In Hoot, what was unusual about the cottonmouths on the construction site?

In Carl Hiaasen's novel Hoot, a Mother Paula's pancake house is under construction on a site where burrowing owls are living. Napolean Leep, also known as Mullet Fingers, invents many ways to try to stop the construction of the restaurant. He pulls up survey stakes, places alligators in portable toilets, spray paints a patrol car's windows, deflates the tires on construction equipment, and introduces snakes in order to scare the guard dogs. These snakes have an unusual feature not commonly found on snakes. 

In chapter 8, the construction foreman, Curley Branitt, hires a dog trainer to place Rottweilers as guard dogs on the construction site. The purpose of the dogs is to stop the vandals from further delaying construction. Kalo, the trainer, removes the dogs in chapter 9 because nine cottonmouth water moccasin snakes are found on the property, and Kalo is concerned for the dogs' safety. The snakes are poisonous, and the dogs are worth three thousand US dollars each. 

In chapter ten, Roy, the main character, finds out Mullet Fingers placed the snakes there. He put sparkles on all the snake's tails so he can collect them from the site once the dogs are gone. Mullet Fingers also taped each one of the snake's mouths shut because he didn't want to hurt the dogs. He only wanted to scare them. Mullet Fingers cares deeply about animal welfare. When Roy asks how someone could tape a snake's mouth shut, Beatrice answers, "very carefully."

Does sleep affect character?

If by character, you mean someone's personality, then sleep certainly plays a big role! 

Not only does a lack of sleep make people more fatigued during the daytime, it can have major effects on a person's cognition and behavior. Sleep deprivation can cause depression, agitation, anxiety, poor concentration, forgetfulness, and poor coordination. One night of poor sleep is more likely to have effect on a person's mood, making them more irritable or perhaps distanced from their surroundings. Ongoing, chronic sleep deprivation can have more severe effects, even causing hallucination.

In this way, someone who is well-rested is more likely to "feel like themselves," able to participate fully in activities and interact with others with little to no difficulty. People who are chronically sleep deprived may develop a personality characterized by their lack of sleep-- do you know anyone who is always irritable, forgetful, and tired? Think about the ways in which you feel differently after a good night's rest or a night of no sleep. Giving our bodies and minds that time to process and refresh has a huge impact on how we act the next day!

Why is Thomas Hobbes's book called "Leviathan?"

The inspiration for the title of Thomas Hobbes's study of absolute monarchy came from the Old Testament. The Leviathan is a sea monster referenced in the Tanakh, also known as the Mikra or the Hebrew Bible, a collection of canonical Jewish texts.

The Leviathan is mentioned six times in Job 41:1-34. In this biblical book, the Leviathan is described as something that must be tamed:

Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?

Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?

The Leviathan can also be regarded as the whale that swallowed Jonah. Hobbes takes another quote from the Book of Job to contextualize his analysis of absolute monarchy: 

There is no power on earth to be compared to him (Job 41:24).

Looking at the frontispiece for the book, this strength is made clear with an image of a giant king rising from a landscape with a sword in one hand and a staff in the other. He hovers over the kingdom, which is in the foreground, but looks out beyond it. He has the power, it seems, to protect the land or to destroy it. Hobbes argued that only absolute monarchy -- the only valid social contract, in his view -- could protect people from succumbing to a brute state of nature. 

What does the heron symbolize in "Night Calls" by Lisa Fugard?

The heron symbolizes both hope and the transient nature of life.

In the story, Marlene's mother dies in a car accident before Marlene turns eight. The loss is devastating to Marlene, as her mother had been both her beloved parent and tutor. At the time, Marlene's father had wanted to leave the sanctuary altogether; it was too painful to continue living there.

However, in due time, a red-crested night heron is brought to the sanctuary; the National Parks Board wants the heron to be kept at Modder River until a mate can be found for it. So, Marlene is sent to boarding school, while her father tends to the heron's welfare. During school vacations, Marlene returns to the Modder River Wildlife Sanctuary to visit her father. As the warden of the sanctuary, Marlene's father is responsible for all the animals there. Marlene notices that, as time progresses, her father becomes almost enthusiastic about life. Here, the heron symbolizes hope to Marlene and her father; it represents healing and a new beginning.

During the holidays, Marlene's father shares with her the latest news about the heron. He even shows her the South African 37-cent stamp bearing the heron's image. For a time, the bird becomes the chief attraction at the wildlife sanctuary. Visitors come, and Marlene's father chats with them about the bird. Eventually, however, public interest evaporates, as the prospect of finding a mate for the heron diminishes.

