What were the accomplishments of Pocahontas?

One could argue that Pocahontas's greatest accomplishment was to bring some measure of peace between her native Powhatan tribe and the English settlers. This was achieved, in the time-honored fashion of European royalty, through marriage—in the case of Pocahontas, marriage to John Rolfe, the English tobacco farmer who, more than anyone else, turned Jamestown into a prosperous, thriving colony.
Relations between the Powhatan and the English had been in serious decline for some time, with the Powhatan becoming increasingly angry at incursions into their ancestral lands by the Jamestown settlers. Outbreaks of violence were common, but there was still a general feeling on both sides that some kind of amicable settlement was possible.
Therefore, to generate friendship and good will between the Powhatan and the English, Pocahontas agreed to convert to Christianity and marry John Rolfe. For the duration of the marriage—some three years in total—there was peace between the Powhatan and the English. However, once Pocahontas passed away, relations deteriorated sharply, leading to even greater bloodshed and suffering than before.

How does Charles Dickens use different characters to launch a critique of the social conditions in Great Britain, especially in London?

Dickens, who lived in London as an adult and spent parts of his childhood in London under sometimes adverse conditions, was a relentless critic of the social injustices of this imperial capital. His critique cuts across many of his novels.
For example, in an early novel, 1837's Oliver Twist, Dickens critiques the new Poor Law of 1834 by showing the humiliation and deprivation young children endure in a poorhouse orphanage. He depicts a character like Oliver as a normal boy who is made an outcast because the workhouse clothes he is forced to wear immediately identify him as poor and therefore someone to be despised. At the orphanage, as Dickens describes it, the children are underfed. Getting only one scoop of gruel and "desperate with hunger," Oliver asks for more food and is thrown out for his pains. On the streets, he is vulnerable and sucked into a life of crime. Dickens critiques a London society in which a few are very wealthy while many, even innocent children, are hungry, cold, and at the mercy of a criminal class. As Dickens writes of the London of the poor in this novel:

Some houses which had become insecure from age and decay, were prevented from falling into the street, by huge beams of wood reared against the walls, and firmly planted in the road; but even these crazy dens seemed to have been selected as the nightly haunts of some houseless wretches, for many of the rough boards which supplied the place of door and window, were wrenched from their position, to afford an aperture wide enough for the passage of a human body. The kennel was stagnant and filthy. The very rats, which here and there lay putrefying in its rottenness, were hideous with famine.

Likewise, A Christmas Carol, Dickens's famous novella, critiques the kind of social Darwinist hard-heartedness of a character like Scrooge, who wishes the poor would hurry up and die so as to rid the world of excess population. The story contrasts the wealth of people like Scrooge with the poverty of people like the Cratchits. Even though Bob Cratchit works full time as a clerk and gets only one day off a year, he can't afford the medical help needed to keep his young son Tiny Tim alive and can hardly feed his family.
Bleak House attacks a bureaucratic wealthy class that is incompetent in such vital areas as educating the poor and handling diseases, as well as in providing a decent legal system and decent housing for the poor. Dickens describes a London slum area, produced in part by the gross negligence of the ruling class, where poor Jo must live:

a ruinous place known . . . by the name of Tom-all-Alone’s. It is a black, dilapidated street, avoided by all decent people, where the crazy houses were seized upon, when their decay was far advanced, by some bold vagrants who after establishing their own possession took to letting them out in lodgings. Now, these tumbling tenements contain, by night, a swarm of misery.

Dickens was not a political radical, but he was a keen observer, relentless in exposing a side of life most middle-class readers did not often see.

What message about deceit and revenge does the ending give us? Please cite quotes.

One would have to say that the tragic ending of Hamlet—in which (spoiler alert!) almost everyone dies—shows us that all the deceit and the political chicanery and the revenge that has unfolded throughout the play hasn't been worth it. As the Norwegian ambassador surveys the scene of bloody carnage at the Danish court, Horatio tells him of the ultimate futility of all this slaughter:

And let me speak to th' yet-unknowing world
How these things came about. So shall you hear
Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts,
Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters,
Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause,
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook
Fall'n on th' inventors' heads (act 5, scene 2).

The last two lines of Horatio's lament are particularly important here. He's referring to the murderous plots that have spectacularly backfired on their perpetrators, such as Hamlet's plan to murder Claudius, and Claudius's plan to murder Hamlet by putting poison in his cup. And what did all this murderous double-dealing achieve? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Denmark is in turmoil, and now the Norwegians are ready to impose some much-needed order and stability upon this broken, rotten kingdom.

How does the idea of the black diaspora play out in Americanah?

The African Diaspora refers to the roughly 150 million people of African descent who reside outside of the African continent, primarily in the Americas and Western Europe. The term was initially coined to reference only the descendants of slaves, but the term is now often broadened to encompass all people of African heritage living in the West.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2013 novel Americanah directly ties to the idea of the African Diaspora because it chronicles the experiences of Ifemelu, a Nigerian emigrant to the United States. Throughout the plot, Ifemelu struggles to navigate the complex race relations she finds in America and questions her own identity as a “non-American black” living in the US. Ifemelu explores these issues at length by writing on her blog,” Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks.” Many of Ifemelu’s observations are rooted in the history of racism and oppression experienced by African Americans and she contrasts the experience of the Old and New Diasporas. In these ways, Americanah connects to the idea of the African Diaspora.

How does the story came to a happy end?

The story ends happily because the Robinson sons who want to leave the island do so, and the parents and other sons get to stay and live out their lives there—everyone gets what they want.
The Robinsons spend more than a decade on the island. After many years, they're joined by another shipwrecked person named Emily who they treat as a daughter. She and Fritz fall in love, and he plans to ask her to marry him with his parents's blessing.
The Robinson parents and two of their sons want to spend the rest of their lives on the island. Two of the boys want to go home again and see what they've missed. When a ship comes to take Emily back to England, they decide to go with her. The parents decide to stay. The island was discovered and isn't unknown anymore. They're hoping to build a happy society there with their remaining years.

Does Emily's mother feel she failed her in "I Stand Here Ironing"? Why or why not?

In Tillie Olsen’s story, the narrator’s main emotions regarding her daughter, Emily, are acceptance and guilt. She he knows that she did her best raising Emily in difficult circumstances, as the Great Depression severely limited her possible accomplishments. Even holding on to her position as her child’s mother was a tremendous challenge, one at which she ultimately succeeded. At the same time, guilt is a nagging sensation telling her that she could, and should, have done more for her daughter. While she acknowledges that Emily’s personality played a role, she cannot quite lose the lingering sensation of inadequacy. Some of her guilt pertains to her adaptability more than to her specific relationship with Emily. As the narrator understands that it is the young, not her generation, who must adapt to the changing times, she feels that she has given Emily the necessary tools to continue in the struggle and probably to achieve greater success than her mother had.

Emily's mother feels guilt about the quality of Emily's childhood. After her marriage to Emily's father ended, she struggled to make ends meet and care for Emily. The fact that Emily had to endure separation, daycare, bad teachers, illness, and poverty weighs heavily on Emily's mother. After her remarriage and the birth of her additional children, she feels that Emily was pushed aside and likely felt like an outsider since she looked different and had a different father.
Yet Emily's mother knows that she had to work and leave Emily with others in order for them both to survive. Because she had to, Emily gradually became physically and emotionally stronger. Ultimately, she becomes a performer and is able to make others laugh; arguably, she might not have grown into this ability had her childhood turned out differently. So, like many parents, Emily's mother feels she may have failed to give Emily everything she wanted, but Emily's independence assures her that Emily got what she needed.

Are national security and global security interdependent?

Nowadays, we live in the world of globalization and internationalization where everything is interdependent. Security, in this case, is one of the aspects of interdependence.
National security is a core category of any independent state. However, the post-bipolar era has caused vagueness in defining domestic and foreign policy. For example, terrorism is a danger targeting a certain state as well as international security. Thus, it is both a national and global security threat which has to be tackled on both levels respectively.
Global security is a compound term, which incorporates national and regional aspects. It is directly dependent on how well states address domestic security issues and cooperate with each other on the international scale.
such global issues as poverty, inequality, climate change, lack of resources and terrorism are threats to security as it is, no matter what level is regarded. The problem is these challenge can no more be addressed and solved by one country or even a region.
There is one more argument to consider: the security dilemma. It is a phenomenon which explains how securitization of one country can be considered as threatening to other, often neighboring, countries, and therefore, undermine the regional/global security leading to a conflict.

Changing technology means that national and global security can no longer be separated. One of the gravest threats to national security, according to a report from the Pentagon, is global climate change, with extreme weather events provoking migrations, humanitarian crises, and impacting military preparedness. Moreover, climate change can affect food and water security. Climate change can only be tackled on a global level.
Next, many weapons of mass destruction, even if deployed locally can have global effects. A nuclear war or release of epidemic diseases as part of biological warfare anywhere in the world could have devastating global effects. That means that the United States can not assume that North America would be safe if a major war broke out in Africa or Asia. Also, weapon systems can now reach anywhere in the world in a matter of under an hour, meaning that no place is safe from attacks from rogue states.
Finally, security now includes not just physical matters but cyber security. Because the internet is global and allows almost instantaneous transmission of malicious code, threats such as computer viruses and hacking are global as well as national issues.
https://engineering.stanford.edu/magazine/article/national-security-separable-global-security

Identify the minor characters and choose a revealing line of dialogue for each. What do we learn about Robert’s character based on these characters?

The most important minor characters in The Wars by Timothy Findley are Rodwell, Rowena, and Lady Juliet d'Orsey. These three minor characters in particular are highly influential to the main character Ross.
Through Rowena and her unexpected death, we learn that Robert has a strong conscious and desire to seek retribution for the guilt that he feels surrounded her death. Robert is also inspired by his sister's love of animals and because of this, he begins to save animals. Rowena is disabled and though she is an adult, she behaves much like a child. This is seen through her asking her brother, "Will you stay with me forever?"
Rodwell, who also loves animals, causes Robert to realize his selfless nature. Robert realizes that all living things are precious. His time with Rodwell is what pushes Robert to become a war hero. A revealing line from Rodwell is in the letter he writes to his daughter before he kills himself. He says,

"I am alive in everything I touch. Touch these pages and you have me in your fingertips. We survive in one another. Everything lives forever. Believe it. Nothing dies. I am your father always.”

