What is the poem "How Sleep the Brave" by William Collins about?

The surface meaning of the poem is to honor those who have given “the ultimate sacrifice” to their nation.  The imagery in the poem reflects this notion of death and sacrifice and the honor paid to such individuals: “dewy fingers cold,”  the fairies with whose hands “their knell is rung,” and “their dirge” being sung by “forms unseen.”  The relationship between both those who have given the ultimate sacrifice and those who honor them is seen throughout the poem.  The poem ends with on an elegiac note: “To dwell, a weeping hermit there.”  The 2 stanza poem, consisting of six lines each, has an alternating line rhyme scheme.  “Rest” goes with “blest” and this pattern is continued throughout the poem.  The symbolic meaning lies in the honoring of those who have perished giving their lives for a nation and its freedom.  The tone of the poem is quite mournful, paying homage and respect to those that have past and understanding that there is a certain amount of stoicism involved in such a reality.  The mood or overall feeling of the poem is somber, only enhanced by images of remembrance through items associated with funerals (“knell,” “dirge”, “sweeter sod,” and “turf that wraps their clay.”)  The overall appreciation of the poem is contingent on how individuals perceive military deaths.  It seems that the poem enhances the idea that any soldier who pays this “ultimate sacrifice” is worthy of honoring and remembrance.

I am currently preparing for a test on Act 1, scenes 3, 5, 7, and Act 2, scene 2. What should I concentrate on when studying?

These scenes are key to the play because they chart the beginning of the plan to kill Duncan and seize the crown right through to the accomplishment of this crime and then the feelings of guilt afterwards.

Act I scene iii presents us with the witches as they give their prophecies to Banquo and Macbeth. You will want to consider in particular how both of these characters respond to their prophecies and the witches. Also, a key speech is Macbeth's soliloquy when he considers his own feelings to the prophecies after finding out that Duncan has made him Thane of Cawdor - what does this speech reveal about Macbeth's state of mind, and in particular his own ambitions?

Act I scene v features Lady Macbeth reading a letter from Macbeth filling her in on what has happened. You will want to think about what kind of person is Lady Macbeth as depicted in this scene? Especially focus on her speech where she appeals to the "Spirits" to "unsex" her. Also, what does she say about Macbeth and his character? How does she view her husband and his failings? Lastly, how does Macbeth appear when he enters at last? What do we make of his final speech "We will speak further." Is this doubt or hesitation?

Act I scene vii features the famous bullying scene where Lady Macbeth literally cajoles her husband into committing the murder. You will want to think about Macbeth's soliloquy at the start of this scene. What doubts does he express? Why is he worried? What does he say about ambition? Then you will want to consider how Lady Macbeth persuades her husband. What strategies does she use to talk him into it?

Lastly Act II scene ii is straight after the event. You will want to consider how the layout of speech reflects the feelings of both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. How are both presented in this scene? What do we make of Lady Macbeth's assertion that she would have committed the crime if Duncan hadn't resembled her father? How does Macbeth feel after committing the crime? How does Lady Macbeth respond to Macbeth? Who do you feel is more responsible for the crime?

Just some ideas to help you along. Try to answer each question and that will help you in your test. Good luck!

What is a good thesis statement in support of sex education in public schools?

A thesis statement in a thesis is generally a proposition or statement, which is examined in detail in the thesis, and the truth or otherwise of the statement is ascertained. Therefore, although a thesis statement may support sex education in public school, the conclusion of the completed thesis may not. Here it should be noted that the thseis involves some amount of investigation and research, and the thesis statement is finalized before start of the investigation and research. Thesis statement intended to give a direction to the research rather than indicate results of the research. Therfore the validiy or otherwise of thesis statement cannot be confirmed at the time of formulating it.

Coming to suggesting a specific thesis statement, i suggest the following:

"Sex education in public schools will lead to healthier sex behavior among the students in their later lives."

An alternative thesis statement could be:

"Sex education in public school leads to greater incidence of pre-marital sex."

While writing an essay, rather than a thesis, it will be more appropriate to talk of the subject of the essay. one suggestion on what this could be is:

"Benefits of Sex Education in Public Schools"

Victor warns Robert that acquiring knowledge can lead to destruction and infallible misery.What serious consequences might the acquisition of...

Victor stands as proof of the consequences inherent in knowledge acquisition. He relentlessly pursued information regarding death and the human body, and eventually discovered how to bring life to inanimate matter. While one might think he was seeking immorality, he claims his motives were pure; his stated intention was to help the human race and better society. Yet he created something which he, and everyone else which which it came into contact, loathed and feared, eventually driving it to kill out of frustration, anger, and loneliness. So, in Victor's case, knowledge led to the death of his entire family and closest friend, and ruin of his professional life. This is, of course, an extreme situation, but the general principle holds true in many cases.

You've probably heard the saying "ignorance is bliss." Indeed, sometimes we are much happier knowing nothing, rather than learning devastating news. Imagine the life altering news for children who are raised in cultures that talk of Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. It's a shock to the system to learn the actual truth. Or consider another scientific example: the physicists working on the construction of the nuclear weapon, and simultaneously the destruction of the human race. Finally, to use yet another cliche "the more you know, the more you don't know." One might spend his/her entire life building up knowledge, studying every subject possible, and still remain woefully ignorant. Some believe that there are mysteries man was not meant to know, phenomena that cannot be explained. These people believe that to attempt to do so willl only cause heartache and catastrophe.

