How do you create games for Android?

To create Android applications, which include games, it is important to have some computer programming knowledge. The best place to start for beginners is learning Java or Action script. However, computer programming languages are not the only skills required in successful game development. Scripting and graphic design are also necessary skills for successful application development in Android and all other platforms.

Free softwares are available for Android games development. Eclipse is one of the free popular integrated development environments (IDE). The IDE comes prepackaged with the Java software development kit (SDK), which is extended by installing the Eclipse Android Development Tools (ADT). Using the ADT, developers can create Android games by coding the game’s actions and attaching the required graphics. The final project is saved with a .apk file extension, which is compatible with the Android framework. Note: (This is what I have used as a developer. The Eclipse IDE was replaced by Android Studio, which does the same thing).

There are softwares (Gamesalad and Appsgeyser among others) that provide drag and drop (no coding required) capabilities for Android development. However, their capabilities are limited and cannot measure up to hard-coded apps and games.

Observing the present political competition in our country, write about the merits and drawbacks of the democratic form of government.

The merits and drawbacks of democratic government come from the responsibility of the people themselves to choose their leaders, and thereby, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly, choose the path the nation will follow. 

This election cycle has been particularly interesting because of the controversial nature of the candidates. Donald Trump gives voice to what has been a vocal but outnumbered wing of the Republican party. His views appeal strongly to some and horrify others. In a democracy it is possible for such a candidate to draw enough support to make a serious run at winning office because voters can be unpredictable--sometimes they are moved by momentary political pressures that might not be successful in the long run. If we lived in a less democratic society, a candidate like Trump might have a harder time making a strong run, even with the same sort of support that he has right now. 

The same could be said of Bernie Sanders' campaign. He gave front runner Hilary Clinton a much tougher battle than most expected. Again, this may have been due to temporary political pressures. The recent recession left many voters and their families worse off than they had been previously, which widened the interest in Sanders' liberal ideas of helping middle and lower class families economically. As a result of his strong run, Clinton had to move to the left a bit to weaken his base. 

Since electoral decisions rest with the voters, politicians must find ways to appeal to them. Voters are fickle, and not always very well educated, which means that politicians don't necessarily have to present sound ideas, they just have to present ideas that sound good. Can the voting public discern the difference? How well they do so determines to what extent voters are either the strength or weakness of their democracy. 

How does irony add meaning to the overall story of The Great Gatsby?

You can find lots of examples of irony in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.  Many examples show how empty, stagnant,  and self-absorbed the upper class is. Daisy's first words are

"I'm p-paralyzed with happiness."

These words convey her situation perfectly.  She would be called a one-per-center in today's jargon.  But she has nothing to do, nothing to strive for. 

"What do people plan?"

she asks.  She really doesn't know how to make plans for the future, because she has everything that she could possibly want and need now.  The irony lies in the fact that she has the happy life that so many people desire, but it paralyzes her even as it protects her from the "hot struggles of the poor."  This is precisely why she cannot leave Tom and go with Gatsby.  She would have to give up too much, and Gatsby's lifestyle would be uncertain at best.  Having it all means having too much to lose.  

Tom is another character whose words create almost humorous irony.  He claims

Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions and next they'll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white."

This quote is quite ironic in that Tom is the one who is sneering at family life in his affair with Myrtle (and many others, as Daisy claims).  His criticism of others is more appropriately directed at himself.  And it's hard to miss the faulty cause and effect statements about infidelity leading to intermarriage. The irony lies in the fact that Tom lives the life that everyone wants, but it doesn't make him happier, kinder, or smarter.  If Tom and Daisy represent the top of American society, then we are all in trouble! 

Fitzgerald gives us many examples of irony that show the corruption of society.  George, Myrtle's husband, looks at the billboard that shows the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg and thinks he is god.  Ironically, the god he is addressing is really just a billboard.  Fitzgerald is perhaps suggesting that consumerism has become the American god.  

These are just a few examples from the novel.  I hope I have pointed you in the right direction.  

What are some examples of polysemy in Shakespeare's writings, and how is polysemy used?

Shakespeare's plays are famous for their uses of puns and polysemy, playing on words and phrases that have multiple meanings. Sometimes these are used for comedic effect. For example, at the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, Sampson and Gregorio are joking about "maidenheads," which can mean literally the head of a maid or a young woman's virginity. They also play with the meanings of different homophones (which aren't exactly examples of polysemy, but are in the same vein) including "collier," "collar," and "choler." Also in Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio is a master of multiple meanings, and as he dies, he tells Romeo that soon he will find him a "grave man." The word "grave" means "serious" as well as suggesting a hole where people are buried, and Mercurio is punning to the last by saying that he'll be in his grave. Another example can be found in the play Antony and Cleopatra, when one character describes Cleopatra's ships fleeing before the "breese upon her," which "hoists sails and flies." As literary critic Stephen Booth has observed, this contains multiple levels of polysemy, as the word "breese" could connote flies or a wind (its more modern meaning). Moreover, to say that the "breese" both "hoists sails and flies" could mean that a wind raises sails and drives off flies, bit it could also refer to Cleopatra's ships, which hoisted sail and fled. Aside from demonstrating ample evidence of Shakespeare's skill with wordplay, Booth actually argues that this passage probably flies beneath the consciousness of most theatergoers (and readers), but that it is part of a rich complex fabric of different meanings and interpretations that create a number of different levels at which Shakespeare's plays might be consumed and enjoyed. 

In the reading, "The Dispossessed," an interesting conversation between Atro and Shevek develops. In relation to Saussure’s notion that signs can...

In "The Dispossessed," Atro and Shevek have an interesting conversation that illustrates the principles explained in "Saussure's Redefinition of a Word." The central argument in the reading is that identities and things are defined by what they are not, through negative comparison and the inherent difference between things. Atro believes this wholeheartedly as he tries to explain to Shevek that the Cetian brotherhood found between Urras and Anarres must necessarily exclude the Terrans, the Hainish and other humanoid races. This exclusion is, in Atro's mind, what creates the bond of brotherhood between Cetians in the first place. Shevek rejects this exclusionary ideology and believes that the term Cetian is divisive when used in such a manner. He rightly notes that the new use of the word Cetian has been used to enable the classist system found on Annares. By labeling some as Cetians and the rest of the Urrasti population as others, it is easy for the elite Cetians to treat those they deem outsiders as animals rather than equals.

II Corinthians 12:3-4 is beyond the intellect. How can we know something beyond the intellect without the intellect?

