Why does an object thrown vertically in the air spend exactly half the time rising and half the time falling?

It doesn't, actually. Not exactly. The question specifically said "in the air", so there must be air resistance, and in the presence of air resistance the object will slow down and therefore take just slightly longer on the downward path than it did on the upward path. This difference isn't important for tossing an apple in a classroom demonstration, but it's absolutely vital when targeting artillery shells or ballistic missiles.

An object does spend exactly half the time rising and half the time falling "in a vacuum." Then there would not be air resistance, and there would only be a single force acting on the object, namely gravity.

Near the Earth's surface, gravity is approximately constant at 9.8 m/s^2, so the object experiences downward acceleration of 9.8 m/s^2 both while traveling upward and while traveling downward. Upward, this acceleration is against its velocity and slows it down. Downward, the acceleration is with its velocity, and it speeds up. The symmetry of the situation is such that there is just as much acceleration to do in each direction, and it takes the same amount of time.

More mathematically, this is the object's equation of motion:

` y = v_0 t - 1/2 g t^2 `

This is its velocity:
` v = v_0 - g t `

The top of the motion is when ` v = 0 ` , i.e. ` v_0 = g t `. The time this part takes is ` t = v_0 / g `.

If we solve the equation of motion for when y = 0, these are the times at which the object is at its starting height.

` y = (v_0 - g t/2) t = 0 `
` t = 0 or v_0 = g t / 2 `
` t = 0 or t = 2 v_0/g `

The `t = 0` solution corresponds to the start when it was first thrown. The `t = 2 v_0/g` solution corresponds to when it comes back. The trip upward is from` t = 0 ` to` t = v_0 /g` , while the trip downward is from` t = v_0/ g` to` t = 2 v_0/g` . Both trips take exactly `v_0/g.`

What are the fundamental principles of leadership? What are the fundamental principles of human resource management applied by organisations...

There are a number of approaches to enumerating the fundamental principles of leadership. Some approaches enumerate eight or ten principles while others enumerate five principles. In general, though, there are two essential approaches, and there is a great deal of cross-over between all approaches. One essential approach focuses on ethical and respectful behavior, stressing that the person is never the problem; the situation external to the person is the problem; constructive relationships and leading by example are necessary. The other essential approach focuses on qualifications for leadership, stressing such things as communication skills, decision-making proficiency, taking responsibility, providing information, delegating tasks, flexibility, passing on the vision, and enabling employees.

One five-step model for the fundamental principles of leadership developed by the Leadership Challenge relies heavily on the personal qualities of the leader. This five-step model advocates:

1. Modeling the way things will be, setting the standard for how people will be treated, and identifying small goals that lead to larger objectives.


2. Inspiring a shared vision of what the company will come to be by using "magnetism and quiet persuasion" to inspire partnership in the vision.


3. Challenge the status quo by being innovative, experimenting and taking risks.


4. Enabling employees to act independently by fostering collaboration and team projects, with behavior founded in "trust and human dignity."


5. Encouraging the heart--the spirit--of employees by recognizing contributions and hard work.

Brad Sugar of Action Coach advocates a different approach, one that is based in what the leader does rather than what the leader is. In his ten-step plan, he advocates:

1. Know your attributes and strengthen the weak areas.


2. "Be technically proficient," with a solid understanding of the jobs your employees do.


3. While striving for company growth, "seek responsibility" and accept responsibility for your errors.


4. Have the tools and methods for sound decisions.


5. Set a good example; employees trust what they see.


6. Care about and look out for the well-fare of your employees.


7. Communicate, and keep people up-to-date with information.


8. For success in responsibilities, develop a "sense of accountability, ownership and responsibility" in employees.


9. Tasks and roles for employee assignment need to be communicated so they are understood; then they need to be "supervised, and accomplished" so employees have success and self-esteem.


10. Unit your employees as a team to attain a united spirit and the fullest fulfillment of capabilities.

How is the theme of prejudice in The Merchant of Venice still relevant in today's society?

Prejudice in the form of anti-Semitism is significant throughout the play The Merchant of Venice. Shylock and his daughter Jessica are viewed with suspicion and treated differently because they are Jewish. Throughout history, Jews have been discriminated against and persecuted because of their religion. In Europe, during the Late Middle Ages through the Renaissance, Jews were restricted to living in certain sections of cities called ghettos and forced to wear distinctive emblems to show that they were Jewish. Today, some Americans and Europeans still harbor prejudiced feelings towards people who are Jewish. Generalizations and stereotypes such as being greedy or cheap are still associated with those of the Jewish faith. Although Jews are no longer persecuted like they were in the past, some people still have prejudiced feelings towards them. However, the same can be said for practically any race, religion, or ethnicity in America or Europe. There will always be individuals prejudiced towards those who are considered "different" from them. The difference between the prejudice in today's societies and Europe in the 16th century is that Jews are no longer openly discriminated against or persecuted as they were in the past.

What similes are used in the poem "To Autumn" by John Keats?

John Keats' "To Autumn" is full of rich figurative language, and similes are certainly included (as a reminder, similes are comparisons that use "like" or "as"). In fact, one of my favorite literary similes occurs in the second stanza of Keats' poem: "And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep / Steady thy laden head across a brook" (19-20). This is a particularly virtuosic example of a simile, as it also includes some elements of personification. Keats compares the season of autumn to a "gleaner," someone who collected any leftover food from a field after the reaper finished his harvest. As such, while this example of figurative language is certainly a simile, it also employs some personification, as Keats is giving autumn human qualities. This example is just one of the masterful ways that Keats uses figurative language to describe the season of autumn, and I'd encourage you to read the piece for yourself to look for the other inventive ways Keats brings autumn to life. 

What is a summary of "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles?

Released in 1966, "Eleanor Rigby" is a popular song by The Beatles that explores, in a straightforward manner and with a haunting tone, the loneliness and isolation experienced by the elderly. The message the words and melody convey clearly resonates strongly with people: the song won a Grammy award and a spot on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time," and it continues to play on radio stations today.

Here's a quick summary of the lyrics: an old woman and an old man (a priest) live separate, lonely lives. Eventually the priest buries the woman when she dies.

Here's a more detailed summary:

The song opens with the line "Ah look at all the lonely people," sung twice in a row. With these simple, direct words, the singer calls our attention to the fact that loneliness is everywhere and that we must pay attention to it.

The first verse introduces the fictional character for whom the song is titled. The singer describes a few brief images in the life of "Eleanor Rigby," a lonely woman who interacts with no one but seems to yearn for companionship. By herself, she picks up the celebratory rice thrown at a wedding, and she wears makeup that no one will see. This woman "lives in a dream" and seems to always "wait" by a window or a door, but no one comes to visit her.

In the chorus, the singer again calls our attention to "lonely people," asking where they come from and where they belong. The unspoken responses to these rhetorical question seem to be that, in our society, lonely people come from everywhere and belong nowhere, with no one.

The second verse introduces the song's other character, Father McKenzie. Like Eleanor, he busies himself with meaningless tasks (including writing a sermon although no one will come listen to it and repairing his socks) and has no companions or family members. He seems to live in a perpetual "night" of pure loneliness.

The chorus repeats, reminding listeners that it's not just Eleanor or Father McKenzie who are lonely, but a lot of other people as well.

Before the chorus closes out the song, a third and final verse brings Eleanor and Father McKenzie together, but not in a way that provides companionship for either. Father McKenzie presides at Eleanor Rigby's funeral. He is unable to save her soul, and she has no one to mourn for her. He wipes dirt from his hands, and her name is utterly forgotten.

Relating to the documentary Crude, what general role would the professional in health policy serve in this situation? What task related to...

