How does Quince move and speak in Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream?

Act I, Scene II of A Midsummer's Night Dream opens at Quince's house.  Peter Quince is an amateur actor who is seeking to organize a group of other actors for a play.  Quince holds the script for the play in his hands and calls out the names of his fellow actors.  These actors are ordinary laborers, such as a tailor and a weaver.  Quince reads from the script and assigns each man his part.  He also explains the details of their assigned characters.  Some of the men question their roles, but Quince reasons with them and reassures them.  

Before he says farewell, Quince implores them to "fail [him] not."  Quince tells the players to meet him the next evening "in the palace wood, a mile without the town, by moonlight."  He is detailed in his directions, and also tells them to meet him "at the duke's oak."  He wants them to rehearse in the woods so that they will have more privacy.  He wishes for their rehearsals to be in secret.  He also tells them that before they meet, he "will draw a bill of properties."

Is Leslie a brave character?

Yes, I believe that Leslie is a brave character.  

Leslie's family has recently moved to the area, which means that Leslie is the new girl in school.  That is a scary situation for most kids.  Leslie very easily could have shied away from the other kids and hoped that some of them approached her.  That's not Leslie though.  During the first week of school, she bravely walks up to the clearly defined running races at recess.  Not only is Leslie brave enough to approach the group on her own, but she is also brave enough to approach a group that is completely male.  It has to be obvious to her that the activity is boy only.  Nevertheless, Leslie asks to participate.  Then she wins, and she wins over and over again.  

Another example of Leslie's bravery is when she goes into the bathroom to find out what is wrong with Janice Avery.  Avery is a complete bully, and she could physically or verbally harm Leslie in this situation.  Leslie takes the risk.  

Leslie also bravely crosses the bridge into Terabithia while the stream below is flowing dangerously.  Unfortunately that brave act winds up killing her, but the act was indeed brave.  

The witches prepare a spell to influence Macbeth. What kind of influence is it? Why?

The three witches present a prophecy to Macbeth: they identify him as the Thane of Glamis, which he currently is. He is next addressed as the Thane of Cawdor, which he unknowingly already has been named by King Duncan on the betrayal and death of the previous Thane. Then they call him King. This is puzzling, because Duncan is already king. This all comes true. A second prophecy tells him that he should beware Macduff, that no one born of woman shall harm him, and that he will be safe until Birnam Wood shall come to Dunsinane Hill. The spells that they cast on these occasions make Macbeth vulnerable to these prophecies, weakening his resolve and humility, and exacerbating his pride. Coupled with his wife’s urgings, these spells push Macbeth over the edge to commit murder, which eventually leads to his own death, which the second batch of prophecies hint at (Macduff murders Macbeth, Macduff was not “born” but delivered by Caesarean section, and the opposing forces hide behind branches from the trees of Birnam Wood, giving the appearance of a marching forest). The spells did not create anything that was not in Macbeth’s soul already, but preyed on the weakness already there.

What would be Fortunato's perspective if he were the narrator of "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe?

Fortunato would be mainly interested in what there was for him to gain out of Montresor's request for help. Montresor tells him two important things. One is that he bought a whole pipe of Amontillado, 126 gallons, at a bargain price. The other is that he is on his way to Luchesi to get his opinion of it. Montresor has already paid for the wine and had it transported to his palazzo. Why is he so anxious to get an immediate assurance that it is genuine? It must be that he intends to buy more if he is sure it is genuine Amontillado. He says he was looking for Fortunato but couldn't find him, which is why he is hurrying to find Luchesi. Obviously Montresor wants to buy more of the wine before news gets out that it is available at a bargain price.

Now Fortunato knows that the Amontillado is available at a bargain price. He does not want to show any interest in it because he would like to buy up the entire shipment himself. He realizes that it must have arrived in Venice aboard a Spanish ship from Barcelona. He doesn't need to go to Montresor's palazzo to taste the wine. He could just go to the docks and ask about a newly arrived Spanish ship. He could taste the wine aboard the ship to make sure it is genuine Amontillado, and then deal with the captain or purser on the spot. Fortunato is a rich man. He could afford to buy the entire cargo. And he thinks he could get an even better bargain than Montresor had gotten, since he would be offering to buy the entire shipload.

But if Fortunato declines to accompany Montresor to his palazzo, he knows Montresor will go straight to Luchesi--and then Fortunato would find himself competing for the Amontillado with another rich man who is also a connoisseur of wine. So Fortunato has to go to Montresor's palazzo primarily to keep Luchesi in the dark. Fortunato's perspective should reveal that he has no intention of telling Montresor the truth if the wine is really genuine. He intends to sip it, frown, shake his head, and say that it is only ordinary sherry.

