What are some characteristic signposts for the first 10 chapters?

By "characteristic signposts," I assume you mean places in which life or circumstances change for the main character.
The biggest transformation that happens for August Pullman in the first ten chapters (it must be noted that this book is not broken down into numbered chapters) is that he learns that his parents want him to start going to a regular school for the first time.
August has been home-schooled most of his life due to his facial deformation, so his parents decide that it is time for him to experience school, and in the first section of the book, he goes on a tour of Beecher Prep and gets to meet some of the kids who will be in his class, despite the fact that it is still the summer holidays.

How we can apply the theme of feminism into Plath's poem "Mirror"?

In Sylvia Plath’s “Mirror,” the mirror serves as the speaker who describes the different things it sees.
The theme of feminism comes into play in the second stanza, which focuses on the unnamed woman who gazes at herself in the mirror daily. In exchange for reflecting her “faithfully,” the woman “rewards [the mirror] with tears and an agitation of hands.” This shows that the woman is unhappy with what she sees reflected in the mirror, her appearance as it truly is. The fact that the woman looks in the mirror at the beginning of each day implies that she is somewhat obsessed with her appearance. Specifically, the woman despised the “old woman” she is becoming “like a horrible fish.”
This relates to feminism because of women’s often fraught relationship with beauty and aging. Society’s ideal woman is both beautiful and young, so women tend to become more self-conscious as they age. The mirror symbolizes society’s obsession with beauty, which unduly impacts women more so than men. Plath is voicing some of the anxieties women experience about their changing bodies and faces, which can sometimes consume a woman’s thoughts and even daily routines.
The emphasis on beauty for women is a feminist issue because we tend to view older men as handsome/wise while degrading older women as hags.

What language techniques are in this quote: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view -- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

In this particular quotation, Atticus is using a metaphor to teach his children the importance of empathy. He himself expresses great empathy in his behavior towards other people, most notably the mean old lady Mrs. Dubose.
Most people are familiar with the expression "to walk a mile in someone else's shoes" meaning that you can only really judge someone when you put yourself in their position and when you understand their background and the circumstances in which they've grown-up and in which they live. The metaphor that Atticus uses is a variant of this. At numerous points throughout the story he impresses upon his children just how important it is for them to gain a new perspective on life if they're to evaluate others properly. This is a vital lesson as it will allow Jem and Scout to grow and develop morally as they begin the difficult transition to adolescence.

How is Lady Macbeth presented in act 5, scene 1?

In act 5, scene 1, the Doctor and the Gentlewoman spy on Lady Macbeth as she sleepwalks and hallucinates in the middle of the night. The Doctor and Gentlewoman witness a deranged, guilt-ridden Lady Macbeth discuss her husband's bloody deeds as she attempts to wash imaginary blood from her hands. The imaginary blood Lady Macbeth is attempting to wash off is from the deceased King Duncan.
Lady Macbeth is hysterical and neurotic throughout the scene as she questions her husband about murdering Macduff's family and his close friend Banquo. Lady Macbeth further illustrates her guilty conscience by saying:

Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, Oh, Oh! (5.1.31–33).

Overall, Lady Macbeth is presented as a hysterical, guilt-ridden woman who is mentally deranged and has completely lost touch with reality. Her mental illness and guilty conscience are directly related to her role in Duncan's assassination. She is no longer the confident, callous woman we saw in previous scenes, determined to rule as queen over Scotland.

What conclusion does Salarino come to when Antonio remarks that he is not sad because of love in The Merchant of Venice?

Salarino, as the other answer states, assumes that Antonio's melancholy arises from his worries about his merchandise at sea. A good deal of money and risk is riding on Anotnio's investment. Antonio, however, insists he is not worried about that. He says that, because he has several ships out collecting merchandise, he feels sure that at least one of them will return safely, which is all he needs to have happen. As we would say today, he has diversified his risk. Salarino suggests that love is causing Antonio's sadness. This Antonio also denies.
However, Antonio's eagerness to lend Bassanio money to woo Portia supports the idea that he is in love with this younger man. It would also make sense that Antonio would feel depressed at the idea of losing this close friend to marriage. Antonio might not realize why he is sad, but we, as an audience, are led to perceive what he does not.
The scene skillfully imparts a good deal of information through a casual dialogue, giving the viewer or reader important background for understanding the story that unfolds.

In the opening scene of the play, Antonio comments that he is depressed but does not know the reason why he is in such a despondent, melancholy mood. Salarino believes that Antonio is worried about his merchant ships, which are at sea. Salarino thinks Antonio is preoccupied with the well-being of his ships on the treacherous seas and fears that he will lose his investments and capital in a rough storm. Salarino also mentions that if he were in Antonio's position, he would think about his ships every time he blew on his soup, looked at an hourglass full of sand, or saw any stones that would remind him of the jagged rocks on the shorelines. Salarino concludes by saying,

I know Antonio is sad to think upon his merchandise (Shakespeare, 1.1.40).

When Antonio insists that he is not worried about his merchant ships, Solanio suggests that he is depressed because of unrequited love. Antonio once again denies love as being the cause of his melancholy, and Salarino does not make any additional remarks regarding Antonio's comment before he exits the scene with Solanio.

What is a character analysis of Ammaji in Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard?

Ammaji is portrayed as a kindly and supportive grandmother who is tied into tradition but willing to support younger generations. She cares for Kulfi while the latter is pregnant and takes over some of Kulfi's duties which she sees Kulfi failing to perform them. We see her support Sampath in his role as a spiritual leader, defending him against criticism and eventually opening a tea stall beside his tree and telling stories to pilgrims in his place at times.
We also see Ammaji portrayed as a comic figure at times, unable to keep up with younger generations (for example, when her dentures stick in a cone of ice cream, or when she is unable to keep up with Pinky despite wearing tennis shoes).
Ammaji's character adds depth to Desai's complex depiction of family relationships and the way multiple generations of a family relate to tradition in a context of colonialism and modernization.

What factors led to Grayson's inability to read and to his running away in Maniac Magee?

Grayson's difficulties started when he was very young.
He didn't do well in school and was put in a class that did not teach anything, but instead the students just did simple art projects. The teacher even said she didn't believe the kids would learn anything. Grayson decided to stop trying and probably never learned anything of consequence scholastically since—until Maniac comes along.
Grayson tells Maniac these stories while they are living in the Bandshell. He also tells Maniac about his alcoholic parents, who contributed to his running away at age 15 to join the Minors.
Grayson probably appreciates Maniac's rapt attention and lack of judgement, while at the same time pushes him to learn to read. Maniac is basically homeless, other than the Bandshell, and Grayson can relate his journey as both an adventure (striking out Willy Mays) and a warning (homelessness and poverty).

How is the soul of the soldier or civilian remade through war according to one of the writers we have considered so far this term? What are the greater implications of this transformation?

"Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen is one of the most well known poems of World War I and is recognized for its ability to portray an urgent scene from the battlefields whilst also showing a clear disillusionment on the part of the narrator with regard to suffering and war.
The title, repeated in the final lines of the poem, comes from a Latin saying known through an ode by Horace. It is normally translated as “It is sweet and right." The phrase finishes with “pro patria mori” which means “to die for your country.” This was a popular saying during the war, and the glorification of the war, along with an insistence on the heroism of soldiers, was common throughout the war years and afterward.
The soldier here, the narrator of the poem, may once have believed those words, but being exposed to the horrors of war has changed his opinion. He graphically points out the distress and horrible conditions in which the soldiers live and fight, in lines such as “Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge.” He witnesses the suffering of a fellow soldier during a gas attack, an image that will haunt him:

In all my dreams before my helpless sight,He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

He can find no peace in this suffering or death, no sense that it is worth it; as such, it represents a shift in his understanding of the world, and his soul is left stranded. The narrator of the poem addresses the reader to explain that if they too had witnessed such a horrible sight, and its aftermath, they would not continue to encourage young men to go to war or act as if it is heroic to die or be injured in battle.

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest.To children ardent for some desperate gloryThe old Lie: Dulce et decorum estPro patria mori.

His personal transformation can be understood as a shift from being proud to go off to war with the troops to being disgusted at the reality that awaits those enthusiastic troops. He is completely disillusioned and horrified by the realities of war. This has a wider implication in that it is not just a personal transformation, but a call to the reader to join him in condemning the brutalities of war and challenging assumptions about patriotism and the purposes of war in general.

According to The Prophet, what attitude should parents have towards their children?

The prophet is at pains to emphasize that, although children may live with their parents, their parents do not own them. Children are human beings in their own right; they have their own ideas, their own identity. Of course, parents have a close biological bond to their offspring, but the souls of children are future-oriented and so should not be shaped in the here and now by parents forcing their ideas upon them.
The prophet enjoins parents to follow the ways of children instead of trying to change children to be like them. This is because life is in a constant sense of flux, forever pointing towards an as yet undefined future. It makes no sense, therefore, for parents to force their children to live in the past.
The prophet illustrates this radical role reversal with a metaphor of a bow and arrow. Parents represent the bow and children the arrow. God uses both of them to hit an infinite target. In hitting that target, both the bow and arrow have an essential part to play. Yet parents must allow themselves to be bent like bows by God instead of doing the same thing to children, God's arrows.

Describe Penelope Fitzgerald.

Penelope Fitzgerald (17 December 1916 – 28 April 2000) was a writer from an upper middle class English family. Many of her relatives were scholars, writers, theologians, or priests. Her husband suffered from alcoholism, leaving her to support her family and children mainly through teaching. She started her writing career when she was in her forties, and produced several novels and biographies.

At one point, Coates states the he "came to see the streets and the schools as arms of the same beast." What leads him to this conclusion? What other institutions built upon "good intention" do you see as contributing to the same cycles of inequality?

Coates sees the schools and the streets as "arms of the same beast" because of their implicit connection via fear and violence. He discusses the way in which school lessons focused on nonviolent groups such as the Freedom Riders, and how they were held up as virtuous heroes. His school education focused on depictions of peaceful blacks being sprayed by fire hoses, beaten, and attacked by dogs rather than on more militant groups like the Black Panthers. To Coates, this makes no sense because the nonviolent black "heroes" that were valorized were people "whose values society actively scorned" (32). In this way, schools taught that the best way to be a black person in society was to be non-violent, despite the fact that the country "acquired . . . land through murder and tamed it under slavery . . . whose armies fanned out across the world to extend their domination" (32). Both the schools and the streets asked for docility from blacks, and there were repercussions if this demand wasn't met. As Coates states,

Fail in the streets and the crews would catch you slipping and take your body. Fail in the schools and you would be suspended and sent back to those same streets, where they would take your body. And I began to see these two arms in relation—those who failed in the schools justified their destruction in the streets. The society could say, "He should have stayed in school," and then wash its hands of him.