Juliet d'Orsey gives Robert the strength and hope that he needs to become a war hero. She remains his friend after he is disfigured from the war. A notable quote from Juliet is,

"Someone once said to Clive: do you think we will ever be forgiven for what we've done? They meant their generation and the war and what the war had done to civilization. Clive said something I've never forgotten. He said: I doubt we'll ever be forgiven. All I hope is—they'll remember we were human beings."

All of these notable quotations tie together the idea of how people are never truly gone, but they go on forever through memories and through other people.

How long was Grover Cleveland president for?

Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th American President, is the only American president to return as the country's leader after suffering a defeat in the elections at the end of his first term. In total, he ran for eight years. His first tenure was between 1885 and 1888 and his second was between 1893 and 1897.
One of the reasons why he ran again was that he lost so closely, and some say unfairly, to Benjamin Harrison in the 1888 elections. He won the popular vote by more than 90,000, but lost a narrowly fought electoral vote. On his return in 1892, he won "the most decisive victory in twenty years."
Initially a bachelor when he was first elected in 1885, he is the first president to get married in the White House.
https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/benjamin-harrison

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/grover-cleveland/

Identify the groups and their agendas that combined to create the new conservative movement of the 1970’s and 1980’s. In what areas do you feel the movement was successful in achieving its goals?

There were several groups that coalesced to form the "New Right," the name given to the resurgent conservative movement that emerged in 1964 before coming to dominate national politics in the 1980s with the ascendence of Ronald Reagan. One group was fairly familiar to conservatism—large businesses. Business leaders argued that liberal programs, and especially government regulations (many of which had met with the approval of some mainstream conservatives) made doing business in the United States more difficult. They argued for lower corporate taxes and lower marginal tax rates on the wealthy, claiming that these, combined with slashing regulations on business would lead to increased economic prosperity.
Another group were so-called foreign policy "hawks." Many of these politicians argued that the disaster in Vietnam had been the result of a lack of will on the part of American politicians. They argued against detente, the policy of seeking a rapprochement with the Soviet Union, and for aggressive measures, including supporting anti-communist fighters around the world, and boosting defense spending on conventional and especially nuclear weapons.
Another group that joined the conservative (Republican) coalition were Southerners and working-class Americans disillusioned with the civil rights movement and what they perceived as excessive radicalism on the part of various identity groups. White Southerners flocked to the party in the wake of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Finally, among the most influential groups in this new coalition was the "religious right." This group expanded in numbers and in influence in the early 1980s in particular. They were a backlash against what they saw as the erosion of traditional, Christian values. Among the issues that most mobilized them was the legalization of abortion in Roe v. Wade (1973) and especially the movement for women's equality. Men like Jerry Falwell, leader of the "Moral Majority," Pat Robertson, and Phyllis Schlafly, a committed opponent of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment for women, harangued against these developments in front of increasingly large audiences and became a powerful political force.
These forces, bolstered by the economic stagnation and general malaise of the 1970s, formed a new movement that argued for the dismantling of the liberal state that had endured since the New Deal and World War II.
https://www.ushistory.org/us/58e.asp

How did Frank die?

As the novel concludes, Frank's body is found in his car outside the city after having committed suicide. This happens shortly after Frank is caught stealing goods from his employer in order to pay for Fonny's attorney and bail. Frank kills himself due to being severely troubled over his son's circumstances: Fonny is in jail after being wrongfully accused of rape and having gotten Tish pregnant. Frank was also facing unemployment and a perceived lack of support from his family, which also influenced his actions. The ending of If Beale Street Could Talk is not completely clear on whether Fonny will be released. Regardless of the outcome, Frank's death can be seen as paying the ultimate price, as he trades money for Fonny's release with his life.
Interestingly, shortly after Frank's death, Tish describes her baby as screaming "like it means to wake the dead." This end to the novel thus has a powerful double-meaning in relation to Frank.

What power does Reverend Parris hold, how does his power change throughout the book, and does he ever abuse his power?

The Rev. Samuel Parris is the pastor in Salem. As a member of the theocracy, his power in Salem is secure until he invites Rev. John Hale to come and investigate whether his daughter and the daughter of the Putnams are bewitched. Reverend Hale's probing questions and the interrogation of Tituba and the girls unleash issues that quickly grow beyond Parris's control.
Once Hale and Parris provoke confessions from Tituba, Betty, Abigail, and other girls, hysteria breaks out in the village. Accusations come from many sources, and trials begin in earnest. When Danforth and Hathorne arrive in Salem, Parris and Hale are outranked by these senior government officials who preside over the trials. However, Parris does have the power to excommunicate citizens from the Salem church, and he is only too glad to do so when the wives of his political enemies, Nurse, Corey and Proctor are accused. Parris's swift excommunication and support for the hangings of Salem's accused are an abuse of his power. He also has a role in the unjust execution of Giles Corey by attempting to force him to either confess or implicate others.

What are some cultural elements displayed in the novel that can be compared to the non-fiction elements in South African culture?

Nadine Gordimer’s novel takes place in South Africa during the Apartheid era. The sharp racial, class, and political divisions in this fictional treatment are the same as those that characterized South African society at that time. Because they are white, Bamford and Maureen Smales enjoy many privileges as urban professionals, including hiring black African servants such as the “houseboy” July. While their politics are liberal and they abhor Apartheid, they take no concrete actions to oppose it. Their white Afrikaner identity does not help them or their children, however, when the violence in Soweto spreads and threatens their safety. The violent conflicts that Gordimer depicts corresponds to those occurring in South Africa at the time as white rule would soon end.
Regarding July as a character, his position within his village, and the descriptions of indigenous African tribal society, Gordimer seems less secure and precise in her depictions. Apartheid’s severe segregation did mean that black people had to live separately. It seems, however, that Gordimer exaggerates specific cultural features, such as nudity, to emphasize the distinctions between whites and blacks and the association of black people with “nature.” In this way, she calls attention to transformations in the characters’ attitudes, especially that of Maureen.

According to the speaker in section 1, celebrating oneself is equivalent to celebrating what?

When analyzing Walt Whitman's poem, "Song of Myself," it is important to understand its connection to the American Transcendentalist movement of the early- to mid-1800s. Transcendentalism emphasized the importance of self-expression and self-reliance; hence, the poem's title, "Song of Myself," and its first line, "I celebrate myself and sing myself." However, one of the major philosophies of transcendentalism is the existence of an over-arching "Over-soul," which unites all individuals as one being. This idea is illustrated in the poem's line "For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you." Therefore, when Whitman is celebrating himself, the individual, he is also celebrating "you," the listener, because all individuals are also one shared being. This is extrapolated outwards later in stanza 1 in the line "My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air, / Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same." The atoms that make up Walt Whitman are the same as those from the soil and air, which are the same as those from his parents, and their parents, and their parents' parents, etc.

In the first section of this poem, Whitman draws an equivalence between his celebration of himself and his celebration of the person to whom the poem is addressed. He celebrates himself, and therefore he prevails upon the listener to "assume" the same thing that he assumes. What he is saying here is that, if the speaker is celebrating himself, the listener should be happy to assume that this is a broader celebration of humanity, because "every atom belonging to me" also effectively belongs to "you," the listener.
Whitman goes on to elaborate on this theme that a celebration of the self is effectively a celebration of humanity as a whole. He notes that every "atom" of his person is one with the soil, the air, the atoms which built up his parents, and so on and so forth.

Explain the impact of the Hite Reports (1976, 1981) and Masters and Johnson's Report (1966-1979) in the field of sexology. How did these two reports change American society's view of sexual behavior and open up the field for more in-depth research?

The Hite Reports (1976, 1981) and Masters and Johnson's Report (1966-1979) changed the way people thought about sex. Masters and Johnson began to study female sexuality in a way in which it had never been explored before. For example, they found that women could fake orgasm and that intercourse is not necessary to achieve an orgasm for women. They conducted surveys of women as part of their research.
Hite also conducted surveys of over 1,800 women for her 1976 book. She discovered, from asking actual women, the importance of clitoral stimulation to achieve an orgasm and questioned the traditional idea that women can achieve a vaginal orgasm. She also studied the importance of masturbation.
These works opened up different directions in the field. For example, women's perspectives became more important, and researchers were more aware of the variety of sexual experience.The field was opened to exploring other experiences, such as those of the LBGTQ+ community. Researchers no longer looked at people's experiences of sex in a unidimensional way or one that only reflected heterosexual men's point of view. In addition, they realized that the way people experience sex is quite different from the way they often speak about sex in public.

What was the result of a letter Count Bezukhov wrote before he died?

About a year before he dies, Count Kirill Bezukhov writes a letter to the Tsar asking if he can adopt his favorite illegitimate child, Pierre. The Count wants to leave all his property to Pierre, but as Pierre's illegitimate he won't be able to inherit. Hence the need to have him formally adopted.
The Tsar's permission allows the Count to change the details of his will, and so he's able to leave his entire estate to Pierre as planned. But Prince Vassily Kuragin's none too happy about the new arrangement. A relative of Count Bezukhov, he'd been expecting to inherit his estate, but now his dreams of phenomenal wealth have been thwarted by the change in the Count's will. But Vassily's nothing if not determined—as well as devious, self-serving, and greedy—and spends most of the novel trying to con Pierre out of the money and property he believes is rightfully his.

What is the Sun?

The sun is one of the billions of stars that permeate the Milky Way Galaxy that was formed about 4.6 billion years ago. It is a giant ball of burning hydrogen and helium gases which account for 70% and 28% of its mass respectively. The remaining 2% is made of iron, oxygen, nitrogen, silicon, magnesium, carbon, and neon.
With a diameter of 1.39 million kilometers, the sun is the largest and heaviest object in the solar system - it is located at the center and accounts for 99.8% of its mass. This translates to a strong gravitational pull that keeps the planets in the solar system revolving around it. It is, however, important to note that the sun is very small compared to other stars in the Milky Way Galaxy.
The sun's surface has a temperature of about 5500 degrees Celsius while the core stands at 15 million degrees. These high temperatures make the sun particularly important to planet earth as it acts as the source of energy needed to sustain life. Scientists believe that the sun has enough nuclear fuel to continue powering it for the next 5 billion years before it starts growing bigger.

