In "Hard Times", what does Bounderby tell James Harthouse of Coketown's smoke?

In the second chapter of the second book of "Hard Times" Dickens introduces the character James Harthouse, a young London gentleman who wishes to join politics. James Harthouse visits Coketown with the intention of being trained by Mr. Josiah Bounderby before he becomes a Member of Parliament. As soon as Mr.Bounderby receives Mr. James Harthouse's visiting card he visits him in his hotel room where  he sees Harthouse looking out of the window very dejected and gloomy.

Most probably Harthouse was upset by all the smoke and pollution of Coketown and that is why after the preliminary introduction Bounderby begins by remarking,

"First of all, you see our smoke. That's meat and drink to us. It's the healthiest thing in the world in all respects, and particularly for the lungs. If you are one of those who want us to consume it, I differ from you. We are not going to wear the bottoms of our boilers out any faster than we wear 'em out now, for all the humbugging sentiment in Great Britain and Ireland."

For Bounderby the hardened and heartless industrialist environmental  pollution is a non-issue, it's only a 'healthy' by-product of utilitarian materialism.  In Dickens' time manufacturers and factory owners were required by law to "consume" or suppress and 'swallow' the polluting smoke from their factories.

This would of course mean installing more sophisticated  machinery and higher costs which would eventually cut into their profits. Hence many industrialists like Bounderby flouted the anti pollution laws of the day claiming that there would be no industrial development without environmental pollution.

Kate Chopin uses many different colors such as red, blue, white, and yellow in "The Storm"; what do these different colors symbolize?

The colors in "The Storm" are seen in different situations, and represent different things, according to the scene.  Some of the first mentionings of color are in describing Calixta's appearance.  Her eyes are intensely blue, and her hair is yellow, shining and beautiful.  This description comes in after Alcee has entered the scene, and symbolize how she must look to him at that moment.  She looks stunningly beautiful, with luminous eyes and brilliant hair; it symbolizes her attractiveness to a man, and her ability to be powerful as a result.  Kate Chopin took a strong interest in female empowerment, and these descriptions of Calixta's appearance serve to enhance her power over Alcee.  Later, appearance is mentioned again the red of her lips as Alcee goes in for the kiss; they are "as red and moist as pomegranate seed."  Comparing them to a red fruit symbolizes how appealing they are, sweet and desirable.

Color is also used to describe the bedroom.  It is white, and glowing with a soft light.  White is also used as to describe the bed that they lie on, Calixta's skin, and her "abundance of passion" is compared to a "white flame".  All of these uses of white ironically symbolize the pure passion that they experienced together.  It symbolizes what to Chopin is the purity of achieving one's happiness.  White is usually a symbol of virtue, and Chopin uses it as a couple breaks their vows and are immoral; this makes a point that she feels that we should not feel guilty for doing something that brings so much happiness and fulfillment.  Whether one agrees with that or not, the choice of the normally pure and virtuous white was a significant one for Chopin, to enhance her theme of female empowerment through personal choices that are sometimes unconventional.

I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!

What did Sir Charles do while he stood by the gate in The Hound of the Baskervilles?

While Sir Charles Baskerville stood by the gate, waiting to meet a lady, he smoked.

We know that he smoked for at least five or ten minutes because he had dropped ash twice from his cigar.

Sir Charles was there to meet Laura Lyons, with whom he had fallen in love.  She didn't really love him, though.  She was using him.

She was in love with the man who called himself Jack Stapleton.  She thought he would marry her if she got a divorce.  He had her arrange to meet Sir Charles to ask for money.

Stapleton has Lyons miss the meeting, but since he knows Sir Charles will be at the gate, he can scare him to death with the hound.

In "Shawshank Redemption" is Andy an Existential Hero?I know I already asked this, but im looking for a little more information. If Yes, give...

Sartre has three categories of freedom: the man whom he compares to stones (no freedom), the man he compares to plants (some freedom), and the true person (complete freedom).  The Warden, the guards, and most of the other prisoners are stones.  Brooks was a stone.  He hated his freedom.  Red is a plant.  Andy is the true person.  He moves Red from a plant to a true person by the novella's end.

Kierkegaard, the father of modern existentialism, says an existential hero must move from resignation to faith.  In his famous work, he begins with a Kierkegaardian "Knight of Infinite Resignation" and arrives at a "Knight of Faith." Kierkegaard says the knight of infinite resignation focuses his life around an infinitely important goal, but soon realizes that his goal cannot be reached, inevitably, for whatever reason. Even though he hates his situation, he resolves to be infinitely frustrated by his inabilities both to reach and stop reaching for is goal. Thus, he creates the illusion of a spiritual journey, looking to use ethical arguments to elicit pity from all to become a tragic hero. The knight of faith, however, steps outside the ethical into the spiritual realm and becomes an "individual example of an ethical suspension for a greater purpose—a purpose which is generally irrational and absurd—actually inviting those surrounding to pity themselves."

So, an existential hero is the opposite of a tragic hero.  Andy refuses to be blinded by his own false spiritual journey.  He refuses to suicide at the end, as Red thought.  Andy is the only prisoner who knows that his purpose inside the prison is irrational and absurd; instead of self-pity and resignation, he digs himself out of his cell and cashes in on his freedom.  He realizes his past mistakes and knows that his suffering in prison is his own responsibility and even necessary to his spiritual journey.

Remember, existentialism is an attack on essentialism.  The Warden is an essentialist.  He sees prisoners as prisoners, Christians as Christians, good as good, and evil as evil.  He labels according to what he sees as a fixed human nature; he limits choice; he doesn't see that Christians can be criminals and that criminals can be good.  Andy attacks and exposes the Warden's essentialism.

What approaches to motivation will be best to use?human behavior

In addition to the earlier response, I would like to add that positive role models act as a motivating factor for both children as well as adults. In the workplace if fellow workers are kind and considerate, washing utensils after their use inthe lunchroom, other employees will follow suit. Why is that ? I've seen that in places where I have worked. I think it is because everyone wants to contribute to a nice environment. In addition, no one wants to be viewed as the troublemaker--the one who disrupts the flow of positive action.

With children it is even more obvious. Children like to copy each other. Especially they want to copy an adult. They have no firm sense of identity yet, so they copy some adult that they admire. This kind of copying is very important to a child's development. It is a highly motivating factor--being a role model.

In A Separate Peace, what effect does the war have on Devon?

The war's effect on Devon is similar to its effect on the boys. When Gene returns to Devon after his break and after visiting Finny, he observes that some of the younger professors are gone--called up for the war.

Most importantly, Gene mentions that "peace had deserted Devon" (72). While this is partly a result of the war, it is also caused by Finny's absence and the brewing "war" within Gene.

How does gender influence the direction of the conversation in Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants"?

In "Hills Like White Elephants," Hemingway has constructed a traditional gender relationship between Jig and the man with her. Jig acts on intuition, which traditionally is an attribute assigned to females: "I don't feel any way," the girl said. "I just know things." On the other hand, the man acts from a motivation of reasonableness, which traditionally is an attribute assigned to males: "You’ve got to realize," he said, "that I don’t want you to do it if you don’t want to ... He...looked at the people. They were all waiting reasonably for the train." These gender traits influence the direction of the conversation because, since Jig knows things, she isn't persuaded by the man's reasonable points of discussion that oppose her point of view, because what she knows cancels the validity of the points of reasonable discussion, thereby making them moot (of no practical value).

In addition, Jig has a sense of interiority, looking inward, that traditionally goes hand-in-glove with female intuition, whereas the man has a sense of exteriority, looking outward, that traditionally goes hand-in-glove with male reasonableness. Jig's interiority elevates the simple operation that the man is advocating to a life-changing event, while his exteriority relegates it to a mechanical procedure. In Jig's point of view, there will be no coming back to life as she has known it ("once they take it away, you never get it back"), whereas in the man's point of view, their happy lives will be preserved ("We’ll be fine afterwards. Just like we were before. ... I don’t want anybody but you. I don’t want anyone else.").

Also, based on Hemingway's characterizations, gender influences the development of discussion in the conversation. Jig's interiority leads her make a private decision about occurrences while the man's exteriority leads him to continually press (in a very polite and reasonable way) for a mutual decision based on exterior facts. They cannot come to an agreement, as Jig's point of view leads her to fully realize, because an internal event, such as she is experiencing, cannot be externalized, which is the aim and focus of the man's point of view.

What was the first refrigerator?

Wow...two good answers.  I can't help but throw my hat in the ring, though.

It really depends on what your definition of a "refrigerator" is.  According to Wikipedia, a refrigerator is: A refrigerator (often called a "fridge" for short) is a cooling appliance comprising a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump—chemical or mechanical means—to transfer heat from it to the external environment, cooling the contents to a temperature below ambient.

By this definition, we can't really call what the Chinese did a "refrigerator."  It's more of an "ice box."  While the box itself (or earth, as in the case of a cellar) would act as a "thermally insulated compartment" it would lack a heat pump.

Now, if you monkey the definition a little bit to say "A refrigerator is something that keeps things colder than the air around them," well, then, you could include "ice boxes" and that would probably be an example of the oldest fridge around.

Of course, like the first answerer said, it is hard to pinpoint these things.  If you go with the second definition, whose to say that some fella in Norway wasn't the first to keep his goat milk cool using hunks of ice...you can't really track it all that well.  The first definition, which includes a heat pump, is easier to research.

My money is on the Romans.  There are reports of Romans putting their food into clay jars, putting the jars into a shallow pan of water, and then having a slave sit there and fan the water (as the water evaporates, it has a cooling effect, thus cooling the food.)  In this case the clay pots (and, to a degree, the water itself) might qualify as "thermally insulating" and the human being acts as a heat pump (the fan acts to remove heat from around the jars.)  Though weird, that seems to count as actual refrigeration.

