What choice does Zaroff give to Rainsford, and why is there really no choice at all?

General Zaroff gives Rainsford a choice between two awful potentials.  Zaroff explains to Rainsford that he gives the men that are trapped on his island a choice.  They can either be whipped to death by Ivan, or they can attempt to survive Zaroff's hunting for three days.  General Zaroff gives Rainsford the exact same choice.  

For most men, the choice really isn't a choice at all.  Thus far, no matter what each man chooses, the end result has been the same.  Death.  The only difference is that choosing to be hunted might give a man a few extra hours of life.  Rainsford chooses to take his chances on the hunt instead of a guaranteed death from Ivan.  Rainsford's choice winds up being a good choice for Rainsford because Rainsford evades Zaroff and eventually ends up killing Zaroff.  

What are some examples of diction in the book Anthem?

Diction is, by definition, an author’s choice of words. There are many ways to go about finding examples of diction in a work because all words are, essentially, diction. With Anthem, though, there are some examples of unique or purposeful diction that stand out, particularly in Ayn Rand’s choice of pronoun usage and choices in naming her characters.

Most works, when told from a first person point of view like Anthem, use “I” when the narrator refers to him or herself. Ayn Rand, however, uses words like “we” in place of “I" or "our" instead of "my." When the narrator first introduces himself, he says, “Our name is Equality 7-2521” (18). This unique pronoun choice--using plural person pronouns instead of singular--usually throws readers off initially and can make reading Anthem a bit confusing. However, Rand does not do this to confuse readers. She does this to show the extremes of this collectivist society. The people in Anthem believe in equality and unity to an extreme degree. Therefore, no one person is supposed to have an individual identity. Equality states that “we strive to be like all our brother men, for all men must be alike” (19). If Equality were to refer to himself as “I,” that would show that he sees himself as an individual rather than a part of the larger community. Even the names, we see, show this focus on community rather than individuality; other names include Union, International, and Liberty, all followed by a number to show that each person lacks a singular identity.

As Equality starts to recognize his individuality and break from the collectivist society, about halfway through the novel he begins to refer to himself as “I” (94). Though a small change in diction, this signals a great shift in meaning. Equality starts to see all that he is capable of and what he is worth. He says

to earn my love, my brothers must do more than have been born. I do not grant my love without reason, nor to any chance passer-by who may wish to claim it. I honor men with my love. But honor is a thing to be earned (96).

Ayn Rand uses the shift to “I” to show Equality (who changes his name to the more individual Prometheus) has discovered his individuality. Though many other examples of diction are present in the novel, this is the one that is perhaps the most symbolic of the important change that takes place in the narrator’s mindset.

Why is the book Unwind a dystopian environment?

A good working definition of a dystopian society is the following:

A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control.

I will get to a few specific characteristics in a moment, but let's unwind the above statement and compare it to Unwind. The book does take place in the future.  It's not a far off future, but the book does make it clear that technology exists that does not exist currently.  That technology is called "neurografting."  That technology allows doctors to use every part of a donor for transplants.  Our current technology isn't even close to that.  We can only currently transplant 25 different tissues and organs.  Because the book is set in the future, it is imagined.  

The second part of the definition talks about societal control through various methods.  No matter which method is used, the method will almost certainly use propaganda.  That is true in Unwind too.  The people have been convinced that unwinding is moral and humane.  It's even protected in the "Bill of Life" and states the following: 

However, between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, a parent may choose to retroactively "abort" a child . . . on the condition that the child's life doesn't "technically" end.

How the people in this future society have come to believe that an aborted, unwound child isn't dead is beyond me, but they have come to believe it.  They believe it because the only information that they are given about unwinding is positive and glorious information.  Take for example this line of logic from Samson Ward. 

"I was never going to amount to much anyway, but now, statistically speaking, there's a better chance that some part of me will go on to greatness somewhere in the world. I'd rather be partly great than entirely useless."

Another standard dystopian characteristic is that citizens often live in a dehumanized state.  That is sort of true for this book.  Not all citizens are treated as less than human.  Only teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 are dehumanized.  At that point in a person's life, he/she is nothing more than a vessel carrying spare body parts for somebody else.  

How can I transcribe a text by highlighting the aspects of connected speech (stress, weak forms, cases of linkage, etc.)?