As your second question is a request for an opinion, what follows is my opinion: other institutions built upon "good intention" that can be seen as contributing to this same cycle of inequality are organized religion and government itself. Both institutions expect people to adhere to certain rules, to stay in line, and—if injustice presents itself—to protest against it peacefully via demonstration. If a member of the clergy commits sexual assault against a minor, the clergy is sometimes shuffled off to another parish and the crime is covered up. If people were to discover it and lash out against the clergy or the church, they would be punished by the law. If people turn to violence, even in the face of violence against them, they are often punished. However, despite what society says, even non-violent forms of civil disobedience are often met with outrage and violence. Rioting, even in the face of extreme injustice, is looked down upon. Yet when a black man kneels during the national anthem, or peacefully addresses a politician at a musical, or wears a shirt that says "I can't breathe" or "Hands up, don't shoot," they are still often met with anger and violence. Their behavior is seen as anti-establishment, even if their concerns regarding the injustices within the government are valid.

What are some quotes in To Kill a Mockingbird that show indirect characterization of Jem?

In chapter 16, Scout and Jem are just beginning to realize the racial stratification of their town, and as the older sibling, Jem has a better grasp of Maycomb's unwritten rules of race than does Scout:

"Well how do you know we ain't Negroes?"
"Uncle Jack Finch says we really don't know. He says as far as he can trace back the Finches we ain't, but for all he knows we mighta come straight out of Ethiopia durin' the Old Testament."
"Well if we came out durin' the Old Testament it's too long ago to matter."
"That's what I thought," said Jem, "but around here once you have a drop of Negro blood, that makes you all black."

This quote shows Jem's growing maturity and understanding of the injustices of racism. After all, Jem understands that it is impossible for any person to know the totality of his DNA heritage, and that anyone could have an ancestor of color. However, in Maycomb, if a person has a known lineage of African ancestry, that makes him black—period. Jem understands the futility of this way of thinking, but the adults around him seemingly do not.
In chapter 14, Jem makes a difficult decision when Dill runs away and hides at their house:

Jem was standing in a corner of the room, looking like the traitor he was. "Dill, I had to tell him," he said. "You can't run three hundred miles off without your mother knowin'."

In this quote, Jem has chosen to betray the confidence of his friend because he understands the inherent worry that Dill's decision will generate. He also understands that he and Scout cannot possibly hide Dill and lie to Atticus forever, so he is developing the forethought to see the long-term implications of his own decisions. Letting Atticus know what is going on now is much preferable to Atticus discovering their lies days or weeks later. Jem is maturing in thought, as evidenced in this quote.
In chapter 25, Jem shocks Scout when he refuses to kill a bug:

[Jem] was certainly never cruel to animals, but I had never known his charity to embrace the insect world.
"Why couldn't I mash him?" I asked.
"Because they don't bother you," Jem answered in the darkness.

Jem has become sensitive to noticing those creatures who are defenseless, completely vulnerable to the whims of mankind. This, of course, was brought to the forefront of his thought through Tom Robinson, but he is now extending that new understanding to other creatures as well. Jem is a compassionate and empathetic guy, learning from the world around him and seeking to make changes where and when he is able.

What is the importance of Hampton Court in The Rape of the Lock?

In canto 3 of The Rape of the Lock, the speaker refers to Queen Anne's activities at Hampton Court. The speaker addresses her directly (the literary device known as apostrophe) as "great Anna." The palace at Hampton Court (now a museum) was once the secondary residence of the British monarchy. Located a few miles from London along the River Thames, it grew into importance under the reign of Henry VIII (after it was gifted to him by Cardinal Woolsey) and was often used to entertain foreign dignitaries.
The speaker calls attention to its importance as the place where British "statesmen" conduct important political affairs and where the queen receives the counsel of advisors. He also trivializes her activities by emphasizing that, as well as counsel, she takes "tea."
Belinda travels to Hampton Court for a party. The speaker describes the activities of the elegant young men—such as cards—in serious terms that would be appropriate to the statesmen's affairs. It is there that the Baron carries out his evil plan and cuts the lock of Belinda's hair.

Did geography and climate affect the development of slavery in the European colonies in North America? If so, how?

Yes, climate and geography affected the development of slavery in the European colonies of North America, although not by design. The original impetus for European exploration and colonization had been, according to King Henry 'the Navigator' of Portugal, to find new trade routes and supplies of gold required to pay his troops to prevent further encroachments by the slave trading Ottoman Empire on his people and land. The success of the Portuguese had encouraged the Spanish to follow suit.
The success of these Iberian efforts posed a threat to Protestant England. Philip V of Spain had already launched a massive naval Armada against England with the intention of deposing Queen Elizabeth I and restoring Catholic rule. Her successor, King James I, supported his own colonization efforts in America to help maintain English independence. The problem was the Virginia colony was a money pit and a death trap until John Rolfe (the English husband of Powhattan Princess Pocahontas) pioneered a new mild hybrid tobacco that flourished in the semi-tropical climate and appealed to European consumers.
This cash crop saved the English colony and launched an economic boom. Unfortunately planting, harvesting, drying, and packing was very labor intensive and the white indentured servants sent from England had a short life span in the semi-tropical south with its malaria-bearing mosquitoes. A recently captured Portuguese ship had disappointed its English captors by having no gold or silver on board. It was taken to Jamestown and its unfortunate cargo of Africans was sold as indentured servants to the Jamestown colonists who were in dire need of field hands. Thus began African indentured servitude in North America (slavery wasn't implemented until much later in the 17th c.).
Because the West African unfortunates hailed from a semi-tropical climate, they were disease resistant to malaria and other maladies that laid Europeans low in the south. This increased their value as laborers above European laborers and began the demand for more African laborers to work the tobacco fields. By the time slavery was finally legalized in the Virginia colony, Africans were deemed indispensable.
In the New England colonies, the soil was rocky and agriculture was not nearly so advantageous. Raising cattle, forestry, fishing, ship building and other industries occupied the settlers and there was little demand for field labor. Accordingly, slavery became further and further associated with the agricultural south where tobacco, rice, indigo, and cotton cultivation all required a large manual labor force in the field that could resist tropical diseases.

How does Deborah respond when Skloot suggests photocopying some of Henrietta’s records? Why do you think she responds this way?

Deborah’s ambivalent attitude toward any research being conducted on her mother is a constant theme in the book. Rebecca Skloot tries hard to understand why the experiences of all the Lacks family members have been like, but she also admits that her life has been so different that she can only partly succeed in imagining what they have endured. Before Rebecca ever asks about permission to copy any records, she has had numerous sessions with Deborah in which the two of them have reviewed documents together. As she continued her research alone, she has also sent any information she obtained to Deborah. When they go together to the Virginia town where Henrietta lived, they stay in a hotel and spend hours going over the records.
Rebecca is persistent in repeatedly asking if she can photocopy the records, and Deborah is equally adamant about refusing. At one point, Deborah loses her temper and slams Rebecca against a wall. At that point, Rebecca also loses her patience and yells and swears at her. Like Rebecca, a reader who did not grow up in similar circumstances is unlikely to understand all of Deborah’s motivations and reactions. Losing her mother as a child and learning huge amounts of new information as an adult that confirm new aspects of loss were clearly very difficult for Deborah to process.

What do cells use for energy storage and as a source of energy?

Cells use the ATP molecule for energy storage and as a source of energy.
ATP stands for adenosine triphosphate. This molecule is composed of an adenosine molecule bonded to three phosphate groups. If there are only 2 phosphate molecules present, the molecule becomes ADP or adenosine diphosphate. During the process of cellular respiration, the chemical energy stored in the food is released. The cell uses this released energy and the ADP molecule bonds with a third phosphate molecule, thus resulting in a molecule of ATP. The cell uses this ATP molecule as the energy currency. When a molecule of ATP is used for energy for cellular processes, it converts back to ADP and releases the energy stored in the phosphate bond. The ADP molecule can convert back to the ATP molecule when more energy is available from respiration. Thus, a constant cycle is maintained between ADP and ATP molecules.
Mitochondria is the organelle in which ATP is produced and hence is known as the powerhouse of the cell.
Hope this helps.

How the castle represents in The Castle of Otranto with respect between rational and supernatural?

Though written during the very rational Age of Enlightenment, Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto is a gothic novel (often categorized as the first of its kind) in which the rational, material world and the supernatural, irrational world collide, creating a state of chaos for the characters.
It is difficult to describe what parts of the novel may be rational, as gothic fiction has always been a response to cold logical thinking about the world. The castle is presented as a gloomy, foreboding place, but it is a concrete setting. It is the seat of power in the country. This is about all that is "rational" about it though, for much of the novel is dedicated to Walpole's conjuring of an uncanny atmosphere within its ancient walls. If the castle had a rational element to it, then Walpole would have given materialist explanations for the strange happenings in the castle. However, the ghosts, moving statues, and sighing paintings are never explained away. This is a world where rationality does not hold sway over the setting.
The supernatural, or irrational, aspects of the castle manifest in objects seemingly coming to life, such as statues and portraits. One such example are the paintings, which are described as sighing or sometimes even moving. The paintings tend to be of Manfred's ancestors and relate to the fear that his line will be extinguished. The hallways are drafty, with doors that open and close of their own accord, and they are described as murmuring when Isabella ventures through them.
The castle itself seems to oppose the tyrannical Manfred and his illegitimate rule over the country. The helmet of a giant knight statue falls on top of Manfred's only son, killing him and Manfred's hopes for a dynasty. Its walls begin to collapse when Manfred accidentally kills his only daughter as well.
So, it can be safe to say that there isn't much rational in the titular castle. It is supernatural to the core, defying logical explanations for its haunting.

A parabola has a y-intercept of 2 and passes through points (–2, –4) and (8, –14). Determine the vertex of the parabola.

A parabola indicates that it is a quadratic relation.
1. We will get the equation first in standard form. - substitution and elimination will be used here.
2. We will convert the equation from standard form to a vertex form. - completing the square method will be used here.

