In "The Masque of the Red Death," how do the seven deadly sins relate to the seven rooms in this story?

I have to be honest with you and say that, while obviously symbolism is a key literary device used by Poe to great success in this wonderful story, I don't think that the seven rooms can be related to the seven deadly sins. What I think they do represent is the passing of time and the different stages of life. Seven is a key number - there are seven days in a week, and then we also have the seven stages of man. To my mind, at least, this symbolic meaning of the seven rooms is more important and fitting to the story than arguing that they represent the seven deadly sins. Remember the context of the story - we are presented with Prince Prospero and his revellers trying to lock out the Read Death, which could be said to represent death itself. They are trying to cheat time and death and live riotously for all time. The setting of this final party is richly symbolic, and thus each room could be said to represent a different stage of life rather than a sin. Of course, the final room, where Prospero finally meets his intruder, represents death, as is enforced by the black ebony clock, that represents the passing of time and the approaching final hour.

However, having said that - if you can argue your case convincingly, you go for it! That is one of the joys of Literature - if you can make what you think sound credible, there is no reason to say that you cannot prove that I am wrong and the symbolism of the rooms indicates the seven deadly sins.

Describe the "great error" in Rip's character in "Rip Van Winkle."

The answer to your question comes in the 1st line of the 5th paragraph:

The great error in Rip's composition was an insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor.

Having an "aversion" to something means having a strong dislike for it.  Rip strongly disliked "profitable labor."  The narrator goes on to explain that his dislike for work does not come from his inability to persevere at something.  Rip could, after all, sit for hours with a fishing pole even if he was catching nothing or walk for hours through the woods shooting squirrels.

A key word in this line is "profitable."  The fact is, Rip Van Winkle does plenty.  He cannot, for example, say no to helping a neighbor and as mentioned, he hunts and fishes with regularity.  This description of him seems to come more from the perspective of his nagging wife who believes her husband is basically good for nothing.  According to the dynamics of his marriage relationship, Rip's great error of character is that he has failed to provide for his family in the way a man in his historical era would.  This description deems Rip a failure by the standard of doing something profitable with his life as compared to something frivolous.

What is Macduff's mission to Malcolm?

Concerned about Macbeth's tyrannical reign as king of Scotland, Macduff goes to England to seek Malcolm's assistance in overthrowing Macbeth. Malcolm is the rightful king because King Duncan, before he was murdered, named his son the Prince of Cumberland, indicating his wish that his son serve as king after him. Macduff hopes to convince Malcolm of Macbeth's tyranny as king by telling him of the way that Scotland is suffering under his rule:

Each new morn
New widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows
Strike heaven on the face... (4.4.5-7).

Macduff, however, must first prove to Malcolm that he himself is not treacherous or some kind of spy sent by Macbeth; also, the prince tests Macduff's loyalty to Scotland by insisting that he has only wicked traits, no redeeming ones, and would not be a suitable king for Scotland. When he asks Macduff if he thinks Malcolm would be "fit to govern," Macduff in despair replies, "No, not fit to live." He almost gives up his mission until Malcolm reveals that he was testing Macduff.

What other activities did the Globe Theater bring to the cities there were performances in?

The Globe Theatre brought many cultural aspects of the theatre into the city.  It was built in 1598 in London's Bankside District.  The theatre was open air and could seat as many as 3,000 people.  For the first time people, peasants and lords and ladies, were all exposed to the delights of plays.  All classes could observe and learn about different cultures through the elements of the play.  For example: Shakespeare’s play "Othello" introduced the culture of the Moors.

Politics were brought to light through the use of satire and wit in the Globe theatre.  Political discussions were oppressed during the era, but with the ability to gather the people the Globe served as an excellent forum to address various political issues that had to be masked by dialogue. 

Economically, the Globe theatre brought in wealth to merchants and guest houses.  People would travel to London to see plays and needed places to stay.  This resulted in an increase of Guest Houses where they could spend the night.  In addition, the influx of people brought more money into the community.  Sales and profits increased for local merchants.

Employment, while most of the actors were already set up in performance troupes, the stability of the theatre allowed for different positions to be added in the community.  Custodians, scene designers and prop makers as well as supportive cast members were employed by the troupes at the theatre. 

On a negative note, the Globe theatre created conflict between the strict Puritans who felt that the introduction of the Globe brought in too many corrupt people from other places.  They also felt that entertainment was a sin.

What are the conflicts between tradition and modern life seen in Sacred Clowns?

There are quite a few of these in this novel as there are in any Hillerman novel (and especially those featuring Jim Chee).  They include:

• The conflict between Chee and Janet Pete with regard to what should be done with Clement Hoski.  Chee wants to be a shaman and thinks that Hoski should be able to try to restore harmony within himself and with the victim's family.  Pete believes more in the judicial system.


• Chee has a conflict with himself as to whether he wants to be involved with Janet.  Being involved with her would require him to compromise his desire to be a traditional Navajo.  "He thought about the choice he might have to make between Janet Pete and the religion that had always given his life its purpose."

Why does Catherine marry Edgar?

Catherine tells Nelly in chapter nine of the novel that the reason she will marry Edgar is that he can give her the material possessions that Heathcliff can't. She loves Heathcliff and acknowledges that he is her soul mate when she tells Nelly, "I am Heathcliff," but Hindley's treatment of Heathcliff has degraded him to the point that he is not a suitable match by society's standards. Edgar is not only suitable, but will elevate Catherine's status, as the Lintons have a higher social standing.

What might the dents on ahabs furrowed brow symbolize?begging of story

It's a way of foreshadowing the outcome where Moby Dick rams the ship with his mighty forehead. The whale sinks the ship. Moby Dick is the alter ego of Ahab. (You could compare it to Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" where it is a fight between Santiago and the sea.) However in this fable it is about Ahab and the whale. Of course the whale wins. And it takes him, Ahab, down to the bottom of the sea with him. He is swallowed alive by this subconscious force that Moby Dick symbolizes.

What is the discussion point in "A White Heron" and how the story relate to Jewett's life?

ip0830,

Much can be discussed concerning Jewett's life in her fabulously rich poem "A White Heron."

How many times do adults look back to childhood and remember the great adventures they embarked on as kids? In looking back however, the adult sees a sharp contrast between the size and importance of the event. However, he or she can clearly recall the vivid exhilaration in conquering a hill, finding hidden treasure, or winning the imaginary battle.

In "A White Heron" Sarah Orne Jewett creates the adventures of childhood from the perspective of the child. The author dramatizes the act of climbing a tree in an effort to reproduce the same childhood adventure. Sylvia, the adventurer, has dreamed of mastering the climb and so in the adventure experiences the anticipation of conquering the dream. The author in recreating the heroine's climb dramatizes in the eyes of the adults the real adventure for a little girl.

Sylvia herself, plays well the heroine of the adventure. Through connotation and description, Jewett paints a picture of a slip of a girl filled with a driving determination to see the ocean. The dreaminess, as she look(s) up wistfully" matches the setting of the story in "Pale Moonlight." Jewett calls Sylvia "small and silly" to emphasize the contrast between heroine and feat. During the adventure, Sylvia remains the heroic brave conqueror "with tingling eager blood." She moves nimbly through the tangliest way, "daring step(s)," "creeping and climbing." Jewett uses the metaphorical image for Sylvia of the "spark of human spirit." This image further points to Sylvia's light of determination, she stands out among the branches as she moves swiftly upward. The heroine keeps her face looking up to mark her voyage to her dreams. Jewett chose words like "brave", "solitary", "child" to again distinguish the adventurous spirit of Sylvia. Sylvia then plays the role of the heroine conquering the world with her tiny frame and big spirit.

Jewett utilizes a point of view of the omniscient narrator to enhance the drama and response in the climb. This narrator goes beyond the surface of the trees and nature to create a stronger mood of adventure. In animating the tree and creating an audience of animals, Jewett further points to the childhood fantasy of adventure. For a child, the trees do live, the animals do help. So for Sylvia, an adventure includes the imaginary and the real as one. The speaker gives the tree an appearance of an aged man, "old pine," who shelters and acts fatherly towards "his new dependent." Like a person, the tree also "reach(es) farther" to help Sylvia. Jewett creates the suspense in the climb with descriptive words like "almost," "daring," and "dangerous." The narrator speaks with almost a whisper as if catching her voice, and leaving off at the end of the first and second paragraphs with unfinished sentences. This voice that dramatizes the movement up the tree has further painted the childhood view of any adventure as a treacherous, daring journey to a treasured goal.

Sylvia stands like the heroic conqueror amid a mountain peak surveying her glorious horizons. Jewett has artfully recreated the well-remembered moment of glory in childhood, when finally the struggle has ended and one is invincible in that "vast and awesome world."

Explain the role of spin and ideology?

The only thing I would add is that, as I first learned these terms, ideology is a set philosophy of ideas (which sometimes change over time, but tend to adhere to specific fundamentals). Spinning is the intentional or unintentional propagation or proclamation of a particular ideology.

Media coverage of crime is so ubiquitous and so much in the public eye (with 24 hour news channels and online news). Crime is one of the main subjects of sociology, psychology, morals, etc. So, media coverage of crime utilizes a platform/stage that is widely accessible to the public; then they can apply their set of beliefs to one of the central problems of society: crime. So, any network, journalist, or media outlet that has an ideological bias will of course take the opportunity to spin their ideological interpretation on a crime in order to show how their ideological belief system makes the most sense. 

Different media outlets will spin to varying degrees. But in general, there is at least a small degree of spin in most cases since it is difficult, if not impossible, to be completely objective.  

When did Johnny first speak English in the book the Light in the Forest?

Johnny first speaks English when his white father, Harry Butler, tells him that they are within sight of the place where he was born, Paxton township.  True Son responds to this information with a look of terror, and utters "in thick, Indian English", the question,

"Place of Pashtank white men?"

Mr. Butler, pleased that True Son has attempted to speak in English, replies,

"That's right, son.  Peshtank or Paxton.  It's the same thing".

