn from past mistakes."

From Zusak's The Book Thief, how might one write a thesis statement on the symbolic meaning of Han's accordion?

A thesis statement is the controlling sentence of an essay. Usually, a thesis statement makes a claim that the writer supports, then lists details that will be discussed within the essay about that claim. For example, a thesis statement about the symbolism behind Hubermann's accordion might claim what it represents in the story and then list three examples that will be discussed in the body paragraphs of the essay. Here's an example:

Hans Hubermann's accordion represents loyal friendship, protection, and comfort because not only does it provide enjoyment for those who hear its music, it also connects the Vandenburgs with the Hubermanns and the Hubermanns with each other.

The thesis statement above declares three things that the accordion provides to people in the book. Then it shows how the accordion helps to connect family and friends during times of war. Next, the writer would shape the body of the essay to prove the statement true by providing specific examples for what is listed therein. Here are a few passages that support the thesis statement above:

"Then there was his other savior. It was the accordion that most likely spared him from total ostracism . . . there was no one in Molchin who could play exactly like him" (183).

The above passage supports how the accordion represents protection for Hubermann when he might have become an outcast if it weren't for his ability to play. The following example shows how the accordion connects the Vandenburgs with the Hubermanns, while also supporting the "loyal friendship" part of the thesis statement.

"'Would you be Hans Hubermann?'

Hans gave him a single nod. He was reaching for a paintbrush. 'Yes, I would.'

'Do you play the accordion, by any chance?'

This time, Hans stopped, leaving the brush where it was. Again, he nodded . . .

'Are you a man who likes to keep a promise?'" (184).

Hans Hubermann shows his loyalty to Max's father by helping Max years later when Jews are targeted by Nazis. Since Max's father taught Hans how to play, and Hans later inherited the accordion as well, it becomes a code word between the two men for a promise Hans made years ago in World War I. But once Hans is called up to go to the second world war, the accordion becomes a symbol of love for Rosa--a connection between home and Hans. Rosa's reaction to Hans going off to war is somewhat surprising, but also understandable as shown in the following passage:

"Rosa Hubermann was sitting on the edge of the bed with her husband's accordion tied to her chest. Her fingers hovered above the keys" (429).

This passage shows Rosa connecting with her husband, who has gone to war by holding it for a very long time. This gives her some comfort and strength to face the war without her husband.

When writing a thesis statement, sometimes it is easier to find passages from the text that would work with the topic of the assignment first; then construct a thesis statement to answer the prompt accordingly. 

What were the significant contributions of Spivak and Bhabha to their schools of literary criticism? Also, what contributions to criticism have...

Gayatri Spivak has been an influential figure in rethinking Marxism, postmodernism, and feminism in the context of post-colonial, transnational capitalism. Her most often cited texts are the essay “Can the Subaltern Speak?” and her book A Critique of Postcolonial Reason. Spivak’s notion of the “subaltern,” an underclass that exists independent of Marx’s proletariat, is an attempt to theorize classes of people, particularly women, who have been “erased” by the dominant culture and rendered unable to “speak,” or be heard in public discourse.

Homi Bhabha is best known for his books Nation and Narration and The Location of Culture. Bhabha argues that traditional European notions of nationhood (that a nation can be defined by a single, coherent historical narrative) cannot apply to post colonial nations, and that instead national identity is “imagined” or produced through the interaction and conflict of many different cultural experiences. In fact, colonial rule itself produces the conditions for resistance through “mimicry” – the idea that by trying to instill European language and values on native populations, colonial rulers actually invite indigenous co-optation and inversion of official language.

Trauma theory seeks to understand the significance of past catastrophes or traumas. It is based on a few basic principles: first, that the trauma did happen; second, that the totality of the trauma is inaccessible to representation; third, that testimony about the trauma is a legitimate way to understand the importance of the trauma; fourth, the collective narrative created by testimony about the trauma can, through its incompleteness, provide “spaces” in which the significance of the trauma can be understood. Trauma theory provides a theoretical framework within which personal experience can be used to understand or construct the “reality” of historical trauma.

Taken together, Spivak and Bhabha, along with the trauma theorists, can be understood to be engaged in the same project: understanding and articulating the colonial experience – finding a way, either through Bhabha’s notion of “mimicry” or the “testimony” of trauma victims, to allow Spivak’s subaltern to finally speak.

Sources:

Berger, James. “Trauma and Literary Theory”. Contemporary Literature 38.3 (1997): 569–582. Web.

Simon, Jon, ed. From Agamben to Zizek: Contemporary Critical Theorists. Edinburgh: Univ. of Edinburgh Press. 2010. Print.

What was the monarchy and government like in 19th century London?

The nineteenth century was a period of dramatic change in England. Legally, England is described as a constitutional monarchy, with the monarch having powers limited by Parliament. The nineteenth century was a period of great change though in how Parliament was elected, the relative powers of the two houses of Parliament, and the relationship of the monarchy to Parliament. 

There were four monarchs during this period: 

GEORGE III 1760 - 1820: Due to his increasingly erratic behavior due to mental illness, his son ruled as Prince Regent from 1811-1820. 

GEORGE IV 1820 - 1830: Note that he had been Prince Regent from 1811-1820 and was a quite colorful character.

WILLIAM IV 1830 - 1837: Brother to George IV.  

VICTORIA 1837 - 1901: Giving her name to the "Victorian" period, Queen Victoria was one of the longest reigning monarchs in English history and presided over a period of great prosperity.

The three Reform Bills of 1832, 1867, and 1884 gradually expanded voting rights from the wealthy to most adult males. The House of Commons became increasingly powerful compared to the upper house. The civil service expanded, with the government beginning to fund and manage such things as public schools, poor relief, marriages, census taking, and citizenship records that had earlier been the responsibility of the church. 

London itself had no municipal government, but rather a miscellaneous collection of parishes and vestries and special-purpose organizations such as the Metropolitan Police (established by Prime Minister Robert Peel, and thus called "bobbies" or "peelers").

How does Portia in The Merchant of Venice display mercy in three different ways (with examples)?

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In Macbeth, who is the heir to the throne of Scotland?

In Act 1, Scene 4, Duncan announces that his older son, Malcolm, is named the Prince of Cumberland, which is the title for the heir to the throne (I.4.45). Therefore, Malcolm is the official heir, the person who is supposed to be the king after Duncan. Macbeth was told by the Weird Sisters in Scene 3, however, that he would king "hereafter" (1.3.53).  The witches are not specific about when Macbeth will become the monarch, but because he learns that he's been named the new Thane of Cawdor almost immediately after the witches tell him he will be, Macbeth seems to hope and expect that the kingship will also come to him quickly and easily. He is quite disappointed when Duncan announces Malcolm as Prince of Cumberland. Macbeth says to himself, "That is a step / On which I must fall down or else o'erleap" (I.4.55-56). In other words, because Macbeth has not been named Duncan's heir, he must either curb his ambition for the throne or somehow overcome that obstacle to becoming king. Ultimately, he chooses the latter.

How does the narrator describe her town in Chapter 1 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

In the opening Chapter of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout, the narrator, whom we can also think of as the older Jean Louise, describes Maycomb as being a "tired old town" when she knew it in her childhood.

One reason why she saw it as a "tired old town" in her childhood is because she was a child in the midst of the Great Depression. Accompanying the Great Depression was the Dust Bowl brought on by, among other things, severe drought. While Alabama was not affected by the Dust Bowl, much of Alabama was hit by some drought, which would explain Scout's statement that "[s]omehow, it was hotter then," and the town seemed to move with the slow tiredness brought on by severe heat: dogs suffered, mules swatted flies with their tails, and "men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning." Aside from the heat, another reason why Scout observes that "[p]eople moved slowly then" was because, since there was no money due to the Great Depression, "there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to but it with." Hence, Scout saw Maycomb as a "tired old town" in her childhood because the town was affected by the heat from the drought and the Great Depression.

Aside from the drought and the Great Depression, Scout also notes Maycomb was a "tired old town" because it was stuck in its ways, a point around which author Harper Lee develops the central theme concerning racism. Evidence in the opening chapter that Maycomb was stuck in its ways concerns the fact that Maycomb's people continue to carry out their rituals, despite social and economic hardships. For example, men persist in wearing stiff collars despite the heat and ladies persist in their bathing rituals, despite financial and other social distresses:

Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum. (Ch. 1)

Later, throughout the novel, Lee shows us it is because Maycomb's townspeople are stuck in their ways that they hold on to their damaging racist views and prejudices.

How is Aunt Alexandra important to Harper Lee's novel To Kill A Mockingbird?

