In The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963, what is the exposition?

The exposition, when we think about the plot of a given
work of literature, is the initial stage that introduces the main characters of the work
of literature and the conflict that goes on between them. Therefore, we can say that the
exposition of this excellent novel comes in the first chapter, when Kenny introduces us
to, in his words, the "weird" Watsons, that consist of his two parents, his older
brother Byron and his younger sister Joetta. Also, consider how in the novel the
character of Byron is focussed on, depicting how, on the one hand he is capable of acts
that are really cruel, yet on the other hand, he is a very sensitive and caring elder
brother. Note how this is explored through the depiction of Byron as both bullying Kenny
through Kenny's flashback to the incident of "snow torture" and also Byron presented as
a vulnerable (if laughable) character whose Narcissistic tendencies have led him into a
sticky situation with his lips stuck to the
wingmirror.

Thus we are introduced to the main characters
and some of the conflicts that will be explored at greater length later on in the
novel.

Describe main characters in Miss Hickory, by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey.

There are several main characters in Miss
Hickory, by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey.

The first is
Miss Hickory. She is a doll made from an apple twig, with the head of a nut. She is
difficult to get along with—very stubborn—though she is trying hard to change this about
herself. She can be critical, quick to find fault with others. However, she can be
helpful to others as well, and Miss Hickory is orderly and
neat.

Squirrel, of course, is a character mostly interested
in collecting nuts for the winter (and not surprisingly, with the head of a hickory nut,
Miss Hickory does not feel to safe around him). He is selfish and irresponsible. He is,
overall, easier to get along with than Miss Hickory.

Crow
appears to be a creature of knowledge and persuasion. It is he who is able to get Miss
Hickory to try something new when no one else is successful. He is a problem-solver and
respectful. Crow also has experience of the world. He is patient, gives good advice, and
is a true friend.

Mr. T. Willard-Brown is a cat: in fact,
he is the a cat cliche.  He is friendly when he wants to be, but totally disinterested
when it suits him. He is something of a friend to Miss Hickory, but he has a cavalier
attitude, and does not worry overmuch about others. Though he offers advice, he really
doesn't care if one take it or not. In the story, he provides suggestions to help Miss
Hickory make the changes she wants to see in herself. However, in terms of caring
individuals, Crow is the better friend.

In the Spanish language, what do direct objects (lo, la, los, and las) "tell" in a sentence?

I think the first answer is confusing direct object
pronouns with articles.

Definite articles:  el, la, los,
las  (definition:  the)
Indefinite articles:  un, una, unos, unas  
(definition:  a/an, some)

Direct object pronouns:  lo, la,
los, las  (definition:  it, them)
These are used to replace a noun. 

They match in gender and number with the replaced noun. 

Example:   I see a book.    Yo veo un libro.    un libro = masc, singular =
lo            I see it (the book).   Yo lo veo.

I see something
feminine singular it is "Yo la veo."   (I see it.)
The plurals become:  "Yo
los veo."   Yo las veo."   (I see them.  for both)

What is an example of the difference between kinesis and taxis?

Kinesis and Taxis
are both terms that relate to how an organism responds to positive or
negative stimulation.  The difference between the two is that with kinesis the organism
responds by moving either toward or away from
the source of the stimulus.  Taxis has the organism just moving
randomly.

This concept is easier to understand when looking
at examples:

1) A big ugly bug is sitting there and you
shine a flashlight at it.  The bug, because of some instinct, walks toward the light (or
flies, like a moth.)  Its direction is based on where the light is coming from.  This is
kinesis.

2) Different ugly bug doesn't
like the smell of wet dog.  The bug's instinct will make it run around randomly trying
to find a spot where it doesn't have to smell wet dog.  This is
taxis.

Do you see the difference?  One
has movement directly toward or away from a stimulus, while the other one has movement
that is caused by the stimulus but the direction of which is
random.

Hope this helps!

What does Ralph do once at the entrance of the Castle Rock?

As the boys approach Castle Rock, they are very nervous
about the whole situation, the drop to the sea below them, the fact that the other boys
are hiding, etc.  Ralph steps forward as the leader and takes the conch and begins to
blow on it, as though he is calling the boys to an assembly in the old
way.

He tries to tell the boys that he now sees as savages
that he is calling an assembly, expecting that perhaps they will respond out of a sense
of duty.

Once Jack returns from his hunting trip, however,
it becomes apparent that they are not going to be able to resolve their situation.  The
hunters are not willing to give back the glassesand the conflict leads to Piggy's
death.

What is your opinion of the scene in which Dr. Manette meets Lucie in the attic room in A Tale of Two Cities?

While Chapter 6 of Book the First, "The Shoemaker" seems
rather contrived and melodramatic.  For instance, when the demented Dr. Manette begins
to recognize the golden hair of Lucie as similar to that which he carries in a dingy
little packet, Lucie falls upon her knees as his tone of voice softens in remembrance of
his wife.  In a Victorian melodramatic line--one that Dickens's audiences would have
enjoyed--Lucie utters her maudlin plea, 

readability="14">

"If you touch, in touching my hair,
anything that recalls a beloved head that lay in your breast when you were young and
free, weep for it, weep for it!...If I bring back the remembrance of a Home long
desolate, while your poor heart pined away, weep for it, weep for
it!"

This passage is one that
critics point to as how Dickens has a very stylized nature that demonstrates the
influence the Victorian stage.  As one writes,

readability="14">

Throughout the novel we see Dickens managing his
characters like a theater director, emphasizing the dramatic gesture, the physical
trait, the coincidence, as though his tremendous energy must inevitably explode into
action, whether comic or melodramatic.  Even in his grotesque moments such as Mr.
Lorry's questioning of the dead man in his dreams, Dickens converts the morbid into
somehting spirited and
purposeful.

This melodrama
does, however, afford Dickens a scene in which he can depict the horrors of Doctor
Mannette's imprisonment, the inner strength of Lucie Mannette as the Victorian heroine,
as well as introduction of the motif of "the golden thread."  As such, this chapter is
rhetorical in its use of metaphoric language with Lucie's hair as "the golden thread,"
returning Dr. Manette's memory to him; and with the metaphor of the shoemaker indicating
the destruction to the pride and person of the
physician. 

Of course, this chapter is pivotal as it
initiates the development of the theme of Resurrection.  In addition, it is the catalyst
for the action between London and Paris.  Certainly, there is much foreshadowing in this
dramatic chapter.

Given f'(x)=25x^4+6x determine f(x).

By definition, f(x) could be determined evaluating the
indefinite integral of f'(x)

Int
(25x^4+6x)dx

We'll apply the additive property of
integrals:

Int (25x^4+6x)dx = Int (25x^4)dx + Int
(6x)dx

We'll re-write the sum of integrals, taking out the
constants:

Int (25x^4+6x)dx = 25Int x^4 dx + 6Int x
dx

Int (25x^4+6x)dx = 25*x^5/5 +
6*x^2/2

We'll simplify and we'll
get:

Int (25x^4+6x)dx = 5x^5 + 3x^2 +
C

The function f(x) is:
f(x) = 5x^5 + 3x^2 +
C

prove that sin^4(theta)-cos^4(theta)=sin^2(theta)-cos^2(theta)trigonometry

We have to prove: sin^4(theta) - cos^4(theta) =
sin^2(theta) - cos^2(theta)

First let's write the terms in
a standard form and use x instead of theta.

So we have to
prove (sin x)^4 - (cos x)^4 = (sin x)^2 - (cos x)^2

Start
with the left hand side:

(sin x)^4 - (cos
x)^4

we use the relation x^2 - y^2 = (x - y)(x +
y)

=> [(sin x)^2 - (cos x)^2][(sin x)^2 + (cos
x)^2]

we know that [(sin x)^2 + (cos x)^2] =
1

=> [(sin x)^2 - (cos x)^2] *
1

=> [(sin x)^2 - (cos
x)^2]

which is the right hand
side.

This proves that sin^4(theta) -
cos^4(theta) = sin^2(theta) - cos^2(theta)

Discuss three well-known three theories of human emotion.

The James-Lange Theory of
Emotion was developed in the nineteenth century by William James and Carl
Lange. They theorized that the automatic nervous system creates physiological events
like muscular tension, rise in heart rate, perspiration, and dryness of mouth which then
lead to an emotional response. A good example of this theory would be: a growling dog
(stimulus) leading to fast heart rate and breathing (perception of physiological
changes) which leads to fear or the idea of being afraid (identification of emotion).
This theory since has been disapproved by the field and challenged by others like Cannon
and Bard in the 1920’s but has not been further developed.

