How long was James Garfield president?

President James A. Garfield was in the White House for only four months before he was shot. On July 2, 1881, he was in the railroad station in Washington, D.C. when Charles Guiteau shot him. Guiteau, a lawyer with a history of mental illness, had previously sought several high-ranking government positions and was incensed by the repeated denial of his applications. Guiteau was hanged one year later.
Garfield did not die immediately. At the time, it was believed that removal of the bullet was of paramount importance. Doctors repeatedly tried to locate and extricate the bullet. Even Alexander Graham Bell's metal detector was unable to help. Unfortunately, these efforts caused a lethal infection. Had Garfield been shot a couple of decades later, it is almost certain that he would have survived.
Garfield died on September 19, 1881. During the weeks between the attack and his passing, he was unable to govern. He had assumed office on March 4, 1881, so his tenure was among the shortest of all presidents.

Discuss the author's use of humor.

Initially in the narrative, Alex uses funny anecdotes and humorous turns of phrase to put distance between himself and the events of his story. His botched English alone provides enough levity to keep a reader smiling. As the story progresses, however, his technique shifts into a more somber mode, with more “realisms” and fewer jokes. After meeting the fake Augustine, the character-Jonathan says he "used to think humor was the only way to appreciate how wonderful and terrible the world is, to celebrate how big life is," but by this turning point in the novel he feels "[h]umor is a way of shrinking from that wonderful and terrible world" (Safran Foer). Jonathan says out loud what Alex’s writing attempts to communicate silently. Initially humor is a mode of communication, a way to bring joy to his story, but as critic Menachem Feuer summarizes, "Once Alex learns what the 'truth' is…his novel takes on an ending that is more tragic than comic." He stops putting the world at a distance and stops putting reality at a distance. By creating distance from the problem, humor here serves two purposes. When it is there, it shows us how disconnected or uncomfortable Alex is, and then when it is dropped, it brings home the severity of the illusion.

Describe each member of the Otis family, and explain at least one characteristic present in all of them in "The Canterville Ghost."

If we begin first with the members of the Otis family, there are six in all. Firstly, there is Mr. Hiram Otis, the head of the family, who is a very practical and outspoken man. Next is his wife, Mrs. Otis, who is interested in the supernatural and intends to join a psychical society. The eldest child is Washington Otis, a young, energetic man who is notable for his determination to remove the bloodstain in the library. Virginia Otis is the couple’s only daughter. She is more reserved than her siblings, but her beauty and elegance has won the love of the Duke of Cheshire. Finally, the Stars and Stripes are the family’s twin boys, who are portrayed as naughty and boisterous.
Although the members of the Otis family are very different in terms of their personalities, they do share one characteristic in common: their willingness to interact with Sir Simon, the Canterville Ghost. However, each family member does this in a different way. The twins, for instance, delight in terrorizing the Ghost, and Mr. Otis gives him lubricant to oil his chains because the noise is irritating. In contrast, Virginia interacts with the Ghost by giving him her pity and support, an act which leads to his final deliverance from sin.

What was the first thing Black Beauty learned?

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is a novel that discusses animal abuse. Black Beauty is a well-bred horse whose life takes him from owner to owner. Some of his owners are kind, and some are cruel. Throughout the novel, Black Beauty learns a lot about humans and the ways in which they interact with their world.
The first lesson Black Beauty learns is from his mother. He is playing with some of the other colts in the pasture. He and his friends are bucking and rearing and generally roughhousing. Black Beauty's mother calls him over and reminds him that while his playmates are cart horses, he comes from a proud lineage, and he needs to act in a manner that reflects it.

Black Beauty lives a happy, carefree life with his mother in the lush green meadow. When she goes out to work for the day, her son is free to have fun, to run around and gallop with the six young colts in the meadow beside him. But Black Beauty's mother is not very pleased. She takes the young foal aside one day and tells him that he must not act like the young colts, forever kicking and biting, even if it's just play. The colts are good horses, but they're cart-horse colts and so haven't learned good manners. Black Beauty, on the other hand, comes from a good bloodline; his grandfather twice won the cup at the Newmarket race-course. That's why his mother wants him to grow up to be a good and gentle horse, to lift his feet up well whenever he trots, and to never kick or bite, even in play.

How is pneumonia personified in the story?

"The Last Leaf," by O. Henry, is a bittersweet tale of compassion and sacrifice. The major events of the novel begin when one of the main characters, a woman named Johnsy, is stricken with pneumonia. Rather than simply saying that the woman has contracted the sickness, Henry writes of the illness as if it were a person. Often with personification, something is given human attributes but never actually called by human terms. In this short story, O. Henry writes, "[t]oward winter a cold stranger entered Greenwich Village. No one could see him." This is who Henry will dub "Mr. Pneumonia" in the next paragraph. The illness is treated so much like a person that it is even assigned gender. Henry continues the personification by saying that Mr. Pneumonia "walked around touching one person here and another there with his icy fingers." It is said that "[o]n the east side of the city he hurried, touching many people; but in the narrow streets of Greenwich Village he did not move so quickly." In discussing the shifting rate with which the illness spreads, Henry makes it seem even more like a crotchety old man, saying shortly thereafter that "Mr. Pneumonia was not a nice old gentleman."O. Henry's use of personification makes pneumonia seem not only more formidable but also more personal.

What are the conditions for women in Germinal?

The novel Germinal by Emile Zola chronicles the lives of coal miners working in the impoverished mining town of Montsou, in the north of France. Living in poverty, the conditions for everyone in the novel are rather bleak, however, they are not entirely disparate as they are in quite a few other texts.
In Zola's work, the women have a level of control and freedom not often exercised in the time, as they engage very freely in sexual relations and in some cases the women even work. Zola's intent was to paint a very realistic picture of men and women of the time, not to idealize any individual or to disparage anyone. Interestingly, women in poverty in historical times were often more equal to men than their wealthy counterparts, because the men were as equally restricted because of the limited finances. Because of this, the women in the novel enjoy some power and strength in this mining world.

Zola shows sympathy toward working-class women in this novel, without idealizing them in the way of other romantic writers of his period. In other words, he doesn't turn them into saints or gentle, redemptive angels. As a naturalist, he tries to show the women as they are in their environment. In fact, because conditions in the coal mines are so rough and the coal miners so impoverished, the working-class women spend most of their free time having sex because that is all they can afford to do. Catherine, for example, has more than one lover. The working-class women, like the men, don't get enough to eat, and they have only the bare minimum of consumer goods. When they attack the troops, they are more violent and uncontrolled then the men, again overturning romantic stereotypes about the feminine nature.
Wives of the mine owners, such as Madame Hennebeau, exploit the workers while withholding sex from their husbands. These women are portrayed as negative characters and they act harsher then the men toward the lower-classes. This is in contrast to Victorian visions of middle-class women as angels of the home. Ironically, for all their good food and fine clothes, the middle-class women are withholding the one thing the poor have in abundance: sex.

Where was the banquet held in David Copperfield?

In chapter 6, Steerforth arranges a "banquet" in the dormitory room he and David share with other schoolboys at David's new boarding school. Steerforth manages the banquet by using all the money David has brought to school with him—seven shillings—for a feast. Steerforth buys currant wine, biscuits, almond cake, and fruit, which the boys all share in the moonlit room. As David describes it:

How well I recollect our sitting there, talking in whispers; or their talking, and my respectfully listening, I ought rather to say; the moonlight falling a little way into the room, through the window, painting a pale window on the floor, and the greater part of us in shadow

While David has a bad feeling about spending all his money on food and drink, the banquet does help him to get to know the other students and to find out the school gossip. As David puts it, what he hears that night "outlasts" the banquet itself for sometime. This is the beginning of David's involvement with Steerforth, a person he much admires. He thinks of him as having "great power," and at this time, his image of Steerforth is untarnished.

What is the author’s purpose or the main idea of Chains?

Chains is a young adult historical novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, published in 2008. The author's purpose, or the main idea of the book, is to teach the reader about the institution of slavery and how it operated in the backdrop of the late Colonial era on the brink of the American Revolution.
The reader learns about slavey primarily through the experiences and life events of Isabel, the thirteen-year-old protagonist, as well as through excerpts of historical records and famous writings of the era woven into the work. Isabel is a young slave who is owned by a Loyalist family, the Locktons, by whom she is treated very poorly. She eventually agrees to assist the cause of the Revolution by spying on them.
The author also wants the reader to see the contradictions of the times, as the fight for freedom from the British crown did not include a liberation for the slaves from their physical and societal chains.

What does "soap" symbolize in "Enterprise"?

In Nissim Ezekiel's poem "Enterprise," the speaker describes a pilgrimage which becomes increasingly difficult as the group of pilgrims that began the journey gradually disbands.
Towards the end of the poem, the speaker, describing a particularly difficult part of the journey, says that he was "Deprived of common needs like soap." In this context, the soap is a symbol of the civilized way of life that he has left behind. The journey has become so difficult in part because he has been deprived of those aspects of civilized life, like soap, to which he has previously become accustomed.
At the end of the poem, the speaker realizes that despite setting out on a pilgrimage to discover or come closer to the grace of God, "Home is where we have to gather grace." Being deprived of soap, which is a symbol of the civilized life, emphasizes just how far the speaker has come on his pilgrimage and how far from civilized life he has had to journey, only to discover that grace is best gathered, after all, at home.

Who was Dill?

Dill Harris (real name: Charles Baker Harris) is a young boy who lives in Meridian, Mississippi. He visits Maycomb, Alabama every summer to stay with his aunt Rachel; while there, he often plays with his friends Jem Finch and Scout Finch and joins them in their attempts to lure Boo Radley out of his house. Dill is a short kid, even for his age, and has a very active imagination. Dill does not have a happy home life, as he feels that his mother and stepfather don't love him. At one point, he runs away from his home and hides in the Finch residence.
He is often seen as a representation of childhood innocence, a theme that is prevalent in the novel. A key scene comes during the trial of Tom Robinson, where Dill cries in response to Mr. Gilmer's awful treatment of Tom. This scene shows Dill as someone who doesn't exactly know how to respond to the cruelty he sees—he can only react with bitter tears. Readers might contrast this with Scout, who doesn't react as strongly to Mr. Gilmer's actions, accepting them as the way things are. With Dill and Scout's different reactions, the reader gets to see the different ways in which the children respond to the harshness of the world.

