How is Baldeo in the story "The Tiger in the Tunnel" an example of a responsible family man?

Baldeo was a responsible family man because he worked hard to provide for his family. The family got some of their provisions from the rice fields, but it was barely enough to sustain them. Baldeo decided to take up another job as a railway watchman (Khalasi) in a dangerous part of their locale. He reported to his station every night and ensured that the signal lamp was burning. He also made sure that there were no obstructions in the railway tunnel.

Baldeo allowed his son to join him at the station when the boy was done with his chores. On the night when the tiger attacked and killed Baldeo, both father and son were at the station. However, Baldeo asked his son not to join him on his routine inspection because it was cold outside. His gesture showed that he was a responsible and caring father.

‘Shall I come too, Father?’ asked Tembu sleepily, still lying in a huddle in a corner of the hut.

‘No, it is cold tonight. Do not get up.’

According to the narrator’s mother in "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan, what are the “two kinds”?

The "two kinds" that Suyuan is talking about are the two different kinds of daughters that exist.  

The line comes fairly late in the story.  Suyuan has been pushing Jing-mei for months and months to be some kind of child prodigy.  The most recent attempt was to turn Jing-mei into an amazing pianist.  It failed miserably because Jing-mei gave it zero effort.  In fact, Jing-mei intentionally tried to sabotage the entire endeavor.  

So maybe I never really gave myself a fair chance. I did pick up the basics pretty quickly, and I might have become a good pianist at the young age. But I was so determined not to try, not to be anybody different, and I learned to play only the most ear-splitting preludes, the most discordant hymns.

Eventually Jing-mei had to perform in front of a large audience, and it went terribly; however, Jing-mei believed that she had performed poorly enough to cause her mom to stop pushing the piano prodigy dream.  It wasn't to be.  Two days after the piano recital, Suyuan told Jing-mei to begin practicing.  A huge yelling match between mother and daughter ensued.  Jing-mei explicitly told her mother that she would not be pushed into becoming something that she wasn't.  

"You want me to be something that I'm not!" I sobbed. "I'll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be!"

Suyuan immediately responded with the "two kinds" line.  

"Only two kinds of daughters," she shouted in Chinese. "Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!"

In Suyuan's mind, daughters are either obedient or rebellious.  There is no middle ground.  The result of the comment is that Jing-mei shouts out that she doesn't want to be Suyuan's daughter anymore.  Jing-mei wishes that she were dead like all of her mother's other children.  With those things said, the already strained relationship is broken for years to come.  

What is the climax of the story "Okay for Now" by Gary Schmidt?

The climax of "Okay for Now" occurs when police arrive at the Swieteck home to announce that the person who stole Joe Pepitone's jacket has called to confess. Although the confession was anonymous, the jacket was returned and the police will not be pursuing a hearing against Doug's brother, Christopher. In addition to the jacket, the thief returned Doug's stolen Babe Ruth baseball and the goods taken from the hardware store. This moment is triumphant for Christopher and Doug, who have endured the brunt of the tension in the family after Christopher's arrest.

As a result of Christopher's proven innocence, Principal Peattie calls Doug into his office to apologize for all of the negative things he said about Doug and his family. He agrees to give Doug the Brown Pelican plate from the Autobon Society, nearly completing the library's collection. This moment is a personal triumph for Doug and it reflects the culmination of all his hard work and optimism throughout the story. The retrieval of the plate seems at first to be an anti-climax when Mr. Powell informs Doug that the only remaining missing plate was purchased by an anonymous collector. Despite the fact that this means Doug is unable to complete the official collection, Mr. Powell uses his drawing of the last plate as a replacement. In this way, the climax of the story symbolizes the message of realism woven throughout the text. In real life, resolutions are rarely perfect but, like Doug's rendering of the last plate, they can be more than satisfying for their own purposes.

In Beowulf, what is the conflict in The Battle With Grendel?

"The Battle with Grendel" is an excerpt of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem, Beowulf. This excerpt relates the events of Beowulf's fight against the monster, Grendel, who had been terrorizing the Danes and their King, Horthgar, for ten years. On the surface, the conflict is between hero and monster, and Beowulf's victory serves to win glory and renown, both for himself and for his king, as well as to pay Hrothgar back for aid the King of the Danes had rendered to Beowulf's father.

Often, however, readers find a deeper conflict within the fight between hero and monster. One common conflict attributed to the fight is the conflict of good against evil. This view finds that Grendel represents evil itself and Beowulf, as the hero, represents the constant battle of good against evil.

Another way of looking at the good against evil conflict is to frame it as virtue against sin. In this understanding of the conflict, Grendel represents the sin and vices of humankind (a claim often supported by reference to the poem associating Grendel with the descendants of Cain). Beowulf, the virtuous warrior, who, even though he is not portrayed as overtly Christian in the poem, represents many Christian ideals, represents the battle of a person against those vices and sins.

Other readers have read the conflict not as good/virtue against evil/sin, but as human against nature. In this reading, Beowulf represents the advancement of civilization, and his fight is against savage nature itself. Grendel, with his animalistic tendencies and appearance, must be subdued in order for humanity to assert itself.

It is worth noting that J.R.R. Tolkien, in his essay "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics," argues that the allegorical readings of the poem, and the deeper meanings given to the conflicts with the monsters, are scholarly overlays. Tolkien's position is that the poem is about human beings "at war with the hostile world, and [their] inevitable overthrow in Time." The battles against the monsters are, in effect, an outgrowth of the human will to survive even in the face of the inevitability of death.  

