What is an example of a lesson Holling learns in Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars?

Holling learns multiple lessons throughout Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars. The more Holling learns about Shakespeare, the more Holling is able to apply Shakespeare's lessons to his own life. One of the early lessons Holling learns concerns Shakespeare's characterization of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Holling realizes that Shylock isn't actually a true villain; he's a product of his environment. Holling is then later able to apply the lesson to better understand his own father.

The very first play Holling reads with Mrs. Baker is The Merchant of Venice. When Mrs. Baker asks Holling about his thoughts on Shylock, Holling notes that Shylock "isn't really a villain" in the proper sense because Shylock is "[s]omeone who wants to become who he's supposed to be," but he is prevented by society around him ("November"). Members of society have "decided he had to be a certain way, and he was trapped. He couldn't be anything except for what he was" ("November").

Later, in February, he begins reading Romeo and Juliet with Mrs. Baker. During this same month, he asks Meryl Lee Kowalski out on a Valentine's Day date. Meryl Lee's father is the owner of Kowalski and Associates, the architecture firm Holling's own father is competing against for the contract to design the new junior high school. After their date, while waiting for Mr. Kowalski to pick them up, Holling and Meryl Lee enter a friendly, relaxed conversation about the amount of work their fathers are putting into their designs for the school. Holling feels so comfortable with Meryl Lee that he draws her a picture of his father's modern design. Unfortunately, when he attends the school board meeting with his father, he witnesses Mr. Kowalski showcase Mr. Hoodhood's design as if it was his own. At first, Holling feels betrayed by Meryl Lee but comes to believe she is innocent and that her own father had betrayed her. When Mr. Kowalski withdraws his design, leaving the contract in Mr. Hoodhood's hands, Holling witnesses his father be jubilant, even jubilant about the fact that Kowalski and Associates, the livelihood of Holling's dear friend's father, is likely to go out of business. Having read The Merchant of Venice, Holling is able to reflect that his father, like Shylock, is not necessarily power hungry because he's money hungry. Instead, like Shylock, his father may behave like a power-hungry animal because he believes it is what society expects of him:

I suddenly wondered if my father was really like Shylock. Not because he loved ducats, but because he had become the person that everyone expected him to become. I wondered if he had ever had a choice, or if he had ever felt trapped. Or if he had ever imagined a different life. ("February")

Associating his father with Shylock helps Holling better understand his father, to see him as less of a villain and as more of a person trapped by circumstances and society's expectations. Hence, reading The Merchant of Venice served as a good lesson that taught Holling a new perspective and a new understanding of those who appear to be villains. Later, because of his lesson from The Merchant of Venice, Holling even stands up to his father by saying that to become a man is to choose whom you want to be.

How do the witch trials in The Crucible empower some individuals who were previously powerless? Is it possible that the situation that happened in...

Throughout the Puritan town of Salem, young women were expected to be obedient, quiet, and God-fearing. Living in a society where males were culturally and economically dominant, young females were essentially powerless. Abigail Williams is the niece of Reverend Parris and is treated as an afterthought before the witch trials begin. She is dismissed from working at John Proctor's home and lives in the shadow of her uncle. Mary Warren is another young girl who...

Throughout the Puritan town of Salem, young women were expected to be obedient, quiet, and God-fearing. Living in a society where males were culturally and economically dominant, young females were essentially powerless. Abigail Williams is the niece of Reverend Parris and is treated as an afterthought before the witch trials begin. She is dismissed from working at John Proctor's home and lives in the shadow of her uncle. Mary Warren is another young girl who goes unnoticed throughout the community before the witch trials begin. However, both characters find prestige and influence by accusing others of witchcraft. Abigail is the ringleader of the group of girls that are accusing citizens of witchcraft. She is respected by the judges and enjoys the power of manipulating Salem's community. Mary Warren also enjoys her position as an official of the court. She even brags to John Proctor at the beginning of Act Two about the importance of her position. Abigail, who was somewhat of a social outcast, and Mary Warren, a timid young girl, both are empowered by their positions in the Salem court.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that a situation similar to the events that transpired in Salem would happen in today's society. Arthur Miller's play was inspired by the second Red Scare, which was when Senator Joseph McCarthy falsely accused many citizens of having communist ties. Miller explores the concept of hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts, which parallels McCarthy's 1950s communist "witch-hunt." Although citizens would probably not be accused of witchcraft in today's society, it is possible that hysteria could result in false confessions from innocent individuals. The government could utilize propaganda to stir American citizens into a state of hysteria and create a situation where innocent individuals are forced to falsely accuse their neighbors of various crimes.

Why does Roger wash his face instead of running in "Thank You Ma'am"?

In Langston Hughes' short story "Thank You M'am," a teen boy named Roger attempts to steal the purse of a large lady named Mrs. Jones. Roger claims that he is stealing the purse because he would like to buy some "blue suede shoes." Like most teens, Roger is obviously very much aware of how he appears to the world and wearing such trendy shoes would make him seem worldly and important rather than poor and...

