Explanation for, "Oh, just my mother and father and uncle sitting around, talking. It's like being a pedestrian, only rarer. My uncle was arrested...

Toward the beginning of the novel, Montag and Clarisse walk by her home, and Montag notices that all the lights in her house are on. Montag, who finds it unusual to see that many lights on in a home, asks Clarisse what's going on. Clarisse responds by saying,

Oh, just my mother and father and uncle sitting around, talking. It's like being a pedestrian, only rarer. My uncle was arrested another time—did I tell you?—for...

Toward the beginning of the novel, Montag and Clarisse walk by her home, and Montag notices that all the lights in her house are on. Montag, who finds it unusual to see that many lights on in a home, asks Clarisse what's going on. Clarisse responds by saying,

Oh, just my mother and father and uncle sitting around, talking. It's like being a pedestrian, only rarer. My uncle was arrested another time—did I tell you?—for being a pedestrian. Oh, we're most peculiar" (Bradbury, 4).

In Bradbury's dystopian society, the authorities consider it a crime to be a pedestrian or engage in intellectual discussions, which is why Clarisse mentions that her uncle was arrested. Clarisse comes from a family that values the environment and authentic, insightful conversations about life. It is extremely rare to find a family that is not glued to their parlor walls or individually entertaining themselves. In Bradbury's dystopian society, family units are typically divided and dysfunctional. Simply being a pedestrian can get a person arrested and is considered suspicious activity. The dystopian society revolves around constant entertainment, consumerism, and ignorance. Ironically, Clarisse's family is portrayed as a compassionate and enlightened household, though the authorities of the dystopian society consider them a suspicious threat.

How is the community organized in The Giver?

In The Giver, the community is organized with the establishment of conditions that control the environment as well as the lives of the residents.

In this society, there are no geographical differences in the land, and the climate remains the same. Pain has been eliminated; behaviors and dress are regulated. In fact, Sameness, which is thought to eliminate competition and jealousy, as well as control emotions and mental attitudes, is achieved in various ways, such as through the use...

In The Giver, the community is organized with the establishment of conditions that control the environment as well as the lives of the residents.

In this society, there are no geographical differences in the land, and the climate remains the same. Pain has been eliminated; behaviors and dress are regulated. In fact, Sameness, which is thought to eliminate competition and jealousy, as well as control emotions and mental attitudes, is achieved in various ways, such as through the use of medication, counseling, and conditioning. The vocabulary of the people has been reduced to innocuous words so that no intense feelings may be expressed; instead, euphemistic words must be used. If someone does something that is against the rules, such as hurting another's feelings, he/she must apologize immediately. Everyone is required to follow all regulations. Should someone disobey the laws of the community for three times, he or she is then released, which is a process similar to euthanasia.

Almost no one sees color so that everything looks the same to everyone else; children are grouped by age, and each group does something in the same way. For instance, girls of one age all wear their hair the same way, and all children get bicycles when they are nine, etc. At age eleven, the children finally get more gender-specific clothing. When all the children reach the age of twelve, they are assigned their life vocations. For instance, Jonas, the main character, has a father who is a Nurturer, and it is his job to care for infants. Some girls are picked as breeders because men and women take pills for their "stirrings" (sexual urges), and they are not able to reproduce. Couples are permitted to have only one girl and one boy.

The highest position goes to only one person. This individual is selected to be the Giver. He or she is the one chosen to carry the memories of all that has been removed from the community since at certain times such knowledge is needed. While there is some interaction with other communities, generally, there is a fear of what lies in the place called Elsewhere.

What superstition is mentioned in the story?

In "The Black Cat," a short story by famed horror writer Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator realizes that his mental health is quickly deteriorating.  Though he bears witness to his own descent into madness, he feels powerless to stop it. As in all of Poe's stories, we know close to nothing about the narrator/main character, save that something or someone is torturing him.

In this case, it appears to be a black cat, which he...

In "The Black Cat," a short story by famed horror writer Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator realizes that his mental health is quickly deteriorating.  Though he bears witness to his own descent into madness, he feels powerless to stop it. As in all of Poe's stories, we know close to nothing about the narrator/main character, save that something or someone is torturing him.

