Notes: October 2017

Tuesday 31 October 2017

What is the specific theme of James Joyce's short story "After the Race"?

When I first read James Joyce's Dubliners, I found the short story "After the Race" to be the most difficult to understand. Indeed, I actually found it boring, initially. However, after reading it a few times over the years, I've actually found "After the Race" to be a subtly complex and intriguing story. Overall, one of the main themes of the story is the illusion of wealth and promise contrasted with a reality devoid of...

In general, "After the Race" takes place after an exciting automobile race that the main characters recently participated in. Additionally, it becomes apparent that the main character, Jimmy Doyle, has recently agreed to invest a sizable sum into a business venture with one of his "friends" from Cambridge. Though Doyle comes from a wealthy family, Joyce reveals that Doyle is not financially responsible and is prone to wild living.

Throughout the story, Joyce crafts an exuberant air of excitement. Beginning with a celebratory dinner in the heart of Dublin, the four friends carouse through the night, eating, drinking, and toasting to the future. They eventually end up in Kingstown (now called Dun Laoghaire), a neighborhood out on the southern fringe of the city. After a night of disastrous gambling at the card table, Doyle ends up drunk, exhausted, and broke. By the end of the story, therefore, it's clear that Joyce is signaling the lack of hope for his protagonist. While Doyle may assume everything will work out in his favor, it's clear that he is hopeless with money and is bound to run into some serious financial hardships at best.

The fact that this realization happens in Kingstown is significant. While the bulk of the story's excitement occurs in central Dublin, the reality of Doyle's doom occurs in the outskirts of the city, far from the proper, "civilized" hub of the capital. As such, Doyle's geographical location acts as a physical personification of his prospects: instead of having hope in an exciting city humming with action and wealth, Doyle is doomed to a life of obscurity far away from the prosperous center of commerce.

Monday 30 October 2017

In A Christmas Carol, what is the fair young girl in the mourning dress saying to Scrooge?

In The Christmas Carol, the fair young woman in the mourning dress is Belle, Scrooge's former fiance.

Scrooge receives a glimpse of the past when the ghost of Christmas Past leads him through many pertinent scenes during his younger years. When he sees the scene of himself with the beautiful Belle, his heart is broken. In the scene, Belle is breaking off her engagement to Scrooge. She tells him that she has been replaced in his affections by avarice and greed. She asserts that it is the prospect of gain which encapsulates his whole existence now, to the exclusion of everything else, even her place in his heart. Lamenting that he was once a different man, she notes that every single one of his nobler attributes seem to have left him since the pursuit of wealth became his main priority.

She tells Scrooge that their engagement was made at a time when both of them were poor; they were happy to have been of one mind then, planning for their future with abiding faith that their patient industry would soon bless them with brighter prospects. However, she asserts that Scrooge soon came to prioritize the pursuit of riches over their relationship. She says that this is the reason she must break off their engagement to marry.

Scrooge initially begs her to reconsider. He protests that he has never sought to end their engagement despite his seemingly changed attitudes towards life. However, Belle sadly reasons that Scrooge would never have chosen a poverty-stricken girl as his wife if had had a choice in his present state. She tells him that he made the choice to marry her when he was as poor as she was. So, she tells him that she will release him from his promise, as she doesn't want to be married to a man who may come to regret his decision to marry her.

But if you were free to-day, to-morrow, yesterday, can even I believe that you would choose a dowerless girl -- you who, in your very confidence with her, weigh everything by Gain: or, choosing her, if for a moment you were false enough to your one guiding principle to do so, do I not know that your repentance and regret would surely follow? I do; and I release you. With a full heart, for the love of him you once were."

After this scene, the ghost of Christmas Past shows Belle as a happily married woman with a family of her own. Scrooge begs the ghost to show him no more, as he cannot bear to witness the painful scenes of his past failures and thoughtless choices.

On what page do Max and Kevin run away from Tony D.?

To celebrate the Fourth of July, Max and Freak are allowed to go and see the fireworks together. As Max points out, this is kind of a big deal since he was never able to go see the fireworks by himself. In Chapter 6, “Close Encounter of the Turd Kind,” Max and Freak bump into Tony D. and his gang. Max knows they are trouble and wants to stay away, but Tony D. picks on them for their size and appearance. Freak starts smart-talking Tony D. and calls him a “cretin.” Just when it’s about to get violent, cop cars roll by, making Tony D. and his gang run away from Max and Freak. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only time they cross paths with him.

When Max and Freak actually run away from Tony D. it is in Chapter 7, “Walking High Above the World,” on pages 34-40. The fireworks end and Max and Freak are on their way home when Tony D. and his gang show up again. In order to escape, Max puts Freak on his shoulders. Freak becomes Max’s eyes and brain, and Max becomes Freak’s feet. Freak gives Max directions, and at first, Max isn’t sure if he should follow him, but he begins to trust Freak and goes with it. They escape Tony D. and his gang by running into the muddy, mucky pond. Because of Max’s size, he is able to escape the sinking of the pond whereas Tony D. and members of his gang submerge under the water. Freak spots some officers and calls them over for “assistance.” They recognize Max because of his father, but Freak kindly corrects them and says, “We’re Freak the Mighty, that’s who we are. We’re nine feet tall in case you haven’t noticed” (39-40).

In A Christmas Carol, give an example of a list and a long sentence used by Charles Dickens.

Your request made me smile because Charles Dickens is renowned for the parallelism that he uses in “lists” and “long sentences.” Parallelism, of course, is the use of a grammatical structure again and again in the same sentence. Let us look at one example of Dickens’ parallelism in a list and then in a long sentence. Charles Dickens often uses lists to further the description of a character. In this case, the list describes Scrooge before his transformation:

Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!

Here Dickens’ uses parallelism especially in the words “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching.” This description furthers the simple idea of Scrooge being an “old sinner” and suggests a degree of intensity that the reader could not understand as well without the list.

In regards to Dickens’ use of the “long sentence,” let us take an example from after Scrooge’s transformation:

The chuckle with which he said this, and the chuckle with which he paid for the Turkey, and the chuckle with which he paid for the cab, and the chuckle with which he recompensed the boy, were only to be exceeded by the chuckle with which he sat down breathless in his chair again, and chuckled till he cried.

Again we have the description of a character (the same character, in fact) furthered by the use of parallelism. In this case, the parallel structure of this sentence gives it multiple subjects. Dickens decides to list each individual laugh instead of simply indicating that Scrooge “chuckles” a lot. The irony in regards to your question is that the long sentence again includes a list. This time, Dickens lists Scrooge’s laughs to show his transformation from miserliness to mirth.

Saturday 28 October 2017

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, what crucial detail is revealed about Tom Robinson?

In Chapter 18, it is revealed that Tom Robinson has a crippled left arm. When Mayella Ewell is on the witness stand accusing Tom of beating her, Atticus asks Tom Robinson to stand up so Mayella could get a closer look at him. When Tom Robinson stands, the entire courtroom sees that his left arm is twelve inches shorter than his other arm, and it hangs "dead" at the side of his body. Scout also mentions that the end of his left arm is shriveled. Reverend Sykes leans over and tells Jem that Tom caught his arm in a cotton gin when he was a child, and it tore Tom's muscles from his bone.

This is a crucial detail in the case against Tom Robinson because the fact that his left arm is unusable means that he could not have been responsible for Mayella's injuries. Mayella's right side of her face was badly beaten, and her neck had bruises the entire way around it. Whoever beat Mayella, must have been left-handed and had strong enough hands to choke her. Tom Robinson's left hand was useless, but it was revealed that Bob Ewell was, in fact, left-handed. Later on in the trial, Atticus explains Bob's motivation to assault his daughter and blame Tom Robinson for her injuries. Unfortunately, Tom is convicted of raping and beating Mayella despite the overwhelming evidence that suggests otherwise.

What did Kit mean when she said "mercy was the pivot about whom the whole household moved"?