True Son is horrified at this news.  He remembers the "Peshtank story" that had spread through his village, a story of violence and deceit perpetrated upon the Indians by white men of Paxton.  The victims were a tribe of Conestogo Indians who had adopted the Christian faith.  "White savages" from Peshtank inexplicably came to their village one day and massacred the people, who put up no resistance.  Those Conestogo who had been away at the time of the attack returned to find their people killed.  They went to the town of Lancaster and asked to stay in the white man's jail, where they believed they would be safe.  Tragically, the "white barbarians" came to the jail, broke in, and murdered them all, and no one in the white population made any attempt to stop them.  It is the Indian custom to adopt individuals taken prisoner, but the Indians have come to understand that the white man apparently shows no such mercy; they "do not want the Indians even to share the common air". 

Harry Butler believes that True Son should be happy to hear that they have arrived at Paxton, the town of his birth, but ironically, the name only reinforces the youth's anger and hatred of the white man.  After expressing his dismay through the utterance of his first English words to his biological father, True Son makes another desperate attempt to escape and return to his Indian home (Chapters 6-7).

How does the first person point of view in Poe's "The Black Cat" affect the mood of the story?

Poe uses his typical unreliable narrator in "The Black Cat." Other Poe stories such as "The Cask of Amontillado" and "Tell-Tale Heart" use the same technique in which a mentally unstable person narrates his crime(s). "The Black Cat" begins with the narrator's confession that he is penning the tale before his death (execution).  As he flashes back to the events which lead to his imprisonment, he constantly contradicts himself.  For example, he swears that he loves animals and his wife, yet he ends up killing both in the course of the story. Additionally, he goads the police when they come to his house so that he can outsmart them, but the cat ends up causing his downfall.

In regards to the mood of the story, the unreliable narrator technique provides the reader with suspense and horror.  When an insane person is telling others of his deeds, the listener has no idea what to expect next or how far the narrator will go with his misdeeds.

Discuss how Hotspur serves as a foil to Hal in Henry IV. Do you find yourself finding one character a bit more sympathetic than the other?

Foil: Literally a "leaf" of bright metal placed under a jewel to increase its brilliance. (Holman & Harmon 198)

Traditionally, a foil is a minor character who, through comparison and contrast, serves to highlight the brilliance of the protagonist.

Shakespeare uses the valiant Hotspur to foil Hal in order to provide the Prince of Wales with a motivation that moves toward redemption.

So says, the online Shakespeare:

In a plea to his father, Hal vows that he will redeem his tarnished identity at the expense of Hotspur, saying "I will redeem all of this on Percy's head," (3.2.137). However, the act of redemption does not only occur as the result of realization and motivation. Redemption needs for these ideas to be put into action. At the end of Act 5.4, using his realization and motivation as a basis for his actions, Hal consummates his transformation, by physically saving his father from Douglas and defeating Hotspur in a single combat at the Battle of Shrewsbury. Thus, the Prince of Wales has performed, what he had originally promised to do in his opening soliloquy, to redeem his reputation.

Reputation is very important in Shakespeare; it is the mortal part of oneself--like one's soul.  In Othello, Cassio says, "I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial."  Hal is foiled not only by Hotspur but by Falstaff, showing the valiant (public) and entertaining (private) sides of Hal's character respectively.

Explain this paragraph from short story, "Be cool to the pizza dude by William Sydner Porter."In the big pizza wheel of life, sometimes you're the...

Ever hear of the Buddhist Wheel of life and the Monster of Impermanence? If you click the link below, you can discover it for yourself. It's pretty cool.

The Wheel represents the essence of Buddhist thought and teaching. In it are the Four Great Truths: the presence of suffering in our lives, where this suffering comes from, how to work to prevent suffering, and how to liberate one's self from suffering. By study and practice, you learn that you are responsible for your every action and you can also learn how to take control of your daily life and be responsible for your existence.

One of the great lessons of the wheel is that it is forever turning, revealing new and ever-changing  aspects of the self and the world at large. Yes: "sometimes you're the hot bubbly cheese and sometimes you're the burnt crust." Trust in the fact that nothing ever stays as it is for long.

Pleas note: I have some problems with your question: 1) I have never heard of a William Sydner Porter.  2) However, William Sydner Porter is the real name of the short story master O.Henry, who lived from 1862 to 1910. 3) Your paragraph doesn't sound like something that someone who lived at the turn of the twentieth century would come up with. Pizza? Dude? Not likely.

Can anybody help me analyze deeply the setting in "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes please?

Langston Hughes, the author of "Theme for English B," was born into a time when African Americans were beginning to move towards becoming educated in ways that had formerly been denied to their parents.  Hughes writes about being the only colored person in his class.  He is full of youth and desires and things to experience.  He does not fully know himself yet.  He is aware that he is still growing.  However, he is also aware that the part of him that has lived for 22 years has and is experiencing life as a New Yorker and as a member of the community in Harlem.  He is part of the music and events around him.  He has likes and dislikes. 

Hughes also expresses that just because his skin color is not white does not mean that he does not like many of the same things that white people do.  He is strongly aware that he is colored and that makes him different.  He is questioning how his experiences as a colored person will affect his writing and what it will reveal about him. 

Finally, Hughes address the relationship between himself and his instructor.  He knows that his instructor may have some inner feelings about having to teach him or that the white man perceives Hughes different than he may see himself.  He also recognizes that just because he is not white, it does not mean that the time spent with the instructor will have no influence on him.  He knows that no matter what level of relationship they have, that they will learn from one another.

Hughes writes the poem in response to a class writing assignment.  His poem has become his page for hi English B class.

What is the effect of Dickens's doubling technique? Does he use doubles to draw contrasts comparisons, or both?explain the motif, doubles, in the...

The doubling technique definitely serves the purpose of both comparing and contrasting. Throughout the novel, he is trying to show the dual nature of man -- man can be a villain and a hero simultaneously. Basically, one person's revolution is another person's massacre. Clearly he is contrasting the major characters by developing so many foils - Carton and Darnay, and Lucie and Mdm Defarge are the two most obvious ones. By showing their extreme actions, reactions, and resolutions Dickens is able to pinpoint what causes a person of dual natures to choose one over the other. It boils down to the differences between love and hate.

Dickens uses the cities to be more of a comparing points. Similar people and similar circumstances are found in both. Again, though, love and hate separate the progressing of one country from the destruction of another.

The Hobbit What did Thorin promise Bard in exchange for the Arkenstone?

In Capter seventeen of the novel 'The Hobbit' by J.R. R. Tolkien, Bard is promised Bilbo's cut of treasure by Thorin in return for handing over the Arkenstone.Thorin is the leader of the dwarves and his full name is Thorin Oakenshield (notice how J.R.R. Tolkien 'antiques' his language by likening it to old tongues like 'Middle English' - he inserts 'en' into some words like Arkenstone - in English this can have the effect of turning a noun (oak) into an adjective having the qualities of the previous noun (oaken) so we get 'Oakenfield' the oaky field.) Thorin Oakenfield's grandfather was a king under the mountain but Smaug beat back the dwarves and destroyed Dale.He tries to get back the throne that was handed down by his ancestors and their rightful treasure.

In Macbeth, Act 1 scene 3, how did Shakespeare present the witches as instruments of darkness?

The witches enter in the midst of 'thunder' as in the play's opening scene, the 'thunder' being incantatory. In the conversation that follows, we are made aware of the witches' preoccupations of mischief, apart from their vulgar pastimes like 'killing swine'. The First Witch ventilates with a lot of vile passion how she is going to cause harms to a sailor whose wife refused to give her chestnuts: ' I'll drain him dry as hay:/ Sleep shall neither night nor day/ Hang upon his pent-house lid;/....Though his bark cannot be lost,/ Yet it shall be tempest-tost'.

As the witches appear before Banquo and Macbeth, the former doubts their bonafides: 'So wither'd, and so wild in their attire,/ That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth'. They have strangely grotesque features like 'choppy finger', 'skinny lips' and beards. When the 'weird sisters' vanish, Banquo iterates their strangeness: ' The earth hath bubbles as the water has,/ And these are of them.....'

Thus a close look at the witches' appearance, their clothes, their gestures and language shows that they were instruments of evil/darkness.

From Julia's perspective, why does the Party want to extinguish sexual activity in 1984? Part 2, Chapter 3.

In this chapter, Julia and Winston discuss the reasons why the Party wants to make people stop having sex.

Julia believes that the reason for this is that the party wants people to have pent-up, unreleased sexual tension that will cause them to become hysterical.  She says that the Party could then take this hysteria and redirect it so that people put all that energy into loving Big Brother and hating the enemies of Oceania.

Julia says that people who are engaged in a sexual relationship will be too happy.  They will not want to bring themselves to the fever pitch of hatred needed for the Two Minute Hate, for example.

So, sex is bad, in the eyes of the Party (Julia says) because it makes people happy.  The Party wants them frustrated so that they will be more able to hate.  The Party wants them to have no one to love so they will love only Big Brother.

How does Atticus quietly protest Jim Crow laws even before Tom Robinson's trial?

Atticus Finch was a fair, upstanding citizen.  He always saw the good in people and did not discriminate against Blacks or the poor.  He always taught his children to love everybody and accept differences in people.  He understands racial injustices; his father was a lawyer and was also a fair main.  He learned these ways from his father.  Atticus was already respected and loved by the people of the town, and it didn't matter what race or economic status.  This is evident because the black people in the town were confident that he would do right by Tom Robinson. 

What are the characterastics of management information system? Explain them.if you give this in power point presentation mode for presenting a...

Management information system, usually referred as MIS, has been defined by different authors in different ways. We can describe MIS as the interrelated collection of all the facilities and processes in an organization that provides to its managers the information used by them.

The facilities used by the management information systems today ranges from simple pen and paper to highly complex and expensive computers, and communication systems including transoceanic communication cables and communication satellites. Though MIS in most of the big companies today make extensive use of computers and other advanced information technology tools, the use of computers is not an essential or important component of MIS.

