What is Modern English??

Language is a dynamic ‘cognitive’ object and sociological phenomenon. Language change is natural and uncontrollable. Languages mainly change when they come in contact with other languages (read language contact and bilingualism for more details). New words may also be introduced in the language for effective communication.

Like any other language, English too has changed a lot over time. The language that we call English today is very different from what was spoken a few centuries ago. Historically speaking, English language can be classified as follows:

1. Old English (450 AD to 1100 AD)

2. Middle English (1100 AD to 1500)

3. Modern English (from 1500 AD…)

Modern English arose from Middle English somewhere around the end of the 15th century. One of the notable developments during this time period was the use of the printing press. Also, this was the time when Shakespeare wrote many verse plays in English. This is the reason why the age of Modern English is also popularly named as the age of Shakespeare or the age of Elizabeth. Modern English was different from Middle and Old English on many linguistic levels, chiefly lexically (loan words from Spanish, French, Portuguese, etc.), morphological (changes in the inflectional endings of some words), phonological (the "great vowel shift"), etc.

After that, British Colonialism also gave rise to significant changes in the language. Note that language change did not stop here. English continues to change even in contemporary times. One can see plenty of examples for that on social media.

At the beginning of act 3, scene 2, Juliet wants time to move quickly. Why is she so impatient for the night to come?

Juliet is impatient for night to come because Romeo, her new husband, cannot come to her until night.  During the day, it seems, there is too much of a chance that he will be seen and they will be found out.  So, on one level, she is simply anxious to be with him because she loves him. 

Juliet is also very much looking forward to consummating her marriage with Romeo; in other words, she is anticipating having sex with him.  She says, in part, "O, I have bought the mansion of a love / But not possessed it, and, though I am sold, / Not yet enjoyed" (3.2.28-30).  She is eager to learn to submit to her husband, to become fully his, and to learn how to be a wife in the carnal sense.  This isn't just about lust, though.  She sort of sweetly wants to lose her virginity in a way that is proper, for her, still modest and still innocent. 

What is a common trait found in Wordsworth's "The Solitary Reaper" and Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale"?

In William Wordsworth's "The Solitary Reaper" and John Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale," both poets experience a song with profound transformative qualities. Though many comparisons could be drawn between these two poems, one of the most obvious similarities between the two is that both the song of the reaper and the song of the nightingale have the power to whisk the poets away to exotic places, thus helping them escape their immediate locations.

For example, in "The Solitary Reaper" the reaper's song helps Wordsworth envision "travelers in some shady haunt, / Among Arabian sands" (11-12). Likewise, in "Ode to a Nightingale," Keats imagines that the nightingale's song "oft-times hath / Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam / Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn" (68-70). As such, it's apparent that both poems are exploring a song that has the power to inspire the imagination and take the listener away from his immediate experience by transporting him to fantastic and exotic locations. In that case, both Keats and Wordsworth are writing about the possible abilities of the imagination, although Wordsworth uses a singing field worker as his muse, while Keats uses a nightingale. 

Why were women far more likely than men to be considered afflicted by demons and to be accused of witchcraft?

As we can, I think, rule out the possibility that women were actually possessed by demons, we should consider how the ideology of gender in the early modern period led to accusations of witchcraft and demonic possession. 

First, there was the issue of folk medicine. Although there were university-trained doctors in the late middle ages and early modern period, they were few in number and their services only affordable by the very wealthy. Most ordinary people would have had access only to "empirics" or practitioners of folk medicine. These practitioners included midwives who as well as their primary duty of helping women in childbirth might be the only medical experts in a village. Another category of folk medical practitioners were herbalists or "wise women". While these practitioners were not acquainted with astrological theories of medicine or the writings of Galen common in the universities, their practical knowledge of herbal cures was probably as or more effective than the common medical practices of the period. Often they were practitioners of folk religion as well. Because they were outside the established male hierarchies of church and university medicine, they were sometimes perceived as a threat to the established social order and condemned as witches.

Similarly, accusations of demonic possession were often used as modes of suppressing powerful women (e.g. Joan of Arc) and discouraging women from rebelling against gender oppression. 

How does Henry describe his months in the camp in The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane?

Henry Fleming, a young soldier in the Union army during the Civil War, describes his first months in the army as a "monotonous life in camp."

During these months waiting for an assignment, Henry has begun to perceive himself as merely a part of "a vast blue demonstration." Each day the soldiers are drilled and drilled and reviewed; then, they are again drilled, drilled, and reviewed in what becomes tedious repetition. Added to this, random soldiers return to camp, shouting some news that they have supposedly learned. One day, a tall soldier comes running into camp, waving his shirt as though it were a banner. He shouts,

"We're goin' t'move t'morrah--sure....We're goin' 'way up river, cut across, an' come around in behint 'em."

One of the soldiers claims, "It's a lie! that's all it is--a thunderin' lie!" He adds that he does not believe that the troop will ever move. Later on in the day, this information does prove to be false, and the troop remains in the same location. 

While the men wait for orders, Henry tries to measure himself against the others, wondering if they also have doubts about their own courage. Then, one day Henry surprisingly finds himself moving along with the troops. While the other soldiers seem relieved and happy, he is still despondent. A soldier named Wilson exclaims about the upcoming fight, "We'll lick 'em good!"

That evening, as the soldiers bed down, Henry nostalgically thinks of home and the farm; he misses the brindle cow and her mates that he had to milk, even though he sometimes kicked the milking stools in exasperation with the uncooperative bovines. Lying in a strange place, he now feels that he is not meant to be a soldier. As Henry muses, Wilson approaches, sits, and lights his pipe.

"You're getting blue, my boy. You're looking thundering peek-ed. What the dickens is wrong with you?"

"Oh, nothing!"

"We've got 'em now. At last, by the eternal thunders, we'll lick 'em good!" Wilson reiterates, but he admits that the rebels have been winning against them.

The regiment continues to march for another three days, but more hurriedly. Henry returns wearily to his theory of a "blue demonstration." One morning he is awakened by a kick in the leg. "He was about to be measured."

In Beka Lamb by Zee Edgell, why is Nurse Palacio considered the town's favorite nurse, and what scenario portrays this?

Nurse Palacio is considered the town's favorite nurse because of her compassion and kindness to patients and their families. In Chapter 20, we learn that Nurse Palacio, a trained midwife, does her best for Toycie even as she miscarries.

In the end, despite the efforts of the doctor, Toycie loses her baby. Despite this heartbreaking scenario, Nurse Palacio retains her gracious nature even as she addresses Toycie's Aunt Eila. Her "sweet, quiet, consoling way" is a great comfort as she breaks the devastating news to Toycie's aunt. Nurse Palacio reassures Miss Eila that Toycie is fine after the two-hour operation.

