What is the setting of Brown Girl Dreaming?

Jacqueline Woodson’s memoir Brown Girl Dreaming is set in the places where she grew up and where other family members continued to live after she left. Born in 1963, she spent her early years in Ohio, where the Woodsons were from, but after her parents separated, she and her siblings moved with their mother to Greenville, South Carolina, the hometown of the mother’s family, the Irbys. Amidst the upheavals of the Civil Rights era, the strong impact of segregation influenced her mother’s decision to return to the North. Their next move was to New York City, where their Aunt Caroline lived. Jackie finished school in Brooklyn, where a teacher’s mentoring set her on the path toward becoming a writer. Visits to the grandparents back in South Carolina reminded Jackie of the continued impact of racial discrimination.

In chapter 4 of Island of the Blue Dolphins, what did Karna say that weakened her father?

In chapter four, the characters in Island of the Blue Dolphins determine that Karna’s father was weakened enough to be killed by the Aleuts because he had given the captain his real, true, and secret name. In chapter one of the novel, it is explained that the secret name should not be shared lightly:

I was surprised that he gave his real name to a stranger. Everyone in our tribe had two names, the real one which was secret and was seldom used, and one which was common, for if people use your secret name it becomes worn out and loses its magic.

After her father gives the name to the captain of the Aleuts and is killed, Karna and the villagers agree it was because he told the captain his secret name. The secret name is tied to strength, and because her father gave his away, it took away the power he needed to win the battle. Chapter four explains this idea,

My father was dead. The reason for his death, everyone agreed . . . He told Orlov his secret name. No man who used his secret name could be strong in war.

The idea of the secret name and its connection to strength help to explain why Karna’s people are so secretive around others. Her father trades with the Aleuts, and that is tied to the downfall of their tribe to some extent, because they lose the battle against them.

Compare the speaker and her beloved in Sonnet 16 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. How do the poem’s language and images affect your understanding of its two main figures? What is the central theme expressed in this work?

This poem seems to be a statement between a lover and her beloved. However, much in the poem might remind a reader of the type of imagery Donne uses in his Holy Sonnets, such as "Batter My Heart, Three Person'd God."
Barrett Browning uses violent imagery, in which the speaker beckons the beloved to overpower her, as a warrior would a conquest. She abases herself to the lover as one would a conquering ruler, a king who has vanquished the speaker.
Should the beloved accept the speaker's subjugation, the merging of identities will erase these power dynamics in a blending of hearts:

my heart shall growToo close against thine heart henceforth to knowHow it shook when alone

The final lines do offer a slight shift or resolution.

If thou invite me forth,I rise above abasement at the word.Make thy love larger to enlarge my worth.

Here, the beloved's expanding love will elevate the speaker. Like Donne's metaphysical conceits, Barrett Browning indulges in shocking metaphors to describe the overpowering love she finds in the beloved and her inability to resist its claim on her.

According to Bradford, how does God protect the Puritans during the voyage across the sea?

Among other things, Protestantism had the effect of taking the sacred and holy away from specific sites, such as religious shrines and monasteries, and into the very heart of the day-to-day community. This meant that activities which had previously been regarded as purely secular—such as business—were now suddenly infused with a divine purpose. Devout Protestants, such as the Puritans, began to see the hand of God everywhere, constantly intervening in his creation.
As a devout Puritan himself, William Bradford passionately believed that God regularly intervened in his life and that of his fellow pilgrims during their long, arduous voyage to the New World. One such example comes from chapter 9 in Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation. A rude young sailor has been routinely insulting the Puritans on board the ship, telling them that he'll be pleased when they die and how much he's looking forward to throwing their bodies into the sea. However, it is the sailor himself who passes away and whose body is the first to be dumped overboard. Bradford interprets his death as a sign of divine wrath, a just punishment for the young sailor's abuse of God's elect. More importantly, he regards the sailor's death as a sign that the Puritans are under God's protection.

What is a summary of The Invisible Thread?

An autobiography written by Yoshiko Uchida, a Nisei (second generation Japanese American) living in Berkeley who was sent to an internment camp during World War II, The Invisible Thread recounts the author and her family's struggles because of their ethnicity. The book highlights the daily life of a Japanese American child imprisoned in a concentration camp, the discrimination she and her family faced because of their race, and how the Americans treated them as if they were the former's enemies in the war. As World War II came to an end, Yoshiko was able to escape the internment camp. The Invisible Thread is a nonfictional account of how World War II led to the displacement of families and the annihilation of Japanese American children's dreams.

Yoshiko Uchida writes an autobiographical account of her experiences in America before and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The reader gets a glimpse of America's treatment of and discrimination toward Japanese American families as they are forced to relocate to internment camps during World War II. Many Japanese families who have immigrated to the United States have made an idyllic life in California. Like others at the same time, Uchida's family are trying to balance their heritage and traditions with Western culture. Uchida and her family have their lives uprooted and taken away from them once they are deemed and treated like the enemy of the US. They are relocated between camps until ending up in Topaz, Utah. As the turmoil of World War II is nearing an end, Uchida is able to leave the internment camp with her sister to continue her education at Smith College in Massachusetts. The novel ends with the reunification of Uchida and her parents as they piece back together their lives. Uchida's reflection on her cultural identity and unconstitutional treatment provides an important history lesson on the US government's imprisonment of Japanese Americans.

An Invisible Thread by Yoshiko Uchida is an account of the contempt Japanese Americans faced during the Second World War. While viewing the narrative through the eyes of a young girl, it provides deep insight into the level of ill-treatment that was meted against the Japanese Americans during the war.
Yoshiko is of Japanese descent but she is raised in California. After many years of living in the United States, she considers herself an American and even harbours the dreams of living her American dream by becoming a teacher. The bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese and an eventual declaration of war by the US on Japan shutters her world. Everyone of Japanese descent is viewed as an enemy thus they are captured and sent to incarceration centres. Yoshiko manages to escape from the internment towards the end of the war. She survives to tell her story.

The Invisible Thread, by Yoshiko Uchida, is inspired by the author’s experiences in an internment camp during World War II. The story is told from the perspective of a young girl. She provides an in-depth account of the discrimination against Japanese people during the war.
Yoshiko is a Japanese American who was raised in Berkeley, California, and wants to become a teacher when she grows up. She considers herself American until the United States declares war on Japan in reaction to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The attack leads to the victimization and capture of Japanese Americans. People of Japanese descent who reside in Berkeley are taken to internment camps because of their ethnicity. Yoshiko manages to run away from the camp as the war comes to an end.

Why was merrylegs emblematic ?

In Charles Dicken's Hard Times, the character Sissy Jupe's father, Signor Jupe, had once been so depressed at his declining performance as an acrobatic clown due to his declining health that he beat his loyal dog, Merrylegs, bloody. This distressing scene is used to evoke pathos in Dicken's audience for the emotional stresses of the working class poor. Sissy does her best to soothe her father's anxieties and relieve his depression by reading legends, myths, and fairy tales out loud to him. Sadly, the last time that Sissy sees her father, he is more depressed than ever. Sissy later relates a story to Mr. Gradgrind that when they were performing in Chester, an exhausted Merrylegs found them and promptly dropped dead. Sissy takes this as emblematic of her own father's death, as she understood that Merrylegs would never otherwise have left his side. Merrylegs's last act was as a loyal family messenger—exhausting himself to deliver the tragic news of his master's death. This is even more pathetic in light of his sometimes ill-treatment at the hands of his depressed and declining master. Merrylegs is emblematic of the suffering that loved ones must endure in the stressful lives of the poor.

Julia tells Winston that even though the Party can torture a person and make him say anything, they cannot make him believe it. How do you feel about this statement? How easy is it to brainwash a person? Do you think governments actually use brainwashing? Discuss.

In the novel 1984, Julia's statement is basically disproved by the conclusion of the story, in which Winston is tortured and transformed into one who "loved Big Brother." Apparently, it is not simply a matter of his telling O'Brien what he wants to hear during the interrogation sessions. The implication is that Winston actually begins to believe the Party line. In the final scene in the Chestnut Tree Cafe, Winston is watching the telescreen and devoutly wishing for the victory of Oceania's armies, and there is nothing to suggest a falseness or deception in his behavior as he sits there alone and drowns himself in gin.
Has this happened in the real world, in history? One answer, in events of which Orwell was aware, lies perhaps in the Stalinist "purge" trials of the 1930s. Men who were devoted Bolsheviks, the Old Guard of the Revolution, were thrown in prison, made to sign confessions that they had betrayed the cause of Communism, and executed. Did these men "believe" the confessions which were signed after they were tortured? Or were they, in fact, traitors to the cause, and were brainwashed through torture into recanting their apostate views? There is no way of knowing for sure, and the individual cases may have followed different patterns. The best evidence we have may lie in the fictionalized account of the trials in Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon. In the novel, the protagonist, Rubashov—though he is not actually physically tortured—is worn down by the interrogations to the point where he no longer seems to know the real truth of his past activities. The Party apparatchik Gletkin either manipulates the facts so that Rubashov's sense of objective reality is destroyed, or (and this is perhaps the more benign interpretation) Rubashov simply gives in because it is easier to do so. He knows from the beginning that he's going to be killed anyway, and in looking back at his life, his disillusionment is such that he doesn't care any longer and just wants to get it over with.
I tend to think that Koestler's point—which then directly influenced Orwell's view of the issue—is that our human perception of "reality" or "truth" is in fact a fragile thing and that people can be, and are, manipulated by totalitarian regimes into believing things that are contrary to their feelings and their own perception of reality. When we speak of "brainwashing," it is not necessarily something that happens under torture. It occurs in more subtle, insidious ways. In the twentieth century in Nazi Germany, to give an example even more blatant than the Soviet Union, millions of people were manipulated into apparently believing the racist lies of the regime and supporting a reckless military and genocidal policy that ended up not only killing millions of people but destroying Germany as well. Even in our own time, we have seen more benign (so far) examples of leaders encouraging people to believe not what the objective evidence shows, but "alternative facts," simply because the leader says they are true. So, although the issue may be much more complicated than we can deal with here, in summary I would say that, yes, people can unfortunately be made to believe things that are false and harmful, and "brainwashing" is the correct term for it.

