Who was Hephaestus?

Hephaestus is known as Zeus and Hera's son, although he was conceived without Zeus' help.  He is also known as Vulcan, and the god of volcanoes, which makes sense since he was primarily worshipped in Athens and other volcano-ridden areas of Greece.

He is also the god who is given the credit for "helping" Zeus with his headache, taking a an axe to Zeus' head and splitting it open making the way for the birth of Athena.

He is the god of fire, especially blacksmith's fire, and is the patron god of craftsmen--especially those who work in metal crafts.

Hephaestus is known as the lame god, and his injury was received when one of his parents threw him down Mount Olympus--he fell for nine days and landed in the sea where he was rescued by Nymphs.  The stories report different versions--one is that Hera was displeased with her son's appearance and so she threw him down the mountain; the other is that Zeus was angry with his son for siding with Hera in an argument against Zeus.

Considering the role of nature in anti-transcendental literature, what is the significance of the meteor event?Concerning Chapter 12 of The Scarlet...

The meteor event is an example of cosmic irony--God or the gods interfere in the events of man in order to manipulate the outcome or send a message of some sort.  The meteor shower appears to be in the shape of an A thus reminding Dimmesdale of his sin of Adultery.  As transcendentalists denied the existence of God and acknowledged man's instinctive nature as good--this scene would be both an affirmation of the existence of a god and also the acknowledgement of the existence of sinful or immoral behavior--both of which Transcendentalists would deny.

In Chapter 13, what practical purpose does the beautiful stranger serve in Frankenstein?

It is important to realise how Shelley uses the chapters that the monster spends with the De Laceys to present him and us with the companionship, warmth and love that is part of human nature. Of course, this is a mixed blessing for the creature, as he realises that he can never be part of these blessings. However, also, these chapters perform a much more practical purpose, explaining how the creature learnt to read and speak. The arrival of the beautiful stranger, who turns out to be Safie, provides an excellent opportunity for the creature to eavesdrop on the lessons that Felix gives her. He learns not only to read but also the basics of history, politics and religion of mankind.

"My days were spent in close attention, that I might more speedily master the language... While I improved in speech, I also learned the science of letters as it was taught to the stranger and this opened before me a wide field for wonder and delight."

The arrival of Safie and her subsequent tutoring thus allows the creature himself to be tutored about mankind, and a race that profoundly puzzles the creature, as mankind is "at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, yet so vicious and base." Note how this feeds into the theme of the confusion between man and monster that dominates the novel.

What is a company profile?What must I include in it?

Any information about a company to inform public about the company and create required image of the company through the information. To create a feeling of the stable image of the company in the mind of the public , the establishment, location, development growth , product quality ,revenue turn over , profit and loss over sevral years since the inception may help. It can also serve as an advertisement or invitation for  the interested public to invest in the company.It can also have the motive   to impress the  public about the standard of the product in comparison with that of the others to compete in the market. The profile need not cover everything , but only such of the things it desires to highlight. It can also take the adventage presentation of its profile through the  media technolgy.

If the company wants to show itself as a losing company and impress like that it can highlight similarly about the difficulies of the production or service with an information abou the supporting turn over etc.

They can prepare their own format o f their profile which may inform about the items as below in discriptive or quatitative terms.

Location:

Establishment:

Number of Employees:

Number of products produced:

Quantum of service:

Revenue turn over (Annual or per day):

Cost (annual/per day):

Profit/Loss:

Customer care activities:

Who named Edmund Spenser as the "poet's poet"?

Edmund Spenser was first called the "Poet's Poet" by the English essayist Charles Lamb. Although the phrase does not appear in any of Lamb's writings, Leigh Hunt attributes it to him in his critique of Spenser in Hunt's book Imagination and Fancy (published in 1844), which is an anthology of English poetry with accompanying commentary.

In his book The Allegory of Love, C. S. Lewis explained the reasoning behind Lamb's title for Spenser by noting that he is "so called in virtue of the historical fact that most of the poets have liked him very much." However, Lewis was not particularly fond of labeling anyone as the best or greatest of poets. In his opinion, it caused "incalculable damage" to the poet because readers expected him to always produce great poetry.