How can I analyze a personality using the theories of Abraham Maslow, Rollo May, and Carl Rogers?

In the 1950s, three prominent psychologists, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Rollo May, pioneered humanism as the new psychological approach to understanding personality theory and development.  

As the leader behind humanistic thinking, Maslow posited that there is a drive for self-actualization (the realization of a person's fullest potential) after the attainment of basic human needs. Maslow viewed self-actualizing people are embodying several key characteristics: self-awareness and -acceptance; the capacity to form close friendships that are not clingy or dependent; spontaneity; sense of humor; the capacity to see work as an enjoyable and fulfilling pursuit; the capacity to have emotionally/spiritually rewarding experiences. 

Drawing on the work of Freud and Maslow, Carl Rogers advocated the person-centered theory based on clinical case studies. Rogers considered the self-concept the salient feature of personality because it encompasses all feelings, beliefs and thoughts people display towards themselves. Furthermore, Rogers asserted that people are cognizant of these self-concepts. However, he acknowledged that often, self-concepts are not indicative of reality ("incongruence"), as when a person considers himself a model of integrity and honesty but frequently lies to his spouse. In contrast, "congruence" occurs when there is a reliable match between a self-concept and reality.

Unlike Maslow and Rogers, Rollo May introduced a strain of existential psychology within humanistic theory. May posited that people frequently shirk responsibility and avoid decision-making because of feelings of apathy and emptiness; these emotional disorders prompt people to disconnect from the surrounding world, from others and from themselves. Consequently, May considered the objective of psychotherapy to help people become more human, rather than 'cure' them. This way, psychotherapy would empower people to make effective decision and assume proper responsibility for their choices and actions. May viewed people as experiencing four stages of development: Innocence (pre-ego, doing only what one must do to fulfill one's needs), Rebellion (formation of ego by rebelling against authority), Ordinary (typical adult ego in which one often chooses conformity over responsibility), and Creative (authentic adult who accepts of responsibilities of free will with courage).

What are reasons why someone is considered a witch in Elizabeth George Speare's The Witch of Blackbird Pond?

In Elizabeth George Speare's The Witch of Blackbird Pond, any behavior that is contrary to the behavior of the rest of society serves as grounds for accusing someone of being a witch. Throughout the story, both Kit Tyler and Hannah Tupper are guilty of behaving in ways that are different from the ways of the Puritanical society around them.

One way in which Kit acts contrary to the rest of society is by being able to swim. In the opening chapter, Kit asks for a spot on board the first longboat going to the Connecticut shore. The captain's wife, Mrs. Eaton, will be on board the boat, and Kit wants a chance to be with her up until the last minute and say goodbye. On the return trip to the ship, the Cruffs join as passengers. While on board the longboat, Goodwife Cruff's sorely neglected daughter, Prudence, accidentally drops her wooden doll into the water. When no one else will retrieve it for her, Kit jumps into the water herself and swims to retrieve it. Later, back on board the ship, Nat Eaton, the captain's son, informs her that Goodwife Cruff has been "insisting to [his] father that [Kit] is a witch," since Kit behaved disrespectfully by jumping into the water and swimming. Nat further explains to Kit the water trial for testing witches:

Don't you know about the water trial? ... . 'Tis a sure test. I've seen it myself. A true witch will always float. The innocent ones just sink like a stone. (Ch. 1)

Kit thinks the notion is ridiculous. Being from Barbados, her grandfather had taught her how to swim when she was still a very young child. Yet, despite the ridiculousness of the belief, Kit is beginning to be suspected of being a witch just because she is a girl who can swim.

Later, in Chapter 9, Kit arouses suspicion of being a witch for teaching the children attending Mercy's dame school how to play-act. While teaching the children to read, Kit became inspired to make the lessons more interesting by having the children act out the Bible story they were reading. When the schoolmaster, Mr. Kimberly, and Reverend John Woodbridge pay an unexpected visit to Mercy's dame school, Kit is astonished to see how infuriated they  are by Kit's idea of "play-acting! And with the Bible" (Ch. 9). This is because play-acting is pretending a person is someone he/she is not, which is the same as lying and, therefore, sinful in the eyes of the Puritans. While the schoolmaster and reverend do not accuse Kit of being a witch at that point, her notion that play-acting is acceptable behavior certainly helps feed the colonists' suspicions about her.

Just as Kit is suspected of being a witch for being able to swim and for play-acting, Hannah is accused of being a witch simply because she is a Quaker, not a Puritan like everyone else in the colony. Since Quakers have different religious beliefs than Puritans, Quakers are considered sinful in the eyes of the Puritans.

Where does Katniss live within District 12?

Katniss and her family live in the section of District 12 known as the Seam.  

In chapter one, Katniss gives readers background information about herself, her family, District 12, and their house.  She informs readers that District 12 is a mining district, and the Seam is where many of the miners live.  Katniss further clarifies her house's location by telling readers that it is on the outer edges of the Seam.  She says that she only has to go through a few gates to reach a run down field called the Meadow.  

Our house is almost at the edge of the Seam. I only have to pass a few gates to reach the scruffy field called the Meadow. Separating the Meadow from the woods, in fact enclosing all of District 12, is a high chain-link fence topped with barbed wire loops.

The Meadow is important because it borders the forest.  Between the two is a chain link fence that is meant to keep predators out and the people of District 12 in.  Katniss ignores this rule because she goes outside of the fence in order to hunt for food for her family.

Most of the Peacekeepers turn a blind eye to the few of us who hunt because they’re as hungry for fresh meat as anybody is.