What is the irony in the following statement from "The Most Dangerous Game"?Rainsford says, "The Cape buffalo is the most dangerous big game." The...

The irony is in the meaning of the word "game". This is a pun, a play on words. When Rainsford uses the word, he's referring to animals that are hunted by men, such as bear. Zaroff is using the word "game" to mean the hunting of men is a game to him, much like playing chess. This is why Zaroff decided to hunt men--they are more of a challenge. His hunting "game" becomes one of wits between Zaroff and the men he hunts.

Why do Mercutio and Benvolio think that Romeo avoids them after the party?

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet,
Benvolio and Mercutio think Romeo has gone off to be alone or sulk, because Rosaline
does not love him. 

They look for him and, at first,
Mercutio says that Romeo "hath stolen him home to bed."  He says he's gone home to
bed.

Benvolio, however, points out that he saw Romeo leap
over an orchard wall:

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He ran this way, and leapt this orchard
wall.

And Mercutio assumes he
has gone to sulk.  He makes fun of Romeo, pretending to conjure him up in the name of
Rosaline:

I
conjure thee by Rosaline's bright eyes,

By her high
forehead and her scarlet lip.

By her fine foot, straight
leg, and quivering thigh,

And the demesnes that there
adjacent lie,

That in thy likeness thou appear to
us.

And Benvolio, telling
Mercutio that it's time to go,  concludes that Romeo

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...hath hid himself among these
trees

To be consorted with the humorous
night.

Blind is his love, and best befits the
dark.

Of course, Romeo is now
in love with Juliet, rather than with Rosaline. 

What do you mean by the term ‘Hypothesis’?My posted question is related with Research Methodology

In the field of scientific research, hypothesis refers to
an assumption about the variables being or to be investigated by the research. It may be
defined as logically derived relationships that may exist between two or more variables
which is expressed in form of a testable statement.

The
relationships assumed in the hypothesis are conjectured on the basis of association
generally observed between these variables in the background studies for formulation of
research objectives and questions.

Good hypothesis for a
research study are tentative intelligent solutions to the research problem. They are
predictive statements that contain at least one independent and one dependent variable,
that relate the independent variable to the dependent variable

In Mexico, it's important for foreigners to not drink the water because they might get:a)Amoebic dysentery b)malaria

I find the question and the choices to be oversimplified
and cliched. Firstly, what exactly do "foreigners" mean? From the perspective of the
person who is asking the question, would someone from Nicaragua be considered as much as
a foreigner as someone from the United States while visiting Mexico? Furthermore, who is
the one formulating the question and for what
purposes?

Many people who travel from one region to
another, even within the same country, develop new diseases or a strong ailment from
viruses or bacteria strains to which an individual has not yet developed full immunity.
For instance, people who move from Toronto to Vancouver, and vice-versa, tend to get
unusually strong colds the first year of having settled in the new region. With regard
to "the water" in Mexico, all cities in Mexico have potable water that is up to
international standards. Are foreigners who are getting sick mostly those who go to
questionable resorts designed for international tourists, or are they purchasing food
and beverages from street vendors or restaurants that cut corners in terms of
hygiene?

This leading question also lacks grammatical
logic. People need to drink water on a daily basis. Not drinking water while visiting a
foreign country (for several days at least) would be far more harmful (and deadly) than
drinking it.

What are the figures of speech in "The Fall of The House of Usher"? Please give me some examples.

Some figures of speech
include:

Allegories- The moss growing outside of a decaying
estate which was formerly grandiose and sumptuous; the dead sister; the inevitability of
Usher's appareance, and the fall from glory of the House of Usher are all allegories to
fate and its control over our lives: How the influences that we cannot control at times
end up taking up our inner self, and then spits us
out.

Anaphora- The repetition of words or phrases within
one same paragraph in order to balance out the narration and enhance the storytelling
process:

I
looked upon the scene before me–upon the
mere house, and the simple landscape features of the
domain–upon the bleak walls–upon the
vacant eye-like windows–upon a few rank
sedges–and upon a few white trunks of decayed
trees

Many minutes,
many hours, many days, have I
heard it

Alliteration: Poe
describes many things using the same first letter such as the
words:

feeble
and futile

cadaverous
corpses

icing, a sinkin, a sickening of the
heart

Rythm: As with
everything Poe writes, he always wants to give balance through
rhyme:

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Oppresicely, melancholy, destructively,
agonizingly, etc.

Summarize the crowd’s reactions to Brutus’s and Antony’s funeral speeches. What can you infer about the crowd from their reactions?

Shakespeare had already demonstrated to the reader that the Roman people are easily swayed with the opening scene in Act I.  After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Brutus speaks to the crowd and convinces them that Caesar was ambitious and would have been a terrible leader.  Although he is not a skilled speaker, he is able to use logos to convince that crowd that what he and the conspirators did was the best for Rome. At this point, they call for Brutus to become king.

Mark Antony, on the other hand, plays on the emotions of the crowd and incorporates three dramatic acts within his speech.  First, he pauses to cry while speaking.  This creates sympathy in the angry mob.  Once they have been softened, he hints that Caesar had a will, but he says that he won't read it because it would anger them too much.  The crowd cries for him to read the will (he never actually SHOWS what's written; he merely waves a scroll).  He tells them that Caesar had made the citizens his heirs and that each one of them was going to receive gold. The fickle crowd, that had only moments before been ready to make Brutus king, begins to turn on the conspirators.  The third dramatic act of Antony's is to display Caesar's body, and the throng becomes murderous.  Afterwards, Antony's aside, "Mischief, thou art afoot" shows that he had planned to incite a riot with his speech.

Please crush my self-esteem and critique this poem? (:Seriously, I'm posting it in a poetry workshop (in the 'general' section but still) to be...