The
Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion was developed in the
twentieth century by physiologists Walter Cannon and Philip Bard.  In contrast to the
James-Lange Theory, the Cannon-Bard Theory suggests that emotions occur simultaneously
with physiological responses.  In other words, an individual experiences an emotion and
the body immediately responds physiologically (i.e., muscular tension, perspiration,
increased heart-rate, etc.).  The Cannon-Bard Theory argues that emotions occur in
response to stimuli and are processed and responded to physiologically.  The James-Lange
Theory, on the other hand, suggests that the autonomic nervous system detects
physiological changes, thus leading to an emotional
response.

The Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
was developed by Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer in 1962, and argues
that emotional states are impacted by both cognitive and physiological factors. 
According to this theory, physiological arousal causes people to search their
environment for "emotionally relevant cues" that explain their physiological
experience.  This allows a person to label their experience and associate it with a
particular emotional state.

What reasons does Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz give for becoming a nun?

In my readings regarding Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, it
seems that becoming a nun was a choice she preferred to make, rather than being married
(in which she had no interest). She was illegitimate and came from a relatively poor
("unconnected") family, and because learning was her passion, the convent would have
provided her with a socially acceptable way to continue studying and
writing.

In
1667, given what she called her “total disinclination to marriage” and her wish “to have
no fixed occupation which might curtail my freedom to study,” Sor...Juana began her life
as a nun with a brief stay in the order of the Discalced Carmelites. She moved in 1669
to the more lenient Convent of Santa Paula of the Hieronymite order in Mexico City, and
there she took her vows. Sor Juana remained cloistered in the Convent of Santa Paula for
the rest of her
life.

Sor
Juana is considered something of a prodigy in her young years, and later, a strong
feminist voice for women. Some sources report that her writing, "Respuesta a Sor
Filotea" "has been hailed as the first feminist manifesto." For most of her time there,
convent life suited her and allowed her to write as she saw fit. It was not until the
later years of her life that she lost the patrons who protected her "freedom of speech
and opinion" (in 1688), and was forced to live a "quieter" life, unable to freely write
as she felt moved to.

Additional
source:
  http://www.biography.com/articles/Sor-Juana-Inés-de-la-Cruz-38178

Is the tone of The Red Pony misleading, straightforward or neutral when telling the story?

The tone of the story is simple and
straightforward, but there are signs of
foreboding.

Tone is the author’s attitude
toward the subject.  Although you could consider the tone misleading in that in the
beginning you might think it is a nice story about a boy and a horse, there is plenty of
foreshadowing to indicate otherwise.

readability="7">

Over the hillside two big black buzzards sailed
low to the ground and their shadows slipped smoothly and quickly ahead of them. Some
animal had died in the vicinity. Jody knew it. (ch 1, p.
5)

Jody is unsettled by the
buzzards.  He hates them, and calls them indecent.  Therefore we have a clear indication
from Steinbeck that there will be death in the
story. 

Steinbeck also goes out of his way to tell the
story in a simple, straightforward way.  Life on the ranch is not romanticized.  It’s a
hard life.  Although Jody enjoys the pony, even its presentation to him is frill-less
and ominous.  Jody was ordered out to the barn, and “felt a kind of doom in the air” (ch
1, p. 8).  That’s hardly the carefree story of a boy and his
pony.

What is the theme of "Lament" by Edna St. Vincent Millay?

"Lament," by Edna St. Vincent Millay, seems to be the
address of a mother to her children, discussing the recent death of their
father.

The mother gives two seemingly contradictory pieces
of advice to the children about how to cope with the death of their
father.

The first piece of advice is to hold on to little
items that will help them remember their
father:

From his old coats
I'll make you
little jackets;
I'll make you little trousers
From his old
pants.
There'll be in his pockets
Things he used to put
there,
Keys and pennies
Covered with tobacco;
Dan shall
have the pennies
To save in his bank;
Anne shall have the
keys
To make a pretty noise
with.

On the other hand, the
mother advises the children that "Life must go on, / And the dead must be
forgotten."

Continuing this vein of advice, the mother
urges the children to continue with the mundane details of
life:

Anne, eat your breakfast;
Dan,
take your medicine...

The poem ends
with a statement indicates the mystery of life and
death:

Life must go on;
I forget just
why.

Why is health care so difficult to achieve in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle?

Sinclair would posit that there are several reasons why
health care and other social reform initiatives are so challenging in the domain of
Chicago during industrialization.  The providing of health care is of great cost and it
is in this domain that Sinclair launches into the crux of his argument.  In a setting
where power was defined by wealth, political and social institutions were also
controlled by material acquisition.  Health care became one of those elements that was
controlled by wealth, in that the more money one had, the more health care that could be
afforded.  At the same time, factory owners found it to be contrary to profit aims in
providing health care for their workers.  Additionally, the consortium of factory owners
understood the need to demonstrate solidarity in not providing health care to their
workers.  In such a setting, people like Jurgis and Ona, who had little wealth to their
name, had little chance of receiving quality health care.  When Jurgis carries Ona
through the snow for an opportunity at life, it is a telling moment in displaying what
physical and institutional barriers had to be endured in order to "enjoy" the
"privilege" of health care.

What is the tragic flaw of Okownkwo that leads him to be a tragic hero in Achebe's Things Fall Apart?

Okonkwo was raised by a father who was lazy and
ineffective in a tribe where masculine prowess and accomplishment had supreme value.  In
contrast, the tribe holds loathing for men who are agabala, which means weak and lazy.
Okonkwo had a deep inner terror that he would be like his father: weak, ineffective,
lazy, unmanly, despised. No one knew of his inner terror. The tribe admired him,
respected him, awarded him with honors, recognized him as the best and fiercest warrior
in the tribe.

Okonkwo had long since conquered the image
of his father's failure and proven himself to be a leading man in the tribe. Yet the
spectre of his father's despised traits and his terror of being similar continued to
drive him and compel him to continually act in heartless and reckless ways that proved
his manhood. It was because of this driven compulsion to prove himself over and over and
unendingly that Okonkwo made rash choices and risky decisions--actually, Okonkwo’s
actions must be said to be guided less by reasoned decisions as by compulsions of
terrified impulse. He might be likened to the falcon and his reasoning self to the
falconer in the quote:

readability="6">

The falcon cannot hear the
falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is
loosed upon the
world.

Because he, like the
falcon, could not act based on truth and tribal reasonableness, he fell apart, his
center could not hold, he unleashed anarchy upon his world. Okonkwo's tragic and fatal
flaw of being compelled by driving terror lead to his fatal end as a tragic
hero.

When the narrator wasn't around Emily how did he get his information?

When the narrator was not directly in Emily's presence
(which, because she isolated herself for so long was much of the time) he gathered his
information about her from other people. Even in his opening description of her, he
sites a tale invented by Colonol Sartoris:

readability="12">

Not that Miss Emily would have accepted charity.
Colonel Sartoris invented an involved tale to the effect that Miss Emily's father had
loaned money to the town, which the town, as a matter of business, preferred this way of
repaying. Only a man of Colonel Sartoris' generation and thought could have invented it,
and only a woman could have believed
it.

He sites, too, the tales
told by the ladies of the town who complained about the smell emanating from her home.
He indicates that they were not surprised about it because her house was being kept by a
negro man and, in their eyes, a man could not possibly be expected to keep a kitchen
clean.

In fact, a close reading of the text allows you to
note that the majority of the narrator's information comes from an undefined "they" -
meaning various people of the town ranging from government officials to gossipy women.
He associates himself as a member of the town among a group of people simply known as
"we" such as in this statement:

readability="14">

We had long thought of them as a tableau, Miss
Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in
the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the
back-flung front door. So when she got to be thirty and was still single, we were not
pleased exactly, but vindicated; even with insanity in the family she wouldn't have
turned down all of her chances if they had really
materialized.

Note the
repeated use of we in the narrator's observations. It is evidence gathered from the
collective consciousness of a town that has built up a legend around this woman and who
do not become privy to the truth until after her death. If you continue a detailed
examination of the piece, this becomes evident and you are afforded with many other
examples of second-hand information about Emily's actions.

How are aspects of Modernism apparent in Araby by James Joyce?How does Araby typify the social and psychological realities of England between the...

Araby as a story seems to be a little too Romantic in
spirit to be a Modernist text. But with deeper examination what we realize its
deep-rooted critique of the Romantic notion of love. Jacques Lacan had defined love as
"giving something that you do not have to someone who does not even want it". The boy
wants to give a gift bought from Araby. The girl had never demanded it from him and he
does not even want it.

The radical conflation of the sacred
and the sexual is another Modernist element in the story. Mangan's Sister is both a
chalice and an object of beauty, arousing a moment of impregnatory orgasm  and that too
in the dead pries's back drawing room.

The story is
definitely concerned with loneliness in the city---a squalid and drab cityscape, typical
of Modernist literature e.g. Ulysses or Eliot's Waste
Land.

The proto-stream of consciousness style, the emphasis
on internal rather than external action, the epiphanic realization of a disillusionment
about the Romantic and Oriental fantasy of Araby.

