I have a Seminar and I finished everything in it but I failed to make the introduction and conclusions . " The scarlet Letter"Hello, I...

href="http://thinkexist.com/quotation/adultery-usually-follows-a-law-of-diminishing/762392.html">Adultery
usually follows a law of diminishing returns.”   Quote

Nathaniel Hawthorne is closely
identified with the Puritan era in his fiction, and notably in his novel The Scarlet
Letter. The Puritan era in American history left a rich and complex legacy that
continues to this day. The Puritan ethic included a provision regarding hard work as a
way of life and as proof of dedication to God that has been seen as one of the primary
reasons for American business success, and the term is still used today to refer to the
work ethic which infuses manufacturing, business, and other sectors in the American
economy. The other arm of Puritanism that had great power was a form of asceticism and
prudishness supposedly embodied in the New England idea of "banned in Boston," for
instance. The legacy of Puritanism also created a good deal of guilt over sins real and
imagined, and the excesses of the Puritans, seen in the Salem witch trials, would become
an important literary theme in writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne. Puritanism also
involved a good deal of hypocrisy and self-righteousness against which the new American
society would rebel.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a product of
a Puritan family and was very familiar with the history of New England and with the
nature of the Puritan era. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804, and his first
American ancestor, William Hathorne (as it was then spelled) came to Massachusetts Bay
with John Winthrop in 1630. William was a magistrate and ordered the whipping of a
Quakeress in Salem. William's

His book “The scarlet letter”
offers extraordinary insight into the norms and behavior of 17th-century American
Puritan society.

The scarlet letter is famous
for presenting some of the greatest interpretive difficulties in all American
literature. After it was published in 1850, cities hailed it as initiating a distinctive
American literary tradition. The narrative describes the effort to resolve the torment
suffered by Hester and her co-adulterer.

 While reading
Hawthorne’s the scarlet letter the reader will consider the issue of crime and
punishment, morality vs. legality, and personal responsibility. Also the reader will
demonstrate his understanding of the text on four levels: factual, interpretive,
critical and personal. In addition the reader will gain a better understanding of
puritan theocracy and its effects on ordinary
citizens.

Hawthorne was masterful in the use of symbolism,
and the scarlet letter “A” stands as his most potent symbol, around which
interpretations of the novel revolve. At one interpretive pole the “A” stands for
adultery and sin, and the novel is the story of individual punishment and
reconciliation. At another pole it stands for America and allergy, and the story
suggests national sin and its human cost.

 ...............................................................

 please
see this if good as introduction or not
.

thank u so
much.

How does the following quote from Chapter 1 of To Kill a Mockingbird relate to John Wesley and to Simon Finch being an apothecary?"Simon made a...

More than likely he was a "snake oil salesman" since as an
apothecary he would make and sell drugs.  In those days, there were all kinds of drugs
invented by pharmacists.  Some of them actually worked, most did not.  Scout
says:

"Mindful
of John Wesley's strictures on the use of many words in buying and selling, Simon made a
pile practicing medicine ..." (chapter
1).

It sounds like Simon
Finch was a good salesman.  He was stingy, so he saved what he made.  John Wesley was a
Methodist theologian, so it appears that Simon Finch used Methodist principles, or his
interpretation of them, to make himself a better salesman.  He was successful enough to
make the Finches an important name, and he is the founder of the “good family” that Aunt
Alexandra tries to remind Scout of
constantly.

.

What is the equation of the circle with its center at (0,0) that passes through (3,4).

Given that the center of the circle is the point
(0,0).

We know that the equation of the circle is given by
:

(x-a)^2 + (y-b)^2 = r^2 where (a,b) is the center and r
is the radius.

==> x^2 + y^2 =
r^2

Now we will determine the
radius.

Since the point (3,4) is on the circle, then the
distance between the point and the center is the
radius.

==> r = sqrt( 3^2 + 4^2) = sqrt25 =
5

Then, the radius of the circle is 5
units.

==> Them the equation of the circle
is:

x^2 + y^2 =
25

What are five quotes that tell us something about Piggy's character in Chapters 1-4 of Lord of the Flies.

At the very beginning of the story, Piggy tells Ralph that
he has asthma and that he's "been wearing specs since [he] was three."  His willingness
to reveal this, his weakness, so readily helps us to see right away that he lacks almost
all social skills but is trusting of people, particularly anyone who appears to have
authority.  This is only reinforced when he says "They used to call me
'Piggy'..."

A bit later, while telling the group that they
screwed up and didn't do things in the right order he says "the first time Ralph says
'fire' you goes howling and screaming up this here mountain.  Like a pack of kids."  In
this way he begins to differentiate himself from the boys.  We start to understand as
readers that he is intellectually on a different level than the rest of
them.

What happens to Jonas & Gabe at the end of the story?

That's your choice.

There are
many ways what happened to Jonas and Gabe. The last thing that happens it that they ge
on the sled and go down the hill. It says in the book that Jonas can feel warmth near
his feet. As he goes down the hill, he can hear music. He knows his close to
'Elsewhere'. So teh story can end that he went ot another Scoiety that doesn't have the
Utopian society in it.

Or, logically, they can't really
stay in teh snow for that long and also when Jonas is transmitting Memory of Snow to him
and they do become cold. They run out of food, and personally, i would die in that
condition. The story can also end for them both dying for hunger, weakness and
coldness.

A moving point remains equidistant from the point (a,0)and the line y=x. Find the equation of its locus.

Let (x1,y1) be the moving point which is equidistant from
(a,0) and  y =  x.

Then distance d of the point (x1,y1)
from, (a,0) is  d^2 = (x1-a)^2+(y1-0)^2...(1)

Therefore
 distance d of the point  (h,k) from a line ax+by+c = 0 is given
by:

d =
(ah+by+c)^2|/(a^2+b^2)

The distance d of the point from y =
x , or x-y+0 = 0 from a point (x1,y1) is given by : d^2 =
(x1-y1)^2/(1^2+1^2)^(1/2)}....(2).

Therefore from (1) and
(2)  the locus of the point (x1,y1) is given by:

(x1-a)^2
+y1^2 = (x1-y1)^2/2

2(x1^2-2ax1+a^2 + y1^2 = x1^2
-2x1y1+y1^2.

x1^2-4ax1+2a^2 +2x1y1 =
0

x1^2 +2(y1-2a)x1+ 2a^2 =
0

So by dropping the suffixes, we get the equation of the
locus.

x^2+2(y-2a)+2a^2 =
0.

Therefore the equation of the locus is 
x^2+2(y-2a)+2a^2 = 0.

Why does Lady Capulet think that Benvolio is lying to the prince when he tries to explain the fight that happeneded between Romeo and Tybalt?

Since Lady Capulet and Tybalt are blood relatives, she
would obviously, out of loyalty, defend his honour and be less believing about what
Benvolio reports. Although he reports as accurately as he can, it is the terms that
Benvolio uses when referring to Romeo's part in the fracas that makes Lady Capulet
believe him even less.

Benvolio
states:

readability="11">

"Romeo that spoke him
fair, bade him bethink
How nice the quarrel was,
and urged withal
Your high
displeasure: all this
uttered
With gentle breath, calm look, knees
humbly
bow'd,"

He is
saying that Romeo was not aggressive at all and used gentle, conciliatory terms to calm
Tybalt down, even telling him about the Prince's displeasure about fighting in the
streets. Romeo was humble, calm and gentle in his manner. Tybalt was, however, "deaf to
peace" and attacked Mercutio,  stabbing him when Romeo
intervened:

readability="5">

"...underneath whose arm
An
envious thrust from Tybalt hit the
life
Of stout
Mercutio."

Tybalt
then flees but returns later. Romeo knows at this point that Mercutio has died and
he has sworn revenge. He fights with Tybalt, killing him. Romeo then
flees.

Lady Capulet obviously does not believe Benvolio's
version of events, saying:

readability="7">

"He is a kinsman to the
Montague;
Affection makes him
false; he speaks not
true:
Some twenty of them fought in this black
strife,
And all those twenty could but kill one
life."

She
suggests that because Benvolio and Romeo are related he would, of course, lie. She
states that the brawl had been a cowardly act and that Tybalt had been outnumbered
twenty-to-one. It took twenty of them to kill Tybalt, suggesting Tybalt's bravery when
he was grossly outnumbered. It is ironic that she takes this stance even though she had
not even witnessed the encounter.

