What are all the literary devices in Alexander Pope's poem "The Universal Prayer"?

Alexander Pope uses quite a few literary devices in his poem "The Universal Prayer."
One device is alliteration, or repetition of the same first letter in adjacent or close words. Pope does this in the third line:

By saint, by savage, and by sage

What I like about this line is that he combines repetition and alliteration: "by" is repeated, followed by three words that begin with "s."
He uses alliteration again with phrases such as "best bestowed" and "Jehovah, Jove." He uses repetition again with the last two lines of the tenth stanza:

That mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me.

He also uses allusion, such as including a line from the Lord's Prayer: "Thy will be done," connecting to the religious theme.
Pope sets up comparisons in this poem:

This, teach me more than Hell to shun,That, more than Heaven pursue.

The comparison between Heaven and Hell is set up by repetition of "more than."
The poem consists of quatrains with ABAB rhyme scheme. Most of the lines end in punctuation, but there are two instances of enjambment where the sentence continues on to the next line without a pause signified by a comma:

If I am wrong, oh teach my heartTo find a better way.

Hopefully this helps you find more examples within the poem!

Why was the Old man the last to leave the town in "Old Man at the Bridge"?

The old man explains to the soldier at the bridge that he was the last one to leave the town of San Carlos (the story takes place during the Spanish Civil War) because he had to take care of his animals. He says he left behind two goats, a cat, and four pairs of pigeons.
He left because a soldier told him it was too dangerous to stay due to artillery fire. The old man thinks his cat will be fine because cats know how to survive, but he worries about what will happen to his goats and pigeons. If the artillery fire is unsafe for him, won't it be so for his animals? He asks,

But what will they do under the artillery when I was told to leave because of the artillery?

The guard reassures him that the birds will fly away since the old man left their cage unlocked. However, the old man is still distressed, and the soldier knows there is nothing he can do for him. The simple humanity of the old man is a stark contrast to the cruelty of war.

What are the 3 appropriate classroom behaviors for early childhood?

Preschool is important for young children, as they learn to socialize with their peers and develop habits of self-control that will help them throughout their school career. The student is at an age where they can develop self-regulation skills, and this is one of the primary goals of early childhood education.
One such appropriate behavior would be to get along with one's peers. The student should avoid fighting. The student should also respect other people's property. The student should learn not to touch other students, as this can sometimes escalate into conflict.
Another such appropriate behavior is the development of the "inside voice." Young children can be quite noisy and try to talk over one another. Early childhood is an important place for the student to learn that he/she is not the most important person in the room and that others need to be heard as well. Not only is this teaching respect for others, but it also teaches the student how to function inside of an orderly classroom.
Another appropriate behavior is to follow classroom rules and regulations. This is important as the student's academic career will be more successful if the student is not constantly in trouble. The teacher should enforce clearly stated rules fairly until the student realizes what is expected from him/her. This appropriate classroom behavior is quite important, as students in the early childhood classroom often come from diverse parenting styles and home conditions. It is important for the student to learn that the classroom needs a sense of order and regulation in order to function.

In A Raisin in the Sun, when Walter arrives back home, what does he say he has done? And what does Walter plan to do?

Walter's made the fateful decision to sell Lena's house to Mr. Lindner from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association. Walter knows that Lindner only wants to buy the house so he can keep the neighborhood white, but he's so desperate to make amends for losing the insurance money that he's prepared to abase himself at the feet of "The Man."
He's painfully aware of the moral consequences of selling out and compromising his dignity, but he's tired of waiting; he needs to get his father's money back, and if getting down on his knees is the only way to do it, then so be it. There's something profoundly tragic—not to say ironic—about Walter selling out his birthright in order to recover the money from his father's life insurance policy.

What are some key evidences of the purported idea of Hailsham? Analyze their significance.

Kazuo Ishiguro allows the reader to learn gradually what Hailsham is. Through using Kathy’s point of view as she looks back, he restricts the information to her recollections of how she learned about its purposes. Thus the ominous character of the “school” itself, as well as the larger social project into which it fits, grows in scope and intensity until the reader is fully absorbed in the dystopian horror of her society and comes to understand what she means by the “completion” she anticipates.
At first it seems like Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy are students at a posh “public” school. The students have sports and extracurricular enrichment activities such as art. Kathy learns from Tommy that one “guardian,” Miss Lucy (who soon leaves her post), is concerned about the limited academic components. Kathy probes Miss Emily, the head guardian, about the Gallery and Madame’s visits to choose the best artworks. Thus the author reveals that the institution is more like a juvenile detention center than a school. None of the children living there seems to have any relatives; they acquire personal possessions only through art exchanges; they are not allowed beyond the fence; and they do not go home for holidays. Fear of transgressing the boundaries and encountering the outside world is inculcated into the children. Through all this information, the reader comes to see that their environment is tightly controlled to repress and mislead rather than protect and nurture them.
Hailsham’s true function is finally confirmed when the former students, now adults living in the “cottages,” meet with Miss Emily. She speaks of the humanity and compassion that motivated an arrangement meant to give some comfort to the clones as they were being raised as organ donors. The concept, however, has gone out of vogue; in subsequent generations, it has been deemed unnecessary to mystify the clones’ purpose and they are reared in more basic breeding centers. Consideration for the clones’ feelings, along with the core concept that they are as fully human as their “originals,” has become a thing of the past.

Describe Grover Cleveland's political views.

Grover Cleveland is known as a reformer. The first Democrat elected after the Civil War, Cleveland has the distinction of being the only President of the United States to serve two nonconsecutive terms. Cleveland was an experienced politician, first winning the election for Mayor of Buffalo and then the election for Governor of New York before being nominated to run for President.
Grover Cleveland's election was unusual. Although he ran for president as a Democrat, Cleveland won with the support of Republicans who covertly campaigned on his behalf. In an era of partisan politics and backroom horse trading, support from the competing party was highly irregular.
Not satisfied with the Republican candidate James Blaine, disaffected Republicans formed the Mugwump reform party and threw their support behind Cleveland. Blaine's political reputation had been tarnished by a railroad scandal in which it was alleged he accepted $64,000 from two railroads in exchange for some worthless railroad bonds. Blaine vigorously defended the accusations of bribery against him in the House—to no avail. The political tides turned against him and, without the backing and full support of Republicans, Blaine was narrowly defeated by Cleveland.
Cleveland's political views in his first term were guided by the end of Reconstruction ideas for reuniting the country. Cleveland vetoed several bills related to private pensions for Civil War veterans and rejected claims he considered fraudulent (rejecting fraud was consistent with his agenda of political reform in the government). Cleveland was in opposition to any bill that provided economic aid to groups that he believed reeked of favoritism or political graft. In general, Cleveland was opposed to just about any federal assistance being given to any organization (Democrats, in this period, were fiscally conservative).
Unlike many in his party, Cleveland had no problem with attacking powerful railroad business' interests. His attacks resulted in the railroads returning 81,000 acres of land to the federal government and achieved the first legislation that attempted to regulate the interstate activities of railroads. Consistent with his ideas about railroads monopolizing transportation, Cleveland was opposed to tariffs and supported reducing or removing them on products entirely.
Cleveland's second term was similar to his first in policy and political outlook. Cleveland continued to promote conservative views regarding government fiscal policy. He did not deviate from his reform agenda, concentrating on political graft and corruption. Cleveland dealt with domestic and foreign issues with straight and blunt talk followed by action. Historians generally view his official fiscal policies unfavorably, as the United States found itself mired in an economic depression during his term (which his strict fiscal policies did little to alleviate).
Grover Cleveland's political views can be characterized by his rigid conservative fiscal policy. Cleveland believed the government should be free of graft and political corruption. His reform agenda for the government was aggressive for the time that he served as President of the United States.
https://millercenter.org/president/cleveland

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/grover-cleveland

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/grover-cleveland/

Why were the working classes dissatisfied with the prevailing economic system?

Marx analyzed the class relations in a capitalist economy and how workers are inherently exploited under a capitalist system. According to Marx, workers labor for a set wage and the boss, who does not have to labor as the workers do, receives the profit of the workers' labors. For instance, in a factory that grinds corn into corn meal using manual labor, the workers are subjected to many hours of tedious labor in order to produce the corn meal. It is the workers who have produced the corn meal. However, the workers are not able to keep any of the product of their work. They are, instead, given an immensely small fraction of the profit that the owners receives through the work of the laborers. The boss is able to benefit greatly from the labors of his workers, who receive a minuscule fraction of the boss's pay. In the capitalist system, there is a great disparity between the owning class and the working class. The owning class are able to gain a surplus of resources and wealth while the working class does not have access to this wealth. This wealth is directly created by the labors of the working class. However, because the workers do not own the factory, or the means of the production, they are unable to share in this wealth.

Marx's ideas and writings were focused on his observations during the Industrial Revolution. Those in the working class were upset with the capitalist system because it allowed for, in their eyes, the exploitation of the working class. Many in the working class during the Industrial Revolution found themselves working in poor conditions for long hours, and in the end, they would be earning low wages. Meanwhile, the capitalists who had the funds available to open factories and become involved in manufacturing were gaining incredible wealth.
Marx's theories held that humanity was in the midst of a class struggle between the Bourgeoisie (owners of the means of production) and the Proletariat (working class). Marx opposed the capitalist system and believed that a global revolution would need to take place, in which the workers would take over the means of production and eliminate class from society. For those in the working class who were living under poor conditions during the Industrial Revolution, Marx's radical ideas may have been appealing, as they seem to promise better conditions.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Marxism

What is the theme of the poem?

One possible theme of "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain" by Emily Dickinson is how fragile sanity really is.
The speaker of the poem explains that their brain is slowly breaking down. It's a funeral for her sense of self and her sense of reason. Where once she could trust her mind, now it's like something new—something worse than before.
The poem doesn't trace the things that led to this madness because it's clear that insanity could happen to anyone; it isn't specific to one person or one set of circumstances. The slow beat of the mourners filing in and the box being lowered into the earth are the death knell for the speaker's sanity.
Once the funeral is complete, it marks the death of the self that insanity brings.