That quote is from chapter 6. Mercy is a great character. She is patient, kind, steadfast, loving, caring, etc. In a lot of ways, Mercy is the exact opposite of Kit. Kit tries hard, but she definitely is impatient, brash, and, at times, selfish. It's a little ironic that Mercy is as sweet as she is, because of all of the characters, Mercy has the most "right" to be bitter and angry. When she was younger, she came down with a bad fever. The fever resulted in crippling one of her legs. She must use crutches to go anywhere, and isn't able to go all of the places that everybody else can go. Despite that, she is a very hard worker. Perhaps because of her own suffering, she is able to recognize it in others and offer comfort to people. The full quote is as follows:

Mercy certainly did not consider herself afflicted. She did a full day’s work and more. Moreover, Kit had soon discovered that Mercy was the pivot about whom the whole household moved. She coaxed her father out of his bitter moods, upheld her timorous and anxious mother, gently restrained her rebellious sister and had reached to draw an uncertain alien into the circle.

A "pivot" is central to any mechanism that turns. Without a pivot point, a turn is either not made or it isn't exactly smooth. Describing Mercy as a pivot shows that she is central to the family. She is an integral part to how it works, especially on an emotional level. She guides the family with her wisdom and her caring spirit.

What is the author's attitude toward the characters in the story, "The Sniper?"

I would say that the narrator's overall attitude toward the characters is aloof ambivalence. The reader never gets the sense that the narrator cares for the characters all that much. One key piece of evidence that supports the author's all around neutral attitude toward the characters is the fact that none of the characters have names. Each character is more or less described. "The Sniper, The Enemy Sniper, The Old Woman, and The Soldier in the Turret" is the closest that the author gets to giving characters names. Not having names makes each person the equivalent of any other named object on the battlefield. To the narrator, the people are simply parts of a battle. They are things to be used, killed, and cast aside.

What does The Grapes of Wrath say about the human need to reconcile the uncertainties of the past with a new or present situation? What does this...

Different characters deal with the uncertainties of the past in different ways, depending on what their hopes of the future are. Jim Casy has left his past as a preacher, seeking some other meaning to his life. He decides that the only “good” in the world (as well as the only “evil”) is just what people do. In this, he finds some certainty, since he gives up judging people’s deeds in the light of traditional morality. His rejection of organized religion (and perhaps of God) leads to his placing himself in the service of mankind, specifically in the workers’ right to organize to fight for better conditions. In this, he sacrifices his lifen and serves as a Christ-figure.

Tom’s past is one of uncertainty, yet so is his future, since he is on parole and is not allowed to leave the state. His hope for a better life is to be found in California, yet even there his past is always a threat. He leaves the family for fear of bringing his past down on all of them.

For Ma Joad, her past is having her home torn out from under her. She has implicit faith that the family can make a new start in California, yet this comes to be far short of what she imagines, when the family is broken up.

The underlying theme seems to be that, no matter how far you go, the uncertainties of the past will always be a part of your future. Yet you must move on, especially if the past is unlivable.

Friday 27 October 2017

When Morris was asked about the monkey's paw, why did he dismiss the question 'offhandedly'?

Sergeant-Major Morris does not actually dismiss the question offhandedly but dismisses the importance of the monkey's paw in that offhand manner. He has served in India for over twenty years and has seen all kinds of supposedly magical tricks and heard about all kinds of other mysteries, miracles, and supernatural phenomena. He seems like a cynical and skeptical man who is disillusioned with life and in consequence has taken to drink.

"Offhandedly" means something like...

"Offhandedly" means something like "expressed without any preparation or forethought." It may not have been previously suggested, but there seems to be some possibility that Morris is putting on an act. He may have been planning to sell this shriveled monkey's paw to Mr. White ever since he was invited to his house for dinner. These men are not close friends. Mr. White reveals the nature of their relationship.

"Twenty-one years of it," said Mr. White, nodding at his wife and son. "When he went away he was a slip of a youth in the warehouse. Now look at him."

So the two men were only co-workers at a warehouse. Morris does not owe White any special consideration. He might have a whole pocket full of monkeys' paws which he is passing off in England in the same way. All his warnings and negative remarks about the talisman could be only what is called "reverse psychology," making people want to do something by telling them not to do it. This may sound far-fetched, but it is obviously Morris's negativity, including his tossing the paw into the fireplace, that makes Mr. White want to possess the thing. The way Morris consumes his host's whiskey shows that he is not unaccustomed to looking out for himself. He has had a lot of worldly experience and is a great deal more sophisticated than the Whites or their young son Herbert.

The author inserts a bit of dialogue to suggest why Morris hasn't already sold the paw.

"If you've had your three wishes, it's no good to you now, then, Morris," said the old man at last. "What do you keep it for?"

The soldier shook his head. "Fancy, I suppose," he said, slowly. "I did have some idea of selling it, but I don't think I will. It has caused enough mischief already. Besides, people won't buy. They think it's a fairy tale; some of them, and those who do think anything of it want to try it first and pay me afterward."

The story is told in such a way that the reader will never know whether the monkey's paw had supernatural powers or whether it was just a little paw that used to belong to one of India's hordes of wild monkeys.

In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, does Gene ever go to the war?

Gene Forrester, the main character in A Separate Peace, does eventually enlist in the war, but he never leaves the country or sees battle. The story focuses on the summer before his senior year, which is 1942, and rounds out the rest of that year right before he is eligible to get drafted into the war in the summer of 1943. If a boy didn't enlist right after high school, or by the time he was 18, then he would have been drafted. The war was like a deadly light at the end of the tunnel of his senior year. He tries to avoid thinking about it and focus on studying as much as possible, but the war is always in his future.

Most of what the reader discovers about Gene's war experience is at the beginning of chapter 10. Gene explains his experience as follows:

"I went into uniform at the time when our enemies began to recede so fast that there had to be a hurried telescoping of military training plans. Programs scheduled to culminate in two years became outmoded in six months, and crowds of men gathered for them in one place were dispersed to twenty others. . .The closer victory came the faster we were shuttled around America in pursuit of a role to play in a drama which suddenly, underpopulated from the first, now had too many actors. Or so it seemed" (138-39).

Basically, Gene entered the war and got shoveled around for different trainings to prepare his group for war, but they never found a niche for him to fill before the war ended. In the end of the book he says,

"I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there" (204).

In Chapter One, why did Tree-ear feel as if he was stealing?

In Chapter One, Tree-ear meets a farmer as he rummages among the village's rubbish heaps for scraps of food. The farmer is carrying a wooden-straw container in a jiggeh filled with rice. A jiggeh is an open-framed backpack fashioned from branches.

As the farmer walks along, rice trickles out from a small hole in the straw box. Tree-ear watches him with abiding interest but great ambivalence. His conscience tells him that he should alert the...

As the farmer walks along, rice trickles out from a small hole in the straw box. Tree-ear watches him with abiding interest but great ambivalence. His conscience tells him that he should alert the farmer to his problem. At the same time, if he refrains from speaking, the fallen rice kernels will be his once the farmer rounds the bend. In the end, Tree-ear's conscience wins, and he runs to alert the farmer. The farmer is extremely grateful for Tree-ear's honesty, and he tells Tree-ear that he can harvest the rice kernels on the ground if he can be bothered to pick them up.

Later, Tree-ear relates his story to Crane-man. He wants to know whether he is a thief for waiting until the farmer dropped a substantial amount of rice before alerting him. Crane-man is philosophical in his answer. He asks Tree-ear what the farmer would think if he knew the truth. In response, Tree-ear answers that the friendly farmer would not have minded and that he would have laughed upon discovering the truth.

So, because of Tree-ear's conscientious nature, he felt as if he was stealing. Additionally, Crane-man had always taught him that "work gives a man dignity, stealing takes it away." Later, we see more evidence of Tree-ear's conscientious nature when he offers to work for Min to make up for accidentally breaking a clay piece.

Thursday 26 October 2017

In "The Sniper," what is the author attempting to portray?

O'Flaherty attempts to portray how there is nothing civil in "civil war."

"The Sniper" takes place in a civil war. The sniper's singular mission to eliminate his target drives him. Throughout the narrative, the reader sees that this mission causes him to endure hunger and injury. He sees and thinks of nothing else except what he must do. He kills others in the name of this mission, believing that its successful completion will represent his...

