Compare Rufus and his dad. Is Rufus an improvement over his father? How if at all, is Dana's influence evident on the adult Rufus?

In the novel "Kindred" by Octavia Butler, Dana is a Black woman shifting back and forth in time.  She soon realizes that when she is "called" back in time it is to rescue a boy, and later an adult, Rufus Weylin.  Rufus is a spoiled boy that seems to try and please Dana because he knows that she will "come" when he is in trouble.  As an adult, Rufus is "erratic, alternately generous and vicious."  He lies when necessary and tells people what they want to hear.  He is constantly getting into trouble, but if Dana is to protect her linage, she must protect Rufus.  Her influence does have an affect on him.  He is not as mean or ruthless toward the slaves as his father.  In fact he is in love with Alice.  The problem is the era in which he is raised.  Slaves are property.  He doesn't understand Dana's objections to how he treats his slaves.  He believes he is generous and overlooks many of their faults, but Dana tries to impress upon him it doesn't matter because they are still slaves.  She constantly tries to get Rufus to give them their freedom.

On the other hand, Tom Weylin is mean and ruthless.  He beats his slaves, he doesn't approve of them getting an education or eating at the same time as he does.  At one point Dana and Rufus are eating together and Rufus tells Dana,

"'Daddy'd do some cussin' if he came in here and found us eating together,' he said."

"I put my biscuit down and reined in whatever part of my mind I'd left in 1976.  He was right. 'What are you doing then? Trying to make trouble?'"

"No.  He won't bother us, Eat."

"The last time someone told me he wouldn't bother me, he walked in and beat the skin off my back."

"His father wasn't the monster he could have been, he wasn't a monster at all. Just an ordinary man who sometimes did the monstrous things his society said were legal and proper." (pg. 134)

Most of the differences between Rufus and his father are generational.  If Tom had had a black woman like Dana in his life he probably would have behaved differently.

Rufus also tells Dana that his father was fair, not likable but fair.  He said that it was important for Tom to keep his word when he gave it to a white man or a black man.  Rufus on the other had lied to Dana more than once.

What material conditions influence (determine) “culture”?

Here's a definition of culture from Wikipedia:

Culture has been understood as a flux of phenomenon that has presuppositions and foundations from their hunter-gathering and nomadic traditions to cultivation.

Dictionary.com has an interesting definition (#5)"

the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the youth culture; the drug culture.

Many of the presuppositions that we have about our culture come from our economic position.  For instance, preservation of the culture is often the concern of the upper class since it serves their needs very well; on the other hand, the lowest classes may not have the same attachment to culture becuase it does not serve their economic needs as well.  As has been noted, this is something that Karl Marx wrote about.  He thought that the conflict between these two "cultures" in one society, would inevitably lead to revolution, and it often has.  In many countries, however, the middle class has served as a buffer between the 2 classes, although this is not its main purpose.  The middle class, while not having all the cultural advantages of the upper class, is a lot better off than the lower class, and, in theory at least, entry into it is available to members of the lower class given enough education, work, etc.  And since the middle class has a serious stake in the maintenance of the status quo culture, they will defend it against threats from the lower class.

Its difficult to get a class to buy into a culture if they spend all their time worrying about their next meal.  There's is an interesting discussion of this in "The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor."  The Inquisitor notes that hungry people have no free will, and without free will there can be no interest in culture.

Why does Hamlet delay his action to murder King Claudius?no

There are several reasons for this.  First of all, Hamlet argues that he does not know whether or not he can fully trust that the ghost was really his father's spirit and not just a demonish spirit trying to trick him (Elizabethans would most likely have believed this to be a possibility).  This is why Hamlet sets up thje play-within-the-play to test Claudius.  Once Hamlet sees teh reaction from Claudius that proves to him his uncle is, in fact, the murderer, he still delays murdering Claudius.  This is mainly because he stumbles across Claudius praying and decides he can't kill him during paryer since it would possibly send him to heaven, and not to purgatoy, which is where his poor father is suffering.

Many critics argue that all this inaction is based on convenient excuses, however, that simply allow Hamlet to continue to waffle on the issue, establishing inaction and indecisiveness as character traits on his part.

How one can protect sugar from ants?Its been 3 months that we have shifted to our new house.the major problem we are facing is that we keep sugar...

Ants are amazingly well adapted to fit into tight spaces. First of all, be sure that the container that you store your sugar in has a tight fitting seal. You say it is air-tight, but if an ant can get in, air is getting in as well.  Try storing your sugar in a glass jar with a screwtop lid.  Make sure the lid has a ruberized seal around the lip of the jar.  You might also try a zip-top plastic bag.  This is what we use, and it works.

You can attempt controling the ants with a solution of 1 cup of sugar to 1 pint of water boiled into a syrup with 1 TBSP of boric acid added. This will kill the ants in the nest.  It takes a while to work, but it is effective.  Place a small amount of the "bait" on a small flat dish where the ants travel. They will find it, and many will come to the feast. You will see many ants for about 3 to 4 days, and then none if your boric acid solution is of the right strength. If this does not control the ants, add 1 more TBSP of boric acid to the batch of sugar water.  The thing is that you want the ants to feed this to their queen. So it has to be weak enough to not kill them right away, but strong enough so that over time, they will all die after eating it.

Boric acid is not toxic, and the ants do not recognize it as a poison.

Discuss how you feel about the stands the author and characters take in "Fahrenheit 451". List examples of the themes mentioned below.Conformity...

This question seems to be an essay prompt, so I hope that you can form some of your own opinions on how you feel about Bradbury's stance on some of these issues.  I can't help you to decide whether you feel Bradbury is right or wrong, but I can help you to clarify what Bradbury's stance is on at least one of those themes.  The guidelines for this website allow for one question a day, so I will help you out with the first theme, and I suggest submitting the others on separate days.

In "Fahrenheit 451" Bradbury showed a strong belief in individuality, and how expressing individuality is healthy.  He indicated that mass conformity only led to misery, unhappiness, repression from the government, and the inability to think for oneself.  The best examples of the two extremes are Clarisse and Mildred.  Clarisse was an individual. She questioned everything, thought for herself, and as a result, was very happy.  Mildred on the other hand, did not think for herself; instead, she consumed massive amounts of media that kept her thoughts at a very shallow level, she conformed to society's beliefs about family, relationships, and what life should be, and, was so miserable that she attempted to kill herself.  The message Bradbury is sending is clear:  individuality and thinking for oneself is the the key to happiness and fulfillment, whereas blind conformity with no thoughts or individuality leads to misery and annihilation of any sense of self.

Clarisse--and self-fulfilled individuals--exude happiness, and a large part of that is because they think and question things.  Clarisse states, "sometimes I just sit and think," and she likes to figure people out, and why they are the way that they are.  Whereas Mildred, or conformed individuals, don't care.  Instead, they go out and drive their cars fast.  And, Montag's society embraces and encourages such behavior.  Beatty tells Montag that his society likes to feed them a lot of useless information so that "they'll feel they're 'brilliant'...and they'll be happy" because they'll feel like they're learning, but they're not.  He states,

"if you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one.  Better yet, give him none."

Control of information means control of thinking, and that is the ultimate goal of conformity in Montag's society.

In the end, it is the individuals, the thinkers, and the people who stood apart and refused to conform that ultimately survive the wars of Montag's world.  And it will be them that fixes things, and rebuilds civilization.  That alone indicates that Bradbury believes in individuality, and thinks it is the key to happiness and success.  I hope that those thoughts help a bit; good luck!

What cultural differences are there between the Puritans and Native Americans?

There are several primary differences between Puritans and Native Americans.  The most evident difference between both is that one group emigrated to the New World, while the other group was indigenous to it.  This highlights that fact that the Native Americans possessed a more holistic and understanding approach to themselves in relation to the New World.  The Puritans emigrated to the New World to escape religious persecution and with this level of anxiety approached the New World as something to control, over which to exercise power.  The Native Americans never used the approach of power to control the land or the inhabitants on it, whereas the Puritans saw their existence in the New World as a constant and anxious battle to appropriate it in accordance to their own subjectivity.  This difference in perception of themselves in relation to the world indicates a fundamental difference between both groups.

Another difference rests in the realm of religion. Native American religion was pluralistic.  This means that there were many differing conceptions that helped to explain cosmology, individual consciousness, purpose of existence, and "the way things are."  While there was animosity between Native American tribes, there did not seem to be an understanding that one version of religious truth was sought to be obliterated at the hands of another.  Puritan approaches to religion resided in the fact that their view of religion was dogmatic:  Original sin dominated over all.  This created a very antagonistic approach to religion, in so far as there was little, if any, comfort that Puritans had in their religious faith.  It was something to be feared, to be revered, to be accepted, and the natural tension that existed when the three of them converged created anxiousness and a lack of understanding of other conceptions of religious truth as well as a lack of their own conception of it.  The Salem Witchcraft Trials could only happen in a Puritanical community, where there is only one conception of "Truth" and those who speak out against it are deemed as "speaking out against truth."  We don't see this level of dogmatism to this extent in Native American religious experiences and expressions.

The final cultural difference is another apparent one.  The Puritans ended up winning.  They became the dominant cultural, political, and social power.  They ended up starting the process of relegating and eventually silencing the Native American voice.  This reflects a cultural difference of power and the lack of it.  When we end up seeing American History as the competing narratives of those who are deemed as "winners" and those who came about at the cost of those who "won," we begin to have a greater understanding and appreciation of the diaspora called American History.  This becomes a cultural legacy of both:  Puritanism's victory and the question of what cost and Native American silence and the question of what could have been.  This is a theme that starts out with the Native American and Puritans and is played out throughout American Historical dialogue.

What did Miss Maudie think of the Radleys in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Miss Maudie felt nothing but compassion for Arthur Radley, but she felt genuine contempt for his father. She thought Old Mr. Radley was judgmental and unforgiving, the result of his zealous and unyielding religious views. She tried to explain this to Scout:

You are too young to understand it . . . but sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of --oh, your father.

