What does the first scene of the play reveal about Romeo's behavior in Romeo and Juliet?

This scene reveals that Romeo is a moody, lovesick loner who is not violent. 

We learn a lot about Romeo from the first scene.  Romeo does not involve himself in the fight in the marketplace.  He is above such things.  Romeo is more of a loner. He is currently mooning over Rosaline, but he generally considers himself more of a lover than a fighter. 

After the hullaballoo at the marketplace, Romeo’s mother asks Benvolio...

This scene reveals that Romeo is a moody, lovesick loner who is not violent. 

We learn a lot about Romeo from the first scene.  Romeo does not involve himself in the fight in the marketplace.  He is above such things.  Romeo is more of a loner. He is currently mooning over Rosaline, but he generally considers himself more of a lover than a fighter. 

After the hullaballoo at the marketplace, Romeo’s mother asks Benvolio where he is, and says she is grateful that he wasn’t there.  Romeo’s father wanted to fight, and so did Juliet’s father and her cousin, Tybalt.   Benvolio was there, and tried to “keep the peace.”  Romeo was nowhere to be found.  He seems to spend all of his time wandering around at night or locked up indoors.

LADY MONTAGUE

O, where is Romeo? saw you him to-day?
Right glad I am he was not at this fray.

BENVOLIO

Madam, an hour before the worshipp'd sun
Peer'd forth the golden window of the east,
A troubled mind drave me to walk abroad
Where, underneath the grove of sycamore
That westward rooteth from the city's side,
So early walking did I see your son… (Act 1, Scene 1)

While Romeo is roaming around keeping his own company, he is also not concerning himself with his parents’ feud.  He didn’t try to stop it either, like Benvolio.  Romeo is completely self-centered.

When Romeo sees Benvolio, he tells Lord Montague to leave so he can talk to Romeo alone.  He thinks he will get more out of him without his father there.  What he gets is complaining.  Romeo is complaining about how Rosaline is not interested in him.  Benvolio tries to get him to move on. 

BENVOLIO

Be ruled by me, forget to think of her.

ROMEO

O, teach me how I should forget to think.

BENVOLIO

By giving liberty unto thine eyes;
Examine other beauties. (Act 1, Scene 1) 

Alas, Romeo tells Benvolio “thou canst not teach me to forget.”  He is pining, and he seems to be stuck in his brooding state.  It is a wonder that they ever got him to that party at all, where he met Juliet and finally moved on from Rosaline.

How did WWII change the United States?

World War II changed the United States in many ways.  The economy had not yet fully recovered from the Great Depression by 1941.  After the United States entered World War II in December of 1941, the economy dramatically improved.  Workers were needed to create the weaponry, uniforms, parachutes, and military vehicles needed to support a large army and navy.  Military jobs were also plentiful, as millions of men and women were needed to serve in...

World War II changed the United States in many ways.  The economy had not yet fully recovered from the Great Depression by 1941.  After the United States entered World War II in December of 1941, the economy dramatically improved.  Workers were needed to create the weaponry, uniforms, parachutes, and military vehicles needed to support a large army and navy.  Military jobs were also plentiful, as millions of men and women were needed to serve in the United States armed forces.  In the late 1930s, the U.S. armed forces had under 400,000 military personnel.  By 1945, there were over twelve million.

Every day life changed in the United States.  Women who had always been housewives were required to work jobs in munitions factories and other manufacturing plants.  Most able-bodied men left to fight in the war, and this meant that many families were temporarily separated.  Women in the workplace meant that more young children required childcare.  There was rationing, which impacted many types of food.  These foods, such as sugar and canned goods, were unavailable or had limited access.  Tires and gasoline were also rationed, meaning that travel by car was limited.

Newfound fears plagued people living in the United States.  Many feared that there might be air raids by the Germans or the Japanese.  Blackouts were required along the coasts of the United States because of German submarines offshore.

Explain how Night by Elie Wiesel speaks of the best and worst of human relationships in extreme circumstances.

Night brings out the best and worst of human relationships in varying proportions. Through some of his personal experiences and stories told in the book, Elie shows the complexity of human nature when exposed to extreme circumstances. The reader gets a glimpse of how people change depending on the situations they face. Night describes individuals who are steadfast to virtues expected of humanity in spite of the tough conditions that prevail. It also shows the flip-side of the situation, where some people allow their will to survive to override the expected human virtues.