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What are some qualities of the four main characters, Jack, Ralph, Piggy and Simon?I have to list qualities and explain what made the author make...

Ralph: good speaker, has the "look" of a leader, while not without flaws (lacks some insight and maturity) he is probably the one character with the most positive leadership skills, believes in democratic rules, has foresight (believes in working together to enable rescue), physically capable.

Jack: believes that "might makes right," hunting skills, good speaker, ability to get others to follow (not necessarily for the right reasons), physically strong, aggressive, impulsive, mean-spirited

Piggy: clear thinking, rational, foresight, physically weak (eyesight, overweight), kindly, good-natured, suffers from asthma, brunt of teasing

Simon: visionary, sees the "big picture," kindly, shy, suffers from epilepsy, physically limited, scapegoat, martyr

Why did Truman Capote title his book "In Cold Blood"? Was it because of the characters' upbringing, which in their minds may have justified their...

Capote's journalistic novel chronicles the robbery attempt by Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, a plan that Hickock devised while incarcerated.  While in a Kansas prison Hickock had heard from another inmate that Herb Clutter for whom he had worked at one time, kept large amounts of cash in his home safe.  With Smith, Hickock planned to rob the Clutters of their money.

On November 14,1959, after driving across Kansas, Hickock and Smith attempted to rob Clutter, but upon learning that he paid all his bills by check and had virtually no money in the house, Smith coldly slit his throat and then shot him in his head.  When interviewed, Perry Smith said,

I didn't want to harm the man.  I thought he was a very nice gentleman.  Soft spoken.  I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat.

After Smith shot Clutter, he put a single shotgun blast into the heads of the remaining family members.  This was the first mass murder of such brutality committed in the United States.  Smith's senseless and brutal, cold-blooded killing of the Clutter family and Smith's obvious detachment of feeling and psychoses, Capote was prompted to use the phrase "cold blood" in his title.

During Perry's incarceration after his trial, Capote visited him constantly, having bribed the officials into giving him carte blanche to come and go as he wished.  Smith, a child of institutions had many stages of his development arrested in the infantile stage:  he wet the bed, sucked his thumb, and cried out for "Daddy" in his sleep.  He prefered root beer to beer or coffee.  Being of mixed heritage, Indian and Irish, Perry had many psychological problems that Capote found fascinating, and, perhaps, felt were the cause of Smith's detached, cold killing of his victims.

How does Hawthorne use irony in "Young Goodman Brown" to illustrate the hypocrisy of the Puritans?

In a story replete with irony, Hawthorne employs dramatic irony at the beginning of "Young Goodman Brown" as Goodman fails to recognize the old man, described as "he of the serpent," as the devil even though Goody Cloyse cries out, "The devil" and his staff resembles a snake and the moment his finger touch twigs, "they became strangely withered."  In his sanctimony, Goodman loses sight of the reality around him and remains convinced that he can withstand the evil around him:

conscious of the guilty purpose that had brought him thither, though now so happily turned from it.

Even after his experiences in the forest, Goodman Brown--whose very name is ironic--remains convinced that he is without fault and the others have fallen.  With Puritanical hypocrisy, he views them as depraved:

When the minister spoke from the pulpit with power and fervid eloquence, and, with his hand on the open Bible, of the sacred truths of our religion...then did Goodman brown turn pale, dreading lest the roof should thunder down upon the gray blasphemer and his hearers.

In addition to the dramatic irony , Hawthorne's use of verbal irony is readily apparent in the names of the characters.  For instance, Goodman himself has an ironic name as, in addition to the ironic use of good, his appellation includes young, indicating his inexperience with life, an inexperience that Brown ignores in his sanctimonious conclusions about the other members of his Puritan community. Of course, the name of Goody Cloyse, a character named after a real person involved in the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 is ironic. Also, the wife of Goodman has an ironic name since faith is a belief not based upon truth of proven reality.  For, this definition applies to the conclusions drawn by Goodman Brown that his wife has consorted with the devil since he has not actually witnessed anything--taken his ideas on "faith" in his own judgment that exhibits no religious faith:

Whether Faith obeyed [his cry to resist 'the wicked one'] he knew not.  Hardly had he spoken when he found himself amid calm night and solitude....The next morning young Goodman Brown came slowly into the street of Salem village, staring around him like a bewildered man.

