What did Mayella do to Tom while he was standing on the chair?

During the trial, Tom Robinson testifies in court (Chapter 19) about what happened between him and Mayella in the Ewell house. She asked him to get up on the chair to help her by getting a box down from the top of a chiffarobe. As soon as he was standing on the chair, Tom continues, Maybella grabbed him around the legs—he says this twice—and frightened him badly by doing so. He then hopped down off the chair, overturning it, and ran out of the house.
The previous day, however, Mayella had testified first. She said Tom approached her from behind, cursed at her and talked "dirt," then put his hands around her neck and choked her. She did not mention Tom climbing up on the chair.

Why did Camp Green Lake always manage to find campers despite the appalling conditions?

The campers aren't there because they want to be; they're at Green Lake because they've been sent there as punishment. This isn't a holiday camp, it's a residential facility for boys who've been in trouble with the law. And as there are always plenty of boys getting into trouble of one sort or another, Green Lake can count on a steady stream of campers coming through its gates.
The conditions at Green Lake are appalling; but then, they're supposed to be. The idea is that if conditions are bad then they will act as a deterrent against any future law-breaking. But the very fact that so many boys keep coming through the gate would seem to suggest otherwise. Contrary to what the camp's sadistic administrators might think, there's no evidence that the kind of brutal regime on offer at Green Lake does anything to discourage delinquent boys from committing crime.

From what point of view was the story told?

"Two Kinds" by Amy Tan is told by Jing-mei, the narrator. The bulk of the story is told from a retrospective standpoint as she reflects on her late mother's desire for her to become a child prodigy. Jing-mei was not interested in becoming a prodigy on the piano and resisted her mother's efforts to make her take her lessons and practice schedule seriously, and it created long standing tension between the mother and daughter. A disastrous piano recital that was humiliating for both of them is the story's climax.
At the end of the story, Jing-mei is an adult who has buried her mother a few months prior, and she comes to resolve her feelings about her mother and the piano by having it reconditioned.

What/who do you think is Twain’s biggest satirical target? Examples?

It is arguable that Twain's most prominent target for satirical treatment in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is people who believe themselves to be acting ethically when they are decidedly not doing so.
An example of this occurs when Huck and Jim discuss stealing food from farms they pass. They talk about what Pap and the Widow Douglas have tried to teach Huck about thievery; ultimately, they feel better when they steal melons and a chicken rather than persimmons and crab apples. Huck is happy about this and feels he has made both an ethical decision and avoided eating two foods he dislikes.
Another example is when the two men in the canoe refuse to help Huck when Huck implies that his father has smallpox to keep the men away from the raft where Jim is hidden inside the wigwam. The men tell Huck to get to shore further on down the river, apparently not caring about the people that might be exposed there, because they fear for their own health. The men float a couple of twenty-dollar gold pieces over to Huck and feel good about their act of charity when all they have done is imperil others and assuage their own guilty consciences.

Why were labor unions created?

The purpose of labor unions was to protect workers. Prior to labor unions employers had all the power to set wages, hours and conditions. There was such a large amount of workers available and the positions were mostly for unskilled workers that the employees were easily replaced. If a worker complained or raised concerns; the employer could easily fire them and have someone new by the next day. Some employers even went to so far as to blacklist employees who they labeled “trouble makers”. This would make it hard for that individual to find another job.
Employers had no reason to shorten hours, raise wages, keep a safe work place or even provide meal breaks before labor unions. Once workers began to unionize and join together it forced employers to change their ways. No employer wanted to have to fire and rehire an entire factory or coal mine. It became more cost effective for the owners to deal with some of the concerns of the workers in order to keep their factory or business running.

Labor unions were created to help workers who dealt with problems such as low pay, long working hours, and poor working conditions. It was very difficult for an individual worker to bring about change in a given industry. There were too many workers available and looking for work, so if a worker individually tried to make changes, that worker would likely be fired, easily replaced, and possibly blacklisted. However, if all the workers united in an industry or within a business, they would have a better chance to change the poor conditions they faced. It would be much more difficult for a business owner to replace dozens or hundreds of workers who had united than to replace an individual worker. As a result, unions developed to try to bring about changes that would positively impact the workers they represented.

Labor unions serve as a balance to the inevitable concentration of power that occurs in a free market economy. In a free market economy prices are driven down by competition to a rate that produces nominal profit. For this reason it is crucial that companies always be growing, innovating, or cutting back overhead to add some edge to their profits.
Because the cost of labor is a significant source of overhead cost, an easy way for a company to attempt to increase their profits is to either remove unnecessary labor, or lower wages. Depending on the pool of available labor for a job as well as the market competition employers may find that the labor they require is unskilled to the effect that there is practically an unlimited pool of potential laborers (e.g. fast food customer service). In the event labor is this plentiful an employer will be incentivized to lower workers wages to the lowest point that it can to achieve it's profit goals.
Labor unions serve as a means for laborers to collectively bargain with their potential employers. By organizing in a union laborers can set the price of their labor together so that employees are not tempted to undercut one another for employment. The union is also used to negotiate for things like employees safety and privileges.

Labor unions were created to help working men and women get better wages and conditions. In the days before labor unions, life for the workers was often incredibly hard. They were expected to toil in unsanitary, dangerous conditions for very little pay. If they complained about their appalling treatment, they could easily be fired, as their bosses knew that there would be countless others who were poor, hungry, and desperate enough to take their place.
It was in the interests of the bosses to keep their workers in line and to treat them as individuals rather than as a collective unit. This made it easier to control the workers as, under the unregulated capitalist system, they tended to see each other as competitors rather than comrades. The guiding principle behind the establishment of labor unions was completely different: solidarity. The workers who formed the first labor unions understood the importance of organizing themselves: standing together as one allowed them to present their demands for better wages and conditions to employers and lawmakers alike. Forming themselves into labor unions made the workers more united and more powerful; they were now a force to be reckoned with in their dealings with employers.

What does Danforth desire in The Crucible?

In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Deputy Governor Danforth is the judge who presides over the "witch trials" along with Judge Hathorne. Danforth is an elderly gentleman, but has a masculine and authoritative appearance. He is a strict follower of the Puritan sect of Christianity, and applies biblical law on to the Massachusetts colony's own legal system.
However, Deputy Governor Danforth's austere exterior masks his inner-weaknesses, such as his gullibility. For instance, he believes Abigail's wild accusations. Whenever Abigail mentions a name, Judge Danforth automatically assumes the named are suspected witches. This gullibility is not due to Danforth's faith in Abigail's words, but is rooted in Danforth's religious beliefs. Danforth's devout interpretation of the Bible and his own Puritan beliefs tainted his objectivity as a judicial authority.
Additionally, Danforth has a tyrannical mindset in regards to his position as the Deputy Governor of the colony. His self-image and the importance his places on his reputation indirectly leads to the false executions of innocent girls and young women in the colony. Danforth has the desire to apply his own interpretation and practice of the law regardless of evidence regarding Elizabeth and John Proctor's innocence.

When and how was Plymouth Colony founded?

The Plymouth Colony was founded late in 1620, when the Mayflower arrived in Plymouth Harbor. The ship had been aiming for Jamestown, but ended up too far north. Because of a dangerously rocky coastline and bad weather, the colonists decided to stay put rather than try to head south.
The colony, though primarily associated in the American imagination with the Puritans (a group of Separatist religious dissenters who wanted to break away entirely from the Church of England), was actually a hybrid venture of Puritans and merchants. The Puritans sought religious freedom while at the same time wanting to maintain a distinctly English culture. The merchants who financed the journey, including Thomas Weston, saw the potential to make a large profit from establishing a colony in Virginia.
At that time, the Jamestown colony offered independent plantations to settlers. The Puritan new plantations (a plantation was a large tract of land and had nothing to do with slavery or what we would later think of as Southern plantations) would have existed under the general legal umbrella of Virginia, but would have been allowed to function largely independently and establish its own laws and governing bodies. When it became clear, however, that the group was nowhere near Jamestown and thus not under Virginia jurisdiction, the men on the ship established their own governing document, the Mayflower Compact.

What happens to Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre?

Bertha Mason, who is really Bertha Rochester (Mr. Rochester's legal wife), has gone insane and been locked up by her husband in the attic of the house. Although a number of strange things have happened during Jane's stay at Thornfield Hall, Bertha's existence is only confirmed for her when Bertha's brother interrupts her wedding to Mr. Rochester, preventing it from going forward with his (accurate) claim that Rochester already has a wife. Jane runs away from Thornfield and Mr. Rochester, eventually finding herself gravely ill near the home of the Rivers family, and they take care of her until she can stand on her own two feet again. She inherits some money from her uncle and returns to Thornfield, having mystically heard Mr. Rochester's voice calling out for her. It is then that she learns that Bertha died in a fire that she herself had set in the house (she already set fire to it once before, in Mr. Rochester's bedroom).

What doubts does Winnie have about the Tucks's story?

The Tucks tell Winnie that 87 years ago they arrived at the woods with the idea of building a farm and settling down. On their first night, just before they set up camp, they saw a spring and, being thirsty, they all drank from it. The father even carved a T in a nearby tree to mark the spot.
Not long after, they each survived a series of bad accidents unscathed. Jessie, for example, was unharmed when he fell head first from a tree. Ten years later, they realized that none of them had aged. The water from the spring had made them immortal.
In the the following chapter, the author states that, Winnie sees herself as a realist:

Winnie did not believe in fairytales. She had never longed for a magic wand, did not expect to marry a prince, and was scornful . . . of her grandmother's elves.

Yet she listens to the Tuck story open-mouthed, not knowing exactly what to think. One part of her thinks the story is too extraordinary to be true, and the other thinks that the Tucks are too genuinely excited about it for it to be a lie. In the end, she happily goes home with them.

Which countries could have colonized America? Why didn't they?

