What was Cantú's mother's purpose in naming him for Saint Francis in The Line Becomes a River?

Cantú's mother began calling him Saint Francis as a nickname. It eventually took the place of the names his parents gave him at birth.
When he was born, his parents were divided over what to name him. They decided to use both names and hyphenate his last name. Francisco Cantú writes:

Joshua Tyler Cantú-Simmons. My cousin roared with laughter. What a gringo name, she said.

However, when his parents divorce, he only goes by Cantú as a last name. His mother starts calling him Paco. Paco is the Spanish nickname for Saint Francis, San Francisco de Asís, the patron saint of animals. He was Cantú's mother's favorite saint. This ultimately saved him from the name Joshua Tyler; people started calling him Francisco, and the other names stopped being used completely.
When he was little, his mother would read about Saint Francis to him. The stories were from The Little Flowers of Saint Francis.

How is theme expressed through Rinehart's symbolic character?

The figure of Rinehart appears in Invisible Man as both cipher and symbol. While he never actually appears in the novel in person, he becomes an important point of consideration and comparison for the narrator.
Like the narrator, Rinehart possesses some public power and is widely recognized in Harlem. Unlike the narrator of the novel, Rinehart has a name. Ironically, Rinehart manages to go about his various types of business unseen by the political elements of New York and he is only discovered by the narrator when the narrator adopts a simple disguise of a hat and dark glasses. On the street, people confuse the narrator with Rinehart, a confusion of identity that speaks to some of the larger issues of identity in the novel.
Notably, Rinehart is a person of many roles (a numbers runner, a pimp, and a preacher) and each of his roles gives him power and prestige. Although he pays off the local police, Rinehart answers to no one. In the terms often applied by the narrator, Rinehart exists “outside of history” as a person with no activist or political agenda. Despite his political insignificance, Rinehart is a potent figure on the streets, loved and hated.
Rinehart’s shape-shifting persona leads the narrator to his most profound insights about identity and race and a functionally complete disenfranchisement:
“You don’t have to worry about people. If they tolerate Rinehart, then they will forget it and even with them you are invisible. . . . It didn’t matter because they didn’t realize just what had happened, neither my hope nor my failure. My ambition and integrity were nothing to them and my failure was as meaningless as Clifton’s.”
Historically “invisible” and locally famous, Rinehart represents a political concept at the core of the novel. Perhaps best taken as an open question, the Rinehart figure asks by contrast whether the narrator’s turns of progressive social activism and assimilationist ambition can possibly be successful in a world “without the possibility of action”?

What is the Virginia Plan? Who is the main author of the Virginia Plan? Who would this plan benefit?

The Virginia Plan was a working proposal for a new Constitution proposed at the Philadelphia Convention by Virginia delegate Edmund Randolph near the opening of the convention. It was primarily written by James Madison, another representative of Virginia, and it was intended to address many of the perceived problems with the Articles of Confederation, the form of government that the Philadelphia Convention had been convened to replace. It called for a much stronger central government, one that featured a powerful chief executive, a bicameral legislative body, and a "national Judiciary." Members of one branch of the legislature would serve for three years, and the other for seven. Some drafts of the plan called for a multi-person executive, but the one that became the formal proposal included an executive chosen by the legislature, eligible to serve a single term of seven years. Along with the judiciary, the executive would appoint officials to serve on an advisory council. Aside from these structural concerns, the Virginia Plan also included several provisions for amendment, for admitting new states, and established, by implication, that it would be the supreme law of the land, superseding the laws of the states in all cases. In terms of who it benefited, because each state was to be apportioned representatives based on their "quotas of contribution, or to the number of free inhabitants," it would have benefited populous and wealthy states like Virginia, which would have had a very large percentage of the representatives. Their advantage was augmented by the fact that they chose the executive. The Virginia Plan was one of several proposals submitted to the Convention, and the Constitution as ratified contains many of its elements, most notably the bicameral national legislature.
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/vatextc.asp

https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=7

What was the Middle Colonies's economy based on?

The economy of the Middle Colonies was a diverse one. Fertile land and a decently long growing season meant that sufficient crops—such as wheat, oats, and barley—were grown to be exported to the other colonies. This is in contrast to the Southern Colonies (who mostly focused on the production of cash crops) and New England, which practiced subsistence-level farming.
In addition to farming, settlers in the backcountry of the Middle Colonies trapped animals (such as beaver and mink) for their pelts, which were a highly valued commodity for the fashion designers in Europe. A significant amount of timber and iron ore also came from this region.
Perhaps the biggest driver of the economy of the Middle Colonies was the role of its cities as commercial and shipping centers. Large port cities such as New York City, Philidelphia, and Baltimore became trading hubs. Goods from all over the colonies would find their way there for export to England. As these cities grew, more and more artisans and craftsmen took up their trade there, making them important centers of production.

What are some examples of ways in which Crooks was treated as inferior in chapter 4?

Crooks, a black man, is treated as an inferior in many ways. First, he does not sleep in the bunkhouse with the other men but is isolated in a little shed off the barn, as if he is an animal. As further evidence he is treated like an inferior, his "bunk" is a box of straw with blankets thrown over it. A manure pile is kept under his window
Showing that he is segregated against his will, Crooks explains to Lennie that he lives by himself because he isn't wanted in the bunk house. Crooks says the other hands won't play cards with him there because he's black. They also tell him that he stinks.
Finally, when Crooks tells Curley's wife to leave his room, she turns on him in a way she doesn't dare to turn on Candy, knowing she can get away with it with Crooks because he's black. She says to him:

"Well, you keep your place then, Nigger . . . I could get you strung upon a tree so easy it ain’t even funny."

What is the climax of The Hunger Games?

The climax of The Hunger Games is during the would-be double suicide of Katniss and Peeta. Previously, the Gamekeepers had announced that there could be two victors if they were from the same district. Since Katniss and Peeta are both from District 12, they believe they both can live if they are the last two tributes left standing. In reality, the Gamekeepers announced this rule change to get the two to pair off during the competition, leading to a better show for the viewers.
This rule change was a lie. It is later announced that there can only be one victor. Katniss has a stroke of genius at this point: if she and Peeta, two star-crossed lovers, were to commit suicide, the Gamekeepers would be in quite a predicament, as they would have no victor.
She says,

Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers' faces. They'd have failed the Capitol. Might possibly even be executed, slowly and painfully while the cameras broadcast it to every screen in the country.
If Peeta and I were both to die, or they thought we were . . .

This leads to the climax—when Katniss acts as if she is eating the berries, telling Peeta to trust her. The readers are left on tenterhooks, not knowing whether the tributes from District 12 will live or die. At the last minute, the Gamekeepers decide to go back to the rule that allowed two winners, and Katniss and Peeta become the victors, winning the Hunger Games.

The climax of a story is the point in which the conflict is at its peak. The tension is at its highest point, and it is a turning point in the story that moves the narrative from rising actions to falling actions. In The Hunger Games, the climax occurs when Katniss learns that only one tribute can be declared the winner. This means that either Peeta or Katniss must die. Katniss decides that it is better to leave the Gamemakers with no winner rather than Peeta and her fighting to the death. Her plan is to force the Gamemakers to declare them both winners.

We both know they have to have a victor.
Yes, they have to have a victor. Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers' faces.

Katniss announces that she and Peeta will eat the poisonous berries and commit suicide. They go so far as to the put the berries in their mouths. Just as readers fear the worst, an announcement blares across the arena that Katniss and Peeta are both winners.

The berries have just passed my lips when the trumpets begin to blare.
The frantic voice of Claudius Templesmith shouts above them. “Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you—the tributes of District Twelve!”

What is the problem and solution in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

The problem of the story is that Tim must choose which side of the war he's on. He's been avoiding taking sides for as long as possible, but as the war comes home to him and his family, he has to take a stand. Either he's a Patriot or a Loyalist.
And yet Tim's way of resolving this problem is rather novel. Instead of picking sides in the conflict, he resolves to be a pacifist. Disgusted at the behavior of both Loyalists and Patriots alike, he figures that the best course of action, indeed the only truly moral course of action, is to be hostile to the war. Among other things, this means that Tim gains a much broader perspective on things. Because of his anti-war stance, he's better able to see the fundamental humanity that unites both sides in this increasingly bitter, bloody conflict.

Krakauer asks: "if Ron Lafferty were deemed mentally ill because he obeyed the voice of God, isn't everyone who believes in God and seeks guidance through prayer mentally ill as well?" [p. 297] Given the nature of, and motive for, the murders of Brenda Lafferty and her child, should Ron Lafferty be considered mentally ill? If so, should all others who "talk to God" or receive revelations—a central tenant of Mormonism—also be considered mentally ill? What would the legal ramifications be of such a shift in thought? Any thoughts on this?

Ron Lafferty's total willingness to violate secular laws to fulfill what he believed to be the will of God sits at the heart of a major dilemma presented by Under the Banner of Heaven. And while it is presented here within the context of Mormonism, it is not unique to that religion.
In general, modern society has accepted the notion that speaking to God is normal, while God speaking to you is abnormal.
The question here has less to do with the classification of mental illness and more to do with the state's responsibility to restrain crime. In other words, a person who claimed to hear the voice of God may be mentally ill, however, mental illness is not itself a crime. In the Lafferty case, the evocation of God's voice inspired an act of malum in se ("evil because it is"). These are acts such as murder and rape that are inherently unlawful because of a societal belief that they have transgressed a higher order, such as a heavenly commandment. They can be contrasted to acts of malum prohibitum ("evil because it is prohibited"); those acts which are wrong simply because man has deemed them to be—crimes such as poaching and espionage.
Because society has determined that God has outlawed acts of evil, a person who has heard God command him to do evil must be, by matter of course, deluded. Therefore, there is no reason for the legal system to be too concerned about others claiming to receive revelations unless they receive revelations that are demonstrably false. An order to commit malum in se is demonstrably false because "it is" inherently evil.
The second part of the question asks what the ramifications would be if the law began to classify all persons who heard the voice of God as mentally ill. In general, there would be little ramification to such a classification because, as previously mentioned, mental illness is not itself a crime. The Lanterman–Petris–Short Act, and similar legislation inspired by it, generally restrains the state from interfering in the lives of the mentally ill against their wishes.

Which American Puritans objected to slavery?