When Scout protests that her father isn't one to drink, Maudie tried again to express how she felt about Old Mr. Radley:

What I meant was, if Atticus Finch drank until he was drunk he wouldn't be as hard as some men are at their best. There are just some kind of men who--who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street [to the Radley house] and see the results.

Maudie dismissed all the gossip about Arthur Radley as nonsense. She knew him as a boy when he always spoke to her in a nice way, "as nicely as he knew how." When Scout asked Maudie if she thought he was crazy, her response showed insight and understanding of the workings of the Radley family:

If he's not he should be by now. The things that happen to people we never really know. What happens in houses behind closed doors, what secrets--

Maudie believed that Arthur's father had been a cruel man who no doubt abused his son in the privacy of their home, treatment that continued after his death with the arrival of Nathan Radley to take his place in dealing with Arthur. She felt pity for Arthur and sadness for the boy he had once been. According to Maudie, the Radley home was "a sad house."

In Of Mice and Men, how are George and Lennie related in terms of freedom, responsibility, work, and caring for others?

George and Lennie are both "free," in the sense that they move about the country at will, traveling wherever they choose. They are not really free, however, in that they are trapped by their poverty, homelessness, and lack of education. They lack the economic freedom to determine their own lives, always depending upon whatever work they can find as itinerant farm hands in order to survive. Both are hard workers. Lennie's mental capacities are very limited, but he is physically strong and willing to do his share. According to George, Lennie is a good hand:

He's a good skinner. He can rassel grain bags, drive a cultivator. He can do anything . . . . He can put up a four hundred pound bale.

In their friendship, each man cares for the other and values their relationship. They are united by their dream and their need for each other in facing the loneliness of their lives. When George goes through his familiar recitation of how their lives are different from those of other men on the road who have nobody who "gives a damn," Lennie chimes in with his part:

But not us! An' why? Because . . . because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.

In this friendship, George must assume all responsibility for the two of them, finding their jobs, dealing with those around them, and always trying to manage and protect Lennie, with his mental deficiencies. Understanding how much power he exercises over Lennie and how much Lennie trusts him, George takes his responsibility for Lennie very seriously. He does his best to take care of Lennie, just as he had promised Lennie's Aunt Clara. When Lennie speaks of going off by himself, George responds quickly:

I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody'd shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt Clara wouldn't like you running off by yourself, even if she is dead.

The severest test of George's responsibility for Lennie occurs in the novel's conclusion. George shoots his friend in a humane manner to spare him the fear and pain of the horrible death that will soon overtake him.

When and where was Shakespeare baptized?

William Shakespeare's baptism was recorded on April 26, 1564, in the parish register of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.

No one really knows for sure when Shakespeare was born, but his generally accepted birthday is April 23 based on the tradition at that time of baptising within two or three days of birth.

Although Shakespeare was the third of eight children, he was the eldest son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden.

Despite the religious and political unrest of this period, baptism of infants was the norm in most groups.

What is an example of dramatic irony and verbal irony from "A Separate Peace"?John Knowles's "A Separate Peace"

The inscription over the door of the First Academy Building of Devon School reads, "Here Boys Come to be Made Men" certainly seems dramatically ironic in light of the narrative since Gene's character does not develop integrity at all, and Leper becomes a sacrificial victim of war.  So, too, is the secret society that the boys form ironic.  For, the "Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session" results in the death of Finny.

Another example of situational irony is the remark of Phineas about the tree in Chapter 1:  "What I like best about this tree...is that it's such a cinch!"  In reference to the tree again, Finny uses verbal irony in Chapter 2 when he tells Mr. Prud'homme,

The real reason, sir, was that we just had to jump out of that tree....We had to do that, naturally...because we're all getting ready for the war.

Of course, Finny is merely toying with his teacher and does not mean what he says.

Later in this chapter, Gene makes a remark that is dramatically ironic as he says, "There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little."

Another example of verbal irony occurs in Chapter 5 after Finny's accident when Finny asks, "you aren't going to start living by the rules, are you?" and Gene replies, Oh,no, I wouldn't do that."  Even Gene admits "that was the most false thing...."

Where is the theatrical imagery in 'Hamlet'? Why does Hamlet think in theatrical terms?

The 'tragedians of the city', professional actors, appear at exactly the opportune moment in Act 2, just as Hamlet wouldl like to see them. Yet they, and their performance of 'The Mousetrap' (as adapted by Hamlet himself) are by no means the only meta-theatrical or theatrical constructs within the wider play.

As the veteran critic Anne Barton has commented, 'the stage imagery of Hamlet... is there from the beginning, and it remains important in the final movement of the tragedy. The ghost of Hamlet's father comes in the 'shape' or 'form' of the buried majesty of Denmark, as though he were an actor in a doubtful part. Alarmingly, this may be exactly what he is: an agent of hell impersonating the dead King. Hamlet himself, after having contemptuously repudiated those 'actions that a man might play' on his first appearance (I.2.84) confronts this ambiguous ghost, decides that henceforth he will play the part of madman, and proceeds to devise a lethal little dramatic entertainment in which to 'catch the conscience of the King'... He is conscious again of the playlike character of events when, at the very end, he addresses the silent and horrified court of Denmark as 'mutes or audience to this act' (V.2.329)'

Why is Hamlet obsessed with theatre images? Because, of course, Denmark is the land where one can "smile and smile and be a villain". Everyone is fake, everyone is playing a part, everyone is an actor. No-one can be believed: appearances are always deceptive. And Hamlet's love of theatre (as we find when he talks about the actors to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) provides the perfect escape, metaphor and key with which to understand a fundamentally pretend, lying court.

The first line of Hamlet is "Who's there?" It's a question you can ask of almost every character: who is the actor, and who the real person? What is really going on?

How does Hester's relationship with the town change as the years pass in "The Scarlet Letter"?

At the beginning of the story, Hester is the outcast of the town.  They revile her because of her sin, judging her and alienating her.  She lives on the edge of town and is not accepted into mainstream society.

As the years pass, the town will slowly start to accept and then to honor Hester.  It begins with her sewing.  Although they condemn her, the ladies of the town hypocritically accept the work of Hester the seamstress.  As more time passes, the actual ridicule fades away.  Hester's charity work is gratefully accepted.  The town begins to see her as an "elder" in the traditional sense, meaning that she is applied to for comfort and advise.  When she is buried, her grave is marked with an "A", but that "A" is no longer connected to the idea of adultery.  It has become connected with angel and with able, the true nature of Hester.

What is ironic about her relationship with the town is that, as bad as it is in the beginning, Hester chose it herself.  She was not required to stay, but made staying her penitence for her sin:

"Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul."

Which of the pairs consists of equivalent rational numbers?-9 /15 and -3 /5

We get an eqivalent fraction (rational number )if we multiply both numerator and dinominator of the fraction bythe same number

The given numbers are -9/15 , -3/5, only one pair, and they are equivakent forhe following reason:

(-3*3)/(5*3) = -9/15, both the numerator and dinominators  of the fraction -3/5 are multipled by 3 and we got the -9/15.

Therefore, -3/5 and -9/15 are equivalent fraction (rational numbers).

Also if both numerator and dinominator of a rational number are divided by the same number, then also we get arational number.

(-9/3)/(15/3) =-3/5. Therefore, -9/15  and -3 /5 are  fractions (rational numbers).

In "Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War is Kind," what is the tone, the symbolic meaning, and the motif of the poem?

The primary motif in the poem is the phrase "war is kind." The fact that it appears in the title, as well as numerous times in the poem, suggests its significance. It is through this motif that Crane develops the tone of the poem, one of verbal irony. The idea that war is kind is sharply contrasted by several specific scenes of death and suffering. Ironically, the only way war can be "kind" is that it brings death which ends suffering--except for one powerful exception with which the poem concludes in a somber and most terribly ironic tone:

Mother whose heart hung humble as a button

On the bright splendid shroud of your son,

Do not weep.

War is kind.

Her soldier son's suffering is over, but his mother's has only begun. In terms of symbolism, there is not a single central symbol that unifies the poem. However, the "battle-god" and "his kingdom" symbolize war's violence and destruction.

In addition to the "war is kind" motif, there are other specific lines that are repeated in the poem. "Do not weep" always precedes "war is kind." Also repeated are the lines "A field where a thousand corpses lie" and "These men were born to drill and die."

In chapter 2 of Great Expectations what object that Pip takes makes him feel guilty and nearly gets him discovered?

He steals several things from home that day--food, a pork pie, brandy, and Joe's file.   It is the pork pie, the brandy, and the file that almost get him caught.  When he stole the brandy, he replaced it with tar water, which makes one of their guests incredibly sick.  So not only did he steal the liquor, he also inadverdently made someone sick from the action.  This startles the entire family; next, Pip's sister goes to get the pork pie.  Gratefully, they are distracted by the soldiers.  The soldiers have discovered the filed handcuffs; Magwitch had used Joe's file to saw them open.  The soldiers realize the file must have come from Joe's forge.  This is awful because then Joe looks guilty, and Pip feels horrible.  He has to decide whether or not to confess his crimes.  Fortunately, Magwitch covers for him, and he gets off the hook.

So, stealing almost caught up to Pip in several ways in the opening chapters of the book, each item causing alarm, harm and intrigue.  I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!

Which quotes portray Curley's Wife as powerless and regretful in "Of Mice and Men"?

Several major details in addition to specific quotations illustrate Steinbeck's theme that women during his time were often powerless and isolated simply because of their gender.

1. Unlike Crooks who is isolated because of race, Candy who is isolated because of his age and injury, and Lennie who is isolated because of his mental disability, Curley's Wife is an outcast on the ranch simply because she is a female.  She has no one to talk to and nobody who shares similar interests.  She also has no practical skills for ranch life.

2.  Curley's Wife also remains nameless throughout the entire novellete. Steinbeck gives even Whit, a minor character with few lines, a name. This demonstrates that she is unimportant to the ranch hands and that they do not have a desire to get to know her well enough to know her name.

3.  Quote 1:

When looking for Curley in Chapter 3, Curley's Wife says, "They left all the weak ones here. . . . Think I don't know where they all went? Even Curley.  I know where they all went" (77).

