What do the welded locks symbolize in "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe?

The welded locks symbolize Prospero and his guests' fear of the outside.

Prospero and his guests try to seal themselves in the abbey and keep the outside world out. Instead of trying to help people who are suffering, the rich and the nobles decided to flee the kingdom’s troubles and let the sick fend for themselves.

To evade the Red Death pillaging his kingdom, Prospero built an abbey where he and “a thousand hale and light-hearted friends” could distance themselves from the plague.

A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. 

These iron gates and welded locks are meant to protect Prospero and his guests from the infected public's illnesses and other concerns, symbolizing the reality of the situation that Prospero and the others are so desperately evading.  Thus, the gates and locks symbolize Prospero’s fear. He is trying to keep the Red Death, and death itself, out.

Reality has no place in Prospero’s world. He has built himself mental walls, too. This is why six months into hiding, when half of the people of his kingdom are dead, he throws a party.

It was toward the close of the fifth or sixth month of his seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence.

Again, Prospero is not taking any responsibility. He is not showing leadership. He is a coward and a negligent leader. When he should be finding a way to combat the Red Death and help his people, he runs away and hides.

Compare and contrast indentured servants and slaves in US History.

There were some similarities and some differences between slaves and indentured servants. One similarity is that both groups had to work for another person. As a result, their owners determined how good or how bad their working conditions would be. Both slaves and indentured servants got their basic needs covered. Their owners provided them with food and shelter. They often worked in the fields of their owner.

There were some differences between a slave and an indentured servant. An indentured servant signed a contract for a specific period of time. In return for getting transportation to the colonies, the person agreed to work for that individual for a specific period of time. After the contract was completed, the indentured servant was freed and was paid a bonus that was agreed to when the contract was signed. Slaves were slaves forever. There was no contract, and there was no end date of being a slave. Thus, the indentured servant had something to look forward to after the contract was completed. The slave would remain a slave forever.

There were some similarities and some differences between indentured servants and slaves.

In Wonder, how does Via react to Auggie's deformity, and how is she affected?

In short, Olivia reacts to August's deformity by defending her little brother in public and in private. Olivia is affected by becoming truly humble. Olivia's love for her brother makes her a kind and compassionate character.

The name "Auggie" you use in your question is, of course, an affectionate nickname for August. Further, the name "Via" is the nickname for Olivia, August's older sister. August has had his deformity since birth. This deformity (which includes a severe cleft palate) affects his facial features due to differences in the skull structure. Near the beginning of Wonder, August says that he will not ever reveal what he looks like because "it's probably worse" than "whatever you're thinking." Olivia, though, describes August's deformity in detail. Olivia is not afraid of August or his deformities. Olivia loves her little brother.

First, when Olivia is very young, she defends August in front of other people by "shouting at them" if they react poorly to his deformity. Olivia is August's older sister; therefore, she feels a need to defend her little brother. Olivia's humility can be seen in that she does not mind that August is always the center of attention. As a result, Olivia is called "the most understanding little girl in the world." Olivia has always understood that because August's needs include surgery and therapy, she should never complain about her own everyday needs. Through it all, Olivia is always humble. This humility, over all, is how August's deformity affects her.

My worst day, worst fall, worst headache, worst bruise, worst cramp, worst mean thing anyone could say has always been nothing compared to what August has gone through. This isn’t me being noble, by the way: it’s just the way I know it is.

Later, Olivia's protection turns into care for August's self-worth. For example, Via is very distressed when August cuts off his little braid hanging from the back of his head. The braid, of course, is a "Star Wars thing" and "a Padawan thing." Star Wars is important to August, and that is why Olivia is upset about her brother changing his hair. At another point, Olivia is upset when August will not go to the Halloween parade because she knows it is a significant part of his personality and happiness. Olivia ends up convincing August to go to the parade.

Despite her compassionate and caring character, it is important to note that Olivia does feel a sense of relief when she goes to middle school and high school because she is fully separate from August. In fact, her feelings build and Olivia eventually blows up saying that she was "left alone my whole life." These angry feelings are fleeting, though, and Olivia goes back to being her sweet and loving self around her little brother.

How does Macbeth feel about killing the king in Act 1, scene 7?

Macbeth feels ambivalent about killing the king in Act 1, scene 7.  He begins the scene with a lengthy soliloquy in which he outlines the many and varied reasons he has not to kill Duncan.  Duncan is his friend and his guest, a circumstance that ought to require him to shut the door on whomever would do Duncan harm.  Duncan is his king and his kinsman, relationships that ought to secure Macbeth's loyalty, and, finally, Duncan is a good person and just ruler.  Macbeth acknowledges that the only reason he has to go ahead with the plan to kill Duncan is his "Vaulting ambition" (1.7.27), and he actually tells his wife that he doesn't want to go through with the murder anymore.  However, she insults him repeatedly, wounding his pride, and he eventually recommits to the murder.  However, he is presented in this scene as being largely ambivalent -- he needs a lot of convincing to go ahead with killing Duncan.

Why was Britain the first country to industrialise in the 18th and 19th centuries?

Good question! There is still a lot of uncertainty about why industrialization happens when and where it does (and doesn't), but there are a few unique features of 18th and 19th-century Britain that historians and economists have found to be important in triggering industrial development and economic growth.

The first and probably most important is Britain's relatively pluralistic, inclusive institutions. While they were a monarchy (I mean, technically they still are), Britain had a strong tradition of democratic representation, public dialogue, and individual rights. The monarchy's power was not absolute, but limited by Parliament and judicial precedent enshrined in common law. Individual people in Britain were relatively free to own their own property, make their own decisions, and generally live their lives without excessive government interference. This allowed for more free markets and more productive workers, as those who were productive could keep and sell what they produced instead of having it confiscated by the government, and therefore had more incentive to produce it in the first place. This is not to say that Britain didn't have taxes and regulations, which of course they did; nor that all taxes and regulations are bad---many are necessary, and others can be beneficial. But all other things equal, lower taxes and more permissive regulations are generally associated with stronger economic growth.

Another important reason was Britain's natural resources, specifically its large forests and extensive coal reserves. Industrial technology is really only useful if you have the fuel to power it; at that time petroleum was still very difficult to refine, and obviously nuclear fission and photovoltaics wouldn't be invented for over a century; so burning wood and then coal was the main way that large machines could be powered. Britain had these resources in abundance, which made it cheaper for them to industrialize than it was in most other places.

Britain also had a relatively high literacy rate, meaning they had more skilled artisans, inventors, and engineers per capita than most other places. They had a strong national defense (the British Navy was the mightiest in the world) and thus were safe from outside invasion. They had a relatively low crime rate. Their currency, the pound, was very strong and very stable (indeed, still is and always has been). All of these factors likely contributed to Britain's industrialization before other places. The United States was not far behind, perhaps because it shared most of these features with Britain as well as sharing many features of British culture and institutions.

What are some thematic differences between the book and film versions of No Country for Old Men?

No Country For Old Men is a book-to-film adaptation that stays remarkably close to the original material. There are no large plot or character changes. The dialogue is often taken straight from the novel, and the overall tone of the film accurately captures many of the book’s thematic elements. It is a stark, mysterious, and violent film made from a book that is equally stark, mysterious, and violent.

Thematically, the book and the film are very similar. The novel emphasizes the thoughts and feelings of the characters more than the film does, while the film emphasizes the actions that the characters take, letting the motivations for those actions be determined by the viewer.

The biggest difference between the book and the film is the use of the interior monologue. In McCarthy’s book, Sheriff Bell (played by Tommy Lee Jones in the film) delivers numerous italicized monologues. The film, like the book, opens with narration from the Sheriff. Many of the themes are present in this initial monologue. The sheriff recalls the one time during his career that he arrested and sent a criminal to the gas chamber. A nineteen-year-old boy had murdered a fourteen-year-old girl. The boy was callous and had no remorse. The sheriff had never encountered someone like this and wonders if he is “some new kind.” The changing nature of violence is one of the major themes in the film and the novel.

The Coen brothers, the directors and screenwriters for the film, do not use as many interior monologues in the film as there are in the novel. These monologues are almost always delivered as voice-over narration in a film. This type of narration isn’t as essential in a film as it is in a novel, and over-reliance on voice-over is often considered a weak point in a film. Film is a visual medium, and much of the content of a monologue can be shown, or delivered in conversation. The Coen brothers use some of the content of these monologues at different times in the film, but not in monologue form.

There are other, more minor differences between the book and film. The dog chase scene where Moss (Josh Brolin’s character in the film) flees and shoots the dog as it is leaping on top of him is not in the novel. The first time the Chigurh character (Javier Bardem in the film) and Moss confront one another in the hotel plays differently in the book than in the film. In the book Moss actually takes Chigurh captive and then flees, rather than Chigurh sneaking in and wounding Moss. In the book, Moss’s wife doesn’t refuse to call the coin toss just before her demise; she calls it incorrectly.

The film deals with the ingenuity and cleverness of the characters in a more detailed way than the book. It lingers over the moments of improvising a hiding place, setting a trap, or bandaging oneself much longer than does the book.

