What is an interpretation of the final line of the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck?

It is significant that the crass and callous Carlson says "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?" For, this statement points to the naturalistic nature in man that emerges with the degradation men experience as a result of their alienation and disenfranchisement.

Just as Carlson has been insensitive to Candy in shooting his old dog because "he stinks," he also has no pity or sympathy for George, whom Slim consoles. Indeed, Carlson exemplifies the men George describes to Slim earlier in Chapter 3:

"[men who] go around on the ranches alone....after a long time...get mean."

In addition to his callousness toward other men, with this remark Carlson exhibits his crassness, as well. This lack of discernment on the part of Carlson indicates that George will escape from being charged with the crime he has actually committed. For, Carlson simply believes that Lennie was in possession of his gun and George took it away and shot Lennie in either self-defense or because he killed Curley's wife. Whichever of these it may be, the men would feel the shooting justified, so Carlson wonders "what is eating" George and Slim that they should be upset.

That which "is eating" George is his conscience because he knows that he should have done something about Lennie after the incident in Weed. Consequently, he feels guilty about Curley's wife's death as well as his shooting of Lennie.

What is a meaning of the Physical Jerks in 1984 by George Orwell?

The Physical Jerks are a daily form of rudimentary exercise forced upon members of the Outer Party. It is equivalent to the calisthenics that physical education classes generally have students do. Every morning, the telescreen comes on and a person leads citizens through a series of stretches and light exercises. Because the telescreens are capable of broadcasting and watching, the effort of each citizen can be monitored.  

Suddenly, a voice from the telescreen interrupts him, yelling out his name and identification number and urging him to "bend lower." Feigning interest and determination, Winston complies, and succeeds in touching his toes for the first time in many years.

The Party sells the idea of mandatory exercise to the citizens by telling them the government wants to prevent weight problems, but the Party is interested in more than the general health of the population. The Physical Jerks are another way the Party displays its absolute power over the people. It is another form of repression and control. This time, though, the control is over people's physical states. The general propaganda is mental control, and the Physical Jerks is physical control. Both allow the Party to maintain total control.  

In the novel That Was Then, This Is Now by S. E. Hinton, what did Byron find surprising about Cathy's personality?

In Chapter 3, Bryon takes Cathy to a school dance, where he runs into his ex-girlfriend, Angela Shepard. Angela approaches Bryon and he dismisses her by asking if she came with Ponyboy Curtis. Angela responds to Bryon's comment by cursing at him while she walks away. When Angela leaves, Cathy asks Bryon about Angela, and he tells Cathy that Angela was someone he used to date. Cathy then makes a sarcastic comment about Angela's "nice language" and refers to her as a "real lady." Bryon is shocked at Cathy's response because for the first time he realizes that Cathy wasn't jealous of Angela at all. Bryon mentions that Cathy was the first girl he's ever dated who wasn't scared that some other girl would show her up. Initially, Bryon doesn't know what to make of it but then decides that Cathy has a lot more sense than most girls.

1. Identify the three major climate types that are associated with France and explain the effect on climate of the angle of incidence of the rays...

The three major climate types in France are oceanic (Atlantic Ocean), continental (eastern border and central) and Mediterranean (Mediterranean Sea). The effect on climate of the angle of incidence of the rays of the Sun is that higher latitudes north and south of the Equator experience a cooler and more variable climate, with generally warm summers and generally colder winters.

The higher the N/S latitude of the landmass from the Equator, the cooler and more widely ranging (from warm to cold) the climate of the latitudinal area. The Equator, at 0 degrees latitude, has an angle of incidence of 90 degrees, with the Sun's rays concentrated in a direct line and a more confined area resulting in a consistently hot climate. France, at a generalized latitude of approximately 41 to 49 degrees N, has an angle of incidence in a broad seasonal range of approximately 105 degrees to 150 degrees. The Sun's rays hit Earth in a diffuse concentration dispersed over a wide area resulting in a cooler and more variable climate, having warm summers and cool to cold winters. Climate characteristics are affected by geographical features, such as oceans and mountains.

France's three climate types, influenced as they are by the Atlantic Ocean, the continental landmass and the Mediterranean Sea, experience interesting variations to the climate explained by latitudinal position alone. The southern Mediterranean region, excluding the mountainous area of the southwest, has little rainfall with gentle winters and hot summers resulting from the effects of the Mediterranean Sea on climate. The continental regions of eastern and central France have plenty of rainfall and warm summers, but not hot like in the southern Mediterranean region, with cold and often snowy winters. The oceanic region is affected by the North Atlantic Drift and has ample rainfall and mild, cool summers. Because of the effect of the North Atlantic Drift, winters are mildly cool but seldom cold. The temperature variations in the oceanic region therefore are in a narrow range. The Mediterranean temperature variations are also in a narrow, though warmer, range. The variations in the continental regions are in a much wider range than the other two.

The University of Nebraska’s Daylight Simulator

Isser Woloch, "France: Climate." Encyclopedia Britannica

How is "The Kugelmass Episode" an example of the literary genre of magical realism?

Magical realism is a literary movement that blends realistic events with elements of the supernatural. In “The Kugelmass Episode,” Kugelmass is a typical guy who is bored with his life and looking for adventure and affection. The elements of realism in the story include his visit with his therapist, his interactions with his wife and his responses to the various situations in which he finds himself. Although the literary characters discussed in the story are fictional, the books themselves are real. However, the story becomes magical realism when the “magician” enters the storyline with his magical box. The idea of a character traveling into various literary settings to meet fictional characters ensures this story fits into the magical realism genre.

What is Dexter Green's physical description in "Winter Dreams"?

Dexter's characterization throughout the story largely depends on his thoughts and emotions, not on his physical appearance. But we know for certain that he dresses well, and we can infer that he's physically fit and reasonably handsome.