Please describe the symbolism of suffering and torture in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

A key symbol is contained within the novel's title. Bruno describes the uniform worn by the prisoners of Auschwitz as "striped pajamas." In the Nazi's most deathly concentration camp, prisoners who were not selected for the gas chambers were starved, beaten, and dying of disease, forced to do manual labor while living in near-suffocatingly cramped barracks and unclean conditions. Bruno's mistaking the uniforms for pajamas represents his innocence, as he does not know the camp's true deathly function.
Bruno crosses the fence and puts on a uniform that Shmuel gives him in order to search for Shmuel's father. Bruno and Shmuel are lead to the gas chambers, and the pajamas become a symbol representing their deaths by cruel and appalling means. The symbol of the striped pajamas conveys the critical message that no human should suffer in the ways that prisoners in the concentration camps lived and died.
A second symbol of suffering and torture is worn by the perpetrators of mass murder and the Holocaust: Nazi uniforms. Bruno is proud of his father, Ralph, who is of high rank and wears an impressive uniform. Ralph is Commandant of Auschwitz, meaning he was head of the camp's operations. Leaders of the concentration camps had houses built near or on the property, and Bruno's family was be one of several that lived in close proximity to the prisoners.
When Bruno goes missing, his family and camp officials search for him. They track him to the camps and the Commandant notes that one of the barracks is empty, meaning a group has just been taken to the gas chambers. Bruno's mother collapses in tears, and it is clear that they understand what happened to their son. The striped pajamas and the Nazi uniforms establish a tragic irony: Bruno's father enables the deaths of millions of prisoners, and his own son dies by the same horrific means.

What are examples of government intervention in traditional, free market, and command economic systems?

Government intervention into economics is most easily seen in a command economy. In a command economy, most of the nation's economic system is controlled by the government. In a command economy, it is not uncommon for the government to plan the economy and control production, price, and distribution. The Soviet Union would be a good, historical example of a command economy.
In a true free market economy, there would not be any government intervention. This is the idea of "laissez-faire", in which the government stays out of economics. In this economic theory, the economic system should self-regulate. Government does not regulate what is produced, how much is produced, price of goods, or distribution. Countries with capitalist economic systems, such as the United States, can be considered closest to a true free market economy; however, there is no country that has an entirely true free market. For example, in the United States the government places restrictions on monopolies and creates minimum wage laws, among other things.
Traditional economies are different from the other economies that we have examined. Traditional economies tend to be found in rural communities of developing nations. Traditional economies rely on a barter system of trading and are often based around agriculture. In a traditional economy, it is usually the case that economic decisions are based around societal needs. The needs of a society, and thus the economic decisions, may be made by tribal leaders or elders. The tribal leaders, in this case, can constitute a form of government within these societies.
https://www.thebalance.com/traditional-economy-definition-examples-pros-cons-3305587

What is the mood in the beginning of the story?

At the beginning of the story, W.W. Jacobs creates a comfortable, pleasant mood as Mr. White and his son play a game of chess on a stormy evening. The father and son enjoy their friendly game as Mrs. White quietly knits in the corner of the cozy room, which creates a soothing, tranquil atmosphere. Despite the pleasant, comfortable environment inside the parlor of the White residence, the torrential downpour outside and the secluded location of the home are unsettling and foreshadow the impending ominous atmosphere during Sergeant-Major Morris's visit. As soon as Mr. White asks his guest about the magic monkey's paw, Sergeant-Major Morris becomes irritable and wishes to dismiss the topic altogether. The story about the first owner's last wish and the fact that Sergeant-Major Morris throws the monkey's paw into the fire suggests that the talisman is wicked, which creates an eerie atmosphere and heightens the suspense. After Morris leaves, the suspense continues to build and the pleasant atmosphere becomes dark and unsettling after Mr. White uses the monkey's paw to wish for two hundred pounds. By initially setting a placid, comfortable mood, the eerie atmosphere created by Morris's story regarding the monkey's paw is emphasized and enhances the ominous mood of the story.

As the story begins, the mood is quite calm and pleasant. Though it's cold and wet outside, the atmosphere inside the Whites' villa is warm, cozy, and inviting. Mr. White and his son are enjoying a game of chess in the small parlor while Mrs. White sits by the fire, knitting.
Such a calm and placid mood makes subsequent events all the more horrifying. The Whites are presented as an ordinary family leading an ordinary life in an ordinary house. And it's this very ordinariness that provides such a contrast to the strange, mystical powers of the monkey's paw. The irruption of the paw and its magic properties into the lives of the White family will be anything but ordinary. Thanks to the foolishness of the Whites in making three wishes on the monkey's paw, the cold, wet atmosphere outside their villa and the darkness it symbolizes will, in due course, come to invade this cozy little house, bringing with it death, misfortune, and tragedy.

The class is music and film. It covers scores by music composers in films. The 2 pages essay I'm writing is about Richard Rodgers, music composer before 1970. It must include: body of work, his writing style, and how his writing style differs from other composers specifically before the 1970 time period only. Also, it should discuss his background and any trends he set (example of trendset would be John Williams contribution to Star Wars). Also you can advise of any research websites online to review expect for obvious ones like Wikipedia. For example, are there websites for music majors for these topics?

Composer Richard Rogers—along with his lyricist partners Lorenz Hart and, later, Oscar Hammerstein II—helped to change American musical theater from a more frivolous type of entertainment to a more serious and realistic artistic performance. His music is considered classic with over 80 standards that are still performed today, such as My Funny Valentine, which has been covered by more than 600 artists. He won multiple awards, including a Pulitzer Prize. His catalog is enormous, and summarizing his work in two pages will not be easy.
One thing that jumps out is how well his Broadway musicals transitioned to film, which doesn't always happen. You might explore the reasons why, such as how well he and his partners captured the zeitgeist of the moment. You could also explore how timeless their work is, since musicals and films such as Oklahoma! and My Fair Lady are still being performed and enjoyed worldwide today. His music has been described as "wonderfully singable, danceable melodies" but he also wrote darker, more longing and wistful tunes as well.
Rodgers himself is quoted as asking "What is wrong with sweetness and light?" In short, these are popular and catchy tunes that score well and provide opportunities for the vocal and dance showcases that made musical films so popular in their day. The bottom line is that the public was and is able to relate to the melodies he composed, which has contributed to Rodgers' continuing success and acclaim.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/richard-rodgers-about-richard-rodgers/690/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006256/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/31/archives/richard-rodgers-is-dead-at-age-77-broadways-renowned-composer.html

If you are an introvert or know of someone that is, what are things that you or that person can personally do to improve your/their networking capability? It is proven that networking has the highest relative contribution to successful management advancement.

It seems to me that social media is one way introverts can improve their networking capability. Having an account on a business-oriented site such as LinkedIn or on a recruiting site such as Monster publicizes their name and resume with little effort and no required social interaction. Similarly, having a Twitter or Instagram account can boost networking capabilities. Rather than "doing lunch" with someone, introverts can post and read posts from friends and colleagues from the anonymity of their computer, phone, or laptop. They can control who they communicate with and can even create a different identity.
Another possibility is to join a club such as Toastmasters, which meets specifically to practice public speaking, or any other type of club or class that improves interpersonal communication skills. Along the same lines, an introvert could improve his or her networking capability by joining any type of social group—even one composed of other introverts. You never know when you might make a business connection in a social setting.

Translate act 2, scene 2, lines 62–84 between Romeo and Juliet into modern-day text message language, making sure to translate some of the famous lines that will be easily recognized.

In this passage from act 2, scene 2, Juliet has just discovered that Romeo is beneath her balcony and has been listening to her private thoughts as she spoke aloud to herself moments before. She asks Romeo how he managed to get over the wall and into the Capulet orchard. Juliet also reminds Romeo that if any of her family find him there, he will surely be killed. After all, he is from the Montague family, with whom the Capulet family have been feuding for as long as anyone can remember. If Romeo is caught, then she will likely also be punished by her own family, just for communicating with him. Romeo responds to Juliet by declaring that love gave him the wings to fly over the wall and that the danger of death is worth it if it's the price he has to pay for being close to her. He says that he would find his way to her even if he had to navigate the widest ocean to do so.
If this scene were played out today, it's very likely that Romeo and Juliet would communicate instead with mobile phones. Indeed, they could communicate much more safely, with considerably less risk of being heard, by exchanging text messages.
Most teenagers seem to write text messages mostly or exclusively in lowercase letters, and most use abbreviations in order to communicate more quickly. Accordingly, translated into modern-day text messages, the exchange between Romeo and Juliet might look something like this:
Juliet: how'd u get here & why? the walls r high & you'll be killed if ne1 sees u.
Romeo: love gave me wings n i flew over the wall! i'm not scared of your fam.
Juliet: they'll kill u if they find u!
Romeo: if you're happy 2 c me, then i'll risk your fam's anger.
Juliet: i hope they don't c u!
Romeo: it's dark. anyway, idc, i'd rather die than not be loved by u.
Juliet: lol. who told you how to get here?
Romeo: love told me! btw if you were an ocean away, i would still find u! ily x
Abbreviations
u = you
r = are
ne1 = anyone
2 = to
c = see
n = and
fam = family
idc = i don't care
lol = laugh out loud
btw = by the way
ily = i love you

Compare and contrast the various ways that the experimental and theoretical parts of science interact.

