Describe the family that move into Canterville Chase.

At the beginning of "The Canterville Ghost," Lord Canterville sells his ancestral home, Canterville Chase, to an American, Mr Hiram B Otis, and his family. Mr Otis is an American ambassador and his wife, Lucretia, a former "New York belle," is notable for her "superb profile." The couple have four children, the eldest of whom is Washington Otis, a "fair-haired" and "good-looking young man" whose excellent dancing skills are well-known in London. The couple's only daughter is Virginia, a girl of fifteen, described as being as "lovely as a fawn" and well-known for her excellent skills in pony riding. Finally are the twin boys, known among the family as the Stars and the Stripes because they are always getting "swished." They are extremely mischievous by nature, perhaps as a result of their young age. 

From the  beginning of the story, the family members are characterised their sceptical attitude towards the supernatural. They do not believe Lord Canterville, for instance, when he tells them about the Canterville ghost. This attitude of scepticism quickly fades, however, when the Otis family meet the ghost in Chapter Two. From this point, the Otis family assert their dominance by resisting his numerous attempts to scare them.

Is planting greenery good for health?

This is a topic that has been studied and examined in many contexts, from urban planning and agricultural to psychology and politics. There is a general agreement that planting more trees and greenery leads to an improvement in public health. There was a movement in the 1970s, concurrent with the environmental awareness movement, to plant more trees in urban areas. Trees provide shade, which helps keep buildings and streets cooler during hot weather, and this can directly impact public health. During heat waves in cities, people flock to public parks to seek relief in the shade. In a more general sense, trees increase oxygen in the atmosphere via photosynthesis (this is the name for the biological process that occurs during the growth cycle of a tree), and this can help alleviate the effects of air pollution, as trees also consume carbon dioxide (which can cause health problems if there is too much of it in the atmosphere) during this process.

Trees also appear to have a beneficial impact upon psychological health and well being. Recent studies show that increased planting of trees in urban areas not only reduces the harmful impact of air pollution, but also helps reduce stress. Trees have been the subject of many poems throughout the years, and there is a national day in the US for celebrating trees called Arbor Day. The Arbor Day Foundation promotes and helps support the planting of trees across the country.

In the book First They Killed My Father, who are the main characters and what is their importance to the story?

First They Killed My Father is a true story about the Cambodian Holocaust initiated by the Khmer Rough.  The main character is the author herself:  Loung Ung.  Considering that Loung Ung is fifth in a line of seven children, the other main characters in the story are members of her family.  The family’s true hell begins in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge evacuates Phnom Phenh.  The Ung family is part of the evacuation because they are considered “middle class” which means they are “unclean.”  In a situation that sounds similar to the Nazi holocaust, the captured members of the middle class are forced into crowded trucks and transported to rural areas where inhumane treatment and genocide begin. 

Through the Ung family’s struggle, we learn about the individual members of the family as important characters.  An additional character is Loung’s father:  Seng Im Ung.  Seng Im Ung becomes associated with the government of Lon Nol; therefore, Seng Im Ung is kidnapped.  He is never seen again.  Two other characters are Meng Ung and Khouy Ung:  two of Loung’s brothers.  They are forced to leave the family and work in labor camps.   Another important character is Ay Choung Ung, Loung’s mother.  Ay Choung Ung is a mom who makes a great sacrifice.  Knowing that she has already lost many of her children and her husband, she sends Loung and her brother out on their own so that they can survive.  Ay Choung Ung knows that any child who stays with her will surely die.   Only Geak (who is only three and, therefore, a minor character) remains with Ay Choung. 

Throughout the hell of the Cambodian holocaust, the characters of First They Killed My Father (who are all members of the Ung family) exhibit the admirable qualities of faith, compassion, and integrity.

Did the United States ever join the League of Nations?

The United States never joined the League of Nations. This was one of the reasons why the League of Nations wasn’t successful in accomplishing its goals.

Some United States senators were opposed to parts of the charter of the League of Nations. The part that raised the most concern was the provision requiring member nations to help with actions, either military or non-military, against countries that failed to comply with requests made by the League of Nations. These senators believed this would limit flexibility in foreign policy and that the United States might have to become involved in actions that didn’t directly affect the United States. The senators were also concerned we might have to take actions against another country that wouldn’t be in the nation's best interests. They asked President Wilson to negotiate some changes. When he refused, the United States didn’t join the League of Nations. We also didn’t ratify the Versailles Treaty because the League of Nations was part of that treaty.

In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, what is the relationship like between Lola and Max?

Lola is the sister of Oscar, the main character in The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Lola is Oscar's older sister and, as such, she is very protective of him. This behavior is a stark contrast to the way she interacts with other characters in the story, including the minor character of her ex-boyfriend, Max.

At the beginning of the narrative, Lola announces that she broke up with her boyfriend Max at the same time that she chose to drop out of school. Although she does not go into detail about the breakup, it is the beginning of a self-destructive period for her character. Soon after the breakup, she sleeps with the father of one of her classmates for $2,000. Lola's conflicted feelings about Max become evident after his death. Max is killed in a jaywalking accident and Lola gives the $2,000 to his family to help them after the loss.

Despite his relatively minor role in the story, Lola's relationship with Max gives the reader significant insight into her character. When Lola breaks down on a plane after Max's death, her facade of strength is momentarily broken, revealing the vulnerability underneath.

What happens to Pip's sister in Great Expectations, and what is the result? How might we understand what's wrong with her in modern terms?

To be clear, a lot of things happen to Pip's sister, Mrs. Joe, in the book Great Expectations. First, she becomes the sole caretaker of her baby brother at age twenty, after burying two parents and five brothers. That alone would make anyone a little stressed out, and she is no exception. In fact, the most contentious part of her relationship with Pip stems from her having "brought him up by hand"—beating him—and she is very proud of that fact, as were many parents during this time period who brought their children up this way. Pip may find it hard to understand at first, being on the receiving end of those beatings, but her entire life up until that point had been filled with heartache and being young and unmarried; she had absolutely no help or experience in raising Pip at first. When she married Joe, that was arguably the best thing that had ever happened to her. He was nice, funny, kind, and a good father for Pip to have, although he could not stand up to his wife and he seemed incapable of softening her already hardened heart.

At first glance, she may just seem like an abusive, self-important, evil person. Because of her earlier struggles, however, Mrs. Joe fears abandonment and believes that her only recourse in life is to become wealthy and powerful. She exerts this power over others to stem the very real fear that she has of being abandoned by those she cares for. We can see this in how she treats Joe; she does whatever she can to keep him from bettering himself. Her main focus is on survival and bettering herself through wealth, and we see her pass these values on to Pip, which ends up causing him great tumult and confusion as he tries to sort out his own values. He, like many others during this time, thinks that the greatest achievement that he could possibly strive for would be to acquire wealth and the status of a "gentleman." This is what his sister wished for him, and this is what he learns to value as a small child. The outcome of this is that he does everything that he can in order to be this person and ends up becoming someone that he doesn't recognize or even like very much. The wealth that he'd always desired and that his sister had always desired has proven to be both a blessing and a curse in his life.

If we want to understand why people valued wealth so much, and why times were very difficult for young people, especially young women and children, during the nineteenth century in England, we need to look to history to show us. In hindsight, we can see how child labor and extreme poverty during the Industrial Revolution bred desperation during this time. In the book, we observe how Mrs. Joe and Pip both acted out of desperation and a desire to improve their lives. Mrs. Joe thought that she was doing the best thing, but she had no experience raising children and had never learned kindness because of her harsh upbringing and the way the role of motherhood was thrust upon her.

When she is attacked suddenly and seemingly without reason by an unknown assailant, everyone is confused and suspects Joe. Pip knows, however, that it was his convict's leg cuff that produced her injuries. He does not feel that telling anyone would help or lead to a conviction, so he does not tell. Eventually, his sister heals from her injuries, though her vision, hearing, memory, and speech are affected. She communicates through drawings and Pip finds that her temper and patience have improved after the attack. Today, we would say that she likely suffered from brain damage, which made her incapable of understanding and remembering details from her previous life, such as her anger towards certain people.

Later, we find out through Mrs. Joe's strange obsession with Orlick that he was the true attacker, who hit her with his hammer in a fit of rage. He did this in reaction to the anger she inspired in people through her yelling and berating and always having to be right. Still, Orlick is the type of person who would hurt someone just to hurt them. In many ways, he is the antithesis of Joe's character.

