Do you think that the narrator is mentally ill to begin with, or has something else caused her to become mentally ill in "The Yellow Wallpaper"?

In the beginning of the narrative of "The Yellow Wallpaper," the narrator is suffering from what is now referred to as postpartum depression. This develops because of hormonal changes in women after childbirth. But, because of her forced confinement by her husband and physician, as well as her isolation from her baby and family and friends, the woman in this story becomes worse in her ability to think clearly and control her emotions.

According to the Mayo Clinic, among the many symptoms of this postpartum depression are these:

• Feelings of worthlessness, shame, guilt, or inadequacy


• Diminished ability to think clearly, concentrate or make decisions

"The Yellow Wallpaper" was published in 1892 as a criticism of the medical treatment that was prescribed at the time by Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell to women who suffered from what was then termed "nervous prostration," or "neurasthenia." This story is an indictment of the insensitivity demonstrated by male physicians to female patients who suffered from the depression that often follows childbirth.

The insensitivity to the woman's condition oppresses her in her marriage, and deprives her of her voice. Her doctor and husband tell her that she merely suffers from a "temporary nervous depression--a slight hysterical tendency." She is virtually incarcerated in a room of a strange house without any access to the lovely garden outside. Her feelings are ignored as she is placed in a room with bars on the windows and wallpaper that is stripped off in patches. What is there is hideous to the woman's artistic eye:

One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin....when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide--plunge off at outrageous angles, and destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions. 

But, when she complains to her husband, he simply tells her, 

I must use my will and self-control and not let my silly fancies run away with me. 

When the narrator begs to go home, her husband denies her desires. In addition, he deprecates her creative powers of "story-making" and refuses to change the wallpaper and "give way to such fancies."

Isolated in a room that is repugnant to her with its hideous yellow wallpaper and "inharmonious" furniture, and without any outlet for her thoughts and feelings, the woman's imagination becomes overactive:

I...lie there for hours trying to decide whether that front pattern and the back pattern really did move together or separately. 

Because she is trapped in a room she finds hideous, the woman finally is seduced into an act of insanity that is committed in order to relieve her obsession with thoughts of entrapment.
Furthermore, she becomes mentally ill because of the insensitivity of her husband and Dr. Mitchell, who never recognize her symptoms or listen to her ideas and requests. Instead, they force her to remain alone in a room she detests without any outlets for her frustrations. 

How can children play a role in environmental conservation?

When it comes to environmental conservation, teaching children to have respect for nature and make sustainable, environmentally friendly decisions sets them on a lifelong path of responsible action. While some aspects of environmental conservation may be difficult for children to understand fully, they can certainly learn that some actions can be harmful to the world around us. Encouraging children to recycle materials appropriately is an easy task that helps them make a big impact. Real-world examples of the importance of conservation, like nature walks and picking up litter (with the necessary safety precautions), helps children gain a sense of ownership over their actions and make connections between the idea of conservation and their lived experiences. 

There are many conservationist activities that can be done as a family to develop a child's sense of responsibility in caring for the environment. Planting a tree, tending a home garden, and taking public transport on family outings are all great activities.

As with all things, it's okay to start small! Many adults find it difficult to act in a way that is totally environmentally friendly, but by encouraging children to make just a few steps towards conservation, they may develop a life-long habit of caring for the environment.

What is author Simon Burt's purpose in the story "I Just Kept On Smiling"?

It appears that the author's purpose in the story is to highlight the alienation a young boy can experience in a morally stifling and sterilized environment. Additionally, such an environment may unintentionally compound the dysfunction already present in his life.

In the story, the unnamed narrator is a twelve-year-old boy who attends a Catholic boarding school. It's interesting that the author never names this boy; perhaps the boy represents all boys who feel alienated from their parents and other authority figures in their lives. The narrator in the story is obviously unhappy. There's clearly no loving, emotional connection between him and the rest of his family. When he receives cards from his brother and parents on his birthday, the narrator simply throws them away after opening them. They hold no sentimental value for him.

Later, the boy' parents arrange for him to spend a week after Easter with Nicky Carver's family. The narrator's parents never discuss the matter with him; they just assume his acquiescence as a matter of habit. It is apparent that this obvious lack of communication between them is an indication of deeper dysfunction within the family structure. This dysfunction manifests itself in the narrator's actions.

The narrator steals three exercise books and revels in his secret. He experiences an intoxicating feeling of power and invincibility because he's succeeded in stealing the books from right under his teacher's nose. His actions don't faze him, and we are led to question why. In the end, when the narrator is angry with Nicky Carver for fraudulently confessing to the theft of the exercise books, we realize the dysfunction in the narrator's life is deeper than we think. The narrator is angry because Nicky successfully diminished his sense of power and autonomy; now he can no longer claim his theft as a secret only he can savor.