Aunt Alexandra is important to the novel's themes of class attitudes and traditions, prejudice, and the instructional design of this bildungsroman. She also acts sometimes as a foil to Atticus.

• Class attitudes and traditions and social prejudice

In Chapter 13, when Aunt Alexandra arrives at the Finch house purportedly to assist her brother who is busy preparing for the controversial trial of Tom Robinson, she actually injects more stress into the lives of all those in the home. For one thing, she advises Atticus with matriarchal authority that the children must be made aware of their social position in Maycomb. So, Atticus uncomfortably tells Jem and Scout that their aunt wants him

"...to try and impress upon you...that you are not from run-of-the-mill people, that you are the product of several generations' gentle breeding--"

This implies that Scout must wear dresses and behave with more appropriateness to her station in life, a criticism much like those of Mrs. Dubose's.

• Racial prejudice

When the "pecking order" is disrupted by Aunt Alexandra's overriding Atticus's authority by telling Scout that she may not accompany Calpurnia to church again, Scout tells her father, "I didn't ask her, I asked you--"  Atticus tries to solve the issue by telling Scout to obey whoever tells her to do something. And, Alexandra tells Atticus that he must "do something about her." Then, she tells Atticus to fire Calpurnia because they do not "need her anymore," implying that the maid is actually a bad influence on Scout as Scout should not be in a black church, nor be dependent upon Calpurnia for motherly advice.

Further, although Alexandra really does not approve of Atticus's being the defense attorney for Tom Robinson, she is angered when her guests rebuke him. Further, when Mrs. Merriweather disparages her black maid Sophy, but lauds a missionary from her church who works with Africans, Alexandra is relieved when Miss Maudie makes a cynical remark which obviously is directed at Mrs. Merriweather's racial hypocrisy. 

• Maturing motif (bildungsroman)

From her experiences on the day of her Missionary Tea, Alexandra begins to gain a wider perspective of current events. Certainly, she becomes very concerned for her brother Atticus because the trial is emotionally trying for him. Even though she may not agree philosophically with her brother, she certainly gains insight into the harm caused by biases, moral weakness, and prejudice, no matter to whom they are directed. Alexandra remarks to Miss Maudie,

"It tears him [Atticus] to pieces....what else do they want from him, Maudie, what else?....They're perfectly willing to let him do what they're too afraid to do themselves--it might lose 'em a nickel."

Miss Maudie calmly advises her to be quiet as the ladies may hear her; then she adds that Maycomb is, nevertheless, paying Atticus "the highest tribute" since it trusts him "to do right" when they are afraid to do it themselves. Finally, Miss Maudie suggests that they should join the ladies in the parlor. Pulling herself together, Aunt Alexandra nods at Scout who rises to the occasion by carefully picking up a tray and stepping into the parlor to serve the ladies. Scout narrates, "After all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I."

Why did Catherine Petkoff lie to Major Petkoff about his old coat?

There are two major reasons. The first, and most pressing, is that Catherine doesn't want Sergius, who is present, to hear the truth about Bluntschli.

Telling the truth about the coat would mean revealing that Bluntschli had visited Raina in her bedroom, and this would likely end the engagement between Sergius and Raina. Catherine notes this explicitly in an aside to her daughter:

If Sergius finds out, it will be all over between you.

And we see later in the play, Catherine's fears were justified. When Sergius discovers that Bluntschli had visited that night, he is quick to interpret this as evidence that Raina has been "trifling with another man behind [his] back" and he is ready to denounce her.

Second, telling the truth would mean confessing that she and Raina were the anonymous women depicted in the story that Sergius had recounted to them. Even if there had been no engagement between Sergius and Raina, Catherine wouldn't have liked this revelation to come out. She is very concerned with her image as a dignified, cultured, high-status woman. In Sergius's gossipy account, the women who sheltered Bluntschli had shown a lack of aristocratic judgment. The women are depicted in a way that makes them seem amusing or ridiculous. They were credulous, easily flattered and taken in by a lower class man unworthy of their esteem:

SERGIUS [with bitter irony] Oh yes: quite a romance! He was serving in the very battery I so unprofessionally charged. Being a thorough soldier, he ran away like the rest of them, with our cavalry at his heels. To escape their attentions, he had the good taste to take refuge in the chamber of some patriotic young Bulgarian lady. The young lady was enchanted by his persuasive commercial traveller's manners. She very modestly entertained him for an hour or so, and then called in her mother lest her conduct should appear unmaidenly. The old lady was equally fascinated; and the fugitive was sent on his way in the morning, disguised in an old coat belonging to the master of the house, who was away at the war.

Note the derisive tone, and the digs at everyone concerned. The soldier "ran away," which is inconsistent with the idealized image of a gentleman that Sergius and his cultural circle favor. The young woman entertained the soldier for an hour before deciding -- too late, by this same cultural standard -- that she needed a chaperone. And the mother, described as an "old lady" (which can't have pleased Catherine), is equally credulous.

The stage directions suggest that every compliment paid to the characters is ironic, indicating that Sergius really means to say the affair wasn't a heroic romance, but something ridiculous and low. The women were silly to have treated the soldier as a gentleman worthy of such hospitality, and their actions suggest they are not true elites. True elites would have known better.

So Catherine doesn't want to be identified in this way. It would open her to derision on a point that is dear to her self-image.

How should the U.S. deal with other countries?

There are two main ways of thinking about how we should “deal with” other countries.  We can say that one of these ways of thinking is more selfish while the other is more idealistic.

The first way of thinking holds that we should deal with other countries based on what is good for the United States.  We should be nice to them if it will help us and we should be tough with them if it will help us.  If foreign countries abuse their people, we should only care if it affects us.  Therefore, for example, we should not try to make the Turkish government be less oppressive.  We should support them as long as they help us fight terrorism and/or as long as they are on our side against Russia.  Their support in these areas is much more important to us than whether they put journalists in jail for opposing their president.  This kind of thinking can be called “realism” because it says that, in the real world, we have to look out for our own interests before anyone else’s.

A second way of thinking is more idealistic.  It says that we should care mostly about doing good in the world and trying to get others to do good as well.  We should pursue our ideals, not our interests.  Therefore, even if we feel like we need the Philippines as an ally against China, we should not look the other way when their new president has the police and vigilantes kill thousands of suspected drug dealers.  We should push the Philippines to treat their people properly, even if it makes them less inclined to like us.  In this view, we should go around trying to help other countries become more democratic, even if it costs us money and lives.  For example, this view might argue that we were right to invade Iraq and to stay there trying to make them into a democracy.  This is true because democracy is a good thing and it would be good for the Iraqi people if they had a democracy.

So, which of these views fits more with your own?  Should we be selfish/realistic and look out for our own interests first?  Should we base our actions on our values and try to make the world a better place even if it costs us in the short term?  This is a question that each American must try to decide for him or her self.

What is the main idea of Gulliver's Travels?

It is difficult to narrow down the scope of this satire to just one idea, but, broadly speaking, we could say that the major theme of Gulliver's Travels is that human beings are inherently flawed.  Though we are capable of some good, often our xenophobia, pride, and lack of humanity in many situations leads us to behave selfishly and without compassion for others.  The purpose of satire, however, is not simply to point out someone's flaws; it is to point out someone's flaws in such a way that it will open their eyes to their mistakes and prompt them to change their behavior.  Therefore, Swift doesn't simply want to point out our stupidity or our ignorance, he wants to compel us to reevaluate the way we think about many things: religion, war, logic and emotion, immortality, and the list goes on and on. 

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, what is the imprisonment of Scout Finch?

Based on Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, it can be said that one way in which Scout is imprisoned is through social restrictions. Since she is a girl, society, especially society in her time period, demands she behave in a certain way. Yet, Scout, being very independent, has her own views about how she wants to behave; she wants to behave as a tomboy.

We especially see Scout feeling imprisoned by society when she is around her Aunt Alexandra. Scout reports having quarrels with her aunt about her desires to wear overalls. When Aunt Alexandra moves in with the Finches to help raise the children by providing feminine influence, at one point, when Scout hears Aunt Alexandra and her father quarreling, she fears they are quarreling about Scout's behavior. More specifically, she fears Aunt Alexandra is trying to lay down some laws about how Scout should be being raised to behave. Scout reflects her fears in the following:

Who was the "her" they were talking about? My heart sank: me. I felt the starched walls of a pink cotton penitentiary closing in on me, and for the second time in my life I thought of running away. Immediately. (Ch. 15)

Scout's reference to the "walls of a pink cotton penitentiary" shows us just how imprisoned Scout is by society's idea of her female role.

