What role does Gabe's infirmity play in Fences? Is Wilson making a social statement in his portrayal of Gabe?

Gabe's infirmity plays several roles in the play, but two seem to resonate with me the most.  The first is that Gabe gave his life and service to the nation during the war, only to return a shell of his former self and unreachable to anyone as a result.  Whether or not he intended to do so, Wilson is making a social statement about war, especially those people of color who gave their services for a nation that was unwilling to reciprocate in terms of civil and social recognition.  In addition to this, Troy, unable to reach his brother, uses the money from Gabriel's disability to build his house.  This is another role Gabe plays in the drama.

In a larger sense, Gabe's symbolic meaning seems to be very evident in the play.  He believes to be the Archangel Gabriel.  Ironically enough, this figure of salvation, as Gabriel represents the messenger of God.  The playing of his trumpet represents the end of time, and the moment where the final judgment lies.  It is important to note two things bearing this understanding:  1)  No character in the play sees, or truly authenticates, that Gabriel, the character, is actually Gabriel, the archangel.  This means, that the figure to note salvation is largely ignored.  2)  When he does play his horn at the end of the play at Troy's funeral, the mouthpiece breaks, and the horn is not sounded.  The final judgment, suspended.  The entire play seems to revolve around the notion of suspended relationships and associations.  There is not a sense of closure nor finality within the play.  This theme is evident with Gabriel, who sings, screams, and dances at the end of the play.  We are left with an Archangel whose effectiveness is not realized, purpose not met, direction not given.  Again, whether Wilson or not intended this, the result is evident, proving Gabriel's significance to the drama.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," to whom is the narrator telling his tale of revenge?

This seems to be an end of life confession, perhaps made in writing rather than spoken.  He asks for no forgiveness and states that for half a century no mortal has disturbed Fortunato's bones.En Pace Requiescat which means rest in peace.

From this we can determine that Montresor committed the murder at least fifty years earlier.  At the time of the murder, Montresor has had time to rise in prominence and then lose the respect of others ("you are admired as I once was"). It would seem that at the very least, Montresor is 75-80 years old, if not more.  That makes it seem likely that it is an end of life confession.

What effect does smoking tobacco have on the body?

Tobacco smoke containes a number of harmful ingredients such as carbon monoxide, heavy metals, tars and nicotine. Each of these is toxic by itself when inhaled.

The immediate effect from tobacco smoke is the "buzz" associated with nicotine. When ingested, nicotine causes a rapid heart beat, rapid breathing and a feeling of light headdedness.  Nicotine is highly addictive, and after a few cigarettes or pouches, one starts "nicking" or feeling cranky and irritable if the nicotine craving is not satisfied.

There are carcinoginic chemicals in cigarette smoke that bind with protiens in DNA causing genetic mutations and birth defects.

In the body, carcinogens from tobacco smoke can bind to blood proteins and to DNA, and can thus produce gene mutations and chromosomal abnormalities. Smoking can also cause changes in the metabolism of cells or tissues, resulting in changes to the way foreign substances are broken down by the body. (http://www.greenfacts.org/en/tobacco/)

Diseases associated with tobacco use are myriad ranging from the most common heart disease and lung cancer to thyroid disease and bladder cancer.  Please check out the links below for more detailed information.

The speaker does not understand the language of the song in "The Solitary Reaper." Does it really matter?The speaker does not understand the...

The poem is made up of four stanzas. In the first stanza, Wordsworth sets the scene for the readers. He asks us to observe the Highland girl busily reaping the ripe grain  and singing to herself. He asks us to pause and listen to the song which fills the entire valley,or quietly leave the place without disturbing her.

In the second stanza, Wordsworth tells us that  her beautiful song was more  refreshing than  the melodious song of the nightingale which welcomed the weary travellers as soon as they arrived at an oasis and that her song was more pleasing than the cuckoo's song which signalled the end of the harsh winter season and the beginning of spring.

Since Wordsworth could not understand Gaelic, the language of the reaper, he impatiently asks whether someone could tell him what she was singing about. By doing so he sparks our imagination as to what she could be singing about.

Will no one tell me what she sings?--

Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow

For old, unhappy, far-off things,

And battles long ago:

Or is it some more humble lay,

Familiar matter of to-day?

Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,

That has been, and may be again?"

Soon,Wordsworth leaves the scene concluding  that although he could not understand what she was singing about nevertheless he could always remember the melodious tune of her song:"The music in my heart I bore/Long after it was heard no more."

Wordsworth wonders whether she is singing about the past - about some sorrowful incident of the past, like a defeat in a battle OR about some unhappy incident in the present which may be repeated again in the future. The important thing to remember is that whether it is the past, the present or the future Wordsworth is convinced that what she is thinking about is sad and sorrowful which is echoed in the melancholic tone of her melody.

The words 'single' 'solitary' and 'alone' have been foregrounded. 'Single'implies that she is the only person in the valley; 'solitary' hints at the melancholy mood of the poem and 'alone' refers to the fact that there is no one to assist her in her labours.

In the story "A&P" what are some traits and characteristics of Sammy?

Sammy, the narrator of Updike's "A&P" is not untypical for a nineteen-year-old, for he is both cynical and romantic.  He notes that

A couple customers that had been heading for my slot begin to knock against each other like scared pigs in a chute.

While he notes that "women generally put on a shirt or shorts or something before they get out of the car," they are

usually women with six children and varicose veins mapping their legs and nobody, including them, could care less.

But, when three young girls walk into the store in just their two-piece bathing suits, his cynical attitude changes:  "Poor kids, I began to feel sorry to them" as McMahon "sizes up their joints."  When the girls come to his counter, Sammy does not perceive them as pigs in a shoot.  Instead, he describes a jar going heavy in his hand as

Still with that prim look she lifts a folded dollar bill out of the hollow at the center of her nibbled pink top....Really, I thought that was so cute.

Sammy alternates in his comments about the customers between his cynicism and his romantic interest in the girls.  Perhaps because a cynic is a disappointed idealist, Sammy's romantic views project an idealism onto the girls.  At any rate, he wishes to be a hero for them.  Rebelling against the constraints put upon the girls by the manager, and his perception of the other customers as sheep, he announces, "I quit," telling the manager "You didn't have to embarrass them."

However, once Sammy leaves the store, he looks "around for my girls, but they're gone, of course."  Losing his romanticism, Sammy has an epiphany about what he has just done and what he has lost in addition to his job:

my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter.

Act 5, scene 3: Describe the conclusion of the drama and explain how poetic justice operates in the play.

     The conclusion of Romeo and Juliet, the denouement of the dramatic action, occurs in the funeral of the two lovers who are laid together in a vault to be close to one another in death as they were denied in life.  A statue of Juliet is commissioned by Lord Montague to honor the Capulets, and the two patriarchal-led families are united in grief.

     Justice enforced by the rule of law is often not consistent or even just.  Poetic justice occurs when those who have caused the suffering of others are forced, by circumstance -not by law, to  suffer themselves.  Poetic justice occurs naturally as events unfold in one's life.  There is no law, but Divine Law which enforces poetic justice.

     The Montague and Capulet families' feuds kept the two young lovers apart and forced their attempts at uniting to occur through a plan that would fool their loved ones.  This plan fails, of course, and the lovers take their own lives, rather than live without the other.  The families are left to cope and suffer through their deaths.  This is justice, because the families kept them apart.  It is poetic justice because it occured without interference from the law.

What is the importance of Physical Fitness?

The more physically fit you are, the less likely you are to develop various diseases. There are no guarantees, but you can greatly increase your chances of living a healthy, active life if you follow some simple guidelines:

Don't smoke. Not only does smoking cause lung cancer, but it is implicated in various other diseases, in particular heart disease and stroke.

Eat a healthy diet. Eat a lot of vegetables and fruit, whole grains and healthy (unsaturated) fats.

Get exercise.

If you live a physically fit lifestyle, you may or may not live a longer time, but you will definitely have more fun in whatever years you do have. Think about it--the age of 50 may sound like so far off you don't have to worry about it, but the choices you make now determine whether you are going to be athletic and active then, or taking a lot of medicines, feeling lousy, and spending a lot of time at the doctor.

How far was Stalin personally responsible for the development of the cold war in Europe in 1949?

Stalin was not the only factor in the rift between the Soviet Union and the US, and in fact the rift had existed ever since the founding of the USSR.  But Stalin did have a great deal to do with how the Cold War came about, and part of that was due to his political goals and paranoia.

Lenin and those around him considered all "imperialist" and capitalist nations their enemies from the beginning.  Long-term conflict between the World Revolution as envisaged by Lenin and the Western powers was inevitable.  The entire purpose of the Revolution was to destroy the capitalist governments, after all.  That is why the US found itself landing troops in Siberia in 1918, and why Lenin had expected them to.  Stalin's Soviet state was in total idealogical conflict with all other political systems.

Another part of the reason for the Cold War was simply the weight of Russian history. Russia had been an expanding empire since the 10th century, and always felt itself surrounded by enemies.  The experiences of the Soviet government through the Revolution and Civil War had not revealed friends in the world at large, and the Second World War was a horrifying ordeal.  Stalin joined forces with Britain and the US only because he needed to, to survive the Nazi onslaught.

Stalin and the intelligence services of his government spent a great deal of effort preparing for the period after German defeat.  He had no intention of giving up territory the Red Army took, but either absorbed the lands or set up puppet governments.  Spy rings were in place by the end of the war, including the "Cambridge Five" group in England with Kim Philby.  Stalin knew all along that after the war inevitable ideological tensions would cause either actual war with the West or a state of armed truce complicated by small, proxy wars and espionage operations.

His delay entering the war against Japan was a ploy to let America be weakened by a protracted campaign in Japan and possibly China.  With America weakened by that struggle, Britain economically ruined and Germany destroyed, the USSR would have been the big winner of the Hitlerian Wars.  That didn't work out, but he did foment a war between the US and China in North Korea.  By doing so he not only weakened a rival Communist "brother-state" but reinforced in the minds of American right-wingers the view that Communism was a monolithic threat, thus increasing the drift into McCarthyism.

