Summary and main points of Chapter 9?

In the book In the Time of Butterflies
Chapter 9 is Dede's explanation of her own desire to try and be a part of her
sister's commitment but then again he commitment to her own family.  She had been having
marital problems between her husband and herself.  She had chosen to see the town priest
and she realized that he was part of the underground
movement.

When Dede returned home her husband had taken off
with the boys and gone to his mothers.  She was in a panic.  Part of her had wanted to
be part of what her sisters were doing but she could not risk losing her boys.  Her
sisters and brothers in law wen with her to talk to Jaimito at the mother-in-law's
home.  Dede ended up getting back with her husband and they went on a trip to where they
had gone on their honeymoon.  However, something inside her had
changed.

What did the Mariner do to the albatross in 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'?

The Ancient Mariner tells the wedding guest in the final
stanza of the first part of the poem of his thoughtless act which has such cataclysmic
and bizarre consequences for him and the rest of the
crew-

God save
thee, ancient Mariner!
From the fiends, that plague thee thus!—

Why look'st thou so?”—With my cross-bow
I shot the
Albatross!

The mariner then
tells that he is punished by the rest of the crew for his mean and portentious act.

And I had
done an hellish thing,
And it would work 'em woe:
For all averred,
I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to
blow

In a bid to assuage the
evil spirit which the crew believe is now plaguing the boat, the mariner is made to bear
the burden of the killing of the albatross alone -

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Ah! well a-day! what evil looks
Had I
from old and young!
Instead of the Cross, the Albatross
About my
neck was hung.

How is the character Emilia related to the theme "loyalty vs. betrayal" in the play Othello?(quotes related to this theme)

To add to the previous editor's comments, Emilia's
loyalties shift from her husband Iago to her mistress
Desdemona.

We see Emilia stealing the handkerchief for Iago
in Act 3.  It's an harmless act, she thinks, and she has no idea what her husband
intends to do with it.  She also has no idea that her husband is a villain.  She is too
quick to think his failings are the general failings of all men, not just her husband:
 "Methinks it is the husband's fault if wives do fall,"  she tells Desdemona.  So, when
Desdemona frantically searches for her handkerchief, Emilia stands by
silently.

However in Act 5, when Emilia discovers her dying
mistress, she threatens to expose her murderer to the world.  "I care not for thy
sword," she tells Othello who has threatened her when she is about to make his act
public. This is a powerful act of courage.  She defies Othello--her superior, a man, an
armed man.   When Iago tells Emilia to be quiet, Emilia tells those around that "Tis
proper I obey him, but not now."  She tells the truth about the handkerchief and says to
Iago, "Perchance I'll never go home again."

The one person
Iago misjudged was his wife.  He assumed that she would be his loyal, faithful, and
submissive wife.  In the end, Emilia valued her friendship with Desdemona and the truth
more than her vows to her husband.

" . .. speaking as I
think, I die, I die," Emilia's last words are to placed by her mistress's side.  She has
given her life to exonerate Desdemona.

At the funeral speech, how did Marc Antony explain that Caesar was not "ambitious"?

In Act 3.2 of Shakespeare's Julius
Caesar, Antony juxtaposes (places in opposition) an unambitious act performed
by Caesar, with a refrain about Brutus's (or the other conspirators') belief that Caesar
was ambitious and about Brutus (or the other conspirators) being honorable men.  I'll
put it in bullets:

• Caesar did an unambitious
  act


• But Brutus says he was
  ambitious


• And Brutus is an honorable
  man

Here's an example from Antony's speech,
with the quotes in bullets:

• I thrice presented
  him a kingly crown,/Which he did thrice refuse.  Was this
  ambition?


• Yet Brutus says he was
  ambitious,


• And sure he is an honorable man.  (Act
  3.2.105-108)

Antony uses irony to persuade the
crowd that Caesar was not ambitious and was therefore assassinated unjustly, because he
earlier promises Brutus that he will not directly say anything negative about the
conspirators.  He, therefore, says only positive things about the conspirators, but the
juxtaposition of Caesar's unambitious acts with those positive things, creates
irony. 

And it also creates a mob that riots through Rome
looking to kill the conspirators.

In Capra's Prelude to War, who is John Q. Public?

John Q. Public is the name given to the "ordinary
citizen."  In order to bring out their commonness, the term "John Q. Public" is
employed.  In Capra's work, John Q. Public is the reason why America must fight.  In
many respects, John Q. Public is both the target audience and the star of the film. 
Capra's work is dedicated to the idea that American intervention against the Axis Powers
is needed in order to thwart the alliance's desire for world domination.  The only way
this is possible is by presenting this conflict to John Q. Public.  As an audience
member, the ordinary citizen, it was believed, has to fully understand the rationale for
fighting and what is gained from it.  More importantly, the film attempts to articulate
a world where the average citizen does not fight and what will result from such
isolationism.  John Q. Public is also the star of the film.  The ending of the film
depicts a vision where American values triumph due to the passion and intensity of
American action, which is only possible through the enlistment of ordinary citizens.  In
a time period of political supermen, who were driven by their own charisma, the film
depicts John Q. Public as the "ordinary guy" who is capable of extraordinary
endeavors.

Prove that sin^2x+cos^2x=1 using derivatives.

We'll apply s consequence of Lagrange's rule and we'll
conclude that a function is a constant if and only if its derivative is
cancelling.

We'll assign a function to the sum of
trigonometric functions:

f(x) = (sin x)^2 + (cos
x)^2

We'll calculate it's derivative using chain
rule:

f'(x) = 2 sin x*(sin x)' + 2cos x*(cos
x)'

f'(x) = 2sin x*cos x - 2cos x*sin
x

We notice that the terms of the difference are the same,
so we could eliminate them.

f'(x) =
0.

Since the derivative is zero, that means that f(x) is
constant.

We'll prove that the constant has the value
1.

For x = 0=>(sin 0)^2 + (cos 0)^2 = 0 + 1 =
1

For x = pi/2 => (sin pi/2)^2 + (cos pi/2)^2 = 1 +
0 = 1

For x = pi => (sin pi)^2 + (cos pi)^2 = 0 +
(-1)^2 = 0 + 1 = 1

For x = 2pi =>(sin 2pi)^2 + (cos
2pi)^2 = 0 + 1 = 1

The function f(x) = (sin
x)^2 + (cos x)^2 is a constant and it has the value
1.

What is a metaphor used in Tuesdays with Morrie?What is 1 metaphor used in Tuesdays with Morrie? Page number is needed and the metaphor must be...

My favorite metaphor in Tuesdays with
Morrie is the story above the wave.  It's a metaphor that uses part-to-whole.
 Waves are the part; the ocean is the whole.  The story is analogous to humans who
mistakenly think their deaths are the end of life.

Morrie
compares humans to waves.  A wave may think it is going to die when it crashes on the
beach.  It doesn't realize that it's part of the
ocean.

Most humans, in their linear thinking and
self-absorded lives, think they are headed one-way alone toward death.  Little do they
realize that they live on in the memory (ocean) of others.  In other words, a human is
part of humanity, and even though we may physically die, humanity lives
on.

"Okay. 
The story is about a little wave, bobbing along in the ocean, having a grand old time. 
He's enjoying the wind and the fresh air -- until he notices the other waves in front of
him, crashing against the shore

" 'My God, this is
terrible,' the wave says.  'Look what's going to happen to
me!'

"Then along comes another wave.  It sees the first
wave, looking grim, and it says to him, 'Why do you look so
sad?'

"The first wave says, 'You don't understand!  We're
all going to crash!  All of us waves are going to be nothing!  Isn't it
terrible?'

"The second wave says, 'No,
you don't understand.  You're not a wave, you're part of the
ocean.' "

What quotes in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream show the theme of friendship?

The theme of friendship, particularly the theme of
betrayal within friendship, is especially expressed in Hermia and Helena's
friendship.

We repeatedly see just how close Hermia and Helena were as
children. In fact, the woods in which most of the play is set actually served as a place
where they spent a great deal of time together as children, pouring out their hearts to
each other. In contrast, now the woods is serving as the setting in which their
friendship is broken apart. We first learn that the woods is a symbol of Hermia and
Helena's childhood friendship in the opening scene when Hermia discloses her and
Lysander's plan to escape Athens, as we see in her
lines:

And in
the wood, where often you and I
Upon faint primrose-beds were wont to
lie,
Emptying our bosoms of their counsel sweet,
There my Lysander
and myself shall meet.
(I.i.219-222)

This passage
not only portrays the theme of friendship by describing how close Hermia and Helena were
as friends, it is also sets up the woods as the ironic setting of
betrayal.

