How can the Supreme Court impact the work of the president and the Congress?

The Supreme Court of the United States cannot directly impact the work of the president or of the Congress.  The Court could not, for example, have looked over President Obama’s shoulder while he was trying to get “Obamacare” passed and told him which parts of the law were and were not constitutional.  The Court as a whole and the justices as individuals do not tell Congress what kinds of laws they think should or should...

The Supreme Court of the United States cannot directly impact the work of the president or of the Congress.  The Court could not, for example, have looked over President Obama’s shoulder while he was trying to get “Obamacare” passed and told him which parts of the law were and were not constitutional.  The Court as a whole and the justices as individuals do not tell Congress what kinds of laws they think should or should not be passed.  Instead, the Court can only act after Congress has passed bills and the president has signed them into law.

However, both Congress and the president are aware that the Supreme Court might have a chance to rule on any laws that they pass.  Therefore, the Court can affect them indirectly.  The elected officials can have the Court in the back of their minds as they write legislation.  They might look at Court decisions to see what kinds of laws they think the Court might allow and what kinds it might strike down.  In other words, the Court can impact the work of Congress and the president because, when those elected officials are writing laws, they have to consider what might or might not pass muster with the justices.

What is the equation for the reaction of 1,2-dichloroethene with hydrogen chloride?

The first step to balancing this equation is to convert the words into chemical formulas. From your question, we are able to write:

1,2-dichloroethene with hydrogen chloride = C2H2Cl2 + HCl

Next, we need to determine the type of reaction and the products formed.

C2H2Cl2 + HCl → C2H4 + Cl2

During a chemical reaction, the bonds of the reactants are broken. The atoms of the reactants are then rearranged to form new products. According...

The first step to balancing this equation is to convert the words into chemical formulas. From your question, we are able to write:

1,2-dichloroethene with hydrogen chloride = C2H2Cl2 + HCl

Next, we need to determine the type of reaction and the products formed.

C2H2Cl2 + HCl → C2H4 + Cl2

During a chemical reaction, the bonds of the reactants are broken. The atoms of the reactants are then rearranged to form new products. According to the law of conservation of matter, matter cannot be created nor destroyed. Therefore, we need to check that chemical equation is balanced by making sure there are equal numbers of each type of atom on either side of the equation.

C2H2Cl2 + HCl → C2H4 + Cl2

C =2                       C = 2

H = 3                     H = 4

Cl = 4                    Cl = 2

The hydrogens and chlorines are not equal on both sides. Thus, the equation needs to balanced using coefficients. The final, balanced equation is written below.

C2H2Cl2 + 2HCl → C2H4 + 2Cl2

Why does Waverly's mother allow her to compete in tournaments?

Waverly's mother is proud of her Chinese heritage and tries to impart Chinese wisdom to her children. One of her "rules" is that, to win an argument, one should be silent: "Strongest win cannot be seen." When a man suggests to her mother that she should allow Waverly to play in chess tournaments, her mother smiles but says nothing. Waverly fears her mother will not allow such a thing. So, Waverly remains silent (as her...

Waverly's mother is proud of her Chinese heritage and tries to impart Chinese wisdom to her children. One of her "rules" is that, to win an argument, one should be silent: "Strongest win cannot be seen." When a man suggests to her mother that she should allow Waverly to play in chess tournaments, her mother smiles but says nothing. Waverly fears her mother will not allow such a thing. So, Waverly remains silent (as her mother has taught her) and then uses reverse psychology: 

I desperately wanted to go, but I bit back my tongue. I knew she would not let me play among strangers. So as we walked home I said in a small voice that I didn't want to play in the local tournament. They would have American rules. If I lost, I would bring shame on my family. "Is shame you fall down nobody push you," said my mother. 

