What stops gravity from pulling water to the center of the Earth?

The same thing that prevents gravity from pulling you to the center of the Earth; electromagnetic repulsion, or more properly, electron degeneracy pressure.

Before describing electron degeneracy pressure, I want to point out that a lot of water probably does make it at least as far as the mantle, particularly in the form of subducted oceanic crust. It's true that water can saturate the crust almost completely as long as pressure, temperature and porosity allow...

The same thing that prevents gravity from pulling you to the center of the Earth; electromagnetic repulsion, or more properly, electron degeneracy pressure.

Before describing electron degeneracy pressure, I want to point out that a lot of water probably does make it at least as far as the mantle, particularly in the form of subducted oceanic crust. It's true that water can saturate the crust almost completely as long as pressure, temperature and porosity allow it, but by the time the water hits the mantle its further subduction is strongly resisted by the pressure and temperature of the liquid rock in the mantle. Without actually drilling, it's pretty difficult to discern whether or not there is actually any water in the core, but it would be a safe assumption to say that it's cycled between the upper mantle, crust and atmosphere.

Electron degeneracy pressure is the result of electromagnetic forces acting between atoms. Atoms are surrounded by their electrons, which creates a field of negative electric charge, repelling other negative charges. When two fields come into contact, they can be forced to interact through extremely high pressures and temperatures, but under normal conditions it is not possible for electrons to occupy the same spatial area, and this resistance greatly outweighs the forces with which they are typically pushed together. So, when you or water are sitting on the surface of the Earth, the Earth's electrons are effectively pushing back against you to keep you where you are. Likewise, once water has reached the saturation point in a given area, any further water will "pile up" due to repulsion from the molecules sitting below them, including other water molecules.

Is Mercutio a flat or round character and should he be considered static or dynamic?

Critics consider Mercutio to be one of Shakespeare's most interesting characters. He is both a round and static character, which makes him extremely unique in literature. Characters are usually flat and static or round and dynamic. A round character has several different character traits as opposed to a flat character who may only display one or two traits. A dynamic character changes as a result of the events in the story while a static character does not change much during the course of events. 

Mercutio is certainly round as he displays different characteristics. He is flamboyant, maddening, belligerent, stubborn and loyal. He is flamboyant in his use of language. His Queen Mab speech in Act III, Scene 4 is imaginative and intense. He conjures fascinating images such as a "fairies midwife...no bigger than an agate stone." He references both violence ("cutting foreign throats") and sexuality ("maids lie on their backs").

He is also quite maddening. He won't listen to Benvolio's pleas to get off the street in Act III, Scene 1, despite the decree of the Prince earlier in the play. Instead, he accuses Benvolio of being unreasonable and always looking for a fight. He says,

Thou—why, thou wilt quarrel with a man that
hath a hair more or a hair less in his beard than
thou hast. Thou wilt quarrel with a man for cracking
nuts, having no other reason but because thou
hast hazel eyes. 

He is belligerent in his attitude toward Tybalt in the same scene. He is ready to fight from the outset. He refers to his sword immediately after Tybalt accuses him of "consorting" with Romeo,

Here’s my fiddlestick; here’s
that shall make you dance. Zounds, consort!

Mercutio also shows his loyalty to Romeo and the Montague cause when he stands up for Romeo. He cannot allow his friend to be called a villain, so he steps in to fight Tybalt. Finally, he is also stubborn in his death scene. He never changes and attempts to be witty to the very end, punning on the word "grave" while expounding on his belligerence in cursing the feuding families:

No, ’tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as
a church door, but ’tis enough. ’Twill serve. Ask for
me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man. I
am peppered, I warrant, for this world. A plague o’
both your houses! 

For this very reason, Mercutio is a static character. He is flamboyant and belligerent to the very end. He never gets beyond his set characteristics. To be a dynamic character he would have to show some emotional growth which he never does. He is fighting and joking to the end of his life.

What are some quotes relating to integrity and humility in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Integrity

In Chapter 11, Scout tells her father that he must be wrong for defending Tom Robinson because the majority of Maycomb believes he shouldn't. Atticus tells Scout,

"They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions...but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience" (Lee 140).

Atticus displays integrity by deciding to follow his conscience in the face of adversity. He makes the noble, morally upright choice to defend Tom Robinson despite the negative reaction he receives from the Maycomb community.

In Chapter 23, Atticus tells his children that a relative of Mr. Cunningham initially wanted to acquit Tom Robinson. He goes on to explain that the Cunninghams are a family that has integrity and respect. Scout says,

"He said the Cunninghams hadn't taken anything from or off of anybody since they migrated to the New World. He said the other thing about them was, once you earned their respect they were for you tooth and nail" (Lee 298). 

Humility

In Chapter 10, Atticus shoots and kills a rabid dog in one shot. His children are amazed and ask Maudie why Atticus never told them he was the deadliest shot in Maycomb. Maudie explains to the children that Atticus is a civilized individual who recognizes that his talent is a gift from God. She says,

"People in their right minds never take pride in their talents" (Lee 130).

Instead of bragging about his marksmanship abilities, Atticus displays humility by not mentioning his incredible talent.

In Chapter 12, Calpurnia takes the children to First Purchase African M.E. for Sunday service. Scout notices that Calpurnia speaks differently around her community members. Scout asks, "why do you talk nigger-talk to the---to your folks when you know it's not right?" (Lee 167). Calpurnia says,

"It's not necessary to tell all you know. It's not lady-like---in the second place, folks don't like to have somebody around knowin' more than they do. It aggravates 'em" (Lee 167).

Instead of flaunting her ability to articulate, Calpurnia chooses to speak humbly with an informal dialect so she will not come across as overly refined.

What are links between Shakespeare's Macbeth and the events at the time Shakespeare was writing the play?

Shakespeare wrote Macbethduring the reign of James I of England after the failed assassination attempt of the king with the 1605 Gunpowder Plot.  In Act II, scene 3, the porter at the gate of Macbeth's castle at Inverness drunkenly delivers a soliloquy that serves the practical purpose of allowing time for the actor playing Macbeth to wash off Duncan's blood while the porter delivers a farcical invocation of the perpetrators of the failed assassination,...

Shakespeare wrote Macbeth during the reign of James I of England after the failed assassination attempt of the king with the 1605 Gunpowder Plot.  In Act II, scene 3, the porter at the gate of Macbeth's castle at Inverness drunkenly delivers a soliloquy that serves the practical purpose of allowing time for the actor playing Macbeth to wash off Duncan's blood while the porter delivers a farcical invocation of the perpetrators of the failed assassination, a group of English provincial Catholics.  The audience would have immediately recognized his allusions and been amused by them, breaking the dramatic tension created with the events and emotions surrounding Duncan's murder.

James I assumed the throne of England in 1603 after having been the king of Scotland since 1567, roughly a year after his birth.  Shakespeare chose the history of Scotland's kings to underpin the play, though he did depart from the facts to suit his dramatic purposes, to please his patron, the king.  James I believed his family to be descended from the historical Banquo; this is likely the reason that Fleance survives when he and his father are attacked and Banquo is fatally wounded.  

James I was interested in the supernatural and considered himself a witchcraft expert, hence the inclusion of the Weird Sisters.  Moreover, during his reign he worked on the clarification of his theory of the divine right of kings to rule--the integral plot point that drives Macbeth.

Muskrat, Ontario, has 1001 people. Citizens of Muskrat consume only one private good, Upper Canada Ale. There is one public good, the town skating...

This probably should have been split into three questions, one for each part. But I feel bad that it's been here for so long unsolved, and it's a good problem, so I will at last go through and solve all three. Next time please separate the questions appropriately.

For part A, we can get a Pareto-efficient solution by weighting the different citizens however we like, and then maximizing utility; but it sounds like what we really want is the utilitarian efficient solution, which weights each citizen uniquely.

Then basically what we do is imagine there's a central planner who takes all the money ($1,001,000) and divvies it up in such a way as to maximize overall utility for the whole town.

This total utility is given by adding up all the individual utilities, remembering that there are 1000 people of type 1:

U = 1000 (x_i - 100/G) + (x_w - 110/G)

We maximize this subject to the constraint that we need to pay $10 for each square meter of rink and $1 for each bottle of ale, using a Lagrangian; we also keep in mind that all the type 1 people will get the same amount of ale:

L = 1000 x_i - 100,000/G + x_w - 110/G + lambda (1000 x_i + x_w + 10 G - 1,001,000)

dL/dx_i = 0 = 1000 + 1000 lambda
lambda = -1

dL/dx_w = 0 = 1 + lambda

dL/dG = 0 = 100,000/G^2 + 110/G^2 + 10 lambda
100,100/G^2 - 10 = 0
100,110/G^2 = 10
G^2 = 10,011
G = 100.05

dL/dlambda = 0 = 1000 x_i + x_w + 10 G - 1,001,000
1000 x_i + x_w + 1000 = 1,001,000
1000 x_i + x_w = 1,000,000

Now, how do we decide how much ale the type 2 person gets compared to the type 1 person? Well, they all have the same constant marginal utility of ale, so it doesn't really matter---but we may as well assume it's split fairly so that x_i = x_w = x.

x = 1,000,000/1001 = 999

So, the utilitarian allocation is for everyone to buy 999 bottles of ale and contribute their last $1 to building 100 square meters of rink.

Part B is the majority-rule democratic solution. If everyone voted, how much rink would they want to be bought?

Clearly the type 1 people are going to win the vote, so we can basically ignore the type 2 person. The type 1 people will vote for the amount of spending that maximizes their utility:

U = 1000*x_i - 100,000/G

The budget constraint to use is still assuming that they have all the money to work with, because in a majority-rule system they can tax the type 2 person's money as well. Theoretically they could tax all of it, though this never happens in real life. In fact, it was stipulated that everyone must pay the same share.

