What is a good clincher/opening statement for a paragraph on cell phones?

This all depends on what you want to say about cell phones.  So, that is the first step--determining an angle, or a focus to write about.  Do you want to write about how cell phones are stunting communications skills?  Do you want to write about how cell phones are an incredible convenience and safety feature for people?  Do you want to write about how using them increases traffic accidents?  The possibilities for a topic are endless.  Once you have that angle that you want to go for, then coming up with a clincher will be easier.

For opening statements, you want something that is catchy, engages the audience, and gets them involved.  You could ask a question; for example, "When is the last time you talked on a cell phone while driving?" Or, "Have you ever texted something to a friend that you would never dare tell them to their face?"  Asking a question will automatically engage the reader, and help them to relate the topic to their own lives.  Another approach is to reference an alarming statistic, or an interesting factoid.  For example, start off by citing what percentage of car accidents are caused by cell phones; you could start by saying "If you are really worried about saving lives, the best way to start is to put your cell phone away while driving," and have that lead into the statistic.

Those are just a couple suggestions--questions, stats, and other ways to engage their interest is a great way to grab the reader's attention when writing a report or essay.  Good luck!

What is a summarization of the poem "Of Modern Poetry" by Wallace Stevens?I need to give a brief explanation of the poem, but I am having some...

The title of Wallace Stevens's "Of Modern Poetry" suggests his purpose:  poetry as part of Modernist literature.  For, this poem is a clear example of Modernist thinking.  As clarification of this thinking, one can refer to T.S. Eliot's remarks about James Joyce's Ulysses: 

It is simply a way of controlling, or ordering, of giving a shape and a significance to the immense panorama of futility and anarchy which is contemporary history.

In his poem, Wallace Stevens declares that the poetry of the mind must find "what will suffice" for the individual, who lives in the "theatre" of the world that has changed.--"It has to construct a new stage."  "With meditation"  the poem must

speak words in the ear....that whichi it wants to hear at the sound/Of which an invisible audience listens,/not to the play, but to itself.

The poet's ideas expressed in "Of Modern Poetry" are very much in keeping with Modernist thought.  The individual, "the poem of the mind" must make order out of what Eliot has called "the immense panorama of futility."  The simple, orderly acts of the individual are important in an orderless universe because they are all that give meaning to his/her existence.

What are some examples and symbols of the decline of chivalry as well as the decline of the Old South?

(Sorry. I didn't realize until after posting that the question focused specifically on "A Rose for Emily.")

When I’m looking for symbols, I try to keep in mind that a symbol is something specific and concrete that has meaning beyond itself. As a symbol of the decline of the South in literature, for example, I tend to think first of a house collapsing or being consumed by fire.

Faulkner’s novels are always a good source for symbols of the decline of chivalry and the decline of the South. You might want to look at Gowan Stevens’ naïve belief in gentlemanly behavior and chivalry (in the novel Sanctuary), the decline of the Compson family in general (in the novel The Sound and the Fury), or the decline and ultimate destruction-by-fire of the Sutpen plantation (in the novel Absalom, Absalom).

If you don’t have the time and interest to work through one of these challenging novels, you might look at one of Faulkner's short stories, such as “A Rose for Emily.” Kate Chopin’s short story “Desiree’s Baby” might also be worth looking at for similar symbols and other representations of the decline of the South, including the husband’s inability to recognize the reality of racial mixing and the destruction of the mansion by fire at the story’s end.

Yet another literary work that may be full of the sort of thing that you’re looking for is Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire. Stanley and Mitch represent conflicting male roles, and Blanche is a great example (or parody) of the Southern ideal of the “lady”: she’s disempowered but conniving, etc. It might be worthwhile to list and reflect on all of the references in the play to the family mansion of Blanche and her sister, Stella. At one point in the play, for example, Stanley talks to his wife, saying “I pulled you down off them columns…” In the case of Williams' play, the mansion isn’t burned down, but it is lost along with the rest of that aristocratic Southern family's fortune.

In Act 5, Scenes 1-3 of Romeo and Juliet, what accident spoils the Friar's plan?

The inconvenient "coincidence" which spoils the Friar's plan to help Romeo and Juliet live happily ever after is perhaps the most important dubious occurrence in the play.  The Friar plots with Juliet for her to fake her death; part of his plan is for a messenger to travel to Mantua to inform Romeo that Juliet is not truly dead and to wait until all has passed with the funeral, etc., before trying to reunite with his young bride.  However, when the messenger tries to go to Mantua, a plague has infected Mantua, and the messenger is not allowed into the city (which is, in a sense, under quarantine).  So, Romeo does not get the message, ends up thinking Juliet is dead, and plans for his suicide.

Shakespeare's tragedies often rely on coincidences such as this one (the messenger just happens to arrive when a plague has attacked the city), and the audience is expected to suspend reality for overall dramatic effect. In this case, the tragic incident from Act 5 in which Romeo does not get the all-important message not only adds to the play's tension, but it also advances one of Shakespeare's themes--lovers controlled by fate.  Because Romeo and Juliet are "star-crossed" lovers, no matter how either strategizes, the fates are against them.

How would you interpret the following poem?I’ve justnever knownwhatto callthat country.If I sayEnglandI don’t thinkI sound sosmart. I...

First, as I am sure you are already aware, this is a poem by a University of California professor named Eileen Myles called "That Country." I am not saying that everything poets in respectable positions produce is good, but I do think that she deserves the benefit of the doubt and the consideration that there may be more going on here than meets the eye.

This is definitely not a classically constructed poem (or even one that easily fits the mainstream definition of poetry) but that is part of its charm (or it's horribleness, depending on your point of view.)  While I don't agree with johnmiltonwesle in his assertion about not calling it a poem, I would agree that it has the definite "steam of consciousness" feel to it.  Maybe that's all there is to it (I for one would feel cheated, but I am not a connoisseur of poetry) and maybe it is more "constructed" than it feels.  Again, I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she is not just jerking my chain with self-glorified "everything I write is great" BS.

So what is it about?  Hell if I know, but I can sus out a few things here and there.  It would be interesting to email her and see her take on it...

From what I can gather, the poem is more about language than about places.  From my perspective, the poet seems to be commenting on sort of a "post modern" idea about the function and usefulness of language.  She seems to have three strands going:

1. Language is imprecise:  She talks about England, Britain, and the UK and how none of them means what she thinks of when considering the place, which focuses on London.  In fact, saying "England" is so imprecise that she is embarrassed because it is so close to "English."  It goes along with the idea that something may have a name, but that name is not that something.


2. How language changes, adding to its imprecision: She seems to be saying that the American bastardization of "English English" is both a horrible and beautiful thing.  She takes some joy, it would seem, in mauling the "proper" English spoke by natives of England.  The language, it seems to her, is in flux and carries with it a social connotation (if I am making any sense.)


3. There seems to be a little jibe in there at how words are constructed, such as "really."  Why are 2 "l's" needed in the word when just one would do?  This is another example of form versus function, sort of like "proper" English versus "conventional" English.

That last bit about the coin...well, that's anyone's guess.  Is she saying that conversational (American?) English has an "edginess" to it that proper English does not?  I can't help but see the image...a quarter.  That is an "edgy" coin because of all the ridges.  Speaking up?  This usually means to talk out against something you feel is unfair.  Is that the point of the poem?  Perhaps.

So, as you can see, this is a tough one.  Good luck!

Please explain the following passage from the book: who says "It irks me...that the partner of her iniquity should not, at least, stand on the...

This statement is made in Chapter 3 while Hester is up on the pillory for her three hours of punishment.  It is spoken by someone who is described in the chapter as "a stranger."  The guy who is saying it is really Hester's husband.  We will later learn that he is calling himself Roger Chillingworth.  He says it to some person from the town.

What it means is that he does not think that Hester should be up there taking the punishment herself.  "Iniquity" means sin or wrongdoing.  He thinks that the person who commited adultery with Hester is just as guilty of the sin.  Because of that, he thinks that person should be up getting punished as well.

Sum of interior angle of a hexagon. (6-side polygon) thx

The sum of the interior angles of a hexagon is 720 dgrees.

You can have 6 triangles in a hexagon if you join vertices to the centre. So on account six triangles 6*180 degrees minus the angle at the centre which is 360. or 180*6-360 = 720 degrees is the sum of the interor angles of a six sided  polygon  or hexagon.

In a hexagon,ABCDEFA, join AD, now the sum of interior angles of ABCDEFA is equal to the sum of the interior angles of 2 quadrolaterals,ABCD and ADEF or 360+360 =720 degrees.

You can also think, if ABCDEFA is a hexagon, then the hexagon contains triangle ABC+triangleDEF +a qdrilateral ACDF whose  sum of interior angles is equal to the interior angles of the hexagon.But the sum of the angles of two triangles and a quadrilateral is 2*180+360 dgrees = 720 degrees.Therefore, the sum of the interir angles of a hexagon is 720 degrees.

Who is Odyssey the son of?

In the epic poem the Odyssey, the main character is Odysseus, who is the son of Laertes and Anticleia. Both of his parents appear in the narrative.

Odysseus's mother, Anticleia, is the daughter of the thief Autolycus. When Odysseus is on his long journey home, he visits the underworld, where he unexpectedly runs into his mother. He finds out that she had died of grief for him, and that his father is still alive but grieving desperately. He tries to embrace her three times, but he passes through her each time because she has a ghostly body. 

Odysseus's father, Laertes, is a part of many famous Greek myths. For instance, he was one of Jason's Argonauts on the Argo, and he participated in the Calydonian Boar hunt. He was the King of the Cephallenians, which included Ithaca. When Odysseus leaves for the war, Laertes stays on Ithaca. He does not go to the palace, where Odysseus's wife Penelope and his son Telemachus are, but stays on his isolated farm. After Odysseus comes home and kills all of Penelope's suitors, he goes to Laertes's farm. Laertes does not recognize Odysseus, who stays in disguise for a while. Odysseus sees how desperately sad and lonely Laertes is, and reveals himself. They are finally reunited. Laertes represents Odysseus's connection with the land of Ithaca itself. He had taught Odysseus everything about farming, husbandry, and keeping land. Odysseus proves that he is Laertes's son why reciting all the trees he learned from Laertes when he was young. After they reunite, they go to fight the families of the dead suitors together. 

