What passages does Boyle use diction in an original and descriptive way?

Boyle's diction in "Greasy Lake" is intense, elevated, and original all the way through the story, contrasting sharply with the subject matter. You could pick almost anywhere in this text to give an interesting example of descriptive/original language. I've included a few here from the opening of the text.
In the opening description of the lake, Boyle writes "there was a single ravaged island a hundred yards from shore, so stripped of vegetation it looked as though the air force had strafed it" (Boyle, 688). This sentence essentially says that there was an island in the lake with no plant life on it, however, Boyle describes it as "stripped of vegetation," "ravaged," and "strafed". This language is pretty academic for its subject matter, and the word "strafed" itself is reasonably uncommon and specific. If something has been "strafed" it has been attacked repeatedly from close range, and usually it refers to repeated bombing or gunfire from low-flying aircraft. This one word reveals a lot about the condition of the island and about Boyle's writing style.
In the same paragraph the narrator says that he and the other characters frequently went up to the lake because "we wanted to snuff the rich scent of possibility on the breeze, watch a girl take off her clothes and plunge into the festering murk . . . savor the incongruous full-throated roar of rock and roll against the primeval susurrus of frogs and crickets" (Boyle, 688). Again Boyle's language is specific and original. He uses some uncommon words like "snuff," and "incongruous." He also uses the word "festering" to describe the lake, implying that not only is the lake dirty, but that it is actively rotting or decomposing. Finally, he describes the natural sounds of the lake as the "primeval susurrus." This particular unusual phrase describes the lake noise as a whispering or murmuring (susurrus) that comes from the earliest instincts or history of the world.

Explore the ways in which Clarke strikingly conveys her thoughts about the woman’s skeleton in "Lunchtime Lecture."

"Lunchtime Lecture" conveys a narrator's thoughts about seeing a skeleton presented during a lecture in a museum. To convey her thoughts about this scene, she uses imagery, metaphors, and personification as poetic devices.
The poem is written in free verse and begins with the word "And." Both of these contribute to the effect that the narrator has stumbled into this lecture without planning to and is captivated enough to stay and listen to the information. Thoughts flow freely, naturally.
This skeleton is a woman with "a white, fine skull" and has lain buried since likely the Neolithic Period. The imagery of this skull is vivid:

A white, fine skill, full up with darknessAs a shell with sea, drowned in the centuries.Small, perfect. The cranium would fit the palmOf a man's hand.

Notice the metaphor here as well. The skull has been buried in the dirt much like a shell is buried in the sea—totally filling it up. The word choice of "drowned" here also not only conveys death but a totality of absence of breathing and light. Yet, it is small and perfect.
A feminist interpretation would also note that this woman's skeleton was resting in its most natural state of "silence, undisturbed, unrained on . . ." until a man unearthed her. The word choice of "whiteness" in this stanza conveys a sense of purity that has been destroyed by man's interference.
Another interpretation would be that mechanization has destroyed her peace. Since she represents a woman from another time and long before machines, it is worth noting that she was disturbed by means unnatural to her time period. The personification of "biting" tractors lends itself to the idea that machinery has consumed her natural state.
The skeleton is noted both in the first stanza and then in the final stanza as "staring back." This sharp imagery is also personification that conveys a sense of oneness with this skeleton. The narrator (and the rest of the audience at the lecture) share her fate.

We stare at each other, dark into sightlessDark, seeing only ourselves in the black ponds.

This provides a visual representation of the great circle of life. Each woman has a past and a future in the other.
The narrator also approaches this skeleton with a matter-of-fact tone. There is no shock or disgust at seeing the skeleton, because the museum is like a hospital (simile used here), making her clean and sanitary. Unfortunately, this also removes all semblance of her actual life—the way she lived and even the way she died, represented in "The smell of death is done." Now, all that remains is a perfect skeleton, "the perfect edge of the place/Where the pieces join, with no mistakes."
In the end, the author sees the skeleton much like a tree in winter, "stripped white on a black sky." Much like leaves often represent life in the spring, here the absence of them in winter represents that all that is left is the literal core of who this woman once was. The narrator envisions her alive again, "fleshed, with womans hair and colours and the rustling/Blood."
And, of course, she realizes that she is, at the end, looking at her own eventual fate.

“Lunchtime Lecture” plays with the relationship between object and subject by contrasting the skeleton of a woman displayed in a museum against the narrator and the poem’s audience. In my reading, one of the most striking moments happens in the first stanza: “And this from the second or third millennium / B.C., a female, aged about twenty-two” (lines 1–2). The lecturer describes the skeleton with objective language that reduces the humanity of the woman being described. We can presume that this woman was not asked permission to become a display in a museum thousands of years after her death. In a similar way, the abruptness of the first stanza revokes the reader’s own sense of agency or consent, as if their humanity has been forfeited for the sake of the poem. By objectifying the reader, Clarke forces us to consider some of the injustices of both anthropology and patriarchy.

What are some of the language challenges that students might encounter in the reading of the novel? Refer to specific words, pronunciation, and cultural references (proverbs, idioms and/or folk tales).

Many words in Things Fall Apart can challenge students. Since the story takes place in Nigeria (around 1900), many of the words are unique to their culture. Chapter one, for example, is filled with unusual vocabulary. For instance, the story explains that Okonkwo's father (Unoka) is known for his debt:

"Unoka was, of course, a debtor, and he owed every neighbor some money, from a few cowries to quite substantial amounts" (ch. 1).

Cowries refers to a type of sea shell that was once used as a form of money in this region of Africa.
Unoka is also known for his love of music and for the leisurely period of time after the harvest is completed. Unoka is so talented at playing his flute that he is invited by nearby villages to play for them:

"Sometimes another village would ask Unoka’s band and their dancing egwugwu to come and stay with them and teach them their tunes" (ch. 1).

Egwugwu are dancers who dress and act like ancestral spirits. Unoka loves every part about the season after harvest, when he can finally rest, play music, and enjoy time with people in his community. He also enjoys observing the natural world:

"Unoka loved it all, and he loved the first kites that returned with the dry season, and the children who sang songs of welcome to them" (ch. 1).

In this sentence, kites are large hawk-like birds.
In chapter one, as well as the rest of the novel, many words and phrases are new to English-speaking readers. Readers therefore need to make use of context clues, as well as glossaries and outside resources, to best understand the text.
https://hnu.libguides.com/c.php?g=350994&p=2368668

Who where the first settlers of Maryland?

This question can be answered in several ways depending on how the phrase “first settlers” is interpreted. If “first settlers” means the first people to ever settle in Maryland, it would be the Paleo-Indians, who arrived more than 10,000 years ago. The first European to visit Maryland was an Italian explorer named Giovanni da Verrazzano, who came around 1524. Bartholomew Gilbert and John Smith were the first explorers from England to arrive in the early 1600s, while William Claiborne established the first English settlement in Maryland in 1631.
Maryland eventually became a British colony when the British king, Charles I, granted Lord Baltimore a tract of land in 1632. When Lord Baltimore died shortly after he received the land, the land was passed on to his son, the second Lord Baltimore. It was his younger brother who developed the colony and became its governor. Maryland became one of the proprietary colonies and was known for offering its settlers religious freedom. Farming was the main occupation of the people who settled in this colony.

The history of Maryland is traced back to 1498 after Giovanni da Verrazano, the first European explorer, visited the coast of North America. Soon after, more English settlers occupied the region. In 1632, Sir George Calvert was granted the colonial Province of Maryland by King Charles I.

The settlement was established with religious freedom since Calvert was a devoted Catholic. Besides, the territory was given the name Maryland in honor of Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I. Like many other British colonies in the Chesapeake Bay region, Maryland based its economy on tobacco which relied on hard labor. However, numerous Maryland planters freed their slaves after the Revolutionary War as the economy changed.

During the precolonial era, Native Americans who were primarily hunters and gatherers inhabited Maryland.

Explain why Elizabethans were worried about vagrants in 1558–1588.

Poverty was a very serious problem in Elizabethan England. But the existence of large numbers of destitute men and women with nowhere to live—vagrants—was, if anything, even more serious. Far from seeing vagrants as innocent victims of forces beyond their control, the authorities regarded them with suspicion, seeing them as potential rebels.
Strange as it may seem, the government was genuinely worried that vagrants would form themselves into gangs and wander around from place to place, undermining the social order as they went. The government was run by, and largely for the benefit of, men of property, and these men were concerned about the threat to their property posed by those with nothing to lose.
It was in response to these concerns that Parliament passed the Poor Laws, which gave local magistrates extensive powers to provide financial help for the "deserving" poor, i.e. those who couldn't work due to age or disability, while cracking down on so-called sturdy beggars: those whose poverty was put down to outright laziness.
The punishments for beggars were harsh in the extreme. The Vagabonds Act of 1572 stipulated that wandering beggars could be whipped, bored through the ear, or even put to death if they were caught begging. Under a later piece of Elizabethan legislation, the Poor Law of 1601, begging was banned outright. Anyone caught begging would be whipped and sent back to their place of birth.

What does the following quote mean? "But when I tell him he hates flatterers; ... He says he does, being then most flattered."

Decius Brutus says this about Julius Caesar in act 2, scene 1 of the play. He is responding to Cassius's comment that it is not certain that Caesar will actually come to the capitol on this particular day because of his superstitions and the fear that something bad will happen to him. Decius Brutus is explaining here that, even if this is what Caesar has decided, the others need not be afraid—Decius Brutus is sure that he will be able to "o'ersway" Caesar, or change his mind. He explains that he will be able to use flattery to do this. The joke in the lines you have quoted is that Decius Brutus is really saying: when I say to Caesar, "Oh, Caesar, I know you hate flatterers!" this comment in itself is an expression of flattery, and is not true. Caesar loves to be told this precisely because he is a lover of flattery, and easily flattered. Decius Brutus may tell him that he is above flattery, but this is the worst kind of flattery there is because it is so completely dishonest.

What are Scout's internal conflicts?