O'Flaherty attempts to portray how there is nothing civil in "civil war."

However, O'Flaherty is deliberate as he constructs the climax and resolution to his story. As the sniper is shown having accomplished his mission, there is a specific sadness evident:

The sniper looked at his enemy falling and he shuddered. The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse. The sweat stood out in beads on his forehead. Weakened by his wound and the long summer day of fasting and watching on the roof, he revolted from the sight of the shattered mass of his dead enemy. His teeth chattered, he began to gibber to himself, cursing the war, cursing himself, cursing everybody.

O'Flaherty enhances this when the sniper realizes that he has killed his own brother.

O'Flaherty wants to explore how war is dehumanizing. It severs bonds between human beings and even siblings. In showing war in this manner, the author communicates its painful reality. While the sniper was committed to the Republicans mission in the civil war, he comes to see war as far from "civil." "The Sniper" shows that only elements that exist after war are loss and resentment. In the experiences of the titular character, O'Flaherty portrays the true and revolting nature of war.

Why was slavery so important to the economies of South Carolina and Georgia in the 1700s?

Slavery was so important to the economies of South Carolina and Georgia in the 1700s because rice was the main crop raised in those colonies during that time. Planters felt that it was not possible for them to raise rice as profitably with paid labor as with slave labor.

Rice was a crop that required a great deal of labor. However, labor was not plentiful in the colonies of the South. Immigrants to the American...

Rice was a crop that required a great deal of labor. However, labor was not plentiful in the colonies of the South. Immigrants to the American colonies in general were not eager to go to the rice planting areas of Georgia and South Carolina. They preferred to go to other areas where the climate was more to their liking and where they could make a living working their own small farms. They did not want to do the hard work of cultivating rice in the climate of Georgia and South Carolina as wage laborers.

What this meant was that it was hard to get enough labor to successfully cultivate rice in South Carolina and Georgia. Therefore, people who wanted to plant rice needed to find unfree labor. They preferred African slaves because many slaves had come from areas where rice was grown in Africa and knew the job. They also preferred Africans because they believed Africans were better suited to the climate in the region.

For these reasons, African slaves were seen as necessary for the cultivation of rice. Since rice was vital to the colonial economies of South Carolina and Georgia, slavery was very important to those colonies’ economies.

Why did the Romans go to war with Carthage?

The three wars between Rome and Carthage are known as the Punic Wars (264-146 BC.) Carthage was the strongest power in the Mediterranean Sea at the time. The expanding Romans really wanted that role. Rome looked to the island of Sicily off its western coast to relieve its population pressures. Carthage controlled part of the island and wanted more of the land. Sicily was very fertile which was important for agriculture and food supply for an expanding empire. It was also an ideal location for fishing industries to develop. Having said all of this, the Punic Wars were fought primarily for economic purposes.

Rome won the first Punic War and signed a treaty with Carthage. The treaty called for Carthage to pay a hefty fine over the course of fifty years and agree not to show aggression to any of Rome's allies.

Carthage, with all of its wealth, could easily pay the fine, but it could not stomach the constant raids of its lands by Rome's allies. Having lost patience with the looting by the Numidians, Carthage acted out against them. This angered Rome, which convinced the empire to declare war again. At the end of the Punic Wars, Carthage was completely in ruin and essentially extinct. This allowed for unfettered expansion throughout the Mediterranean for the Romans.

What is the purpose and subject of the book Paper Towns?

Paper Towns is a deconstruction of the "manic pixie dream girl" trope. Margo Roth Spiegelman, the leading lady of the novel, is an adventurer who seems perfect and wild in every way. Very few people know anything about her. The narrator of the novel, Quentin, believes that Margo is a "miracle" and spends most of the book viewing her as an answer to his problems rather than as a person. The book is about Margo's disappearance and Quentin's determination to find her, but more than that, it's about Quentin and Margo both finding themselves. The original setup looks like Quentin is going to find Margo and "get the girl," but at the end it turns out he knows just as little about Margo as Margo knows about herself. He realizes that he's been disingenuous about Margo's personality by viewing her as more of an idea than a person, and also realizes that he has to let Margo live her own life and be a real person.

John Green has stated that his purpose in writing Paper Towns was to rectify something he had not accomplished in Looking For Alaska—creating a troubled female character who stood on her own rather than being a plot device for his narrator's development.

Wednesday 25 October 2017

In My Side of the Mountain by Jean George, on what page does Sam Gribley use his ax?

In the book My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, Sam brought an ax with him on his journey. Although Sam also brought other objects that helped him on his journey as well, the ax offered specific aid for Sam.

Foremost, when Sam was carving out his tree home, the ax helped Sam dig out the tree. Although Sam could have lived in a cave or another type of shelter, Sam wanted to...

Foremost, when Sam was carving out his tree home, the ax helped Sam dig out the tree. Although Sam could have lived in a cave or another type of shelter, Sam wanted to live in a tree. He discovered that the inside of the tree was rotting and began to scrape away the rotten portions to create his new home. At first, Sam used his hands, but as he continued he also utilized his ax. As the text reveals on page 29:

“I dug on and on, using my ax from time to time as my excitement grew.”

Furthermore, Sam also used his ax to cut down wood for the winter. He first took away all the dry limbs from trees. Then, he later began cutting entire dead trees. As the text reveals on page 112:

“I shouldered my ax and went out . . .Then I chopped down dead trees.”

Thus, Sam used his ax on multiple occasions. His ax was greatly advantageous because it allowed Sam to work on making his home, gathering wood for the winter, and more.

What major events make up the story's beginning, conflict, climax, and resolution?

Great question! There are multiple answers to this question, so I'll elaborate on the main events in my view.

The story begins with our protagonist, Tom Benecke, regretfully choosing to stay home to work on a special innovative project for his job rather than go to the movies with his wife. When she leaves, the door closes behind her, blowing a paper vital to his project out the window. Horrified, he rushes to the window,...

Great question! There are multiple answers to this question, so I'll elaborate on the main events in my view.

This is the first conflict of the story. Impulsively, Tom decides to climb out onto the ledge and risk his life to try and get the paper back. At this point in the story, we have to wonder why a straight-laced guy like Tom would choose to do something so dangerous. Our answer is provided for us in the story, as Tom describes (to himself) the "countless hours of work" he spent creating this document, and how without it, his innovative idea was "mere opinion." The emotional investment Tom made both in this document and in his work ambitions combined to create an irrational and near-fatal decision.

Tom climbs out onto the window ledge, trying desperately to numb his mind to what he is doing. The second conflict and the climax of the story occur here. Once on the ledge, he inches toward the paper, but after a terrifying close call, he completely freezes up. Hanging onto the ledge, he's forced to contemplate his regrets. Above all, he wishes he had just gone to the movie with his wife, where he would be safe and warm. He doubts that he can hang onto the window until his wife comes home. Realizing that he'll have to break a window to get back into his apartment, and that using that level of force without success could drive him backwards off the ledge, he opts to take his chances. Not knowing whether he'll succeed or not, he hits the window as hard as he can. He manages to break the window, and tumbles through into his apartment.

Through these several suspense-packed minutes, Tom has undergone virtual years of growth. He realizes that his real priorities are his own life, pleasure, experiences, and his wife. Once back in the apartment, he leaves to go find his wife at once. He leaves the paper on the table once again. As he closes the door to leave, it symbolically (and literally) blows out the window "and out of his life," prompting a burst of near hysterical laughter from Tom. He has realized that in the scheme of things, he knows now what he values, and it's definitely not this project or that paper.

What happened to Native Americans in the Gilded Age?

The Gilded Age is the historical term for the period between 1870 and 1900 and it was a time of great change in America, especially for the native population.

By the mid-nineteenth century, many native tribes had already been pushed to living west of the Mississippi River but, by the 1870s, many Americans wanted to expand into this territory. As a result, a number of conflicts erupted as the natives were pushed off their lands and into reservations. War broke out in New Mexico and Arizona in 1871, for example, in which 100 natives were killed. The U.S. Army also adopted the tactic of winter campaigning, when the natives broke up into smaller bands, so that they met with less resistance.