When Miss Eila complains that no one brought news of Toycie for a long time, Nurse Palacio apologizes. She placates Miss Eila with a mention that the trainee nurse who was sent to apprise Miss Eila of Toycie's condition must have been detained. It was a very busy night at the hospital; things were more hectic than usual because the hospital was understaffed. Throughout the conversation, Nurse Palacio maintains her kind and soothing manner to Toycie's family and friends. In the aftermath of the miscarriage, she manages to encourage and comfort the family even as she tends to the patient herself. Her professional demeanor and compassionate nature makes Nurse Palacio the town's favorite nurse.

How have the writer's environment and her society influenced aspects of To Kill a Mockingbird?

A native of Alabama, Harper Lee sets To Kill a Mockingbird in the time and place with which she is familiar. She also models her characters after real people with whom she was acquainted.

Born in 1926, Harper Lee sets the novel in the 1930s, the Depression era in which she lived as a child. This was also the time of the infamous Scottsboro Trials in Alabama, an interracial rape case, on which the trial of Tom Robinson seems to be loosely based. Also, biographies of Lee state that there was an event near her hometown in 1936 when she was ten years old that affected her greatly:

Before A.C. Lee became a title lawyer, he once defended two black men accused of murdering a white storekeeper. Both clients, a father and son, were hanged.

Maycomb, Alabama, is the fictional name of Lee's hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. There is a courthouse in this town, where Lee's father handled cases as an attorney. Like Monroeville, Maycomb is in southern Alabama where Jim Crow laws were in effect in the 1930s. 

• Characterization

There is no question that Dill Baker is modeled after Lee's childhood friend Truman Capote, who was from Mississippi and felt he was too weak for the boys while Lee was too tough for the girls. Like Scout with Dill, Lee often defended Truman.

Atticus Finch is modeled after Lee's father, who served in state government and was an attorney with more liberal ideas than the majority of citizens in Monroeville. He was the greatest parental force in Lee's life because her mother suffered from mental illness and stayed in the home.

Boo Radley also is based upon a real man. Truman Capote depicted him in his novel Other Voices, Other Rooms. About this man, Capote stated that in his novel, 

I had that same man living in the house that used to leave things in the trees, and then I took that out. He was a real man, and he lived just down the road from us.

Why is Earth's inner core made up of solid iron despite of its temperature reaching to 5000 degrees celsius?

Planet Earth has 3 layers: the outer crust, the middle mantle and the innermost core. The core is further divided into the inner core and the outer core. The inner core of Earth is made of (mostly) solid iron and has a temperature of more than 5000 degrees Celsius. Interestingly, the melting point of iron is about 1538 degrees Celsius. Yet the inner core is solid. The reason for this is the high pressure on the inner core of Earth. At high pressure, molecules are forced together and hence cannot exist as either liquid or gas. The decrease in intermolecular spacing causes the inner core material to exist as a solid.

In general, as temperature increases (while keeping the volume constant), the molecules move faster and have more collisions with each other. This causes higher pressure and forces molecules together. Higher pressure causes the change of state of materials.

Hope this helps.

What is a direct quotation from the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian that shows the protagonist's most dominant personality...

Junior's most dominant personality trait, arguably, is his ability to persevere in spite of great adversity. He does not lose his sense of hope, and his hope for a better future drives him to make difficult decisions. For example, in the fourth chapter of the novel, Junior throws his book at his math teacher, Mr. P, when he realizes his mother had been one of the previous owners of the book. The educational system on the reservation is so under-funded that it cannot afford to buy updated books for the students, and Junior thinks this treatment is unfair. He does not necessarily want to hurt Mr. P, but Junior, in that moment, sees Mr. P as representative of a failed educational system. In the following chapter, Mr. P visits Junior and acknowledges Junior's perseverance and his inner sense of hope:

"But not you," Mr. P said. "You can't give up. You won't give up. You threw that book in my face because somewhere inside you refuse to give up" (43).

In this situation with Mr. P, readers see Junior's most dominant personality trait in action.

What are the main themes of the novel The Years with Laura Diaz?

The Years with Laura Diaz by author Carlos Fuentes focuses on multiple themes, including censorship, art, and identity.

Censorship and Artistry

The story is narrated by Laura's great-grandson, Santiago, a photographer and filmmaker who takes a significant interest in art throughout Mexican history. At the beginning of the story, Santiago views two murals created by his grandmother's friends, both of whom were heavily censored at different points. One mural was ultimately destroyed due to its controversial themes. The story also touches on the era of censorship in the 1950s through an American political exile who becomes Laura's lover. Laura herself finds freedom in artistic expression through photography, demonstrating the duality of the industry's nature. Art can be freeing in its truest form but stifling when it is censored. 

Identity

Identity is another major theme presented throughout The Years with Laura Diaz. Laura finds herself in the position of a side character in her own story. It is only when Laura reaches her sixties after losing her lover to the communist witch hunts that she emerges as a major character in her own life. This theme is foreshadowed in an early passage of the story in which Laura's grandmother warns her to take risks to avoid living a life of regret. Laura's grandmother herself once fell in love with a dashing bandit and has always regretted not running away with him. She cautions Laura not to lose herself by being afraid of making mistakes and to take control of her own destiny. Unfortunately for Laura, she does not follow this advice until much later in life.

What is an example of satire in Chekhov's play The Bear?

Satire is defined as constructive criticism delivered by mocking an element’s shortcomings in a humorous way to bring attention to the issue. The criticism is achieved through irony and sarcasm with the aim of instigating change or addressing a sensitive topic.

In the play by Chekhov, Smirnov is pressed to pay his debt, but none of his debtors wants to pay him back. His situation gets worse when Popova, one of his debtors, claims she is in no mood to discuss financial issues. Smirnov employs sarcasm to draw attention to his predicament and hopes that Popova will pay.

SMIRNOV: Thank you. [He shrugs his shoulders.] And they expect me to stand for all that. The toll-gatherer just now met me in the road and asked why I was always worrying. Why, in Heaven's name, shouldn't I worry? I need money; I feel the knife at my throat. Yesterday morning I left my house in the early dawn and called on all my debtors. If even one of them had paid his debt! I worked the skin off my fingers! The devil knows in what sort of Jew-inn I slept; in a room with a barrel of brandy! And now at last I come here, seventy versts from home, hope for a little money, and all you give me is moods! Why shouldn't I worry?

Smirnov is relentless in his quest, and Popova accuses him of not knowing how to treat a lady. Smirnov employs sharp irony and sarcasm to criticize Popova’s beliefs. His criticisms bring to attention the general gender issues that exist within the society.

SMIRNOV: [Imitating her.] Not at all funny--vulgar! I don't understand how to behave in the company of ladies. Madam, in the course of my life I have seen more women than you have sparrows… I am not speaking of present company, but of women in general; from the tiniest to the greatest, they are conceited, hypocritical, chattering, odious, deceitful from top to toe; vain, petty, cruel with a maddening logic and [he strikes his forehead] in this respect, please excuse my frankness, but one sparrow is worth ten of the aforementioned petticoat-philosophers.

How does passion work against the characters in Hamlet?

