How do you get rid of a wart according to Huckleberry and Tom?

Huck and Tom describe their cure for warts in chapter 6: spunk-water, a bean, and a dead cat.
Tom runs into Huck (at that time, known to him by reputation only) on the street, carrying a dead cat. He asks him what dead cats are good for. When Huck replies, "cure warts with," Tom says he knows something better: spunk-water.
They get into a disagreement, as Huck recites how various people conveyed the message of unsuccessfully trying spunk-water. Tom says they are liars, except the one person he doesn't know, to whom they both refer not by name but only by the n-word.
Nevertheless, Tom wants to know the method according to Bob Tanner, "the wartiest boy in town." Tom inquires about and challenges several details, then ridicules the "blame fool way" and recommends his method, with chants and rituals at midnight. Tom boasts of his own expertise at removing thousands of warts, contracted by playing with frogs.
They next discuss Tom's recommended method of taking them off with a bean, blood, and a related ritual.
Finally they get back to the subject of Tom's real curiosity, "how do you cure 'em with dead cats?"
Huck explains how this involves taking the cat into the graveyard about midnight and waiting for "a devil..., or maybe two or three," invisible but sounding like the wind,

"or maybe hear 'em talk; and when they're taking that feller away, you heave your cat after 'em and say, 'Devil follow corpse, cat follow devil, warts follow cat, I'm done with ye!' That'll fetch any wart.""
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rgs/sawyr-VI.html

Why has going into hiding become such a pressing matter?

I believe that the best place to begin looking for information regarding this question is the July 5, 1942 entry in Anne Frank's diary. Anne's father tells her that they may need to go into hiding soon because the alternative is to risk being taken to a concentration camp by the Germans.
The following entry is July 8, 1942. Frank describes that a member of her family got "the call-up" from the SS. This means that deportation to a concentration camp is imminent for Frank and the rest of her family. They absolutely do not want to do that, so the family scrambles to get last-minute things ready to go into hiding. They plan to leave the next morning.
The July 9, 1942 entry tells readers that the original plan was to go into hiding on July 16, 1942; however, Margot's call-up accelerated the plan.

I am writing a ten-page children's book based on Twelfth Night from the perspective of one of its characters. Even a start to this task would be very very helpful!

Twelfth Night isn't a complicated story, but there are a lot of ways you can approach the play. In my mind, the obvious choice is to look at this from Viola's point of view. Her desire to find her brother is something that most children will relate to and the fact that she dresses like a boy and gets a job working for Duke Orsino should be entertaining to children. The love triangle may be too complicated for children, but the story is ultimately about Viola finding Sebastian.
Starting a project is always the hardest step. If you reread the play and highlight what you consider the best parts you will have a much clearer idea of what the most important story will be. The first draft is never perfect, but you need something to get you started even if it is just a rough outline.
Children's books should always be lighthearted and fun, so have fun with the project. A comedy like Twelfth Night will make an excellent story.

The first step you should take is choosing a character. One of the interesting things about this assignment is that it forces you to think about how the audience sees things that not every character would know, and thus this assignment will be radically different from a straightforward summary from the viewpoint of an omniscient narrator. Although the obvious choice of viewpoint character would be Viola, it might be more creative to chose Maria, who could give the perspective of a servant rather than an aristocrat.
Maria would not know that Viola is a woman at the start of the play, but she would be privy to Olivia's thoughts and most of the gossip surrounding the court. She could start by introducing the household and her role in it with a witty appraisal of the characters surrounding Olivia. She could talk of Viola's arrival and of what she thinks of Olivia's marriage prospects and how those might affect the household. She might also discuss in some detail her feud with Malvolio and how much she finds Sir Toby Belch entertaining. This probably should be written in the first person and begin with a hook—for example,

While everyone at court is talking about the marriages of Olivia and Viola, the marriage of a servant like myself gets far less attention. From my point of view, though, the marriage of Maria (me!) to Sir Toby is just as important and far more fun. Our story, though, starts not with the marriages, but with the courtships.

Is the protagonist considered to be a tragic hero?

A protagonist is often thought of as the main character in a story. They are not necessarily considered a tragic hero. However, using the suffix "agonist", we know that the protagonist is often faced with some measure of adversity throughout the text. As a reader, you find yourself in the mind of the protagonist most often. Because of this, there is a sense of emotional connection as the character experiences hardships, joys, pains, etc. Although they do not have to be considered tragic heroes, that may seem the case depending on the level of emotional connection between reader and character.

The protagonist is the leading or main character. If your story is told from a first-person point of view, the protagonist is usually the narrator. A protagonist is not always a tragic hero, but they definitely could be. A tragic hero is a protagonist in a story that falls (at least partly) into the category of tragedy. An example of a tragic hero would be Romeo in Romeo and Juliet or Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. In film, an example of a tragic hero would be Deadpool. These are flawed but generally still good people, who are ultimately responsible for their own downfall by making poor choices. The term "tragic hero" originates from Aristotle. Typically, as readers, we still like these characters and find them relatable, despite their flaws. These characters engage us emotionally and are much more "human" than protagonists who are flawless.

How does "Winter Dreams" depict the pain of aging?

The world shown in "Winter Dreams" places a primacy on being young. Dexter is at the pitch of prosperity as a young man. Judy Jones controls the gaze of other people as a young woman. Even when Dexter is poor, it is the firm determination of his youth that enables him to better himself. The characters in Fitzgerald's creation place a great value on being young, and youth is synonymous with opportunity, the time of life to make emotional commitments, and a sense of no boundaries.
Aging is shown to be something entirely different. Fitzgerald illuminates the social expectation and attitude towards becoming old. As an older man, Dexter is accompanied only by the pain of his "winter dreams." For Dexter, being old means "that thing is gone." Judy suffers the most as she gets old. Judy's husband Lud Simms drinks too much and cheats on her while she stays home with their children. It does not escape Fitzgerald's perception that women lose more as they get older than men.
Dexter becomes older and must deal with emotional loss. Judy becomes old and finds that her beauty has evaporated with age. In "Winter Dreams," Dexter and Judy find that a world predicated upon external success and appearances does not look kindly upon becoming old.

Analyze the following passage from School for Scandal and explain in as much detail as possible how and why this passage illustrates a dominant theme of the text. Use critical reasons to support your claim. Do not give a plot summary of the events surrounding the passage or rely upon broad generalization. SIR PETER: But here comes my helpmate. She appears in great good humor. How happy I should be if I could tease her into loving me, though but a little. (3.1.186–9)

The passage referenced in your question is in reference to the constant marital struggle between Sir Peter Teazle and his wife, Lady Teazle. In this quote, Sir Peter is expressing his frustration that his wife is always dissatisfied with him, hoping that she would instead be kind to him as he desires.
This quote illustrates an important thematic idea explored throughout the play; this theme is the idea of sentiment. Published during the eighteenth-century period of sentimentalism, the play suggests that men should exhibit the values of love, loyalty, and charity. Sir Peter represents this type of man inwardly, since these are the things he desires. That is why he is so upset that his wife is quarrelsome; he also fears that the rumors about her affair are true. Each of these aspects of their relationship seem to violate Sir Peter's principles.
This quote, then, demonstrates Sir Peter's heart; he wants his wife to exhibit the same values he holds dear, even though he is somewhat unable to exhibit them outwardly in her presence. Therefore, one could certainly argue that this quote highlights the theme of sentimentalism.

Why did the American Revolution start?

The American Revolution (i.e., the American Revolutionary War) was an armed conflict during which thirteen colonies on the east coast of North America fought for their freedom and liberation from British political influence. The revolt lasted 8 years (1775–1783), and one of the most important moments was the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the fourth July, 1776.
There were several reasons that caused the start of the Revolution. The British Empire treated the American people quite harshly—as they demanded the colonies to pay a large share of the war debt from the French and Indian War—and increased their taxes.
As the British political influence was very dominant, the American people felt that they should have their own representatives in the British government, who would speak on behalf of all Americans. Many famous revolutionaries and political activists such as Thomas Paine suggested that the American people should be free and independent, as they were capable of leading and governing their nation.
Soon, many Americans began collecting weapons, and, in the April of 1775, the British soldiers and the American colonists' militia opened fire at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. Thus, the Revolution began.

What is My Last Duchess about, simply?

Simply put: Browning's "My Last Duchess" takes as its inspiration the life of Alfonso II of Ferrara, a Duke whose wife, Lucrezia, died rather suspiciously in the 16th century. After this happened, Alfonso pursued a second marriage to the niece of the Count of Tyrol.
In this poem, Browning imagines the Duke speaking to someone, possibly the Count of Tyrol, in an attempt to charm him with a tour of his art collection. The Duke points to a portrait on the wall of his "last duchess." He goes on to discuss his duchess as if she were a piece of art and art only; he explains that, in life, she liked everybody far too much for the Duke's liking. Rather than prizing his "gift" of having married her above others, she seemed to thank everybody equally, which the Duke found distasteful. He seemed to expect his wife to privilege him above everyone, and pay nobody else any attention.
At the end of the poem, the Duke reveals his own hypocrisy by moving on from the painting of the duchess and pointing out another piece, a bronze statue of Neptune, to his audience. It is clear that at this point the person he is speaking to has become tired of, or perhaps appalled by, the Duke. The Duke tells him that they will go downstairs together and then turns his attention to the bronze piece as if appealing to his companion to stay.

What does the inscription on the pedestal suggest about the kind of person Ozymandias was?

The inscription on the pedestal of Ozymandias’s statue read, “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; / Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
The fact that he called himself the “King of Kings” suggests that Ozymanidas was very powerful and also perhaps rather proud and arrogant. Ozymandias is the Greek name for Rameses II, an Egyptian pharaoh who reigned from 1279 to 1213 BCE. We know that Rameses II was indeed very powerful. He won many military campaigns and made Egypt a powerful and wealthy nation. The inscription, however, implies that being very powerful was not enough for Ozymandias. He wanted to be, and seemed certain that he was, the most powerful.
The second part of the inscription is phrased as a demand. He wants people, and specifically other powerful or “Mighty” people, to look upon what he has achieved and despair. He wants these other people to lose any hope of being more powerful than him and to be overawed by his power. It’s also possible that “ye Mighty” is a reference to the gods, which would make Ozymandias’s declaration of power even more arrogant. The exclamation mark at the end of the demand suggests an insistent, fierce tone. Ozymandias likely did not tolerate anybody who refused to acknowledge his power or to treat him accordingly.

Did Hamlet actually mourn the death of his father, or just the idea of his father?