Given her mother's penchant for following rules, she must find something admirable about chess and the rules of that game. She also wants her daughter to master the American rules simply to prove herself. Her mother thinks the Chinese do things better than Americans. Learning the American rules and beating them at their own game would please her mother. She takes great pride in Waverly's wins. When they walk to the market, her mother shows her off. There is the sense that her mother is living vicariously through Waverly. Waverly notes this and eventually says " If you want to show off, then why don't you learn to play chess?" 

I am doing a play in school, Romeo and Juliet, and I want to be Mercutio. How should I act?

Romeo and Julietis a very emotionally intense play, although many of its characters are very young. Mercutio is one of Romeo's closest friends, and often teases Romeo about his impulsiveness where girls are concerned. But Mercutio is also impulsive and lets his impulses get the best of him. He is also very intelligent and witty, and this is obvious in his long speech about Queen Mab. It's rather obvious that he is showing off...

Romeo and Juliet is a very emotionally intense play, although many of its characters are very young. Mercutio is one of Romeo's closest friends, and often teases Romeo about his impulsiveness where girls are concerned. But Mercutio is also impulsive and lets his impulses get the best of him. He is also very intelligent and witty, and this is obvious in his long speech about Queen Mab. It's rather obvious that he is showing off his verbal wit and knowledge in this speech, so it makes sense to play Mercutio as someone who is proud and maybe even arrogant.

Many of Shakespeare's characters have names whose meaning mirror their qualities; in Mercutio's case, his name is related to the planet or god Mercury, a god of communication and merchandise, fast movement and flight. Mercurio's hyper-verbal way of talking and his manic mannerisms are hinted at when Romeo says "Peace, thou talk'st of nothing." Mercutio's impulsive nature proves to be his downfall, so in playing him it is important to portray someone who acts before he thinks.

Compare and contrast "Desiree's Baby" and "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin.

These two stories by Kate Chopin have a few similarities and many differences. Both stories have a young married woman as the main character: Desiree and Mrs. Mallard. Both women are under the control of their husbands and live in male-dominated cultures, and both women love their husbands. Each woman enjoys a short episode of bliss and also experiences a revelation while in her own bedroom. Desiree is blissfully happy for the first month after her baby is born, especially since Armand, her husband, becomes uncharacteristically kind towards the slaves because he is so pleased about having a son. But when the baby is about three months old, Desiree notices something unusual about the baby, something she has never realized before, when she is lying with him on her bed. Mrs. Mallard goes to her room to mourn her husband's death, and while there, she realizes that she is now free, and she relishes the thought. Both women succumb to an untimely death at the end of the story. Desiree walks ill-prepared with her baby into the bayou instead of taking the road to her family home, and the assumption of most readers is that she dies in the swamp. Mrs. Mallard learns suddenly that her husband is not dead after all and dies from a heart attack because of the shock. 

Despite those similarities, the stories are really quite different. "Desiree's Baby" is set on a plantation in the bayou country of Louisiana during the pre-Civil War era over a period of two months. "The Story of an Hour" takes place in a very short time period in an urban setting probably in the 1890s. Desiree is treated well by her husband at first, but when he finds out their child is part black, he treats her cruelly. Brently Mallard imposes his will on his wife mostly with "a kind intention," not with abuse. Desiree is a new mother; Mrs. Mallard appears to be childless. Desiree hears what is probably a lie about herself from her husband, namely, that she is not white. Mrs. Mallard hears a falsehood about her husband from a friend, namely, that he is dead. Desiree has a support system in her mother, but in the end, she refuses to go to her. Mrs. Mallard's sister, Josephine, is there for her, and Mrs. Mallard heeds Josephine's calls and comes out to her. Desiree chooses to end her own life (presumably), but Mrs. Mallard dies unexpectedly from a heart attack. Most importantly, the themes of the stories are quite different. "Desiree's Baby" portrays the cruelty produced by racial prejudice while "The Story of an Hour" explores the issues of power and freedom in marriage. 

What is a summary of the poem "The Last Lesson of the Afternoon" by D.H. Lawrence?