Stalin himself was not only a ruthless and successful dictator, but a man suffering increasingly from paranoia.  His ideas on the expansion of Soviet territory and power, and his views on the World Revolution made the Cold War an inevitability.  His deep-rooted suspicion of everything and everyone only made his distrust of capitalist societies more severe.  The Cold War would have happened anyway, but Stalin's method of rule and personality went a long way toward making it as militarist and espionage-driven as it was.  A different Soviet ruler might have been more diplomatic about things, but not Stalin.

How do Othello's themes of religion, culture, racism and gender inequality affect the title character's relationship with the Venetians?

Good question!

1. Religion--while Othello is not as overtly religious as The Merchant of Venice. The play relies heavily on Garden of Eden allusions.  The original battle between good and evil repeats itself within the play.  Desdemona (Eve) and Othello (Adam) are tempted by the wily serpent (Iago) who eventually causes their "fall."  In regards to this idea of good and evil relating to Othello's relationship with the Venetians, this theme is almost as important as Shakespeare's discussion of race.  The Venetians, though quite forward-thinking folks for their time period--tend to view Othello as evil (or "black at heart").  When the play opens, Brabantio and Iago play on this prejudice of the Venetians by referencing Othello's supposed magical or satanic powers.  Because the Venetians in the play are blind to true evil (Iago), they readily misjudge Othello.

2. Culture--during the play's time setting, Venice was the cosmopolitan center of trade and culture.  Because of this, the Venetians could be more accepting of other cultures and races in the sense that they allowed foreigners relative freedom.  However, those foreigners--such as Othello--were never truly accepted.  While the Duke and Senators dine with Othello, seek his advice, and invite him to various social events, they do not embrace him, show an interest in his culture, or want him marrying their daughters.  They use him for his military skills and would not allow him to play a role in their lives or culture at all if not for those skills.

3. Racism, of course, affects Othello's relationship with almost everyone, including his wife.  Desdemona is certainly not racist, but because of Othello's race and the prejudice that he must constantly fight against, he doubts his wife's love and loyalty.  He finds it easy to believe false charges against Desdemona because he does not feel worthy of her.  This feeling is the result of the racist treatment he has faced throughout his career in Venice. Likewise, Iago has no difficulty portraying Othello as a lust-filled older man taking advantage of a young girl's innocence.  He convinces Brabantio that Othello must have used magical powers to entice Desdemona into marriage, for why else would a noble white girl marry a black military leader?  This is the prejudice of Iago's time; so no one argues with his words.

4. Gender inequality--this theme does not affect Othello's relationship with the Venetians as much as others, but it does play a part in his marriage. Even though he and Desdemona truly love one another, Othello resorts to the domineering husband role of the time period and silences Desdemona.  Perhaps in a more modern setting, she would have been more persuasive as an equal partner in the relationship.  This inequality also plays a part in Iago and Emilia's relationship.  Even though Iago humiliates Emilia in public, she still feels an obligation to her husband to obey his "orders" to obtain Desdemona's handkerchief.  Obviously, Emilia is loyal to her mistress, but her loyalty as a dominated wife overrules the first relationship.  She is intelligent and must know that Iago has no good intention for his use of the handkerchief, yet she follows through with giving him the item, which eventually leads to the play's horrific final events.

Discuss the characterization of Natty Bumppo. Can use examples from one or both excerpts from The Prairie and The Deerslayer.Need help please!?

In terms of the characterization, I think I can provide a broad enough picture.  You might have to go back and find evidence from the work to prove the depiction/ characterization offered.  Although born of white parents, Cooper depicts Bumppo as one who is in sync with nature and the natural world.  An American Transcendentalist, Cooper was very passionate about the idea that humans must have a reverence and healthy respect for the natural world.  Bumppo represents this, as he lives off of the land, showing complete respect for it.  Cooper wanted to create Bumppo as one that merged the best qualities of the Native Americans in a white Frontiersman, foreshadowing Cooper's hopes Westward Expansion which was to come.  Bumppo is a very complex person in Cooper's depiction.  He life is one of choice, as he was not tossed out of traditional society, but rather chose to live the life he leads.  In being of White society, Bumppo seems to be a link between the growing world of accepted "civilization" and the Native American world.  It seems like Bumppo has found the answers as to how both can coexist without one controlling or dominating the other.  Bumppo lives in accordance to rules and understandings ("One shot, one kill", take only what you need) and has found a niche where one can live within oneself and respect the natural setting.

I think this characterization is bolstered when you are able to go back to excerpts from Cooper's work to find where we can see these ideas developed more.

Describe Mr. Ryder's personality?social issues/pyscho/emotional

Mr. Ryder is a sophisticated, learned, and seems very focused on appearances and social standing. His "informal" social group of "blue bloods" is made up of African Americans with lighter skin (and made them closer to the cultural ideal of White) and greater means than the other Blacks in the area. His social standing seems to be of great importance to him. All of this seems to imply that Ryder is a shallow, close-minded, and prejudiced man. This view, however, is complicated by the actions Ryder takes at the end of the story. He chooses to acknowledge the "wife of his youth" -- a woman he was wed to in a slave marriage (not usually something done by choice). This woman is poor, older, very dark-skinned, and unlearned/unsophisticated. His very association with her could threaten his social standing. By acknowledging her, he is ceasing to hide from his past. This "past" is both his own specific experience and also the overall cultural experience of his race; rather than striving toward the White, he accepts the Black and learns not to assign it negative characteristics.

What main techniques and language devices are used in Act 1, Scene 5 when Romeo and Juliet first speak to each other?

One of the key aspects that Shakespeare uses in this scene to heighten the action is dramatic irony, for we in the audience know the identities of the lovers and that they are from feuding households and the barriers their love will face. The action that immediately preceeds the Nurse's revealing of the identities of the lovers allows us to see their attraction and falling in love with each other.

However, crucially, the dialogue makes it clear that for both Romeo and Juliet, the revelation of their mutual identities has come too late, after they have fallen irrevocably in love with each other. Thus after the Nurse, in her playful and gossipy dialogue with Romeo, reveals Juliet's identity, he responds: "O dear account! my life is my foe's debt". There is also dramatic irony in Juliet's dialogue, as Juliet says as she sends off Nurse to find out Romeo's identity "If he be married / my grave is like to be my wedding bed". We of course know that Romeo is not married, but Juliet is startlingly accurate with the latter part of her sentence. Juliet responds to Romeo's identity as follows:

My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me,
That I must love a loathed enemy.

Thus Shakespeare makes it clear that it is too late - the lovers cannot forget their "birth of love" and we are drawn in to see what will happen next between these two "star crossed lovers".

How did Krakauer use pathos (emotion) to manipulate your emotions and how?

The main way that pathos is created in the audience is through the interviews that he conducts with people in McCandless's life.

In particular, two interview sessions produce the most sadness and empathy both for Chris and for those who loved and lost him.

The first one is with his family. His mother, father and sister are very obviously distraught about his death, so much that there is crying during the interview and expressions of guilt and helplessness.

The other particularly striking interview is with the man who lost his own family in a car accident, Ron Franz. This man changed his whole entire life in order to live the life that "Alex"  encouraged him to lead.

The initial response to hearing McCandless's story is to think that he is insane or stupid for his decision. However, thru his use of pathos, Krakauer makes the readers understand "Alex" on a more personal level and makes his death seem tragic instead of ridiculous

Identify a communication model, barriers to effective communication, and suggest means to over come such barriers with examples.

It seems to me that a predominant amount of communication and feedback seems to reside in the written domain.  With the presence of electronic mediums to communication, writing skills are becoming more essential in the communication process. Naturally, a barrier to this is business individuals who lack fundamental qualities of writing skills.  Businesses are having to take a more proactive stance in this realm in ensuring that staff development and training in writing is provided.  Additionally, businesses constantly stress that effective communication in writing resides in clarity of thought.  Writing in business involves speaking in specific, detailed, and technical terms.  Ambiguities in the written communication process have to be avoided.  For example, there is a significant difference in "The delivery will be there soon" when compared to "The delivery will be there next Thursday."  The latter reflects a tone of communicating in business because it speaks in specific quantification, critical for business communication.  Concise, direct, and driven by factual retelling of what can be done or what is being done are the critical elements of written business communication.

Another increasingly challenging domain in the communication of business is writing emails.  Electronic mail has become an critical component of any communication in business because of its quick time feature, and the manner in which delivery and transactions can be conducted over electronic mediums, as opposed to snail mail and face to face meetings.  However, writing emails has been an area where individuals mistake the medium in discarding traditional and formal rules of writing:

We seem to have been seduced by the ease and informality of the medium to produce messages that ignore the rules and conventions usually in place when producing hard copy. We send out messages with grammar, usage or spelling errors…. In the name of speed, we throw caution to the winds and forget sentence patterning, paragraphing, and other conventions that make messages intelligible, creating unattractive and impenetrable data dumps (Reynolds, Communication World- See link below.)

Once again, formal writing instruction is being delivered to employees in order counter this.  In addition to this, businesses constantly remind their employees that employers are able to read their emails, so nothing personal or impetuous should be composed and sent.  Rather, email is being taught as an extension of the formal letter, and still constitutes formal writing that can be deemed as property of the company.

Mahabharta- Who was the rightful heir of the Kingdom. Udhistra or Duryodhana?Dhritirashtra was the legal heir of the kingdom but Pandu was made...