First, I have published some poetry as well, and I always
try to ignore the "rules" and traditions and write in the style I want to, in the format
that feels right for the topic or piece I'm working on.  So keep in mind, whether it's
feedback you receive here or in your poetry workshop, it's constructive criticism, and
you can take it or leave it.  Stay true to your
poem.

Secondly, when I do choose a format or style to write
the poem in, I try to stay consistent to that style throughout.  If my stanzas are
short, or a particular number of lines, I try to craft the rest of the poem to fit what
I've started.  Notice how your poem does that pretty well for the three stanzas - 6
lines, 7 lines, 6 lines.  You might try playing around with how you separate and place
the lines to achieve a better rhythm when read.

Personally,
I like the "Asphyxiation" stanza the best, especially this
line:

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When a man's reputation
is
his oxygen, it's too easy
to collect private bedroom
utterances,
publicize, and lodge them in the back
of his
throat.

I found
myself wishing I had written it, so well done.  And the last line is a powerhouse one, a
great final punch to the idea.  You might consider taking that line and leaving it by
itself at the very bottom to add some extra emphasis to
it.

Nice job and keep
writing.

The poet Raymond Carver grew up and wrote in my
hometown here in Washington State, and I don't know how familiar you are with his work,
but some of your lines remind me of his.  I've added a link to a very good biography of
him.

What is the significance of Act I, scene i?

The difference in public and private speech covers political intent. Preparing to celebrate Caesar, Marullus decries the plebeians as hypocrites when he reminds them of how vigorously they celebrated Pompey when he was in power before Caesar ("Have you not made an universal shout/That Tiber trembled underneath her banks/ To hear the replication of your sounds/Made in her concave shores?"--You praised Pompey so loudly it echoed across the river! So why celebrate Caesar now?) Flavius follows up by "guilting" the crowd into not celebrating and dispersing. This is the first example of authorities using speech to manipulate the populace. However, the tribunes themselves are hypocrites--they are not so much pro-Pompey as their words suggest, but rather are anti-Caesar, and wish to "drive away the vulgar from the streets" to lessen the public show of support for Caesar. In their private speech immediately following the disbursement of the plebeians, they confirm this by planning to "disrobe the images" of Caesar as a means of protest, because they cannot publicly speak out against him; but for even this minor protest, they are killed ("put to silence") in I.ii, which not only confirms the conspirator's suspicions of Caesar's tyranny, but foreshadows the widespread bloodshed to occur when opposing and shifting political alliances have no means of resolving their differences, except by killing the opposition.

What's the English translation of the following: "Arma virumque cano Troiae qui primus ab oris"?

This is the first line of the aeneid. It was written by Vergil during the reign of Augustus. This is probably the most well-known epic in Latin literature. It is written in dactylic hexameter and the whole sentence is:

arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris Italiam fato profugus Laviniaque venit litora - multum ille et terris iactatus et alto vi superum, saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram, multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem inferretque deos Latio; genus unde Latium Albanique patres atque altae moenia Romae.

I sing of arms and the man who first from the shores of Troy, exiled by fate, came to Lavinian shores and Italy - having been tossed much on sea and land by the violence of the gods on account of the remembering wrath of savage Juno, having also suffered much in war, until he should build a city and bring his gods to Latium; from where comes the the Latin race, the father of Alba, and the wall of lofty Rome.

What two mottos does Boxer adopt? What do they mean?

Boxer has two mottoes.  They are "Napoleon is always
right" and "I must work harder."  Both of these mottoes show Boxer's role in this
story.

In this story, Boxer's role is like that of the
ignorant working class in Russia.  He is blindly in favor of what Napoleon (Stalin) is
doing.  He feels that if he would only work harder, everything would be
okay.

This shows that he has really bought in to the
propaganda that Squealer and Napoleon are putting out.  He has bought into the idea that
Napoleon is perfect and that the animals should work their hardest to do what Napoleon
tells them.

What is the symbolic significance of the old man and his enormous wings? Why is the appropriate that the story contains almost no dialogue? How...

The author has chosen to make this a 3rd person omniscient point of view.  We as readers gain the thoughts of many of the characters, though never the old man.  The central focus of the story isn't so much the arrival and existence of the man, but how everyone reacts to him.  If the focus was the man, then the author would have provided details about his past and the nature of his existence.  Instead, we are meant to see how people treat him and how they explain him.  This gives clues to human nature.  Thus, dialogue is not important.  Behavior alone is important.  People lie often when they speak, but their actions have more truth.  Therefore, dialogue in this story would just get in the way.

In The Most Dangerous Game, what three tricks does Rainford use to elude Zaroff? What is the outcome of each trick?

Rainsford uses three tricks to capture Zaroff.  The first one is called a Malay man-catcher.  The dead tree was cut to rest on the living tree when the foot hit the trigger, the bough that was sticking out. The tree struck Zaroff on the shoulder, but he was able to stand up and announce that he would return after having his wound dressed.

Rainsford's second trap was a Burmese tiger pit that had pointed stakes in the bottom and a mat made of weeds and branches placed on top. It was dug a dozen feet away from the quicksand that was known as Death Swamp.  It claimed the life of one of Zaroff's dogs, but Zaroff was still in the Game.

The third trick was the Uganda trick where he took the sapling and tied a knife to it with the point facing in the direction of Zaroff and Ivan.  The sapling was tied back and Ivan received its blow and was killed.

Through all three tricks Zaroff managed to stay alive but was intrigued by Rainsford persistence and cunning display of survival skills.

When does dramatic irony happen to Oedipus in Oedipus Rex?

I think that dramatic irony happens at several points in
the play.  When Tiresias' words of "How terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to
the wise" are spoken, and the reader sees Oedipus' dismissive actions and demeanor
towards such a warning, it is a moment of dramatic irony.  The reader understands that
there is a loaded meaning, a specific connotation in the words, but the character
(Oedipus) does not.  The same experience can be seen in the articulation of Oedipus'
fate that he will kill his father and marry his mother.  The reader is convinced or
fully grasps something that the character (Again, Oedipus) does
not.