She knows that her husband is in town at a brothel and there is nothing she can do about it.  She also fits into the category of "the weak ones" and recognizes that fact.

4. Quote 2:

She asks Crooks and Candy, "Think I'm gonna stay in that two-by-four house and listen how Curley's gonna lead with his left twict, and then bring in the ol' right cross?" (78)

Even though she wants them to think and wants to convice herself that she would leave Curley if the opportunity afforded itself, she knows that that will not happen.  She is too afraid to leave, and the only characters she say this to are the other weak ones.

5. In Chapter 5, as Curley's Wife talks to Lennie, she discusses her past dream to be a movie star and states that she could have made something of herself (88). However, she at one time felt so powerless over her situation in life that she married Curley, a man she had just met, indicating that even now she does not have the courage to leave and try to "make something of herself.

What are three things that can create microclimates?What characteristics of these things help create a microclimate?

First, let's define microclimate. As the name suggests, it is the climate of a small area that usually differs from the surrounding region.

(1) One thing that can create a microclimate is a city. Because a city has lots of sidewalks, streets, parking lots, and paved areas, it absorbs a lot of heat energy from the Sun during the day. At night, it releases this energy to the surroundings. A city may be several degrees warmer than the surrounding countryside.

(2) Another thing that can create a microclimate is slope. Consider snow-covered hills in North America in winter. Typically, the snow facing the Sun (south-facing) will melt while the snow facing away from the Sun (north-facing) will melt at a much slower pace and may still be there even when there's no more snow on the south slope.

(3) Another thing that can create a microclimate is a large body of water. During the day, water absorbs heat energy from the Sun. At night, it releases this energy to the surroundings. Locations near this body of water will be warmer at night than locations farther away.

In "Flowering Judas," explain the climax of the story.

The climax of this story comes at the end of this tale, where Laura experiences a dream involving Eugenio, the man who committed suicide with the sleeping pills that she brought to him. The dream, or rather the nightmare, that Laura experiences, serves to highlight both her extreme isolation as well as her inability to love. Note how Eugenio refuses to take her hand in this dream to lead her away, and gives her instead flowers from the Judas tree that Laura knows are symbols of love. Note how this is described:

Then eat these flowers, poor prisoner, said Eugenio in a voice of pity, take and eat: and from the Judas tree he stripped the warm bleeding flowers, and held them to her lips. She saw that his hand was fleshless... but she ate the flowers greedily for they satisfied both hunger and thirst.

Eugenio's response to this is to call her a "Cannibal" and a "Murderer," and to say the phrase "This is my body and my blood," which clearly links the eating of the flowers to the act of communion, which is thought in Catholicism to represent the eating of Christ's body and the drinking of his blood. This highlights the many contraditions in Laura's life. She is a Catholic, and secretly goes to mass, and yet she is in Mexico to serve a Revolution that opposes Catholicism explictly. She shows an inability to love, and yet she is secretly pleased that the revolutionary to whom she gave the Judas flower continues to pursue her. She is an isolated figure who is unable to reach out and make contact with others, symbolised by Eugenio's refusal to take her hand, and she is trapped with her irreconcilable contradictions, left in Mexico to serve a cause that she is at best ambiguous about. This climax thus highlights the various contraditions within the character of Laura and the alienated position that she occupies.

Compare and contrast Bottom and Theseus.

Nick Bottom is one of the central figures of the play.  He is one of the workmen who get together in the woods at night to practice their version of the play, "Pyramus and Thisbe" with the hope of being chosen to perform it for Theseus and Hippolyta's wedding.  He has a high opinion of himself and his abilities as an actor, though he isn't really a very good actor.  We know this because he mispronounces words and he overacts which is evident when he performs the role of Pyramus before Theseus and the rest of the court.  It is because he and the other workmen are not good performers that Puck gives Theseus the head of an ass.  But it is with the changed Nick Bottom that Titania falls in love when she wakens.  After the spell is removed from Titania and she no longer loves Bottom, that Bottom - who was never aware that he had the head of an ass - says upon waking himself that he has had a rare dream, a dream that cannot and should not be explained.  Some things, he implies, are best not reasoned out.  His speech here in Act 4, sc. 1, indicates that he embraces imagination and realizes that some things are best simply accepted.

Theseus is the Duke of Athens.  It is his marriage to Hippolyta that brings many of the characters together.  Theseus, in his speech at the beginning of Act 5, sc. 1, implies that he does not have the imagination or the belief in imagination that Bottom has.  His words suggest that he thinks the four lovers made up their story about all having the same dream.  He doesn't see the plausibility of such an occurrence.  Theseus sees the imagination as something other people have and to understand them, sometimes a person has to accept that others use their imaginations.

In "Of Mice and Men," what is George or Lennie's epiphany, or their insight to the world?please help.

In "Of Mice and Men," after Lennie tries to quiet Curley's wife from screaming when he strokes her hair too hard, he inadvertently breaks her neck as he struggles with her to cover her mouth.

When she didn't answer nor move he bent closely over her.  He lifted her arm and let it drop.  For a moment he seemed bewildered.  And then he whispered in fright, "I done a bad thing.  I done another bad thing.'

With the death of Curley's wife at the hands of Lennie comes the death of the dream of Lennie and George who witnesses the dead girl. With this death comes George's epiphany:

George said softly, '--I think I knowed from the first.  I think I knowed we'd never do her.  Ue usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would.'

Meanwhile, Lennie runs for the brush and waits for George as he has been taught to do if he does a "bad thing."  As he waits for George, Lennie experiences an epiphany. Through the voice of his Aunt Clara, Lennie reasons that George "ain't gonna let me tend no rabbits now."  Lennie realizes that things are different.  A rabbit appears to Lennie and tells him,

'He's gonna beat hell outa you with a stick, that's what he's gonna do....he's sick of you...He's gonna go away an' leave you.'

But, when George appears, and Lennie asks George if he is going to beat him, but George says he will not, Lennie becomes happy again as George recites the dream, instructing Lennie to look across the lake so he can envision it.  Having forgotten his "bad" deed, Lennie giggles with happiness.  George shoots Lennie as the men are heard approaching.  Perhaps at that moment Lennie knows the epiphany was true, after all.

What had the kindness of The Souls done for Mrs. Olinski that "all the king's horses and all the king's men" could not, in View from Saturday?

The kindness of the Souls has helped Mrs. Olinski regain the confidence to be an effective teacher.  After having suffered a terrible accident which left her a paraplegic, Mrs. Olinski, with the help of the Souls, has found the strength and courage to pick up the pieces of her life and find her place in the world again.

When Mrs. Olinski first returned to teaching, she was hesitant and uncertain.  Certain insolent students took full advantage of her situation, and, since Mrs. Olinski at that point lacked the confidence to respond with adequate authority, her class was beset by numerous disruptions.  The Souls, seeing her predicament, decided to give her some help.  They were aware that "it is scary trying to stand on your own two feet especially when you don't have a leg to stand on, so to speak".  They resolved to counteract those students "who try to get her off balance" by "giv(ing) her some support...giv(ing) her a lift" (Chapter 4).

The Souls befriended Mrs. Olinski, and stood behind her as their teacher and team moderator.  They invited her to Sillington House, where she witnessed their loving kindness towards each other and experienced the peace of being among people who were sensitive to the feelings of others.  With the support of the Souls, Mrs. Olinski did indeed develop the confidence to take charge of her class and move boldly in her world.  When she effectively put Hamilton Knapp and Jared Lord in their places after they tried to disrupt the class with rude burps, the Souls knew that their teacher was on her way to success, having achieved "quite a balancing act" (Chapter 6).

The Souls manage to do for Mrs. Olinski what "all the king's horses and all the king's men" metaphorically could not.  Like Humpty Dumpty, she had "had a great fall", but the Souls helped her get back to her "place" again (Chapter 11).

What are some examples of racism in the book The Summer of my German Soldier?

In the Southern town where Patty lives during World War II, racism is rampant.  It is evident most clearly in attitudes towards the Bergens' black maid, Ruth.  Ruth has a fierce sense of dignity and is not afraid to speak her mind, an attribute which causes the white ladies of the town to regard her as "uppity".  The racism with which Ruth must constantly contend is illustrated when Mrs. Benn complains to Mrs. Bergen about her "Nigra".  Mrs. Benn says that Ruth had seen Mrs. Benn at the market and raced to the counter to get the last two pounds of hamberger.  Mrs. Benn, who expects blacks to be subservient to her and recognized her own perceived superiority, is appalled at Ruth's audacity, and wants Mrs. Bergen to fire her.  Mrs. Bergen's response shows her own racist orientation, when she replies,

"I just can't fire Ruth...she's the best cook and house cleaner we've ever had".

Black people are not the only of victims of racism in the town.  Mr. Lee, a Chinese grocery store owner, disappears after being the object of a hate crime.  His store is vandalized, a heavy item thrown through the window in the night, and Mr. J.G. Jackson gloats to Mr. Bergen,

"Our boys at Pearl Harbor would have got a lot of laugts at the farewell party we gave the Chink" (Chapter 1).

Racism is often the result when, during war, anger towards the enemy translates into hatred for the enemy's race in general.  Mr. Bergen evidences this when he says,

"Every German oughta be taken out and tortured to death" (Chapter 3).

In The Hiding Place, what are Corrie's three visions in the last chapter?

There are a number of visions that are made real in the last chapter of The Hiding Place.  The visions are Betsie's, brought to fruition by Corrie in her stead.

One of the three visions referred to in the chapter title is realized by Corrie upon her release from Ravensbruck.  Betsie had envisioned before she died that she and her sister would be free by the new year, and when Corrie finally arrives in Berlin, she notes that "it (is) New Year's Day, 1945.  Betsie had been right:  she and I were out of prison".  The sisters are indeed free - Betsie is in heaven with her God, and Corrie has been released to go home to Holland.

A second vision of Betsie's is that she and Corrie will make it their mission to "tell people...tell them what we learned" once they are free, about the love and will of God through their experiences during the war.  Corrie becomes aware that this is "God's new work" for her, to spread his Good News by sharing "the truths Betsie and (she) had learned in Ravensbruck".  She becomes a speaker, "in churches and club rooms and private homes" in the years immediately after the war, and collaborates in writing a book about the subject, The Hiding Place.