Montresor's palazzo from Fortunato's perspective would look shabby. He would note that the servants had all left to take part in the carnival. His perceptions would be distorted because of all the wine he had been drinking. He would eventually find himself chained to the granite wall of the catacombs and would realize that he had been tricked. He would sober up quickly and think about how he could talk his way out of the fix he was in. He would try examining the chains and padlock in the dark. Then he would become panicked and start trying to break the chain or pull one end out of the rock. He would try screaming for help. He would try talking to Montresor, pretending he was taking this as a clever jest, hoping to plant some doubt and fear in his enemy's mind by suggesting that he was expected at home by a large group of people including his wife, relatives, guests, and servants. But in the end he would find himself walled up in a narrow niche listening in vain for the sound of approaching footsteps which might mean that Montresor had had a change of heart and was coming back to set him free.

Since Fortunato would have nothing with which to write his thoughts, his version of the events would probably best be handled as an interior monologue or else as straight stream-of-consciousness. Some of the same dialogue could be borrowed from Poe's version of the story. The most important difference would be that Fortunato would be thinking of tricking Montresor, whereas in the original version it is Montresor who is thinking about tricking Fortunato.

Why was the Boo Radley game invented in To Kill a Mockingbird?

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem invents the Boo Radley game to prove his bravery to Scout and Dill.

On page 35, Dill says that he’s able to tell if someone is about to die just by smelling them, teasing Scout that she would die in three days. Jem scoffs at this conversation and says:

“Yawl hush,” growled Jem, “you act like you believe in Hot Steams.”

Dill is unfamiliar with Hot Steams, and Jem begins describing the breath-sucking ghosts to him. Scout interrupts Jem, telling Dill not to believe him, then suggests the three of them roll in a tire to help escape the day’s boredom, as the children have all grown tired of acting out their usual scenes. Apparently upset at being snubbed by his younger sister, Jem pushes Scout, the first to roll, with much vigor, causing her to roll all the way into the Radley’s yard. Disoriented and scared, she runs back to the house without the tire, telling Jem to get it himself. A prideful boy, Jem cannot not refuse and runs to get the tire, “scowling triumphantly” when he returns. After a lemonade break, Jem suggests they play Boo Radley, wherein they each portray individuals from that family.

"Jem’s head at times was transparent: he had thought that up to make me understand he wasn’t afraid of Radleys in any shape or form, to contrast his own fearless heroism with my cowardice." - Scout, page 37

Scout sees through his attempt to show off. He invents the game as a power move, to prove once and for all that he is above questioning when it comes to his fears about the Radleys, himself playing the part of Boo in their performances over the course of the summer.

I am doing a research paper about Ray Bradbury and I'm trying to develop a research question. The three questions I developed are, 1: Who is Ray...

You have a great start to your research question! Let's try to hone this question a bit more and consider the things you want to research (and ultimately produce an answer for). Your listed questions are:

1. Who is Ray Bradbury?


2. What inspired him to start writing?


3. What is his favorite part about his job/why does he love his job?

Now, your goal is to formulate these questions into a single, coherent research question that you can tackle in a single paper. Firstly, let's think about how these ideas may be related. Your first question seems to be an umbrella question that covers a lot of ground: Who is Ray Bradbury? The answer to this question may very well inspire answers to your other questions. You may learn something about Bradbury that enlightens you as to his motivations for writing and/or why he loves his job. Likewise, the answer to your second question may inspire answers for your third question.

Given the way these questions are related, it makes sense to me to combine them in a way that asks:

How did specific attributes of Ray Bradbury's personality inspire him to jump into a lifelong writing career?

The above question tackles all three of your points, while maintaining focus on your main point: who Bradbury is.

Good luck!

What are the dynamics in the first chapter of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery? Does this tension continue throughout the book?

In Chapter One, the narrator lays out a central tension that will run throughout the book, that of the "grownup" way of seeing the world versus a childlike perception that is imaginative, creative and full of wonder. The grownups, dulled by the (not really) important facts of their lives, no longer see beyond the mundane. The narrator illustrates this through his drawing of an elephant swallowed by a boa constrictor. Grownups universally identify it as a picture of a hat. Thus, from the start, the narrator creates an "us versus them" dynamic, with the reader drawn in on the side of "us": we are privy to the secrets the narrator shares; we are credited with understanding this more creative way of seeing reality. 

Later on, the narrator will recognize the Little Prince as a kindred spirit full of childlike wisdom and wonder when he immediately grasps what the picture is. To live most fully, one must have this creative, childlike imagination, a capacity to penetrate through the ordinary to the extraordinary at the heart of seemingly everyday things, a heightened capacity to love.