Identify and explain numerous literary conflicts within Erdrich "The Red Convertible." Classify (i.e., person versus self, nature, or other) and explain the significance of these conflicts to the story. Start with the most central and important, such as person versus self in Henry. The Vietnam War is one source of conflict (person vs. other), for example, as are cultural differences.

Here are three:
One conflict you could talk about has to do with identity. Henry and Lyman both have a sense of alienation or difference from White society, but more importantly, they both are in conflict with who they are as people. Lyman, for example, tends to dissociate the “real“ Lyman from the Lyman that is good at making money; his talent at business lets him own a business by age 16, but the restaurant-owning Lyman is distinct from the younger-brother Lyman, who idolizes his older brother Henry. Henry comes back from Vietnam psychologically damaged; it is as if the Henry who drove with Lyman to Alaska one summer no longer exists, and in his place is a new Henry, silent and brooding. The end of the story, when Lyman shakes Henry and tells him to “wake up,” is a plea for Henry to return to his old self, but Henry cannot do it. When he calls Lyman and himself “crazy Indians,” it’s meant to be a joke, referring to their earlier time roadtripping, but in fact it is a kind of diagnosis, a realization that Henry really is crazy, and there is no getting better.
Henry’s drowning could be seen as the result of another conflict, between man and nature. Nature is not hostile or in opposition to the brothers, however. Part of the brothers’ relationship and their identity as Indians comes from their relationship with the natural world, which is described during their road trip as a place of adventure and repose (even the car, when they first see it, is alive, “reposing” on the street). Lyman’s attempt to get Henry out of his depression by repairing the car is an expression of his hope that a reconnection to the outside world will bring the old Henry back, but their final trip to see the “high water” on the river does just the opposite. One way to understand the end of the story is to see the river as an antagonistic force, the swollen waters representing an outward manifestation of Henry’s inner turmoil. Or it could be understood as a sort of return to nature; Henry’s decision to jump in the water is just a natural to him as sleeping under the willows.
Another conflict could be man vs technology. In this conflict, the car becomes an ambiguous symbol; it seems to be alive; it is a source of pride; it is the key to Henry and Lyman’s freedom, and their escape to Alaska. On the other hand, the car is unable, in the end, to save Henry; the work he does to fix it up, far from bringing him back, only underscores his alienation from people around him. Lyman’s sabotage of the car is like his sabotage of their new color television; both are meant to help Henry, but both ultimately fail.

What is Hopkins saying about God?

Hopkins is saying that God made a world that is beautiful because it is full of variety and that we should praise him for that. Something "pied" has different splotches or patches of colors. As his title indicates, Hopkins celebrates God for making so much of the world "pied." He mentions all sorts of variety, such as skies that are streaked with two colors, a brindled (color-streaked) cow, and the contrasting colors on a trout. All of these are the "dappled" or spotted things that Hopkins appreciates in God's creation.
Basically, Hopkins is glad our world was not created in one color or with a repetitive sameness. His speaker enjoys being surprised by parts of nature that are original. He is grateful for what is "original, spare, strange." He draws an implicit contrast between what is created in a factory—items that are completely uniform—and what God creates, which consists of endless variation.

Why does Theseus urge Hermia to reconsider her decision to marry Lysander?

Hermia's father Egeus has made it perfectly clear that he wants his daughter to marry Demetrius. But Hermia's not interested; she loves Lysander and is determined to follow her heart, even going so far as to elope with her lover in the forest in order to escape her father's control. But before she runs off, Duke Theseus of Athens tries to persuade Hermia not to defy her father. He tells her that her father should be "as a god." In other words, Hermia should obey and respect her father as if he were one of the immortals.
Just before Theseus's intervention Egeus engages in an explosive rant in which he castigates his daughter for her disobedience and insists on his right as a father to do whatever he likes with her. Theseus's tone is a good deal more measured and reasonable, but his message is essentially the same: Hermia must obey her father's will, marry Demetrius, and forget all about Lysander. He tries to persuade Hermia that this is in her best interests, not least because she could end up being either confined to a monastery, or even worse, executed for her brazen defiance.

What type of government did the colonists have?

The type of government the Thirteen Colonies practiced varied by colony and depended on how the land was chartered by the King. One type of government was the basic Royal Colony. These colonies were owned and governed directly by the King. Virginia, Georgia and New York are among the few. Essentially, the land was owned by the King and he was able to choose who governed it.
A second type of government was called a proprietary colony. This system started when the King granted vast acres of land to an individual owner of the charter. This person had the power to enact his own system of government but was still closely managed by the King. Maryland and Pennsylvania were two proprietary colonies.
A third type of government was the self-governing colonies. These colonies essentially were dissenters, usually for religious reasons, who left a colony to establish a new one. They were then granted a join-stock company, which had the ability to create its own government. Once again, however, the King watched closely and could revoke the charter at any moment. This happened in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

How did Huck plot his own death?

After Huck's abusive father obtains custody of him, Huck realizes he will have to get away from him for good if he is to survive. His alcoholic father beats him, locks him up, and once, when drunk, chases him around the cabin with a knife. Huck knows he can't rely on the legal system to protect him, as they gave Pap custody of him in the first place. Therefore, he decides to take matters into his own hands and fake his death, then run away.
Huck happens to find a canoe floating down the river, in which he hides. When his father has gone, he saws his way out of the cabin. He puts supplies in his canoe. He shoots a pig, and then uses an axe to break down the cabin door. He spreads the pig's blood around and scatters some of his hair in it. He wants it to look as if somebody broke into the cabin and murdered him. He then hides in the canoe. When night falls, he heads for Jackson's Island. He barely misses his father's return, but he does successfully get away.

What is Washington Irving's purpose for writing "The Devil and Tom Walker" and what three rhetorical devices does he use to achieve this purpose?

Washington Irving was known to be a social satirist, and it is reasonable to claim that he wrote "The Devil and Tom Walker" as a critique of the increasing greed and capitalism of the late years of the industrial revolution, since the story was published in 1824. Many of the thriving mills of this period were concentrated in the northeast, and Irving recalls that this area had been taken away from Native Americans and claimed by the English, many of whom originally came to the colonies for religious reasons. Tom Walker's fall from Puritanism into greed and immorality is symbolic of the history of New England from colonial times till the time he wrote the story.
Irving uses the rhetorical device of allusion when he refers to the pirate Kidd and his treasure.
Irving uses the epithet "Old Scratch" to identify the devil.
Irving uses an analogy or metaphor to describe the economic climate of Tom Walker's town:

...the great speculating fever which breaks out every now and then in the country had raged to an alarming degree, and everybody was dreaming of making sudden fortunes from nothing.

How do ideas about "normal" and "abnormal" human behavior influence the experience of the individual? Taking this a step further, how does the concept of normal vs. abnormal become a form of oppression?

In the earliest stage of development, humans learn which rules of social behavior are accepted in varying social situations. Through experience, (most of the time) people conform to the unwritten rules of social context, which varies from culture to culture. Part of this is a human desire to be able to predict how any group of people or even an individual will react to any given stimuli. Thus, there are always social expectations about how individuals will act and react, and thus we internalize a code of "normal" and "abnormal" behaviors.
Another way to think about an "abnormal" behavior is that it is statistically less likely to happen. Some traits that are atypical don't affect human behaviors or experiences at all. For example, if someone is left-handed, that likely doesn't affect anything about their perception of themselves; likewise, it likely doesn't affect the way anyone treats them. However, it is worth noting that a lot of objects are designed for right-handed people, and people who are not right-handed must buy specially designed items to accommodate their left-handedness. In this way, left-handed people are consistently confronted with their "abnormality."
Which atypical patterns of behavior then create some form of altered experience for an individual? Much of this depends on the societal reaction to the unexpected behaviors. The feedback provided to the individual creates a feedback system that is either supportive to the individual or discouraging to them. It is necessary to consider several things when judging the impact any atypical behaviors will have on an individual:
the degree to which a person's behavior falls outside the normal expected range of behaviors
how important that societal norm is within the culture
any values a culture attaches to the variance from typical behaviors
There are so many ways that any individual's behaviors can fall outside the ranges of these parameters that likely everyone is deemed atypical in some category at some point over the course of a normal life span. However, some people fall so far outside the realms of normal and expected behaviors that they cannot function in a society that is constructed on the basis of these norms.
Rosenhan & Seligman (1989) suggest the following characteristics that define failure to function adequately:

SufferingMaladaptiveness (danger to self)Vividness & unconventionality (stands out)Unpredictably & loss of controlIrrationality/incomprehensibilityCauses observer discomfortViolates moral/social standards

Receiving a diagnosis or classification existing outside the realms of normalcy can cause stress for individuals and their families. While most people lay claim to wanting to live life as an individual, they typically want to do so within the confines of socially accepted, typical classifications. To be set apart in ways beyond one's control can feel isolating and dehumanizing. Again, the reaction from family and friends is crucial in determining how well an individual is able to cope with any atypical classification.
Oppression occurs when people who have the power in a society define what is "abnormal" as anything that is inconsistent with their own behavior (the "norm"). In this context, then, people can be oppressed when those who fall within "abnormal" realms are denied fundamental human rights or privileges that extended to the majority of members in a society. Examples of this could look like the following:
Students with learning challenges do not excel in school, since the educational system is designed for people who don't have these challenges
People with atypical behaviors are seen as invisible in public spaces (e.g., homelessness, as an "abnormality," is ignored)
Applying for a job as a physically differently-abled person is extremely difficult due to discrimination from employers or even from physical access these spaces (statistics show that such people are more likely to be turned down for jobs)
It is important to advocate for those who are "abnormal" or atypical in our society. It is important to call out oppression when you see it and to advocate for people and policies who seek to diminish these discrepancies. It also requires simply educating people about how societal norms affect those who fall outside the realms of normalcy—and how to better support people who need it.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/abnormal-psychology.html

Describe the chaos and confusion in act 1, scene 1, of The Tempest.