A further incentive for
Lady Capulet's disbelief could be that, since she knows that the Prince and Tybalt are
also related, that he would take her side, which the Prince does. He queries who should
be punished for Tybalt's death and ignores Lord Montague's suggestion
that:

readability="9">

"Not Romeo, prince,
he was Mercutio's friend;
His fault concludes but what the law
should end,
The life of
Tybalt."

In
other words, "a life for a life" - the score had been settled. The Prince commands
that:

"And for
that offence
Immediately we do exile him
hence:"

and:

readability="9">

"I will be deaf to pleading and
excuses;
Nor tears nor prayers shall purchase out abuses:
Therefore
use none: let Romeo hence in
haste,
Else, when he's found, that hour is his
last."

He
clearly displays favouritism.

Explain Synecdoche and Metonymy ... please give examples

Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or a
concept is called not by its own name but by the name of something that is closely
related to it. For example, we might see the following sentence in a newspaper: "The
White House has decided to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay." We know that the
physical White House did not make this decision but that the President of the United
States did. Because the White House is so closely associated with the president, we
sometimes use the words interchangeably.

Synecdoche, then,
is a specific type of metonymy in which the name for a part of something is used in
place of the name for the whole thing. For example, the common Navy phrase "All hands on
deck." This phrase means that all people (not just their hands) should report to the
deck of the ship. Another example might be "you have hungry mouths to feed." Obviously,
you are feeding more than the mouths, you are feeding the entire
person.

In book 19 of the Odyssey, what is Odysseus up to when he asks for an old retainer, the "soul of trust" to bathe his feet?

Odysseus is continuing the slow and deliberate process of
returning home and allowing certain people to recognize him so that his return will be
on his terms rather than according to someone else's.  He knows that the wound that
Eurycleia will be cleaning is in a place that she will see the old scar that will prove
that he is in fact Odysseus.  Even after she sees it and spills all the water in her
joy, he makes sure that she will not tell anyone else.

As
Odysseus limits all the knowledge of his return, he continues to control the entire
process.  It is also an interesting section in terms of the narrative process as it is
told strictly through the narrator's eyes and also gives us another flashback to the
past when Eurycleia served as the nurse to Odysseus and his mother at his
birth.

A word that describe the mood of the carnival in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

The carnival was a time of drunkenness and masked
identity. It sounded a lot like Mardi Gras to me. In the evening, costumed people took
to the streets for merrymaking. There was much drinking, food, laughter, and music. It
was a noisy, wild scene. If people did not show up the next day, the assumption was they
were sleeping the alcohol off. People did things they wouldn't ordinarily do because
their identity was masked. Since Italy was primarily a Catholic, the carnival probably
took place just before Lent, a time of giving up the pleasures of life to prepare for
Easter.

Explain the boy's seemingly calm acceptance of his hanging.Elie comments that "I never saw a single one of the victims weep" Why do you think this...

There are a lot of things that you must consider when you
look at this piece, not the least of which is the degree of horror that all the Jews
faced who were caught up by the Holocaust. Presumably, this passage is one that is
significant because it asks the question of where God was in all of this tragedy. The
boy is calm because he has accepted his fate. Even at such a young age, he knows that
there is nothing that he can do to change what is going to happen to him. Weeping will
not solve it. On another level, however, if you continue on in the passage, it is the
witnesses who weep and who mist ask the question of where God is and why he has forsaken
his ostensibly chosen people. The answer, then, becomes clear in the shape of a small
boy, too light to die immediately, who instead, like Christ on the cross, lingers on to
die slowly hours later. From the audience, one man answers the question, indicating that
God is right there in front of them on the gallows in the shape of that boy. Just a
Christ calmly accepts his own fate, so does this boy, dying with as much dignity as he
can is the ultimate denial of the torture being perpetuated against the Jews. It is the
understanding that God has some other plan, and that to accept his plan willingly and
without making a scene, is the ultimate in respect for self and
God.

What are the roots of the quadratic equation if the sum is 5 and the product is 6 ?

Let f(x) = ax^2 + bx + c   is a quadratic function such
that x1 and x2 are the roots.

==> Given
that:

x1 + x2 = 5

x1*x2 =
6

But we know that:

x1+ x2 =
-b/a = 5 ==> b= -5 a

Also, we know
that:

x1*x2 = c/a = 6 ==> c = 6
a

==> f(x) = ax^2 -5a x +
6a

We need to find the
roots.

==> ax^2 - 5a x + 6 a =
0

We will divide by
a:

==> x^2 -5x + 6 =
0

==> (x -2)(x-3) =
0

Then, the roots are : x = { 2,
3}

In To Kill a Mockingbird, what are the unwritten social codes that Atticus adheres to in his life?

Understand first of all that there are many "unwritten
social codes" that most characters adhere to in the story (and historically would have
adhered to if they were real people).  Ironically, Atticus does not
act like most of the other characters.  His social codes are far different from the
social codes of most people.

For one thing, he is the
arguably one of the the least prejudiced characters in the story.  He teaches his
children how to respect everyone equally.  One unwritten social code of that time was to
respect people according to social "levels."  Prejudice was not limited to race alone. 
It was also related to education, perceived "wealth," family relations, and land
ownership.  Through Atticus' teaching, Jem and Scout are able to understand and observe
the differences among the different social classes, but Atticus teaches them to go
against the social codes that tell them to look down on people who are
different.

Another unwritten social code of that time would
have told him to stay away from the Tom Robinson trial.  He takes it and fights it
fairly, to the best of his ability.  In a way, he is choosing to follow a
legal social code (one that lawyers and judges
should be abiding by) to hold up the law and provide the best
defense he can for his client.

On the other hand, Atticus
does do a few things that would have been considered adhering to
unwritten social codes.  First, in the absence of a wife/mother, he hires Calpurnia, an
older black woman, to take care of his kids and household matters.  It was probably more
appropriate to do this than to hire a white woman.  He teaches his children to respect
her, as well as all other adults, simply because they are older.  This was a social code
of the time that is no longer prominent today.

Also, he
allows his sister (Aunt Alexandra) to come for a while in order to provide a maternal
influence for the children.  Again, it would have been a common practice to send in for
family help in the Finch's situation with the trial.  Finally, in the chapter where Dill
shows up unexpectedly, Atticus allows him to stay.  He is abiding by an unwritten social
code here to provide some paternal influence for a child who does not have a
relationship with a father.

Find 10 songs that relate to the book 1984 and explain why you chose that song.

What an interesting
assignment!

Since there is an ongoing war among Oceania,
Eurasia and Eastasia, you could use some anti-war
songs:

Eve of
Destruction, by Barry
McGuire

readability="6">

War, What is it Good for? by Edwin
Star

There is a Ministry of
Truth in 1984 that "controls" information and, so it is really a ministry of anti-truth,
so you could use some songs about truth:

readability="9">

Truth, by DC Talk (Christian
Rock)

Brain Washing, by Bob
Marley

David Bowie actually
wrote a song about truth that was about the novel 1984. It depicts the final
brainwashing of Winston.

readability="9">

Big Brother, by David Bowie (from the album
Diamond Dogs)

1984, by David Bowie
(from the album Diamond
Dogs)

Many songs
written by Bob Dylan could work because they apply to what would happen if we ever had a
world like the one depicted in
1984:

readability="9">

Eve of Destruction, by Bob
Dylan

Blowin' in the Wind, by Bob
Dylan

Anything by Rage
Against the Machine - i.e. Township
Rebellion

George Harrison of the Beatles wrote a
song called Brainwashed which would be really
good.

Good luck!

At the end of Of Mice and Men, how does George react when Lennie asks him to "Tell how it's gonna be"?This question is from chapter 6 when Lennies...

Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men
is written as a frame narrative; and, as such, the final scene takes the
reader back to the opening scene in which George and Lennie arrive outside the town of
Soledad, a name which means alone.  While they make camp, Lennie
asks George to recite the description of their American Dream of owning a place of their
own after George has scolded him for his escapade in Weeds and for catching mice and
killing them.  Now, in Chapter 6, Lennie who has paralleled the act in Weeds, only with
more devastating effects, knows he is in trouble and asks George to recite again their
dream.  His desire is for the litany about their future that comforts and consoles him
for his present problems; in fact, it is almost like a prayer.  George prays with
him.