Scout is a fiercely honest child and has a difficult time filtering her questions and/or comments. When she blurts out her distaste for the amount of syrup her guest pours on his food, she doesn't mean to hurt his feelings; she just thought he would ruin his meal. She wants to do what is right but struggles with how to express what that looks like. Sometimes, it is a physical response like fighting and other times it involves her going against her guardians' rules. Scout, at only 6 years of age, is trying to balance what is expected of her with what she herself sees as the right course of action to take. She is loyal to her brother Jem and admires him and so sneaks off to the courthouse with him although she knows it is not permitted.
She relies on her dad ultimately for the truth and due to his calm and patient demeanor, she is able to speak freely to him and get answers to her most pressing questions.

Throughout the novel, Scout ages from six to eight years old. At this point in her life, she has always been a "tomboy." She has rejected traditional feminine roles and ideas. She is called the gender ambiguous nickname "Scout," rather than her very feminine given name, Jean Louise. She loathes everything ladylike, as demonstrated by her strained relationship with her proper Aunt Alexandra. But for a young girl to do these things (even today, but especially in the American South during the era of the Great Depression), she is considered deviant. Because Scout is very young and has only been raised by a single father, she is often "forgiven" by relatives and community members for her boyishness and rejection of the feminine. However, people around her believe that it is time for her to start learning how to be more of a lady. (A large part of the reason why Aunt Alexandra comes to visit in the first place is to "help" Scout become a lady.) She struggles with her resistance against societal norms, and her desire to keep the boyish lifestyle she adores. She struggles against the "dress" lifestyle of ladyhood. Yet, she is beginning to realize that people around her are expecting her to act in a way she does not want to act. She does not want to change, even as the society she lives in continually insists that she should.

What is the setting of The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo?

Elizabeth Acevedo’s novel is set in Harlem, a neighborhood in the northern part of Manhattan in New York, New York, in the United States. This is a highly diverse neighborhood racially and ethnically, with large populations of African-American and Latino people; among the latter, people of Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage are especially well represented. Xiomara Batista’s family is Dominican; not only are they poor, but her immediate neighborhood suffers the negative effects of poverty and social neglect; however, it also has a vibrant cultural life, such as youths playing basketball. There is also drug dealing and considerable violence on the streets; Xiomara has had to defend herself physically and show that she is willing to do so. Her mother, wanting to prevent her from both getting involved in the violence and possible sexual activity, criticizes her for talking to boys on the stoop.
https://books.google.com/books?id=8XwmDwAAQBAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s

In what ways do the themes of love, lust, and desire manifest throughout the novel? How does it shape the character arcs of the novel's main characters?

Dream of the Red Chamber is widely regarded as the greatest novel of classical China. Authored by one Cao Xueqin, the book is claimed by some scholars to be based on the author's own family. The novel was written in the middle of the eighteenth century, during the last dynasty of China, the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912).
The characters primarily include members of several generations of the wealthy and powerful Chia family who occupy the two houses of Ningkuofu and Yungkuofu. The matriarch of these households is Madade Shih. Pao-yu is a twelve-year-old boy who enjoys imperial favor due to having been miraculously born with a piece of jade in his mouth. He becomes rather effeminate, as he is raised by his doting mother and female relatives. He develops a romantic interest in Black Jade, his first cousin.
When Black Jade's father is ill, she is sent to see him under the care of Chia Lien, a cousin of Pao-yu. After the death of a relative, Chia Lien's wife, Phoenix, takes control of the Ningkuofu household. Phoenix's lust for power leads her to extort money by lending at exorbitant rates. This lust for power ultimately alienates her husband, who seeks to take another wife in secret. Chia Lien's search for love in a new wife ultimately leads to this woman's suicide.
Love and desire also effect Pao-yu and his cousins. Precious Virtue, another of Pao-yu's cousins who inhabits the palace, is married to the increasingly disillusioned Pao-yu. Pao-yu's sincere love interest, Black Jade, is pretended by Pao-yu's family to be his wife in order to placate Pao-yu. Precious Virtue epitomizes the ideal woman, while Black Jade and Pao-yu have a shared affinity for drawing and poetry. She dies in devastation after her beloved cousin is married to another. Here, the desire of the family for Pao-yu's advantageous marriage ultimately leads to the demise of Black Jade (his true love).
Ultimately, those who were most engaged in lust, love, and desire bring the most shame upon the family and die in dishonor. Specifically, Phoenix's home is looted by bailiffs. The artistic and intellectual Pao-yu, who followed neither lust, desire, nor love, redeems the family by passing his imperial examinations with flying colors. However, he is nowhere to be found when called for imperial service. Allegedly he left the palace to become a bodhisattva.

How has the poet captured the features and characteristics of the kingfisher in poetry?

In part 1 of the poem, the kingfishers, and specifically their feathers, are associated with wealth. The feathers of these birds "were wealth," but the export of the feathers seems to have stopped. Later in the poem, in part 3, this idea of wealth is compounded by the repetition of the word "gold" when describing an artistic impression of the kingfisher bird. Indeed, this impression of the kingfisher is rendered with "eyes of gold" and with "the quills gold, the feet gold." The color gold connotes preciousness and beauty, implying that the kingfisher is a precious, beautiful bird.
In part 2 of the poem, the kingfisher is said to have taken "the color of his breast / from the heat of the setting sun!" The kingfisher is also associated with the sun in the same stanza, in the line, "the kingfisher / de l'aurore," which translates as "the kingfisher of the dawn." The sun is symbolic of heat, and thus passion, and also of energy and liveliness. Associating the kingfisher with the sun, therefore, suggests that it, too, is a bird of passion and energy.

Why does the poet say that the poetry of earth never dies?

The speaker is describing, as earth's own poetry, the sounds made by living creatures, and the visual poetry created by the appearance of flowers in bloom and birds flying. He suggests that these sounds and visuals are all expressions of earth. If they are earth's poetry, then, the poetry of earth is never dead because there is always something living and alert when other things have been sent into hiding by "the hot sun" or the time of year.
Specifically, in this poem, Keats refers to the grasshopper, stating that his "voice" can be heard when the summer is too hot and the birds have gone to hide. In a similar way, when it is cold, and frost has "wrought a silence" because all other creatures are too cold to emerge and the flowers have died, there will be another song audible—that of the cricket. Essentially, the poetry of earth can never die because animals emerge at different times of year to pick it up and express it, particularly the cricket and grasshopper, who take over from each other as summer becomes winter.

Keats means that, whatever time of year it is, there's an underlying life force in nature that never dies. Whether it's in the extreme heat of summer or the freezing cold of winter, nature is always alive, always beautiful. When the poem begins, it's summertime, and the weather's so hot that the birds stop singing, seeking relief from the burning sun in the cool shade of the trees. Yet nature still lives on in the figure of the grasshopper as he hops about, chirping merrily away.
In winter-time nature's life force manifests itself in the cricket. While all is silent on a cold winter's night, the cricket loudly sings his song, basking in the warm glow of a stove. What Keats is emphasizing here is the continuity of nature. Though completely different on the surface, the seasons are linked together, part of the same unified whole.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53210/on-the-grasshopper-and-cricket

How does "The Cask of Amontillado" challenge, reject, or criticize the ideals of American Victorianism?

Poe's writings in general have a subversive feature in which the standards of American nineteenth-century life are replaced by a different "order" expressed in the minds and actions of his hero-villains. In Poe's tales either an authority figure or figures representing convention and conformity are struck down by a kind of mad, uncontrolled force exercised by these "rebels" (though the term almost seems too mild for what we see in the stories).
In "The Cask of Amontillado," Montresor presents himself as avenging some insult or series of slights he's received, yet whatever it is Fortunato has done to him, murder is obviously not the usual or deserved punishment. Like the rich old man in "The Tell-Tale Heart, " Fortunato represents the establishment. Both Montresor and the narrator in the latter story are paranoid and psychotic, but their intention is to destroy figures whose implicit authority they wish to challenge, albeit in a deranged way.
Montresor seems to regard himself as fulfilling a mission not only for himself but for others. The total dedication, the single-mindedness he puts into his task of killing without the slightest self-questioning is that of a sociopath, but a sociopath is one who is mentally ill and does not recognize or respond to the rules of society. Burying Fortunato in the ancient catacomb may even be symbolic of the burying of the authority that Montresor wishes to subvert.
Even the narrator of "The Black Cat," though motivated by sadism in his alcoholic rages, is one who rebels against the conventionality of his domestic arrangement. We are at first shown a stable home life of an apparently model citizen, his wife and pets. All of this is systematically brought down, culminating in the murder of Pluto and of the man's wife. What was previously a sublimated, sick form of anger against domesticity is brought into the open and climaxes as he describes himself burying the axe in his wife's brain.
The one story in which the rebellion against authority of the protagonist is the most complete is probably "Hop-Frog," where the victims are a king and his courtiers. In this case, though carried out with the usual grisly cruelty and sadism, it's also justified in a way those of the other stories are not. Hop-Frog is a little person, a court jester insulted and jeered at in the court where he serves, as is his friend, the young girl Tripetta. The horrific death for Hop-Frog's victims is quicker but perhaps crueler than that of Fortunato, but the symbolism of revolt and vengeance by a seeming nobody against the rich and powerful is at least as striking.
One might still question that the "American Victorianism" of your question is actually the object of these characters's anger and hatred. One has to remember, however, that nineteenth-century authors's techniques involved finding modern meanings in the past or in remote places and situations. Just as the Puritan New England of 200 years before served as the basis of Hawthorne's critique of timeless injustice and hypocrisy, Poe also uses the framework of a blurred, dreamlike setting as a stand-in for the societal values that have not really changed, even in a still-new country that prided itself on its supposed discarding of the conflicts and thinking of the Old World.
Poe himself, despite the remarkable output of his writings and his activity as an editor, was a misfit, a man alienated from the "respectable" life. His isolation and alienation are expressed in his characters, who destroy the societal fabric that surrounds them and oftentimes themselves as well.

For the Victorians, standards of conduct and the appearance of upholding values was of the highest importance. People ought to conduct themselves with a faultless moral code and according to rules of honor and respect; however, rules like these were so rigid and unyielding that many people who appeared to adhere to them in public failed spectacularly in private. Montresor's deceptive and manipulative nature shows how ludicrous such codes of conduct are, that simply holding people to the appearance of moral rectitude does nothing to remedy or address the part of human nature that can be corrupted into evil. As Montresor says,

It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my in to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my to smile now was at the thought of his immolation.

