Describe the person vs person conflict between Squeaky and Gretchen. How does it start, what does it involve, and how is it resolved in end of story?

Squeaky and Gretchen are rivals. As such, there is a powerful urge in each girl to be the best in what she does so that she can feel superior to the other. But their rivalry is ended by an impressive run by Raymond.

When Squeaky and her brother Raymond "stroll" down Broadway as she does her breathing exercises, they encounter Gretchen and "her sidekicks," Mary Louise, a former friend of Squeaky's, and Rosie. 

So they...

Squeaky and Gretchen are rivals. As such, there is a powerful urge in each girl to be the best in what she does so that she can feel superior to the other. But their rivalry is ended by an impressive run by Raymond.

When Squeaky and her brother Raymond "stroll" down Broadway as she does her breathing exercises, they encounter Gretchen and "her sidekicks," Mary Louise, a former friend of Squeaky's, and Rosie. 

So they are steady coming up Broadway and I see right away that it's going to be one of those Dodge City scenes....

Squeaky suggests that there is going to be a confrontation. As the girls approach Squeaky, they slow down. Squeaky is ready to fight, but Mary Louise only asks Squeaky if she is going to sign up for the May Day races. Rosie offers a challenge as she suggests that Squeaky will not win. But Squeaky will not be intimidated. She responds, "I always win cause I'm the best."

When May Day arrives, Squeaky takes her time getting to the park since the track meet is the last thing on the program for the day. When she does arrive, Squeaky looks around for her rival, Gretchen. Mr. Pearson, who pins the numbers on the competitors, taunts Squeaky, "That new girl should give you a run for your money." Then as he starts to suggest that Squeaky allow Gretchen to win, he abruptly stops and does not finish his sentence, because Squeaky gives him a threatening look. Angrily, she pins her number onto her shirt and stretches out on the grass. She sees Gretchen at the starting line. As the race begins, Squeaky passes many of the runners. She sees Gretchen with her chin out. At the same time, Squeaky notices her brother Raymond running on the outside of the fence. Suddenly, she realizes that Raymond "would make a very fine runner." This sudden thought distracts Squeaky from her intense competition with Gretchen. Instead, she describes her new mood:

And I'm smiling to beat the band cause if I've lost this race, or if me and Gretchen tied, or even if I've won, I can always retire as a runner and begin a whole new career as a coach with Raymond as my champion.

This new realization about her brother's talent distracts Squeaky from her rivalry with Gretchen. When she wins, Squeaky jumps up and down, but her elation is because of Raymond's impressive running. No longer so concerned about Gretchen, Squeaky smiles at her rival, who wins second place. Gretchen responds to Squeaky's smile by nodding to her. "We stand there with this big smile of respect between us." Their relationship improves to a real friendship. 

what's the significance of the marksmanship differences between Dwight and Rosemary?

Rosemary joins a local rifle club and soon shows herself to be a pretty good shot. She even starts performing well in competitions. Dwight, on the other hand, is still no good with a gun. Like the proverbial bad workman blaming his tools, he blames his lack of shooting prowess on defective weapons. But even buying new guns makes no difference. Dwight is still a lousy shot.

The differences in skill between Dwight and Rosemary...

Rosemary joins a local rifle club and soon shows herself to be a pretty good shot. She even starts performing well in competitions. Dwight, on the other hand, is still no good with a gun. Like the proverbial bad workman blaming his tools, he blames his lack of shooting prowess on defective weapons. But even buying new guns makes no difference. Dwight is still a lousy shot.

The differences in skill between Dwight and Rosemary generate considerable conflict in their marriage. Dwight is an abusive husband and father––a lying, cheating alcoholic with almost no redeeming features. He's very much of the old school when it comes to manliness; he cannot stand the fact that his wife should be so much better than him at anything, especially a traditionally male pursuit like shooting. Rosemary's success is perceived by Dwight as a threat to his masculinity and the iron grip he maintains over the household. 

What is the meaning of the theme, "To take care of other people, we first need to take care of ourselves" as it relates to the short story, "The...