How was the stable buck injured in Of Mice and Men?

Crooks is the name of the ranch's stable buck. In Chapter 2, Candy tells George that the boss was upset they did not show up to work in the morning. He says the boss gave the stable buck hell. George then asks why the boss would give the stable buck hell, and Candy tells him the stable buck is a Negro. Candy goes on to tell George that the stable buck was injured after a horse kicked him and gave him a crooked back. Candy then tells George that Crooks is a nice man who usually keeps to himself and reads a lot. Later in the novella, Lennie enters Crooks's room, which is segregated from the bunkhouse because he is black. Crooks is a lonely man who attempts to pick on Lennie about George not returning to the ranch. After Lennie physically threatens him, Crooks stop picking on him and listens as Lennie tells him about owning their own home.

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, did Mercutio's death need to happen in order for the tragedy to emerge?

Tragedy involves death.  In order for the play to be a tragedy, Romeo and Juliet really do have to die.  However, Mercutio does not have to die in order for this to happen.  Mercutio’s death led to Romeo getting banished, because it was that which encouraged him to fight Tybalt even though he did not really want to.  However, Tybalt could have done other things to get Romeo to fight.  Also, someone else other than Tybalt might have gotten Romeo to fight. 

For Romeo, banishment was a fate worse than death because it took him away from Juliet.

ROMEO

There is no world without Verona walls,
But purgatory, torture, hell itself.
Hence-banished is banish'd from the world,
And world's exile is death: then banished,
Is death mis-term'd: calling death banishment,
Thou cutt'st my head off with a golden axe,
And smilest upon the stroke that murders me. (Act 3, Scene 3)

Romeo’s banishment resulted in his suicide because Juliet faked her death.  She didn’t want to marry Paris.  If Juliet’s father had not forced her to marry, she would not have gone to Friar Lawrence to take the sleeping potion.  It was Romeo's assumption that she was “dead” that caused him to get his poison and go back to Verona to see her one last time and kill himself.  Of course, seeing Romeo dead was what caused Juliet to actually kill herself.

Thus, Romeo and Juliet were doomed not so much by Mercutio or Tybalt but by their own impulsiveness.  They believed that everything was life or death.  Tybalt was able to get Romeo to fight.  If it had not been him, it would have been someone else.  Juliet also acted hastily in faking her death and the two of them ended up dead together.

`log_10(t - 3) = 2.6` Solve the equation accurate to three decimal places

In solving a logarithmic equation, we may simplify using logarithm properties.

Recall the logarithm property: `a^((log_(a)(x))) = x` .

When we raise the log with the same base, the "log" will cancel out.

This is what we need to accomplish on the left side.

 The problem `log_(10)(t-3)=2.6` has a logarithmic base of 10.

That is our clue to raise both sides by base of 10.

`10^(log_10(t-3))=10^(2.6)`

`t-3 =10^(2.6)`

`+3 +3`

-----------------------

`t = 10^(2.6) +3`

`t~~401.107`

To check, plug-in the value of `t=401.107 ` in` log_(10)(t-3)` :

`log_(10)(401.107-3)`

`log_(10)(398.107)`

`= 2.599999814~~2.6 ` 

So, 

`t ~~401.107` is a real solution.

Why did Friar Laurence's letter never reach Romeo in Romeo and Juliet?

Friar Laurence’s letter never reached Romeo because its messenger Friar John was stopped by a plague. 

When Romeo was banished for killing Tybalt, Friar Laurence tried to be in communication with him so he would not be cut off completely from his new bride, Juliet. One of the most serious problems that occurred right off the bat was Juliet’s forced marriage to Paris.  Juliet went to Friar Laurence for help, and his solution was to fake her death.  This was only a good idea, though, if Romeo was in on the plan. 

Friar Laurence wrote a letter to Romeo explaining what was going on.  Imagine his surprise when he found out that it never reached its destination.  Friar John arrived, and told Friar Laurence the bad news. 

FRIAR JOHN

Going to find a bare-foot brother out
One of our order, to associate me,
Here in this city visiting the sick,
And finding him, the searchers of the town,
Suspecting that we both were in a house
Where the infectious pestilence did reign,
Seal'd up the doors, and would not let us forth;
So that my speed to Mantua there was stay'd. (Act 5, Scene 2)

Friar Laurence asked the obvious question: Who took the letter to Romeo then?  The answer, unfortunately, is no one.  Friar Laurence was upset, and told him that the letter was important.  He feared that Romeo would do something rash, because he knew Romeo. 

Romeo did do something rash.  He got himself a vial of poison, went to Juliet’s tomb, and poisoned himself.  Juliet awoke to find the husband she had gone to so much trouble to stay with dead by her side.  Devastated, she committed suicide with his dagger.  Naturally, Friar Laurence blamed himself. It is another example of circumstances really being against these two.  They pushed fate and lost.  You could say they had really bad luck.

How do Lady Macbeth and the witches influence Macbeth to change?

The Weird Sisters influence Macbeth to change simply by telling him that he will become Thane of Cawdor and then king. When he learns he has been made the Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth begins to hope for the throne in a way that he seems never to have done before. Judging by the captain's description of him in battle, Macbeth has been loyal and brave, a good subject and kinsman to King Duncan. Once the witches plant the seed of ambition, it begins to grow out of control, prompting Macbeth to dream of killing Duncan—and possibly his son, Malcolm—prior even to returning home to the company of his murderous wife.

Lady Macbeth influences her husband to change by persuading him to go forward with their plan, even after he decides they would "proceed no further in this business" (Act I, Scene 7, line 32). Lady Macbeth insults her husband's masculinity, convincing him he will not be a man if he does not keep his promise to her and take the throne now. After he does commit the murder, she insists that his guilt makes him a coward. Soon enough, she realizes she's created a monster who is even capable of killing innocent women and children without a second thought.

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, how does Scout make Mr. Cunningham stand in Atticus' shoes?

In Chapter 15 of Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem, Scout and Dill discover Atticus sitting outside of the Maycomb jail on the Sunday night before the Robinson trial is to take place. When a group of Cunninghams show up, Scout runs to her father to check out the situation. Scout doesn't know that the Cunninghams are there to lynch Tom before the trial can even take place. Once she senses trouble, she becomes a chatterbox. She identifies Walter Cunningham in the crowd and tells him that she is friends at school with his son. The presence of children in an adult situation, plus the fact that Scout brings up Walter, Jr. in conversation, reminds Mr. Cunningham of what is most important in life--family and the fact that he is a father. 

Then, without much to say, Scout unleashes the ramblings of her mind and talks to Mr. Cunningham about his legal problems. Since Atticus has very kindly and patiently helped Mr. Cunningham in the past, Scout reminds him of what Atticus stands for. Atticus is a good father, a kind friend, and a fair and generous lawyer. This might bring to Mr. Cunningham's mind how Atticus has allowed him to pay his legal fees in-kind; that is to say, he is allowed to pay with goods and services rather than money. By reminding Mr. Cunningham first of his son and then of Atticus's goodness and quality of character, Scout helps to soften Mr. Cunningham's heart to the point that he calls off the mob. These topics of conversation help Mr. Cunningham to see Atticus as a father and good person rather than a lawyer standing in the way of him and his plan to lynch a black man. Of this experience Atticus says the following:

"So it took an eight-year-old child to bring 'em to their senses, didn't it? . . . That proves something--that a gang of wild animals can be stopped, simply because they're still human. Hmp, maybe we need a police force of children . . . you children last night made Walter Cunningham stand in my shoes for a minute. That was enough" (157).

What effect did Hobbes have on the U.S. Constitution?

One effect Hobbes had on the framers of the United States Constitution was in his vision of political reality.

The framers were products of the Enlightenment. They were attracted to the theories of thinkers like Locke, who professed an optimism in the promises and possibilities of human beings.  Hobbes was decidedly more skeptical.  His political theories emphasized the need for a central authority to suppress the destructive instincts of human beings.  The framers wanted to avoid a monarch.  This was a political reality they had escaped under King George.  The colonists fought a revolution to be free of despotic rule.  Hobbes' theory reminded them of what they did not want in a new nation.  As a result, they pivoted towards a divided form of government, one that would prevent an abuse of central power.  