What is an appropriate thesis for the "Rape of Nanking"I would definitely like to learn a little bit about what happened in Nanking.

This is an interesting question and answers can be potentially very broad. So, let me offer a few perspectives that you might develop into a solid thesis. How about you explore Japan as a imperial power during this time. You can also look at Japan as an imperial power as it sought to colonize Korea. Ask why Japan started now? What was their motivation?

Another angle to study this episode is to ask about the scale of the massacre. Some people suggest that it was upward to 300,000 and some Japanese scholars say it was 100,000-200,000 and that most of these deaths were military related. So, there is a lot of debates around these numbers.

What do we mean by the search for perfection? How is the "search for perfection" an obstacle for Kafka's main character in the Hunger Artist?

The search for perfection in terms of Kafka's The Hunger Artist means the inability to accept reality for what it is. The Hunger Artist is always dissatisfied and feels misunderstood. He never feels satisfaction or joy. He has professional success, but no meaning. It's very symbolic that he gives up food to find meaning, but it is never enough. He never finds solace in his own actions. This is ultimately the "search for perfection"; nothing one does is ever enough.

Food and passion are equated in the story. Notice that the panther who has an enormous appetite which shows his joy in life and his passion, can act in accordance with nature but the artist cannot. He is stifled.

Kafka is saying the man or woman who is searching for perfection, is not really living life. It is as if they are "waiting" on the peripheral, not allowing themselves to feel acceptance and joy or passion.

From the book Tuesdays with Morrie, who do you think got more out of the Tuesday meetings, Mitch or Morrie?

I think that in most readers' opinion, both men benefit equally from the meetings. Morrie needed companionship, but Mitch provided so much more than that for him--he ensured Morrie's legacy, one that is enduring and powerful.  Most humans would not ask for more than that.

Similarly, even though Mitch benefits in a very different way from his meetings with Morrie, his "profit" is no more significant than Morrie's.  Morrie helps give Mitch purpose and perspective, two elements that most humans spend their lives seeking.

Obviously, Mitch Albom benefited more financially from the meetings because his account of his time with Morrie is a bestseller but also took his writing career in a new direction, one that has proved to be extremely profitable financially for Albom.  Who knows if he would have written another book like The Five People You Meet in Heaven if he hadn't first met and written about Morrie?

In the essay “Tragedy and the Common Man,” Arthur Miller claims that despite Aristotle’s concept of the tragic hero.common man “ is as apt...

Part of what underscores Miller's statement is the idea that tragedy and drama are not limited to the conception of gods and kings.  When one thinks of the Greek conception of drama, there is a preponderance of focus on the gods and the highest of royalty.  Battles are fought where divinity is seen along side of kings and queens.  The battle of Troy was fought between Gods and human royalty, while Sophocles' depiction concerned Kings like Oedipus and Creon.  There seemed to be little in the way or need of ordinary people.  Artists like Miller sought to change this by emphasizing the dramatic in the condition of ordinary people.  Wily, in Miller's Death of a Salesman, is a regular guy who is faced with the tragic condition of being crushed under the weight of his dreams, the logical result of seeking to appropriate the world in accordance to his own subjectivity.  In The Crucible, figures like John Proctor and Giles Corey are regular people.  They are not kings nor are they gods.  They do not command armies and are not responsible for the fate of nations.  Yet, within them the reader sees examples of superhero qualities as they represent the essence of the tragic hero set against the backdrop of times that take a toll on the best qualities of human beings.  It is in these settings where the reader sees tragic conditions of people who might not be "of noble birth," but act in the highest of nobility in examples of Proctor's refusal to speak lies and Corey's condemnation of a social order with the last words of "More weight."

Could I have the explanation of "A Prayer for My Daughter"?

The poet Yeats wrote a prayer to my daughter in 1919 and the poem was published in 1921.

Yeats is a modernist poet since his work was written after the end of the first war. The poem has 10 stanzas and does not have a regular meter: yet the use of couplets in this poem suggests that the poet had not yet adhered to the free verse, a characteristic of the modernist poets

First is reasonable to look at the title of the poem. Thus, “Prayer to my daughter” is written to his daughter. More we read the poem more we understand Yeats´ s concerns for his child. Paraphrasing the poem helps to grasp the theme and the message of the poem. What does the speaker want to tell us? He wants to tell us how concerned he is about his daughter´s future. And how he loves her:  “May she become a flourishing tree/that all her thoughts may like the linnet be” (stanza 6)

The poem is rich in figurative language. As an example the references to bad weather reflects the speaker´s state of mind. His personifications of the storm, the wind, and the sea suggest gloominess: thus the storm is howling, meaning cry out, the sea-wind screams and the sea is murderous.

 In the next stanzas, he ponders about his daughter. He wishes her to be beautiful but not too beautiful, as in the following: “May she be granted beauty and yet not /

Beauty to make a stranger's eye distraught,” (stanza two)   

The assonance in the words: roved, loved and beloved gives the poem a certain rhythm. The purpose of those words is to suggest that beautiful women has a tendency to deceive men, an attitude that the speaker abhorrers and surely does not want his daughter to have it. Furthermore, he wishes her daughter to be a “flourishing hidden tree”, a metaphor for harmony and peacefulness.  He uses the following simile in stanza six “may she live like some green laurel”. He wants her daughter to be intelligent and learn the problems of the world, but at the same time, he wishes that she must be strong in order to be able to discern the difficulties of life in order to be happy and live in peace. The last stanza has a lighter tone since the speaker thinks about her daughter´s wedding with someone serious and this thought seems to cheer him up.

There are some shifts in the poem: The two first stanzas referring to the bad weather reflect the state of mind of the speaker. He feels distressed and gloomy as if he doesn´t believe that the world will change for better. Having dark thoughts does not help him to think optimistically. However as soon as he makes plans for his daughter, he becomes almost merrily.

What are the climax or turning point and resolution for "One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts"?Any details on rising actions or/and falling actions or...

This story has a surprise ending, so it does not fit the usual rising action-climax-falling action pyramid. All of the action in the story rises to the climax, which comes at the very end, when we discover just how the Johnsons spend their day. The textbook I use in which this story is included plots the story something like this: 

                        climax/surprise

                              /    

                             /

                            /

                          /

                        /

__exposition_/

There is no resolution/denouement, and there is really not much falling action. We are left to puzzle over how these two people choose to spend their days. And where did they get all that money?

Name some of the triggers leading to heartburn.

There are quite a few triggers for heartburn, the slightly painful sensation between chest and oesophagus that occurs with a hot sour sensation.

As part of the digestive process, we have naturally occurring acids in our stomachs to help to break down food. To stop these acids leaking up and burning the oesophagus there is a little valve between it and the stomach. If the stomach is pushed out of line or stressed, the valve may be breached and the acid is allowed to escape and burn the tissue-lining of the oesophagus.

One trigger is over-eating and overloading the stomach,obesity is another and eating too close to sleeping or exercising is a third. Alcohol can make it worse and pregnant women sometimes suffer from heartburn because of the distension of organs.

What of poetry is generally passed down from generation to generation?

Poetry is 'memorable speech' said W. H. Auden. The handing down to posterity has always been considered as a high-art criterion. From Matthew Arnold's classification of Literature of Knowledge and Literature of Power and even before, universality is held up as the hallmark of great literature, great poetry included.

The truths presented to by a great poem are always of a general and timeless nature, even if it is a context-bound and specific poem with contemporary issues. Poetry inductively touches the generic experience of mankind--universal phenomena like love, relationships, birth, death, thought-processes, psychic states. These fundamental aspects are surely handed down. Apart from the content what one remembers is its rhythm, style and language. The poets are the makers as well as evolvers of a language and poetry in many way creates the future of a language; its innovations are incorporated into the language with the passage of time.

When Macduff finds him, at first Macbeth is going to do what before he decides to fight to the end.

Macbeth wants to avoid Macduff.  Macbeth has already killed his wife, child, and servants and burned his castle to the ground.  Could it be that Macbeth feels *guilty* about spilling any more Macduff family blood?  It seems Macbeth's superego has returned to him in Act V, after his wife's death, and before his own.

Not to mention that Macbeth fears Macduff based on the witches' prophecy: "Beward Macduff."  Macbeth thought the other two subsequent prophecies ("None of woman born shall harm Macbeth" and "till Birnham wood come to Dunsinene") cancelled out the first one.  Now, he knows all three have come true, and he's shaken.

Macbeth says to Macduff:

Of all men else I have avoided thee:
But get thee back; my soul is too much charged
With blood of thine already.

After Macduff calls him a "coward" and a "tyrant," Macbeth resolves to fight till the end.  Macbeth was first introduced in the play, by the Bleeding Captain, as a man of valor with steel: he gutted Macdonwald, unseamed him from the "nave to the chaps."  Now it comes full circle: he will die by the sword.  He tells Macduff:

Yet I will try the last. Before my body
I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff,
And damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!'

Macbeth is beheaded, his head mounted on a spike, and the third of the traitors (Macdonwald, the first Thane of Cawdor, and now Macbeth) is executed.

In what ways are Jimmy Valentine and Ralph Spencer alike in "A Retrieved Reformation" by O. Henry?

Both Jimmy Valentine and Ben Price take a turn for the better. Jimmy decides to stop robbing banks and "go straight" after years of burglary and petty theft.  Then he even puts his own future in jeopardy by using his burglar's tools to pry open a time-set safe in which a little girl is trapped. The little girl does not suffocate, but Jimmy is "found out" and awaits being picked up by Ben Price, a bounty hunter hot on his heels.

Then it is Ben Price's turn to show his better self. Instead of taking Jimmy in to the police station and cashing in on his reward, he pretends as if he doesn't even recognize him and saunters on down the street. He realizes that Jimmy is indeed another man and gives him the chance to get on with his life. In such a way he too is "reformed" in that for once money is not his number one priority.

