Why do Jim and Della feel light and happy as they prepare for supper in "The Gift of the Magi"?

Jim and Della are happy and content before their supper because they have both received the greatest gift of all: the affirmation of unselfish love for one another.

Both Della and Jim have sacrificed their most prized possessions for the other. Indeed, it is a testimony to her deep and genuine love that Della, whose luxurious hair shines "like a cascade of brown waters," is willing to sacrifice her single most-valued possession so she can purchase a watch fob for her beloved Jim. Although her face loses its color when she decides to sell her hair, her eyes are "shining brilliantly" as she excitedly realizes she can procure the gift for Jim that she wants to give him.

Similarly, Jim, who is proud of his heirloom gold watch, is willing to sacrifice his most valued possession in order to purchase a set of beautiful combs for his beloved wife's hair.

Even though Della and Jim are disappointed that the other cannot use the Christmas presents for which they made such sacrifices, they are both blessed with the greatest gift of all: the gift of unselfish love and devotion. Because they are the recipients of such meaningful acts, Jim smiles and places his hands behind his head as he suggests to Della that they put away their gifts.

Certainly, their sacrifices and love express the most valued treasure of all; therefore, they are content as they prepare for supper.

How do adults treat children in The Human Comedy? Cite at least two examples, and consider whether this treatment is realistic. What larger ideas...

Adults treat children very respectfully and as equals in The Human Comedy. For example, in Chapter 3, Mr. Spangler, Homer's boss at the telegraph office, asks Homer how he likes working at the office and then reassures him that he shouldn't be afraid to deliver telegraphs at night. Even though Mr. Spangler is Homer's boss, he is more invested in helping Homer grow than in pushing Homer to work harder. In Chapter 12, Miss Hicks, Homer's teacher, tells him that she has only punished him because she likes him and wants him to realize that he can get along with Hubert Ackley, even though they are from different classes. Miss Hicks is far more interested in educating her students and helping them grow personally than she is in punishing them. 

The adults' treatment of children in these examples could be read as unrealistic, as it is far more idealistic than that of most adults. Saroyan is trying to convey an attitude of respect towards children and the idea that adults should not just regard children as workers to exploit or pupils to discipline but as human beings who need moral and social guidance. 

What is an explanation for both the literal and figurative meaning of "Sonnet 130" by William Shakespeare?

Shakespeare's Sonnet CXXX is written as what is called a blazon, which is a literary poem that catalogs the characteristics and virtues of the beloved, while at the same time it mocks the Elizabethan conventions of poetry that praise love. In addition, it satirizes the Petrarchan sonnet that compares the lover to Nature in terms that seem hyperbolic.

• Literal meaning

Literally, the speaker's lover is nothing like the women for whom sonnets and other poetic forms are usually written. Her hair does not flow in luxurious tresses; instead, it is as though"black wires grow on her head"; she has no rosy cheeks, and her breath "reeks." Nor is her voice mellifluous as "music hath a far more pleasing sound." And, when she walks she "treads on the ground." Yet, the speaker truly loves her because he feels that his love is more valuable than that of any poetic fancy because he loves her despite her flaws.

• Figurative meaning

The anti-Petrarchan comparisons of the lover to various things lend humor to this sonnet. For instance, Shakespeare parodies the roses in the cheeks, eyes like sunbeams, perfumed breath, and walking on air. She has none of these or any other goddess-like attributes. Her eyes "are nothing like the sun," there is no "perfume" in her breath; it "reeks," and she "treads on the ground" rather than walks. She has no snowy white complexion or goddess-like attributes; yet, the speaker loves her dearly:

And yet, by heaven, I think my love
As rare as any she belied with false compare (ll.13-14)

Any false comparisons for the sake of poetry, Shakespeare says figuratively, are meaningless. It is her unique qualities that endear her, not flowery metaphors and similes.

Please explain "To Sleep," a poem by William Wordsworth.

Overall, someone who has been suffering from insomnia describes his difficulties in Wordsworth’s poem, “To Sleep.”

The title and the first two lines of the poem hint at the theme of sleeplessness even before it is clearly identified. For instance, the idea of counting sheep to put oneself to sleep is very common in the face of sleeplessness—even to a contemporary audience.

In the first four lines, Wordsworth describes the images that come into the speaker's mind as he tries to fall asleep.

A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by, 
One after one; the sound of rain, and bees 
Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas, 
Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky... (1-4)

The speaker lists the things he has laid awake imagining, in an attempt to sleep. "One by one" gives reference to the act of counting sheep. "Leisurely" refers to the rolling gait and relaxed pace of the moving sheep (1-2). The speaker refers to the soothing sounds of rain, "bees murmuring" and waterfalls—"fall of rivers" (2-3). He also describes the visions of "smooth fields" (perhaps a part of an afternoon nap in the country), as well as a "pure sky," with no hint of storm and nothing in it that would cause anything but a quiet calm within, conducive to falling asleep (3-4).