Another effect that Hobbes had on the framers was in his basic view of human beings.  The framers wanted to avoid Hobbes's state of nature.  Hobbes viewed human beings as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”  The framers sought to create a political world that could minimize, if not transform, these realities.  They believed that in giving individuals freedom to choose their destinies, human beings could be more than what Hobbes envisioned.  The framers believed that emphasizing positive freedom, where human beings could do great things, and negative freedom, where people could be left alone, would avoid a Hobbesian state of nature.  The framers embraced principles like republicanism and individual rights as ways to avert Hobbes' vision.  In these ways, Hobbes provided a reality the framers wanted to avoid in their new government. 

What are the values of Aunt Alexandra and the community of Maycomb in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Tradition is important, both in Maycomb and to Aunt Alexandra. Many things have been done the same way for generations, and people want it to stay that way. These unchanged elements and common practices of daily life range from manners to the way a person dresses to how much they attend church. There are certain expectations, and these come from age-old traditions.

Scout describes Maycomb and its ways. She notes that the town itself is quite old, and that certain things are done in a particular way there:

Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer's day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum (Chapter 1).

The examples of common practices in Maycomb that Scout gives are ladies bathing and napping at the same time each day, and men wearing their collars stiff despite the heat.

Aunt Alexandra strongly holds to tradition and common practices. For example, she believes little girls should prepare themselves for becoming polite Southern ladies. Scout prefers to wear pants and play outside, and she explains her interactions with her aunt on this matter:

Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants. Aunt Alexandra's vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father's lonely life (Chapter 9).

In addition to her beliefs about proper young ladies, Aunt Alexandra also has a "preoccupation with heredity" (Chapter 13). She thinks certain families are certain ways based on heredity. She thinks the Finch family is a respectable one and that all its members should live up to this standard.

In The Odyssey by Homer, what does Teiresias foretell?

Teiresias, the dead prophet who Odysseus goes to seek in the Underworld, foretells a difficult journey home for him because a god, Poseidon, will make it hard.  Poseidon is angry with Odysseus for blinding his son, Polyphemus, the Cyclops.  Teiresias says that, when they arrive at Thrinacia, if Odysseus and his crew can avoid eating the sacred cattle that belong to Helios, they might make it home to Ithaca, though it will be tough; however, if they harm the cattle, Teiresias says that Odysseus will lose his ship and his crew.  If Odysseus manages to escape, he will only make it home with help from strangers.

Teiresias also says that Odysseus will find trouble when he gets home to Ithaca because the suitors are hassling Penelope and eating Odysseus's family out of house and home.  However, he foretells that Odysseus will avenge their crimes against his family.

How does Brutus respond to the appearance of Caesar's ghost and why?

Julius Caesar’s ghost first appears to Brutus on a night when he cannot sleep. It seems as though Brutus’s guilt and worry keep him awake. He has no idea what the apparition is and only knows that he is terrified: “Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil, / That makest my blood cold and my hair to stare?” Interestingly, the ghost replies that he is “Thy evil spirit, Brutus.” The ghost could represent both Caesar’s revenge and Brutus’s conscience, which partially spoke against killing his friend Caesar.

The spirit simply says that he will see Brutus at Philippi. This is a portent of doom signifying that Brutus’s military campaign will not go well and that he will lose his life. Brutus then wakes his servants in a fright and asks if they have cried out, but they all deny it. Caesar’s ghost does appear to him again “in Philippi fields,” which discourages Brutus so much that he decides to commit suicide: “I know my hour is come.” Brutus does not seem particularly enthusiastic about the way his coup has gone, and the ghost symbolizes how the death of his friend weighs too heavily upon him to live.

In Romeo and Juliet, are there any obstacles that stand in Capulet's way?

Lord Capulet can, for the most part, do as he chooses.  He is bound by the law not to engage (or allow his family to engage) in any more skirmishes with the Montagues.  Aside from this, however, there are relatively few limits on Lord Capulet.  He has plenty of money; therefore, lack of funds is no obstacle to him when he wants something.  He has a beautiful daughter who is desired by a relative of the prince, the County Paris, and he would make a very advantageous match for Juliet; therefore, Lord Capulet is clearly not lacking in family honor or dignity.  He seems to wield quite a bit of power over his family and is unaccustomed to being refused, as his explosive temper clearly shows when Juliet attempts to disobey his order that she should marry Parris just a few days after her cousin, Tybalt's death.

Which of the lines below from Act V of Shakespeare's Macbeth tell the audience Macbeth realizes his mistake and regrets his ambition?1. I have...

The passage that most embodies Macbeth's regrets and recognition of his mistakes is the first one: "I have lived long enough. My way of life / Is fall'n into the sere, the yellow leaf" (V.3.26-27). Macbeth means his life has become something dry and withered, like a yellow leaf in the fall. It lacks the meaning and significance he thought it would have. Macbeth has grown old and has nothing good to show for it, none of the "honor, love, obedience, troops of friends" (V.3.29) he believes should come with age. Instead, Macbeth loses all of his friends due to his choices (I mean, he's killed at least two of them), is loved by no one, and is obeyed only because people are afraid to disobey him. Macbeth seems to recognize, then, that his lack of loyalty and his mistakes in judgment due to his ambition have cost him the life he wanted, the life he thought his actions would achieve for him. 

What persuasive techniques are used in Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech?

Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is one of the most often studied, cited, and referenced speeches in American history. While it’s true that some of its appeal is derived from the context of its creation and delivery (the 1963 civil rights watershed moment called the March on Washington), its power is chiefly due to the effective use of the persuasive and rhetorical techniques that we all studied in high school.

In reading the text of King’s speech, it doesn’t take long to uncover several of those techniques. Let’s look at the second paragraph.

Technique: Transfer

Transfer is used to link the speaker’s cause with something else, usually something that is well respected and accepted. If it works, some of that respect and acceptance is “transferred” to the speaker’s cause.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Listeners knew that King was referring to Abraham Lincoln, a president who is now revered as possibly the greatest American leader. By mentioning Lincoln, King sought to align the civil rights cause with Lincoln’s reputation, which would give it a legitimacy that some Americans were not yet willing to recognize. Respect and acceptance is transferred from Lincoln to the civil rights movement.

Technique: Emotive words

Emotive words are words used to create an emotional response from the reader. This usually involves taking a simple idea and phrasing it with words that will sway the readers’ perception. The following line does this well.

This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice.

King could have said this instead: The Emancipation Proclamation gave hope to enslaved negroes. By using the italicized words, King elicits a stronger, emotion-based response from the reader.

Persuasive Technique: Figurative language (more specifically, metaphor and symbol).

The third and final sentence of the paragraph is:

It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

This persuasive technique is also a common rhetorical device. We call it persuasive here because its function is to convince listeners to agree with the speaker.

Speakers and writers create metaphors and symbols to help define their ideas. By telling what something is by comparing it to something else, they shape the listener’s perception of their message. The words “joyous daybreak” and “long night” are figurative terms, they are not literally true. The slaves did not suffer for just one long night, it was really many thousands of nights. And their freedom wasn’t really a “daybreak,” it was a legal right conferred upon them. But by using these metaphors, King imparts a greater emotional power to the idea that Lincoln freed the slaves from one kind of tyranny, although, as evidenced by the marchers protests, not all kinds of tyranny.

Near the end of the speech, King’s tone changes a bit. He knows that many Americans are not yet accepting of minorities as their equals.

Technique: Fear

And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.

The fear King is stoking here is the fear of civil unrest. While he is not directly encouraging violent protest (in fact in directly argues against it in a subsequent paragraph), he knows that many Americans have been dismayed by the scenes they have witnessed on television, as protesters have been attacked and riots have occurred. He is appealing to their fear of further violence and protest (note that the violence was almost always committed by whites against the protesters, not the other way around).

As you can see, there is a lot going on in this speech. King also uses other techniques, such as repetition, parallel structure, hyperbole, slogan, etc.

We should also note that this speech is exceptional because of King’s oratorical skills. He can deliver a speech with charisma and power. If you haven’t actually seen and heard the speech yourself, watch it on YouTube (or wherever). There’s no better speech anywhere.

In Chapter 16 of Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, how do Miss Thomas and the band make Bud feel welcome?

In Chapter 16, Miss Thomas tells Bud that he was the topic of a very long conversation between Herman Calloway and the band. She says to Bud that they were talking about him and wanted to know if he was okay with staying at the Calloway residence for a while. Bud tells Miss Thomas that he is extremely happy and thankful for the invite to stay with them. Miss Thomas then encourages him to stay positive around Herman and tells Bud that she thinks he is a godsend. Steady Eddie then asks Bud if he is attached to his suitcase, and Bud mentions that he is only attached to the contents inside. Steady Eddie then gives Bud his old alto saxophone case to put his mother's items inside. Bud thanks Eddie for the case and Dirty Deed tells Bud that he's glad to have him on board. The band then begins to discuss their rigorous practice schedule and Steady Eddie gives Bud another gift. He tells Bud that the band got him a recorder and explains to Bud that it will take a lot of practice until he becomes a good musician. Thug then suggests that the band give Bud a nickname to make him an official member. The band decides that Bud's new nickname will be Sleepy LaBone. Miss Thomas and the band made Bud feel welcome by not only inviting him to stay at Herman's home, but also by giving him a case and an instrument to play. The band also made Bud feel like a part of their group by giving him the nickname Sleepy LaBone.

