Analyze Jane's character in Chapter 36 and describe the main technique Bronte employs in the chapter for characterization.

Well, of course we are approaching the end of the book here in chapter 36, and Jane has matured into a model young woman (some critics say that she was ALWAYS a mature and model young woman).  I thought it might be helpful to be more specific about chapter 36 instead of general about Jane's maturity. Much of the chapter really has to do with Jane learning what has happened to Rochester.  Jane leaves for a while (after St. John departs).  Her reasoning is thus:

[I am traveling for four days] to see or hear news of a friend about whom I had for some time been uneasy.

Of course, it is Rochester that Jane is going to see.  Unfortunately, when she arrives, she finds that Thornfield is burned to a crisp.  Jane is absolutely in panic mode as she tries to ask the local business owners what has happened.  In the  midst of it all, she learns that Bertha set fire to the building and then killed herself by jumping from the top.  Rochester lives, however, and is residing at Ferndean.  Rochester has supposedly had his hand amputated due to an injury and has been bruised up, but he is okay.  Jane rushes to his side, bringing water to him on a tray when she is not "allowed" to be admitted.  The reunion is so very touching:

"In truth?—in the flesh? My living Jane? . . . My living darling!” [To which Jane is pleased to reply,] “I am an independent woman now.” ... “Am I hideous, Jane?” Jane replies, “Very sir; you always were, you know.”

Reading and reacting from the story "Once Upon a Time" by Nadine Gordimer as a fairytale?

One way that the short story is similar to a fairy tale is in its title.  "Once upon a time" is a very popular and familiar refrain in fairy tales.  Another way it is similar to the fairy tale is that it opens up with an ideal world, consisting of something similar to a king, queen, and prince (the father, the mother, and the child) who love each other very much and are concerned in the protection of their kingdom (the family and their home.) 

One way it is not similar to a fairy tale is in its ending, where there is little in way of a fairy tale revealed in the horrific death of the son.  Another way it is different from a fairy tale is in its opening, where the author injects herself as part of the narrative.  This frame story approach, where one story is told in another, is not like a fairy tale, which is very directly told with a detached narrator. 

In dramatizing it for television, I would open with a flower draped garden and a panoramic shot of the family being happy. I would keep breaks to a minimum, as each act of the family's creation in the name of protection is actually one of destruction, in that it brings them closer to the climax.  One of the objects which are repeated to bring symbolic attention would be the sign of "You Have Been Warned."  Meant as a threat to would be intruders from the outside world, it seems like the statement applies to the family, for they receive warnings about the outside world from the servant, the mother in law, the news media, and their own fears.  It seems like each time they take a step to try to protect the family, they "have been warned," of another measure that need to be taken. 

It also serves as a sign of their impending tragic conclusion, as they "have been warned" of the monster that walks not in the outside world but within their own confines. The family certainly had "been warned" of the threats in the outside world.  Yet, they had not been warned of their own sense of fear and paranoia, the type of emotional freight that paralyzed them from examining their own predispositions.  It is the fear and this paralysis of reflection which is responsible for the child's death.  The family never paused their escalating sense of freight and analyzed whether or not they were being reactive or acting in a proactive manner that sought to understand problems in a manner that represents careful and judicious thought.  This lacking is the result of the boy's death.  This is highlighted in the last paragraph, as each protective element mentioned helps to underscore not the desire to keep the family safe, but rather the fear and paranoia that has taken them over. 

In seeking to duplicate the heroic tales from other fairy tales, the boy seeks an object that can be overcome through climbing.  The wall represents this.  The glass pieces that were meant to keep outsiders out, end up fatally wounding the boy and preventing anyone from rescuing him.  Another symbol that is repeated and whose presence, literally and figuratively, looms large is the protective wall the family builds.  Designed to keep the outside world from entering, its presence grows in height and elaborate means of protection as the family's fear grows.  It becomes unimaginably high and dangerous as the family's fear reaches its zenith, contributing to the death of the son.

What would be the main events in a timeline for The Tale of Desperaux?

The following would be important events:

Despereaux's birth, his finding the story of the knight and princess, his meeting with the king and Princess Pea, his banishment to the dungeon, Roscuro the rat's birth, Roscuro's discovery of light, his visit to the dungeon and acquisition of the red cloth,the death of the queen, the birth of Miggery Sow, Miggery sees the princess, Miggery becomes a royal servant, the meeting of Miggery and Roscuro, Desperaux's escape from the dungeon, his meeting with Cook, the kidnapping of Princess Pea,  the rescue of the princess (reunion of Miggery and her father, Roscuro's eating of soup), and the friendship between Desperaux and Princess Pea. 

There are many flashbacks in the story, so putting these events in order would require some close reading.