In 1882, Congress created the Court of Indian Offenses so that they could prosecute natives who refused to abide by American law. By the census of 1890, there were only 225,000 natives in the country and the population was quickly fading.

Overall, then, this was a time of great change for the native population in which the federal government sought to control their movements and force them to either assimilate into mainstream society or disappear.

Tuesday 24 October 2017

What organelles help the nucleus do its job?

Arguably, all organelles within a cell are dependent upon one another. Each organelle serves a different function that contributes towards the survival of the entire cell. This is the same concept as the parts to a machine, or the organs/ organ systems within an organism. If one part does not function properly, the performance of the entire structure is jeopardized.

The nucleus is accredited with being the “control center” of a cell. The nucleus is...

The nucleus is accredited with being the “control center” of a cell. The nucleus is able to indirectly control the cell via the production of proteins. Proteins are important because they are responsible for the structure, function, and regulation of the body’s tissues and organs. Therefore, any organelle that is involved in the production of and distribution of proteins would be directly helping the nucleus in this job. The way in which three organelles help the nucleus with this task are identified below.

Ribosomes: Protein synthesis begins when the nucleus’s code that is housed within its nucleic acid sequence is into an mRNA. The RNA’s (t, m, and r) then works with ribosomes during to make proteins.

Endoplasmic reticulum: A series membranes attached to the nucleus and throughout the cytoplasm of a cell that is responsible for protein and protein and lipid synthesis.

Golgi apparatus: Packages, transports, distributes, or stores the proteins.

In "The Monkey's Paw," why did Mrs. White go "scurrying to the door at the postman's knock"?

The opening conversation in Part II of "The Monkey's Paw" shows that Mrs. White has very little faith, if any, in the powers of the monkey's paw. She seems to think that her husband was foolish to buy the talisman from Sergeant-Major Morris, although her husband never says how much he paid for it.

"I suppose all old soldiers are the same," said Mrs. White. "The idea of our listening to such nonsense! How could wishes be granted in these days? And if they could, how could two hundred pounds hurt you, father?"

From the author's perspective it was necessary for Mr. White to make at least a token payment in order to establish that he was the owner. Only the owner of the paw, according to Morris, can make the three wishes. Although Mrs. White shows her skepticism, this

...did not prevent her from scurrying to the door at the postman's knock

She is obviously hoping against hope that the postman will be bringing a letter announcing that they have won a prize of two hundred pounds, or something of the sort. She certainly doesn't expect a representative of Maw and Meggins to arrive in person. When the only piece of mail delivered by the postman turns out to be a tailor's bill, she refers

...somewhat shortly to retired sergeant-majors of bibulous habits when she found that the post brought a tailor's bill

The fact that the mail brought a bill instead of a surprise announcement that they had two hundred pounds coming from some source, Mrs. White is reminded of the household finances. She is resentful of the amount of whiskey the sergeant-major consumed the night before because of the expense. This will remind the reader that both Mr. White and Herbert were drinking more than usual along with their guest. Herbert's accidental death at the textile manufacturing plant could have been caused, somehow or other, by the monkey's paw, or it could have been due to the fact that Herbert stayed up late, drank too much, went to work with a hangover, and was caught up in the machinery because he was less attentive than usual.

"Morris said the things happened so naturally," said' his father, "that you might if you so wished attribute it to coincidence."

The fact that the postman does not bring anything pertaining to an unexpected gift of two hundred pounds is also intended by the author to deceive the reader into believing that the monkey's paw was a fake. This makes the visit by the man from Maw and Meggins that much more ominous and dramatic. The author dramatizes the bad news by having this representative arrive in person. It would be far less effective, for example, to have the postman deliver a letter in a business envelope announcing with deep regret that the White's son had been accidentally killed in a factory accident and the company was presenting the parents with two hundred pounds compensation. The gentleman from Maw and Meggins is obviously the bearer of bad news and is extremely reluctant to do so.

She was watching the mysterious movements of a man outside, who, peering in an undecided fashion at the house, appeared to be trying to make up his mind to enter. In mental connection with the two hundred pounds, she noticed that the stranger was well dressed, and wore a silk hat of glossy newness. Three times he paused at the gate, and then walked on again. The fourth time he stood with his hand upon it, and then with sudden resolution flung it open and walked up the path.

How would you paraphrase the first stanza in "I heard a Fly buzz---when I died"?

“I heard a Fly buzz—when I died-(591)”

I heard a Fly buzz--when I died--

The Stillness in the Room

Was like the Stillness in the Air—

Between the Heaves of Storm—

“I heard a Fly buzz—when I died-(591)”

I heard a Fly buzz--when I died--

The Stillness in the Room

Was like the Stillness in the Air—

Between the Heaves of Storm—

This famous poem by Emily Dickinson suggests that at the point the narrator is in the process of dying, the last sound she hears is the buzzing of a fly. Imagine a quiet room with a person on their death bed. The room is so quiet that she is able to hear the faint buzz of a fly. Dickinson uses a metaphor to describe the stillness of the room by comparing it to the “calm before the storm.” Often in severe weather events, the air and environment goes quiet and still in anticipation of what is to come. This is the quiet the narrator experiences before the “heave” or great effort it takes to live and give one self to death.

However, the poem has been analyzed as Dickinson’s critique on Romantic poetry and fiction, but that is another question and requires a lot of analysis to understand how and why she does this.

`y = sin(x), y = cos(x), 0

We use Washer method to evaluate the volume of the solid.

`V = int_a^b pi f^2(x) - g^2(x) dx , f(x)gtg(x) `

Here

`f(x) = sinx, g(x) = cosx `

`x= 0 and pi/4 `

about `y =-1`

`V = pi int_0^(pi/4) {[(sinx -(-1)]^2 - [cosx-(-1)]^2}dx `

`V = pi int_0^(pi/4) {[(sinx + 1]^2 - [cosx + 1]^2}dx `

`V =pi int_0^(pi/4) [sin^2 x + 2sinx...

We use Washer method to evaluate the volume of the solid.

`V = int_a^b pi f^2(x) - g^2(x) dx , f(x)gtg(x) `

Here

`f(x) = sinx, g(x) = cosx `

`x= 0 and pi/4 `

about `y =-1`

`V = pi int_0^(pi/4) {[(sinx -(-1)]^2 - [cosx-(-1)]^2}dx `

`V = pi int_0^(pi/4) {[(sinx + 1]^2 - [cosx + 1]^2}dx `

`V =pi int_0^(pi/4) [sin^2 x + 2sinx +1 - cosx^2 - 2cosx -1 ]dx `

`V =pi int_0^(pi/4) [sin^2 x + 2sinx - cos^2 x - 2cosx ]dx `

`V = pi int_0^(pi/4) [2sinx - 2cosx -(cos^2 x + sin^2 x)]dx `

`V =pi int_0^ (pi/4) [2sinx - 2cosx - cos2x]dx `

`V =pi [int_0^(pi/4) 2sinxdx - int_0^(pi/4) 2cosxdx - int_0^(pi/4) cos2xdx] `

`V = pi [-2cosx - 2sinx - 1/2 sin2x]|_0^(pi/4) `

`V = pi[-2cos(pi/4) - 2sin(pi/4) - 1/2 sin2* (pi/4) - (-2cos 0 - 2sin0 - 1/2 sin2*0)] `

`V = pi [-2 * 1/sqrt2 --2 * 1/sqrt2 - 1/2 * 1 - 2*1 - 0 - 0] `

`V = pi (-2sqrt2 - 3/2) `

`V = 2sqrt2 pi - 3pi/2`

`therefore` the volume of the solid is `2sqrt2 pi - 3pi/2 `

Monday 23 October 2017

In the novel Lord of the Flies, Golding suggests that children are innocent. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, Golding suggests that children are innocent. He makes a valid argument that, void of societal restrictions and parental influence, children's morality can sway between good and evil. He uses the littluns to portray childhood innocence. The littluns have a difficult time choosing between Ralph and Jack as their leaders and rely mostly on others for protection. They do not understand the difference between good and evil and behave according to their physical needs and desires. In my opinion, I agree with some of Golding's belief that children are born innocent. I believe that environmental influences impact a child's behavior and their ability to reason. This is a classic argument between nature vs. nurture. Nurture plays a significant role in a child's moral, physical, and intellectual development. From another perspective, many Christians subscribe to the belief that we, as humans, are all born sinners. To quote Psalm 51:5, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." Throughout the novel, it becomes evident that the littluns are attracted to barbarism, and eventually fall victim to their inherent sinful nature.