Certainly Hamlet idealizes (and really idolizes) his father. Multiple times in the play, he compares his father to Claudius, most memorably in his first soliloquy, when he says that comparing King Hamlet to his usurper brother is like comparing "Hyperion to a satyr." He also bemoans the fact that his mother "my uncle, My father's brother, but no more like my father/Than I to Hercules." So clearly Hamlet admires his father. Though his procrastination in avenging King Hamlet's death is one of the play's central plot features, we should note that he swears to do so out of a strong sense of obligation to his father. Whether Hamlet worships an ideal of his father is a difficult question to answer. It is perhaps true that many young people idealize their parents, especially if they lose them early in their lives. What is clear is that when the audience is introduced to Hamlet, he is overcome with grief at his father's passing and his mother's decision to remarry. When he is charged by his father's ghost with avenging his untimely death, he is driven by love, admiration, and duty to do so. So his admiration for his father, and his grief at his passing, is clearly authentic and what one might expect from the son of a king.

What request did Ron make to Chris before they parted ways in Into the Wild?

The story of Ron Franz’s interaction with Chris McCandless is told in Chapter Six, “Anza-Borrego,” of Into the Wild. (Ronald A. Franz is not his real name. When he asked for anonymity, author Jon Krakauer agreed to protect his identity with a pseudonym.) Ron was 80 years old when he first gave a ride to Chris, who he knew as Alex. Chris had made a camp near Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California. The two of them became quick friends who spent some time together. Ron had lost his wife and only son in an accident in 1957, and he seems to never have gotten over the loss. He began to advise Chris lightly, and he even taught him some leather crafting skills. Ron drove him to San Diego, where Chris lived on the street for a while. Then, when Chris got the idea to go to Grand Junction, Colorado, he called Ron for help. Ron drove him there and left him along I-70 on March 14, 1992. But before they parted, Ron was moved enough to ask for something special. He explained that had no other family members left.

“So I asked Alex if I could adopt him, if he could be my grandson.”
McCandless, uncomfortable with the request, dodged the question: “We’ll talk about it when I get back from Alaska, Ron.”

But of course, Chris/Alex never came back. Ron heard from him a few times, and he even moved to Chris’s old camp site for some months. waiting. He eventually heard about his young friend’s fate from some hitchhikers who had read the account in Outside. The man was devastated.

In the age of social media, what does engaging with integrity look like?

In the context of social media, engaging with integrity means that people would engage online in a manner akin to the ways in which society deems acceptable of an in-person engagement. Typically, it is not considered to be socially acceptable to hurl insults at someone when involved in a debate or complex conversation. However, due to the anonymity that can be offered through online engagement, and due to the lack of physical or social recourse, some people tend towards more hostile and vulgar behavior than they would exhibit in an in-person interaction. Online bullying, harassment, and stalking has been a significant problem in the age of consistent social media use for teenagers and adults alike. As the consistent and daily use of social media does not appear to be dwindling or going away anytime soon, our society must be diligent in establishing kind and considerate social norms for online engagement.

The problem with social media is that because people are typing behind a screen, rather than talking to people face-to-face, they get very brave and say things that they would never say to somebody's face.
Engaging with integrity is about commenting on posts and pictures in a way that is not offensive to anybody reading it.
Cyberbullying has become increasingly prevalent. It has even led to young people dying by suicide. Engaging with integrity means interacting with people online in ways that make them feel good about themselves and, as you would in real life, avoiding making unnecessary negative or derogatory comments.
Another phenomenon which has become common in the digital age is people making comments using a fake name. According to the principles of engaging with integrity, all comments should be made from your own legitimate account. Creating a second "secret" online name would not be in accordance with the principles of integrity.

How old are David and Pheobe when they finally meet each other in The Memory Keeper's Daughter?

I'm assuming you mean Paul and Phoebe. Technically, David sees Phoebe in the hospital before he sends her away with the nurse after her birth, but he is then unable to ever meet with her again, because he perishes from a heart attack several months before the truth is revealed to Norah.
However, Phoebe is eventually able to meet her twin, Paul, when the two of them are twenty-five. Caroline, the woman who has adopted Phoebe after David gave the girl to her in the hospital, decides to do the right thing and goes to meet Norah, letting her know that her daughter never died. At this point, Norah and Paul make the journey to Pittsburgh, and Paul is eventually able to meet his twin sister.

What made Mark hate the steamboatman in Life on the Mississippi? Why do you think Mark still wanted to talk like him despite this hatred?

In Mark Twain's memoir Life on the Mississippi, it is clear that Twain had a love-hate sentiment for steamboat captain Mr. Bixby. It was Twain's boyhood dream to learn how to pilot a steamboat on the Mississippi River. He sought out Mr. Bixby as a teacher, who was known as one of the most renowned steamboat pilots of his time.
Twain admired Bixby for his skill and was grateful to learn from such a skilled instructor. However, the captain often directed intense verbal abuse at Twain as he struggled with the challenges of riverboat piloting. Steamboat workers were notorious for their profane language, but even so, Mr. Bixby was particularly awful, according to Twain's memoir.
The job was tougher than Twain expected, and several times Mr. Bixby woke him in the middle of the night to instruct him. However, Twain was more resentful of this aspect of the job specifically and did not take it personally. I would describe Twain's negative sentiment toward Bixby as dislike, rather than hatred. He likely wanted to speak and act like Bixby in order to fit in with the man and his crew.
For more insight into your questions, including quotations featured in Twain's memoir, refer to my answer for a relevant question linked below:

What beliefs does the author ask you to suspend in order to appreciate and understand his story?

In order to appreciate this short story, you would have to suspend several disbeliefs. This, of course, depends on your beliefs prior to reading the story, including religious ones.
The first and most obvious of these would be the existence of the devil himself, presented to the reader as Mr. Scratch. As a reader, you must suspend your disbelief in the devil (if this applies to your life) in order to benefit from the story.
The next would be the existence of human souls, since Daniel Webster’s client sold his soul in exchange for good luck.
Then, one would need to suspend disbelief about the ability of ghosts to appear before living people, as the jury of the damned does during the trial.
Finally, one would need to suspend disbelief in the ability to predict the future, since Scratch accurately foretells Webster’s political trajectory and life experiences.

Mrs. Jones is a woman of modest income. Give three pieces of evidence from the text that show the $10 she gives Roger is actually quite a sacrifice.

Mrs. Jones is obviously not a rich woman, so $10 would be worth a lot to her. Though the writer does not detail the part of town she lives in, he does say that she resides in a studio apartment with other "roomers."
There is also a suggestion that she relates not only to the boy's poverty but to his want for things he can't afford. As she tells him, “I were young once and I wanted things I could not get.” From this perspective, she shows no shock or false sympathy when the boy tells her that he has no one to care for him, suggesting that for her, such a situation is just a part of life. This is backed up by the empathetic way she converses with him at the dinner table. She seems to know exactly how to make him feel comfortable.

The woman did not ask the boy anything about where he lived, or his folks, or anything else that would embarrass him. Instead, as they ate, she told him about her job in a hotel beauty-shop that stayed open late, what the work was like, and how all kinds of women came in and out, blondes, red-heads, and Spanish. Then she cut him a half of her ten-cent cake.

What was the Swallow's reason for visiting the statue the first time in "The Happy Prince"?

The Swallow loves a beautiful Reed. He meets her when he was chasing a yellow moth down the river in early spring. She has such an attractive waist that he stops and chats with her. This is beginning of their relationship, and he spends the summer courting her. In the meantime, all his fellow swallows fly to Egypt while he stays behind. His fellow swallows disapprove of his love for the Reed because she is common and has so many relatives.
The Swallow, however, soon becomes disillusioned with the Reed. He decides she doesn't have much to say and is a "coquette" who flirts with the wind. She also doesn't like to travel, and she won't go away with him. Therefore, he leaves her and heads for Egypt to meet up with the other swallows.
When he gets to Egypt at night, he sees the statue of the prince and decides it would be a "fine" place to sleep, full of fresh air. Therefore, he settles on it, calling it a "golden bedroom." It is probable that had he flown with the flock, he would have settled elsewhere with them, but because of his courtship and arriving alone, he finds the statue.

Is there any modern experimental evidence that Hebb (and Aristotle) were right?

Donald Hebb’s work on the role of neurons in memory in some ways built on Aristotle’s idea of the mind as a blank slate at birth, with all memories imprinted through experience. Eric Kandel’s experiments on sea slugs helped concretize understanding of learning through molecular change and how neurotransmitters do their work.
In 1949, Donald Hebb formulated the theory that became known as Hebb’s Rule. His notion that “neurons that fire together, wire together” referred to the way that memories are encoded: as connections between neurons that are established with repeated use. Subsequent discoveries identified specific mechanics of memory consolidation and neural plasticity
Eric Kandel was a neurobiologist who worked particular with the sea slug Apylsia, with relatively few nerve cells that tend to be and thus easier to study. Its protective guard reflex for its gills also was a basis for studying learning mechanisms. Ultimately demonstrating Hebb’s rule, Kandel’s experiments identified the molecular changes occurring in learning as well as which neurotransmitters are involved. In 2000, Kandel, Arvid Carlsson, and Paul Greengard were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Donald-Hebb

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eric-Kandel

As Between Shades of Gray opens, Lina explains that she has little understanding that her parents planned to attempt to escape Lithuania. What can be inferred about her understanding of the political climate in her country? Do you think her surprise is a typical reaction for a teen? Why or why not?

Between Shades of Gray was written by Ruta Sepetys. It is about the experience of a fifteen-year-old girl in Lithuania named Lina, who is living through a tumultuous time period during World War II. Suddenly, Soviet officers invade and raid her family's home. Lina, her brother, and her mother are separated from their father. It is in this context that we can understand why her parents had planned an attempted escape from Lithuania.
Lina behaves like a typical teenager. She is naive, idealistic, and optimistic about the future despite the perilous events around her. We can reasonably infer that Lina's understanding of the political climate in her country is ignorant or misinformed, and her reaction of surprise when the Soviet officers rip her family apart is evidence of that. People in Lithuania who understand the political climate in her country expected to have their lives ruined if they do not do something, such as attempt to escape the country, but Lina disregarded the warning signs that her parents had planned to do just that.
Likewise, Lina's reaction of surprise when she learns that her parents planned to escape confirms her attitude of naïveté, which is typical thinking for a teen. As mentioned, Lina behaves like a typical teenager. She is hopeful, ignorant of the seriousness of events around her, and also disregards warning signs or any negativity that could bring her views into clear focus and reality. In the end, the story shows Lina as strong, loving, and courageous, and her perseverance through tough times is on full display—but these character traits are not noticeable until after she and her family face difficult and dangerous obstacles.