L = 1000*x_i - 100,000/G + lambda(1000*x_i + 10*G - 1,001,000)

dL/dx_i = 0 = 1000 + 1000 lambda
lambda = -1
dL/dG = 0 = 100,000/G^2 + 10 lambda
100,000/G^2 = 10
G = 100

Now we said that everyone must pay the same share, so this means that the $1,000 to buy 100 square meters of rink must be shared equally through all 1001 citizens; so each one owes $1 (rounded from 0.999, but you can't pay a tenth of a cent), and then each will buy as much ale as possible with the rest, so that's 999 bottles of ale.

You'll note that this is the same (with some rounding) as the utilitarian Pareto-efficient allocation. It could actually be feasibly implemented using a 0.1% sales tax on ale.

But now, part C: What if there is no planner, no taxes, and everyone must decide how much rink to buy on their own?

Then, each person maximizes their own utility without regard to anyone else. They act as if they're paying for the whole thing. As noted in the problem, only one type of first-order condition can actually be satisfied; now the question is, whose will it be?

What we need is a condition where one type of person has the same marginal utility for ale and skating rink, while the other has strictly less marginal utility for the skating rink and will therefore not contribute.

So, whose marginal utility of skating rink is highest? Why, the type 2 person! They like skating rinks just a little bit more (marginal utility of 110/G^2 instead of 100/G^2) than everyone else--and as a result they're going to end up footing the bill.

So we maximize that person's utility subject to their budget constraint:

L = x_w - 110/G + lambda (x_w + 10 G - 1000)

dL/dx_w = 0 = 1 + lambda
lambda = -1

dL/dG = 0 = 110/G^2 + 10 lambda
110/G^2 - 10 = 0
G = 10

dL/dlambda = 0 = x_w + 10 G - 1000
x_w + 100 - 1000 = 0
x_w = 900

So, this person is going to spend $100 of their own money to buy a tiny little 10 square meter skating rink, only having $900 left to buy ale, while everyone else spends all their money on ale and free-rides on the skating rink---all because everyone was acting independently and nobody could force anyone else to pitch in. Yet even they are worse off than they would have been with a larger skating rink.

Notice how by being forced to pay a tax to provide for a public good, everyone can be made better off---this is the general lesson of public goods.

How can I cite the quote "whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy" in Animal Farm?

In Animal Farm, Major gives a speech in Chapter 1 in which he says, "whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy" (page 8). Major is a prize-winning, old boar who shares his dreams of a better life with the other animals, who are tired of Mr. Jones's drunken dereliction of duty. Major explains to the animals on the farm that "all the evils of this life of ours spring from the tyranny of human beings" (page 7). After explaining the evils that man brings to animals, Major recounts his dream of the previous night, in which humans have disappeared from the earth and animals reign supreme. He also leads the animals in a stirring round of the song "Beasts of England," which tells of the time when beasts rule over England and man's tyranny has been overthrown. Major is supposed to represent Karl Marx, the author of the Communist Manifesto. Marx blamed the struggles of humankind on the class warfare between capitalists (or, in earlier times, the feudal lords) and the working class or proletariat, and Marx advocated a proletarian revolution against the capitalist class.

Citation: Orwell, George. Animal Farm, page 8. Signet, 1996.

What are some quotations about the traveler in "To Build a Fire" by Jack London?

I am not sure what kind of quotations you need, but I have put some into categories below:

Characteristics of the man:

But all this—the distant trail, no sun in the sky, the great cold, and the strangeness of it all—had no effect on the man. It was not because he was long familiar with it. He was a newcomer in the land, and this was his first winter.

This quote in the beginning of the story reveals that the man is not a seasoned traveler in such cold conditions.  Instead of being afraid or careful of the vast isolation and extreme weather, he is not affected by it at all.  This not only foreshadows the man's tragic end, but enforces the theme that nature has dominion over man.  

The trouble with him was that he was not able to imagine. He was quick and ready in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in their meanings.

This quotation reveals that the man is able to understand concrete details and facts.  In this story he can recognize the cold, notice the location of the trees, follow the position of the sun, and find the area of most snow-covered streams.  Unfortunately, he cannot use all these concrete details to reach a higher understanding about his own faults as a human being and the power of unbridled nature.

Author's style:

The hair on the man’s face was similarly frosted, but more solidly. It took the form of ice and increased with every warm, moist breath from his mouth. Also, the man had tobacco in his mouth. The ice held his lips so tightly together that he could not empty the juice from his mouth. The result was a long piece of yellow ice hanging from his lips.

This passage contains one of the most memorable images from the work. The image of the ice freezing the man's lips together and the tobacco juice creating a type of icicle is beyond the physical experience of most readers. The quotation serves to show the reader just how frigid the area is.  In addition, the image shows the physical superiority of the ice as it seems to be literally encasing the man.

In a month no man had traveled up or down that silent creek. The man went steadily ahead. He was not much of a thinker

While this quotation reveals the man's lack of thought, it also presents a simple element of foreshadowing.  If nobody had traveled the area in a month, why should he think he can do it as a newcomer to the area?  The man will undoubtedly regret his decision.

Quotations about the old-timer from Sulphur Creek

Well, here he was; he had had the accident; he was alone; and he had saved himself. Those old men were rather womanish, he thought. All a man must do was to keep his head, and he was all right. Any man who was a man could travel alone.

That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in this country. And he had laughed at him at the time!

At first, the man feels superior to all of those who had warned him against traveling the Yukon Trail alone.  Not only does this quotation reveal the man's character flaws in general, but also his specific belief that he is somehow better than all the older, more-experienced travelers of the region.

Specifically, the old-timer from Sulphur Creek warns the man.  He represents wisdom and experience, which often goes unheeded by the younger people. As is usual in life, the man does not understand the truth until it is too late.

What are some scene differences between Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird and the play adaptation?

One major difference between the play adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and her original novel is that the opening scene is really a compilation of multiple scenes in multiple chapters.

The play opens with the adult Jean Louise and child Scout alternately serving as narrators. In the opening scene, Jean Louise comments on how, growing up, she and Jem had felt their father was too old, "nearly fifty," which they felt "reflected on his manliness." Young Scout follows the comment with a reflection about all the interesting things Atticus didn't do that further made the children feel their father was a feeble man:

Atticus doesn't drive a dump truck for the county, he isn't a sheriff, he doesn't farm or work in a garage, or anything worth mentioning. Other fathers go hunting, play poker, or fish. Atticus works in an office, and he reads. (I.i.)

In the book, while it is true that the narrator Scout voices these same opinions, she doesn't do so until much later in the book, not until Chapter 10, nearly halfway into the book. Also, what Scout says in her narration in Chapter 10 is very similar to what the narrators say in the play but not identical. Of particular interest is the fact that Scout ends her list of things her father doesn't do with the comment, "... or do anything that could possibly arouse the admiration of anyone."

Also, in the opening scene of the play, the voice of an unidentified boy is heard "calling from off L," meaning Offstage Left. The boy is heard saying, "Hey, Scout--how come your daddy defends niggers? (Singsong.) Scout's daddy defends nig ... gers!" (I.i). When Scout retorts, "You gonna take that back, boy?," the boy replies, "You gonna make me? My folks say your daddy's a disgrace and that nigger oughta hang from the water tank" (I.i).

The offstage, unidentified boy appears to be a representation of Cecil Jacobs in the book. While the dialogue exchange in the play is mostly an accurate representation of the dialogue in the book, the fight between Cecil Jacobs and Scout actually occurs much later in the book than in the play. In the book, the scene does not take place until Chapter 9. What's more, the scene in the book is used to develop a major theme, a theme not touched upon in the opening scene of the play. In Chapter 9, Scout is beginning to learn to control her temper, and though she feels tempted to hit Cecil, she drops her fists and walks away, making it the first time she had "ever walked away from a fight" (Ch. 10). Instead, in the opening scene of the play, though she never follows through with her swing, stage directions don't describe her as walking away and learning from the moment.

In the book The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan, which parts of the Israeli culture are represented and are there conflicts between different types of...

In his examination of the Arab-Israeli conflict as seen, primarily, through the eyes of a Palestinian man and an Israeli woman in The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East, Sandy Tolan devotes considerable time to the distinctions that divide not just Arabs and Jews, but those who identify as Jewish. Within Judaism there exists very fundamental distinctions between Jews, including those based upon modern ancestry and those...

In his examination of the Arab-Israeli conflict as seen, primarily, through the eyes of a Palestinian man and an Israeli woman in The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East, Sandy Tolan devotes considerable time to the distinctions that divide not just Arabs and Jews, but those who identify as Jewish. Within Judaism there exists very fundamental distinctions between Jews, including those based upon modern ancestry and those based upon level of orthodoxy. While many Jews lived in the areas known as Judea and Samaria uninterrupted by the forced expulsions of the previous millennium, most had fled anti-Semitic violence, establishing communities across Europe. Over centuries, these European Jewish communities evolved into divisions, including those whose heritages were traced to Spain before the Inquisition and forced expulsions as well as those whose heritage was rooted further east, in Central and Eastern Europe. The former are known as Sephardic, the latter as Ashkenazi. These two categories of Jews represent not just distinct origins, but distinct outlooks with respect to Zionism and relations with Muslims. The former are darker-skinned, the latter lighter-skinned and more similar physically to the European ethnicities prevalent throughout those regions. Sephardic Israelis with roots in Spanish culture are also those who came to Israel, centuries after the Inquisition from predominantly Arab countries across the Middle East (including North Africa), many fleeing persecution from Islamic majorities in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and every other modern-era country of that region. Political differences in Israel today reflect these distinctions, in addition to the political inclinations of various sects and levels of orthodoxy that collectively reflect a far more diverse populace than usually assumed.

