How does Jerry prepare for his task of swimming through the tunnel in "Through the Tunnel"?

Jerry practices for his rite of passage through the tunnel by conditioning himself to be able to hold his breath. He obtains swims goggles and practices going underwater and finding the tunnel so that he will know exactly where it is when he swims through it.

Jerry is an eleven-year-old English boy who goes on holiday with his mother on the coast of Africa. He is at that age between childhood and the teen years, an age at which a young person wants to be perceived as less a child and more as a young adult. Realizing this, his mother allows Jerry, who is a good swimmer, to go to the big beach, where there are great rocks. So, once he sees that his mother is on her beach, Jerry hurries the last few yards and rushes straight into the water where he starts swimming.
After he watches the native boys diving down off the rocks, Jerry clowns in the water, hoping they will accept him. But, they ignore him until Jerry shouts a warning. Then, they "looked at him idly and turned their eyes back toward the water." After a while Jerry realizes that the boys are swimming through some gap or hole in a huge rock. He dives below the water to try to find the passage that they have used, but he cannot hold his breath long enough. Soon, he returns to the villa, and immediately when his mother arrives, Jerry demands swimming goggles. He pleads and nags until his mother takes him to a store and buys the goggles.

Jerry now practices holding his breath, but when his nose bleeds at night, his mother orders him to go with her to the old beach. On the following day, Jerry rushes out early and returns to the new beach. The day's rest has helped him hold his breath longer, and he does better. He practices 

...as if everything, the whole of his life, all that he would become, depended upon it.

He dives down repeatedly until he finds the opening to the tunnel and he tries to find the opening in the rock until "he shot his feet out forward and they met no obstacle."

One day his mother announces that they will leave in four days, and Jerry decides that he will try to swim through the tunnel before he goes home. But when his nose bleeds badly, Jerry decides he will wait until he is older. Suddenly, though, he looks down into the water and decides "this was the moment when he would try."

What is the theme of "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman? Does it have a motif of creativity vs. insanity?

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a quasi-autobiographical story about a rest cure prescribed for what was diagnosed in her period as a "nervous disorder". The protagonist of the story is portrayed as undergoing such a cure and going slowly insane over the course of the story. As we read it, though, we begin to understand that the so-called cure resembles something like the solitary confinement of prisoners or sensory deprivation, something we now understand as more likely to result in than to cure mental disorders.

The main theme of the story is the tension between the active creative role of the artist or writer and the passivity expected and limited opportunities available for women in Gilman's period. As the protagonist is confined, her creativity manifests itself in creating a story born in hallucination rather than one crafted in words. Thus we are led to understand that the creative imagination when thwarted in its need to create may escape into insanity. 

Shakespeare famously stated 

... the poet’s pen ... gives to airy nothing

A local habitation and a name.

Gilman argues that the creative urge, when deprived of its outlet in artistic creation, will turn to madness. 

In Three Men in a Boat by Jerome, what does J. discover about himself after reading the book at the British Museum?

J., the narrator, was suffering from nearly every disease listed in this medical reference book. He searched the entries from A to Z, from “ague” to “zymosis”; and he realized that he had most of the symptoms that he saw. The only malady he couldn’t match up with was “housemaid’s knee.” Since he was a gentleman who probably never did housework of any kind, this makes sense.

I sat and pondered. I thought what an interesting case I must be from a medical point of view, what an acquisition I should be to a class! Students would have no need to “walk the hospitals,” if they had me. I was a hospital to myself. All they need do would be to walk round me, and, after that, take their diploma.

This is our first encounter with J., coming early in Chapter I. We quickly learn that he is prone to taking off on tangents away from the main story line. He also tends to use exaggeration and sarcasm. It’s impossible for him to have every ailment known to mankind. He’s either admitting that he’s a hypochondriac, or he’s poking fun at himself. He also quietly makes fun of us for believing his story.

Do you agree with the view that job flexibility is the key to equal pay?

As I understand it, this question asks whether we could get women to have pay equal to that of men if jobs were more flexible.  I partially agree with this statement.  I agree because much of the reason why women fall behind men in terms of pay is that women take time off from work to have children and then work fewer hours than men because of family commitments.  However, I disagree with this statement to some degree because these factors do not account for all of the differences between men’s and women’s pay.

As we can see in the links below, women pay a large price for being the sex that bears children and for the fact that our society still expects them to do most of the work of caring for the children when they are young.  If women take time off from work (and if men do not) when they have children, they fall behind in the race for seniority and higher positions within companies.  If women work fewer hours than men because they need to be available to do things like bringing children to after school activities, the same thing happens.  By doing these things, women come to make less than men.  If jobs were more flexible, they would be more able to accommodate women.  Flexible jobs would allow women to keep their jobs and hours up while having and raising children.  This would prevent their pay from lagging behind that of men.

On the other hand, there are factors other than job flexibility that prevent women from earning equal pay.  Women get paid less in part because our society expects them to do more of the work of raising children.  That would not end if jobs became more flexible.  Women get paid less in part because they tend to gravitate towards some jobs that do not pay as well as predominantly male jobs.  This would not change if jobs became more flexible.

While job flexibility would help improve the problem of unequal pay for men and women, it would not eradicate it completely.

What are the characteristics of the contingency viewpoint of management?

The contingency viewpoint of management involves a manager weighing many different possibilities when solving an organizational problem. This process appreciates the constantly changing environment in which a problem is solved, as well as the dynamic needs of management and employees. When coming up with possible solutions, a manager considers many variables, including the makeup of the workforce, the organizational culture of the company, the company's size, the company's environment, and other factors. The advantage of this type of solution is that it can produce solutions that are specific to the problem, rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach. As the manager has considered many factors in producing the solution, the solution has a better chance of being feasible. The disadvantage of this process is that it can require a great deal of effort and time to produce customized responses to different types of problems that arise in an organization. 

Why was iron not in use during the Early Vedic Age?

Because nobody knew how! We take it for granted now, but during that period (about 1500 BC to 1000 BC), the technology simply did not exist to smelt iron from ore.

People knew how to smelt bronze, because bronze melts at a much lower temperature than iron. People also knew how to work with silver and gold, because these precious metals don't corrode or bond easily, so they are found more or less in their pure form; they also have lower melting points than iron.

Simply building a furnace hot enough to melt and cast iron is quite difficult (the key is producing sufficient airflow over the coals and keeping the container from bursting or melting), and iron was not widely used in India until about 800 BC, when the Aryans invaded and spread the technology.

In "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome, what are Montmorency's objections to the boat trip? Are they valid?

Montmorency is a fox terrier – the dog represented in the title, Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog). By the end of Chapter I, the men have decided to take a trip along the River Thames. To be fair, the fourth member of the crew is granted a vote:

The only one who was not struck with the suggestion was Montmorency. He never did care for the river, did Montmorency.

“It’s all very well for you fellows,” he says; “you like it, but I don’t. There’s nothing for me to do. Scenery is not in my line, and I don’t smoke. If I see a rat, you won’t stop; and if I go to sleep, you get fooling about with the boat, and slop me overboard. If you ask me, I call the whole thing bally foolishness.”

So, the dog’s perceived objections are that (1) he would have nothing to do on the boat, (2) he would be bored by the passing scenery, (3) he was not one to sit back and smoke a pipe or cigar to wile away the time, (4) the boat would likely not stop when he would want to explore something, and (5) he could accidentally fall overboard while sleeping. A few of these concerns are well founded. Montmorency has nothing to do on the trip, and he may have been bored. He does not drop into the water while sleeping, however. He doesn’t anticipate any problems or interactions with the tea kettle, either. And when he does spy a water-rat, he is able to grab it and donate it to a project George undertakes in Chapter XIV. He does indeed participate fully in this journey, and he does stay with the three men for the course of their adventure. He may have even enjoyed the experience and may have forgotten his earlier protests, by the end.