'Ralph Spencer' is the identity Jimmy has assumed ever since he came to Elmore. Since Spencer and Valentine are one and the same man, of course "they" share similar traits. 'Spencer' has made a great impression on the banker and even courts and wins his daughter, displaying great charm and "social skills." He is still a great manipulator, and still reverts to ruse and lying when the pressure is on (His burglary toolbox, he explains, is full of shoehorns for his shoe store.). But as things turn out, by the end of the story Valentine's alias identity is no longer sham but the real thing.

As O. Henry "did time" too for fraud and embezzlement (and got caught later when he returned to the country to visit his ailing wife), perhaps this story of the second chance is his way of showing that people can indeed change and should not be condemned to a "life sentence" of bad reputation if indeed they have learned from past mistakes.

What are the differences between Belmont and Venice in The Merchant of Venice?

Shakespeare sets The Merchant of Venice in Venice and Belmont, which have similarities and several differences. One similarity seen in Act I Scene i is that both are places where people may be unhappy. Antonio is unhappy in Venice and he does not know why. He denies that it is his business or love that are making him unhappy. In Belmont, the first thing that Portia says is that she is "weary" of the world. She knows why she in unhappy: she can neither choose her husband nor refuse one she doesn't want.

The biggest differences between Venice and Belmont are that while money, buying and selling and a public marketplace are the backdrop of Venice, music, stars, trees, a gentle wind, splendor and couples in love are the backdrop of Belmont. To emphasize this, Shylock makes his deal, after Antonio has enraged him, in Venice, and Lorenzo and Jessica escape from Venice and go to Belmont to start a new life of love.

It is interesting to note that one of the last things we learn about Belmont is that Belmont is where a Jewish woman and a Christian man will be given by a Christian the wealth of a Jewish man. Belmont, a seemingly idyllic place where stars look like white gold, is where unity of man and woman, Christian and Jew, and restoration of worldly respect and goods to a Jew (the wealth Antonio will pass over to Jessica is her inheritance by right of birth, anyway) take place.

Are Atticus, Jem and Scout black people?

Rizelle, I do believe you need to read at least the first chapter of To Kill A Mockingbird to find the answer to this one. One of the main characters of the novel, Tom Robinson, is black, and his rape trial becomes the main focus of the middle portion of the book. Atticus Finch serves as Tom's defense attorney, and he earns a place of honor and respect in the hearts of Maycomb's black citizenry. Calpurnia, Atticus's maid, is also black, and she serves as a second mother to Jem and Scout.

Why did the Mechanical Hound growl at Montag in the earlier part of the novel. Does it symbolize anything?

The Mechanical Hound is a machine that is meant to track down and kill people who have gone against society (by having books or something like that).  That is its only role.

We don't really know why the Hound growls at him -- it shouldn't do that unless it's programmed to.  But when it growls at Montag, that shows us that Montag is becoming something of a dissident.  He has been keeping books, but we don't know that yet.

The Hound growling at Montag is a foreshadowing of what is to come.  It is a clue to us that he is doing something that would make the authorities unhappy with him.

Explain why mitosis could not provide for the sexual reproduction of offspring that contain the same number of chromosomes as the parents.MITOSIS

Mitosis results in identical cells that have the same number of chromosomes as the original cell. When the process starts, the genetic material is duplicated into two chromotids. When the cell divides, one of each set of each chromotids goes to each of the daughter cells. Since the daughter cells have all the genetic material of the original, they cannot be used for sexual reproduction. When sexual reproduction occurs, the genetic material of two cells is combined. If this would happen with cells with the normal complement of chromosomes (the diploid number), the cells would have twice as much genetic material as necessary in the next generation, four times as much in the next, eight times the next, and so on. In order to keep the same number through the generations, the amount of genetic material in sperm and egg cells must be divided in half through meiosis. Then, when the egg is fertilized by the sperm cell, the diploid number is restored.

How do the townspeople feel about Hester in the chapters 9-15?Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter"

While Hester does not greatly figure into Chapters 9-11 of "The Scarlet Letter" in which most of the narration is focused upon the Reverend Dimmesdale, she has become accepted by her Puritan society as one upon whom they can rely as a seamstress and nurse. In fact, Hester has been so helpful that her scarlet "A" is now interpreted as meaning "Able."  Nevertheless, in true to their Puritan canon, no one is redeemed by good works, so Hester remains a pariah--"The links that uniter her to the rest of human kind...had all been broken." (Ch. 13) and is given menial tasks to perform and is still subjected to insults. For instance, when Mistress Hibbins espies her leaving the Bellingham mansion one day, she calls out,

'Hist, hist!' said she, ....'Wilt thou go with us tonight?  There will be a merry company in the forest; and I wellnigh promised the Black Man that comely Hester Prynne should make one.'

Having lost her beauty and youthful appearance, Hester yet lives on the outskirts of the village and she is never commissioned to sew anything for weddings.  And, while she accepts the guilt attached to her sin, her isolation has caused her to contemplate the role of women in her community.  Hawthorne writes that if the "forefathers" had known her "freedom of speculation," they would have held it "to be a deadlier crime than that stigmatized the the sacrlet letter." 

Hester realizes in Chapter 13 that the "world was hostile."  She is cognizant that

As a first step, the whole system of society is to be torn down, and built up anew.  Then, the very nature of the opposite sex....is to be essentially modified, before woman can be allowed to assume what seems a fair and suitable position.

In Chapter 12, Hester returns from the deathbed of one of the community and is on her way home to make a shroud for the good Puritan when she and Pearl hear strange sounds coming from the scaffold. Stopping she recognizes the Reverend Dimmesdale and talks with him, resolving to comfort him, for in contrast to Dimmesdale, her hardships have made her stronger.  Her caring nature, for both her child and her former lover, is what determines Hester's actions.  In Chapter 14 she challenges Roger Chillingworth to pardon Dimmesdale.

I need a really good description of all the traps Rainsford puts up for Zaroff in "The Most Dangerous Game."Examples: the Malay Man Catcher,...

Rainsford does indeed set all three of the traps you mention in Richard Connell's short story, "The Most Dangerous Game." The Malay Man Catcher is apparently not a real trap but only a term invented by Connell for his story. Rainsford constructed the trap from two small trees:

His foot touched the protruding bough that was the trigger. Even as he touched it, the general sensed his danger and leaped back with the agility of an ape. But he was not quite quick enough; the dead tree, delicately adjusted to rest on the cut living one, crashed down and struck the general a glancing blow on the shoulder as it fell; but for his alertness, he must have been smashed beneath it.

The Burmese tiger pit is another Connell invention, though it may have some historical precedent under a different name. (Didn't I see this in the old Tarzan movies?) A hole is dug about four feet deep; sharpened poles are then embedded in the earth and placed with the sharp end up. The hole is then covered and camouflaged with the intent of surprising the victim who unknowingly walks upon the covering.

"...the pit grew deeper; when it was above his shoulders, he climbed out and from some hard saplings cut stakes and sharpened them to a fine point. These stakes he planted in the bottom of the pit with the points sticking up. With flying fingers he wove a rough carpet of weeds and branches and with it he covered the mouth of the pit. Then, wet with sweat and aching with tiredness, he crouched behind the stump of a lightning-charred tree.

The final trap, with his knife attached to a small tree, was tied to the ground. Another hair trigger was designed to trip the  trap when stepped upon.

He thought of a native trick he had learned in Uganda. He slid down the tree. He caught hold of a springy young sapling and to it he fastened his hunting knife, with the blade pointing down the trail; with a bit of wild grapevine he tied back the sapling. Then he ran for his life. The hounds raised their voices as they hit the fresh scent. Rainsford knew now how an animal at bay feels.

It is a testament to the enduring popularity of Connell's story that these traps are now best known for their appearance in "The Most Dangerous Game."

While the narrator's friend was chained, what was Montressor doing in the Edgar Allan Poe short story, "The Cask of Amontillado"?

    While you could hardly call them "friends" at this point in the story, Montressor kept himself busy after chaining Fortunato to the pilings in the Edgar Allan Poe short story, "The Cask of Amontillado." After luring Fortunato to "the extremity of the niche," Montressor made his move. Before Fortunato knew what was happening,

... I had fettered him to the granite. In its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. From one of these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock. Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it.

Montressor stood back and sarcastically asked Fortunato if he would now not like to turn back. "The Amontillado," Fortunato implored.
    But there was no Amontillado. As Fortunato stood bewildered at his unexpected predicament,

I busied myself among the pile of bones of which I have before spoken. Throwing them aside, I soon uncovered a quantity of building stone and mortar. With these materials and with the aid of my trowel, I began vigorously to wall up the entrance of the niche.

Brick by brick, tier by tier, Montressor constructed a fourth wall that would inevitably seal his "friend" inside forever. After nearly finishing, Montressor paused to peer inside. Fortunato laughed.

    "Ha! ha! ha!--he! he!--a very good joke indeed-- an excellent jest. We will have many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo--he! he! he!--over our wine-- he! he! he!"
    "The Amontillado!" I said.
    "He! he! he!--he! he! he!--yes, the Amontillado. But is it not getting late? Will not they be awaiting us at the palazzo, the Lady Fortunato and the rest? Let us be gone."
    "Yes," I said "let us be gone."
    "For the love of God, Montressor."
    "Yes, for the love of God."

And with that, Montressor completed his task, and Fortunato was heard no more.

What is a good thesis statement about To Kill a Mockingbird with the theme of using reason and intelligence to solve problems?

This theme for a thesis statement is a good one, because that is exactly what Atticus does in the trial--he uses logic and reason to figure out the situation that occurred on that fateful day that Tom was arrested.  Logic, reason and intelligence, all clearly shown by Atticus, pointed out that Tom was innocent.  Unfortunately, despite the reason and intelligence that proved Tom not guilty, the jury let their fears, prejudices, and racism (which is centered in fear and a total lack of reason) get in the way of thinking clearly and doing the right thing.

A thesis statement is usually one sentence long, and gets to the main point of the matter that you would like to focus on in your essay.  So, for example, it could state, "In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows how fear and racism is often more powerful than reason and intelligence."  Then, using the example I stated above in your body paragraphs, plus others from the novel, you can show different incidents where fear and racism ending up being the driving force behind people's actions, not reason and intelligence.  Another good example to use is the angry mob that goes to the jail to do harm, and how Scout helps them to see reason through her humanizing impact.  Using such examples would support the thesis statement above.  I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!