Overall, the book makes a more pointed critique of American society. In the novel the sheriff’s monologues clearly detail his feelings that America is falling apart. He suggests that the violence and morals of the society have changed so significantly during his tenure as a police officer that the sheriff feels that he doesn’t belong to, or recognize, American society any longer.

Some interesting points: the film uses no musical soundtrack. The only music heard onscreen comes from the mariachi band playing when Moss awakens across the border in Mexico. The title of the novel is a quotation from the opening of the poem “Sailing to Byzantium” by W. B. Yeats.

Which are the real characters in The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood?

It is easier to start with which characters are only fictional and were not real individuals connected with the authentic Globe Theatre. Based upon current research, Widge himself, "Julian" Cogan and Simon Bass are the three who were not real individuals. The sharers, the hired men, the manager, the trainers, the caregivers and the major apprentices ("prentices") were authentic people who fulfilled functions in the Lord Chamberlain's Men at the Globe Theatre. Even "the boy named Nick" may have been Nicholas Tooley, a player in the Lord Chamberlain's company who was noted for specializing throughout his career in playing female roles. Blackwood's Nick puts up a fuss over continuing to play women's parts but finds himself back with the youthful apprentices when he fails to learn and correctly execute his first male role:

Before [Nick's] second week was out, the part in Love's Labour's was given to Chris Beeston, and Nick was back upstairs with [the prentices], practicing his swordsmanship.

Even Dr. Timothy Bright and his system for "shorte, swifte, and secrete writing" were authentic, he being the "chief physician of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital" in London and his system having been published as Characterie in 1588 (Frances Henderson). The names of those in The Shakespeare Stealer who were authentically involved with the Lord Chamberlain's Men along with William Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre include these:

• Robert Armin: son of a tailor, played the fool; one of Widge's trainers.


• Christopher Beeston: entrepreneur and actor.


• Richard Burbage: financial backer for the Globe Theatre; friend of "Mr. Shakespeare," both dislike "others pawing them" in "the tiring-room."


• "Henry" who dropped his lines to whom Beeston refers may be Henry Condell, an actor.


• Alexander Cooke: a tragedian (specialist in tragedy); known in this story as "Sander," Widge's trusted friend.


• Richard, who commented on the stage makeup of Julian, Sander and Widge ("Widge, a little less whitewash"), may have been Richard Cowley, an actor.


• William Kempe: noted singer and dancer in comedies; known to Widge as "Will Kempe" who "left the company" under a cloud of suspicion regarding As You Like It and Leicester. 


• Thomas Pope: actor, musician, dancer; he "caught the dirty dastard," Widge, then gave him a home with "regular meals and soft bedding."


• William Sly: an actor; "a prentice like [Widge] a few years ago ... [now] a hired man."


• Augustine Phillips: actor, dancer; a "small, athletic-looking man."


• John Heminges: partial financial backer; speaking with a stutter, he welcomed Widge into the "Lord Chamberlain's company."

How is the title "Of Mice and Men" related to the characters themselves?

The title Of Mice and Men is an allusion to the Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse." The quote appears in the second to last stanza of the poem:

The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men 

          Gang aft agley, 

An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, 

          For promis’d joy!

Translated, the lines basically say that the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, or simply don't work out. Instead those failed plans cause grief and pain. This quote relates directly to George's dream of buying his own farm. This dream is shared by Lennie, Candy and, for a short time, Crooks. It is, in fact, all the men can talk about. They relish the idea of someday leaving the ranch and going off to this proclaimed paradise where George will raise his own crops, Candy will "hoe in the garden" and Lennie will "tend rabbits." Unfortunately, no matter how well they plan, the dream never materializes as Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife and George has no other recourse than to kill Lennie rather than let him fall into Curley's hands. The plans to go to the dream farm go astray and bring only grief and pain to George who loses his best friend and Candy who will be forever left to swamp out the bunkhouse at the ranch.   

Explain this quote by Helen from the book "Jane Eyre": "If all the world hated you, while your own conscience approved you, and absolved you from...

In the book "Jane Eyre," Jane struggles with feelings of loneliness and inadequacy. All her life, she has been seen as plain and "less than" her family members and other children. This has caused her to be mistreated, cast aside, and ostracized. Her friend Helen, however, has a slightly more positive outlook on life. During their conversation in Chapter 8, Jane expresses concern that she has no friends other than Helen, because everyone sees her as a liar. Helen tries to reassure her that nobody in the school despises her, they simply pity her. She tries to convince Jane that the teachers and children do not think badly of her, but rather harbor true feelings of kindness in their hearts for her. Jane acts confused, and Helen then says "If all the world hated you, while your own conscience approved you, and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends." There are essentially two takeaways from this quote: Helen believes that one should never seek approval from outside sources, but rather from inside oneself, and that if a person does that, they will never be unhappy, no matter what anyone else says about them. 

What are examples of heroism in Night by Elie Wiesel?

There are a few good examples of heroism in Elie Wiesel's Night. When Elie and his father are facing the selection at Birkenau in section three, an unknown man takes them aside and asks their ages. He advises them not to divulge their actual ages. Rather, he tells Elie, who was only fourteen at the time, to tell the SS that he was really eighteen and for his father to change his age from fifty to forty. This heroic act might have cost the man his life had the Nazis found out what he was doing. Ultimately, his help may have saved Elie and his father from possible extermination. In section four, while at the work camp of Buna, Elie and his father are housed in a block overseen by a German Jew who was dedicated to the prisoners he supervised:

He was called Alphonse. A young man with an extraordinarily aged face, he was entirely devoted to the cause of "his" block. Whenever he could, he would organize a cauldron of soup for the young ones, the weak, all those who were dreaming more about an extra plateful than liberty.

Unlike many of the other prisoner "kapos," Alphonse is heroic in his simple humanity. Likewise, the doctor who operates on Elie's leg in section five is heroically kind and reassuring toward Elie:

"My" doctor was there. I took comfort from this. I felt that nothing serious could happen while he was there. There was a balm in every word he spoke, and every glance he gave me held a message of hope.

Not surprisingly, Elie refers to the man as "a great Jewish doctor." 

In what ways does the modern era allow the monster more or less agency? Refer to the novel Frankenstein and The Tempest.

Agency is a term that describes a character’s ability to make his own choices, given the confines of his environment.

In Frankenstein, the creature is initially given free agency to make choices but is eventually limited by the society’s reaction to him. This is Shelley’s understanding of the concept of tabula rasa, or “blank slate,” in which a child is born free from any specific kind of human nature. In effect, people are born “good” but are turned “evil” by the society around them. The creature, who is immediately abandoned by his creator at his “birth,” seeks only good around him. His assumption is that people are friendly and welcoming until he faces repeated rejection. He then has the choice to turn “bad” and sets out on a murdering spree as a result of what he has learned. Thus agency can be seen in this work as morally neutral to begin with, in connection with the concept of tabula rasa.

In The Tempest, Caliban has no agency, at least physically. He is under the complete control of Prospero and must do what the sorcerer commands. He does exhibit the choice to decide how he is going to internally respond to these commands. He mentally rebels while he physically obeys. He is finally released and given complete freedom.

In the modern era, the reading of these works allows us to see that the characters have agency as to the matter of personal choice as opposed to being subject to divine destiny or predestination. In humanism, the emphasis is on people's choices to control their lives, rather than being controlled by God (much like Prospero's control of Caliban). In Frankenstein, we can see the beginning of a more modern perspective in the matter of agency. While the creator (Frankenstein) has rejected his creation, beginning in the 18th century humankind began to reject or redefine their control by God. We have changed from Caliban to the Creature. We may not be able to control our circumstances, but we can always control, for good or for evil, our response to our circumstances.

In To Sir, with Love, how do the children react to getting a new teacher?

When the students see Mr. Braithwaite in their classroom, they begin to scrutinize him silently. They tensely wait for him to respond to a student who slams a desk when closing it, and no students volunteer to read Treasure Island except Pamela Dare. They are testing Braithwaite, and they are not used to any kind of discipline in the classroom. When Braithwaite asks them about the system of weights and measures, one students responds with a system of boxing weights to mock Braithwaite. What follows this period of resentment and clowning is a long period of the silent treatment in which the students do what Braithwaite asks them, but they do so without any interest or enthusiasm. This is followed by the noisy treatment, when they slam their desks when Braithwaite is trying to speak or read. Braithwaite is at first at a loss about how to reach his students. 

How can I identify exothermic and endothermic reactions? What am I supposed to ask myself?

In order to determine if a reaction is endothermic or exothermic you should ask yourself if energy is being transferred from the surroundings to the system or from the system to the surroundings.

Endothermic reactions absorb energy from the surroundings. A chemical ice pack that gets cold when two components are mixed and is then used to treat an injury is an example of an endothermic reaction. It cools your injured body part because heat is being absorbed from your body by the reaction system. The energy gained by an endothermic reaction system is equal to the energy lost by the surroundings.