In The Maltese Falcon, is the falcon a symbol? What does it symbolize? Does the falcon have a different meaning for different characters?

In Chapter 13 Gutman explains the history of the Maltese Falcon in great detail. Emperor Charles V gave the Knights of Rhodes Malta, Gozo, and Tripoli on condition that they pay him the annual tribute of one falcon "In the acknowledgment that Malta was still under Spain." The Knights decided to give the Emperor "a glorious golden falcon encrusted from head to foot with the finest jewels in their coffers." The Maltese Falcon originated as a symbol of loyalty, and loyalty is a principal theme throughout Hammett's novel. Wilmer Cook is loyal to Gutman. Floyd Thursby was loyal to Brigid O'Shaughnessy. In Chapter 19, Gutman tells Spade that he (Thursby) "was quite determinedly loyal to Miss O'Shaughnessy"). Captain Jacobi was also loyal to Brigid. Effie Perrine is exceedingly loyal to Sam Spade. Joel Cairo is loyal to General Kemidov, although the Russian, who knows the falcon is a fake, has sent him on a wild goose chase. (Kemidov himself is probably living in exile because he was loyal to the Czar.) Even Rhea Gutman is loyal to her father. (Loyalty was an important matter to Dashiell Hammett. In The Glass Key, one man takes a terrible beating out of loyalty to a friend.) Sam Spade is loyal to his partner in a sense, although he is disloyal in carrying on an affair with Archer's wife. Spade is loyal in his determination to avenge his partner's murder. ("When a man's partner is killed he's supposed to do something about it.") Brigid expects Spade to be loyal to her, but he deliberately tricks her into confessing that she killed Archer. Brigid herself is loyal to no one. Spade is self-reliant. He trusts nobody but himself. He is loyal to no one but himself. He has a low opinion of human nature, based on his experience as a police detective--and perhaps on his own assessment of himself.

Discuss the presence of Fortinbras in Act IV scene 4 of Hamlet. What does he seem to represent to Hamlet?

Act IV scene 4 is crucial in building up a picture of Hamlet as he is forced to leave to go to England having killed Plonius and offended Claudius. As he leaves, he meets the Norwegian army that is going to fight over some "scrap" of Polish territory. Hamlet compares the willingness of soldiers in this army to go and die for something that must mean so little to them and to act on an issue that has so little personal connection to them. Fortinbras, who is fighting over this land, is an example of somebody who is willing to act and respond when he has reason. This of course is the direct opposite of Hamlet, who has significant reason for action but who has failed to act because of his procrastination. Note what Hamlet says in his soliloquy at the end of this scene about this comparison:

How stand I then,

That have a father killed, a mother stained,

Excitements of my reason and my blood,

And let all sleep—while, to my shame, I see

The imminent death of twenty thousand men,

That for a fantasy and trick of fame

Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot

Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,

Which is not tomb enough and continent

To hide the slain?

Fortinbras and the presence of his soldiers therefore stand as a sharp rebuke to Hamlet about his inaction and how he has failed to do anything about something that is so intimately connected with his identity and his family. The soldiers, and Fortinbras, are willing to risk their lives for "a fantasy and trick of fame," whereas Hamlet is not even willing to risk his life for the significant things he has suffered. Fortinbras becomes a symbol of action and responsibility whereas Hamlet sees himself as a symbol of inaction and lack of responsibility. His final words represent an effort to try and goad himself into action, as he asks that his thoughts may only be "bloody" from this point onward.

In Ender's Game, the title of chapter 11 is "Veni Vidi Vici", which means "I came, I saw, I conquered." Why is this the chapter title?

In this chapter, Ender and his crew are given a series of very difficult, complicated, unfair battles to fight.  There is little respite; it is battle after battle after battle.  Ender and his team are exhausted, stretched to their limits, and asked to perform at top-notch quality despite their weariness.  Major Anderson, at the beginning of the chapter, protests such an intense schedule:

"You can't be serious about this schedule of battles...we want to teach him, not give him a nervous breakdown...this is a little extreme."

However, despite his Major Anderson's protests, Ender is in fact given that horribly taxing schedule.  Ender comes to the battles, he sees what he is up against, and he conquers, every single time.  So, the "Veni, Vidi, Vici" title refers to the fact that Ender and his team rise to the challenge.  They show up for each battle, they size up the situation, and go in with new strategies, winning every time.  They come out victorious in the end, even though they suspect that "they want to break us down."  It is a chapter that shows just how versatile and talented Ender and his team is, and how far they can go to conquer and be successful.

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

What are some common themes and poetic techniques in the poems "Preludes" and "Rhapsody on a Windy Night"?