Who helped Mandela to stop apartheid law?

As well as the ANC leader Nelson Mandela, the South African president F.W. de Klerk was also instrumental in bringing apartheid to an end.
Thanks to apartheid, South Africa had been turned into an international pariah state. A number of white politicians such as de Klerk realized that the situation could not continue and began to contemplate dismantling the system of racial oppression that had dominated South African public life for over forty years. De Klerk's party, the National Party (NP), had introduced apartheid in 1948, but there was a growing sense among the party leadership that the policy was untenable, not least because of sustained pressure for change from the international community.
Through a number of important steps, de Klerk gradually dismantled apartheid, setting South Africa on the road to black majority rule. In 1990 he lifted the ban on the ANC; not long afterwards, he authorized the release of Nelson Mandela from prison after 27 years of confinement. There then began a series of formal negotiations between de Klerk and the ANC leadership to end apartheid once and for all and to bring about a peaceful transition to democratic rule.

Analyze the significance of Tolstoy’s reflection on “Tartar thistle” in terms of the conflict of the Caucasus depicted in his book Hadji Murat. Consider the significance of the thistle in Vambery’s Sketches, p. 340–341. Compare and contrast Tolstoy’s depictions of Hadji Murat, Shamil, and Tsar Nikolas I. Discuss Hadji Murat as a “man of action” and transgressor of traditional social and cultural norms and values.

In Tolstoy's parable that frames the story of Hadji Murat, the thistle symbolizes the indigenous people of the Caucasus. It persists through the attempts to stamp it out.
Tolstoy, though he had served in the Russian army and was a member of the Russian ruling class, became increasingly opposed throughout his life to the imperialist ventures his country undertook. Even in the early story "The Cossacks," he sees virtues in both the Caucasus peoples (variously known to the Russians as Tartars, Chechens, Avars, and Circassians) and the Cossacks which the Russians lack, though the Cossacks are allied with the Russians. In Hadji Murat, the focal point of all that is negative about Russia is the tsar himself, the arrogant, hypocritical Nicholas I. The simple courage and devotion to family and people of Murat are the opposite of the tsar's character. Murat goes over to the Russian side because of the internal dispute he has with Shamil, who represents the more brutal side of the Chechens. Hadji Murat is not so much a transgressor of social norms and values as a man driven to undertake a desperate step when he comes into conflict with members his own national group.
In some way, Murat is a symbol of plain humanity without fanatical devotion to one side or the other in the Caucasus conflict. The immediate change in loyalty he experiences is due to an internal dispute, but even after he does change sides, the Russians do not trust him either. He ends up being the Other both to his own people and to those who seek to conquer them.
Tolstoy himself does not spare anything in describing the cynicism of the tsar and the Russian command, who see nothing wrong in burning the Chechens out of their farms and homes in order to carry out their imperial policy. The tsar's amorality, with his mistresses, his laziness, and his general air of corruption, contrasts with Hadji Murat's honesty, his gentlemanliness, and his loyalty to his family. This is so in spite of his being a "heathen" with respect to the Russians. Though Tolstoy himself was a man whose Christian piety became more intense as he reached old age, he did not believe the Russians (or any European power) had the right to impose their beliefs—including their religion and way of life—on other peoples. The parable of the thistle is his message that men and women will withstand the attempts of others to take over their lands and to destroy their separate ethnic and religious identities.

Had he lived, would U.S. President James A. Garfield have won re-election in 1884?

It's impossible to answer this question with any great degree of accuracy for the simple reason that Garfield only served as President for just over six months before his assassination. So one can really only speculate. On the whole, one would have to say that it's more than likely that Garfield would've been re-elected. He was generally quite a popular President, both with the members of his party and with the American people as a whole.
On the other hand, Garfield's margin of victory had been quite narrow, just a 0.1 per cent margin in the popular vote. (Though Garfield's victory in the Electoral College was more convincing it was still less than impressive.) The closeness of the election was generally down to a backlash against the rampant corruption of previous Republican Administrations. One such scandal, the Crédit Mobilier bribery scandal, had involved Garfield himself, and his Democrat opponents made great play of this, contrasting what they saw as Garfield's dishonesty with the unimpeachable integrity of their candidate, General Winfield Scott Hancock. As it's more than likely that similar scandals would've plagued a full Garfield Administration, then it's by no means certain that he would've been reelected in 1884.

What data should be included in a critical appreciation of a poem?

When you are doing a critical appreciation of a poem, you don't need to worry about data. However, there are a number of aspects of the poem that you need to consider in detail.
For example, the first step you should take is to look at the structure of the poem. This includes the stanzas and the rhyme scheme, if any.
Secondly, you need to consider where the poem is set—both time and place—as well as any speakers or characters in the poem.
Next, you will want to take a close look at the kind of language that the author uses. Remember that language includes stylistic devices, like imagery, metaphors, personification, and alliteration. Note any relevant examples and start thinking about the purpose of these devices. If you need help with these devices, check out the reference link provided.
Then, you will need to work out the author's message and any themes which are present in the text.
Finally, you want to put all of these pieces together. Consider how the author uses structure, language, and themes to emphasize the poem's message. Remember to support any arguments with relevant examples from the text.

The grandfather's reaction in the morning left everyone stupefied. Why?

The short story "The Night the Ghost Got In" by James Thurber tells of a misunderstanding that erupts into full-blown chaos. The narrator thinks that he hears footsteps downstairs. He supposes at first it's a burglar but then later decides that it must be a ghost. He calls his brother, Herman, and they listen together. When his mother comes, she assumes that it's burglars and throws a shoe through the neighbor's window to arouse him to call the police. When numerous policemen arrive, they break through the front door and tear the downstairs apart looking for clues.
All this time, through all the confusion, the grandfather has been asleep on his bed in the attic. As the narrator explains, he has some sort of dementia, supposing that he is in the midst of a historic battle. When the police burst in, the grandfather fights back. He hits one and sends him sprawling, and then he grabs a gun from another and shoots him in the shoulder. The police hastily retreat from the enraged grandfather. Grandfather's reaction in the morning and the response to it sums up the fact that nobody really knows what caused all the chaos and destruction.

Over his third cup of coffee, he glared at Herman and me. "What was the idee of all them cops tarryhootin' round the house last night?" he demanded. He had us there.

The ending fits in with the comically absurd nature of the plot. Grandfather knows nothing about what has occurred other than that the police invaded his room. Everyone else is ultimately just as ignorant, because no trace of ghosts or burglars is ever found.

Why do you suppose Shane and Joe are working so well together?

Shane and Joe Starrett, despite their very different natures and backgrounds, bond with each other because both are outsiders, the Other. As a homesteader, Starrett is an isolated man in danger of losing his farm, his life, and his family in the range-war with the ruthless cattlemen. Shane helps him not only because he reflexively sides with the underdog but also because of his own uncertain position in the transforming West.
Shane is a mysterious, semi-mythic figure. Like other prototypical heroes in the literature of the American West, he seems to come from nowhere, he accomplishes a goal, and he then leaves. As a gunfighter, his time has passed. He's doubly the Other because, in attempting to relinquish that past, he doesn't truly fit in even with the Starretts, and he's not at home anywhere. His attempt to start a different kind of life draws him into the Starrett family, into bonding with not only Joe but with Joe's wife and son. His enthusiasm for working with Joe on the farm is based on the knowledge that he's now doing legitimate work, trying to become part of the modern world instead of earning his living through gunfighting.
The irony is that the cattle baron Fletcher, against whom Shane is defending the Starretts, is also a man becoming obsolete for his use of violence to attain goals. In the film version of the story, Shane tells Fletcher (here called Ryker) that although they have this in common, the difference between them is that Shane knows his own time has passed. When, having accomplished his purpose at the close of the story, Shane rides off into the distance in the typical manner of the Western hero, his disappearance symbolizes that the old ways are over and the modern world is emerging, even in the still-dangerous and lawless West.

Bob notices that his father, Joe, and Shane always seem to work together. There's a good reason for this: safety in numbers. Joe and the other homesteaders are in constant danger from Luke Fletcher and his men. Fletcher is determined to drive the Starretts and the other families off their land so he can grab it for himself. If Joe and Shane work together, they can keep an eye out for each other, detecting signs of trouble before it's too late. And the more that they work together, the closer the bond that develops between them.
Eventually, Joe and Shane end up doing everything together, including fighting. Shane never wanted to get Joe mixed-up in his battles, but in chapter 9 Joe steps in to help out his buddy when he's attacked by Fletcher's thugs. This incident—followed by the memorable scene when Joe lifts the stricken Shane up like a baby and carries him back to his wagon—strengthens the bond of friendship between the two men.

What is the relationship between Hamlet and Laertes?

The relationship between Hamlet and Laertes, at least at the beginning of the play, is virtually nonexistent. We never really see the two interact, and when Laertes speaks to his sister, Ophelia, about her relationship with Hamlet, Laertes seems really to only talk about him as the future monarch of Denmark and not as a young man. Laertes says:

His greatness weighed, his will is not his own.For he himself is subject to his birth. He may not, as unvalued persons do,Carve for himself, for on his choice dependsThe safety and the health of this whole state. (1.3.17-21)

If Laertes really knew Hamlet well, he might be able to speak about him in more specific and personal ways; however, it is evident that he really only knows Hamlet as the prince of Denmark and not as a friend.
By the end of the play, however, the relationship between Hamlet and Laertes is quite antagonistic. Hamlet insists that he loved Ophelia more than "forty thousand brothers" could do, and Laertes is enraged by the fact that Hamlet murdered his father, Polonius. When they engage in swordplay, Laertes tips his foil with poison so that if he even scratches the prince, Hamlet will die. Eventually, the two reconcile just prior to their deaths.

Hamlet has been away studying in Wittenberg, Germany, and Laertes has been studying in France before the play begins. Both men meet back in Denmark for a short time, presumably because the death of the former King Hamlet and the marriage and crowning of Claudius and Gertrude bring them both to court. Since they have been living apart from each other, they don't know each other all that well. However, their families are clearly close. Polonius is a chief adviser to Claudius. He is perhaps his most trusted courtier. Further, Hamlet has entered into a flirtation with Laertes's sister Ophelia and appears to be in love with her.
Laertes shows he distrusts Hamlet and his intentions when he warns Ophelia to beware of him. He clearly worries that Hamlet's designs on his sister are not honorable.
Although threads connect the two young men, they are hardly bosom buddies. Laertes is out for blood when he has returned to France and hears that Hamlet has killed his father.