This is a question having such complex ramifications that we will have to limit ourselves to a single example in relatively recent scientific history, in which a basic point is illustrated.
In the early twentieth century, Albert Einstein developed the theoretical basis of modern physics. Both his explanation of the photoelectric effect and, of course, his theory of special relativity were huge advances in man's understanding of subatomic particles and the basis of the relationship between matter and energy. Like Newton's over two hundred years earlier, Einstein's accomplishment is such that any observer, whether scientist or layperson, is astonished at the magnitude of his achievement. In each case, the previous understanding of the physical world and the basis of how it operates was by comparison rudimentary and primitive. Yet in Einstein's case, it was thirty years later that experiments in the lab, conducted by Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn, accomplished nuclear fission, the splitting of the atom. The question can be posed: to what degree would these scientists have been able to accomplish their fulfillment of theoretical principles (including those not only of Einstein but also of scientists such as Ernest Rutherford, Neils Bohr, and numerous others) if they had not had the theoretical work behind them as a starting point? I tend to think that, at least in the twentieth century, theory and practice are inseparable.
Another question looms large relating to this issue. The letter written by Einstein and his fellow theoretical physicist Leo Szilard to President Roosevelt in 1939 was the initial spur for the US government to develop the atomic bomb. Without Einstein's prestige, it's unlikely that FDR would have taken the issue as seriously as he did and realized the United States must act quickly given the possibility the Germans would simultaneously develop the same weaponry. Here, theory and experimentation/practice were joined in a vital effort in which the survival of the world was at stake.

What are the rhetorical devices in "The Ice Palace"?

The sunlight dripped over the house like golden paint over an art jar, and the freckling shadows here and there only intensified the rigor of the bath of light.

This first quotation is the opening line of the story, and contains several rhetorical devices. For example, Fitzgerald uses a simile to compare the sunlight to "golden paint (dripping) over an art jar" and a metaphor to describe the light as "the bath of light." These devices help to create the impression of a beautiful setting. The word "golden" connotes something that is precious and valuable, and the "bath" metaphor connotes relaxation.

Farther out were lazy cotton-fields, where even the workers seemed intangible shadows lent by the sun to the earth, not for toil, but to while away some age-old tradition in the golden September fields. And round the drowsy picturesqueness, over the trees and shacks and muddy rivers, flowed the heat, never hostile, only comforting, like a great warm nourishing bosom for the infant earth.

In this second quotation, the main rhetorical device is personification. The cotton-fields are personified as "lazy," and in the final sentence, the heat in the cotton-fields is compared, using a simile, to "a great warm nourishing bosom for the infant earth." Personifying the cotton fields and the heat in this way helps to create the impression that the pace of life there is slow and peaceful. The second example of personification also gives to the cotton fields a maternal characteristic, implying that they take care of and comfort the workers, like a mother would take care of her children.

Over most of the graves lay silence and withered leaves with only the fragrance that their own shadowy memories could waken in living minds.

In this third quotation, the main rhetorical device is symbolism. The "graves" symbolize death and loss, creating a sombre, melancholy mood, which is compounded by the "withered leaves," symbolizing decay. Also in this third quotation, Steinbeck uses different senses to create a more vivid scene. He describes the sight of the "withered leaves," the "fragrance" of those leaves, and also the "silence" that lies over the graves.

What does the expression "I sate reclined" indicate about the poet's state of mind in "Lines Written in Early Spring"?

The second line of the poem indicates that the speaker is in a relaxed state of mind. And why not? He's sitting in a grove enjoying the beautiful sights and sounds of nature. The speaker feels a sense of oneness with the natural world, a deep connection that makes him a part of nature every bit as much as the primrose tufts, the periwinkles, and the budding twigs which bring him so much joy.
But the speaker's tranquil state of mind doesn't last for very long. Because soon he is troubled by sad thoughts. He muses on the realization that though the human soul is closely linked to all the joyous wonders of nature, the relationship between man and man is very different, and not in a good way. The implication is that the harmony that prevails in nature and which characterizes the connection between the natural world and the human soul is notable by its absence from relations between human beings, which, more often than not, are mutually antagonistic.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51001/lines-written-in-early-spring

What are the strengths and limitations of a distributed homeland security intelligence production—a federal system with independent and largely "sovereign" state, local, and tribal jurisdictions?

The strengths of a distributed homeland security system include the following:
1. A distributed system allows locals to work the areas they know best. For example, the intelligence needs of a tribal community may be vastly different than those of a large city. Independent jurisdictions allow for those that know the area to best use their abilities in a focused way and not have to worry about things they may not understand as well.
2. A distributed system negates bureaucracy. Though it may be overall federal, if each jurisdiction is essentially allowed to act on its own merit, things can be done faster, without all the "red tape" of the federal government. Imagine if all laws passed by a state senate had to be further approved by Congress and signed by the president. It would back up the lawmaking process beyond belief and, thus, be ultimately less effective.
The limitations include the following:
1. With a distributed system, there can be a lack of shared information, particularly across jurisdictions. If an individual being tracked crosses jurisdictions, having each be separate harms the chances of catching patterns, and there may be a lack of communication.
2. It's significantly harder for a federal program to disperse funds accordingly to a distributed system. Assuming that this is a federally funded program, this means that all local jurisdictions would independently have to ask for their funding. Naturally, some would receive less than necessary, while others might receive more, which ultimately could harm or unbalance the entire system.

What is the role that point of view plays in the novel No Country for Old Men?

The role of the point-of-view style of narration in No Country for Old Men is to give the readers differing perspectives of the characters, each of whom are archetypes. For instance, the protagonist represents the wise sage and the antagonist represents what psychologist Carl Jung called the Shadow Archetype. In a Biblical analogy, the protagonist is a prophet trying to understand the ways of men, while the antagonist represents evil in its purest form—an entity devoid of humanity.
Showing these archetypes via specific point-of-views allows the author to form a whole picture using fragments of beliefs, thoughts, and experiences like a collage. If written in a traditional narrative style, there is a chance that nuances will not be perceived by the readers. Also, the detachment style of the author shows that he doesn't believe there is any true definitions of right and wrong. For instance, one of the "heroes" is himself flawed (e.g. greedy). The POV style shows the different aspects of humanity and the psyche, thus making the story more layered and the characters multidimensional.

Who was William Henry Harrison?

William Henry Harrison (1773–1841) was the oldest man to become president and the first to die in office. Also, he was the last to be born during British rule. His grandson later served as president as well.
He came from an affluent and well-connected Virginia family. His father was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He had a classical education and later studied medicine. After his father's death, he started his military career in the 1790s. Then he served as secretary and governor of the Northwest territories. As settlers flooded into this area, Harrison had to protect them from Indian attacks.
Harrison secured his reputation as a military hero at the battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. He was courageous and steadfast in defeating Shawnee Indians in a hard battle.
That victory helped give the U.S. its most popular slogan for a presidential campaign: "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!" This was used in the 1840 presidential election when John Tyler was his running mate.
Harrison died after only one month in the White House. Tyler was the first vice president to replace a deceased president.

After Morell gives his handkerchief to Lexy, how does he justify it to Burgess?

In George Bernard Shaw's play Candida, Morell gives Lexy, a fellow reverend, his handkerchief. Lexy is grateful to Morell, and the gesture cheers him up after experiencing the Mr. Burgess's rudeness.
Upon seeing this gesture, Mr. Burgess expresses his dismay. Mr. Burgess believes that one should not spoil your curate (an assistant clergyman). Morell explains to Mr. Burgess that he likes to treat his colleagues and employees with respect. Morell, a man of principle, believes that everyone should be treated equally, no matter the person's social or economic status.
In the scene, Morell states,

I always keep my curates in their places as my helpers and comrades. If you get as much work out of your clerks and warehousemen as I do out of my curates, you must be getting rich pretty fast.

This exchange between Morell and Mr. Burgess shows not only their tense relations but also the difference in the two men's personalities. In that particular passage, Morell also points out that his kindness helps boost the morale of his curates and employees, therefore inspiring them to work hard.

What is a character analysis of Tituba?

Tituba was a real person who became the hero of Maryse Condé's work of historical fiction, I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem. She was a slave from Barbados who was purchased by a man named Samuel Parris from Massachusetts. While she was enslaved by Parris, she moved with his family to Salem, where she became the first person to be accused of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials of 1692. Tituba confessed to witchcraft and claimed that Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne participated in witchcraft with her. According to court documents from her trial, the three women were accused of baking a witch cake in an attempt to learn the name of the person who bewitched Parris’s daughter and her cousin, who were experiencing strange fits. The women were arrested, despite the fact that they were attempting to heal Parris’s daughter and niece, and Tituba was jailed.
Though Condé bases her story of Tituba on transcripts of her trial and other historical documents, the character she creates is a blend of fact and fiction. Based on what Condé learned about Tituba from the historical record, she was a strong, complex, and good woman. She treated the Parris family and the people in Salem Village kindly, and until fear of witchcraft in the village escalated to extremes, she was respected by the villagers for good will toward others and her ability to heal people. Tituba was also highly spiritual, and she relied on her spiritual beliefs to bring her strength during her trial and imprisonment.

In 1865, when General Carl Schurz visited the South, he discovered "a revolution but half accomplished." How did Northern Republicans and black Southerners attempt to push the revolution along? What were their most significant achievements and why and how did the federal government retreat from defending African Americans's civil rights in the 1870s? What did the ultimate failure of Reconstruction mean for African Americans?

General Carl Schurz (1829–1906) visited the South in the summer of 1865—just after the end of the Civil War—to investigate the conditions in the postwar South. He reported his findings to President Andrew Johnson. His long report indicated that Southerners remained defiant and determined. The South was intent on keeping freedmen subordinate. President Johnson, eager to placate the South, shelved the report. Congressional Republicans, however, embraced the the findings and used them as a justification for a harsh postwar policy for the defeated South.
Johnson implemented his lenient plan for Reconstruction in the fall of 1865. Former Confederate states established new governments and accepted the Thirteenth Amendment. However, these new governments passed the Black Codes, which were designed to maintain the oppression of African Americans. The South also elected many ex-Confederates.
Northerners and Radical Republicans were incensed by Johnson's policies. By 1866, Johnson and Congress were at loggerheads over the shape of Reconstruction. Congress set up the Joint Committee on Reconstruction and claimed Reconstruction was a legislative—not executive—undertaking. Congress took steps to protect African Americans from the Black Codes. The Fourteenth Amendment was passed to bolster the status of black people in the South. Only Tennessee ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, and that defiance infuriated the Radical Republicans.
In 1867, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act, which placed the South under military occupation. Johnson and Congress continued to fight bitterly over Reconstruction. Johnson was impeached as a result: he survived by a single vote. In any event, Johnson had lost the battle with Congress over control of policy, and he did not win reelection.
Radical Republican governments in the South tried to help freedmen. Black people had access to education and were politically active in the South after 1866, but obstacles remained: The Ku Klux Klan, founded in 1866, terrorized black southerners. They achieved their goals through terror, whippings, and lynchings. They targeted black people, carpetbaggers (Northerners who lived in the South), and scalawags (Southern whites in the Republican party).
As long as the South was under military rule, black people enjoyed at least a modicum of protection and rights. By 1876, only Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana remained under military rule. The North's will to enforce African American rights in the South had eroded over time. In 1877, the last occupying troops left the South. After that, black people found themselves in a sorry plight as Jim Crow laws proliferated in the South.