Distinctions between Israeli Jews manifest themselves politically in terms of relationships with Arab-Muslim countries, with Sephardic Jews often more hostile to negotiations with Arab governments. Their history of persecution at the hands of Arab governments and populations instilled in them a more cynical perspective of Israel’s ability to exist peaceably surrounded by Arab nations. The relevance of this to any discussion of The Lemon Tree is clear. The Israeli family at the center of Tolan’s book is itself representative of these major distinctions among Jews. Dalia Eshkenazi is Sephardic, but the physical appearance of her and her family is closer to the lighter-skinned Ashkenazi with Central and Eastern European origins. That seeming dichotomy provides Dalia, whose family moved into the house of a Palestinian family that fled after the area in which the neighborhood sits became Israeli, a unique perspective. Her physical appearance is that of the Ashkenazi, but her heritage is that of the Sephardim. Thus she is able to forge a close personal relationship with Bashir Khairis, the Palestinian man in whose home Dalia was raised.  As a Sephardic Jew, Dalia grew up with the experience of someone who has viewed racial distinctions from a disadvantage. Tolan notes her experiences as a “black girl” culturally separate from the Ashkenazim “white girls.” Her heritage sensitizes her to the travails of those on the receiving end of racist treatment. Subjected to rock-throwing at the hands of Polish “white” girls, Dalia reacts indignantly, asking rhetorically of the Ashkenazim girls, “Of all people who should know better . . .Of all people who should know how not to treat someone badly just because they are different.” The victimization of Jews throughout history has, Dalia suggests, failed to sensitize some of her fellow Jews to the threat of racism that seems to permeate all of humanity, including those who have been in the receiving end of violence solely because they are “different.”

Cultural and other distinctions among Israeli Jews is a theme to which Tolan returns throughout his examination of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The author is correct to note the importance of these distinctions in resolving the considerable divide between Palestinian and Jewish people.

How does Phillip Larkin's "Church Going" comment on atheism and the role of religion in human life?

Phillip Larkin’s “Church Going,” composed in 1954, analyzes the conflict between spirituality and organized religion. The persona enters an empty church, walks around, and then donates a worthless coin before leaving. He reflects that the church “wasn’t worth stopping for,” before contradicting himself, and admitting that he in fact stops there often (18). He calls the church “a serious house,” and states that it will always satisfy “a hunger...to be more serious” (55, 60). With...

Phillip Larkin’s “Church Going,” composed in 1954, analyzes the conflict between spirituality and organized religion. The persona enters an empty church, walks around, and then donates a worthless coin before leaving. He reflects that the church “wasn’t worth stopping for,” before contradicting himself, and admitting that he in fact stops there often (18). He calls the church “a serious house,” and states that it will always satisfy “a hunger...to be more serious” (55, 60). With this, we learn that the speaker’s spirituality manifests itself in a longing to discern something in life worth taking seriously; he’s looking for something genuine, or meaningful. However, the church, a symbol for organized religion, fails to satisfy this longing. The role of religion then, for Larkin, is to gratify a natural desire for seriousness, though he believes modern religion fails to do so.

Despite his dislike of the church, the speaker doesn’t turn to atheism. He asserts, “superstition, like belief, must die,” but counters this notion at the end when he says that churches “never can be obsolete” (36, 53). The persona criticizes religion’s superstitions and beliefs, but finally implies that churches are necessary for spiritual development. The speaker’s thoughts on religion, then, are conflicted. He approves of its goal: to reveal authenticity, answer universal questions, and discern how to live a moral and fulfilling life. However, he’s disenchanted by modern religion’s apparently “random” superstition, and obscure intent (33). For Larkin then, atheism, in the expanded sense that one gives up one's spirituality, is unnatural to human nature, for we will always be searching for some form of spiritual contentment.

How can you explain two main effects of the New Deal programs?

President Franklin Roosevelt developed a series of programs to try to help deal with the impact of the Great Depression. These programs were called the New Deal. The New Deal Programs tried to bring relief to the American people and reform to our society.

Several New Deal programs tried to help the American people deal with the impacts of the Great Depression. There were many programs that created jobs. The Civilian Conservation Corps created jobs...

President Franklin Roosevelt developed a series of programs to try to help deal with the impact of the Great Depression. These programs were called the New Deal. The New Deal Programs tried to bring relief to the American people and reform to our society.

Several New Deal programs tried to help the American people deal with the impacts of the Great Depression. There were many programs that created jobs. The Civilian Conservation Corps created jobs for young, unemployed men. These people went to the western part of our country to work on various conservation projects. The Civil Works Administration and the Public Works Administration created jobs for our people. These jobs were in the construction industry. They worked on projects that included building roads, schools, and bridges. Farmers were paid not to produce crops with the passage of the Agriculture Adjustment Act.

The New Deal also tried to bring about reforms to help try to prevent another significant depression from occurring. The Glass-Steagall Act prevented commercial banks from investing in the stock market. It also created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. This program insured savings accounts to reassure people that their money was safe in our banks. The Securities Act was passed requiring companies to give complete and truthful information to investors. The Security and Exchange Commission was created to monitor the stock market and to prevent fraud.

These New Deal programs were designed to provide relief to our people and to create reforms to help to try to prevent another Great Depression from occurring.

What role did Teddy Roosevelt play in the Spanish-American War?

Theodore Roosevelt played two main roles in the Spanish-American War.  First, as a member of the government, he pushed for the US to be prepared for the war and for the US to get involved in the war in an aggressive manner.  Second, once the war actually broke out, Roosevelt famously raised a volunteer regiment called the Rough Riders and served as the second-in-command of the unit.

In the time just before the Spanish-American War,...

Theodore Roosevelt played two main roles in the Spanish-American War.  First, as a member of the government, he pushed for the US to be prepared for the war and for the US to get involved in the war in an aggressive manner.  Second, once the war actually broke out, Roosevelt famously raised a volunteer regiment called the Rough Riders and served as the second-in-command of the unit.

In the time just before the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt was the Assistant Secretary of the Navy.  Roosevelt believed strongly that a war with Spain would be a good thing for the US.  He felt that war would be morally good for the country because it would make the country tougher.  He felt that war would be good for the US in more material terms because if the US played its cards correctly, it could take territories around the world.  This would allow the US to have naval bases from which it could project power.  For these reasons, Roosevelt argued for war.  He also worked hard to make sure the Navy would be ready if war broke out.  Finally, he messaged Admiral Dewey, commanding US forces in Asia, and ordered him to take the Philippines if the US went to war with Spain.  In these ways, Roosevelt helped prepare the US for war and he helped push the country towards involvement in the war.

Once the war began, Roosevelt wanted to play a more direct part in it.  He badly wanted to test his own masculinity and valor by actually fighting in a war.  In order to accomplish this, he obtained permission to form the Rough Riders.  With them, he fought in Cuba, making his name as a military leader.  Thus, Roosevelt directly participated by fighting in the war.  

In Part 3 of Fahrenheit 451, what was remarkable and disturbing about the declaration of war scene at the gas station?

Montag has recently killed Captain Beatty and is on the run. Montag walks into a gas station to avoid being spotted by the authorities in the helicopters outside. When he goes into the bathroom to wash up, he hears the radio through the aluminum walls. The voice on the radio says, "War has been declared" (Bradbury 119). Montag stands quietly and attempts to comprehend the statement on the radio. Montag tries to make...

Montag has recently killed Captain Beatty and is on the run. Montag walks into a gas station to avoid being spotted by the authorities in the helicopters outside. When he goes into the bathroom to wash up, he hears the radio through the aluminum walls. The voice on the radio says, "War has been declared" (Bradbury 119). Montag stands quietly and attempts to comprehend the statement on the radio. Montag tries to make himself feel shocked, but is numb to the declaration of war. Montag's indifference to such a profound message is extremely disturbing. When the war is declared over the radio, the men pumping their beetles and the gas station attendants continue talking about money, gas, and engines. The citizens of Montag's dystopian society find the war declaration to be irrelevant. The fact that war has become such an insignificant event that nobody cares about it, portrays the lack of humanity in the society, which is remarkable. Depicting the citizens being so removed from the reality of the situation and indifferent towards war is what makes this scene disturbing.

What is the outline of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Brief Outline of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee:

• Scout, her brother Jem, and her father, Atticus Finch (a lawyer) are introduced.


• They live in Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression.


• Jem and Scout make friends with Dill.


• Jem, Scout, and Dill become interested in the Radley house, and especially Arthur (Boo) Radley.


• Scout begins school but doesn't like it.


• Jem and Scout find gifts left for them in the knothole of an old tree.


• The children act out stories about Boo Radley, but Atticus tells them to stop and to consider another person's point of view.


• The children sneak onto the Radley property and Mr. Radley shoots at them.


• Jem loses his pants but gets them back mended.


• Dill leaves.


• The children find more presents.


• Mr. Radley plugs the knothole with cement.


• There is a fire at a neighboring house and someone slips a blanket over Scout's shoulders as she watches.


• Jem tells Atticus about the presents and the mended pants.


• Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman.


• Other children bully Jem and Scout because their father is defending a black man.


• Calpurnia, the Finch family cook, takes the family to the local black church.


• Alexandra, Atticus's sister, comes to live with the Finches.


• Dill returns.


• A lynch mob gathers to lynch Tom Robinson.


