When the SS officers order, " Men to the left, women to the right," is Elie separated from his mother and father?

When Elie approaches selection at Auschwitz, Dr. Mengele and the SS officers separate the group -- men to one side and women to the other.  At this point, Elie is not separated from both his mother AND his father.  He is separated from his mother and from his youngest sister, neither of whom he ever sees again.  It is believed that they were killed shortly thereafter in the crematorium.

Elie and his father are forced to march deeper into the camp.  As they march, they approach the crematorium and open pits in which babies' and adults' bodies are being burned.  Elie believes that he is being marched toward the pits in order to join the burning bodies.  Others around him feel the same and begin to recite the Kaddish, a Jewish prayer for the dead.  It is only at the last minute that the marching cadre of Jewish prisoners turns the corner and realizes that they are, instead, headed for barracks.  Elie and his father are still together at this point in the story and will be together through most of the remainder of the text.

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, why does Scout desire to be a tomboy?

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout doesn't fit in with the stereotypical notions of what a girl should be. She dislikes wearing dresses and dreads participating in tea parties. As such, she develops a reputation for being a tomboy and seems to relish her status as an outsider to feminine society.

Although Lee never explains exactly why Scout chooses a tomboy lifestyle, it's likely that Atticus has something to do with it. Atticus treats both Scout and Jem as equals, encouraging them to learn, think critically, and develop a principled moral code. This environment is important for Jem, but it's even more important for Scout. In the midst of a society that's intent on keeping women in the home, Atticus teaches Scout how to reject such tradition, think for herself, and become an independent, self-sufficient individual in her own right. As such, Scout likely becomes a tomboy because Atticus has emphasized the importance of education and independence, and it goes without saying that these two qualities run counter to the subordinated status of many women in Maycomb. 

What are the main ideas of Hamlet's soliloquy in Act IV, Scene IV?

In this particular soliloquy, Hamlet is agonizing over the fact that he has not yet succeeded in avenging the murder of his father. Hamlet is on a ship destined for England, accompanied by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, when he encounters the Captain under the charge of Prince Fortinbras; the Captain tells Hamlet that the Norwegian and Polish armies are about to start a war over a small patch of land which carries little profit. This information launches Hamlet's soliloquy.

Hamlet wonders why others are able to act when they have little to gain, while he has failed to act with so much to gain. He believes that everything seems to indicate that he should rush toward his revenge, even questioning his humanity in the process, stating:

How all occasions do inform against me,

And spur my dull revenge! What is a man

If his chief good and market of his time

Be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more.

Hamlet realizes that he has been "think[ing] too precisely on th'event—" and that this overthinking has stalled his actions and guided him toward cowardice. He believes that his honor is at stake in this matter and that greatness evolves from a willingness to fight for that honor, even if you are fighting over nothing:

...Rightly to be great

Is not to stir without great argument,

But greatly to find quarrel in a straw

When honor's at the stake.

Hamlet weighs himself against these standards and finds himself wanting; if Hamlet wants to be great and to fulfill his revenge, he must consider his "thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!"

This is my persuasive essay topic: an examination of the key symbols in the novel The Hunger Games. I am unsure of how to write my thesis...

"In the novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the author uses several symbols to convey themes."

Yes, this thesis statement would help direct your thoughts and your argument as you persuade readers that the author did, in fact, use symbols to help express the themes of the novel. Your statement offers an opinion that requires support, meaning that it will function as a persuasive thesis statement. Other readers could come along and say, "No, the placement of the objects that you're calling symbols are just random and don't mean much; it's just a popular novel, not a work of literary splendor," and you could spend time in your body paragraphs convincing these naysayers that they're mistaken. You'd show them the patterns and details that they didn't notice about the symbols, and explain how those convey the big ideas (themes) contained in the novel.

However, please let me suggest some ways to make your thesis statement more specific and concise. If you do this, you'll have a better focus for your essay, and you'll find it easier to write.