It turns out that this attack was actually for the best for everyone in Mrs. Joe's life. It gives Mrs. Joe some perspective on her life, her values, and how she was treating others. Certainly, it makes her more grateful for the care and love that she has in her life instead of leaving her wondering what her life could be like if she were wealthier. Another strange outcome is that she forges better relationships with others, including Orlick, who spends time with her, though he is confused by her desire to see him after his attack on her.

How does Lady Macbeth use or display power throughout the play and specifically in Act I, Scene 5?

In Act I, Scene 5, we encounter Lady Macbeth reading her husband's account of the meeting with the witches. She immediately realizes she will have to push her husband, who she believes to be too "full of the milk of human kindness," into committing the murder she believes necessary to fulfill the witches' prophecy. She resolves to "unsex" herself and become cruel and remorseless in pursuit of this goal. At the end of the scene, she exercises real and tangible power over her husband when she tells him to "leave the rest to me." She will come up with a plan by which they will murder Duncan, who is staying at their castle. Later, she plays the welcoming hostess to the King, and goads her husband to murder Duncan when he vacillates in Act I, Scene 7. When Macbeth thinks about postponing Duncan's murder, Lady Macbeth bitterly reproaches him, calling him a coward and questioning his masculinity. Later, she plants daggers on the King's guards and smears them with blood. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a powerful, strong, and ruthless woman early in the play. She essentially controls her husband. By the final act, however, Lady Macbeth is a shadow of her former self. She becomes consumed by guilt, and dies with, as she believes, blood on her hands.

In "Dusk" by Saki, does the young man really deserve to be helped and sympathized with?

The young man who comes and sits beside Norman Gortsby is obviously practicing to be a con artist. Gortsby proves this when he listens to the hard-luck story and then tells him:

"Of course," said Gortsby slowly, "the weak point of your story is that you can't produce the soap."

The young man doesn't even try very hard to explain why he doesn't have a cake of soap, since his whole story was based on the claim that he had lost his hotel when he came out to buy the soap and had left almost all his money in his hotel room, which he wasn't able to find again because he was new to London and had become disoriented. By the sheerest coincidence, Gortsby finds a cake of soap on the ground by the bench after the young would-be con-man leaves in chagrin. Gortsby mistakenly believes that this must be the soap the stranger had come out to buy, but in fact it unquestionably belonged to the elderly gentleman who had been sitting beside him before the other man sat down. 

The con-man had fashioned his hard-luck story in such a way that he would seem to be an upper-class country gentleman who didn't know anybody in London. He spoke of foreign travel and used some words that suggested he had been to Eton and Oxford. The plan was to make the "mark" believe he might have a golden opportunity to make a friend of someone of a higher social class who would invite him down to his family estate for shooting and riding and open a world of possibilities for rising in society. And it wouldn't cost the mark anything because the con-man said he only needed a short-term loan. 

"In a foreign city I wouldn't mind so much," he said; "one could go to one's Consul and get the requisite help from him. Here in one's own land one is far more derelict if one gets into a fix. Unless I can find some decent chap to swallow my story and lend me some money I seem likely to spend the night on the Embankment."

Since the soap obviously belongs to the elderly gentleman, Gortsby was right in the first place when he assumed that the con-man was lying.

Gortsby was never going to see the sovereign he gave the stranger again. The young man was a liar. He did not deserve help or sympathy. In fact, he deserved to be arrested and sent to jail. That was why he was acting so nervous and skittish after Gortsby outed him. He does not seem to have had much experience in his profession. His success with Gortsby will undoubtedly encourage him to try his hard-luck story again. But he will be sure to have a cake of soap in his pocket--and he doesn't even have to buy one because Gortsby made him a gift of the soap he had found by the park bench.

The con-man can't claim that he hadn't bought the soap when Gortsby exposes the flaw in his story, because he had already explained why he is nearly flat broke.

"Of course I can wire to my people for the address, but they won't have got my letter till to-morrow; meantime I'm without any money, came out with about a shilling on me, which went in buying the soap and getting the drink, and here I am, wandering about with twopence in my pocket and nowhere to go for the night."

How are the Powerball numbers drawn?

Powerball and other lotteries are often described as a tax on people who are bad at math. In other words, because the state lotteries are used as a source of revenue, on the average you will lose a fixed percentage of money if you buy several tickets. The larger the number of tickets you buy, the more accurately the money you personally lose over time (a figure you can obtain by tracking the cost of tickets and subtracting any winnings and the taxes on those winnings) will track the percentage taken out from the lottery pool to fund state projects.

The actual mechanism which selects Powerball winning numbers is the Halogen machine, manufactured by Smartplay International of Edgewater Park, New Jersey. The numbered balls are mixed in a chamber by a turntable. Randomly selected balls are chosen and sent up through a clear acrylic tube to a display. The machine can be adjusted to draw balls at different intervals and to select different numbers of balls. 

A body is thrown up with a speed of 49m/s. It travels 5m in the last second of its upward journey. If the same body is thrown up with a velocity of...

We'll ignore air resistance. Denote the gravitational acceleration as `g ((m)/(s^2)).`

Then the speed is `V(t) = V_0 - g t,` where `V_0` is the initial upward speed. The last moment of an upward journey is that moment when `V(t) = 0.` Therefore `1` second before this the speed (denote it as `V_1`) is greater than zero by `g*1 m/s.` It is `g m/s` regardless of `V_0.`

The distance traveled during the last second is `dH = V_1 t-(g t^2)/2,` and recall that `t = 1 s` and `V_1 = g m/s.` Thus `dH = g - g/2 = g/2` regardless of the initial speed.

So the answer is: the distance is 5 m, the same as in the first case.

Note 1. The result of `5 m` means that the value of `g = 10 m/s^2` was used.

Note 2. For initial speeds less than `10 (m)/s` the above reasoning appears incorrect.

Question is: a car travelling at 140 km/h decelerates for 20 secs. During this time it travels 500 m. What is its deceleration? What is its speed...

Hello!

As I understand, the deceleration is uniform (the same all the time). Denote it as `agt0` and denote the initial speed as `V_0.`  In m/s `V_0 = 140/3.6.`

Then the speed is `V(t) = V_0 - a*t`  (note the minus sign), and the displacement is `D(t) = V_0 t - (a t^2)/2.`

It is given that `D(20) = 500,` therefore `V_0 * 20 - (a * 20^2)/2 = 500.` From this we find  `a = 2*(140/3.6*20-500) / 20^2 approx1.39 (m/s^2).`

Then we can find the speed after deceleration: it is

`V(20) = V_0 - a*20 approx 140/3.6 - 20*1.39 approx 11.1 (m/s).`

The value is positive which means the direction of movement remains the same.

The answers: the deceleration is about `1.39 m/s^2,` and the final speed is about `11.1 m/s.`

In chapter 17, how does Pollan use the Utilitarianism theory in ethics to support his argument about eating animals?

Pollan argues in Chapter 17 that utilitarian philosophy is concerned with the "sum of happiness and suffering" (page 327). He believes that the killing of an animal who can't understand death does not involve suffering. He also argues that if an animal lives comfortably on what he calls a "good farm" (a concept borrowed from Peter Singer), that animal will enjoy life and will add to the sum of total happiness. The suffering perhaps caused by killing one animal can be, through his calculus, overcome by replacing that animal with another that lives on a "good farm."

As Singer comments, it would be difficult to translate Pollan's ideas into practice. Carrying out this type of animal calculus would be impossible on a large scale, but it does point to Pollan's larger idea that "what's wrong with eating animals is the practice, not the principle" (page 328). In other words, utilitarians could argue that consuming animals that are raised and killed with humanity and respect can be justifiable. Animals are killed in the United States in unjust industrialized fashions, but Pollan argues, using utilitarian theory, that it could be ethical to eat animals that are killed with respect. This is because their suffering would be minimal, so the joy people get from eating them would outweigh their suffering. 

What is a business currently going through change? What will happen to that business if no further change occurs? What methods do you recommend...

Your assignment is a complex one, and we can certainly get you started in the right direction. Some companies currently going through change are Nike, Driscoll, American Airlines, Sony, Southwire, and J.Crew. Let's talk a little about J.Crew.

J.Crew owns the Madewell brand, and J.Crew's organizational change equally affects Madewell. Aspects of the business important to include are net loss in revenue of $657.8 million, the focus on redesigning women's fashions on the J.Crew brand, international expansion, opening new J.Crew factory outlets (which sell lower price, lower quality J.Crew clothing), and expanding Madewell while continuing its growth (sales up 35%).

The details of the change made by J.Crew to both the J.Crew and Madewell brands salient to the above analysis of important aspects reflect executive reorganization and corporate strategy reorganization.