The most interesting part of the story is the reversal of the expected situation when the Otis family terrorizes the ghost instead of the ghost...

I would agree that the Otis family's terrorizing of Sir Simon's ghost is a very interesting part of the story.  It's just so completely unexpected.  That is especially true when I consider the popularity of modern day horror movies.  They're everywhere, and they all seem to try and one up each other.  The scarier and gorier the better.  No audience member goes to one of those movies expecting the characters in the movie not to be frightened of the supernatural creatures; however, that's exactly what happens in "The Canterville Ghost." 

The Otis family's disregard for the ghost starts right away.  Lord Canterville tells Mr. Otis about the ghost, and Mr. Otis isn't concerned in the slightest.  He doesn't bat an eye or second guess his purchase at all.  Quite the opposite actually.  He flat out tells Lord Canterville that he doesn't believe that a ghost exists at all.  Lord Canterville insists that the ghost exists, and Mr. Otis then makes a joke of it.  

"I fear that the ghost exists," said Lord Canterville, smiling, "though it may have resisted the overtures of your enterprising impresarios. It has been well known for three centuries, since 1584 in fact, and always makes its appearance before the death of any member of our family."

"Well, so does the family doctor for that matter, Lord Canterville. But there is no such thing, sir, as a ghost, and I guess the laws of Nature are not going to be suspended for the British aristocracy."

Mr. Otis's complete disregard for the possibility of a ghost is so completely atypical that it is immediately interesting.  Who exactly is this Otis guy?  Is he that dumb or just that brave?  

The majority of the Otis family responds similarly as well.  Even in the face of ghostly evidence, the Otis family stays unconcerned.  The first evidence of the possibility of a haunting is the creepy bloodstain that can't be gotten rid of.  Mrs. Umney explains what the stain is from and that it has been present for hundreds of years.  Washington Otis is completely unfazed.  He politely explains that his special cleaner can get rid of the stain, and he proceeds to rid the house of the stain.  

"The blood-stain has been much admired by tourists and others, and cannot be removed."

"That is all nonsense," cried Washington Otis; "Pinkerton's Champion Stain Remover and Paragon Detergent will clean it up in no time," and before the terrified housekeeper could interfere, he had fallen upon his knees, and was rapidly scouring the floor with a small stick of what looked like a black cosmetic. In a few moments no trace of the bloodstain could be seen.

The bloodstain does return, and the Otis family remains more or less unconcerned about any potential dangers that the ghost might present.  Instead they are interested in the ghost.  

The whole family were now quite interested . . . 

Soon after, Sir Simon decides to make an actual appearance.  This is my favorite part of the story.  Sir Simon shows up looking very scary.  He's shaking metal chains, he's got red eyes, and he's wearing worn out clothing.  He's not friendly looking.  

His eyes were as red burning coals; long grey hair fell over his shoulders in matted coils; his garments, which were of antique cut, were soiled and ragged, and from his wrists and ankles hung heavy manacles and rusty gyves.

I'd be scared.  If this were a horror movie, I'd be hiding behind my pillow.  I don't do scary movies.  But Mr. Otis isn't scared at all.  He's more annoyed than anything else.  He has been forced out of bed late at night because of all of the noise that the ghost is making, and he wants to go back to sleep.  Mr. Otis calmly hands the ghost a bottle of oil, tells him to use it, turns around, closes the door, and promptly returns to bed.  Sir Simon is left standing in the the hall dumbstruck by what has just occurred.  

"My dear sir," said Mr. Otis, "I really must insist on your oiling those chains, and have brought you for that purpose a small bottle of the Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator. It is said to be completely efficacious upon one application, and there are several testimonials to that effect on the wrapper from some of our most eminent native divines. I shall leave it here for you by the bedroom candles, and will be happy to supply you with more, should you require it." With these words the United States Minister laid the bottle down on a marble table, and, closing his door, retired to rest.

For a moment the Canterville ghost stood quite motionless in natural indignation; then, dashing the bottle violently upon the polished floor, he fled down the corridor, uttering hollow groans, and emitting a ghastly green light.

From there things only escalate.  The twins especially love to antagonize Sir Simon.  They set trip wires up in the hall, lube up the hallway, set buckets of water up on doorways, make fake ghosts to scare Sir Simon, and shoot their pea shooters at him.  At the beginning of the story, readers assume that the ghost will antagonize the Otis family throughout; however, the Otis family completely turns the tables on Sir Simon, which makes the entire story a very interesting and funny read.  

In "The Open Window" by Saki, does Vera show hospitality towards Mr. Nuttel? How?

In the story, Vera does indeed show hospitality towards Mr. Nuttel. Her methods are a little unusual, however, and she entertains herself at his expense.

As the story begins, we learn Vera, a young lady of fifteen, has been charged with keeping Mr. Nuttel company until her aunt, Mrs. Sappleton, appears to greet her guest. When she first meets him, Vera tries to put Mr. Nuttel at ease. She graciously assures Mr. Nuttel that Mrs. Sappleton "will be down presently." In the meantime, if Mr. Nuttel is so inclined, Vera offers to keep him company.

Mr. Nuttel appears to ignore Vera after the initial introductions. He seems focused on the reasons he is in Mrs. Sappleton's home. Accordingly, Mr. Nuttel's sister arranged for him to meet some of her friends during his vacation. She has written him "letters of introduction" to present to these friends so Mr. Nuttel can become acquainted with them, too. It seems Mr. Nuttel's sister wants to prevent her brother from shutting himself off from people and succumbing to depression while he is on vacation.

Ironically, despite her good intentions, Mr. Nuttel is ill at ease with Vera. He is so self-absorbed and preoccupied with his own imagined illnesses that he initially neglects to engage Vera in polite conversation. Vera, being the imaginative soul that she is, decides to concoct a story about how Mrs. Sappleton's husband and her two brothers met an untimely death three years ago while out snipe-hunting. Of course, the story is not true, but Vera manages to engage Mr. Nuttel's attention so thoroughly that he has no time to think about himself. This is how Vera extends her hospitality to Mr. Nuttel: she keeps him engaged until Mrs. Sappleton appears.

What is the main setting of Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture?

The main setting for Pausch's The Last Lecture is a Carnegie Mellon University lecture hall in September of 2007.

Pausch delivered his lecture as part of Carnegie Mellon University's "Last Lecture Series." The idea was for professors "to offer reflections on their personal and professional journeys." Knowing that he had only months to live, Pausch wanted to give a lecture that would emphasize the power of living life, even in the face of imminent death. From Randy's office, the lecture hall that held 400 people was located on the other side of the Carnegie Mellon University campus. This lecture hall is the setting for Pausch's lecture. It has significance because Randy was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. As a professor, Randy delivered many lectures. It is very poignant that this served as the setting for his last one.

There are different settings in the course of Randy's lecture. The lecture takes the audience to different places. For example, Pausch's lecture revisits his childhood home, specifically his room and his family's dining room table. Randy takes the audience to Disney World, different computer lab settings, and North Carolina to meet his future wife. However, the primary setting for The Last Lecture is the lecture hall on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University.

I need to compare Judith Wright's poems "Brothers and Sisters" and "South of My Days," focusing on themes and techniques about Aboriginals and...

Wrights' "Brothers and Sisters" and "South of My Days," as well as Noonuccal's "No More Boomerang," all speak about the changes that occurred in Australia after British settlement. However, Wright's poems speak from the British point of view, and Noonuccal speaks from the Aboriginal point of view.