The poem "The Last Lesson of the Afternoon" by D.H. Lawrence is about a teacher who is second-guessing his life’s work as an instructor to various students. In this six stanza poem, the poet begins by saying that the teacher is waiting for the bell to ring so that his last class and teaching lesson of the afternoon can end. It is apparent that the teacher is tired as the first line of the poem states:

“When will the bell ring, and end this weariness?”

Right away the reader knows that all is not well in this formal classroom. This teacher feels that his students are akin to a “pack of unruly hounds”. He does not want to expend any more time and energy dispensing knowledge to this group who has no interest in really pursuing knowledge. The teacher is frustrated in this poem and feels like he could do better directing his talents elsewhere - to those who have a deep interest in knowledge acquisition.

There are indications in the poem that this teacher has been involved in teaching for many years – probably decades. He says:

“So, shall I take

My last dear fuel of life to heap on my soul”

He is weary and says, in so many words, that he can no longer stand to look at school desks full of books. In addition, he can no longer stand the shoddy written foolscap or papers that these students submit to him. Furthermore, he wonders what is the point of this all – to him and the students. So, it’s evident that years of toil in the classroom have taken their toll on this teacher.

He believes that the students he teaches are indifferent (uninterested). He no longer wants to labor in trying to get them to be interested in what he teaches. He says:

“I will not waste my soul and my strength for this.”

At this point in his life, with all his accumulated teaching experience, this teacher feels it is all for naught. He believes that all his efforts, and those of his students, ends up going down the scrap heap (metaphorically speaking). He states that his teaching and his students’ learning:

"...all goes down the same abyss”

In the end, this teacher says that he no longer cares for what he does regarding the teaching profession, and he also no longer cares what the students take in. He desires that he and they expend their strength elsewhere – in new directions. Therefore, he is waiting for the afternoon school bell to mercifully put an end to this boring and unproductive “Last Lesson of the Afternoon.”

Relating to Animal Farm, what corrupts people more: money, material items or power?

In Animal Farm, power corrupts far more than money or material goods: in fact, we could group money and material goods together as the same, but for the sake of this exercise we will keep them distinct. Money we will apply to humans and material goods to animals.

Orwell shows through Molly, the horse who doesn't take well to life after the animals take over the farm, that materialism isn't necessarily evil. Molly doesn't...

In Animal Farm, power corrupts far more than money or material goods: in fact, we could group money and material goods together as the same, but for the sake of this exercise we will keep them distinct. Money we will apply to humans and material goods to animals.

Orwell shows through Molly, the horse who doesn't take well to life after the animals take over the farm, that materialism isn't necessarily evil. Molly doesn't want to work hard, and she misses the red ribbons that were once braided into her mane. She likes to sleep late, and she likes material goods, such as sugar, which she can't get under the new regime. Eventually, she flees the farm and goes back to the humans. This may make the other animals unhappy, but Orwell shows it does them no real harm and does Molly no real harm. Her love of material things might not make her the most enlightened thinker or be much of a help to anyone, but while depicted as silly, she's certainly not an evil character.

Farmer Jones wants money—to make a profit on the farm—and that drives him to work the animals hard, but Orwell is at pains to show it is his alcoholism and neglect that leads to the problems for the animals that cause the revolt. If Jones had never taken to drink, the animals might have rocked along forever under his regime.

But Napoleon's lust for power and his inability to allow anyone to challenge him does corrupt him and the pigs who follow him. He treats the animals cruelly for no reason other than to terrorize them so that he can maintain total control. To be corrupted means to be changed into something worse than you once were. It means to become evil. Napoleon no doubt had the seeds of evil in him, but when he acquired power, the seeds of evil grew into evil itself. This is symbolized by the way he turns into a human, drinking alcohol, sleeping in a bed and walking on two legs: ironically, he is harsher towards the animals than their prior owners.