What does Mrs. Cratchit say when her husband asks her to drink to the health of Scrooge?

To answer this question, take a look at Stave Three of A Christmas Carol. After eating their Christmas meal, Bob Cratchit proposes a toast to Scrooge, whom he calls the "Founder of the Feast." (Bob gives Scrooge this name because Scrooge is his employer and it is his wages that have paid for the food on the table.)

In response, Mrs. Cratchit becomes angry. She reddens, for example, and says that she wishes Scrooge...

To answer this question, take a look at Stave Three of A Christmas Carol. After eating their Christmas meal, Bob Cratchit proposes a toast to Scrooge, whom he calls the "Founder of the Feast." (Bob gives Scrooge this name because Scrooge is his employer and it is his wages that have paid for the food on the table.)

In response, Mrs. Cratchit becomes angry. She reddens, for example, and says that she wishes Scrooge were here:

"I wish I had him here. I'd give him a piece of my mind to feast upon, and I hope he'd have a good appetite for it."

You'll notice that Mrs. Cratchit uses a metaphor here to reinforce her sense of anger towards Scrooge in which she compares her anger to Christmas food. She clearly harbors a lot of resentment towards Scrooge, feeling that he does not adequately support her husband.

Mrs. Cratchit, however, soon backs down. She decides to toast Scrooge for her husband's sake:

I'll drink his health for your sake and the Day's,''said Mr. Cratchit, 'not for his. Long life to him. A merry Christmas and a happy new year! He'll be very merry and very happy, I have no doubt.

Despite her anger towards Scrooge, Mrs. Cratchit has no desire to spoil the day by creating conflict with her husband.

Compare To Kill a Mockingbird and The Scarlet Ibis. How do they explore the ways in which individuals can be limited by society?

If someone in a community does not measure up to everyone else's standards of how to look and behave in "normal" ways, then people's prejudices seem to surface. As a result, the ones who are deemed unusual or different suffer the effects of discrimination and isolation. In both Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and Hurst's "The Scarlet Ibis," characters who have different challenges or disabilities in life face injustice and harsh treatment at the hands of family and friends who should support them. The "different" characters that come to mind in these stories are Doodle, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson.  

First, Doodle suffers the effects of discrimination and isolation within his own family because he is born with physical disabilities that not only embarrass his older brother but also discourage his parents. The parents love Doodle and do not mistreat him, but Brother does. Brother's pride leads him to taunt and push Doodle beyond his limitations only so Brother can have the type of sibling he wants and whom society will accept. Brother explains as follows:

The knowledge that Doodle's and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us . . . Soon I could hear his voice no more.

Brother, like society, sometimes does not know how to deal with people's disabilities. Brother does not understand Doodle's limitations; consequently, Brother only knows that he does not want kids at school knowing he has a disabled little brother. The above passage shows Brother leaving Doodle isolated and suffering alone when he needs help. Brother can be compared to society when it turns its back on those who have special needs. 

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are treated similarly to Doodle. Boo Radley possibly suffers from social anxiety, and Tom Robinson is black and has a crippled left arm. The community treats Boo Radley as though he is a monster or boogie man, while people treat Tom Robinson with prejudice more for the fact that he is black than for his deformed arm. As a result, Boo hides in his house every day, and Tom is falsely charged with raping a white girl. Because these characters are treated disrespectfully in society, they tend to withdraw or make decisions they otherwise wouldn't in order to please others or to escape society. It is through the characterization and exploration of these characters' lives that profound lessons are learned. For example, Scout paraphrases Mr. Underwood's comments from Maycomb's newspaper after Tom Robinson is killed while trying to escape wrongful imprisonment:

Mr. Underwood didn't talk about miscarriages of justice, he was writing so children could understand. Mr. Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill cripples, be they standing, sitting, or escaping. He likened Tom's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children (241).

Mr. Underwood does his best to inform society of its wrongs, but it takes generations' worth of time to change people's minds from such prejudices. Underwood's remarks also point out a common theme between the two stories, which is that it is wrong to hurt someone in any way simply because he or she is different. Not only that, it is wrong to hurt someone who cannot defend himself for herself because of unequal opportunities in life. 

It is interesting to note that Doodle dies running like Tom does, although, it should be noted, Doodle runs to make his brother happy with him and to accept him, and Tom runs to escape injustice. Boo Radley, on the other hand, runs from society by hiding inside of his house and never interacting with anyone in the community. All three characters never seem to find the justice or kindness they deserve. Because Doodle, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson are never fully accepted within their families or communities, they are limited to living isolated lives both physically and psychologically. Society never accepts them for who they are. As a result, these three characters are not allowed to do anything more than keep running or keep hiding.

What did Christopher Columbus find in the New World?

After the first voyage of "discovery", Christopher Columbus finds a previously unknown group of people known as the Arawak or Taino people.  Columbus describes the group of native people in the Caribbean as docile, friendly, and generous.  This is described in Columbus' log as follows:

They ... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they...

After the first voyage of "discovery", Christopher Columbus finds a previously unknown group of people known as the Arawak or Taino people.  Columbus describes the group of native people in the Caribbean as docile, friendly, and generous.  This is described in Columbus' log as follows:

They ... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned... . They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.... 

Columbus and the Spanish would have really liked to find gold in the New World.  That was their great hope.  They did not find the amounts of gold and silver that they hoped for, but they would use the native people that they found as slaves in a desire to make the voyages and colonies profitable. Columbus was excited about using the native populations as slaves to enrich Spain and himself.  Columbus would exaggerate the riches of the new land to secure funds for future voyages.  These voyages and the colonization of the new lands thrust Spain as a world imperial power in the 16th Century.  

What is one of the themes of The Orchid Thief?

Money is a major theme in by Susan Orlean. When she goes to investigate an unusual arrest involving a plant dealer and three Seminole tribe members, Orlean inadvertently stumbles into the high-stakes world of plant breeding. Though most of the dealers and breeders Orlean speaks to are driven by their obsession and love for rare plants, money is also an undeniable part of the equation. The best example of this is John...

Money is a major theme in by Susan Orlean. When she goes to investigate an unusual arrest involving a plant dealer and three Seminole tribe members, Orlean inadvertently stumbles into the high-stakes world of plant breeding. Though most of the dealers and breeders Orlean speaks to are driven by their obsession and love for rare plants, money is also an undeniable part of the equation. The best example of this is John Laroche, the white man who was arrested for stealing rare orchids from a preserve in Florida. Though Laroche thought he was not technically breaking the law (he believed that he was exploiting a legal loophole by having Seminole tribesmen actually remove the flowers), his quest for the rare ghost orchid was primarily driven by his desire to turn a profit. If he could successfully clone and breed the ghost orchid to make it a suitable houseplant, Laroche believed that he and the Seminoles would be able to make millions. Laroche is not alone in his desire for fame and money; many of the other plant breeders Orlean meets hope to create a new breed of orchid that will make them rich. Some of the breeders have even transferred their horticultural knowledge into other business ventures such as Orchid Jungle, a popular tourist attraction run by a famous orchid grower named Tom Fennell.

`int_0^1 xe^(x^2) dx` Use integration tables to evaluate the definite integral.

For the given problem: `int_0^1 xe^(x^2)` , we may first  solve for its indefinite integral. Indefinite integral are written in the form of `int f(x) dx = F(x) +C`

 where:` f(x)` as the integrand

           `F(x)` as the anti-derivative function 

           `C`  as the arbitrary constant known as constant of integration

We omit the arbitrary constant C when we have a boundary values: a to b. We...

For the given problem: `int_0^1 xe^(x^2)` , we may first  solve for its indefinite integral. Indefinite integral are written in the form of `int f(x) dx = F(x) +C`

 where:` f(x)` as the integrand

           `F(x)` as the anti-derivative function 

           `C`  as the arbitrary constant known as constant of integration

We omit the arbitrary constant C when we have a boundary values: a to b. We follow formula: `int_a^b f(x) dx = F(x)|_a^b` .

 Form the table of integrals, we follow the indefinite integral formula for exponential function as:

`int xe^(-ax^2) dx = - 1/(2a)e^(-ax^2) +C`

By comparison of` -ax^2`  with` x^2 ` shows that we let `a= -1` .

Plug-in `a=-1` on `-ax^2` for checking, we get: `- (-1) x^2= +x^2` or `x^2` .

Plug-in `a=-1` on  integral formula, we get:

`int_0^1 xe^(x^2) =- 1/(2(-1))e^((-(-1)x^2))| _0^1`

              `=- 1/(-2)e^((1*x^2))| _0^1`

              ` = 1/2e^(x^2)| _0^1`

Applying definite integral formula: `F(x)|_a^b = F(b)-= F(a)` .

`1/2e^(x^2)| _0^1 =1/2e^(1^2) -1/2e^(0^2)`

             `=1/2e^(1) -1/2e^(0)`

             `=1/2e -1/2 *1`

             `= 1/2e -1/2 or 1/2(e-1)`

Was conscription morally justified during World War I?

The answer to your very interesting question will depend upon your perspective regarding war. First, you will have to decide whether the war was justified.

Was World War I fought to defend the innocent, assist invaded allied nations, or stop human rights violations? This would be consistent with what we call the just war theory. The Allied Powers of World War I (mainly consisting of Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the United States) would...

The answer to your very interesting question will depend upon your perspective regarding war. First, you will have to decide whether the war was justified.

Was World War I fought to defend the innocent, assist invaded allied nations, or stop human rights violations? This would be consistent with what we call the just war theory. The Allied Powers of World War I (mainly consisting of Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the United States) would have argued that the war was a just war. Meanwhile, the Central Powers (consisting of Germany, Bulgaria, the Ottoman empire, and the Austrian-Hungarian empire) would have made a similar argument.