Throughout Parts I and II of the story, we get very little physical description of Dexter aside from the narrator's descriptions of his motions, like when he stands still in awe of Judy, or like when he stretches out on his springboard in his bathing suit after swimming. (We're practically deluged with physical descriptions of Judy, though!) The fact that Dexter is a very capable caddy as a teenager, then a capable golfer as a young adult, does suggest that he has some degree of physical fitness.

However, Part III provides this image of Dexter:

He knew the sort of men they were--the men who when he first went to college had entered from the great prep schools with graceful clothes and the deep tan of healthy summers. He had seen that, in one sense, he was better than these men. He was newer and stronger. Yet in acknowledging to himself that he wished his children to be like them he was admitting that he was but the rough, strong stuff from which they eternally sprang.

From the information above, you can infer that although Dexter isn't quite as good-looking or tan as Judy's other boyfriends, he's still fit and strong. We also find out that Dexter dresses very sharply:

When the time had come for him to wear good clothes, he had known who were the best tailors in America, and the best tailors in America had made him the suit he wore this evening.

Later, in Part IV of the story, Judy comments on Dexter's appearance:

"You're handsomer than you used to be," she said thoughtfully. "Dexter, you have the most rememberable eyes."

Although it makes sense that Judy would only associate with handsome men, meaning Dexter must be handsome, we also can't put much faith in her words. She often says what she doesn't mean, and she's very manipulative.

What would be a character sketch of the Emperor of Lilliput from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels?

The Emperor of Lilliput arrives early in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, and he proves to be instantly memorable, as Swift uses both the Emperor and his policies to illustrate the absurd nature of politics and politicians. Swift characterizes the Emperor as a corrupt, pompous, and proud ruler who delights in ridiculous political ceremonies and practices. The Emperor's reign is defined by two tense conflicts: the conflict between the Low Heels and High Heels, and the conflict between those who believe eggs should be cracked open at the little end and those who believe eggs should be cracked open at the big end. Overall, it's clear that the Emperor is not only a petty and absurd person, but also presides over and participates in petty and absurd debates that are blown completely out of proportion. By crafting such a character, Swift makes fun of and points out the many flaws of the political leaders of his day. Indeed, it's often thought that the Emperor of Lilliput is meant to correspond to the real political figure of King George I, who ruled England during part of Swift's lifetime.   

What is the dramatic importance of the concluding scenes of Act 2 and Act 4 in Arthur Miller's The Crucible?

So many plot arcs converge at the end of Act II that it's difficult to count them all. In this scene, John and Elizabeth are at home, discussing the happenings in Salem and their concern that they may be directly affected. Earlier in Act II there was an argument arising from the tension between them as they confront Elizabeth's suspicions about John's feelings for Abigail, and John's frustration that Elizabeth has not forgiven him. This emotional context provides a backdrop to the rest of the scene. We learn that Mary Warren has been manipulated by Abigail to place a poppet in Elizabeth's house to be used as evidence against her: this shows us the depth of deceit occurring among the girls with Abigail as their ringleader. We learn that John and Elizabeth now agree that Abigail is hell bent on nothing less than having Elizabeth jailed and hung for witchcraft, in order to make John available to her.

The arrival of Reverend Hale adds an additional level of tension, as he questions the Proctor's standing in the church. Soon after Francis Nurse arrives, to say his wife Rebecca has ben accused and arrested. Tensions rise at the realization that even a pious elderly woman like Rebecca could be accused of witchcraft. When Ezekiel Cheever arrives, it comes as no shock that he has a warrant for Elizabeth. Proctor vows to prove his wife's innocence, and his anger at the proceedings and disgust with Abigail are both palpable. The primary dramatic importance of this scene shows how the witch trials were based partly in personal antagonism and vendettas. We also see the significance of John and Elizabeth's relationship and how it underpins the entire plot.

The end of Act 4 is in a jail cell several months after Proctor and his wife are convicted and sentenced to hang, and Reverend Hale, who has denounced the court proceedings, comes to beg Elizabeth to reason with Proctor and get him to confess. He does, to save his life, but at the last moment he tears up the confessions, and Elizabeth supports his decision, knowing his integrity means more to him than his life. Their love is reaffirmed in this moment, again showing the dramatic importance of their relationship and its effect upon their motivations and actions.

How would you respond to the assertion that, before the Europeans colonized Africa, the continent had no literature?

I would say that that assertion is completely false.

When we think of literature, we often fail to realize that our understanding of it is rooted in Western ideas of learning and storytelling—that is, stories and verse written and transmitted to the masses through print. Though it is true that certain Asian cultures also had writing—paper was, in fact, invented in China around 100 BC—the act of telling stories and recording them for posterity is deemed a Western tradition.

Epic narratives, fables, and other tales did exist among other peoples on other continents, however, including Africa. Let's consider how this tradition existed in West Africa, for example.

Sunjata, a tale told among the Mandingo people (from what is now Mali), is one of the best-known African epics. The story was passed down by generations of griots since the thirteenth century. A 'griot' is similar to the troubadour of medieval Europe in that he was skilled in oral performance, reciting histories as epic poems or narratives. The griot differed from the troubadour in the sense that he remained rooted to his tribe and community, while the troubadour traveled from place to place transmitting poems and tales. Also, the troubadour's main function was to entertain. Storytelling was often accompanied with music. On the other hand, the griot's main function is "to preserve, record, and transmit the history of their people" (Hill 35). Finally, griots still exist in some West African communities, whereas troubadours ceased to exist after the invention of the printing press around 1440.

Sunjata is similar to the French and English courtly romances told during the same period. Sunjata was a real person. He was a Mandingo warrior-king who led a revolt against Ghana, a declining empire, in 1200 CE. Ultimately, he united Mali's twelve kingdoms, creating one of the most powerful empires the continent has ever known.