To understand the sun, let's imagine a big ball of hydrogen sitting in space. Now, it's all gravitationally attractive, so therefore it falls towards the center of the ball. This means that pressure begins to build up as more hydrogen is crammed into the central area, however it keeps getting compressed more and more because there's lots of force inwards from the gravity of the outer layers.
Eventually, the pressure gets so large that nuclear fusion is an energetically favorable process. To simplify, it just means that fusion will happen only when the pressure is very high. As soon as the pressure reaches this level, it begins. This nuclear fusion pushes everything outwards because the immense energy released gives the particles nearby lots of energy. This heat also propagates outwards, helping to heat all the rest of the gas, though some of it is already pretty hot from pressure alone.
The sun is a big ball of hydrogen with two main forces: gravity crushing the center and pulling the outside in and pressure from nuclear energy pushing outwards. These forces end up being balanced, and you have a stable star. The gas is very very hot from all the energy, but nuclear fusion only occurs in the middle bit. Even when the star is old and dying, nuclear fusion only occurs somewhat near the center, and the outer layers will never fuse.

The Sun is the medium-sized star located at the center of our solar system, around which the planets in our solar system, including Earth, revolve. The Sun is comprised of immensely hot gases, mostly hydrogen (approximately 70%) and helium (approximately 28%). The Sun provides warmth and energy to every planet in our solar system, with the heat from the Sun traveling even beyond the reaches of Pluto.
Life on Earth, through different means, harnesses the power of the Sun for energy. The energy of the Sun is produced through nuclear fusion. Plants use the power of the Sun through photosynthesis. Humans can harness the power of the Sun through the use of solar panels. This energy source is far more ecologically friendly than coal-based power sources. Without the energy and heat provided from the Sun, life on our planet could not exist.

What is the chief figure of speech in Williams’s "The Yachts," and what does it seem to say about Williams’s subject?

In addition to sharp imagery that conjures nightmarish visions at the conclusion of the poem, "The Yachts" uses an extended metaphor to convey Williams's thoughts about the potentially devastating effects that wealth and power have on the less fortunate.
In the beginning, the yachts (like wealth and power) are seen only as a positive image. They are "scintillant in the minute/brilliance of cloudless days" and "appear youthful, rare/as the light of a happy eye, live with the grace/of all that in the mind is fleckless, free and/naturally to be desired."
Here Williams presents the image: Wealth and those who have it equate to a life of ease. Additionally, wealth is a natural desire that men strive for. It's beautiful and produces feelings of contentment.
However, this metaphor finds new meaning as the tone shifts at the end. Once the race starts, waves (a metaphor for difficulties) strike at the boats. This can't slow them down, for they are "too/Well made." After all, these are yachts, a symbol of power and wealth in themselves. Wealth cannot be touched by mere waves.
And then the waves turn into literal bodies, "a sea of faces about them in agony, in despair." In their quest for victory, the yachts must cut through bodies, people who have been tossed to the side. This ocean of people is a metaphor for the poor and those without the fortunes of the extreme upper classes.
This sea of people cries out, "beaten, desolate." But the yachts do not care and merely cut through them in their quest.
This social commentary was written near the end of the Great Depression, and Williams had undoubtedly seen much suffering in the world around him as wealthy families amassed fortunes at the expense of the lower classes, who were struggling to survive. The metaphor of a yacht race used throughout the poem conveys one of the great "horror[s] of the race"—the human race. Greed and a quest for material gain can drive people to sail right over those who are suffering or who aren't as fortunate.

In "The Yachts," Williams uses a vivid metaphor to describe the sea in which the yacht race takes place. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable. So here, for instance, Williams compares the waves to a sea of bodies, of faces in agony and despair. These waves—these bodies—are brutally sliced to pieces by the yachts as they cut through the water in search of victory.
Like life itself, this is a competitive race in which only the strong can survive. The waves are merely an object of nature to be used by man for his own ends. As man-made objects, the yachts could be said to symbolize the control that man exerts over the natural world, often without heed to the consequences of his actions. The yachts just "pass over" the waves, in much the same way that man blithely goes about exploiting nature without realizing just what it is that he's doing.
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-yachts/

Why are there so many speakers in The History of Love?

The multiple speakers in The History of Love show the genuine transcendence of love, particularly by access to the story between Leopold (or Leo) Gursky and his first—and only—love, Alma. Consider the many different speakers the novel follows: these include Leo, a 15-year-old girl named Alma Singer, and Alma's brother, nicknamed Bird. The multiple perspectives allow us to see how Leo's lifelong love for Alma resonates in other times and with other people.
The History of Love is the title of Krauss's novel, but it also refers to the title of a book within the novel itself—a manuscript that was originally written by Leo but published in Spanish by his childhood friend Zvi Litvinoff. (Zvi's perspective becomes another in the novel, though he is not one of the speakers; rather, Krauss chooses the third-person omniscient narration for the sections that cover the publication of The History of Love.) The publication of the book is significant, as the reader sees it fall into different hands and influence various lives. There is a great deal of dramatic irony, as the lives of Krauss's characters are ultimately brought together by the book's existence. In the end, Leo and Alma's history of love influences people around the world.

How does The Crucible demonstrate that despite wickedness and foul play, good qualities like honor and integrity will endure?

Despite the forces of evil and chaos unleashed by the Salem witch-hunt, it's notable that the abiding impression we're left with is the honesty and integrity of John Proctor. John's not a saint by any means; he conducted an illicit affair with Abigail Williams that gave her an opportunity to destroy him and his whole family. But he's seen the error of his ways and has done whatever he can to make amends.
John can't change the past, but he can change the future. Whatever happens to him, he can still ensure that the good name of his family endures over succeeding generations. He does this through refusing to sign a confession that he's guilty of witchcraft. At first, John was willing to sign, but once he discovers that it would be posted up in public where everyone could see it, he relents. In doing so, John's thinking of successive generations of Proctors, and the last thing he wants is for them to have to live with the shame of being the ancestors of a self-confessed witch. John's prepared to sacrifice his own life for the good of his family name, and in that way, one can say that good eventually triumphs over evil.

What are the roles of commoners, civilians, or slaves in Coriolanus and King Lear? How are they similar or different? What do they say about Shakespeare's time period?

To answer this assignment, you would want to compare these types of characters and the major characters in the play, to show how the minor/common characters illuminate the nature of the major/noble ones.
Characters to look at in King Lear would include the Old Man who guides Gloucester until he meets Edgar, and the servants in the scene where Cornwall blinds Gloucester, particularly the servant who attacks Cornwall. One might look at the ways in which these characters' moral behavior illuminates that of the major characters.
In Coriolanus, a major role played by the commoners ("plebeians") is to show what kind of person Martius is, particularly when he refuses to court them in order to be made consul. You might look at Martius's pride and snobbery in terms of the way he treats other people.

Was the impact of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird positive or negative?

The impact of To Kill a Mockingbird was overwhelmingly positive. The book was a huge success, achieving both popular and critical acclaim. It was also awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, which came as a huge surprise to the book's author, Harper Lee.
A number of critics and commentators hailed the work for laying bare the racism and prejudice at the heart of white Southern society. Although To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1930s, little had changed in the South by the time it was published in 1960, and so the book was seen as a contemporary social critique. This was thought an incredibly brave thing for a white Southerner to do. It was certainly rare, as most white Southerners wholeheartedly supported the system of racial prejudice that existed at that time.
The publication of To Kill a Mockingbird coincided with the growing rise of the Civil Rights movement, and many civil rights campaigners thought that the book greatly helped their cause, as it showed how it was possible for people—especially white Southerners—to rise above their prejudices and accept racial equality.

Is War and Peace really that long?

Not only is Tolstoy's War and Peace one of the longest novels ever written, it must surely have been one of the novels most thoroughly revised in manuscript form before publication. According to William L. Shirer in his biography of Tolstoy and his wife, Love and Hatred: The Troubled Marriage of Leo and Sonya Tolstoy (1994):
Just making clean copies of Tolstoy’s manuscript was a considerable job in itself. Apparently no one else in the house could make out his almost illegible handwriting. And making one clean copy was never enough, for Tolstoy would rewrite it and hand it back to her for copying again. Sonya once said she had copied the novel seven times. Since it runs to 1,453 printed pages in my edition, that means that her fair copy came to at least 3,000 manuscript pages. So she must have written down in her own careful handwriting 21,000 pages. And this does not include countless pages that Tolstoy, as his daughter Tanya noted, threw away.

In the years after the Cold War and the collapse of the bipolar order, the world has undergone significant changes. Chief among those changes has been a perceived deterioration of world stability, not only in terms of economics but also in terms of security. What indicators could lead one to conclude that in the years following the collapse of the Communist world, things have gotten more dangerous?

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was followed by an economic depression in Russia and the other former Soviet states. Though many Soviet citizens initially welcomed the fall of the Communists, most later became disillusioned and came to regard the Yeltsin regime as a kleptocracy (a government based on theft). Because Russia had no history of democratic rule, it was easy for the reversion to authoritarianism under Vladimir Putin to occur. It was unclear at first what direction Putin would take, but there is now no doubt that his regime has not only sponsored state terrorism in the Middle East, especially in Syria, but has engaged in "cyber-terrorism" by using social media to attempt influencing election results in the US.
The other obvious danger to global stability since 1991 is the rise of terrorism by Islamic fundamentalists. This was partly a result of the expulsion of the Soviets from Afghanistan in 1989. The US had provided support for the Afghan mujaheddin, but unfortunately this backfired with the rise of the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and eventually, ISIS.
No one knows, of course, what would have happened if the Communists had remained in power. But arguably the enormous increase in both "conventional" terrorism and cyber-terrorism is at least indirectly a result, or a by-product, of the Soviet collapse.