What happened to each of the rocket boys after graduation? Describe each situation.

One of the most powerful elements present in the ending of
the memoir is how it showed the post- "Rocket Boys" life of each.  All of them had gone
to college and wound up doing something that was outside the traditional path of boys
from Coalwood.  We learn early on that some few chosen ones from Coalwood go to college
or university on  football scholarship, while the vast majority go and work in the
mine.  The Rocket Boys forged a different path with college educations and some type of
professional job afterwards.  Insurance salesman, business owners, or Homer joining NASA
and training astronauts all reveal paths that were taken where dreams were pursued and
education being a vital part of this process.

What does intelligent life mean? Does it mean more intelligent compared to humans?

Intelligent life does not mean more intelligent than
humans but having intelligence in
general.

Intelligence has been defined in many ways and
there are many ways that it is exhibited in, which often makes a single test meant to
measure intelligence irrelevant.

One of  the general
characteristics of intelligence is the ability to learn. An intelligent creature has the
ability to learn while it tries to achieve its objectives and make changes in its
actions to be able to accomplish it in a better way. For example, if an animal that is
hurt while trying to reach its objective of obtaining food once and the next time does
not perform the same steps but chooses an alternate way has
intelligence.

The objectives for different intelligent
organisms differ and they evolve as the intelligent creatures evolve. They could vary
from just a basic objective of obtaining food and staying alive to more advanced
objectives like those that humans have.

Why does Hannah Tupper spin flax into thread in The Witch Of Blackbird Pond?

The answer to this question can be found in Chapter Ten of
this great novel. This narrates the second visit that Kit makes to Hannah Tupper's
house. When she arrives, she finds Hannah buys spinning thread. However, when asked by
Kit if she grows the flax herself, note how Hannah
responds:

readability="8">

"Some of the families in town always bring me
their flax to spin," she explained... "Fourpence a skein," she said. "Enough to pay the
taxes and buy what I
need."

Thus we discover that
the flax is a form of employment for Hannah. It enables her to meet her living costs. We
also find out that part of those living costs are actually taxes that she must pay
because she refuses to go to church every Sunday. This clearly is another way that the
book depicts religious prejudice and persecution. The fact that Hannah is fined for
choosing not to go to church is shocking to our modern day minds, and yet this was
standard practice for groups such as Quakers in those times.

Determine the end point of the line segment AB if B(-2,12) and the midpoint is ( 2,5)

Given the line segment AB such that B(-2, 12) and the
midpoint m(2,5).

We need to find the coordinates of the
point A.

We will use the midpoint formula to find
A.

We know that:

xm = (
xA+xB)/2

==> 2 =
(-2+xB)/2

Multiply by
2.

==> 4 = -2 +
xB

==> xB = 4+2 =
6

==> xB = 6

Also we
know that:

ym =
(yA+yB)/2

==> 5 = (12 +
yB)/2

==> (12+yB =
10

==> yB =
-2

Then, the point B is : B(6, -2)

How do I cite these sources in APA format? I nearly completely forget how to format this correctly in APA format, could anyone...

As noted by the prior poster, APA format has recently
undergone a revision, so be sure that you are using the 6th edition (if that is what
your professor expects). All of the sources that you have listed are electronic sources,
but even electronic sources can be different in terms of the details that you need to
include. You will always begin by citing the author last name, followed by first
initial. Then, in parentheses, follow this with the date of publication. You will then
include the title of the work and the relevant publication information (Retrieval date
and URL for a web page; doi for a database article, city and publisher for a print
source)

For example, a database article would be cited like
this:

Steinbrook, R.. (2009). Lobbying, Campaign
Contributions, and Health Care Reform. The New England Journal of Medicine,
361(23), e52.  doi:1914852231

A web page like
this:

Political Advocacy (2010) Directory of
United States Lobbyists. Retrieved March 17, 2010 from href="http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/kfountain/">http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/kfountain/

And
a book like this:

Bogosian, E. (2008) Talk Radio. New York:
Samuel French.

The absolute best source that I have found
for APA is the OWL. Here is their page for on line
sources:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/

Also,
don't forget to include an in text citation for each time you use a source - for
example, using your source above: (Paz, 2010).

Does the word "Trinity" exist anywhere in the Bible?

The word "trinity" does not occur in the Bible.  The idea
of the trinity has a basis in the Bible, but the actual term itself does not appear in
the Bible.

The idea of the trinity does clearly show up in
the Bible.  For example, in Matthew Chapter 28 Verse 19, Jesus is telling his disciples
(this is after the Resurrection) to go and convert people.  He tells them that they
should go out and baptize people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit.

So, in this verse, we clearly see an example
of where the concept of the trinity comes from.  The verse refers to all three parts of
the trinity and puts them in a context that implies that they are all equal parts of the
Godhead.  However, the word "trinity" does not appear.

Evaluate the limit of the function f(x)=(x^2-7x+6)/(x-1) , x-->1 .

First, we'll verify if the limit exists, for x = 1,
so, we'll substitute x by 1 in the expression of the
function.

lim f(x) = lim
(x^2-7x+6)/(x-1)

lim (x^2-7x+6)/(x-1) =  (1-7+6)/(1-1) =
0/0

We notice that we've get an indetermination
case.

We could apply 2 methods for solving the
problem.

The first method is to calculate the roots of the
numerator. Since x = 1 has cancelled the numerator, then x = 1 is one of it's 2
roots.

We'll use Viete's relations to determine the other
root.

x1 + x2 = -(-7)/1

1 + x2
= 7

x2 = 7 - 1

x2 =
6

We'll re-write the numerator as a product of linear
factors:

x^2-7x+6 =
(x-1)(x-6)

We'll re-write the
limit:

lim (x-1)(x-6)/(x -
1)

We'll divide by (x-1):

lim
(x-1)(x-6)/(x - 1) = lim (x - 6)

We'll substitute x by
1:

lim (x - 6) = 1-6

lim (x -
6) = -5

The limit of the given function f(x) =
(x^2-7x+6)/(x-1) is:

lim (x^2-7x+6)/(x-1) =
-5

How is a pencil sharpener a wheel and axle for a simple machine?

Well, if you look at the simple definition of a wheel and
axle machine, namely that it must have a wheel and axle, the pencil sharpener fits
perfectly, particularly if the pencil sharpener is a non-mechanical one, just one you
have to twist.  As such, the pencil of course acts as the axle and then the sharpener
itself is the wheel as it goes around the pencil.  It gets a tad more complicated if you
are looking at the mechanical version, but likely could still be explained into the
definition if necessary.  The article referenced below has some other good examples of
simple wheel and axle machines.

Why did Dwight D. Eisenhower win the 1952 presidential election?

Dwight D Eisenhower achieved a landslide victory in the
1952 presidential election and defeated the democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson. The
main election issues were the spread of communism, foreign policy and corruption in the
government. Since the economy was prospering, it did not play much role in the
elections. 

Eisenhower was a five-star general, commander
of the allied forces in Europe during World War II and was the first supreme commander
of NATO. He was seen as a much more decisive personality compared to Stevenson, who was
considered an intellectual and excellent orator. Eisenhower's main election campaign
focused on the failure of the outgoing democrat administrations on Korea, Communism and
Corruption. 

The decisive personality and track record of
Eisenhower coupled with the discontent with previous government, complemented by the
weak democrat candidate, led to Eisenhower's victory. 

What are some quotes I could use to describe Widge's apperance in chapters 1-10 of The Shakespeare Stealer?

The only real reference I can find as to how Widge is
described in terms of his appearance is actually on the very opening page of the book,
where Widge talks about his background and childhood. Note how he is given the nickname
by Mistress MacGregor of the orphanage that is used to refer to him for the rest of his
life:

When
she saw how small and frail I was, she exclaimed "Och, the poor little pigwidgeon!" From
that unfortunate expression came the appellation of Widge, which stuck to me for years,
like pitch.

It is clear
therefore from this story that Widge is a boy who is smaller than his contemporaries and
rather thin. The way in which Widge talks about food and how he and the other boys dream
of it also reinforces the idea that he would be rather thin in terms of his physical
appearance. We can conclude through this evidence that Widge would be a small boy for
his age and very wiry and thin.

solve. 4+3x

You do this problem just the same way that you would do it
if it were not an inequality.  What that means is that you need to get the x term on one
side by itself and then simplify it down to where it is just x (instead of
3x).

So, what you do first is to subtract 4 from both
sides.  Then you get

3x <
24

So then you divide both sides by 3 and you
get

x < 8

And that is
your answer.  Plug in a number to check and see if it's right.  We'll choose
7.

4 + 3*7 < 28

4 + 21
< 28

25 <
28

True.  So numbers less than 8 make the inequality
true.