My teacher gave us a project to do on Bud, Not Buddy, but there is a question I do not understand. It is due tomorrow. The question is as...

I can see why you had a hard time understanding how to do this essay. This assignment is not worded very well, but if you read between the lines you can understand what the teacher is asking. Let us deal with the two parts of the project each in turn: art and essay.

In regards to the art the teacher is asking you to produce by asking you to cut paper “into the shape of something that resembles the great depression,” my suggestion is that you cut the paper into the shape of an apple. Many poor people in big cities during the Great Depression became “apple sellers” in that they would pick apples for free and then sell them in the city for one cent to rich people who were lucky enough to have work.

In regards to the essay, I would use the introduction to talk about how children were often orphaned during the Great Depression due to the simple poverty to which their parents were subjected as a result of the Stock Market Crash. This led many children to wish and to hope that their parents were still alive and waiting for them. Even though Bud’s mother has died, Bud is one of these children who wishes for his father. I would then suggest body paragraphs based upon the items in Bud’s suitcase. One paragraph could be about the stones and reveal that the “stones with writing on them” are actually mementos from Bud’s mother revealing dates and places where Calloway played music. One body paragraph could be about the pictures, especially the one of Bud’s mother on the pony, and what it reveals about the pressure put upon her by her father (Calloway). A final body paragraph could be about the flyer in Bud’s suitcase including all of the details of Calloway’s performance and the reason why the flyer makes Bud think his father is still alive. It is the conclusion of the essay that could contain the strange request to “compare an item to something Bud had in his suitcase.” Because a conclusion should always introduce a new idea to the reader, how about comparing Little Orphan Annie’s locket to Bud’s stones? Just like Bud and his stones, Little Orphan Annie had half of a locket that she treasured above everything else because she believed that her parents had the other half.

Describe the significance of the five main characters in the novel Monster.

Steve Harmon is the novel's protagonist and narrator who is on trial for the robbery and murder of Aguinaldo Nesbitt. Steve is a self-conscious individual who struggles with his identity throughout the novel. Steve's participation in the crime is ambiguous, but he is eventually found not guilty.

Richard "Bobo" Evans is an unapologetic thug who admits to being involved in the crime. He accepts a plea bargain to testify against James King and Steve Harmon.

James King is the criminal who came up with the plan to rob the local convenience store. He recruits Bobo, Steve, and Osvaldo to help him commit the crime. He ends up being sentenced to twenty-five years in prison after he is found guilty of the robbery and murder of Aguinaldo Nesbitt.

Kathy O'Brien is Steve's attorney. She helps Steve by portraying him in a positive light throughout the trial. However, her reaction after Steve is found not guilty indicates that she believes he is guilty.

Sandra Petrocelli is the prosecuting attorney who labels Steve Harmon and James King as "monsters." She is relentless in her pursuit to convict James and Steve.

Why did Anne Bradstreet consider poetic devices essential when writing her poetry?

We have a lot of records on some poets. Some poets spell out their goals for their poetry in detail, explaining what they are doing and why. In other cases, we have more humble records, such as accounts of the difficulty a poet had capturing an image, or the experience that sparked a poem. With Bradstreet, we don't have this sort of record. She didn't theorize poetry or keep accounts of her struggles with composition. We must therefore work from two lines of argument to answer your question.

The first line of argument is general: how period poets wrote. Colonial poets like Bradstreet were part of a larger Anglo-American context. Colonial poets followed English models of the preceding century. These poets used poetic devices extensively, as did the other colonial poets, including Bradstreet. With this line of argument, you'd conclude by saying Bradstreet felt it was essential to use poetic devices in her poetry because that is what a poet writing in her time did. That's what poetry was. The best-known poets of that time (and the preceding decades) all used rhyme, regular rhythm, metaphor, and allusion.

A second line of argument comes from the evidence in Bradstreet's own work, like "The Author to Her Book." In that poem, she describes the process of writing poetry. Lines like "I stretched thy joints to make thee even feet" work both as metaphors and direct comments on poetry. Those "feet" are the feet a poet might walk on, but also the rhythm of poetry. In this line of reasoning, Bradstreet used poetic devices as the best way to communicate her meaning and create art.

What are facts about Stephen in Andrew Clements' The Report Card?

In Andrew Clements' The Report Card, Stephen Curtis is the best fried of Nora, the protagonist of the story. A protagonist is the main character of the story who grows and changes as a result of what happens in the story. Stephen is the type of student who has average learning abilities but works very hard, unlike Nora, who is a secret genius and doesn't have to work at all to be at the same level as everyone else. Nora admires Stephen because he is such a hard worker while also being a very patient and kind person. It's because she admires him that she devises her plan to earn poor grades in order to show those around her that school grades are not a true reflection of how smart or dumb a student is.

In fourth grade, Nora began noticing that Stephen, as well as all the other kids, started behaving differently in school. This is because they were expected to complete the Connecticut Mastery Testing (CMT), tests that determined placement in middle school. Nora explains that Stephen felt so pressured to do well, pressured by himself and his parents, that he did poorly on the tests. Because his scores on the tests were so low, he began seeing himself as "one of the dumb kids," which Nora knew was absolutely untrue (p. 24). Therefore, in fifth grade, Nora devised her plan to earn barely passing grades, grades that were much higher than his own, in order to show that grades really mean nothing at all, as she we see her inform Stephen in the following:

Bad test grades do not mean you are dumb, and I am not in trouble. (p. 49)

Stephen is also a very understanding person. Once he learns how smart Nora truly is and understands what plan she was trying to accomplish by earning bad grades intentionally, he is very quick to think of a joint plan together to undermine the school's competitive nature by spreading the word Nora is a genius while Nora at the same time continues acting like a regular kid.

How can I fill in the blanks in the following sentences describing Shakespeare's Macbeth?"Macbeth is the most violent tragedy. There are over...

According to this book of essays about Shakespeare's Macbeth (https://claireinglis.wikispaces.com/file/view/Macbeth+Comprehensive+Analysis.pdf ), there are "over 100 references to bloodshed," and "the number of dead bodies that are carried off the stage" makes this play truly astounding. 

Macbeth is indeed one of William Shakespeare's most violent plays because our tragic hero Macbeth murders many characters in the play directly or indirectly. Macbeth's unchecked ambition to become the king of Scotland drives him to commit many evil deeds. For instance, he murders the rightful and benevolent king of Scotland for the sake of taking the throne. Once he commits the murder, he never stops. He is obsessed with retaining his power and feels threatened that he may lose his position as the king. Some of the characters Macbeth kills are: Duncan, Duncan's two guards, Banquo, Lady Macduff, her family, Young Siward, etc.

The play is all about violence. Violence throws Scotland into chaos; however, it also saves Scotland when Macduff kills Macbeth in the final battle and restores order.

Violence definitely makes this play shocking and interesting at the same time, and the play implies that individual violence which does not benefit anyone, such as the one displayed by Macbeth, should not be excusable and tolerated.

In A Rose for Emily by Faulkner, what was Emily's father's generation?

In "A Rose for Emily" (Faulker), there is information in the story that allows us to infer that Miss Emily's father was part of the Civil War generation. We also know that the story was written in 1930, a mere 65 years after the war.  We are told that Miss Emily was given a dispensation for taxes, in perpetuity, upon the death of her father in 1894.  The Civil War was from 1861 to 1865, and Miss Emily, upon the death of her father, is clearly regarded as old enough to be the chatelaine of her deceased father's household. This means that certainly her father was old enough to have been alive during the Civil War and likely, actually, to have been old enough to have fought in it.  This is reinforced by the fact that Colonel Satoris, the mayor of the town, seems to have been a contemporary of Miss Emily's father, and he does treat her in a fatherly manner, including this dispensation of taxes for her.  He would not be called Colonel unless he had fought in the Civil War.  Furthermore, Miss Emily is buried in a cemetery of Civil War veterans, and it seems safe to assume she is being buried in a family plot, where her father must be, likely as one of those veterans. 