T. S. Eliot was a modernist poet who often employed the technique of "stream-of-consciousness" writing in his poetry.  To explain, modernist writers tended to be disillusioned and upset with the world, focused on the industrial nature of life (meaning, city life) and how dreary and unfulfilling that was, and on people and characters who have difficulty connecting with each other or feeling like they belong.  They also liked to experiment with the form of their writing--so, their stories didn't follow chronological order, didn't have happy endings, and toyed with alternative styles of writing like stream-of-consciousness.  Stream-of-consciousness writing is very random; it's like you are just writing down whatever comes into your head, no matter if it fits or makes sense.  If often revolves around a theme, like the city streets at night, but then jumps around quite a bit, just like our brains do when we think.  You can see this style in Eliot's poems, because he lists a bunch of images, memories, and emotions, all thrown together in seeming discorded chaos.  It's just like he opened his brain and poured the contents onto the paper.  So, there are some thoughts about his style and technique.

He uses many poetic techniques.  Imagery is one of them--using the 5 senses to capture an emotion or scene.  Take a look at these lines from "Preludes III":

"Sitting along the bed's edge, where
You curled the papers from your hair,
Or clasped the yellow soles of feet
In the palms of both soiled hands."

Here, he uses imagery to convey the weary, run-down sight of this woman preparing for the day. Or, from section II,

"The morning comes to consciousness
Of faint stale smells of beer
From the sawdust-trampled street
With all its muddy feet that press."

Here he describes the smells, sights and textures of the city streets.  Look in his poems for any descriptions using the 5 senses, and that is imagery.  He also uses personification quite a bit, where he gives inanimate objects and ideas human-like traits.  For example, from "Rhapsody on a Windy Night," he states, "The memory throws up high and dry."  Memories cannot throw; that is giving memories human-like traits.  In Preludes, there is the "winter evening settles," the shower "wraps" and "beats,".  He also uses similes (comparing something using like or as)--

"The worlds revolve like ancient women/Gathering fuel in vacant lots."

For lack of space, I'll stop there, but I hope that those thoughts get you started on techniques and style.  For themes, he has the theme of run-down, depressing life in the city, of the meaningless life of city existence and trying to find meaning there, and how hard that is.  Themes of how real, fulfilled life that has beautiful sights and smells is always lingering, taunting on the edges, just out of reach.  How he feels life should be much more, but isn't.  Good luck!

What battle strategies did each side employ in the First World War 1? how effective were these strategies?U.S. history

The main military strategies at the beginning of the war were quite different from what happened as the war went on.  No one intended for the war to last very long, and so the strategies at the beginning were short sighted in many respects.  Later, strategy and tactics both became direct and wasteful.

The German strategy was the Schlieffen Plan, which called for a wide enveloping move with massed troops (including reserves) to overwhelm the French forces by descending upon their rear and threatening Paris.  The drawback of this plan was that by violating the neutrality of Belgium, Britain would be drawn in as an antagonist.

The French strategy was Plan 17.  It called for a direct offensive into the Ruhr Valley, a task beyond the capability of the French army given the tactics and equipment of the German forces.  This also opened up the French to the crushing mass of German troops which the Schlieffen Plan called for.  The saving grace for France was that the Belgians resisted the German invasion and the British filled in the gap on the north side of the French lines.  The British army was massively outnumbered, but by a hasty retreat followed by a daring push forward into the gap between the German 6th and 7th Armies the British induced the Germans to retreat at the critical moment of the First Battle of the Marne.

The real problem on the Western Front began then.  No plan had worked, therefore the war was not decided by a short series of battles.  No one knew what to do next, so both sides engaged in flanking attacks and blocking them, until the lines reached from the Swiss border to the English Channel.  At that point both strategy and tactics became pointless.  Periodically one army or another would mount an offensive, which meant heavy artillery bombardment followed by masses of infantry (and later infantry and tank attacks).  These offensives produced incredible casualty rates, but no progress toward a military solution.

There were of course also plans made before the war by the other major powers, but they were all equally out of touch with the reality of modern war and economics.  No one had believed the economic power of European nations could sustain a major war for long, because of the interdependance of modern economies.  Unfortunately, they were wrong.  Battle plans became nothing more than plans for wasting hundreds of thousands of lives.  Even the amphibious landings on Gallipoli simply did not take effective account of modern weaponry.

The Ludendorff offensives, which the Germans hung all their hopes on in 1918, showed promise with infiltration tactics by storm troops, but the effect of initial breakthroughs on commanders was always to push on, even after resistance hardened.  The only strategies which worked were political.  The most important was that the British managed to keep the United States from opposing their blockade of both war materials and materiel bound for Germany, even if on neutral ships and bound initially for neutral harbors.  Since the two countries went to war in 1812 over the same principle, this was a major coup.

The British blockade starved Germany and Austria-Hungary, and this was followed by diplomatic pressures which eventually brought the US into the war.  Their manpower and manufacturing ability was simply too much for the Germans to continue to fight against.

In The Kite Runner,what is the meaning or significance of Hassan's scar?

Hassan's scar from having his cleft lip surgically corrected is significant for a couple of reasons.

1. A "cleft" is a division, and Hassan's cleft lip is no different in that it represents the divisions that existed in Afghanistan while he was growing up and that still exist today. Because of his Hazara ethnicity, Hassan will never be equal to or truly unifiied with other Afghans (mainly the Pashtuns like Amir). When Baba pays to have Hassan's cleft lip corrected, Hassan still has a slight scar which illustrates that even if Afghanistan seems to have "corrected" itself on the surface, there will always be scars or reminders of its divisions.