In the simplest terms, the general role of professionals in health policy is to influence the formation government policy on public health issues. The health policy professional is knowledgeable in the sciences of environmental, biological, sociological and other health-related issues and interfaces between healthcare concerns and legislative concerns relevant to the complex challenges relating to the inter-relationships between science and health in the public health sector (jhsph.edu). Health policy professionals "understand the issues and are willing to advocate for their patients" (explorehealthcareers.org).

In the Ecuadorean Amazon situation, the general role of the professional in health care would be to work with contamination and remediation assessment professionals and to interface with government officials to identify the best policy solutions to the immediate and long-term public health issues and to act as an advocate for the affected people who have no voice in government themselves [that the lawsuit against Texaco (Chevron after merger) lingered unattended to for nine years in the U.S. legal system and seven in the Ecuadorean legal system before being heard strongly indicates the voicelessness of the affected people and their need for advocates].

The task related to environmental health issues undertaken by the professional in health policy as related to Crude would be, for example, to find immediate solutions for access to health care, to clean drinking and bathing water, and to the development of a healthier village environment.

The actions initiated by Sting's wife, Trudie Styler, and the fund and NGOs (non-government organizations) aligned with her provide a good illustration of the task professionals in health policy undertake. Because clean drinking water was an immediate problem, Styler and NGOs brought in barrels for clean drinking water collection from rain water [the painful irony is that products brought to the villages were made of petrol-chemical plastics that themselves produce toxic particle residues and gasses]. While other professionals address the long-term tasks of assessment, analysis, decontamination and remediation, health policy professionals identify and advocate solutions for immediate problems while interfacing to formulate public policy for long-term issues including healthier village environments where, for example, houses are not built on top of waste pits and children don't play by pipelines.

The presence of Ecuadorean economist and President Rafael Correa (then president-elect) for an on-site inspection of the Texaco contamination and spills sites illustrates how opportunities exist for health policy professionals to advocate for affected people and to open an informed discourse with government for the purpose of influencing legislative public health policy through scientific information, assessment and analysis.

In the book Johnny Tremain, what metaphor does the author use to describe Percy's brigade?

After the battle had begun between the rebels and British forces, Percy's brigade marches to Lexington and Concord from Boston. The author writes, "the heavy dragon marched on its thousands of feet," and, later, she describes the brigade as "this great scarlet dragon" (page 224). She uses the metaphor of a dragon to describe Percy's brigade. Johnny Tremain notes the force and perfection of the brigade as they pass--the way in which every button is sewed onto their uniforms properly and every buckle is in the right place. Every box of cartridges holds just the right number of cartridges, and every musket also has a bayonet. Every horse has four shoes. The army, clad in scarlet, looks so powerful and perfect that Johnny is afraid about what they will do to the "untrained, half-armed farmers" (page 224) who are defending Lexington and Concord. 

What is a description of Antonio from Merchant of Venice?

A figure of romance, Antonio is a patrician of the fabulous city of Venice and a successful merchant. His friends perceive poetry in his extensive commercial ventures:

      ...your argosies with portly said--
Like signiors and rich burghers on the flood,
Or as it were the pageants of the sea--
Do overpeer the petty traffickers 
That cursy to them, do them reverence,
As they fly by them with their woven wings. (1.1.9-14)

He also loans money interest free to people and helps some escape from their debts to Shylock. Because he does so, he incurs the animosity of the usurer Shylock. 

Antonio and Bassanio's friendship is a very strong relationship. While this relationship is often considered homoerotic in modern interpretations, in Shakespeare's time, just as it was even during the 19th century [Henry Clerval and Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein], male friendships were considered the highest and purest forms of love because they were spiritual and cerebral without eroticism.
Because the two men are so close, Antonio suffers from an undefined melancholy and presentiment [another thing Elizabethans strongly believed in], and it is not until later that he learns his dear friend's plight: Bassanio does not have the money to court the beautiful heiress, Portia, with whom he has fallen in love.
So, Antonio, who would do anything for his friend, agrees to lend Bassanio the money he needs. However, since his ships have not yet returned, Antonio does not have the ready money; consequently, he decides to borrow the needed three thousand ducats from Shylock, a man whom he loathes, having even kicked him out of his place of business. Confident that his ships will soon return, Antonio agrees to Shylock's loan and its terms, dictated by Shylock's greed and hatred for Antonio.

When Antonio's ships are lost at sea, he fears that he will have to give up a pound of flesh, but a disguised Portia saves him by pointing out that there is nothing in the agreement that includes blood; the agreement says explicitly "a pound of flesh" only. So Shylock must extract the flesh without making Antonio bleed--an impossibility. Antonio is saved.

"History is an ongoing process of recording the past." Please comment on this thought.

There is some accuracy to the statement you have made about the role of history. There is more to history than just this thought, but it is an accurate description of part of the role that history plays.

There is no question that history records what has happened in the past. It records the people, the events, the conditions that existed, and the results of the events. History allows us to know what had happened, and why it happened. History will continue to do this.

History also teaches us lessons. It is very important to learn from history so we don’t make the same mistakes over and over. This is something we haven’t done very well as many events have repeated themselves because we haven’t learned from the past. World War I and World War II are examples of this. Some of the causes of World War II were similar to some of the causes of World War I. History can guide us now and in the future by looking at what happened in the past and understanding why these events happened the way that they did. History is a great teacher if it is used properly.

Who could the speaker be in "Death Be Not Proud" by John Donne?

John Donne's "Death Be Not Proud" is narrated by an anonymous first person speaker. The speaker uses the personal pronoun "me." The first person plural is actually more common, occurring three times in the poem (us, our, we). What this suggests is that Donne is not trying to create a strongly individuated speaker, as would be the case in a poem emphasizing individual psychology, but rather has the speaker stand in for all or any human. The lack of individuation makes readers focus on the discussion of death as something universal and think about it within a religious context.

Although there is no clear textual evidence for the speaker having any defining characteristics other than being human (we are not informed of gender, social position, marital status, etc.), one could argue that the speaker is probably middle aged or old, as one is more likely to contemplate death as one ages and experiences the death of friends and relatives and confronts one's own mortality. 

How does music help us express our feelings in our lives?

Music is a powerful force upon our feelings, and I would like to see more research done on the brain chemistry of this. Music does not simply express our feelings. It can enhance them, alter them, and bring them back to us, too.

To say that music expresses our feelings suggests to me the ideas of reflecting and communicating our feelings. When I am happy, I tend to play music in a major key, music that is upbeat, literally and figuratively—happy music. When I am sad, I tend to play music in a minor key, music that is sad or perhaps contemplative. Sometimes I express myself by playing CDs, and sometimes I express myself by playing the piano. I am in either case reflecting my mood. I can also communicate my mood to others with music. If my family came home to rock and roll on the stereo, I imagine they knew I was feeling lighthearted and energetic. If they came home to hear some very sad Nina Simone playing, they probably knew I was low for some reason. Back in the day when there were jukeboxes everywhere, I can imagine a few boyfriends for whom I should have played "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" to communicate something. This does not mean, of course, that every musical choice we make is laden with meaning, but there is no question that our selections can and do often reflect or communicate our feelings.

Music also intensifies what we feel. A sad song will make me feel sadder. A happy song will make me feel happier. Today, with our playlists, we can put together a collection of music to enhance any mood we like. Sports teams have "fight songs." The national anthem intensifies our feelings of patriotism, as does "This Land Is Your Land." If I am feeling energetic and want to clean my house, music can enhance that feeling of energy, at least for a while. I find show tunes—for example, from Chicago—to be energetic and thus energizing.

Romantic songs enhance our feelings of love, and hymns enhance our feelings of spirituality. 