What is a court? |

Courts are important in our society and in our legal system. A court is a place where disputes may be settled. If two people have a dispute, they may take that dispute to court. The court will resolve the dispute that these individuals have. It is also a place where people are tried for crimes of which they are accused. In a court setting, there will be a judge and various court officials. There are different levels of courts. Municipal courts handle matters such as speeding tickets. State courts handle cases involving state laws. Federal courts handle cases involving federal laws.

In a court, people may have their case be heard by a jury. Lawyers will present arguments that represent the interests of the defendant. The lawyers for the prosecution will present arguments to try to prove the case against the defendant. The judge makes sure proper procedures are followed. If there is a jury, the judge will give instructions to the jury regarding determining guilt or innocence of the defendant. The jury will weigh the facts presented by each side, and then they will make a decision. If there is no jury, then the judge will make the ruling.

Courts are important because it gives individuals a place to resolve disputes. It also allows for a way to determine if a person did or didn’t commit a crime.

Sunday 22 October 2017

How are Ebeneezer Scrooge and Charles Dickens alike?

On first glance, the miserly, Ebeneezer Scrooge, and his creator, Charles Dickens, are very different types of people. There are, however, some parallels between the two men and, in particular, their life experiences.

Firstly, both Scrooge and Dickens had some difficult times as children. Scrooge, for example, is described as a "solitary child" who is "neglected by his friends" and rarely sees his family. Dickens, too, had his own share of bad experiences. His father, for instance, was imprisoned for debt in 1824, forcing the young Dickens to take a job in a blacking factory in London. He worked long hours for poor pay and missed out on several years of education. Dickens never forgot this experience and it inspired many of the characters in his stories.

Secondly, both Scrooge and Dickens came to care strongly about the plight of poor children. For Scrooge, this takes place at the end of the book and is evidence of the strength of his transformation. He gives half-a-crown to the young boy who fetches him the prize turkey, for example, and becomes a "second father" to Tiny Tim. Dickens, too, cared deeply for poor children. In fact, he wrote A Christmas Carol after reading the Scriven Report of 1843 which exposed the terrible conditions of children working in the potteries of Staffordshire. Dickens was also heavily involved in the Ragged School Movement, to provide education for children in poorer districts, and dedicated much of his adult life to speaking out on behalf of the disadvantaged and deprived of Victorian England.

Is salt water a pure substance or a mixture?

Salt water is a mixture and not a pure substance. We define pure substances as those that contain atoms or molecules of the same type. Examples of pure substances are elements (such as iron, silver, gold, etc.), compounds (such as water, sodium chloride, etc.), etc. A pure substance has a uniform composition. In comparison, a mixture does not have a uniform composition of its constituents and can be divided into them by simple physical means. Salt water does not have a uniform composition and we can divide salt and water by simple physical process of evaporation (by boiling the salt water). Thus, salt water is a mixture, with salt as the solute and water as the solvent. In fact, salt water is a homogeneous mixture and can be termed as a solution.

Hope this helps.

If increased prices cause demand to fall, why then is art painted by famous artists so expensive and in great demand? Does this law apply to all...

This is a great question! I think the answer to it lies in the uniqueness of works of art and in the supply side of analysis. I also think that there are some psychological principles involved. Let's look at why art is different from most other goods and services.

Most of what we buy is certainly price sensitive, and this is because much of what we buy is what economics calls substitute goods. This means that one good can easily be substituted for another. For example, if one brand of coffee goes up in price, I am likely to simply switch brands, without really suffering at all. If I want to use a tax service, if one is higher than the other, I will go for the lower-priced one, and there really won't be an appreciable difference. In a capitalistic economy, we all have plenty of choices for most things, and we exercise those choices to at least some degree based on their price depending on how elastic (very elastic, substitutes are readily chosen) or inelastic (inelastic, substitutes reluctantly chosen) they are.

However, art is not like that, is it? If I want a Monet, a cheaper Picasso is not going to do. Once you are in a largely aesthetic realm, goods are far more inelastic (substitutes chosen/ accepted extremely reluctantly) than in other markets in part because of the complex mechanism that attributes value to works of art. Art collectors are not going to be content to substitute one work of art for another. Art buyers are not shopping around for substitutes in the highly inelastic art market. Since each work of art is unique, the normal economic principles of price and demand do not apply.

There are also limitations on the artist's ability to provide a supply of artwork. For artists who are gone, of course, there are only those works that were created in their lifetimes available today. There will be no more Monets or Picassos. This limited supply drives up the price, particularly as serendipitous discoveries of lost works dwindle in today's world, which seems to have few surprises left in people's attics or basements. For living artists, though, the argument still holds true, that their production capabilities are finite. If it is fine art and not mass-produced, an artist can paint only so many paintings or create only so many sculptures. So, across the board, there is a finite supply of art, far more finite than the supply of coffee or tax services. We know that a limited supply of anything--a scarcity of any good--drives up the price of the good, and so the normal dynamics of scarcity on the supply side of economic theory applies.

Another aspect of this that occurs to me is that this is in some ways a behavioral economics question. Behavioral economics is a discipline that looks at the intersection between psychology and economics. If you know anyone who collects art or read any articles about art collectors, you will know that for some, there is something compulsive about the behavior. People will bid at an auction for a work of art not simply because they want the artwork, but also because they are caught up in winning at auction. They will often spend far more than they intended to. Auction houses encourage this by marketing their auctions with great deliberateness and by procuring what it at the "top" of the current collector's market.

As someone who teaches economics, I do think there are economic explanations for the phenomenon you speak of. But I also think that economics in and of itself does not always account for everything.

What dialogue takes place between Daisy and Gatsby in Nick's bungalow when they are alone in Great Gatsby?

Hoping to repeat the past, Jay Gatsby has Nick arrange a private meeting for him with Daisy at the bungalow. After Nick leaves the room, he hears "a sort of choking murmur and part of a laugh" that is followed by Daisy's voice that sounds artificial: "I certainly am awfully glad to see you again." To this there is again an awkward pause. Nick is not privy to their second attempt at a private conversation, so he only comments upon how Gatsby and Daisy appear afterwards.

Because Gatsby at first is so awkward, Nick feels he must return to the living room where Gatsby stands against the mantelpiece, with his hands thrust into his pockets. Daisy sits gracefully on the edge of a chair, albeit with a frightened look. That Gatsby is haunted by time is symbolized by the "defunct clock" which falls from the mantelpiece. Daisy breaks the silence saying, "We haven't met for many years," and Gatsby automatically states, "Five years next November," surprising both Daisy and Nick.

After they all have tea, Nick again leaves the room, and Gatsby runs after him, saying "This is a terrible mistake." Nick scolds him, "You're acting like a little boy....Daisy's sitting in there all alone." Nick then walks outside to wait. After he returns, Daisy has been crying and Gatsby "literally glowed." With exaggerated sentimentality, he shakes hands with Nick as though he has not seen him for a long time. Then he says,

"I want you and Daisy to come over to my house....I'd like to show her around."

Apparently,while they have been alone in Nick's bungalow, Gatsby has declared his undying love for Daisy, and Daisy has been moved by this sentiment as she has been crying. When Jay says, "What do you think of that? It's stopped raining" like "an ecstatic patron of recurrent light," Daisy tells him she is glad. Nick narrates that "her throat [that was] full of aching, grieving beauty, told only of her unexpected joy." Gatsby's first actions to reclaim the past seem successful.

