I need some examples of dramatic irony in Act 1 and Act 2 of Hamlet.Who are the characters involved in the irony? Is it sympathy or antipathy?

In the final scene of Act I, the Ghost appears to Hamlet and tells him that his uncle, Claudius, murdered Hamlet's father. Because the audience knows this, and no other character other than Hamlet knows it, this dramatic irony creates suspense and conflict.

In Act II, scene 1, Ophelia tells her father that Hamlet came to see her and acted very strangely. The audience knows from the previous scene that Hamlet is pretending to be insane, but Ophelia is unaware. This is another example of dramatic irony.

Sympathy and antipathy are opposite emotions. An audience that feels sympathy for a character likes him or her. When the character elicits feelings of antipathy in the audience, they dislike the character.

I need 5 ways in which Puck’s interference affects what happens in A Midsummer Night's Dream.I need as many ideas as possible.

Puck in Midsummer Night's Dream is an agent of change, but it is important to remember that he is directed to make these changes by his master, Oberon, and although therefore he could be played as a micheivous individual (and indeed his gleeful recounting of all the tricks he plays on people in Act II Scene 1 seem to reflect this side of his personality) he is only doing the bidding of his master, Oberon, the "director" of the play that ensues in the woods - close parallels with Shakespeare as the writer of the play there. Oberon does accuse Puck of willfully complicating the situation, but this is an accusation that he denies. Puck has either been played as a mischeivous prankster or quite a sinister force in the play, but he is definitely a commentator on the action and of course an actor in it too. He enjoys watching the chaos he creates, and one of the most famous lines of the play is "Lord, what fools these mortals be!", which reflects the stupid things we get up to when we are under the "spell" of love!

So, specifics: Puck affects the action of the play in the following ways:

1. He annoints Lysander's eyes with the love flower instead of the eyes of Demetrius.

2. He scares off the players during their rehearsal by giving Bottom the head of an ass and then lets him wake up Titania so she falls in love with him.

3. He then annoints the eyes of Demetrius so he wakes up and sees Helena.

4. After the ensuing fight and argument between the four lovers he leads Demetrius and Lysander off in opposite directions so they don't fight for the love of Helena.

5. Finally, he breaks the spell, so that Lysander is in love with Hermia again, Demetrius stays in love with Helena and Bottom looses his head of an ass. Lots of work!

In "Lamb to the Slaughter" how is Mary Maloney's life and why is she the way she is?

Mary Maloney is a happy, contented woman who feels secure and confident in her life.  Roald Dahl describes,

"There was a slow smiling air about her, and about everything she did."

She has a husband that she loves, a routine that she can trust and count on, and joy in the coming baby.  She feels this way because as long as she has been married, the routine has been the same, and she takes comfort in it.  She figures that if that routine exists, all must be well.  She takes the routine as evidence of her happy life and marriage.  So, imagine that you were perfectly content, and confident in the happy life that you lead, and the person you love and worship most in the world, drops a bomb on you by saying they don't love you anymore and are leaving you.  Leaving you, and the baby, to be abandoned and dejected.  This would be totally unexpected, and a complete shock.  So shocking in fact, that it might jar you right out of your normal personality, and bring forth your survival instincts.  Mary reacts without thinking, from the shock, and ends up with a dead husband on her hands.  She realizes what she has done, and is willing to accept the consequences, but, she worries about the child:

"As the wife of a detective, she knew quite well what the penalty would be.  That was fine.  It made no difference to her.  In fact, it would be a relief.  On the other hand, what about the child? "

So, she uses what she has learned from being a detective's wife, and sets up the perfect escape from the crime.  She, in defense of her child, does what she has to do.  So, she changes from a rather passive, contented woman to an active woman who takes charge to protect her own, and the circumstances are what prompted that change.  I hope those thoughts help; good luck!

What can be predicted about the outcome of The Great Gatsby after reading the first four chapters?

Based on Nick's introduction to the story in Chapter I and the development of the characters so far, certain predictions would seem logical.

Daisy and Gatsby will meet again and resume their relationship. Gatsby has spent the last five years dreaming of this, and Daisy had missed Gatsby terribly when he left for the war. She had wanted to go to New York to see Gatsby before he went overseas. She got drunk before her wedding to Tom and cried, a letter from Gatsby in her hands. Also, Tom and Daisy's marriage has never been a strong and loving one; Tom's infidelities show this.

Tom won't take Daisy and Gatsby's relationship well. Tom is very arrogant and possessive. He is used to having his way. He won't give up Daisy easily. She is one of his possessions.