Yet, the narrator's rationale causes us to question why he keeps smiling after he catches Nicky Carver's eye at the end of the story. Has the narrator switched focus? Is he now reveling in the fact that Nicky has to "pay" for a crime he didn't commit? While the author doesn't answer our questions, choosing instead to let us form our own interpretations about the story, one thing is clear: a morally stifling and emotionally barren environment can often compound the deep dysfunction already present in a young child's life. Exposing this truth may well be the author's purpose in writing this story.

From Chapter 3 in Of Mice and Men, how could I translate Whit's slang to modern forms of speaking? Whit said, “I see what you mean. No, they...

In this passage, Whit is responding first to George's question if there has been any trouble since Curley's new wife arrived at the ranch. Whit responds that he understands what George means but there hasn't been any trouble yet.

The rest of the passage can be translated as follows: Curley has bees in his underwear (yellow jackets are actually a form of wasp, and drawers are underwear; this phrase means that Curley is on edge and nervous), but that's all that's happened so far. Every time the guys on the ranch are around, she comes by. She says she's looking for Curley or she forgot something and is looking for it. It seems like she can't keep away from the guys. And Curley acts like he has ants in his pants (again, meaning that he's on edge), but nothing has come of it yet. 

Describe in detail what Gulliver finds when he wakes up on the island.

When Gulliver wakes up in Lilliput, he sees that it is "just Day-light," and he realizes that he is unable to move his body at all.  At first, he can see nothing but the sky since he is unable to turn his head from side to side.  However, as he bends his eyes downward as far as possible, he sees, walking on his body toward his face, a human-like creature holding a bow and arrow, though the creature is fewer than six inches tall.  When he feels some forty more of these advancing on his person, he yells out, and they scatter.  At this point, he pulls against the ligatures tying his hair down on one side so that he can turn his head, and he sees a small stage to which a "person of Quality" mounts in order to deliver a long speech of which Gulliver cannot understand one word. 

How do "were" and "was" influence the theme of "The Truly Great" by Stephen Spender?

The main theme of the poem is that the "truly great" individuals of our time deserve to be remembered, cherished, and emulated by all of us.

The verbs "was" and "were" indicate these great individuals are no longer alive. Therefore, in order to cherish and to emulate them, it is imperative that, we, like the narrator, "think continually" of them. The narrator warns us not to let the hectic, modern lifestyle crowd out all thoughts of these great individuals. To do so would impede our own personal growth ("the flowering of the spirit").

The narrator tells us how these "truly great" individuals were inspired by the "Spirit, clothed from head to foot in song." Here, the "Spirit" clothed in song may refer to God or divinity; it may also refer to the mythological Muses. In Greek mythology, the Nine Muses were the goddesses of Music, Art, Literature, and Science. They were often invoked at the beginning of lyrical poems to inspire eloquence in the poet. Thus, it is noteworthy Spender alludes to them in his first stanza.

Again, the verb "was" used in conjunction with the great individuals (whose lips were "touched with fire") reminds us these beings are no longer among the living. They may have been the great, ancient writers and poets, and the narrator maintains that, even as he thinks of them now, he can see how inspired they were by the Muses or divine spirit of God. Spender only uses "was" and "were" once individually in the first stanza, but his meaning is clear: the "truly great" are no longer among us; thus, we must do everything in our power to keep them in our memories, for this is the only way to achieve greatness in ourselves.

Which part of Smith's analysis in The Wealth of Nations would Karl Marx reject?

Adam Smith's faith in the free market is one area that would provoke intense disagreement from Karl Marx.

A major component of Smith's analysis is his belief that the free market that can function without external control. Smith believes that the marketplace is where human happiness can be maximized.  The free market is where human talents are recognized.  It is where goods can be exchanged for compensation and services.  Smith believes in the "laissez faire" approach to the marketplace so much that he rejects the idea of controlling it.  For Smith, control is needed for something bad, and if the marketplace is where the greatest in human endeavor is realized, then controlling it would actually be a bad thing. Even if there are problems in the marketplace, Smith argues that the "invisible hand" of rationality and reasonability will solve everything, thereby rejecting the need for external control.

Marx would take issue with this emphasis on the marketplace needing to be free from external control.  In Marx's mind, the freedom afforded to the marketplace has enabled economic exploitation.  It is the freedom to have a small number of very rich people take advantage of the working class majority.  Marx would challenge Smith's belief that the free market is where happiness can be seen. Workers in the free market configuration are not very happy when they are working long hours for little in way of compensation.  Their happiness is not realized in Smith's "laissez faire."  Marx would reject Smith's idea that the marketplace does not need external control.  In a setting where economic exploitation is so rampant, Marx would argue that external control is needed in order to facilitate a new and more equitable economic system.