Other European nations did colonize North America. The other major colonial powers at the time were the Spanish, French, and the Dutch. Each of these countries had possessions in North America. The Spanish had colonies in Florida and Mexico (including parts of what is now the southwestern US). The French had several colonies around the Mississippi, including New Orleans. The Dutch held much of the land which later became the Middle Colonies. The English ended up taking the Dutch colonies, but the Spanish and French colonies lingered until after the founding of America. The US purchased France's colonial possessions in the Louisiana Purchase and took Florida from Spain by treaty in the 1820s. No war was fought. Florida had become a burden to a declining Spain and the territory was ceded to the US because Americans had settled in Florida in sufficient numbers to prevent policing by the Spanish. The Southwestern US was taken from Mexico during the Mexican-American War, after Mexico had gained its independence from Spain.

Animal Farm is founded on the idea that humans are evil. Are humans truly evil? Explain how the human characters contribute to the novel's overall theme and the issues that arise from interacting with them. Also explore how the animals’ characters come to compare with that of humans? What is it in human nature that makes humans evil or good?

The humans are not truly evil, at least in the way that Napoleon claims. Animal Farm is founded based on the idea that animals are intrinsically better than the evil humans, but the story shows us that this is not the case.
When Animal Farm is initially founded, Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer formulate a philosophy called Animalism, summarized by seven principles that the animals must adhere to. These principles are designed to make their behavior superior to that of the humans. As the plot unfolds, we see the pigs (especially Napoleon) begin to desire more power and privilege. They behave more and more like the humans as they disregard the seven principles. Eventually, the pigs have become so human-like in their behavior and dress that the other animals cannot tell a difference between the pigs and the humans.
The difference between the animal and the humans is not that animals are intrinsically better. It's the principles and behavior they choose to live by that makes the difference. With the pigs, we see that it is the desire for more power and privilege that leads them to make evil choices. This desire is what causes both human and animal characters to be evil.
Animalism is a communistic philosophy. One major theme of Animal Farm is to illustrate how Communism, even if it is well-intentioned, leads to greedy and evil men claiming power and privilege by oppressing others. This is clearly seen in the way the pigs become just like the humans in the story.

Humans are not truly evil. It is easier for Old Major, in encouraging the animals to dream of rebelling and taking over the farm for themselves, to paint humans as all evil. This sets up an "us against them" dichotomy, where the animals are cast as all good and the humans as wholly bad. While not true, it unifies the animals.
The chief human we learn details about is Farmer Jones. It appears he treated the animals decently until he fell into alcoholism. He is not truly evil, simply suffering from a disease (alcoholism) that causes him to neglect the animals.
Animal Farm challenges simple notions of one group being all good and another all evil. It shows that like humans, animals can be a mix of good and evil. The novel chiefly argues that it is too much power that corrupts both humans and animals. The pigs become like humans only because they have amassed too much power.

What does Poe mean when he speaks of the "descent of the soul into Hades" in "The Pit and the Pendulum"?

This phrase comes at the end of a very long sentence that reads as follows:

The thought came gently and stealthily, and it seemed long before it attained full appreciation; but just as my spirit came at length properly to feel and entertain it, the figures of the judges vanished, as if magically, from before me; the tall candles sank into nothingness; their flames went out utterly; the blackness of darkness supervened; all sensations appeared swallowed up in a mad rushing descent as of the soul into Hades.

The narrator, who is in a dreamlike state, has just been condemned to death. The death sentence throws him into a trancelike state, and he describes moving from a strong sense of horror to having a vision of the seven tall white candles before him becoming angels who will save him. Then the vision fades, and it occurs to him that death would be welcome as "sweet rest." Then he describes how the room turns black as he faints—right after he speaks of the "descent as of the soul into Hades," he explains that he swooned.
So, on a literal level, he is describing what it feels like to faint. Fainting feels, right before he loses consciousness, as if he is descending into the underworld. Hades is an allusion to the Greek underworld, a dark, shadowy place where the souls of the dead go.

Why were boycotts of British goods an effective way for colonists to protest?

Opposing the Townshend Acts in 1767 was one of the most influential ways the Colonists sought to lessen the power the British had over the colonies in the 1760s. The Townshend Acts had several parts to raise revenue for the British off the goods provided by the colonies with little benefit for those same colonies. The Townshend Acts placed indirect taxes on goods brought from Britain to the colonies, but the Colonists protested additional taxes placed on them. The Colonists rebelled against the British government through a series of essays and boycotts. One protest of the Townshend Acts lead to the Boston Massacre of 1770. The boycotts of British goods was a way to organize the colonies into one force to be dealt with against one target, the British government.

The British had superior lethal force on their side and so a full-scale armed uprising by Indian nationalists would've been out of the question. So the anti-colonial movement hit upon a different approach. As part of its non-violent strategy of resistance, it came up with the idea of a boycott of British goods. It was believed that this would impose severe costs on the British economy, costs that could not be sustained over any length of time. In due course, it was hoped that the British would realize that the Raj was no longer viable as an economic unit, that it was more trouble than it was worth.
The boycott initially proved to be a very effective strategy. For centuries, the British had used its control of India to flood the country with cheap, mass-produced goods, thus destroying vast swathes of domestic manufacturing industry. For British manufacturers, especially cloth-producers, India was a captive market and a major driver of the export trade. The leaders of the Swadeshi movement such as Gandhi knew, therefore, that a boycott of British goods would inflict quite serious damage on the imperial economy. At the same time, it was hoped that the boycott movement would also encourage the development of domestic manufacturing, so that Indians would be able to buy Indian goods instead of British.

What is the role of women from past to present?

This question is quite expansive, as women's roles have varied from culture to culture. Native American women had more rights than women in Western cultures. Currently, women in the Middle East are advocating for rights that other women have had in other cultures for decades.
Women in western culture were often considered to be inferior to men. Whether as daughters or wives, women had lesser status than men. It was harder for a woman to be granted a divorce than a man. Women were also paid less for work outside the home; that is, if they were allowed to work at all. This pay gap still exists for many women in corporate America today.
Whenever women did take jobs outside the home in the past, it was often for nurturing roles such as nursing or education. Women also performed domestic duties while serving as maids and laundresses. It was understood that women would leave their profession and become homemakers when they were married; this was actually written into many teachers' contracts in the United States.
The 1960s saw more women become advocates for their own independence. Women sought out roles outside that of homemaker for their own fulfillment and still push for equal pay in business roles. Some women also want to have the same jobs as men, such as serving in combat roles in the US military. This question is quite expansive, but I think that if you focus on the history of women in one nation, that will be your best option. I picked the United States, though that is not the only option available.

What are Pandora's character traits in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4?

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 was written by Sue Townsend. Adrian, the main character who is 13 3/4 years old, as the title states, has a best friend named Nigel. Nigel comes from a wealthy family. This fact alone irritates Adrian a little bit, but he cannot express or articulate exactly why he somewhat loathes Nigel for it.
Pandora is a new student at the school which Adrian and Nigel attend. Nigel has an affinity for her, and they begin to go out with each other. Adrian likes Pandora as well, and he experiences feelings of resentment toward Nigel that are much more intense than his feelings about his family's wealth. Adrian and Pandora do maintain a friendship at the same time that Nigel and Pandora are going out together, however.
Pandora is smart, mature, career-focused, feminist, and sophisticated. We learn about these character traits while she is dating Adrian. For instance, Pandora tells Adrian that she is not willing to risk getting pregnant for him as they explore their sexuality. Also, Pandora does not want to get married to Adrian, or anyone else for that matter, within the next couple years because she would rather focus on her career. Additionally, Pandora comes from a wealthy family, like Nigel, and she is largely a reflection of her parents's traits, such as being career-focused and sophisticated. Adrian admires these qualities, and he believes that Pandora is the one for him.

Can you analyze the quote "if you build it he will come." In this analysis, I want to talk about how this quote develops the theme of dreams.

Because this question is posted in Literature, it seems to refer to the novel Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella, so this answer will address question in terms of the novel. The quotation is featured prominently both in the novel and in the film version, whose title Field of Dreams emphasizes the importance of dreams. In Shoeless Joe, the sentence “If you build it, he will come” seems like a daydream, but it also becomes the leitmotif of the entire novel. The protagonist, Ray Kinsella, first struggles to understand its message. After he decides what it means, he sets out to achieve his dream, or goal, to build a baseball field and in turn to attract the person he believes is the “he.” The field also provides a central metaphor for Ray’s quest to repair a damaged past and, ultimately, to create a better future.
Ray, who has the personality of a dreamer, had given up a dull job to become a farmer in Iowa. Ray loves baseball and, perhaps even more, he associates baseball with the love that his father—deceased for many years—had for the game, and with his father’s countless baseball stories. The most memorable story was about “Shoeless” Joe Jackson of the Chicago White Sox. Although the players were expelled from baseball over a bribery scandal in the 1919 World Series, Ray’s father staunchly believed in Jackson’s innocence. This passion for baseball and Ray’s need to reconnect with his father inspire him to believe that he should turn part of his farm into a baseball field.
Because the novel is a fantasy, Ray’s pursuit of this dream yields both natural and supernatural success. He is not merely diligent, but obsessive in working toward the goal, to the extent that he neglects his family and his financial responsibilities. Yet after he does complete the field, his dreams about the Chicago team become reality, in a sense, as Shoeless Joe and the other long-dead players appear in the field.
Ray’s dream does not stop with constructing the field, however. He continues to react to messages he hears, and embarks on another, even more complicated quest involving the author J.D. Salinger. In that case, Salinger finally gets caught up in Ray’s world, with the message “fulfill the dream.”
The plot strands come together, first as his father appears and his brother mends the rift they once had, then as they join the players to play ball—thus, a dream of healing and reconciliation is fulfilled. Finally, as the field can now help generate income for Ray and his family, his dream of being a successful farmer and provider comes true. Building the field thus refers both to Ray’s steadily applying himself to the hard work of the actual field and to achieving his goal, and the “he” is both his father and his own fully realized self.

How was the Nile still a danger to the working lives of the Egyptians?

