How does Emily Dickinson describe death as an experience she is looking back on in the poem "Because I could not stop for death?"

It seems that you are asking about how Dickinson characterizes death. In that regard, she creates him as her carriage driver, conveying her to her next state of being or non-being. Some readings have characterized death as a suitor. In either case, he is gentlemanly and patient -- a depiction that is emphasized by the perceptions that he "kindly stopped," "slowly drove," and "knew no haste." The narrator reciprocates his politeness by "[putting] away / [Her] labor and [her] leisure too..."

The carriage is the vehicle in which the narrator is able to revisit the life that she has lived:

We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess - in the Ring -

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain -

We passed the Setting Sun -

"The School" and the "Children" symbolize childhood. "The Ring" could indicate the circle of life, which nears its end with "the Setting Sun," or the onset of old age.

There is an indication that the narrator is being wedded to Death:

The Dews drew quivering and Chill -

For only Gossamer, my Gown -

My Tippet - only Tulle -

She wears a "gown" made of "tulle," not unlike the material of a wedding dress. They then "[pause] before a House that seemed / A Swelling of the Ground -". This indicates a grave, as a mound of recently dug dirt would create a mound. "The Cornice - in the Ground" parallels a tombstone. 

It is significant that they merely pause at this place. This action indicates that both will continue on. After all, the carriage also holds "Immortality." Thus, Dickinson regards the event of death as one stop on the long, eternal path:

Since then - 'tis Centuries - and yet

Feels shorter than the Day

I first surmised the Horses' Heads

Were toward Eternity - 

It has been centuries since the narrator has died, but it does not feel like very long ago. The "Horses' Heads" are those which powered the carriage toward "Eternity." "Eternity" could be death as a state of permanence or, given Dickinson's spiritual and religious inclinations, it could be the "pause" or "stop" on the way to spiritual "Immortality."

What is the role of the witches in Macbeth?

The witches embody the supernatural in the play. One of the most prominent themes in the play is the supernatural world versus the natural world. The supernatural world is characterized in terms of mystery, dark forces, and abnormality. 

Many critics agree that the witches are not necessarily the representatives of evil. Instead, they serve to highlight the dark forces in Macbeth's heart, and they motivate him to seek those forces so that they could help him destroy himself. After all, Macbeth is the one who decides to act on the witches' prophecy. They do not make him do anything. So, the witches's genuine power remains questionable.

Hecate, the main witch, says that she, together with the other witches, will summon up apparitions so that she could trick Macbeth into thinking that they speak the truth. She hates Macbeth because he is "wayward son, spiteful and wrathful, who, as others do, loves for his own ends." Therefore, she recognizes his potential to hurt others for the sake of achieving his own goals. 

Additionally, Macbeth is the one who seeks out the witches. He is the one who wants to rely on the supernatural world, so he voluntarily chooses to embrace abnormality and dark forces, rejecting the natural order of things. 

Why was Odysseus originally called away from home? Why do you think he was willing to take on this challenge despite the risk involved?

The episode discussed above in which Odysseus is a suitor for Helen is not found in Homer and belongs to later accounts of Odysseus (see Apollodorus). This later tradition recounts how Tyndareos, Helen's father, is besieged with suitors for Helen and turns to Odysseus, who may also be a suitor for Helen, for help. Odysseus suggests that Tyndareos make all prospective suitors swear an oath that they will support any suitor who wins Helen and then has to fight anyone who challenges his right to Helen or abducts her. Presumably, since Odysseus suggested this oath, he is bound to honor it and joins Agamemnon and the Greek forces as they try to retrieve Helen from Paris. As a reward for suggesting the oath to Tyndareos, Tyndareos asks his brother, Icarius, to give his daughter Penelope to Odysseus in marriage.

Homer tells us that when Agamemnon visits Odysseus in Ithaca to convince him to join the Greek forces, Odysseus is reluctant to join:

Do you not remember how I came to your house with Menelaus, to persuade Ulysses to join us with his ships against Troy? It was a whole month ere we could resume our voyage, for we had hard work to persuade Ulysses to come with us (Iliad, Book XXIV, ll. 116ff).