Exothermic reactions release energy to the surroundings in the form of heat, light or electrical energy. Combustion is a common exothermic reaction, giving off heat and light. The energy gained by the surroundings as a result of an exothermic reaction is equal to the energy lost by the system. From a mathematical perspective you can determine if a reaction is endothermic or exothermic by the enthalpy change.  This is the energy transferred in a reaction and is designated ∆H. You can determine whether a reaction is endothermic or exothermic by the sign of ∆H:

If ∆H is positive, the reaction is endothermic.

If ∆H is negative, the reaction is exothermic.

`y = (coshx - sinhx)^2 , (0, 1)` Find an equation of the tangent line to the graph of the function at the given point

Given,

`y = (coshx - sinhx)^2` , (0, 1)

to find the tangent quation,

so first find the slope of the tangent and is as follows,

let `y=f(x)`

so we have to find the f'(x) to get the slope

so,

`f'(x)= ((coshx - sinhx)^2)'`

let` u= (coshx - sinhx)`

and `(df)/dx = df/(du) * (du)/(dx)`

so ,

`f'(x) = d/du ( u^2) * d/dx (coshx -sinhx)`

=`2u* (d/dx(coshx) - d/dx(sinhx))`

`= 2u * (sinhx - coshx)`

`=2(coshx-sinhx)(sinhx-coshx)`

so the slope of the line through the point (0,1) is

`f'(x) = 2(coshx-sinhx)(sinhx-coshx)`

`f'(0) = 2(cosh 0-sinh 0 )(sinh 0-cosh 0)`

        = `2(1-0)(0-1)`

       = -2.

now the slope is -2 , so the equation of the tangent is ,

`y-y_1= m (x-x1)`

`y-1=(-2)(x-0)`

`y-1=-2x`

`y=1-2x`

so the tangent equation is `y=1-2x`

How is the title of The Wednesday Wars significant to the plot?

The title of the book is significant to the story because it references what has to happen to Holling Hoodhood every Wednesday afternoon.  

Holling is a Protestant. That's important because he is the only Protestant who attends his school. Everybody else is either Catholic or Jewish. On Wednesday afternoons, all the Catholic students go to Catechism, and all the Jewish students go to Hebrew studies. The administration has to figure out something to do with Holling. Their solution is to put him in a study hall-type class with Mrs. Baker.  

Mrs. Baker is not happy about the situation, and she initially makes Holling do menial tasks like clean desks and chalkboards. Holling doesn't enjoy it, and he believes Mrs. Baker hates his guts. After about a month, Mrs. Baker decides to use the time with Holling to teach him Shakespeare and have him read a play per month. Holling thinks that's just about the worst thing possible. He feels Wednesdays are essentially a battle between him and Mrs. Baker, hence the title The Wednesday Wars. As the novel progresses, Holling and Mrs. Baker grow to enjoy their time together.

Why does water wet glass?

Water wets glass because at any temperature, a fraction of the water molecules will escape the liquid form and evaporate into the gas form, water vapor. Air also has water vapor in it, depending various factors like temperature and altitude. This is what is known as humidity. Air can only contain a certain amount of water vapor. At a certain point, called a dew point, water droplets start to condense, and hence, form dew.

This is dependent on temperature. If the glass is colder, more dew is formed. This is because if the glass is colder, the air beside it also becomes cooler and cooler air "holds" less water. Then, the water droplets start condensing on the surface of the glass - both inside and outside, but at different rates.

Dew formation is also observed in a closed water bottle even in a hot day, and this illustrates some of the points provided above. In a hot day, air is warmer and can hold more water. Water molecules also have a higher tendency to escape the liquid form as they will have more energy due to the higher temperature. However, the cannot escape to the atmosphere due to a closed system. At some point, there will be too much water vapor that can be contained in the air inside the bottle, that it starts condensing on the inner wall of the bottle.

This process is not different from large scale evaporation in bigger bodies of water (water escaping the liquid phase), accumulation of the droplets in the air and then condensation (formation of clouds, until a certain point when it starts to rain) -- then the processes just cycle.

What is a simile about the movement of the fish?

There are several comparisons in "Through the Tunnel" about fish.  Some of the similes are about the fish, and the other similes are about Jerry being like a fish.  

The first simile is after Jerry gets his goggles.  He can see underwater really well, so he is impressed with all of the beautiful fish that he sees.  During that time, the following simile is used.  

Two grayish shapes steered there, like long, rounded pieces of wood or slate. They were fish.

In that same paragraph a bit later, Jerry sees a bunch of silver colored fish swimming around him.  He describes it with a wonderful simile.  

It was like swimming in flaked silver.

The next two fish similes are about Jerry being similar to a fish in some way.  They both occur near the end of the story after he has made his lengthy swim through the tunnel.  The first is when he surfaces for air.  

He was gasping like a fish.

Then at the very end of the story, Jerry's mother is asking him a few questions about his day.  She is a little worried about his injured head, but then she dismisses the worry because she knows that Jerry is a great swimmer.  

Nothing can happen. He can swim like a fish.

In "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling, why do you think Rikki-Tikki felt better after he fluffed up his fur?

Rikki-tikki felt better because he was fed and dry, so he felt less vulnerable. 

The incident you are describing is from the beginning, when Rikki-tikki was washed away from home.  This would have been very hard on him, because he nearly drowned and he would have had no idea where he was going.  Fortunately, he ended up with some nice people who took him in and took care of him.

They gave him a little piece of raw meat. Rikki-tikki liked it immensely, and when it was finished he went out into the verandah and sat in the sunshine and fluffed up his fur to make it dry to the roots. Then he felt better.

Rikki-tikki’s reaction to the whole thing shows that he does not get frightened easily.  We are told it is more in a mongoose’s nature to be curious.  He is happy that the people feed him and let him dry off. Once he is dry he feels better because he is less vulnerable.  

Even though at this point Rikki-tikki does not know about the snakes, he is a mongoose and is aware that snakes are always a danger.  When he was hungry and soaking wet from being half-drowned, he was weak.  Once he is fed and dry, he feels strong again.  That is why he feels better.  He immediately turns curious. 

"There are more things to find out about in this house,'' he said to himself, "than all my family could find out in all their lives. I shall certainly stay and find out.''

Rikki-tikki is not worried about danger at this point.  He just wonders what is going on at this house.  He is not interested in going home.  Every mongoose wants to be a house mongoose. He has his chance.  He just wants to look around and see his new domain.

What happens when Scout and Jem walk home from the pageant?

In Chapter 28, Jem and Scout are walking home from the Halloween pageant when they hear someone following them. Initially, the children believe Cecil Jacobs is trying to scare them, but then Bob Ewell attacks them. Bob Ewell pulls Jem backward and breaks his arm. Bob then squeezes Scout and attempts to stab her, but she is saved after Boo Radley heroically comes to her defense. Boo Radley wrestles with Bob Ewell and is able to take Bob's weapon. Boo stabs and kills Bob Ewell with his own knife, then picks up Jem to take him home. Scout was unable to witness the attack because of her cumbersome costume and sees the figure of a man staggering down the road holding Jem. Later, it is revealed that Boo Radley saved the children, and Sheriff Tate decides not to tell the community about his heroics.

How is the Bible's Book of Genesis interpreted today? What does it mean to the modern interpreter or community?

Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament, was traditionally thought to have been authored by Moses, but most modern scholars now believe it was written between the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. There are countless perspectives on the book of Genesis, but we can identify some common modern interpretations.

Modern Christians diverge widely in their readings of Genesis—from those who take understand it as a literal account to those who view the book as allegory. Even within a faith, the interpretation can be left to individuals. Catholics, for example, “are at liberty to believe that creation took a few days or a much longer period, according to how they see the evidence” (http://www.catholic.com/tracts/creation-and-genesis). Another way Christians have interpreted Biblical texts is the historical-grammatical method, which seeks to uncover the authors’ original intended meanings and how its original readers would have understood the text.

Scholarly interpretations of Genesis vary according to the critical context used. For example, many university Bible scholars use a historical-critical method (sometimes called higher criticism), a branch of literary criticism. This mode of interpretation seeks to understand the original meaning of the text in its historical context and views ancient texts as artifacts that can help reconstruct interpretations of the past. Another form of literary criticism is an allegorical interpretation, which views the stories of Genesis as symbolic myths rather than historical events. This is not an exclusively modern idea, however. As early as the first century CE, the Jewish scholar Philo of Alexandria questioned the literal interpretation of the six creative days from the first chapters of Genesis.

What happened at Pearl Harbor and why is it significant?

December 7, 1941, was an important day in U.S. History. On that day, Japan attacked the United States by launching an attack at our main military base in the Pacific Ocean at Pearl Harbor.

The United States and Japan had been heading toward conflict prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States stopped selling Japan oil and scrap metal once the Export Control Act was passed in 1940. The United States also froze the financial assets of Japan that were in US banks.

The attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II. The US could now openly help Great Britain in its fight against Germany and Italy. The US also had to respond to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The US went into wartime mode, producing materials to rebuild its military in the Pacific and help the Allies fight in Europe. People within the US had to make sacrifice; certain products were rationed, and people loaned money to the government. People also grew their own vegetables in Victory Gardens to help conserve food and make more food available for the military. The US instituted a battle strategy against Germany, Italy, and Japan. This strategy included fighting in North Africa, seizing Italy, controlling the Atlantic, freeing France, and invading Germany. In the Pacific, the US wanted to recapture islands one at a time in a strategy known as island hopping. This would then set the US up for an attack on Japan. With the United States' help, the Allies were able to defeat the Axis Powers in World War II.

What is the main idea of “The Chimney Sweeper” poems by William Blake?

William Blake wrote two poems called "The Chimney Sweeper" for Songs of Innocence and of Experience. In the iteration of the poem in Songs of Innocence, we are treated to a childlike view of the chimney sweeper's lot in life, one that justifies a corrupt social hierarchy by asserting that those who "do their duty" (24) will go to Heaven. Conversely, in the version in Songs of Experience, Blake presents us with a chimney sweep abandoned by hypocritical parents who "'praise God and his Priest and King, / Who make up a heaven of our misery'" (11-12). The main idea of both poems is to illustrate the corrupt nature of a society that exploits human labor, but the way in which both poems come to this idea is different. The Experience version is overt in its dealing with corruption, as it's hard to miss Blake's blatantly critical tone. The Innocence poem, however, is more subtle; in it, the chimney sweepers are satisfied with their lot, as they have been convinced that performing their miserable duty will earn them eternal salvation. In communicating this notion, Blake subtly suggests that society has twisted religion in order to oppress the working classes, thus making the main idea of this poem more indirect than the Experience poem. 

Does Macbeth offer a moral lesson?

Shakespeare's Macbeth can be viewed as a study of human nature and its corruption. The play explores various themes, such as appearance versus reality and the perils of unrestrained ambition. We could argue the play does provide us with a moral lesson. Macbeth seems to warn us that one must not succumb to one's perilous "black and deep desires" because if we do, we are likely to put aside all the values we should stand by. 

Macbeth, the main character of the play, is guided by his unchecked ambition to become the king of Scotland at any cost. He knows murdering his relative and benevolent king would be a great sin, but he is willing to risk anything in order to gain power and control. 

When Macbeth obtains the supremacy he desperately wants, he is hungry for more. He cannot stop. He believes others will endanger his position, so he must eliminate anyone who could potentially harm or usurp him. He starts having hallucinations as a result of resorting to murdering innocent people to maintain his power.

Shakespeare shows us that, once Macbeth gains power unlawfully, he triggers the beginning of his own demise. By embracing evil, Macbeth rejects humanity and his life becomes meaningless, as we can see from his confession in Act V. Soon after that, his death becomes inevitable.

`y = 5^(-4x)` Find the derivative of the function

`y=5^(-4x)`

The derivative formula of an exponential function is:

`d/(dx) (a^u) = ln(a) * a^u * (du)/(dx)`

Applying this formula, the derivative of the function is:

`(dy)/(dx) = d/(dx)(5^(-4x))`

`(dy)/(dx) = ln(5) * 5^(-4x) * d/(dx)(-4x)`

`(dy)/(dx) = ln(5) * 5^(-4x) * (-4)`

`(dy)/(dx) = -4 ln(5) * 5^(-4x)`

Therefore, `(dy)/(dx) = -4ln(5) * 5^(-4x)` .

What are the long term consequences of the Industrial Revolution?

The first consequence of the Industrial Revolution, as is apparent from its name, was industrialization. This means that many processes which in the past had been done by hand began to be performed by machines. Over the long term, this meant an industrial and technological transformation of advanced nations. For example, in transportation, railways supplanted horse-drawn stagecoaches and steam-powered boats were faster and more reliable than ones reliant on wind. Fabric was made by machines rather than by hand. Machinery and new patterns of planting made agriculture far more efficient. All of this meant a huge surge in prosperity and productivity as well as population.

Another major consequence of the Industrial Revolution was urbanization, with workers flocking from the countryside to the vast new manufacturing towns. This carried with it the creation of industrial slums. 

Economically, the Industrial Revolution led to the rise of the bourgeoisie, with the new fortunes made in manufacturing creating a nexus of wealth and power independent of the old, land-owning aristocracy. Politically, this led to the growth of "liberalism" (in the English rather than American sense), meaning a position dedicated to a free market economy, minimization of government regulation, and generally an increase in personal freedoms.

`int (x^4 + 5^x) dx` Find the indefinite integral

For the given integral:` int (x^4+ 5^x) dx` , we may apply the basic integration property:

`int (u+v) dx = int (u) dx + int (v) dx` .

We can integrate each term separately.

`int (x^4+ 5^x) dx =int (x^4) dx + int (5^x) dx`

For the integration of first term:  `int (x^4) dx` ,

we apply the Power Rule for integration:

`int (x^n) dx = x^(n+1)/ (n+1) +C` .

Then,

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

`int (x^4) dx = x^(5)/(5) +C`

For the integration of first term: `int (5^x) dx` , we apply the basic integration formula for exponential function :

`int (a^x) dx = a^x/ln(a) +C`  where  ` a!=1`

Then,

`int (5^x) dx =5^x/ln(5) +C`

 Combining the two integrations for the final answer:

 ` int (x^4+ 5^x) dx =x^(5)/(5) +x^(5)/(5) +C` 

`y = 3x , 0

The quantity to be calculated is the area of what is called a surface of revolution. The function `y = 3x ` is rotated about the x-axis and the surface that is created in this way is a surface of revolution. The area to be calculated is definite, since we consider only the region of the x-axis `x in [0,3] `, that is, `x ` between 0 and 3.

The formula for a surface of revolution (which is an area, A) is given by

`A = int_a^b (2pi y) sqrt(1 + (frac(dy)(dx))^2) dx `

` `

The circumference of the surface at each point along the x-axis is `2pi y ` and this is added up (integrated) along the x-axis by cutting the function into tiny lengths of `sqrt(1 + (frac(dy)(dx))^2) dx` 

ie, the arc length of the function in a segment of the x-axis `dx ` in length, which is the hypotenuse of a tiny triangle with width `dx ` and height `dy `.  These lengths are then multiplied by the circumference of the surface at that point `2 pi y ` to give the surface area of rings around the x-axis that have tiny width `dx ` yet have edges that slope towards or away from the x-axis. The tiny sloped rings are added up to give the full sloped surface area of revolution.  

In this case, ` ` `frac(dy)(dx) = 3 ` and since the range over which to take the arc length is `[0,3] ` we have `a = 0 ` and `b = 3 `. Therefore, the area required, A, is given by

`A = int_0^3 6 pi x sqrt(10) dx = 3sqrt(10) pi x^2 | _0^3 = 27sqrt(10)pi `

I need a summary of Death Of A Salesman Act 1

The first act of the play "Death of a Salesman" introduces the Loman family. Willy Loman, the main character, is a traveling salesman; his adult sons, Happy and Biff, are visiting him and his wife Linda at their home in Brooklyn during the play. Willy is highly critical of his son Biff's lack of ambition, an opinion he had expressed to his family before leaving for work that morning, and Biff regrets not achieving the success that Willy had always expected of him. Happy has experienced more material success and has the approval of his father, but finds himself unsatisfied by his job. The two discuss traveling west to work on farms together, but Happy still desires corporate success. They also express concern over their father continually talking to himself. The act ends with Biff stating that he plans to ask his former boss, Bill Oliver, for a loan to buy a ranch of his own, a plan that Happy encourages; the two hear their father talking to himself yet again as they try to fall asleep.

Were the real birthdays of the children celebrated in Jonas's community in The Giver?

Children in Jonas’s community do not celebrate birthdays in the same way we do.  Every child born in a year is assigned a number.  Then, once a year in December there is a ceremony where they enter the next age category.  The actual month when they were born does not matter.  The first December, they all turn One, and then the next year they are all Two, and so on.

Each December, all the newchildren born in the previous year turned One. … Some were already walking, wobbly on their unsteady legs; others were no more than a few days old, wrapped in blankets, held by their Nurturers. (Ch. 2) 

Each class has fifty in it, because the community controls the population and makes sure there are fifty children born each year.  Unless one of the babies is released, they all turn One on the same day whether they are walking or just born.  Thus older kids have a real advantage at first, but it possibly diminishes as they get older. 

Like in our world, each ceremony results in gifts.  The gift of the Ceremony of One is a name and a family.  Babies are born to birthmothers, cared for by Nurturers until December, and then assigned to a family unit.  Each family unit has one boy and one girl, and a mother and father who are matched as well. 

Most of the gifts are clothes, but there are some more interesting ones.  At Nine children are given a bicycle.  At the Ceremony of Twelve, they are given their assignment.  This will be their job for life.  After Twelve there is no ceremony any more.  The children are considered adults-in-training.  They are preparing for their careers.

When Jonas becomes Receiver and sees birthday parties in the memories, it seems like a nice thing to him.

He had seen a birthday party, with one child singled out and celebrated on his day, so that now he understood the joy of being an individual, special and unique and proud. (Ch. 16)

It is unusual to Jonas that one child would be singled out for a birthday.  No one is ever singled out for anything in his community.  This is part of Sameness.  The only time they ever call attention to individuals is at the Ceremony of Twelve.

