How is Mars Bar an everyday hero?

The character of Mars Bar, from the book Maniac Magee, is an "everyday hero" because he is a very human character who learns an important lesson and grows from it; that is, he is just a regular person who makes a life-changing decision and acts on it in order to become a better person. The decision to let go of his prejudice and anger and to see people as individuals rather than as part of a larger group makes him a hero, because it is probably one of the most difficult things that any person would have to do but he still does it, regardless of its challenges. 

He sort of exists within his own little world, and he lets his own experiences and the preconceptions of white people that his friends on the East Side have dictate how he views Maniac Magee. This also comes through in how he treats him. However, over the course of the novel, he realizes that there are worthwhile white people who will treat you with respect, like Maniac, just as there are rude white people, like the McNabs. Even so, he rescues a McNab from the train tracks and brings him home.

The choice to treat others with respect, in spite of how they treat him, is one that he makes after he chooses to forget color and focus on the person within. He realizes that his own ignorance has stopped him from seeing the value in every human being, and that only he has the power to transform his own behavior. At the end of the book, he invites Maniac to live with him, and shows him kindness in his actions. The fact that he takes steps to change makes him an everyday hero; he does nothing more than any person is challenged to do, but in doing so, he becomes an example of positive change for others. 

Why do you think the book is called The Wednesday Wars? What wars are happening in this book?

It is an interesting question that you are asking.  Is the title The Wednesday Wars, plural, because there are multiple wars happening on Wednesdays?  Or is it The Wednesday Wars because each new Wednesday is a new war between Holling and Mrs. Baker?  

I'm inclined to think that the plural is in the title because in the beginning of the book Holling thinks that each Wednesday with Mrs. Baker is a new war to be fought.  Mrs. Baker first attempted to have Holling repeat a math class during their study time.  When that failed, Mrs. Baker forced Holling to do menial labor like cleaning chalk erasers.  The entire time Holling believes that Mrs. Baker hates his guts.  Once October hits, Holling believes that Mrs. Baker has brought an entirely new level of warfare to him when she announces that they will be reading Shakespeare together.  

Reading Shakespeare.  Of all the strategies Mrs. Baker could come up with, this must be the worst.  Teachers bring up Shakespeare only to bore students to death.  And I was going to be bored to death for eight months.  No human being could stand it.  

The second part of your question asks about what wars were happening in the book.  There is the "war" happening between Mrs. Baker and Holling, which turns out to not be a war by the end of the book.  There is a war between Heather Hoodhood and her parents.  There is a war between two architectural firms.  Those are Hoodhood and Associates and Kowalski and Associates.  Lastly there is a very real war happening in the world during this time too.  That is the Vietnam War.  

What does Dee say or do that reflects a growing interest in preserving her heritage?

First, when Dee arrives home to visit her mother and sister, almost the first thing she does is take a bunch of pictures of her family, their home, and even their livestock.  Next, Dee says that she has changed her name because she wants it to reflect her ancestry and not the white masters that once owned her family.  Third, Dee seems to be newly impressed by the handmade artifacts her mother and sister use each day, items that have been crafted by various family members: the benches with the indentations that show where people sat, the dasher for the butter churn, the churn top, and so forth.  Finally, Dee's intense interest in and longing for the quilts, quilts that she once rejected when Mama offered her one before she left for school, also shows that her interest in preserving her heritage has developed.

Explain the general role of electrons.

An electron is an elementary constituent of matter which exists independently or as a component outside the nucleus of an atom and it carries a negative charge.

Electrons may exist freely when not attached to an atom but when bound to the nucleus of an atom, electrons are found in spherical shells of various radii surrounding the nucleus. Electrons of an atom altogether create a negative charge which balances the positive charge of the protons in the nucleus of the atom.

Electrons play a significant role in the formation of chemical bonds. When an electron is transferred from one atom to the other, it leads to the creation of two ions. This is called electrovalent bonding. When electrons are actually shared between two or more atoms in a cloud it is referred to as covalent bonding.

In solids, electrons are mainly responsible for carrying current, since they are smaller than protons and can easily stream through wires and circuits. In liquids, ions are responsible for carrying current.

What order did Rosh give his men? Why did Samson break this order?

In Chapter 14, Rosh ordered the men to keep a low profile. The shepherds had recently ambushed and attacked Rosh's men. Apparently, they hadn't been too pleased with the rebels stealing their sheep. For his part, Daniel had always assumed that the "flocks that grazed on the slopes were free for the taking."

In this chapter, Daniel had just returned to Rosh's camp for a visit. He was surprised to discover from Joktan that the men had been having trouble getting meat for their meals. Since the ambushes, Rosh had ordered his men to lay low.

There was one person, however, who ignored Rosh's orders, and that man was Samson. Shortly upon Daniel's return, Samson suddenly appeared with a substantial carcass of a sheep on his back. With a wide smile, Samson had thrown down the dead animal before the rest of the men. However, he reserved his biggest smile for Daniel. So, Samson ignored Rosh's order in order to show how pleased he was to see Daniel again.

Upon the occasion of Daniel's return, Samson caught a large sheep to celebrate the return of his friend. Later, Joktan informed Daniel that all of the men hadn't had full stomachs for a week and that they had Daniel to thank for the meal. For his part, Daniel preferred to credit Samson with the accomplishment. In answer, Joktan maintained that Samson had somehow sensed Daniel would return that day; he believed that was the reason Samson caught the sheep. So, Samson disobeyed Rosh's injunction to show his happiness regarding Daniel's return.

Did Patrick Henry also say, "This is not a constitution that will safeguard our liberties?"

Though I cannot validate this quote, I can guarantee that Henry shared the sentiment. 

Patrick Henry, a revolutionary best-known for his "Give me liberty, or give me death" speech, delivered at the Virginia Convention in 1775, was vehemently opposed to a strong centralized government. In other words, he was an anti-Federalist. His speech in Richmond encouraged the formation of militias to protect Virginians from British aggression.

In 1787, the lawyer and politician was invited to participate in a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation, otherwise known as a Constitutional Convention.

Henry feared that the document would set up "the Founding Fathers" as masters of a new government -- a prospect that he strongly opposed. When the Constitution was ratified the following year, he remained a fierce critic.

In 1789, Congress sent a list of twelve amendments to the states to be ratified. These twelve amendments were the first draft of The Bill of Rights. Still a tough customer, Henry refused them, arguing that these amendments did not sufficiently safeguard our liberties. He called for a new convention -- a request that went unheeded. The state of Virginia approved the amendments without his support. Ten of the proposed amendments were ratified by all of the states and ended up in the Constitution as The Bill of Rights. 

In the play The Diary of Anne Frank, how does Anne and Peter's relationship change over the course of act 2, scenes 1 and 2?

In the play The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne and Peter's relationship changes in act 2, scenes 1 and 2 because tension in the annex is growing among the adults, and the fact that the children are also maturing. For example, after Peter accidentally smashes a light that scares a burglar away, Mr. Kraler announces in scene 1 that a workman wants blackmail money not to report them. Dussel blames Peter, which starts an even bigger argument, and soon everyone is yelling. As a result, Anne blows up at the adults and storms off. Peter takes her the piece of cake she left behind, and this is when they first confide in each other about their struggles living in the annex with such stressed adults. 

By the second scene, Anne is shown trying on clothes with Margot and getting ready for her first date with Peter. Then, during their meeting in Peter's room, not only does the couple talk about kissing and proper courtship, but they also talk about friends and having seen each other at school before going into hiding. They discuss how each one felt about the other when they first met compared to becoming interested in each other, now. They realize how much they have matured while in hiding. This date helps to close the chapter on their past, in a way, as they approach a more intimate relationship at the present. Happily for Anne, she leaves after receiving a kiss on her cheek from Peter. The kiss definitely symbolizes growth and intention towards their new relationship as they leave their more immature one in the past. 

