What seems rather strange about the description of the child playing the flute?

The child playing the wooden flute is described as sitting "at the edge of the crowd, alone." His isolation is thus the first part of the description that we might regard as strange.
The people who stop to listen to the child never speak to him because "he never ceases playing and never sees them." This also seems strange. It doesn't seem possible that one could play an instrument without ever stopping, especially a woodwind instrument which requires controlled breathing. It is also strange that the boy never sees them. This detail gives the impression that the boy is, figuratively, in his own world, completely unaware of the people passing by. The boy's eyes are then described as "dark" and "wholly rapt in the sweet, thin magic of the flute."
This final part of the description contributes to the overall impression that this boy is perhaps a mythical, magical creature. Indeed, the music he plays is described as a sort of "magic," and the word "rapt" also suggests that the music is enchanting.

Gandalf says Bilbo is as fierce as a dragon in a pinch. Why does Gandalf say this?

In The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Gandalf the wizard recruits Bilbo Baggins to join the company of Thorin Oakenshield and his band of dwarves in their quest to win back the Lonely Mountain and its hoard of treasure from the fearsome dragon Smaug. When Bilbo has a fit of fear after he hears of the danger involved, Gandalf assures the dwarves that he is "one of the best—as fierce as a dragon in a pinch." Gandalf says this for two reasons, both of which have to do with his responsibilities and abilities as a wizard.
First of all, as is brought out in The Hobbit and also in The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf studies the history of Middle Earth and has a great deal of knowledge about its peoples. He bases his assessment of Bilbo's abilities partly on how hobbits have reacted to danger and enemies in the past. For instance, Tolkien brings up the example of the Old Took's great granduncle Bullroarer, who lopped off the head of a goblin king in the Battle of the Green Fields. This propensity of hobbits to defend themselves well when they are in danger is brought out more clearly in the section called "On Hobbits" at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring:

Nevertheless, ease and peace had left this people still curiously tough.
Though slow to quarrel, and for sport killing nothing that lived, they were doughty at bay, and at need could still handle arms. They shot well with the bow, for they were keen-eyed and sure at the mark.

Besides the knowledge that Gandalf has of hobbits in general, as a wizard, he is also prescient and a keen judge of character. As he tells the dwarves,

If I say he is a burglar, a burglar he is, or will be when the time comes. There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself.

How did Santiago feel when he spent a lot of money in Africa in The Alchemist?

When he's in Africa, Santiago doesn't spend too much money but is somewhat careless with it, and ultimately, it is stolen from him. The man who steals it from him pretends to be his friend who wants only to protect him from thieves. Unfortunately for Santiago, his new friend turns out to be one of those thieves.
First, Santiago's new friend takes money from him to pay for two camel in order to get them both to the pyramids. Then he takes Santiago to the market, all the while holding all of his money for him. Santiago sees a beautiful sword, is distracted, and then realizes that his new friend has disappeared along with all of his money.
Santiago then realizes that he is "a stranger in a strange land" with "nothing, not even the money to return and start everything over." He feels "sorry for himself," and "so ashamed that he wanted to cry." He then does cry, blaming God for being "unfair."

In "To Kill a Mockingbird" people are not always what they appear to be. Explain how this relates to five characters.

The chief character who is not what he appears to be is Boo Radley. Jem, Scout, and Dill are afraid of him through much of the novel because he comes from a reclusive family and is almost never seen. They have also heard a story that he stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors, making Boo seem a dangerous and unpredictable character. His house, near the Finch house, has the quality of a haunted house, and Boo seems to the children to be ghostly and spooky.
However, despite their fear of him, the children find out that Boo is, in fact, looking out for them. He puts a blanket around Scout's shoulder during the fire that burns down Miss Maudie's house. Later, he protects the children from Bob Ewell.
Mrs. Dubose: Jem and Scout hate their neighbor Mrs. Dubose because she is always insulting them in nasty ways. However, when Atticus forces them to read to her, they learn that she is a dying woman determined to shake a morphine addiction. They come to have a new respect for her courage and integrity.
Atticus: Just at a moment when Scout is feeling that Atticus is elderly and boring and has less to offer than the parents of her school peers, she discovers that Atticus is a courageous sharp shooter. She recognizes this when he is called in to shoot a rabid dog. Scout comes to see him in a new light as a person of great skill but modest about his God-given gift.
Walter Cunningham: At first, Mr. Cunningham leads a mob that wants to lynch Tom Robinson. However, after he is a member of the jury for Robinson's trial and hears what really happened, he wants to fully acquit Robinson. The children are surprised at his change of heart and find that he, too, is not what he seemed at first.
Calpurnia: Scout sees a new side of Calpurnia when she takes the children to her church. Scout learns that Calpurnia can speak African American dialect as well as the standard English she uses when working for the Finches. She comes to realize too that Calpurnia is embedded in a community outside of and apart from the Finch household.

What party and person won the election of 1860?

Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate, won the election of 1860. He won a plurality of popular votes as well as a majority of Electoral College votes. The dominant issue of the election was the status of slavery in the nation. The election results led directly to the secession of states in the South and to the Civil War (1861–1865).
It was somewhat surprising that Lincoln was nominated by the Republicans. He had lost the 1858 Senate election to Stephen Douglas in Illinois. Also, most thought William Seward of New York would be chosen as the Republican nominee. But Lincoln won the nomination on the third ballot.
Lincoln won the general election largely because his opposition was divided. The Democrats were split: Stephen Douglas represented the Northern Democrats and John Breckinridge stood for the Southern Democrats. John Bell, who represented the new Constitutional Unionists, was the fourth candidate.
The South refused to accept the election results.

What caused progressivism in the United States?

The causes of progressivism in the United States include urbanization, industrialization, corruption, and immigration. Between 1870 and 1900, the US saw a surge in population as more people flocked to urban centers. Many people sought factory jobs, and with those jobs came exploitation. For instance, employers hired children to work in deplorable conditions until progressive journalists known as muckrakers highlighted the plight of child workers. Child labor sparked an uproar from the public, which inevitably caused the government to ban child labor and establish labor laws. In addition, muckrakers wrote pieces exposing political corruption and other injustices.
The progressive movement was comprised of politicians, journalists, and intellectuals who contributed new ideas and pieces of legislation aimed at protecting workers and securing a more equitable society. Progressives encouraged citizens to participate in government through voting and protesting against corrupt leaders. Moreover, industrialization saw the rise of industry tycoons who held large concentrations of wealth and retained monopolies. In response, President Teddy Rosevelt enforced anti-trust laws to break up monopolies within certain industries.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Sherman-Antitrust-Act

https://www.britannica.com/topic/progressivism

https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/progressive-era.cfm

How should the righteous respond to personal suffering?

The irony of it is that a person’s righteousness is usually determined by how faithful he or she remains to the will of God, even when such entails undergoing human suffering. The Bible is replete with examples of righteous people who have suffered. They can, however, be taken summarily by the implication of the Greek term ‘dikaios’, which means a faithful observant of the commands of God.
Suffering occupies a central part in the Christian tradition, chiefly because Jesus Christ - the supreme exemplification of righteousness - is believed to have, in his lifetime, recognized the redemptive nature of human suffering. The epistle of Paul to the Philippians attests to this: “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Phil 2:8)
As indeed, the righteousness of Jesus in his resolve never to astray from the will of God, notably in the poignant scene of his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, is a good example to consider. Christ’s filial plea to “take this cup away” from him forebodes the imminent suffering ahead. Yet his faith, which allowed him to surrender his life in the hands of God, never wavered. At the end of his prayer, before facing his tormentors, Christ is known to have added: “Let not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Christ would, as we all know, be sentenced to die brutally on the cross.
Thus, under the purview of Christian faith, one responds righteously to suffering by imitating the example of Jesus Christ. Christian faith, after all, takes the teachings and witnessing of Christ as sine-qua-non materials in its doctrinal tenets and moral teachings. The life of Jesus is a whole corpus of powerful teachings on righteousness in the face of suffering. How one, like Jesus, accepts suffering as an irreducible part of life, and how one treats it as the unlikely path towards which the will of God is pursued, could render one righteous in the eyes of both God and men.

The suffering of the righteous is often not viewed as suffering but rather as a temptation that they go through and God will be glorified after it is over. A good example of a righteous suffering in the Bible is the story of Job a servant of God who was diligent in all possible ways and Satan felt that he was being good just because God had blessed him. Then God allowed Satan to bring suffering to Job just to see if Job was honest and Steadfast on his love for God. It is evident that God does not want his righteous people to suffer since he cannot allow any temptation to come to them that they cannot overcome. Christians believe that God will never leave nor forsake them according to the promises that He gives them in the Bible. Generally, suffering for the righteous is more of a temptation that God will eventually help them to overcome and God will be glorified through it all.

It depends a bit upon the type of personal suffering, but generally, in the context of Christianity, the righteous should accept that it is from God, serves His purpose, and is nothing compared to the glory awaiting them. They should endure it, perhaps rejoice in it, and hold fast to their faith.
Psalm 23, one of the most famous verses in the Bible, assures believers that God will be with them and comfort them, even as they "walk through the valley of the shadow of death." Isaiah 43:2 promises metaphoric safety:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

In the new testament, Peter informs disciples that if they are persecuted in the name of Jesus, they should be happy. "But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. 'Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened,'" he writes in 1 Peter 3:14.
In Romans 5:3, the apostle Paul proclaims that the righteous "rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope . . . "
Personal suffering can also be seen as a test from God. Timothy 3:12 states, " . . . everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Christ himself warned his disciples that they will be hated, and will suffer much in His name. This is exemplified in the Bible in the book of Job, but it does not take such extreme suffering to test one's faith.
Within the Christian understanding of righteousness, righteous people accept that personal suffering is a part of life, retain their trust in God, and believe His promise that He will never give them more burden than they can handle.