"Brothers and Sisters" is about a British family that settled in Australia in a place where "The road turned out to be a cul-de-sac." The dead-end street is a metaphor for the family's lost dreams, as the bridge they had hoped for is never built. Their dreams are deferred as "now their orchards never would be planted." They spend their time listening to an old pianola that doesn't work properly, and "the bush moved one step nearer." The bush is a reference to the Australian wilderness, which is encroaching on the family. Their dreams of turning their property into a western-style orchard fail, as Australia reverts back to its natural landscape. In "South of My Days," the narrator of the poem recalls the tableland of her youth. The tableland is also a feature of the Australian landscape. In the poem, the narrator recalls the stories of Dan, who told stories about the drought in 1901. Again in this poem, the landscape of Australia is harsh and unforgiving, and the tableland of the narrator's childhood has changed.

"No More Boomerang" by the Aboriginal poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal is also about the changes that modernity has brought to Australia. Unlike Wright's poems, this poem is written from the Aboriginal point of view. In each stanza, the poet speaks about what has changed and poses questions about whether the changes are for the better. For example, she writes, "Now we track bosses/To catch a few bob/Now we go walkabout/On bus to the job." This means that the Aboriginals have given up hunting to work for a few dollars, and they go on "walkabout," or on a traditional Aboriginal journey, not in the outback but on buses. Later, she writes, "Black hunted wallaby/White hunt dollar." Wallaby are animals that are hunted by the Aboriginals, but now the Aboriginals have been forced to hunt for money, like white people. Their landscape has been forever changed, but not necessarily for the better. They face the same sense of decay and decline from a more hopeful and freer past that the characters in Wright's poems do. 

How would you compare the attitude of the narrator and his neighbor in "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost?

The narrator does not think that putting the wall back together is worth the effort because neither of them has animals. He thinks the only reason that they would have a wall between their farms would be to keep livestock in place. His neighbor believes keeping the fence there makes them better neighbors and wants to maintain the wall.

When the narrator tries to discuss the problem of the wall with his neighbor, he gets nowhere.

My apple trees will never get across

And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.

He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.'

Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder

If I could put a notion in his head:

'Why do they make good neighbors?

From a practical perspective, the speaker does not think they should repair the wall because it has outlived its usefulness. In the past, there might have been animals on their farms and it was needed. Now it is a waste of time and resources. 

From a metaphorical perspective, the neighbor likes to keep distance between them. He wants a wall there. The speaker doesn’t really approve. The wall is more work than it is worth. Ironically, the only time the neighbors really come into contact is when they meet to repair the wall.

After emancipation, how did ex-slaves exercise their new freedoms, and how did white southerners attempt to limit them?

After the slaves were freed, they did many things with the new freedom they had received. Unfortunately, white southerners tried to limit these freedoms.

Once the slaves were freed after the Civil War ended, they pursued a variety of activities. Some former slaves returned to their birthplace, while others went to look for family members from whom they were separated. A number of freed slaves traveled, while others formally married. Finally, some former slaves were involved in building their own churches and schools. Some also became involved in politics and ran for political office.

White southerners weren’t pleased with these changes. After the Civil War ended, southern states passed the black codes. One example of a black code was that former slaves needed to prove they were employed. After Reconstruction ended, white southerners began to regain control of the state and the local governments. They passed laws that separated the races. Blacks and whites weren’t allowed to sit in the same train cars. They had separate bathrooms and separate drinking fountains. White southerners tried to prevent African-Americans from voting. Laws were passed requiring people to pass literacy tests and pay poll taxes in order to vote. People were exempt from these restrictions if their father or grandfather had voted before 1867. These grandfather clauses allowed whites to vote while denying the vote to many African-Americans because their fathers or grandfathers weren’t allowed to vote before 1867. Finally, hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan formed. They threatened, intimidated, harassed, and killed African-Americans.

While African-Americans gained some freedoms after the Civil War ended, white southerners worked hard to restrict those freedoms.

According to Montesquieu in The Spirit of the Laws, who should exercise executive and legislative powers?

Montesquieu argued for a mixed, or moderate government in which the excesses of the three types of government--government by the people, by the aristocracy, and by a monarch--might be moderated. Putting it as simply as possible (The Spirit of the Laws is a very complex book, with many contradictions) Montesquieu generally thought that legislative branch ought to reflect the will of the people, and be controlled by their representatives. He deeply admired the English "mixed" constitution, under which Parliament also included nobility in the House of Lords, but the important thing was that the body represented the will of the people, particularly property owners. As for the executive, Montesquieu generally understood executive power as exercised by a monarch. Again, he deeply admired the British constitution, in which the king held powers that were limited in practice by his council and by Parliament. The crucial point for Montesquieu was that a mixed government would restrain the abuses that could occur under different types of "pure" government--democracy, aristocracy, and despotic monarchies.

Compare and Contrast Chinese and Japanese responses to European dominance.

Both the Chinese and the Japanese were initially averse to trade with European nations. The Chinese limited trade to one port and forced trading nations to pay tribute to them. The Japanese in the 16th century limited trade to trade with a few Dutch merchants. The Chinese considered themselves superior to the Europeans; the Japanese feared them.

Ultimately both countries had to concede trade with Euro-American culture because of the military power of the westerners. China was forced to open up more ports and allow Christian missionaries to set up churches. Spheres of influence - geographical areas of dominance - for each major Western power was set up in China and foreigners were allowed to live freely in China. Both countries made political changes in response to foreign influence. A government with anti-foreign sentiment was set up in China to expel the foreigners in what is called the boxer rebellion: it failed. Japan also underwent political changes with the Tokugawa Shogunate being replaced by a new government in what was called the Meiji Restoration. China tried to fight European acculturation with the Boxer rebellion, however, Japan allowed and even encouraged it with the goal of one day dominating the Euro-American influence both within its borders and globally. Japanese students were sent abroad and western advisers came to Japan in a sort of cultural exchange. Japan modernized and developed one of the worlds most competitive educational systems with the result that Japan's automobile and technology industries took center-stage in the world.

What is meant by "organs of government"?

This expression might be considered a bit of a metaphor.  We know we have organs in our body that do the work necessary to keep us alive.  Our hearts pump blood, our stomachs process our food, and our lungs make sure all of the body gets oxygen.  In the same way, the organs of government do the work of government to keep it alive and functioning.

In the United States, the three branches of government set up by the Constitution are the three primary organs of government, the legislative branch (Article I), the executive branch (Article II), and the judicial branch (Article III). The legislative branch does the work of making laws to govern the nation. The executive branch appoints cabinet members and members of the judiciary, acts as commander in chief of the military, and sets policy and tone for the nation. The judicial branch rules on cases involving federal statutes and constitutional issues, as well as a few other kinds of cases.  

Other nations have somewhat different organs of government. For example, in the United Kingdom, there is a Parliament composed of a House of Lords and a House of Commons. A prime minister is elected by Parliament and has the power to make appointments, enter into treaties, and deploy the military. There is a judicial branch, and there is a monarch who is mostly a figurehead. Still other countries have somewhat different organs of government, as a theocracy will have a religious leader at its head and possibly an organ to enforce religious compliance. But all governments need organs of some sort or another.  Even a dictatorship needs to have entities that carry out functions.   

What is the most important lymph node?

I do not think that a most important lymph node can be named.  There are hundreds of lymph nodes spread throughout the body.  Their primary function is to filter the lymph that is being circulated throughout the body. In addition to the lymph and the lymph nodes, the lymphatic system also includes the tonsils, adenoids, spleen, and thymus.  I honestly don't think that I can pick a single most important organ among even those four.  The reason is that they all work together to keep the body running at peak performance.  The loss of any of those organs is detrimental to human health.  It's possible to remove any of those organs and still live, but the immune system is weakened.  

