Why does Romeo stay hidden when Benvolio and Mercutio are looking for him?

In Act II, Scene 1, Benvolio and Mercutio are looking for Romeo, but he chooses to remain hidden on the other side of the wall. Romeo has fallen even more deeply in love with Juliet than he had been with Rosaline. Evidently he cannot bear to be with his two friends at this time because he knows they will do nothing but joke about his love--which is what both Benvolio actually do throughout this short scene. At the beginning of the next scene, Romeo says quite wisely:

He jests at scars that never felt a wound.

He is referring to Mercutio in particular. Neither Benvolio nor Mercutio has ever been in love. Both of them think it is nothing but a temporary aberration or infatuation; but Romeo has become a changed man--an older, wiser man--as a result of his love for Juliet. Perhaps Romeo's relationship with his male friends will never be quite the same again. He is headed for a serious, mature relationship with a young woman which will result in marriage. He is standing inside Juliet's orchard, and he is about to risk his life by attempting to see her and perhaps talk to her on her balcony. Romeo's jumping over the wall might be intended to symbolize the young man's transition from adolescence to adulthood. Benvolio and Mercutio are making fun of him, but perhaps they both sense that they are losing their old mischievous, fun-loving companion. 

In Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, what explanation does Miss Maudie give for Atticus putting his gun down 30 years ago?

When a rabid dog walked through the neighborhood, Atticus came home and shot it dead.  Jem noticed that when his father picked up the gun, "it looked like... [it] was a part of him" (To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 10).  Atticus Finch was clearly skilled in the area of marksmanship.  The dog had been down the street from where he stood when he took the shot.

Miss Maudie informed Jem and Scout that their father had been an excellent shot as a boy and young man.  She recalled their childhood at Finch's Landing, where Atticus shot with accuracy.  She also told the children that "his nickname was Ol' One-Shot when he was a boy."  Jem and Scout were shocked.  They had no idea, as their father had never mentioned his expert marksmanship before.  They thought he should be proud of his skills.

It was also Miss Maudie who told them why their father had put his gun down decades before.  She had a theory about it:

"I think maybe he put his gun down when he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things.  I guess he decided he wouldn't shoot till he had to, and he had to today."

Miss Maudie thought that their father had given up shooting because he had the ability to aim and kill whatever he wanted.  Her theory was that he did not shoot unless absolutely necessary.

What can you infer about the boy's potential for violence based on his first words?

If you are referring to what the boy, Roger, says at the beginning of the story, I would argue that his first words betray his fear more than his potential for violence.

When Roger tries to snatch Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones' purse, he gets a rude awakening. Because the purse is heavier than he anticipated, he falls as he simultaneously tries to gain his balance and to prepare to flee. After he falls on his back, Mrs. Jones kicks him in the behind and hoists him up by his shirt front. The text tells us that she then proceeds to shake Roger "until his teeth rattled."

It is Mrs. Jones who speaks first. She orders Roger to pick up her purse and to hand it to her. He complies without a word. Then she demands to know whether he is ashamed of himself, to which Roger replies, "Yes’m." Next, Mrs. Jones asks Roger the reason for his actions. Roger meekly replies, “I didn’t aim to.” In the story, he doesn't tell her why he wants to steal her purse until later. His next words are also noteworthy.

“If I turn you loose, will you run?” asked the woman. “Yes’m,” said the boy. “Then I won’t turn you loose,” said the woman. She did not release him. “I’m very sorry, lady, I’m sorry,” whispered the boy.

Roger's first words betray his fear and his embarrassment at having been caught. He also seems genuinely ashamed for his actions. Roger seems more intent upon what he can get from Mrs. Jones' purse than on hurting her. So, from his first words, we can infer that Roger demonstrates little potential for violence.

What future event might the line "My grave is like to be my wedding bed" hint at in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare?

This line foreshadows the fact that being in love with Romeo will be Juliet’s doom.  The line is spoken when Juliet first sees Romeo at the Capulet ball.  She does not know who he is, but makes this rather profound statement, which seems to imply that if Romeo is married, she will never marry. 

Juliet asks Nurse his name, and she explains that Romeo is a Montague. 