In the end, it is young Goodman Brown who, more than anyone else, has lost faith as he believes what the devil has declared in the forest:

Evil is the nature of mankind.  Evil must be your only happiness.

Ironically, the once young Goodman Brown is "borne to his grave a hoary corpse, followed by Faith, an aged woman.....as his dying hour was gloom."  Thus, the ultimate irony is served upon the man who held himself above the others.

What is the climax, falling action and resolution of "A Separate Peace".

Actually, there are three main crisis moments, which are also climaxes (heightened points of interest) on the story line.

In spite of their friendship and great complicity, Gene feels a twinge of jealousy when it comes to Phineas; upon a 'blind impulse,' he rocks the limb upon which Finny is perched (getting ready to dive), destabiles him and makes him fall from the tree. Finny, the great athlete, is crippled thereafter.

The next crisis happens just after the verdict of the kangaroo court: Gene is exposed for having deliberately shaken Phineas out of the tree; Phineas rushes blindly out, leaning on his crutches, stumbles and falls down the marble steps, breaking his leg again (and badly).

The final crisis is the conversation between Gene and Phineas at the hospital just before Phineas dies. Phineas, who has been in denial up to this point, confronts Gene about his betrayal, forgives him, but 'lets him go.' The rupture between the two friends is final, but it is the beginning of a self-awakening in Gene, who must come to terms with what he has done. (This is the resolution in process at the end of the novel.)

There is another subplot involving Leper and his tramautizing experiences in the war and subsequent breakdown, but on the main story line, the three moments of choice with no return (definition of a crisis) are as mentioned above. Note that within each one of these events there is a tandem cause-consequence effect, much like the piston motion Leper describes as a witnesses of the incident at the tree.

In The Great Gatsby, Chapter 6, what is Nick's nature and tone?

In Chapter 6, Nick takes on a cautious nature, he becomes Gatsby's confidante, learning more about the man of mystery than he wants to know.  He is fearful for Gatsby, knowing how intense the man feels for Daisy.  The chapter is narrated with anxiety and worry, there is intensity in Nick's narration in this chapter, the final paragraph conveys Nick's feelings of confusion and fear.

"Through all he said, even through his appalling sentimentality, I was reminded of something, an elusive rhythm, a fragment of lost words, that I had heard somewhere a long time ago.  For a moment a phrase tried to take shape in my mouth and my lips parted like a dumb man's as though there was more struggling upon them than a wisp of startled air.  But they made no sound and what I had almost remembered was uncommunicable forever." (Fitzgerald)

In Chapter 6, Nick Carraway narrates the truth about Gatsby's background, Fitzgerald gives us this information because Daisy and Gatsby were previously reunited in Nick's home.  In this chapter, Gatsby meets Tom Buchanan and both Daisy and Tom attend one of Gatsby's parties.

Nick becomes Gatsby's confidante, he is the only person that Gatsby can talk to about his love for Daisy.  And after the party, Gatsby feels that Daisy did not have a good time.  For all the mystery about Gatsby, Nick gets to hear the whole truth from the man himself.

I'm not so sure that Nick wanted to be Gatsby's confidante, it made him uncomfortable to be between these two tragic lovers and to have to look at the angry face of Tom Buchanan knowing what he knew.

He tries to be caution Gatsby that as much as he and Daisy felt for each other in the past, that the past is the past.

Nick says: "I wouldn't ask too much of her, You can't repeat the past." (Fitzgerald)

Nick is trying to be the voice of reason in this chapter, he is worried, afraid for Gatsby, he knows that Tom has a really bad temper, and has expressed extreme dislike for Gatsby.  Tom does not trust Gatsby, he sees him as a phony, not a real rich person like him, Gatsby is new rich, Tom thinks that Gatsby made his money in bootlegging and has no respect for him.

What is the setting of Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea?

There are three parts to Jean Rhys' novel Wide Sargasso Sea, and each part takes place in a different setting.  Part I recounts the childhood and young adulthood of the central character, Antoinette Cosway.  The story begins in 1839 in Jamaica, which is at that time part of the British Empire.  It has been six years since the abolishment of slavery in the Empire, and the social situation on the island is chaotic.  Antoinette lives on the impoverished Coulibri Estate in Jamaica, and as a child of mixed racial heritage, she is isolated from her peers, being neither black nor white.