The answer to this question requires an understanding of Epistemology, the study of knowledge, more specifically, how knowledge is defined and taxonomized.  Put simply, how do we “know” things, and what is meant by “knowing”?  Our intellect, by which is meant our ability and capacity for logical assembly of “facts” to reach a “logical” conclusion, is only one way of gaining knowledge, according to philosophers and examiners of epistemology.  The scientific method is the most common and accepted form of “intellect”; it uses data and experimentation to find physical “truths.”  But there are other ways of knowing, such as personal experience, innate beliefs (we know as “true” that mothers love their children), religious dogma, and even “intuition.”  Philosophers such as Emmanuel Kant point out that we all “know” things that we believe to be true without scientific, “intellectual" proof.  Even the truism “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” can be seen as giving credence to the physical world by “scientific reasoning,” but believing in the spiritual, non-physical world by faith.   Corinthians brings this truth to our understanding of religious faith.  Thomas Aquinas in Summa Theologica spent his life trying to clarify for Christians the difference between faith and proof.

Was Shakespeare an actor or a playwright?

Both, actually, but a playwright for a living.  He played a few roles for his theatre group, Lord Chamberlain’s Men, including (possibly) the ghost in Hamlet.  But his canon of plays, especially as documented in the 1616 Folio and its opening endorsements by other theater figures in the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, makes it abundantly clear that Shakespeare spent his entire professional life as a working playwright, well known and universally respected for his products for the stage.  In addition to his theatre work, he also wrote poems, mostly but not completely sonnets.  He has adumbrated dozens of his contemporaries, such as Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and Thomas Middleton, all very competent playwrights but virtually forgotten outside academia.  

What makes Montag think he can realistically memorize the Book of Ecclesiastes before handing his Bible over to be burned in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray...

Montag attempts to memorize the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible because he has a copy of the Old and New Testament at home that he stole from a fire. He calls Faber, the retired professor who keeps track of books, and asks him how many copies of the Bible are left in their part of the country. Montag already knows Faber will say there are no copies left because Montag has seen the firehouse listings. Montag tries to memorize the Book of Ecclesiastes because he believes he has the only existing copy. At the end of the book, when he is hiding out with Granger, Montag finds out another man named Harris has memorized the Book of Ecclesiastes but that he, Montag, will become the book if anything happens to Harris. 

What did Andreas Vesalius contribute to modern science?

Andreas Vesalius contributed to modern science by questioning the existing view of human anatomy. This view was established by Galen, an ancient Greek doctor, who wrote many books and articles on the human body. Galen's understanding of human anatomy, however, was not based on dissections of the human body. In fact, Galen often dissected animals (whose anatomy is very different from humans') and made a number of mistakes as a result.

In contrast, Vesalius believed human dissections were crucial to understand human anatomy. As a young physician, Galen was given access to the bodies of criminals to dissect and use in his studies. In 1543, he published his most influential work, De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body), in which he presented his view of human anatomy based completely on his own observations.

For more information, please see the reference link provided.

What is the theme of "Journey" by Joyce Carol Oates?

"Journey" is a short story about a trip told in the second person, "you." It can be interpreted in a metaphorical way. The narrative of the story talks about a journey that starts on a road that is "broad and handsome, constructed after many years of ingenious blasting and leveling and paving." The person traveling has a map at this point, and his or her destination is in sight. However, the person grows bored with the monotony of this trip and veers off onto smaller and more winding roads until he or she is traveling by foot. In the end, the person is lost but decides that he or she would not have altered the trip in any way.

The theme of this story is that it is the journey itself that is important and rewarding, not reaching one's destination. When the traveler knows where he or she is going, he or she is bored. It is only when the journey becomes arduous and involves losing one's way that the person becomes more interested in the trip. The metaphor of the journey can be applied to life, in that the process of becoming and learning is more interesting than achieving success, even though many people are eager to reach success without enjoying the journey along the way.

Why was there in increase in serial killings during the 1980s and why did this number decline in the 1990s?

In the U.S., the number of serial killings reached 692 in the 1980s, compared with 534 in the previous decade, the 1970s. (See the first reference link). According to a study by professors, Ronald Holmes and Stephen Holmes, this increase came as a result of a rise in the incidence of violent crime, more generally. It was also caused by the increased reporting of such cases which created a "pandemic fear" that everyone in society was at risk of being murdered by a serial killer. (See the second reference link).

In the 1990s, however, there was a slight decline in this figure (from 692 to 614 people) and one contributing factor is the increased prison population in the U.S. This kept more violent predators behind bars and protected people on the streets. The development of DNA profiling and forensic databases also contributed to this decline because it stopped many potential serial killers from amassing more than one victim. (See the third reference link).

In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, how is Jay different from his guests?

The most profound difference between Gatsby and his guests is that, unlike them, he is not a party reveler. He is reclusive and does not join in the ostentatious celebrations which he, ironically, has arranged and is paying for. Whilst the partygoers are there to enjoy themselves and revel in all sorts of flamboyant behavior, he remains aloof. This makes him a man of mystery around whom all sorts of gossip abound. Guests admit that they have never personally met him but each one has a juicy bit about him to share.

Many of his guests surmise that he is born of royalty, that he once killed a man, that he is involved in some or other nefarious scheme, and so on, but they are not quite sure about who or what he actually is. The reader does discover, though, that Jay Gatsby has been arranging these extravagant parties for a single-minded purpose. He wishes that his lost love, Daisy Buchanan, would attend one of them so that they may meet and reignite their relationship which had been abruptly interrupted when he had to leave for the war five years ago.

When Nick Carraway is invited to one of the parties, he is amazed at the variety of guests he encounters there. Most of them have gate-crashed and have been making a habit of coming to these over-the-top gatherings with the idea of just hanging out and enjoying the free food, alcohol and entertainment. They are literally leeching off Jay's benevolence and their behavior verges on the obscene. Nick mocks them by listing and commenting on their ludicrous names and titles.

When he finally meets Jay, Nick is surprised by his sober and gentlemanly behavior. He is immediately attracted to him, in contrast to the sentiments he expresses about Jay's guests whom he seems to regard with more than a hint of derision. Nick's genuine admiration is clear in the following extract from Chapter 3:

He smiled understandingly — much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life...

...I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd. Some time before he introduced himself I’d got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care.