There are a few main ways that the Nile River was a source of danger to ancient Egyptians. First of all, the Nile is prone to seasonal flooding. It is true that this flooding is actually very beneficial as it refreshes the sediment necessary to agriculture. However, on occasion, the flooding could be larger than expected or occur at unexpected times. When this happened, work camps and villages in and near the floodplains could be suddenly swept away leading to many drownings. Conversely, the flooding may sometimes have been smaller than expected leading to droughts and famine.
Another danger that the ancient Egyptians were unaware of was that the Nile River was the home to many disease carrying parasites. After the seasonal floods, standing water in the fields acted as a nursery for malaria carrying mosquitos. This disease can lead to a debilitating fever and even death. While less deadly, parasites carrying schistosomiasis also lived in the water of the Nile. Schistosomiasis causes extremely uncomfortable and itchy rashes that would make it very difficult to work. If the infection is really bad, it can even cause damage to internal organs.
Larger dangerous animals should also be mentioned. The Nile River was home to countless hippopotamuses and crocodiles. If a worker unwittingly ventured too close to these large-toothed and dangerous creatures, they might have found themselves in a very hazardous and potentially deadly situation. In fact, the Nile crocodile and the hippopotamuses are regularly depicted in ancient Egyptian art.
https://www.ancient.eu/nile/

Describe how Buddhist, Christian and Islamic culture can be traced back to Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad/How Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad’s teachings shaped their respective cultures, and how their teachings affect how their followers view and treat the followers of the other religions. (Example: How the teachings of Muhammad has influenced how a Muslim person views and treats a Christian etc.)

There are innumerable ways in which Christianity, Islam and Buddhism have not only shaped their own cultures, but how their cultures interact with other cultures. While there are plenty of similarities on the surface of each religion, to fully understand and appreciate the ways in which they differ fundamentally and religiously is something that could fill volumes upon volumes of books.
A few examples of this we can see between Christianity and Buddhism. Right from the get go we see that a fundamental principle of Christianity is the acceptance of Jesus Christ as one's personal savior, and to devote their lives to the teachings of this person as well as the embodiment of the person himself, whereas in Buddhism there is no one savior, but rather an adherence to the ideals and an adoption of those ideals through meditation rather than prayer, and one must personally achieve through hard work and dedication in action to embody those ideals in the attainment of nirvana.
Analytically we see that based solely on this one example that Buddhism favors personal action and a focus on the ideals, whereas Christianity focuses on the person and a recognition of achieving the enlightenment embodied by Christ as unachievable in totality. How much impact this has had culturally is hard to say without having a full analysis of Asian cultures where Buddhism is a core mainstay of life, but one thing that is known is that western cultures are more focused on the individual and personal achievement, whereas Asian cultures are more focused on the collective, and how the individual impacts those around them. It's not unreasonable to say that a basic view into that fundamental analysis of their religions manifest in that macro difference in cultures.
Islam is an entirely different beast all together. It focuses more on the afterlife and the supernatural, even more so than many Christians or buddhists. It also rank orders aspects of life in terms of importance, placing religion as the highest priority. We see that Islamic culture has thus a hard emphasis on religious rituals and practices, with a daily requirement of 5 prayer sessions (thus a need for buildings for mass prayers amongst Islamic communities), a rigid and total belief that God is perfect and that their scriptures perfectly encapsulate the will of God, an emphasis in showing your devotion to God in your actions to those around you, and the annual Ramadan fast, designed to remind people what life is like for the poor who have little to nothing.
One can note that the biggest differences between all three religions is the way in which people are instructed to practice their faith. Islam has a focus on appearance and strict religious rituals, whereas Christianity is a bit looser about rituals and more about the pinnacle person and their teachings. Buddhism is all about the personal journey and has a great deal more flexibility in how one achieves enlightenment than either of the aforementioned religions.
How this manifests in culture again is hard to say, but given the current events in the world we could say that the emphasis on personal achievement and celebrating the individual is a staple idea in western culture as derived from a focus on the Jesus the person in Christianity. The west tends to exemplify individuals who have overcome many great challenges and achieved great things despite the difficulty, and those ideals are utterly reflected and personified in the figure of Christ.
In Islamic culture it's merely how dedicated to the religion you are, both in word and action, and as Islam spreads around the world that could indicate why so much conflict around Islam and foreigners exists. If one believes one's God is perfect, and that the scripture one has perfectly encapsulates God's will exactly, combined with elements of public dedication to God's will, it's not too much of a stretch to say that those people who do not follow one's sayings that one would have much in conflict with those people.
The existence of Buddhism itself is hard to see at all in many ways, as such emphasis of the personal journey through life as opposed to a higher focus on the specific characteristics of the religious culture, thus creating a much more subtle influence on life through a de-emphasis on the individual themselves and a higher emphasis on their actions on the community. Achievements of the group are generally ordered higher of praise rather than the individuals in question, though the individual is also celebrated through how their actions pushed the group towards higher accolades and accomplishments.
There are many other ways to analyze how each religion's different focuses have impacted culture. From economics to architecture to music to the very food they eat, and far more ways to characterize their impacts on cultural attitudes on the whole than is described here.

Buddhism originated in the Indian sub-continent approximately 500 years before the introduction of Christianity with the teachings of Siddhārtha Gautama. In Buddhist dogma, the soul is in an almost endless cycle of birth and rebirth and the material world is largely illusory. The termination of this cycle of rebirth is achieved by the cessation of desire which is the source of suffering. Because Buddhism does not have a concept of a creator deity it is generally not rational for a Buddhist to be offended by the differing dogma of Christians or Muslims. While Christianity and Islam are essentially incompatible with the core tenets of Buddhist thought, they are—from the view of the obeisant Buddhist—tolerable as there is no commandment that exists to be broken.
Christianity originated in Palestine approximately two thousand years ago with the revelation of the Jewish carpenter Jesus Christ as the prophesied son of God. It teaches a personal relationship with a creator deity and Christians are encouraged to be active participants in a coming salvation that will occur in an end times. At the same time, however, the New Testament also teaches a form of religious tolerance (2 Corinthians 10:12):

We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.

Christians may view Buddhists and Muslims as persons needing salvation by the acceptance of Jesus Christ.
Islam originated in fifth century Arabia with the teachings of Muhammad. In Islamic doctrine, Jesus Christ was a prophet of God, but not a divine being and Christians are confused followers of God who should be offered the opportunity of conversion but, as "people of the book," must be tolerated failing that (Qur'an 3:64-71):

O people of the Book! Come to common terms as between us and you: that we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with Him; that we erect not from among ourselves Lords and patrons other than Allah." If then they turn back say: "Bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to Allah's will)."

Buddhism, however, is viewed with greater skepticism in Islam because it rejects the notion of a unitary, monotheistic God and such rejection is a blasphemy.

How did Norway manage to attack Scotland?

The Scottish-Norwegian War of the late thirteenth century began due to the belligerence of the Scots in demanding the return of the Outer Hebrides and the Isle of Man, which they'd previously ceded to the Norwegians. The Scots were prepared to buy back the islands, but the Norwegians wouldn't negotiate, so the Scots set out to take them by force.
The Norwegians responded to this threat by assembling a large fleet of warships. The Norwegians were expert mariners (just like their Viking ancestors), and this was their preferred method of waging war. However, things went wrong for the Norwegians; their fleet became stranded in stormy weather off the west coast of Scotland. An indecisive battle ensued, after which the Norwegians headed north to the Orkneys to spend the winter.

Why is Rhode Island a state?

Rhode Island was initially established as a haven for those fleeing religious persecution. Over time, it developed into a thriving, prosperous colony, renowned for farming and sea fishing. This prosperity encouraged the development of a fiercely independent mindset among Rhode Islanders, so it's no surprise to learn that The Ocean State was the first place in America to witness direct action against British rule, when a group of colonists attacked and burned the British revenue vessel, Liberty, in 1769.
Rhode Island's reputation for independence was further enhanced when it became the first state to renounce allegiance to King George III. Within weeks of this momentous event, the Rhode Island General Assembly ratified the Declaration of Independence. In the ensuing Revolutionary War, no major battles took place on state soil, but Rhode Island nonetheless made a significant contribution to the American victory in terms of men and materiel.
Rhode Island's reputation for punching above its weight carried over into postwar political life when it spearheaded the resistance against the centralizing tendencies of the new Constitution, forcing supporters of Federalism to concede ground by incorporating a Bill of Rights into the document in order to assuage the concerns of the smaller states. Rhode Island was the last state to ratify the Constitution, and even then it was only agreed upon after an assurance had been given that the Bill of Rights would be incorporated.

How is the book best correlated to a time in history?

Tim O'Brien's novel joins two time periods, the 1960s–early-70s and the 1990s, through the device of a college class reunion.
Because the characters were all coming of age during the Vietnam War, that time permanently shaped—even warped—their perspectives. Many of the men are veterans who served for different lengths of time and had complicated recoveries including PTSD and drug addiction. Others avoided service by fleeing to Canada or other means. For the women, although they are not veterans, the men in many of their lives did serve: one became a pastor, another has struggled against and survived breast cancer.
By choosing to place the characters 31 years after graduation (relying on a small plot contrivance), the author also locates them at the turn of the millennium, a time that was fraught with anxiety and yet promised renewed hope for many. Some of the characters seem poised to embrace that challenge, while others seem trapped in a toxic past.

Choose three quotations from Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions, and explain how each quotation illustrates a different Romantic value.

Nothing shows a man’s true inclinations better than the character of those whom he loves.

This quote reflects Rousseau's Romantic ideas about the state of nature and the purity of character that is indicated by the relationships he develops free from the repression of society.

I worship freedom; I abhor restraint, trouble, dependence. As long as the money in my purse lasts, it assures my independence; it relieves me of the trouble of finding expedients to replenish it, a necessity which always inspired me with dread; but the fear of seeing it exhausted makes me hoard it carefully. The money which a man possesses is the instrument of freedom; that which we eagerly pursue is the instrument of slavery. Therefore I hold fast to that which I have, and desire nothing.

This quote addresses the Romantic value that Rousseau was best known for, the idea of the noble savage. Here, Rousseau is speaking about the fact that he is not corrupted or influenced by society as long as he can maintain financial freedom. Going out into the world to make an income would require conforming to society, something he describes as slavery. This is where the idea of being a noble savage comes from.