Though this tale is rooted in history, it is regarded as literature because every griot who has told the tale through the ages has improvised its details. There are, in fact, four published versions of the epic and all of them are different. Moreover, as with all epic tales, there are mythical elements to Sunjata. For example, our hero is born crippled and, from birth, is threatened by mortal enemies. The antagonist in the epic is an evil sorcerer king named Sumanguru, or "Soumaoro Kante" in other accounts. Ultimately, Sunjata defeats Sumanguru by attacking his protective life force, a crowing white cock, with a magical counterforce, "a cockspur in a poisoned weapon (arrow or gun)" (Hill 36). 

This narrative deals with some of literature's ageless themes: good vs. evil, heroism, justice vs. injustice, and overcoming adversity. In terms of form, it follows the patterns we see in other literary traditions. There are characters, including a protagonist (main character) and an antagonist (an enemy, or someone who works against the protagonist). There is also a fixed setting and a plot which introduces a situation, brings that situation to a climax, and then provides a clear conclusion/resolution. 

Thus, Sunjata, like Western narratives, is a work of literature. The only difference is that griots did not write it down until very recently.

Source: Hill, Patricia Liggins. Call and Response: The Riverside Anthology of the African American Literary Tradition. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1998. Print.

Who is Dane O'Neill in The Thorn Birds most similar to in The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns?

By all indications, Dane O'Neill is most similar to Mariam in A Thousand Splendid Suns and Hassan in The Kite Runner.

While it's true Dane and Hassan are more sanguine in temperament and Mariam is more pessimistic in her approach to life, there is one commonality which links the three characters together: a selfless inclination to sacrifice personal comfort and safety for the benefit of others.

In The Thorn Birds, Dane is an easy-going and affectionate man. He has an open, welcoming nature that often endears himself to anyone he meets. As a child, his

habitual expression was a smiling one, his nature a curious combination of quietness and deep, sure happiness; he seemed to have grown into his identity and acquired his self-knowledge with none of the pain children usually experience, for he rarely made mistakes about people or things, and nothing ever exasperated or bewildered him.

As a grown man, Dane proves to be adept (even more than his mother, Meggie) in navigating a relationship with his difficult and often tempestuous sister, Justine.

Dane's optimism and habitual cheerfulness is the perfect temperament for a priest-in-training; his "natural tendency was to understand and forgive human failings in others, and be merciless upon them in himself." As a result of his moral stature and his warmth, Dane maintains an effortless connection with both his mother, Meggie, and his sister, Justine.

In the story, Dane dies while on vacation in Crete. After heroically saving two women from drowning, Dane has a heart attack that proves fatal. He dies as he exerts himself on behalf of the two women. He dies as he lived, sacrificially and selflessly.

In The Kite Runner, Hassan shares Dane's sanguine and forgiving nature. His loyalty to Amir is what compels him to sacrifice himself time and time again for his employer's son. When Assef threatens to appropriate Amir's kite, Hassan stands his ground. Despite Assef's cruel taunting about a Hazara's loyalty to a Pashtun, Hassan stands up for Amir and maintains he and Amir are friends. Hassan's courage is repaid by treachery on Amir's part and brutal violence on Assef's part. In the story, Amir remembers Hassan had the "look of the lamb" while Assef raped him. Essentially, Hassan sacrificed himself to save the kite he had retrieved for Amir.

Later, Amir, in a stunning act of betrayal, accuses Hassan of stealing his money and watch. Disregarding the pain inflicted on him, Hassan owns up to the theft, despite his innocence. The text tells us why:

This was Hassan's final sacrifice for me. If he'd said no, Baba would have believed him because we all knew Hassan never lied. And if Baba believed him, then I'd be the accused; I would have to explain and I would be revealed for what I really was. Baba would never, ever forgive me. And that led to another understanding: Hassan knew. He knew I'd seen everything in that alley, that I'd stood there and done nothing. He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again, maybe for the last time.

Hassan's rape is a symbol of innocent sacrifice and the kind of sacrifice that is especially portrayed in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam gives her life in a sacrificial death in order to save Laila from sure execution. Despite her status as a harami (illegitimate child), rejected and reviled by the larger society, Mariam is an honorable and selfless woman. When Laila begs Mariam not to sacrifice herself, Mariam answers that she's lived life on her terms and she's proud to give herself one last time for those she loves.

"For me, it ends here. There's nothing more I want. Everything I'd ever wished for as a little girl you've already given me. You and your children have made me so very happy. It's all right, Laila jo. This is all right. Don't be sad."

She thought of her entry into this world, the harami child of a lowly villager, an unintended thing, a pitiable, regrettable accident. A weed. And yet she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother. A person of consequence at last.

Hassan, Mariam, and Dane O'Neill lived for others. Their warmth, loyalty, compassion, and selflessness can be seen in the way they chose to decide their destinies in life.

What are good books for a high school senior to read before going to college?

There is no set reading list to prepare a high school senior for college. The best way to prepare is to be well-read in a variety of genres, and to learn to read for pleasure and to suit one's own interests.  This ensures that the student has developed some independent reading skills and some life-long learning skills.  Part of the process should be reading books from different time periods and different cultures.  There should be as much diversity in gender, race, ethnicity and background of the authors as possible.  This prepares a person for relating to others, including people who are different from him or herself. 

A strong reading list will include classics from many cultures, including possibly more than one language if the student is bilingual.  Make sure that the list includes contemporary literature, too.  There should be some very old books on the list, for sure, but there should also be some very new ones.  You can find recommendations in book reviews in newspapers and magazines during any given week.  Of course, you can also look at best-seller’s lists, but just because something is trendy does not necessarily mean it is of high quality. 

Students can ask teachers for recommendations before leaving for the summer, but another place to look is the local bookstore.  Most bookstores will have staff recommendation tables or shelves.  Some universities also publish lists.  It should also be noted that there are lists abound on the internet that can be found with a quick search, but these are somewhat subjective.  While the college-bound student is headed for college with subjective lists, why not ask the people that matter?  A survey of adults in the student’s life will likely produce an interesting list of favorite books or books that made an impact professionally or emotionally.  You can also learn a lot about a person from his or her favorite book. 