Why do some people use installment loans to obtain a much needed asset?

An installment loan is technically any loan that is repaid in several installments rather than in a lump sum. The reasons that people take out installment loans are twofold: first, they may not have adequate cash on hand to buy the asset; second, they may have investments that are more profitable than the interest rate on the loan. If one will receive, for example, a 10 percent return on an investment and can obtain a loan with a 5 percent interest rate, taking out a loan and placing cash in the investment is a financially prudent move. 

Perhaps the most common type of installment loan is a home mortgage. There are several reasons why people take out mortgages to buy homes. First, they may not wish to wait to buy a home until they have saved up the full purchase price. Second, it often makes financial sense to buy rather than rent, since mortgage payments build equity and provide tax deductions, while money spent on renting does not do so. Lifestyle factors are also important, as one has far greater control over a space one owns than over a rented space. 

Another common type of installment loan is a car loan. For most people, the choice between buying a car with a loan and leasing a car is one which depends on price over the period of ownership. Especially if one intends to keep a car for 5-10 years, buying a car with a loan may be less expensive than leasing.

`f(x) = arcsinx - 2x` Find any relative extrema of the function

This function is defined on `[-1, 1]` and is differentiable on `(-1, 1).` Its derivative is  `f'(x) = 1/sqrt(1-x^2) - 2.`

The derivative doesn't exist at `x = +-1.` It is zero where  `1-x^2 = 1/4,` so at `x = +-sqrt(3)/2.`  It is an even function and it is obviously increases for positive x and decreases for negative x. Hence it is positive on `(-1, -sqrt(3)/2) uu (sqrt(3)/2, 1)` and negative on `(-sqrt(3)/2, sqrt(3)/2),` and the function `f` increases and decreases respectively.

This way we can determine the maximum and minimum of `f:`  `-1` is a local (one-sided) minimum, `1` is a local one-sided maximum, `-sqrt(3)/2` is the local maximum and `sqrt(3)/2` is a local minimum.

What made Macbeth evil and selfish?

Primarily, it is his ambition and pride that makes Macbeth so evil and selfish. Before he commits the murder of Duncan, he lists all of the reasons he has not to kill the man who is his king, guest, kinsman, and friend.  He has only one reason to go through with it, and that is his "Vaulting ambition" (1.7.27).  He wants to be king.  When the Weird Sisters told him that he would become Thane of Cawdor, and then he did, it made him believe that they were telling the truth in all things.  Therefore, he began to dream of becoming the king since that was the other "prophecy" they gave him.  His single-minded desire for the throne, and then his desire to retain it, compels him to consider only his best interest and no one else's, and so he becomes quite selfish.

Further, his pride helps to turn him into an evil man.  When he learns that Macduff has escaped him and fled to the English court to meet with Malcolm, the real heir to the throne, he feels like it is necessary to wound Macduff in some bigger and worse way.  Thus, he decides to "Seize upon Fife, give to th' edge o' th' sword / [Macduff's] wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls / That trace him in his line" (4.1.157-159).  His pride urges him to wound where he feels he has been wounded, and so he commits his most brutal and evil murders yet: those of an innocent woman and her children. 

What kinds of scientific investigations involve making observation?

Scientific investigations that involve some kind of testing will make use of observations.  Generally speaking, making observations is the first step of the scientific method.  Based on those observations, a question is asked, and then a hypothesis and prediction will be stated.  A scientist will set up a test, observe the outcome, and collect data on the test.  That will lead the scientist to some kind of conclusion relating to the initial question and hypothesis.  

If the question is asking for a specific type of scientific investigation that relies more on observation and less on experimentation, then a good choice is an investigation about animal behavior.  More specifically, the investigation should focus on observing animals in their natural habitat instead of a lab setting.  This type of scientific investigation will have hypotheses as well, but the scientist is much less able to set up experimental variables and controls.  He or she is dependent on observing the animal behave as it would naturally.  Of course there is a problem with this type of observational investigation too.  The simple presence of the investigator might adversely affect the observations.  If the animals know that the scientist is present in their environment, the animals might behave differently. 

Would you say that Gatsby was a victim of circumstances or an instigator of tragic events?

This is ultimately a matter of personal opinion, but I believe that Gatsby was the instigator of his own tragic demise. Gatsby's motivations throughout the entirety of the book are hidden and dishonest. He claims to want nothing more than the love of Daisy, but his actions could be read as supporting an obsession with his own image. Gatsby becomes fixated on amassing a fortune in order to be "worthy" of Daisy's love, but it was quite clear that the lengths to which he went to do this were unnecessary, as he even engaged in illegal behavior. Additionally, Gatsby is an awfully demanding fellow for someone who believes himself to be offering up unconditional love. He tries to play an "all or nothing" game with Daisy and Tom when the news of their affair comes out, and he loses.

A more realistic man would have seen that Daisy—now a married woman who seems committed to that marriage, if only to retain the status and privileges that it offers her—is out of reach. Instead, Gatsby railed against the obvious and pursued her relentlessly, engineering opportunities for the pair to reunite. Even at the end, Gatsby can't seem to take a hint; when Daisy won't fully commit after their affair is revealed to Tom, Gatsby still attempts to sweep her away from the marriage he considers so disastrous. The fact of the matter is that if Daisy had truly wanted to leave Tom, she would have. She had an opening to do so and declined.

That being said, many people tend to view Gatsby as a tragic, romantic hero who simply runs out of luck and gets dealt a bad hand. So, my best advice is to read the book and decide for yourself!

In "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles, why does Finny make up the story about "the fat old men"?

The war is a supremely important and serious event that everyone in Finny's life seems to be talking about. The entire world around him is focused on producing soldiers from his generation to fight in the war. However, Finny cannot fight due to his injured leg. As we know, Finny loves to be the center of attention, which is why he wears eccentric clothing and is always found in the center of the crowd. The war makes Finny feels left out due to his injury.

Finny wants to train Gene to compete in the 1944 Olympics. He tells Gene that since he (Finny) can no longer compete, Gene has to do it for him. In this way, Finny can live vicariously through Gene even with his (Finny's) injury. Having a war going on gets in the way of this plan. Gene wants to enlist in the war, which would separate him from Finny. So Finny makes up a story (which he himself believes and convinces Gene to believe) about the "fat old men" who are conspiring to fool the younger generation into thinking that there is a war, to stop the young people from having any fun. The lie about the "fat old men" serves as a way for Finny to keep Gene under his thumb, to keep Gene close to Finny, and to enable Gene to fulfill Finny's fantasy about competing in the Olympics. If Gene thought that the war was real, he would be much more likely to enlist. Therefore, believing that the war is fake keeps Gene from focusing on things other than Finny and their friendship.

Being the only two people who "know" about the "fat old men" draws Gene and Finny into a world of their own, where they can only trust each other. This brings them closer together.

Finny's vision of the fake war invalidates the commonly accepted world view. Within his dream of sending Gene to the Olympics, he creates a new reality to fill the void created by his (Finny's) disbelief of that world view. In this new reality, the war is fake, and can only drag on for so long. It will end before 1944, and Gene will be able to compete in the Olympics. The 1944 Olympics can occur only in a world where the war was fake. In this new reality that Finny created, his vision of living vicariously through Gene's athletic success could come true.

Finny's offer/demand to train Gene for the Olympics was an invite to a whole new world - a world where the war and wartime troubles did not exist. Ultimately, it is an invite into a new world where Gene could be more like Finny, just like Gene always wanted. 

