How does the law of conservation of mass apply to smoke?

The Law of Conservation of Mass is a physical law that states that the total mass of reactants is equal to the total mass of products. This means that one form of matter is just converted to a different form, and as long as nothing escapes the system before or after the reaction, the total mass of the entire system remains constant.

The Law of Conservation of Mass can easily be observed when the reactants are all solids and the products are all solid -- as there will be no molecule that will escape the system, even if the reaction, if possible, is performed in an open environment. Perhaps a similar scenario is mixing sugar in a glass of water. Assuming no evaporation and condensation, one can take the mass of the glass with water, and the mass of sugar. Then, sugar is mixed into the water. The mass of the glass with the sugar water in it should equal the first mass.

It becomes more tricky, at first glance, when dealing with gases. For instance, burning. Burning something results in the formation of ashes and smoke. This reaction, however, involves gases that can escape the system and thus not be directly measured or easily measured in terms of mass. Burning requires oxygen as a reactant, and burning in an open environment does not allow for calculation of the amount of oxygen involved. Then, after burning, smoke is generated -- smoke is a mixture of various gases like carbon monoxide and methane, and in some cases a mixture of hydrocarbons.

Hence, at least at first glance, it might appear to someone that the law does not apply or is violated, but it is in fact not violated if only the oxygen reacted and the smoked produced is accounted for. If this is done in a closed system where all reactants are controlled and the amount is known, and the gas produced is not allowed to escape, the mass throughout the reaction will remain constant.

In short: The law of conservation of mass applies to smoke. Smoke is generated by burning. Burning requires oxygen. It is the reaction of oxygen with the burned material and the production of ash and smoke. The law of conservation of mass states that the mass of the material and the mass of oxygen consumed is equal to the mass of all products, the mass of ashes and smoke.

In The Far and the Near, how does the engineer feel about the little house and the two women in the story?

In the story, the engineer views the two women and their little house as a "beautiful and enduring" inspiration to him; throughout his railroad career, he has always idealized the women and house as the epitome of innocence and perfection. The house has always had "an air of tidiness, thrift, and modest comfort" to it, and the women remind him of everything that is wholesome and good about the female gender.

The engineer had known much toil and trouble in his days. In his service, he had seen at least four tragedies unfold before his eyes. In looking back, he remembers the tormented and stunned faces of those facing death, as the train barreled towards them. He also remembers a body flung past his window after it was presumably hit by the train. Yet, throughout all these tragedies, the women and the house had always comforted him and given him the courage to continue in his work.

He remembers that he imbibed great happiness from seeing them every time his train passed by the women's house. So, he resolves to meet with them when his long years of service with the railroad is over. Alas, his meeting with the women is marred by reality. The women are not at all welcoming or pleasant. Instead, they are sullen, aloof, and hostile. When the engineer leaves them, he finds himself bereft of hope and joy. His path in life has suddenly become clouded and his future uncertain.

Why did Juliet consume the poison?

In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the main characters by these very same names intend to run away together because their parents forbid their love. They seek the help of Friar Laurence, who gives Juliet a sleeping potion which will make her appear to be dead. The plan is that once she is "dead" from the potion, she will be laid out in the family tomb, where Romeo can visit her and take her away. However, Romeo doesn't know the whole plan! Friar Laurence sends a letter explaining what should happen, but Romeo never receives it. Instead, he hears that Juliet is dead, and goes to her tomb to die alongside her. He drinks some poison he has brought, and moments after his death, Juliet awakens-- according to plan. She is so overcome by Romeo's dead body that she takes his dagger and kills herself with it.

Sometimes Juliet's sleeping potion is referred to as a poison, but as we see by the fact that she wakes, it was not a fatal one.

In respect to globalization, how has your global perspective been expanded over the past several years, and what has caused that expansion?

Our global perspective has expanded over the years for a variety of reasons. One way that our global perspective has expanded is with the growth of businesses beyond our borders. We are realizing that we must be competitive internationally. This has become painfully clear, as companies have moved jobs overseas to save on labor costs. Workers in some other countries, such as Mexico, China, and India, are paid less than American workers. This has led to jobs being shipped overseas, and/ or American workers having to take pay and benefit cuts. It also means our calls to customer service or technical support centers may not be handled in the United States.

Another example of our expanding global perspective can be seen in the increase in the number of terrorist attacks throughout the world. Many of these recent attacks have occurred in places that normally haven’t experienced these attacks. France, Belgium, and Germany are some countries where these attacks have occurred. These recent attacks have required our government and the American people to be very vigilant because these attacks could occur here in the future. The attacks on September 11, 2001, in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania made us realize we are vulnerable to possible terrorist attacks. The recent attacks have reminded us of this vulnerability. Fighting terrorism will take a global effort.

The impact of civil wars in other countries has also expanded our global perspective. We realize these conflicts create issues with refugees who want to come here to escape the strife in their homelands. We need to develop policies about how to handle these refugees. We also need to try to prevent the conditions that often help lead to the outbreak of civil wars. The issue with the Syrian refugees is one we are currently trying to face.

Finally, as we try to take actions to protect our environment, we realize this must be a global effort. Some countries have less restrictive rules regarding pollution. We are trying to work together with other countries to deal with issues such as global warming and pollution control. As the global climate changes, it will have an impact throughout the world. Global cooperation is needed to deal with these issues.

Explain what happens to the blood in the ventricles when the muscle in the ventricle walls contracts.

When blood enters the heart it first enters the atria, which are above the ventricles. The right atrium receives blood that is returning from the body and is low in oxygen. The left atrium receives blood that is returning from the lungs where it has just gained oxygen. The atria contract first and push the blood down into the ventricles.

The cardiac muscle in the ventricles is thicker and stronger, and when the ventricles contract, the blood is forced out of the heart. The blood from the right ventricle goes to the lungs to pick up oxygen, and the blood from the left ventricle leaves the heart through the aortic valve and the aorta. The blood will travel through the arteries that get progressively smaller until it is in the capillaries where diffusion will occur to bring oxygen and nutrients to the cells.

This is a continually cycling process that depends on precise timing of muscle contractions to keep the blood circulating smoothly.

What would be the consequences of trash becoming a biotic factor?

The consequences of trash becoming a biotic factor would be devastating for the environment. By definition biotic factor is a living organism which interacts with other organisms and the environment to shape it in some way. Entire ecosystems would crumble and life would drastically change for all living organisms.

Currently trash is an abiotic factor in the environment, meaning it plays a role but has no active relationship with other living organism through deliberate choice. Trash piles in the United States are largely contained in landfills in semi-urban environments. In 2013 the US had 1,903 landfills with nearly half of those in the western states. Some landfills are being used to generate a positive impact on the environment by producing energy through natural gas via decomposition of organic material.

One key factor of landfills is that they are contained areas for garbage collection. As a biotic factor the trash would hold some sort of decision making process and have the capability to interact with the world. Suppose a landfill in New Jersey decided it wanted to move to Texas? Or even just take up more room? As a biotic factor the trash might grow like a plant and have no direct communication, but may fight for its own survival which may clash with humanity. 

Such a factor is far fetched, but can help encourage people to think about recycling. Even local trash could create a problem if it becomes a biotic factor. Trash outside of a landfill may congregate in an area like the middle of wetlands or neighborhood to ensure its survival. One of the key points to remember is all living things have an instinct to thrive. Higher conscience animals such as human can forgo those instinct to a certain degree, but even on a biological level the human body was made to survive. Thus, trash would assume some such need to survive. How that need arises would be the problem.

Theoretically, trash would eventually find a balance in an ecosystem and the environment would gain stasis. However, not all organisms reach stasis through the same means. Viruses (there is still debate whether they are living or non-living), for example, will destroy a host before moving on to another target. The number of hosts exposed to infection will create stasis in the long run, but some hosts will die in the process. What happens if trash turns out to be more like a virus than a human?

What is the signal that Katniss and Rue use to alert each other that they are still safe?

The portion of the book that your question is asking about can be found in chapter sixteen.  Rue tells Katniss about the signal that she sends to the workers in her district.  The signal is a four note melody that Rue sings, and the mockingjays repeat the melody all around the orchard.   Rue teaches Katniss the four note mockingjay melody, and they agree to use the mockingjay four note sequence to signal that everything is okay.  

The book does not explain what the four notes are, but the reader is under the impression that Katniss uses those exact notes.  Interestingly, the movie has Katniss practice and use an entirely different four note signal from what Rue taught her.  Also Katniss doesn't sing the notes like Rue does.  Instead, Katniss whistles.  

Rue's four note melody in the movie is Db - F - Eb - Gb.

The four note melody that Katniss whistles in the movie is G - Bb - A - D. 

Explain the role of the “debt limit” and explain why the Congress has agreed not to deal with it until after 2016 elections.

The federal debt limit (often called the debt ceiling) is the amount of money that the US government is authorized to borrow.  The Constitution says that only Congress can authorize the US government to borrow money.  Therefore, Congress has to either A) authorize each specific debt that the government incurs, or B) authorize borrowing up to a certain limit.  For nearly 80 years, the government has chosen the latter option.  The debt limit, then, is a limit on how much the government can borrow.

Congress has put off dealing with the debt limit until March of 2017.  This is mainly because the debt limit has become so politicized and American politics have become so polarized.  Many Republicans have wanted to use the debt limit to force President Obama to cut spending.  They have tried to say that they will not raise the debt limit until he agrees to various concessions.  However, there are at least three major problems with this. 