In other words, he maintains the strict Victorian adherence to rigid morality in appearance alone while he plots a dastardly and shocking revenge in private. Now, I don't suggest that Poe was defending murder, but certainly his depiction of Montresor, and even Fortunato to some extent, seems to show that the appearance of goodness is not the same as actually being good and that expecting people to be good all of the time does nothing to squash evil; it is only driven to subterfuge.

Via an entertaining horror tale, Poe does critique the values of The American Victorian age in the form of Fortunato.
During the Victorian era, a common and growing fear among people was the thought of being buried alive. In fact, this is the era when that fear was given its official phobia moniker by an Italian. Thus, Poe sets his story in Italy using a primary fear among Victorians. This is his way of making fun of the Victorians while creeping them out, in my opinion.
Beyond that, Fortunato is the kind of person who is so boastful and proud that he is willing to sacrifice his health. Despite Montresor’s numerous warnings about the nitre that causes Fortunato’s cough to worsen, Fortunato is spurned forward because he sees himself as the ultimate connoisseur. Fortunato doesn’t believe Montresor could get his hands on the amontillado, so Fortunato wants to prove Montresor a fool by tasting the wine and discovering its inauthenticity.
Just as Montresor is deranged for walling Fortunato in his family catacombs, Fortunato is deranged for wanting to neglect his health just to prove he is better than Montresor. Fortunato, then, is representative of the Victorian ideals Poe despised in his lifetime: arrogance and an obsession with appearances.
Montresor is a sort of caricatural stand-in for Poe, who disliked what American Victorians represented.

Is it possible for the government to take away free speech?

The First Amendment reads,

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Religious freedom aside (a religious expression is a form of free speech), the amendment addresses explicitly four types of protected speech. They are general speech, speech found in the press, assembly speech, and speech challenging the government. In each of these, the Supreme Court has consistently upheld in numerous court cases the right of free speech and protection from those who prefer to limit speech.
There are exceptions to free speech. For example, yelling "fire" in a crowded theater when no fire exists is not free speech. Incitement to commit violent acts or threats to public safety like bomb threats are not protected speech. And there are situations where free speech is limited and not protected. It depends on where you are when you exercise your right. For example, obscenity in the workplace is not protected (i.e., using sexually offensive language in the workplace). Another example is that the FCC does not allow the broadcast of some material offensive to children.
The question is, can free speech be taken away by the government? In the United States, the history of free speech has been safely protected and guarded by Supreme Court decisions and the actions of the legislative branch. The press and other organizations have aggressively promoted tolerance in speech as well as been the guardian of free speech even when it is disagreeable to their position or offensive. American citizens have a culture of free speech that has been part of the American experience before the American Revolution. The answer is in our form of government; there is no conceivable way to eliminate free speech. Common sense limits can be placed on free speech, but it is too much embedded in the democratic experience of Americans to be taken from citizens.
https://www.aclu.org/other/your-right-free-expression

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2017/03/6-exceptions-to-freedom-of-speech/

How does David's mother become a victim of her husband?

David's mother, Clara, marries Mr. Murdstone, who appears handsome and charming at first but proves to be sadistic and hard-hearted. Clara becomes his "victim" in that he is able to dominate her through the force of his will and insists that she learn "firmness" in her dealings with David. In fact, Murdstone is an example of "toxic masculinity"—he believes that, as a man, his views cannot be challenged; emotionally manipulates others (Clara) to get his way; and is not afraid to use physical violence to enforce his will. Indeed, it seems the object of his desire for "firmness" is to punish David and that he derives a kind of repressed pleasure from corporal punishment. Murdstone effectively destroys Clara emotionally by perverting the one thing that gave her life meaning, which was her love for David.

David's mother Clara is a sweet and gentle creature, far too fragile for this harsh, unforgiving world. Eight years after David's father dies, his mother remarries. Unfortunately for her, and for her son, she makes a really bad choice. When David comes home after visiting Peggotty's family, he discovers that he has a new stepfather, Mr. Murdstone. Murdstone is a thoroughly nasty piece of work. He is a cold, sadistic bully who proceeds to treat his blended family like dirt. As well as beating poor David at the drop of a hat, Murdstone and his equally disgusting brood take full advantage of Clara's trusting nature, subjecting her to a campaign of psychological abuse and intimidation. Before long, the Murdstones have taken over control of the household, and Clara effectively becomes a stranger in her own home.

What do the manmade structures in Sense and Sensibility tell us about the societies in which the characters live?

I would interpret the question to mean social structures. The manmade social structure that tells us the most about the society in this novel is patriarchy.
Patriarchy is a system in which men are in charge of society, and a person's last name is passed down from one's father. In this system, property is most often handed down from father to son or the closest male heir. Women are grafted into this system through marriage, and women who are unmarried are marginalized.
The novel shows how the Dashwood mother and sisters are edged out of an inheritance by male heirs and forced to leave their home at Norland to live in a much smaller house called Barton Cottage. The injustice of this kind of privileging of men over women is implied through the fate of the daughters, rather than stated outright.
Because marriage is what confers status on a woman, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are forced to endure the snobbery and belittling of married women like Lady Middleton who are actually lesser people than they are. The final piece-de-resistance of an unworthy woman climbing the social ladder through marriage is the conniving and low-minded Lucy Steele managing to marry the wealthy Robert Ferrars. She has clawed her way into a position where as Lucy Ferrars (some scholars believe Austen meant her name to be read as "Lucifer") she can lord it over other women, not because of personal worth, but because patriarchy rewards married women. Austen most certainly did not condone this system.

The man made structures throughout the text of "Sense and Sensibility" are, for the most part, all houses of varying sizes. Most prominently featured is the estate of Norland Park. This sprawling house sits on an impressive acreage and is beautiful and intricate in its design, while also being expansive and all-inclusive, showing its grandeur.
This structure is a clear depiction of lavish living, wealth and extravagance, and is juxtaposed thoroughly against Barton Cottage, a modest, ascetic dwelling in Devon. This cottage, while being small and unassuming, is filled with much more warmth and vivacity than the expansive Norland Park estate.
These two abodes show two contrasting characteristics of society in the time of the writing - that of the wealthy and extravagant, who spare no luxuries but lead lives of more lonesome existence and also show more greed and lower moral fiber, and that of the low-class individuals who live rich lives connected with their townsfolk and engaged in affairs of good-nature.

What is the rhyme scheme and its analysis in Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 20"?

Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 20” follows a very standard rhyme scheme for the sonnets. The poem is divided into four parts, three of them quatrains followed by a two-line refrain at the end of the poem. In total, there are 14 lines, and they follow a very standard set of rhyming rules.
The first three stanzas, the quatrains, are written in an alternating rhyming scheme. This means that the first and third lines rhyme, as well as the second and fourth lines. This creates an alternating rhythm in each stanza, connecting each line not to the one immediately following it but the subsequent one. The rhyme scheme gives structure and continuity through each quatrain while not leaving it stilted, connecting only in couplets.
The repeated structure of the quatrain for each of the three stanzas gives a similar and cohesive feeling. This rhyming scheme and rhythm ties the stanzas together, helping the reader feel the connection and rhythm throughout the first three stanzas. As the lines ebb and flow between one rhyme and the next, it gives the semblance of ambulation, as if the reader is walking somewhere, which builds up anticipation throughout the final quatrain.
Eventually, the scheme ends and a final refrain is introduced—two simple lines with a shared rhyme. This is the resolution to the poem, giving a finality that concludes the meter of the poetry, ending the feeling of motion. By concluding it in this manner, there is an abrupt and definitive end that diverges from, while also enhancing, the prior stanzas.
The poem is playful and has somewhat overt sexual overtones, making it rather shocking for the historical reader. This rhyming pattern illuminates the playful qualities of the poem and helps to guide gentle and humorous rhymes together without having to be too obvious. By splitting the rhymes, Shakespeare buried the lead and makes the humor of the poem more surprising.

What are some political ramifications in 2018 of raising the minimum wage?

The potential ramifications of increases in the minimum wage have been addressed and described in both economic and political terms. In terms of economics, proponents believe a minimum wage increase leads to a corresponding increase in actual consumer purchasing, thereby stimulating the economy. Opponents, on the other hand, contend that increases could lead to layoffs and labor automation.
However, addressing the political dimension and the potential ramifications of a wage increase more specifically, there are several observations that can be made.
First, an increase in the minimum wage accompanies a relative increase in the power of workers versus employers. If the increase is tied to a level that eliminates poverty among the gainfully employed, termination is no longer a disciplinary incentive, since the "paycheck to paycheck" phenomenon would ostensibly disappear. In a widely cited article from 1943, economist Michal Kalecki observed a similar issue arising out of full employment:

under a regime of permanent full employment, the ‘sack’ would cease to play its role as a disciplinary measure. The social position of the boss would be undermined, and the self-assurance and class-consciousness of the working class would grow.


The political ramification, therefore, in this argument is of a fundamental shift in the social dynamics between employees and bosses.
Second, there is a belief that a sizable increase in the minimum wage would lead to youth dis-employment (or the redundancy of formerly employed youth). In other words, minimum-wage jobs previously held by persons under the age of eighteen would now be sought by adults. A large number of unemployed youth would lead to malaise and generally ill societal effects, such as crime. This has been the subject of several papers, including a 2013 one by Boston College researchers and a 2017 one out of the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Evidence for the effect that a minimum wage increase has on public order is varied. Some of it is suggestive that, indeed, increases in the minimum wage may be tied to increases in crime due to a greater number of idle youth. Other evidence suggests that a low minimum wage itself may exacerbate crime, as impoverished workers seek to augment their earnings through illegal enterprises such as theft, prostitution, drug dealing, and so forth.
A final political ramification of changes to the minimum wage is tied closely to the economics of wage adjustment. Namely, if—as some have suggested—increases in minimum wage lead to corresponding increases in consumer costs as companies pass on their heightened expenses, there may be a backlash effect at the voting booth as middle-income earners see their real wages decrease due to price inflation caused by increases in the wages of lower-income earners.
http://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/exploring-the-politics-of-the-minimum-wage

https://mitpress.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.7551/mitpress/9780262141024.001.0001/upso-9780262141024-chapter-8

What is the city of tragedy in the book The Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver?

