In "The Devil's Highway" by Luis Urrea, how and why do you think Urrea describes illegal immigration as "a game"?

In any game, there are always two opposing sides; this is certainly the case in the area of illegal immigration.

In the book, Urrea discusses how the Border Patrol agents (La Migra) often find themselves at odds with the Coyotes (human smugglers) who facilitate the migration of illegals across the Mexican-United States border. Urrea characterizes the conflict between the Border Patrol agents and the Coyotes as a game.

While the Coyotes aim to guide their charges across the border unseen, the Border Patrol agents are paid to "see the invisible." In this daily game of cat-and-mouse, Urrea tells us that the Coyotes "score" when they successfully guide their clients across the border. On the other hand, the Border Patrol agents get to "score" when they manage to stop the Coyotes on any given day. In this dangerous "game," there is a formidable referee, and it is La Muerte (Death). Urrea describes Death as a "masked invader who regularly storms the field to disrupt the game."

With two opposing sides and a referee of sorts, illegal immigration is a game of wits at best and a vicious game of survival at worst. Both sides (as in any game) depend on trusted strategies to win the conflict. The Coyotes and their charges tape blocks of foam rubber to their shoes so as to leave no prints. They also utilize what they call the "brushout." This is when the last man in any group walks backwards and uses a branch to wipe away the footprints of those who've gone before him.

Meanwhile, the Border Patrol relies on in-ground sensors buried in places known only to agents. The agents "cut" the land (checking the sensors) in search of illegal immigrants who've lost their way; so, these agents are the "cutters" in search of "walkers" (the illegals). In their line of work, cutters know that illegal immigrants often cross the Mexican-United States border between the hours of 11pm and 3am. Thus, they scrutinize the tracks left by the migrants as they track them across the border.

Often, the agents rely on signs left by small animals that trample over the footprints just before dawn. The animals make what are known as "bug-signs." If the bug-signs cross over the footprints, Border Patrol agents know that migrants crossed nearer to midnight than to dawn. On the other hand, if the footprints appear to crush out the bug-signs, agents know that migrants may have recently crossed and are probably nearby. If so, with a new day beginning, these migrants will be in trouble once the blazing sun powers its merciless rays against their backs.

Most of time, by using the in-ground sensors, the agents are able to corral the walkers into a tight area, where they can then apprehend them. At other times, as with the Yuma 14 who perished in the desert, walkers can unwittingly wander way "off the map," where La Muerte eventually claims them for his own. So, from Urrea's point of view, illegal immigration often results in a perilous game of life and death.

What does the term "American Dream" mean, and why does Dr Martin Luther King Jr. use this term in his “I Have a Dream” speech?

In the August 23, 1963 speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, "the American Dream" d the opportunity and freedom of every man and woman, regardless of race, color, or creed, to be able to achieve what they are able to do. In addition, this dream implies that no matter what their race, people will be treated equally and be recognized for their achievements.

In his speech Dr. King states that his dream is deeply rooted...

In the August 23, 1963 speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, "the American Dream" d the opportunity and freedom of every man and woman, regardless of race, color, or creed, to be able to achieve what they are able to do. In addition, this dream implies that no matter what their race, people will be treated equally and be recognized for their achievements.

In his speech Dr. King states that his dream is deeply rooted in the American Dream. He hopes that the words of the Declaration of Independence, that "all men are created equal," will come true and that the descendants of former slaves and those of former slave owners will be able to "sit down together at the table of brotherhood." He hopes that there will be equality of races.

With this hope Dr. King extends his dream of racial equality to equality of religion as well. Certainly, his speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the huge crowd during the March on Washington demonstration did go down in history, as he said, as the largest demonstration for freedom in America's history. For, it influenced the Federal government to take direct actions to effect racial equality.

 

Is democracy the form of best government?

In order to answer this question, I must distinguish between a democratic republic and a democracy. Many people use these terms interchangeably when they really are describing a democratic republic. In a democracy, every citizen is involved in making the laws. In a democratic republic, people elect representatives to make the laws for them.

There are several advantages to having a democratic republic form of government. In a democratic republic, people are able to elect...

In order to answer this question, I must distinguish between a democratic republic and a democracy. Many people use these terms interchangeably when they really are describing a democratic republic. In a democracy, every citizen is involved in making the laws. In a democratic republic, people elect representatives to make the laws for them.