In Part 2, the setting moves to another island in the Carribbean, Dominica, and specifically, a city called Massacre.  Antoinette has entered into an arranged marriage with an Englishman, Edward Rochester, and the two newlyweds journey to a "honeymoon house" on Dominica which Antoinette has inherited from her mother.  Although Antoinette is deeply in love with Rochester, he, on his part, is repulsed by her exotic, unrestrained nature.  Regretful that he has allowed himself to marry only to fulfill the aspirations his family has had for him, he takes Antoinette, whom he will always take care of but whom he will never love, away from her island environs and sets sail for England.

Part 3 takes place at Thornfield Hall, Rochester's home in England.  The dreary, misty weather here is a stark contrast to what Antoinette is used to, having grown up in the sun-drenched Carribbean, and Rochester, believing her to be mad, keeps her locked up in the attic with a caretaker, Grace Poole.  Antoinette Cosway has become Bertha Mason, the monstrous madwoman in another classic novel, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.

Setting is central to the main themes in Wide Sargasso Sea.  The author has written the book to present an opposing perspective to that in Jane Eyre, and she has clearly delineated the complete differences in perception of people and values between the darker races of the colonized in places such as the Carribbean, and the staid white citizens of the British Isles.

May I have help with a character sketch of Octavius in "Julius Caesar"?This sketch is for my project......

Octavius is Julius Caesar's adopted great nephew and heir; he is part of the triumvirate formed after Caesar's death, with Lepidus and Marc Antony as the other two.

It is not until Act IV that Octavius is introduced.  At a house in Rome, he speaks with Antony, who is compiling a list of political enemies as the republic is in turmoil.  Antony sends Lepidus to "fetch" Caesar's will; while he is gone, Antony remarks,

This is a slight unmeritable man,/Meet to be sent on errands; is it fit,/The threefold world divided, he should stand /One of the three to share it? (IV,i,12-15)

Octavius shows himself to be much nobler than Antony who is treacherous and cruel.  Octavius questions this deprecatory view of Lepidus, asking Antony why he thought Lepidus was competent enough to assist in the list of political enemies but now he is only good for running errands.  Antony intends to use Lepidus much as Cassius used Brutus to serve his purposes.  Unlike Antony, Octavius finds Lepidus "a tried and valiant soldier" (IV,ii,29).

Later, at the battle of Phillippi, Octavius again disagrees with Antony, following his own military strategy, challenging Brutus and Cassius to "come to the field."  When the conspirators are defeated and Brutus dies, although Antony acknowledges that Brutus is "the noblest Roman of them all" (V,v,68), it is Octavius who calls in the armies,

According to his [Brutus's] virtue, let us use him/With all respect and rites of burial./Within my tent his bones tonight shall lie,/Most like a soldier ordered honorably./So call the field to rest, and let's away/To part the glories of this happy day. (I,V,76-81)

This commanding presence of Octavius in William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" suggests the future stability of the Roman Empire; later Octavius is made Emperor.

What inequalities existed in France before the revolution?

As part of the feudal system of France, the Third Estate, which contained no members of the aristocracy, did not own land.  While many in this political/social division were affluent, they were merchants or lawyers, the majority of whom were Jewish.  And, by law, Jews were forbidden to own land; however, because they were wealthy, they wished to own property.  Also, along with the others of wealth in the bourgeois wished to exercise social and political influence, but they were prohibited from doing so because they were not in the first two Estates.

Added to the grave economic disparities between the Third Estate and the other two, the peasants were starving in 1789 because of their poverty and because of the poor wheat crop, and were forced to eat moldy bread to combat starvation.

What is the hierarchy among the races and within the world of Middle Earth?

I am not sure that the novel implies any sort of heirarchy between races - there is no information given of how races are viewed in relation to their being superior to other races. However, your question does raise an interesting theme of the story which is explored in its pages, particularly in the second half, which deals with the presentation of race.

