What do Columbus's words and actions on arriving in the New World tell us about his motives for making his voyages?

One sentence from Columbus's journals speaks volumes about his motives. Describing the Native peoples he encountered upon his arrival in the islands known today as the Bahamas, he says; 

It appears to me, that the people are ingenious, and would be good servants and I am of opinion that they would very readily become Christians, as they appear to have no religion. 

Indian peoples, Columbus says, would make ideal servants, laboring to enrich the Spaniards. Yet they would also be willing and easy converts to Christianity. (Columbus did not recognize the religious practices of these people as religion.) Later, encountering another group of local people, he says that he "strove to learn if they had any gold." Columbus was eager to locate gold, which would justify his voyage to his royal patrons, and enrich himself. A personal motive of Columbus is described early in his journals, when he says that the monarchs of Castile and Aragon have 

granted me great favors, and ennobled me that thenceforth I might call myself Don, and be High Admiral of the Sea, and perpetual Viceroy and Governor in all the islands and continents which I might discover and acquire, or which may hereafter he discovered and acquired in the ocean; and that this dignity should be inherited by my eldest son, and thus descend from degree to degree forever.

So Columbus, like many of the Spaniards that followed him, sought to gain status and wealth as well as to win souls for Christianity. These motives, sometimes described as "gold, glory, and God," are made clear throughout his writings, and were evident in his actions. These actions had unspeakably tragic consequences for Native peoples.

In the book In Cold Blood, what was Dick Hickock's plan when he got to Las Vegas? Why didn't it work?

When Dick Hickock arrived in Las Vegas with Perry Smith (in Part Three of In Cold Blood), Dick planned to impersonate an Air Force officer. Capote writes that "It was a project that had long fascinated him, and Las Vegas was the ideal place to try it out." Dick selected the name Tracy Hand, which was the name of the warden he had known at the Kansas State Penitentiary. Dressed in a uniform he ordered, Dick planned to visit the Las Vegas casinos, both large and small, and pass worthless checks--a plan he thought might bring him three or four thousand dollars in one day. He also planned to ditch Perry, who was annoying him with his superstitious and strange behavior. However, Dick's plan was spoiled when the police spotted the car he and Perry had been driving and noted that it had been reported as stolen. The police then picked up Perry and Dick. 

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, what characters abuse their power and what are examples of this from the text?

Abigail Williams certainly abuses her power.  Once she realizes, at the end of Act One, how powerful an accuser can be, she seizes that role, repeating the accusations Tituba has already made and adding four more of her own in mere moments.  Then, just two weeks later, when Mary Warren returns to the Proctors' from a day in court, she informs John and Elizabeth that there are now thirty-nine accused.  Clearly, then, Abigail is abusing the power granted to her by the courts, especially because she told John that Betty Parris's illness "had naught to do with witchcraft," and that is what began this whole sham.  Moreover, Abigail accuses Elizabeth of sending out her "familiar spirit" to push a needle into Abigail's stomach after she saw Mary Warren place the needle into a poppet's stomach for safekeeping.  Abigail has tried to frame Elizabeth, and she is ultimately successful when Elizabeth is convicted.

Giles Corey presents some evidence which suggests that Thomas Putnam is abusing his power as the father of one of the accusers.  Giles says that "an honest man" heard Putnam say that "The day his daughter [accused] [George] Jacobs, he said she'd given him a fair gift of land."  It begins to sound as if Putnam put his daughter up to accusing Jacobs so that Jacobs's extensive property would go up for auction when he's convicted.  As Giles says, only Putnam has "the coin to buy so great a piece."

Deputy Governor Danforth also abuses his power when he refuses to call off or defer the hangings that take place in Act Four.  Despite Abigail's theft and flight, and despite the fact that the town is near rebellion over the obvious wrongness of the trials, Danforth is implacable.  He says, "Postponement now speaks a foundering on my part; reprieve or pardon must cast doubt upon the guilt of them that died till now."  He is more concerned about retaining his power than he is about unearthing the truth.  Danforth would rather hang innocent people than undermine his own or the court's authority.  This is certainly an abuse of his power.

How and why did the Union win the Civil War?

Though most southerners believed that they would win the war with the north, the Union was able to overtake the Confederacy in multiple ways. Some of the more significant union advantages over the Confederacy include:

• More than 22 million people resided in the north at the time of the Civil War, whereas the south only boasted about 9 million people. Additionally, only about 5.5 million of the southerners were whites.

• A steady flow of black slaves from the southern states joined with the Union Army during the course of the war. At first, the Union used these men as laborers, but later the Union also used them as fighters. The participation of black slaves fighting for their freedom was more powerful than southern state citizens fighting for their land and right to own slaves.

The Union was able to win the war because they were able to meet and defeat the Confederacy time after time. Though the south was victorious in some battles, the north showed its military might and resolve. The consistent loss of battles and loss of life demoralized the south to the point that the Confederacy was no longer able to remain committed to the cause as passionately as they could when the war began. 

Why is Christmas Eve such an important setting in "The Gift of the Magi"?

Christmas Eve is so significant in O. Henry's short story "The Gift of the Magi" because it presents the opportunity for the exchange of tangible gifts, as is customary during the holiday season.