First, raising the debt limit does not authorize any new spending.  It only allows the government to borrow so as to pay for things it has already authorized.  In other words, Congress is trying to force the President to cut spending by refusing to pay for spending that Congress itself has authorized.  Second, Republicans in Congress have made demands that they know that President Obama will never accept.  They have essentially, at times, demanded that Obama accept their entire agenda in exchange for them allowing the government to pay for debts it has already incurred.  Finally, if Congress refused to raise the debt limit, the effects could be catastrophic.  The US would, in essence, have to default on its debt.  It would have to refuse to pay back loans it had already taken out.  This could lead to a situation where the US would have to pay much higher interest rates to borrow money because it would no longer be seen as a good credit risk.

Because of these factors, the Congress decided to kick the can down the road.  They knew Obama could not agree to their demands and they knew that the country could not really afford to default on its debts.  Therefore, they gave in, hoping that by March of 2017 there will be a Republican president in office who will not block them from enacting the policies that they favor.

How has Constantine helped Skeeter grow up in The Help by Kathryn Stockett?

Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan grew up in the white high-society Southern culture of the 1950s and 1960s. Constantine was the black maid who served the Phelan family at the Longleaf estate. She basically raised Skeeter and her brother Carlton. She also became a confidant and friend to Skeeter. The young girl knew she couldn’t share her problems, dreams, or opinions with her own mother or father because they would wave off her worries or tell her they were unimportant. Skeeter could share anything with Constantine, though, and she knew she would receive support and decent, applicable answers. Skeeter reveals their relationship most in Chapter 5. When Skeeter once cried because classmates called her “ugly,” Constantine boosted her spirit and self-esteem. She made sure the girl knew she was a worthwhile person in her own right. When Skeeter began smoking cigarettes as a teenager behind her parents’ backs, Constantine quietly disapproved but warned her if her mother was approaching. Constantine even wrote to Skeeter when she went away to college at Ole Miss. They shared secrets with one another. They were friends, in spite of the way their culture expected them to behave. Skeeter was devastated to come home from college and find out Constantine had left the estate for good. She was the one person who would have understood Skeeter’s current dilemmas. The last line of the chapter reads: “I had to accept that Constantine, my one true ally, had left me to feud for myself with these people.” So from this point on, Skeeter has to draw from what she thinks Constantine would tell her if she were still here. In a way, the maid is still teaching her about life.

What were some of the problems facing the first settlers at Jamestown?

The first settlers at Jamestown encountered many problems. One issue the settlers faced was a lack of food. Part of the reason for this was that the settlers spent a lot of time looking for gold. They knew that if the settlement was not profitable, those who supported the establishment of this settlement would withdraw their financial support of it. As a result, not enough time was spent raising crops. Therefore, hunger was a big issue.

Along with a lack of food, there were other issues. The spread of disease throughout the settlement was one of these issues. Malaria led to the death of many settlers. The winters were also harsh. The settlers weren’t prepared for the harsh winters. This also led to the death of many of the settlers. With all of these issues, the death rate was much higher than the survival rate.

The settlement was also not successful financially. Eventually, the colony went bankrupt and was taken over by the King of England.

There were many problems with the settlement at Jamestown.  

What page did Curly say he wanted to shoot Lennie in the guts?

After the discovery of his dead wife, Curley becomes enraged and claims he will shoot Lennie in the "guts" in chapter five, page 96 (Penguin Books paperback):

He worked himself into a fury. "I'm gonna get him. I'm going for my shotgun. I'll shoot him in the guts. Come on you guys."

In chapter five Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife while the two are alone in the barn. After telling Lennie about her life, Curley's wife becomes comfortable with the big man and, after their discussion about petting soft things, she allows him to stroke her hair. Unfortunately, Lennie becomes too rough, and when the girl pulls away, he breaks her neck because he is unaware of his powerful strength. Candy first discovers Curley's wife and, obviously suspecting Lennie, quickly alerts George, who asks Candy to wait a few minutes before calling the other men. During this time, George steals Carlson's gun which he will later use to shoot Lennie. When the other men arrive on the scene, Curley, rather than mourning his wife, immediately seeks revenge against Lennie and organizes the men to find him. He tells them to "Shoot for his guts."

In 1865, former Confederate General Robert Richardson remarked that “the emancipated slaves own nothing but freedom, because nothing but freedom...

Yes, this is so true, and Eric Foner in his book about Reconstruction says the same thing.  African-Americans could not vote until 1870, and they were not even citizens until 1868.  They could not serve on juries, and many of them could not even read and had to rely on organizations such as the Freedmen's Bureau for their education and healthcare.  Racism still existed in the South, and many landowners took advantage of a bad situation by keeping the former slaves as impoverished sharecroppers who were technically free, but they owed so much money for their housing and tools that they could never leave.  Poor whites suffered the same way.  While I am not discounting freedom, as in 1865 the freeing of the slaves was a landmark event in American history; however, there was no set plan for assimilation, and it was a minority of a minority of abolitionists such as Frederick Douglas and Thaddeus Stevens who considered granting them full civil rights.  Even Lincoln was in favor of starting a freedmen's colony in Central America or the Caribbean or even sending the former slaves back to Africa.  While things were better in 1877 as technically the former slaves could vote, after the army left the South states passed laws such as poll taxes and literacy tests to keep the former slaves from voting.  There was also discrimination in employment as well.  There were also chronic attacks of white supremacist groups that happened in the South for the next hundred years, and lynching would be a major issue in the South and West. Conditions improved between 1865 and 1877, but not by much.  

The prevalence of warfare in West Africa increased with the expansion of trade with Europe. What was the main reason for this?

In the 16th century, the demand for African slaves by European colonial powers increased as England and Spain officially legalized international slave trade. One effect of this in West Africa was the expansion of warfare. Some local leaders, viewing the slave trade as an opportunity for profit, began engaging in constant warfare with neighboring groups in order to take captives to sell to European traders. A few West African states developed a thriving economy due to constantly taking prisoners of war from nearby states. Additionally, these leaders sometimes used the profit from selling war prisoners to buy guns and other weapons from European traders, which facilitated their ability to engage in constant war. Ultimately, the economic advantage experienced by some West African leaders was short-lived, as the slave trade devastated local populations and eventually the economy of all of West Africa.

What do we learn about the background and education of the signalman? Why are these important?

It is during their first meeting that the signalman reveals his background and education to the narrator. As a young man, for example, the signalman had ample opportunity to improve his life: he was a student of "natural philosophy" and "attended lectures," but he did not see his education through to completion. Instead, he chose to "run wild" and squandered these chances. This is how he came to his current profession, and he seems content with the choices he has made:

"He had no complaint to offer about that. He had made his bed, and he lay upon it."

While these details may seem irrelevant, they are important in validating the signalman's tale of events. Once we realise that the signalman is relatively well-educated, for instance, it makes it more difficult to dismiss his supernatural tale as a fabrication or a trick of the mind, as the narrator first suspects. This is effective in creating a mysterious and tense mood, as the reader realises that the ghost might indeed be real.

What is the conclusion of the novel Three Men in a Boat?

The conclusion comes in the final chapter, Chapter XIX. Thus far, the storyline has followed the three men and the dog in their journey along the River Thames in England. It had been their intention to go as far upriver as they could, toward the source of the Thames. They aimed to experience “a fortnight’s enjoyment on the river,” which meant that they should travel for two weeks. They still have two more days to go when a rainstorm prods them to consider their options. They could stop and have dinner on the boat or in an inn, and then stay overnight in the boat in the rain; or they could abandon the trip, take a train back to London, and have a better dinner and even take in a show at the Alhambra Theatre. They decide on the second. The four leave behind the boat and everything on it, and head back to the city, where they spend a wonderful evening. Even Montmorency offers “a short bark of decided concurrence” with the outcome.

What is a paradox that helps describe Macbeth from the play Macbeth? (Adjective/Noun. One word used in a positive sense, the other in a negative...

Macbeth is a suffering villain. While he responds to his "vaulting ambition" and attains what he so desires through bloody deeds, unlike most villains, who delight in their crimes, Macbeth suffers from the pangs of his conscience, from his fears, and, most of all, from the horrors of his imagination.

Not content to wait on the witches' prediction that Macbeth will be king, Lady Macbeth scolds her husband when he has misgivings about killing his kinsman, King Duncan, in order to become king. Berating him, Lady Macbeth calls him cowardly and urges him on until he commits the crime. But, before he does, Macbeth suffers from the workings of his fears and imagination as he thinks he sees a dagger before him:

A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain?....
And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,
Which was not so before. There’s no such thing.
It is the bloody business which informs
Thus to mine eyes (2.1.39-40, 47-50)

Then, after he commits the bloody dead, the horrors of Macbeth's imagination torture him more:

Methought I heard a voice cry, “Sleep no more!

Macbeth does murder sleep” (2.2.35)

Further, in Act III, Macbeth continues his bloody path since he feels that, having killed Duncan to become king, he must prevent anyone else from taking this kingship from him after he reflects,

For Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind;
For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered;
Put rancors in the vessel of my peace
Only for them; and mine eternal jewel
Given to the common enemy of man,
To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! (3.1.68-73)

Macbeth feels that he may as well eliminate Banquo and his heirs in order to hold his kingship as long as he can since no further crime is of real consequence. Thus, he will rule by terror, and he will be "bloody, bold, and resolute." However, the horror of his imaginings prevent him from such boldness and resolution. Consequently, Macbeth becomes paranoid and suffers from hallucinations and sleeplessness. Lady Macbeth, his doppelgänger, suffers the same fate.

The more that Macbeth sinks his arms into blood, the more horrific his imagination becomes. In Act III, for instance, he speaks of "the affliction of these terrible dreams/That shake us nightly...(3.2.18-19). Further, he suffers emotionally as well, feeling terrible guilt when he sees Banquo's ghost, and he is burdened with deep despair after Lady Macbeth's death.

In contrast to many villains, Macbeth suffers because he cannot conquer the psychological consequences of his crimes; so, he is consumed with guilt and self-doubt. He also suffers because of the conflict of his ambition, which propels him to murder, with his conscience, which cannot be content with his being a murderer.