This is a very interesting question with no clear cut answer. Explanations to your question already point to the reason for this confusion. Dhritarashtra and Pandu were both sons of King Vichitravirya. As per the traditions of that time the elder son of a king normally ascends the throne after the father steps down or dies. In case of Dhritarashtra, in spite of being the elder brother, he was not made the king because he was blind. It was thought that being blind, he will not be able to manage the duties of the king effectively. Therefore Pandu, the younger brother was made the king. However Pandu died at a young age, and at that time it was decided to make Dhritarashtra the king, in spite of his blindness.

So far there is no confusion. But when it comes to deciding between Duryodhana and Udhishtir, both have some claim over the throne, both being eldest sons of Kings. I would personally say that Duryodhana has greater claim to throne on two counts. First, his father was the original rightful heir to the throne. Second he was the ruling king, who has precedence over all past kings.

But don't let this discussion confuse you over the cause of the war between Pandavas led by Udhishtir, and Kauravas led by Duryodhana. The fight was not over the issue of inheriting the kingdom or the throne. Pandu never asked Duryodhana for the throne of the entire kingdom. He only asked for reasonable control over part of the land within the kingdom, to which he and his four brothers were entitled as princes.  Duryodhana refused to accept this reasonable demand, saying that he will not give land even as small as point of a needle. In such circumstances Udhishtir, as a Kshatriya, was within his rights to win the whole kingdom in a war. Which he did and thus became entitled to the crown of the whole kingdom.

Regarding the use of the name Kaurava, it is quite right that both Kauravas and Pandavas were descendents of King Kuru, and bore the same relationship with him, but for some reason not known to me, only Kauravas are associated with that name. One possibility is that Pandavas won the Kingdom of Kuru Dynasty in war, rather than claimed it as an dynastic inheritance.

How closely does The Importance of Being Earnest resemble a comedy of manners?

A "comedy of manners" is defined as: "A comedy concerned with the social actions and behavior of members of a highly sophisticated, upper-class society. Low-class characters are normally subordinate in interest or are played against the foilbles of their 'betters'. Such comedy emphasizes wit, whether true or false, and more often than not takes an arch view of the love game." [Bacon, Wallace A. The Art of Interpretation. 2nd ed.]

It fits in every way according to this definition.

"A comedy concerned with the social actions and behavior of members of a highly sophisticated, upper-class society"

Indeed Earnest is a parody of the manners and customs of the upper classes while also an attempt to establish how meaningless each of them would be without money. Each aspect of their behavior, from the way they speak, to the way they spend the money they have (and not have), the way they address their counterparts, and their list of priorities are all mocked.

"Low-class characters are normally subordinate in interest or are played against the foilbles of their 'betters'."

You see how the manservants of each household are treated by their masters, especially Lane, who is clearly Algy's emotional sponge. Similarly, in the Gwendolyn/Cecily showdown, Cecily is almost accepting the harsh words about her lack of society and although she avenges these words with "sugar and cake" she nearly almost admits to all that Gwendolyn said to her.

"Such comedy emphasizes wit, whether true or false, and more often than not takes an arch view of the love game."

The entire time this play satirizes the reasons behind falling in love, finding a partner, and looking for love in general. The wittiest phrases, which are the trademark of Oscar Wilde come each time, one stronger than the other. It is definately a play of this genre.

Early in the book, Nick says he doesn't judge people, but isn't the whole book a judgment of his surroundings?Is he just being observant or indeed...

He does judge those around him-just like every other human being. Remember, just because someone is narrating a story, doesn't mean their point of view is reliable. In fact, immediately after telling us of his ability to reserve judgment, he complains of being “privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men,” and making “riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart” against his will. In fact, he admits that “most of the confidences were unsought.” He even acknowledges when introducing Gatsby that “represented everything” for which Nick had “an unaffected scorn.” Thus, his moral values and prejudices are evident at the outset of the novel.

While he may be more open-minded than other characters in the novel (Tom, Daisy, and Jordan jump to mind), he isn't completely straightforward or honest (although he "suspects himself of one cardinal virtue"-honesty). See, for example, his first impressions of Meyer Wolfsheim, The Wilsons, and party-goers at Gatsby's. Each of these reveals some bias on his part.

Indeed, by the end of the novel he has judged each character for one misdeed or another. His final verdict of Tom, Daisy, and Jordan is that they "“smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” While this is a valid observation, the negative connotation of "smashed", "carelessness", and "mess" reflect Nick's view of events.

Can you please explain each stanza of the Cry of the Children by Elizabeth Browning in detail??

This poem was written based on a report that was written because of the treatment of children in mines and factories. Children were being worked to death.

The first stanza speaks of all of the young offspring with their mothers: birds, lambs,fawns and even flowers.  They are all allowed to laugh and play like children should. Meanwhile, real children are crying uncontrollably.

The second and third stanzas speak of the old--men, trees, old wounds who have been around.  But the question remains--"why are the children weeping so?"  This has not been answered.

The forth and fifth stanzas speak of Alice and how happy she is now that she is dead.  She doesn't cry anymore and other children agree with her--it's better to  leave the misery on earth.  The adult voice wants the children to run and be happy.  The children still would rather die than slave away in the mines.

Stanzas 6-8 speak of the wheels of the mine carts that go round and round, droning on day after day, yet the children don't care.  The speaker wants them to have a break from the pain and suffering.

In stanzas 9-11 the speaker wants the children to pray and know God. However, their response is that they don't know God.  How could they when the men who hear their cries continue on and never stop to help them or comfort them.  They say that he remains silent and never answers their prayers.

The last two stanzas continue the overall theme of the poem.  How can the children know truth and goodness and Christianity if all they ever have known has been pain and suffering from working for powerful and controlling men.

In Night by Elie Wiesel, how does Elie's view of his religion, his father, and the world change during his time at the Nazi prison camps?

This is an enormous question, and we must keep in mind that when we ask it regarding Elie in Night, we are not approaching it as character development as we would for analysis of fiction. On the contrary, we are considering the changes a man--indeed, a boy--went through in an horrific and very real series of events.

In the beginning of his life, Elie was devoted to the Orthodox Jewish religion. He followed regular prayers and practices, then at night even studied the mystical Jewish secrets called Kabbalah. Then, as he went from camp to camp and saw atrocity after atrocity, death after death--a child with God's image in his eyes hung, with God hung beside him--he felt God die in his heart and ceased to believe in the God of the Jews, this even though he still uttered prayers of desperation to the God he no longer believed.

Elie and his father have a relationship built upon paternal and filial love, though Mr. Wiesel is not affectionately demonstrative. Elie feels devoted respect for him, and his father feels deep love and admiration for Elie. At the camps they cling to each other to stay together. They help each other to get into the right lines and rooms so as to keep their chances of living as high as possible. Elie watches over his father who seems to continually grow older and ever weaker. When Mr. Wiesel is finally broken by work and starvation, Elie gets him doctors, takes care of his dysentery the best he knows how to, and risks staying by him in their bunks. In the end, when Elie awoke on January 28th of 1945 to find his father had been taken during the night to the crematorium, his soul could not weep for the father it had loved but felt only relief:

if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last!

Elie was a boy when the horrors of his night started. He believed he lived in a world ordered by light that limited evil and harm. When he left at the end of the time of the camps, he knew he lived in a world where "absolute evil" was possible. When he left the camps, he saw in his reflection the eyes of a corpse. The Yiddish original of Night contains a passage that illuminates the change in his view of the world:

We believed in God, trusted in man, and lived with the illusion that everyone of us has been entrusted with a sacred spark from the Shekhinah's flame; that every one of us carries in his eyes and in his soul a reflection of God's image.

How does Duncan reward Macbeth for his bravery in defeating the rebels?After that, I have to comment on the order in which Duncan announces it...

Having received the news of victory in battle, the architect of which was the valiant Macbeth, King Duncan immediately announces punishment & reward in the same breath--capital punishment for the 'most disloyal traitor' Cawdor & reward for 'that Bellona's bridegroom' Macbeth:

" ...........................Go pronounce his present death,

And with his former title greet Macbeth ". (act 1 sc.2)

When Macbeth & Banquo arrive at Duncan's palace, the king is all praise for his 'worthiest cousin'. Macbeth deserves so much for the service rendered by him that the king is unable to reward him adequately. However, Duncan tells Macbeth with grateful assurance that he is going to take good care of  his future nurture:

" I have begun to plant thee, and will labour

To make thee full of growing ".  (act 1 sc.4)

What is the Jataka?

wkwolf16,

The Jātaka, formally collected around the 4th century B.C.E., frames its hundreds of stories within the 550 prior incarnations of the Buddha. As in Hinduism, karma is carried over from one lifetime to the next; each life is made up of actions and remembered knowledge from previous lives. Each individual story in the Jātaka is set inside this framework.

In each story, the Buddha recalls a prior life in order to make a point about Buddhist doctrine or ethics. In each story, the main point is underscored with an epigram, and the Buddha makes clear what role he played in the story. The stories were written not in Sanskrit but in Pali, a dialect intended for popular consumption, and they make use of many older folktales, none of which—prior to their reworking—had any connection with Buddhism.

Some of the stories seem only tangential to Buddhist truths, and some—like the story about a hare who thinks that the sky is falling—carry within them suggestions of their older meanings and values. These lively stories have simply been adapted to Buddhism, teaching Buddhist values—such as not to destroy life, not to take what is not given, to keep from alcohol, to love selflessly, and to be useful—while keeping at least some of their original focus. The story of the self-sacrificing rabbit, for example, teaches the Buddhist value of selfless acts of charity while at the same time explaining how the shape of a rabbit gets onto the moon.

These stories were translated by the Greeks, Persians, Jews, and Arabs, and they traveled across the world. Aesop’s animal fables, for example, are likely primarily Indian in origin. Because the stories are largely optimistic and have happy endings, they also have been a rich source of fairy-tales for children. An estimated 50 percent of the tales eventually collected by the Brothers Grimm are Indian in origin; there is even an early version of Uncle Remus’s “Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby.”

What are three qualities of Greg Harris in SLAM! by Walter Dean Myers?