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a tempest can be defined as "a violent storm." Its alternate definition is "tumult, uproar." In the classic play The Tempest by William Shakespeare, there are numerous metaphorical tempests of fantasy, emotion, forbidden love, desire for revenge, politics, and colonialism. However, act 1, scene 1, of the play opens with an actual tempest of nature: full of thunder and lightning.
This natural storm that threatens the ship and the lives of all aboard creates much of the chaos and confusion in this scene. The ship's master, the boatswain, and the mariners all strive to take in the topsail, lower the topmast, and keep the ship on course so that they don't all drown.
Besides the chaos of the storm, there is further confusion due to the intrusion of the king, his counselor, and his brother. This brings on the clash of class conflict. The king is the supreme ruler, but on a ship, the captain is in charge. The king attempts to order the boatswain about, but the boatswain tells him and his party to get below into their cabins so that the mariners can do their jobs and save the ship. The boatswain says: "You do assist the storm." In other words: you make things worse by your interference.
The reluctance of the king and his party to get out of the way causes considerable confusion, which adds to the already chaotic situation brought on by the storm.

What's a summary of The Heart of the Matter?

Graham Greene’s novel explores the moral dilemmas of a middle-aged, married, Catholic, British, man when he falls in love with and has an affair with a much younger woman. Working as a colonial police officer in Sierra Leone (part of British West Africa), Major Scobie meets Helen Roit while his wife, Louise, is traveling abroad. Although he had long ago admitted to himself that their marriage had reached an impasse, Scobie is unwilling to abandon Louise, whom he feels is totally dependent on him. Furthermore, for him as a Catholic, divorce is unthinkable, but continuing to live a lie adds several kinds of torment, including his inability to confess to his sin.
The novel takes place during World War II, when the colony’s Atlantic coastal location was strategically important. Scobie’s situation becomes professionally complicated as well because he owes money to a Syrian merchant of dubious reputation, which opens him up to blackmail as he may inadvertently have involved himself in helping the merchant smuggle goods to the Nazis. Helen is not a realistic match for Scobie because she does not understand faith; age is not the real issue in that, although she is only 19, she has already been made a widow through the shipwreck that brought her to Africa and into Scobie’s life. She privileges their love over Scobie’s religious scruples. Deciding to switch one sin for another and risk his soul in doing so, Scobie decides to take his own life. He does so by faking a heart attack, hoping to fool the doctor so he will not be diagnosed as a suicide, thus trying to exploit what he imagines as a theological loophole.

How does the idea of animals and territory relate to the topic of faith in part 1 of Life of Pi?

Pi feels that the zoo is to animals what religion is to humans. It gives structure and organization to our lives. Pi does not agree with people who say animals should be allowed to roam free. He feels that animals are exposed to excessive danger in the wild and can live a much more peaceful and fulfilling life in the zoo. The same can be said of faith and religion. When left to our own devices, humans are lost. The structure of religion gives shape to our days and guides us toward a moralistic life. The animals in the zoo have faith that they will be fed and cared for within the confines of the zoo. Similarly, humans who have faith rest assured that they will be cared for as well. This is not to imply that humans will not suffer, just as the goat that is killed by the tiger in front of Pi and his brother; rather, faith supports humans through the trials and tribulations of life.

What does the narrator of "Araby" imagine himself carrying a "challenge safely through a throng of foes"? What does he desire out of life, and how does the largeness of his dreams contrast with the reality of his circumstances?

The narrator of the story says that the image of Mangan's sister "accompanied [him] even in places the most hostile to romance." He then speaks of his imaginings: how he "bore [his] chalice safely through a throng of foes" when he would walk through the "flaring streets" that were filled with drunkards and shoppers, people selling goods and singers looking to make money from the passers-by. He imagines that the love he carries for Mangan's sister is something heroic, something extraordinary, like something out of a fairy tale. He thinks of himself as a hero on some errand with divine purpose. In reality, however, he lives in early-twentieth-century Dublin, in an old home and on a street with houses which have "brown, imperturbable faces." Something has, evidently, happened to prevent his parents from raising him, and he is raised by an aunt and uncle. His family is working class. It's a buy-and-sell world where money is king and the death of the priest in the boy's house seems to signify that God has no role here. The world does not care about one little boy's feelings, and the path is not smooth to Araby: his uncle is late, the trains are delayed, entry is expensive, and there is nothing exotic about the bazaar. Only money seems to matter, as he hears the coins clinking together as men count them. As a result, he realizes his own "vanity" and loses his innocence.

The narrator of "Araby," a young boy, is an idealist. While he paints a dark and drab picture of his surroundings, he sees beyond the pale that is presented. However, his rose-colored glasses break at the end of the story as he realizes he is simply a fool in love.
At the beginning of the story, the narrator introduces us to Mangan's sister, the girl he is pining over. She is the "chalice" (not challenge) he bores "safely through a throng of foes." While he had never really spoken to her "except for a few casual words," the narrator speaks of her as if they are destined to be together. His positive outlook is in stark contrast to the dark setting that represents the truth of this "relationship."
What's interesting here is that, for the narrator, this isn't simply a boyhood crush. He recalls that "Her image accompanied [him] even in places the most hostile to romance." The word "romance" sheds light on the depth of his feelings, and the fact that he carries her (the chalice) with him throughout every moment of his day illuminates his growing infatuation. A chalice is a sacred object used in a Catholic mass, and he views her as such because she has become embedded in his heart.
As the story progresses, the narrator finally sums up the courage to speak with her. She mentions the bazaar at Araby and wishes to go but cannot because she has a prior obligation with her convent. Missing the chaste words here completely, the narrator promises to bring her something from Araby. Here, we see the narrator embark on a quest to impress his love, a grandiose odyssey that will result in unity with his mate.
Unfortunately, the end of this tale reveals the truth in the matter. As the narrator stands in the middle of a closing marketplace, he realizes his folly. He is simply a boy in love who lost sight of himself. His love is unrequited.
In the beginning, the narrator is dreaming of a fairytale romance in a picturesque world that ends happily ever after. However, his idealism betrays his heart when he comes to realize he has been foolish. He ends up alone at the bazaar which reflects the harsh reality he must now return to.

The young adolescent narrator finds his Dublin life dull, brown, and mundane. He longs for romance and a world that is richer and purer. He focuses these desires on his idealized image of Mangan's sister, who is his symbol of a more exalted existence.
As the paragraph in which the quote appears opens, the narrator tells us that the image of Mangan's sister accompanies him even into the most "unromantic" of places, infusing them with romance. He says he carries her with him like a chalice. A chalice is a cup used in the Roman Catholic church to serve communion wine. Because it holds the blood of Christ, it is a sacred object. The boy, therefore, is saying that he carries Mangan's sister's image with him as if it is holy. This suggests that he sees her and treats as pure and puts her on a pedestal. Further, she is like a chalice holding the blood of Christ (the communion wine) in that she offers him new life.
Finally, when the narrator says that he carries her through a throng of foes, he is differentiating between her and the other people in Dublin, who he sees as enemies. He is also indicating that he is protective of her image.
At the end of the story, the narrator will realize he made Mangan's sister, like the bazaar Araby, into a creation of his imagination. Neither can bring him away from his Dublin life.

The young narrator imagines himself on a heroic quest and is caught up in the throes of young love. The “chalice” that he imagines bearing through the foes that stand between him and his beloved may be compared to another chalice: the Holy Grail. In this regard, the narrator’s quest is pure and noble. In particular, the boy desperately wants to be a hero to Mangan’s sister. While adults might look on his emotions toward her as a crush, he is suffering from the deep wounds that first love can inflict. He fixates on the Araby bazaar as a place where he could find a suitable gift—something worthy of his beloved. Araby, he finds, is only a name; there is nothing exotic about the bazaar and his hopes of finding the ideal offering are dashed. Ultimately he learns that an exalted image is just that, as the sister is just another girl, and he had created his own agonies through his vanity.

Lia Lee's physical condition worsened despite the efforts of her parents and social/health professionals that tried to save her. How did this tragedy happen? How, if at all, might it have been averted?

In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, four-year-old Hmong American Lia Lee enters a vegetative state following complications of epilepsy. Author Anne Fadiman investigates the complications from the perspectives of both allopathic medical specialists and the traditional Hmong belief system.
According to her doctors in California, Lee’s opportunity for a normal life depends on how compliant her parents will be with her care plan. The doctors suspect that Lee isn’t being given her prescribed anticonvulsants. Because the family doesn’t speak English, the hospital staff doesn’t know if their noncompliance is due to misunderstanding or willful neglect. They dispatch social services and an interpreter to teach the family the importance of regularly administering the proper does of medication. Through a series of increasingly paternalistic decisions, the Western doctors make it clear that their concept of care is the only way to save Lia Lee.
The Lee family, meanwhile, is becoming more distrustful of the doctors. According to their Hmong traditions, symptoms of epilepsy are considered to be manifestations of a powerful spirit and a special life, possibly as a healer. They feel that the medication overly sedates their daughter and undermines her spirit. Eschewing her prescribed treatment, they turn to a tvix neeb, a faith healer, and begin dedicating their resources toward Lee’s often expensive traditional care.
The conflict between the allopathic and faith-based systems leads to tragedy for Lia Lee. Later interviewed by Anne Fadiman, the doctors say they didn’t know the Lee family held such beliefs about epilepsy and the “spirit.” A social worker disagrees. She notes that the Lees, via interpreters, were open with the reasons for their apprehension. In hindsight, Fadiman details the breakdown of intercultural communication. The doctors and the family turn inward toward their own traditions, never engaging in the kind of dialogue that could broaden their perspectives and possibly save Lia Lee’s life.

What is a summary of "New Year Letter" by W.H. Auden?