2. Near the novel's end after his encounter with Assef, Amir recovers in the hospital with many injuries, but one that is significant is the scar that he now has on his upper lip from Assef hitting him.  The scar represents not only the literal brotherhood between Amir and Hassan, but it like Hassan's scar will always be a reminder to Amir of what his redemption cost him and what that redemption was for--his betrayal of the physically and emotionally scarred Hassan.

What are 3 physical and 3 personality traits of Dick and Perry?

Perry, 3 physical traits:

1.  Perry has small, deformed legs and a muscular upper body as a result of a motorcycle accident.

2.  He is bi-racial, half Irish and half Cherokee Indian.

3.  He has weak kidneys from improper nutrition as a child, which consequently caused him to wet the bed, and caused him much embarrassment and punishment as a child.

Perry, 3 personality traits

1.  Perry seems more child-like that Dick.  He worries constantly about whether they will get caught and prefers root beer to alcohol or coffee.

2.  Perry has trouble letting go of his past.  He brings to large boxes full of letters, pictures and other memorabilia with him wherever he goes.

3.  Perry's terribly upbringing, including being abandoned by his mother, following his father around to various parts of the country, having no formal education, and the suicide deaths of two sibling, may have led to his current state as an outlaw and feeling of not belonging in society.

Dick, 3 physical traits

1.  Dick is considered the normal looking one between him and Perry.  He is white and from a middle-class family.

2.  Dick has a tall, lean build.  He played sports throughout his high school career, mainly football.

3.  Dick is more relaxed than Perry.  He consistently believes that everything will be fine, and has an easier time eating and sleeping than Perry.  Dick has also been married before and has children with his ex-wife, Carol.

Dick, 3 personality traits

1.  Dick is charismatic, allowing that, rather than his intelligence, to steer most of his life.

2.  Dick did poorly in school and resents the people who were able to go to college.

3.  Dick is attracted to young girl and his openly homophobic, though he calls Perry "honey" and "baby" throughout most of the book.  Dick seems more the "natural born killer", as it is his plan to "score" at the Clutter house.

How do I solve for a variable when it is on both sides like: 5y + 3 = 4y -1?

This is an equation in one unknown or variable y.We solve  the equation  in one unknown  by making the variable  to one side and the known or the number to the other side. We do this by simple operartions like adding the equals to both sides, or subtracting the equals to both sides , or multiplying by the equals both sides , or dividing by the equals(but not by zero) both sides of the equation:

5y+3=4y-1. Here 5y  on the left and 4y on the right are  the unknowns. 3 on left and -1 on the right are the numbers and they are known. To make the unknowns on the left and the knowns on the right with a purpose of making the unknown to be determined through the knowns, we do the following operations , one by one:

Subtract 4y from both sides:

5y+3-4y= 4y-1-4y.

Simplify by collecting the like terms together:

5y-4y+3=4y-4y-1

y+3=-1

Subtract 3 from both sides:

y+3-3=-1-3

Simplify.

y= -4.

Verification:

Substitute  the obtained solution, y=-4 in the original equation and see whether you get the same value on both sides:

Left:5(-4)+3=-20+3=-17

Righr:4(-4)-1=-16-1=-17

Hope this helps.

How were the black codes and the Fourteenth Amendment related?

The Black Codes were laws that Southern States passed in the wake of the Civil War and within Reconstruction to limit the freedoms of newly liberated African Americans in a post- Slavery South.  The codes themselves were a form of control that, while not truly slavery, sought to keep the power structure intact that prevented a great deal of mobility on the part of African Americans in a world where the social institution of slavery was noticeably absent.  Some of these codes addressed civil rights, voting rights, freedom of speech, marriage laws, as well as freedom of mobility as well as occupational opportunities.  There were a form of control that sought to prevent African- Americans from enjoying a sense of enfranchisement that the dissolution of slavery would have allowed.  Along with the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, which were known as the "Reconstruction Amendments" because of their ratification in the wake of the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees the rights of citizenship to all people of color.  Essentially nullifying the Dred Scott Supreme Court Case that argued that slaves were not citizens, the Fourteenth Amendment argues that the rights of citizens can be conferred on people of color, and in particular, African- Americans.  With the guaranteeing of citizenship, all the rights associated with such a status would follow, thereby nullifying state laws such as the Black Codes.  Of particular note in the Fourteenth Amendment is its Due Process clause which guarantees a sense of institutional fairness on both substantive (intrinsically legal) as well as procedural levels (the ways the laws are executed.)  With this clause, the Fourteenth Amendment was seen as bringing the full force of the Bill of Rights and the enumerated rights within the Constitution to all localities and states.  The Fourteenth Amendment was seen as a critical component of America being able to deliver on a promise to a large segment of the population who had seen for such a long period of time their hopes and dreams deferred in the worst of ways.

In The Bean Trees, does Taylor Greer leave Kentucky "to avoid pregnancy and to get away"?

In The Bean Trees, Marietta (Missy) has succeeded in graduating high school by avoiding getting pregnant and dropping out of school as a teen. She has successfully applied for a laboratory assistant position at the local hospital and has worked there for five and half years conducting tests on patient samples.