Keeping a list of the books that are read over the summer before college is also an excellent idea, if for no other reason than that it will be a good conversation starter for the student’s new roommate and a roadmap of the psychological journey that the student took before starting the final step of his or her education.  Hopefully, some books do get read during that summer, in addition to social networking and video game playing!

Please provide a brief summary of Chapter 14 of The Story of My Life by Helen Keller.

Little Helen Keller was very upset because she was accused of plagiarism, but she did not intentionally copy anything.  It was all about a story she wrote called “The Frost King” that turned out to not really be original.  She was just repeating a story she had heard, but didn’t realize it at the time.

As Helen’s teacher Anne Sullivan described “the beauties of the late foliage,” she wrote them down on her braille slate.

I thought then that I was "making up a story," as children say, and I eagerly sat down to write it before the ideas should slip from me. My thoughts flowed easily; I felt a sense of joy in the composition. (Ch. 14)

As an adult looking back, Helen Keller realized that “if words and images came to me without effort, it is a pretty sure sign that they are not the offspring of my own mind,” but at the time she was a child and she was just enjoying writing a story.  No such thought occurred to her.  The adults didn’t realize at first that the words weren’t her own either.

Little Helen gave the story to Mr. Anagnos as a present, and he published it in one of the Perkins Institution reports.  That was when they found out that the story was a lot like another story called "The Frost Fairies" by Miss Margaret T. Canby from a book called Birdie and His Friends.  They realized someone had read it to Helen when she was little, even if she did not remember.

She didn’t remember the book, but there could be no question about the source of her words.  Even though Mr. Anagnos forgave her, the unintentional plagiarism had a lasting effect on Helen Keller.  She refused to write fiction. 

The author of the book Helen unintentionally plagiarized told her that someday she would write her own great story.

But this kind prophecy has never been fulfilled. I have never played with words again for the mere pleasure of the game. Indeed, I have ever since been tortured by the fear that what I write is not my own. (Ch. 14)

Clearly, Helen Keller felt that this one incident tarnished her reputation so that anything she ever published would be put into question from then on.  It was also important to her that she include the story in her autobiography.  She wanted the facts straight.

What is a summary of Helen Keller's The Story of My Life?

The Story of My Life is the autobiography of Helen Keller, written in 1903 while she was a student at Radcliffe College. She describes her childhood memories prior to losing her hearing and vision, focusing on her memories of speech and early love for language. Later in her childhood, Keller became increasingly frustrated with her difficulties with communication and lashed out when she felt her sign language was insufficient. Much of the book focuses on her experiences with her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who Keller often refers to as Teacher. Sullivan was a teacher at the Perkins Institute for the Blind and started teaching a seven-year-old Keller to communicate by spelling out words and how to read Braille. By the age of ten, Keller could communicate with Sullivan and read Braille fluently, and had even learned how to speak. The book details her attempts to continue developing language skills with her teacher, and describes her later success as an honors student at Radcliffe College.

What does guardian of the peace mean in "After Twenty Years" by O. Henry? How did the officer suit the role of guardian of the peace?

I understood the term "guardian of the peace" to be synonymous with the term "police officer." "Guardian of the peace" or "guardians of the peace" may have been used frequently in newspapers and magazines as alternative terms for "policeman" or "police officer." O. Henry says this policeman makes a fine picture of a guardian of the peace because of the description he gives of him in the first part of the sentence.

Trying doors as he went, twirling his club with many intricate and artful movements, turning now and then to cast his watchful eye down the pacific thoroughfare, the officer, with his stalwart form and slight swagger, made a fine picture of a guardian of the peace. 

His "stalwart form and slight swagger" especially contribute to his "fine picture of a guardian of the peace."

What is most important in O. Henry's description of this particular police officer is that he wants to avoid any suggestion that this might be the man Bob is waiting for in the doorway of the hardware store. O. Henry is describing a typical New York uniformed cop. By the time this cop gets to Bob, the reader will have no suspicion that he is actually Jimmy Wells and that he has come there to meet his old friend. The reader is misled to believe that this is a beat cop who stops to talk to Bob because Bob looks a little suspicious standing in the darkened doorway of a closed store in a neighborhood where almost all the other stores are closed for the night. The fact that this guardian of the peace has been trying doorways all along the block to make sure they are properly locked contributes to the reader's impression that this is a typical cop who has no relationship with the man in the doorway.

As a matter of fact, Jimmy Wells really is a typical New York beat cop. He has obviously been a cop for years. O. Henry describes how he is "twirling his club with many intricate and artful movements" in order to suggest that he has had plenty of years to practice those intricate and artful movements. Jimmy would be forty years old now. He has probably been a cop for almost twenty years. Over time, he has settled into his role as a uniformed beat cop. It is evident in everything he does. Bob describes Jimmy as someone who would like a routine job.

He was a kind of plodder, though, good fellow as he was. 

Jimmy's job is perfect for him, and the reader can tell he is happy with it. That would explain the way he plays with his police club and why he walks with a slight swagger. He is probably married, has several children and owns a modest house. He likely works in his garden and takes his family to church every Sunday. He is not wealthy or flashy like Bob, but he has peace of mind and security, whereas Bob will be going off to prison after years of being on the lam.

In "Chee's Daughter" by Juanita Platero, why is Chee at a hard point in his life?

Chee is at a hard point in his life because his wife has just succumbed to the coughing sickness; her death, though not unexpected, has left him comfortless. To add to his grief, his wife's family has claimed Chee's little daughter for their own.

Chee's mother tells her son that there is nothing he can do about it, as the custom is that a little girl belongs to her mother's people. Undeterred, Chee goes to reason with his father-in-law, Old Man Fat, but he is unsuccessful in claiming his daughter back. So, not only is Chee bereft of his wife, but he has also lost custody of his little daughter.