George, knowing that Lennie, like Candy's dog is in a
hopeless situation, tells his friend to "look acrost the river, an' I'll tell you so you
can almost see it."  As he looks at Lennie's head and reaches for Carlson's Luger and
recites their old litany, George's hand shakes; he drops his hand to the ground, but as
the voices come closer, George knows that Lennie, like the old dog, is no longer useful
and is one of life's losing victims.  He listens again to the voices.  As his hand
shakes violently, George sets his face in the determination uttered by his "I gotta."
Finally, he pulls the trigger; he shivers afterward and throws the gun from him as
Lennie jars, then falls slowly forward to the sand.

In "Young Goodman Brown," who is the strongest and weakest character?

This is of course a very subjective question and your
answer to it is going to depend on a number of other questions concerning the story and
how you interpret it. Is it just a dream, or does it have some basis in reality? This is
a key question that will definitely influence your answer to the question you have
asked.

From my perspective, I actually think that strongest
character is Faith and the weakest is Goodman Brown. If you consider that Goodman
Brown's experiences were a dream, it is Faith who shows herself to be faithful and true
and the strongest of all the characters. She is able to sense that something evil is
going to happen that night, and entreats her husband to stay, but also accepts his
decision to go. In spite of how he is transformed by his experience, we are told that
Faith remained, aptly enough, faithful to him and they lived all their lives
together.

Goodman Brown in my opinion shows himself to be
the weakest character because of the ease in which his experience transforms him. His
revelation of the evil within us all sucks all joy and happiness out of his life. Note
how he is described at the end:

readability="10">

A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a
distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become from the night of that fearful
dream.

So dark and gloomy
does he become that we are told that on his death no "hopeful verse" was carved onto his
gravestone, because after his experience his life was characterised by gloom and nothing
else. To have been affected so profoundly and then to make the lives of others a misery
shows a weakness and perhaps a childlike innocence.

f(x)= e^(3x)-k, where k is a constant that is greater than 0. what is f^-1(x)? what is the domain of f^-1(x) ?

Given that f(x) = e^(3x) -
k

We need to find the inverse function f^-1
(x)

Let f(x) = y

==> y=
e^(3x) - k

Now we will add k to both
sides.

==? y+k = e^(3x)

Now we
will apply the natural logarithm for both sides.

==>
ln (y+k) = ln e^3x

==> ln (y+k) = 3x ln
e

But ln e = 1

==> ln
(y+k) = 3x

Now we will divide by
3.

==> x= ln(y+k) /
3

Now we will rewrite x as
y.

==> y= ln (x+k) /
3

Then the inverse function is
:

f^-1 (x) = (1/3) * ln (x+k)

Now we will find the
domain.

We know that the domain is when (x+k) >
0

But we know that k>
0

Then the domain are x values such that x >
-k

Then the domain is x E ( -k,
inf)

Compare the relationship between Vladmir and Estragon to that between Pozzo and Lucky in Waiting for Godot? . What similarities and differences do...

Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for Godot: some
indication that life is meaningful or an escape. The name Vladimir can mean prince, man
of the people or ruler of peace. Estragon has the connotative meaning of estrogen and he
is the more stereotypically feminine of the duo. One is more masculine and contemplative
and the other more feminine and emotion-driven. Or, you could look at them as
manifestations of one character since they share characteristics and seem to inherently
depend upon each other. Vladimir is the conscious, practical one and Estragon is the
soul. These descriptions are oversimplifications because in this play there are no clear
answers. Each character is capable of rationality, emotion and existential
questioning.

Vladimir and Estragon depend upon each other.
Likewise, Pozzo and Lucky are attached: literally by rope. Pozzo is a bully. He defines
himself as Master to Lucky, his slave. Pozzo is a symbol of oppression and Lucky is the
symbol of the oppressed and the repressed consciousness, which is why his lines are
stream of consciousness. His rant adds to the chaos and meandering plot, but his speech
actually describes a progression of questioning God, the attrition of life/history and
death.

Pozzo and Lucky do more than just wait, but since
their relationship is based on subjugation, their existence is historically harmful
while Vladimir and Estragon’s is introspective but pointless. Pozzo does things for
recognition. Vladimir and Estragon are suicidal. They do nothing but think out loud.
Their outlook on life is almost entirely bleak, but they do still wait and try to pass
the time with conversation and occasional profound questions. Estragon gets beat up,
like Lucky, but Vladimir is not his oppressor.

At times,
Vladimir and Estragon sound like an old married couple whose relationship has peaked and
become habitual. They are waiting for something that never comes so they are waiting for
death. Pozzo and Lucky’s relationship is like the relation between the powers of history
and the modern, repressed individual. Pozzo overcompensates to function in the world as
a Master. Lucky is the slave but can be commanded to “think,” and his thoughts parallel
the confusion and the existential waiting that is characteristic of the modus operandi
of Vladimir and Estragon.

For Vladimir and Estragon, Godot
is God, boss or master. So their Godot is Lucky’s Pozzo. The idea here is that they
might recognize that waiting for salvation from Godot is to wait for nothing or to wait
for an oppressor.

Master-slave
dialectic: The relationship between Vladimir and Estragon has been
interpreted as an attempt to replace the Protagonist-Antagonist framework. Hegel’s
metaphor of Master-slave describes history and individual development as a struggle for
freedom during which one usually gains superiority over another. Hegel’s metaphor
supposed that true freedom would exist beyond this Master-slave, or Subject-object,
framework. Pozzo dominates Lucky, but Vladimir and Estragon’s interaction is not so
clear cut and this represents an attempt to describe of two individuals seeing each
other as subjects (not objects). Their existence appears meaningless but they are
actually doing what they can to avoid dominating or objectifying each other and
subsequently, they avoid being dominated by Godot. Ironically, they long for a master
but avoid one by waiting.

Did all Americans support the revolution?

Although we think of the Revolutionary War as something
that all Americans were behind, it really was not that way.  Only a minority of
Americans were actually strong supporters of the American side in the
Revolution.

This is not to say that most Americans opposed
the Revolution and wanted to stay with Britain.  In fact, only about one-third of all
Americans are believed to have been "Tories" or "Loyalists."  These are names for
Americans who stayed on the British side.

Instead,
historians believe that about one-third of Americans were strongly in favor of
revolution, one-third were Tories, and another third were relatively neutral, just
wanting to get by as well as they could.

What is constructivism as it relates our learning abilities?I am trying to find out how we learn through constuctivism. I am studying theories...

Constructivism is the idea that we "construct" our own
knowledge.  It is both a simple and complex theory.  Simply put, our ability to learn is
dependent on our creating our knowledge, best done in a hands-on or applied way,
basically saying that we generate our own learning.  It is a complex theory because it
is dependent on a knowledge of how the brain really works, which involves how we take in
the world, through our senses, and how that sensory input gets moved along to our minds
and in our minds, through the connections between our neurons, creating new, literal
pathways of learning.

Let me contrast for you two learning
situations. In one situation, a professor stands in front of the class and gives a
lecture on writing a persuasive essay.  The students take notes and then go off to write
their essays.  In another classroom, the professor hands out a sheet of guidelines, puts
the students into groups of two or three, provides a choice of essay topics, and directs
the students to write for 15 minutes and then critique one another.  Which class do you
suppose is better prepared to go home and complete the
assignment?

The second class has not been sitting passively
listening to someone.  They have done some actual writing, tested it against an audience
to see how persuasive it is, and maybe even done some revision.  This is the class that
is better prepared.  All the students had to construct their own knowledge of
essay-writing by grappling with the writing and by relying on feedback from their
environment to test their efforts.

How have recent changes in exchange rates affected McDonald's?

McDonalds has operations worldwide and though they may not
be too much into importing and exporting to be affected by the change in exchange rate
on that front, the revenues of the company in terms of US dollars are definitely
dependent on the exchange rate.

McDonalds operates not by
setting up its own outlets but allowing others called franchisees that are licensed by
McDonalds to open an outlet with its name and sell its
products.

Most ingredients used in manufacturing by the
franchises are sourced from the country it is based and sold in the same country.
Exchange rate changes would not affect a franchise, but the funds that they pay
McDonalds would.

Let's assume the license fee is a fixed
component and a percentage of the profits made by the franchise. A franchise based in
Japan earns in the local currency. They give McDonalds a part of what they have earned
in yen. If the yen were to weaken against the USD, McDonalds would receive a smaller
amount in USD, for the same earnings of the franchise.

As
the dollar has weakened versus almost all the countries in the World, it implies they
are now getting more from their overseas operations than they were when the dollar was
stronger.

What are the advantages of children's stories being adapted into films, stageplays and other mediums?I would also like to know some...