In Langston Hughes' short story "Thank You M'am," a teen boy named Roger attempts to steal the purse of a large lady named Mrs. Jones. Roger claims that he is stealing the purse because he would like to buy some "blue suede shoes." Like most teens, Roger is obviously very much aware of how he appears to the world and wearing such trendy shoes would make him seem worldly and important rather than poor and insignificant. His unsuccessful attempt at stealing the purse leads to the unforeseen events which follow. Instead of hauling him off to the police, Mrs. Jones drags Roger to her modest apartment, insisting that he wash his face. When they get inside the "large kitchenette furnished room" Mrs. Jones leaves the door open while pointing to the sink where the boy can wash.

The boy quickly contemplates his choices: "Roger looked at the door—looked at the woman—looked at the door—and went to the sink." For possibly the first time in his life someone is actually taking an interest him. It is a crucial point in the story and a crucial point in Roger's life. Had he run, he may have been committed to a life of crime and never again accepted the overtures of friendship which Mrs. Jones is now offering. He very much wants to be acknowledged and cared for. It was a principal reason why he was willing to steal in order to buy a pair of flashy shoes. He admits that there is no one at home at his house and, when Mrs. Jones tells him she will share her dinner with him, he becomes even more willing to please her even though he has ample opportunity to run. Because Mrs. Jones has treated him as a human being Roger is motivated to prove that he is worthy of her kindness and trust:

The woman got up and went behind the screen. The woman did not watch the boy to see if he was going to run now, nor did she watch her purse which she left behind her on the daybed. But the boy took care to sit on the far side of the room where he thought she could easily see him out of the corner of her eye, if she wanted to. He did not trust the woman not to trust him. And he did not want to be mistrusted now.

How does Arthur Conan Doyle present the character of Thaddeus Sholto?

Thaddeus Sholto is an eccentric, complex, fearful, and rather unpleasant person whose actions set the story in motion. Initially, he is guilty of conspiring to keep a fortune away from its rightful heir, Miss Morstan—a young woman who must struggle to make a living. Yet his conscience bothers him enough to secretly and anonymously send her a kind of guilt-payment each year—a package containing a valuable pearl. He finally sends a mysterious summons to Miss Morstan, which prompts her to seek Sherlock Holmes's advice.

In addition, when the murder is discovered in Chapter V, Thaddeus is intimately connected with it. The dead man is Thaddeus's twin brother and fellow heir to the creepy estate of Pondicherry Lodge. The police arrest him for the crime.

So Thaddeus is important to the plot, but there is more: His introduction to the reader also foreshadows many of the key themes of the novel—selfishness, greed, dishonor, betrayal, revenge, and making amends. Conan Doyle presents the character in a way that creates a sense of mystery and the grotesque, and prepares us for the dark events that occur later.

First, there is what we learn before we meet Thaddeus Sholto. The pearls he sends anonymously suggest a guilty conscience, and his procedures are furtive. The written messages that accompany the packages are written in variety of different disguised hands, but Holmes can tell the same person is behind them all. The final summons sent to Miss Morstan is written on expensive paper, suggesting wealth. And Holmes—applying his 19th century principles of handwriting analysis—tells Watson that the handwriting suggests the writer is a man of weak character.

This mixture of eccentricity, wealth, and furtiveness is repeated again in the description of Thaddeus's home. When Miss Morstan, Holmes, and Watson finally arrive at his residence, it at first seems a disreputable and sinister place:

"We followed [the servant] down a sordid and common passage, ill lit and worse furnished, until he came to a door upon the right, which he threw open."

Then they encounter Sholto himself, amidst a strange collection of rich furnishings:

"We were all astonished by the appearance of the apartment into which he invited us. In that sorry house it looked as out of place as a diamond of the first water in a setting of brass. The richest and glossiest of curtains and tapestries draped the walls…Two great tiger-skins thrown athwart it increased the suggestion of Eastern luxury....A lamp in the fashion of a silver dove was hung from an almost invisible golden wire in the centre of the room. As it burned it filled the air with a subtle and aromatic odor."

And we are given a glimpse at the unattractive physical appearance and nervous manner of Sholto:

"…[A] small man with a very high head, a bristle of red hair all round the fringe of it, and a bald, shining scalp which shot out from among it like a mountain-peak from fir-trees. He writhed his hands together as he stood, and his features were in a perpetual jerk, now smiling, now scowling, but never for an instant in repose. Nature had given him a pendulous lip, and a too visible line of yellow and irregular teeth, which he strove feebly to conceal by constantly passing his hand over the lower part of his face. In spite of his obtrusive baldness, he gave the impression of youth."

We are also presented with immediate evidence that Sholto is a hypochondriac, and rather self-involved. He asks Dr. Watson to listen to his heart because he has "grave doubts as to my mitral valve." When Watson assures him that his heart sounds normal, he makes this insensitive remark to Miss Morstan:

"Had your father, Miss Morstan, refrained from throwing a strain upon his heart, he might have been alive now."  