The processes of the MIS accomplish tasks such as acquiring raw information from various sources, processing and storing the information for subsequent use, retrieving required information from the stored collection of information, and making it available to managers. These processes can be totally manual using simple facilities like pen and paper, or highly complex and automated using latest information technology.

Thus MIS is a system using formalized procedures to provide management at all levels in all functions with appropriate information, based on data from internal and, if desired, external sources to enable them to make timely and effective decisions for planning, directing, and controlling the activities for which they are responsible.

There are five types of processes that may take place within an MIS.

Data Capture: Coding of the input data in a form suitable for processing by the system. Typically there are many different type of methods used for data capturing. The most common form of manual data capture is a person observing something and describing his observation orally or in writing. In computerized systems the most common method are the keyboard.

Data Storage and Retrieval: The most common method of storage is the paper record. Aadvanced technology now offers many different types of data storage system, both within the computer system, and as external storage mediums. Some examples include memory chips, CD and DVD, and flash memory. Linked to storage process is the retrieval activity to locate the required data and make it available for analysis and presentation.

Analysis: This process transforms raw data in information. In business some of the most common analysis involve simple operations as totaling, average, classification, sequencing, and ratios. Presentation of information in more easily understandable form is also one of the analytical tasks.

Information Presentation: This involves converting the information a form understood by the user. Thus giving a oral or written report are two of the ways of information presentation used in manual systems. In computerized systems the printer and the display terminal are the most common devices used for presentation. For transfer of information between systems to be fed directly to computers the external electronic storage media may also be used for presenting the output.

Transmission: This Transmission refers to transfer of information over some distance. Traditional paper based mail was one of the first organized information transmission system, which was later followed by telegraph and telephone.

Analyze the story "The Moose and the Sparrow" by Hugh Garner.

The short story “The Moose and the Sparrow” was written by the Canadian author Hugh Garner. The setting of the story is in a logging camp in Canada. The action often takes place in the bunkers where the men live  during the summer holidays. The setting gives an advantage to the antagonist of the story because this is his life.

 Mr. Anderson, a character in the story, is the first person narrator. The tone indicates a bitter and sarcastic view of a bully with a just a touch of humor.  

The story’s protagonist is a young man named Cecil, whose parents divorced when he was very young and who grew up in several foster homes. Cecil has been to college for a year.  Now, he needs money for tuition; consequently, he starts working in the logging camp. The story’s antagonist is Maddon Moose, who is determined to make Cecil break down at least once during his stay at the camp. Cecil faces a conflict that involves the entire action of the story: man versus man.

The story centers on the differences in personalities and approaches to life. Cecil is young and smart. He has set his mind on studying art; he makes beautiful things out of plain wire. Cecil provokes Moose’s anger because of the younger man’s smaller appearance and lack of aggression.  As the new guy, Cecil finally was accepted by the other men, and eventually,  they end up liking him more than they liked Moose.

On the other hand, we have Maddon Moose. Moose’s jealousy and brutish personality makes him an ideal bully.  He appears to be slightly older than Cecil.  Maddon probably dropped out of school; therefore, he seems to have a need to pick on those who happen to be smarter than he is. Maddon, a saw boss, has a physicality that makes him tower over Cecil, thus Cecil becomes his victim. As an unsympathetic character, Maddon picks on others beside Cecil, so nobody likes him.

The author uses dialogue to provide information about the characters.  Rather than describing anyone, he has the characters discuss situations or other characters.  For example, when Moose goes too far, the event is told through the characters interactions:

‘What happened?’ I asked one of Madden’s men.
‘Moose burned the kid’s hand,’ he told me. ‘He heated the end of a saw in the tea fire and then called the kid to take it to be sharpened. He handed the hot end to Cecil, and it burned his hand pretty bad.’

The theme of the story comes from the bullying of Cecil.  Moose Maddon is the typical bully, beginning with his name.  Maddon was one huge “moose of a man.”  An unhappy man, Moose found pleasure in making other people feel as bad as he did.  As with most bullies, his victims are smaller and weaker. Time passes, and Moose’s once practical jokes turn more violent and even dangerous toward Cecil. On more than one occasion, Moose had to be held back, or he would have really hurt Cecil. Bullies hurt others to solve a need within themselves for acceptance, love, and jealousy.

Sometimes, the victim fights back but in a more subtle way. In the end of the story, Moose is killed in an unusual way.  Even though Moose had been drunk, Mr. Anderson investigates the place of his death.  He discovers that there had been wire placed across the hole tied from one tree to the other.  It had to be Cecil.  However, no one cared that Moose was gone.  As they took out his body, Cecil showed no emotion. In the end, the victim became the victor. It is a sin to kill, but sometimes there is no other way.

What two things do Jim and Della most love?

In this story, the two characters, Jim and Della, do not have much money but want to give each other nice Christmas presents.  They want to give each other presents that will go well with their most treasured "possessions."

For Jim, his most treasured possession is his pocket watch, handed down from his grandfather.  For Della, it is her long, beautiful hair.  She wants to get him a chain for the watch, he wants to get her combs for her hair.

I wouldn't say those are the things they love most, though.  It's pretty clear from the ending of the story that they love each other more than they love material things.

What is the purpose of the fuku?

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "purpose".  The fuku itself can be defined most closely as a curse, so I guess the purpose of a fuku would simply be to doom a person/family/country to death or bad fortune.

The purpose of the fuku in the text of Oscar Wao, however, is a whole different matter.  The fuku is present in the actual history of the Dominican Republic, as well as in the history of Oscar's family. 

If you are doing a longer assignment and want to identify/support the purpose of the fuku in the text, examine the ways in which it affects individual characters.  How does the fuku influence the character's lives (and by extension the novel's plot)?  Ultimately, what does the fuku add to the story? What message might Diaz be conveying to the reader through his discussion of the fuku?

In Chapter 20 "The Ghost Soldiers" of The Things They Carried, was Tim right in wanting revenge against Bobby Jorgensen?

I suppose the answer to this question has to do with perspective, circumstance, and moral values.  After Rat Kiley is gone, Bobby Jorgensen takes his place as the medic; however, Jorgensen is green and his fear is evident in everything that he does.  Because O'Brien has been in the war for some time, he does not really remember the time when he was green and thus cannot sympathize with Jorgensen.  Plus, there really is no room for this type of sympathy on the battlefield.  Jorgensen has a job to do just like everyone else, and because he botches the job, O'Brien's wound becomes infected and O'Brien nearly loses his life once from shock and again from near gangrene.  O'Brien feels a sense of hatred for Jorgensen, and this prompts him to want to take revenge on Jorgensen.  The man nearly cost O'Brien his life, so O'Brien has cause, but the desire for revenge does consume O'Brien in an unhealthy way.  Jorgensen thus becomes a scapegoat for O'Brien's deep-seated hatred of the war.  O'Brien's feelings cannot be simplified into a matter of right vs. wrong because his perspective, circumstance, and belief is what is morally "right" are different from that of the outsider-looking-in.

The speaker of the poem argues that "Love's not Time's fool." What does he mean by this? Do you agree?The poem is Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

"Love's not Time's fool" captures the controlling metaphor of this Shakespearean sonnet as all other lines reinforce this sentiment:  "Love is not love" if it changes with the corrosive power of time, "Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks," "it is an ever-fixed mark."

There is, however, a flaw in the poet's logic.  For, in the final couplet, he challenges his reader's to disprove his argument as though it is logically sound.  But, the first lines establish a condition to this reasoning: 

Let me not to the marriage of true minds/Admit impediments.

So, if the reader does not accept this condition and does, in fact, admit impediments, or obstacles, to love, then the argument of the poet is not unequivocably reasonable, and may not be "an ever-fixed mark."

Identify and explain contents and value of sociological research.

Sociology is the study of behavior of individuals as members of groups and institutions that make up the society. Thus sociology is study of behavior of individuals in the social context.

Sociological study and research is needed to study how people relate to each other and to their environment. It is intended to understand the nature various types of sociological behavior and processes and their causes. Sociological research is undertaken to find answers to questions like:

• How groups are formed, how they function, what keeps the members of groups together and what leads to break up of groups.


• Role of institutions including social, business, religious, political and other institutions in society, and how they influence behavior of individuals.


• Causes of crime, poverty, and other social problems in society, and ways to deal effectively with such problems.

The sociological research can be classified in following categories:

1. Population studies


2. Social behavior


3. Social institutions


4. Cultural Influences


5. social Change.

There are three basic methods used for sociological research - surveys, controlled experiments, and field observations. Survey are generally in the form of public opinion polls. This is the most widely used method of sociological research. Mos surveys are conducted using questionnaires. Controlled experiment are used to study behavior of small groups under controlled conditions. In general it consists of studying behavior of two very similar groups except for some feature of group under study. Alternatively the two groups are made to perform highly similar task with some feature of task under study. Field study method involves a sociologist living with a particular community such as a tribe or a social group in a particular neighborhood, and gathering information about them through observation.

Heart structure and properties of heart muscle

Histological structure of the heart:

 The heart is composed of three concentric layers: endocardium, myocardium and Epicardium. Endocardium consists of a basal endothelium located in a membrane that is continuous with the endothelial layer, composed of collagen fibers, reticulin fibers, elastic fibers, rare cells conjuctive and many sensitive nerve endings.

Myocardium consists of cardiac muscle bundles,circular  oriented atria wall, and oblique fiber-coil in ventricles,in the heart wall. In addition to myocardial cells, there are specialized cells in the generation and conduction of the  impulses.

Epicardium is a thin membrane covering the cardiac surface and  is the visceral foil ofthe pericardial sac. Between pericardial foils,it is found  pericardial cavity,  with a thin blade of fluid, which promotes  slipping during heart activity.

Properties of heart muscle

Myocardium which is structurally a striated muscle has common property as striated muscles , but also a number of characteristic properties.

-Heart-rhythm is property to contract sequentially as a result of contractions generated by pulse of sinoatrial node. These pulses are the result of metabolic changes that occur in excito conductor system.