In a standard form of any quadratic relation-- y=ax^2+bx+c, the c value is the value of the y-intercept. Or you can also think of y-intercept as a coordinate of (0,2), and sub in x=0 and y=2, to isolate for c=2.
Our equation can be narrowed down to: y=ax^2+bx+2
With the two points that are given, you can sub in the points as x and y values into our narrowed down equation.
first point (-2, -4) => x=-2 and y=-4
y=ax^2+bx+2
-4=a(-2)^2+b(-2)+2 <- from here, simplify as much as you can
-6=a(4)+b(-2)
-6=4a-2b

second point
(8, -14) => x=8 and y=-14
y=ax^2+bx+2
-14=a(8)^2+b(8)+2 <- from here, simplify as much as you can
-16=a(64)+b(8)
-16=64a+8b

Taking the two equations, you can use either substitution or elimination to solve for your values of a and b
I am going to show you using elimination

from the equation obtained using the first point,
-6=4a-2b -> multiply this by 4
-24=16a-8b

Take
-24=16a-8b -> from first point
-16=64a+8b -> from second point

add the two equations
-24=16a-8b
-16=64a+8b
---------------
-40=80a -> now isolate for a

a=-0.5
using a, take any equation from the two points and sub this value in to obtain the value of b
-24=16a-8b
-24=16(-0.5)-8b
8b=16
b=2

Your quadratic equation in standard form is:
y=-0.5x^2+2x+2
You can use completing the squares method to obtain your vertex.
y=-0.5(x^2-4x)+2
y=-0.5(x^2-4x+4-4)+2
y=-0.5((x-2)^2 - 4)+2
y=-0.5(x-2)^2 + 2 +2
y=-0.5(x-2)^2 +4

Your vertex values are (h,k) from the vertex form y=a(x-h)^2+k
Your vertex is (2, 4).

We are given that the points (-2,-4) and (8,-14) lie on a parabola with y-intercept of 2. We are asked to find the vertex.
We know that through three noncollinear points there lies exactly one parabolic function (there may be other parabolas through the same points, but they will not represent functions.) One way to find the vertex is to find the equation of the function and then find the vertex:
In standard form the equation for a parabola is y = ax^2+bx+c
Using the given points we get the following:
For (0,2) we get a(0)^2+b(0)+c=2 so c=2.
Using this we get for (-2,-4) a(-2)^2+b(-2)+2=-4 or 4a-2b=-6 so 2a-b=-3
Then for (8,-14) we get a(8)^2+b(8)+2=-14 or 64a+8b=-16 so 8a+b=-2
We can now solve the system of equations:
2a-b=-38a+b=-2---------10a=-2 ==> a=-1/2 so b=2 and c=2
The equation, in standard form, for the parabola is y=-1/2x^2+2x+2
The x-coordinate for the vertex in standard form is given by x=-b/(2a) so we get x=(-2)/(-1)=2
Then the y-coordinate is y=-1/2(2)^2+2(2)+2=4
The vertex of the parabola is (2,4).
(1) From the standard form we can use completing the square to rewrite in vertex form:
y=-1/2x^2+2x+2=-1/2(x^2-4x+4)+2+2=-1/2(x-2)^2+4 so the vertex is (2,4)
(2) We can use matrices to solve the system of equations, or use substitution instead of linear combinations.
The graph:
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Parabola.html

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/QuadraticEquation.html

How and why was muckraking possible?

The history and rise of “muckraking” and the journalists who did it should be thought of as closely tied to the progressive era: the period from about 1890 to 1920 characterized by sharp criticism of political and business monopolies, social ills in the big city, and the dangers of industrialization. Before muckrakers, famous newspapers like those run by William Randoph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer competed for readers by sensationalizing stories, and were focused more on riling up the public than on exposing any particular social ill--a practice called “yellow journalism.”
Muckrakers were aided by the rise of magazines like McClures and The Saturday Evening Post, and also by the advent of wire news services, which distributed breaking news more quickly and objectively. They thrived in a political atmosphere of reform, and the scandals they uncovered helped fuel political candidates across the country. Muckrakers were also certainly helped by events like the election of Theodore Roosevelt as president, who promised to break up monopolies and root out corruption--even though it was Roosevelt himself who coined the term “muckraker” out of frustration with reporting about his administration!

Muckraking should be viewed as a significant feature of the Progressive Era in the United States. During this period, myriad reforms, increased government regulation, environmental protection, and trust busting took place. The muckrakers informed the public of the issues of the day and helped win public support for significant changes. Rapid industrialization in the late nineteenth century had led to vast transformations in the country, and the muckrakers played an indispensable role in publicizing those that had had an adverse impact.
The term muckraker was first coined by President Teddy Roosevelt in a speech in April 1906. A muckraker, one who rakes muck, spread often scandalous news about shortcomings in the economy and society.
One prominent muckraker was Upton Sinclair, author of The Jungle. This book exposed unsanitary conditions in Chicago's meatpacking industry. Sinclair, a socialist, wrote the book in an effort to highlight the plight of poor immigrants and their long hours of drudgery in factories. The American public was incensed by the filthy methods and ingredients used in meat production and demanded reform. The result was the passage of the Food and Drug Act of 1906.
The case of Upton Sinclair was not an anomaly. Muckrakers often paved the way for political reforms and new legislation. Another example of this phenomenon was Ida Tarbell's scathing indictment of the oil business in her book The History of the Standard Oil Company (1904). Her book helped lead to the breakup of some monopolies.

Explain the difference between Jefferson's and Hamilton's attitudes towards popular participation in the decision making process.

Hamilton and Jefferson offered vastly different perspectives on their vision for what the United States should be. Indeed, Hamilton tended to align more with the upper classes, and wished for America to advance in its financial and economic growth. He was also a strong believer in Federal Power, and the supremacy of the Federal Government over the States. He tended to distrust the ability of commoners to advance their own best interests, an attitude quite common to the Enlightenment.
Jefferson, by contrast, had a much more positive view of the average citizen. He was a supporter of states rights and of limited government, and tended to distrust the elites that Hamilton associated with, and heavily contested Hamilton's federalist and centralizing program.
Even so, I want to stress that even while Jefferson supported the interests of commoners and small government, he also came out of the Enlightenment, and this still implies certain values and ideals, in favor of rationality and education, which tended to be accompanied by an intellectual elitism. Even as he advocated for a decentralized, more localized approach to politics and governance, these Enlightenment era prejudices remained, and he would have balked at the thought of giving the average citizen the ability to wield real political power.

How does Shakespeare present Lady Macbeth as weak in act 5, scene 1?

Earlier in the play, Lady Macbeth was the person who was ready to dash her baby's brains out without remorse. She spoke ruthless words to urge the hesitant Macbeth to do the evil deed of murdering Duncan. She told Macbeth to control his horror after killing Duncan when he came back to their rooms shaken to the core and saying the green seas had turned red with blood.
Ironically, however, by act 5, Lady Macbeth has become the person who can't handle the guilt of what she and her husband have done. We find out that she was earlier almost all talk and bluster, with very little substance, because she cracks under the strain of the crimes they have committed. She sleepwalks at night in act 5, scene 1, compulsively washing her hands as she tries to wash her guilt away. But no matter how much she washes, she can't wash the blood off her conscience.
Macbeth becomes hardened as Lady Macbeth weakens from guilt and descends into madness.

In act 5, scene 1, Lady Macbeth wanders the corridors of Dunsinane Castle as if in a terrible trance. It would appear that she's in the process of going insane, her fraught nervous system cracking under the weight of guilt and paranoia. Earlier in the play, Lady Macbeth had appeared as strong and in control. It was she who acted as the main mover in the plot to murder Duncan and constantly cajoled a weak, vacillating Macbeth to put aside his moral qualms about killing the king and get on with carrying out the dirty deed.
Yet now, Lady Macbeth cuts a truly pathetic figure as she vainly tries to scrub the imagined blood-stains from her hands. In act 2, scene 2, things couldn't have been more different. Then, Lady Macbeth was so blithely complacent about the prospects of avoiding guilt:

A little water clears us of this deed.

But as she sleepwalks the corridors of Dunsinane, no amount of water or ceaseless scrubbing of hands will be enough to wipe away the guilt that has now indelibly stained Lady Macbeth's tortured soul.

Where were the Middle Colonies located?

The Middle Colonies were a group of four of the original thirteen colonies that were located in the middle of Colonial America. They were situated between the New England Colonies and the Southern Colonies, in the same location as the present day Mid-Atlantic States. Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania comprised the Middle Colonies. This area of Colonial America was settled mostly by non-English Europeans, especially the Dutch and Germans, but it was an ethnically diverse area. It was also diverse in terms of religion. It was influenced by the New England and Southern Colonies that it shared its borders with, as aspects of each could be found throughout the Middle Colonies. With their central location, cities in the Middle Colonies became important distribution centers, and this area became a middle ground for Colonial America.

Explain Dunlop's theory of industrial relations.

John Thomas Dunlop developed a theory of industrial relationships. He worked as the US Secretary of Labor and is credited with groundbreaking ideas and advances in the understanding of industry and industrial relations.
His theory breaks down industrial systems into five groups or factors that all impact the industrial organization or system and helps to generate an output. By manipulating these five factors, you can either improve or decrease results and make changes in organizations. These factors all have various impacts, but any business or industrial complex can be analyzed using them and the outcome of tweaking the various factors can be reasonably well predicted.
The five factors are as follows: Individuals (this includes the employers and employees, as well as the government and anyone that impacts the business but is not a part of the exterior market), Technology (including exterior and interior technology, competitive technology, and the overall state of technology in the world at large), Market (the market is the vendors and customers for an industry, essentially the remainder of the supply chain), Power context (Power or influence of the organization in relation to its outside environment, and vice versa), and Ideologies (these are the beliefs and values of an industry).
The employees and workers in an organization obviously contribute to the industrial relationship, but so does the government. Policies and laws will affect how business is done, such as with NATO or NAFTA. Superior or inferior technology will affect the quality of production as well as how much it costs to produce it—and competitors with varying levels of technology will impact how well and how much you are able to produce. The market will necessarily dictate supply and demand. The power of an individual company will dictate how it navigates changing markets and how it can influence other factors or be influenced by them (think of Apple—it is powerful enough to introduce disruptive technologies and reinvent the entire market, and other companies typically have to play catch up). Ideologies will impact how a company does business—if they don't value the ecosystem, they will be much more willing to dump coal ash into local estuaries, for instance—which will be cheaper in the short term than recapturing and recycling waste, but can lead to lawsuits and other financial burdens.