Passion tends to lead characters to behave impulsively or make decisions which are not very sound in the long run.  Passion leads Claudius to kill his brother and marry his brother's wife, apparently without concern for his immortal soul (a concern which we can understand as appropriate to this play based on the ghost's experiences), which Claudius has now blackened for eternity. It might be fun to be king for now, but Claudius's passion compels him to take an immoral route to the throne. On top of his, he married Gertrude, who is, according to the Bible, his sister (because she was married to his brother), so he's committed incest as well.

Hamlet's passion causes him to become obsessed with avenging his father's murder, a process whereby his own hands become dirty as well. He has Rosencrantz and Guildenstern killed, and is also responsible for the death of Polonius. His machinations also lead to the deaths of his lover Ophelia, his mother Gertrude, and Ophelia's brother Laertes. Hamlet's passion causes him to lose sight of everything else, and he makes a number of bad decisions — such as murdering Polonius in haste because he thought he was Claudius — as a result. 

Laertes's passion also causes him to behave dishonorably.  He challenges Hamlet to a dueling exhibition, but he tips his rapier with poison so Hamlet will die if Laertes so much as scratches him. Laertes allows his passion to overrule his reason, which ultimately leads to his own and Hamlet's deaths. 

How does Michael Pollan define the term nutritionism?

Michael Pollan defines the term differently from the prevailing consensus. According to his conversation with Amy Goodman, the current definition of nutritionism is as follows:

1)Food is essentially made up of a collection of nutrients. Since we can't taste nutrients, we must trust experts to tell us what to consume.

2)An assumption of nutritionism is that all the nutrients we consume are measurable. Michael Pollan states that this is a dubious assumption.

3)The main purpose of eating, according to the experts, is to maintain proper physical health. All other reasons for eating (such as for personal enjoyment or as part of a bonding activity during a social gathering) are ignored in the obsessive concern with the nutrient content of food.

This is how Michael Pollan defines nutritionism:

1) Good nutrition is about consuming unprocessed, natural foods such as whole grain breads and raw fruits and vegetables.

2) One of the best ways to eat well is to purchase more local farm products. Michael Pollan asserts that local produce is going to be more nutritious because it is fresher and hasn't endured long transit periods from the producer to the consumer.

3) Growing food without chemicals may not be as efficient as the global model, but it can be more sustainable. Foods are more nutritious if they are grown without the use of harmful pesticides and not genetically modified.

4) The healthiest and most nutritious diets are traditional diets such as the Mediterranean diet or the Japanese diet, where the emphasis is on unprocessed and natural foods.

So, to Michael Pollan, nutritionism should be an ideology that proposes a whole foods diet, sustained by produce from local farmers.

Is there alliteration in Jaques' "Seven ages of man" speech in As You Like It? What is its function?

In his famous monologue (As You Like It, Act II Scene vii), Jacques doesn't actually use alliteration as a primary rhetorical device. In fact, I think it might be more beneficial to ask why Jaques doesn't use it, as it is a common and easy way to create powerful wordplay—one that Shakespeare takes great advantage of elsewhere.

Just to make sure we're on the same page: alliteration is the repetition of the same sound at the start of closely connected words. The phrase I just used, "same sound at the start," is a perfect example of alliteration—the "s" sound starts three of the five words.

Alliteration is important because our brains are programmed to pay special attention to patterns. When we hear repetition, we grab onto it. Of course, there are lots of different things authors can repeat—vowel sounds (that's called assonance), consonant sounds (consonance), end sounds (rhymes), entire words—but repeating the starting sound of words is especially effective because that's the first thing we hear. We're zeroed in on the phrase from the beginning, and therefore likely to catch its full meaning (or meanings).

Repetition creates links between words. In the early days of English storytelling—we're talking Beowulf here—repetition was useful because the stories were delivered orally, from memory, rather than written down, and alliterative phrases were easy to remember. By the time Shakespeare rolled around, authors were putting a lot more effort into crafting beautiful-sounding passages; alliteration still helped the actors with memorization, but it also functioned as ornamentation and signal: this bit is important. 

In Jaques' speech, there are two big alliterative moments. Perhaps not coincidentally, they are the two most recognizable parts of the monologue: the first four lines and the last one.

He starts this way. I'll highlight the alliteration in bold.

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts

The first two lines feature a lot of As. Even so, it's hard to say that Jaques is consciously alliterating. He repeats "all," but the concept itself is the important takeaway, not the letter—he's underscoring that this speech will encompass everything about life. The other A words seem incidental—"a" and "and." 

The Es and Ps are linking concepts. Exits and entrances are antitheses—opposites (another of Shakespeare's favorite devices). Parts are what players play. The alliteration is relevant, but it's gone too quickly to feel significant.

Here's Jaques' last line. He's referring to the seventh "part" a man plays in his life, old age, which ends in a state that leaves the man ...

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

This is the most relevant piece of alliteration in the monologue because it's serving a clever double purpose. The repetition of the word "sans" (Latin for "without") emphasizes that one dies completely alone and stripped of everything—worldly goods, friends, a functioning body. But think about how you'd talk without teeth. One of the few sounds you'd be able to make is a hiss. The repeated Ss (notice that "sans" also uses consonance) are onomatopoeia. Jaques is mimicking the sound of a toothless old man trying to talk, even as he's describing the indignities he suffers.

Elsewhere in the monologue, there are a few isolated instances of alliteration, but they occur too rarely to be a trend. So why, in a 28-line speech, is that all we get?

I'd suggest we look in two directions. First, consider the subject of the monologue. Jaques is describing the seven stages of life every man goes through: infant, school-boy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon, old man. (Note that he only refers to men, not women, and that, though he says one man plays "many parts," he goes on to imply that every man plays seven, no more, no less, and always in the same order.)

He's saying that life proceeds linearly from point to point. Things don't repeat; they constantly evolve. If Jaques used repeated words or sounds, then, it would undermine the central point of his argument. (The exception is old age, which he calls a "second childishness," and which features, as we mentioned, the only significant alliteration in the speech.)

Second, consider what Jaques is doing. He bounds into II.vii. unusually happy. When Duke Senior asks why, Jaques explains that he met Touchstone, a court jester. Jaques was thrilled to hear Touchstone's wordplay, and decided that he wanted to become a fool himself. Listen to this speech of his, which comes earlier in II.vii. than the Seven Ages of Man monologue. Notice how often Jaques repeats words and uses alliteration.

A fool, a fool! I met a fool i' the forest,
A motley fool; a miserable world!
As I do live by food, I met a fool
Who laid him down and bask'd him in the sun,
And rail'd on Lady Fortune in good terms,
In good set terms and yet a motley fool.
'Good morrow, fool,' quoth I. 'No, sir,' quoth he,
'Call me not fool till heaven hath sent me fortune:'
And then he drew a dial from his poke,
And, looking on it with lack-lustre eye,
Says very wisely, 'It is ten o'clock:
Thus we may see,' quoth he, 'how the world wags:
'Tis but an hour ago since it was nine,
And after one hour more 'twill be eleven;
And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe,
And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot;
And thereby hangs a tale.' When I did hear
The motley fool thus moral on the time,
My lungs began to crow like chanticleer,
That fools should be so deep-contemplative,
And I did laugh sans intermission
An hour by his dial. O noble fool!
A worthy fool! Motley's the only wear.