If I were forced to pick which of those four lymph organs is most important, I would pick the spleen.  It happens to be the largest of the four, but that is not why I would pick it.  It controls the amount of red blood cells and blood storage in the body, and it helps to fight infection.  Blood is extremely important to the body.  It carries oxygen, cellular nutrients, hormones, and waste products, and helps heal wounds, so controlling the amount of blood and blood storage is very important to the human body.    

What are some interesting facts in the book The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela?

Although this is a novel, Azuela, working as a medic, was an eye-witness to the Mexican revolution, so his work gives us a bird's-eye view of the times.

In the book, real historical characters make an appearance, such as Pancho Villa. Villa was a famous general in the revolutionary army and Azuela actually served under him. Another historical character, Francisco Modero, who was assassinated but had earlier overthrown the repressive former regime to become President of Mexico, is invoked. The reflections on Modero reveal some of the cynicism expressed by the common people, who felt that once they had helped Modero achieve power, they were turned on and told to go back to work, "half naked and hungry," just as they had been before.  

Most interestingly, the novel offers facts about the social history of Mexico in this time period. We witness the primitive conditions in which the peasants lived: in the opening scene we find a room lit by a tallow candle and a children lying on a bed, covered in rags.

We learn too that not only today are people concerned about a surveillance state. The passage below, where the policeman has his ear to the door, indicates that the same issue bothered people more than a century ago and gives us a colorful picture of what life was like in Mexico at that time:

I was born in Limon, close by Moyahua, right in the heart of the Juchipila canyon. I had my house and my cows and a patch of land, see: I had everything I wanted. Well, I suppose you know how we farmers make a habit of going over to town every week to hear Mass and the sermon and then to market to buy our onions and tomatoes and in general everything they want us to buy at the ranch. Then you pick up some friends and go to Primitivo Lopez' saloon for a bit of a drink before dinner; well, you sit there drinking and you've got to be sociable, so you drink more than you should and the liquor goes to your head and you laugh and you're damned happy and if you feel like it, you sing and shout and kick up a bit of a row. That's quite all right, anyhow, for we're not doing anyone any harm. But soon they start bothering you and the policeman walks up and down and stops occasionally, with his ear to the door. 

Towards the end of the novel, the modernity of the early twentieth century collides with the world of the peasants when government forces use machine guns to great effect: "They mowed us down like wheat,"  reports Solis. Finally, the novel is unflinching in its assessment of the failed dreams of the revolution.  As Solis says:

What a colossal failure we would make of it, friend, if we, who offer our enthusiasm and lives to crush a wretched tyrant, became the builders of a monstrous edifice holding one hundred or two hundred thousand monsters of exactly the same sort. People without ideals! A tyrant folk! Vain bloodshed!

In fact, the lower classes in Mexico remain poor to this day. 

How do you know if your duckling is healthy?

A healthy duckling is an active duckling. Baby ducks do not "quack." They "chirp" in a way similar to chickens. One duckling is miserable by itself—the duckling will stay with its flock. Ducklings hatched under a hen will naturally have the oil on their down to allow them to get wet, but ducklings hatched in an incubator should not get wet until they lose their down, usually within four to six weeks. In a brooder, the healthy ducklings should be evenly spread throughout; if the ducklings bunch in one corner, it may mean there is a draft or the ducklings are too hot or cold. Ducklings have a healthy appetite and will eat all the commercial duck starter food you provide them. They also need fresh water to drink, but not enough to allow the duckling to remain wet. A healthy duckling should also have healthy, semi-solid stools. Ducklings' bedding should be changed daily, as they tend to get intestinal parasites, such as coccidia, which can kill an entire flock in a short period of time.

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, who is more powerful: Lady Macbeth or Macbeth?

Even though Lady Macbeth prods her husband on, she has no actual power.  Her only power is in pushing him.  This is why she pushes him.  She wants to have the power of being queen.  Malcolm calls her the “fiend-like queen,” but in reality Lady Macbeth has little to do with Macbeth’s kingdom.  She helped with the initial murder of Duncan, and encouraged him to kill Duncan, but after that she was not involved in the other murders.

Lady Macbeth is inspired when she finds out about the witches’ prophecies that Macbeth is going to be king.   She knows that her husband wants this.  However, she worries that her husband is too wishy-washy to act on his ambitions.

Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o' the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great;
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it … (Act 1, Scene 5)

Later, Lady Macbeth does plan everything for her husband and chide him when he doesn’t follow the plan to the letter.  She seems to know what she is doing in planning murders.  However, she doesn’t carry out the murder herself.  She needs him.

LADY MACBETH

Alack, I am afraid they have awaked,
And 'tis not done. The attempt and not the deed
Confounds us. Hark! I laid their daggers ready;
He could not miss 'em. Had he not resembled
My father as he slept, I had done't. (Act 2, Scene 2) 

Relying on her husband must have been hard for such a strong woman.  She turns out to be not as bloodthirsty as she seemed.  Lady Macbeth starts to crack.  Macbeth, it could be argued, was cracking long before he killed Duncan.  He was already envisioning floating daggers.  By the time Macbeth has Banquo killed and sees his ghost at the banquet, Lady Macbeth is making excuses for him.  It won’t be long before she loses her tenuous grasp on reality and is trying to wash her hands of blood long after it is no longer there.

What is a good thesis for an essay about obesity?

A thesis statement expresses the main idea of essay. The best way to look at it is this: if you could boil your entire essay down to one sentence and still get your message across, you've got a thesis statement.

Before you can decide on a thesis statement for an essay about obesity, you need to narrow your focus. Obesity by itself is much too broad for an effective essay topic—you could easily fill an entire book with information about such a topic. You need to develop a topic that incorporates a more specific subject. Narrowing a topic makes your essay writing job a lot easier. Here are several suggestions, along with sample thesis statements:

The primary cause of obesity: research and explain the single most important factor in obesity. It could be genetics, or food, or inactivity, or something else. An example of a thesis statement for this essay could be: The primary cause for obesity is the genetic predisposition to gain weight to an unhealthy degree.

Strategies for reducing obesity: An essay could identify and explain the best way for people to overcome obesity. It could be changing eating habits, getting more exercise, having surgery, or taking some sort of medication. An example of a thesis statement for this essay could be: The most successful method for overcoming obesity has been shown to be diet modification.

Social attitudes about obesity: Given the controversy about “body shaming” this would be a good current topic. How do people feel about the obese? Are they discriminated against? Are they misunderstood? An example of a thesis statement for this essay could be: Obese people are not afforded the same opportunities in life that non-obese people are.  

What does the message "MEDDLE AT YOUR PERIL!" mean, found in Avi's The Man Who Was Poe?

In chapter 4, Edgar Allan Poe, going by the name of Mr. Dupin, finds a note has been slipped into Edmund's tenement flat. The note is intended for Mr. Dupin and reads "MEDDLE AT YOUR PERIL!" (p. 39). To meddle is to interfere. The word peril means the same thing as the word danger and is used to refer to anything that can cause any form of serious injury or even death. Therefore, the message is warning Dupin that his interference could cost him serious injury or death. Later, Poe figures out exactly who had delivered the message and why.

By chapter 16, Edmund and Poe see a bill posted in the saloon that offers a financial reward to any person who has information on the whereabouts of Mrs. G. Rachett, Edmund's mother, and Poe figures out that Edmund's Aunty Pru posted the notice as soon as she reached Providence in search of Edmund's mother. Poe then figures out that Mr. Throck, a policeman of the Providence Night Watch, wrote the message because he is interested in solving the case himself he knows Poe is working on because Throck wants the reward money involved. Soon enough, Throck confesses to having written the warning message to Poe because Throck had been working with Edmund's aunt, up until she had been found dead at the docks, to find Mrs. Ratchett and still hopes to earn the reward money.

