Describe the rules of evidence for police actions regarding the collection of evidence, and what landmark cases were involved in establishing the...

The basic principle underlying current rules of evidence is that of probable cause; the police must have a preponderance of the evidence that this suspected person is guilty of a crime in order to search them or seize their property, and with rare exceptions must acquire a warrant on this basis.

If evidence is not obtained according to this rule, the exclusionary rule applies, disallowing the use of that evidence in court. In theory, this is not the only way one could penalize illegal searches, but it is the one we generally use.

The exclusionary rule was first applied in the case Boyd v. United States (1886), and actually applied not to a search per se but the requirement to furnish business documents. It was originally argued that this constituted a Fifth Amendment violation, requiring self-incriminating statements.

Adams v. New York (1904) actually specifically rejected the claim of a general exclusionary rule applied to all illegally-seized evidence, but this precedent did not last. In Weeks v. United States (1914), the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment did require all illegally-seized evidence to be excluded from use in federal courts.

This only applied to federal courts until 1952, when in Rochin v. California the Supreme Court ruled that egregious violations of Fourth Amendment rights were sufficient to invalidate the evidence even in state courts. In 1954, Irvine v. California established that this did not apply to all illegal searches, only the most egregious ones.

This standard held until 1961, when in Mapp v. Ohio the Supreme Court generalized the rule to all illegal searches and seizures, and applied it to both state and federal courts.

More recently, the pendulum has begun to swing backward, as starting in the 1970s a series of Supreme Court rulings have weakened or limited the standards of the exclusionary rule and added more and more exceptions. Today the exclusionary rule is only held to apply if the police would not have gotten a warrant---not simply if they didn't---and if the person being searched had a "reasonable expectation of privacy", and it must apply specifically to that person---if you hide drugs in someone else's purse, the evidence can be used against you, just not against them (established in Rawlings v. Kentucky in 1980).

What are the real reasons why the United States enters into military engagements? What is the role of the media in such decisions?

The problem with this question is that the United States has entered into many different military conflicts over the past two and a half centuries, and each conflict is different. Moreover, the Unites States is not some single-minded entity but a nation of over 300 million people. Each of this individuals have their own reasons for supporting or opposing the US intervention in various military conflicts. Even more importantly, people rarely have singular motivations, but often multiple different reasons for a position.

For example, someone might want to intervene in Libya due to the ongoing humanitarian crises in that country, also want to intervene because the waves of migration from people fleeing the civil war have destabilizing effects on the region, but be reluctant to intervene due to unwillingness to risk American lives, fear of escalating conflicts with Russia, and concern over the lack of a clear replacement civil authority to support. 

In World War II, to take another important example, opinions in the United States were divided until Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. While some people wanted to intervene to stop Hitler, due to concern about his attacks on our allies and his program of ethnic cleansing, there was a strongly isolationist element in the country, and the US did not consistently welcome Jewish immigrants until 1944. The US government was actively involved in a propaganda effort to increase support for the war with the full complicity of the media. President Roosevelt's fireside chats were an example of the use of radio to encourage people to support the war effort and to keep citizenry well-informed about the progress of the war.

The US entry into the Vietnam War was more gradual and accidental, beginning as a matter of supplying aid to the French and then gradually evolving into a proxy war as part of the US opposition to the Soviet Union. Part of the reasoning was the domino theory, in which it was assumed that if one country became aligned to the Soviet bloc, others would follow. Media coverage of atrocities in the war, including the use of napalm on civilians, was instrumental in ending the war. 

In general, the reasons for military intervention vary greatly, ranging from economic to ethical and from mutual treaties and obligations to global balance of power. The media can serve to inflame popular sentiment either for or against wars. 

Discuss one type of DNA sequencing and the steps involved in that method.

Probably the easiest method to understand is the Sanger method for DNA sequencing. In this case some standard techniques regarding DNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are used. The main difference here is that you must use a single stranded template to ensure you have the correct sequence.

First, we must understand what the key components are:

• DNA polymerase - an enzyme that works under specific conditions that binds nucleotide bases to a growing DNA strand on the 3' end based on a template it is running along.


• DNA Primer - a short strand of DNA that is hybridized to the target strand (already complementary to the target strand) that serves as a starting point for sequencing. You need this otherwise your DNA polymerase won't be able to construct a new DNA strand.


• Deoxynucleotides (dNTPs) - Standard deoxyribonucleic acid bases: deoxyadenosine, deoxyguanosine, deoxycytidine, deoxythymidine. These are the common elements of any DNA strand.


• Di-deoxynucleotides (ddNTPs) - These are the experimental add-ons. These are the standard 4 bases (A, C, T, G) but without a hydroxylated 3' end. This is important because once one of these bases is added to the DNA strand, synthesis is terminated.

Now, you put these elements together in a buffer with a single strand of DNA that you want to sequence. The primer binds to one end of the DNA template. The polymerase then can bind to the template and primer and start constructing a new DNA strand. The polymerase randomly selects normal deoxynucleotides and dideoxynucleotides and produces DNA until there is no primer left, there are no dNTPs left, or there are no ddNTPs left. Of course, in order to allow a full strand to be sequenced, there is a significantly lower concentration of ddNTP in the buffers than normal dNTPs. Also, you have to have 4 different buffers running at the same time (one with each ddNTP) or you must otherwise have a label for each ddNTP for an automated sequencer.

Classically, you use 4 different solutions, one for each dideoxynucleotide base, and each of these bases has some sort of label, such as radioactive phosphate or a fluorophore. You can then put a portion of each mixture into an electrophoresis gel (which sorts strands by size), and perform electrophoresis. The gel is then exposed to a photographic film, which is then developed to show where each A, C, T, and G are. Then, it is a simple matter of writing the letters from top to bottom!

`y = e^x` Use the derivative to determine whether the function is strictly monotonic on its entire domain and therefore has an inverse function.

We are asked to determine if the function ` y=e^x ` has an inverse function by finding if the function is strictly monotonic on its entire domain using the derivative. The domain is all reals.

`y'=e^x ` and ` e^x>0` for all real x so the function is strictly monotonic (in this case strictly increasing) on its entire domain and thus has an inverse function.

The graph:

We are asked to determine if the function ` y=e^x ` has an inverse function by finding if the function is strictly monotonic on its entire domain using the derivative. The domain is all reals.

`y'=e^x ` and ` e^x>0` for all real x so the function is strictly monotonic (in this case strictly increasing) on its entire domain and thus has an inverse function.

The graph:

Mary Maloney, in Lamb to the Slaughter," experiences both internal and external conflicts. Write a detailed paragraph using evidence from...

I would say that Mary Maloney faces three of those four types of conflict.  I would also like to point out that most of those listed conflict types are external conflict types.  

Mary endures a man vs. man conflict against her husband, Patrick.  He tells her that he is leaving her.  Mary experiences a bit of a psychotic break, and she ends her conflict with Patrick by clubbing him across the skull with a leg of lamb.  

The man vs. man conflict continues once Mary has the police officers in her house.  They are trying to figure out what happened to Patrick, and Mary is trying to stop them.  I'd say that Mary is quite successful in this endeavor too.  She manages to convince the officers to eat the murder weapon.  

The man vs. circumstance conflict occurs throughout the story, but it is most evident when Patrick tells Mary that he is leaving her. Patrick has forced Mary into a situation that she is not capable of handling.  She operates in a daze until Patrick's cold, dead head hits the floor.  

The violence of the crash, the noise, the small table overturning, helped bring her out of he shock. She came out slowly, feeling cold and surprised, and she stood for a while blinking at the body, still holding the ridiculous piece of meat tight with both hands.  

You might say that Mary continues to struggle with her circumstances until the end of the story.  I would agree with you, but once Patrick is dead, Mary begins actively controlling the circumstances; however,  I like thinking that characters have zero control over the circumstances in a man vs. circumstance conflict.  That happens to Mary the moment Patrick walks in the door until he finishes telling her his awful news.  He is the one actively guiding the situation, and Mary is only capable of reacting.    

Mary's internal conflict is mainly focused on her avoiding jail for the sake of her baby.  She is pregnant, and she is the wife of a cop.  She is perfectly willing to take the punishment, but she doesn't know what will happen to her child.  She struggles with what to do.  Turn herself in or get away with murder?  She determines to cover the murder up in order to keep her unborn child safe.

It was extraordinary, now, how clear her mind became all of a sudden. She began thinking very fast. As the wife of a detective, she knew quite well what the penalty would be. That was fine. It made no difference to her. In fact, it would be a relief. On the other hand, what about the child? What were the laws about murderers with unborn children? Did they kill then both-mother and child? Or did they wait until the tenth month? What did they do?

Mary Maloney didn’t know. And she certainly wasn’t prepared to take a chance.  

In the story "A Rose For Emily" by William Faulkner, how can it be shown with three supporting points that Emily's attempt at controlling time is...

If it is your intention to show that Miss Emily, in "A Rose for Emily" (Faulkner), has been futile in her attempts to hold back time, that is, in fact, your thesis.  A thesis is simply the main idea you wish to prove.  A thesis statement, on the other hand, is a statement that states your main idea and your supporting points.  So it is the three points we need to work on here, and really, there are so many points, it is almost difficult to choose. Let's go over four that come to my mind immediately.

First, Miss Emily remains in her crumbling mansion, a household she clearly cannot afford to keep up, even not paying taxes, and it crumbles about her, the only house left in the "good" neighborhood when she dies, in "coquettish decay" (Faulkner 1), much like Miss Emily. She cannot stop the clock on this decay.