• Atticus faces the mob down. Scout innocently convinces a man to disperse the mob.


• The trial begins. Jem and Scout sit in the "colored balcony."


• Atticus provides evidence that the defendant, Mayella Ewell, and her father are lying. He proves that the defendant propositioned Tom, and that it would have been impossible for Tom to inflict the wounds on her.


• The all-white jury convicts Tom despite the overwhelming evidence that he is innocent.


• Tom tries to escape from prison and is shot to death.


• Jem loses faith in justice.


• Bob Ewell, the defendant's father, feels he has been made a fool of during the trial and vows revenge.


• Ewell attacks Jem and Scout in the woods. Boo Radley intervenes. He stabs Ewell to death.


• Boo carries Jem home to Atticus.


• The sheriff reports that Ewell tripped and fell on his own knife to protect Boo.


• Scout realizes that Boo Radley is not a monster, but a human being.


• Scout learns to be sympathetic and understanding towards others.

How does Pat Barker use symbolism, juxtaposition, contrasting characterization, structure, and foreshadowing to explore ideas in her novel Border...

An instance of interplay between symbolismin the text and readers' values and beliefs relates to the efficacy of psychological theory and practice. Early symbolism explores the idea of a dangerous and despairing life when Parker writes that Tom and Lauren woke to a "curious stillness. Clouds sagged over the river." The stillness and clouds sagging symbolize life that is oppressed and despaired of, as Danny's is and Tom's will be. Tom comes face-to-face with...

An instance of interplay between symbolism in the text and readers' values and beliefs relates to the efficacy of psychological theory and practice. Early symbolism explores the idea of a dangerous and despairing life when Parker writes that Tom and Lauren woke to a "curious stillness. Clouds sagged over the river." The stillness and clouds sagging symbolize life that is oppressed and despaired of, as Danny's is and Tom's will be. Tom comes face-to-face with a situation, Danny's attempt against his own life, that embodies readers' value of honoring the sanctity of life and readers' belief that help is given by psychologists and psychological theory [the meeting between Tom and Danny at the jetty illustrates contrasting characterization].

An instance of interplay between juxtaposition in the text—that of Lauren's voice juxtaposed to the slowly destructive tide—and readers' beliefs relates to the belief in the ultimate good of the psychological precept "just keep talking," a precept very early questioned by Tom himself:

Keep talking, he said to clients who came to him for help in saving their marriages. . . faced with the breakdown of his own, he thought, Shut up, Lauren. Please, please, please shut up.

This juxtaposition explores the idea of the inadequacy of psychological counseling theory and, by extension, the inadequacy of the larger Western worldview.

Tom kept his eyes down, hearing Lauren's voice go on and on, as soft and insistent as the tides that, slapping against crumbling stone. . . worked bits of Newcastle loose.

Is Atticus from To Kill a Mockingbird proactive? Why?

Being proactive means that a person prepares to intervene in an expected negative situation. Atticus does this by preparing a fair defense for his client Tom Robinson, who has rape charges against him by Mayella Ewell. About six months before the trial, Atticus is talking with his brother Jack about the case and says the following:

"Before I'm through, I intend to jar the jury a bit--I think we'll have a reasonable chance on appeal,...

Being proactive means that a person prepares to intervene in an expected negative situation. Atticus does this by preparing a fair defense for his client Tom Robinson, who has rape charges against him by Mayella Ewell. About six months before the trial, Atticus is talking with his brother Jack about the case and says the following:

"Before I'm through, I intend to jar the jury a bit--I think we'll have a reasonable chance on appeal, though. . . But do you think I could face my children otherwise? . . . I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb's usual disease" (88).

The above passage shows Atticus consciously thinking about and preparing for what he will do when he presents Tom's defense. Not only that, but Atticus takes great care to make sure that Tom makes it to his trial without any interference. When Atticus hears that the Old Sarum bunch might be out to lynch Tom before the trial in chapter 15, he goes to the jail with a light, a chair, and a book to wait and see if anyone tries to take Tom away. The mob does show up for Tom, so Atticus was right to do his best to stop them. This is a proactive stance, too, because by not going, he would have been passive and not an intervening element. Fortunately for Tom, he had a very proactive person and lawyer on his side to defend him.  

Europeans remained as perpetual foreigners; they neither became "Hinduized" nor "Indianized." Is this true?

Consider the theories proposed in Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel." Europeans had the purported advantage of advanced agriculture and manufacturing resources that allowed them to adopt specialization of labor at an earlier time than Asian cultures. When Europeans began to colonize Asian and African lands, they found themselves among peoples who had not yet mastered the same manufacturing and farming techniques and assumed that those peoples were not advanced, leading to a rejection of...

Consider the theories proposed in Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel." Europeans had the purported advantage of advanced agriculture and manufacturing resources that allowed them to adopt specialization of labor at an earlier time than Asian cultures. When Europeans began to colonize Asian and African lands, they found themselves among peoples who had not yet mastered the same manufacturing and farming techniques and assumed that those peoples were not advanced, leading to a rejection of all but the commercial benefits of their respective cultures. As Europeans ventured eastward through Asia and into India in the "Great Game" period of European history (during which France, Russia, and England jostled for the best trade routes through Asia and into the Indian subcontinent), they often encountered hostile tribal cultures and societies that had no similar colonial aspirations. Europeans rejected the religious practices of those cultures as inimical to European values.

Add to this the collective European experience in the Crusades and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy over much of Europe. The Roman papacy was as much of a political entity as it was a religious entity through much of the period of European colonization of Asia and Africa. Europe fought the Crusades to wrest the Holy Land from "infidels." The Vatican rewarded European nobles with "indulgences" for their efforts in preserving the Church's power. In this context, European colonizers had no incentive to reject their own church and to adopt foreign religious practices and traditions.

Saying the Europeans were perpetual foreigners is something of a misnomer. They were always foreigners as they colonized lands that had strong Hindu traditions, but they attempted to transform those lands into extensions of their own European cultures. If that Europeanization had been successful, they would not have been foreigners in those lands, but would instead have been settlers that extended the influence of European powers.

What should be written about in an autobiographical essay if you don't feel you have anything special to write about?

No matter how young you are, if you are old enough to write, there is always plenty to write about in an autobiographical essay. You can write about when and where you were born, who your parents and other family members are, where you have attended school, what friends you have had, what activities you have enjoyed through your life so far, and much more. You can write about your favorite teachers, favorite kinds of...

No matter how young you are, if you are old enough to write, there is always plenty to write about in an autobiographical essay. You can write about when and where you were born, who your parents and other family members are, where you have attended school, what friends you have had, what activities you have enjoyed through your life so far, and much more. You can write about your favorite teachers, favorite kinds of movies, and favorite foods. If you like to read, you can write about some books you have enjoyed or books you have not enjoyed. You can write about your feelings, both what makes you happy and what makes you sad. You can also write about your goals in life, what profession(s) you are interested in, and where you would like to live someday. You can write about any place you have traveled to, even if it is just the town next to yours! You can write about your good qualities and the skills you have. You might be a faithful friend and good at fixing things around the house. When someone writes an autobiography, it does not mean everything in the autobiography is high drama. Our lives consist mostly of smaller and more ordinary details, which make up our everyday lives. 

Does the letter ever lose any of its pain for Hester in The Scarlet Letter?

I don’t believe that the pain of the letter is ever lessened for Hester, but I do think she becomes accustomed to the pain, and so it doesn't seem quite as dramatic as when it was new to her.  After she and Dimmesdale have determined to take Pearl and run away together, back to Europe, Hester is in town with her daughter for the public holiday.  She thinks to herself, in regard to the other...

I don’t believe that the pain of the letter is ever lessened for Hester, but I do think she becomes accustomed to the pain, and so it doesn't seem quite as dramatic as when it was new to her.  After she and Dimmesdale have determined to take Pearl and run away together, back to Europe, Hester is in town with her daughter for the public holiday.  She thinks to herself, in regard to the other villagers,

"'Look your last on the scarlet letter and its wearer! [...] Yet a little while, and she will be beyond your reach!  A few hours longer, and the deep mysterious ocean will quench and hide forever the symbol which ye have caused to burn upon her bosom!'"

The fact that Hester still conceives of the letter as something which burns, like a brand or hot iron, lends itself to the belief that it is still quite painful for her to wear it. Further, when she discussed the letter with Dimmesdale in the forest, she says that she "'must bear its torture yet a little longer'" until they are able to get away.  In describing its effect on her as "torture," Hester makes it clear that the letter is still extremely painful to her.  

To whom did Hamilton's economic plan appeal?

Alexander Hamilton’s economic plan appealed to different groups. Those who held old government bonds were very pleased with his plan. Businesses also were very pleased with Alexander Hamilton’s economic plan.

Hamilton’s plan called for combining the state debt and the national debt. The government would issue new bonds to those who held old government bonds. The old government bonds would be redeemed at full face value. Some speculators had bought the old government bonds at...

Alexander Hamilton’s economic plan appealed to different groups. Those who held old government bonds were very pleased with his plan. Businesses also were very pleased with Alexander Hamilton’s economic plan.

Hamilton’s plan called for combining the state debt and the national debt. The government would issue new bonds to those who held old government bonds. The old government bonds would be redeemed at full face value. Some speculators had bought the old government bonds at a very low price because many people thought they would never be redeemed at full value because of the country’s financial problems . These speculators, many who were northerners, benefitted greatly from this plan. The government would use the new bonds and some tax money to pay our debt.

Alexander Hamilton also wanted to create a national bank. This would help businesses. They would have a place where they could put their money and a place where they could get loans if needed.

