Why does Blanche say, "Now it's time to bury someone I hate?" in Brighton Beach Memoirs?

Blanche says this after she has had a long fight with her sister, Kate. The fight is instigated in part because Blanche's date with Frank Murphy has been canceled, as Frank has had an accident. Kate feels that Blanche is too self-centered, and it is clear that Blanche's route out of her sister's house--marriage--seems nowhere in sight. Blanche resolves to move out of the house and find a job.

After she fights with Kate, Blanche begins to fight with Nora, her daughter. Nora tells Blanche she feels unloved, and Blanche responds that she is sorry, but "I am tired of apologizing. After a while it becomes your life's work and it doesn't bring any money into the house" (page 96). Blanche realizes that she has been a weak, apologetic person who has tried to make her way in life by depending on others. She has now resolved to be more independent and to find a job, feather than depending on her sister and her brother-in-law, Jack, who has just had a heart attack. Blanche says, "I've already buried someone I love. Now it's time to bury someone I hate" (page 96). By this, she means that she already buried her husband, and now she wants to bury her old, dependent self and be reborn (metaphorically) as a more independent and active person. 

What are the similarities of moral theories by Aristotle, Kant, and Mill?

The unifying factor between the three philosophers is that they all affirm ethics as the pursuit of the highest good. They, however, hold divergent views on the definition of the highest good. There are clear similarities between the philosophers, but these are shared between pairs.

The theories of Aristotle and Kant both affirm the dominant role of the agent/individual over the results of their actions. Thus, the character of the agent and their reasoning determine their moral values.

Aristotle and Kant also agree that there are actions that are intrinsically condemnable. Such actions must automatically be avoided and rejected by the agent.

Kant and Mill concur that morality is the agent’s duty. Thus, the agent is responsible for performing good deeds as defined by the two philosophers.

The theories of Aristotle and Mill are similar because they based their ideas on the agent’s quest for happiness.

Aristotle: "We always choose happiness as an end in itself and never for the sake of something else.” (C.U.A)

Mill: "Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” (C.U.A)

What are some ideas for an essay on 'The Age of Chaucer?'

The 'Age of Chaucer' (1340s - 1400) was a time of great social and political upheaval, therefore providing lots of topics and ideas for an essay.

Politically, for example, this period was dominated by the Hundred Years' War, a series of territorial conflicts between England and France. This war produced some of the era's most infamous battles, including Crecy (1346) and Agincourt (1415). Chaucer himself worked briefly as a soldier, though he was captured by the enemy and returned to England one year after his arrival, in 1360.

Socially, this era is also notable for the Black Death, a plague which spread across Europe and arrived in England in 1348, decimating between one-third and one-half of the population. In the aftermath of the plague, society was changed considerably: surviving peasants, for instance, demanded better wages and working conditions while the clergy suffered from a national shortage of trained priests.

This era also witnessed the Great Schism, a split in the papacy in which three different men claimed to be pope. The papacy not only lost authority and prestige during this time: the Schism also caused instability across Europe as governments were forced to back one of the claimants. This situation was not resolved until 1417, almost two decades after Chaucer's death.

For more information, please see the reference links provided.

What are three examples of characterization in "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury?

Authors develop and reveal the qualities, mannerisms, and thoughts of the characters of their literary work through characterization.

There are five ways in which characterization can take place:

1. through a physical description of the character


2. through the character's actions


3. through the character's thoughts, feelings, and speeches


4. through the comments and reactions of other characters


5. through direct statements giving the writer's opinion of the character

The first four methods are indirect characterization; they show or dramatize a character. The last is direct characterization; the author makes comments about the character.

____________________

Here are 3 examples of characterization:

Way #2. The character's actions:
Eckels nervousness is indicated by his actions:

Eckels swayed on the padded seat, his face pale, his jaw stiff. He felt the trembling in his arms, and he looked down and found his hands tight on the new rifle

Way #3. The character's thoughts, feelings, or speech. 