In Executive reorganization, Tom Mora of Women's Design for J.Crew, whose designs led to revenue loss, has left the company. He is replaced by Somsack Sikhounmuong, who was Head of Design for Madewell and, prior to that, a designer for J.Crew for eleven years. Joyce Lee succeeds Sikhounmuong as Head of Women's Design for Madewell. Lee was a senior designer for Madewell and, prior to that, a designer for J.Crew competitors Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs. Sikhounmuong and Lee both report to Jenna Lyons, who is President and Executive Creative Director for the J.Crew Group.

In business strategy reorganization, CEO Mickey Drexler, who openly accepted accountability for the failures in design and loss of revenue in the J.Crew Group, after addressing the core problem of women's fashion design failings, plans on expanding strong areas while building weak design back up by focusing on J.Crew's traditional appeal. Drexell plans to increase the Madewell fleet of stores by 20; add 21 J.Crew discount factory outlets; and add six new international stores to the 14 existing ones in Toronto, London, Hong Kong, and Paris. E-commerce will remain as is, reaching 120 countries.

One way to manage change is through open communication between Lyons, Sikhounmuong, and Lee so there is a chain of knowledge connecting Madewell design with J.Crew design and Sikhounmuong and Lee can impart the corporate vision enthusiastically, frequently, and clearly to their design teams.

Ways to create an atmosphere for innovation are to have unhampered flow in costs for projects; coordinate design development between Madewell and the new J.Crew factory outlet stores to ensure against unwanted overlap; benchmark the redesign of women's fashion for J.Crew for optimization of customer loyalty.

What is Shakespeare's theme of nature in A Midsummer Night's Dream?

Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream satirizes pastoral literature. Pastoral literature, very popular in Shakespeare's day, presents rustic, urban life as ideal and city life as corrupt. Yet, since A Midsummer Night's Dream satirizes pastoral literature, while all the characters venture into nature to escape, they wind up being even further troubled due to corruption. Hence, Shakespeare develops a theme of nature to show that nature isn't really the ideal escape pastoral literature paints it as; so long as human nature exists, corruption will always exist, no matter where the human being is located.

In line with pastoral literature, Shakespeare sets up the city of Athens as a corrupt setting. Its corruption is revealed in its unjust laws. Though Duke Theseus tries to rule based on compassion, reason, and justice, the fact stands that a law exists in Athens permitting a father to execute or exile a daughter who disobeys his wishes, even if his wishes are unjust. We know Egeus's wish for Hermia to marry Demetrius rather than Lysander is unjust and not based on reason because Lysander argues he is as financially capable as Demetrius and accuses Demetrius of unfaithfulness, a rumor Duke Theseus confesses to also having heard: "I must confess that I have heard so much" (I.i.111). For this reason, Theseus takes Egeus and Demetrius aside to try to get them to think more rationally about their desires but apparently does not succeed. The unjust law and Egeus's inability to rationally judge a decision as important as whom his daughter should marry shows the corruptness of Athens.

To escape corruption, Lysander and Hermia venture into the woods, into nature, through which they can traverse to the home of Lysander's aunt, who lives outside of Athens, and live happily ever after. However, corruption pursues them even in the woods when Puck, using magic, mistakenly makes both Lysander and Demetrius fall in love with Helena instead of Hermia. Though magic creates the conflict, the characters' reactions to what they are experiencing as a result of the magic reveals the corrupt nature of their souls.

As an example of corruption, Helena, suddenly finding herself being pursued by two men, accuses all three characters--Lysander, Demetrius, and Hermia--of conspiring to mock her. She particularly accuses Hermia of developing the plot to mock her and temporarily severs her friendship with Hermia, her lifelong friend. Plus, the men feel incited to duel each other to the death. Since the actions of the characters in the woods show that our values, such as of love, life, and friendship, are so fleeting, their actions also show that mankind is corrupt, no matter where mankind is located.

Hence, Shakespeare uses the backdrop of nature to develop a theme that satirizes pastoral literature by showing that mankind is corrupt even in nature.

In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, how does the family’s social status affect the choices each individual makes? Considering the end...

As a family unit, Tom, Laura, and Amanda are first impacted by the Great Depression through the departure of Amanda's husband (Tom and Laura's father). Unraveled by the collapsed economy, Amanda's husband chooses to execute a "poor man's divorce" by leaving his family with no advanced warning.

This action forces Tom into a position of tremendous responsibility within the family, and he takes a job at a shoe warehouse in order to financially support his mother and sister. Meanwhile, his real dream is to be a poet. This interest in the arts seems to serve as a mental escape from the tedious nature of his work and the burden of his role as the breadwinner. The pressure of this situation eventually becomes too much to bear, and Tom chooses to escape this limited life by leaving his home behind.

The financial peril of the family also impacts Amanda, who remains greatly affected by the departure of her husband. Amanda cannot make enough money working at the magazine to support her children. With Tom already working, she attempts to force Laura to take a business class and actively scopes out a suitable husband for the girl, eventually idolizing Jim as the man who will save them from their dire situation. The revelation that Jim is actually already engaged becomes a devastating blow to Amanda, who lashes out at Tom in anger; in a way, this experience mirrors the disappointment she faces in her abandonment at the hands of her husband.

Meanwhile, Laura must cope with her mother's intense pressure, her brother's dissatisfaction, and the weight of her own disability. Due to her intense introversion, self-consciousness, and dependence on her family, Laura becomes increasingly alienated from the outside world. This is a problem that is only psychologically worsened by the impact of the Great Depression and the attitude of scarcity that prevailed at the time. She becomes complicit in the search for a spouse simply to unburden Tom; she does not want to live off of his earnings for the rest of her life, knowing that this responsibility is suffocating him. As a dropout, a female, and a physically limited person, Laura has very few prospects in the world, and marriage is her only real option for financial stability. 

Why are gangs important to the Greasers and Socs in The Outsiders?

Gangs are important to both the Socs and Greasers throughout the novel because they provide support and friendship to the members. The members of the Greaser gang come from broken homes and the comradery they share helps them deal with difficult struggles throughout their lives. The gangs also provide each member with a sense of identity. The members of the Socs are known for their stylish clothes and fancy cars, while the Greasers are known for their greasy hair and bad boy image. Also, the gangs provide its members with protection. In the violent and dangerous environment, each gang helps defend its members from frequent attacks. The Socs defend each other against the Greasers and vice versa. Both gangs are also important to each character's development throughout the novel. Although the gangs have a significant affect on how each character acts and views themselves, Hinton suggests that one's social life does not define them. 

Is democracy the form of best government?

In order to answer this question, I must distinguish between a democratic republic and a democracy. Many people use these terms interchangeably when they really are describing a democratic republic. In a democracy, every citizen is involved in making the laws. In a democratic republic, people elect representatives to make the laws for them.

There are several advantages to having a democratic republic form of government. In a democratic republic, people are able to elect their leaders. They are able to have a voice in their government by choosing those people who will represent them. In other forms of government, people don’t have as much of a say as to who their leaders will be. Many people have come to the United States to experience the political freedom that we have in our country. They have come from countries where leaders aren’t elected and can do basically whatever they want to do. In a democratic republic, political power remains in the hands of the people who elect their leaders. This allows the people to hold their elected leaders accountable for their words and for their actions. It is fair to say that having a democracy or a democratic republic is the best form of government.

The sources from the documentary hypothesis P and D curate earlier tradition and innovate new ideas in service of agendas that appear to be...

The D, or Deuteronomist source, is thought to have written most of Deuteronomy and the books of Joshua through Second Kings in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. This source's legal system was based on the bond of the Israelites to the Covenant or people's commitment to following the Commandments, and this source interpreted bad events as people's failure to follow the Covenant with God. Moses, who received the commandments, was the ultimate political and religious authority. D's source of holiness and purity relied on people's ability to follow laws and morals, for example those given in Deuteronomy, and to avoid worshipping God in places other than Jerusalem. This source spoke often about worshipping Yahweh alone and destroying other forms of worship. D took a moralistic approach and included many long sermons. The central holy area for this source is Mount Horeb and Sinai. This source advocates destruction of the Canaanites and other non-Israelites. 

The P, or priestly source, is thought to have written in the 6th century BCE, during the period of exile in Babylon. This source, unlike D, stressed the importance of cultic practice and following laws and rituals. This source rejected the idea of a divinely appointed king and gave political power to the priestly class. The legal system was based on the Levites, or the priestly class, and their temple in Jerusalem. Purity in this source came from following rituals. P also emphasizes the idea of the Israelites as God's chosen people and the importance of avoiding intermarriage with non-Israelites. 