The two men become friends and Nick becomes Jay's confidante, although one cannot escape the suspicion that this only happens because Nick can bring Jay what he has so much wanted--Daisy. Even so, Nick, we discover, is the only real friend Jay has in the end. None of the party revelers or any of his known associates, not even Daisy, had ever been really close to him since none of them, except the man with owl eyes, four of five servants, the postman from West Egg and Gatsby's father, turn up at his funeral. Ultimately, once the party is really over, they disappear into the quickly dissipating mist of their revelry, never to be seen again.  

What are the similarities and differences between the Glorious, French and American Revolutions?

All three revolutions resulted in substantial changes in government and the expansion of freedom for most of the population. But while the American and French Revolutions were direct and violent revolutions in the 18th century, the Glorious Revolution was not as violent and occurred in the 17th century.

The Glorious Revolution was not completely without violence, however; there was significant fighting in Ireland and Scotland against the new Dutch king. Like the American Revolution, the Glorious Revolution involved substantial intervention by a foreign power: In the Glorious Revolution it was the Dutch, who sort of quietly invaded England, while in the American Revolution it was France which supported the American colonists. The French Revolution, on the other hand, was largely just a popular uprising with little outside support. The United States would have helped, probably, but simply wasn't in a condition to do so meaningfully.

There are more direct links between the three: Without the Glorious Revolution, the government of England would have been quite different, and the American Revolution might have gone differently. The same French government that supported the American Revolution was soon embroiled in the French Revolution, and the French Revolution borrowed many of its ideas and motivations from the success of the American Revolution.

In Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, how does the plane find Brian?

At the end of the story, the plane manages to pick up a distress signal sent by Brian's emergency transmitter.

In Chapter 19, Brian savors the contents of the survival pack. Among other things in the pack, there is a sleeping bag, a foam sleeping pad, an aluminum cook set, a first-aid kit, a fishing kit, a rifle, two bars of soap, and numerous food packets. The emergency transmitter is encased in a plastic bag. Brian doesn't initially realize what it is; he turns the transmitter switch back and forth, and when it makes no sound, he puts it down.

Meanwhile, because he has unwittingly turned on the transmitter and released the antenna on the side of the device, Brian is soon found by a pilot flying nearby. Essentially, the transmitter's distress signals were picked up by the plane, and this is how Brian was found by a "fur buyer mapping Cree trapping camps for future buying runs."

Where Helen Keller's family lived, there were no resources for the blind and the deaf. Where did Helen's parents take her to see a famous eye doctor?

Helen reveals these details in Chapter 3 of The Story of My Life. Her mother had read Charles Dickens’ book American Notes. She had absorbed the author’s description of a visit to the Perkins Institution in Boston, where he met a blind and deaf woman named Laura Bridgman. Unfortunately, Samuel Gridley Howe, who had been the head of Perkins when Laura Bridgman was there, had since died. But Helen’s parents knew that specialized help was indeed possible. When she was about six years old, they took Helen to see Dr. Chisholm in Baltimore. He recommended Alexander Graham Bell in Washington, D.C. Bell in turn told them to write a letter to Mr. Anagnos at the Perkins Institution. By the summer of 1886, Anagnos said a teacher had been found. He would send Anne Mansfield Sullivan to Helen’s house in March 1887. The Kellers had finally tapped into the right assistive network.

What are some questions you could ask Piaget about his theory if you could meet him in person?

Of course, my questions would be different than yours, but I would ask why Piaget was interested in children.  Much of his early work was with water snails, and it's not a logical jump between studying mollusks and children.  Piaget also looked at stages of development.  I would ask him why he created these stages and if they are concrete, or if children can move between one stage and the next.  I would ask him what his opinion was of social constructivists such as Vygotsky and if his theories discounted the role that others play in a child's life.  I would also ask him if he saw children's minds as a "blank slate" at birth or if the children had the capacity to learn certain things and that this capacity was unlocked at certain periods in a child's life.  I would also ask him what he thought of children that we regard as "prodigies" who can learn complex material at an early age.  

Thinking about the poem "Fire and Ice", would you rather burn or freeze to death? Why? Has the idea of this question become desensitized over...

If some comic book villain were to offer you the choice of freezing or burning to death, one should choose freezing, as it is probably the less painful of the two choices. However, if you are studying the poem "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost, you are not reading a comic book or watching a simplistic movie, and thus the choices on offer have nothing to do with the relative physical discomfort involved in two ways of dying.

The poem has to do with relationships, and the extremes of "burning" with lust, represented by Frost as death by fire or living with hatred, a colder emotion. Both extremes of emotion can be painful. What Frost is suggesting in the poem, though, is not that one should choose either one extreme or the other, but rather he is suggesting that emotional extremes in general are a bad thing, by their nature disruptive and painful, tearing apart individuals and nations. Thus just as physical comfort requires a moderate temperature, somewhere between that of fire and ice, so too emotional happiness requires moderation, neither fire nor ice. 

What are the autobiographical elements in Shakespeare's The Tempest?

Beginning in the late 1800s, critics saw elements of Shakespeare in the character of Prospero, the sorcerer in the Tempest. Even Coleridge, in his essay on the play, mentioned this connection. Prospero is a sorcerer with a great deal of self-control, and in his magic, scholars see reflections of Shakespeare's genius for conjuring characters and plots. In addition, Prospero gives up his magic arts at the end of the play, which parallels how The Tempest was one of Shakespeare's last plays. He died about five years after completing it. 

Scholars such as Paul Beauregard also believe Prospero's character is a sign of Shakespeare's Catholicism. In the epilogue of The Tempest, Prospero says, "And my ending is despair/ Unless I be reliev'd by prayer." Beauregard sees these lines as a reflection of Shakespeare's belief in prayer to achieve salvation, which was a Catholic idea, not a Protestant one. Protestants believe in faith alone as a way to achieve salvation. 

Compare and contrast Portia of The Merchant of Venice with Viola of Twelfth Night.

One of the main similarities between Portia of The Merchant of Venice and Viola of Twelfth Night is that both characters disguise themselves as men to gain access to spheres in society formerly forbidden to women. For instance, Portia disguises herself as a male lawyer in order to gain admittance to the court, successfully argue in defense of Antonio, and save the day. Along the same lines, Viola disguises herself as a boy in order to gain employment with Orsino, Duke of Illyria. As such, both women use male disguises to their own advantage.