It is Helena who makes the decision to betray her childhood
best friend Hermia by informing Demetrius of her and Lysander's plans to escape Athens
via the woods, as we see in Helena's line, "I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight"
(251). Since the line portrays betrayal, it not only depicts the theme of friendship,
but it also portrays the theme of friendship betrayal.

Ironically,
even though Helena betrays Hermia, she later believes that Hermia has actually betrayed
her by joining with the men in mocking her, as we see in her
lines:

Lo, she
is one of this confederacy!
Now I perceive they have conjoin'd all
three
To fashion this false sport, in spite of me.
(III.ii.195-197)

Helena's
accusation of Hermia's betrayal in the very same woods they bonded in as children, shows
us that the woods is being used as an ironic setting to portray both friendship and the
betrayal of friendship. In this same speech we see further references to the women's
closeness as children when Helena reminds Hermia of how they used to do and share
everything together and asks Hermia if she will now break up their friendship by joining
with the men to mock Helena just for the fun of it, as we see in her lines, "And will
you rent our ancient love asunder, / To join with men in scorning your poor friend?"
(218-219).

Therefore, these references not only portray friendship as
a theme in A Midsummer Night's Dream, they further serve to portray
the betrayal of friendship as a theme.

Who said the following lines and why? a. "is she a Capulet? O dear account, my life is my foe's debt." and b. b. "My only love sprung from my...

At the Capulet's ball, Romeo asks the nurse about Juliet's
identity and he is distraught at hearing that she is a Capulet, sworn enemy to the
Montagues, Romeo's family. There exists an age-old feud between the two
houses.

Romeo uses an accounting metaphor: by mentioning a
"dear account" he suggests that there is a high price to pay for being in love with
one's enemy.

"My life is my foe's debt" implies that
Romeo's life is now in his enemy's hands. Whatever account there is to settle will
be paid for with his life - this foreshadows his tragic death later. Furthermore, it
also suggests that his life will be controlled by his enemy. He will forever be at
Juliet's command for he loves her. She will be master of his fate and the paradox is
that she is, at once, also his enemy being the daughter of his family's sworn
opposition. Furthermore, his enemy, in this sense, Juliet, owes him his life - she gives
him a reason to live for he is overwhelmed by his love for
her. 

The nurse later tells Juliet who Romeo is and she
too, overwhelmed by the information, comments about her 'only love' which has found its
source in her 'only hate'. This means that the one person whom she truly loves is also a
member of the one family that she has been taught to hate. She loves no other and she
hates no one else. This once again presents a paradox: how does one love and hate the
same person at the same time?

Juliet expresses her dismay
by observing that she had seen (or fallen in love with Romeo) "too early", i.e. before
she knew who he really was and she only discovered his true identity when it was "too
late". Her love for him could not be undone despite the fact that he was supposed to be
a member of her family's sworn enemy.  

Please help me compare and contrast Absurdism and Existentialism.I am writing a paper about The Stranger by Albert Camus and i have come to the...

I am not a philosopher, but I will try to simplify
it.

Existentialism is the belief that life only
has meaning in relation to the individual person – his emotions and thoughts. Also, it
is the individual who is responsible for giving his life meaning in spite of all the
opposing forces that get in the way – boredom, alienation, etc. Most existentialists did
not believe in a higher power but those that did believed God may have created man, but
then he left man to his own devices. There are lots of varying degrees to this belief,
so this is a simplification.

Absurdism is a more extreme
philosophy. Absurdism is the belief that there is no meaning to life, or no meaning in
the universe, so that man’s attempts to search for such meaning are “absurd” because
that meaning does not exist. Some absurdists believe in a slightly different view, that
there IS meaning, but that man cannot find it, and the only thing that gives meaning to
life is absurdism itself and that man should embrace the fact that life is absurd if he
wants to survive. This was the view of Camus. He believed man should embrace the absurd
and live in spite of it. If man could do this, this was all he could hope for in
life.

Pretty grim stuff. This philosophy was in many ways
an outgrowth of the pessimism inflicted upon the world after two horrific world wars
that left footprints of hopelessness on the world.

If you
do some research, you can define these terms even further.

In The Chrysalids by John Wyndham, what decisions does David make, and how do they conflict with his moral values?

It is necessary to first establish what David's moral
values are so that his decisions can be seen to accord or to conflict with these values.
Also, as you'll see, there are two levels of a person's moral values. They are the
values a person is taught by family and/or  school and/or society [note: these may not
accord with each other!] and the values springing from one's own inner character.
Briefly, in David's case, he was taught by father, school, and society that rigid
conformity to strict and unyielding rules that punish "deviance," which is physical,
psychological, emotional, or intellectual departure from a sternly defined norm, is to
be brutally punished and eradicated--utterly destroyed. This is reinforced with slogans
like "The Devil is the Father of Deviation."

One decision
David makes that conflicts with the moral values he has been taught--his public
values--is to keep Sophie's secret about the deviance of her toes a secret--even at the
price of severe punishment. On the other hand, this decision accords with his private
values that only emerge and reveal themselves as he acts from inner impulses as events
come upon him. Therefore, while David's decision conflicts with his public values, it
accords with his private values, which are values he couldn't have known he had until
that event occurred. Another decision David makes that conflicts with the values he has
been taught is his decision to keep a secret with Uncle Axel about David's own secret
related to his cognitive powers. He simultaneously makes another decision that conflicts
with his public values and that is to keep the secret of his friends' similar cognitive
deviances.

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"Wouldn't it be more fun to do your chattering
with some of the other kids .... than just sitting and talking to
yourself?"
"But I was."
"Was what?" he asked,
puzzled.
"Talking to one of them," I told him.
...
"Who?"
"Rosalind," I told him. ...
"H'm -- I didn't
see her around," he
remarked.

Secrets are against
the moral values of the community since secrets may hide deviance and secrets about
deviance are paramountly against the moral values of the community since all deviance
must be destroyed. However, this is another instance when David's decision accords with
his emerging private moral values just as his decision to protect Sophie did. Two things
that clearly emerge from examining some of David's decisions and how they conflict with
his moral values. The first is David has two sets of moral values and they conflict
against each other. The second is that David follows his emerging private values at
great risk and personal hardship thus causing greater conflict with his taught moral
values.

Can you tell me a sentence using the expression "expired in indigent circumstances"?

The phrase "expired in indigent circumstances" is a
euphemism for the much harsher phrase "died impoverished." A href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/euphemism">euphemism is, as
defined by Random House Dictionary, "the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague
expression for one thought to be ... harsh, or
blunt."

Random House defines href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/indigent">indigent
as meaning that someone is impoverished and lacking basic necessities, like food and
clothing. It's root is the Latin stem word indigent-, which is a
verb meaning to lack, to need, or to be poor. The verb expire has
one definition meaning "to emit the last breath" as expiration is a
technical term in the discussion of respiration. Therefore, if someone is said to have
expired, it means they have died.

A possible sentence
using the euphemistic expression "expire in indigent circumstances" might be, "The aged
man found under the freeway bridge had expired in indigent circumstances." Another might
be, "Oscar Wilde, spurned by society after his trial, sadly expired in indigent
circumstances in the Hotel d’Alsace in Paris." 

Why does O'Brien insist that war stories are not moral, and why does he try to reconsrtuct what Lemon must have experienced the moment of his...

In The Things They Carried, O'Brien
gives the recipe for "How to Tell a True War Story" by saying the stomach should believe
it.  It must pack an emotional wallup.  If it doesn't, it comes across as manufactured,
invented, moralistic, political.  It becomes a lie by becoming something else--an
abstraction, a polemic, a sermon--not a story.  A war story is a love story.  It brings
back loving memories.  It resurrects friendly
ghosts.

O'Brien's thesis for the book
is:

I want you
to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than
happening-truth (O'Brien
179).

So, O'Brien says that
true war stories need to be light on  facts (logos) and morality
(ethos).  Instead, they must be visceral and brutal and gory and
full of cussing (pathos).  That's the way soldiers talk.  That's
their style.  And it's been this way since Trojan war
mythology.

First of all, war is absurd.  It does not
operate according to ethical, moral, or religious rules.  Bullets are indiscriminate.
 During war, a soldier or storyteller does not have time to moralize.  Morality and war
don't mix.

Remember woman at the reading?  She wanted a
moral or a lesson or some kind of redeeming meaning by the end of the story he read.
 She didn't understand that the story itself is the lesson.  She didn't understand that
it was a love story.

A good story doesn't preach: it's
morals are implicit, if there are any at all.  To the “dumb cooze” audience reading
O'Brien's novel for realistic depictions of war and conventional storytelling his thesis
is a betrayal, not a paradox; O'Brien, to these readers, comes across as weak,
dishonest, one so full of regret that he rejects the traditionally masculine-defined
rules of engagement in both war (“kill or be killed”) and storytelling (unreliable
narrator).