Missy has always held a dream of leaving Kentucky independent of her determination to avoid teen pregnancy and graduated from high school--both being goals that she accomplished. Once she has saved enough money, from working for five and a half years, to travel and buy an antiquated Volkswagen car, she then leaves Kentucky and gets as far as Oklahoma before her trip is called for car repairs. This information is all in Chapter 1.

What might a writer use to symbolize courage?

Often writers use symbols from the animal kingdom to symbolize courage, and this is something mankind has done for many years. For example, lions might be used as such symbols, or various birds of prey, such as the falcon or the hawk. 

Various cultures and religions have their own symbols of courage, which could easily be used by writers. In Roman mythology, Mars was the God of war, and so I suppose the planet Mars could be used as in a poem or novel as a symbol of courage and aggression. In the Hindu religion, courage is represented by Hanuman, a monkey and a general in Indian mythology.  In some African cultures, the leopard is a symbol of courage, and in astrology, Aries is a symbol of courage, too.

There are various parts of nature that might be used symbolically to indicate courage either metaphorically or literally.  One example might be a mountain that requires courage to climb.  Another might be a raging river that someone must navigate.  Generally,  the conquering of nature is a sign of courage, endurance, and strength.

I do not play any video games, but it would be interesting to know what kinds of symbols of courage appear in these.  My guess is that many such symbols are based in mythology.  What kinds of symbols of courage have you seen in movies or on television.  I don't think the symbols of courage in various media are likely to vary all that much. 

An excellent book on signs and symbols is The Illustrated Book of Signs & Symbols, by Miranda Bruce-Mitford, published in 1996 by DK Publishing Company.  It is fascinating to see what signs and symbols have been used by different groups over thousands of years. 

What do we mean by the term "environment?" Explain briefly.Short description on environment

The term "environment" refers to the natural setting in which we live.  For example, a "home environment" refers to where we live, our homes.  A "work environment" our workplace.  I would sense that your use of it might be referring to our shared ecology on the planet.  Currently, the term, "environment" refers to an ecological awareness that concerns itself with rectifying and sustaining the planet during its current challenges. Some of these involve global warming, punctures in the ozone layer, and/ or burning of fossil fuels, just to name a few.  The "environment" is the catch all term that applies to a heightened sense of ecological awareness.

The "environment" movement consists of individuals who are committed to this end.  This can take the form of two types of environmental ethical approaches:  "Shallow environmental ethic" and "deep environmental ethic."  Shallow ethic involves small scale initiatives that can be done locally and quite naturally to assist in the enhancement of the environment, and to prevent further degradation on a micro level:  Recycling products that can be reused, switching off lights when leaving a room, inflating car tires to decrease gas fill ups over time, using rain barrels to water lawns, chaging to environmental friendly light bulbs, etc.  These are small scale environmental approaches, hence "shallow ethic."  "Deep environmetal ethic" is larger in scope and attempts to achieve ecological change on structural levels.  For example, targetting companies with fines and punishment who degrade the environment, such as dumping toxic chemicals in water or polluting air, or demanding that auto makers create one energy efficient car for one "traditional" car.  "Deep ethic" believers argue that the best way to help to environment is create the foundation for long lasting change and feels that "shallow ethic" is good, but can only go so far.  Until there is a structural change in how companies and governments operate, the environment is in dire straits.

What is significant about Hamlet calling himself "Hamlet the Dane" (5.1.242)?

What's most important to note here is the capital "D" in Dane. Hamlet is not merely referring to himself as a citizen of Denmark, but as The Citizen of Denmark--i.e., the rightful king. We have heard Hamlet mull his future, his past, his place in the world, and his thoughts on the afterlife. Just moments prior to this rash declaration, he philosophized on the fleetingness of life and worldly status as he mentions that even Alexander the Great (or what is left of him) could now be part of a cork stopping a barrel. But, despite all that we've heard Hamlet's thoughts on to this point, we haven't really heard anything about whether or not he wants to be King...except for his wry comment to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in 3.2 when he states he "lacks advancement." This is an oblique commentary on his royal status (or lack of). But here, in 5.1, he recklessly jumps forward, filled with rage at Laertes, and declares himself the rightful King.

Why does he choose to do so now? Perhaps his rage alone propels him to admit this deeply held thought. Perhaps, since he is so bent on showing Laertes that he loved Ophelia more, he feels he can "one-up" Laertes even more by identifying himself as royalty. He then follows up this bold, public statement by mentioning to Horatio in 5.2 how Claudius "popped in between th' election and my hopes," indicating that he was, indeed, hoping to be elected as King.

This begs the larger question: WAS Hamlet solely motivated to kill Claudius just to avenge his father's death? Or did he have some selfish motives as well (knowing that he would be the shoo-in for King if Claudius weren't around anymore...)?

What is the significance of the title "Book the Third," and in what earlier scene does Dickens refer to an approaching storm?I need this question...

With the religious theme of redemption and with Carton as a Christ-like figure, the number 3 plays a recurring role in Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities."  In Book the First, Sydney Carton is introduced to his dual, Charles Darnay, and by contrast to him, Sydney becomes more aware of his sin of dissipation (of drinking and of living to his potential). Then, in Book the Second, Carton awakens feelings in himself that he has believed suppressed; he pledges his love to Lucie and his friendship to Darnay.  Now, in Book the Third, in the storm of French Revolution and its blood lust, Carton fulfills his promises to the Darnay family and becomes the sacrificial lamb, who in his sacrifice, redeems himself.