Gatsby's dreams will not turn out well. Whatever happens, based on what is known in the first four chapters, will be serious enough that it makes Nick go back home where he continues to think about Gatsby long after the summer of 1922. Gatsby will somehow be hurt or even destroyed by getting involved with Tom and Daisy. Nick says in Chapter I that something "preyed" on Gatsby and that "foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams." 

In Breaking Dawn, why does Edward decide to PRACTICE with Bella when he knows that if she gets pregnant she will die?

If you mean why does he sleep with her, the answer is because he didn't know she could get pregnant.  The incidences of vampires impregnating humans are rare, and kept mostly in secret; so Edward has no idea that pregnancy is an issue for the two of them.  He and Bella consumate their marriage because that's what married people do.  Later, he feels guilty for accidentally hurting her, and it takes him a while to feel comfortable sleeping with her again.  But throughout the whole thing, he never imagines that pregnancy is an option.  When Bella figures out that her nausea and strange dreams might be the result of pregnancy, they are both shocked; no one had considered the possibility.  Without having prior knowledge of the possibility of pregnancy, neither of them would have considered the danger to Bella.

How long does it take for Petechial Hemorrhages of the eyes to go away?

Petechial hemorrhages are pinpoint blood spots that occur when capillaries rupture.  In the eye they are seen in the whites of the eye (bulbar petechiae) and in the mucosal linings (undersides) of the eyelids (conjunctival petechiae).

Petechiae tend to occur whenever there is a combination of increased backpressure in the capillaries and deficient blood oxygen (hypoxia).  Such a combination occurs during manual (bare hands) strangulation.  Neck compression impedes venous return to the heart from the face and head.  Airway compromise causes hypoxia.  The combination of these events causes ocular capillaries to rupture, forming petechiae.  When hypoxia and pressure is extreme, the petechiae become numerous and large, and merge together to form so called confluent petechiae and hemorrhages.

Ocular petechiae are seen in other forms of asphyxia as well.  Asphyxia is the condition of insufficient supply of oxygen to the tissues.  Asphyxia can be mechanical (such as strangulation and smothering), traumatic (from crushing chest compression, or trapping of the body under a heavy weight) or chemical, such as occurs with carbon monoxide exposure, which impedes the chemical ability of the hemoglobin in the blood to carry oxygen.  Of these types of asphyxia, traumatic asphyxia would produce the most severe petechiae.

Other causes of ocular petechiae and hemorrhages would include bleeding disorders, unintended overuse of blood thinners, leukemia, platelet disorders and many others listed in the reference.

In forensic autopsies, ocular petechiae are seen as a red flag that may indicate strangulation or suffocation.  That being said, the most common cause of ocular petechiae seen in medical examiner/coroner death cases is heart attack.  The patient experiences increased intravascular pressure in the head and neck region due to grunting and the Valsalva maneuver (straining down on the respiratory muscles and contraction of the diaphragm) during the cardiac event, coupled with the hypoxia that occurs as a result of the loss of cardiac output.

As to the rate of disappearance of ocular petechiae I would cite a recent exchange of Emails by a group of fellow forensic pathologists on this subject.  The consensus was that ocular petechiae in living subjects such as survivors of attempted strangulation last for several days, getting gradually less prominent, and then slowly fade over time.  If petechiae are extensive, confluent and involve larger areas of hemorrhage, then complete resolution of the hemorrhages could take weeks.

In chapter 3 of "Lord of the Flies", why does Simon go to his bower?

After the moral posturing of Ralph and Jack, who "walked along, two continents of experience and feeing, unable to communicate, Simon slips off and walks into the forest "with an air of purpose."  Like Thoreau in Walden, Simon wishes "to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see what [Nature] has to teach."  Simon enters his secluded spot so that he can be alone to think.  In a spot where the others do not go, Simon can understand the workings of the island and develop the perception that will aid him in understanding later what it is that the boys fear, what it is that is the "beast."

Holding his breath, he cocked a critical ear at the sounds of the island....With the fading of the light, the riotous colors died and the heat and urgency cooled away.  The candle buds stirred.  Their green sepals drew back a little and the white tips of the flowers rose delicately to meet the open air.

Now the sunlight had lifted clear of the open space and withdrawn from the sky.  Darkness poured out...The candle-buds opened their wide white flowers glimmering under the light that pricked down from the first stars.  Their scent spilled out into the air and took possession of the island.

Simon sees a pristine, poetic view of the island. This observance of Nature teaches him much.  His later transcendental insight into the nature of man is presaged in this Chapter as Simon communicates with Nature and learns "what it has to teach" as Thoreau so wisely observed. Like the candle-buds, Simon, too, blossoms.