Now we'll try a number bigger than
8.

4 + (3*9) < 28

4 +
27 < 28

Not true.  So numbers bigger than 8 make the
statement false.

What is the allegory and what are the metaphors in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening?"

I'm not sure I would call Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a
Snowy Evening" allegorical in any sense.  One might say it's symbolic or that it
involves an extended metaphor, but I don't see it as an
allegory.

If the poem is symbolic or involves an extended
metaphor, it is in the sense that the absent land owner, separated from nature,
symbolizes humans who are separated from nature and don't realize what they're missing. 
Connected to this interpretation is the opposition of the man-made (such as the barn),
with the natural (the snow and woods).  The speaker/character, too, though he
appreciates the natural, cannot stay to admire it because of human
responsibilities. 

The poem may also close with a
metaphor:

And
miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I
sleep.

Some commentators
suggest this is a metaphor for death.  In this interpretation, though the speaker longs
for the peace of death (sleep), he chooses to fulfill his responsibilities and promises,
rather than to seek what he wishes. 

In To Kill a Mockingbird, what does the symbol about old trees, pillars and old tradition mean?

The old trees in Maycomb and the pillars of the courthouse
stand for the traditions of the Old South, the South prior to the Civil War. In the
novel, Harper Lee describes the pillars of the courthouse as being "too heavy" to bear
their light burden. The original courthouse burned down and a new courthouse was built
around the pillars. This symbolizes that although the Civil War and emancipation
supposedly freed the slaves, it did not eradicate racism and prejudice from the South.
Those attitudes and values were still standing, as represented by the pillars. Such
entrenched values are not easily destroyed, and the pillars foreshadow Tom Robinson's
trial. Even with a wonderful lawyer like Atticus, Tom is still a victim of racial
prejudice and is convicted for a crime he did not commit.

In the camps, Wiesel must struggle to stay alive and to remain human. How well does he succeed with his struggles?

There are two parts to the question.  The first part is
how well Elizer fares in the struggle to stay alive.  The answer is that he does succeed
in this quest.  This is proven by the fact he is alive at the end of the narrative.  The
second part is naturally a bit more complex.  The notion of "remaining human" is
something whose definition changes over the course of the work.  It might be difficult
to suggest that he remains human by the end of the work because of the amount of changes
he undergoes throughout the course of the work.  For example, the typically human
experiences of collectivity through community, connection with family, and faith in
divinity are all repudiated throughout the course of the novel.  It is not as if Eliezer
chose to sever these bonds, but rather such choices were made for him, removing him from
specific aspects of his humanity.  In the end, when he stares at the mirror and is
unable to recognize the face staring back at him, it is because his humanity has been
robbed from him.  I am slightly bothered by saying that he "failed" at his struggle to
remain human because of this precise lack of autonomy.

“To A Mouse”What does Burns say about man’s dominance over animals? What does Burns reveal about carefully laid plans in stanza 7?

To me, Burns is saying that man's domination of the
animals is both unjustified and harmful.

You can see that
Burns thinks that this dominance is not justified from what he says in Stanza 2.  There,
he talks about himself as being a companion of the mouse -- they are both born of the
Earth and therefore he is not better than it is.

He also
acknowledges at length the fact that he has harmed the mouse with his plow.  Stanzas 2-6
all have this idea in them to a greater or lesser
extent.

Stanza 7 simply says that both mice and men have
their plans destroyed by forces bigger than them.

What is the result/significance of Germany's annexing Austria?

The German expansion into Austria helps to set the stage
for future designs of Hitler and the Nazi party.  The pattern that would be visited
repeatedly was first established in the overtaking of Austria.  On one hand, Hitler laid
out a type of "historical" case as to why expansion was warranted.  This perception of
history was distorted, but since no other versions were being offered (or those who were
offering it were being silenced by Hitler), there became a historical basis for the land
acquisition.  Some slight attempts at diplomacy was pursued, consisting of Hitler
meeting with representatives and essentially bullying his way to his own ends, and then
a military movement complete with social modes of control that emphasize the Nazi notion
of the good being absolute.  All of these were on display with the acquisition of
Austria.  If you believe MGM musicals, the Von Trapp family had much to say, or sing,
about this, as well.

In Othello, why does Iago want Roderigo to "put money in thy purse?"

Iago is an extremely clever villain. He wants to carry out
his plan to ruin Othello by using other people to do his dirty work for him, thus
avoiding the chance that someone might cast suspicion on him. He almost succeeds. He is
so good at what he does that people even call him "honest
Iago."

Roderigo is one of Iago's pawns.  Iago knows that he
can use Roderigo's desire for Desdemona to help him bring about Othello's demise,
promising Roderigo that once Othello is out of the way, Desdemona will surely want
him.

So, he tells Roderigo to save up his money (which is
what he means when he says 'put money in thy purse') and follow the army to Cyprus.  He
thinks it will be easier to be rid of Othello when they are away from Venice, and he can
use Roderigo as a scapegoat. Of course, this does not turn out well for the gullible
Roderigo. He spends all of his money and ends up dead anyway, stabbed by his good pal
Iago.

What Supreme Court case is referenced in chapter one of Alas, Babylon?

In the first chapter, the main character in the story,
Randy Bragg, talks about how he once ran for the State Legislature and lost badly.  At
that time, in the mid-1950s in which the book is set, he speaks about the famous Supreme
Court case in 1954, Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled that
schools could not be segregated on the basis of race, and blacks would be allowed to
attend formerly all white schools.

Because Bragg openly
supported that decision in his campaign, the public turned against him and his opponent
easily won the election.  Although the story is about the threat of nuclear war, the
mention of this case is important to set the tone for how life was in the 1950s, and for
the reader, how differently people felt back then as compared to
now.

What are the integer solutions of the equation 4x^2-13x+3=0 ?

To decide if the equation has  an integer solution, we'll
have to calculate them, first.

We'll apply quadratic
formula to calculate the solutions of the equation:

x1 =
[-b+sqrt(b^2 - 4ac)]/2a

x2 = [-b-sqrt(b^2 -
4ac)]/2a

a,b,c, are the coefficients of the
quadratic

a = 4, b = -13 , c =
3

x1 = [13+sqrt(169 -
48)]/8

x1 = (13+11)/8

x1 =
24/8

x1 = 3

x2 =
(13-11)/8

x2 = 2/8

x2 =
1/4

Since x2 is not an integer number, we'll
conclude that the only integer solution of the equation is x =
3.

How can evaluate?(1+i)^2008=?

(1+i)^2008.

To simplify,
first we will rewrite the exponent.

==> ( 1+ i)^2008
= (1+ i)^(2*1004)

Now we know from exponent properties that
x^ab= (x^a)^b

==> (1+i)^(2*1004) =[
(1+i)^2]^1004

Now we will expand the
brackets.

==> (1+i)^2]^1004 = (1 + 2i+ i^2)
^1004

But we know that i^1 =
-1

==> (1+2i+i^2)^1004 =
(2i)^1004

==> (2i)^(2*502) =[ (2i)^2]^502 =
(4i^2)^502

==> (4*-1)^502 = =
4^502

==> (1+i)^2008 =
2^(1004)

Please give examples of romanticism in All Quiet on the Western Front.In quotes or scenes from the book.

Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front
is a realistic account of one German soldier's experiences in World War I.
Most of the novel is painfully realistic, as it addresses the horrors of war. Men and
boys are terribly wounded and die horrific deaths. Some soldiers go crazy and
practically commit suicide in their crazed state. The use of gas and the realities of
the trenches are real and believable. Even the disillusionment of the narrator, Paul, is
painfully real. That being said, there is also an element of romanticism in this novel.
There are consistent examples of people who have idealized (romanticized) views of this
war. For example, when Paul goes home on leave, he is told by people there that they are
happy to suffer their deprivations since they know the soldiers are benefiting from
their sacrifice. They believe what they have been told and never even ask Paul if the
soldiers are well provisioned. The truth, of course, is that the soldiers are no better
off in terms of food than the civilians. The people also believe the war is being
gloriously fought and that they are winning; in reality, the soldiers know that is
either propaganda or a dream (probably both) and the war is most certainly lost. Another
example is the view of the schoolmasters who encouraged all these boys enlist for a
noble war but never acknowledge the certain ravages and consequences to follow. Fighting
for one's country is always a glorious and noble concept; however, the realities are
neither glorious nor noble. These romanticized views of war are jarring to Paul, and
he reflects upon them all through this novel.

how to write a quadratic if the product of the roots is -3?

We can write a quadratic equation with roots a and b
as:

(x - a)(x - b) =
0

=> x^2 - (a+b)x + ab =
0

as the product of the roots is
-3.

=> x^2 - ( a + b) - 3 =
0

Now a and b can have several values which satisfy the
condition that their product is -3, e.g. (-1 , 3) , ( 3/2 , -2) etc. We are not given
any further information about what the roots are.