Lemon's death becomes a funny and beautiful
thing.  He reconstructs the memory by draining the focus on death from it.  He drains
the horror from it.  If a soldier and storyteller can do that, then he can open up new
perspectives that are, ironically, both beautiful and funny.

i want to play boy george im a girl people say no should i be-alive in my own self

The public persona, Boy George, was born with the name
George Alan O'Dowd in 1961 in South London, England. He is rather eccentric in the way
he looks and dresses, and is instantly noticeable as an original personality. His looks
are very much the outward, visual expression of a very musically creative individual.
Along with this creativity, however, numerous person problems, especially his addiction
to drugs, have made life, at times, quite difficult and problematic for Boy
George.

When you say that you want to "play Boy George,"
what  do you mean? Do you want to dress like him? That shouldn't be much of a problem
because he dressed a lot like a girl. It may be somewhat difficult to be a girl who
plays a boy who dresses like a girl, but it's been done before. Ever see the movie
"Victor Victoria?"

The question, though, is why do you want
to play someone else, other than in a play, or in a movie? Boy George is an original;
he's his own invention. Perhaps you would be better off discovering and developing your
own, unique self... tap into the source of your own creativity. Rather than trying to be
like someone else, discover, enhance, and be proud of who you are. An original is always
better and more respected than an imitation.

In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," what living thing appeared through the fog?

Your question pertains to Part I of this incredible poem.
The ship, although it left with good weather, has been subject to a tremendous storm
that has blown it off course towards the South Pole. Now, the ship is surrounded by
icebergs that are mast high and "green as emerald." As the crew try to see through the
fog, all they can observe is more and more ice:

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The ice was here, the ice was
there,

The ice was all
around:

It cracked and growled, and roared and
howled,

Like noises in a
swound!

Note the onomatopoeia
in the description of how the ice sounded. We can only imagine how the fog, combined
with the unnatural appearance of these massive icebergs and the sound they were making,
struck the sailors with horror to their very beings. However, in the midst of this
darkness and despair, a symbol of hope emerges:

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At length did cross an
Albatross,

Through the fog it
came;

As if it had been a Christian
soul,

We hailed it in God's
name.

Thus the living thing
that the sailors are able to see through the fog is the albatross, that is described in
distinctly religious terms and is seen by the sailors as a symbol of some divine,
righteous power. This of course makes the Mariner's crime in killing it all the more
terrible.

Which is the domain of (x^2-3x+2)^1/2?

The domain of sqrt(x^2-3x+2) is formed from the xalues of
x for the expression sqrt(x^2-3x+2) is defined.

To find the
domain of sqrt(x^2-3x+2), we must impose the constraint
(x^2-3x+2)>0.

To solve the inequality, we'll
factorize the quadratic expression:

x^2-3x+2 = x^2 - x - 2x
+ 2 = 0

We'll factorize the first 2 terms and the next 2
terms, so that:

x(x-1) - 2(x-1) =
0

We'll factorize again and we'll
obtain:

(x-1)(x-2)=0

We'll set
each factor eqaul to
0.

x-1=0

x=1

x-2=0

x=2

After
finding the zeros, we have to test the signs over the 3
intervals:

(-inf,1), (1,2), (2,
inf).

We'll choose values from each interval and thest the
sign:

For x=0, in interval
(-inf,1).

sqrt(0^2-3*0+2) =
sqrt2>0

For x=1.5, in interval
(1,2)

sqrt(1.5^2-3*1.5+2)=sqrt(2.25 - 4.5 + 2)=sqrt(-0.25)
undefined

For x=3, in interval (2,
inf)

sqrt(3^2-3*3+2)=
sqrt2>0

After testing, we can establish the
domain:

Because of the fact that the expression is defined
for values of x in the intervals (-inf,1) or (2, inf) and undefined for values of x in
the interval (1,2), the domain will
be:

Domain: (-inf,1] U [2,
inf)

Note: The symbol "U"
means reunion of
intervals.

We've included also
the values x=1 and x=2, because they are the zeros of the expression
sqrt(3^2-3*3+2).

Analyze Horatio's answer "Custom hath made it in him a property of easiness" from Act 5 Scene 1 in Hamlet.

When Hamlet and Horatio arrive upon the scene of
gravediggers or "clowns" digging in the graveyard, Hamlet opens his appearance in the
scene saying "Has this fellow no feeling of his business, that he/
sings at grave-making?" He is appalled at the idea that the sexton is
so unfeeling that he would be singing. In response, Horatio says
"Custom hath made it in him a property of easiness," meaning that he
is so used to what he does for a living that he doesn't feel anything when doing it.
It's his job and he can't get caught up in being "sad" about it.

The important part of this scene comes later,
after Hamlet discovers "Yorick's skull." Yorick was the King, his father's, jester and
Hamlet knew him. When he sees the skull of a person he knows, he realizes that all life
comes to this in the end. The sexton knows it, which is partly why he is able to sing at
digging the graves. Hamlet's realization of this fact allows him to think of his life as
less important and in the end, helps him to finalize revenge. He explains it using
language about great "ancient" leaders:

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but to follow him thither
with
modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it:
as
thus: Alexander died, Alexander was
buried,
Alexander returneth into dust; the dust is earth;
of
earth we make loam; and why of that loam, whereto
he
was converted, might they not stop a
beer-barrel?
Imperious Caesar, dead and turn'd to
clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind
away:
O, that that earth, which kept the world in
awe,
Should patch a wall to expel the winter
flaw!

Alexander the
Great and Julius Caesar now also look like this in their tombs. Everything goes back to
the earth. The sexton knows it and now Hamlet is fully aware of
it.

How could Rubashov's eyeglass be considered a motif in this novel?

Within the traditional definition of "motif" as it applies
to literature, if we think of a motif as a recurring theme, fragment or event, then
Rubashov's eyeglasses (known then as "Pince Nez" glasses) could be considered a
motif.

The number of times he puts them on and off, both
alone and during his lengthy and repeated interrogations reminds the reader, along with
his well argued points, that Rubashov is an intellectual, a true ideological believer in
the revolution, even after he has been arrested.

They can
also be considered a symbol of dignity for a prisoner.  A possession that is personal,
functional and important, especially in the setting of a Soviet prison cell, which were
known for being stark, sterile and forbidding places.

What do horses symbolize in All the Pretty Horses?

Cormac McCarthy's great Western novel All the
Pretty Horses uses horses to symbolize manhood.
 Typically in the old West, guns were the definition of a man.  But here, it's a man's
horse:

Finally
he said that among men there was no such communion as among horses and the
notion that men can be understood at all was probably an
illusion.

Whereas Jimmy
Blevins kills another man to get his gun back, John Grady risks his life to go back into
Mexico to recover his horse.  Remember when Lacey and John keep asking if Jimmy stole
his horse?  They don't believe it's his, just as they don't believe he's a real man.  In
the end, they're right: he is kid attempting to be a
man.

Early in a man's life, his horse is young and
wild.

As he
was drifting to sleep his thoughts were of horses and of the open country and of horses.
Horses still wild on the mesa who'd never seen a man afoot
and who knew nothing of him or his life yet in whose souls he would come to reside
forever.

But as a man comes
into his own so does his horse.  It's not a horse, it's HIS horse.  He trained it.  He
branded it.  He pilots it.  It is his identity and
manhood:

But
there were two things they agreed upon wholly and that were never spoken and that was
that God had put horses on earth to work cattle and that other than cattle there was no
wealth proper to a
man.

Can you please discuss the poem "Desert Places," by Robert Frost?

The title of Robert Frost’s poem “Desert Places” is
particularly intriguing. We normally think of “desert places” as vast areas of dry sand
baked under the blistering heat of the sun.  We think of such places as treeless,
without vegetation, and dead. The title of the poem is a bit ironic, then, considering
that Frost’s speaker describes a small, snow-covered field surrounded by trees that are
perhaps themselves tinged with snow. Thus the word “desert,” in the title of Frost’s
poem, seems to refer to places of emptiness – a connotation important when interpreting
the end of the poem.

The poem begins by describing a kind
of change not associated with vitality and energy (as change often is) but rather with
the opposite: “Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast” (1). The quickly falling
snow and descending night will soon cover the field so that it will soon bear few if any
traces of life or movement. At present the field is not entirely blanketed; instead, the
speaker observes

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. . . the ground almost covered smooth in
snow,

But a few weeds and stubble showing last.
(3-4)

The surrounding woods
seem to engulf the field, while any animals living there
are

now “smothered in their lairs” (6).  The word
“smothered,” of course, suggests a kind of death, but now the poem shifts its focus from
the field and its inhabitants to the observing
speaker:

I am
too absent-spirited to count;

The loneliness includes me
unawares.