The story focuses on Jim and Della, a young, impoverished couple who cannot afford to purchase presents for each other for Christmas. Both Jim and Della are so committed to expressing their gratitude for each other that they each separately go out and secretly sell their most beloved possessions--Della's long hair and Jim's watch--in order to scrounge up enough money to buy each other a treat.

The irony of this situation is that these gifts ultimately are rendered useless by the sacrifices that enabled them to be purchased: Della buys a chain for the watch Jim no longer owns, and Jim presents Della with combs for the hair she has cut off. 

Ultimately, the couple's willingness to give up what is most precious to them is a testament to their incredible love for each other and a beautiful example of the spirit of giving that is a part of the Christmas season. 

In All Quiet on the Western Front, why did the boys enlist in the army?

In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul suggests that social pressure was one of the reasons the boys enlisted in the army.

Paul identifies one potential reason why the boys enlisted in the book's first chapter. When one mentions that "Kantorek sends his best" to the soldiers, it triggers a reflective moment. Paul discusses how one of the boys' teachers named Kantorek had encouraged them to enlist in the army. They had to endure "long lectures" from Kantorek about how it was their duty to enlist. Paul says that the old teacher "used to glare at us through his spectacles and say in a moving voice: 'Won't you join up, Comrades?'" Kantorek called the boys who served "The Iron Youth." Paul's story explains how many of the young men enlisted because they were compelled to do so. They were told that volunteering for service was their patriotic duty and that the country's need justified their sacrifice. These elderly people depicted the war as nobly grand, and something that young people should eagerly embrace.

Paul has been on the front lines long enough to view such advice in a skeptical light. As he reflects on Kantorek, Paul remarks how "These teachers always carry their feelings ready in their waistcoat pockets, and trot them out by the hour. But we didn't think of that then." Paul is direct in his suggestion that the people who were encouraging boys to fight at the front did not have to endure it themselves. At the end of the chapter, Paul's bitterness at this reality is clear:

Yes, that's the way they think, these hundred thousand Kantoreks! Iron Youth. Youth! We are none of us more than twenty years old. But young? Youth? That is long ago. We are old folk.

The "hundred thousand Kantoreks" sold the idea of enlisting for the war to naive young men. Paul suggests that war removes the innocence from the young. The experiences of being deceived into enlisting for the war has made them "old folk."

How does measles affect the muscular system?

How does measles affect the muscular system?

Measles does not directly affect the muscular system. Overall, measles affects human physiology, which affects the muscular system. However, the exact interactions between measles and the muscular system are nebulus.

Measles is a single stranded negative sense RNA virus. Clinical diagnosis of measles requires the presence of the following: fever of at least 38.3°C (101°C), maculopapular (small raised discolored spots) rash of at least 3 days duration, and cough, coryza (respiratory inflammation), or conjunctivitis. Laboratory diagnosis of measles is accomplished by detection of measles virus-specifc immunologlublin M (IgM) or IgG antibodies, or measles virus RNA (1).

The measles virus is transferred to epithelial cells in the respiratory tract, oropharynx or conjunctivae. The virus proliferates in the respiratory mucosa, spreads to the lymph nodes, then spreads to the bloodstream via leukocytes. From this point the virus spreads to the spleen, lymphatic tissue, lung tissue, thymus, liver, and skin (2). The host immune response includes both an innate immune response and an adaptive immune response (in individuals vaccinated or previously exposed to the virus). The innate immune response includes activation of natural killer cells, increased production of interferon gamma and beta, interleukin (IL) 4 and 10, and activation of helper T cells 1 and 2 (Th1, Th2). These pro-inflammatory cytokines induce fever and may cause muscle pain (3). Measles virus induces immune suppression, causing susceptibility to secondary infections such as pneumonia and diarrhea that are primarily responsible for measles-associated morbidity and mortality. Thus, measles affects the muscular system to the extent to which pro-inflammatory conditions and secondary infections interact to affect the musculature system.

Of note are two other rare but serious complications due to measles. Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is a demyelinating disease that occurs in 0.1% of measles cases. Possibly due to an autoimmune response, ADEM can cause, among other symptoms, ataxia (in coordinated muscle movement) and myoclonus (involuntary muscle twitching) (4). Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is thought to be related to persistent infection of measles in the central nervous system Stage II of SSPE is characterized, in part, by myoclonus (5).

1. Rainwater-Lovett K, Moss WJ. Measles (Rubeola). In: Kasper D, Fauci A, Hauser S, Longo D, Jameson J, Loscalzo J. eds.Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 19e. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2015. Accessed May 11, 2016.

2. Moss, WJ, Griffin DE. Global measles elimination. Nature reviews microbiology; 2006, Vol.4(12), p.900-908.

3. Dinarello CA, Porat R. Fever. In: Kasper D, Fauci A, Hauser S, Longo D, Jameson J, Loscalzo J. eds.Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 19e. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2015. Accessed May 11, 2016.

4. Johnson RT, Griffin DE, Hirsch RL, Wolinsky JS, Roedenbeck S, Lindo de Soriano I, Vaisberg A. Measles encephalomyelitis--clinical and immunologic studies. N Engl J Med. 1984;310(3):137.

5. Dyken PR. Viral diseases of the central nervous system. In: Pediatric Neurology: Principles and Practice, Mosby, St. Louis 1994. p.670.