There is no discussion as to why Odysseus is reluctant to join Agamemnon. Additionally, Odysseus understands that Agamemnon's venture will not only require a long, perilous voyage—Ithaca is further away from Troy than any other Greek state—but also he has a young wife and an infant son, and he is understandably unwilling to leave them. Because Odysseus is both intelligent and far-sighted, he understands that going to war with Troy, on Trojan soil, will require time and effort that he is not prepared to lose.

Odysseus's willingness to join Agamemnon, then, is most likely a result of his sense of duty and, from a practical standpoint, his belief that it would not be a good idea to refuse the most powerful Greek leader at the time, Agamemnon, who could bring disaster on Odysseus and Ithaca. Self-preservation is a powerful motivator. Odysseus could not have foreseen that the war against Troy would last for ten years or that his voyage home would take another ten years.

In Lord of the Flies what things bother Ralph most about the breakdown of order on the island? What is the reason for the breakdown?

The breakdown of order on the island is the result of "mankind's essential illness," a concept only Simon grasps. Ralph continues to search for the answer that Simon tried to offer him. Simon's encounter with the Lord of the Flies confirms Simon's understanding when the pig's head says,

"You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are what they are?"

The moral depravity inside each boy is what makes the society break down.

Ralph is the one who seems most bothered by the disintegration of order among the boys. He discusses his concern in chapter 5 with Simon and Piggy. After expressing his doubts about whether life on the island functions under the same rules that govern the outside world, he says, "We're all drifting and things are rotten." He is bemoaning the fact that the boys won't pull together for a common goal that would be good for everyone. He also misses the politeness of society and the way that grownups could always provide an answer. He states that grownups "wouldn't set fire to the island. Or lose--" What he was going to say is ambiguous, but he may be thinking of the child who died in the fire. He also states that grownups "wouldn't quarrel." He dislikes the antagonism between himself and Jack. 

In chapter 8, Ralph asks Piggy, "What makes things break up like they do?" Although Piggy is quick to blame Jack, and Ralph agrees, his agreement is half-hearted. Ralph is discouraged, even scared, because the boys can't keep in mind the importance of being rescued. Ralph knows that keeping the signal fire going is a matter of life and death, but the other boys seem to only think about hunting and having fun. Ralph feels responsible for the others, yet most of them don't feel responsible for anyone but themselves. 

The conflict, the selfishness, and the lack of proper priorities are the things that bother Ralph most about the breakdown of their society.

A rocket is constructed on Earth with the following specifications: 96 m long, with a mass of 4.5 x 10^3 kg. a) On a trip to visit a nearby star...

Hello!

This question is about the special relativity theory. It states (and there are many experiments confirming it) that the speed of light in a vacuum is a constant, denoted `c,` regardless of the frame of reference. This gives some paradoxical results.

Denote the given speed of a rocket as `v.` Then the Lorentz factor `gamma = sqrt(1-(v^2)/(c^2))`  describes the changes in observed length, time and mass of a moving object. Namely, length is contracted, time is dilated and mass is increased with this factor. In numbers it is `sqrt(1-(0.68)^2) approx0.73` (dimensionless).

Therefore

a) the length will be `96*gamma approx 70.4 (m),`

b) the apparent mass will be `(4.5*10^3)/gamma approx6139 (kg),`

c) the dilated time is given to be `15` years, so the time for astronauts will be less by `gamma,` i.e. `15*gamma approx 11 (years).` Note that it is a simplification, because to return a rocket must change its velocity.

Why were Calpurnia and Portia disregarded in Julius Caesar?

Brutus's wife Portia was not disregarded. She was not trying to prevent Brutus from doing anything; she simply wanted to know what was happening. It was obvious to Portia that Brutus was involved in a very serious enterprise with a group of other Romans. In Act II, Scene 1, Portia finally wears Brutus down and he promises to tell her everything she wants to know.

BRUTUS
O ye gods,
Render me worthy of this noble wife!

Knock [within.]

Hark, hark, one knocks. Portia, go in awhile,
And by and by thy bosom shall partake
The secrets of my heart.
All my engagements I will construe to thee,
All the charactery of my sad brows.
Leave me with haste.