Why is the farm important to the story in E. B. White's Charlotte's Web?

The farm is the main setting for the novel Charlotte's Web. It is there that Wilbur faces his trials and is saved by various characters. Interestingly, both of Wilbur's "saviors" are female characters. Wilbur is first saved by the young girl Fern, who sends him to Zuckerman's farm. Wilbur meets a variety of characters at the farm, some helpful and some sneaky. Most notably, the farm is where Wilbur meets his second savior, Charlotte the spider.

Since Wilbur is getting bigger, he will soon be slaughtered for food. Therefore, the farm not only serves as a setting, but as a sort of antagonist for Wilbur. It started out as a happy home, but eventually became almost a prison for Wilbur. At the farm, there is no escape from his ultimate fate. The farm does become safe again when Charlotte steps in with her webs to save Wilbur.  

The farm is important because it is the setting and has a dual symbolism: home and prison.

What does Ed mean when he says "I'm the message"?

After the ace of hearts, Ed believes himself to be finished with the deck. However, a surprise waits for him in the form of a joker with 26 Shipping Street written on it—Ed’s own address. Dumbfounded, Ed waits for the challenge to reveal itself.

After meeting with a man in a business suit who shows up at his door and tells him to make his way to the cemetery, Ed finds Daryl and Keith waiting at his father’s grave. The two men give him no answers, but tell him to wait longer.

Days later, a man steps into his cab, takes off his cap, and reveals himself to be the failed bank robber. The man directs him to all of the addresses at which he had fulfilled a message and tells him to look into a mirror, directing him to what he had said at the trial:

“Remember what I’m telling you. Remember it every day when you look in the mirror.” He almost smiles. “A dead man.”

Six months later, the bank robber asks Ed as he looks in the mirror: “Are you looking at a dead man now?” When Ed responds that he is not, the robber says “Well, it was worth it, then. . . .”

At this point Ed is directed to enter his own home, where a man waits for him on his couch and pets the Doorman. The man reveals himself to be the sender of the cards and more:

“I killed your father, Ed. I organized the bungled bank robbery for a time when you were there. I instructed that man to brutalize his wife. I made Daryl and Keith do all those things to you, and your mate who took you to the stone. . . .” He looks down, then up. “I did it all to you. I made you a less-than-competent taxi driver and got you to do all those things you thought you couldn’t.”

He reveals a faded yellow folder that contains every idea and conversation that Ed has had over the past six months. It is understood that he is the author of the story, placing Zusak as a character within the narrative and making Ed aware that his actions and indeed his life have been controlled by someone else. Ed, disbelieving, asks the man, “Am I real?”

The answer is in the notes:

Of course you’re real—like any thought or any story. It’s real when you’re in it.

The man leaves after telling Ed to keep on living, and the next day, Audrey comes by and asks if she can stay for good. Content and happy, Ed later thinks of something the man had said:

“If a guy like you can stand up and do what you did, well, maybe everyone can. Maybe everyone can live beyond what they’re capable of.”

This leads to his realization: if he was not merely acting of his own accord in fulfilling the cards, he was not merely the messenger. He himself was the message: he is an ordinary man who had done extraordinary things, and in doing so proved that he was capable of more than he had ever imagined.

Why couldn't women be in plays in Shakespeare's time?

In Elizabethan England, when Shakespeare was alive, women were not allowed to act in plays because it was considered an unfeminine and unsuitable profession. The reasoning behind this comes from the idea that performing on stage contravened acceptable models of feminine behavior. For a start, women were generally excluded from the private arena. They could not work in many professions, including law or medicine. With the exception of widows, women possessed no legal rights and were technically the property of their husband or father. Furthermore, it was considered an overtly sexual act for a woman to perform on stage while men watched from the audience. This contradicted the (socially-prized) ideal of female purity and chastity.

It was only with the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660—forty-four years after the Bard's death—that the law was changed to enable women to work in the acting profession.

For more information, please look at the reference link provided. 

What is a company that is currently facing a significant dilemma? How can the rational decision-making process be applied to help the company...

The first step in the seven-step rational decision-making process is defining the problem.

One problem for Whole Foods is that its stock prices have been fluctuating significantly. Stock was priced at $67 per share in 2013 but fell to $31 per share in 2015. Though stock gained an additional 6% in 2016, analysts wonder how well Whole Foods is holding up under competition.

One reason for the fall in stock market value is that Whole Foods has faced two different lawsuits. One was filed by PETA, who claimed the Whole Foods 5-step-rating system for meat sold at the counter was a "sham"; however, Whole Foods successfully won the case, and charges were dismissed (Stempel, J., "Whole Foods Wins Dismissal of PETA Lawsuit Over Meat Claims," Reuters). The second lawsuit is still ongoing and filed by shareholder Yochanan Markman, who claims that Whole Foods was overcharging prepackaged foods by stating "incorrect weights" (Dent, M., "Why Whole Foods is Facing a Whole Lot of Problems," The Fiscal Times). More importantly, Markman claims Whole Foods intentionally raised the prices to con shareholders by artificially increasing the company's value (Dent). CEOs Walter Robb and John Mackey admitted that pricing errors did occur but denied the errors were part of a scheme to con shareholders (Grisales, C., "Lawsuit Claims Whole Foods Violated Securities Laws, Misled Consumers," My Statesman).

The next 6 steps in the rational decision-making process are pinpointing a possible decision, weighing the decision, pinpointing other options for decisions, weighing the alternative decisions,  choosing the best decision, "take action, and review the decision" ("Decision-Making Process," University of Massachusetts Dartmouth).

To increase share value, Whole Foods must regain consumer confidence. To regain consumer confidence, although Whole Foods won the case against PETA, Whole Foods can consider dropping using the five-point rating system of humane animal husbandry upon which Global Animal Protection bases its certification. Using this system, farms can be certified as humane with a rating of 1 to 5, the most humane being rated a 5. A rating of 1 "allows for intensive crowding, minimal access to pasture, castration without anesthesia, and nose ringing for pigs" (McWilliams, J., "Animal Welfare Labeling: What They're Not Telling You," Free From Harm). While the certification system is not the worst in existence, it is certainly not the best. Whole Foods could consider switching to a more reliable certification system using a smaller certification company such as Animal Welfare Institute. An alternative decision is that, since Whole Foods helped initiate Global Animal Protection's 5-point system, Whole Foods could also initiate an improvement in the system, making farms that currently have a 5 rating the only certifiable farms.

Int of xe^x^2dx

Evaluate `int x e^(x^2)dx` :

Let `u=x^2 ` so du=2xdx. Then:

`int x e^(x^2)dx=1/2int e^u du `

`=1/2e^u +C `

Substituting back for u we get:

`int xe^(x^2)dx=1/2e^(x^2)+C `

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

We can check by taking the derivative:

`d/(dx)[1/2e^(x^2)+C]=(1/2)(e^(x^2))(2x)=xe^(x^2) ` as required.

In the book Hoot, how does the main character contribute to the development of the theme?

Roy Eberhardt is the main character in Hoot. A strong theme in the book is that one should get involved and stand against injustice. Roy contributes to the development of this theme in three important ways.

As the book starts out, when Roy is on the school bus, he sees a barefoot boy running across lawns as the other children are going to school. He is intrigued by the mysterious boy and goes in search of him. When he finds the strange boy living by himself in the woods, he wants to find out more and gives him a pair of his own shoes. He keeps pursuing the mystery boy, despite threats from Beatrice Leep. He stands in sharp contrast to Beatrice's father, who is so uninvolved in his step-son's life that he doesn't even know he has run away from school. Roy is willing to get involved where others aren't. 