How did the poet's use of language help to reveal something about relationships in the poem, "Digging" by Seamas Heaney?

"Digging" is a poem about the poet, his father, and his grandfather. The father and grandfather are depicted as men who did manual labor to make a living, whether that was digging turf (the grandfather), or farming potatoes (the father).  Ultimately, however, "Digging" is an exploration of how the poet has, indeed, followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and his father even though the tool he uses is not a shovel. 

The poem opens with a curious metaphor; the poet's pen is like a gun. We know that guns are powerful. How is a pen powerful like a gun? This question rests in the back of the reader's mind as the poet presents memories of his father and grandfather. 

Both of the poet's progenitors are presented as powerful, hard-working men who used shovels in their work. The father apparently learned how to use a spade from his father. Ireland has been, for many people and across generations, a difficult place to make a living. Various historical events and conditions have relegated many to a life of brute labor. One would expect the son, the poet, to be doing the same thing, yet he is with pen in hand, writing about his father digging a flower bed and remembering the years of potato planting. The reader wonders: What are the connections between the older men and the poet? 

The pen in hand, the one that is powerful like a gun, becomes, metaphorically, a spade. This is what the three men have in common. Poetry digs into everyday things to find the deeper meanings in them and deeper connections between them. On the surface it looks as if there are few connections between the older men and the poet, yet when you look past the surface, which Heaney does through metaphor, a pen becomes as powerful as a spade. Language is like a gun; words can cause people to soar and they can send people to deepest despair. When a poet digs deeply, he or she can have a profound influence on others by causing them to rethink the familiar. Implicit to the poem is the poet's apparent hope that he is as good a digger as the men who came before him. 

Is it true that Disney's The Lion King more closely parallels Hamlet than MacBeth?

I would say that you're correct: it is true that Disney's The Lion King more closely parallels Hamlet than Macbeth. Consider, for instance, that both The Lion King and Hamlet involve a prince struggling to avenge the murder of his father and depose his treacherous uncle. Just as Claudius murders King Hamlet to gain power over Denmark, Scar murders Mufasa to take control of Pride Rock and the territory it controls. Following this act of treachery, Simba works to avenge his father's death and defeat his uncle, just as Hamlet tries to kill Claudius. It's true that The Lion King has some similarities with Macbeth (both involve characters who murder their way into power), but it's ultimately much more similar to Hamlet, especially since Simba parallels Hamlet rather than Macbeth.

That said, there are differences between The Lion King and Hamlet, especially in terms of the endings. The Lion King ends on a happy note with a victorious Simba taking control of Pride Rock, while Hamlet ends with the death of most of the play's main characters, including Hamlet himself. In this way, we can clearly see that Disney changed some details in order to make the story more kid-friendly. Since Hamlet is undeniably tragic and violent, this move is pretty understandable. 

In Brave New World, why do the women whip Linda?

The women whip Linda so she will stay away from “their men.” 

Linda is from the main community, but she is living on the Reservation with the “savages.”  She hates it there.  She doesn’t understand them, and they do not understand her—especially the women. 

Linda is attacked by a group of “savage” women for sleeping around. 

Linda was on the bed. One of the women was holding her wrists. Another was lying across her legs, so that she couldn't kick. The third was hitting her with a whip. Once, twice, three times; and each time Linda screamed. (Ch. 8)

When John, Linda’s son, asks her why they are whipping her, she says she doesn’t know.  She doesn’t understand why the women would be upset that she was sleeping with their mates.

"I don't know. How should I know?" It was difficult to hear what she said, because she was lying on her stomach and her face was in the pillow. "They say those men are their men," she went on … (Ch. 8)

For Linda, sleeping with multiple people was a fact of life.  It was in fact expected in her society, and if you didn’t do it you were considered odd.  The concept of monogamy is not only unheard of but frowned upon.

When John calls Linda “mother,” she slaps him, saying, “I'm not your mother. I won't be your mother.”  She complains about being turned into a savage.  In the civilization Linda came from, “mother” is a foul word, considered obscene.  This is because everyone is born from a test tube.  Just as having one mate is unacceptable, having a child the natural way is considered immoral.

Linda ended up on the reservation when Tomakin, The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning, brought her there and left her because she was pregnant, which would be a great scandal back home.  Linda took precautions but still ended up with John, a situation she cannot tolerate.  This is why she both loves and hates John.  She has some motherly instincts, but he reminds her of everything she has lost.

Describe the setting and its significance in "Games at Twilight."

The setting of the story is a large garden somewhere in India. 

The general, broad setting is in India.  That's never stated, but the details about tea time and brown skin colors lead readers to know that the story is taking place in British ruled India.  All of the names in the story hint toward India as well.  

More specifically, the setting is in a large garden with a white wall, beautiful bougainvillea plants, and gravel walkways.  The story takes place in the afternoon of a very hot day.  Those details are important because it explains why the children have been cooped up inside all day, and it explains why they are so anxious to get out.  The garden is a big, wonderful playground, and the kids are straining to be let out to play.  

"Please, ma, please,'' they begged. "We’ll play in the veranda and porch—we won’t go a step out of the porch.''

After the children are released, they begin playing hide-and-seek. Once the game begins, the story moves its setting from the garden to the garden shed.  The story's protagonist, Ravi, uses the shed for his hiding spot.  He remains in the shed until very late in the day.  By the time that he emerges, the other kids have forgotten about him and moved on to playing a different game. 

What happens to the piano at the end of "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan?

At the end of “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, the piano becomes a very special and symbolic gift.

The piano sits unused at Suyuan’s house for many years. On Jing Mei’s thirtieth birthday, her mother offers the piano to her as a gift. From the mother’s point of view, the gift can be viewed as a peace offering from mother to daughter.  

At first, Jing-Mei perceives the piano to be a prize in the mother-daughter stand-off, and it remains at her parents’ apartment. After her mother’s death, she has the piano tuned, and during one of her visits she decides to play. When she opens the bench, she finds the piece she attempted to perform at the ill-fated recital that led to the irreconcilable differences between the mother and daughter. Jing-Mei sat down at the piano and realized she was able to play “Pleading Child” with relative ease. She then attempted to play the song on the other page of music. At that point, she comprehends the symbolism of how the two melodies were related.

It had a lighter melody but with the same flowing rhythm and turned out to be quite easy. "Pleading Child" was shorter but slower; "Perfectly Contented" was longer but faster. And after I had played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song.

Where can I find examples of the horrors of war, the effects of war on the soldier, and nationalism in All Quiet on the Western Front?

Chapter 6 in Remarque's work is a good place to find evidence of how World War I impacted the soldier.

Remarque shows the transformation of the soldier in World War I. One instance in chapter 6 where we can see the effects of war on the solider is when Paul writes about Himmelstoss's reaction to battle.  At a point where all of the soldiers leave the dug-out to participate in the conflict, Paul notices that Himmelstoss does not follow the others:

When we run out again, although I am very excited, I suddenly think: "Where's Himmelstoss?" Quickly I jump back into the dug-out and find him with a small scratch lying in a corner pretending to be wounded. His face looks sullen. He is in a panic; he is new to it too. But it makes me mad that the young recruits should be out there and he here. 

Himmelstoss's reaction to war is what makes him refuse to go out and fight. His "panic" and "sullen" appearance shows war's effect on him. He has become a shell of who he used to be. Paul's reaction is to beat him, another example of war's violent effect on the soldier.

As Paul continues to describe the fighting, he reveals the horrors of war. When Paul writes about war, he reveals its true nature:

We see men living with their skulls blown open; we see soldiers run with their two feet cut off, they stagger on their splintered stumps into the next shell-hole; a lance-corporal crawls a mile and a half on his hands dragging his smashed knee after him; another goes to the dressing station and over his clasped hands bulge his intestines; we see men without mouths, without jaws, without faces; we find one man who has held the artery of his arm in his teeth for two hours in order not to bleed to death.

This excerpt displays how war is not glorious. The physical horrors of war are revealed in descriptions of "skulls blown open" and soldiers running on "stumps" where there used to be legs.

At this point in the narrative, Paul has recognized a hollowness to nationalistic calls to war. He knows that love of country cannot offset the terrifying reality of war. We can see this approach to nationalism in the opening of chapter 6. When the platoon passes by a line of coffins that have been newly made, one of the soldiers suggests that the coffins are not for them. However, Paul knows better when he says, "The coffins are really for us. The organisation surpasses itself in that kind of thing." Paul's approach to nationalism is seen in how he recognizes that, at this point in the conflict, the only thing that the nation can do well is prepare its young soldiers for death. Nationalism is seen in the way Paul suggests that the "organization" understands what to do regarding the death of its young. With this, Paul links the death of soldiers to national identity in World War I.

What is an example of situational irony in Chapter 1 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Situational irony can be defined as the occurrence of an event when a completely different outcome was expected. An example would be where an individual purchases a firearm to protect himself against crime and is killed with the same weapon when he is attacked.

In chapter one of To Kill a Mockingbird, the best example would be related to Jem, Dill, and Scout's fears regarding the Radley house and its infamous resident, Boo. The three were quite apprehensive about the dangers of going near the house and were paranoid about the idea of entering the premises. All sorts of pernicious rumors existed that Boo Radley was evil and that he would harm those who made contact with him. It was imperative, therefore, that no one should, in any way, seek him out or offend him, for they would become victims of his malevolence.

Dill challenged Jem to enter the Radley place. He eventually relented, as a matter of pride, to accede to his request since he had to prove he was not a coward. The result of his action, though, did not achieve the expected outcome, as the following quote illustrates:

Jem threw open the gate and sped to the side of the house, slapped it with his palm and ran back past us, not waiting to see if his foray was successful. Dill and I followed on his heels.