Who first mentions the use of the shell?

The shell first appears in chapter 1. Piggy and Ralph are together when they notice the shell, and Piggy suggests its possible use.
The two boys are both at the beach when they see something shiny on the shore and then realize it is a shell. Piggy has actually seen this type of shell used before.

"S'right. It's a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone's back wall. A conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It's ever so valuable—"

It is Ralph, however, who embodies leadership by blowing it and having the others come. The authority he exudes is related to the shell:

. . . most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch. The being that had blown that, had sat waiting for them on the platform with the delicate thing balanced on his knees, was set apart.

Describe the geography and climate of the middle colonies.

The climate of the Middle Colonies is temperate. Temperate climates are characterized by warm summers and cold winters. Climates in temperate zones do not have extremes in weather conditions. Temperate climates are favorable to agricultural production so long as the soil is good. The ground in the Middle Colonies was not rocky, had fairly deep topsoil, and was capable of cultivation with a minimum of effort as compared to the New England colonies. The Middle Colonies were known as the "breadbasket" for the colonies as the climate was favorable to grow wheat, barley, oats, and rye.
A topographic map reveals the physical features and contours of an area. A topographic map of the region shows the region is made up of mountains, rolling hills, and coastal plains. Much of the inland areas are covered with forests of hard timber. The coast of the Middle Colonies has many coves and bays. There are some points of access to deep water in the coastal areas located by the Atlantic Ocean.
The geography and climate of the Middle Colonies were the most desirable of the three regions for settlement.

What are the themes of George Herbert's "Virtue"?

The poem's themes contrast the material to the spiritual. In the first three stanzas, the speaker describes how the incarnate aspects of the earth all will die. A beautiful day will "die" when night falls. A rose will inevitably die as well—its root, which makes it grow, also assures its demise. Finally, springtime itself, with all its beauties, will die away. All that is left alive in the end, the speaker states in the final stanza, is " a sweet and virtuous soul."The main theme of the poem is that the material world is ephemeral: it it constantly passing away towards death. Only the spiritual is eternal. This implies that we should concentrate on ensuring that our souls are "sweet and virtuous."
A second theme, emphasized by images of tears, is that it is sad that the beautifies of the material world must die. The consolation we are left with is faith and a belief in the survival of the immortal soul.

How does what we learned in the novel about Milkman, Guitar, and magic in general support the end of the book Song of Solomon?

Throughout the novel, Milkman has been weighed down and turned around by his vanity, his selfishness, and his greed. For example, Guitar once asks him, "Looks like everybody's going in the wrong direction but you, don't it?" Milkman finds fault with everyone else and never himself. He literally(albeit accidentally) pees on his sister, Magdalene, because he just does not think about other people. He even faces "backward" when his family goes for drives in his father's Packard, though it "made him uneasy" and feels like "flying blind." He cannot actually "fly," though others in his family could. For most of his life, Milkman is like the white peacock he and Guitar see. Guitar says that it can't fly because it has

Too much tail. All that jewelry weighs it down. Like vanity. Can't nobody fly with all that shit. Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.

Milkman's own vanity and greed weigh him down. He puts himself first: ahead of his family, ahead of his friends, ahead of Hagar. He even tries to steal from his aunt, Pilate, who is probably the most likable character in the entire novel. Only once Milkman goes in search of the gold he thought she had, a search that takes him to Virginia, does he finally learn what his priorities ought to be.
Milkman learns who "his people" are and where they came from. He learns that he had an ancestor who could fly and who did fly home to Africa after he'd been captured and made a slave. Milkman ruins his nice clothes and shoes, and he even loses his gold watch, slowly shedding those things that would seem to symbolically weigh him down. He even learns to be a generous lover with Sweet and to put someone else first. In the end, then, it makes sense that Milkman learns "what Shalimar knew: If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it." Evidently, Milkman, too, has learned to fly. Given that his ancestor, Shalimar, could fly—as he does in the song that the little children sing—and that Pilate is said to have been able to fly (in a way) as well, this seems hardly surprising (though it is magic). When Pilate dies, Milkman figured out "why he loved her so. Without every leaving the ground, she could fly." If she could be born without a navel, then why not? This is part of the book's magical realism.
Further, it seems that Guitar simply is not meant to fly. In fact, he is always compared to an animal who can only exist on land: a cat. On the very day Milkman is born, Guitar is referred to as a "cat-eyed boy" multiple times. Later, when his grandmother went to ask Macon for an extension on their rent, the narrator says that his "cat eyes were gashes of gold." This description not only ties him to land, but it also ties him to his desire for money, the materialism that develops later in his life. He, too, tries to rob Pilate, and he later attempts to kill Milkman because he believes that Milkman is trying to swindle Guitar out of Guitar's share of the gold. Later, the men Milkman hunts with capture and eviscerate a bobcat (the very one that might have been stalking Milkman at the same time Guitar was doing so). It seems, then, that Guitar is not able to fly because he is too weighed down. His greed restricts him, whereas Milkman's revalued priorities grant him a kind of freedom that Guitar cannot know. This is why he can ride the air, finally, and Guitar cannot.

What is the physical condition of the boys hiking along the shore? Do they mind?

In Lord of the Flies, chapter seven opens wth Jack, Ralph, and some older boys on their way back to camp after trying in vain to find the wild boar. Ralph seems to be the first to notice how threadbare their clothes are and how grimy and unkempt they must appear. Ralph would welcome the opportunity to

wash his clothes, cut his hair, and brush his teeth. He observed the other boys and how generally dirty and ragged they'd become since they'd arrived on the island.

I think this drastic change is of concern to Ralph because it makes him feel like he and the others are becoming more a part of the island itself, and that in turn deepens Ralph's conviction that the boys will be stuck on the island forever. Ralph misses his old home and his old life, when he was clean, had a haircut, and was properly fed. He misses all the old comforts of home.
Roger and Jack, on the other hand, do not seem too aware of the changes in their physical appearances. They are more focused on finding the boar; they are in survival mode and have more throughly adapted to this new and savage island life.

In chapter 7 of Lord of the Flies, as the boys hike across the island, it's noticeable just how much their physical appearances have changed—and not for the better. Their hair has grown long, their clothes are torn and disheveled, and their skin is covered in filth. This is a further indication of just how much the boys have changed since arriving on the island.
Far from home, deprived of creature comforts, and without adult supervision, the boys have slowly relapsed into a state of savagery. Their outward appearances are a manifestation of the change that life on a remote, uninhabited desert island has wrought upon their souls. But for the most part, the boys don't really care all that much. They're pretty much used to being dirty and scruffy at this point. Ralph, however, is none too pleased about his grubby appearance. This illustrates once more how different he is from the other boys, especially Jack and his gang, who positively revel in their filth and savagery.

What are complete descriptions of the creature's murder victims and each of their crime scenes?

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is an 1818 gothic thriller and science fiction novel written by English novelist Mary Shelley. It was originally published anonymously in three volumes, and it tells the story of a young and ambitious science student by the name of Victor Frankenstein who decides to play God and creates a humanoid creature by assembling his body from stolen body parts. Unfortunately, the creature ends up very ugly and horrific; Victor is appalled, and thus abandons him. Tormented by loneliness, abandonment, isolation, and the never-ending feeling of fear that he will never be loved, the creature sets out to destroy his creator, both physically and metaphorically.
I find it interesting to mention that the creature is neither good nor bad; rather, he manages to behave in a very human way and even shows that he is capable of feeling guilt, remorse, and compassion—unlike his creator. The book has several descriptions of death, and about ten people die, but only four of them are murdered; three of these are killed by the creature, while one is executed as punishment for a crime she did not commit.
Thus, in chronological order, the creature's three murder victims are William Frankenstein, Henry Clerval, and Elizabeth Lavenza.
William Frankenstein, Victor's spoiled little brother, is the first murder victim of the creature. In chapter 16, the sleeping creature is approached by the young William, whom he describes as a "beautiful" child. The creature then decides to take William and make him his companion and friend, as he is incredibly lonely and believes that a child could not be as prejudiced as an adult might be. However, when William sees the creature's face and body, he screams in horror and mentions that he is a Frankenstein by telling the creature that his father will protect him. The creature thinks,

Frankenstein! you belong to my enemy—to him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim.

When the creature learns that William is a Frankenstein, he grabs him by the throat and the boy dies instantly. As William lies dead at the creature's feet, he says:

I gazed on my victim, and my heart swelled with exultation and hellish triumph; clapping my heads, I exclaimed, "I too can create desolation; my enemy is not invulnerable; this death will carry despair to him, and a thousand other miseries shall torment and destroy him."

I would like to mention the death of Frankenstein's housekeeper, Justine Moritz, as well. Even though the creature doesn't kill her with his own hands, I believe that he is indirectly responsible for her death. In the same chapter, after murdering William, the creature proceeds to look for a place to hide and rest, and he comes near a barn in which Justine is sleeping peacefully. Feeling bitter and angry that the now-dead William was terrified of his ugliness, the creature thinks that someone like Justine will never treat him kindly; if she awakes, she will probably scream as well and accuse the creature of being a murderer. Thus, the creature puts the portrait of Caroline Frankenstein (Victor's and William's mother), which William always carried with him, in the folds of her dress, successfully framing her for the murder of the youngest Frankenstein:

Thus she would assuredly [denounce me if she] beheld me. The thought was madness; it stirred the fiend within me—not I, but she, shall suffer; the murder I have committed because I am forever robbed of all that she could give me, she shall atone. The crime had its source in her: be hers the punishment!