This novel does focus on the difference between the major races. Each race have their own characteristics - physical, moral and psychological. Note too how races are grouped by the simplistic terms "good" and "evil". All goblins and Wargs are evil, and elves, dwarves and men are good. You might also want to think about races and their relation to nature. The "good" races are depicted as living at harmony with nature whereas the evil races pit themselves against the forces of nature. Consider the eagles' decision to join the "good" side at the end of the novel, for example. Thus race is of course a vitally important concept in the novel, and Tolkien gives us carefully detailed and individual races with their own separate and easily-discernable characteristics, but there is no sense of heirarchy implied apart from a simplistic grouping of races into two categories: good and evil.

Describe the changing status of HRM. What factors have led to these changeshuman resource management

The role and status of human resources management (HRM) has evolved over the years with increasing realization of the importance of effective use of human resources in achieving high levels of efficiency and effectiveness in any organization.

The HRM function in early twentieth century had a humble beginning as a clerical function record, analyse, and present data and information required for payment of wages to the workmen and for other similar routine work. Slowly the the role of this function expanded help managers in some the activities connected with maintaining discipline among workers. They also started providing help in activities such as recruitment, performance evaluation, and pay fixation. At this stage the person heading this function was called labour officer or personnel officer.

With increasing activities of labour unions the role of the personnel function was expanded to cover handling the various routine issues related with labour union. This role got expanded to include greater participation in formulation of plans and strategy to deal with labour unions. They also undertook the responsibility for monitoring the general industrial relations environment and participating in negotiations with labour union.This function was generally called industrial; relations functions.

Over a period the role of this function started to become more proactive, advising the the supervisors and managers on appropriate ways of handling discipline issues. Up to this time this function was labeled as personnel management. But beyond this some personnel managers, aided by experts from the field of behavior sciences, started to take much more active role looking at ways of improving contribution to the total organizational efforts. This resulted in new insights in to areas such as recruitment, training, motivation and team working. With this the personnel department were gradually recognized as important source of help in improving the contribution of employees towards organizational effectiveness in many different ways. In recognition of this the function was renamed as HRM.

Like all different business functions the HRM function also continues to evolve and improve.

What digits from 1-9 make a true satement you can only use each number once and you have to do it in this order: __ /__ x__+__x__x__/__+__x__= 100

There is solution without bringing in extra mathematical operations  like brackets or paranthesis  but only with the given operations and given order of operations.The simplication of the solution is also strictly without disobaying the priority levels of operations in mathematics.

Only difficulty here  is it is a good exercise to go by trial and error method and try  and closing in towards a the solution.

The solution is : 8/1*4+2*3*5/6+7*9=100. It means by PEMDAS or PEDMAS  an expression like, ab/c  + def/g + hi  in algebra , where a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i can be any of the the values 1 to 9 without repetetion. As in algebra it can be treated as 3 terms with connector, +  summing to 100.

There are 3 terms on the left: 8/1*4 with a connector, + and followed by 2*3*5/6 with another connector, + and followed by 7*9.

Do the simplication operatios by PEMDAS (or PEDMAS)  priority :

First term: 8*1/4 = 32.

Second term :2*3*5/6= 5.

Third term:7*9=63

Therefore the sum (of the terms by PEDMAS) : 32+5+63=100.

So,8*1/4+2*3*5/6+7*9=100.

Hope this helps.

What major conflicts developed in Chapters 19 through 35 of "Pride and Prejudice"?

The major conflicts that develop in the range of chapters that you are asking about have to do with the relationships of Jane and Elizabeth Bennett.

Elizabeth receives a proposal of marriage from Mr. Colllins, a proposal that she adamdantly will not accept no matter how it will help her family to keep their home in the future.

Elizabeth rejects Mr. Collins, her cousin, who is a silly man, but then feels a sense of remorse about allowing a proposal of marriage to get away.

Jane, who has fallen in love with Charles Bingley and believes that he cares equally about her, is shocked to discover that the Bingley party has left Netherfield in a great hurry.

Jane is left to wonder why Charles and his party left for London. This creates a conflict for Jane who does not understand why her romance with Charles did not work out.

Jane goes to London with her Aunt and Uncle only to be ignored by the Bingleys which deepens her feelings of rejection.