Who killed George Bowlegs?

Dr. Reynolds killed George Bowlegs.  Reynolds was in turn killed by three unnamed Zunis because he had defiled their sacred traditions.

Reynolds was a reknowned researcher and anthropologist who was committing the very serious crime of planting artifacts at an archaological site to support one of his theories.  Ernesto Cata, a young friend of Bowlegs, stole some evidence from Reynolds' truck without realizing its significance, and passed part of it on to Bowlegs.  Reynolds killed Cata and Bowlegs to keep the evidence, which would incriminate him and ruin his reputation, from being exposed.

In chapter 24, what is meant by having a family background (Jem and Maudie)?

A good question. Aunt Alexandra is having friends over. Notice how everyone is on their best behavior - from Scout's dress to Cal's starched apron. This chapter is designed to show the reader the importance of one's family and name in Maycomb. This means that people are not separated just by economic means or social standing but also by their lineage (though one could argue that is directly linked to economic means and social standing).

Alexandra hopes to show Scout what it really means to be Finch. As such she has certain expectations to live up to. And behaving like a dirty little tomboy is not one of them! Acting like a respectable young lady who knows with whom to associate (and the Cunningham boy, who is considered white trash, is not one of them).

This chapter also illustrated how important family and their standing among Maycomb's citizens really is to Alexandra. Atticus could care less. Scout realizes this too. Notice on page 233, Scout says "I was more at home in my father's world." This is a reference to how Atticus treats - or tries to treat - everyone equally. Scout has inherited that trait.

Remember if it were up to Alexandra, Atticus would never have taken the Robinson case. Defending an African American accused of rape was not the type of think a respectable Finch did.

How would you say the "Assignment" that the Goober received changed him?I think Goober played an important role in The Chocolate War and his...

Socrates once said that the unexamined life is not worth living. The assignment was a critical point in Goober's life because it forced him to wake up, look at his life, and face the real world. Before the assignment, he lived the idyllic life of a child. "Things were simple and uncomplicated...everything seemed beautiful...the entire world attainable" (Chapter 8). The assignment forced Goober to examine himself, and although he found himself inadequate to the task of facing the world with the integrity he knew he should have, the fact that he had embarked upon the road of self-evaluation and searching opened the door to the possibility that he might eventually find a life worth living. 

I think Goober is important because, while he is weak, he remains sensitive to a higher ideal, and his struggles - tentative though they are - to act accordingly, give him a kind of "everyman" role in the book. He is a regular guy living in an evil world, and I think his story realistically illustrates the extreme difficulty of remaining true to a noble standard in an environment of corruption and deceit.

What are quotes from the book Into the Wild best describe Chris' characteristics?

There were many individual characteristics that combined
to form the complicated person who was Chris McCandless.  Because of that, there are
many quotes and passages that reveal various aspects of his personality.  Fortunately,
some passages provide information and insights regarding multiple characteristics.  One
such passage addresses the beginning of Chris's
adventure:

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...The trip was to be an odyssey in the fullest
sense of the word, an epic journey that would change everything.  He had spent the
previous four years, as he saw it, preparing to fulfill an absurd and onerous duty: to
graduate from college.  At long last he was unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling
world of his parents and peers, a world of abstraction and security and material excess,
a world in which he felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of
existence.

Driving west out of Atlanta, he intended to
invent an utterly new life for himself, one on which he would be free to wallow in
unfiltered experience..he was now Alexander Supertramp, master of his own
destiny.

On another occasion
referred to in the book, Wayne Westerberg's mother discusses a side of McCandless that
provided motivation for his undertakings.

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"There was something fascinating about
him...Alex struck me as much older than twenty-four.  Everything I said, he'd demand to
know more about what I meant, about why I thought this way or that.  He was hungry to
learn about things.  Unlike most of us, he was the sort of person who insisted on living
out his beliefs."

Why is it called The Zoo Story? Is there a specific reason or is it the obvious reason?

The most immediate reason the play is called "The Zoo Story" is that Jerry announces that he's been to the zoo when he first shows up. His story is a zoo story, and that starts a lot of the play's action in motion.

There are other less obvious /more symbolic reasons as well. Jerry lost his parents; many animals in zoos (especially older zoos) are without full family structures, and Jerry fights for territory like an animal. The characters in the play are trapped and lonely, like zoo animals. Animals play a part in discussions.

Why is Go Tell It on the Mountain, by James Baldwin, banned?

There are any number of reasons why a book might be banned, and this might vary from region to region. This book has been banned or challenged for at least two distinct but related reasons.

In New York, it was challenged because of rape, violence, and how women were treated. In Virginia, it was challenged because of sex and profanity.

See the website below for a few more details:

ala.org

In The First Seven Years, why was Feld impressed with Max?

Feld is impressed with Max because of Max's determination to educate himself.  Feld believes that an education is essential for happiness in life, because it provides a better and wealthier life than the one he has lived.  It isn't until the end that Feld realizes education is not the key to happiness, or the most important quality in a man.

What is Della's fear before Jim comes home in "The Gift of the Magi"?

In character with Della, her fears are not selfish.  She
wants to look pretty, not for herself, but for Jim.  For, after she returns home, she
uses the curling iron on her hair to make herself look the best that she can for her
husband:  "If Jim doesn't kill me....But what could I do?"  As she hears his footsteps,
she prays, "Please, God, make him think I am still pretty" since she does not want to
displease her husband, whom she loves dearly,
obviously.

