Ho claims that Vietnam's independence is consistent with the philosophical principles which the Allies claimed were paramount during World War...

Ho Chi Minh is highlighting specific principles that were established in the Atlantic Charter of August 14th, 1941.  The Atlantic Charter was a post-war plan that was to be enacted at the conclusion of World War II.  Some of the more pertinent points in the charter are as follows: 

“First, their countries seek no aggrandizement, territorial or other;

Second, they desire to see no territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned;

Third, they respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them

Fourth, they will endeavor, with due respect for their existing obligations, to further the enjoyment by all States, great or small, victor or vanquished, of access, on equal terms, to the trade and to the raw materials of the world which are needed for their economic prosperity;

Fifth, they desire to bring about the fullest collaboration between all nations in the economic field with the object of securing, for all, improved labor standards, economic advancement and social security.” (Source)

By analyzing these statements, one can see how Ho Chi Minh can apply them to the notion of independence from France.

France during World War II was completely overrun and controlled by Germany in what appears to be a similar fashion to how the French colonized Vietnam through economic imperialism.  The French were getting a taste of what the Vietnamese had felt under the yoke and rule of the French.

Ho Chi Minh reasserts these ideas in the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence by referencing not only the American Declaration of Independence but also the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

"All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America m 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free. The Declaration of the French Revolution made in 1791 on the Rights of Man and the Citizen also states: "All men are born free and with equal rights, and must always remain free and have equal rights." Those are undeniable truths. Nevertheless, for more than eighty years, the French imperialists, abusing the standard of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, have violated our Fatherland and oppressed our fellow-citizens. They have acted contrary to the ideals of humanity and justice. In the field of politics, they have deprived our people of every democratic liberty.”

Source - New China News Agency, April 6, 1951.

As you can see, it was an effective tactic to make a profound point using the very words of their oppressors against them.

Ho Chi Minh highlights the ideas that all men are created equal and that freedom must be guaranteed to the people.  By pointing out that the French imperialists have abused the ideals of liberty and equality, he justifies independence by the same means the French did during the French Revolution as well as the Americans during the American Revolution.  The French would have a hard time justifying their economic control over Vietnam after what they recently experienced with Hitler's brutal takeover of France.

So by examining the declarations of independence as well as the Atlantic Charter, you can see where Ho Chi Minh's claims are not only appealing but logical as well.

What epic elements do you find in Homer's Iliad?

Your technique for working on this assignment should begin with a review of your class notes on the nature of epic. Next, you should make a list of those things which your instructor says are characteristic of epic. As you read Homer, you can then note down occurrences of those elements. The most popular book of the Iliad in antiquity was Book 2, and it displays many of the traditional epic elements.

First, the Iliad was written in dactylic hexameter, the traditional meter of Greek epic. It uses epic epithets, descriptive formulae repeated in fixed metrical positions. It shows some elements of formular economy, where only a limited number of epithets applicable to an individual noun can be found in a specific metrical position. Epithets reflect the characteristic of the person being described rather than the specific situation, as when the epithet "laughing" is applied to Aphrodite when she is crying.

The Iliad is typical of the epic genre in its depiction of nobles and heroes engaged in agonistic behavior. It incorporates and passes down many of the important traditions and customs of the culture in which it was composed. It displays homeostasis in, for example, the incorporation of archaic military technology into a Mycenaean setting.

Why does Helen Keller say that the happy days of her life did not last for long?

Helen says that the happy days did not last because she became very ill and almost died, and was left blind and deaf.

The happy days that Keller speaks of are the early days of her childhood. She lived with her mother and father in a little house on her family land. As a toddler, little Helen was thrilled by the simplest things. Life was great. Then she became very ill. 

Then, in the dreary month of February, came the illness which closed my eyes and ears and plunged me into the unconsciousness of a new-born baby. They called it acute congestion of the stomach and brain. The doctor thought I could not live. (Ch. 1) 

The doctors did not know exactly what she had, so they did not know if she would survive it or what it would do to her.  She ended up both blind and deaf. This was a big blow at such a young age. Because she was barely walking or talking, she did not really have much communication and was plunged into a scary world of darkness.

I especially remember the tenderness with which my mother tried to soothe me in my waking hours of fret and pain, and the agony and bewilderment with which I awoke after a tossing half sleep, and turned my eyes, so dry and hot, to the wall, away from the once-loved light, which came to me dim and yet more dim each day. (Ch. 1) 

Since she was so young, losing her sight and hearing was very frightening. There was little her mother could do to help make her feel better or explain what was happening, because she was so sick. Poor Helen was in a great deal of pain in addition to losing more and more of her sight and hearing each day.

In "By the Waters of Babylon," what did John realize about his people's stories and legends?

John realizes that the “gods” are just humans who were killed by the Great Burning.

There was some kind of catastrophic apocalyptic event in John’s world that turned New York City into a wasteland.  John’s community became very primitive, but is clearly derived from what was once our society. His people are afraid of the places we used to inhabit, and do not realize that’s what they are.