I had a tolerably large number of acquaintances, but only two chosen friends, Diderot and Grimm. Owing to the desire, which I always feel, to bring together all who are dear to me, I was so devoted a friend of both, that it was unavoidable that they should soon become equally devoted to each other.

This quotation describes the Romantic political value of a social contract in that by developing a relationship with one person, you form a contract with them, and therefore they create a contract with others who are already under contract.
If you need more assistance with your study of Rousseau's Confessions, you should check out the study guide linked below.

Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau can not only be regarded as one of the first major autobiographies in history, but one of the first that embodied many of the characteristics that Romantic literature is best known for.
Unlike his predecessors, whose writing primarily focused upon their religious experiences, Rousseau’s story provided a much more intimate portrait of his life. In addition to detailing significant life events, he shares his emotions and opinions.

One characteristic of Romantic literature is the presentation of strong feelings, senses or emotions.

“My passions, when roused, are intense, and, so long as I am activated by them, nothing equals my impetuosity. I no longer know moderation, respect, fear, propriety; I am cynical, brazen, violent, fearless; no sense of shame deters me, no danger alarms me. Except for the object of my passion, the whole world is as nothing to me; but this only lasts for a moment, and the next I am plunged into utter dejection.”

In this selection, Rousseau offers a critical, but honest evaluation of his innermost feelings. As he speaks of his passions, readers can get a clear sense of the sometimes reckless and powerful nature of his emotions. His word choice in this passage helps to illustrate the intensity of his passion.

Another major characteristic of Romantic literature includes the evidence of having strong reverence for nature and its lessons.

“I had brought from Paris the national prejudice against Italian music; but I had also received from nature that acute sensibility against which prejudices are powerless. I soon contracted the passion it inspires in all those born to understand it.”

This particular quote is an excellent example of Rousseau acknowledging nature as a valued teacher of life lessons. While he admits that he had adopted a disliking for Italian music while in Paris, he then explains how nature enabled him to be more receptive to it--thus rendering the city’s negative influence useless. He admits that nature provided him with a beneficial ability to appreciate something that not all people had the privilege of understanding.
So while Rousseau acknowledged that Paris had a potentially negative impact on him, he credited nature with providing something positive and exclusive.

A third characteristic of Romantic literature is a focus on spirituality or the supernatural.

“So finally we tumble into the abyss, we ask God why he has made us so feeble. But, in spite of ourselves, He replies through our consciences: 'I have made you too feeble to climb out of the pit, because i made you strong enough not to fall in.”

Here we can see that Rousseau believes God not only exists, but speaks to us about our emotional/mental strength as human beings.
And while this passage definitely illustrates the Romantic element of spirituality, it also touches upon the characteristic of the “examination of self”. It is to be assumed that Rousseau’s motive for addressing the fragile nature of man relates to his own tendency to feel lost or vulnerable, so this quote serves as a subtle reflection of his own feelings as well.

Helpful Video Lecture:
World Lit II Rousseau's Confessions

Examine postcolonial theory and its applicability in the appreciation of African literature.

Postcolonialism encompasses a set of theoretical perspectives that analyze modern society primarily through the eyes of people who had been subjugated under European and American colonial rule. Most African countries were in that situation. While this approach has earlier roots in anti-colonial resistance movements, it is largely associated with the post-World War II era that brought independence in Asia and Africa.Two influential early works that lay out these themes are those by Albert Memmi (Tunisia/France), The Colonizer and the Colonized (published in French 1957), and Frantz Fanon (Martinique), Black Skin, White Masks (published in French 1952).In sub-Saharan post-independence literature, numerous authors write about the era of colonial domination and contextualize individual characters' lives in terms of resistance to or appropriation of the colonizers' culture. Significant contributions include novels by Chinua Achebe (Nigeria), notably Things Fall Apart, and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (Kenya), such as Weep Not, Child (1964). Ngũgĩ initially wrote and published in English but later changed to writing exclusively in his native language, Kikuyu, after being imprisoned; some of his writings about the politics of language are collected in Decolonising the Mind (1986).
https://archive.org/stream/BlackSkinWhiteMasksPlutoClassics_201501/Black_Skin__White_Masks__Pluto_Classics__djvu.txt

https://books.google.com/books/about/Decolonising_the_mind.html?id=z60udlv1F_cC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button

What sort of woman does George say he wants Beneatha to be?

George is an unimaginative, conventional man, and he would like Beneatha to be that way as well. He wants her to be “nice,” “simple,” “sophisticated,” to talk less, and to be unconcerned with thoughts. George is scornful of her interest in African culture, as he expresses in Act II, Scene 1, and especially of her intellect.
In Act II, Scene 2, after they return to her home after attending the theater, he is interested in kissing and she wants to talk. “We always talk” he complains. At first he says he doesn’t mind that sometimes, then changes course.

"I want you to cut it out, see—the moody stuff, I mean. I don’t like it. You’re a nice looking girl . . . all over. That’s all you need, honey. Forget the atmosphere. . . . Guys aren’t going to go for the atmosphere. They’re going to go for what they see. Be glad for that. . . . As for myself, I want a nice—(Groping)—simple (Thoughtfully)—sophisticated girl. . . . not a poet, OK?"

Bennie is confused that he seems angry, and he says he doesn’t want to hear about her thoughts. Even more confused, she asks, “Then why read books? Why go to school?” George insists that school is for credentialing, “to get a degree. That’s all. It has nothing to do with thoughts.”

In the story "Good Country People," what are the pros and the cons in terms of middle-class affluence, ethnicity, and/or religion?

In "Good Country People," Mrs. Hopewell and her daughter Hulga both think of themselves as being superior to lower-class people. For Mrs. Hopwell, it's her money that sets her apart, and for Hulga, it's her education. Hulga has a PhD, which contributes to her vanity and air of superiority; as an atheist, she believes herself to be above those who still believe in God, especially her mother.
Hulga and Mrs. Hopewell perpetuate the stereotype that lower-class people are simple. They subscribe to the idea that their money and education automatically makes them smarter. Mrs. Hopewell looks kindly upon people such as Mrs. Freeman and Manley Pointer because she believes that they are "good country people" who are "simple" but hardworking and kind, not like the people she considers trash. Her attitude towards them is motherly but patronizing. However, for Hulga, having religious beliefs is just as bad as being uneducated.
But for all their money and education, neither women knows anything about people and human behavior. Manley recognizes this instantly. He plays up his lack of education and missionary dreams to garner sympathy from Mrs. Hopewell. Manley later seduces Hulga in the barn loft, and in doing so, steals her wooden leg. He then reveals himself to be a conman and an atheist, much to the astonishment of Hulga who cannot believe she was outsmarted by someone she thought wasn't nearly as intelligent as herself.
At the story's end, Mrs. Hopewell and Mrs. Freeman watch Manley leave, and Mrs. Hopewell remarks about how simple she found him. Mrs. Freeman says, "Some can't be that simple . . . I know I never could," hinting that Mrs. Freeman knows that Manley is a con.
O'Connor makes the point in her story that class, money, and education are not symbols of intelligence. In this case, the middle-class are the ones who are truly simple. Manley understands their weakness and uses it to his advantage. Hulga's atheism stems from her education; her extensive education taught her that religion is false and only those who have studied as much as she can understand that. Manley shows that intelligence and atheism are not exclusive to the highly educated.

What are some ideas for an interesting focused thesis on Othello employing one critical perspective (New Criticism, feminist criticism, psychoanalytical criticism, Marxist criticism, deconstructionist criticism, reader-response criticism, postcolonial criticism)?

There are many interesting critical perspectives that could be discussed. Assuming the use of "thesis" in the question means this will be for an essay or other long work, it is important to choose a perspective with a significant amount of evidence that can be discussed. Any of the choices from that list would work; however, some have more material than others.
Perspectives requiring historical analysis can require more external references but also have nearly unlimited arguments that can serve as a thesis. Given the setting of Othello, a postcolonial criticism would be very interesting. Postcolonial criticism looks at the relationship between ruling powers and colonies, generally to show exploitation of the colonies' land. Shakespeare used the long struggle for control of Cyprus between Venice and the Ottoman Empire as part of the setting of Othello. The fact that the hero is an outsider and the villain is a Venetian could be used as the basis for a postcolonial criticism.
A new historicist perspective also incorporates historical evidence. New historicism argues that the social environment of an author when a literary work is written plays a critical role in shaping the meaning of the final piece. Race is prominent in Othello, as the titular character is "Moorish," perhaps African, in a predominantly white city. While slavery in 1604 was not practiced to the extent that it later would be, some Africans had already been brought to England as slaves. These early interactions could be used to analyze Othello's role in the play.
These are just two options from the list, and each criticism has many potential focuses.

Think about Miles’s statement in Tuck Everlasting: “It’s no good hiding yourself away, like Pa and lots of other people. And it’s no good just thinking of your own pleasure, either. People got to do something useful if they’re going to take up space in this world.” What does this tell you about Miles’s view of the Tucks' situation?

The passage tells us that Miles wants to do something meaningful with his life, despite what he considers the "curse" of immortality.
To Miles, hiding away to protect others is fine up to a certain point. After all, if everyone could live forever, the world would be a very crowded place. Also, not everyone will share the same moral values in life. The idea of criminals living for eternity doesn't bear thinking about.
This is why Miles and his family continue to hide from the general populace. They don't want anyone else to discover the spring and drink from it. However, Miles becomes restless. He tells Winnie that he used to have a wife and two children. When his wife discovered that he would never grow old (and die), she took their children and left him.
In the passage you quoted, Miles voices his dissatisfaction with life and the way he must live (away from the public). He believes that the way his parents have chosen to live is dysfunctional in many respects.
Because all of them live secluded lives, they can never form meaningful relationships with anyone outside of the family. Additionally, there is little to no opportunity for any of them to engage in worthwhile pursuits.
This is how Miles looks at it: despite his immortality, he can't use it in any way to help anyone. In other words, there isn't anything he can do to make the world a better place. His "gift" frustrates him rather than makes him happy.