"New Year Letter" by W.H. Auden can be viewed as a multimedia collage in the form of poetry. The poem doesn't seem to have a central thesis or theme, although the poem is dedicated to Elizabeth Mayer. Besides a few passages referencing Mayer, the poem veers off into various subjects, including philosophical inquiries into the nature of the poetic arts and argues why poetry is important to the humanities.
The poem also depicts an idyllic version of the past in some stanzas. Auden was experimenting with a stream of consciousness style of poetry, and the fragmented train of thought found in "New Year Letter" is evidence of this.
This style of poetry would go on to influence post-modern poets such as Allen Ginsburg, especially with his epic poem about the American subculture, Howl. The poem's style and intent is also hinted in the title, with the new year symbolizing the passage of time, which is a theme that is partially touched upon in the poem.

Who are the most important poets of World War I?

A number of influential English poets sprang from the years of the Great War. Unfortunately, many of their voices had been silenced by death before the war's end. Notable British poets who offered their perspectives on the war and/or influenced later poets include Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, and T. E. Hulme.
Of these, Rupert Brooke was the one whose poetry reflected the nationalism and patriotism that characterized the young British men at the beginning of the war. Winston Churchill honored him by saying,

He was all that one would wish England's noblest sons to be in days when no sacrifice but the most precious is acceptable, and the most precious is that which is most freely proffered.

His famous sonnet "The Soldier" is representative of his work. It begins with the memorable and heart-wrenching sentiment: "If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field that is forever England." He died on a troopship in 1915.
Siegfried Sassoon is famous for introducing realism into war poetry. His sarcastic and biting verse called out the church, the military, and politicians for romanticizing and drawing out a war that was murdering young Englishmen. In "They," he derides a "Bishop" for describing how the soldiers "will not be the same; for they'll have fought in a just cause." Ironically, he twists those words and points out that their bodies—blinded, wounded, with amputated limbs—will certainly never be the same. Sassoon survived the conflict.
Wilfred Owen met Sassoon when Owen was hospitalized for shell shock (now known as post-traumatic stress disorder) after fighting a few months in the Battle of the Somme. After Sassoon's influence, Owen wrote realistic war poems such as "Dulce et Decorum Est" and "Disabled" that portrayed the war in moving language. He died in action a week before the war ended.
Another poet who wrote around the same time period and fought in the war is famous not for his war poems but for his influence on twentieth-century poetry. T. E. Hulme was one of the founders of imagism, a poetic movement that valued brevity and clear imagery. He died in battle in 1917.

How does Justin Cronin portray mortality through the character Amy in The Passage?

In The Passage, Amy is one of the people who are forced to become test subjects for the virus that turns humans into vampires. She presents hope for the survival of the human species. Amy is only six years old when Brad Wolgast, a federal agent, kidnaps her and her guardian, a nun named Lacey. The vampires escape the research facility where the experiments were conducted, which sets off a military conflict which very few humans survive, but Amy goes into hiding with Wolgast, who has recanted his position.
In the subsequent developments, a century passes before Amy resurfaces in the post-apocalyptic United States, which is largely ruled by the vampires. She has only aged a few years and is still a child. It turns out that the version of the virus that infected her is more advanced, and she is not a vampire (now called a viral). Several human (non-vampire) survivors aid her in finding and rejoining Sister Lacey, who likewise has barely aged. In the ensuing battles and nuclear bombing, many of the vampires (known as virals) are killed, and the humans, along with Amy, escape to form a new colony.
Although the novel ends ambiguously, it seems likely that Amy holds the key to immunity or possibly immortality. Although she is pure and uncorrupted, her supporters are mortal and must die, leaving it to the future generations to discover whether her biological resistance was an anomaly or can be adapted to save other humans.

What is the tone of "Raymond's Run"?

"Raymond's Run" is a first-person narrative, told from the perspective of a girl named Hazel, nicknamed Squeaky. The tone of the story, therefore, coincides with Hazel's personality and her reactions to her surroundings. It quickly becomes apparent that Hazel is a streetwise young girl ("I don't . . . believe in standing around with somebody in my face . . . I much rather just knock you down . . . And, if things get too rough, I run") and also that she is very protective of her younger brother Raymond ("he needs looking after cause he's not quite right"). When talking about her brother, and the difficulties he sometimes gets her into, she has a very matter-of-fact tone:

if you don’t watch him he’ll dash across traffic to the island in the middle of Broadway and give the pigeons a fit. Then I have to go behind him apologizing to all the old people sitting around trying to get some sun.

Hazel also has a rather dismissive, exasperated tone when talking about some of the other children in her neighborhood. Rosie, for example, is described as "too stupid to know that there is not a big deal of difference between herself and Raymond and that she can’t afford to throw stones." And, as for the gang of girls that Rosie is a part of, Hazel decides that there's "no use wasting my breath talking to shadows."
Toward the middle of the story, Hazel's tone becomes somewhat aggressive as the confrontation with the gang of girls escalates. When Hazel defends her brother from the gang and is asked sarcastically if she is his mother, she responds with, “That’s right, Fatso. And the next word out of anybody and I’ll be their mother too.”
Much of the story is also infused with a humorous tone—specifically, the wry humor that is part of Hazel's streetwise persona. For example,

the man on the loudspeaker has just announced the fifty-yard dash, although he might just as well be giving a recipe for angel food cake cause you can hardly make out what he’s sayin' for the static.

In the build-up to the race (the fifty-yard dash), the tone, mirroring Hazel's emotions, is at once nervous and excited:

I am solid again and am telling myself, Squeaky you must win, you must win, you are the fastest thing in the world, you can even beat your father up Amsterdam if you really try.

At the end of the story, Hazel's tone, and so the tone of the story, is contented and happy, and this is because she realizes that what she really cares about is not the race that the story has been building up to, but her brother. She realizes that a better, more fulfilling kind of happiness can be had if she puts her brother before herself:

So I stand there with my new plans, laughing out loud by this time as Raymond jumps down from the fence and runs over with his teeth showing . . . by the time he comes over I’m jumping up and down, so glad to see him—my brother Raymond.

The tone of Toni Cade Bambara’s story “Raymond’s Run” goes through a metamorphosis as the feelings of the protagonist change from the beginning to the end. Throughout much of the story the tone is antagonistic as Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker, better known as Squeaky, defends both her brother Raymond and herself in their Harlem neighborhood. Squeaky defends the two of them physically and emotionally. Although Raymond is older than Squeaky, he is disabled, and as a result he is looked upon as her younger brother. The other children in the neighborhood are mean to Raymond, but Squeaky defends him. Squeaky’s antagonistic attitude spills over into her life both at school and in her friendships. She shows her distain for people, such as Cynthia Proctor, who she feels are fake and challenge her running ability.
During the resolution of the story, an introspective tone surfaces. When Squeaky wins the May Day race, she is more focused on seeing her brother in a different light. He was able to run stride for stride with her, so she sees him as a person who is able to accomplish things in spite of his disabilities. In addition, she faced a challenge from Gretchen P. Lewis in the race. Squeaky begins to think of others instead of focusing only on herself and her pursuits.

How does Krakauer develop characters in Into Thin Air?

Author John Krakauer develops characters in this non-fiction book in the same manner that most authors routinely develop characters. Krakauer uses both direct and indirect characterization to build and develop the characters (who are real people) in this book. Direct characterization occurs when an author or narrator directly tells the reader specifics about a character. Indirect characterization occurs when the narrator has the reader deduce characteristics of a character by observing his/her behavior, speech, appearance, and manner of communication with other characters. Additionally, indirect characterization occurs through how other characters respond to a character. What I find great about Krakauer's characterization in this book is how quickly and seamlessly the narration flips and flops between the two types of characterization. Take the following passage for an example.

In many ways, Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants site served as a sort of town hall for Base Camp, largely because nobody on the mountain was more respected than Hall, who was on Everest for his eighth time. Whenever there was a problem—a labor dispute with the Sherpas, a medical emergency, a critical decision about climbing strategy—people came to him for advice. And Hall, always generous, offered his accumulated wisdom freely to the very rivals who were competing with him for clients, most notably Scott Fischer.

In this paragraph, readers are directly told that Rob Hall is both respected and generous. Those details are woven together with great indirect characterization. Krakauer tells us that Hall is respected, but we deduce how much he is respected by seeing that "whenever there was a problem," Hall is the guy that everybody goes to. It's one thing for Krakauer to say that a character is respected, but it's an entirely different thing for Krakauer to show readers this through the behavior of other characters. We also are left to deduce that Hall is quite an experienced Everest climber, since he is on the mountain for the eighth time.

How do characters (hero or non-hero) in the Greek epics The Iliad and The Odyssey respond to the notion of heroism?

The Iliad and The Odyssey, both written by the Ancient Greek poet Homer, are two of the most studied and most admired epic poems of Ancient Greek literature. The Iliad is one of the best historical accounts of the Trojan War, and it centers on the Ancient Greek hero Achilles. The Odyssey focuses around the Ancient Greek king of Ithaca, Odysseus, as he returns home after the fall of Troy. Odysseus plays an important role in The Iliad as well.
Almost every character in Homer’s epic poems, including the antagonists, deeply value the notions of honor and heroism, and I would even go as far as to say that they value honor more than life itself. Thus, heroes and non-heroes respond quite similarly to the notions of heroism and glory. Homer tells us that almost all of his characters were ready to give their lives for their country, for the greater good, or for a personal cause they believed in; for them, to be considered heroic was the greatest honor in the world. To die for something grand means that their sacrifice will be considered brave and noble and that they will always be regarded as heroes. This is definitely the case with Achilles in The Iliad, but perhaps not as much with Odysseus in The Odyssey, as the Greek king shamelessly values his own life above all else, even when his prophesied fate is to die.
The characters from both The Iliad and The Odyssey do not see death as punishment or defeat; instead, they see it as an act of heroism. Dying as a hero is honorable, and dying as a coward is considered shameful and disgraceful; in fact, to be remembered as a coward or a traitor and have a tarnished reputation is considered the worst possible failure by both Homer's protagonists and his antagonists.
The notions of heroism and honor are especially important to the heroes. Homeric heroes believe that heroism and glory can only be achieved by showing immense courage, strength, bravery, and dignity on the battlefield; they remain loyal to their countries, and they treat soldiers, victims, and enemies alike with respect. To be a hero for them means that they have to be responsible and disciplined and fulfill society’s expectations of them. Thus, they mold and shape their identities according to society’s perceptions and norms and play the role of the hero both at home and on the battlefield.
However, to be a hero also means they must not be arrogant and convinced that they are invincible; on the contrary, they have to be humble and honorable, especially before the mighty gods. Thus, arrogance, betrayal, and cowardice are the main qualities that separate the heroes from the villains.

