What is the mood, tone and purpose of the author in Langston Hughes' poem "Life Is Fine"?

Langston Hughes's poem "Life is Fine" focuses on the struggles of a man who is dealing with heartbreak. In this poem, the man contemplates suicide by both jumping into a river and then jumping from the roof of a tall building. However, by the end of the poem, the man declares, "Life is fine! / Fine as wine!"

There is a major tonal shift in the third to last stanza in this poem. The first six stanzas focus on the speaker's despair. In the third stanza, when he's standing at the top of a building, he says, "I thought about my baby / And thought I would jump down." In addition, the speaker proclaims, "But it was / High up there! / It was high!" However, in the third to last stanza, the speaker begins with a sense of resignation, "So since I'm still here livin' / I guess I will live on." He goes on to say that life can be difficult ("Though you may see me holler, / And you may see me cry—"), but he won't give up.

The simile in the final stanza, in which the speaker says, "Life is fine! / Fine as Wine! / Life is Fine!" demonstrates the author's purpose in writing this poem. Comparing life to wine shows that life gets better as people age. Yes, heartbreak hurts and there are tons of painful moments in life, but the older you become, the easier it is to deal with.

What are two examples of figurative language in the vignettes "Alicia Who Sees Mice" and "A Rice Sandwich" from The House on Mango Street?

Figurative language is when an author uses specific tools, or devices, to help readers understand the story or connect with characters on a deeper level. A few examples of figurative language include the following: metaphors, similes, imagery, personification, symbolism, and allusions. Cisneros uses symbolism and allusions to help readers identify with people's specific daily activities in the vignettes "Alicia Who Sees Mice" and "A Rice Sandwich." First, in "Alicia Who Sees Mice," an allusion to a common saying is twisted to fit Alicia's home situation. The common expression, "A woman's place is in the home," becomes the following:

"And anyway, a woman's place is sleeping so she can wake up early with the tortilla star . . ." (31).

With this sentence, not only does the allusion imply that a woman's place is in the home, but Alicia's Latin heritage comes into play as she must rise with the "tortilla star." This star symbolizes the notion that Hispanic women should wake up early to make tortillas for their children's lunches. In Alicia's case, she wakes up early to make tortillas for her younger siblings because her mother is dead. Hence, the allusion to a popular expression is paired with a symbol from Alicia's culture which represents making tortillas early in the morning for her family. 

Then in "A Rice Sandwich," Esperanza identifies special kids who get to sit in the canteen for lunch with the keys they wear around their necks. Apparently, these kids with the dangling keys live too far away to walk home for lunch, or their mothers aren't home. Esperanza wants to be special, too, and eat in the canteen rather than walk a few blocks home for lunch each day. Esperanza says the following about the kids with keys:

"The special kids, the ones who wear keys around their necks, get to eat in the canteen. The canteen! Even the name sounds important" (43).

The symbolism of eating in the lunchroom with the students who have keys around their necks represents being important.

Another allusion used in this vignette refers to the movie 300 Spartans, which the boys at school identify with being strong. Esperanza does not feel strong; therefore, she wishes to stay at school to eat lunch rather than brave the weather during her walks home for lunch each day.

After Sister Superior tells Esperanza that she can't stay for lunch each day, the canteen suddenly loses its importance, and she says that it is "nothing special" anymore (45). It can be inferred, then, that Esperanza doesn't feel strong, special, or important because of the symbolic allusions referenced throughout the vignette that apparently do not apply to her. 

Where was Grampa buried in The Grapes of Wrath?

Grampa has a stroke when the family stops and joins with the Wilsons in Chapter 13. Sairy Wilson helps care for Grampa and Granma while they are suffering, thus the Joads and Wilson become like a family. While the Joads know that they should go into town and have Grampa buried properly, they also know that it will cost $40 just to have him buried, which is a lot of money for them. Instead, they decide to bury Grampa right near where they are camped on the side of the road along Route 66. They decide to leave a note with the body, in case someone happens to dig up his bones and think he may have been murdered. The family asks Preacher Casy to say a few words so the process feels more like a funeral than just a sad end to Grampa's life.