Greg Harris, known as Slam, is talented - he is six four, and by his own admission he is an amazing basketball player.  Slam says,

"I got the moves, the eye, and the heart...with me it's not like playing a game, it's like the only time I'm being for real.  Bringing the ball down the court makes me feel like a bird that just learned to fly...If somebody starts messing with my game it's like they're getting into my head.  But if I've got the ball it's okay, because I can take care of the situation" (Chapter 1).

Slam is comfortable within himself when he is playing basketball.  He knows how good he is and that knowledge makes him feel as if he has control of what is happening in his world.

Slam can be compassionate and surprisingly forgiving, and he has a strong sense of family.  When his little brother Derek borrows the video camera Slam has checked out from the school and loses it, Slam goes through a lot of trouble to get it back.  When Slam shows Derek the recovered camera, the younger boy assumes that he will not be allowed to use it again, but Slam tells him,

"No, you can use it...but you lose the sucker again I'm going to put out a serious contract on your life".

Knowing that, with his good-natured teasing, Slam is not angry at him, Derek, with delight, goes on and on about how careful he will be with it this time.  Gratified, Slam reflects that "it (is) good to have a little brother (Chapter 16).

Slam is determined.  Although he is immensely talented in basketball, his attitude gets in the way of his chances of getting ahead in life.  His grades are low, and he has problems with his coach, who treats him demeaningly in an attempt to get him to be more of a team player.  Slam does what it takes to get his grades up, and struggles to get higher than a 700 on the SAT so that he will be eligible for a basketball scholarship.  He manages to score a 740, which

"weren't kicking no butt, but if somebody wanted to offer (him) a scholarship, (he) could take it" (Chapter 16).

Slam's situation with his coach is arguably a far more difficult obstacle for him to overcome.  The coach is confrontational, and Slam's usual reaction is to fight back against the disrespect with which he is being treated.  With the guidance of his friend Goldy, Slam learns the hard lesson of accepting that life is not often fair, and that he must play for himself and show what he has, doing what he has to in order to get ahead.  Goldy tells Slam to "get (his) attitude together and come on out for the game", even if the situation he is in is "not right".  Learning to swallow his pride and do what is right for himself is the hardest thing Slam ever has to do, and the fact that he manages to do it shows the depth of his character and the level of determination he has to succeed in life (Chapter 16).

Which casket did the Prince of Morocco choose and why?

Prince Morocco chooses the gold casket, and Act II, Scene VII is dedicated mostly to walking us through his reasons behind the choice.

The prince is trying to win Portia's hand in marriage. In order to do so, he must pass the test Portia's father has created for any of her potential suitors. As a suitor, he must choose from three caskets (decorative boxes) to try to find the one that holds a picture of Portia, which will be an indication that he has permission to marry her. Each box is made of different material; gold, silver, and lead. Each box also has an incription on it. For gold, the inscription reads, "Who chooseth me, shall gain what many men desire." On the silver casket, it says, "Who chooseth me, shall get as much as he deserves." The message on the final casket says, "Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all he hath."

Prince Morocco first decides to examine the lead casket closely. Upon reading the incription, he decides that the message is a warning to men who will risk a lot for worthless things, and he believes "A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross (line 20)." In other words, he doesn't choose the lead box because a man of worth won't bother gambling for something of such little value as lead.

Moving on to silver, he interprets the inscription to be a question of his own opinion of himself. He says he doesn't want to assume that everything he deserves includes Portia, However, he eventually concludes that if he says he doesn't deserve her he is only professing a low opinion of himself. He almost seems like he is going to choose the silver casket based on his feelings that he does, in fact, deserve Portia. "What if I strayed no further, but chose here (line 35)?" However, he decides to look over the gold casket before he makes his final decision.

It is here that Prince Morocco is most convinced by what he reads on the box. "Who chooseth me, shall gain what many men desire." This immediately makes up his mind about which casket to choose, because in his mind every man in the world desires Portia.

All the world desires her;/ From the four corners of the earth they come/ To kiss this shrine, this mortal breathing saint/...Is't like that lead contains her?/'Twere damnation/ To think so base a thought.../ Or shall I think in silver she's immur'd,/ Being ten times undervalued to tried gold?/ O sinful thought!Never so rich a gem/ Was set in worse than gold.

In the end, he chooses the gold casket because Portia is a highly desirable woman, so surely her picture would only ever be contained in a casket made of the most expensive, valuable material.

As the homeowner, how can I remove the liability arising from any accident incurred by an attendee of a party that is being held on my...

A homeowner is responsible to keep his surroundings safe and accessible.  In the wintertime, he should keep his walkway and driveway shoveled and free from snow and ice.  In the summertime, he should keep it free from toys, bicycles, weeds, and water. 

Inside the home, he should protect the inhabitants of the home and any visitors from harm as well.  Stairways should be well-lighted, steps free from objects that could be tripped over, and equipped with safety and/or handrails to prevent falls.  Tile, marble, or wooden floors should be kept clean and dry.  If they are excessively slick, they should be covered by rugs to prevent falls.  Furniture should be placed in such a manner to allow free movement around the rooms.  Any sharp corners should be covered by protective cushions or throws.  Handles on doors should be easy to turn. 

A homeowner has to perform routine maintenance on his home to insure it meets the safety requirements for his area.  Electrical fixtures and lighting must be checked periodically to make sure there is no loose or worn wiring that could cause electrical shock or fire. 

In the case of a party being held by the daughter of your tenant, I would make sure you lay down certain rules to be observed in your home.  Even though they are living there, it is still your home.  If you don't want them doing drugs or liquor, it is your right.  Alcohol impairs the judgment of anyone, especially young people, and they're more likely to damage things or get hurt when they're inebriated.  The parents of the daughter also need to instruct their daughter in what's proper behaviour to protect both the home and her friends.  Then, the attendees of the party need to be instructed in their duties when they arrive so that they have clear guidelines to follow to insure their safety and the preservation of the home.

If all precautions are taken and everyone understands their duties and responsibilities, there will be less likelihood of accidents happening and liabilities arising.

How are The Great Gatsby and Macbeth the same?ambition, comparing Daisy and Lady Macbeth, comparing Nick and Banquo, greed, belief system,...

Gatsby and Macbeth shared the belief that they could determine the course of their lives to get what they wanted most. Each believed that his will was strong enough to influence outcomes, and each believed his actions would prevail against opposing forces. Each man was deceived by illusion. Macbeth's illusion that he was invincible was delivered up to him by the witches. Gatsby's illusion, that he and Daisy could repeat the past, came from his basic romanticism and his deep need to have Daisy in order to fulfill his long-held dreams.

Gatsby and Macbeth were both blind to reality. Gatsby never understood that he would never belong in Daisy's world, no matter how much money he acquired, and he did not recognize or understand the ties that bound Daisy and Tom together. Macbeth was blind to the true nature of the witches, even though Banquo warned him. As he contemplated Duncan's murder, Macbeth was also blind to the fact that once he gained Duncan's crown, he would never be able to enjoy it.

One similarity between Lady Macbeth and Daisy is that each enjoys great wealth and high social position as the result of marrying powerful men. Tom's wealth was legendary, even when he was in college. When she married Tom, Daisy lived with the opulent benefits of his money. In her marriage to Macbeth, Lady Macbeth enjoyed the honors accorded to the wife of a valiant general, and she enjoyed Macbeth's wealth. He was Thane of Glamis and became Thane of Cawdor, gaining control of vast estates. Eventually, Macbeth's rise to power made her Queen of Scotland.

What were their exact words when Minerva told Maria Teresa she wanted her to grow up in a free country in the book "In the Time of the...

Maria Teresa writes,

"I asked Minerva why she was doing such a dangerous thing.  And then, she said the strangest thing.  She wanted me to grow up in a free country.

"'And it isn't that already?' I asked.  My chest was getting all tight.  I felt one of my asthma attacks coming on.

"Minerva didn't answer me.  I supposed she could see that I was already upset enough.  She took both my hands in hers as if we were getting ready to jump together into a deep spot in the lagoon of Ojo de Agua.  'Breathe slowly and deeply,' she intoned, 'slowly and deeply.'

"I pictured myself on a hot day falling, slowly and deeply, into those cold layers of water.  I held on tight to my sister's hands, no longer afraid of anything but that she might let go".

The account from which the above quote is taken is in Maria Teresa's diary entry on Sunday, February 24 in Chapter 3.  The girls are at boarding school, and Maria Teresa is only ten years old.  Minerva, who is nine years older than her little sister, is already getting involved in the Revolutionary movement with some of the other students at Inmaculada Concepcion.  She has been attending secret meetings at the home of Don Horacio, an old man "who is in trouble with the police because he won't do things he's supposed to, like hang a picture of (the) president in his house".  Maria Teresa learns of her older sister's activities, and asks her why she would do such a thing, triggering the conversation recounted above.

Through the influence of Minerva, Maria Teresa begins to look at things differently than she had before.  She begins to question and doubt what she has been taught about the president and government of her homeland, paving the way for her own foray into the ranks of the revolutionaries (Chapter 3).

What is an example of onomatopoeia and an example of an oxymoron in 1984?

Using the Centennial Edition, an exmaple of onomatopoeia is found on pg. 228.

There was a long, rolling clang, as though the washtub had been flung across the yard, and a confusion of angry shouts which ended in a yell of pain.

As for oxymoron, the word blackwhite is perhaps the clearest example. Since an oxymoron is a two-word paradox, it is a word which seems to be impossible, but is actually true. Here is the explanation from the novel (pg. 218).

Like so many Newspeak words, this word has two mutually contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts. Applied to a Party member, it means a loyal willingness to say that black is white when Party discipline demands this. But it also means to believe that black is white, and more, to know that black is white and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary.

Thus this one term represents the entire thought process evident in the novel: in order for this world order to succeed, one must believe 2 opposing ideas at once, and know that they are both true.