There are several advantages to having a democratic republic form of government. In a democratic republic, people are able to elect their leaders. They are able to have a voice in their government by choosing those people who will represent them. In other forms of government, people don’t have as much of a say as to who their leaders will be. Many people have come to the United States to experience the political freedom that we have in our country. They have come from countries where leaders aren’t elected and can do basically whatever they want to do. In a democratic republic, political power remains in the hands of the people who elect their leaders. This allows the people to hold their elected leaders accountable for their words and for their actions. It is fair to say that having a democracy or a democratic republic is the best form of government.

What is the main conflict and resolution in A Single Shard?

A Single Shard is set in a small village in Korea in the 12th century. The story centers around Tree-ear, a young orphan who lives under a bridge with an old man named Crane-man.

There are, in my view, two main conflicts in this story. The first conflict revolves around Tree-ear's desire to learn how to be a potter.

Min is a potter in their area who creates very fine pottery. Often, Tree-ear surreptitiously watches...

A Single Shard is set in a small village in Korea in the 12th century. The story centers around Tree-ear, a young orphan who lives under a bridge with an old man named Crane-man.

There are, in my view, two main conflicts in this story. The first conflict revolves around Tree-ear's desire to learn how to be a potter.

Min is a potter in their area who creates very fine pottery. Often, Tree-ear surreptitiously watches Min at work, and develops a fantasy of learning how to spin clay like Min can. As a homeless orphan, Tree-ear has practically no way to make this dream come true. One day, he enters Min's yard when no one is around to take a surreptitiously take a closer look at the pottery. He accidentally breaks an expensive piece of pottery, and agrees to work for a furious Min to pay off the debt. After he pays off his debt, he begins to work for Min in exchange for food from Min's wife. Tree-ear hopes that Min will teach him how to become a potter, but when he asks him, Min tells him that the craft is only passed down from father to son.

The second conflict occurs when a royal emissary comes to town to find a potter for a royal commission. Min produces good enough work to merit consideration from the emissary over the other potters in town. However, what the emissary really wants to see Min produce is a revolutionary form of inlay that one of the other potters in town had just created (and received a royal commission for). So Min and Tree-ear go to work to produce vases with the new inlay before the emissary leaves the next day. Due to truly bad luck and no one's fault, the vases all misfire in the kiln, ruining the batch. Fortunately, the emissary understands. He tells Min that if he brings a good sample of his work to the capital, he will consider him for a commission. However, Min is too old to go himself. Out of gratitude for the kindness Min and his wife have shown him and Crane-man, Tree-ear offers to go to the capital in his stead with two precious vases.

What occurs on the journey is the second conflict of the book. While traveling, Tree-ear is robbed by two thieves. When they see that he only has two expensive vases that they can't sell without raising suspicion, they are infuriated. In spiteful rage, they break the vases. Can you imagine how crushed Tree-ear felt? After an entire journey, he had nothing left to show for his efforts. With a last shred of hope, he finds a single shard of pottery on the ground that clearly shows the fine inlay. He brings it to to the capital and finds the royal emissary, successfully procuring the commission. The conflict here was partially internal—Tree-ear felt that all hope was lost. What was the point of struggling to reach the capital if his efforts there might not pay off anyway? But he persevered, and achieved what he came to do.

The first conflict I detailed earlier (Tree-ear's desire to learn the pottery trade) is resolved at the end of the book. Tree-ear returns home elated to share the good news with Min. When he finds Min, he is devastated to find out from him that Crane-man died in an accident in Tree-ear's absence. Min offers to adopt him, and teach him how to be a potter. With his feelings a cocktail of loss and hope for the future, Tree-ear joins Min's household as a son.

To what extent can Macbeth be seen a a purely evil character?

Certainly by the end of the play, Macbeth could be said to be a purely evil character, remorseless and cruel. But he is not that way throughout the play. At the beginning, Macbeth is portrayed as an honorable Scottish thane, loyal to his kinsman Duncan, who rewards his loyalty with titles. But he is ambitious, as we see when the witches tell him he will be King of Scotland. Macbeth realizes he has "black desires"...

Certainly by the end of the play, Macbeth could be said to be a purely evil character, remorseless and cruel. But he is not that way throughout the play. At the beginning, Macbeth is portrayed as an honorable Scottish thane, loyal to his kinsman Duncan, who rewards his loyalty with titles. But he is ambitious, as we see when the witches tell him he will be King of Scotland. Macbeth realizes he has "black desires" which he must hide from the world. And he believes that he must commit murder to fulfill these desires, which he does. But it is his wife that serves as a driving force behind the murder of Duncan, planning it, goading Macbeth into carrying it out, and smearing the King's guards with blood to attempt to implicate them in the killing. Macbeth clearly feels guilty about the murder, but it marks a crucial turning point in his development. He plans the murder of Banquo on his own (though he feels remorse for it as well, as his vision of the murdered man's ghost indicates.) Later, when he has Macbeth's family assassinated, he feels no guilt at all. He has become consumed by evil and thoroughly corrupted by power. So it is hard to say that Macbeth is thoroughly evil throughout the play, but he is certainly thoroughly corrupted by the evil deeds he commits, and thoroughly driven by ambition and the machinations of others to do evil deeds.