Why is the signal-man unable to respond to the warning?

"The Signal-Man" by Charles Dickens is a tale in the tradition of the Christmas ghost-story that was popular in the Victorian era. The narrative chronicles the haunting of a railway signal-man, who sees three ghostly apparitions. The first two apparitions are followed by a bloody accident and a tragic death. When the narrator first meets the frightened railway worker, the isolated man is quaking at the mysterious appearance of a phantom for the third time. The signalman describes the actions of the ghost when it appears at the Danger-light.

It calls to me, for many minutes together, in an agonizing manner, "Below there! Look out! Look out!" It stands waving to me. It rings my little bell . . . .

The signal-man laments his inability to leave his job or warn others, as he knows his visions will not be taken seriously by his superiors. The next day, the narrator learns the signal-man has been killed by a train. The Engine-Driver describes his futile attempts to avoid the tragedy.

I said, "Below there! Look out! Look out! For God’s sake, clear the way!" Ah! It was a dreadful time, sir. I never left off calling to him. I put this arm before my eyes not to see and I waved this arm to the last, but it was no use.

The parallel between the ghost’s behavior and the actions of the Engine-Driver is obvious. The ghost predicts the manner of the signalman’s death.
The warning you reference in your question is interesting, as it could have two answers, depending on your interpretation. You could argue that the apparition was attempting to warn the signalman about his impending doom. The ghost mimics the actions that unfold in all three tragic deaths. Perhaps the ghost is benevolent and is futilely trying to help the living. If the signal-man couldn’t understand the ghost’s warning, how could he heed it?
An alternate view is that the signalman was unable to hear the warning of the living Engine-Driver because he was distracted or hypnotized by the ghost. If the ghost is malevolent and causes these tragedies, the signalman would have been unable to respond to the shouts and pleadings of the engineer because he was under some supernatural influence.
I hope this helps!

The signalman is unable to respond to the warning because he never quite grasps its meaning and so cannot act upon it. He knows that danger is on the way; every time the ghost makes an appearance a tragic incident inevitably follows. But the signalman doesn't realize that the ghost's latest appearance foreshadows his own tragic demise. In any case, the poor man is caught in a bit of a bind. He can't very well warn his boss of a potential railroad accident on the basis of a ghostly apparition; he'd be carted off to an institution in the blink of an eye. At the same time, he can't ignore these apparitions, either. So the signalman finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place, unable to take steps to avoid his tragic fate.

Why is the death of Ted Lavender important to your understanding of the story in The Things They Carried?

Lavender's death is significant for two reasons. The first and most obvious is based on the central theme of what he carried. Lavender is described as a young boy who is afraid to die—and because of that reason, he carries a backpack full of tranquilizers and dope in order to dull the pain of his fear. Lavender's character is a direct representation of the youth that were drafted into the war: young men who were afraid and despondent and who turned to escapism via drugs to dull the effects of wartime. When Lavender is shot down, O'Brien notes that he falls especially hard because of the weight of his backpack, and later the men hope that his drugs numbed the feeling of his own death. These details illustrate the struggle faced by unwilling young people forced to fight, as well as the escapism those young people turned to.
Lavender's death serves as a wake-up call for the rest of the characters, as after Lavender is shot, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross decides to burn his photos of Martha and tells himself he will no longer fantasize about home. While the men may have criticized Lavender's incessant drug use, after Lavender's death, Cross is struck by the realization that by allowing himself to fantasize about his life and love at home, he is no better than Lavender shooting up tranquilizers to numb the pain. Lavender's death forces Cross to confront his present.

Is General Zaroff opinionated?

Indeed, General Zaroff is a very opinionated character. Zaroff holds himself in extremely high regard and sees himself as above humanity. This allows him to excuse his behavior and actions throughout the story. He believes that other men are beneath him and are no different than the animals he previously hunted. However, he does note that man is the only animal to be able to use his intelligence to work against his adversary, and as such, is the only suitable prey for a hunter of his magnitude.
Zaroff believes heavily in the principle of "survival of the fittest," saying, "the weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure." In his eyes, Zaroff has the power to do whatever he wants with the "creatures" beneath him, and his arrogance ultimately proves his undoing when Rainsford gets the better of him after a long hunt.

What is the connection between David Malouf's poem "Ladybird" and a solider going to war and loosing his innocence? How can we draw connections between the two?

In this poem, the children who are visited by the ladybird go through three distinct experiences. The first is their sense of wonder at the ladybird's presence. They see the ladybird as a "reward for some good deed." The next turn the poem takes is when the children sing the song "Ladybird Ladybird" and the speaker refers to them using the "same breath" to sing the song that they use to blow out the candles on a birthday cake. Finally, the ladybird flies away, and the children are playing with matches and accidentally set their house alight.
In this poem, the children go from having "full hearts lifted by all that was best in us" to "everything close and dear, even the air, is burning!" This is a similar transformation that happens with a young soldier who goes away to war—more accurately, that a soldier in the twentieth century or earlier might experience.
The first impression might be a similar sense of wonder, perhaps at the new environment that the soldier is in: a new country and new people. The second impression, where the children sing the song for the ladybird, includes the social aspects soldiers get: engaging with other soldiers and developing camaraderie. This is an important step, as it can give way to the callousness and lack of care that the soldiers develop, which leads to their final act: setting the house alight and realizing that "the world is alive and dangerous."

Grandmother disagrees with the views of the Nazis. How does she stand up for her beliefs?

Bruno's grandmother is very hostile towards the Nazis and shows her hostility by effectively accusing Ralf of being nothing more than a murdering puppet in a uniform. The very sight of her son wearing his shiny new uniform makes her want to tear her eyes out. Unlike most Germans, who feign ignorance at the campaign of Nazi genocide against the Jews, she knows exactly what goes on at places like Auschwitz and is horrified that her son would willingly be an accomplice to mass murder.
What's particularly hurtful for Bruno's grandmother is that she thinks that perhaps her son turned out the way he did because of how she raised him. No mother wants to think that she's raised a monster, but that's precisely what appears to have happened in this case, and the very thought of it breaks the old lady's heart.

In chapter eight, Bruno misses his grandparents and remembers how their last Christmas party ended in a disaster. Unlike her significantly older husband, Bruno's grandmother vehemently disagrees with their son's decision to join the Nazi party. After Bruno and his sister perform their annual play, Bruno's grandmother stands up for her beliefs by criticizing her son for joining the Nazi party and compares him to a puppet on a string as he proudly wears the Nazi uniform. Unlike her husband and daughter-in-law, Bruno's grandmother does not praise Ralf for earning the position of Commandant at the Auschwitz concentration camp, and she criticizes the Nazi regime. After Bruno and Gretel are sent to their rooms, Bruno overhears his grandmother screaming at his father and saying that he is only concerned with looking handsome while he callously commits atrocities. Overall, Bruno's grandmother is outspoken in her belief that the Nazis are murderers and is ashamed that her son proudly joined the horrific regime.

In 1783, the young United States had won independence from Great Britain, but it still found itself faced with a weak government, social problems, and difficulties in foreign affairs. Identify at least one problem from each category and explain how the Constitution and its provisions helped solve the problem.

In 1783 the United States of America had many political and social problems, including a weak central government, fraying social fabric, and no coherent foreign policy. The ratification of the Constitution in 1789 eventually solved these and other dysfunctions by centralizing power.
The Articles of Confederation were a series of treaties between the newly independent states that attempted to replace some of the governmental functions which were lost when they ceased to be British colonies. The internal state governments continued much as before, but there was no central government. That's why the Articles of Confederation were drawn up. The powers given to the government under the Articles were very weak. The federal government couldn't raise taxes without the consent of the states. It wasn't permitted a strong army, and it couldn't make agreements with foreign countries without the agreement of the states.
Social capital in the new United States, the relationships and norms of behavior that hold a society together, was severely damaged at the end of the War of Independence. At least half the population hadn't supported the war, the Continental Army was being stripped of soldiers and hadn't been paid, and the economic dislocation caused by the war had created hardship and distrust among the parts of the colonies most affected by the fighting.
During the war, the Continental Congress sent diplomatic and trade representatives to Europe to get and keep support for the rebellious colonies and to help create relationships which would help integrate the new country into the family of nations and the global trading system. But that's not the same as having a foreign policy. European governments were wary of making commitments to people who they thought would lose their war, who had no recognized currency and limited gold, and who were preaching ideas they themselves considered dangerous.
The ratification of the Constitution solved these three problems by centralizing power in the new federal government. The Constitution itself is basically a delineation of that government's power. A significant increase in power for the federal government over that of the Articles of Confederation was the power to compel taxation. This meant the new government could generate its own revenue, instead of relying on loans or disbursements of gold from the states.
The Constitution didn't create social capital by itself, but it did create receptacles for it. It created the idea of the United States. It created a flag and a seal and other symbols which all the states of the Union were bound to recognize. It's hard to overstate how important this was in repairing the fabric of American society. It gave people a way to relate to each other which was independent, literally, of their history. Rebels and Tories were forced to live together under a new set of laws, and this meant that, if they chose, they could put aside their former animosity and forge new relationships.
Perhaps the quickest improvement in the government of the United States after the Constitution was ratified was the centralization of authority for foreign policy in one place. According to Article II, the President has the sole authority to make foreign policy. Congress, of course, tries to affect policy and take some power for itself, but even in that tug-of-war, making foreign policy is still contained within the federal government instead of the states. This, combined with the other powers given to the federal government in the Constitution, made it much easier for the United States to make or break agreements with other nations. The fact we won the War of Independence forced other countries to deal with the federal government as the sole legitimate American authority in international affairs.

When did the battle of the cowshed happen in Animal Farm?

