What information can be determined by observing the spacing of contour lines?

The information that can be determined by observing the spacing of contour lines on a topographic map is relativesteepness.  It's relative steepness because without knowing the map's relief or the map's contour interval, all that a user can do is see that certain areas are steeper than others.  Contour lines that are closely spaced indicate a steeper section than contour lines that are widely spaced.  In order to know exactly how steep a particular...

The information that can be determined by observing the spacing of contour lines on a topographic map is relative steepness.  It's relative steepness because without knowing the map's relief or the map's contour interval, all that a user can do is see that certain areas are steeper than others.  Contour lines that are closely spaced indicate a steeper section than contour lines that are widely spaced.  In order to know exactly how steep a particular slope is, the map user will need to know the contour interval.  The contour interval is the change in elevation from one contour line to the next contour line.  Once the elevation change is known, the user would need to know what the map's scale is. By knowing the contour interval and the map's scale, a person can then calculate the actual steepness of a slope. 

How does the film version of A Separate Peace by John Knowles compare to the book?

John Knowles's book A Separate Peace is similar to the movie adaptation of the story, but there are several important differences. Overall, the message is the same and the events unfold the same way in both versions. The main differences exist in the way the story is set up and the way the literary elements develop throughout. Here are some examples:

1. In the book you get a clear idea of who is telling the story....

John Knowles's book A Separate Peace is similar to the movie adaptation of the story, but there are several important differences. Overall, the message is the same and the events unfold the same way in both versions. The main differences exist in the way the story is set up and the way the literary elements develop throughout. Here are some examples:

1. In the book you get a clear idea of who is telling the story. Gene functions as your interpreter of the story--he offers a narrative that connects a reader with the book. The use of a narrator in the book helps to draw in a reader and generates sympathy, which makes the story more meaningful. In the movie, the director chose not to use this technique. Instead of using a narrator, the director chose to create a wall between the viewer and the story, which served a different purpose. Rather than pull a reader in to experience the story directly, the director chose to create some distance, which allowed the viewers to keep an open mind about all of the characters and events. Instead of being biased to one character, as in the book, the viewers could choose whose viewpoint to sympathize with.


2. In the book, the narrative offers a reader insight as to the emotions and inner conflicts of the characters, especially Gene. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't offer the same insight, so the viewer is left to interpret what the characters may or may not be thinking and feeling. Since we've already established that the lack of narrative contributed to some distance, it's worth noting that this added even more distance for movie watchers.


3. The book didn't spend a whole lot of time on external elements, such as timing, place, and setting. The majority of the book's time was spent on internal dialogue and plot. In the movie, you get more information about the way the scenes looked because movies are inherently more visual. Whereas in the book you might feel as if you accompany the character directly, the movie makes you feel as if you're viewing a setting through a window--the effect certainly resonates differently with an audience.

Where has Alyce shown personal growth in the book The Midwife's Apprentice?

Alyce shows personal growth throughout the entire book.  For me though, there is one specific location where I see significant growth for Alyce.    

The time is when Alyce actually takes on the name Alyce.  Jane has been injured, and she is not capable of going to the Saint Swithin's Day Fair to buy supplies.  Alyce goes instead, but at this point in the story, her name is Beetle.  Jane originally found Alyce sleeping...

Alyce shows personal growth throughout the entire book.  For me though, there is one specific location where I see significant growth for Alyce.    

The time is when Alyce actually takes on the name Alyce.  Jane has been injured, and she is not capable of going to the Saint Swithin's Day Fair to buy supplies.  Alyce goes instead, but at this point in the story, her name is Beetle.  Jane originally found Alyce sleeping on a pile of dung and decided to call the girl Beetle.  While at the fair, somebody mistakes Beetle for somebody else.  He calls her Alyce, and Beetle decides to take the name as her own because she likes it.  The change in name is symbolic of Alyce's growing confidence.  She no longer feels like the girl found on a pile of poop.  She is gaining confidence in herself, her education, and her skill set, and Alyce feels that "Beetle" doesn't fit with who she is becoming.  

What a day! She had been winked at, complimented, given a gift, and now mistaken for the mysterious Alyce who could read. Did she then look like someone who could read? She leaned over and watched her face in the water again. "This face," she said, "could belong to someone who can read. And has curls. And could have a lover before nightfall."

From this point in the story, Alyce begins showing a great deal of confidence in herself.  Sure, she still makes mistakes, but this new confidence is what allows her to continue working hard for personal improvement.  Beetle would not have returned to Jane at the end of the story to get her job back.  Alyce would though, and she did.  

Was the Compromise of 1850 a good compromise?

The Compromise of 1850 did several things. It allowed California to enter the Union as a free state. It stated that the land we received from Mexico would be divided into the New Mexico and the Utah territories. The people would determine if there would be slavery in these territories. The Compromise of 1850 ended slave trading in Washington, D.C. It also included the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act. This law required northerners to...