-Conductivity is the property of Myocardium,  in particular of node tissue, to drive  shrinkage waves generated by the sinoatrial node in the whole heart.

-Excitability is the property of myocardium to respond by a contraction to appropriate stimulus.

-Myocardial contractility is property-to contract  when stimulated appropriately. Cardiac contractions are called systolics and reliefs, diastole. 

Can you give me an introduction to the novel Wuthering Heights and about the narrator, Emily.

The story is told through the eyes of Mr Lockwood, a visitor to Wuthering Heights who is told the fascinating tale by Nelly Dean, the servant.

Her tale concerns the lives of Heathcliff, Catherine Earnshaw and her descendants, and the Linton family and their descendants.

Heathcliff was a wild gypsy child adopted by the Earnshaw family. He falls in love with Catherine Earnshaw. She loves him, but she rejects him for Edgar Linton, who has money and status. Heathcliff elopes with Isabella, Edgar's sister.

Heathcliff becomes wealthy and respected. He takes over Wuthering Heights (the Earnshaw family home) and Thrushcross Grange (the Linton family home) Heathcliff loves Catherine throughout the story, although he is driven to exact revenge as he cannot have her. He is buried next to her when he dies.

Emily Bronte is the author not the narrator. There are details about her life on the final link below if you require.

Compare ideology and spin using a recent media example?Possible topics could be :- · De-classification of drugs...

Among the many issues spinned and pushed by the media in the zeitgeist that we have created is the case of Gary McKinnon.

Here is a person who admits to have hacked for years NASA computers in search of extraterrestial life information, and who shut down the US Army, Air Force, Navy, and DoD. Admittedly, he called himself "SOLO" and teased the people who were trying  get him. And now, he is declaring that his human rights should be met and he should not face extradition to the US.

Now, the kicker is that a group of artists and other media groups in both the US and the UK are making a coalition in his DEFENSE. Sting and a thread of singers and artists are planning (if not already did) a benefit concert on HIS BEHALF, Pink Floyd wrote a song "Chicago-Change the World" on his behalf as well, and a number of people want to vouch his legal fees.

This man is now claiming he has Apsberger's which is indicative that he is looking for a way out. Yet, who has dared to really talk to the true and de-hyped media and face the facts that this man endangered the security of the entire country under a daze of pot, and that there is a clear indication that our Defense department is extremely vulnerable?

Instead, we downplay it to a concert, involve celebrities, and laugh it off as it the whole thing was a big joke.

That is a great example of how the hype can totally bring a country spiraling down.

What type of characterization can you identify in The most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell ?

Characterization is evident in The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell in the way all 3 main characters (Sanger Rainsford, General Zaroff and Ivan) are developed.

Sanger Rainsford is a man who cares a great deal about hunting. In fact, the way ends up in this predicament is en route to a hunt. He is also well known for the work he has produced in relation to his hunting, as evidenced in the fact that Zaroff knows who he is before he introduces himself.

While being hunted, Rainsford proves to be resilient and resourceful: he never gives up and keeps encouraging himself to continue on. He is capable of creating traps and detours, and in the end proves a worthy component of General Zaroff's. In fact, he is the only one who has been hunted to "win" the most dangerous game.

General Zaroff is characterized as a psychotic, wealthy man, with little less to do with his money than to hunt people for sport. He has built his island to include all of the finer things offered in regular society; in fact, he has many accouterments that regular people in society do not (i.e. tailored linens, exceptional food and drink, etc.)

It is clear to see that he does not think his plan to hunt humans the least bit wrong. He admonishes Rainsford's shock by accusing him of having a "Puritan" upbringing. He further tries to persuade Rainsford by inviting him to hunt-he shows off his lot of dogs and brags about his "training" methods for those who unwittingly have fallen prey to the "channel" he set up in the waters.

Ivanis a "deaf and dumb" ex-Cossack. During his heyday, he was employed as a professional knouter (which is someone who inflicts pain on others through whippings as a form of punishment). He is characterized in the story as being a formidable opponent, as is evidenced in the way he answers the door, (with a revolver pointing at Rainsford's chest) and forces those who have the option of dealing with him or being hunted to choose the latter. He is depicted as strong in the way he handles to dogs and is described by Rainsford as a giant.

 He is further characterized to be loyal because he does anything the general asks of him and even dies as a result of one of Rainsford's traps.

Why is medical care so expensive according to the economic forces of supply and demand today?

If we try to explain the high cost of medical expenses on the basis of forces of demand and supply only, there are two main factors contributing to it. First is the inelastic nature of demand for medical treatment and care. When a person is need of medical assistance, particularly in cases of serious or life threatening situations, the patients are are willing to pay any price within their means. If need arises a person will cut down many other expenses, take loans, and may be sell off some assets to pay for essential treatment. Because of this the providers of medical services are able to increase their charges without the fear of reducing their total demand for medical service.

Second reason for high cost of medical care is relatively inelastic supply. It takes a long time for people to complete the study of medicine and become qualified medical practitioners. In addition, the cost of education for becoming a medical practitioner is very high. Thus not many people are willing to spend that much time and money for becoming medical practitioners. In addition, there is a long lead time for making additional supply of medical practitioners after people realize the high earning potential for them.

The cost of medicines is also high because of monopolistic and market conditions existing in pharmaceutical business. Modern medical treatment depends heavily on new drugs discovered through very expensive research that takes a long time to develop and prove each new medicines. The companies that develop these medicines are then granted patent rights for extended periods. Because of this they have no competition for those specific drugs and they are able to charge very high prices, which the patients are forced to pay because of their inelastic demand.

In Book 2, Chapter 13 of A Tale of Two Cities, what memory does Carton want to take with him?

In a Tale of Two Cities, Carton takes a memory of his own creation with him to the grave. He imagines that Lucy and Darnay's child will grow up to be the judge Carton never came to be in his lifetime. This falls in line with Carton's dream-like image of Paris moving past its present turmoil into a new stage of existence. Carton's sacrifice of his own life so that Darnay, Lucy and Sydney can escape is a part of this cycle of death, birth and renewal.

How is belonging explored in the book, The chant of Jimmie Blacksmith?

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, by Thomas Keneally is the story of Jimmie Blacksmith who killed many people in a violent rage in 1900 in Australia because of how he was treated growing up, in particular, racial discrimmination. However racial discrimmination is not the only reason for his rejection by society. Jimmy never felt like he belonged anywhere; and he always chose to leave his past behind and strike out anew. However there are consequences for this behavior which is never establishing roots and/or feeling a sense of belonging.

Jimmie is initiated into the Mungindi tribe, but he is disillusioned and leaves with a reverend and his wife who urge him to abandon his background and associate with whites but the whites do not want him. In this situation, Jimmie is portrayed as a man with a weak identity. He allows himself to leave a people who have embraced him and accepted him. In addition, he believes the reverend and his wife when they suggest what he do in the future. He tries to engratiate himself with whites but it doesn't work.

Jimmie does not feel he belongs but this is, in part, due to his own internal feelings of unacceptance.

Jimmie has an affair with a white chamber maid who becomes pregnant. They arrange to marry and have a family but he realizes the baby isn't his.

Jimmie's tribal relatives bring him his initiation tooth as a way to protect him from harm, since they believe that the white marriage is harmful to his spirit. However, Mr. Newby kicks out his relatives and does not pay him the money he is owed.

Jimmie's anger is too much for him to control and he seeks revenge by killing Mr. Newby's wife, daughters, and a schoolteacher, Miss Graf.

Jimmie also acts out his rage on the Healy family who he worked for, who also cheated him. He and Mort are very nearly caught. They even take a hostage who happens to be a school teacher. The wise teacher makes Jimmie realize he should go on alone. Jimmie attempts to cross a river and is shot. He hides out in a convent but eventually is discovered. He is awaiting death by hanging at the end of the novel.

Jimmie's story can serve as a warning about what can happen if a person does not embrace their true spirit, and stay where they belong.

How does Joyce give us the main protagonist/character of Eveline in "Eveline"?

The technique Joyce uses to delineate/draw the characters in "Dubliners" is fragmentary. The collection is divided into stories of youth, adolescence, maturity,  middle age and public life.

Eveline is contained in the adolescence section. We are asked to piece together a profile from the small clues we are given Eveline is a dreamer, at the beginning of the story she is staring out through "dusty cretonne curtains". This indicates that her view and perception of the world is obscured or not clear. We also know this from the sharp way she is spoken to in her employment.."look lively". It is nor that she is lazy though we know she is overburdened in her private life.

She must look after her younger brothers and sisters, she has witnessed the death of her Mother at an impressionable age and her Father is a man who indulges in too much alcohol and can be abusive.

Frank, she thinks, is her answer. He will give her a new life, in Buenos Aires. The reader is asked to imagine a girl who finds shopping on a Saturday evening in Dublin difficult in  South America. The reader must conclude that Eveline is once again dreaming and we know that it is a very long stretch of the imagination.

James Joyce himself commented on his stories in Dubliners. He said that he wished to portray the "stasis" of life in Dublin in the early 20th century. In other words each of the characters suffers from a paralysis of sorts. Eveline's is that she is stuck and at the end she cannot make the decision which will change her life. Her indecision is portrayed as a drowning of sorts.

Hope this helps!!

In the "Cask Of Amontillado", why does Montresor say to Fortunato, "Yes, for the love of God"? Is he being serious? Or is he being sarcastic? Why?

Rather than sarcasm, it is a more sophisticated form of verbal irony. Although the two are closely related, all verbal irony is not sarcasm. Here, Montresor is responding to Fortunato's pleas for help, but not in the way Fortunato wants. Instead, Montresor is telling him of all the pain, punishment, and inequality of the world in one line, and essentially saying, "Yes, this is why you're here-for the love of God." This is the moment when Fortunato (and perhaps the reader, if he/she has not already) realizes how mad Montresor truly is, despite all his claims to sanity.