We first meet Laertes in Act I, Scene 3 of Hamlet. Laertes is already on his way to attend the university in France, and he does not appear again until Act IV, Scene 5, after his father has been slain and his sister Ophelia has gone mad. Why does Shakespeare introduce this important character early in the play and then keep him offstage until it is nearing the end? Evidently, Shakespeare intended Hamlet and Laertes to become enemies, as they do when they encounter each other at Ophelia's grave. Shakespeare wanted to avoid showing that the two men enjoyed a cordial relationship, or any kind of relationship, before Laertes went away to France. Such a previous relationship would only complicate matters for the playwright. It would be easier to handle the emotions of both Hamlet and Laertes if they did not have a previous amicable relationship. That explains why Shakespeare sends Laertes off to the university in France and keeps him there on ice, so to speak, until he is needed to play his essential part in the play towards the end. It also could explain the seemingly gratuitous Scene 1 of Act II in which Polonius is sending Laertes money and instructing the messenger Reynaldo about how to spy on his son. Shakespeare's intention might be to establish that Laertes is now in France and to keep the audience aware of Laertes's existence and possible importance to the plot.

Please provide a Marxist approach or critical analysis to the poem "My Friends, My Comrades" by Javed Shaheen.

"My Friends, My Comrades" is an inspirational poem written for Marxists by the Marxist poet Jahved Shaheen, who died in 2008.
The poem expresses the Marxist belief in the inevitable progress of history toward a glorious Marxist future. This is shown, for example, in the final two lines:

We shall march forward Towards a brighter world

Another tenet of Marxism the poem expresses is that victory over the forces of capitalism and other evils will not be won without struggle, sacrifice, and solidarity. This struggle will inevitably be bloody, because those who hold power will not willingly give it to the people. Therefore, the poem uses stirring language to help the masses involved in the struggle stay strong: the bodies of the comrades will "turn to stone," and though blood will flow, none of the efforts and sacrifices of the faithful will "go to waste." The blood of the comrades, the poem says, will make fields "blossom" with new life. The poem expresses solidarity through the repeated use of the pronoun "our."
The speaker uses imagery to direct readers to imagine a better future:

My friends, my comrades The winds will sweep away The black clouds, The sun will shineEvery corner of meadows and forest shall light up

In sum, the poem expresses the Marxist belief in violent struggle and ultimate victory for the cause, ushering in a beautiful tomorrow.

"My Friends, My Comrades" is a poem by Pakistani poet and Marxist activist Javed Shaheen. The poem calls for unity among all Marxists around the world. The poem features vivid details of the working-class struggle by portraying literal work, as illustrated in the the first line of the first stanza: "Our hands will become hardened and scruffy."
Shaheen uses imagery that provokes scenes of the proletariat—janitors, miners, farmers, etc.—literally and figuratively working together in the struggle against the capitalist system that oppresses them and against authoritarian regimes that aim to eliminate them. The poem can be viewed as a short, succinct manifesto on the importance of solidarity among comrades.
The poem frames the Marxist community as the light against the darkness of the world. Like individual gas lamps clustered together, the Marxists believe they, together, can bring illumination to a world that has tried to "darken," or silence, the revolutionary cause.

How does Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks explore the effects of isolation and alienation?

Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague, by Geraldine Brooks, was published in 2001 and received critical acclaim. As the title suggests, the story takes place during the height of the bubonic plague in Eyam, England.
The main character in the story is Anna Frith, a widow. She lets a boarder, George Remington Viccars, stay with her to supplement her income. Viccars is a tailor and regularly imports fabrics for his business. Viccars receives a cargo of fabrics from London that contain the bacterium Yersinia pestis: the bubonic plague. Viccars dies, and Frith is asked to help keep the plague from spreading in the village.
Frith exemplifies the status of women in small-town Puritanical England. She takes on low-income jobs to survive and provide for her sons. The setting of the novel itself conjures images of isolation and remoteness. When the village first experiences mass deaths from the plague, even government officials avoid the town. The isolation of the village symbolizes the isolation of the people themselves, particularly Frith, who has to take a do-it-yourself approach to helping her neighbors.
The local healers in Eyam are murdered by an angry mob who believe the herbal healers were practicing witchcraft and caused the village to be cursed. This extremist religious attitude and its violent consequences further alienate everyone in the village. Everyone becomes susceptible to death, whether via the bubonic plague or via the paranoia of the public.
Additionally, being a widow during the 1600s in Puritanical England meant that a woman had to depend on men for financial help. The widow was the symbol of societal alienation during a time of grief. However, the character of Anna Frith exemplifies perseverance and self-reliance.
This novel was critically acclaimed upon publication, with book reviewers citing the story of Frith as a message of female empowerment in a society that oppressed them.

In The Refugees how does Viet Thanh Nguyen remind readers of the effect communism, death, and immigration had on generations of Vietnamese?

Let’s start by clarifying what it means to say Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel The Refugees profoundly discusses “communism, death, and immigration and the effect they had on generations of Vietnamese.”
We can break that statement down into several pieces:
First, the novel deals with these serious, important topics in a profound way. That means that the author deals with the subjects with depth and clarity, with beautifully composed prose that illuminates new meanings and new connections.
Second, because of the way Nguyen has composed The Refugees, three elements (death, immigration, and communism) have blended together in the minds and memories of many people.
Third, thanks to the novel’s existence, that combination of death, immigration, and communism that lives in many people’s minds reminds everybody else, not just Vietnamese people who lived through those experiences, of how death, immigration, and communism colored the lives of an entire generation of Vietnamese people.
Now that we understand the statement to be discussed, let’s explore how you can find relevant quotes from the novel.
We know that you’re looking for important statements centering on the key concepts: death, immigration, and communism.
The Refugees is a short book, so I recommend taking the best possible course of action: skimming or even rereading the entire text, keeping a sharp eye out for every time Nguyen touches on the key ideas (death, immigration, and communism), highlighting the statements that seem most significant and serious, whether they appear in the narration or in the dialogue.
For example, when I start reading the first section, here’s the first passage that leaps out at me that relates to one of those key ideas—death—and seems to vibrate with profundity:

My American adolescence was filled with tales of woe like this, all of them proof of what my mother said, that we did not belong here. In a country where possessions counted for everything, we had no belongings except our stories.

Here, the narrator was talking about ghostly, deathly, violent tales that his family members always repeated, and in this excerpt, he is telling the readers directly about how death, and stories of death, echoed in the memory of his family members, knitting them to each other.
As you’re skimming and highlighting, it’s a good idea to take notes about what the highlighted passage means, and how it relates to the topic you’ll discuss in your writing, just like I did in the paragraph above.
Now, don’t worry! If you don’t have time to skim or reread the entire text, you can take other, quicker approaches to finding the quotes you need.
One such approach is to read back through a summary of the book, and let the summary guide you to specific portions that you believe might be rich with relevant quotes. Then simply go to that spot in the text—a certain chapter, or a certain short story within this book—and skim only that section for important quotes.
For example, our summary reports that within this book, toward the end of the story titled “The Other Man,” Liem gets a letter from his dad, “who is afraid of the Communist regime in Vietnam and cannot speak freely in his letter for fear of being targeted by soldiers.” This event definitely has something to do with both communism and immigration. So, turn to the end of that story in your text, and start skimming for important quotes. Here’s something I found:

Suddenly the [stranger outside] raised his hand, as if to say hello. When his partner looked toward the window as well, Liem waved in return, and for a moment there were only the three of them, sharing a fleeting connection.

I feel that this quote is particularly important because it shows how Liem feels almost mystically connected to other people—right after he had been musing over the shared yet incomplete connection with his father, who wasn’t at liberty to communicate freely with him.
Keep going in this way and you’ll generate plenty of quotes to choose from when it comes time to write your essay.
However, it’s often the case that writers are in a rush, in need of a quicker method to find relevant quotes from a text. In that case, I recommend accessing a digital copy of the text and running searches on it for key terms, like “death,” “immigrant,” “immigrating,” “immigration,” “communist,” “communism,” and so on. Examine the text around each of your search results to determine whether you’ve found a good quote or not.
Of course, there are more ways than that to discover important quotes. You can discuss the ideas with your classmates, or even meet with your instructor during office hours for guidance. Keep at it, and let us know if you need help!

What function or purpose does the poetry in the novel Hongloumeng (Dream of the Red Chamber) serve in the story's overarching narrative? Is it simply a plot device?

Poetry in Dream of the Red Chamber serves as a major plot device, but it also serves as an extension of each character. The three most important characters, Jia Baoyu, Xue Baochai, and Lin Daiyu, are the three most talented poets. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that the often ill and emotional Lin Daiyu is the most accomplished. This sets the novel up for the interesting dynamics between the three characters' importance to one another.
Jia Baoyu (the "Precious Jade") and Lin Daiyu (the reincarnated "Crimson Pearl Flower") both come from the fairy world. The only two otherworldly beings in the novel out of a cast of nearly four hundred characters, they are able to recognize this in each other through poetry. Jia Baoyu is always incredibly taken with Lin Dauyu's poems, which are often unbearably sad and which reflect her extreme moodiness and hint at her mystical origins and tragic fate.
The poems of Xue Baochai, in contrast, show her grace and composure. Xue Baochai is textbook perfect. While her poems are not as good as Lin Daiyu's and Jia Baoyu is not drawn to her in the way he is to Lin Daiyu, it is Xue Baochai who becomes his wife.
While books that include poems usually include them to describe scenery or perhaps express sentiments for another character, Dream of the Red Chamber does this a little differently. It is extremely poem-heavy, but each poem is important to the story as an expression of each character's inner workings. For example, the characters meet often for structured poetry contests and write on the same subject. The poems they write on chrysanthemums, snow, or the moon reveal the characters' thought processes and personalities.

Why do firms compete or collude in oligopolistic markets?