What is the significance of the title of the second chapter of The Other Wes Moore, "In Search of Home?"

"In Search of Home" tells the story of how the other Wes Moore moved three times since his brother was born. It also talks about the author Wes Moore's move to the Bronx and how his family moved there as well.
The other Wes Moore's family moved to get away from his father. The new neighborhood, Cherry Hill, was dangerous. So they moved again to leave Cherry Hill behind. Even in the new neighborhood though, other boys attacked Wes and his friends while they played football. When the eight-year-old boy grabbed a knife to go fight back, he was arrested. It's clear that his neighborhood is not a safe and protective home for him.
Author Wes Moore's mother decides to move back to the Bronx from Maryland after her husband dies. His mother tells them about all the wonders that are available in the Bronx, like the zoo. However, once they get there, they can tell that the Bronx has changed and is less safe than before. The author looks back into the past and tells the story of his grandparents, who moved from the Caribbean to the United States.
Overall, the chapter's title is significant because it talks about both Wes Moores's search for a home and the author's family's search for the same.

In the memoir Black Boy (1940), Richard Wright documents his efforts to find relief from the political, economic, and social terror he experiences growing up in the U.S. South in the first decades of the 20th century. Explain what about the Jim Crow social system made it impossible for Wright to remain in the south. Assess whether or not Wright was able to find the relief he sought in Chicago.

Richard Wright articulated, through his own personal experiences, what many other African Americans went through during the Jim Crow era in the South. Wright related both macro and micro levels of racism. On a macro level, he illustrated the ways that institutional racism oppressed African Americans in the South.
Jim Crow laws are a prime example of systemic racism that affected all African Americans. On a micro level, Wright detailed his own firsthand experiences, such as being called racial slurs and receiving threats of violence from bigoted white people. Wright, or anyone who would have experienced such hostilities, couldn't thrive economically, socially, and politically in that environment.
Although the book ends with Wright on his way to Chicago, it can only be assumed that he found more economic opportunities there, as well as a less hostile environment. Even though Chicago at the time had its own social issues—e.g. political corruption, discriminatory housing practices, crime, police brutality—the city didn't have the ubiquitous system of oppression like the South.

What were the circumstances that led to Helen's panic attack?

Helen suffers a panic upon leaping into the sea at Cape Cod, an expedition she describes in Chapter 10 of her memoir. Helen had read a description of the ocean in a book and had developed a longing to feel it, so she was delighted to be able to touch the sea. However, as soon as she was in her bathing suit, she leaped without hesitation into the "cool water" and was taken aback by what she experienced. At first, the feeling was joyful, but then her "foot struck against a rock" and the water closed over her head. Struggling, Helen found herself unable to grasp at anything for support, with the waves jostling her from side to side and her feet unable to touch the earth. Naturally, Helen was at this juncture filled with fear and felt that she was helpless against the power of the waves. It was only when the sea threw her onto the beach and into "my teacher's arms" that she was able to recover from this sudden panic. Not having ever been in the sea before, Helen was not prepared for its power.

When was The Odyssey written?

The Odyssey is thought to have been composed in the 8th century.

In what way could the Little Prince be seen as the childhood form of the pilot himself?

The Prince and the pilot share a particular bond, which is the knowledge that what is essential is invisible. This comes out early in the story, with the pilot's tale about his drawings number 1 and number two, and the Prince's immediate (and correct) interpretation of drawing number one as a snake swallowing an elephant. The pilot talks a lot about "grown ups" and how they are concerned with things that don't matter. In a sense, the Prince is a kind of test for the pilot, to see if he, too, has simply become another grown up. If the Prince is an earlier version of the Pilot, then his appearance in the desert is meant to remind the Pilot that the truth of life lies not in outward circumstances — being stranded in the desert — but in the beauty hidden inside all things.

The Little Prince could be seen as the childhood form of the pilot who crashes in the desert because both share the same childlike understanding of life. When the pilot, for example, shows the Little Prince his drawing of the boa constrictor who has swallowed the elephant, the Prince immediately can perceive what it is. In contrast, when the pilot goes to parties among adults and shows them the same picture of the boa constrictor, they all identify it as a hat. They lack a child's imaginative ability to see beneath the surface reality of things and find the deeper, richer meanings in life.
Like the pilot, the Little Prince has a child's vision and imagination. The pilot realizes that they are kindred spirits, in sympathy with one another.

How has Silver planted a seed of doubt among the crew members who have decided to rebel against Captain Smollett?

Insight into how Long John Silver organized the mutiny against Captain Smollett is provided in chapter 11.
Jim Hawkins crawls into an apple barrel to get apples and overhears Silver talking to members of the crew. Silver tells the men that he was once Captain Flint's quartermaster and that he is working to recruit other men who had been on Flint's crew to rebel against Captain Smollett. To convince the men to mutiny, Silver tells them that he plans on murdering Smollett and men loyal to him once the treasure is found. Then Silver plans to divide the treasure between himself and the men who helped in the rebellion.
In terms of why the men want to rebel (beyond the promise of treasure), they don't have a significant reason for being discontented. The crew lacks discipline and Captain Smollett is strict and serious, while Long John Silver is much more likable. Of course, Silver is revealed to be a cunning and duplicitous murderer, but by all appearances he could be seen as a more favorable captain.

What does Hemingway show about gender relations and the nature of gender in A Moveable Feast?

Hemingway's attitude toward gender and gender relations is ambiguous. On one hand, Hemingway cultivates an image of the hyper-masculine man, but on the other, he can be submissive to certain women—Gertrude Stein, for instance. He pokes fun at Fitzgerald for his sexual insecurities and registers what he must have considered a healthy disgust over Stein's lovemaking with her partner, Alice B. Toklas. His relationship with his wife, Hadley, is depicted in the book as a kind of happy mystery; for instance, in "A False Spring," the pair decide to go to the race track, where they win some money. Hemingway is clearly the one in control of the situation but is constantly requiring validation from his wife. At bottom, there is something missing in their relationship. The chapter ends with the pair using their winnings to have a nice dinner:

It was a wonderful meal at Michaud’s after we got in; but when we had finished and there was no question of hunger any more the feeling that had been like hunger when we were on the bridge was still there when we caught the bus home. It was there when we came in the room and after we had gone to bed and made love in the dark, it was there. When I woke with the windows open and the moonlight on the roofs of the tall houses, it was there. I put my face away from the moonlight into the shadow but I could not sleep and lay awake thinking about it.

The "hunger" Hemingway continues to experience reflects a certain emptiness he feels even at the end of a "perfect" day. Although A Moveable Feast does not say so, it's clear that the conventional gender relations of his marriage with Hadley, at least in this episode, are not emotionally satisfying. It is telling, earlier in the same chapter, when he asks his wife what this "hunger" he felt was, and she tells him that there are many kinds of hunger, that "memory is a kind of hunger," but he knows he simply wants a meal. This sort of disconnect ("I was being stupid," Hemingway says) underlies the whole problem of gender for Hemingway. As he says at the conclusion of the chapter, "nothing was simple" in Paris.

Why does Prospero reward Ferdinand?

In addition to the suspicion many fathers feel concerning the general unworthiness of any men aspiring to marry their daughters, Prospero is prejudiced against Ferdinand because Ferdinand is the son of King Alonso and Alonso had helped Antonio usurp Prospero’s dukedom. Despite this prejudice, Prospero also is scheming to have the two marry for dynastic reasons.
In Act III of The Tempest, Prospero decides to test Ferdinand's love and ability to endure hardship for the sake of love. He has Ferdinand do the work of Caliban, carrying and stacking logs. While Ferdinand is at his labors, Miranda appears and they talk. Miranda offers to help Ferdinand but Ferdinand refuses and demonstrates his love for Miranda and sense of duty and responsibility. Prospero, overhearing their conversation, realizes that Ferdinand in genuinely in love with Miranda and will make a good husband for her. Prospero explains “All thy vexations/ Were but my trials of thy love, and thou/ Has strangely stood the test” (Act IV, Scene 1, lines 5-7). Moreover, Prospero understands that having Ferdinand marry Miranda will be a good way to end his feud with Alonso and return to his Dukedom. Thus he rewards Ferdinand by giving him permission to marry Miranda.

Why did Germans fight in American Revolutionary War?

The British lacked sufficient troops to fight in all theaters of operations during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783). There was no draft at the time, so raising troops was often problematic. Therefore, mercenaries were commonly used by warring nations. Britain at first tried to recruit Russians. When this failed, Germans were recruited.
German troops employed by the British were known as Hessians. This is because most came from Hesse-Cassel. The term is misleading, however, because a number of other German states also provided troops. Some 30,000 German troops fought under the British flag, and they represented more than 30% of all British forces in North America. The quality of the troops was uneven, and some of them gained a bad reputation for looting.
In December 1776, Washington won a key engagement against the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton. The Hessians had not fortified their camp, so Washington won a smashing victory. Nine hundred Hessians were captured, and Washington's victory was vital for the Americans's flagging morale.
Some Germans also fought for the Americans. The most notable among these men was Baron von Steuben (1730–1794). Steuben had served in the Prussian army and had been on Frederick the Great's staff. He was put in charge of drilling the Continental Army. His drills helped turn Washington's army into a disciplined fighting force.

What triggers Paul to run away to New York? How does he do so?

Paul runs off to New York after stealing a large sum of money from his employer. Paul has spent the whole of his life in a fantasy world. As a staunch nonconformist, someone who doesn't seem to belong in society, he only ever feels comfortable in a world of his own making. He dreams about a life in which he, like the wealthy elite of Pittsburgh he so much admires, enjoys a lavish, opulent lifestyle.
But because Paul is unwilling or unable to do anything practical that might actually help his dreams come true, he tries to realize his fantasy life by way of a shortcut—hence the theft. With the money he steals from his employer, Paul is briefly able to indulge in the lavish lifestyle of a wealthy young man-about-town, staying in a fancy New York hotel, wearing expensive and fashionable clothes, and generally living out his fantasies.

Explore how character and setting are interrelated. A possible topic would be to describe the significance of setting to the protagonist in "A Pair of Tickets" or "Greasy Lake." How does the setting of the climax of the story contribute to a change in the character's personal perspective?