Elizabeth, back home, goes to visit Charlotte Lucas who is now Mrs. Collins and encounters Mr. Darcy and Lady Catherine DeBourgh. Her visit to the Collins creates a new conflict for her because Darcy hastily proposes marriage to Lizzie, a proposal that she refuses, shocking Darcy.

Elizabeth will not accept Darcy because she believes him to be an arrogant, superior, pompous individual without a heart. She has learned that he advised Charles Bingley that he though Jane did not care for him and that is the  reason that he left the country so quickly.  Elizabeth is furious at Darcy, creating a conflict between the two, Darcy is in love with her.

Towards the end of the novel, a new and serious conflict is created by Lydia who runs away with Mr. Wickham.  This conflict, a scandal that can ruin the family name, is very serious and involves Mr. Bennet, Uncle Gardiner and eventually Mr. Darcy.

Resolving this conflict is very important to the plot of the novel.  It is through Darcy's efforts to save her family that Elizabeth realizes that she was wrong about him.  She comes to understand that she really does love him, which creates another conflict, because she has refused his proposal and does not know if she will ever see him again.

Darcy's actions on behalf of Lydia and the Bennet family are very important in bringing a resolution to the above conflicts. But Elizabeth has one more conflict to deal with in the person of Lady Catherine Debourgh who confronts her about the rumor that she heard that Elizabeth was engaged to her nephew, Mr. Darcy.

It is through this conflict that Darcy becomes aware of the fact that Elizabeth might still be interested in him, which leads to Darcy coming back to the country to ask Elizabeth to marry him and to Jane and Charles Bingley being reunited as well.

In "The Dead," why does Gabriel suddenly feel passion for his wife? What triggers it?

"The Dead" is the final story in James Joyce's "The Dubliners," a collection of short stories about Joyce's beloved Ireland, an Ireland he felt was crippled by its "spiritual paralysis." In the introduction to this book, Terence Brown of Trinity College in Ireland writes,

...the detail of Joyce's art is not simply the realist's involvement with a congeries of fact as a reflection ...of a world which palpably exists before and after the act of literary composition...but the strategy of a symbolist who believed that the given in the hands of an artist would speak its own radiant if disturbingly uncomfortable truths about the world....In Dubliners Joyce chooses to re-embody the details of a Dublin life he knew intimately  in a context ...to compose an interpretative statement about the city as a whole.

In Joyce's story "The Dead," the living are not in control; the setting is a night for the ghosts.  Gabriel himself is the son of the dead sister Ellen of his two aunts.  His conversation with Molly Ivors is on the subject of the dying language of the Irish, Gaellic and the loss of interest in the Irish culture. Symbols such as the handing of a coin to the housekeeper by Gabriel  suggests the pettiness of their lives.

As the guests leave Julia and Kate Morikan's annual holiday party, Gabriel does not go to the door with the others; instead, he sees his wife leaning on the banisters of the stairway as she listens to a distant singing voice (Mr. D'Arcy's).

He asked himself what is a woman standing on the stairs in the shadow, listening to distant music, a symbol of.

Caught in the aesthetic of the moment, Gabriel imagines that if he were a painter he would paint a picture in lights and shadows of his wife and call it Distant Music. When someone closes the door, he can better hear and notices that the song is in "the old Irish tonality and the singer seemed uncertain both of his words and of his voice."  [This suggests the lost of Irish heritage.]

After this experience, "Moments of their secret life together burst like stars upon his memory" and his passion for his wife is rekindled.  When they return to their hotel room, Gariel wishes to express his passion for his wife, but, ironically, she tells him of her "moments of a secret life" in which a young man loved her passionately and even died for her unrequited love.

When Gabriel learns that Greta is in love with a dead man, and not him, he experiences the Joycean "epiphany":

He saw himself as a ludicrous figure, acting as a pennyboy for his aunts, a nervous well-meaning sentimentalist,...and idealising his own clownish lusts, the pitiable fatuous fellow he had caught a glimpse of in the mirror.

Realizing that he cannot love Greta as her boy did, his condescension to her earlier is replaced by an admiration, but Gabriel feels himself entering the world of the dead--"moving westward"--the secrecies of consciousness where the world seems a mere trace, a shadow with the incertitudes in the dead.

What kind of morality, if any, do you find in "Roman Fever"?