Explain how genetic information can be stored in a sequence of nitrogenous bases in DNA.

DNA is a large biological chemical which is a polymer found in chromosomes and genes and stores our hereditary information.

A sub-unit of DNA is called a nucleotide which consists of a phosphate group, a five-carbon sugar called deoxyribose and one of four nitrogenous bases. These are called adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine. 

DNA exists as a double-helix which is a double stranded molecule resembling a twisted ladder. Two nucleotides are held together by their...

DNA is a large biological chemical which is a polymer found in chromosomes and genes and stores our hereditary information.

A sub-unit of DNA is called a nucleotide which consists of a phosphate group, a five-carbon sugar called deoxyribose and one of four nitrogenous bases. These are called adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine. 

DNA exists as a double-helix which is a double stranded molecule resembling a twisted ladder. Two nucleotides are held together by their nitrogenous bases in the center by hydrogen bonds. Bases are complementary and pair according to the following rules- adenine pairs to thymine and cytosine to guanine.

DNA can separate into two strands and either can serve as a template for replication into more DNA or can be transcribed into messenger RNA. This nucleic acid can carry the DNA code for a specific gene to a ribosome in the cytoplasm which is a place where protein synthesis can occur. When a protein is made according to the genetic code, this is called gene expression.

When DNA is copied into mRNA, base pair rules apply. There is one exception-RNA lacks the base thymine so the base uracil is substituted.

For example, if the DNA code reads: TAC GGC, the complementary RNA code would be: AUG CCG.

Every three bases of RNA is actually a codon--a triplet which is the code for a particular amino acid to be added to a growing polypeptide chain at the ribosome. The first triplet is AUG which is a start codon and also codes for an amino acid called methionine. As each triplet is translated, and amino acids are added to the growing polypeptide chain with peptide bonds, eventually a stop codon is reached. This can be UAA, UGA or UAG. Now, the polypeptide is released from the ribosome and can fold into a functional protein. 

To summarize, a section of DNA is called a gene. Once DNA is copied into mRNA, the code can be translated into a polypeptide at the ribosome and later fold into a functional protein. This is called gene expression.

What are the historical time periods discussed in Guns, Germs, and Steel?

Jared Diamond discusses many different historical time periods in Guns, Germs, and Steel.  It would be very difficult to list them all.  However, you could say that the time period in which he is most interested is the time period (or periods) when agriculture was being developed and spread in various parts of the world.

In this book, Diamond discusses many time periods.  He talks in Chapter 1 of the time leading up to...

Jared Diamond discusses many different historical time periods in Guns, Germs, and Steel.  It would be very difficult to list them all.  However, you could say that the time period in which he is most interested is the time period (or periods) when agriculture was being developed and spread in various parts of the world.

In this book, Diamond discusses many time periods.  He talks in Chapter 1 of the time leading up to the year 11,000 BC.  In Chapter 2, he talks about a fight that happened in 1835, but he also talks about the peopling of the islands of Polynesia, which took place over a very long period of time, starting around 1200 BC and only being “mostly complete” (as Diamond says on p. 55) by 500 AD.  In Chapter 3, Diamond talks about the Spanish conquest of the Incas in 1532.  The list of time periods that are discussed in this book goes on and on.

However, Diamond is mostly interested in prehistory and, more importantly, the time period before and during the rise of agriculture.  Diamond is trying to explain why Europeans had come to dominate the world by modern times.  He thinks that this happened because people in Eurasia achieved agriculture before other people and because their agricultural societies spread out across their landmass more effectively.  He therefore asks two main questions.  First, he wants to know why Europeans got agriculture before other people did.  This forces him to look at the historical time period before agriculture was developed in the various regions of the world.  Second, he wants to know how agriculture helped Europeans come to dominate the world.  This forces him to look at the historical time period when Europe (and Eurasia more generally) was developing agriculture.  He has to look at how societies changed during this time and how that helped them dominate the world.

Thus, while Diamond talks about all kinds of different historical time periods in Guns, Germs, and Steel, the most important of these periods are 1) the period before agriculture arises and 2) the period as the rise of agriculture leads to the rise of civilization.