The word tragedy is only used once in this book, on page 56, to refer to the incident with Eleanor and the Amazons on the plateau. This event happens on a plateau in the wilderness and not in a city at all.
So let's examine some of the other cities in the novel to see which one could be considered a city of tragedy.
First is Paris, referred to by Abbot Suger as the "city of light" (p. 25), which is a common phrase used to refer to Paris. He also calls Paris a "city of ideas" and the "city of the University" (both p. 25). Nothing especially tragic happens in Paris in this book.
Next in the book is Vitry. This could be considered a city of tragedy as a tragedy occurs there: King Louis set fire to the city's roofs and, instead of fleeing, the people took shelter in their church. When the church collapsed, these 1300 people died because of Louis's actions. He repented and began living a simpler life, wearing monks' robes and deciding to go on a crusade to Jerusalem (considered a holy action but in reality, just another violent invasion). This is a major event in the book, and this incident is a big catalyst for the collapse of Eleanor and Louis's marriage.
The next city described in the book is Constantinople. It is described as "magnificent," "gay," "glittered," and "dipped in a rainbow," a "city of color, but also of ceremonies" (all p. 44).
The next city in the book is Damascus. It is there that Louis's crusade ends: "The plan to take Damascus was a failure" (p. 59). This could be considered a tragedy; doubtless many people died. But none of this is described in detail in the book; this is the last time the city is described.
The final city mentioned in the book is Jerusalem. This city is never shown in the narrative, only mentioned. It is considered by the characters telling the story to be a "holy city" (p. 148). Despite this, capturing or holding the city is the objective of them multiple crusades which happen throughout the book. So it could also be considered a city which gave rise to tragedy despite none of the story actually being set there.
If this is a question raised by an assignment, it may be that your teacher has used the specific phrase "city of tragedy," in which case you should review your course materials or ask your teacher about it.

It seems to me that many American books, short stories, and poems have the theme that knowledge is not important if you are not imaginative. For example, Joy in “Good Country People” thinks she is smarter than everyone because she is intellectual and educated, but she is not imaginative enough. I need a 21st-century American poem or short story that emphasizes this theme.

I think you have picked an excellent theme that describes a lot of contemporary American literature. To help you select a text that best suits your tastes and needs, I will discuss several options that address the theme of innovation.
For poetry, I would suggest the poem “Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins. This poem is written from the perspective of a teacher who has difficulty getting students to understand or appreciate poetry. It fits very well with your explanation of theme because the student’s lack the imagination required to truly study poems.
For a novel, you might consider The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. This novel fits with your theme because the protagonist, Hazel, only begins to see beyond her myopic, logical view of life after falling in love with a highly imaginative young man.
For a short story, you should consider exploring the works of Chuck Palahnuik, George Saunders, and Junot Diaz. Although I can’t pinpoint one specific story to use, each of these authors is known for his imaginative style.
I hope this helps you select the best work for your analysis. Good luck!

Why did Dolly attack Buck?

It's a harsh life in the frozen wilderness, especially for the hardworking dogs on the trail. The sub-zero temperatures, the extreme exhaustion, the lack of food, and the vicious attacks by wild dogs all take their toll on the animals, physically and mentally. Under the circumstances, it wouldn't be at all surprising if one of the dogs should go completely insane. Sadly, that's precisely what does happen one morning, when Dolly, one of the sled dogs, goes mad and starts chasing Buck. Francois knows that a mad dog is absolutely no use to the team and represents a clear and present danger to itself and others. He kills Dolly with an ax, but not before Buck has become thoroughly exhausted by the mad chase.

How is existentialism portrayed in this book?

Through the narrative, we can understand that the theme of existentialism takes an ironic turn as Orwell progresses in the story further. The way animals living at the farm were initially controlled by the human farm owner, their inner need to express and exercise their freedom increased day by day. Therefore a major glimpse of existentialism can be witnessed at that point when the spark of rebellion ignited among the animals to overthrow human control, and getting a free reign on their farm. As the true essence of the existential autonomy is that people govern their lives by making their own choices and decisions, animals thwarted the totalitarian concept in favor of the free-willed, liberal approach. However, the same freedom movement came to bite its followers when a selected few from their own clan took control over the farm as quoted in the text:
“This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm
Thus the existentialism took an ironic turn when it got exercised selectively for the pig leadership only.

While existentialism isn't an overt theme in the book, there are elements of it, nonetheless. One such element is the need to impose meaning on an inherently meaningless world. That's precisely what the animals do when they take over the running of the farm from Mr. Jones. Where once they were slaves, now the animals have meaning and purpose in their lives.
Existential freedom is another important element. In bringing about the Animalist revolution, the animals are making a conscious choice to take control of their destiny, affirming their existential freedom to make their own decisions in life instead of running away from it as, according to existentialist thinkers, so many of us often do.
Having made this momentous decision, the animals must then live with the consequences of their actions. This helps to explain why so many of them are reluctant to challenge Napoleon's regime, even when things start to go wrong. All the animals have taken ownership of the revolution; it's an expression of the existential identity they've constructed for themselves. They've come to feel that this is their true identity, true because it has been freely chosen, and that in existentialist terms, it would be inauthentic of them to walk away from what they truly are.

Montag tells Mildred, "I need you so much right now. . . ." What does he need? What is he seeking to attain with his wife?

After Captain Beatty leaves Montag's home, Montag shows Mildred his secret stash of books and begs her to help him read them in the hope of finding some significant, life-changing information. Montag pleads with Mildred to look through books in order to attach meaning to their superficial, shallow lives. Montag recognizes that his marriage is failing, Mildred will eventually commit suicide, and he will continue embracing his meaningless, unfulfilling life if they continue down the same path.
When Montag tells Mildred that he desperately needs her right now, he is hoping that his wife will acknowledge his thoughts regarding their marriage and superficial life, which will motivate Mildred to look to books for answers to life's most pressing questions. Essentially, Montag is attempting to influence his wife to read books with him in order to alter the trajectory of their lives.
Tragically, Mildred refuses to examine herself or engage in intellectual pursuits. She seems perfectly content watching her interactive parlor walls, listening to her Seashell radios, and self-medicating.

In Great Expectations, how did Joe prove to be Pip's savior in London? What regrets did Pip have after that? How did he make amends?

After Magwitch is captured, Pip is resolute in doing everything possible to help the injured man get out of prison. Pip finally realizes how much the convict did for him and sees his treatment of Joe in a negative light. Soon, however, Pip falls ill; back at the Temple, he floats in and out of consciousness. When he finally becomes fully conscious, he realizes that the dreams he was having of Joe were genuine perceptions: Joe has come up to London to stay with him. Joe tells Pip that he has been sick for a month. Pip finally feels real remorse for his previous behavior, calling on Joe to hit him and look angry. As Pip grows stronger, he struggles to communicate his true feelings to Joe, who pays off Pip’s debts and goes back to the marsh before Pip can figure out how to do so.
When Pip returns to the town, thinking he will propose to Biddy, he finds that Joe and Biddy have just gotten married. He tells them how much they mean to him, promises to repay Joe for the debts he paid off, and begs them both to say they forgive him. While he is away working in Cairo, they have a little boy and name him Pip.

What did Gulliver enjoy while traveling?

While traveling, Gulliver very much enjoys telling the other creatures that he meets about how wonderful Europe, and especially England, is. For example, in Brobdingnag, he tries to explain the British government to the king, although the king is quite unimpressed with Gulliver's explanations. Gulliver tries harder to awe him by explaining gunpowder, which can

not only Destroy whole Ranks of an Army at once; but batter the strongest Walls to the Ground; sink down Ships with a thousand Men in each, to the Bottom of the Sea; and when linked together by a Chain, would cut through Masts and Rigging; diving Hundreds of Bodies in the Middle, and lay all Waste before them.

Still trying to impress the king he views as ignorant and narrow because of his inexperience in the wider world, Gulliver offers to pass along the recipe for this miracle substance. The king, of course, is horrified, calling Gulliver an "impotent and groveling insect." Gulliver very much enjoys telling those he visits how wonderful England is, and he is quite shocked when the Brobdingnagian king fails to share his opinion.

What does the symbol pollution mean in Haroun and the Sea of Stories?

It has been argued by a number of literary scholars and critics that Salman Rushdie uses pollution to symbolize the censorship of free speech. This is an issue of great personal importance to Rushdie, as he was subject to death threats and forced to go into hiding after the publication of The Satanic Verses.
In Haroun and the Sea of Stories, the Oceans of the Streams of Story are so heavily polluted that Haroun's friends, the fish Goopy and Bagha, become ill. Normally, when people drink from the ocean they are transported into a completely different world, the kind of world that only stories can evoke. The ocean is a precious repository of all manner of stories, a vital storehouse of cultural memory. Yet thanks to the Chupwalas, that ocean's now become polluted by poison
The Chupwalas live in Chup, which is the land of permanent darkness. It isn't too much of a stretch to see this as an allusion to the kind of Islamic fundamentalists who've threatened—and continue to threaten—Salman Rushdie's life. The Chupwalas, just like the Islamic fundamentalists on which they're based, seek to repress and destroy any cultural traditions that challenge their restricted, narrow-minded world-view.

Does the ending of "Dear John Wayne" hold a positive view? Specifically, is the last sentence implying the potential possibility for Native Americans to take on a radical change, or is it just expressing their agony and frustration?

The final line of "Dear John Wayne" can be seen as referring to John Wayne, Native Americans, or both.
Part of the reference is clearly to cancer, and the metaphor is that colonialism or imperialism or land greed is cancerous or cancer-like. Cancer was what killed Wayne. A further irony is that he likely acquired it from radiation from nuclear testing that was going on nearby when he filmed The Conqueror. In it, he portrayed Genghis Khan, with yellow-face makeup and eyes taped back to fit preconceptions of Asians.
Most of Wayne's films, especially his westerns, express a belief in Manifest Destiny, that the lands of the US were destined for colonization. Wayne also called himself a white supremacist in a notorious Playboy interview and felt Native Americans were "selfish" in trying to keep their land. The poem's author, Ojibwe poet Louise Erdich, could be arguing Wayne and others who covet Native lands will die by their own cancerous mentality.
Another reference in the final line is skins "splitting out." "Skins" is a Native nickname for themselves, a shortening of the epithet "redskins." It is an attempt at taking away the power of an epithet to harm, much like blacks using the N-word among themselves. Erdrich could be arguing that Natives will reassert themselves. Or she could be saying they will abandon their heritage.
I'd argue all three interpretations are potentially valid.