As for the type of fridge that we think of, well, that's another story.  The reason for disagreement on the subject is that people from around the world were working on similar ideas at the same time.  Just because a patent was filed in a certain country doesn't mean that someone hadn't invented a process earlier (and simply hadn't patented it yet.)  In addition, a lot of guys came up with different "parts" that would eventually make it into a commercial refrigerator, or came up with an idea for a fridge that they never made.  The first "home unit" didn't arrive until 1927 when GE took all these parts and managed to make them fit in a cabinet.

Of course, you could contrast this with air conditioning, which is essentially a refrigerator for human beings, but that is probably better left for another question!

Who is Nathaniel Eaton in The Witch of the Blackbird Pond?

Nathaniel Eaton in The Witch of the Blackbird Pond is often referred to as simply "Nat" and is a very important secondary character in regards to the varied plot of the story.  Nathaniel Eaton is the son of Captain Eaton, the captain of the Dolphin.  Quite simply, Kit (the main character of the novel, of course) takes Nat's ship from the West Indies to Connecticut of the United States of America.  Nat is a true trickster and finds pleasure in teasing many people, including Kit.  In regards to his character, though, it is also important to realize that Nat has  a true heart in that he is often helpful and even compassionate.  For example, Nat is often helping Hannah extensively by maintaining her home, chopping wood for her, fixing her room, and doing other various chores.  Nat becomes captain of his own ship by the end of the story.  More importantly, he returns to Wethersfield and asks Wood for permission to marry our heroine.

Describe the ambiguity in Nick’s initial descriptions of Gatsby in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.This question is mainly based on Chapter 1.

There are many instances of ambiguity in Nick's dewscriptions of Gatsby. He says,

When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby...was exempt from my reaction -- Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.

Next, Nick begins his story. After serving in WWI Nick moves east from his Midwest roots to learn the bond business, settling on the island of West Egg, New York, "one of the strangest communities in North America". Nick reveals, however, that his story really begins on a June evening in 1922, when he drives over to East Egg, the wealthy of the twin islands, to have dinner with "two old friends whom I scarcely knew at all."  Nick meets with an old college associate, Tom Buchanan, and his wife, Daisy, as well as Jordan Baker, an unexpected guest.

When the light conversation includes a brief reference to a man named Gatsby -- his next-door neighbor -- Nick's curiosity peaks. Tension mounts during dinner, however, when Tom leaves to answer a phone call, and Jordan reveals to Nick that it is Tom's mistress calling. Later, perhaps searching for sympathy in response to Tom's phone call during dinner, Daisy cynically tells Nick that she believes "everything's terrible". Though riveted by Daisy's voice while she speaks, Carraway finds her insincere, and leaves the Buchanan house feeling "confused and disgusted" 

Upon arriving home Nick sees a silhouette emerge from the mansion next door, and assumes it is Gatsby. When Gatsby suddenly stretches his arms toward the water, Nick turns to see what he reaches for, but "distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock"  When Nick looks back towards the silhouette, Gatsby has vanished.

This description highlights the ambiguity that Nick feels toward Gatsby almost a sort of an attraction, idealizing Gatsby. I think it is Fitzgerald's way of presenting the allure of Gatsby, as an almost magical figure, someone that represented an entire era, an escape from the horrors of the war, into irresponsible and reckless behavior.

What's the theme of this poem?Can someone tell me the theme of this poem? Is it emotional control and power of love? Any other themes? Title: To...

I love analyzing poems so I will take a crack at it!  I had to make a guess about where all the stanzas end, and I prefer to know the name of the poet before starting, but what the heck!

To you who would wage war against me (this sets up some feelings of antagonism...already we are hearing from someone who feels there are forces out there on the verge of "attack")

there are many lines you have not traced on my palms, still you think you know me, (palm readers tell the future of a person by reading palms, so the narrator is saying "you think you know me, but you don't)

when i speak you nod knowingly as if you've read my mind and are only politely acknowledging the confirmation of my spoken words (you think you know what I am going to say before I have said it, that's how well you think you know me.)

but you cannot possibly know what i've been contemplating these days (you can't know what I have been thinking about lately, no matter how much you think you know me.)

my head is full of blood but you show no fear and i do not trust my hands which feel to me like stones (I take this to mean "I am seriously angry and do not trust myself not to beat the snot out of you with my fists.)

you do not cower when i approach though i am like a runaway train (you can't know what I am thinking because I am like a runaway train and you just stand there on the tracks.)

and i can hear your voice cool and steady while my brain screams profanities into the air around your ears, (you can't know what I am thinking because I am busy swearing in my head about what a @#$# you are, yet you just keep talking, cool and steadily.)

our past has given you no reason to be afraid but still i am surprised you cannot see the danger burning brightly in my eyes (I have never done anything to hurt you in the past, so you're not naturally afraid of me, but how can you miss the "angriness" that burns behind my eyes?)

the fire i am struggling to control (I am trying to control my anger, but it is hard.)

as i sit stewing in the kitchen's false light with tears my daughter comes to me frightened by what she cannot see afraid tonight to sleep (I am crying and thinking bad thoughts in the kitchen and my daughter comes in, she's frightened and doesn't know why but she can't sleep.)

i hold her in my arms singing soft words of comfort feeling her heart quickly beating against my chest knowing before i can think that i have forgotten us for our stupid little war (I start to sing to her, comfort her, feel her heart beating.  I realize I have forgotten her and my relationship in the face of the stupid stupid "adult" argument I'm having with "the person who thinks he knows me".)

knowing in the incandescent light that anger will never move me as delicately as she has moved me this night (no matter how angry I get with him, it will never be as strong as emotion as the love I feel for my daughter, which is delicate.)

The theme of the poem, as far as I can see, is that there is no emotion stronger than the love between a mother and child.  No amount of fiery hate and anger, with all of its accompanying physical rage, can match the simple love that comes with a child.

Also, notice that even though the man in the poem (I am assuming it's a man in the poem) thinks he knows the woman, she is quite quick to point out that he does not really know her.  The daughter, though, instinctively senses the fear and the trouble and is unable to sleep because of it.  That is real understanding.

What kind of father is Atticus from To Kill a Mockingbird?Use two examples from the book to support your answer, describing a scene where he...

ATTICUS THE HUMBLE.  Atticus Finch is a humble man: Besides being the finest attorney in Maycomb, he has several hidden talents as well. Yet, Atticus never resorts to boasting or highhandedness. In Chapter 10, both of the children question Atticus' worth. He is not exciting, he's too old to play football, and he has a boring job. When Miss Maudie declares that Atticus is "the best checker player in this town," Scout can't believe it, since "Jem and me beat him all the time."

But when Tim Johnson comes walking "lopsided" down the street, and the call goes out to Sheriff Tate to deal with the rabid dog, he instead turns the matter over to Atticus. Reluctantly taking the rifle and throwing his glasses onto the street, Atticus puts a bullet just above Tim's eye. Jem and Scout are amazed.

"Atticus--"
    "What, son?"
    "Nothing."
    "What's the matter with you, boy, can't you talk?" said Mr. Tate, grinning at Jem. "Didn't you know your daddy's--"
    "Hush, Heck," said Atticus, "let's go back to town."
    Jem sat in numb confusion...
    "Forgot to tell you the other day that besides playing the Jew's Harp, Atticus Finch was the deadest shot in Maycomb County in his time."
    "Dead shot...," echoed Jem... "He never said anything about that..."
    "... People in their right minds never take pride in their talents," said Miss Maudie.

Jem later tells Scout not to mention anything about the shooting to Atticus. Jem learns from Atticus' silence that there is nothing to be proud about being a crack shot--a killer.

"I wouldn't care if he couldn't do a blessed thing... Atticus is a gentleman, just like me!"

ATTICUS THE UNDERSTANDING.  No one in Maycomb shows a greater respect for his fellow man than Atticus. He always believes that you must see things from both sides to understand the situation. When Scout wants to quit school after Miss Caroline declares Atticus unfit to teach her how to read, Atticus "completed his examination of the wisteria vine," and explains to Scout:

    "First of all," he said, "if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--"
    "Sir?"
    "--until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." 

This theme becomes one of the most important lessons taught by Atticus, and both of his children take it to heart, later using it to try and understand others whose actions are different from their own.

In The Great Gatsby, how does Tom discover that Daisy loves Gatsby?F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby"

In Chapter Seven of "The Great Gatsby" as Nick and Jordan and Gatsby lunch at the Buchanan home, there is a phone call for Tom, who takes the call in the hallway of his home.  While he is on the phone, Jordan whispers, "The rumor is...that that's Tom's girl on the telephone."  But, the group hears Tom refuse to sell a car, supposedly to Myrtle's husband. Tom flings open the door, calling to Gatsby, but he sees Nick, acknowledges him and again leaves the room.  When her husband does so, Daisy goes over to Gatsby, "and pulled his face down kissing him on the mouth."

'You know I love you,' she murmured.

Daisy looks around "doubtfully" and sit downs "guiltily" on the couch when Jordan makes a comment. After they have lunch, Tom invites Gatsby outside, showing him a sailboat and the stables.  After this, Daisy asks "Who wants to go to town?"  Gatsby's eyes "floated toward her...'You always look so cool, 'she repeated."

After this look, Tom realizes the truth of what he has seen from the hall.  For, Nick narrates,

"She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw.  He was astounded.  His mouth opened a little and he looked at Gatsby and then back at Daisy as if he had just recognized her as someone he knew a long time ago.

When Daisy again speaks to Gatsby, Tom interrupts,

'All right,' broke in Tom quickly, 'I'm perfectly willing to go to town.  Come on--we're all going to town.'

He got up, his eyes still flashing between Gatsby and his wife. No one moved.