Which two themes are being highlighted by Keats in this poem. What different images he has used to present them?

John Keats uses the image of the knight and the spectral maiden to denote courtly love and unrequited love. He also uses the absence of the birds' song and the withering of nature to denote decay and the deterioration of earthly emotion.

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, Alone and palely loitering? The sedge has wither’d from the lake, And no birds sing.

The images of isolation and "palely loitering" begin the theme of unrequited love.

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, 5 So haggard and so woebegone? The squirrel’s granary is full, And the harvest’s done.

Harvest time is over and the world is preparing for the cold, long winter ahead.

I see a lily on thy brow With anguish moist and fever dew; 10 And on thy cheek a fading rose Fast withereth too.

Lilies denote death, decay, and deterioration. Love and our physical bodies deteriorate.

I met a lady in the meads, Full beautiful—a faery’s child, Her hair was long, her foot was light, 15 And her eyes were wild. I made a garland for her head, And bracelets too, and fragrant zone; She look’d at me as she did love, And made sweet moan. 20

these stanzas develop love, courtly love, and traditions of tenderness.

I set her on my pacing steed And nothing else saw all day long, For sidelong would she bend, and sing A faery’s song. She found me roots of relish sweet, 25 And honey wild, and manna dew, And sure in language strange she said— “I love thee true.” She took me to her elfin grot, And there she wept, and sigh’d full sore; 30 And there I shut her wild wild eyes With kisses four. And there she lullèd me asleep, And there I dream’d—Ah! woe betide! The latest dream I ever dream’d 35 On the cold hill’s side. I saw pale kings and princes too, Pale warriors, death-pale were they all; They cried—“La Belle Dame sans Merci Thee hath in thrall!” 40 I saw their starv’d lips in the gloam, With horrid warning gapèd wide, And I awoke and found me here, On the cold hill’s side. And this is why I sojourn here, 45 Alone and palely loitering, Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake, And no birds sing.

The last few stanzas develop the theme of dreams and dreaming. The knight is in love, but the love is for one who belongs to another realm of existence and he cannot have her. The knight is held captive and powerless before such love. It is insinuated that this love will turn into death for the knight. At the end of the poem we are left as the poem begins with images of birds not singing, images of withering, and of the knight alone.  

Why do Atticus and his children get such different reactions from Mrs. Dubose?

Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose certainly treated Atticus Finch differently than she treated his children.  Mrs. Dubose treated Atticus with respect and took a great amount of pride in revealing her accomplishments to him, while she treated his children with harshness and what seemed to be inconsideration.  The reason for Mrs. Dubose's favorable treatment of Atticus was his kind and respectful attitude toward her; Atticus was repaid in kind for his treatment of her.  Atticus knew about Mrs. Dubose's addiction to morphine and not only did not judge her for it, but was greatly impressed by her success in freeing herself of it despite the suffering it must have caused her.  On the other hand, Mrs. Dubose must have been aware of the children's opinions of her and reacted to it with anger; had Mrs. Dubose truly hated the Finch children, though, she would not have requested Jem's company on any pretenses.

In "Great Expectations" why does Pumblechook tell Pip that his fortune is "well-deserved"? Give evidence to support the idea that he is insincere.

Although after Pip became wealthy Pumblechook was very nice and accomodating to Pip, he is not sincere.  He is just like the kid at school who sucks up to the rich kids in the hopes of being popular and getting to play with really cool toys as a result of it.  Pumblechook is entirely insincere in his fond affections for Pip after Pip achieved his fortune.  We know this because before the fortune landed in Pip's lap, Pumblechook lost no opportunity to harrass Pip, give him advice on how to not turn out badly, and to insult and embarrass him.  In fact, Pip hated being in Pumblechook's company for that reason--he felt constantly demeaned and poked at.  Pumblechook constantly tells Pip that he is an "ungrateful boy" and that he should be more mindful of his sister's attentions to him.  So, before Pip's money, Pumblechook gives off the very blatant impression that he feels Pip is ungrateful, in need of much improvement, and an annoyance all around.  Before the forture, Pip was very annoying indeed.

After the fortune, Pumblechook does a 180 and all of a sudden decides that he loves Pip.  Besides, Pumblechook is greedy.  We learn right off the bat that Pumblechook is an insincere man who is fixated on money.  In some editions of the book, the publishers include a description of characters.  Pumblechook's listing states that he is "a merchant obsessed with money,"  so naturally when Pip is found to have a lot of it, Pumblechook's first reaction is to suck up to him. He starts, for once, being nice to him, in the hopes that Pip will "be nice" in return, hopefully dispensing that kindness in a monetary fashion.  He doesn't really feel Pip's fortune is "well deserved"; how could he, when the day before he was railing on Pip for not deserving anything?  It is greed-induced flattery, and Pumblechook will do or say anything if he think he can get a monetary advantage--this is not sincerity, but selfishness.

I hope that those thoughts help; good luck!

What is the difference between "Abstract statements" and "concrete image-bearing statements"?

I am interpreting your question a bit differently from the previous responder because I do not think you are asking about an "abstract," which is a brief synopsis of an entire document. Your inquiry seems, rather, to be based upon a contrast between statements that have an abstract or concrete nature. 

An abstract statement does not elicit any sensory participation on the part of the reader or listener.  It is about an idea, not about something one can see, hear, smell, taste, or touch. For example, I might say, "Constitutional democracy might be the most successful form of government in today's world."  There is nothing about that statement that you can use your senses to understand. 

On the other hand, I might say, "The emaciated young man, dressed in coarse, ragged clothing, reeked of alcohol as he approached me and asked me, in a strained and hoarse voice, to please give him a dollar." When you read or hear that statement, you can use most of your senses to imagine this person.

Both kinds of writing are important, but which you use depends upon your purpose in writing and upon your audience.  Much writing will contain both kinds of statements. You always need to be aware, though, that abstract statements must be supported with evidence, or they are of no use to anyone. 

What are Manny's dominant characteristics, both postive and negative, in Parrot in the Oven?

Manny is hardworking. He says, "without work, I was empty as a Coke bottle." Having grown up in poverty, Manny knows that if he wants something, he will have to work hard to get it. Unlike his brother, he is not too proud or lazy to work hard at whatever jobs he can manage to secure.

Manny is also resilient. He looks at the way his father rants and rails at the difficulties and inequities in his life, and wonders why he gets "so tossed around by things." Manny knows life is hard, especially for a Mexican boy growing up in a poor family, but he tends to take things as they come, and, like his mother, he is able to take joy from the simple things that are beautiful in her life.

Manny is curious, and this attribute can sometimes be a curse. When Manny is babysitting his little sister, he becomes curious about his father's rifle, wondering why his father puts so much store in it. He imprudently brings it out, and begins working the bolt, trying to figure out why it seems to be jammed. The gun, which is loaded, suddenly goes off, and the bullet narrowly misses his sleeping sister Pedi.

Manny is most of all a sensitive character, one whom his father affectionately chides for being too trusting. Manny's father sometimes calls him el perico, referring to a parrot in a Mexican saying who "complains how hot it is in the shade, while all along he's sitting inside an oven." Manny explains,

"People usually say this when talking about ignorant people who don't know where they're at in the world. I didn't mind it so much, actually, because Dad didn't say it because he thought I wa dumb, but because I trusted everything too much, because I'd go right into the oven trusting people all the way - brains or no brains."

According to Atticus, what is rape?Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird"

In Chapter 14 of "To Kill a Mockingbird," the children hear comments about their family when they go to town.  On Saturdays, as they "squirmed" their way through the crowds on the sidewalks, they would hear,

'There's his chillun,' or, 'Yonder's some Finches.'...'They c'n go loose and rape up the countryside for all of 'em who run this county care'

Referring to Atticus as one who "runs the countryside," a countrywoman implies the fear of black lust for "venerated white southern womanhood."  This emphasis upon fear as a defense to save the virtue of women was a common motif in old Southern culture.

When Scout returns home she candidly asks Atticus what rape is.  To this question, he sighs, and calmly responds that it is "carnal knowledge of a female by force and without consent."  Scout wonders why Calpurnia had become so upset when she had asked the maid the same question.  Atticus is curious as to why she and Jem walked home from church with Calpurnia, and the conversation takes another turn; scout has forgotten her question on rape because she is yet young.

In "Lord of the Flies," give three quotes that support the thesis that "Man's nature is basically evil and selfish."

Okay, so you are trying to persuade the reader that the text of Lord of the Flies supports the assertion that "man's nature is basically evil and selfish?"  Than what you need are examples from the text that would help support this assertion.  We will look for examples of characters acting in immoral or selfish ways.  Luckily, that's not too hard to find in LOTF:

“They used to call me Piggy.” Ralph shrieked with laughter. He jumped up. “Piggy! Piggy!” “Ralph—please!” Piggy clasped his hands in apprehension. “I said I didn’t want—” “Piggy! Piggy!”... “You’re talking too much,” said Jack Merridew. “Shut up, Fatty.” Laughter arose. “He’s not Fatty,” cried Ralph, “his real name’s Piggy!”

Here we see Ralph and Jack making fun of "Piggy's" weight.

“His specs–use them as burning glasses!” Piggy was surrounded before he could back away. “Here–let me go!” His voice rose to a shriek of terror as Jack snatched the glasses off his face. “Mind out! Give ’em back! I can hardly see! You’ll break the conch!” Ralph elbowed him to the side and knelt by the pile.

Again, here they are taking on poor Piggy.  The rudely snatch his glasses and push him aside.  Their desire to start the fire has overwhelmed their interest in civility.

Roger and Maurice came out of the forest. They were relieved from duty at the fire and had come down for a swim. Roger led the way straight through the castles, kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones. Maurice followed, laughing, and added to the destruction.

In this section, we see the bigger boys coming out of the woods and smashing the sand castles and hard work of the littluns, laughing while they do it.  This seems to support your ideas about "evil."

“Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.”

This quote is pretty much self-explanatory when it comes to your thesis.

Ralph made a step forward and Jack smacked Piggy’s head. Piggy’s glasses flew off and tinkled on the rocks. Piggy cried out in terror: “My specs!”

Poor Piggy gets it again.  They don't care that he can't see squat without those glasses.  This is the beginning of actual physical acts of violence between the boys.