The Puritans, though lacking a major cash crop, did not object to slavery. Those that did object to the practice may not have objected on moral grounds, but rather that slavery made a person less industrious, as one could always count on the slave to do the job. Some New England residents had slaves. Some of the more prosperous ones had slaves to do the housework or to attend to chores in the field. Most Puritans, however, had enough children and extended family to ensure that the work on the farm was carried out.
Puritans were also closely tied to the Triangle Trade; one key leg of this triangle was slaves from Africa. The African slaves were needed to work sugar plantations in the Caribbean. While profitable, the abysmal conditions on the plantations killed many slaves. The sugar was then converted into rum and used as a commodity in Europe and the New World. New England Puritans often worked to create ships in order to make this trade work.
New England would drop its reliance on the slave trade around the time of the American Revolution, but it would continue to make its profit from the slave trade until the Civil War, as the Northern textile industry would not be possible if not for Southern slavery. The abolition movement would not gain momentum until the early 1800s when New England would become the center of the movement.

What would Fred write in a letter to Scrooge telling him to join in the Christmas spirit?

Fred is Scrooge's nephew. His mother, who is deceased, was Scrooge's sister. Family is important to Fred, who has a wife and children. They have a sumptuous family Christmas every year and always invite the uncle. Fred wants to include him in the family celebration, apparently for his mother's sake.
Fred acknowledges but can't really hold Scrooge's rudeness against him. Calling his rather unpleasant uncle "a comical old fellow" who is apparently suffering in some way for past misdeeds, Fred feels sorry for him but still tells his wife, "I couldn't be angry with him if I tried."
The story shows Scrooge's change over several days. Fred thinks his words and repeated invitations have had an effect on him, unaware that he is tormented by ghosts and coming to terms with this haunting.
We also learn that Scrooge routinely declines their invitations, and "rails at Christmas," yet Fred keeps inviting him.
Given all this information, it seems like Fred might need to change his approach. Since he knows his uncle dislikes Christmas--or at least says he does--how could Fred appeal to his uncle?
Maybe including other family members in the process would remind Scrooge of the importsnce of family. Perhaps Scrooge would respond better to an invite direct from the children, if we believe he was once close to his own sister. Or he could offer to feature his uncle's favourite dish on the menu.

In the BC era, how did different cities use architecture and urban planning to make their lives easier? What did these spaces have in common? Were there outliers that seemed super different from other cities?

The architecture of the ancient world often reflected the immediate practical needs facing a given people and could exhibit variability both with the architecture of other civilizations and even internally across space and time. For example, in the Bronze Age, the two civilizations who are said to have given rise to the city-states of the Greek world were the Minoans (circa 3000 BCE–1450 BCE) and the Myceneans (circa 1450 BCE–1100 BCE). Though these people spoke a similar language and were culturally related, their architecture was completely different from one another.
The Minoan capital of Knossos was a palace-centered polity, meaning that all activity in the city, from commerce and trade to political elections to entertainment, took place in a centrally-located palace complex. The Minoans, isolated as they were on the island of Crete and in no immediate danger of foreign invasion, dispensed with the need for strong fortification, and one of the most striking features of the palace at Knossos was its lack of walls. Instead, Minoan architects devoted themselves to embellishing the palace walls with ornate frescos of Minoan games and religious icons. Furthermore, Minoan weaponry was almost always ceremonial and was typically used to decorate the chambers of the palace complex.
The Mycenean architecture was of a different composition. A war-like people, the Myceneans, in contrast to the Minoans, felt the need to heavily secure their cities with high walls and thick, bronze gates. The most famous of these walls, located at the Mycenean capital of Mycenae on the Greek mainland, were famously called the “Cyclopean Walls” because they were reported to be as tall as the mythical Greek Cyclops. Furthermore, a second inner set of walls, which were themselves enclosed within the Cyclopean walls, defended the Mycenean throne room. The need for such extensive fortification reflected the militant milieu that the Myceneans found themselves in, open as they were to invasion both from the sea and from Asiatic barbarians on the mainland.
In both the Minoan and Mycenean case, the architecture is a good reflection of the way of life and the immediate needs of the community.

Which country put a satellite into space with a mannequin and a dog?

In November, 1957, Russia launched the Sputnik 2, carrying both a dog named Laika and a mannequin in order to learn more about how travelling into space and orbiting Earth would affect human passengers.
Sadly, Russian scientists knew that Laika would not be returning to Earth, as the Sputnik 2 was not designed to reenter the Earth's atmosphere safely. Originally, Russian scientists reported that Laika died a peaceful death up to a week later following the depletion of oxygen and/or after batteries failed, but there were mixed reports over time. Later it became clear that the cabin overheated within the first 4–5 hours, and Laila died from stress and overheating much earlier than the original reports.
Laika proved that an animal could survive a trip into space but that much work still had to be done on the environmental controls inside the cabin to sustain life.

What is the message John Donne passes to his reader in "Go and Catch a Falling Star"?

In John Donne's song "Go and Catch a Falling Star" the speaker demands many impossible things of the reader. The reader is told to "catch a falling star," bring the past back to the present, and "things invisible see." The last impossible instruction is to find a woman who is both "true and fair."
Donne's speaker's message here becomes clear: it is impossible for a beautiful woman to be faithful. The speaker even entertains the possibility of this impossibility. He warns the reader that even if such a woman was found, by the time the speaker would walk "next door" to meet her, she would have already been unfaithful "to two, or three" other men.
The message, although misogynist and sexist to a more current reader, can still be considered positive in a way. The poem suggests that all its impossibilities are, in fact, possible if one works hard enough. The speaker does not advise the reader against such impossible things, but instead demands that the reader achieves them. The final message can be summarized as the following: although I do not believe a beautiful woman could ever be faithful, I encourage you to search far and wide until you find a woman who can prove me wrong.

Find three pairs of numbers for which the least common multiple equals the product of the two numbers.

We are asked to find three examples of pairs of numbers whose least common multiple is the product of the two numbers.
For any pair of positive integers that have a greatest common factor of 1, the least common multiple will be the product of the two numbers.
If gcd(a,b)=1 then lcm(a,b)=ab
Ex: The least common multiple of (2,3) is 6. Multiples of 2 are 2,4,6,8,... while multiples of 3 are 3,6,9,... and it can be seen that the least common multiple is 6.
Ex: (3,5) the least common multiple is 15.
Ex: (5,11) The least common multiple is 55.
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/LeastCommonMultiple.html

What can be decisive for how people treat each other based on their religion and view of life, and the perception of other people's religions and views of life?

Religion has been a source of conflict throughout human history, especially since the rise of the Abrahamic religions (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism). These conflicts range from struggles among these religions, such as the Jewish Wars in the first century (CE) and the Crusades (in the 11th–13th century), and they also include infighting between Christian and Catholic groups (such as the Thirty Years’ War).

That said, religion is often blamed for violence that is political or cultural in nature. Additionally, when religions have practices that are controversial in the context of human rights (such as jihad, or “holy war,” which is stipulated as one of the commandments of Islam), it attracts the attention of populations representing other religions. These more controversial matters included in sharia (Islam’s code of religious laws) have to do with women’s rights especially (such as their victimization of domestic violence, and their ability to inherit property, as outlined by sharia).

Many religions have adapted to meet the standards of human rights, as well as the modern condition of women and homosexuals, among other things. Islam is not the only religion whose holy texts allude to practices that are inhumane by modern standards, but it is these practices that are the source of much criticism from those outside of a given religion.

What are the disadvantages of working on Wall Street?

Though the financial rewards can be astronomical, working on Wall St has more than its fair share of disadvantages. For one thing, most jobs in the world's financial center are highly pressurized, which is not surprising given the vast sums of money involved. Wall Street may seem like a very glamorous place to work, but in actual fact just about everyone who works there has to put in incredibly long hours—placing an enormous strain on their personal health and on their family life.
For women working on Wall Street it's even tougher. The finance sector has always been notorious for having a macho working culture in which women are routinely marginalized, underpaid, or subjected to all kinds of sexual harassment. Despite some progress in recent years, Wall Street companies remain inadequate with regards to providing their female employees with an appropriate work-life balance.
For instance, taking time off work to have children is often frowned upon in this sector, with many women feeling that they are treated unfairly if they express a desire to raise a family. Even when women have been given paid maternity leave, they've often found, upon returning to work, that they've been demoted in their absence.
Wall Street also has a pretty lamentable record when it comes to dealing with racism. People of color are massively under-represented, and the relative few who do manage to find work on Wall Street often find themselves subjected to blatant racial discrimination and harassment, not to mention encountering similar problems to those of their female colleagues, such as the lack of opportunities for promotion.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/women-say-rigged-system-allows-wall-street-to-hide-sexual-harassment-problem

How did John reward Black Beauty for saving him?

John takes care of Black Beauty that night by drying him, putting on his blanket, and feeding him a good dinner before bed.
When Black Beauty reaches the bridge, he can tell something is wrong. He refuses to continue forward and possibly put himself, John, and Mr. Gordon in danger. John urges him on but Beauty stays still and won't go forward. At the last moment, a man rushes out and warns them that the bridge is broken. If they'd gone forward, they'd have fallen into the stream.
When they get home, John takes care of Beauty. He dries him and gives him his blue blanket. After dinner, Beauty is able to sleep. Unfortunately, Beauty is eventually sold away by the Gordons and doesn't see John again for the rest of the novel.

In I Am Malala, Malala describes an incident where, one night, Malala's father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, is named on the radio program for violating the Taliban's rules. Ziauddin discussed how the beautiful face of Islam was being destroyed by the Taliban and how he will not back down to them. Describe the role Malala's father played and continues to play in her life. Ziauddin blames himself for why Malala ended up getting shot. Was he right to encourage his daughter to publicly speak out against the Taliban? Defend your answer.

Malala's father has been her role model throughout her life. Ziauddin raised Malala to be passionate about learning and encouraged her to fight for women's rights to education in order to establish equality in Pakistan. Ziauddin provided crucial media connections that allowed his daughter to garner attention on a national scale. Eventually, the Taliban's threats to his life contributed to Malala being shot for her activism.
Your question as to the rightness of Ziauddin's encouragement can be approached in different ways. On a moral level, it was certainly right for Malala to advocate for her right and the right of all women to education. There is no question as to the good Malala's activism has achieved, which lead to her receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. By extension, it was morally right for Ziauddin to encourage Malala's activism.
Was it then right, in a practical sense, for Ziauddin as a parent to encourage his 15-year-old daughter to stand up to the Taliban? After all, parents are responsible for keeping their children safe. In his memoir, Let Her Fly: A Father's Journey, Ziauddin discusses the Taliban's threats against him and his concern that he would be shot in front of his family. While he taught his daughter to exercise caution, he believed that any violence would be directed at him.
Knowing the result of Malala's shooting, her eventual recovery and continued activism influences the approach to this question. Had Malala been killed as a result of the shooting, Ziauddin would carry a much greater burden of guilt.