At the meetings where Corrie speaks, she always tells about "Betsie's first vision:  of a home...in Holland where those who (have) been hurt could learn to live again unafraid".  Betsie had described this vision very concretely during her life, as a huge mansion with "inlaid wood floors inside, and a broad gallery around a central hall".  Corrie is stunned when a widow, Mrs. Bierens de Haan, offers her home for "this vision of Betsie ten Boom", and it turns out that the woman's estate exactly matches in detail the place that Betsie described.

Betsie's vision about a place where war victims can come to be healed is actually fulfilled threefold.  The Beje becomes a place for the "feeble-minded" in the city, individuals who have been "sequestered by their families in back rooms, their schools and training centers shut down, hidden from a government which had decided they were not fit to live".  Mrs. Bierens de Haan's mansion becomes a haven for released prisoners, who "find therapy in growing things" in the vast gardens on the estate, and finally, Darmstadt, a former concentration camp, is released to relief organizations to provide shelter for the countless homeless people in postwar Germany.  Corrie, who will help prepare Darmstadt for the needy, will make sure that, in honor of Betsie's vision, there are windowboxes at every window, and that the buildings are painted brightly, "the color of things coming up new in the spring" (Chapter 15).

How do Walton's letters illustrate the tension between eighteenth-century rationalism and nineteenth-century Romanticism?I am talking about the...

Robert Walton's letters to his sister are the frame around which the novel is based. But Walton is more than just a convenient frame for the story; he is also a parallel to Victor in a way. Like Victor, Walton is an explorer, chasing after the unknown. Victor's influence on him causes him to at times cheer his new-found friend’s boldness and his journey, at other times to feel sorrow and fear at Victor’s abuse of both science and nature.

In this way, Mary Shelley uses the device of Walton’s letters  to set a realistic tone for what is otherwise a completely fantastic story. Robert Walton is introduced as a pragmatic man, concerned with facts and the practical matters of his expedition. But he is also a Romantic adventurer, eager for the rewards of new experiences and sensitive to human emotions.

We also discover that Walton originally wanted to be a poet, but, having failed that endeavor, he embraced the scientific advancements of the age and became an Arctic explorer. Walton's letters begin and end the novel, framing Victor's and the creature's narratives in such a way that Walton embodies the most important qualities found in both Victor and his creature. Walton, in other words, balances the inquisitive yet presumptuously arrogant nature of Victor with the sympathetic, sensitive side of the creature.

"I had taken the long way around but I was finally home. To stay." What is the interpretation or the evaluation?This is a quote of the book, The...

Following the death of his parents, life at home had not been so great for Ponyboy. Although he adores his brother, Sodapop, Pony fights constantly with Darry. Pony's grades have suffered, he smokes too much, and his gang life has taken over his life. After Johnny kills Bob, the two boys leave their homes to hide out on Jay Mountain. After saving the children in the fire, the boys come home heroes. Pony survives the rumble, but he still has to worry about a possible trial and removal of the home by juvenile authorities. These two events do not come about, and Pony reconciles with Darry. Home life appears to be regaining some normalcy, despite the death of Johnny and Dally. Pony decides to take Johnny's dying wish "to stay gold" to heart, and perhaps rumbles and conflicts with the Socs will come to an end as well. At the end of the novel, Pony has come full circle and back to his home and family.

How did Gatsby or Tom illustrate the corruption of the American dream?

The American Dream is that anyone, no matter how humble one's birth, can become whatever he wants in life as long as one is willing to work hard to achieve that goal.  Jay Gatsby, born James Gatz, knew from an early age that he did not want to live a life like his parents who were poor farmers from North Dakota.  In the book his father, Henry Gatz, brings to Jay's funeral, Mr. Gatz points out to Nick, how as young as age 12, "Jimmy" wanted to make something of himself and had firm goals and resolves.  At age 17, James Gatz remade himself when opportunity presented itself in the form of Dan Cody into Jay Gatsby.  He traveled with Cody and though he never received the money Cody willed to him, he received an education and had the flames of his American Dream fanned by what he learned from Cody.  Jay Gatsby's American Dream was to become rich and live the good life.  He had his goal firmly in his mind when he was a young lieutenant at an Army camp and met Daisy.  He never intended to fall in love with her, but he kissed her and he did fall in love with her.  After that, his goal became Daisy.  When he had to leave for war, Daisy didn't want to wait for him and besides, he was not wealthy and she was.  Daisy married Tom, a man as rich as she was because that's what rich people did - they married rich people.  Losing Daisy to Tom corrupted Jay's dream and it becamea two-part dream: get as rich as possible as quickly as possible and get the Daisy of that courting period in Louisville before Jay was sent overseas and before Daisy married Tom.  Essentially, Jay wanted to turn the clock back five years to those days in Louisville.  He wanted the Daisy of five years ago before Tom and before her daughter Pammy.  That's impossible - as Nick told Jay, "You can't repeat the past." All of Jay's efforts were put into amassing a fortune, which he did largely through illegal means because he was in a hurry, and into gaining back that Daisy.  He wanted her to say that the last five years had never happened; that she had never loved Tom.  She couldn't do that because she had loved her husband at one time - as much as Daisy could love anyone but herself - and she certainly could not "undo" her daughter's birth.  Had Jay's dream not become corrupted by wanting what he could not have, he would have lived.  There would not have been an accident because there would not have been the dramatic confrontation in New York City that caused Daisy to jump in the car and leave.  Jay's father told Nick that if his son had lived, he might have become someone great.  He was right; Jay had the drive and the dream. 

What news did Melba get while she was in Cincinnati in Warriors Don't Cry?

While she is in Cincinnati, Melba gets the news that she has "been assigned to go to Central High with the white people".

Melba is in the midst of a glorious visit to her Great Uncle Clancey's family home in the city with her brother, mother, and grandmother.  Melba has found Cincinnati to be "the promised land".  In contrast to the narrow-minded prejudice with which she had always lived at her home in Little Rock, she has found that in Cincinnati she can walk "with (her) head held high".  There are no Jim Crow laws in the big city; white people are generally friendly, and Melba can use the same facilities and eat at the same restaurants as everyone else without a thought.  Melba has just decided that she is never going to return to Little Rock, and is planning how she is going "to beg and plead with Uncle Clancey to let (her) live with them and finish high school in Cincinnati" when she receives the news.

At school a few years earlier, just after the Supreme Court ruling that separate schools for Negroes and whites were illegal, Melba had, without her parents' knowledge, signed a paper expressing her desire to attend Central High School, which was all-white.  In the intervening time, as lawsuits and petitions kept postponing the date for integration to begin, Melba had decided that the great change was not going to happen anytime soon, and had ceased hoping to be a part of it.  That day in mid-August of 1957, while the family is watching a news announcer on television talking about how seventeen children from the Little Rock community have been selected to enter Central High in the fall, Melba's father calls and says he has just been notified that Melba is to be among the seventeen.

As Melba tries to fend off her family's "harsh inquisition" about her poorly thought-out decision, she realizes that, for the moment, she "no longer care(s) the least bit about Little Rock; (she) just (wants) to live right there in Cincinnati".  She is, at this point, however, committed to an extent, and she returns home with her family "to begin living a life (she) had never imagined in (her) wildest dreams" (Chapter 3).

In Hamlet, where does Hamlet hide Polonius's corpse?

Hamlet doesn't ever expressly admit where Polonius's body is, but Act 4, scene 3 gives some veiled hints.  Hamlet hints, in a not so subtle way, that Polonius is dead and rotting.  Claudius asks Hamlet where Polonius is, and Hamlet responds "At supper."  Of course that line makes it sound like Polonius is alive and well, which is what Claudius thinks.  Then Hamlet tells an utterly disgusting story about Polonius at dinner.  

Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet. We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service—two dishes, but to one table. That’s the end.

In other words, Polonius is at dinner, because he is dinner.  The worms are eating him the same way that worms eat beggars.  

Claudius still isn't sure what Hamlet is talking about, so Claudius asks Hamlet again where Polonius is.  Hamlet lays it on quite thick now and flat out tells Claudius that Polonius is either in Heaven or Hell.  

In heaven. Send hither to see. If your messenger find him not there, seek him i' th' other place yourself. But if indeed you find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby.

The last part of that line is referring to the stench of Polonius's rotting carcass.  Essentially, Hamlet tells Polonius to follow his nose in order to find the dead body.  

In "Dusk," by Saki, what did Gortsby imagine about the old gentleman's home, and what is his significance in the story?

The old gentleman is a functional character in the story with whom Saki develops his surprise ending and accomplishes his theme.

Norman Gortsby sits on a bench in Hyde Park, London, as darkness gathers. Although his exact problem is never specified, Gortsby feels very defeated; he is somewhat bitter and cynical. As he watches other people begin to come out into the evening, he makes judgments about them, imagining what their lives are like.

An elderly man shares his bench. Gortsby takes in the old man's less-than-prosperous appearance and labels his circumstances at once:

As [the elderly man] rose to go Gortsby imagined him returning to a home circle where he was snubbed and of no account, or to some bleak lodging where his ability to pay a weekly bill was the beginning and end of the interest he inspired.

Gortsby makes an instant judgment; the old man is poor and lives a difficult life; no one pays attention to him. The old gentleman leaves, only to return at the end of the story to retrieve a small bar of soap that he had lost under the bench.This shows that Gortsby had been right about him. For a single bar of soap to be so important to him, the old man surely lived in poor, desperate circumstances, and Gortsby himself had paid no attention to him as he dropped his soap. Nor did Gortsby even consider that it might have belonged to him.

Ironically, it was this same bar of soap that had convinced Gortney earlier that he had misjudged another character, a young man who had tried to get money from him. After finding the soap, Gortney finds the young man and gives him money. When the old man returns, however, Gortney realizes that he had been right the first time about the young man. He had indeed been a confidence man, a con artist, but by then it was too late. Gortney's money was long gone. He should have trusted his first impression.

