Who said, "Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it?"

This perticular saying has ,many times, been changed over the time. However, the meaning remained intact: we should not forget and repeat the mistakes of the past.

It was for the first time used by Mr George Santayana, a Spanish born American author of the late nineteenth & early twentieth centuries,in his book Life of Reason,Reason in common sense, Scribner`s 1905   Page 284.However, the actual words are the followings:``Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.``   http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=495329

When Madame Schachter's hallucinations come true, this is an example of which literary device?This is from the end of chapter 2.

Madame Schachter's visions of flames and death is an example of foreshadowing and also irony. It is very interesting how the author uses her hallucinations in his story. It touches on a key theme of the story which is the relationship between sanity and insanity. Madame Schachter, who is presented as insane and acting irrationally, is the only character who actually "sees" clearly. She, unlike the rest of the passengers on the train, is able to see what is ahead for them. In the context of the Holocaust therefore, the boundaries between sanity and insanity are blurred and questionable.

Also, we see that Madame Schachter is beaten by some of her fellow Jews on the train, whilst they are encouraged to do so by other onlookers. This identifies another theme - the unjust treatment that the Jews receive at the hands of the Nazis causes them to act in a similar depraved and unjust fashion towards each other.

In Missing May, what does Summer mean when she says "Guidance comes to me in a form of a greasy-haired lunatic?"

When Summer says "Guidance came to me in the form of a greasy-haired lunatic", she is referring to Cletus, a neighbor boy who has befriended her and Ob and, in his inimitable way, is helping them deal with the grief of losing May (Chapter 6).

Summer doesn't like Cletus very much at first, and she is not very nice to him either.  Cletus is inarguably eccentric; he is an incorrigible collector - of potato chip bags, buttons, wrapping paper, and finally, pictures, of every sort and subject.  Summer thinks Cletus is "a flat-out lunatic", and doesn't much appreciate his over-the-top friendliness (Chapter 3), the ridiculous-looking hat with the fake fur earflaps that he likes to wear (Chapter 5), and his greasy, stringy black hair (Chapter 4).  Cletus starts hanging around with Ob and Summer soon after May dies, and in his unique way, he distracts them from the depths of their grief.  Ob especially is quite taken by the boy, and Summer's dislike of Cletus is increased when she realizes that sometimes, Ob tells Cletus things that he doesn't even tell her.

Beneath his off-beat demeanor, however, Cletus is astutely observant, and surprisingly wise, and he becomes for Ob "the perfect consoler, because he listen(s) to every word Ob (says) and (keeps) his big mouth shut" when the situation calls for it.  Little by little, as Summer begins to understand that Ob is not the only one consumed by his grief, and that she has deep issues herself that must be resolved, she turns to Cletus for help and guidance (Chapter 5).  Just when she feels the most lost, Summer realizes that, unlikely though it may seem, guidance is available to her through Cletus, and, "desperate...(she passes) him the torch, hoping he can lead (her and Ob) out of (the) infernal darkness" of their loss (Chapter 6).

What is the writer's purpose in excluding only Trevor's limited omniscient point of view?

You have asked an excellent question. Of course, the novel as a whole is written using the omniscient narrator - it is not told from the third person limited point of view as we have access into the thoughts of a number of characters, as you have noted.

To me, the reason why Greene excludes us from the thoughts of T. is because it forces us to infer his motives and his state of mind from how other characters view him, his actions and his speech. In a sense, having his profoundly disturbed mind revealed in this oblique way is an excellent narrative strategy in that it forces us to work to make sense of him as a character. It also shows us how extreme he is as well because of the differences between him and the other gang members such as Blackie. We are forced to try and piece together the fragments of what we are revealed about him just as surely as he is so focussed on his act of destruction. Consider the following quote:

"Of course I don't hate him," T. said. "There'd be no fun if I hated him." The last burning note illuminated his brooding face. "All this hate and love," he said, "it's soft, it's hooey. There's only things, Blackie," and he looked round the room crowded with the unfamiliar shadows of half things, broken things, former things.

Think of what this shows about T. He is completely detached from "normal" human emotions. He neither hates nor loves and he destroys without passion or attachment. In a sense, by excluding us from his thoughts, we as readers become spectators of T., his actions and motivations, as we struggle to understand what could have happened to make a boy so profoundly nihilistic.

Near the end of Chapter 10 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus cuts off Heck Tate as he is speaking to Jem.What might Heck have been about to say and...

Heck Tate, the sheriff of Maycomb, was probably about to give Atticus even more accolades in regards to his shooting ability, something that Atticus wants to downplay (for good reason).  An important precursor to these comments is the fact that Atticus has just saved the town from a very dangerous rabid dog (named Tim Johnson).  As the dog wanders listlessly closer and the townspeople hide, Heck Tate calls the situation a "one shot job" while he hands the gun to Atticus (95).  Both Jem and Scout are surprised.  In fact, their surprise turns to shock when Atticus kills the dog in a single, accurate shot to the head.  Afterwards, Jem tries to find a way to bring up the subject.  It may help us here to review the actual passage:

"Yes sir," said Jem.  "Atticus--"

"What, son?"

"Nothing."

"What's the matter with you, boy, can't you talk?"  said Mr. Tate, grinning at Jem.  "Didn't you know your daddy's--"

"Hush, Heck," said Atticus, "let's go back to town." (97)

Heck Tate was probably about to say something like, "Didn't you know your daddy's the best shot this town has ever seen?" or "Didn't you know your daddy's known as 'One-Shot Finch' all over the county?"  Instead of flaunting this remarkable shooting ability, Atticus (who is always the bigger and braver man) values his principles of peace much more highly.  As a result, Atticus does not stress (or even mention) this ability to his children.  Marksmanship isn't a skill of which peace-loving Atticus is especially proud.  In fact, Atticus most likely wouldn't value any admiration that his skill would bring upon him.  Atticus Finch, in this as in everything else, is nothing short of honorable.

The lesser reason for quieting Heck Tate is that there's a bit of belittling in Tate's voice.  Jem and Scout didn't know something about their father, something amazing and well-known, that everyone else in the entire town knew.  Heck Tate, whether he means to or not, is taking advantage of that fact and finding Jem's revelation mildly humorous.  Atticus, in cutting Tate off, saves Jem further embarrassment.  Atticus:  an amazing man.  (And, you know, I finally met a mother just a few weeks ago, . . . the first I had heard of, . . . who named her first born son Atticus.  One guess as to why.)

In The Great Gatsby, how do the motifs of violence, colors, race, and sports relate to Jay Gatsby?

In the novel the motif of violence would relate to Gatsby in that he has an underlying violent side to him throughout the novel that he does not actually show to the reader until he has the argument with Tom toward the end of the novel.  Up until that point, Gatsby seems to be a very calm person if you look at him in a non-judgmental way; but if you think of how Gatsby has made his money and what he is wiling to do to get Daisy, it is clear that he clearly has an evil and possibly violent side to him throughout the novel – he just does not display that violence as Tom does. 

Colors are significant throughout the novel for Gatsby.  First, the color of his possessions; his car is a flashy green color and his clothes are whites and pinks – colors that are sure to stand out and make a statement.  Gatsby uses the colors of his possessions to get people, particularly Daisy, to notice him and to basically say, “Hey, I’m rich.”  The color green is also symbolic for Gatsby; not only is it the color of his car but the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is a major symbol representing his envy for what Tom has (Daisy) and his yearning for wealth in order to get Daisy.  Other than his connection to Meyer Wolfsheim, he really does not relate to the motifs of sports or race.

What is a brief summary of "The Bet"?As part of the summary, can you summarize what the lawyer learned during his imprisonment?

The Bet is the story of two men, a banker and a lawyer who argue over whether life in prison or capital punishment is the worst punishment.

To settle the bet, the lawyer agrees to go to prison for 15 years. If he can last, he will get 2 million rubles.

During his time in prison, the lawyer learns to despise material goods and to leave prison 5 minutes before 15 years is up and not collect on the bet.

Ironically, the banker has decided to kill the lawyer because he cannot afford to pay the 2 million rubles.

In the first chapter of The Red Badge of Courage, what words does the author use to show a sarcastic tone?

In The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane reveals a world long lost.  A world filled with bloody violence and chaos.  A world that was the Civil War Era.  In the first chapter, Crane remains serious, but not without some comedic relief.  One veteran said of Henry, "yer a right dum good feller."  Also, when Henry is expecting a romantic answer from his mother about war, she bluntly tells him to send back his socks when they get holes in them and not to drink and swear and to be a good boy.  This is comedic relief, but not necessarily sarcasm. 

Sarcasm is defined by comments that are opposite of the blatantly obvious, or sharp comments that most people know to be untrue.  There is really none of this in the first chapter.  The ideas expressed in the first chapter are mostly romantic, how Henry thinks he will save people in war with his "eagle-eyed prowess."  And of indecision, as Henry is not sure if he will fight or run.  But sarcasm is not really implemented by Crane in the first chapter.

Do you have any sympathy for Macbeth at this point in the play? Why or why not?This is in reference to Act 4

I feel that in Act 4 there is little opportunity to feel any sympathy for Macbeth, unlike in Act 5 where there is some possibility that you can see him as a man who appreciates he has wasted his life and thrown away opportunities. In Act four he abuses his power as king to destroy the family and home of MacDuff. This action goes far beyond the warning the witches gave him to "beware MAcDuff."

Of course, we may feel some sympathy for him in the way that the witches are deliberately giving him half truths and are pulling him away from the right track. But he is still ultimately responsible for his actions, and his actions are completely wrong. It is also notable that he now takes decisions without consulting his wife first, he has become a 'monster' and is not the figure who contemplates his actions that we meet in Act 5.

So very simply, in this scene where we see less of Macbeth and a lot of the consequences of his actions and the misery he is causing, we can have little or no sympathy for him. 

Where does Madame Loisel lose Madame Forestier's necklace?If you can answer this question to: How does Madame Loisel change over the ten years as...

The reader never really finds out where, exactly Madame Loisel loses the necklace.  But, the author suggests that when she is getting ready to leave the ball, and it is very late, and she has had a great time, and does not want the feeling of joy and excitement that she has experienced by tarnished by the thought of her actual life at home, that it causes her to resists the efforts of her husband who is trying to put her ragged coat on her shoulders as they venture outside to get a cab home.