Roy also supports the theme of getting involved and standing against injustice when he defies Dana Matherson, the bully. Dana terrorizes new and younger kids on the bus and at school with impunity. No one stood up to him before Roy. He almost chokes Roy, but Roy fights back, breaking Dana's nose. When the school fails to discipline Dana for fear of a lawsuit, Roy takes matters into his own hands and lures Dana into committing a crime, for which Dana is arrested and sent to juvenile detention. When Dana gets locked up, Roy "felt guilty about making up the bogus cigarette story, [but he] also couldn't help but think that putting Dana behind bars was a public service." Again, Roy gets involved where others have let the matter slide, and justice is achieved in the end.

Finally, Roy's attempt to save the owls is an example of how an everyday citizen, even a minor, can get involved in community issues and stand against injustice. Mullet Fingers tries to protect the owls, and instead of brushing the boy off as crazy Roy investigates and learns the owls are protected by law. Roy then attempts to find out whether Mother Paula's has followed the law, and he even goes to city hall to try to look at the company's file. He raises the issue in his history class, which inspires many of his classmates to come out to rally against the groundbreaking. Because of his efforts, the story garners local and then national media attention, and the pancake house company's illegal actions are exposed. By getting involved and taking a stand against injustice, Roy creates positive change in his community and beyond.

Roy demonstrates that ordinary citizens, even teens, can impact society positively when they get involved and take a stand against injustice.

Is Mr. Poe afraid of living or death in Avi's The Man Who Was Poe?

In his real life, Edgar Allan Poe had many devastating experiences with death that tormented him the rest of his rather short life. He was so tormented by the deaths of his family members that, in Avi's novel The Man Who Was Poe, the character Edmund very correctly realizes that Poe has become afraid of living, as Edmund asserts in the final chapter, just before he and Poe part ways:

You're always talking about death, ... but it's living you're frightened of. (p. 198)

All throughout the novel, Poe speaks of his fears such as the fears of being haunted by a ghost, who was really Edmund's mother in the cemetery looking for her daughter, and tormented by demons, who were really nothing more than people at a party who criticized Poe's work. Furthermore, Poe explains that the reason why he writes about evil in the world is because "writers write about what they know best. And ... what some writers know best is what they fear" (p. 117). These fears of his developed partially in response to the experiences of death he suffered, first the death of his mother when he was only three years old then the death of his young wife, whom he called Sis, just as Edmund calls his sister Sis in Avi's story.

It's because Poe's own Sis died in his own real-life story that Poe can't picture Edmund's Sis as doing anything but dying in Poe's version of Edmund's story. Edmund realizes Poe's inability to see Edmund's Sis live stems from Poe's fear of the continuation of life, since the continuation of life brings nothing but more fears, more sorrows, and even more death.

While Edmund is correct in his assessment of Poe's actions, Poe retorts by explaining that Edmund's Sis would have lived eternally if her death had been captured on the pages of his story. Poe's response shows us that Poe has come to cope with his griefs through his writing, because he sees his writing as being able to create that which can live eternally.

What advice did the doctor give to the writer?

J., the narrator, relates this incident to us in the opening chapter of Three Men in a Boat. He appears to be a hypochondriac who worries that he has every disease and malady known to mankind. Once when he expresses his concerns to his doctor, the man gives him a thorough examination and writes him a prescription. Without even glancing at it, J. takes it to a pharmacist to be filled. But the man there found it impossible to comply, because the note recommended:

1 lb. beefsteak, with

1 pt. bitter beer

                  every 6 hours.

1 ten-mile walk every morning.

1 bed at 11 sharp every night

And don’t stuff up your head with things you don’t understand.

The doctor understood what was going on in J.’s mind. And J. tells us happily that he has followed these directions and has been living well ever since. Except for his most recent concerns about his liver, and his “general disinclination to work of any kind,” as he read of one of the symptoms in a liver-pill advertisement. 

According to Kant, "Perception without conception is blind; conception without perception is empty." What does this mean?

This quote from Immanuel Kant is about the idea that we are an inextricable combination of thinking and sensory input. Neither sensory input nor concept can stand alone in a way that is meaningful or of use to us.

Imagine for a moment that all of your sensory perceptions have no way of being placed in a bigger picture. You see a beautiful child. End of thought. You smell some bread baking. End of thought. You hear a pleasing sonata. End of thought. And so on. Without being able to form concepts, we have no way of doing anything with our sensory perceptions. They just are. If we have concepts in our brains, we are able to organize our sensory input in a way that is useful to us.  For example, if we have the concept of danger in our brains, we can place our encounter with a snarling dog in that file and remember it for the future. We can make connections, like remembering that a sonata is by Mozart, so we should remember to listen for others by him. Concepts such as love, evil, democracy, or beauty are boxes in our brains that we put our sensory input in. Without these boxes, sensation has no past or future, only a fleeting and meaningless present. This is a kind of mind blindness.

Now imagine that you have all of these boxes in your brain, with no sensory input at all. All of these concepts would be mere words. We cannot think of anything but in concrete sensory terms. We cannot think of love without having had some tangible experience of it, whether our own or that we have heard or read from others. Danger is a concept that is built upon experiences, our own or others'. If that is not the case, it is a meaningless concept, unable to get our adrenaline levels up enough to respond appropriately, just a word. All that goes into our brains goes in as sensory input. It is the sensory input that fleshes out the meaning of the concept. Otherwise, concepts are empty boxes.

What is the meaning of Ingsoc in 1984 by George Orwell?

The term Ingsoc is used in George Orwell's novel 1984. It was invented in the novel as one of the many neologisms that comprise "Newspeak," an artificial form of language associated with "doublethink" and designed to brainwash the public. It is not used outside this novel.

Within the framework of the novel, Ingsoc originally stood for "English socialism" but has come to mean the current social and political form of organization in Oceania. The basic structure of this society is sometimes also described as "Oligarchical Collectivism," in which the economy is state-controlled and collectivist but is run by an oligarchy (a small group of people) as opposed to democratic socialism where power is more broadly distributed.

The society is sometimes portrayed as a pyramid with "Big Brother" at the apex, followed by a small number of people belonging to the "Inner Party," a slightly larger group belonging to the "Outer Party," and finally at the bottom of the class hierarchy the masses or "proles" who are basically powerless and do various forms of menial labor.

In Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice and Benedick say that lovers are fools, and they want nothing to do with love. Why do you think they say this?

In William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, we find a handful of characters who become entangled in the complexities of romantic love. Beatrice and Benedick are two sides of the same coin-- both think quite highly of themselves and love to use their intellectual wit to assert their social dominance. They find a match in each other, first as a challenge and later as lovers. Because Beatrice and Benedick both feel that love is for fools, and they feel that they themselves are certainly not fools, they wish to distance themselves from romantic love. Indeed, romantic love does often end in someone looking silly or having their heart broken. All of their protesting against romantic love is really a way of establishing their identities as intellectuals who are above that sort of thing. As smart as they may be, they are still human and succumb to their secret feelings for one another.

What themes can be found in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire other than class conflict?

One of the many themes in A Streetcar Named Desire has to do with sentimentality versus realism. Blanche represents the romantic and idealistic values of the Old South, whereas Stanley represents the harsh realism of the New South.

Another related theme has to do with the destruction of the Old South by the Civil War and the gradual emergence of a tawdry, honky-tonk New South out of the ashes.

Another theme is the triumph of earthy, animalistic, brutal physical force and primitive sexuality over the sensitive, poetic, romantic ideals represented both by Blanche and by the boyish husband who wrote poetry and died young.

And yet another theme is the tragedy of aging as represented by Blanche DuBois. She is losing everything. She has lost Belle Reve. She will soon be losing her little space in the Kowalski apartment. Her last hope appears to be marriage to Mitch. That would save her from destitution--and possibly prostitution. But Mitch destroys her pretenses and illusions when he tells her:

"You're not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother."