Music is a way of altering our emotions, too. If I do not want to give in to a sad mood, I can play music that will change my mood. When people go to a supermarket, they might be angry, lonely, or sad. But the music playing can and often does alter their moods. There have been times when I have gone to see a musical and though I was not in a particularly good mood when I arrived—grumbling, for example, over crowds and parking—I was elated by the time I left because of the music. Concerts have this effect upon people, too, but you can make yourself happy at home with your musical selections. You can prime yourself to be in a mood with music.

Most of us have a soundtrack to our lives, and hearing anything from this soundtrack gives us instant access to many of our feelings and memories of the past. People with Alzheimer's remember music when much else has been lost, and it helps put them in touch with a few memories. When I hear a particular song from a particular era, it conjures up for me where I was, what I was doing, and whom I was with. The Vietnam War had a soundtrack, which was the music of the late sixties and early seventies. Vietnam War veterans will tell you that Jimi Hendrix takes them back to where they were. I would imagine every war has its own soundtrack.

I personally think that music is an essential part of a good life. It not only expresses our feelings, but also it can alter and enhance them. And it is like a book of memories, too, bringing back our past to us.

Can you think of a fad that has come and gone during your lifetime? Did you take part in the fad? Why or why not? How long did it last? Why do you...

One fad of the late 1970s was the mood ring. These rings were supposed to change color as a person’s mood changed. For example, if a person was stressed or nervous, the ring would turn orange. A person who was cautious or cool would have a color of yellow. Blue represented a person who was optimistic.

There were reasons why people didn’t take part in this fad. These people didn’t believe in the idea of a ring indicating what their mood really was. Some of these people also didn’t believe in doing something just because other people were doing it.

Some people took part in this fad. They liked being part of something that was considered to be the “in” thing. They also liked being part of something neat and new.

The mood ring fad lasted for a few years in the late 1970s. It faded because the novelty of it eventually wore off.

Based on The History of China, by David Curtis Wright (2011), how did the Chinese empire come about? What challenges did the rulers of this empire...

According to historian David Curtis Wright in his book The History of China, the Qin (221-206 BCE) and Han (202-220 CE) dynasties were responsible for building the Chinese empire through unification. Wright describes the Eastern Zhou period as "chaotic and divided" (45). Qin, a neighboring state to Zhou, created unity in China by dominating Zhou militarily. Hence, the factors that led to Qin's military victory are some of the most important factors that led to the establishment of the Chinese empire.

One factor contributing to military success is that Qin's geography served as a natural barrier preventing Qin's enemies from conquering the state. Qin was located in the Wei River valley, bordered by the Qin Mountains, also called the Szechuan Alps. A second factor contributing to Qin military success is that, as Wright phrases it, the "Qin government was also an aggressive recruiter of administrative and military talent" (46). Qin established Legalism as its ideology, a Chinese philosophy that focused on strictly applying laws to restrain mankind's inherently evil nature ("Legalism," Encyclopaedia Britannica). Qin Legalist administrators created a united state by doing away with feudalism so that the one, unified government could benefit from "all of the tax revenue from agriculture" (46). Legalist administrators also abolished aristocratic titles and replaced the system of aristocracy with a system in which civilians and military personnel were promoted based on their own merits, a system that created a very strong government and military. Dissolving feudalism and aristocratic titles was one step that leading to a unified China.

The dictatorial Emperor Qin Shihuang made huge strides in unifying China by eliminating cultural differences by opposing "Taoists and Confucians as subversive," by burning books that were not Legalist, by executing 400 highly educated persons who opposed Legalist thought, and by creating standard "coinage, weights, [and] measures" (46-47). Tyrannical Legalism soon naturally led to rebellion, which led to the fall of the Qin dynasty. The next dynasty, the Han dynasty, abandoned Legalism altogether.

During the Han dynasty Liu Bang ruled as "one of the only two commoners in Chinese history" to become emperor (50). Due to his empathy for the commoner, he lowered taxes and the number of capital offenses, helping create a happy, healthy, economically prosperous Chinese society that was unified because the Qin dynasty had already unified it through its Legalist and totalitarian government. Emperor Wudi, which translates, according to Wright, as "martial emperor," was Liu Bang's succeeding emperor and is recognized as the "greatest Han emperor" (51). Emperor Wudi took several steps to strengthen China into a unified empire. His first step was preventing excessively wealthy merchants from acquiring land, which he feared could lead to a return to the feudal system. His second step was conquering the Xiongnu, China's frequent enemy, leading to an expansion of China's borders. His third step, one of Emperor Wudi's greatest contributions to building the Chinese empire, was making Confucianism the "official state ideology," which unified and structured the Chinese government under a set of moral ideals and principles of social hierarchy; Confucianism would remain China's governing ideology until its overthrow in 1911.

RE: "Offrir des fleurs aux vendeuses?" I am given this sentence and need to rewrite it with pronouns. I think it's supposed to be something like...

RE: Offrir des fleurs aux vendeuses?

If you are to use pronouns for every noun in the question, then you will need to replace "some flowers" (des fleurs) with a pronoun also, will you not?

--The Question  Here is what you have written: Tu leur as offris at fleurs?

1. If you are making this sentence in the past and using Passé. Composé, the past participle of offrir is offert, not offris.

2.  des fleurs (some flowers) is an indefinite article with a noun, so should this not be changed also? The pronoun to replace des fleurs with is en. Whenever en (meaning "some") is used with another object pronoun, it always comes in the second position.

**So, this gives you the following sentence: Tu leur en as offert? (Did you offer them some?)

--The Answer   Here is what you have written: "Non, ne me l'offris pas am fleurs

If the question is "Did you offer them some?" Then the answer in the negative should read "No, I did not offer them any." (Passé Composé of "I offered"=J'ai offert; to them=leur; any=en)

**So, this is the sentence you want: Non, je ne leur en ai pas offert.(No, I did not offer them any.)

Bonne Chance!

What is the central conflict of "Sredni Vashtar" by Saki? Who took part in it? Was there a resolution to the conflict?

The main conflict in "Sredni Vashtar" is between the protagonist Conradin and his cousin Mrs. De Ropp, the antagonist. For Conradin,

[Mrs. De Ropp] represented those three-fifths of the world that are necessary and disagreeable and real.

His cousin and guardian, Mrs. De Ropp seems to delight in the fact that Conradin is a sickly child who cannot do the things that ordinary boys can, for then she can impose her will upon him. Fortunately for Conradin, he has an imagination that is "rampant under the spur of loneliness"; indeed, it is this creativity which keeps the boy alive longer than the doctor has predicted.

Each day, Conradin's goal is to enjoy himself and thwart the Woman's, as he calls her, attempts to spoil his pleasure. He does this by avoiding the gardens where a window can easily open and from which scoldings issue forth. Instead, Conradin directs his attention to a certain old tool-shed that is almost hidden behind overgrown shrubbery. Inside this old shed, Conradin has found a haven, "something that took on the varying aspects of a playroom and a cathedral." There are multitudes of imaginary figures, issuing from Conradin's reading and his own imagination. In a far corner, however, there are two living creatures: a Houdan hen upon which Conradin lavishes much attention as well as his devoted affection, which has no other outlet. Also, in a far corner Conradin has a large ferret which the butcher boy has smuggled in for him. This sharp-fanged "polecat" incites fear in Conradin, but he views it as a mysterious little deity and names it Sredni Vashtar.

After the "Woman," as Conradin thinks of her, discovers that he has housed the little hen in the tool-shed, she removes the beloved hen and sells it. Happily, she informs Conradin that the hen is gone because it was not good for him to "be pottering down there in all weathers." After she says these words,

[With] her short-sighted eyes she peered at Conradin, waiting for an outbreak of rage and sorrow, which she was ready to rebuke with a flow of excellent precepts and reasoning.