In the first stanza of "He Is More than a Hero," what imagery is used to show the high regard of the speaker toward the man? How can a man become a god to one's eye in real life? Cite examples based on experience or observation.

In the first stanza of the poem, the speaker says that the hero is in fact "more than a hero." A hero is somebody who is usually virtuous, brave, and honorable, so being "more than" this implies that the speaker thinks of the hero as perhaps perfect or ideal. The speaker then says that the hero is "a god in my eyes." Gods are associated with omnipotence as well as omniscience and benevolence, and so comparing the hero to a god implies that the speaker holds the hero in very high esteem.
A man—or a woman, for that matter—can sometimes seem like a god if they do something which seems extraordinary or preternatural. For example, a magician like Houdini might have seemed to some people to possess godlike powers. Some sports fans worship athletes as if they are gods (perhaps because they score lots of goals or win lots of championships for the team that those fans support).
There are also people who set up cults and convince people that they are in fact gods or emissaries from God. A recent example is Michael Travesser, a cult leader who managed to convince people that he was the messiah before being sentenced to prison for ten years for sexual contact with a minor.

Why is A Doll's House considered timeless?

A Doll's House addresses the complete issue of a lady's character in a male-ruled society. Ladies in all social orders, all organizations still have congruity pushed onto them, much the same as Ibsen's Nora did, over a century back. As such, this literature is deemed a timeless classic. It is a standout amongst the most performed plays on the planet after Shakespeare.
All through history, marriage issues have dependably been obvious. Ladies were as yet abused as the subordinate sex in the public arena when Henrik Ibsen composed A Doll's House. In the play, Torvald, a typical man in society, tenderly calls Nora his "little squirrel" which delineates the point of view of women as mere pets.
Numerous confinements put on ladies blocked most from regularly finding who they genuinely are. Women in A Doll’s House, are characterized by their spouses and little girls by their dads. It was a perpetual habit that restricted them from self-improvement. Nora has dependably been some man's manikin. “He called me his doll-child, and he played with me just as I used to play with my dolls.”
Even though A Doll's House is not by any means the only writing addressing the rights of women, it is as yet regarded as a pioneer. It shed light on women struggles in society. Today, Nora's circumstance in the content makes people look at ladies' battles with much empathy and understanding. A Doll's House turned into the female voice when a lady's sentiments were routinely quieted.

This play is considered to be timeless because of its enduring messages regarding women's rights and women's roles in society. It is simply unfair and unjust to expect a woman to be like a "doll" to her father or her husband—to be submissive, to be unable to have a say in familial or financial decisions, to relinquish her independence and personal autonomy, and to give way to her father's or husband's whims. It is true that Nora did something illegal by forging her father's name on the documents when she secured the loan from Krogstad all those years ago; however, it is also true that a woman should be able to take out a loan without the signature of a man to accompany her own. It is also true that, even if her actions were somewhat misguided, Nora took out the loan in order to save her husband's life, to fund a trip that would give him time to convalesce and be restored to full health.
When he learns about the loan, Torvald's treatment of Nora is cruel and unacceptable, and she responds in a very unconventional way. Despite Torvald's eventual "forgiveness" of Nora as a result of Krogstad forgiving the loan and backing away from his plan to blackmail the Helmers, Nora leaves him. She essentially abandons her husband and her children in order to strike out on her own and discover who she truly is and what she truly wants, apart from what society, or her husband, expects her to do. Her independence is absolutely shocking, given the cultural climate when the play was written, in 1879. Therefore, the play is considered to be timeless not only as a result of its depiction of women's roles in society but also for the level of empowerment and independence exhibited by its main character.

Why do you think Mme Forestier never contacted Mme Loisel after the return of her necklace in "The Necklace"?

I believe Madame Loisel was a very proud woman who never wanted Madame Forestier to know she had lost her necklace. To Madame Loisel, it was a shameful secret. Further, Madame Loisel, who placed such importance on money and outward appearances, knew that the loan for replacing the necklace would make her and her husband poor and unattractive. She would have been mortified by the idea of the wealthy Madame Forestier witnessing her degradation and being in a position to pity, scorn, or pass judgment on her for her carelessness in losing the necklace and her subsequent poverty. From Madame Loisel, it was better to sink into obscurity than be humiliated in front of her friend.
For the reader, of course, this decision is frustrating. If Madame Loisel had only talked to Madame Forestier right after she lost the necklace, and admitted she had lost it, she could have been spared decades of misery. Madame Loisel's own pride and over-valuing of shallow, superficial items like pretty necklaces led to her undoing.

Where did Bud and Mr. Lewis eat breakfast once they reached Flint?

Despite initially mistaking him for a blood-thirsty vampire, Bud agrees to accompany Lefty Lewis to Flint, where he's planning to drop off some blood at the hospital. Gradually, Bud comes to realize that Lefty isn't really Count Dracula, and so no longer feels unsafe in his presence. Besides, he's so beat after the long journey that he's not really thinking about anything else other than getting a good night's sleep.
When he wakes up, Bud finds himself in a completely new environment. He's roused from his deep slumber by a woman, who tells him that breakfast's ready. The woman is Mrs. Sleet, Lefty Lewis's daughter, and he has breakfast with her family. She's concerned at the multiple stings and lumps all over Bud's body and at how incredibly skinny he seems. She wonders aloud how any parent would allow their child to end up in such a state. This concern shows us Mrs. Sleet's warm and caring nature, which becomes ever more apparent as the story progresses.

What is the significance of the dead cities in "The Million Year Picnic?" What is their symbolic or metaphorical importance?

"The Million Year Picnic" is the final part of Ray Bradbury's interconnected series of stories The Martian Chronicles. After the outbreak of nuclear war on Earth, almost all of the Martian colonists had returned home to try to help the relatives and friends they had left behind. This had left the numerous cities that they had built on Mars deserted.
A family consisting of a father, mother, and three boys load a rocket with supplies and escape to Mars from the disaster that has befallen Earth. They hope to meet up with a few other families, repopulate Mars, and start a new, more peaceful society. The father says of the old life on Earth:

"But that way of life proved itself wrong and strangled itself with its own hands."

The old empty cities on Mars have two symbolic meanings that are almost the opposite of each other. They symbolize the wrongness and emptiness of the society of the past that caused such massive destruction and loss of life. The father symbolically breaks the family's association with that society when he burns all the documents from the past. He says:

"I'm burning a way of life, just like that way of life is being burned clean of Earth right now."

The empty cities also symbolize the new hope that the family has come all the way to Mars to find. The cities belong to them now. They have not just the cities but the entire planet on which to construct a new and better society. As the father points out at the end of the story, the world is theirs now. They are the Martians.

Explain how a gamma camera works to produce an image.

A gamma camera works in the following way: gamma rays, which are extremely high-energy light particles that can penetrate the human body very deeply, but also can cause dangerous cellular mutations, are produced by a sample of contained radioactive material. The gamma rays are aimed toward a specific area of the human body (the place intended to be imaged and examined), and the gamma rays penetrate the tissue.
Because the density of tissues and materials inside the human body varies (calcium is more dense than water, muscles are denser than fat, etc.), the gamma rays get scattered or absorbed at different rates depending on what they are passing through. On the other side, a crystal plate of sodium iodide doped with thallium (a mineral that interacts strongly with gamma rays) is used to capture the image. Based on the amount of gamma rays that have penetrated, a clear image is formed that shows the varying densities and structures present in the area.

Can I have some examples of the personal anecdotes Hemingway mentions in chapter 1?

There are personal anecdotes galore in Chapter 1 of Death in the Afternoon. It is essentially an introduction that elaborates upon the opening preface, which labels the book as a non-fiction discussion about bullfighting, courage, and passion.
He talks about famous American ex-pat, Gertrude Stein and her passion for Bullfighting in Valencia. He shares a story about a particular gypsy matador named Cagancho and his inimitable style when he was paired with the right kind of bull.
However, the most important and telling anecdotes concern Hemingway himself and the writer he wants become. He admits to struggling with articulating violence and loss. He wanted to learn how to absorb this information and figure out a way to discuss death. A former ambulance driver in WWI, he writes,

The only place where you could see life and death, i.e., violent death now that the wars were over, was in the bull ring and I wanted very much to go to Spain where I could study it. I was trying to learn to write, commencing with the simplest things, and one of the simplest things of all and the most fundamental is violent death.

To ground this discussion, he openly shares his ideas about morality and includes bits of anecdotal evidence regarding his former life as a journalist.

How did Dickens use the Cratchit family to the show the struggles of the poor?

In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens illustrates the struggles of the poor through his characterizations and descriptions of the Cratchit family.
The subject of poverty first appears at the very beginning of the novel when Scrooge is approached by two gentlemen taking up a collection to buy provisions for the poor over the holiday. When asked to help the less fortunate, Scrooge replies, “Are there no prisons?... And the Union workhouses?... Are they still in operation?” These questions suggest that poverty is the fault of those afflicted by it and that they somehow deserve their suffering. During the Victorian era, when A Christmas Carol was written, this was a common assumption.
But Dickens refutes this idea by his portrayal of the Cratchits. We first meet Bob Cratchit in Scrooge’s counting house, working diligently in a dismal setting despite the cold and the fact that his employer gives him only a tiny fire to keep warm. When we see his home in the third stave, we see it is a place of similar deprivation. Bob Cratchits is described as wearing “threadbare clothes darned up and brushed, to look seasonable,” while his wife is “dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap and make a goodly show for sixpence.” The children’s garments are no better: Belinda is “also brave in ribbons,” and Peter is wearing his father’s shirt collar to dress up for Christmas. Dickens writes,

They were not a handsome family; they were not well dressed; their shoes were far from being water-proof; their clothes were scanty; and Peter might have known, and very likely did, the inside of a pawnbroker’s. But, they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another, and contented with the time...