How does "Hills like White Elephants" depict women?

The one woman shown in any detail in the story, Jig, is depicted as frustrated and unhappy. She is trapped in a dead-end relationship.
She is pregnant and clearly wants to keep the baby. She seems to hope her lover will accept her wish and that somehow they can be a family. He, on the other hand, repeatedly tries to pressure her into having an abortion. He says over and over that he will do whatever she wants, but the incessant way he pushes the abortion shows that he is being insincere. He tells her if she gets rid of the baby, everything will go back to the way it was, but that is hard to believe.
She expresses her anger by telling him to "please" just be quiet.
We feel for Jig. Her lover is not committed to her the way she would like him to be, and she is caught between being a single parent—as it seems clear he won't stick around if she has the baby—and having an abortion that she doesn't want.

In the poem "Love Song for Lucinda" what is the rhetorical situation?

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. To understand the rhetorical situation of "Love Song for Lucinda" we need to understand what the speaker of the poem is trying to persuade Lucinda to do, or to understand.
The speaker is trying to persuade Lucinda that love is enchanting, dangerous, and breathtaking, but worth the risk. We can assume that he is in love with her, but she is holding back.
In the first stanza, the speaker likens love to a ripe plum growing on a tree. He says that if Lucinda's tastes love once, she will be enchanted by it forever. He writes:

Taste it onceAnd the spell of its enchantmentWill never let you be.

However, that is not the end of the story. In the second stanza, the speaker warns Lucinda that love is a flame that will burn her eyes if she looks too hard. He tells Lucinda not to overthink love, and not to examine it too hard, implying she should just jump into it:

LoveIs a bright starGlowing in far Southern skies.Look too hardAnd its burning flameWill always hurt your eyes.

In the final stanza, the speaker compares love to the top of a mountain. He warns her not to end up too deeply in love, not "to climb too high," if she wants to keep her breath. However, he also implies that it is good to be breathless.
In holding out love as an enchanting, bright, dangerous, and breathtaking experience, the speaker is attempting to persuade Lucinda to take a risk. We can assume from this that Lucinda is a person attracted to beauty, danger, and adventure. The speaker is saying that love, while dangerous, is exciting.
The speaker uses the positive images of a plum, a bright star, and a mountain top as rhetorical devices to help persuade Lucinda to embrace love.

Why is the inclusion of Aeneas in the Iliad historically significant?

In Book XX, there is an unduly long episode recounting a confrontation between Achilles, who has rejoined the fight after the death of his companion Patroclus, and Aeneas, a prince of Troy but from a minor branch of the Trojan royal family. Poseidon has prophesied that Aeneas will survive the Trojan War, and Virgil, in the Aeniad, has Aeneas not only surviving the war but founding the Italian (Roman) nation and the family of Julius Caesar. As Malcolm Willcock has pointed out in his Companion to the Iliad, Homer may have included this episode to honor a family, in Homer's time, who claimed descent from Aeneas. External evidence of the Aeneas story may have been supplied by the Greek-Roman historian and geographer Strabo in his now-lost Historical Sketches. More important from a literary perspective, however, is that this episode may indicate that Homer was a court poet, dependent on the support of the court to which he was attached.

What did the girls of the red Mosque prove?

The girls at the radical Red Mosque are taught nothing but a literalist interpretation of Islam. They have been brainwashed into believing that the Taliban are heroes, bravely standing up to what they see as Western imperialism. As such, they regard Malala as a troublemaker, someone who hasn't been properly educated. To them, she's all part of some gigantic Western conspiracy to defame Islam. As far as they're concerned, her attempted murder was all just a sham.
What this proves is that Malala's campaign for female education is all the more crucial. So long as girls are taught nothing but a literal interpretation of the Quran, they will remain under the thumb of their brothers, fathers, and future husbands. That's why it's so important that the kind of education that Malala wanted for herself is made available to all other girls in Pakistan, as this will give them some measure of control over their lives.

What type of colony was Rhode Island?

Rhode Island was a coastal New England colony which relied on livestock, dairy and fishing, as well as beer and rum making for its economic base. The first English settlement there was begun by Roger Williams, who was exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a religious dissident. He bought land from the Narragansett Indians and established Providence Plantations in 1636. From the start, he guaranteed freedom of conscience and religious liberty to the settlers. A year later, religious dissidents Anne and William Hutchinson and others also purchased land from the Indians in Rhode Island and founded a colony. A third and fourth settlement were established in 1642 and 1651. The four settlements were combined into the colony of Rhode Island by Charles II in 1663 and granted religious freedom. Although the territory had banned the import of slaves in 1652, the law was not well enforced, and for a long time Rhode Island was a major slave trading center.

How does Carlyle depict the qualities of a hero in his essay "On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History"?

On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History was written by Thomas Carlyle. It is comprised of a collection of lectures that Carlyle delivered to London audiences in 1840. In these lectures, Carlyle explains his unique opinion about what the state of the world would be if heroic, inspirational, and admirable people could influence events and shape the course of history. In his essay, Carlyle describes the quintessential hero as someone who is a visionary and progressive. It is someone who has the willingness to be the change that he or she wishes to see in the world and take action to effect that change. Part of the reason that Carlyle views the definition of a hero from this perspective is because he is contemptuous toward the civilization of people around him. He believes that they do not have the willpower to make a meaningful impact in society which advances human progress.
In Carlyle's mind, religious leaders, talented poets, and military generals can all be considered heroes, despite their differing roles in society. Carlyle believes that heroes are all men who practice what they preach and also apply their knowledge toward progressive goals. He places equal value on people who take heroic action in any form in society, whether the goal is an economic one, a political one, or a religious one. He also depicts ordinary people who loyally follow leaders in society as heroes themselves. In his estimation, knowing when and how to follow is just as important as being a leader, because heroes are people who need the help of others for cooperation and achievement. Based on these views, Carlyle disagrees with Friedrich Nietzsche, who argues for the power of self-determination among individuals based on their own efforts and not the cooperation of others in society.
Carlyle also believes that heroes are caring about the condition of others. Carlyle's conception of the definition of heroism is quite broad, and it encompasses service to people. The ultimate goal, according to Carlyle, is the cooperation of selfless leaders and willing followers for achieving progress in society. Carlyle believes that cannot be achieved without those important role players. Societies move forward economically, politically, and religiously through this cooperation, in his mind.

How many days did Joseph Stay in the Chalet in The Silver Sword? How did he pass his time?

Joseph has just escaped the Nazi labor camp and is making his way to the village of Zaknya about a mile away. He ends up hitching a ride in an aerial cage crammed with crates. When the cage stops, someone shines a flashlight in Joseph's face. Joseph is worried that he's been caught by the Nazis. He grabs hold of a large piece of chocolate which, in the darkness, looks like a gun. However, the man who shines the light in Joseph's face isn't a German but a Pole, and immediately Joseph feels a little safer.
Nevertheless, he can't be too careful, so he orders the man to take him to where he lives. The Pole lives in a nearby chalet with his wife, which is where Joseph spends the next two weeks. For the next fortnight, he enjoys the kind of peace and security he hasn't experienced in a long while. Joseph spends most of his time in the chalet eating and getting some much-needed rest.

How appropriate are the metaphors of fire, steel, and spur to the subject of the speech by Brutus in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar?

Brutus's imagery in act 2, scene 1, is expressive of the seriousness with which Brutus himself—and presumably all of the conspirators—view the situation that confronts them with regard to Caesar. The historical context in which the drama takes place needs, of course, to be understood in order for us to evaluate Brutus's decision to take part in the assassination.
Roman patricians, and probably many of the plebeians as well, prided themselves on Rome's status as a republic. It was not a democracy as we understand the term, but unlike most political entities in antiquity, Rome was at this time a state not under the authoritarian rule of a king or any one individual. Caesar, in his defiance of the Senate, had changed the situation and set himself up, in the interests of the stability and the survival of Rome, as dictator. In the thinking of Brutus and others, the contradictions inherent in the Roman republic—such as the facts of slavery being a long-standing practice, that Rome had in effect already become an empire (though it was not considered one until the reign of Caesar's grand-nephew Octavian/Augustus was stabilized), the conquering and controlling other peoples—did not come into play. To the conspirators, the situation was tantamount to what it would be today in the U.S. or Britain if the president or prime-minister began unilaterally making decisions in defiance of the Constitution and the established form of government.
Given these desperate conditions, as Brutus and the others saw them, I wouldn't necessarily consider his imagery to be all that extreme or violent. His reference to the "melting hearts of women" comes off rather badly from our perspective, but presumably, Brutus in his way is trying to insure that the others will not back down and that their own resolve (if I may paraphrase while retaining the key words of your question) will be "kindled" by the fire of justice, that their hearts will be "steeled" and that they will be spurred to action. Brutus is depicted as a man of "pure" motives, unlike the other conspirators, when Antony describes him at the play's close. The language Shakespeare gives him is appropriate to that noble, untarnished quality that animates him. But we must judge for ourselves if the cause of the conspirators really was as fully justified as Brutus and the others believe it to have been. This is the key issue at the heart of the drama. Was Caesar's killing the only recourse these men had, the only way of redressing what they considered an injustice? Or was Caesar not the tyrant they believed him? Was he actually, in Antony's words, "the noblest man that ever lived in the tide of times"? This is a question historians have been debating for 2,000 years.

Assess the current practice of some cities withholding information from the immigration authorities, and is there a 2nd or 3rd order effect (unintended consequences) in these decisions to withhold information?

Some cities, like San Francisco, known as "sanctuary cities" attempt to protect non-citizen people by not complying with ICE detainer requests or sending ICE additional information on a person who is known to be or suspected to be an undocumented person. The reality is, however, that being undocumented is not a criminal infraction: rather, it is a civil infraction. Local police, unless they are deputized to act as immigration enforcement by the bill 287(g) cannot arrest someone or hold them in jail simply for being undocumented.
Non-citizens absolutely have constitutional rights and it is unconstitutional, affirmed by several courts of this country, to hold undocumented people in jail or for ICE to apprehend them simply for being undocumented. Many undocumented people who are charged, but not convicted of a crime, are either held by local jails for ICE or are picked up by ICE once they post bail. Sanctuary cities are attempting to stop this unconstitutional and vicious practice. By preventing the detainment of undocumented immigrants, sanctuary cities attempt to keep undocumented and non-citizen families from being separated—rather than being scattered by the immigration system.