What is the type of irony in "The Furnished Room"?

Much of the irony in "The Furnished Room" is verbal irony. It is to be seen in the contrast between the repellent appearance of the room and the whole building, on the one hand, and the humorous way the narrator describes the place, on the other. For example:

Upon the gay-papered wall were those pictures that pursue the homeless one from house to house—The Huguenot Lovers, The First Quarrel, The Wedding Breakfast, Psyche at the Fountain. The mantel's chastely severe outline was ingloriously veiled behind some pert drapery drawn rakishly askew like the sashes of the Amazonian ballet. 

The verbal irony is also glaring in the housekeeper's description of the furnished room and its actual condition.

“This is the room,” said the housekeeper, from her furry throat. “It's a nice room. It ain't often vacant. I had some most elegant people in it last summer—no trouble at all, and paid in advance to the minute."

We can imagine what sort of "elegant people" would stay in such a room and in such a building. Evidently the housekeeper, whose name is Mrs. Purdy, has lived in this dingy, decaying building for so long that it looks relatively attractive to her.

The ending of "The Furnished Room" contains a different sort of irony. Once we learn that the girl the young lover has been searching for had committed suicide in the same room he has just rented, we see the dramatic irony of the entire story. The girl gave up trying to survive as an entertainer in the cold, cruel city of New York, and her lover gave up searching for her in the setting where her life had ended only a week before. Both committed suicide with the same gas jet in the same furnished room, a room which seems to have swallowed both of them up and forgotten them.

What are the different ranks of coal?

Coal originates from dead plant material. Plants photosynthesize by use of light energy to produce glucose they use as a food source. When these plants die, the decay process is sometimes stopped and the energy is kept within the plant debris. This is known as an organic sediment called "peat." This eventually becomes buried and subjected to pressure underground, facilitating the coalification process.

Coal has several "ranks" and is consecutively transformed from the highest to the lowest.

1. Lignite: lowest rank, peat transformed into rock, used to fuel generation of electricity


2. Sub-butiminous: metamorphosed lignite, loss of oxygen and hydrogen yielding more carbon content


3. Butiminous: metamorphosed sub-butiminous coal, most abundant (50% of coal produced in the US), higher carbon content than sub-butiminous


4. Anthracite: highest rank, highest carbon content (>87%)

Coal is considered a "nonrenewable resource" because of its difficulty to reproduce. Coal is believed to be abundant in North America, Russia, China, and India to name a few. In terms of contribution to the world's coal supply, China leads with 22% followed by the US (19%), former Soviet Union members (16%), Germany (10%) and Poland (5%).

What is the plot of "The Lady or the Tiger" by Stockton?

The plot of the story begins with a description of a king who constructed an arena where crime and virtue were punished and rewarded purely on chance. In the arena, the accused was expected to choose between two doors, which presented different fates. A marauding tiger was behind one of the doors and a lady behind the other. Selection of the door with the tiger led to death, while the door with the lady was followed by a wedding ceremony.  As the story unfolds, the king’s daughter and one of the palace’s courtiers fell in love and soon the king discovered the affair. The young man was thrown into prison to await his fate in the arena. The princess learned what each door presented. In addition, she knew the lady behind the door and suspected that she had feelings for the courtier. The princess was forced to decide whether to allow the youth to marry the lady or face the tiger. In the arena, the princess signaled the youth to open the door on the right after they exchanged glances. The plot ends after the youth opens the door on the right and the reader is left in suspense, not knowing what came forth.

How is Indian classical music different to its Western counterpart?

Indian music and Western music vary greatly, even to the common listener.  Two of the main differences between these styles are the tuning and scales used.  Western music traditionally uses tonal harmony.  Music is written in a specific key and utilizes notes of a scale.  Its complexity is derived from its counterpoints to harmony.  In contrast, Indian music features a single voice or instrumental melody sometimes accompanied by drone and procession.  Indian classical music’s unique sound is in its melodies and rhythms.  Furthermore, Western music relies mostly on major and minor scales.   Indian music features a variety of interval patterns which often comprise of a varied relationship between the notes.  The differences of Indian classical music create a unique sound that is exotic to the Western ear.