In this case, it appears to be a black cat, which he fixates on and imagines to be the reincarnation of his previous pet, a cat named Pluto that he irrationally and perversely murdered in a furious rage when he imagined the cat was avoiding him. In fact, the new cat looks exactly like the one that he murdered, save for a white spot on his chest; He is even missing one eye, just as his old cat. It seems to him that the cat has come back . . . perhaps to seek revenge for its untimely death?  

By writing another cat into the story, Poe seems to be drawing from the old superstition of a cat having nine lives. His wife also makes allusions to the fact that cats are supposed to be the reincarnation of witches; to her, they have an otherworldly power. In fact, the name Pluto could even be a reference to the god of the underworld.

This only seems to exacerbate the narrator's suspicion and distrust of the cat. For example, immediately after the narrator cut the eye from his beloved pet Pluto and then hung him from a tree, his house burned to the ground the next day, leaving only a wall with the outline of a cat with a noose around its neck.  The narrator of course tries to rationalize this away but can’t help superstitiously believing that this was an act of revenge for what he had done to the cat.

In addition to that, when the new cat runs across his path, a reference to another superstition about cats being bad luck, he imagines that it’s trying to trip him.  He picks up an axe to kill the cat and accidentally kills his wife instead. He believes that he just needs to get rid of both the body and the cat in order to finally be able to rest peacefully, ironically not realizing how deep into madness he has sunk. When the police discover the body walled up inside the house, the cat is sitting on top of it, a perfect symbol of retribution for the acts committed by the husband. 

According to Faber, how has religion changed? Is it a good change? Why?

According to Faber, religion has changed significantly. Jesus, for example, has become part of the family on the parlor walls, and the Christian message has changed, too:

He's a regular peppermint stick now, all sugar-crystal and saccharine when he isn't making veiled references to certain commercial products that every worshipper absolutely needs.

In other words, the message of Christianity has been hijacked by advertisers who use religion to sell more of their products. The moral...

According to Faber, religion has changed significantly. Jesus, for example, has become part of the family on the parlor walls, and the Christian message has changed, too:

He's a regular peppermint stick now, all sugar-crystal and saccharine when he isn't making veiled references to certain commercial products that every worshipper absolutely needs.

In other words, the message of Christianity has been hijacked by advertisers who use religion to sell more of their products. The moral essence of religion, therefore, has been removed and replaced by materialism and entertainment.

In Faber's opinion, this is a negative change. He wonders, for example, if God would even recognize Jesus. He has been hijacked by the media and given a commercial value.

For Faber, this negative change to religion goes hand in hand with censorship. Just as the media and the government have destroyed education and learning, they have also destroyed religious morality and the concept of piety.

How was the stable buck injured in Of Mice and Men?

Crooks is the name of the ranch's stable buck. In Chapter 2, Candy tells George that the boss was upset they did not show up to work in the morning. He says the boss gave the stable buck hell. George then asks why the boss would give the stable buck hell, and Candy tells him the stable buck is a Negro. Candy goes on to tell George that the stable buck was injured after a...

Crooks is the name of the ranch's stable buck. In Chapter 2, Candy tells George that the boss was upset they did not show up to work in the morning. He says the boss gave the stable buck hell. George then asks why the boss would give the stable buck hell, and Candy tells him the stable buck is a Negro. Candy goes on to tell George that the stable buck was injured after a horse kicked him and gave him a crooked back. Candy then tells George that Crooks is a nice man who usually keeps to himself and reads a lot. Later in the novella, Lennie enters Crooks's room, which is segregated from the bunkhouse because he is black. Crooks is a lonely man who attempts to pick on Lennie about George not returning to the ranch. After Lennie physically threatens him, Crooks stop picking on him and listens as Lennie tells him about owning their own home.

What is a summary of each chapter of "A Jar of Dreams" by Yoshiko Uchida?

Chapters 1–2

In these two chapters, we are introduced to Rinko Tsujimura and her family, which consists of her father (Papa, Shintaro), mother (Mama), older brother (Cal), younger brother (Joji), mother's sister (Aunt Waka), and Joji's dog (Maxwell). The story begins with Rinko coming home to a messy kitchen one summer's day. Her mother, a maid, is out cleaning Mrs. Phillip's house. Rinko is shocked because her mother never leaves the kitchen dirty. In the midst of the mess, Rinko discovers a letter from her Aunt Waka. 