Why is it hard for the animals to use tools?

The animals found it difficult to use some tools, because they were animals. Even though the book is a fable of sorts, there are some realistic elements thrown in. One of them is the detail that the animals found it difficult to use tool that required them to stand on their hind legs. That said, Orwell also makes it a point to say that the pigs found a way around this, as they were extremely...

Sometimes the work was hard; the implements had been designed for human beings and not for animals, and it was a great drawback that no animal was able to use any tool that involved standing on his hind legs. But the pigs were so clever that they could think of a way round every difficulty.

Orwell also points out that the animals did have some some advantages, such as knowledge of the farm. For example, the horses knew the land of the farm better than Jones and his men. They also knew more about mowing and raking than Jones's men. So, even though the animals had some disadvantages, they managed.

Saturday 21 October 2017

In "How It Feels To Be A Colored Me," what do each of the items in the paper bag represent (first-water diamond, empty spool, bits of broken glass,...

Hurston ends her essay with this image of several bags, all of different colors to represent people of different skin colors. She states that if one were to dump the contents of those bags, they would contain "a jumble of small things priceless and worthless." So firstly, on the inside, we are all the same, filled with these priceless and worthless things, no matter the color of our skin. Specifically, a first-water diamond is the most precious kind, flawless and perfect. Of all the things in these bags, this is the one thing we all hold as dear or precious in our lives and memories. The rest of the stuff is just junk: an empty spool of thread could show someone's emptiness of having spent all that they had--maybe energy to do a good job. Bits of broken glass could be a jagged or cutting memory that we are holding onto. The bent nail could show how someone collapsed under the weight of some pressure. Hurston's point is best summed when she states, "all might be dumped in a single heap and the bags refilled without altering the content of any greatly. A bit of colored glass more or less would not matter." No one person is greater than another just because the outside looks different because what is on the inside is basically the same.

What did the slaves eat on the American plantations of the South?

There are two sources from which historians gain information about the diet of the slaves on plantations. First-hand accounts by slaves themselves, through diaries or other journals, is an important source. Another source of our information is from archaeologists excavating former slave quarters to examine remains. What is certain from both sources is that the diets of slaves were extremely inadequate in terms of nutritional value. Slaves were especially deficient in iron, calcium, vitamin A...

The slave diet was very simple. They were given a ration of food every week, generally foods that were not desired by the plantation owners family. The two greatest sources of food were pork and corn meal from Indian corn. Slaves were assigned a small plot of land to grow vegetables, so their diets could be supplemented with their harvests at different points of the year. There is also evidence that slaves hunted small game such as squirrels, opossum, ducks, and even deer. Catfish and sturgeon were also in the slave diet. These meats could also supplement the rations given to slaves by their owners. There are accounts of slaves having to eat the feed of pigs during lean times. Many of the foods eaten by African-Americans during slavery have become cultural or "soul" foods to this day.

On what page did Montag call Faber in Fahrenheit 451?

Montag originally met Faber in the park one day. He struck up a conversation with him and quickly discovered that Faber had been an English professor who lost his job when the colleges began to close from a lack of students. Montag thought that he spoke in a very cadenced voice, which indicates a poetic command of language. Faber begins to slowly trust Montag over the course of their conversation and keeps putting his hand...

"For your file," he said, "in case you decide to be angry with me." "I'm not angry," Montag said, surprised. (71)

Montag has kept Faber's number in a file marked "FUTURE INVESTIGATIONS." He never turned it in or pursued it. The reader realizes at this point that Montag really has been collecting books for quite a while and that he has been unhappy for longer than he has known Clarisse.

He dialed the call on a secondary phone. The phone on the far end of the line called Faber's name a dozen times before the professor answered in a faint voice. Montag identified himself and was met with a lengthy silence. "Yes, Mr. Montag?" (71)

Montag asks him a question regarding the number of Bibles remaining in the country, but Faber pretends not to understand him and hastily gets off the phone. After showing the Bible to Mildred again, Montag heads to Faber's house.

Friday 20 October 2017

What is Juliet's reaction to the news of Tybalt's death and Romeo's banishment?

Although your initial question did not specify to which news Juliet was reacting, one assumes that the question refers to the death of Tybalt and the banishment of Romeo, as this is the biggest news Juliet faces over the course of the play.

Initially, Juliet has a harsh reaction toward Romeo, calling him a host of names and stating that his actions toward her were deceiving. However, when the Nurse echoes her sentiments, she changes...

Initially, Juliet has a harsh reaction toward Romeo, calling him a host of names and stating that his actions toward her were deceiving. However, when the Nurse echoes her sentiments, she changes her tune. After all, Romeo is her husband. As she states, she should not "speak ill of him that is [her] husband" (Act 3, Scene 2, line 98).

Once she has cycled through these initial reactions, she comes to see Romeo's banishment, as Romeo does, as a fate worse than death. It is this sentiment that prompts her to seek out the friar for help.

What explanation does Gertrude offer for Hamlet's murder of Polonius?

Gertrude has to tell her husband Claudius about the murder, but she wants to attribute it to her son's madness, which she now realizes is all a pretense. So she leaves out the important details that she was crying for help and Polonius, behind the tapestry, was also calling for help. This is what she tells Claudius at the beginning of Act 4:

Ah, mine own lord, what have I seen tonight!

What, Gertrude? How does Hamlet?

Mad as the sea and wind when both contend
Which is the mightier. In his lawless fit,
Behind the arras hearing something stir,
Whips out his rapier, cries 'A rat, a rat!'
And in this brainish apprehension kills
The unseen good old man.

When Claudius asks, "Where is he gone?", Gertrude tells him:

To draw apart the body he hath kill'd;
O'er whom his very madness, like some ore
Among a mineral of metals base,
Shows itself pure. He weeps for what is done.

All this about Hamlet's remorse is a pure lie. Her son dislikes Polonius. As he exits his mother's room at the very end of Act 3, he says:

I'll lug the guts into the neighbour room.
Mother, good night. Indeed, this counsellor
Is now most still, most secret, and most grave,
Who was in life a foolish prating knave.

What really happened was that Hamlet frightened his mother and she started calling for help. The loyal Polonius, who couldn't see anything, started echoing her cries for the guards. Hamlet thought he had walked into a trap, because he didn't understand why his own mother was acting with such alarm. At that time she thought he was mad and believed he intended to kill in a horrible manner. He is wearing a sword and has just told her:

Come, come, and sit you down. You shall not budge.
You go not till I set you up a glass
Where you may see the inmost part of you.

She takes his metaphor literally because she believes he is insane. She thinks he intends to set up a big looking-glass and make her watch herself while he disembowels her with his sword. Maniacs do things like that, and they often attack their own parents. So she starts screaming for help, and Polonius starts echoing her. Hamlet at this point doesn't trust his mother. He suspects she was in collusion with Claudius when he murdered her first husband. Now Hamlet suspects that this is a set-up--that she he has summoned him to her chamber with the intention of having him arrested and thrown into a dungeon, where he will be at her husband's mercy. With a woman crying for help in front of him and a man crying for help somewhere behind him, he is bewildered, suspicious and apprehensive. He takes immediate action and kills the unknown person behind the tapestry who would be blocking his getaway. It is characteristic of Hamlet that he cannot act decisively when he thinks about what he is doing but that he can act very effectively when he acts spontaneously. Obviously Hamlet's chief tragic flaw is that he thinks too much and his thinking inhibits his ability to act.

Hamlet's tragic flaw seems to be Shakespeare's way of indirectly criticizing too much education. In other words, Hamlet thinks too much because he has spent too much time at the university and has read too many books. Shakespeare himself had a limited education, but he learned plenty in the so-called School of Hard Knocks. Like many self-educated men, he probably felt a little disdainful of "book learning."

What examples of mythological thinking are current today?

Mythological thinking has to do with the stories we tell about ourselves or tell to ourselves and others about how the world works. It is characterized by an emphasis on symbolism, narrative, and the perceived experience rather than what is necessarily quantifiable or testable. Myth itself is a form of narrative which involves supernatural beings and phenomena, often as an explanation for why things are the way they are.