Ostensibly, the immediate cause for World War I was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire. However, the real reason for the war was that certain major powers of Europe were angling for dominance of the continent. In the end, alliances solidified, leading the British, French, and Russians to form the Triple Entente, while Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary formed the Triple Alliance. 

Germany nursed hegemonic ambitions, and many historians believe that the country was the main aggressor during World War I.

To get back to your question, we must decide whether Germany's ambitions were valid and whether the Allied powers were right to defend their countries from attack. We must remember that both the Triple Entente and Triple Alliance members conscripted soldiers to fight during the war. The Bulgarians and Italians conscripted 55% of males from 18-50 to fight, Austria-Hungary conscripted 78%, and France and Germany conscripted 81%.

At the same time, Britain and the United States also instituted a draft during the war. In addition to those drafted, there were a few million men who volunteered to fight for both armies. If the just war theory holds, then war was justified on the side of the Allied powers. 

As for conscription, we must decide whether individual rights supersede the responsibility to defend one's country in the event of an attack. This is the crux of the issue.

What was Kate Chopin's attitude toward Mrs. Mallard? Did she admire or disdain the way she behaves?

Kate Chopin was a feminist, and she created a sympathetic character in Louise Mallard. Because she is caring wife who feels sorrow for the untimely death of her husband, she cries when she hears the news. She mentally acknowledges that he was only kind to her, though the reader comes to understand she felt oppressed by their marriage. As it begins to dawn on Louise that Brently's death represents freedom for her and offers a...

Kate Chopin was a feminist, and she created a sympathetic character in Louise Mallard. Because she is caring wife who feels sorrow for the untimely death of her husband, she cries when she hears the news. She mentally acknowledges that he was only kind to her, though the reader comes to understand she felt oppressed by their marriage. As it begins to dawn on Louise that Brently's death represents freedom for her and offers a life she can live independently, she rises to her feet with "a feverish triumph in her eyes, and [she] carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory." Chopin lost her husband to malaria when she was thirty-two, and though she had six children to raise on her own, she pursued her writing career. It is conceivable that she might not have done so under different circumstances, and it is arguable that, in creating Louise Mallard, she was in some way speaking to her own experience. It seems unlikely, then, that she would feel disdain for Louise's behavior.

What is an analysis of dorine's character in the play Tartuffe?

Dorine in “Tartuffe” is a very independent minded character.  As a servant, she should fade into the background and speak only when addressed.  However, Dorine is far different from the typical servant (or woman) of her day.  Mme. Pernell is the first one to point this out when she says, “Girl you talk too much and I’m afraid/You’re far too saucy for a lady’s maid” (1.1). Dorine is not afraid to express herself to any...

Dorine in “Tartuffe” is a very independent minded character.  As a servant, she should fade into the background and speak only when addressed.  However, Dorine is far different from the typical servant (or woman) of her day.  Mme. Pernell is the first one to point this out when she says, “Girl you talk too much and I’m afraid/You’re far too saucy for a lady’s maid” (1.1). Dorine is not afraid to express herself to any member of the family, and when she speaks, she sees through the heart of the matter to the truth.  For example, when Dorine hears Orgon telling Mariane she should marry Tartuffe, she is not afraid to step in and have her say: “There’s lately been a rumor going about--/Based on some hunch or chance remark, no doubt/That you mean Mariane to wed Tartuffe/I’ve laughed it off, of course, as just a spoof.” (2.2).  Unlike most of the women of her time, Dorine is not afraid to speak up against her employer.  Dorine is not afraid to speak out against the tradition of arranged marriages.  She is an independent, strong woman in a time when such a woman was an anomaly.

What role does Ben Du Toit, in A Dry White Season, represent in the South African society under apartheid?

Ben Du Toit is one of a relatively small number of South African whites during the apartheid era to stand up and publicly oppose the regime. He seethes at the racial injustice around him, which is brought home to him by the suspicious disappearance of his black gardener, Gordon. Ben sets out to uncover the truth of what happened to Gordon, but this is a dangerous undertaking. South Africa at that time was a virtual...

Ben Du Toit is one of a relatively small number of South African whites during the apartheid era to stand up and publicly oppose the regime. He seethes at the racial injustice around him, which is brought home to him by the suspicious disappearance of his black gardener, Gordon. Ben sets out to uncover the truth of what happened to Gordon, but this is a dangerous undertaking. South Africa at that time was a virtual police state, with sudden disappearances and extra-judicial killings of the regime's opponents frighteningly common. Ultimately, and perhaps inevitably, Ben's incredible bravery costs him his life.

Ben's courage stands as a stark contrast to the general apathy of many white South Africans in the 1970s, the time in which the story is set. The title of the book itself is an allusion to this general malaise as it manifests itself in the life of the unnamed narrator. But Ben's selfless sacrifice acts as an inspiration to the narrator, holding out the possibility that other white South Africans may follow his shining example and stand up to challenge a system based on racism, injustice and brutal repression.

Explain quote: "To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which overlaps itself and fall on the other"

At the beginning of act 1, scene 7, Macbeth considers the myriad compelling reasons he has notto kill the king—Duncan is his friend, his king, his relative, his guest.  Further, it is not as though Macbeth will simply commit the murder and then become king; there are more steps that will have to be taken. Not to mention the facts that committing this act would corrupt Macbeth's immortal soul and that Duncan has been...

At the beginning of act 1, scene 7, Macbeth considers the myriad compelling reasons he has not to kill the king—Duncan is his friend, his king, his relative, his guest.  Further, it is not as though Macbeth will simply commit the murder and then become king; there are more steps that will have to be taken. Not to mention the facts that committing this act would corrupt Macbeth's immortal soul and that Duncan has been a good, virtuous leader.  Moreover, if he murders the king, then Macbeth shows other people that one can, in fact, murder a king. Because "Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return / To plague th' inventor," someone may use that knowledge to murder Macbeth in the end (1.7.9-1). After Macbeth lists all his reasons not to kill Duncan, he says,

I have no spur 
To prick the side of my intent, but only 
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on th' other  (1.7.25-28).

In other words, Macbeth has no impetus, no reason to move forward with the murder except for his great ambition, a quality which has a tendency to make people commit rash actions that lead to their downfall. He has many reasons not to kill Duncan and only one reason to do it: ambition.

What is a detailed analysis of the poem entitled "The Migrant" by A.L. Hendriks in terms of language, tone, structure, themes, imagery, and symbols?

The poem "The Migrant" by A. L. Hendriks is a poignant reflection on the migration of Jamaicans after WWII. 

Language: The language is formal, businesslike, and intellectual--a style that is unusual for poetry yet consistent with the bureaucratic feel of having to move to another country. Words like transit, realization, departure, appreciably, eventually, and considering are intellectual rather than emotional words.

Tone:This formal language produces a somewhat detached although sympathetic tone. The woman...

The poem "The Migrant" by A. L. Hendriks is a poignant reflection on the migration of Jamaicans after WWII. 

Language: The language is formal, businesslike, and intellectual--a style that is unusual for poetry yet consistent with the bureaucratic feel of having to move to another country. Words like transit, realization, departure, appreciably, eventually, and considering are intellectual rather than emotional words.

Tone: This formal language produces a somewhat detached although sympathetic tone. The woman described is being observed from a distance by someone else who cannot fully read her emotions but knows her situation in a general sense. 

Structure: The poem is written in free verse without traditional rhyme, meter, or rhythm. It contains six stanzas, each of which could be considered simply a paragraph if this were written in prose. Lines usually begin with a new sentence or clause. The first five stanzas focus solely on the woman, the migrant; the final stanza reveals the narrator and that he or she is a fellow migrant.

Themes: Themes that the poem brings to mind are: 

• Leaving a place you've lived all your life is incredibly hard.


• For a Jamaican, this relocation experience brings up the generational wounds of slavery.


• People-watching helps us process our own emotions as we project onto others what we ourselves are going through. 


• Experiencing major life changes as a single person adds another layer of difficulty to a hard situation.

Imagery: The strongest imagery in the poem is of the travel brochures--we can picture them laid out in their glossy promise. The poem also creates imagery of slow forward movement--shuffling--throughout the whole poem as the woman reluctantly makes plans to move. This is fulfilled in the final stanza as the narrator shuffles forward in line. When the narrator and his family "finger our own documents," readers can imagine that sensation.

Symbols: The travel brochures are a symbol that the life the migrant faces will be disappointing. The fact that they are described as "gaudy, competitive, plentiful" makes us distrust them. The queue the migrant and the narrator are in represents the slow, unpleasant, and reluctant process of leaving one's home unwillingly. The gate marked "For Embarking Passengers Only" is a symbol of finality; the woman will not be returning to the place that all her life she has considered her home. 

In this poem A. L. Hendriks uses formal language, a detached but sympathetic tone, free verse structure, symbols, and imagery to reinforce the strong themes of loneliness and leaving home.

What does being Indian mean to Victor?

In the short story "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven," the unnamed Native American narrator travels through late-night Seattle while dealing with a recently ended relationship with his white girlfriend. Throughout his journeys, it is clear the narrator is dealing with a kind of guilt based on this relationship and the separation from his roots on the reservation. He journeys throughout the city, sometimes getting lost, saying, "Seems like I'd spent my whole...

In the short story "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven," the unnamed Native American narrator travels through late-night Seattle while dealing with a recently ended relationship with his white girlfriend. Throughout his journeys, it is clear the narrator is dealing with a kind of guilt based on this relationship and the separation from his roots on the reservation. He journeys throughout the city, sometimes getting lost, saying, "Seems like I'd spent my whole life" looking for something familiar.