Second, Miss Emily, while she may perceive herself to be a winsome Southern belle, is seen by the townspeople as a "fallen monument" (1), obese, unattractive, with a mixture of black and grey hair. She has not held time still as she grows older, nor has she even aged gracefully or with dignity.

Third, I would not call her murder of Homer Barron a great success in holding off time.  One's imagination can only enhance a crumbling corpse for so long and then I'm sure a serious "ick" factor must come into play. 

Finally, Miss Emily herself dies, as no one can hold off time enough to avoid death.  In spite of her early pampered life and how she sheltered herself after her father died, every crumbling monument must finally crumble away.

To write a thesis statement, you need to select the points you wish to develop and support and then add them to the thesis itself. For example, if I were writing a literary analysis about this story, I could have a thesis statement like this:

Miss Emily's father ruined her for real life, by forbidding her any suitors, by not providing her with an education, and by not teaching her how to do anything that could have gained her employment. 

That is a different thesis, of course, but notice that I state it and then just add my three supporting points.  You have a good thesis to write about, and all you have to do is add the points you want to make to the thesis. Place the thesis statement at the end of your introduction, where the reader can now use it like a table of contents for the rest of the essay. Good luck!

What is the thematic significance of the quote from Rahim Khan in Hosseini's The Kite Runner, “There is a way to be good again”?

In The Kite Runner (Hosseini), one of the most powerful themes of the story is set forth in the simple statement of Rahim Khan, the old family friend of Baba and Amir, "There is a way to be good again" (2).  Amir must live with the guilt of his sins against Hassan, amongst these a failure to rescue his friend from being bullied and raped by Assef and his despicable act of framing Hassan for theft.  He has no opportunity for redemption, even supposing he had been capable of it.  He and Baba are forced to flee Afghanistan, and Ali and Hassan, who have left Baba's house, are left behind to face the chaos that Afghanistan has become.  Amir, in his dealings with Hassan, has not been good.

What Khan is offering is a chance at redemption.  That is the overarching theme of the novel. In order to be redeemed from one's sins, at the most basic level one must atone and be good again, trying to make up for what one has done.  Amir cannot bring back Ali and Hassan, who have died.  Nor can he make up for all of the sorrows they must have endured, but he can face down the enemy he so cowardly ran from, Assef, and he can rescue Sohrab, Ali's son and, as he learns, his nephew, from the clutches of the Taliban.  The reader knows nothing of this at the beginning, but the more we read of the story, the more we come to understand Khan's wisdom in offering this chance to Amir.

Khan plays a very quiet role in the story, but he is best positioned to understand Amir and how damaged Amir's life has been, by forces beyond his own control and by his own behavior.  Khan is the one who knows that Hassan is the child of Baba.  Khan is the one who sees how easily Amir lords it over Hassan because Amir is from a wealthy Sunni Pashtun family while Hassan is a mere servant who is a Shi'a Hazara, part of an ill-treated minority.  Khan is the one who knows that love is not meant to stop at an ethnic or religious line because he himself loved a Hazara woman.  Khan understands that Amir has good in him, but fears that he will never be whole without some form of redemption.  To be good again implies that there was a time when Amir had been a good person, and Khan believes he can be one again. 

Does the US government today meet the democratic, social, and deliberative mandates developed at its inception?

Yes, and it meets them more today than it did at the founding of the government.  In 1787, America still had slaves.  Women could not vote.  There was a constant fight between Native Americans and whites over land use and ownership.  While it was not written into the Constitution, many states had property requirements one had to meet to vote or to run for public office.  The government of 2016 is much more democratic than...

Yes, and it meets them more today than it did at the founding of the government.  In 1787, America still had slaves.  Women could not vote.  There was a constant fight between Native Americans and whites over land use and ownership.  While it was not written into the Constitution, many states had property requirements one had to meet to vote or to run for public office.  The government of 2016 is much more democratic than the government of 1787.  Minorities can vote.  Young people who are over the age of eighteen can vote.  There are no property requirements to vote, and in many states you do not even need proof of identity.  Slavery has long since been abolished.  

The original government had little in the way of social responsibility.  The Founders believed that small government was ideal.  However, due to demographic changes and changes to the way Americans work, this changed.  The government has gotten involved in civil rights and workers' rights.  It is also involved in environmental protection and public education.  These additions to the federal government's responsibilities continue to adapt as people feel a need to get government involved.  While some critics of large government are wary of federal oversight, this is one of the consequences of living in a democracy--people vote to uphold their best interests.  

After seeing clips from the documentary Crude, what is the general role a specialist in health behavior and health promotion could serve in this...

Crude is a 2009 documentary about an Ecuadorian oil pollution crisis allegedly perpetrated by Chevron and Texaco. As a result of the ongoing crisis, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Chevron, which is the documentary's primary focus. While investigating the lawsuit, filmmaker Joe Berlinger uncovered many terrible stories about people suffering from ill health, which they attributed to the pollution.

A specialist in health behavior and health promotion could fill a variety of roles on...

Crude is a 2009 documentary about an Ecuadorian oil pollution crisis allegedly perpetrated by Chevron and Texaco. As a result of the ongoing crisis, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Chevron, which is the documentary's primary focus. While investigating the lawsuit, filmmaker Joe Berlinger uncovered many terrible stories about people suffering from ill health, which they attributed to the pollution.

A specialist in health behavior and health promotion could fill a variety of roles on either side of this issue. As someone on the ground in Ecuador, for example, the health specialist could assess the various factors present in the community and find ways to improve public health in the area. He or she could consult the locals on ways to make themselves healthier or lessen the effects of those harmful factors. The specialist could identify resources to help and advocate for the community if he or she felt there was a serious health hazard committed by Chevron/ Texaco or any other company.

On the other hand, a specialist working for Chevron/ Texaco (or one who assessed the situation and determined they were not at fault) could identify other possible causes for the community's health issues. He or she could testify as an expert to what else could be making people sick. 

In either situation, a specialist could also organize educational programs and train people on healthful living.

How is the quote below related to prejudice and how prejudice overtakes justice? 3RD JUROR: Yeah, well I've got (a kid). He's twenty. We did...

In the quote above, the 3rd juror is biased in his judgment because of his personal experience with his son. So, we can say that his prejudice effectively clouds his ability to render true justice as a juror.

Basically, the 3rd juror thinks of his son as ungrateful and rebellious, and he's transferred his feelings of frustration and anger to the nineteen-year-old suspect in the case. When the 8th juror argues that the youth of...

In the quote above, the 3rd juror is biased in his judgment because of his personal experience with his son. So, we can say that his prejudice effectively clouds his ability to render true justice as a juror.

Basically, the 3rd juror thinks of his son as ungrateful and rebellious, and he's transferred his feelings of frustration and anger to the nineteen-year-old suspect in the case. When the 8th juror argues that the youth of the suspect should be taken into account as they deliberate the case, the 3rd juror maintains that the suspect is old enough to know what he's done. He accepts without question the suspect's guilt.

Also (and here's another indication that his prejudice is apparent), the 3rd juror reiterates what he believes are the facts of the case: the victim was stabbed four inches into the chest by the suspect, his son. Because of his own dysfunctional relationship with his son, the 3rd juror is most focused upon the viciousness of the crime. He's put himself in place of the father who was killed, and his sympathies are weighted on the side of the victim.

Throughout the play, the 3rd juror argues against the suspect. He's emotionally invested in the outcome and doesn't want to entertain any other verdict for the suspect other than a guilty verdict. In fact, during the play, he's most at odds with the 8th juror. He accuses the 8th juror of making up "wild stories" about "slum kids and injustice," and he calls for the suspect to "burn" for his crime against his father. So, the above quote exemplifies the 3rd juror's bias and his lack of impartiality; this in turn explains how prejudice can overtake justice.

What is the irony in "The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse"?

In "The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse," the irony lies in the fact that Mourad, a member of the Garoghlanian family, steals a white horse. This is ironic because the family is locally renowned for its honesty. In fact, as Aram tells the reader, honesty is their second best-known family trait and it has been around for centuries, long before the family ever became poor:

"We had been famous for our honesty for something like eleven centuries, even when we had been the wealthiest family."

For Aram, it is unbelievable, then, that a member of his family would demonstrate such outright dishonesty by stealing a horse. But knowing the poverty of his cousin, there can be no other explanation.

Moreover, that Mourad describes his understanding of the horse as "honest" is also ironic because his relationship with the horse is based on theft, which is an act of gross dishonesty. 

What problems arise from excessive ethnocentrism?

Ethnocentrism causes problems both for individuals and for societies as a whole, especially in our contemporary highly globalized world.

In much of our work and even daily lives we encounter people from many different ethnic backgrounds with different cultural assumptions and mannerisms. To work with them, we must understand their cultures. For example, in Navajo society, looking people directly in the eyes is considered rude. Knowing this means that you will not be offended if...

Ethnocentrism causes problems both for individuals and for societies as a whole, especially in our contemporary highly globalized world.

In much of our work and even daily lives we encounter people from many different ethnic backgrounds with different cultural assumptions and mannerisms. To work with them, we must understand their cultures. For example, in Navajo society, looking people directly in the eyes is considered rude. Knowing this means that you will not be offended if Navajos look at the sky while speaking to you and you also can not stare directly into their eyes as a sign of respect. The more you know about other cultures and their manners and beliefs, the more you can work well with people from many different cultures and avoid offending them. Perhaps even more important, this sort of sensitivity to other people's cultures allows you to make friends with people of very different backgrounds from your own. Your own personal world is enriched by your ability see things from other points of view.