In some ways, these sources are incompatible, as D gives ultimate authority to the Covenant and laws, while P gives ultimate authority to the priestly class and rituals. D follows a moralistic approach to religion, while P follows a ritual approach. They both, however, stress Israelites' special bond with God and urge non-assimilation with non-Israelites as well as the importance of the temple in Jerusalem.

According to the narrator, how did Laurie change when he started kindergarten in the story "Charles" by Shirley Jackson?

When Shirley Jackson's "Charles" begins, the narrator's son Laurie is "my sweet-voiced nursery-school tot" (Jackson 1).  Even as he turns the corner on his way to school, he begins his transformation to a "swaggering character" (1).  From a sweet and compliant child, he morphs into a noisy and rude character who slams the door, speaks to his father "insolently" (1) and loses his ability to speak proper English, now saying "I didn't learn nothing" (1).

Laurie begins to come home with stories of Charles, a classmate he says gets in trouble all the time. He has hit the teacher, yells during story time, injures a little girl on the playground, and makes so much noise that he disrupts other classes. After some time passes, Laurie reports Charles has settled down and is rewarded for better behavior. He has a few lapses, and then seems to settle in well. 

After weeks of Laurie reporting on Charles's bad behavior to his parents, his mother, who has missed the parent-teacher conference, attends the PTA meeting, hoping to hear about Charles. This is when she learns from Laurie's teacher that there is no Charles in Laurie's class. She also learns Laurie had a difficult time adjusting to school, but seems to be doing better now. 

Laurie's transformation in school is from sweet toddler to his new alter ego, Charles. Charles is the vehicle by which Laurie reports to his parents his own bad behavior, or at the very least, behavior he wished to engage in while in school. Once he acclimates to school, Laurie reports Charles is behaving better, too. School is truly a transformational process, but it is often a bumpy road!

What is one motif in "A White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewett?

Motifs are recurring symbols which support the themes or main ideas in any story. In A White Heron, the young sportsman's gun is a recurring motif.

To Sylvia, the gun represents strange emotions associated with masculinity, an area she's too young to explore but which, nevertheless, fascinates her.

Sylvia would have liked him vastly better without his gun; she could not understand why he killed the very birds he seemed to like so much. But as the day waned, Sylvia still watched the young man with loving admiration. She had never seen anybody so charming and delightful; the woman's heart, asleep in the child, was vaguely thrilled by a dream of love.

Sylvia is only nine and for her, the realm of love is still hidden in shadows. For her part, she's fascinated as well as horrified by the hunter's nonchalance in killing his animal prey. The gun, of course, is a phallic symbol, and it underlines the theme of nature versus man in the story. Sylvia's conflict is with herself: should she choose to humor the sportsman by revealing the white heron's hiding place or should she protect the birds that have given her so much joy in her young life?

In the end, Sylvia makes her decision on the side of nature. Although her heart is broken as she remembers the "sharp report" of the young sportsman's gun and the "sight of thrushes and sparrows dropping silent to the ground, their songs hushed and their pretty feathers stained and wet with blood," the author suggests that Sylvia has made the better choice. The young protagonist foregoes financial remuneration and a promising friendship with the huntsman in order to protect the beautiful white heron.

So, in the story, the gun is used as a motif to underline the theme of conflict between nature and man. Certainly, the gun can be a useful weapon when one lives in the wilderness: Sylvia's grandmother shares with the sportsman how her son, Dan, used to keep her pantry well-stocked with partridges and squirrels when he was home. However, the gun can also represent the loss of innocence. Sylvia, who doesn't understand how the sportsman can shoot the birds he purports to love, must suddenly begin to contemplate how nature fits into the larger story of humanity.

Do you think the hyperbole in Plath's "Daddy" about Hitler and Dracula is justifiable?

The confessional nature of Plath's "Daddy" makes the use of powerful imagery justifiable.

Plath writes "Daddy" from a confessional frame of reference. The interactions Plath had with her father had a profound impact on her identity. They were difficult to understand, and her poetry is a way for her to make sense of it.

Plath sees her father as dominating. She feels he denied her voice and expression. He was a "black shoe" in which Plath "lived like a a foot," afraid to "breathe" or sneeze. Plath writes how she had "always been scared" of her father. Her trepidation in communicating with him is seen in lines such as "the tongue stuck in my jaw." It conveys the fear that prevented a daughter from being able to speak to her father.

The use of "Hitler" communicates this emotional dynamic. Plath compares herself to someone who is Jewish living at the time of concentration camps. In likening herself to a Nazi victim, Plath conveys the extent to which her father denied her voice. He "killed" off a part of her identity. Plath's father made her believe she "may well be a Jew." Plath's argument that her father robbed a portion of her identity makes the Hitler comparison fitting, if extreme. What Hitler did on a political level to millions of people is what Plath feels her father did to her on a personal level.

Plath feels her father took something from her. He took her happiness. His dominance over her was similar to how Dracula wielded power over his victims. Both malevolent forces take the lifeblood of their victims. Her call to drive a "stake in your fat black heart" reflects how Plath wants to restore power. Just as Dracula has to be killed to make people feel safe, Plath believes she must do the same to her "vampire" of a father. In "Daddy," the relationship between Plath and her father makes the images of Dracula and Hitler highly effective.

What is a poor conductor of electricity? Not an insulator, but still a conductor.

When you say a poor conductor but not an insulator, I assume you mean something on the border between insulator and conductor.

Even an insulator is considered a conductor if electricity can pass through it. The rubber coating on wire can conduct electricity if a high enough potential exists between the wire and an exterior object. This tends to happen if you are holding the wires of a piezo starter when you push the button, for example, and can be used to make shock pens.

Air is a conductor in high enough voltages, which is how lightning can travel all the way between the clouds and the ground, while passing through a massive insulator.

I would say that if you are looking for relatively poor conductors, though, a good bet would be something like a semiconductor like graphite or silicon, or perhaps a metal like lead or mercury with poor conductivity.

Describe the system of trade between European nations and their colonies.

The word that is usually used to describe the system of trade between European countries and their colonies is “mercantilism.”  The mercantile system was one which was set up in such a way as to benefit the European countries without much regard for the colonial economies.

People in this era of history generally believed that countries needed to export in order to become rich.  The idea was that a country could not be wealthy unless it exported more than it imported.  In order to help this happen, countries regulated their colonies’ trade.  The European countries required the colonies to buy only from the mother country, not from any other country.  The European countries required all of the colonies’ exports to go through the mother country. The colonies could not sell directly to any foreign countries.  This increased each country’s exports and reduced its imports.

In addition, the European countries tried to ensure that the colonies would be a market for their exports.  The Europeans would often prohibit the colonists from producing various goods that were produced in the mother country.  By doing this, they forced the colonists to buy those goods from the mother country, thus increasing its exports.

In short, the European countries used trade with their colonies as a way to enrich themselves.  They did this with little regard for the needs or desires of the colonists.  We typically call this the mercantile system.

What is the difference between ammonium and ammonia?

Ammonia and ammonium differ by one hydrogen ion (H+). Ammonia is the common name for the compound nitrogen trihydride, which has the formula `NH_3` . Ammonium is the name of the ion `NH_4^+` . An ion is an atom or molecule that has a net charge. 

Ammonia is a base, meaning it produces `OH^- ` in solution. When ammonia reacts with water, an H+ ion is transferred from water to ammonia, forming ammonium ion, according to this equation:

`NH_3 + H_2O -> NH_4^+ + OH^-` 

Ammonia and ammonium ion are a conjugate acid-base pair. Ammonium ion is the conjugate acid of ammonia because it forms when when the base ammonia `(NH_3)` accepts a proton (H+ ion), as seen in the equation above. When the `NH_4^+` ion donates a proton, its conjugate base `NH_3` is formed. This occurs in the reverse reaction:

`NH_4^+ + OH^(-) -> NH_3 + H_2O`

Electrons emerge from an electron gun with a speed of 2.0 x 10^6 m/s and then pass through a pair of thin parallel slits. Interference fringes with...

Electrons emerge from an electron gun with a speed of 2.0 x 10^6 m/s and then pass through a pair of thin parallel slits. Interference fringes with a spacing of 2.7 mm are detected on a screen far from the double slit and fairly close to the center of the pattern. The mass of electrons is 9.11 x 10^-31 kg and the mass of neutrons is 1.67 x 10^-27 kg. The fringe spacing has to be determined if the electrons are replaced by neutrons with the same speed.

The de Broglie wavelength of a particle with mass m is `L = h/p,` where h is the Planck's associated and equal to `6.6*10^-34` J*s and p is the momentum of the particle.