Therefore
the quadratic equation is

x^2 - (a + b) - 3 =
0

After reading the second chapter of Lord of the Flies, what do we know about the beastie?What is Golding introducing?

During Chapter 2, entitled, Fire on the
Mountain, Ralph holds an assembly to assure the boys that the island is a
good place. A nameless six-year-old boy with a mulberry-colored birthmark on his face
steps forward and tells the group he saw a "snake-thing" or a "beastie" hanging in the
trees during the night.

This point in the novel is really
the source of all the boys' problems on the island. Not only is Golding introducing the
idea of a beastie, but symbolically this is the introduction of fear, as the beastie
represents fear of the unknown.

Later, the fire at the end
of the chapter engulfs the foliage in flames that look much like the snake-thing the boy
with the birthmark spoke about. This moment brings the fear to fruition--it now seems
possible that a "beastie" does exist. The growing fear of a beast develops throughout
the remainder of the novel until it both consumes and controls the
boys.

What was the driving force that compelled Amir to transform into the personality that was hidden within?How can I explain that the "cycle of...

Most of the impetus behind Amir's later actions,
particularly his return to Afghanistan to try to "make things right," are driven by the
guilt which has riven him ever since the day that Hassan was raped after chasing down
the kite for Amir.  He stood by and watched while his most loyal friend was brutally
molested, and that inaction has haunted him throughout the rest of his life, no matter
how far or how long he got away from the incident and the place where it
happened.

Particularly once he finds out that Hassan was,
in fact, his half-brother, Amir is desperate to find out whether he might be able to
somehow rectify the wrong he committed or felt he did at the
time.

In terms of a redemption cycle, it may be his
rescuing of Hassan's son from a possible future of constant abuse that he feels he has
finally atoned for his inaction after he is able to bring Sohrab back to the US with
him.

What attracted settlers to the Great Plains region in the late 19th century?

There were two main things that attracted settlers to the
Great Plains in the late 19th century.

The first of these
things was the lure of large amounts of relatively cheap land that could be cultivated. 
The government helped with this by enacting the Homestead Act of 1862, which gave
settlers free land.  The land was more able to be cultivated than it had once been
because of the invention of new technology such as better
plows.

A second factor that attracted settlers was the
presence of railroads.  The railroads offered a way to get to the plains and get crops
back to population centers.  The railroad companies helped this process along by doing a
lot of advertising to lure people to the Great Plains (because the railroads owned much
of the best land and because a rising population meant more business for
them).

So, the Great Plains became more reachable, more
affordable, and easier to cultivate in the late 1800s.  This is much of why people moved
there.

It is also important to mention that government
efforts to remove Indians from this area made settlers much more likely to move to the
area.

What are Wordsworth's feelings about nature?In these poems: "The World Is Too Much With Us," "Westminster Bridge," and "Tintern Abbey."

Nature in the Wordsworth poems you ask about is something
to be thoroughly experienced, studied, and
contemplated. 

For Wordsworth, nature is an essential, not
an extra or hobby.  Humans should attempt to be one with nature and cannot fully
experience life without it. 

For instance, in "The World Is
Too Much With Us," Wordsworth presents the idea that people spend too much time dealing
with business and commerce.  He argues that he would rather suffer with an outdated
philosophy and be aware of nature, than to follow a contemporary, up-to-date philosophy,
and not be aware of nature.  Nature, then, is more important to a human than philosophy
or religion, according to Wordsworth.

In "Tintern Abbey,"
Wordsworth demonstrates how he experiences nature, contemplates it over a long period of
time, and learns from it in the process.  The poem actually highlights his writing
process.  He experiences the area around Tintern Abbey five years previous to the poem,
contemplates it during those five years, returns to the area, and writes about both
visits.  This demonstrates Wordsworth's famous idea that poetry is written during
periods of reflection and contemplation, after nature is
experienced. 

Nature is an essential to Wordsworth in these
poems.

What are Ender's conflicts in Ender's Game?

I think it is pretty clear from the very beginning of the
story that Ender, through the course of this excellent scientific fiction novel,
experiences any number of conflicts that seriously threaten him. First of all, a great
place to start is considering how the series of external conflicts that he faces are all
stage-managed to a certain extent, or observed. Note what the observers who watch him
say at the beginning of the second chapter, after Ender has just beaten up the gang
leader effectively:

readability="10">

"I went back through some of the tapes. I can't
help it. i like the kid. I think we're going to screw him
up."

"Of course we are. It's our job. We're the wicked
witch. We promise gingerbread, but we eat the little bastards
alive."

We cannot escape the
disturbing conclusion that Ender is being formed by the violence that these observers
either deliberately unleash upon him or sit passively by and watch him suffer. It is
only through these experiences that Ender can gain the necessary skills and qualities
necessary to save mankind, it is suggested.

Of course,
Ender arguably experiences internal conflict as well, coming from the immense pressure
he faces when he begins his "education" and starts playing the "Game." Ender's whole
life is one massive exercise in conflict, which results in an individual who has been,
in the words of the observers, "screwed up" or "eaten alive."

A square sheet of metal of side a has squares cut on all its corners and the sides bent to form an open box. What is the maximum volume of the box?

The sheet of metal we have has sides equal to a. Let the
sides of the squares that are cut from all the corners be
x.

Now we have a length equal to a – 2x, to fold on all the
sides and create the box.

The volume of the box is (a –
2x)^2*x = (a^2 + 4x^2 – 4ax)*x

V = a^2x + 4x^3 –
4ax^2

To maximize V, we find its
derivative.

V’ = a^2 + 12x^2 –
8ax

This is equated to
0

=> 12x^2 – 8ax + a^2=
0

=> 12x^2 – 6ax -2ax + a^2 =
0

=> 6x (2x – a) – a (2x – a) =
0

=> (6x – a) (2x – a) =
0

=> x = a/6 and x =
a/2

Now, we have two values of x and we have to determine
which value provides the maximum volume.

V’’ = 24x –
8a,

at x = a/2, V’’ = 12a – 8a =
4a.

As the second derivative is positive at x = a/2, we
have a minimum value here.

The volume of the box is maximum
at x = a/6 and the volume is equal to a^2*a/6 + 4(a/6)^3 –
4a*(a/6)^2

=> a^3 / 6 + a^3(4/6^3) –
(4/36)*a^3

=>
2a/27

The maximum volume of the box is
2a/27.

Can the audience believe Shylock when he says he would offer the hand of friendship to Antonio, in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice?

In Shakespeare's play, The Merchant of
Venice, the audience should not believe Shylock's
expression of friendship in his shaking of Antonio's
hand.

There is no question that there is "bad blood"
between Antonio and Shylock. And Antonio would not be with Shylock to borrow money if he
had his own money to give to Bassiano.

Shylock's "aside" in
Act One, scene three, makes this crystal
clear.

SHYLOCK:
(Aside)

How like a fawning publican he looks! I hate him for
he is a Christian: But more, for that, in low simplicity, He lends out money gratis, and
brings down The rate of usance here with us in Venice.(40) If I can catch him once upon
the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. He hates our sacred nation; and
he rails, Even there where merchants most do congregate, On me, my bargains, and my
well-won thrift,(45) Which he calls interest. Cursed be my tribe If I forgive
him!

As Shylock speaks so only the
audience can hear him ("aside"), the audience learns how Shylock really feels about
Antonio.

First Shylock says he hates Antonio because he is
a Christian. The other reason the money lender hates him is because Antonio lends money
to those in need without charging interest ("gratis"). This infuriates Shylock because
when Antonio makes a loan without charging interest, the interest rates in town go down,
and in essence, Shylock makes less money. He is a greedy man, and in his opinion,
Antonio takes the food out of his mouth in doing
so.

Shylock also admits that if he could beat Antonio just
one time, he would be able to exact his revenge for the "harm" he feels Antonio has
visited upon him. He accuses Antonio for hating Shylock because he is a Jew, and says
that Antonio criticizes Shylock in public for charging interest—the way Shylock makes
his money. Shylock closes his aside by saying that his tribe would be cursed before
Shylock would forgive him.

With all of this in mind, the
audience would do best to ignore Shylock's empty gesture of friendship: the man does not
know the meaning of the word.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, how does Harper Lee's use of language affect and influence the reader? 

Harper Lee's use of language in the novel is varied in
style and masterful in achieving her various literary purposes. Descriptive passages are
rich in imagery and sensory language; narrative passages are direct in relating events.
Moreover, dialog is frequently written in vernacular style to reflect the characters'
identities--listening to Atticus speak is far different from listening to Bob Ewell's
voice, not only in content but in diction. The language Atticus uses reflects his
intelligence and education; Bob Ewell's language reveals his ignorance. Also, the voice
of Alabama is heard in many Southern expressions and colloquialisms.  In using language
so skillfully, Harper Lee tells a gripping story, creates individual characters, and
captures life in Maycomb. The language of the novel serves to develop many of the local
color elements in it.