The Battle of the Cowshed takes place not long after Mr. Jones has been driven from the farm. In a bold,\ revolutionary insurrection, the animals rose up and sent the farmer packing, but Mr. Jones wasn't about to take that lying down. As far as he's concerned, he's the one in charge of the farm, not the animals. So he stages a daring counter-revolution, getting together a bunch of men to help him take back the farm by force.
Unfortunately for Mr. Jones, the animals are absolutely determined to remain in charge. When he and the other man show up at the farm, the animals immediately launch into an all-out attack, staging an ambush that takes Mr. Jones and his hirelings completely by surprise. Mr. Jones probably thought that because the Animalist revolution had only recently taken place the animals wouldn't yet be strong enough or sufficiently well-organized to resist. How wrong he was! The animals send Mr. Jones packing a second time, this time for good.

When did the American Enlightenment end?

The American Enlightenment refers to the period of time leading to the American Revolution and the United States of America. It was a time of ideological and political reformation for the thirteen colonies that led to the forming of an independent country. Primarily led by Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington, it was influenced by the Enlightenment that swept through Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Since the American Enlightenment refers to a time period in which thoughts, ideologies, and philosophies were developing and changing, there is no specific end date. Many historians claim it ended around the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century, after the Constitution went into effect and the Bill of Rights were signed.

What was the screaming in the middle of the night in The Secret Garden?

At the beginning of chapter 17, Mary is awoken by "such dreadful sounds" in the middle of the night. She hears someone "screaming and crying at the same time . . . in a horrible way," and the screaming is also accompanied by the sounds of doors being opened and shut and the sound of feet hurrying through the corridors.
Mary at first panics, but she soon realizes that the screaming is coming from Colin, who is having "one of those tantrums." She is used to Colin having tantrums, but this one seems especially bad. Mary puts her hands over her ears to block out the noise, but the screaming is too loud, and Mary becomes angry. Colin only stops screaming when Mary goes to his room and starts shouting at him, telling him, "You will scream yourself to death in a minute, and I wish you would!" Colin subsequently reveals that he was screaming because he thought that he had felt a strange lump on his spine. He was so terrified because he was afraid that he, like his father, would grow up to have a crooked spine.

How is yellow fever spreading in Fever 1793?

As is so often the case when people are caught up in a crisis they don't understand, the citizens of Philadelphia blame the spread of yellow fever on outsiders. To be precise, they blame refugees from Santo Domingo (modern day Haiti). But this is ignorant nonsense; yellow fever is transmitted through mosquito bites, not through casual contact between humans. Mosquitoes thrive in hot weather, and Philadelphia is in the middle of a boiling hot summer when the story begins. This proves to be the ideal breeding ground for the little critters, who flit merrily from person to person, spreading this deadly virus for which there is no cure.
As the state of medical knowledge in 18th century Philadelphia is relatively poor by modern standards, people have no idea what's going on. So they fill up the gaping holes in their knowledge with scare stories and myths such as the baseless notion that the virus is being spread by refugees.

Could you explain the poem “Among the Multitudes” by Wislawa Szymborska?

The poem "Among the Multitudes" is written by the Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska. Syzmborska was a Jewish woman who was in her youth at the outbreak of WWII, though she avoided being deported to labor camps. While living under Communism after the war she held many dissident political opinions, championing free speech despite censors and many high-profile treason trials.
"Among the Multidudes" reflects on these realities of Szymborska's life. She could have had "different ancestors"; she could have been more or less fortunate. Overall, these reflections are hopeful, but they acknowledge that her luck - in avoiding Nazi violence and Communist political reprisal - was not the fate of all.
The poem also draws strong connections between human life and other natural life. To be a tree or a mouse is just as possible, just as natural, just as coincidental as any other fate. This theme is echoed in her other works, which often take up strange and non-human perspectives.
While Szymborska considers herself fortunate for avoiding abject disaster ("I could have been someone...much less fortunate...A tree rooted in the ground/ as the fire draws near"), the joy and hope she expresses do not come merely from survival. The poem ends with her celebrating her "happy moments", and her ability to experience "amazement" in a way that clearly indicates that these experiential joys - rather than simply her luck of survival - are where her hopefulness derives from.

More than anything, the poem can be seen as a celebration of individuality. The speaker doesn't dwell on all the numerous imperfections of her life; on the contrary, she affirms them as part of what it means to be human. She doesn't lament the fact that she had no choice in being what she is; instead, she thinks of what she might have been had fate not been so kind to her.
That's why she expresses such profound gratitude for not being an animal bred for fur or slaughtered for the Christmas dinner table. Even as another human, there could easily have been so many problems in her life. She might have been born into the wrong tribe, with so many paths in life closed to her.
In celebrating herself for what she is, the speaker counts all her blessings, giving thanks to fate for being so incredibly kind to her. Fate can always change, of course, but one senses that, whatever happens, the speaker will always retain a sense of amazement, which will stand her in good stead whatever life may throw at her.

What are connections between the country Finland and the themes in Lord of the Flies? (Civilization vs. savagery, order vs. chaos, weak vs. strong, spirituality/religion, science/the intellect, power, etc.)

There are several ways to approach making thematic connections between Finland and the fictional world depicted in The Lord of the Flies. William Golding’s novel is set on an uninhabited island at the end of World War II. One approach would be to explore Finland’s involvement in the war or related activities around that time. Because Finland contains almost 180,000 islands (although many of them are in lakes), it is possible to imagine a plane crashing onto one of them and going undetected for several days. Another approach could compare British and Finnish society, especially the educational systems, and to imagine placing Finnish children in the hypothetical situation that Golding presents.
Finland has the second-most islands of every country in the world, after Sweden. Of the almost 180,000 islands, only 455 are permanently inhabited. As Finland has no seacoast, the islands between national borders are in the Gulf of Bothnia, bordering Sweden, and the Gulf of Finland, bordering Russia. Because the country is so far north, if a plane crashed there in the summer, survival would be possible; but in the winter, it would be unlikely. On a Finnish island, therefore, the quest for food might be more urgent than in the tropics, and Jack’s faction would likely dominate.
Wedged between Germany and the Soviet Union, who were enemies, and bordering the neutral Sweden, Finland was relatively powerless during World War II. A former colony of Russia, Finland became independent from the Soviet Union shortly after its formation in 1917. During World War II, the Soviet Union invaded Finland. Despite Finnish repulsion of the Soviets in the famous Winter War, the Soviets continued to occupy territory within Finland’s current borders. In response to German aggression, Finland did not sign a formal agreement with Germany, but the government allowed passage of German troops for more than two years. Following numerous Soviet defeats of German forces, the Finnish president resigned and the new government negotiated a treaty. It was not until 1947, however, that the last German forces left the country. In this regard, an analogy might compare Finland to one of the characters, such as Simon, who suffers in his placement between the large, powerful factions of Ralph and Jack.
In terms of education, today Finland is consistently ranked among the best, or even the best, in the world. The education system in many ways mirrors social organization, which de-emphasizes class distinctions. Up through World War II, Finland followed a system very similar to that of Germany, emphasizing traditional hierarchical methods, a fixed curriculum with few options, and a pattern of examination-based assessment and advancement. Substantive reforms from the 1940s to the 1970s made the curriculum more flexible and favored a child-centered approach. With the system in place in the 1940s, it seems unlikely that there would have been many substantive differences between Finland and Britain in terms of attitudes toward students. Differences between children within the same school would probably be similar in both countries, so that the likelihood of children’s behavior degenerating quickly would also be similar.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Finland/Finland-during-World-War-II

https://www.centreforpublicimpact.org/case-study/education-policy-in-finland/

https://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/europe/fi.htm

How does Estella treat Pip in their first meeting?

Estella is scornful and arrogant to Pip on their first meeting. She calls him "boy" over and over again, even though they are about the same age. She does this despite the fact that he is very respectful of her and calls her "miss." Pip notes that she acts as if she is older than he is. He attributes this to her being a beautiful girl and very self assured. He says she behaves as "if she had been one-and-twenty, and a queen."
What Pip doesn't know at this point is that Estella has been deliberately brought up by Miss Havisham to be proud and scornful of the male sex. Miss Havisham means for her to break Pip's heart in revenge for her own distress and heartbreak at having been left at the marriage altar many years before.

What is the main theme and how it is expressed in the poem "To Daffodils" by Robert Herrick ?

The main theme in this poem by Robert Herrick is one in poetry of Herrick's era, the early 17th century—you may be able to identify points of comparison between this poem and several of Shakespeare's sonnets, for example. The theme Herrick is conveying is that of the transience of life, and particularly life's youth and beauty. In order to convey this, he uses the analogy of a daffodil, not long in bloom, comparing the speed at which the daffodil progresses towards "decay" to the speed with which death comes upon humans.
Herrick intensifies the comparison by personifying the daffodils, whom he addresses as "you" and with whom he imagines praying, as if the daffodils were capable of understanding their short existence as humans are. Towards the end of the poem, he also draws in a second comparison, suggesting that the "hours" of both people and daffodils can be compared to "summer's rain" and "morning dew," both transient and, once evaporated, never to be found again.
Essentially, Herrick is saying that beauty and life itself stay only briefly and then are gone, and there is nothing we can do about it. This is inexorable and is the way of the world for all things.

How do you write a good introduction of an analysis for "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin?

A good way to write an introduction to a literary analysis of a short story would be to note the story's title and author, when it was written, the story's genre, and what literary elements will be the focus of your paper. It would be a good idea to identify the piece as feminist literature.
Somewhere in the introduction, there should be a thesis statement that indicates the scope of your analysis. For example, if you were to write about symbolism, a thesis statement could look something like this:
"Kate Chopin utilizes symbolism in 'The Story of an Hour' to observe the narrow confines many women endured in nineteenth-century marriages."
This thesis statement is specific enough to organize your argument but broad enough to leave room to identify what elements are symbolic, such as the season, the setting, character names, and so forth.

Why does Katniss feel lonely in The Hunger Games?