The fringe width `delX` is given by `delX = L*D/d,` where D is the distance from the screen and d is the slit separation.

`delX = (h/p)*(D/d)`

For electrons, `delX_e = (h/(m_e*v_e))*(D/d)`

For protons, `delX_p = (h/(m_p*v_p))*(D/d)`

The ratio of the two gives `(delX_e)/(delX_p) = ((h/(m_e*v_e)*(D/d)))/( (h/(m_p*v_p)*(D/d)))`

=> `(delX_e)/(delX_p) = (m_p*v_p)/(m_e*v_e)`

The value of `delX_e = 2.7 mm,` `m_e = 9.11*10^-31` kg, `m_p = 1.67*10^-27` kg

As the velocity of the electron and the proton emerging from the gun is the same `v_e = v_p,' this gives `delX_p = delX_e*(m_e/m_p)`

`delX_p = (2.7*10^-3)((9.11*10^-31)/(1.67*10^-27))`

`delX_p = 1.47*10^-6`

= `1.47 mum`

The fringe spacing when the neutrons are replaced by electrons is equal to '1.47 mum.'

What is Wright's view of jihadism in The Looming Tower?

Wright's view of jihadism is that it grows when governments fail to develop an effective course of action to combat it.

Wright argues that jihadism is aided because of feeble political responses. Jihadism is a significant threat throughout The Looming Tower.  However, governments are shown to lack the understanding or will to effectively combat it.  Wright views jihadism as a response against the Status Quo that grows stronger when it is dismissed.

Wright gives examples of how poor political responses have enabled jihadism. For example, the Saudi government understood the significant threat of jihadists like bin Laden.  Yet, it was unable to formulate an effective response.  They reverted to autocratic measures such as suspending bin Laden's citizenship without really doing much else.  They failed to understand the roots of jihadism.  When bin Laden took refuge in Sudan, Wright talks about how the Sudanese government similarly wanted to be rid of him.  At the same time, Wright displays an America that was unwilling or unable to fully grasp the threat of jihadism until it was too late to prevent the attacks of September 11.  Its intelligence organizations failed to grasp the threat of jihadism and lacked a concerted effort to structurally combat it.  

These ineffective political responses fuel jihad.  Wright shows a political world that does not critically dissect or address jihadism at its root level.  He suggests that jihadism will grow unless there is a substantive and coordinated response against it.  As seen in the governmental responses of Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and the United States, Wright feels that jihadism must be addressed in a structurally authentic manner.  If not, it will reach anyone and everyone, even those who might be in "the looming tower."

How does The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne deal with the rise of Hitler?

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas deals with the rise of Hitler by looking at the atrocities Hitler encouraged through the eyes of a child:  Bruno.  By making this particular child our narrator as well as the son of a Nazi commandant, the reader is able to watch the confusion of an innocent boy as he comes upon the evidence of Hitler's rise to power.  One of the most revealing scenes about Hitler's rise to power is the dinner scene where Hitler and Eva come to dinner at Bruno's house.  We have learned to love our narrator by this time, and Bruno already despises Hitler due to his prideful conduct at dinner.  Bruno's innocence continues by calling Hitler "the Fury" instead of the Führer.  Further, Bruno witnesses the treatment of the prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas through the character of Shmuel.  When Bruno meets Shmuel, he is dirty, dressed in a striped uniform, thin, gaunt, and without shoes.  Bruno's innocence continues here as he misinterprets life in the concentration camp as life on a brutal farm.  Bruno cannot accept the treatment of Shmuel, so he brings him extra food and company.  Bruno's innocence is lost when he escapes "into" the camp and is killed in the gas chamber.  It is a piece of brutal irony that the son of a Nazi commandant would be killed in this way.

What happens to the phenotype of the heterozygotes when traits are inherited in an incomplete dominance pattern?

"Dominant" is a highly generalized term that we use to describe the relationship of a particular allele to another. Dominant alleles will be more visible in the phenotype of the organism. In reality, things aren't always so straightforward, as the idea of being "visible in the phenotype" depends on much more than the allele itself. Thus, it should come as no surprise that there are variations on dominance.

Incomplete dominance describes a situation where two alleles are equally expressed, but segregated. That is to say, some cells express one allele exclusively, and other cells express the other allele exclusively. Flowers are commonly cited as an example of incomplete dominance, wherein different parts of the flower can have different colors and patterns with no apparent relationship to the physical structure of the flower. There aren't many obvious traits in humans that involve incomplete dominance; if, for example, an allele for black hair and an allele for blonde hair were codominant, we would expect to see heterozygotes that have "patchwork" hair with intermittent chunks of black or blonde depending on where they're located.

Incomplete dominance is often compared and contrasted with codominance, another variation in which both alleles are equally expressed but not equally visible at the phenotypic level; instead, their equal expression "blends" to create a new phenotype. This is usually because the rates of expression per unit area are the same for a codominant trait, whereas the segregated effect of incomplete dominance leads to visibly different regions of the organism which retain a single allele's characteristics.

What were the political parties involved during the Russian Revolution. What did each desire and why?

The two parties involved in the Russian Revolution were the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks, and their division (both were initially part of the Russian Social Democratic Party) dated back to about ten years before the outbreak of World War I. Bolsheviks were radical Marxian revolutionaries who wished to establish a communist society through violent uprising. They saw themselves as the leaders of this movement, which would revolve around local workers' councils known as "soviets." They had no use for compromise, which they viewed as antithetical to the cause of class revolution. Their leader, Vladimir Lenin, advocated the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Russia from World War I, which had precipitated the Russian Revolution in the first place. Mensheviks, on the other hand, were more willing to accept gradual reform. They were in the main democratic socialists, and even hoped to make alliances with liberal nobles. Their views and goals, which were for a democratic socialist society, were reflected in the provisional government established after the abdication of Tsar Nicholas. This government was in turn overthrown by the Bolsheviks, and many Mensheviks, in coalition with royalists and others, fought against the Bolshevik "Reds" in the Russian Civil War. 

Explain the fear experienced by Helen Keller. How did Miss Sullivan pacify her?

One day, Helen and Miss Sullivan went walking in the woods.  They found a nice shade tree, and Miss Sullivan suggested that they eat their midday meal under it.  Helen decided to stay in the tree while Miss Sullivan brought the food for the meal back from the house.

Helen waited on a branch in the coolness of the shade for her teacher to return.  Though Helen could not see or hear the approaching thunderstorm, she did feel it coming:

Suddenly a change passed over the tree.  All the sun's warmth left the air.  I knew the sky was black, because all the heat, which meant light to me, had died out of the atmosphere (The Story of My Life, Chapter V). 

The scent of the approaching storm was something Helen could smell.  As Helen waited, clinging to the tree branch, "a nameless fear clutched at [her] heart."  Helen was fearful because she felt alone in the storm.  She could not see or hear, and therefore could not find her way home by herself.   Helen explained the fear and loneliness she felt while in the tree:

The immense, the unknown, enfolded me.  I remained still and expectant; a chilling terror crept over me.  I longed for my teacher's return; but above all things I wanted to get down from that tree.

The winds from the storms came and violently blew the tree branches around.  Helen continued to cling to her branch.  She was terrified:

A wild impulse to jump seized me, but terror held me fast.... I felt the intermittent jarring that came now and then, as if something heavy had fallen and the shock had traveled up till it reached the limb I sat on.  It worked my suspense up to the highest point, and just as I was thinking the tree and I should fall together, my teacher seized my hand and helped me down.  I clung to her, trembling with joy to feel the earth under my feet once more.

Miss Sullivan calmed Helen's fears by returning to the tree and helping her down.  With her hand in Miss Sullivan's, Helen experienced comfort.  Miss Sullivan let Helen cling to her.

How would one approach writing a paper based on the following activities:Interview someone you know (e.g., family member, significant other, or...

To write your paper, you first want to gain a thorough understanding of the personality theories developed by psychologists over the decades and of the research they used to develop their theories. The reason why is because such psychologists have already developed methods of inquiry to use to uncover personality traits, and developed their personality theories based on the answers they derived from their methods of inquiry. For example, Hans Eysenck developed his own questionnaire concerning behaviors to use to interview hospital patients to determine personality traits and developed his own personality theory based on the patients' answers. Knowing exactly how psychologists like Eysenck approached their research helps you determine exactly how to approach your own research. Without this knowledge, you might ask fruitless questions if you decide to conduct an interview or flounder in researching the correct details if you choose to research a historic figure.