In "The Crucible" Giles says, "Think on it now, it's a deep thing, and as dark as a pit." What is he referring to, literally and symbolically?

This quote can be found in act one, and it comes during a conversation where Proctor, Putnam, Parris, and Corey himself were all arguing over land boundaries, salaries, subjects of sermons, and basically everything else.  For the literal meaning of the quote, Giles Corey is referring to lawsuits--everyone in the town has been suing each other for a long time now, over tiny, petty disputes.  Corey mentions this, and questions it.  Right before the line you have above, he says,

"It suggest to the mind what the trouble be among us all these years...Think on it.  Wherefore is everybody suing everybody else?"

Wherefore means why, so Corey is asking why are we suing each other?  He is alluding to the fact that everyone has little grievances, jealousies, issues, contentions, fights, tiffs, and discontents with people in the town, and they express that contention in the form of lawsuits.

More figuratively speaking, symbolically, he is referring to the underlying current of contention and bitterness that people feel for each other in this town.  Corey is saying that their hatred and jealousy for each other is a deep, dark pit that is threatening to swallow them all.  A pit is a snare, a trap that catches people unaware and imprisons them.  It is usually hidden and a surprise to the person caught in it.  This is the same as the contention between people in the town--on the surface it looks like some petty fightings, no big deal, but it will eventuality ensare everyone in the town, leading to their destruction.

In "The Crucible," unfortunately, people turn away from suing one another to express grievances, and turn instead to accusing people they have issues with of witchcraft.  Accusations of witchcraft replaces lawsuits as the new "in" way to get back at your neighbor when you are mad at them.

I hope that these thoughts help a bit; good luck!

In Act 4 of The Crucible, discuss the role of Tituba in the final act. Why is Tituba introduced?

Tituba opens Act 4 with Sarah Good and Herrick.  Apparently, she has been sharing a cell with Sarah Good during her imprisonment.

I believe Miller reintroduces Tituba in Act 4 for several reasons.  First, it allows the reader to see that Tituba has not been executed as others who were accused but refused to confess to witchcraft.  Regarding this fact, Tituba not only confessed to witchcraft in Act 1 (to save herself), but now she also portrays someone who has fully embraced the Devil.  Miller's dialogue for Tituba illustrates a person who has lost her sanity because of her confinement, very poor treatment, and her cell mate.

Most importantly, the playwright uses Tituba in Act 4 to stress how far the court and town have strayed from their original "pure" or religious goals.  The world has been turned on its end and evil now appears good while good (in the Puritan sense) has engendered evil (the execution of innocent townspeople, the ruination of a town, and the raising up of the truly guilty).  Tituba describes this phenomenon near the beginning of Act 4 by stating,

"Oh, it be no Hell in Barbados. Devil, him be pleasureman in Barbados, him be singin' and dancin' in Barbados. It's you folks--you riles him up 'round here; it be too cold 'round here for that Old Boy.  He freeze his soul in Massachusetts, but in Barbados he just as sweet and--"

Clearly, through Tituba's words, Miller seeks to show that even the devil would flee a place like Salem--quite a strong condemnation.

In real life, I do not believe Tituba lost her sanity.  When she finished her unjust jail term, she was releases and forced to work the rest of her life to pay off the debt she had supposedly accrued during her prison sentence.

In what way was Eisenhower's approach to government similar to the ideologies of the Republican presidents of the 1920s?

There were some similarities between the America of the two post-war periods, but there were significant differences between the administrative styles and personal actions of Eisenhower and the 1920s Republicans. The economies were similar in that, unlike most nations involved in the world wars, the American economy was helped by increased industrialization.  The fact that the wars were not fought in the US meant the industries of the country were not subjected to the damage of warfare.  The vast size and manpower of American industry was massively amplified by the wars, and technological advances also helped the booming postwar economies.  This led to increases in wages and credit, and Eisenhower (like the 1920s Republican presidents) believed in allowing the business world to largely run itself, although he had no intention of allowing the sort of out-of-control capitalism the previous administrations had.  He realized that was the major cause of the post-war boom of the '20s turning into the Great Depression.

After both wars there were also "Red Scares," the first caused mostly by the Russian Revolution.  The second was caused by the so-called "China Lobby" blaming the "loss" of China on the Democrats.  Between the fall of the Nationalist Chinese and the Korean War, right-wingers such as McCarthy used the alleged subversion of America by "Reds in the government" to foment discontent with the Truman administration and the 20 years of Democratic leadership.  Eisenhower's management style was low-key, and he tended to work through intermediaries, not doing or saying anything controversial in public himself.  He did, however, unlike the 1920s administrations, eventually make his personal displeasure with red-baiting known.  He was, behind the scenes, a major player in the downfall of McCarthy.

He seemed to take little notice of the running of the government, like Coolidge, but in fact he was a very active administrator, and a master at choosing those to whom he delegated tasks.  The one exception was the vice president the party gave him, Nixon, a man Eisenhower came to loathe.  By the time he was into his second term Eisenhower had become disgusted with the way the Republican party was run, although he was very much a conservative.  Like Hoover, he was a man of great ability and sympathy with the average American who found himself in an atmosphere of political chicanery he abhorred.

Another similarity between Hoover and Eisenhower was a desire to mend fences with Russia.  Hoover extended some tentative economic help to the USSR, and Eisenhower and Kruschev both worked hard (behind the rhetoric) on finding a way to end the Cold War before it ruined the economies of both countries.  The U-2 incident, unfortunately, put an end to that.

I need examles of the literary terms: sentential, shift, style, symbolism, syntax, theme, thesis, tone, and verisimilitude.The examples must be...

As a high school English teacher, I don't want to just list examples for you to parrot. However, maybe I can help. Since you posted in the To Kill a Mockingbird group, I'm going to assume you've read that book.

Let's look at shift first. The first part of this novel is about Scout, Jem and Dill wanting to see Boo Radley. Then the focus changes to something else, right? That's a shift.

Style is the way the author chooses to tell the story. It can encompass everything from point of view to use of idioms. In this novel, for instance, the author chooses to tell a very adult story from the viewpoint of someone who isn't an adult. That's a style decision.

For symbolism, just look at the title. The mockingbird is a symbol for one of the characters in the book.

Sentential and syntax both have to do with the way a sentence is put together. Think about Yoda's speech. "Very powerful, you are," he might say. Most people would say, "You are very powerful." Again with this novel, Harper Lee uses pretty simple sentences because of her point of view choice.

Theme is a statement that defines what the overall work is about. If this is a novel about racism, the theme will reflect that.

Thesis, as in a thesis statement, is a sentence in the first paragraph that declares what the work is going to say. This is primarily a non-fiction element and you should be able to pick it out of any essay or newspaper article.

Tone is the mood the piece inspires. With Lee's novel, it varies from chapter to chapter, covering things like nostalgia, fear, outrage and sadness. Shorter works typically focus on one tone (or mood).

Verisimilitude is something that appears to be true, but isn't. Hmm. Can't think of a real good example from this book, but there is the guy drinking from a paper sack during the trial. People think he's a drunk, they expect him to be a drunk and accept that, but he's really only drinking Coke from that paper bag and pretending to be a drunk.

I hope that helps point you toward recognizing those literary elements in other works.

In what year did the Ford motor company sell the Cadillac to General Motors?ford orgininally made cadillac.it later sold to gm.

Your information about the Cadillac is a little off, Henry Ford, and Ford Motor Company did not sell the car company to General Motors, he was, however, involved in developing the original design, but never built the car, it was built by Henry Leland.

In 1902, before he succeeded in bring his Model T to market, Henry Ford was part of an automobile venture that failed. The major investors in this venture brought in an expert to sell the assets of this failed company, his name was Henry Leland.  

Henry Ford continued in the car business, successfully launching his own company, Ford Motor Company in 1903.

"After two unsuccessful attempts to establish a company to manufacture automobiles, the Ford Motor Company was incorporated in 1903 with Henry Ford as vice-president and chief engineer." 

It was Henry Leland, with the assistance of Henry Ford's major investors from his first failed attempt at car building, who developed the first Cadillac and brought it to market in 1903.  

"Henry Leland introduced the $850 Cadillac at the 1903 New York auto show. Within a week, he'd taken 2286 orders. Cadillac built nearly 2500 cars that first year--a huge number at the time."

General Motors bought Cadillac from the venture capitalists, retaining Henry Leland as president of the company in 1909. 

By the time General Motors bought Cadillac, Henry Ford was no longer involved with the car company that developed it.  By 1909, Henry Ford was enjoying his own success with the Model T.

"Henry Ford realized his dream of producing an automobile that was reasonably priced, reliable, and efficient with the introduction of the Model T in 1908. This vehicle initiated a new era in personal transportation. It was easy to operate, maintain, and handle on rough roads, immediately becoming a huge success." 

What is the complete meaning of enzyme?full details of enzyme

Enzymes are biomolecules that catalyze, or increase the rate of, chemical reactions.  Proteins are responsible for nearly all enzymes, but RNA molecules can be catalysts, too.  In the beginning of the process, the enzymes that start the chemical reaction are call substrates; these substrates convert the molecules into what is termed the product.  Because enzymes only use certain substrates, they speed up only certain reactions among many, many possibilties.  Therefore, the set of enzymes in a cell determine what metabolic pathways occur in that cell.

Metabolic pathways are a series of chemical reactions that occur within a cell.  In each pathway, a main chemical is modified, or changed, by chemical reactions that are sped up by enzymes.  Often, dietary minerals, vitamins, and cofactors are necessary in order for these enzymes to function properly.  For example, for older pets, people must purchase dietary supplements which enable digestive enzymes to help with their metabolism, which is a step-by-step modification of the initial molecule to shape it into another product to be stored by the cell, to be used immediately as a metabolic product, or to initiate another meatbolic pathway, called a flux generating step. 

How do the Ewells (Bob and Mayella) exhibit courage during the trial?