How does the movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban present the idea of good vs evil?

In the third installment of Harry Potter, Harry learns that he is being targeted by a murderer named Sirius Black who has escaped from the mysterious Azkaban Prison.  Azkaban is guarded by Dementors, ghost-like beings that suck the joy out of you.  Since Sirius Black is on the loose, the Dementors are too.  They seem to represent evil itself, and Harry is terrified of them.  They make him feel like he will never be happy again.

Harry is not that afraid of Sirius Black, but everyone else around him is.  They try to protect him, but he makes light of the situation.  He runs away from home after blowing up his aunt (like a balloon, not with explosives).  He sneaks around the castle with the Marauder’s Map, given to him by Fred and George Weasley, which shows him where everyone is at any given time.  He also sneaks into the nearby town of Hogsmead. 

For Harry, evil is an abstract concept, even though he has already faced it directly a few times in his life.  He doesn’t consider Sirius Black a real threat.  His Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Remus Lupin finds him with the map and takes it.

Lupin also tries to help Harry address his fear.  When the class faced a boggart, a creature that turns into what you fear most, Lupin stopped Harry before he faced it, fearing it would turn into Voldemort.  Harry said he assumed it would be a Dementor.

"Well, well... I'm impressed. ... That suggests that what you fear most of all is -- fear. Very wise, Harry." 

The fact that Harry did not think he would see Sirius Black or Voldemort shows that he does not live his life ruled by fear of evil.  He fears the Dementors because they represent what he has lost in his life.  He has already faced too much death.

The threat of Sirius Black turns out to be not what it seems.  Sirius Black is not evil, proving the theme that good and evil are sometimes in the eye of the beholder.  Sirius Black was framed.  His reputation came from the fact that he was supposed to have killed Peter Pettigrew, but Pettigrew faked his own death.  He was actually an Animagus, and turned himself into a rat (Ron's Scabbers).  Sirius Black was also an Animagus, and became a big black dog.  They also find out that Remus Lupin is a werewolf.

The real evil in this movie is the same evil as in all of the Harry Potter movies: the dark wizard Voldemort.  What changes is who is helping him.  In this book, it is assumed that Sirius Black is helping him, but it turns out to be Peter Pettigrew.  The movie tells us that the idea of good and evil is more complex than we thought.  We assumed that Black was evil, but he was trying to protect Harry and stop Pettigrew, who was actually the threat.  People also usually assume that werewolves are evil, but Remus Lupin was a teacher and a mentor.  This did not stop him from losing his job when people found out he was a werewolf.

Note: The quote is from Chapter 8 of the book, but appears in the movie.

Why did Jonas leave the community in The Giver?

Jonas leaves his community when he finds out that Gabriel is going to be released.

When Jonas finds out what release really means, he is shocked.  He has no idea, like everyone else in his community.  He thinks his community is pretty much perfect.  All he knows about release is that it is final.  Release of a newchild is uncommon and sad, because newchildren are babies.

Release of newchildren was always sad, because they hadn't had a chance to enjoy life within the community yet. And they hadn't done anything wrong. (Ch. 1) 

Jonas knows that release of a newchild is one of the only occasions when release is not a punishment.  (The other occasion is release of the elderly.)  In a way, however, it is a punishment.  Newchildren are released for not growing fast enough or otherwise meeting the community’s expectations, requirements, and targets.  This is what happened to Gabriel. 

Gabriel was a newchild that Jonas’s father felt “wasn’t doing well.”  He requested to bring the baby home at night, because in Jonas’s community all babies were raised in an institutional setting for the first year and Jonas’s father felt that a home environment with extra nurturing might be better for him.

Jonas is selected Receiver of Memory, and with this assignment comes special training.  Part of this training is information about the way life used to be before Sameness.  Jonas realizes that people used to care about each other and used to have feelings.  He experiences family and love.  He also experiences hardships such as war, hunger, and death.

When Jonas sees his first release, on video, he releases that release means death.  He sees his father conduct the release, which is the release of a newborn twin by lethal injection.  Having seen death through the memories, Jonas is horrified.

"So," Father went on, "we obviously had to make the decision. Even I voted for Gabriel's release when we had the meeting this afternoon." 

Jonas put down his fork and stared at his father. "Release?" he asked.

Father nodded. "We certainly gave it our best try, didn't we?" (Ch. 21) 

Jonas’s father has no clue what release really means, no matter how many times he has done it.  Only Jonas really understands.  When he finds this out, he decides to escape and take Gabe with him. He and The Giver had been planning an escape, but Gabe’s release made it necessary to move up the plans.

In Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, what was Holden's reason for going to New York city?

Holden has no strong reason for going to Manhattan. He just doesn't like hanging around his school in Pennsylvania after having been expelled. He feels isolated and unwanted. He begins his story by describing how he was "ostracized" by the fencing team for losing all their equipment on the subway. He has already been "ostracized" by the school administrators. He doesn't want to go home any sooner than he has to, because he knows he is going to get chewed out by his father after flunking out of his third prep school. Young people are usually most flush around Christmas time. Holden is feeling rich. At the end of Chapter 7 he writes:

After I got packed, I sort of counted my dough. I don't remember exactly how much I had, but I was pretty loaded. My grandmother'd just sent me a wad about a week before. I have this grandmother that's quite lavish with her dough. She doesn't have all her marbles anymore--she's old as hell--and she keeps sending me money for my birthday about four times a year.

He will reveal that he has even more riches when he proposes to Sally Hayes:

"I have about a hundred and eighty bucks in the bank. I can take it out when it opens in the morning....No kidding. We'll stay in these cabin camps and stuff like that till the dough runs out, I could get a job somewhere and we could live somewhere with a brook and all and, later on, we could get married or something."

All of Holden's experiences with people during this terminal stage of involvement with Pencey Prep are unpleasant, especially his interview with Mr. Spencer and his fight with his roommate Stradlater. He doesn't feel like sleeping in his own room after fighting with Stradlater, and his neighbor Ackley obviously doesn't like him sleeping in his roommate Ely's bed. Holden may feel as if he is being slowly and subtly pushed out of Pencey. It would be a familiar feeling, since he has already experienced it at two other prep schools. He leaves for New York because he feels he no longer belongs at Pencey. He will find eventually that he doesn't belong in Manhattan either.

`int` `e^(3x)/(e^x+e^(3x)) dx`

`int e^(3x)/(e^x+e^(3x))dx`

To solve this, let's simplify first the integrand.

`=int e^(3x)/(e^x(1+e^(2x)))dx`

`= int (e^x * e^(2x))/(e^x(1+e^(2x)))dx`

`= int e^(2x)/(1+e^(2x))dx`

Then, apply u-substitution method. 

`u=1+e^(2x)`

`du = e^(2x)*2dx`

`(du)/2=e^(2x)dx`

Expressing the integral in terms of u, it becomes:

`= int 1/(1+e^(2x)) * e^(2x)dx`

`= int 1/u * (du)/2`

`= 1/2 int 1/u du`

`=1/2ln|u|+ C`

And, substitute back `u = 1+e^(2x)` .

`=1/2ln|1+e^(2x)|+C`

Therefore, `int e^(3x)/(e^x+e^(3x))dx = 1/2ln|1+e^(2x)| + C` .

In the first few chapters of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, what is the most important mood and what techniques have been used to create...

The mood in the first few chapters is somewhat sad.  Nick Carraway, the narrator, is telling the story after all the events have taken place, and he uses foreshadowing to help establish this mood.  He says, in part, "Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men."  Such a statement lets us know that someone good comes to harm, that something tragic is going to occur, and that the events will be so disillusioning that they will cause this young man to want to withdraw from the world.  As a result of this foreshadowing of tragedy, the mood could also be described as foreboding.  There is a sense of something coming.  Nick says that he "came back [from the war feeling] restless," and his restlessness affects the mood as we await whatever tragedy we know to be inevitable.

In Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, why does the protagonist tell people his name is Jeffrey when everyone calls him Maniac?

Jeffrey's name is all he has left from his parents.

Jeffrey does not think of himself as a legend because he wants to be a normal kid with a normal address. The way Jeffrey’s nickname starts is that he is a stranger in town.  It is actually kind of sad.  No one knows who he is, and that is part of why they call him Maniac.  

Nobody knows who said it first, but somebody must have: "Kid's gotta be a maniac."…

And that was it. Nobody (except Amanda Beale) had any other name for him, so pretty soon, when they wanted to talk about the new kid, that's what they called him: Maniac. (Ch. 8) 

Jeffrey has a name, but what he doesn’t have is a family.  He wants an address.  He wants people to know who he is.  He wants to belong.  This is why he moves in with the Beales when they offer to let him stay, and why he goes down to look at the street number.  It doesn’t matter to Jeffrey that he is white and they are black.  He wants to be Jeffrey.  Amanda introduces him by name, though she does have to ask him his last name. 

Jeffrey does get tired of being called Maniac, even by people that he knows. 

And pretty soon everybody was saying it … and, finally, in the kitchen one day … Mrs. Beale said it: "You that Maniac?"

He told her what he told everyone. "I'm Jeffrey. You know me." Because he was afraid of losing his name, and with it the only thing he had left from his mother and father. (Ch. 14) 

Jeffrey’s name is important to him because it is all that is left of his family.  His parents died, and he ran away from his aunt and uncle because they were dysfunctional.  They were not ready to be a family.  

How can I write a caption on the back of the attached book cover that I designed for the short story "The Ship Who Sang" by Anne McCaffrey?

To provide a caption for this picture, you should credit its source. You can also provide a short description of what is going on in the picture. This is up to you, but it can be something along the lines of, "Helva, a brainship, has the energy and brains to travel through space." 

The back cover also usually provides a short summary of the novel or story. You may want to include something along the lines of the following: "Helva, a cyborg, becomes a 'shell person,' living her life beneath titanium as her superior brain pilots her spaceship. She is not an ordinary person, but she still struggles with human emotions. Though she is by nature not a defeatist, she goes on her journeys with a sense of loss after her lover, Jennan, is killed, and with worries about whether she'll ever be able to pay off the considerable debts that she owes for her training. Will she ever find the right brawn to partner with her and to provide her with the companionship she has long wanted?" (The short story stops a bit short of including her continued search for a new brawn, so you can cut that part if you are writing only about the short story and not the novel.)

In William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies, what are six reasons why the boys like the island?

1. The boys are free from the rules and regulations of civil society. They enjoy the freedom to paint themselves like savages and engage in barbaric behaviors without being punished.

2. The island is scenic and beautiful. The boys enjoy the scenery and abundance of food on the island. The picturesque island is calming and peaceful at times.

3. Since the boys are young, and they have no adult assistance, everything task they complete provides them with a sense of accomplishment. They enjoy the satisfaction of creating a mock government, successfully lighting a fire, and killing pigs.

4. Being on an island void of civilization allows the boys to express their primitive instincts. They enjoy regularly hunting for pigs to eat and participating in ceremonial rituals. Essentially, their carnal desires are uninhibited.

5. The boys enjoy being able to swim, play, and hunt whenever and wherever they want. They do not have to go to school or ask for permission to do anything on the island.

6. Some of the boys enjoy the island for different reasons. Jack enjoys the island because he is able to have complete control over his tribe, while Piggy enjoys the island because he is able to exercise his intelligence. Roger likes the island because he can engage in seriously deviant behavior while Simon enjoys the serenity the island offers.

In The Pearl by John Steinbeck, how does Kino decide to make money when he realizes that the local pearl dealers are low-balling him?

Kino decides to take his pearl to the capital himself so that he can’t be cheated. 

Kino thinks that he has solved all of his problems when he finds the Pearl of the World.  He has never had more than a few little tiny pearls before, and now he thinks he will be rich.  The problem is that the pearl itself is not money.  He has to sell it in order to get rich. 

The pearl buyers are incredibly selfish.  They have long-ago come up with a way to collude and cheat the helpless pearl sellers who are at their mercy.  The pearl buyers also try to cheat Kino, wanting to convince him that his pearl is not worth as much as he thought it was. 

"You have heard of fool's gold," the dealer said. "This pearl is like fool's gold. It is too large. Who would buy it? There is no market for such things. It is a curiosity only. I am sorry. You thought it was a thing of value, and it is only a curiosity." (Ch. 4) 

The townspeople, who have been curious about the pearl all along, are not surprised.  They engage is some schadenfreude, glad that Kino’s pearl is not anything.  They were happy to live vicariously through his success but also happy to deride his failure.  

The man behind the desk said, "I'm a fool, I know, but my first offer stands. I still offer one thousand. What are you doing?" he asked, as Kino thrust the pearl out of sight. 

"I am cheated," Kino cried fiercely. "My pearl is not for sale here. I will go, perhaps even to the capital." (Ch. 4) 

Kino tells his wife he will not be cheated because he is “a man,” but she is afraid.  She wants to throw the pearl into the sea.  She thinks it is more trouble than it is worth, but to him it is a matter of pride.

In Swift's Gulliver's Travels, what main difficulty do the Lilliputians face while shifting Gulliver onto a newly prepared vehicle to carry him?

The main problem the Lilliputians face while attempting to move Gulliver from his place on the beach into their city is simply lifting and placing him into the vehicle with which they plan to move him.  They already have impressive machinery to move large objects because they use these to build their nine-foot ships, Gulliver tells us, but actually lifting him into this machine poses a difficulty.  Eventually, eighty poles are erected, to which pulleys are fastened, and some nine hundred of the strongest Lilliputian men are called to hoist Gulliver up by the cords they've tied around him using these pulleys.  It is a process that takes almost three hours, as Gulliver finds out later because he sleeps through the whole production, his wine having been drugged.

An electric clothes dryer is rated at 2,800 W. How much energy does it use in 35 min?

You can use the following formula to solve this problem: Electric Energy = Power x Time.  

You have already been given the power. It's 2,800 watts. 1 watt of power is equivalent to 1 Joule of energy per second.

That means you need to convert 35 minutes into seconds. Multiply 35 minutes x 60 seconds/ minute and you get 2,100 seconds.  

Now multiply that answer by the 2,800 watts of power being used.  

2,800 x 2,100 = 5,880,000 Joules

The electric dryer in question is using 5,880,000 Joules of energy during that 35 minute time period. Compared to anything else in the house, that clothes dryer is probably the the highest electric energy consumer on the property. I've attached a link below that explains a few other formulas regarding electricity consumption, usage, and how the power company uses kilo-watt hours instead of joules.   

Define the term channel richness as it relates to the communication process. Briefly, describe and defend the level of richness you would select...

Channel richness is defined as the suitability of a communication medium. The adequacy of the medium is determined based on its effectiveness in the communication process.

Channel richness is determined by how much information the channel can reproduce and how well the receiver can interpret and respond. For instance, face to face communication is considered a rich channel because it can reproduce most of the sender’s information. The receiver interprets the message based on additional cues from the sender. The signals include the following: tone, gestures, and body language.

Conflict situations require a channel that is fast and effective. A rich channel would ensure that the response is prompt and well interpreted. During the preliminary stage, a phone call or face to face conversation would be appropriate to prevent escalation of the conflict. The two channels ensure that contact is established.