However, Conradin remains stoic, even when she troubles herself to make toast for tea time.

"I thought you liked toast," she exclaimed, with an injured air, observing that he did not touch it.

"Sometimes," said Conradin.

Later, however, in his suffering of the loss of the only creature that he has had to love, Conradin prays privately to Sredni Vashtar, "Do one thing for me." Feeling that the god should know what he means, Conradin mentions nothing; he only chokes back a sob as he glances at the empty corner where his hen used to be. The next night and every night afterwards, Conradin prays to Sredni Vashtar.

Then one day, the Woman informs Conradin that she has noticed that he still goes to the tool-shed. When Mrs. De Ropp goes out to the shed, Conradin imagines that she will open the cage and peer in with her myopic eyes. "And Conradin fervently breathed his prayer for the last time" as he watches out a window.

After some time, Conradin begins to despair. A maid passes under the window on her way to make tea inside. Then,

...out through that doorway came a long, low, yellow-and-brown beast, with eyes a-blink at the waning daylight, and dark wet stains around the fur of jaws and throat. Conradin dropped on his knees.

"Tea is ready," the surly maid calls, then asks, "Where is the mistress?" Conradin simply replies that she has gone to the tool-shed. This time the toast tastes delicious to Conradin, and he delights in it. 

After a while, Conradin hears the maid scream. Then another asks,

"Whoever will break it to the poor child? I couldn't for the life of me!" exclaimed a shrill voice.

And while the servants debated the matter among themselves, Conradin simply made himself another piece of victory toast.

Is there any connection between British/Celtic mythology and each of the Horcruxes?

Many readers have noted similarities between Celtic and British mythology and J.K. Rowling's fantastical magical world. When talking about this connection in terms of the Horcuxes, I'd like to focus on British mythology, specifically the myths and legends of King Arthur.

One of the most obvious connections between Arthurian myth and Horcruxes does not actually involve a specific Horcrux, but a method of destroying Horcruxes. Gryffindor's sword has the power to destroy Horcruxes, and this magical weapon parallels Arthur's famous weapon, Excalibur, which is drawn from a stone in the same way Gryffindor's sword can be drawn out of the Sorting Hat. Similarly, Hufflepuff's Cup, an actual Horcrux, can be seen as analogous to the Holy Grail, an important object in Arthurian myth. Finally, just as Dumbledore's destruction of the ring Horcrux ultimately leads to his death, in Arthurian myth Merlin receives a ring which later leads to his imprisonment (sometimes in a tomb, according to some versions of the legend).

As you can see, there are many parallels between British mythology and the Horcruxes. However, these connections don't even begin to cover the extensive allusions to myth and legend that can be found in Rowling's work. This is one of the many qualities that makes the original Harry Potter novels so enduring.  

How does Frances E. W. Harper's poem "Learning to Read" represent women's quest for knowledge?

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911) was an African-American poet and writer born to free parents in Baltimore. She later worked as an abolitionist and wrote for anti-slavery newspapers, and she also helped slaves to escape along the Underground Railroad.

Her poem "Learning to Read" describes how masters in the south would try to prevent slaves from learning to read. She writes, "Knowledge didn't agree with slavery— ’Twould make us all too wise" (lines 7-8). In other words, slave masters felt that reading would make slaves unfit for slavery because they would be able to question their masters.

Her poem is about slaves who are so desperate to learn to read that they hide pages in their hat, greased with fat, or they learn to read by hearing children, presumably white children, and memorize words by hearing them. In her poem, Yankees send teachers to the south to teach former slaves to read, but people tell the narrator of the poem, Chloe, that she's too old to learn to read. However, Chloe represents women's quest for knowledge because she desperately wants to read the Bible. Chloe, though she is 60, works at reading. She says, "So I got a pair of glasses, And straight to work I went, And never stopped till I could read The hymns and Testament" (lines 37-40). Even though Chloe is older and has poor vision, she works at reading until she can read the hymns and the Bible. She also gets her own cabin and feels like a queen, as she has two major rights that were denied to her in slavery--her own property and the ability to read. She deems reading a privilege and something that makes her feel queenly. 

What are some examples of metaphors in "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley?

A metaphor directly equates two things which in literal terms are unrelated. There are multiple examples of metaphor in "Ozymandias," not limited to the ones listed below.

The first is found in the first line, "a traveller from an antique land." Normally, we reserve the word "antique" for old objects, specifically ones which can be collected or easily owned. We would not normally apply the term "antique" to a region or country, so this association may be intended to convey something of the speaker's poor, stereotypical, or one-dimensional understanding of the traveller's origin; perhaps he sees the land as "antique" in the same way that popular generalizations of "the Orient" or "the jungles of Africa" do not really represent those places in truth.

Another metaphor is the "sneer of cold command." Command is not literally cold, as in temperature, but cold in terms of human emotion and empathy. The "shattered visage" is described as cruel, dispassionate, and haughty.

Explan how European expansion positvely influenced Native American and African societies.

While most of the influence of Europeans in Africa and the Americas was negative in terms of subjugation and disease, there were some positive things to come out of colonization.  Europeans brought new foods and medicines to Africa.  Europeans also would eventually bring humanitarian aid in the form of Christian missionaries and this would improve childhood mortality rates.  

In the Americas, Europeans brought new foods such as wheat.  Europeans also introduced metal tools and firearms--these would become indispensable to native tribes, though it can be debated that the bow and arrow was a significant improvement over the early firearms brought by explorers.  The Spanish introduced the horse to the Plains and these animals helped tribes such as the Lakota and Comanche become successful buffalo hunters and warriors.  The horse would eventually become a form of currency on the Plains.  The settlers would also introduce concepts of a written language and certain types of governmental structure--the Cherokee of the Southeast would adopt these traits of "white" culture and would become quite successful before their removal in the 1820s.  

What "service" has Farquhar been performing in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and why?

Peyton Farquhar has been working in service of the South to disrupt the Northern war effort. In Part II of the story, a Federal scout stops at Farquhar's plantation, and Farquhar, of course, does not realize that this man dressed as a Confederate is really a Union soldier. This man tells Farquhar the Yankees are fixing the railroads and already made it to Owl Creek Bridge; he also says that the commanding officer of that regiment has ordered the hanging of anyone who interferes with these fixtures. This allows Farquhar to understand how important they are and how much damage he could do to the Northern effort if he disrupted the railroad line on this bridge. He asks, "Suppose a man. . . should elude the picket post and perhaps get the better of the sentinel. . . what could he accomplish?" The soldier informs him a recent flood washed a great deal of wood against the bridge, and it is now dry and very flammable. We can assume, then, that this is the crime for which Farquhar is being hanged at the beginning of the story, and his attempt to burn the bridge was the "service" he tried to perform because he is "ardently devoted to the Southern cause" in the war.

In Night, what was Elie Wiesel's first impression of Auschwitz after leaving Birkenau?

Eliezer's first impression of Auschwitz was that it was better than Birkenau.

Witnessing the massive amount of killing in Birkenau was Eliezer's introduction to the horrors of the Holocaust.  He experienced personal trauma because it was the last time he saw his mother and sister.  They were sent to a different line than Eliezer and his father.  He also saw the extent of the Nazi death machinery.  Eliezer recalls the faces of the children he saw enter the crematorium, and the vastness of suffering surrounding him: "This is what the antechamber of hell must look like. So many crazed men, so much shouting, so much brutality."  

Eliezer suggests that the prisoners "had already lived through a lot that night" and that "nothing could frighten us anymore."   As a result, Eliezer's first impressions of Auschwitz was that it was better than Birkenau.  He explains how the buildings were made of concrete, an improvement from Birkenau's wooden barracks.   Additionally, Auschwitz is the first place where Eliezer experienced being treated as a person.  As the prisoners enter their block, the Polish man in charge addresses them.  Eliezer describes him as smiling as he speaks about what the prisoners will experience.  Eliezer notes how he wished them a "good night" as they slept.  Such a gesture carried tremendous importance given what Eliezer had seen and experienced in Birkenau.