What is the time setting of Hoot by Carl Hiaasen?

The simple answer to this question is that Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen, is set in the present day. 

If we wish to be more specific, we can say that since Hoot was published in 2002, it is set in the present time of which it was written and published (2002). The objects, events, and themes of the novel are still very relevant to our own present day. Therefore, the easiest answer to this question would be that Hoot takes place during present times.   

There are many clues throughout the story that let readers know the novel is set in the present day. A few of these clues include:

1) The existence of cable and television:

Heatedly he banged a mayonnaise smeared fist on the side of the television console, to no avail. The cable had gone out in the middle of a Mother Paula's commercial!  

2) Use of modern colloquial language and slang:

"Hey, you moon somebody and that's it. You get your butt kicked"

"I don't blame you for being p.o.'ed," Roy said. 

3) Use/ existence of computers, Internet, Google, and video games:

The Eberhardts owned a home computer, which Roy was allowed to use for homework assignments and for playing video snowboard games. He was good at browsing the Internet, so with no difficulty he was able to Google up plenty of information about the burrowing owl.

Through the usage and placement of modern language and objects, Carl Hiaasen makes the novel's present day setting easy to detect.

What is the main difference between the two major categories of air pollutants?

Air pollutants are the gases, particles and molecules which make air unfit for living organisms. Air pollutants may cause discomfort, infection and/or diseases to the various life forms. There are two main types of air pollutants: Primary pollutants and secondary pollutants.

Primary pollutants are those pollutants that are directly emitted from the source to the atmosphere. These could be a result of the combustion of fuels (gasoline, diesel, etc.) from automobiles or from industries (such as coal or natural gas combustion from thermal power plants, etc.) or exhaust from any other source. Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide generated from vehicles, soot generated from coal-powered thermal power plants, etc. are all primary air pollutants. 

Secondary air pollutants are formed from the reactions of primary air pollutants and are not emitted directly from the source. Examples of secondary pollutants include ozone, which is formed by the reaction between nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic matter (VOC) in the presence of sunlight. Smog is another secondary pollutant and is formed by a combination of smoke and fog. 

Hope this helps. 

How does classification impact scientific naming?

Classification, also known as taxonomy, is the organization and grouping of living organisms by similar qualities and characteristics. The father of modern taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus, created the 8-step system of classification now used to establish binomial nomenclature or scientific naming. The 8 steps are domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. This system is used by scientists to determine evolutionary relationships between living things. These levels start by grouping organisms very broadly and narrow down to a single, unique life form. Scientific naming is created with the genus and species of each organism. The scientific name is always written in latin, the genus is capitalized, and the species is lower cased. Classification impacts scientific naming because without classification scientific naming would not exist.

Write a poem about the book.

There once was a young boy named Percy
and the other kids showed him no mercy.
He went to Olympus
on some family business
and caused a half-blood controversy

for Percy's dad was the god Poseidon
although in him, he could never confide in
that dead beat, he left
Percy was thankful, no less
and his family tree started to widen.

But then Percy got framed for theft
and it wasn't until when he left
that he discovered the rub
Ares set him up
but was foiled because Percy's deft

But just when he thought things ok
he discovered that Luke did betray
to raise the trapped Chronus
and then as a bonus
he wanted to make Zeus go away

But Percy was too cool for that
and before Luke's final coup d'etat
He found his true power
foiled the God of the Hour
and Luke's little plan soon fell flat.

How has industrialization changed the food system in the United States?

Industrialization has had a major impact on the American food system, in some ways for the better and in some ways for the worse. Prior to industrialization, food was mostly local, which meant that people in areas with little farmland had more difficulty obtaining food, especially in winter, and that people had relatively little exposure to foods from outside their area unless they were wealthy. Industrialization allowed the production of food to be more centralized and on a larger scale, which allowed more types of food to be produced and distributed cheaply to a wider range of areas. For better or worse, it also encouraged farms to change from "jack-of-all-trades," low-specialization systems to highly specialized single-product or dual-product companies.

However, industrialization has had a lot of negative impacts on our food system in the United States. Cheap mass-production of meat has led to animal cruelty using systems such as battery farms, as well as unsafe practices such as overusing antibiotics or using dangerously low-quality feed. In some cases, it had led to practices that may not be unsafe, but are ethically dubious, such as using "meat glue" to fake high-end steak using low-end scraps, or mislabeling fish to sell cheap tilefish as expensive snapper. We have an overabundance of farms producing cheap grains like wheat, corn, and soy, which have entered the American diet in almost every arena and have contributed to ballooning waistlines. Additionally, there have been negative environmental effects from mass-production farming and farms that do not rotate their crops. Finally, while industrialization helped spread more food to many corners of the country, the proliferation of cheap, low-quality food has meant that many areas still remain "food deserts," where food is available, but only nutritionally poor, "affordable" food, such as McDonald's or convenience store meals.

What does Mr. Underwood think about Tom’s death?

In Chapter 25, Scout elaborates on Braxton Bragg Underwood's editorial in The Maycomb Tribune concerning Tom Robinson's death. Although Mr. Underwood is a racist, he considers it a sin to kill cripples. Scout says he likened Tom's death to the senseless killing of songbirds. As Scout reads Mr. Underwood's article, she realizes that Tom was a dead man before he set foot in court. Mr. Underwood understands that Tom Robinson was an innocent, crippled man who became a victim of racial injustice. He doesn't believe Tom should have died and is disgusted that the prison guards murdered a crippled man. Scout mentions that the majority of Maycomb's citizens read Braxton's article and believed he was simply trying to be poetic enough to get a reprint in The Montgomery Advertiser.

How would you analyse the poem "Evening in Paradise" by John Milton? What literary devices appear in it?

"Evening in Paradise" is from the epic poem Paradise Lost written by John Milton.

In summary, the poem describes the approach of evening and the animals settling in for the night—except for the Nightingale that will sing all night long. Then stars appear in the sky and are then joined by the moon: they illuminate the darkness with light.

In the first two lines, the reader recognizes the imagery used in the form of personification.

Personification is:

...a figure of speech in which abstractions, animals, ideas, and inanimate objects are endowed with human form, character, traits, or sensibilities

"Evening" is referred to with the possessive pronoun "her," and the poet describes that she has "clad" (clothed) all things in the color of "Twilight gray." The idea of clothing something—and being clothed—is a human behavior, and the "Evening" is not human, but given human characteristics.

Now came still Evening on, and Twilight gray 
Had in her sober Liverie all things clad... (1-2)

Lines five and six describe the singing of the "Nightingale." Imagery is used as the author describes her song as an "amorous descant," or a love song. (A "descant" is a "song or a melody.")

...all but the wakeful Nightingale; 
She all night long her amorous descant sung... (5-6)

In line seven, "Silence" is personified. Silence is not a person, therefore it cannot experience emotions, such as (in this case) pleasure.

Silence was pleas'd... (7)

Note that in line seven, Milton refers to the "Firmament," which is "the vault of heaven; [the] sky." A metaphor is used once again: this time the two things being compared are the stars and "Saphirs" (sapphires). Both are shiny and bright (the characteristics they share), but one is a heavenly body of gases and the other is a gem.

Now glow'd the Firmament 
With living Saphirs... (7-8)

In lines nine and ten, the author alludes to Hesperus. In Greek mythology, it was believed that Hesperus was the evening star or the planet Venus. In the poem, Hesperus ushers in the "starrie Host" (the stars)—he himself shining the brightest.

Hesperus that led 
The starrie Host, rode brightest... (8-9)

Hesperus is the brightest of them all, but only until the moon appears. Once again, personification is used to describe "the Moon." The possessive pronoun is used ("her"), and she is described as uncovering ("unvail'd") her unequaled ("peerless") light—in doing so, the moon throws over the darkness a silver light ("her Silver Mantle threw"). The use of "mantle" is also an example of personification, in that a mantle (cloak or cape) is an article of clothing that people wear.

...till the Moon 
Rising in clouded Majestie, at length 
Apparent Queen unvail'd her peerless light, 
And o're the dark her Silver Mantle threw. (9-12)

Milton's uses of imagery provide vivid descriptions that bring his subject matter alive.

What could I put in the "early life" section of a PowerPoint presentation about José Julián Martí Pérez?

The man commonly known as Jose Martí is also called "El Apóstol," or "The Apostle," among Latin American writers, historians, and pro-Cuban liberation politicians alike. His vast body of work extends to a myriad of fields. However, a good way to start out a presentation about him would be to show how he ended up in the situation that made him into such an iconic figure.

He is the son of Spanish immigrants who went to Cuba. His father was Don Mariano Martí y Navarro, from Valencia, Spain, and Doña Leonor Pérez Cabrera, from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands. José grew up in Cuba, but did pay a couple of visits to Spain growing up. He lived in Spain from 1857 to 1859 and then returned to Cuba. As a child, he went to the Colegio de San Anacleto, directed by headmaster Rafael Sixto Casado, and then he went to the Colegio de San Pablo, with headmaster Rafael María de Mendive, who was his biggest influence. As a teenager he went to school at the Municipal School for Boys on March 19, 1869. This was essentially a lyceum where the arts and humanities would be the focus. He was always an excellent artist in every way, but he did not find success at this.