Through the primary voice in the
novel, Scout's, Harper Lee creates the dramatic irony that drives the novel. Through
Scout's eyes, and in her own language, events unfold for readers to understand and
interpret from their adult perspectives. Frequently, this creates humor in the novel;
often it creates drama. Harper Lee's ideas of social equality and justice are expressed
through Atticus's integrity and through his children's growing awareness and ultimate
understanding of decency and moral behavior. From her perspective, the South at this
time was a place of racism and cruel injustice, weighed down by generations of tradition
and social class. However, she also shows it to be a place where courage and individual
conscience live and where change will occur as parents like Atticus teach their values
to their children.

What are the concepts of "langue" and "parole"?

The concepts were elaborated by the Swiss linguist
Ferdinand de Saussure during his courses on general linguistics at the University of
Geneva from 1907 to 1911. Saussure died in 1912, but the notes of his course were
published posthumously in 1916 as Cours de Linguistique Générale.
The concepts of "langue" and "parole" are part of his effort to shift the
study of linguistics from a predominantly diachronic to a synchronic paradigm. The
diachronic approach had focused mainly on historical changes in languages, while
Saussure tried to understand how a linguistic system works. The "langue" is the social
dimension of language and is formed by the general linguistic conventions
(grammar rules, syntax) that we all share in a given language. The "parole" represents
the single utterances that individuals create.

What is the young vs the old theme in this play?Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

One of the three main ways that critics have interpreted
the circumstances and occurrences of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
is through the motif of impetuous youth against the wisdom and maturity of
age.  In Act I, for instance the nobleman Pris asks for the hand of Juliet, but her
father, Lord Capulet suggests that his daughter is too
young:

My
child is yet a stranger in the world,

She hath not seen the
change of fourteen years;

Let two more summers wither in
their pride

Ere we may think her rip to be a
bride....

And too soon marr'd are those so early made
(1.2.8-14)

And, in the famous
balcony scene of Act II, Juliet herself projects that youthful passion will determine
the outcome of her romance with Romeo when she cautions him against swearing by the
"inconstant moon," and by saying that their lives may be extinguished after shining
brightly like a bolt of lightning:

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It [this love] is too rash, too unadvis'd, too
sudden;

Too like the lightning, which doeth cease to
be

...This bud of love by summer's ripening
breath,

May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet
(2.2.124-128) 

Then, when
Romeo comes to Friar Laurence after his meeting with Juliet, the priest also cautions
against acts of haste and reckless passion:

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These violent delight have violent
ends

And in their triumph
die....

Therefore love moderately; long love doth
so;

Too swift arrives as tardy as too
slow. (2.6.9-15)

Unfortunately,
the youth do not heed the words of the older parents and priest.  In fact, they do not
heed their own words, and, in what seems tragic design, Juliet turns to Friar Laurence
in her desperate state of mind as she considers suicide.  In his attempt to reduce life
threatening  conditions for Juliet, the Friar devises a play that will give Juliet time
in her "violent delights."  However, as well-meaning as the friar's actions  are, they
become defeated by Romeo's passionate desire to reach her and his ignoring of the
friar's instructions.  The reckless passion of two fine young people precipitates the
tragic ending to their tale.   

Describe specific acts of Colonial resistance.

There were many acts that constituted as precursors that
helped to set the stage for the American Revolution.  When John Adams argues that "The
American Revolution started before the first shot was fired," he is speaking to the idea
that there were actions that set the stage for Revolution before it was actually waged. 
One of these actions was the Boston Massacre.  Outraged at the violation of Colonial
rights in instances such as the passage of the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, the Sugar
Act, as well as the writs of assistance that allowed British authorities to search
Colonial homes and belongings at will without any probable cause or documentation, a
group of workers and sailors assembled in front of a major street in Boston.  The group
started to increase in size and fervor, beginning to throw rocks and snowballs at the
British guards there.  The guards, seized by the intensity of the moment and the large
numbers, shot into the crowd.  The Colonists were able to play up the disproportionate
response of shooting bullets into a crowd of unarmed people who were throwing snowballs
and rocks in demonstrating the complete disregard for the Colonists' rights.  The Boston
Massacre went very far in proving to the Colonists that the relationship between the
British was beyond repair, in need of a drastic
solution.

Another act was the Boston Tea Party.  This
action was directly intended to strike at the British government, making a statement
that the taxes being imposed were not going to be tolerated.  The Colonists were angered
by the British tax on tea that was intended to help the East India Tea Company.  The
Sons of Liberty, a group that started to emerge as one of the most vocal advocates for
the cause of Colonial freedom, dressed up as Native Americans, boarded British vessels
that were docked in Boston Harbor and dumped over 300 crates of tea into the harbor, 
and then burning the boats well into the night.  The action was one of the first active
steps taken that also represented violent tendencies.  It also demonstrated that a line
might have been crossed in terms of being able to bridge the chasm between the Colonists
and British through peaceable means.  The response to the Tea Party in the form of the
Intolerable Acts greatly antagonized the Colonists, ensuring that there was little hope
for reconciliation.

What is n >= 2 if C(n,2) = C(n,1) + 2 ?

We'll recall the formula for
combinations:

C(n,2) =
 n!/2!*(n-2)!

But
n!=1*2*3*........*(n-3)*(n-2)*(n-1)*n

(n-2)!=
1*2*3*........*(n-3)*(n-2)

We notice that we can write
n!=(n-2)!* (n-1)*n

C(n,2) =
n!/2!*(n-2)!=(n-2)!*(n-1)*n/2!*(n-2)!

We'll simplify and
we'll get:

C(n,2) =
(n-1)*n/1*2 

C(n,1)= n!/1!*(n-1)!=
(n-1)!*n/(n-1)!

We'll simplify and we'll
get:

C(n,1) = n

We'll re-write
the given equation in the equivalent form:

 (n-1)*n/2 =
n+2

We'll multiply by 2 both
sides:

(n-1)*n=2*(n+2)

We'll remove
the brackets:

n^2 - n = 2n +
4

We'll move all terms to the left
side:

n^2 - n - 2n - 4 = 0

n^2
- 3n + 4 = 0 

We'll apply quadratic
formula:

n1=[-(-3)+sqrt(9+16)]/2

n1=(3+5)/2

n1=4

n2=[-(-3)-sqrt(9+16)]/2

n2=(3-5)/2

n2=-1

Since
the second value for n does not belong to the interval of admissible values,
n>=2, we'll reject it.

The valid value
for n is: n = 4.

What quotation from Ethan Frome best summarizes the character Ethan Frome?

The story Ethan Frome is rich in
allegories which point out the disordered and chaotic life of all of the main
characters, especially Ethan. Yet, to find the best quote (and there is more than one)
one has to analyze Ethan's personality in order to decide what would be the best
fit.

Ethan is a man whose life has seen nothing but
obstacles. He was born in a poor household that became more poor with the passing of
time. His father became mentally unstable and died. Ethan's mother also became mentally
ill until her death.

Regardless of the meager conditions in
which he was raised, Ethan demonstrated an interest in becoming educated. However, he
missed his chance at getting an education. Perhaps all his intellectuality hardened up
with the constant rough patches that he had to endure.

His
wife Zeena was the primary care taker of Ethan's parents when they became ill. Ethan's
proposal of marriage was made more out of gratitude than out of love. We know that
Ethan was not happy with Zeena, that he had fallen in love with Mattie, and that they
are under consistent pressure from Zeena's presence. In an act of desperation they made
a suicide pact that failed, leaving both Mattie and
Ethan crippled.

Hence, Ethan completed a sad full-circle
with life: He was born and raised under a chaotic household, was married and lived in a
depressing marriage, and will now end his days in chaos since Zeena chose to take Mattie
in to be her caretaker.

As far as a quote to describe all
this, we can probably find it in the introduction of the novel, when Harmon tells the
main character and narrator about the life of Ethan Frome. His quotes summarize Ethan's
life:

When a
man's been setting round like a hulk for twenty years or more, seeing things that want
doing, it eats inter him, and he loses his grit.

Sickness
and trouble: that's what Ethan's had his plate full up with, ever since the very first
helping.

In Great Expectations, what are the unusual experiences that Pip had on Miss Havisham's birthday?

It is Chapter Eleven of this memorable novel wherein Pip
is summoned to visit Miss Havisham on her birthday. The whole chapter is very strange,
especially the setting and the action that occurs. As Pip goes to Miss Havisham, she
leads him into another terribly decayed room:

readability="14">

The most prominent object was a long table with
a tablecloth spread on it, as if a feast had been in preparation when the house
and the clocks all stopped together. An epergne or centre-piece of some kind was in the
middle of this cloth; it was so heavily overhung with cobwebs that its form was quite
indistinguishable; and, as I looked along the yellow expanse out of which I remember its
seeming to grow, like a black fungus, I saw speckled-legged spiders with blotchy bodies
running home to it, and running out from it, as if some circumstances of the greatest
public importance had just transpired in the spider
community.