Remember that Shakespeare's fools are often among the most perceptive characters in the play, couching their observations in witty or nonsensical sayings. They're also some of the most upbeat, appearing relentlessly cheerful and energetic, allowing insults to bounce off them.

Jaques, on the other hand, is notoriously mopey and broody, at times even misanthropic. Definitely not natural-born fool material. When he quotes a true fool, he manages to flash some skill with words. But when he tries to come up with his own material—the Seven Ages of Man speech, for example—he can't muster the same verve.

It's ironic, but one of Shakespeare's most beloved passages might actually be intentionally mediocre. Perhaps there isn't more alliteration simply because the speaker doesn't have the rhetorical chops to deliver A-grade material.

From Romeo and Juliet: What events leading up to Romeo and Juliet's deaths show that fate played a major role in the outcome of the play?

Fate plays a major role in the outcome of Romeo and Juliet through timing--or, more specifically, through the play's characters being at the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time.

We first see this in the streets of Verona when a random messenger stops Romeo and his friends in order to seek help with reading a document he is supposed to deliver. Through this chance meeting--arguably an act of fate--Romeo learns of the Capulet's ball and decides to attend it in hopes of seeing Rosaline. This, of course, leads to him meeting his lover, Juliet, instead. Whether or not this love is a matter of choice or fate remains to be seen, but the meeting itself was certainly all due to the universe's timing. 

Fate strikes again in the form of a messenger after Romeo is banned from Verona for killing Tybalt; this time, however, fate is not so kind. After Friar Laurence's messenger fails to deliver the news of Juliet's plan to fake her death, Romeo believes that his love has actually perished and commits suicide in the Capulet crypt. Juliet wakes to discover her dead husband and consequently kills herself as well. This is an example of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Clearly the lovers were destined to meet, as well as destined to part. Their ultimate demise harkens to the opening of the play, in which the prologue declares that they are "[a] pair of star-cross'd lovers." Ultimately,  they were only racing against time and their own destinies--a fruitless race and one that resulted in their deaths. 

Why did agriculture never arise independently in some fertile and highly suitable areas, such as California, Europe, temperate Australia, and...

This question is one of the central concerns of the 1997 book by Jared Diamond entitled Guns, Germs, and Steel, and I suspect your question is referencing this book. So I will basically explain Diamond's answer. The answer is complex, but it is basically rooted in geography. These areas were largely isolated from other areas by deserts or other geographic features (the Sahara, for example) that made it impossible for technologies and crops to spread to them. Also, most of these regions lacked many of the domesticable plants and animals that made agriculture possible. The Americas, for example, were devoid of many of the animals of Eurasia (including horses, chickens, and cattle) that were crucial to agriculture. Grizzly bears and African buffalo, for example, are excellent sources of meat, but cannot be domesticated and herded. Nor can zebras, gazelles, or kangaroos. Diamond also highlights the difficulty of spreading agriculture through continents that are along a north-south axis (like Africa and the Americas) as opposed to an east-west axis (like Eurasia), where similar climates existed in distant regions along the same lines of latitude. In short, these regions lacked the advantages that others had for the independent development of agriculture, and they were isolated geographically from regions that could, a fact that impeded the spread of agricultural technologies, plants, and animals from regions where agriculture did develop. 

What does Blake mean by "To See The World in a Grain of Sand"? How can we see the world in a grain of sand?

Blake’s opening line is a way of saying that every part of the natural world is important, and that we humans are connected to all of it. The foundations of our planet are rock and water. Sand represents both entities. These grains are tiny bits of rock that have been worked upon by the centuries-long action of water. So, yes, they are indeed representative of the world, in the physical sense. And if you look at a handful of sand, you can see variety and diversity in the size and shape and origin of the particles – mirroring the range of people who populate our earth. Yet from a distance, the sand on a beach looks like a solid surface made up of only one color. The individual and unique grains coalesce to form that whole. This is an apt metaphor and lesson for us. We ARE the grains of sand. I see us here. Do you?

Richard Godbeer's title Escaping Salem does more than describe and examine "the other witch hunt of 1692." What might the title suggest about the...

The title Escaping Salem suggests that Salem was not the only place that persecuted witches during the colonial period.  Godbeer examines another instance of a witch hunt in Stamford, Connecticut, that happened that same year.  In the short book he demonstrates that witch hunts were not just unique to Massachusetts.  The northeastern colonists were people who desired to create a new society based on their religious ideals.  Their agricultural ways meant that eventually they would spread out to lands farther than Massachusetts in order that more of their male sons could own farms.  These male sons took their religious values with them, honoring the church and hard work and demonizing anyone who was "other" in this system.  In Escaping Salem the author's thesis is that Salem was not the only place that this persecution of "witches" happened, and readers today can say that witch hunts still take place in American society as we persecute others who are not like the mainstream, especially during times of social stress.  The world of 1692 had stress as more people left the initial settlements and ventured into the woods in order to have their own land.  In the past, America worried about the spread of Communism from people we marked as "other," and in today's society the fear is over different religions.  Escaping Salem is an attempt to put the witch hunt into a broader context--by looking at a similar event in Connecticut, Godbeer points out that witch hunts were not only limited to Salem.  

How much does Mama's perspective perhaps color (or not) the reader's impression of her daughters in general and on you, as a reader?

Mama's perspective certainly influences the reader, both in general and in particular, to view her daughters in a particular way.  Maggie is the victim, the shy one; she "will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eying her sister with a mixture of envy and awe."  Mama describes Maggie as slow and sort of pitiful, like a lame dog that hopes for kindness from anyone.  We are thus prepared for Maggie to be weak, without really having a sense of her goodness. 

On the other hand, Dee, Mama says, "used to read to us without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks' habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice. She washed us in a river of make believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge we didn't necessarily need to know."  It seems that Dee has attempted to assert her intellectual superiority of over her family for a long time, and given Mama's dream of a television reunion, it sounds like Dee has kept away for quite a while, likely out of a sense of embarrassment.  Therefore, we are prepared for Dee to be a little standoffish and even snobby when she arrives.  It seems as though Mama, then, paints a more accurate picture of Dee because she doesn't really seem to appreciate Maggie's merits until the story's end.

How did Islam spread all over the world?