Safely on our porch, panting and out of breath, we looked back. The old house was the same, droopy and sick, but as we stared down the street we thought we saw an inside shutter move.

The only response they received was the slight movement of a shutter, not the conflagration they expected.

Flick. A tiny, almost invisible movement, and the house was still.

When 5.20 g of salt is added to 5000 g of water, what is the concentration in parts per million (ppm)?

Hello!

Parts-per-million notation (ppm) is used for expressing small dimensionless quantities, usually ratios of mass to mass, volume to volume and so on.

In our problem, there are `5.20 g` of salt and `5000 g ` of water. Probably the ratio of mass to mass is required, although we can find densities of salt and water and calculate the volume to volume ratio, too.

The ratio `(5.20 g) / (5000 g)` is equal to `0.00104` (dimensionless). In other words, there are `0.00104` parts of salt for one part of water. Therefore there are

`1,000,000 * 0.00104 = 1040`

parts of salt for one million parts of water.

And this is the answer: the mass concentration is 1040 ppm. It may be expressed as 1040 ppm g/g also to avoid the confusion between masses and volumes.

Why is the narrator crying after Doodle shows the family how he can walk in "The Scarlet Ibis"?

The narrator cries after Doodle demonstrates that he can walk because he is proud that he has taught his brother to be able to do so. Also, he is somewhat ashamed because he has instructed Doodle from the selfish motives of being embarrassed by Doodle's failure to walk at age five.

It [teaching Doodle to walk] seemed so hopeless from the beginning that it's a miracle I didn't give up. But all of us must have something or someone to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine.

In James Hurst's story, when Doodle is born, the narrator is mortified that his baby brother is not normal. William Armstrong is "an invalid" and must lie on a rubber sheet. But, when the baby pushes himself up and recognizes his brother and smiles, the narrator takes some interest in him. Then, after his baby brother learns to turn himself over and later to crawl, the narrator determines that Doodle must learn to do normal things. The narrator/brother becomes so embarrassed to be pulling Doodle around in a cart when he is five that he becomes determined that Doodle will walk.

In Beowulf, what does Beowulf do when he hears about Grendel? Why is the Danish guard concerned about Beowulf's arrival?

When Beowulf hears that Grendel has been terrorizing Heorot, he decides to travel there to lend his aid to Hrothgar. This explanation begins on line 194. Beowulf is said to be beloved by the Geats, and they don't begrudge him his desire to help someone not of their own people. 

The Scylding guard sees Beowulf arrive on the beach with the fifteen men that he has brought with him, and all of them are wearing armor and carrying shields and weapons. The guard goes to them and demands of them their names and purpose; after all, Beowulf and his men have not been announced, nor do they have any kind of password or sign to convey their peaceful intentions toward the Scyldings, and so the guard has to assume they have arrived for the purpose of raiding. However, he immediately notices Beowulf's noble appearance, contrary to what one would expect of a raider, which may explain why he gives Beowulf the opportunity to explain himself. 

In the following sentence from Lyddie by Katherine Paterson, what does the word ravenous mean? What does this sentence show about Lyddie's...

“Ravenous” in this context means really wanting something.

The word “ravenous” means very hungry.  This might be a literal hunger.  You might be ravenous after you have been running around all day without eating.  However, it can also be used figuratively, to mean that you really want something.  This is the way Lyddie uses it.

Lyddie has never really been to school.  This does not mean she wants to be uneducated.  She just never had a chance because she was always taking care of everyone at home.  Her mother was too unstable.

When Lyddie gets her job at the factory, she makes friends with the other girls at the boarding house.  She particularly enjoys it when Betsy reads to her from Oliver Twist.

She fought sleep, ravenous for every word. She had not had any appetite for the bountiful meal downstairs, but now she was feeling a hunger she knew nothing about. She had to know what would happen to little Oliver. (Ch. 10) 

Betsy tells Lyddie that she met Charles Dickens once when he visited her factory.  She does not want to hear that story.  She wants Betsy to read more.  She is not interested in the author.  She wants to know what happens to Oliver. 

Lyddie has a hunger for learning, as if the books could really nourish her.  She is feeding her mind rather than her body.  The story appeals to Lyddie because she feels like she has been orphaned and had a hard life too.  She hangs on every word because she can’t wait to find out what happens. 

Lyddie uses this book to teach herself how to read and write more proficiently.  She values the book both for its story and for the fact that she is improving her education.  When she writes letters, she checks her spelling and grammar against the book.

`x^2 + 5y dy/dx = 0` Find the general solution of the differential equation

Recall that an ordinary differential equation (ODE) has differential equation for a function with single variable. A first order ODE follows `(dy)/(dx) = f(x,y)` .

In the given problem: `x^2+5y(dy)/(dx)=0` , we apply variable separable differential equation in a form of  `f(y) dy = f(x) dx` .

Move the `x^2` to the other side: `5y(dy)/(dx)=-x^2`

 Transfer the `(dx)` to the other side by cross-multiplication: `5y dy=-x^2 dx`

Apply direct integration: `int5y dy=int-x^2 dx`

Apply the basic integration property: `int c*f(x) dx= c int f(x) dx` .

`5int y dy=(-1) intx^2 dx`

Apply Power Rule of integration: `int x^ndx= x^(n+1)/(n+1)` .

 `5*y^(1+1)/(1+1)=(-1) * x^(2+1)/(2+1)+C`

`(5y^2)/2=-x^3/3+C`

Multiply both side by 2/5, we get:

`(2/5)(5y^2)/2=(2/5)(-x^3/3+C)`

Note: `(2/5)*C = C` since `C` is an arbitrary constant.

`y^2=(-2x^3)/15+C`

`y=+-sqrt(-(2x^3)/15+C)`

In "The Haunted House in Royal Street" by George W. Cable, how would you describe the chain of events that led to Madame Lalaurie's eviction from...

According to New Orleans history, Madame Lalaurie was one of the most celebrated French-Creole socialites in the city during the 1800s. Her husband was a Dr. Louis Lalaurie. The couple was wealthy, influential, and widely admired.

However, the Lalaurie home held terrible secrets, and for generations after, came to be considered one of the most haunted houses in the French Quarter of New Orleans. It appeared that, upon discovery of her sadistic nature, Madame Lalaurie came to be hounded by enraged citizens and was eventually evicted from the city itself.

One of the first events to occur was the death of a young African American slave girl of about eight years old. According to a neighbor, Madame Lalaurie was chasing the girl with a cowhide whip, when in order to escape her cruel mistress, the girl ran up to the rooftop. The poor girl later lost her footing and fell to her death. The neighbor noted that a little later, the broken body of the child was buried in a hastily-made shallow grave. For her actions, it was said that Madame Lalaurie only incurred a fine. As the girl was a slave, not much was done to punish Madame Lalaurie for her actions. Although the sheriff made a show of selling the rest of her slaves, Madame Lalaurie's relatives managed to bid for them and to stealthily sell them back to her.

As the narrator proclaims, "to the people's credit...public suspicion and indignation steadily grew." In fact, not a few of the couple's friends began declining dinner invitations to the Lalaurie home. Public indignation still grew "when one day, the 10th of April, 1834, the aged cook,— she was seventy,— chained as she was, purposely set the house on fire." Rumor had it that Madame Lalaurie's chief cook was always kept chained to the stove. Meanwhile, the fire led to a discovery that was to so repulse certain influential people of the city that Madame Lalaurie never recovered her reputation again.

At the height of the fire, many men rushed into the Lalaurie mansion; their aim, of course, was to help anyone who might still be inside the house. However, the men soon discovered such horrific evidence of Madame Lalaurie's cruelty that before day's end, the people of New Orleans began to "hoot and groan and cry for satisfaction." The worst discovery was of a slave who "had a large hole in his head; his body from head to foot was covered with scars and filled with worms!" Others were found chained down with heavy irons, and some were already dead from their horrific injuries.

As the people of New Orleans clamored for justice and vengeance, Madame Lalaurie (with the help of her black coachman) managed to get into her carriage and to escape the clutches of the enraged crowd. Undaunted, the people chased Madame Lalaurie's carriage through the city and tried to overturn her carriage. However, the carriage was going too fast for the stampeding crowd. Madame Lalaurie eventually reached the shore of the lake and was able to escape in a rented schooner.

Maddened by its failure, the crowd chased down Madame Lalaurie's carriage, broke it to pieces, and then killed the coachman and the horses. For the rest of the day, the people of New Orleans ransacked, defaced, and destroyed the Lalaurie home in revenge for her cruel acts:

The place was rifled of jewelry and plate; china was smashed; the very stair-balusters were pulled piece from piece; hangings, bed-ding, and table linen were tossed into the streets; and the elegant furniture, bedsteads, wardrobes, buffets, tables, chairs, pictures, "pianos," says the newspaper, were taken with pains to the third-story windows, hurled out and broken...the debris was gathered into hot bonfires, feather beds were cut open, and the pavements covered with a thick snow of feathers.

Accordingly, neither Madame Lalaurie nor her husband ever showed their faces in New Orleans again. By the actions of the people, the infamous couple had been well and truly evicted from the city.

Why was a vote taken in the middle of Old Major's speech? What was the distinction being argued about?

The vote is taken regarding rats to settle the distinction between their status as the animals' comrades or their enemies.

After Old Major gives his reasoning behind the need for the animals to rebel, and before he tells about his dream, there is an interruption requiring a vote: some rats had appeared and were promptly chased by the dogs, so it's apparent that the animals need to decide whether to include wild animals in their newly established union.

At this moment there was a tremendous uproar. While Major was speaking four large rats had crept out of their holes and were sitting on their hindquarters, listening to him. The dogs had suddenly caught sight of them, and it was only by a swift dash for their holes that the rats saved their lives. Major raised his trotter for silence.