What is a summary of the poem "Preludes" by T. S. Eliot?

At the very beginning of the artistic era called the Modern era, T. S. Eliot was at the forefront of creative literary experimentation.  When he was a young man and still a student he had a nervous breakdown and problems with his Christian faith.  This early poem, “Preludes,” was written over an extended period of time and is broken up into several parts.  The poem pretty much deals with the story of people who are spiritually worn out.  These people live in a crowded, dirty, and impersonal city. It is about their struggles to maintain and survive this disgusting culture they find themselves living in and trying to hold on to their faith.   The theme of the poem describes this lack of faith and dying spirituality of these people living in an immoral and irredeemable society.

"Isolation and depersonalization are themes represented by the scarce, fragmentary, and anonymous human images in this urban setting. The “lonely cab-horse” waits for someone while rain and wind sweep across vacant lots. “The lighting of the lamps” suggests a human action in nearly deserted streets, but it is expressed only as a fragment floating at the end of prelude I."

How does the main character change by the end of the story in The Giver?

Jonas is the main character in The Giver.  At the beginning of the story, Jonas is eleven years old and just an ordinary member of the community.  The community members all practice the principle of Sameness.  All choices are made for them.  No one makes any choices for themselves.  Jobs, spouses, and children are assigned.

At the beginning of the story, Jonas is very concerned about following the rules.  He is very obedient.   When a plane flies overhead unexpectedly, Jonas is afraid but he follows the Speaker’s direction.

Instantly, obediently, Jonas had dropped his bike on its side on the path behind his family's dwelling. He had run indoors and stayed there, alone. (ch 1, p. 2)

This is an example of how Jonas follows directions exactly. 

When Jonas begins receiving memories from The Giver, he starts to change.  He learns that things have not always been so tightly controlled.  He begins by understanding why he sees color and no one else does.  He begins to understand that things should be better.  People should have feelings.  He realizes that people should be allowed to make their own choices, and have love.

"Do you understand why it's inappropriate to use a word like 'love'?" Mother asked. Jonas nodded. "Yes, thank you, I do," he replied slowly. It was his first lie to his parents. (ch 17, p. 127)

In the end, Jonas decides the only thing he can do is leave the community and return the memories to the people.  He makes this choice on his own, and even takes the baby Gabe with him.  He knows he will be killed if he is caught, but he stands on principle and does it anyway.

Lowry, Lois (1993-04-26). The Giver (Newbery Medal Book) . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.

What is the significance of Act 1, Scene 3 of Macbeth?

Equally significant is the introduction in "Macbeth" of the supernatural element to this play which is pivotal to the tragic downfall of Macbeth who goes from being lauded as a brave and fearless warrior--"O valiant cousin!  Worthy gentleman!" as King Duncan calls him--to a loathed murderer--"Thou bloodier villain" as Macduff addresses him.

The belief in the prophecies of the witches that Macbeth hears is what impels him to his ambitions of power.  He considers that he may not have to do anything to become king:

If chance will have me King, why,chance may crown me/Without my stir (I,iii,44-45)

This interest in the supernatural world captivates not only Macbeth, but the Elizabethan audiences as well who revel in such lines as "nothing is /But what is not" (I,iii,142).  Indeed, themes of evil spirits and witchcraft were very popular in these times.  When Macbeth returns later in the play to speak with the three "weird sisters" he is so disturbed by their next prophesies that he initiates his murderous actions to prevent his own demise.  Of course, tragically he has been entrapped by this preternatural world of the witches.

In chapter 17, Dimmesdale asks Hester if she has found peace. She does not answer and just smiles. Does Hester find peace through the scarlet letter?

Hester finds peace through the acceptance of her own humanity with all its limitations.  Hester accepts the punishment of the community because she knows that she has violated one of their regulations; violation of the legitimate regulations of any community can result in legitimate punishment.  Her often quoted line, by me at least, "What we did had a consecration of its own" explains how she has made peace.  Unlike Dimmesdale, who is supported by an "iron framework" of belief that, while supporting him confined himself in his own prison, Hester believes that what they did, while wrong in the eyes of the community, was "consecrated," a word with very specific religious connotations.

Hester finds peace within herself, with her knowledge or belief that there was something "sacred" (consecrated) in what they had done.  This forgiveness is beyond Dimmesdale, and because of this he will never experience the peace that Hester found.

In The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, why do you think Claudia would not admit that she had said the words, "hide out in"?

I think that Claudia would not admit that she had said the words "hide out in" because she did not want to admit to being wrong, but was too focused on the matter at hand to really think about what she had just said.  If she had taken the time to think, she would most likely have realized that Jamie's accusation about her grammar was incorrect, but in the situation, she really did not care enough about it to come up with a good counterargument in her own defense.

It was Claudia who actually started the heated exchange.  An A-student who tends to be a bit of a know-it-all, she has the annoying habit of correcting the grammatical errors of others at every opportunity.  In the conversation in question, Claudia had asked Jamie, "What woods?", to which he had replied, "The woods we'll be hiding out in".  Claudia had immediately jumped on him for using a sentence with a preposition, in, at the end, which is grammatically incorrect.  She then asked Jamie, "Who ever told you that we were going to hide out in the woods?".  Understandably angry, but not as versed in grammar to be able to get his sister back effectively, Jamie accused Claudia of saying the same thing for which she had criticized him, the word sequence "hid(ing) out in".  In actuality, Claudia's use of the phrase was correct, because she had not, like Jamie, ended the sentence with a preposition.  Claudia was too focused on the task at hand, however, to really think about that. "Trying hard to remain calm" as befitted a leader of an escapade such as the one they were trying to accomplish, she tried to get out of the argument by simply refusing to admit being guilty of incorrect grammar.  When that didn't work, she managed just to change the subject (Chapter 2).

I need a brief summary of what The Emperor Jones by Eugene O'Neill was about in regards to Brutus, the main character.

Brutus Jones is the protagonist of the play. He is a physically imposing black man who takes over the island by making the inhabitants think he has magical powers. In truth, he is an escaped murderer. He is a tyrannical ruler who dresses in military style and carries a gun. He speaks in a strong black dialect.

In Maniac Magee, are the "raisins" at the McNab house dried grapes?No

The "raisins" at the McNab house are not dried grapes.  They are roaches.

Maniac is amazed when he sees the inside of the McNab house for the first time.  Never has he come across such squalor; he can smell the living quarters before he actually sees them, and the stench is not pleasant.  In the house,  

"cans and bottles (lie) all over, along with crusts, peelings, cores, scraps, rinds, wrappers - everything you would normally find in a garbage can.  And everywhere there (are) raisins".

The McNabs have "a yellow, short-haired mongrel" who is allowed to relieve itself wherever it wants in the house, and no one cleans up after it.  There is a hole in the ceiling of the dining room, and the peeling paint on the walls comes off "like cornflakes" to the touch.  The kitchen is the worst room of all; a jar of peanut butter lies broken on the floor, and someone has apparently jumped into it and "skied a brown, one-footed track to the stove".  A partially dismembered dead bird lies on the table, and the refrigerator holds only mustard and beer.  There are "raisins" everywhere, but when Maniac notices that several of them are moving, he realizes that they are not raisins at all.  They are roaches (Chapter 35).

Why does Jerry Renault know that "it was important to show no sign of distress" in The Chocolate War?

Jerry Renault is small, only five-nine and maybe a hundred and forty-five pounds, and he is not a very good football player, but he is determined to make the team at Trinity.  Although he is taking a beating on the field, he knows that the coach "is testing (him), and he's looking for guts".  Jerry does not want the coach to think he is a weakling or a coward, so he knows "it (is) important to show no sign of distress".

It is only three plays into the practice, and already Jerry has been sacked three times.  The first time he turns to take the ball, "a dam burst(s) against the side of his head and a hand grenade shatter(s) his stomach...engulfed by nausea, he pitch(es) toward the grass".  Although he feels as if "some of his teeth (have) been knocked out", Jerry rises back to his feet, holding on "until everything settle(s) into place, like a lens focusing, making the world sharp again".  The second play calls for a pass.  Jerry "pick(s) up a decent block and cock(s) his arm, searching for a receiver", when he is suddenly "caught from behind and whirled violently; landing on his knees, he urges himself "to ignore the pain that grip(s) his groin", determined not to let on to the coach that he is in distress.  On the third play, he is hit "simultaneously by three of them:  one, his knees; another, his stomach; a third, his head".  Despite all this, when the coach comes by, all Jerry says to him is "I'm all right".  Even though he knows that he has "been massacred by the oncoming players, capsized and dumped humiliatingly on the ground", Jerry knows that he has survived; "he (has) gotten to his feet", and he wants desperately for the coach to see that he has what it takes to be on the team (Chapter 1).

In "The Storm" explain Chopin's use of the storm in the story. What is its function in the story? Why is this setting important or symbolic?

Chopin uses the storm as a foreshadowing of the coming stormy affair between Alcee and Calixta, and also, a symbol of Calixta's underlying unhappiness in her marriage.  There is not much else to indicate that Calixta is unhappy or unsettled about her life.  We get only descriptions of her sewing, but as she sewed, she "felt no uneasiness for their safety," referring to her husband and son.  She is just busily sewing, without much thought in her head, so there is no indication that she is on the cusp of committing an affair with an old flame.  Chopin has her declare of the rain, "My! what a rain! It's good two years sence it rain' like that," possibly symbolizing that it has been quite some time since she has felt passion or happiness in her life either.  So, it is a symbol of her emotional state. So, the storm symoblizes her underlying unrest, and foreshadows the change that is about to occur.

Along with being a symbol of Calixta's unhappiness in marriage, and foreshadowing of the coming affiar, the storm also is a necessary element of the action, or the plot. Without the storm, Alcee would not have needed to seek shelter in Calixta's house.  That event was necessary in order for the affair to occur.  So, it is also just an elemental action or bit of plot that is necessary for the events of the story to occur as they do.

