How does the description of setting reveal the changing economic and social conditions in Miss Emily's town in "A Rose for Emily"?

While the descriptions of the town certainly change throughout the course of the story, even the descriptions of Miss Emily's house reflect the changing economic and social conditions. 

Her house, intricately decorated with cupolas, spires, and scrolled balconies, has fallen out of date and into disrepair. The speaker says that her house used to be white, which suggests that it has yellowed with age or that the paint has chipped to reveal the material underneath. The speaker also says that her house is located on "what had once been our most select street," suggesting that it is no longer select. 

The description of Miss Emily's attitude towards change, as she seems hostile to others and even vanquishes tax collectors from her property, shows that she does not care for the modern. When the town implements a postal service, she will not even accept address numbers. When the next generation grows up, no one is interested in Miss Emily's china-painting lessons, so her doors remain closed for the rest of her life. The town advances and becomes modernized, and time seems to pass around Miss Emily. The only unchanging aspect of the story is everyone's curiosity and interest in the life of Miss Emily. 

Where does Ralph hide, and how did Jack and his savages force Ralph out of his hiding spot?

In the last chapter of the novel, Ralph tells Samneric that he plans on hiding in a thicket next to Castle Rock. Ralph hopes that by hiding close to Castle Rock, the savages will never think to look for him and pass by him while they begin their search. While Ralph is eating the piece of meat that Samneric gave to him, he thinks about how he will crawl deep into the thicket and cover himself with creepers so that he will not be seen. The next morning, Ralph buries himself into the thicket and hears the savages searching for him. Unfortunately, Samneric give away Ralph's position and the savages roll a massive boulder in his direction. After the boulder narrowly misses Ralph, he begins to smell smoke. The savages decided to set the thicket on fire and smoke Ralph out. Ralph is forced to leave the thicket and the chase begins as Ralph runs into the forest. 

In Night by Elie Wiesel, how do prisoners in the concentration camps treat one another?

In Elie Wiesel's Night, Elie, along with tens of thousands of unnamed prisoners, endure terrible conditions at the concentration camps. Life there is the ultimate struggle for survival. One’s humanity is challenged at every turn. Throughout the memoir, Elie experiences extreme kindness and extreme cruelty at the hands of other prisoners.   

The goal of Nazi Germany’s anti-Semitic policies was to dehumanize and then destroy the Jewish people. In the concentration camps, the Jews were treated worse than animals. This type of treatment caused some prisoners to give up their humanity in order to raise their own chances of survival. On his very first night at Auschwitz, Elie is subjected to a fierce beating by other inmates. “Dozens of inmates,” Wiesel writes, “were there to receive us, sticks in hand, striking anywhere, anyone, without reason.” Though not specifically stated, one can assume that these men are kapos, prisoners that the Nazis chose to keep other prisoners under control. Though they are also Jewish, the few benefits given to kapos are enough to make them turn on their fellow Jews.

Yet even on his first night at Auschwitz, Elie finds a reason to hope. At the bunkhouse, a seasoned prisoner greets the new arrivals. “Don’t lose hope,” the man tells the group, giving them advice on how to keep themselves alive. Wiesel goes on to write that “those were the first human words” he had heard since arriving at the camp.

A gleaming moment of humanity happens after Idek, a sadistic kapo, attacks Elie. A French girl Elie knows from the warehouse wipes the blood from his face and feeds him a bit of bread. Elie is so moved by her generosity that when the two meet by chance years after the war, he still remembers her, and is compelled to give her his thanks.

How are Juliet's circumstances tragic in Romeo and Juliet?

There are many tragic circumstances that apply to Juliet's life in Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet. One of these tragic circumstances is her relationship to her parents. She is a member of the nobility, and as such, is raised by a nurse rather than her parents. When she does have occasion to see her parents, she is expected to be completely malleable to their will and show total obedience to them. This is evidenced in Juliet's response to her mother when she tells Juliet of Paris's marriage proposal. Juliet replies to her mother's question of whether or not she'd like to marry Paris by saying "I'll look to like, if looking liking move, but no more deep will I endart mine eye than your consent gives it strength to fly." (Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene III) In this speech she is saying she will look at Paris to see if she will like him romantically, but she won't look any more (or less) than her mother would like. Later on, her father disowns her for refusing to marry Paris. This shows that her worth to them was not so much as a beloved daughter but as an obedient pawn who would strike a good marriage to further their own wealth, influence, and esteem. 

Another tragic circumstance, of course, is that the young man she falls in love with happens to be the sworn enemy of her family. There is no likelihood at all, despite Romeo and Juliet's young and foolish imaginings, that either of their parents will ever consent to their match. 