From an English teacher's point of view, I immediately
think of one good reason for and against adapting children's literature into other
mediums such as plays and movies.  First, let me say that anything that gets kids to
read, I am supportive of it...including the Captain Underpants
series.  Having said that, it brings me to the biggest disadvantage of producing
alternates to the actual books:  If the child can watch it on TV, on stage, or in the
movie theatre instead of reading it, most kids today will opt for that.  It is instant
gratification and doesn't take as much time as the actual reading.  So, they get the
story, but they don't get the discipline, the language, the sentence structure, and the
overall benefits that reading brings.  Research proves that the more you read, the
better you write (hence the exposure to more words and the correct sentence structure on
the page), and the smarter you are in general. 

On the
other hand, seeing the story on film might inspire kids to actually read the book.  Or,
the movie/play could be used as an incentive to get kids to read first then go see the
film, etc. as a reward.  It is always good to compare the two afterward, since kids will
almost always see that the film can never be as good as the book.   Take, for example,
the Harry Potter stories.  The films are excellent in terms of special effects, etc.,
however, you can not effectively mash 300-500 pages of material into a 2-hour film. 
Something pivotal will be left out, rearranged, or otherwise destroyed or altered.  The
book allows time for readers to consider what they would do in the character's shoes,
and it allows for the character's thoughts and motives to be played out in a way the
stage and screen are lacking.  In addition, seeing the film/play through a director's
eyes does take away from the imagination side of it.  I can't tell you how many times I
have been disappointed that the main character on film looks completely different than
how I pictured him or her.

What was the Anoconda Plan during the Civil War?

There were four main parts to the Anaconda Plan, which,
incidentally, was a very sound military strategy by the North to win the war. The
problem was, it would take four years for them to achieve the four parts, when they
should have been able to finish it much earlier.

Part 1
called for blockading the South with the Union navy, preventing them from selling cotton
to England or getting needed war materials from other
countries.

Part 2 called for occupation of the entire
length of the Mississippi River, denying the South its only waterway for transportation
and splitting the South effectively in two.

Part 3 called
for a drive through the Shenandoah Valley into Georgia and to the ocean, splitting the
South yet again.

The final part called for the occupation
of the capital city of Richmond, and with it, the Confederate
government.

What form of leader was Oliver Cromwell?

Oliver Cromwell was and English military and political
leader best knwon in England for his overthrow of the monarchy and temporarily turning
England into a Republican Commonwealth and for his rule as  Lord Protector of England,
Scotland and Ireland. Cromwell was one of the commanders of the href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Model_Army">New Model Army which
defeated the href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavalier">royalists in the href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War">English Civil War.
After the execution of href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_England">King Charles I in
1649, Cromwell dominated the short-lived href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_England">Commonwealth of
England, conquered Ireland and Scotland, and ruled as Lord Protector from 1653
until his death in 1658.

Cromwell was born into the ranks
of the middle gentry, and
remained relatively obscure for the first 40 years of his life. His lifestyle resembled
that of a yeoman farmer
until he received an inheritance from his uncle. After undergoing a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_conversion">religious
conversion during the same decade, Cromwell made an href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_(religion)">independent
style of href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritan">puritanism an essential part of
his life. As a ruler he executed an aggressive and effective foreign policy and did as
much as any English leader to shape the future of the land he governed. But his
Commonwealth collapsed after his death and the royal family was restored in 1660. An
intensely religious man—a Puritan Moses—he fervently believed God was guiding his
victories. He was never identified, however, with any one sect or position, and strongly
favoured religious tolerance for all the various Protestant groups. href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell#cite_note-0">[1]

He
was elected Member of
Parliament for href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge">Cambridge in the title="Short Parliament"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Parliament">Short (1640) and title="Long Parliament" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Parliament">Long
(1640–49) Parliaments. He entered the English Civil War on the side of the
" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundheads">Roundheads" or
Parliamentarians and became a key military leader. Nicknamed "Old href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironside_(cavalry)">Ironsides", he was
quickly promoted from leading a single cavalry troop to command of the entire army. In
1649 he was one of the signatories of Charles I's death warrant and was a member of the
Rump Parliament
(1649–1653), which selected him to take command of the English campaign in Ireland
during 1649–50. He led a campaign against the Scottish army between 1650 and 1651. On 20
April 1653 he dismissed the Rump Parliament by force, setting up a short-lived nominated
assembly known as the href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barebones_Parliament">Barebones
Parliament, before being made Lord Protector of England, Wales, Scotland and
Ireland on 16 December 1653. He was buried in href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Abbey">Westminster Abbey.
After the href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Restoration">Royalists returned to
power, they had his corpse href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell%27s_head">dug up, hung in chains,
and beheaded.

Cromwell has been one of the most
controversial figures in the href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_British_Isles">history of the
British Isles— considered a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regicide">regicidal href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictator">dictator by some historians
such as David Hume and
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hill_(historian)">Christopher
Hill; but as a hero of liberty by others such as href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Carlyle">Thomas Carlyle and href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Rawson_Gardiner">Samuel Rawson
Gardiner. In a 2002 BBC poll in Britain, Cromwell was elected as one of the
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Greatest_Britons">Top 10 Britons of all
time. href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell#cite_note-1">[2] His
measures against Catholics in Scotland and Ireland have been characterised as title="Genocide" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide">genocidal or
near-genocidal. href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell#cite_note-near-genocidal-2">[3]
In Ireland his record is harshly criticized. href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell#cite_note-3">[4]

In "The World is Too Much with Us," with what are we out of tune?

This poem is above all a lament at the way that mankind
has given himself over to the cold-hearted, mercantile pursuit of possessions and
wealth. Wordsworth begins the poem with expressing how sad it is that we insist on
getting ourselves caught up in material considerations at the expense of our deeper self
or soul ("our hearts"). The main theme of the poem is expressed in line
8:

For this,
for everything, we are out of
tune...

Pursuit of
materialism has made us "out of tune" with Nature and unable to appreciate it beauty,
might, power and majesty. In the words of the poem, Nature "moves us not." Wordsworth's
feeling is that by sacrificing ourselves in such away we have lost something fundamental
and profoundly necessary to live our lives fully and completely. He ends the poem by
saying he would rather be a pagan than remain cut off from Nature and the true meaning
of life.

In Macbeth, what is the difference between Macbeth as a hero and Macbeth as a soldier?

It seems that the difference between Macbeth as a
soldier and Macbeth as a hero lies in the level of humility that Macbeth has in each
role.  As a soldier, Macbeth fights valiantly in honor of Scotland.  The Captain reports
that Macbeth has been fearless in battle and that he went after Scotland's enemies out
of loyalty to King Duncan.  Here, Macbeth is selfless and humble, acting only on behalf
of his king and his nation.  However, when Macbeth returns and is labeled a hero by
Duncan, the praise goes to Macbeth's head.  He is thrilled by his new title--Thane of
Cawdor--and he wants even more praise to come to him.  This sense of ambition motivates
Macbeth to trust the witches' prophecy.

What were the differences between the leaders of Federalists and the leaders of Anti-Federalists?I would also like to know who were the supporters...

I agree mostly with the answer above, except for the
geographic breakdown of who lived where.  The geographic split between federalists and
anti-federalists tended to be living followed a much more east-west line than
north-south one.  Federalists were much more likely to be coastal and urban, while
anti-federalists were much more likely to be from the interior, rural
regions.

A rich merchant from New York or Charleston, then,
was more likely to support the Federalists.  A yeoman farmer from Appalachia or western
Pennsylvania was more likely to support anti-federalists.  Massachusetts was cut in half
by these sentiments, with Boston and the Cape heavily Federalist, and all of the western
farm country on the anti-federalist side.

Federalists also
tended to be wealthier and better educated, more organized and had control over most of
the newspapers of the time.

Well known Federalists included
George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Adams and Alexander
Hamilton.

Famous anti-federalists included Thomas
Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine, James Madison and Patrick
Henry.

If the minute hand of a big clock is 1.12 m long, find the rate at which its tip is moving in centimeter per minute.

The minute hand of a clock completes 1 circle in a minute.
As the length of the minute hand is 1.12 m, the tip moves in a circle with a
circumference of 2*pi*1.12 = 2.24*pi m.

This distance is
covered in 1 minute

Therefore the rate of the tip of the
minute hand in centimeter per minute is 2.24*100*pi
cm/min

Rate in cm/min = 224*pi
cm/min

What kind of narrator is Candide and can he be trusted?