The narrator eventually reveals the fact that since he is Indian, he doesn't belong in Seattle with his white girlfriend:

There's an old Indian poet who said that Indians can reside in the city, but they can never live there. That's as close to truth as any of us can get.

This guilt and lack of belonging leads the narrator back home to his Spokane reservation. The narrator returns to his roots—including basketball—and finds a sense of himself, eventually accepting his limitations and then journeying back out to the white world.

Sherman Alexie often uses salmon, which served as a source of life for his tribe, as a talisman for his characters' lost roots, and this is no different here. At the end of the story, the narrator says he is back in Spokane but wishes he "lived closer to the river, to the falls where ghosts of salmon jump."

Describe the role of women in the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale.

The Wife of Bath is an interesting character precisely because she challenges every preconception the medieval audience might have about the role of women. In her prologue, she begins by illustrating the double standard that exists between men and women in terms of the number of sexual partners they might be expected to have. She points out that "heere the wise kyng, daun Salomon/I trowe he hadde wyves mo than oon" (Solomon had more than one wife), while she has been criticized for having been married five times. Women in this era were expected to be chaste, but the Wife declares, "I will not keep myself chaste in everything" and suggests that this will make her a better wife to her sixth husband. God, she says, advised us to grow fruitful and multiply; the "advice" of men is not to be construed as binding. Virginity "is great perfection," she says, but it is also not for everyone. The wife is evidently older—"the flour of al myn age," she says, is to the benefit of the men she marries. She is also, we know from the text, not particularly beautiful, but rather red and rotund. But she refuses to feel shame about her sexuality and asserts her own right over her own body, declaring, "My husband shall have it both evenings and morning."

This proto-feminist attitude that a woman should control her own affairs and be allowed to have a choice continues into the tale the Wife tells. The tale is a variant on the "loathly lady" story that recurs throughout medieval English literature and is fairly closely related to, for example, "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle." The opening of the story is fairly shocking: a knight rapes a woman in King Arthur's Court, and Arthur and his knights must decide how he should be punished. Interestingly, while the men feel he should be put to death, the women of the court have another proposition: if, over the course of the next year, the man can find the answer to the question of what women really want, he will be allowed to live.

Many scholars have contended that the "loathly lady" in the tale, the old woman whom the knight meets after some time roaming, is an avatar for the wife herself. Certainly, there are similarities—the old lady is forthright and determined and insists that the knight should marry her despite his reservations. He, however, is depressed because the old woman is so ugly, and he will not be comforted by her contention that "gentle deeds" should be more important. The woman, then, offers the knight a choice: does he want her to be beautiful and unfaithful, or chaste and ugly? It is at this point that the knight redeems himself, finally, by declaring, "I put me in youre wise governance/Cheseth yourself which may be moost plesant."

This was the correct answer. The old lady says, "Thanne have I gete of yow maistrie" (Then I have gotten mastery of you). The knight has correctly understood that what women want most of all is to be able to choose their own way. He is rewarded when the old lady turns into a beautiful young woman who is also faithful to him, the perfect bride. While, in some ways, this seems a slightly unfitting end for a knight who has committed rape, the implication is that he has learned his lesson and that all men should treat women in this way, according to the Wife of Bath, from the beginning—that is the way to lead long and happy lives together. The role of women in this tale and prologue is more autonomous than we might expect, and although it is clear that the Wife is not "the ideal woman," she argues her point of view convincingly.

One of the key advantages to forming a corporation is that its owners are immune from personal liability for business debts and other obligations...

One can argue both for and against the protections offered by the various categories of corporation for which one can register. All three--Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs), C-Corporations, and S Corporations (we'll omit "General Partnerships" from discussion as they do not provide protections)--provide protections of personal assets from liability for corporate losses sustained by the business. The owner of an LLC and stockholders in C- and S-Corporations are all largely indemnified against the efforts of others...

One can argue both for and against the protections offered by the various categories of corporation for which one can register. All three--Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs), C-Corporations, and S Corporations (we'll omit "General Partnerships" from discussion as they do not provide protections)--provide protections of personal assets from liability for corporate losses sustained by the business. The owner of an LLC and stockholders in C- and S-Corporations are all largely indemnified against the efforts of others to attach their personal assets as a means of being compensated for business losses. That is the common attribute of these types of business filings, and from the business ownership perspective, they are wonderful advantages to have. If one is going to draft an essay discussing the pros or cons of such legal protections, then one needs to decide whether the essay will provide the perspective of the business seeking such protections or that of the aggrieved party lacking recourse when a business arrangement goes awry.

Investing in a business that subsequently goes bankrupt is no fun unless the individual or individuals in question share ownership. Investors who are not owners or stockholders and who suffer losses, usually due to no fault of their own, are left with no recourse other than to file to seize physical property of the now-shuttered business. Depending upon the type of business, that may prove somewhat beneficial; usually, it does not. An essay arguing against this particular advantage of corporations, therefore, should emphasize the sense of victimization when investors lose their investments due to the ineptitude and/or malfeasance of others.

What happened in Belgium in 1831?

The year 1831 was an important year in the history of Belgium. Belgium used to belong to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. This action occurred at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. However, the people in the southern regions of the Netherlands weren’t pleased with King William I. The Catholics who lived in the South didn’t like the involvement of William I in their religious matters.

The revolution in Belgium began in 1830. William...

The year 1831 was an important year in the history of Belgium. Belgium used to belong to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. This action occurred at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. However, the people in the southern regions of the Netherlands weren’t pleased with King William I. The Catholics who lived in the South didn’t like the involvement of William I in their religious matters.

The revolution in Belgium began in 1830. William I sent troops to quell the uprising, but they weren’t successful in doing so. Belgium broke free from the Netherlands in 1830. A constitution was adopted in 1831. The first king of Belgium was Leopold I who ruled from 1831-1865. His son, Leopold II, took over in 1865 and ruled until 1909. Belgium grew economically during this time.

Why won't Walter Cunningham take the money from Miss Caroline?

Everyone in Maycomb knows the Cunninghams are a very proud family. They may be dirt poor, but they are disinclined to accept any free handouts. They will never accept any favors from anybody unless they can repay it. Since they can rarely afford to pay money, the family repays people in the products of their labor.

Since Walter knows that this philosophy is part of being a Cunningham and realizes that he will not be...

Everyone in Maycomb knows the Cunninghams are a very proud family. They may be dirt poor, but they are disinclined to accept any free handouts. They will never accept any favors from anybody unless they can repay it. Since they can rarely afford to pay money, the family repays people in the products of their labor.

Since Walter knows that this philosophy is part of being a Cunningham and realizes that he will not be able to repay the quarter on offer, he refuses to take it. Miss Caroline is new to the town and does not know of their tradition. She sees Walter's response as rude and is quite annoyed with him. Scout is urged to enlighten Miss Caroline about their ways and when she does so in Walter's defense, Miss Caroline, who had already been irked by her on a previous occasion, decides to punish her.

It is for this reason that Scout later rubs Walter's nose in the sand; she believes that he brought trouble upon her. Jem saves the boy from his sister's vengeance and invites him home for dinner. In this instance, Jem displays the qualities Atticus has inculcated in his children. Scout is still too young and naive to understand her father's philosophy and responds on an emotional level.

It is clear that Atticus has taught his children not to discriminate, and Scout's action in this particular situation in some way foreshadows her intervention later in chapter 15, when she speaks to Walter's dad in front of the jailhouse where Tom Robinson is incarcerated. Mr. Cunningham is part of a lynch mob intent on removing Tom and executing their brand of justice. Her father has been aware of the threat and is outside the prison, keeping watch, when they arrive.

Scout recognizes Mr. Cunningham and goes to speak to him about his son and his entailment. Her action prevents a serious confrontation and probably saves both her father and Tom from serious harm. Mr. Cunningham responds to her and asks the mob to leave, which is exactly what they do.

What are the five grammatical mistakes in the paragraph below? How would you correct them? Few of the problems of the 1980s was entirely new....

Below is a list of directions to correct the mistake, as well as the corrected paragraph. There seems to be more than 5 errors in the original paragraph. In addition, certain spellings of words are specifically British and therefore not "corrected," as regional variations are not errors (for example: "recognised," "labour").

Few of the problems of the 1980s was entirely new.

Sentence 1: change "was" to "were" for subject-verb agreement in number with "few."

However, many people blamed them on the new Conservative government, and in particular, Britain’s first woman Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher

Sentence 2: Add a comma before "in particular" in order to set apart this conjunctive adverbial phrase from the rest of the sentence.

Thatcher had been elected in 1979 because she promised a new beginning for Britain.

The need for such a break with the past had been widely recognised for any years.

Sentence 4: Change "any" to "many" for noun/adjective agreement with "years."

As a result the old Conservative-Labour agreement on the guiding principles of the welfare state had already broken down.

Sentence 5: Add a comma after "As a result" in order to set apart this conjunctive adverbial phrase from the rest of the sentence.

In the Conservative Party there had been a strong movement to the right, and in the Labour Party it had been a similarly strong move to the left.

Sentence 6: change "it" to "there" to create parallel structure and remove a vague pronoun reference.

Both moved further away form the “centre” of British politics than they had done in living memory.

Sentence 7: Spelling error: change "form" to "from."

The basic change in british politics caused a major crisis for the Labour Party.

Sentence 8: Capitalization error. Capitalize "British."