In the end, Chee decides to earn his daughter back. He works the land and plants a variety of vegetables, believing what he has always been taught: "that a man took care of his land and it in turn took care of him." At the end of the season, after collecting a full harvest, Chee again approaches his in-laws. This time, however, the tables have been turned. His in-laws are no longer confident in their ability to earn an easy living. The trading post has been closed, and tourists have become scarce. This means that Old Man Fat can no longer collect rent from the trader who rented his strip of land, and he can no longer make money off of tourists.

When his in-laws see the wonderful harvest Chee has brought to them, they grudgingly consent to let Chee take his daughter back with him. So, with the harvest from his work in the fields, Chee is finally able to banish his grief by reclaiming the one who is most precious to him. 

What is the generation that Oedipus is dedicated to?

When the play begins, Oedipus addresses his subjects whom he calls "my children, [...] the youngest generation of the ancient house of Cadmus."  In Greek mythology, Cadmus was the founder of Thebes, the city in which the play is set, as well as a great hero and its first king.  These subjects have come to the palace, wailing and bemoaning their fate as a result of all of the troubles in the kingdom: failing crops, women who cannot bear children, disease, and so forth.  Oedipus seems genuinely anxious to hear and address their concerns, as he comes out to hear them himself rather than sending a messenger.  Therefore, the generation to which Oedipus is dedicated is this one: the current citizenry of the ancient and great city of Thebes to whom he is honor-bound to serve and lead in his role as king.

How does the story "The Bet" end?

The climax of "The Bet" is reached when the banker reads the letter in which the lawyer renounces the two million roubles he was entitled to receive for spending fifteen years in solitary confinement. The banker is humiliated because he was seriously planning to murder his prisoner in order to get out of paying the money. Then, true to his word, the lawyer disappears. There are witnesses to prove that he escaped voluntarily, and the banker keeps the letter locked in his fireproof safe as evidence that he was not responsible for the lawyer's disappearance. 

Next morning the watchmen ran in with pale faces, and told him they had seen the man who lived in the lodge climb out of the window into the garden, go to the gate, and disappear. The banker went at once with the servants to the lodge and made sure of the flight of his prisoner. To avoid arousing unnecessary talk, he took from the table the writing in which the millions were renounced, and when he got home locked it up in the fireproof safe.

The bet has had a strong effect on the characters of both men. Fifteen years of solitude during which the lawyer spent much time reading and meditating have turned him into a sort of holy man and prophet. These same fifteen years, during which the banker was losing most of his fortune and becoming gradually more anxious about having to pay his stubborn prisoner two million roubles, have made the banker lose his self-confidence and even his own self-respect. The moral of Anton Chekhov's story might have been drawn from the New Testament. In the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 6, Jesus says:

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

What commentary can be made about the ending of "The Last Leaf"?

As in other stories, in "The Last Leaf" O. Henry exploits the romantic wish that people are inherently good and unselfish and possessive of an innate dignity. And, as is also characteristic of O. Henry, in this story the narrative is constructed on the basis of some contradiction.

The contradiction in "The Last Leaf" exists in the character of Mr. Behrman, an older man who is "a failure in art." For forty years he has painted, and for forty years he has always been going to paint a masterpiece, yet the canvas stands empty in his little basement apartment. Every once and a while he receives a commission to paint for an advertisement or for some commercial enterprise. In addition, he earns some money as a model for young artists in Greenwich Village who cannot afford a professional model. 

Therefore, for Behrman to become the hero who is the cause of Johnsy's change of heart about dying, there is, indeed, a contradiction. This contradiction exists in his heroic and loving act of going out into the wet, cold winter night, climbing a ladder, and painting an ivy leaf upon a brick wall so that Johnsy will not fulfill her promise of dying when all the leaves fall from the vine.
Behrman, an old curmudgeon who complains about just going upstairs and modeling for Sue, and who has procrastinated for forty years on painting his "masterpiece," braves the icy cold and unselfishly risks his own health because he loves Johnsy. Truly, then, Old Behrman becomes heroic in his final act, and does, indeed, contradict his unmotivated nature as he paints his "masterpiece," at last. 

If there is a solution of chloroform and alcohol, each in proportion of 50 ml and 50 ml to form a solution of 100 ml, then which one is the solvent...

Chloroform is a chemical with the formula CHCl3.  It is a clear liquid and is commonly used as a solvent in organic chemistry.  Alcohol is a generic term for any alcohol but is probably most commonly used as a shorthand for ethyl alcohol (CH3CH2OH).  It is also a clear liquid that is a common solvent in chemistry.  If we mix 50 mL of each of the two chemicals, then we have an equal mixture of both.  The two liquids are miscible with each other and will combine to form a homogeneous mixture.  Since the two are present in equal proportions, we would say that the solvent system is a 1:1 mixture of chloroform and ethanol.  Since they are equal neither of them gets precedence over the other.

What larger, universal truth is presented in Golding's Lord of the Flies through the themes of power, the personal price of conformity, and the...

The universal truth presented by Golding through these themes is a sobering one. It is that mankind, despite what we might like to believe, is not fundamentally good. Rather, we are fundamentally evil, and left totally to our own devices, without some kind of institution to regulate us, we are always subject to reverting to our base instincts, what Sigmund Freud called the "id," that will overcome whatever sense of morality that exists within us. There is much in the novel that supports this pessimistic view.

As for the theme of power, we can see that as the novel goes on, the basis for power is contested and indeed changes over time. At first, the boys seek to replicate, at least somewhat, the order that existed at their school. Piggy and Ralph, in their attempts to establish this order, base their efforts on reason and intellect, which Piggy, in many ways, represents. The conch, for example, becomes an emblem of power, one which summons the boys to the beach. When asked where the "man" who blew the "trumpet" had gone, Ralph answers that "there's no man with a trumpet. Only me" (25). Later, he lifts the conch to assert his qualifications to be leader, saying "seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things" (28). Jack, on the other hand, bases his authority on his leadership of the chorus, which gives him, as Golding describes it, a sort of "offhand authority," a point he makes explicit before losing the election for "chief" to Ralph (26). Ralph and Piggy continue to appeal to reason, rationality, and legitimate authority as a basis for power throughout the book, but Jack begins to appeal to baser instincts--his ability to hunt, exemplified by the pig he killed, and his ability as a hunter to protect the "littluns" from the supposed "beast" on the island.