It is at this point, when she is leaving the ball, and looking for a cab, or perhaps in the long walk that they make to find a cab or in the old cab that they take home that she loses the necklace.  She does not discover the necklace gone until she is at home and getting undressed.

As a result of the ten years of hard physical labor that Madame Loisel and her husband perform in order to pay off the debts incurred to buy a replacement necklace, she has lost her former beauty.  Her hair has grown coarse, her hands are red, dry and swollen from scrubbing and cleaning, she is at the end of the story, the picture of a poor scrubber woman, everything that she despises at the beginning of the story.  Gone is her beauty, which she believed put her in a different social class, far from the coarse, simple lower class girls.

"The necklace itself represents the theme of appearances versus reality. While sufficiently beautiful to make Madame Loisel feel comfortable during the ministerial ball, the necklace is actually nothing more than paste and gilt. Thus, it is not the reality of wealth or high social class that is important for Madame Loisel, just the appearance of it."

At the end of the ten years, Madame Loisel looks far older than her age would indicate.  So much so, that Madame Forestier does not even recognize her when she encounters her in the park.

Trading her life for a brief moment of acceptance into the world of the rich and priveleged, Madame Loisel experiences one night of joy and many years of suffering and sacrifice.  

How does the speaker propose to solve the problem of impoverished children in "A Modest Proposal"?

In Jonathan Swift's satirical essay "A Modest Proposal" the speaker proposes that infants in Ireland, whose parents have no means of feeding them or clothing or housing them other than by begging (or stealing) and who are most often not children produced in a marriage, should, at the age of one year old, be sold as a food commodity.

He states that a 28 pound one year old should be able to feed a family for four nights. Furthermore, the skin could be sold as a separate commodity for gloves and such. He proposes that this would have benefit for the parents as they would have something of value to trade with and may perhaps then be able to pay their rent.

Write about the meeting of John & Bill in the prison in Chapter 11 of Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt.

John tells about finally meeting up with his brother Bill in a letter written soon after a battle in Nashville, Tennessee, in December of 1864.  John, who is fighting for the North, is put in charge of "helpin to feed the reb prisners" taken in the battle.  Among the prisoners, he is astounded to see a man that looked exactly like his pa, a man with a light colored beard and blue eyes with his pa's "look" in them.  The man is his brother Bill, who has aged and looks "as old as pa looked a few years back".  John goes to his commander and asks if he can talk to "a reb prisner that (is his) own blood brother", and is granted permission to do so.  He finds Bill again, and, in a touching scene, the two "set together with thousands of sad men all around...and things...cold and foul everywhere but (they) was brothers agin and...talked like brothers ought to talk".

Bill is desperate to hear the news from home, and John tells him how Tom died at Pittsburg Landing, how Eb deserted, and how Jeth had written to the President and gotten an answer.  He relates how their father has been sick and how Shad was nearly killed at Gettysburg, and how Shad and Jenny are now married.  Bill listens intently to what John has to say, then, when it is time for John to go, the two shake hands "fer a long time like as if (their) fingers didn't want to let go".  Just before John leaves, Bill asks him to tell their Ma, in hopes that it will bring a little comfort to her at least, that he had not been at Pittsburg Landing; there is no way that the bullet that killed their brother Tom was fired by him (Chapter 11).

Analyze Reverend Parris from "The Crucible". What are his motivations in supporting the witch trials?

Reverend Parris is a character who cares much more about his own reputation and his own well-being than anyone else in the play, possibly even that of his own daughter.  In the very first act, the audience can tell just how self-centered he is and how fearful he becomes of the possiblity that once word gets out that witchcraft has been found in his house that he will be ousted from his position as reverend in Salem village.  When, in Act 1, Susanna Walcott returns to Parris with news from Dr. Briggs that he can not find anything wrong with Betty and that her affliction must be blamed on "unnatural causes" he is quick to tell her to tell the doctor that there is no witchcraft in his house and basically tells everyone else at that point not to spread around this information.  Rev. Parris reacts similarly throughout the play as he constantly tries to "help" the judges by egging on the accusations.  Even in Act 4 we can see how paranoid Parris is when he finds a dagger stabbed into his door.  At this point in the play he tries to almost befriend his enemy John Proctor in order to get him to confess, therefore hopefully saving his own life from people who might riot against him.  

Describe Napoleon as a dictator in Animal Farm.

Napoleon, like many historical dictators, makes great use of propaganda to establish his "reign."  He rewrites history when he changes the commandments; more subtly, he recreates the character of Jones for the younger animals, and threatens them with Jones' return if they don't support him.  How bad would this have been?  Isn't Napoleon just Jones with two more legs, a little more weight, and an uglier face (unless you're a female pig :))?  He has the dogs (his secret police) to control the animals, but he knows that it would be better if he could win their hearts and minds, even as he uses force to terrorize them.

This manipulation of the past, actually re-creation or simply creating of the past, is key to controling the people.  In 1984, it becomes the famous formula:  "Who controls the present controls the past; who controls the past controls the future."  Imagine, not only controlling and oppressing the people, but having them love you for it!

What effect did Renesmee's bite have on Bella when Edward placed the baby on her chest.I understood Renesmee to be non-venomous, so I assumed that...

This is correct. However, at the time Bella was not aware of this. Only later when asked by the Volturi did Bella realize that Renesmee was not venomous. Bella was dying from giving birth to Renesmee because her body could not take the trauma of the baby being ripped from her body. This is why Edward stood by ready to inject Bella's heart with his own venom and why immediately bit her in as many places as he could, to keep her from dying. 

Explain what ideals and attitudes each of the three main settings reflects and how each setting helps establish your understanding of character.

East Egg is home to people like Tom and Daisy who occupy the highest social class in American society. Their money has been passed down through generations of Tom's family. This inherited wealth with all its privileges has fostered attitudes of arrogance, snobbishness, and a strong sense of entitlement. These attitudes are seen in both Tom and Daisy, in the way they live and in the way they treat other people. Tom looks at Gatsby with contempt, and Daisy uses him and betrays him. Nick calls Tom and Daisy careless people; they have been corrupted by their money and their social class. East Egg is not a place where ideals are held or pursued, except for the belief that those in the upper class must protect their wealth and social position.

West Egg is populated by rich people who have only recently come into money. They are producers, show business types, lucky investors in the market, and bootleggers. They exhibit one ideal--to make as much money as possible, as fast as possible. Their attitude toward wealth is to enjoy it and to flaunt it. They lack the social standing enjoyed by the East Eggers, and they are in no way reserved or conventional. Gatsby represents this new wealth, although his building a fortune was accomplished for only one purpose, to get Daisy back into his life. No matter how wealthy he becomes, however, he will never find acceptance in East Egg.

The Valley of Ashes, home to George and Myrtle Wilson, reflects grinding poverty and hard work. George toils each day to make an honest living, but Myrtle burns with resentment, hating their way of life and longing to break out of it. George accepts his life, and no doubt believes he can "get ahead" by working. Myrtle's ideal, and most likely the ideal of many in her economic situation, is to leave poverty behind and live the dream of being wealthy. Their attitudes represent very different responses to where and how they live.

What has Banquo been thinking/dreaming about? [2.1.4-21] How does his attitude to the witches compare to Macbeth's?

In this scene we are told that Banquo has had his sleep troubled with dreams of the witches or the "weird sisters". It is clear that these dreams have not helped him to have a good night's sleep - he says:

A heavey summons lies like lead on me,

And yet I would not sleep. Merciful powers,

Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature

Gives way to in repose!

The key difference in the response to how Banquo and how Macbeth relate to the witches and the prophecies lies in the fact that, although both have ambitious thoughts, Banquo chooses not to act on that ambition. Macbeth therefore is the opposite - he chooses to give in to those ambitious thoughts which lead him inevitably to murder and treachery. We can see therefore that in some ways in this play Banquo acts as a comparison to Macbeth - and a rebuke to Macbeth and the path he has chosen to take. It is therefore fitting that it is Banquo's ghost that haunts Macbeth, and of course, one of the key ways in which he haunts Macbeth is by referring to the different ways they both responded to the predictions of the witches.

Why do we need to write an abstraction in our research report?Thanks for quick registration

If you are required to write an abstract in your research report, it is probably to focus your writing and your reporting.  The abstract is summation of what the paper intends to do and an evaluation of how well it covered it.

If you have access to databases (perhaps through a library or university) such as Academic Search Premier, you might read those abstracts to articles to see how they are laid out.  Generally, abstracts are not very long.

Check with your instructor to see what they expect in an abstract.  An abstract is sometimes required, but often they are not.  The most important thing is to know what your teacher expects.

Lord of the Flies Chapter 1: What are the names of the twins?

The two twins are the last boys to come to the meeting before Jack and his troop of choristers arrive in formation. The twins, identical, exert a powerful fascination on both Ralph, who notices them as they arrive at the platform, and the rest of the boys, who are intrigued by their similarity:

The two boys, bullet-headed and with hair like tow, flung themselves down and lay grinning an dpanting at Ralph like dogs. They were twins, and the eye was shocked and incredulous at such cheery duplication. They breathed together, they grinned together, they were chunky and vital.

The twins also allow an opportunity for humour, as the well-meaning Piggy, efficient as always in his attempts to identify and learn the names of all the boys, confuses the two which is greatly appreciated by the rest of the boys. They are called Sam and Eric.

How would you describe the attitude toward the supernatural expressed in this play?

Shakespeare uses the supernatural in "Macbeth" the way he does in many of his other plays where supernatural events occur. These events add a sense of mystery and suspense to the action. In addition, during the time when Shakespeare wrote these plays, many people believed in supernatural events. The audience was probably extremely familiar with the idea of witches and the idea that they were considered evil. Thus, by listening to the witches, Macbeth shows his ambition and tendency towards evil as he tries to help make the witches prophecies come true. The witches add to the evil intentions of Macbeth and his wife and we see their actions, not only in the light of an ambitious people, but also a couple who can be tempted to evil simply by suggestion.

In The Scarlet Letter, what does Chillingworth believe is the cause of Reverend Dimmesdale's problems?