The words Orwell uses to describe the morning after the Revolution are very descriptive. What sort of words and images does he use? What does he...

The morning after the Revolution is a glorious and exciting time for the animals of Manor Farm. This is shown through Orwell's use of descriptive words like "gazed," "ecstasy," and "gambolled," which convey this sentiment to the reader.

Coupled with this, Orwell creates an image of the countryside which is both idyllic and idealised. He does this by using phrases like "sweet summer grass" and "rich scent." In addition, phrases like "they gambolled round and round" and the animals rushed to the top of it" conveys a strong image of freedom.

Orwell uses language in this way because he wants the reader to understand the significance of the Revolution from the perspective of the animals. He wants the reader to appreciate, for instance, that taking control of the farm is a huge achievement which is almost unbelievable:

Yes it was theirs - everything that they could see was theirs!

They could hardly believe it was all their own.

Almost-dreamlike, the morning after the Revolution is filled with hope and optimism. After months of planning, the Revolution has been a great success and Orwell wants the reader to share in this moment of joy. 

“She Walks in Beauty” was written to be set to music. What elements of the poem give it a musical quality?

"She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron has a very regular abab rhyme scheme, which gives the piece a lyrical quality. It adds repetition and a chorus/refrain-like rhythm to the poem, which allows it to be easily put to music and even sung. The poem contains three stanzas of six lines each.

In the first two stanzas, Byron often uses the literary technique of enjambment, which is when one line runs over without punctuation or pause into the next line. This technique creates an easy flow from one line to the next, also contributing to the lyrical nature of the poem. 

The meter of the poem is what most contributes to its musical quality. We've all heard of Shakespeare's famous iambic pentameter, which means that there are five stressed syllables per line usually alternating equally with unstressed syllables. However, Lord Byron uses iambic tetrameter - four stressed and four unstressed syllables per line. When one reads the poem out loud, it is easy to hear the beat of the piece. And when the meter changes like with line 4 "meet in her aspect," we know Byron is emphasizing the point of meeting.

Rhyme, enjambment and meter all contribute to both the meaning and the musicality of "She Walks in Beauty."

What was the setting of The Book Thief based on?

The Book Thief is based on the world of Nazi Germany during World War II, as researched by the book's author, Markus Zuzak. Much of the novel takes place in the town of Molching, Germany, where the main character, a young girl named Liesel, is sent to live with foster parents after her father is accused of being a communist. Molching is a fictional setting, but a town called Olching in Germany, which was near the Dachau concentration camp, may be the place Zuzak had in mind. The story adheres to the real situation in Germany at the time: persecution of Jews and communists, hunger, heavy Allied bombing of German cities, and severe penalties for even small acts of kindness to those deemed enemies of the state. 

What are hyperbolic trig functions, and how do you solve them? For example, `sinh(-1)`

We can compare/contrast areas of a semi-circular region (involving the arcsin function) to areas under a hyperbola. The hyperbolic functions arise from this second application. 

Other applications include: 

(1) The curve created by a chain hung from fixed points is called a catenary which is the graph of the hyperbolic cosine. The St. Louis Arch is based on an inverted catenary. Catenaries were studied when mathematicians tried to find the curve through which a falling body would move the fastest between two points separated both horizontally and vertically.

(2) Another common application is solving problems involving a curve known as the tractrix. This is the curve that would occur if you were to pull a boat in towards shore by walking down the shore. These curves can also arise when looking at chase curves -- as the prey runs away at an angle, the best path for the predator is the tractrix.

The definitions of the hyperbolic functions involve the exponential function. In particular,`sinh(x)=1/2(e^x-e^(-x))` and `cosh(x)=1/2(e^x+e^(-x))`

So,  `sinh(-1)=1/2(1/e-e)` which is approximately -1.1752

There are so many other families that went through the same thing, why is Anne Frank's story the most important?

In the introduction for Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Eleanor Roosevelt says of the book the following:

". . . it is one of the wisest and most moving commentaries on war and its impact on human beings that I have ever read . . . These are the thoughts and expressions of a young girl living under extraordinary conditions, and for this reason her diary tells us much about ourselves and about our own children."

This quote helps to explain that Anne Frank's story isn't the most important one--it doesn't overshadow any other families' suffering during World War II--but it is a comprehensive and in-depth view of what many other families like Anne's did suffer.

Anne's account encompasses two major years of the war, including the time leading up to the summer her family went into hiding. No other account of the war features the daily progress of the war from a primary source's standpoint. Nor had there been such a detailed account of Jews in hiding prior to the publishing of the book. Anne's was the first diary to be published in Holland in the 1940s after the war. Many other accounts didn't surface until much later because survivors either didn't want to relive the Holocaust, or they were too busy rebuilding their lives to write such books. Slowly but surely more accounts of the Holocaust surfaced over the twentieth century, but Anne's is one of the first, and one of the best accounts, that captures life in hiding in virtual real time as far as the war is concerned. The book isn't about Anne remembering details of being in hiding from years after the fact--it is the actual account. Information written down within a day or two of an event happening is more reliable than recalling it from years, or even months, after the fact. Memories can be distorted by time and emotions, but a diary solidifies information in a timely and more authentic manner. That is why Anne's diary is so important. Not only does it uncover what life was like in hiding for many Jews during World War II, but it is a comprehensive, detailed, and primary source of valid information that can be treasured and learned from for years to come. 

Why do you think Dallas Winston wants to die in The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton?

After Dally witnesses Johnny die, he slams his fist against the wall and runs out of the hospital. As Ponyboy wanders home, a kind man offers him a ride, and he gets dropped off at his house. Pony then breaks the news of Johnny's death to the Greasers and tells them that Dally ran out of the hospital. Ponyboy says that Dally is "gonna blow up," and Two-Bit comments, "So he finally broke...So even Dally has a breaking point" (Hinton 130). Suddenly the phone rings and Darry answers. After Darry hangs up, he tells the gang that Dally has just robbed a grocery store and is running from the cops. The Greasers run down to meet Dally in the vacant lot in hopes of hiding him, but when they arrive, the police have Dally surrounded. Ponyboy witnesses Dally pull an empty handgun from his waistband, prompting the police to open fire. After Dally dies, Ponyboy says,

"I knew he would be dead, because Dally Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted" (Hinton 131).

The reason Dally wanted to die was because he lost the only person he truly loved. Seeing Johnny die was a traumatic and painful experience. Dally felt like there was nobody in the world who loved him anymore and didn't think life was worth living. Dally was notorious for his tough-guy persona and lack of compassion, but the only person he truly cared about was Johnny. He viewed Johnny as his innocent little brother, and when Johnny died, he couldn't cope with the loss. Without any family support system to help him, Dally felt that dying was his only option to escape the emotional pain. 

How did Benjamin Franklin's inventions help people's lives?

Aside from being one of the Founding Fathers of the USA, Benjamin Franklin was a prolific inventor and many of his inventions were based on solving real and everyday problems, as a means of making people's lives easier. His invention of bifocal glasses, for example, made life far easier for people who needed glasses for distance as well as reading. By creating a pair of glasses which catered for both of these problems, Franklin negated the need to switch between two separate sets of glasses. 

Similarly, Franklin's invention of a urinary catheter, which was made from a flexible tube, greatly improved the lives of patients who previously endured an inflexible (and rather painful) rod. (See the first reference link provided).

For more of Franklin's useful inventions, please see the second reference link provided.

If the area of a conductor doubled and also the length, what would be the change in the new resistance?

The resistance of a conductor is computed using the formula:

`R = rho * L/A`

where

`rho` is the resistivity of the material

L is the length of the conductor, and

A is the cross-sectional area of the conductor.