After the Time Safari Machine returns with the two employees and Eckels, who has stepped off the gravity path, things appear differently to Eckels. He cannot read the sign and when he asks the strange man behind the desk who won the presidential election, he tells Eckels that a different candidate from the one who was President when he departed is in office.

Eckels felt himself fall into a chair. He fumbled crazily at the thick slime on his boots. He held up a clod of dirt, trembling, “No, it can’t be. Not a little thing like that. No!”

Way #4. The comments and reactions of other characters:

When Eckels asks why it is so important that he not step off the gravity path, the strong feelings that Travis has about the importance of not doing this are demonstrated in his speech and with his examples:

“We don’t want to change the Future. We don’t belong here in the Past.....
A dead mouse here makes an insect imbalance there, a population disproportion later, a bad harvest further on, a depression, mass starvation, and, finally, a change in social temperament in far-flung countries."

Is Heather Hoodhood in The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt a dynamic or static character?

I'm going to go with Heather Hoodhood being a static character.  She and Holling do manage to emotionally connect at the end of the novel, and the reader sees perhaps a glimmer of change in her; however, I think that possible change is more of a reflection of Holling's attitude toward his sister.  The entire novel is told in the first person perspective.  I think the emotional connection shared between Heather and Holling at the end of the novel results from Holling's dynamic change and not necessarily Heather's change.

Throughout the rest of the novel, readers see Heather as a very time period specific, cliche character.   She is a stereotypical, angst filled teenager that is in constant conflict with her parents.  Heather always has some snarky remark ready for Holling, and whenever something doesn't go her way, she locks herself into her room and loudly blasts The Monkees.  There are moments when she does show kindness to Holling.  For example, she helps Holling pull down the embarrassing posters of him in his Ariel costume.  But those moments are exceptions to her normal behavior.  They are not symbolic of some kind of overall, dynamic attitude shift in Heather.  In fact, I believe that Holling sees Heather as static as well.  I believe that is why Holling doesn't even feel the need to call her by name until the very end of the novel. 

Why does Helen refer to the day as an eventful one in The Story of My Life?

Helen refers to the day as an eventful one because it was on that day that her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came into her life.

In Chapter Four, Helen recalls the day as the most important day in all her life. It was the third of March in 1887, and Helen was three months shy of reaching her seventh year of life. She testifies that the moment of her first meeting with Anne Sullivan was one filled with light and love.

Helen remembers that, on that eventful day, Anne Sullivan gave her a doll and opened up the world of language to her by spelling out the word on Helen's hand. On that day, Helen proclaims that she also learned other words, words that made the world a new place for her.

I learned a great many new words that day. I do not remember what they all were; but I do know that mother, father, sister, teacher were among them – words that were to make the world blossom for me, "like Aaron's rod, with flowers." It would have been difficult to find a happier child than I was as I lay in my crib at the close of the eventful day and lived over the joys it had brought me, and for the first time longed for a new day to come.

How would you balance the equation:CuO(s) + HNO3 (aq) ---> Cu(No3)2 (aq) +H2O (l) ?

A balanced chemical equation is one in which the number of atoms of each element are the same on both the reactant and the product side of the equation. The given chemical equation is:

`CuO (s) + HNO_3 (aq) -> Cu(NO_3)_2 (aq) + H_2O(l)`

In this equation, copper (II) oxide reacts with nitric acid and forms copper nitrate and water. If we check the number of atoms of each element on each side of the equation, we find that the equation is not balanced. This is because there is only 1 nitrogen atom on reactant side, while there are 2 nitrogen atoms on the product side. Similarly, the equation is not balanced in terms of hydrogen and oxygen.

The balanced equation is:

`CuO (s) + 2 HNO_3 (aq) -> Cu(NO_3)_2 (aq) + H_2O (l)`

That is, 1 mole of copper oxide reacts with 2 moles of nitric acid to produce 1 mole of copper nitrate and 1 mole of water. One can check that the number of atoms of each element are the same on both sides of the equation. 

Hope this helps.