One of the authentic aspects of Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" is the portrayal of the small Southern town and its types of residents.  Within the poor community, for example, there are those like the Cunninghams, and then there are those like the Ewells.  The Ewells are at the nadir of the socio-economic stratum; they are those that are often referred to as "white trash," whereas the Cunninghams are simply poor.  The Cunninghams are the type of family that still retains some human dignity; they repay a debt by giving a person something from their garden, or working for the person they owe.  When Walter is asked why he does not have a lunch, he says nothing.  When Mr. Cunningham is addressed politely by Scout, he shows respect for her and her father and is ashamed that he is part of the mob before the jailhouse, and he directs the others to join him in departing.

However, no Ewell would do such a thing.  The Ewells possess no redeeming qualities.  Their behavior in the courtroom is not courage; it is a type of perverse bravado meant to justify to themselves their behavior and conceal from their audience what they really are.  Steinbeck wrote, "The less a person has, the more he feels the need to boast," and this is true with the Ewells who have no redeeming qualities. For instance,  Mayella repays Tom Robinson's kindness with open contempt; if she had any "courage," she would have spoken differently in the courtroom.  Mr. Ewell shows nothing but depravity in his behavior.

The distinction between these two types of families is explained in Chapter 3 Scout talks with her father about the Cunninghams and the Ewells.  Atticus explains the difference: 

If he held his mouth right,Mr. Cunningham could get a WPA job, but his land would go to ruin if he left it, and he was willing to go hungry to keep his land and vote as he pleased. Mr. Cunningham came from a set breed of men.

But Atticus tells Scout,

...the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations.  None of them had done an honest day's work in his recolllection....They were people, but they lived like animals. 'They can go to school any time they want to, when they show the faintest symtom of wanting an education...[they] were members of an exclusive society made up of Ewells....when a man spends his relief checks on green whiskey his children have a way of crying from hunger pains...but he'll never change his ways.

In Hatchet, why does Brian feel it is not important to know where he is but that ''they'' do not know.

Brian is naturally concerned with his status after the accident.  Given the fact that the pilot lost radio transmission and that forest in which he landed is uncharted, he is fairly convinced that "they" have no idea where he is.  However, he does feel that one aspect of his status that might be a possible benefit is the reconciliation of his parents.  Brian feels that since the divorce was rather recent, the fact that he is lost in the wild might bring his mother and father together in their combined attempts to search for him.  To this extent, he sees his predicament as possibly a good thing as it can be the event which he projects would jolt his parents into reconciling.  In the end, he was somewhat right, as the epilogue tells us that upon finding Brian, his parents do end up going back  together for a short period of time, only to split up again.  Brian was able to outlast the wildness, but not divorce.

Why does Danforth treat Parris with contempt in The Crucible?

Judge Danforth comes to Salem with an air of superiority.  He automatically does not like Parris's fawning attitude.  Danforth is observant, experienced, and intelligent enough to realize that Parris is so defensive of the accusers because two of them are his family members.  If Parris, like a good Puritan minister, had had control over his household, the situation would not have escalated to such a point.  Additionally, Parris continues to interfere in court procedures and this gives the impression that he has some authority in the court.  Danforth, being the power hungry individual that he is, does not want his authority questioned or shared.

In Act 4, when Parris tells Danforth that Abigail has absconded with his money, Danforth is furious and blames Parris.  Parris's foolishness could bring about Danforth's downfall; so Danforth deals harshly with him and wants no more association with him.

In The Bridge to Terabithia, in Chapter 10, name three reasons why that day was perfect for Jess?

Until he came home to the devasting news that his best friend had died, the rainy day described in Chapter 10 was perfect for Jess because he was invited on a trip to Washington, D.C. by his favorite teacher, he got to visit the nation's capital and a museum for the first time, his teacher bought him lunch in the cafeteria, and the sun was shining brightly as they returned home from the outing.

Jess has a crush on his favorite teacher, Miss Edmunds.  Jess hardly ever gets phone calls, so when Miss Edmunds calls him to invite him to go to the city, he is so excited that his voice shakes and he breaks out in a cold sweat.  The opportunity to go on an outing with Miss Edmunds is like a dream-come-true to Jess.

Miss Edmunds takes Jess to the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.  Jess, whose experiences beyond the boundaries of his home have been very limited, has never been to an art gallery, nor has he been to the nation's capital, even though it is only a short distance from where he lives.  Jess is surprised that the famous landmarks of the city look very much like "the way the books had pictured them", and he is awestruck at the majesty of the museum gallery, which to him is "like stepping inside the pine grove - the huge vaulted marble, the cool splash of the fountain, and the green growing all around".

Miss Edmunds takes Jess to eat lunch in the museum cafeteria, and insists on paying, which is a good thing because Jess has not brought any money.  Jess enjoys a three-dollar meal, which is "far more than he had meant to have her spend on him".

As Jess leaves the museum with Miss Edmunds, the rainy sky has given way to "brilliant spring sunshine".  The beautiful weather is representative of Jess's spirits as Miss Edmunds tells funny stories on the ride home from what has been a perfect day (Chapter 10).

In The Great Gatsby, what startling discovery does Tom make shortly after lunch in Chapter VII?

The answer to your question is found in this passage:

"Who wants to go to town?" demanded Daisy insistently. Gatsby's eyes floated toward her. "Ah," she cried, "you look so cool."

Their eyes met, and they stared together at each other, alone in space. With an effort she glanced down at the table.

"You always look so cool," she repeated.

She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded. 

Tom, caught up in his own life and his affair with Myrtle Wilson, had paid little attention to his wife. Daisy belonged to him, just as his home, cars, and horses belonged to him. The idea that she could or would slip from his control and have a relationship with another man was not imaginable. When he realizes that Daisy has a life separate from his own, he suddenly regards her in a different light:

His mouth opened a little and he looked at Gatsby and then back at Daisy as if he had just recognized her as someone he knew a long time ago.

Tom sees Daisy as the woman she had been before he confidently had tucked her away in his mind as "my wife." 

What charges are filed against Ponyboy and Johnny in "The Outsiders"?

The morning after the fire, Ponyboy is making breakfast when Two-Bit and Steve come over with that day's newspaper. After reading it, Ponyboy discovers that Johnny will be charged with manslaughter if he recovers from his injuries. No charges are going to be filed against Ponyboy. However, he will have to make an appearance in court so that the judge can make a decision about whether or not he will be allowed to stay with his brothers.

In the beginning of the story, we learned that after the death of the Curtis parents,  the courts allowed the Curtis brothers to stay together only if they stay out of trouble. However, because of all that has happened, there is a possibility that Sodapop and Ponyboy will be removed from their home and made to live in a boy's home.

What does the nurse think of men in general?

The Nurse has sexual undertones in everything she says. She jokes that her husband made a sexual reference when Juliet was a toddler (when she has more wit she will fall upon her back).She says that women "grow by men" when they are talking about Paris' marriage proposal, which of course means that they grow in status, but also that they get pregnant.

Everything she says seems to have that sexual undercurrent to it.

When she went to arrange the marriage with Romeo, she tried to tease him by saying he had competition--not someone who loved Juliet, but someone who "would fain lay a knife aboard"--in other words, someone who wanted to have sex with her. She is a willing participant in both arranging the marriage and in arranging the ladder up to Juliet's bedroom. She is more concerned about Juliet's reputation than her actual virtue.

She talks about Romeo being honourable and virtuous in that he wants to marry Juliet, but when she hears that Romeo has killed Tybalt, she goes on a rant about how terrible men are:

There's no trust,
No faith, no honesty in men; all perjur'd,(90)
All forsworn, all naught, all dissemblers. 3.3.89-91

By this she says they are all liars, all untrustworthy and cheaters incapable of trusting or being trusted.

She also knows their value, or at least she knows the value of a good marriage for a young woman. This is why she encourages Juliet to go for the second choice and marry Paris.

Analyze the seventh stanza of Ode on Intimations of Immortality.Explain words by words and line by line.

Wordsworth's poem centers on the notion of maturation and how "the child is the father of the man."  The seventh stanza concerns the speaker, presumably Wordsworth, looking at a six year old child and envisioning the life they are going to lead:

Behold the Child among his new-born blisses,     
A six years' darling of a pigmy size!     
See, where 'mid work of his own hand he lies,     
Fretted by sallies of his mother's kisses,     
With light upon him from his father's eyes!      90

A young six year old child is the focus of Wordsworth’s attention in this stanza.  He describes the child’s “bliss,” or youth.  The child is doted on and loved by mother and father.

See, at his feet, some little plan or chart,     
Some fragment from his dream of human life,     
Shaped by himself with newly-learnèd art;

This child will follow the “predictable” course that most children fit into in order to be socially accepted (“some little plan or chart.”)  This force of conformity guides individual actions and while the boy might “shape” his destiny, the force of society and the need to assimilate is undeniable (“newly- learned art.”)   There is a “rush” for the child to grow up and become an adult and Wordsworth laments this leave of “bliss.”

A wedding or a festival,     
A mourning or a funeral;      95
And this hath now his heart,     
And unto this he frames his song:     
Then will he fit his tongue     
To dialogues of business, love, or strife;     

The child, playing an adult, will tend to the socially accepted responsibilities of being an adult in going to prescribed functions.  In the desire to conform and be accepted by the social forces of his day, he will guide his actions accordingly (“Then he will fit his tongue/ To dialogues of business, love, or strife.”)  Indeed, the child has assumed all “adult” responsibilities, and as he has grown up, he has become part of the social setting, losing his individuality.

But it will not be long     100
Ere this be thrown aside,     
And with new joy and pride     
The little actor cons another part;     
Filling from time to time his 'humorous stage'     
With all the Persons, down to palsied Age,     105
That Life brings with her in her equipage;     
As if his whole vocation     
Were endless imitation.

Just as the child has pretended, adults who gear their actions to social acceptance, pretend as well (“As if his whole vocation/ Were endless limitation.”)   What the child pretends to be will actually become and in doing so will lose the uniqueness of childhood, purity, and innocence.

Why do you think the hunter is in the story? The lady on the street? The nurse?