Moishe the Beadle, who is described in the opening chapter of the story, paints a picture of an individual shunned by his community. However, this did not stop him from going back to Sighet to warn the other Jews of impending danger, after he survived a roadside extermination perpetrated by the German Nazis. In another example, the prisoner who saved both Eliezer and his father from the crematoria by asking them to lie about their ages was another instance of the best of human relationships in extreme circumstances. The prisoner had no reason to assist the two, after all, they approached danger without resistance.

On the other hand, some individuals were self-centered and focused on their survival. Despite Franek being a Jew, he wanted Eliezer’s gold crown for his own selfish gain. To force Eliezer into submitting to his wishes, he assaulted Eliezer’s father. He took advantage of the fact that Eliezer’s father was unable to march in step. In another instance, Rabbi Eliahu’s son left his father behind, during the march out of Buna. The son noticed his father slipping behind, but he did not slow down instead he let the gap between them widen.

Poe uses several instances of foreshadowing in "The Cask of Amontillado." What are two lines that specifically foreshadow the grisly event at the...

Like with most of Poe's short stories that brim with creepiness, tension, and everything morbid, the ending of "The Cask of Amontillado" gets foreshadowed throughout the build-up to it.

(Spoiler alert. The story ends when the narrator, Montresor, gets revenge on Fortunato by basically burying him alive: trapping him in a vault and walling him up there.)

As the story opens, the narrator reveals directly to us that he's going to take revenge on Fortunato...

Like with most of Poe's short stories that brim with creepiness, tension, and everything morbid, the ending of "The Cask of Amontillado" gets foreshadowed throughout the build-up to it.

(Spoiler alert. The story ends when the narrator, Montresor, gets revenge on Fortunato by basically burying him alive: trapping him in a vault and walling him up there.)

As the story opens, the narrator reveals directly to us that he's going to take revenge on Fortunato by exploiting the man's obsession with and knowledge of fine wines. But even if we didn't know that already, we could pick up on more foreshadowing as the story continues.

Check out these lines that directly foreshadow that grim ending:

"There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry in honour of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house. These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned."

This happens right as Fortunato is going to Montresor's house with him. We know that something awful is about to happen if Montresor has told all of his servants to make themselves scarce. (He doesn't want any witnesses if he's about to commit a terrible crime.)

A moment later, "the bells upon his cap jingled as he strode." Fortunato is wearing some kind of party hat with jingle bells on it, which is hilarious: he's literally a fool, marching forward willingly toward his own death.

Then this bit of dark humor also happens: Fortunato has a coughing fit because something in the atmosphere of the vault irritates him. But he says, "I shall not die of a cough," and Montresor replies "True, true." By this point, we know that Montresor is definitely going to murder Fortunato. So the fact that Montresor agrees that it won't be the cough that kills Fortunato is not just foreshadowing but also darkly funny.

Before the murder finally happens, there's actually a lot more foreshadowing of it. Here's one more example, when Montresor tells Fortunato about his family's coat of arms and their family motto:

"A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel."

"And the motto?"

"Nemo me impune lacessit."

Right then, Montresor is telling Fortunato that his family's coat of arms has a foot crushing the snake that bites it and that their motto is Latin for "No one attacks me with impunity" (meaning "nobody gets away with attacking me"). He's literally telling his soon-to-be victim that his chief family value is taking revenge on people.

What is Atticus implying about the adults of Maycomb when he tells Alexandra, "We've made it this way for them, they might as well learn to cope...

In Chapter 22 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus says the words in question to Aunt Alexandra immediately after he returns home with Scout and Jem after hearing Tom Robinson's verdict. When Aunt Alexandra sees how upset Jem looks, she scolds Atticus about how unwise it was to let his children observe the trial. Atticus's response is a way of telling his sister that there really is no sense in protecting the...

In Chapter 22 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus says the words in question to Aunt Alexandra immediately after he returns home with Scout and Jem after hearing Tom Robinson's verdict. When Aunt Alexandra sees how upset Jem looks, she scolds Atticus about how unwise it was to let his children observe the trial. Atticus's response is a way of telling his sister that there really is no sense in protecting the children from the evil racism that exists in Maycomb.