Connected speech is spoken language with a continuous sequence of sounds – these sounds can be observed most clearly in analyzing the difference between spoken language and reading a transcript of the same phrase or speech.

In learning about connected speech, it’s helpful to compare spoken language with a transcript side by side. The process of listening to the difference in the way spoken and written language is translated to a reader reveals quite a bit about connected speech. For this exercise, we will rely on Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Had a Dream speech.

0:45

I have a dream that the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

1:23

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today... (1:48) I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.

General rules for stress patterns in the English language allow us to use spoken language and understand one another. If we take a very basic sentence, it’s easy to see how changing the stress of different words changes the meaning of the sentence.

The dog jumped over the river.

If we stress the word dog, we are implying that the dog (and not the cat or something else) is the subject who did the jumping. On the other hand, if we stress the word river, we are implying that the dog jumped over the river (and not the road or something else).

In the I Have a Dream speech, stress on different words becomes very obvious if you listen to the speech alongside a transcript. Take a listen (and look) at this sentence:

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

If you read this sentence without knowing where the stress is placed, you may guess Mississippi. Instead, MLK Jr. began by stressing the word “even” rather than Mississippi to signify the drastic environment of southern states – something that was better left to connected speech stress than explicit wording. In this example, connected speech was more effective than the written word.

A second important aspect of connected speech exists in weak formsof words. Consider this line from MLK Jr.’s speech:

… one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.

In several places in the speech, MLK Jr. uses reductionism. This is evident in the word “with” that turns into the word “wit-“ or “wi-.” In spoken language there are many words that people reduce to weaker forms including: than (den), its (iss), his (iz), and some (sem).

Finally, linkage in connected speech is evident when letters (and sounds) are inserted in places they would not normally exist (and don't exist in the written form. Consider the sentence: I want to eat. In this sentence, "I want to eat" will turn into "I want toow eat," where a "W" intrudes after "too." This is not clear in the written word, but is very clear in spoken language.

In the I Have a Dream speech, MLK Jr.'s mention of the word "Georgia" turns into "Georgia(r)." The "r" intrudes at the end of "Georgia" where it does not appear in the transcript.

To better understand connected speech, try listening to the entire speech alongside the transcript.

What is the significance of Wounded knee? Where is it?

Wounded Knee refers to a location in the state of South Dakota as well as a massacre which occurred there in the year of 1890. There is a body of water called Wounded Knee Creek in what is now known as the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, but prior to the establishment of Reservations in the United States, this was territory of the Oglala Nation. 

In 1889, the Pine Ridge Reservation was established out of territory previously part of the Great Sioux Reservation. There was much conflict surrounding the founding of reservations, and many First Nations (American Indian) people were slaughtered or uprooted from their homes. Lands were seized by the United States government and the American Bison (a very important resource for the First Nations) were killed in such large numbers by American settlers that they almost went extinct. Reservations were intended to be spaces where First Nations people could maintain their traditional lifeways independent from the United States government. Unfortunately, the government was the entity appointing the location of the reservations and forcing First Nations people to move onto them. 

A religious and political movement was founded in this time by the Paiute Nation (in the region of present-day Nevada) prophet Wovoka. Wovoka had a vision that the Christian messiah Jesus Christ would return to Earth as First Nations man, and believed that if every First Nations person were to practice the Ghost Dance, all of the white settlers would leave First Nations land and the reincarnated Christ would restore these territories to splendor. Wovoka's vision included the promise that traditional resources like the Bison would be restored and the spirits of dead ancestors would be risen from the grave to teach the living.

The Ghost Dance movement gained a following, and the last Ghost Dances were held on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1890. The U.S. government wanted to suppress the practice of Ghost Dancing and tried to make negotiations with First Nations chiefs to prevent people from practicing the dance. When this failed to play out as the government had hoped, they resorted to coercion by violence. The government intended to surround disarm the Lakota people on the reservation so as to prevent any further uprising. On the 29th of December, during rounds to seize weapons from the Lakota camp, a deaf man named Black Coyote refused to give up his rifle. In the struggle to take Black Coyote's rifle from him, the gun went off and fighting broke out. 