‘Comrades,’ he said, ‘here is a point that must be settled. The wild creatures, such as rats and rabbits — are they our friends or our enemies? Let us put it to the vote. I propose this question to the meeting: Are rats comrades?’

Keep in mind that up until this point, Old Major had spoken as if all the animals needed to consider each other "comrades," like close friends or brothers, in order to rise up against the tyranny of humans. But rats and rabbits are animals, too, even though they're not actually residents of the farm: so is it okay for the dogs to chase and kill the rats, or should the animals treat those rats as friends? That's the distinction being argued.

In the vote that takes place immediately, "an overwhelming majority" of the farm animals believe they should, in fact, treat rats and rabbits and other wild creatures as friends rather than enemies. This leads Old Major to state authoritatively that "Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend."

This episode should leave you with something to think about. What could be foreshadowed by the dogs' sudden chasing of the rats? Probably division within the ranks. And, since the dogs were outvoted, does it mean they will go along with the new decree to treat rats as friends, or will they just continue to hunt them? Has order really been established or just the appearance of order? To what extent will these votes and agreements really control some of the animals' behavior, or for how long? As you can see, the issue of the rats foreshadows trouble for the animals' new alliance.

What kinds of factories did the North have during the Civil War?

Many different industries flourished in the North before the Civil War. Perhaps the biggest, and most lucrative, was the industry that spawned the Industrial Revolution in the United States--the textile industry. Centered in the Northeast, it employed thousands of people, including women and many immigrants. Other industries prospered, including the railroad industry, which was perhaps the fastest-growing in the Union. The railroads in turn created demand for steel, iron, and coal, each of which were also important to the Northern economy, and even petroleum, which was first desirable as a lubricant for machine parts and for heating and light. While far more Northerners remained engaged in agriculture than any other economic pursuit, the North's industrial base gave it a distinct advantage over the South, whose economy revolved around cash crop agriculture. The production of war material, in addition to the transportation advantages provided by the railroads, were important factors contributing to the North's eventual victory. The more industrialized North also featured a much larger population, supplying the army with manpower, and its farms, geared more toward the production of foodstuffs than staple crops for export, helped keep Northern armies well-fed. 

According to Marx, what is the role of culture in maintaining the relations of production?

According to Karl Marx, culture is the way in which humans negotiate and reproduce the relationship between economy and ideology. The "means of production" so often referenced have very much to do with culture. Unfortunately, culture is also the level at which class inequality occurs and is acted out.

Think of it this way:

• 
  Ideology structures ideas about the world. Much of Marx's writing was critical of pre-Revolutionary European society. Most pre-Revolutionary European societies were ordered by the ideology that there were three natural classes of people-- the nobility (who profited,) the laborers (or poor peasantry,) and the Church (who reinforced this God-given order.) Ideology like this claims that it is natural for the economy to be skewed in favor of a small group of people, and this is made a reality through culture.


• 
  Culture involves all of the actions and objects used by people to create and recreate their world. This is where most of the disparity of class occurs. For example, a poor peasant in pre-Revolutionary Europe would be working in the fields, using a plow, with most of their goods and services being sent to the benefit of the nobility. Their children would live this life, in similar material circumstances if not the very same their parents lived in. On the other hand, the nobility lived quite privileged and leisurely lives. The means of production (including labor, raw materials, and tools) exist and work on this level.


• 
  Economy deals with the flow of goods and service as justified by ideology and (re)produced by culture. Economic disparity (often co-occurring with class disparity) occurs when most or all of a surplus of valuable goods or services is available to some and not others. Pre-Revolutionary Europe saw an economic disparity characterized by almost all of the wealth being concentrated in the hands of very few nobles.

Culture serves to negotiate the relationship between economy-- the flow of goods and services-- and the ideology which justifies this flow. This negotiation can include reproduction, where people continue to participate in the established system, or revolution, where it is overthrown by one group or another. "Seize the means of production" is a rallying cry for people living in an economic, cultural, and ideological reality where they do not have personal agency over their own labor and the goods they produce. Though revolution such as this is enacted on a cultural level, it has profound and lasting effects on the economy and ideology of a society.

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, what are some different character traits possessed by the young lovers?

Romeo is quite emotional and rather impulsive.  For just about the entirety of the first act, Romeo is moping around and pining away as a result of his unrequited love for Rosaline.  His father says that he weeps every morning, "augmenting the fresh morning's dew," and shuts daylight out.  Even when his friends try to cheer him up and get him to crash the Capulets' party with them, he moans about how he doesn't feel like it.  Further, the day he marries Juliet in secret, Tybalt challenges him, and though Romeo initially refuses to fight, when Tybalt kills Mercutio, Romeo impulsively murders Tybalt in the street where everyone can see.  Had he been even a little thoughtful, he would not have done this (knowing the punishment is death).  Then, later, when he learns he's been banished, rather than be grateful, he cries some more and considers death a better alternative.  He seems, in many ways, immature as a result of his emotional volatility.  

Juliet, on the other hand, is often the more practical of the two, and she is very dedicated and loyal.  She is the one who suggests marriage, and tells Romeo how to proceed to get news to her (via the nurse she sends to him).  She braves her father's awful temper and terrible threats when he orders her to marry the County Paris, and she opts for a frightening plan to fake her own death in order to be with Romeo instead.  Even after Romeo rashly slays Tybalt, she remains loyal to him.  Her loyalty to Romeo -- despite his defects -- really drives the plot forward though it, sadly, also leads to the play's tragic end.

How would you summarize the book Playing for Keeps by Warren Goldstein?

Playing for Keeps: A History of Early Baseball was published by Cornell University Press in 1989. An expanded twentieth anniversary edition includes additional material uncovered in the intervening twenty years. The book is especially notable for its extensive use of archival sources. Its author, Warren Goldstein, PhD is (as of 2016) Professor of History and Chair of the History Department at the University of Hartford. He is a prolific author of popular books and magazine articles on topics pertaining to life in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century United States as well as articles on sports, especially baseball.

The book is organized into a prologue, eight major chapters, and an epilogue. It traces the history of baseball from its development into an organized sport in 1857, with the founding of the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP), through its increasing professionalization in 1870, marked by the formation of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. He sees baseball in the 1850s as being based in amateur clubs that were part of the male social fabric of local communities; by the 1870s, baseball was a business for both athletes and managers. 

In many ways, this is a cultural history, showing how fandom worked in tandem with economic opportunism to professionalize what had been a club sport played by amateurs who were often skilled workers. In this initial phase, the fraternal clubs sponsored baseball as one of several different wholesome recreational activities. The combination of fan enthusiasm and commercialization of ticket sales shifted the emphasis from recreation and players enjoying themselves to winning in order to please audiences and thereby increase ticket sales and profits. This in turn led to increased professionalization of players. 

The book's approach is distinguished by an emphasis on the sociological and economic underpinnings of the sport rather than simply focusing on player biographies.

`int_0^(1/sqrt(2)) arcsinx/sqrt(1-x^2) dx` Evaluate the definite integral

We have to evaluate the definite integral:

`\int_{0}^{1/\sqrt{2}}\frac{arc sinx}{\sqrt{1-x^2}}dx`

Let `t= arcsinx`

Differentiating both sides we get,

`\frac{1}{\sqrt{1-x^2}}dx=dt`                 (Since we know that `\frac{d}{dx}(arc sinx)=\frac{1}{\sqrt{1-x^2}}`

Now when x=0, t=0

and when      `x=1/sqrt(2)` , t= `\frac{\pi}{4}`   

Hence we have,

`\int_{0}^{1/\sqrt{2}}\frac{arc sinx}{\sqrt{1-x^2}}dx=\int_{0}^{\pi/4}tdt`

                      =`pi^2/32`

In "The Open Window," why is it significant that Framton Nuttel is described as undergoing a "nerve cure"?

In the story, Framton Nuttel is described as undergoing a "nerve cure." This is significant because it highlights Framton's hypochondriac tendencies and foreshadows his later, agitated response to Vera's elaborate story. In other words, this mention of Framton's "nerve cure" sets the stage for how Vera's story will affect Framton. Thus, our enjoyment of Saki's story will definitely be heightened when we read of his paranoid actions later in the story.

Accordingly, Vera concocts a gothic story about Mrs. Sappleton's husband and two brothers, all supposedly lost three years ago when they became "engulfed in a treacherous piece of bog" while snipe-hunting. Vera ends the story on an ominous note, musing that, on quiet evenings, she sometimes imagines that the three men will walk in through the tall French window that overlooks the lawn.

Meanwhile, Framton later bores Mrs. Sappleton with anecdotes about his numerous "ailments and infirmities." He attests that the doctors have ordered "an absence of mental excitement, and avoidance of anything in the nature of violent physical exercise" for him. Subsequently, the irony is apparent when Mrs. Sappleton's husband and two brothers do eventually walk in through the French window. Framton's nerves are then so violently excited that he cannot make his getaway fast enough.

Framton grabbed wildly at his stick and hat; the hall door, the gravel drive, and the front gate were dimly noted stages in his headlong retreat. A cyclist coming along the road had to run into the hedge to avoid imminent collision.

In The Last Lecture, what was Randy talking about when he said that he was stronger than anyone else?

In The Last Lecture, Randy argues that despite the cancerous tumors riddling his body, he is in better shape than most of the people in the audience.

Randy's assertion is made at the start of the lecture. He wants to address "the elephant in the room."  People are there to listen to his "last lecture."  He knows the pressing issue for the audience is that they are listening to someone dying: "This is what it is."  However, Randy does not want the audience to feel bad for him.  He believes their pity will get in the way of his message.  In a way to both allay their fears and generate some much needed humor after seeing CT scans of his many tumors, Randy claims that he is stronger than most of the people in the audience:  “I am in phenomenally good health right now...  I mean, the greatest thing of cognitive dissonance you will ever see is that I am in really good shape. In fact, I am in better shape than most of you.”