This outrages Watson and upsets Miss Morstan. Before Sholto's comment, she hadn't known for certain if her father was dead or alive, and Sholto must have realized this.

So Conan Doyle presents Sholto in an unflattering light, and one that speaks to the moral complexity and dark themes of the novel.

How can you explain the Magic Realism in the novel Dreaming in Cuban?

The novel Dreaming in Cubanby Cristina Garcia uses magical realism as a tool to empower the characters via their experience of supernatural incidents. Magical realism also helps the characters communicate wordlessly with each other and with those who have passed. Members of the Del Pino family are able to communicate with relatives in distant lands through a form of telepathy. At times, they are even able to uncover information that had been kept secret. For...

The novel Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia uses magical realism as a tool to empower the characters via their experience of supernatural incidents. Magical realism also helps the characters communicate wordlessly with each other and with those who have passed. Members of the Del Pino family are able to communicate with relatives in distant lands through a form of telepathy. At times, they are even able to uncover information that had been kept secret. For example, this is apparent in conversations that Pilar has with Celia and Cuba in her mind, regardless of the distance that separates them. This form of celestial communication exists not just among the living; it also works between the living and the dead. Celia has a vision of her dead husband Jorge walking towards her on water, and while she cannot understand him completely, unconscious communication does take place.

In The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, how does Bruno's sister change from the beginning of the story?

The way that Bruno's sister, Gretel, embraces Nazism is one way she changes throughout the story.  

When we are first introduced to Gretel, she is excited about dolls and seems to embody the tendencies of a typical child.  In her role as the "hopeless case," the relationship she shares with Bruno fits the profile of the occasional antagonism between brother and sister.  

She changes with the family's move to Auschwitz.  She starts to...

The way that Bruno's sister, Gretel, embraces Nazism is one way she changes throughout the story.  

When we are first introduced to Gretel, she is excited about dolls and seems to embody the tendencies of a typical child.  In her role as the "hopeless case," the relationship she shares with Bruno fits the profile of the occasional antagonism between brother and sister.  

She changes with the family's move to Auschwitz.  She starts to fervently embrace Nazi ideology.  Hitler Youth posters fill the walls of her room as she deems her doll collection as infantile.  She views Nazism as a way to gain popularity and social acceptance.  She becomes more concerned with appearances, as seen in her idolizing Lieutenant Kotler.   Gretel's approach to the world changes because she sees Nazism as a path to social acceptance and popularity.

The changes that Gretel experiences are representative of how seductive Nazism was to the German public.  Her changes highlight how people can find social inclusion alluring.  Gretel's changes translates to an unwillingness to see the pain and suffering which were the results of Nazism.  

One more change in Gretel is seen when Bruno goes missing.  She is moved by the loss of her brother.  Despite her embrace of Nazism, she goes back with her mother to Berlin.  Perhaps, this change reminds the reader that no matter what, many could not fully avoid the cruelty and savagery intrinsic to Nazism. Gretel's departure from Auschwitz and the sadness she felt at Bruno's absence shows that, despite her changes, Nazism did not completely erode her sense of decency.

Having read An American Genocide by Benjamin Madley, how might acknowledging the reality of United States history help to transform your...

Your question can be answered from more than one perspective. For instance, for those whose ancestors were already in America between 1846 and 1873, especially in California during those dates, there is a great potential for a transformation of understanding identity, community, group, others and history. While for those whose ancestors came to America after those dates the potential for transformed sense of self and community is, it seems, both less and different, although the...

Your question can be answered from more than one perspective. For instance, for those whose ancestors were already in America between 1846 and 1873, especially in California during those dates, there is a great potential for a transformation of understanding identity, community, group, others and history. While for those whose ancestors came to America after those dates the potential for transformed sense of self and community is, it seems, both less and different, although the potential for a transformed sense of others and of history seems equally great.

As one instance to consider for an example, both my maternal and paternal ancestors came to America in 1907 (pure coincidence), and while, as a first-generation American, I don't feel a shift in my identity, I do feel a new sense of shame, regret and sorrow over the events Madley reveals as having been foundational to the existence of my home state of California. My sense of community, though not transformed, is jolted since some of the questions I've had since high school about Central California Indians have found such unsettling answers.

Madley might suggest the important transformation is toward a view and toward actions that accord with the 1948 U.N. Genocide Convention that defines genocide and details genocidal crimes. He might suggest that our transformations in our perceptions of self, community, others and history should help us to answer the questions raised by his discussion of "intent to destroy a group" in California and to demonstrate our commitment to deciding honestly on the issues of apology and reparation.

   Genocide, however, is more than an academic concept. It is a crime defined by an international legal treaty and subsequent case law. On December 9, 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the UN Genocide Convention and its genocide definition "unanimously and without abstentions." ... [It has been] signed or acceded to by 147 nations and is supported and further defined as a legal instrument ....