In your opinion, which one of the ten commandments is hard to obey?

The one that is hard to obey depends on the person. We all have our challenges in life and some of they affect us differently. I have my strengths and weaknesses and so does everyone else. So it really depends on what we are the weakest in.
In addition, the ten commandments were direct laws that the Israelites were expected to follow, but there were over 200 additional laws and principles that they were also expected to adhere to.
Some might say the law about being covetous is the hardest because it is one that no one except God might know that you have coveted someone because there is no physical or tangible evidence to prove a person covets another, but that is why I would not say it's the hardest, because we all at times may look at a cute couple and if I am the man looking may for a brief moment wish I had a woman I see another man with, but taking it to another level by trying to get the woman even using schemes to do so is down right blatant. Whereas, stealing might be something that one might just enjoy doing because one is greedy and has to always feel that whatever they desire they should always get at any cost.
It really depends on the condition of the heart. The ten commandments does not speak against smoking, watching pornography, but there are other principles to justify why these things are wrong but why some find it difficult to do.
Jesus gave two basic commandments that we all should follow and covers the entire ten commandments but using the principles of the commandments to help us. These two commandments are found at John 13:34,35.

Christian obedience is motivated and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Bible makes a clear distinction between false obedience or legalism, and Spirit empowered obedience. The former is man's effort to keep the law and get right with God. This is impossible since man owes an infinite legal debt to God and does not have the resources to pay that debt. In Psalms 49:7,8. the Psalmist says, "Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice."
In contrast, an obedience that is empowered by the Holy Spirit is based on the finished worked of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who have been set free from the law of sin and death, are given a new power to obey. They are filled with the Holy Spirit and new obedience. Obedience is the work of the Holy Spirit. The more we are saturated with His Word, the more we are filled with His Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18 and Col. 3:16).
When the fullness of the Spirit indwells the believer, He frees us from legalism and empowers us to full obedience.

One might think that the ten commandments are very hard to obey since we do encounter many challenges every day from the time we wake up from our bed and go back to sleep. But here is a thing, if you keep your faith strong and trust in the words (the ten commandments) of the Lord, you won't have a problem in obeying any of the commandments

They are all hard to follow. There are over 600 sins listed in the bible, not just the 10 commandments, but these commandments are given to us to show us what God's standards are. There has only been one person that has ever lived up to God's standards completely and that person was Jesus Christ. Our mission is to strive for His Christ worthy perfection. Although, we will never meet this goal, it is still what we are all called to do.
So, Which of the 10 Commandments is hard to obey?
I believe this question is dependent upon the individual. So, this answer is not a blanket answer for everyone, but based of of an article from mentalfloss.com (http://mentalfloss.com/article/30609/60-people-cant-go-10-minutes-without-lying) 60% of people can't go longer than 10 minutes without telling a lie. 86% of people lie to their parents regularly, 75% to their friends, 73% to their siblings, and 69% to their spouses. Now, for the sake of argument, most lies told are harmless, little "white lies" but according to the Bible, a lie is a lie.
So, based off of statistics, it seems, Commandment number 9: Thou shalt not bare false witnesses or Thou shalt not lie, is statistically the hardest of the commandments to obey.
In short, as a people, we all lie. At some point in our lives we have lied. Whether it was a lie about drinking with our friend or if we told our wives that outfit look nice, when in reality it made her look like an old hag. We are all guilty of this. White lies are still lies, whether we think they are or not.

They are all hard to obey. However, I would say that “do not covet” is the most difficult, especially in this day and age. The internet, from social media platforms to sneaky ads, makes it very easy to envy the things and the lifestyles that other people have. In a way, coveting the lives of people we do not know (such as prominent figures on social media) can be harder to get over than coveting the lives of people we actually interact with. This is because people can easily hide the difficult and non-glamorous aspects of their lives from the prodding eyes of social media users and can therefore seem “perfect” and enviable to these users. I think it has always been a natural tendency for people to covet what they cannot have, but I do believe “do not covet” becomes a more difficult commandment to follow as technology continues to play a larger and more varied role in our daily lives.

In Elizabeth Bishop's "Letter to N.Y.," please identify several of the literary devices that she uses in the poem.

Bishop uses apostrophe in this poem, which is when a poem's speaker directly addresses someone or something who isn't there. Because the poem is called a "letter," and because in the first line the speaker refers to "your next letter," we know she is speaking to someone who is absent.
Similes also appear in the poem. Simile is a comparison that uses "like" or "as." An example of a simile is the following:

the meter glares like a moral owl

This way, we can imagine a parking meter looking like an owl.
Another simile is:

one side of the buildings rises with the sunlike a glistening field of wheat.

Both similes employ visual imagery, words that describe things we can see. We can imagine sun shining on a building in the early morning, lighting it up like a wheat field.
Bishop uses end rhymes, though she does so irregularly from stanza to stanza. Some examples are as follows from the first stanza: "say" and "plays" rhyme, as do "doing" and "pursuing." In stanza three "caves" and "waves" rhyme.
The poem also employs alliteration, which is when words close to each begin with the same consonant. This creates a sense of rhythm and places emphasis on the alliterative words. Examples in the poem include a line we have already quoted:

the meter glares like a moral owl.

The repeated "m" in "meter" and "moral" are alliterative. This line also uses personification, which is the attributing of human characteristics to an animal or object. In this case, a meter is likened to an owl, which is given the human characteristic of being moral.

What makes the sight from the coppice gate so depressing in "The Darkling Thrush"?

The view from the coppice gate is so depressing because it is a dreary winter day in the late afternoon (the speaker refers to this time as the "weakening eye of day") as the sun is beginning to go down. Everything looks gray and desolate. It is cold, and the frost covering the landscape is a ghostly "spectre" gray.
Bine stems—the branches of bushes—seem to score or scratch they sky. We can imagine them as dead and spindly this time of year. They look like broken lyre strings against the sky (a lyre is an instrument similar to a guitar).
No people populate this chilly, bleak, desolate landscape, adding to the depressing feeling. The speaker tells us that they are huddled around their fires inside. This conveys the idea that this is not a day anyone would want to be outside.

What is ironic about the fort that the Indians built?

A fort is supposed to be a place of safety, a haven to protect the people inside its walls and battlements from the ravages of war. Yet in "The Devil and Tom Walker" it's anything but. As well as not having done any favors for the Indians themselves in days gone by, it's now become a place where greedy men sell their souls to the devil. When foolish souls venture out to this neck of the woods in search of buried pirate treasure, they are placing themselves in a vulnerable situation, virtually crying out to be tempted by the Devil himself. Just as the fort couldn't protect the Indians, now it cannot afford protection to the mortal souls of those such as Tom Walker.

In Hatchet, why did Brian's mother give him a hatchet? How did Brian feel about the gift?

In Hatchet, Brian’s family is falling apart. His mother is having an affair, something he calls “The Secret,” and she is seeking a divorce from his father, who lives in Canada. Brian is legally forced to spend the school year with his mother, something he detests, and he is only allowed to visit his father in the summer.
Brian’s mother doesn’t know that he is aware of her affair and its part in the divorce. However, the affair is responsible for Brian being distant from her. She attempts to win him over some by going to a hardware store and buying him a hatchet which she says, “The man at the store said you could use it. You know. In the woods with your father." (Chapter 1) The gift is not meant to be a bonding tool for Brian and his dad, but instead can be understood as an attempt to bridge the divide that has grown between Brian and his mom since the divorce.
Brian is not super thrilled about the hatchet. He says it makes him look “hokey,” but he tries it on because he is still trying to figure out how to talk to his mom. Lucky for him, he puts the hatchet on and forgets about it. He wears it on his belt all the way to the airport, on the plane, and through the crash. Without it, it is unlikely that he would have survived—which is probably why the story is called Hatchet.

How does this work portray private life?

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is powerful because it constructs a vision of the private life that is not a sanctuary from the outside world.
Williams' construction of the family life is one where the same terrors and sense of hurt which is seen in the cold and cruel outside world is evident in the private realm. Big Daddy rails against mendacity is meaningful because he sees it in the outside world and in the private realm. Such a strong stance against mendacity is confirmed with the machinations that drive Gooper and Mae. Brick is unable to escape the pain from the outside world, seeing his own domestic realm as one of inescapable hell and pain. Maggie recognizes that the skills used to advance in the outside world such as keeping appearances and concealing over the truth have to be applied in the darkened realms of the bedroom and in the most intimate of moments.
The private life is not a sanctuary from hurt and suffering, but an extension of it behind closed doors. Williams was ahead of his time in addressing how our private realms can be mere appropriations of a cruel and hurt-filled world. In seeking to illuminate a new dimension of what the private world can possess, Williams explores the pain of the private life with precision and depth.

What was the nature of Elie and his father's relationship, and how did it change throughout the book?