Alexander Hamilton proposed having taxes on imports. This would help the government gain money that could be used to pay our debt. It also would protect our new industries by making some foreign-made products more expensive. This would encourage people to buy products from American businesses.

Alexander Hamilton’s economic plan benefited many people.

Why does Miss Strangeworth take time to greet so many people?

Miss Strangeworth takes pride in knowing everyone in town. She takes pride in the fact that her family has been in this town for generations. She wants people to know (even tourists) that she knows everyone in town. This is ironic considering her practice of sending anonymous letters. However, she writes anonymously to avoid consequences or rebuttals. 

She greets everyone in town in order to gather information about them. She presents herself as a caring,...

Miss Strangeworth takes pride in knowing everyone in town. She takes pride in the fact that her family has been in this town for generations. She wants people to know (even tourists) that she knows everyone in town. This is ironic considering her practice of sending anonymous letters. However, she writes anonymously to avoid consequences or rebuttals. 

She greets everyone in town in order to gather information about them. She presents herself as a caring, considerate neighbor. She engages all the people she meets with kindness but she also has an ulterior motive. She's looking for faults and flaws. She feels it is her duty to find flaws and make people aware of them (via her anonymous letters). This duty might come from a legitimate desire to encourage morals among her fellow citizens. But her letters are rude and hardly constructive. The narrator notes "as long as evil existed unchecked in the world, it was Miss Strangeworth’s duty to keep her town alert to it." She greets everyone so that she can have material for her letters. 

For example, she greets Helen Crane and is friendly in conversation. But when she gets home, she sends a letter implying that Helen's baby is an "idiot child" and that some people shouldn't have children. She sends this to Don, Helen's husband. This is the letter she drops, thus revealing to Don and Helen that she has been writing the letters. 

How did NATO and the Warsaw Pact change Europe?

As World War II concluded, the Soviet Union began to seize territory in Eastern Europe as so-called "satellite states," causing the west to feel as though an "iron curtain" (a phrase popularized by Winston Churchill) had descended across Eastern Europe. In 1948, the Soviets closed off western-controlled West Berlin, which was surrounded by Soviet East Berlin and Soviet East Germany, to ground traffic. As a result, the Americans and their allies had to airlift supplies...

As World War II concluded, the Soviet Union began to seize territory in Eastern Europe as so-called "satellite states," causing the west to feel as though an "iron curtain" (a phrase popularized by Winston Churchill) had descended across Eastern Europe. In 1948, the Soviets closed off western-controlled West Berlin, which was surrounded by Soviet East Berlin and Soviet East Germany, to ground traffic. As a result, the Americans and their allies had to airlift supplies into West Berlin.

In 1949, in response to these events, NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed. Countries in Western Europe and North America signed the agreement, which promised that they would come to each others' aid if attacked. Later, in 1952, Greece and Turkey also signed the agreement, as did West Germany in 1955.

In response, particularly to the alliance of West Germany with NATO, Eastern European countries and the Soviet Union signed the Warsaw Pact in 1955. East Germany was part of this pact, which effectively divided Europe into two competing alliance systems. The members of the Warsaw Pact also agreed to defend each other if one of them were attacked. In addition, the pact allowed the Soviet Union greater control over the member countries. For example, when the Soviets crushed the uprising in Hungary in 1956, they said they had carried it out through the Warsaw Pact. Effectively, NATO and the Warsaw Pact divided Europe into western-controlled and Soviet-controlled areas. 

How does Lady Macbeth’s understanding of Macbeth’s character help her to manipulate him to carry out the murder of King Duncan?

When Lady Macbeth first reads Macbeth's letter, she initially fears that he is "too full o' th' milk of human kindness" to take the fastest route to the throne of Scotland (1.5.17).  She knows that he is compassionate and kind, and she is concerned that these qualities -- qualities they would have considered to be somewhat womanish -- will get in her way.  This is why she wishes to have any semblance of these qualities...

When Lady Macbeth first reads Macbeth's letter, she initially fears that he is "too full o' th' milk of human kindness" to take the fastest route to the throne of Scotland (1.5.17).  She knows that he is compassionate and kind, and she is concerned that these qualities -- qualities they would have considered to be somewhat womanish -- will get in her way.  This is why she wishes to have any semblance of these qualities removed from her own self, why she wishes to be "unsex[ed]" (1.5.48). 

After Macbeth decides that he no longer wishes to murder the king, he tells his wife that they "will proceed no further in this business" (1.7.34).  Because she has such a developed understanding of his character, she seems to know that wounding his pride will be the best way to get him to recommit to their plan.  Therefore, she accuses him of being "green and pale" and suggests that he will have to think of himself as a "coward" forever if he refuses to go through with it (1.7.41, 1.7.47).  She goes even further, saying that he was "a man" only when he promised to commit the murder, implying that he is no longer and can only be so again by going ahead with the plan (1.7.56).  She insults his manhood and seriously wounds his pride when she says that she would sooner kill her child if she'd sworn to do so than renege on a promise. This is his tipping point; he cannot abide feeling as though his wife is more of a man than he.  Because of her deep knowledge of his character, she knows precisely what buttons to push to get him to do exactly what she wants. For now.

How are the themes of masculinity, poverty, political conflict, idealism and illusion vs. reality portrayed in quotes from Hemingway's short story...

"The Capital of the World" is one of Hemingway's many short stories which focuses on bullfighting. It is set in Madrid, the capital of Spain. The title reflects the fact that for the main character, Paco, Madrid is the world. As with much of Hemingway's work masculinity is a major theme in the story. It is suggested in the descriptions of the bullfighters and picadors who reside in the "Pension Luarca", some of whom are skilled, old or cowardly. It is also apparent in the figure of Paco, a young waiter who has come to Madrid from the Spanish countryside. Hemingway describes a handsome, masculine youth:

He was a well built boy with very black, rather curly hair, good teeth and a skin that his sisters envied, and he had a ready and unpuzzled smile.

And like other Hemingway heroes he is very much interested in proving his masculinity, especially within the scope of the bullfight. Paco also hopes to overcome his impoverished background. Hemingway writes:

He came from a village in a part of Extramadura where conditions were incredibly primitive, food scarce, and comforts unknown and he had worked hard ever since he could remember.

For Paco, his job as a waiter lifts him out of poverty and he revels in his city life that "seemed romantically beautiful." He's also keenly interested in the political discussion between the two other waiters, one an anarchist who spouts communist credos. The tall waiter speaks of destroying both the government, which he refers to as bulls, and the church. He says,

"Only through the individual can you attack the class. It is necessary to kill the individual bull and the individual priest. All of them. Then there are no more."

The political discussion fits well into Paco's idealism. He is replete with dreams and illusions of his future life of glamour as a bullfighter. When the dishwasher Enrique suggests that fear would overcome him in the ring, Paco denies it. He has fantasized of the moment when his dreams become reality:

Too many times he had seen the horns, seen the bull's wet muzzle, the ear twitching, then the head go down and the charge, the hoofs thudding and the hot bull pass him as he swung the cape, to re-charge as he swung the cape again, then again, and again, and again, to end winding the bull around him in his great media-veronica, and walk swingingly away with bull hairs caught in the gold ornaments of his jacket from the close passes; the bull standing hypnotized and the crowd applauding. 

Like many Hemingway heroes, the reality is quite different. Characters such as Nick Adams and Frederick Henry went off to war with the illusion that it would all be glory, only to discover the true horrors which awaited. For Paco, his life is cut short as he missteps in the play bullfight with Enrique and his femoral artery is cut, ending his life on the floor of the dining room. For Hemingway, there was often courage and glory in death. While on the surface, Paco's death seems meaningless, it is similar to other deaths in Hemingway's work, especially the violent ending of Francis Macomber, who dies just at the point when he finds his courage. 

What examples illustrate the overreaching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure seen in Daisy and Myrtle? How can I write a good closing...

Let's work on those examples first; they'll fill up your body paragraphs and give you lots to talk about.

Try setting up a table to organize the quotes you find (either on paper, or in a new document on your computer). I'll add an image here to show you what I mean.

Now start skimming your book to find scenes involving Daisy or Myrtle, and see what you can find. For example, we see something that Myrtle says in Chapter 2:

"‘I told that boy about the ice.’ Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders. ‘These people! You have to keep after them all the time.’

She looked at me and laughed pointlessly. Then she flounced over to the dog, kissed it with ecstasy and swept into the kitchen, implying that a dozen chefs awaited her orders there."

You might use some of what Myrtle says here to show how cynical she is. Let's keep looking to find something for Daisy. Here she is, being talked about in Chapter 4:

"The next April Daisy had her little girl and they went to France for a year. I saw them one spring in Cannes and later in Deauville and then they came back to Chicago to settle down. Daisy was popular in Chicago, as you know. They moved with a fast crowd..."

You might choose some of that to show how Daisy's life is all about travel, a luxurious, pleasurable pursuit.

As you keep skimming, you'll find lots of quotes to add to your chart, and then you can pick the best of them to use for your paragraphs.

Now let's work on that transitioning sentence you need. You said it needs to be "a closing sentence which at the same time is beginning my second body paragraph." What it looks like will depend on how you've decided to organize your ideas.

My best guess is that your two body paragraphs will be structured like this:

   1. Daisy

   2. Myrtle

But you could instead write them like this:

   1. The cynicism of both girls

   2. Both girls' greed and pursuit of pleasure

Let's say you're moving from a paragraph about Daisy to one about Myrtle. You might write, "But all of this greedy, cynical behavior from Daisy seems tame compared to how Myrtle conducts herself."