When the story opens, the narrator is a college-aged young man: bored and into drinking alcohol and smoking weed, but essentially harmless. He and his friends are suburbanites; one goes to Cornell, and the narrator is driving his mom's car as they spend their summer partying. Greasy Lake is a place where they only go late at night to drink. It is a natural setting ravaged by the teenagers and twenty-somethings who have polluted it with their thoughtless and immature behavior.
The unexpected savagery of the physical altercation awakens something in the narrator that he did not know was in him. After he receives a few punishing kicks and sees his friends taking a bad beating, his adrenaline kicks in, and he takes a tire iron to the head of the "bad greasy character" in the Chevy. There is no thought involved as the boys descend on the girl from the car and begin to sexually assault her. The ugly, disreputable setting of Greasy Lake, and the proximity of junkies and brawlers, ignites the ugliest and basest instincts in the narrator and his friends.
When he realizes that he has not killed the "bad greasy character" with the tire iron, the narrator feels "a rush of joy and vindication." His relief at knowing that he is going to be able to walk away from this ugly episode without the crimes of murder and rape trailing him alters his perspective, likely permanently.
Turning down the invitation to party with the girls in the Mustang as he and his friends are leaving Greasy Lake signals a turning point in the narrator's character. Prior to the terrifying and ugly skirmish he just took part in, he probably would have accepted the offer of drugs. It is likely that he realizes how close he came to destroying his life in the god-forsaken setting of Greasy Lake.

Discuss the Seafarer's ambivalence about where, and with whom, he belongs.

Because "The Seafarer" begins with an extended passage detailing the cruel life of the seafarer, a theme that becomes more pervasive in the middle and end of the poem, it is easy to overlook the seafarer's own admission that he is not just using the sea to get from one place to another but that he is drawn to the "atol ytha gewealc" ("the terrible tossing of the waves").

There were times when the swan's song/I responded to with pleasure,/the sound of the gannet/and the curlew's voice/in place of the laughter of men,/the singing of the gull/rather than the drinking of mead. (ll. 19b-23a)

Clearly, the pull of the sea, despite the sea's physical hardships and isolation, is too strong for the seafarer to resist. As he notes in these lines, the seafarer, at least some of the time, absolutely rejects life on land and its human fellowship in favor of the hardships, but joyous hardships ("voice of the curew," "singing gull"), and isolation of life amidst the waves.
Throughout the first half of the poem, the seafarer juxtaposes life on land, in which "cities grow fair, the fields are comely" (ll. 48b-49a), with life on the sea where "all these things compel/the man of spirit . . . to travel far/on the paths of the sea" (ll. 50a-52a). Life on the sea, then, despite its spiritual deprivations and physical stresses, attracts the seafarer precisely because such a life is devoid of mankind.
Later in the poem, the seafarer expresses his regrets that all things of man--power, riches, warrior glory--have passed away, a very conventional (from the Christian viewpoint) set of beliefs, and he looks forward to "the Lord's joys," another conventional theme in Old English poems that form a bridge between pagan and Christian belief systems. One cannot escape the impression, however, that the seafarer would rather be eternally at sea, battling the elements, enjoying the beauties of nature, but alone.

Please identify and define the core concepts of systems theory.

Systems theory emphasizes concepts of interconnectedness and complex relationships among multiple parts and elements. In sociology, systems theory is represented by the relationship an individual has with his or her beliefs, and how they interact with society as a whole.
Systems theory is closely intertwined with the theory of evolution. Two versions of systems theory have emerged as a result. One theory argues that society is constantly changing and evolving into a more perfect society. The second theory, also known as structural differentiation, argues that instead of attaining increasing perfection, society is becoming increasingly more complex.
Systems theory is applied to business by examining the relationships between an organization, its employees, the industry, and the market as a whole. In the same way that systems theory can help explain the workings of a society, it can be used to explain the workings of a business. Systems theory can also be implemented to further understand why certain scenarios yield the outcomes that they do.
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/application-systems-theory-business-organizations-73405.html

https://www.britannica.com/topic/systems-theory

What does Antony mean when he refers to Brutus as “Caesar’s angel”?

In Shakespeare’s tragedy Julius Caesar, Brutus is the last among the group of Romans who together murder Caesar by stabbing him. Marc Antony did not participate in the murder. Afterwards, he speaks to the Romans assembled in the street (act 3, scene 2). In several speeches, he condemns the murderers, while still claiming to understand their stated motives of opposing Caesar’s tyranny.
When speaking of Brutus, however, Antony is especially harsh. Showing the crowd Caesar’s robe, he points out all the tears that the knife thrusts created and points especially to one rip that he says Brutus made:

Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd;
And as he pluck'd his cursed steel away,
Mark how the blood of Caesar follow'd it

The line quoted in your question immediately follows:

For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel:
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him!
This was the most unkindest cut of all;
For when the noble Caesar saw him stab,
Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms,
Quite vanquish'd him: then burst his mighty heart

By “angel,” Antony means, as the next line makes clear, beloved. Telling the people that it was personal betrayal and a broken heart that finally killed Caesar, Antony not only pins the blame squarely on Brutus, but also dismisses the validity of patriotic motivation.

How did the treaty of versailles effect Germany and Germans?

The Germans felt angry, humiliated, and betrayed by the Treaty of Versailles. They were very upset that their government was forced to take complete blame for World War I and pay heavy reparations. Almost immediately, rumors of a "backstab" from insiders (often depicted as Jewish) who sold Germany out began to circulate.
On a material level, the Versailles treaty had harsh effects on the German economy. The German people now had to pay out vast amounts of money to rival states, particularly France. At this point, the German treasury was depleted to begin with from fighting the war, so this was a heavy burden. Further, the treaty limited the size of the German army to 100,000 men. This created social and economic problems, since the army had been a major employer before the war, offering respectable and well-paying jobs to young men with few other prospects. With the avenue of social mobility severely constrained, ambitious young men, often unemployed or underemployed, became restless and discontent, often joining informal militia groups.
All of this provided the perfect background for a charismatic demagogue like Adolph Hitler to fan the discontent into a racist and nationalistic political movement that blamed the Jews for Germany's humiliation and promised to make Germany and the German people preeminent once again.

What 2 moments or quotes connect in book 5 of Middlemarch, and how do they connect?

In Middlemarch, several important events occur in book 5. Among the most notable are the death of Casaubon, the revelation of the contents of his will, and Dorothea’s reaction to both her husband’s death and his written instructions. Casaubon has prohibited a future marriage to Will Ladislaw—that is, imposed his will after death, or exercised his “dead hand,” as book 5 is titled. Will is in love with Dorothea but had deluded himself into thinking he was content to worship her from afar. However, when Casaubon dies, he realizes he had harbored secret hopes of marriage. His decision to leave soon derives from those secret hopes and the need to deflect gossip, as well as prove himself worthy of her.
Will is aware that his love for Dorothea is judged wrong by others’ social standards because she is not only married, but married to his cousin. He does whatever he can to stay occupied in Middlemarch so that he can find opportunities to be near her. He gains a post in the office of the local lawyers, Brooke and Chettam. Brooke is married to Dorothea’s sister, Celia. Romantically proud of his devotion to her, he is determined to be a good friend and stay close by, “whatever fire-breathing dragons might hiss around her.”
Casaubon’s health has been touch-and-go, but he senses that the end is near. He tries to get Dorothea to promise that after he dies, she will not remarry but will devote herself to carrying on his life’s work of religious studies. She tells him she will give him her answer the next day. In the morning, however, she finds him dead in the back garden of their home. He had not lived long enough to hear her promise.

But the silence in her husband's ear was never more to be broken.

After his death, Brooke and Chettam, who are in charge of settling the estate, argue about the meaning behind the codicil and what to do with Ladislaw. They are both appalled but cannot agree if Ladislaw should be persuaded to leave because of the predicted gossip. Chettam is incensed that Casaubon

has most unfairly compromised Dorothea. I say that there never was a meaner, more ungentlemanly action than this—a codicil of this sort to a will which he made at the time of his marriage with the knowledge and reliance of her family—a positive insult to Dorothea! . . . I believe Casaubon was only jealous of him on Dorothea's account, and the world will suppose that she gave him some reason; and that is what makes it so abominable—coupling her name with this young fellow's.

Brooke tells Celia about the codicil, and she breaks the news to her sister. Hearing the news turns Dorothea’s world upside down, and she tries to sort out her feelings, both toward her late husband and toward Will.

One change terrified her as if it had been a sin; it was a violent shock of repulsion from her departed husband, who had had hidden thoughts, perhaps perverting everything she said and did. Then again she was conscious of another change which also made her tremulous; it was a sudden strange yearning of heart towards Will Ladislaw. It had never before entered her mind that he could, under any circumstances, be her lover.

Brooke, in order to deflect possible gossip, discourages his clerk from coming to his house, where he might run into Dorothea. Will is conscious of the change but, having not yet heard of the codicil, can only guess at the reasons.

Will, awake to the slightest hint in this direction, concluded that he was to be kept away from the Grange on Dorothea's account. Her friends, then, regarded him with some suspicion? Their fears were quite superfluous: they were very much mistaken if they imagined that he would put himself forward as a needy adventurer trying to win the favor of a rich woman.
Until now Will had never fully seen the chasm between himself and Dorothea—until now that he was come to the brink of it, and saw her on the other side. He began, not without some inward rage, to think of going away from the neighborhood: it would be impossible for him to show any further interest in Dorothea without subjecting himself to disagreeable imputations—perhaps even in her mind, which others might try to poison.

Still unaware of the codicil, he becomes more determined to go away and make a name for himself, even if it takes five years.

Why should he stay? If the impassable gulf between himself and Dorothea were ever to be filled up, it must rather be by his going away and getting into a thoroughly different position than by staying here and slipping into deserved contempt as an understrapper of Brooke's. . . . Why should he not one day be lifted above the shoulders of the crowd, and feel that he had won that eminence well? Without doubt he would leave Middlemarch, go to town, and make himself fit for celebrity by "eating his dinners."
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/145/145-h/145-h.htm

Who is Beelzebub in "The Battle of the Books"?