Elie's relationship to his father is arguably the most important in the whole book. It's also the most ambiguous. When he's separated from his family at Auschwitz, Elie chooses to remain with his father. Despite remaining constantly at his father's side, Elie doesn't intervene whenever his father is beaten by SS officers. Although he feels protective towards his father, he will not—indeed, cannot—do anything to protect him.
To a large extent, Elie's conflicting feelings towards his father stem from the differences in their respective attitudes towards religion. Before he was deported to Auschwitz, Elie was a very devout Jew. However, his father didn't understand his strong religious devotion, and there's a sense that Elie turned to God as a surrogate figure to provide him with the kind of comfort that his father couldn't or wouldn't provide.
Elie makes it clear that he feels an abiding sense of guilt and shame over his father's death, of not doing more to protect him. He feels that he abandoned his father to his fate, concentrating instead on the daily struggle for survival. Even so, Elie describes the circumstances surrounding his father's death in less than emotional terms. As he freely admits, he shed no tears over his father's death when it happened; all he could think about was an extra ration of soup.
This indicates not just the ambiguity surrounding the father–son relationship but also the extent to which Elie's emotional life has been numbed by his brutalizing experience of life in the camp.

What happens following King Lear's abdication?

Evidently Shakespeare thought that an absolute monarch was necessary for a stable government. When Lear decides to abdicate and divides his kingdom into two parts, he not only brings down disaster on his own head, but he creates chaos. This is represented by conflicts between Edmund and Edgar, between Gloucester and Edgar, and later between Edmund and his father. There are conflicts between Gloucester and Regan, conflicts between Gloucester and Albany, and between Albany and one of his servants, into which Regan intervenes. The fact that one of Gloucester's servants turns against him suggests a revolutionary spirit developing at the lower social levels. There are also conflicts between Goneril and Gloucester and between Cornwall and Gloucester. Then Kent enters the scene, and there are conflicts between him and Oswald, between Kent and Albany, Kent and Regan, Kent and Goneril, and Kent and Cornwall. Lear has serious conflicts with both his daughters and their husbands. Then Lear has a conflict with the storm, which seems to symbolize the coming troubles that will beset the land. Edgar has a similar sort of conflict with the elements. After Cornwall's death, there is conflict between Goneril and Regan over the handsome, ambitious Edmund. There was already a conflict brewing between the sisters' husbands over political and territorial matters, as Gloucester confides to Edmund. When news of Lear's mistreatment by his two daughters reaches France, a French army invades England, leading to a large-scale international conflict. Cordelia, who arrives with the French forces, is now in conflict with Goneril, Regan, and Albany. Edgar comes into conflict with Oswald and kills him. There are so many conflicts going on in different places at more or less the same time that it is hard to keep track of them all. This may have been Shakespeare's intention. He may have wanted to represent a state of general chaos. None of these conflicts would have occurred if Lear had not given up his throne and with it his status as a symbol of law and order.
When Macbeth murders the legitimate King Duncan, a state of chaos develops in Scotland, leading to the invasion by an English army of 10,000 men. The monarch must be powerful and legitimate.
Shakespeare dramatizes a similar theme in Julius Caesar. After Caesar's assassination, a power vacuum is created. He was a symbol of unity, stability, and supreme authority, and he was on his way to becoming crowned king when the conspirators struck. Mark Antony predicts what is going to happen as a result of absolute rule being demolished.
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy
Which like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue,
A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy;
Blood and destruction shall be so in use,
And dreadful objects so familiar,
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war;
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds,
And Caesar's spirit ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war,
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.
Act III, Scene 1

Describe the impact of immigration on the racial composition of the United States. Introduce concepts surrounding race and ethnicity in society and how these concepts are socially constructed—throughout history, these concepts have been used to label and stereotype people and have been the root for many dimensions of inequality.

Since the United States became a country in the 1770s, immigration rates and ethnic composition have changed considerably. These changes included a shift from a primarily-European immigrant population (who, for the most part, voluntary immigrated) to a long era of slavery that forced the expansion of enslaved African populations. Additionally, there was another phase in US history that saw a large influx of Asian immigrants. These changes contributed to the highly diverse array of people from every country that is evident in contemporary American society.
Furthermore, because the population of indigenous American people declined in the first few decades of American independence and has remained relatively low, the majority of the US population has been composed of immigrants and their descendants.
Currently, ethnic composition is relatively diverse and has been increasing in recent years. People who self-identify as black or of-African-descent constitute about 13 percent of the population and those who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino account for more than 18 percent. As of 2016, more than 13 percent of US residents were foreign born, and of these about 45 percent are naturalized US citizens.
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219

https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/u-s-immigration-before-1965

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/17/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/

What is Fitzgerald’s attitude toward the rich? How does your view of Daisy change over the course of the novel?

F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said about those who are born rich:

Let me tell you about the very rich. They think they are different from you and me. . . . They think . . . that they are better than we are.

I want to be very clear that Fitzgerald did not say this in The Great Gatsby. However, his narrator, Nick Carraway, depicts the very wealthy Daisy and Tom in the novel in a similar way, as "careless" people who think they are better than everyone else. They use people not of their class for their own convenience and then move on. Any damage they cause, they leave behind for other people to clean up. For example, they simply disappear from Long Island after Myrtle and Gatsby die. Nick is left to take of care of Gatsby's funeral. They never once apologize for the suffering they have caused. When Nick runs into Tom much later, Tom tells him that Gatsby had it coming to him, even though Tom is the one who set him up to be killed by George.
As for Daisy, there are signs from the first chapter that she is deceptive. Nick comes home from the first dinner at her house feeling she has played games with him, and over the course of the novel that perception is fulfilled. We learn that she is morally weak and probably never had any intention of leaving Tom for Gatsby. She most likely used him to get back at Tom for his affairs. When she runs over Myrtle and keeps on going, one feels even less sympathy for her, and even less when she deserts Gatsby. Daisy is a character who one might start out thinking is a victim of Tom but who uses up our goodwill and capacity to feel sorry for her.

What role does disillusion play in Inferno, canto XXXIV, in Dante's Divine Comedy? What role does disillusion play in "The Explosion" by Larkins? Find two or three examples in which the authors include the themes of vision and disillusion in both poems. Write one paragraph on both poems.

In canto XXXIV of Inferno, Dante and Virgil have at long last reached the very bottom of hell, known as Judecca. This level of hell is reserved for people who have betrayed their benefactors, and sinners here are completely frozen in ice. Disillusion plays a role when Dante slowly approaches a giant, mist-shrouded shape. When the fog clears, he beholds Satan. The disillusion of this figure is so shocking to Dante that he considers for a moment that he might be dead. Disillusion also plays a huge role in the poem "The Explosion" by Philip Larkin. The poem details the moments leading up to a mine disaster. The disillusion is illustrated in the fact that everything seems ordinary to the miners before the moment of the explosion. The environment around the mine seems cheerful and serene, and there is no sign whatsoever of impending doom.

Controversies in intelligence and standardized assessment Given the problems with tests, should we continue to use them? What guidelines would you provide if you think we should still use them? If you do not think we should use them, what would you do to give us useful information and help in decision making and serve the purpose that they did? Reference/Cite proof of your Responses.

Note: the information I have provided in parentheses corresponds to the citations I have listed at the bottom of this response.
Because standardized testing, particularly through the use of IQ assessments and the SAT, is one of the most highly reliable and trusted metrics that psychologists and other educators have to measure individual intelligence and learning, it is difficult to make a definitive answer as to whether it should be done away with entirely. However, there are obvious drawbacks to the process. Instead of abandoning the use of standardized testing altogether, especially considering that there is no suitable replacement at the moment, it might be helpful to consider what some of these drawbacks are and how future tests can be modified so as to respond to them.
One of the first issues associated with standardized testing is that it is not a very good indicator of general intelligence, which might be roughly defined as a person’s capacity for understanding complex ideas, adapting effectively to the environment, learning from experience, reasoning, and problem solving (Neisser and others, 1996; Sternberg, 1997). Instead, standardized testing almost overwhelmingly measures a person’s aptitude for academic success.
To begin, the IQ (intelligence quotient) test is designed to measure a person’s cognitive performance in relationship to other people of the same age. It is derived from the following equation:

IQ = (mental age / chronological age) * (100)