The events of the third book are foreshadowed by the chapter "Hundreds of People" when Carton remarks to Lucie,

There is a great crowd coming one day into our lives, if that be so...The footsteps destined to come to all of us, Miss Manette, or are we to divide them among us?

Later, in Chapter 21 "Echoing Footsteps," this approaching storm is again foreshadowed in Book the Second:

Among the echoes, then, there would arise the sound of footsteps at her own [Lucie's] early grave; and thoughts of the husband who would be left so desolate, and who would mourn so much for her so much, swelled to her eyes  and broke like waves.

Chapters 22 and 23 further this motif as in "The Sea Still Rises" the Vengeance emerges with men who "were terrible, in the bloody-minded anger with which they looked from windows."  The crowd captures Foulon, an aristocrat who has suggested that the peasants eat grass, and they hang the man as "the blood and hurry had not changed."

In the next chapter, "Fire Rises," "lay a ruined country, yielding nothing but desolation..."  The chateau of the Marquis d'Evremonde is set fire; other fires follow and

The altitude of the gallows that would turn to water and quench it, no functionary, by any stretch of mathematics, was able to calculate successfully.

Thus, the storm of vengeance against the aristocrats in the French Revolution is sensed by Carton and Lucie, and it is later begun with single incidences that culminate in the fomented masses who guillotine aristocrats in the French Revolution, the "storm" of Book the Third.

Why did the Nazis refer to the prisoners as numbers? What other tactics did they use to dehumanize their victims?Wiesel (and other victims of...

These have all been excellent answers.  The purpose behind National Socialism was threefold, one militarist, the second corporate and state identification, and the third (and most important) was racist. The whole idea was to empty acquired territory of "undesirables," ie all who were not sufficiently Germanic in type, according to the pseudo-scientific standards of the Party.  Children "worthy of raising as Germans" were to be adopted by the state, the rest killed with their families.  Young women of sufficiently Germanic type would be bred with SS soldiers.  The land would then be populated  by a "Aryan" people, displacing all else.

The dehumanization began with propaganda against the Jews and others such as fellow traditional social scapegoats the Gypsies, and fringe semi-Protestant groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses.  In the end, dissident Germans, Catholic priests who refused to toe the political line, homosexuals, possible political opponents of Nazism and their relatives ended up in the camps, culminating in families of the old nobility in the aftermath of the von Stauffenburg Plot.  The yellow badges and the ghettos and the concentration camps came early on, then the Death Camps.  These were places like Buchenwald, where there were no great factories for the slave laborers to work, they were simply places where masses of people were shipped and killed.  At Buchenwald, the hospital had no medicines for prisoners, and no treatment was available.  A US Army engineering report by the first allied unit to enter the camp states, "The hospital was a place where moribund prisoners were sent to die."

People had to sleep crowded into bunks which were shelves where as many inmates as possible crowded in with less than a foot and a half space between the tiers.  The prisoners did not receive enough calories per day to survive on a long-term basis.  They were worked mercilessly, and of course many died every day and were sent to the furnaces.  There in most camps the gold teeth, if any, were extracted, the hair, if any, collected for the cushioning inside slippers.  The boneash was sold as fertilizer.  In Buchenwald, the number of prisoners who died in a day was preferably the same as the limits of the furnaces.  If not enough died of starvation, illness and labor the difference was made up by murder, the proper number of prisoners simply hung on meathooks and beaten with bats.

It was Emma Koch, wife of the Commandant of Buchenwald, who began the fad of using the tattooed skin of prisoners as book covers, wall hangings and lampshades.  The dehumanization of the victims of the Nazis began with propaganda and ended in the most dehumanizing and methodical murder factories in all history.  Approximately eleven million died in the camps, about 6 million being Jewish.

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan Question For Discussion Answer Sheet !If someone could please help to answer this question. I am a principal for a...

I think you want to examine the different bird images present and think about how these bird images are related to birds that are trapped and birds that are freed. These images change over the course of the book. Think about how these images are shown in the beginning of the book where there is much in Koly's life where her "flight" is limited, where her wings are trying to be "clipped" and how these images change in the middle and end of the book. How do these images in the middle and end reflect her flight, and her sense of being able to soar without boundaries. I think this might be a good start in connecting the bird images in the book to Koly's life. The homeless bird is one where identity cannot be found and direction unknown.  This would represent Koly at the start of the novel, as she has an unknown lacks a "home" in both physical and psychological dimensions as a daughter to be married off, a wife to a dying man, and a daughter in law in a traditional setting where many women can relate to "homeless" and forlorn creatures.  Yet, as the bird invariably finds her home and is no longer homeless,  Koly's life after being abandoned in Vrindavan saw her establish her own sense of "home" in both physical and psychological senses in the establishment of her sense of independent action, identity and voice.

Which issue can most reflect the past and current South Africa based on Master Harold...and the Boys? I want to make a visual representation that...