Corrected paragraph:

Few of the problems of the 1980s were entirely new. However, many people blamed them on the new Conservative government, and, in particular, Britain’s first woman Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher had been elected in 1979 because she promised a new beginning for Britain. The need for such a break with the past had been widely recognised for many years. As a result, the old Conservative-Labour agreement on the guiding principles of the welfare state had already broken down. In the Conservative Party there had been a strong movement to the right, and in the Labour Party there had been a similarly strong move to the left. Both moved further away from the “centre” of British politics than they had done in living memory. The basic change in British politics caused a major crisis for the Labour Party.

Are you allowed to be your own lawyer?

The answer to this question depends upon the jurisdiction of the court, and what type of court it is. However, in many countries it is perfectly legal to represent yourself in court. In the UK, this is called being a "litigant in person." This is also legal in the USA. Usually, when a person chooses to represent his or herself, it is because they feel they would be better able to convince the judge of...

The answer to this question depends upon the jurisdiction of the court, and what type of court it is. However, in many countries it is perfectly legal to represent yourself in court. In the UK, this is called being a "litigant in person." This is also legal in the USA. Usually, when a person chooses to represent his or herself, it is because they feel they would be better able to convince the judge of their point of view than if a lawyer spoke for them, rather than because they cannot afford a lawyer; those unable to afford a lawyer will usually be offered the option of legal aid, particularly if they are criminal defendants. 

In small claims courts, self-representation is relatively common, generally as a means of avoiding costly legal fees. However, perhaps the bigger question here is, should you be your own lawyer? It is generally advised that representing oneself in important criminal suits should be avoided at all costs, and even where a person does choose to self-litigate in a smaller case, he or she should consult a lawyer at some stage for advice. 

In Lord of the Flies, what do we learn about the lives of Piggy and Ralph before they arrived on the island?

Most of what we learn about Ralph and Piggy's history is found in Chapter one when they converse with each other after their meeting.

It is clear from their conversation that the two boys are from different socio-economic backgrounds. Piggy's grammar is an indication that he most probably attended public school and lived in a working-class suburb, as illustrated in the following examples:

“I can’t hardly move with all these creeper things.”

“All them other kids,”

“When we was coming down I looked through one of them windows .."

We further learn that he had been raised by his aunt (and probably her husband) since his father died. He is quite embarrassed about speaking of his parents and falls short of saying anything about his mother, when Ralph asks about them.

Piggy flushed suddenly. “My dad’s dead,” he said quickly, “and my mum—”
He took off his glasses and looked vainly for something with which to clean them.

It is clear that his aunt spoiled him since she probably wanted to make up for the loss he suffered in losing his parents. She gave him as much candy as he liked and this resulted in his becoming overweight. Furthermore, he suffered from asthma and was constantly reminded and reprimanded about his condition by his aunt to whom he constantly, to Ralph's exasperation, refers. Ironically, her spoiling him that much might have brought about his ailment.

It is also evident that Piggy was incessantly mocked by other children about his condition. The memory about it pains him and he is quite embarrassed to tell Ralph that they called him Piggy. The painful irony is that Ralph, similarly and almost instinctively, jeers him.

“They used to call me Piggy.”
Ralph shrieked with laughter. He jumped up.
“Piggy! Piggy!”
“Ralph—please!”
Piggy clasped his hands in apprehension.
“I said I didn’t want—”
“Piggy! Piggy!”

It is sadly ironic that we never learn his real name because he, more than the other characters, probably even more than Ralph, truly cared about their humanity and strove to restore order and discipline. His shockingly untimely death introduces a complete turn of events. 

Ralph clearly comes from a privileged background. He states that his father is

...a commander in the Navy. 

As such, Ralph comes from an upper middle-class background and probably attended a private school. The fact that he is fit and lean suggests that he had regular exercise and was probably exposed to a regime of exercise and study at his school. Furthermore, he comes across as self assured and his quiet confidence is what later inspires the boys to elect him as their leader (and, of course, the fact that he was holding the conch).

Unlike Piggy, Ralph never suffered the cynicism of his peers and because he did not have to deal with the consequences posed by a broken family life, he had less to contend with than Piggy. 

Why does Monsieur Loisel advise his wife not to tell her friend about the lost necklace?

Monsieur Loisel advises his wife to tell Madame Forestier that she has broken the clasp on the necklace she has borrowed from her, and that it will take some time to get it repaired at a jewelry shop. Loisel comes up with this lie this so that they have some time to retrace their steps on the night of the gala to see if they can find the necklace that Madame Loisel has lost.  When...

Monsieur Loisel advises his wife to tell Madame Forestier that she has broken the clasp on the necklace she has borrowed from her, and that it will take some time to get it repaired at a jewelry shop. Loisel comes up with this lie this so that they have some time to retrace their steps on the night of the gala to see if they can find the necklace that Madame Loisel has lost.  When they do not find it, Loisel goes to "the police station, to the newspapers, to offer a reward, to the cab companies..." to see if the necklace will surface. When no one steps up after a week has gone by, he combines his inheritance from his father's estate with borrowed money to come up with sufficient funds to purchase a diamond necklace that looks very much like the one that Madame Loisel has lost.   

What were the effects of anti-miscegenation laws during apartheid?

The passage of the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act in 1949 banned marriages between white and non-white South Africans and nullified existing mixed race marriages. It was amended in 1968 to invalidate South African citizens' interracial marriages even if the marriage had been officiated in another country. The South African public largely agreed with anti-miscegenation laws, and existing Apartheid legislation already ensured that racial groups were largely segregated and rarely able to interact as equals....

The passage of the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act in 1949 banned marriages between white and non-white South Africans and nullified existing mixed race marriages. It was amended in 1968 to invalidate South African citizens' interracial marriages even if the marriage had been officiated in another country. The South African public largely agreed with anti-miscegenation laws, and existing Apartheid legislation already ensured that racial groups were largely segregated and rarely able to interact as equals. Prior to the passage of the law, only 0.23% of all marriages in the country were mixed race as a result of this segregation. Most resistance to the law came from churches, who argued against state intervention in the institution of marriage. However, the law was unchanged until 1985, when the government passed the Immorality and Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Amendment Act to repeal the ban.

What is Ulrich von Gradwitz doing in the forest on a winter night?

On a winter night, Ulrich von Gradwitz patrols the forest looking for his enemy, Georg Znaeym. Gradwitz hopes that he can kill his enemy and finally put an end to the generational feud that has plagued his family for years.

The text tells us that the von Gradwitz land is greatly prized and well-stocked with game. However, the ownership of a narrow strip of woodland amidst the acreage is disputed by the Znaeym family. Georg...

On a winter night, Ulrich von Gradwitz patrols the forest looking for his enemy, Georg Znaeym. Gradwitz hopes that he can kill his enemy and finally put an end to the generational feud that has plagued his family for years.

The text tells us that the von Gradwitz land is greatly prized and well-stocked with game. However, the ownership of a narrow strip of woodland amidst the acreage is disputed by the Znaeym family. Georg believes that the woodland in question belongs to his family, while Ulrich maintains that Georg's family has no legal right to the land.

In the days of their grandfathers, a lawsuit had led to the court's decision to bequeath the disputed piece of woodland to the von Gradwitz family. The Znaeym family, however, never acquiesced to that decision. Ever since that fateful day, a series of poaching offenses by the Znaeym family (particularly by Georg) has angered Ulrich von Gradwitz.

On a cold, tempestuous winter night, Ulrich is patrolling the forest looking for an opportunity to kill his sworn enemy, Georg Znaeym.

What was Jackson's response to the nullification crisis?

The Nullification Crisis developed in 1832 and was a result of South Carolina's opposition to the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832, which raised taxes on imported goods in an effort to promote domestic industry after the War of 1812. South Carolina and many other southern states relied on imported goods and opposed the tariffs, particularly the Tariff of 1828, which they referred to as "the Tariff of Abominations."

Many southerners expected that when Jackson became...

The Nullification Crisis developed in 1832 and was a result of South Carolina's opposition to the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832, which raised taxes on imported goods in an effort to promote domestic industry after the War of 1812. South Carolina and many other southern states relied on imported goods and opposed the tariffs, particularly the Tariff of 1828, which they referred to as "the Tariff of Abominations."

Many southerners expected that when Jackson became president in 1828 he would lower the tariffs. Instead he signed the Tariff of 1832 into law, and South Carolina reacted by declaring the tariffs null and void. The policy of nullification meant that states felt that they could declare federal laws null and not follow them. Vice president John C. Calhoun, who was from South Carolina and who supported nullification, supported his state's attempt to resist paying the tariff. However, Jackson, then president, supported the "Force Bill" passed by Congress, which allowed the collection of the tariff by force if necessary. The bill also included a compromise on the tariff, which made it more palatable to South Carolinians. In the end, South Carolina backed down, and Jackson defended the power of the federal government over the states. 

Compare and contrast "Uncle Rock" Gilb, "Christmas, 1970" Castillo, and "We Real Cool" Brooks from Woman Hollering Creek.

The most obvious contrast in these three selections is the format. "Christmas, 1970" is a free-verse poem, "Uncle Rock" is a short story in prose form, and "We Real Cool" is a short but structured poem composed of four couplets.

There are strong similarities, however. Each once can be seen as a cultural commentary on the life of minorities in America. Castillo is Cuban-American, Gilb is half-Mexican in heritage, and Brooks is African-American.

Each of...

The most obvious contrast in these three selections is the format. "Christmas, 1970" is a free-verse poem, "Uncle Rock" is a short story in prose form, and "We Real Cool" is a short but structured poem composed of four couplets.

There are strong similarities, however. Each once can be seen as a cultural commentary on the life of minorities in America. Castillo is Cuban-American, Gilb is half-Mexican in heritage, and Brooks is African-American.