Whom did Gatsby fight for in the war?It was in chapter 4, 5, 6 or 7. But I can't remember. :( Please help

In Chapter 3 there is a conversation between Jordan Baker and her friend Lucille about which side Gatsby actually fought on in World War I. There is a mystery surrounding whether he was an American soldier or a German spy.

"I don’t think it’s so much THAT,” argued Lucille sceptically; “it’s more that he was a German spy during the war.” One of the men nodded in confirmation.  “I heard that from a man who knew all about him, grew up with him in Germany,” he assured us positively.  “Oh, no,” said the first girl, “it couldn’t be that, because he was in the American army during the war.” As our credulity switched back to her she leaned forward with enthusiasm. “You look at him sometimes when he thinks nobody’s looking at him. I’ll bet he killed a man.” (Fitzgerald)

Gatsby is a difficult man to actually know, part of the reason for this is because he recreated himself, he became Jay Gatsby.  He was born James Gatz from North Dakota who endured a poor upbringing by dreaming to be rich. 

Another clue to Gatsby military service is the fact that he was stationed in Louisville before being shipped overseas, that is when he met Daisy Buchanan the woman who inspired him to seek and acquire wealth.

In "To Kill a Mockingbird" what does Atticus require Jem to do make amends for his rage?

In chapter 11, as Jem and Scout are on their way to town, Mrs. Dubose makes a lot of nasty remarks to them about their attire, their behavior, and Atticus's decision to defend Tom Robinson.  Her comments are awful and biting, so on the way home, Jem takes out his rage on her bushes, cutting "the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned."

Atticus makes him atone by going over to her house and apologizing, and offering to restore her beloved bushes.  But, while Jem is over there, Mrs. Dubose asks him to

"come very afternoon after school and read to her out loud for two hours...for a month."

Jem desparately wants to get out of doing this, but Atticus tells him that he will do it.  So, Jem is stuck going to her house and reading for 2 hours every day.  The reading idea was a combination idea from Mrs. Dubose and Atticus himself, and Jem fulfills his duties, even if he isn't happy about it.

I hope that helps; good luck!

In "The Ransom of Red Chief," how many examples of contrast between expectation and outcome can you find?Please cite examples of this incongruity...

pkohls,

Contrast and incongruity are some of the hallmarks of O. Henry.  While his stories may be lighthearted comedies, the stories expose some truth about the harshness and unexpectedness of life. This can be found in "The Ransom of Red Chief."

When the narrator first sees the kid, who is “throwing rocks at a kitten” (it’s a kitten, not a cat, which makes it even more horrible), and who responds to Bill’s question by hitting
him “neatly in the eye with a piece of brick," uniquely contrasts Red Chief's behavior with his expected behavior of innocence, naivete, and sensitivity.

The description of the town, which is somewhat confusing as to the correct definitions of a flannel-cake and a Maypole exhibits a contrast in not just individuality but for all people in the 

"...town down there, as flat as a flannel-cake, and called Summit, of course. It contained inhabitants of as undeleterious and self-satisfied a class of peasantry as ever clustered around a Maypole."

exhibits a kind of group contrast or incongruity between what they identify as their town in its name and its type of inhabitants as well. This is reminiscent of "Sleepy Hollow" in an incredibly bustling Jacksonian world of trade and commerce.

Even O. Henry’s notions about Native Americans are less striking than are his revelations about the unappealing group of white characters in the story.

In the third paragraph the narrator speaks of his and Bill’s “joint capital.” The two conspirators talk easily about their plan just as though it were a respectable business—as though, say, they were talking about how great a mark-up they should put on their product. Should they demand $2,000, or should they lower the price to $1,500 (paragraph 49)?

The boy’s father, in his letter, offers “a counter-proposition”: He will take the boy off their hands if they pay him $250. O. Henry suggests that our world of buying and selling is all part of one big con game, an incongruity with our capitalist society.

In Chapter One of The Great Gatsby, what factual information is given about Nick and what can the reader infer? What kind of narrator will he be?

We know Nick is from a comfortable, well established (but not wealthy) family in the Midwest that has taught him the value of work. He served in World War I. After returning home, he was restless and went to New York to learn the bond business. His family supported him financially for one year in order for him to go, but they expected him to support himself after that. 

We know that while in the East something very significant happened to Nick in relation to someone extraordinary he knew there named Gatsby. We can infer that Nick is a sensitive person because he still remembers whatever it was that happened, and it changed him in a significant way. Before going to the East, Nick had been a very non-judgmental person; he returns, however, having developed a very strong sense of moral (and immoral) behavior, and he condemns immoral behavior. Nick's first encounter with the Buchanans in East Egg shows that his Midwestern values are going to clash with the sophistication he finds in the East. Nick seems to be a trustworthy young man. His family trusted him with money, his college friends trusted him with their confidences, and nothing in the first chapter suggests that will not be a reliable narrator.