Montresor's conversations with Fortunato are marked by his penchant for twisting Fortunato's words for his own use. For example, shortly before this, Fortunato says it is time to be getting back to the palazzo, where his wife and others are waiting. He says "Let us be gone," and Montresor repeats, "Yes…let us be gone." These are his subtle jests with his victim, his revelations that the world is not as Fortunato imagines. Indeed, Montresor is not as Fortunato imagines, and the knowledge leads to his death.

What does the word "pipe" mean in Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado?"

It is significant that Montresor claims to have bought such a large quantity of Amontillado. It seems unlikely that he would have wanted that much of that kind of wine for himself. A  pipe containing 126 gallons would make 500 quarts. More likely Montresor would bottle it and sell it in cases at a good profit--that is, if the Amontillado truly existed. Fortunato is not interested in merely tasting the wine and displaying his conneisseurship. He would like to buy some of that bargain-priced Amontillado himself. But he has to taste it to make sure it is genuine, because Montresor tells him he has doubts.

"I have my doubts," I replied, "and I was silly enough to pay the full Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter. You were not to be found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain."

Note that he says it was a bargain. Fortunato is rich. He could buy a whole shipload of Amontillado and strike an even better bargain. This is why he is so eager to taste Montresor's wine.

On a topographic map, what is shown by contour lines that are a) far apart, b) close together and c) almost touching?

On a topographic map, the contour lines follow a certain elevation across the terrain.  So here's what each of the things you mention would mean:

If the lines are far apart, that means that there is little or no slope in that area of the map.  When the lines are far apart it means that there's a long horizontal distance between places with different elevations.

By contrast, if the lines are close together, that means there is only a short distance between places with different elevations.  That means it's a steep slope.

If the lines are practically touching, that means it's a very steep slope -- maybe even vertical.

On the second link provided, scroll down to "Contour Lines."

How did the EVOLUTION of THE WHALE occur? Who is the ancestor of the whale?What conditions leads to the huge size of the whale?

It is generally agreed that the evolution of whales (cetaceans) began 60 million years ago with Sinonyx (Mesonychids) a carnivorous undulate (hoofed animal) the size of a wolf.  Key features of this fossil are its triangular shaped teeth and skull. The next step in the development of the whale was Pakicetus, 52 million years ago (Early Eocene), an animal with long tail and thick neck and hooves. Amulocetus, 50 million years ago, developed a body better adapted for swimming than walking on land. It is thought that ambulocetus filled a nitch similar to alligators and crocodiles.

Rodhecetus, 46 million years ago, had large limbs that could support the body on land, and swim in the oceans. It is likely that they were amphibious mammals. Basilosaurids and dorudontids, 35 million years ago, possessed the physical characteristics recognized as whales. 

Squalodon, 33 to 15 million years ago, developed characteristics similar to odontocetes (toothed whales) and Cetotherium, 30 to 14 million years ago,developed characteristics similar to mysticetes (baleen whales).

Whales size provides them with biological advantages, protection from environmental factors such as predation, temperature and pressure. The open ocean provides the nutrients to maintain a large body mass.

How is Harper Lee approaching the topic of racism through Francis Hancock, Tom Robinson, and Dolphus Raymond in To Kill A Mockingbird?

Francis demonstrates the ignorance and cowardice of the town at large. He spews the hate that his family speaks without questioning it, telling Scout that Atticus is a "nigger-lover", & that he "lets you all run wild", referring to Jem and herself. He goads Scout into a fight, proving that racism often leads to violence. Overall, Francis is an individual who symbolizes the unthinking majority of people who accept others' viewpoints without judging for themselves. He employs no critical thinking, then hides behind his grandmother when Scout attempts to call him on it. Just like members of a mob, Francis has no spine when he's actually forced to confront his actions.

Dolphus Raymond is a local "drunk"; or at least, that's what everyone thinks. He is a white man from a good family, but he has chosen to live on the black side of town with his mistress, who is also black. There, they raise their children, & live in relative peace. He is a source of rumor & speculation amongst the townspeople, because of his chosen lifestyle. His secret? Mr. Raymond is not an alcoholic. In fact, all he carries in his brown paper sack is a bottle of Coca-cola. When Dill leaves the courtroom distressed, Mr. Raymond shares the soda with Dill, and talks with the children about tolerance and love. He explains that letting everyone think he's drunk helps them deal with the fact that he's chosen to ignore social standards, and instead pursue happiness with the woman he loves. He understands Dill's sickness at the cruelty he has witnessed during the trial, and explains that when they are grown, they'll no longer cry about the injustice in the world. Mr. Raymond is another adult, like Miss Maudie and Atticus, who teaches the children a lesson in equality, and extending compassion to all people.

Tom is the catalyst for the racism running deep beneath the town. Through his trial all the ugliness and secret hatred in the small town is brought to the surface.  He is a quiet, hardworking family man, whose existence stands as the ultimate symbol of the mockingbird in the novel. In fact, his only "crime" is being black. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, & thus the sins of Bob Ewell were visited upon him. The town uses Tom as an example, a scapegoat for their own hideous bigotry. However, Atticus, and those who support him, show how racism can be fought. They make it clear that Tom is innocent, and that his trial is merely a showcase for the racism of the town.

Known is the value of the assets, liabilities and retained earnings. Unknown is what the owners investment. What is the formula?

I believe you the assets and liabilities mentioned in the question pertain to the balance sheet of a company.

A balance sheet is prepared as on any particular date, which is usually the end of an accounting period. The balance sheet has two main sides or heads of accounts, assets and liabilities. Assets, also called application of funds, refers to the all the assets owned by the company including fixed assets, current assets, accounts receivables, investments, bank and cash balance, or any other assets owned or monies payable to the company by debtors.

Liabilities, also called sources of funds, refers to all the money which the company owes to others as well as its own funds,that have been invested in the business. Fixed assets includes items like Owners original investment, retained profits, loans, accounts payable, or any other monies owed by the company. The owners funds, including the original investment and retained earnings are not really a liability as far as owner of the business is concerned. But for business it is one of the sources of funds, and therefore classified as liability.

In any balance sheet the total assets mus be exactly equal to the total liabilities. This is because whatever funds are available to the business from any source must equal the total assets employed in the company.

The question does not say so explicitly, but I believe it is stating that total total assets of the business is known. However on the other side of balance sheet the total liabilities is not known. Instead what is known is only the funds that the owner owes to others, this is equal to total liabilities (or sources of funds) minus the owners fund (which includes original investment plus retained earnings), and the retained earnings.

Since the total of balances on both the sides of a balance sheet must be equal, we can know the amount originally invested by the owners by subtracting liabilities (as given) plus retained earnings from the total assets.

How is the attitude of the uncle of Fortinbras like that of Claudius to Hamlet?

Neither Claudius nor Fortinbras' uncle want Fortinbras to take revenge on Denmark.

Here's the score:

• King Hamlet kills Fortinbras' father.


• Fortinbras wants revenge on King Hamlet and Denmark.


• Claudius does Fortinbras' dirty work for him and kills King Hamlet but doesn't want Fortinbras to take revenge on him.


• Hamlet wants revenge on Claudius for killing his father.


• Fortinbras' uncle, through Claudius' urging, convinces Fortinbras not to take revenge on Denmark.


• Claudius ends up doing Fortinbras' dirty work for him by killing Hamlet, the Queen, himself, and leaving Denmark open for invasion.

Now the long version:

Fortinbras had wanted to enact revenge on Denmark through war; he saw Claudius as weak, compared to King Hamlet.  As for Fortinbras' uncle, he is sick, too weak to be a threat to Claudius.  Claudius fears Fortinbras, so he writes the sick uncle not to let Fortinbras take revenge on Denmark.

Instead, Claudius wants revenge on Hamlet for trying to take revenge on him.  It's incestuous revenge that is the problem in this play.  Claudius' political plan works: Fortinbras' uncle convinces Fortinbras to thwart his revenge.  Tragically, no one intervenes on behalf of Hamlet's plan of revenge.

Fortinbras and Hamlet are foils.  Both of their father's (the Kings) have been murdered, and both of them (the Princes) have been passed over for the crown by their uncles.  Both have legitimate claims to the throne.  Both have rights to enact revenge.  But Fortinbras does not for two reasons: 1) he was not visited by his father's ghost who demanded revenge; 2) his uncle interceded for him.

Fortinbras is more practical than Hamlet.  Instead of hastily enacting a ill-conceived personal plan of revenge against a well-guarded king, Fortinbras waits.  He says:

I have some rights of memory in this kingdom,
Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me.

Fortinbras bides his time, unlike the melancholy Dane.  Soon enough, his time does come, and he not only gets the title promised him, but he marches into Denmark, which is in complete disarray, and claims it too! His claim is even greater than he ever could have hoped.  He even gets Hamlet's claim:

But I do prophesy th' election lights 
On Fortinbras. He has my dying voice.

How can you rewrite the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes?

Rewriting, or paraphrasing, is a useful exercise when considering the meaning and the structure of a poem. First, sometimes when we put a poem into our own words in prose we gain a clearer and deeper understanding of the poem itself. This is always a benefit to you, the reader, and to the poet as s/he then has a greater and more appreciative audience. (Don't rewrite into poetry--that would be a different exercise altogether and might effectively come after you've rewritten, or paraphrased, the original poem.)

Second, the structure of poetry is so condensed because the words, phrases and thoughts are so precise. You will sometimes be amazed that three or four words of poetry require full prose sentences in an attempt to convey the same meaning. This proves rewriting (paraphrasing) to be a valuable exercise because you experience the power of precision wording for yourself, which gives you greater skill at mastering your language and its vocabulary.

A possible rewrite (paraphrase) of "Harlem" might be:

What happens to a dream that is delayed in coming true?
Does it dry up and wither like a grape in summer's heat?
Or does it become infected like a neglected sore?
Does it begin to carry a stench the way rotten meat does?
Or does it turn to sugary crust like fudge candy left out to turn to sugar?
Maybe a dream without fulfillment just sags from it's own weight like a heavy load.
Or does it simply explode from pent up despair?