These dire straits are expected, considering that Scrooge pays Cratchit a ridiculously low wage. But despite their poverty, they do their best to maintain appearances and remain cheerful. Their holiday meal is modest, but they do not complain. “It would have been flat heresy to do so.”
Their situation is not the result of a lack of industry. In addition to Bob’s toil at Scrooge’s counting house, Martha contributes from her poor pay as an apprentice milliner. Peter takes items to the pawn shop to help make ends meet, but still they cannot afford proper medical care for Tiny Tim, and their poverty will be the cause of his death. When Scrooge asks the Spirit of Christmas Present if Tiny Tim will live, the ghost's reply is grim:

“I see a vacant seat,” replied the Ghost, “in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.”

All the hard work in the world could not lift a family out of poverty if employers like Scrooge did not pay a fair wage. In Victorian-Era London, the poor struggled against their financial circumstances, the prejudicial assumptions of society, and a system that punished poverty with prisons and workhouses.

In the classic story A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens depicts the Cratchit family as hard-working, industrious people who cannot escape poverty and are victims of unscrupulous, tight-fisted businessmen like Ebenezer Scrooge. Despite the fact that Bob Cratchit is a loyal, active employee and works over sixty hours per week, he struggles to put food on the table. Bob's daughter, Martha, is also portrayed as an industrious young lady who works as an apprentice at a milliner's while her brother, Peter, plans on becoming employed and contributing to his family's finances. The Cratchit family is also comprised of honest, likable people, who cannot escape poverty.
Dickens was very much aware of his upper-class Victorian audience and used the Cratchit family to gain their sympathy for industrious lower-class citizens living in poverty. In A Christmas Carol, Dickens challenges the widespread prejudiced belief that citizens were poor simply because they were lazy by characterizing the Cratchits as hard-working people. Dickens's goal was to promote social change by appealing to the upper-class members of society and influencing them to sympathize with lower-class citizens. Through his stories, Dickens continually portrays poverty-stricken, lower-class characters as likable, determined individuals who are the unfortunate victims of the economy and unscrupulous businessmen.

Dickens uses the Cratchit family to make the general point that even hard-working, decent people can easily fall victim to the scourge of poverty. Many of Dickens's readers will have shared the widely-held prejudice that poverty was the result of moral weakness or laziness. That's certainly an opinion shared by Scrooge himself. But in the case of the Cratchit family we can see that this is, at best, a gross over-simplification. Bob Cratchit works every hour God sends and yet his family are still dirt poor. This isn't because Bob's lazy, but because Scrooge is too tight-fisted to pay him a decent wage.
In presenting Bob Cratchit as such a decent, hard-working family man, Dickens wants to challenge his readers' prejudices; to get them to see that doing the right thing by society, by being thrifty and industrious, isn't always enough to save a family from poverty.

What are some examples of symbolism in the story?

Some symbols in "The Interlopers" are the beech tree and the wolves.
The beech tree falls because of the winter storm. It prevents Georg and Ulrich from shooting each other. The timing of the falling tree symbolizes the power of nature being greater than the power of men as shown through the quote,

And before the moment of hesitation had given way to action a deed of Nature's own violence overwhelmed them both.

The wolves also symbolize the power of nature over the power of men. The men are pinned down by the fallen tree and call for help. The wolves hear their yelling and appear. The men won't be able to fight the wolves while they are pinned beneath the tree.
The conflict of man versus man turns to man versus nature. The symbolism helps to show that nature does not care or reason and the destruction of nature is more powerful than the destruction of man.

How do Brutus, Cassius, Antony, and Octavius show their characters when they parley before the Battle of Philippi?

BRUTUS Words before blows: is it so, countrymen?
OCTAVIUS Not that we love words better, as you do.
BRUTUS Good words are better than bad strokes, Octavius.
ANTONY In your bad strokes, Brutus, you give good words. Witness the hole you made in Caesar's heart, Crying "Long live, hail Caesar."
CASSIUS Antony,The posture of your blows are yet unknown; But for your words, they rob the Hybla bees, And leave them honeyless.
ANTONY Not stingless too.
BRUTUS O yes, and soundless too, For you have stolen their buzzing, Antony, And very wisely threat before you sting.
Shakespeare obviously could not stage the actual battle of Philippi, which is one of the reasons he brings the four principals together in this brief parley before their assembled armies. Notice how they all keep calling each other by their names. This is to keep the audience informed of the identities of all the four men in armor they see on the stage.
Brutus intentionally calls Antony and Octavius "countrymen" to remind them that they are all Romans and to suggest that it would be better to settle their quarrel peacefully than to kill many Roman soldiers. Brutus is essentially a kind, just, and reasonable man. He opens the parley with the hope that the men can arrive at a nonviolent settlement, although he has no intention of surrendering.
Octavius is a young hothead spoiling for a fight. When he says "Not that we love words better, as you do," he is suggesting at least two things. One is that Brutus is a bookworm who spends all his time reading and philosophizing. The other suggestion is that Brutus is afraid to fight and is trying to talk his way out of doing battle.
Both Brutus and Cassius show in their dialogue that they know they are in the weaker position. Antony was correct in telling Octavius earlier:
Tut, I am in their bosoms, and I know Wherefore they do it. They could be content To visit other places; and come down With fearful bravery, thinking by this face To fasten in our thoughts that they have courage; But 'tis not so.
Cassius is always thinking about his own personal advantage. He flatters Antony outrageously when he says: "Antony, the posture of your blows are yet unknown; but for your words, they rob the Hybla bees, And leave them honeyless," he has a dual purpose. He is intentionally referring to what Brutus just said about "words before blows" and reminding Brutus of how he had warned him against trusting Antony and against permitting Antony to address the Roman mob. Cassius also has doubts about the coming battle. He is trying to win Antony's favor so that his life might be spared in the event Antony and Octavius were victorious. Cassius might even be hinting that he could be persuaded to join the other side and fight against Brutus. His line about "the posture of your blows" might be read as follows: "The posture of your blows are yet unknown; but for your words, they rob the Hybla bees, and leave them honeyless." This emphasis on "your" would show clearly that Cassius is not only flattering Antony but reminding Brutus of how Antony's funeral oration put Brutus's speech to shame. Antony's "not stingless too" might have a question mark after it (it does have a question mark in many editions of the play). Antony is not threatening to "sting" his opponents with a swarm of bees but rather is suggesting that his words (meaning his funeral speech) stung both Brutus and Octavius and continues to sting them.
Brutus loses his temper. He does not like to be criticized. He retorts,
O yes, and soundless too. For you have stolen their buzzing, Antony, And very wisely threat before you sting.
These hot words provoke hot words from Antony, who calls them both "villains." Brutus and Cassius now have no chance of settling this matter peacefully.

Who won the War of 1812? Was it Britain/Canada or the United States?

The War of 1812 (1812–1815) was inconclusive. Neither side was able to make decisive gains during the war. America's greatest victory in the war, the Battle of New Orleans, actually occurred after the peace treaty was signed.
Negotiations to end the war started at Ghent (located in present-day Belgium) in mid-1814. The American delegation to the talks was led by John Quincy Adams (a future American president), Henry Clay, and Albert Gallatin. Negotiations were long and difficult. At the beginning of the talks, the British had just burned the Capitol in Washington DC, so they had a stronger position. But the American victory at Plattsburgh restored an equilibrium.
The two sides agreed to return any territory occupied during the war. The treaty did not address the real causes of the war. The war broke out because of disputes over neutral nations's rights on the seas, but the Treaty of Ghent did not deal with them. In any event, the War of 1812 was the last conflict between the United States and Britain.

What do we know about Fred Gipson?

Fred Gipson was the American author who wrote the beloved novel Old Yeller in 1956. The novel won the Newbery Medal in 1957. Born Frederick Benjamin Gipson in the Texas Hill Country, he attended the University of Texas at Austin.
Gipson began his writing career as a journalist, before trying his hand at short stories with western themes in the 1940s. His first novel, titled The Fabulous Empire: Colonel Zack Miller's Story, was published in 1946. Gipson next received acclaim for Hound-Dog Man and The Home Place, and the novels were adapted into major motion pictures.
The 1957 film adaptation of Old Yeller by Walt Disney Studios is considered by many to be Gipson's finest work. The novel is a coming-of-age story set in Texas and features a stray dog that endears itself to the family of the teen protagonist, Travis Coates.
Gipson received numerous literary awards. He died at his ranch in Mason, Texas in 1973; two additional children's novels were published posthumously.

Who was the young woman who was executed just before Carton in A Tale of Two Cities?

The last person who is guillotined before Sydney Carton is referred to as a seamstress. Initially, she believes that Sydney is Charles Darnay, who had been scheduled to die, but she later realizes he is a different man. Seeking comfort in her last minutes alive, she asks Sydney to ride in the tumbrel (cart) with her, and she holds his hand. The young woman holds onto her faith in the revolution, however, and states her acceptance that the verdict and sentence were correct. In many ways, she serves as a substitute for Lucie, for whom Sydney had made the sacrifice. Being able to form an intimate connection with another person also facing death helped make him braver, so he could share his fortitude with her and ease her fears.

Why do we still have to read the work of dead white men?