But then, what if you organized your paragraphs by topic instead of by character? Then you might write, "Myrtle and Daisy's cynicism might be easily excused, but readers are likely to view their empty pursuit of pleasure with more condemnation."

How do the mother and daughter have the same personality in "Two Kinds?"

In the short story "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan, the mother and daughter at first appear to have very different personalities. For example, the mother, who is an immigrant from China and who lost her family there, wants her daughter to work hard and be a kind of prodigy. The daughter resists her at first and says that "something inside of me began to die," because her mother has subjected her to "raised hopes and...

In the short story "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan, the mother and daughter at first appear to have very different personalities. For example, the mother, who is an immigrant from China and who lost her family there, wants her daughter to work hard and be a kind of prodigy. The daughter resists her at first and says that "something inside of me began to die," because her mother has subjected her to "raised hopes and failed expectations." 

However, although the daughter at first resists her mother's attempts to make her into a prodigy, she is similar to her mother in that she is also looking for what she refers to as "the prodigy side of me." She looks into the mirror and sees that the person who looks back at her is "angry, powerful." Just as her mother has pushed her to become a prodigy, the daughter begins, like the mother, to be forceful and push back. 

After her mother dies, the daughter rediscovers the old piano that her mother had forced her to play. She notices two pieces side by side--one called "Perfectly Contented," and the other called "Pleading Child," and she realizes that "they were two halves of the same song." In other words, she realizes that she and her mother are two halves of the same being because they are both forceful in their own ways. 

How did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 change politics in the South?

The Voting Right Act changed politics in the South. This law allowed the federal government to register voters. It also made voting restrictions, such as the literacy test or the poll tax, illegal. This law impacted politics in the South.

One impact was that more African-Americans were registered to vote. Federal workers handled the registration process. Since African-Americans were registered to vote, black people voted in elections. They were able to elect representatives to Congress...

The Voting Right Act changed politics in the South. This law allowed the federal government to register voters. It also made voting restrictions, such as the literacy test or the poll tax, illegal. This law impacted politics in the South.

One impact was that more African-Americans were registered to vote. Federal workers handled the registration process. Since African-Americans were registered to vote, black people voted in elections. They were able to elect representatives to Congress and at the local or state level who would represent their interests. This would lead to more laws being passed that helped them. They now had voices in government that would speak about and advocate for issues affecting the African-American community.

Another impact of this law was that many white southerners began to vote for candidates from the Republican Party. Many white southerners viewed the Democratic Party as the party that pushed through many of the civil rights reforms that many white southerners disliked. To some degree, this voting pattern continues today. Many white southerners vote for Republican candidates, and the Republican Party does very well in national elections in the South.

The Voting Rights Act impacted southern politics in several ways.

What is the rising action of "The Lady or the Tiger?"

When figuring out the rising action of a story, think of a plot diagram that is shaped somewhat like a triangle. The top of the triangle is the climax of the story, so right before the story reaches that final revelatory point, the rising action takes place. The big question to be decided at the climactic point of the story is whether the princess will inform her lover which door to choose to save his life....

When figuring out the rising action of a story, think of a plot diagram that is shaped somewhat like a triangle. The top of the triangle is the climax of the story, so right before the story reaches that final revelatory point, the rising action takes place. The big question to be decided at the climactic point of the story is whether the princess will inform her lover which door to choose to save his life. Therefore, the climax would be the point that the young man opens the door and the answer is revealed. Part of the rising action is when the man is walking into the arena and looks up to the princess for help. However, the author discusses the dilemma facing the princess by describing how she has wrestled with the decision. Right before the man is to choose a door, there are two paragraphs explaining her internal deliberations--should she kill him or allow him to marry another? The rising action right before the revealing climax is the princess struggling with her decision.

"Would it not be better for him to die at once, and go to wait for her in the blessed regions of semi barbaric futurity? And yet, that awful tiger, those shrieks, that blood! Her decision had been indicated in an instant, but it had been made after days and nights of anguished deliberation."

As shown above, the "anguished deliberation" is the rising action displayed before the climax of the story.

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, what does the failed attempt that Hamlet makes to kill Claudius reveal about his nature?

It is pretty obvious that Samuel Taylor Coleridge was right when he said that Hamlet thinks too much. Shakespeare doesn't say so, but it would seem that he is obliquely criticizing Hamlet's long years at Wittenberg for creating his inhibitions about acting. According to C. G. Jung in his book Psychological Types:

Naturally only those [conscious] functions can appear as auxiliary whose nature is not opposed to the dominant [conscious] function. For instance, feeling can never act as the secondary function alongside thinking, because it is by its very nature too strongly opposed to thinking. Thinking if it is to be real thinking and true to its own principle, must rigorously exclude feeling.

Most people would agree that Hamlet's dominant conscious function is thinking. This is demonstrated in his many soliloquies throughout the play. If his dominant conscious function must "rigorously exclude feeling," then it would be impossible for him to assassinate Claudius in cold blood. He has to be experiencing strong emotions when he becomes a man of action. This happens when he kills Polonius. He is already in a highly emotional state when he is confronting his mother, and her cries for help, echoed by those of Polonius behind the arras, add other feelings--alarm, suspicion, confusion--to those Hamlet is already experiencing. He thinks he has walked into a trap. He doesn't understand why his mother is calling for the guards, or who that man is behind him.

It is easy enough to understand why Hamlet can't kill another man without being impelled by strong emotion. What Hamlet's failure to kill Claudius in Act III, Scene 3 tells us about his character is, once again, that he is an introvert who is typically absorbed in his own thoughts and finds it hard to cope with reality. That seems to be what the play is all about. A reclusive, scholarly man is thrust into the real world and has to learn to cope with manifold real-world characters and the problems they create. 

The scene in which Hamlet considers killing Claudius and then changes his mind also reminds the audience that Hamlet is wearing a sword. Shakespeare does not direct the actor to draw his sword, but the dialogue obviously calls for it.

Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;
And now I'll do't. 

This is where he draws his sword. It should have a strong emotional effect on the audience--but Shakespeare is teasing them. This is, after all, only Act III. If Shakespeare had Hamlet kill Claudius now, it would become an entirely different play. Hamlet would look like a mere assassin. He might find it impossible to claim the throne. He might find himself in deep trouble. Hamlet may not be concerned about such things himself--but Shakespeare is! 

So Hamlet continues to stand over Claudius with sword drawn until he acts in accordance with his own dialogue and sheathes his it.

Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent.
When he is drunk asleep; or in his rage;
Or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed;
At game, a-swearing, or about some act
That has no relish of salvation in't
Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven,
And that his soul may be as damn'd and black
As hell, whereto it goes. My mother stays.
This physic but prolongs thy sickly days.

But he will soon use that sword to kill Polonius and frighten his mother half out of her wits when he withdraws the blood-smeared blade and she fears he may use it on her next! It is significant that, although Hamlet did not kill the King, he thought he was killing the King in his mother's chamber. Hamlet is becoming a man of action and will continue to be more proactive and less introspective throughout the remainder of the play.

How is the epistolary form used in The Color Purple by Alice Walker?

The word epistolary refers to literary works that written in the form of letters or journal entries. Therefore, this novel uses the epistolary form because it is comprised of letters that Celie and her sister Nettie write.  

This form has some unique advantages and disadvantages. Because Celie, at least initially, cannot interpret or reflect on her experiences, the audience gets a very candid, almost childlike perspective on them. She's a reliable narrator in the...

The word epistolary refers to literary works that written in the form of letters or journal entries. Therefore, this novel uses the epistolary form because it is comprised of letters that Celie and her sister Nettie write.  

This form has some unique advantages and disadvantages. Because Celie, at least initially, cannot interpret or reflect on her experiences, the audience gets a very candid, almost childlike perspective on them. She's a reliable narrator in the sense that she is extremely honest, like a child, and because she addresses her letters to God (whom she believes would already know everything anyway, so there is no reason for her to lie). Further, it can be difficult to keep track of the novel's timeline since Celie includes no dates and only refers to the passage of time when a character she's quoting makes a reference to it.  This style of narration does bring us extremely close to Celie, rendering her even more sympathetic than she might otherwise be, especially because of her lack of understanding about what's happening to her early in the novel.

Who is Cornelius Agrippa and how does Victor find out about him in Frankenstein?

Mary Shelly’s gothic novel Frankenstein recounts the life of eccentric scientist Victor Frankenstein through a series of flashbacks that explain his presence through his past.  One of these flashbacks reverts to his childhood, when at the age of thirteen he first encounters the works of Cornelius Agrippa, a sixteenth-century German alchemist.  While on a holiday vacation with his family, Victor finds the old book tucked away in a bookshelf of the inn where his family...

Mary Shelly’s gothic novel Frankenstein recounts the life of eccentric scientist Victor Frankenstein through a series of flashbacks that explain his presence through his past.  One of these flashbacks reverts to his childhood, when at the age of thirteen he first encounters the works of Cornelius Agrippa, a sixteenth-century German alchemist.  While on a holiday vacation with his family, Victor finds the old book tucked away in a bookshelf of the inn where his family is staying and becomes immediately enthralled with Agrippa’s writing.  Victor states, “In this house I chanced to find a volume of the works of Cornelius Agrippa.  I opened it with apathy; the theory which he attempts to demonstrate and the wonderful facts which he relates soon changed this feeling into enthusiasm.  A new light seemed to dawn upon my mind, and bounding with joy, I communicated my discovery to my father” (Shelly 31).