During the story, Phoenix interacts with each of these three characters, all of whom are white. Through these incidents, the racial elements in the story are developed. However, each time Phoenix interacts with the three, her own character is developed, as well, and we come to know and respect her even more.

The incident with the hunter and his dog shows how frail and vulnerable Phoenix really is as she makes the long journey into town on the cold December day. She falls and cannot right herself. If the hunter had not pulled her to her feet, she surely would have died there by the road. Phoenix risks her life each time she goes for the medicine for her grandson whom she loves so much. Also, she shows no fear of the hunter's gun, saying coolly that she had seen guns before. Her remark implies the racism she had encountered as a black person growing up in Mississippi long before racial justice became a social issue. The hunter's disrespectful attitude toward her also suggests the racism she still lives with.

Once in town, Phoenix stops a white woman on the street and asks her to tie Phoenix's shoes. A simple act, but a very telling one. Phoenix says having her shoes untied is all right for the country, but not for town. Phoenix is a lady and a proud one. The woman ties her shoes, but speaks to her in a condescending manner--another hint of the racism in the culture of the time.

Finally, when she arrives at the doctor's office, Phoenix deals first with the white receptionist and then the nurse. The receptionist is rude, condescending, and impatient, but Phoenix endures her hateful attitude because she needs the medicine. Phoenix will endure anything, even humiliation, for her grandson. Her devotion to him is beyond measure. Phoenix says nothing to the rude woman, but the muscle that twitches in her face suggests what she is feeling inside.

The nurse, unlike the receptionist, knows Phoenix and knows why she has come to town. It is through the nurse that we learn why Phoenix's little grandson needs the "soothing medicine." We learn of his suffering and understand why Phoenix risks everything to help ease his pain. In her conversation with the nurse, Phoenix speaks of the boy, showing her own love and tenderness.

She accepts some pennies from the nurse, even asking (an act of begging, one could say) for the exact amount she needs. And then we find out why she had stolen the nickel from the hunter earlier. That nickel and the pennies from the nurse will be enough to buy her grandson a toy. Phoenix is filled with joy as she imagines giving it to him.

Through her interactions with the hunter, the woman on the street, and the women in the office, we realize that Phoenix will beg, steal, endure humiliation, and even risk her own life for her grandson. She is a woman of great pride, courage, determination, and devotion. In her society, Phoenix is viewed as a poor, old black woman from the country, a person of no real significance. In fact, she is a truly fine and quite remarkable human being.

What does the "orange blossom" signify in "Blood Wedding"?

In Bodas de Sangre, Acto 2 (Blood Weddings) by Federico Garcia Lorca, the inclusion of the orange blossom as part of the nuptial ceremony in Act II is a symbol of taking wedding vows.  In the Victorian Era, orange blossoms were the symbol of fertility, but in general, there are more meanings and symbols represented by this flower according to the Book of Symbols:

a) innocence   b) chastity   c) eternal love   d) marriage, and

e) fruitfulness.

It would be the elements of a perfect marriage or what would make a perfect blissful connection during those days (and now). For the complete book of Symbols, click on the link provided.

What is the meaning of "I didn't go to the moon... distance between two places--"?

The full line is, "I didn't go to the moon, I went much further--for time is the longest distance between two places--"

In Tom's final speech at the play's conclusion, he speaks as narrator, the older Tom who had lived the events and looked back upon them. He begins his speech with the passage you mention.

Tom's reference to going to the moon recalls his mother's last words to him: "Go, then! Then go to the moon--you selfish dreamer!" As he says, he did not go to the moon, but he left St. Louis and travelled a great deal, sometimes finding himself alone at night in strange cities. For Tom, time itself is "the longest distance" because physical distance proves to be meaningless to him in his efforts to escape his past. Regardless of the location of the strange city in which he finds himself physically, a part of him is still in the shabby apartment in St. Louis where he last saw Laura. The irony of Tom's life lies in his attempts to escape. He leaves his mother and sister behind to be free and to find his own life. Once he has escaped his miserable life in St. Louis, however, he finds that he will never be free, and he will never make a new life. He will remained trapped by his memories.

How did Mr. Singh destroy Mrs. Olinski's relaxed feeling in View From Saturday?

Mr. Singh destroys Mrs. Olinski's relaxed feeling at Sillington House by bringing up the subject of how she chose the members of the debating team.  Mrs. Olinski is unnerved because, although she had never spoken about the factors she considered to anyone, Mr. Singh seems to know all about what had been going on in her mind.

Mrs. Olinski experiences an as yet inexplicable sense of peace whenever she comes to Sillington House.  On her second visit, however, her tranquility is shattered when Mr. Singh comes over to sit with her and tells her that the Souls "were getting worried...because (she had been) on the verge of choosing another".  Mr. Singh is referring to Mrs. Olinski's choice for the fourth spot on the debating team.  She had already chosen Noah, Ethan, and Nadia, and had been considering adding Hamilton Knapp to the mix.

After Hamilton Knapp pulls his cruel stunt at the school play, Mrs. Olinski realizes that he would not be a good addition to the team because he is just plain mean.  Having experienced the kindness shared at Sillington House, Mrs. Olinski is finally able to pinpoint just what had made her hesitate before asking Hamilton Knapp to join.  Mrs. Olinski had not told anyone what had been going on in her mind, however, so, while she is totally in agreement that Julian Singh is the right choice to complete the team, it is a little disturbing to her that her decision-making process had apparently been so transparent to the Souls, and that Mr. Singh seems to have a better understanding of her concerns and motivations than she has herself (Chapter 8).

From "Life of Pi": "What you don't realize is that we are a strange and forbidding species to wild animals." Write a personal response.In your...

Think of the last time that you ran across a spider, and expressed fear (shrieking, running from the room, shuddering in horror, however you might react to spiders or other creepie-crawlies) and some all-knowing adult tuts and you and quips, "You know, they are more afraid of you than you are of them."  That is, essentially, what the quote you cited means.  Even people that haven't had experience with animals can relate to that example, so you could approach it from that angle.

To bugs-and all animals-we must appear like aliens would to us; creepy, hairless, huge, making very strange noises and doing strange things with our hands.  We are unpredictable; animals tend to be predictable.  One animal can smell another, or interpret its body language, and know the drill.  But who knows what we are going to do!  We might scream.  We might go, "Aaaahhhh, how cute!" and try to rub them.  We might cage them up, or point shiny metal things at us that emit bright lights (cameras)-a terrifying proposition indeed to animals who are used to the steady light of the sun and moon.  If you put yourself in the shoes of the animal, then you can understand just how bizarre we might seem to say, a tiger, who has lived in the wild with his fellow tiger friends his entire life, and feels pretty confident he has life down to a predictable pattern.

One story that is out there that ties in to all of this is called "The Wife's Story" by Ursula K. Le Guin that tells the story of a young family, husband and wife.  The wife starts noticing her husband leaving for long stretches of time and coming back acting all strange.  So one time she follows him and he starts to transform, or morph, into a strange creature.  She is terrified of this creature.  Her family follows her out and they all freak out and chase this strange creature into the woods and kill him.  Well, it turns out the story was about a pack of wolves, and the "husband" wolf was transforming into a human being.  It's like a werewolf story, reversed.  That story (I provided a link below; it's a long link, so I hope it works) gives the point of view of what animals must think of us.  We are strange, smell strange, act strange, and look strange.  And, it scares them.

Anyway, I hope that those thoughts help a bit; good luck with your personal reaction!

What was the biggest cause of Pearl Harbor?

The primary cause of Pearl Harbor was Japanese Aggression.  Japan, under Emperor Tojo, had formed alliances with the other two Axis powers, Germany and Italy.  The belief was the the war in Europe gave a nation such as Japan the perfect element of diversion to be able to control the Pacific Island nations.  While Europe was trying in desperation to stave off Hitler, the efforts were not very successful.  For its part, America was firmly committed to pursing a policy of isolationism, not wanting to involve itself in the "affairs of Europe."  However, privately, President Roosevelt and the government knew American entry into the war was inevitable.  America had been giving support to Britain in its fight against Hitler and Mussolini with acts such as The Lend- Lease Act.  Military advisers also were aware of increased Japanese aggression in the Pacific and were mindful of this, also.  The Japanese, in an attempt to weaken the U.S. Navy and seize control of natural resources such as oil and rubber, and solidify their control of the Pacific Rim nations attacked American Naval Forces at Pearl Harbor, in Oahu, Hawaii on the morning of December 7, 1941.

Through an unprecedented air attack on American soil and screaming "Babe Ruth will die," Japanese bombers caught the Americans by surprise.  American cryptographers were able to decipher telegraph communication between Tokyo, capital of Japan, and the Japanese Embassy in America, as well as analysis that suggested Japanese Aggression was increasing, but these warning signs were interpreted too late to prevent a staggeringly brutal attack on America.  The attack on Pearl Harbor did something that all the Fireside Chats in the world could not do:  It galvanized America into action.  The morning after Pearl Harbor, American civilians flooded into Selective Service offices ready to serve their nation and ushered American entry into World War II.  The Japanese achieved their goal of complete surprise.  Yet, they ultimately paid the price for it, as American entry into the war was the decisive action that ended up spelling victory for the Allies and defeat for the Axis powers, something that was viciously felt by Japan, itself, when America dropped the Atomic Bomb on the towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki about four years after Pearl Harbor and causing Japanese surrender.

What is the other term of falling action in a novel?its the part of a novel, what i want is the other name of falling action in a novel

Another term for Falling Action is the Denouement. This follows the story's climax. The Climax is the most exciting part of the story.  This is usually where the story's conflicts come to a head. The protagonist must now come face to face with the problems that they have been  dealing with throughout the novel. He may come face to face with the antagonistic character or force. Or if the conflict has been an internal one, this is where he must make his decision.

During the Denouement, all conflicts are resolved. For instance, The bad guy gets his just desserts or the hero and his love interest finally realize their love for one another.  

What is the rite of passage in the poem "Oranges" by Gary Soto?

"Oranges" is an interesting poem because it details not one but two rites of passage, the second of which is less perceptible but far more profound than the first.