Can anyone help me with my concluding statement?What would be a good concluding statement for this paragraph? "In the short story “The...

Hello there, Oliviax3.  I would be happy to try to help you with your paragraph.  Ready to work?  Roll up your sleeves!

First, your paragraph has a few problems that you should probably attend to before you try to think of an appropriate ending.  It has the sound of an introductory paragraph...like the first one in an essay?  If so, you are trying to "hook" the reader in and let them know what it is you are going to be writing about.  You've haven't got a whole lot of hook, but you do have a pretty clear "thesis statement" (aka topic sentence.): "In the short story “The Necklace” irony is used widely throughout the story."

Let's tighten that up a little bit, though, by removing the redundant bit at the end: "Irony is used widely throughout the short story "The Necklace." This lets the reader know what the focus of your paper is going to be about and makes for a good opening sentence on an essay. Again, not a lot of "hook" there, but I suppose in Freshman English you can get away with a plain (but solid) opening statement : )

The problem with your paragraph (which, again, I am assuming is the opening paragraph to a longer essay) is that it is heavy on information but that information is not focused. Take, for example, your second sentence: “The Necklace” is a short story by Guy de Maupassant." This information could probably be combined with your first sentence:"Irony is used widely throughout Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace." Same thing with your third and fourth sentences:  "The genre of the story is mystery. The focus element of “The Necklace” is irony" Now, unless you put this in here on purpose (because your teacher told you exactly what to include in the paragraph and these sentences fill that requirement) I would chop them out.  The first sentence isn't really related to your topic (that the story is full of irony) and the second sentence just sort of repeats what your first sentence said.

The rest of your paragraph isn't going to fare much better, I am afraid.  Remember, your paper is not about irony, but rather about the irony found in the story "The Necklace."  The last three sentences of your paragraph describe different types of irony but are not strictly related to the story.  All the sentences in a paragraph should support the main idea you are working with.  If you are making a five paragraph essay, use these three sentences as the "body" of your paper.  Give one sentence to each paragraph and cite an example of that type of irony from the story.

Where does that leave you?  Back with one sentence (a good one, but one nonetheless.): "Irony is used widely throughout Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace." Continue on from there..."Irony is used widely throughout Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace." Examples can be found of all three types of irony: situational, dramatic, and verbal. Then, think of a way to keep going.  Using these elements, Maupassant creates a rich story that is effective on many levels.

That's the idea I think you are looking for, and I am almost out of space for writing in this box!  Good luck!  Remember the keys to good essay writing: Clear topic, clear evidence, and clear sentences.

In Ethan Frome what does the narrator learn about Frome from other characters?

The narrator essentially learns almost everything about the elusive Ethan Frome through other people in the town.  He is intensely curious about the unique man, and so asks a lot of questions.  He gets bits and pieces from several different townspeople--the grocer, Mrs. Ned Hale (who he is boarding with while he is in town), and Harmon Gow (who drives the narrator places in his cart).  From each person he gets a different little bit of information:  from the grocer, he learns that Ethan had a "smash-up" about 24 years ago that crippled him, from Gow he learns about Ethan's sickly parents and Zenobia, his sickly wife, and from Mrs. Hale he learns a few more details about Mattie, relating to why and how she came to stay at the Frome household.  So, he starts to piece together the foundation of Ethan's story through the other characters.

It isn't until the narrator visits Frome's household and sees both Zeena and Mattie in the house together that he really feels like he understands Ethan Frome.  It is at this point that the narrator has a "flashback," and Wharton goes back and tells the beginning of the story that we have missed, filling in all of the details that the townspeople haven't told him already.  I hope that those thoughts helped a bit; good luck!

I need help in figuring out how to rewrite the story "The Last Leaf" by O.Henry in a way that my children can understand it.I wonder that how to...

This story lends itself well to simplification, and to the understanding of children.  The first thing that might be helpful is to reduce the story to its most basic events, and the characters to their primary traits.  The main events of the story are an exposition, or introduction of the scene and the characters.  It is set in Greenwich Village, during winter, and Sue and Johnsy are artists that live together in an apartment. That is the introduction at its most bare-bones minimum.  That will help to set the scene for your children in a simple way.  Maybe a brief description of the neighborhood, and of Sue and Johnsy's relationship and fondness for one another.  Next, the first conflict in the plot is introduced:  pneumonia.  To bring this into a story for children, you could change the name (pneumonia is hard to read and pronounce) and generalize it as a sickness.  Or, you could change the illness itself to some sort of monster or creature that is a more concrete threat.  The next conflict is that Johnsy gets ill; Sue, concerned, brings Mr. Behrman in.  You could give a brief physical description of him, and describe him as a grumpy man with a soft heart.

Describe Johnsy's conclusion about the leaves on the vine, and Sue and Behrman's concern.  Then, maybe, instead of describing Behrman's involvement at the very end, describe it in real time as it is happening--this is less confusing for children, who can't grasp timeline jumps quite as well.  THey can understand what he did and its impact as the story goes along.

I hope that those thoughts helped; take the basic events of  the story, simplify and condense them, and put them in chroniclogical order.  That would be my suggestion for helping children understand this story better.  I hope that helps; good luck!

Describe the breathing process.less than 200 words.

Breathing is the process by which humans and other living beings take in oxygen from its environment and release carbon dioxide. There are many different ways in which different animals breathe. Here I will describe the process of breathing in humans.

The main organs used by human for breathing is lungs. There are a pair of longs located in chest. Each lung contains millions of small air sacks called alveoli.

The lungs sucks the air from the environment through the process of inhalation (breathing in) by the action of contraction of diaphragm and chest muscles. This causes the lungs to expand and air is sucked in. The air enters the lungs from nose and mouth through the wind pipe (trachea). This air, which contains about 20% oxygen and 0.3% carbon dioxide comes in contact with blood capillaries in alveoli, causing blood to absorb oxygen from the air inhaled and release carbon dioxide.

The process of inhalation is followed by the process of exhalation (breathing out) in which the diaphragm and chest muscles relax. With this the air in the lunges is forced out of the lungs. This exhaled air contains about 17% oxygen and 5% carbon dioxide. This completes one cycle of breathing.

These cycles of inhalation and exhalation continue one after the other.

What is the plot of this story?

Gulliver is a surgeon. He is very educated and speaks to the reader, saying that he will tell his story while at sea. He tells the reader about his youth and marriage to Mrs. Burton. During his first trip he is stranded on Lilliput. He wakes up and is surrounded by little people called Lilliputians. Gulliver has a military vistory over a neighboring island, Blefusco, and  is commended. However as time goes on he hears that he will be arrested for treason so he runs away from the island and goes back to England.

He sees his wife and children, then he goes on another trip. Again he is ship wrecked on a peninsula called, Brobdingnag, very different than Lilliput. In this new country they are all much larger than he. Because he is so small he has a new vantage point to see peeople whom he thinks are grotesque and spiritually immoral. His nursemaid is Glumdalclitch who loves him. Gulliver is lonely and wants to escape.He plans an escape and then suddenly a large bird picks up his home and drops it inthe sea.Gulliver floats in this home on the sea until a British ship picks him up. No one believes his fantastic stories. He presents souveners so finally they believe him.

Gulliver goes home but soon feels the wanderlust and leaves. At sea his ship is attacked by pirates.Gulliver escapes to land. Soon after he is pulled up in the air on a floating island, Laputa. He meets the Laputans who operate their world through science and mathematics and worship an enormous  stone in the middle of the island. He wants to leave. He sails to the islands of Balnibarbi. He visits some people:  Lagado and Glubbdubdrib, where he can talk with the spirits of the past great men Alexander the Great and Julius Ceasar.He visits Luggnagg, an meets an immortal race. Finally, Gulliver leaves the Balnibarbi and goes home.

Of course when he arrives he is wanting to leave all over again. Gulliveer takes off in his ship.His shipmates revolt against him. He finds land and sees cows and humans, the Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos. The Houyhnhnms look like horses and rule the land. The Yahoos look just like humans but they only serve.The Houyhnhnms look at Gulliver and see another "human". The commander horse gets to know Gulliver and likes him. Gulliver feels disgusted by his own race of human beings. He likes the Houyhnhnm culture because their behavior is rules by reason, respect and truth. However they make him go away because he is too similar to the Yahoos.Gulliver feels depressed but listens to them.

Gulliver lhad lived for 4 years with the Houyhnhnms, before going back to England. The family is surprised. They thought he was dead.Gulliver walks like a horse now; and he doesn't like people anymore. When he lived with the Houyhnhnm he changed, especially his thinking about what constitutes a good society. He was no longer satisfied with Europe. He adjusts to live in England but finds his only companionship from 2 horses he bought and speaks with everyday.He writes about his experiences.

In the short story "Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket", how does the warm apartment symbolizes Tom's relationship with his wife?

Well done! You have identified that setting in this short story, at least on some levels, operates symbolically in terms of standing for an idea or abstract quality apart from its physical state. In my mind, the two settings in this short story - the ledge and the apartment, are contrasted throughout the tale. One of course, is a place of danger, of cold, and potential death, the other is a place of warmth, security and safety. It is clear that Tom's relationship with his wife is also very important to him - when he embraces her before she goes to the cinema he is almost tempted to join her:

He kissed her then and, for an instant, holding her close, smelling the perfume she had used, he was tempted to go with her; it was not actually true that he had to work tonight, though he very much wanted to.

However, he decides to follow the path of work and lets his wife go out, which of course initiates the series of events that blows the key paper out of the window and leads him to decide to go and get it. You would do well to have another read of this story and try and pick out some quotes that describes the setting of the ledge to help you in your contrast with the apartment. It is clear, however, that he is in a place of immense danger and fear, where he is not able to think, because if he thinks, he will endanger his life.

For me, it is key to analyse how Tom changes when he finally makes his way back to the apartment. He grins "in triumph" when he makes it back in, and is apparently bemused by his experience:

He shook his head wonderingly, and turned to walk toward the closet.