The following sentence is ambiguous. Provide two explanations which illustrate the different meanings of the sentence: I saw her duck.

The problem with this sentence is that it is unclear if I saw an animal ("her duck"), or if I saw her perform the action of ducking. Let's break each possibility down grammatically.

The first possibility: "duck" could be the direct object of the sentence. A direct object is the person or thing that receives or is affected by an action. In this case, the action is "saw," simple past form of "see." So, if I say, "I saw her duck," then I am referring to my encounter with the pet duck of some unnamed girl or woman. The phrase "her duck" takes the form of a verb complement. The complement is necessary in order to know what "I saw."

The second possibility: "duck" is used as a verb to express "her" action. In this sentence, "I" is the subject, "saw" in the main verb, and "her" is the direct object. "Duck" is the action I saw her perform.

This sentence could be revised for clarity in two ways: "She ducked" ('duck' is an intransitive verb), or "I saw her ducking," which transforms 'duck' into a gerund, or the thing I saw her doing.

What does Doon ask Lina, and what explanation does Lina give for taking Poppy in Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember?

In Chapter 17 of Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember, Doon, Lina, and Poppy make it safely in boats through the wild river ride to a walled off pool of water. They then pull to the edge of the pool where there is a rocky slope, and Lina, wading ashore to explore, finds a path to follow. But before they follow the path, they stop to eat. It is at this point that Doon says to Lina, "I saw the guards run after you. Tell me what happened. ... And what about Poppy? What did you tell Mrs. Murdo?"

Lina then explains how she was caught by and escaped from the guards and that, while waiting for the lights to come back on, she made the decision not to leave without Poppy. She further explains she "told [Mrs. Murdo] the truth," or what Lina hopes is the truth, which is that Lina is taking Poppy to safety. Before the lights went out for the longest time, Lina had thought leaving Poppy with Mrs. Murdo would be the safest thing to do, at least for a time. But, while standing on the roof of the Gathering Hall, waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the lights to come back on, Lina had realized the following:

There is no safety in Ember. Not for long. Nor for anyone. I couldn't leave her behind. Whatever happens to us now, it's better than what's going to happen there. (Ch. 17)

In other words, though Lina had thought differently at first, Lina had realized Ember was too much in peril to leave Poppy safely behind. Even though making the journey was more difficult with Poppy, she knew taking Poppy along was the right thing to do.

What are some reasons as to why a jury member would find James King guilty and Steve Harmon not guilty in the book Monster?

James King was the leading conspirator and served the primary role in the robbery and death of Aguinaldo Nesbitt. Lorelle Henry testifies that she witnessed James King get into an argument with Nesbitt before she left the store. Despite finding no fingerprints on the cash register or gun, Richard "Bobo" Evans informs the jury that he and James King went to eat chicken and split the money following the robbery. Osvaldo Cruz also admits to being intimidated by James and Bobo, which is why he chose to go along with the robbery. James King played a significant role in the crime and deserved to be found guilty of robbing and murdering Nesbitt.

Steve Harmon was an alleged accomplice in the crime. Bobo mentions that James King told him that Steve was supposed to serve as a lookout which is considered hearsay. Osvaldo Cruz also says that Steve was an active participant, but his testimony is not given serious consideration because he accepted a plea bargain. Lorelle Henry does not mention seeing Steve Harmon in the store, which is odd considering that Steve would have been in the store at that time. Steve also tells the jury that he was out looking for places to film during the robbery, and his teacher, Mr. Sawicki, testifies to Steve's upright character. In the eyes of a jury member, several criminals, two of which are accepting plea bargains, testify that Steve was an accomplice, while the only credible witness in the entire case says that she didn't see him. Steve would be found not guilty because of the lack of evidence and unreliable testimonies of Bobo and Cruz. 

How does George Orwell's historical life correlate with his novel 1984?

George Orwell became increasingly disillusioned with the way the communist revolution was unfolding in Russia in the 1930s and 1940s, which was turning to totalitarianism under Joseph Stalin. He felt the Stalinists had betrayed the revolution and deplored the terror and loss of freedom that characterized Soviet life in this period. He wrote 1984 as a cautionary tale to reveal the dangers of state tyranny. 

Additionally, Orwell's depiction of London in the novel was based on the reality, although somewhat exaggerated, of what the city looked like in the aftermath of World War II, when German bombing had devastated it and food rationing still existed, along with a shortage of consumer goods, and people still reeled from the aftermath of a major war.

Finally, the disintegration of Winston's health due to torture and starvation after his arrest mirrors Orwell's own devastating tuberculosis, which killed him shortly after he finished the novel.

Why did John Aycliffe have great power over the peasants in Crispin: Cross of Lead? How did he control their lives?

John Aycliffe had great power over the peasants because he was the steward of Stromford. In feudal England, a steward held a very important position; basically, in the absence of his lord, the steward was the de facto lord of the estate. He had the power to decide the fate of the villagers under his rule.

With Lord Furnival rumored to be dying, John Aycliffe's power was further reinforced by the Furnival family's need to announce a trusted successor before other claimants came forward. With this in mind, John Aycliffe immediately declared Crispin a wolf's head: his goal was to prevent Crispin, the illegitimate son of Lord Furnival, from claiming the title of lord. Since John Aycliffe was steward, he could order the death of any villager without fear that he would be called to account for his actions.

The text tells us that John Aycliffe effectively controlled the peasants by meting out draconian punishments for the smallest infractions. As 'judge, jury, and willing executioner,' John Aycliffe ensured that the villagers lived in constant fear for their lives.

In the absence of Lord Furnival, he was in charge of the manor the laws and the peasants. To be caught in some small transgression - missing a day of work, speaking harshly of his rule, failing to attend Mass - brought an unforgiving penalty. It could be a whipping, a dipping of the ear, imprisonment or a cut-off hand. For poaching a stag, John the ale-maker's son was put to death on the commons gallows. As judge, jury and willing executioner, Aycliffe had but to give the word and the offender's life was forfeit. We all lived in fear of him.

Is Portia the real hero of The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare?

In many ways, Portia is indeed the real hero of The Merchant of Venice. In spite of the fact that she's a woman, she claims more agency than almost any other character in the play. She initially laments her fate as a woman without choice: “O me, the word 'choose!' I may neither choose whom I would nor refuse whom I dislike.” Her now deceased father has set up a system to select Portia’s husband. She has no power to select or turn down the man who passes her father’s test. Even after death, Portia’s life is ruled by patriarchy--one that she chooses to honor.

Fortunately, Portia’s love, Bassanio, passes the test and wins her hand. She asserts that she will submit herself to him as her lord: “Happiest of all is that her gentle spirit / Commits itself to yours to be directed, / As from her lord, her governor, her king.” However, she is hardly a submissive character. Portia in fact exercises more agency and demonstrates more wit than the male Bassanio. She also supports him financially. When his friend Antonio is in trouble, she offers to give thousands of ducats to save him.

Portia’s heroism is on full display during the trial. She disguises herself as a male lawyer and single-handedly delivers Antonio from death. Portia uses logic and the law to defeat Shylock in court. Not a single man there was able to think of a legal way to save Antonio’s life. The duke, Bassanio, and Antonio do nothing but plead for mercy. Portia at first follows this trend, delivering beautiful speeches on mercy and justice. When that fails, she points out that Shylock cannot exactly fulfill his bond without breaking it and that Shylock is breaking the law by conspiring to kill a Venetian citizen.

Portia is the one who saves the day. She retains the upper hand in her relationships, in spite of her initially subservient position as a woman. Portia even tricks Bassanio at the end of the play in order to test his loyalty. It is certainly reasonable to call Portia the play’s hero.

How is The Masque of the Red Death romanticism?

This story is Romantic in that it focuses, to a great degree, on human imagination and emotion.  The descriptions of the masquerade's location, the seven rooms running from east to west, each decorated in a particular color scheme, are highly imaginative.  Prince Prospero is, clearly, creative and artistic if not courageous or wise.  Moreover, the masquers themselves are inventive to the point of being grotesque: they no longer seem human.  "There were much glare and glitter and piquancy and phantasm [...].  there were arabesque figures with unsuited limbs and appointments.  There were delirious fancies such as the madman fashions."  The revelers are dressed in odd, frightful, bizarre, and even terrifying ways as if to please the prince and match the imagination he has displayed in decorating the rooms.  The narrator even describes them as "dreams" more than once.