After Prophet Muhammad’s death (pbuh), followers of Islam were organized into caliphates and the spread of the religion was majorly through propagation, missionary activities and trade. The Arab world saw the emergence of powerful empires that conquered vast territories in Asia, Middle East, parts of Europe and Africa. The conquered people were mostly allowed to practice their religion, but they were required to pay a special tax to the conquering administration. Over a period of time, the conquered people gradually converted to Islam. Reasons for conversion may have been due to restrictions imposed on non-Muslims by the administration. In the Far East, Islam was spread through trade. The people interacted with the Muslim traders and were attracted to their conduct. The situation led to increasing conversion among the native population. In addition, migration of the Turks to Anatolia and Balkans saw the spread of Islam in those areas.

How would I cite, in APA style, information taken from ?

APA style refers to publication guidelines put out by the American Psychological Association. APA style is most frequently used in communications in business and scientific disciplines such as psychology, technology, and any business-related fields.

 Because of the many, changing, and varied types of internet sources available, APA recommends when citing electronic sources that you gather all the information possible about the particular source and find the closest model fitting your source as a template. For instance, APA has specific bibliographic guidelines for book entries and online journal sources, but may not have specific guidelines for some internet sources, such as .

When citing an article or contribution, you should look for the following information and record as much as you can find.

 —author, if that is available

—date of publication on the site

—title of article, answer, study guide, etc.

—website

—retrieval information and link to entry

The goal of citing the source would be for the reader to be able to independently access that source for themselves. Keep that in mind when you are looking for information for the bibliographic entry.

When choosing a template for the bibliographic entry, you would find an APA guideline model closest to the source. For instance, if you are trying to list the study notes for Everyman as a source in your bibliography, a good way to do that would be like this:

What lesson can be learned in Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe?

The overarching lesson Stowe wanted to convey in her novel is that even under the best of conditions, slavery was an evil institution. People in her time often justified slavery with the argument that while some owners mistreated their slaves, most were good-hearted and cared for their slaves well. Stowe opens the novel with a depiction of the Shelby family in Kentucky, who are, indeed, good slave owners. Nevertheless, Stowe wants readers to understand that even in the best of situations, slavery is a terrible condition in which to live. Once Mr. Shelby finds himself in financial trouble, he sells his slave Uncle Tom to settle his debts: this shows that any slave, at any time, no matter how good (and Uncle Tom is the best of human beings) could be separated from his wife and children and have no recourse. Uncle Tom eventually dies at the hands of a sociopathic owner. Stowe wants us to take away the lessons that slavery is a cruel, dehumanizing institution, slaves are human beings, and all humans should be treated with decency.

How does Conan Doyle present London as a mysterious and sinister setting for a mystery in The Sign of Four?

Conan Doyle presents London as shrouded in fog and mystery in The Sign of Four. As Holmes and Watson drive to the Lyceum Theatre in Chapter 3 with Mary Morstan, they are surrounded by fog:

"The day had been a dreary one, and a dense drizzly fog lay low upon the great city. Mud-coloured clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets. Down the Strand the lamps were but misty splotches of diffused light which threw a feeble circular glimmer upon the slimy pavement."

London is dreary, and the light in this type of weather is refracted in strange ways. Watson says about people in this type of light: "they flitted from the gloom into the light and so back into the gloom once more," and he says this movement from the gloom back to the light is "like all mankind."

This is a fitting setting for a mystery in which characters are cast into the darkness of doubt and then removed into the light of innocence, and vice versa. The setting in London, alternating between gloom and light, is also a metaphor for Holmes's moods, as he alternates between gloomy depression, when he takes cocaine and morphine, and periods of great energy, when he is solving mysteries. 

How can I compare and contrast The Great Gatsby and Hamlet?

At first glance, it would appear F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and William Shakespeare's Hamlet are too dissimilar to warrant any kind of comparison. Upon further analysis, however, the two works do have some similarities. The Great Gatsby could be seen as a modern take on Shakespeare's tragic template; just as Hamlet is a member of the Danish royal family, Gatsby is also a member of a kind of royalty, one that draws its power from wealth and social fame. Therefore, Gatsby becomes a kind of modernist king, and so the arc of his downfall can be seen to parallel the downfall of tragic Shakespearean heroes like Hamlet. There are also reasons why Gatsby's love for Daisy, like Hamlet's love for Ophelia, is not considered a good idea by many of the characters, although the issue in The Great Gatsby is that Daisy is already married, while the concerns about Ophelia and Hamlet's relationship lie in the fact that Hamlet is a prince (Ophelia is not a member of royalty) and his seeming descent into insanity. Additionally, like Hamlet (and Lear, and most of Shakespeare's tragic protagonists), Gatsby possesses tragic flaws (such as an addiction to superficial, material wealth) that ultimately lead to his downfall. The comparison isn't perfect by any means, but it is intriguing to think of Gatsby as Fitzgerald's Americanized version of Shakespeare's tragic heroes. 

It's important to remember, however, that there are still many differences between the two works. Hamlet, for example, is at its core a tale of revenge, while Gatsby focuses on yearning for fulfillment and an exploration of the American Dream. Additionally, the forms of the two works are radically different: Fitzgerald's is a novel, while Shakespeare's is a play written primarily in verse. As such, while it's useful to try comparing the two pieces, it's also important to remember significant differences exist between them.  

Which symbols of atoms or ions are neutral?

The symbols for atoms are those found on the periodic table, such as H for hydrogen and He for helium. These symbols are assumed to represent the atom in its "ground state"—that is, the condition where it has an equal number of protons and electrons, and therefore a neutral charge. Therefore we can say that the symbol itself, by default, represents the atom in a neutral state. 

Ions, on the other hand, are by definition incapable of being neutral. An ion is an atom in a state where it has more or less than the ground state number of electrons. For example, an oxygen atom would normally have 8 protons and 8 electrons in its ground state, for a combined charge of 0. If the oxygen gained one extra electron, it would have a total charge of -1, and it would be considered an ion. If the oxygen lost an electron, it would have a charge of +1, and this would also be considered an ion. However, in neither state does the atom have any kind of overall neutral charge, so it cannot be represented that way. The representation for an ion is to show the symbol for the atom, with its overall charge in a superscript on the top right corner.

Marxism Throughout Le Guin’s novel, the tension between capitalism and Marxism is palpable. However, Le Guin’s work is not didactic (it does...

Thesis: The contrast between Urras, a planet divided between capitalism and a form of authoritarianism, and its twin planet, Anarres, which is Marxist, show the problems with the class-based systems of capitalism and Soviet-style communism on one hand and with the communitarian system of Marxism on the other hand. The governments on both planets show that economic systems can affect people's ability to form relationships with others and achieve their goals. 

1. Urras:

• Urras, while rich in natural resources, has been exploited to the point of depletion, and its governmental systems--whether capitalist, Soviet-style communist, or a kind of developing world system--involve the exploitation of the vast majority of the population. The riches of the planet are available only to the privileged few and humans' relationships with each other are marked by greed and possession; for example, only the wealthy can afford to pay for school, which is for boys.

2. Anarres:

• Anarres, on the other hand, is a poor planet, rich only in minerals, which are sent to Urras. While people share what they have, a reality even mirrored in the language people use in which they are not supposed to show personal possession, the society also discourages the type of achievement that Shevek hopes to pursue, and human relationships are so free that they are often marked by a sense of non-commitment. 