How should I go about writing a scene based on Lady Macbeth that has a soliloquy and falls between Act 4, Scene 3 and Act 5, Scene 1 of...

This is a fascinating spot in the play to add another scene with Lady Macbeth. Some people feel this is a section which may have lost a few scenes over the course of time.

We last see her as she watches Macbeth face Banquo’s ghost. She sees nothing, of course, and makes excuses to the noblemen. Her life is crumbling around her. When she next appears on stage, she has lost her mind.

You mentioned you had ideas already about what to include. To get started, picture your scene. Where is Lady Macbeth? Write brief stage directions describing where the action is taking place. What kind of mood is she in?

Jump right into the dialogue. Keep the sentences short and crisp. Is she worried about her husband’s state of mind? Is she happy with the way things have turned out? What is she afraid of? Is she speaking to someone else about any of these issues?

Remember you are essentially writing a conversation that reveals something about Lady Macbeth or moves the plot along somehow.

Soliloquies generally are supposed to be the inner thoughts of characters. What could Lady Macbeth be thinking that she might not say aloud to another character? Is there a particular issue she is struggling with?

Remember, too, that your scene comes before she goes insane. Are there any hints in what she says that foreshadow what is happening to her?

To sum up, begin with general scene setting, bring on your characters, and then write down what the two characters are saying to each other. When Lady Macbeth has her soliloquy, express her most secret innermost thoughts and feelings.

Most of all, enjoy the assignment and have fun. Lady Macbeth is one of the most famous, complex characters in literature.  

What's the setting of the story "To Build a Fire" by Jack London?

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What was appealing about The Kite Runner?

An appealing element of The Kite Runner is how it displays the possibility of human redemption.

Human beings struggle with emotional and spiritual restoration.  It creates an ache in our hearts.  It is a constant reminder of how different we are from what we were.  The Kite Runner displays how human beings can find "a way to be good again."  While Amir might have made a new life for himself in America, he recognizes the need to fix that which is wrong.  He is not fully comfortable with the person he is.  As a result, his trip to Afghanistan is part of an obligation to emotional restoration he must honor.

Amir returns and reconnects with his own identity.  He makes peace with the complex relationship between he and his father.  He better understands his friendship with Hassan.  Even though he cannot immediately connect with him, he is able to do right by Hassan's son, Sohrab.  Amir confronts Assef in the way that he should have when he was younger.  Finally, he learns what it means to possess the selfless love and devotion that Hassan had towards him when Amir struggles to save Sohrab's life.  When he prays and connects with a part of his own spiritual identity that had not been active, Amir finds a path to emotional restoration.  The Kite Runner shows that no matter how much time has passed, we can "be good again." 

There is so much sadness in the world. Human interaction has yielded a large portion of this pain.  Figuring out how to remedy such hurt can be overwhelming.  However, The Kite Runner suggests that if we are willing to confront our own transgressions, there is hope for restoration and redemption.  Like Amir, we must have the courage to confront and accept our role in a person's suffering.  We must be able to make peace with ourselves in order to ease the pain that has cast a shadow on our identity. Amir recognizes the mistakes he made in the past.  In doing so, he has laid the foundation for future happiness "a thousand times over." The Kite Runner is appealing in this affirmation of emotional restoration.

How did the peace settlement after World War I lead to World War II?

The peace settlement from World War I led to World War II because it left Germany angry and eager to abrogate that settlement. The anger Germans felt over the settlement led them to support radicals like the Nazis, who then led them into World War II.

The peace settlement after World War I, particularly the Treaty of Versailles, angered Germans tremendously. The treaty required Germany to give up all of their overseas empire and some of their territory within Europe. It even banned them from stationing troops on some of their own soil. It did not allow Germany to have a true military, banning anything the Allies deemed to be offensive weapons. The treaty forced Germans to give France the products of some of their mines. It required them to pay reparations for damages caused by the war. Finally, it required Germany to admit the war was their fault. All of these provisions angered and humiliated the German people.

Because the German people were so deeply wounded by the peace settlement, they resented it and wanted to change or destroy it. This made them more likely to support politicians who were radical if they promised to undo the unfair settlement and make Germany great and respected again. Hitler and the Nazis promised to do just this. They promised to disregard what the Allies wanted and restore Germany to its rightful place as an important and respected European power. Because of this, Hitler received enough support to become Chancellor of Germany.

Once Hitler was in power, he was able to do whatever he wanted. This included expanding German power and territory until he invaded Poland, which prompted the Allies to get involved, beginning World War II. The peace settlement led to German anger, which let Hitler and the Nazis rise to power, which caused World War II to begin.

What does Helen mean by "everything has a lesson and a suggestion" in The Story of My Life?

When Anne Sullivan comes to Helen Keller, she opens up whole new worlds of learning. Despite the fact that little Helen is blind and deaf, Miss Sullivan teaches her language by spelling words into her hand and showing her what they meant. Soon after that, Helen can make sentences. Miss Sullivan helps Helen see the world by describing things to her.

Helen has a great love of nature, so she and Miss Sullivan go outside as much as possible. This makes their lessons more sensory and interesting for Helen.

All my early lessons have in them the breath of the woods–the fine, resinous odour of pine needles, blended with the perfume of wild grapes. Seated in the gracious shade of a wild tulip tree, I learned to think that everything has a lesson and a suggestion. "The loveliness of things taught me all their use" (Chapter 7).

Helen can tell there is a lot to experience outside in nature. The combination of the senses she can use and Anne Sullivan’s descriptions allows her to explore the world around her. When she says there is a lesson in everything, she means she is finally able to experience the world on a fuller level now that she has the use of language and someone to explain things to her.

Nature seems to make learning almost any subject easier and more interesting for Helen.

There we spent many happy hours and played at learning geography. I built dams of pebbles, made islands and lakes, and dug river-beds, all for fun, and never dreamed that I was learning a lesson. I listened with increasing wonder to Miss Sullivan's descriptions of the great round world with its burning mountains, buried cities, moving rivers of ice, and many other things as strange (Chapter 7).

While she enjoys studying zoology and botany and using the great outdoors to explore other subjects, Helen has less patience with arithmetic. Anne Sullivan teaches Helen arithmetic by counting beads. She learns to add and subtract this way, but likes going out into nature more.

In "God Sees the Truth, But Waits" by Tolstoy, what is the meaning of Aksionov's wife's dream?

In the story, Aksionov's wife dreams that Aksionov returns from town with grey hair. She begs him not to leave for the fair, but he ignores her warning.

Her dream foreshadows that something evil will befall Aksionov in town. For his part, Aksionov tries to laugh away his wife's fears. He tells her that she's only worried he'll spend too much at the fair; then, he tries to placate her by arguing that the dream is actually a "lucky sign" that he'll sell all his goods and bring some presents back to her. Aksionov leaves for the fair and half-way to town, puts up at an inn for the night. During the night, a fellow merchant has his throat slit; the next morning, Aksionov is accused of the crime and of stealing twenty-thousand rubles from the merchant.

Even though he is innocent, Aksionov is flogged and sentenced to twenty-six years of hard labor in Siberia. Before he leaves, Aksionov's wife visits him in prison, and she again reminds him of the dream that she had. She maintains that if Aksionov had heeded her warnings, he would not have been caught up in such a predicament. So, Aksionov's wife's dream is a foreshadowing of the trials that Aksionov will endure, trials that eventually age him before his time.