Candide is young and naive, making him the definition of
the unreliable narrator.  The reader cannot trust the unreliable narrator to convey
correct information because the narrator himself does not fully understand what is
happening.  Candide is overly optimistic, making trusting his judgment a problem. 
People take advantage of him because he is hapless and foolish, and though he is
fundamentally a good person he seems to have no control over what happens to him.  Chaos
follows him, and he cannot be considered a reliable narrator because he is still trying
to figure out life, and what is happening to him.

3^(x^2+4x)=(1/9)^2

We'll start by using the negative power rule to the right
side:

3^(x^2+4x) = 3^-2

Since
the bases are matching, we'll apply one to one rule:

x^2 +
4x = -4

We'll add 4 both
sideS:

x^2 + 4x + 4 = 0

We'll
apply quadratic formula:

x1 = [-4+sqrt(16 -
16)]/2

x1 = (-4+0)/2

x1 =
-2

x2 =
-2

The solution of the equation is x =
-2.

What is a food web?Biology

A food web is an interrelated group of food chains, which
show the connections that can be made between organisms in a particular ecosystem. A
basic food chain contains a producer, or green plant, a plant eater or primary consumer,
a meat eater or secondary consumer, and some decomposers that operate at each level.
However, a food chain is very linear and as you go from one trophic level to the next,
there is only one choice of what each organism eats. In natural settings, there are
usually more than one choice of what a consumer eats. Therefore, if for example, a hawk
cannot find a snake to eat, it can get a rabbit instead. Thus, it is feeding from
another food chain operating in that same ecosystem. A food web shows the connections
that can be made across several food chains and illlustrates that for most organisms,
there is more than one choice of food. This increases the organism's chances of
survival. The article below contains a great example of a food
web.

In Voltaire's Candide, what are the main themes found in the old woman's history?

In Voltaire's novel, Candide, three
themes stand out in the old woman's tale.

The old woman has
not always been a servant; in fact, she was once a member of the nobility—the Princess
of Palestrina. The first theme I would identify would be that being born to greatness
does not guarantee lifelong happiness. For instance, the old woman speaks of her
betrothal to a prince of Massa-Carrara.

readability="8">

I was about to reach the peak of my happiness
when an old marchesa who'd once been my prince's mistress invited him to her house for
chocolate. He died in less than two hours, with horrible
convulsions.

The second theme
is that even when we feel that our lives are terrible, or our experiences the worst we
can imagine, there are always others who have had more trials, more pain, than
we.

For example, even as Candide and Cunégonde despair over
their dire straits, the old woman's tale shares experiences far worse than their own,
which they cannot deny.

The third theme is found in the old
woman's reaction to what she has experienced:

readability="11">

I've wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but
I still love life. That ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our most pernicious
inclinations. What could be more stupid than to persist in carrying a burden that we
constantly want to cast off, to hold our existence in horror, yet cling to it
nonetheless...

In other
words, even when we feel our lives are at their worst, there is a love of life that
persists within, driving us forward, refusing to release the very thing that causes us
so much pain. Perhaps the old woman is intimating that although we may feel very low,
our spirit fights to survive.

There may be other themes
present in the old woman's story, but these are the three that stand out the most for
me.

What is the purpose of "How to Become a Writer"?

Francie, the speaker of Moore’s "How to Become a Writer,"
comments a number of times about how she has been told, by teachers and fellow students,
that the plots of her stories are weak. Superficially, the same comment might be made
about "How to Become a Writer." Therefore it is important to note that the story does
indeed have a plot. One may perceive that the time lapse may be as much as seven or
eight or more years, from high school to the period after college graduation. The period
is that of the Vietnam War (1965–1975), for Francie describes a brother who has served
in Vietnam, has been wounded, and has returned home. Despite the episodic nature of "How
to Become a Writer," and despite its lack of direct narrative presentation, the story
also dramatizes a conflict. On the one hand, Francie adheres to the view that writing is
an irresistible outgrowth of either nature or affliction (writing is "a lot like having
polio" [paragraph 41])—the idea being that a writer is born, not made (poeta nascitur,
non fit). On the other hand, the "how to" title seems committed to the opposing view
that writing is a learned skill or science.

Compare and contrast the techniques of satire in Pope's The Rape of the Lock and Swift's "A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed."

Both poems start with mimicry of Greek epic poetry by
employing praise of the subject. Swift praises Corinna as the "pride of Drury Lane" (an
upscale area frequented by impoverished women with nothing but themselves to sell). Pope
praises Belinda by saying the subject of his poem is insignificant (i.e., "slight") "but
not so the praise" of Belinda. Each poet quickly turns the poem to the intended
topic.

Swift says "no shepherd sighs in vain" for Corinna's
love, which is a satirical pastoral allusion meaning that Corinna is beloved of no one.
Pope asks "what strange motive" could cause a "Goddess" like Belinda to turn her
feelings to rage: "Could make a gentle Belle reject a Lord / ... / And in soft bosoms
[dwell] such mighty Rage?" Both poets proceed to develop their satirical poems through
detailed description, particularly description of the lady's toilette (i.e., dressing or
undressing ritual).

It is in the description of the
toilettes that Swift and Pope differ. Swift uses deep irony in his descriptions. His
irony is calculated to make Corinna a tragically sympathetic character (“So bright a
battered, strolling toast”) and turn his satire to a serious social point (“With pains
of love tormented lies”). Pope uses light-hearted irony that is replete with Classical
allusion (“Of airy Elves by moonlight shadows seen”). His irony is meant to make Belinda
looking adoringly vain and turn his satire to a foolish feud between friends (“Beware of
all, but most beware of Man!”).

In "A Beautiful Young Nymph
Going to Bed," Swift uses what is usually thought of as an appealing ritual of
undressing to reveal a young woman who is bereft of nearly everything--except life and
pain--because of the practice of prostitution and its associated
diseases:

readability="11.782805429864">

With pains of love tormented
lies;
Or if she chance to close her eyes,
Of Bridewell and the
Compter dreams,
And feels the lash, and faintly screams;
( title="Notes: A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed. Jonathan Swift 1734. Edited by Jack
Lynch, Ph.D.. Rutgers University"
href="http://ethnicity.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/nymphbed.html#11">NOTE:
Bridewell, a woman's prison. Compter, prisons controlled by
sheriffs)

In The
Rape of the Lock, Pope uses the ritual of dressing in the morning to show how
pampered, privileged, and vain the lovely Belinda and her feud
are:

What
wonder then, fair nymph! thy hairs should feel,
The conqu'ring force of
unresisted steel?

The satire
of the one is meant to reveal the social injustice and evils of Corinna's tragic life,
with the aim of bringing about a change in society, while the satire of the other is
meant to reveal the triviality of a quarrel between friends, with the aim of bringing
about a reconciliation between friends and families.

Quote a short passage from the novel that is significant in displaying character development in Night.I am confused about what is being asked.

Naturally with any question about an assignment, opening a
dialogue with the instructor is one of the best ways to clear up any confusion.  That
being said, I think that the task is asking to identify how that passage reflects change
in a character or Wiesel's use of characterization, in general.  I think that you could
probably find many such examples in the text.  Wiesel rarely misses an opportunity to
show how the true horror of the Holocaust was its toll on the human character.  One
moment that reflects Eliezer's change in his own character happens upon his arrival in
Auschwitz.  When Eliezer sees the immense amount of death around him.  The oft quoted,
"Never shall I forget," helps to reflect how Eliezer's attitude towards God has
changed.  It is at this moment and from this passage that the reader begins to grasp
that one of the most horrific realities of the Holocaust was to remove the faith in God
that many held prior to their experiences in the Holocaust.  This passage helps to bring
out how Eliezer's relationship with God and his own relationship with his previously
held beliefs are both undergoing significant change as a result of the
Holocaust.

Why do the doctor and the gentlewoman observe Lady Macbeth?

In the last scene in which Lady Macbeth appears in person,
she has seemingly gone mad with guilt. It is a jarring juxtaposition between her
previous state of being--unflinchingly cruel, powerful, ambitious, and ruthless--and her
now vulnerable madness. Her emotions have gotten the better of
her. 