In Chapter IV when Roger Chillingworth visits Hester at the prison, he asserts that he will learn who the man is that has committed sin with Hester because

"[T]here is a sympathy that will make me conscious of him. I shall see him tremble. I shall feel myself shudder, suddenly and awares. Sooner or later, he must needs be mine."

This "sympathy" between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale is in their pride. When he identifies this pride in Dimmesdale, Chillingworth questions the minister and learns that Dimmesdale feels that even a sinner can help his congregation. Thus, the old physician surmises that Dimmesdale hides his sin of adultery in order to continue to minister to the members of his church.

It seems that Roger Chillingworth suspects Reverend Dimmesdale from the first when he stands in the crowd and watches Hester Prynne in her public humiliation. At the least, he witnesses the minister encourage her to respond to the questions of the Reverend Wilson and speak the name of the "fellow-sinner" who "hath not the courage to grasp it for himself--the bitter, but wholesome cup that is now presented to thy lips!" As he says these words, Dimmesdale's voice is broken and "tremulously sweet"; when Hester refuses, the minister murmurs, "She will not speak!" and he has placed his hand upon his heart when awaiting Hester's response.

The sympathy which Roger Chillingworth recognizes in the Reverend Dimmesdale is that both of their good natures have been wasted. The physician Chillingworth suffers as he has overstepped his human role as a man, and takes upon himself the quest of a man's soul. Dimmesdale has also wasted his life in pretense; as a man of the cloth, he has been hypocritical in preaching sermons against sin when he himself is guilty of the serious sin of adultery. Thus, in his sin of pride, the physician for Dimmesdale feels the sympathy of this same cardinal sin. For, in his pride, the minister has rationalized that although a man be guilty of sin, he may yet retain "a zeal for God's glory and man's welfare," and aware that if his sin were known he could achieve no good, he hides this sin in order to help his fellow man and serve God. It is at this point that Roger Chillingworth discovers the minister's chest holds the answer for him that he has suspected, "[W]ith what a wild look of wonder, joy, and honor!" he gazes at the mark upon the minister's chest, the reason for his guilt. Thus, Reverend Dimmesdale's secret sin of adultery is revealed with the mark that the fiend who seeks revenge witnesses.

What does the incident involving the priestess of Agbala reflect about the values of the culture in "Things Fall Apart"?

This situation illuminates the value the Ibo culture places on spirituality.  They do not question the Gods, they comply with their requests and build their lives and beliefs around these dieties.  The fact that Ekwefi stays so far behind Chielo and her daughter shows us that she acknowledges the importance of obeying the Oracle; however, her love and need to protect her daughter are so strong that she is willing to stretch the rules a bit in order to protect her.  This scene also illustrates the value that the Ibo culture places on family.  Even Okonkwo becomes worried about his wife and daughter and eventually follows them to the caves to make sure they are safe.  We see the dynamics between the Gods and the Ibo people in this scene and how they affect the lifestyle of this culture.

In Chapter 2 what does the disappearance of the small little boy do for the plot of "Lord of the Flies"?

In Chapter 2 of "The Lord of the Flies," when the boy with the mulberry mark disappears during the distraction of the raging fire, credibility and perpetuation of the accounts of the "beastie" by this very boy are ensured. For, the explosions of this fire send creeper vines to fly into the air, appearing much like the snakes that the small boy has imagined:

A tree exploded in the fire like a bomb.  Tall swathes of creepers rose for a moment into view, agonized, and down agains.  The little boys screamed at them. 'Snakes! Snakes! Look at the snakes!

Also, the loss of the boy from the power of the fire exemplifies that uncontrolled power can cause chaos and even death. This is a foreshadowing of what occurs later in the novel as uncontrolled power by Jack and Roger does, indeed, effect chaos and death.  In fact, Golding writes of acres of "yellow smoke" rolling toward shore indicating that evil [yellow is the color that symbolizes evil] will encompass the island.  In another hint, he writes,

Beneath the capering boys a quarter of a mile square of forest was savage with smoke and flame

Added to this, Piggy is much disturbed by the boy's loss as he feels an adult reponsibility and Ralph feels "shame."

How does Lyddie feel about Diana Goss in the book Lyddie?

When Lyddie first meets Diana Goss, she is impressed by her kindness and capability.  Diana is the one who steps forward at the factory to help Lyddie get used to the difficult and dangerous job of operating the looms.  Diana is patient and "quietly competent", and Lyddie wants to learn everything so that she can one day be like her (Chapter 9).

Lyddie is appreciative of and sometimes shamed by Diana's gentle and generous spirit.  Diana thinks of the girls at the mill as her family, and she goes out of her way to look out for their well-being.  When Lyddie first arrives at the factory, Diana gives her letter-writing material and postage and insists that she write to her family to let them know she is all right, and when Lyddie is injured by the shuttle at work, it is Diana who cares for her and calls a doctor to attend to her.  When Lyddie is sick and unable to work, Diana, with the help of Brigid, continue operating her looms in addition to their own so that Lyddie does not lose her job and will still get at least a small paycheck.  The kindness that Diana shows to Lyddie is the same as that which she shows to all the girls, and Lyddie is shamed when she sees with what patience Diana teaches Brigid when she first arrives, after Lyddie had dealt with the new girl with impatience and frustration.

Lyddie is grateful for Diana's friendship, and would like to reciprocate in some way.  Diana is actively involved in the labor movement, and although she never pressures Lyddie to participate in the cause, Lyddie regrets not supporting Diana in her union activities.  Even though the conditions at the factory are abominable, Lyddie is used to working under harsh conditions, and the money she makes there is more than she has been able to earn anywhere else in her young experience, and she is unwilling to jeopardize her job by becoming involved with the union.  When Lyddie realizes that Diana is in trouble towards the end of the story, she longs to help the young woman who has done so much for her.  Not knowing what else to do, she decides to sign the petition asking for better working conditions, risking her job in hopes of giving back to her friend.

Complementary AnglesIf two angles are complementary, can one of them be obtuse? Why?

Complementary angles are two angles that add up to 90 degrees.

If you have a 40 degree angle and a 50 degree angle, their measure is 90 degrees.

An obtuse angle cannot be a complementary angle because an obtuse angle measures more than 90 degrees.

What are the elements of symbolism and irony in the arrest scene in 1984?In Part Two, Chapter 9-10ish. Can you please help me summarize the...

The most obvious example of symbolism in the arrest scene is the destruction of the coral paperweight that Winston had bought at the junk shop just prior to the beginning of his affair with Julia.  The paperweight had appealed to Winston because it was old, and because it seemed to have an air about it of a far distant past when things were different.  For a little while, when it is in his possession, Winston dares to do things that he would never have done before, immersing himself in thoughtcrime by studying the writings of Goldstein, the epitome of subversion, and defying Big Brother through his relations with Julia.  During this time Winston actively considers the world the way it was before Big Brother took over, but when he is arrested, that time of rebellion, of dreaming of a life more meaningful than that offered by the Party, is over, as symbolized when the paperweight is "smashed...to pieces on the hearthstone".  For a little while Winston had imagined how wonderful the world might be under different circumstances, but as he spies "the fragment of coral" that rolled across the mat after the paperweight is smashed, he realizes "how small...how small it always was".

Similarly, the most obvious example of irony in the arrest scene is the revelation of the telescreen behind the picture.  Earlier, Winston had commented to Julia on the beauty of the painting hanging on the wall.  Little did he know that the picture, a likeness of the a local church, St. Clement's Dane, was just a camoflage for something so sinister.  In a further exhibition of irony, the church depicted had brought to mind a child's poem about "the bells of St. Clement's", of which neither Winston nor Julia could remember the end.  After the telescreen has been exposed, the voice from the screen provides the last two chilling but appropriate lines of the rhyme, "Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head" (Part II, Chapter 10).

What motivates Curley's anger?

The book does not clearly say what the source of Curley's anger was. However, it does intimate a few things. 

First, the book says that Curley was small in stature. It also says that because of this he hated big guys. Here is the text:

The swamper considered . . . . “Well . . . . tell you what. Curley’s like alot of little guys. He hates big guys. He’s alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he’s mad at ‘em because he ain’t a big guy. You seen little guys like that, ain’t you? Always scrappy?”

The point is that Curley was insecure. So, he had to overcompensate when he felt threatened. 

Second, Curley also felt entitled, because he was the boss's son. There are a few places in the book where this detail in mentioned. In light of this, we can assume that Curley felt that he could get away with certain things, because he had power on the ranch. So, he could get angry and get away with it. Who would stop him? 

Third, Curley was also a fairly successful boxer. So, he was able to back up his anger with physical force at times. 

Lastly, another details that emerges several times is that he felt insecure in his marriage. He was always looking for her and suspicious of other men. So, when things were not going well with his wife, it would turn into anger. 

If we add all these details together, we see that he was insecure and entitled and this combination led to anger. 

In "Macbeth", what are the main events in act 2

Without a doubt the main event is the killing of Duncan by Macbeth.  That, of course, is central to the play.  Before that occurs in scene 2, there is a brief conversation between Macbeth and Banquo in which Macbeth tells Banquo he'd like to talk to him sometime on a topic that has something to do with the three witches., and furthermore, what Macbeth has to say to Banquo could be good for Banquo's future.  Banquo's reply is odd because he says he'll talk with Macbeth as long as doing so doesn't require him to be disloyal to the king or to do something that would go against his conscience.  This suggests that Banquo might already suspect that Macbeth is up to something where Duncan is concerned.  After Banquo leaves that scene, Macbeth sees the "air-drawn dagger".  This lets us know that Macbeth's conscience is already bothering him. Was it something that Banquo said or does Macbeth, at this point in the play, still have a soul that is bothered by the thought of killing the king?  Clearly though, Macbeth's ambition reigns over his conscience.  Macbeth's actions after he kills Duncan in scene 2 suggest that he immediately regrets his actions, but he is still savvy enough in scene 3 to immediately kill the guards to prevent them from denying that they killed Duncan.  Scene 3 starts with the comic relief scene in the play.  The drunken porter is complaining that he has to get up to answer the knocking at the castle gate.  Then he and Macduff have a humorous exchange about the effects of drinking too much alcohol.  The funny scene is quickly exchanged in scene 3 when Macduff discovers Duncan's bloody body.  Things are chaotic for the rest of the scene with Macbeth killing the guards, Lady Macbeth fainting, Duncan's sons - Malcolm and Donalbain - receiving the news of their father's murder.  The two sons, at the end of scene 3, suggest that the murder was an inside job and that they'd better get out of the country for their own safety.  For that reason, too, they split up with Malcolm headed to England and Donalbain headed to Ireland. The last scene of Act 2 is a short one in which an old man talks with Ross and reports that the night of Duncan's murder, other odd things were happening.  Ross also reports of very unnatural events taking place that night including horses that turned cannibalistic.  The purpose is to show what happens when God's plan is upset. (Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, in large part, to honor the new king of England, King James I who was from Scotland and who believed that God ordained who should be king so the killing of a king was, essentially, upsetting God's plan.)  Also, in scene 4, we learn that the general assumption is that Malcolm and Donalbain fled the country because they were guilty of hiring the guards to kill Duncan.