Although Agrippa’s work was outdated, as explained by Victor’s father, who claims Agrippa’s principles “had been entirely exploded and that a modern system of science had been introduced,” the works of the ancient alchemist nonetheless ignited Victor’s imagination (Shelly 31). He set about reading the whole works of Agrippa in an effort to “penetrate the secrets of nature” (Shelly 32).  Cornelius Agrippa was extremely influential in sparking Victor’s interest in going beyond the limits of the physical world to uncover the electrical elixir of life that gave life to his created monster. In response to a society heavily focused on modern science, Victor’s infatuation with Agrippa introduces an element of occult philosophy.  However, in the end, Victor’s discovery of electricity and his father’s disapproval lead Victor to pursue more practical matters.

What is planned in Act 3, Scene 4 of Romeo and Juliet? How will this decision influence or change Friar Laurence's earlier plan?

In Act 3, Scene 4, Lord Capulet is in conversation with the county Paris, who has come to pay the household a visit. Lord Capulet informs him of their sorrow and Juliet's depressed state following Tybalt's sudden death. He tells him that he would have already been in bed were it not for Paris' visit.

Paris wisely states that such grave circumstances are inappropriate for him to seek courtship. He asks Lady Capulet to pass his regards to Juliet. She promises to do so and states that she will consult with Juliet the next morning regarding her sentiments about marrying the county, since Juliet is at this time too overwhelmed with grief to speak.

Lord Capulet then declares that he will speak to Juliet and says that he is confident that she will cooperate fully; in fact, he has no doubt about that. He then instructs his wife to speak to Juliet about Paris' love for her. Lord Capulet then tells Paris that he will arrange their wedding for the coming Wednesday. However, he soon changes his mind when he discovers that it is Monday and believes that there will not be enough time to make the necessary arrangements.

Monday! ha, ha! Well, Wednesday is too soon,
O' Thursday let it be: o' Thursday, tell her,
She shall be married to this noble earl.

Once Lord Capulet has told Paris that he will set the wedding for that Thursday, he wishes to know if the date suits the young earl, who replies that he would be overjoyed if Thursday was tomorrow. The wedding date is then finally set for Thursday.

This new arrangement will upset Friar Laurence's plan in which he advised Romeo, in Act 3, scene 3, that he should, that night, have a secret liaison with Juliet in her chamber when everyone is asleep. Romeo would thereafter flee to Mantua, where he would live until such time as they have brought together friends from both parties and sought a pardon from Prince Escalus. Once a pardon has been obtained, Romeo would return to Verona. The two young lovers would then publicly proclaim their love at an appropriate time.

Since Lord Capulet is planning Juliet's wedding for that Thursday, there won't be enough time to make the arrangements the Friar had in mind, for he has to somehow circumvent the wedding. The Friar does, indeed, later formulate a new plan with disastrous results.

In The Bluest Eye, why does Pecola pray for blue eyes?

Pecola believes that having blue eyes is the key to being beautiful and finding social acceptance.

Pecola prays for "the bluest eyes" because it represents "the answer" to the mystery of her life. Throughout the narrative, Pecola faces social rejection. A significant part of this repudiation is because of her appearance. Pecola cannot understand why she is deemed "ugly" and why she experiences such an intense level of social marginalization. She ends up viewing herself...

Pecola believes that having blue eyes is the key to being beautiful and finding social acceptance.

Pecola prays for "the bluest eyes" because it represents "the answer" to the mystery of her life. Throughout the narrative, Pecola faces social rejection. A significant part of this repudiation is because of her appearance. Pecola cannot understand why she is deemed "ugly" and why she experiences such an intense level of social marginalization. She ends up viewing herself the way the same way the world views her. It is for this reason that she wants blue eyes:

It had occurred to Pecola some time ago that if her eyes, those eyes that held the pictures, and knew the sights—if those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different.

Blue eyes are associated with beauty. She internalizes the social standards that dictate beauty, norms that say "blue eyes" represent attractiveness. In order to be as loved like Shirley Temple, Pecola yearns for blue eyes. She believes that if "those eyes of hers were different" or if they could be seen as "beautiful," her life would be different. She believes that blue eyes would give her the belonging that she craves. In Pecola's mind, this desire forms the basis of her prayers because it is the answer to all of her questions.

What do you think the government's role in international trade should be? Are you for high protectionism or free trade?

I definitely support free trade.  I do not believe that the government should block trade.  I believe the government should place reasonable restrictions for health and safety concerns and help people who lose their jobs due to competition from trade.  Outside of that, however, I do not believe that the government should involve itself in international trade.

It seems to be true beyond a doubt that free trade is, overall, a good thing for a...

I definitely support free trade.  I do not believe that the government should block trade.  I believe the government should place reasonable restrictions for health and safety concerns and help people who lose their jobs due to competition from trade.  Outside of that, however, I do not believe that the government should involve itself in international trade.

It seems to be true beyond a doubt that free trade is, overall, a good thing for a country’s economy.  Economic theory is clear on this point.  When countries make things for which they have comparative advantages, the total amount of production in the world as a whole goes up.  This does not appear to be just a theoretical argument either.  Look at the article in the link below and you will see many statistics that show that the US economy is stronger because of free trade.  For example, the author shows that the US has added over 30 million jobs to its economy since free trade started to boom after NAFTA was passed and the World Trade Organization created in the mid-1990s.  The author also points out that, even with all the worries about free trade, the US places second in world manufacturing and third in world exports.  Facts like these make it clear that free trade does not kill national economies.

However, free trade certainly does kill local economies when those economies depend heavily on some industry that dies off due to foreign competition.  This is the really bad thing about trade.  If people in a town have, for example, always worked in textile mills and do not really have any other skills, they will be in bad shape if their mills close due to foreign competition.  I would argue that government needs to step in in such cases.  The government's solution when stepping in should not, however, be to close off trade.  Instead, it should create policies that would help those mill workers train so they can be qualified for new jobs and policies that would make it easier for those workers to move to places where new jobs exist.

Overall, trade is clearly a good thing for economies as a whole.  Therefore, governments should not restrict trade.  However, governments should be aware that trade will hurt some people.  Governments should be sure to enact policies that help these people whose jobs are, in essence, being sacrificed for the common good.

In Chapter 13, Scout tells a story about Maycomb's history. What is Scout referring to when she mentions "Sinkfield's maneuver"?

In Chapter 13, Scout is explaining her Aunt Alexandra's obscure heredity beliefs and theories. She comments that Alexandra's theory has something behind it and proceeds to explain how Maycomb's unique history impacted the families and future generations. Scout explains that Maycomb was located twenty miles inland from Finch's Landing because Sinkfield, a tavern owner who sold ammunition to Indians and settlers, wittingly convinced surveyors to establish Maycomb's seat of government around his tavern.Sinkfield...

In Chapter 13, Scout is explaining her Aunt Alexandra's obscure heredity beliefs and theories. She comments that Alexandra's theory has something behind it and proceeds to explain how Maycomb's unique history impacted the families and future generations. Scout explains that Maycomb was located twenty miles inland from Finch's Landing because Sinkfield, a tavern owner who sold ammunition to Indians and settlers, wittingly convinced surveyors to establish Maycomb's seat of government around his tavern. Sinkfield got the surveyors drunk and adjusted their maps and charts to meet his requirements. Maycomb's primary reason for existence was government, which attracted young professionals. "Sinkfield's maneuver" refers to how he coaxed the surveyors to make his tavern the center of Maycomb, despite its distance from a river, which was the predominant source of transportation in those days. Scout mentions that Maycomb expanded from Sinkfield's tavern, but failed to grow substantially because of its distance inland, which is why many families chose to stay in Maycomb generation after generation.

Who is the Scarlet Pimpernel in the novel The Scarlet Pimpernel?

The main character of the swashbuckling adventure novel written by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, the Scarlet Pimpernel is a flamboyant heroic character who is sympathetic to the French aristocracy during the French Revolution.

With his ingenious escapades, he is able to smuggle these aristocrats past the revolutionary guards in France. Then, after completing his capers, the Pimpernel leaves a note, boldly describing how it was effected. This note is signed with a red, star-shaped flower from England...

The main character of the swashbuckling adventure novel written by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, the Scarlet Pimpernel is a flamboyant heroic character who is sympathetic to the French aristocracy during the French Revolution.

With his ingenious escapades, he is able to smuggle these aristocrats past the revolutionary guards in France. Then, after completing his capers, the Pimpernel leaves a note, boldly describing how it was effected. This note is signed with a red, star-shaped flower from England that is called a scarlet pimpernel.

The Pimpernel's real name is Sir Percy Blackeney, and he is married to Marguerite St. Just, who is called Lady Blakeney. A rich and fashionable man, Sir Percy, however, is perceived in his own country as a rather dull and somewhat foolish man because he has appeared inept before the Comtesse de Tournay's son, who has challenged him to a duel. As Sir Percy fumbles, Lady Blakeney intervenes and cleverly saves the situation. Of course, this perceived ineptness on the part of Sir Percy is but a ploy to keep his identity secret. 

What were the signs that Fortundato welcomed Montressor's trick about the amontillado in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Fortunato thought it was all a game because he was drunk. 

It is Carnival, and Fortunato assumes that Montresor is just taking part in the fun. He is too tipsy to evaluate the situation clearly. Montresor shakes Forunato's hand, and seems concerned about his health. His behavior is very disarming. 

"As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchresi. If any one has a critical turn it is he. He will tell...

Fortunato thought it was all a game because he was drunk. 

It is Carnival, and Fortunato assumes that Montresor is just taking part in the fun. He is too tipsy to evaluate the situation clearly. Montresor shakes Forunato's hand, and seems concerned about his health. His behavior is very disarming. 

"As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchresi. If any one has a critical turn it is he. He will tell me—"

"Luchresi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry."

"And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for your own.