“The rules!” shouted Ralph. “You’re breaking the rules!”  Jack: “Who cares?”

Later, Jack says:

“We don’t need the conch any more. We know who ought to say things. What good did Simon do speaking, or Bill, or Walter? It’s time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of us.”

Here's the breakdown of the rules.  Humanity can only hide under the veneer of civilization for so long before breaking apart.

That's enough, I think, for you to see the kinds of things you are looking for.  I left the more obvious ones from the end of the book for you to dig out yourself: Piggy getting killed, the boys hunting Ralph, the island essentially being destroyed in a rage of fire.

What training camp sights soothe Paul's mind and what does he think of the Russian POWs?

At the training camp, Paul seems to derive a measure of pleasure from the beauty of nature.  Unlike the first time he was stationed there, Paul has no friends among the soldiers.  This leaves him time to ruminate about his surroundings, which are ironically quite lovely, especially "the play of soft light and transparent shadow".  Paul takes comfort from the sight of

"the grasses and the flowers of the heather...the fine sand (that) is composed of millions of the tiniest pebbles...but most beautiful are the woods with their line of birch trees".

Paul observes,

"It is when one is alone that one begins to observe Nature and to love her".

During this time, Paul is often assigned to guard the Russian prisoners being held at the camp.  Paul says,

"It is strange to see these enemies of ours so close up.  They have faces that make one think...I know nothing of them except that they are prisoners; and that is exactly what troubles me...I perceive behind them only the suffering of the creature, the awful melancholy of life and the pitilessness of men".

The realization of the humanity of the "enemy" causes Paul to think about the true absurdity of war.  He wonders that

"a word of command has made these silent figures our enemies; a word of command might transform them into our friends...but who can draw such a distinction when he looks at these quiet men with their childlike faces and apostles' beards.  Any non-commissioned officer is more of an enemy to a recruit, any schoolmaster to a pupil, than they are to us.  And yet we would shoot at them again and they at us if they were free".

Paul understands that his thoughts are moving in a dangerous direction.  To fully examine the ridiculous truth that men much like himself are his sworn enemies because of a declaration of governments is to embark on a path that is too disturbing to consider (Chapter 8).

What happens to Fortunato in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Your question might concern what may have happened to Fortunato after Montresor walled him up in the niche and left him there. Naturally Fortunato would have died, but some writers have assumed that he died immediately of suffocation while others have assumed that he died of starvation. I believe it was Poe's intention to have the reader believe that Montresor's revenge included a long, lingering death for his victim. There was undoubtedly plenty of water, since the text specifies that there is water dripping everywhere and that they are in fact under a river. So poor Fortunato could have quenched his thirst by licking water off the rock wall to which he was chained. Poe also specifies that there is some air down there.

We passed through a range of low arches, descended, passed on, and descending again, arrived at a deep crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than flame.

Montresor also makes repeated references to the abundance of nitre. This substance contains a large quantity of oxygen. So it would seem that Fortunato could get water and some air in his confinement. The rough stone wall constructed by Montresor may contain enough chinks to allow the passage of some of the foul air from the other side. Montresor does not say so, but he might have left a few air holes in his wall.

So it would seem that Fortunato died of starvation while standing up. Perhaps in time his skeleton would have slipped through the chain and crumpled to the ground in the rags of his jester's costume. Montresor would have wanted his victim to suffer a long, lingering death. At the end, Montresor receives no answers from Fortunato, but that doesn't necessarily mean the man is already dead. That is unlikely. He has probably fainted or even refusing to answer.

In "Self Reliance", at what conviction do people arrive during their education?

In his essay "Self-Reliance," Ralph Waldo Emerson lays out a major part of his Transcendentalist philosophy.  In this essay, he talks about how it is vitally important for each person to follow his (or her) own path, his or her own conscience.  He is vehemently against conformity and against the idea that people should bow to the dictates of society.

Because of this, he argues that everyone, in the course of their education, should come to this same conclusion.  They should conclude that they must do things their own way.  As he puts it, they learn that

envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion

This quote tells us that we learn (or at least we should learn) that it is stupid and suicidal to try to be (or want to be) like others.  Instead, we need to be who we are.

In what ways was the "Pax Romana" similar to the "Age of Pericles"?

There are three ways in which the age of Pericles and the Pax Romana of Augustus were similar.

1. Both ages experienced a renaissance in literature and arts. On the Greek side, Pericles and his regime viewed themselves as a school for the other Greek states. And on the Roman side, the Augustan age produced notable authors such as Vergil and Horace.

2. Both ages were an age of great building. For example Pericles did extensive work on the Acropolis and Augustus in the Res Gestae states that restored or built no less than 82 temples.

3. Both ages were a time of expansion. The Athenians took over the Delian league and Octavian (Augustus) defeated Antony and Celopatra at Actium in 31 BC.

As for longevity, The Augustan age or the Pax Romana lasted much longer. Pericles' world was cut short by the Peloponnesian War.

What is the setting, themes, literary devices, a quote, and a conflict faced by the main character?

The book is about two children named Jesse Oliver Aarons and Leslie Burke. They use their imagination to create a kingdom just for them where there are no bad fears to harm them. They are the king and queen of their kingdom and they call it Terabithia. They grow to be close friends and have many adventures then build a castle called the stronghold.

Bridge to Terabithia is an imaginative and descriptive book. The book is about a boy named Jesse Oliver Aarons who's biggest dreams are to be an artist. It takes place in Washington. He also has dreams of being the fastest runner in the fifth grade. Every morning during the summer he wakes up at the crack of dawn to practice running. When he is running one morning he is surprized by a girl who just moved in down the street. They grow to be close friends. They make up an imaginary kingdom called Terabithia. They are the king and queen of Terabithia there imaginary kingdom. They are the only ones that know about it.

At Terabithia they build a castle. The only way to get to Terabithia is to swing on a rope across a usually dry creek. The end I will now leave up to you to read.

This book was great. I think the theme was to use your imagination, and let your feelings out and remeber that when things go wrong you still have to move on in life.

In "By the Waters of Babylon" what is the sybolism involved in John's journey and his signs to go to the dead places?

The first sign of John's mission and purpose is when he is very young, and takes a piece of metal and is able to hold it without dying.  He writes of this experience that because of it, he knew he was destined to become a priest also.  That was his first sign--it is symbolic because supposedly, only priests were able to hold the metal without getting sick.  So, his holding it symbolized his "career" path in life.  The next sign of his journey comes as he tells his father of his dreams, after he asks to go on his journey.  The dreams reveal the city of the gods, with gods walking in them.  His father agrees that this is a sign that he must go on his "spirit walk," and John takes the dreams as a sign that he has been granted special permission to go to those forbidden places.  It isn't allowed, but since John dreamt of them, he feels it is his special mission, so, he goes.

To decide which direction to go, he follows signs given to him--an eagle and three deer, one of which is a white fawn, that are going east.  The eagle came first, but to ensure it wasn't a "bad" sign he waits for the deer.  The white fawn, probably a great symbol because of its rarity, confirmed his direction.  In ancient societies, they were very suspicious, and looked to signs in nature to determine their course.  The rest of his journey is motivated mostly by his burning desire for knowledge; he knows he shouldn't go, but does anyway, with unease in his heart, and full expectations of being punished or dying for disobeying.  He figures not being killed by the Forest People is one sign of his destiny, but rather stretches it to fit his own desire to learn.  So his journey starts off sanctified by signs, but, he takes his own initiative to go the rest of the way.

I hope that those thoughts helped a bit; good luck!

How does the plot and conflict of the story "The Monkey's Paw" relate to the theme?

Okay, you have three different terms here, so let's make sure we define them before starting to answer the question:

1. PLOT--the course of events that occur during the story,


2. CONFLICT--what the protagonist wants and the antagonist wants to keep from happening,


3. THEME--the general moral of the story...what the author is trying to say about something.

The question, then, is about how the story-line, including it's conflict, supports the theme in "The Monkey's Paw."  Next, I guess we have to figure out each of the 3 in regards to the story.

The theme of the story (well, at least one of the major ones, there are quite a few you can dig out of this old chestnut) is "be careful what you wish for."  This is supported by the fact that all the wishes made have an evil consequence to them (even the seemingly positive "last wish" sends the boy home, devastating the mother and solidifying the ruin of the family.)  So how do the plot and conflict support this?

Well, the plot is strongly driven in this story by the conflict, so it makes sense to stick with that.  The conflict of the story is the protagonist's desire to enrich himself through magical means vs. the monkey paw's desire to do evil.  This simplifies the idea a bit, but I think that's okay in this case.

So how does that support the theme "be careful what you wish for?"  Well, the monkey paw's mechanism for working its evil is through the fulfillment of the wishes.  This is in direct opposition to the White's desire to use the paw to make their lives better.  If the paw delivered the wishes as Mr. White wanted, well, there would have been no conflict and therefore the theme would not have been supported.

Indeed, the other plot elements support this theme as well.  The idea that the boy would come back from the grave all messed up, or those horrible moments when the mother is trying to get the door open and just can't seem to work the lock, these plot elements help to support the theme as well.

Please explain the similarities and differences between Mapp v. Ohio and Weeks v. U.S.

Both Weeks and Mapp have to do with the "exclusionary rule."  That is the legal principle that says that evidence can not be used in court against you if it has been gathered illegally.

In both Weeks and Mapp, the Supreme Court declared that evidence used against the defendants had been gathered illegally.  Therefore, the evidence could not be used against them.

The difference between the two has to do with who the Supreme Court rulings applied to.  In Weeks, which was decided in 1914, the trial was being held in a federal court.  So that decision said that the FEDERAL government couldn't use illegally gathered evidence.  However, it was still okay for STATE governments to use that kind of evidence.

In Mapp (decided in 1961) the trial was being held in STATE court so the exclusionary rule didn't apply.  However, the Supreme Court decided in that case that, from then on, the exclusionary rule WOULD apply to states as well.

So -- the similarity is that they both upheld the idea of the exclusionary rule.  The difference is that Weeks said it applied to the FEDERAL government while Mapp said it applied to the STATE governments too.  So now it applies to both.