Being the religious woman that she is, Justine confesses to the murder, afraid that she will go to Hell if she doesn't. Thus, she is executed.
The second murder victim is Victor Frankenstein's friend, Henry Clerval. The creature slowly becomes aware that he holds some level of power, especially over Frankenstein. However, he also realizes that if he were to have a mate, he would be able to live happily without Frankenstein, and together, the two creatures could create a new race on their own. Knowing that Frankenstein is the only one who can make this possible, the creature decides to get his revenge by attacking everyone and anyone that is dear to Frankenstein. Thus, in chapter 21, he goes for Frankenstein's closest friend, Henry. Essentially, the creature strangles Henry because Frankenstein wasn't able to keep his promise and create a companion for the creature. However, the creature also expresses deep remorse, grief, and sorrow for doing such a horrible deed, which tells us that perhaps Victor Frankenstein is the real "evil creature" of the story.

Think you that the groans of Clerval were music to my ears? My heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy, and when wrenched by misery to vice and hatred, it did not endure the violence of the change without torture such as you cannot even imagine.

Interestingly enough, Victor is later accused of murdering Henry, but he is soon released, as there is no concrete evidence of him ever committing such a crime.
The third murder victim of the creature is Frankenstein's adopted cousin (sister, in some versions) and later wife, Elizabeth Lavenza. In chapter 23, the creature thinks that it is justifiable to kill Frankenstein's wife and leave him without a mate and companion, much like Frankenstein left the creature alone and isolated form the rest of the world. The creature tells Frankenstein that he will come for him on his wedding night, and Frankenstein, being the selfish man that he is, doesn't tell his wife of the creature's plans, as he arrogantly assumes that the creature is out to get him; thus, he tries to protect himself as much as he can and leaves his poor wife alone. He soon hears her terrifying screams and rushes to the bedroom. In this paragraph he describes his wife's dead body:

She was there, lifeless and inanimate, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down and her pale and distorted features half covered by her hair. Everywhere I turn I see the same figure—her bloodless arms and relaxed form flung by the murderer on its bridal bier.

How is the essence of different cultures in the world shaped by Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam- and by Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad?

Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam are three major universal religions (Judaism was the first monotheistic religion but is not a universal religion). The reason that these three faiths have shaped and continue to shape cultures around the world is that they spread as universal religions--that is, they promised that anyone who joined them could have access to salvation.
Unlike other faiths or pre-existing religions, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam promise salvation to everyone, regardless of their color, pre-existing religion, gender, or social class (or other variables). The practitioners of the religions are not supposed to allow any intolerance; everyone can be accepted if they just accept the deity of that faith. By following the precepts of the founder of the religion (Buddha, Jesus, or Mohammed), anyone can get on a path towards salvation and turn away from acts that are considered evil. These religions are also not necessarily associated with one country or people, and they can be practiced in different languages and in different cultures. In other words, they transcend cultural barriers because they spread across cultures in the past.
Why do you think the essence of these religions has affected so many cultures around the world? It's because these faiths promise acceptance, and they put up no barriers to joining. They also promise salvation and a better life to the faithful, no matter what people's previous life or sins.

What are the themes in Freak the Mighty?

Rodman Philbrick’s novel explores themes of friendship, individuality versus conformity, and transformation. Freak the Mighty is a composite that represents the growing friendship of Kevin and Max. As the two boys look beyond each other’s problems and find each other’s positive qualities, they learn to depend on each other. Friendship as well as complementary physical and mental attributes makes their combination much stronger than the sum of its parts.
Previously, their social worlds had been very uncomfortable for them because many of the other children were unkind. The author portrays their environment as one in which conformity was encouraged, and those who were perceived as deviants were often ostracized or bullied. Identifying and valuing one’s individual attributes is a key step, Philbrick suggests, in escaping the negative effects of pressure to conform.
While the two boys are together transformed into one giant combination character, each of them also undergoes interior transformations that include growing self-confidence. While recognizing one’s positive traits is the impetus for personal growth, the author also emphasizes that this must be combined with extending oneself into trusting others.

What is the theme of the poem “The Falling Star” by Sara Teasdale?

The poem "Falling Star" by Sara Teasdale is a very short poem about a shooting star and its beauty. The poem describes a falling star that flies through the sky, but, because of its nature—its beauty, its burning heat, and its brightness—it can't be captured but only observed while its on its way to its destruction.
The metaphor behind this poem is the falling star is something that is so beautiful and so desirable, but this is only in its destruction. If it were not falling, it wouldn't be wished upon, and if it weren't burning itself up, it wouldn't be shining so brightly and beautifully. It is a tragic portrayal of the beauty of something that can't be attained.

What are three social injustices for chapters 10 to 20?

First, Scout sees social injustice up close when Calpurnia takes her to her black AME church. Scout realizes that many of the members of the church can't read. She also finds out that, because her husband is in jail, Mrs. Robinson is being shunned by the white community and can't find work as a maid. The black community, though very poor, has to pull together to raise money so her family can survive. It is unjust that Mrs. Robinson is being held accountable for her husband's actions, especially when he has not even yet been found guilty of a crime.
Second, Aunt Alexandra comes to live with the Finch family during these chapters. She represents the conventional white thinking that leads to social injustice in Maycomb. She considers people superior or inferior based on their ancestry, not on their merit, and ancestry also helps her condemn blacks as inferior (after all, what have the ancestors of the black population accomplished but being slaves?). She is, as well, part of the Missionary Society, which is more concerned with helping blacks in Africa than needy black people in their own community. This helps maintain the inequality in her community.
Third, the white community's condemnation of Atticus for mounting a real defense for Tom Robinson shows social injustice at work. The white townspeople are more interested in upholding the racial line in the community, in which the word of any white person is trusted more than the word of any black person, than finding out what really happened between Mayella and Tom.

1) One social injustice is how Jem and Scout are socially shunned because their father is defending Tom Robinson. It reflects the overt racism of the area as well as the intolerance of ideas that are different from the norm.
2) Another social injustice is when members of the KKK confront Atticus at his door for holding Tom Robinson in the town jail before the trial starts. This is another example of the forced segregation and racism that led to groups such as the KKK threatening people of color, as well as those who support civil rights.
3) A third injustice is Tom Robinson's unfair trial, which ultimately leads to his conviction and death. Despite a lack of evidence or reliable testimonies, Tom is deemed guilty. It is strongly implied that he was framed and convicted because of his race rather than any real wrongdoings.

What kind of government did the Jamestown colony have?

The original government of the Jamestown Colony was determined by the King of England. As the first settlers set sail on three different ships, a sealed box was also aboard that named the members of the governing council for the new colony. This small council was to follow the instructions of England, and in return, England would provide them with needed supplies. The box was not to be opened until they reached their destination, which created uncertainty among the men about who would be in charge. In April 1607, when the box was opened, it wasn’t long before fighting broke out between the men. Two years later, England developed a new government to assuage the problems, in which a treasurer was in charge and a governing council was the permanent administrative body. There was also a new position of governor, who held many powers in the colony.
Another government reform occurred in 1618, in which Sir George Yeardley introduced two new councils. One council was formed to help the governor, and those members were chosen by the Virginia Company of London. The other council, known as a “generall Assemblie,” included the governor’s council as well as two representatives from each town and large plantations. These representatives were chosen by those who lived in the respective towns or plantations. With this new government, decisions were made by a majority vote, people had more of a voice, and the power of the governor and his council were kept in check.

How can I do a close reading and analysis of "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop?

I think first of all you need to come up with some thoughts or interpretations of your own about the poem. For example, one interpretation is that the speaker seems to feel a great deal of sympathy for the fish. It has been caught at least five times before, and perhaps the speaker feels sorry for catching it again. Another thought about the poem is that there is lots of vivid, evocative description in the poem which creates a beautiful and tranquil scene.
The next step is then to reread the poem and identify any key quotations which will help you to support your own thoughts or interpretations. For example, if we begin with the interpretation that the speaker feels sorry for the fish, then we might cite the following lines:

I admired his sullen face . . . and then I saw / that from his lower lip . . . hung five old pieces of fish-line . . . still attached . . . grown firmly in his mouth.

In these lines, the phrase "and then" is important because it signals the change in the speaker's feelings about the fish, from admiring her catch to feeling sorry for it. The sympathy is suggested by words like "still" and "firmly." These words aren't necessary to the description but are there because they imply the speaker's emotional reaction. The fish-line "still" being attached, and lodged "firmly" in the fish's mouth, suggests how unnecessary the pain is, and how long the fish has been suffering for.
This kind of analysis of language is a key element to any close reading and analytical response to the poem. Try to identify key words and also figurative techniques (like similes, metaphors, and color imagery) in the quotations you choose, and then try to explain why you think the poet has used them. Or, alternatively, think about what effects these words and techniques might have on the reader. It's also a good idea to look for patterns of language in the poem, and to try to work out why the poet has used these patterns. Has the poet, for example, used similar colors to create a particular tone or mood? Or has she used any rhyme patterns, and if so, why?
At the end of your response you could offer an evaluation, summarizing your thoughts about the poem. For your evaluation, try to think about why the poet might have written this poem, and about how successful or otherwise you think her language choices have been.

Who attends the celebratory ceremony of release in The Giver?

Jonas, the young protagonist of Lois Lowry's novel, The Giver, has always been told that Ceremonies of Release are happy celebrations. Thus, in Chapter 19, when he actually has an opportunity to witness a release ceremony, he is surprised that the ceremony (for the release of an unwanted twin child, who is being disposed of because he is the smaller of two twins) is held in a "small, windowless room, empty except for a bed, a table with some equipment on it . . . and a cupboard."
The ceremony itself is not "celebratory" at all. It is attended only by Jonas's father, who kills the infant by fatal injection and then disposes of the body by putting it in a carton and putting the carton down a garbage chute. This is the moment in the novel at which Jonas realizes the full horror of the system he is living in and the lies he has been told about the ceremony of release. This is the event that prompts Jonas to leave and to take baby Gabriel with him.