Right now, your thesis statement is very broad. You're making your job as the writer very difficult when you say that the writer uses "several" symbols to convey multiple "themes." Considering how well the symbols really do operate in this novel, to properly cover this topic, your paper would probably need to be at least twenty pages long. And because you haven't mentioned what the symbols are or what the themes are, your thesis statement doesn't really help you plan your essay around it.

To make your thesis statement more specific (more focused), narrow things down. You might say, for example, "In The Hunger Games, Collins' use of symbolic birds and music express the irrepressible nature of the human spirit." Of course, this is just an example. You can insert any symbols and themes you like into that sentence: "In The Hunger Games, Collins' use of symbolic (certain objects) express the (theme)."

If you try writing your thesis statement this way, then when you go to write your outline and the actual content of your essay, it will be much easier because you won't have to cover so much content or wonder where to start.

However, if you prefer to keep your thesis statement as it is, let me suggest just tightening it up to make it more powerful. Let's look at it one more time. I'm going to put the wordy and weak parts in bold:

"In the novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the author uses several symbols to convey themes."

To make your thesis statement shorter, punchier, and more pithy, take out all the unneeded words, and rephrase things so that you're only using specific, powerful, active voice verbs. Like this:

"In The Hunger Games, Collins conveys themes via several symbols."

How is a red blood cell well suited to the transport oxygen

Q:

How is a red blood cell well suited to the transport of oxygen?

A:

At the level of the cell, red blood cells lack organelles, cell nuclei, and mitochondria. This means that they cannot produce RNA and cannot replicate themselves; however, it also means that they do not need to consume as much oxygen as other cells and as such they are able to carry oxygen to other cells. In addition, the red blood cell's concave "donut" shape allows it to maximize oxygen transfer with other tissue, and the red blood cell is highly flexible, which allows it to pass through small capillaries in and out of the lungs to collect oxygen.

Another chief aspect of the red blood cell's ability to transport oxygen is at the molecular level. The key is the molecule hemoglobin, a highly specialized, three-dimensional protein. This molecule is also responsible for red blood cells' red color. Hemoglobin uses ionized (charged) iron to bind oxygen atoms. Each hemoglobin molecule is able to bind up to four oxygen molecules (`O_2`) via four specialized heme complexes.

Why did Graham Greene choose the name "The Destructors" rather than "The Destroyers"?

Graham Greene chose the name "The Destructors" instead of the "The Destroyers" for the title of his short story because the Wormsley Common gang works at destroying as if it were an act of constructing. "The Destructors" is a combination of the words "destroy" and "construct." To take apart an architecturally interesting house that has been partially destroyed by a bomb, they bring tools, including nails, hammer, a screwdriver, chisels, and a saw. These are the tools people use to build houses, but they employ them in creatively taking apart a house. They approach their task with the interest and dedication that builders would use to construct a house. As Greene writes of the gang, "they worked with the seriousness of creators—and destruction after all is a form of creation." In their minds, the destruction of the house requires the imagination and vision that a creator would have, and, in a way, their act of destruction of an old house paves the way for something new to take its place, even if it's just an empty lot. Therefore, their act of destruction can be looked at as a form of creation and of construction.

What is the function of the description of the "Great Irish Elk" skeleton and the butter?

The Great Irish Elk and butter description serves to illustrate the archaeological value of the bog in terms of Irish identity, culture, and history.

In the poem, the reference to the Great Irish Elk also highlights Heaney's own childhood memory of an elk fossil found in a bog near his hometown. To Heaney, the archaeological find is evidence that the bog is a repository of memories gleaned from centuries of Irish culture and history. The Great Irish Elk is at present time extinct; however, skeletons and fossils of these elks have been found in numerous locations around the world. The elk skeleton serves to underline the vastness and depth of Irish history; centuries upon centuries of Irish history lie in the bogs of Heaney's poem.

Additionally, the preserved butter in the poem ("sunk under/ More than a hundred years/...recovered salty and white") references the social practice of preserving or storing food in peat bogs for extended periods of time. It is remarkable that the hundred-year old butter is so well preserved that it emerges "white" from the bog.

So, Heaney uses the two items to describe how bogs are able to preserve generations of rich Irish history within the depths of their "kind, black butter."