Why was Elia Kazan's testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) self-serving?

Critically-acclaimed and commercially-successful director, Elia Kazan, was a member of the New York City chapter of the American Communist Party. He was also a member of the Group Theatre, a theater collective in New York City, and many of its core members were also part of the American Communist Party. During the investigative period of the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952, Kazan was called to testify against members of the American Community Party, particularly to reveal the identities of members.
Kazan would later refer to his cooperation as a "friendly witness." This is the first evidence that Kazan was not forced to give up the names of his friends and colleagues in the American Communist Party and Group Theatre. Kazan would also later state in his memoir that he was resentful over a dispute with his colleagues at the American Communist Party. He claimed that he was put to trial within the Party for an offense, and this made him embittered. This, Kazan claimed, was one of the motivations for his decision to betray friends and colleagues.
Although, as he expressed later on in life, Kazan thought of self-preservation (in terms of evading possible jail terms or oppression from the United States government) at the time of his testimony.
It could also be speculated that Kazan was trying to preserve his successful career. Although Kazan's testimony would alienate himself from numerous film industry colleagues and former-friends, the controversy did not greatly affect his career. Three years after his testimony, he released one of his most successful films, East of Eden, starring James Dean.

When Parris compares Rebecca and Proctor to other people from Andover, how do these lines mark a change in the play's focus on the crime of witchcraft to the other crimes or claims of innocence?

For the majority of the play, the primary focus has been on witchcraft and the girls' accusations, which lead to numerous arrests, including those of Elizabeth, Rebecca, Martha, and John Proctor. In act four, John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse have not yet confessed to witchcraft and are about to be publicly hanged. When Reverend Parris mentions that there has been a rebellion in Andover, where the court has been thrown out, the focus of the play shifts to John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse's innocence, their decision to confess, and the outcome of their public execution.
For the majority of the play, the court has been intimidating and accusing innocent civilians of witchcraft with impunity. The outcome of the Andover court shifts the focus to Salem's corrupt court, which is now threatened. The court officials realize that John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse are revered throughout Salem's community and their executions could incite a riot. Therefore, the court and its officials stand trial as their crimes threaten to be exposed by John and Rebecca, who eventually choose to die as martyrs in order to disband the corrupt court. While the court officials' crimes come to the forefront in act four, John and Rebecca's innocence is emphasized.

What is the significance of the clementine cake ?

There is no mention of a clementine cake in the short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Away from his fantasies he goes to the shop to just buy dog biscuits.
However, a clementine cake is an important motif in the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. His sister Odessa first gives it to him at work at the beginning of the film, saying "Happy birthday . . . Mum made you your favorite clementine cake." He doesn't look very impressed with it and the cake seems to work as a reminder of a boring reality that leaves him unable to express who he really is. When his new boss wakes him up from a fantasy, by flicking a paper clip up at him, the first thing he does is pick up the cake.
Later on in the film, the photojournalist Sean O'Connell leaves instructions on how to find him wrapped around a slice of clementine cake. First it signifies that despite all the craziness, he is still living in reality, and second, it signifies that, as it is only a slice, his boring life is becoming a thing of the past.

How long did Jo have to wait for the final outcome of her venture in Little Women?

Jo's venture is writing a sensational, melodramatic short story to try to win a $100 prize from a newspaper. It takes her six weeks to find out that she has indeed won the prize.
Jo hears about the contest when she goes with a friend, Miss Crocker, to a lecture on ancient Egypt. She meets a boy there who is enthralled with a melodramatic story he is reading. Jo reads it, learns it was written by a woman, and thinks she could do better. That's when she decides to enter the contest.
It's significant that Jo discovers a woman wrote the story, because this helps encourage her to think she can do the same. Her success with winning the contest (although her father denigrates it, telling her she could do better) encourages her to think she could write a sensationalistic novel and, in general, help support her family with her writing.

Is Butler's Patternist series a prelude to her Xenogenesis series?

The short answer to your query is no.
Octavia Butler rose to fame as a science fiction author with the publication of her five-novel Patternist series from 1971 to 1984. Interestingly, the five novels of the series were published out of chronological order, and Butler later recommended an alternate reading order.
Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy was released in three installments from 1984 to 1989. Although all three Xenogenesis novels were published after Butler's Patternist books, they do not share characters, plots, or settings. However, they do share some similarities that are worth discussing.
Both series explore the relationship between humans and alien races. In the plot of each series, humanity loses its dominance over Earth and is forced to share the planet with powerful extraterrestrials. Both the Xenogenesis and Patternist series examine questions of how humanity would change if interbred with aliens and the social and political tensions that would arise from this altered genetic state. Butler uses these situations to explore themes of gender and race throughout these two stories.

Discuss the themes of mortality and immortality.

The theme of death often juxtaposes the theme of mortality and immortality. The poetic speaker faces her mortality by accepting the pull of death "into the silent land." She seeks to imbue herself with a kind of immortality by requesting that her beloved remember her after she enters "into the silent land," after she enters into death.
Here, the idea of the frailty of human intention enters in as she recognizes--not with rancor or bitterness, only with compassionate resignation--that life will override human intention and produce short intervals of forgetfulness, "for a while."
She attempts to forestall the added grief he will feel because of forgetting--thus rendering her continually mortal--by telling him that another will continue to remember her without interruption. This other that will remember her is the remnant of her thoughts that are left behind in her poems and that, by always remembering her to her readers, will imbue her with the constant immortality she seeks.
This theme represents a standard convention used by poets, including Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare, who attest that their words, their poems, give them immortality as well as give immortality to the subjects of their poems.

Yet if you should forget me for a while 9 And afterwards remember, do not grieve: 10 For if the darkness and corruption leave 11 A vestige of the thoughts that once I had, 12Better by far you should forget and smile 13 Than that you should remember and be sad. 14

The original twist that Rossetti gives to this standard poetic convention is that beyond her words (the "vestige of the thoughts [she] once had") giving immortality because they exist eternally, as Spenser and Shakespeare both attest, Rossetti imparts to "the vestige" of her thoughts--to her words--the power of remembrance. This theme of mortality and immortality, then, is integral to the paradoxical resolution that frees her beloved from the task of always remembering--thus providing a form of immortality--by declaring that her words remember, thus give her continuing immortality.

For this assignment, consider the following illusions: the Muller-Lyer illusion, reversible images, impossible objects, and illusory borders of brightness contrast. What is the illusion and what aspects of perception are involved in creating that illusion?

The Muller-Lyer illusion is an optical illusion created by Franz Carl Muller-Lyer in 1889. With this illusion, two or more lines are shown, with a fin on the ends of each line. One line has inward-facing fins (like an arrowhead) and the other has outward-facing fins (like the tail of an arrow). The lines with outward-facing fins appear to be longer than the lines with inward-facing fins, though they are actually the same length.
The image attached is a well-known example of the Muller-Lyer illusion. As you can see, each line is the same length, although we perceive them to be different lengths.
There are a few theories to explain how this illusion works:
Psychologist Richard Gregory believes the illusion is due to a misperception regarding size constancy. Size constancy is what allows us to understand how large or small an object is, even at different distances. Gregory suggests that when our minds try to use the size constancy principle on two-dimensional objects, errors sometimes occur.
Some believe depth perception explains the illusion. This explanation states that we perceive the depths of the two shafts differently: we perceive the inward-facing fins as farther away (and therefore smaller) and the outward-facing shafts as closer (and therefore longer).
Another explanation is that we perceive the line with outward-facing fins as longer because the overall figure is longer. Even though the line itself is the same length, the figure with outward-facing fins is longer overall. This causes us to perceive the line as being longer.
https://www.verywellmind.com/how-the-muller-lyer-illusion-works-4111110

How does Bradford view the Puritans in relationship to the wilderness?

In the passage of History of Plymouth Plantation where he describes the Pilgrims' arrival in North America, Bradford memorably describes the wilderness as "hideous and desolate...full of wild beasts and wild men." Aside from his Eurocentric characterization of Native Americans, this passage is revealing. To Bradford, the land the Pilgrims planned to settle was wild and dangerous--hostile, even. He portrays the Atlantic Ocean in similar ways. This is consistent with Bradford's overall purpose and vision for the History and for the settlement it describes. By highlighting the "wild and savage" nature of the landscape, he emphasizes the scale of the Pilgrims' accomplishments in surviving and, in their view, bringing order to it. But Bradford's main emphasis is to illustrate the workings of God in the world, and his role in preserving the lives of the settlers. As he puts it:

What could now sustain them but the Spirit of God and His grace? May not and ought not the children of these fathers rightly say: "Our fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard their voice and looked on their adversity.

The survival of the Pilgrims' settlement was for Bradford part of a providential design. The wilderness was hostile and dangerous, and, like all the challenges they faced, only with divine help could they conquer it.
http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/bradford.html

To what extent does a character's obsession lead to his/her success or failure in Macbeth and The Great Gatsby? How do I form a solid thesis and find good points to write this essay?

You might want to compare and contrast the title characters in both Macbeth and The Great Gatsby. You could say in a thesis that both Macbeth and Gatsby are brought to destruction (failure) by their obsessions, but that while Macbeth's obsession with power at all costs robs him of his humanity, Gatsby's obsession with Daisy elevates him to a level above the average person, and makes him more, not less, humane.
You would first want to find evidence in the texts that the two characters' obsessions lead them to failure and destruction. This is fairly easy, as they both end up dead. Gatsby does not obtain the object of his obsession, Daisy, who choses to go back to Tom. Then Gatsby is murdered by George Wilson, who thinks Gatsby heartlessly ran over Myrtle, even though he did not. If Gatsby had not been in love with Daisy, he would not have been in the car with her when she killed Myrtle and thus would not himself have been killed.
Likewise, Macbeth's murderous path is the result of his obsession. In his case it is his ambition that does him in. His seizure of the throne through killing Duncan leads to his defeat in battle and his death. He does not reign long, and his reign is a miserable failure because he becomes a tyrant.
Macbeth starts off with a conscience and debates whether to kill Duncan, a good king. You can find quotes about him wanting to back out of the idea of murdering a good ruler early in the play. But by the end, such as in his final soliloquy, he is hardened. You could find a quote from the end that shows his disillusionment and despair (look at his "tomorrow and tomorrow" soliloquy). Getting the throne has left him miserable.
You can show Gatsby having reached heights of grandeur through what Nick has to say. Nick admires Gatsby very much. You can find quotes on what makes Gatsby rise above the pack in chapter one and at the very end of the novel.
I hope this helps. Obviously, these are only suggestions, and you might want to go in a very different direction. Just make sure that you back up your arguments with quotes from the texts!