In the poem "Dream Variations" by Langston Hughes, why does the idea of whirling and dancing have power? What does it symbolize to Hughes?

In Hughes's poem, he speaks about stretching his arms wide during the day. He writes, "To whirl and to dance / Till the white day is done. / Then rest at cool evening." This is a poem about dreams, and whirling and dancing are powerful ideas in this poem because they express his desire to be free and express himself fully. However, because Hughes is a black man, he does not have the ability to...

In Hughes's poem, he speaks about stretching his arms wide during the day. He writes, "To whirl and to dance / Till the white day is done. / Then rest at cool evening." This is a poem about dreams, and whirling and dancing are powerful ideas in this poem because they express his desire to be free and express himself fully. However, because Hughes is a black man, he does not have the ability to express himself fully during the day or expand his arms wide, literally and figuratively. His days are likely spent working, and he lives in a society that does not always allow him to whirl and dance. When he cries, "Dance! Whirl! Whirl!," he is expressing his dreams rather than reality. These actions symbolize what he feels a black man can't do in America--that is, to act with freedom, creativity, and abandon. 

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, what is Hamlet's complaint in his first soliloquy?

Hamlet gives his first soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 2, and it's here that we learn of his depression, his suicidal tendencies, and (most importantly) his scorn for his mother's decision to remarry. Indeed, Hamlet's complaint within this soliloquy is not only that his mother remarried, but that she chose to remarry so soon after his father's death. Take, for instance, the following lines: "That it should come to this! / But two months dead! Nay,...

Hamlet gives his first soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 2, and it's here that we learn of his depression, his suicidal tendencies, and (most importantly) his scorn for his mother's decision to remarry. Indeed, Hamlet's complaint within this soliloquy is not only that his mother remarried, but that she chose to remarry so soon after his father's death. Take, for instance, the following lines: "That it should come to this! / But two months dead! Nay, not so much, not two" (139-140). Following these lines, Hamlet shifts his attention from his contemplation of suicide and his general displeasure with the state of the world to a more focused complaint against his mother's swift second marriage. The rest of the soliloquy picks apart this fact, as Hamlet condemns his mother for her decision. For instance, Hamlet says, "O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason / Would have mourn'd longer" (153-4), and his decision to compare his mother to a beast shows us just how angry he is. As such, in this soliloquy it's safe to say that Hamlet mainly complains about his mother's decision to remarry and the speed with which she made this decision. 

What are the characters' appearances in chapters 1-4 of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince? What do the appearances reveal about the...

In The Little Prince, author Antoine de Saint-Exupery gives no physical description of the narrator. What we know of the narrator is that he is an adult who works as a pilot. However, we are given a few details about the physical description of the little prince. When the little prince makes his appearance in Chapter 2, the narrator describes him as being a "most extraordinary small person." What is also strange...

In The Little Prince, author Antoine de Saint-Exupery gives no physical description of the narrator. What we know of the narrator is that he is an adult who works as a pilot. However, we are given a few details about the physical description of the little prince.

When the little prince makes his appearance in Chapter 2, the narrator describes him as being a "most extraordinary small person." What is also strange is that the prince appears in the middle of the Sahara Desert, where the narrator has crash-landed, yet does not appear to be afflicted with "fatigue or hunger or thirst or fear."

Yet, in Chapter 4, the narrator explains that detailed physical descriptions mean little to him because they say little about a person; therefore, he stops giving physical descriptions. He especially refuses to give the information the "grown-ups" would ask for such as how old the prince is and how much he weighs. Instead, the narrator only says that the prince was from a tiny planet, called an asteroid, that was barely bigger than the prince was and that the prince "had need of a sheep." The narrator also takes up drawing the little prince.

The reason why he relies on drawing the prince rather than giving physical descriptions of him is because the prince symbolizes the child self, which is connects to one's imagination and deep sensitivity. The narrator regrets that his child self has been oppressed by adult thinking and takes up drawing the prince to finally set his imagination and child self free.

How does Mother feel about Father's promotion in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas?

Bruno came home one day to find the maid packing up his things.  He asked his mother what was happening, and her frustration was evident.  Mother explained to Bruno that his father had received an important promotion.  She seemed pleased with the importance of the new position for her husband.  The family would have to move away to where Father's new job was to be.  Bruno's mother framed the move in a positive away, emphasizing...