For this problem, let the length of the conductor be y and its cross-sectional area be x. Applying the formula above, the resistance of the conductor will be:

`R =rho * y/x`

When the length and cross-sectional area of the conductor is doubled, the new resistance will be:

`R_(n ew) = rho*(2y)/(2x)`

And it simplifies to

`R_(n ew) = rho * y/x`

Notice that the R_new is the same with the original R. 

Therefore, when the length and cross-sectional area of the conductor are increased by the same factor, there is no change in resistance.

Describe Mr. Pignati from Zindel's The Pigman.

Mr. Pignati is an older gentleman who lives alone on Howard Avenue. His wife died awhile back, but he tells people that she is on vacation in California. He has a fun and interesting personality and he doesn't mind smiling a lot. He is also generous because when two teenagers, John and Lorraine, ask him for ten dollars for a fake charity, he willingly gives it to them. He invites the teenagers to get to know him better by joining him at his favorite place--the zoo. He introduces them to his best friend, Bobo, a baboon. Mr. Pignati is also generous because he buys the kids skates and then allows them to skate around in his house. He also winds up being like a father to Lorraine because he even buys her nylons that she needs, which she appreciates greatly. Mr. Pignati is so kind and generous that he fills a void in the tennagers' lives since both have issues at home with their own parents. In the end, he dies of a heart attack, but the kids are so grateful to him that they write a memorial book in his honor called The Pigman.

What is the problem the speaker wants to solve?

The speaker in "A Modest Proposal" is desirous to solve the problems associated with the poor Irish: families become so big -- even when the parents are poor -- that the children cannot be supported, and they end up begging in the streets instead of becoming productive members of society.  For this reason, he proposes that parents sell their year-old babies as a food source for the rich English Protestants, and this will decrease the size of their families, making them easier to support, as well as provide them with an additional source of income.  (It will also lessen the number of Catholics in the world, which would please the English Protestants as well.)

However, this is not the same problem that the writer means to address.  The narrator is not Jonathan Swift, and Swift is attempting to draw attention to the plight of the poor Irish; wealthy English landowners have purchased around 90% of the land in Ireland by the time he penned this pamphlet, and many raised rents so high that the Irish tenant farmers could no longer afford to pay rent and feed their often large families.  He reasons, ironically (not sincerely), that if the English are willing to figuratively devour the Irish, then why not go one step further and actually devour them?

`int 2 / (xsqrt(9x^2-25)) dx` Find the indefinite integral

Given the integral: `\int \frac{2}{x\sqrt{9x^2-25}}dx`

Let `x=\frac{5}{3}sect` ``

So, `dx=\frac{5}{3}sect tant dt`

Hence we have,

`\int \frac{2}{x\sqrt{9x^2-25}}dx=\int \frac{\frac{10}{3}sect tant}{\frac{5}{3}sec t\sqrt{25sec^2t-25}}dt`

                      `=\int \frac{2tant}{\sqrt{25(sec^2t-1)}}dt`

                       `=\int \frac{2tan t}{\sqrt{25tan^2t}}dt`

                       `=\int \frac{2tant}{5tant}dt`

                       `=\frac{2}{5}\int dt`

                        `=\frac{2}{5}t+C`

                         `=\frac{2}{5}sec^{-1}(\frac{3}{5}x)+C`

Why does Atticus agree to take the Tom Robinson case? Which reason seems the most important to you?

Set during the Great Depression and written during the Civil Rights Movement, To Kill a Mockingbird attacks the racial injustices inherent in the Southern courts. Tom Robinson's case is similar to that of the "Scottsboro Boys," nine young African-Americans falsely accused of raping two white women. 

In taking Robinson's case, Atticus does what should be done, something no one else had the moral fortitude to do. For this, he and his household face harsh criticism from the townspeople and even their own family. 

In a cowardly fashion, the attacks are often aimed at his children rather than at Atticus himself. Elderly neighbor Mrs. Dubose tells Jem that Atticus laws "for niggers and trash." In addition, Scout faces a classmate and her cousin, who, in separate incidents, call her father a "nigger-lover." 

When Scout questions Atticus, he asserts, "This case, Tom Robinson’s case, is something that goes to the essence of a man’s conscience—Scout, I couldn’t go to church and worship God if I didn’t try to help that man." He adds that he could not ask his children to obey him: 

“Because I could never ask you to mind me again. Scout, simply by the nature of the work, every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one’s mine, I guess." 

Later, when challenged by his brother, Atticus says, 

“Right. But do you think I could face my children otherwise? You know what’s going to happen as well as I do, Jack, and I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease."

Atticus knows if he does not argue for what is right in the courtroom, he has no right asking his children to do right in his home and in public. As their father and foremost role-model, he must embody that which he asks his children to do. 

In the courtroom, he argues for the truth, emphasizing Tom's innocence. He cannot stand by and watch a man be unjustly convicted simply on the basis of skin color. 

“I have nothing but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state, but my pity does not extend so far as to her putting a man’s life at stake, which she has done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt."

What did Joseph Stalin do during the Cold War?

The origins of the Cold War actually start during WWII.  During the war against Germany, Stalin's armies suffered massive casualties as they pushed Hitler's army out of the Soviet Union and across Eastern Europe.  Stalin did not allow for the Baltic Republics, Poland, or Hungary to be ruled by self-determination; rather, he set up puppet states that would be friendly to the Soviet Union.  Stalin did not trust the Western governments after WWII, especially Britain.  Stalin thus sought to create a buffer zone of influence around the Soviet Union.  When Truman protested this sphere of influence, Stalin claimed that the United States enjoyed the same thing through the Monroe Doctrine.  Stalin also increased the number of purges of intellectuals and army officers after WWII and he even detained former Soviet prisoners of war because he was worried that Germany indoctrinated them.  Stalin spent money to encourage states such as Italy and Greece to vote for Communist leaders and he even funded Communist guerrillas in Greece to overthrow the democratically elected government.  Stalin encouraged the development of the atomic bomb through the use of Soviet espionage efforts in America and captured German scientists after the fall of Berlin.  Stalin blockaded Berlin in order to make the Western powers leave their part of the occupied zone--this led to the American-led Berlin airlift.  Stalin was not friendly with the West after WWII, since he saw the West as an adversary.  Stalin stopped short of going into "hot" war with the West, primarily because his industries and armies suffered so extensively during WWII.  

What is the role and significance of family in Romeo and Juliet?

In William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, family plays an important role in motivating characters' actions, conflicts, and choices. 

Romeo and Juliet belong to two different families of the noble class living in Verona. The families have been engaged in a feud for as long as anyone can remember, to the point that everyone has forgotten the initial cause of the feud. As such, family is first and foremost associated with conflict and with loyalty. One does not choose one's side in this conflict; one is born into one side or the other. It is expected that each member of the family will participate in the feud on his or her designated side based solely on family loyalty. 

In Juliet's case, family also develops some of the true complexities of parent-child relationships. The Capulets only want the best for their daughter, including marriage prospects, and as such they push her into making certain choices. In doing so, they do not consider Juliet's preferences, trusting that they know what is best for their daughter. The result is that Juliet is driven to lie, by omission or directly, leading to conflict and ultimately to tragedy for the family. 

How can a blog or citizen journalist cover a situation to serve as a sincere source the mainstream media can use to cover the story and give it...

The Internet has revolutionized the news industry by enabling ordinary citizens to report on stories that interest them. Successful "citizen journalists" can see their reporting picked up by larger media outlets.

One example of this was when an engineer found flaws in the design of several Coast Guard ships. Initially, mainstream media outlets ignored him when he told them about the issue, so he decided to report on the flaw on YouTube. His video received so many views that the Washington Post eventually covered the story. 