When he enters and stares at her "fixedly with a
peculiar expression," it is not anger, surprise, disapproval, or horror, write O. Henry,
so Della need not worry about her looks.  Rather, she is again concerned with Jim's
displeasure.  If she were vain, she probably would not cut her hair; then, even if
she were to cut it, she would quickly say something in reaction to Jim that demonstrates
her resentment of having cut her hair.  But, in this delightful story about unselfish
love, Della simply tries to make amends:  "It'll grow out again--you won't mind, will
you?"  Della does not speak of herself; she is not
concerned with her looks, per se as some readers mistakenly
suggest.  She is only concerned about Jim's happiness, and he has been happy having her
with long hair; her unselfish concern is consistent with her character from the
beginning of O. Henry's story. 

How else could Della be, as
O.Henry declares, "the wisest...the magi"?

how does rainsford come to ship-trap island?no

Rainsford is on his way to Rio to hunt jaguars in the Amazon. Whitney, one of the crew, and Rainsford decide to have a discussion on hunting. Whitney explains that they are approaching "Ship-Trap Island" and that sailors are very afraid and feel a cold chill run through their veins when in its midst.   Whitney decides to turn in for the night and Rainsford decides to stay up and smoke another pipe.  

Rainsford hears the sound of a gunshot 3 times. Springing onto the rail of the boat, he tries to see if he can see anything.  As he balances himself a rope knocks his pipe out of his mouth and, leaning to reach it, he bends over too far and falls in the water.

It becomes a matter of life and death and he has to keep a straight head if he is to survive.  He hears a cry of someone or something, but at least it gave him a direction to go.  After swimming a great distance, he finally hears the familiar sound of waves rushing and crashing on the rocks. 

With the small amount of energy he had left, he pulled himself onto the rocks and collapsed.  Upon waking in the afternoon, he wandered along the shore trying to find some sign of life, but all he found was what seemed to be the blood of the wounded cry he had heard from the distance.  He kept going knowing that this was evidence of some type of life and he came upon General  Zaroff's chateau.

In the crucible John Proctor says It is winter in here yet what does he mean by this statement?

He is calling his wife cold, not as in the temperature,
but as in the attitude or mood. You may have heard the phrase, "giving the cold
shoulder". This means that someone is ignoring or being rude by way of not saying
anything. This is what Elizabeth Proctor has done to
him.

She later admits in the play that it takes a cold wife
to prompt lechery. Essentially she is saying then that she shares blame in the problem
of their marriage that caused John to look elsewhere for pleasure and satisfaction. She
notes that she wasn't delivering the affection required in a marriage
relationship.

What was the significance of Bosola giving the Duchess the apricots? Did she get sick from eating too much, too fast or was it that apricots make...

Bosola has the Duchess eat the apricots to confirm his suspicions that she is pregnant. Her pregnancy is confirmed when she throws up and goes into labor. It's suggested that they should say the apricots are poisoned so no one will suspect that the Duchess is giving birth.

I think this scene reflects the time period in which it was written. Knowledge of pregnancy and how pregnancy affected women was not great, so it's assumed that the Duchess will throw up (morning sickness?) even though most women suffer from nausea during the first few months of pregnancy, not at the end. Also, Bosola sees the sickness of the Duchess as proof positive of pregnancy, when in fact, throwing up doesn't always mean you're pregnant. Some women don't even crave certain things when they're pregnant.

In the story "The Lady, or the Tiger," what does the princess know about the lady behind the door?

The princess knew that her lover had been arrested and she suspected the reason. She paid dearly for knowledge that not event he king himself had and that was which door the princess and therefore life for the man she loved would be behind. In her quest for this knowledge she learns that the woman that has been found for her lover is beautiful, perhaps even more beautiful than she. Not only was the woman beautiful, but it was a woman that her lover already knew and she had seen them speaking to one another in the square on occasion. She also thought that they might even like each other because they had exchanged admiring glances between them. She also knew that the woman was hopeful that her door would be chosen because the man was handsome and chivalrous and brave. She hates this woman who she does not even know because she knows that her lover will not be unhappy with his new wife should he choose the correct door.

Did Robert Bolt invent the phrase A Man for All Seasons and if not where did it come from?

Khawla I had already received the correct answer to my question which is that Robert Whittinton created the phrase and therefore Robert Bolt's title, and I have made use of this piece of intelligence already.  If you scroll through the replies above yours you will see that the teacher Sagetrieb answered me already.

But thank you for offering the copy.

Mooncottagecat

What is the central conflict of the story?

The two main conflicts in "The Interlopers" are between Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym, who clash over the ownership of the land, and between the two men and nature, when they are lost in the storm.

They relate because nature, in the form of wolves that come to kill them, resolves the first conflict by killing the men. (Technically, this is only implied, not stated, but it is strongly implied.)

The animals divide in to two factions. What slogans did they come up with?

Before Napoleon ousts Snowball from Animal Farm in Chapter Five, they vie for power.  The dispute concerns a windmill that Snowball wants to build to provide electricity but that Napoleon opposes.  Each faction develops its own slogan.  For Snowball, it’s "Vote for Snowball and the three-day week" and for Napoleon it’s  "Vote for Napoleon and the full manger." Before the animals vote one way or the other, Napoleon has his dogs chase Snowball off the farm, and then turns him into the scapegoat for everything that goes wrong

In Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, what did the Logan family eat for their Christmas dinner?

The Logan family had a feast for Christmas dinner, which they shared with the Averys.  "The meal lasted for two hours through firsts, seconds, and thirds, talk and laughter, and finally dessert".  Cassie actually reveals what they are going to eat a few pages before she tells about the meal itself when she describes the delicious smells that permeate the house the day before Christmas.  She lists "sweet-potato pies, egg-custard pies, and rich butter pound cakes...a gigantic coon...baked in a sea of onions, garlic, and fat orange-yellow yams...and a choice sugar-cured ham brought from the smokehouse" (Chapter 7).

Is the executive branch the most powerful branch of goverment?Please answer I have an essay to do.