In "Marigolds," how does Lizabeth's compassion shape her understanding of the world?

Lizabeth experiences a moment of true revelation born out of compassion at the climax of the story, after she has taken out her rage and despair on Miss Lottie's marigolds. Early in the story, she and her friends had discussed the marigolds scornfully, thinking them a silly thing for Miss Lottie to cultivate, but the older Lizabeth wonders whether their "preoccupation" with destroying them had something to do with an underlying awareness of how bleak their situation truly was.
The moment of destroying the marigolds Lizabeth describes as "the last act of childhood," and in many ways, this seems to indicate that a new clarity came over Lizabeth in this moment, an understanding of a "kind of reality which is hidden to childhood." If she had not had compassion, Lizabeth might never have experienced the sudden understanding she does here: that Miss Lottie was no "witch" after all, but a "broken old woman who had dared to create beauty in the midst of ugliness." Compassion is what makes Lizabeth realize that, far from being deserving of violence and taunting from children, Miss Lottie has lived in inescapable "squalor" all her life with her disabled son, and she poured all her remaining spirit into cultivating the marigolds.
This realization leaves Lizabeth "awkward and ashamed." She recognizes this moment as "the beginning of compassion," something which eradicates innocence because it forces one to look at the world clearly and understand people in their individual circumstances.
In the final paragraph of the story, Lizabeth notes that, despite her "wild contrition" after she realizes the depths of what she has done, Miss Lottie never planted any more marigolds. Because of the compassion that was born in this moment, however, Lizabeth has returned often to the thought of the "passionate yellow mounds" and been moved by them because of what they represented—something bright and growing in a "barren" world. Although Lizabeth is no longer poor, she recognizes that she, too, has sometimes been forced to "plant marigolds," a phrase which memorializes Miss Lottie. "Planting marigolds" is what Lizabeth, as a compassionate person, must do in order to bring brightness into a life which, with full understanding, can often seem very dark indeed.

What is a plot summary of the play The Mousetrap?

In The Mousetrap, the action occurs at Monkswell Manor, where Mollie and Giles Ralston are preparing for the arrival of their dinner guests, fretting over the effect the blizzard raising outside will have on their plans, and barely noticing the news reports that there has been a murder in the area. The guests arrive—including a Mr. Paravicini, who was not invited but who seeks refuge after car trouble in the blizzard.
The next day, a police officer, Sergeant Trotter, arrives on skis and reveals a series of connections between the murder and Monkswell Manor. Suspicions abound and tensions rise until Mrs. Boyle is found strangled to death.
Sergeant Trotter assembles everyone for questioning and nobody manages to offer a truly satisfactory account of their innocence, leading to more suspicion and accusations amidst the growing realization that the murderer is among them.
At this point, I would urge you to leave it to your own conscience to decide how much you divulge regarding the climax of the play and the identity of the murderer. Traditionally, audience members are asked at the conclusion of The Mousetrap not to reveal the details of the play's ending to anyone outside the theatre. The way in which the play toys with the traditional whodunnit model is singularly famous in theatrical circles, and the tradition around not revealing the murderer's identity is akin to, though perhaps not as powerful as, the tradition that dictates actors never speak the name of "the Scottish play." Therefore, it remains at the writer's discretion as to how much they reveal regarding the ending of The Mousetrap.

Why are the lotteries in neighboring towns mentioned?

Some of the other towns in the vicinity are seriously thinking of discontinuing the tradition of holding lotteries. Apparently, the younger generation has moved away from the idea of human sacrifice; it no longer appeals to them (for some bizarre reason). This highlights how isolated the town in the story is set to become. The world outside is changing, but there's no sign that this particular town is ready to follow suit.
At the same time, mention of neighboring towns also shows that this grisly tradition is by no means restricted to just one place; lots of other places in the neighboring area have been practicing human sacrifice for generations. This reinforces the general point that Jackson is making about small-town America and what she sees as its dangerously restrictive mindset.

As the villagers assemble for the annual June lottery, they talk quietly among themselves. One subject they discuss is other towns considering giving up their lotteries. As Mrs. Adams says,

Some places have already quit lotteries.

Mentioning what is going on in neighboring villages serves several purposes. First, it shows that this village does not need to be continuing this outdated and barbaric practice. Change is possible, as evidenced by the courage of other towns. Second, by talking about ending it, people are indicating they are unhappy and uncomfortable with the tradition. What Mrs. Adams is saying, in effect, is that she wishes her village would abolish the lottery.
It is also significant that it is Old Man Warner, who has been around for a very long time, who objects to the idea of getting rid of the lottery: it seems that the older generation, set in its ways, is behind the continuation of this cruel and pointless ritual.

The town has been holding a lottery every year for at least as long as Old Man Warner can remember. This year will make it seventy-seven times in which the good citizens have mercilessly stoned one of their number to death. However, the killings may have been going on for over a century. It seems unlikely that no outsider would have heard about these murders and reported them to the police. Shirley Jackson attempts to account for this plot problem by establishing that all the neighboring townships are doing the same thing every year, although a few may have given up their lotteries and a few others are talking about stopping them.
"They do say," Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, "that over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery."
So the town which serves as setting for "The Lottery" is buffered by all the towns around it. Those other people are well aware that somebody is getting killed there every year, but they would not report it to the police or mention it to any outsider because they are just as guilty themselves. We actually get the picture of a vast region in which all the towns are stoning citizens to death on a regular annual basis.
Old Man Warner is irate when he responds to Mr. Adams because he knows that the tradition of these death-lotteries is losing popularity, and he enjoys them and looks forward to them. He has escaped so many times that he feels immortal. Maybe he feels that by escaping each year he has been guaranteed another year of life! He probably knows more about the state of affairs in the surrounding region than Mr. Adams or anybody else.
Even if a town officially abolished their annual lottery, the citizens would still keep the other towns' guilt a secret because they would have too many skeletons in their own closets. Some of these towns must have law enforcement officers, but it must be the case that these sheriffs, or policemen, or constables, or whatever they are, are participating in the lotteries and the stonings themselves.

What is being asked of God in "Bliss"?

There is no direct mention of God in the story, nor do any of the characters explicitly pray to ask anything of God. The main character, Bertha, does, however, have something like a religious experience which she desperately wants to embrace, sustain, and share with others. This experience is described repeatedly throughout the story as a "feeling of bliss" and also is described as "divine." It centers upon a connection with another woman she has recently met called Miss Fulton. At one key moment in the story, Bertha and Miss Fulton stand side by side in a

circle of unearthly light, understanding each other perfectly, creatures of another world, and wondering what they were to do in this one with all this blissful treasure that burned in their bosoms.

Bertha wishes ardently for her and Miss Fulton to share their "blissful treasure," and the happiness she feels because of her connection with Miss Fulton also makes Bertha feel a heightened sense of love for all of the people around her. Although she never explicitly asks God to sustain the connection between her and Miss Fulton, her ardent desire for this, expressed often in religious language, is always implicitly present.

Why did the knocker on the door of Scrooge's house look odd?

When he returns home on that fateful Christmas Eve, Scrooge is shocked to see the face of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, appearing on the door knocker. There's something strange and otherworldly about Marley's face; there's no indication as yet that he's a troubled spirit forced to wander round in chains for the rest of eternity. But for now the face vanishes, leaving Scrooge feeling more than a little perturbed. After all, this isn't something that happens every day.
Later on, Marley's ghost will make a more lasting appearance, dragging his chains across the floor as he urges Scrooge to change his ways before it's too late, before he ends up the same way as his former business partner. Scrooge is utterly terrified by this spooky encounter, but it won't be the last he'll have to endure on this long Christmas Eve.

What does it mean to "stay gold"?

Johnny alludes to the Robert Frost poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by encouraging Ponyboy to "Stay gold" before he passes away in the hospital (Hinton, 126). Initially, Ponyboy does not understand the meaning of Robert Frost's poem, which elaborates on the transitory nature of life and expresses the fact that all good things must eventually come to an end. Towards the end of the novel, Pony finds a letter that Johnny had written before he died, which explains the meaning of the poem and encourages him to "Stay gold."
In the poem, nature's first green is described as being gold, which is "her hardest hue to hold." As time passes, the green leaves wither and lose their golden hue. The golden hue of nature can metaphorically apply to one's childhood innocence and optimism. Johnny understands that Pony has experienced traumatic events, which have resulted in his loss of innocence, optimism, and faith. By encouraging Ponyboy to "Stay gold," Johnny is challenging him to embrace life, remain optimistic, and appreciate the good that still exists in the world. Johnny does not want Ponyboy to lose hope and become callous and jaded like Dally, which is why he encourages him to "Stay gold."

The allusion to Robert Frost’s poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” is a significant moment in the story. Originally, Ponyboy is confused by the meaning of the poem. After Johnny’s death, though, he begins to realize that “staying gold” is indicative of a complex moral struggle. Things in life start out “gold”—beautiful, innocent, and pure—but change is certain. For instance, the poem refers to sunrise/dawn, early leaves in autumn, and the Garden of Eden. The analogy works for Ponyboy, who grows up significantly throughout the events of the novel. He begins as an innocent boy who goes through difficult and heartbreaking times. Johnny, who dies a hero, can “stay gold.” However, Ponyboy must realize that despite everything, he must stay believing in goodness and beauty (such as the symbolic sunset). Although gold is the “hardest hue to hold,” it is not impossible. Johnny’s final note to Ponyboy causes this important realization, one that he had been struggling with throughout the novel.

Who has a motive to kill Sam Westing?