Lady Macbeth's servant, the
gentlewoman/lady-in-waiting, convinces the palace doctor to watch Lady Macbeth as she
sleepwalks. In her sleep, she makes crazed references to the murder of King Duncan. The
gentlewoman does not want to repeat the words she says out loud, because she is afraid
she might be charged with treason if she utters what Lady Macbeth is saying. Thus, she
urges the doctor to hear the words for himself. As he observes her madness, he tells the
gentlewoman that there is nothing he can do for a malady of the mind. He becomes very
worried about her health and safety, but thinks that only God can help her. He instructs
the gentlewoman to watch Lady Macbeth closely. 

This scene
shows the ending of Lady Macbeth. The tragedies that have happened will have preyed on
everyone involved, especially the cunning and conniving Lady Macbeth. Even though she
got angry with Macbeth for showing signs of remorse and weakness, she succumbs to these
things in the end. 

In Frankenstein By Mary Shelley. What French city do the De Laceys live in?

The DeLaceys do not live in a city. As the creature
relates his story about what has happened to him to Victor Frankenstein, he tells
Victor,

 A few months before
my arrival they had lived in a large and luxurious city
called Paris [France], surrounded by friends, and possessed
of every enjoyment ...." (Chapter 14)  But now, they are exiled because Felix was
present at the unjust trial of a Turk, and he became implicated in this man's escape. 
Consequently, the DeLaceys had to flee France. The creature
says,

"They
found a miserable asylum in the cottage in Germany where I
discovered them." (also Chapter
14)

It is while Felix takes
a "long country walk" that the creature enters the cottage and talks to the old
man.  Also, if the DeLaceys were living in Paris, it would be extremely difficult for
the creature to remain hidden or to find the berries and game on which he
survives.

What are the main points in Alice Walker's "In Search of Our others Mothers' Gardens?"

Many specific points of interest emerge from Walker's
collection of essays.  I think that one of the most overwhelming is that the artist's
journey is one the embraces freedom to construct both their own identity and the shape
of their world.  Walker delves into this through reflection about self and society.  At
the same time, one of the critical points that arises from the work is that the current
artist owes a great deal to those that preceded and as large of a debt to those who
follow. Walker stresses that the artist is not isolated from a social and political
commitment to others.  This takes the form of being able to identify forces that compel
one to model themselves in the light of others.  For example, Dr. King is one such model
for Walker, herself.  Another is the role of other writers such as Hurston.  In this
light, Walker creates both a sense of intellectual intertextuality and a sense of
solidarity between those that precede the artist and those that follow.  This creates a
powerful dynamic where one understands their own artistic freedom, but also grasps the
need to guide it towards end that connect the artist to others.

Why does Junior say, "it was like something out of Shakespeare" (142) when he discovers their first game is against Wellinpit?In The Absolutely...

The reason that Junior says this because Shakespeare's
plays are full of surprise twists and conflicts.  You have lots of examples of people in
those plays being put in situations that are very emotionally charged.  Junior is in
such situation when Reardan has to play Wellpinit.

Junior
has left the reservation to attend school Reardan.  This causes conflict between him and
the Indians who think that he has abandoned his people.  Basketball is a huge deal among
Indians today and so playing basketball against the people he has "abandoned" will be an
emotional experience for all involved.

The function f'(x) = (x^3 -2)/x^4. If f(1) = 3, find f(x).

Given the derivative f'(x) = (x^3 -2)
/x^4

We need to find f(x).

We
know that the integral of f'(x) = f(x).

==> f(x) =
intg (x^3-2)/x^4  dx

Let us simplify
f'(x).

==> f(x) = intg (x^3/x^4) - 2/x^4  
dx

             = intg (1/x) - 2x^-4  
dx

             = intg (1/x)dx - intg (2x^-4) 
dx

             = ln x - 2x^-3/-3 +
C

             = lnx + 2/3x^3  +
C

But we know that f(1) =
3

==> f(1) = ln1 + 2/3  + C =
3

==> f(1) = 0 + 2/3 + C =
3

==> C = 3 - 2/3 =
7/3

==> f(x) = lnx + 2/3x^3 +
7/3

Where do you suppose the gum and the pennies are comming from?

This is really a question that you should answer
yourself.  The reason I say that is because everyone who answers questions on here knows
where the gum and pennies are coming from.  So it's hard for us to wonder where they're
coming from.  From the sound of the question, I think your teacher is more interested in
your thinking than in the actual answer -- who actually puts them
there.

Jem and Scout seem to think that they belong to
someone who rides the bus to school.  That person has stashed them and forgotten them. 
This makes sense because who else would hide stuff like that in a
tree?

I guess you might want to consider that question. 
What kind of person would leave stuff in a tree other than a kid?  I suppose it would
have to be someone a bit strange, right?   And think to yourself where the tree is. 
Maybe between those, you can figure out who it is.

Discuss Twelfth Night as a satire on the idea of love at first sight.ANSWER

Very interesting question. Of course, you need to remember
that this play is all about characters falling strangely, suddenly and inexplicably in
love with other people - often apparently against their better judgement in a way that
drives them to folly or absurdity. Just consider the way that "love at first sight" is
introduced by the love-sick Orsino:

readability="16">

O, when mine eyes did see Olivia
first,

Methought she purged the air of
pestilence.

That instant was I turned into a
hart,

And my desires, like fell and cruel
hounds,

E'er since pursue
me.

Note similarly what
Olivia says when she falls in love with Caesario:

readability="11">

Even so quickly may one catch the
plague?

Methinks I feel this youth's
perfections

With an invisible and subtle
stealth

To creep in at mine
eyes.

What is interesting in
both of these quotes is how love is described. Orsino describes his sudden love for
Olivia in a very violent manner - he becomes subject to his desires, so much that they
constantly haunt and dominate him. The metaphor of the pack of dogs hunting the deer
(the "hart") suggests that there is something out of control in his love - just as a
pack of dogs when they have the scent go crazy and pursue their quarry, so we see a
love-stricken Orsino in Act I scene i, who is mastered by his emotions and out of
control. Similarly Olivia describes her "love" as something insidious, "creeping" and
overpowering. She is not able to control her response but describes what is happening to
her in terms that relate love to a thief or an assassin that creeps up on us with
"invisible and subtle stealth" to overpower us.

Both these
metaphors stress how love comes upon us like a "plague" or a "sickness" as it is
described by other characters. We have no control over it and it just happens to us,
seemingly apart from any conscious choice of our own. Thus love at first sight is a
central theme of the play, but it speaks more of infatuation, of how dangerous it can
be, and how it can rule us, and and how it can cause us to make fools of ourselves in
the name of "love".

Why did Yugoslavia split between 1991-1995?I need simple reasons for what happened.

The link below gives a really good and detailed account of
the reasons why Yugoslavia split.  Please consult it.

The
basic reason why Yugoslavia split is that there were too many different ethnic and
religious groups within the country.  As an example, Serbs and Croats are ethnically
somewhat different.  They write their language with different alphabets.  Most
importantly, Serbs are Orthodox Christians while Croats are Catholic.  These differences
made the groups feel different from one another.  (And there many other ethnic groups as
well...)

The differences between these ethnic groups were
not a problem during communist times because the communists kept the country under tight
control and conflict could not erupt.  Once the communists left power, however, the
various ethnic groups were free to act as they wished.  This led to conflict between the
groups and those conflicts eventually led to a horrible civil war with terrible
atrocities committed by a variety of sides.

So Yugoslavia
split because it was made up of groups that did not see themselves as similar to one
another.  Once the repressive communist government was gone, these groups came into
conflict and the country split apart.

What are some rhetorical devices used in "The Myth of Sisyphus"?

Albert Camus' essay "The Myth of Sisyphus" uses
allusion, analogy, ethical appeal (ethos), juxtaposition, and
imagery:

Allusion:
he obviously alludes to the Greek myth of Sisyphus, as well as
Oedipus and Dostoevsky's Kirolv as other absurd
heroes:

Then
a tremendous remark rings out: "Despite so many ordeals, my advanced age and the
nobility of my soul make me conclude that all is well." Sophocles' Edipus, like
Dostoevsky's Kirilov, thus gives the recipe for the absurd victory. Ancient wisdom
confirms modern
heroism.

Analogy:
he compares Sisyphus to the absurd hero, the rock to work, and the gods to deterministic
external forces which limit
freedom.

Ethos: he uses moral
argument and counterargument to show how Sisyphus loves life, hates death, and scorns
the gods, thereby getting victory over his fate and
punishmnet.

Juxtaposition: he
contrasts man vs. god, freedom vs. punishment, life vs. punishment, sun and water vs.
Hades.  All of his juxtaposed imagery supports life over death and freedom over
punishment.