Explain how Hitler instituted a police state in Germany, including the restrictions he placed on the nation’s Jews.

After being helped into power by traditional conservative and nationalist parties, Hitler immediately began setting about laying the foundations for a one-party dictatorship. Although the Nazis were a minority in the coalition cabinet, they were in charge of strategically important departments of state, such as the Prussian Ministry of the Interior, which gave them control over the largest police force in Germany.
The Nazis wasted no time in using their newly-acquired power to crush their opponents, like communists and social democrats. Their position was further strengthened just two months after Hitler became Chancellor by the passing of the Enabling Act, which gave Hitler sweeping powers, transforming what had been a multi-party coalition into a legal, one-party dictatorship.
Hitler knew that the Nazi Party had gained much of its support by promising to restore order to Germany, so wherever possible, he sought to consolidate Nazi control by legal means, using the law as an instrument of repression. At the same time, however, Nazi thugs continued to engage in wanton acts of criminality and destruction, the most notorious example being the anti-Semitic pogroms of Kristallnacht.
However, the Nazis were still determined to put their proposed persecution of the Jews on a legal footing, which they did with the Nuremberg Laws, which deprived German Jews of their citizenship and civil rights. As in the case of the Enabling Act, the Nazis built a formal legal structure on the basis of the gains they'd already made through street violence, intimidation, and outright thuggery.

What are the rules for sex and marriage among party members in 1984?

We can piece together the following rules for sex and marriage. A Party committee has to approve a marriage, and it won't do so if suspects there is any genuine physical attraction between the two people in question. As for sex, the Party's desire is that it be strictly for procreation. They don't want people, in or out of marriage, to enjoy sex or find any erotic charge in it, because they don't want individuals to form loyalties outside of those to the Party and Big Brother. Winston describes the Party's idea of sex as follows:

Sexual intercourse was to be looked on as a slightly disgusting minor operation, like having an enema.

While hiring a prostitute, inevitably a prole, is not supposed to be done, Winston knows that the Party looks the other way as long as it is merely a one time physical transaction. We learn that having an affair with another Party member, however, is an "unforgivable crime."
Winston's marriage to Katherine provides a good window into a typical Party marriage. Katherine dislikes having sex but insists on having intercourse weekly as her "duty to the Party." Winston finds sexual relations with her odious because of her lack of desire. He also finds the marital relationship unsatisfying in general because Katherine is a completely orthodox Party member who would denounce him as a traitor at the first sign of deviance. This is the kind of lonely marriage the Party wants people to have, which keeps them miserable and focused on the Party.

Conrad is noted for his critique of African colonialism; locate some textual excerpts from Heart of Darkness which still show his embeddedness with colonial causes or ideals.

Joseph Conrad is highly critical of individual characters and behaviors that he presents in the novel, and Marlow is ultimately repelled and disgusted by Kurtz when he finally finds him. Heart of Darkness is not ultimately a reformist or revolutionary work, however; Conrad apparently accepts the imperialist system and does not call for the end of colonial rule or for African nations’s and peoples’s independence. The African characters he writes do not seem capable of leadership or self-governance.
Marlow himself is more of an anti-hero than a hero. Initially embracing his role as a company agent, he seems to expect a reward or promotion for the successful completion of his mission to find Kurtz. Shielded from his internal contradictions by an aura of self-righteousness, he nonetheless reports others’s critical comments about him. The Central Station, manager, for example, wryly calls him one of “the new gang—the gang of virtue.”
Although Marlow is concerned about, and even frightened by, the excesses of imperialism, that concern seems more pragmatic than morally absolute. Abuse of power will lead to “reprisals,” and thus to loss of lives. In criticizing the high taxes, for example, he notes that their imposition resulted in

all kinds of tyranny, brutality and subsequent reprisals by the natives. In one concession alone one hundred and forty-two Africans were killed. The spirit of bitterness and hatred generated in the people was quite terrifying.

Marlow’s attitude certainly changes after he witnesses what Kurtz has become, but he still clings to the underlying concept of “the work of the world”: the benevolent paternalism of a Kipling-type white man’s burden. His criticism of the men in the Eldorado group, for example, is about their particular slant, not the fundamental character of the enterprise:

[T]here was not an atom of foresight or of serious intention in the whole batch of them, and they did not seem aware these things are wanted for the work of the world.

How can I go about writing a short paragraph about the typical features of Blake’s poetry with references to “London”, “The Lamb,” and “The Tyger" with respect to themes, content, style, use of poetic devices?

William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet who is considered now to belong to the Romantic school of poets. Romantic poets often wrote positively about the natural world, and emphasized the importance of the spiritual and emotional potential of mankind.
William Blake's most famous collection of poetry is called Songs of Innocence and Experience, which he also personally illustrated. The first half of the collection is comprised of the 'Innocence' poems, which are about the innocence of childhood and the innocence of the natural world. The second half of the collection is comprised of the 'Experience' poems, which are about how innocence becomes corrupted, by organized religion, by industrialization and by adulthood. "The Lamb" is from the first half of the collection, whereas "London" and "The Tyger" are from the second half.
In terms of style and poetic devices, Blake uses lots of symbolism and repetition in his poetry. For example, in "The Tyger," he uses the symbol of fire to represent the tiger's passion and vitality, and in "London" he uses the symbol of the "black'ning Church" to symbolize the corruption of organized religion. As for repetition, in "The Lamb" Blake repeats the question, "Dost thou know who made thee?" And in "London he repeats the word "every." For example, "in every face I meet . . . In every cry of every Man, / In every Infant's voice." The repetition of the question in "The Lamb" is to emphasize the speaker's sense of wonder as to the beauty of the lamb, whereas the repetition of "every" in "London" is to emphasize how ubiquitous misery and suffering are in the city of London.

Do you think every nation is ready for globalization at the same time? Compare and contrast the positive and negative effects of globalization in our modern world.

Due to globalization, businesses that are headquartered in highly industrialized countries are more likely to seek out arrangements with countries that have a large potential labor force to which the company can pay low wages and with a government that is hoping for income and is likely to facilitate the foreign company setting up shop there. Another attractive feature for the multinational corporation is ample low-cost natural resources to power their factories or offices. The arrangements are often neocolonial and extractive. The multinationals will only establish branches if they are virtually certain of making a large return on their investment.
The politicians and elite businesspeople in the country where the branches are established benefit the most. The new employees get jobs, usually at higher wages than before, but the cost of living goes up proportionately more, so they are likely to incur debt. The new factories usually create pollution and, if the government levies a tax or other penalty to clean up the pollution, the multinational pulls up stakes and moves to another country and re-starts the cycle. Overall, the owners of the multinationals and a few corrupt politicians benefit the most. Consumers in the overdeveloped countries may benefit through lower prices on and greater choice of nonessential goods, and the majority of people in the economically disadvantaged nations remain impoverished.

What are some common themes in The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway and Othello by William Shakespeare? How are these themes present in both of the literature?

One theme common to both works is jealousy. Both Othello and Jake feel inadequate in the eyes of the woman they love. This influences their actions and makes them jealous.
Othello is a middle-aged black man who is not sure he can hold onto the love of the beautiful, young, white Desdemona. Iago plays on Othello's insecurities to make him believe Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio.
Likewise, Jake feels insecure about Brett. She loves him, and he loves her, but they can't consummate their relationship because an injury in World War I has left Jake castrated. Brett therefore has affairs with other men. Jake is angry and jealous when Brett has a fling with Robert Cohn, even though he knows Brett loves him, not Cohn. He resents Cohn, whose body is whole because he never fought in the war.
This leads to a second commonality between Jake and Othello, and a second common theme: the role of an honor code in influencing behavior. Both men have been impacted by their war experiences, and both live by a code. Othello's warrior code causes him to put a premium on honor. When he believes his honor has been undermined by Desdemona's supposed infidelity, he decides he must kill her to restore his honor. Jake lives by an honor code as well, often called the Hemingway code, in which he behaves stoically and courageously. He holds Cohn in contempt for not living by that code, and he admires Romero for living with courage and grace. This code influences him to set Brett up with Romero—both because he is jealous of Cohn and because he feels Romero is worthy of Brett.

What is the monk's biggest hobby?

You can find the answer to this in Chaucer's General Prologue. Look at lines 165-207, in which the narrator describes the monk. Unlike many other monks, who would spend their time bound to their cell or monastery as recommended by most holy guidelines, this particular monk loved "pryking and..hunting." In this context, "pryking" means "riding." The monk enjoys "venerie," or hunting. This seems to go along with his robust and masculine personality.
The monk explains to the narrator that he does not see why he should remain passive and bound to his cell when he could be out riding in the world, and the narrator agrees that he doesn't see how the world would be better served if the monk did not pursue his "lust," his hobby. This riding monk does seem to have some other habits which are also a little unbecoming to a monk, however. He spends a great deal of money on his fine garments for riding and hunting in, and he is fat, suggesting that he does not restrict himself in his diet either.

In The Mousetrap, why does Christopher Wren say, "there's something very boorish about the English husbands"?

The architect Christopher Wren is the first paying guest at Mollie and Guy's new guest house. Immediately, Christopher and Mollie hit it off, though Guy is somewhat nonplussed, with the over-friendly architect paying Mollie a compliment on her beauty. Mollie is suitably embarrassed by his kind words and mildly chides him for being so absurd.
It's then that Christopher observes that Mollie's reaction is typical of English women: that whereas most European women take compliments in their stride, their counterparts in England find them a source of embarrassment. He then goes on to ascribe such embarrassment to the alleged boorishness, that is to say, rough and ill-mannered behavior, of Englishmen towards their wives, which apparently crushes all the feminine spirit right out of them.

Assume that you and your best friend are entrepreneurs. Your goal to set up a business that sells the most delicious tacos in the city! Discuss what type of business organization would be best for you to incorporate and WHY. This discussion should be substantial as you should explain the reasoning behind choosing one over another (taxes, liability, etc). What benefits do you receive as a result of your decision? What are the potential downfalls?