In the end, Marlene's father decides to release the heron back to the wild; however, he neglects to tell the truth to Marlene and instead, explains that a hyena had probably gotten the best of the heron. Marlene never lets on that she had witnessed him taking the heron down to the river one night. It remains a cherished secret between them. Each evening, both father and daughter privately savor listening to the heron's night calls.

Yet, as fate will have it, the heron dies, presumably because it was attacked by a wild animal. With the death of the heron, the night calls stop, reinforcing the notion of the heron as a symbol of ephemeral (transient) life. For a time, the heron gives hope to Marlene's father, and he finds a purpose in caring for it. However, in returning it to the wild, he also delivers the heron to the whims of nature.

Its fate mirrors that of his wife's fate; both the heron and his wife are subject to events beyond their power to control. So, the heron symbolizes initial hope and new beginnings for Marlene and her father, but it also represents the transient nature of life when it succumbs to nature's demands.

What type of parent is Polonius in Shakespeare's Hamlet?

I would call Polonius a parent of unwanted advice.  Polonius, of course, is the fool of the play, so this description should not be surprising.  Because Polonius is mistakenly killed by Hamlet fairly early in the play, there are only a few examples to which we can point.  One is the very famous scene where Polonius gives Laertes advice upon leaving for his trip abroad.  In this scene Polonius obsequiously follows Laertes as he is getting ready to go.  What follows is a list of pointless advice such as "a borrower nor a lender be."  This advice is found within a long and rambling dialogue where Polonius is the one who speaks most of the time.  Further, it is Polonius who suggests that Ophelia spy for the king.  Ophelia has previously been in love with Hamlet and has misgivings about doing this kind of dirty deed.  Due to Hamlet’s emotional instability as a result of the break-up between the two (and perhaps as a result of her own guilt for spying), Ophelia loses all of her mental faculties.  Consequently, the unwanted advice of Polonius can be seen as the indirect reason for her insanity.

Briefly explain two generalizations often made on the difference between formal language and informal language.

It can sometimes be difficult to discern the differences between informal and formal language, which so often comes down to a single case of word choice or order, small syntactical adjustments, tense, etc. Thus, we may consider the differences between these two styles in term of generalizations, some of which we will consider below.

Contractions: Formal language generally doesn't contain contractions, while informal language does.

Informal: You shouldn't walk the dog tonight if there's a thunderstorm.

Formal: You should not walk the dog tonight if there is a thunderstorm.

Voice: Formal language often assumes the passive voice (commonly seen in scientific and academic writing), while informal language takes on the active voice. This also relates to the usage of particular pronouns. Formal language avoids using the "I" or "We" perspective, while informal language frequently adopts such a point of view.

Informal: We brought deviled eggs and a salad to the potluck.

Formal: Deviled eggs and salad were brought to the potluck.

Colloquialisms: At the risk of sounding redundant, formal language does not use "informal" phrases (like colloquialisms or slang), while informal language does.

Informal: Hey! What's up with you?

Formal: Hello. How are you doing? 

What are the first things Mafatu does when he wakes up and sits up in Chapter 3 of Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry?

To some extent, the answer to this question depends on what you mean by the word “does.”  There is one answer if you say that “does” refers only to physical actions and another answer if you say that “does” involves mental actions as well.  In other words, if Mafatu realizes something or notices something, are those actions that he is doing?

It is on p. 35 of Call It Courage that Mafatu returns to consciousness on the beach of the island.  He is not able to finally sit up until p. 36.  Once he sits up, his first action (if mental processes are actions) is to remember that he banged his right leg against coral when his canoe hit the reef.  His second action is to notice that his leg is cut and his third action is to think that he needs to deal with it since “coral wounds were poisonous.”

If actions require physical movement, the first thing that Mafatu does is “plunge[d] his face into the pool and [drink] deeply.”  He must have been sitting next to this pool of fresh water because he does not have to stand up to get to the water.  After that, his next action is to lie down again.

Mafatu then goes on to think a great deal about where he is and what he needs to do to survive.  He looks around to take stock of the island where he has found himself.  However, he does not actual do anything more that is physical until p. 38, where he stands up, gets some limes, and treats the coral wound on his leg.

So, most of what happens on these pages is mental.  Mafatu figures out what his physical condition is.  He looks around him to see what he can learn about the island.  He thinks about the things that he will need to do in order to survive.  There is very little physical action until p. 38 when he stands up, treats his leg, and starts to explore.