An oligopoly is, by definition, "a state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers." An important thing to keep in mind when thinking about oligopolies is that the firms maintain their position by creating and maintaining massive barriers to entry. A prime example of a current oligopoly is the cable television/internet market. Typically a region is dominated by a small number of firms who have maintained their position via high barriers to entry (the significant capital costs associated with entering the marketplace are for all intents and purposes insurmountable).
In a market with few firms, there really only are two choices regarding competitive strategy; they can either collude or they can compete.
There are benefits and drawbacks to each decision. For collusion, the primary drawback is that collusion is illegal. More specifically, explicit collusion is illegal. Oligopolies typically operate under the auspices of implicit collusion. Implicit collusion is defined as "seemingly independent, but parallel, actions among competing firms in an industry." The delineation between implicit and explicit collusion is the lack of an explicit agreement between firms. The primary benefit to collusion is that the firms are able to control the marketplace much like a monopolist. This allows them significant leverage over both the consumer and the government and also likely leads to high profitability.
For competition, the primary drawback is that firms are not maximizing their profitability given the market structure. The firms are likely to compete on price, which will eat into their respective margins. The primary benefit of competition is that through competition, there likely will be a winner. There are a number of dimensions that firms can compete on: price, quality, service, and so on. As a result, competition in oligopolies significantly benefits both the consumer and the most innovative or well-run firm within the oligopoly.

Why does the author not give many details about Ms. Brill's physical appearance?

Miss Brill's lack of description is important because it allows us to use our imaginations. We know that Miss Brill is a woman, that she's a teacher, and that she wears a fur. But that's about all we really do know about her. This is a deliberate strategy on Mansfield's part. As a modernist writer, she's much more concerned with what's going on inside her characters' minds than their outward appearances. The lack of a detailed description means that we can more easily concentrate on just what it is that makes Miss Brill tick, what makes her come to the park each Sunday and act out her role in the great human drama she's constructed for herself. Indeed, the paucity of physical description allows Miss Brill to act out this role more effectively; she is very much the author of her own identity.

Define and source the marketing "push channel control strategy" and the "pull channel control strategy."

"Push control" and "pull control" refer to opposing marketing strategies. In a nutshell, push control entails taking a product to customers, while pull control involves getting customers to come buy the product from you.
Push marketing relies heavily on manufacturers making their products visible and having abundant supply. In stores, push marketers' wares need to be strategically displayed to catch customers' eyes. Push companies might also employ people to hand out free samples or discount coupons. Subtler strategies include placing the "pushed" product next to a complimentary item (e.g., a display featuring a new brand of breakfast cereal beside the milk section). Online, push marketing includes tactics such as offering special internet discounts, highlighting positive customer reviews, and using professional photography that makes a product (or service) alluring. On social media, it may include having an "influencer"—a celebrity with many followers—endorse (or even mention) the new product. An example of push marketing would be when a beverage company releases a new type of soft drink. It needs to get the drink into stores, ensure its warehouses are well-stocked, alert customers that the new drink is available, and then convince them to buy it.
Pull marketers, conversely, operate on the premise that customers will come to them—due to their company's superior prices, service, convenience, brand awareness, market dominance, or some combination thereof. They generate buzz for a new product with advance advertising, trade-show prototypes, media coverage, and word-of-mouth hype, so that when customers come into their stores or visit their website, they are excited and ready to buy. Online, a pull marketing website might feature articles educating visitors on finding a product that fits their lifestyle, links to media reports that promote their product, and slick videos promoting their brand. A classic example of pull marketing is Apple stores (followed swiftly by Microsoft stores). Both companies annually promote new products and update current ones, creating steady traffic streams into their shops. But people come in not just to buy. They can also try out products, get repairs, purchase accessories, and sometimes just to hang out and play screen games. Starbucks is another good example of a business that "pulls" people into its stores, which it markets as a "third place" to relax, aside from home and work.
In reality, of course, most companies use a combination of push and pull marketing strategies. When Apple releases a new iPhone, it needs some push marketing to get the phone into its stores and other retail outlets, and pull marketing to draw buyers into the stores. If the quality of the new phone fails expectations, it hurts the brand and will "pull" fewer customers into stores.
For more information, here are a couple of good websites on the topic:
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-push-pull-marketing-20728.html

In marketing, there are two strategies that can help a business launch its product or service into a market successfully. They are known as push and pull strategies. Usually companies first proceed with the push strategy, because it pushes the new product or service directly to the customer. This helps the customer learn about your brand, which is essential for establishing it. This also helps build exposure for the product or service. Examples of the push strategy in action include the following: selling face to face, working with retailers to stock your product, selling in showrooms, innovating packaging design strategies to encourage purchases, and participating in trade show promotions.
Once the business’s brand has been established, they may also consider switching to the pull strategy. This is best described as a strategy that “gets the customer to come to you.” This strategy motivates consumers to look for the brand actively. In this process, many customers actively seek out the product and retailers order and stock them at their stores because of this large demand. One such example is the brand Halo Top ice cream. After this company advertised and incorporated a push strategy, they are now in the pull strategy phase for their product. It is found widely at several retail stores, such as Walmart and 7-11.
https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-push-and-pull-strategy.html

https://www.marketing-schools.org/types-of-marketing/push-marketing.html

What is Hardy's attitude toward love and sex in Tess of the D'Urbervilles?

Here as elsewhere in Hardy's works love and sex wreak havoc on the lives of the poor and dispossessed. To see this in action, we need look no further than the example of Tess. Here is a young lady with deeply romantic ideals of love, but whose ideals are then shattered by the wicked Alec, who seduces, rapes, and abandons her, leaving her pregnant in the process.
Try as she might, Tess is unable to move on from this terrible ordeal. Though she still clings to the fond hope that she will one day find love, her violation at the hands of Alec follows her around wherever she goes. After she marries Angel Clare, a man that she genuinely loves, Tess tells him about what happened to her, perhaps expecting a sympathetic reaction. Yet instead Angel is horrified, not because his wife was sexually assaulted, but because she's not a virgin, which offends his pious sensibilities. The double standard regarding sex is used as here as a weapon of patriarchy to keep women, especially lower-class women like Tess, firmly in their place.
The overall message from all of this is pretty grim, to say the least. Love and sex are more trouble than they're worth. They lead people astray, causing them to do things they ordinarily wouldn't do. They distort one's perspectives, separating people from their true selves. What's more, they can so easily be appropriated by the dominant groups in society and used as a method of cementing their control over their alleged social inferiors.

How did debates over the Constitution shape relations between the national government and the states? Identify two different groups that interest you and discuss how they were affected by matters decided at the state vs federal level from 1789 to about 1850 Possible groupings: farmers, merchants, slaveholders, entrepreneurs, women, African Americans, Indigenous peoples, or by region.

One of the first debates over the Constitution had to do with state vs. federal rights. The Antifederalists had their party base in the South and in the West, whereas the Federalists had their base in the Northeast. The Antifederalists feared the power that a strong centralized government could wield against the people's civil liberties. This debate led to the Bill of Rights being added to the Constitution and the Tenth Amendment explicitly safeguarding the powers of the states. Supreme court cases such as McCulloch v. Maryland upheld federal power over state power, but it would not be until the Civil War when it was generally recognized that the federal government was supreme.
Another early debate was whether or not the Constitution protected slavery. While there were many provisions in the document protecting the rights of men, the document said very little about slavery. The Constitution does have provisions to protect property against seizure; slaveholders claimed that this constitutionally protected their property. The document also contains the Three-Fifths Compromise, which allowed slaves to be counted (as three-fifths of a person) toward the population for representation and taxation purposes. Abolitionists would later point out that the Founders obviously felt uneasy about slavery when they passed a law ending the legal importation of slaves into the country in 1808. The Constitution would finally be clear on the issue of slavery with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which formally abolished slavery in 1865.

What would have happened if Columbus had never found America?

The first thing to remember when thinking about this counterfactual is that Christopher Columbus did not discover America, nor was he the first explorer to discover one of the American continents. Vikings had established settlements in Canada in the 900s, which were mainly used for supplying wood for ship building and repair. The Vikings attempted to establish a more permanent settlement, but the Native Americans proved to be too difficult to live near when the relationship between the Vikings and Native Americans turned hostile. There is also some evidence that explorers from Polynesia landed in South America around the same time that Columbus was establishing a foothold in the Caribbean. Some have even theorized that the Chinese had explored some of North America around 1300 BCE.
Columbus's exploration did not provide the first knowledge of the American continent, but it did give the European powers a better idea of the potential wealth of the continent, both in terms of natural resources and potential slaves. Columbus's four voyages provided a basis for conquest of South America by Spain. It may also have provided more incentive for the establishment of trading outposts by France, which likely motivated England to establish its own settlements. Without the Columbus voyages, America would most likely have been colonized at a later date, as reports of the continent existed and the European powers were in a race for resources. It is highly unlikely that a voyage would have been sponsored by one of these governments anyway.
Without Columbus's voyage, there may have been no Cortes voyage, or other later voyage by Spain. This would have prevented or delayed the destruction of the Aztec, Incan, and Mayan empires. It also would have delayed exposure of Native Americans to European diseases. If, instead of Columbus and later Spanish explorers, the initial European explorers followed smaller scale settlements, similar to the Vikings, then the rapid depopulation of North America may not have occurred. This could have significantly delayed the establishment of American colonies and would likely have made westward expansion far bloodier for Americans. If British colonies were established later it may have made it difficult for the colonists to obtain independence and, potentially, may have delayed or prevented the French Revolution as well.

Could you show a comparative analysis on Yeats's poem and Robert Silverberg's novella Sailing to Byzantium?

Silverberg's award-winning novella is based on Yeats's poem of the same name and quotes from it. Both works share similarities: each evokes mystically beautiful and idealized places from another time period. In Yeats's poem, it is the Byzantium of centuries past; for Silverberg's hero Charles Phillip and his female friend and love interest Gioia, it is the fiftieth century in the future. Both Charles and Gioia are mysteriously transported from the year 1984 to a far distant and depopulated earth, which has five beautiful cities. One is Byzantium, another Alexandria—all are mythic recreations of what these metropolises looked like in their heydays.
Both writers use beautiful imagery to describe their dreamscapes. Yeats's poem states that in Byzantium he wishes to become

such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make / Of hammered gold and gold enamelling / To keep a drowsy Emperor awake; / Or set upon a golden bough to sing . . .

Silverberg also uses vivid imagery as he describes Alexandria, recreated from its ancient Egyptian period, as containing

the wondrous, many-windowed lighthouse, seventh wonder of the world, that immense pile of marble and limestone and reddish-purple Aswan granite rising in majesty . . .

Both writers also focus on the theme of mortality versus immortality. The aging speaker in Yeats's poem longs to sail to Byzantium because he wants to gain immortality by becoming a beautiful work of art that will never die. In the future world of Silverberg's story, the inhabitants also never die, and yet Charles has to deal with anguish as his beloved Gioia begins to show she is aging.

In chapter 9-12, how did John McNab confirm his reputation as a bully?