The key elements of this scenario are the fact that (a) the business will be a partnership and (b) the business will sell food.
A partnership does not incline itself to a sole proprietorship. In a sole proprietorship, the person and the business are one and the same. In the event of a split between you and your partner, you will have difficulty appropriately dividing property.
A business selling food, which carries with it substantial liability risk, also does not incline itself to a sole proprietorship. An accidental food poisoning, for instance, would put both you and your partner's personal assets at risk.
This means that your partner and you should look at forming either an LLP (Limited Liability Partnership) or an S Corporation. Both of these business models insulate your personal assets from those of the business and allow a better structure for joint management. Between an LLP and S Corporation, the former may present a better option for a small business from a tax standpoint. Limited liability companies and partnerships allow "pass through" income, meaning the complexities of corporate taxes can be somewhat ameliorated.

How does the swallow react when he sees the Happy Prince crying?

In the story, the swallow is shocked when he sees a statue crying. After all, it is supposed to be an inanimate object. However, the swallow does feel sorry for the statue. So, the swallow's reaction is first shock and then sadness.
The swallow is then motivated to inquire about the statue's identity. For its part, the statue proclaims that it is the Happy Prince.
Surprised to see a statue with such a name crying, the swallow inquires as to the reason for the statue's tears. In response, the Happy Prince explains that he did not know the meaning of tears when he was alive. He was always happy, and this is why he was christened the Happy Prince. Accordingly, he lived a happy, privileged life on earth. After his death, however, his countrymen erected a statue in his memory.
The Happy Prince tells the swallow that he can now see the unhappiness in his city from his vantage point. This is why he is sad. Even though his heart is made of cheap metal, he can still feel emotions that were once foreign to him. Despite the swallow's initial reaction, the bird agrees to stay and help the prince realize his dreams for his city.

Who is the speaker in the poem? Who would say this? Why would they say it? What are we able to infer about them? What is he or she like as a person? How do you know?

The speaker in the poem is a tenant appealing to his landlord. We know that he is a black man who is fed up with the way he is generally treated, both by his landlord and by society in general, for a number of reasons. First, the imagined "headline" at the end of the poem refers to a "negro." Second, the language of the poem uses African American vernacular, in phrases such as "'member" and "these steps is."
As a person, the speaker is obviously very brave—he seems to have been pushed to his breaking point by the mistreatment meted out to him by his landlord. He is addressing his landlord in this way because none of the issues he has pointed out, such as the broken steps or the leaking roof, have been fixed, and yet the landlord has continued to demand money. The speaker does not want to suffer like this any longer.
At the end of the poem, however, we can see that the speaker is sadly resigned to the fact that he probably won't be able to do anything about his, presumably white, landlord. The headline he imagines in the papers if he were to physically threaten the landlord have the tenant, rather than the landlord, in "county jail." The tenant is very frustrated because while he knows the landlord is in the wrong, he also knows that the system is corrupt and racist, and will work in the landlord's favor.

Why doesn't Macbeth kill Banquo himself?

Macbeth is now king, the most powerful person in the land, so it is not hard for him to find henchmen willing to kill an underling for him. He knew he had to kill the anointed king, Duncan, himself, but Banquo is a different story. He knows that even if his hired assassins try to betray him, it will be his word against theirs, and his will be believed: he is the king.
Macbeth also has good reason not to wish to be associated with the murder or near the crime, as he is already under suspicion for having murdered Duncan. He doesn't want to take the risk of being accused of his friend's murder.
Finally, although Macbeth's heart is hardening, it is not hardened all the way through yet, as we understand when his guilt is so great after ordering Banquo's murder that he believes he sees Banquo's ghost. Banquo has been his long time friend and comrade in arms. To murder him himself is more, at this point, than Macbeth can do. He has already had the horrible and shattering experience of killing Duncan: we can only imagine he doesn't want to undergo anything like that again if he can avoid it.

Macbeth doesn't kill Banquo because he's smart enough to realize that if Duncan, Macbeth's relative, turns up dead in Macbeth's house—greatly benefiting Macbeth himself—and then Banquo, Macbeth's friend, turns up dead anywhere Macbeth routinely visits, it is going to look pretty fishy. People will likely begin to realize that these deaths of those closest to Macbeth are not coincidental. If Macbeth has Banquo killed far from Macbeth's own home, somewhere on the road, then it could be more easily made to look like Macbeth has nothing to do with it. He tells the murderers he hires that the murder

[...] must be done tonightAnd something from the palace; always thought That I require a clearness. (3.2.150-152)

In other words, Macbeth wants to take precautions so that he is kept clear of any blame, so that he is not suspected of being involved. Hiring murderers to take care of it while Banquo is away from Macbeth's home is probably the best way to do this (although, it doesn't work and people begin to put it together that Macbeth is responsible for both murders anyway).

Shakespeare was trying to maintain some degree of audience sympathy for Macbeth because this was his tragic hero. He had to put some distance between Macbeth and the murders for the audience to maintain any sympathy for him. We feel little enough sympathy for Macbeth in the end as it is. The only good thing to be said about him is that he is extremely courageous. He even challenges Fate itself and goes down fighting Fate, which he ultimately finds to be invincible.
Furthermore, Macbeth has had enough of cold-blooded murder when he kills Duncan in his sleep, as we can see in the aftermath. In Act II, Scene 2, when his wife tells him he must go back to Duncan's chamber and smear the faces of the drugged grooms with blood from the two daggers, he replies, "I'll go no more: I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on't again I dare not."
So his wife has to take the daggers and go back to do the grisly job for him. She is one of the first to do his dirty work. When Macbeth thinks of killing Banquo, it is natural for him to find someone else to do it. He doesn't mind killing men in battle, but he doesn't like committing villainous murders. We can say that for him, too that he is not much good as a murderer. He delegates Banquo's and Fleance's murders to two men who are joined by a third murderer just before the assault takes place. Later when he has a number of soldiers slaughter Macduff's family and everyone else in Macduff's castle, Macbeth is getting someone else to do his dirty work. This is partly because he is squeamish about the criminal kind of killing, and also because Shakespeare didn't want to make Macbeth look any worse than he already does. We are supposed to feel some pity for Macbeth at the end, when he is all alone and everybody hates him, and he is totally depressed.
Additionally, Macbeth becomes king almost immediately after Duncan's assassination. As king, Macbeth has more power. He can kill anybody he wants to, but he has to be concerned about public opinion. When he has Banquo killed at some distance from his castle, he makes sure he has a good alibi. He is hosting a big banquet. How could he have killed Banquo and tried to kill Fleance?
Macbeth might have another reason for not planning to kill Banquo himself. Banquo is a warrior. He would not be as easy to kill as an old man sound asleep in his bed. Macbeth might feel that he would need help. After all, there are two people involved: Banquo and his son Fleance. Fleance might get away while he was fighting with the boy's father, which is pretty much what happens. Banquo and his son may stay at Dunsinane for another night, but we can be sure Banquo would be wide awake and have his door securely bolted and barricaded. We see in Act II, Scene 1 that Banquo keeps his sword with him while he is in Macbeth's castle. Early in the scene, he tells Fleance:
Hold, take my sword.
He does this because Shakespeare wanted to show his audience that he has a sword. When Macbeth enters, Banquo says,
Give me my sword!
Banquo knows he is in danger because he knows Macbeth cannot like the idea of Banquo's descendants forming a long line of Scottish monarchs. Banquo is also sure Macbeth killed Duncan, even though Macbeth managed to pin the blame on Malcolm and Donalbain. Banquo knows Macbeth is a very dangerous man, and he doesn't like being a guest in his castle.
Shakespeare may not have wanted to write yet another murder scene in which Macbeth goes creeping down the corridors in the dark. It would be too repetitive. The playwright had wrung about as much emotion out of the first murder as he could expect to get. He needed some variety. A writer has to keep changing things in order to hold the interest of the audience.

In what way is this story humorous?

The absurdity of the quirks the narrator's family members possess help to create the humor in Thurber's story. The nightly rituals his two aunts and cousin perform to guard themselves against burglars and sudden death are amusing rather than sympathy-inducing.
The grandfather's disappearances and reappearances combined with his news and opinions on the long-past Civil War are likewise, played for laughs instead of pathos.
Another aspect of the story's humor is the comedy of errors that ensues after the narrator's cot tips over in the night. His mother's panic, the yelling, his cousin nearly drowning himself in camphor, Rex's barking, and the misunderstandings that grip the family all create a tone that is chaotic and funny.
There is an amusing irony that the mother's irrational fear that the bed in the attic will fall on her husband is not what creates the disturbance in the night; instead, it is the narrator's cot that collapses.

Why does Rusty-James ask Motorcycle Boy to stay home until their father gets back?

Rusty-James asks Motorcycle Boy to stay home until their father arrives because he's worried that otherwise he'll pass out from his wounds alone.
Before Rusty-James goes home, he gets into a fight and is stabbed. He worries on the drive that he'll keel over in the street and thinks that Motorcycle Boy might be at home so it's better that he goes there. When he arrives, his brother is there. He doesn't respond to Rusty-James's question about food and Rusty-James notes that Motorcycle Boy has poor hearing and is colorblind.
After he gets food, Rusty-James washes the knife cut and then goes back out to Motorcycle Boy. He asks him to stay until their father gets home. This time, Motorcycle Boy acknowledges him. S. E. Hinton writes:

"Poor kid," he says to me, "looks like you're messed up all the time, one way or another."

Rusty-James is surprised that his brother is worried about him. Soon after, their father arrives.

Explain the significance of Alfred the Great for the development of English identity.

