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.