How do you write an opening and closing paragraph for an essay comparing Macbeth and Richard Nixon in leading themselves to their downfall?

Firstly, you need to decide what the central points of comparison between Macbeth and Nixon are. While you will go into depth in the body of your essay, you need to give your audience a snapshot of what you plan on saying later—and all of that goes in the opening paragraph.
In the opening paragraph for this particular assignment, you might want to begin with the theme of the ambition and unscrupulousness of politicians being a constant theme in both literature and history. This would show how real life and art often intersect, which would be a good segue into comparing Macbeth and Nixon. Briefly outline the similarities (or even differences) between them, but try not to make your introduction too long: 5–7 sentences usually does the trick.
And of course, you'll need a thesis statement at the end of your opening. A thesis statement is a single sentence which sums up your basic argument. Make sure it's not too broad ("Macbeth and Nixon are very similar as politicians because both were responsible for their downfalls"); try to be as specific as possible by pointing out, perhaps, shared qualities that lead to their downfall or perhaps how different elements lead to them having similar downfalls.
Nailing the closing paragraph can be a bit tricky. Unlike what some will tell you, do NOT just reword your opening and slap it onto the end of your essay. Think instead of the closing as the last chance to emphasize your points to the reader. For this particular assignment, perhaps you could say that Macbeth remains relevant because even into the modern era, we continue to see corrupt political practices.
And most importantly regarding conclusions: do not bring up any new points or arguments there. The conclusion is where you wind things down. If you come up with any new insights while writing your essay, then give those insights a body paragraph. They do not belong in the ending paragraph.

Why didn’t Marshall yell?

April's supposed to be babysitting Marshall while doing her homework. But before she can begin, she realizes that she's forgotten her math book; she left it back in Egypt, so she has no choice but to go get it. She wants to go by herself, but Marshall's having none of it: he wants to come with her. Reluctantly, April allows Marshall to tag along on her mini-excursion to the Professor's storage yard.
As April and Marshall are about to enter the yard, April's suddenly grabbed from behind by a big man. As we can imagine, April's absolutely terrified, but she can't scream because the man has his hand over her mouth. As for Marshall, he can't scream either. As he tells April later on, he couldn't yell because his throat was stuck. Thank goodness the Professor was watching all this happening and was able to call for help. Otherwise, April and Marshall would've been in real danger that night.

Werther and Victor both behave in ways that appear self-destructive. What causes them to behave in this way?

Werther, the protagonist of Goethe's epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, and Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist of Shelley's Frankenstein, share similar personality characteristics. For example, they are both intensely passionate and self-obsessed, qualities that lead to their self-destructive ways.
Though Werther's passion is directed toward a love object, Lotte, and Victor's passion is directed toward his ambition to create life, the two men behave similarly. Before Werther and Victor become obsessed—one with a woman and the other with his work—both men seek isolation. In this state of isolation, with no one to check their emotions and behaviors, they find their self-destructive tendencies strengthening.
When Werther meets Lotte and discovers that she is unattainable, he reacts to his predicament in a manner similar to Victor's reaction to the challenges of creating his creature. Neither man is able to calm himself and hear reason, so they both succumb to their intense emotions. Werther and Victor both experience a sense of torment, thanks to their sensitive personalities.
Werther demonstrates his self-destructive tendencies most dramatically when he kills himself, while Victor Frankenstein's self-destructiveness manifests in his ambition and single-mindedness in pursuit of his creature's birth and then its death. Though Werther and Victor lead vastly different lives, their self-destructiveness comes from the same source: themselves.

What was Corrie's father's overall importance to the story?

Corrie's father functions as an important background figure in the story she tells. He instilled in Corrie her religious beliefs and her love of God. He tried overall to provide Corrie with firm but loving guidance, never giving her more responsibility than she could handle. In this way, he meant to imitate God's loving care and so help his daughter trust in the divine.
Corrie's father never thought twice about giving aid to the Jews during World War II. He saw all people as children of God, fully worthy of love. Like her father, Corrie jumped wholeheartedly into helping Jews escape the Nazis. We could say it was her father's influence that led to her arrest and incarceration in a concentration camp. Like him, she was willing to take grave personal risks to assist others in surviving. In the camp, the religious faith her father had instilled in her helped sustain her, and she was able to spread it to people she met there through Bible studies.

Not everyone who practices psychology is in agreement that Evidence-Based Practices are always the best options. Step 1. Back to the research journals! Find at least two articles that talk about the pros and cons of using evidence-based practices. Present a summary of your findings in the research in your discussion post that addresses the pros (at least one) and the cons (at least one) on this matter. Step 2. What are your opinions on this topic? Do you think all clinicians should be limited to evidence-based practices? Why or why not? Step 3. Cite your sources in APA format.

While I can't answer your assignment question/s for you, in this response I'll try to provide you with some tips and suggestions to assist you in researching and preparing your own discussion post.
Human beings are complex creatures, so it is understandable that not all psychological interventions will have the same impact on those receiving treatment. This doesn't mean, however, that there aren't a range of good reasons why evidence-based practices have come to be highly valued in the world of modern psychology.
Before you start your research, you might like to prepare a simple list on paper or on a computer where you can enter the pros (on one side of the list) and the cons (on the other side of the list) of evidence-based practices as you read through your selected articles. This will help you to keep your notes clear and organized, which will likely be useful when it comes time to create your discussion post.
Now I will briefly touch on one example of the benefits of evidence-based practice. (Note: this is not an example derived from a journal article, as requested in your initial question.) In a piece published in the OCD Newsletter (Spring, 2019), Dean McKay, PhD, Jonathan Abramowitz, PhD, and Eric Storch, PhD, wrote about instances where the use of therapeutic approaches that were not evidence-based caused clients' OCD symptoms to worsen.
https://iocdf.org/expert-opinions/ineffective-and-potentially-harmful-psychological-interventions-for-obsessive-compulsive-disorder/

https://journals.sagepub.com/action/cookieAbsent

In the context of psychology, it is logical that there is not a one-process-fits-all approach to evidence-based practice. Psychology consists of a vast number of fields: behavioral disorders, cultures, child and adolescent development, abnormal brain patterns, and so on. Psychology consists of both quantitative and qualitative measures, and approaches to diagnosis differ between clinical practices and research contexts.
I cannot provide points on every field of psychology related to evidence-based practice, but here are a few to get you started. Evidence-based practice in psychology (EBPP) has become an important process in healthcare systems and healthcare policy. EBPP is crucial to pharmacological treatment and research pertaining to emerging and experimental drug therapy. On the other hand, issues can arise with EBPP. For instance, studies pertaining to immigrants may be biased toward some cultural and ethnic groups rather than others. Additionally, immigrant social contexts can be vastly different across different urban and rural areas, which may not apply to others.
Some particularly helpful and authoritative sources you can refer to are the following: the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information), Psychology Today, the American Psychological Association, and Psych Central. There are also a vast number of academic journals and publications that can be accessed through Google Scholar.

Is Hassan in The Kite Runner more like Maryam or Tariq in A Thousand Splendid Suns?

Hassan from The Kite Runner can be most easily likened to Mariam from A Thousand Splendid Suns. Hassan is driven by an innate selflessness and love of life. Rejected even by his mother because of his cleft lip, Hassan flourishes despite a negative public opinion. We see this many times as Amir, his big brother, repeatedly antagonizes and betrays him, only to receive kindness and forgiveness in return. This happens not only in adulthood—for example, when Amir kicks Hassan out of the house—but even in the most formative of moments, such as when Hassan forgives Amir for pelting him with pomegranates and declines the implicit invitation to retaliate.
Like Hassan, Mariam is a hero and outsider, going through a litany of trials of increasing difficulty in order to claim an identity and destiny. She, too, is a marginalized figure, not for her deformity, but for her status as a woman in an Afghan society that denies women many basic rights and opportunities. Her characterization comes to its total fruition when she kills her abusive husband, Rasheed, and secures Laila and her family's safety in Afghanistan. One significant difference between the two is that Hassan seems to have a solid and virtuous value system from the beginning, while Mariam's values seem to be acquired through hard work, rather than anything intrinsic.
In contrast, Tariq is characterized as a social conformer and insider, other than the matter of his disability: a leg crippled by an early bout of polio. Tariq is portrayed as beautiful and well-socialized, winning the admiration of the women around him somewhat effortlessly. He does not go through the epic process of suffering that the other two characters find themselves immersed in without consent.

Although Hassan has similarities to both characters, the social status he was born into makes him most similar to Mariam. In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam is born the illegitimate child of a businessman, Jalil, and his housekeeper, Nana, which automatically makes her stigmatized by society and even looked down upon by her own mother. Although her father has nine legitimate children with his three wives, he agrees to support Mariam and her mother and even visits his daughter on Thursdays. However, when her mother hangs herself because she is worried her daughter will leave her, Mariam is sent to live with her father, but he promptly marries her off to a wealthy shoemaker named Rasheed. Due to Mariam's low social status as an illegitimate daughter, she has no choice in her fate and is treated more like a servant than a wife by her abusive husband.
This upbringing is very similar to Hassan's in The Kite Runner. Like Mariam, Hassan is automatically born with a lower social status because he is a Hazara, or Shia Muslim, when the people in power in Afghanistan are Sunni Muslims. Ironically (and unbeknownst to him), he is actually the illegitimate son of a wealthy Shia businessman, Baba, who is also the father of the narrator, Amir. Hassan is brought up by Baba's adopted brother, Ali, who is a Shia Muslim, and therefore he and his son are servants to Baba and Amir. Amir and Hassan grow up together as best friends, but Hassan will never be on the same level as Amir because of his social status. Though he is very intelligent, he does not get the same privileges as Amir, such as going to school and learning to read. Despite this inequality, Hassan seems satisfied with his life and wholly devoted and loyal to Amir.
In the end, both characters, despite their disadvantaged lives, are good people and loyal friends to characters who have more privilege than them. After Rasheed marries a younger wife, Laila, who is from a wealthy family, Mariam is at first very jealous, and the two women fight and compete. However, when Laila defends her from Rasheed, they become close friends and work together to protect themselves and Laila's children from him. In fact, Mariam is such a loyal friend that she kills him in defense of Laila, knowing full well the consequences. Similarly selfless, Hassan willingly sacrifices himself to the bully to get the trophy kite for his best friend.