How do supernatural occurrences play an important role in Macbeth?

The importance of the supernatural in Shakespeare's Macbeth is best viewed in terms of Shakespeare's intended audience. In Elizabethan and Jacobean England, there was widespread belief in black magic and the supernatural. Many people in Shakespeare's audience believed that supernatural beings like the Witches actually existed, and that they interacted with humans, caused disease, and spread chaos throughout the country.
Perhaps the most important person in Shakespeare's audience was James I, King of England, for whom scholars believe Shakespeare wrote Macbeth. James I considered himself an expert on witchcraft and wrote a book, Daemonologie, published in 1597, which explored various aspects of divination, witchcraft, and black magic.
Shakespeare's audience believed that the supernatural events depicted in Macbeth could happen. Some people in our modern world believe in the supernatural, and even those who don't would willingly suspend their disbelief to enter the world of the play and imagine what it would be like to be one of the characters in Macbeth or a member of Shakespeare's audience watching the play who did believe in the supernatural.
The supernatural in Macbeth represents the unknown and, more significantly, the fear of the unknown, which Shakespeare used to engage the audience in the play, build anticipation, frighten them, and bring the events of the play into sharp focus in their minds.
The first scene in the play is devoted exclusively to the Three Witches. Thunder and lightning precedes their entrance, and even though the Witches don't actually do anything supernatural or even act much like witches, Shakespeare sets the tone and the supernatural environment for the play. Through the Witches, Shakespeare invites the audience into the world of the play and establishes a sense of foreboding and anticipation for what's to come.
Two scenes later, in act 1, scene 3, the Witches are back again, and at first they're by themselves. This time, they're acting more like witches, and they're talking about witchy kinds of things.
Soon Macbeth and Banquo enter, the Witches appear to them, and the Witches make specific and vague prophecies to them—specific to Macbeth, and vague to Banquo.
To Macbeth they say,

SECOND WITCH: All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!
THIRD WITCH: All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter! (1.3.51–53)

To Banquo they say,

FIRST WITCH: Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
SECOND WITCH:Not so happy, yet much happier.
THIRD WITCH: Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none. (1.3.68–70)

These few, simple prophecies set into motion all of the events that follow in the play.
The Witches don't return until act 3, scene 5, when the head witch, Hecate, chides them for what they've been doing without her:

FIRST WITCH: Why, how now, Hecate? You look angerly.
HECATE: Have I not reason, beldams as you are,Saucy and overbold? How did you dareTo trade and traffic with MacbethIn riddles and affairs of death;And I, the mistress of your charms,The close contriver of all harms,Was never call'd to bear my part,Or show the glory of our art? (3.5.1–9)

The Witches still haven't done anything particularly supernatural except make somewhat vague prophecies to Macbeth and Banquo, but Hecate tells the Witches what's going to happen now that she's back in charge.
First, she tells the Witches to get their witch things organized to meet Macbeth:

HECATE: Get you gone,And at the pit of AcheronMeet me i’ the morning. Thither heWill come to know his destiny.Your vessels and your spells provide,Your charms and every thing beside. (3.5.14–19)

Then Hecate tells them what she's going to do, and what's going to happen when they meet Macbeth:

HECATE: I am for the air; this night I'll spendUnto a dismal and a fatal end.Great business must be wrought ere noon:Upon the corner of the moonThere hangs a vaporous drop profound;I'll catch it ere it come to ground.And that distill'd by magic sleightsShall raise such artificial spritesAs by the strength of their illusionShall draw him on to his confusion.He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bearHis hopes ’bove wisdom, grace, and fear. (3.5.20–31)

The next time we see the Witches is in act 4, scene 1, the Apparition scene. The audience has been watching the events foretold in the prophecies unfold just like the Witches said they would, and this is where Shakespeare gives the audience the supernatural payoff scene that they've been anticipating.
The Witches and Hecate are getting ready to meet Macbeth, and they're involved in some serious witch business with a bubbling cauldron, snakes, newts, frogs, bats, dogs, lizards, dragons and all kinds of other spooky, supernatural things.

WITCHES: Double, double, toil and trouble;Fire burn and cauldron bubble. (4.1.10–11)

Then the Witches don't simply conjure up ghosts, like those that appear to Hamlet or Richard III, which could be in their own minds. The Witches conjure up apparitions, completely new and different supernatural beings who convey new information to Macbeth.

SECOND APPARITION: Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh toscornThe power of man, for none of woman bornShall harm Macbeth. [4.1.86–90]
THIRD APPARITION: . . . Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be untilGreat Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane HillShall come against him. (4.1.103–105)

Then, to top it off, the Witches bring in the ghost of Banquo to make it seem more immediate and real to the audience and to frighten Macbeth and the audience.

MACBETH: Thou are too like the spirit of Banquo. Down! (4.1.125)

Then, after the Apparition scene,

[The witches dance and then vanish, with Hecate]

The Witches and Hecate are never seen again in the play.
What remains is for the audience to watch how the supernatural apparitions' information to Macbeth plays out, to Macbeth's ultimate, tragic demise.

The Three Witches, also referred to as the Weird Sisters, presumably have supernatural powers, allowing them to generate prophecies. The play opens with the witches, who tell Macbeth that he will be king. This highlights his already established ambitions, encouraging him to kill Duncan and foreshadowing future events in the play. When Macbeth seeks the witches out in act 4, the Weird Sisters have been ordered by Hecate, the leader of the witches, to deceive him into thinking he is untouchable as king. This spells out his doomed fight with Macduff in the final act.
In act 2, Macbeth sees a floating dagger, the same weapon used to kill Duncan. This apparition represents Macbeth's murder, which weighs on his conscience. In act 3, the ghost of Banquo appears to Macbeth and cannot be seen by Lady Macbeth, who is also in the room. This raises the question of whether the ghost is real, presenting itself only to Macbeth, or Macbeth's psyche manifesting his evil come to haunt him. Similarly, in act 5, Lady Macbeth sees blood on her hands, representing the role she played in Macbeth's murderous acts and their stain upon her conscience. The supernatural elements in Macbeth contribute to the play's sinister and deathly atmosphere and reinforce the theme of fate.

How does Beowulf reflect a multicultural heritage?

Sometimes readers of Beowulf are confused by the mishmash of overt Christianity with obvious pagan imagery like dragons and superhuman powers. Prior to the medieval period, Old English poetry was not written down; rather, stories were disseminated orally. The Anglo-Saxons, originally from Germanic regions, brought their own tales with them when they invaded England.
Most Anglo-Saxons eventually converted to Christianity but the majority hung on to their love of heroics from the old tales, especially stories about knights and dragons, and typically, damsels-in-distress. Beowulf is a good example of the blending of pagan and Christian themes.

Should truth be given out in small doses, or should the truth—facts—be wholly available to each and every person? For how is it we actually come upon the truth of things?

In most cases, a truth—especially a startling or upsetting truth—should be given in small doses. This is common wisdom: even when the police, for example, show up at a person's door to report a death, although the truth has to be delivered quickly in that case, their appearance at the door, their sober demeanor, and usually their prefacing statement about bad news to report will prepare the person for the startling truth they are about to receive.
Literature, one of the best vehicles for discovering truth, supports the idea of the wisdom of revealing the truth in small doses. We see the terrible effects, for instance, when Oedipus suddenly realizes the truth that he has married his mother and killed his father—he blinds himself in anguish, while his wife/mother commits suicide. A more gradual approach might have averted these tragedies.
Poet Emily Dickinson expresses the idea of gradual approach to truth when she says, "Tell the truth but tell it slant." Too much truth all at once is too blinding. The idea of a sudden truth as blinding (disabling) hits its fullest expression in the Apostle Paul, who was so stunned by the appearance of the Holy Spirit telling him to support the Christians that he temporarily went blind—this (to him) truth so upended his world that he was temporarily disabled.
Stephen Benet expresses this idea directly in his short story "The Waters of Babylon." The village priest's son John comes home with the information that what his people think of as gods are simply humans who destroyed themselves. His father tells him not to simply blast out this truth, because it will be overwhelming and destructive to the people if not revealed gradually.
Even Galileo's best friends, highly educated people, were stunned and disbelieving when he insisted the earth travelled around the sun and not vice versa, as the evidence of the senses seems to show the sun revolving around the earth. It took a long time for Galileo's truth to stick. This seems to be the way it goes, so gradual revelation is best to get people used to new ideas.

This question is central to many ethical and philosophical debates. The idea of truth is sometimes confusing, but an understanding of the implications for the people who know the truth will help in decision-making about whether or not it should be disseminated.
Knowing the full truth about something will allow an individual to go into a situation prepared and knowledgeable about what they're facing. This can help them better assess and address whatever they encounter, be it a military conflict or a relationship. However, truth can be hurtful at times or, in the case of governmental action, can lead to information getting where you don't want it to be.
What is your intent with the information? Do you wish to arm someone so they can prepare themselves for whatever befalls them, or do you wish to protect them so their feelings aren't hurt? If you wish the former, then tell them the truth; if you wish the latter, then let it out slowly.
In my personal opinion, knowledge is always useful, and it is better to be prepared for every possible scenario than to protect your feelings, because what you don't know can, in fact, hurt you. So, truth should be shared.

The nature of truth is one of the most fundamental concepts considered in philosophy. For some theorists, defining "truth" is intrinsically connected to defining "facts." For others, "truth" is presented wholly through "revelation." Distinctions between scientific and religious world-views shape different understandings of the concept of truth.
In the last century, theorists in many disciplines have increasingly struggled to find ways to reconcile the different positions. Among the Christian philosophers, Paul Tillich developed the "method of correlation.” For him, theology is a dialogue relating the questions for which we seek answers through reason to the faith-based knowledge from revelatory experience.
Regarding the recommendation part of your question ("should truth ...?") the answer may be personal, especially if it is faith-based, or primarily intellectual, if it is asking you to identify different philosophical theories of truth.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Tillich

https://www.britannica.com/topic/truth-philosophy-and-logic

Could bad weather defer the pilgrims' journey?