Bernard Mongomery who led the british army into war on 30th August 1942, was he a hero or a villian?I've serached but it doesn't give enough...

Good answer.  Montgomery's only real deficiency as a commander was an unwillingness to move until absolutely ready.  This led to his success in Africa and much of his success in Europe, but it also led to his failure to end the war in 1944.

Patton's success in breaking out of Normandy was planned by Montgomery, who chose to use his own (British and Canadian) troops to tie down the majority of available German troops to Patton's north and west.  However, Montgomery's most ambitious plan didn't turn out as well, Operation Market Garden.  The plan was to drop paratroopers on a succession of four bridges across the Low Countries and drive a motorized column through to seize the bridges and relieve the light troops on the ground.  The objective was to force a decision by Christmas.

Unfortunately, the plan depended on using all available air transport for the drop, and although Eisenhower initially agreed he was worried.  Patton persuaded him to cut the transport, so the paratroops were landed over three days instead of one.  But all four bridges had to be assaulted at once for the plan to succeed, so all four targets were attacked with insufficient force

The farthest bridge was at Arnhem, in the Netherlands.  The first air assault was made 17 September, but Mongomery's lack of speed finally caught up with him.  Although the paratroopers at Arnhem held out until the 25th the Allied forces could not reach them in time to secure the crossing.  The pace of warfare in the Second World War had simply sped up so much that even those commanders thoroughly familiar with mechanized forces were sometimes too slow, although Patton and Eisenhower must take some of the blame for the insufficient air transport.

Motgomery was an excellent field commander, but his personal manner put many off, and his failure to cut the war short at Arnhem tarnished his reputation somewhat.  He was still one of the most perceptive and successful commanders of the war.

Who is the narrator of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

The narrator of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an anonymous third person limited narrator who directs how the story will be told, beginning in Chapter 1 where thenarrator says:

"Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse..."

This narrator tells the story through the experience, thoughts, feelings, actions, motives of Mr. Utterson, which is why a story about Jekyll and Hyde starts out with a description of Mr. Utterson. Since the narrator is limited and not omniscient, (1) Stevenson always orients the story from Utterson's point of view and (2) Stevenson was free to expand his narratorial options by having three different people, therefore three different voices, take over the narration at various points in the story.

The first place in which another narratorial voice takes over the story is in Chapter 1 in which Mr. Enfield, Utterson's distant cousin and confidant, introduces Mr. Hyde by telling Utterson about a most peculiar incident that he was involved in that centered on Hyde. So in this instance, Stevenson employs the literary technique of an embedded narrator: a third person narrator telling about a character narrating a story to another character, a technique Joseph Conrad also used in Heart of Darkness.

In Chapters 9 and 10, Stevenson employs another technique to vary the narratorial voice although the narrator remains the same third person limited narrator, as is confirmed in Chapter 8: " Mr. Utterson was sitting by his fireside one evening after dinner,...." In chapters 9 and 10, Stevenson employs two letters, one from Dr. Lanyon to Mr. Utterson and one from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Utterson, to continue the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This is called an epistolary (letter) technique.

So, while the narrator is an invovled ("Never (she used to say, with streaming tears, when she narrated that experience), never had she felt...") though objective third person limited (one point of view through one character) narrator, the narratorial voice varies through embedded narration (Mr. Enfield) and two instances of epistolary narration in which Dr. Lanyon speaks (Chapter 9) and then Dr. Jekyll speaks (Chapter 10).

What pest did Betsie thank God for in The Hiding Place?

Betsie gives thanks to God for the fleas.

Corrie and Betsie have just arrived at Ravensbruck. They are taken to their "permanent quarters," a huge dormitory more squalid and filthy than anywhere they have ever been before.  The dormitories are crowded with "great square piers stacked three high." On these platforms, hundreds of women must scramble to find a place to sleep--on hard wooden planks and with no space to even sit up.  The smell of obviously "backed-up plumbing" pervades the room, and the layer of straw which covers the platforms is "soiled and rancid."  Worst of all, the whole place is crawling with fleas.

Corrie is horrified at the conditions in their sleeping quarters, but Betsie, with unshakable faith, prays for the strength and wisdom to be able to live in such a place.  She remembers a verse in the Bible in which St. Paul says, "give thanks in all circumstances," and together with Corrie, she begins to do just that.  Betsie leads Corrie to join her in thanking the Lord for the fact that they have been assigned to Ravensbruck together, and that, since they have not had to undergo inspection before entering their dormitory, they still have their precious Bible.  And finally, Betsie thanks God for the fleas.

Little by little, Betsie and Corrie establish a community of sorts in their squalid dormitory.  They hold informal worship services daily at the rear of the room, and read the Bible together, with the inmates translating the sacred words into many languages so that everyone may understand.  Oddly, although there are "guards or camp police always present" everywhere else in the camp, there is "almost no supervision at all" in the dormitory, and so the women are able to conduct their worship services and Bible reading unmolested.  Betsie later discovers why they have been accorded this unusual freedom.  It seems that none of the guards or police are willing to step through the door of the large building--"because of the fleas" (Chapters 13-14).

What is the meaning of the poem "The Youngest Daughter" by Cathy Song?

Cathy Song, a Chinese-Korean American poet, often writes about her family.   Song was the youngest of six children.  Her poem “The Youngest Daughter” refers to the Chinese concept of filial piety.  This custom means to take care of one's parents with respect and honor, sacrificing for them.  It is considered the most important virtue of a child for his parent.

Written in free verse, this poem employs first person point of view with the narration provided by the youngest daughter.  Through her eyes, the reader learns of the relationship between the mother and daughter. The narrator encapsulates a day in both of their lives.

The day begins in darkness and pain for the daughter who suffers from migraine headaches.  Her skin is pale, damp and tingly.  Often, her mother rubs her brow to ease the ache from the migraine. 

As she brings her mother in for her bath, the mother sounds in good humor, joking about her large breasts like two huge walruses.  As the daughter washes her, the mother sighs and closes her eyes with satisfaction.  After the bath, the mother prepares their daily tea and snack for them.  They eat without talking.  This is the mother’s version of the day.

The daughter’s day is somewhat different.  As she bathes her mother, she scrubs her mother’s breasts and thinks of the children that drank from them and the old man who took pleasure from them.  She has an acrid taste in her mouth. While scrubbing her mother, she is no longer as tender with her mother as she once was.  However, the daughter feels empathy for her because the bruises from her insulin injections.  It seems as though they have been in this gloomy room forever.

The mother prepares their tea ritual.  Each wrestles with her own thoughts.  The mother knows that the daughter wants  to be free from her burden; yet, the she  needs her.  Ironically, the daughter toasts the health of her mother just as a flock of birds soar into the clouds. 

As I toast to her health,

with the tea she has poured,

a thousand cranes curtain the window,

fly up in a sudden breeze.

The poem portrays a slice of two people’s lives who love each other.  Thematically, one needs the other; the other one wants not to be needed.

Song’s figurative language is both harsh and vivid.  Using similes to project the dramatic portrait of the bath scene, the reader senses the intensity of the emotional struggle of the youngest daughter.  The meaning is that the mother’s awareness of her daughter’s desire to be rid of the filial responsibility deepens the sadness of the daily vignette. 

We eat in the familiar silence.

She knows I am not to be trusted,

even now planning my escape.

The meaning is that the melancholy ceremonies will continue until the daughter can no longer bear her burden or the old woman dies. The meaning is that neither end brings contentment

What do eyes represent in Night by Elie Wiesel?

The eyes in Night are a complex symbol that carries through from the beginning of the narrative when Moishe the Beadle talks about what he witnessed through to Elie's ending comment about the eyes that stare back at him from the mirror. What might be called the primary underlying element of the symbol is that the eyes are a witness.

Francois Mauriac, in his Forward, describes Beadle's efforts to tell what his eyes witnessed so as to warn the other inhabitants of Sighet. This symbolically equates eyes with a witness. While we all know an eye-witness must see a thing, the symbol isn't usually carried so far as to equate eyes with witness. Generally, the whole individual is the witness, whereas the eyes of those seeing the Holocaust are the witness, even if the individual cannot speak of it, cannot understand it, cannot live with the memory of it.

[the] pleas of a witness who, ... related to them what he has seen with his own eyes, but they refuse to believe him ....

The second part of the symbol is that the eyes reveal what the human is. Wiesel first wrote Night in Yiddish. In the Preface to the new translation of the English version of Night, Wiesel quotes a portion of the Yiddish original. The quote explains that in the eyes of each Jewish person resides the image of God. It is, therefore, the image of God the eyes reveal:

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

The symbol carries another level: the eyes see God reflected (they both show forth God's image and see God reflected from other humans). Elie relates that when the camp witnessed the hanging of a child, a man in the crowd moaned and asked, "Where is God?" while a silent voice inside Elie formed an answer, saying that God was hanging with the child:

"For God's sake, where is God?"
And from within me, I heard a voice answer:
"Where He is? This is where--hanging here from this gallows."

The child--with the image of God in his eyes and God reflected from those eyes to others--hung, with God--both on the gallows--while "tears, like drops of wax, flowed from [the child's] eyes."

This complex symbol establishes the eyes as a witness, as the image of God, as the reflection of God, as the tears and lost joy of God, while also being the tears and lost joy of the Jewish people: "the joy in his eyes was gone." Remembering that, for Wiesel, God hung with the child, the complexity of this symbol is confirmed with Wiesel's closing comment about his own eyes:

From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me.