In the Bible, Beelzebub, otherwise known as the Lord of the Flies, is a Philistine deity. As a false god, in the Christian tradition he's often synonymous with the Devil. In the context of Swift's The Battle of the Books, it's in his capacity as Lord of the Flies that Beelzebub makes an appearance.
While the ancients and the moderns are busy battling for supremacy in the library below, a little drama is taking place up at the corner of a large window. There, a bee has blundered into a spider's web, ruining all the spider's painstaking handiwork. When the bee first crashes into the web, the spider is frightened, immediately fearing that Beelzebub has come to take revenge for all the flies he's killed and eaten.
That's the literal meaning, of course. But as this is a satire, there's another more allegorical level of meaning involved. The spider represents the modern author, who's only capable of creating out of himself and his own resources, just like a spider spinning a web out of its own abdomen. The bee represents the superior ancients—those venerable poets, playwrights, and philosophers who gathered their inspiration from nature, just as bees gather pollen from flowers.

In Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, an adventurer travels through the layers of Earth until he reaches the center. While it is not actually possible to travel through all of the layers of Earth, in what order would the adventurer have traveled to reach the center through the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core?

Hypothetically, if it were possible to travel to the core of the Earth, one would have to go through five total layers, including the "center of the Earth" as described in Jules Verne's novel. The first and uppermost layer of the Earth is the crust. This is the land we occupy and stand on, and even the deepest caves in the world are just a part of the crust. The second layer of the Earth is the upper mantle. After the upper mantle is the primary mantle itself. Once you've passed the upper mantle and mantle, you would reach the outer core. While you're already technically in the core of the Earth, this is just the outer parts and is still relatively far from the center. The final layer is the inner core. This is the "center of the Earth" that Verne made famous in his classic book.

Please be specific: Discuss the various reform efforts led by African Americans and identify the ideas of prominent abolitionists. Name the reformers and the abolitionists (each answer in one paragraph).

African Americans were certainly leaders in the antebellum abolitionist movement, and many branched out into other interconnected reform movements as well.
The most prominent leader of the abolition movement was Frederick Douglass. Having escaped from enslavement himself, he became a gifted orator and the public face of abolitionism. His autobiography became the standard to which all first-hand accounts of slavery were compared--accounts which were proven invaluable with regards to shaping public opinion among educated Northerners. Douglass was also an outspoken advocate for women's rights. He attended the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 and was among the few who supported Elizabeth Cady Stanton's call for women's suffrage in the mid-nineteenth century.
Another African American abolitionist, who also promoted women's rights, was Sojourner Truth. A former slave like Douglass, Sojourner Truth lectured on the evils of the institution of slavery, promoted temperance, and advocated for women's rights. Her famous speech, "A'int I a Woman," encapsulated her belief that the abuses of slavery were connected to the injustices endured by women.
David Walker was another prominent African American abolitionist who advocated from the pulpit (as an ordained minister) for African American equality. Walker, in a famous book entitled the Appeal, urged his fellow African Americans to rise up against their masters and violently overthrow slavery. This ran counter to the ideology of mainstream abolitionism during the antebellum period; before the 1850s, most abolitionists were also pacifists, largely due to the same religious impulses that caused them to criticize slavery. Overall, abolitionists argued that slavery was a sin--a moral stain on the nation that had to be eliminated.
The abolitionist movement was therefore notable for its leadership, which included African American men as well as black and white women: individuals who were otherwise closed out of the political process.
https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/walker/bio.html

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sojourner-truth

In The Prince chapter 6 why does Machiavelli advise new rulers to aim much higher than their real target?

Machiavelli urges the rulers of new principalities to follow the example of great leaders of the past (of which there are no shortage in The Prince) in order to "imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savour of it." He says that these leaders will be like archers who aim high in order to hit a distant mark. They hit it not because of their extraordinary strength, but because they are clever in aiming high. The subject of the chapter is "New Principalities Which Are Acquired By One's Own Arms And Ability." Machiavelli invites his readers to consider the examples of such leaders as Moses, Cyrus, Romulus, and Theseus, men whose leadership over new principalities forced them to develop new approaches and strategies. They combined guile, ability, and the frequent rest to violence in order to rule their new lands. If rulers followed their examples they could rule their people well, even if they lacked the talents of these legendary rulers.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1232/1232-h/1232-h.htm

At the gambling house, what new reputation did Malcolm get from the other hustlers?

Malcolm's reputation was for being trigger happy and crazy. People knew that he carried multiple guns. He was also a brash gambler and great at bluffing.
Malcolm made rash decisions at the gaming tables. He was quick to raise the stakes and played other people at the table well.
One night, at John's gambling house, he checked two guns at the door; the rule of the place was that you had to check your guns. However, he had another one on him. When another gambler "tried to pull something slick," Malcolm pulled the third gun out. This added to his already established reputation.
He says that:

Looking back, I think I really was at least slightly out of my mind. I viewed narcotics as most people regard food. I wore my guns as today I wear my neckties. Deep down, I actually believed that after living as fully as humanly possible, one should then die violently. I expected then, as I still expect today, to die at any time. But then, I think I deliberately invited death in many, sometimes insane, ways.

One example he gives is when a marine merchant sailor comes in with a stolen machine gun he wants Malcolm to sell. Malcolm asks how he knows it works and when the man loads it, Malcolm pushes it against the belly of the sailor and threatens him. The man runs out. Malcolm sells it a couple months later.

What is an example of omniscient narration in chapter 1 of The Graveyard Book?

In a work of literature, an omniscient point of view is a God's-eye perspective. An omniscient narrator knows all and sees all, giving us a fully rounded picture of the characters and their actions. What's particularly notable about the omniscient point of view is that it can go inside the mind of any character, giving the reader a privileged insight into their thoughts, feelings, and motivations.
A good example of this comes in the opening chapter of The Graveyard Book. As the story begins, we're introduced to a scary man called Jack, who is creeping around a house, preparing to commit several brutal murders. Though to everyone else, Jack may just be nothing more than a common criminal, he regards himself as a professional:




He flexed his fingers. The man Jack was, above all things, a professional, or so he told himself, and he would not allow himself to smile until the job was completed. (Emphasis added.)







Here we see the omniscient point of view in action. It's because the narrator sees all and knows all that the reader is able to discover what Jack tells himself about being a professional.

In the book Animal Farm, did the character Boxer ever get freedom? How?

He was not of first-rate intelligence, but he was universally respected for his steadiness of character and tremendous powers of work.

In George Orwell's Animal Farm, Boxer the horse is a strong and hard worker. In fact, he is arguably the hardest worker on the farm:

He seemed more like three horses than one; there were days when the entire work of the farm seemed to rest on his mighty shoulders.

Boxer has a strong work ethic, and because he is not smart enough to think for himself, his solution to conflict is to keep working harder. He even keeps working when he is injured, as he looks forward to soon retiring. While working on the windmill, eventually his strength fails. When he collapses, the pigs claim they will take him to a hospital to heal—but the writing on the side of the cart that arrives for him instead implies they are sending him to a glue maker to be slaughtered. At the end of Animal Farm, Boxer is dead.
Boxer dies and therefore is unable to achieve freedom. He never reaches retirement, and he dies at the hands of the pigs, who profit from his slaughter. He tries to escape the cart but has lost his strength.
Boxer's death means he did not reach freedom—however, one could argue that death itself is a kind of freedom. In death, Boxer is no longer at the mercy of an oppressive government. He no longer has to work. In death, Boxer is free from a life of hard work and oppression.

Describe three events in A Beautiful Mind that reflect these signs and symptoms of schizophrenia: hallucinations, paranoia, poor hygiene, irrational behavior, break from reality, and/or violent episodes.

I selected the following scenes from the movie A Beautiful Mind in which John Nash exhibits all of the symptoms listed in your question.
In the first scene I've selected, John Nash is inside his room in the psychiatric facility (which he believes to be run by Soviet agents) and is puncturing his wrist with his own hands. John tells Dr. Rosen that his implant is gone and that he can't find it anymore. This scene shows us John's break from reality, practicing self-harm to look for an implant that didn't exist from the start, not caring for his own hygiene and safety, and exhibiting a severe case of paranoia.
The second scene I've chosen is when John's wife finds out that John is once again working on his "assignment" against the Soviet Union. This is the scene in which she realizes the full extent of John's psychological condition and that he is back to his paranoia. As she runs back inside the house, we see John's break from reality lead him to almost get his baby killed in the bathtub that was filling with water; his wife gets to the baby just in time to save him. Then, we see John committing a series of irrational actions while fighting with Parcher, who, in John's hallucination, is carrying a gun. While trying to protect his family from Parcher, John ends up pushing his wife and son to the ground, further scaring her in the process. After frightening his wife, he runs after her and jumps in front of her car in the middle of the rain, trying to stop her from going away.
In the third scene I chose, we see John during a violent episode. When Dr. Rosen tries to take him to a mental hospital (a request from his wife) in a non-violent way, John punches Rosen in the face while trying to escape. This is because John's hallucinations with Parcher have led him to believe that Dr. Rosen is the leader of the Soviet agents.

How does John F. Kennedy use Ethos, Pathos and Logos in his famous Moon Speech?

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas. This speech, focusing on the importance of scientific research and of setting lofty national goals, is marked as a decisive moment in the “space race” as well as in the Cold War overall. Very few U. S. or Soviet manned space flights had yet been made, but President Kennedy proposed to radically accelerate U. S. ambitions. The scientific aspect of the context appealed primarily to logos, while the patriotic side and emphasis on personal commitment used ethos and pathos.
One long passage that became instantly famous in part; it includes logos but primarily combines ethos and pathos.