What is an example of alliteration used in the book Anthem by Ayn Rand?

Alliteration is the repetition of the beginning sounds of words, like when Juliet says that parting was "such sweet sorrow" in Act 2 of Romeo and Juliet. Authors often choose to use alliteration to make certain phrases memorable or poetic, or simply to add emphasis. (Other times, random chance causes authors to simply use the same sounds to begin words close together in a phrase--although you can still call these instances "alliteration," you might better understand them as coincidences of language, like when reporters mention "legal liability" or "past practices.")

If you take a look at Chapter 1 of Anthem, you'll notice quite a few alliterative phrases, such as "memory of men," "thin threads," "Street Sweepers," "your body has grown beyond the bodies of your brothers," "big bell," and more.

Are these examples evidence of purposeful alliteration? Probably. I say this because these particular alliterative phrases help establish the serious, dramatic, foreboding tone of the chapter. Clearly the narrator is in distress throughout Chapter 1, struggling to express his fear and reflecting on the extremely rigid existence he's lived through so far. This narrator's tone of voice, sentence structure, and poetic phrases all combine to convey that fear and distress.

What is a thesis statement about Gatsby's greatness for a critical essay on The Great Gatsby?

What you write for your thesis statement depends on the evidence you use. There are many different thesis statements you could come up with about what makes Gatsby great. For example, Nick writes at the beginning of the book that "there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life" (2). Nick finds Gatsby to be the ultimate romantic, as Gatsby believes in the power of love. Gatsby believes that if he is accepted by Daisy and her class, he will be perennially happy. Nick says at the end of the novel, "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us" (180). If you choose to write about this aspect of Gatsby, your thesis statement might be something like "Gatsby's greatness stems from his unending hope in a better future." If you choose this thesis, your task is to show why Gatsby's hope is so special and how it distinguishes him from other characters, such as Daisy and Tom. 

Which bacteria can fix atmospheric nitrogen?

A bacteria that can survive in an area without fixed nitrogen is called a Diazotroph. These organisms use an enzyme called nitrogenase to fix their own nitrogen into the soil. Most have a symbiotic relationship with a plant, forming nodules in the roots of their partners. 

The most studied nitrogen fixing bacteria are Klebsiella pneumoniae and Azotobacter vinelandii. The Klebsiella is an anaerobic bacteria, meaning it is adverse to oxygen, while the Azotobacter is aerobic, meaning it needs oxygen to survive.

Rhizobacteria grow in the rhizomes of symbiotic plants like those found in the legume family. These nodules grow on the roots of the plants.

Some cyanobacteria can fix nitrogen, and are known for fertilizing rice patties.

Most nitrogen is fixed in the form of ammonia (NH3), nitrites (NO−2) or nitrates (NO−3).

What is a summary of the poem "The Listeners"?

"The Listeners" (De la Mare) is a poem in which there is not a great deal of tangible action, but there is a great deal of mysterious atmosphere that allows us to speculate and imagine a story behind it.

Simply put, a man traveling by horse on a moonlit night approaches a house in a forest, knocks several times on the door, gets no answer, shouts at the house, and then departs. If I broke that up into a few lines and recited it to you, your response would most likely be "So what?" A summary takes all the joy out of a poem, but there are reasons this poem has held up for over a hundred years.

There are "listeners" in this old, seemingly deserted house with its turret and ivy growing up the sills.  These are ghosts of some sort, which we know because of their "strangeness" (De la Mare line 21) and their characterization as "phantom" (line 13).  They listen only and say nothing, unable to reply to the horseman.

Finally, after the horseman pounds on the door a final time,

‘Tell them I came, and no one answered,   

   That I kept my word,’ he said (lines 27-28).

The horseman turns then, gets on his horse, and gallops away, leaving the house to the listeners, the forest, and the silence. 

There is a story here, a story about the horseman's promise to someone or someones in this house.  He may have waited too long to keep a promise to a woman he loved.  Perhaps he had pledged to protect the people in the house, he took too long, and they all died.  Maybe he was a prodigal son who waited too long to go back home to his family. We can imagine what might have delayed him, a war, perhaps, or an imprisonment. He may have delayed himself with drink, gambling, or women.

The poem sets for us a mysterious little scene, with wonderful sensory details about the forest, the man, the house, and even the horse. We can see the scene. And then we can pour meaning into it.  You might want to try to write the "prequel" to this lovely little poem.    

Is it possible to make holography using two individual laser light sources, one for object beam another for reference beam? Why?

It is theoretically possible, but practically it would be difficult to get a clear hologram, and it's much easier to just split one beam into two.

The reason for this is that in order to produce a clear hologram we need the two laser beams to remain coherent with one another, so that they produce a clean, stable interference pattern. If the beams were almost coherent but not quite, you could still get some sort of hologram, but it would have aberrations and become fuzzier.

It's theoretically possible to make a totally separate beam maintain perfect coherence with the original beam, but it's far easier to simply use a beam splitter and obtain that coherence automatically.

As an analogy, think of it like the question: "Is it possible to project a negative image of yourself without a mirror?" Sure, it's possible---line up a bunch of LEDs or something in exactly the right pattern, or take a photo, reverse it on a computer, and project that on the screen. But it's much easier to just use a mirror.

How are the amendments in the Bill of Rights denied to the citizens in the society in The Giver?

The citizens of Jonas’s society do not have any personal freedoms.  All of the decisions are made for them.  Therefore, their society has nothing similar to the Bill of Rights.  There are only strict rules and harsh punishments for not following them. 

The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.   The first one allows for free speech and freedom of religion, both of which are completely absent in Jonas’s society.  There are rituals, but they are secular and there is no mention of any kind of gods.  Free speech would be unheard of.  This is a society where it is expected that you will apologize of you offend anyone. 

There are also no books.  The only books in Jonas’s society are instruction manuals, so there is no press.  There are no magazines or newspapers.  Therefore, there is no freedom of the press since there is no press.  Jonas is shocked when he sees books in the Receiver of Memory Annex.  That is the only place they are. 

But the most conspicuous difference was the books. In his own dwelling, there were the necessary reference volumes that each household contained: a dictionary, and the thick community volume which contained descriptions of every office, factory, building, and committee. And the Book of Rules, of course. (Ch. 10) 

There is no mention of guns in the community, but if there were guns, citizens would not likely have them.  The community uses lethal injection to kill people, not guns.  Ordinary citizens are not allowed access to that either.  They have to request release to kill themselves.  A citizen who breaks a serious rule or three minor ones will be released, and citizens are released when they are deemed too old. 

As for Amendments Three and Four, there is no mention of a military, although the community does have search planes.  The citizens do not own their houses, because they do not own anything, so the community could quarter soldiers anywhere it wanted if it did have them.  There is zero privacy for citizens.  They have speakers where they allow the community elders into their homes at any time. 