The narrator of "The Leap" states that she owes her continued existence to her mother three times. If her mother were not in great physical condition, the narrator would not be alive.

The first time that the narrator owes her existence to her mother is, of course, her birth.
If Anna Avalon had not saved herself from falling when lightning hit the main circus pole, the narrator would never have been born. Anna was in great physical condition, and as she was falling from the collapse of the circus tent, she twisted her body toward one of the wires that was sizzling from the lightning that had run down it. She grabbed this wire and saved her life. 

The second time the narrator owes her existence to her mother began while her mother recuperated in the hospital from her burns and accidental breaking of her arm by one of the men who rescued her. While Anna was in this hospital, she fell in love with her attending physician, who was a specialist in complicated breaks. He fell in love with Anna and taught her to read. Because of her healthy nature, Anna healed and became pregnant with her daughter, the narrator. 

The third time the narrator owes her existence to her mother's health and great conditioning and talent because her mother rescued her from a fire when there was no way to reach the girl. Trapped upstairs in her bedroom with the fire climbing the stairs to her room, the narrator feared for her life. 

The babysitter, who had been asleep, awoke to call the authorities, and ran outside the girl's window. Volunteers drew water from the fire pond and sprayed the outside of the house. They were going to try to reach the narrator, but they did not know there was only one stairway, which was already lost to the fire.

Truly, there was no one who could have saved the child but her acrobatic mother. She took off her clothes and, in her bra and girdle, climbed a ladder to balance on a branch and leaped onto the roof of the house. Then she hung upside down by the backs of her heels as only a trapeze artist could. Next, she called to her daughter to open the window and make sure it stayed open because she would come inside. She then swung down with ease and crawled into the window to grab her daughter. Together they leaped gracefully onto the fireman's net. 

Without doubt, Anna Avalon's having taken care of herself allows her to give birth to her daughter and care for her in ways almost no one else could.

Was Genghis Khan good or evil?

Genghis Khan was the founder of the Mongol Empire that united many tribes of Northeast Asia that went on to conquer Eurasia.

In his conquests, he perpetrated some of the worst atrocities against the people he fought, which included massacres of entire civilian populations. His campaigns were marked by an extreme brutality that resulted in millions of deaths and the displacement of large groups of people.

However, he remained a meritocratic ruler and studied different...

Genghis Khan was the founder of the Mongol Empire that united many tribes of Northeast Asia that went on to conquer Eurasia.

In his conquests, he perpetrated some of the worst atrocities against the people he fought, which included massacres of entire civilian populations. His campaigns were marked by an extreme brutality that resulted in millions of deaths and the displacement of large groups of people.

However, he remained a meritocratic ruler and studied different religions. He allowed people to practice their religions and allowed diversity within his administration. His leadership ensured the continued growth of the Mongol Empire. He is also credited with the unity he forged among the different North Asian tribes. His efforts ensured stability in the religion and helped secure the Silk Road, which was essential for trade and communication.

Use these facts to evaluate whether you think Genghis Khan was good or evil.

In Bartleby, the Scrivener, what is Nippers like? Compared to Turkey, when is he a good worker? What does Bartleby's life edict ("I would prefer...

Nippers and Turkey together form a kind of "clock" that marks the passage of the work day. Turkey is an older man who is an admirable worker in the morning, but, once dinner is done at 12, becomes more and more red-faced and passionate about his copying work -- to the point of making many mistakes:

The difficulty was, he was apt to be altogether too energetic. There was a strange, inflamed, flurried, flighty recklessness of activity about him. He would be incautious in dipping his pen into his inkstand. All his blots upon my documents, were dropped there after twelve o’clock, meridian.

The suggestion is that Turkey is red-faced in the afternoons because he has been drinking. The "red-ink" Nippers says he spends all his money on is probably liquor.