Many of Sam Westing's heirs had motives to kill Mr. Westing. Grace Wexler is an ostentatious woman whose desire for wealth would be a major motivation for murder. Bertha Crow, who was married to Mr. Westing at one point, would have a motive for murder if she harbored resentment over their failed relationship. If she felt she had been callously discarded by Westing, she would feel bitter and angry. Her anger over their past could have driven her to murder, especially if she also believed she would get a bit of his riches after his demise. Another character who had a motive to kill Sam Westing would be James Hoo. James believes Mr. Westing stole an idea from him. The idea, which was to make a disposable diaper, made large sums of money for Westing. Without his grand idea, Mr. Hoo is left to struggle financially. Hoo's anger toward Mr. Westing would give him plenty of motivation to murder him.

How are atoms in food used to make the molecules in the cells of living things?

The process of metabolism allows the breakdown of food and the formation of the cells of living beings. Metabolism consists of two processes: catabolism and anabolism.
In the process of catabolism, the food that we eat is broken down into simpler molecules along with the release of energy in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) molecules. Depending on whether the catabolism takes place in the presence of air (aerobically) or the absence of air (anaerobically), the process output and energy output will be different.
In the process of anabolism, the cells in the living beings use the products of catabolism (including energy) to form molecules of different types (from the simplest to the most complex), as per the needs of the living being. The simple molecules may include water and relatively simple salts, while the complex molecules may include DNA, RNA, carbohydrates, etc.

How did the foreigner planned to transport the horse back home in "A Horse and Two Goats"? Where did he say he would display the horse? How?

The red-faced foreigner viewed the clay statue of the horse—which he thinks is "marvellous"—as a decorative item and conversation piece. The New Yorker assures Muni that the statue will have a very good home and that he will clear away some books and bookcases (and maybe even the television) to make room for it in his living room, even if his wife disagrees. He plans to keep him in the center of the room so that, when they have parties, people will stand around with their drinks and admire him. Realizing that he cannot take the horse on the airplane, he plans to give up his air ticket and go by boat, keeping the statue in the cabin with him, while his wife goes ahead by air.

Of what does Edwards believe his congregation is not sensible in "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"?

"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" centers around a sermon that Jonathan Edwards delivered to a group of people who he believed to be complacent and comfortable. He gave the speech to the congregation on July 8, 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut.
In the longest and most important part of the sermon, in which Edwards speaks directly to members of the congregation who are unable to sense their sinful fate, he tries to awaken people who seem to not realize the greatness, power, and holiness of God, but instead focus on their own accomplishments and status in society. He wants to stir up the souls of those who believe their own responsibility and determination has caused their success. Edwards reminds them that unless they experience a transforming, soulful phenomenon as they worship God, they are still sinners in the hands of an angry God and cannot be saved and sent to Heaven.
So Edwards believes the congregation has not sensed what it means to be a believer of the soul, spirit, and God's greatness before themselves, to humble themselves, and to realize that the church attendance, family traditions, and good moral behavior they exhibit is not enough to be saved or to go to Heaven.

Does the electoral college promote or hinder political participation?

The electoral college does not hinder political participation, in my opinion. I would argue that in fact, it promotes it, since it allows the citizens to indirectly vote for the president and vice president via their electors. The process is as follows: first, the political parties present their nominees for the electors. Then, the nominees are either chosen by the party's central committee or through party conventions.
Next, the nominees are approved on election day by popular vote. Depending on state laws, the list of nominees is usually tied to the presidential candidate, meaning that when the public votes for a certain presidential candidate, they are also voting for the electors. Currently, there are a total of 538 electoral votes; the winning candidate needs 270. Once the electors have been selected, they cast their votes in their respective states. The counting of the electors' votes is done by Congress, which then declares the winner.
https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/about

https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/allocation

https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/electors

What is colonial America known for?

Colonial America is known for its diversity, despite most of the people living there being from the British Isles. In New England, one had the Puritans with their town meetings and religious values. In Pennsylvania, there were tolerant Quakers whose farms would make Pennsylvania the breadbasket of colonial America. Maryland would have a substantial Catholic population. Virginia and South Carolina would be known for their substantial plantations and, eventually, slaves. Georgia would be founded as an alternative to debtor's prison. New York would be the most cosmopolitan of all the colonies, and New York City would be known as the commercial hub of the New World. It is remarkable that all of these colonies could consider themselves English given their diversity in purpose and makeup.
Overall, colonial America is known for its nearly limitless supplies of natural resources, especially arable farmland, timber, and furs. Even though Britain and the rest of Western Europe valued the sugar from the Caribbean more, colonial America would eventually grow into a commercial hub in its own right.
The colonies would also be known for their gradual buildup to revolution and the steps they took after the Revolutionary War to establish their own government. That is remarkable as well given that many revolutions often have counterrevolutions that destroy any sense of stability in the new nation.

In Maniac Magee, what was Jeffrey’s biggest change?

Maniac Magee, whose real name is Jeffrey, undergoes several changes during the course of the novel. Many of them are serious and life-altering. The deaths of his parents impacts him the most, setting him on the path of adventures that run through the book.
One very important change that he undergoes—as opposed to something that happens to him—is his decision to stay with the Beales. Briefly put, he stops running. Jeffrey has moved from one precarious situation to the next, apparently believing that he could find a home and a community that would be conflict-free. Jeffrey bravely tried to move between the different social worlds of black and white people but found it more difficult than he anticipated. Ultimately, however, he accepts the fundamental humanity of everyone and decides that he can make his home where people want him.

How did the stars and heaven react when the tiger was created?

For Blake, the stars symbolize the power of cold reason, which he greatly despised. Like many of his contemporaries, Blake was deeply impressed by the rapid advancement of scientific knowledge. But, at the same time, he strongly opposed what we would now call scientism, the idea that everything in life can be explained by science. Blake believed that there was a whole world of imagination for which science could provide no adequate account, and he explored that world in considerable depth both in his poems and his numerous artworks.
Although the tiger is an animal and therefore part of the natural world, there is something about it that can't be captured by scientific analysis. Science can tell us so many things about tigers, as it can with all other creatures upon this earth, including ourselves. But what it can't do is convey the sheer awe and terror that the tiger inspires; only the aesthetic imagination can do that. The sense of awe and fear which the speaker feels in the presence of the tiger defies reason. In response to the tiger, reason—as symbolized by the stars—can say nothing. All it can do is suspend its hostility to the imagination ("When the stars threw down their spears") and weep in the presence of this sublime, awesome creature ("And water'd heaven with their tears").

Is George Dane an introvert?

Writers discovered many things about human psychology before Freud and Jung, as Sigmund Freud, who was extremely well read in literature in various languages, freely acknowledged. Freud derived his theory of the Oedipus complex from the ancient Greek tragedy. In Henry James's story "The Great Good Place," his focal character George Dane is an excellent example of an "introvert," a term which was coined by C. G. Jung in his seminal book Psychological Types. Dane feels as if he is being eaten up by people with their insatiable demands on his time and attention. He needs some time alone to recharge his batteries, to resurrect his identity, to retrieve his own soul. This is an infallible sign of introversion--wanting to be alone and needing to be alone after spending time among people, whether friends, relatives, acquaintances, or strangers. There are many easily recognizable introverts in world literature. Hamlet is a prime example. Herman Melville's Bartleby in "Bartleby the Scrivener" is perhaps the extreme example. Others who come to mind are Rodion Raskolnikov in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment and Gregor Samsa in Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. Many writer's themselves must be introverts because of the solitary nature of their profession. A few American authors who come to mind are Edgar Allan Poe, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, William Faulkner, and E. B. White.

Why does Tybalt seek revenge on Romeo for crashing the party?

Tybalt recognizes Romeo's voice at the Capulet's masked ball, and Tybalt is infuriated that Romeo, a hated Montague, would sneak into the event hiding behind a mask. Tybalt considers it an outrageous violation of Capulet territory, and he believes that Romeo has come to the ball simply to make fun of the Capulets and cause trouble.

TYBALT: This, by his voice, should be a Montague.
. . . What, dares the slave
Come hither, cover'd with an antic face,
To fleer and scorn at our solemnity?
Now, by the stock and honour of my kin,
To strike him dead I hold it not a sin.
[1.5.56–61]
. . . Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe;
A villain, that is hither come in spite
To scorn at our solemnity this night.
[1.5.63-65]

Tybalt's uncle, Lord Capulet, tells Tybalt that he doesn't want Tybalt to cause any disturbance at his party, to "let him alone" [1.5.68] and "take no note of him" [1.5.74]. Tybalt argues with his uncle but eventually abides by his wishes. Nevertheless, Tybalt intends to hold a grudge and to get revenge on Romeo for intruding into the party.

TYBALT: I will withdraw; but this intrusion shall,
Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt'rest gall.
[1.5.96–97]

There's no indication in the play that Tybalt heard what Romeo actually said, only that Tybalt recognized Romeo's voice. Fortunately for all involved, Tybalt stormed out of the party—he might have been even more incensed if he had heard Romeo's remarks about Tybalt's cousin, Juliet, and if he had seen Romeo holding hands with her and kissing her.

Please suggest a few original essay topics about Rilke's philosophy in his poetry.

Rilke often expressed his philosophical views and opinions in his poetry. One common topic he addressed was God and religion. Rilke grew up in a Christian environment, and he often praised God in his works, both literally and metaphorically. However, he rarely comes off as dogmatic or illogical. Thus, I believe this might prove to be one interesting topic to explore about Rilke’s personal philosophical views.
Another theme Rilke often explored was the connection between humans and nature. He asked fundamental questions about human nature, nature itself, and the purpose of life. He indirectly suggested that if religion and logic fail to provide us with answers about our existence, then perhaps we should seek answers in poetry and mysticism. This is also a unique topic that you can explore.

In general and specific terms, who was William Shakespeare and why do you think a life in the theatre might have been attractive to him?