Clearly, citizen journalists can have great power, but this means they have a responsibility to be reliable sources, just as large media outlets do. The best way to make sure mainstream media outlets can use your reporting as a source is to use your smartphone to record (high-quality) videos and interviews. This way, you can prove to the media and the public that you are reporting accurate information.

Additionally, citizen journalists should be careful to stick to the facts. Blogs are inherently less reputable than established media outlets, so you should be careful to protect your reputation by only reporting information which you can corroborate.

What does Puck look like in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare?

Puck is usually shown as a boy, young man, or teenager, with no beard.  He has no wings, and is clothed in materials that look like they came from the forest.  

Puck is portrayed as a boy because he is Oberon's younger, wilder, more irresponsible servant.  Oberon, king of the fairies, is grave and dignified and plans the tricks he wants to play on the humans.  Puck, by contrast, is impulsive and mischievous, a complete wild card. He is a bit like Peter Pan.  I have also seen him played by a teenaged girl. 

Because Puck is a woodland spirit, he should look woodsy and wild. He is not a fairy, so he should not have wings or look too feminine or flowery.  Usually he is clothed in materials that look like they are made of leaves or moss.  Often he is bare chested.  

For further inspiration about how Puck should look, search for images of the Green Man or of fauns.  

What makes Ponyboy think of the Robert Frost poem?

While Ponyboy and Johnny are hiding out at the church on Jay Mountain, Ponyboy wakes up one morning and goes outside to smoke a cigarette. As he is smoking, Ponyboy looks at the beautiful dawn as the sun slowly comes up over the horizon. Pony notices that the sky is lighter in the east and that there is a thin strip of gold across the horizon. As Ponyboy is taking in the stunning scene, Johnny comes outside and comments on how pretty the sky looks. Ponyboy then mentions that he wishes he could paint a picture of the sky while it is still fresh in his mind. Johnny then says, "Too bad it couldn't stay like that all the time" (Hinton 66). Johnny's comment reminds Ponyboy of the Robert Frost poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay." Ponyboy recites the poem for Johnny but fails to explain the meaning behind the poem. Later on in the novel, Johnny ends up understanding the meaning of the poem and realizes that Robert Frost was describing the transience of nature and life. On his death bed, Johnny tells Ponyboy to "Stay gold" (Hinton 126).

In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, what did Mrs. Flowers want Marguerite to accomplish?

Mrs. Flowers wanted Marguerite to foster her ability to express herself with confidence. She told Marguerite that self-expression was a form of communication and that language was what separated human beings from the lower animals.

In order to encourage Marguerite to express her inner thoughts, Mrs. Flowers lent her some books to use for personal read-aloud exercises. She urged Marguerite to read aloud using different types of intonation or diction; Mrs. Flowers not only wanted Marguerite to develop her own unique voice, but also to hone her own style of delivery and address.

To that end, Mrs. Flowers also lent a book of poems to Marguerite and encouraged her to choose a poem that she could memorize; during her next visit, Marguerite would recite the selected poem for her new friend. Mrs. Flowers' goal was to highlight to her young protege the role education could play in enriching one's life. She maintained that one should "always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy."

What does Darzee's wife do that is sensible in "Rikki-Tikki Tavi"?

The sensible thing Darzee's wife does is help Rikki-tikki destroy Nagaina's eggs.  

Darzee isn't entirely sure about the idea of destroying all of Nagaina's eggs. He has some sympathy for the eggs because his species uses eggs to reproduce, too.  

On the other hand, Darzee's wife knows each of the cobra's eggs has a chance to grow up and be a dangerous predator against man and animal alike.

Darzee's wife then flew within earshot of Nagaina and began faking an injured wing. Nagaina can't resist the easy target, and she begins slithering after Darzee's wife. Darzee's wife keeps the act up while moving away from Nagaina. Nagaina is now completely focused on Darzee's wife and never once considers that she is being tricked. The distraction technique allows Rikki-tikki time to find the eggs and destroy all of them except one.

In "Lamb to the Slaughter," what statement does the author seem to make about man's capacity for violence?

Roald Dahl did not seem especially interested in making a statement about man's (or woman's) capacity for violence. Someone had suggested the idea for a short story in which a woman kills her husband with a frozen leg of lamb and then destroys the murder weapon by roasting it and serving it to the investigating police officers. That was the quirky kind of plot this author liked, and the kind that is associated with Roald Dahl. In order to make the plot work, Dahl had to make it seem plausible that a mousy little woman like Mary Maloney would suddenly change character so drastically that she would succumb to a fit of rage and bash her adored husband Patrick over with the head with the frozen leg of lamb she happened to be holding. The story was not intended to illustrate the idea that man (or woman) had a strong capacity for violence; rather, it had to take this capacity for violence as a fact, a "given." We readers are startled when Mary suddenly hits Patrick over the head, but we do not protest that it is totally out of character.

At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head.

She might just as well have hit him with a steel club.

She stepped back a pace, waiting, and the funny thing was that he remained standing there for at least four or five seconds, gently swaying. Then he crashed to the carpet.

Dahl doesn't try to justify her action; he just makes it happen. If we accept this sudden change in Mary's character, we go along with her next act, which is to protect herself from getting arrested by setting up an alibi and destroying the murder weapon. Mary not only becomes more realistic as a character, but she actually becomes more likeable. She is an example of "The worm turns." She was behaving like a slave, a doormat. We respect her more when she displays an independent spirit. She resembles Mrs. Foster in Roald Dahl's story "The Way Up to Heaven," who discovers that her cunning, sadistic husband has been tormenting her for years and is responsible for his death in a stalled private elevator but is never even suspected of the crime.

In both "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Way Up to Heaven" the perpetrator gets away with her crime because no one would ever suspect that such meek, martyred women would ever react with such violence. In other words, Dahl is not suggesting that man, or woman, had a great capacity for violence, but that man, or woman, generally does not have a great capacity for violence. So when a meek and mild person commits a violent crime, he or she has a good chance of getting away with it.

The same is true in another well-known and frequently anthologized short story, "The Catbird Seat" by James Thurber. Meek and mild little Erwin Martin wins his conflict with Ulgine Barrows by doing something he would never do. She comes storming into Mr. Fitweiler's office the next morning and creates a scene in which she screams:

"Is the little rat denying it? You can't get away with that!  You drank and smoked in my apartment and you know it! You called Mr. Fitweiler an old windbag and said you were going to blow him up when you got coked to the gills on your heroin!....If you weren't such a drab, ordinary little man I'd think you planned it all. Sticking your tongue out, saying you were sitting in the catbird seat, because you thought no one would believe it when I told it! My God, it's really too perfect!....Can't you see how he's tricked up, you old fool? Can't you see his little game?"

"Is the little rat denying it? He can't get away with that! You drank and smoked in my apartment," she bawled at Mr. Martin," and you know it. You called Mr. Fitweiler an old windbag and said you were going to blow him up when you got coked to the gills on your heroin!....If you weren't such a drab, ordinary little man I'd think you'd planned it all. Sg your 

Who founded the first significant Anglo colony in Spanish Texas?

Stephen Austin, an empresario, founded the first Anglo colony in Spanish Texas in 1821, the year Mexico became independent from Spain. Austin is generally known as "the Father of Texas." In 1820, his father, Moses Austin, began preparations for settling the colony but died before he could do so. In 1821, Stephen Austin received permission from the Spanish authorities to settle 300 colonists in Texas. The colonists were supposed to be loyal to the Spanish throne and to Catholicism. The first settlers, known as the "Old 300," settled between the Colorado and Brazo Rivers. Later, land grants were made to other empresarios. Most of the settlers came from the American south, including Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, to claim inexpensive land that cost one tenth of what it would've cost in the U.S. Many of these new settlers turned to raising cotton and began importing slaves into Texas, which was against Mexican law. As a result, the authorities began to stop immigration into the area in 1830.