However, the ending makes it completely clear that his return into the apartment symbolically shows another kind of decision - that he is rejecting the life of cloak and dagger company life, where the only motivation is to get ahead of his peers, and instead opting for a more balanced approach to life, where he values his wife and marriage. This transformation is confirmed with his laughter at the loss of the key bit of paper for the second time at the end of the story.

What kinds of powers did Clarisse seem to immediately have over Montag in "Fahrenheit 451"?

Clarisse's impact on Montag is, from the very start, profound and immeasurable.  Before he even meets her the first time, he is moved by the mere fact that she has been in the area.  Bradbury writes that as he walks home, before he even meets her, he senses a change in the air, as if "charged with a special calm."  He senses breathing, an energy, a force, and all of this foreshadows the power that Clarisse will have over his life; he can feel it even before he has met it.  So, Bradbury uses foreshadowing on Montag's senses to indicate the coming meeting with a very important character.

Then, when he sees her for the first time, Bradbury gives nearly 2 full paragraphs to describe her intensity and beauty.  He states that Montag felt "he had said something quite wonderful" when she looked at him, and he tried to say hello but couldn't get the noises out of his mouth right away.  In short, he is immediately moved by her; speechless; impacted in a profound way, before they even talk.  As they talk, he is reminded of a wonderful childhood memory of total happiness with his mother--Clarisse moves him to think of happier times, and of fond memories he had forgotten.  Then, after that first night, his entire universe is shaken as he realizes quite clearly that he is not happy.  She had asked him that question and he had defended his happiness, but upon arriving home, her words drove him to admit that he wasn't.  He ponders her impact on him in such a short time:

"How long had they walked together?  Three minutes?  Five?  Yet how large that time seemed now.  How immense a figure she was on the stage before him."

So, to put it simply, Clarisse immediately has an immense impact in Montag's life; in fact, a life-changing influence.  She is a catalyst that starts all of Montag's truth-searching, that eventually leads him to leave behind everything that he thought he believed in pursuit of real happiness.  I hope that helped; good luck!

Why does Javert request that the mayor dismiss him in Les Miserables by Victor Hugo?

In Volume I, Book the Sixth, Chapter II of Les Miserables, Javert has traced Jean Valjean for a long time. Having been born in a prison, Javert has spent his life in rigid respect for the law, now as a policeman, perhaps to compensate for his beginnings.  Now, he comes to M. Madeleine, M. le Maire (mayor) and requests that he be dismissed from his position because he has accused M. Madeleine of being a convict:  "I have denounced you at the Prefecture.

Javert tells the mayor that he has thought that M. Madeleine is Jean Valjean because of a certain way that the mayor has of dragging his leg, his strength, and his marksmanship, all of which are like that of Valjean.  But, lately, a certain Father Champmathieu has appeared who is a pruner of trees as Valjean was; in addition, convicts such as Brevet who served beside Valjean have recognized Champmathieu as Valjean.

When the mayor asks why Javert feels that he should be "turned out," Javert explains that he has denounced the mayor as a lowly convict,

you, a respectable man, a mayor, a magistrate!...I have insulted authority in your person, I, an agent of the authorities.  If one of my subordinates had done what I have done, I should have declared him unworthy of the service, and have expelled him. Well! Stop, Mr. Mayor; one word more I have often been severe in the course of my life toward others.  That is just.  I have done well.  Now, if I were not severe towards myself all the justice that I have done would become injustice.  Why, I should be a blackguard!  Those who say, 'That blackguard of a Javert!' would be right...I must treat myself as I would treat any other man...I have caught myself in a fault.

Because Brevert and others have identified Champmathieu as Valjean, Javert says he is wrong for having accused the mayor.  But, in light of a previous chapter in which the mayor overrode the authority of Javert regarding the jail sentencing of Fantine, the reader has suspicions if Javert is merely playing "cat and mouse" with M. Madeleine.

Nonetheless, Javert is absolutely rigid in his respect for the law and his obedience of it:

I must treat myself as I would treat any other man...

This rigid respect is what causes Javert such torture in his conscience at the end of Hugo's narrative.

What is meant by the term context when referring to literature? Can a book be read with no understanding of its context?thanks

One can read (and teach) any work without full exposition of its historical, social, etc. "context."  BUT... the term "context" has an essential and different meaning for ALL English and Language Arts teachers and students.

When attempting to understand, explicate, or analyze a poem, passage, or work as a whole, one must ALWAYS remember to stay in the context, "the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect."  The analogy here would be that one cannot play golf on a tennis court.  Students and teachers are so quick (and weak) to allow themselves to bring meanings to text that are outside the text's fundamental and literal context - this is a cardinal sin of close reading and teaches students that "anything goes."

We must first and foremost use what's called "objective criticism" when reading works of literature.  This practice is defined as approaching a work as "something which stands free from the poet, audience, and the environing world.  It describes the literary product as a self-sufficient object, or else as a world-in-itself, which is to be analyzed and judged by intrinsic criteria such as complexity, coherence, equilibrium, integrity, and interrelations of its component elements" (from A Glossary of Literary Terms by M.H. Abrams, 4th edition, page 37).  Without understanding and appreciating the literal meanings of the text first, any other "interpretation" is suspect to erroneous and illogical explication.

In "Life of Pi" how does faith and imagination rescue Pi from the depth of his misery?

Imagination enabled Pi to take what was an awful tragedy, a horrific experience, and a living nightmare, and turn it into an endearing tale of survival, friendship, and endurance.  The harsh reality that Pi had to deal with--the brutal, violent loss of his mother, having to surive with a cannibalistic mad-man on a raft, and then fight to the death for his own survival--was just too much to endure.  Any person faced with such brutality and trying circumstances would want to escape, would want to deny reality, and find a coping mechanism that would allow them to survive with the least amount of damage possible.

Pi's imagination saves him.  He takes the situation, and converts it into a tale that is amazing and fascinating.   In the creation of Richard Parker, he is able to be okay with the fact that he had to violate many of his beliefs and morals in order to survive.  Pi doing those things was unthinkable; Richard Parker doing them was understandable and expected.  He created a reality where it was okay to be what he was as he struggled to survive.

In addition to his imagination creating a reality that allowed him to survive, his faith helped him to create that alternate reality.  He was prone to believing great stories, based on faith, and that helped him to believe his own.  He also prayed every day on the raft, had a firm grasp of what forgiveness meant, and didn't feel alone because of his faith.  It enabled him to make it through his ordeals without feeling totally alone and desolate.

I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!

Why do the mountains and forest bring peace to Victor but not to his monster/creature?

I would like to add to the previous answer. Frankenstein has always sought solace in nature, because of the natural perfection & Romantic ideals the first response mentioned, but also because he feels most comfortable with himself. We see this throughout the novel, including when he locks himself away in his apartment to devote his time to his creation. Even when he is in the company of Henry Clerval, he prefers to be alone, contemplating human nature and the complexities of life. The solitude of such settings as the forest and the mountains bring him that peace, because he is alone in his own mind. It is only there that he can realize true contentment and essentially become enlightened. All of this connects to the Romantic ideals of nature inspiring invention.

However, the creature has had a completely different life. As the first poster pointed out, the creature is a product of science, & so does not belong in nature. However, there is another level to his discontent. All he has wanted, since his first moment of life, is love and acceptance from humans, and a place in society. But all he's encountered is horror, disgust, and rejection, even from the one who created him. He has been forced to exist in nature, away from human eyes. Because of this, his surroundings continually remind him of what he can't have: a normal human life. Nature only emphasizes his loneliness and isolation. Thus, he can never find the solace in nature that Victor finds. His true contentment would be found in acceptance, family, and love.

How does Jem influence Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird?i want to know how he influences her and can you give some examples :)

Jem is Scout's big brother in the book "To Kill a Mockingbird."  One of the first things the reader notices in the book is that when Jem makes a decision about someone worth being a friend Scout accepts his decision.  When Dill tells the children that his father in not dead, Scout makes a comment. Jem tells her to hush to which she narrates:

"Jem told me to hush, which is a sure sign that Dill had been studied and found acceptable."(8)

Scout also looks forward to attending school after having had a chance to observe Jem in his red jacket playing with school mates. 

When Scout and Jem find the box with the Indian head pennies in it that has been polished for the children, Jem explains to his sister how important permanent gifts like that are.  She learns from him the value of the gifts. (35)

Jem acts all grown up about the tree hole being cemented up.  In it Boo would leave the children little gifts.  Jem does not let Scout see him cry, but she observes him crying.  He has taught her indirectly that the gifts had mattered.(63)

At the end of Tom Robinson's trial, Tom is declared guilty.  Jem and Scout are present for the verdict.  The children know an innocent man has been found guilty.  Jem takes it very hard.  He cries as the children make their way through the crowd of people.  

"It ain't right, Atticus," said Jem." (212)

Jem and his sister walk home together.  Jem has taught Scout that he believes in justice and what is right.

Scout and Jem are hanging out when she sees a rolly polly and is about to kill it.  Jem tells her to put it outside and not to kill it because it had done nothing to hurt her.  He is teaching her to be kind and to respect life.

Why didn't Great Britain recognize the Confederacy during the American Civil War? Was another country going to recognize them?

Great Britain was torn between taking action (or in this case inaction) in the war so that slavery would end, or so at least they wouldn't appear to be supporting it, and openly supporting the Confederacy, helping to split a potential and growing rival in two.

The US had 31 million people by 1861, 27 million of them whites, and 22 million of those in the North, so Britain had to be politically and diplomatically careful.  The child had grown to dwarf the mother country in population, industry (to a lesser degree) and resources, and if GB ended up in the war against the North, it could well lose.

Add to this the position of Queen Victoria against slavery.  Britain had already abolished the practice 30 years ago, and the majority of the population were appalled by its continued existence and growth in the South.  English warships actively stopped Spanish slave trade ships in the Atlantic, so they were clearly an abolitionist nation, with a foreign policy to match.

Even Frederick Douglass went to England on a speaking tour, telling of the horrors he experienced under slavery, raising money to purchase his own freedom, and making it more difficult for GB to come in on the Confederate side.