Both The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns deal with serious issues of identity and morality against the political backdrop of Afghanistan. In The Kite Runner, Hassan is an obvious example of a kind character, almost to a fault. In fact, Amir, the main character of the story, is jealous of Hassan's goodness in the novel. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam is the first wife of the shoemaker Rasheed. While she tries to please him and remain a faithful wife, she is never successful in the eyes of her husband. Tariq is also a key character in A Thousand Splendid Suns. He is best friends with Laila, Rasheed's second wife, as they grow up. Eventually, Tariq and Laila discover a deeper love than friendship the night before Tariq leaves for Pakistan. When Laila finds that she is pregnant, she marries Rasheed. The two end up reuniting at the end of the story.
When making comparisons between characters, it is always important to remember that no two well-developed characters are exactly alike. Therefore, while there might be several elements that connect back to another character, there are always several places at which the two differ. However, when examining Hassan from The Kite Runner and Mariam and Tariq from A Thousand Splendid Suns, the best comparison in the novels appears to be Hassan and Mariam for several reasons.
A first, but important note, is that Mariam is a more central character in the novel than Tariq, so there is more information when comparing her to Hassan than Tariq to Hassan. One of the comparisons between Mariam and Hassan is that both characters suffer heavy abuse in the novels. Hassan, being from a low class of society, is treated as such by all those around him, including Amir, at times. He also experiences sexual molestation by some boys in the village. Mariam also experiences a lot of discrimination as she grows up because she is the bastard child of an important man in the city, Jalil. Once she is finally married off, she is abused by her husband for many years. Both characters are also self-sacrificing to the point of great suffering on their part. Hassan protects Amir from bullies with his slingshot when they are children. Then, when Amir puts things under Hassan's pillow and says that Hassan stole them, Hassan does not stand up for himself, but rather assents to Amir's accusations. Likewise, Mariam protects Laila multiple times in the story and finally tells Laila and her child to escape with Tariq and takes the punishment for Rasheed's death, so that Laila can be truly free. Another strong, and perhaps the strongest, comparison between Hassan and Mariam is that neither of them has a "happy ending." Hassan is shot by the Taliban, while Mariam, after she kills Rasheed when she sees him strangling Laila, is arrested by the Taliban and stoned. It is the finality of their deaths that fully demonstrates the sacrificing nature of these characters and is the final uniting force between these two fascinating and tragic people.

Why couldn't Spain hold on to its colonies in America?

There are several reasons why Spain was unable to hold onto most of its colonies in America in the early nineteenth century.
One key reason for Spain's loss of colonies was its occupation under Napoleon. Napoleon's troops occupied the country for many years, and the nation was the scene of the Peninsular War (1808-1814). Although French troops were finally ejected, the country was badly weakened.
A second reason for Spain's difficulties was the powerful example set by the United States in the late eighteenth century. The US had fought and won a war of independence from Britain. This inspired people in Latin America to do the same.
The final reason for Spain's loss of its colonies was its defeat at the hands of rebel forces. After years of battles throughout the vast regions that comprised Spain's colonies, the rebels remained unconquered. By 1820, there was a rebellion in Spain itself, and the American colonies—except for Cuba—achieved independence.

Compare the ways the writers' present experiences of different types of difficult situations influence the poems "Half-Past Two" and "War Photographer," with references to language, form, and structure.

"Half-Past Two," by U. A. Fanthorpe, describes the confused, disoriented perspective of a young child kept behind after school for "Something Very Wrong" that he did. The language is childlike and playful. For example, words often run together ("Timeformykisstime . . . onceupona") to mimic the uncertain syntax of a child still learning to speak. The language thus lends an authenticity to the child's perspective that Fanthorpe has chosen to write from.
Structurally, the stanzas in "Half-Past Two" are all tercets and thus rather short, reflecting perhaps the child's inability to form any coherent, sustained understanding of the situation. In the poem, time serves as a symbol for the seemingly arbitrary rules of the adult world, and the child is disoriented because he doesn't quite understand "half-past two."
In Carol Ann Duffy's "War Photographer," the speaker feels disconsolate and frustrated because people have become desensitized to and thus uninterested in the pictures he risks his life to bring home from war-zones.
Whereas the child in "Half-Past Two" is confused because he doesn't understand the adult world, the speaker in "War Photographer" is disconsolate because the adult world has become desensitized to its own horrors. Furthermore, while the language in "Half-Past Two" is childlike and playful, the language in "War Photographer" is dark, haunting, and violent. The speaker recalls "running children in a nightmare heat" and "half-formed ghost[s]." He recalls "blood stained into foreign dust" and "A hundred agonies in black and white."
Structurally, the rhyme scheme of "War Photographer" is irregular, perhaps echoing the unease of the speaker. The stanzas (each one a sestet) are longer than the stanzas in "Half-Past Two," suggesting that the agonies of the speaker are perhaps more enduring than the confusion of the child in "Half-Past Two" is.

Why does the boss say that the fly is plucky?

Merriam-Webster defines "plucky" as spirited and/or brave. A plucky individual, then, is someone who shows courage and determination in the face of difficulties. The boss sees the fly as plucky because the fly's efforts to clean itself off and survive are unceasing. The boss first notices that the fly has fallen into the ink pot, and the boss rescues the fly. He then watches how the fly begins the laborious task of cleaning itself. Just as the task is nearing completion, the boss decides to begin torturing the fly. He drops an ink blot onto the fly, and the fly once again begins the entire cleaning process over again.

But then, as if painfully, it dragged itself forward. The front legs waved, caught hold, and, more slowly this time, the task began from the beginning.

This is when the boss thinks about the fly's plucky nature. The fly is doomed at this point, but it has a "never say die" attitude about it, and the boss admires that. This attitude in the face of adversity is plucky.

"Plucky" is an old-fashioned word used to describe someone or something that's brave or courageous. In "The Fly," the character of the boss, traumatized at being reminded of his son's death in World War One, seeks to take his mind off things by torturing a fly on his desk. He slowly drops ink on the fly, waiting for it to struggle free before he heaps another drop on top of the little creature.
The boss is impressed by the fly's pluck, by the courage it shows in trying to struggle free despite the blobs of ink raining down. But he continues to torture the fly anyway until, eventually, it dies. The boss may admire the fly for its plucky spirit, but there's simply no way he's prepared to let him go. Engrossed in the fly torture's the boss has momentarily forgotten about the tragic death of his son.

"I was developing a maturing recognition of the importance of hopefulness in creating justice." What does Brian Stevenson mean by this?

Stevenson also says in Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption that "there is a strength, a power even, in understanding brokenness, because embracing our brokenness creates a need and desire for mercy." With the above quote, our protagonist and author, Brian Stevenson, realizes more and more that the battle for justice and equity is uphill, but in that uphill climb, there is hope. His mature recognition is coming to light. It is not fueled by hatred that leads to propagating injustice; rather, it is a righteous anger which fuels action and the building of justice. That said, Stevenson's resilience through the seeming treachery of human injustice is founded in his need to show mercy. Granted, this mercy may come from hardship—as he says, in brokenness—but through the hardship, through the brokenness, humanity can create hope.
This is the key word here: "create." Stevenson uses the word "create" to exemplify humanity's role in allowing either justice or injustice. It holds the connotation of engineering, building, even playing with clay. By our action or inaction, we as individuals are contributing to the very fabric that holds our country together. So we must create hope, a living hope that endures through the process of building justice. What Stevenson realizes here is that justice is not simply a legislated action; rather, it is a process that takes continual effort. If humanity is to create concrete justice, that justice must be rooted in optimistic hopefulness for the future. Stevenson calls justice the instrument and love the motive.

What did Tennessee do to make people in the town hunt for him?

Tennessee is a serial gambler and con artist. He's always getting into mischief of one kind or another. Though like most con artists he has a winning personality which draws people to him. Even when he runs off with his partner's bride, his partner still forgives him, warmly shaking Tennessee's hand as he returns after the bride has run off with someone else.
But the folks of Sandy Bar are not quite so forgiving. They suspect Tennessee of being a thief; not just a thief, but a highwayman. One day he waylays a stranger on his way to Red Dog. After Tennessee detains him with a few witty anecdotes, Tennessee suddenly brandishes a pistol and demands the stranger's gun, money, and knife. When the folk of Sandy Bar hear about this, they are furious and immediately set out to hunt down Tennessee.

What is an analysis of the play Sorry, Wrong Number by Lucille Fletcher? Include all literary devices as well as the theme and how it is related to today’s life.

Sorry, Wrong Number is a thriller which makes extensive use of dramatic irony, both as a radio play and in the 1948 film.
The phone calls provide the listener with suspense, since the viewer starts to piece together that Leona is going to be the victim of the murder plot. That the audience realizes this before Leona is an example of dramatic irony, which is when the audience is privy to information that eludes the characters themselves.
As for theme, the central theme is greed—though not only in regards to money, which is Henry's main motive in wanting his wife dead. In the movie, Leona is herself greedy for Henry's love, and it is her smothering of him which helps estrange him from her. (Yet another example of irony, since Leona's father was highly controlling of her as well.) Greed is presented as a force which separates people and poisons relationships, since it is inherently selfish.
As for how the play/movie relates to modern life, one could argue that the use of the telephone is a symbol of modern communication. Once again, this is laced with irony, because even though a telephone is a device which makes long-distance communication possible, much of the story is about miscommunication and divide within a marriage. For much of the movie, Leona does not know what is going on or just how far her husband has gotten away from her.