Further, the story likewise emphasizes the terrible emotions felt by the revelers when they hear the ebony clock in the last room, the room of black and red, strike.  This room is "ghastly in the extreme," and the masquers avoid it almost completely.  When the clock chimes, the prince's guests experience "disconcert and tremulousness" and seem to meditate on something that makes them "[grow] pale."  All the gaiety ceases most especially when the clock strikes midnight (symbolic of death).  Given that the fatal disease called the Red Death is raging outside, and the clock is black (symbolic of death) and sits in a black and red room (symbolic of death and blood), the chimes likely remind them of their own eventual and unavoidable deaths.  They try to avoid death, just as they avoid the room where the clock sits, but it is impossible to escape death forever.  

All of this focus on both human imagination and emotion is quite Romantic.

What could be included on a poster to illustrate the concept of loss of innocence in Lord of the Flies?

To make a poster showing the loss of innocence in Lord of the Flies, it might be helpful to think of before and after images. When the boys arrive on the island, they seem innocent, but they quickly allow their darker natures to take control. For example, at the beginning of the book, Jack stays his hand and can't kill a piglet that is caught in a thicket, but later he takes enjoyment from killing the sow. The conch is an important symbol in the book that represents how the boys all agree to follow rules. There is a counter image to the conch that occurs in chapter 12 when Ralph is on his own in the forest. He comes across the sow's skull on the stick--a symbol of the depths of depravity the boys have fallen into. He strikes it down and it breaks in two, but he doesn't smash it to smithereens like the conch has been smashed. The island itself changes as the boys change; at first it seems like a paradise with its pink granite cliffs and swimming hole, but by the end of the book, fire engulfs the island. At the beginning of the book, the boys were able to have happy meetings together, but by the end of the book, two boys have been murdered and a third is being hunted. Piggy's glasses in their unbroken state could represent innocence; at the end they are seen broken hanging from Jack's belt, and Piggy can no longer benefit from them because he is dead. To make your poster, think about ways, possibly symbolic, to represent these before and after images. For example, you could find a picture of boys playing on the beach together and then a picture of two graves with headstones or crosses to represent the murdered boys. 

What major historical event happened shortly before Kamala Markandaya wrote Nectar in a Sieve? Was it a) the Salt March b) the Sepoy Rebellion c)...

Since Kamala Markandaya's novel was published in 1954, the correct answer to your question would be India's independence, which occurred in 1947. Effectively, two hundred years of British rule was ended in that year, with British India divided into the nations of India and Pakistan.

Indian independence in 1947

The other three answers are not correct because:

a) Gandhi's Salt March occurred on March 12, 1930. The march was a protest against the British monopoly of salt production in India. Indians had to purchase salt at a significantly higher price from the British because they were not allowed to process salt locally. Gandhi hoped that his peaceful salt protest would focus Muslim and Hindu efforts on defying colonial rule instead of on sectarian infighting.

Gandhi's Salt March

b) The Sepoy Rebellion occurred in 1857. History tells us that the sepoys rose up against the rule of the British East Indian Company because they were angered by the British appropriation of power in local states/districts. With the growing presence of missionaries, the sepoys also became alarmed that the British may have been trying to convert all Indians into Christians.

The Sepoy Rebellion of 1857.

c) The Green Revolution in India occurred in the 1960s and the 1970s. This was a revolution in agriculture between 1967 to 1978 which propelled India to the forefront of agriculture production on the global stage.

The Green Revolution in India

What was the connection between increased trade in the Mediterranean and artistic output during the Renaissance?

The short answer is: money! 

During the Renaissance, trade by sea and land brought luxury goods to Europe, which were then sold for a profit. Hauling the thousands of pounds necessary to meet market demand was very difficult to accomplish on land. Improvements in navigation and shipbuilding enabled traders to travel much more quickly to far off places with exotic goods (like spices, silk, and precious metals) and return with hardly any increase to their burden. Once they arrived in port, the people who had commissioned the journey (wealthy merchants) or the travelers themselves would in turn sell their goods at marked-up prices. The increase in trade not only brought wealth to the Mediterranean, "stimulating" the economy-- it also provided the wealthy with enough money to invest in the arts.

Patronizing the arts was a way for wealthy individuals to "build up" or invest in their own cities, and such conspicuous consumption drove competition among the elite. With regards to religious art of the Renaissance, many of the people to have such works completed did so as a way of improving their standing with the Church or perception in society. Especially in Italy, a wealthy man might drink, gamble, and visit sex workers, but he could essentially clear his name and moral slate by paying for a very expensive piece of religious art to be created. 

Give an example of a reapting decimal where two digits repeat. Explain why your number is rational.

A rational number is any number that can be made by dividing two non-zero integers; in other words it can be written as a fraction p/q where p and q are integers.

This also means that any whole number, terminating decimal, or repeating decimal is a rational number because it can be represented as a fraction (of an integer divided by an integer). If the number cannot be represented as a fraction, then it is called irrational. Such is the case with pi and many radicals (or roots).

An example of a repeating decimal with two repeating numbers is

`37/99=0.37373737...`

This number is rational because it can be represented as a fraction of two integers, in this case 37 over 99.

To what extent is the Treaty of Versailles fair?

The Versailles Treaty actually was not fair on any level.  Even though an armistice ending the war, Britain still maintained a naval blockade of Germany, thus starving the country.  Germany was faced with two options--sign the treaty and suffer for decades paying off reparations, or hold out for better terms, and risk further ruin to the nation.  Germany was forced to accept all of the blame for the war, even though German leaders initially encouraged Austria-Hungary to act with caution and only fully mobilized when Russia mobilized their troops.  Many of the atrocities that were attributed to German soldiers on the Western front later turned out to be part of an Allied propaganda ploy meant to get America into the war sooner.  While the U-boat was initially considered a war crime, Britain also flouted maritime law by flying the flags of neutral vessels and shipping weapons of war aboard passenger ships.  Not only was Germany forced to accept the blame for this war and to pay reparations, but the nation had to do it while weakened due to manpower and industrial shortages, thus making the expectations more unrealistic.  

How does Alice Walker use the paratactic literary style in her stories from "In Love & Trouble"?

Parataxis, or the paratactic literary style, involves placing independent clauses or phrases next to each other without the use of subordinating or coordinating conjunctions. In Alice Walker's short story "Roselily," part of In Love and Trouble, she writes, "She dreams of ropes, chains, handcuffs, his religion. His place of worship. Where she will be required to sit with covered head" (page 4). Walker does not use conjunctions between the phrases; instead, they are placed loosely next to each other. Another example from "Roselily" is "She thinks of the air, the smoke, the cinders. Imagines cinders big as hailstones; heavy, weighing on the people" (page 5). Again, these clauses and ideas are placed loosely together without any coordinating or subjugating conjunctions. In paratactic writing, each clause has the same weight, as none are subjugated to others. This makes each thought in the writing important, as the ideas do not flow neatly together. It is used to provide pause and weight to each thought. For example, in the sentences above, the reader can concentrate on each word—such as "cinders," "hailstones," and "heavy," without having any of these words subjugated to the others.

How could the East and West End in Maniac Magee be compared and contrasted?

In the town of Two Mills, the East End is black and the West End is white.

Maniac runs away from his foster home after his parents die. The relatives who took him in were just not up for having a child. He is from Bridgeport. He finds himself in Two Mills, Pennsylvania, and it is a very segregated town. He has no idea about this when he first wanders into the East End, and Amanda Beale explains it to him.

"Where are you from? West End?"

"No."

She stared at him, at the flap-soled sneakers. Back in those days the town was pretty much divided. The East End was blacks, the West End was whites. "I know you're not from the East End." (Ch. 2)

It seems that the two groups do not mix much. If you are white, you simply do not live in the East End and you do not visit there. You do not socialize with the people there. Maniac realizes this more and more the longer he spends time in Two Mills, but he never really understands why. Race just isn’t that important to Maniac.

Maniac befriends Amanda Beale, and even moves in with her family. They are a good family, and he is thrilled to have a home and a real address. Unfortunately, the idea of a white boy living with a black family is not popular in Two Mills. The family is targeted with discrimination and Maniac leaves to protect them.

When Maniac meets Grayson, the old man who keeps the zoo grounds, Grayson is surprised he has lived with a black family. Maniac convinces him that the Beales are just like anyone else.

The old man stared. "You said Sycamore?"

"Yep."

"Ain't that the East End?"

"Yep."

With his fingernail, he scraped a path of dirt off the kid's forearm. He stared at it.

"What are you doing?" the kid asked.