A Victorian morality exists in the older women who vacation in Rome.  Both have their "little secrets" that they have kept all these years of their "intimate" friendship in which they have "visualized each other, each through the wrong end of her little telescope.

Ironically, in Edith Wharton's "Roman Fever," Mrs. Spade finds Mrs. Ansley "old-fashioned" as she knits calmly during the Roman sunset.  Yet, it is Mrs. Ansley who commits the sin of adultery with the fiance of Mrs. Spade, but, with Victorian morality, Mrs. Ansley has covered her shame by having married the man who is now her husband, she has hidden her shame from her daughter Barbara who has the last name of Ansley, and she has kept her indiscretion in Rome to herself.

Nonetheless, even Mrs. Ansley is not cleansed of her iniquities.  For, although she has atoned for her indiscretions, she harbors resentment for her old rival who caused her to contract the Roman fever by forging the letter inviting her to the Forum at night, the night that Barbara was conceived.  This rival, in turn, is envious of Mrs. Ansley's for having more vivacious children than she and is still jealous of her for spending that one night with her husband. In the old location of their sins, the two women finally reveal themselves to each other. Mrs. Spade admits,

I found out--and I hated you, hated you.  So in a blind fury I wrote that letter....I don't know why I'm telling you now.

Mrs. Ansley knows.  She responds, "I suppose...it's because you've gone on hating me."  She, then, admits to the importance that the letter has held for her throughout her life.  But, she tells Mrs. Spade, "I'm sorry for you" and she delivers the coup de grace to the wrath of Mrs. Spade:  "I had Barbara."

In the setting of Rome away from Victorian England, the two women recall the passions of their first Roman holiday, and in the warmth of a foreign land, they drop the veneer of their English primness and speak truths to each other.

Why does Bull call himself "The Great Santini"?

Pat Conroy's novel about racism in the South and a warrior without a war, The Great Santini tells the story of Lieutenant Colonel Wilbur "Bull" Meecham--a first class fighter pilot who has virtually no skills as a father. The reader discovers that Col. Meecham has received the nickname "Bull" because of his bulldog tenacity, but Conroy never explains how Meecham acquires "The Great Santini" moniker. The father gives himself the nickname, but there is no reason or explanation ever given. Conroy supposedly based the character on his own father.

The novel was made into an outstanding film of the same name starring Robert Duvall (as "Bull" Meecham), who received an Oscar nomination as Best Actor. 

(6x-8) - (5x+9) =3solve for x

grumpybear -- You know how to do the distributive property I would assume . . so you will use it to get rid of the paratheses in the problem.

Is there anything in front of the first set of ()'s?  This would make them a little unneccessary . . so just drop them. 

Now in front of the second set is only a - . . .think of this as a -1 (because there is always an invisible 1 if there is nothing in that spot, right?)  So, distribute the -1 into the second set of ()'s.  Now you will have . . .

6x - 8 - 5x - 9 = 3  -->  {-1(5x) + -1(9) = -5x - 9}

from here, combine like terms (x's with other x's & #'s with other #'s) on the same side of the equal sign.

6x - 5x = 1x or just x (there's the invisible 1 again)

-8 - 9 = -17

so . .

x - 17 = 3      This is looking a little easier to handle right!

   +17     +17    add 17 to both sides to cancel it from the x

x        =  20

Distributing the negative problems (like this one) can be a little tricky.  Remember to check your answers to make sure you are right . . .use your calculator to make it quick and easy to check . . .

(6*20 - 8) - (5*20 + 9) = ?

(112) - (109) = 3

In The Scarlet Pimpernel why is it ironic that Bibot thinks he will be the one to capture the Scarlet Pimpernel?

The irony in the expectations that Bibot has of catching The Scarlet Pimpernel is that despite his intense efforts and close eye, the Scarlet Pimpernel escapes, right underneath his very nose.  Bibot prides himself on his vigilant capture of any escapees; he is confident that the elusive and enigmatic Pimpernel will never escape his clutches.  The irony is that even as he is bragging about this, the man himself slides right on by, without Bibot even suspecting.  The Scarlet Pimpernel did have an ingenius disguise; he was dressed as an old "hag," or woman, with a bundle of diseased joy in the back of her cart.