How do I start a compare/contrast essay when the subject is to compare the Spanish and British and how they colonized?

You could start off with some context, something general about how the European nations became involved in colonization on a large scale starting from the 1400's. Then bring Spain and Britain into the picture, naming these two countries as two major colonizers. Then you should go right into your thesis statement, which should clearly state the main aspects of British and Spanish colonization that made them similar and the main aspects that made them different. I would mention the following:

Similarities

1. Both set up plantation systems for economic gain: the Spanish in the Carribean and South America, the British in the Caribbean

2. Both were major colonizers that subjugated many peoples and conquered large areas

Differences

1. Time period: Spain was one of the earliest colonizers, while Britian was a little late to the scene. In fact, a naval battle between Spain and Britain in the 1500's marked the end of Spain's heyday as a major colonizer and the beginning of Britain's golden age.

2. Though British colonizers also sent up a plantation system on the Caribbean islands, the system that they set up in the North American mainland was quite different. British colonists on the mainland enjoyed a fair degree of autonomy as farmers, merchants, or craftsmen. 

3. Assimilation with Native Americans: Spanish interaction with the Native Americans they conquered was far greater than British interaction with Native Americans. The Spanish wed and had children with the Native Americans, and introduced many elements of their culture into Native American culture. The British, on the other hand, did not mix nearly as well with the Native Americans, and the British colonists and the Native Americans remained segregated from one another and hostile to one another.

Compare Portia and Nerissa's friendship with the men's in Merchant of Venice. Does marriage change their friendship?

Portia and Nerissa's friendship is similar to and different from the men's friendship (Bassanio and Antonio's).

1.  Similarities: One friend is signficantly wealthier than the other in each of the friendships (Portia and Antonio are able to control much of the play's action because of their wealth), but neither of the wealthier individuals "lords" his or her wealth over friends who have less. Nerissa is Portia's servant, yet Portia seeks advice from Nerissa, treats her as her confidant, and sees her as her intellectual equal. Likewise, even though Bassanio owes Antonio a great deal, Antonio does not manipulate Bassanio with that knowledge, chide him, or hold a grudge against him for the danger his loan to Bassanio causes him.  Another similarity is that both sets of friends enter into "schemes" of sorts together.  Portia takes Nerissa along with her to Venice, and Nerissa even dresses as a man to help carry out Portia's disguise and mirrors Portia's "ring test" for her own husband. Bassanio entangles Antonio in his quest to win Portia's hand in marriage, showing the same type of trust in his friend as Portia has in hers.

2. Differences: Portia and Nerissa marry at the same time, while Antonio remains a bachelor. Portia and Nerissa seem to use their friendship to exert feminine dominance over males, because Shakespeare gives his audience the impression that the women are more savvy than the men. In contrast, Bassanio and Antony use their friendship only to help each other. Antony is willing to lose his life for Bassanio, and Bassanio is deeply grieved by Antonio's situation and offers up his own life. Their friendship seems deeper and not based upon manipulating others.

3. No, marriage does not really affect Portia and Nerissa's friendship because they marry friends; so physical distance between the two women is unlikely. One could argue that marriage affects Bassanio and  Antonio's relationship because Antonio is left alone at the end of the play in contrast to the three married couples.

How are F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jay Gatsby similar?How can I write an excellent introduction, topic sentence, and thesis? (Gatsby is a symbol of F....

Jay Gatsby and F. Scott Fitzgerald are similar in the following ways:

-They are both from the Midwest (in the novel, a place which represents Idealism and old-fashioned values).

-They both love women from Old Money families, families which would never have approved of their daughters' lovers.

-They both attended prestigious universities but did not complete their education.

-They are both World War I veterans.

-They both throw extravagant parties.

-They ultimately meet with disillusionment with the American Dream.

As for your paper, in your introduction, you could discuss how authors often pattern their characters after themselves and their own experiences.  Of, you could discuss the original version of the American Dream and how that version has changed throughout American history.

Your thesis statement needs to be one sentence (not a question) and should discuss the fact that Gatsby and Fitzgerald share characteristics.  You could clean up your statement above about Gatsby being a symbol of Fitzgerald and use that for your thesis statement.

Good luck!

In Chapter 28, why does Jem say Boo Radley must not be at home? What is ironic about this? Does he mean it? Why is it important to the kids for Boo...

On the way to the Halloween pageant, Scout and Jem must walk by the Radley house.  Even though they know by now that Boo is harmless, it’s still a moonless, scary Halloween night, and the Radley house is dark and spooky.  Jem says Boo must not be home because he hears a mockingbird singing in the Radley yard, an omen that Scout and Jem are safe going by the Radley house; this implies that a mockingbird would not sing its beautiful song anywhere around Boo’s vicinity.  It’s also ironic that Jem hears a mockingbird singing in the Radley yard because Boo is symbolic of a mockingbird who never harms anyone or anything. 

It is also ironic because Boo is always at home.   Although, Boo does seem to be in the right place at the right time in regards to the children.   He is there to wrap a blanket around Scout’s shoulders at Miss Maudie’s fire, he is able to place items in the knothole of the tree, and later he is able to save the children when he kills Bob Ewell.  Being there for the children shows that he does get out and about town sometimes; however, for the most part, Boo is still a recluse.  Luckily, he seems to keep an eye out for Scout and Jem throughout the novel, and this protective, kind side of Boo shows that he is certainly one of the main symbols of a mockingbird in the story.

Who are the hypocrites in To Kill A Mockingbird, The Taming Of The Shrew, The Kite Runner, and All Souls.well i just need one name of a person...

I cannot speak for all four pieces, but I can discuss the hypocrisy found in The Kite Runner and To Kill A Mockingbird.

First, in Kite Runner, the main character himself is the biggest hypocrite around. He sacrifices his best friend's safety and happiness just so that he himself can enjoy those things with his father.  He is also a hypocrite in that he views America as a place to run away and escape from his problems, but yet knows it is like being in prison for his father. Going to America saves him from the past, but makes his father miserable.

In Mockingbird, it is the townspeople that support Tom Robinson, but don't stand up for him who are the hypocrites.  The town simply sits back and lets Atticus take the fall and the heat for defending Tom. They don't stand united behind him, but instead allow him and his family to suffer the consequences while they watch from the safety of their porches.

Can you see any differences when you compare Ralph's character at the beginning and the end of "Lord of the Flies"?

It is clear that at the beginning of the novel Jack represents the forces of civilisation, order and control. He is elected leader of the boys and is dedicated to maintaining control and being involved in meaningful action to achieve this goal. His example, in building huts for example whilst the other boys play and avoid work, means that he is respected and thought of highly by the boys. However, as the novel progresses, the forces of savagery, represented by Jack, become greater, and finally all the boys except Ralph and Piggy join Jack and his hunters.

Through the course of the novel, Ralph, like Simon, comes to understand that savagery is something that dwells within all of the boys. Although at the beginning of the novel Ralph is bewildered at Jack's bloodlust, we can see that Ralph comes to understand this personally when he hunts a boar and joins in the dancing afterwards, and even participates in the murder of Simon. Despite his best intentions, he is forced to realise that his savage instinct is part of him, as it is an essential characteristic of mankind. This epiphany or realisation plunges him into despair for a while, but it also enables him to cast down the Lord of the Flies at the end of the novel. At the end of the story, ironically, although Jack is rescued by the naval officer, his tears indicate that it is his innocence that has been lost irrevocably through the knowledge he has gained about the essential human condition.  

What are the changes that occur in the portait over time in The Picture of Dorian Gray?

When Basil first creates the portrait of Dorian Gray, he captures the handsome young man in all his youthful beauty.  When Dorian sees the picture, he is completely impressed by his own beauty, and feels sad that as he grows old, his good looks will be spoiled.  He says that he would give anything, including his soul, if he might retain his physical beauty, and have the picture grow old in his stead.

A short time later, Dorian falls in love with a young actress named Sibyl.  Taken with a sudden passion, he becomes engaged to her, only to break her heart after she puts on a poor performance on the stage.  Dorian tells Sibyl that he only loved her because of the great art he thought she would bring to his life, and coldly breaks off the relationship.  When Dorian goes home, he notices that the picture of himself has changed; his smile is now spoiled by a look of cruelty. 

As Dorian goes through life growing ever more depraved, the picture also grows more horrible, ravaged by the evidence of cruelty and evil.  Determined to enjoy his eternal youth, Dorian adopts a lifestyle that is increasingly sordid, and the picture continues to change, reflecting the degeneration of his character.

Eighteen years later, Dorian has commited every kind of depravity imaginable, even having murdered Basil, the artist who painted his portrait so many years ago.  He finally regrets the life he has led and vows to change, but in the end, tormented by his sins, he takes a knife and slashes the picture, which by now reflects a monstrosity.  The servants hear a terrible cry from their master, and discover Dorian dead, with a knife through his heart.  The picture, however, is now as perfect as it ever was, showing Dorian as a young man in all his youthful beauty.

In The Great Gatsby, how are "the frosted wedding cake of the ceiling" and "a long white cake of apartment houses" significant?

I like Susan's answer, and I would like to add a couple of other possibilities that explain F. Scott Fitzgerald's development of a white cake motif in The Great Gatsby. It is no accident that both of the passages you cite involve a white cake; in addition to wealth and opulence, as Susan mentions, white cakes are typically associated with weddings. This is especially noteworthy because this motif recalls Gatsby's desire to have an idyllic life with Daisy that will, in his mind, ultimately culminate in Daisy divorcing Tom and running away with Gatsby.

It could also be argued that Fitzgerald's emphasis on white cake imagery in these two passages represents Gatsby's naive world view. Gatsby has a romanticized notion of how his interactions with Daisy should go, and his expectations are damaged when Daisy acknowledges that she loved Tom at one point in their marriage. Gatsby's hopes and dreams, the sole reason he built up his fabulous wealth, are hurt by Daisy's revelation. Thus, the wedding cake imagery could also refer to the naivety of Gatsby.

Why is it important that the boys in Lord of the Flies are British?

In the second chapter Jack says

'We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at everything.'

Which another example of Golding's dramatic irorny. As said the Enlgish are regarded to be 'proper', well behaved and generally polite and well goverened. Jack's private education should mean that he should display all these qualities. However the rules he was so excited to established, are the very ones he breaks once he realizes they do not benefit him in the ways he wishes and he ultimately degresses into the savage he said he was not.