Nippers, on the other hand, is younger, more ambitious, yet prone to indigestion. Nippers, unlike Turkey, isn't a drinker, but his impatience with being a mere scrivener, coupled with his morning indigestion, makes him extremely irritable in the mornings:

Though concerning the self-indulgent habits of Turkey I had my own private surmises, yet touching Nippers I was well persuaded that whatever might be his faults in other respects, he was, at least, a temperate young man. But indeed, nature herself seemed to have been his vintner, and at his birth charged him so thoroughly with an irritable, brandy-like disposition, that all subsequent potations were needless. When I consider how, amid the stillness of my chambers, Nippers would sometimes impatiently rise from his seat, and stooping over his table, seize the whole desk, and move it, and jerk it, with a grim, grinding motion on the floor, as if the table were a perverse voluntary agent, intent on thwarting and vexing him; I plainly perceive that for Nippers, brandy and water were altogether superfluous.

Turkey does his best work in the mornings; Nippers calms down in the afternoons. Between the two of them, the lawyer is able to get a full day's work. It is, as he says, "a good natural arrangement under the circumstances."

Bartleby, of course, is a different story. Whereas Turkey and Nippers obey a sort of natural law, each having their own time for working, Bartleby works (or doesn't) whenever he wishes. His mantra of "I would prefer not to" can be understood in many ways. It is, of course, an outright refusal to work; but it can also be understood as a determination to take life on his own terms, come what may. It may be that ultimately what Bartleby "prefers not" to do is to be trapped in the mundane existence of people like Turkey and Nippers.

Why did Nathaniel Bacon believe his rebellion against the rulers of the Virginia Colony was justified?

Nathaniel Bacon's crusade was an indictment of the entire headright and indentured servitude systems.  With tobacco cultivation appearing to save the Virginia colony, wealthy planters wanted to take advantage of the strong market for tobacco.  The problem was that they did not have enough laborers for expanded production of the cash crop.  The headright system was an unfair exploitation of the working class.  Wealthy English aristocrats could pay for an indentured servant's trip to Virginia...

Nathaniel Bacon's crusade was an indictment of the entire headright and indentured servitude systems.  With tobacco cultivation appearing to save the Virginia colony, wealthy planters wanted to take advantage of the strong market for tobacco.  The problem was that they did not have enough laborers for expanded production of the cash crop.  The headright system was an unfair exploitation of the working class.  Wealthy English aristocrats could pay for an indentured servant's trip to Virginia and the aristocrat would be rewarded with large tracts of land.  The indentured servant received little or nothing after the term of service was complete.  Looking for opportunities, the impoverished freemen headed to the west and the frontier where they intruded on Indian lands and were met with violence.  The governor, William Berkely needed the Indians as an ally in his lucrative fur-trading activities and was unwilling to protect the settlers from Indian attack.  Berkely believed this entire system to be unjust.  He also was angry that the freedmen were now paying taxes and not receiving adequate protection from the government they were paying taxes to.  

What does McCarthyism mean?

McCarthyism refers to the time period in the early 1950s when Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin claimed there were communists in all levels of our government.

After World War II ended, fears arose that the communists had infiltrated our government. Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury. When Igor Gouzenko defected to Canada, he said that communists were trying to infiltrate our and Canada’s government. The Loyalty Review Program, which was developed to determine if government employees...

McCarthyism refers to the time period in the early 1950s when Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin claimed there were communists in all levels of our government.

After World War II ended, fears arose that the communists had infiltrated our government. Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury. When Igor Gouzenko defected to Canada, he said that communists were trying to infiltrate our and Canada’s government. The Loyalty Review Program, which was developed to determine if government employees were loyal to our country, led to some people losing their jobs.

Senator McCarthy began to hold hearings to investigate these concerns. He intimidated and bullied witnesses. He would wave a handful of papers in his hand, claiming he had the names of many people who were communist or who supported the communists. People were afraid to challenge him because he would claim they also were communist. This could ruin a person’s reputation.

When McCarthy claimed there were communists in the army, an attorney for the army challenged him. This attorney asked McCarthy if he had any sense of decency. Many Americans turned on Senator McCarthy. They saw how he operated when the hearings were televised, and they weren’t pleased with his tactics. Eventually, the Senate censured him. His power had been broken.