One major difference between the two women is the manner in which they find love. While Portia enjoys the direct attention of Bassanio (not to mention several other suitors, who aren't so lucky), Viola spends most of the play ignored by Orsino, who is in love with Olivia and doesn't notice Viola until the end of the play. As such, Portia is able to find love relatively early in the play, while Viola must wait much longer to win Orsino's love. 

What is a theme of "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"?

One theme is the theme of isolation.  

This is probably my personal favorite theme of the poem. It's a lonely poem. The speaker is a man who has stopped with his horse beside a lonely wood. He doesn't know who the woods belongs to, but he is sure that the owner lives in the town that is in the area.

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;  

There's nobody else around. In fact, he is so alone that the only sound that he hears is the wind and the harness bells. 

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.  

I never get the feeling that the man is scared by his isolation. In fact, I get the opposite feeling. I think that he enjoys his isolation and alone time. I feel that is especially evident by the positive way in which he talks about the dark and snowy woods.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, 

The ending of the poem seems to indicate that he is tired and not looking forward to keeping those promises. Those promises are likely reminders of his busy, people-centered life. I always get the feeling that the man is thinking those final two lines with a heavy sigh.

What are the three domestic macroeconomic policy goals? Explain each in detail.

There are three goals that macroeconomic policymakers are generally trying to accomplish.  These three goals are: 1) economic growth, 2) low inflation, and 3) low unemployment.

Economic growth is the first of these goals. Economic growth can be defined as an increase in the country’s ability to produce goods and services.  Policymakers will want to help the country’s economy increase the amounts of resources that it has available for use.  Economic growth is good because it means that people in the country have more goods and services and, thereby, a higher standard of living.

A second goal is low unemployment.  This goal generally goes along with economic growth.  When the economy grows, unemployment is generally low.  Low unemployment is good partly because it means that more of the people who want work will have it and partly because it means that more people are making goods and services to increase the standard of living in the country.

Finally, macroeconomic policy tries to keep the rate of inflation low.  This can be difficult in times of economic growth and low unemployment because economic growth and low unemployment can bring about inflation.  Inflation is the increase in the average price level in the economy.  When the prices of goods and services in general rise, the economy experiences inflation.  Policymakers try to keep inflation low because high inflation harms people who are on fixed incomes and because high rates of inflation make it less likely that people will want to lend money.

Macroeconomic policymakers, then, attempt to achieve all three of these goals, even though the goals can be hard to achieve simultaneously.

A body is launched upwards at 60 m/s at 30 degrees to the horizontal. What is the maximum height of the body and maximum distance at which it falls.

The body is launched upwards with an initial velocity 60 m/s and the angle of projection with the horizontal is 30 degrees. To determine the maximum distance traveled by the body in the horizontal and vertical directions, we take the vertical and horizontal components of the velocity. Its vertical component is 60*sin 30 = 60*(1/2) = 30 m/s and the horizontal component is `60*(sqrt 3/2)` = `30*sqrt 3` m/s. As the object moves, its horizontal component of velocity decreases at 9.8 m/s^2 due to the gravitational acceleration in the downwards direction. The horizontal component of its velocity remains unchanged.

At the highest point of its path, the vertical component is equal to 0. The height of the body at this point is given by the equation v^2 - u^2 = 2*g*s where s is the height.

Substituting the values for the variable gives:

0 - 30^2 = 2*9.8*s

s = 900/19.6 = 45.918 m

The time taken by the body to reach the highest point is equal to t, given by the equation v = u + g*t

t = 30/9.8 = 3.06

It returns to the surface after a time 2*t = 6.12 s

The horizontal distance traveled in 6.12 s is s = u*t + (1/2)*a*t^2. Substituting the values for the variables gives s = `30*sqrt 3*6.12` = 318.13

The body has a maximum height of 45.918 m and the horizontal distance traveled before it comes back to the surface is 318.13 m

What theme is contributed to by the characters of Friar Lawrence and Count Paris?

In a world pervaded by violence and bitterness, the characters of Friar Laurence and Count Paris seem to represent a theme of optimism and hope amidst the tragedy of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. When he is first approached by Romeo about marrying Juliet, Friar Laurence is initially hesitant, but then comes to the realization that marrying the son of Montague and the daughter of Capulet will end the violent feud between the families. In Act III, Scene 3, the Friar says, "For this alliance may so happy prove/To turn your households' rancor to pure love."

Even after the deadly fight which opens Act III and Romeo is banished, the Friar remains optimistic about the future as he advises the distraught Romeo to "sojourn" in Mantua until some time passes and the Friar is able to "blaze" the marriage, gain a "pardon" from Prince Escalus, and bring Romeo home "With twenty hundred thousand times more joy." And again, after he convinces Juliet to fake her death with a potion, he believes that the young couple will regain happiness when Romeo recovers Juliet from the tomb and the two can go off to Mantua to live happily ever after. Although things turn out badly in the end, the Friar's optimism and hopeful attitude cannot be denied.

Likewise, Count Paris is optimistic and hopeful about the future. He seems to legitimately love Juliet and is eager to make her his wife. He believes that Juliet is a perfect match for him, obviously because the two families come from the same social class. The Nurse even refers to Paris as "valiant" and a "flower." Indeed, the Nurse believes that Juliet could be very happy with Paris, judging by her words in Act I, Scene 3, and later in Act III, Scene 5. When Juliet is supposedly dead in Act IV, Scene 5, Paris is devastated, calling her his "love" and his "life." In Act V, Scene 3, he further demonstrates this love for Juliet as he pays his respects at the Capulet tomb by spreading flowers and scented water. Only someone who had hope for a bright future would have shown so much grief over the loss of Juliet. 

What distinguishes Montag's approach to life from those of most of the other characters in Fahrenheit 451?

Montag is different because over the course of the book, he evolves from being more or less a mindless drone like everyone else to being introspective and evaluating his job and his life. 

When the story starts, Montag seems to be much like everyone else in his society.  He is a fireman, and he doesn’t question his job or his life.  He is enjoying being a fireman and likes burning books.

IT was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history. (Part I)

Mindlessness is part of this existence.  It doesn’t occur to Montag to be introspective until he meets his teenage neighbor, Clarisse.  She asks him if he is happy, and he never thought to ask himself this, so the question shakes him.

"Are you happy?" she said.

"Am I what?" he cried.

But she was gone-running in the moonlight. Her front door shut gently.

"Happy! Of all the nonsense."