Mythological thinking exists today in many...

Mythological thinking exists today in many forms! I do not wish to step on any toes here, but religion is a great example of how people may engage with mythological thinking. Foundational myths are the great, big stories which tell us why the world is here, how it came to be, and how we came to be upon it. They may also describe the powers in the universe which help to order and control events. For example, the book of Genesis is a foundational creation myth which many people believe in or at least hold in regard. In the book of Genesis, God speaks all things into existence and puts in place the natural order of life. So, an example of mythological thinking may be the thoughts which occur when someone wonders about how the world came to be and feels that it is because God spoke.

One aspect of religion which also has a secular power is that of history. Thinking about the book of Genesis is, in a way, thinking about the history of the world and of the Abrahamic faiths. Secular history, too, has a mythological quality. To the discomfort of many, we are often taught "myths" as history in our primary schooling, only to go on to university to find that it wasn't really true! For example, I was taught as a young girl that Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain in 1492 and discovered the Americas for the first time—even though there happened to already be people there. From then on he became friends with the native people and Europeans began to colonize the Americas. That's the myth I was taught! In reality, the natives he encountered were descendants of the people who first "discovered" the Americas in multiple waves of migration from the Asian landmass. When it comes to visitors after that point, the Norse had visited the Americas long before Columbus was even born, and there is a theory that the Chinese may have visited even earlier!

We can tell myths about ourselves, too, though this kind of thinking typically blurs the line between supernatural and mundane thought. Sometimes we craft mythological narratives about ourselves in the sense that one might feel current ways of being are the result of an intensely dramatic or magical experience we had when we were young. While personality development and emotional and physical wellness are reliant upon the experiences of our childhood, such continuity would become mythological if I were to say that I never have allergy trouble because I ate a lot of dandelions as a child and absorbed their power. Can you think of any mythological narratives you or your family tell about yourselves?

Thursday 19 October 2017

Describe social inequality from Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner?

Class distinctions play an enormous role in Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner. In fact, it is the relationship between the story's main protagonist and narrator, Amir, and his childhood friend Hassan that provides the basis for this illustration of the extent to which social inequality determined these characters' fate. Amir comes from an upper-class family, his descriptions of his father, Baba, and the house owned by Baba used to reveal the family's social standing in Afghanistan's capital Kabul:

"Everyone agreed that my father, my Baba, had built the most beautiful house in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, a new and affluent neighborhood in the northern part of Kabul. Some thought it was the perfect house in all of Kabul. A broad entryway flanked by rosebushes led to the sprawling house of marble floors and wide windows. Intricate mosaic tiles, handpicked by Baba in Isfahan, covered the floors of the four bathrooms. Gold-stitched tapestries, which Baba had bought in Calcutta, lined the walls; a crystal chandelier hung from the vaulted ceilings."

This description of the house in which Amir grew up contrasts widely not just with the background he will provide about Hassan, the son of the family's housekeeper, but about most of the country in which Amir's story takes place. Afghanistan, even before the series of coups that culminated in the December 1979 invasion by the Soviet Union and subsequent war of liberation that would inflict massive devastation on most of the country, was one of the poorest nations in the world. That Amir's father would be a wealthy, successful businessman, able to travel to India to purchase extravagant household goods with which to furnish this ostentatious display of conspicuous consumption, would contrast dramatically to the vast majority of Afghanistan's population. In the following description of Hassan and his father Ali's simple quarters, this contrast is illuminated:

"On the south end of the garden, in the shadows of a loquat tree, was the servant's home, a modest little mud hut where Hassan lived with his father."

That an enormous socioeconomic gulf divided Amir from Hassan is but one element of Hosseini's story. These two boys are best friends, but Amir harbors serious deeply-held resentments against this less-fortunate half-brother. While Amir is physically weak and a little timid, Hassan is strong and brave, and Amir makes clear that his father, Baba's, preferences in a male heir lean towards the illegitimate son and not towards the acknowledged prince of this castle. Amir's resentment of his friend/secret half-brother is the catalyst for the chain of tragic events that Amir will carry within himself for the rest of his life. He looks down on Hassan for the latter's socioeconomic status while resenting Baba's respect for the more courageous of the two boys. When Amir reflects upon Hassan's rape by the sadistic Assef, it is that class distinction between him and Hassan that protects him:

"Not for the first time, it occurred to me that Assef might not be entirely sane. It also occurred to me how lucky I was to have Baba as my father, the sole reason, I believe, Assef had mostly refrained from harassing me too much."

When Assef, who himself is the product of a more upper-class environment, is threatening the two boys, he is careful to divide his victims according to class, prompting the following memories from Amir:

"But he's not my friend! I almost blurted. He's my servant! Had I really thought that? Of course I hadn't. I hadn't. I treated Hassan well, just like a friend, better, even, more like a brother. But, if so, then why, when Baba's friends cam to visit with their kids, didn't I ever include Hassan in our games? Why did I play with Hassan only when no else was around?"

The portrait the now-grown Amir paints of himself is not flattering. As he reflects on this period of his life from the safety of America, he is ashamed of his conduct. He knows that he treated Hassan as a servant because the role of class distinctions in the only world he then-knew dictated such treatment. That he stands-by and allows Hassan to be raped by Assef that fateful day is the story's most explicit condemnation of the social inequities that plagued Kabul. Class distinctions dictated that Amir should be protected and that Hassan should be victimized.

Is our environment a driving force in who we are and how we behave?

Yes. A person's environment is not only a driving force, but it is a critical factor in determining how a person behaves. At the core of your question is the classic nature vs. nurture debate. Is a person's behavior determined by the genes that they are born with (nature), or is behavior a result of outside factors (nurture)?

Science has been attempting to answer that debate for quite some time, and one tool that...

Science has been attempting to answer that debate for quite some time, and one tool that scientists use is twin studies. Various studies have shown similar behavior traits in twins that have been separated at birth. That is great evidence for the nature side of the debate. But at the same time, there are plenty of children that have been adopted that exhibit incredibly similar behaviors to their non-adopted siblings. That is great evidence toward the nurture side of the debate.

Personally, I think the debate isn't worth the time being invested. I don't believe that one factor is more critical than another. I do believe that both factors are very important in determining behavior though. Genetically, a person could be as gentle as a kitten; however, that person could be taught to overcome those feelings and become more aggressive.

What can happen to a business when it doesn't do bookkeeping?

When a business doesn't perform bookkeeping, it is operating without having a true picture of its financial health. It is vitally important that a business has a bookkeeping/accounting program as part of its operations because it needs to know what money is coming into the business daily, weekly, and monthly, and what money is going out as well. It has to have a handle on its current cash position.

In addition, without a bookkeeping system,...

In addition, without a bookkeeping system, a business would not be able to accurately keep track of the taxes it owes the government - payroll taxes and otherwise. This could get it into trouble with the government in the form of fines and even imprisonment if the government deemed this withholding of the right amount of tax incessant and intentional.

Furthermore, without a bookkeeping system, a business would not know if it could afford (for example in the case of a retail store) to buy more inventory without going into debt. This is where knowing your cash flow situation, and cash on hand is important.

Accurate sales records (the accurate recording of revenue), accurate banking records, and accurate records of payments to suppliers lets a business know how much cash is on hand to fund new purchases. If a business just haphazardly makes purchase without knowing its true financial position, and then finds it doesn’t have ready cash on hand, it may find that it has to borrow to pay for its purchases.

As a result, it then may incur interest costs - more expense – due to having to borrow money. If it had a bookkeeping system, its records would have showed them that they could not buy more inventory right away or not as much as they wanted to. This would have saved them from borrowing money and also possible having too much inventory sitting for prolonged periods in their back room not earning them any money.

Moreover, not having a bookkeeping system in place, makes it difficult for a business to present suitable documentation to creditors or venture capitalists who require accurate records from a business before advancing loans to them. A business may be doing very well in its sector and wishes to expand. It may require a loan to do so. It probably will not get the loan because it doesn’t have bookkeeping records to show lenders, which show proof of its performance.