There are a lot of reasons contributing to this, but the main reason is, perhaps unsurprisingly, racism and sexism. What we read in schools and universities is largely taken from what we call the literary canon, a collection of literature decided upon by academics throughout history. Historically, academia has largely been dominated by white men, and it makes sense that these men would have focused on literature that represented them.
Additionally, we can’t forget that women and people of color are constantly fighting to be recognized and taken seriously in the arts, literature included. In the past, women and and people of color's education was less focused on, as were their creative outputs. This lead to a cycle that let the canon be largely dominated by white men.
On the upside, we can see things slowly starting to change. While a lot of high-school and earlier education still focuses on a whitewashed canon, university-level English courses are seeming to make an effort to diversify their syllabi, something that could have a positive impact on the diversity of the literary canon in the future.

How was central and southeast Asia transformed by European conquest?

Czarist Russia took over central Asia in the nineteenth century. Russia naturally extended its influence beyond its frontiers to block British expansionism in the area. Restless Russian officers were drawn to Central Asia to further their careers on the frontier.
Initially, Russia did not interfere too much in the large and diverse region of Central Asia. However, there were occasional and minor revolts.
Most of the eventual changes that were implemented were economic ones. The area provided raw materials and new markets for Russia. Moscow built an extensive railway network. Irrigation was improved, and slavery was suppressed.
The most serious threat to Russian domination was the Kazakh Revolt during World War I. More than a million peasants from European Russia had been moved into the area. Upset over the loss of grazing lands, the natives revolted.
After the collapse of Czarist Russia after WWI, the new Soviet government took over the region. Worried about the dual threats of Pan-Turkism and Pan-Islamism, Moscow divided the region into five separate republics within the USSR.
Much of Southeast Asia was taken over by France in the late nineteenth century. The French faced far more resistance in Vietnam than Russia had faced in Central Asia. French Indochina included modern-day Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
The French were more ruthless than the Russians in maximizing the economic potential of their regions. France imposed heavy taxes on goods like salt and rice alcohol. The area's natural resources were exploited, too. Rice and rubber were grown for France's benefit. Also, only a small minority of Vietnamese became wealthy. Local peasants were ruthlessly exploited. A middle class never developed. Because they had been exploited, most Vietnamese never accepted the doctrine of capitalism. But many were receptive to national movements against French control.
By the mid-twentieth century, the French were ejected from Southeast Asia. World War II had demonstrated that the Europeans were not invincible, and the peoples of the region craved self determination.

I need to write 3 thesis statements for Memoirs of A Geisha about the general themes. I need one for friendship and betrayal, fate and destiny, and suffering and strength.

Thesis writing can be a daunting thing to do. Teachers will stress over and over again just how important it is to have a solid thesis statement for a paper. Those teachers are correct. The thesis statement guides the entire paper. It is the foundation.
With that said, writing a thesis can be quite formulaic. The first thing to remember is that a good thesis statement makes an argument. It is not a statement of fact, because then there would be nothing to prove. A second thing to remember is that a thesis needs to be specific, yet it also needs to give you room to write, discuss, and use various forms of support. For this reason, I recommend using a double-sided thesis statement. Start the thesis with the word "although." This will force you to make a statement that the second half of the sentence attempts to discredit. Because the thesis statement is set up with two opposing views, your paper is free to explore both of those particular angles while pushing your reader to believe your main, second argument. This format of a double-sided thesis statement also fits well with the general writing prompt providing you with three sets of opposites. A possible thesis statement might go something like the following statement:

Although Chiyo suffers greatly at the hands of various characters, it is this suffering that allows her to become one of the strongest characters in the novel.

What does the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur indicate about the society and culture from which it came?

First of all, to summarize the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur: Theseus was the son of Aegeus and Aethra, and therefore the heir to the throne of Athens. In order to protect him, Theseus's father left him to be raised by his grandfather. Once he was old enough, though, and proved his strength, Theseus went to Athens, to be greeted lovingly by his parents only to learn that all was not well. Each year, the people of Athens were obliged to send a tribute to Crete of 7 young men and 7 young women to be given to the Minotaur, a creature that was half man, half bull. When Theseus learned of this situation, he offered to go as one of the tributes, despite his father's objections, believing he could slay the Minotaur.
After arriving in Crete, King Minos greeted them and sent them to the labyrinth the Minotaur inhabited to be sacrificed to him, but before they went, Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, took pity on Theseus and gave him a ball of string and a sword. After Theseus and the other tributes entered the maze and the Minotaur came for them, he succeeded in slaying the creature, leading the way out using the trail of string and escaping the island before Minos learned of what happened.
From this myth, we can certainly learn a lot about society and culture of Ancient Greece. We know that different cities and regions were ruled by kings and queens. Also, we can infer that human sacrifice was a part of life, at least to some extent, based on the fact that Athens was required to sacrifice 14 of its citizens every year. We can also infer that, while men were typically the fighters and leaders, women were still viewed as having importance and intelligence, as Theseus would never have succeeded if it hadn't been for Ariadne. We can infer that strength and cleverness were both valued. We also learn that people traveled by boat, and there was not always peace between regions.
Check out the link below for more info on Greek Mythology!

How has the role of the presidency and the federal government changed since 1980?

Both the presidency and the federal government have changed greatly since 1980.
Ronald Reagan became president in 1980. The institution of the presidency had been weakened by the unsuccessful Vietnam War and the resignation of Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal. Reagan sought to strengthen the office and project strong leadership both at home and abroad. Reagan was the oldest man ever to become president, but he exuded charm and vitality. Reagan's successors have, to a greater or lesser degree, tried to maintain an image of vigor. One part of this has been the maintenance of a large and expensive military force.
Reagan's economic policies, known as Reaganomics, have continued to influence the United States. Reagan sought to stimulate economic growth by cutting taxes and reducing regulation. Despite the fact that his tax cuts favored the rich, caused the national debt tp triple (ironically, as the Republican party's platform is reducing spending), and ultimately lowered the quality of life for working-class people, Reagan's economic ideas persist within the Republican Party to this day. Many presidents since Reagan have generally continued these policies, and as a result, the tax system is much less progressive than it used to be and the national debt has steadily climbed.
Another result of the Reagan era has been an increase in public distrust of the national government. "Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem," Reagan said. Many Americans do not believe the government should be involved in healthcare, education, or other aspects of their daily lives. This has widened the divide between the two major political parties, with Democrats generally wanting to expand government programs and Republican generally wanting to restrict them.
The rise of the internet has had a major impact on the national government. Its political ramifications were not foreseen and its impact has been both positive and negative, as has been evident in the most recent elections.
American elections have become more problematic for other reasons as well. One problem that has become obvious over recent decades is the Electoral College. Because of the Electoral College, candidates are able to take office after winning fewer popular votes than their opponent. As for Congressional elections, gerrymandering has worsened in recent decades.

Once a healthy biological male has reached adulthood, do his cells continue to divide by both mitosis and meiosis? Outline when each type of cell division might occur.

In order to remain healthy, his cells must continue to divide as old cells become worn out or damaged. His body will use both mitosis and meiosis to repair and replace them.
Meiosis only produces the sex cells. Meiosis that occurs in men is called spermatogenesis. The process is initiated when testosterone levels rise at the onset of puberty and FSH begins to stimulate the Sertoli cells that nurse germ cells in the testes. Sperms cells are replaced continuously.
All other cells use mitosis to divide. Unlike meiosis, which produces haploid cells that are genetically different from the parent cell, mitosis produces genetically similar diploid cells. Mitosis is initiated when signal pathways alert cells that exact copies are required. This happens at different rates throughout the body. A skin cell, for example, is typically replaced in less than a month, while a neuron will probably only divide once during adulthood.
http://www.uwyo.edu/wjm/repro/spermat.htm

What does the speaker mean by "fearful symmetry"?

Blake’s poem abandons an otherwise perfect rhyme scheme in order to draw attention to the word “symmetry” in the fourth line — letting it ring out, somewhat awkwardly, against the preceding line’s “eye.” It’s clearly significant, and demands a closer inspection.
We should begin by considering the significance of a tiger to the contemporary reader. A person of Blake’s time would regard a tiger as something more like a mythical beast than an actual animal. The tiger stood in the Western imagination as a kind of symbol for the exotic and ancient cultures of the “Orient.” Its aggressive coloring clearly marks its essential foreignness: an intimidating creature, violent in reputation, behavior and appearance, unlike anything else on the planet. The poem’s accompanying illustration, provided by the poet himself, has an almost psychedelic quality. The animal’s strangeness is exaggerated, a quality only further highlighted by the poet’s use of the unorthodox spelling “tyger.”
The tiger’s alien appearance is not all that’s meant by “fearful symmetry,” though. Let’s instead examine the tiger in terms of Blake’s broader symbolic lexicon. Blake was what we could call a “system-builder,” and he over the course of his career developed and articulated an entire “mythology” incorporating his metaphysical and religious beliefs. The collection in which “The Tyger” appeared, Songs of Innocence and Experience, was divided into two volumes. Blake was inspired by John Milton’s exploration of the “Fall of Man” in Paradise Lost to explore poetically the loss of innocence that comes with the end of childhood. The naive and guileless Songs of Innocence give way to the darker, gloomier Songs of Experience. The theme of an impossible but necessary unity of perfect opposites dominates the whole of his poetry, perhaps most clearly in his later work “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.” This idea is never far from any Blake poem.
“The Tyger,” as we might expect, appears in the latter volume. It is a “Song of Experience.” As you might also expect, it has an antecedent in the preceding half — a poem called “The Lamb.” Like “The Tyger,” “The Lamb” begins with the speaker posing a question:

Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee

Compare to “The Tyger”:

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

A little later in “The Tyger,” Blake states the connection directly:

“Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?”

The “fearful symmetry” is between the lamb and the tiger themselves. It is the same creator who “twisted the sinews of [the tyger’s] heart” that gave the lamb her “tender voice.” When the poet asks “what shoulder, and what art” could create something so terrifying as the tiger, he already knows the answer. The creation of the lamb necessitates the creation of the tiger; the existence of the Songs of Innocence implies that of the Songs of Experience; the perfection of Eden demanded the horror of the Fall. This is the harmony of opposites, each in proportion: a fearful symmetry, indeed.
At the core of Blake’s metaphysics lies a point at which difference itself melts away. The speaker and the audience, man and woman, the tiger and the lamb are all of one essence. The nature of this essence cannot be comprehended by normal means. For Blake, it lies at a point just beyond the limit of conventional human reason. Because it lies somewhere beyond this limit, it is said to be “mystic” in nature — one must undergo a transcendental experience to truly reach it. This is also why Blake’s poetry is said to fall within the “prophetic” tradition. He viewed his work as a vehicle for an ineffable truth: the “fearful symmetry” found in all creation, all experience: the hidden nature of our world. As Blake himself would later write, “if the doors of perception were cleansed, life would appear to man as it is: infinite.”