He stopped laughing. (Part I)

However, Montag is not like everyone else in that he can change.  The fact that Montag would even think about this question shows that he approaches life differently.  Clarisse is unique, but obviously Montag is too.  He is not like the other members of his community, who never question, never think, and never feel.  They are empty shells.  The fact that books have been banned is only the tip of the iceberg.  People spend all of their time either watching television or listening to their seashell radios in a semi-comatose state.  They drive too fast and never hold real conversations.  

Montag begins to question his job, which is unusual as well.

"I've tried to imagine," said Montag, "just how it would feel. I mean to have firemen burn our houses and our books."

"We haven't any books."

"But if we did have some."

"You got some?"

Beatty blinked slowly.

"No." (Part I)

Reflection and empathy are not common for firemen, or anyone from Montag's society.  The fact that he begins to evaluate his job after Clarisse gets him to question his life really also puts him at risk, however.  It is illegal to have books, and Beatty begins to be suspicious of him.

Another way that Montag is different is the fact that he is curious about books.  Most of the others in his society do not even care what is in the books.  Montag steals books.  Beatty knows what is in the books and claims that he thinks they do not matter.  He teases Montag with them.  Montag, on the other hand, wants more.  He wants to really understand what is in the books.

After stealing the books, Montag wants to know how to read them.  This is why he seeks out Faber.  Mildred, his vacuous wife, has had enough.  She turns him in.  Beatty gets his revenge, but Montag has the last laugh, so to speak.  He turns his flamethrower on Beatty.  Montag never wanted to kill a man, but he had no choice.  Montag ran off and found the book people and a new society.

In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, is Blanche or Jane the better bride for Rochester?

The conventional answer to this would be Jane Eyre, who is, after all, the protagonist of the novel and a sort of stand in for the author herself. I think that it might be more interesting though, to argue that it is only by several rather improbable plot manipulations that the author manages to pull off the Rochester-Jane Eyre romance. To make it convincing, the author ends up gifting Jane with a fortune, killing off Bertha, and mutilating Rochester, as well as several other improbabilities including telepathic communication.

In a more realistic novel, Blanche, a beautiful young woman of Rochester's own social and economic class, would be an obvious match for Rochester. It is true that Blanche's motives are primarily financial, but that was how marriage worked among the upper classes of the period. Blanche's background would have made her skilled in managing a large household of servants. The bigamy plot would work equally well with Blanche as the romantic interest. Moreover, Blanche and Rochester, both cynical and worldly, would have been a more appropriate match and probably had a better marriage than the older, worldly Rochester and the far younger, unsophisticated, and sternly moralistic Jane. 

Who is Mrs. Windemere in Gary D. Schmidt's book Okay for Now?

Mrs. Windemere is one of the customers that Doug Swieteck delivers groceries to on Saturdays.  

In the beginning of the story, Doug and his family move to a new area. Doug struggles with making friends, and his family struggles financially. Lil Spicer is an early friend to Doug, and her father owns a local deli. Mr. Spicer kindly gives Doug a job delivering groceries on Saturdays, and Mrs. Windemere is one of the people that Doug delivers to.  

Her other important function to the story is that she (in a roundabout way) helps Doug retrieve the Large-Billed Puffins plate. Doug knows that a father of a classmate of his has the Large-Billed Puffins. Doug also knows that this father is a fan of Aaron Copland. Mrs. Windemere happens to have a manuscript edition of Copland's autobiography. She gives the autobiography to Doug. Doug trades Mr. Russel the manuscript for the Puffins.

Why is The Receiver the most honored position in Lois Lowry's The Giver?

The Receiver is the most honored person in the community because it is a unique position only one person can hold at a time. This position requires a person who has some very unique traits. When Jonas is selected, he knows almost nothing about the Receiver except that he is an old man with a beard who almost never attends community functions. 

At his Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas learns the Receiver of Memory is selected because he or she has the traits of courage, wisdom, integrity, intelligence, and something called the Capacity to See Beyond, which is an almost supernatural power to receive memories.

At first, Jonas doesn’t think he has this power. Then, he understands why he thought he saw an apple change, and why the faces of the crowd took on a strange dimension. Jonas accepts his assignment.

"I think it's true," he told the Chief Elder and the community. "I don't understand it yet. I don't know what it is. But sometimes I see something. And maybe it's beyond" (Ch. 8).

The community has other reasons to treat the Receiver of Memory with honor. The Receiver stores the community’s memories, which are the community’s collective consciousness. These memories are important because the community itself has no sense of history. When making decisions, they rely on the Receiver. Without him, they will repeat past mistakes. They do not want to be burdened by their history, so they ask the Receiver for advice. 

The Giver, Jonas’s mentor, explains the community does not have to take the Receiver’s advice. 

"I have great honor. So will you. But you will find that that is not the same as power” (Ch. 11).

The Giver explains to Jonas that when the community asked him if they should add to the population, he advised against it because he alone knew what hunger, war, poverty, and death looked like. It was ultimately up to the community Elders to decide. The Receiver of Memory is the community’s most painful position because it is one of immense knowledge but no power. 

What reactions and responses are there for the deaths in The Outsiders?

I believe the question is asking about responses or reactions a reader might typically have to the deaths in that occur in the novel.  

I think one typical reaction is anger.  Several central and loved characters die in the book, and being angry over the deaths is understandable.  I remember reading The Outsiders for the very first time, and I remember being very upset at Johnny's death.  I had grown to really like his quiet strength.  I also really appreciated how he and Ponyboy were essentially two halves that completed each other.  To know that Ponyboy would have to live without Johnny made me mad.  Plus, I was upset that Hinton could kill him off from something that happened when he was trying to save people.  I just never thought that Johnny deserved to die, so I was angry that he, of all characters, dies. 

Sorrow and sadness are two other reactions that I think readers typically might experience regarding the deaths in the story.  It's sad to have to say goodbye to characters like Johnny and Dally.  We've grown to really love them and appreciate them and their idiosyncrasies.  

Perhaps one last emotion is relief, joy, or satisfaction.  I think any of those emotions might be felt when the reader learns that Johnny killed Bob.  We know that he is the leader of the "enemy."  We also know that he is the guy that previously beat Johnny to within an inch of his life.  Readers might feel some satisfaction that Johnny was able to get his revenge.  Or maybe we feel relief and happiness that Johnny no longer has to be afraid of that guy.  

In Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, how does the imagery describing Ethan's property mirror his own appearance?