Sorry, Wrong Number originally appeared as a radio broadcast starring Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Stevenson. Many versions of this play have been performed, including a 1948 film adaptation. I'll begin with the version I'm most familiar with, the 1948 broadcast for the Suspense program, and then touch on variations.
The primary theme in most versions might be considered "mystery." A bedridden Leona Stevenson is waiting for her husband, Henry, to return for the office. She calls, but his line is engaged, so she contacts an operator see if they can help. The operator accidentally patches her into a conversation where a murder is being plotted against a woman who lives in a neighborhood not unlike her own. Leona attempts to report the plot to the operator, the police, and the hospital, but she is unsuccessful in convincing each party of the urgency of the situation. As the play progresses, the audience gradually discovers that the murder is being plotted against Leona.
In this version, suspense and foreshadowing act as the most significant literary devices. The audience is suspicious that Leona overheard a conversation that involves Henry, and details emerge that the murder will take place near Leona and Henry's home on 2nd Avenue. Tension is created through a series of clues that make it obvious to the audience that Leona will be the victim, but leave Leona unaware until it's too late. There isn't much substance to this version of the play without this suspense and foreshadowing.
In other versions, Leona is portrayed as a hypochondriac who comes from a wealthy family. Henry comes from a poorer background. Leona's father doesn't approve of their marriage and convinces a potential employer not to hire Henry. Desperate for money, Henry tries to convince an past employee of Leona's father, Mr. Evans, to help him sell narcotics to a Mr. Morano. At first, Evans refuses, but he is later overtaken with greed and decides to help Henry. Eventually, they decide to bypass Morano to earn more profit, but Morano finds out and demands compensation, reminding Henry that he has a wealthy wife and that an "accident" could occur. Henry decides he has no other way to come up with the money than to murder his wife. In this version, a major theme is the consequences of greed. Henry has a change of heart in the last scene, but he's too late.

What is Virgil's advice to Dante, as spoken at the Gates of Hell?

Virgil leads Dante to the Gates of Hell in Canto III of The Divine Comedy. Upon reaching the entrance to the underworld, Dante is initially confused by the words written across the Gates:

Through me you enter the tormented city,
Through me you come to eternal pain,
Through me you join with the desolate souls.
It was justice that moved the high One who made me
I was brought into being by the power divine,
By the sum of all knowledge, the wellspring of love.
Before me was no thing that was not eternal
And I will endure throughout endless time
Abandon all hope, all ye who now enter.

The description acts to not only warn anyone who passes underneath them but also to show that, despite the horrible nature of what lies within, it is all necessary, as it is ordained by God. When Dante asks Virgil about the meaning of the words, Virgil says "with clear-headed wisdom" the following:

It is best now to put aside all of your doubt And put far behind you all faint-hearted fear.
We arrive at that place of which I have spoken, Where you'll see dire souls in deep agony
Bereft of all reason, without understanding.

Here, Virgil lays it all out for Dante. Essentially, he is saying that Dante needs to put all doubt and fear out of his mind, because what they are about to experience will require sureness and bravery. Virgil tells him they have arrived at Hell, and within the gates, there is only suffering and confusion. Similar to the assurance provided by the gates themselves—that even though the realm within is terrible, it is the will of God—Dante then says that Virgil, as if to offer support, "gently rested his hand upon mine/ And knowingly smiled, I found consolation." The two men share a brief moment of connection, steeling themselves for the chaos and sorrow that is to come.

In the book Hatchet, what character traits and qualities does Brian use to face the challenges of hunger, loneliness, and lack of shelter?

While Brian is initially presented as just an average boy, he does indeed possess a number of character traits which help him survive in the wilderness. Foremost is his resilience. Things do not go well for him with his initial adjustment to life in the wild. He eats berries that make him sick, gets attacked by a skunk and later a porcupine, and injures himself numerous times. However, despite realizing that he can't rely on a rescue from the outside, he makes the very conscious decision to not give up hope and to make every attempt to persevere in the face of overwhelming challenges. At times, he is very close to giving in, but in the end, his resilient nature comes through and gives him the will to keep on surviving. It is this resilience more than anything else which gives him the fortitude to carry on.
Furthermore, Brian is very observant. He takes the time to notice all the things around him and consider how they can help him survive. For instance, by paying close attention to tracks in the sand, he is able to locate a cache of turtle eggs (chapter 10).
Eventually, Brian also learns to stay calm in the face of danger. Panic has gotten him to trouble before, such as getting attacked by a porcupine or eating bad berries. After some time surviving in the wild, Brian learns that he will fare better if he keeps a level head about him when he senses danger. We see this come to play in chapter 13 when he sees a wolf. Instead of reacting out of fear or panic, Brian recognizes that the animal poses no harm to him if he remains calm.

What lesson are we suppose to get from "Young Goodman Brown"?

This question is asking for an individual reader's opinion, so you can feel free to answer with what you think and defend it. Personally, I feel that the story is teaching readers about hidden sin. That shouldn't come as a surprise considering that Hawthorne is the author. The hidden sin motif can be found in other literary pieces by him. The Scarlet Letter and "The Minister's Black Veil" both thematically include hidden sin. "Young Goodman Brown" shows readers and Brown that everybody has sins that they try to cover up. The story does take it to an extreme by showing Brown that people he once thought virtuous are actually in league with the devil; however, the story does show that even the holiest people in a community are not perfect. What is unfortunate is that Brown loses a great deal of his personal faith through learning this lesson.

What identified challenges are essential for human service providers to understand when working with Arab American Clients? What are some effective strategies to use when working with these populations and what are some available services to provide resources? For example, if poverty affects a large portion of people with Arab Americans what resources can a human services agency provide?

The human and social service providers and agencies have just recently learned how to function and adapt in a culturally diverse environment. They often face numerous challenges when working with Arab American clients that mainly reflect the cultural, ethnical, and religious diversity, such as language barriers, cultural assumptions and stereotypes, and legal and bureaucratic barriers. There are no specific strategies and rules that the human and social service providers can follow, however, according to various researches and analyses, there are several points that need to be considered, so that the service providers can satisfy the cultural needs of their Arab American clients.
It is of utmost importance for social and human service providers to take a culturally specific and sensitive approach when working with their Arab Americans clients, and adapt their work to their values. Social workers should particularly pay attention to the various traditions, beliefs, moral systems, and cultural world views and opinions of the Arab American clients, and have an open-minded and non-judgmental attitude. They should be aware of the cultural differences, and understand that different cultures address problems and issues in different ways.
Essentially, human and social service providers should totally eliminate racism, discrimination, and social exclusion, in order to promote better cultural understanding and practice methods and strategies which are culturally sensitive for work with Arab American clients. For instance, they should take into account gender relations, the family and community values, and the meaning of faith and religion.
One such method is localization, in which human and social service providers develop a unique knowledge base for different cultures. For instance, Arab Americans have faced a lot of racism, discrimination and oppression in many different areas of life, after the tragic events that took place on 9/11. They were called names, racist remarks and derogatory terms, and employers and educators were skeptical when deciding to employ and/or cooperate with Arab Americans.
Using the method of localization, human and social service providers should document these happenings, and conduct various studies and analyses, which they can then use to promote better living conditions for the Arab Americans, and equal opportunities in the educational, socio-economic and political world. Furthermore, they can use the findings to better understand other cultures and ethnicities in the US as well, and focus on providing social and culturally sensitive environments for all minority groups that live and work in America.
You can find other methods and ways in which the human and social service providers “secure the rights for ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and indigenous people around the world”, and provide the proper care and resources for those living in poverty here.

What specific evidence does Fanon use to confirm his theory that violence is a necessary part of decolonization?

Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth devotes much of its page count to building and buoying his central claim that decolonization is an inherently violent process. The violence that Fanon associates with decolonization is not only physical violence, but environmental and psychological violence as well. Fanon's argument gains traction from explaining the violence inherent in colonialism. Because colonialism—especially across the African continent—thrived on the exploitation and enslavement of native peoples, the stripping of natural resources for the gain of foreign empires, and the consolidation of power in an elite ruling class, the entire enterprise is steeped in physical violence that oppresses and demeans, environmental violence that threatens future livelihood, and psychological violence that perpetuates feelings of inferiority and desperation. Having cited the violent nature of colonization, Fanon explains that decolonization must be a violent process in order to supplant the systems, methodologies, and ideologies of the oppressive colonizers.
The specific examples of violence required for decolonization that Fanon lifts up include non-coordinated efforts by colonized persons, seeking freedom from their colonizers. These sporadic, violent uprisings give birth to more methodical, coordinated efforts to establish forces of rebellion. The violence perpetrated by the colonized is a violence designed to bring justice and restore power to oppressed native peoples. Fanon posits that once the violent overthrow of the colonizing regime occurs, then the newly liberated peoples still must push through to de-internalize the emotional violence they have suffered. To claim a new identity in their freedom and self-efficacy may require violent rhetoric and vehement statements made against their oppressors. Fanon ultimately categorizes this violence as justified because it brings liberation.

To what biblical story does Hawthorne allude through the allegory of "Young Goodman Brown"?

When Goodman Brown meets the Devil in the woods, the Devil has a remarkable staff

which bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought, that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent.

The Devil actually offers the staff to Brown, since the young man seems already weary. At various times, the staff is described as "twisted" and as appearing to "actually [...] wriggle in sympathy." The Devil touches Goody Cloyse's neck with the end of the staff that "seemed the serpent's tail." He offers the old woman his staff, and then throws it on the ground at her feet. We can likely assume that she picks it up. The narrator says that,

perhaps, it assumed life, being one of the rods which its owner had formerly lent to the Egyptian Magi.

This particular line seems to refer to the book of Exodus, which, in chapters 4-8, God tells Moses to throw his staff on the ground, and when Moses does, it turns into a snake. God tells Moses to go to Egypt with his brother Aaron and confront Pharaoh, demanding that he release the Israelites. When Pharaoh demands a miracle, Aaron throws his staff in front of Pharaoh and it changes into a snake (by God's doing), but then Pharaoh calls magicians forth who can do the same thing. The line quoted from Hawthorne's story, above, suggests that the Devil actually loaned those seemingly magic staffs to the Egyptians, supporting the idea that they were on the Devil's side, working against God. In Hawthorne's story, then, anyone who takes possession of the Devil's staff—such as Goody Cloyse and, later, Goodman Brown himself—is putting himself in the same position: refusing God and accepting the Devil in his life instead.

How does David Copperfield behave after the first bitter experience at Salem House?