It transpires that
this is Miss Havisham's wedding cake that has been allowed to rot and decay. As Pip
walks with Miss Havisham, her relatives try to make conversation with her and are cut
off. Miss Havisham says that they will all see her laid out on this table at her death,
and it is clear that most of the guests are there because they hope to gain something
when she dies.

As Pip leaves, he meets a strange pale young
boy with whom he fights. The fight is described in hilarious terms, with the stranger
pretending he knows all about fighting but in fact shows himself to be
incompetent.

Analyze the book's final chapter and its theme(s).Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper
Lee, the sympathy motif is introduced in Chapter 1 when Atticus instructs
Scout

'You
never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of
view-....until you climb into his skin and walk around in
it.'

Now, in the final
chapter this motif comes to fruition as Scout, as she stands on the porch of Boo Radley
and surveys the neighborhood from his point of view, arrives at an understanding of the
reclusive "mockingbird" that is Boo Radley as a man like any other
man:

Atticus
was right.  One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes
and walk around in them.  Just standing on the Radley porch was enough....I had never
seen our neighborhood from this
angle.

She also understands
how much Boo has done for her and Jem and Dill, while at the same time they have not
reciprocated:

readability="7">

We never put back into the tree what we took out
of it:  we had given him nothing, and it made me
sad.

This remark touches upon
the mockingbird motif which acts as a device by which the two plot elements are
unified.  For, the first part of the novel and the Boo Radley mystery, parallels the
second part which is concerned with the Tom Robinson trial. Harmless members of society,
both of these characters can be viewed as a mockingbird; for, while both are innocent
people, they both are persecuted by society.

And, as Scout
recalls that she feels very old, and there "wasn't much else for us to learn," the novel
ends with the maturation of Scout, thus defining To Kill a
Mockingbird as a bildungsroman, or novel of maturation. 
For, Scout and Jem have come to understand why their father has taught them what he has,
as well as why their father has chosen certain courses of
action.

Another motif present in Chapter 31 that is tied to
the first part of the novel is the recurring idea of education.  In Chapters 1 and 2 the
reader understands that the education that Atticus gives his children surpasses that of
the rigid classroom.  They learn much from Atticus--humility, fortitude, honesty,
fairness; they learn that simple observation of human nature brings great
knowledge. 

With Scout and Jem's new knowledge comes the
end of their superstitions and fears.  As Scout and Jem have learned more about their
world their fear of "haints" has disappeared as well as their fear of Boo Radley.  (The
bildingsroman theme is also
here.)

Clearly, the final chapter ties together the two
parts of the novel as well as underscoring certain motifs and
themes.

Discuss major themes in the poetry of Emily Dickinson.

Emily Dickinson's work is certainly famous for a number of
different reasons. Key themes that abound in her work and have been amply documented are
death, love and marriage and the way that her poems try to define experiences and
objects that otherwise escape definition. However, I am going to respond to your
question by talking about the theme of Nature. I have previously responded to other
questions about the theme of death in Dickinson's work, and if you search in this group
you will probably find a number of different responses, including
mine.

A number of the poems of Emily Dickinson centre on
the relationship between the natural world and the human. What is interesting about
Dickinson's presentation of nature, however, is the way that she presents it as a
projection of an internal drama or as an antagonist that has real body and shape. Whilst
Dickinson did have a real respect for and love of nature, which is made clear in such
poems as "How the Mountains drip with Sunset," it is hard to ignore that more often
nature is presented as being indifferent or threatening. Consider how the indifference
of nature is presented in "Apparently with no surprise" and how nature is viewed as
incredibly threatening and disturbing in "A narrow Fellow in the Grass." Also note how,
contrary to Romantic poets, nature, for Dickinson, does not heal or bring comfort to the
soul. In "I dreaded that first Robin, so," nature does not alleviate the internal pain
of the speaker. It only makes it more acute by its indifference to her
suffering.

Therefore, when considering the theme of nature
in Dickinson's work, it is important to look beyond the Romantic sensibilities of
authors such as Wordsworth and see how nature assumes an altogether more sinister and
indifferent shape.

What are some ideas about the relationship between Hamlet and Claudius and between Hamlet and Laertes in Hamlet?I'm having...

You might consider writing an essay in which you compare
Hamlet's relationships with Claudius and with Laertes. There are some definite
similarities. For instance, Hamlet's relationships both of them were troubled from the
beginning of the drama and then deteriorated further, ending in death for all
three.

In the beginning of the play, Hamlet and Laertes are
known to each other, but they are not friends. Laertes has no respect for Hamlet; he
warns Ophelia about Hamlet, believing that Hamlet is dishonest and predatory in his
feelings for Ophelia. His distrust and distaste for Hamlet become outright hatred after
Polonius is killed. Hamlet's feelings about Laertes become very hostile, also, after the
death of Ophelia. Eventually, of course, Laertes is drawn into Claudius' plot to kill
Hamlet.

Hamlet's relationship with Claudius is certainly
troubled from the beginning as Hamlet and Claudius regard each other with such deep
suspicion. Hamlet detests Claudius for marrying Gertrude, and suspects that Claudius had
killed Old Hamlet for the throne. Claudius initially attempts to befriend Hamlet, but
only because he fears him. As events develop in the play, they become deadly enemies,
each secretly plotting against the other.

Hamlet's
relationships with Claudius and with Laertes are similar in those respects. From the
beginning, both relationships are characterized by deceit. Mutual suspicions then evolve
into hatred and lead to destruction.

Paraphrase: "What a shadow she threw on the wall with her slender body" "...the electrical murmur of a hidden wasp snug in its special pink warm...

The first quotation, "What a shadow she threw on the wall
with her slender body," is found in Chapter One of Ray Bradbury's
novel, Fahrenheit 451. To find meaning in this quotation, it is
important to refer to the entire sentence:

readability="6">

How immense a figure she was on the stage before
him; what a shadow she threw on the wall with her slender
body.

In context, Montag is
referring to the the impact his first meeting with Clarisse, his new neighbor, has had
on him. And although he tries to shake himself out of the sense that she is really an
unusual and impactful person, he cannot lose the feeling that there is something
strongly unique about her. He imagines her standing on a stage. When he refers to her as
an immense figure, he is speaking metaphorically about the personal power she has, and
then comparing that, literally, to the puzzlingly small shadow she
"displays." How could someone so impressive, cast such a small, perhaps ordinary
shadow?

If I were to paraphrase, I might
write:

[For
someone with such an impressive sense of self,] physically she appeared small and
deceivingly fragile.

Your
second quotation is also found in Chapter One. Montag has just come home, having met
Clarisse. She is unusual in that she (and it would seem her family, as well) notices
things that most folks do not. Instead of allowing the world to pass in a blur, Clarisse
notices details.

readability="9">

If you showed a driver a green blur, Oh, yes!
he'd say, that's grass. A pink blur! That's a rose
garden!...

Clarisse's
"details" are not unusual to the reader, but must be to
Montag:

readability="5">

There's dew on the grass in the morning...And if
you look...there's a man in the
moon.

This kind of talk makes
Montag nervous. They say good night and part ways, each going into his or her own
house. Perhaps because Clarisse has brought to mind noticing the
details of the world around one, Montag goes inside and stops to listen. He
hears "...the electrical murmur of a hidden wasp snug in its special pink warm nest..."
This probably refers to the noises made by the sleeping devices his wife is using—the
electrical sound comes from their bedroom. Mildred, Montag's wife, listens to music each
night in her Seashell ear thimbles, but does not close her eyes in sleep, as they are
wired open.

To paraphrase, we need a subject, for the
comparison of this metaphor. What Montag has heard is a
hum...

...that
is like an insect buzzing away in its nest, unaware of what is happening in the world
outside his safe haven.

The
metaphor gives the reader a sense of misgiving in that Bradbury chooses a wasp as the
insect in its nest; this particular "bug" is capable of causing great pain when
disturbed. This may be a description of Mildred. Or perhaps
Bradbury is suggesting in this comparison, that Mildred's daily routine, completely
condoned by society, is no threat to others as long as no one questions its presence or
validity, and this may serve as foreshadowing for Montag's behavior later in the
novel.

Why does Montresor seek revenge on Fortunato, and why does he say, "A wrong is undressed when retribution overtakes its redresser"?

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," the
narrator, like so many of Poe's narrators, is unreliable in that he does not provide any
reason for his revenge other than the vague
statement,

The
thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon
insult,I vowed revenge.