On a global level, not understanding cultural differences can lead to diplomatic incidents or even wars. Often behaviors accepted in one society are considered unacceptable in others. On a level more serious than just manners, western ethnocentrism and ignorance of cultural issues in the Islamic world reflected in the Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916 led to many of the current tensions in the Middle East. 

How has Shakespeare has created contradictory representations of Macbeth in the play, Macbeth?

Some times, Macbeth is quite courageous; other times, he is cowardly.  The first description we hear of Macbeth is from the captain who calls him "brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)" and discusses the way he slashed his way through the battle in order to "unseam [his enemy] from the nave to th' chops" (1.2.18, 1.2.24).  He places himself in grave danger to defend the kingdom and the king against traitors and invaders.  However,...

Some times, Macbeth is quite courageous; other times, he is cowardly.  The first description we hear of Macbeth is from the captain who calls him "brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)" and discusses the way he slashed his way through the battle in order to "unseam [his enemy] from the nave to th' chops" (1.2.18, 1.2.24).  He places himself in grave danger to defend the kingdom and the king against traitors and invaders.  However, later in the play, he hires murderers to kill his friend Banquo when he feels too threatened by Banquo's prophecy and noble nature.  He is too cowardly to do the job himself, lying to the murderers to get them to do it for him; then he absolutely panics when Banquo's ghost appears, and he totally loses his cool. 

Likewise, Macbeth is, at times, in possession of a sound conscience; other times, he is totally unscrupulous.  After he weighs all of the reasons he has not to kill Duncan, he decides that "We will proceed no further in this business" (1.7.34).  He actually tries to make the right decision here, and we really feel for him when his wife berates and insults him as a result.  We might even continue to feel badly for him after Duncan's murder when he panics and feels absolutely terrible.  However, toward the end of the play, when he becomes angry at Macduff, he has Macduff's innocent wife, children, and even his servants slaughtered savagely.  He becomes utterly corrupt, so corrupt that he will kill children. 

What change should be expected in the velocity of a body to maintain the same kinetic energy, if its mass is increased sixteen times? How?

Hello!

Kinetic energy is that part of full energy which a body has due to its motion. The formula for kinetic energy is `E_k = (m V^2)/2,` where `m` is the mass and `V` is the speed (regardless of direction).

Usually a body remains the same during its motion, and the mass of the body also remains the same. In our problem, the mass of the body is supposed to increase `16` times, roughly speaking...

Hello!

Kinetic energy is that part of full energy which a body has due to its motion. The formula for kinetic energy is `E_k = (m V^2)/2,` where `m` is the mass and `V` is the speed (regardless of direction).

Usually a body remains the same during its motion, and the mass of the body also remains the same. In our problem, the mass of the body is supposed to increase `16` times, roughly speaking some other bodies will join our initial body.

In such a case, its kinetic energy becomes `E'_k = ((16 m) V^2)/2 = 16 E_k.` To compensate this change by a speed change, we have to reduce `V^2`  `16` times, which means to reduce `V`  `sqrt(16)=4` times.

This is the answer: body's speed must be reduced 4 times to maintain the same kinetic energy.

What was Florence’s life like when she was growing up in Seedfolks?

Florence grew up near the Gunnison River in the Colorado country. She mentions that she and her family were the only black people in the entire county and that her father referred to them as seedfolks. Florence comments that she misses "country things" like the smell of the hayfield and picking beans off of the vine. Although Florence does not elaborate on her childhood in the country, the reader can assume that Florence's youth was...

Florence grew up near the Gunnison River in the Colorado country. She mentions that she and her family were the only black people in the entire county and that her father referred to them as seedfolks. Florence comments that she misses "country things" like the smell of the hayfield and picking beans off of the vine. Although Florence does not elaborate on her childhood in the country, the reader can assume that Florence's youth was full of gardening, playing outside, and working with her hands. Florence goes on to lament about not being able to participate in gardening because of her arthritis. When speaking about the community garden on Gibb Street, Florence says, "I had to settle for being a watcher" (Fleischman 84). Florence also mentions that her grandmother used to tell her not to be solitary or idle. The reader can surmise that Florence was also busy as a child and constantly engaged in some sort of activity. Florence's childhood was active, and she spent it in the Colorado country surrounded by her loving family. 

How does Macbeth die?

Macbeth is killed by Macduff on the battlefield in front of Dunsinane in the last scene of the last act. Their sword fighting begins onstage and then is carried offstage. They reenter the stage still fighting, and "Macbeth is slain." It would appear that Shakespeare did not want to show too much of the fighting onstage because there was always the danger that one of his principle actors would get hurt. Ordinarily, Macbeth...

Macbeth is killed by Macduff on the battlefield in front of Dunsinane in the last scene of the last act. Their sword fighting begins onstage and then is carried offstage. They reenter the stage still fighting, and "Macbeth is slain." It would appear that Shakespeare did not want to show too much of the fighting onstage because there was always the danger that one of his principle actors would get hurt. Ordinarily, Macbeth would probably have won the swordfight. It has been demonstrated that he is a ferocious warrior capable of slaughtering dozens on the battlefield. But he is unnerved when Macduff tells him:

Despair thy charm,
And let the angel whom thou still hast served
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb
Untimely ripp'd.           V.7

Macduff replies:

Accursed be that tongue that tells me so,
For it hath cow'd my better part of man!

Macbeth does not fight with his accustomed vigor. He is on the defensive. He had been counting on the assurances of the three weird sisters, but he learns that they were equivocating. Birnam Wood has moved to Dunsinane and he is confronted by a highly motivated opponent who was delivered at birth by a crude Caesarian section. But the best that can be said of Macbeth by this point is that he goes down fighting and is even willing to take on Fate.

How can I include a detailed protocol describing the diagrams of an in-class biology experiment?

A "detailed protocol" is really just a fancy way of saying "the instructions". We just use this vocabulary to indicate the subtle but importance between following instructions like you would follow a recipe, and following a series of rules, regulations and guidelines that are a little more flexible and adaptive to your particular situation.

To incorporate diagrams into a protocol, you need to understand and prioritize the purpose of the experiment and the way in...

A "detailed protocol" is really just a fancy way of saying "the instructions". We just use this vocabulary to indicate the subtle but importance between following instructions like you would follow a recipe, and following a series of rules, regulations and guidelines that are a little more flexible and adaptive to your particular situation.

To incorporate diagrams into a protocol, you need to understand and prioritize the purpose of the experiment and the way in which the diagrams will meet or lead toward that purpose. Generally speaking, diagrams will either be a part of the procedure that have already been provided to you, to facilitate their execution, or they'll be something you have to create in order to describe your observations and results. If there are multiple diagrams, it helps to give them separate names and numbers, such as "Figure 1", and refer to them in this manner consistently throughout the procedure.

If a diagram is too complicated to refer to as a single figure, it can either be broken up into smaller diagrams, or given sub-labels within the diagram itself. A good example of this is found in many model kit diagrams. You can also refer to specific physical locations in the diagram with simple language, such as "the top left quarter of the diagram" - this is totally normal and acceptable even in college-level science.

If the protocol has not been provided to you already, review the materials given to you for the experiment, or the notes you took, and rewrite everything in sequential order, with specific attention to safety procedures and including all relevant information when it's called for. For example, many students will write a procedure without taking explanations into account, such as saying "on the diagram" without specifying which one. Make sure that all references are specific enough that a person who wasn't present for the experiment would be able to do it with little or no guidance.

How does The Outsiders suggest the individual identity of a person is determined by their external influences? How do the techniques and...

The statement "the individual identity of a person is determined by their external influences" is certainly an opinion-based statement; evidence from the text can be used to agree or disagree with this idea.

Conventions and techniques refer to literary techniques and conventions used by the author, such as foreshadowing, figurative language, character development, flashback, flashforward, backstory, unreliable narrator, and more. 

I would suggest you choose a position (is a person's identity in fact determined by...

The statement "the individual identity of a person is determined by their external influences" is certainly an opinion-based statement; evidence from the text can be used to agree or disagree with this idea.

Conventions and techniques refer to literary techniques and conventions used by the author, such as foreshadowing, figurative language, character development, flashback, flashforward, backstory, unreliable narrator, and more. 

I would suggest you choose a position (is a person's identity in fact determined by external circumstances or not?) and back it up with evidence from the text, which would include the literary techniques of the author. For example, if one were to argue that a person's identity is determined by his/her external circumstances, using the example of Darry would work well to support this argument. Darry doesn't finish high school and becomes the sole breadwinner of the household after his parents' deaths. He had a lot of potential as an athlete and was smart, but his external circumstances changed the course of his life and subsequently, his identity. His former football buddies saw him as an outsider after he dropped out of high school. 

If one wanted to argue that a person's identity is not determined by his/her external circumstances, he/she could use the example of Ponyboy. Ponyboy is a gifted writer, academically driven, and not given to violence. He does not fit the stereotype of a typical greaser. He has integrity of character and a moral fortitude that others don't have. A literary technique that supports this argument is the full-circle ending. The first and last lines of the book are: "When I stepped out into the bright light of the sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home." This full circle ending suggests that Ponyboy does not change despite the circumstances of the novel. This is echoed in Johnny's advice to Ponyboy to "stay golden." Despite the violence and horror around him, Ponyboy remains true to himself. His identity is rooted in something deeper than his external circumstances. 

Also consider the use of flashback, foreshadowing, and figurative language to reference the techniques used by the author when writing this essay. 

How many soliloquies are there in Hamlet?