Great question! Alfred the Great was really important to the development of English identity, and is often remembered as a great English king—even though he wasn't really a king of England, because England as a defined country didn't yet exist. Alfred started out as King of Wessex, a historic county-kingdom within what is now southern England, and subsequently became the king of all the Anglo-Saxons. Alfred's key contribution to English identity can be best understood in relation to his influence on language, given how language influences identity. What united the Anglo-Saxons was their common language; at the beginning of Alfred's reign, though, even this was very loose, with multiple dialects warring within the Anglo-Saxon region. Alfred was extremely committed to the development of a united Anglo-Saxon tongue, particularly a semi-uniform written version of the language, and what he achieved in this arena helped those who spoke Anglo-Saxon to see themselves as a single people. By calling himself King of the Anglo-Saxons and defining a language for those Anglo-Saxons, Alfred created an idea of nationhood where one had not previously existed.
Alfred's reign was a turbulent one. The island of Britain was still constantly beset by would-be invaders, and Alfred was able to see off Viking attacks and establish himself as a dominant ruler. This already meant he was viewed as a very strong king within the Anglo-Saxon culture in which he lived, but more important was what he then did with his power. Alfred reformed the legal system in his new lands so that it was uniform—and fair. He was also very concerned with the idea that everyone should understand the religion they professed to follow (a religion that, of course, was very new). He felt that it was impossible to expect people to follow a religion that was taught in Latin, a language outside the reach of normal people. As such, under Alfred's reign, literature in English began to be produced en masse. Over this period, people came to understand themselves as "English" because they shared several common factors, including:
Adherence to Alfredian legal codes;
Speaking Anglo-Saxon, now the language of primary education; and
Adherence to the Christian religion.
These unifying factors helped create a sense of a larger kingdom where several had previously existed. By the end of Alfred's reign, emphasis upon written English also meant that Anglo-Saxon, although it still had variant forms, had reached a sort of standard. The extent to which this was important for the idea of identity can be seen through the attempts made by the Norman invaders to suppress and dismantle English when they invaded in the eleventh century. They did not want to encounter a unified English people with a common language. As such, they removed the language from use in court or legal settings, replacing it with French. During this period, English went underground, and once again came to divide into multiple dialectal forms so that the English would see themselves as a defeated and subordinate class ruled by the French-speaking Normans. However, it did survive in parochial settings, and the English identity Alfred created was strong enough that, several centuries later, it would once again oust Anglo-Norman as the language of court and the English people.

What are the interesting character traits of Digory in The Magician's Nephew?

Digory Kirke—the protagonist in The Magician's Nephew—is a very lonely young boy. He has no brothers and sisters, his mother's sick, and his father's away in India. So when he encounters Polly Plummer, he jumps at the chance to make a new friend. This shows us that Digory's quite a sociable boy, who much prefers the company of others, especially those his own age. Palling around with Polly allows Digory to indulge his vivid imagination and explore the strange, enchanting world his Uncle Andrew conjures up for him. Digory's innate curiosity is closely allied to his impulsiveness; he tends not to think too much before trying out a new experience. Thank goodness the much more logical, sensible Polly is on hand to help him out of his various scrapes.
As a young boy, Digory inevitably lacks something in the way of maturity. His patronizing assertion of superiority over Polly just because she's a girl is an illustration of this. But there's no doubt that he grows up considerably throughout the course of the book. Digory is subject to numerous temptations during his adventures which might easily trap children of a similar age. We see this when Digory is sorely tempted to to eat the fruit from the land of youth. But he refrains from doing so. Instead of being selfish and thinking only of himself, he wonders whether the fruit might help his sick mother to recover from her serious illness. Here, Digory shows not just maturity and compassion, but a real understanding of right and wrong.

What is culture studies and what is its function?

Cultural studies is a field that focuses on the impact of culture on the social and political aspects of society. It is an interdisciplinary field that involves research into the impact of culture on everyday life. Cultural studies incorporates concepts from sociology, history, and economics. Other fields that cultural studies draws concepts from include communication studies and cultural anthropology.
Cultural studies helps to address the various issues in the world today and takes into account the fact that change is inevitable. Through cultural studies, the ways in which different societies understand their history, way of life, and future is examined and taught in learning institutions. Cultural studies helps people to embrace diversity, which is instrumental in solving modern, global problems.

Why does Proctor refuse to sign the confession?

John Proctor is a very proud individual. He believes that the only thing a man truly has is his name. By signing a confession that will be hanged for all to see, he is in fact, blighting his name: a name that demands respect, exudes goodwill, and engenders trust. He would rather die on his feet a proud man with his name intact than live a life on his knees while a lie strangles what liberty he has left.

It's all about reputation. John Proctor's lost everything due to the witch-craze. But the one thing he still has left is his good name. A verbal confession is one thing, a signed confession something else. But to have that signed confession nailed to the church door where the whole town can see it, is a completely different matter entirely, and Proctor simply won't stand for it.
He's looking at the bigger picture here. If he signs the confession saying that he's a witch he'll be lying to himself and to God. Not only that, but his children and his children's children will have to live with the stigma and shame. The previously good name of the Proctors will be ruined for evermore. Like the devout Puritan he is, Proctor already believes himself to be mired in total depravity. So verbally confessing to witchcraft is in line with how he sees himself as a sinner. But though he'll let the witch-hunters take his soul, what he won't do is let them take his good name, his reputation.

How does Lord Henry try to influence Dorian Gray in A Picture of Dorian Gray?

Lord Henry meets Dorian Gray just as Basil is finishing his portrait of him and is much taken with his beauty and innocence. Lord Henry uses his way with words to try to corrupt Dorian. He tells him not to go into philanthropy but to pursue his own desires. However, Lord Henry is wily: he doesn't frame pursuing one's own desires as selfishness but as living out a higher ideal in life. Lord Henry says:

I believe that if one man were to live out his life fully and completely, were to give form to every feeling, expression to every thought, reality to every dream—I believe that the world would gain such a fresh impulse of joy that we would forget all the maladies of mediaevalism, and return to the Hellenic ideal—to something finer, richer than the Hellenic ideal, it may be. . . . Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind and poisons us. The body sins once, and has done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification. Nothing remains then but the recollection of a pleasure, or the luxury of a regret. The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it . . .

In other words, Lord Henry takes advantage of Dorian's innocence to twist evil words and make it seem as if the highest good is to indulge in the lowest depravity. Dorian lacks the intellectual apparatus at this point in his life to adequately challenge Lord Henry, and he falls under his spell. Lord Henry is a master at manipulation and knows how to be quiet when he needs to be. After the above speech he is silent, and Dorian fills in the silence by thinking:

Life suddenly became fiery-coloured to him . . .

He is enticed and seduced by Henry's decadent philosophy, and before he knows it, has sold his soul to devil.

Lord Henry tries to influence Dorian Gray by encouraging him to lead a life of debauchery. His philosophy of life—if one wants to call it that—is little more than a self-serving cover for an indulgent, hedonistic lifestyle. Lord Henry, in common with many louche young rakes of his social class, is thrilled at the prospect of embarrassing his elders and betters, peddling wild, improbable theories of how to live one's life that are motivated by little more than an adolescent desire to shock.
There's no sense that Lord Henry believes in any of his nonsensical ideas, let alone chooses to follow them—but Dorian's different. He's young, naïve, and impressionable. Indulging in the kind of debauched lifestyle seemingly endorsed by Lord Henry is simply too hard for him to resist. If Lord Henry's debauchery exists purely on the theoretical level, for Dorian it is practical, with dangerous consequences. The lord may not be directly responsible for any of Dorian's sordid actions, but he certainly planted a seed in the young man's immature mind, and for that he must be held morally accountable.

Can you give a summary of The Essex Serpent?

Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpent is a tale spun of wild fantasy, wherein the narrator (Cora Seaborne) embarks on a blissfully different life once her domineering husband dies.
Set in the Victorian era, this novel is part ghost story and part a history lesson. Wed at age nineteen, Cora is of above-average intelligence and boundless curiosity, traits that make living the life of a society wife unpleasant. In the wake of the funeral, she sets off for a visit to coastal Essex.
Shedding her whalebone corset for an oversize jacket, she heads out with her eleven-year old son Francis and her protective nanny, Martha. While traversing the sites, she hears of a rumor about a mystical sea beast—“some kind of leviathan with wings of leather and a toothy grin"—that haunts the people of Essex. Rumors claim that the creature steals children and breaks the necks of grown men. Though the populace rarely agree on anything, they come together in a fight against this forlorn monster. In the ensuing pages blossoms the age-old debate about whether science and faith live in opposition, a question carried throughout the novel.

What happened to the Guttery family at the dock? How did this incident point out the change in attitude of some of the coolies caused by the revolutionary movement?

The Guttery family are threatened by the coolies—unskilled manual laborers—who work at the dock. They're engaged in a revolutionary uprising and see this American family as members of the hated bourgeoisie whose economic and political power they're dedicated to destroy.
Previously, the coolies had been meek and humble workers, putting their heads down and getting on with their work day after day. They were friendly and deferential, not the kind of people you'd normally expect to act in such an aggressive, threatening manner. But under the influence of Communist revolutionaries, their whole attitude to their alleged social superiors has changed. They're tired of being on the bottom rung of society, sick to death of being treated by Westerners like second-class citizens in their own country. And so they rebel. Unfortunately for the Gutterys and many others like them, they find themselves caught up in the middle of this monumental social and political upheaval.

Does the book suggest a Taoist perception of living?

A reader may certainly argue either way with this question. My initial reaction would be to say that the book does not suggest a Taoist way of living, simply because Madeleine L'Engle is a strong Christian. The book's major theme about love may seem cliche, but it is also firmly rooted in the author's Christian beliefs. With that said, I do think that Taoist elements can be pulled from the text. A major part of Taoism is the duality of all things. Things can only be understood when thought about and held up against their opposite. Day is understood because night exists, and cold makes sense when compared to hot. In a similar vein, Meg's love exists and makes sense when it is held up against IT, who has no love.

What happens in the cafeteria that makes Melinda run out of the lunchroom?

In the cafeteria, Melinda watches as the Marthas ridicule Heather for donating canned beats and claim that she is not meeting her quota. The mean girls then ridicule Heather's posters, which Melinda actually made, and force her to carry their trays away. As Melinda watches the Marthas bully Heather, Andy Evans approaches the table and twirls Melinda's ponytail. Melinda reacts by immediately running out of the cafeteria and going into the bathroom, where she throws up her lunch and frantically washes her face in the sink. Andy Evans sexually assaulted Melinda the previous summer, and she is traumatized after being raped. Andy's presence terrifies Melinda, who struggles to confront her attacker and assimilate into her high school's social groups. Andy touching Melinda's hair causes her to become nauseous, and she runs out of the cafeteria in fear.