Randy proves his strength by dropping to the floor and giving successive pushups.  This makes the audience laugh and applaud.  Randy's assertion of being stronger and in better shape than the audience members brings out the "cognitive dissonance" that underscores Randy's lecture.  There is always more than what we see on the surface.  For example, while Randy might be dying of cancer, he is in the best shape of his life.  While we might normally think that a "last lecture" would be morose and sad, what Randy delivers is the opposite.  In this way, we might think that Randy, being a terminal cancer patient, is weak and debilitated.  However, with his affirmation of strength, he proves there is always more than what we perceive.

What are some statements related to themes in The Road by Cormac McCarthy?

The Road depicts a post-apocalyptic world without giving the details of what kind of apocalypse occurred, or how it happened, or why. In this way, one major theme that emerges from this novel is that human nature in the face of adversity is fairly consistent, regardless of the cause or characteristics of that adversity. There are a few examples that illustrate this. For example, the very title refers to the theme of movement, and to the idea that life is a journey. Cormac suggests that, even in the face of extreme hardship, it is human nature to keep moving forward, whether symbolically (by being strong and resilient, and maintaining hope for the future) or physically (moving to a physical destination). Human nature in the face of the challenges in this post-apocalyptic world seems to also be related to a person's inherent personality or values: some people are selfish and cruel, and others are kind and compassionate.

But there is also a suggestion that one's inherent nature can shift in the face of difficulty. Even as The Man struggles to care for his son with kindness and courage, he is moved to become as ruthless and mercenary as the people he meets along the way. In order to survive, he must begin to think more like they do. He even becomes cruel: humiliating the thief who tries to take their food, and leaving him helpless, instead of offering to share.

Cormac invites the reader to ponder this central question: are human beings able to hold onto their inherent nature through all struggles, or does their nature shift to accommodate circumstance? This suggests a theme of adaptation and survival. That theme relates to an unspoken question: what will be the future of this world where food and creature comforts have become so scarce? Will humans be able to adapt to living in it?

What perspective does Mayella Ewell give during her testimony in the courtroom n Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

When Mayella Ewell takes the witness stand in Chapter 18 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella makes several statements that contradict other testimonies.

First, when asked to testify by the prosecuting attorney, Mr. Gilmer, she begins sobbing, saying she is afraid Atticus will discredit her like he discredited her father, "tryin' to make him out lefthanded." Interestingly, her statement makes it sound like it is untrue her father is left-handed, yet Atticus didn't "try" to do anything; Bob Ewell very clearly proved to the court he is left-handed by writing with his left hand, a very critical point in discrediting the Ewells as reliable witnesses.

Second, Mayella testifies that she had asked Tom Robinson to chop up an "old chiffarobe" to use as kindling and went into the house to pay him a nickle when he followed her inside and attacked her. She further testifies that moment was the only time she had asked Robinson to perform an odd job for her. However, according to Robinson's testimony, she had asked him to do the favor "last spring, way over a year ago" (Ch. 19). Since that day, Robinson had performed odd jobs for each time she asked.

Mayella further testifies that Robinson had knocked her unconscious and the "next thing [she] knew Papa was in the room a'standing over [her] hollerin' who done it, who done it?" (Ch. 19). However, her statement contradicts her father's previous statement, who testified that he rushed to the house as soon as he heard her screaming and, through the window, actually saw Robinson attacking Mayella.

Finally, when Atticus asks Mayella to explain how Robinson could have managed to rape her, hit her in the right side of her face, or strangle her, she is unable to answer since she knows Robinson is crippled in both his left arm and hand.

According to the preface of Night, has Wiesel's perspective shifted in any way over the years?

In looking at Night and its Preface, it is clear that Wiesel remained committed to his insistence on compassion.

I tend to think that reading Night should precede reading its Preface.  Doing so provides a frame of reference that shows how Wiesel's perspective had not changed over the years.  If anything, it hardened into believing now more than ever that the information presented in Night is of vital importance.

Wiesel's perspective about compassion did not change over the years.  In Night, he shows a tremendous amount of compassion.  He includes voices like Moshe the Beadle and Madame Schachter in his narrative, people who were silenced by human indifference.   He pays attention to the weak and those who suffer, such as when he talks about remembering the faces of the slaughtered children.  He displays an acute sensitivity to moments where individual pain and suffering illuminated the Holocaust's horror. These ideas are also emphasized in the book's Preface:  

There are those who tell me that I survived in order to write this text. I am not convinced. I don't know how I survived; I was weak, rather shy; I did nothing to save myself. A miracle? Certainly not.

If heaven could or would perform a miracle for me, why not for others more deserving than myself?

It was nothing more than chance. However, having survived, I needed to give some meaning to my survival. Was it to protect that meaning that I set to paper an experience in which nothing made any sense?

Wiesel does not consider his survival extraordinary.  In the Preface, he displays compassion towards the millions of others who were not saved.

The empathetic need to "bear witness" to human suffering defined Wiesel's life.  He felt a responsibility to speak out against genocide because he was saved. His life's writings, thinking, and advocacy emphasized the dangers of indifference.  They also highlight the moral implications of silence when action must be taken.  Time had not diminished his sensitivity to the pain that others experienced. His compassion was present when he wrote Night, a virtue that he never abandoned.

What is the United Nation's role in maintaining world peace?

The United Nations plays a role in maintaining world peace. This is done in several ways.

One way the United Nation’s maintains world peace is by trying to resolve issues that arise with other countries. The United Nations will study global events and then make recommendations. If the recommendations aren’t followed, the United Nations may issue sanctions against a country. These sanctions could include travel sanctions and economic sanctions. It is possible that the United Nations will also take military action against a country. The United Nations will create a multinational force to deal with a crisis. For example, in 1950, the United Nations created a multinational force, led by the United States, to remove North Korea from South Korea. This action was required when North Korea, unprovoked, invaded South Korea and wouldn't leave. North Korea nearly succeeded in taking over South Korea. However, with help from the United Nations and the multinational force, this action by the United Nations was successful as North Korea was forced out of South Korea.

There are other the ways the United Nations can help to maintain world peace. One way is by bringing those who are responsible for criminal activities to trial. For example, Slobodan Milosevic was put on trial for war crimes he was accused of committing in the former Yugoslavia. Another way is by engaging in diplomacy. The Secretary-General of the United Nations and other representatives of the United Nations will work with countries to try to resolve their differences peacefully. For example, the United Nations has worked to bring peace to the Middle East.

The United Nations has worked to improve people’s lives. This work has included helping people who have experienced a natural disaster as well as helping to fight the spread of diseases. It has also worked to bring clean drinking water to people who don’t have it. The United Nations wants to try to eliminate the conditions that might lead people to consider going to war.

There are many steps the United Nations can take to maintain world peace.

In Ayn Rand's Anthem, why do Equality's teachers disapprove of his quick mind?

Within the first few pages of Ayn Rand's Anthem, Equality speaks about growing up in the society in which he was born. His experiences with teachers during his schoolboy years are significant to the story because this is when he learns that he is different from other boys. For example, he remembers that lessons in school came to him easily. In fact, he is so bright in school that he can predict what teachers say about lessons before they finish explaining certain concepts. Being intelligent and able to learn things easily sets Equality apart from his brothers, which also places a figurative target on his back because it is a crime to be different or better at anything in this society.

Equality isn't just different, though; he is superior to his schoolmates. Superiority is worse than simply being a little bit different. Superiority means that Equality has in him the capacity to become someone great, and this scares his teachers. Again, in this entirely equal society, no one is allowed to be better than anyone else. Equality explains as follows: 

"It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them. The Teachers told us so, and they frowned when they looked upon us" (21).

Equality also receives "lashes" when the teachers feel as though he is exhibiting any superior traits at school. The teachers try to keep Equality's individuality and intelligence under control so he cannot upset their society with his differences. The whole society exists under the following motto:

"We are one in all and all in one.

There are no men but only the great WE,

One, indivisible and forever" (19).

Their government, which favors society's needs over those of individuals, does not like to see anyone thinking or acting differently from the others. Individuality leads to self-promotion, ambition, and inequality; therefore, the teachers, who are an extension of the government, do their best to squash Equality's divergent tendencies in order to keep their society functioning as one equal whole.

How can I encourage adults and children to enjoy art?

Encouraging children and adults to enjoy art comes down to one major step: getting them to understand that being a "good" artist is not necessarily a matter of natural talent or an inherent "gift," but rather the result of consistent, dedicated practice. Many people do not enjoy making art simply because they are afraid that their work will be judged or evaluated negatively, or that their work will be compared to the work of others in a derogatory light. Fear stands in the way of many potential artists, as well as the pressure to make something "beautiful."

Help your adult and child students develop good habits as artists. Instruct them to put a discipline in place to practice their craft. Ask them to work on their particular form of art for a manageable amount of time (say, fifteen minutes or so) every single day. What they draw, sculpt, sketch, or paint doesn't have to be shown to anyone; it may be kept private. In this way, they will be so consumed with practicing at a safe distance from critical eyes that they will naturally both lose their inhibitions and improve over time!

What does Ray Bradbury mean when he says through Faber, "The book has pores"?

Faber, an older dissident Montag meets, values books and reads them even though they are illegal. When he says books have pores, he means good books are filled with "texture," details and ambiguities that encourage people to think. Faber says the pores can be put under a microscope, by which he means examined and pondered, and

The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more `literary' you are. That's my definition, anyway. Telling detail. Fresh detail. The good writers touch life often.

Faber goes on to state that people turn away from the "pores" because the pores can reveal uncomfortable truths about life and force people to look at things they might not want to face. The giant view screens, in contrast, show only the "pretty," superficial side of life, Faber says, and work to keep people from asking questions. The televisor, he says, "tells you what to think and blasts it in."