Eventually Jack declares his "independence" from the power represented by the conch, and we see that many of his band, most of whom have not left his side since the days he served as their leader in the choir, continue to follow him more or less blindly. Jack is charismatic and he appeals, like demagogues do, to the baser instincts of the boys, both their fears and the fun of the hunt. Whereas Ralph attempts to maintain order, Jack wants the boys to embrace disorder, and they follow him, conforming despite the fact that his leadership more or less abandons the idea that they will ever be rescued. But his flouting of the rules appeals to some of the other kids, who take to him when he whoops, "[b]ollocks to the rules! We’re strong—we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down!" (130). This line demonstrates Jack's contempt for authority as well as his appeal to the fears of the other boys, who conform to his vision and to his leadership.

As the book advances, it becomes clear that there is no "beast." In fact, this is Golding's major theme--the "beast" is the inherent evil that lies within people, unleashed in this story by the absence of adults, structure, and rationality. Simon (who is later killed by the boys) actually makes this point fairly early in the book, when the boys are debating the existence of the beast:  "What I mean is. . . maybe it’s only us" (126). As it turns out, he is right. Jack is not protecting the boys from anything, he is in fact representative of the beast itself. The death of Piggy (and Simon) at the hands of Jack and his followers demonstrates the power of evil to overcome rationality, intellect, and human decency. 

Why does the invisible strength Waverly learns from her mother help her at chess in "Rules of the Game" by Amy Tan? What is this strength?

The invisible strength Waverly learns from her mother helps her at chess because it allows her to hide her true power from her nemesis. In the story, her mother asserts, "Wise guy, he not go against wind. In Chinese we say, Come from South, blow with wind- poom! North will follow. Strongest wind cannot be seen." This just means every wise warrior is able to present a neutral exterior while hiding the depth of his power (and his weaknesses) from his enemies. According to Waverly's mother, the strongest winds cannot be seen; since all "weaknesses and advantages become evident to a strong adversary," the wise chess player must be discreet about her own strengths and weaknesses.

She must understand the "endgame before the game begins." If she is up against a superior force, she doesn't "go against the wind." Instead, she studies how she can use her opponent's apparently superior force to support her own ends and overcome him. If we remember the wind imagery Waverly's mother uses, we can conclude that:

A little knowledge withheld is a great advantage one should store for future use. That is the power of chess. It is a game of secrets in which one must show and never tell.

Essentially, the consummate chess player is able to hide her strategy from her opponent until she is able to "show" her strength through devastatingly shrewd moves. 

Write 87% as a decimal.

The definition of a percent is in its name: per cent, where cent stands for a hundredth of a whole. (Much like a cent or penny is 1/100 of an American dollar, or a centurion was one of a hundred Roman soldiers, etc...)

So 87% is 87 parts of a whole comprised of a hundred parts.

87%=`87/100 ` =0.87

What impact did the path chosen by the speaker in "The Road Not Taken" make on his life?

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is an ambiguous poem that can be interpreted in several different ways. Depending on one's approach to the poem, the impact of choosing the "road less traveled by" can be positive, negative, or negligible. 

One common way of interpreting the poem is as a celebration of individualism and non-conformity. Frost wrote the poem in 1915, and since then many readers have felt that the poem encourages them to strike out off the beaten path and choose a way that suits them, not the way that most people are taking. With such an interpretation, the "sigh" of the speaker "ages and ages hence" is a sigh of contentment for a fulfilled life, and that fulfillment is interpreted to be what the speaker calls "all the difference." That is, the speaker sighs in contentment because the choice to follow his own path leads to fulfillment--more than would have been realized if the more traveled road had been chosen. Thus the impact of the choice in this case is positive.

Another way, equally valid, of interpreting the poem is to understand the poem as being about how irreversible decisions are. With this approach, readers focus on the fact that the speaker "doubted if I should ever come back." Once a decision is reached, it is momentous, and there's no going back. In this interpretation, one could see how the "sigh" of the speaker could be one of regret. In his old age, the speaker may wish he had pursued a different path in life, but that one significant decision in his youth set him on a direction that could not be undone. In this case, the impact of the road chosen is negative.

Finally, the third interpretation, and actually Frost's intent, is that the poem is a tongue-in-cheek jab at indecisive people who make too much of any single decision. Some people deliberate too long over the minutest choices, believing each one to be a life-altering action. In this case, the poem seeks to point out, through melodramatic irony ("Oh, I kept the first for another day!"), that a small decision is really just that--not something that one will reminisce about "ages and ages hence." Or if the person does attribute such undeserved importance to a single choice, it will be because the person tends toward hyperbole. In this case, "all the difference" is to be taken as verbal irony, meaning the opposite. In fact, the decision is not consequential, and the impact on the speaker's life is negligible. 

Frost admitted this poem was "tricky," and readers have taken from it many different meanings. The poem allows for the impact of the choice of the path to be good, bad, or indifferent. 

What is fiction and how did it develop?

Fiction is a form of imaginative literature written in prose. The term imaginative literature suggests a work of fiction does not purport to be an account of things that actually happened, although it may incorporate some individual historical events. Instead, many of the characters and events presented are ones created by the author. Fiction normally has some sort of narrative structure or arc and is about characters (usually human, sometimes not). Fiction is also normally written in prose rather than verse.

The earliest major works of fiction are the ancient Greek novels such as Longus' Daphnis and Chloe, which were translated into French and English during the Renaissance and influenced the development of the modern novel. Prose fiction dramatically increased in popularity during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries along with the rapid rise of vernacular literacy and decreasing costs of paper and printing. The rise of serial publication in periodicals and circulating libraries gave impetus to the classic three-volume nineteenth century novel. That late nineteenth century novel and genres such as the "penny dreadful" marked the beginning of a mass market for fiction. 