Yes it could, most definitely. Roads in Medieval Europe were absolutely appalling, significantly worse that those built by the Romans. Journeys that would nowadays take a matter of hours could take weeks. As the roads were in such dreadful condition to begin with, bad weather could make them even worse. All it would take was a sudden shower of rain for horses, oxcarts, and carriages to end up stuck in the mud, thus delaying their journeys.
Although the pilgrimage to Canterbury in the Tales takes place in April, during the first burst of spring, the ever-changeable English weather means that a torrential downpour is never far away. All the pilgrims are riding on horseback and so they don't have much protection from the elements. Inevitably, bad weather would mean delays; not just because of the shocking road conditions, but because upper-class pilgrims like the Prioress would feel it beneath their dignity to plow on with the journey, all drenched and bedraggled. Instead, they'd probably rock up at the nearest inn or hostelry—such as the one from where the pilgrims set out, The Tabard—and wait until the weather improved.
This would add considerable time to the journey, but the likes of the Prioress look upon religious pilgrimages primarily as an opportunity to see and be seen, to show off their wealth and social status. So far better to arrive late and in style than get there as soon as possible, but looking for all the world like a drowned rat.

"Look on my works ye mighty and despair." What does this line mean?

"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Basically, this line has two meanings. The literal meaning is "Look at all my great accomplishments, and envy me, because even if you think of yourself as mighty, you’ll never be as great as I am!" The subtle, ironic meaning is: "Look at how all of my great accomplishments have crumbled away into nothingness, and feel sad and hopeless, because even if you’re mighty, the same thing will happen to you after you’ve died!"
The line we’re talking about appears in the poem "Ozymandias," specifically near the end, at the climax (the most exciting part).
Let’s recall what’s going on in that poem. The speaker of the poem reports a story he heard from a "traveller" (line 1). This "traveller" remembers what he saw while visiting a desert in "an antique land" (line 1). It’s the broken and "shattered" (line 4) statue of some king named Ozymandias. The statue’s pedestal bears an inscription, which we read in lines 10–11:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
The inscription is telling everyone to look at his "works," whatever they are—maybe glorious buildings, or maybe more statues. But here’s the twist. There’s nothing to look at. There are no "works" in sight, just the "boundless and bare" sands of the desert (line 13). Even the statue itself is a decaying "wreck" (line 13).
As you can see, the words the king says in line 11 are ambiguous: that is, we can interpret them in two different ways, both of which are valid. The poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, most likely rendered this line ambiguous on purpose. It makes the poem intriguing. It makes the reader think, "Wait—I’m sure the great king, the one who called himself 'king of kings' (line 10) just meant to boast and brag when he talked about his works, and he made sure that the sculptor carved those boastful words into his statue…but now, so much time has gone by that his words have a completely different meaning. A meaning that the king didn’t intend at all! That's ironic."
Even more than ironic, line 11 is chilling. It suggests to readers that, after our inevitable deaths, and after the inevitable passage of time, not only will our accomplishments fade away into oblivion, but even the meaning of our words can warp. We die. Our "works" die. Even our words die. The poem, chiefly through line 11, implies that this bitter truth applies to even the mighty, even a king, even a "king of kings."
https://poets.org/poem/ozymandias

Why do you think the Annie Dillard arranged "Living Like Weasels" in this particular order?

"Living like Weasels" is an excerpt from Dillard's book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. As a stand-alone piece, it functions as a familiar essay. A familiar essay is an essay that combines both factual, researched information with personal anecdotes and reflection.
Most of the essay is personal anecdote and reflection revolving around Dillard's mystical encounter with a weasel. However, she opens the piece with factual information and stories about weasels. These facts and anecdotes impress on the reader's mind the fierceness and relentless determination of the weasel. By offering us this information first, Dillard sets us up to understand why she is so moved by her encounter with this particular animal.
The essay is carefully structured into two parts: the first, short part of facts about weasels and the second longer and much more personal part about her meeting with one. A pivot sentence divides the two parts of the essay:

I have been thinking about weasels because I saw one last week. I startled a weasel who startled me, and we exchanged a long glance.

The story is carefully structured to maximize the impact of Dillard's communion with a weasel.

Nowadays, many consumers travel abroad regularly, and the world is flatter than before. Critically discuss the notion of global consumer culture and its influence on consumer behavior using academic research and examples.

This world is interconnected in ways that had never been possible decades ago. There are individuals traveling between hemispheres on a daily basis, and, additionally, many companies are spreading manufacturing and service functions throughout a myriad of different countries with different cultures.
Because of this, consumption trends have changed drastically—the same products are available in different countries for wildly different prices, and it is possible to purchase and send them across time zones with ease. Because of this, many companies are not able to get higher prices simply due to name recognition alone—if a company in China is offering a comparable product for half the price, people will flock to it because it is now readily available.
In addition to this, people who are traveling are engaging in different cultural trends much more frequently. With greater exposure, these trends are traveling back and forth, making foreign countries more Westernized and vice versa. A cultural melange is developing wherein every country is absorbing different aspects of other cultures.
In less wealthy countries, many travelers typically expect luxuries that are common to them in Westernized countries. Because of this, luxuries are either becoming more common throughout other countries, or high-traffic areas are developing into compounds that cater to Western travelers to offer those high-end benefits that are expected.

What powerful idea should all students encounter in the concept of positive reinforcement?

Positive reinforcement (the addition of praise and reward as a reinforcer and motivator) acknowledges that people, and non-human animals alike, can much more affectively learn and develop strong neural pathways and connections through praise and support rather than applying positive punishment (the addition of punishment as the reinforcer or motivator) or negative reinforcement (the removal of a stressor, pressure, or pain as the reinforcer or motivator). Students who are studying positive reinforcement may look at the positive reinforcement training style of dogs as an example of the long-lasting effectiveness of positive reinforcement training. When a trainer uses positive reinforcement to train a dog, she will use praise, play, toys, and/or food as motivators and rewards for desired behaviors. Through this training, the dog typically is excited to participate in learning and training, and he will often choose to interact with the trainer and training exercise in order to receive the reward. The dog will often show a strong desire to understand what he is being asked to do. Positive reinforcement creates positive associations. This is incredibly important for reframing the way a dog feels about something. For instance, if a dog is fearful of other dogs, using positive reinforcement training can lead to the dog creating new neural pathways and positive associations when he sees another dog. Positive reinforcement-based teaching/training can be just as easily and effectively applied to humans.

Was the civil war inevitable? How might compromises have forestalled the division between the North and the South? Were economic or political issues at the heart of the conflict?

Usually major historical events are the result of cumulative changes occurring over a long period of time. I don't believe that anything in history has been absolutely inevitable if one goes back to an early enough point before such an accumulation of things has had a chance to start, and then theorizes that if such and such very first things had somehow not happened, then the following chain of events that ultimately led to war would not have occurred either. The only way one can judge historical processes to have been absolutely inevitable is to say, alternatively, that mankind's actions are foreordained, by God or destiny or some unknown mystical force, and that man is therefore not free to choose his own actions, but rather, fated to do only what such a force intends him to do.
With the US Civil War one has to go to a very early starting point and choose an event or series of events that might not have occurred, such as, for example, the invention of the cotton gin. It's common wisdom that the increased speed this enabled in the processing of cotton led to the "need" for more enslaved people to harvest the cotton. Without such a need, it's conceivable that the Southern states could have passed gradual abolition laws as the Northern states did. This is possible, but unlikely in my view. Or, if the ordinance proposing the non-extension of slavery to the southwest territories had been approved, as the Northwest Ordinance was, then slavery could not have been extended as it was to the southern territories not yet organized into states at the time of independence. The much smaller geographic area in which slavery was practiced would then have resulted in a relatively disempowered South, which consequently might not have had the confidence to mount a secession effort leading to war, as actually happened in 1860–61.
One can arrive at additional hypothetical scenarios. However, in the absence of such things actually occurring, it is significant that one compromise after another was tried that only had the effect of delaying rather than preventing the "inevitable." Historians have talked and written ad infinitum about supposedly causative economic and political issues independent of slavery, but none of these were significant enough on their own to precipitate war. Sometimes in history the simplest and most obvious explanation is the correct one. The only major factor at the center of the unresolvable conflict was, in fact, the most obvious one: slavery, and this was the cause of the war.

Compare and contrast the eastern and western theaters of the war up through 1862. How did the military campaigns differ? What were the major battles and turning points of each?

Although the eastern theater generally receives more attention as it was closer to the coastal urban centers of commerce and government, as well as the scene of many large and bloody battles, the western theater may have been more important in the ultimate victory of the Union over the Confederacy. The battle of Bull Run established the pattern in the eastern theater of very costly Southern victories that never translated into a decisive military advantage.
In contrast to the eastern stalemate, the North was able to triumph consistently in the western theater of the Mississippi River Valley by first breaking through the Confederate line in Tennessee and occupying the western part of the state. The now strengthened U.S. Navy under Secretary Gideon Welles sailed into the mouth of the Mississippi and captured New Orleans, Louisiana. After the port city of Memphis was secured, Union troops advanced deep into the heart of the South overcoming all resistance until the battle of Shiloh where both sides took high losses. In addition to the river, General Grant was able to leverage the railroads to move troops and supplies to their advantage and the South was never able to regain the initiative.
In the eastern campaign the Union's drive to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, VA was as bloody as it was unsuccessful and the North's troops were driven back. General Lee triumphed again at the Second Battle of Bull Run and advanced into Maryland. Lee had split his army and was greatly outnumbered but the ever hesitant General McClelland failed to press his advantage and take this opportunity to crush Lee's army. The ensuing battle of Antietam was a costly draw that allowed Lee to successfully retreat back across the Potomac with his army intact when McClelland might have crushed Lee army then and there. Lincoln fired him. Antietam did, however, permanently delay Great Britain's recognition of the Confederacy and hoped-for aid from Europe. By late 1862 the naval blockade of Southern cotton exports and the Confederacy's imports of necessary war supplies had begun to tighten.