It is forbidden to cross the great river and look upon the place that was the Place of the Gods—this is most strictly forbidden. We do not even say its name though we know its name. It is there that spirits live, and demons—it is there that there are the ashes of the Great Burning. 

John is studying to be a priest like his father. He has a vision that he should go check out the Place of the Gods, and he does it without fear. Once he is there, he realizes that there are no gods. The places his people think gods inhabited contain the remains and artifacts of dead human beings.

That is all of my story, for then I knew he was a man—I knew then that they had been men, neither gods nor demons. It is a great knowledge, hard to tell and believe. They were men—they went a dark road, but they were men.

John sees a new vision for his people. He decides that they need to reclaim their heritage. Rather than live in fear, they need to rebuild. They should return to New York, and reestablish the society that the people once had on the ashes of the civilization they once thought belonged to the gods.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, how does Lee create a vivid sense of the particular place and time in which her story is set?

Lee begins by establishing very deep details about the setting. She does much more than tell us what Maycomb looks like and who is there; she tells us the history of Maycomb from when it was founded. This history gives us a sense of the importance of heritage and the past to the characters. In addition, Lee weaves Maycomb history throughout the book.

An example of this is when Miss Caroline, Scout's first grade teacher, is introduced in chapter two:

“This says I am Miss Caroline Fisher. I am from North Alabama, from Winston County.” The class murmured apprehensively, should she prove to harbor her share of the peculiarities indigenous to that region. (When Alabama seceded from the Union on January 11, 1861, Winston County seceded from Alabama, and every child in Maycomb County knew it.)

Little details like this show us how important where you are from is to the people of Maycomb. It is significant to the story's plot and themes. Scout learns she has to give people the benefit of the doubt. Her father explains to her that Miss Caroline is not from Maycomb and doesn’t know Maycomb’s ways, and Scout has to learn to look at things from Miss Caroline's perspective. 

Like Miss Caroline, the reader is a Maycomb outsider. As Scout fills her in on the way things work in Maycomb, we learn a lot, too. Lee has developed a rich world, with generations of Cunninghams, tense race relations, and a backdrop of the Great Depression. 

There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County. But it was a time of vague optimism for some of the people: Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself (Chapter 1). 

We are also told Maycomb has one main residential street, which makes it easy for a lot of action to happen there with all the key characters present. Examples of this are the mad dog and the fire. The rest of the time, Scout and Jem just interact with people and we learn a lot about Maycomb and its residents, especially Maycomb’s resident boogeyman Boo Radley, through their Scout and Jem's playtime.

Discuss the nature of the detective novel with reference to Wilkie Collins' Woman in White.

In many ways, the origin of the detective novel overlaps with a genre known as the "sensation" novel. This was a genre of popular writing in the Victorian period that was intensely plot driven, often relying on mystery, horror, and suspense. Unlike the Gothic novel, with its exotic locales and suggestions of the supernatural, the sensation novel, despite its lurid plots involving bigamy, murder, madness, and secret identities, was set against an ordinary background and portrayed daily life in a relatively realistic fashion. In fact, the plots of the sensation novels were often taken from major events in the news, such as the Yelverton scandal. 

Walter Hartright, the protagonist of Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White takes on the role of an amateur detective, resolving the mysteries of the past, such as the identity of the "woman in white", Sir Percival's birth, and Count Fosco's secret society, to bring the novel to a happy resolution. He acts as a viewpoint character. Suspense, as became typical in the detective novel, is generated not so much by the question of what will happen (although that is an essential part of the plot) but of the detective gradually learning and revealing to the reader what did happen in the past or the significance of events we hear about but do not fully understand. 

Most critics consider Collins' The Moonstone more of a prototypical detective novel than The Woman in White.

Why does Rose love Oliver in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist?

Rose Maylie, née Fleming, has been adopted. In reality, she is a sister to Oliver Twist's mother, Agnes Fleming. She comes to love Oliver after she learns of his tragic past, to which she may be more sympathetic, having been an orphan herself.

In Chapter XXX, after Oliver is discovered the day following the robbery attempt, the sensitive Miss Rose sees the sweet child, who has been shot, laid upon a bed, and she exclaims,

"But, can you-oh! can you really believe that this delicate boy has been the voluntary associate of the worst outcasts of society?"

"He cannot be hardened in vice,...It is impossible."

Rose and her foster mother Mrs. Maylie, who rescued Rose as a girl in Wales, believe that it is environment which has negatively affected Oliver's life, rather than his innate nature. Added to this, Rose probably has a certain tenderness in her heart for Oliver since she herself was orphaned as a child. In Chapter XXXII, after a grateful Oliver tries to thank her, Rose tells him,

...if you only take half the trouble to please us, that you promise now, you will make me very happy, indeed."

She adds that her aunt's rescuing him from "such sad misery as you have described" is an "unspeakable pleasure" to her. Moreover, knowing that Oliver is sincerely grateful and attached to her delights her, Rose tells Oliver.