This question is a bit odd because John McNab does not show up in chapters 10-12. He does confirm his status as a bully in chapter 9. The chapter begins with narration about how McNab is still angry about Maniac humiliating him at the baseball field. In McNab's opinion, if he can't strike somebody out, beating them up is the next best thing. McNab decides that this is what he is going to do, so he gathers up a few of his Cobra gang member buddies, and they go hunting for Maniac. They discover him running on the train rail, and they chase him with the intention of beating him up. Maniac doesn't want this to happen, so he runs away. He runs to the other side of Hector street, and McNab thinks that Maniac is going to end up just as beat up over there as he would have at the hands of the Cobras.

What is a summary of Mother to Mother by Sindiwe Magona?

Mother to Mother, written by Sindiwe Magona, is inspired by the real-life 1993 murder of white American woman Amy Biehl, in South Africa. Biehl was in South Africa to fight against apartheid, a system of discrimination against black South Africans when she was killed by a group of young black men.
Although the real-life murder seems impossible to understand, Mother to Mother sets out to show how the murder can be shown to be understandable by following the life of a young black man named Mxolisi. Mxolisi is representative of the group of real-life killers. The story is narrated by Mxolisi's mother Mandisa and takes the form of a letter from her to Amy's mother. She is asking for Amy's mother to understand what led her son to commit such an act. The novel opens with the opening lines of Mandisa's letter:

My son killed your daughter. People look at me as though I did it. The generous ones as though I made him do it, as though I could make this child do anything. Starting from when he was less than six years old, even before he lost his first tooth or went to school. Starting, if truth be known, from before he was conceived; when he, with total lack of consideration if not downright malice, seeded himself inside my womb. But now, people look at me as if I'm the one who woke up one shushu day and said, Boyboy, run out and see whether, somewhere out there, you can find a white girl with nothing better to do than run around Guguletu, where she does not belong.

Magona uses flashbacks to tell Mandisa's story, first of all, and then that of her son. In the final pages Mandisa speaks again of the murder and how hatred and oppression have made victims of both of their children:

My son, the blind but sharpened arrow of the wrath of his race.
Your daughter, the sacrifice of hers. Blindly chosen. Flung towards her sad fate by fortune's cruelest slings.
But for the chance of a day, the difference of one sun's rise, she would be alive today. My son, perhaps not a murderer. Perhaps, not yet.

Although Mother to Mother by Sindiwe Magona is a fictional work, it was inspired by real-life events that took place in South Africa during the author’s lifetime. The novel focuses on the 1993 murder of Amy Biehl, an American student and Fulbright scholar who was instrumental in organizing democratic elections in South Africa. The story is presented as a letter from Mandisa, the mother of the man who committed the murder, to Amy’s mother, in an effort to explain the social conditions and culture that led to Amy’s murder.
The novel starts with Mandisa writing, "My son killed your daughter." She speaks honestly about the way people have blamed her for what her son did. She is "not surprised" by her son's actions but was surprised that Amy, who was white, chose to visit Guguletu, an "all-black homeland," without considering the risks. This opening chapter lays the groundwork to show the differences between each child and culture: Amy, whose experiences were grounded in believing in "goodness," and Mandisa's son, whose experiences were based on "injustice, poverty, and violence." Some of the central themes of the novel include South African apartheid, racism, and motherhood.

In The Graveyard Book, why did mistress Owens push Bod out into the cold?

Bod's adoptive mother Mistress Owens makes him go outside to play. Bod's none too thrilled at this because it's absolutely freezing cold. But Mistress Owens insists; she wants Bod out of the way so she can tidy up the tomb in preparation for the Macabray, a weird ritual in which the living and the dead join together in a dance.
The Macabray is clearly a big deal in the graveyard as all the spirits are busily going about cleaning and dusting. In fact, they're so busy that they have no time for Bod, which is unusual. However, when the Macabray finally gets under way, Bod enters into the spirit of things, dancing away with the Lady on the Grey, which he finds to be a most enjoyable experience.

Discuss the obvious IRONY in this story: what is the role of luck or fortune.

There are many examples of irony in this story, many of them verbal (that is, instances where what is said is the opposite of what is really meant). Given the phrasing of your question, however, I think the "obvious irony" you refer to is grounded in Poe's naming conventions. The unfortunate Fortunato, whose name means fortune or luck, proves to be very unlucky indeed.
Fortunato is a clever and accomplished man. It is his one flaw or "weak point"—his pride in his knowledge of wine—which allows him to be brought low and his fortunes, so to speak, reversed. References to luck and fortune occur upon Fortunato's first appearance to ironic effect. Montresor says that Fortunato is "luckily met," when he knows that of course this will not be a lucky day for Fortunato at all. As the story goes on, Montresor offers Fortunato chances to go back and escape, but Fortunato is so fixated on the Amontillado that he does not take these chances. To a certain extent, we can say that he makes his own luck.
When Montresor first meets Fortunato in the story, he is wearing "motley," or a jester's outfit; this connotes that he is having a good time, but it is also the outfit of a court fool. While Fortunato is not, in general terms, a fool, his wearing of this cheery and comical outfit is ironic because on this occasion, Montresor is certainly able to make a fool of him. The ludicrous outfit makes reappearances as the story grows darker—the bells on the hat jingling with ironic cheer as Fortunato is led to his doom. At the very end of the story, after Montresor has thrust the torch into the aperture with the walled-in Fortunato, he hears only a faint jiingling of the bells, a last jest.

How would you sketch the character of Lucetta Templeman? How is she a foil to the other characters?

One of Lucetta Templeman's most prominent character traits is opportunism. Having once been Henchard's mistress, she comes to Casterbridge after she hears that his wife has died with the plan to marry him. She writes to him of this plan:

I have come here in consequence of hearing of the death of your wife—whom you used to think of as dead so many years before! . . . As soon as I knew she was no more, it was brought home to me very forcibly by my conscience that I ought to endeavour to disperse the shade which my etourderie flung over my name, by asking you to carry out your promise to me.

However, as soon as she meets the younger, more handsome Farfae, she becomes interested in him. She has become self-sufficient after inheriting some money, but she remains interested in having a wealthy husband. As she is somewhat older than he is, Farfae is likewise interested in her wealth. Once she decides to pursue him, she forgets her old lover.

Lucetta had come to Casterbridge to quicken Henchard's feelings with regard to her. She had quickened them, and now she was indifferent to the achievement.

Lucetta, showing no scruples about breaking up Farfae and Elizabeth-Jane Henchard, marries Farfae. However, she is disgraced when her past indiscretions come to light, and she soon dies during a miscarriage.
Her character best serves as a foil to that of Elizabeth-Jane, who is pure and blameless and shows devotion both to Henchard, even when it turns out he is not her father, and to Farfae, ultimately accepting him after Lucette’s death.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/143/143-h/143-h.htm

Thomas Aquinas doctrine on Sin

According to Thomas Aquinas in his philosophical work Summa Theologica, sin is defined as "the turning away from the immutable good" by breaking the moral standards set by God. His definition of sin was highly influenced by St. Augustine, who viewed sins as actions that deliberately went against God. While Aquinas believed that all sins were severe, he felt that the severity of the sin depended on how much the damaged one's relationship with God. Because of this, an action only qualified as a sin if they were committed deliberately and with full knowledge that the action is against God's will.
Thomas Aquinas was also one of the earliest theologians to define the difference between a mortal and venial sin. A venial sin, as defined by Aquinas, describes a minor sin that, while requiring repentance, does not separate oneself from God or result in eternal damnation. A mortal sin, however, is more grave and results in immediate damnation if one does not renounce the sin before death. As Aquinas defined them, however, even venial sins could become mortal sins if they became an addiction or obsession.
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/17611/pg17611-images.html

Why does Oscar's life fall apart after he sees Maritza with Nelson?

It's fair to say that Oscar doesn't have much luck with the opposite sex. From an early age, he's awkward around girls, which makes him the subject of ridicule among his peers. He tries to overcompensate for this by dating two girls at the same time: Olga and Maritza. But Maritza's not exactly thrilled at the arrangement and gives Oscar an ultimatum: either he stops seeing Olga, or she's finished with him. Not being the strongest of characters, Oscar gives in to Maritza's demand and dumps Olga.
Unfortunately, he is himself dumped in due course by Maritza, who seems to have the hots for a boy called Nelson Pardo. Oscar's absolutely heartbroken at being given the elbow; what little confidence he had has been completely shattered and his life quickly goes downhill. As well as gaining weight and developing zits, he retreats further and further into a geeky fantasy world of sci-fi and comic books. This is Oscar's comfort zone, the only place where he feels safe in a harsh, incomprehensible world.

Provide a summary, including page numbers, of chapters 2 and 3 in The Violent Land by Jorge Amado.

Brazilian writer Jorge Amado's The Violent Land (a translation from the Portuguese Terra do Seem Fin, which translates literally to "land of no end") describes the power struggle between and among local landowners and foreign entrepreneurs in the cultivation of cacao. The novel (first published in 1943 in Brazil and in the US in 1945) is set in the Bahia region of Brazil and is divided into six parts, each consisting of of several chapters. Chapters 1-3 of Part I, "The Boat," introduce Captain João Magalhães as he is boarding a boat leaving Bahia. The town itself is described as beautiful in an old-fashioned sort of way, full of churches and old stone-paved roads. The time is twilight, and, as the boat is about to depart, João watches another man, Roberio, take leave of his wife, who appears to be ill. Roberio tells her that he will return in a month, though she claims that she will not see him again.
Chapter two (pages 5–6) is very short, describing the passengers aboard the ship settling into their cabins as well as the families on shore (particularly the one woman waving goodbye to her husband) departing from the port. This woman is led away by an older man as she weeps. The ship is traveling from Bahia to Ilhéos and is a paddle boat. The conversations of those on board include such topics as "land, money, cacao, and death" (6).
Chapter 3 (pages 6–9) provides some context to João's character. The stranger he sees taking leave of his wife remarks to João that she is consumptive and not expected to live much longer. João himself wears the ring of an engineer, but he is not in fact an engineer. João remembers gambling alongside a woman named Violeta at an establishment where one Rodolfo routinely invited him to play. They kept up a ruse that João was a retired captain in exchange for a commission on João's winnings. João took the ring he now wears from the engineer who lost to him in a game of poker.

How did "Beasts of England" inspire the animals to risk their own lives?