'Come on!' His temper cracked a little. 'What's the matter anyhow?  If we're going to town let's start.'

His hand, trembling with his effort at self control, bore to his lips the last of his glass of ale.

Before they drive to the Plaza Hotel where Gatsby confronts Tom, Tom Buchanan clearly has discovered the affair between Daisy and Gatsby and realizes the seriousness of it.

How has Jem's attitude about courage changed over the course of Part One { Chapter 1-11}?

Jem has changed by finally realizing that a man holding a gun does not constitute courageousness, rather a feeble 98lb woman on her death bed, who wants to leave this world "beholden to nothing and nobody."

He questions Atticus about why he defends those who seem to be guilty, and those who everyone believes to be guilty, only to be told that courage is, "knowing you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what."

He starts off the narrow minded child, questioning everything but develops into this more mature character by the end.. review the bets made between Dill, Scout and Jem about slapping the Radley house, going back for his pants and cutting off Mrs. Dubose's azalea bushes. Those are all points that discuss courage.

Short note on William Caxton-founder of printing press in England.

Caxton was the first printer of English speaking world.He not only published books but also translated some .His important publications are Dicts and Sayings of the Philospher,Le Morted arthur and Canterbury Tales.

Caxton printed four-fifths of his works in English. He translated a large amount of works into English. He translated and edited a large amount of the work himself.

However, the English language was changing rapidly in Caxton's time and the works he was given to print were in a variety of styles and dialects. Caxton was a technician rather than a writer and he often faced dilemmas concerning language standardisation in the books he printed. His successor Wynkyn de Worde faced similar problems.

Caxton is credited with standardising the English language through printing. This facilitated the expansion of English vocabulary, the development of inflection and syntax and the ever-widening gap between the spoken and the written word.

It is asserted that the spelling ghost with the silent letter h was adopted by Caxton due to the influence of Dutch spelling habit.

In what scenes of The Scarlet Letter are physical and emotional changes of the three main characters best shown?Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth

Chapters 9&10 give details of Chillingworth's physical appearance, and how his countenance seems to reflect the evil that is within him.

Chapters 11&12 give details of Dimmesdale's failing health.  Ironically, as he grows physically weaker (the result of inward guilt), he grows outwardly more popular, and to his parishioners, more and more "pious."

Chapter 13 chronicles the first of Hester's major changes, both physically and emotionally.  While she grows older (and less beautiful) on the outside, she grows wiser and more empathetic on the inside.  Arguably, her beauty is moving inward.

Chapters 20 and 21 focus on the physical and emotional changes in both Hester and Dimmesdale, as in the forest they are allowed to really look earnestly at and talk to each other for the first time in many years.

Which ghost has the biggest impact on Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and why? Show evidence to back up your point.

It is too simple to say that the Ghost of Christmas Future has the greatest impact on Scrooge because Scrooge breaks down and cries when he sees his own dismal grave and asks for mercy. But by the time Scrooge meets Future, Future doesn't have to do much?  It is Marley's ghost that has the greatest impact on Scrooge. Without accepting Marley's visitation, Scrooge would not have changed.

When Marley visits Scrooge, he is still a hardened man who shows no love or human kindness, and even attempts to dismiss Marley, at first, as nothing but a "disorder of the stomach," but soon Scrooge begins to see Marley for who he is, an old tormented friend who has come back to help him, but more so Scrooge sees himself in Marley, and thus the transformation of Scrooge begins.

During Marley's visitation we see Scrooge on his knees begging for "mercy," asking "imploringly" for Marley to "Speak comfort to [him]." And when Marley tells Scrooge to heed him, Scrooge replies by saying he will, but asks Marley not to be "hard upon him! Don't be flowery." And after Marley leaves, Scrooge attempts to say "Humbug," but he can't. All this occurs only hours after Scrooge denies his nephew's invitation to Christmas dinner and tells him that Christmas is a humbug, and after Scrooge denies giving charity to the poor.

Marley has the greatest impact on Scrooge; first, he scares him into believing that he is real; then he warns hims to avoid his evil ways so he can avoid becoming a tormented soul after death, and then has him accept the other ghosts. Without acceptance Scrooge would not have changed.

In Lord of the Flies; Explain the line on page 167: "There was the throb and stamp of a single organism."

In the novel 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding, the boys begin to be 'possessed' of a common primeval drive - put down perhaps as 'sin' by the traditionalists of the christian establishment with which William Golding was familiar as a child. He explores this idea further in this part of the novel. Scared by the thought of the beast, and refusing to take time to listen to any other explanation they seek solace in banding together as a group and the common beating and dancing rhythm re-inforces this and emboldens them - as in a war dance of a warrior tribe. The danger of this type of 'hype' is that a common drive can motivate normally rational beings to forget usual mores and behaviors and commit crimes which alone they would never dream of. We have seen this happen through history - in some crimes where there is a tragedy, a law of joint culpability can be applied. Simon represents an innocence that is destroyed by this type of behavior:

In the story My Side of the Mountain, who is The Baron?

The answer to this question can be found in the chapter entitled "In Which I Learn to Season My Food." When Sam checks a trap that he laid to see if he has caught anything he can eat, he discovers that he has struck lucky, and there is an animal moving around in it. As he opens it carefully, a weasel shoots out before Sam can try to stop him. Note how the weasel responds to being caught in Sam's trap:

He popped up about five feet away and stood on his hind feet to lecture me again. I said, "Scat!" so he darted right to my knee, put his broad furry paws on my pants, and looked me in the face. I shall never forget the fear and wonder that I felt at the bravery of that weasel. He stood his ground and berated me. I could see by the flashing of his eyes and the curl of his lip that he was furious at me for trapping him. He couldn't talk, but I knew what he meant.

Thus Sam meets The Baron, which is the name that he gives to the weasel that lives very close to his tree. The Baron is distinguished above all else by his curious lack of fear in the presence of humans. The Baron, like other animals, becomes a kind of companion and friend to Sam during his self-imposed exile from humanity.

Which are Natural Amino - Acids?

Proteinogenic amino acids are those 22 amino acids that are found in proteins and require cellular machinery coded for in the genetic code [1] of any organism for their isolated production. Humans can synthesize 10 of them (by interconversions) from each other or from other molecules of intermediary metabolism, but the other 10 (essential amino acids: arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine) must be consumed in the diet. Proteinogenic literally means protein building. Proteinogenic amino acids can be assembled into a polypeptide (the subunit of a protein) through a process known as translation (the second stage of protein biosynthesis, part of the overall process of gene expression).

An example of a Proteinogenic amino acid is an arginine.

Arginine is a popular medication for sexual dysfunctions and used to increase libido in both men and women. Arginine is needed by the body to make nitric oxide, a compound that works to relax blood vessels and allow more blood to flow through the sexual organs to improve clitoral sensation.

Arginine can be found in dairy products such as cottage cheese, ricotta, milk, yogurt and whey protein drinks. It can also be found in beef, pork, poultry and other seafoods (e.g. halibut, lobster, salmon, shrimp, snails, tuna).

Some plant sources of arginine are wheat germ and flour, buckwheat, chickpeas, cooked soybeans and seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower).

Non-proteinogenic amino acids are either not found in proteins (like carnitine, GABA, or L-DOPA), or are not produced directly and in isolation by standard cellular machinery. (like hydroxyproline and selenomethionine). The latter often results from posttranslational modification of proteins.

An example of a Non-Proteinogenic amino acid is a Selenomethionin.

Selenomethionine (Se-met) along with other seleno amino acidswas suspected already in the mid 1930s to be one of the toxiccomponents of seleniferous plants, but suggestive experimentalevidence for its presence in seleniferous wheat protein hydrolyzateswas obtained only in 1949. Se-met was definitely identifiedin plant proteins in the 1950s–1960s and was concurrentlyalso shown to be produced by strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiea, Candidaalbicans, Escherichia coli, rumen bacteria and marine algae,when these were grown in Se-containing media.  In 1962,75Se-met became available and was introduced as a pancreaticradioimaging agent. In the mid-1970s, metabolic studiesindicated that Se-met is well absorbed and retained, suggestingits use for nutritional Se supplementation. At about thesame time, high Se-yeast was introduced as an economical foodsource of Se-met. By 1984, synthetic L-Se-met was also beginning tobe produced at a cost comparable to that of Se-yeast on a per-Sebasis. Numerous experimental studies have since established thatSe-met and Se-yeast are suitable for nutritional Se-supplementation. However, concerns have also been raised that Se-metmight, under some conditions, accumulate in, or be releasedfrom body stores to toxic levels. This review addressesthese concerns within a more general description of its occurrence,metabolism and toxicity.

The sum of integers x & y is 240. if x was divided by 9, the result would be y. what is the value of x?

Okay, so the first thing you need to do is set up your equations.

First, if the sum of the two is 240 then x+y=240.

Second, if x divided by 9 is y, then x/9=y.  Another way to put that is 9x=y because if x divided by 9 is y, then 9 of x makes one of y.

To solve for x, you want to first get rid of y in the first equation.  Since you know that 9x=y, you just plug that in.

x+9x=240

So you know that 10x=240.  To find x you divide both sides by 10.

So that leaves you x = 24

To check this, multiply 24 by 9.  That gets you 216.  216+24 is 240.

So we got the right answer...

What is the "Inchcape Rock" ? How does the Abbot of Aberbrothok help the sailors ? What does Ralph the Rover do to prevent this ?

The 'Inchcape Rock' is a perilous reef off the east coast of Angus Scotland near the mouth of the river Tay. The rock would just protrude for a few inches above the surface of the sea in low tide and be completely covered by the sea in high tide or when the sea was rough. Many ships had been wrecked by this 'inchcape rock' when they mistakenly struck it when it was covered by the sea.