Why is psychology considered a science?

You are probably familiar with the scientific method, in which one forms a hypothesis and tests it. In order to determine whether a hypothesis is correct, the outcome must be the same no matter how many times one performs the experiment. For example, zoologists might test how a specific type of algae affects the mating habits of a specific type of bird. The researcher might repeat the same experiment over a decade or more to be sure the outcomes match up each mating season. When the researcher has enough data to support his/her claims, the research becomes part of a body of knowledge in the field of zoology, specific to the species of bird, and has cross-disciplinary applications in botany (algae) and climatology.

Psychological research works very much in the same way. Psychologists approach an issue with a hypothesis. Researchers apply the scientific method. Researchers repeat their experiments several times in order to predict outcomes. Researchers present their findings to peers within their discipline.

An example would be studying the best approaches for treating PTSD in combat veterans. The hypothesis is that pairing a veteran with a service animal and prescribing pharmaceuticals has a higher success rate than pharmaceuticals alone. The researcher would have participants assigned to each scenario, and then draw conclusions based on outcomes. Those outcomes can then inform the procedures of psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and the Department of Defense. 

What makes the iris expand and contract?

The iris helps in controlling the amount of light entering the eye by altering the diameter of the pupil. In low light conditions, the iris increases the pupil’s diameter to increase the amount of light passing through to the retina to improve the clarity of the image. In high light conditions, the iris reduces the pupil’s diameter to reduce the amount of light passing through and avoid damage to the retina.

The contraction and dilation of the pupil by the iris is caused by two muscles. The sphincter papillae are the muscles responsible for the contraction motion (circular) of the pupil, making it narrower. The dilator papillae are the muscles responsible for the dilatory motion (radial) of the pupil, making it larger.

What is a summary of Chapter One of Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen?

The chapter begins with Sarny introducing herself to us. She tells us that her story is really about Nightjohn and how he came to live on the plantation.

Sarny relates that Clel Waller is an abusive master and that the slaves call him names behind his back. For her part, Sarny largely keeps to herself; she prefers to observe her surroundings quietly.

As a young girl, she remembers Delie (her Mammy) telling her about her birth mother. Sarny was four when her birth mother was sold, but she doesn't remember much about her mother. What she does know is that all slave babies are given over to a wet nurse, and after they are weaned, they are given to Delie to raise. No birth mother ever gets to raise her own child.

To help keep track of each child's age, Delie carves notches onto individual sticks. Until a girl slave is ready for breeding, she performs odd chores about the plantation and helps Mammy with the little children. Delie tells us that one of her favorite places to work is in the flower beds. There, she can listen to the women of the house talk (the flower beds are directly under a window), and she can learn about everything that occurs on the plantation.

At the end of the day, she likes to lie down on her pallet next to Mammy and the babies. During this quiet time, she enjoys thinking back on everything she has learned. The only thing that makes her sad about this time is that she has little memory of her birth mother and so can't think about her as much as she would like. The chapter ends with Sarny relating that she first heard about Nightjohn while she was working in the flower beds.

According to Kipling, what was the “White Man's Burden"?

The "White Man's Burden" is the name Rudyard Kipling gave to describe Western imperialists' need to go abroad and colonize foreign nations. For Kipling, this process of colonization is not just about creating business and financial opportunities; it is also about the transmission of Western culture and religion to these nations. This will, in his opinion, makes these inhabitants more civilized.

We see direct evidence of this through Kipling's 1899 poem of the same name, "White Man's Burden," in which he urges imperialists to "send their sons" across the globe to faraway countries. For Kipling, the people of these nations are "half-Devil" and "half-child" and in genuine need of social, cultural and economic redemption. 

For Kipling, this task is burdensome because of its potential risk to the imperialist's reputation. As he says in the poem, many people will not appreciate the enormous efforts involved in carrying out this duty ("thankless years") and, even worse, may cast their judgment negatively:

Cold-edged with dear-bought wisdom, 
The judgement of your peers.

For the speaker of the poem, what does the wall symbolize? a.harmony and order b.safety and security c.unnatural separations d.good neighbors

The answer would be c)unnatural separations.

In the poem, the speaker or narrator is perplexed at his neighbor's insistence on a wall. According to his neighbor, however, "good fences make good neighbors." To the narrator, walls only cause the divide between neighbors to widen.

He reasons that fences are only good for keeping out cows. Since neither he nor his neighbor owns cattle, the narrator doesn't understand why they would need to build a wall. He also asserts tongue-in-cheek that, since his neighbor grows pine trees while he grows apple trees, neither of them has anything to fear. The narrator's "apple trees will never get across/ And eat the cones under his pines." To the speaker, the only conceivable need to build a wall would be to keep out danger. Since neither he nor his neighbor poses a danger to the other, the speaker does not understand the need for a wall.

The speaker maintains that, if it was up to him, he would ask some very important questions before he built a wall. He would ask what exactly he was supposed to be keeping out and whether the wall would offend anyone. The speaker wonders if the reason they need a wall is because of the elves. Then, shaking off this silly line of reasoning (he's feeling a little mischievous), the narrator admits that he would rather his neighbor be honest with him about the reasons himself. The speaker is frustrated, and he wishes that his neighbor would understand his reasons for not wanting a wall between them.

What is Opera Seria?

Opera seria is a genre of opera. It was common in the 18th century. The term itself is Italian, but opera seria was performed in many European countries in addition to Italy. The style of this kind of opera has a more serious tone, as opposed to more comical and lighthearted operas.  

This type of opera was typically enjoyed by the more educated population, such as nobility. Opera seria was popular during the time of High Baroque music. Handel and Mozart were two famous composers who created music for operas in the opera seria genre.  

The genre usually centered around tragedy. Order and structure were also important. Operas in the opera seria genre had small casts of characters, rather than large choruses. Complicated arias were a key part of opera seria. These complexities showed off various vocal types, from a high-pitched male voice to a prima donna's voice.

What quotes would best show Jonas has changed through out The Giver?

Jonas changes from an obedient and immature child to an independent, strong-willed and sensitive young man.  When the book begins, Jonas doesn’t question his society. He is the same as everyone else, and doesn’t even know that he is different.  When he is given the special job of Receiver of Memory, Jonas realizes that his community is very different than what he thought it was.  He can’t tolerate the reality, and leaves. 

Jonas shares the time when he was frightened by a jet plane flying over his community.  Like the other citizens, he reacted with mindless obedience to the incident.  When told to go inside by the community’s omnipresent speaker, Jonas went inside. 

Instantly, obediently, Jonas had dropped his bike on its side on the path behind his family's dwelling. He had run indoors and stayed there, alone. His parents were both at work, and his little sister, Lily, was at the Childcare Center where she spent her after-school hours. (Ch. 1) 

Jonas notes the tone of dry amusement when the Speaker tells everyone the pilot will be released.  Like everyone else in his community, he has no idea what release means.  He knows the pilot made a mistake and is being punished.  He thinks nothing else about it at this time.  

When Jonas begins his training, you see him slowly begin to change as he learns that a different life is possible.  His community embraces the concept of Sameness, which means that no one makes choices.  No one feels emotions.  Differences are not tolerated.  In the memories, Jonas sees that people used to care about one another. 

The Giver shares with Jonas his favorite memory, involving a family with grandparents in it.  Jonas is impressed and overwhelmed with the feelings in the memory.  His community has no families, and no closeness.  Family units exist temporarily, and only for practical child-rearing purposes.  There is no attachment. 