A train moves from rest to a speed of 25 m/s in 20 seconds. What is its acceleration?

Hello!

Acceleration is the measure of the changing speed of a body over time, in the same manner as speed is the measure of the changing position of a body.

If we know the speed `V_1` for some initial time moment `t_1` and the speed `V_2` for some other moment `t_2,` and if we know also that the change of speed was uniform, then this change is the (uniform) acceleration

`a = (V_2 - V_1)/(t_2 - t_1).`

If we don't know that the change was uniform, then this formula gives us the average acceleration. Note that only a difference between times is required, so we may set a reference point for time anywhere.

For this problem, we know `t_2-t_1 = 20 s,` `V_1 = 0` (moves from rest) and `V_2 = 25 m/s,` so the acceleration, uniform or average, is  `25/20 = 1.25 (m/s^2).` This is the answer.

What disturbs Lockwood and makes him get out of bed in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights?

Toward the beginning of Wuthering Heights, a raging snowstorm strands Mr. Lockwood at Heathcliff's estate, forcing him to spend the night. Already disturbed by the strange goings-on at Wuthering Heights, Mr. Lockwood sleeps fitfully and experiences a series of strange dreams. He gets up during his last, particularly creepy nightmare. In the nightmare, Lockwood hears a noise at the window, rousing him from his slumber to investigate the disturbance. To his horror, he encounters the ghostly form of a girl begging to be let inside. The child says she is Catherine Linton, and Lockwood desperately tries to keep her out of his room. This occurrence is not only absolutely terrifying, but also serves as a brilliant example of foreshadowing. The ghostly apparition immediately puts us on our guard and encourages us to expect some truly dramatic history to be revealed, and we're not disappointed. Indeed, the ghostly child who disturbs Lockwood on a stormy night immediately sets the tone for the rest of the novel, as it tells the reader that the plot will be both dramatic and disturbing.   

The most important themes in literature are sometimes formed when a death takes place. In the book Wuthering Heights, do you think this statement...

Death absolutely provides thematic material in Wuthering Heights. First, the father's death early in the story leads to the theme of abuse and how abuse and neglect draw Cathy and Heathcliff into a very close bond. Second, Cathy's death has a shattering effect on Heathcliff, and third, even if he does not love as deeply, Linton mourns Cathy's demise and never remarries, showing that death changes lives.

An important theme arises from Cathy's death. The novel is metaphysical, meaning it posits, or argues for, another world beyond the material. Cathy believes that after she dies she will be flung on the moors because she doesn't belong in heaven: nature is her true home and where she longs to be. In the novel, Cathy and Heathcliff might be separated in life by her dying, but the intimation in the novel is that their love is so deep and their souls so tightly intertwined that they will be together after death: a love like theirs cannot be killed. 

In Pokemon Go, do teams affect anything besides gym and color?

Upon reaching level 5, you can finally head to your first gym. It does not matter what color the first gym you go to is on your map--you will still be able to choose your team!

The different team leaders claim to have different methods of researching Pokemon. It does not seem that there is any technical advantage to choosing a team--but some speculation states that the Legendary Birds that represent each team’s color may come into play sometime in the future. This means that the color team you choose might affect the Legendary Bird you might potentially interact with (but again, that is complete speculation at this point).

Once you choose your gym color, you have the ability to train at that gym. If there is space available at that gym, you can leave your Pokemon there to defend your team. You'll also earn some bonuses.

You can also challenge the gyms of other teams. By doing so you can eventually have your team take over. You get to choose 6 Pokemon and with those 6 you get to battle the opposing team's hierarchy of winning Pokemon. If you challenge your own gym, you only get one Pokemon to fight your way to the top.

Make sure you coordinate with your friends on choosing a team, because once you pick your color, you cannot change your mind.

If the theory about Legendary Birds is correct, you would choose yellow Team Instinct for Zapdos, blue Team Mystic for Articuno, and red Team Valor for Moltres.

Aside from arguing with other people over who has the better team and potentially changing your entire wardrobe to display your team color, there are no observed differences between the teams. They are simply there to add an element of competition to the game.

Enjoy!

What was the critical analysis about language and brain determined by Broca (1861) and Wernicke (1874)?

Broca and Wernicke determined brain regions associated with language. In 1861, Broca, a French neurosurgeon, examined the brain of a deceased man who understood language but could not produce it. This man, nicknamed Tan, had a lesion in the interior part of the left frontal cortex of his brain. Broca identified the left side of the brain as the hemisphere that produces language. This region of the frontal cortex became known as "Broca's area" and was the first part of the brain to be determined to play a specific function.

In 1874, Wernicke, a neurologist, found an area in the posterior part of the left temporal lobe of the brain that is involved with comprehending language. People with a lesion in this area could speak, but their language was incomprehensible. Brain scientists now know that around the lateral sulcus in the left hemisphere of the brain, there are areas that are necessary for producing and understanding language. The front part of this region is known as Broca's area, which is necessary to produce language, while Wernicke's area, which is necessary for processing language, is in the posterior temporal lobe. This so-called "language loop" is found in the left hemisphere of the brain in 90% of right-handed people and 70% of left-handed people, and it is also found in this hemisphere among people who use sign language. 

How did Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe influence American literature?

Uncle Tom's Cabin had a very profound effect on American history, as it convinced many moderate Americans that slavery was wrong by personalizing slavery and showing its effects on people. While some abolitionists thought the book was too lenient, defenders of slavery thought Stowe, a northerner, was off base in her assessment and portrayal of slavery. As the legend goes, even Abraham Lincoln thought Stowe's book had had a major effect on the nation and said to her in 1862, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war." 