How did society shape and influence Jem in To Kill a Mockingbird?

In Chapter 21, the jury declares that Tom is guilty. Jem is severely affected by this. The next chapter begins with Jem crying and telling Atticus "It ain't right." Jem then discusses things with Miss Maudie. Jem says he used to think the people of Maycomb were the best people in the world. Jem no longer thinks this. In an effort to give Jem some hope, Miss Maudie tells him that there are good people in town: Heck Tate, Atticus, and Tom's friends and family. Jem is left with a glimmer of hope but a larger feeling of disappointment with his local society. Tom's conviction proves to Jem that racism is a real problem in Maycomb. 

In Chapter 23, Scout says she would like to invite Walter Cunningham Jr. over. Aunt Alexandra forbids it and, of course, Atticus challenges Alexandra. Later in the chapter, Jem and Scout discuss this idea of different kinds of folks. Here, they are actually discussing how societies are divided into classes. It is quite an academic and ethical conversation, with each of them trying to understand why certain folks (classes) could or should get along together. At the end of the chapter, Jem concludes that these class divisions serve no good purpose. With this conclusion, he sees some wisdom in Boo Radley's self-imposed seclusion: 

If there’s just one kind of folks, why can’t they get along with each other? If they’re all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I’m beginning to understand something. I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time… it’s because he wants to stay inside. 

Jem recognizes that people do divide themselves into different classes. There should be "just one kind of folks" but this is not the case. With the jury's decision and this growing awareness of social division, Jem becomes more and more aware of the ethical problems of social divisions. 

Based on the Declaration of Independence, what had been the King's attitude toward the laws of the colonies?

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. In the Declaration of Independence, there are many ideas about the role of government and about the rights the people should have. A big part of the Declaration of Independence was the list of the grievances the colonists had against the King of England. Some of those complaints dealt with how the King acted regarding the laws of the colonies and the process of making those laws.

The colonists believed the King didn’t respect their laws. They said that he refused to agree with the laws that had been passed in the colonies. They also said that he had prevented the Governors from passing laws that were important to the operation of the colonies. Additionally, they said the King refused to pass laws affecting large numbers of people unless they were willing to forgo representation in the lawmaking body. They also were unhappy that he would disband a legislative body when the representatives of these bodies complained that the King was abusing the rights of the people.

The colonists clearly believed the King didn’t respect them, their rights, their laws, and their ability to complain to him about these issues.

In Lord of the Flies, what arguments does Jack use to persuade the others that there is no beast?

At the evening meeting that Ralph calls after Jack has allowed the signal fire to go out, Ralph opens up the meeting to a discussion of the fears that have been plaguing the littluns. Immediately Jack jumps in to heap ridicule on the littluns for being "cry-babies and sissies." To persuade the children they have nothing to be afraid of, he first uses a rational argument that large animals don't live on small islands; therefore, there cannot be a "dark thing, a beast, some sort of animal." He asserts his position as a hunter as further evidence, saying he has been all over the island and would have seen a beast if one existed. When little Percival comes forward to speak, however, he suggests a troublesome possibility, namely that "the beast comes out of the sea." From there the meeting quickly deteriorates with the boys talking about ghosts as the daylight fades away. Jack sees Ralph's authority beginning to crumble and seizes the advantage, mocking Ralph and defying the rules of the conch. Holding himself up as a protector, he declares that even if there is a beast, he and his hunters will hunt it down and destroy it, just like the pig they killed that day. He then leads most of the boys down onto the beach in a "random scatter," having significantly damaged Ralph's authority. 

During the first few months after her teacher's arrival, how did Helen get to know about many things around her and how did she communicate with...

After weeks of perseverance and many attempts, Miss Sullivan was able to teach Helen the connection between words and objects.  She taught her young student that everything had a name.  This opened up Helen's mind to a whole new world.  Helen herself described this time as her "soul's sudden awakening."  She learned about new ways of communication.  After learning that everything had a name, "every object which [she] touched seemed to quiver with life."  

Helen asked her teacher what different objects were called.  Miss Sullivan spelled the name of each object into Helen's hand.  Helen soon learned how to communicate with others using the manual alphabet, or finger spelling.  Some of Helen's family members and friends also learned to communicate with her using the manual alphabet.  Helen still had struggles, however.  She had spent nearly seven years of her life with limited communication skills.  It was a tedious process to learn how to fully communicate, and the

... process was continued for several years; for the deaf child does not learn in a month, or even in two or three years, the numberless idioms and expressions used in the simplest daily intercourse.  The little hearing child learns these from constant repetition and imitation.  The conversation he hears in his home stimulates his mind and suggests topics and calls forth the spontaneous expression of his own thoughts.

Despite being faced with these challenges, Helen eventually learned idioms and expressions.  She became a highly educated woman in her life.

In John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which character is in a worse situation, Bruno or Shmuel?

In chapter 12 of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Shmuel tells Bruno about his life before Auschwitz. In previous chapters, Bruno complains that he has been uprooted from his luxurious home in Berlin only to go live in a smaller house in Poland. He also complains that there are no friends to play with; however, he enjoys nutritious meals, a warm bed at night, and the company of his family each day. Shmuel, on the other hand, first explains how he and his family were isolated from society when they had to wear armbands with stars on them. Then, they were forced out of their home and into ghetto communities. Shmuel explains the experience as follows:

". . . we were told we couldn't live in our house we had to move to a different part of Cracow, where the soldiers built a big wall and my mother and father and my brother and I all had to live in one room" (128).

Compared to Bruno's life, Shmuel knows what it is like to feel terror at the hands of soldiers and to suffer from displacement from society because of discrimination. Shmuel also describes life in the ghetto as violent and depressing because a boy named Luka beat him up each day and the window from his home faced a wall. 

Next, Shmuel describes what it was like for him and his family to be gathered up by soldiers and forced to ride on trains without doors. People were packed in like animals, and he remembers that it was hard to breathe and it "smelled awful" (129). Shmuel then describes his final journey to Auschwitz as follows:

"When the train finally stopped . . . we were in a very cold place and we all had to walk here . . . And Mama was taken away from us, and Papa and Josef and I were put into the huts over there and that's where we've been ever since" (130).

Shumel clearly has suffered more than Bruno. Now, he lives in a concentration camp where he is starving to death, can't visit his mother, and does not know if he will live from one day to the next. Therefore, Shmuel is in a worse situation than Bruno.