What does Lancelot imagine as Guinevere leaves the room? How is this reciprocated? How does this affect Lancelot?

John Steinbeck began writing his final novel, The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights, in 1956. The novel is an adaptation of Arthurian legend, based on the Winchester Manuscript text of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d ‘Arthur. As such, Steinbeck presented the story with a somewhat more contemporary style while remaining true to the original tales.
I believe the scene you are asking about occurs when Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere meet by chance and share a surreptitious, yet passionate, embrace. Guinevere hastily departs to tend to King Arthur, leaving Lancelot weeping beneath the staircase. First, and most obvious, Lancelot is heartbroken over the loss of his true love, Guinevere. Although he and Guinevere most definitely love one another, he understands that their love must remain unfulfilled. Lancelot has pledged his undying loyalty to King Arthur, and, as he is an honorable knight, he cannot bring disgrace upon himself or break his moral code by betraying the king. Lastly, as an Arthurian Knight, Lancelot is often in the public eye which, again, means he must comport himself with integrity befitting a knight.

What is Nick doing after he finishes his work?

While working at the concession stand, Nick sees Leo emotionally abusing Neysa, which reminds Nick of himself. A short while afterwards, Nick learns that Leo has killed himself and Neysa. Because Leo—and the abuse in his past—remind Nick of his own life and violent tendencies, this leads Nick to take a hard look at himself. He reflects on his last violent incident with Caitlyn in his journal, revealing to the reader that he had taken her into the parking lot and beaten her for performing in their high school talent show:

I hit her again. This time, my fist was clenched, my feet set. . . . Knuckles meeting her jaw. . . . I was small, weak. Gaining power, though. Gaining power by taking it from her and the words coursing from my throat. I hit her again, not seeing her face, couldn’t make her real if I wanted. Only anger, red, violent, on me like a cloak. My hands closing around her neck, barely knowing who she was.

Tom, walking by at that precise moment, intervenes. For Nick, writing in his journal and admitting his abuse is a step toward the right direction. Not only does Nick begin to write more in his journal, he also begins to make real progress in his family violence class, recognizing the cycle of abuse:

I’m a loser. That’s what my dad says, anyway. Loser. Failure. I tried to prove him wrong, finding things I could control, like my grades. And Caitlin. When she said no, or I’d think there was someone else, there’d be this voice in my head, almost too soft to hear, whispering loser. You’re a loser, a mistake. And I had to drown it out, had to win, no matter the cost. . . . But, what it cost was Caitlin. Hurting her made me a loser.

What happens not too long after Nick witnesses Leo’s psychological abuse of Neysa at the concession stand is the beginning of the major turning point (Leo’s abuse and subsequent murder of Neysa) in Nick’s path toward becoming a better person: the tragic story of Leo and Neysa is the harsh mirror which leads Nick to deal with and end the cycle of abuse started by his own father.

Where does Hannah travel back in time to?

In the novel, Hannah travels back in time to 1942, to a village near the city of Lublin in what is now Poland. Her name was Chayah. Her aunt and uncle have taken her in because her parents died of an epidemic illness in Lublin, where they lived.
Soon she and her relatives are taken to a so-called work camp. The Nazis operated numerous, infamous concentration camps in Poland, including Majdanek and Treblinka. The camp where Hannah/ Chayah and her family go is almost certainly Auschwitz. This is indicated by the now well known sign over the front gate, which read in German, "Arbeit macht frei," which means "Work makes you free." As many Jews had been sent to hard labor and knowledge of the mass murders was suppressed, many captives believed this was actually a work camp.

What literary devices are used in Great Expectations chapters 48–49?

ImageryWhen Pip narrates his walk with Mr. Jaggers to Little Britain, he uses language that appeals to readers' senses to allow them to picture the scene as if they were there. He particularly emphasizes what Little Britain looks like when he says:

...while the lights were springing up brilliantly in the shop windows, and the street lamplighters, scarcely finding ground enough to plant their ladders on in the midst of the afternoon’s bustle, were skipping up and down and running in and out...

SimileA simile compares two things using words such as "like" and "as." Pip compares the effect of the shadows of the fire falling on two objects to a children's game:

As I stood idle by Mr. Jaggers’s fire, its rising and falling flame made the two casts on the shelf look as if they were playing a diabolical game at bo-peep with me.

This is also an example of irony, because we do not expect a children's game to be labeled as "diabolical," a word that implies evil. The overall effect of these two literary devices is humor.
MetaphorA metaphor also compares two things, but it does not use "like" or "as." One thing is directly said to be another, though it cannot be literally true. For example, "the girl is a ray of sun in my life" would mean that this girl brings joy to the speaker. Chapter 48 contains a metaphor. Pip recalls something Mr. Jaggers has said about a woman: "A wild beast tamed, you called her." The woman in question is not actually a wild beast, but she must demonstrate the characteristics or qualities of one.
Here's an example from Chapter 49:
SimileI will quote a passage and then analyze the simile.

The nooks of ruin where the old monks had once had their refectories and gardens, and where the strong walls were now pressed into the service of humble sheds and stables, were almost as silent as the old monks in their graves.

Pip passes a monastery that has fallen into decay, and he notes that the physical spaces, or the "nooks of ruin," are empty and quiet. He compares the stillness of these physical spaces to the stillness of the monks in their graves. By linking the two, he emphasizes the idea that the monastery has fallen out of use and is decaying because of it, as those who used it are dead.
There are many more examples of literary devices in these chapters, but hopefully these few will get you started.

What would be a good lead-in for the quote, "You and your blood, Jack Merridew! You and your hunting! We might have gone home."

Lord of the Flies tells the story of young boys being stuck in a remote island in the Pacific. Their actions and relationships—with each other and with the island—begin to develop in complicated ways throughout the story. For instance, the dynamics between the boys show a formation of hierarchy that is similar to how totalitarian governments develop.
The particular quote "You and your blood, Jack Merridew! You and your hunting! We might have gone home," is said by the character Ralph. He is the protagonist of the novel. Jack Merridew is the antagonist in the story and the rival of Ralph. The two are co-leaders of the boys. They represent the duality of leadership styles that affect the fate of the group.
In this particular passage, Ralph chastises Jack for being obsessed with leading a hunting party instead of focusing on trying to get rescued.
The line that precedes this excerpt is, "There was a ship." (A ship has passed by the boy's island, but the signal fire was not ignited to alert the ship about the boys' presence.) Before that sentence, Ralph has already been expressing his agitation with Jack by saying, "You let the fire go out." Ralph's tone is aggressive, and this causes the group of hunters, even Jack himself, to be silent.
https://www.trinitycollege.com/gallery/anthologyonline/download.php?id=835

Where does narrator hide the corpse in "The Tell-Tale Heart"?

In Edgar Allen Poe’s 1843 short story, The Tell-Tale Heart, an unnamed and “dreadfully nervous” narrator attempts to convince the reader of the narrator’s affection for an elderly housemate, a rich old man who recently died. It’s important to the narrator that he isn’t taken for a madman, though how could he be? What madman could behave so cautiously, and recount their story so calmly, the narrator asks. He loved the old man. He didn’t want his money and had no cause for revenge; the old man had been perfectly polite. There was really only the one problem. The old man had an Evil Eye, pale and blue and filmy. It haunted the narrator to be watched by such an eye, “the eye of a vulture.”

When the narrator killed the old man, it wasn’t without pity. The narrator pitied that the old man had to die and that he had to experience so much terror as he lay in the dark, in his final moments, listening to the hinges of his door creak open. The narrator could hear the old man’s fear as his heartbeat grew “quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant.” If the old man’s eye incited all this inconvenience, it was the beat of his heart that precipitated the final blow, “as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.”

The narrator reminds the reader not to confuse a gift of acute senses for madness. Wait until you learn of the precautions taken to conceal the crime, the narrator says. The old man’s body was dismembered and hidden beneath three planks of his bedroom floor. There was no blood, which had been caught in a tub, and nothing amiss in the old man’s room. There were, however, police officers at the door, called by a neighbor to investigate a shriek in the night. Fearless, the narrator invited them to search the property, audaciously inviting them to sit in the old man’s room and see for themselves that all was well, the old man was out of town, the neighbor overheard nothing but the narrator’s own nightmare.

The narrator explains that they would have believed him, such was his caution and foresight, had it not been for the sound pounding over the officers’ conversation. Couldn’t they hear it? “They were making a mockery of my horror,” he thought at the time. Unable to bear the noise of the heart and the smiles of the policemen, the narrator confessed, commanding the officers to tear up the planks. “here, here!—It is the beating of his hideous heart!”

Why is the poet unhappy with God in "On His Blindness"?

The speaker is initially unhappy with God for making him blind; he thinks this means he'll no longer be able to serve him. He's spent nearly half his life serving the Almighty through his God-given gift of writing, yet that gift has now been cruelly snatched away from him due to the onset of blindness, and the speaker can't understand why. Why should someone who's been such a loyal servant of God be treated like this?
But patience is a virtue, and the personified figure of Patience comes to Milton in his hour of darkness (both literal and metaphorical). Patience tells Milton that God doesn't need any special works from man, such as his writings. He will always love best those who "bear his mild yoke," i.e. those patiently accept that God is in control of their fate. Even those, then, like the blind Milton, who are unable to rush "o'er land and ocean," can also serve God just as well though their patient bearing of life's misfortunes.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44750/sonnet-19-when-i-consider-how-my-light-is-spent

In Chasing Redbird what was the conflict?

For much of the story, Zinny is riven by internal conflict. She blames herself for both the death of her Aunt Jessie and her cousin Rose. Somehow Zinny needs to overcome her feelings of guilt if she's to move on with her life. Clearing up the old, overgrown trail behind the family home gives her an opportunity to do this. Zinny is deeply unsure of her place in the world, a feeling compounded by the tragic loss of her loved ones. Yet the old trail that runs through the woods situates her in a specific place, a place she can truly call home.
As she begins the lengthy process of uncovering the trail, Zinny also reveals previously hidden truths about herself and her family. In due course, the trail becomes a metaphor for the path of self-discovery along which Zinny travels throughout the story, and which enables her to overcome an internal conflict based on unwarranted feelings of guilt.