Chopin often uses the weather to symbolize events or feelings in her stories.  In this story, the storm is the unrest and coming changes that occur.  In another story of hers, "The Story of an Hour," Chopin uses a sunny sky and perfectly green leaves and good weather to symbolize the main character's happiness after her husband dies and she realizes that she is free.  So, when reading Chopin, keep in mind that she uses the setting and the weather to model her main character's inner feelings quite often.  I hope that those thoughts help; good luck!

What is the irony of Napoleon saying "All animals are free."

The statement by Napoleon, in "Animal Farm," saying that all the animals are free is ironic because the animals are not free.  Most of the animals are in the same situation they were in when Mr. Jones ran  the farm.  The animals are still overworked and poorly fed.  They are still ordered about by others; the only difference being, now the "others" are also animals.

Napoleon has the animals thinking they are working for a goal of their own design rather than the idea or goals of the humans.  The master-mind, Napoleon, is very charismatic and easily persuades most of the animals that what they are doing will only advance them to being freer than they were under the hand of humans.  As the novel progresses, Napoleon and the other pigs become more and more human-like.  They even begin trading with humans for the things the other animals can't make.  One example is alcohol. 

"Winter is severe and the rations are reduced, except for the pigs and the dogs. Squealer calls it a “readjustment.” He tells the hungry animals that reducing everyone’s rations would be against the fundamental principles of Animalism."

" Orwell challenges the Soviet state's—and any totalitarian state's—method of controlling public opinion by manipulating the truth and, in particular, rewriting history."

What were the different responses to Adolf Hitler's ideas and actions?Again, History assignment. Please help!

Obviously there were many reactions to his program.  As long as he seemed to be supporting "law and order" and was fixing the economy of Germany the majority of the population there supported him.  There was opposition, and not just from the Communists.  There were resistance groups, including university student groups, whose leaders were of course arrested, imprisoned, tortured and murdered.  As the war dragged on and hope of succes was lost (and as some learned more about the concentration camps) there was more resistance among the military and the old aristocracy.  There were at least 17 attempts at assasination, all of which ended in disaster for the conspirators.

As Hitler's regime gained more power through the 1930s the propaganda mitigated against resistance.  Everything in German society was propagandized, including the education system and textbooks.  Mathematical problems often involved word questions using examples of war.  Instead of "two trains going x m.p.h. left at the same time etc." problems might involve how fast a Stuka dive bomber could reach Belgium, etc.  All aspects of society were involved, and so resistance was put down by reeducation as well as by the carrot and stick methods of economic improvement and fear of reprisals.

In other countries reactions were also varied.  Some people realized there could be no compromise with the Nazis and their philosophy (Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt would be good examples), while others believed diplomacy and appeasement would keep Hitler within bounds (such as British P.M. Neville Chambelain).  But there were many people in Europe, including average citizens as well as political and military personalities, who agreed with Hitler's views.  His supporters in many countries eased the path of invasion, as Quisling in Norway, and Waffen SS military units were raised in countries all across the continent.  Most of the SS troops still fighting the Soviet forces in Berlin at the end of the war were French.

Even Americans were involved, and members of the British aristocracy.  One of the Bush family banks was closed by the US government during the war for collaboration, and Standard Oil was accused by the US Army of selling fuel oil to Nazi submarines outside the three mile limit.  For the full story of German economic penetration and how Hitler's plans were really thwarted, I suggest A Man Called INTREPID, by William Stevenson.

In "The Shawshank Redemption", Red finally gets parole. What are the problems he encounters in life on the outside?why does king choose to show...

Part of what King feels is the curse of institutional life is that it chains us to routine.  For example, Andy endures the first couple of years of prison life because of his routine, and living life in this manner, without hope, promise, or difference, allows him to withstand the difficulty of the institution.  For Red, his routine lies in knowing the institutional world in which he lives.  He knows the prison, knows what he can do, understands it well, and lives his life in accordance to it.  Prison is his routine, and it's something that he has known for almost four decades.  When he leaves prison life, his routine is gone.  His familiarity, his social acceptance, his realm of predictability and comfort disappears as he has to endure life in the world outside of jail.  The book details the problem he encounters:  The lack of respect, the flimsy notion of power, the disparaging comments and looks, as well as the complete openness after 40 years.  For four decades, Red has become accustomed to the confines of Shawshank and it is startling to suddenly  be thrown into a world of freedom and limitless boundaries.  Consider this similar to Plato's Allegory of the Cave, where the person has been chained into a cave for so long that they don't know what sunlight is.  When they actually see life outside the cave, it must have been overwhelming.  It is the same with Red and his life outside of Shawshank.   This feeling of being overwhelmed, almost crushed with the expansive nature of freedom and lightness (a true example of The Unbearable Lightness of Being) is difficult for Red to take.  Recall why he was not supportive of Andy when he spoke of his vision of freedom at Zihuatenejo.  Red feels that there is no role for him in such a setting because of its wide scope of freedom, and when he is released from prison, it is the same experience.  Institutionalization creates a pattern, a routine, that allows individuals to live and endure life in this sequenced and predictable existence.  To take this away after so long and then abandon them with only saying to them, "Go and live," is too much for Red when he is first released.

How do Brutus's intentions relate to the theme of loyalty and betrayal in "Julius Caesar"?

Many critics argue that Brutus is the tragic hero of "Julius Caesar," and, as such his tragic mistake is, perhaps, that he does not know himself fully.  For, he feels so strongly that he is a man of principle that he does not recognize more selfish motives in others such as Casca and Cassius.  In Act II in his soliloquy of Scene I, Brutus considers the possibility of Caesar's becoming a danger to Rome, reasoning that if Caesar be crowned king, he will become too selfish in his desires:

...He would be crown'd/How that might change his nature, there's the question....The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins/Remorse from power....But 'tis a common proof that lowliness is young ambition's ladder,/....But when he once attains the utmost round,/He then unto the ladder turns his back,/Looks in the clouds scorning the base degrees/By which he did ascend....(II,I,12-23)

So, in loyalty to principle, Brutus reasons that the only way to save Rome from tyranny is to kill Caesar: 

It must be by his death: and for my part,/I know no cause to spurn at him,/But for the general....(II,i,10-11)

Of course, to Julius Caesar himself, the assassination is a terrible act of disloyalty, and when Brutus stabs Caesar, Caesar cries in disbelief, "Et tu Brute?" since this act is perceived by Caesar as a betrayal of their friendship.  Ironically, it is also an act of betrayal of Brutus to himself as he has allowed himself to be duped by Cassius, "the lean, hungry man" whom Caesar points out to Marc Antony as desiring power.  Tragically, Brutus assumes that Cassius's intentions are as noble as his own.  And, because of his tragic mistake, his humarita as Aristotle defines this mistake in his Poetics, Brutus is ironically a traitor in his loyalty to principle.  For, the subsequent triumvirate of Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus becomes much more dictatorial than Julius Caesar, and the man of principle, Brutus, "the noblest Roman of all" as Antony eulogizes him, dies in failure.

Is "Macbeth" a greek tragedy?

As appletrees said, Shakespeare's play cannot be a Greek tragedy because it is an English play.  However, it is like a Greek tragedy in the sense that Macbeth has many of the qualities of a tragedy.  According to a guide on Greek tragedy provided by Grand Valley State University (see link in sources), a Greek tragedy is defined as a play that shows the destruction of a tragic hero through "hubris (pride), fate, and the will of the gods."  One could certainly make a case that Macbeth meets all three criteria by showing how Macbeth is ultimately destroyed because of his desire for power and position (a sense of pride is what causes us to desire these things), because of his chance meeting with the witches (fate), and because of the role the witches (are they gods?) played in leading Macbeth down a path of delusion.

Further, one could easily prove that Macbeth is indeed a tragic hero.  VCCSLitonine provides an excellent summary of Aristotle's ideas about tragic heroes.  A tragic hero must be of noble birth or high stature (Macbeth certainly is), he must be imperfect or fallible (consider how easily manipulated Macbeth is), he must have a tragic flaw (his murderous desire for power and his weak nature that allows him to be manipulated by both his wife and the witches), his downfall must be a result of his own choices (he has ample opportunity to spare Duncan's life, but he chooses power instead), his fate is not wholly deserved (this would be the hardest one to prove, but one might point out that had it not been for the witches and Lady Macbeth, Macbeth himself would have never chosen the path he took), he must ultimately accept his demise with nobility and grace, recognizing his fatal flaw in the end (which Macbeth clearly does in the final scenes of the play.

How does the political sitution in Rome following Caesar's murder compare with what it was under Caesar's rule?

Quite hilariously, really. The conspirators spend the first two acts of the play orchestrating the assassination with the most care and attention of (I think, at least) any single act in Shakespeare. Cassius has a properly and clearly orchestrated plan to get Brutus on board (letters at his window, carefully placed persuasive words, appeals to his honour, turning up at his orchard in the middle of the night). They endlessly argue about how to do it, who should be involved, who should be killed, and so on.

And yet they make absolutely no plans as to what happens next. We don't see it on stage, but we are told about the chaos that breaks out after the murder:

Men, wives and children stare, cry out and run
As it were doomsday.

And then, after Antony has turned things around at the funeral, it gets even worse:

First Citizen
Come, away, away!
We'll burn his body in the holy place,
And with the brands fire the traitors' houses.
Take up the body.

Second Citizen
Go fetch fire.

Third Citizen
Pluck down benches.

Fourth Citizen
Pluck down forms, windows, any thing.

[...]

Servant
I heard him say, Brutus and Cassius
Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome.

Before, Rome was ruled by one man, Julius Caesar. He was old, losing his hearing a little, and not in the best of health. But there's no evidence (unless you count the murder of Flavius and Marullus 'for pulling scarves off Caesar's images' early on in the play) that he's tyrannical, although plenty of characters seem to think so.