Jonas blurted out what he was feeling. "I was thinking that ... well, I can see that it wasn't a very practical way to live, with the Old right there in the same place, where maybe they wouldn't be well taken care of, the way they are now, and that we have a better-arranged way of doing things. But anyway, I was thinking, I mean feeling, actually, that it was kind of nice, then. (Ch. 16) 

Jonas confesses that he liked the feeling of love.  He even asks his parents if they love him.  They react with amusement.  They chastise him for using outdated language.  He realizes that no one in his community can ever understand love.  It may not be practical, but that doesn’t make it right. 

When Jonas finally learns what release means, you can definitely tell that he has changed.  He has seen death, in the memories.  When he watches a video of his father releasing a newborn twin, he knows that he is killing it.  Jonas finds out that Gabe, the toddler who has been staying with his family, is going to be released to.  He cannot be obedient anymore. 

He pushed firmly again at the pedal with his foot and continued riding along the road. It was not safe to spend time looking back. He thought of the rules he had broken so far: enough that if he were caught, now, he would be condemned. (Ch. 21)

Jonas leaves to save the baby, but also to save his community.  He knows that if he leaves, the memories will return to them.  He wants the community to have the opportunity to live a full life, with feelings and emotions, and the choices humans are meant to have.

What are Miranda warnings and at what point in the process they must be issued? Remember that there may be a difference between an interview and...

Miranda rights, named after the Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona (1966), mean a person being taken into police custody must be told about his or her right to remain silent and that anything the person says can be used against him or her in a court of law. These rights, which also include the right to have an attorney present at questioning and the right to have an attorney appointed for the suspect if he or she can't afford one, are protected by the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution.

Suspects being taken into custody, meaning their freedom is being curtailed and they are being arrested, must be told about their Miranda rights. At this point, anything they say can be used against them in a court of law. If a suspect is being interrogated, the suspect must also be advised of their Miranda rights. An interrogation is different than an interview because, during an interrogation, a police officer suspects that the person is involved in the event. During an interview, the police officer is questioning a person and may or may not suspect that person, but primarily is focused on learning more information. Police officers do not need to provide Miranda warnings before interviewing people. 

What type of salt is formed when a weak acid and a weak base are mixed?

A strong acid and a strong base will ionize completely, therefore when they are mixed, they will react together to form salt and water. However, weak acids and weak bases only ionize partially. Therefore, when they are mixed, it generally results in a reversible reaction with the formation of a conjugate acid and a conjugate base as products instead of salt and water.

When a weak acid reacts with a weak base the weak acid will lose a proton and the species formed is called a conjugate base. The proton lost by the weak acid is accepted by the weak base to form a conjugate acid. So, a conjugate base is what is left after a weak acid has donated a proton in the reaction.

The reaction that occurs can be depicted as follows:          

weak acid + weak base ⇌ conjugate base + conjugate acid. A common example is the reaction between ammonia (weak base) and water (weak acid).

How does Mother feel about Father's promotion in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas?

Bruno came home one day to find the maid packing up his things.  He asked his mother what was happening, and her frustration was evident.  Mother explained to Bruno that his father had received an important promotion.  She seemed pleased with the importance of the new position for her husband.  The family would have to move away to where Father's new job was to be.  Bruno's mother framed the move in a positive away, emphasizing how the family would be together in their new home.  It was still evident that she did not want to leave her beautiful, large house in Berlin.  Mother did hope that the family would not face the dangers of air raids when they left the big city.  Later, Bruno overheard his parents speaking loudly to one another.  It was implied in the story that they were arguing over the move.

When they arrived at their new home, Bruno expressed to Mother that he thought the move was a bad idea.  Her response revealed more of her feelings about her husband's promotion and the subsequent move:

"We don't have the luxury of thinking... Some people make all the decisions for us" (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Chapter II).

She also told Bruno that he should "make the best of a bad situation."  When Bruno suggested they go back to Berlin, Mother snapped at him.  It became clear by her reaction that she was opposed to leaving Berlin for her husband's promotion.

In Heartbreak House, Shaw exposes the spiritual bankruptcy of his generation. Do you agree?

Shaw exposes the spiritual bankruptcy of his generation. In this Shavian parody, the spiritual emptiness of the bourgeoisie at the time of World War I is satirized. For example, Mrs. Hushabye and her husband survive because of the earnings of their father, the inventor Captain Shotover. He is an odd man who fools around with dynamite. As the family is running out of funds, he must invent something horrific, a weapon, to earn more money. Their quest for money, even urging Captain Shotover to create a weapon while they live an empty and useless existence, is a sign of their spiritual bankruptcy.

Ellie Dunn, for her part, wants to marry someone who will take care of her. She agrees to marry Boss Mangan because he is rich, though it is later revealed that he has no money. She says that "a soul is a very expensive thing to keep: much more so than a motor car," showing the extent to which she equates her soul with money. Ellie ultimately marries Shotover, though he has a Jamaican wife, perhaps because he is old and she won't have to put up with him for long. Her choices are superficial and spiritually corrupt. In the end, the party at Heartbreak House is bombed, and, rather than being frightened, the upper-class members of the party refuse to turn off the lights. Instead, the two lower-class members of the party are killed, and the upper-class people hope the bombers will return the next night. Their willingness to be bombed and their superficial and naive attitude about the bombs are the ultimate sign of their spiritual bankruptcy.

What is the most important statement Old Major makes about humankind in Chapter 1?

The most important statement that Old Major, an old boar, makes about humankind in Chapter 1 is the following: "Man is the only creature that consumes without producing." Old Major believes that the English soil is fertile enough to provide for the animals with abundance, but the animals can't enjoy this abundance because humans take a large share of the produce without doing any of the actual work. Instead, man provides the animals with the minimum they need and keeps the rest for himself. Old Major blames the problems in the animals' lives on the "tyranny of human beings." He suggests that if the animals get rid of humans, the animals will become free and rich. To remind the animals of their need to overthrow humans, he comes up with a handy saying: "Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend."

I need to write a comment to persuade others to read The Story of My Life by Hellen Keller.

One reason that you could use to persuade people to read The Story of My Life by Helen Keller is that they can gain insight into people who struggle to express themselves or who struggle against adversity. People can have the tendency to judge others and think that others' difficulties are in part of their own making. Keller's story helps others think more empathetically about the suffering, hopes, and journey of people who are born with various types of differences.

In addition, the story is inspiring, as Keller learns to communicate and read with Anne Sullivan's help and becomes a writer and activist. This story is inspiring, as Keller overcomes such great obstacles in her life, and it can motivate others to do so as well. The story also reinforces the power of education to help others, as Keller is unable to communicate before Anne Sullivan helps her. Education that is tailored to her and that involves an understanding of who she is helps Keller unlock her potential and, in turn, help others. Finally, the story is compelling reading because it shows the great arc of Keller's development, and the reader learns the intriguing details of how Anne Sullivan, Keller's teacher, helps Keller learn to communicate. 

What forms a border between the U.S. and Mexico?

The United States shares a border with Mexico. The Rio Grande River forms part of the border between Texas and Mexico.

The United States and Mexico went to war in 1846 over the border. The Mexicans believed the border was the Nueces River. This border would have made Texas much smaller than it currently is. The United States believed the border was the Rio Grande River. The United States sent John Slidell to Mexico to discuss this issue with the Mexican government. When Mexico refused to meet with him to resolve the border issue, the United States moved troops into the disputed territory. Mexico, believing the troops were in their land, attacked them. This started the Mexican-American War.

In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico agreed the border with Texas would be at the Rio Grande River. Thus, part of the border between Mexico and the United States is the Rio Grande River. Mexico also gave the United States a lot of other land, including land that makes up present-day Arizona, California, and New Mexico, extending the United States' border to the west, too, although that part of the border was created more artificially than its Rio Grande counterpart in Texas.

What importance does Miss Prism have in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde?