In order to determine a person’s mental age, psychologists have a number of methods, but today the most commonly used metric is the Wechsler Scale. In this test, a person is evaluated according to their completion of various verbal- and performance- based tasks. In general, verbal tasks assess knowledge of language-based associations, whereas performance tasks test spatial awareness. For example, a verbal subtest may ask a question like, “What does the word inane mean in the context of this sentence?” A performance subtest would require a person to identify a pattern in a picture and fill in the missing parts.
The problem with this kind of test, however, is that with the emergence of mass testing, IQ tests are almost exclusively administered via paper format or electronically. The format of the test, therefore, in many ways mimics the format of a classroom, and test-taking operations are limited as a result. Furthermore, IQ test questions rarely correspond to the application of practical knowledge that a person may have acquired in the real world. Vocabulary and arithmetic subtests on the Wechsler Scale overwhelmingly test abilities that would be most relevant in a classroom setting, leaving little room for the expression of alternative intelligence types.
To follow through with the aforementioned point, psychologists have long recognized the existence of different planes of intelligence. Much of what is assessed on IQ tests measures what the US psychologist Louis Thurstone in 1938 referred to as "primary mental abilities," which include things like visual and spatial abilities, numerical ability, and verbal ability. These are important areas of intelligence, no doubt, but they hardly represent the full range of cognitive ability. Over the years, various other psychologists have come up with new theories of intelligence that have augmented the primary mental abilities that are common to most people. For example, in 1983, Howard Gardner proposed his Theory of Multiple Intelligences, which, in addition to Language, Spatial-relational, and Logical-mathematical skills, also included previously ignored cognitive abilities, including Musical, Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Bodily-kinesthetic skills. Around the same time, psychologist Robert Sternberg proposed a new, Triarchic Theory of intelligence, in which the “Componental Intelligence” that forms the stuff of IQ tests was only one part (Sternberg, 1997). Sternberg argued that intelligence is also derived from experience and context, something that academic standardized tests do a poor job of measuring.
Other factors affect the validity of standardized testing as well. It is well known that in the 1920s, American universities used intelligence tests to exclude immigrants from admittance, and psychologists now recognize that these kinds of tests can not and do not accurately represent the intelligence of people who do not speak English as their first language. Still, the SAT (or the GRE, MCAT, LSAT, and other graduate-level examinations) is the only test used to assess the future academic potential of incoming applicants in most universities, a test fully administered in English. Furthermore, even within the United States among children and students who speak English, significant environmental, cultural, and ethnic factors can leave some individuals at a disadvantage in taking standardized tests, a phenomenon known as cultural bias. Overall, standardized tests seem to reflect the cognitive capacity primarily of middle-class, white culture in America (Garcia, 1981).
African Americans, for example, suffer from several kinds of cultural bias on tests. In one experiment, psychologists suggested that African Americans feel that they must perform at above-average levels on academic tests in order to do away with the cultural stigma that black students are intellectually inferior to white students. This is an example of what psychologists call stereotype vulnerability, and it significantly affects the outcome of African American standardized test scores. This perceived burden increases these students’ performance anxiety, which in turn can cause lower scores in comparison with their white classmates (Steele, 1996, 1997). There are several other instances of cultural bias that can lead to poor performance on standardized testing that does not necessarily reflect intelligence level.
In keeping all of this information in mind, we may come closer to an answer to your question. I do not think that throwing out the concept of standardized tests altogether would be an effective solution, because there is no guarantee that their replacement would resolve the issues that I have just mentioned. Therefore, a useful first step would be to take these issues, as well as other problems, into consideration when revising annual iterations of standardized tests, especially such universally determining ones like the IQ and SAT. First, it may help to design a test that does more than simply measure a student’s mathematical and verbal comprehension skills. Tests that would allow for responses that are determined more by personal experience, individual cultural characteristics, and different intelligence types would more accurately reflect the range of intelligences test-takers have and would likely be more useful in predicting what majors/career fields would be best suited to individual test-takers. This would likely require a format that moved beyond multiple-choice questions and incorporated essays, personal interviews, artistic renderings, and various other formats of inquiry. Administering tests that do not overly rely on multiple-choice analysis would be one of the best ways to measure different degrees of intelligence, but because academia in general is not funded well enough to accommodate this style, systemic political reform would also need to occur.
Citations:
Garcia, J. (1981). The logic and limits of mental aptitude testing. American Psychologist, 36, 1172-1180.
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind. New York: Basic Books.
Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., bouchard, T. J., Jr., Boykin, A. W., Brody, N., Ceci, S. J., Halpern, D. F., Loehlin, J. C., Perloff, R., Sternberg, R. J., and Urbina, S. (1996). Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns. American Psychologists, 51, 77-101.
Steele, C. M. (1996, August). The role of stereotypes in shaping intellectual identity. Master lecture presented to the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto.
Steele, C. M. (1997). A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. American Psychologist, 52, 613-629.
Sternberg, R. J. (1997). The concept of intelligence and its role in lifelong learning and success. American Psychologist, 52, 1030-1037.

How did the speaker of "My Last Duchess" describe the person on the wall?

The Duke's none too kind about the last duchess, whose portrait he shows to the Court emissary. But then, he did have her killed, so that's hardly surprising. By way of justification for his deadly deed, the Duke proceeds to give the emissary certain details of the late duchess' personality which place her in an unflattering light.
For one thing, she was too easily pleased. Almost everything she laid eyes on—whether a bowl of cherries given to her by a courtier, a sunset, or a white mule she used to ride around the terrace—caused her to speak words of approval, even blush sometimes.
A further problem with the duchess, according to her widower, is that she thanked everyone for whatever they gave her with the same degree of enthusiasm. The Duke was sorely offended by this alleged slight, as it put the 900-year-old name he'd given the duchess by marrying her on the same level as the very humblest of gifts. And for the Duke, that was nothing short of insulting.
Yes, the duchess always used to smile at the Duke whenever he passed her, but then, she used to smile at everyone else too. Once again, the Duke was being treated the exact same way as those he considers his social inferiors. More than anything else, it was this alleged outrage to his sense of propriety that convinced the Duke to have the duchess killed.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43768/my-last-duchess

For a project on Shoeless Joe, I need to have four quotes from the whole book on things that do not make sense in the real world or I have a problem with. Could anyone provide me with quotes with page numbers?

Much of W. P. Kinsella’s novel addresses the relationship between reality and fantasy. Overall, the haunting figures of both Ray’s father and the baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson play important roles in Ray’s project to build the baseball field. Although both figures seem very real to him, he knows that both men are dead—Joe Jackson played for the White Sox in the 1910s—but he also interacts with them like living people. He does hesitate to tell other people, such as his wife, about his visions. Each reader will approach these fantastic persons and events differently and may experience problems with any of them.
"Ease his pain” and “fulfill the dream”: Ray connects with J. D. Salinger and takes him to stadiums. Salinger was a real person, and he was alive at the time Kinsella wrote the novel so he could feasibly have gone to baseball games. Because he was a confirmed recluse who never ventured far from his hometown, it is virtually certain that he would not have been persuaded to go around to stadiums. In this vision, he also actively participates in Ray’s plan. Some critics have regarded Kinsella’s use of Salinger in his fiction as problematic.

Within the baselines anything can happen. Tides can reverse; oceans can open, . . . lives can alter . . . .

This statement makes sense as a metaphor but not literally. It offers an overview of the novel’s central premise that baseball has tremendous power. For Ray, however, the statement is literally true; his and Salinger’s lives are altered by the actions inside the baselines.
“If you build it, he will come.”: Once the field is completed, the prophecy Ray heard comes true. He built it, and they do come—the deceased players arrive to play ball.
“This must be heaven.”: When Shoeless Joe arrives on Ray’s field, and Ray shows him around, he is overwhelmed by the quality of the work Ray has done, especially the outfield.

[W]e'll hardly realize that we're talking of love, and family, and life, and beauty, and friendship, and sharing.

The final reunion and game between Ray and his father is similar to the ball game of the deceased players but has a much more personal meaning for Ray. He needs the symbolic reunion and conversation with his late father who, 20 years after his death, is young enough for catch.
Page numbers will vary by edition.

What technology developments impacted industrialization and urbanization, and what were their impacts?

Urbanization and industrialization were closely tied together during the Gilded Age when people could not live outside the city and still make it to work on time. Two major advancements would be improvements in the railroad system and the tenement. Without the railroad, it would have been impossible to ship goods quickly all over the country. This called for improvements in the manufacture of steel. Bessemerization was a process that burned off impurities in steel. It made the product stronger and cheaper to manufacture. This allowed for more railroads.
Another development which was also dependent on the steel industry was the growth of the high-rise. The cost of land in major cities quickly increased so factory owners looked to build higher buildings. The tenement allowed for more workers to live in an area close to the factory. These tenements were poorly maintained and were pools of disease and crime; however, they were often what the new immigrants coming to America could afford at the time. They also provided work spaces for immigrants, as many in the garment industry and cigarette industry often had to work at home as well in order to make ends meet. The tenement, aided by the growth of the steel industry, provided a means for workers to live cheaply and close to their workplaces.
Another development would be electricity. Electricity allowed workers to work around the clock, thus increasing factory profits. Electricity also provided lighting and more safety to the tenements. Electricity would also make workers less dependent upon steam to power factory machines. Low-cost electricity would make factories quite efficient, create more jobs, and lead to the United States being one of the leading manufacturing powers by 1914.

What were the traits of the New England colonies?

There are several traits to discuss with the New England colonies. Let's think about them in terms of political, economic, and cultural, for organizational purposes. Politically, the New England colonies operated on a charter system. Essentially, these states had governors and were democratically elected. The charters, however, were controlled by the English monarchy.
Economically, the colonies relied on fishing and trading as their primary sources of income. Subsistence farming was definitely possible, but it was very difficult because of the New England geography and climate, having rocky soils and harsh winters. The colonies benefited from a vast coastline that harbored ports essential for trading and fishing.
Culturally, the colonies shared similar religious practices. Most of the New England colonists practiced the Puritan religion. These colonies were an escape from religious persecution, much like other colonies in America at that time. This religion focused on establishing New England as a religious area, unlike England at the time.
https://m.landofthebrave.info/new-england-colonies.htm

How old is Mary Morston in The Sign of Four?

In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's second novel, The Sign of Four, published in 1890, we are introduced to Miss Mary Morstan.

Miss Morstan entered the room with a firm step and an outward composure of manner. She was a blonde young lady, small, dainty, well gloved, and dressed in the most perfect taste. There was, however, a plainness and simplicity about her costume which bore with it a suggestion of limited means. The dress was a sombre grayish beige, untrimmed and unbraided, and she wore a small turban of the same dull hue, relieved only by a suspicion of white feather in the side. Her face had neither regularity of feature nor beauty of complexion, but her expression was sweet and amiable, and her large blue eyes were singularly spiritual and sympathetic. In an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents, I have never looked upon a face which gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature.

As to her age, we need to deduce that, as did Doctor Watson at the end of the chapter, from the facts she presented to Sherlock Holmes.

"I was placed, however, in a comfortable boarding establishment at Edinburgh, and there I remained until I was seventeen years of age. In the year 1878 my father, who was senior captain of his regiment, obtained twelve months' leave and came home. He telegraphed to me from London that he had arrived all safe, and directed me to come down at once . . ."

So, seventeen years old in 1878.

"He disappeared upon the 3d of December, 1878,—nearly ten years ago."

Seventeen years old in 1878, nearly ten years ago. Now 26 or 27 years old, depending on the date she went to see Sherlock Holmes and her actual birth date.
Doctor Watson deduced similarly.

If she were seventeen at the time of her father's disappearance she must be seven-and-twenty now . . .