Faber thinks it is important for people to wrestle with the "pores," the uncomfortable and sometimes ugly details in books that show us reality, rather than to be numbed by media that simply show a neat, uncomplicated, tidied-up version of reality.

What is primary data?

Primary data is information collected from the original or first-hand source. In the field of accounting, primary data is collected from source documents such as receipts, bank statements, pay slips, and cheques, whereas in economics and other fields of studies, primary data is collected from surveys, experiments, and field studies.

An advantage of using primary data is that the information collected is for a specified purpose. This means that the questions and documents used are created in a manner that allows for the collection of data relevant to the specified purpose. 

Primary data is subsequently used in secondary sources such as textbooks, research projects, statistical reports, and other published materials. Primary data is typically raw data. In contrast, secondary data is usually collected from several sources and recounts past events reported in primary sources. Furthermore, secondary data is usually analyzed, interpreted and presented in a simplified manner for greater understanding by the readers.

How does Cassius persuade Brutus against Caesar in Julius Caesar?

Cassius persuades Brutus against Caesar because he convinces Brutus of Caesar's tyrannical characteristics and his desire for absolute power.

When Caesar returns to Rome, having already defeated Pompey, he moves before the crowds, who want to crown him. He is offered a laurel three times, and is loath to refuse it. At this time, Cassius tells Brutus that many of the most respected Romans, "groaning under this age's yoke" (1.2.63) (the tyranny of Caesar), wish that he "had his eyes" (1.2.64); that is, they perceive better what is occurring.

Then, as Brutus hears the crowd cheering, he says that he fears Caesar has been made king by the people. Cassius replies to him that if this is what he fears, "then must I think you would not have it so" (1.2.84). Brutus replies that he loves honor more than he fears death and would like to know what Cassius has to tell him. Hearing this, Cassius takes advantage of Brutus's great love of honor, saying that "honor is the subject of my story" (1.2.94).

Cassius then launches into a soliloquy in which he describes the "feeble temper," or weak physical condition of Caesar, and he asks Brutus if such a man should become the sole leader of "the majestic world" (1.2.158) when this has not been the intention before (Rome has had triumvirates). To add emphasis, Brutus describes Caesar as a Colossus who stands over the Romans. He then reminds Brutus of his own ancestor of the same name who would not have permitted a sole king to rule:

Oh, you and I have heard our fathers say,

There was a Brutus once that would have brooked

Th' eternal devil to keep his state in Rome

As easily as a king.(1.2.160-164)

Finally, to further convince Brutus, Cassius forges letters, supposedly from different nobles, that indicate that Caesar must be assassinated; these letters are placed where Brutus will surely find them.

In the story "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote, who is Buddy's best friend?

In "A Christmas Memory," seven-year-old Buddy's best friend is his "sixty-something"-year-old distant cousin, a woman Buddy describes as "still a child." The implication is that she is unable to live on her own and must be looked after by other relatives with whom they live and whom he calls "those who know best." Buddy and his cousin are closely bonded and interact with the others as little as possible. In later adaptions of this semi-autobiographical story she is called Sook, but in the original story Buddy refers to her only as "my friend." Buddy narrates the story in the present tense, but at the end he has grown and left their home for a military school and keeps in touch with his friend through letters and packages until she slips into dementia and eventually passes away.

An open box is to be formed from a square sheet of metal 3 feet on a side by cutting equal squares out of the corners and bending up the flaps....

You need to create the volume function, hence, you need to write the formula of volume of the box, such that:

V = width x length x height

width = length =` 3 - 2x`

height = x

`V = (3 - 2x)(3 - 2x)*x => V = (3-2x)^2*x => V = 9x - 12x^2 + 4x^3`

You need to find the dimensions of the box if the volume is the largest possible, hence, you need to evaluate the derivative of the volume function, such that:

`V'(x) = 9 - 24x + 12x^2`

You need to set the derivative function equal to 0, such that:

`9 - 24x + 12x^2 = 0 => 3 - 8x + 4x^2 = 0`

`4x^2 - 8x + 3 = 0`

Using quadratic formula yields:

`x_(1,2) = (8+-sqrt(64 - 48))/8 => x_(1,2) = (8+-sqrt16)/8`

`x_(1,2) = (8+-4)/8 => x_1 = 12/8 = 3/2 = 1.5`

`x_2 = 4/8 => x_2 = 0.5`

You need to select the solution x = 0.5 because x = 1.5 falls outside the domain for x.

width = length = `3 - 2x = 3 - 2*0.5` => width = length = 1

Hence, evaluating the dimension of the box, under the given conditions, yields width = length = 1 and height = 0.5 ft.

How did a knight's position influence his everyday life?

The knight was expected to protect his lord or king so his daily life was organized around that responsibility.  While he was expected to offer military service at least forty days a year during periods of peace, most of his days were driven by the desire to train.  On a daily basis, the knight would hone his riding and fighting skills.  He would also be expected to understand the latest military and warfare strategies.  As the Middle Ages progressed, the knight was expected to be more cultured and would have to practice dancing and other activities to demonstrate chivalry. Another responsibility, and the major source of income for a knight, was to manage his estate.  Daily inspections and other maintenance of the estate were also common for knights in the Middle Ages.  

`int (x + 4)6^((x+4)^2) dx` Find the indefinite integral

`int(x+4)6^((x+4)^2)dx=`

We will make substitution `u=(x+4)^2.` Differentiation the substitution gives us `du=2(x+4)dx.`

Now we rewrite the integral.

`1/2 int 6^((x+4)^2)2(x+4)dx=`

The above integral is equal to the starting one because `1/2` and `2` cancel out. Now we use the substitution while.

`1/2int6^udu=1/2cdot6^u/ln 6+C` 

To write the final solution we simply return the substitution i.e. we put `(x+4)^2` instead of `u.`

`6^((x+4)^2)/(2ln6)+C` where C is a constant                                                                                  

What psychological truth does the poem "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe present?

"The Raven" presents the psychological truth that human beings are always trying to mitigate or palliate our fear that death really is the end.  The narrator begins the poem by describing his attempt to distract himself from his sorrow over the death of his lover, Lenore. Then, when he hears a knocking at the door and opens it to find that no one is there, he whispers her name into the night, as if hoping that it were her spirit returned from the dead. Thus, he clearly wants to believe in some kind of afterlife, some place and time where he can be reunited with her since they cannot be together in life.

When the narrator suggests that the raven might be from "'Night's Plutonian shore,'" he refers to the Underworld (Pluto = Hades, god of the Underworld, and Night = symbol of death). He wonders if the raven is a messenger from this place, a place where there would be some continued existence after death. He asks later if "'within the distant Aidenn'" he will once again be able to hold Lenore; here, he refers to Paradise (Aidenn = Arabic for Eden) or Heaven. He wonders if a heaven exists where his soul will live on and once more be united with Lenore. However, the raven continues to tell him "'Nevermore'" whenever he proposes the possibility of any life after death, making him feel desperate and angry and sad. Ultimately, he says that the raven, now symbolic of the idea that death really is the end, casts its "shadow on the floor" and that his "soul from out that shadow [...] / Shall be lifted — nevermore!" Now that the narrator is assured that there is no life after death, he can never hope for a reunion with Lenore, and his life is cast into darkness by the knowledge that she is truly gone and that one day he will be too.

Who is Thomas in the book Gathering Blue?

Thomas is a teen-aged boy who functions as the special woodcarver for Kira's community. Even before Kira comes to live at the Council Edifice, she knows about him. He is called Thomas the Carver, and he is a gifted woodcarver who carves decorative items for "the elite of the village." When Kira moves into the Edifice, Thomas comes to see her. They become friends. As they compare their stories, they realize that each of them is an artist; Thomas has amazing skill with wood just as Kira has with thread. 

Thomas reports that both his parents were killed at the same time--being struck by lightning. Kira is surprised at that unlikely event, and with good reason. Later Kira realizes that the guardians, or perhaps only Jamison, has been gathering the young artists together to perform his bidding. He has been responsible for the deaths or disappearance of Thomas's, Jo's, and Kira's parents. Thomas was brought to the Edifice at such a young age that he is actually content being a prisoner of the guardians. He believes, accurately, that his life in the Edifice is much better than a life in the village would have been, so he doesn't let his captivity bother him. Still, he has lost something by working for the guardians. When he first came to the Edifice, he was mischievous, "just like Matt." Now, however, he's satisfied to have "better tools than we did before. Good food. Work to do." 

Thomas is a foil for Kira. Although they are both artists, he doesn't think deeply about his role or why things are the way they are. Kira's depth of insight is more notable when compared to Thomas's complacency.

What events happen in Chapter 31 of Maniac Magee?

Maniac and Grayson celebrate a happy Christmas together, and five days later, Grayson dies.

In this chapter, Maniac is living in the band shell equipment room with Grayson, the elderly zoo groundskeeper. Maniac and Grayson wake up early Christmas morning and go out. They visit their tree and the zoo animals. Maniac even gives the buffalo presents. It is magical because there is snow on the ground.

When they return, they exchange presents. Each of them gives the other things of great personal meaning. The gifts are not expensive store-bought presents, but gifts of sentimental value.

Maniac has been teaching Grayson how to read. He made him a book for Christmas.

As in all happy Christmas homes, the gifts were under the tree. Maniac gave Grayson a pair of gloves and a woolen cap and a book. The book did not appear to be as sturdy as the others lying around. The cover was blue construction paper, and the spine, instead of being bound, was stapled. (Ch. 31) 

Grayson gives Maniac his old glove, in addition to a brand new baseball. Maniac is very touched. He knows that Grayson used to be a baseball player, and giving Maniac the glove means a lot to him. The glove is something he values that he can pass on to Maniac. 