What is the exposition , rising action , climax , falling action and resolution of Three Lives? All three of the stories in the book by Gertrude Stein

In the first part of Three Lives, Stein describes the life of Anna, a German servant who takes scrupulous care of the people she works for. During the exposition of the story, Stein explains Anna's character and her immigration from Germany. Stein writes of Anna that "Anna had always a firm old world sense of what was the right way for a girl to do." Stein describes the families Anna works for and Anna's friendship with Mrs. Lehntman, whom she describes as "the romance in Anna's life." The rising action is Anna's commitment to and sacrifice for the families she works for and for Mrs. Lehntman. The climax is Anna's parting ways with Mrs. Lehntman when Mrs. Lenntman adopts a baby (an action to which Anna is opposed), and the falling action is the worsening of Anna's health. The resolution is her eventual death.
In the second part, "Melanctha," the exposition involves describing the life of the biracial character whom Stein refers to as a "negress." Melanctha is depressed and often considers suicide, and her love affairs have not been successful, as she hangs out in the railroad yard to get to know men. The rising action is her relationship with Jefferson Campbell, the black doctor who cares for her sick mother. The climax is Jefferson's realization that Melanctha can never really care for him the way he cares for her, and the falling action is their parting. The sad resolution is her death from consumption.
In the third story, "The Gentle Lena," the exposition in the story is of Lena's immigration from Germany, and the rising action is her marriage. I will let you figure out the climax, falling action, and resolution. The resolution is similar to that of the other two stories in Stein's book.

What is the significance of the yam as a symbolic crop among the Igbo people?

The yam is a central feature of the Igbo creation myth. The god Chukwu gives one to the first human family he creates and supplies them with seeds to grow more to feed themselves. As the world at the time is covered entirely by water, Chukwu instructs the first man to kill his eldest son and daughter and to plant the seeds upon their graves. The yam, like Chukwu, is a demanding master. Chinua Achebe calls it “the king of crops, a man’s crop.” It takes considerable toil to tend to yam crops, and men who do it successfully must continue to make sacrifices to ensure a good harvest. Their sacrifices are not usually as severe as the ones Chukwu demanded, but sometimes things fall apart.
Because yams are so difficult to grow, a man’s wealth can be measured in them. A bountiful harvest indicates a long, difficult, and ultimately successful season of hard work. It reflects well on the man’s character. If he is weak or lazy, he will have nothing to show for himself. He will not be able to support a family or take part in the upper levels of Igbo society. Leadership roles are reserved for men. Men who cannot toil, in war or in agriculture, are not considered to be men at all.
In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s father isn’t able to support his family and has nothing to give his son as he enters adulthood. Okonkwo makes a deal with a wealthy community member and plants his first seed-yams as a sharecropper during a season of unprecedented weather, including flooding. He succeeds where more experienced farmers fail because, he feels, his will is uncommonly strong. His new beginning recalls the myth of Chukwu’s first man creating a new life out of a flooded world.
http://www.iupui.edu/~womrel/REL%20300%20Spirit/REL%20300_Spirit/Igbo%20Culture%20and%20History.pdf

What is a critical appreciation of Jeffrey Archer's short story "The Chinese Statue"?

“The Chinese Statue,” by Jeffrey Archer, is about the British perception of China (and the East in general) as an exotic place—a place of exotic tastes and exotic art. It is also about the British love for this exoticism and the love and importance of tradition. To convey this love, Archer not only highlights the adoration of the people for the Chinese statue but also conveys the beauty of the statue as a work of art. The story has two settings: a modern auction house in England and a village in China in 1871.
When a British man, Sir Heathcote, purchases the statue at auction, he ensures that the statue will be passed down to the first-born male children born to future generations in his family. This appears to be linked to the significance of tradition in China and the importance of male inheritance. The tradition continues for years, and everyone who inherits the statue values its beauty. They also value the tradition itself, and they feel honored to be a part of it. This continues in the family for years, until a man named Alex inherits the statue. Alex is selfish and lazy and has accrued a significant amount of gambling debt. Alex decides to sell the statue to pay off his gambling debts, thereby breaking the tradition and invalidating the statue's true worth as a work of art. The tradition of passing on the statue means nothing to him—he sees it only as a means to get himself out of trouble and improve his financial situation. Art and beauty mean nothing to him, either. In contrasting the values of Alex with those of the others, Archer also contrasts beauty and purpose with selfishness and greed.

How does the book Race Matters, by Cornel West, compare to Real American Ethics, by Albert Borgmann?

Race Matters, by American writer, lecturer, and professor Cornel West, as suggested by the title, is an analysis of a specific social issue in the United States: race. Real American Ethics: Taking Responsibility for Our Country, by Albert Borgmann, offers a more general and broad perspective on the various social issues of the United States.
Borgmann's book also explores the philosophical elements of American "morality," whereas West's essays offer a variety of pragmatic examples of systemic racism in the United States.
While both books articulate economic theories that contribute to either racism or materialism, respectively, Borgmann's book features a larger portion of economic theories. In fact, one could argue that one of the primary theses of Real American Ethics is the capitalistic evolution of American society and how it has contributed to the disintegration of traditional American values.
Race Matters is one of Cornel West's most popular and critically acclaimed books, and its theses are recurring topics in the author's other writings and public speaking engagements. West's and Borgmann's books are both critical of American society and how academia has failed to explore America's political and social issues in depth. For instance, many American high school history textbooks offer simplified versions of slavery, economic depressions, race relations, war, poverty, and other complex issues.
https://dof.princeton.edu/sites/dof/files/Cornel%20R%20West%202012%20Book.pdf

https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/reviewofborgmann.pdf

How is the setting significant?

The setting of Sleepy Hollow, New York is significant because one of the story's major themes is the conflict between "country" people and "city" people. The original settlers of the Tarry Town area were Dutch, and they are depicted as strong, hearty farm people. Abraham "Brom Bones" Brunt and the Van Tassels are examples of these people. On the other hand, Ichabod Crane is an outsider from Connecticut. He is a Yankee—a city man with English ancestry.
Sleepy Hollow is a secluded and very small glen off of the Tarry Town settlement area. This also helps set the mood for the spooky and comic events of the ending. If it were a city, or even a larger town, Brom Bones's Headless Horseman trick would not have worked against Ichabod Crane. Also, at the Van Tassels's party earlier, Brom Bones and the other Dutch farmers told old ghost stories from the area in order to lay the groundwork to scare Ichabod Crane. This worked because Crane is an outsider, whereas the Dutch farmers are the original settlers of Sleepy Hollow. Brom Bones knows the land and the history behind it, but Crane does not. In the end, when Brom Bones disguises himself as the Headless Horseman of legend (said to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper from the Revolutionary War), he chases Ichabod Crane all the way to the Old Dutch Burying Ground, a church and cemetery yard in Sleepy Hollow. In this Dutch colonial setting, the "country" man essentially wins over the "city" man.
It is clear that Washington Irving thought of the place where his story takes place as very significant. After all, the name of the town is in the title—"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Even more evidence is that fact that Irving begins the story with a lengthy and vivid description of the town and its surroundings. It is a sequestered area with an aura of magic and dreaminess. Sleepy Hollow lies in a little valley two miles away from the small market port of Tarry Town, and it is "one of the quietest places in the world."
The other consideration of the setting of Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is the time period in which the story took place. Although Irving published his story in 1820, it takes place around 1790, 30 years earlier. The American Revolutionary War ended in 1783, so the story takes place in the years very soon after the war. This was intentional, because the Revolutionary War is an important aspect of the narrative. The Headless Horseman himself is said to have been a soldier (a hired German trooper by the British army) in the war. Furthermore, Ichabod Crane's status as a Yankee, an "American" on the side of the colonies, is very prominent.

What quotes in Huck Finn are difficult to understand by the reader and are challenging for an argument?

There are many small episodes in this picaresque novel that are easily missed by the casual reader and provide a topic for a lively debate.
One such episode occurs in chapter 16, when Huck is able to keep two slave hunters at bay by pretending that Jim, who is in the tent on the raft, is his father and afflicted with smallpox. The men see that Huck is a young boy in dire need of help, but their own self-preserving instincts prevent them from actually getting close enough to help. Instead, they float over two $20 gold pieces on a board and tell Huck,

Now we're trying to do you a kindness; you just put twenty miles between us, that's a good boy.

This episode invites a debate about people's approach to charity. Is Twain suggesting that people are willing to throw money at a problem or hardship but not get personally involved? Is he suggesting that people must take care of themselves first and only help others in small and temporary ways?

Who is sometimes referred to as the Edison of the Internet according to Outliers: The Story of Success? Why? Name one program he wrote.

Malcolm Gladwell refers to this computer engineer in chapter 2, "The 10,000 Hour Rule":

Among Silicon Valley insiders, Joy is spoken of with as much awe as someone like Bill Gates of Microsoft. He is sometimes called the Edison of the Internet. As the Yale computer scientist David Gelernter says, "Bill Joy is one of the most influential people in the modern history of computing."

At the University of Michigan in 1971, Bill Joy came across the Computer Center as a 16-year-old freshman. The University of Michigan had one of the most advanced computer science programs in the world, and Joy began programming the year that it opened. Computer programming became Joy's life, and he used every opportunity to engage in his craft.
Bill Joy worked with a small group of programmers to overwrite UNIX, a mainframe computer software system developed by AT&T. For decades, Joy's version of UNIX was used by millions of computers around the world. Since Gladwell's book was released 11 years ago, operating systems associated with Macintosh and Microsoft now use their own versions of UNIX-like systems.
After graduating from Berkeley, Bill Joy cofounded Sun Microsystems, a Silicon Valley company that played a critical role in the Computer Revolution. The Computer Revolution or the Digital Revolution featured personal computers linked to the Internet and the World Wide Web. Joy placed his UNIX version at the forefront of the digitization movement. Joy is also known for having rewritten Java, a computer programming language. Upon its release in 1995, Java was integrated into early versions of the Netscape Navigator web browser.
Bill Joy and his computer programming thrived for multiple reasons. He had access to state-of-the-art technology, some of the best in the world. Gladwell notes the importance of opportunity in the generation of success. Joy had the intelligence and talent for coding. He utilized those skills to become an expert, devoting over 10,000 hours to his craft. There was also an element of luck involved, in the sense that Joy had developed his expertise at the perfect time before the Digital Revolution. The context of Joy's success lies in the open-source movement, which allows anyone to obtain and modify open-source code. Through this philosophy, programmers write and exchange programming code for software development.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bill-Joy

When was Beowulf written?