Our system of government was set up to have three branches
of government, and so no branch would have more power than the other two, the framers of
the Constitution set up a system of checks and balances. Under this system, each branch
has the ability to stop the other two branches from gaining too much power. For example,
one way the executive branch (the president) is able to stop the legislative branch
(Congress) is through the presidential veto. The president can veto any bill that has
been passed by Congress and stop that bill from becoming law. The judicial branch
(Supreme Court/court system) has the ability to check the president and Congress through
judicial review. With this power, the Supreme Court can declare a law that has been
passed by Congress and signed by the president unconstitutional. Congress has checks on
the Supreme Court and the president as well. To answer your question then, no one branch
of our government is more powerful than the other, so the executive branch isn't the
most powerful branch of government.

How was the Democratic Party converted by its association with the civil rights movement-what political gains and losses did that association entail?

The Democratic Party's association with the civil rights
movement is what has made it into the party that it is today.  It is, in large part, why
the Democratic Party is the party of non-whites today and the Republicans always win the
white (especially the white male) vote.

After the civil
rights movement, the Republican Party adopted their "Southern Strategy."  In this
strategy, the GOP appealed to whites who were turned off by the gains of the black
movement and by the lawlessness of the Vietnam Era.

As the
GOP took these voters away from the Democratic Party, the Democrats had to become more
liberal and more pro-minority.  The GOP turned the opposite
way.

So the Democrats won the liberal and non-white vote,
but they have pretty much lost the conservative and populist white vote for all of my
lifetime up to this point.

What does the switchblade Heck Tate uses have to do with anything? Did he switch the knife?

In this chapter of To Kill a
Mockingbird, Scout is in costume: she's a ham, so she can't see or use her
hands.  So, Scout feels around with her feet.  She pushes around on Bob's body with her
feet: she feels a belt buckle, buttons, and "something I could not identify," (the
kitchen knife), and then a scratchy face.

So, Heck finds
Bob stabbed with a kitchen knife, placed there by
Boo.

Later, Heck Tate shows Atticus a switchblade he claims
to have taken from a drunk man that night.  That drunk man was Bob Ewell.  He obviously
didn't use it against Boo or the kids as there is no blood on
it.

Heck's a little slow, sure.  Why he didn't let Bob
sleep one off in the town jail is beyond me, but luckily he took the knife before Bob
could use it against Jem and Scout.  Bob no doubt had planned to use it in his plan to
get revenge on Atticus for defending Tom and embarrassing him in
court.

How does A Raisin in the Sun and The Secret Life of Bees relate to a quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.?The quote I am referring to is "the...

Both the play A Raisin in the Sun and
the novel The Secret Life of Bees relate to the quotation by Martin
Luther King, Jr. in the development of major characters in the stories.  In A
Raisin in the Sun, Mama buys a house in a white neighborhood because she
thinks that it will be comfortable for her family.  She and her family know that they
will have a difficult time melding into the culture of the new community and that they
will likely experience discrimination while they are there.  However, Mama insists that
they all move, believing that they are all strong enough to deal with any hardship. 
Through this decision, Mama shows her inner strength and
determination. 

Similarly, in The Secret Life of
Bees, Lily ends up living with the Boatwrights because she is having trouble
living with her father.  While at the Boatwrights' home and out of her own element, Lily
begins to learn about people and relationships, particularly after May's suicide.  As
the family grieves, Lily decides to use May's wall as a place of redemption and prayer. 
So, she shows her character through this challenging
time.

So both stories exhibit characters who "shine" during
their most challenging moments.

How did the ever-increasing speed of society affect books according to Beatty? What's the most important thing in society?

I assume you are talking about the things that Beatty says
when he visits Montag in his home.  This is the time when Montag has stayed home sick
from work.

According to Beatty, the increasing speed of
society made it so that books withered away.  People just wanted shorter forms of
entertainment so books got boiled down to digests and summaries and then eventually
disappeared altogether.

As to what the most important thing
is, I would say that it is happiness.  That is what Beatty says that they are
protecting.  You might say, though, that it is mindlessness -- just filling your head
with this pointless entertainment so you don't have to think.

What are the themes of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Gold Bug"?There's not much that I notice about themes throughout this short story. Poe...

I like to challenge my students with the following:

"The Gold Bug" (or whatever story/poem) is a story/poem about ______________ (fill in the blank).

There are usually several things you can plug into the blank. All stories and poems have more than one theme, although most are fairly obvious.

The Gold Bug is a story about adventure, mystery, superstition, hidden treasure, friendship, greed.  Try it yourself and see what else you come up with as far as themes you see.

What is Capulet's attitude towards the welfare of his daughter, Juliet and what does this tell us about family dynamics in Elizabethan England?

When Juliet does not jump for joy at the announcement that she will marry Paris in a week's time, Lord Capulet is furious with Juliet.

Lord Capulet is incensed that Juliet is not complacently accepting his commands as he has always expected her to do. Until this point in the play, Juliet has always complied with her parent's wishes.

Lord Capulet tells her he will throw her to the streets and cause her to be a street urchin if she does not obey him. He is borderline physically abusive towards her, and most certainly verbally abusive to her, calling her names such as, "carrion" and "baggage". He is threatening, as well, when he tells her he will do whatever is necessary to get her to the church.

This shows that parent-child relations were not close. Children were meant to be obedient and subservient to their parent's wishes. It was not acceptable to show outward defiance.

What is the exposition in the story "Eveline"?

"Eveline," one of the stories in James Joyce's Dubliners, follows a young woman named (rather predictably) Eveline. Before discussing the exposition of the story, however, it's important to understand what exposition is. Exposition is generally background information and explanation given to the reader early on in a narrative; exposition "sets the scene," as it were, providing necessary context about the world and story that the reader is entering. As such, exposition provides the scaffolding for the main narrative.