Later, in Chapter XLI, Oliver reports to Rose that he has seen Mr. Brownlow, so she takes him to the gentleman's house. This visit results in the clarification of Oliver's and Rose's identities. For, Mr. Brownlow was a good friend of Mr. Edwin Leeford, who fell in love with Agnes Fleming, the older sister of Rose and the mother of Oliver. While Oliver says he must still think of Rose as his sister, this news certainly strengthens their bond of love as they now know that they truly are related.

What is the conflict in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

In the first paragraph of the story Montresor states:

At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely, settled—but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk.

This defines the problem or conflict. It is solely a question of executing his planned revenge. The whole story is about how Montresor lures Fortunato underground, walls him up, and leaves him to die. Montresor's conflict, or problem, is with his intended victim. He has to plan his revenge carefully and then execute it perfectly. His conflict is with a boisterous drunkard who has to be kept intoxicated and cunningly manipulated every step of the way to his place of execution. The conflict is resolved when Montresor finally guides Fortunato into the narrow recess, wraps the chains around his waist, and fastens the padlock.

Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it. He was too much astounded to resist. Withdrawing the key I stepped back from the recess.

This is the climax. Fortunato is as good as dead. The conflict which began when Montresor encountered Fortunato up on the street is now resolved.

In "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" by Conan Doyle, where did Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson live?

Many of the Sherlock Holmes stories, such as "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," are set during the time that Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes were roommates at 221B Baker Street in London. And while Watson moves out of 221B Baker Street after he marries, Holmes continues to reside there, and several of the later stories begin at or involve this now iconic address.

Holmes and Watson first meet and take up residence at 221B Baker Street in the novel A Study in Scarlet. The novel chronicles the meeting of Holmes, who was looking for a roommate, and Watson, who was also looking for a roommate and was introduced to Holmes by a friend, and then the first case on which Watson worked with Holmes. The early Sherlock Holmes short stories, as well as the most famous of the novels, The Hound of the Baskervilles, are set during the time (1881 - 1904) when the two were roommates at 221B Baker Street.

Interestingly, at the time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes short stories and novels, 221B Baker Street did not exist; the then existing numbering system did not go that high. Subsequent expansions of the numbering system created a block that would have included 221 Baker Street, but there was no exact matching address. In 1990, the address was assigned to the Sherlock Holmes museum, although the museum actually is located between 237 and 241 Baker Street.

What were the reasons for the small number of enslaved Africans in the Caribbean before 1600?

A few different instances resulted in African slaves being brought over to the New World, including the Caribbean, in the 1500s. Most of the events that resulted in slaves being brought to the Caribbean only brought a few slaves at a time.

The first record of African slaves in the Caribbean occurred during Diego Cólon's time as the governor of the Spanish empire in the Caribbean. Cólon believed that Native American slaves were not hard workers, therefore he started the process of petitioning for African slaves to be shipped there. King Ferdinand of Spain allowed for the shipping of 50 African slaves to be sent to the Caribbean in 1510.

Throughout the course of the rest of the century, slaves were sent to places like the West Indies and Jamaica, to work in tobacco and sugar fields, but the slave trade did not increase to large numbers before 1600 because several countries, including France and even Spain, fiercely debated the legality and ethics of slave trade.

What is an atom?

An atom is the smallest piece of an element which maintains the chemical properties of that element. It is made up of smaller bits of particles called subatomic particles. There are three different types of subatomic particles: protons, neutrons and electrons.

The nucleus of an atom is at the center and it contains protons and neutrons. The proton carries a positive charge but the neutron is neutral and carries no electric charge. The nucleus of the atom is surrounded by electrons which are negatively charged and they are arranged in shells referred to as energy levels.

Atomic number refers to the number of protons in the atom. Atoms have no electrical charge overall because the number of protons which carry positive charge in the atom is the same as the number of electrons which carry negative charge.

What are examples of authority and responsibility in management?

In management, authority plays a major role in directing and controlling the resources available. Authority provides one with the power and ability to make decisions that affect the members of an institution and the tasks they perform. For instance, the leader of a team can delegate duties to other team members. However, the leader is expected to make the final decision based on sound judgment and best practices for the benefit of the task at hand.

Responsibility is the obligation to perform a task. The person responsible for the work is answerable for the results. For instance, a project manager is expected to deliver on the tasks related to the project as required by his/her superior.  Thus, responsibility also refers to the tasks and duties assigned to the project manager. The project manager may be required to coordinate the team. Organizing the team becomes the project manager's responsibility.

What exactly is the Renaissance? How and why did this series of events occur?

The term Renaissance means rebirth.  It is a term used to describe major changes in European society, including new inventions, exploration, trade, and art.  Humanist ideas also gained popularity as the Roman Catholic Church weakened.

When Constantinople fell in the 1400s, many scholars with humanist ideas found new homes in Italy.  This is one of the reasons why Italy became the center of the Renaissance.  Humanism encouraged, among many things, free thinking apart from religious structures.  Advances in printing led to the publishing and distribution of humanist literature.

Art became more valued during the Renaissance.  Florence, Italy, became a center of art.  To some artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci, art even had a scientific aspect.  Mathematics also became more frequently used when creating art.  The Medici family, who were wealthy Italian merchants, financially sponsored art and architecture.  