I think that this is a wonderful idea.  One image on your poster can be people dancing, because the dance metaphor is fairly powerful.  Perhaps, you can have individuals doing different types of dances, never bumping into one another, and fulfilling Sam's belief that the dancefloor is where all is right in the world.  Another image could be the jukebox, which plays Sarah Vaughn at the end, signifying that there will always be beauty in the next day.  I think that you could have images of apartheid and racism in one aspect of the poster, along with forced labor- indicating both the social and economic issues of control in the play.  I might also toss in a picture of a kite and the heights in the clouds to which it flies, signifying better times for Sam and Hally.  One last thing:  Perhaps some dance steps, feet movement in rhythmic numbers, could be good because learning how to dance, and how not to bump into one another, takes practice and experience.

What roles do minor characters such as Charlotte Lucas and Lady Catherine play in the plot and themes of the novel?Quotes and/or references to the...

Charlotte Lucas is the intimate friend of the heroine Elizabeth (Ch.6). Jane Austen uses Charlotte to express one important aspect of the central theme of the novel, namely marriage.

Many women get married merely for the sake of getting married. This is a completely unromantic attitude to one of the most important decisions in one's life. In Ch. 6 Charlotte tells Elizabeth, "happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance."  Charlotte gets married to Collins to escape poverty. In Ch.22 we read that her brothers "were relieved from their apprehension of Charlotte's dying an old maid" and that marriage for many women like Charlotte was "the pleasantest  preservative from want." Towards the end of the chapter she tells Elizabeth, "I am not romantic, you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home."

Lady Catherine is the aunt of Darcy and the patroness of Collins. Throughout the novel Jane Austen attacks the snobbery of the aristocratic class through her. This can be seen especially when Elizabeth visits her at Rosings Park in Ch.29, "her ladyship with great condescension arose to receive them."

She serves as a foil to Elizabeth's character. Elizabeth's confrontations with Lady Catherine serve to highlight her independence, boldness and assertivenes, for instance in the same chapter Jane Austen tells us that whereas all the others were completely overawed by Lady Catherine and her stately home Elizabeth remains completely unfazed: "the mere stateliness of money and rank, she thought she could witness without trepidation."

Most significantly Lady Catherine serves as a catalyst to speed up Darcy's second proposal to Elizabeth. In Ch 58 Darcy tells Elizabeth that if she did not want to marry him she would have told Lady Catherine herself when she visited her at Longbourn in Ch 56. It is then that Elizabeth boldly tells her "you may ask questions which I shall not choose to answer" and hints to her that she will accept him if he proposes the second time,"and if I am that choice, why may not I accept him?" And when Lady Catherine asks her to promise not to get married to him, Elizabeth remarks,"I will make no  promise of the kind."

What is the difference between a "dominant impression" and the "thesis"?Are they the same? Do we always have to have a thesis?

There is a stated difference between "dominant impression" and "thesis statement."  While they are related, I can see where the distinction, and eventual confusion, would lie.  In descriptive writing pieces, a dominant impression is the perception that you are trying to convey to the reader.  The thesis statement is the one or two sentenced clear belief that communicates the sum total of your impressions to the reader. For example, if you are describing a visit to the hospital and you are striving to impart a feeling of gloom to the reader, the dominant impression would be all the details that contributed to this experience while the thesis statement would be your precise statement that clearly articulates your impression of your visit to the hospital.  Dominant impressions are helpful because they create the atmosphere which will give birth to the thesis statement.  The dominant impression is the garden and the surroundings that allow the flower of the thesis statement to bloom... or something like that.

All good writing must have a thesis, a central point that will be substantiated with the paper.  A clear, specific and appropriate thesis statement renders a clear vision of the paper's purpose, into which all the dominant impressions will be channeled and filtered. The qualities of a thesis statement are that it is clearly worded, defined in a context that can be substantiated and supported with detail throughout the paper, and defines the boundaries of the work.  Essentially, the thesis statement is the one sentence that permeates the entire paper; every single word, every phrase, every sentence resonates and is clearly related to that thesis statement.  Clear language, strong focus, and words that make sense to both the reader and the writer help to make a great thesis statement, through which all the dominant impressions are channeled for meaning and purpose.

What happens in Chapter 5 of The Egypt Game?

In Chapter 5, April, Marshall, and Melanie return to "Egypt" for a second time.  They clean up the yard, then begin work on the lean-to which they will use as a Temple.  When the yard looks "clean and bare and ready", and they have completed some work on the Temple, April and Melanie stop and rest for awhile, and notice "the only real door" to the storage yard which is Egypt.  The door is padlocked from the outside, and the girls conclude that it leads to the rest of the notorious Professor's backyard.  Melanie wonders what the Professor would do if he were to see them playing there, but April feels that he wouldn't care.  There is a window in the building by the padlocked door, and the girls check it out, but it appears to be covered by something that looks like a heavy curtain.  The window is very dirty, and the girls are relieved because they believe that the Professor would not be able to see out of it.

April and Melanie make plans about what they will do in Egypt.  They suggest making Marshall a pharaoh, and themselves high priestesses, and they discuss for a minute the possibility of offering the pharoah up as a human sacrifice.  Marshall is having none of that, however, and the girls assure him that it is just a game, and tell him he will just be a very important king instead.  This is the way all of the Egypt Game evolves; "nobody ever plan(s) it ahead, at least, not very far...ideas (begin) and (grow) and afterwards it (is) hard to remember just how".