The Compromise of 1850 did several things. It allowed California to enter the Union as a free state. It stated that the land we received from Mexico would be divided into the New Mexico and the Utah territories. The people would determine if there would be slavery in these territories. The Compromise of 1850 ended slave trading in Washington, D.C. It also included the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act. This law required northerners to help capture runaway slaves.

While a compromise is designed to give both sides part of what they wanted, this compromise created many problems. The northerners were furious that they had to help capture runaway slaves. This meant that no slave who had escaped was safe in the North. Many northerners refused to obey this law. This made the South unhappy because they relied on the enforcement of this law to capture the slaves that had escaped. The North also had a majority of states in the Senate. It is fair to say there was unhappiness with this compromise after it was created.

What concept of fame or glory is presented in "The Seafarer?"

The short answer is that the poem presents two contrasting conceptions of glory or fame. One is connected with the heroic values of pre-Christian, Germanic culture, and concerns one's reputation for having committed brave, daring deeds -- vanquishing demons and other evil forces -- that kings reward and people praise. It's the social and political prestige that bold warriors receive for being perceived as valiant, strong, and physically brave.

The other is the sort of glory that transcends earthly reputation. It's the glory of God, and it is the best and longest-lasting type of glory.

To understand this in more detail, it is helpful to realize that the original Anglo Saxon poem uses at least four different words that modern scholars have translated as "glory." These words didn't all mean exactly the same thing to people living at the time.

For instance, consider lines 72-80, where the narrator speaks of the good actions that heroic men may do -- battling against "malice of fiends" and devils. People praise heroes for these deeds, and this praise leads to what Jonathan Glenn translates as "glory:"

that children of men after may praise him,
and his glory hereafter live among angels
always for ever, eternal life’s splendor,
joy among noble ones.

But the original word used is "lof," which the Bosworth-Toller Anglo Saxon dictionary has defined as "praise, glory, song of praise, hymn." So here the poet is referencing a kind of glory or fame that comes from being made the subject of heroic tales told by others.

But that bit about "eternal life's splendor" (original word: blǽd) has also been translated as "glory," for instance by Gavin Bantock:

Then the children of men will praise him afterwards,

and his glory shall live with the angels,

and he shall abide in glory always,

sharing glory with the host.

The word " blǽd" has defined by the dictionary as "enjoyment, prosperity, abundance, success, blessedness, gift, reward, benefit, glory, honour." This word is used again in line 88, this time in the context of its shortcoming: It doesn't last forever.  As Jonathan Glenn translates it:

Glory is humbled,
honor of earth grows old and withers,
as does now every man over this Middle-Earth.

So while this sort of glory is good, its benefits are limited. As the narrator explains (lines 81-82, in a translation by Burton Raffel):

"The days are gone

When the kingdoms of earth flourished in glory;"

And here the original word Raffel translates as "glory" is especially telling: It's "onmedlan," which according to the dictionary has connotations of the puffed up sort of glory -- implying undertones of pomp, magnificence, arrogance, and boldness.

Nowadays, says the narrator, pursuing this sort of glory isn't even a realistic goal. In the past, great kings bestowed great prizes on heroes are gone. But society has changed, says the narrator. The age of great kings is over; the opportunities for heroes to aggrandize themselves in this way are past. The fame and prestige has faded. As noted above, the narrator returns to the word, "blǽd," in line 88, concluding that honor/glory/rewards-for-being-a-bold-hero has been humbled, diminished, or subdued.

The narrator goes on to note that you can't take your earthly prizes with you after death, and they won't help you when God judges you for your sins. But by living up to the harsh demands of Christianity, you may enter into a blessed state with "wuldres Ealdor," the father or master of glory (lines 123-124, translated by Jonathan Glenn):

thanks that he honored us, master of Glory,
God of Eternity, in all our time. AMEN.

----

References (in addition to the links below):

Marsden R. 2004. The Cambridge Old English Reader. Cambridge University Press. 

Mitchell B and Robbins FC. 1986. A Guide to Old English. Blackwell.

Raffel B. 1964. Poems from the Old English. University of Nebraska Press.

What are proposed solutions to ending the war on drugs in America?

The term “The War on Drugs” was popularized by the media when President Nixon gave a press conference in 1971 in which he declared drug abuse “public enemy number one.” In 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy reported that “the War on Drugs Has Failed.” In 2012, the U.S. Government released an updated drug policy, distinguishing it from previous “War on Drugs” policies. The new approach is based on a huge investment in research...