Honor is an important topic in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1. What do Hotspur, Hal, and Falstaff each think about honor?

Hotspur, Hal, and Falstaff each exhibit a different attitude about honor. For Falstaff, honor is only a word, and that word only air. He does not think it worth dying for, and so he pretends to be dead during the Battle of Shrewsbury in order to save his life. But after Hal kills Hotspur and Falstaff sees an opportunity to gain honor without danger to himself, he jumps on it, even when it means betraying his friend.

For Hotspur, however, honor is everything. He swears that he will "pluck bright honor from the pale faced moon" and plunges headlong into battle in search of it. It costs him his life, and with his life he loses the honor he had in life as well. It turns out to be illusory for him.

Hal lies somewhere between Falstaff and Hotspur. He claims he wants to exchange his disgraces for Hotspur's honor on the battlefield, but then lets Falstaff take the credit for his success. He also lets his brother gain the honor of treating their prisoners magnanimously. But though he seems to deny taking honor for himself, his actions show him to have much more honor than either Falstaff or Hotspur.

Viola decides to disguise herself by wearing men's clothes. Does it make sense? What is her motive? Is it enough to hide her character?what's her...

The reason that Viola hides herself (by wearing men's clothing and pretending to be Cesario) is that she wants to find her brother, Sebastian.  Sebastian has been shipwrecked but Viola has reason to believe he's still alive.

Her decision to disguise herself definitely makes sense.  In the days when Shakespeare wrote the play, a young woman could certainly not go around on her own.  She would have been expected to act in "womanly" ways that would not have allowed her to seek Sebastian.

Her disguise is not enough to hide her character.  She remains the strongest character in the play.

In "The Rocking-Horse Winner" how do Paul and Bassett get started betting?

The exact details aren't super clear; somehow or another Bassett discovered Paul's riding habit and his tendency to shout out names about the races.  Probably intrigued a bit, and part just humoring the kid in what might have been a passing fancy or fascination, Bassett lent him money for his first bet.  Paul tells his uncle, "he lent me my first five shillings, which I lost," and then he used ten shillings his uncle gave him to win his first bet.  From that point on, the bets most likely increased, and Paul was rather successful, because by the time his uncle figures out what is going on, Paul has over "three hundred pounds" on hand that Bassett keeps for him.  Paul and Bassett formed a partnership of sorts--this is beneficial to both of them, beause Bassett gets the names of winning horses, and Paul has an adult supervisor who can place bets for him and keep his money and holdings safe.  It works out well for both of them.

It's an interesting situation that eventually Paul's uncle wants to get in on.  Bassett is an honest man when it comes to dealing with Paul's money, and they end up making quite a bit of it.  I hope that helped a bit; good luck!

What is the plot of the novel The Moorchild?

Eloise McGraw's fantasy novel The Moorchild is a story based on the medieval folklore of the British Isles. The imaginary world of the novel  is most probably ancient Britain.

The structural contrast is between the wide open moor and the closed village. Saaski the changeling lives in the village of Torskall. Torskall is a safe haven for the villagers but a prison for Saaski as she must conform to the rules of the village. Consequently her heart is always in the moor because it means freedom from the constricted village. She spends most of her time playing about in the open moor. The topography of the moor with its mysterious bogs fascinates her.

The villagers, on the other hand are terrified of  the moors. They are scared of the will-o-the-wisps who lure the unsuspecting to their death in the bogs. All the villagers avoid moor except the wandering shepherd or any other stranger, traveling through. The moor represents a forbidden place of magic and superstition. It is a place where the tame child never ventures but where Saaski seeks freedom and the thrill of possible danger.

The theme of alienation and belonging is highlighted by the ambiguous status of Saaski. The intolerant village folk of Torskall reject her outrightly, and so also the the moor people who live below the Mound on the moor. Her identity is safe and secure only on the moor where  she truly belongs.  Here she can be free to play her pipes and befriend Tarn, the goatherd. Here, she magically discovers her true history and determines to right the Mound Folk's dreadful injustice.

How are organic t-shirts made?

Organic t-shirts are cotton t-shirts made form organic cotton. To qualify as organic cotton the cotton must one of the natural varieties, as opposed to genetically modified ones. Also organic cotton is grown without using any synthetic fertilizers pesticides.

As far as physical characteristics of organic t-shirts are concerned there ins no difference between these and other cotton t-shirts. Also the process of making organic t-shirt goes, it is exactly same as that used for making cotton t-shirts in general.

Organic t-shirts are made and marketed to appeal to people that are opposed to use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in farming and to growing of genetically modified products. In general these are also the people who oppose use of technologies and manufacturing processes harmful to the environment. Therefore, companies may also frequently claim to use green technologies. But there are so many different processes are involved in production of a t-shit that, I am not sure if it is possible to be 100 percent green. For example, I am not sure if there is a way to bleach cotton cloth without using chemicals, or that buttons used in organic t-shirts are same as the buttons of synthetic material used in common t-shirts.

How does Appearance vs. Reality affect relationships in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare?

The witches' anarchical formula couched in Chiasmus, 'Fair is foul, and foul is fair' initiates the theme of Appearance vs Reality quite early in 'Macbeth'. Macbeth is indeed so fair without and so foul within. In act1 sc.4, Duncan ironically foregrounds the same dichotomy when he says:

There's no art

To find the mind's construction in the face:

He was a gentleman on whom I built

An absolute trust.

Duncan trusted the thane of Cawdor who was 'a gentleman' by appearance, but he betrayed Duncan by siding with the king of Norway. Duncan proclaimed death sentence for Cawdor, and conferred the title on his most trusted general, Macbeth. Yet again, Duncan failed to see through the appearance of Macbeth's trustworthiness. Macbeth, 'chastised' by the 'valour' of Lady Macbeth's 'tongue', killed Duncan violating the virtues of 'kinship' and 'hospitality'.

Lady Macbeth chose to wear the appearance of cruelty to stand by the side of her husband's ambition. In reality she was not a virago. She suffered from a strong sense of guilt to become a victim of sleep-walking, and at last she killed herself. The dichotomy between Appearance and Reality vey severely affected her cojugal togetherness as well as happiness.

When Macduff went to England to convince Malcolm for a military venture against Macbeth, Malcolm suspected Macduff's bonafides. When as per Malcolm's instruction, his soldiers covered themselves with a branch , it appeared that the Birnam forest had been moving to Dunsinane. The appearance  of the witches' equivocation came to reality.

What is Orwell's message to the audience in "Shooting an Elephant"?

Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" is concerned mainly with imperialism.  Orwell was writing in the 1930s, at a time when Great Britain still controlled India as well as colonies in Southeast Asia, such as Burma, where this essay is set.

In the essay, Orwell argues that imperialism degrades both the rulers and the ruled, making them hate each other.  He also reflects on how imperialism drives him, as a member of the ruling race, to do things he would rather not do, simply so as to not look weak in front of the "inferior" race.

While the theme of the essay is imperialism, there is some dispute among scholars as to whether Orwell is really anti-imperialist or if he condones it.  Generally, pro-empire people think he was condemning it while critics of the empire feel he was condoning it.

J.F. Clarke wrote, “The bravest of individuals is the one who obeys his or her conscience.”what do you think this means?

J.F.Clarke equates human beings as having the knowledge and ability to know right from wrong.  A person's inner self is cognizant of the virtues of his/her own decisions and why they make those decisions.  Society mandates that people obey social laws and moral laws based on their surroundings and the pressure of others.  To be brave means to have courage.  Courage does not always come at the risk of death but at the risk of harm or being ostracized by others. 

 If a person knows that something is  morally wrong but does nothing because of pride, need of respect, protection of family or self, that person has not allowed them selves to face the challenge of morality that he/she knows is present.  For example; during the Nazi reign in Germany many people believed what the Nazis were doing to the Jews was wrong and immoral.  It was only a few that were brave enough to stand against the laws of the government, the military, and risk their own life and that of their families for the sake of obeying their own conscience that was telling them the actions of the Nazis were wrong.

What would be considered the Point of View in the unforgettable book "The Book Thief"?

This book has a very unique narrator, Death, and he is all-knowing.  This makes Death a third-person omniscient narrator.  However, he does speak of himself in the first person, so he plays a role in the story.  This also makes the narrator a first-person narrator in terms of himself, and a third-person omniscient narrator in terms of the other characters.  It's a rather unique mix that makes for an interesting story.  If you were to combine the two, he would be a hybrid:  an all-knowing first-person narrator, if there is such a thing.  He also throws elements of a second-person narrator in, because he does directly address the audience; he says things like "You will wonder who I am and why I am here."  He isn't a direct character in the book, so isn't a straight-up first-person narrator.  He knows all of the events of the characters' lives and describes them using "he" and "she," so in that sense he is an omniscient third-person narrator.

To simplify:  Death is a third-person omniscient narrator who possesses slight traits of a first-person narrator, since he is sort-of a character in the story's events itself.  I hope that helped a bit; good luck!

How did the Vietnam War influence the social structure and lifestyles from the 1960s counterculture?

There are a number of factors you could look at relating to social strcture and lifestyle of the 1960s counter-culture. First, consider the impact of the war being broadcast on television. For the first time, Americans in their living rooms were exposed to the reality of war. Body counts were published. The impact of this was horror, shock, and disgust for many people which fueled the rebellion.

You can't ignore the music of the counter-culture. There were protest songs, such as Country Joe McDonald's "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixing-to-Die" or Crosby, Stills, and Nash who wrote several protest songs based on Nash's work with Vietnam Veterans.

You could also look at the effects of protests against the war and their outcome. Consider Kent State and the violence against students in 1970 or peaceful protests like the "Human Be-In" at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in 1967.

And of course, there is the rampant drug use both by soldiers and protesters, ranging from marijuana to psychotropic drugs. Wide-spread use to escape reality or to seek enlightenment through pharmaceuticals lead to tighter drug laws in the US in the 1970s and 1980s.

Hope this helps!

At this point, why does Gatsby tell everything to Nick?can u please explain why gatsby tell everything to nick

When he first takes Nick to lunch, he tells him a little about his past, just the same vague stories that have kept everyone else guessing. He does this because, following his 'secret' conversation with Jordan Baker at the first party Nick attends, he learns that Daisy is Nick's cousin and he wants to set up a meeting.