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

The president mentions the conscious decision to conduct numerous operations: “we choose to go to the moon…; we choose to… do the other things….” He then provides reasons for this logical choice, but the reasons are not in themselves primarily logical. The logos part is that “the goal will serve to organize and measure….” More than logos, he uses ethos to prompt Americans to step up to the plate as he emphasizes the difficulty of the challenge and the responsibility to embrace it: “we choose them… because they are hard…; because that goal will … measure the best…; because… we are willing…; [and] because …we are unwilling….”
Finally, through pathos, he parallels the emphasis on “the best” with the emotional appeal to competition and the desire for victory “we intend to win…”—a type of appeal he had established with an earlier rhetorical question, “why does Rice play Texas?”
https://archive.org/details/John-F-Kennedy_Speech_Rice-Stadium

In his famous speech exhorting Americans to support funding for space research, and specifically the goal of sending astronauts to the moon, President Kennedy made excellent use of all three types of persuasion described by Aristotle.
Ethos is an appeal that is based on the authority and credibility of the speaker. The US president by definition carries authority when he speaks personally, which is why Kennedy delivered this message himself. Kennedy further bolstered his credibility by choosing to deliver the speech at Rice University. Not only did he tacitly borrow the university’s excellent academic reputation by being there, but Rice also named him an honorary visiting professor, something the president mentioned immediately before beginning his remarks.
Pathos is an appeal to the emotions of the listener, which in this case is an appeal to the audience’s patriotism and national pride. Kennedy referenced America’s history as a nation of ambitious strivers who overcame great hardships, presenting the space initiative as a worthy challenge:

We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

Kennedy also emphasized the patriotic importance of beating the Soviet Union in a competition where they had a head start. America would not see the moon “governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace,” Kennedy said. “We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding.”
Not allowing the Russians to beat America in the space race, and potentially gain a military advantage, is simultaneously part of Kennedy’s appeal to logos, or logic.
Kennedy made a detailed case that the US had the technological infrastructure and intellectual expertise to accomplish the mission and that the cost was not an insurmountable one. He broke it down to fifty cents per week for every American, making it understandable to everyone. The president also argued that investing in space research would bring great economic returns in the form of new industries, new technologies, and new jobs:

The growth of our science and education will be enriched by new knowledge of our universe and environment, by new techniques of learning and mapping and observation, by new tools and computers for industry, medicine, the home as well as the school,” Kennedy said. “Space and related industries are generating new demands in investment and skilled personnel, and this city and this State, and this region, will share greatly in this growth.

What does Elizabeth Johson mean by "The symbol of God functions"?

The phrase used by Elizabeth Johnson is both a critique of religion in general and a commentary on the sociological idea of religion and deity. Her quote "The symbol of God functions" is intended to say, first, that God is inherently a symbol and nothing more. This lines up with the ideas of many philosophers from the 1700's and 1800's, that God is simply a human construct, designed to give us something towards which to strive and to keep us in line morally.
The second point is the identify that that symbol serves a purpose, as was similarly stated. The symbol and imagery of God serves a purpose in this world, and the way we use that symbol shapes our worldview, which religion inherently does. A prominent feminist, Johnson criticized the male-centered idea of God, implying that it alienated and demeaned women by putting the most powerful being as a man. If we adjust our speech and treatment of God, we will reshape our world at the same time.

In her classic contribution to feminist theology She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse Elizabeth Johnson famously states that "The symbol of God functions." What she means by this is simply that the symbol of God has a specific role to play in society. As a symbol—perhaps the ultimate symbol—God isn't just an abstraction or something that has a neutral effect; it shapes and defines what kind of society we live in and how we treat each other.
So for instance if we insist on talking of God in exclusively male terms—as God the Father, and so on—then the practical repercussions will be to strengthen the existing patriarchy. In other words, the symbol of God, as it is traditionally construed, serves to reinforce male power in society. As a feminist theologian, Johnson naturally wants to change that symbol. By changing the language we use about God she argues that we will also change the function that the God-symbol exercises in society. No longer will the symbol function to serve patriarchy, but instead validate a more inclusive society in which the voices of women are heard and acknowledged.

Please be specific: how did the rise of newspapers in the 1830s contribute to the North-South crisis?

Newspapers became more important in the 1830s for several reasons. First, they became larger because of improvements in printing technology. Their focus was changed from partisanship to current events. They became cheaper; one printer in New York began to sell a newspaper for one penny. These developments led to large gains in readership. But literacy rates were higher in the North and West than in the South.
Newspapers covered the tumultuous events of Andrew Jackson's presidency in the early 1830s. These issues—which divided North and South—were the tariff and nullification. Articles for or against the tariff were sectional. In 1832, rising tension led to the nullification crisis that pitted Jackson against South Carolina. A Massachusetts newspaper reported: "If Nullification succeeds, the American system will be broken into pieces...and a dissolution of the Union, which has always been the wish of the leading men in opposition to the North, is likely to follow." Northern newspapers also excoriated Vice President John Calhoun, a leading son of South Carolina.
Another event that was covered by the newspapers was Nat Turner's revolt in 1831. He led a bloody and ultimately futile slave revolt. His capture, trial, and execution received a lot of coverage in Southern newspapers. A Virginia newspaper described Turner as "gloomy fanatic" who was guilty of "horrid butchery."
The most famous abolitionist newspaper began in 1831. William Lloyd Garrison's newspaper, The Liberator, was vociferous in its condemnation of slavery. Garrison provided an initial impetus to the anti-slavery movement. However, after 1840, his radical views on a number of issues led to a diminution of his influence, along with that of his newspaper. Another important abolitionist newspaper editor was Elijah Lovejoy. When Lovejoy edited the St. Louis Observer, he was forced to leave St. Louis. He moved across the Mississippi River to Alton in Illinois, a free state. In spite of this, he was murdered by a mob in 1837. The first African-American abolitionist paper—published by Frederick Douglass—did not appear until 1847.
From the 1830s to the start of the Civil War in 1861, newspapers reflected the increasingly sharp sectional divisions.

Which states did not sign the Constitution?

Rhode Island refused to send any delegates to the Convention. It was the only state that did not, therefore, sign the Constitution. Twelve states did sign, despite the refusals of individual delegates. Later, a Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution.
Delegate Luther Martin of Maryland did not sign because he believed the Constitution did not sufficiently protect states's right. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts did not sign because the document lacked a Bill of Rights. Caleb Strong, also of Massachusetts, did not sign because he did not approve of the electoral college as the way to elect the president.
John Lansing and Robert Yates of New York also wanted stronger state's rights. Many Virginia delegates opposed the Constitution. Their reasons included lack of state's rights, lack of a Bill of Rights, and, in the case of delegate Edmund Randolph, believing it had an insufficient number of checks and balances.

Can someone help me with my research outline for "The Yellow Wallpaper"?

In order to create a successful research outline, it’s important to know what area of focus within “The Yellow Wallpaper” would be most interesting for you to research. Start by asking yourself what the most curious, strange, or compelling elements of the text are and how those elements can tie back to the piece’s larger themes. Once you’ve picked up on a thread that particularly interests you, you can create your thesis. For example, “Because [event/interaction/description] occurs in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” readers are led to believe that [your argument/research topic].”
Once you’ve determined what you want your thesis to be, you can arrange your outline in terms of the evidence you’ll find to defend it. Some teachers prefer you to work within the five-paragraph structure, where your introduction is followed by three well-rounded paragraphs which each address an element of your thesis through research and your own thoughts on the critical conversation taking place. You’ll then wrap up your conversation about your thesis in your conclusion, restating your thesis and making its relationship to the research you’ve done clear.
Consider, in moving forward, the environments in which the narrator finds herself throughout “The Yellow Wallpaper.” How is the home she and her husband move into different from the ones she may have lived in before, and how does the room she is eventually confined to differ further? Why do you think she is exposed to this difference by both her husband and several medical professionals?
In terms of evidence, take a look at how the narrator describes the broader house toward the beginning of the story:

It was very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer. A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house, and reach the height of romantic felicity—but that would be asking too much of fate!

Not only is this environment unfamiliar to the narrator, but it seems to be a home that elevates her in terms of her social and economic class. From here, take a look at her descriptions of the room she gets placed into, including this one:

It is a big, airy room, the whole floor nearly, with windows that look all the ways and air and sunshine galore. It was a nursery first and then a playroom and gymnasium, I should judge; for the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls.

This quote continues with its description of the room and offers interesting parallels between the narrator, a grown woman who has just had a child, and the children who seem to have once inhabited her new room. For your thesis and research, consider this connection between women and children and how both groups can be seen by men like the narrator’s husband or her physicians as similar.
Alternatively, how does Perkins Gilman make use of elements of the gothic genre in order to make this story more compelling? Could “The Yellow Wallpaper” even be considered a part of the gothic genre, based on textual evidence? Exploring genre will enable you to do a little more outside research, which may allow you to meet any bibliography requirements that this assignment has in place.
First and foremost, though, before you do any of your preliminary research, you're going to want to choose what topic you want to write on based on how interesting you think the research process will be and how much conversation exists about it already.
http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/tips/thesis/

https://sites.google.com/a/ncsu.edu/may/

https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/themes/the-gothic

What happens when Holling tries to find an ally in his battle with Mrs. Baker?

I believe that this question is asking about a sequence found in the first chapter. Holling makes his way home from school one day, and he is convinced that Mrs. Baker hates him. He attempts to find a family member that will offer him some sympathy or advice. He's likely even looking for an advocate of some kind to perhaps go speak to Mrs. Baker. Holling first tries his mother, but his mother just brushes him off. Mrs. Hoodhood says that Mrs. Baker can't hate him, because she barely knows him. Mr. Hoodhood's response is close to the same thing; however, Mr. Hoodhood demands that Holling do nothing to upset Mrs. Baker. She is related to the family that owns the Baker Sporting Emporium, and he is trying to secure a contract with them. Finally, Holling's sister, Heather, is equally unhelpful. She does express some sympathy toward Holling in regards to how unsympathetic their dad is, but she is essentially just as unsympathetic as well. To be honest, she's mildly hostile and antagonistic toward Holling and his interruption. Holling ends the day having gained no allies in his plight.

What pact did the two men make?