Then,
ironically, the narrator assumes that readers know
him: 

You who
so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to
a threat.

Obviously, then,
there is a great deal of ambiguity about Montresor's "revenge" that he feels (1) he must
seek and perform with impunity as well as (2) receive acknowlegement of this revenge on
the part of the victim.  Both of these goals of revenge are attained:  Montresor walls
in Fortunato in the tomb/catacombs, and Fortunato is well aware of what Montresor has
done as he calls to him, asking to be allowed to return to the carnival, and finally
crying "For the love of God, Montresor!"

Discuss the relationship between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in Don Quixote.

The story's depicted relationship between both of them is
one of leader and follower.  Quixote as the leader has his trusty Sancho to help him in
his endeavors.  Sancho is shown to be round and wise, while Quixote is gaunt and
idealistic. They both complement one another.  Thinkers like Carlos Fuentes in his work,
The Buried Mirror, have gone a bit further in asserting the
relationship between both.  Fuentes believes that the relationship between both
characters helps to develop the composite view of what it means to be human.  Quixote
believes in his ideals, while Sancho is looking for a place to sleep and good food. 
Quixote sees the monster, while Sancho recognizes the windmill.  Quixote seeks to uphold
the honor of a maiden who might not exist, while Sancho simply wants a good payoff at
the end.  The relationship between both characters represents the dynamic of what it
means to be human, to live for the promise of ideals while being chained to the reality
of one's predicament.

What is the imagery of sight and sound in "To Build a Fire" by Jack London?

From the very beginning of the story, imagery is used
(like many of London's stories) to convey the feeling of the place and at times to also
foreshadow events to come.  In the first paragraph, London
writes:

There
was no sun nor hint of sun, though there was not a cloud in the sky. It was a clear day,
and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things, a subtle gloom that
made the day dark, and that was due to the absence of
sun.

The fact that this
absence of sun does not concern our intrepid traveler is a clue as to what will happen
to him down the trail.  It also helps to build the idea that this "intangible pall" will
likely bring about some future tragedy that no one can quite put a finger on yet, but
will become clear.

London uses images like this throughout
the story.

What is the antiderivative (cos2x-cos^2x)^-1 ?

To determine the antiderivative, we'll have to
evaluate the result of the indefinite integral.

We'll have
to re-write the denominator. We'll apply the formula of the cosine of a double
angle.

cos 2x = cos(x+x) = cosx*cosx -
sinx*sinx

cos 2x = (cosx)^2 -
(sinx)^2

We'll re-write the denominator, using the rule of
negative power:

 (cos2x-cos^2x)^-1 =
1/ (cos2x-cos^2x)

We notice that the terms of the
denominator are cos 2x, also the term (cosx)^2. So, we'll re-write cos 2x, with respect
to the function cosine only.

We'll substitute (sin x)^2 by
the difference 1-(cos x)^2:

cos 2x = (cosx)^2  - 1 +
(cosx)^2

cos 2x = 2(cos x)^2 -
1

The denominator will
become:

cos2x - (cos x)^2 =  2(cos x)^2 - 1 - (cos
x)^2

cos2x - (cos x)^2 = (cos x)^2 -
1

But, (cos x)^2 - 1 = - (sin x)^2 (from the fundamental
formula of trigonometry)

cos2x - (cos x)^2 = - (sin
x)^2

The indefinite integral of f(x) will
become:

Int f(x)dx = Int dx/- (sin x)^2 = cot
x + C

What concerns does Friar Laurence have about Romeo and Juliet's relationship in Romeo and Juliet?

To me, Friar Lawrence's concerns about the relationship
between these two is that they are totally rushing into it.  I think you can sum up his
concern in the following line.  It comes from Act II, Scene 3.  He says to
Romeo:

Wisely
and slow; they stumble that run
fast.

Friar Lawrence is
concerned because up until this point, Romeo had been so hopelessly in love with
Rosaline.  The friar could not believe that Romeo could really fall in love with someone
else so quickly.  He counseled patience.  Too bad they didn't listen to him... maybe
they would not have died if they had taken it a bit slower.

What is Mr. Chiu's initial reaction to his arrest in Ha Jin's short story, "Saboteur?"

In Ha Jin's short story, "Saboteur," Chiu and his wife are
drinking tea at a restaurant in Muji, China, where they are spending the last day of
their honeymoon. All of a sudden, a police officer seated nearby, for no apparent
reason, flings his tea onto Chiu and his wife.

Chiu can
find no reason for the man's behavior and he lodges a complaint with him. Chiu is
expecting that the officer will apologize, but he does not do so. In fact, he begins to
arrest Chiu for disturbing the peace. When an angry Chiu resists, the policeman becomes
physically aggressive, "manhandling" the university
professor.

Once Chiu is taken to the jail, he is thrown in
a cell, and he fears for his safety as his hepatitis, which he had been recovering from,
reoccurs...causing Chiu to relapse and become very ill in the cell. He resigns himself
to his situation, doing the best he can to control the extent of the advancement of his
illness. The next thing he knows, the police show him a large file they have compiled,
with witnesses supporting the policeman's charges, and an additional charge of sabotage.
They demand that he sign a confession.

Knowing he has done
nothing to warrant the police officer's behavior, Chiu becomes outraged when the officer
"assaults" him and his wife at the restaurant.

What are some examples of metaphors and symbolism in "The Brain is Wider Than The Sky"?

This excellent poem from Dickinson compares the brain to a
number of different objects and argues that the brain always comes out of the comparison
more favourably. The series of metaphors that begins each comparison each compares the
brain to, respectively, the sky, the sea and the "weight of God." However, the brain is
shown, with typical Dickinson logic, to be "wider than the sky" because of the way that
the brain can include the sky in its imaginings. Likewise, the brain is "deeper than the
sea," because it can in its imaginings absorb the sea into its being. Lastly, the brain
is exactly the "weight of God," because the brain is divine in its ability to dream,
imagine, and comprehend. This poem therefore uses metaphors to celebrate the brain and
its abilities to comprehend, dream up and imagine.

Why is Esperanza afraid of Sire? What do her parents think of him? Why is she so curious about what he does with Lois?The House on Mango Street

I don't know that Esperanza is so much afraid of Sire
(though he does have a bad boy reputation) as she is afraid of her feelings for him.
He's her first real crush and feeling those feelings for the first time as a young girl
can be overwhelming. Her parents think he's a punk, which probably adds to his allure to
her. She's curious about what he does with Lois because she wonders what it would be
like to be Lois, to have someone tie your shoes for you and to ride on someone's bike.
But she's probably also curious as to what her parents mean when they say she's the type
of girl who goes into back alleys.

In chapter Eight how is Ma's character developed before and after she sees Tom? The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Chapter 8 of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath
reunites Tom with his family and the reader is given a perspective on the
dynamics of the Joad family.  Clearly, Ma is the emotional anchor for the
others: 

Her
full face was not soft; it was controlled, kindly.  Her hazel eyes seemed to hae
experienced all possible tragedy and to have mounted pain and suffering like steps into
a high calm and a superhuman
understanding.

The others
look to Ma as a gauge of their own emotions; if she does not display hurt, they are not
hurt.  When a happy occasion comes, she controls the joy by building her laughter for
them to nourish their own.  Her generosity is suggested when Old Tom tells her there are
men outside who are hungry and she eagerly invites "them" in.  Of course, her husband
has tricked her so she will not know Tom has returned.  At the sight of him, she is
taken aback, then grateful, uttering, "Thank God," but suddenly she worries that he has
escaped from prison, "Tommy, you ain't wanted?  You didn't bust
loose?" 

As Tom, like the others derives his emotion from
hers, Ma controls her tears of happiness as "her joy was nearly like sorrow."  When she
sees that Tom has bitten his lips to control himself from crying, she gains control. 
Anxious yet about her son, she asks if he has become "mad"; she worries that prison has
made him into a true criminal.  Tom denies that he has stayed away from things that
would have made him hate and be "mad."   Ma again thanks God, and she cautions him not
to try to fight alone against the men who are tearing down the
houses.

What can you conclude from the fact that African delegates were not included in the Berlin Conference of 1884?

The main thing that you can conclude from this fact is
that the European powers did not think that the Africans were worthy of having a voice
in their own future.  This is completely consistent with the Europeans' policy of
carving up Africa into colonies.

At this conference, the
European powers were deciding the fate of Africa.  They were, essentially, deciding
which European country would get which part of Africa and what the rules of the
"Scramble for Africa" would be.  This means that they were deciding the fate of many
African people.  The fact that they did not include African delegates shows that they
did not believe that the Africans deserved to have a say in their
future.

The Scramble for Africa was based largely on the
idea that the Africans were inferior and that they could and should simply be used for
the benefit of Europeans.  The exclusion of African delegates is another way of showing
that attitude.