Now the poem
becomes not merely an observation of external nature but a meditation on the nature of
the speaker. The landscape looks lonely and thereby provokes in him (or reminds him of)
a personal loneliness within himself.  Notice that the speaker does not call himself
“absent-minded” (a familar cliché) but rather “absent-sprited.” To be absent-spirited is
a far deeper and potentially more disturbing condition than to be “absent-spirited.” To
be “absent-spirited” may suggest some loss of interest in life itself, or at least in
the details of life one presently faces.

By the time we
reach the third stanza, anything the speaker says about the field seems to reflect as
well on his own state of mind:

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And lonely as it is that
loneliness

Will be more lonely ere it will be
less--

A blanker whiteness of benighted
snow

With no expression, nothing to express.
(9-12)

Notice how the
phrasing of this stanza is full of repetitions, such as the repetitions of “lonely,”
“loneliness,” and “lonely” again, as well as the echoes of l’s,
o’s, n’s, and s’s in
those words – sounds which are variously picked up and echoed in such later words as
“less,” “snow,” “no,” and “nothing.” Similar repetition occurs in “whiteness” and
“benighted,” so that the effect of the entire stanza is almost a bit claustrophobic,
even if highly musical.

In the final stanza, the speaker
makes explicit what was earlier only implied: he is more afraid of the loneliness he
feels within than of any mere external emptiness in nature. Perhaps he himself fears a
kind of metaphorical, symbolic smothering by a kind of darkness, coldness, and
loneliness in his own absent spirit.

In "Soldier's Home," what motivates the actions of Harold Krebs and his mother?

In this unforgettable short story, Ernest Hemmingway
presents us with one soldier returning from the horrors of World War I to his home.
However, it is clear that his experiences have changed him utterly and he is unable to
fit in to society in the way expected of him. Soldiers who came back from the horrors of
this war were often termed "shell shocked," as suffering from profound physical,
psychological and mental confusion, exhaustion and despair. Of course, now we know this
as post-traumatic stress disorder, yet at the time this condition was not understood by
a society who expected the soldiers to enter back in to meaningful roles and old,
regular routines.

Thus we can understand the detached way
that Krebs is shown to live his life. His desire to "live along without the
consequences" shows how, having seen the terrible consequences of war, Krebs wants a
quiet and easy life, without the dangers of intimacy and responsibility. The
conversation with his mother at the end of the story in particular shows the conflict
between Krebs and society at large. She wants her son to settle down and get a job, but
Krebs wants to postpone making any significant decisions. He is shown as a character
who, thanks to the war, has lost his faith, his ability to love and also his desire to
be fully involved in life:

readability="6">

He had tried so to keep his life from being
complicated. Still none of it had touched him. He had felt sorry for his mother and she
had made him lie.

Thus
Hemmingway presents us with an "anti-hero," a character who abandons himself to
hopelessness, stagnation and disillusionment.

What are some of the main themes of Paradise by Toni Morrison?

One of the themes in Paradise by Toni
Morrison relates to the title of the novel, a novel about different perspectives of what
constitutes safety and safe harbor. For one group of people, safety and safe harbor (or
paradise) is what for another group of people constitutes a threat to their way of life
and existence. In Morrison's Paradise, the only apparent resolution
to this dilemma of conflicting points of view upon what constitutes safety is egregious
violence.

One theme that Morrison is presenting, a theme
that may in itself be as controversial as the points of view presented within her novel,
is that paradise has to be fought for--safe harbor can only be won through fighting
opponents, as there will always be opponents to one's version of, one's view of
paradise--first to gain paradise and then to protect and keep paradise. Another theme is
that the attainment of paradise, of one's safe harbor (for which one must paradoxically
submit one's self to the unsafety of unending violent fighting) requires at least a
periodic suspension of logic and reason and at least a periodic confidence in mysticism
and illogicality.

How does the 1974 film of The Great Gatsby compare to the novel?

Several film makers have brought Fitzgerald's novel to the
screen, generally without a great deal of success. The 1974 version with Robert Redford
and Mia Farrow demonstrates the problems inherent in attempting to translate
Fitzgerald's prose into a screenplay. The visual components of the novel--particularly
the settings and the wardrobes--can be captured on the big screen, but the literary
elements are elusive.

The film is rich in production
values. The lush mansions, Gatsby's frenetic parties, the gray Valley of Ashes, the busy
streets of New York, and the cars, clothes, and music of the Roaring Twenties--all of
these are very well done in the film and presented with historical accuracy. The film
does capture the look and feel and pace of the novel. The scenes placing Gatsby's
mansion in relation to the ocean are very effective in making Fitzgerald's setting
visual. The use of color in the film is striking and
effective.

What does not work in the film is the dialog. It
often seems artificial and stilted, particularly in Gatsby's character. Gatsby's speech
in the novel is, of course, often artificial, since he is presenting himself to the
world in a false manner, but the context of the novel creates an understanding of
Gatsby's past and his great dream of the future that makes his stilted speech
meaningful. These details are left out of the film, making Gatsby often seem, well,
silly.

A basic problem in filming any of Fitzgerald's
novels is the difficulty of translating his evocative style of writing into a dialog
form. The passages of beautiful descriptive prose don't translate. In the 1974 film, an
attempt was made to address this by creating voice overs; throughout the film, Nick's
voice can be heard reciting key passages of Fitzgerald's prose, word for
word.

The 1974 film is fairly effective in developing the
superficial conflicts and advancing the plot. The characters argue, as they do in the
novel, Myrtle's death is ugly and violent, and George Wilson's mental disintegration is
dramatic. The film, however, cannot capture the essence of the novel--its symbolism,
irony, and most profound themes. Nor can it place Jay Gatsby in the greater context of
American history and the American Dream itself. The novel is the story of dreams and
their power to shape identity. Gatsby can be placed on a screen; he can be made to walk
and talk. However, what makes Gatsby, Gatsby cannot be depicted. It is an idea born of
emotion, not a series of events.

Where is the setting of The Wind in the Willows?

The Wind in the Willows is set in an idealized version of
the English countryside.  It has no relationship to an actual place in England; rather,
the action takes place in and around the types of areas that would be frequented by the
characters portrayed by Toad, Mole, Badger and the others.  Kenneth Grahame retired from
working at The Bank of England in 1908, the year of The Wind in the Willows first
publishing, and moved to the English countryside.  There he delighted in spending time
on and near the River Thames.

In In Cold Blood, how does Capote show bias towards Perry Smith?Any quotes would be helpful.

Capote's developing relationship with the murderers in his
nonfiction masterpiece is almost as intriguing as his writing style. In Cold
Blood begins objectively enough. Capote evinces sympathy for the Clutter
family and describes in gory detail the heinous acts of Perry Smith and Dick
Hickock.

However, from the first time Capote discusses the
murderers in "Part I: The Last to See Them Alive," he clearly shows that Hickock is a
bullish character who leads and belittles Smith. While this from all accounts appears to
be an accurate portrayal of the pair's relationship, Capote is careful to
provide numerous examples of Hickock's mistreatment of
Smith.

In "Part IV: The Corner," Capote meticulously
outlines Smith's very difficult background, Dr. Satten's evaluation of Smith which can
be interpreted by some readers as an excuse for Smith's actions, and Smith's childlike
confession, in which he states,

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" '[The Clutters] never hurt me. Like other
people. Like other people have all my life. Maybe it's just that the Clutters were the
one who had to pay for it.'
"

While Capote certainly
never directly writes in In Cold Blood that Smith should not be
executed, his favorable opinion of Smith  reveals itself through the author's more
pitying depiction of Smith compared to his harsher evaluation of
Hickock.

Overall, it is difficult to pinpoint one quotation
that demonstrates Capote's bias; but interestingly, whenever my students read this book,
they are disappointed that Capote did not devote more time to the victims and their fate
than to the murderers, their travels, and their worldviews.

Describe the hardships that Americans faced during the Great Depression. Using historical evidence and examples from the film “Cinderella Man”.