As for the Fifth Amendment, which we usually interpret to mean that Americans do not have to incriminate themselves by testifying in court, I doubt that is the case in Jonas’s society.  When a citizen is accused of something they most likely have a video of it anyway, since it is very much a surveillance state.  Descriptions of the justice system make it seem very one-sided.  Jonas’s mother describes the justice system from her perspective as a judge. 

Today a repeat offender had been brought before her, someone who had broken the rules before. Someone who she hoped had been adequately and fairly punished, and who had been restored to his place: to his job, his home, his family unit. To see him brought before her a second time caused her overwhelming feelings of frustration and anger. (Ch. 1) 

The Fifth Amendment also includes a prohibition against double jeopardy, meaning that a person can’t be tried twice for the same crime.  Since justice is so harsh in Jonas’s community and people are pretty much just released, there is really no risk of that. 

However, they definitely get the speedy trial promised by the Sixth Amendment, if you can interpret it as a trial.  As for the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Amendments, Jonas’s community has no juries or bail (there is no money).  For the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, people have no real rights anyway, and there are no states so there are no states’ rights to worry about.

In "Blue Winds Dancing" by Thomas S. Whitecloud, how does the speaker feel when he first reaches Woodruff? Why does he feel that way?

The writer is apprehensive and a little afraid of how he will be received when he first arrives in Woodruff.

This is because the writer has presumably been away for a while. He hasn't seen his family since he's been enrolled in college. While he appreciates the opportunity to learn new ways, the young writer misses his home and his people. He reasons that, where he lives, there's no need to listen to lecturers droning on and on about obscure topics just to "hear their own words come back to them from the students." At home, the speaker doesn't need to concern himself with grades or whether he's earned enough academic honors. In short, when he's home, there are no anxieties to plague his peace.

Lonely and homesick, the writer decides that he will return home in time for Christmas. When he gets off the train, he feels great joy in tramping through the woods of his childhood years. Yet, on initially arriving at Woodruff, he's apprehensive and fearful of how his family and village will receive him. He's afraid that they will think him less of an Indian. At the same time, he feels that he has no place among the white people he associates with on a daily basis.

In short, the writer feels alienated from both groups. He even wonders about his identity ("Am I Indian, or am I white?"). However, when he enters the village lodge, he soon finds that his deepest fears have been unfounded. The older people receive him with great joy, and everyone makes him feel at home. At long last, the writer joyously concludes that he's indeed home, where he's yearned to be for a while.

How is power used in Fahrenheit 451?

Overall, it could be said that power is used in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 to make the average person passive and apathetic, and that power is maintained by keeping people this way. In the novel, Guy Montag's society keeps its citizens apathetic by burning books and encouraging the mindless consumption of media. By doing so, society also effectively bans free thought and critical thinking, as reading and books can be seen as vehicles for an active, curious, independent, and potentially disobedient mind. By ensuring that the average person does not think for him or herself and dumbly consumes media, the state also guarantees that no one will question or oppose it. In that case, we can see that, in the novel, power is primarily used to keep people ignorant, as independent thinkers are deemed to be too dangerous for the good of society.  

In Frindle by Andrew Clements, how does the frindle help Nick and the community of Westfield?

When the novel begins, Nick is a discontented teen looking for ways to cause minor trouble in his Language Arts class. He finds a way by calling a pen “frindle,” never imagining how far this small word would travel. Nick gets the result he wanted, interrupting his class, but as the frindle craze escalates into a national obsession, Nick begins to feel it is spinning out of control.

Nick learns many lessons because of the frindle. He realizes that things may seem one way at first look, but be very different underneath. A common phrase for this is ‘don’t judge a book by its cover.’ He eventually learns from Mrs. Granger’s letter that she was angry because she valued the English language so much, not because she disliked Nick. Indeed later she stands behind him, even making extra effort to talk with him when he becomes upset about the growing popularity of the frindle.

Nick and the people of Westfield also learn that ideas can expand and become something greater than ever intended when they are left to grow on their own. In a practical sense, the frindle helps Westfield because of the national publicity showered on the town. Bud Lawrence makes money selling frindle pens. From the profits Nick is able to establish a trust fund for his parents and a scholarship in honor of Mrs. Granger. He also leads change to the school lunch program.

Besides the economic gain to Nick and the town, they also learn to appreciate the enormous effect of language. One small word transformed lives and taught far reaching lessons.

What are some similarities in the achievements of Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X?

Two similarities in the achievements of Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X lie in the way they taught themselves to be literate and in the tone of their writings.

Both men did not receive strong and sustained formal instruction in literacy. As a slave, Frederick Douglass did not even receive an education.  He initially learned the fundamentals of reading from Sophia Auld, one of his mistresses. Upon hearing of what his wife was doing, Hugh Auld forbade her from teaching the slave.  Douglass had to piece together the elements of literacy instruction from outside sources.  His reading and writing skills were self-taught.  Malcolm X's path followed a similar arc. While he did receive formal education, it was limited.  Malcolm X dropped out of school and lacked a foundation for effective reading and writing.  While he was in prison, he relearned the skills needed to be an effective reader and thinker. This took the form of familiarizing himself with every word in the dictionary and reading increasingly complex works. Like Douglass, his building of reading and writing skills took place under his own guidance. 

Both men are also similar in the defiant tone they strike towards white society. Frederick Douglass is unabashed in his condemnation of slavery.  He does not believe that slavery needs to be gradually eliminated.  He demands its dissolution.  He sees it as "fatal poison." When he challenges Covey, Douglass shows a defiance associated with his stance on slavery:  "You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.’’ Malcolm X was equally forceful in his opposition to racism perpetrated by members of the white community.  This blunt rejection of racism is seen in his insistence that African-Americans must achieve their freedom "by any means necessary" and in his advocation for self-defense.  Like Douglass, he was unapologetic about his approach.  Both men are similar in how the tone of their work caused consternation in the white community. Both men's legacies were forged because of this tone towards injustice.

What are some reasons why we have levels of management?

We have different levels of management for two main reasons: efficiency and expertise.  Efficiency deals with how an organization operates at maximum capacity and minimizes stoppages.  Expertise deals with ensuring people with the best qualifications oversee their respective departments.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) cannot be expected to handle every management responsibility for an organization.  There are simply too many tasks (such as shift scheduling, performance evaluations, immediate problem solving, and project delegation) to be handled by one person in a large organization.  In addition to the tasks mentioned, the company must also focus on upcoming trends, mission statements, vision and long-term goals.  The latter category is an area a CEO typically handles, while the former is left to lower-level managers.  It is not efficient to have one person handle all of the administrative and leadership tasks.  It would take up too much time and slow the flow of business.  Thus, different levels of management ensure the organization runs efficiently.

Mid-level and low-level managers are usually tasked with the administrative leadership responsibilities.  These responsibilities include ensuring the mission of the organization is met by meeting the goals of the department.  As management levels increase the emphasis moves toward vision and long-range goals that are more abstract.