Each of these three writers draws on their differentiated experiences in their writing. In "Christmas, 1970," Castillo implies that this is the characters' first Christmas together in America, and the children are excited to put up the tree, but their mother will just "cry into the new year/ with Lidia and Emerito/ our elderly downstairs neighbors." She seems to be weeping for what they have given up by moving.

In "Uncle Rock," Gilb shows a young Mexican-American boy named Erick, who rarely talks, but watches his mother struggle with her new life in America. She talks about the old days in Mexico, which confuses him because, from what she says about it, it sounds terrible. She wants to find a good man to marry who can help her provide a stable home for Erick. Erick observes many potential suitors pass through the story. Some are rude and behave inappropriately towards his mother, but one takes him to his first baseball game.

Brooks's "We Real Cool" is about a group of young African-American boys playing pool in Chicago. Brooks is well-known for her short pieces depicting the urban poor. She uses "we" constantly in the poem, showing how much of the boys' sense of identity comes from their group identity. The rhythm of the writing and the references within the poem to jazz are a connection to the heavy emphasis on music within Brooks's culture.

In your essay, perhaps you could emphasize the different formats of these three pieces, as well as the three different minority cultures which they represent, while discussing similarities such as figurative language and somewhat auto-biographical cultural commentary.

What is the most important part of the Declaration of Independence?

Of all of Jefferson's rhetorical techniques in the Declaration of Independence, perhaps the most important and persuasive inclusion is the litany of abuses of King George III of England.  

Jefferson structures a long run of parallelism with the repeated phrase "He has..." to enumerate very specifically what the king has done to hurt the colonies as well as the things he has not done to help them, ranging from denying the passage of laws that...

Of all of Jefferson's rhetorical techniques in the Declaration of Independence, perhaps the most important and persuasive inclusion is the litany of abuses of King George III of England.  

Jefferson structures a long run of parallelism with the repeated phrase "He has..." to enumerate very specifically what the king has done to hurt the colonies as well as the things he has not done to help them, ranging from denying the passage of laws that would be helpful to the colonies to stirring up domestic troubles in the colonies and inciting Native Americans to kill colonists without regard to the traditional rules of engagement.  This recitation of abuses offers a strong piece of inductive reasoning and a convincing rationale for separation.

Jefferson follows the litany of King George III's abuses with a statement that the colonies have tried repeatedly and in vain to resolve their differences with England in "the most humble terms."

How would you interpret these lines from Jonathan Swift's poem, The Lady's Dressing Room:O may she better learn to keep,Those "secrets of the...

To fully understand this line, one needs to look at the context in which it is used. Firstly, the poet, Jonathan Swift, was an Anglo-Irish satirist during the late 1600s and early 1700s. He is most famous for Gulliver's Travels, in which he mocked all forms of political and government institutions and conventions.

Swift was merciless in his satire and would often use disgusting and shocking images in his writing to make his point. He was often criticized for being revolting, but he believed in saying it as it is and made no apologies for his stance and his style of writing.

"The Lady's Dressing Room" follows the style of satire that was Swift's trademark. The poem mocks the idea of beauty, suggesting that it is an illusion, as the unfortunate Strephon discovers when he decides to snoop on his mistress's bedchamber to gain some insight into her private affairs.

What Strephon discovers is quite disgusting. Throughout the poem, he makes one revolting discovery after the other. He is utterly disconcerted and cannot believe that his fair maiden, Celia, could follow such shockingly nauseating habits to maintain her looks. Every one of her personal items revolts him, and he is sick to his stomach on seeing the filth in her belongings and her room.

The poem gradually builds to a climax as Strephon's prying leads him to more discoveries, each one more nauseating than the one before. It is at the end of stanza four that we read these lines:

O never may such vile machine
Be once in Celia’s chamber seen!
O may she better learn to keep
Those “secrets of the hoary deep!” 

Strephon has, throughout the poem, wished that he does not find anything worse than what he has already seen. When he opens a chest, however, he is overwhelmed by the stench emanating from it. He hopes it is not something really terrible (such as a rotting corpse). It is in this context that these lines are used.

Strephon fervently hopes Celia has not kept a 'vile machine' in her room. The 'machine' is a chamber pot and Strephon hopes she does not have one. He hopes that she has had the forethought to keep her most repulsive habit hidden. The 'secrets of the hoary deep' refers to something that comes out of the darkness and is very old. It is a metaphor for the chamber pot and its contents. The last thing Strephon wants to see is old remnants of what had passed through Celia's intestinal tract.

The phrase, 'secrets of the hoary deep' is a direct quote from John Milton's epic biblical poem, Paradise Lost, in which he explores man's fall from grace. In the poem, the characters are faced by a horrendous sight:

Before their eyes in sudden view appear
The secrets of the hoary deep, a dark
Illimitable ocean without bound,
Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height,
And time and place are lost...

Swift clearly exaggerates the extent of what Strephon fears to see by deliberately using this quote. Unfortunately, our supposed victim is not so lucky and the end of stanza five clearly indicates his horrified disgust. Everything he has discovered makes him see women in a totally different way, since he is reminded of the stench he has been exposed to whenever he looks at them.

Swift, however, advises that he should ignore this and be as he (Swift) is. He should continue enjoying the company and friendship of women anyway, for: 

Such order from confusion sprung, 

Such gaudy tulips raised from dung.

Act 2 Sc. 1, Lines 33–41 How does Mercutio’s dialogue in this scene add to your impression of his character?

Mercutio, Romeo's loyal friend, is also something of a foil to our hero. He acts as a mirror to Romeo, highlighting his myriad character traits. In this particular piece of dialogue, Mercutio's vulgar, bawdy, almost juvenile understanding of love stands in stark contrast to Romeo's hopelessly romantic outlook. When it comes to the question of love, Mercutio is both a cynic and a skeptic—very different to Romeo.

Mercutio's idea of love is not dissimilar to...

Mercutio, Romeo's loyal friend, is also something of a foil to our hero. He acts as a mirror to Romeo, highlighting his myriad character traits. In this particular piece of dialogue, Mercutio's vulgar, bawdy, almost juvenile understanding of love stands in stark contrast to Romeo's hopelessly romantic outlook. When it comes to the question of love, Mercutio is both a cynic and a skeptic—very different to Romeo.

Mercutio's idea of love is not dissimilar to that of an adolescent boy. To put it bluntly, love for him is synonymous with sex. So according to Mercutio, Romeo's love is without a target as he cannot be with his beloved Juliet and therefore cannot have sex with her. If only she could be here, muses Mercutio, it would all be so very different:

If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark.

Now will he sit under a medlar tree,

And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit

         As maids call medlars, when they laugh alone. (Act II Scene I).

A medlar is a fruit which appeared to the Elizabethans to have a shape resembling a very private part of a lady's anatomy. Mercutio's use of the term shows how immature he can be when it comes to matters of love.

       O, Romeo, that she were, O that she were

        An open-arse, thou a pop’rin pear!

"Open-arse" shows that Mercutio's one-track mind is still very much in the gutter. And his use of a puerile pun ("pop her in") merely confirms this. Mercutio's parody of the vocative ("O, Romeo...O that she were...") expresses his fun side as well as his cynical contempt for the conventions of courtly love. The vocative is used by Romeo and Juliet as star-crossed lovers to address each other. Mercutio, however, mercilessly pokes fun at the convention, bringing it crashing down to earth to play in the gutter along with his dirty thoughts.

Examine the "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" or "The Waste Land" as a failure of impersonality. Write a response that examines his work as a...

The personality of the narrator of the "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" violates the idea that the poem is impersonal in nature. When he invites the reader to go with him "through certain half-deserted streets," the reader develops an idea of Prufrock's haunts and his personality. He favors "cheap hotels" and "sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells." These parts of the poem, as well as others, portray Prufrock's innermost desires and fears.

The reader also...

The personality of the narrator of the "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" violates the idea that the poem is impersonal in nature. When he invites the reader to go with him "through certain half-deserted streets," the reader develops an idea of Prufrock's haunts and his personality. He favors "cheap hotels" and "sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells." These parts of the poem, as well as others, portray Prufrock's innermost desires and fears.

The reader also knows something about Prufrock's appearance. He describes himself "With a bald spot in the middle of my hair —." He also describes himself as nicely dressed, with "My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,/ My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin —/ (They will say: 'But how his arms and legs are thin!')." Prufrock is an elegantly dressed man who wears formal clothing but has thin arms and legs. The reader can picture him, and the reader also senses that Prufrock is embarrassed by his arms and legs and what others say about them.

Finally, Prufrock also reveals his anxieties and dreams. He says that, "No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be." In other words, he tells the reader that he is not meant to direct the action in life but is instead "deferential" and "cautious." He is not a leader but someone who is politic. At the end of the poem, he reveals, "I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each./ I do not think that they will sing to me." In other words, he does not think he is privy to the secrets and pleasures of life. Far from projecting impersonality, Prufrock provides the reader in these sections of the poem with a sense of his haunts, his physical self, and his innermost dilemmas and dreams.

What is the difference between an element and a compound?

An element is only made out of one particular atom. If you were to look at the periodic table, every square is representing one element. So, sodium (Na) is just sodium. It is made up of only sodium atoms, which have special properties associated with them. That is the same with every element on the table. Every element is made of a special atom that is somewhat different than the atoms in all the rest...

An element is only made out of one particular atom. If you were to look at the periodic table, every square is representing one element. So, sodium (Na) is just sodium. It is made up of only sodium atoms, which have special properties associated with them. That is the same with every element on the table. Every element is made of a special atom that is somewhat different than the atoms in all the rest of the elements on the table. They are arranged on the periodic table so that atoms with similar chemical properties are next to each other.