The story of James Braddock is heavily laden with
hardships faced during the Depression.  In the opening scene, the Braddock family does
not have much to eat, as economic stress has placed its grip on the family unit.  When
their child asks for more food, Jimmy concocts a story how in his dream he had a huge
steak with George Raft and other Hollywood celebrities and "was stuffed."  At the same
time, Mae, Braddock's wife, has to dilute the milk with water in order to maximize its
use.  There are other realities conveyed through the film, as well.  When Braddock lines
up at the docks for work, the foreman asks for "five" or needs "ten" workers out of a
field of hundreds who clamor at the gate for a shot at a day's work.  While working on
the dock one day, Mike, a friend of Jimmy, notices his broken hand while working and
tells him in a heartbreaking manner, "I need this job, man."  Finally, when Jimmy's son
talks of friends being sent away because of financial hardship, James looks at his son,
dead on, and says that he is not sending his child away.  Probably the best and most
telling aspect of the life of the Great Depression would be when Braddock agrees to
fighting Max Baer, Heavyweight champion of the world.  When explaining why he feels no
fear, Braddock argues that when working people have to struggle and, in cases like
Mike's, die for work, for money, for a job, little else can be feared as Jimmy argues
working on the docks is far worse than anything Baer can throw at
him.

In the last section of "Tintern Abbey," Wordsworth focuses on his sister, Dorothy. What does looking at Dorothy make him remember?

In this famous reflection on the delights of nature and
how nature is capable of being the balm to our exhausted beings, Wordsworth focuses on
his sister Dorothy, who is with him on his walk as he views the beauties of the
countryside before him. Note the answer to your question that the poet
gives:

My
dear, dear Friend; and in thy voice I catch

The language of
my former heart, and read

My former pleasures in the
shooting lights

Of thy wild eyes. Oh! yet a little
while

May I behold in thee what I was
once...

Thus we can see that
looking at his sister and her "wild eyes" makes him remember the way that he was before
in his passionate youth and how he regarded nature then, which is something that he had
already covered before earlier on in the poem. Regarding his sister thus helps him to
recall how he was once, which emphasises how much he has changed in the
interim.

How does James Joyce describe Ulysses in his book? How does Joyce's description differ from Homer's?

Although James Joyce titled his book
Ulysses, the plot of the novel centers around the characters of
Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus.  Essentially, Joyce's title, as well as the episodes
in the novel, only allude to Homer's epic.  Leopold Bloom is the Odysseus figure, since
he is a father in search of a son.  (Bloom's own son, Rudy, died in infancy.)  Likewise,
Stephen Dedalus, the Telemachus figure in the novel, is in search of a father figure
because of the broken relationship he has with his own
father. 

Each chapter in the novel mirrors an episode from
The Odyssey, but readers who are unfamiliar with Homer's work will
inevitably miss the allusion altogether.  (Because this book is so difficult to
understand, however, most readers require guides to help them get through Joyce's text. 
Such guides describe the similarities--both in terms of theme and character
development--between The Odyssey and
Ulysses. 

What is the circumference of the circle whose area is 24 cm^2.

Area of the circle is 24
cm^2.

We have to find the circumference of the
circle.

We use the  formula for area A and  circumference
C:

A = pi*r^2 and

C = 2pi*r,
where r is the radius of the circle.

So pir^2 = 24 cm^2
given.

 r^2 = (24/pi). So r =
(24/p)^(1/2).

We put r = (24/pi)^(1/2) in C = 2pi*r and
get:

So C = 2pi*r. So C = 2pi* (24/pi)^(1/2) =17.3664 cm
nearly.

Therefore the circumference =  17.
3664 cm.

What does Sean O'Brien means in the poem "Leavetaking," especially about the patronne, things happening around him, and the end of the poem?This is...

O'Brien is eulogizing Peter Porter who has passed (see the
title, "Leavetaking"), but writing as if Porter were still with him. O'Brien notes the
setting: a place where O'Brien have both visited on separate occasions (Chateau
Ventenac). "Une pression" is beer (in French). He recalls Porter would have preferred a
Minervois (red) wine. O'Brien uses the phrase,

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Bad news prefers its poison cold and
long...

saying that good wine
should not be wasted over bad news (death), but saved until a more appropriate time,
after an "acceptable" interval (space of time) of mourning has passed. O'Brien writes
that the wine might be enjoyed at midnight—when everyone sleeps—in
a spot where a Nazi colonel once sat, waiting...a tidbit of information that Porter
would have tucked away to think on later; but gone, "there is no
later..."

The author notes that everyone must die,
including flute-playing psychopaths. (This may refer to the Hitler Youth, who were
heavily involved in music.) But O'Brien refuses to be "reconciled" to the idea that
death comes to all: though it may happen—why must it include
Porter?

O'Brien describes the scene around him: the boats
come into their slips. Last fall's leaves gather around them, and
on the deck chairs that speak of "former merriment." Someone starts a fire, and the
flames are like poetry. O'Brien stops to ask Porter if O'Brien has included enough
details yet, admitting that Porter would have been quicker than he to know when such a
mundane gathering would be transformed and become poetry: a piece of
art.

The owner of the place (la patronne) enters the scene,
critical of the fire. The bartender arrives on his bike to take in the bickering that
has erupted, viewing it with quiet humor—it makes him smile. O'Brien compares it all to
an artistic event: a poem or play, but a dark one ("black-edged
pastoral").

His friend's philosophy
was:

The
world...exists

Not to be
understood

But to demand
conviction.

O'Brien agrees,
but does that matter? The "dancers" have arrived: party-goers?—
accompanied by men looking like George Chakiris (leader of Jets in the
film West Side Story).

O'Brien lays
out the scene before him: a slice of life—not Shakespearean until he and Porter would
study the tableau before them over a beer—when Porter would turn the
scene...

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...into a poem in the high nine
hundreds...

(The
Dewey Decimal System assigns 999 to "extraterrestrial," so perhaps the poem would be
"out of this world...", especially in that Porter has
died...)

O'Brien has not yet learned Porter's lesson. "Work
is good...like love and company." However, the "courteous deaths" (those who pass
quietly?) do not agree. An obscure reference to Dionysus* and his band of sea women
going to war makes me wonder if O'Brien is saying that death uses such women (or
Harpies—snatchers—or the Fates?) to collect the
dying:

Sent
from a place less beautiful than
this...

Perhaps these
"deaths" cannot understand this world. Maybe O'Brien believes Heaven could not be as
glorious as where he now sits.

This place the death or
women come from may be in the shade, out of sight, where evening and songs end—for no
one is left to sing...perhaps because in the darkness lies the end of all
things.

*Addtnl. Source:
http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Ariadne.html

Dicuss why the theme of "Money cannot buy happiness" in The Great Gatsby makes it a great piece of American fiction.Please answer in detail and...

Concerning The Great Gatsby, you
should be careful of looking for simple, easy one-liners in sophisticated fiction. 
Human existence is complex, not simple, and sophisticated fiction usually reflects
that.

For instance, in this novel, money is only a means to
an end for Gatsby.  He doesn't strive to become wealthy because of greed.  He strives to
become wealthy for the sake of winning Daisy back.  Money only matters to Gatsby because
he thinks it will help him win Daisy back.  An easy one-liner about money not buying
happiness doesn't apply to Gatsby.  Daisy will bring happiness to Gatsby, nothing else. 
That is the issue.

For another example, Tom is definitely
leading a happy life, so to speak.  He has a beautiful wife, doesn't have to work as far
as the reader knows, and has a girlfriend, too.  And he wins in the end.  He is so sure
of himself and so ignorant that he thinks he's always right and enjoys the winning.  He
has what he wants and gets what he wants.  If one wants to apply one-liners to the
novel, one could argue that the novel suggests that money can buy
happiness.  A reader's judgments concerning Tom do not take away from the fact that Tom
is happy with his situation and his life. 

The corruption
of the American Dream is at issue in the novel, as are one's ability or inability to
recapture the past, illusion, and other issues.  But saying that the novel shows that
money can't buy happiness is too moralistic and too easy and too
simplistic.

How does photosynthesis follow the law of conservation of mass and the law of conservation of energy?Explain in detail.

Photosynthesis separate carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere
in to oxygen and carbon, using the sunlight. Thus Photo synthesis  absorbs of heat or
light energy that is contained in sunlight. In this way the inputs to the photosynthesis
process are carbon-dioxide and light energy, and the outputs are Oxygen and carbon.
Oxygen is released in the atmosphere while the carbon is used up in making food for the
plants.

The amount of oxygen and carbon atoms released by
photosynthesis are exactly equal to the atoms of these material contained in
carbon-dioxide converted. In this way photosynthesis has conserved the mass or material,
and in this way followed the law of conservation of
mass.

Photo synthesis also follows the law of conservation
of energy. The energy of sunlight used in the process of photosynthesis is absorbed by
the molecules of carbon-dioxide before they can separate in carbon and oxygen molecules.
This absorbed energy is present in the carbon and oxygen molecules and can be releases
again as energy of combustion produced when carbon and oxygen combine to produce carbon
dioxide.

In Fahrenheit 451, according to Faber, what three things are missing from their society?