In the fourteenth century an abbot from Arbroath (Aberbrothok) in nearby Angus tied a bell to the inchcape rock to warn the passing ships of the  danger due to the notorious rock. When the sailors heard the bell ringing they knew that their ship was near the inchcape rock which had been covered by the sea, and they would steer their ship to safety thanking and praising the abbot:

When the Rock was hid by the surge’s swell, 
The Mariners heard the warning Bell; 
And then they knew the perilous Rock, 
And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok

Robert Southey's literary ballad "The Inchcape Rock" written between 1796–8, and published in 1802 is based on this legendary 'Inchcape Rock.'

Southey's poem tell us of a pirate who was jealous of the abbot's fame and reputation and out of spite he cut off the bell gloating maliciously and sadistically,

Quoth Sir Ralph, “The next who comes to the Rock,
Won’t bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok.

But the poem ends with Sir Ralph being punished for his evil deed. Once when he was returning home with the loot he had plundered his ship sails into a fog and he becomes completely disoriented:

So thick a haze o’erspreads the sky, 
They cannot see the sun on high; 
The wind hath blown a gale all day, 
At evening it hath died away.

From the sound of the waves breaking they realize that they are near the shore. Even as one of the sailors wishes that they could hear the inchcape bell and be warned of the danger ahead the ship strikes the inchcape rock. The pirate ship sinks with Sir Ralph tearing his hair and cursing himself. The ballad concludes with the sound of the funeral bell ringing for Sir Ralph and Satan waiting to receive him in hell:

But even is his dying fear, 
One dreadful sound could the Rover hear; 
A sound as if with the Inchcape Bell, 
The Devil below was ringing his knell.

Discuss the development of the loyalty and betrayal in "Macbeth".

Macbeth breaks the sacred King-Thane relationship bonds of "Comitatus" when he decides to kill Duncan.  More, he and Lady Macbeth commit the most heinous crime in Elizabethan England: regicide.  According to James I's belief in the "Divine Right of Kings," Macbeth's act of betrayal is the equivalent of killing God.

Regicide violates the natural order of the universe.  It makes the natural world turn unnatural.  After Duncan's murder, Macbeth hears, "Macbeth hath murdered sleep." Owls devour falcons.  Duncan's horses eat each other.  The earth shakes and shrieks of death are heard.  Time begins to spin backwards.  Foul become fair.  Evil reigns.

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both betray their King, country, God, and nature in committing regicide.  Not only that, but regicide is a vile act of domestic terrorism, and there are references to the most infamous act of terrorism of the time, the Gunpowder Plot, all through the play.

Macbeth doesn't stop with Duncan.  He kills another Thane (Banquo); tries to kill Banquo's son; kills women (Lady Macduff) and children (her son).  His first act of betrayal leads to others: hence, "blood begets blood."  He is the antithesis of Duncan, as he conferences with witches and murderers as his advisors.

The two most loyal Thanes are Banquo and Macduff.  Banquo serves as the loyal foil to Macbeth's betrayal in Acts I and II.  Macduff serves as the most loyal of the remaining Thanes in Acts III through V.  Macduff is so loyal to Scotland that he even forsakes his family's safety (leaving his castle unguarded) in order to make ready the preparations of war in England against Macbeth.  When he is told of his family's murder, he continues his course of revenge against Macbeth steadily.

Critically appreciate ''The Fox,'' the short story by D.H Lawrence.

Strong elements worthy of critical appreciation in the short story "The Fox" by DH Lawrence must surely include the following. An outstanding strength of this short story is the depiction of Nature, both in the symbolism of the fox itself and in the poetic prose descriptions of the landscape and sky.

Symbolism is strong, pervasive and full of message in this short story - rather like the odour of the fox himself. Henry and the fox are compared,transposed and superimposed several times (Henry also has a strong smell from his muddy clothes,his gun,his maleness and his sweat.)

Human observation and character portrayal are deep and meaningful. March is very fully described - her breeches,the way she sits,her wisps of hair, her large brown eyes. Banford also - her strands of grey hair,her mousy behavior and lack of physical agility in climbing stiles or heavy farm work. Henry is described minutely, right down to his foxy-colored downy hair - as is the fox itself.

Psychological analysis is precisely observed too - the cunning and wily thoughts of Henry, the peevish possessiveness of Banford and the self-control issues of March. There so many more elements to include in such a stunning short story (i.e. actualisation skill) but these are outstanding.

If I have taken Tamiflu, should I also take the swine flu vaccine?Three weeks ago, I got some kind of flu, and the test from scraping my throat...

Tamiflu is an antibiotic used for treating people with swine flue. It is not a vaccine against swine flu. As a matter of fact, the antibiotics act in a way quite opposite to action of vaccines. While antibiotic help to fight and overcome an existing infection in the body, the vaccine acts by actually introducing an infection in the body. The infection is such that it is not harmful, but it is in some ways similar to the infection against which it provides immunity. The principle of vaccine is that once you get infection of one type the body develops resistance to that type and some other similar type of infection.

We now discuss the need for you to take swine flu infection. If you have already been infected with swine flu once, it is as good as being vaccinated against swine flu. There will be no conflict between the tamiflu you have already taken, and the swine flu vaccine you take in future. It is just that you have already developed the immunity from swine flu. I believe the swine flu will not have any effect on you, good or harmful. However it is a wise policy to avoid unnecessary medication.

If you school or other authorities insist that you get vaccinated, you can consult the doctor who treated you for swine flu, and if necessary, obtain a suitable certificate that you don't need to be vaccinated against swine flu.

Why is Hamlet called a great tragedy?

"Hamlet" is a great tragedy because nothing seems to be positive in the story.  Hamlet is well written and is a conflicting character.  He changes moods often, speaks to himself in different manners indicative of his anger, depression, and moods.  The story involves murder and betrayal. The story begins with the murder of his father and his father’s ghost calling out for revenge.  Though Hamlet may be a hero to some, he has no friends.  Hamlet does not have a good relationship with women.  Hamlet rejects Ophelia and after her father's death, Ophelia takes her own life.  The story is one of revenge and deep thought and emotion.  Revenge only leads to many deaths of the father's and sons in the book.  There is no one in the story who actually finds any happiness.  Therefore, "Hamlet" is a tragedy.

What is the mood of the poem "to a waterfowl"?the over all mood of the poem

Organized around the scenic images and the poet's somewhat whimsical reflections, "To a waterfowl" by William Cullen Bryant has a spiritual tone as the poet opens a dialogue between Nature and his soul:

There is a Power whose care/Teaches thy way along that pathless coast--

Certinly, these lines can hold true for man or fowl.  Like the bird that "the abyss of heaven/Hath swallowed up," the poet's soul, too, will be guided by the "Power," and have direction through his solitary journey through life.

The beautiful nature imagery of Bryant helps to create the connection of Nature with the spirit of the poet's soul.  The "marge of river wide" and "chafed ocean side" suggest that the paths of the bird are ambiguous and in need of one to guide him.  The auditory image of "scream" rather than "cry" or another word suggests the bird's exhiliration, an exhiliration to be compared to the soul's finding a path in its life journey.

How do characters other than Atticus in 'To Kill A Mocking Bird' show compassion?It can be anyone in the book.

Tom Robinson showed compassion for Mayella Ewell in helping her with small jobs around the Ewell home. Ironically, it was his kindness that led to Tom's being falsely accused of rape, the situation that led to his death. When Tom was testifying at his trial, he made the mistake of saying that he felt sorry for Mayella; as a black man, he was not allowed to express human compassion for a white person, for it suggested that he felt some sense of superiority. This was one element of racism that permeated his trial.

Heck Tate showed compassion for Boo Radley in the novel's conclusion when he refused to acknowledge that Boo had killed Bob Ewell. Heck insisted Ewell fell on his knife so that Boo would be spared being placed in the public spotlight. Heck knew that being exposed to public scrutiny, even public approval, would be sheer torture for the reclusive Boo.

Also, at the end of the novel, Scout walks Boo home, holding his hand. She speaks to him very gently, allaying his fears. Scout has come to realize how emotionally fragile Boo is, and she treats him with respect and special kindness.

How are oligopoly and monopolistic competition alike and how are they different?

There are both similarities and differences between these two market structures.

The most obvious difference is in the number of firms involved.  In an oligopoly only a few firms are in the market.  By contrast, many small firms are involved in monopolistic competition.  An oligopoly is generally considered to consist of between two and twenty firms.  The lower number is set, but the higher number is not -- there is no firm number of firms that separates oligopoly from monopolistic competition.

Another major difference is that firms in oligopolies affect one another.  Price changes (for example) by one firm will affect the choices of other firms.  This is not the case in monopolistic competiton.

The main similarity is in the kinds of products firms in these two market structures produce.  In both, the firms can be producing differentiated products (although some oligopolies are producing homogeneous products).

What were the goals and outcomes of Zionism?

What were the goals and outcomes of Zionism? Zionism was originally the Jewish people's national movement to create a state or place for Jews to be able to live, practice their religion, and control their own political destiny. For many years Jewish people had sought to live in an egalitarian society. Concepts of socialism and communism provided hope for Jews initially but as the beliefs progressed and Jews still found themselves in limbo, the idea of a Jewish nation began to re-emerge. In Europe Jews were unable to assimilate into the culture. In addition, Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party made every effort to exterminate the Jews through ethnic cleansing. The Russians had pogroms against Jews and Jews were forced to flee Russia. No matter where the Jews moved they were unaccepted by the population. Finally with the transport of many Jews to Israel following World War II, Israel was declared a Jewish state. The Zionist movement was not a new movement. It had begun many years before and is believed in the Jewish Faith that God had promised the Jews a place. What few people are aware of is that the first Zionist settlement was formed in 1878. In 1897 the first Zionist Congress was established in Switzerland. In 1948 the Israeli War erupted resulting in Britain leaving Palestine. Israel became a state and continues to struggle with Palestine for the protection of its people and to maintain control of its statehood. The Zionists of modern day continues to maintain the ideal that Israel belongs to the Jewish people as promised by God and should remain in their ownership, that Jewish people should be united in the cause of maintaining the Jewish culture, and have control over their own political beliefs. Zionism is defined as “the national revival movement of the Jewish people. It holds that the Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture. “(Malvina M., Australia).