The narrator of Ethan Frome notes the "unusually forlorn and stunted look" of Ethan Frome's house after the narrator passes an orchard of withered apple trees (page 8). The narrator says that the house developed a shrunken look because it lost its "L," the addition built perpendicular to the main house. He says that "it is certain that the 'L' rather than the house itself seems to be the centre, the actual hearth-stone of the New England farm," and he sees "in the diminished dwelling the image of his [Ethan's] own shrunken body" (page 8). Ethan Frome had to take down the "L" of the house, and so his house has a shrunken and cold look to it that signifies that it has seen better times. In the same way, Ethan's body has become shrunken and lame. The missing "L" is similar to Ethan's lame leg. The narrator says of Ethan, "he was so stiffened and grizzled that I took him for an old man and was surprised to hear that he was not more than fifty-two" (page 1). Like his house, Ethan looks aged and well past his prime, and his body has shrunk and become far less robust than it formerly was. 

Name two benefits you enjoy because of the free market system.

First, I think it is important to acknowledge that the United States does not actually operate entirely as a free market system, as the government does have some regulations in place for different industries, including banks and the automotive industry. These regulations are intended to protect consumers, employees of these industries, the environment, or some combination thereof.

The ways someone might benefit from (relatively) free markets are largely a result of competition. In free markets, companies compete against one another for customers, which forces them to innovate continuously to try to woo consumers. This innovation can lead to increasingly improved products. International companies also get to compete in free markets, which can expose consumers to products made in other countries, which may have different features, be cheaper than domestic products, or both. Competition can also drive down the prices of these products, as companies want consumers to think their product is the best deal so it will be chosen over another company's. This can save consumers money.

Suppose you live in a community of 200 people where everyone is able and seeks to work. If 140 people are 16 years and older and 120 of them are...

The unemployment rate for this community would be 14.3%.  Let us see how we arrive at this figure.

As you can see in the link below, an economy’s unemployment rate is generally defined as the percentage of people who are at or above the age of 16 and who do not have work even though they would like to have it.  People who are below the age of 16 are not counted, even if they would prefer to work rather than going to school. 

In the scenario that you have given us, only two numbers matter.  These are the number of people who are 16 or older and the number of people who have jobs.  The total population of the community does not matter here because unemployment rates only look at people who are at least 16.  In your question, you say that there are 140 people who are 16 or older in this community and 120 of them have work.  This means that 20 of them are unemployed.  We take 20 and divide it by 140 since 140 is the total number of people 16 or over who want to work.  That gives us a figure of .1428.  Expressed in terms of percentages, this is 14.3%, which means that the unemployment rate in this community is 14.3%.

How can I track and improve e-commerce sales?

E-commerce can be tracked via numerous software packages that allow users to capture data during page visits and product purchases.  The software can capture a variety of information that ranges from the basics to detailed snapshots of consumer patterns.  The analytical information can be invaluable as a tool when it is put to good use.  One of the most important data fields is the zip code often captured during transactions.  The zip code will help narrow down what region is drawn to certain products.  This information can be used to target that area with more direct advertising in either the real world or e-world.

Other analytical tools can tell you how often your online store suffers abandoned carts, which represent people who browsed and thought about a purchase.  These are lost sales which rarely happen in the real world, but are very common in e-commerce.  This type of information will aid in targeting marketing efforts to increase sales.

E-commerce faces different marketing challenges than real world stores.  One of the major differences is the instant ability to comparison shop.  Battling the comparison shopper requires a combination of targeted techniques such as instant discount, time sensitive discounts and easy to read positive reviews.  Other ways to boost e-commerce sales are similar to real world stores and include upselling, sales, product placement and supply-demand illusions.  E-commerce had an advantage over real world sales because e-commerce can use more marketing techniques simultaneously.  However, one disadvantage is the quick pace of consumer driven trends that require constant supervision.

In Act III, scenes iii and iv of Romeo and Juliet, why is Romeo considered the protagonist?

The protagonist is essentially defined as the main character of a text, typically the character whose life or progress is followed and is presented with some kind of conflict. For this reason, it would be appropriate to define both Romeo and Juliet as the protagonists of this play. In the first scene you cite, 3.iii, it is easy to see Romeo as a protagonist because it shows Romeo in Friar Lawrence's cell, receiving the news that he has been banished from Verona for murdering Juliet's cousin, Tybalt. We see Romeo's response to his punishment as well as his response to the nurse's news of Juliet's grief. The plan is laid for Romeo to journey to Mantua after spending this one night with his beloved. The entirety of the scene really focuses on Romeo's emotional responses and plans for the future.

However, the next scene, 3.iv, doesn't feature Romeo at all. This scene shows Lord and Lady Capulet discussing marriage plans with Count Paris (who still wants to marry Juliet). It's a very short scene in which they make plans for Juliet's upcoming wedding. However, just because neither Romeo nor Juliet show up in person in this scene doesn't mean that they are no longer the protagonists of the play. In this scene, plans are being made which will very seriously impact their hopes for the future and lead to Juliet's faking her own death (and everything that follows). Therefore, they remain the protagonists even though they aren't in the scene themselves.

Is self-reliance the same as self-trust?

I do not believe that self-reliance and self-trust are the same thing.  

I see self-trust as being more associated with internal feelings, guidance, and perhaps even conscience.  Self-reliance deals more with a person's ability to do something without the aid of anybody else.  

From an early age, people develop a great deal of self-trust.  They trust their own thoughts and feelings about who to be friends with, what color is their favorite, what foods they like, and when their body is tired.  They trust their internal thoughts and feelings.  As a person ages though, that trust may diminish as peer pressure asserts itself.  That would be diminishing self-trust, but that person might be very self-reliant in a variety of areas.  He or she could be fully capable of changing the oil in their car or purchasing groceries for the week.  No outside help is needed.  That person is self-reliant because he/she doesn't need nor want outside help; however, that person also might not have much self-trust.  He/she is capable of doing the work but is not confident in which oil to use for the car or which grocery store is best for their needs.  Perhaps several people gave conflicting advice, and now the person doesn't trust himself to make the best decision.  I come across students like this every so often.  A student is completely capable of doing the assignment, but that student has zero trust in themselves that it is done well. 

What quote should I use to support the theme in the short story "Cranes" by Hwang Sunwon?

Before identifying a quote that supports a theme from the story, we first need to identify a theme.  I think the main theme of "Cranes" is about the power of friendship.