A Margin of Hope was written by Irving Howe, a literary critic and historian. Politically, he would be considered a radical, and he despised the upper class. He was a staunch advocate for socialism, which he viewed as more important than his own ethnic and religious identity.
Howe definitely struggled to agree with his father's Jewish beliefs. Howe felt the need to suppress his own Jewishness and embrace the idea of socialism as the ultimate, overriding moral guide in his life. Although the Holocaust made him identify more with his Jewishness, he remained secular. As an effort to stay true to his secular beliefs and also uphold Jewish traditions, Howe and his father agreed that he would preserve Yiddish culture. He wrote World of Our Fathers, in which Howe painted the people as political radicals like himself who would have embraced socialist policies and ideas.
This pact between the two men was an enduring one, and it served to come to terms with the differing views that the two men had about politics, religion, and culture.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, what are the social and economic differences in Maycomb?

Understanding the social and economic differences in Maycomb becomes much easier when we are able to see the characters in their era and location. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in a fictional town in Alabama named Maycomb. The story starts in the year 1933, less than seventy years after slavery was abolished. The lasting effects of slavery are still very evident in this small town, as evinced by the divide and distrust between the races.
Very little intermingling is done between the races in Maycomb unless it has to do with a working relationship, as in the case of Calpurnia, the Finch's maid. Calpurnia is black, but she is treated as if she is family when she is inside the Finch's home. Sadly, this familial relationship does not go much further than the Finch's front door, as outsiders still toe the line of social separation between the races. People of color live on their side of town, while white people live on the other. Even the churches are divided by race, as Lula makes clear when she says, "You ain't got no business bringin' white chillun here—they got their church, we got our'n. It is our church, ain't it, Miss Cal?" Black people can work for white people, but they cannot socialize outside of these relationships.
Due to this separation between the races, much of the economic divide runs across racial lines as well. There are a few exceptions, such as the Ewells, who are white but who live in poverty and squalor. There are also very hard-working and upstanding people of color, such as Tom Robinson and his wife.
The reader must put themselves in the time and place of To Kill a Mockingbird in order to grasp the social and economic constructs which shape the action of the novel and ultimately lead to Tom Robinson's state-sanctioned murder.

What is Hamlet's mood or attitude in his first appearance in the play? What is bothering him?

Hamlet is deeply unhappy and depressed when we first encounter him act 1, scene 2. Claudius, in fact, asks him why "clouds still hang" on him and why he is still wearing black. Claudius tells him that the death of his father is part of the rhythm of life and says that he should get over it. His mother says the same, asking why he still seems sad and mournful.
Hamlet's attitude is one of frustration as he bursts out that he still "seems" unhappy because he truly is unhappy. Other people may be pretending to be sad and putting on the "suits [outer appearance] of woe," but for him the grief is real. It is more profound than what he lets appear on the outside. Hamlet states,

I have that within which passeth show.

After he is left alone, Hamlet delivers his first soliloquy, in which he states that he wishes he could kill himself. He expresses the deep depression he feels by saying,

How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!

He further explains that he does not respect his uncle or think his uncle is half the man his father was. He is distressed that Claudius is now king of Denmark and very upset that his mother not only married Claudius, but married him so soon after his father's death, stating,

She married. O most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!

Hamlet's soliloquy shows that he was not exaggerating when he told Claudius and his mother that they didn't begin to understand his misery. He is far more upset and depressed than they recognize. The whole world seems "rank," or rotten, to him, and he can't get past his grief at losing his father or his fear that his mother, in remarrying so quickly, might not really have loved his father. His whole world has been turned upside down.

It's important to note that while we as an audience have seen the ghost of his father, Hamlet has no idea of this until later in the scene when Horatio tells him about it. His sadness now is wholly about his father's death and his mother's remarriage.

What is Humbert's major defense?

Humbert Humbert basically claims insanity. He offers several defenses or rationalizations, both for the murder of Clare Quilty and for his behavior toward Lolita. The murder seems almost incidental in his manner of thinking, and it occupies less space in his narrative. Jealousy and frustration because of Quilty’s involvement with Lolita enter into his explanation of the murder. Casting doubt that, in his diminished state, he would have had enough energy to kill, he promotes the idea that he could have done so only in a “spell of insanity.”
Drawn to the girl by her innocence and purity, but also claiming that she exerts some allure, Humbert alternates between admitting to his desire and trying to convince himself and the reader that his interest in Lolita was not sexual. Here, too, he presents himself as if under a spell, hopeless to resist her. In defining the category of “nymphet,” for example, he says these maidens “reveal their true nature” to “certain bewitched travelers,” or men at least twice their age, over whom they have “fantastic power.”
Calling himself “an artist and a madman, a creature of infinite melancholy,” Humbert raises the possibility that insanity makes him irresponsible. In the same vein, he tries to minimize his behavior toward Lolita by comparing it to the greater crime and associating it with his creativity, noting that, as a poet, he is not a killer. Yet he also acknowledges that all his attempts to depict Lolita have failed utterly; however, although his approximation is fanciful, to him it is “perhaps, more real than Lolita.”
Ultimately, of course, he is a killer. He not only pushes off the blame for pedophilia onto the girl he dreamed of violating, he also further rationalizes the murder by blaming it on his unrequited desire for her. “Taboos strangled me,” he says, rather than admitting to physically harming actual persons.

In the Canterbury Tales, compare the Wife of Bath prologue's view with Franklin's on the distribution of power in a marriage.

In The Wife of Bath's Prologue, the eponymous Wife puts forward a number of often contradictory views about marriage.


Thou seist, that oxen, asses, hors, and houndes,
They been assayed at diverse stoundes . . .
But folk of wyves maken noon assay
Til they be wedded (Lines 285-291)



In this quotation the Wife proposes that a man is powerless in marriage to the extent that he can't be sure that the woman he has married will be the right wife for him. The Wife of Bath here says that while men may examine an animal before they take ownership of it, they may not examine a potential wife, who may only show her true colors once she is secure in the marriage. The implication is that women have the power to deceive men before the marriage to secure a prosperous life as a wife after it. On the other hand, by comparing potential wives to "oxen, asses, hors, and houndes," the Wife of Bath acknowledges that husbands own their wives in the same way that a man might own an animal, which seems to give the husband the power in the relationship. This quotation reflects the Wife's rather ambivalent views on marriage. She is aware that the husband holds all of the legal power, but enjoys expounding upon all of the ways in which a wife might undermine that power and exert some of her own.

Meanwhile, in The Franklin's Tale, Chaucer offers a much less cynical, more positive view of marriage, as a union which can be harmonious, equal and mutually respectful.



Love wol nat been constreyned by maistrye.Whan maistrie comth, the God of Love anonBeteth his wynges, and farewel, he is gon!Love is a thyng as any spirit free.Wommen, of kynde, desiren libertee,And nat to been constreyned as a thral (Lines 764–769)

In this quotation the Franklin suggests that when dominance ("maistrie") is introduced into a marriage, love "Beteth his wynges" and flies away. He acknowledges that women, and wives, desire liberty, and do not like to be constrained. In this sentiment, the Franklin and the Wife of Bath seem to be in agreement. What they disagree about, however, is whether both the wife and the husband in a marriage can care first and foremost for the other, rather than themselves. The Wife of Bath's views on marriage always come back to the presumption that each person in the marriage is looking out mostly for his or her own interests, looking to accrue more power at the expense of the other. This of course probably says as much about the Wife as it does about the institution of marriage. In contrast, the Franklin's views on marriage are predicated on the assumption that each person has at least some concern for what the other wants, and some awareness that the happiness of both depends on an equal power dynamic.

“Oh, yes." She looked at me absently. "Listen, Nick; let me tell you what I said when she was born. Would you like to hear?""Very much.""It'll show you how I've gotten to feel about—things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool—that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”What does this quote show how women are viewed in the novel? How does this help us understand the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan? Do you agree or disagree with Daisy’s assessment?

This passage shows, at least in Daisy's opinion, that women in this society are judged and valued according to how beautiful they are, not how intelligent. In fact, Daisy believes intelligence is detrimental to a woman's happiness. It is better, she says, to be a fool.
Daisy tells this story to Nick early in the novel, when he comes to her grand home for dinner. At the dinner, he learns that Tom is having an affair and that this is distressing to Daisy.
Daisy is trying to express her unhappiness with Tom to Nick when she describes the birth of her child. Tom is "God knows where"—he is missing at a very important point in Daisy's life. We get the sense that the "utterly abandoned feeling" Daisy experiences when she wakes up from the ether after the birth is not uncommon to her in relation to Tom. She would like Tom to be there for her at the birth of their child just as she would like him to be eating dinner at that moment with her and the guests, not talking on the phone in the other room to his lover.
This passage also shows that Tom is capable of being selfish and insensitive to Daisy's needs.
I don't agree with Daisy's assessment of a female being best off being beautiful and a fool: Daisy is speaking out of her own disillusionment with her marriage and, as Nick later notes, he has the uncomfortable feeling she is overdramatizing her situation for effect. In other words, Daisy herself may not believe what she is saying about her daughter, but speaking to express her unhappiness over Tom's affair.

What was the pit that Will dug used for?

Will digs a pit to char posts.
Will Page is a young boy who has to go live with his aunt and uncle in Virginia after his family dies. The Civil War is raging, and Will has a lot of resentment toward the Northern army for the death of his family. Even his sister was killed, when she got typhoid. On top of this grief, Will has to learn to adjust to his new environment and find ways to cope with the world in upheaval around him. This is one reason why he's confused when he's asked to dig the pit. It isn't a task he has experience with from his past life.
Uncle Jed tells Will that some of the posts around the pasture are rotting. This means that their animals aren't going to be safe. Uncle Jed tells Will that he's going to help with securing the fence. His first task is to dig a pit. In that pit, they're going to char the bottoms of the posts.
Charring the bottoms of the fence posts will make them last longer because it will extend the amount of time it takes for the fence posts to rot. This means that it will be longer before they have to repair the fence again. Since the repair process is going to take a month—according to Jed—this is beneficial to the family.
Will is confused about where to start the pit. He decides to do it near where they're working but far away from dry grass that might start a fire. Once he starts digging, Jed realizes he's confused. He tells Will that while he (Will) hasn't done much work before, people who live around the region do work hard and take pride in it. By the time supper rolls around, Will feels a lot of pride and satisfaction in his work.