What is the evidence that the narrator's parents experienced financial decline in Nectar in a Sieve?

Rukmani the narrator of Kamala Markandaya's novel Nectar in a Sieve, (1954) is the fourth daughter of a village headman in rural India. In the very first chapter Rukmani tells us how the Indian custom of 'dowry' or 'bride price' gradually impoverished the family:

"my three sisters were married long before I was. 
Shanta first, a big wedding which lasted for many days, plenty of gifts and feasts, diamond earrings, a gold neck- lace, as befitted the daughter of the village headman. Padmini next, and she too made a good match and was married fittingly, taking jewels and dowry with her; but when it came to Thangam, only relations from our own village came to the wedding and not from the sur- rounding districts as they had done before, and the only jewel she had was a diamond nose screw."  Ch.1.

Consequently, Rukmani's father was practically bankrupt by the time of her marriage and all he could do was to get her married to a 'tenant-farmer,' that is, a farmer who worked for wages on another person's farm and who did not own a farm of his own. Further more, because of the administrative changes in the government Rukmani's father was no longer considered to be an important official and as Rukmani herself admits, she was not "pretty." All of these factors combined to work against Rukmani marrying a rich man:

"by the time I came to womanhood even I had to acknowledge that his [her father's]  prestige was much diminished. Perhaps that was why they could not find me a rich husband, and married me to a tenant farmer who was poor in everything but in love and care for me, his 
wife, whom he took at the age of twelve. Our relatives, I know, murmured that the match was below me; my mother herself was not happy, but I was without beauty and without dowry and it was the best she could do. "A poor match," they said, and not always quietly. How little they knew, any of them!" Ch. 1.

In Sophocles' Ajax, why does the playwright focus so much on vision, perception, and eyes?

Sophocles seems to have been drawn to the theme of literal versus spiritual vision. As many students have discovered, Sophocles' Oedipus the King deals with this theme as when, for example, the blind Teiresias knows that Oedipus killed his father and married his mother. Once Oedipus learns the truth about his past, he blinds himself and thus becomes like Teiresias.

At least 15 years before Oedipus the King, Sophocles brought the Ajax to the Athenian theater. In this play, Sophocles offers another study in a character who experiences distorted sight. In the Ajax, however, the goddess Athene causes Ajax's sight to become altered. Ajax has attempted to kill Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Odysseus, but Athene causes Ajax to kill cattle instead:

I stopped him. I threw down into his eyes
an overwhelming sense of murderous joy
and turned his rage against the sheep and cattle
and those protecting them—the common herd
which so far has not been divided up. (Ian Johnston translation)

When Ajax realizes that his eyes deceived him, he feels that the only way to regain his honor is to kill himself with his enemy Hector's sword. Ajax, however, gives a deceptive speech in which he fools his comrades into thinking that he is not going to kill himself. Earlier in the play, Ajax's sight was distorted. After hearing Ajax's deception speech, the Chorus is overjoyed and although they think that they "see" things clearly, they have actually been blinded in metaphorical sense to Ajax's true purpose:

From our eyes Ares has removed
those terrifying agonies.

Following Ajax's suicide, his half-brother Teucer's eyes also have become affected. He declares,

O this is surely the most painful sight
of anything my eyes have ever seen.

Teucer, in turn, calls Agamemnon's sight into question.

You miserable man,

where are your eyes when you go on like this?

After Agamemnon criticizes Teucer for not having two Greek parents, Teucer reminds Agamemnon that he, too, came from a heritage in which Greek and barbarian had intermingled.

Thus, in Sophocles' play, most of the major characters in the play experience some sort of distortion of their eyesight. Why Sophocles unifies this play with the vision motif is a matter of interpretation. Perhaps he is trying to teach his audience that everyone is susceptible to their vision being distorted in regard to different things: people, situations, the divine, etc.

What is the major logical fallacy in "A Modest Proposal"?

Two major fallacies are in evidence throughout the masterful and enduringly relevant text of "A Modest Proposal." The first and most immediately obvious is the appeal to authority. The author-in-character consciously adopts a tone of paternalistic knowingness, setting himself up as an authority with no real grounds to do so by quoting unsubstantiated statistics:

The number of Souls in this Kingdom being usually reckoned one Million and a half, Of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand Couple whose Wives are breeders, from which number I Subtract thirty Thousand Couples, who are able to maintain their own Children... I again Subtract fifty Thousand for those Women who miscarry, or whose Children dye by accident, or disease within the Year...

The reader is given no assurance as to the source or accuracy of these statistics, since their purpose is to give an effect of authority, rather than to encourage rational analysis. The fallacious appeal to authority is furthered and augmented by quoting an unnamed "very worthy Person, a true Lover of his Country, and whose Virtues I highly esteem," adding the non-sequitur to the parade of fallacies Swift intends to expose (what does the author's opinion matter?). A further authority quoted, "the famous Sallmanaazor, a Native of the Island Formosa," is actually fictitious, further highlighting the absurdity of continually deferring to absent authorities when rational justification is lacking. 

A second fallacy that pervades "A Modest Proposal" is the appeal to emotion, which is pursued in several forms. The vivid depiction of poverty in the early paragraphs is intended to provoke an emotional response that will make any proposal desirable, if only it will diminish the spectacle of such suffering. Such appeal is most pronounced in the following paragraph: 

There is likewise another great Advantage in my Scheme, that it will prevent those voluntary Abortions, and that horrid practice of Women murdering their Bastard Children, alas! too frequent among us, Sacrificing the poor innocent Babes, I doubt, more to avoid the Expence, than the Shame, which would move Tears and Pity in the most Savage and inhuman breast.

Here the author-in-character relies on the pity, shame and disgust provoked in his readers, rather than the strictures of reason and justice, to render his proposal more palatable. The shame that appears here as elsewhere is linked to patriotism, with references to "the present deplorable state of the Kingdom," "a true Lover of his Country," and to bigotry in the form of religious hatred, revealed in the pointed reference to "lessening the number of Papists among us." 

What is the meaning of the novel's title: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn? How does the tree function as a symbol throughout the novel?

The tree is described in the novel as a continual symbol of growth:

There's a tree that grows in Brooklyn, Some people call it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed falls, it makes a tree which struggles to reach the sky...

Metaphorically, the tree is Francie, & the other characters who struggle to survive in the brutal urban environment. The tree is an anomaly in the "concrete jungle"-one does not see plants, green and vibrant, in such a dreary setting. In much the same way, one may not expect the characters to survive and even thrive in their harsh surroundings. Yet they do, & this struggle is manifested in the growth of the tree. People are like trees-wherever the seeds fall (wherever they're born), they must struggle for life. The fact that the tree is described as reaching to heaven shows the constant attempt of all humans to reach greater heights. We all aspire to "reach heaven" in our own way, much like the tree of the title.

What do you admire or dislike about Rainsford in "The Most Dangerous Game"?

Sanger Rainsford, the main character in Richard Connell's short story "The Most Dangerous Game," is a world class hunter who falls off his yacht and swims ashore on Ship-Trap Island. Rainsford is resourceful, cunning and physically imposing. He is intelligent, well-read and worldly, since he recognizes many of the fine accoutrements in Zaroff's home. He enjoys a good meal, a fine wine and a comfortable bed. He keeps his head even under the most trying conditions, and he has nerve enough for many men.

The fact that he is a skillful hunter may not necessarily be a positive trait, especially to animal rights activists. But unlike Zaroff, hunting animals satisfy him--at least until the end of the story when his desire for revenge overwhelms him.

What is meant by Adam Smith's "invisible hand" theory? Can you suggest an example where this seems true & economics works that way?

The Idea of "invisible hand" was introduced by Adam Smith in his book Wealth of Nations first published in 1776. Smith uses this concept to describe a paradox of laizzes-faire or perfect completion, in which every person in an economy working to achieve his own selfish goals leads to benefit of all.The individual neither intends to promote the public nor he knows how much he is promoting it.Adam Smith compares this process as an invisible benevolent directing the whole process for benefit of all.

Based on belief of effectiveness of this so called invisible hand, the doctrine of laissez-faire which recommends that government should interfere as little as possible in economic affairs, guided the action of governments in many countries. However, beginning from the twentieth century, there has been growing feeling that the theoretical assumption on which the action of invisible hand is dependent, do not exist in reality.

It is not possible to give examples of the working of invisible hand as it applies to complete economies. However we can say that till start of the industrial revolution, this was the primary mechanism at work for the economic development and growth all over the world.

How would you describe the characteristics of literary naturalism in reference to Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat"?

Naturalism is a literary movement which focuses on very specific aspects of life. The characteristics of Naturalistic texts contain the following ideals:

1.  The text is written from an objective point-of-view. This means that the author writes from a scientific perspective similar to that of an experiment. The author states that they are simply describing the action of what is happening- they do not attempt to change or influence the character or the action of the text in any way.

2. The characters described are typically deterministic. The protagonist simply sees a problem with the circumstances that they have found theme selves in, or other characters in, and wishes to change them.

3. Given the text is written from an objective point-of-view, the text is also pessimistic and emotionally cold. The author is, again, only describing what they are "seeing" from a observers point-of-view. They wish to have no compassion for the characters because it would force them to interfere with the action of the story.

4. The setting is one you would find in everyday life. There are no spectacular scenes in regards to elaborate castles or upper-class niceties. The settings are typically set in lower-class homes and workplaces.