Katniss feels lonely throughout the book The Hunger Games for a variety of reasons at different times. At the beginning of the novel, she lives a fairly desolate existence with her family in District 12, but she feels lonely because her father has passed away and her mother has become despondent.
Later, when she is taken as a Tribute to participate in the Hunger Games, she is even more isolated. For one, she is away from her family and her one close friend, Gale. For another, she is about to be sent to fight to the death, and she doesn’t trust her fellow Tribute, Peeta, who reveals that he is in love with her to the nation, which she believes is a ploy for help in the upcoming games.
In the actual arena, she is incredibly isolated, literally fending for herself in the wilderness. She makes one companion, Rue, but she is quickly killed by another child, leaving Katniss alone once more. At times she feels alone and isolated because she doesn’t know if she has support from the outside world, although Haymitch will occasionally arrange for aid to be sent.

Why didn’t Lincoln free all slaves in the United States?

President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. It is correct that this proclamation did not free all of the slaves in the United States. In fact, it only freed slaves in the rebellious, Southern states. Slaves living in border states were not freed in the Emancipation Proclamation. Border states at the time included Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky. These states had not joined the South in the Civil War, but they had been loyal to the Union. These states were rewarded, in a sense, for their loyalty. In addition, the wording of the Emancipation Proclamation left as enslaved any slaves that had come under Northern control during the war itself. However, don't forget that the proclamation also inspired people, including whites and blacks fighting on the Union side in the Civil War. This inspiration cannot be highlighted enough.
https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation

How is District 12 controlled by the Capitol in The Hunger Games?

The Hunger Games themselves are the primary means of control used by the Capitol. By forcing each district sacrifice one girl and one boy each year, the denizens of the Capitol position themselves as godlike, having the ability to take away life as they see fit. They do all of this for the entertainment of those living in the Capitol, further diminishing the value of the lives of those in District 12. The effect this has is horrifying:

To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others. The last tribute alive receives a life of ease back home, and their district will be showered with prizes, largely consisting of food. All year, the Capitol will show the winning district gifts of grain and oil and even delicacies like sugar while the rest of us battle starvation.

District 12 is also kept very poor. They struggle each day just to survive, which is how Katniss finds herself relying on her illegal hunting skills to provide food for her family. People who are poor and near starvation have precious little energy to form an uprising against their living conditions, which is what the Capitol relies on. Katniss reflects,

Starvation's not an uncommon fate in District 12. Who hasn't seen the victims? Older people who can't work. Children from a family with too many to feed. Those injured in the mines. Straggling through the streets . . .

The districts also have no means of communicating with each other. District 12 really doesn't have any means of finding out what other districts could be planning or how they are faring. District 12 knows that some other districts have at least slightly better living conditions than they do, based on the tributes they are able to send each year, but the credibility of any other information they receive is uncertain. District 12 is physically isolated from the other districts, so obtaining any sort of information about current events (especially in the absence of almost all technology) is nearly impossible.
If things get out of control in District 12 or if the Capitol senses an uprising, the (ironically named) Peacekeepers are sent in to take needed control back. They operate as an extension of the Capitol, taking lives without mercy.
All of this is primarily dependent on keeping the citizens of District 12 in fear of the power of the Capitol, which has proven very effective for the past almost seven decades.

Calculate the mass of calcium carbonate that contains 1.00 mol of oxygen atoms.

Calcium carbonate’s molar mass is 100.086g/mol.

Its molecular formula is CaCO₃. In one mole of calcium carbonate, there is one calcium (Ca) atom, one carbon (C) atom, and three oxygen (O) atoms. In other words, there are three moles of oxygen for every one mole of calcium carbonate.

We would like to figure out what mass of calcium carbonate contains 1.0 mol of oxygen atoms. Now that we know one mole of calcium carbonate contains three moles of oxygen, we know we’ll have to divide by three to get just 1.0 mol of oxygen (and 1/3 of a mole of calcium carbonate). Then we can convert between moles and grams.

(1 mole O atoms) * (1 mole CaCO₃ / 3 moles O atoms) * (100.086g CaCO₃/ 1 mole CaCO₃) = 33.362g CaCO₃

Taking significant figures into account (1.00 has three significant figures): = 33.36g CaCO₃

What are the different types of force that are used in the story?

"The Use of Force" is a short story by William Carlos Williams, in his 1938 collection Life Along the Passaic River. It's about a doctor who has to force a young girl, Mathilda, to open her mouth so he can check her throat for signs of diphtheria. The story, which is told from the doctor's first-person perspective, explores the theme of coercion and whether force for the good of the coerced is morally justified. Williams himself was a physician who'd practiced in New York and Leipzig, Germany, so the story may well be told from his own point of view, perhaps even relating a true incident from years before.
Williams is probably best known as a poet, but he also wrote plenty of stories and novels—including, literally, The Great American Novel (1923).Early in the story, the unnamed doctor asks the Olsons if they've inspected their daughter's throat. "I tried to, said the mother, but I couldn't see." (Those quotation marks are mine. Williams eschews them in his story.) We are never told how Mrs. Olson tried to force Mathilda to open her mouth, but she couldn't have tried very hard as the effort didn't work.First the doctor tries coaxing Mathilda verbally, which also goes nowhere. Mathilda then tries to force the doctor away by clawing for his eyes, succeeding mostly in knocking his glasses off his nose. Mrs. Olson forces Mathilda to stop this attack by physically grabbing her arm.A protracted physical battle for power then ensues. "Put her in front of you on your lap, I ordered, and hold both her wrists. . . . Then I grabbed the child's head with my left hand and tried to get the wooden tongue depressor between her teeth." This almost works, but then Mathilda is able to break the depressor by gnashing at it. By now she's bitten her own tongue.
The doctor now admits a shameful truth: He's enjoyed this battle of wills, despite the fact that Mathilda is thus far the victor. "It was a pleasure to attack her," the doctor confesses. "My face was burning with it."The use of physical force concludes when the doctor "overpower[s] the child's neck and jaws" with a silver spoon. Mathilda does indeed have diphtheria, and she's none too happy to have lost her campaign to hide that fact. The doctor was able to force her secret out, partly by physically wrestling her into compliance but also by using the weight of his authority to override the concerns of her too-obliging parents.
http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/force.html

https://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/force.html

What is the theme in The Painter of Signs?

The primary theme of this novel by R. K. Narayan is the clash between tradition and modernity. As The Painter of Signs is set in small-town India, this conflict plays out in terms of traditional Indian culture and modern Western culture. Through the various characters, however, Narayan shows that this is not a total dichotomy. While youth largely represents the attachment to modernity, some of the younger characters retain or even rediscover the importance of traditions. These contradictions are symbolized by Raman’s sign-painting, in which the traditional artistry seems at odds with the modern message.
Daisy most fully embodies the younger India’s embrace of modern, foreign ideas. These include independence, shown by her refusal to marry, and individualism, as evidenced by her work in family planning. Although educated by missionaries, she has rejected not only Hinduism but religion altogether, becoming an atheist. Her intense attraction to the highly traditional Raman is another contradiction.
Raman displays the contradictions of Indian versus Western influences. He has a Western education that stresses rationality and logic, but he is drawn to traditional Indian lifestyles. However, his tendency to romanticize the rural existence reveals a disconnect from the harsh realities that characterize rural society. In addition, his decision to marry a very modern girl is undermined by his wishes for obedience to family custom. For him, these contradictions come to a head after his aunt passes away and he must make the pilgrimage to the Ganges.

2. Although the landscape and its destruction are mentioned, what do you think caused the devastation? What clues are provided? 3. At the end of the story, the boy asks the stranger if he is “carrying the fire.” What do you think this means? How many interpretations can you come up with? Point out passages in the story to back up your conclusions. 4. How are good people distinguished from bad people in this story? What are the major characteristics that good people have that bad people lack? Use lines from the story to strengthen your statement. Make a note of which character provides this information. Are there differing points of views from the characters? 5. If you were forced to live under the conditions presented in this novel, what things would you have in the shopping cart? Explain your rationale for these items. 6. Why do you think the mother of the boy killed herself? 7. Do you think the author ended the story with a hint of hope? Or do you think the author meant to suggest that there was no hope left in the world? 8. Read the last paragraph of this novel about the trout in the stream. What is the author doing here? What is he saying? Why do you think he used this paragraph and these thoughts to end the story? 9. Why do you think the author did not provide names for his characters? 10. Is the young boy just naive, or is he more compassionate than his father when he constantly appeals to his father to help the strangers they meet along the road?

There are a lot of questions here about Cormac McCarthy's The Road. I find question nine the most interesting: "Why do you think the author did not provide names for his characters?" I hope my discussion of this question will give you some insight and jumping off points for the rest.

I see a few reasons that McCarthy may have left his two protagonists (and everyone else for that matter) nameless. The first reason is that it gives these characters an "everyman"-like quality. Without names, the man and his son could be anybody. They could be your neighbors, your friends, your father and brother, you, me. This helps us as an audience to connect with their plight. It grounds the sensational circumstances of the apocalypse in something we can relate to. The characters are anonymous and therefore ubiquitous.

Another possibility for their namelessness is that it enhances the horror of their circumstances. We equate names with identity. Our names are as deeply entrenched in our senses of self as any other identifying characteristic: hair color, eye color, gender, age, etc. By denying these characters names, McCarthy strips them of their identities and they become something less than human. This plays elegantly into one of the major themes of the novel, questioning what it means to be human.

One last reason that McCarthy may have chosen to leave the protagonists unnamed is that doing so contributes to the monotonous mood of The Road. Many readers find this text difficult, not because of the language or the thematic elements, but because it is just so slow and, some would say, dull. This, however, seems to be a very intentional construction. The monotony of the struggle, punctuated by brief moments of tension, can be seen as a commentary on the way we live our lives. We walk down the road, one foot in front of the other, with very little happening. Sometimes we think about the past, sometimes we have moments of crisis, and in the end we either get where we're going, or we don't. McCarthy effects this criticism through repetition of images, actions, and even words. By not naming the boy and his father, he can only give them descriptors (man, father, boy, son) that repeat over and over again. This helps enhance the mood and atmosphere McCarthy is attempting to achieve.

Justify the title of the play The Playboy of the Western World.