The boy could not take his eyes off the glove. The old man could not take his eyes off the boy. The record player finished the "Christmas Polka" and clicked off, and for a long time there was silence. (Ch. 31) 

It is a good thing that the two of them get to have this meaningful Christmas, because it will be their last one. Five days after Christmas, we learn, Grayson is dead. This is obviously quite unexpected. We learn in the next chapter that he just does not wake up one morning.

What are the main similarities of Dickinson and Whitman?

At first glance, you would think there would not be many: Dickinson wrote comparatively tiny poems that fiercely articulated a turbulent internal life; her intended audience, if there was one beside herself, was surely very small. Whitman's work, on the other hand, is epic in scope, expansive in theme, and all-encompassing in the audience he hoped to reach. Dickinson was all but unknown in her life; Whitman, on the other hand, courted a kind of celebrity, styling himself the “good gray poet.” Dickinson knew about Whitman, but (as far as we know) never read him – she did not approve of his subject matter.

One of the great “what ifs” in literary history is what would have happened if these two had read each other, because for all their differences they are linked by influence, subject matter, and their formal approach to meter.

• Dickinson and Whitman both came to define a new and distinctly American poetic voice--one that was decidedly personal, and that celebrated the individual.


• Both poets deal with many of the same themes, such as the individual’s relationship to nature, death, love, or the idea of personal freedom (although their takes on these ideas can be quite different).


• Both poets embraced free verse and wrote poems that were formally unlike almost all other contemporary verse – think about Whitman’s excessive line length, or Dickinson’s penchant for eccentric punctuation or lines that seem to stop in the middle of a thought.

It’s easy (and fun) to generalize (as I am) about how these two compare. But the fun really starts when you start looking at the poems. Dickinson’s famous poem about death,

Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality

(Read the whole poem here. It's quite short.)

can be contrasted with Whitman’s famous lines about death from "Song of Myself": 

What do you think has become of the young and old men?
And what do you think has become of the women and children?

They are alive and well somewhere,
The smallest sprout shows there is really no death,
And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it,
And ceas'd the moment life appear'd.

All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.

It’s easy to see the differences in poetic practice here – Dickinson is focused inward, while Whitman is addressing his reader directly; Whitman is openly optimistic, while Dickinson is pensive. But both share a confounding (and expansive) view of their own mortality – a sense that, through poetic expression, that are somehow able to get outside of their selves, and outside of mortality itself; for both, their perspective is – for lack of a better word – other-worldly. I think in the end, Dickinson would agree with Whitman’s comment about how “lucky” it is to die.

What evidence would you cite to defend the actions of Papa in Chapters 11 and 12 of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry?

Papa was justified in setting fire to the cotton because he was trying to protect his family and the Averys. 

Papa had to do something because things had become very serious.  The Wallaces were determined to hang as many of them as they could in response to the robbery of the Barnetts.  Starting the fire was a desperate but necessary act.

T.J. arrives injured at the Logan house in the middle of the night.  As Cassie listens to Mr. Morrison, T.J. shows up. He explains that he has been beaten up by the Simms.  He says something is “busted.” 

“Tell me how come they did this to you.”

“’Cause... ’cause I said I was gonna tell what happened.”

Stacey and I looked at each other, then together leaned closer to T.J. “Tell what?” we asked (Ch. 11).

T.J. is worried because he thinks his father will throw him out if he finds out, so he went to the Logans for help.  Stacey makes him explain what happened, and he tells them that he and the Simms boys broke into the store and attacked the Barnetts, where he stole a pearl-handled pistol.  When T.J. said that he was going to tell what happened, the Simms boys turned on him. 

The children go to T.J.’s house.  They see the Wallaces drag the Averys out of their house.  They even attack T.J.'s brother Claude, injuring him badly. The children are frightened and want to get help.  The Wallaces see T.J. and drag him out.  He still has the gun from the store and they know he was one of the robbers. 

Mr. Jamison arrives at this time, and the Wallaces are annoyed he is interrupting.  They tell him not to interfere, and he says that Hank Wade, the sheriff, is on his way.  Wade tells them Mr. Granger does not want any hangings on his place.  Stacey asks Cassie to go get her father. 

Cassie tells her father what happened, including what happened to Claude.  He is worried because Stacey is still there.  Papa starts to get a shotgun, but Mama argues with him. 

“You fire on them and they’ll hang you for sure. They’d like nothing better.”

“If I don’t, they’ll hang T.J. This thing’s been coming a long time, baby, and T.J. just happened to be the one foolish enough to trigger it. But, fool or not, I can’t just sit by and let them kill the boy. And if they find Stacey—” (Ch. 12) 

Papa has a problem because his son is in danger and he does not want the Averys to be hanged. How does he stop the violence without causing more himself?  Mama is right.  Shooting would just elevate the situation and make things even worse.  It would also make Papa at fault.  The justice system does not favor people of color; it favors the whites. 

Papa leaves, telling Mama he will do what he has to do, and so will she.  He has an idea, but does not tell her what it is.  They smell smoke and realize the cotton is on fire, presumably because the lightning hit it. 

The children are watching the fire when Jeremy Simms arrives. He had been sleeping in a tree and saw the fire.  He tells them his father is helping put out the fire.  

Jeremy looked rather shamefaced, and shrugged. “Well, anyway, I was and I smelled smoke. I knew it was comin’ from thisaway and I was ’fraid it was y’all’s place, so I run in and told my pa, and him and me we come on up here over an hour ago” (Ch. 11).

The children are stunned white people would be working together with them.  They now have a bigger problem than lynchings.  Besides destroying the Logans’ crop, the fire could spread to other people's lands.  At that moment, everyone has a common goal to put out the fire. 

Papa’s solution to end the violence is to burn his own cotton.  That crop is very valuable, but not more valuable than human life.  The cotton burning creates an emergency that causes everyone to stop the violence and work together.  Papa is able to save T.J. this way, even though he risks financial ruin.  

Other than losing the cotton, what Papa did was not too risky.  The fire went away from the house.  Everyone assumed lightning started it, so he would not be blamed.  He used a creative solution to a very difficult problem, and it bought him enough time to save lives.

What major events occur in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"?

In Part I, we are introduced to Peyton Farquhar, a plantation owner and secessionist very much devoted to the Southern cause, just as he is about to be executed by some Union soldiers.  Just when he is about to be hanged, he tries to "fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children," and he begins to feel as though time is slowing down.

In Part II, we get more background on Farquhar, including what it was that led to his death sentence: a Federal scout told him how important the railroad lines, especially the bridges, are to the Union and gave him some information about how easy it would be to burn one particular rail bridge down.  He also mentions that the penalty for interfering with the lines is death.  We can assume that this is the crime for which Farquhar has been sentenced.

In Part III, Farquhar imagines that the rope snaps, he gets away, walking through the woods day and night, until he is just about to reach his wife's arms.  Suddenly, his neck snaps in the noose, and Farquhar hangs dead.

Those are the key events of each part in a nutshell.

What is America?

This is quite an open-ended question, as America is different things to different people, so your answer will probably be different than mine.  From a geographical standpoint, America is largely the land that lies between the Canadian border and the Mexican border; however, I do not think this is the answer you have in mind.  America is a continuing experiment in democracy.  It is a republic where anyone can be anything.  It sometimes does not consider its foreign policy decisions and is sometimes slow to enact social change, but America is really the sum of its people, for good or ill.  America is a place where many immigrants want to live; yet, overseas it is often criticized for its role in world affairs.  It is a nation that leads the way in terms of environmentalism, yet uses more natural resources than most of the world put together.  America, to me, is a nation of paradoxes.  Hopefully this answer will get your thoughts started.  

Why are public order and crime control necessary in our society?

Public order and controlling crime are essential for a functioning society. When people become fearful because they perceive something to be unsafe, the society will not function smoothly. Fear can inhibit economic growth and may lead to people looking to move to safer areas.

There is a very recent example that can be used to support this. In Milwaukee, about a month ago, there was a great deal of unrest that was tied to a police shooting. Several businesses were burned and property was vandalized. This led to a growing fear that businesses wouldn’t invest in this neighborhood, and that other people might stop coming to do business in the area. Eventually, the police restored order with the help of community activists, religious leaders, and the citizens of the area. A curfew was established for people who were 17 and younger, and a greater police presence also existed in the neighborhood. Community members urged people to act peacefully instead of violently. Things have calmed down in this area. While the issues leading to this disturbance need to be addressed, law and order have returned, and the people of this area are getting back to a more normal routine.

There have been other situations that have occurred that have put people on edge. Several years ago, a shooter was randomly targeting people in the Washington, D.C. and the Phoenix areas. People were afraid to go out and do their normal routines. Once the individuals responsible for these actions were caught, life returned to normal.

It is necessary to control crime and maintain public order for society to function smoothly.

What are some different types of conflicts in the novel Unwind by Neal Shusterman?

Man vs. man is a conflict type in this novel. Connor and Roland do not see eye to eye throughout the story, and their conflict comes to physical violence on a couple of occasions. Their conflict with each other affects other characters in the book, too, because many of the Unwinds at the Graveyard find themselves supporting either Connor's or Roland's viewpoint.

Man vs. self is another conflict type in the book. I think that the best example of this conflict type is found in Lev. His parents are having him unwound as a tithe. He has been raised to think that it is supremely special, but as the events of the novel unfold, Lev begins to doubt all of his former beliefs about unwinding. By the end of the novel, his attitude has been completely turned around. Lev is conflicted and struggles to reconcile his childhood beliefs with what he sees unwinding is really doing to young people.

Lastly, man vs. society can be found in Unwind. Connor and all of the other AWOL Unwinds are knowingly breaking the law by running away and hiding. The Admiral is intentionally caring for and hiding Unwinds because he disagrees with the procedure. Finally, the clappers turn themselves into suicide bombers in order to draw attention to the system and hopefully destroy it.