Keep in mind that José was extremely precocious. He started out really early in life, which is interesting, considering that his life ended up being very short. Many think that he was born knowing that he would be dead young, and that his spirit always told him to work fast, and work effectively.

This being said, it was not until he became a teenager that he discovered his ability to write. In 1870 he got into trouble for his anti-colonial expressions published in the press. At age 17 he was sentenced to hard labor for his views, condemned for six years. During his exile to Spain, he studied law at the Central University of Madrid and later at the University of Zaragoza. He completed his degree in 1874.

For more information on Martí, go to the link provided, and to the Cuban liberation and Spanish American War pages.

In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, how does Unoka influence Okonkwo?

In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo's father Unoka has a tremendous impact on the trajectory of Okonkwo's life. Unoka never obtains titles or any level of success within the clan. Indeed, Unoka's laziness and inability to provide for his family leaves Okonkwo determined to surpass his father's embarrassing legacy. Achebe acknowledges the influence that Unoka has on driving Okonkwo toward the brutal masculinity that marks his reputation:

"Even as a little boy he had resented his father's failure and weakness.... And so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion-- to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness" (13).

Okonkwo becomes the exact opposite of his father. Unoka was afraid of war and violence, so Okonkwo becomes the fiercest warrior in Umuofia. Okonkwo confines himself to a narrow definition of brutal masculinity, and this stems directly from his strained relationship with his father:

"When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt. Any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was so ashamed of him? Fortunately, among these people a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father" (8).

Thus, despite his marginal status in the novel, Unoka has a major influence on Okonkwo.

1. I want to know more about the doppelganger in The Unicorn, especially whether or not it is a major theme in Murdoch's modernist novel. 2. Is...

Doppelganger in The Unicorn
Marian thinks of "a ghost or a doppelganger" in Chapter 19 as she realizes "something or someone" was missing from the gold-winged scene around the mantel in Hannah's room where Gerald beneficently spreads welcome throughout what they accept as his "family." Marian, drinking whiskey neat, as they all are thanks to the attentions of Jamesie, contemplates the golden-glowing collection of people and realizes that there is an absence, then recognizes that it is Denis's face she doesn't see. Immediately after, Denis comes into focus. He is standing outside the circle of "winged" light in a black shadow that matches his black aspect, darkening eyes, disheveled shirt and shadow-darkened form. In this condition, Denis is another version of himself, a distorted version that is unrecognizable and incomprehensible to Marian. Metaphorically, Denis is his own doppelganger, a ghostly double of his still living self: smoldering darkly in a shadow, he is himself a dark shadow, a dark apparition.

Effingham's accusing, remorseful thoughts in Chapter 20 as he broils over what he could have, should have, might and would be allowed to do portray him as a doppelganger of himself: two selves tearing at each other in his suffering mental tirades. Effingham psychologically tears himself in two as he relives how he came to embrace such a foolhardy plan as helping Marian to affect Hannah's escape by fleeing with her on a plane; as he criticizes himself for a fantastical idea of how Hannah would react; as he ridicules his cowardly mode of escape after the Humber had been stopped by Alice at the gate; as he contemplates the sickening idea of how much harm had been done. He was torn in two: a self and an accusatory self, endlessly reprimanding the "horrible loutish idiocy" of that escape fantasy.

The whole plan ... was hopelessly ill-conceived. Hannah would never have consented to be taken away in a hurly-burly .... He had put Hannah in peril, laying her open to retribution from people who had power over her, he had almost certainly helped Marian to get herself the sack ... and worst of all he would himself be under sentence. (Chapter 20)

Doppelganger Theme
The incidents in chapters 19 and 20 do establish the doppelganger symbol as a theme in The Unicorn: Marian perceives the presence of "a ghost or a doppelganger" in Chapter 19. There are at least three characters who are manifested as doppelgangers by events following the attempted kidnapping of Hannah: Denis, Hannah and Marian.

Marian becomes a doppelganger, a ghostly apparition, of herself when, after the failed escape plan, she offers no resistance to Gerald in the "dark room": "She had been taken to some place of ultimate surrender ... in that dark room ... [and led] back chastened into the bright approval ...."

Hannah, now "wearing a peaceful ecstatic look" after the "ill-conceived" escape in the Humber, seems to have reclaimed her purity because she is returned to the safety of her surrounding walls. Yet her purity is as non-substantial as the golden-light around the group gathered at the fireplace. This ghost of purity exists because she depends upon her imprisonment, the suffering of others and the domination of Gerald to seem pure: her purity is an apparition, a doppelganger, of her true self.

Denis ought to be seen by Marian as part of the golden group "sheathed" in light, but he is not. He is isolated, darkened, hidden in a dark corner: "Denis's [face] was black ... like blackened iron. ... His eyes were black and his mouth a black line." Denis is a dark apparition of his true self because of the affects upon him of the realities behind Hannah's condition of imprisonment (Gerald and others' suffering), which is symbolized by his appearance: "His shirt was hanging open, his hair tousled."

Since the doppelganger theme is expressed in these three characters, you might also explore whether Jamesie or others further represent the doppelganger theme of divided authentic and inauthentic selves.

Psychological Distortion
Murdoch is considered a postmodernist writer, with The Unicorn published in 1963. The psychological distortion of the characters in The Unicorn has two explanations. The first is that the psychological distortion is key to the doppelganger theme since it shows the interior divide between psychological authenticity and inauthenticity; between purity and false purity; between the unicorn and the false unicorn. The second reason is that postmodernists perceive all of humankind as having fragmented consciousness, as having a distortion of and fragmentation between perception of self and representation of self. This fragmentation between perception and representation is illustrated by Effingham's inner monologue (Chapter 20) as he chides and berates himself and nearly doubles over, sickened, at the thought of the consequences he has brought down upon himself and others.

Ana Antunes Simão, "Gothicizing Morality"

Florence Howe, 1963 Iris Murdoch essay on The Unicorn

What effect did Rome's expansion have on its economy?

Rome's expansion was both a blessing and a curse to its economy.  New lands brought under Roman control brought the Romans into contact with new goods and new markets.  Bread became cheaper as "softer" wheat from the Eastern part of the empire replaced the spelt that was commonly found in Italy.  This made flour easier to grind, thus making bread cheaper.  Other areas of the empire produced citrus fruits, fine metal products, and wine.  Rome was also able to assimilate technological innovations of conquered people as well.  

However, the expansion was a double-edged sword for Rome.  The roads connecting the empire required upkeep, and this meant taxation.  Also, the larger empire meant more land to protect from barbarians--again, this meant a greater tax burden as many of these assimilated people did not feel much loyalty to the government in Rome.  The Western empire fell into decadence as it soon produced little and consumed much compared to other parts of the empire--this is what led to the fall of the Western Empire.  

According to Edwards, what do healthy, strong members of that town foolishly believe? Why do they think this?

According to Edwards, healthy, strong members of the town foolishly believe their own strength and abilities can save them from God's wrath.

In Edwards's opinion, those who have yet to descend to the depths of hell are only momentarily safe because of God's mercy. He accuses the members of the town of trusting their own healthy constitutions to keep them out of the fires of hell. Perhaps members of the town believe in their relative safety because they have conceivably lived what they consider to be good lives: after all, they have refrained from self-indulgent habits and have pursued every righteous course known to them.

You are kept out of Hell, but don’t see the Hand of God in it, but look at other Things, as the good State of your bodily Constitution, your Care of your own Life, and the Means you use for your own Preservation. . . if God should let you go, you would immediately sink. . . plunge into the bottomless Gulf, and your healthy Constitution, and your own Care and Prudence, and best Contrivance, and all your Righteousness, would have no more Influence to uphold you and keep you out of Hell, than a Spider’s Web would have to stop a falling Rock.

Basically, in his sermon, Edwards argues the strong and healthy members of the town should rely less on their own contrivances than on God to keep them from the fires of hell.

In what ways did the Eastern Empire change from the Western Empire?

I will assume the question concerns the Roman Empire.

The Roman Empire grew vast and became harder to manage from Rome. This forced Emperor Diocletian to divide the Empire into two manageable territories, the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. The Western Empire maintained the administration center in Rome, while the Eastern Empire established Byzantium/Constantinople as its administrative center. However, after the dissolution of the Greater Roman Empire, the Eastern Empire developed its own character. The Eastern Empire adopted Greek over the traditionally established Latin. Christianity was established as the Empire's official religion and other religious practices including the traditional Roman pagan practices were declared illegal. The Eastern Empire also sought to ban Iconoclasm (worship of religious icons and imagery). The situation caused the continued rift between the Western and Eastern Empires religiously and politically.

How does the mood of the poem "There Will Come Soft Rains" change dramatically?

Mood is the emotion caused by reading the poem.  A poem might be sad, happy, excited, passionate, or mourning, just like a person.  Any mood that a person has can be found in poetry. This little poem is very interesting, because it is about the effect of war on nature.  The poem starts out with a very serene mood, and ends up with a depressingly warning tone that makes the reader thoughtful. 