Imagery: he uses
natural, visual imagery to create an emotional response for the reader: "mountain,"
"sun," "water"--all of which affirm life on earth instead of death and
suffering.

How does Steinbeck show disadvantaged characters in the novel Of Mice and Men?

Steinbeck wrote of Lennie
Small:

Lennie
was not to represent insanity at all but the inarticulate and powerful yearning of all
men.

Certainly, the title of
Steinbeck's great novella frames the narrative of the failed yearnings of all
Steinbeck's characters who are disadvantaged economically, socially, racially, and
mentally. Each of the characters of George Small, Curley, Candy, Crooks, and Lennie are
deprived of the basic needs of man while their "well-laid schemes go
awry."

Alienated from their homes, the itinerant workers
who seek jobs wherever they can find them are alone and vulnerable.  In their
vulnerability they become mean, as George says.  For, aggression is spawned by
weakness and vulnerability as demonstrated by Curley.  Even Crooks, who has been
ostracized from the others is cruel to Lennie when he enters the barn.  And, Curley's
wife exhibits this aggressive attitude when Crooks tries to deter her from entering the
barn as she threatens,

readability="6">

You know what I can do to you if you open your
trap?...I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even
funny.

Coinciding with the
meanness of the disadvantaged as they seek to protect themselves, is a great distrust of
one another.  When George and Lennie arrive, George is distrustful of the cleanliness of
the bunkhouse, then he is wary of Candy's motives for talking to him. In addition, he
feels an immediate antipathy for Curley with his appearance in the doorway;
George cautions Lennie to stay away from him and not talk to him. George also views
Curley's wife as "jail bait" as well as Candy, who is always suspicious of her motives
for coming around the bunkhouse.  After the others learn of the death of Curley's wife,
it is a distrust of the man who has killed her that creates their frenzied
search.

The disadvantaged characters of Of Mice
and Men are chiefly deprived of the essential needs of man:  love, security,
and fraternity. Because of this deprivation they become aggressive, cruel, and uncertain
of life, holding desperately to shallow dreams that give them some hope in their lonely
world. 

What is suggested by the quote "We are the doddering remnants of a race of mechanical fools" in "The Portable Phonograph"?

One of the strongest elements of the short story is its
questioning of progress.  The story features a setting that has been decimated by world
conflict.  Technological advancement and progress benchmarks reached could not stop the
obliteration of society and the annihilation of cultures.  In this light, the quote of
"mechanical fools" is persuasive because it brings to light how individuals who were
galvanized by progress did little to fully understand that progress for its own sake is
meaningless if it is not geared towards an end of social betterment.  Technology and
mechanism were not driven towards this end, as the result was world catastrophe.  The
quote brings to light the pain of recognizing progress as something that represents
failure.  In the end, Dr. Jenkins saved what was good in the old civilization, even
though they could not save that civilization. He adds that he hopes that they will help
the people of the next civilization to be strong enough that they will not fall behind
when they become clever.  This might reflect the scope and meaning of the quotation, and
its comment about the potential and very real shortcomings within
it.

Does arrests made on TV, MOVIES, COPS, affect the general public's perception on what constitutes a legal arrest in an investigation?fact

I believe it is true that television somewhat shapes
public opinion of what is legal and what is illegal and how matters are
handled.

Another aspect of this is region. For example, a
television show may display certain events which may be handled in a certain way. How it
is handled legally may be true in one area but not necessarily another. Basically, laws
vary from city to city, state to state, etc.

I do think
that it is important for people to realize that what they see on television is usually
for entertainment purposes only. Unfortunately, people do not always realize
this.

What were the sources of Senator Joseph McCarthy's popularity? What brought about his downfall?

Joseph McCarthy became popular because many Americans
(especially conservatives) were very suspicious of communists and thought that
communists were likely to try to take over the US from within.  Because McCarthy seemed
to be a regular guy who was fighting elites who were probably communists, he was quite
popular.  This was especially true at first when the Korean War and the "fall" of China
were still fresh in people's minds.

McCarthy fell largely
because he overreached.  He started to claim that people within the army were
communists.  When he did this, he ran up against a part of the government that most
people respected.  So now, instead of attacking egg headed elites, he was attacking
respected military people.

what purpose do the first paragraphs serve in chapter 1

The opening paragraphs, in addition to being exquisitly
written, help to establish for the reader two main things: Nick's narrative style and an
aura of mystery about Gatsby.  We can learn from Nick's "voice" that he is an educated
person with a solid family background.  His sophisticated vocabulary and his manner of
speech clearly indicate a person of good breeding.  The lengthy description of his
family history gives him a sense of history and authority.  If you read this section
carefully, you will notice that Nick's family history parallels the development of
America.  They came over from Europe, established themselves in the East and than
migrated to the Midwest.  The fact that he uses the word "snobbishly" twice is also a
clue to where his family sees itself.  The point is that we, as readers, clearly
understand Nick's background.  We do not, however, have much to go on when it comes to
Gatsby.

The second major point of these initial paragraphs
is what we learn about Gatsby.  We understand, first and foremost, that Nick is
conflicted about his own judgment of Gatsby (and someone who says he "reserves judgment"
at that).  Gatsby is someone who represents "everything for which [he has] an unaffected
scorn," yet "there was something gorgeous about him."  We also learn that Nick admires
Gatsby's "gift for hope" and "romantic readiness," and that he "turned out all right in
the end."  I urge my students not to forget these main characteristics of Gatsby,
because it is this, plus what Nick says about him in Chapter 8 ("They're a rotten
crowd.  You're worth the whole damn bunch put together) that make Gatsby
great. 

Armed with this knowledge, readers can begin to see
how Nick will become our guide through the sordid events of summer 1922 in New York, and
Jay Gatsby will be our misguided romantic hero. 

What viewpoint does Hughes use in "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"?

"The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is one of Langston Hughes's
most famous poems. He uses first-person point of view of a Negro person (it is never
stated whether the narrator is male or female) in this poem; but, remember, the poet
him/herself and the narrator are not necessarily the same person. Hughes's narrator
represents the African race, a timeless, first person perspective through which the
narrator is identifying with the rivers of the world and the connection of his race with
those rivers. Hughes wants to demonstrate that his people are a vital part of history
and that they carry the memories of that history in their souls just as the rivers carry
people from other cultures across the world.

What are some of the poetic devices used in the poem "Song of the Rain" by Kahlil Gibran?This is the poem :- I am dotted silver threads dropped...

The two most important devices used in Gibran's "Song of
the Rain" are metaphor and
personification.

The first two stanzas
begin, respectively, with the phrases "I am dotted silver threads dropped from heaven,"
and "I am beautiful pearls."  The poet does not mean this phrases literally; rather he
means that the rain is like silver threads from heaven and
beautiful pearls.  Such comparisons that do not use the words "like" or "as" are called
metaphors.

Gibran also makes extensive use of
personification, which means that he speaks about inanimate objects--such as the rain
and fields--as if they were human.  Examine, for example, stanza
3:

When I
cry, the hills laugh;

When I humble myself the flowers
rejoice;

When I bow, all things are
elated.

Stanzas 4-8 also
contain many examples of personification.

The poem also
contains two similes--comparisons that do use the words "like" or
"as."  The rain is "like earthly like," and it "kills" the heat in the air "as woman
overcomes man with / The strength she takes from
him."

"Song of the Rain" also contains an interesting
reference to another work of art; this is known as an allusion. 
Stanza 2 reads:

I am beautiful pearls, plucked from
the

Crown of Ishtar...

To
embellish the gardens.

Ishtar was the ancient Middle
Eastern goddess of love and fertility (among other things).  By comparing the rain to
"pearls plucked from the Crown of Ishtar," the poet introduces the themes of rain as the
great source of plant fertility, and also the theme of rain as a symbol of love.  This
second theme--of rain's connection to love--is discussed in stanzas 3, 6, and
7.

What place does Victor choose to complete his task and why?Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

In Volume 3, Chapter 2 (Chapter 19) of
Frankenstein Victor and Clerval arrive in Scotland; however, Victor
tells his friend that he wishes to continue the tour of Scotland alone and may be gone
about a month.  He entreats Henry not to accompany him because it is only by being alone
that he "may again feel" himself.  Of course, Victor seeks a solitary place where he can
complete the creation of a female creature for his already existing creature, a creature
he has agreed to create in order to keep the creature from killing
again.