More reliable navigation tools and maps, as well as more seaworthy ships, led to growth in exploration and trade by water.  Trade using ships was easier due to poor roads.  Many trade routes were also dangerous, making travel by water a desirable option.

Can we convert carbon atoms to hydrogen atoms or oxygen atoms? Is it possible with nuclear power to break electron levels or electron numbers?

Atoms can be broken down in several ways. One is radiation bombardment; when an atom is hit with high energy particles, it can become unstable. Unstable atoms will emit radiation in the form of an alpha, beta, and gamma radiation. Alpha radiation is when the atom emits a helium-4 atom at high velocity. Alpha radiation takes two protons in the process, however, and can reduce an atoms atomic number. For example, if a carbon atom underwent alpha radiation, it would become beryllium. Beta radiation causes an atom to convert a neutron into a proton and an electron or a proton and a positron. The electron (or positron) is ejected, and a neutrino is released. Beta radiation causes the atomic number to go up by one. Going back to the last example, if a carbon atom underwent beta radiation, it would become nitrogen. Gamma radiation does not affect the nucleus, and is simply the release of a photon.

In addition, atoms can be split through nuclear fission. For example, when U-235 is hit with a low velocity neutron, it breaks into krypton and barium, releasing three free neutrons. Atoms heavier than iron tend to undergo radioactive fission.

Radioactive fusion occurs inside the sun, and is when small atoms are combined together to form larger atoms. This process releases vast energy, and can only be carried out on earth using atomic weapons.

Electron levels, or shells as they are more commonly called, are in constant states of change. When atoms absorb energy, they usually do so by changing the energy state of an electron. Photons can be released by atoms when electrons drop down energy levels. Electric current causes atoms to pass around their valence (top shell) electrons. Atoms with more or less electrons than protons are called ions, and are very common in the world around you.

Here are some links you can use to read up on radioactivity, fusion, fission, and electron shells.

This is a page about fission reactions, showing how atoms can be broken apart.

This is about the proton-proton chain reactions that occur in stars. It details how larger elements are formed.

What is an isomer?

Isomers are molecules that share the same molecular formula but have different structures. However, the structural difference does not include the rotation of the molecule or rotation around particular atomic bonds. Rotation of the molecule around its bonds or as a unit does not constitute a strong structural difference.

Chain isomers are molecules formed when in one isomer the atoms are arranged in a straight line or when in another the atoms are branched.

Position isomers are isomers formed when the location of the “special” atom is changed and bonded in different positions along the base structure.

Functional group isomers are isomers that are formed when different functional groups are developed by altering the structure of the molecule. Thus, the molecule maintains the same formula, but the isomers belong to different compound groups. For instance, propanone and propanal.

Find a visual representation of the structural differences here Chemguide.

What is a brief character sketch of Uncle Podger from Jerome's Three Men in a Boat?

J., the narrator of Three Men in a Boat, tells a lengthy story about his Uncle Podger in Chapter III. Here is a man who thinks he knows how to do something – maybe, he thinks he knows how to do many things -- when in fact, he’s quite helpless and needs the assistance, verification, and admiration of everyone else around him to do the simplest task. The incident J. recalls is when his uncle once decided to hang a picture on the wall. The task only required the framed picture, a nail, a hammer, a step-ladder, and perhaps a pen or pencil to mark the spot where the nail should go. But Podger made a big deal of the challenge. He called on all of family members to bring him the tools. Then he kept “losing” some of them. He dropped the picture and cut his finger on the glass. He hit his thumb with the hammer. And on and on the ordeal went until near midnight, when the picture finally hung crookedly on the wall, the room was in a state of shambles, and Uncle Podger commended himself on a job well done. He had sapped the strength of everyone around him.

In "The Devil and Tom Walker", what details about the swamp make it seem melancholy?

"Melancholy" is an interesting and appropriate word to use for the description of a location that has relevance to the mood of the writing. This term is often loosely defined as sad, gloomy or pensive, but distinguishes itself from these terms in that it was originally a medical diagnosis for long-term bad moods or depression. To describe a place as melancholy would thus imply that this isn't a subjective or periodic impression, but inherent to the nature of the place itself. 

On the first page, the swamp is also called a "morass". This is a term for a boggy, muddy place, but is also a homonym for confusion and complexity. Already we might begin to visualize the swamp as not only wet and messy, but also overgrown and maze-like; an unhappy place to be.

The swamp gets a little more attention shortly after Tom is introduced;

The swamp was thickly grown with great gloomy pines and hemlocks, some of them ninety feet high; which made it dark at noonday, and a retreat for all the owls of the neighborhood. It was full of pits and quagmires, partly covered with weeds and mosses; where the green surface often betrayed the traveler into a gulf of black smothering mud; there were also dark and stagnant pools, the abodes of the tadpole, the bull-frog, and the water snake, and where trunks of pines and hemlocks lay half drowned, half rotting, looking like alligators, sleeping in the mire.

The swamp thus appears simultaneously sleepy and deadly, and the fact that it is dark even in the middle of the day makes it seem impervious to the outside world, as if it's a separate dimension in which only the most unpleasant face of nature is shown. 