In "Eveline," the exposition is the information we get about Eveline's background. As it turns out, the background is a pretty grim one. Joyce tells us that Eveline's mother and brother are dead, and her father is an alcoholic with tendencies toward violence. We also learn that Eveline has a dead-end job at a store, makes a meager wage that she must forfeit to her father, and also must take on the responsibilities of her dead mother and care for her two younger siblings. Finally, we learn that Eveline has recently become engaged to a young man named Frank who pledges to sweep Eveline off her feet and take her to Buenos Aires.

Through this exposition, we learn two major plot points: first, Eveline's present life is miserable and devoid of promise. Second, Frank represents Eveline's only means of escaping her present prison. With this knowledge in mind, we're ready to digest the main thrust of the narrative. 

A summary of Kofi Annan's “Reflections on Intervention”.

In this speech, Kofi Annan (former UN Secretary General)
is making the argument that the international community should intervene more in what
seem to be the domestic affairs of various countries.

In
general, the idea has been that the UN should intervene in international affairs, but
not in domestic ones.  But Annan argues that domestic wars generally spill over into
other countries.  Thus, it makes sense to stop them before they so spill
over.

Annan points out that not all intervention needs to
be military.  He calls for more aid to countries that might start having major
problems.

Finally, Annan says that intervention must be
international.  Individual countries must not go off on their own and intervene in the
affairs of other countries.

How do the farmers try to discredit what is happening in Animal Farm?

Although the farmers of the surrounding farms were
"thoroughly frightened by the rebellion on Animal Farm," they tried to put up a brave
front. Jones complained about the injustice of the animals taking over his property, but
the other farmers "pretended to laugh" about the idea of animals successfully running a
farm. They claimed the rebellion would be over shortly, and that the animals were
feuding among themselves and starving to death. After a time, when they saw that the
farm was flourishing, they talked about the "terrible wickedness" going on
there--cannibalism, torture and rape. The whole rebellion was "against the laws of
Nature."

What is the name of the street in front of the Beje in The Hiding Place?

The street in front of the Beje is called the
Barteljorisstraat.

The Barteljorisstraat is located in the
"crowded center of old Haarlem. The street is lined with shops which, in addition to the
ten Booms' watch shop, include an optician's office, a dress shop, a baker, and a
furrier company. There is also a second watch shop on the street, run by Mr. and Mrs.
Kan. The buildings on the Barteljorisstraat are for the most part a few stories high and
built closely together. The Beje itself is typical, having three stories, and being two
rooms deep and only one room wide. At the same time, the Beje is also unique because,
"at some unknown point in its long history," it had been joined with the "even thinner,
steeper house in back of it." The two dwellings are connected by a narrow corkscrew
staircase, and the result is quite a labyrinthine affair, perfect for the construction
of a secret hiding place.

The Beje has a front door that
opens onto the Barteljorisstraat. The customers' part of the shop is at the front of the
building on the ground floor, and from the window hundreds of clocks can be seen. The
Beje also has a side door that opens onto a tiny alleyway; this is the door that the
family uses to enter and exit the house.

Although there are
windows in the various rooms of the Beje, it is difficult to see the sky from them,
because the surrounding buildings are packed so closely together. The windows for the
most part open onto brick walls, the backs of adjacent buildings, but if one looks
straight up, "above the crazy roofs and crooked chimneys," a "square of pale pearl sky"
can be seen (Chapter 1).

What is a fundamental symbol in "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson?

The black box is indeed the main symbol.  It represents tradition.  The villagers are not sure about the box's history.  They recall a chant and a certain handshake that used to go with it.  Indeed the original box is tattered and worn, barely  holding together.  They did make some modifications, replacing wood chips with slips of paper as the villages population grew.  The only thing they are really certain about is the use of rocks.

The Lottery, like the box, is shrouded in mystery.  No one really knows why they conduct it (other than Old Man Warner making a reference to it having to do with good corn crops in June).  They just follow along because it has always been done. 

There has been talk of getting rid of the lottery, indeed some towns already have, and there seems to be some talk among the young people of junking the lottery.  In this way the lottery is like the box.  It is barely clinging together.  But just as the villagers pull the box out once a year and go through the proceedings, observing what ceremonies and protocols they remember, they still obediently observe the lottery.

What is revealed when Buck licks Thornton's hand in "The Call of the Wild"?

Buck has gone through a horrible series of events by the time he ends up with Thornton.  He has had masters that he could trust, and he has had ones that were horrible beyond belief.  When Thornton arrived on the scene and saved Buck from being beaten to death by the woman, her husband, and her brother, Buck realizes that he has "landed on his feet," so to speak.  When Buck licks Thornton's hand, he is letting him know (and us, the readers) that he trusts him and believes in him, and even that he will lay his life down to defend him.

Check the links below for more information on these characters!  Good luck!

What is the importance of the reference of Jephthah?

The reference to Jephthah in "Hamlet" is by Hamlet to Polonius. In this scene hamlet is outwitting Polonius using many literary illusions, this one being biblical.

In the bible Jephthah prays for the help of god to win in battle, and in return, he offers the first person to walk through his door as a sacrifice. He believed that most likely it would be a servant... However, it turned out to be his virginal daughter.  Jephthah's daughter sacrifices herself, telling her father that she will honour his promise to god, and dedicates her life to work in the temple. 

Jephthah did not want to sacrifice something of actual value, like his daughter. Polonius is self seeking at best, wanting his daughter for what he can use her for. He was happy to have her engaged to Prince hamlet, but happier still to have her used to test whether or not he was mad. 

Ophelia ends up making the sacrifice of her own love by testing Hamlet, in the "get thee to a nunnery" scene, causing her to go mad, and ultimately kill herself. 

To call Polonius Jephthah is to insult his integrity, as well as foreshadowing his own lack of heirs, as Ophelia dies childless, and Laertes also in the final scene.