What does the Albatross symbolize in the poem of Rime of Ancient Mariner?

The albatross is symbolic of a few things. As a living bird, the albatross is symbolic of innocence, goodness, God's creation, and even God's love and salvation. In stanza 16 of part 1, the sailors and readers are introduced to the albatross.

At length did cross an albatross,Thorough the fog it came;As if it had been a Christian soul,We hailed it in God's name.

Notice how they hail it as a sign from God. Additionally, it is a good sign because the bird is shown as similar to a Christian soul. That would be something positive and eternal. The bird is beautiful and the sailors see it as a sign of God watching over them. Unfortunately, the Mariner shoots and kills the bird. The dead albatross is then symbolic of sin and bad luck. Many of the hardships that the sailors endure from this point forward are blamed on the Mariner's actions of killing a good creature of God's creation. Coleridge is fairly overt with comparing the killing of the albatross with the crucifixion of Christ. The final stanza of part 2 shows the albatross hanging from the Mariner's neck instead of the cross.

Instead of the cross, the albatrossAbout my neck was hung.

It isn't until the mariner finally learns to pray that the albatross falls into the ocean and the curse is finally broken, and that is another reminder of how the albatross is symbolically pointing toward faith and God.

Discuss how the character trait of determination in Jerry in "Through the Tunnel" advances the plot of the short story.

The character of Jerry and his decision to swim through the tunnel so he can join the older boys is at the center of Doris Lessing’s story. The plot is resolved when Jerry succeeds and then realizes that being with the other boys no longer matters to him, and he also brags to his mother about how long he can stay submerged. Determination is necessary for him both to complete the swim and to have this epiphany.
Most importantly, the author shows Jerry developing a daily regimen of practice to improve his swimming. Jerry recognizes that breath control is the key factor, as he must hold his breath underwater—he had already counted how many seconds the boys were out of sight before resurfacing. He practices for several days in a different location and perseveres despite getting nosebleeds. He decides to continue the training and to make the effort, which requires him to get past his fear of drowning.

Where did slavery have the greatest impact in the mid-Atlantic and New England?

While the southern colonies typically get most of the focus during discussions of slavery, every colony had slaves during the beginning of the United States’s history. In the mid-Atlantic, Pennsylvania benefited the most from slavery. While the colony of Pennsylvania was more progressive in terms of its treatment of slaves and enslaved people's potential to gain freedom, it was far and away one of the most agricultural mid-Atlantic colonies. Because of this, it relied on slave labor heavily for its economy.
In the New England territories further north, agricultural was less common, due to the poor quality of the soil, the colder climate, and the smaller land area. However, Massachusetts, being larger than the other northern colonies, was known for its agriculture. Because of this, it utilized slave labor. All of the colonies were impacted by slavery and used slaves to a great extent. However, these two were impacted more than the others in those sections of colonies.

How does the Iliad exemplify the ancient definition of tragedy?

One of the most poignant aspects of Homer's Iliad is his development of the ancient definition of tragedy. Homer is able to display characters who are poised between equally desirable, but ultimately incompatible courses of action. Placed in such brutally agonizing conditions, human beings find little salvation. There is no external reality that can alleviate the agonizing condition of choice, a condition that Homer seems to suggest is intrinsic to being human. Homer develops a notion of tragedy that challenges our initial understanding. We would normally see tragedy as a reality where something "good" is met with something "bad." However, the characterizations offered in the Iliad suggest that a truly tragic condition exist when there is a collision between two goods.


Hector embodies this state of being. His entire existence is poised between mutually exclusive realities. The loyalty he holds to Paris, while disagreeing with his brother's immature choice, the collision between having to fight for Troy and remain with his family, the love he has for the honor of Troy and the regard he has for the soldiers who must lay down their lives for it, and the crash between desire and duty are all integral aspects of his characterization. His final confrontation with Achilles is one where the desire to flee and the need to stay and accept the inevitable reflects this tortured condition. Hector lives a life that is constantly posited between two good, the location of tragedy. At the same time, Achilles faces a similar predicament in his involvement in the war. He understands the desire for immortality is mutually exclusive with living a life of contentment and happiness. The reconciliation with Priam is an instant where sanctuary can be taken from the inevitable condition of his own death as a result of his participation in the Trojan War.


Homer depicts the life dedicated to honor as one that is rooted in a tragic collision between two notions of the good. This is the ultimate legacy of the Classical tradition, a reality that Homer describes in a beautiful acknowledgement of what it means to be a human being.

Explain the social realism in Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's "The Revolt of 'Mother'" and discuss how her characterization of Sarah Penn represents a response to the broader social situation depicted in the story's plot.

The broader social issue depicted in the story is the powerlessness of women in a patriarchal, rural society. Sarah Penn is a strong woman who works very hard and is an excellent housewife. However, her house is shabby, and she can't get her husband, Adoniram, who controls the purse strings, to build her a new house. Instead, he builds another bigger-and-better barn.
Social realism comes to play in the way Sarah approaches Adoniram about the house; she is not demanding but is depicted rather as a good Christian woman who asks for very little (who wouldn't bother him about a house if it weren't imperative). She has Adoniram look at her daughter, Nanny's, tiny bedroom and asks if there is not something that can be done. She tries very hard to frame her request as a request, not a demand, and to place it within the context of the reward owed to a dutiful, submissive, God-fearing wife.
When that doesn't work, she acts a trickster, another realistic move for a person in a subaltern position. People without power often have to think creatively and resort to stratagems to get their needs met. (A good example would be Br'er Rabbit, who used trickery to get free.) In Sarah's case, she takes advantage of her husband's absence to turn the new barn into a house. Her neighbors accuse her of being "lawless and rebellious," but her scheme finally convinces her husband that she needs a better place to live.
Freeman is realistic in showing that Sarah is not treated as an equal by her husband and forced to use her wits to thrive. Social realism also shines through the rural dialect the characters use. For example, at the end of the story, Adoniram says to Sarah:

I hadn't no idee you was so set on't as all this comes to.

The Penn household is clearly very traditional in the sense that the husband handles affairs outside the house and the wife handles the affairs inside. When Sarah continues to ask her husband why he has men digging out in the field, Adoniram tells her, "'I wish you'd go into the house, mother, an' 'tend, to your own affairs.'" However, her apparent "meekness" appears to have "been the result of her own will, never of the will of another." When Adoniram knows that his wife will be upset with his answers to her questions regarding the new barn he's planning to build rather than a new house for her, he stops answering them.
We see Sarah continuing to engage in typical wifely duties: cooking, cleaning, washing dishes, and so on. She even defends her husband's choices when their daughter begins to criticize them:

However deep a resentment she might be forced to hold against her husband, she would never fail in sedulous attention to his wants.

All of these descriptions fall into the category of social realism. There is no romanticizing of the marriage, and Sarah certainly doesn't present their marriage as one that has been full of big gestures on Adoniram's part.
However, she believes it is God's "providence" that her brother wrote to Adoniram, calling him away from home just as this moment, and she takes full advantage of this "'Unsolicited opportunit[y]'" presented by "'the Lord.'" The narrator credits Sarah Penn for her "genius and audacity of bravery" in moving all her household goods to the new barn while Adoniram is away. As she tells the minister, she believes what she's doing is right, and this gives her the strength needed to "revolt" against her husband and the patriarchal society he stands for.

"The Revolt of 'Mother'" depicts the socioeconomic conditions of rural New England and is realistic in its description of a lower-class farmer's life. The short story is reminiscent of John Steinbeck's work depicting Depression-era California. Besides the vivid description of economic hardships in rural America, the story also illustrates the hardships that women faced in a patriarchal culture.
The husband is essentially the antagonist of the story. His character represents authoritarianism, patriarchal traditions in American culture, and domestic issues seen in many households throughout the country. Sarah Penn, the wife, is initially characterized as a submissive and obedient spouse. However, her husband's extremely stubborn ways and the dangerous economic situation they are in forces her to "rebel."
In essence, she not only represents feminist theories about contemporary gender roles in America, she also personifies political and cultural revolutions. Even the title of the story has the world "revolt" in it, which is a hint that Sarah symbolizes direct-action insurrection in a revolutionary movement, and her husband symbolizes totalitarianism or monarchism.

Express Helen's feelings that she had while writing a diary.

In chapter 2 of her memoir, called "Personality," Keller writes in her diary in 1894 while attending the Wright-Humason School that she wants to learn four things: to think clearly, love sincerely, act with the highest motives, and trust God. As she puts it:

I find that I have four things to learn in my school life here, and indeed, in life—to think clearly without hurry or confusion, to love everybody sincerely, to act in everything with the highest motives, and to trust in dear God unhesitatingly.

Earlier, in 1888, Miss Sullivan had encouraged Helen to keep a diary. Helen did so, and in it she recorded a feeling of love towards blind children she had met.
Perhaps the most important diary entry comes in the year 1892. In this entry, Helen records being troubled, saddened, and grieved that she had, without meaning to, plagiarized a short story she thought was her original composition. She cries and doesn't know what to think about having made such a mistake. She didn't think people could make such mistakes. She writes:

My heart was full of tears, for I love the beautiful truth with my whole heart and mind.

All three of these diary accounts show a girl aspiring to goodness and trying to be loving, sincere, and kind to others. She doesn't use her diary, at least not in these instances, to record angry or negative feelings but to record her best intentions and her sorrow when these fall short.

Where is courage displayed in To Kill a Mockingbird?

There is a tremendous amount of courage displayed in almost every character in the middle of the book. There is a scene in which Aticus goes to sit at the jail cell of the man he is defending to protect him against an angry mob he is sure will show up. He is only one man but he had the courage to go out and do his best to protect this man because he knew nobody else would. The kids also had a lot of courage within this scene as well, they knew it would probably be dangerous to follow their dad to town but they had the courage to go down and protect him and they ultimately ended up saving him by basically telling the angry group of guys off.