Shakespeare does not ever actually show Brutus confide in his wife. That would be redundant because the audience already knows everything about the plot to assassinate Caesar. Instead, in Act II, Scene 4, the audience realizes Portia had her wish and is now terribly upset and worried about her husband. Brutus kept Portia in the dark because he wanted to spare her the kinds of emotions she experiences in this scene. She does not express any wish to prevent her husband from conspiring to kill Caesar. Brutus is already at the Capitol with Julius Caesar, and Portia now knows an assassination plot of historic proportions is about to be enacted. She wants the plot to be successful because her own fate is tied up with her husband's. She has become an accessory before the assassination even happens. Through her own curiosity, Portia becomes a co-conspirator. She doesn't know how to act in such a role. She is afraid of giving her guilty knowledge away to the servant Lucius. Her last words in the scene are,

I must go in. Ay me, how weak a thing
The heart of woman is! O Brutus,
The heavens speed thee in thine enterprise!
Sure, the boy heard me. Brutus hath a suit
That Caesar will not grant. O, I grow faint.
Run, Lucius, and commend me to my lord;
Say I am merry. Come to me again,
And bring me word what he doth say to thee. 

Calpurnia, on the other hand, is not curious about her husband's affairs because they are public knowledge. She wishes to prevent him from going to the Senate House because she has been terrified by the supernatural phenomena reported during the night. These phenomena cause Calpurnia to have nightmares. She almost succeeds in persuading her ambitious husband to stay at home, but Decius Brutus uses Calpurnia's dream to persuade Caesar to change his mind and go to the Capitol, where he expects to be crowned king.

DECIUS
This dream is all amiss interpreted;
It was a vision fair and fortunate.
Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,
In which so many smiling Romans bathed,
Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck
Reviving blood, and that great men shall press
For tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance.
This by Calpurnia's dream is signified.

Portia is not disregarded by her husband; rather, he entrusts her with all his secrets. She is basing her suspicions on the concrete evidence she sees in her own home. It is obvious to Portia that Brutus is psychologically distressed. She senses Brutus and all his visitors are plotting something dangerous. Whatever danger threatens Brutus is equally dangerous for Portia. That explains why she commits suicide after Brutus flees Rome. She can expect no mercy from Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus.

Calpurnia's concerns are based on something less substantial. She believes her dreams and all the bad omens that have been reported. These are easier to disregard because dreams and omens are often unsubstantial. Furthermore, Caesar is so anxious to be crowned king that it would be nearly impossible for her to keep him at home. In Act III, Scene 1, the assassins reenact Calpurnia's dream with uncanny accuracy.

CASSIUS
Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life
Cuts off so many years of fearing death.

BRUTUS
Grant that, and then is death a benefit;
So are we Caesar's friends that have abridged
His time of fearing death. Stoop, Romans, stoop,
And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood
Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords;
Then walk we forth, even to the market-place,
And waving our red weapons o'er our heads,
Let's all cry, “Peace, freedom, and liberty!”

It is noteworthy that there is a conflict between Brutus and Portia in one scene and a conflict between Caesar and Calpurnia in another. Portia wants Brutus to share all his secrets with her, and he resists. Calpurnia wants Caesar to stay at home because it is too dangerous to go to the Senate House that morning, but Caesar ultimately overrules her. These conflicts add dramatic tension to the scenes featuring the husbands and wives. Both women appear to have remarkable powers of intuition.

In what ways did Dolphus Raymond show courage? Discuss at least three.

Dolphus Raymond made sacrifices with his reputation in order to allow him to live the life wanted to live, in a society that demanded every person keep up with the status quo. To be white and associate with black people was already looked down upon, and Dolphus was a landowner and of a well established family. Mr. Raymond settling down with a person of color and having a family with her, not to mention being publicly happy about it, would have seemed like a fall from grace to other white people. His first act of courage was rejecting his background.

“He doesn’t look like trash,” said Dill.

“He’s not, he owns all one side of the riverbank down there, and he’s from a real old family to boot.”

Dolphus went further than rebelling against his social restrictions; he took extra steps to protect the fragility of his white neighbors. Acting like a drunk in public allowed people to excuse his home-life, without damaging their sense of normalcy. It may have robbed him of a certain respect, but it was necessary for what he saw as the good of the whole. 

“It ain’t honest but it’s mighty helpful to folks. Secretly, Miss Finch, I’m not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live.”

A final act of courage can be found in his confession to the Scout and Dill. One may assume that few other than Atticus knew the truth about Mr. Raymond's lifestyle. He told the children his deepest secret, entrusting his double life to two children who might just as easily tell everyone in town. He feels the children will be able to learn something from him, and in order to show Dill he was not alone, puts himself at risk of discovery.