A compound, however, is when two or more elements are combined together to make a completely different substance. When sodium (Na) is combined with chlorine (Cl), it makes sodium chloride (NaCl). Sodium chloride behaves differently than both sodium and chlorine by themselves. Chlorine, for example, is a gas at room temperature. Sodium is a solid that is really soft, almost like cream cheese. When they combine, they make a crystal-like substance, which we know as salt.

What are two reasons why the world's population has fluctuated throughout history?

Two major causes in population fluctuation could be described as reproductive capability and environmental pressures. Both of these are related to access to resources, which I will address further in just a moment.

First, humans have a somewhat limited reproductive capability. Though we differ from other mammals in the sense that women are able to conceive year-round during their fertile years (rather than seasonally), we must account for a gestational period as well as time...

Two major causes in population fluctuation could be described as reproductive capability and environmental pressures. Both of these are related to access to resources, which I will address further in just a moment.

First, humans have a somewhat limited reproductive capability. Though we differ from other mammals in the sense that women are able to conceive year-round during their fertile years (rather than seasonally), we must account for a gestational period as well as time needed to nurture a newborn. Prior to the last century or so, it was expected the world over that at least one, if not most, of a woman's children would die. Many couples tried to maximize their success by having many children with the expectation that some would die, but they had to be able to provide for the children from then on in terms of food and shelter. With the technological advances we have today, it is quite unusual for a child to die, so many parents choose to have less than five children. (Though it is technically possible to have many more over a lifetime!) 

In the long history of human reproduction, populations generally remained stable or grew slowly, as a couple might have a small number of children who survive to adulthood. The slow growth that did occur was the result of parents having at least two children outlive them. Periods of rapid population growth were unusual for much of history because it creates a huge increase in demand for resources like space, food, and water. Such rapid growth would be unsustainable if a population had a long history of stability or slow growth. Imagine if a couple had two children and made enough money to provide food and a comfortable home for the four individuals. Then, the parents have twenty more babies but do not move to a bigger home or increase their grocery spending. This is a somewhat reductive example, but on a macro scale this is both unlikely and unstable. When it comes to population dynamics, the fertility of adults isn't enough for population growth—there must also be sufficient resources to sustain new individuals.

Of course, populations can decline, too! Disease and famine are primarily responsible for large population declines. We can also consider natural disasters and human activity, but the environment plays a huge part in population fluctuation. For example, the Medieval Warm Period created agricultural stress the world over. This was enough to cause famine in many parts of the globe, and in some places, resource competition was so high that violence increased dramatically. The combination of widespread starvation, infectious disease (which thrives in warm temperatures), and violent conflict greatly reduced global populations.

Homer was a Greek poet; he probably lived around 700 B.C. Is that a compound or simple sentence?

Although this sentence does not use any of the “FANBOYS” coordinating conjunctions, it is nevertheless a compound sentence. This is because the semicolon can take the place of a coordinating conjunction.

In a typical compound sentence, there are two independent clauses which are linked by a coordinating conjunction. For example, Sentence #6 in the screenshot you attached is clearly a compound sentence. It uses the coordinating conjunction “and” to imply Achilles’ anger was related to...

Although this sentence does not use any of the “FANBOYS” coordinating conjunctions, it is nevertheless a compound sentence. This is because the semicolon can take the place of a coordinating conjunction.

In a typical compound sentence, there are two independent clauses which are linked by a coordinating conjunction. For example, Sentence #6 in the screenshot you attached is clearly a compound sentence. It uses the coordinating conjunction “and” to imply Achilles’ anger was related to the fact that he only had one real friend. Sentence #1, about which you are asking, does not have a coordinating conjunction.

Even so, it is still a compound sentence. Compound sentences (as you can see in the link below) can be constructed using a semicolon instead of a coordinating conjunction. In Sentence 1, we have two independent clauses that could each form a standalone sentence. These two sentences are combined with a semicolon, which implies that the two clauses are related in some way. Because a compound sentence can be made using two independent clauses and a semicolon, the sentence you have given us here is a compound sentence.

According to The Devil’s Highway, what factors pushed Wellton 26 into the most inhospitable parts of the US-Mexico border (the harsh Sonoran...

The Devil's Highway is a journalistic account of illegal immigration from Mexico into the United States. It focuses on the Wellton 26, a group that was attempting to cross the border in May 2001, led by Jesus Antonio Lopez Ramos, an inexperienced young coyote who seemed either ignorant of desert survival techniques or not particularly concerned about the safety of his clients. 

They had planned to cross the border and arrive at the town of Ajo, Arizona....

The Devil's Highway is a journalistic account of illegal immigration from Mexico into the United States. It focuses on the Wellton 26, a group that was attempting to cross the border in May 2001, led by Jesus Antonio Lopez Ramos, an inexperienced young coyote who seemed either ignorant of desert survival techniques or not particularly concerned about the safety of his clients. 

They had planned to cross the border and arrive at the town of Ajo, Arizona. Ramos's plan had them walking at night to avoid the heat, something that made it difficult to navigate, especially without appropriate navigational tools such as a contour map, altimeter, and compass. Their route was planned to follow the foothills of the Growler Mountains, as temperatures are lower at high elevations. 

The first problem with their plan was that it is very difficult to navigate or walk in the desert at night. Not only are you likely to brush against chollas (a type of cactus with long and very unpleasant spines), but navigation is also quite difficult. You cannot walk in a straight line across the desert, but instead must follow paths along washes or animal trails to avoid the vegetation (most of which has sharp spines); this means following a very indirect course. To avoid getting hopelessly lost, you need good navigational tools. A better choice would be walking in early evening (5 - 8 pm) and the morning (about 4 - 11 am), where you have milder temperatures than midday but still good light. Thus, the first problem they had in navigating was their choice to walk in the dark; they also had to stay off established roads and trails to avoid being caught.

The next problem was that at 11:30 pm they saw lights in the pass which would have led them in the right direction, but, afraid that the lights belonged to the border control, decided to seek another route. They headed northwest, leading them to lower elevations. The next morning, Ramos, probably suffering from heat exhaustion, led them far off course, heading south rather than north.

Describe Laurie’s mother in The Wave.

Mrs. Saunders is a highly intelligent woman, very clued-up when it comes to politics. She's very supportive of her daughter, Laurie, and is genuinely proud of her enormous popularity and success at Gordon High. When The Wave starts taking over the school, Laurie's profoundly uneasy at the development. While working on the student paper, she reads an anonymous letter from a student claiming that members of The Wave have been bullying those kids outside of...

Mrs. Saunders is a highly intelligent woman, very clued-up when it comes to politics. She's very supportive of her daughter, Laurie, and is genuinely proud of her enormous popularity and success at Gordon High. When The Wave starts taking over the school, Laurie's profoundly uneasy at the development. While working on the student paper, she reads an anonymous letter from a student claiming that members of The Wave have been bullying those kids outside of the group. It seems that Ben's innovative experiment in getting his pupils to understand the Nazis is getting totally out of hand.

The reactions of Laurie's parents to The Wave phenomenon are completely different. Laurie's dad is all for it; he thinks it might be good for building character. A lot of the high school kids think much the same thing. They believe that The Wave might be good for morale among the football team.

Mrs. Saunders, however, is deeply worried about The Wave. She realizes straight away how sinister and cult-like this strange new group on campus really is. She likens The Wave to the military, and it's not hard to see why. We can see from Mrs. Saunders' perceptiveness that it is her, rather than her husband, who's largely responsible for shaping Laurie's values, her sense of what's right and wrong. Laurie thinks that The Wave is immature; but worse than that, she knows it's just plain wrong and is causing serious divisions at Gordon High. It's Mrs. Saunders' upbringing of Laurie that's helped bring her daughter to this disturbing insight.

Above all else, Mrs. Saunders is very individualistic, and has raised her daughter to be a true individual, someone who will stand up to the mob. Mrs. Saunders thinks for herself and it's absolutely essential for her that Laurie does likewise. That means steering well clear of a group that is based on mindless conformity and the exclusion of those who don't fit in.

The amount a taxi driver charges a customer is given by the equation `A=1.25+5.25,` where `A` is the total amount charged and `k` is the kilometers...

Hello! I suppose the equation is `1.25+5.25*k` . It may also be `1.25*k+5.25.`

a. Then we see that the number `1.25` (the free term) is in dollars (or other currency) and it represents the fixed cost. The number `5.25` is in dollars by kilometer and it represents the cost per each kilometer driven.

b. It is not difficult to make the table of values, just substitute different values of k to the formula.

...

Hello! I suppose the equation is `1.25+5.25*k` . It may also be `1.25*k+5.25.`

a. Then we see that the number `1.25` (the free term) is in dollars (or other currency) and it represents the fixed cost. The number `5.25` is in dollars by kilometer and it represents the cost per each kilometer driven.

b. It is not difficult to make the table of values, just substitute different values of k to the formula.

k |    0   |    1   |    2    |    3     |    4    |    5    |    6     |    7    |    8     |    9    |    10     |
A | 1.25 | 6.50 | 11.75 | 17.00 | 22.25 | 27.50 | 32.75 | 38.00 | 43.25 | 48.50 | 53.75 |

Of course each next value is `5.25` greater than the previous.

c. The graph is attached. Of course this relation is linear (the formula is in the slope-intercept form).

d. The graph shows that for 7.5 km one will be charged $40.625 (probably `$40.63` ).

e. The graph shows that for `$15` a person can go as far as about `2.6` km.

Of course the results d and e may be found analytically, too. [Tell me if you need this or if the formula is actually 1.25*k+5.25.]

`y = ln(cosx) , [0,pi/3]` Find the arc length of the graph of the function over the indicated interval.