In lines 5-8, Wordsworth's speaker explains that he has done all he can think of to bring sleep upon himself (5). However, he has had no success—he has remained awake all night long—until he finally hears the sound of birds that utter in the orchard, breaking the silence with their song in the early morning, we imagine just before dawn (5-6). Even the first cuckoo makes a melancholy: we can assume it is because the speaker is still awake to hear it, having had no respite from the day before. Note that the bird does not sing, but cries—it is a sound of distress (7-8):

I have thought of all by turns, and yet do lie 
Sleepless! and soon the small birds' melodies 
Must hear, first uttered from my orchard trees; 
And the first cuckoo's melancholy cry. (5-8)

The theme of sleeplessness continues into the next three lines, giving the reader a deeper insight into the depth of the speaker's difficulty: for it is not just this one sleepless night, but the third in a row—

Even thus last night, and two nights more, I lay, 
And could not win thee, Sleep! by any stealth; 
So do not let me wear tonight away... (9-11)

With all the tricks he has tried to use, the insomniac has not been able to even steal—"Sleep! by any stealth..." (10)—any relief. In line 11 the speaker directly addresses sleep (as if it were a living, hearing thing), asking that it not allow him to remain in the same condition as he faces the approach of another night.

The poem's last three lines describe just how important sleep is:

Without Thee what is all the morning's wealth? 
Come, blessed barrier between day and day, 
Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health! (12-14)

The "morning's wealth" (12) refers to all of the wonders of a new day. "Wealth" indicates that the morning is filled with things that are extremely valuable. He has already pointed out the sound of birds that welcome the day. They are a blessing at the beginning of the day, but only after a time of rest; the sound is very different when one has remained unable to experience rest, but instead has counted the long hours until the day breaks. What good, what joy is to be found in the coming of morning without rest from the night before?

The speaker praises sleep, referring to the "blessed barrier" (13), the thing that separates one day from another. He goes on to provide details of the benefits of a good night's sleep: "fresh thoughts" and "joyous health." (14)

Whereas the title might first lead the reader to believe the poem is about the pleasures of sleep, the content demonstrates that it is actually about the hardships created when one is unable to sleep; it points out the negative ramifications—most especially when the insomnia continues over subsequent nights.

 

What are some characteristics that helped Squeaky overcome her problems?

One characteristic that Squeaky uses to overcome her problems is her toughness. She protects her brother, Raymond, who is developmentally disabled. As she says, "But now, if anybody has anything to say to Raymond, anything to say about his big head, they have to come by me." She is willing to risk knocking people down, even though she is a small girl with, as she describes herself, "skinny arms and a squeaky voice." She also has a great deal of determination, and she constantly practices running. As she says, "I’ll high-prance down 34th Street like a rodeo pony to keep my knees strong." She goes running early in the morning to practice, and she also stays up all night to study words in preparation for the spelling bee. Finally, Squeaky is very empathetic. While she knows that she can easily win the May Day race and other races in the future, she thinks she will become Raymond's coach in the future and give up her own running career. She'd rather see him win than continue to bask in the glory of winning her races. 

Where did the pigs get the money to buy whiskey in the end?

In Chapter Nine of Animal Farm, the pigs have a crate of whiskey delivered to the farm. The other animals are uncertain where the funds to buy the crate have come from:

The word went round that from somewhere or other the pigs had acquired the money to buy themselves another case of whisky.

Arguably, the pigs were able to buy this crate as a result of Boxer's death, another key event in Chapter Nine. When Boxer is taken away in a van, for example, Squealer says that he is going to see a vet in nearby Willingdon but the writing on the van suggests otherwise:

Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler, Willingdon. Dealer in Hides and Bone-Meal.

It appears, then, that the pigs have sold Boxer to a glue manufacturer and will profit from his death. When the animals express outrage over this, Squealer says that the writing on the van is a mistake; that the van was recently purchased by the vet who has not had time to change the writing. But Squealer and Napoleon have deliberately misled the others: the farm is doing so badly and food is so scarce that the money must have come from Boxer's death.

Rousseau has been interpreted as a liberal, a conservative, and a totalitarian. Which of these interpretation of you agree with and why?

I would argue that trying to apply terms such as liberal, conservative, or totalitarian really get in the way of understanding Rousseau rather than contributing to our knowledge of him. The terms liberal and conservative, especially, have changed meanings so much over the centuries that they seem to obfuscate rather than clarify our understanding of earlier figures.

Calling Rousseau a totalitarian seems the least helpful of the three possibilities, given his emphasis on individual freedom and his opposition to Hobbes' philosophy of human nature and governance.

Rousseau's idealization of the "noble savage" is in many ways nostalgic, hearkening back to a pastoral state intermediate between primitive brutality and modern decadence. In some ways, this nostalgia is conservative, as is Rousseau's focus on spirituality, but his notion of the natural goodness of human nature and opposition to many forms of convention make his position quite different than that of many groups that would call themselves conservative. His emphasis on human freedom and opposition to convention might seem to align him with liberalism, but the liberals of his period were secularists and enthusiastic about the progress of technology and knowledge, views Rousseau did not share. 

Perhaps it is best simply to say that he was an iconoclast whose views do not fit neatly in any narrow category.