The beginning of the poem starts off in a way that seems very mellow and inviting.  It takes us through nature, and it is raining, but softly.  Everything is calm and sweet. 

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground, 

And swallows circling with their shimmering sound; 

And frogs in the pools singing at night, 

And wild plum trees in tremulous white; 

Robins will wear their feathery fire …

The beginning of the poem may be calm and celebratory in nature, but there is a shift in the middle.  Now the poem is talking about war.  There is a war on, and humans are destroying ourselves.  The poem may make us surprised at this point, because we were talking about frogs and plum trees a moment ago, and now we are talking about war.

The ending of the poem is very dark.  The mood is cautionary.  If we do not change our ways, this is what will result for us.  We will destroy ourselves, and nature will not care.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree

If mankind perished utterly;

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,

Would scarcely know that we were gone.

The implication is that nature and animals were here before our civilization and will be here after.  We can war with each other and destroy each other, and nature will heal itself and go on.  Nature is not interested in the least.  This may make the reader feel depressed, but in a way the poem is also reassuring.  We may destroy ourselves, but nature will be fine.

What are four instances of irony in the story, "The Tell-Tale Heart?"

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Why did Macduff fight with Macbeth and do you think Macbeth behaved bravely at the moment of his death?

In his final battle with MacDuff, Macbeth fights recklessly at first, but ends with giving in to defeat, seeing that his destiny after all is to be vanquished and killed. In the second prophecy of the witches, Macbeth is told that he will not fall until Great Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill. This happens as MacDuff’s troops hide behind cut-off branches, making it appear that the woods are marching to war. The witches also prophesied that Macbeth could not be killed by anyone who was born of woman. Macbeth takes this to believe that his death in battle will be impossible, since all human beings are born of woman. He tells this prophecy to MacDuff during their fighting, but MacDuff replies that he was born by Caesarean section (“from his mother’s womb/Untimely ripped” Act 5 Scene 8). At this point, Macbeth realizes that he has misinterpreted the prophecies (or else been tricked by the witches into misinterpretation). He loses heart and is soon killed by MacDuff. Bravery thus is not a trait that he exhibits at this point, but rather foolhardiness and arrogance, believing that he is undefeatable.

How does Antonio and Bassanio's friendship set the whole basis of play?

Antonio and Bassanio's friendship gets Antonio into serious trouble with Shylock, but it also rescues him from that trouble.

The main plot of the play has to do with the "bond" (legal contract) Antonio signs with Shylock: if Antonio does not pay his debt on time, Shylock is entitled to a pound of his flesh. Antonio does not take out the loan from Shylock for himself. He does it so he can give a loan to his friend Bassanio.

Antonio has lent Bassanio money in the past, and Bassanio for various reasons has always been unable to pay him back. For most friendships, this would cause the person in Antonio's position to end the friendship, or at least stop lending. Many people in Bassanio's position would hesitate to ask for yet another loan from Antonio. These two are very confident in each other's friendship, though. Bassanio asks for a loan so he can woo Portia, and Antonio gives it and even says not to worry about the past defaults.

At the time of his bond with Shylock, Antonio does not dream that he'll be unable to pay; he is very rich and has many ships out on moneymaking ventures. Only when every single one of his ships are wrecked is he in danger of having to pay a pound of flesh. 

By this time, Bassanio has married Portia, who is an heiress. Bassanio now has the money, and he is willing to pay Shylock back the amount of the debt. When Shylock insists on having Antonio's flesh instead, Bassanio offers to pay up to ten times what Shylock lent, but Shylock will not accept it.

Bassanio is unable to save Antonio financially. He does, however, save him indirectly, by being married to Portia. When Portia learns of the trouble her husband's friend is in, she sneaks off to Venice, dresses up as a young lawyer, and saves Antonio in a court of law by proving the bond does not allow Shylock to draw any blood.  

Bassanio is unaware until afterward that the young lawyer is Portia, so he certainly is not in on the plan. Nevertheless, it is the fact of his being Antonio's friend that brings Portia to Antonio's aid. She wants to help her husband's best friend. In fact, she insists he be helped at once.

If Bassanio had not married Portia, she would not have heard about Antonio's plight. On the other hand, it was in order to marry Portia that Bassanio caused Antonio to take the fateful loan from Shylock. So it is the friendship between the two men, as well as the love between Bassanio and Portia, that cause the trouble and later solve it. These relationships drive a large part of the plot.

`lim_(x->0^(-)) (cothx)` Find the limit

By definition, hyperbolic cotangent `coth(x)` is equal to `(cosh(x))/(sinh(x)),` which is equal to  `(e^x + e^(-x))/(e^x - e^(-x)).`

When `x -> 0^-,` both `e^x` and `e^(-x)` tend to `1.` But while `e^x -> 1^-,`  `e^(-x) = 1/e^x -> 1+.` Therefore the numerator tends to `1 + 1 = 2,` and the denominator tends to  `1^(-) - 1^+ = 0^-.`

And finally `2/0^-` gives the limit of `-oo.` This is the answer.

What's a quote that shows the nurses' love for Juliet as a mother figure?

In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the Nurse displays matronly characteristics that establish her as a mother figure to the adolescent Juliet.  The first occurrence appears in Act 1, Scene 3 when Lady Capulet asks the Nurse to call for Juliet.  The Nurse yells for Juliet to come, and when Juliet asks, “How now, who calls?” the Nurse responds with “Your mother” (I. ii. 5-6).  Here, the Nurse’s response suggests she is actually Juliet’s mother, for the Nurse is actually the one calling, but it is for Lady Capulet.  Further, when Juliet arrives and Lady Capulet wishes to discuss with her the proposed marriage to Paris, Lady Capulet at first sends the Nurse away, but then realizes the Nurse is just as close to her daughter as she is.  Lady Capulet delivers the following lines:

This is the matter.—Nurse, give leave awhile,

We must talk in secret.—Nurse, come back again.

I have remembered me. Thou’s hear our counsel. (I. iii. 8-10)

In this quote, Lady Capulet reveals that the Nurse is allowed to hear the intimate exchange between mother and daughter.  This is significant because most servants would not have been permitted to stay during such private exchanges.  Therefore, this shows how the Nurse is much more like a mother figure than a caretaker. 

When she is permitted to stay, the Nurse launches into a comedic rambling that is idiosyncratic to her character.  She recounts Juliet’s birth and early childhood.  She delivers the following lines:

Marry, I remember it well.

'Tis since the earthquake now eleven years,

And she was weaned—I never shall forget it—

Of all the days of the year, upon that day.

For I had then laid wormwood to my dug,

Sitting in the sun under the dovehouse wall.

My lord and you were then at Mantua. (I. iii. 24-30).

In this excerpt, the Nurse reveals that she was nursing Juliet when an earthquake erupted, and that Lord and Lady Capulet were away in Mantua.  In the line, “For I had then laid wormwood to my dug,” the Nurse explains that she had to put wormwood, a medicinal herb, on her breast to stop Juliet from breast feeding. This not only establishes the Nurse as Juliet’s wet-nurse, but places her in the role as her “biological mother,” especially since Lady Capulet was away. 

Throughout the play, the Nurse exhibits genuine care for the well-being of Juliet, something that is inherently absent from Lady Capulet’s demeanor.  For example, when the Nurse is seeking Romeo to give him Juliet’s regards, she tells the young Romeo the following:

“What she bade me say, I will keep to myself. But first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her into a fool’s paradise, as they say, it were a very gross kind of behavior, as they say. For the gentlewoman is young, and therefore, if you should deal double with her, truly it were an ill thing to be offered to any gentlewoman, and very weak dealing” (II. iv).

Here, the Nurse is looking out for Juliet’s heart and naivety.  She warns Romeo to not lead Juliet on and to not trick her into loving him.  This demonstrates the true love that the Nurse has for Juliet, for she simply could have passed the message on to Romeo without any warning, as she was originally instructed.  Thus, the Nurse assumes a mother figure to Juliet because she not only raised her from birth, but guides her and looks out for her as if she was her biological mother. 

In the short story, "The Lady Or Tiger" by Frank Stockton, the narrator advises readers to make up their minds ''not as if the decision of the...

In the short story, "The Lady or the Tiger," author Frank Stockton tells the readers to make up their minds about what happens based on the personality of the princess rather than on their own in order to give the readers a clue as to what door the princess nodded toward in the end. Most readers want a happy ending. They want love to win out, and because the princess loved the young man, surely she would do the right thing and nod toward the door behind which stands the beautiful young woman!  However, the big clue here is the word "semi-barbaric." The princess is like her father. She is more than likely to have the attitude of "If I can't have him, nobody can." We know she is very jealous of the young woman.

"The girl was lovely, but she had dared to raise her eyes to the loved one of the princess; and, with all the intensity of the savage blood transmitted to her through long lines of wholly barbaric ancestors, she hated the woman who blushed and trembled behind that silent door" (Stockton 8).