Personality refers to the consistent ways in which we think, feel, conform, and behave over time. Such personality traits impact our values, our beliefs about ourselves, our mindsets, and our optimistic vs. pessimistic anticipations of things to come. Personality theories have been developed based on science and philosophy and continue to be developed. One example of a philosophy upon which personality theory has been developed is determinism vs. freedom. Some philosophers/theorists posit human beings, through freewill, have complete control over their behaviors, whereas others posit our behaviors are controlled by our environment, our unconscious minds, and by various aspects of biology. One scientific approach to the development of personality theory concerns the study of how genetics plays a role in developing personality traits. The theory is a part of behavioral genetics and studies the relationship between how genes activate cells and how the environment controls the activation of the cells. The theory notes that it is the interaction between genes, cells, and the environment that shapes the development of our brains and our personalities.

Numerous psychologists have developed personality theories. Among the names of theorists are Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud, Erik Erikson, Hans Eysenck, and Carl Jung, to name a few. Hans Eysenck's theory is one of the most popularly referenced because he is the one who catalogued behavior into the following three dimensions:

1. Introversion/Extroversion


2. Neuroticism/Stability


3. Psychoticism

People who are introverts display introverted behaviors. Introverted behaviors include being reserved, very considerate of others, and contemplative or self-reflective. Introverts also have a tendency to be careful planners, be in much better command of their emotions than those with the opposite personality traits,  be very serious, and often pessimistic (Dr. Boeree, G. C., "Hans Eysenck (1916-1997)").

People who are the opposite, extraverts, also spelled extroverts, display extraverted behaviors. Such behaviors include being very friendly, even gregarious, and able to talk to new people easily. Extraverts also seek change in their lives because they need excitement and are impulsive. They are also often optimistic in contrast to their introverted counterparts (Dr. Boeree).

Those who are neurotics are gloomy, depressed, and become easily worried or fearful. They are also easily emotionally excitable and do not calm down easily once aggravated. In contrast, those who are stable do not worry easily, do not easily react emotionally, and are much more calm emotionally (Dr. Boeree).

Finally, those who are psychotics have an inability to empathize with others, intentionally hurt and distress others, attack others easily without or with little provocation, and often keep to themselves (Dr. Boeree).

Eysenck also posited that these personality dimensions can combine to produce a number of different personality traits. For example, there can be neurotic introverts, stable introverts, neurotic extraverts, stable extraverts, etc. (Dr. Boeree).

To continue understanding personality theories, continue reviewing your coursework and researching them. Once you have a thorough understanding of personality theories and have either conducted your interview or your research on a historical figure, you will then be able to analyze the personality traits of either your interviewee or your historical figure by determining what their traits are based on the personality theories. You will then be able to explain which theories influenced your decisions concerning their traits the most.

As you synthesize theories to analyze personality traits, you will be creating your own theory concerning personality traits. As you develop your own theory, you can think about whether or not philosophy or science is most influencing the decisions you are making concerning your theory. You'll then be able to write your paper based on all of the directions to your assignment.

How was the economy of the North affected by the war?

The U.S. Civil War fundamentally changed America's economy, especially in the North.  By the end of the war, over one million men were in the Union army and navy.  These men had to be supplied and armed quickly and efficiently, and during the war contractors were able to make use of interchangeable parts, telegraph lines, and rail transportation in order to maximize profits while minimizing costs.  Most Union units by the end of the war were equipped with standardized rifles that could be made quickly and cheaply.  Contrast this with previous wars where armies needed gunsmiths for all minor repairs.  Before the war, Samuel Colt demonstrated that interchangeable parts could revolutionize the firearm industry.  After the war, industrialists used interchangeable parts to manufacture toys and farming implements in order to make goods more quickly and cheaper.  

The Union army won the war because it controlled the rail system in the country.  After the war, industrialists used railroads to ship raw materials and consumer goods throughout the country.  It was now possible to have a nationwide (and if one had steamships, a worldwide) client base and this in turn maximized profits and brought the country together as a cohesive economic unit, as it became possible to purchase the same goods in California as you could New York.  The rail system finally reached its economic potential with the completion of the Trans-Continental Railroad in 1869.  Other railroads would soon branch off this main line, thus creating more towns and economic opportunities for more Americans.  

The telegraph was also key to the Union victory, as the Union could synchronize its armies in the field by 1865--something the South never could accomplish.  After the war, capitalists could use those same telegraph lines to order more materials and to take orders from customers.  This brought the nation together, as the telegraph would soon lead to the telephone in 1876, thus creating more buying and selling opportunities for the rapidly growing nation.  

What are some ways farmers can transition from using chemical pesticides to organic pesticides?

Many farmers consider transitioning from chemical (or conventional) farming to organic farming. Organic farming can be both profitable and environmentally sustainable. To become an organic farmer in the US, there is a specific set of practices that farmers must follow to receive organic certification. One thing that farmers must do as organic farmers is use only pesticides that have been approved for use on organic crops. The transition from conventional farming to organic farming takes time; a farmer can expect it to take no less than three years to make the transition from conventional to organic.  

So what are pesticides? Pesticides are chemicals that farmers apply to their crops or soil to destroy insects, fungi, and weeds. Any of these pests can severely decrease a field's crop yield. Pesticides are important to allow farms to maximize yield in any given season and remain profitable as a business.

Pesticides are widely varied in origin, mechanism, and effect. Organic farming is mostly concerned with the pesticide's origin, that is, how was this pesticide made? Chemical pesticides fall into three general origin categories: organic, synthetic, and inorganic. 

Organic pesticides are those whose chemicals are naturally occurring. An example of an organic pesticide is pyrethrum. Pyrethrum is a chemical that naturally occurs in the flowers of chrysanthemum plants. That chemical acts as a neurotoxin to insects and kills them. 

Synthetic pesticides are those that do not occur anywhere in nature. Rather, these kinds of pesticides are formulated in research labs. One very famous synthetic pesticide is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT. DDT's insecticide action is also neurotoxic. It kills by affecting the insect's nervous system. Although DDT is no longer utilized as a pesticide, many new synthetic pesticides are continually being formulated and applied.

Lastly, inorganic pesticides are those that are mineral-based. An example of this type of pesticide is copper sulfate. The copper in this fungicide binds to proteins in fungi, causing the host fungus to die, thus saving the plant the fungus has infected. 

To start thinking about conventional and organic pesticides, we need to define what we mean when we refer to each of those categories. For the purposes of this question, we will use definitions provided by the USDA: organic pesticides are those allowed for use by farmers who are USDA Certified Organic; conventional pesticides are those that certified organic farmers are not allowed to use. 

When a farmer is making the transition from conventional to organic farming, they must follow the USDA's regulations, which include detailed notes on which pesticides are allowed for use on organic crops. In general, organic farmers are not allowed to use any synthetic pesticides on their crops. They may, however, use organic pesticides as well as some inorganic pesticides. The USDA provides documents that explain exactly which pesticides an organic farmer can and cannot use. An aspiring organic farmer will make the transition from conventional to organic practices by following those regulations to the letter. If a farmer has been using synthetic pesticides, the best practice is to research organic pesticides that target the same pests and substitute organic pesticides for synthetic ones.

Once a farmer is complying with all of the USDA regulations, they then apply for organic certification. A number of third-party organizations provide organic certifications. Once certified, the farmer is officially an organic farmer and can begin selling crops under that label.

Is there any use in calculating IRR if a project is not financed through a loan?

The internal rate of return (IRR) is a valuable measure for determining the value of a project and should always be considered when deciding whether to fund a project.  The IRR will certainly inform a loan institution about the financial feasibility of the project, but it will also tell the project owner if it is worth the risk.

The IRR is a discounted cash flow technique.  It shows the rate at which the net present value of an investment  becomes zero.  In the most basic form, IRR is the projected interest rate of return assuming the project goes according to plan.  The formula for determining IRR is complicated and involves some estimation to narrow down the approximate IRR.

When deciding on investing in a project, an organization must look at two key items: the cost of the project, or cost of funds, and the IRR.  The IRR should always be the larger of the two numbers.  For example, if it costs 8% to fund the project, then the IRR must be higher in order to off-set the cost and show a projected profit.  Any organization should evaluate IRR to decide if the project makes sense for the business regardless of whether it is being funding internally or externally. 

Why does Gortsby not believe the story of the young man? What eventually makes him feel sorry and part with a sovereign also?

The author establishes that Norman Gortsby is accustomed to sitting on a bench in this park at dusk and watching the passing crowd. Gortsby must have heard many hard-luck stories on these evenings. He has become cynical. It would be hard for anyone to get any money out of him. He listens to the young man's story patiently, but he feels sure it is nothing but a scam, and he has no intention of parting with any money. Then when the young man is finished, Gortsby points out the one flaw in his story.