The swamp is next described as "treacherous" and, unsurprisingly, "melancholy", and to further reinforce the repulsive imagery, Irving injects details about black mold, rumors of human sacrifices and devil worship, and skeletal human remains, just prior to the appearance of Old Scratch, who is, of course, literally Satan himself. At this point he's really driving the imagery and symbolism as hard as he can, as if to reinforce that you really can judge this place by its appearance. 

What would be an example of funny or general business topics for a five minute presentation to a very diverse audience?

It is always best to determine your speech topic based on your audience.  If you have a very general audience, try to match your topic to the occasion instead.  For example, if the audience is mixed but it is a graduation, then you base your speech on celebrating accomplishment, moving on, or success.  These are typical graduation topics. 

Making a humorous speech can be a big hit.  However, you will want to plan carefully.  Make sure that your jokes are tasteful and not at anyone’s expense.  Do not try to be funny by making fun of someone else, in other words.  This could backfire.  When trying to be funny with a wide audience, you have to be very careful.  Make sure you are not being bitter or vicious. 

The best way to make a speech appeal to a wide audience is to plan it around a theme that will appeal to the widest number of people, and then inject some humor where possible.  In other words, rather than trying to plan a comedy routine, write a meaningful speech and include some jokes.

What are some of the products that come from crude oil?

Crude oil is composed of many different kinds of hydrocarbons, and can be broken down or refined to produce a wide spectrum of things. 

The main product of petroleum is gasoline. This is used to fuel engines, and is a volatile mixture of lighter petrochemicals.

The second most common product of crude oil is diesel. Diesel is similar to gasoline, but is heavier and less volatile than it's fuel cousin. Diesel is also used to run engines, but can only be used in special engines designed with the lower volatility in mind.

A significant portion of crude oil is used to make jet fuel, which is similar to diesel in composition but contains a different concentration of sulfur and has different lubrication properties. Neither diesel nor jet fuel will catch fire in the presence of an open flame, but both still contain lots of energy.

Some oil is used to make heating oils for lamps and burners, and is similar to diesel.

Crude oil can be used to make lubrication oils, which do not burn easily and can maintain lubrication at extremely high temperatures. These oils are used in engines, mechanized parts, windmills, and any other type of joint or hinge.

Gas products, such as propane and butane, are extremely volatile and burn easily. These are used in lighters, heaters, grills, and stoves.

Solvents are made with crude oil, and work very well on organic material like rubber and plastic.

Rubbers and plastics are made with crude oil or components of crude oil.

A vast portion of crude oil is used to generate electricity, particularly the liquid fuels and gasses like gasoline, diesel, and propane.

What are the characters' appearances in chapters 1-4 of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince? What do the appearances reveal about the...

In The Little Prince, author Antoine de Saint-Exupery gives no physical description of the narrator. What we know of the narrator is that he is an adult who works as a pilot. However, we are given a few details about the physical description of the little prince.

When the little prince makes his appearance in Chapter 2, the narrator describes him as being a "most extraordinary small person." What is also strange is that the prince appears in the middle of the Sahara Desert, where the narrator has crash-landed, yet does not appear to be afflicted with "fatigue or hunger or thirst or fear."

Yet, in Chapter 4, the narrator explains that detailed physical descriptions mean little to him because they say little about a person; therefore, he stops giving physical descriptions. He especially refuses to give the information the "grown-ups" would ask for such as how old the prince is and how much he weighs. Instead, the narrator only says that the prince was from a tiny planet, called an asteroid, that was barely bigger than the prince was and that the prince "had need of a sheep." The narrator also takes up drawing the little prince.

The reason why he relies on drawing the prince rather than giving physical descriptions of him is because the prince symbolizes the child self, which is connects to one's imagination and deep sensitivity. The narrator regrets that his child self has been oppressed by adult thinking and takes up drawing the prince to finally set his imagination and child self free.

How does the quality of one's pregnancy impact the development of their children?

The quality of a mother's pregnancy in terms of her bodily, mental, and emotional wellness play a huge role in the development of her child, both in the womb and after birth. 

Someone who is malnourished during pregnancy not only experience health troubles and a higher risk of maternal mortality themselves, they also pose risks to the development of the fetus. Fetuses who do not receive adequate nutrition in the womb may be underweight at birth or have abnormalities in the skeleton or one of the bodily systems. Small lungs and neurological dysfunction are just two examples of the kinds of developmental issues a malnourished fetus might develop.

A mother's level of stress during pregnancy is also a major factor in the mental and emotional wellness of her child throughout their entire life. Beyond the risk of miscarriage or low birth weight, a mother who experiences depression, anxiety, lack of sleep, or other high-stress conditions can give birth to a child who has delays in mental and emotional functions. Self-regulation of emotions and attention span are significantly impacted by a mother's level of stress during pregnancy. The stress hormone cortisol can "program" a fetus for a high-stress environment after birth, causing a delay in cognitive development. High cortisol levels are not only induced by emotional distress, but also physical activity and a lack of sleep. 