Why does Miss Bingley invite Elizabeth to remain in Netherfield?

Jane Bennet originally goes to visit Netherfield at the invitation of Miss Bingley. Mrs. Bennet is excited at the invitation, seeing it as a great opportunity for Jane to get to know the dashing Mr. Bingley a little better. She urges Jane to travel to Netherfield on horseback; that way, if it rains, Jane will get to spend the night at Netherfield, giving her more time to spend in the company of Mr. Bingley.
Mrs. Bennet's devious plan comes to fruition, but not quite in the way she intended. Jane does indeed get to spend the night at Netherfield, but it's only because she got soaked to the skin on her way there, riding on horseback in the open air during a heavy shower of rain. What's more, she's caught a nasty fever and so has to stay in bed.
When word reaches the Bennets of Jane's illness, a concerned Lizzie immediately heads off on foot to Netherfield, tramping through the mud to get there. Though somewhat taken aback by Lizzie's disheveled appearance, Miss Bingley agrees to let her come in. Lizzie spends every moment she can at Jane's bedside. Jane is much comforted by the presence of her sister and asks if she can stay the night. Miss Bingley graciously accedes to her request and invites Lizzie to spend the night at Netherfield.

Locate the literature review section in Baker et al's 2015 article "Delirium: Why are nurses confused?" Summarize using your own words from one of the study/literature findings. Be sure to identify which study you are summarizing. Discuss how the author's review of literature (studies) supported the research purpose/problem. Share something that was interesting to you as you read through the literature review section. Describe one strategy that you learned that would help you create a strong literature review/search for evidence. Share your thoughts on the importance of a thorough review of the literature.

Many of the studies discussed in the literature section of this article found that educating nurses about dementia was correlated with positive outcomes for patients, such as less time in the hospital (Meako, Thompson, & Cochrane, 2011; Tabet et al., 2005). Different researchers also assessed how much nurses know about delirium in patients.
For example, Hare and colleagues (2008) assessed over 1,000 nurses about their knowledge of delirium and its risk factors. They found that the nurses in their study had better general knowledge of delirium than they did about the risk factors for delirium. Another study by Fisk and colleagues (2007) used case vignettes to determine if nurses could distinguish different types of dementia. In this study, the nurses were better able to identify dementia than to distinguish dementia from DSD (delirium superimposed on dementia) symptoms. There were other studies mentioned in the literature section that you can summarize.
The researchers used the literature review to inform their research questions, including their assessment of how much the nurses in their study knew about delirium and how much the nurses knew about the risk factors for delirium. These questions came directly from the results of the literature review, which suggested that many nurses do not have a general understanding of delirium and do not understand the risk factors for delirium. As other studies have found that nurses need more education about these conditions, these are pertinent questions to ask in this study.
You can think about what is most interesting to you in this study. In general, one strategy that researchers can use in literature reviews is to ask a question (such as what nurses know about delirium) and look up the relevant studies about this question. It is important to conduct a literature review so that your study can build on previous studies and can ask the right questions that continue to advance the research in these areas.

A hunting rifle fires a bullet of mass 0.450619 kg with a velocity of 849 m/s to the right. The rifle has a mass of 4.37 kg. What is the recoil speed of the rifle as the bullet leaves the rifle?

This question deals with Newton's third law of motion and the conservation of momentum. Newton's third law states that when a force is applied to one object, an equal force is applied to a second object in the opposite direction. People tend to summarize this law by saying that "every action has an equal and opposite reaction." The law also deals with momentum and the idea that the momentum within a closed system is conserved. If the gun and bullet were not moving at the start, then the total momentum was zero. If the bullet goes forward, in order for the total momentum to remain a value of zero, then the gun must move backward (negative velocity) to conserve the original momentum. The formula for momentum is mass times velocity.
P = mv
P = .450619 x 849
P = 382.57553 kg-m/s
Now that you've found the momentum of the bullet, rewrite the original formula so that you are now solving for the velocity of the weapon.
V = P/m
V = 382.57553/4.37
V = 87.545887 m/s to the left

What are the similarities and differences between lyric and epic poetry?

The main similarity between lyric and epic poetry is that they're both primarily concerned with telling stories of one kind or another. Lyric poetry is poetry of the emotions; more often than not, a poetry of love. As such, it often has a story to tell, whether it's of the speaker's emotions or of his quest to find love.
It's the latter aspect of lyric poetry with which epic poetry has the most in common. Epic poems are concerned with telling stories, but they are more than just subjective expressions of feeling. They deal with larger than life characters, both mortal and immortal, whose extraordinary adventures give shape and meaning to the world in which we live.
Epics, like lyric poems, were originally designed to be recited to the accompaniment of a lyre—which is where we get the word "lyric" from. In many cases, they weren't written down; they were passed down from generation to generation through the medium of song.
In lyric poetry, the main emphasis is on the individual. In epic poetry, it's on humankind as a whole. Lyric poetry deals with the specific, the concrete, whether it's an emotion or a philosophical insight as in Wordsworth. Epic poetry, on the other hand, deals with the universal, with general ideas and situations that speak to humankind in general by providing objective truths.

Can a paralegal conduct a settlement conference without a supervising lawyer present?

Licensed attorneys are responsible for a paralegal’s work, and they can be sanctioned by their state bar association for the paralegal’s actions. It is in the attorney’s best interest to closely monitor the type of work, and the manner in which the paralegal’s work is performed.
In this scenario, the question is, “Can a paralegal conduct a settlement conference without a supervising lawyer present?” The short answer is, “No.” Paralegals have the right to attend a settlement conference with their supervising attorney and also assist with them, but they cannot conduct a settlement conference without a supervising lawyer present.
The majority of paralegals find themselves involved in all phases of the litigation process, including legal research, drafting of pleadings and motions through the discovery process, trial preparation, settlement, and post-judgment matters. In order to avoid the unauthorized practice of law, a paralegal should always have their supervising attorney present at settlement conferences.

In general, courts and statutes have ruled that a paralegal may not practice law, so it would not be an ethical practice for an unsupervised paralegal to conduct a legal settlement either on behalf of an attorney or as an independent contractor. There are several court cases on record that describe situations where a paralegal, with the knowledge and consent of their supervising attorney, conducted client settlement meetings, and most of them resulted in the disbarment of the attorney (Maryland v. Hallmon, 1996).
Aside from legal and ethical violations, the primary reason that paralegals should not conduct a settlement conference is that they are likely to be put in a position to give legal advice or determine the strategy or course of action for the case since that is fundamentally the purpose of those meetings. To avoid violating statutes and rulings, attorneys must attend settlement conferences with their legal staff, but they may delegate tasks such as information gathering or interviewing the client.

What are 3 causes of Bacon's Rebellion?

In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon led Virginia settlers in an armed uprising against their governor, William Berkeley. There were several things that happened leading to the uprising, but the most direct cause was disagreement between Berkeley and the colonists regarding the Native Americans. Berkeley had previous worked to establish peace with the Native American tribes, but as the settlers’s population kept growing, they started expanding into tribal land. Native Americans attacked settlers in the Western frontier, and Berkeley did not provide protection for the colonists. When the colonists wanted to attack the Native Americans or move westward, they were not allowed to do so.
Along with the issues that developed between the Native Americans and the colonists, there were also higher taxes. This combined with lower tobacco prices created economic problems for the settlers, especially small farmers. Berkeley also restricted the right to vote to land owners, which led to fewer people controlling the government. Many settlers felt that they were insubordinate and being ruled by an Aristocratic class.

How does Coraline define bravery?

In Coraline by Neil Gaiman, Coraline tells the cat a story from when she was younger. She went on a walk with her father, when suddenly, her father tells Coraline to run. They had stepped on a wasp nest, and her father let himself get stung so Coraline could run away. After he ran, he dropped his glasses and needed to return to get them before he forgot where they were. Coraline tells the cat:

"He said that he wasn’t scared when he was standing there and the wasps were stinging him and hurting him and he was watching me run away. Because he knew he had to give me enough time to run, or the wasps would have come after both of us . . . And he said that wasn’t brave of him, doing that, just standing there and being stung,” said Coraline to the cat. “It wasn’t brave because he wasn’t scared: it was the only thing he could do. But going back again to get his glasses, when he knew the wasps were there, when he was really scared. That was brave."

The cat asks her why that was brave of him, and Coraline answers, "Because . . . when you’re scared but you still do it anyway, that’s brave.”
Coraline defines bravery as choosing to do something in spite of being scared. Coraline demonstrates this definition of bravery by going back to save her parents from the other mother.
We see how Coraline is scared, but she does it anyway. The other mother asks her:

"What exactly are you offering?"
"Me," said Coraline, and she gripped her knees under the table, to stop them from shaking. "If I lose I'll stay here with you forever . . ."

In this passage, Coraline's shaking knees shows us she is frightened. But she grabs them to stop the shaking and proceeds with the game anyway. Coraline follows her definition of bravery.

Coraline defines bravery in the following way:

Being brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared. Being brave means you are scared, really scared, badly scared, and you do the right thing anyway.

In other words, being brave is related to what you do, not how you feel. Coraline openly admits that she's scared, but that doesn't prevent her from doing the right thing, which is what really matters. Coraline has every right to be scared given the many creepy things she comes across in her adventures. Dog bats, a slug in an egg-case, and a horrible, shapeless grub with twig-like hands—anyone would be petrified at encountering such hideous creatures. But Coraline doesn't let her understandable fears hold her back. She stays positive in the face of this grotesque parade of horrors. Despite her tender years, Coraline is already mature and wise enough to know what needs to be done. And although the prospect of having to save her parents from the evil clutches of the Other Mother fills her with dread and fear, she doesn't hesitate to make the attempt, proving once more her enormous bravery.

What type of threat actors would attack US ports, and why?