The first, and most obvious, concerns male-female relationships. The poet tells us that this is the his beginning attempt to court a member of the opposite sex:

The first time I walked
With a girl, I was twelve,
Cold, and weighted down
With two oranges in my jacket.

As such, given the importance of love, marriage, and building a family of one's own, it is an obvious passage to a more mature state, all the more so in that the poet is successful in overcoming difficulties in pleasing the object of his affections.

It is in trying to give his companion what she wants that the poet goes through the second, and perhaps even more significant, rite of passage. It turns out that he has not brought enough money to purchase the candy that she has chosen. Instead of admitting failure, though, the poet makes an unspoken appeal to the human sympathy of the store clerk to assist him in this dilemma:

I took the nickle from
My pocket, then an orange,
And set them quietly on
The counter. When I looked up,
The lady's eyes met mine,
And held them, knowing
Very well what it was all
About.

The second rite of passage involves self-confidence and trust -- the confidence to make such an appeal, and the trust that the clerk will sympathize with him as a fellow human being who has, presumably, also felt love and overcome obstacles in its pursuit. The importance of this is underlined by the symbolism of the brillliantly colored oranges -- one exchanged for the candy by the grace of the clerk, the other remaining with the poet to be eaten at the same time as the purchased chocolate, at the conclusion of the poem:

I peeled my orange
That was so bright against
The gray of December
That, from some distance,
Someone might have thought
I was making a fire in my hands.

How long does it take for codeine to get out of your system?

This is an interesting question. I'm allergic to codeine, so it would be good for me to know how long it stays in the body as well.

A definitive answer will depend on the amount of the dosage taken, but, according to Rutgers University Health Services, generally codeine stays in body tissue 1-2 days.

Codeine is a narcotic pain reliever and is often used in cough medications to ease coughing. It is a protected substance and can be obtained only through a doctor's prescription. It can be habit forming, so whether a person is allergic to it or not, it should be taken with care.

Visit the links below for more information.

What are the similarities between "The Importance of Being Earnest" and Wilde's life including every act of the play?

Whoah! This would be a thesis on its own, so I will give you the most important points. HOWEVER- The book that you might want to Google which will have way much more juicy stuff is Neil McKenna's The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde; Richard Ellman's Oscar Wilde, and his own Grandson, Merlin Holland's book "The Irish Peacock and the Scarlet Marquess: When Oscar Wilde went to trial" as well as H.Montgomery Hyde's "The Trials of Oscar Wilde".

Those books intrinsically analyze The Importance of Being Earnest to Wilde, as well as The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the Portrait of Mr. W.H.

Here are some pointers:

1. In the story, last names such as "Worthing",and  "Bracknell" refer to cities in which someone in Oscar's circle was, and whom he was representing in the story. In this case, Lady Bracknell was referring to Oscar's male lover's mother, Lady Queensberry, who was in Bracknell during the time Oscar wrote the story. The story was written in....Worthing! (Makes you wonder who Oscar really identified with- people say he was Algernon, but he always has said he is the passive, not the active character.

2. Speaking of passive and active, there is Algernon- the aristocrat who lived above his means, was heartless to his family, as deceitful as Earnest, but more brash about it- Again, Oscar has always claimed to be the passive of the ying yang,..so the general opinion for all true Wildeans is that Algernon, contrary to popular belief, is Lord Alfred Douglas personified (Lord Alfred suffered the same demons as Algernon, and he was also younger than Oscar- much so the way Lord Alfred and Oscar).

3. At the time this play was written, Oscar was terribly hard-up for money (Ellman, 69) and for this reason he used the help of Robert Ross, his eternal friend and even his own manservant to use the wits for the play. It is said that Robbie Ross created many  of the epigrams, and the manservant ended up being as funny as Oscar- hence, the character of Lane, ALgernon's own manservant- (the name "Lane" is the same as Oscar's publisher, John Lane, with whom he would always quarrel.

4. THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT: However, is the Bunburyism and deceit that both Algernon and Earnest exhibit in the play. They both have double lives, much like Lord Alfred and Oscar had double lives of respectability during the day, while visiting Little College Street #13 to indulge at Alfred Taylor's male prostitution site for rent boys.

Since Algernon's coinage "Bunburying" implies lying about where you are going, there is plenty of Wilde's real life there too. Like I said, the subject has been central topic for plenty books on the subject, so I strongly suggest you look at those books I recommended.

Enclosed are more Wilde websites.

What words does Edgar Allan Poe use to describe the guests at the party in "The Masque of the Red Death?"

Prince Prospero secluded himself alongwith a thousand friends of his from the aristocracy of his court. Poe describes his friends in the following manner:

"When his dominions were half depopulated, he (Prince Prospero) summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys."

The word "hale" means 'very healthy', and "light-hearted" means 'cheerful, not being worried about anything.'

Who is the real hero according to O. Henry - Ben Price or Ralph Spencer?In "A Retrieved Reformantion."

In this short story, the bounty hunter Ben Price is hot on the heels of Jimmy Valentine(alias Ralph Spencer), a small-time bank robber and specialist in safe-cracking. Since his release from prison, several "jobs" have been done with Jimmy's "signature" on them, namely his expertise and opening the vaults. But Jimmy can't be nabbed as there is no real proof against him.

As Jimmy plans his next hoist, he meets the banker's daughter and falls in love. He decides to "go straight" and open a local shoe store and lead a decent life. One day when he is visiting his future father-in-law at the bank, two little girls are playing and one locks up the other in the vault. As the vault is time-set and will not open until the next day, Jimmy recuperates his burglary tool box and opens the vault so the little girl will not suffocate.

This is just the incriminating evidence Ben Price has been waiting for, but instead of arresting Jimmy (who hands himself over to be taken in), he pretends he doesn't even recognize him.  Price realises that Jimmy is now reformed from his gangster ways and decides to give him a second chance.

In this light, both men are "heroes" since each has made a choice against self-interest: Jimmy Valentine, to save a little girl even if it meant going to prison again; and Ben Price, to give up a handsome bounty reward and to sacrifice his own reputation by giving Jimmy a fresh start. Of course, the stakes are higher for Valentine, but Price acts in everyone's best interest as well.

Note that O. Henry "did time" in jail too for bank fraud, and it was because of his prolonged confinement that he took up writing. Below are some notes on O. Henry's writing style and a biographical sketch of this intriguing personality.

Explain the quote from Life's Little Instruction Calendar, Vol XIV: "Don't try to out-trade a man who squats on his heels when he talks to you".

This is an interesting quote, and I can see how different people might have different interpretations. My own thought about this is that a man who is squatting on his heels has endless patience and is prepared to stay in that position for hours to out-last the person trying to do a deal with him.  I also see a kind of primitive aspect to a man squatting on his heels, someone who might not be well-versed in the kind of trading that goes on in the modern world, but someone whom the other cannot fool because the man is old and wise in the ways of trading.

Another thought I will share with you about interpreting quotations is that sometimes it is good to know something external to the quote.  For example, who said this?  Where?  When?  Sometimes, if we can situate a quote in history, we can find clues to its meaning.

I should point out that there is disagreement among people about whether or not it is "playing fair" to go outside a reading to interpret the words.  This is an issue that will probably never be resolved.  Should we just look at a group of words and based only on the words decide what they mean?  Or should we be allowed to go looking for clues about the author, the time, or the place in which the words were written?

How do I find any x and y intercepts of f(x) = 2x^2 - 4x + 5? I can't figure out the actual equation for each. If someone could do it in detail...

X and Y intercepts of a line or graph or curve means, where the line or curve or graph  cuts or intersects (or touches in extreme case) X axis or Y axis. The number of intercepting points may be one or more or there may not be any intersections(or intercepts) or touching.

If x and y are related  by an equation,y=f(x), then the x interecept is got by putting y=0  and solving for x value. And the y intercept is got by putting x=0 and  solving for y value.

Finding x intercept:

Put y=0 in y=2x^2-4x+5  and solve for x.

2x^2-4x+5=y. The same equation reversed for my convenience please.

2x^2-4x+5= 0,  as y needs to be put to 0

2(x^2-2x)+5=0, rearranged .

2[(x-1)^2 -1}+5=0, rearranged.

2(x-1)^2-2 =-5.

2(x-1)^2=-5+2 .

2(x-1)^2=-3

(x-1)^2=-3/2

x-1= + or - sqrt(-3/2)

x=1+sqrt(-3/2) or

x=1-sqrt(-3/2).

Both  x values are imaginary. So no real X intercepts.

So the given curve do not cut X axis , as the zeros of the expression, 2x^2-4x+5 are imaginary.

Finding Y intercetpt:

Put x=0

y=2*0^2-4*0+5

y=5.

The given curve cuts (or intercepts) axis at  y = 5.

Point to ponder for you:

Your answer (0,5) is the coordinates of the point, where 2x^2-4x+5 cuts Y axis. The Y cordintate alone 5 where the curve cuts the Y axis is the Y intercept. You are very very nearly correct.

Where is the equation?

f(x) = 2x^2-4x+5 is the equatuation, or

y=2x^2-4x+5 is the equation.

Here x is the variable and for  any value of x , you can find the corresponding value of 2x^2-4x+5 and that is the value of y or f(x).

Example : for x=1, 2x^2-4x+5=2*1^2-4*1+5=2-4+5=3.

So y=3, when x=1.

Hope this helps.

How does Doodle respond to the Scarlet Ibis and to its death?

    Doodle acts strangely--even for Doodle--but seems to almost immediately identify with the "red, dead bird" that falls from the bleeding tree in the James Hurst short story, "The Scarlet Ibis." When he first sees the bird high in the tree, Doodle grabs his throat with both hands. When he realizes it is dead, he wants to bury it but is warned not to touch it. So he drapes a string around the ibis's neck and drags it off to its final resting place. He sings "Shall We Gather at the River" and then buries it next to the petunia bed in the front yard. Twice he refuses his mother's offer of peach cobbler before heading off to Old Woman Swamp with his brother. But on this day, he is too tired to swim, and he

"did not speak and kept his head turned away, letting one hand trail limply in the water."

Perhaps he, too, can sense that his life is nearing its end.