After they have played for a little while, Melanie and April stop the game, having decided that they need more equipment.  They go into the alley to find what they want, and make quite a racket bringing it all back into the yard through the broken board which is their entryway.  They are so busy that they do not notice when the curtain on the Professor's window is moved aside, but "someone with very sharp eyes", presumably Marshall, does (Chapter 5).

How do you answer questions in short (MLA) format?I have summer work that I am doing and that is how my teacher wants us to answer the questions.

There is not such a thing "short format" in the MLA guidelines for style.  Your teacher might be referring to the way you punctuate titles of short fiction, or perhaps he or she is instructing you that the short answers you provide must be formatted using MLA rules.  I am not able to determine based on the information you gave, but I will give you the basics of MLA formatting and some links that should be helpful.

When submitting any paper in MLA format, your information should be typed, double-spaced, using 12 pt. Times New Roman or similar font, and using 1 inch margins on all sides.  In the upper left hand corner of the first page, be sure to have your name, your instructor's name, the name of the course and the date.  Again, be sure to double-space.  Double space again after this and put a title, centered.  Double space again and begin your work.

On every page, there should be a header in the upper right hand corner, justified to the right margin, and 1/2 inch from the top of the paper.  The header should be your last name and the page number, in that order.

Be sure to use proper punctuation for all titles referred to in your paper.  If it is a book, movie title, etc., then you should use either underlining or italics - be consistent with whichever one you choose.  If it is a song, poem, chapter in a book, etc., then you should use quotations mark.

Use parenthetical citations for any information obtained from another source, and be sure to include a works cited page.

The links below give you much more detail about the process.  Use them to guide you.

Neville Chamberlain "On Hitler's Invasion of Poland"-- Why does Chamberlain believe a declaration of war against Germany is necessary ?

The fundamental premise of Chamberlain's address to the House of Commons in speaking "On Hitler's Invasion of Poland" is that war between the United Kingdom and Germany was to be avoided.  Chamberlain makes the painstaking case that he pursued open and back door diplomatic channels through Germany to ensure that Poland will be left untouched.  The policy of appeasement, to which there is mild reference, was vociferously pursued by the European leaders, especially Chamberlain.  This policy stated that if Hitler and the Nazis were given lands in Eastern Europe, they would promise through written agreement to leave Poland alone.  Unknown to Chamberlain in his address is that Hitler and Russia's leader, Stalin, had agreed to carve up Poland between them, and Russia would be left alone.  This guaranteed that Hitler would not have had to deal with Russian threats, and would move close to his goal of complete control over Europe.  It is evident in this speech that Chamberlain had no idea that this agreement was reached.  We hear consistently of the idea of "this white piece of paper," referring to the original agreement Hitler signed indicating he would not attack Poland.  When Chamberlain makes his case for war, he does so with a noticeably heavy heart indicating that "Everything that I have worked for, everything that I have hoped for, everything that I believed in during my public life, has crashed into ruins."  He is resigned to the fact that war is needed, and his speech makes clear that he wants to expand the military draft for British men, expand the ability to use the armed forces for defense and enter into the conflict.  His declaration of war against Germany is necessary because he feels that Germany's motives are clearly aggressive and confrontational and that the German nation, motivated by "Hiterlism," is not going to honor any diplomatic agreements.  Chamberlain's original belief of "peace in our lifetime," is permanently dashed when Germany invades Poland.  In the process, Chamberlain also realizes that his politics of appeasement, something that he convinced the British public to adopt, is forever repudiated and rejected.  It would only be a matter of time before he would be repudiated and rejected and Winston Churchill, complete with his Bowler Hat and Cigar, would assume control.

Describe how Dimmesdale has changed since Hester's public punishment.This question is asked concerning Chapter 8, but try as I might, I cannot come...

Arthur Dimmesdale stands by wordlessly and watches Hester bear the shame and humiliation of pubic punishment for the sin for which he was as responsible as she. His guilt for having violated the laws of his church is deepened by his guilt for remaining silent. From that moment, his physical and spiritual deterioration begins.

In Chapter 8, Dimmesdale interacts with Hester for the first time since she had stood on the scaffold. When it appears Hester might lose possession of Pearl, she communicates in an unspoken way that Dimmesdale must help her. He does. He dares to speak up, making a strong case for Hester keeping her child, explaining his reasoning in regard to the spiritual benefits that would result from Hester and Pearl's staying together. The strength of Dimmesdale's vehement appeal is not lost on Roger Chillingworth as he observes the scene.

Finally, Dimmesdale's previous isolation from Hester and Pearl is broken again when the child--his child--takes his hands into her own and lays her cheek against them. Dimmesdale's response is significant:

The minister,—for, save the long-sought regards of woman, nothing is sweeter than these marks of childish preference, accorded spontaneously by a spiritual instinct, and therefore seeming to imply in us something truly worthy to be loved,—the minister looked round, laid his hand on the child's head, hesitated an instant, and then kissed her brow.

There is a tenderness in him toward Pearl that has not been demonstrated previously. These feelings surely would have made his guilt and isolation even more difficult to bear.