William Shakespeare was an English actor, poet, and playwright. His works were exceedingly successful in their own time and indeed were so influential that up until today, he is still undoubtedly the most famous playwright in history.
Because so many of the official records of his life (such as his birth and school records) are either missing altogether or have been lost, it is difficult to piece together specifics about Shakespeare's personal life. We do know something about his family: his father was a merchant and served as both alderman and bailiff (positions similar to a town mayor). He would have received free tuition at a local school and been given a good education (the school in Stratford, Shakespeare's hometown, is described as being even better than Eton at that time). This probably accounts for William's knowledge of Latin terms and familiarity with classical Greek literature, both of which we find often in his works.
While it is impossible to say exactly why Shakespeare decided to join the theatre in London, there are several possible reasons. Firstly, it is possible he needed funds at the time. With a wife and three children at home by the time he was twenty-one, Shakespeare may well have had a hard time supporting his family. Though not proven, it is believed by some that he went to London several years before joining the theatre looking for work and may even have been employed in some way at a theatre, such as in the stables as a horse attendant; from there he may have begun playing extras in plays until he was eventually recognized as an actor in his own right. It is also very possible that William, having learned and been drawn to classical literature and drama in school, wanted more than an ordinary life in Stratford could offer him. Married at age eighteen to a woman he may or may not have loved (they married in haste as she was pregnant at the time), William likely never had the chance to truly develop and use his talents before having to accept 'settling down' with a family; perhaps by the time ten years had passed, he knew he needed something more and joined the theatre to find it.
Whatever his reasons were, William Shakespeare became an almost instant success in the theatre, and his fame only continued to grow when his company, The Lord Chamberlain's Men, became a favorite of Queen Elizabeth. He wrote at least thirty-seven plays, 154 sonnets, and five long poems in his lifetime, and he literally invented English words still used today (some say we owe nearly 1,700 words to Shakespeare). The very fact that 400 years after his death, we continue to look to him as a beloved and unsurpassed master of drama and writing goes to show how truly important a person William Shakespeare was. We can still be grateful that, for whatever reason, he followed his heart to the theatre, living the motto he later wrote in the lines of Hamlet:

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.

Why does Edna's sharing feel like freedom?

At the beach one afternoon, Edna shares a story with Adele about herself as a child, cutting through a big field of green in Kentucky. She believes she might have been running away from church on a Sunday rather than submitting to prayers that were "'read in a spirit of gloom by [her] father.'" She was seeking freedom. Edna shares with her friend realizing that she's never really shared in this affectionate and intimate way before. Her relationships with her sisters really did not permit it, for various reasons, and

Edna had had an occasional girl friend, but whether accidentally or not, they seemed to have been all of one type—the self-contained. She never realized that the reserve of her own character had much, perhaps everything, to do with this.

Edna has had to submit to so many different types of confinement: confinement by her gender, confinement in her marriage, confinement as a mother. Now, in this moment, however, Edna is able to escape the self-containment she's always adopted and let herself open up, and this would feel quite a bit like freedom in a way.

As part of her awakening, Edna becomes acutely aware of her role as a mother and a woman. In doing so, she recognizes the importance of sharing. As she tells Madame Ratignolle she would gladly give her life and all she has for the sake of her children. This is the last in the series of awakenings that Edna experiences, and it is the one most crucial of all to her understanding of what it means to be free. Edna has come to see motherhood and womanhood no longer as duties to be performed according to established convention, but as intrinsic components of her new-found individuality. The nurturing and sharing involved in motherhood, far from representing a restriction on freedom, are actually its highest expression. For Edna, sharing becomes a choice, not a duty.

What is an analysis of the poem "Break the Mirror" by Nanao Sakaki, taking into consideration his focus on nature and the environment?

In this poem, Sakaki, a Japanese poet, writes about transcending the boundaries of age and time and uniting with the wholeness of nature. His language, while spare, is also refreshingly accessible, and he does not write in a formal way.
The poem begins with his regarding himself in the mirror, while he makes funny, vernacular asides, such as "What a pity." The poem starts with a story—an older man regarding himself and his gray hair and wrinkles. The narrator feels distanced from himself. He feels so distanced that he refers to himself as "he," speaking in the third person.
With the alliterative line "land and life" (alliteration involves the repetition of the initial sounds of words), the poet launches into the part of the poem that deals with the transcendent parts of life and nature. He recounts times that he has spent in nature, including sleeping in the desert with stars. These are moments in which he has joined with nature and has transcended the everyday experience of life and felt freed from time. He also includes his experiences protesting against nuclear war, as these experiences connect him with something that transcends the everyday.
After recounting these experiences, he feels young again. He says that he is seventeen. When he begins meditating, his innermost voice tells him to "break the mirror." Breaking the mirror represents his freeing himself from the boundaries and limits of time to reach something more transcendent and timeless, such as the beauties and truths of nature.
While the poem tells a story, it also tells, in lines that are taut but that have deeper meaning, of larger, more important truths. The poet uses the moment of leaving the shower to launch into a broader, deeper conversation about his connection with timelessness and nature. He finds that by recalling his connection with nature, he can reverse the clock and feel free of the passage of time.

What is the function of literature?

Literature can be didactic, meaning that it can be intended to teach the reader, perhaps in the form of a moral lesson. This is often quite explicitly the case with children's literature. Aesop's fables are a classic example of didactic children's literature. "The Tortoise and the Hare," for example, teaches children that it can sometimes be better to go slowly and carefully than to go quickly and complacently. "The Ant and the Grasshopper," meanwhile, teaches children that working hard and planning for the future is better than being lazy and thinking only of today.
Literature can also be polemical, meaning that it can be intended to argue a certain position or disprove another. Naomi Klein, for example, writes polemical books. In This Changes Everything, Klein argues that we must do much more to tackle the issues consequent of global warming. She also argues that we need to fundamentally rethink the economic model of capitalism if we are to meaningfully tackle climate change.
Literature is also, of course, often primarily intended to entertain. This is the primary purpose of most novels, although most novels also have a secondary purpose which might be to be didactic or polemical. J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, for example, are intended primarily to entertain, but they are also didactic in that they contain clear moral lessons.

What happens in Canto VIII of Dante's Inferno?

Canto VIII
Phlegyas paddles his charges across the Styx and away from the them pitiful souls mired in the slime. Dante and Virgil now can see the City of Dis more clearly; the rounded tops of the city’s mosques glow red. Virgil explains that

"The fire eternal
That kindles them within makes them look red,
As thou beholdest in this nether Hell."

Coming closer still, Dante can see that the fire-lit mosques are protected by a deep moat and walls of what appear to be iron. Phlegyas takes a circuitous route but finally announces they have arrived, “Debark,” he orders, “here is the entrance."
Rather forced to oblige, Dante steps onto the shore. He is stunned to see vast numbers of guards at the gates. These protectors angrily demand

“Who is this that without death
Goes through the kingdom of the people dead?"

Virgil moves to calm the angry hoard but his words are of no comfort to Dante. The throng will let Virgil, a shade, pass through but the deny the living Dante entrance:

"Come thou alone, and he begone
Who has so boldly entered these dominions.
Let him return alone by his mad road;
Try, if he can; for thou shalt here remain,
Who hast escorted him through such dark regions."

Dante begs the great poet not to leave him, reminding Virgil how exclusively he has relied on the older man’s guidance. If we must go back, please come with me, Dante implores:

"O my dear Guide, who more than seven times
Hast rendered me security, and drawn me
From imminent peril that before me stood,
Do not desert me," said I, "thus undone;
And if the going farther be denied us,
Let us retrace our steps together swiftly."

Virgil tells Dante to not be afraid and that he will take care of things. Unfortunately, and to his likely surprise, Virgil fails to gain Dante passage. The poet returns to his charge downcast but still determined. Virgil recalls that this same throng once tried, and failed, to block Christ’s entrance. They too will eventually be victorious:

"Fear not, for I will conquer in the trial,
Whatever for defence within be planned.
This arrogance of theirs is nothing new;
For once they used it at less secret gate,
Which finds itself without a fastening still.
O'er it didst thou behold the dead inscription;
And now this side of it descends the steep,
Passing across the circles without escort,
One by whose means the city shall be opened."

This brief delay may be a reminder to Virgil that no one, not even someone as great as himself, is more important than Christ or receive better treatment than the Savior.

How did enslaved African Americans create ties of family, community, and culture?

Enslaved African Americans created ties of family, community, and culture through their music, dance, and language. Even though they faced hardships such as slavery, family separation, and broken communities, they preserved their African roots through their cultural products.
For many enslaved Americans, music became a way to express the pain and hardship of slavery. It was a communal experience in that all slaves shared this burden and could express their pain in a non-threatening way while working in inhumane conditions. It was an oratory practice in that the songs were passed down from African ancestors and would change based on current circumstances. These songs of endurance and hope still remain today in the Black American church.
In addition to music, dance helped enslaved African Americans come together. For many West Africans from different communities, it was a way to communicate across cultures and remember Africa. Like music, dancing was a way to survive and endure during the hardship that was slavery. This remembrance of Africa remains today in festivals such as Carnival.
Language is another way that enslaved African Americans created community. Enslaved Africans were brought from many different West African countries and spoke different languages and dialects. In order to communicate with each other as well as communicate with their slaveholders, enslaved African Americans formed a creole language. This happens when different groups not sharing a common language need to communicate. Early creole that enslaved African Americans spoke had similar grammatical rules to different African languages. This creole evolved into African American Vernacular English (AAVE), which is still spoken and understood today by many descendants of enslaved Africans.
http://revealinghistories.org.uk/legacies-stereotypes-racism-and-the-civil-rights-movement/articles/legacies-of-slavery-dance.html

http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/AAVE/worldscollide/

Who were the American Enlightement thinkers?

The American Enlightenment was a time of intellectual development in the thirteen colonies that led to the American Revolution and then the creation of the United States of America. During this time, scientific reasoning was applied to politics, religion, and science, and literature, arts, and music were restored. The American Enlightenment was influenced by the European Enlightenment, but it had its own thinkers. The men who had a major impact in the American Enlightenment included Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Washington, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton. Along with these men, other leading thinkers included Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Clap, Ezra Stiles, Samuel Johnson, William Smith, George Mason, James Wilson, Ethan Allen, Jared Eliot, David Rittenhouse, Benjamin Rush, Charles Peale, and Cadwallader Colden.