There are dozens of examples of courage in To Kill a Mockingbird. One of the most important would be Atticus Finch's agreeing to represent Tom Robinson in court. Tom has been charged with the rape and assault of Mayella Ewell, and although he's completely innocent of all charges, just about everyone in Maycomb thinks he's guilty, simply because he's black. Atticus knows that Tom doesn't stand a chance of getting a fair trial; he also knows that he's going to become pretty unpopular in town for taking on such a controversial case. But he believes that Tom deserves the best legal defense he can possibly give him, and Atticus is determined to ensure that he gets it. By choosing to do what's right, even if it'll make life harder for him, Atticus is showing immense courage in the face of prejudice and intolerance.

Can anyone give me a brief summary of "The Worship of the Wealthy" by G.K. Chesterton?

In "The Worship of the Wealthy," Chesterton criticizes the way very wealthy people are written about in the popular press. He begins the essay by contrasting the way wealthy and powerful people were written about in the past to the way they are presented in Chesterton's time. In the past, he says, writers knew the wealthy were ordinary. As a result they simply went straight for over-the-top, vastly exaggerated praise. They might, for example, compare a king to a sun at noonday or say with his single sword he had conquered the world. The "safety" of this was that it was so artificial it bore no relation to the real person.
Chesterton says, in contrast, that the way we praise the wealthy now is much more "poisonous." This happens in several ways. First, ordinary traits or hobbies, such as hating doctors or liking cats, are treated as if they are extraordinary. Because a person is wealthy, boring and mundane things about the rich man are treated as if they are stunning and special.
Second, even if the person is stupid, he will be treated as if he were intelligent, his very dull and ordinary thought framed as if he had read and rejected sophisticated philosophy.
Third, his lavish way of life will be treated as if it is "modest" and "simple" and "quiet." This is especially annoying when the funerals of the rich are described as modest and simple, when they include lavish flowers, for example, and are attended by all the most important people. Chesterton mocks this, asking: are they simple because there was no human sacrifice on the grave?
In sum, Chesterton argues that if we are going to lie about the rich, we should do it in the old-fashioned way by out-and-out exaggeration, not by pretending their ordinary traits are extraordinary or by declaring their lavish lifestyles are modest and simple.

How does Medea inform contemporary psychology?

The ancient Greek tragedy Medea by Euripides would not be of much interest to modern readers were it not for the fact that it dramatizes a conflict which has existed throughout history and is readily observable today, although abandoned wives are less likely to murder their children than they are to hate and reject them. Just as Sigmund Freud named the Oedipus Complex after the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, because Freud believed that every man has a unconscious wish to kill his father and marry his mother, so the play Medea has given its name to what psychiatrists call the Medea Complex. This psychological complex is defined in Segen’s Medical Dictionary as follows:
MEDEA COMPLEX Murderous hatred by a mother for her child(ren), driven by the desire for revenge on her husband; it is a reference to Medea of Greek mythology, who kills her children.
It is easy enough to understand how a change from love to hatred could come about. We can imagine the feelings of a woman who has been abandoned by her husband. She is left to raise his children by herself. They are not only a burden to her financially, but they make it extremely difficult for her to marry again. Few men are willing to take on an entire family and raise another man’s children. If the children happen to be boys, as they were in Euripides' tragedy, they can remind their mother of the unfaithful husband she has come to hate, and the hatred she feels for him may be transferred to them.
Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd,
Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd.
William Congreve, 1697
A perfect modern example of the Medea Complex to be found in modern literature is D. H. Lawrence’s story “The Rocking Horse Winner.” The story opens with the following brilliant description of a mother’s thoughts and feelings:
There was a woman who was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck. She married for love, and the love turned to dust. She had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them. They looked at her coldly, as if they were finding fault with her. And hurriedly she felt she must cover up some fault in herself. Yet what it was that she must cover up she never knew. Nevertheless, when her children were present, she always felt the centre of her heart go hard. This troubled her, and in her manner she was all the more gentle and anxious for her children, as if she loved them very much. Only she herself knew that at the centre of her heart was a hard little place that could not feel love, no, not for anybody. Everybody else said of her: “She is such a good mother. She adores her children.” Only she herself, and her children themselves, knew it was not so. They read it in each other’s eyes.
No matter how hard Paul tries to win back his mother’s love, the boy is unable to succeed. He miraculously and magically accumulates a fortune in order to buy her love and ends up killing himself in the attempt. The story closes with the following pathetic exchange between Paul and his mother.
“I never told you, mother, that if I can ride my horse, and get there, then I’m absolutely sure—oh, absolutely! Mother, did I ever tell you? I am lucky!
“No, you never did,” said the mother.
But the boy died in the night.

What were the goals and outcome of the American revolution, and would you say it was a radical or conservative event?

Some, such as historian Howard Zinn, would argue, as he does in his A People's History of the United States, that the American evolution was a conservation enterprise spearheaded by wealthy white males who wanted to increase their own money and power now that they had no use of Great Britain. (This would be after Britain had won the French and Indian War, which rid the colonists of immediate external threats.) The revolution also didn't address the issue of slavery for all its talk of freedom and equality.
All of the above may be true, but in thinking about the revolution within the context of the eighteenth century, I would argue it was a highly radical event. The revolutionaries, though they came from the upper classes, envisioned a fundamentally, at the root (ie radically), a different kind of government than those found in Europe. The idea of a republic, in which people elect a government from the ground up, though ordinary to us, was a radical concept at the time. It flew in the face of the long-lasting conservative idea that government was top down and enshrined in a divine chain of being; traditional thinking held that God appointed a king, and power then radiated through the aristocracy, while the common people were meant to be obedient to those "above" them with little say in their governance. The Founding Fathers rejected this (at least for white males).
George Washington refused to be made a king, and the U.S. Constitution forbids royal or aristocratic hereditary titles, such as duke or earl. The Founding Fathers were serious about implementing a new vision of government that was more democratic and inclusive than what Europe had attempted, one that they understood was a daring experiment that could fail and needed to be handled with care and integrity. We can only hope, some 250 years later, that we maintain that vision.

Who is "next in power and next in crime?" in Paradise Lost?

That would be Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies himself. Although Beelzebub is often a name given to the Devil, in Paradise Lost he's actually Satan's second in command. That's what Milton means by "next in power." Beelzebub's also "next in crime" in that his crimes, though not as great as Satan's, are still pretty great all the same. (That's great as in "huge," rather than great as in "wonderful.")
During the famous debate among the fallen angels in Pandemonium, the wicked Beelzebub gives a powerful speech in which he argues for a new strategy in getting back at God. Instead of launching another direct assault on Heaven, the fallen angels should turn their attention towards corrupting Man, God's proudest creation. Either the forces of darkness can lay waste to God's earthly kingdom, or even better, seduce humankind into joining them in their struggle against the Almighty. It is the latter course of action that Satan will pursue when he makes his way to the Garden of Eden and corrupts Adam and Eve by persuading them to eat from the Tree of Knowledge.

How did American politics and industry affect working Americans during the Gilded Age?

The Gilded Age brought many changes to the American worker, and the American workforce. The impact of the Gilded Age could be seen across the country. From the decline of small businesses to rapid urbanization, the United States would be altered following the Gilded Age.
With the growth of industry and big business, many Americans who owned small businesses based around a learned trade were forced out of business. They were simply unable to compete with the mass production and low costs of production associated with big business. Many of these skilled workers even found themselves employed by the big businesses that they couldn't compete with.
The Gilded Age also saw a change in the nature of the American workforce in terms of a shift from agriculture to industry. In the years leading up to the Gilded Age, a number of agriculture and infrastructure improvements occurred. With greater availability of the steel plow and the mechanical reaper, it became possible for farmers to farm greater amounts of land. This, combined with a growing railway network, led to larger-scale farming and farming in areas where it had not previously been as prevalent. This led to an overproduction of agricultural goods and a drop in the price of these goods (increased supply without increased demand). The result was that many small farmers found that agriculture was no longer an economically viable option. Many of these small farmers left agriculture behind and instead chose to seek better opportunities working in factories in cities. This led to rapid urbanization and the development of problems within cities. Problems developed because available housing and city infrastructure couldn't keep up with the pace of urbanization.
Another impact of industry during the Gilded Age was a change in economic status of American workers. The Gilded Age marked the beginning of a growing working class, as the number of people working in factories increased. Mass production of goods such as clothing led to reduced prices and the ability of those in the working class to be able to afford more. This can be considered by some to be an increase in the standard of living, at least in terms of material value, for Gilded Age American workers.
Politically, working Americans did not have much support during the Gilded Age. There were few restrictions placed on owners of big businesses, and many big business leaders had significant influence in various levels of government. This meant that many American factory workers faced unsafe conditions, worked extremely long hours, and had low wages. Additionally, child labor was also extremely common. It wouldn't be until the Progressive Era at the end of the 1800s and early 1900s that change would be made in an attempt to control the practices of big business.
While working Americans didn't have great amounts of support from politicians of the Gilded Age, they did make efforts to improve their own situation. It was during the Gilded Age that there was growth in both labor union membership and the number of labor unions across the country. They organized to demand safer working conditions, fewer working hours, and better pay.
The effects of the Gilded Age were felt across the United States. Whether we are looking at an agricultural worker, a factory worker, or someone with a specific skill or trade, the effects of growing industry in the Gilded Age were felt. The Gilded Age marked a change in the American social and economic landscape, and the development of a very different America.

What is a summary of Jump at the Sun: Zora Neale Hurston's Cosmic Comedy?