The lyrics of the song are full of inspiration. They envision a better future for the animals. We learn that the animals experience the "wildest excitement" from hearing the song, and even the least intelligent of them can sing a few words of it. The most intelligent animals learn it by heart in a few minutes. This suggests the lyrics are catchy and easy to learn.
The song first talks about a "golden future" in which humans will be overthrown and the animals will no longer be under their control. Riches will come to the animals, the song says, especially in the form of plentiful food. However, the end of the song reminds them that they have to be willing to risk everything for this vision to become reality:

For that day we all must labour,Though we die before it break;Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,All must toil for freedom's sake.

The song primes the animals for struggle and sacrifice to achieve their goals and therefore inspires them to risk their lives for the cause. We learn that they sing it every time they have a secret meeting, so it is constantly fresh in their minds.

Where is the little bird?

The little bird is shut up in a cage, away from fields of air. All the same, she sings, praising—somewhat sarcastically, it should be said—God for making her such a prisoner. But then, that's all she has to do in that confined space. What else is there for her to do but sing? And sing she does, in the certain knowledge that it pleases God.
No prizes for guessing that the poem is in fact a succinct allegory of how women were treated by male society in the 19th century. Like the little bird, women were also imprisoned, confined to the home to act as wives as mothers. Just as the bird sings all day in her little cage to please God, women were still expected, despite their confinement and lack of opportunities, to please their husbands and to be sweet, smiling, and constantly attentive to their needs.
https://www.poetry-archive.com/a/a_little_bird_am_i.html

What are the different types of igneous rock?

There are two types of igneous rock. The first type is intrusive, otherwise known as plutonic, and the second type is extrusive, otherwise known as volcanic.
Intrusive igneous rocks are formed when the magma from a volcano cools down beneath the crust of the earth. Intrusive igneous rocks are very hard and have a very rough texture. Granite is a good example of an intrusive igneous rock.
Extrusive rocks, on the other hand, are formed when the the magma from a volcano cools down above the crust of the earth, on the earth's surface. Magma that cools on the earth's surface cools more quickly than does magma beneath the earth's crust, and this slower cooling results in smoother, more fine-grained rocks. Basalt is a good example of an extrusive igneous rock.

What does the following line from "Grass" by Carl Sandburg mean: "I am the grass; I cover all"?

Carl Sandburg's "Grass" is a short but powerful poem which utilizes the imagery of grass covering the dead of famous battles to represent the passage of time leading to healing or, arguably, forgetting. Speaking in the voice of personified grass, the speaker declares that he will "cover all," a statement which evokes the image of grass slowly springing up out of the dirt mounds of graves as time passes. The idea of something green emerging out of the carnage left behind after battles like Gettysburg, Ypres, and Verdun seems to represent the return of spring to a world harrowed by war: despite the horror of these events, things will still be born, and the grass will be fed on the bodies of those who have been killed. Their death, in a way, contributes to rebirth as symbolized by the green grass covering the graves. Grass, like time, erases the wounds made by war—but there is also an element of warning in the poem, as we hear passengers ask, "What place is this?" Once grass has covered the battlefields, it can certainly indicate that things have begun to heal, but it can also signify that the dead, and the causes of their deaths, have been forgotten.

Describe the relationship between Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio in Othello.

Othello's relationship with Desdemona is notable for its passionate intensity. Initially, that's a good thing, but as the play progresses it helps to contribute to their downfall.
The marriage between the Moor of Venice and the white noblewoman is something of a mismatch in this class and race-conscious era. Yet Othello and Desdemona are so headstrong that they simply don't care what society thinks. Nevertheless, there's a deep well of insecurity lurking beneath Othello's assured surface. And it begins to be revealed when Cassio arrives on the scene. Cassio undoubtedly has a thing for Desdemona, but he respects Othello too much to act on his desires. Besides, Desdemona is unfailingly loyal to her husband, and though she'll intercede with Othello on Cassio's behalf, that's as far as she's prepared to go. She and Cassio are just good friends and nothing more.
Desdemona's act of kindness is enough, however, for Iago to seize his opportunity. He turns a perfectly normal gesture of friendship into evidence of an illicit affair. He poisons the well of Othello's insecurity until the Moor is convinced that his wife has been cheating on him with Cassio. She hasn't, of course, but Iago is such a master manipulator that Othello comes to believe every lie he tells him. And so the passionate intensity that was always such a notable hallmark of Othello and Desdemona's love is expressed in a final, terrible act of murder as Othello kills Desdemona in a jealous rage over her non-existent adultery.

Why do you think Brian Baylor was unable to snap the ball during the big game?

Brian Baylor is not unable to snap the ball, but he fails to do it right. In Tangerine by Edward Bloor, Erik Fischer is a terrible person. He is violent, cruel, and acts like he can do no wrong. He is contrasted to other players on the team who are not as cruel or violent. Brian and Antoine are two of the stars on the team, and they don’t like Erik or his crony Arthur, so Brian makes them fail during the final game of the season.
Erik fails to make every single kick during the game because Brian fails to give a good snap on the extra points. Paul didn’t go to the game, so he asks his dad about it—and his dad is livid and blames Brian for doing it on purpose:

He finally said, "It’s like Brian Baylor did it deliberately. Like he wanted to make Erik and Arthur look like fools. All five snaps were wild. They were high, or wide, or they bounced before they got there. He made Arthur jump for them, or dive for them, or chase them down” (part 3, November 24).

Paul’s dad is on the nose. Brian, who, like his friend Antonie, dislikes Erik and Arthur, probably did badly on purpose to make them look foolish. The failed snaps didn’t affect the outcome of the game—their team won 30-0—but it did make Erik look bad, and that was something they probably felt he deserved because of his cruelty and violent nature.

What might Janie’s hair symbolize?

Janie's hair is a symbol of her strength and individuality. The prevailing social standards of the town dictate that it is unseemly for a young lady to wear her hair down. But Janie doesn't care; she'll wear her hair the way she wants to. In doing so, she is openly and defiantly asserting her individuality.
It's also notable that Janie's hair is described in almost phallic terms, illustrating how her strength as a woman transgresses established norms. For a woman to live life on her own terms is considered scandalous in this neck of the woods. Normally, it's only men who get to act this way. But Janie is different, and her assertiveness, as well as her rebellious free spirit, represent a serious threat to dominant social values and to Jody's masculinity.
Janie's hair is also straight, a characteristic associated with Caucasians. This notable feature of hers, a product of her mixed-race heritage, allows Janie to subvert not just traditional gender roles, but racial roles as well.

How are Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein foils to one another, and why might Shelley characterize them as such? Robert Walton: Identify his archetypes - primary, secondary, and tertiary. What makes Walton a reliable narrator? What causes the reader to doubt him? *What might his description “…country of eternal light” (Shelley 1) symbolize? Remember he is an explorer. What drives him? *Consider his goal “…to confer on all mankind…a passage near the pole” (Shelley 2). Is this noble or overly ambitious? *Consider his desire for a friend and how that might affect his relationship with Dr. Frankenstein. Dr. Victor Frankenstein: Identify his archetypes - primary, secondary, and tertiary. What makes Victor Frankenstein reliable? Unreliable? *Consider his pronouncement: “The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine” (Shelley 18). *Consider his fascination with the Philosopher’s Stone. Admirable or ridiculous? And his obsession with natural science? Two years pass without a visit home after his mother’s death. *Consider the effect guilt has on his health.

Much of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein considers themes of discovery and exploration through the foils of Victor Frankenstein and Robert Walton. Shelley frames the contrasts between these characters through the philosophical differences between the two. In the first lines of Letter I, Walton mentions his relationship with his sister, whom the letter addresses, "informing her about the success of [his] undertaking." His "undertaking" is an exploration of the external world to find new paths for English colonialists in the Arctic; however, his drive for discovery is one that he describes as rooted in curiosity and internal peace:

I feel my heart glow with an enthusiasm which elevates me to heaven; for nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose—a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. This expedition has been the favourite dream of my early years.

While his description reads as peaceful, he is a colonialist whose intended exploration stretches between the North Pole, "the most southern cape of Africa," and America. Here, we can see the colonialist motivations driving Walton, as he precedes his line "country of eternal light" with a description of the world as "undiscovered solitudes," insisting that these sites of colonial expansion are only truly "discovered" if England locates them through expeditions like Walton's. The description of his motivations for an exploration of the North Pole additionally shows his reliability as a narrator because these mark the novel as an example of the epistolary form (a narrative composed of letters). These letters are meant to be read by another party—in this case, by Walton's sister—not internally monologued in private first-person like much of Victor's musings throughout the novel. For readers of this novel, the invitational mode of the letters provides a trustworthy account of our first view of Victor as a broken and shattered person who needs to be nursed back to health when Walton finds him. The bulk of the novel is composed as Victor's explanation to Walton of his life leading up to these dying moments.
Readers can see Walton's motivations for outward colonial expansion contrasted with Victor's ambitions regarding the exploration of the inward functions of the body, "the hidden laws of nature," and the "secrets of heaven and earth." While Victor expresses hesitations about these internal discoveries of life, he ultimately ignores these reservations in favor of his own selfish drive. Victor's "fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature" eventually becomes a quest to reanimate the dead, no matter the cost. Victor, in contrast to Walton, seeks discovery of the internal world through his studies of medicine. However, when his professor at university denies the possibility that he can wield the secrets of nature to reanimate dead flesh, he turns to "the ancient teachers of this science," whom the professor M. Waldman describes as having "promised impossibilities, and performed nothing." Victor focuses on early modern occult sciences when he reads Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's natural philosophy account of pursuing "nature to her hiding-places." The occult has its historical connects to both magic and hidden secrets, so Victor's constant use of language about the secrets of nature aligns with the use of the term "occult" by Renaissance philosophers such as Agrippa. Victor, through his uninhibited ambition for discovery, contrasts with Walton's caretaking of Victor, as Victor shows that he ultimately fails to care for anyone around him, eventually leading him to the state Walton finds him in on his voyage of colonial expansion.

Works Cited:
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Penguin, 2007.

What is Greg Van Eekhout's attitude toward his story "Native Aliens," and what is Standley G. Weinbaum's attitude toward his story "Martian Odyssey"? Both share the same subject: colonization.