What is the genre of Dogsong?

Dogsong by Gary Paulsen is the story of a fourteen-year-old Eskimo boy named Russell who feels disconnected from his ancestry. His father sends him to meet a village elder, Oogruk, who helps him understand through stories and songs how Eskimos used to live before the white men came to the far north of Alaska. In an attempt to reconnect with the "old ways," Russell decides to take a 1,400-mile dogsled trip through the Alaskan wilderness, challenging himself both physically and mentally.
The two main genres of prose are fiction, or stories that are not true, and nonfiction, or stories that are true. Dogsong is a fictional story that could also belong to the subgenre of adventure, discovery, and exploration narratives. Within fiction, there are further genres that relate to the length and format of the work. For example, novels, short stories, novellas, and picture books are all fictional genres. Dogsong is considered a novel.

How are themes of identity, dislocation, and history portrayed throughout the novel?

Identity, dislocation, and history are portrayed vividly throughout Teju Cole's Open City. The main character, Julius (a young, Nigerian graduate student in psychiatry), routinely walks around the city as a means to decompress from his mentally taxing job. The novel's progress mirrors Julius' progress through graduate school, though the events of the novel depict primarily his free time.
Julius' identity as a German-Nigerian is important to him. He takes a trip to Brussels, ostensibly in search of his only remaining German grandmother. He spends much of his time in Belgium alone, and, ironically, he lies about his identity to a woman with whom he has a sexual encounter. This demonstrates the disjunction between sexual and emotional intimacy.
Another moment charged with the issue of identity is when Julius sees a group of black people assembled in Brussels, and he assumes the group is from the Congo (a former Belgian colony), though they are in fact Rwandans (a group that experienced harsh genocide as living memory). Identity in Cole's novel is both deeply personal and also misleading.
Dislocation is a theme witnessed in the novel primarily through accounts of colonial periods across the globe. One of Julius' patients wrote a novel about colonial New York, and another wrote a book about a Dutch settler who killed many Native Americans. Julius thinks that his patient's intense academic study of these horrific events contributes to her depression. During his trip to Brussels, Julius also learns how the French have overwhelmed the native Flemish population in Belgium. Colonial rule is, as a rule, viewed with a critical lens throughout the novel.
History, too, is a primary concern for Julius. Julius is attracted to discovering his only living grandmother in Brussels. As Julius is an introspective individual, he contemplates his own family history, told through flashbacks at punctuated intervals throughout the novel. He primarily remembers his grandmother and disobeying his parents' orders not to drink Coke (for which, as an adult, he has no taste).
In Open City, Julius feels that places are imbued with meaning owing to their history. Two prominent spots are a slave burial ground in lower Manhattan, commemorated by a nondescript sculpture. In the closing scene of the novel, Julius is invited aboard a yacht, from which vantage point he contemplates the Statue of Liberty--the iconic and historic landmark for immigrants to America. Seeing the light of the statue, many birds die flying toward it. History thus imbues various places--and the novel as a whole--with poisoned memories.

When and where does the story mostly take place?

Where the Red Fern Grows opens with an adult Billy Colman living in Idaho in the 1960s. On the way home from work one day, he rescues an injured redbone hound, reminding him of Old Dan and Little Ann, the coonhounds he had as a child. This encounter sends Billy down memory lane, and the rest of the novel takes place in the 1920s, when he was a child growing up in the Ozark Mountains.
Billy was raised on a farm in northeastern Oklahoma. The farm was nestled in a valley in the Ozark Mountains, isolating the Colman family from town but surrounding them with the wild beauty of nature. Billy describes the area with loving detail:

Behind our house one could see miles and miles of the mighty Ozarks. In the spring the aromatic scent of wild flowers, redbuds, papaws, and dogwoods, drifting on the wind currents, spread over the valley and around our home.
Below our fields, twisting and winding, ran the clear blue waters of the Illinois River. The banks were cool and shady. The rich bottom land near the river was studded with tall sycamores, birches, and box elders.
To a ten-year-old country boy it was the most beautiful place in the whole wide world. (chapter 2)

Billy spends much of his time at one with the woods, racing through the trees and streams with Old Dan and Little Ann. When the family is finally able to afford to buy a house in town, Billy wants to stay with his grandfather, and his parents understand—they know Billy doesn't want to be separated from his grandfather, his dogs, or the land he loves.
It's only after the coonhounds die unexpectedly that Billy moves with his family to town, where there are more modern conveniences and where he can receive a proper education. He never returns to the Ozarks, but as the adult Billy concludes the narration of the novel, he says that he would like to visit again someday.

Which statement is true of both Magwitch and Joe?

It is difficult to answer your question without the statements to compare Abel Magwitch and Joe Gargery in Charles' Dickens novel Great Expectations. The novel, a work which is critical of Great Britain in the late 19th century, tells about the journey of a young orphan named Pip. Joe and Magwitch have several similarities. Both of them are from lower social classes. Because of their lower social class, Pip is often embarrassed by their actions.
At different points in the work, both Joe and Magwitch serve as surrogate parents for Pip. In chapter 7, Joe adopts Pip:

"And bring the poor little child. God bless the poor little child," I said to your sister, "there's room for him at the forge!"

Later, in chapter 40, we see Magwitch stepping into a parent role for Pip.
The two also have similar eating habits, as neither follows standard table manners. In chapter 27, Pip is embarrassed by Joe's inability to properly eat with a fork, and later, in chapter 40, Pip is disgusted by how Magwitch devours his food:

He ate in a ravenous way that was very disagreeable, and all his actions were uncouth, noisy, and greedy.

Finally, Pip is often embarrassed by how Joe and Magwitch dress. Pip is perplexed by Joe's "mysterious" style. In chapter 40, Pip describes Magwitch's style of dress:

The more I dressed him and the better I dressed him, the more he looked like the slouching fugitive on the marshes.

In The Other Wes Moore, what is Wes Moore’s grandmother and grandfathers educational background?

Wes Moore's paternal grandfather is Reverend Dr. James Moore, a minister who originally hails from Jamaica. He came to the United States to study theology and has remained in the country ever since. Here, he got married to a local girl, Winell, Wes's paternal grandmother.
As someone who came to the United States to study, Dr. Moore understands the value of education, as can be seen from his willingness to help pay for Wes to go to Valley Forge military academy. He and Winell sacrificed their entire life savings to make this happen, money that was originally intended to fund their retirement in Jamaica. When Wes finds out about the enormous sacrifices his grandparents have made he resolves to stay at Valley Forge and make a go of things.

Discuss the issues that led to the Marbury v. Madison case of 1803. What were the results of the decision, and what impact did it have on the Supreme Court and the country?

This landmark case came out of the bitter political dispute between the outgoing Federalist Administration led by President Adams and the incoming Democratic-Republican Administration led by the new president, Thomas Jefferson. After going down to defeat in the 1800 election, the Federalists wanted to stymie the Democratic-Republicans' legislative agenda by packing the judiciary with their appointees. One of these men was a man called William Marbury.
Unfortunately for him, he didn't receive the letter confirming his judicial appointment in time, so he wasn't given his promised position as judge. Incensed at being deprived at what he considered was rightfully his, he sued the new Administration, in the person of the Secretary of State, James Madison.
The Supreme Court had to maintain a very delicate balance in this case. It consisted overwhelming of Federalist supporters of the outgoing Adams Administration. And though they were inevitably hostile to the new government, the justices of the Court recognized that if they displayed overt partisanship in reaching their decision, then the Democratic-Republican controlled Congress would almost certainly clip its wings.
So in his landmark decision, Chief Justice Marshall cleverly gave with one hand, but took with the other. Marbury would not be awarded his judicial commission, despite the actions of the new Administration being unlawful. In handing down this decision, the Court was invalidating the statute which had given it the power to decide this case in the first place. So on the face of it, although the Administration had won the case, at the same time the Supreme Court had given itself the power to strike down legislation it deemed unconstitutional, the power of judicial review, which it has held ever since.
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1789-1850/5us137

In the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson of the Democratic-Republican Party defeated John Adams of the Federalist Party. John Adams wanted to ensure that the judiciary would continue to have many judges who were more supportive of views of the Federalists. Thus, just before his term ended, he appointed many Federalist judges—an action which was called the Midnight Appointments. However, not all of the judges had their commissions delivered before John Adams' presidency ended. Thomas Jefferson told his Secretary of State, James Madison, not to deliver the commissions of the judges who were in this category.
William Marbury was one of these judges. He sued, and the Supreme Court heard the case. The Supreme Court ruled that it was acceptable that these commissions were not delivered. The most important part of this decision was that the Supreme Court said it had the power of judicial review. This meant that the Supreme Court could determine if a law or action was constitutional. This has given much power to the Supreme Court, since it can strike down a law that it views as unconstitutional. When laws are passed, Congress needs to work to be sure that they will be viewed as constitutional. There have been many instances in which the Supreme Court ruled that a law was not constitutional, such as with the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which were laws passed during the New Deal.

These are interpretive questions. Please add quotations when answering the questions and make your answers at least 250 words for each question. 1. In the first line of "Sonnet 73," the speaker uses a time of year as a metaphor for his age. The metaphor continues throughout the entire stanza. What time of year is he describing? Why is it an appropriate metaphor for the speaker's age? 2. In the second stanza of "Sonnet 73," the speaker switches metaphors and says that his lover sees "the twilight of such day . . . which by and by black night doth away." What are twilight and night metaphors for? 3. Identify one metaphor in the poem above that we have not yet discussed. Why do you think the poet chose to make this comparison? 4. Identify one simile in the poems above that we have not yet discussed. Why do you think the poet chose to make this comparison?