Tokchae and Songsam are on opposite sides of a conflict, and Tokchae is Songsam's prisoner.  As the story progresses, the reader learns that Tokchae and Songsam grew up together and were childhood friends.  Readers learn that the boys shared much of their lives with each other and got into mischief together as well.  One such incident involved them capturing a crane. Fearing that they would get in trouble for capturing the crane, the two boys freed it.  The flashback foreshadows the ending of the story when Songsam unties Tokchae and invites him to go on a crane hunt.  It takes Tokchae a few moments to realize that Songsam is setting him free in the same way that they freed the crane as boys.  Despite being on opposite sides of an ideological conflict, the power of their friendship was able to overcome that divide.  

Because the theme of friendship is so closely tied to the crane and the men's childhood, I think that the quote for the theme should highlight both the crane and their childhood.  I like the following quote. 

But the next moment, as another crane from a nearby bush fluttered its wings, the boys’ crane stretched its long neck with a whoop and disappeared into the sky. For a long time the two boys could not take their eyes away from the blue sky into which their crane had soared.

The quote works well for the theme because it takes place during their childhood.  It shows the two boys together in happier times, and the quote emphasizes the freedom of the crane.  That freedom is then mirrored when Songsam frees Tokchae. 

What are the challenges of participating in a group project? What skills are needed to participate in a group project?What could someone learn...

There are many challenges a person may face when working on a group project. When working on a group project, you must be aware of the needs, desires, and goals of the other people working on the project. While you might have a clear vision about what should be done, you will need to consider what other people are doing and thinking. If you were working on this alone, you could do whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted.

You also have to be able to handle different personalities and work styles. Other people may have a very different way of attacking a project. Some people like to wait until a deadline approaches. Others like to start working on the project right away. Some people like to think of many different options. They may think outside the box. Others want to focus on one or two key ideas.

When working in a group, it is important to validate other people’s thoughts and opinions. It is important to make people understand they are important to the group. It is important to communicate respectfully and openly. Failure to do this may lead to team members shutting down and not contributing, which can affect the final product.

To be successful when working in a group, you need many skills. One skill you must possess is to be a good listener. You need to make a person feel their ideas, thoughts, and concerns are being heard. You need to have empathy for a person who feels they aren’t being treated well. You must be a person who can collaborate with others. You need to realize your ideas will not always be accepted. You need to know when to pick your battles and when to let things slide.

By observing a group, you can learn what strategies work and are most effective under specific circumstances. You can also learn what doesn’t work, and then avoid repeating those mistakes when you are working on a group project. You can also focus on individual people and watch how they operate. This will give you some insight into different work styles people have.

Working on a group project can be rewarding. It can also be challenging. Your skills and the skills of the people with whom you are working will help determine if the group project will or will not be successful.

How would your orientation to life be different if you had been reared in an agricultural society?

This question is asking you as a student to imagine how your life might be different. You should note that the lives of the educators answering these questions are not identical to your life and thus that our answers will be quite different from yours. For example, the average life expectancy in many agricultural societies was less than 30 years; this means that many educators who contribute to this site would be dead rather than living productive lives, something that would not be the case for most students of traditional age. Also, you might note that "agricultural society" can refer to anything after the neolithic transition but before the Industrial Revolution, a period of some 10,000 years including many different parts of the world. A peasant in ancient Mesopotamia would have a very different life than an aristocrat in Ming China.

Your starting point for examining how your life might differ from that in many agricultural societies would be to think about the sorts of technology you use in everyday day life such as cell phones, artificial lights, automobiles. You might also consider the difference between buying food, often already prepared, and growing and gathering your own food. Most people in agricultural societies are involved in food production unless they are very wealthy. While urbanization is a trend in industrial civilizations, in agricultural ones many workers needed to live close to agricultural land, but this was not true for everyone, as even in antiquity there were important urban centers. Another difference is that literacy was rare before the nineteenth century. 

Which of the following solids is the best insulator: magnesium, iron, gold, or magnesium fluoride?

To answer this question, we need to compare the conductivity of each material.

It's not clear whether you meant thermal or electrical conductivity, but the two are strongly correlated and the answer is the same either way: Magnesium fluoride.

Electrical conductivity of magnesium fluoride is negligible in solid state, while for gold it is` 4.10*10^7 S/m` , for iron it is `1.00*10^7 S/m` , and for pure magnesium it is `2.24*10^7 S/m` . So magnesium fluoride is the best electrical insulator by far.

As for thermal conductivity, magnesium fluoride is `14.5 W/(mK)` , while for gold it is `315 W/(mK)` , iron `73 W/(mK)` , and for pure magnesium it is `159 W/(mK)` . Magnesium fluoride is also the best thermal insulator.

In “Tickets, Please!” by D.H. Lawrence, why are the travelers reluctant to dismount from their coach?

In the story, the travelers are often reluctant to dismount from their coach because it is usually very cold outside: to have no protection against the elements is an extremely uncomfortable experience.

The passengers would rather stay in the safe haven of their coach than be exposed to howling winds in the dead of night. Also, waiting out in the cold for another coach is often a treacherous exercise in patience. Often, other coaches which pass by are full of passengers and can admit no more travelers; to add insult to injury, the passing travelers often howl in "derision" at those stranded passengers who dare to brave the elements. Additionally, a long wait may yield nothing more than another coach that is unfit to take passengers, a "Depot Only" tram.

To reiterate his point, the narrator points out that it is quite common for passengers to stay in their coach until the last minute, even in the event of a fire. Essentially, the passengers won't disembark until their lives are truly in danger ("till flames actually appear").

In “Through the Tunnel,” how does Jerry show growing maturity as he prepares for the swim through the tunnel?

Once Jerry sets his mind to swimming through the tunnel like he saw the big boys do, he practices holding his breath and staying under water day after day.  This kind of meticulous practice provides evidence of his growing maturity.  After several days of going to the wild bay to practice, "He did not ask for permission [...] to go to his beach."  Children ask permission and wait for adults to grant it; however, Jerry begins to exercise his new maturity and independence by acting without asking his mother -- as he has in the past -- if he can go to his own beach and not accompany her to their old, "safe beach." 

Further, Jerry is developing the ability to delay gratification of his wishes.  Earlier, he couldn't wait for his mother to purchase the goggles he needed, and he pestered her until she took him, and then snatched them from her hand, like a child.  But now, he thinks, "if he tried, he could [probably] get through the long tunnel, but he was not going to try yet.  A curious, most unchildlike persistence, a controlled impatience, made him wait."  Jerry's growing maturity makes it possible for him to delay gratification of his desires, and he waits to attempt the feat until he is more sure of his ability. 