Salem House is an absolute nightmare for David. It's more like a prison camp than a school, run by the cruel, sadistic Mr. Creakle, who's been instructed by Mr. Murdstone to beat David as often as possible. David's been marked quite literally as a violent troublemaker, a biter no less—he's forced to wear a placard round his neck which reads "Take care of him. He bites."—and so his cards are well and truly marked before he sets foot in this terrible place.
Nonetheless, David tries to keep his head down and study, which he does thanks to the encouragement of the kindly Mr. Mell. Mell is chronically underpaid and overworked, yet somehow he's able to provide David with a few crumbs of knowledge, which is more than can be said of the violent, psychopathic Mr. Creakle.
During his first term at Salem House, David also makes friends quite easily—though one of his friends, the rich and ill-disciplined Steerforth, turns out to be a very false friend indeed.

What evidence is there that President James Buchanan was gay?

No one knows for certain if President Buchanan really was gay. It is purely a matter of speculation and comes largely down to the fact that, unusually for a President, he remained a lifelong bachelor. Even if Buchanan had been gay, there's no way in a million years that he would've been able to come out. At that time, being gay was illegal, and so it was impossible for someone to acknowledge their homosexuality openly without running the risk of being sent to jail. Furthermore, the least suspicion of being gay would've wrecked any political career, as homosexuality was widely seen as socially unacceptable.
Some historians have based their assessment of Buchanan's alleged homosexuality on his closeness to the Alabama Senator William Rufus King, who served as Franklin Pierce's vice president. The two men lived together, and their closeness was noted by contemporaries, who often remarked that they seemed like a married couple. Whether there was anything more to their relationship than just close friendship is almost impossible to determine. But there's little doubt that a number of reputable historians do regard James Buchanan as the first gay President of the United States.

1.What is normative political philosophy? Briefly give normative arguments for and against decriminalizing and/or legalizing sex work. 2.Why is Hobbes’s Social Contract Theory a sort of proto-liberalism? Explain.

Normative political philosophy focuses on how things should be. This contrasts with empirical political philosophy, which has to do with how things currently are. There could be several different things you could look at when thinking about decriminalizing sex work. For example, you could look at liberalism and free choice, as well as sex work being empowering for some people who choose to make a living this way. There are also benefits that you could look at if sex work was legalized in an ideal way, being that there could be regulations introduced to protect workers as well as ensure that they have a safe environment in which to work. The included link goes over several different ways that political philosophers propose that legalization of sex work ought to be implemented.
Hobbes's Social Contract Theory is the belief that our moral or political obligations are related to the society in which we live. This is to say that you "owe" certain behavior to the group you are a part of in order to benefit from it. An example could be voting in order to have the proper protections by the government. Proto-liberalism has to do with the government being reflective of the interests of individuals living in society. Therefore, you can see the connection between social contract theory and proto-liberalism: individuals need to participate in the government in order to create a political environment that reflects their views.
https://ecpr.eu/Events/SectionDetails.aspx?SectionID=564&EventID=95

https://maximail.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/the-political-philosophy-of-prostitution-should-selling-sex-be-legalised-dissertation-thesis/

How does Harrison’s removal of his handicaps develop the plot of the story?

The rising action consists of George attempting to think about his fourteen-year-old son, Harrison Bergeron, as he passively watches the news with Hazel, who imagines what it would be like to be the Handicapper General. Suddenly, there is a disruption at the news station as Harrison Bergeron breaks through the door and declares that he is the emperor. Harrison proceeds to strip the cumbersome handicaps from his body in front of the news station's camera, which is the climax of the story. The climax is the moment when the tension or conflict reaches its highest peak and is considered the turning point in the story. When Harrison Bergeron removes his handicaps, he proceeds to select his empress and strips the boldest ballerina's handicaps off her body before leaping into the air with her. Harrison removing his handicaps is not only the climax of the story but also illustrates what humans are capable of achieving when he dramatically leaps into the air to kiss the ballerina. This climactic moment is essential to the plot development and precedes the falling action when Diana Moon Glampers shoots him out of the air.

What are Capulet's two conditions for allowing Paris to marry Juliet?

Capulet decides that it will help Juliet recover from what he thinks is her grief over the death of Tybalt if she marries Paris. Therefore, even though he knows Juliet is quite young, Capulet agrees to the marriage. His two conditions are as follows: He fears that because the marriage is coming so close to Tybalt's murder, it will look disrespectful to have a big wedding. Therefore, he insists that the wedding be very small, with only a few guests. As he says to Paris:

We’ll keep no great ado, a friend or two.
For, hark you, Tybalt being slain so late,
It may be thought we held him carelessly,
Being our kinsman, if we revel much.
Therefore we’ll have some half a dozen friends,
And there an end.

His other stipulation is that it occur on Thursday. Although Paris would prefer it on Wednesday, he goes along with this, as it will still happen very quickly.
Capulet tells Paris he is very sure that Juliet will do as he says and agree to the marriage.

What are some common misconceptions about early United States history?

One common misconception is that American settlers viewed Native Americans as primitive and Native American culture as distasteful. In fact, as Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen points out, colonial authorities had to invent means of preventing colonists from abandoning settlements to join Native American tribes. In Spanish settlements, guards would be posted to prevent colonists from leaving the settlement. The Puritans made it a crime for men to have long hair, and most settlements would engage in harsh punitive measures for any colonist who left. Despite these tactics, there was still a significant outflow.
A second misconception is that the colonists were, by 1775, largely in favor of independence and offered support to the Patriots; this is not the case. In reality, the Patriots and Loyalists (along with their supporters) constituted approximately one-quarter to one-third of the colonial population each. The remaining one-half to one-third of the population was composed of individuals who were indifferent. The American Revolution was really a contest between two minor but fervent groups.

What do water and mud symbolize in the story?

First, let's look at the symbol of mud. Lawrence describes the horses at the ranch as living in "fine black mud." One thing we know about mud is that it's very easy to get in stuck in. One could argue that the mud symbolizes how Mabel feels trapped now that her father has died, and that she—unlike her brothers—doesn't know what to do with her life.
Mabel's sense of hopelessness is further highlighted by the symbol of water. It's telling that Lawrence describes the water in the pond as "dead," indicating that he's using it as a symbol of death. Indeed, Mabel's attempt to drown herself in the pond would appear to confirm this. Yet as well as death, water can also be said to symbolize rebirth in the story. Water is used to baptize Christian believers, both young and old, symbolizing their new life in Christ. And after her failed suicide attempt, Mabel undergoes a rebirth of her own, albeit without any overt religious connotations. By the close of the story, Mabel appears to have been born to a new life, with the prospect of a stable, loving marriage to Jack.

Compare the experiences of Italian and German unification, considering the main barriers to and factors in favor of unification through the years 1848 to 1914.

Italian and German unification in some ways mirror one another.
In the Italian context, I would say there were really two dominant personalities; Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, in the north, and Giuseppe Garibalidi in the south. If you were to consider what "Italy" was when these two men appeared on the scene, you'd be considering a fragmented geopolitical situation: Northern Italy was divided between various small political States, as well as territories held by Austria, whose influence extended beyond these territorial holdings; Central Italy was controlled by the Papal States; and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was in Southern Italy. In addition, you should be aware of the idea of nationalism among Italians, which was present long before unification was achieved.
Camillo Benso, known generally as "Cavour," was the Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, one of the many Nation-States within Italy. In 1858, he signed in agreement with France, aligning the two countries together against Austria. Defeating Austria allowed for Piedmont-Sardinia to expand dramatically in Northern Europe. Meanwhile, Guiseppe Garibaldi marched across Southern Italy, and shortly thereafter, annexed these regions into Piedmont-Sardinia. Thus, The Nation State of Italy was formally created in 1861, with the former King of Piedmont-Sardinia becoming King of Italy. The last additions were Austrian controlled Venice in 1866, and Rome, which was formally added in 1870.
The unification of Germany, on the other hand, was ultimately carried out under the domination of Prussia. Prussia had already been established among the European Great Powers by Frederick the Great, and had been vying with Austria for influence among the German States. The dominant personality within the story of German unification was Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck, who was primarily interested in expanding Prussian power and domination within the region. Through the use of warfare and diplomacy, he was able to achieve that goal and, after winning the Franco-Prussian War, the German Empire was officially created in 1871.
Citation note: when writing this response, I drew on the following historical text: John Merriman, A History of Modern Europe: From the Renaissance to the Present (Third Edition). New York: W. W. Norton, 2010. The critical chapter was Chapter 17, containing the section on Italian unification (pp. 650-660) and German unification (660-673), among other subjects.

What is an analysis of the poem “Middle Passage” by Robert Hayden?

The title of the poem refers to the middle voyage of the ships of the transatlantic slave triangle trade. Ships left port in Europe, picked up slaves in Africa, delivered slaves and picked up goods in the Americas, and returned to Europe.
It's interesting that all the historical voices speaking in this poem are voices from outside the slaves' experience—sailor, witness, and trader alike. The slaves' experience is never seen from their points of view, allowing some emotional distance. But the speakers suffer as well.
Section one is voiced mainly by a sailor and the writer of a court deposition. The sailor's voice is terrified of the sickness spreading aboard, the encroaching blindness. Note his reference to "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" when he asks about the albatross. The deposition describes the passage of the Bella J, which had to be abandoned to fire after fighting amongst the crew over the enslaved women.
Section two is voiced by a retired slave trader. He tells a tale which puts the blame not on himself, but on African kings whose greed drove them to raid neighboring lands for young people to sell to the slave trade. Notice the many signs of greed the trader attributes to the king he describes.
Section three includes three voices. The first is the narrative voice which appears in section one, showing the events through the lens of history. The second voice is considered a spirit, one who sees beyond the flesh and the history into the soul and sees the great desire for life and freedom. The third voice is a witness from the slave ship Amistad. Note here the speaker's attack on Adams for speaking in support of the slave revolt while living in and governing a slaveholding country. The narrative voice finishes the poem with a vision of hope, seeing, from this side of history, the survival of many people through all their hardships to freedom.
https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/amistad

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43997/the-rime-of-the-ancient-mariner-text-of-1834

What is the difference between Waverly's and her mother's reaction to the chess set?

When Waverly and her brothers attend a Christmas function at the First Chinese Baptist Church at the end of their alley, they each receive a random donated gift from Santa's bag. Waverly chooses a small, compact present and unwraps it to discover a twelve pack of Life Savers while her brother Vincent receives a used chess set. When Waverly and her family return home, Waverly's mother tells Vincent to throw the used chess set away. She feels insulted to receive a used item as a gift and does not want something that someone else chose to get rid of by donating it to the church. Despite her mother's negative reaction, Waverly is excited and enthralled by Vincent's gift. She cannot wait to unlock its "elaborate secrets" and takes note of how serious her brothers react to the used chess set. Waverly is aware that the older chess players at the park are respected and even offers her Life Safers as replacements for missing pieces. Overall, Waverly cherishes Vincent's used chess set while her mother believes that it should be thrown in the trash.