Hamlet has seven soliloquies in Hamlet. Their significance lies in their characterizing of Hamlet as an introspective and anguished character. While in a typical Renaissance revenge tragedy, a protagonist would quickly jump into action to try to avenge a death, Hamlet vacillates. Unlike Laertes, who is immediately out for blood when he learns that Hamlet has killed his father, Hamlet carefully contemplates his next steps and wishes he didn't have to face the problem of revenge. What, he wonders, if the ghost he meets has been sent by Satan to tempt him into killing an innocent man? How can he establish in some objective way that Claudius did, in fact, murder his father? 

If Hamlet was already upset about his father death, the ghost's revelation sends him into a tailspin of depression. He indulges in suicidal ideation, wishing in his soliloquies that he could, for example, dissolve like the dew or take his own life, deciding that is only fear of what he might encounter after death that keeps him alive. He later ponders death as the great leveler. 

Hamlet's contemplation of the meaning of life and death, largely through his many soliloquies, elevates this play from another entertaining bloodbath to a haunting meditation on universal questions about mortality, truth and purpose.   

What does the last paragraph of the story "After Twenty Years" mean?

The last paragraph of "After Twenty Years" is a letter from one old friend to another.

In this letter from Jimmy Wells to Bob, alias "Silky" Bob, the old friend who was supposed to have met Bob in a twenty-year reunion, identifies himself. He tells Bob that he was, in fact, at the restaurant where they always ate together and met him in the doorway at the appointed time. However, when Bob lit a cigar,...

The last paragraph of "After Twenty Years" is a letter from one old friend to another.

In this letter from Jimmy Wells to Bob, alias "Silky" Bob, the old friend who was supposed to have met Bob in a twenty-year reunion, identifies himself. He tells Bob that he was, in fact, at the restaurant where they always ate together and met him in the doorway at the appointed time. However, when Bob lit a cigar, Jimmy, who was wearing his policeman's uniform, recognized his old friend as the wanted man whom the authorities in Chicago were seeking.

Jimmy writes, "Somehow I couldn't do it myself," which means that he just could not arrest his old friend. So, he returned to the precinct and asked a plain clothes policeman to make the arrest. It is this officer of the law who has handed Bob this note.

Interestingly, Jimmy makes no personal comment to Bob about his criminality, nor does he express any feelings he has for Bob. This note is probably his final gesture of friendship, given out of respect for their past together.

What time and place is Unwind by Neal Shusterman set in? How does the setting contribute to the story?

The place setting of the story is the United States.  The novel moves all across the United States as the author explores individual plot lines for the various characters.  For example, the Graveyard is in Arizona, and Lev and CyFi travel to Joplin.  

The time setting is a bit more difficult.  The reader is given a few specific dates at the beginning of a few chapters, but those dates reference events in the past. ...

The place setting of the story is the United States.  The novel moves all across the United States as the author explores individual plot lines for the various characters.  For example, the Graveyard is in Arizona, and Lev and CyFi travel to Joplin.  

The time setting is a bit more difficult.  The reader is given a few specific dates at the beginning of a few chapters, but those dates reference events in the past. For example, there is an article at the beginning of one chapter that talks about a bunch of bodies being dug up from graves.  

In 2003 the authorities agreed to exhume around 30 bodies from a cemetery used by maternity hospital number 6.

The main events of the book take place sometime in the future, but it is a near future.  The best evidence that I can provide for a near future is when the Admiral is talking about "neurografting."  He explains that unwinding became a viable option once neurografting was made possible.  Currently, only certain organs and tissues can be donated, but neurografting makes it possible to use every piece of a donor's body.  

"I was right there in the room when they came up with the idea that a pregnancy could be terminated retroactively once a child reaches the age of reason," says the Admiral. "At first it was a joke — no one intended it to be taken seriously. But that same year the Nobel Prize went to a scientist who perfected neurografting — the technique that allows every part of a donor to be used in transplant."

Because neurografting is not current and available science, Unwind is taking place sometime in the future.  

What does this quote mean? "...I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year."

The quote you mention pertains to Aunt Alexandra's view of Scout. To Aunt Alexandra, Scout was born "good," meaning that she was born without all the supposed bad habits she has recently picked up. One bad habit of Scout's that Aunt Alexandra frowns upon is Scout's tendency to go about in breeches or overalls.

Aunt Alexandra is especially upset that Atticus doesn't share her concerns about proper feminine attire for little girls. For her part,...

The quote you mention pertains to Aunt Alexandra's view of Scout. To Aunt Alexandra, Scout was born "good," meaning that she was born without all the supposed bad habits she has recently picked up. One bad habit of Scout's that Aunt Alexandra frowns upon is Scout's tendency to go about in breeches or overalls.

Aunt Alexandra is especially upset that Atticus doesn't share her concerns about proper feminine attire for little girls. For her part, Scout complains that Aunt Alexandra only wants her to play with "small stoves" and "tea sets," while wearing the "Add-A-Pearl necklace" she received from her aunt when she was born.

In Aunt Alexandra''s mind, however, a baby is perfect because she's a blank slate, and that baby maintains her goodness (as she grows) by conforming to certain expectations. As Scout is bereft of a mother, Aunt Alexandra deems it her duty to teach Scout the ways of a dignified, Southern young lady. In return, she expects Scout to heed her teachings. Among other things, Aunt Alexandra expects Scout to be a "ray of sunshine" in her father's "lonely life."

Aunt Alexandra's definition of true womanhood is narrow and strictly autocratic, meaning that she never takes into account Scout's desires, Atticus' thoughts on the subject, or Scout's upbringing. To Aunt Alexandra, a woman can only be a "sunbeam" if she's attired properly in a dress, meaning that she can only be seen as behaving appropriately if she's clothed in an accepted manner. Because Scout has continually failed to conform to this expectation of Aunt Alexandra's, she is considered to be a disappointment, hence Aunt Alexandra's pronouncement that Scout was "born good but had grown progressively worse every year."

What are some arguments that could be made about issues of justice based on Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

Based on Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, one argument one can make about an issue concerning justice is that, due to racial prejudices, justice doesn't truly equally exist for all mankind. The term justicehas many meanings, including being able to act according to right conduct, being lawfully treated fairly, or being punished or rewarded fairly, and none of these things exist equally for all men. Atticus reveals his belief that justice doesn't...

Based on Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, one argument one can make about an issue concerning justice is that, due to racial prejudices, justice doesn't truly equally exist for all mankind. The term justice has many meanings, including being able to act according to right conduct, being lawfully treated fairly, or being punished or rewarded fairly, and none of these things exist equally for all men. Atticus reveals his belief that justice doesn't truly exist for all mankind in his closing remarks to the jury during Tom Robinson's trial.

One interesting statement he makes in his closing remarks is that not all men are "created equal in the sense some people would have us believe" (Ch. 20). People are not created equal for the following reasons: some are smarter; some are born with more opportunities; some are wealthier; some are more talented; and some are "born gifted beyond the normal scope of most men" (Ch. 20). Since not all men are created equal, Atticus knows that not all men will receive equal portions of justice from a jury. As Atticus further explains, "[A] court is no better than each man" sitting on a jury. If a jury member does not think about the evidence of a case objectively due to racial prejudices, than a man such as Tom Robinson is unlikely to receive the same justice that would be doled out to a man who is white and in the same position as Robinson. Hence, Atticus show us that due to racial prejudices, one of the greatest issues of justice in this world is that justice is not equally distributed to all of mankind.

What is the meaning behind the quotation, "I’ve heard you to be a sensible man, Mr. Hale. I hope you will leave some of it in Salem" in The...

John Proctor hopes Reverend Hale's arrival will end the hysteria about witches, but it doesn't because things have progressed too far.

This comment is about the witch trials causing mayhem in Salem. The hysteria over witches is unreasonable. Reverend Hale is supposed to be an expert. The witch trials are a "beloved errand" for him. Proctor hopes Hale can end the girls' accusations of witchcraft on innocent people.

John Proctor certainly does not believe in...

John Proctor hopes Reverend Hale's arrival will end the hysteria about witches, but it doesn't because things have progressed too far.

This comment is about the witch trials causing mayhem in Salem. The hysteria over witches is unreasonable. Reverend Hale is supposed to be an expert. The witch trials are a "beloved errand" for him. Proctor hopes Hale can end the girls' accusations of witchcraft on innocent people.

John Proctor certainly does not believe in witches.

Giles Corey: He don’t believe in witches.

Proctor, to Hale: I never spoke on witches one way or the other. Will you come, Giles?

Giles: No — no, John, I think not. I have some few queer questions of my own to ask this fellow.

The witch trials are a result of a group of girls who claim to have been attacked by witches, who in reality are just townspeople. Since the town fears witches, they believe the girls. The girls' ringleader is Abigail Williams, who has a specific reason to get back at John Proctor because he spurned her after they had an affair.

When Hale arrives, he brings with him his expertise and a bunch of books.

Parris, delighted: Mr. Hale! Oh! it’s good to see you again!
Taking some books: My, they’re heavy!
Hale, setting down his books: They must be; they are weighted with authority.

For a group of supposedly God-fearing people, the people of Salem go from normal to crazy pretty quickly. Hale, the supposed expert on witches, is unable to derail the insanity. By the time the trials are over, many innocent people will have died as a result of them.

Which symbols of atoms or ions are neutral?

The symbols for atoms are those found on the periodic table, such as H for hydrogen and He for helium. These symbols are assumed to represent the atom in its "ground state"—that is, the condition where it has an equal number of protons and electrons, and therefore a neutral charge. Therefore we can say that the symbol itself, by default, represents the atom in a neutral state. 