After his murder, chaos reigns for a while. But Rome falls into the hands of the triumvirate: Antony, Octavius Caesar, and Lepidus. Yet, as you see from the very carefully placed Act 4, Scene 1, the triumvirate immediately start to disagree. It's clearly not going to be an easy ride. It's a totally different leadership system.

But the play doesn't really focus too much on Rome (only really on the battle of Philippi) after Caesar's murder. If you want to find out what happened next... read Antony and Cleopatra!

What is going on with Estella now in Chapter 38 of "Great Expectations"?Charles Dickens's "Great Expectations"

In Chapter 38 of "Great Expectations" as Pip visits Estella in Richmond he reflects,

A feeling that it was ungenerous to press myself upon her when she knew that she could not choose but obey Miss Havisham.  My dread always was, that this knowledge on her part laid me under a heavy disadvantage with her pride, and me me the subject of rebellious struggle in her bosom.

Estella is the product of Miss Havisham albeit having some understanding of Pip's innocence in the plan.  She tries to warn Pip against loving her, but he is deluded and believes that her coldness is for all the other admirers in obeisance to Miss Havisham, his benefactor.  Pip is convinced that "his benefactor" intends for Estella and him to marry after her plan of revenge upon men is complete. 

That Pip is deluded is foreshadowing for what follows as Miss Havisham, too, has been deluded into believing that Estella can be conditioned to have a cold heart towards everyone but her.  When Estella and Pip are at Satis House, Miss Havisham delights in the recounting of Estella's cruelty to her many suitors.  As Estella "detaches herself" from the arm of Miss Havisham who has held her, Estella shows an impatience with "endur[ing] that fierce affection."  Hurt by her coldness, Miss Havisham calls Estella "You ingrate.  You stock and stone...You cold, cold heart!"

To this outcry of emotion from Miss Havisham, Estella calmly explains that it is she, her "mother" who has made her cold as she has taught her to break hearts: 

Who taught me to be hard?  Who praised me when I learned my lesson?

Miss Havisham, devastated emotionally, falls to the floor "amid the other wreckage."  Later that evening, Pip sees her walking and hears her "low cry."  But, the next day and on three other occasions there is no apparent indication that anything has altered in their relationship other than the slight appearance of fear in Miss Havisham.  Like Miss Havisham, Pip, too, begins to realize that Estella's heart can only be cold and not admit him, either.

This chapter helps advance the theme of Appearance vs. Reality.  Although Mr. Jaggers has advised Pip to not take things on their appearance, Pip has repeatedly done exactly that.

From the poem "Will There Really Be a 'Morning'?" by Emily Dickinson, why might she have capitalized the words she did?Cite specific words and...

Emily Dickinson has a very distinct style of writing, and unusual capitalization is just one of the facets of that style.  The reason that she probably chose to capitalize certain words was to give them more emphasis or importance.  Dickinson wrote really short, dense, minimally worded poems, so she had to make every single word count.  If she capitalized a word, it gave that word an extra punch of power, without having to add more words, or explain herself.

In the poem "Will There Really Be a Morning," if you look at some key capitalized words, and think about what purpose is served by those capitals, it can help you to understand her style a bit better.  Here are the words that she uses unusual capitalization with:  "Morning", "Day", "Water lilies", "Bird", "Scholar", "Sailor", "Wise Men", and "Pilgrim".  Her entire poem is wondering whether or not morning will come, and if day really exists.  She wishes she could see it come before anyone else, and wonders where it does come from.  So, since morning and day are such huge issues for her, she capitalizes them.  It gives morning and day more royalty, as if she is making them a person, and giving them supreme importance.  At the end, she is appealing to anyone who can give her answers, and respectfully capitalizes those she appeals to.  She asks if there isn't a scholar, sailor or wise man that can answer her question.  Capitalizing those gives them ultimate respect, and endows them with wisdom and authority.  And, since she is appealing to them for wisdom, her capitalization fits there; she is humble and ignorant, and is supplicating their wisdom.  Capitalizing those titles shows subservience and a willingness to listen.  So, in this poem, her capitalization shows reverence for wise people, and a salutation to the important topic of the poem.  I hope that those thoughts help; good luck!

In "The Death of the Hired Man," how does Frost’s choice of words affect the tone?

The poem states the mood in the first line:  "Mary sat musing..."  The poem is not an intense examination of anything, but rather a gentle recollection of a gentle man who has come back to the only family he has even know, come home to die.

Mary pushes Warren out the door so that she can talk to him without Silas' hearing; this may not be necessary because he may be already have died, but it is necessary for us to watch the gentle Mary let Warren do his manly rant, and to watch Warren's essentially goodness bubble through his initial reaction.  As the poem meanders on, Warren recalls the past times with Silas, often times in terms of nature images:  finding water with a hazel prong, bundling hay exactly, working in the fields all suggest a naturalness that will end in the most natural of endings for Silas ---- death.

It leads to Warren's realization:

Poor Silas, so concerned for other folk,

And nothing to look backward to with pride,

And nothing to look forward to with hope,

So now and never any different.”

After a brief pause where Mary "catches" the moon in her lap, where she pulls on the morning glory strings, more images of nature, one of the central discussons come about the meaning of "home," one of the warmest words in the poem.  Their two "definitions" come in a special order with Warren's the most "hostile" coming first, and Mary's more understanding following:

“Home is the place where, when you have to go there,

They have to take you in.”


“I should have called it

Something you somehow haven’t to deserve.”

Love, clearly the unspoken in the poem, is defined in terms of home, not the place ruled by obligation ("have to go ... have to take you in), but it terms of love ("haven't to deserve).

Through careful use of gentle nature language and images, Frost presents an elegant statement about the dignity of even the lowliest among us, and the wonderful compassion of two ordinary individuals who provide a "home" where this wounded soul can come home and die with dignity.

In The Kite Runner, what promise does Amir break to Sohrab?What then does Sohrab do?

Amir had promised Sohrab that he would never send him to another orphanage.  Unfortunately, when he begins to look into the procedures to adopt the child and bring him to American, Amir finds that, because of INS rules and the political situation in Afghanistan, it is going to be a task that will be very difficult, if not impossible.  Amir consults an immigration lawyer, who advises him that his best shot would be to put Sohrab back into an orphanage, then file an orphan petition.  That way, Sohrab will be in a safe place while the lengthy process of investigation and home study are being conducted.

Amir does not want to break his promise to Sohrab, but sees no other way of bringing him to America.  When he broaches the subject to Sohrab, the child is devasted, and begs Amir not to make him go back to the orphanage.  Sohrab is terrified of the place, and is convinced he will be hurt there as he was before, despite the promises of the adults.  After sobbing desconsolately for a long time, Sohrab finally falls asleep.  Later, he awakens and goes into the bathroom to take his nightly bath. As he lies in the water, he takes a razor and slices his wrists.

Sohrab's suicide attempt is very nearly successful.  When he is recovering in the hospital, Amir tells him that his wife, with the help of some friends in the INS, has secured a visa for him to go to America.  Sohrab is past caring, however, and Amir must win back his trust.  Although Sohrab never really consents to go with Amir, he ends up doing so because he has no other options.  It will take a long time before Sohrab, so often betrayed, will believe in hope and promises again (Chapter 24-25). 

What evidence shows us that Holden might have made a good actor?

In Chapter 14, Holden has a run in with Maurice, the elevator operator/pimp who barges into his room demanding the extra money that he claims that is still owed for Sunny, the prostitute's, services. Holden resists handing over any extra money proclaiming that he has paid Sunny.

So, Maurice get rough with him and beats him up. He goes into the bathroom after he is punched by Maurice and has trouble breathing, he is scared.

"I thought I was drowning or something.  The trouble was, I could hardly breathe." (Salinger)

But when he gets into the bathroom, he doesn't tend to his wounds, he plunges into a fantasy, or imaginary experience pretending that he was shot.

"I sort of started pretending I had a bullet in my guts.  Old Maurice had plugged me.  Now I was on the way to the bathroom to get a good shot bourbon or something to steady my nerves and help me really go into action.  I pictured myself coming out of the goddam bathroom, dressed and all with my automatic in my pocket and staggering around a little bit." (Salinger)

Holden goes through a whole scenario about being a gangster confronting the wiseguy who shot him.  He imagines that he confronts Maurice and fills him with lead, six shots to the gut.  It is in this part of the chapter that Holden proves that he enjoys acting just as much as anyone else, in fact he would make a good actor.

"The god-dam movies.  They can ruin you.  I'm not kidding." (Salinger)

Describe what the speaker asks in lines 1-8 of "To His Excellency General Washington". In lines 13-22 what three things does the speaker compare...

In the first eight lines of the poem, Wheatley is calling on the heavens to examine the Colonial struggle for independence from the British.  She argues that this is a battle where the natural law which validates individual freedom hangs in the balance, and the gods should pay special attention to it.  The constant interplay between light and darkness might allude to the difficulty in the battle for Independence, the struggle for Colonial Identity in the Revlolutionary War, which was to be far from guaranteed or easy.  In lines 13- 22, Wheatley compares the Colonists' efforts to Eolus, the Greek King of Winds.  The comparison might be to link colonial struggle's strength to the power of the Greek god of winds.  She also invokes a comparison to the bounty of leaves that fall in Autumn, signifying that the struggle for colonial freedom is as thick and dense as leaves that fall on the ground.  Finally, when the poet brings to light the flag that waves in the air, she is suggesting that the colonial warrior's "train" will march and in this work, the work of fighting will be as powerful as the flag that waves "unfurl'd" in the air.  The end of the poem almost serves as a type of prophecy that suggests to all that America will win and Washington will assume "a crown, a mansion, and a throne that shines."  Wheatley concludes with this resounding call that the gods favor the Colonists' struggle for independence and victory is all but assured, with Washington's leadership intact.