Nurse

His name is Romeo, and a Montague;
The only son of your great enemy.

JULIET

My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me,
That I must love a loathed enemy. (Act 1, Scene 5) 

This is significant because the Montague and Capulet families have been feuding for ages.  Juliet does not want to get in the middle of the feud and betray her family by loving a boy from the wrong family.  She bemoans the irony of it. 

Of course, Romeo and Juliet do marry, in secret.  Her prophecy seems to be coming true.  She will die soon after marrying Romeo.  She did not exactly mean it this way.  She thought that she would die without marrying. Instead, she married and her death was a direct result of marrying in secret. 

Before he died, Romeo made a speech that seems to echo Juliet’s earlier words about her marriage bed being her tomb.

Ah, dear Juliet,
Why art thou yet so fair? shall I believe
That unsubstantial death is amorous,
And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be his paramour? (Act 5, Scene 3) 

You know the story.  Juliet faked her death to avoid marrying Paris, and Romeo did not get the message.  He came back and saw her, thinking she was dead, and poisoned himself.  She woke just in time to see that he was dead, and killed herself.  It seems that fate was unavoidable for them.

In the book Night, what does Eliezer mean when he refers to his father as " his weak point"? Why has he come to view love as a weakness?

It might seem odd to refer to love and connection as a "weak point," but when you are in a survival situation, concern for anyone other than yourself, of necessity, dilutes your resources -- both physical and mental.  Thus, for example, when the selection was announced in Chapter Five, Elie had to concern himself with the question of whether or not his father would be selected, rather than simply worrying about his own chances.  Likewise, when his father appeared weak, Elie would periodically share his food rations, rather than using them to grow as strong as possible.

Yet, as Elie ultimately admits and understands, it is precisely his love and connection with his father that keeps Elie alive in the end.  During their final run from camp to camp, Elie and his father keep each other awake in the snow, and it is thoughts of wanting to stay on in support of his father that ultimately drive Elie.  Thus, while his father may be a "weak point," their connection also serves as motivation in the end.

How can a make a thesis statement out of these four points? My first language and how I learned it New languages learned when and how I use...

Your thesis statement provides the reader of your essay with an overall statement about what you will be proving. It could be something along the lines of, "I learned Spanish as my first language by growing up in Colombia, and when I learned English to attend high school and college in the United States, my knowledge of Spanish grammar, the differences between spoken and written language in Spanish, and my ability to write in Spanish all helped me learn English." The first paragraph in your essay would include more background about your first language and when and why you started to learn English.

Each later paragraph in your essay would examine in further depth one of these points. For example, in your first body paragraph (which comes after the introduction), the topic sentence might be something along the lines of, "My knowledge of Spanish grammar helped me learn English." The topic sentence contains the main idea that you will discuss in that paragraph--in this case the reason why learning your first language (or languages) helped you learn other languages. The paragraph would flesh out this idea and include more details about how learning grammar in your first language helped you learn English grammar.

The next body paragraph might begin with the topic sentence "Learning the differences between spoken and written language in Spanish when I was younger helped me understand these differences in English." The rest of the paragraph would include details about this point. The third body paragraph might start with the topic sentence, "My knowledge of how to write in Spanish helped me learn to write in English," and then the rest of the paragraph would expand on this idea and provide details to support it. Finally, you would conclude your essay with a concluding paragraph that restates your main idea.

What form does "Sonnet 18" take, and how does this powerfully convey its message?

As its title indicates, the form of "Sonnet 18" is a sonnet. As with many of Shakespeare's sonnets, it is specifically an English or Shakespearean sonnet. This means it is written in iambic pentameter. Its lines consist of five iambic feet; an iamb is an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable. In terms of rhyme, it consists of fourteen lines, set up as three open quatrains followed by a couplet. The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

The sonnet is a form typically used for love poetry, which is true of "Sonnet 18." The Shakespearean sonnet typically has a turn after the third quatrain, with a surprise or shift in focus in the couplet. In this case, the shift is from the notion of the mortality of worldly objects and the beloved, to the permanence of the poem that immortalizes the narrator's love.