Ions, on the other hand, are by definition...

The symbols for atoms are those found on the periodic table, such as H for hydrogen and He for helium. These symbols are assumed to represent the atom in its "ground state"—that is, the condition where it has an equal number of protons and electrons, and therefore a neutral charge. Therefore we can say that the symbol itself, by default, represents the atom in a neutral state. 

Ions, on the other hand, are by definition incapable of being neutral. An ion is an atom in a state where it has more or less than the ground state number of electrons. For example, an oxygen atom would normally have 8 protons and 8 electrons in its ground state, for a combined charge of 0. If the oxygen gained one extra electron, it would have a total charge of -1, and it would be considered an ion. If the oxygen lost an electron, it would have a charge of +1, and this would also be considered an ion. However, in neither state does the atom have any kind of overall neutral charge, so it cannot be represented that way. The representation for an ion is to show the symbol for the atom, with its overall charge in a superscript on the top right corner.

What were the provisions of the Simon Commission and why did the Indian people oppose it?

The Simon Commission was made up of seven members of the British Parliament who made recommendations about political reform in India. They were sent to India in 1928 and made their recommendations in 1930. The provisions of the report were that the dyarchy (also spelled diarchy) in India, which was the situation by which the government was run by two people, should be abolished. The commission also recommended that separate electorates between Hindus and Muslims...

The Simon Commission was made up of seven members of the British Parliament who made recommendations about political reform in India. They were sent to India in 1928 and made their recommendations in 1930. The provisions of the report were that the dyarchy (also spelled diarchy) in India, which was the situation by which the government was run by two people, should be abolished. The commission also recommended that separate electorates between Hindus and Muslims remain in place until there were better relations between the two communities. Finally, the commission suggested that India be given dominion status with self-government for its internal affairs. Indian people opposed the commission because it contained no Indian members; they thought it was a violation of the principle of self-determination for British people to decide their form of government. The Indian National Congress decided to boycott the commission, as did part of the Muslim League. 

What has happened to the previous receiver who was selected in The Giver?

The Receiver who came before Jonas made a request for release that was granted.

Ironically, the previous Receiver was the Giver's own daughter, Rosemary, whom he loved; he lost her ten years ago. At first, she was very enthusiastic about her new role, and he gave her weeks of happy memories, memories that made her laugh in delight. But, she knew that she would have to have difficult memories; it was her responsibility. So, although the...

The Receiver who came before Jonas made a request for release that was granted.

Ironically, the previous Receiver was the Giver's own daughter, Rosemary, whom he loved; he lost her ten years ago. At first, she was very enthusiastic about her new role, and he gave her weeks of happy memories, memories that made her laugh in delight. But, she knew that she would have to have difficult memories; it was her responsibility. So, although the Giver did not impose physical pain upon her, he did give her loss and loneliness as he transferred the memory of a child who is taken from his parents. "She appeared stunned by this one,"the Giver tells Jonas.

The Giver continues, "I backed off, gave her more little delights. But, everything changed, once she knew about pain. I could see it in her eyes."

Still, she insisted that the Giver not spare her; she said it was her duty, and she was right. Nevertheless, the Giver could not bring himself to give her physical pain. But he gave her many types of anguish, such as poverty, hunger, and loneliness. 
Finally, one afternoon, they finished for the day. The Giver tried to end positively by giving Rosemary something cheerful and happy. "But the times of laughter were gone by then," he tells Jonas. Rosemary stood up, came to the Giver, and kissed his cheek. Later, the Giver learned that she was released.

Does the speaker seem happy with his choice in "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost?

The speaker's statement that he will talk about his choice "with a sigh/Somewhere ages and ages hence" seems to indicate that he is dissatisfied with his choice of paths.

The poet Robert Frost's Pulitzer Prize‐winning biographer, Lawrance Thompson, quotes Frost as not approving of romantic "sighing over what may have been." By Frost's own admission, the poem was written as a playful mockery of Edward Thomas's seriousness in having such anxiety about which trail to...

The speaker's statement that he will talk about his choice "with a sigh/Somewhere ages and ages hence" seems to indicate that he is dissatisfied with his choice of paths.

The poet Robert Frost's Pulitzer Prize‐winning biographer, Lawrance Thompson, quotes Frost as not approving of romantic "sighing over what may have been." By Frost's own admission, the poem was written as a playful mockery of Edward Thomas's seriousness in having such anxiety about which trail to take for a simple walk. Thomas, a friend and fellow poet of Frost's, often worried that whichever trail they did not choose might have had more flora and fauna that he and Frost could have enjoyed.

On the other hand, the final stanza seems to suggest something greater than a mere walk in the woods:

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The speaker appears to harbor deep regret about some type of lost opportunity. He is certain that he will retell his story "ages and ages hence," for it is more often remorse than anything else that motivates a person to go back over things in his life. As Robert Marquand writes, there is "a persistent undercurrent of spiritual questioning in Frost":

The poems, in a gentle way, are about the most serious issues of life and death; the poet has an interest in things divine. He is too much a New Englander, a Yankee, and a human to announce this flatly. Not announcing it, in fact, is where his art lies.

How does the reader's opinion of the people of Lilliput change in Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift?

It can be hard to define a reader’s “attitude” toward a character or characters. Attitudes are subject to all sorts of influences, some contained in the text, others caused by real life circumstances and experiences, other texts one might be familiar with, and so forth.

For Swift, part of the satire of Gulliver’s situation with the Lilliputians comes from the ironic reversal of social power dynamics: Gulliver is much more powerful than all the Lilliputians...

It can be hard to define a reader’s “attitude” toward a character or characters. Attitudes are subject to all sorts of influences, some contained in the text, others caused by real life circumstances and experiences, other texts one might be familiar with, and so forth.

For Swift, part of the satire of Gulliver’s situation with the Lilliputians comes from the ironic reversal of social power dynamics: Gulliver is much more powerful than all the Lilliputians combined, but nevertheless he is made to serve the ruling Lilliputian class. At first, Gulliver thinks this is a point of honor, and serves them willingly and is hailed as a hero; however, as things turn out, the Lilliputians ultimately condemn Gulliver for a breach of etiquette. The Lilliputians turn out to be not any better than the aristocrats of Europe.

For the reader, there is a predisposition to want to trust the tiny Lilliputians. Although they bind him and shoot him with arrows at first, they also reward Gulliver’s mild behavior with food and drink, housing and clothing, and teach him their language. Gulliver becomes a great favorite at court and earns his liberty. But the longer Gulliver is in Lilliput, the more he learns about the politics of the place, which have to strike the reader as ridiculous. Far from being superior to European rulers, the Lilliputians are subject to the same petty prejudices (like which is the best side of an egg to break) and have the same lust for power. Gulliver’s ultimate condemnation (for “polluting the palace” by urinating when in fact he was extinguishing a dangerous fire) underlines their lack of gratitude and hypocrisy.

What are great books for a 10th grader to read?

It depends to a large extent on the student. Students have a wide range of interests and of reading skills. Students often enjoy stories featuring people of their own age, and thus Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, or The Catcher in the Rye are often included on reading lists.

Students interested in science can enjoy H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, and works such as 1984 or Brave New World....

It depends to a large extent on the student. Students have a wide range of interests and of reading skills. Students often enjoy stories featuring people of their own age, and thus Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, or The Catcher in the Rye are often included on reading lists.

Students interested in science can enjoy H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, and works such as 1984 or Brave New World. For students in the United States, reading works set in other cultures such as the Arabian Nights, Things Fall Apart, or even the travel and animal-collecting stories of Gerald Durrell can open up new worlds. Traditional epics, such as the Homeric poems and Beowulf, seem also to be popular, though they work best for the more advanced readers in this age group. Many collections of myth, legends, and fairy tales can also be of interest; the Norse sagas will appeal to those students who have enjoyed recent movies and comics based on them. Shorter fables and fairy tales might work well for less advanced students.

History books, especially local histories or stories of Native American culture, can also spark interesting discussions.

A plastic ball and a metal ball of similar shape and size are dropped. The metal ball has a greater mass. Why does the plastic ball reach a...

As a metal ball of greater mass is dropped at the same time as a plastic ball of less mass, the only acceleration that initially acts on both balls is the acceleration caused by gravitational force of the Earth on both balls; this acceleration, g, is a constant of approximately 9.81 meters per second squared. In "free fall" where there is no air resistance, both balls would land on the ground at the exact same time because the only acceleration acting on both balls would be g, ensuring that both balls would have the same velocity at any given point in time during their fall.

However, when air resistance is considered, it's a whole different story. When an object falls, it gets faster and faster, and as it goes down, it encounters the upward force of air resistance. This air resistance is caused by the object falling and pushing against the air itself on its way down, and colliding with air molecules which push back up on the object falling. As the object gains speed, it encounters a greater air resistance force.

As both balls fall, the ball of greater mass experiences a greater downward force of gravity, as Force = mass * acceleration (F=ma). As both balls have the same acceleration g, the ball with more mass, the metal one, will have a greater force F. Now, as both balls fall, they experience the same upward force of air resistance. Yet because the plastic ball has a smaller downward gravitational force, eventually the upward air resistance force will equal the downward gravitational force on the ball. These two forces will cancel out, resulting in zero net external force on the plastic ball, causing it to stop accelerating and reach a constant velocity, also called the terminal velocity. Meanwhile, the metal ball of greater mass has a greater downward force, and as it falls, the air resistance force never gets large enough to equal the downward force, hence there is always a net force downward on the metal ball, causing it to keep accelerating and not reach a constant terminal velocity.