Developing fetuses are susceptible to environmental factors the mother may be exposed to, some of which have life-long impacts. Clean air is very important, as pollution and smoke (either first or second hand) can cause babies to be born with underdeveloped lungs, low birth weight, and asthma. Water quality is equally important, as contaminants like lead can have significant impacts on development in and out of the womb. Waterborne pathogens which cause illness in the mother may cause miscarriage or low birth weight in the fetus, depending on how severe the condition becomes. 

What is the relationship between Valentine and Angelica in Love for Love by William Congreve?

In the play, Valentine and Angelica are in love with each other; one can say that they are romantically inclined towards each other. For his part, Valentine is a libertine who enjoys a lavish lifestyle. However, his opulent lifestyle is supported by extreme debt, and he's constantly beset by creditors.

In order to extricate himself from his predicament, Valentine has to consider signing over his inheritance to his younger brother, Ben. In exchange for doing so, Valentine has been promised four thousand pounds by his father, Sir Sampson Legend, in order to pay off his delinquent debts.

Yet, Valentine isn't too enamored with the idea of signing over his inheritance to Ben. He tries to maneuver circumstances to get Sir Sampson to change his mind, but the older man is adamant about the matter. Valentine even tries to pretend that all this pressure has caused him to lose part of his mental faculties. For his part, Sir Sampson thinks that Valentine is playing a trick on him in order to escape signing the deed of conveyance. Sir Sampson is unconvinced about the validity of Valentine's plea of insanity.

In the meantime, Angelica, who is in love with Valentine, tries to maneuver matters to test Valentine's love for her. She pretends to flirt with Sir Sampson and finally agrees to marry him. When Valentine hears of the impending marriage (though a sham), he admits to Sir Sampson that he was never mad. He confesses that it was only a ploy to avenge himself for what he considered his father's duplicity towards him.

Valentine then agrees to sign the deed of conveyance because, apart from the deed, he's lost all hope of pleasing the woman he loves. He tells both Angelica and Sir Sampson that he's never "valued fortune but as it was subservient" to his pleasure and that his only pleasure in life was to please Angelica. He reasons that, if signing over his inheritance (which will in effect ruin him) will please Angelica (since she's marrying Sir Sampson), he will do so. Upon hearing this, Angelica is so overwhelmed by Valentine's generosity of heart that she tears up the bond.

This, of course, shocks Sir Sampson and he demands an explanation of her actions. Angelica responds that she's always loved Valentine, and upon trying them both, she's come to see their true natures for what they are. She then chides Sir Sampson for his "unforgiving nature" and resolves to marry Valentine. The play ends with Scandal, Valentine's friend, congratulating Angelica upon performing an "exemplary justice" in "punishing an inhumane father and rewarding a faithful lover." Based on the text, it is presumed that Angelica will eventually become Valentine's wife.

In Chapter 11, how did Zinn view capitalism and the great industrialists of the late 1800s?

Zinn's view of capitalism and industrialists is evident from the title of the chapter itself. He refers to industrialists who skilfully terrace "separate levels of oppression" along the "pyramid of wealth" as "robber barons."

Zinn contends that the "rags to riches" story is a spurious myth about how wealth is accumulated within a capitalist system. Although some multimillionaires began in poverty, most came from middle class and upper-class backgrounds. In order to succeed within a capitalist society, one must learn how to collaborate with the courts and the politicians. For example, Zinn maintains that Thomas Edison promised New Jersey politicians $1000 each if they managed to pass favorable legislation that would benefit his business ventures.

To be a successful industrialist, one must be willing to work hard, to cut corners whenever possible, and to bribe officials when necessary. Zinn asserts that the first transcontinental railroad was built with "blood, sweat, politics, and thievery." The Central Pacific company spent $200,000 on bribing Washington officials to get "9 million acres of free land and $24 million in bonds." It then paid a sham construction company $79 million (an over-payment of $36 million) to build the railroad. Meanwhile, the Central Pacific company paid "three thousand Irish and ten thousand Chinese" a pittance of one to two dollars a day, over a four-year period, to complete the railroad.

Equally complicit in exploiting its workers, the Union Pacific company used twenty thousand workers, made up of war veterans and Irish immigrants, to lay 5 miles of track a day. Many of these workers died from exposure to the elements and in fierce battles with Indians who objected to the encroachment of the railroads on their territories. Even bankers got in on the action. By the late 1800s, most of the railroad financing was controlled by the House of Morgan or the bankers Kuhn, Loeb, and Company.

Industrialists like J.P. Morgan, who formed the U.S. Steel Corporation, bribed legislators so that he could tamp down on foreign competition and keep American steel prices high. Now, this wouldn't be so bad if workers were paid accordingly. However, the company once again kept the majority of the profits for the power brokers. The workers received little in compensation; the U.S Steel company worked "200,000 men twelve hours a day for wages that barely kept their families alive."

Zinn maintains that the purpose of "the state was to settle upper-class disputes peacefully, control lower-class rebellion, and adopt policies that would further the long-range stability of the system." To that end, it didn't matter if Democrats or Republicans were elected; the status quo was always preserved. Even the court system favored the railroad industrialists.