`x = 1/3sqrt(y)(y-3) , 1

Arc length (L) of the function x=h(y) on the interval [c,d] is given by the formula,

`L=int_c^dsqrt(1+(dx/dy)^2)dy`  , if x=h(y) and c `<=`  y `<=`  d,

Now let's differentiate the function with respect to y,

`x=1/3sqrt(y)(y-3)`

`dx/dy=1/3{sqrt(y)d/dy(y-3)+(y-3)d/dysqrt(y)}`

`dx/dy=1/3{sqrt(y)(1)+(y-3)1/2(y)^(1/2-1)}`

`dx/dy=1/3{sqrt(y)+(y-3)/(2sqrt(y))}`

`dx/dy=1/3{(2y+y-3)/(2sqrt(y))}`

`dx/dy=1/3{(3y-3)/(2sqrt(y))}`

`dx/dy=1/3(3)(y-1)/(2sqrt(y))`

`dx/dy=(y-1)/(2sqrt(y))`

Plug in the above derivative in the arc length formula,

`L=int_1^4sqrt(1+((y-1)/(2sqrt(y)))^2)dy`

`L=int_1^4sqrt(1+(y^2-2y+1)/(4y))dy`

`L=int_1^4sqrt((4y+y^2-2y+1)/(4y))dy`

`L=int_1^4sqrt((y^2+2y+1)/(4y))dy`

`L=int_1^4(1/2)sqrt((y+1)^2/y)dy`

`L=1/2int_1^4(y+1)/sqrt(y)dy`

Now let's compute first the indefinite integral by applying integral substitution,

Let `u=sqrt(y)`

`(du)/dy=1/2(y)^(1/2-1)`  

`(du)/dy=1/(2sqrt(y))`

`int(y+1)/sqrt(y)dy=int(u^2+1)2du`

`=2int(u^2+1)du`

`=2(u^3/3+u)` 

substitute back u= `sqrt(y)`  and add a constant C to the solution,

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

`L=[1/2{2(y^(3/2)/3+sqrt(y)}]_1^4`

`L=[y^(3/2)/3+sqrt(y)]_1^4`

`L=[4^(3/2)/3+sqrt(4)]-[1^(3/2)/3+sqrt(1)]`

`L=[8/3+2]-[1/3+1]`

`L=[(8+6)/3]-[(1+3)/3]`

`L=[14/3]-[4/3]`

`L=10/3`

Arc length of the function over the given interval is `10/3`

Starting with Chapter 16 in The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne, what are the significant events that led to the climax?

Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter slowly escalates to the climax beginning in Chapter 16. I'll identify each of the significant events leading up to this point with a brief touch of analysis to better explain why / how they stand out:

1. 
   Pearl, after having asked discussed "the Black Man's mark" with Hester, acknowledges that Dimmesdale is physically fixated with the same area of his chest. With this interaction, both Pearl and the reader have tangibly identified the link between Hester, Dimmesdale, and their shared sin. 


2. 
   Hester and Dimmesdale plan to escape together to Boston. In this moment, Hester and Dimmesdale's trajectory sharply changes from the co-existant state that they have existed in since Hester's pregnancy was revealed. It indicates a shift in both characters' perspectives that they deserve their punishment. 


3. 
   Chillingworth discovers Dimmesdale and Hester's plan and foils it by joining the ship's passenger list as well. This action motivates Dimmesdale to later reveal the A carved into his chest (the climax), an act he may very well never have resorted to if the promise of escape still tantalized him. 

What is the setting of Romeo and Juliet? What country is this city in? What does this city look like today?

Verona is located in Northern Italy. It has a present-day population of around 250,000. It looks like many other Italian cities of that size--old, peaceful, quiet, picturesque. The buildings are mostly one- and two-stories with tile roofs. The colors are predominantly those of the white stucco walls and red tile roofs. Many of the streets are still paved with cobblestones. There is, of course, much sunshine. It is visited by many foreign tourists because of the city's association with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This play is known and loved all over the world because of its theme of young love and tragedy. Much of the play takes place outdoors in the midst of the city. It is warm, and the nights are beautiful and sultry. The air is scented with the flowers grown in window-boxes and gardens all over the Verona, tempting young people to stay up late, as Romeo and Juliet do in the famous balcony scene in Act 2, Scene 2. 

Why is the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution violated so much?

This seems to be a rather slanted question, assuming that the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution is violated almost routinely.  There are many who disagree with that assumption, including me.  Often, the federal government undertakes legislation or regulation in a way in which many people do not understand is perfectly in keeping with its enumerated powers.  For example, the interstate highway system is within Congress's purview because it is an important element of national defense.  If troops cannot be moved efficiently, they are completely ineffective.  Another example is the minimum wage.  I hear people complain that is unconstitutional sometimes.  But in fact, setting the minimum wage is part of interstate commerce.  Much anti-discrimination legislation is in the power explicitly given to Congress under the Fourteenth Amendment.  The enumerated powers of the federal government are broad mandates that include a great deal more power than people realize. Even though education is not listed as a congressional mandate, there is an argument to be made that education is part of national security and commerce as well.  Without an educated workforce, we cannot properly defend ourselves or compete in a global economy.  When the federal government does overreach and violates the Tenth Amendment, the Supreme Court is there to deal with that, and thus far, most of the instances that I hear people complaining have been upheld as perfectly proper within the confines of the Constitution.

What are the differences that could keep Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth and Mr. Bingley and Jane apart?

Darcy and Bingley are from a different class than Elizabeth and Jane. Darcy is from the landed gentry, and Bingley is from the successful business class. Elizabeth and Jane, on the other hand, are from the middle class, and their family does not have a great deal of money. In Regency England, when the book takes place, wealthy men (particularly men from a higher class such as Darcy) were expected to marry women within their class. These marriages were seen as the proper way for people to pair off, and they were also ways to keep money flowing into the upper classes.

In addition, the Bennett family does not seem like the appropriate kind of family for a man like Darcy to marry into. In today's terms, Mrs. Bennet seems tacky and ill mannered, and Elizabeth's and Jane's sisters, such as Kitty and Lydia, flirt with soldiers in a most unrefined way. When Lydia runs off with Wickham without being married to him, her act has the potential to bring shame to the entire Bennet family until Darcy arranges the marriage between Lydia and Wickham. Darcy is better suited to Caroline Bingley than to Elizabeth, as Caroline has money and has been raised to be upper class, but in the end, Darcy marries Elizabeth for love. Bingley also marries Jane for romantic reasons. 

In The Crucible, why does Giles Corey tell Mr. Hale that John Proctor doesn't believe in witches in Act 1?

It seems likely that Giles Corey tells Mr. Hale that John does not believe in witches because he is differentiating Proctor from others in the room—like Reverend Parris and Mr. Putnam—by implying he is not superstitious. Giles has his own questions he wants to pose to Hale, so he redirects the conversation away from John. This seemingly innocuous, innocent statement ends up getting John in trouble later.  (He makes similar comments, in a pretty casual way, about his wife and her reading habits. These statements end up being used against her later, and she is eventually convicted of witchcraft, as is John Proctor.) 

It's a pretty off-handed comment that sets Proctor apart from everyone else. Puritans believed in witches and adhered to the biblical directive, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." If it is true that John does not believe in witches, then he seems to be denying the existence of something that the Bible, the Puritans' sacred text, confirms. This failure could be considered a crack in the foundation of his theology, and this information would make him look suspicious later, once the trials have progressed. This, of course, was not Giles's intention; his intention was likely to tell Mr. Hale that he needn't waste his time talking to John about witches because John doesn't think they are real.

`int 1 / sqrt(-x^2-4x) dx` Find or evaluate the integral by completing the square

By completing the square and making simple substitution, we will reduce this integral to a table one.

`-x^2-4x = -(x^2 + 4x + 4) + 4 = -(x+2)^2 + 4 = 4 - (x+2)^2.`

Now make a substitution `y = (x+2)/2,` then `dy = dx/2,` `dx = 2 dy`  and integral becomes

`int 1/sqrt(4-4y^2)*2 dy = int (dy)/sqrt(1-y^2) = arcsin(y) + C = arcsin((x+2)/2) + C,`

where `C` is any constant.

In The House on Mango Street, when does Esperanza talk about how she wants to move out of the house?

In the last two vignettes of the book, Esperanza dreams of one day moving out of her house on Mango Street because she wants to own her own house and have a career. First, she talks about allowing bums to stay overnight in her attic in the vignette entitled "Bums in the Attic." There is also an old aunt who seems to know of Esperanza's sincere desire to leave Mango Street in "The Three Sisters," but this aunt tells Esperanza to come back one day for the ones who won't ever be able to leave Mango Street.