The second major concern is expertise.  A CEO may understand the business component of an organization to include market forecasts, stock options and business ethics but will probably not be the best welder or fabricator.  Lower management can be delegated to oversee areas where particular expertise is required such as legal, human resources or public affairs.  This ensures people are given the proper equipment, time and evaluation by managers.  A CEO may assume a welder can produce a certain number of components per day, but that number may be much greater or lower and an expert in fabrication will be better suited to handle the matter.  Therefore, management levels provide the necessary expertise to benefit the organization. 

What is the relationship between women, the veil, and the Iranian state?

Muslim women in Iran have historically had their ability to choose whether or not to wear the veil, or hijab, limited by the Iranian state. Reza Shah Pahlavi, in an attempt to modernize (or, as some argue, westernize) Iran, banned the veil for women in 1936. This ruling was met with protests throughout Iran, because many women chose to wear the hijab for religious or traditional cultural reasons. After many protests organized by Iranian women, the ban was lifted in 1941. However, this was not the last time the hijab became subject to state sanctioning. Shortly after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the new leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini decreed that women must wear the chador in public. The chador covers the entire body, unlike the hijab, which only covers the hair, neck, and chest. This ruling was also met with demonstrations led by women throughout the country. Today, enforcement of the law is less strict; many women wear the hijab rather than the chador, and foreign women traveling in Iran are not required to wear the veil. However, the veil is still mandated by state law, and women continue to demonstrate against it.

What figurative language can be found in "A Night Thought" by William Wordsworth?

Though not one of William Wordsworth's most famous poems, "A Night Thought" is still full of vivid figurative language and imagery. Indeed a rich example of figurative language can be found within the first stanza: 

Lo! where the Moon along the sky
Sails with her happy destiny;
Oft is she hid from mortal eye
Or dimly seen... (1-4)

In this section, Wordsworth uses an excellent example of personification by giving the moon human qualities. The moon is, of course, not alive, and yet Wordsworth gives it human qualities by calling it "her" and by saying that it "sails" through the sky and has a "destiny." All of these qualities are typically human qualities, and Wordsworth uses them in conjunction with the moon in order to make it more lifelike and give it a vivid, aesthetically pleasing energy. He also later uses the moon's carefree personification to highlight the absurd, contrasting sullenness of the human race. 

Does Bella Cullen turn into a vampire after Edward bites her during Renesmee's birth in Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer?

Yes, Bella does turn into a vampire following Renesmee's birth. Throughout the novel, we see how the growing baby affects Bella on the outside. Her health rapidly deteriorates because she is a human carrying a baby we can assume is at least part vampire. The baby's supernatural attributes are too much for a human like Bella to withstand. She loses weight, needs to drink blood, and shows signs of physical exhaustion.

During Renesmee's birth, complications arise. Bella is dying, and Edward decides to use his bite or saliva to mend Bella's wounds. Following the birth, Edward's bite is able to heal Bella and turn her into a vampire. Faced with the possibility of losing Bella, Edward makes a choice that allows Bella to stay in his life. Despite his original reluctance to "turn" Bella, he changes her into a vampire to prevent her human death.

In the society in Harrison Bergeron, the people are led to believe that they have been made "equal" for their own benefits--to eliminate jealousy...

The citizenry of America in 2081 have been made equal in order to take away their civil rights, desensitize them, and control them.

By not allowing a person to be superior to anyone else, mediocrity reigns. If no one is superior to anyone else, then conflict is reduced, if not eliminated. There is, then, no challenging of ideas, no rebellion. There is no threat from anyone because society has no people who are bright and creative, and who can challenge mediocrity. 

When, for instance, George Bergeron watches television with his wife and there are ballerinas dancing, he realizes that they are mediocre and he "was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn't be handicapped." But this idea is quickly obliterated by a noise in his ear radio that drowns out his thoughts. It is only the rebellious Harrison, who breaks out of prison and frees himself from his handicaps, who challenges this enforced mediocrity. But, he is quickly killed.

When it is announced over the television that Harrison has escaped prison, the announcer says, "Harrison...is a genius and an athlete, is underhandicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous." Calling him "dangerous" clearly underscores the point that the Handicapper General forcibly controls the members of society. By forcibly controlling people with handicaps, the society of Diana Moon Glampers, Handicapper General, hopes to maintain peace by limiting people's thoughts and their physical abilities.

What do roots in trigonometry mean? Why does solving some trigonometric equations give you multiple solutions?

In solving trig, or other equations, finding the "roots" means to find the solutions.  This also means find the values when "theta" or "x" is zero.  Also known as the x-intercepts.

Trig equations often have multiple solutions because there are multiple angle measurements which give you the same value on a trig graph.  

For instance, consider the trig equation `sinx = sqrt(2)/2`

Since sin45 = `sqrt(2)/2` and sin135 =`sqrt(2)/2` so both x = 45 and x = 135 are solutions to the trig equation

There are even more solutions to this equation since trig functions are periodic--meaning that answers repeat themselves every 360 degrees. So x = 45 + 360 = 405 is also a solution. 

Can someone explain this to me? "Scale of the model: 1" = 1'-0"

When we make a model or a map, the real (or actual) size of a feature cannot be depicted since it would take too much space (imagine having to make a full scale model of an airplane or a car). In order to save space, we make "scaled models". The idea is to have geometric similarity. This means that each feature is reduced by a certain specific factor. If the specific factor is 1, we call it a full scale model. 

In general, we use a factor of more than 1. If we use a 1:10 scale, it would mean that every feature would be represented by a scaled down feature of exactly 1/10th size of original feature. Our entire model or map will be exactly 1/10 the size of our original feature.

In the given case, 1" = 1'. In other words, 1 inch = 1 foot (' is used for feet and " is used for inch). This would mean that any feature that has a size or dimension of 1 foot would be represented by a feature of dimension 1 inch. This is also known as a 1:12 scale (since 1 foot has 12 inches).

Hope this helps. 

How do I return from the dialogue below into my plain writing once again? Do I begin a new paragraph? The old man is impressed by Manolin's...

Every line of your dialogue should include quotation marks that begin and end each exchange. For example, the first two lines of your conversation should read as:

"Now we fish together again."

"No. I am not lucky. I am not lucky anymore."

And so on. That way, when you return to the narrative in a new paragraph, the reader will understand the difference between when the characters speak and when the essayist returns.

Is this entire block a quotation from The Old Man and the Sea? If so, make sure to copy it exactly as Ernest Hemingway wrote it, or exactly as it appears in the source you are using. If there are cues like "the boy said," you must (or at least should) include them. Those cues must appear outside the quotation marks, though. For example, I believe the full text reads:

"The hell with luck," the boy said. "I'll bring the luck with me."

These character cues allow the reader to follow the dialogue more easily. I see you took this one out and inserted an ellipsis in its place. I wouldn't do this. You want to make your essay as logical and as easy to understand as possible.