After the initial, accidental gunshot, both United States troopers and Lakota men opened fire. Though women and children tried to take shelter in camp or flee the gunfire, the Lakota camp was surrounded and the United States soldiers fired directly into the camp. In the span of less than an hour, hundreds of First Nations people were killed, with estimates ranging between 150 and 300. Survivors were forced to move to the reservation. On the side of the United States, 25 men were killed and several more were injured during the fight. 

It is important to put these numbers into perspective by understanding the percentage of people who were killed or injured during the Massacre. Of the perhaps 350 Lakota who were camped at Wounded Knee, even the most conservative estimate of 150 deaths indicates that nearly half the group was killed. In contrast, of the 500 soldiers and troopers sent by the U.S. government, only 25 (or 5%) died. The Lakota people were outnumbered, surrounded, and indiscriminately killed. 

The Wounded Knee Massacre is historically significant not only for the intensity of violence which occurred there, but also as an archetypal event for the long legacy of the colonization of the Americas and the eradication of First Nations people and culture. The Wounded Knee Massacre was initially called the Wounded Knee Battle, but this was a gross misnomer. A battle implies two (or more) groups of an equal mind to engage in combat-- the Massacre at Wounded Knee was an attack committed by the United States government against the Lakota People. 

The conflict did not end in 1890. In 1973, around 200 members of the American Indian Movement staged a protest at Wounded Knee. The activists were there to protest the corrupt tribal president Richard Wilson and the United States government's failure to negotiate and uphold treaties with the First Nations. Again, the Lakota people were surrounded by U.S. law enforcement and though there was only a total of two deaths, the occupation lasted 71 days. During this time, electricity, water, and food were cut off from Wounded Knee in an attempt to starve out the protesters. The U.S. law enforcement officials repeatedly opened fire on the Lakota people and both of the two people who died during the Incident were First Nations protesters.

I encourage you to read up on the current Dakota Access Pipeline protest to learn more about the continuing legacy of the oppression of First Nations people in the United States.

In Farewell to Manzanar, what are three causes and their effects on the story?

One significant cause in Farewell to Manzanar is the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. A specific effect of Pearl Harbor is the internment of all Japanese people by the US government. After Papa is taken by government officials, the family is forced to relocate to the internment camp of Manzanar in April of 1942.

When Papa is arrested and deemed to be a spy, it triggers his own decline. It emotionally breaks him. The effect of his arrest is that he feels as if he has no home. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Papa burned the Japanese flag he had brought with him and pledged allegiance to America. A result of his arrest is that Papa feels that America turned its back on him. The effects of this betrayal are that his alcoholism increases and Jeanne notices how he is never again the same in his interactions with the family.

An effect of internment at Manzanar is the loss of Jeanne's innocence. Jeanne learns the difficult and uncomfortable reality of prejudice. She comes to recognize that she will always be seen as "the other" in American society because of her ethnicity:

I smiled and sat down, suddenly aware of what being of Japanese ancestry was going to be like. I wouldn’t be faced with physical attack, or with overt shows of hatred. Rather, I would be seen as someone foreign, or as someone other than American, or perhaps not be seen at all.

An effect of Jeanne's imprisonment is a change in perception about the country she once fully embraced as her home. She understands that the stain of internment means that her Japanese ancestry will cause her to be seen as different. When she says that she will be seen as "other than American" or "not be seen at all," the effect of internment on her perception is evident. It has forever changed her. While she will not swallow Papa's bitterness, she has lost her innocence about the promises and possibilities of America.

Can you think of a movie that, in your opinion, best reflects your perception of democracy?

One movie that encapsulates some ideas and values that make our democracy work is A Civil Action, from 1998, starring John Travolta and Kathleen Quinlan. The movie is based on the book of the same name by Jonathan Harr, and it involves a real-life case in Woburn, Massachusetts, in which environmental pollutants are contaminating the town's water supply. As a result, many children in the area become sick with fatal diseases.

A resident of the town, played by Kathleen Quinlan, hires a personal injury lawyer (played by John Travolta) to sue the companies that are dumping contaminants in the water. Her activism shows the power that an individual can have in a democracy to challenge more powerful entities through the legal system. Though the lawyer loses the case, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a federal entity, later uses the information from the case to bring their own action against the companies who were contaminating the groundwater and forced them to pay heavy fines and clean up the polluted area. The action of the EPA shows the power of federal agencies to protect citizens in a working democracy. In a less democratic society, it may not have even been possible for an individual to challenge the larger companies in the first place.