Esperanza specifically mentions what she wants when she moves out of her parents' house. In "A House of My Own," she explains she doesn't want an apartment, a man's house, or her father's house. She wants a house of her own where she won't have to pick up after anyone but herself, and she can have her own porch, pillow, and purple petunias.

Then, in "Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes," Esperanza talks about the house on Mango Street as a "sad red house, the house I belong but do not belong to" (110). She imagines the house permitting her to leave one day because, as Esperanza says, "I am too strong for her to keep me here forever" (110). What is important to remember, though, is that Esperanza also plans on going back to Mango Street; that is to say, Esperanza vows not to forget those she will leave behind.

How does the mood affect the play Hamlet?

Mood is the emotional landscape of a piece. It is just like the moods you have. What kind of mood do you get into when you read the play? The mood of Hamlet is at times dark and suspenseful; at others, humorous. 

When the ghost arrives, the mood is both suspenseful and eerie. The reader is not sure what is going to happen. Ghosts do not just wander into most of our lives. Here is a ghost telling Hamlet that his uncle killed his father! 

When the ghost appears, Horatio tries to speak to it. He has been elected because he is a scholar. The guards seem to think the ghost will chat with him. Just the same, Horatio is kind of spooked.

HORATIO

Re-enter Ghost

I'll cross it, though it blast me. Stay, illusion!
If thou hast any sound, or use of voice,
Speak to me:
If there be any good thing to be done,
That may to thee do ease and grace to me,
Speak to me (Act I, Scene 1).

Their repeated efforts to speak to the ghost, and its disappearances and reappearances leading up to Hamlet talking to it, create the spooky and ominous mood. The ghost’s insistence on revenge also creates a feeling of anticipation. 

Hamlet’s crazy act is serious business, but it is also pretty funny at times. The moments of humor actually add to the play because they create comic relief and move the plot along. For example, when Hamlet refuses to tell where Polonius’s body is, it is both tragic and funny. 

KING CLAUDIUS

Now, Hamlet, where's Polonius?

HAMLET

At supper.

KING CLAUDIUS

At supper! where?

HAMLET

Not where he eats, but where he is eaten: a certain
convocation of politic worms are e'en at him (Act IV, Scene 3).

There are additional scenes of humor when Hamlet is in the graveyard, where Shakespeare makes interesting social commentary that is also funny. The message is that we all die, and everyone goes into the ground equal. If you are important, however, you get special privileges. If you're not, once you are buried it does not necessarily mean you will stay there! 

The ending of the play is very dramatic. By the time the last scene has ended, almost everyone is dead. The audience here will be highly involved, and the mood is frenzied and sad. Hamlet gets his revenge on Claudius, Gertrude dies, Hamlet is poisoned with the sword, and Laertes follows his father and sister into death. 

The shifts in mood throughout the play always accompany the action. Nothing is unintentional. Even the comic relief serves a purpose. Therefore, the play is an emotional roller coaster ride, and great entertainment.

What do the symbols of the black box, the black spot, and the stones represent (stand for) in "The Lottery"?

A symbol is an object that takes on deeper meaning within the story.  This is the story of a town that valued tradition so much that human life became less important.  The symbols of the town’s heritage took on an almost mythic meaning.  The town could not get rid of the lottery, and it could not get rid of the symbols of its past.

The black box is an important symbol.  The box has existed in one form or another since the beginning.  When a black box falls apart, they make a new box out of the pieces.

Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done. 

This is significant because it demonstrates how the town refuses to let go of tradition.  Even the smallest thing like a new box is intolerable.  It isn’t that anyone makes a big fuss.  There just is no change and no one can get it to happen. 

The black spot on the paper means that a person is marked.  It dooms a person.  It is a little, insignificant thing. It is just a spot on a paper.  However, the spot represents fate.  The village will kill one person a year, and it is the person who gets the spot. 

Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand. It had a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before with the heavy pencil in the coal company office. Bill Hutchinson held it up, and there was a stir in the crowd. 

Bill’s reaction is remarkable.  His wife is panicking because she has the spot of death, and his reaction is to force the paper from her hand and show it to everyone.  He knows what will result.  From the moment she reacted to her paper, he knew that fate had got her. 

The stones are a classic form of murder by mob.  In this community, they are gathered by the boys when they first get to the square.  The boys know full well what those stones will be used for.  Their collection by the boys represents the passing on of the village’s morbid custom.

Why does Scout have a problem with Miss Gates in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Miss Gates is Scout's third grade teacher. During a current events activity, Cecil Jacobs discusses how Hitler is persecuting the Jews who live in Europe. Miss Gates then explains to her class the difference between a democracy and dictatorship. She says Hitler runs the government and makes the audacious claim that individuals in America don't believe in persecuting people. Scout recognizes Miss Gates' hypocrisy and talks to her brother about it. Scout tells Jem that she overheard Miss Gates make prejudiced comments about the African American community of Maycomb when she was leaving Tom's trial. Scout wonders how Miss Gates can hate and ridicule Hitler, then turn around and discriminate against African Americans. Scout has a problem with Miss Gates's hypocritical attitude.

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, what might have happened if Romeo actually received Friar John's message?

Had Romeo actually received the message that Friar John was supposed to deliver to him, the tragic ending of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet would very likely have been averted. To understand this hypothetical situation, we must first consider what actually did happen...

After Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished from Verona, and after Juliet learns that Lord Capulet is going to force her to marry Paris, Juliet visits Friar Laurence in desperate need of assistance. Together, they devise a plan: Juliet will take a drug that mimics the appearance of death. After her family has finished mourning, Friar Laurence will have her body taken to the Capulet's crypt, where she will awaken from her slumber and meet up with Romeo, who will have received word of this plan and snuck back into Verona to rescue his young bride.

Juliet takes the drug and fakes her death as intended, and Friar Laurence sends Friar John to deliver a letter to Romeo that details the arrangement. However, when Friar John re-appears, he has tragic news. He was delayed in reaching Mantua and was unable to deliver the letter to Romeo due to a quarantine that was placed upon him:

...And finding him, the searchers of the town,

Suspecting that we both were in a house

Where the infectious pestilence did reign,

Seal'd up the doors, and would not let us forth...

Because Romeo has not received the letter informing him that Juliet's death wasn't real, he instead learns from Benvolio that Juliet has actually died. Heartbroken, Romeo buys poison from an apothecary and rushes to the crypt, where he drinks the poison and dies at Juliet's side. Juliet wakes to discover her newly dead husband and so, too, kills herself.

Had Friar John managed to deliver the message, Romeo would have not rashly killed himself and would have been able to carry out the escape plan as it was designed; provided that they weren't caught sneaking out of Verona, Romeo and Juliet would have had a chance at the happy and long marriage that they so craved.

What is a character sketch of Gulliver's father?

Gulliver's father was, evidently, a gentleman, as he owned a small estate.  However, he had five sons and so, presumably, all but the first-born would have to make their way in the world because they would not inherit any property.  Gulliver's father seemed to understand this, and so he made provisions to send Gulliver away to school when he was fourteen.  His father tried to support him here but had only a "narrow fortune" and could provide him with but a very small allowance, and, thus, it was necessary for Gulliver to become a doctor's apprentice.  It seems, then, that his father was a man who tried to do the best he could by his sons.  He clearly believed in the importance and value of education since he was willing to exhaust his funds in an attempt to educate Gulliver; however, his inability to support his family (Gulliver is only the third son, so we might wonder what becomes of the fourth and fifth sons when the money has run out) might indicate some poor planning on his part.