"Seein' if you was white under there." (Ch. 22)

Other than the strict racial differences, the East End and West End of Two Mills are a lot alike. It is a working class town. The local children are steeped in legend. They add Maniac, the strange new kid, to their storytelling. He is odd, and seems larger than life. He is not afraid of Finsterwald’s, and he takes a bite of out Mars Bar’s candy bar. He races Mars Bar backwards and wins. He can untie any knot. He is a mystery and an anomaly, but really just a kid.

When did the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads came together?

As the United States expanded from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, the need for transportation across the country grew. In 1862, Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act. This law authorized the Central Pacific to begin building the transcontinental railroad eastward from Sacramento, California, and the Union Pacific to begin building westward from Omaha, Nebraska. The goal was to have these two railroad companies meet, which would complete the building of the transcontinental railroad.

Building the transcontinental railroad was a difficult task. There were several obstacles to overcome. The mountains made it hard to build the railroad. Unfriendly Native American tribes presented problems. The climate wasn’t always great for building a railroad. The hot summers and cold winters presented challenges.

Eventually, both companies completed laying the track, and they met at Promontory Point, Utah on May 10, 1869. The final spike was driven into the tracks. The building of the transcontinental railroad was now completed.

How is the injustice that Garrett faces in Boot Camp by Todd Strasser similar to the injustice faced by Aibileen and Minny in The Help by Kathryn...

In Boot Camp by Todd Strasser, the main character, Garrett, is treated with paternalism that is cruel in its intent. As he is being taken to a militaristic boot camp called Lake Harmony in upstate New York, the man transporting him tells him, "Your parents sent you to Lake Harmony because they love you" (page 2). His captors, or "transporters," tell him that they are bringing him to the boot camp for his own good, but his detention in the boot camp is a form of cruelty and imprisonment.

In a similar way, Aibileen and Minny, black maids in The Help, are robbed of their own free will and controlled by whites who state that they have Aibileen's and Minny's best interests in mind. As Aibileen says, "Sides stealing, worse thing you'n do for your career as a maid is to have a smart mouth" (page 17). Like Garrett, whose parents dislike his choosing his own relationships and charting his own course, Aibileen and Minny are supposed to do what their employers want and are supposed to keep their true thoughts to themselves. The white women who employ Aibileen and Minny decide on a Home Help Sanitation Initiative, which involves building outhouses for their black domestic help to use, because, as they state, "99% of all colored diseases are carried in the urine" (page 158). This is another form of paternalism. The white employers are treating their maids with disrespect but tell them it is for everyone's best interest. In this way, the white employers are similar to Garrett's parents in Boot Camp. 

`int_3^6 1 / (25 + (x-3)^2) dx` Evaluate the definite integral

To be able to solve for definite integral, we follow the first fundamental theorem of calculus: `int_a^b f(x) dx = F(x) +C`

 such that f is continuous and F is the antiderivative of f in a closed interval `[a,b]` .

 The `[a.b]` is the boundary limits of the integral such as lower bound=a and upper bound = b.

 For the given problem:` int_3^(6) 1/(25+(x-3)^2)dx` ,

it resembles the basic integration formula:

`int (du)/(a^2+u^2) =(1/a)arctan(u/a)+C` .

 By comparison: `(du)/(a^2+u^2) vs(1/(25+(x-3)^2))dx` , we may apply

u-substitution by letting:

`u^2=(x-3)^2` then `u = x-3`

where `a^2=25 or 5^2` then `a=5`

Derivative of u will be `du = 1 dx` or `du = dx` .

`int_3^(6) 1/(25+(x-3)^2)dx =int_3^(6) 1/(25+(u)^2)du`

Applying the formula:

`int_3^(6) 1/(25+(u)^2)du =(1/5)arctan(u/5)|_3^6`

Plug-in `u = x-3` to express the indefinite integral in terms of x:

`(1/5)arctan(u/5)|_3^6 =(1/5)arctan((x-3)/5)|_3^6`

Recall `F(x)|_a^b = F(b) - F(a)` then:

  `(1/5)arctan((x-3)/5)|_3^6 = F(6)-F(3)`

                 ` = (1/5)arctan((6-3)/5) -(1/5)arctan((3-3)/5)`

                `= (1/5)arctan(3/5) -(1/5)arctan(0/5)`

                ` =(1/5)arctan(3/5) -0 `  

                  `=(1/5)arctan(3/5) `   as the Final Answer.

Note: `arctan(0/5) = arctan(0)= 0 `  

since `tan(theta) = 0` when `theta=0`

How does Jane Austen use Lady Catherine to highlight the theme of prejudice?

Lady Catherine's wealth and status entitle her, in her own opinion, to order others around and judge them as she pleases.  When she learns of the rumored engagement between her nephew, Mr. Darcy, and Elizabeth Bennet, she immediately sets out to confront Elizabeth about the unsuitability of the match based on Elizabeth's lower social status.  While the rumor isn't true, it also isn't too far from the truth.  Lady Catherine doesn't care if Elizabeth would make her nephew happy; she doesn't care if he loves her.  Her main concern is what a degradation it would be for Darcy to marry Elizabeth, a prejudice she has based on her knowledge of Elizabeth's family and connections. Lady Catherine had heard about the behavior of Elizabeth's sister, Lydia, as well as her mother's lack of family status, and thus she believes that she can accurately judge Elizabeth based on that knowledge, without really knowing Elizabeth or what her relationship with Darcy is like.  Lady Catherine's prejudice against Elizabeth eventually alienates her from her nephew and his household after he and Elizabeth are married. 

How can you tell from the story that the policeman is Jimmy in "After Twenty Years"?

Jimmy's letter shows he was the policeman who conversed with Bob in the beginning of the story.

In the letter, Jimmy mentions he was on time to meet Bob. While speaking with him, however, he recognized Bob as a criminal wanted by Chicago cops. Jimmy asks a plainclothes officer to impersonate him because he can't bring himself to arrest a man he used to call a friend.

I didn’t want to arrest you myself. So I went and got another cop and sent him to do the job.

The contents of the letter make it clear Jimmy was the police officer. As we look back at the story, the letter explains why Jimmy asked how long Bob was willing to wait:

“I’ll go on my way,” he said. “I hope your friend comes all right. If he isn’t here at ten, are you going to leave?” “I am not!” said the other. “I’ll wait half an hour, at least. If Jimmy is alive on earth, he’ll be here by that time. Good night, officer.”

Based on Bob's answer, Jimmy may have concluded half an hour was plenty of time for another officer to impersonate him and meet with Bob.

Bob's answer also shows he still has some affection for his old friend, Jimmy. The men may not be close now, but past memories and shared experiences are often difficult to forget. This is perhaps the reason Jimmy sends another officer to do his job.

What are two main reasons the narrator of the first part of Frankenstein gives for why he is adventuring into the frozen north?

Robert Walton is attempting to reach the North Pole and he gives at least three reasons for doing so. He is curious to see a part of the world never seen by others, he hopes his discovery will benefit mankind, and he wants to gain glory for his discovery.

In a letter to his sister, Walton writes, "I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man." This desire to gain knowledge and explore untraveled land mirrors Victor Frankenstein's desire for knowledge and his unprecedented creation of human life. 

Walton goes on to say that this discovery will have an "inestimible benefit" for "all mankind." Victor Frankenstein also believed that his scientific discoveries will benefit humanity as his goal is to "banish disease from the human frame, and render man invulnerable to any but a violent death!"

Finally, Walton asks his sister, "do I not deserve to accomplish some great purpose? [...] I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my path." Similarly, Victor Frankenstein states, "Wealth was an inferior object; but what glory would attend the discovery."

Interestingly, both Walton and Frankenstein are traveling North, Walton to gain knowledge and fame, and Frankenstein to destroy that which he hoped would bring him the same.

What did Helen mean when she said, "Knowledge is love and light and vision" in The Story of My Life?

As a young girl, Helen Keller became deaf and blind due to an illness. Her life was plunged into darkness. Her parents were determined to seek help for her. They wanted Helen to get an education and to learn how to communicate. They sought expert after expert to find help. They were eventually told to contact Mr. Anagnos, who ran a school for the blind. It was through him that they found Annie Sullivan, the woman who became Helen's teacher. Miss Sullivan helped lift Helen from the darkness she had lived in for years. Helen looked back on this and described it using a metaphor:

Thus I came up out of Egypt and stood before Sinai, and a power divine touched my spirit and gave it sight, so that I beheld many wonders. And from the sacred mountain I heard a voice which said, "Knowledge is love and light and vision."

Helen compared her emergence from darkness to the Hebrew people escaping from Egypt. She also referred to Moses, who encountered God on Mount Sinai. She metaphorically heard a voice speaking to her. Through knowledge, Helen discovered "love and light and vision."