In Chapter 8, Gatsby spills everything because Myrtle Wilson's death and Tom Buchanan's investigation had, or soon would, definitively end his role as Jay Gatsby:

"It was this night that he told me the strange story of his youth with Dan Cody-told it to me because "Jay Gatsby" had broken up like glass against Tom's hard malice, and the long secret extravaganza was played out" (131).

Although Daisy was driving, Gatsby (Gatz) was not giving that up; and he may have thought that Tom would rat him out to Wilson. In any case, he'd stopped having parties, and by this time, he was broke. With the upcoming publicity/rumors, his drug/bootlegging business was done and Wolfsheim broke off ties with him because it was bad for business. The car accident also, more importantly, forever scarred his hope of reliving the past (as a new future) with Daisy. So, he had nothing left; not even the green light across the sound. After he met Daisy again, he didn't need the iconic light. "His count of enchanted objects diminished by one" (84 - Ch. 5). So, he tells Nick everything because he's lost everything.

What is a good conclusion paragraph for an essay on parents who base their life on greed and materialism?This is for the same research paper I am...

What I tell my students about conclusions is that you should have three main parts.

First, restate your thesis. The thesis is your main argument of your essay. It sounds like the thesis is something about how parents should not be too materialistic and greedy. This is certainly a major theme in the short story "The Rocking-Horse Winner". You probably want to change he wording of your thesis and perhas introduce it by saying something like, "As I stated..." or "It is certainly clear that..."

Second, revisit the supporting points you used in your essay to prove the thesis is true. These would most likely be the topic sentences of your body paragraphs. In most essays, there are three body paragraphs and three points. You probably want to change them around a bit too.

Some supports you may have used for this particular thesis on this story are:

1--The parents' worries about money infect their son's life and contribute to his gambling problems.

2--The parents' over-concern for climbing the social ladder lead them to pressure their children, leading to their son's death.

3--The parents greed leads the family to try dangerous ways to show their love.

Of course, you may have different/better body paragrah topics. Please check in the body paragraphs to make sure you use textual support (quotes,etc.) to illustrate whatever points you are using.

In the conclusion, you should probably just write one sentence about each point, putting it in slightly new words from the way you stated it in the body paragraphs and introduction.

The last part of a good conclusion wraps everything up and inspires the reader. You might try two or three sentences that follow a pattern like this. I am giving you examples of ways I might finish these sentence stems in an essay on this thesis.

1--Make your point forcefully.

"As you can see..." parents can have a great impact on their children's lives, and in this case, the parents' greed and materialistic thinking led to Paul's destruction.

2--Make a connection to the present day/real world.

"In life..." we should all focus on the important things that money canot buy, like family ties, love, support, and authenticity.

3--Inspire your reader to change things in life. "So please..." appreciate all that life has to offer that is not bougt and sold, and know that your focus is in the right place for your kids and families.

Hope this helps!

In The Catcher in the Rye, what is Holden's attitude towards school and teachers??

The key teacher is his former English teacher, Mr. Antolini.  Whereas Spencer encountered Holden at the beginning of his episodic adventure, Mr. Antolini finds Holden toward the end, at his most vulnerable point.  The scene with Mr. Antolini is the turning point of the novel (or, rather, it should have been the turning point).  Instead, it is an anti-climatic episode in which Salinger gives no easy answers.

Holden wants to be rescued by Antolini, but Salinger (who uses Antolini as his authorial voice) provides Holden with this sage advice:

"This fall I think you're riding for - it's a special kind of fall, a horrible kind.  The man falling isn't permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom.  He just keeps falling and falling.  The whole arrangement's designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn't supply them with.  Or they thought their own environment couldn't supply them with.  So they gave up looking.  They gave it up before they ever really even got started.

Antolini also says, "a foolish man dies for a cause, a noble man lives humbly for one."  James Castle was that foolish man, as he saw first hand.  Knowing this, Holden realizes his desire to be a teenage martyr is foolish and idealistic--a romantic pipe dream.  So, Antonlini talks Holden out of sharing Castle's fate, which is to say he talks him out of suicide.

And then there's the "flit" stuff, the homosexual overtones.  The way Antolini strokes Holden is both sweet and disturbing.  I don't really want to debate it, but it is rather amusing how the reader thinks Antolini is going to provide Holden with the answer of all answers (which he does), and then Salinger undercuts Antolini (and himself) with the flit episode.  Overall, though, I think Salinger's decision to avoid using Antolini as the Deus ex Machina is a wise one.

Here are my notes in more detail:

I. No Deux ex Machina

A. literally “God out of the machine”

B. literary definition: “a plot device or character that rescues a hopeless situation”

C. Mr. Antollini: voice of Salinger; Mr. counter-culture professional

D. has a chance to rescue Holden

E. His advice:

1. Holden is “in for a terrible fall”

2. "The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one."

F. Salinger discredits Antolini in the end by casting him as possible gay pedophile (no rescuing; no morals)

G. Anticlimactic ending: does Holden ever grow up? "don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody" (shows regret; a downer)

Discuss the struggle for black equality as soon as the slaves were emancipated.The struggle for black equality began as soon as the slaves were...

If the scope of this question is to analyze different notions of the social and political good for African- Americans post Civil War, I think we begin to see much in the way of change and evolution.  Following Appomattox, the reality for African Americans was how to achieve "the dream" during the Plessy vs. Ferguson era of segregation.  This was marked by Reconstruction initiatives that sought to limit the economic, political, and social notion of the good for African-Americans.  The vision of how African- Americans were to view consciousness could be seen in terms of the philosophies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, and in this manner, came out the debate of assimilationism and cultural activism.  This means that would the concept of color be something to be overcome or something to be acknowledged.  Within this paradigm, the dream for African- Americans were poised between these ends.  The post World War II predicament for African- Americans became much of the same, as the drive for Civil Rights demanded the same questions as to what constitutes "the dream" for people of color, in particular, African- Americans.  The different thinkers of the time period sought to articulate different visions of the social, economic, and political good.  Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Stokely Carmichael all spoke of different visions of "the dream" for African- Americans in the Civil Rights Era.

What lifestyle factors or choices would be dangerous to our heart?

Many, many athletes take anabolic steroids, which can produce some serious cardiovascular damage as well as damage to other organs such as the liver.  One of the early anabolic steroids, Dianabol, has been responsible for damaging organs of many of the bodybuilders of the 1960s and 1970s. 

Smoking marijuana increases the heart rate by 50% and can cause chest pain to those who have a poor blood supply to the heart. Cocaine has powerful negative effects upon the heart, sometimes causing sudden death.  For instance, cocaine increasing heart and blood pressure while constricting the arteries supplying blood to the heart.  The result can be a heart attack, even in a young person without any heart disease.  Cocaine can also trigger an abnormal heart rhythm, called arrhythmia, killing instantly.

By the way, some cancer drugs, if used for a long time, can cause heart damage. Prolonged usage of anthracyclines can lead to heart muscle damage, including cardiomyopathy, a condition that causes abnormal growth of muscle fibers.  If the anthracyclines are continued, eventually they can lead to congestive heart failure.

Choose any current event/issue and explain how it deals with the US Constitution.We're supposed to explain the issue, then the controversey...

The Constitution, as the founding document of the United States, was designed to separate and restrict government powers.  The philosophy behind its structure was based on Enlightenment thinking, which promulgated that individuals have rights that they are free to exercise, as long as one's rights do not infringe upon another's.

The question should read "How does the Constitution deal with any current event/issue?"  One that comes to mind is Heller v. District of Columbia, in which the Supreme Court ruled that an individual possesses the right to possess firearms, and that the District cannot require that a firearm be made nonfunctional when stored in the home, as this violates the Second Amendment.   Heller has become a "test case;" other cities or states that have laws restricting or eliminating possession of firearms will, most likely, be brought to court and the law nullified, due to the Heller case.

How do conditions on the farm under Napoleon’s leadership compare to when Jones was the owner in Animal Farm?

For one thing, the animals did not work as hard or as much under Jones.  They had work time and they had down time.  They all realize this, but not many discuss it as they are beginning to question what they truly remember since the rules on the barn keep changing.  The animals also never went hungry under Jones.  Everyone had enough to eat and enough time to recover from the work of the farm.  The animals were led to believe (by the pigs) that they were suppressed and treated unfairly which led to the rebellion and the ousting of Jones.

Under Napoleon, the animals are manipulated to work harder for longer hours, and then they are not all equally sharing the benefits.  For instance, the cows milk more, but the pigs get the milk.  Boxer works harder and longer, and is sent to the glue factory without hesitation.  The pigs are no better than Jones...in fact, they are worse since they do not show any remorse or feeling for the treatment of the animals they propose.  They reap all the benefits and do none of the work.

Why is Behrani from "House of Sand and Fog" a tragic hero?I am doing a comparative essay on House of Sand and Fog along with All My Sons. I am...

In many ways, Behrani can be seen as a tragic hero.  If we define a tragic hero as one whose greatest attribute can be seen as his greatest flaw, Behrani's tragic condition can be the loyalty to his dreams.  This is both animating spirit and destructive force, the location of his greatest triumph as well as his most colossal folly.  His dream of being able to provide for his family in the manner of a traditional Eastern husband without ever communicating the reality to his family, shouldering the burden on his own broad shoulders, represents the essence of his tragic condition.  Driven through this spirit to want to provide the best for his family, Behrani does not realize the cost of his dream, as one impinging on someone else's.  He fails to understand that such dreams might have to be tempered with expectations of what is as opposed to purely envisioning what can be.  His tragic condition results from this.

How do the three party slogans (Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength, War is Peace) become truthful by the end of 1984?

These three slogans are all quite paradoxical since they appear to be contradictory, yet hold a great deal of truth in relation to the novel.  Remember that this is a Dystopian novel that takes place in a Totalitarian society where all personal freedoms, including the ability to think for one's self, have been stripped away.