Dr. John Watson and Miss Mary Morstan are married in 1889. Mary is mentioned or appears briefly in The Adventure of the Crooked Man, The Man With the Twisted Lip, and The Boscombe Valley Mystery. Mary died from undisclosed causes at some time after 1891 and before 1894, between The Final Problem and The Adventure of the Empty House.

Who was Henrietta Lacks? When and where did she live?

Henrietta Lacks was born in Roanoke, Virginia on August 1, 1920. She died on October 4, 1951 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. She was an African American woman and mother of five children. She grew up in Virginia and moved to Maryland with her husband. Henrietta Lacks died from cancer. She is extremely important in the world of science because cells of hers that were biopsied without her consent became the first immortalized cell line. These cells are now known as HeLa cells. They are unique and important for medical research because of how well they grow in tissue culture. Instead of dying after a couple of days, the HeLa cells have exceptionally high reproduction rates; therefore, the cells can be kept alive for much longer. Jonas Salk even used HeLa cells in 1954 to develop his polio vaccine.
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/henriettalacks/index.html

Why was Harry Truman so unpopular at the end of his presidency?

From about the midpoint on of his Presidency, Harry S. Truman experienced catastrophically bad approval ratings. From November 1951 to February of the following year, he registered a measly 33% approval rating from the American people, which at that time was unprecedented.
There are a number of reasons for such unpopularity. First and foremost was Truman's conduct of the Korean War. The President's Republican opponents, as well as some within his own party, criticized Truman for what they saw as an over-cautious approach to the war. Instead, they recommended a more robust, aggressive response to what they saw as the Communist threat.
Public opinion tended to side with the Republicans, especially after Truman relieved General MacArthur of his command due to irreconcilable differences between these two outsized personalities over the war's conduct. MacArthur was very popular with the American people, and so when Truman let him go, public opinion inevitably turned against the President. Though Truman's approval ratings eventually rose slightly, they never moved out of the 30s, a shockingly low figure by anyone's standards.

Why is James Oglethorpe considered to be important?

James Oglethorpe (1696-1785) was a British Member of Parliament, soldier, philanthropist, and social reformer. However, he is chiefly remembered for having founded the colony of Georgia.
General James Oglethorpe named the province Georgia after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia Colony was the last of the thirteen colonies formed by Great Britain in America.
General Oglethorpe envisioned Georgia as a habitat for the British poor who were struggling in debtors' prisons in the UK.
The General is also remembered for his leadership during the Spanish invasion of Georgia. Under his command, the British defeated the Spaniards in the Battle of Gully Hole Creek and Battle of Bloody Marsh. These ultimately led to Spain's official recognition of British rights over Georgia.
Under Oglethorpe, the colony's original charter prohibited slavery. Liquor was banned and there were restrictions on uninhibited land acquisition by settlers.
Oglethorpe holds a special place in the heart of Americans. Not only did he strive to establish a colony based on humanitarian ideals, he also made his admiration for America known when John Adams visited England as the American ambassador to the court of the British monarch.

Do you agree with the Chief that the course of events leading to the violent episode between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched was inevitable? Why or why not?

I do believe that the violent conflict between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy is inevitable because of who they are as characters. They both are strong-willed and do not compromise their own characters. They stick to who they are, and given that their personalities are conflicting, the ending conflict between them is inevitable.
McMurphy is a joker and a gambler. He is not afraid of the Big Nurse. Chief Bromden observes the effect McMurphy has on the rest of the Ward.

There was times that week when I’d hear that full-throttled laugh, watch [McMurphy] scratching his belly and stretching and yawning and leaning back to wink at whoever he was joking with, everything coming to him just as natural as drawing breath, and I’d quit worrying about the Big Nurse and the Combine behind her. I’d think he was strong enough being his own self that he would never back down the way she was hoping he would. I’d think, maybe he truly is something extraordinary. He’s what he is, that’s it. Maybe that makes him strong enough, being what he is. The Combine hasn’t got to him in all these years; what makes the nurse think she’s gonna be able to do it in a few weeks? He’s not gonna let them twist him and manufacture him.

This quote shows how strong McMurphy's character is and how he won't back down, no matter what. It also shows how this threatens Nurse Ratched and how she will persist in trying to take him down.
Nurse Ratched longs for order and control. She enforces this and tells the patients it is for their own good.

Please understand: We do not impose certain rules and restrictions on you without a great deal of thought about their therapeutic value. A good many of you are in here because you could not adjust to the rules of society in the Outside World, because you refused to face up to them, because you tried to circumvent them and avoid them. At some time—perhaps in your childhood—you may have been allowed to get away with flouting the rules of society. When you broke a rule you knew it. You wanted to be dealt with, needed it, but the punishment did not come. That foolish lenience on the part of your parents may have been the germ that grew into your present illness. I tell you this hoping you will understand that it is entirely for your own good that we enforce discipline and order.

Chief Bromden often talks about a combine. He is observing that Nurse Ratched is part of a larger system of oppression.

McMurphy doesn’t know it, but he’s onto what I realized a long time back, that it’s not just the Big Nurse by herself, but it’s the whole Combine, the nation-wide Combine that’s the really big force, and the nurse is just a high-ranking official for them.

This quote shows how the two characters, McMurphy and Nurse Ratched, are opposing forces. The entire novel shows conflict between the two of them. This eventually leads to violence, as neither character is willing to back down or change who they are.
You might have a different opinion, or you might have a different reason for believing the conflict was inevitable. Be sure to use quotes to back up your argument.

What genre is Macbeth?

Macbeth is often classified as a drama or a tragedy.

Please give me 5 examples of how Mark Haddon uses irony in this novel.

In the first scene of the book, Christopher discovers that their neighbor’s dog, Wellington, has been killed with a large garden fork. Christopher has Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism that is challenging but manageable. He likes mysteries and decides not only to solve the mystery of who killed the neighbor dog but also to write a book about it. This book, written and narrated by Christopher, is his chronicle of events. This is a book worth re-reading, especially to appreciate a number of scenes that are mysterious during the first read through and ironic on subsequent reads.
1. As the book progresses, Christopher eventually discovers that it was his own father who killed the neighbor’s dog. Early in the story, after the dog has been discovered, and Christopher has announced, to his father’s angry horror, that he intends to find out who did it, we have this scene:

Father was sitting on the sofa watching snooker on the television and drinking scotch. There were tears coming out of his eyes.
I asked, “Are you sad about Wellington?”
He looked at me for a long time and sucked air in through his nose. Then he said, “Yes, Christopher, you could say that. You could very well say that.”
I decided to leave him alone because when I am sad I want to be left alone.

Clearly, Christopher’s dad is emotionally distraught, and once we know that his dad killed the dog and why, we recognize the irony in the scene and in his father’s reaction to Christopher’s question.
2. Author Mark Haddon uses character irony brilliantly as he portrays Christopher and his friends and family. Because of his Asperger's, Christopher tells us that he has trouble comprehending the emotions of others, he cannot tell jokes because they often use metaphors (which he equates with lies), and he cannot stand being touched by other people. So for instance when he goes into a shop, points to a book and asks if it is an “A to Z” map of London, the shopkeeper laughs and says “No, it’s sodding crocodile.” Christopher wonders if he has heard the man correctly, for clearly a map is not a crocodile. Christopher’s lack of understanding of humor is an ironic and constant source of humor in the book, as he tries to reason through the jokes he hears. Indeed, at the beginning of the story, he tells us “This will not be a funny book.” His seriousness while telling us this makes us smile.
3. Another source of character irony in the book is the gap between what Christopher understands about the world and what we understand about Christopher and his world. Christopher cannot be touched by others, he cannot understand emotions—or so he says—and yet he is constantly asking questions and trying to figure things out. If someone touches him, he may start barking like a dog in response to express his discontent. And yet it is by his detective work about who killed the neighbor’s dog that Christopher inadvertently unravels the hidden mysteries of his family and the central mystery of how and why his parents split up (it was because of him). And Christopher does feel emotions. After he has run away to London to find his mother, Christopher narrates this intensely emotional scene with his father, who has come looking for his son:

And then Father came into my room. But I was holding my Swiss Army knife with the saw blade out in case he grabbed me. And Mother came into the room as well, and she said, “It’s OK, Christopher. I won’t let him do anything. You’re all right.” And Father bent down on his knees near the bed and he said, “Christopher?”But I didn’t say anything.And he said, “Christopher, I’m really, really sorry. About everything. About Wellington. About the letters. About making you run away. I never meant . . . I promise I will never do anything like that again. Hey. Come on, kiddo.” And then he held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan so that I could touch his fingers, but I didn’t because I was frightened.

Despite what he may tell us, or tell himself, Christopher is driven by emotions too.
4. There is a lovely small ironic moment when Christopher discovers a letter written to him by his mother. Christopher’s father told him that his mother is dead. So Christopher is confused by the letter and wonders if his mother even wrote it. It is a mystery that makes him think very hard. As he sits on his bed in his bedroom and reads the letter:

And then the door of my bedroom opened and Father said, “What are you doing?”I said, “I’m reading a letter.”And he said, “I’ve finished the drilling. That David Attenborough nature program’s on telly if you’re interested.” I said, “OK.” Then he went downstairs again.

This is the letter that is going to blow up the family. Christopher tells the truth, and no more than that. His father does not press for details. The story might have gone very differently if his father has simply asked “what letter?” He doesn’t and blithely goes downstairs without knowing that everything in his life is about to change.
5. Because of his autism, Christopher has many challenges in life and in this story. But his autism is also the source of his determination and intelligence. And perhaps the most beautiful irony of all is that, despite the frustrations of his family and despite having many of the odds stacked against him, the events of the book, which Christopher narrates, have proven to him that:

And then, when I’ve done that, I am going to go to university in another town. And it doesn’t have to be in London because I don’t like London and there are universities in lots of places and not all of them are in big cities. And I can live in a flat with a garden and a proper toilet. And I can take Sandy and my books and my computer.
And then I will get a First Class Honors degree and I will become a scientist.
And I know I can do this because I went to London on my own, and because I solved the mystery of Who Killed Wellington? and I found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything.