"Of course," said Gortsby slowly, "the weak point of your story is that you can't produce the soap."

The young man is completely flustered. All he can say is:

"I must have lost it."

But Gortsby shows the con-man he is wasting his time.

"To lose an hotel and a cake of soap on one afternoon suggests wilful carelessness," said Gortsby, but the young man scarcely waited to hear the end of the remark. He flitted away down the path, his head held high, with an air of somewhat jaded jauntiness.

This young man is obviously a novice. He has tailored a very good story but hadn't thought about being asked to show the cake of soap he supposedly went out to buy. His story was intended to make the "mark" or "prospect" believe that he was a country gentleman who didn't know a soul in London. Whoever would lend him enough money for one night's room rent might be making a friend of an aristocrat who would conceivably repay his generosity by inviting him to dinner, inviting down to his country manor for shooting, and introducing him to members of a higher social class. This was never said, but implied.

When Gortsby finds a cake of soap on the ground by the bench, he naturally thinks it belonged to the young man and that his whole story was true. Gortsby goes hurrying after him because he thinks he missed a chance to make an extremely valuable friend. He does not have to part with a sovereign. The young man only wanted a loan which he would return as soon as he could get a wire from his people in the country informing him of the name of the hotel he had sent them when it turned out he wasn't going to be staying at the Patagonian. Evidently it would take until the next day for the young man to receive the return telegram from the country.

Gortsby eagerly and apologetically gives the young con-man a sovereign plus the cake of soap.

"Here is my card with my address," continued Gortsby; "any day this week will do for returning the money, and here is the soap — don't lose it again it's been a good friend to you."

No doubt Gortsby has great expectations until he sees the elderly gentleman searching all around the bench they had previously been sharing. It turns out that the soap unmistakably belonged to the old man. Gortsby has not been made a fool by feeling sorry for the young man but by being conned into thinking that the young man was a country gentleman who didn't know a soul in London and might become a friend who could help him to rise in the world socially and financially. Gortsby wanted something for himself. The best way to manipulate people is to appeal to their selfish interest.

Would you persuade? Speak of interest, not of reason.
               Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac

 

What was the context in which Conrad's Heart of Darkness was written?

Heart of Darkness was published in 1899 as a serial and in 1902 as a book. During this time, the Congo Free State, where the novella takes place, was controlled by King Leopold II of Belgium as his personal domain. While he told the world he was a humanitarian, in reality, Leopold oversaw the extraction of ivory, rubber, and other valuable materials from the area under brutal conditions. While stating that he had outlawed slavery in the area, he employed a private police force to ensure that the local people met quotas for extracting rubber, and this force turned to flogging, rape, and murder to do so. They would also cut off the hands of children as part of their campaign of brutality. In 1903, Roger Casement, a worker in the British Foreign Office, published a report, called the Casement Report, that documented Leopold's abuses. As a result of this report, the Congo Reform Association was formed to publicize Leopold's actions, and, in 1908, the Congo was taken away from Leopold and became a Belgian colony known as the Belgian Congo. 

What caused Brutus' downfall in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar?

Brutus' downfall is perhaps one of Shakespeare's most tragic, as it comes as a result of the qualities that also make Brutus most heroic: his deep sense of honor and nobility. Unlike the other conspirators, Brutus does not kill Caesar because he is jealous of the man's swift rise to power; rather, Brutus joins the assassins in order to protect Rome's representative republic and to guard the common Roman plebeians from an authoritarian dictatorship. Since he joins the conspiracy with such honorable intentions, he also assumes that others will abide by the same code of honor, and so he allows Mark Antony to give a speech at Caesar's funeral, and the cunning politician uses this time as an opportunity to convince the mob to turn against the conspirators. Thus, Brutus' downfall is caused by the same innate sense of honor that also makes him a successful leader in the first place.

But that's not all; if we're talking about Brutus' downfall, it's worth mentioning that, while Brutus is highly concerned with protecting the political freedoms of the plebeians, the common Romans are quick to turn on him. Indeed, Antony's funeral speech is enough to turn public opinion against Brutus and his companions, even though they quite recently believed that Brutus was "an honorable man" and that his actions were just. As such, Shakespeare explores the fickle and unjust nature of mob mentality, showing how it lacks reason and rationality and can be swayed by someone clever enough to manipulate it. If Brutus' downfall is already tragic, then his misguided faith in the "mob" of Rome merely serves to pour salt in the wound.   

How would you describe and analyze the Prince of Arragon in The Merchant of Venice?

The first reference to the prince is in Act I, Scene 2, when Portia and Nerissa, her lady in waiting, are discussing Portia's suitors. Each one is individually mentioned by Nerissa, with Portia providing insight into her sentiments about each man. Nerissa refers to the Prince of Arragon as the 'Neapolitan prince.' It is clear Portia does not like him much, as we can read in her comment:

Ay, that's a colt indeed, for he doth nothing but
talk of his horse; and he makes it a great
appropriation to his own good parts, that he can
shoe him himself. I am much afeard my lady his
mother played false with a smith.

Portia seems to believe the prince is obsessed with his horse. He talks about it incessantly and is very proud he can shoe it himself. Portia mocks the prince and says she believes his peculiar behavior could only be because he was most likely the result of an affair between his mother and a blacksmith.

In Act II, Scene 9, we learn more about the Prince of Arragon when he chooses a casket. His name seems to suit his personality and one can easily assume 'Arragon' is a deliberate play on 'arrogant,' since the prince displays a conceited opinion of himself as can be inferred from his response to the inscription on the lead casket:

'Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.'
You shall look fairer, ere I give or hazard.

The Prince of Arragon's remark is quite offensive, since he states that Portia should either be more beautiful, lighter in complexion, or more generous before the prince will be moved to give and risk everything he has. When he looks at the inscription on the gold casket, his response is supercilious:

'Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.'
What many men desire! that 'many' may be meant
By the fool multitude, that choose by show...

...I will not choose what many men desire,
Because I will not jump with common spirits
And rank me with the barbarous multitudes.

It is obvious the prince deems himself superior to other people, whom he refers to as 'barbarous multitudes.' As a result, the prince rejects the gold casket, claiming he is not a commoner who is easily led by what he sees on the outside and ignores the true value of what is inside.

When the prince reads the inscription on the silver casket, he reveals a pompous attitude, for he is quite condescending and patronizing. He boorishly sermonizes about the value of being rewarded with what one deserves and not obtaining merit by corrupt means. Apparently, the prince forgets he was born into wealth and privilege without having to work for those advantages. His remarks, therefore, come across as quite hypocritical.

When he decides on the silver casket, the prince clearly indicates his superiority complex, as he assumes he is entitled to Portia's hand. He says, "I will assume desert," which means he thinks he deserves to be the one who gets Portia. In the end, though, the prince is honest enough to admit having been foolish. He states he has become twice as foolish as he was when he arrived.

With one fool's head I came to woo,
But I go away with two. 

What is the extended metaphor that is used to describe the process of dying or thinking about death in Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop...

In Emily Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," the extended metaphor used to express the process of dying is the unexpected ride in a horse-drawn carriage that leads to the grave.

Death itself is personified as a carriage driver, who "kindly" stops for the speaker. But, the speaker's ride is a solitary one as there are no other passengers in this carriage. Nor is there any haste in this ride as the speaker has finished her worldly tasks of "labor" and "leisure."

As the ride continues, the carriage passes a school, fields of grain, and the sunset. Each of these symbolize a stage of life: Childhood, Maturity, and Old Age. Finally, they pause before a House that "seemed / A Swelling of the Ground--" whose "Roof was scarcely visible." This, of course, is the grave. But, it is only at this point that the speaker realizes--"surmises"-- that her carriage ride has been headed "toward Eternity."

"Lamb to the Slaughter" is a tale of love, betrayal, and revenge. In this context, discuss how the author brings out those themes of the story.

The theme of love can be seen in Mary Maloney.  Dahl makes it clear early on in the story that Mary is completely devoted and in love with Patrick.  When the reader is introduced to Mary, she is quietly sitting down and waiting for Patrick to come home.  

Now and again she would glance up at the clock, but without anxiety, merely to please herself with the thought that each minute gone by made it nearer the time when he would come. 

Once Patrick arrives home, Mary becomes the quintessential doting wife.  She anticipates Patrick's every need, and she is made happy simply by being in his presence.  

For her, this was always a blissful time of day. She knew he didn’t want to speak much until the first drink was finished, and she, on her side, was content to sit quietly, enjoying his company after the long hours alone in the house. She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel – almost as a sunbather feels the sun – that warm male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone together.