"Come, let us go."

"Whither?"

"To your vaults."    

This is reverse psychology. Montresor gets Fortunato into the vault by pretending that he doesn’t want him in the vault. This reverse psychology causes Fortunato to practically beg to see the wine. Montresor protests that Fortunato should not go because he has a cough, but Fortunato insists.

Once underground, Fortunato still thinks they are having fun. He laughs at Montresor's Mason joke and does not even realize he is in danger when he is being bricked up. He still thinks Montresor is joking.

Montresor wasn't joking. Fortunato has no idea what he did to Montresor, but Montresor wants to punish him for whatever perceived injury he did.

Who is marginalized in the poem "Australia" by Ania Walwicz?

Ania Walwicz is an Australian poet who emigrated from Poland in 1963.  Her works tend toward a more stream-of-consciousness style, revelatory of the inner states of her speakers.  Her poetry flouts a nonconformist structure, writing poems in prose, rather than in verses, which helps contribute to the often breathless feeling one gets when reading her poetry – rather than neatly organized ideas with line breaks and a literarily instinctual structure, we get long bursts of words and concepts all rolling one into the next, more indicative of the spontaneous nature of thought; this allows us to get a more authentic and honest feel for the speaker’s perspective.

In “Australia,” we see all of these elements at work – it is a poem in prose told from the perspective of an immigrant in Australia.  This immigrant is the one being marginalized, and exists as a representative of a large number of people who moved to Australia in the mid-twentieth century, when the country was just hitting its stride economically, and was known as a place of bounty and opportunity.  The majority of the poem is a long rant, a tirade of insults against Australia and its people, its climate, its size, its ethics.  When seen from the perspective of one who has abandoned everything he or she has ever known and is being forced to assimilate into a culture so grossly different from the one he or she is familiar with, it makes sense that this person would lash out so violently. 

In the middle of the poem, amid all these insults and complaints about the country, the speaker says, significantly, “you make me a dot in the nowhere….You never accept me.  For your own.  You always ask me where I’m from.  You always ask me.”  Here we see that the speaker feels very much alone, and very much a stranger in this culture.  He or she has been labeled as “other,” and has been unable to fit in in this new place.  “You don’t adopt me,” the speaker says accusingly, “You think you’re better than me.”  The speaker has had a very difficult time adjusting to this new home, and the Australian people are not making it any easier; the speaker has become embittered by the struggle, and from this bitterness comes a hatred for this new place.

Significantly, these feelings of victimization and marginalization do not come at the beginning of the poem – they are embedded deep in the middle, and the poem builds up to them with insults and ire.  In much the same way, the reasons for the immigrant’s anger and disaffection become embedded deep within layers of everyday slights.  Slights that become compressed and compounded and volatile, such that every element and detail of Australia and of its people receive the violence of the speaker’s hate, even some that perhaps do not deserve it.  It builds, and it radiates out from the central core, this conflict caused by the immigrant’s alienation within a culture that seems not to care.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, what quotes depict Dill's weaknesses as a character?

Charles Baker "Dill" Harris is Scout and Jem's best friend throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Although Dill has many positive character traits, he also has several weaknesses that are depicted throughout the novel. Dill Harris has an active imagination and continually lies to Jem and Scout. In Chapter 5, Scout says,

"Dill Harris could tell the biggest ones I ever heard. Among other things, he had been up in a mail...

Charles Baker "Dill" Harris is Scout and Jem's best friend throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Although Dill has many positive character traits, he also has several weaknesses that are depicted throughout the novel. Dill Harris has an active imagination and continually lies to Jem and Scout. In Chapter 5, Scout says,

"Dill Harris could tell the biggest ones I ever heard. Among other things, he had been up in a mail plane seventeen times, he had been to Nova Scotia, he had seen an elephant, and his granddaddy was Brigadier General Joe Wheeler and left him his sword" (Lee 63).

In addition to being a habitual liar, Dill is also inconsiderate of others' feelings. He encourages Jem to bother Boo Radley and dismisses Scout without noticing. Scout says,

"He had asked me earlier in the summer to marry him, then he promptly forgot about it. He staked me out, marked as his property, said I was the only girl he would ever love, then he neglected me. I beat him up twice but it did no good, he only grew closer to Jem" (Lee 55).

Dill is also an insecure individual. He runs away from his home to Maycomb. While Dill is talking with Scout, she asks him why he decided to leave. Dill says, "That wasn't it, he---they just wasn't interested in me" (Lee 190). Dill felt like his parents should have spent more time with him, and he was not satisfied with the material gifts they gave him.

In addition to Dill's insecurity, he also lacks adequate coping skills and is overly sensitive. During the trial, Scout needs to take Dill out of the courtroom because he is crying. Scout says,

"That was as much as I heard of Mr. Gilmer's cross-examination, because Jem made me take Dill out. For some reason Dill had started crying and couldn't stop; quietly at first, then the sobs were heard by several people in the balcony" (Lee 265).

What is King referring to in this quote from his "I Have a Dream" speech? "In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check."

In order to understand what Martin Luther King, Jr. is saying with this quote from his “I Have a Dream” speech, you will need to read the rest of the paragraph that starts with the quote.  Basically, King is saying that the African Americans in the March on Washington are there to get the rights that the government owes them.

When someone writes you a check, they promise to pay you the amount of money...

In order to understand what Martin Luther King, Jr. is saying with this quote from his “I Have a Dream” speech, you will need to read the rest of the paragraph that starts with the quote.  Basically, King is saying that the African Americans in the March on Washington are there to get the rights that the government owes them.

When someone writes you a check, they promise to pay you the amount of money that is indicated on the check.  When you cash the check, you get the money that they have promised to pay you.  When King refers to checks in his speech, he is saying that the United States has promised something to African Americans.  He is saying that they have come to cash that check, meaning that they have come to get what the US promised to give them.

So what was it that the US promised African Americans?  To find this out, look a little further in the paragraph that begins with the quote you mention in this question.  In the middle of the paragraph, King says that, when the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written, the US promised

that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

As King says, it was obvious in 1963 that the United States had not come through on this promise.  Segregation and racial discrimination made it so that African Americans were certainly not guaranteed these rights and were certainly not being treated as if they were created equal.  By coming to Washington in 1963, African Americans were demanding that the US live up to its promise.  They were saying that it was time for the US to keep its promise and give them the equal rights that it had said all Americans should have in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  This is what King means when he says that the marchers have come to Washington to cash a check.

Where is sperm made in humans?

Sperm cells are produced in the male sex organs or gonads known as testes.

These are located in the scrotum, a pouch that is outside of the body cavity. The slightly cooler temperature of the scrotum provides optimal conditions for sperm production.

Sperm cells are produced by meiotic cell division in the testes. This is a reduction division which produces four haploid cells called sperm. The original testis cell that undergoes meiotic division is...

Sperm cells are produced in the male sex organs or gonads known as testes.

These are located in the scrotum, a pouch that is outside of the body cavity. The slightly cooler temperature of the scrotum provides optimal conditions for sperm production.

Sperm cells are produced by meiotic cell division in the testes. This is a reduction division which produces four haploid cells called sperm. The original testis cell that undergoes meiotic division is diploid and contains 46 chromosomes. In order to function as a sex cell, its chromosome number must be reduced to the haploid amount, which is 23 chromosomes.

At the end of meiosis, each testis cell gives rise to four haploid sperm cells that contain unique combinations of genes due to the processes of crossing over and independent assortment. When a sperm nucleus that is haploid fuses with an egg nucleus--also haploid--the resulting zygote or fertilized egg is diploid again. This occurs during the process of fertilization.

To conclude, male gonads called testes produce sperm cells for sexual reproduction.

I have included a link to a slide show showing the entire male reproductive system.

The three decades following 1945 are sometimes described as the Golden Age of Capitalism: a period of historic economic growth and expanded...

Immediately after World War II ended in 1945, the United States turned from a command economy controlled by the government to a capitalist economy. Because of the pent-up demand for consumer goods, production and consumption exploded. The new consumer goods included cars, refrigerators, televisions, dish washers, washing machines, vacuums, toasters, and plastic goods. From 1945 to 1949, Americans bought 20 million refrigerators and 21.4 million cars, and this type of spending continued in the 1950s. The G.I....

Immediately after World War II ended in 1945, the United States turned from a command economy controlled by the government to a capitalist economy. Because of the pent-up demand for consumer goods, production and consumption exploded. The new consumer goods included cars, refrigerators, televisions, dish washers, washing machines, vacuums, toasters, and plastic goods. From 1945 to 1949, Americans bought 20 million refrigerators and 21.4 million cars, and this type of spending continued in the 1950s. The G.I. Bill also allowed many Americans to purchase their own houses and to attend college, providing employers with a well-educated workforce. 

The increase in American consumerism led, however, to a situation in which the U.S., comprising about 6% of the world's population, was, by the 1950s, consuming one third of the world's goods and services. In addition with the development of the jet engine and the increase in the use of cars, capitalist countries became highly dependent on oil. This would lead to problems in the 1970s when the price of oil greatly increased.

Countries in Asia and Europe also experienced economic expansion after World War II. For example, Japan recovered from the war and had the most rapid economic growth rate in the world, in part fueled by production for U.N. troops during the Korean War. Like the United States, however, Japan began to rely heavily on imported oil, which would become problematic when oil prices increased in the 1970s.

In addition, another problem that developed during this time period was consumer debt. The first credit card, the Diner's Club card, appeared in the 1950s. American consumer debt doubled during the decade, resulting from increased spending on housing and consumer goods. In addition, while many people prospered, one quarter of the nation still lived in poverty in the 1950s.