Because of her young age and subordinate position as a woman during Renaissance times, she would not have been able to run away with Romeo, or follow after him when he is banished, making her a prisoner of her circumstances, which is certainly tragic. Women were not able to travel alone, be seen with a member of the opposite sex unchaperoned, or own property, and they were subjected to many other rules as well. 

Juliet accepts the Friar's plan and takes an herbal potion that will slow her heart rate and breathing to give the appearance of death in a desperate attempt to be with the one she loves. Tragically, the message that is sent to Romeo to let him know of the plot never reaches him, another way in which Juliet is a victim of tragic circumstances. They relied on a messenger to get the message to Romeo in a neighboring town, but the messenger was prevented from reaching him by a quarantine.

When Romeo finds Juliet and thinks her dead, he takes a deadly potion he received from an apothecary. She finds him dead when she awakes. She can find no reason to live in a world in which her love is gone, which is tragic, and uses his dagger to end her own life. 

Lastly, the bitter irony is that with the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, the families who had feuded for so long are able to make some peace with each other. If they'd been able to put aside their pride while Romeo and Juliet yet lived, the ending would have been quite different. 

In the book Night, what could Elie have done differently about his father's death?

While there was little Elie could have done to prevent his father's death, given how sick his father was, there was quite a bit that he could have done differently with regard to his reaction.

The text states that Elie did not pray or light candles (p. 106).  Both would have been acceptable; in fact, earlier in the book, the reader is introduced to the Mourner's Kaddish, a prayer said about, and over, the dead.  Elie did not have access to candles, but would have been able to recite the Kaddish had he chosen to.

Elie also did not cry.  He states that it "pained [him] that [he] could not weep," but concedes that he "had no more tears" (p. 106). He also admits that in some way, his dad's passing meant a greater freedom for him.  While he does not want to think that way, contemplating that freedom might have been some of the reason that he was unable to cry.  Thus, Elie has little to no outward reaction to his father's passing.

Who is the most admirable in Bret Harte's "The Outcasts of Poker Flat"?

Several of the characters could be considered the most admirable in the story. It could be argued that Oakhurst is the most admirable because of his "philosophical calmness." Oakhurst has the foresight to know that they should not camp for the night but should instead keep moving. Unlike the others, Oakhurst does not drink. Oakhurst also places provisions outside of the tent and sends Tommy to get help; thus he is thinking of others. Although Oakhurst is said to be the "strongest," he is also called the "weakest." Even though Oakhurst knows it would be best to keep moving, he is unable to convince the others and ultimately stays with them. Finally, Oakhurst commits suicide, which goes against his philosophy of holding on to your cards until the end. Thus, it is hard to see Oakhurst as the most admirable because he breaks his own principles in taking his life.

A strong case could be made for Mother Shipton. Although she runs a brothel and has rough language (both of which were accepted by the society of Poker Flat until recently), she is a motherly figure, as seen by her name. She protects the "children" (Piney and Tom), and even starves herself so that Piney will have more food and might survive. Unlike Oakhurst whose death can be seen as giving up, Mother Shipton's death is a sacrifice for others. This selfless act makes her quite admirable.

In Sophocles' play Antigone, why does Creon choose live entombment for the execution of Antigone?

Creon’s original decree prohibiting the burial of the bodies of any of those who had fought against Thebes set the punishment at death by stoning. However, when he is faced with the reality that it was his niece, Antigone, who defied the decree and buried her brother, Polynices, Creon seeks to find an alternative to such a direct and public execution by the state.

After his initial anger at Antigone subsides, Creon offers his niece a chance to save her life by renouncing what she has done. Antigone not only refuses to renounce her actions in burying her brother’s body, but adamantly proclaims that she would do the same again and that Creon’s law is an affront to divine law, and thus not to be followed. Creon, conversely, argues that the laws of the state are more important than the laws of the gods, and that he, as king, must follow the laws of the state as they are his own laws.

However, Creon is not unmindful that a public stoning of his niece, Oedipus’s daughter, would be problematic, especially given that she is also the betrothed of his son. Thus, Creon orders that Antigone be sealed in a cave with a measure of food. This action is not a direct execution by the state, but it is a sentence of death. And although everyone understands that it is a sentence of death, Creon states that it will not leave a stain on Thebes as it is Antigone’s choice whether she lives or dies, even though her food is limited and the eventuality is that she will die entombed in the cave. Thus, he ensures the enforcement of the law he had proclaimed while also insulating Thebes, and himself, from the stain of directly and publically executing Antigone.