Jump at the Sun: Zora Neale Hurston’s Cosmic Comedy is John Lowe’s scholarly analysis of Hurston’s work that focuses on its comedic aspects. Lowe argues that the elements of humor that Hurston uses to deal with serious subjects have contributed to her work’s long-lasting success. Realizing the important place of humor in navigating the difficult circumstances of African American life, Hurston both incorporated comedy into her writings and wrote about its role in African-American society. The “cosmic” aspect of Lowe’s title refers to the religious traditions from which Hurston drew, showing African influences on African-American belief systems.
In the book’s chapters, following an introduction that traces the path of developing her comic voice, Lowe analyzes some of Hurston’s key works, concentrating on Jonah’s Gourd Vine; Their Eyes Were Watching God; Moses, Man of the Mountain; and Seraph on the Suwanee.
https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/75nnm7mx9780252066375.html

How did World War II affect the relationship between the Rohingya and the Buddhist population of Myanmar?

From the early 19th century through 1942, contemporary Myanmar, known as Burma, was under British colonial control as part of British India. Buddhism was the religion of the majority. The Rohingya Muslim minority was concentrated in a few areas, especially Arakan in the west, which had previously been an independent kingdom.
In 1942, the Japanese conquered Burma and other areas of Southeast Asia. The wartime tensions exacerbated conflicts between Buddhists and Muslims. Rohingya fighters supported the British in retaking the territory from the Japanese in 1945. Many believed that they would achieve an autonomous Muslim state or that Arakan would join the new Muslim-dominant state of Pakistan when India became independent. (East Pakistan later became Bangladesh.)
In the late 1940s–1950s, active Rohingya resistance continued, and was increasingly quashed by government forces.
https://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2016/12/23/timeline-a-short-history-of-myanmars-rohingya-minority/

Why does Shakespeare choose to write about a (metaphorical) journey at sea? Think about the time Shakespeare lived in (the era was filled with great sea adventures), and how difficult sea travel was then.

In Sonnet 116, the poet is writing about constancy. He is making metaphorical comparisons between true love, which joins both hearts and minds, and other things that are immutable—fixed and unchanging. The stars in the heavens are fixed in that way.
The ship's voyage metaphor is established with "bark," which is a largely archaic English word derived from the French "barque" (a sailing vessel). Love is also a metaphorical voyage. It depends on guidance from the heavens, or God. Just as the stars guide navigators, keeping them from being "shaken" in "tempests," or storms, so is love like a celestial beacon, keeping the lovers on a steady course. The compass likewise aids in navigation and is a common metaphor for a human perspective or orientation (as in a "moral compass" that keeps people doing the right thing). Here, it also means "scope" or "extent."
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45106/sonnet-116-let-me-not-to-the-marriage-of-true-minds

What's the theme and tone of the poem "pity this busy monster, manunkind"?

"Pity this busy monster, manunkind" is a poem written as a warning against excessive human pride and in defense of the natural world. It is written in a playful, slightly sarcastic tone.
In the poem the speaker says that "A world of made / is not a world of born," meaning that a world full of science and technology, of "electrons" and "lenses," is not a natural world and not a world we should become too preoccupied with. The speaker also says that "Progress is a comfortable disease." The implication here is that scientific and technological progress may make our lives more comfortable, but ultimately it is a disease because it pulls us too far away from the natural world. The speaker describes this natural world as "a hell / of a good universe next door."
The playful, sarcastic tone of the poem is suggested by lines such as "pity poor flesh . . . but never this / fine specimen of hypermagical / ultraomnipotence." These hyperbolic descriptions of mankind as "hypermagical" and "ultraomnipotent" are playful, sarcastic allusions to the excessive pride of mankind, which stems from the aforementioned technological and scientific progress. The speaker wants to remind us that excessive pride is foolish.

Compare the use of symbols to express central themes in Lord of the Flies by William Golding and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Symbolism is defined as the use of concrete objects to represent abstract ideas. Both William Golding and Suzanne Collins use symbolism in these novels to illustrate thematic ideas.
In Lord of the Flies, Golding relies heavily on symbolism to communicate his message about civilization’s fragile existence. Piggy’s glasses represent technology and intelligence because the boys use them to create fire on the island. When Jack shatters Piggy’s glasses—first one lens, then the other—this shows his disregard for intelligence while simultaneously demonstrating that Jack still needs technology/intelligence to survive.
The conch shell that Ralph uses to call the first meeting represents law and order. Whoever holds the conch earns the right to speak, and as Jack’s disregard of rules develops, he begins to ignore this fundamental law the boys established. Piggy clings to the conch shell throughout the novel, which indicates his respect for law and order. When the conch is shattered near the end of the novel, this represents the complete annihilation of law and order, while demonstrating the fragile state of civilization in the first place.
Fire in the novel can represent both hope and destruction, depending on how it is used (consider the difference between the signal fire and setting the entire island on fire). The nature of the fire and what it means depends upon its uses in a particular character’s eyes. This shows that power can be used for either good or evil—it depends on who exercises that power.
In The Hunger Games, Collins uses symbolism to comment on totalitarian government and how people will always resist its rule. The most prominent symbol is the mockingjay. A failed experiment the Capitol conducted to spy on the outer districts, the mockingjay becomes a symbol for rebellion. This occurs because Katniss uses the mockingjay’s mimicking song to communicate with Rue, a young girl from another district that Katniss bonds with inside the arena. When Rue dies, Katniss is reminded of her because of the mockingjays. The four-note call that Katniss and Rue created to communicate becomes a kind of theme for the resistance against the Capitol later in the series.
Another symbol in the novel is fire. Katniss becomes known as "the girl on fire" thanks to Cinna’s innovative dress at the opening ceremony before the games begin. The outer display of fire represents Katniss’s inner drive and passion—to win, to help others, to save her family, to make a difference. Katniss’s inner fire is her determined spirit.
A final symbol is the name of Panem itself. Latin for “bread,” the name of the dystopian country is an allusion to the ancient Roman strategy for appeasing the masses. “Panem et circenses,” or bread and circuses, was the authoritarian state’s way of keeping the people happy even as they were controlled. As long as people are fed and entertained, they will tolerate other injustices. Collins, however, turns this phrase on its head, because the peace in Panem is fragile: people in the poorer districts do struggle for food, and while the Capitol is entertained via the gladiatorial Hunger Games, the event is detested in many of the outer districts. As a result, the seeds of resistance are easily sown from the beginning of the novel because Panem neglects its own namesake in order to maintain power.

In what ways does Gillian Clarke vividly convey the significance of her encounter with the bird in the poem "Heron at Port Talbot"?

In “Heron at Port Talbot,” by Gillian Clarke, the speaker has a “near collision” with a heron, an encounter that represents the clash between nature and industry but that also illustrates the bond between humans and animals. The speaker is a creature of the industrialized world, the world that intrudes upon nature and attempts to overpower it. The encounter with the heron makes the speaker aware of the fact that humans and animals share the same life force and are thus intimately connected. The speaker recognizes the bird’s strength and respects the bird’s power and vision. The speaker also recognizes that the power of nature surpasses anything humans can create.
To write an essay that discusses the significance of the encounter with the heron, I suggest focusing on the poet’s use of language and imagery. Pay particular attention to the words Clarke uses to link the heron’s experience with the speaker’s. The pronoun “we,” for example, suggests the commonality between human and animal, creatures that, in a superficial sense, belong to different worlds. The speaker also uses the words “flight” and “bank” to describe the movement of the speaker’s car as well as the heron. This, too, conveys the bond the speaker feels with the bird. It also shows that the speaker recognizes that they are sharing the experience because they are experiencing similar emotions.
The reference to the bird’s “living eye” and the reference to his “change of mind” convey the idea that the speaker sees beyond the superficial idea of an encounter with nature and recognizes something deeper. Look closely at the imagery of life and death within the poem. The speaker appears to link industry with dead machinery and nature with life and awareness. Thus, the encounter reveals a clash between worlds but also reveals the bond between human and animal. The speaker recognizes that as a symbol of the human, industrialized world, she (or he) intruded on the heron as much as the heron intruded on her. Both were “shocked" by the near encounter. Thus, the speaker recognizes the heron as a living creature with will—one who is just as aware of the life within the human as the human is aware of the life within the bird.

List the common elements of hotel law overseas in regard to duty to exercise "reasonable care" for the safety and security of guests.

Under common law, any hotel, inn, or other hospitality establishment has a duty to exercise "reasonable care" for the safety and security of its guests. This means that it does not have to guarantee the complete safety of their guests, but it does have to take reasonable precautions. If it doesn't, it is at risk of negligence, which is defined as “the omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided upon those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs, would do, or doing something a prudent and reasonable man would not do."
There are several elements that are listed which hotels are to abide by in order to ensure they are following "reasonable care." First of all, they must conduct regular inspections to look for potential hazards on the premises, even if they cannot be easily seen or recognized. If it is found out that a hotel knew about a hazard and didn't work to repair it or warn guests about it, they can be sued for negligence if injury or damage occurs. However, for injuries that are the guest's own fault and not the responsibility of the hotel, the person themselves will be held responsible for their own injury. The example used in the link below is as follows: a person who slips after using the shower reasonably would be responsible for their injury, but if the hotel had a plumbing problem that left water on the tile floor in the bathroom, and the guest slipped, this would be the hotel's responsibility.
Secondly, hotels have a responsibility to protect guests from other guests. So if, for example, a guest is drunk or behaving violently, the hotel has a responsibility to either ensure that the guest is transported back to their room safely, or contact the police. With regard to drunkenness, hotels serving alcohol do have a responsibility to not over-serve alcohol to people who are appearing drunk. While hotels may not be able to reasonably prevent violent guests, if it is shown that they did not take necessary steps to combat unruly behavior, the hotel can be found as negligent.
Finally, hotels do have a responsibility to protect their guests and employees from third parties, but the rules for this differ from state to state and country to country. For example, several hotels have been found at fault in the United States for not providing adequate locks on doors and windows.
https://opentextbc.ca/introtourism/chapter/chapter-11-risk-management-and-legal-liability/

https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/hotel-liability