Christopher is going to be all right—he can do anything.

Mark Haddon's novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is about a young boy named Christopher John Francis Boone. This story takes place in England and begins with Christopher discovering the body of his neighbor's dog. Christopher, who has autism, decides to investigate this mystery further.
In this novel, there are many examples of irony. Irony is a literary device in which language signifies that the opposite is true, or that what is happening on the surface differs drastically from the truth. While there are many examples of irony in this novel, here are five specific examples:
Christopher leaves the house because he plans to go live with his mother and is hiding from his father, Ed. This is ironic because Ed leaves his house to search for Christopher even though Christopher is hiding from him. Ed is unaware of his son's plans.
It is ironic that when Christopher is knocked out by his father, he is not mad at him. Most sons who are knocked out by their fathers would be furious. Christopher quickly accepts his father's apology and then eats the food that he makes for him.
Christopher does not study for his A level math test one bit. In fact, he is very unprepared because he has not slept or eaten either. Most people would fail this exam, however Christopher does very well on the test.
When Christopher first encounters the police, he tells the policeman the truth about the situation with his neighbor's dog. Usually telling the truth is a good thing, but in this case, it gets Christopher in trouble.
When Christopher discovers that his father murders his neighbor's dog, he believes that his father wants to murder him also. This is ironic because Ed is not planning on killing Christopher, he just wants his forgiveness.

There are three primary types of irony in literature:
Situational irony is when you expect one thing and get the opposite. It is probably the most common type of irony you find in literature.
Dramatic irony is when the reader knows more about a situation in the text than the characters in the novel do.
Verbal irony is when someone says one thing, but means the opposite.
One instance of dramatic irony in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is when Ed is desperately trying to locate Christopher. Christopher, however, is purposely trying to hide from him.
An example of situational irony is when Christopher is taking his A-level math test. Christopher did not eat, sleep, or study prior to his test, leading the reader to assume he will do poorly. Christopher ends up getting an A on his test.
At one point in the novel, Christopher is hit by his father, causing him to lose consciousness. When Christopher regains consciousness, the reader can only assume Christopher would be upset. However, his father apologizes and goes to make him something to eat. This would be an example of situational irony.
Christopher shows a couple examples of other irony in the text. For example, he doesn't enjoy talking to others, yet chooses to be an investigative detective.

Virginia Woolf argues that for Modernist writers "the point of interest lies...in the dark places of psychology." What are some examples of this type of writing and what are its features?

Virginia Woolf battled severe depression throughout most of her adult life, which finally culminated in her suicide in 1941. She contributed to literary theories and believed that modernist writers should be more cerebral. Woolf opined that writing is a form of exorcism, in which the writer taps into the dark and primal parts of their subconsciousness.
In Orlando, Woolf writes, "Nothing thicker than a knife's blade separates happiness from melancholy." Woolf herself was very much aware of the "dark places" of her psychology. The dark place Woolf refers to could be suppressed emotions, like angst and melancholy. A dark place could also be traumas experienced in the past, such as sexual abuse or witnessing the violence of war.
Woolf stated that "all extremes of feeling are allied with madness." Woolf believed that a writer can only reach authenticity when she has confronted the possibility of madness. In a sense, confronting one's potential madness and the intense underlying emotions hidden in the subconscious is a form of liberation via self-discovery.
Another writer who explored the "dark places of psychology" is Sylvia Plath. Her critically-acclaimed novel, The Bell Jar, explored Plath's experiences with bipolar disorder in the form of a narrative. In The Bell Jar, each alternating chapters unintentionally show the phases—mania and melancholia—that Plath was experiencing while writing them.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky also explored the dark side of one's psyche, but in the form of a philosophical inquiry into morality, spirituality, primal violence and guilt. This is best exemplified by his novel, Crime and Punishment.

What is iconography and how did the Church use it to support its ideas and teachings?

Icons are religious works of art. They are primarily used to illustrate holy figures such as Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and saints, as well as morally uplifting scenes from the Bible and saints' lives. The word icon comes from the Greek eikon meaning "image." They form a major part of worship in Christian denominations such as Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
Icons originated at a time when the vast majority of people were illiterate. Even the relatively small number who could actually read were denied the opportunity to peruse sacred scripture, as it was thought by the Church that access to the Bible should be restricted to those in holy orders such as bishops, monks, and priests. So icons fulfilled a useful function in transmitting the Christian message to people who would otherwise have no way of receiving it.
Icons are not just works of art, however; they are sacred artifacts, objects of veneration by the faithful. The deep honor and respect assigned to each icon pass over to the original archetype which they illustrate, be it Jesus Christ, the Holy Mother, or the saints. To be sure, Christians who venerate icons are not worshipping them. Icons are not intended to be a substitute for God; they're a means of worshipping God, a visible image of something inherently invisible. The faithful believe that icons bring us closer to God and his saints, and therefore form a bridge between the temporal and the eternal, the imminent world and the transcendent.

Corporations/organizations have been described as having their own cultures. Discuss how an organization’s culture can be compared to society at large in terms of similarities and differences.

The culture of an organization or corporation is similar to the greater societal culture in that both are governed by a set of rules. In society, there is a law enforcement network, the judicial system, and the penal system. They operate locally, within the state, and at the federal level.
In a corporation or organization, the entity itself (usually set forth by executive members) creates the rules. However, because a corporation is not an autonomous entity, the law applies to them just as with any other citizen. The only difference is that a corporation could be considered its own entity in the court of law, so executive members are theoretically protected from lawsuits pertaining to the corporation. This is why many entrepreneurs and small business owners register their companies as a limited liability company (LLC).
Another similarity between corporate culture and the cultures found in society at large is the tribal mindset of members. In society, individuals tend to form collectives, or "cliques," based on various social and psychological factors. For instance, people with the same hobby could form a group pertaining to that hobby, such as a book club.
In a corporation or organization, the same dynamics apply. For instance, the executive members might spend more time together because they all work together in a specific sector of the company's hierarchy. The same can be said with the other levels of the company. The root of this is irrelevant to corporate or non-corporate culture, but can be traced to group psychology.
https://journals.sagepub.com/action/cookieAbsent

How is the absurd portrayed in All Quiet on the Western Front?

All Quiet on the Western Front was written by Erich Maria Remarque, whom we may say is on authority on the Great War, the so-called "war to end all wars," for the simple reason that he experienced it firsthand, was a soldier in it, and was wounded in it. It took him ten years after the armistice of 11/11/18 to write the fictional account. I emphasize fictional because his is not a true story though some characters were based on people he knew. The book was written purposely as an antiwar novel pointing out the absurdity (pointlessness) and stupidity (shortsightedness) of World War I.
For examples of absurdity, one need not go any farther than the first chapter of the novel. The book opens in the trenches with 80 soldiers getting ready to eat, having just returned from a battle in which 70 soldiers in their regiment had been killed (they went into battle with 150, and came back with 80, almost half killed), yet they say nonsensical things such as, "It would not be such a bad war if only we could get a little more sleep." One soldier argues with the mess cook that they should get larger rations since the cook has enough food for 150 soldiers and they have only 80 people, to which the cook replies that he'd "be hanged" for breaking such a regulation. The novel is full of such inanity that it could likely be found in a dark comedy.
The first film version of the novel won the Best Picture Oscar at the 1930 Academy Awards. The film does not open in the battlefield, but in a boy's school wherein the headmaster gives a patriotic speech about the honor of wearing a uniform, the glory of the young ladies in those who wear them, imploring the young men (boys actually) to volunteer to fight and die for their country juxtaposing false promises, such as, "It will be a quick war," with appeals to nationalism using Latin phrases, such as, "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori," which means, "Sweet and fitting is it to die for the fatherland." The editing and cinematography in the 1930 film clearly paid homage to the pro-Bolshevik propaganda films of Sergei Eisenstein, with a montage of enthusiastic boys preparing to enlist reminiscent of the slaughter on the Odessa Steps from Battleship Potemkin (1925). In the film, as the boys marched to the recruitment office, crowds lined the streets to cheer them on. Such a hopeful beginning was known to be full of false hope, and the 1930 audience was aware of what the end of the story was. Fast-forward to the end of the film, four years and millions of dead boys later, the absurdity is clear because the reason for it is not. Forever will hang the question, "For what? What was it all for?" The Great War ended in an armistice which euphemistically means, "There were no winners."
The absurdity is palpable in this passage from the novel:

We see men living with their skulls blown open; we see soldiers run with their two feet cut off, they stagger on their splintered stumps into the next shell-hole; a lance corporal crawls a mile and a half on his hands dragging his smashed knee after him; another goes to the dressing station and over his clasped hands bulge his intestines; we see men without jaws, without faces; we find one man who has held the artery of his arm in his teeth for two hours in order not to bleed to death. The sun goes down, night comes, the shells whine, life is at an end. (134)

What did President Eisenhower accomplish?

President Eisenhower is probably most remembered for the Interstate Highway System, an infrastructure spending program that upgraded and greatly expanded the United States's roadways. We travel the country with ease today on multi-lane highways because of Eisenhower. He supported this project in part because he was concerned that, as the first Republican president since Hoover, his party would oversee another depression. Spending on the highways stimulated the economy and kept employment high.
Also, as a former general with hands-on experience of war and its devastation, Eisenhower kept the country out of hot wars during his presidency. He negotiated a settlement with Korea that allowed the US to withdraw its troops. He avoided getting dragged into Viet Nam. He managed to use diplomacy to sidestep a full-scale confrontation with the Soviet Union, although the Cold War continued.
Eisenhower was seen at the time as a "do-nothing" president, but as more papers and information about his administration have emerged, historians realize he was deeply engaged in events behind the scenes and was attempting to steer the country on a peaceful and prosperous course. Today, we would probably call him "chill" rather than do-nothing.