No other country seriously considered intervention on either side, and the most Britain did to help out the South was build a few warships for her and buy smuggled cotton.

One of Bradbury's themes is that the machines we create will destroy us, how does he demostrate that in the story "There Will Come Soft Rains"?

The machines continued along their functions each day as progrmmed by the humans who were now deceased due to a nuclear explosion.  Because humans are basically going to invent and create labor-saving devices in order to pursue leisure activities, these machines kill us in more than one way.

The labor-saving devices require that we have to do something physical in order to exercise enough to save our hearts and bodies from obesity, and the machines that move us around and manufacture our goods are polluters.  So, the pollution from emissions causes climate change killing us in a completely new way, through starvation and famine and crop failure.  The threat of nuclear war still hangs over us today just as it did in the 1950s.

At the time that Ray Bradbury was writing, nuclear war or the threat of nuclear war was eminent. There were drills and commercials on television with a catchy jingle, "Duck and cover"  in order to avoid being incinerated by the first nuclear blast.  But, just how many days did you have to stay under-ground in order to avoid radiation poisoning?  No one knew for sure.  Could anyone survive a nuclear war?  I think Bradbury attempts to answer this question in his short story.

So, our playful family in "There Will Come Soft Rains" is destroyed leaving only shadows on their once beautiful home as a reminder that they actually existed. Their dog roams lonely and ill coming back to the place where he will be fed and watered by machines that are performing their function regardless of the need.  Finally, the house is consumed by fire, a fitting end for the story.

If you think about it, the fire is the only warm thing about the story...it leaves you feeling somewhat cold.  And perhaps that is Bradbury's intent. His writing seems calculated and mechanized in this story. He seems distant and detached as he describes in detail the mechanization that has overtaken these people's home life. And, we can only assume that this is normal for this society.

MILTON FRIEDMAN SAID THE FEDERAL RESERVE SHOULD RAISE INTEREST RATES 2% EACH YEAR.BUT HE WAS AGAINST INFLATION IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE?HOW CAN MILTON...

I do not know what Milton Friedman said, but it is quite unlikely that he suggested raising interest rate 2% each year. Particularly the bit about "each year" makes no sense. However we can still consider the relationship between interest rate and inflation.

The prices of economic are dependent on the total demand. More the demand for a good, higher its prices are likely to be in the short run. When the the general demand for a wide variety goods increases the simultaneously the prices of all these increase also. We call a condition like this as inflation.

Inflation implies that the total demand in the market for all the goods in the economy has risen faster than the actual availability of goods. This mismatch in variations in supply and demand of goods happens due to several reason including the following.

• The part of the goods produced representing creation of additional capital goods, that are not available for immediate production of consumable goods. The people receive wages for the efforts put in by them for producing such capitals. They also receive price for other factors of production used in this way. But there are no consumer goods created in short run corresponding to such additional purchasing power available with people.


• People may spend more or less than they earn on buying and consuming goods immediately. This happens because people may save money for future,spend money saved earlier, or borrow money. The inflation is caused by the total purchasing power in this way exceeding the total goods available for purchase.

Interest rates impacts the economy in a complex way, One of the effect is to influence the tendency of people to save and borrow. A higher interest rates encourages people to save more and borrow less. In this way increase in interest rates tends to reduce the total spending in the economy and bring down the inflation.

Did Yogi Berra make a lot of famous quotes?

Yogi Berra, who was the starting catcher for the New York Yankees back in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, is given credit for all sorts of amusing quotes.

Some of his more famous ones include "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded" and "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

These quotes are famous because they are seemingly paradoxical or they are just plain silly.

Howver, there are many sayings like these that are attributed to Yogi Berra that he probably did not really say.  In fact, he wrote a book once to, in part, specify which of the sayings really were his and which weren't.

Analyze the most important symbolic image in "In Another Country."

What might be called the primary symbol in "In Another Country" are the machines used in rehabilitation of the soldier's injuries. To some, these machines symbolize the non-war related probability of the futility and ineffectiveness of routine in daily life: you may follow a routine expecting it to be productive but in reality it isn't and can't be.

To others, the machines and the routine they require and establish symbolize the unsquelched hope that life will continue to have value after the reality of the devastation of the war. Upon that hope, the soldier's follow the routine and even socialize afterward even though there is no connection between them other than the motions they go through.

What did the townspeople think of Miss Emily and her new boyfriend?

Miss Emily Grierson's neighbors in Jefferson were mystified with her sudden coupling with newcomer Homer Barron. First, they can't believe Emily would be interested in a common "Yankee;" the Grierson's were an "aristocratic" family with deep roots in the town's history dating back before the Civil War. Later, they are happy for Emily, since they realize she is an aging spinster with few prospects in the town. Many do not appreciate her Sunday carriage rides with Homer, since (despite their adult ages) it was not deemed proper to be courted unescorted. Homer is generally well-liked by most of the town--especially the men. He enjoys telling stories and is usually the center of attention. This odd duo seemed an unlikely pairing, though the townspeople expected marriage between the two to be inevitable. 

In "Harrison Bergeron" what is Vonnegut saying about the role today's government has in achieving equality among people?

Vonnegut's dystopian view of a society in which the government forces people to be "equal" is a rather disheartening one.  In Bergeron's society, no one is too pretty, smart, strong or excellent in anything.  As a result, supposedly, no one ever gets their feelings hurt, no one is offended, and happiness is supposed to abound--that is the purpose of equality, right?  Happiness?  Not ever feeling inadequate, confused or hurt?  Handicaps keep anyone from excelling or inadvertantly hurting other people's feelings in this tale, and these handicaps are enforced by the government itself.

Does the government succeed in making everyone equal and happy?  Look at Harrison's parents--his mother is constantly sad and crying, without ever knowing why.  She feels bad for her husband, and confused all of the time.  His father is always baffled, confused, alarmed and unhappy himself.  He just can't pinpoint why.  Harrison is miserable, and in prison for having the audacity to be excellent.  People are always walking on eggshells, careful of what they do or say for fear of getting in trouble, or offending others.

Taking all of this into consideration, Vonnegut seems to be indicating that equality enforced by the government might be possible, but with great sacrifices and highly undesirable results.  Government-enforced measures to "ensure" equality are, first of all, impossible, and secondly, devastating to happiness, freedom and agency.  Everyone is NOT happy--they are confused and miserable; they don't know who they are; they can't own their own happiness.  Everyone is mediocre and there is no joy.  Even the ballerinas and musicians don't give joy through their performances--the only gleam of excitement, beauty, joy and happiness in the entire thing is Harrison's brief dance with his beautiful ballerina.  Glampers, who shoots them both down, represents the government's interference in people's pursuit of happiness:  it kills all hope, all possible chances of happiness and fulfillment.

I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!

How does Abigail Williams feel towards John Proctor at the end of "The Crucible"?

I believe that Abigail still loves John Proctor; however, her conniving plots to get rid of Elizabeth got out of hand, and unfortunately, John ended up in jail too.  And, stubborn John, he just refused to confess to witchcraft so that he could be released and live a happy, blissful life with her.  So, John wastes away in jail, all because of Abby and her scheming.  I am sure that she didn't want nor expect things to turn out that way.  But once he was in jail, she couldn't do anything about it that wouldn't cast suspicion on her character.  The adultery card had already been played, and anything she might do to try to save John would be seen as highly suspicious.  Plus, by the time that John has been in jail for a while, the townspeople are starting to turn on Abby and her gang of accusers; too many people are in the jails, farms are going untended, children are orphaned.  It's becoming pretty unpopular to be involved in the accusations anymore.  Parris himself finds a knife shoved into his door one morning, a sure indication that the people are turning on the courts, and on Abby.  So, she can't really do anything to get him out of jail.

In an additional scene that is occasionally put into the play, John meets with Abby in the forest to try to convince her to stop her nonsense and declare her accusation of Elizabeth a fraud.  In this exchange, we see that Abby still cares for John, and imagines being his wife.  She states,

"Oh John, I will make you such a wife when the world is white again!"

She is so deluded that she thinks John is "singing hallelujahs" that Elizabeth will hang, and then Abby claims, erroneously it turns out, that she will "save" him.  She is clearly fantasizing about John, and she sees him as some sort of savior that opened her eyes to people's hypocrisy.

We get no clear indications of her feelings in the 3rd and 4th acts, but we can presume, from her desire to save John and be his wife, that Abby was incredibly dismayed at the unexpected turn of events at the end of act three, and as she skips town just before he is to be hanged, we can infer that she didn't want to stay around to see him die.  All of her plans to be with him, by that time, had been foiled, and the town was turning against her.  So, she bails.  She failed in getting John, and whether she loves him or not (I believe she does), in the end, as usual, she does what is best for her and only her.  I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!

What does Zaroff say he has become bored with?,

The son of a wealthy Russian and a former Cossack cavalry commander under the Czar, the hunting-obsessed General Zaroff is the antagonist in the classic Richard Connell short story, "The Most Dangerous Game." Zaroff has hunted animals all over the world, and his fabulous display of mounted heads is the envy of his surprise guest, Sanger Rainsford. But the most cunning of all wild game no longer interests Zaroff.

    "Hunting tigers ceased to interest me some years ago. I exhausted their possibilities, you see. No thrill left in tigers, no real danger. I live for danger, Mr. Rainsford."
    "... hunting had ceased to be what you call 'a sporting proposition.' It had become too easy. I always got my quarry. Always. There is no greater bore than perfection."

He has become bored with hunting animals--his greatest love in life--and the "perfection" which he has achieved as a master hunter. He desires a still more challenging type of game.

    "I wanted the ideal animal to hunt," explained the general. "So I said, 'What are the attributes of an ideal quarry?' And the answer was, of course, 'It must have courage, cunning, and, above all, it must be able to reason.' "
    "But no animal can reason," objected Rainsford.
    "My dear fellow," said the general, "there is one that can."
    "But you can't mean--" gasped Rainsford.

Yes, it was the most dangerous game of all--the human being.