A threat actor is an individual or an entity that is capable of (potentially) compromising the safety and security of others. In cyber security, cyber terrorism, and cyber threat intelligence, threat actors are people or groups of people that attempt and/or succeed in intentionally or unintentionally breaching and/or stealing personal data and information from various companies, organizations, enterprises, or individuals.
There are four main types of threat actors: cyber criminals, hacktivists, state-sponsored actors, and insiders. The most important reason why these types of attackers target the US is the fact that, as a developed economy, the country is heavily dependent on the use of various computerized machines and the Internet. Therefore, it is prone to frequent cyber attacks. In 2018, the former director for cyber-security policy at the Obama White House, Rob Knake, stated that "America is politically and technically the most susceptible nation in the world to digital attacks." Furthermore, statistics show that the average cost of cybercrime in the US is $17.36 million.
1. Cyber criminals: Cyber criminals are threat actors and attackers who gain access to personal, health, and financial data and information by using various techniques and tools like phishing or ransomware. Phishing is most often used for identity theft, as it allows the attacker to access and steal private data by sending a fake email to an unsuspecting user, claiming that it’s from a legitimate source, which redirects the user to a fake website where they have to enter their personal information, such as credit card numbers or social security numbers.
Why cyber criminals attack: Cyber criminals attack for financial gain. They steal personal data in order to sell it on the black market and make money. They operate behind anonymous networks and use various encryption methods and digital currencies to hide their communications and transactions. One of the most famous examples of cybercrime in the US was the attack on Equinox (a company that enables access to credit) in 2017, in which the personal information of nearly 148 million Americans was stolen and used for malicious purposes.
2. Hacktivists: Hacktivists are threat actors that steal and publicize private and even classified information from individuals or websites to damage their reputation. They manage to do this through distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS), using botnets, in which they flood the targeted website with a lot of traffic, causing it to crash. Nearly twenty-two percent of cyber attacks in the US have been done through DDoS.
Why hacktivists attack: Hacktivists are motivated by a political, social, or economic cause. Their goal is to expose a company’s weakness, to embarrass an individual whose ideology they do not agree with, or simply to commit vandalism. The most famous examples of hacktivist attacks in the US are the iCloud leaks of celebrities, in which countless photos of celebrities are leaked to the public in order to damage or clear their reputation.
3. State-sponsored actors: State-sponsored actors are well-funded attackers who commit cybercrime with the help and sponsorship of governments, nations, states, and other big entities. They manage to steal sensitive data and intellectual property by gaining access to the IT infrastructure. State-sponsored threats are usually difficult to detect, and organizations are often advised to develop strong security systems.
Why state-sponsored actors attack: State-sponsored actors attack to advance the socioeconomic, political, or cultural interests and agendas of the entities that sponsor them. Thus, they conduct intelligence, surveillance, and espionage. For instance, in “March 2018, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a joint technical alert to warn of Russian cyber attacks against US critical infrastructure. Targets included energy, nuclear, water, aviation, and manufacturing facilities.” Fifty-four percent of all cyber attacks in the US are state-sponsored attacks, or cyber espionage.
4. Insiders: Insiders are threat actors that knowingly or unknowingly provide personal and confidential data and information to others. They do this by mistake, by not following the rules and principles of the organization or the individual, by being deceived, or by intentionally sharing the data to others, usually for money.
Why insiders attack: When they share private information with others knowingly, insiders attack mainly for personal reasons, like revenge, or for financial gain. For instance, cyber-criminals can use employees in a certain company as “moles” so that they can gain access to the desired data and information. One of the most controversial examples of an insider attack in the US was the 2018 cyber-attack on Nuance (a speech-recognition software company), in which the personal records of 45,000 patients from one of the company’s medical transcription platforms were leaked. The cybercrime was committed by a former employee of Nuance, who hacked into the servers to access the patients’ data for personal reasons.
https://www.csis.org/programs/technology-policy-program/significant-cyber-incidents

Did Caudillos continue to rule throughout the entire 19th century or did someone else replace them?

Caudillos and the related phenomenon of caudillismo are primarily associated with the colonial era and the early-mid 19th century, including a few decades after independence was achieved. These local and regional “strongmen” commanded political loyalty and paramilitary forces but were usually not officially part of the government. Especially in colonial times, they were often criollos, people of primarily European heritage born in the Americas, who opposed the rule by peninulares, people born in Spain, whom the Crown exclusively appointed to high-ranking administrative posts. The increasing militarization of Latin America leading up to and during the wars of independence strengthened their hold considerably.
In the new nations, some caudillos gained more power and became national leaders, but not all of them maintained control. The situation varied considerably in different nations, and persisted in Brazil while it remained a monarchy. Caudillos exerted influence through patronage, bestowing favors on their followers, and a cult of personality, or charisma. In many cases, the institutionalization of power in governance structures allowed the caudillos to assume official positions; in others, regional bosses treasured their independence as they opposed the central government, especially the imposition of taxes.
The 19th century saw widespread civil wars, redrawing of national boundaries and regions seceding from countries, and the emergence of dictatorships that included popular support for quelling chaotic conditions. Ongoing bureaucratization, which increased the number of government positions and rewarded loyal followers with those positions, often diminished the caudillos’ followings.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/caudillismo

https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199766581/obo-9780199766581-0141.xml

Analyze Stowe’s use of the motif of opposites/contrasts in Uncle Tom's Cabin. How do these opposites/contrasts advance or support some themes of the novel?

Stowe primarily contrasts slave owners, and this supports her anti-slavery theme. While in her time many people supported slavery by arguing that the majority of slaveowners were good to their slaves, Stowe shows that for every "decent" slaveowner, a cruel slaveowner exists. She is thus able to illustrate that the institution of slavery is flawed and evil, for it depends too wholly on the moral decency of the owner. If the master lacks decency, slaves suffer terribly and have no recourse.
For example, Stowe contrasts the master of Eliza's husband, George—who forces George to do menial labor when he is talented with machinery—with the kind Mrs. Shelby, who does what she can to nurture her slaves.
Stowe also contrasts Augustine St. Clare with his wife. Augustine is a decent if careless man, who understands the evils inherent in the institution of slavery. His wife, in contrast, does not believe in freeing slaves, doesn't believe slavery is evil, and lacks any empathy toward her slaves. She won't, for example, let her Mammy get any sleep at night, but also expects her to be up and active during the day, at her beck and call all the time. Mrs. St. Clare sends an impertinent female slave out to be whipped, despite Ophelia begging her to reconsider and suggesting that the slave will be raped at the whipping house. Ophelia is another contrast to Mrs. St. Clare, for she frees Topsy, whereas Mrs. St. Clare refuses to honor her late husband's promise to free Tom.
In yet a further contrast, Augustine's brother Alfred is cruel to his slaves. Additionally, in contrast to Eva, who treats the slaves with angelic kindness and love, Alfred's son Henrique hits his slave in the face with a whip to keep him in his place.
Finally, George Shelby, Mr. and Mrs. Shelby's son, who comes too late to rescue Tom, is a sharp contrast to Simon Legree, who beats Tom to death.
Stowe's point is that for every "good" master, there is a bad master. She asks, who, with a shred of decency, would leave another human being in the hands of a sadistic owner?

There are two main reasons Monte Cristo now doubts himself. What are both?

What makes Edmond such a fascinating, complex character is that at various points in the story he entertains doubts about exacting such terrible revenge on his enemies. One such example comes in Chapter 67 when he successfully destroys Villefort. Thanks to Edmond's machinations, Villefort loses absolutely everything. Not only does his legal career and reputation lie in ruins, but his wife kills their child before committing suicide. Though in the previous chapter Villefort had cruelly instructed his wife to kill herself, he wasn't expecting her to murder their son. It is all too much for Villefort and he goes completely out of his mind. Edmond thinks that perhaps he went a little too far in his revenge.
He reflects on Villefort again when he returns to the Chateau d'If, the former site of his incarceration, which is now a tourist attraction. As he walks around the old prison, Edmond starts to feel pangs of guilt over the death of Villefort's son. The child was wholly innocent yet still suffered as a result of his father's public exposure as a criminal. But then Edmond reminds himself of the immense suffering he endured as a result of Villefort's scheming and realizes that, all things considered, he did the right thing in taking revenge on him and his other enemies.

Analyze the debate that took place the United States in the early stages of World War II over what role the country should play in the conflict. Discuss the attack on Pearl Harbor and the impact it had on sharpening American public opinion surrounding the World War II. What effects did World War II have on minority groups in the United States? How did women contribute to the war effort at home and on the battlefront? Compare and contrast the experiences of American soldiers serving in Europe and Africa to those serving in the Pacific. Discuss Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan. What were the arguments for and against such action, and what led him to eventually come to his decision?

There are a number of questions here, many of which are not directly related to each other. This response will focus on the first question. World War II broke out in the fall of 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. At this point, the United States under Franklin Roosevelt pursued a policy of neutrality, established through a series of laws known as the Neutrality Acts. Though most Americans were generally sympathetic to the British, a strong strain of isolationism existed in American politics—a feeling best exemplified by the "America First" Committee that opposed intervention in almost any case.
As Germany overran most of the European continent, and especially as they began the aerial bombardment of Great Britain that was intended to precede an invasion, the United States crept closer to war, beginning with a so-called "cash-and-carry" program intended to provide war materiel to the British. Eventually this policy, which was actually controversial, was expanded to a "Lend-Lease" plan that loaned military equipment and money to the Allied powers. Still, though, the US remained neutral, though war planners began in 1940 to plan a European war against Nazi Germany. Over time, American public opinion began to consider war as a possibility, though isolationists remained and essentially accused FDR of pushing the country toward war.
The catalyst for American involvement in the war was the expansion of Japan into Asia and the Pacific. Long at war after invading that country, the Japanese Empire occupied French Indochina (modern-day Vietnam) in July of 1941. President Roosevelt responded by freezing Japanese assets and halting the sale of oil to Japan. At this point, the Japanese High Command decided to attack the US Navy at Pearl Harbor. This massive sneak attack on the US Navy base took place in December of 1941 and ended US neutrality (both diplomatically and in terms of domestic politics) by dragging the nation into war with Japan, Germany, and Italy.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-freezes-japanese-assets

What examples are given to show patriotism in the poem "Where the Mind Is Without Fear"?