Even though several scholars have arrived at fairly specific dates for the composition of Beowulf, using archaeological, historical, linguistic, and religious evidence, most scholars agree that we know with certainty only two dates relating to the poem's possible composition: Hygelac, Beowulf's uncle and king, died in 521CE, and the original manuscript is dated to about 1000CE. Two scholars, working with different evidence, have dated the composition at 723 and 725CE, respectively, and those dates are certainly within the acceptable range for the poem's composition. Because the poem exhibits a blending of Christian and pagan references, and we know that Christianity was most likely well established in the Anglo-Saxon world by 700CE (perhaps even by the mid-600s), sometime after 700CE seems a reasonable beginning point. And as the summary above suggests, recent scholarship favors a later date for composition, perhaps as late as 1000CE. Our current inability to know Beowulf's composition date with certainty is, fortunately, more of a problem for textual scholars than for readers. There are still many elements of Anglo-Saxon culture we do not fully understand, and until other evidence comes to light, Beowulf's composition date (assuming there is only one date—Beowulf probably evolved over time) will remain a compelling unknown.

A soft ball is rolling in the inclined pipe (we made a paper pipe with gift wrapping paper) and it hits the car. The car then moves on the Hot Wheels track. What type of friction occurring in this? Length of tube: 30 inches. Length of Hot Wheels track: 48 inches. Weight of ball: 7.4 grams. Weight of car: 30.2 grams. Also, when the car is falling from the table track, what type of friction is involved? what are the two surfaces touching each other?

There are four types of friction. The four types of friction are rolling friction, static friction, sliding friction, and fluid friction. Static friction prevents surfaces from sliding or slipping across each other. It's the force that keeps a car from sliding down a steep hill that it might be parked on. Another way to think about it is that static friction is the friction that holds things in place. Since the above question asks about a rolling ball and a falling car, static friction doesn't apply.
The rolling ball does have friction, however—has rolling friction. The question seems to indicate that the car is falling off of the table to the ground. In this case, the car is experiencing fluid friction because it is moving through a fluid (air). If this question is asking about the friction involved when the ball hits the car, that is tough to answer without seeing the actual interaction. It it is likely to be sliding friction or static friction. If the ball hit the car and slid over/off of the car, then it is sliding friction. If that seems odd, think of a bowling ball that has just been thrown down the lane. It slides on the smooth wood for a bit before beginning to roll. If the ball struck the car and stopped spinning completely, the frictional force would be static friction. The ball and car "gripped" each other.
https://www.ck12.org/physics/types-of-friction/lesson/Types-of-Friction-MS-PS/

Mark Brian mentions the sadness in Jim Wallace's eyes in I Heard the Owl Call My Name. What are the Indians sad about?

Mark Brian is a young vicar who's been sent by his bishop to live among the Kwakiutl Indians in the village of Kingcome and patrol neighboring villages by boat. A member of the Kwakiutl named Jim Wallace, who is about the same age as Mark, goes with him on his patrols and helms the boat until Mark passes his licensing exam. When Mark first meets Jim, he senses deep sadness behind the pride in his eyes. This is something he notices quite a lot among the Kwakiutl.
Initially, Mark doesn't quite understand the cause of this sadness. But gradually, he comes to realize that the village is dying, and with it, the old customs and language that have sustained it for so many years. Many of the young people have left the village to seek better lives for themselves in white society. No wonder, then, that there's such an overhanging air of sadness about the place.

Why does Joel think that Jesus is not a true rabbi?

Joel doesn't think that Jesus is a true rabbi for the simple reason that he doesn't act like one. For one thing, Jesus doesn't strictly adhere to the ritual hand washing that is an essential part of the Mosaic law. In fact, Jesus doesn't seem to adhere to any part of that law at all. That's why he's so distrusted by the religious elders at the Temple; he's supposed to be a Jew yet does not follow the law as a Jew is supposed to. In Hebrew, the word rabbi means "my teacher," that is, someone who teaches Judaism. Jesus claims to be a rabbi, or teacher, but his shocking disregard for Jewish law convinces Joel and many others that, whatever else he might be, Jesus is not a true rabbi as they understand it.

What is the significance of the social divide between the Eloi and the Morlocks in The Time Machine?

One thing you should be aware of when discussing the Eloi and the Morlocks is that the time traveler himself does not actually understand the full reality of this future world he has landed in. All he has are a series of suppositions, which he amends as he gains more information.
However, across his time in the distant future, he determines that this future age has come into being from the influence of industrialization, as well as from the long-term impacts of those changes on human evolution. His initial assumption is that the Elois represent a humanity that has successfully achieved a kind of utopia, only to devolve as all of those qualities which allowed for civilization's triumph became no longer necessary for survival. Later, he will find this explanation unconvincing, especially after discovering of the Morlocks, which he views as an extension of the working class, just as the Eloi represent an extension of the leisure class. His theories are further amended over the course of the novel, until (towards the end of his time in this future world) he has determined that the Morlocks have emerged as the masters of this future world, with the Eloi in a situation akin to herd animals which the Morlocks pray upon.
Again, it's important to note that all of these suppositions may well be false—the time traveler comes into this future universe from a position of utter ignorance, a fact which he himself is well aware of. Furthermore, consider that his reading of that future is deeply shaped by his perspective as a Victorian. However, if we take his interpretation as our departure point (as I suppose we must, given he is our only source of insight into this future world), what we observe is the final consequences of industrialization. Evolution has worked its power on both the working class and the leisure class, leaving each of them less than human.
Furthermore, note how the Morlocks terrorize the Eloi (representing a reversal of the power dynamics that shape the industrial class structure). If we understand that class structure as inherently exploitative, then we see in their relationship a situation by which the conditions of industrialization has shaped the future of human evolution, with all its brutality and cruelty is now imprinted directly upon the human condition.

Direct materials$4.00 per unit Direct labor$3.00 per unit Variable manufacturing overhead$2.00 per unit Variable selling and administrative costs$1.00 per unit Fixed manufacturing overhead$25,000 Fixed selling and administrative costs$10,000 **Calculate Preferred's net operating income assuming the company uses variable costing.

The profit equation for the company whose costs are outlined here abides by a known formula:
(selling price * quantity of goods sold) - (unit variable costs * quantity of goods sold) - fixed costs = operating income.
Here, selling prices are: direct materials ($4.00 per unit), direct labor ($3.00 per unit), variable manufacturing overhead ($2.00 per unit), and variable selling and administrative costs ($1.00 per unit). The total variable cost is $10 per unit.
The fixed costs are given as follows: fixed manufacturing overhead ($25,000), and fixed selling and administrative costs ($10,000). The total fixed costs are $35,000.
Because this question doesn't feature either the cost of the units sold, nor the number of units sold, we can use these given costs to write an equation for the cost, "m," in terms of units sold, "x." These variables are the variables used to represent the slope, "m" and independent variable, "x" in a y=mx+b form of a linear equation.
So, the profit equation given these total variable costs and total fixed costs is:
(m- $10) * x- $35,000 = operating income.
Here, "m" represents the sale cost per unit, "x" represents the number of units, and $10 and $35,000 are the variable operating costs and fixed costs, respectively.

In A Long Way Home, what made Mantosh's experience in India different than Saroo's experience?

The biggest difference between the two boys is that one of Mantoo's birth parents is still in the picture. Mantoo's mother is nowhere to be seen, and his father doesn't want to have anything to do with him. This makes the process of Mantoo's adoption all the more complicated, and it's no surprise that it takes the Brierleys two years to adopt him.
During this time, Mantoo is subject to sexual and physical abuse, something that thankfully doesn't happen to Saroo. Inevitably, such appalling treatment takes its toll on Mantoo, and it comes as no surprise to seem him acting up when he finally arrives in Tasmania to stay with his new adoptive family. Mantoo's clearly been traumatized by his experiences back in India, and it will take him much longer than Saroo to adapt to his new surroundings.

List four main characters and explain their significance to the novel A Wrinkle in Time as a whole.

Meg
Meg is the central character in the novel, and we see the action through her eyes. She is important to the novel because she, along with Calvin and Charles Wallace, is chosen to go to the planet Camazotz and rescue her father. Her importance increases when she has to travel back to Camazotz alone to save Charles Wallace from IT.
Mrs. Whatsit
Mrs. Whatsit is one of the spirit beings that comes to Earth in human form to bring the children to Camazotz to save their father. Although she presents as a ditzy old lady in too many scarves, she is actually a being of great love, wisdom, and strength who is important as a guide to and protector of the children.
Charles Wallace
Meg's younger brother, Charles Wallace, is important to the story because he has a special intuitive power that allows him to understand the spiritual realm of Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Which, and Mrs. Who in a way that Meg cannot. He is very important in bringing together Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Which, and Mrs. Who with humans, such as Meg and his mother.
Calvin O'Keefe
Calvin is a neighborhood teenager who is brought into the adventure. He is important because he offers Meg emotional support. He is well-balanced and steady, which makes him a good companion on the trip to Camazotz.

What events in the 1980s motivated Christian conservatives?

The election of Ronald Reagan as President in 1980 was due in no small part to the tireless campaigning and support of evangelical Christians. By this time, evangelicals had become a major force within the Republican Party, using their growing power and influence to promote their conservative agenda. On the domestic front, this revolved largely around a pushback against social liberalism. Conservative Christians were deeply hostile towards abortion, for example, and saw its increased availability in the wake of Roe v. Wade as a fundamental challenge to traditional values.
In relation to foreign policy, evangelicals in the Republican Party looked at the growing assertiveness of the officially atheist Soviet Union as an existential threat to "Christian America"—one that needed to be met with an appropriately aggressive response from the United States and its allies. To such Christian conservatives, the Cold War wasn't just a geopolitical rivalry between two competing ideologies: it was an epic battle of good versus evil, and they were determined that the good side—with which they identified themselves, of course—should ultimately prevail.

Where is the death threat against Malala found?

You'll find this answer within chapter 20. The death threat is discovered when a Pakistani journalist from Alaska comes to meet Malala and her father. The journalist speaks to Malala's father, and Malala can tell that something serious is being discussed. The author notices there are tears in the journalist's eyes and her father looks upset. They both look at something on the computer, but quickly shut the laptop.
Finally, her father decides to share this news with her, and this is when Malala finds out a death threat has been made against her. When they google her full name, Malala Yousafzai, they find a written death threat online from the Taliban, simply labeled "should be killed." You'll find Malala's initial reaction below:

"I took another glance at the message on the screen, then I closed the computer and never looked at those words again. The worst had happened. I'd been targeted by the Taliban."