The arc length of a function of x, f(x), over an interval is determined by the formula below:

`L=int_a^bsqrt(1+((dy)/(dx))^2)dx`

So using the function given, let us first find `(dy)/(dx):`

`d/(dx)(ln(cos(x)))=(1/(cos(x)))*(-sin(x))=-(sin(x))/(cos(x))=-tan(x)`

We can now substitute this into our formula above:

`L=int_a^bsqrt(1+((dy)/(dx))^2)dx=L=int_0^(pi/3)sqrt(1+(-tan(x))^2)dx`

Which can then be simplified to:

`L=int_0^(pi/3)sqrt(1+tan^2(x))dx=int_0^(pi/3)sqrt(sec^2(x))dx=int_0^(pi/3)sec(x)dx`

Then you find the definite integral as you normally would.  (Using the method shown on the link below, you can find the integral of sec(x).)

`L=int_0^(pi/3)sec(x)dx=ln|sec(x)+tan(x)|_0^(pi/3)`

`L=ln(sec(pi/3)+tan(pi/3))-ln(sec(0)+tan(0))=ln(2+sqrt(3))-ln(1+0)`

`L=ln(2+sqrt(3))-ln(1)=ln(2+sqrt(3))~~1.32`

So...

The arc length of a function of x, f(x), over an interval is determined by the formula below:

`L=int_a^bsqrt(1+((dy)/(dx))^2)dx`

So using the function given, let us first find `(dy)/(dx):`

`d/(dx)(ln(cos(x)))=(1/(cos(x)))*(-sin(x))=-(sin(x))/(cos(x))=-tan(x)`

We can now substitute this into our formula above:

`L=int_a^bsqrt(1+((dy)/(dx))^2)dx=L=int_0^(pi/3)sqrt(1+(-tan(x))^2)dx`

Which can then be simplified to:

`L=int_0^(pi/3)sqrt(1+tan^2(x))dx=int_0^(pi/3)sqrt(sec^2(x))dx=int_0^(pi/3)sec(x)dx`

Then you find the definite integral as you normally would.  (Using the method shown on the link below, you can find the integral of sec(x).)

`L=int_0^(pi/3)sec(x)dx=ln|sec(x)+tan(x)|_0^(pi/3)`

`L=ln(sec(pi/3)+tan(pi/3))-ln(sec(0)+tan(0))=ln(2+sqrt(3))-ln(1+0)`

`L=ln(2+sqrt(3))-ln(1)=ln(2+sqrt(3))~~1.32`

So the exact value of the arc length of the graph of the function over the given interval is `ln(2+sqrt(3))`

which is approximately 1.32.

In Voices of Freedom 175, why did NOW feel that women’s place in society was on the decline in 1966?

In this document, Betty Friedan, one of the founders of NOW or the National Organization for Women, writes that women's status in society was in decline in the 1960s because women's longer lifespans meant that a small portion of their lives would be devoted to child rearing. However, women's roles in rearing children still meant that they were largely barred from professional opportunities. In addition, Friedan writes that technology has made many of the tasks...

In this document, Betty Friedan, one of the founders of NOW or the National Organization for Women, writes that women's status in society was in decline in the 1960s because women's longer lifespans meant that a small portion of their lives would be devoted to child rearing. However, women's roles in rearing children still meant that they were largely barred from professional opportunities. In addition, Friedan writes that technology has made many of the tasks women used to perform around the home unnecessary, and technology has also made the need for physical strength unnecessary in the workplace. The current economy calls for what she calls "creative intelligence" and for positions that women can fill as easily as men can. 

Friedan states that 46.4% of American women currently work outside the home but that 75% of them work in traditionally female occupations such as clerical jobs, housekeeping, sales, factory jobs, or similar work. African-American women are largely concentrated in the lowest-paid jobs. As a result, women earn only 60% of what men earn for full-time work, and the discrepancy between men's and women's wages has been increasing over the last 25 years. In addition, women are losing ground in managerial and professional jobs, as they comprise only 4% of lawyers and 7% of doctors. For these reasons, women's place in society and the economy was declining, according to Friedan.

Determine the tension in the rope that is holding the 3.8 kg sled in place on a 30 degree incline. The static coefficient of friction between the...

Please refer to the attached free-body diagram.

There are four main forces acting on the sledge: the tension in the rope (that is pulling it along the incline), the mass of the sledge (which can be resolved into two components: one perpendicular to the incline and the other along the incline and in opposite direction to the tension), the static friction and the reaction (normal to the surface of the incline).

Balancing the forces perpendicular...

Please refer to the attached free-body diagram.

There are four main forces acting on the sledge: the tension in the rope (that is pulling it along the incline), the mass of the sledge (which can be resolved into two components: one perpendicular to the incline and the other along the incline and in opposite direction to the tension), the static friction and the reaction (normal to the surface of the incline).

Balancing the forces perpendicular to the incline: N = mg cos30 (equation 1)   

Along the incline: T + `mu`N = mg sin30

substituting the value of N from equation 1, we get:

T = mg sin30 - `mu`mg cos30

here, m = 3.8 kg, g = 9.81 m/s2 and `mu` = 0.45

substituting the values, we get: T = 4.1 N. 

Thus, the tension in the rope holding the sledge is 4.1N.

Hope this helps.

What is the conflict in "A Jug of Silver"?

The central conflict in the Truman Capote short story "A Jug of Silver" is between Mr. Marshall, the narrator's uncle, and a man named Rufus McPherson. Mr. Marshall owns the small town of Valhalla's only drugstore, which Capote describes as a well-kept but rather old-fashioned soda fountain, and McPherson opens up a new drugstore across the town square from Marshall's store. McPherson installs many modern conveniences, including electric fans, and promptly steals the majority of...

The central conflict in the Truman Capote short story "A Jug of Silver" is between Mr. Marshall, the narrator's uncle, and a man named Rufus McPherson. Mr. Marshall owns the small town of Valhalla's only drugstore, which Capote describes as a well-kept but rather old-fashioned soda fountain, and McPherson opens up a new drugstore across the town square from Marshall's store. McPherson installs many modern conveniences, including electric fans, and promptly steals the majority of Marshall's business. The conflict between Marshall and McPherson also represents the age-old conflict between old and new, between progress and a fondness for the old ways.

In order to win his business back, Marshall creates a contest in which patrons are encouraged to guess how much money is contained in a jug filled with the coins (the "jug of silver" for which the story is named). A small, poor boy and his sister come to the drugstore every day, as the boy claims to be "counting" the coins. The boy believes he will be able to count the coins because, he claims, a witch once told him that he had special powers. Though counting the coins in the jug was clearly an impossible task, the boy guesses the amount of money exactly, just in time for the Christmas Eve reveal of the winner. This reveals a secondary conflict, apt for the Christmas season, between reason and a belief in magic or miracles.

What does Queenie symbolize in "A Christmas Memory"?

In “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote, the rat terrier named Queenie symbolizes a number of ideas.

The story is set in the poverty-stricken South, where Buddy and his cousin live in a house with extended family. This was a common practice at the time. Queenie functions as a third friend to Buddy and his cousin. The dog has a royal name but does not live a royal life. Queenie rides around in a dilapidated...

In “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote, the rat terrier named Queenie symbolizes a number of ideas.

The story is set in the poverty-stricken South, where Buddy and his cousin live in a house with extended family. This was a common practice at the time. Queenie functions as a third friend to Buddy and his cousin. The dog has a royal name but does not live a royal life. Queenie rides around in a dilapidated baby buggy instead of a fancy carriage and begs for table scraps. The dog can be found lounging in front of the fire in a royal fashion while Buddy and his cousin work on their fruitcakes.

Queenie has also sometimes been interpreted as a symbol of Truman Capote's connection to the people of different sexual orientations. Capote uses subtle symbolism with his use of the dog's name and the "fruitcakes" (see this argument). There was a lack of acceptance for gay people in the 1940s and 1950s; some think Capote subtly addresses this in his short story.

What were Hitler's main stages of expansion?

Hitler's expansionist claims began even before the onset of World War II with the Rhineland, a territory that Hitler remilitarized in violation of the Treaty of Locarno in March 1936. Both Britain and France condemned his actions but neither intervened. Hitler next aimed his focus on Austria and targeted the population with a storm of propaganda about Austria's intimate connection to the Third Reich. When German troops entered the country in March 1938, the population greeted them warmly and the country was promptly incorporated into the Reich in an action known as the Anschluss (annexation). Hitler's third prewar conquest was the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia with a large German population. In 1938, Hitler threatened war if the Sudetenland was not ceded to Germany. British, French, Italian and German—but notably not Czechoslovakian—leaders met at Munich in September 1938, and it was agreed that Germany would annex the Sudetenland in exchange for peace. By March 1939, Hitler had grown impatient and violated the Munich Agreement by invading the whole of Czechoslovakia. While the Sudetenland remained part of the Reich and Slovakia became a rump Nazi state, the Czech lands turned into a Protectorate region.

Hitler's invasion and then occupation of Poland sparked World War II. Germany and their then-ally the Soviet Union divided Polish territory into two parts. Hitler then divided the German portion into two further sections, the western one annexed to the Reich and the eastern one established as the General Government. By mid-1940, Hitler's territorial aims had turned west, capturing Denmark and Norway and then Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. In March 1941, Germany invaded Yugoslavia and Greece before turning towards the Soviet Union, whose alliance with Hitler had disintegrated during the course of the war. Hitler managed to capture the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) but his Russian campaign suffered as the winter months dragged on and the German military lagged. The German army reached Stalingrad but was unable to sustain a stronghold in Soviet territory. Regardless of the fact that the tide of war had begun to turn against Hitler, his territorial ambitions remained strong from 1942–44, and he succeeded in invading northern Italy and Albania and then formally occupied Hungary and Slovakia.