Jack's statement in the second chapter is echoed by the naval officer when after seeing the boys he states:

'I should have thought that a pack of British boys... would have been able to put up a better show than that.'

He has the same ideology that Jack has, and Golding uses the statement to show the parallels between the two. Both Jack and the officer have been governed by the kind of society which enforces rules and 'proper' behaviour. But once they are taken away from the society that governs and are free to make decisions of their own, the rules and regulations are set aside and 'the darkness of man's heart' and the inner savagery that is masked my the veneer of civilisation is revealed. Therefore when looking at Jack, the naval officer is essentially looking at himself without the protection of of what most consider to be an extremely civilised society.

Despite "A Rose for Emily's" confusing sequence, many events are foreshadowed. Please give 3 examples of this technique.

One event that is foreshadowed is Emily's future refusal to part with Homer Barron.  Earlier in the telling of the story comes the passage where Emily's father died.  Her reaction when people come to the house to get her father's body is interesting:

"Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face.  She told them that her father was not dead.  She did that for three days."

Finally, she breaks down and lets them take her father's body, but, her reluctance to part with her beloved father, even if he was dead, directly foreshadows the entire Homer Barron situation that we discover at the end.  Another instance of foreshadowing is when Miss Emily buys the arsenic.  That foreshadows Homer's death.  She goes to the drug store, asks for arsenic, and when the pharmacist asks why, it states,

"Miiss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up."

Here is another instance of foreshadowing; she gets enough arsenic to "kill an elephant" as the druggst says, then refuses to say why she's getting it.  One last instance of foreshadowing is the smell that radiates from her house.  It is an awful smell, so bad that people sneak into her yard at night to apply lime to try to get the smell to go away.  That also foreshadows the horrific discovery at the end.

So yes, even though Faulkner's chronology in telling the story is confusing, and out of order, if you are watching for signs, there are clues to the disturbing ending.  I hope that helps!

By analyzing Mr. Waythorn in "The Other Two" by Edith Wharton, examine his experiences, character, and conflicts.

Mr. Waythorn is an investor in New York who works with a partner who handles the investment affairs of Alice Waythorn's second husband Gus Varick. Waythorn normally leads a quiet "gray" life colored only by his intense sensibilities, which is one reason he was drawn to Alice, who is the opposite of him, and asked her to be his wife.

Waythorn is a moral and ethical man of rational and reasonable temperament and bearing, not quick to find fault or express ill will or rancorous feelings, as is illustrated when he sees Alice talking to Mr. Varick (husband number two) at a ball. He is eminently fair and just as is illustrated by his willingness to allow Mr. Haskett (husband number 1) into his home to visit the sick daughter Haskett shares with Alice.

Waythorn's conflict are three fold. His first conflict is that he has the real conflict of coming up against the realities of his wife's broken but apparently not hostile previous marriages--or, more specifically, coming up against the men from those marriages. He finds himself in embarrassing situations and wonders if Varick (No. 2) had ever found himself in such situations with Haskett (No. 1). His second conflict is with Alice who wants a mild version of having her cake and eating it too (if you save your cake, you can't eat it) by having amiable contact with her previous husbands but not letting Mr. Waythorn know she is. His third conflict is personal: What is the ethical way to behave when brought face to face with (1) an illusion you no longer believe in and (2) tea with your wife's former husbands served by your wife in your sitting room?

What does it mean that the devil is lord over the flies? Who do the flies represent?

I'm not sure if I understand your question, but I'll do the best to interpret what I think you're asking. The Lord of the Flies itself (i.e., the pig head atop the stick) has many interpretations. A common one is that inside all humans is the capacity of evildoing (perhaps your "devil" reference?). The "Flies" might mean human beings. The "Lord" might mean the strongest impulse within humanity (i.e., evil). Throughout the story, this realization slowly occurs to the characters in the story and to the reader.

It takes a character with a certain insight (Simon) to see/recognize this reality. Once he experiences his epiphany and attempts to enlighten the others, like so many visionaries, he is destroyed. Along with him, there's the potential for his insight to be either misinterpreted or used for a greater good.

As the story ends, the reader is left to ponder which direction will be taken by the characters.

How does Benvolio feel about Tybalt in "Romeo and Juliet"? How do you know?Act 1 scene 1 first speech that benvolio says

In Act1, scene 1 of "Romeo and Juliet", Benvolio does reveal some of his feelings about Tybalt nad Tybalt reveals some of his feelings about Benvolio and of course since Tybalt is a Capulet they are not positive feelings.  Benvolio comes out to break up the fight saying,

"I do but keep the peace. Put up thy sword,
Or manage it to part these men with me."

This is in response to Tybalt telling Benvolio that he is about to kill him.  This does tell us a few things -- Benvolio does not have a very high opinion of Tybalt and his need to constantly fight.  It also tells the reader that Tybalt would very much like to murder Benvolio because he is of the house of Montague.  Tybalt continues by saying,

"What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee. 
Have at thee, coward" (l. 65-67)

Tybalt is calling Benvolio a hypocrite because he wants peace but takes out his sword and that he is ready and willing to fight Benvolio to the death.

What is the birth order of the four sisters (oldest to youngest), in the book In the Time of the Butterflies?

The oldest three of the Mirabal sisters were very close in age.  Patria, the oldest, was born in 1924.  The most religious of the three women, she seemed destined to enter the convent, but surprised everyone by marrying Pedrito Gonzales at the age of sixteen.  Pedrito and Patria had three children, Nelson, Noris, and Raul Ernesto.  Patria, her husband, and her oldest son Nelson were all active in the revolution.  Patria was killed with Minerva and Maria Teresa on November 25, 1960.

Dede, secondborn, was born almost exactly a year after Patria, in 1925.  She is the only surviving Mirabal sister.  Dede, nicknamed "Miss Sonrisa", was always a cheerful, compliant child.  She married her childhood sweetheart Jaimito, and the two had three sons, Enrique, Rafael, and David.  Because Jaimito forbade Dede to become involved with the revolution, she was not with her sisters on the fateful trip when they were killed.

Minerva was born in 1926, a year after Dede.  Sharp-tongued and confident, she was the firebrand of the group, and the most strongly committed to the revolution.  Minerva married Manolo Tavarez, a fellow revolutionary.  The couple had two children, Minou and Manolito.  Minerva was assassinated with her sisters Patria and Maria Teresa in 1960.  Her husband Manolo continued his activity with the underground, and was murdered in 1963.

Maria Teresa was the baby of the family, born in 1935, nine years after her closest sibling.  She was introduced to the revolution by Minerva, with whom she shared a special rapport.  While living with Minerva and Manolo one summer, Maria Teresa met Leandro Guzman, who was securing guns for the underground; they subsequently were married.  Maria Teresa was imprisoned with Minerva in 1960, and tortured in front of her husband to force him to cooperate with authorities.  She was killed with Patria and Minerva in 1960.

What is the setting of "Fridle?"

The setting of "Frindle" is Westfield, NewHampshire.  Much of the story is centered around the elementary school in the town of Westfield.  He is in a small town where the children all know each other.  He and his friends have gone to school all through their school years as did their brothers and sisters.  They all had the same teachers and the traditions continue from year to year. 

Westfield is one of many towns in the small New England state and news travels quickly.  Everyone knows what everyone else is doing and it is for this reason that the whole concept of the word "frindle" takes on a life of it's own.

What does one of the "littluns" see in the forest? Why doesn't Piggy like the boys' behaviour, later in the same chapter?

It's Percival Wemys Madison, probably one of the most important littluns in the novel for charting the boys' decline into charity. And it takes some persuading to get him into the assembly:

At last Ralph induced him to hold the shell but by then the blow of laughter had taken away the child’s voice. Piggy knelt by him, one hand on the great shell, listening and interpreting to the assembly.
“He wants to know what you’re going to do about the snake-thing.”
Ralph laughed, and the other boys laughed with him. The small boy twisted further into himself.
“Tell us about the snake-thing.”
“Now he says it was a beastie.”
“Beastie?”
“A snake-thing. Ever so big. He saw it.”
“Where?”
“In the woods.”
Either the wandering breezes or perhaps the decline of the sun allowed a little coolness to lie under the trees. The boys felt it and stirred restlessly.

Percival thinks he's seen a "beastie", a "snake thing", which Golding actually makes quite clear is just him having seen the creepers and vines hanging in the trees. It's the start of the fear about the beast.

And it's no accident that after this first mention of the beast, Jack immediately incites the boys to build a fire. And the boys all go racing off to do it:

“A fire! Make a fire!”
At once half the boys were on their feet. Jack clamored among them, the conch forgotten.
“Come on! Follow me!”
The space under the palm trees was full of noise and movement. Ralph was on his feet too, shouting for quiet, but no one heard him. All at once the crowd swayed toward the island and was gone–following Jack. Even the tiny children went and did their best among the leaves and broken   branches. Ralph was left, holding the conch, with no one but Piggy.

This sudden exodus is what provokes Piggy's disdain:

Piggy’s breathing was quite restored.
“Like kids!” he said scornfully. “Acting like a crowd of kids!”
Ralph looked at him doubtfully and laid the conch on the tree trunk.
“I bet it’s gone tea-time,” said Piggy. “What do they think they’re going to do on that mountain?”
He caressed the shell respectfully, then stopped and looked up.

Piggy can't really contemplate fun: and the lack of responsibility of the other boys - and their childish glee in their newfound task. It's one of many ways in which he's set apart from the other boys on the island.

In "Winter Dreams," how does the little girl make Dexter quit?

The spoiled little girl in question is Judy Jones some years before she grows up and captures Dexter's heart for the rest of his life. At the age of fourteen, Dexter meets Judy on the exclusive Sherry Island golf course really for the first time, although he had seen her several times the year before. Even as a young girl, however, Judy is beautiful and willful, full of the haughtiness of a child of wealth and privilege. When asked to caddy, Dexter explains that he cannot since he has been told to stay until the caddy master arrives. When Judy cannot have her way to play immediately, she pouts. She is not used to being told "no." 