When Atticus says the phrase, "We made it this way," he is referring to Maycomb's adult citizens, citizens who are very trapped in their racially prejudiced thinking and have made the choice to keep being racists. Since Maycomb, as well as all of the South in this time period, is racially prejudiced, Atticus is pointing out that the children's home is full of racial prejudices due to the choices of the citizens. He further asserts, when he says that "they might as well learn to cope with it," that it is better for the children to learn racism exists than to hide them from it. Only by learning that it exists will the children be able to learn to deal with any bitterness exposure to racist injustice may bring out in them and learn how to rise above such racism.

When Aunt Alexandra continues to protest, saying that just because the town is racist doesn't mean the children have to go to the courthouse to observe racism in action, Atticus points out the children can observe equal amounts of racism at the missionary teas Aunt Alexandra hosts and wants to expose Scout to. In short, Atticus is asserting that there is no sense in hiding the children from exposure to racism because, in reality, there is no place to hide them from it--racism is everywhere in Maycomb.

In the story, "The Man to Send Rain Clouds," why does the family prepare their grandfather for burial by painting his face and putting a feather...

In “The Man to Send Rain Clouds,” Teofilio’s family initially prepares him for burial following the traditions of their pueblo. This includes tying a feather in his hair, painting his face, wrapping his body (in this case in a red blanket), and scattering corn meal and pollen on the wind. By following the traditions of the pueblo, they honor their deceased relative and also to honor their culture. They also believe that by following the...

In “The Man to Send Rain Clouds,” Teofilio’s family initially prepares him for burial following the traditions of their pueblo. This includes tying a feather in his hair, painting his face, wrapping his body (in this case in a red blanket), and scattering corn meal and pollen on the wind. By following the traditions of the pueblo, they honor their deceased relative and also to honor their culture. They also believe that by following the traditions for his burial, they will enable Teofilio to be able to send rain clouds, and thus life giving water, after he is properly buried.

The conflict in the story comes from their decision to ask the priest to assist them by sprinkling holy water on Teofilio’s body before he is buried. This is not part of the tradition of the pueblo, but it makes sense to the family as it helps their goal of Teofilio being able to send rain clouds in the future. So for the family, the request is a practical addition to the burial traditions of their culture.

The priest is more troubled by this, however, as he believes that he should have performed a full catholic burial since Teofilio had been a member of his parish. He does as the family asks, but it should be clear to the reader that he is troubled by the way the family easily mixes their traditions with the parts of the catholic ceremony that seem to make sense with respect to those traditions.

Why did Christianity appeal to many people more than the old Roman religion?

There are at least three reasons why historians might conclude that Christianity appealed more to many Romans than the old Roman religion did.  We must remember that these are ideas that historians propose and not necessarily those that religious people would accept.  Actual Romans might have said they preferred Christianity because God spoke to their hearts and told them it was true.  Historians have to be more cynical and look for worldly causes for religious belief.

One reason that Romans might have liked Christianity is because its god cared about people.  Roman religion was based on transactions.  If people performed certain actions, the gods would perform other actions in return.  It was like buying something on Amazon.  By contrast, in Christianity, God loves all people regardless of what they do or believe.  God hopes that people will do the right thing and will punish them if they do wrong, but he loves them as individuals even when they do bad things.  Historians say that Romans might have liked this idea because it fed their emotional need to feel that they were valuable and worth caring about.

A second factor in Christianity’s popularity might have been its moral code.  Roman religion really did not say much if anything about how people should act in their daily lives.  The gods did not care how people acted towards one another.  The Christian god, on the other hand, handed down a strict set of rules about how people were to behave.  This might have made people like Christianity because it made them feel that they had instructions about how to live their lives.

Finally, historians emphasize Christianity’s inclusive nature.  The Roman world was very unequal.  There were a few elites, a group of people who were well-off, and many, many poor people and slaves.  The Roman religion did not give any of the people of the lower classes a sense that they were valuable.  This is where Christianity was so different.  It taught that all people are equal in the eyes of God.  Historians believe that this would have made many people like the idea of Christianity because it gave them hope that god cared about them regardless of their status and that they, the “meek” would one day inherit the earth.

Historians suggest all of these as reasons why people in Roman times might have been attracted to Christianity.