It is absolutely clear to readers that Mary is completely and utterly in love with Patrick.  Unfortunately for Mary, Patrick no longer feels the same about her.  He betrays her love, and his news completely blindsides Mary.  The reader never learns exactly what Patrick says to Mary, but it is clear that the marriage is over.  He either wants a divorce or tells her that he is just going to leave her. It doesn't matter though, because the news completely devastates Mary.  

When she walked across the room she couldn’t feel her feet touching the floor. She couldn’t feel anything at all – except a slight nausea and a desire to vomit.

In a way, Mary also betrays Patrick.  He trusts that his meek wife is going to sit back and politely take his bad news.  I assumed the same thing when I read the story for the first time too; however, Mary betrays that trust when she clubs him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb.  

Mary's act of violence against Patrick is evidence toward the theme of revenge, but I think there is better evidence. I don't like only using Patrick's death for the revenge theme.  The reason is because I don't think Mary planned her revenge.  For me, revenge carries the connotation of a planned act.  I personally believe revenge is premeditated.  I don't think Mary planned to kill, or even to hit, Patrick.  Mary is still operating in a daze as she hits and kills Patrick.  Readers know this because the text says that Mary came out of her daze after Patrick crashed to the floor. 

The violence of the crash, the noise, the small table overturning, helped bring her out of her shock. She came out slowly, feeling cold and surprised, and she stood for a while blinking at the body, still holding the ridiculous piece of meat tight with both hands.

For me, the revenge theme's best evidence is what Mary does after Patrick hits the floor.  From that moment forward, Mary is planning and plotting to get away with her action.  Patrick is a cop, and many of their friends are cops.  The fact that Mary is able to get away with killing a police officer by fooling other officers that are her friends makes Patrick's death sweet revenge.  

How might I become proficient in historical thinking and historical argument?

If you master historical thinking, then you will be more proficient in making a historical argument.  These things will put you on a path towards becoming a true historian, which means that you possess critical thinking skills and are good at finding cause/effect relationships.  This will help you in any field.  

If one wants to master historical thinking, one should be careful as to what sources they are using.  One should focus on primary sources (materials created by someone from that time period) and look for bias.  Is this person trying to make themselves look good for posterity?  Is this person trying to incriminate others?  Also, do not judge historical people by present-day values.  Attitudes that we now take for granted were not considered normal back then.  One hundred years from now, I am sure that values will change once again and people reading about our time period will laugh and occasionally cringe.  Also, look for the reasons why historical people do things.  Look at what they are trying to accomplish through their words and actions.  

For your historical argument, I think you are having to write a paper.  My advice is to craft a a thesis statement which you can defend, and then find four or five concrete details which back your thesis.  If you do this, you will have identified what you are trying to prove and then displayed evidence, proving your point and demonstrating your mastery of not only the subject but historical argument in general.  

Why did Roy think that fighting back against Dana Matherson would be a waste of time?

Roy thought that fighting back against Dana Matherson would be a waste of time because Dana outweighed him by about fifty pounds. For his part, Roy distracted himself by watching a strange boy running on the sidewalk, parallel to the moving school bus.

According to the text, Dana had grabbed Roy's head from behind and rammed it into the window of the school bus. The bully had then held Roy's head against the window for good measure. Dana's goal, of course, was to earn the satisfaction of hearing that Roy had had enough of the pain he was being subjected to. For his part, Roy was more interested in why the strange boy wore no shoes, carried no backpack, and toted no books on what was obviously a school day.

Roy had hardly felt Dana's fingernails digging into his scalp, perhaps because his threshold for pain was greater than Dana had realized. So, Roy didn't fight back against Dana for two reasons. First, Dana was about fifty pounds heavier than Roy. Fighting back would have been "a complete waste of energy." Second, Dana was known to be the resident school bus bully and a "well-known idiot" who probably couldn't be reasoned with. 

I already understand the basics of quantum physics, so could you please tell me, a 10 year old fifth grader, advanced quantum physics?

Well, I can't explain all of the things you study in physics here. I can point you in some good directions.

I don't know how much math you have had, but if you intend to do quantum physics with mathematical rigor, you will need to learn all the way up to Calculus and Differential Equations. For this, I suggest you learn Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus, and Differential Equations in that order. Anything else you can pick up is great, such as Matrices or Advanced Geometry.

Understanding the quantum realm is easier if you have some chemistry and physics background. Taking a basic physics mechanics course (or just reading the textbook, as you seem inclined to do), then take a chemistry class, then an electricity and magnetism class. Things make the best sense in this order, in my opinion. You can do the mechanics course with just a geometry understanding and some basic trig, move into chemistry while doing calculus, and do electricity and magnetism once you have finished calculus, but you can explore these in greatest understanding once you have calculus completed. 

Then you can move into the quantum physics. 

The age of the textbook you use really doesn't matter until you get into quantum physics anyways, so you can go to used bookstores and get old textbooks for cheap (10-20$).

What are two quotations from Katherine Mansfield's "The Doll's House" that show the Kelveys are different from other families?

The Kelvey girls are from the lower class, whereas the other girls in the story are from families of a higher social status.

It is important to note the setting of this short story is a small village in New Zealand in the early twentieth century. At this time, New Zealand was still a colony of Great Britain, which had a rigid class system. Therefore, those who moved to New Zealand brought this class system and its accompanying attitudes with them.

The Burnells are people of wealth and privilege, a class that in England would not associate with the lower class. Because there is only one school, however, all children attend classes together, regardless of socioeconomic status.

But the line had to be drawn somewhere. It was drawn at the Kelveys. Many of the children, including the Burnells, were not allowed even to speak to them... The Kelveys were shunned by everybody.

Even the teacher had a special voice for them, and a special smile for the other children when Lil Kelvey came up to her desk with a bunch of dreadfully common flowers.

The Kelvey girls wear clothes made from bits of material donated to Mrs. Kelvey, who works as a washwoman,

who went about from house to house by the day. This was awful enough. But where was Mr. Kelvey? Nobody knew for certain. But, everybody said he was in prison.

When the other girls are allowed to see the charming doll's house, Lil and our Else "hovered at the edge" and listened. As Isabel Burnell conducts the tour for the girls, she points out the carpet and the bed and its little covers. Isabel's sister Kezia points out the little amber lamp, saying, "The lamps best of all." Afterwards, the other girls put their arms around Isabel and leave. 

Only the little Kelveys moved away forgotten; there was nothing more for them to hear.

When Kezia asks her mother if she can invite the Kelveys, she is told, "Certainly not!" Soon, then, all the girls but the Kelveys have seen the doll's house.

What do the Samsas' three boarders represent in the Metamorphosis?

The three boarders move into the Samsas' house so that the family can make more money after Gregor, who has turned into a bug, can no longer work. The roomers are very tidy people, and they "were painfully insistent on things' being tidy" (page 35). They bring a lot of their own furnishings and belongings with them, which means that the family's belongings have to be crowded into Gregor's room. Eventually, even the dustbins from the kitchen are relocated to Gregor's room. The roomers spot Gregor one day, and they threaten to move out. The next day, after Gregor dies, Mr. Samsa finally has the courage to throw the roomers out of his house. 

The roomers represent the intolerant attitudes of the outside world towards Gregor and the travails of the family. The roomers do not belong in the family, but they unthinkingly take over the apartment and make harsh demands on the family. They push Gregor towards death, as they make him realize that he is a burden on his family. The roomers' intolerance and narrow-mindedness are what finally kill Gregor. After his death, his father realizes that the roomers and their intolerance have to go. 

What are some symbols in the book Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella?

The field that Ray builds is a symbol in itself. Ray first describes "coddling that field like a child" (page 8). The field is the repository of dreams, and Ray builds it and nurses it like it is a child. Eventually, the field becomes magic when "Shoeless" Joe Jackson shows up. Then, the field is described as "soft as a child's breath," while "moonlight butters the whole Iowa night" (page 13). The field, a shabby stretch of crabgrass, becomes as real as any baseball field, with players, vendors, and a crowd. The field is a symbol of Ray's dreams and of the hopes that players will show up.

Ray's farm is also a symbol. Ray describes it in the following way: "All around me the clean smell of earth and water. Keeping my hands buried I stirred the earth with my fingers and I knew I loved Iowa as much as man could love a piece of earth" (page 16). He describes this experience as having "religious significance." The farm stands for earthly things that can also become magical. Many aspects of nature also take on magical symbolism in the book. Ray describes the stars as acting in a magical way: "I swear the stars have moved in close enough to eavesdrop" (page 19). Nature is alive in the book, and the stars are also symbols of this type of magic.