Dexter cannot stop watching as Judy then vents her temper upon her nurse who has accompanied her to play golf. When Judy tries to strike the hapless woman with her little golf club, Dexter unexpectedly identifies with Judy rather than the Jones' family employee:

He could not resist the monstrous conviction that the little girl was justified in beating the nurse.

When the caddy master arrives, Judy just assumes Dexter now will be her caddy, but he does not move to pick up her golf bag. The caddy master speaks to Dexter, his hired help, without respect, accusing him of "standing there like a dummy" and telling him to "Go pick up the young lady's clubs."

Without thought or hesitation, Dexter quits, giving up the job he needed very much. His snap decision frightened him, but he did not change his mind:

. . . he had received a strong emotional shock, and his perturbation required a violent and immediate outlet.

It is not so simple as that, either. As so frequently would be the case in the future, Dexter was unconsciously dictated to by his winter dreams.

Dexter quits his job because he rejects his role as "hired help" for Judy Jones and the glamorous social class she represents. He chooses not to carry anyone's golf clubs, either literally or figuratively. Even at the age of fourteen, when Dexter's romantic dreams of a wealthy and glamorous life clash with his middle-class reality, he chooses his dreams. 

In chapter 1 what does Sid do to give Tom away?

In the opening chapter of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” Aunt Polly, described as “the elderly woman” is looking for Tom.  She finds him after he sneaks up behind her.  He has been hiding in the closet, and his face is covered with jam.  She tells Tom that she is going to switch him, but he distracts her and takes off over the fence. 

Aunt Polly is sure that Tom will skip school.  She hates to punish him on Saturday when on the boys are playing, but she feels she must “do right” by bringing up her dead sister’s boy.  During supper Aunt Polly is desperately trying to find out if Tom ditched school.  She asks him questions about his day and eventually gets around to asking him about his shirt collar. 

“Tom, you didn’t have to undo your shirt collar, where I sewed it, to pump on your head, did you? Unbutton your jacket.”

"Tom opened his jacket.  His shirt collar was securely sewn."

“'Well, go along.  I was sure you’d played hooky and been swimming.'  She was half sorry that her shrewdness had miscarried and half glad that Tom had, for once, been obedient."

“Sid said, 'I thought you sewed his collar with white thread.  Now the thread is black.'”

“'Why, I did sew it with white! Tom!' Tom didn’t wait for the rest.  As he went out the door, he said, ‘Sid, I’ll wallop you for that.’ He thought, ‘She’d never have noticed if it hadn’t been for Sid.’” (pg. 4)

Twain tells the reader that Sid, Tom’s half-brother was a "quiet boy with no adventure in his spirit" and was the perfect boy so Tom hated him.  When Sid pointed out to Aunt Polly that the thread was a different color she realized that Tom had indeed played hooky.  She did punish him by making him white wash the fence, but that is another chapter.

What are four descriptive traits of Scout Finch and Bob Ewell from the book To Kill a Mockingbird?

Scout Finch is an inquisitive, and intelligent little girl who narrates the story.  Her brother Jem is her primary playmate most of the time, and a friend, Dill, who comes in the summer.  Scout and her brother are very curious about a mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley, and they work hard one summer trying to get Boo to come out of the house and talk to them.  Scout's father is Atticus Finch, a lawyer in their smalll Alabama community of Maycomb.  It is the early 1930's, in the midst of the Great Depression, and early in the novel, Scout starts school, getting into several confrontations with her teacher on the very first day.  Bob Ewell is a hateful little man who lives near the trash dump outside of town, with his children, at least one of whom he beats regularly, usually while he's drunk. His children are neglected because of his drinking habit, and it is his wrongful accusation of Tom Robinson raping his daughter, when in fact he beat her up himself, that creates the trial in which Atticus must defend the innocent black man.

What meter is used in Sonnet 18?

If you are referring to William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, it is written in iambic pentameter.  This means that there are five metrical feet per line (pentameter) and each foot contains an iamb which is identified by one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable.

When marking meter on paper, unstressed syllables are usually marked with a backslash "/" and stressed syllables are usally marked with an "x."

Iambic pentameter was the most popular form of meter used during the Renaissance era and is also the most common form of meter used in sonnets.

How does marginalization play into"A Summer Tragedy" by Arna Bontemps?

The idea of marginalization can be seen in a couple of ways in Bontemps' story.  On one hand, there is a social marginalization of the Pattons that has happened.  Being of color, relatively poor, and of color in a setting where racial stratification plays a strong role in the narrative have all contributed to ensuring that the voices of Jeff and Jennie are effectively silenced.  This marginalization contributes to the idea that ending their lives is the only answer because there is little in way of progressive hope in this vision.  At the same time, there is an emotional marginalization that happens because of the social level and outside of it.  Jennie and Jeff have endured the challenges of losing their children in a small window of time as well as their own physical debilitation.  In a sense, this has played a role in their marginalization from being in the world.  There is a love between both of them, which compels them to undertake their plans.  In this setting of marginalization, the silencing of their happiness or potential for joy is what drives them to embrace the "inevitable conclusion."  The marginalization or silencing of voice that happens to Jeff and Jennie happens on these levels, acting in concert with one another.

Why do holes tend to be heavier and less mobile than electrons in a semiconductor?

Electron/hole mobility is inversely proportional to the effective mass (m*) of the particle (u=qt/m). Therefore, heavier also means slower/less mobile. Thus the question boils down to, "why do holes tend to be heavier in semiconductor materials?"

The effective mass (m*) of a particle is defined as the second derivative of Energy with respect to momentum, inverted. Recall that the energy-momentum diagrams for a semiconductor resemble two parabolas stacked on top of one another, one for the valence band (holes) and one for the conduction band (electrons)--see the link in the sources. Invariably, the conduction parabola is narrower than the valence parabola.

The narrower the parabola, the larger the second derivative of Energy with respect to momentum. Since m* ~ 1/D(D(E)), a narrow parabola = smaller m*. Therefore m*,electron < m*,hole. So a hole is heavier because of differences in the energy bands for holes and electrons.

What is the point of view in "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"?

This is an interesting question, because it isn't as straightforward as you might think.  It is Twain telling the story, so in that sense, it is written in the first person point of view.  He says "I" and writes the outer frame of the story from his own perspective.  But then, he gets to the general store and he switches to a direct quoted dialogue by the colorful Simon Wheeler; however, the main action is not about Simon Wheeler or Mark Twain.  Simon Wheeler tells the story of one Jim Smiley.  So, the actual written version of this tale is almost third-hand folklore.  The events happened to a Jim Smiley, as told by Simon Wheeler, as heard and re-written by Mark Twain.  So, the structure and point of view of this story is very unique; I provided a link below that discusses it further.

If you are looking at the actual opinions and attitudes that come through the most, and that is what you mean by point of view, then it would have to be a 2-fold answer again.  Twain's opinions and attitudes about the red-neck southern ways of the people in this town, and of Simon Wheeler, come through very strong.  He is sarcastic and uses the story as a form of satire, making fun of all of the lazy southerners with no jobs who sit on main street chewing tobacco and whittling all day long.  Simon Wheeler is one such type of man.  So, Twain's satire and sarcastic point of view come through in the outer framework of the story.  But as the tale of Jim Smiley is told by Simon Walker, you get Walker's point of view about the events, complete with his superfluous rambling backstories and colorful dialect.  So the point of view in the middle, during the part about the jumping frog, is distinctly Simon Wheeler's, because he takes over telling the tale.

I hope those thoughts help; good luck!

What are the compound words in Beowulf, (example whale-roads) called?What are the compounded-hyphenated words in the epic, Beowulf called?

The compound adjectives are called "kennings." They are used as metaphor to add to the elevated language that makes up a literary epic. They serve to add description without bulk, and frankly, they're just fun poetic devices.

Part of the reason for the use of kennings is the way the Anglo-Saxon language developed. New words incorporated to the language from other cultures made some for some grammatical comedy and plenty of confusion. It makes sense--the Germanic base of the language didn't blend easily with the romance languages of French and Latin. Noun and adjective placement is inconsistent, and until a true set of new "rules" developed, strange combinations helped clarify illustrations and images.

Kennings also served the poetic process, in allowing the oral tradition to preserve the story through alliteration and meter. Because the "scop" had to retain the information, the artistic form helped aid in memory.

How does Steinbeck demonstrate that Curley's wife is prejudiced in "Of Mice and Men"?

Steinbeck shows Curley's wife's prejudice during the time she visits Crook's room to talk to Candy and Lennie. Crooks, who is Black, asks Curley's wife to leave his room. She angrily replies that he has no right to ask her to leave because she could easily have him lynched. Candy retorts that no one would believe her but Crooks, knowing she is right, quickly backs off. It is Candy, who is white, who finally gets her to leave by telling her the other ranch hands have returned to the ranch.

In "1984", what sort of treatment does Winston receive shortly after his arrest?

In Part 3 Ch.1 Orwell describes very graphically, the miserabe and wretched state of Winston after he is arrested and locked up in a cell.

To begin with he is very hungry and there is a constant gnawing pain in his belly because "since he was arrested he had not been fed."

He was forced to sit still on a narrow bench and even if he moved a little a voice on the telescreen yelled at him. When he put his hands into his pocket to look for some food in his pocket, the voice shouted out from the telescreen

'6079 Smith W! Hands out of pockets in the cells!"

Before, being brought here he was kept temporarily in another cell which was "filthily dirty and at all times crowded by ten or fifteen people." There were all sorts of prisoners here and they were constantly on the move. Hardly anyone spoke to him but now and then they whispered the dreaded word "room one-oh-one," which was the torture chamber where all prisoners were mercilessly tortured.

Worse than the hunger was the psychological fear of what would happen to him in the future:

"There were moments when he foresaw the things that would happen to him with such actuality that his heart galloped and his breath stopped. He felt the smash of truncheons on his elbows and iron-shod boots on his shins; he saw himself grovelling on the floor, screaming for mercy through broken teeth."

The first prisoner whom he met was Ampleforth who had been arrested because,

"We were producing a definitive edition of the poems of Kipling. I allowed the word "God" to remain at the end of a line."

After Ampleforth is despatched to "Room 101,"  Parsons arrives. He has been arrested for a 'thought crime.' He was heard saying "Down with Big Brother" in his sleep by his seven year old daughter who immediately reported the matter to the police who arrested and sent him here promptly. Soon Parsons and another woman are sent to "Room 101."