1. In lines 2 and 3 of “Sonnet 73,” the speaker mentions that his lover will notice his “yellow leaves, or none, or few” that “shake against the cold.” Based on these lines, the reader can infer that the time of year alluded to in the opening line is late autumn or winter. Yellow leaves would only be possible during the fall season, while bare branches are seen in winter. This metaphor is appropriate to describe the speaker because he is presumably old and nearing death, which he addresses in the final couplet of the sonnet when he says that his lover must “leave ere long.” Because winter is a time in which nature experiences a kind of death, or hibernation, it is often used throughout literature as a metaphor for old age. 2. Instead of comparing his life to a year, the speaker is comparing his life to a single day. Twilight is the time before the sun completely sets; it is the latter part of the evening. Night, of course, is the end of each day. Like autumn and winter, the twilight and night represent old age and death. The speaker thinks that death, like the night does to the day, “seals up all the rest” of his life. 3. Another metaphor the speaker uses comes in lines 9 and 10 when he says that his lover “see’st the glowing of such fire / That on the ashes of his youth do lie.” The poet chose to make this comparison because fire provides heat and energy. One might say that the speaker compares the passion of his younger days with a fire that has consumed his physical beauty in his old age. 4. The only other simile present in the poem comes in lines 11 and 12. The speaker provides another description of his lost youth, saying that it is gone “as on the death-bed” and “consum’d with that which it was nourish’d by.” The speaker uses this simile to emphasize his comparison between his passion and youth. He uses this simile to suggest that what made him into such a passionate lover is his lust for life. This desire, though, expends so much energy that it has brought him closer to his impending death.

Is nature a force for good or evil in Candide?

In the novel Candide by Voltaire, nature is used primarily as a force of evil and destruction. Voltaire is making a pointed religious commentary throughout the novel, as well as drawing on a very real and recent experience.
To argue against the prevalent religious idea of Optimism, which was at the time making the rounds in France and the Iberian Peninsula as one of the most popular Christian ideas, Voltaire chose to show an incredibly pessimistic world. The idea of Optimism is that everything works out for the best in the end because God is good and that troubles and afflictions, particularly for Christians, are typically light and temporary. However, in 1755, a few years prior to the publication of this book, an earthquake hit Lisbon, followed by a tsunami and massive fires, all of which took place on All Saints Day. This crippled the idea of Optimism and made many question their faith because it was so tragic.
Voltaire chose to draw on these events in the book to show a terrible world full of evil. He uses, in fact, a very similar sequence of events, incorporating first a horrific storm that capsizes the protagonist’s boat, which he barely survives. Soon after his arrival in Lisbon, just as in real life, an earthquake struck, followed quickly be a tsunami and fires. Nature is used in this way to beat down Candide, making his life more difficult and miserable. Clearly it is being used as a force of evil to torment and punish the main character and to show that the world is not a good place, let alone the “best of all possible worlds”.
This natural world in which Candide lives seems to be bent on frustrating and attacking him, which is more pessimistic than reality. However, Voltaire is attempting to show that, far from being the best possible environment, the world does its best to torment and harm humanity, meaning it is not a good and benevolent place and, in his eyes, there can’t be a good and benevolent God.

Explain the importance of developing metrics.

Metrics are numerical methods of measuring the performance or evolution of processes or phenomena.
Having an objective set of criteria to assess differences in a process from start to finish, to identify changes at the midpoint in a process, or to assess quality, is needed to help drive improvements. Metrics can offer insight into performance and highlight priorities that need attention.
Moreover, common, widely-accepted metrics can be used to reject, refine, or validate hypotheses which can, in turn, help develop theory. A weak theory is frequently reflected in the absence of common, widely accepted metrics.
One example of metrics used effectively in the social sciences is in citation measurement. Indices such as the H-score use common metrics such as the number of citations an article has received in scholarly journals to determine its significance and importance. This provides an objective manner of determining quality, versus subjective evaluations such as personal preference.

How is "Epithalamion" a marriage hymn?

"Epithalamion" is a long lyric poem written by Edmund Spenser in celebration of his marriage to Elizabeth Boyle. The word itself means "marriage song," coming from two Greek words that mean "upon" and "bridal chamber." It is easy to follow the poem once one understands that each of the twenty-four stanzas represents an hour of the couple's wedding day. The first few stanzas anticipate the bride awakening, but she is still asleep and dreaming. At the fifth and sixth stanzas, she awakes, and then she dresses for the occasion of the wedding ceremony. Throughout the first half of the poem, Spenser invokes many Greek gods and goddesses to help prepare for the wedding. For example, he calls upon some to help dress "my beautifullest bride." In the eighth stanza, boys run up and down the street hailing Hymen, the god of marriage.
At stanza twelve, Spenser urges the wedding attendants to "bring her up to th'high altar that she may the sacred ceremonies there partake, the which do endlesse matrimony make." At this point, Christian allusions replace the Greek references. In stanza thirteen, she takes her vows and angels sing alleluia. In the following stanza, the bride is brought to her joyous husband's home. Maidens sing and bells toll. Eventually the party ends, and the two lovers are left alone to enjoy their wedding night.
The entire poem is a recounting in flowery language, full of Greek and Christian allusions, of the joyous wedding day. It is indeed a song, or hymn, celebrating marriage. Spenser wrote it as a tribute to his own marriage, but by extension, it can be interpreted as an homage to the tradition of matrimony and the uniting of a man and woman in a lifelong loving relationship.

Who is Arleen in Evicted?

Arleen is one of the many tragic individuals in the real-life tale Evicted. Impoverished and living with her children, she is evicted from her apartment and needs to find new housing immediately. She spends nearly her entire welfare check on rent every month and is trying desperately to maintain her welfare case since she has no other income.
After being denied by literally dozens of landlords, she is finally offered a place to stay at the 90th. She moves in, grateful, but her stay is cut short. After her son gets into a physical altercation with a teacher at school, they are asked to leave, again leaving them in a nomadic situation.
She moves in with Trisha and her boyfriend, another low-income family. They squeeze everyone into their apartment for a month and a half until Trisha and her boyfriend leave. Arleen is left homeless again and must move in with her sister.
Because of the constant upheaval in their life, Arleen loses the majority of their possessions, as she is unable to afford storage during their numerous transitions. After becoming further indebted to her landlord, Sherrena, she loses her welfare case after missing multiple appointments and is left destitute and unable to pay back her debts.

Evicted is an ethnographic study of tenants in the low-income housing areas of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Matthew Desmond, a Harvard sociologist, narrates the story of eight families clinging to the edge of low-wage employment.
Arleen Belle is a black, single mother who falls behind on rent. Her landlady, Sherrena Tarver, moves to evict her and her boys, a few days before Christmas. Arleen is left into the coldest Milwaukee winter on record to find her family a new home. In a short period, she rents several squalid apartments, faces evictions, crashes with friends, and is forced to live in shelters.
Through Arlene's story, Desmond provides a ground-level view of evictions, one of the most urgent issues facing America today. Evictions trap America’s poor into a cycle of poverty, ill-health, and instability. Single mothers, like Arleen, are the worst sufferers. They bear the cost of running the house and the responsibility of raising children. They are paid less than men for the same amount of work, and they are often unable to make deals with landlords.
Arleen's story transforms our understanding of the centrality of home and determination in the face of hardships.

Arleen Belle is an African-American woman living on the poverty line and attempting to look after her two sons: five-year-old Jafaris, who struggles with severe asthma, and his older brother Jori.
She moves between a large number of apartments and shelters throughout her life in an effort to keep a roof over her family's heads despite her lack of money. Her welfare check barely covers the cost of the family's rent and utilities bill.
Arleen, who had been renting from a woman named Sherrenna, soon ends up in eviction court yet again. After this, she successfully gets a sublet from Crystal, who is Sherrena's new tenant.
The relationship between Crystal and Arleen quickly turns sour. Arleen (who sometimes gives false names like "Arleen Beal" and "Erleen Belle" to landlords) ultimately loses custody of her children due to her inability to provide a suitable home.

Arleen is just one of many real-life people in Evicted who struggles to keep a roof over their heads. At the start of the book, Arleen is evicted with her two sons from their apartment, after someone broke down the door. Arleen and the kids move from place to place, each rathole as uninhabitable as the last. Although the only apartments she can find are always in such appalling condition, Arleen still needs to spend something like 88% of her welfare check on rent, a problem common to many tenants in the book.
Arleen's already desperate plight is made worse by her own chronic depression as well as her son's disabilities, for which he requires treatment. To make matters worse, Arleen's sister passes away, and she needs to borrow some money from her landlord Sherrena to pay for the funeral. Sherrena expects Arleen to be able to pay her back from money received from the state or from her extended family. Such money isn't forthcoming, and in fact Arleen has her public assistance cut after missing an appointment.
After being evicted, Arleen has three days to find a new place in freezing cold weather. She and her family are forced to move around from place to place, and her son Jori ends up going to five different schools between the 7th and 8th grades. The 90th landlord that Arleen contacts is finally able to offer her a place. But after her son Jori kicks a teacher, Arleen and her family are forced to move out and stay with Trisha, her boyfriend, and his family. After a month and a half of this arrangement, Trisha and the other adults disappear, leading Arleen and her family to go stay with her sister. Arleen is cannot afford to keep her possessions in storage, so she loses them. And as she misses three appointments, her welfare case is closed, leaving her completely destitute.

Does Athena appear to have her plan all figured out or does she seem to improvise as she goes?

Athena is a champion of Odysseus throughout Homer's Odyssey. She feels a special affinity for him, as Athena is the goddess of wisdom, and Odysseus, though mortal, is renowned for his cunning and cleverness. Though Athena is a shrewd engineer of the social interactions of Odysseus and his companions, she is nonetheless at the mercy of other gods (chiefly, Zeus). In the Odyssey's opening book, Athena approaches Zeus and asks the king of the gods to intervene to help Odysseus ("But my heart is torn for wise Ulysses, unfortunate man, who far from his friends has long been suffering afflictions" [1.45]). Zeus assures her that it is not he who holds a grudge against Odysseus, but Poseidon (whose favored Cyclops Odysseus had blinded). Zeus encourages Athena: "Let us who are here all take thought of [Odysseus's] return, that he may come home" (1.78).
From this point forward, Athena navigates the mortal world at will. On one occasion, she appears to Telemachus (Odysseus's son) as a stranger ("Mentes") to encourage him to set sail after his missing father. Shortly thereafter, she assumes the guise of Telemachus himself in order to recruit a sailing crew. She also provides the crew with fair winds. Nor are her entanglements only with Telemachus—she enters the mind of a young princess, Nausikaa, in Book 6, and inspires her to go wash her clothing in the sea, where she (not coincidentally) encounters Odysseus (whom Athena made to appear especially tall and handsome). A final—and especially gruesome—feat of Athena's is her engineering of the death of Penelope's suitors. At the epic's close, Athena convinces the citizens of Ithaca to forgive Odysseus for the death of the suitors and accept his return to Ithaca.
Athena's behavior is largely unbridled. That said, she is restrained only by the whims of other gods (Zeus and Poseidon). It is a common dynamic in classical literature, whereby the gods are not devoid of human characteristics (competition, jealousy, pride), though their world is apart from and superior to the mortal one.