For his work, Victor chooses a remote Scottish
village with only three huts and a few "miserable cows" because he does not want anyone
watching his activites; besides having few people to notice his actions, the village is
on the northern highlands and is hardly more than a rock with high sides that are beaten
continually like rock.  When Victor rents two of the three huts, he remarks that no one
pays much attention to him:

As it was, I lived
ungazed at and unmolested, hardly thanked for the pittance of food and clothes which I
gave; so much does suffering blunt even the coarest sensations of
men.

How has the executive branch changed since its inception?

Perhaps the most important change in the executive branch
since its inception has been the huge growth of the federal
bureaucracy.

When George Washington was the first president
under the new Constitution, the federal bureaucracy consisted of a few hundred people. 
There were only three cabinet level departments.  Nowadays, the federal government
employs over 2.5 million people.  Of course, the country is much bigger than it was in
those days.  However, the population now is only about 100 times bigger than it was in
those days and the increase in the bureaucracy has been much greater than
that.

The major change then, is that there is a much bigger
bureaucracy that gives the executive branch much more of a role in creating and
executing policies than it originally had.

Why do some people oppose the influence of American culture on their society?

This is so, primarily because of what is called 'cultural
resistance'. American culture or Americanism is looked upon as heterogeneous, having no
clear unified identity. That's the reason why many tradition-bound societies find
American culture and cultural standards suspect. America has been a land of all nations
and races, highly urbanised and technologised, with supposed moral  libertarianism, an
epitome of socio-cultural amorphisity.

The oldish,
traditional societies, trying to stick on to their nativist/nationalist beliefs and
practices, tend to ward off whatever is American. A bit too frank & open, too
independent American life is not acceptable to many societies.

It is said that enemies of Kino wear "masks" in their dealing with him in The Pearl.Discuss one character of whom this would be true, explaining...

It is highly ironic that the discovery of the Pearl of the
World as it is called in this text does not actually bring lasting joy and happiness to
Kino and his family It only brings eternal misery, which explains Kino's decision to
fling the pearl back into the sea. The effect of the pearl's discovery is clearly
remarked on by the author of this slim but powerful
novella:

The
news stirred up something infinitely black and evil in the town; the black distillate
was like the scorpion, or like the hunger in the smell of food, or like loneliness when
love is withheld. The poison sacs of the town began to manufacture venom, and the town
swelled and puffed with the pressure of
it.

One character who
immediately and incredibly hypocritically puts on a "mask" to cheat Kino is the Doctor.
His hypocrisy is perhaps worse because, having refused to treat his son, he suddenly
turns up at Kino's house, playing the role of caring doctor, even though Kino's son is
better. He therefore lies to devise treatment that is necessary for the patient and by
so doing gain some of the wealth from Kino. Even though Kino stands in the doorway as
the Doctor comes, with "hatred raging and flaming in the back of his eyes" he remains
frustrated by his lack of knowledge and his desire to protect his son. The Doctor
therefore would be a very good character to select as a wearer of a "mask" to trick
Kino.

How do I analyze a text with feminist theory?

Depending on the text, you will want to look at the roles
of females in the novel and compare them with the roles of
males.

In particular, you will look for these main points
of criticism:

1.
 Differences between men and
women: "The basic assumption is that gender determines values and
language."  Notice the differences in topics that men and women talk about and how they
discuss them.  According to Deborah Tannen, for instance, men are "report talkers" (they
announce things for show), while women are "rapport talkers" (they speak to foster
intimacy).  She also says that all women are marked: by appearance (makeup, hair,
clothes, body) and language (topic, tone, cues).  In other words, women must battle
these markings in every day roles and conversations, and it is tough to do
so.

2.  Women in power or power relationships
between men and women: "Note and attack the social, economic, and
political exploitation of women."  Notice the division of labor in marriage, the home,
and work place.  Are men doing men's work only (segregation of gender roles)?  Or, are
men and women sharing the work (integration of gender
roles)?

3.  The female
experience: is the speaker, author, or protagonist female?  If so, how is
her point-of-view determined?  How are her experiences different from other females and
males?  How does she treat others?  Does she celebrate femininity and the roles of
mothers, wives, and independent women?

So says one feminist
author and critic:

readability="25">

So, what has feminism taught me about literary
studies? That it is not "artistic value" or "universal themes" that keeps authors' works
alive. Professors decide which authors and themes are going to "count" by teaching them,
writing scholarly books and articles on them, and by making sure they appear in
dictionaries of literary biography, bibliographies, and in the grand narratives of
literary history. Reviewers decide who gets attention by reviewing them. Editors and
publishers decide who gets read by keeping them in print. And librarians decide what
books to buy and to keep on the shelves. Like the ancient storytellers who passed on the
tribes' history from generation to generation, these groups keep our cultural memory.
Therefore, we gatekeepers, who are biased humans living in and shaped by the
intellectual, cultural, and aesthetic paradigms of an actual historical period must
constantly reassess our methods, theories, and techniques, continually examining how our
own ethnicities, classes, genders, nationalities, and sexualities mold our critical
judgements.

What are some visual ideas that I can use to effectively connect to the tone/mood/meaning of the poem "Early in the Morning" by Lee?I need to come...

What a fascinating question! I like your idea of the
clock. You might like to also think about the context of the poem and use that to give
you some ideas. Clearly, this poem is a memory of the adult poet looking back at his
childhood and recording a family ritual--in this case, the brushing of his mother's hair
and his father's feelings about it. You might like to think about the kind of rituals
that your parents or family has and their importance to your family life. Another thing
to consider is that the poet is depicted as an observer on what is shown to be a
curiously intimate ritual that has a lot of meaning to his parents. What visual images
might capture the way the poet is included and yet excluded from the intimacy created by
this ritual between his mother and father? In a sense, the role of the speaker in this
poem is to observe and learn from his parents. What does the speaker
learn?

Lastly, you might do well to consider the complex
relationship that the poet explores through his work with his father. Many critics argue
that Lee's poetry is an attempt to come to terms with his memory. He was a very strict,
authoritarian man, yet he could be tender as is demonstrated in this poem. How could you
capture the ambiguous character of the father
visually?

Above all, this poem reflects the way in which
even the most simplest of actions can be transformed into possessing almost mystical
significance:

readability="8">

She sits at the foot of the
bed.

My father watches, listens
for

the music of comb

against
hair.

Lee explores this
ritual and shows how it demonstrates the deep, profound love of his parents. What do the
rituals you are thinking of show?

Lots of questions, but I
hope they help you to think through this excellent poem! Good
luck!

For what reasons did the Allied powers finally defeat Nazi Germany in Europe?

There are a number of answers to this and a number of
books written about the subject as you will find huge variances in the arguments of
various historians.

One view, that I tend to agree with, is
that the main reason was the utter destruction of the German army on the Eastern Front
and the willingness of the Russians to sacrifice huge numbers of people and massive
amounts of material to bring about this destruction.

In
many ways the invasion of Normandy and the other campaigns in Western Europe were only
possible because the might of the German Army had been absolutely wrecked on the Eastern
Front.  Had Hitler been able to bring the same forces to bear in the West and not been
so obsessed with trying to take Stalingrad, etc., the war may have gone very
differently.

What would be a good thesis statement about the character of Othello based on the issue of racism in Othello?

Your thesis statement is going to depend on what claim you
want to make about the theme of racism in Othello. What stance are
you taking? Are you going to claim that the play is racist? Are you going to look at the
idea that race affects the relationships of the main characters?  Are you going to claim
that things would have been different for Othello had he not been black? All of these
would be defensible ideas. However, before you can formulate a thesis statement, you
have to know what you want to say about the play and why you want to say it.  Remember,
a thesis is a defensible opinion.  What's the main point you want to get across?  Your
thesis should emerge from there.

Square root of x^2-5x+4 is defined for x = ?

The square root exists if and only if only the expression
x^2-5x+4 is positive or zero.

To determine the range of x
values for the expression x^2-5x+4 to be positive, we'll have to calculate the roots of
the expression
x^2-5x+4.

x1=[-(-5)+sqrt(25-16)]/2

x1=(5+3)/2

x1=4

x2=[-(-5)-sqrt(25-16)]/2

x2=(5-3)/2

x2=1

The
radicand is positive if x belongs to the ranges (-infinite,1] or [4,+infinite) and it is
negative for (1,4).

So, the square root is
defined if x belongs to the reunion of intervals: (-infinite,1] U
[4,+infinite).