` `

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, what does Macbeth do after he murders Duncan?

Macbeth goes into the courtyard where Lady Macbeth is waiting after killing King Duncan.  Lady Macbeth is surprised because he is flustered from the deed and he is still holding the daggers. 

Lady Macbeth is in the courtyard waiting for her husband to kill King Duncan according to their plan, so that he can become king instead.  She is fretting a bit.  She comments about the fact that she made the plan and laid everything...

Macbeth goes into the courtyard where Lady Macbeth is waiting after killing King Duncan.  Lady Macbeth is surprised because he is flustered from the deed and he is still holding the daggers. 

Lady Macbeth is in the courtyard waiting for her husband to kill King Duncan according to their plan, so that he can become king instead.  She is fretting a bit.  She comments about the fact that she made the plan and laid everything out so that he couldn’t possibly mess up.  She couldn’t do it herself, though.  Duncan looked too much like her father. 

LADY MACBETH

Alack, I am afraid they have awaked,
And 'tis not done. The attempt and not the deed
Confounds us. Hark! I laid their daggers ready;
He could not miss 'em. Had he not resembled
My father as he slept, I had done't.

Enter MACBETH

My husband!

MACBETH

I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise? (Act 2, Scene 2) 

Macbeth is all upset because he thought he heard one of the sleeping grooms talking about murder and using his name.  He did manage to kill Duncan and the grooms, but he is flustered and confused.  

She notices that Macbeth took the daggers from Duncan’s chambers instead of leaving them there to frame the grooms.  Upset when she sees Macbeth come back with the daggers, Lady Macbeth chides her husband for not following the plan. 

Why did you bring these daggers from the place?
They must lie there: go carry them; and smear
The sleepy grooms with blood.(Act 2, Scene 2)

Lady Macbeth is annoyed that her husband didn't follow their plan to frame the grooms. She takes the daggers and tells him to wash his hands.  Later, Lady Macbeth will be just as haunted by this deed and the blood on her hands.

A shop sells matching hats and scarves. The scarves cost 1.5 times as much as the hats. Write two patterns that could represent the costs of 1, 2,...

Hello!

It is not that clear whether you need costs of hats and scarves separated or combined. Let's make all.

We don't know the price of a hat, and should imagine it. Let it be $10. Then one scarf will cost 1.5*$10=$15, and a pair will cost $10+$15=$25. The prices for several items will be as follows:

Number of pairs   Cost of hats   Cost of scarves   Cost of pairs1    ...

Hello!

It is not that clear whether you need costs of hats and scarves separated or combined. Let's make all.

We don't know the price of a hat, and should imagine it. Let it be $10. Then one scarf will cost 1.5*$10=$15, and a pair will cost $10+$15=$25. The prices for several items will be as follows:

Number of pairs   Cost of hats   Cost of scarves   Cost of pairs
1                          10                15                      25
2                          20                30                      50
3                          30                45                      75
4                          40                60                     100
5                          50                75                     125

The cost of several hats follows the rule "add 10", of scarves "add 15" and of pairs "add 25" (all that numbers are not surprising and coincide with the prices of one item). Therefore to find the cost for the next quantity, 6, we need to follow the same rules:

6 hats      cost    50+10=60($),
6 scarves cost    75+15=90($),
6 pairs     cost  125+25=150($).

Mercantilism was a major economic tool for England. How did England exploit this commercial policy and how did the North American colonies react to...

The economic doctrine of mercantilism encouraged England to use the American colonies as a source of national wealth. Generally, the way to do this was to maintain a positive trade balance with the colonies. Among such sixteenth-century promoters of empire as the Hakluyts, Humphrey Gilbert, and Walter Raleigh, this was a motive driving the establishment of colonies in the first place. After the establishment of colonies in the Americas, England sought to maintain a general...

The economic doctrine of mercantilism encouraged England to use the American colonies as a source of national wealth. Generally, the way to do this was to maintain a positive trade balance with the colonies. Among such sixteenth-century promoters of empire as the Hakluyts, Humphrey Gilbert, and Walter Raleigh, this was a motive driving the establishment of colonies in the first place. After the establishment of colonies in the Americas, England sought to maintain a general arrangement wherein the colonies produced raw materials and cash crops and served as markets for finished goods from the home country. By the mid-seventeenth century, this arrangement was seriously threatened by the emergence of the Dutch as a powerful merchant nation, and the English attempted to counter their influence by passing what were known as "Navigation Acts." Broadly speaking, these laws forbade colonial merchants from shipping goods on anything by English ships. They proved very difficult to enforce, however, and for decades, the colonists flourished under a policy that Parliamentarian Edmund Burke would later call "salutary neglect." Even though mercantilist laws were largely winked at, the colonies, especially the sugar colonies of the Caribbean, remained very profitable for British merchants. This arrangement began to change in the mid-eighteenth century, especially after the Seven Years War, known as the French and Indian War in the colonies. A series of laws, beginning with the Sugar Act, sought to impose tighter regulations on colonial trade. The imposition of new taxes like the Stamp Act is best understood as part of this process, which was intended in part to recoup some of the expenses of the war. The colonists claimed that these acts were antithetical to their liberties, touching off an imperial crisis that culminated in the Revolutionary War and American independence.

Why did Theodore Taylor dedicate The Cay to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?

While a central conflict of The Cayis a man vs. nature struggle for survival, the book also has an emphasis on racial conflicts.  Phillip has been raised to believe that his white skin makes him superior to people of different colors.  Throughout the book, Phillip learns that his parents are wrong.  He learns that Timothy is absolutely not an inferior human being.  Phillip learns that Timothy is an equal.  Phillip's blindness is most definitely...

While a central conflict of The Cay is a man vs. nature struggle for survival, the book also has an emphasis on racial conflicts.  Phillip has been raised to believe that his white skin makes him superior to people of different colors.  Throughout the book, Phillip learns that his parents are wrong.  He learns that Timothy is absolutely not an inferior human being.  Phillip learns that Timothy is an equal.  Phillip's blindness is most definitely a literal plot device, but it is also a metaphorical device too.  Phillip becomes blind to Timothy's skin color.  It simply doesn't matter, and the two characters are able to sit down with each other in mutual respect.  

Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech displays the same kind of vision for race relations.  

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."

The Cay, through the characters of Phillip and Timothy, echoes Dr. King's speech.  That is why I think Taylor dedicated it to Dr. King.  

Can there be any other title for the Story of My Life by Helen Keller?

I believe that the question is asking if it is possible that there could be an alternative title to Helen Keller's autobiography The Story of My Life.

Yes, there could be alternative titles.  

I'm sure Helen Keller thought of multiple titles before choosing the final title.  

Helen Keller did not have an easy life because of her multiple disabilities, but she overcame a great deal.  A possible title could have been My Struggle....

I believe that the question is asking if it is possible that there could be an alternative title to Helen Keller's autobiography The Story of My Life.

Yes, there could be alternative titles.  

I'm sure Helen Keller thought of multiple titles before choosing the final title.  

Helen Keller did not have an easy life because of her multiple disabilities, but she overcame a great deal.  A possible title could have been My Struggle. Perhaps then Hitler would have been forced to rethink his autobiography's title.  

Since Helen Keller used "my" in the title, it appears that she wanted the title to focus on herself.  Perhaps How I See the World would have worked for a title.  Or How I See Things would work, but it is very similar to the previous title.  

The alternative title could remove the "I," "me," or "my" from the title and go for something mysterious and catchy.  I had a student suggest Through Darkness and Silence as a possible title.  I like that title a lot, but it does make me think of submarine warfare.  The story of Louis Zamperini, written by Laura Hillenbrand, went with a one word title -- Unbroken.  The title captures the unbreakable spirit of the man.  An alternative title to Helen Keller's book could do the same one word idea.  I like Perseverance as a possible title.   

What quotes from The Giver show that the Elders have power?

In The Giver (Lowry), it is often just implicit that the Elders have all the power, but there are some quotes that do make it explicit. I'll provide a few. 

In the scene in Chapter 6 in which Jonas is anxiously awaiting his assignment for the Ceremony of Twelve, how Jonas' parents were matched is explained this way: 

Even the Matching of Spouses was given such weighty consideration that sometimes an adult who applied to...

In The Giver (Lowry), it is often just implicit that the Elders have all the power, but there are some quotes that do make it explicit. I'll provide a few. 

In the scene in Chapter 6 in which Jonas is anxiously awaiting his assignment for the Ceremony of Twelve, how Jonas' parents were matched is explained this way: 

Even the Matching of Spouses was given such weighty consideration that sometimes an adult who applied to receive a spouse waited months or even years before a Match was approved of and announced (48).

So, we know that people cannot be married without the approval of the Elders. Furthermore, who has children and which children they get is controlled by the Elders, as we are told in this passage about Jonas' getting Jonas and Lily to raise:

Their match, which like all other Matches had been monitored by the Committee of Elders for three years before they could apply for children, had always been a successful one (48).

In addition to deciding who can wed and whether or not people can raise children, the Elders decide what everyone's job is going to be, which is what Jonas is waiting to hear at the Ceremony of Twelve, and we learn that the "initial speech...was made by the Chief Elder" (51). In that speech, she explicitly states it it is the Elders who have made the assignment decisions, "paying tribute to the hard work of her committee, which had performed the observations so meticulously all year" (52).

While we do not know right away about the Elders, it becomes clear very quickly in the story that there is someone or some ones making all of the rules we read about, and once we learn about the Elders, it starts to become clear that they are the ones with all the power in the community. Giving up the memories of a community can render a community powerless.

In Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, what does Master Lockton have hidden in his wife's linen chest?

Master Lockton has money hidden in Madam Lockton's linen chest.  

The money that Master Lockton has hidden in his wife's linen chest is money that he and the other conspirators plan to use in order to bribe Patriot soldiers.  Lockton plans to offer members of the Patriot army money and the promise of land if those soldiers agree to fight for the British army.  

Isabel learns about the money and the plan in...

Master Lockton has money hidden in Madam Lockton's linen chest.  

The money that Master Lockton has hidden in his wife's linen chest is money that he and the other conspirators plan to use in order to bribe Patriot soldiers.  Lockton plans to offer members of the Patriot army money and the promise of land if those soldiers agree to fight for the British army.  

Isabel learns about the money and the plan in chapter nine.  She is about to enter the room where Lockton and his friends are meeting, and she overhears a comment about money.  Isabel then peers through a crack in the door, and she sees Lockton pull out fistfuls of money from the linen chest.  She then hears Lockton explain the specifics of the bribe and how the money will be distributed by two men working out of different taverns.   

"Every man willing to switch sides is to be paid five guineas and two hundred acres of land. If he have a wife, an additional hundred acres. Each child of his blood garners another fifty."

What are some specific examples of deception in Othello that are not said by Iago?

There are certainly some instances of deception that are not perpetuated by Iago.

In Act III, Scene 4, Desdemona has lost her handkerchief and wonders aloud about its whereabouts. Emilia says she doesn't know where Desdemona's handkerchief could be. This is an act of deception on Emilia's part; she was the one who picked up Desdemona's handkerchief when Othello let it drop in Act III, Scene 3. After picking up Desdemona's handkerchief, Emilia takes it...

There are certainly some instances of deception that are not perpetuated by Iago.

In Act III, Scene 4, Desdemona has lost her handkerchief and wonders aloud about its whereabouts. Emilia says she doesn't know where Desdemona's handkerchief could be. This is an act of deception on Emilia's part; she was the one who picked up Desdemona's handkerchief when Othello let it drop in Act III, Scene 3. After picking up Desdemona's handkerchief, Emilia takes it to Iago, who proceeds to plant it in Cassio's room. Iago's plan was to use Desdemona's handkerchief to frame Cassio.

Later, when Othello meets Desdemona and asks her to lend him her handkerchief, Desdemona tries to deceive him. First, she hands him a different handkerchief than the one for which he asks. When Othello notes she handed him the wrong handkerchief, Desdemona says she doesn't have his special handkerchief on her person. Othello isn't pleased to hear this, and he tells Desdemona the handkerchief is actually imbued with a special kind of magic, so it's important she never loses it.

Othello contends that the handkerchief was a gift from a witch to his mother and was the means by which his mother held the love of his father. So, he warns Desdemona to keep close tabs on the handkerchief. The implication is that, as long as she has that handkerchief, Othello will always love her. Upon hearing this, Desdemona becomes visibly agitated (she knows she misplaced the handkerchief and can't produce it), and this causes Othello to suspect she lost the handkerchief. The couple gets into a heated quarrel.

Desdemona tries to argue that the handkerchief is not lost, a deception on her part. Then, after continued demands from Othello, she tries to draw his attention away by speaking up on Cassio's behalf. This actually makes things worse for her, but poor Desdemona has no way of knowing this. Meanwhile, with each deflection by Desdemona, Othello becomes more and more convinced his wife is hiding an affair with Cassio, and he storms out in frustration. Now, Desdemona deceives Othello because she doesn't want to hurt his feelings. Ironically, her kind heart (which also leads her to speak up on behalf of Cassio) paves the path to her destruction.

Hope this helps!

How are the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and excretory systems interdependent?

Interdependency is when several things are reliant upon each other to function. For example, in a car, the engine and battery are interdependent; as the motor charges the battery, the battery sparks the engine.

In the human body, the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and excretory systems are interdependent. The respiratory system provides necessary oxygen to the rest of the systems that they cannot get on their own. This keeps the cells alive. The circulatory system is...

Interdependency is when several things are reliant upon each other to function. For example, in a car, the engine and battery are interdependent; as the motor charges the battery, the battery sparks the engine.

In the human body, the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and excretory systems are interdependent. The respiratory system provides necessary oxygen to the rest of the systems that they cannot get on their own. This keeps the cells alive. The circulatory system is needed to transport nutrients from the digestive system and respiratory system about the rest of the body, but without the nutrients, the heart could not beat. The digestive system absorbs sugars and nutrients, breaking them down for the body to use, but can only get oxygen from the circulatory system. All of these systems produce waste products, and the remaining system, the excretory system, processes and removes these toxins and wastes. This prevents other systems from breaking down due to poisons.

None of these systems can function alone, and if they could, you might expect them to leave the body on their own!

How could I write a extended response to the statement that "Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet explores issues and themes that continue to...

One way to begin to respond to this statement would be to figure out what issues and themes Shakespeare addresses in the play; then, you can assess which of them are still relevant in today's world.  For example, Shakespeare addresses the theme of youthful rebellion with Romeo and Juliet's relationship.  The lovers know that their dalliance would likely be frowned upon by their feuding families, and rather than compel them to abandon their feelings, the...

One way to begin to respond to this statement would be to figure out what issues and themes Shakespeare addresses in the play; then, you can assess which of them are still relevant in today's world.  For example, Shakespeare addresses the theme of youthful rebellion with Romeo and Juliet's relationship.  The lovers know that their dalliance would likely be frowned upon by their feuding families, and rather than compel them to abandon their feelings, the idea that such a relationship would be forbidden seems only to add fuel to their passionate fire.  In the garden, Juliet tells Romeo that her family would kill him if they found him there, but he promises that he would rather die by their hands than live a long life without her love.  This is one way in which he shows his devotion to her.  They defy their families when they choose each other.  The idea that teenagers are rebellious is common today as well.  In fact, we now know that it is developmentally appropriate for adolescents to break rules, test boundaries, and defy their parents.  Most children rebel against their parents on some level, and it is as common now as it was then.

However, a theme such as family honor may not be so well known to us.  No one ever says why the Montagues and Capulets feud, but, in the play, the only thing they seem to fight over is family honor: in the first scene, when Tybalt gets angry that Romeo has come to the Capulets' party, etc.  The idea of one's family honor being so terribly important is less common to us today: we don't usually see people getting into deadly fights over a slight to their family honor.  "Yo momma" jokes are even considered a form of wit!

At any rate, try to brainstorm a list of all the issues and themes that Shakespeare takes on in the play and then work through your list to figure out which ones still seem relevant.  Then, you can explore each one (as I've begun to do, above, with rebellion and family honor) and ascertain whether or not it is still of interest to us today.  If it is, describe how, and perhaps provide some examples. 

What does “I came to the conclusion that people were just peculiar, I withdrew from them, and never thought about them until I was forced to"...

With the controversial Tom Robinson trial over, Scout tries to settle back into everyday life. She starts the third grade. Scout walks by the Radley house each day, hoping to catch a glimpse of Boo.

Despite the normalcy in life, Scout feels "the events of the summer [hang] over [them] like smoke in a closed room" (To Kill a Mockingbird, chapter 26). She senses people in Maycomb still disapprove of Atticus for defending...

With the controversial Tom Robinson trial over, Scout tries to settle back into everyday life. She starts the third grade. Scout walks by the Radley house each day, hoping to catch a glimpse of Boo.

Despite the normalcy in life, Scout feels "the events of the summer [hang] over [them] like smoke in a closed room" (To Kill a Mockingbird, chapter 26). She senses people in Maycomb still disapprove of Atticus for defending Tom Robinson. She senses her peers are being polite to her and Jem because their parents order them to do so. She feels like parents pity Jem and her because they cannot help who their father is. They cannot help their father defended a black man against a white woman.

There is much disapproval in the town toward Atticus, but the citizens still re-elect him to serve in the state legislature. Scout finds this strange. People are suspicious of Atticus for defending Tom Robinson, but they trust still him to help pass laws for the state. She reflects on this:

I came to the conclusion that people were just peculiar, I withdrew from them, and never thought about them until I was forced to.

Scout does not understand why people do and say certain things. For example, her teacher strongly dislikes Hitler and his treatment of Jews, but is openly prejudiced against the black people in Maycomb. Scout observes hypocrisy, and she distances herself from it. It confuses her, and she chooses not to think about it unless necessary.

Why does the Catholic Church oppose capital punishment?

Followers of Catholicism support something called the "culture of life," a component of moral theology which values all human life at all stages, and attempts to fight what they perceive as destructive components of the "culture of death": euthanasia, unjust war, the use of embryonic stem cells for research, abortion, etc.

One of the key components of the "culture of death" that is opposed by Catholicism is the practice of capital punishment, otherwise known...

Followers of Catholicism support something called the "culture of life," a component of moral theology which values all human life at all stages, and attempts to fight what they perceive as destructive components of the "culture of death": euthanasia, unjust war, the use of embryonic stem cells for research, abortion, etc.

One of the key components of the "culture of death" that is opposed by Catholicism is the practice of capital punishment, otherwise known as the death penalty. This opposition stems from keys Catholic principles, best summarized by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB):

A principled Catholic response to crime and punishment is rooted in our convictions about good and evil, sin and redemption, justice and mercy. It is also shaped by our commitment to the life and dignity of every human person, and the common good. The opening chapter of the Book of Genesis teach that every life is a precious gift from God (see Genesis 2:7, 21-23). This gift must be respected and protected.