The playwright uses this title to speak to the mythos that is created around Christy as he interacts and forms relationships with the peasant population of the island to the west of Ireland. Christy excels at playing the sports of the island and is also seen as a sort of mythical hero amongst the locals. Christy gains this status through his championing of sport games and of his story of rebellion against his father.
Christy's importance among the locals of the island is rooted in his status within a mythological context. Christy is viewed through an almost fantastical lens by the peasants, and this lens supports his status as a "playboy". The "western world" in this play refers to the islands directly west of the main island of Ireland, where the people are considered to be more in touch with their roots and less affected by christian colonization.

In My Beloved World, how dos Sonia's father and mother's neglect affect her?

My Beloved World was written by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. It is about her personal and professional life. While describing her childhood and family, Sotomayor reveals details about her parents' neglect. Sonia's mother, Celina, suffered from depression and isolated herself from Sonia's life. Celina had a toxic relationship with Sonia’s father, Juan. Juan and Celina argued frequently, and the arguments created an unstable home for Sonia. After Juan died of alcoholism, Celina became deeply depressed. Sonia did eventually develop a lot of affection toward her mother, but it developed over time and with much effort.
Juan struggled with alcoholism, and his addiction made Sonia's relatives shout insults about him. On one occasion, Sonia remembers feeling ashamed when she overheard her family members talking about a time when her father became unconscious from drinking too much and had to be transported to the hospital. Juan died at age forty-two from alcohol-related complications. Sonia was only nine years old at the time, and she suffered intense mental anguish as she attempted to make sense of the turmoil around her.
However, despite the neglect she experienced, Sonia’s grandmother (Juan's mother) was like a guardian angel in Sonia's early childhood, guiding her throughout the difficult times in her family life. The neglect inspired Sonia to become self-reliant at a young age, as she could not depend on her parents to meet her needs. Also, the neglect made Sonia close to her grandmother, since Sonia realized that she could depend upon her for guidance and emotional support. Moreover, the neglect that Sonia experienced made her face adversity, which allowed Sonia to develop abilities that she may not have tapped into without facing and overcoming struggles. Consequently, Justice Sotomayor became the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice in 2009—a monumental accomplishment for anyone but especially for somebody who grew up poor in the Bronx and had a tumultuous childhood.

Why is Jainism less popular than Buddhism?

Jainism predates Buddhism. The religion has around 5 million followers, the majority of whom are in India. Buddhism has more than 500 million adherents. This huge disparity in the number of followers can be explained on the basis of the following reasons.
Jainism expects its followers to follow a strict monastic lifestyle to the extent that monks of the Digamabara sect do not wear any clothes. Rituals such as Sallekhana, where an individual chooses to die after giving up food and water, make this a very austere religion to follow.
Jain monks cannot travel by sea. This made proselytizing difficult for the early converts. Buddhism spread via land and sea routes. Japan and Sri Lanka are island nations with sizable Buddhist populations.
Jains extol nonviolence as the highest virtue. Followers who suffered attacks on their properties and temples could not strike back without contravening this basic tenet of Jainism. Buddhism expects its followers to avoid violence but not with the same rigidity as Jainism.
Jains restrict themselves to a strict vegetarian diet, eschewing even roots and tubers. Though Buddhism encourages vegetarianism, it does not places a strict restriction on its followers.
Jainism did not receive much royal patronage. Buddhism, on the other hand, was patronized by kings of many dynasties such as Sunga, Gupta, Pala, and Khadga.

Who is Buddha?

Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha or "the Enlightened One," was born in what is now Nepal to a wealthy chieftain and family. He went on to create the religious and philosophical system named for him.
Buddhist lore says Siddhartha' father tried to hide all pain and misery from his son so Siddhartha would remain content with his privileged life. However Siddhartha escaped the palace to discover how poverty and disease effected others. This led him to renounce his wealth and position to become a monk and seek enlightenment. First he tried exposing himself to hunger and hardship. When that failed, he followed a middle path of meditation and moderate self-care. When he found enlightenment, he shared his practice with others.

Siddhartha Gautama, or as the world came to know him, the Buddha, lived roughly around 5 centuries before the Christ Era in Northern India just south of Nepal. Son of a wealthy King, Siddhartha was raised in a lifestyle of unequal luxury, having every conceivable advantage at his fingertips. The reason Siddhartha was brought up with such luxuries can be traced back to an experience he had when he was very young. While still a small child, a fortune teller predicted that Siddhartha would grow up to be one of two things: a wealthy and powerful king or a religious leader and mystical healer. His father frightened that Siddhartha could end up leaving the family business and become the latter tried to hedge the bet by giving him the fulfillment of every desire imaginable and, at the same time, he removed of all those individuals presently suffering from life's various vicissitudes. This, he thought, would ensure that his son not want, or need, to contemplate man's existence and his place and purpose in this world. These ultimate questions that lack definitive answers being the root of man's spiritual quest and/or journey.
Despite all of his father's efforts to minimize Siddhartha's experience to just positive aspects of reality, when Siddhartha was a young man in his late twenties, the "powers at be" intervened and he had a couple of disturbing experiences that changed his sheltered outlook of life in very distressing ways. Siddhartha finally got a peak of life's ugly certainties: the absolute and undeniable fact that all beings will eventually get older, become sick or get injured, and will ultimately perish from this world becoming worm food and/or dust. How, and why, does this happen to all living beings is what he thought to himself? And he, being one of those living beings, for the first time he saw his own eventual fate. This scared Siddhartha in ways he never thought possible, and forced him to reexamine his life and everything he thought he knew about the world. Needing to find answers to the question of what to do about the plight of humans and their eventual suffering and death, Siddhartha decided to leave his world of sensual delights, which at the time included a beautiful wife and young child, and search for the answers to life's great questions.
Siddhartha was gone many years trying all available methods that were in existence at that time in India that attempted to ease human suffering. Already living a very hedonistic lifestyle for the better part of 30 years and seeing its eventual shortcomings, he thought perhaps life would be better served if he became an ascetic and deny all worldly pleasures; however, this way was ultimately just as disappointing. Not knowing what to do next he decided to meditate on his questions while sitting under a Bodhi Tree. How long Siddhartha sat under that tree meditating is a matter of dispute among scholars and historians, but what is unanimously agreed upon is what happened to him while he sat there contemplating man's suffering and what, if anything, can be done about it.
Under the Bodhi Tree Siddhartha became a Buddha, or in other words, he became "awakened" or "enlightened" to man's problem of suffering. It is at this time that Siddhartha "discovered" the four noble truths and "the middle way" to life. These discoveries would eventually become the central tenets of a new religion or world philosophy called Buddhism. Siddhartha finally leaped up from the lotus position and went out to tell others what can be done of the problem of suffering. Those he told, in turn, told others, and they told others, for generations and generations to come until the present day where Buddhism is the world's 3rd largest religion with more than one billion followers in roughly a dozen different countries all over the world.

Siddhartha Guatama, otherwise known as the Buddha, is the historical founder of Buddhism. He was born to noble lineage in the 6th century BC in what today is Nepal. As traditional accounts of his life have it, Prince Siddhartha once ventured out beyond his father's palace for the first time, and witnessed the 'four sights' of disease, old age, death, and asceticism, which were to inform the essential principle of his newfound pursuit to end suffering.
According to Buddhist history, Siddhartha Guatama abandoned his princely life and pursued extreme forms of meditation until he at last reached enlightenment and attained nirvana, or the complete cessation of suffering. He went on to teach across India and gathered numerous disciples.
The historical Buddha is a matter of some debate, but throughout time he has come to be the primary figure in Buddhism and an important one in some other religions (including Hinduism), though is not typically considered a god or a divine being to be worshipped.
His teachings went on to develop into many different schools, with many followers concentrated largely in Asia, but still considered one of the main world religions.

The historical Buddha -- also known as Shakyamuni Buddha or Gautama Buddha -- was a man who is believed to have lived in ancient India between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, and who is now considered to be the founder of Buddhism. Though details of his life-story may be apocryphal, it is generally rendered as follows:

The Buddha (then known as Prince Siddhartha) was born into a wealthy royal family. When he was just an infant, a wise man with psychic abilities predicted that the young boy would grow up to be either a great political ruler, or a great spiritual teacher. The Buddha's father -- who wished his son to become a political leader -- kept the boy within the luxurious confines of the palace. As a result, it wasn't until many years later -- when one day he snuck out of the palace -- that the young man came face to face with the realities of suffering, old age, illness and death.

Seeing these things sparked within his heart deep compassion, and a desire to discover a way out of suffering. He left the royal palace and engaged for many years in deep meditation, which culminated in his Enlightenment: the complete liberation from psychological suffering. The remainder of Buddha's life was spent teaching what today are known as the Four Noble Truths -- which describe suffering and the cause of suffering, and liberation from suffering and the path to this liberation. These Four Noble Truths became the foundation of the Buddhist religion.

Buddha, also known as Gautama Buddha or Siddhartha Gautama, was the founder of the Buddhist religion. It's generally accepted that he was born in what is now modern-day Nepal sometime around the 5th or 6th centuries CE. Born into a wealthy royal family, Buddha lived a life of luxury, insulated from the appalling poverty endured by most people in the kingdom.
When he first ventured out into the world beyond the opulent confines of the royal palace, Buddha was shocked by the hunger, disease, and suffering that he witnessed. It was then that he began to form the basis of the religion that would one day bear his name. The harsh realities of life led him to construct an ethical system that, through meditation and good conduct, would allow people to free themselves from attachment to the world, with the inevitable suffering it brings.
Buddha became a holy man and set out to pursue what he called The Middle Way, a lifestyle that was neither ascetic nor luxurious, neither rich nor poor. Growing up rich in a large palace hadn't brought Buddha any satisfaction—but neither had leading a grim life of ascetic self-denial. It was only one day, when Buddha sat meditating beneath the Bodhi tree—The Tree of Awakening—that he was finally able to achieve enlightenment, penetrating the inner truth of life. Having reached this state of wisdom, Buddha spent the remainder of his long life teaching others, bringing countless disciples to the same level of spiritual enlightenment as himself, and, in the process, establishing one of the world's great religions.