Additionally, the government may offer grants to help businesses prosper. They would want to see financial records from a company before they issued the grant. A business is unlikely to receive the grant if they cannot show an accurate picture of their financial state or health. A grant probably won’t be advanced to this company because lack of a bookkeeping/accounting system shows they are unprofessional and not astute in their business operations because accurate record-keeping is vital to a company’s success.

What was the purpose of the gladiators in Ancient Rome?

It seems like every culture needs a hero to worship. In Ancient Rome, gladiators filled the role of hero in much the same way that professional athletes are revered in American society. The gladiator games were the ancient equivalent to the modern-day Super Bowl. Romans attended the events by the droves. While the "major leagues" of gladiator games were played in the Coliseum in Rome, there were smaller venues throughout the empire. Gladiators had to earn their way through the smaller games to reach the Coliseum. The purpose of the games was for entertainment for the masses. Emperors used the gladiators to keep the citizens happy, particularly the lower class plebians. It can also be said the gladiator games kept the plebians distracted. In times of crisis, the emperor would host gladiator games to improve the general mood of the city.

Wednesday 18 October 2017

I don't understand the book A Garden of Earthly Delight by Joyce Oates. Can someone please help me understand the whole book by summarizing all of...

The entire novel follows the life of Clara, but we are introduced to her life through the men in it. Each of the three chronological parts of the novel should be considered somewhat distinct. Each has its own point of view, and its own protagonist.

This triptych structure follows the structure of The Garden of Earthly Delights, a triptych painting by Hieronymus Bosch (see image under). The painting's panels are each distinct, but each important to the...

The work is an investigation into the American class system, and the characterization of poverty. Clara spends her whole life seeking freedom, independence, and an escape from her poverty stricken, violent past. She is literally born in a ditch on the side of the road. But in the end, her son is gripped by the same all-consuming burden: to escape from the cycle of poverty.

Highlighted within this struggle is the nature of relationships, especially that of mother and child. Sometimes the relationship is one of sole duty and care, and sometimes characters act more like husband and wife (sharing their life together). Some of Clara's relationships take on a father-daughter feel, where freedoms are limited.

All the characters are seeking to grow, both personally and through the class system. Swan (Clara's son) isn't the only one trapped by his past (or even his parents' past). Many characters find themselves haunted by their history, and the lives of their ancestors.

Remember, and read the afterword for clarification, that this book was originally published in the 1960s. Abuse, domestic violence, and even rape were not treated by society (and the law) in the same manner they are now. Keep that in mind when you read the text.

Feel free to check out this summary .

What are the beliefs of the new classical theory?

The new classical model of business analytics came about in the 1970's and 1980's as a rejection of Keynesian economics. There are many belief's in the new system and they vary depending on the approach to the study of economics. There are three main approaches. The main difference is the level of government involvement in the economy.

The free-market approach assumes markets alone are sufficient to generate maximum wealth. This is the main point of new classical economics. ...

The free-market approach assumes markets alone are sufficient to generate maximum wealth. This is the main point of new classical economics. Markets are believed to be self-correcting and agents within the markets will always exploit information to their gain because it will perfect their potential. Loss through surplus or deficit are believed to be from poor predictive behavior; therefore, agents will improve or be destroyed in the free-market. Government is seen as neither a good or bad entity, but a part of the process.

The public-choice approach is more of an extreme approach. This approach supposes all government interference is bad for the market because it distorts outlook potential. This model suggests removing government from the equation and becoming a completely autonomous market where the public is the only consumer (the government becoming a simple consumer rather than a market force).

The market-friendly approach suggests the market should be a free market, which will work most of the time, and allow for some governmental influence when there is need such as missing markets, imperfect knowledge or outside extremes the market cannot reasonably handle. This compromise approach is more to the center of new classical economics.

A major belief is the supply will equal demand due to rational expectations. This assumes actors will always make the best decisions for their company because it will have a future impact. Information is a key driving force in the market because it is needed to properly apply decisions to get supply equaling demand.

Tuesday 17 October 2017

Who was Ella Kaye? What implication was made about her visit to Cody, and what did she do to Gatsby?

Ella Kaye was "a newspaperwoman" who ingratiated herself into the life of multi-millionaire Dan Cody, Jay Gatsby's first mentor. It is implied that she somehow gained influence in Cody's life and acted in an advisory role similar to Madame de Maintenon, the unacknowledged wife of Louis XIV of seventeenth-century France. Cody, with Jay Gatsby as his factotum, sailed around the world on his yacht for five years until docking one night in Boston. Ella Kaye boarded Cody's Tuolumne, and a week later, Cody was dead. The implication is that Kaye had somehow caused, or at least hastened, Cody's death. Dan Cody had intended for Jay Gatsby to receive $25,000 in his will, but Ella Kaye used a crafty attorney to acquire all of Cody's remaining wealth--in the millions--including the small legacy intended for Gatsby.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925.

Should the needs of society (the common good, majority rule, minority rights) take precedence over rights, desires, needs and values of the...

This question is a sticky one that has occupied political theorists for centuries. Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, and John Rawls are just three philosophers who feared that a balance between individual rights and the good of the whole would be difficult, if not impossible, to strike. The answer to this question, really, is that it if governments are to undertake actions that are good for society as a whole, then there really is no choice--they have to act in ways that compromise on individual rights. On a theoretical level, this is because the absolute exercise of liberty by one individual will sometimes infringe on the exercise of liberties on the other individuals around them. As Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, "My right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." That said, democratic governments have the responsibility to do the following:

carry out policies that are, in fact, best for the majority of people.

establish legal boundaries on their own actions. In the United States, for example, a Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution to stake out certain rights.

protect minority rights. Minority rights to participate in politics and in society is essential to democracy.

minimize transgressions on individual liberty. It is a basic principle of democracy that individual liberties should only be restricted to the extent that is absolutely essential.

So in short, there really is no debating that sometimes individual desires and even rights must be restricted. This, in fact, is the basis for government. But the relationship between rights and the needs of society need not be a zero sum game.

Monday 16 October 2017

What's weird about the Usher family tree?

Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" recounts the story of its narrator's visit to the secluded estate of his boyhood friend Roderick Usher. While describing his initial knowledge of the estate, the narrator states:

I had learned, too, the very remarkable fact, that the stem of the Usher race, all time-honoured as it was, had put forth, at no period, any enduring branch; in other words, that the entire family lay in the...

I had learned, too, the very remarkable fact, that the stem of the Usher race, all time-honoured as it was, had put forth, at no period, any enduring branch; in other words, that the entire family lay in the direct line of descent, and had always, with very trifling and very temporary variation, so lain.

In the passage above, the narrator indicates that what is unusual about the "Usher race" is that their family tree does not proliferate into a multitude of family lines, "any enduring branch." Instead, Poe's narrator emphasizes that the Usher family tree is a straight line, a "direct line of decent" with little to no "variation."

The implication is that the Ushers--not unlike the European royalty of prior centuries--are the product of generations of incest. The narrator buttresses this reading in his comparison of Roderick and his sister throughout the text, casting Madeline as the Gothic double of the more prominent Roderick.

What happens when the supply of energy-rich molecules in a muscle is used up?

Fermentation takes over. The energy-rich molecules you are talking about are glucose molecules, C6H12O6. They are what is normally used for energy production in animal cells. The normal process of energy production is called cellular respiration. Glucose, which is secured from the food we eat by the digestive system, is chemically combined with oxygen from the air we breathe. The glucose is broken apart, releasing free energy, which is stored in molecules of ATP (adenosine...

Sometimes, a person (such as an athlete) can't get enough oxygen in to facilitate cellular respiration. Energy needs do not stop, so a process called fermentation takes over. Fermentation breaks down glucose, to form free energy in the form of ATP. Compared to cellular respiration, fermentation does not produce as much ATP. It is used for emergency situations.

When the glucose supply in cells is exhausted, energy needs do not stop. Stored glucose, usually stored in the liver, is released into the bloodstream, where it is taken directly to the cells. Stored fat is also broken down to supply energy to cells. That is what fat is, stored caloric energy.