Yet, Zinn contends that most of the industrialists were honest men; without honesty, they would never have been able to hold on to their wealth or to keep in their employ thousands of workers. At the same time, while Zinn sympathizes with the poor, he also maintains that "there is not a poor person in the United States who was not made poor by his own shortcomings."

Whether you and I agree with Zinn's views or not, he does argue that the only way to throw off the tyranny of the producer class is to rise up in solidarity against the ruling, capitalist elite.

In "Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston, what is Sykes’s objection to “white folks’ clothes” being in the house?

This is a good question! As you read through Zora Neale Hurston's short story "Sweat," you notice that Sykes gets angry at his wife Delia for having "white folks' clothes" in their home. (She makes her living by doing laundry for her white clients.) He tells her, in a frustrated manner, that he's reminded her before to not bring white people's clothes into their home. But Sykes doesn't say right away why he resents this. As readers, we wonder why Sykes cares whose clothes come into the house--after all, his wife's laundry work is supporting them, so shouldn't he be grateful or at least neutral toward his wife's customers and their belongings?

It's a few paragraphs later when Skyes finally reveals his problem with his wife bringing the white people's laundry home. First, he accuses her of being a religious hypocrite who works on the Sabbath day even after attending church services. But more to the point, he says that he's promised God (and some of his friends, too) that he'll never have white people's clothes in his home:

"Ah don't keer if you never git through. Anyhow, Ah done promised Gawd and a couple of other men, Ah aint gointer have it in mah house."

Sykes, a proud man who eschews the company of whites, means that Delia is annoying him, possibly degrading him and making him look foolish to his friends, by performing this lowly service (laundry) for white people. 

Of course, Sykes's objection to Delia's work reveals more about his character than hers: he paints himself as someone unreasonable, proud, and downright villainous. Keep in mind that he's openly cheating on Delia, and Delia is the one whose work supports Sykes, so why should he have any say whatsoever in how she does that work?

Discuss the transition of an athlete from amateur to pro sports. Why is this an often difficult transition?

One reason why the transition between professional and athlete status is so challenging is because of the demands of "the next level."

When an athlete moves to a "professional" status, it represents the highest level in their craft.  All of their endeavors have led to this particular point.  The demands of the professional level of sports reflects this intensity with longer seasons. Even when they are not in competition, professional athletes are involved in training and detailed working on their craft.  With the emergence of analytic data, there is much more that athletes have to do in the offseason. Such demands involve examining prior performance over the season, dissecting bio-mechanical approaches to the game, and ensuring that they are buffering their own areas of slight and increasing awareness of their opposition.

When an athlete is a professional, they are competing against other professionals.  This is another reason why the demands of the professional level is so difficult. Athletes are no longer competing against "kids."  Rather, the competition at the professional level is grown men and women who view their job as the particular sport.  There is a greater focus and drive in professional athletes because they have made the sport their job. It is their only focus. It is far from a "game."  It is work.  Failure to be the best they can be means they lose their primary source of income.  This drive is another reason why the transition to the professional level of sports is challenging for amateur athletes. 

What the meaning of the "yellow wood" in Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken"?

The “yellow wood” in Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” provides details about its setting and tone. The setting for a number of Frost’s poems, including this one, is the state of New Hampshire. During the New England autumn, the leaves on the trees turn colors, including yellow. In this poem, the “yellow wood” speaks to the time of year and the type of day it is. The traveler comes upon the divergence in the path on an autumn morning when the golden sun is shining through the leaves. Some of the autumn leaves fell off the trees onto the paths below, which speaks to the movement of time.

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

The color yellow is associated with thoughtfulness and intellect. The traveler’s decision weighs heavily upon him; he thinks deeply about which path to take.

Autumn symbolizes the passage of time as the year moves into its barren seasons. Although the traveler says he will keep the unclaimed path for another day, he seems to know he will not be back, and he will look upon the scene retrospectively. Those symbolic “yellow woods” will return to him in the autumn of his life—his golden years.

How does death affect population change?

Death in and of itself may or may not affect population change.  Population growth, loss, and stagnation are functions of tallying up births and deaths worldwide.  If we are inquiring about population change in a particular country or continent, then we must also include immigration and emigration in the calculation.  

If the number of births equals the number of deaths and there is no immigration or emigration, population remains the same.  If immigration and emigration are equal, the same is true.  Population increases when there is more birth than death and/or more immigration than emigration. 

Over the course of history, there have been many ebbs and flows in these factors.  For example, the bubonic plague is said to have wiped out approximately one third of the population of Europe. Smallpox was a major killer, too.  Cholera and Ebola are two other diseases that have the capability of reducing a population dramatically.  Some countries have very high infant mortality rates for a number of reasons, with not enough increase in births to compensate. But China was so concerned about its population growth that it instituted a "one child" policy for many years to suppress the birth rate.  Australia's population, aside from its aboriginal peoples, began with immigrants from Great Britain, as did enormous swathes of Canada. Today, we are witnessing mass migration from Africa and the Middle East because of war, hunger, and instability, mostly to Europe, but also to other parts of the world.  The population increases in some European countries is dramatic. 