In Chapter 24 of The Kite Runner, why do Sohrab and Amir travel to Islamabad?Amir says " there are alot of children in Afghanistan, but little...

After Amir and Sohrab escape from the evil Taliban official Assef, they know they cannot stay in Peshawar. Amir had originally made plans with Rahim Khan to take Sohrab, when he had found him, to "a small charity organization" in Peshawar run by Americans, "a husband and wife named Thomas and Betty Caldwell".  Rahim Khan says he has seen the place, and that it is "clean and safe...the children...well cared for", and that Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell have already told him "that Sohrab would be welcome to their home" (Chapter 17).  Unfortunately, now that Amir has found Sohrab, he discovers that "there never was a John and Betty Caldwell in Peshawar...they never existed".  Without a safe place for him to stay, Amir cannot leave Sohrab in Peshawar; the two must leave the city, to escape the danger of being tracked down by Assef's men.  Amir had planned to return to the United States from Islamabad; now, since he has nowhere else to go, Sohrab will have to accompany him there (Chapter 23).

In Islamabad, Amir tries to make arrangements to adopt Sohrab and take him back with him to the United States.  As he gets to know the child better, he realizes just how horrific his life has been.  Amir says that

"there are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood" (Chapter 24).

Afghanistan has suffered through years of war and political unrest.  Children are born and grow up having never known peace and security, and orphans are everywhere, scrambling to survive.  Children in Afghanistan rarely have had the chance to enjoy a carefree childhood, and this is especially true for the Hazara.   During Hassan's time, the Hazara were looked down upon as second-class citizens and treated little better than servants.  During Sohrab's time, with the coming of the Taliban, they were routinely persecuted and killed. 

Can anyone summarize the poem "If" by by Rudyard Kipling?

IF

BY RUDYARD KIPLING

SUMMARY

1. You will be considered as a noble being by this world if you muster the art of keeping cool without yeilding to any kind of provocative act and losing your temper.  People may tell many lies to blemish your image but you should not be upset about that.  You should not tell lies and hate others around you.  You must learn to love your enemies.

2. You may dream about a great deal of good and bright things but you should not make your dreams to rule over you and prevail as masters.  You must always think about your life very practically.

3. You should not allow the success to go to your head or your failure to depress you.  They should not influence your practical life.  Some people would try to project the truth you spoke in a distorted way and try to hold you in bad light.  It should not depress you.  It should not demoralise you if some critics try to destroy your good work.  You should work hard and build your image once again.

4. some times your good work may go unrewarded.  This should not depress you and make you lose your heart.  Even after growing old, with your strength and vigor lost, you should not buckle but should work hard supported by your will power to achieve your goals.

5. You should not avoid the company of the common people and keep away from them but their cheap way of thinking should not influence you. You may rub your shoulders with the people of the high society but this should not cut you off from the company of the common masses.

6. You should not waste your time and consider the time as the most precious.

Analyze the personality of one of the leading characters in Macbeth.

Let me speak briefly on the character & personality of Lady Macbeth. She is sometimes called 'the Clytemnestra of English tragedy'; some other times, she is compared to Medea. But is she really as cruel as Clytemnestra who, together with her paramour, killed her husband, Agamemnon? Is she as cruel as Medea who dismembered her children limb by limb?

If Lady Macbeth is cruel, if she is found to be a woman of iron will, her cruelty and her wickedness are born of her love and loyalty to her husband. Learning from Macbeth's letter that the witches have corroborated his ambition of becoming the king, Lady Macbeth invokes, in her soliloquy, the aid of the dark forces of evil, to 'unsex' her and to turn 'her milk into gal'. She stands by her husband's side, chastising him with strongly-worded reprimands; she prepares the blue-print of King Duncan's murder. But her tension-ridden reactions just before the murder being committed by her husband, her fainting after the murder is discovered, her recurring feelings of melancholy isolation and, above all, her sleep-walking leading to suicidal death--all suggest that Lady Macbeth is wicked with a difference. She is not a 'fiend-like queen' as Malcolm refers to her in the closing speech.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus praises Jem by saying, "you've perpetrated a near libel..." (67). What is ironic about this praise?

When Atticus praises Jem by telling her she has "perpetrated a near libel," his praise is ironic because libel is a criminal act.  To commit libel is to publish a statement intended to defame the character of another person (or group of people).  Aside from its criminal aspect, libel is generally not an act for which someone would receive praise, because it carries with it a strongly negative association.  So, for Jem to receive a positive response for what is certainly a negative action amplifies the irony of Atticus's statement.

What elements are unique to Mark Twain's style? How could you identify a passage as Mark Twain if it were unidentified? Thanks!

Certainly Twain has an inimitable style.  His accomplished use of dialect is always salient; however there are other techniques that he uses that somehow differ from other writers.  For instance, his social commentary is much more subtle than the satire of other writers.  Afterall, there have been many a reader of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," or "The Prince and the Pauper" who have enjoyed these narratives told by seemingly artless narrators without realizing Twain's cynicism toward society.  A simple line from "Conneticut Yankee" such as

The old abbot's joy to see me was pathetic. Even to tears; but he did the shedding himself

points to this cynicism. As one critic has remarked,

The rich comedy of his narratives are often undercut by a darkness and a depth of seriousness which give his works an ambivalence, an ambivalence which reflects Twain's own divided nature. 

In the descriptions of the escapades of the Duke and the King in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," for example, the reader also perceives the criticism and disappointment in the predatory nature of man who would exploit people when they are most vulnerable, such as after the death of a loved one.  With his artless narrator--another trademark--Twain describes how the two scoundrels take advantage of the Wilks' family whose father dies.  The king quickly sells the slaves.  When they are separated Huck notices the grief of the family at losing their servants:

I thought them poor girls and them n--s would break their hearts for grief; they cried around each other, and took on so it most made  me down sick to see it.  The girls said they hadn't ever dreamed of seeing the family separated or sold away from the town....I couldn't a stood it all...if I hadn't knowed the sale warn't no account and the n--s would be back home in a week or wto.

Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper," a charming tale of switched identities, is also a social commentary as the prince, reduced to being treated as a menial person, comes to realize some of the injustices of his kingdom.

As long as the king lived he was fond of telling the story of his adventures, all through,....He said that the frequent rehearsing of the precious lesson kept him strong in his pupose to make its teachings yield benefits to his people...and thus keep its sorrowful spectacles fresh in his memory and the springs of pity replenished in his heart.

With simple, seemingly artless narrators and a understated style, Twain leads  readers to arrive at the social commentary of his narratives on their own.  This subtlety and, at times, ambivalence is characteristic of Mark Twain's style.

In "Everyday Use" would you agree with the narrator's decision to give the quilts to Maggie rather than to Dee? Give reason for your answer.

Yes, I agree with the narrator's decision to give the quilt to Maggie over Dee. Maggie is often overlooked and under appreciated by her mother because Dee has an exciting and adventurous personality. Maggie is constant and caring, though. Dee wants the quilt because she has adopted a new superficial connection to her "roots."  She claims that she wants the quilt to show off her heritage. It is clear that she has no understanding of where she is actually from, though. She just wants the quilt to hang on the wall. Maggie truly understands her past and fully accepts it. She contributes in a real way to the world around her and is deeply committed to her family. She deserves the quilt because she will use it and she will better appreciate it and the hard work that went into making it.

I need three examples of how the Nazis dehumanized the Jews or treated them with compassion in Night.

Well, this answer has more to do with history than with what happens in Night.  Hitler was a member of the National Socialist German Worker's Party, or the Nazi party. After being voted into power as Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Nazis took control of the government.  In 1936, they enacted the Nuremberg Laws, which practically strips the Jews (and other undesirable groups) of their German citizenship.  In 1938, Kristallnacht, or "the Night of Broken Glass," occurred, when the Nazi soldiers vandalized Jewish homes, shops, and synagogues.  The SS originally had the Jews quartered into the ghettos, where they were crammed and isolated from the rest of the city, hoping that eventual starvation and disease would kill the Jews off.  However, they thought that the process was too slow, so instead, they were shipped off to labor camps to be worked to death.  In some countries, they were rounded up and sent to mass grave sites where they were shot and killed. The Jews would be shipped in cattle cars packed full.  In Night, Elie mentioned the burning smell of urine and the inability to move or breathe.

However, as terrible as this sounds, they again thought that the process was too slow, so Himmler came up with the Final Solution to exterminate the Jewish race. This is what most people think about - Auschwitz, Dachau, etc - the extermination camps.  Here, the SS would select who would "live" and who would die.  Usually the young children and elderly - the people who are unable to work - would immediately be sent off to be killed in the gas chambers.  The SS would lie and tell them that they are going to get deloused, so they are standing in these chambers naked. The SS watch these deaths through little windows into the shower rooms, like it's a show. They would then release carbon monoxide into the chambers. The people would realize what was going on, so they would try to break out of the shower house.  People would climb on top of each other, trample each other, claw at the walls and ceilings. If you look at the gas chambers now, you can still see the claw marks (I visited Dachau and it was the most humbling experience in my life). From here, prisoners would unload the naked bodies from the chambers and put them in the ovens in the crematorium, after taking out anything of value, such as golden teeth. They would then be burned in the ovens.   

The ones that were selected to live were dehumanized even more so.  The one thing that connects a man to his identity is his name. To be forcefully stripped of your name is to lose everything that you hold. The Nazis stripped the Jews of their names and tattooed a number onto their arms.  Both men and women had their hair shaved.  A woman is recognized as a woman for her hair. Having that shaved off takes away her womanhood. They were stripped naked in front of the soldiers, who treated them worse than animals, and deloused. From here, they were sent off to other labor camps, where they were worked to death and fed rotten food filled with worms. If you were unable to work, you would be killed. Some prisoners were also used for human experimentation, especially twins.  Some prisoners were made into other items. They were treated as expendables.

Granted, there are instances of kindness, but almost never from the soldiers themselves.