What is the thesis of "The Story of an Hour"?

Being a fictional short story, there isn't an actual thesis in the work.  If I were going to choose one sentence that emphasizes the meaning of the story it would be the very last sentence.  

When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of joy that kills.

This sentence points to the irony in the story.  We as readers know that Mrs. Mallard didn't die joyfully, but rather at the shock and disappointment that her husband was still alive.

If you are looking for a thesis, as in the main point, of the story, it would be that women are oppressed in marriage relationships.  In most of her works, Chopin was concerned about showing the role of women in society and in marriages.

Describe Elie as the story begin (12 years old). What are some things that change him? How was he different at the end of the story?

At the beginning of the book Elie is a unique boy who is hungry for his religion. He desires to learn everything and his goal in life is to be a master of Kabbalah. He spends is time deep in study, even his free time. He seeks the truth and is a very philosophical young man.

The whole experience in the concentration camp during WWII changes him. He loses his innocence, his family, and his faith inside the camps because he cannot understand why God would allow such awful and horrific things to happen to people who have devoted their lives to Him.

At the end of the book Elie is grown, yet he is not very old. The experience has aged him considerably beyond his years. He spent the remainder of his life studying human nature and basic human rights and informing people about his experiences and those of others he knew with the hope that nothing like the Holocaust of WWII would ever happen again. While some of his life was still devoted to religious study- the question still remains of whether he ever found his faith again after his experience.

See the link below for more information on Elie Wiesel

In To Kill a Mockingbird what are some examples in which problems were solved using reason and intelligence?

MR. RADLEY
& THE KNOTHOLE.  Sadly for the Finch children, Boo's father
solves the problem of his son's communication via the knothole by simply filling in the
not-so-secret hiding place with cement. By eliminating the knothole, Boo no longer has a
way of leaving presents for Jem and Scout, and vice versa. Mr. Radley obviously did not
approve of Boo's growing interest in the Finch children, so this was a cruel but
practical solution.

DILL
THE RUNAWAY.  When Jem and
Scout discover the runaway Dill under their bed, Jem surprises Scout by informing
Atticus of the situation. Jem knows that Atticus will know what to do, and he is right.
He first tells Miss Rachel that Dill is hungry but safe, and that it would be best for
Dill to stay at the Finch home for the evening. Dill could deal with his parents in the
morning. It was a memorable evening for Dill and Scout, who innocently share her bed for
the night. 

In Chapter 3 of Elie Wiesel's Night, what are some acts of kindness and signs of hope in the midst of the brutal inhumanity?

Chapter 3 is one of the most pivotal in the novel because this is where Elie is separated from his mother and sisters and essentially where the ties to his childhood and former life officially are severed. Kindness and hope take on new faces in within the walls of the camps. A prisoner helps Elie and his father stay alive and together by offering the tip to lie about their ages. Elie finds that he's been blessed by the mud God created to keep his own shoes, even if it is only for a little while. There is one Polish guard who tells the men that, "Hell doesn't last forever". He also tells the men to stick together and honor their camaraderie because that will help them survive what is to come. Elie reflects that this guards words were, "The first human words." Up until that point, for more than a week they had been treated like animals, at best. After that first night, Elie and the others took comfort in the sunshine and the people who they recognized. Elie offers hope to a man in search of his wife and children and Elie gives him false hope so that he has the will to live, if only for a little while longer.

What reason was there for Jem to cry in To Kill a Mockingbird, and why didn't Scout hear him?Does it have anything to do with Jem's growing up in...

This question actually refers to Chapter 7 of To Kill a Mockingbird. Jem has discovered the ugly truth about why Mr. Radley cemented the knothole, eliminating the children's direct way of communicating with Boo. When Jem asked Mr. Radley about it, he was told that the tree was dying.

"You plug 'em with cement when they're sick. You ought to know that, Jem."

But later, when he asked Atticus about the tree, his father told him

"Look at the leaves. They're all green and full, no brown patches anywhere--"

Jem knew Atticus would not lie to him, but he realized that Mr. Radley had. Radley had cemented the knothole dliberately to prevent Boo from making any more contact with the kids. When Jem returned inside the house, Scout tells us that

... I saw he had been crying; his face was dirty in all the right places, but I thought it odd that I had not heard him.

Why doesn't the naval officer seem more shocked at the death of the two children?

When the naval officer arrives on the island in the book
The Lord of the Flies,  he sees the boys and sees that Jack and his group are dressed in
war paint and barely clothes.  Ralph is crying and on the ground.  He has no idea that
the scene is almost Ralph's death at the hands of Jack and his
hunters.

The naval officer probably believes that the boys
were playing in the forest and around the island some adventure game.  He has no way of
knowing that Roger had shoved Piggy off the rocks with a boulder or that Simon had been
attacked and continuously savagely kicked and beaten.  Remember, both Piggy and Simon's
body were washed out to sea.

What quote from Act 3 of Romeo and Juliet best expresses that the two main characters are willing to die if they cannot be together?

In the scene that Juliet learns of Romeo killing Tybalt,
she expresses that she is more hurt by the fact that Romeo is being banished and
says:

Wash
they his wounds with tears: mine shall be spent,
When theirs are dry, for
Romeo's banishment.
Take up those cords: poor ropes, you are
beguiled,
Both you and I; for Romeo is exiled:
He made you for a
highway to my bed;
But I, a maid, die maiden-widowed.
Come, cords,
come, nurse; I'll to my wedding-bed;
And death, not Romeo, take my
maidenhead!

Here Juliet is
saying if she can't be with Romeo, she'd rather die than let any other man have
her.

Later in scene iii, Romeo confesses willingness to
kill himself figuratively:

readability="14">

As if that name,
Shot from the deadly
level of a gun,
Did murder her; as that name's cursed hand
Murder'd
her kinsman. O, tell me, friar, tell me,
In what vile part of this
anatomy
Doth my name lodge? tell me, that I may sack
The hateful
mansion.