So, we must remember that death alone is not responsible for population growth or reduction. It is a combination of factors, death, birth, and the movement of people.

What were Fox's beliefs?

John Fox or Foxe (ca. 1516 – 18 April 1587) was an English Protestant best known for The Actes and Monuments, a work normally known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Foxe began work on this study on the history of martyrdom in 1552. The first Latin edition appeared in 1554 and then Foxe began to revise it to include the English Protestant martyrs under Queen Mary, publishing the updated Latin version in 1559. Returning from exile on the Continent after the ascension of Queen Elizabeth, Foxe published the first English version of his work in 1563 with the English publisher John Day.

Foxe was educated at Oxford, completing a bachelor's degree in 1537 and a master's degree in 1543. He converted to Protestantism and resigned from his Oxford position in 1545. When Edward VI ascended to the throne and Protestantism became legal, Foxe was ordained by Ridley, but was forced to flee England when Mary became queen.

Foxe was a Protestant with Calvinist leanings, agreeing with Knox on many elements of theology and church polity. He was opposed to the wearing of "Romish rags" in the vestments controversy, and generally took a "low" view of clerical offices, emphasizing that there should simply be ministers of the Gospel acting as preachers and arguing against the "high" notions of apostolical succession and clerical hierarchies. 

Foxe is considered a Puritan, meaning that he emphasized predestination, the priesthood of all believers, and a strongly scriptural Christianity. He was strongly anti-Roman Catholic, and his martyrology emphasizes the abuses of power of the Roman Catholic Church, with explicit and gruesome descriptions of the tortures inflicted by the Roman hierarchy (including the Inquisition and Queen Mary) on those who challenged its power.

What are all of the quotes from Chapter 7 that Bruno's mother says in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas?

Bruno recalls telling a story about their old neighbor, Herr Roller, to his mother and sister.  Herr Roller was mad, and Bruno had often seen him arguing with himself in the streets.  Bruno's mother had told him that he "shouldn't laugh at Herr Roller."  She went on to recall the man from many years ago:

"[He] was a very lovely young man--I knew him when I was a little girl.  He was kind and thoughtful and could make his way around the dance floor like Fred Astaire.  But he suffered a terrible injury during the Great War, an injury to his head, and that's why he behaves as he does now.  It's nothing to laugh at.  You have no idea of what the young men went through back then.  Their suffering."

She also recalled how Herr Roller and her husband had fought in the trenches during the Great War.  She then told Bruno that war was "not a fit subject for conversation."

In the chapter, Bruno makes a tire swing.  He falls and gets slightly injured.  Pavel, a Jewish man who works in his house, tends to his wounds.  Bruno learns that Pavel used to be a doctor.  Bruno's mother arrives home.  She asks "what on earth happened to" her son.  Bruno explains and she orders him to go upstairs to his room.  As he goes up, Bruno overhears his mother thanking Pavel, and telling him how she will say that she cleaned her son's wounds.  Her words show a more human side.  She is grateful to Pavel for helping Bruno.  She is also nervous about what might happen if it were discovered that Pavel tended to Bruno.

Why are mesosomes attached to the nucleus in bacteria?

Without knowing more about your instructor's purpose for asking this, I have to assume that it's a bit of a trick question. Mesosomes are, by general consensus, not considered to be inherent bacterial cell structures, but rather artifacts of the visualization methods that humans apply those cells to in order to prepare them for observation via electron microscopy (the word "mesosome" doesn't even appear in any of my college-level biology textbooks written after 2005). Furthermore, bacteria don't have a nucleus, at least not in the way that term is traditionally described, so there's nothing for mesosomes to actually be attached to, according to the way this question is phrased. 

Some recent research suggests mesosomes may be involved in responses to cell injury or hydrogen peroxide synthesis, but research in this area is sparse, and acknowledges the lack of competing research linking mesosomes with their traditionally ascribed properties such as participation in respiration and cell division. 

Unless you're using an older textbook or your instructor has a specific set of material they're expecting you to use to answer this question, I would suggest you look through the sources I've listed below, and then consult with your instructor on whether or not this is a trick question.

Why do managers need to understand the people working in their organization?

Managers need to understand the people in their organizations because they have to be able to understand what their superiors want and get their subordinates to fulfill those desires. Neither is possible without an understanding of the people involved.

Managers, in a sense, serve as intermediaries between the upper echelons of a firm and its workers. They are in charge of getting the workers to perform the tasks the upper levels lay out. To do this well, they have to understand both groups of people in their organization. First, they have to understand the people above them in the hierarchy. They have to understand how those people think and what they expect from the rank-and-file workers. Secondly, managers have to understand those who work for them. They have to understand how to motivate their employees and how to get them to feel happy in their jobs. They have to be able to put their employees in situations that allow them to do their jobs as well as possible, thus pleasing the managers’ own bosses.

Because managers have to take orders from above and transmit them to people below, it is important for them to understand both their superiors and their subordinates.