The two works, published seventy years apart, are similar in that they use science fiction to comment on colonization on Earth and, more broadly, to present social critiques.
Stanley Weinbaum published A Martian Odyssey in 1934, decades before the global spread of decolonization. In his vision of a mission to Mars, the Earth-based colonization of the moon and the exploration of Mars have preceded the development of atomic power. Jarvis and three other explorers have been making forays around the Martian landscape from their ship. Mars is inhabited by animals and humanlike creatures. Jarvis has developed a positive relationship with one of these creatures; he calls it Tweel for the whistling sound it makes. Thanks to Tweel, Jarvis learns about the properties of a large heap of silica-based bricks, which will prove an important resource for creating the atomic energy the Earthlings use as a power source. While the reader cannot be sure of Weinbaum’s attitude toward colonialism overall, this story seems to hold no ambiguity about Earth’s right to colonize other planets.
Greg Van Eekhout’s approach to colonization is more nuanced, suggesting a postcolonial perspective (as noted in the subtitle of the anthology in which the story appears) on the European experience in Asia that compares to Earthlings’ experience on Breva. The complexities of this story include not only travel to an alien land but also the long period of residence there that makes people both comfortable in their new surroundings and nostalgic for the life back home. There is a lot of irony in this story, as the “Dutch” people in Indonesia have never even visited, much less lived in, the Netherlands; for the Terra-Brevans, so much time has elapsed that evolution has rendered them physically quite distinct. Overall, Van Eekhout does not assume that colonization is beneficial for either the colonizers or the colonized, and he suggests great similarities between these two groups.
https://books.google.com/books?id=bK02DwAAQBAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/23731/23731-h/23731-h.htm

What physical property of a cork allows it to float on water?

The physical property that allows a cork to float on water is density. If the density of an object is less than that of water it will float. If the density is greater it will sink and if the density is about the same it should settle somewhere in the middle.
Density is equal to mass over volume. The more dense an object the heavier it will be when compared to the same volume of a less dense object.
If you think about how light a cork is in comparison to many other objects you can tell that is is not dense at all.
While density is the direct property, specific gravity is another property that could explain why a cork would float on water. Specific gravity is equal to the density of the object divided by the density of water. If the specific gravity is less than 1 the object floats, if it is greater than one the object sinks. If the specific gravity is equal to 1 it rests somewhere in the middle.

Density is the physical property that allows a cork to float on water. Briefly, cork is less dense than the water. In other words, it is lighter than water and, hence, it floats on the water.
Density is the ratio of mass to volume of a given substance. For example, the density of water is about 1 gram per milliliter (g/ml). In comparison, the density of cork is 0.24 gram per milliliter (g/ml). This means that cork is only 24% as heavy as water. This is the reason why cork floats on the surface of water.
This can also be explained in the terms of another property known as the specific gravity, which is the ratio of the density of a given substance to that of a standard fluid (generally, water). The specific gravity of cork is 0.24, which means that cork is lighter than water. As a result, it floats on the surface of the water.
Hope this helps.

Why did people go on the First Crusade?

The First Crusade, which occurred between 1095 and 1099, was the first attempt at recapturing the Holy Land. The military operation was initiated on the executive orders of Pope Urban II during a speech at the Council of Clermont.
The operation was to aid Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Prior to the First Crusade, the Byzantine Empire had lost a large portion of Anatolia (present-day Turkey) to the Seljuq Turks. The First Crusade was both a military conquest (or re-conquest) of the Holy Land and a political message meant to show power against the Islamic expansion.
The First Crusade was preceded by an unsuccessful attempt at recapturing the Holy Land called the "people crusade," which was made up of peasants and common-folk and was initiated by Peter the Hermit. They attacked Jews in the Rhineland on their way to Anatolia. The group was annihilated by the Turks.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/First-Crusade

Why does Coraline go through the door in the drawing room?

Coraline is initially motivated by boredom and curiosity. Her mother is the first to open the locked door, behind which they find a brick wall.
One day, Coraline is home alone and left to her own devices. When she unlocks the door, there is a hallway, and after following it, she finds an alternate universe consisting of a nearly duplicate apartment where her “other” parents speak to her. After she returns home, the brick wall reappears.
In the days that follow, she is alarmed when her real parents fail to return to their real apartment and she finds the “Help us” message on the mirror. Coraline must return to the other apartment to try to rescue her parents and avoid being trapped there herself.

How can teens relate to the books Divergent and The Hunger Games?

Although these dystopian novels may on the surface seem to have little in common with teens today, they are captivating for several reasons:
They feature teens as main characters. Most teens enjoy reading about characters who are more like them than not. Therefore, Tris and Katniss are more innately interesting than a bunch of old guys (and ladies) from long ago. (There are always exceptions in what people qualify as interesting literature, of course.) And because the main characters are teenagers, they face typical teenage struggles: lost loves, discovering one's purpose, and family struggles.
The themes presented in the novels are ones that interest most teenagers. Consider some of the themes that emerge in these novels:
What is comfortable isn't always the right choice.
Just because an idea seems to be accepted by the majority doesn't make it a valid or noble idea.
Sometimes standing up for what you believe in can be deadly.
It can be difficult to separate from one's family—both physically and in ideology.
Finding a strong support network can help navigate almost any difficulty in life.
Let's face it—the novels are action-packed. It is truly difficult to put these books down as Katniss tries to evade Cato again or as Tris tries to find her place in the right faction. Every chapter builds into the next, and it is hard to find a stopping place. The imagery and action leave the reader breathless, and that's important to teens.
Teens in the novels are seen as strong and independent. These teens are not stereotypically technology-hungry, image-obsessed, shallow-thinking shadows of human beings. They make hard decisions, like volunteering as tribute. They befriend the weak, like Rue. And they put themselves in knowingly difficult physical conditions, knowing no one, because it seems like this is their destiny—like Dauntless. Teenagers enjoy seeing themselves represented as capable and worthy of respect, and the character development in these series brings that to the forefront of reading.

What is the intersectionality of Queer Asian American Liberation Theology and Black Liberation Theology?

While there have been simplified versions of Black Liberation Theology since the civil rights movement, James H. Cone's founding text Black Theology and Black Power teaches neither hate nor anti-Americanism; rather, it teaches a greater focus on the impoverished and suffering, as encapsulated in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Dr. Cone taught Liberation Theology as an interpretation of the Christian gospel from the perspective of the lowest economic and racial groups. Since Cone's book was published in 1969, black Americans continue to be subjected to systemic inequality, discrimination, and a persistent racial wealth gap.
Queer Theology as a belief system is based on the idea that gay and lesbian relations and gender nonconformity have been present throughout history, including in the Bible. Discrimination against LGBTQ people, and religious bodies that deem gender variance immoral, has a particularly powerful impact on queer Asian Americans due to culture, religion, and traditional family connections within Asian American communities. While Cone's Black Liberation Theology did not include LGBTQ Asian Americans specifically, commonality can be found in religious tolerance and support for marginalized and vulnerable groups.

In The Beast in the Jungle, by Henry James, May Bartram keeps her silence until the very end of her life, thereby dooming not only Marcher's hopes for happiness but her own as well. Why does she do this? Is this plausible?

May Bartram understands Marcher better than anyone else does. She must bear the burden of taking care of herself as best she can during her illness. May is honest in warning Marcher about pain, suffering, and loss. He is incapable of understanding what she says because he is not grounded. May is drawn to his ethereal qualities in part because they balance her temperamentally, but she knows that he is deaf to her words. The man lives in a fog. He refuses to be responsible for his own happiness.
Part of Marcher's loss stems from his obtuseness. She tries to warn him that he is losing out, but he just doesn't get it. This situation is far more than plausible; it is realistic. Were May to try to use her love as a rope to bind him to her, Marcher would just panic and run away. What she understands is that he has to have these epiphanies in his own time. She just ran out of time to wait for him to grow up.

The drabness of Paul’s home life is contrasted with the world of glamour, lights, music, color, and luxury at Carnegie Hall and the stock theatre, and later in New York and Europe. Indicate three reasons why Paul is unhappy at home. Be specific.

Paul loves glamor, beauty, and wealth, as well as top-quality items. He loves his job as an usher at Carnegie Hall because he gets to wear a handsome uniform that fits properly and is not worn down at the edges. He loves the beauty and glamor of the concert hall and the people in it.
In contrast, he hates his home because his house is tacky and ugly. For example, he describes his bedroom as follows, with

its horrible yellow wall-paper, the creaking bureau with the greasy plush collar box and over his painted wooden bed the pictures of George Washington and John Calvin, and the framed motto, "Feed my Lambs," which had been worked in red worsted by his mother.

All of this is second-rate, cheap, and tawdry to Paul (and probably to us too). It lacks any flare or originality.
He dislikes his street as well. We learn that he

never went up Cordelia Street without a shudder of loathing. His home was next to the house of the Cumberland minister. He approached it to-night with the nerveless sense of defeat, the hopeless feeling of sinking back forever into ugliness and commonness that he always had when he came home.

He specifically hates the ordinary food and the kitchen smells in his house. His dwelling place has no glitz, no sense of abundance or charm.
As far as his house is concerned, he is also specifically miserable because of the bathroom, with its "grimy zinc tub, the cracked mirror, the dripping spigots."
All in all, Paul is unhappy with his parents' lack of money and their threadbare attempts to look respectable. They keep their heads above water, but they have no lovely items to show for their lives.

Paul hates the ordinariness of life at his home on Cordelia Street.

It was a highly respectable street, where all the houses were exactly alike, and where business men of moderate means begot and reared large families of children, all of whom went to Sabbath-school and learned the shorter catechism, and were interested in arithmetic; all of whom were as exactly alike as their homes, and of a piece with the monotony in which they lived.

Everything at home seems drab, everyone and every house is similar to the next, and no one is interesting or different or bright. He dislikes how everyone does the same things, likes the same things, wants the same things, and lives the same boring lives. It feels defeating to him to even have to return to such a place, especially after one of his "orgies of living"—the times where he indulges in the experiences that he truly values and wants to have—because everything at home seems dull (instead of bright), muted (instead of musical), boring (instead of interesting), and monotonous (instead of thrilling and fast-paced).
Paul hates how provincial life at his home feels. Everything feels so cut off from the world, from culture, and from beauty. Home seems so "small-town" in comparison to his experiences in the city. For example,

On [the] last Sunday of November, Paul sat all the afternoon on the lowest step of his "stoop," staring into the street, while his sisters, in their rockers, were talking to the minister's daughters next door about how many shirt-waists they had made in the last week, and how many waffles some one had eaten at the last church supper. When the weather was warm, and his father was in a particularly jovial frame of mind, the girls made lemonade, which was always brought out in a red glass pitcher, ornamented with forget-me-nots in blue enamel. This the girls thought very fine . . .

The topics that concern Paul's family do not concern Paul at all. He doesn't care about shirt-waists made by his sisters or the number of waffles eaten by acquaintances. It does not feel like a highlight of his day to be served lemonade in the family pitcher, which his sisters think is so lovely. Paul has seen and heard true loveliness, and his family's ideas about beauty and happiness seem to irritate and depress him.