So, the joke is on Bibot; his ego is taken down a notch, and the Pimpernel wins yet another victory on Bibot's watch.  I hope that helped; good luck!

What time period in history does Thing Fall Apart take place? What is a major event that happened around this time?

The influx of Christianity into the villages more in the interior of Africa is likely the best clue as to the time period, indicating that it is likely sometime around the late 1800s as that was the time that the majority of missionaries arrived and began to establish Christian outposts in many of the villages.

If you look in the book, it is in the second part of the book, around chapters 16-25 that the Christian church is built after they obtain a piece of land in the forbidden forest and begin to convert villagers and build up a presence in the village.

Historically they began to run the school system and found this to be another effective way to undermine the Ibo culture and strengthen their own influence.

In "The Most Dangerous Game," in which sea has Connell set Ship-Trap Island?

Although author Richard Connell never specifically identifies the body of water through which Sanger Rainsford sails in "The Most Dangerous Game," he alludes to it early in the story. As Rainsford and Whitney discuss their voyage and the upcoming hunt, Rainsford comments on the darkness of the night.

"You've good eyes," said Whitney, with a laugh," and I've seen you pick off a moose moving in the brown fall bush at four hundred yards, but even you can't see four miles or so through a moonless Caribbean night."

The "moonless Caribbean night" identifies the body of water as the Caribbean Sea. The two men continue discussing their next hunt, where 

"It will be light enough in Rio," promised Whitney. "We should make it in a few days... We should have some good hunting up the Amazon.

From the Caribbean, they will apparently sail along the Atlantic coast on their way to South America and to Rio de Janeiro, after which they plan to hunt along the Amazon River.

Who are the main characters in The Scarlet Ibis?

The main characters are Doodle and Brother.  Ironically, neither one uses his actual name during the story.  Doodle has a real name—William Armstrong—but his brother says it is the kind of name that “sounds good only on a tombstone.”

Brother is seven years older than Doodle.  When the baby is born, he nicknames him Doodle because he crawls backwards.  Doodle is a disappointment to him, and he is embarrassed by him.

There is inside me (and with sadness I have seen it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love. And at times I was mean to Doodle.

The narrator comments on how he showed his brother his coffin and made him cry.  He also forced him to walk, and tried to teach him to swim when he was afraid.  Brother’s efforts sometimes improved Doodle’s quality of life, but they also added to the danger in his weakened condition and eventually to his death.

Why is Eliezer's father denied medical care at Buchenwald?

A major reason why Eliezer's father was denied medical care was because of his age.  The guards did not want to spend supposedly valuable time caring for "nonessential" prisoners.  Being an old man and in a very bad condition, the guards displayed even more of a dismissive attitude towards helping him.  At this particular point in the work, the Nazi guards were feeling the pressure of the Allied forces and knew that they were going to be driven out or captured very soon.  This caused them to display even more of a harsh and brutal attitude towards those who had the unfortunate distinction of being with them.  Eliezer's father is an example of having to endure this brutal treatment.

In Nothing but the Truth, what does Dr. Seymour tell Jennifer Stewart about the rule forbidding the singing of the national anthem?When she calls...

When reporter Jennifer Stewart calls Superintendant Albert Seymour to find out about the rule forbidding the singing of the national anthem, he tells her unequivocably that the Harrison School District has no such rule.

In fact, the district has a rule that students are to "stand at respectful, silent attention" during the daily playing of the national anthem over the intercom. To say that this rule translates into a ban on the singing of the anthem is a distortion of the truth, but Ms. Stewart's phrasing of the question is misleading, and Dr. Seymour, concerned about the image of the school in the wake of budget negotiations, immediately becomes defensive that she should even ask such a thing. Neither party takes the time to listen or explain the ramifications of what has been said, and the result is a news story that is damaging to all parties involved.

The account of the conversations between Ms. Stewart and Dr. Seymour and other members of the school administration highlights the unscrupulousness of news reporters who seek "facts" to support their own version of the truth, a version that will give rise to the greatest public interest. It also exposes the influence of politics on the actions taken by school administrators, and emphasizes most of all the danger of communication that is either lacking or less than honest and straighforward (Chapter 13).