Athena does have a plan figured out. If you think about it, Athena is a goddess, and according to most people's beliefs, gods and goddesses always have a plan in place. She also always seems to be one step ahead of Odysseus, which helps us see that she does, in fact, have a plan in place.
She also always seems to show up at the right time—when Odysseus seems to be "in over his head." She then helps provide him with the tools necessary to get himself out of the trouble that he is in. Overall it seems like Athena lets Odysseus try to solve things on his own at first but will then intervene when it is appropriate.

How did the navigation acts help the colonies?

There is some debate about how beneficial the Navigation Acts were for the colonies. A modern example is the American trade war with China. Depending on your view—restrictive free trade or unrestricted free trade—provide context on the benefits of the Navigation Acts.
The Navigation Acts required all goods carried to the colonies be transported on British ships. The British were attempting to limit trade with the colonies to England. The hidden agenda of the British was to develop a substantial commercial fleet of ships that could be converted in wartime to military use. While trying to maintain a competitive advantage was the primary justification for the Navigation Acts the underlying effort to develop a commercial fleet for conversion to military use was a large part of the thinking.
In the beginning, the enforcement of the Navigation Acts was somewhat lax. As long as the American colonies were profitable, as long as the merchant investors were happy, the colonists and the investors looked the other way if British goods were shipped via ships other than the British. And, as is always the case, people will find a way to circumvent a law that is not beneficial to their interests. The ties between America and British trade was steady. Pricing was an issue, but neither party wanted to interrupt the flow of goods and capital investment. In this way, the colonists benefited by the near exclusive commercial relationship with Britain. There was a guarantee of a buyer for both the raw materials shipped by the colonists and the finished products manufactured by the British.
The act itself targeted the Dutch. The Dutch at that time had the best commercial fleet of ships in the world. By restricting goods carried to the colonies on British ships, the price of goods rose. The lack of competition and the near monopoly of shipping allowed the British to charge above market rates for shipping. In this way, the colonists were charged higher prices for goods and in a sense subsidized the British mercantile fleet. The tensions led the colonists to protest, and some historians regard the Navigation Acts as one of the provocations for the American Revolution and call for independence from Britain. In this way, the increased costs and not having access to other markets for American raw materials was not beneficial to the American colonists.
As with many things dealing with issues of trade, some will benefit immensely from the relationship while others will be shut out of the market or subsidize market decisions by paying a higher price due to the lack of competition. The Navigation Act created this kind of trade situation.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=4102

https://www.britannica.com/event/Navigation-Acts

What two things did Mrs. Whatsit do that concerned Meg and Charles Wallace?

When the children are going to Camazotz the first time, Mrs. Whatsit gives Meg the gift of her faults as her protection and offers Charles Wallace the gift of his resilience.
Later, when Meg returns to Camazotz on her own to find and rescue Charles Wallace from the grip of IT, Mrs. Whatsit sends Meg off her with her love.
Focusing on what Mrs. Whatsit has given her allows Meg to use her faults—her anger and stubbornness—to withstand the assaults of IT. When she is rescuing Charles Wallace, Meg focuses on love. She suddenly realizes that love is the one feeling she has for her brother that IT can't offer. She is able to use her love to get her brother back.
In a more general sense, Mrs. Whatsit helps all three children tesser to Camazotz to find Mr. Murry. She shows both Meg and Charles Wallace a great deal of love.

In chapter 11 what does Kevin explain to Max about quests and a promise?

In chapter 11, Kevin (also known as Freak) explains to Max that "it's okay to break a promise if you're on a quest." He tells him this because Max has promised his grandmother that he won't go to a certain place, called the Testaments, but Kevin and Max have found a purse that belongs to a woman who lives there, and Kevin says that they should go on a quest to return the purse because there might be a reward in it for them.
Kevin imagines that this quest is like a quest that medieval knights might have had to carry out. He imagines that he and Max are like these knights, carrying out a quest to help a damsel in distress (the woman who has lost her purse). He also says that quests involve oaths, which he implies are very important, more important than a promise a boy might make to his grandmother.
When Kevin and Max get to the Testaments, Kevin, upon hearing "screaming noises," suggests to Max that they "should reconsider this particular quest."

What is Georges's only inheritance?

As the title of the story implies, Georges is a "mulatto," the product of a mixed-race heritage. His mother Laisa is a slave, raped by Albert, her wicked master with an appalling reputation for treating his slaves badly. As Georges grows up, he naturally wants to learn about the identity of his father, but his mother won't let on, no matter how hard he insists on knowing the truth.
Throughout his childhood, Georges remains ignorant of his father's identity. His mother stubbornly refuses to divulge this information, worried that if Albert should find out, he will have Georges killed to protect his reputation. However, Laisa gives Georges a small deerskin bag which contains a portrait of his father—this is his only inheritance. She makes Georges promise her that he won't look inside the bag until he reaches the age of twenty-five. Georges keeps his promise, but when he takes a peek inside the bag and finds out who his father is, he immediately sets out to take revenge on him.

Who is Auma Obama?

Dr. Auma Obama is a Kenyan activist, sociologist, and political campaigner. She's the half-sister of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States of America. Auma was born to Barack Obama Sr. (President Obama's father) and his first wife, Kezia. In Dreams from My Father, it's Auma who picks up Barack Obama from Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi when he arrives in Kenya to search for his African roots. She turns up in a battered old Volkswagen Beetle, a car model that's known locally as "The Tortoise."
Twenty-seven years later, Barack Obama returned to the airport, now as president of the United States. Upon landing, President Obama was introduced to a long line of local dignitaries, including a certain Dr. Auma Obama. After exchanging a warm embrace and some pleasantries, the president invited his half-sister for a ride in his presidential limo, nicknamed "The Beast," a far cry from "The Tortoise" in which they'd ridden together over a quarter of a century before.

Why did the ring cause Bilbo so little hurt from evil and make it possible to escape from owning it?

You can find the answer to your question in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf explains to Frodo that two qualities protected Bilbo from the evil effects of the ring. The wizard names "pity" and "mercy" as the two qualities. Because of his charity, Bilbo did not use the ring against Gollum.
Remember that Bilbo could have used the ring to disappear before stabbing Gollum to death. For his part, Bilbo's mercy stayed his hand. According to the story, Bilbo's strength of character protected him for a long time from the malignant effects of the ring. Put another way, the ring supposedly had little influence on someone who exhibited such unselfish qualities.

He was desperate. He must get away, out of this horrible darkness, while he had any strength left. He must fight. He must stab the foul thing, put its eyes out, kill it. It meant to kill him. No, not a fair fight. He was invisible now. Gollum had no sword. Gollum had not actually threatened to kill him, or tried to yet. And he was miserable, alone, lost. A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up in Bilbo’s heart: a glimpse of endless unmarked days without light or hope of betterment, hard stone, cold fish, sneaking and whispering. (from The Hobbit)

In The Hobbit, Bilbo pictured the utter loneliness Gollum endured on a daily basis. He knew that the creature's days were spent in misery; Gollum had no friends. He had been deserted by all, and the ring's malignant power weighed heavily upon him as time progressed.

'But this is terrible!' cried Frodo. 'Far worse than the worst that I imagined from your hints and warnings. O Gandalf, best of friends, what am I to do? For now I am really afraid. What am I to do? What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!' 'Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity.' (from The Lord of the Rings)

In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo maintains that Gollum deserves to die, after all the horrible deeds he committed. However, Gandalf reminds Frodo that Gollum's fate is tied up with the ring.

What are some interesting facts about Millard Fillmore?

Millard Fillmore served as the United States' thirteenth president from 1850 to 1853. President Fillmore was married with two children. He is mostly associated with the Compromise of 1850 that attempted to end the conflict between the South and North.
Before being the president, Fillmore was the vice president and served under Zachary Taylor. Fillmore became president after Taylor died in 1850. After becoming president, Fillmore enacted several bills that were later called the Compromise of 1850. One of the laws abolished slavery in California and the District of Columbia. Furthermore, the Fugitive Slave Act was a result of the bills that were passed.
It is noteworthy that Fillmore was president for one term. He died from a stroke in 1874.
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-should-know-about-millard-fillmore

Discuss the topic of brotherhood in Matterhorn

In Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes, the concept of fraternity is explored amidst the jungles of Vietnam. The title refers to the code name for a section in Vietnam where a platoon, Bravo Company, is positioned for an artillery operation. As with street gangs, secret societies, and criminal organizations, the military emphasizes unity and cultivating a sense of brotherhood with fellow members.
However, in Matterhorn, it is illustrated that brotherhood is more bulletproof and achievable in theory than in practice. For instance, throughout the novel, we see examples of favoritism among the high-ranking officers. There are secret alliances among personal friends which affect the morality of the other soldiers.
The most prominent example of this is when an African American soldier, Mallory, suffers from constant severe migraines. He appeals to the officers for a medical leave, but his superiors—particularly First Lieutenant Fitch and Second Lieutenant Hawke—believe he is just acting up. They opine that Mallory is lazy and consequently decline his repeated requests.
This creates animosity between the black soldiers in the platoon and some of the high-ranking officers. These tense and complex dynamics within the military hierarchy show that "brotherhood" is a fluid concept.