The three things that Faber mentions that are missing in
our society correlate well with the three reasons that he gives Montag for the
importance of reading.  When Montag goes to Faber's home, he is confused, upset, and
just realizing how unhappy he is--along with almost everyone that he knows.  He wants to
know why, and he thinks that the reasons must somehow have to do with books, since books
are missing in their society.  Faber confirms that suspicion, and tells Montag of three
things that reading can do for people.

1.  Reading has
quality, or pores.  This means that it shows life as it REALLY is, not some airbrushed,
happy version of what life really is.  If you think about television shows, their
conflict always wraps up nicely within 30 minutes or so, and everyone is hunky-dory in
the end.  Real life isn't like that.  It's messy, it's hard, and it puts people through
a lot.  Books convey that, and in Montag's society people can't handle real life; when
they do, they break down, like Millie does with her suicide
attempt.

2.  Reading provides leisure, or the time to
digest, process and think about information.  In Montag's society, everything is super
fast-paced, and no one has the time to process or THINK about anything.  Even Millie
herself says to Montag that when she's upset, rather than think about why, and trying to
solve the problem, she just goes out and drives really, really fast to get her mind off
of things.  Their society needs to just sit back and think for once; Faber says that
books provided that leisure.

3.  Books prompt people to act
on what they have learned.  No one acts on anything in Montag's society.  They are lazy,
indulgent, and don't ever rebel, philosophize, form groups or protest.  They just take
the information given to them, and conform; those that do act out, those rare few, are
stifled.

These three deficiencies--which are also the
things that books provided--make the people in Montag's society pretty miserable, and in
the book, Montag journeys to a realization of that fact. I hope that those thoughts
helped; good luck!

In The Great Gatsby, how are Daisy and Gatsby similar and different? Can you support it with 4 quotes relative to each charactor?I can't seem to...

Well, Danielle, this actually is a little confusing. I
can't recall specific passages from the novel that directly compare or contrast Daisy
and Gatsby, but various passages about Daisy and about Gatsby would establish
similarities and differences between them.

As for their
similarities, consider these:

1. Gatsby and Daisy are both
wealthy and live in huge mansions.

(Passages in Chapter I
that describe the Buchanans' estate and Gatsby's mansion would show this
similarity.

2. Gatsby and Daisy sometimes speak in an
affected manner.

(Daisy's dialog in Chapter I and Gatsby's
conversation with Nick in Chapter IV show their stilted
speech.

3. Gatsby and Daisy had both been deeply in love
during their time together in Louisville.

(The description
in Chapter VIII of Gatsby holding Daisy in his arms the last afternoon before he went
away to war shows how much they loved each other.)

Their
differences are significant:

1. Daisy was born to wealth;
Jay Gatsby grew up in poverty as Jimmy Gatz.

(Daisy's
wealthy background is discussed in Chapter VIII; Gatsby's early life of poverty is
established in Chapter VI and Chapter IX.)

2. Daisy is
unfaithful to Gatsby, abandoning him after Myrtle's death and returning to Tom; Gatsby
is faithful to Daisy until he is shot to death in his pool, still waiting for her to
call.

(In Chapter VII, Gatsby stands outside in the dark
watching over Daisy to "protect" her from Tom, while she is inside having supper with
him. Also, passages in Chapter IX show that Gatsby continued to wait for Daisy's call,
refusing to give up his dream of her.)

I hope these
suggestions are helpful. Good luck.

What are the main elements of mise-en-scène used in the film Dangerous Liaisions by Stephen Frears?

Mise-en-scène is originally a theatrical term that means
"staging". When applied to film, the term refers to the framing of shots and the ways in
which setting, costumes, lighting and movements within the frame contribute to the
creation of a distinct cinematographic style. The term received particular critical
attention by the film theorists writing for the French film journal Cahiers du
Cinéma, particularly in the 1950s and 1960. Writing mostly about Hollywood
films, these theorists argued that, while American directors did not have much control
over the script of their movies, their stylistic signature could be found in the ways in
which they staged their shots.

The main elements in the
mise-en-scène in Frears's film reflect the main theme of the narrative: the need to see
other people and to be seen by them. The elegant costumes and settings point to a
society where appearances and social conventions are constitutive elements of personal
identity. The insistence on close-ups in the first scenes of the film, for example, is a
distinctive element of Frears's mise-en-scène which introduces the complicity, but also
the deception involved in the relationship between Valmont and Mme
Merteuil. The alternated close-ups of the characters facing mirrors and wearing make-up
point to the mask that they wear. Significantly, the film ends in a circular fashion
with Mme Meteuil again sitting in front of her mirror, but without any make up, pointing
out the destruction of her mask.

What literary element is "Shakespeare is hard"? What literary element does this sentence have an example of: "On the pallid bust of Pallas,...

I'll add the following to your
answer. 

Pallid and Pallas do create alliteration with the
"p" sound, and they also provide repetition and unity with the use of assonance:  the
repetition of vowel sounds (short "a" sounds, in this case).  They do not constitute
internal rhyme, because they do not rhyme:  the final syllables are not identical and do
not sound the same.  Variations of true rhyme do exist, but -id and -as in the final
syllables do not fit into any category of
rhyme.

"Shakespeare is hard," I believe, is an example of
synecdoche:  naming a whole for its part.  "Shakespeare" means "reading Shakespeare." 
Shakespeare, the person, is not literally hard.  Reading him can be.  I'm not entirely
sure about this, but the figurative language being used seems to involve naming. 
Another editor may be more certain.

Finally, I believe
"wind with a wolf's head" is simply metaphor.  The wind is being compared to the head of
a wolf.  The wind is the tenor of the metaphor (what the writer wants to describe), and
the wolf's head is the vehicle (what the writer uses to describe the tenor).  There is
an obvious comparison, and neither like or as is used, which would make it a simile. 
Instead, the comparison is direct, which makes the line a
metaphor.   

What is urban planning?

Urban planning is the process of planning which lands in a
city can be used for what purposes.  Urban planners do this so as to improve the
economic viability of cities and the quality of life that its residents can
enjoy.

For example, my wife is an urban planner and she has
been involved in everything from writing rules about what uses can be made of the
shoreline in our town to the conditions under which adult entertainment (things like
strip clubs) would be able to operate.

The most basic task
of urban planners is to create and administer the zoning regulations of the city. 
Zoning is the process of determining what uses (single family housing, apartments, light
industry, heavy industry, for example) can occur in which areas of the city.  You would
not want, for example, to have heavy industry (like a factory) in the middle of a
residential neighborhood.  You would want the factories to be more on the outskirts of
town, preferably near to rail lines and/or highways.

Urban
planning really involves a large number of different tasks.  However, they can generally
be summarized by saying that all of the tasks have to do with how the physical space in
a city can be used so as to allow economic prosperity as well as a good quality of life
for the people of the city.

Compare and contrast Eckels and Travis in "A Sound of Thunder."

Eckels in "A Sound of Thunder" is shown to be a man who
has bitten off more than he can realistically chew. As he sees the sign advertising the
Time Safari at the beginning of the story, a "warm phlegm" gathers in his throat, and as
he is offered a chance to tear up the check, his fingers twitch, showing his nerves and
foreshadowing his failure to face the T-Rex. It is when he does confront the T-Rex that
Eckels completely despairs of getting out of this experience alive, which leads him to
leave the path and crush the butterfly which is enough to change the
future.

Travis, in comparison, is presented as the guide of
the group, confident and knowledgeable about how the time machine operates and the
various rules that need to be followed. It is he who is entrusted with ensuring that
what they do in the past does not influence the future, and thus he is a very angry at
what Eckels did and how he endangered the future, threatening to live him there in the
past and forcing him to get the bullets out of the T-Rex. He is a strong man, in
comparison with Eckels, who knows what is needed to be done and acts upon
it.

Interestingly, when we compare both of these
characters, it is Travis more than Eckels I think who appears as the hero of the piece.
Eckels is presented as a weak man who is easily overwhelmed by the T-Rex, in spite of
his hunting experience. It is Travis who shows courage, strength and resilience, even if
we might question his treatment of Eckels and the final action that leads to the "sound
of thunder" that closes the story.

What are some character traits that Laertes has?Hamlet by William Shakespeare Please provide proof and cite lines for the character trait you choose

While Laertes is bold and rash as he crashes into
Elsinore, calling Claudius "O thou vile king! (V,i,116), and while he is gullible in
believing Claudius's intention are for Laertes to avenge himself against Hamlet, Laertes
does have some redeeming characteristics.