Next, Winston witnesses a horrifyingly brutal scene when a person who tries to give a piece of bread to a starving man is mercilessly beaten up by the guards. Worse, when the starving man is despatched to "Room 101" he screams out:

" 'Do anything to me!' he yelled. 'You've been starving me for weeks. Finish it off and let me die. Shoot me. Hang me. Sentence me to twenty-five years.' "

rather than being sent to "Room 101."

Finally, O'Brien arrives. Only now he realises that it was O'Brien who had betrayed him and he has been imprisoned because of O'Brien. It is then that fear overwhelms him and as the guards begin to beat him up  he remarks:

"Nothing in the world was so bad as physical pain. In the face of pain there are no heroes, no heroes, he thought over and over as he writhed on the floor, clutching uselessly at his disabled left arm."

Orwell in this chapter describes in a chillingly realistic manner the physical and psychological torture totalitarian regimes inflict on political prisoners.

Why does Piggy die in "Lord of the Flies"? What does his death mean?

Piggy represents the intelligent, civilized mind. When he is killed, he is trying to intellectually reason with the boys. He has to be killed, because he's making too much sense. Piggy is the one with the special knowledge, for instance how to blow the conch and summon the other boys. Once Piggy dies, all reason dies with him. His death symbolizes the end of reason. When people function without reason, they move to the level of id and destroy one another. In a symbolic way, Golding is saying that when the people of a society stop thinking and just react, the end of that society is at hand.

What are some influences on Beethoven's works?Could be people, places... anything that influenced his compositions. Any of his works, for...

Beethoven's influences were many.  I think the largest influence on Beethoven was the two time periods he straddled.  Beethoven was heavily influenced by the Neoclassist perfectionist style we see in works of Mozart and Haydn, but he was also a product of the Romanticist age.  In some respects, Beethoven is a natural extension of both and a figure that unifies both periods of intellectual and musical history.

Beethoven is a product of a moment in time that has a hold in two particular intellectual traditions.  In terms of the influence of Neoclassism on Beethoven, one can see this in his technical proficiency and elaborate, ornate style in many of his works.  His piano sonatas ("Fur Elise" and "Pathetique", for example) reflect this intricate and technically demanding notion of perfection in work.  Like Mozart, Beethoven believed that the patronage system, which was evident in the Neoclassist period, had its limits and that the artist had a devotion to perfection in his craft.  It would be here where we begin to see his emergence into a Romanticist philosophy that demanded that the artist is individually distinct from society, attune to a level of perfection that only they can attain.  This distance might have also been enhanced by Beethoven's deafness, which caused him to retreat even more into a world that only he could perceive and understand.  Along with this influence, the revolutions of 1848 and of the time period had a profound influence on him.  He devoted his Symphony # 3 to Napoleon, as a representation of his love of the spirit under which Napoleon ascended to power.  Yet, he was dismayed at his autocratic ways, and rescinded his dedication.  The Romantic spirit can be lucidly seen in no other place than in his Ninth Symphony, inspired by Schiller's poem "Ode to Joy."  Originally conceived as a type of masterpiece, this particular symphony captures the intensity, pain, and glory of the feel of revolution on political, spiritual, and artistic levels.

What does Romeo tell the audience about love and death in his final speech?

The last soliloquy of Romeo after he has killed Paris functions as Romeo's last words in the play, where he comments on the destiny that has led him to this place and which has resulted in Paris' death too, the appearance of Juliet and his self-urging to take the poison and kill himself.

It is clear that when he realises who he has just killed, Romeo feels sympathy for Paris. He describes Paris as: "One writ with me in sour misfortune's book!", which shows that he sees Paris as another victim of fate, which throughout the play is seen to be a strong, implacable and impersonal force.

This speech also functions as a vital piece of dramatic irony. We, unlike Romeo, know that Juliet is really alive, and so it is intensely ironic that Romeo again and again refers to how life-like Juliet looks and his amazement that death has not claimed her and transformed her appearance:

Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath,

Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty.

Thou art not conquered. Beauty's ensign yet

Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,

And death's pale flag is not advanced there.

His ability to realise that Juliet is not actually dead is completely tragic, in every sense of the word, and the appearance of Juliet leads him to question whether Death is preserving her to be his lover. This cements Romeo's resolve to never leave this tomb again.

In contemplating his own death it is clear that he sees suicide as an escape from this world and from fate that has been so cruel to him and Juliet:

...O, here

Will I set up my everlasting rest

And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars

From this world-wearied flesh.

Romeo is literally worn down by the oppression of fate (the stars) and his act of killing himself he sees as freeing himself from the dominion of fate.

How do the Wart and Kay feel about each other in "The Once and Future King"?T.H. White's "Once and Future King"

In "The Once and Future King," Sir Kay and Wart have been boys together and loved each other despite some arguments such as in Chapter 9 when Wart has been transported as a merlin the previous night and Kay, accusing him of violating curfew, fights Wart. Wart's eye is blackened and Kay's nose bloodied.  As he waits for his nose to stop bleeding, the spoiled Kay bemoans that he has no adventures as Wart has had with Merlyn.  So, kindly, Wart asks Merlyn to give Kay an adventure; Merlyn objects, but finally agrees to do so. While Kay is obviously spoiled, he belittles Wart in situations only where Wart receives what he thinks is too much praise.

For instance when Sir Kay learns that Sir Ector, his father, is going to take him to London where he may be able to pull the sword out of the stone that will indicate the future King of England, Sir Kay speaks to Wart,

'Oh, Wart,' cried Kay, forgetting for the moment that he was only addressing his squire, and slippin back into the familiarity of their boyhood. 'What do you think?  We are all going to London for a great tournament on New Year's Day!'

However, having reached London Sir Kay returns to his superior social position in regard to Wart, who is his squire, and after realizing that he has forgotten his sword at the inn where he has stayed the night before orders Wart to retrieve his sword for him:

'Here, squire ride hard back to the inn and fetch my sword.  You shall have a shilling if you fetch it in time.'

The offer of money insults Wart:

'To offer me money!' cried Wart to himself. 'To look down at this beastly little donkey-affaire off his great charger and to call me Squire!  Oh, Merlyn, give me patience with the brute, and stop me from throwing his filthy shilling in his face.'

Nevertheless, Wart returns to the Inn which is closed.  Then, he espies a sword in a stone, which he believes is a monument of some kind.  On his third attempt, Wart successfully pulls out the sword, and he rides back to Sir Kay.  Handing this sword to Kay, Wart explains how he happened to take it. Having heard his words, Sir Kay stares in amazement, licks his lips nervously, and turns his back, plunging into the crowd where he seeks his father, Sir Ector.

Sir Ector listens as his son claims to have pulled out the sword himself.  He says nothing except that they must return to the stone where the sword will be reinserted so that Kay may re-pull it out.  Sir Kay confesses that he has lied and reveals that War has pulled the sword from the stone.  So, Sir Ector has Wart demonstrate his action; he falls to his knees, acknowledging Wart as the future king.  He asks

no more ...but that you will make my son, your foster-brother, Sir Kay, seneschal of all your lands.

Humbly, Sir Kay kneels, too; however Wart is overcome and cries to think that he should be superior to the family he loves.

Although Sir Kay proves to be decent at heart, he has been spoiled as a child and he remains selfish, and at times nasty. For example, when Kay loses Cully, he angrily states that Hob is only a servant whose feelings are irrelevant. His earlier delight at receiving a hunting knife from Merlyn is typical of boys his age. Still, in Chapters 10-13 of Book I, Kay begins to become more likable in spite of being Wart, on the other hand, is like the good-natured, kindly step-child prevalent in English literature, who is eager to please and not especially motivated to greatness.  He simply does what he must to set things right and always considers others in his actions.

Discuss the character of Louisa In "A New England Nun" by Mary Wilkins Freeman.

Joe Dagget made Louisa wait for fifteen years to marry him.  Now the wedding is only a week away.  This is the crux of the story “A New England Nun” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. This is a woman’s story of independence. Louisa is an unusual woman who believes that in her soft, feminine way she does not need a man. 

The narration is third person omniscient with an authorial point of view. Focusing on Louisa as the protagonist, the action takes place in her house which is of great importance to her.

This is a turning point in Louisa’s life.  For the last seven years of the total fifteen, Louisa has found contentment in living alone. Louisa is obsessed by her daily routine and arrangement of the things around her. For so long, Louisa has removed herself from society with her only companions, a canary and a chained dog named Caesar. 

The relationship between the two potential mates has cooled and become strained.  Each day that he visits,   Louisa and Joe sit across from each other and discuss the events of the day.  He is uncomfortable because every time he moves or touches something Louisa lightly scolds him.  When Joe leaves, he steps outside and gives a sigh of relief.  On the other side of the door, Louisa fusses to herself about the dirt that he has brought in with him.

The same night Louisa hears Joe and his mother’s nurse talking.  They have had an affair and seem to have feelings for each other.  This changes everything for Louisa.  She will release Joe from his commitment and continue on in the life she has built for herself.

Louisa is be admired because she had no tantrum.  In fact, she did not let Joe know why she was releasing him.  They gently kissed good-bye. Remember he had cost her fifteen years of her life waiting for him.  This is a woman with values and courage.

So many things happened while Joe was gone that impacted Louisa.  Her mother and brother died, leaving her all alone. However, Louisa had arranged her life so that she lives in perfect order with everything just as she likes it. 

For fifteen years she had loved the idea of Joe. She was faithful to him, and he had been her only lover.  Both of them had longed for the day when they could be married—until Joe returned and reality dropped on them. 

In her own way, Louisa feels she has uncloistered herself in her own type of convent where she finds innocence and harmony without the need of a man. Certainly, Louisa is a sympathetic character.  

Serenity and placid narrowness had become to her as the birthright itself.  She gazed ahead through a long reach of future days strung together like pearls in a rosary, every one like the others, and all smooth and flawless….

Louisa has made life for herself in her own home with her own things.  Her obsessiveness ran to perfection in cleaning, arranging her things, and following a set routine of how she spent her days.

Her choices are difficult to understand because to the reader she has locked herself up with no room for outsiders since most human beings want the companionship of at least another person. However, every person must find his own peace of mind and his own happiness.