Drawing his
sword

Here, he was
asking the friar where and how he should kill himself for the wrong he has done to
Juliet by killing her cousin.

Both Romeo and Juliet show
their desperation in these scenes. Their willingness to kill themselves shows the
passion they must have had to be together.

What is an example of irony in Romeo and Juliet?

One of my favorite ironic moments of the play is Romeo's
tragic lines about hot alive Juliet looks before he drinks the poison to kill himself
because he thinks she is dead.

She is just about to wake
from her fake-death, and Romeo spends 30 lines or so in Act V, scene iii to tell her
seemingly dead body how alive it actually looks. He notices the color coming back to her
cheeks, the warmth of her body, and the beauty that has not been altered by Death's
presence.

So he kisses her alive body and takes the poison
to kill himself.

NOT THIRTY SECONDS LATER, Juliet wakes up
wondering where Romeo is. Boy, that really stinks.

The
greatest irony though is the fact that the hate between these two families was destroyed
by true love.

In Frankenstein what university does Victor attend?

In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein,
Victor Frankenstein attends the University of Ingolstadt in Germany, where he, under
professor M. Waldman, studies the sciences interrelated to creating his Monster:
biology, electricity, Galvinism, pseudo-genetic engineering, and early
genetics.

At the beginning of Chapter 3, Victor begins the
frame story, narrating thusly:

readability="14">

When I had attained the age of seventeen, my
parents resolved that I should become a student at the university of Ingolstadt. I had
hitherto attended the schools of Geneva; but my father thought it necessary, for the
completion of my education, that I should be made acquainted with other customs than
those of my native country. My departure was therefore fixed at an early date; but
before the day resolved upon could arrive, the first misfortune of my life occurred--an
omen, as it were, of my future
misery.

He leaves Geneva and
arrives at the University of Ingolstadt in 1788.  Four years later, in the Spring of
1792, after four years of study, Victor discovers the secret to animating
life.

After the creature is "born," Victor's friend Henry
Clerval will rescue Victor from Ingolstadt and nurse him back to health in
Geneva.

In The Soldier's Home, what does harold Krebs' relationship with his sister show about him? How does he change in the story? Descibe Harold Krebs.

The narrator tells us that Helen is his “best sister.” While eating breakfast, she presents herself as assertive, possibly challenging his masculinity, which is already feeling very weak after his experience in the war.  She tells him that she “can pitch better than lots of the boys,” and that he is her “beau.” Although he assures her “you’re my girl now,” his tone is noncommittal, and he only says “maybe” when she asks him to watch her play.  The implication is that they once had a close relationship, but he has become as indifferent to her as he is to everyone and everything else since his experience in the war. From the beginning of the story until his last conversation with his mother, Krebs remains passive and unable to feel or do much at all. When his mother confronts him about this, she also infantilizes him, saying “I held you next to my heart when you were a tiny baby.”  Although this makes Krebs “sick and nauseated,” he still wants to please his mother.  Although he cannot pray, he allows her to pray for him.  He resents her for all of this, and especially for making him lie. He will do  what she wants, get a job and become “a productive citizen,” but in doing this he feels he is being false to himself for he came home from the war finding all of these routine activities no longer had meaning.

What is the point of view that Connell is trying to use? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the point of view?

The story is written in third person omniscient, and the author uses this style of narration to emphasize his theme. In the introduction, the narrator tells us how Rainsford loves to hunt, and he doesn't think the animals feel anything when they are being hunted. We get Rainsford's thoughts and feelings while he is being hunted by Zaroff to illustrate how it feels to be the hunted. Toward the end, the narrator breaks away and follows Zaroff back to his house, to his library, and then to his bedroom. I believe this shift in narrative is how the the author lets the reader know that Zaroff has now become the hunted. In this case, the third person point of view is used effectively as a tool to foreshadow the climax and the resolution of the story. This is one of the advantages of using third person. This is why an author usually chooses the style of narration for a story on purpose. Here, the author wants us to know that Rainsford is no longer the hunted, but he has now become the hunter. The roles have switched. Point of view isn't something that necessarily has advantages and disadvantages. It's a tool the author uses to make the story better and to serve a purpose in telling the story.

What is Thoreau's doctrine of simplicity as described in Walden?

Thoreau believes that through simple living, one can have what is most important in life.  He explains his doctrine of simplicity in Chapter 2, saying, "as long as possible, live free and uncommitted...we are happy in proportion to the things we can do without". Thoreau tells how he once thought about buying a farm, but realized that he could better experience and appreciate the important things in life, such as the beauty of nature and the landscape around him, without being tied down by ownership of material things.

The original title of the play was not “Oedipus Rex” but “Oedipus Tyrannus." Which title is more appropriate?

Confusion about the title arises from translation of the original Greek in which Sophocles wrote the play. Reading the information at the site listed below will definitely help you understand that the English title Oedipus Rex, which is a Latin version of the title with Rex meaning king, is not a direct translation of the Greek, in which basileus means king. The word basileus, a hereditary monarch, doesn't appear in the play. Not even Jocasta is referred to as basileia, the form for queen.

Tyrannos, on the other hand, is ambiguous, as the author of the article notes. In Greek it can mean a self-appointed ruler with a military background; today the connotations include cruelty and oppression of citizens. However, Greek has no other word for a well-intentioned ruler who rules alone. Oedipus was elected or appointed king, according to this source, which is part of The Classics Pages. Tyrannos becomes his title by default simply because the Greeks have no other word in their language.

Technically speaking, those who interpret Tyrannos as an indication of his true character do Oedipus a disservice by implying he is a tyrant in the modern sense of the word. As noted in sagetrieb's answer, nothing in the play supports this interpretation.