This line is within a larger question that the speaker poses in "The Tyger":

What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?


Within the creation of the tiger is a much bigger question that centers around the essence of the Creator. If God works as a craftsman to create every wonderful thing, does He then also work in "symmetry" to create a counterbalance of darkness?

The perfect symmetry of a tiger then, its perfect form and shape, has a counterbalance: It is capable of great devastation. The speaker is questioning whether both goodness and darkness originate from the same Creator. If there is innocence (I often teach this poem in conjunction with "The Lamb," which elicits this opposing image of God's creation and is also written by Blake), then must there also be corruption? If there is beauty, must there then also be fear?

The speaker provides no answers about the "symmetry" of God's design but allows readers to discern this answer for themselves.

In order to grasp the meaning of the phrase "fearful symmetry" in "The Tyger" by William Blake, it's important to understand it in the context of the entire poem. At the end of the first stanza and again at the end of the overall poem, Blake asks the question, "What immortal hand or eye, dare frame thy fearful symmetry?" Blake was a Christian writer, and in this poem he wonders whether God, who created so much good, could have also created a creature of such deadly power as a tiger. The poem asks,

Did he smile his work to see?Did he who made the Lamb make thee?


In these lines, "he" refers to God, and Blake wonders whether God would feel joy at the creation of the tiger, which, though visually beautiful, destroys and devours other creatures. "The Lamb" is symbolic of Jesus Christ (as well as referring to meek, innocent creatures), and Blake questions whether the same God who created Jesus Christ could possibly have created the frightening tiger.

The phrase "fearful symmetry" is a summation of the question that Blake poses, but does not really answer, in the poem. "Symmetry" means the beauty inherent in the excellence or perfection of proportion. The concept of symmetry would not normally be frightening. When Blake adds the adjective "fearful" to symmetry, he suggests something that doesn't fit and that cannot be explained. In other words, he questions the creation of evil by God, when God is supposed to create only beauty and perfection.

What Blake is trying to do here is convey the sheer awe and sense of wonder that the tiger inspires. The tiger is “fearful,” in that it induces fear in all who see it. At the same time, it has “symmetry” in its appearance, a sense of balance and proportion traditionally associated with objects of great beauty. So in other words, Blake presents the tiger as being scary and beautiful at the same time.
As well as being scary and beautiful, the tiger is also sublime. Its savage wildness cannot be neatly contained, or “framed,” as the poem has it. As the tiger emerges from the forests of the night, it isn’t subjected to any boundaries; this is real life, not a painting where the action can be framed. Not even God himself, the “immortal hand or eye,” can control or contain the tiger’s fearsome beauty, which takes on a life of its own.

Using C++ to: Handling Priorities with Linked Lists: Design a class called supportTicket that handles information about reported IT support issues. A ticket includes an id number, the location of the equipment (e.g., building and room number), a short description of the issue, and a priority level. A valid priority level is a value from 1-5. Tickets are services based on their priority level, from highest to lowest. More than one ticket may have the same priority level. However, when entering an item into the list that has the same priority as another item, the newest item should come after any previously entered items with the same priority. When a ticket is serviced, it is removed from the list. Implement a menu system that allows the program user to add a support ticket, service a ticket (remove it from list), and list active tickets in order of priority.

You have some decisions to make: the class that holds the individual support ticket and the implementation of the linked list, set, multiset, or array that holds all of them. Your assignment states that you need to use a linked list.
The individual support ticket should include the id, which should be a numeric data type. I'd choose integer or short, or even char, depending on how many open items you expect to have. It's probably not worth it to make it a short or char, which would save space; even if you know that would be adequate, I'd make it autoincrement. Otherwise you'll need to keep the number of the last id you added and increment by hand. Building and room number should be short, or even a char, since you can be sure you know the limit on the number of buildings and the number of rooms in each. An adequate type for the description is probably varchar (256).
Your list can be either singly or doubly linked. You'll need to keep a pointer to the head of the list, which will be null when the list is empty. It needs to be static, in order to be preserved across invocations of routine to add items to the list.
I'd make the list singly linked but keep a pointer to the previous item as you traverse the list. Once you have the first item, for each subsequent item you need to traverse the list either until you reach the end, in which case you add the item and point the last item to it, or until you find an item with a lower priority level, in which case you insert your new item between it and the previous one.
I'm not going to write your code for you, nor am I going to implement the menu handling, but this should help you get started.
Here are a couple of sites with documentation:
http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/?view=vs-2019

https://en.cppreference.com/w/

What are the contrasts in the poem "Summer in the Yakima Valley" by Ruth Roach Pierson?

The speaker divides this poem into two sections, introducing them with the comments that she thinks differently of the house and the valley "by day" to the way she does "at night." This immediately indicates that the two sections will contrast each other, particularly because the delights she describes from the daytime then lead into the word "but." By day, she has loved the house and the valley, but at night, everything changes.
By day, the speaker is part of a pair, "my cousin and I." By night, however, she finds herself "alone," which draws a contrast between the camaraderie of the daytime and the loneliness and fear of night.
By day, the speaker moves around the valley with confidence ("swaggered") and the only things to fear in it are "cow pies." By day, the house on the hill is "loved," a pleasant place to spend a summer.
By night, on the other hand, the speaker, now alone and without the support of her cousin, finds the house to be full of "nightmare shadows." Likewise, the valley itself is "alien," full of unknown sounds such as the call of coyotes. The speaker finds herself desperate to return to her own home.

What were the main political issues facing the candidates in the 1864 presidential election, and was Lincoln's reelection in 1864 seriously in question?

Even though Abraham Lincoln was the incumbent president, victory in the 1864 election was not guaranteed in the months leading to November. The central issue of the election was the continuation of the Civil War and his opponent was former General of the Army of the Potomac, George McClellan. The prolonged conflict generated a myriad of concerns. The war had proven costly, both financially and with loss of life.
The Northern Democrats attempted to utilize the war weariness of the public by nominating someone with a decorated military experience. Previous elections, while the Whig Party still existed, indicated this to be a successful strategy with victories of former presidents Harrison and Taylor. Moreover, the Republican Party was centrally composed of politicians who had been formerly Whigs and General McClellan had been relieved of command by the President on two occasions. This created both added intensity and the decisiveness that the outcome of the election determined the outcome of the war. A Lincoln win meant seeing the war to its completion. A McClellan presidency would likely mean no period of reconstruction involving the 11 Confederate states.

As with any president, the ups and downs in office seldom provide comfort when facing re-election. Lincoln, in the throes of a lingering civil war which much of the electorate believed would last no more than a year and relatively free of bloodshed, found himself doubting his electability in 1864. It was not the first time domestic issues derailed a presidential candidate. And within his own party, prominent Republicans like Salmon P. Chase, Treasury Secretary, and John Charles Fremont, a commander with a poor track record during the Union campaign, were mulling a run at Lincoln or gauging the publics' desire for change in the office of the Commander and Chief.
The Confederate South certainly wanted to see change. The South in the election of 1860 had split the vote between two Democrats, Stephen Douglas in the North and John C. Breckenridge in the South. A third party candidate John Bell was in the election mix as well as Lincoln and his Democratic opposition. In the election of 1860, Douglas and Breckenridge combined for 47 percent of the popular vote, with Bell garnering 13 percent, leaving Lincoln with a governing popular vote of a paltry 40 percent. This most assuredly was on Lincoln's mind three months before the election of 1864 when he wrote, "This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected," on a document he asked each of his cabinet members to sign. The document urged them to cooperate with the new administration for the good of the country. Even close political allies and advisers believed the Lincoln administration would go down in defeat.
The dominating issue was, of course, the Civil War. The war was a bloody reminder the problem of slavery had not been dealt with, and slavery remained the core issue of the campaign. Lincoln had made it clear that his intention to see the war end with Union victory, regardless of how long it took to secure the end of slavery. His opposition proposed an immediate end to the war with a grand compromise implying a split in the union of states. Lincoln’s call for a unified nation was in contrast to his opponents who seemed unconcerned about splitting the United States or appeared to be playing to the emotions of voters for political purposes.
Historians generally agree that when the war turned to favor a Union victory over the Confederates, so did Lincoln's political future. Sherman's capture of Atlanta and successful campaign called the March to the Sea inspired voter confidence in Lincoln. Though re-election is never assured, the Lincoln campaign was able to label Confederate supporters traitors to the United States, and in a political turnaround, Lincoln received 78 percent of the popular vote, winning re-election.
The critical issue of keeping the United States whole and slavery were the driving issues of the campaign. Lincoln's margin of victory in the general election was considered by Lincoln to be a mandate to continue the war until the reunification of the country occurred, forever ending slavery.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-reelected

https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/connections/abraham-lincoln-papers/history7.html

https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/lincolngrant.htm

Why were liberal and nationalistic ideas limited in Italy in 1884?

During the 1840s, Italy was experiencing a tumultuous period. The Revolutions of 1848 were led by people revolting against the monarchies of Europe in several countries. It all started in Sicily in January 1848. These nationalist and liberal factions of people who sought to establish a new republic faced incredible challenges while pursuing this endeavor. In particular, French military intervention in Rome restored order. A monarchy was re-established. Members of the middle class and clergy were not in favor of and feared the radical, socialist ideas of the nationalists and liberals, and they strengthened the law enforcement institutions within Italy after 1848. These absolutist, centralized, and repressive institutions ensured that political power was retained within the monarchy—and nobody else—for the majority of the second half of the 19th century in Italy.
They also led an effort to attack the press and liberal associations that threatened political life. Throughout the rest of the 19th century in Italy, these forces limited and constrained nationalistic and liberal ideas so that there was no infiltration or influence within the newly-established monarchy of Rome. The emerging middle classes, which sought to overtake the aristocracy and establishment middle class of landowners whose families were tied by marriage, were largely contained. They could not meaningfully resist the monarchy's grip over their social and political lives.