For instance,
just before Laertes wounds Hamlet with the rapier whose tip has been poisoned, he has a
twinge of conscience as in an aside he says, "And yet it is almost against my conscience
(V,ii,296).  Then, as he and Hamlet lie dying, Laertes asks Hamlet to forgive him as he
forgives Hamlet:

readability="13">

Exchange forgiveness with me, noble
Hamlet

Mine and my father's death come not upon
thee,

'Nor thine on me! (V,ii,
308-310)

And, perhaps the
most redeeming trait of Laertes is his devotion and love for his sister.  To Ophelia,
Laertes gives sound advice when he learns that she loves Hamlet, cautioning her to
remember that he is Prince of Denmark and may have to marry someone else, and to be
careful with her affections:

readability="55">

...Perhaps he loves you
now,

And now no soil nor cautel doth
besmirch

The virtue of his will, but you must
fear,

His greatess weighed, his will is not his
own,

For he himself is subject to his
birth.

He may not, as unvalued persons
do,

Carve for himself, for on his choice
depends

The safety and health of this whole
state,

And therefore must his choice be
circumscribed

Unton the voice and yielding of that
body

Whereof he is the head.  Then if he says he loves
you,

It fits your wisdom so far to believe
it....[But]

If with too credent ear you list his
songs,

Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure
open

To his unmastered
importunity.

Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear
sister,

And keep you in the rear of your affection.
(I,iii,14-34)

That he loves
his sister dearly is also evidenced when Laertes jumps into her
grave:

Lay
her i' th'earth,

And from her fair and unpolluted
flesh

May violets spring!  I tell thee, churlish
priest,

A minist'ring angel shall my sister
be

When thou liest howling
(V,i,208-212)

Impetuous and
at times rather foolish, Laertes is, nevertheless, forgiving and
loving.

What do "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost, "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles, "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd have in common?

The thing "Mending Wall," "Elinor Rigby," and "Another
Brick in the Wall" have in common is the themes of separation, loneliness, isolation,
and dehumanization; this last is implied in the first and explicitly addressed in the
last. A brief examination of each sheds light on the similarities. Though the last line
of Frost's "Mending Wall" seems to advocate a good wall between people, Frost's speaker
has earlier established his opposition and has tried to coax his neighbor into examining
his adage: "Good fences make good friends." Frost’s speaker asks whether “fences making
good neighbors” isn't in fact restricted to land with wandering grazing cows: "Isn't it
/ Where there are cows?"

He speculates that his apple
orchard and the neighbor's pine forest won't bother each other and so don't need to be
walled apart: "He is all pine and I am apple orchard." He concludes by saying of his
neighbor:

He
moves in darkness as it seems to me-- ...
He will not go behind his father's
saying,

This is the speaker's
pronouncement that his neighbor will not, perhaps can not, examine his belief ("go
behind his father's saying") and will continue to impose isolation, separation, and its
resultant loneliness through perpetually mending the wall that nature and man
instinctively tear down:

readability="7">

Something there is that doesn't love a
wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under [ground swell: frost heave that
moves the earth upward] ...
The work of hunters is another
thing

In "Eleanor Rigby," the
Beatles describe the isolation of both Eleanor and Father Mackenzie. Eleanor is dreaming
of the day ("Lives in a dream") that she can have a full and vibrant life that is
connected to other people but can only come close enough to collect traces of others’
lives: "picks up the rice in the church where a / wedding has been." She waits "at the
window," looking her best, for a visitor who never appears ("Who is it for?").
Similarly, Father McKenzie works diligently on his Sunday sermon although no one attends
his church anymore:

readability="5">

writing the words of a sermon that no one will
hear--
No one comes
near.

These two isolated,
lonely, separated souls meet, sadly, at Eleanor's funeral where Father McKenzie performs
her burial rites alone at the graveside.

readability="5">

Nobody came
Father McKenzie wiping the
dirt from his hands as he walks from the
grave

Whereas these two poems
range from speculative examination to lamenting melancholy, "Another Brick in the Wall"
is a brutal poem as well as being about brutality causing isolation, separation, and
loneliness. In addition, the aspect of brutality results in the inclusion of
dehumanization. It is in a restricted sense a child's poem--not suited for children to
read (or hear sung) but about children. Pink Floyd tells of children subjected to hurt
and derision at school administered by teachers themselves brutalized at
home:

teachers
who would hurt the children anyway they could ...
when they got home at
night
[their spouse]
Would thrash them
...!

It is a brutal poem
(ironically administering an emotional thrashing of it's own through vocabulary and
imagery even as it protests against brutality) pleading for a proper perception of the
brutality that causes the separateness, loneliness, and isolation. The final statement
is that such brutality occurs because individuals are wrongly perceived as "just bricks
in the wall," one part of the double metaphor of "wall." "[B]ricks in the wall"
represents the dehumanization the poem protests.

Discuss social criticism in The Canterbury Tales.What kind of social criticism is shown in this book because I know there is supposed to be some,...

The most prominent social criticism in Chaucer's
The Canterbury Tales is targeted at the church and its
leaders.

In "The Prologue," for instance, the friar
arranges marriages for women that he has impregnated.  The naive narrator presents this
as if it is a good thing--the friar takes care of his people kind of thing.  But of
course, it's not a good thing.  The reader understands
this. 

Religious figures are, for the most part, presented
as corrupt, greedy, arrogant, prideful.  They are confidence, or con
men.

"The Pardoner's Tale," for another example, reveals
how the pardoner blatantly uses a story about greed to fulfill his own greed.  The
pardoner is very up front about the fact that he is just out to separate his listeners
from their money. 

When analyzing in search of social
criticism, remember that Chaucer uses irony here.  He uses the merry, naive narrator to
present characters in what seems to be a positive light.  The reader should understand,
though, that some of the characters are not positive at all.  Just because the
unreliable narrator is gullible and accepts people as they are, doesn't mean the reader
has to.

In "A Pair Of Tickets", why does Jing-Mei feel that she disappointed her mother, Why did her mother abandon her twin babies? Loss is an important...

Jing-Mei's mother clearly abandoned her babies because she
felt she had no other choice. She may not have survived the journey, and even if she
did, how would she care for them? She likely hoped they would be picked up and cared for
by someone who could afford to feed them and give them a life that is not one of
suffering and mysery.

Jing-Mei struggles with her identity
especially knowing that her two sisters survived, because her mother always pushed her
to be the best she could be despite her resistance. By resisting every suggestion of her
mother, Jing-Mei made her only daughter "disappointing" and felt sad because perhaps her
mother had wished for her other two daughters in exchange for Jing-Mei. She feels that
perhaps her mother would have rather had two good, chinese daughters than Jing-Mei, and
feels that her mother may have regretted the decision to leave them behind throughout
her life. Jing-Mei also feels a struggle between being Chinese and being American; she
never felt Chinese enough for her mother. Visiting China helped to resolve some of
Jing-Mei's cultural issues because she realized that China has changed since her mother
left it.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, isTom Robinson aware of Mayella's situation at home when he visits her?

It’s impossible to know for sure. But since Tom was such a
caring character, I think he did know of her situation. Tom would have helped Mayella
regardless of her situation, but I get the indication that Tom felt it was even more
imperative to help her because of her situation.

Perhaps he
recognized that she was alone raising the Ewell kids with a father that was abusive and
neglectful. Tom felt sympathy for her. Tragically and ironically, Tom’s generosity in
helping Mayella only adds to the prosecution against him because the people of Maycomb
actually see his help as inappropriate. Also, in their racist ignorance, Maycomb’s
citizens can’t imagine that a black man would help a white girl without sinister
intentions. Tom’s innocence and Maycomb’s hypocrisy and guilt are highlighted by this
fact. Tom always had good intentions and the jury was never going to give him the
benefit of the doubt or a fair trial.

I think Lee intended
for the reader to think Tom knew about Mayella’s situation because it adds so much to
these themes of racism, innocence and guilt.

What is the role of patience in To Sir, with Love?

Patience plays a fairly important role in Braithwaite's
narrative.  On one hand, Braithwaite, himself, shows patience with teaching.  He does
not immediately quit nor does he rashly discredit his students when the initial
challenges were evident.  Braithwaite displayed patience in changing his philosophy of
teaching and working with his students.  Even with the change in approach, the students
tested Braitwaite's patience, and he did not waver.  At the same time, patience was
evident was in how Braithwaite worked with the individual students such as Denham and
Pamela Dare to ensure that they understand from where he is approaching them and to make
sure that they know he is their advocate.  At the same time, patience is evident in how
Braithwaite works with his colleagues.  While he encounters a great deal of resistance
and inertia from the staff about what Braithwaite is trying to do, he does not allow
this to deter him.  This patience highlights how important the quality is in working
with children and in school settings.

Is Ophelia a tool that is used to prove that Hamlet is really mad? Once she is mad, does she deliver thoughtful speeches just like Hamlet?

