What is the initial conflict between Roy and Beatrice Leep? Explain how their interactions move the plot along.

In Carl Hiaasen's novel Hoot, the initial conflict between Beatrice "The Bear" Leep and Roy Eberhardt is about Roy's interest in the running boy. Roy notices the barefoot boy in chapter one as Dana Matherson is smashing his face against the bus window. In chapter two, Roy pushes past Beatrice in order to chase the running boy. Beatrice confronts him later in chapter two in this exchange:

"Standing there, arms folded, was the tall blond girl with red-framed eyeglasses—the one he'd encountered on the bus. The girl looked extremely unhappy.
'You nearly knocked me down this morning,' she said.
'Sorry.'
'Why were you running?'
'No reason.' Roy tried to get past her, but this time she sidestepped in front of him."

She continues to press Roy for information, and he tries to explain that he had just hit Dana Matherson, and that was the reason he ran. She accuses him of chasing someone, and Roy is encouraged that someone else had seen what he had seen. He didn't know yet that Beatrice was the running boy's step-sister or that she was trying to protect him. Their interactions help move the plot forward, because as Roy continues to try to pursue and help the running boy, Beatrice decides to trust him with the secret that her brother, "Mullet Fingers," is supposed to be away at private school but has run away. Mullet Fingers is responsible for the vandalism on the construction site, as he is trying to save the burrowing owls. Roy gets involved in Mullet Fingers's quest but wants to do things lawfully rather than Mullet Fingers's way.
Throughout the story, Beatrice and Roy join forces to help Napoleon Leep, who is better known as Mullet Fingers, not only in his quest to save the owls but also in helping him when he is attacked by dogs. Beatrice and Roy move from initial enemies to allies as they team up to help Mullet Fingers in his mission to save the burrowing owls who will be destroyed by the construction of the Mother Paula's Pancake House. Their alliance carries the plot through to the climax of the novel, which is the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new restaurant. This is when Roy reveals that there are owls on the property. With his father's and Beatrice's help, Roy uncovers a plot to cover up the environmental report that stated the owls were on the property and protected by law.

What does Widge look like in The Shakespeare Stealer?

Widge is a slight boy, which might be explained by a lack of nutrition in his childhood. The orphanage, according to Widge, never had enough food to go around.
According to the head of the orphanage, he looks like a pigwidgeon. This means that he's small or slight. There's not much to him. This name stuck with him throughout his life and is why he's referred to as Widge. This seems to indicate that he hasn't gotten much larger even with better opportunities and more food.
It seems like he has no major noticeable features. It's easy for him to fly below people's notice. In the first chapter, he thinks to himself that he's content to be a lowly prentice because the man doesn't appear to notice him at first. Nothing about him is remarked on as standing out.
On the cover of the book, Widge has dark short hair with messy bangs, wide-set eyes, and pale skin. However, it's possible that the cover art doesn't picture Widge the way the author intended.
https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/pigwidgeon

Widge, the protagonist of Gary Blackwood's The Shakespeare Stealer, is a fourteen-year-old orphan boy living in Elizabethan England who was born in 1757. Physically, he is described as having been a "small and frail" child, which is how he got the name Widge, which is short for "Pigwidgeon." His small size is implied to have been caused, at least in part, by a lack of nourishment, as the orphanage in which he grew up rarely had enough food to go around. While not much else is stated about Widge's physical appearance, the reader is given some information about his typical manner of dress. Widge's very few possessions in the world include a linen tunic, woolen stockings that are solely worn for church, and "an ill-fitting sheep skin doublet handed down from Dr. Bright's son."

Who sends a telegram to the Arkansas governor and expects full cooperation in Warriors Don't Cry?

In the landmark case of Brown v Board of Education (1954) the Supreme Court ruled that racially segregated education was unconstitutional. The Court's decision was met with widespread anger across the South, with many people believing that it was an attack on their whole way of life. White supremacism was rife in the South at that time, and segregation was the most important means of maintaining it. Elected officials in the Southern states openly proclaimed that they would defy any moves towards desegregation. One such official was Orval Faubus, governor of Arkansas. He called out the State Guard, ostensibly to uphold law and order, but in actual fact to prevent Melba and the other African American students from attending Central High.
In response, President Eisenhower sent Governor Faubus a telegram on 5th September, 1957, in which he made it clear that he expected the Arkansas state authorities to comply with the district court's order to start desegregation immediately. He did not, however, and so Eisenhower subsequently sent 1,000 members of the 101st Airborne into Arkansas to ensure that Melba and the eight other African American students were able to attend school.