The term “The War on Drugs” was popularized by the media when President Nixon gave a press conference in 1971 in which he declared drug abuse “public enemy number one.” In 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy reported that “the War on Drugs Has Failed.” In 2012, the U.S. Government released an updated drug policy, distinguishing it from previous “War on Drugs” policies. The new approach is based on a huge investment in research from the world’s leading scholars in substance abuse. The updated policy is not looking toward drug legalization as a simple fix to drug control. The new policy further differentiates itself from previous methods by refusing to measure success through incarceration numbers. Today, the Drug Policy Alliance advocates for an end to the War on Drugs, estimating that the U.S. spends $51 billion annually in these efforts.

Current solutions are focused on a balanced approach that restricts drug trafficking and assists individuals struggling with substance abuse. The following are some proposed solutions: reduce deaths caused by opiate overdose by providing easy access to naloxone, identify healthcare providers over-prescribing opiate painkillers, improve drug abuse prevention and education, establish clear medical guidelines for treating chronic pain, include drug abuse screening in routine healthcare, and increase access to drug treatment programs. 

Why do we yawn?

As noted by Olivier Walusinski:

"Yawning is a stereotyped, and often repetitive, motor action characterised by gaping of the mouth accompanied by a long inspiration of breath, a brief acme, and then a short expiration of breath."

Yawning has been documented in broad range of vertebrate species -- even fish. It has been observed in 20-week old human fetuses. So it's a behavior with deep biological roots. But despite years of research, there is still controversy as to what function it serves. As Adrian Guggisberg and his colleagues have argued:

The only specific effect of yawning that could be demonstrated so far is its contagiousness in humans, some non-human primates, and possibly dogs, whereas all studies investigating physiological consequences of yawns were unable to observe specific yawn-induced effects in the individual of any species.

Some old physiological theories have been ruled out. For example, it was once proposed that yawning was a response to brain hypoxia (low oxygen levels). But when researchers subjected volunteers to different air mixtures to breathe -- containing differing levels of oxygen -- they found this had no effect on yawning frequency. Yawning can make your ears "pop," or adjust to changes in altitude. But so can swallowing, so it's not clear that yawning exists for this reason.

Three hypotheses still under scrutiny include the following:

(1) Yawning is a way to increase vigilance

Some researchers propose that physical movements associated with yawning compresses the  carotid body in the neck, which may then trigger the release of hormones that increase arousal and vigilance. The evidence, however, is mixed. One set of experiments show that people who yawn show the same changes (in skin conductance levels and brain waves) that are found in people who have consumed caffeine. But another experimental study failed to find such differences.

(2) Yawning cools the brain

Experiments on nonhuman animals suggest that yawning temporarily decreases core body temperature, and individuals yawn more when they suffer from medical conditions that cause elevated core body temperature. So some researchers speculate that the function of yawning is to lower body temperature and cool off the brain. But others, like Hanno Elo, are skeptical, arguing that yawning couldn't lower brain temperature unless it somehow induces water evaporation, something that hasn't yet been demonstrated.

(3) Yawning functions as a social signal

A variety of evidence shows that individuals are susceptible to "contagious yawning," responding to observing a yawn by yawning back. In human children, this reaction develops in conjunction with the emergence of "theory of mind," the ability to understand and distinguish the thoughts, motives, and feelings of other people.

There is also evidence that the power of social yawning depends on your relationship with the demonstrator. In both humans and chimpanzees, studies report that individuals are more likely to mirror a yawn when they have a close relationship with the yawner.

In one study of people from a variety of cultural backgrounds, researchers found that "the social bond had a strong significant effect on yawn contagion," with contagious yawning being the strongest between family members first, close friends second, acquaintances third, and strangers last.

If yawning is a social signal, what does the signal mean? One hypothesis is that it functions to tell others that you are shifting into a less aroused, more relaxed state (Liang et al 2015). This suggests that the spread of yawning through a group could represent the transmission of message that everyone is settling down to rest. But this, too, is subject to controversy. For instance, opponents of the hypothesis say it doesn't explain why people yawn frequently after awakening.

References

Gallup AC and Clark AB. 2015. Commentary: Yawning, acute stressors, and arousal reduction in Nazca booby adults and nestlings. Front. Psychol. 6: 1654.

Gupta S and Mittal S. 2013. Yawning and its physiological significance. Int J Appl Basic Med Res. 3(1): 11–15.

Guggisberg AG, Mathis J, Schnider A, Hess CW. 2011. Why do we yawn? The importance of evidence for specific yawn-induced effects. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 35(5):1302-4.

Liang AC, Grace JK, Tompkins EM, Anderson DJ. 2015. Yawning, acute stressors, and arousal reduction in Nazca booby adults and nestlings. Physiol Behav. 140:38-43.

Walusinski O. 2013.Why Do We Yawn? Past and Current Hypotheses In: Hypotheses in Clinical Medicine, M. Shoja and S. Agutter (eds).