Thus, to take a life--even the life of someone who has committed a crime--is in itself a sin and a show of blatant disrespect for the gift of life. It violates the concept of dignity as an inherent component of life, rather than as something that is earned or lost. The USCCB asserts that the "closure" offered by the use of capital punishment is an illusion that ultimately does not heal the wounds of those victimized by the perpetrated crime. In other words, taking one life does provide "justice" or resolve a previous loss of life; "an eye for an eye" does not fix anything, nor does it prevent future crimes or losses of life as a result of those crimes. 

If you are interested in learning more about the Catholic Church's stance on capital punishment, an enormous amount of information is outlined on the USCCB's website. Please refer to the link below! 

Why does Susan Choi tell the story of this bombing through Lee? What's so important about him? What is this novel ultimately about? Does it tell...

It is possible that Susan Choi tells the story through Lee in order to illustrate the incalculable damage innocent civilians suffer when they are suspected of grave acts of terrorism. Choi's spotlight on Lee allows us to imagine what we will do in the instance we are presumed guilty on the basis of surface, circumstantial evidence alone and not on the truth of the matter.

If anything, the novel illustrates the true collateral damage of terrorism; in the midst of terror, the guilty and the innocent are caught up in a spiraling cycle of death and destruction, seemingly without recourse to true justice.

Briefly, Lee is a professor of computer studies at a third-rate university. He is languishing in his tenured position and unhappy with his life. Having endured two divorces, Lee is the quintessential loner who finds himself alienated from campus culture and the modern existence. Meanwhile, his colleague, Rick Hendley, is a well-liked and popular professor, a genius to his starry-eyed students. Rick, of course, irritates Lee terribly.

When Rick is killed by a mysterious bomb in his office, Lee is initially relieved that he's not the victim. His relief is short-lived when he discovers, however, that he's now a "person of interest" in the investigation. Susan Choi skilfully portrays the anger, frustration, and emotional pain an innocent man suffers when he's convicted in the court of public opinion even before he's had his day in court. The harvest of terrorism is frighteningly inclusive: the victims themselves, their loved ones, and innocent bystanders are all enmeshed in a nightmare drama of horror and death, from which there seems to be no return.

The portrayal of Lee is so important because through him, Choi paints the picture of every-man. Lee isn't perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. He is jealous, self-absorbed, and often callous in his judgments of people. His first marriage began as the result of an affair with a colleague's wife. When his first wife, Aileen, lost custody of her son, Lee was secretly happy that he wouldn't have to have another man's son around. Lee's very human nature reminds us that anyone can be embroiled in a nightmarish situation beyond his ugliest dreams. The story compels us to think about what we would do if we were in Lee's situation.
It's a question worth considering as we ponder the dangers of our time.

For a great summary of the novel, please refer to the link below.

What were the reasons why Filipinos hated Spaniards?

I am sure that during the colonial period that Spain was in the Philippines, which spanned three centuries, many Filipinos actually liked the Spanish, as the Spanish created an upper class of Filipinos who assisted the colonizers with ruling the islands.  However, this was not the case most of the time.  The Moros did not like the Spanish as they were Islamic and fought the Catholic Spanish.  Spain was unable to rule the island effectively...

I am sure that during the colonial period that Spain was in the Philippines, which spanned three centuries, many Filipinos actually liked the Spanish, as the Spanish created an upper class of Filipinos who assisted the colonizers with ruling the islands.  However, this was not the case most of the time.  The Moros did not like the Spanish as they were Islamic and fought the Catholic Spanish.  Spain was unable to rule the island effectively due to the distance between the islands and Spain.  The encomidena system made many Filipinos into cheap laborers and the church gained more power at the expense of the Filipino people.  In the late 1800s, more Filipinos were able to study abroad in Europe and they brought back ideas of self-rule. One of the early fathers of the Filipino resistance movement was Jose Rizal, who was executed for treason in 1896.  More Filipinos chafed at the idea of not being in charge of their own country, and this led to open warfare between the Filipinos and Spanish before 1898.  

What is the difference between British and American Romanticism?

The differences between English Romanticism and American Romanticism are largely due to the national context in which these works were written. England had been a country for over a thousand years by the time its Romantic movement started in the late 18th century. The English people had a long national history and had been a powerful force militarily and culturally for several hundred years. This history, along with the often negative social effects of the scientific and industrial revolutions, sparked a change in their artistic focus. Poets like William Blake, William Wordsworth, and Samuel Coleridge had tired of the rationalistic, scientifically motivated writing of the Enlightenment, and wanted to probe the emotional lives of common people, as well as marvel at the mysteries of nature in terms of its beauty, rather than its physical laws. Poems like Blake's “Chimney Sweeper” and Wordsworth's “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways” looked at how life treated ordinary people, and sometimes it was not a happy thing to see. Shelley's “Ozymandias” questioned England's imperialistic, empire building foreign policy. Coleridge's poetry, particularly Rime of the Ancient Mariner, presented a supernatural vision.

In America, things were different. The country was young, having been colonized and settled less than two centuries before Europe's Romantic Era began. Unlike England, America had no long, well-established cultural history to shape its literature—so America tended to follow what it read from Europe. So why did its Romantic period evolve differently? If America didn't have a lot of history, what did it have a lot of? In 1800 America still had only 16 states and less than six million people (almost a million of which were slaves)--so most of America was undeveloped and unsettled. What America had in abundance was territory, an almost mythological frontier that seemed to stretch out infinitely. America also had more of something than almost any other country in the history of civilization—freedom (although obviously not for those million slaves—theirs would come as the Romantic Era was giving way to the next movement, Realism).

So, as a result of this frontier and freedom, American Romanticism went down a somewhat different literary path. Writers like James Fenimore Cooper wrote about exploration and the beauty of the continent. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau helped begin an intellectual movement called Transcendentalism, that espoused the idea that every man was imprinted with the keys to the universe in his own being—you didn't need a scientist to explain life to you, it was there already, provided by your maker, in your own soul. This idea reflected the freedom Americans felt to be their own people.

Of course, Americans also enjoyed the titillating thrill of a good romantic horror story, and Edgar Allan Poe's work echoed Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but with an important difference. Shelley's Victor Frankenstein had good intentions as he created his disaster—but Poe's characters, perhaps reflecting the darker side of personal freedom, got themselves into trouble in other, less altruistic ways.

That's a lot, isn't it? Break it down to this: Romanticism's development in England was largely influenced by its national history and industrial/cultural/military might. In America, Romanticism was shaped by the frontier and personal freedom.

According to the narrator, how did Laurie change when he started kindergarten in the story "Charles" by Shirley Jackson?

When Shirley Jackson's "Charles" begins, the narrator's son Laurie is "my sweet-voiced nursery-school tot" (Jackson 1).  Even as he turns the corner on his way to school, he begins his transformation to a "swaggering character" (1).  From a sweet and compliant child, he morphs into a noisy and rude character who slams the door, speaks to his father "insolently" (1) and loses his ability to speak proper English, now saying "I didn't learn nothing" (1).

...

When Shirley Jackson's "Charles" begins, the narrator's son Laurie is "my sweet-voiced nursery-school tot" (Jackson 1).  Even as he turns the corner on his way to school, he begins his transformation to a "swaggering character" (1).  From a sweet and compliant child, he morphs into a noisy and rude character who slams the door, speaks to his father "insolently" (1) and loses his ability to speak proper English, now saying "I didn't learn nothing" (1).

Laurie begins to come home with stories of Charles, a classmate he says gets in trouble all the time. He has hit the teacher, yells during story time, injures a little girl on the playground, and makes so much noise that he disrupts other classes. After some time passes, Laurie reports Charles has settled down and is rewarded for better behavior. He has a few lapses, and then seems to settle in well. 

After weeks of Laurie reporting on Charles's bad behavior to his parents, his mother, who has missed the parent-teacher conference, attends the PTA meeting, hoping to hear about Charles. This is when she learns from Laurie's teacher that there is no Charles in Laurie's class. She also learns Laurie had a difficult time adjusting to school, but seems to be doing better now. 

Laurie's transformation in school is from sweet toddler to his new alter ego, Charles. Charles is the vehicle by which Laurie reports to his parents his own bad behavior, or at the very least, behavior he wished to engage in while in school. Once he acclimates to school, Laurie reports Charles is behaving better, too. School is truly a transformational process, but it is often a bumpy road!

How does Tennessee Williams develop Tom's character in The Glass Menagerie?

Tom's character arc throughout the play is a circular one, since Tom is looking back on a story that has already taken place. Tom cautions the audience that his memory may be faulty, but he will try his best to tell the story as it happened. At the end of the play, we may conclude that Tom is seeking absolution or, at least, forgiveness for his actions, even though leaving his family was an act...

Tom's character arc throughout the play is a circular one, since Tom is looking back on a story that has already taken place. Tom cautions the audience that his memory may be faulty, but he will try his best to tell the story as it happened. At the end of the play, we may conclude that Tom is seeking absolution or, at least, forgiveness for his actions, even though leaving his family was an act of self-preservation.

Within the memory portion of the play, which takes up the bulk of the action, Tom is seeking an escape from his life, and particularly from his mother, Amanda. He finds any excuse to go out late at night, and is on edge whenever he is at home. While Tom knows his mother is right, that Laura's best chance for a normal life is through marriage, they also both seem to acknowledge that Laura will never marry.

Tom is petulant with his mother, but consistently kind to his sister. By the end of the memory, it is clear that Tom must leave his family if he is to make anything of the life he has remaining. However, through Tom's final narration, it's clear he has always wondered if he did the right thing, as he knows Laura's life was filled with suffering because he left.