Why did Aksionov think of killing himself in “God Sees the Truth, But Waits”?

“God Sees the Truth, But Waits” is the story of a man unjustly accused of murder, who is then tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison in the harsh climate of Sibera. Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov copes as best he can, but the years take their toll.
After 26 years, a new group of prisoners are transferred there. Among them is Makar Semyonich, who is from the same part of Russia and is familiar with Aksionov’s story. As they discuss it and Aksionov tells that the murder weapon was planted in his room, Makar makes a statement that convinces Aksionov that he was the person who actually committed the murder—he knows that Aksionov’s bag, where the knife was found, was under his head while he slept.
The realization that he has met the true murderer nearly destroys Aksionov. All that he has missed out on flashes before him, such as not seeing his children grow up. He has grown old before his time during these decades of imprisonment. When he thought of it all, he was so wretched that he considered killing himself.

What is the plot of The Skriker by Caryl Churchill?

The Skriker is a 1994 horror drama written by British playwright Caryl Churchill. It is, essentially, a combination of surrealism, folklore, mythology, magical realism, and modern prose.
The play tells the story of an ancient shape-shifting fairy that comes from the Underworld to stalk two teenage sisters named Josie and Lily. Josie is put in a mental hospital after she tried to kill her baby by putting it in the oven, and her sister Lily is pregnant. Lily asks the fairy to retrieve Josie's sanity, while the fairy's main goal is to get to Lily's unborn child.
In the story, the Skriker is inspired by the ancient mythological creatures from old British folk tales, and, aside from being able to transform into anyone or anything, it can also grant wishes.
The Skriker is a dark and—at times—absurd drama that covers several socially and psychologically relevant themes such as love, manipulation, possessiveness, sisterhood, mental illness, sin, human nature, and cruelty.

How does religion play a role in Douglass’s life and abolition?

Douglass reserves some his most vehement words and anger for the way the Christian religion is abused at the hands of the slaveowners. In his appendix, he clarifies that when he condemns religion, he is not condemning the real Christianity of love, mercy, and compassion, which he embraces. Instead, he makes a distinction between such real Christians, including abolitionists such as Mr. George Cookman, and the false Christianity of the slaveholder. He writes of that false faith,

I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels.

Earlier in his narrative, when his cruel master experiences a religious conversion at a Methodist camp revival in Talbot County, Douglass has a "faint" hope that he might be freed, and he thinks that he and the other slaves might be treated with greater kindness and compassion. His hopes, however, are dashed. He finds his master even more depraved and savage after his conversion, because he now has religious approval for his deeds. Douglass says that, in general, becoming religious made slaveowners crueler, because they felt they had a divinely ordained right to beat their slaves to ensure they were obedient. He says that were he ever to be enslaved again, he would very much wish to owned by a non-religious person. He writes,

I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes,—a justifier of the most appalling barbarity,—a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds,—and a dark shelter under which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection.

Douglass concludes that the religion of the South is hypocritical, stating,

The man who wields the blood-clotted cowskin during the week fills the pulpit on Sunday, and claims to be a minister of the meek and lowly Jesus.

In Douglass's opinion, a true Christian would emancipate his slaves or at least treat them with compassion. However, his experience of religion as a slave was overwhelmingly negative, as it was a tool used against him and his fellows without remorse.

What are the themes and techniques used in the poem "The Soldier's Dream"?

"The Soldier's Dream" is narrated by the eponymous soldier and is set during a war, on a battlefield. As night falls, the soldier dreams of his youth and of his loved ones only to awake once more to the sorrow of the battlefield.
One key theme in the poem is the impact of war. In the first stanza, the soldier describes the "Thousands" of soldiers who lie "sunk on the ground overpower'd." Some of those "thousands" lie down, wounded: waiting to die. One technique that the poet uses to emphasize the sadness of war is the flashback.
The soldier's dream serves as a series of flashbacks, first to his youth (which he describes metaphorically as "Life's morning march") and then to the moment he said goodbye to his loved ones. The moment when he said goodbye is described very emotionally. His children "kiss'd [him] a thousand times," and his wife "sobb'd aloud." This description of the moment he said goodbye emphasizes the speaker's loneliness on the battlefield.
Another technique used in the poem is the semantic field of language connoting death, desolation, and despair. Words like "sunk," "weary," "wounded," "dreadful," "desolate," and "worn" are used throughout the poem. These words create a backdrop of death, desolation, and despair which echoes the battleground backdrop of the soldier's circumstances.