5. The characters described are typical, like the settings. Walking around a mine would allow one simply pick any worker and place them into a Naturalistic text.

Crane's "The Open Boat" includes many of the characteristics as described above.

1. Crane writes the story of the men from an objective point-of-view. He refuses to influence the story in a way which would offer any relief to the men. Instead, the harshness of the sea proves to be more than the men can handle at times.

2. The men are deterministic. Many of them believe that they will be rescued or find safety soon. A few never give up hope.

3. Emotional coldness is exemplified in the descriptions of nature which surrounds the men. The ocean, the birds, and the empty house of refuge shows the disparaging circumstances that the men are truly in.

4. The setting is ordinary, like the characters. There is nothing elaborate about the men or the dinghy to which they cling to.

In Saint Maybe, why is the book called Saint Maybe?

Ian's brother, Danny, marries Lucy, a woman Ian does not approve of: their courtship is short, she has children from a previous relationship, and after the wedding, Ian suspects that Lucy is fooling around behind Danny's back.  Ian and his brother have an argument about Lucy, and after Danny slams out of the house, he has a car accident and dies.

Soon after, caught up in the depression of a life that is spiraling out of control after the death of her husband and the birth of their baby girl, Lucy overdoses and dies.

When the question of who will take the children arises, Ian's guilt eats at him:  Danny might be alive if Ian had remained silent about his suspicions.  Coupled with his new "membership" in the Church of Second Chances, Ian comes to the conclusion that he must assume the responsibility for the children and raise them himself.

As one might expect, it's not an easy job. Quitting college, Ian "apprentices" and eventually becomes an excellent wood crafter, so he is able to provide for the children.

Ironically, Ian grows up along with the children.  As is the case with life, his path has taken unexpected turns and twists.  His is a non-traditional family, but somehow they are able to stick it out and stick together.

As the kids start to seek their own paths in life, and even as Ian is starting to feel his age, he meets Rita.  Rita organizes people's closets, and, in some cases, their lives.  This is the case with Ian.  The two hit it off and eventually marry.  It is with the birth of his own biological child that he is taken back to the birth of his brother's daughter which helps him feel that he has not only come full circle in his life, but that things have worked out as they should have.

The title Saint Maybe may refer to the fact that though Ian is perceived as being a "saint" for taking in his brother's children, he does it not simply because he feels it is his responsibility as a loving brother, but also because of his guilt.  His behavior is not completely altruistic.  In his mind, having brought about his brother's tragic death, his guilt drives him to believe that it falls to him to step into the empty place created in the lives of Danny's children when Lucy dies.

On the other hand, perhaps Saint Maybe refers to the fact that Ian has become the genuinely good man that he is because of the course of events following Danny's death.  He certainly could have felt no obligation to help at all.  Or in doing so, he could have made a casual attempt at parenting.  However, Ian jumps in with both feet.  He loves these children as if they are his own.  Perhaps it is not "sainthood" that surrounds Ian's behavior, but the core of the man emerging to be something extraordinary in the face of life's obstacles, tragedies, and twists.  In that Ian and his family have always been a little "out there" with their unusual optimism and sense of well-being regardless of life's hurdles, Saint Maybe may infer that it is not saintliness at work here, but a man's fight for the common good of his family, which pays off in the end with a great deal of pride in his children, and finally a chance for love with Rita and the birth of his own child.

Maybe Ian is a saint.  And maybe he is simply what all of us can be if we commit ourselves to a true, worthy cause, even while those around us may not believe in our vision--sticking with it not just when it's easy...but all the time.

What precautions do we need to take while measuring time intervals using a simple pendulum?

Importantly is the angle at which the pendulum is drawn out to.  The smaller the angle, the closer to harmonic motion it will behave because the restoring force is acting tangent to the arc the pendulum moves through instead of being outside of it.  therefore, keep the angle at which you draw out the pendulum less that about 12 degrees.

also, the period of the pendulum is based on the length of it so make sure that the string is one that does not stretch.  At the bottom of the swing, the string can stretch affecting it's length and therefore affecting its period.  the tension in the string can be calculated T = mg + Fc where Fc is centripetal force.  The stretch needs to be eliminated by using a high test fishing line or other, non elastic material.

A third factor of course friction.  Use materials that do not have much friction like the fishing line.

finally the shape of the bob is important.  the pendulum's mass is measured to the center of mass of the bob.  A small, spherical bob is much preferred over a long one.  Small lead fishing weights that are spherical are ideal.  they also eliminate or minimize a lot of error due to air resistance.

What plan for the group does the Host propose in The Canterbury Tales?

Chaucer the pilgrim, who narrates the General Prologue, describes the 29 pilgrims as a company of various sorts of men and women, from all different social ranks and professions, who have collected, by chance, in fellowship: Of sondry folk, by aventure yfalle / In felaweshipe” (ll. 25-26). At the opening of the General Prologue, the pilgrims have gathered in Southwark, just outside of London, at the Tabard Inn and intend to ride toward Canterbury to worship at the shrine of Saint Thomas. During his life, Thomas Becket had been the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Host, Harry Bailey, owns the Tabard Inn. He proclaims that he has never seen such a merry company of pilgrims and would gladly make them happy. With this, he remembers that most pilgrims tell tales on their way to Canterbury to pass the time. Thus, Harry Bailey devises a game: “And therfore wol I maken yow disport, As I seyde erst, and doon yow som confort” (ll. 775-776).

The Host, Harry Bailey, rules that each pilgrim will tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the trip home: “…ech of yow, to shorte with oure weye, / In this viage shal telle tales tweye / To Caunterbury-ward, I mene it so, /  And homward he shal tellen othere two” (ll. 791-94).

The best tales, proclaims the Host, are those that have the most pleasure and moral meaning: “Tales of best sentence and moost solaas –“ (ll. 798). The winner, chosen by the Host, will receive dinner at the Tabard Inn at the expense of all the other pilgrims.

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What is a good thesis statement for the short story "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez?

A most unusual story, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is classified as Magical Realism.  This term of two words is indicative of the central idea of Marquez's story.  For, it is a parody of the act of interpretative process as it treats two facets of this process:  logical explanation and invention/imagination.

To develop this thesis, here are some main points to consider in the search for supporting details:

• When the old man arrives, Pelayo attempts a logical interpretation, declaring that he is a castaway because he speaks with a "sailor's voice."  However, there is no real logical basis for Pelayo's reason, and it is rejected.  The next interpretation of the old man's appearance is made by a neighbor woman believed to know "everything about life and death."  Her humorously prophetic pronouncement that he is an angel also has no logical foundation.  Five other interpretations offer concrete explanations, but none are logical.  The old man is the mayor of the world, a five-star general, or the first of a race of winged wise men who will take charge of the universe. 


• When the priest, Father Gonzaga is called upon as the "official" interpreter for the village, he simply sends a letter to the pope, a letter that is never answered.  In the end, there is no explanation for the old man; instead, in their unimaginative way, Pelayo and his wife exploit the old man with wings and make an exhibition of him, charging admission.  When the Spider Woman arrives, the people prefer her since she is partly human and provides them an explanation they can comprehend.  Soon, the old man becomes uninteresting and he is relegated to the backyard, parodying the way that reasons are thrown out.


• Some interpretations of this story point to the angel's being imaginary, and because the people cannot utilize their magical/imaginative state, they fail to interpret the appearance of the angel.  They  refuse to understand that the magic of the imagination defies reason.  Lacking the imaginative, magical world from which he has come, the old man finally disappears as an "imaginary dot" on the horizon since there are magical events that occur that cannot be interpreted.  This imaginative process takes precedence over the logical as the reasons for the angel are, at best comical.  In addition, the reader becomes involved in the invention/imagination aspect of the story as he/she comes to understand that often the irrational is a natural part of life and, as such, must be accepted.

What are the different meanings of the word "faith" Othello?I was just wondering because I missed that part when I read the play, and what quotes.

"Faith" comes from the Anglo-French "feid," from Latin "fidēs," which means "trust" and "confidence."  In Latin, "bona fide" means "in good faith," or honest intention.

"Faith" is mentioned 21 times in the play.  Most of the time it is used in the phrase "by my faith," "in faith," "I' faith," and "good faith," which all mean "really."

Cassio, Iago, Othello, Desdmona, Montano, Emilia all use it. It's an adverb used as a desperate means to convince others and oneself of credibility, truthfulness.  Look at the way Cassio uses it to convince Iago that the prostitute Biancha loves him:

Cassio: Faith, I must; she'll rail in the street else.

Iago: Will you sup there?

Cassio: Faith, I intend so.

Speaking to the Duke, Othello says of Desdemona:

She swore, in faith, twas strange, 'twas passing strange,
'Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful:

Faith also means faithfulness and fidelity in marriage.  Othello's closing remarks to the Court again uses "faith" as a means of persuasion:

My life upon her faith! Honest Iago,
My Desdemona must I leave to thee:

This admission seals Othello's fate.  So says Annika Odland:

Does he mean his faith in her or her faith in him, or her Christian faith which in Venice also includes obeying her father? If the latter alternative is the case than his faith in her may not last very long. By deceiving her father she has proved she is not trustworthy.

Faith is a counterpoint to honest.  Iago is called "honest" something like 27 times in the play.  He calls himself honest; Cassio and Othello, his enemies, call him honest.  In this society, men were, by default, considered to be honest; women were expected to be faithful.  A classic double standard.

Othello wrests his reputation upon the fidelity of his wife.  And although she remains faithful to him throughout the play, Othello cannot abide an unfaithful wife, such was the rigid power structure of the "culture of honor."  Othello performs and honor killing to protect his image.