Was James Buchanan a good president? Why or why not?

The general consensus among historians is that James Buchanan was indeed a bad president. The main reason for this assessment is that he did nothing to stop the drift of the United States towards civil war; if anything, he accelerated it. His wholehearted endorsement of the notorious Dred Scott judgement and his support for the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution of Kansas are simply the two most obvious examples of Buchanan making a bad situation a whole lot worse.
Some historians have accused Buchanan of inaction and indecisiveness, of failing to make a firm stand either for or against secession. Others have been even less charitable, accusing him not of failing to take a stand but of taking the wrong stand, a stand in favor of the Southern states. As evidence, they cite his final address to Congress, where he heaped all the blame for the rapidly deteriorating political crisis on Northern opponents of slavery, accusing them of interfering with the rights of the Southern states.
Such blatant partiality towards the South was fairly typical of Buchanan's general attitude. He had, after all, been elected president mainly on the back of Southern votes, but what the United States needed at this crucial turning-point in its history was a spirit of bipartisanship from its president. Instead, Buchanan provided blatant pro-Southern bias. Instead of rising to the challenge of his time and providing much-needed leadership when it was most needed, Buchanan chose to ignore the many problems caused by the issue of slavery, thus virtually guaranteeing civil war.

What does Pip learn about being a gentleman?

Pip is a poor orphan boy who knows nothing about the real world and certainly nothing about the world of the upper class. Miss Havisham is the second person of a higher class that he meets in his life, and her adopted daughter Estella is the first. Because of her beauty and superficial sophistication, the haughty girl becomes a symbol of everything desirable in the world--but Pip fails to realize that when he meets the haggard, forlorn Miss Havisham a few minutes later, he is also seeing what Estella will be like in the future.
By a miracle Pip finds himself chosen to become transformed from a blacksmith's apprentice into a real London gentleman. He does not realize that being a gentleman is not a real occupation. In fact, most gentlemen are incapable of work and despise work. They treat honest working men with contempt--an attitude which is a sure mark of a gentleman.
A good example of gentlemen is seen in Chapter 34 of Great Expectations, where Pip describes the behavior of the young members of the "club" called "The Finches of the Grove."
So now, as an infallible way of making little ease great ease, I began to contract a quantity of debt. I could hardly begin but Herbert must begin too, so he soon followed. At Startop's suggestion, we put ourselves down for election into a club called the Finches of the Grove: the object of which institution I have never divined, if it were not that the members should dine expensively once a fortnight, to quarrel among themselves as much as possible after dinner, and to cause six waiters to get drunk on the stairs. I know that these gratifying social ends were so invariably accomplished, that Herbert and I understood nothing else to be referred to in the first standing toast of the society: which ran, “Gentlemen, may the present promotion of good feeling ever reign predominant among the Finches of the Grove.”
These unfortunate gentlemen have nothing to do with their lives but fill up the time from morning to night. Pip has a big advantage over them because he has grown up in a household where a man works hard to produce things of value to society. It is appropriate that Pip's first role model was a blacksmith, doing the hardest kind of work. Pip's friend Herbert has a sort of negative advantage in seeing how his father Matthew's fecklessness has led him into a desperate situation. Herbert is a gentleman, but he knows that being a gentleman is not really an occupation. He wants a real occupation. In the end, Pip comes to respect people who work for their livings and are an asset to society rather than a burden and a bad example. Pip realizes that he should have made something of himself, something other than a "gentleman." A real gentleman does not allow himself to become a helpless dependent and a parasite.
By the beginning of Chapter 34, Pip realizes he is on a slippery slope.
When I woke up in the night—like Camilla—I used to think, with a weariness on my spirits, that I should have been happier and better if I had never seen Miss Havisham's face, and had risen to manhood content to be partners with Joe in the honest old forge.
Pip's greatest insight comes in Chapter 39 with the shocking appearance of Abel Magwitch out of the howling storm of reality, who reveals himself as Pip's secret benefactor. Pip realizes with horror that he has been made into a weak, improvident parasite and has satisfied Magwitch's idea and ideal of a "gentleman"--a loafer, a man-about-town, a clothes horse, a spendthrift.
Yes, Pip, dear boy, I've made a gentleman on you! It's me wot has done it! I swore that time, sure as ever I earned a guinea, that guinea should go to you. I swore arterwards, sure as ever I spec'lated and got rich, you should get rich. I lived rough, that you should live smooth; I worked hard that you should be above work. What odds, dear boy? Do I tell it fur you to feel a obligation? Not a bit. I tell it, fur you to know as that there hunted dunghill dog wot you kep life in, got his head so high that he could make a gentleman—and, Pip, you're him!

Describe how the US economy changed as a result of the stock market crash of 1929 and the depression. What effects did these economic changes have on the lives of American citizens?

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the stock market crash of October 29, 1929 and the Great Depression that followed changed almost everything about American life.
The crash wiped out huge amounts of wealth and led to a global economic crisis. In the US, half the banks closed for good, wiping out peoples' savings. Not only did people lose their nest eggs but unemployment skyrocketed, and at the Depression's peak nearly 30% of the workforce was unemployed.
At this time, the prevailing idea was that the federal government's primary role was to provide for the national defense; the nation's government had almost no role in social welfare. This meant that, when the economy collapsed, people had no safety net. There was no deposit insurance, which guaranteed that money that was put in a bank would be replaced in case of a failure; there was no unemployment insurance; there was no minimum wage, which became a problem when desperate people were competing for very few jobs; and there were no food stamps. Many peoples' homes were foreclosed when they couldn't make their mortgage payments after losing their jobs and their savings. In 1932, as many as one thousand homes were being foreclosed daily.
People settled in tent villages, which were called "Hoovervilles"—after President Hoover, who was perceived as not doing enough to address the crisis. Hoover did take steps to provide assistance, but this approach was limited. He did not wish to interfere in the economic process of the free markets—or the "invisible hand"—believing they would eventually right themselves. However, when this strategy proved to yield few results, he was voted out of office.
Franklin Roosevelt's promise of a New Deal for the American people appealed strongly to a population who had experienced firsthand the "old deal," which relied solely on free markets and private charity to solve economic problems. With the New Deal, the federal government assumed a role of responsibility beyond national defense for the first time. It reinterpreted the role of government to include the provision of physical and economic welfare for its citizens. It was reasoned that, in a democracy, the people are the foundation of the government, and the government should therefore work in the people's interest. It was believed that bringing prosperity back to the people would not only revitalize business but the entire economy.
While many of the programs the New Deal enacted do not seem revolutionary by modern standards, at the time they were considered a radical change as a result of the Great Depression. The New Deal changed life for all US citizens and subsequent generations.
For example, with the New Deal, Roosevelt created government work programs to provide employment and to pump money back into the economy, as private industry had failed to do so. In the 1930s, creating government jobs to prop up the economy was a radical idea. Furthermore, under FDR's administration, Congress passed the National Housing Act of 1934; the federal government made home mortgages more affordable, helping to revitalize the housing and construction markets. Congress also passed the Social Security Act of 1935, which not only provided a system for accumulating a retirement income, but also established programs for unemployment insurance, financial help for the handicapped, and aid to widowed mothers with dependent children. Additionally, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established a minimum wage and curtailed child labor. On the banking front, since self regulation had failed, Congress passed the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated investment and commercial banking and curtailed investors from taking careless risks with peoples' money.
While the Great Depression would last until the huge government investment in World War II revitalized the economy, the groundwork that the New Deal laid in federal welfare programs had a lasting impact on American citizens. By concerning itself with the social welfare of its citizens and actively setting up an economic safety net, a large majority of US citizens were able to prosper after World War II.

What was the conversation Pip had with Miss Havisham after the revelation of his benefactor?

In chapter 44, Pip returns to the Satis House after meeting Magwitch and learning that his benefactor was actually a convict and not the stately Miss Havisham. Pip begins by telling Miss Havisham and Estella that he has discovered the identity of his benefactor but cannot elaborate more on the subject for various reasons. Pip then asks Miss Havisham a series of questions to confirm that she never had any intentions of becoming his benefactor and purposely led him to believe that she was his patron. Miss Havisham confirms that she only meant to employ Pip as her servant, that it was simply a coincidence that Mr. Jaggers worked for both her and his benefactor, and that she purposely led him and the Pocket family to believe that she was his patron.
Pip then asks Miss Havisham to carry on anonymous investments in Herbert's career because he can no longer continue to make the payments. He then proceeds to confess his love for Estella, who responds by telling Pip that she is incapable of loving anyone and will follow through with her plans to marry Drummle. As Estella proceeds to break Pip's heart, he notices Miss Havisham revealing her softer side by showing remorse for her actions and his depressing situation. Pip says,

When I raised my face again, there was such a ghastly look upon Miss Havisham’s, that it impressed me, even in my passionate hurry and grief. (Dickens, 644).

Despite Miss Havisham's show of grief and pity, Pip leaves the Satis House utterly dejected and proceeds to walk back to London alone.

What is particularly intriguing about the way in which the story "There Will Come Soft Rains" begins?

The opening paragraphs of Ray Bradbury's short story "There Will Come Soft Rains" are particularly intriguing in the way he portrays a silent, futuristic smart home without any family present. While Bradbury depicts the convenient voice clock and overhead speakers informing the residents of the time and their daily reminders, he also emphasizes the emptiness of the home.
As the technologically advanced kitchen stove prepares a full breakfast and the memory tapes play their routine messages, the absence of the family is particularly intriguing. The reader is immersed in the setting and the mystery surrounding the family's absence is rather disturbing and ominous. By illustrating the glaringly empty technologically advanced home, the reader is intrigued to learn where the residents have gone or what might have happened to them. It is only after the various mechanisms inside the house clean up breakfast and the sun begins to rise when the reader learns that it is the only home standing in the wake of a nuclear attack.