Stockton is telling us that it doesn't matter whether or not the princess loves the young man. Her hatred for the other woman trumped that love, and there is no way she would allow a marriage between the two of them. The big question is whether or not the young man was smart enough to know this. If he did, he would, of course, pick the door the princess had not nodded toward!  

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

Indefinite integral is additive, i.e. `int (f+g) = int f + int g.` Therefore

`int (x^2 + 2^(-x)) dx =int x^2 dx + int 2^(-x) dx.`

Both integrals are table ones or very close to them, so the answer is

`x^3/3 - 1/ln(2) 2^(-x) + C,`

where `C` is an arbitrary constant.

In which chapter of The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt does Holling's sister almost get hit by a bus?

In the chapter entitled "January," Holling is walking home, about to be attacked by Doug Swieteck's brother and other boys holding snowballs, when he sees the school bus gliding into the intersection and going through a red light. He sees his sister in the middle of the intersection; she is walking with a scarf over her "southern California hair" to keep it dry. Holling races to push his sister out of the way of the bus into a snowbank, and he is hit by the bus's rear bumper in the buttocks. Mrs. Baker drives him to the hospital to get an X-ray, and his sister thanks him for saving her life. He is sore, but he is left without a serious injury and is featured in the town paper as a hero. 

Why does Lincoln say that "we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground"? Explain.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

The Gettysburg Address remains one of the more poignant examples of written and oratory skill in the history of the Republic.  Lincoln is in Gettysburg to dedicate a cemetery at the site of a key battle during the Civil War.  Since the speech was delivered a mere four months after the actual showdown, the emotions of the battle are still fresh.

Abraham Lincoln states that the grounds of Gettysburg are sacred and no human can bless or consecrate this land.  He believes that the soldiers that have fought and died for the Union cause have already consecrated and dedicated these memorial grounds. In the next lines, Lincoln states, somewhat ironically, that history will not remember the words spoken on this day, but will forever remember the sacrifices that soldiers have made in dying for the Union.    

Why does "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin start in a subway? What could the subway symbolize?

Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" opens in the subway as a way of setting a particular kind of scene, and it also acts as a symbol.  A subway is generally an urban form of transportation, and this tells the reader that the narrator is on a crowded subway in a city.  There is a certain kind of anonymity in being on a subway, I think, and I have always found it interesting that the narrator is in that state of anonymity as the story begins, and that the narrator remains anonymous--that is nameless--throughout the entire story. A subway runs beneath the ground, in the dark, and that darkness is a symbol of the darkness that runs through the lives of these characters, as African-Americans, dark in skin, as people suffering from poverty and prejudice, dark in their lives, and of course, the darkness of the blues that Sonny plays and suffers from in his drug addiction.  The subway also represents the trapped quality of the characters' lives, as the narrator describes himself as "trapped in the darkness that roared outside" (Baldwin 1), as good a way as I've ever seen to set the tone of a story.  

What is the role of music in the culture of a place?

The role of music in the culture of a place has more than one dimension, including the dimension that music expresses current changes in the culture and engenders further changes in that culture. 1. According to scholars of musical change, music may have the role of resisting change to culture thus holding cultural past and present together through its unchanging form. 2. Another perspective is that music "stands outside" of culture where its role is to comment on culture in such a way as to draw different cultures together, allowing the cultural outsider and insider to come together. 3. Another perspective points to how music springs from the culture of a place as expressions of deep-seated concepts of being.

1. As reported by ethnomusicologist Bruno Nettl, African music research conducted by Melville Herskovits draws the conclusion that in all domains of culture--from economics through to religion--music resisted change (remaining more African) more than any other cultural domain when face with a collision with Western culture.

2. As explained by Nettl, Daniel Neuman offered the proposition that a role of music in culture is to stand outside of culture to comment on it and to unite outsider with insider as a way to confirm the humanity of both groups, though from different cultures. Music standing "outside the rest of culture" can function to "build bridges between a society and the outside world."

3. As an example of how music springs from within the culture of a place as an expression of deep-seated concepts of being, consider Michigan State University's discussion of music in African culture. Music, perceived as embedded in African culture, is sprung from the earliest beliefs about being related to every aspect of living, including religion, death, birth, rites of passage, cultural values, marriage and interactions with outsider groups.

What does Jerry do that makes the native boys accept him in "Through the Tunnel"?

An excellent swimmer, Jerry is able to dive well, too. The native boys, who have been diving off the rocks in the wild bay themselves, accept and like Jerry when they see him dive. 

When Jerry accompanies his mother to the beach they frequented on past vacations, he looks longingly off at a distant bay that has rather large rocks. Noticing that he yearns to go to the distant beach, his mother asks him if he wants to go somewhere else, but Jerry is afraid to ask. The next day, Jerry tells her he wants to go to the wild beach. Worried she has been mothering him too much, Jerry's mom replies,

Of course, Jerry. When you’ve had enough, come to the big beach. Or just go straight back to the villa, if you like.

Jerry swims out to the wild bay, and he makes his way down a steep descent. He then sees the native boys, who are diving off the rocks. They call to Jerry, but when he does not understand their language, they ignore him. Jerry is undeterred; he swims around and he, too, climbs onto the rocks. 

They were big boys, men, to Jerry. He dived, and they watched him; and when he swam around to take his place, they made way for him. He felt he was accepted and he dived again, carefully, proud of himself.

Jerry is very pleased the other boys are impressed with his diving and accept him.

Why was the Virginia Company granted a charter?

The Virginia Company was granted a charter to set up a colony. This colony was established at Jamestown.

One reason why the Virginia Company was allowed to set up a colony is that private investors provided the money to start the colony. The British government wasn’t willing to provide public money for colonies in North America at this time. The colony at Roanoke, which was started by Sir Walter Raleigh with his own funding, had failed. Since the Virginia Company had investors willing to put up the money, the King gave the Virginia Company a royal charter. The Virginia Company was able to appoint leaders of the colony as well as a Governor. It also was responsible for providing the materials needed for the colony to operate.

The goal was to make a profit on the operation of the colony. The investors hoped they would find gold and silver to help make a profit. Unfortunately, this didn’t occur. Many people died due to a lack of food, attacks by the Native Americans, and disease. Eventually, the King took the charter away from the Virginia Company and made it a royal colony.

Some employees are called managers without subordinates. Are they managers and why?

There are situations in which an employee without subordinate employees might be considered a manager.  Bear in mind that human resources are only one aspect of management. Managers are called upon to manage time, materials, information, and/ or money. If they have control over and responsibility for these resources, it is reasonable to call them managers. A finance department might have just one employee, who is the Chief Financial Officer. He or she is often considered a management employee because he or she is there to manage the money. A manager might be in charge of a production facility that "employs" only robots working at various machines. In spite of having no employees to control, this person manages the material resources for production, as well as being responsible for managing at least one technological resource: the robots.  This manager is also managing time, since the production manager is the one scheduling production. There might be just one person in the public relations office of a smaller company. That person is managing information, certainly outgoing information, and likely incoming information, too.  Whether companies choose to designate such people as managers is up to them. There is no management god in the sky who dictates this, but you can see there is plenty to manage in a company, not just people.

What weapons were absent from WWI that would be present in later conflicts?

WWI is unique in that industrial processes were used to make new weapons.  Poison gases that were otherwise byproducts of industry were used on the Western Front as were belt-fed machine guns, tanks, and barbed wire.  

For the sake of your question, I will compare WWI with WWII to give you an idea of how weaponry changed.  First, there was no such thing as the personal machine gun in WWI--machine guns often had a team of at least three people--someone to aim and fire, someone to keep the barrel cool with a bucket of water, and someone to ensure that the belt of ammunition fed in smoothly.  The average WWI infantryman carried a bolt-action Mauser, Enfield, or Springfield rifle, depending on which side he represented.  In WWII, men could carry their own automatic weapons--the Soviet Union carried weapons that were similar to the AK-47.  WWI flyers also had very primitive planes that did not have aluminum frames--in WWII, aluminum would be a key airplane component.  WWII naval craft also used sonar--in WWI, this technology did not exist yet.  Of course, atomic weapons and jets did not exist in 1918 either.  

In Julie of the Wolves, why was Miyax afraid?

This question could be referring to several different parts of the book, but I think that it is likely asking about the opening events in part one of the book.  

Miyax is afraid because she is lost on the tundra of the North Slope of Alaska.  Miyax is afraid of her entire situation, because she is also without food.  

Miyax knows that her situation is fairly dire.  She needs food, and she needs it soon.  Her best option is to befriend a small wolf pack and convince them to share some of their food.  She's lost in the Alaskan wilderness with no food and is attempting to befriend wild wolves. . . yes, she's scared for a good reason.  

What's amazing about Miyax is that she isn't too afraid of the wolves themselves.  She is afraid that the wolves won't accept her and help her. That's her main concern, because it means death by starvation.  

Her hands trembled and her heartbeat quickened, for she was frightened, not so much of the wolves, who were shy and many harpoon-shots away, but because of her desperate predicament. Miyax was lost. She had been lost without food for many sleeps on the North Slope of Alaska.