What is the meaning of Mr. Framton Nuttel's name in "The Open Window"?

While a literal meaning for the selection of the name is not something Saki ever explains in detail, the reader can make several connections, drawn by a combination of a play on sounds, words, and traits that help further distinguish the Framton Nuttel's character traits.

First, we must note that there is no physical description of Framton, except that he suffers from a nervous condition that renders him awkward and unable to conduct himself with...

While a literal meaning for the selection of the name is not something Saki ever explains in detail, the reader can make several connections, drawn by a combination of a play on sounds, words, and traits that help further distinguish the Framton Nuttel's character traits.

First, we must note that there is no physical description of Framton, except that he suffers from a nervous condition that renders him awkward and unable to conduct himself with the social decorum expected by one who is going to ask for an act of kindness from a stranger. He is odd from the very start, when he "endeavoured to say the correct something which would flatter the niece of the moment without discounting the aunt that was to come."

Based on just that, we can say that the man is frazzled enough to go on a frenzy at any moment. We could assume that words such as frenzied, frazzled, and frumpy are backdrops to the name "Frampton."

As far as the last name "Nuttel" goes, it is generally accepted that Saki uses the root "nut" in the form of an adjective that may help describe Framton as someone "nutty," or about to go crazy. 

The etymology of the word "crazy" dates back to 1846, 24 years before Saki's birth in 1870. The the earlier version of the word was the 1785 word "nutt," as in the phrase "to be nutts upon," which meant "to be fond of" something. The phrase to be "off one's nut" (head) itself dates back to 1846, so Saki was amply exposed to that terminology prior to the start of his writing career. 

Conclusively, Framton Nuttel's strange name is meant to label him as a strange man. Whether the name Frampton is allusive to the man's frazzled state of mind, the last name "Nuttel" is more than likely used on purpose to definitely describe Framton as a true "nutcase."

Here is my thesis and introduction. I need help with my first paragraph, and I must talk about how Balram believes he is living like a man. I also...

You have a good start here but need to unpack the concept of living "like a man" in greater detail later in the paper and focus the first paragraph more on how you will support your thesis in the rest of the paper. A first paragraph needs to function as what rhetoricians call a "metadiscourse", namely talking about the paper itself rather than the subject of the paper, which provides a map for the reader.

...

You have a good start here but need to unpack the concept of living "like a man" in greater detail later in the paper and focus the first paragraph more on how you will support your thesis in the rest of the paper. A first paragraph needs to function as what rhetoricians call a "metadiscourse", namely talking about the paper itself rather than the subject of the paper, which provides a map for the reader.

Your central thesis is that although Balram aims to live the life of a free man, he fails to do so because his understanding of the concept is limited by both his own narrow intellectual horizons and his moral failings. He understands freedom primarily as freedom from servitude and financial necessity. Although he has a vision of what he wants to be freed from, he does not have a grasp of what he should do with that freedom. In other words, he sees freedom as "from" something but not "to" something. 

You should conclude your first paragraph with a discussion of what major themes you will cover in the rest of the paper, and you should announce the order in which you will cover them and the types of evidence you will offer. I would recommend choosing the following:

• Balram and Ashok, like India itself, see freedom as escape from colonial oppression. Ashok's escape is to become Americanized and Balram's escape lies in becoming a master. Just as India casts off the British yoke only to become a slave of corrupt politicians—represented by the "Great Socialist"—so too do Balram and Ashok never really escape the system of oppression in a way that enables them to make free moral choices. Instead of living freely, Balram is mentally trapped in a need for retribution.


• Both Ashok and Balram mistake freedom from social constraint, material want, and other forms of oppression for true freedom. The author thinks that true freedom is mental instead, pointing out that "The moment you recognize what is beautiful in this world, you stop being a slave. To hell with the Naxals and their guns shipped from China. If you taught every poor boy how to paint, that would be the end of the rich in India.” 


• Another important point about the nature of freedom is that it is grounded in knowledge. The external circumstances of freedom are not as important as the knowledge of how to live freely. Thus, the author repeatedly talks about the importance of books and learning: "Me, and thousands of others in this country like me, are half-baked, because we were never allowed to complete our schooling." 


• Finally, as you point out, Balram's crimes themselves enslave him even more than poverty or Ashok did, constraining his freedom of action and his mind and emotions. The way in which we become trapped by our own bad, moral choices is a major theme of the book, along with the notion that lack of education, corruption, and inequality causes Indians to be unable to live freely as men. This sentiment is proven by these lines: "A handful of men in this country have trained the remaining 99.9 percent—as strong, as talented, as intelligent in every way—to exist in perpetual servitude; a servitude so strong that you can put the key of his emancipation in a man's hands and he will throw it back at you with a curse.”

What impact did the New Deal have on women?

Women were impacted by the New Deal. Eleanor Roosevelt was a great advocate for women being included in the various New Deal programs. She received thousands of letters highlighting the suffering that women experienced during the Great Depression. As a result, she insisted that women be included in the provisions of some of the New Deal Programs.

As a result of her efforts, women were impacted by the New Deal. A special division for women...

Women were impacted by the New Deal. Eleanor Roosevelt was a great advocate for women being included in the various New Deal programs. She received thousands of letters highlighting the suffering that women experienced during the Great Depression. As a result, she insisted that women be included in the provisions of some of the New Deal Programs.

As a result of her efforts, women were impacted by the New Deal. A special division for women was created in the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, and it run by a woman whose name was Ellen Woodward. Each state needed to have a woman in charge of the state’s program for women.

Mrs. Roosevelt held a conference on the needs of women. There were some issues that concerned Mrs. Roosevelt. For example, a very small percentage of women received jobs from Civilian Works Administration. Also, the pay for women was also lower than pay for men. Eventually, women received more unemployment benefits as a part of the Works Progress Administration. Women also benefited from the passage of labor laws such as the Fair Labor Relations Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Women also were put into positions of responsibility and authority. For example, Frances Perkins became the Secretary of Labor. She was the first female cabinet member in our history.

Women were impacted by and benefitted from some of the programs of the New Deal.

Where does Santiago find the answer to the question “how do you turn a man into the wind?"

Santiago speaks with the desert, the wind, and the sun to find the answer of how to turn into the wind, but none of these elements knows. While conversing with the sun, though, the boy's own thoughts reveal that he knows more about the Language of the World than he originally thought. During this conversation, the boy realizes that love is the most powerful force in the universe, and the sun does not have much experience...

Santiago speaks with the desert, the wind, and the sun to find the answer of how to turn into the wind, but none of these elements knows. While conversing with the sun, though, the boy's own thoughts reveal that he knows more about the Language of the World than he originally thought. During this conversation, the boy realizes that love is the most powerful force in the universe, and the sun does not have much experience with it. In fact, he recognizes that the sun, the desert, and the wind are all on their own paths of learning and cannot provide him with the answer he needs. Therefore, the sun suggests that Santiago ask the hand that created the world in order to find out how to perform the miracle he desires. "The Hand" must mean the universe or God, so Santiago prays in his heart without words. It is as though he connects his heart with that of God's and discovers the following:

only the hand understood that it was a larger design that had moved the universe to the point at which six days of creation had evolved into a Master Work. The boy reached through to the Soul of the World and saw that it was a part of the Soul of God. And he saw that the Soul of God was his own soul. And that he, a boy, could perform miracles (152).

Based on the passage above, Santiago discovers that he is a part of the Soul of the World—God—and he has the power within to perform a miracle and change himself into the wind. This is an amazing discovery because the power to perform miracles is found within himself as he connects his soul with that of the Creator's. The process of finding the answer he needs is a complex one, but it suggests that once we all discover that connection with the Soul of the World, we too can perform miracles because we are all a part of God. As a result, Santiago finds the answer he seeks within himself.

In writing an annotated bibliography, the instructor wants the class to compare and contrast scholars and their different approaches to the...

I think what your instructor wants you to examine for this assignment is what is called historiography, which is the study of how historians interpret history.  It's not enough to look at the facts--sometimes, it is necessary to see the lens through which the historian sees the time period.  For example, for a work about the Cold War, there are many schools of thought.  One school of thought states that the Soviet Union was directly...

I think what your instructor wants you to examine for this assignment is what is called historiography, which is the study of how historians interpret history.  It's not enough to look at the facts--sometimes, it is necessary to see the lens through which the historian sees the time period.  For example, for a work about the Cold War, there are many schools of thought.  One school of thought states that the Soviet Union was directly responsible for the Cold War.  Stalin's aggression after WWII alarmed the United States, and this is why the United States increased military spending and sent troops all over the world in order to defend against communism.  This was the school of thought that was prevalent during the early days of the Cold War in America.  However, by the 1960s and 70s, attitudes towards the Soviet Union began to soften in some academic circles and some historians of the period state that it was actually the Americans who were to blame.  America excluded the Soviet Union from having a say in the postwar development of Japan, and it also did not share atomic secrets with the Russians, thus creating a level of distrust with its former ally.  The Soviet bloc was Stalin's buffer zone in order to save himself from a Western attack after the fall of Germany in May 1945.  The school of thought most prevalent today is that the Cold War was the fault of both nations.  Some of these alliances between former European colonies and superpowers led to the Korean and Vietnam Wars.  

There are other examples of historiography, but this one is the easiest to explain.  In order to find out a historian's field of study, look at other books and articles he/she has written.  Historians can also be grouped by their fields of interest--some may be social historians while others may study politics or war.