Stowe's work was in the tradition of the slave narrative. Freed slaves such as Frederick Douglass wrote famous autobiographies about their experiences in slavery, but Stowe, a white woman, wrote a work that outsold all the previous slave narratives. She changed literature by taking a genre that had traditionally been written by African-Americans as autobiography and turning into a novelistic form. While Stowe intended the character of Uncle Tom to be a virtuous, Christian man, modern critics have charged that her characterization is racist in many ways. For example, they have criticized Tom for being too submissive. At the time, however, it was novel for a white author to depict a slave as the hero, while the white plantation owner, Simon Legree, was the villain. 

What are chapter summaries for The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain?

The Preface introduces Twain's work as "travel-writing," while humorously separating it from "solemn scientific" writing, "attractive" though that might be. He explains that portions of his writing will be reproduced from letters he had written to the "Daily Alta California, of San Francisco," the "New York Tribune" and the "New York Herald," noting that all had given "the necessary permission." Chapter 1 introduces the advent of a new and unusual excursion advertised and "chatted" about across America in "newspapers" and by "firesides." It was that of taking a "royal holiday" on a "gigantic scale" on a "steamship" to explore "beyond the broad ocean in many a strange clime and in many a land renowned in history!"

Twain tells how "this brave conception" was to allow participants to "hob−nob with nobility and hold friendly converse with kings and princes, grand moguls, and the anointed lords of mighty empires!" He explains how "every household in the land" was "longing" to be one of the "one hundred and fifty" passengers on this extravaganza excursion to "the Crimea, Greece, and intermediate points of interest." To entice his readers, Twain adds the advertisement, dated 1867, in full to display to advantage the lure of the excursion. In testimony to the effectiveness of the advertisement, he tells how he hurried to the treasurer's office to deposit his 10 percent fee, being delighted that he could still acquire a stateroom. Twain's ironic wit is on display when he says that upon giving references of his character, he chose names of those who knew him least: he chose "all the people of high standing [he] could think of in the community who would be least likely to know anything about [him]."

After an announcement that the "Plymouth Collection of Hymns [a Puritan hymn book] would be used on board the ship," Twain's ironic wit is further evident: "I then paid the balance of my passage money." The simple positioning of this sentence ironically implies a causal connection between the hymn book choice and his payment. This is ironic because he implies, by suggestion of cause and effect, that no right thinking person could care about the selection of a hymn book as a reason to expend money on the excursion. He carries the irony further with a Calvinistic allusion to "being 'select.'"

   Shortly a supplementary program was issued which set forth that the Plymouth Collection of Hymns would be used on board the ship. I then paid the balance of my passage money.
   I was provided with a receipt and duly and officially accepted as an excursionist. There was happiness in that but it was tame compared to the novelty of being "select."

Twain then enumerates celebrities who were enrolled to go but who cancelled due to various urgent matters. He ends by saying that, although the excursion now traveled without celebrities, like the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher and Lieutenant General Sherman, they still had the "'battery of guns' from the Navy Department" with which to salute royalty. The accompanying letter of introduction from the "Secretary of the Navy," as it was extended to "General Sherman and party," may have left them to their own devices (as Sherman was called to the American plains during "the Indian war") with the "courts and camps" of Europe, but with the "seductive" itinerary including Gibraltar, Paris, Jerusalem, and Bermuda still in tact, he and the others were nonetheless happy. As he says, "What did we care?"

How should Groupon enter international markets? As Groupon goes global, should it adapt its business to different cultures? Should Groupon run...

The starting point for your assignment should be discussing the focus of Groupon's business. While the initial model of "pushing" emails of local coupon deals into mailboxes was successful for a short period, the company's stock prices collapsed shortly after its IPO and it has been trying to re-invent itself, moving to a "pull" model for its core business, moving more heavily into general discount online retailing, and moving into the food delivery market. From a business perspective, it might actually be better for Groupon to solidify its core business strategy before trying to expand randomly in every direction. Its main strength is its early start in mobile marketing; its main weakness, a lack of direction and uneven results with its core group coupon business.

The key to expanding as a platform company is that platforms tend to be natural monopolies. Attracting large numbers of vendors attracts large numbers of customers and then the the large customer base attracts more vendors, starting a virtuous cycle. This means expanding piecemeal into a large range of new markets is not an appropriate business strategy. Instead, it makes sense to target a few carefully selected markets where it might be possible to achieve dominance. This would be done best by forming partnerships or strategic alliances, as the route to success is eliminating competition. As detailed understanding of local buying habits is needed, much of the marketing and other decisions should be done locally. 

Which of the four reasons were the most significant for American involvement in WWI?

America joined the war for four main reasons:

1.  German unrestricted submarine warfare was sinking American neutral vessels that were trading the Britain and France.  America almost joined the war over the loss of 128 American lives when a German U-boat sank the Lusitania in 1915.  Germany was forced to back away from its policy of sinking all vessels in British waters, but by 1917 Germany resumed this practice in order to try to win the war.  

2. The Zimmerman note, which was a secret deal between the German Empire and Mexico that would mean Mexico declaring war on America long enough to distract the United States from the larger war in Europe.  Germany pledged support, and after the war Mexico would receive the lands lost during the Mexican War fought against America from 1846-1848.  While the German government in Berlin was probably never aware of Ambassador Zimmerman's plan to make Mexico a nominal Central Power ally, British intelligence delivered the note to Washington, and furthered the idea that Germany could not be trusted.  

3. American war loans to the Allies would be in danger of not being paid back if the Allies lost the war.  Millions of dollars of aid in the form of loans and weapons sales were going to the Allied Powers well before 1917.  Germany appeared close to victory in late 1916 and early 1917, with Russia reeling in the East and the French military having mutinies on the Western Front.  Something had to be done to ensure that America's financiers received their money back with interest.  

4. Allied propaganda ensured that only one side of the story of the war was told.  Early in the war, the British cut the German telegraph cable to America.  From that point, the British ensured that only Allied war news was spread.  When Germany invaded Belgium, Americans heard of Germans attacking and enslaving civilians, when in reality this practice was not as widespread as reported.