Despite her inauspicious beginning as Cecily's ironically unintelligent tutor, Miss Prism ends up being a hugely important character in the play, because she turns out to be the woman who erroneously deposited Mr. Jack Worthing in a cloakroom at Victoria Station, the Brighton Line, when he was an infant. Jack never knew who his parents were because he had been found in a handbag given to Mr. Thomas Cardew in place of his own. Mr. Cardew kept and raised the baby until his own death. Later in the play, when Aunt Augusta visits Jack's home to retrieve her daughter, Gwendolyn, she hears someone speak Miss Prism's name, and she remembers Miss Prism as the servant of her sister's family, the nanny who disappeared with the infant one day and never returned. This prompts Miss Prism to tell the story of what happened to the baby, the baby who turns out to be Jack, and when Jack produces the very handbag that used to belong to Miss Prism, it confirms his identity as that baby, meaning he is Algernon's brother, Aunt Augusta's nephew, and Gwendolyn's cousin.  As he has now acquired parents and pedigree, he is granted permission, by Aunt Augusta, to marry Gwendolyn, which was his goal from the beginning of the play. The revelation of Miss Prism's identity and history makes both Jack and Gwendolyn's and Algernon and Cecily's weddings possible.

How do the ideas of karma and reincarnation compare with biblical and Judaeo-Christian answers to the perennial questions “Why is there evil and...

First, this assignment seems intended to prompt you to explore your own personal faith tradition and sense of the relationship between justice and the divine. While an educator can present the historical differences between the two religious traditions, you are the only person who can discuss your personal faith.

The problem you present is one of what theologians call "theodicy," also known as the problem of divine justice. It is grounded in a paradox. Religions normally assume some sort of just, benevolent, wise principle on which the universe is grounded, and yet our world seems filled with evil, suffering, and injustice. There are roughly three types of religious theories to account for this:

• Dualist and some polytheistic accounts assume there are both good and evil gods and that bad things happen because of the evil gods.


• Some religions assume apparent injustice is due to our limited understanding and that all suffering is, from a divine perspective, deserved.


• Suffering in this world will be rewarded by something positive after death.

Both Judaeo-Christian and eastern (Buddhist/ Hindu) religions combine the second and third of these ideas. The Judaeo-Christian tradition assumes human suffering is deserved because of Original Sin; karma presumes we bring suffering on ourselves by evil acts in past lives. In both religions, those who act in a morally good fashion may suffer in this world but are rewarded after their deaths through Heaven (Judaeo-Christian) or an escape from the cycle of reincarnation (Hinduism/ Buddhism).

Why does Hamlet delay? Why does he eventually act?

These questions have been debated for centuries. They are called "The Hamlet Problem." I think the best answer was given by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who said Hamlet procrastinates because he thinks too much. When he acts on impulse, he can act very courageously. A good example is the way he is the first to board the pirate ship which kidnaps him. When Hamlet finally kills Claudius, it is impulsively, in the heat of emotion. He doesn't have time to think about it. He holds the poisoned foil right in his hand.

When Hamlet is on his way to England, he discovers his escorts Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are carrying a letter asking the English king to have him executed immediately upon arrival. Hamlet forges a substitute letter in which he has Claudius asking the English king to execute Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. This is before Hamlet is kidnapped by the pirates and then ransomed in Denmark by Horatio. At that point, Hamlet knows his life is in extreme danger because Claudius will soon receive word from England that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been beheaded. Claudius will know Hamlet forged a new letter and will certainly have Hamlet executed as a punishment and for the king's own self-protection. The following dialogue shows this.

HORATIO
It must be shortly known to him from England
What is the issue of the business there.

HAMLET
It will be short. The interim is mine.

Hamlet knows he must kill Claudius without further deliberation or Claudius will have him killed. He does not know Claudius has already made plans to have him killed in the forthcoming fencing match with Laertes.

Hamlet had other reasons for his previous delays. One was that he sincerely believed the ghost he met in Act I, Scenes 4 and 5 might be a devil instead of his father. In Act II, Scene 2 he says to himself:

The spirit that I have seen
May be a devil; and the devil hath power
T' assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me. I'll have grounds
More relative than this. The play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.

Hamlet had to stage the play-within-a-play to prove to himself that Claudius was actually guilty, as the ghost had told him. After that, he felt free to act against the king, but he was forestalled by being sent to England as an ambassador. 

One other reason Hamlet might have been slow in carrying out his obligation to kill Claudius is that Hamlet is aware he is supposed to inherit the throne when his uncle dies. All he has to do is wait. If he kills Claudius, it might be impossible for Hamlet to inherit the throne, especially if everyone believes he is mad. They would think Hamlet was motivated purely by ambition and would not believe Claudius murdered Hamlet's father in order to usurp the throne and marry King Hamlet's wife Gertrude. As a result, Hamlet is torn between acting and waiting for the crown to drop into his lap.

What is a thesis about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth's work for women's rights?

The most interesting possibility for a paper topic would involve the contemporary idea of "intersectionality."

Intersectionality is a concept developed by the legal scholar Kimberle Crenshaw to explain the ways in which the nature of discrimination changes, not based solely on one demographic attribute, but rather on several. For example, white women have experienced discrimination in different ways than black women. White women are also capable of exercising "white privilege" (see: Peggy McIntosh) while also experiencing gender discrimination.

Perhaps you could pursue an answer to the following question: What are the ways in which both the women's rights and abolitionist movements neglected black women? Consider Sojourner Truth's famous speech, "Ain't I a Woman?" in your response. 

You could also take on a less critical outlook and analyze the ways in which the abolitionist and suffrage movements worked together and reinforced one another. Frederick Douglass was a key figure in the fights for both abolition and suffrage. He argued that he could not fight for his right to vote as a black man while neglecting the right of women to vote. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a former Civil War officer and Emily Dickinson's earliest reader, was another fighter for suffrage. 

What is the characterization like in "Porphyria's Lover" by Robert Browning?

In the Browning poem "Porphyria's Lover," the characterization of the narrator is direct, as the reader hears his voice. Browning establishes the characterization of the narrator slowly. At first, the reader only sees Porphyria, as she comes in from the stormy night and stokes the fire; then, she puts the narrator's arm around her waist, bares her shoulder, and lets her yellow hair fall about her. The narrator takes no action throughout this part of the poem, so the characterization builds slowly. It is only once Porphyria declares her love for the narrator, and he knows that this love will not last, that he strangles her with her beautiful hair. Browning establishes the narrator's character from this one horrible act, as the lover then opens her eyes, unwinds her hair from her neck, and props her head on her shoulders. The entire characterization of the narrator is based on this act of violence, followed by a few tender gestures. We never know anything else about him, save his desire to preserve Porphyria's love forever. 

What is the summary of the plot of the Gospel of Matthew, including the beginning, the middle, and the end?

The Gospel of Matthew follows many of the ancient traditions of the biography of the holy man, a subgenre of the encomium. The traditional elements of the genre, as set out in Menander Rhetor and other rhetoricians of the period, include distinguished ancestry, miraculous signs at birth, evidence of precocious childhood, and famous deeds and sayings. 

The Gospel of Matthew derives its materials from two sources, the Gospel of Mark and a collection of the sayings of Jesus sometimes called "Q". Some of this material was shaped into typical rhetorical forms such as the chreia ( a short narrative followed by a moral maxim). 

The Gospel of Matthew begins with an extended genealogy tracing Jesus' ancestry back to Abraham and then describes his miraculous conception and the events surrounding his birth. The central section begins with Jesus' encounter with John the Baptist, focuses on the ministry of Jesus, and incorporates many of his sayings and teachings. The central section ends with a description of the Last Supper and the trial and death of Jesus. The final section addresses the Resurrection of Jesus and foundation of Christianity as Jesus instructs his apostles to go out to evangelize the world.