This poem by Rabindranath Tagore is an appeal to God to let the writer's country, India, "awake" into a "heaven of freedom." It is an inherently patriotic poem, but Tagore specifically equates his country's longed-for wakefulness and freedom with the removal of fear and the repression of knowledge, as well as superficial boundaries which have been placed upon it by others.
The "narrow domestic walls" which have been set up in India have contributed, in the mind of the poet, to a fragmentary feeling in the country that is counterproductive to patriotic feeling. He hopes instead for knowledge to be "free" and for a world in which "the depth of truth" is core to what is said. Patriotism longs for a world where there is no more lying or unnecessary separation of people.
The patriotic India, then, is constantly striving towards "perfection," rejecting "dead habit" and instead pursuing reason, which is imagined metaphorically as a "clear stream." Habit is the enemy of continuous improvement, but a mind led by God in pursuit of "thought and action" will be a mind that helps create a better country.

Which sociological theory is best when studying poverty in America? Structural-functionalism, social-conflict, or symbolic-interaction? Explain why.

Sociologists have used all three theories to explain poverty in America. The social-conflict theory seems to fit the situation in the United States, because it explains why there is little social mobility in this country. According to this theory, poverty arises out of a conflict between the elite classes and the classes with lower status and income (see the source below). The elite want to oppress the lower classes to make sure that they (the elite) maintain their power and income. It is not in the interest of the elite, this theory suggests, for the upper classes to work to make society more equitable. The oppression of the lower classes by the elite takes many forms, including the elite's control of access to higher education. This oppression makes it difficult for people born into the lower classes to move up in society. This theory explains why the poor stay poor and the elite also tend to maintain their status.
https://open.lib.umn.edu/socialproblems/chapter/2-3-explaining-poverty/

What are some thesis statements on Viola in Twelfth Night and Laetitia's mother in Borders?

Coming up with a thesis statement can be difficult. You should always take the prompt from your teacher into consideration first and think about what knowledge you are starting with. Do you have a basic answer to a thesis statement in your head or are you at a complete loss? You will be much more confident writing about a topic if you already feel like you understand it.
A couple of options for thesis statements about the character of Viola in Twelfth Night:
This essay will examine the evolution of Viola as a character as she adopts the identity of Cesario.
This essay will compare and contrast Viola in the role as Cesario and her brother, Sebastian.
A couple of options for thesis statements about the character of Laetitia's mother in Borders:
This essay will examine the concept of namelessness and the lack of identity given to Laetitia's mother.
The significance of a nameless mother and her impact on Laetitia's development as a character is the focus of this essay.

What is the name of the Hound of Hell in Good Omens?

In Neil Gaiman's Good Omens, Adam Young, the child who is actually the Antichrist in the making, is sent a hellhound for his 11th birthday by the denizens of Hell who watch over him. Not only does the beast exist to protect him from harm and keep him safe for the apocalyptic events to come, but great significance is ascribed to Adam's naming and mastery of the beast. It is a distorted blasphemy of the biblical Adam's naming of the beasts in the garden, and it serves as something of a rite of passage for the Antichrist. Against the expectations of the Infernal Powers, Adam insists that he desires a "Proper Mongrel" and chooses to simply name the beast "Dog." Bound to serve its master completely, the hulking beast transforms into a diminutive small dog with a puppy-like disposition.

How does this story explore penance and redemption?

The Ancient Mariner and his crew are forced to suffer for his unnecessary killing of the albatross, but this is not yet penance, as this curse visits involuntary suffering on the men.
The Ancient Mariner is redeemed and released from this suffering only when he recognizes that it was wrong to kill the albatross. He finally realizes that all of creation is formed by God and that all of it should therefore be treated with reverence and respect. He learns not only to understand but also to feel deeply that God loves all his creatures, not just humankind, and that is best for humans to imitate God's love towards nature.
At this point, the Ancient Mariner does penance. Penance means to take on a voluntary burden to atone for having sinned. The mariner's penance is to go around the world telling his story to people who seem most in need of hearing it, which is how the wedding guest hears it. The mariner has been redeemed but has not yet fully been relieved of the agony his memories bring him. The poem suggests that it can be difficult to atone for having done wrong, even after having been forgiven.

A dream by Coleridge’s friend, John Cruikshank, was the inspiration for “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Coleridge and poet William Wordsworth discussed Cruikshank’s dream, with Wordsworth suggesting that Coleridge incorporate elements of the dream into a poem based on a crime committed on a ship at sea. The crime, Wordsworth suggested, should be the heart of the narrative, driving the development of plot, character, and theme. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” reflects Wordsworth’s suggestions, but the poem is more complex than a tale of crime and punishment. The Mariner’s crime is committed against God, not man, and the narrative develops as an examination of sin, penance, and redemption. Moreover, the nature of the Mariner’s crime underscores the darkest aspect of human nature—the desire to destroy simply for the love of destruction.
The Mariner’s killing the albatross serves no apparent purpose. The bird poses no threat to him or to his shipmates; the albatross, in fact, seems to have brought the men luck after a violent storm had driven their ship off course, sending it into the icy realm of the South Pole. Coming out of the snow and fog, the bird escorts the ship away from the South Pole and flies nearby as it follows the ship north into fair weather. The albatross comes when the men call it “for food or play,” and it rests on the ship at night, perching on the mast and rigging. The “sweet bird” remains with the ship day after day, a faithful companion, until the Mariner shoots it with his crossbow, committing a deliberate act of destruction with no purpose at all, except to exercise his will.
Much suffering ensues before the Mariner realizes that in destroying the albatross, he has committed a grievous sin against God; recalling the act many years later, he tells the wedding guest, “I had done a hellish thing.” It is only when he finds himself alone on the ship, surrounded by the dead, becalmed on a “rotting sea,” and unable to pray that his selfish pride is broken and he recognizes his place in creation. Looking beyond the shadow of the ship, he sees in the moonlight the beauty of God’s handiwork in the water snakes that “coiled and swam” in the sea, “every track … a flash of golden fire.” Overwhelmed with love for the “happy living things” too beautiful to describe, he blesses them and takes a first step on a long road toward redemption.
When the wedding guest encounters the Mariner, now so old he is “ancient,” the Mariner will not be denied the opportunity to tell his story yet again, reliving the experience while sharing the truth it imparted to him. Many years after killing the albatross, the gravity of his sin still haunts him; when the “agony returns,” he must confess his sin once more by telling his “ghastly tale.” He continues to do penance for his sin by traveling “from land to land” to find men who most need to learn what he has to teach them, the spiritual truth summarized at the poem’s conclusion:
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
Through great suffering, the ancient Mariner had learned the true nature of mankind’s relationship to God and to God’s creation. He understands that senseless destruction is born of pride, humility is born of suffering, love is born of humility, and only in love can salvation be found.

Discuss how the narrative structure contributes to the creation of suspense in "The Paperhanger." Do not simply summarize the story—identify and analyze the important markers closely. While much of this question is based on choices the writer has made, your conclusions can and should be expressed through an informed and well-reasoned opinion supported by specific examples from the text.

William Gay begins his story "The Paperhanger" with the narrator stating that a child's disappearance years earlier had been a "cataclysmic" event. This establishes both that the disappearance had occurred and that it had a significant impact on the woman whose reactions are next described. From that point forward, the narrative proceeds in chronological sequence from the "tawdry and banal" events before the disappearance. By describing those events as also "freighted with menace, a foreshadowing" of what came after, the narrator implies that the story will not have a happy ending. The woman—who is the subject of the narrative, it is soon clarified—was the mother of the girl who vanished. "She had been quarreling with the paperhanger," the narrator states, leading the reader to believe that their disagreement played a role in the girl's vanishing.
The dialogue between mother and paperhanger includes both insults and sexual innuendo. While she is angry because she thinks he has cheated her, he mocks her. The woman, who is from Pakistan, speaks English with an accent. She is upper-class—described as a "doctor's wife"—and calls the worker "trash" and "scum." The child, Zeineb, is not only present but physically involved, as her fingers are playing with the man's long hair. After her mother storms out of the room, the narrator suggests a further bond between child and man:

Her face glowed with a strange constrained glee, as if she and the paperhanger shared some secret the rest of the world hadn't caught onto yet.

In this way, although this section of the story was supposedly about the mother's memories, the narrator introduces things that the mother had not seen. The reader must wonder if these are the mother's imaginings or the man's memories.
As the mother enters another room, we learn that two more men, the builder and the electrician, are hanging a light fixture. The mother then goes outside and starts her car; a fourth man is working on the landscaping. Zeineb does not come when she calls. From this point, the mystery is established: "Where is my child?" the mother wants to know when she re-enters the house, but Zeineb cannot be found when she and the three men inside search the whole house.
From this mysterious disappearance, the tone switches to the clinical investigation of a police search and the perspective of the doctor when he arrives home. He blames his wife for the disappearance of their daughter. The reader also learns more of the paperhanger's perspective; his initial impression of the mother had been that she was flirting with him but then disdaining him:

[T]here was an arrogance about her that cried out to be taken down a notch or two.

Yet there is a sexual tension, at least in his recollection; he had made a crude gesture toward her, and yet she had re-hired him. This ambiguous interaction, along with his highly critical stance and obvious awareness of class differences, leads the reader to suspect his involvement.
As the search is called off for the night and the scene shifts into the paperhanger's neighborhood, the narrator offers more information that makes him seem suspicious. The area is described as "dark and forlorn" and "grim and dark,"—these can only be ominous signs, and the story becomes almost Gothic. It is revealed that he had dug up graves in an old cemetery, and the narrator even describes this activity by comparing him to a child: "The bones he laid out like a child with a Tinkertoy . . ."
As the search turns up no child, alive or dead, it eventually ends. One of the workers, the backhoe operator, tells the police that the paperhanger is the most likely suspect : "one sick puppy," but no further explanation is given. The abandoned house is described as gaining "an unhealthy, diseased reputation." The doctor and his wife grow apart, and one day she just leaves. And as abruptly, the narrative changes course. The wife seeks out the paperhanger, wanting him to help her search for her child. They begin to speak of unreal things: he mentions a man who vanished into thin air, and she scornfully refers to fairy stories. After she leaves, he sees a child watching him from the distance:

at the edge of the yard, a tiny sepia child with an intent sloe-eyed face, as real as she had ever been.

At this point, the story has veered even further toward fantasy.
The strangest twist comes next. As the mother returns, the paperhanger takes her into the woods and the cemetery to look for the girl, and they end up having a sexual liaison. While the reader sees this as an indication of her breakdown—and the paperhanger himself says she has now come "down to his level"—it may be that she suspected the truth. After she confesses wanting closure more than anything else, he delivers the child's dead body to her.