An important consideration when approaching the question
of madness in characters in drama from the Renaissance is that there were rules of a
sort about using form and structure in language to signal aspects of character, and
these rules applied to the playwright's use of verse and/or
prose.

For example, characters
speaking in a formal and regal way always spoke in
verse--the poetic text written in Shakespeare's plays in
iambic pentameter.  Any character (especially characters in love) who uses descriptive
and poetic language speaks in verse.  This was simply a "rule" of drama in Shakespeare's
day.

For prose, the most
common usage was by the clowns, the "low-born" comic characters, but prose was also a
very common choice to denote the state of mind in a character being "madness."  King
Lear speaks in prose during his "mad" scenes on the heath, Hamlet speaks in prose when
he is onstage with characters he wishes to believe that he is "mad," and Ophelia, in Act
IV, once Polonius is dead, speaks in prose.

Why all the
information about prose vesus verse?  Well, in Hamlet, it is the
best way I know of to settle the question of Hamlet's madness.  The key to
the question of Hamlet's being "really mad" or not is not how he treats Ophelia or
Polonius or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.  It is his use of prose when he is onstage
with these characters versus his sublime and lucid use of verse when he is onstage alone
with the audience and when he is onstage with Horatio (who is in on his
ruse).

Hamlet is pretending to be mad, just
as he said he would in Act I, scene v:

readability="15">

Here, as before, never, so help you
mercy,

How strange or odd some'er I bear myself
--

As I perchance hereafter shall think
meet

To put an antic disposition on. .
.

And Ophelia is quite mad
indeed when we see her post-Polonius' murder in Act IV.  There is, in fact, nothing at
all like Hamlet's thoughtful, penetrating soliloquies delivered by Ophelia.  She speaks
of her "ladies" and her "coach," and sings disjointed bawdy songs.  All in
prose, indicating her madness.  Hamlet's soliloquies are in
verse, indicating the lucid, high-born beauty of his
speech, and reminding the audience, when he is alone with them, that he
is but "mad in craft."

For more on madness and the use of
prose in Hamlet, please follow the links
below.

What picture of Macbeth do the Scottish lords give us in this scene?act 5 scene 2 of Macbeth

As the Scottish lords prepare to restore dignity to their
country by ridding themselves of the "tyrant," in Act V of Macbeth 
they talk as they await the troops from England.  When the British forces led by Malcolm
arrive, the Scottish forces plan to meet them by Birnam Wood.  As they wait for these
forces, Menteith asks what the "tyrant" is doing; he is told that Macbeth, in a mad rage
that lacks any self-control fortifies Dunsinane
castle. 

He
cannot buckle his distempered cause

Within the belt of
rule. (5.2.17-18)

Angus adds
that the blood of his "secret murders" sticks onto Macbeth's fingers and his control of
his kingdom is falling apart: 

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Those he commands move only in
command,

Nothing in love.  Now does he feel his
title

Hang loose about him, like a giant's
robe

Upon a dwarfish thief.
(5.2.22-25)

Then, Menteith
concludes that no one can blame Macbeth for falling apart if all his senses revolt
against him, if his guilt devours him:

readability="9">

Who then shall
blame

His perstered senses to recoil and
start.

When all that is within him does
condemn

Itself for being
there?(5.2.26-29)

Caithness
declares that their troops will purge the sickly commonwealth soon and Lennox agrees,
saying metaphorically that they will water the royal flower of Malcolm and "drown the
weeds" of Macbeth.

In the book Of Mice and Men what is a trait and a quote of the character Candy the old swamper? A quote and a trait

Candy, the old swamper who has lost his hand in an
accident, is a rather tragic character as he fears that soon, like his old dog, he will
outlive his usefulness.  When George Milton and Lennie Small first arrive on the ranch
and are taken to the bunkhouse, Candy--like his dog would be--is cautious as he talks to
the two new men.  He eludes the questions that George asks about the small yellow can
that contains lice poison: 

readability="6">

I don't know....Tell you what--last guy that had
thiss bed was a blacksmith--hell of a nice fella and as clean a guy as you want to
meet.  Used to wash his hands even after he
ate.

Candy does not want the
men to leave for fear that the boss will attribute their departure to something he may
have said.

Later in Steinbeck's Of Mice and
Men, warmed and strengthened by the friendship of Lennie and George, and
hopeful of joining them in the purchase of some land on which he can live out his life,
Candy becomes emboldened.  He is quick to insult Curley's wife as he tries to repel her;
he knows she is trouble and wants to keep her from endangering Lennie's and George's
positions on the ranch.

When Curley's wife, "heavily made
up," comes to the barn where Lennie and Candy are with
Crooks,

readability="6">

'Curley aint been here,' Candy said
sourly.

After she refuses to
leave, Candy becomes angered.  As he rubs the stump of his wrist on his
knee,

he said
accusingly, ' You gotta husband'.  You got no call foolin' aroun' with other guys,
causin' trouble.'

When she
asks the men what has happened to Curley's hand, it is Candy who seeks again to protect
his new friends.  He says, in a much more polite
tone,

readability="6">

'Why...Curley...he got his han' caught in a
machine, ma'am.  Bust his
han'.'

After she laughs,
Candy repeats his statement "sullenly" this
time.

Interestingly, Candy's behavior is much like that of
a stray dog.  He is lonely and wants to be accepted; at first, he is very cautious, then
when shown love, he becomes loyal and protective.  But, faced with a formidable adversay
such as Curley's wife, he backs down some and is submissive, saying "ma'am."  However,
he will only lie down on his back for so long.  His second reply is sullen, much like
the dog who gets up by walks away from his adversary.

How did colonialism give rise to the Vietnam War?

Colonialism helped to give rise to the Vietnam War because
it made the Vietnamese hate the French and want to overthrow them.  The fact that the
main resistance to the French was done by the Vietminh gave that group (and its leader,
Ho Chi Minh) credibility among the Vietnamese people even after the French left and the
Americans came to support an independent South Vietnam.

In
the mid to late 1800s, France gradually came to own all of what was called French
Indochina (including Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia).  The French colonial regime was
fairly oppressive and exploitative -- this was not a situation where the French were
trying to help modernize Vietnam so as to turn it over to its natives later on. 
Instead, the French were simply using Vietnam for their own
benefit.

Naturally, this made the Vietnamese very unhappy. 
They wanted to rule themselves, and anyone who stood up against the French looked good
to them.  The Vietminh's desire for freedom led to the conflict with the French after
WWII.  This conflict is what led to US involvement in Vietnam.

In As You Like It, why does Adam say to Orlando, "Dear master, I can go no further: O I die for food. Here lie I down, and measure out my grave."

Remember what has happened up to this point. 
Specifically, remember that Orlando has run away from the court to avoid the plans that
his brother Oliver has made to kill him.  He has taken his servant Adam (who is quite
old) with him.  At the beginning of this scene, we are seeing them in the forest for the
first time.

What Adam is saying here is that he is too
hungry to walk any farther.  He says he is going to die.  That is the meaning of "I die
for food."  This phrase in modern English would be something like "I'm going to die of
hunger."  He says that he will measure out his grave because he is going to just lie
down and die.  When he is lying there, it will be clear how long his grave needs to
be.

So Adam is just saying that he's too tired to go on and
that he's going to lie down and die on the spot.

A wire of length L can be used to make a circle and a square. How much of the wire should be used for each of the figures to maximise area?

The total length of the wire is L. Let us use it to make a
square of length x and a circle of radius r. The combined area of the shapes is x^2 +
pi*r^2. The circumference of the square is 4x and that of the circle is
2*pi*r

4x + 2*pi*r = L

We have
to maximize A = x^2 + pi*r^2

Differentiate L and A with
respect to r

dA/ dr = 2*x(dx/dr) +
2*pi*r

dL / dr = 4(dx/ dr) +
2*pi

As L is a constant dL/dr =
0

=> 4(dx/ dr) + 2*pi =
0

=> dx / dr = -2*pi/4 =
-pi/2

substitute in
dA/dr

=> dA/ dr = 2*x(-pi/2) +
2*pi*r

=> dA/dr = -pi*x +
2*pi*r

Take the second derivative with respect to
r

=> d^2A / dr^2 = 2*pi –
pi*(dx/dr)

=> d^2A / dr^2 = 2*pi +
pi^2/2

The second derivative is always positive. The
function of A versus r is concave upwards.

In the interval
0 <= 2*pi*r <= L, the function A takes the maximum value at either of r =
0 or r = L or both.

At r = 0, x = L/4, we find A = L^2 /
16

At r = L/2*pi, x = 0, we have A = L^2/
4*pi

This gives the maximum value of A at r = L/
2*pi

Therefore we can conclude that for the
maximum area the wire should be used only to make the circle and no part of it used for
the square.