A lack of faith on all levels (religious, interpersonal, cultural, societal) dooms most characters in the play.  Othello loses faith in himself, his wife, his race, his status, his ability to communicate, his friends, his ability to lead.  Desdemona loses faith in her father, in her role as wife, in her position in society, in her gender.  Cassio loses faith in his general, himself, his reputation, his treatment in women.

Why did revolutions break out in Spain's colonies in the early 1800s?

The major powers of Europe fought extensively in the New World over their claimed territories.  Spain, Britain, and France had started to establish colonies in both North and South America in the 1500's; by 1800 all three powers had lost control of territory, either to each other or to the colonies themselves, particularly in North America, where the young United States held sway.  South America remained particularly Spanish; however, influenced and inspired by the American Revolution, Spanish colonies in South America began to assert independence.  The European powers, weakened by the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800's, could no longer assert colonial control, and South American colonies began to become independent countries.  By 1830, this process was mostly complete;  during this era the United States, which was the prevailing power in the hemisphere, instituted the Monroe Doctrine to keep Europe out.  The United States then began (and continues) to influence the region.

Rise of The American Nation, 3rd ed., Todd & Curti, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972, pg. 257.

In the story "Soldier's Home," what is the theme?theme

Certainly one of the topics that come to mind and stand out resonate in the story's title as they do in our own lives: adaptation. Here is a  man who has gone through a life-changing event and has allegedly experienced a series of consequences caused by his own choices. As a result, he has to choose how to re-adapt himself to understanding a life, as he knew it, all over again.

With understanding life again comes a re-birth of mind and consciousness; of reality and truth. He has to re-visit all his value-system, his own mental substenance, traditions, and schema of life and transfer all that towards a new scheme that, in itself, is also new to him. It is hard to imagine being part of a world, then being taken to another, and then being returned to the original world from where you came and -suddenly- it is now completely incomprehensible to you. It is like two zones of reality continuously multiplying without control.

The need to understand, adapt, re-do, revisit, reinstate, and re-start are certainly what makes this story a journey to the main character.

What is the role of women in the heroic culture of Beowulf?

In her wonderful essay, "The Social Centrality of Women in Beowulf: A New Context," Dorothy Carr Porter says the six women in the epic can be divided into pairs according to roles: Wealtheow and Hygd are "queen/hostesses"; Hideburh and Freawaru are (failed) "peaceweavers"; and Grendel's mother and Thryth are "monsters."

I think we all know what queens/hostesses and monsters are, but "peaceweaver" needs explanation:

"Peaceweaver" is a term in modern scholarship reserved for a woman married into one group from another, in an attempt to weave peace among them. As peaceweavers, these women have the potential to hold influence in both groups - potential which does not come to fruition ...

She goes on to say that the monstrous pair of Grendel's mother and Thryth are foils of the others: they are "hostile hostesses and strife-weavers."

I think the focus has to be on Grendel's mother.  She is clearly not like the other women.  If fact, she's like no other monster.  In Grendel, John Gardner presents Grendel's mother as a fat mute, while the filmmakers of Beowulf make her out to be a slithery vixen.  I rather like both interpretations, as I do most revisionist portrayals, because it shows an intertextuality that coincides with the times.  In other words, our vision of the women in Beowulf may change based on our vision of women today.

In the long introductory clause, what does the speaker say he envies?

In this sonnet, the speaker envies a lot of things.

• He envies people who are more hopeful than he is.


• He envies someone who is, presumably, better looking than him.


• He envies people who are surrounded by friends.


• He envies one man's skills


• He envies another man's freedom

But overall, really, what he envies is not such a big deal in this poem.  What's really important is that when he thinks about his love, all of his envies and all of his discontents fade away.  So in that sense, the envies are just a set up for what's really important in this poem.

I am doing a character analysis for The Nurse from Romeo & Juliet. I need to know character traits for the Nurse, and evidence behind them.

If you are writing the character analysis, you actually have to do some detective work to find out what the nurse's character traits are.  You can examine the following:

The nurse's actual words.  Check out the nurse's longer speeches in particular.  You'll notice that she makes lots of jokes/puns.  What kind of jokes are they?  What do they say about her personality?

The nurse's relationship with Juliet.  This is her closest relationship, so it should show the audience something about her.  Is she caring or uncaring?  Loyal or not?  Selfish or selfless?

The ways in which the nurse helps Romeo and Juliet.  Is the nurse acting with forethought, or is she being hasty?  Does she handle things in an intelligent fashion?  Does she make good or bad decisions?

The nurse's behavior around Romeo and his friends in 2.4.  Is she behaving like a servant addressing a group of young noblemen?  What does this mean in terms of her self-image?

There is lots of other information to work with, but hopefully this will give you a good start.

Good Luck!

What imagery is used in the Ray Bradbury story "A Sound of Thunder?"

Remember, imagery is when words and phrases are used that are meant to appeal to your five senses in order to help you further experience a story.  So, any time you see something in "A Sound of Thunder" that lets you better hear, see, smell, or taste (gross) something in the story, well, you've got imagery!

Here are some examples:

"the sign burned in this momentary darkness" (burning appeals to your sense of touch)

"Eckels glanced across the vast office at a mass and tangle, a snaking and humming of wires and steel boxes, at an aurora that flickered now orange, now silver, now blue." (helps you to better see the story)

"The Machine roared...The Machine slowed; its scream fell to a murmur" (appeals to sense of hearing.)

"Far birds’ cries blew on a wind,and the smell of tar and an old salt sea, moist grasses, and flowers the color of blood." (this is a great one...it appeals to sense of hearing, smell, and sight!  The mother-lode!)

So, there you've got it.  One of the great things about Bradbury is his rich use of language, and you can't read one of his stories without tripping over the use of imagery.

Discuss "exile" in Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Manand McCourt's Angela's Ashes. Which theories of exile should I rely on?

Exile is a form of displacement, physical or mental; it is almost always personal. This means being in exile results from a person alienating and/or isolating himself or herself, from his/her society. It is true that some people are exiled from their countries (such as the Nigerian novelist Buchi Emecheta whose passport was confiscated by Nigeria because she wrote "feminist" novels), but that is very rare, especially these days.

So, in this response, I am going to concentrate on self-exile which is, after all the case both with James Joyce and Frank McCourt. McCourt chose to leave Ireland for the United States; Joyce, who also left Ireland for Europe, opted for "psychological" exile, an exile of the mind.

To me, Joyce's Portrait is a better example for the theory of exile than Angela's Ashes.

In Ashes, we read the story of the protagonist, going from childhood to young adult, as he makes his journey through a poverty stricken life in Limerick, and all the other evils that come from poverty. In the end, Frank's leaving Ireland is almost inevitable, the exile, though self imposed, is overwhelmingly circumstantial.

Joyce's Portrait, though, is quite different. It's important to note here that The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man is not just an autobiography. In it James Joyce develops a theory of cretivity and aesthetics, one in which emotional and psychological exile plays a critical role. 

Since exile is a form of displacement, physical or psychological, being in exile shares an inverse relationship between the Self and Place. That place may be a space in our mind (psychological as in the csae of the Portrait) or a physical displacement such as Frank's moving from Ireland to the US.

Thus, from a theoretical point of view Joyce's Portrait seems to be more relevant than McCourt's Ashes. Because in Portrait, Joyce depicts his life as a child through the life of Stephen Daedalus, a sort of fictional alter ego for the novelist. Of course, "Daedalus," is a ponted reference to the greek myth, the story of a young man who dared to fly too close to the sun -- and died from a fall --when his father, Icarus, made him a pair of wings with bird's feathers and wax. Deadalus symbolizes the creative urge and energy of the artist, and hence this novel represents Joyce's early rebellion against the constraints of Roman Catholicism and his own intellectual and religio-philosophical awakening.

Another reason why Joyce's novel is more conducive to the theory of exile than McCourt's is that the environment of exile is everywhere present in Portrait. Notice that the novel hardly has any dialogue; whereas Ashes is a typical autobiographical novel fraught with people, noise, squalor as well as Frank's inner thoughts. McCourt's protagonist is, to paraphrase Charles Lamb, "alone among six hundred other boys," while Stephen Daedalus is alone, period. Theoretically this aloneness -- in other words, this exile -- has a deep impact on creativity and aesthetics. It would be interesting, for example, to count how many metaphors of aloneness each novel has.

I hope this helps.

In "The Crucible," which elements of society does Miller seem to be criticizing through the characters of Reverend Parris and the Putnams?

Reverend Parris and the Putnams represent the corruption and greed that occurs with wealth; Parris and the Putnams were quite well-off, and seemed to be, as a result, overly-concerned with keeping their money, and amassing more.  They also represent bitterness and revenge, and how a desire to belong can be dangerous.  Thomas Putnam argues with others about his land boundaries, and even goes so far as to prompt his daughter to accuse innocent George Jacobs of witchcraft so that he can buy up his forfeited land.  Mrs. Putnam uses her grief over her lost children to feed bitter rumors of witchcraft, hurting whoever she can so as to feel better and not to be blamed.

Parris is fixated with his "small" salary, wants the mortgage to the meeting house, wants gold candlesticks upon the altars of the church, and voices his thought to anyone who will listen.  Another apsect of Parris that Miller refers to is his insatiable desire to be liked, to feel like the victim of "factions" or "parties" against him.  He feels constantly slighted by people of the town, because people don't really like him.  This leads to discontent, and a willing and gullible mind when it comes to finding faults with others.  He is willing to help out at the courts, in order to feel important, he aids in the accusations, gleaning a personal satisfaction from seeing those that didn't like him  be accused.

Miller uses these two men to show how greed, insecurity, and a need for belonging can be a dangerous mix when it comes to breeding dangerous accusations against other people.  In society, we need to be careful to temper our desires for vengeance, belonging, and wealth and make sure it doesn't manifest itself in harming others.