How is Longinus' On the Sublime an excellent example of practical and comparative criticism?

Longinus' On the Sublime resembles many ancient works of rhetorical theory and differs from modern literary criticism in that it is addressed to an audience of practitioners rather than passive recipients of literary and oratorical works. That is to say, his concern is not so much an abstract analysis of reader experience but rather a manual for those attempting to create sublime effects in their own work. Thus when Longinus outlines the five techniques one can use to create sublimity, he gives very precise details and numerous examples, as well as discussing how each technique can fail and lapse into bombast.

His method is essentially empirical, inductive, and comparative in that he typically does close reading of similar examples to show which is more sublime. He often illustrates the contributions of specific word choices or syntax by taking a famous text and showing how altering a few words or even the order of the words might make it less sublime. 

The excellence of his work lies not only in its highly original treatment of sublimity but in its detailed use of examples rather than vague generalizations. This has made his work of enduring interest to writers as well as literary critics. 

Starch is broken down into which monosaccharide by the enzyme amylase?

Starch is an organic macro-molecule consisting of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. It is a polysaccharide consisting exclusively of glucose molecules. When it is digested by the enzyme amylase, it breaks down into its monomer building blocks which are glucose molecules. Glucose is considered to be a simple sugar which can be transported by the bloodstream to cells which require the energy stored within its chemical bonds to perform cellular work.

A polysaccharide like starch can have hundreds or even thousands of glucose sub-units held together by glycosidic linkages. Plants produce starch as a way to store energy until it is needed. Animals can consume plants and the starch can be chemically digested making the glucose molecules available for the animal's energy needs. 

In conclusion, starch is broken down chemically by the enzyme amylase to simple glucose molecules.

What is the difference between the functions of a water pump and the functions of a battery?

I assume you mean besides the obvious point that one involves water and the other involves electricity.

The most fundamental difference between batteries and pumps is their mechanism of moving what they move.

Pumps generally either push the water (an Archimedes screw is an example of this kind of pump) or suck the water by reducing the air pressure in front of it (most real-world pumps use this method).

Batteries move electrons in a fundamentally different way. They are designed so that a chemical reaction draws electrons from the cathode to the anode, so that the cathode contains fewer electrons and the anode contains more. (Usually this results in the cathode being positively charged and the anode being negatively charged, but that actually depends on what sort of battery you're dealing with and how it is being used.)

Then, once the battery is connected to a circuit, the electrons try to restore electrostatic equilibrium, resulting in them being pulled through the circuit from the anode to the cathode. (Confusingly, the "current" is said to be going the opposite direction, from the cathode to the anode, because current is a flow of positive charge, while electrons are negative. Alas, we are stuck with this strange convention.)

A pump that sucks is more similar to a battery than a pump that pushes water directly, because both involve creating an imbalance and then using the equilibration force to our advantage. But even then, a pump creates an imbalance in the air in order to move water, while a battery creates an imbalance in the electrons in order to move charge.

A pump that pushes water is almost nothing like a battery, as such pumps actually use mechanical motion to push and can even be used to carry solid objects in the same fashion. This is why we need to be careful if we try to use analogies like "batteries are electron pumps."

Does location affect the likelihood of encountering different Pokemon?

Yes.

There are certain Pokemon that are hypothesized to be location locked by continents.

• Tauros: North America


• Mr. Mime: Western Europe


• Kangaskhan: Australia / New Zealand


• Farfetch'd: Asia

There are other Pokemon that will spawn more frequently in parks/certain areas.  For example, in Seattle Scyther is found in the Arboretum, and Lickitungs can be found in Discovery Park.  Try to search Facebook/Reddit for Pokemon Go groups in your city.  You will probably be able to find some documentation of where Pokemon show up in parks and other public places.

There is another hypothesis that more rare Pokemon will show up at higher density spots of cell reception, which is why you might hear a story about everyone on your college campus quad catching a Dragonite. 

Here is a great video showing people stampeding at night trying to catch a wild Vaporeon (Eevees may be common, but Vaporeons are very rare to find).

The best advice I have is to check out national parks, monuments, and other popular public places near where you live.  You might only get Weedles and Pidgeys at your house.  But there is a good chance something rare will spawn in a nearby park.  And because there will be more people playing, you will have a higher chance of finding rare Pokemon like Snorlax or Dragonite.

How can I identify DIDLS terms in Chapter 1 of Golding's Lord of the Flies?

In order to identify DIDLS terms, you will need to first pay attention to the "diction" of the author - the implication of his or her word choice. For example, you must ask yourself why the author chose to use certain words over others. What might the purpose of this be? Perhaps the author wrote the word "chuckle" instead of "laugh" in order to set a particular tone or to let the reader know about a particular character to help characterize that person. Ask yourself, for example, what makes a character "mature" instead of just "old." 

The second step you'll need to take is to identify some imagery in the passage or chapter - vivid descriptions or figures of speech that help you, as the reader, identify the author's tone. To do this, you may want to look for and identify metaphors, similes, personification, hyperboly, understatement, synecdoche, oxymoron, paradox, overstatement, symbolism, irony, puns, and allusions. Also look for sound devices, like alliteration, repetition, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia and rhyme. In Lord of the Flies, what might the pink conch shell and the trapped wild pig symbolize? Are they metaphorical? 

Next, look for specific details that the author either chooses to include, or chooses to omit. Details are different from imagery in that they are facts that don't have a strong sensory appeal. For example, the name of a character in the story might help to establish the tone by reflecting intelligence or education or a lack thereof. Is it figurative? It may serve as a symbol for a concept or idea. In Chapter 1 of Lord of the Flies, the chubby boy introduces himself to Ralph as "Piggy." This is an important detail that could give you clues as to the author's tone. 

Pay attention to the type of language that is being used by the author. Is it poetic? Formal? Does the author use a lot of slang words and colloquial vocabulary? What impression does that give you as the reader?

Last, pay special attention to the syntax used. This means sentence structure and how it affects your perception as the reader. For instance, does the author use parallel structure, similarly styled sentences, to convey interconnected emotions and ideas? Or does the author use shorter sentences to convey a passionate or flippant tone? Longer sentences might signify a more reflective, philsophical tone. 

As the reader, you can look for certain clues which present a shift in tone. You can look for key words like "but," "nevertheless," or "however." You can also pay close attention to any changes which occur in punctuation, sentence length, paragraph divisions, or diction.