Because it is written in Japanese characters, Rinko cannot read it. She takes the letter to her father. Her father, a barber, hopes to be a mechanic someday. He translates the letter for her and tells her that her Aunt Waka is coming to stay with them for the summer. Aunt Waka is a widow; her husband died of tuberculosis and her young son of dysentery. To make room for Aunt Waka, Rinko learns that she will probably move into her brother's room as soon as Cal leaves for his summer job in Stockton. In these chapters, we are also briefly introduced to Mrs. Sugar, Rinko's favorite neighbor, and Wilbur Starr, the owner of Starr Laundry. Rinko does not like Mr. Starr because he is racist.

Chapters 3–4

Rinko discovers that Papa is more than five months late on his barber shop rent payments. He risks eviction if he doesn't pay up. The family is distressed, and Cal offers to send home all the money from his summer job in Stockton. Rinko's father rejects the idea, stating that Cal needs the money for college. Mama suggests starting a home laundry. Although the rest of the family is initially less than enthusiastic, they eventually decide to give her idea a try.

When Rinko mentions Mama's idea to Mrs. Sugar, the elderly lady offers the family her old washing machine for the project. The washer doesn't work, but Papa is able to fix it up. He also builds a counter for sorting the clothes and a chute to facilitate the delivery of the laundry bundles down to the basement.

What do you think would be the right thing for Officer Colon to do in this situation? Based upon what moral principles did you arrive at this...

Officer Richard Colon, as described in the preface to the question, is a rookie, or first-year officer, on the police department of a major metropolitan city. As a rookie, he is highly susceptible to pressure from his superiors to fit in to the culture of the organization for which he works. In the scenario provided--Officer Colon is witness to suspicious activity that turns out to involve a superior and probably revered officer--the moral quandary is clear but more than a little complicated for Officer Colon.

Serving in any police department can, under certain circumstances, prove potentially deadly for officers who find themselves confronted by tradition and unwritten codes of conduct that require such individuals to back each other up both procedurally and morally. Filing a complaint against a fellow officer or testifying during a criminal proceeding against a fellow officer can result in the "honest" officer being ostracized within his or her department. Ostracism under such circumstances is more serious than simply being ignored or treated with open contempt by one's coworkers. It can, in fact, prove fatal. Police officers who are ostracized within their departments will often find the back-up they request under especially stressful situations--situations involving a risk to one's life--ignored or treated contemptuously (i.e., fellow officers will be slow to respond to the request for back-up by an officer they hold in contempt). 

This, then, is the context in which one must assess the situation of Officer Colon in the scenario provided. He is witness to gross misconduct on the part of a high-ranking officer, Captain Brady, as well as by another high-ranking officer, Lieutenant DiLacqua--the latter serving in a direct supervisory role over Officer Colon. In the context of an academic exercise, choosing the correct course of action in this case is very simple. Officer Colon must act ethically, meaning he must write and submit up his chain of command a report accurately and thoroughly conveying everything he observed since he first witnessed the damaged vehicle being driven by a yet-to-be-identified individual. Officer Colon's first and most important responsibility is to the city he serves--not to unethical colleagues or superiors. The scenario provided makes very clear that Captain Brady was acting unprofessionally and, more importantly, illegally. He was unprofessional in allowing himself to become publicly intoxicated. He transgressed the laws by driving under that condition and by leaving the scene of the accident in which he was involved. Even had Brady been an innocent party to the traffic accident, he was legally required to remain at the scene of the accident and ensure that the other driver had his name, address and insurance information.

Officer Colon must, as noted, report, in writing, exactly what he observed, and how he reacted to the situation. That report must include the actions of the other officers involved, including his supervisor, Lieutenant DiLacqua, who acted criminally and unethically, as well as Captain Brady. This is both a legal and moral imperative.

The "moral principles" that are at issue here involve simple human decency as well as the requirement and expectation of law enforcement officers that they act in the interest of the communities they serve and in accordance with the laws they are sworn to enforce. No civilization can survive that chooses to endure the subversion of its laws by those sworn to enforce those laws. When prospective law enforcement officers are training for their careers in law enforcement, the centrality of the mission of enforcing the laws of the jurisdiction in which they will function is strongly emphasized. Upon graduation from a law enforcement academy and before beginning their first patrols on city streets, they take an oath to protect the communities they will serve and to enforce laws impartially and professionally. Officer Colon's responsibilities were clear. That he was placed in an untenable situation speaks ill of his superiors.