I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!

What are some literary devices in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"?

Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a delightful story because of the comic ability and clever satire of its author, Washington Irving. The names of the characters in this narrative are certainly humorous:  Ichabod and Brom Bones, Old Baltus Van Tassel, Hans Van Ripper, etc. The huge daughter of Van Tassel is humorously referred to as "the peerless daughter."

In addition, Irving employs figurative language. For instance, in describing Brom Bones, Irving writes,

This rantipole hero had for some time singled out the blooming Katrina for the object of his uncouth gallantries,[metaphor] and though his amorous toyings [metaphor for his attempts] were something like the gentle caresses and endearments of a bear,[simile]...

Certain it is, his advances were signals for rival candidates [metaphor] to retire, who felt no inclination to cross a lion in his amours...[metaphor]

There are many more metaphors and similes in this comical history.  For example, when Ichabod is frightened he is "appalled by some shrub covered with snow, which, like a sheeted spectre, [simile] beset his very path!"  When Ichabod enters Katrina's house "the conquest of his heart was complete" [figurative language].

In discussing how "women's hearts are wooed and won," Irving writes,

It is a great triumph of skill to gain the former, but a still greater proof of generalship to maintain possession of the latter, for the man must battle for his fortress [metaphor] at every door and window.  He who wins a thousand common hearts is therefore entitled to some renown; but he who keeps undisputed sway over the heart of a coquette, is indeed a hero.

Ichabod Crane would be such a hero as he borrows a horse from a farmer and mounts it, "issued forth, like a knight-errant in quest of adventures [simile].  It is here that Irving's satiric humor also takes hold as Crane, an "unskillful rider," is compared to one of the knights-errant in King Arthur's tales who rides to the "castle of the Heer Van Tassel."

In addition to his humor, Washington Irving is renowned for his creative imagery.  His descriptions of the fields that Crane passes, taking note of the fruit, contain many sensory words:

vast stores of apples; some hanging in oppressive opulence on the trees;...great fields of Indian corn, with its golden ears peeping from their leafy coverts, ...fragrant buckwheat fields, breathing the odor of the bee-hive, ...

One paragraph replete with imagery is as follows:

The small birds were taking their farewell banquets.  In the fullness of their revelry, they fluttered, chirping, and frolicking, from bush to bush...capricious from the very profusion and variety around them.  There was the honest cock-robin, the favorite game of stripling sportsmen, with its loud querulous note; and the twittering blackbirds flying in sable coulds; and the golden-tipt tail, and its little monteiro cap of feathers; and the blue jay, that noisy coxcomb, in his gay light-blue coat and white underclothes; screaming and chattering, nodding and bobbing and bowing, and pretending to be on good terms with every sonster of the grove.

What are 3 social characteristics, 3 political characteristics, and 3 economic characteristics of Manifest Destiny?I edited this question after...

The best way to approach this question is to pose another question to it.  When defining characteristics about social, political, and/ or economic realities, posing operational based questions about how such conditions operate might prove to be helpful.  For example, in establishing three political characteristics, ask yourself, "What role does government play in this political setting?" Another question one can ask, "How high of a value do individual rights play in this political setting?"  Finally, a question to be asked about political settings could be, "How is power exhibited or represented in the political setting?"  The answers to each question could reveal much in way of political characteristics.  Economic questions could be, "Who or what owns the means of production?" or "How is personal wealth treated?"  or "How are taxes determined?"  would reveal characteristics about economy.  Finally, when examining social characteristics, ask questions such as "What ideals does the society uphold over all?" Another such question would be, "What are some notions upon which the society frown?"  A last question which is certain to reveal social characteristics would be, "What type of people are revered in this social setting?"  Again, in posing questions, our answers become the characteristics for which we strive.

Why does Jane Austen consider herself an artist?

I don't know that we have evidence to indicate that Jane Austen did consider herself an artist. There is nothing in her letters that indicates a reference to herself in a capacity as artist. However, she does make one or two facetious remarks and some of her critics speak of her in terms used for artists.

In one instance, Jane Austen says in a letter to her sister Cassandra (dated Saturday, November 17, 1798) that "Perhaps it would have suited [George] as well had [Jane's plans] been less elaborately finished; but an artist cannot do anything slovenly." In this statement, she is referring to designs she has planned for her brother George and not to her work as a novelist, and she is laughing at herself. She speaks in an ironical tone, poking fun at herself for probably going overboard in fulfilling George's request.

In the other instance, Jane Austen is responding to her nephew Edward who seems to have lost two and a half chapters of a manuscript of his own. Jane facetiously defends herself against the improbable possibility of a theft by saying: "What should I do with your strong, manly, spirited Sketches, full of Variety and Glow? -- How could I join them on to the little bit (two Inches wide) of Ivory on which I work with so fine a Brush, as produces little effect after much labour?"

Her most well-known and favorable critic was Sir Walter Scott. In one instance he says that Jane Austen's genius may not be the "highest" but it is certainly the "rarest." In his 1816 review of Emma, Scott says Austen gives "a correct and striking representation of that which is daily taking place." Later in an 1846 journal entry, after a third reading of Pride and Prejudice, Scott writes of Austen:

"...finely written novel of Pride and Prejudice. That young lady had a talent for describing the involvement and feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with...."

While the critical remarks about Jane Austen's novels never give a direct description of her as an "artist" (that is a more current phrase usage for literary authors), Scott's remarks show an indirect reference to her as an artist by discussing her "genius" and "talent." Whether her critics liked her work or disliked her work, the supporting reasons were the same.

The supporting reasons given by Austen's critics for their opinions were that she accurately saw and described the realities of life in the sphere of the commonalities of everyday life of people in Austen's class living in small villages, bearing in mind that Austen's class was educated (e.g., clergymen) and aristocratic (e.g., Knightly) and mingled with the nobel (e.g., Darcy); she described feelings and character of individuals; she described with accuracy how men should "act toward women and how women should act toward men"; she has characters who are good and those who are full of "folly" upon which the good ones have their virtues sharpened. There is much about the genre of early novels that Jane Austen stayed far away from (no damsels in distress, no abandoned babies and confused identities) but what she chose to do, she did "perfectly" and was "faultless" and a "great novelist," as stated by novelist Anthony Trollope in 1870.

For more information, read the many resources available from Jane Austen's Art and her Literary Reputation.

What is Abdiel's defintion of servitude in Book VI of John Milton's poem Paradise Lost?

In Book VI of John Milton's Paradise Lost, Abdiel gives a double-sided defintion of servitude in response to Satan's definition in which he says servitude is the fit occupation for individuals who are lazy, indolent, unproductive and disinclined to exert; they prefer rather to eat and drink and sing in feasts.

Abdiel's response divides his definition between servitude and ministering. Servitude isn't used by Milton's Abdiel in this context in accord with the standard New Testament usage of an expression of love as in "serve one another" (Galatians 5:13). Rather, Abdiel defines servitude as the lack of freedom; enthrallment (captivity, subjugation); serving an unwise individual; and serving a rebel who has gone against the one who is worthiest. Further, Abdiel applies this servitude to both Satan, "Thyself not free," and to his legions, "thine now serve thee...to thyself enthralled."

Abdiel next defines the second element of serving, which is ministering, "darest our ministring upbraid." Abdiel describes ministering as obeying God's divine behests (commands or directives) because God is the worthiest and the one who excels over the ruled. Ministering service is ordained by God and Nature as God and Nature both agree and ordain the same. This is a reference to the laws of human nature that lead us to look up to those more worthy, rather than to terrestrial nature, e.g., flora and fauna.

In summation, Abdiel defines servitude as subjugation to an arrogant and inferior rebel against the higher good, which he contrasts to ministration to one recognized by virtue of fact to be worthiest and excellent. Abdiel entirely refutes with these statements Satan's claim that serving is for weak ne'r-do-wells who live for selfindulgence and the dissipation of feasting and song.

High-pressure Liquid Chromatography?Expalin me high pressure Liquid Chromatography?

Research with thin-layer and column chromatography showed that separations are much more effective when the stationary phase is a very thin layer on the surface of very small and very uniform spherical beads. However, resistance to flow of the mobile phase is very much higher, and in order to get a useful flow of a liquid mobile phase, e. g., 1 - 3 milliliters/minute, pressures of around 15 Mpa (about 2,000 psi) must be applied to the mobile phase. It is possible to apply such pressure from a cylinder of compressed gas, but most systems use a reciprocating piston pump or diaphragm pump with some means of damping the pressure fluctuations from the piston. The sample is usually dissolved in the mobile phase before injection. Columns are typically 4.6 mm ID (6 mm OD) stainless steel tubing 250 mm long. A typical packing will have octadecylsilyl (C18-Si-) (ODS) groups bonded to 5 µm silica beads. The packing is held inside the column by “frits”, discs with pores about 0.5 µm in diameter.

Liquid-liquid chromatography began with samples dissolved in organic solvents and a stationary phase of water adsorbed on particles or fibers of the solid support. More generally, the stationary phase was more “polar” than the mobile phase. That is the so-called "normal phase" chromatography. But stationary phases such as ODS have been particularly useful for separating samples dissolved in water (and most HPLC is now done with bonded phases). Liquid chromatography with the stationary phase less polar than the mobile phase is called “reverse phase”, but is now the common situation. The mobile phase is very often not just water but a mixture of water with methanol (CH3OH) or acetonitrile (CH3CN). “Solvent programming”, a stepwise or continuous change (gradient elution) of the mobile phase composition, is used to speed up separations, like temperature programming in gas chromatography.

“Chiral”columns have been developed relatively recently to separate optical isomers. This separation is important because many pharmaceuticals are active in only one chiral form. For instance, natural Vitamin E is D-a-tocopherol, while half of synthetic Vitamin E is the less active L- isomer.