Freedom is Slavery: With freedom comes the responsibility of making choices.  In this society, people are usually punished for independent thinking or any type of behavior that is not dictated or approved by The Party.  If people made their own choices in this society they would likely be captured by the Thought Police and vaporized.  Freedom is slavery because freedom would lead to bondage and death in this society.  You become a slave to yourself, a slave to the responsibility of thinking and acting on your own.  By allowing the party to strip away your freedoms, you no longer possess the responsibility to think or make decisions and are "free" from the threat of capture and vaporization.

Ignorance is Strength: As mentioned before, knowledge and free-thinking will ultimately lead to being captured and vaporized in this society.  By remaining ignorant you remain strong, because you are not a threat to The Party.  If you possess knowledge as Winston and Syme did, The Party becomes threatened by your abilities.  Having knowledge may lead people to question Big Brother and eventually attempt to overthrow the government.  Ignorance is strength, because it keeps you alive and safe from the threat of capture and death.

War is Peace: The people in this society need somewhere to direct their anger which is why The Party invented Emmanuel Goldstein.  If the people do not believe that Oceania is at war and threatened by Emmanuel Goldstein, they will start to question the conditions they are living in and the laws established by the government and eventually direct their anger towards Big Brother.  War is peace, because war unites the people of Oceania and maintains harmony within that particular super-state in order to avoid the threat of mutiny.

The outsiders Chapter 2 1.Why is it important for the greasers to stay loyal to one another? 2. What do you think of Cherry so far?

In the S.E. Hinton novel, The Outsiders the greasers have to stay loyal to one another because no one else will. The socs have it all. They have parents who love them, or at least their parents provide them with material needs to make their lives easier like nice clothes and cool cars. In addition, they have the approval of a society because of the relative affluence of their families. Even the fourth estate gives them approval because even though they are denounced one day as partying too much, the next day the press praises them for good citizenship. The greasers' loyalty is unconditional and honest.

On the surface, Cherry seems like a openminded soc because she talks to Ponyboy as if he were an equal. When we consider this as a deeper issue, we begin to see Cherry as an egocentric character. Her discussion with Ponyboy is about his brother who she thinks is a doll=she'd like to hook up with Soda Pop. Then she invites the greasers to sit with them, but she had to know how angry the socs would get when she socialized with the greasers. Finally, she allowed the greasers to walk them home, and even the most clueless of people would know this was a bad idea especially since the socs were drunk. 

What are the major differences and similarities between the Into the Wild book and movie? Name a scene that was left out of the film. Was it a...

I have to state that I found both versions of the story of the life of Chris McCandless' life and death interesting.  The main difference between the book and the movie is that the book is a reflection on the life of a young man who socially isolates himself from the world, and the move is more of a romantic notion of the adventures of Chris McCandless. 

The book is more of an autobiography of Chandler's life based upon notes he wrote and letters from people and interviews with people who knew him.  The movie takes more lenience in that it gives Chris McCandless relationships with people that probably did not develop in the manner as presented in the film.  He was a loner.  He chose to be a loner.  In the book it talks about him being moody.  I did not identify that much in the movie.  In the movie he seemed like a nice guy who just wanted to explore Alaska.  I thought of him more as a man on an adventure than someone trying to socially isolate himself from family and friends. In the book he is more an anti establishment kind of guy who wants to be left alone to do as he pleases with no strings attached.

 In both presentations his death is the final act of poor judgement on  McCandless' behalf. 

Scenes left out of the movie were those from McCandless' childhood.  In the book readers are made aware that he had a defiance to him early on.  Another left out scene was when his parents go to the bus to claim his body.  I can not say that these things would have added to the movie.  They may have adjusted the viewers feelings about McCandless and also his parents.  However, they were not necessary elements to make him seem like the simple wanderer/adventurer.  In truth McCandless' was more like the person in the book, but the movie is good cinema and makes for enjoyable watching. 

What are two characteristics of Melinda in Speak?I am ...(2 characteristics)

A good answer to your question is to list one characteristic of Melinda in the first school quarter and one of her traits from the last quarter.  During the first and second quarters of the school year, Melinda is certainly reclusive. She has withdrawn from others, even her own family.  This characteristic is a direct result of Melinda's rape.  The author infers that before the attack, Melinda was quite social--she has several "good" friends and is excited about attending social events like the party.

Throughout the entire book, but especially during the last quarter, Melinda is witty and sarcastic.  I think that what draws many readers to her character is her ironic sense of humor and her witty observations of her teachers and peers.  These characteristics are partly what helps Melinda survive and eventually overcome her rape and ensuing isolation.

Why does Montresor keep suggesting that they go back?

As Montresor led Fortunato deeper and deeper into the underground vaults, he repeatedly suggested to Fortunato that they turn back; more than once, Montresor expressed concern regarding the possible dangerous effects of the niter hanging from the walls upon his Fortunato's health.  Of course, Montresor was not truly concerned for Fortunato's well-being, but seemed to want to prevent any suspicions of his having any other motives than those related to the eo from entering his "friend's" drunken mind.  In addition, Montresor relished his role as an avenger of the supposed wrongs against him; he enjoyed Fortunato's suffering and derived pleasure from the trickery he used against the man, as well its results.  Suggesting that he and Fortunato turn back and not venture further into the vaults amused Montresor, since he knew that doing so would drive Fortunato to continue onward.

In Lord of the Flies: Why are the twins "examining Ralph curiously, as though they were seeing him for the first time"? (Page 192)

In Chapter Eleven of Golding's "Lord of the Flies," Piggy plans to talk to Jack while holding the conch in an effort to appeal to any vestige of civilization left in Jack so that he may get his glasses back.  Moved by the emotion of Piggy's appeal, Jack suggests that they clean up to look more civilized, also.  However, Eric makes a "detaining gesture," and says that the hunters will be painted; their faces will, thus, be masked and hide their emotions, mking them less vulnerable than than they.  Golding writes,

They understood only too well the liberation into savagery that the concealing paint brought.

When Ralph insists that they not be painted because they are not savages, Samneric look at each other.  Ralph shouts and turns upon them "fiercely."  And, as Piggy reminds Ralph that they cannot be rescued without smoke and the fire, Ralph snaps at Piggy, telling him, "I knew that!"

Piggy nodded propitiatingly.

'You're chief, Ralph.  You remember everything.'

'I hadn't forgotten.'

' 'Course not.'

The twins were examining Ralph curously, as though they were seeing him for the first time.

For the first time, Samneric realize that Ralph is flawed; he is breaking and losing his confidence and leadership role.  The twins later betray Ralph because they are tortured and succumb to "the liberation of savagery" and because they have lost some respect for Ralph

How did the Globe Theater affect the people/Patronstypes of plays performed. How do the Theater differ from the ones today

The Globe Theatre where many of Shakespeare's plays were performed helped the people to see the Chamberlain's Men (Shakespeares travelling acting troupe) at close quarters in a customized venue - it was built especially for them.

The theater was constructed (some say from 'borrowed staging' from other theaters!) during the Bard's first writing period. One of his 'friends' or 'patrons' could be said to be in  Cuthbert Burbage, brother of Richard -the most famous Shakespearean actor of the time, Richard Burbage.

Other 'patrons/friends' would have been associates of Burbage - they were assured of a steady source of excellent content for The Chamberlain's Men because Shakespeare was their writer. In fact, many of the so-called patrons were partners themselves as they belonged to the troupe (John Heminge, Augustine Phillips, Thomas Pope, Will Kempe, and, Shakespeare himself.) The Lord Chamberlain representing Queen Elizabeth) was a sponsor.

As to the audience or the people - there were ticket prices to suit all, and the rich rubbed shoulders with the poor - that was probably the biggest effect of all - that the classes could mix in a cultural/entertainment venue.

What kind of work did Rudolfo A. Anaya's grandfather do?

Rudolfo Anaya is an American author and teacher who is of Mexican descent.  His works tend to deal with the culture of the Southwestern United States and with Chicano culture in general.

Anaya was born in rural New Mexico in 1937.  He moved with his family to Albuquerque when he was 15 years old.

Much of Anaya's writing depicts traditional farming and ranching practices.  It is likely that he learned these from his grandfather because his grandfather (we are not told which of his grandfathers he is referring to in the essay) was a farmer.

Evaluate the models of media, which are Gender Bias, Racial Bias, and Sexual Orientation Bias?

Your question is a little unclear with regard to what information you are trying to acquire. Gender bias, racial bias, and sexual orientation bias are not media models (types of media). Is it possible that you are asking how these biases are portrayed in the media? Sexual orientation bias seems to have come to the forefront with the music award show in which Adam Lambert kissed and simulated oral sex with a male band member. This media uproar was much larger in magnitude than the kiss Britney Spears and Madonna exchanged on stage. Gender bias is portrayed in commercials and television shows, as many shows still place women in traditional roles such as housewives, nurses, etc. When men are portrayed in these positions such as a “Mr. Mom” type situation or Guy Focker in Meet the Parents, their roles are portrayed with mockery and ridicule. Commercials are another type of media that promotes bias in these areas. These commercials are directed at certain market areas, so is it the media that promotes the bias or society that promotes the bias while the media simply gives in to society wants?

A 12N force & a 5N force both act at the same point. What are the greatest resultant, least resultant & if the two forces act at right....angles to...

The resultant of two forces acting on the same point is maximum when the forces are acting in the same direction and minimum when they operate in opposite direction.

When the two forces are acting in the same direction the angle between the direction to the two forces is 0. In this case the resultant force is sum of the two forces and its direction is same as the two independent forces.

In the question the magnitude of the two forces are given as 12 N and 5 N.

Therefor their net magnitude will be 12 + 5 = 17 N

When the two forces are acting in the opposite direction the angle between the direction to the two forces is 180 degrees. In this case the resultant force is the difference in the magnitude of two forces acting in the direction of larger of the two forces.

Thus when the forces with the given magnitude are acting in opposite direction their net magnitude will be:

12 - 5 = 7 N

This resultant force will act in the direction of the component force with magnitude of 12 N.

When the two forces are acting at right angles their magnitude is:

(12^2 + 5^2)^1/2 = (144 + 25)^1/2 = 169^1/2 = 13 N

This resultant force acts at an angle A with the greater of the two forces and towards the smaller force such that:

tanA = (Magnitude of smaller force)/Magnitude of greater force

= 5/12 = 0.41666

Measure of angle A corresponding to this value of tanA is 22.6 degrees.