At first, Mrs. Jong displays gratitude for the donation of a chess set to Vincent at the church Christmas party. She says that the chess set "cost too much"—a polite, formal way of saying that it's a very generous gift. Yet once she gets home, Mrs. Jong reveals her true feelings about the chess set. If the woman who donated the chess set didn't want to have it, then why should she? She instructs Vincent to throw it out. The donation of the chess set has clearly offended Mrs. Jong's pride.
Waverly, however, is curious about the chess set, although her brothers refuse to let her play. But Waverly persists, begging Vincent and Winston to let her join in this exciting new game. Eventually, they give in, but only because she offers to use two of the Life Savers she got for Christmas in place of the missing chess pieces. The winner of each game will get to eat the Life Savers.

What are the strengths of “Shiloh” being written in the third person? In other words, what was the story able to accomplish specifically because it was told in the third person? Describe a weakness that the third person created, and describe why you see it as weak.

The main advantage of the third-person point of view is that it allows Mason to highlight the growing sense of estrangement that Leroy feels from Norma Jean. Since his workplace accident, Leroy has noticed that his wife has become more distant, and the third-person point of view reflects that distance. To Leroy, it seems that Norma Jean resents his constant presence around the house, where he spends all day making handicrafts. After Leroy was forced to give up his career as a truck driver, Norma Jean suddenly found herself thrust into the role of sole breadwinner. She works in a drugstore to make ends meet.
Inevitably, this unexpected role reversal has created tension, and it's hardly surprising that Leroy feels—rightly or wrongly—that Norma Jean has less affection for him than she used to. The third-person point of view is ideal for conveying Leroy's feelings; Norma Jean's rapidly becoming something of a mystery not just to Leroy, but also to the reader.
The weakness of such a narrative approach is that it doesn't provide us with a truly objective view of Norma Jean. Because she's largely a mystery, she doesn't really appear to us as a three-dimensional character. As we're mainly given Leroy's side of the story, rather than hers, we're unable to develop much in the way of empathy toward her. We can certainly sympathize with Norma Jean over her plight: she's expected to toil away each day at a hard, low-paying job just to stay financially afloat. But at the same time, the third-person point of view puts us at a critical distance from Norma Jean, meaning that we can never really feel for her in the way that we can with Leroy.

What is the main function of Black Beauty in the story?

Black Beauty is the narrator of Anna Sewell's classic novel of the same name. He functions as narrator to show life from the horse's point of view during a time period in which animal welfare wasn't regarded very highly. By writing the novel from the horse's perspective, Sewell creates empathy for the plight of the horse at this time. She shines a light on their value to society, as well as their patient obedience in service to man.
The novel is set in 19th century England, well before the invention of the automobile. The steam engine locomotive was beginning to take the place of horses to some degree by this time, but horses were still a huge part of the everyday life of London. Some estimates say that there were as many as 300,000 horses in London in this era. Horses were used to pull carriages that served as taxis, hauled wagons with goods for merchants were the main mode of transportation and served in battle. Yet for all their usefulness, they were often not treated well or cared for properly. Anna Sewell highlights the plight of the horse in this era by telling the story through Black Beauty's eyes. She shows the kindness of some masters, the cruelties of others, and the ignorance of still others.
It is interesting to note that the first English law about the treatment of horses was the Treat of Horses Bill of 1821. This law sought to punish people who beat their horses. Although a step forward, the law didn't cover other forms of exploitation, such as in the cab scene in Sewell's novel where Beauty is used beyond his limits. The law was also difficult to enforce. To help with enforcement, a group called The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was born. Below is a quote from Sewell's novel. It is the scene from chapter eleven where Black Beauty sees his old friend Ginger. When he last saw her, she was strong, healthy and beautiful. When he sees her in this chapter, she has been ill-used and badly neglected.

"One day while I waited for Jerry, a worn out cab came up beside me. The horse was a scrawny old chesnut. Her bones showed through her ill-kept coat. Her legs were shaky and her eyes dull. I was eating some hay when the wind blew a few straws her way, she stretched her thin neck and ate it. Then she looked around for more. I thought that I had seen this poor creature before. I tried to remember where. 'Black Beauty, my old friend,' she called. Is it really you? Do you not remember me?'"

Identify the argument about the power of the federal government and state government in regard to the conflict over the fugitive slave act.

As part of the Compromise of 1850, the federal government of the United States passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This new law required the United States government to assist in the capture of escaped slaves, which had previously only been the right and responsibility of the slaveowner. This new law also placed tougher punishments on anybody who attempted to assist or hide an escaped slave, oftentimes people in northern states where slavery had been banned. This was done as an attempt to stop northern states from refusing to follow or enforce the Fugitive Slave Law.
As a result of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, many anti-slavery northerners felt that they were being forced to participate in slavery and strengthen the institution with which they disagreed. Many anti-slavery northerners also felt that this was an unfair and unconstitutional expansion of federal government power and a violation of a state's right to determine the status of slavery within its territory. Many pro-slavery southerners, however, supported the new Fugitive Slave Law and argued that it was justly put into place to enforce part of article 4 of the Constitution, which stated that escaped slaves were to be returned to their slaveowners.
https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Fugitive_Slave_Law_of_1850

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fugitive-slave-acts

What are Quasimodo's characteristics?

Quasimodo personifies the concept that you shouldn't judge a person by their outward appearance. Quasimondo is described as so ugly that people call him a "creation of the devil." He has a hunched back and a disfiguring wart over one eye. Becoming the bellringer at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris leaves him deaf. He is also of Roma descent, part of a despised group that is considered criminal and deviant by much of the rest of society.
Abandoned in infancy, Quasimodo, like Frankenstein's creature, longs for the love that he is denied because people find him so hideous that they assume he is evil. He is a figure of deep pathos, as he has a good and compassionate heart and merely wants what ordinary people have, which is a little love. He is so needy for love that he allows the evil Frollo, who he thinks loves him, to manipulate him into doing evil acts, such as attempting to kidnap Esmeralda.
Quasimodo falls truly in love with the one person who is genuinely kind to him, Esmeralda, and does what he can to save to her, saying of her, "There is all that I ever loved!"
We feel for Quasimodo despite his appearance, because he has endured a harsh, cruel life and loses the one person he cared for and who cares for him. He is a Romantic character, alone and abandoned by a society that doesn't understand him.

What are some characteristics of Mr. Fledegby?

In this novel by Charles Dickens, the primary theme of social climbing is shown through many of the central characters, who display the negative effects of acquiring wealth and thereby gaining elevated social status. More particularly, through the minor characters, Dickens can pinpoint disagreeable aspects and highlight their negativity by contrasting them with related, virtuous characters. Mr. Fledgeby is one of those unappealing minor characters.
Fledgeby’s role impacts the novel’s plot primarily in two ways. For one thing, he is a suitor to the lovely young Georgiana Podsnap, whose parents are materialistic, pretentious pillars of society. To have Georgianna as his wife would perfectly suit Fledgeby’s aspirations for social advancement but is not what her parents intend. Fledgeby is not interested in her as a person; he's interested in her only as her parents’ daughter.
Another way that Fledgeby figures into the novel is through his business practices. Although on the surface, Fledgeby is frivolous and vain, he actually has a good head for business. His brokerage firm, Pubsey and Co., is actually a front for illicit dealings. Mr. Riah, his agent, is an ethical man who is drawn into behaving unethically but finally both helps the needy Lizzie and separates himself from the unsavory business.
The reader learns much of Fledgeby’s character as he is introduced to Georgianna by Mr. and Mrs. Lammle in their home. While not an unattractive young man, he is overly concerned with accentuating his features with the most up-to-date outfits. Because of his excessive attention to such superficial matters, his friends have nicknamed him “Fascination.” Dickens describes his preoccupation with every aspect of fashionable attire, even what type of whiskers he should grow (although he cannot yet do so).

Young Fledgeby had a peachy cheek, or a cheek compounded of the peach and the red red red wall on which it grows, and was an awkward, sandy-haired, small-eyed youth, exceeding slim (his enemies would have said lanky), and prone to self-examination in the articles of whisker and moustache.

Fledgeby has become involved in shady finance, in part through his own family background, as his father had been a moneylender. His mother, however, had been of the higher-born Snigsworth family, remotely related to aristocracy, and her family’s money supported the marriage. Their son had grown up into a greedy, tight-fisted young man, whom Dickens compares negatively to a dog.

He was the meanest cur existing, with a single pair of legs. And instinct (a word we all clearly understand) going largely on four legs, and reason always on two, meanness on four legs never attains the perfection of meanness on two.

Fledgeby, adamant about keeping his unethical business dealings secret, uses an agent called Riah. While the business has numerous aspects, moneylending and buying up bad debts from those who cannot pay are two of their main lines. Dickens presents Riah in appearance as a stereotype of a Jewish broker, but he makes the elderly, bearded man a good-hearted, sympathetic character. Fledgeby has created a front company, Pubsey, to disguise his involvement. Fledgeby’s unkind character is revealed by his treatment of Riah, whom he expects to work on holidays and insults by calling Jews avaricious liars. Fledgeby constantly denigrates Judaism with unfavorable comparisons to Christianity. Deeply suspicious of anyone else’s honesty, he also constantly tells Riah that he believes he is cheating him through the book-keeping.
When Fledgeby decides the Lammles have not helped him enough with Georgianna, whose father insists he stop seeing her, he tricks them into borrowing from “Riah’s” company. Through later conversations with Twemlow, it becomes clear that Fledgeby has made a habit of ruining debtors by calling in the entire sum of their debt at once, enabling him to acquire all their properties for next to nothing. When Lammle finds him out, he goes to his rooms and beats him. Blaming Riah for his problems, Fledgely fires the old man, but it turns out he had devised a way to be freed from his contract. Miss Wren describes to Riah the chastised Fledgely, calling him a fox.

[T]he fox has caught a famous flogging, and that if his skin and bones are not tingling, aching, and smarting at this present instant, no fox did ever tingle, ache, and smart.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/883/883-h/883-h.htm