Bruno came home one day to find the maid packing up his things.  He asked his mother what was happening, and her frustration was evident.  Mother explained to Bruno that his father had received an important promotion.  She seemed pleased with the importance of the new position for her husband.  The family would have to move away to where Father's new job was to be.  Bruno's mother framed the move in a positive away, emphasizing how the family would be together in their new home.  It was still evident that she did not want to leave her beautiful, large house in Berlin.  Mother did hope that the family would not face the dangers of air raids when they left the big city.  Later, Bruno overheard his parents speaking loudly to one another.  It was implied in the story that they were arguing over the move.

When they arrived at their new home, Bruno expressed to Mother that he thought the move was a bad idea.  Her response revealed more of her feelings about her husband's promotion and the subsequent move:

"We don't have the luxury of thinking... Some people make all the decisions for us" (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Chapter II).

She also told Bruno that he should "make the best of a bad situation."  When Bruno suggested they go back to Berlin, Mother snapped at him.  It became clear by her reaction that she was opposed to leaving Berlin for her husband's promotion.

What are some of Squire Cass's characteristics in Silas Marner?

Squire Cass is the wealthiest man in Raveloe. He is complacent, indolent, slovenly, neglectful of his sons, and short-tempered. The father of Godfrey and Dunstan, he is inconsistent in his treatment of his sons, vacillating between strictness and indulgence.

In Chapter III, Squire Cass is introduced as the "greatest man in Raveloe." But, he does not deserve the title bestowed upon him, although he is a landlord and collects rents. In Chapter IX he comes...

Squire Cass is the wealthiest man in Raveloe. He is complacent, indolent, slovenly, neglectful of his sons, and short-tempered. The father of Godfrey and Dunstan, he is inconsistent in his treatment of his sons, vacillating between strictness and indulgence.

In Chapter III, Squire Cass is introduced as the "greatest man in Raveloe." But, he does not deserve the title bestowed upon him, although he is a landlord and collects rents. In Chapter IX he comes to breakfast at his home called Red House. He is described as

...a tall, stout man of sixty, with a face in which the knit brow and rather hard glance seemed contradicted by the slack and feeble mouth. His person showed marks of habitual neglect, his dress was slovenly; and yet there was something in the presence of the old Squire distinguishable from that of the ordinary farmer in the parish...

Squire Cass has a certain authoritativeness to his voice and self-confidence and way of carrying himself that sets him apart from the villagers. Accustomed to "parish homage all his life," the Squire considers himself as higher in social stature and character than the villagers. While he has numerous faults, he never associates with the other gentry so "his opinion was not disturbed by comparison."
In Chapter IX, when his son Godfrey enters the breakfast room one day, the Squire offers no pleasant morning greeting; instead, he sits "indifferently" in his chair and tells his older son to ring the bell for ale as he dismisses Godfrey's business as mostly his own: "There's no hurry in it for anybody but yourselves." But, when Godfrey confesses that he has spent one of the rents, the Squire becomes angry and sends his son to bring up his horse as though he were a servant.

Every New Year's Eve, Squire Cass extends his hospitality to all the society of Raveloe and Tarley. But, the villagers mainly watch the others. When Silas Marner enters the party, Squire Cass asks angrily, "How's this?--what's this?-what do you do coming in this way?" But, then, he sees that Marner has in his possession a very small child, and he informs the party that he has been robbed. 

What does the first stanza describe in "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson?

The first stanza of "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" describes the gentleman caller who appears in order to take the speaker with him in his carriage. This caller is Death personified.

As readers of this poem peruse the stanzas, they realize the gentleman caller is Death. He appears to the speaker in the form of a man, but the mention of the carriage containing only the speaker, driver, and Immortality indicates the driver's...

The first stanza of "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" describes the gentleman caller who appears in order to take the speaker with him in his carriage. This caller is Death personified.

As readers of this poem peruse the stanzas, they realize the gentleman caller is Death. He appears to the speaker in the form of a man, but the mention of the carriage containing only the speaker, driver, and Immortality indicates the driver's role: he is transporting the speaker from her earthly house to the "House" that seems but a "swelling of the ground" with a scarcely visible roof. In other words, Death is carrying the speaker through her life to its end, the grave. As they ride, the speaker views her youth as the children playing at recess in school. She then views the "Fields of Gazing Grain" that represent her maturity into womanhood. Finally, they pass "the Setting Sun" as she reaches the end of her life.

In the final stanza, the speaker addresses her audience from the grave as she recalls her realization that her caller was transporting her "toward Eternity."

In "The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse" by William Saroyan, did John Byro know the boys had his horse?

Using evidence from the text, the reader can find indications that John Byro suspected the boys had his horse in “The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse” by William Saroyan.

John Byro was not part of Aram and Mourad’s Armenian family. He was a lonely man who learned the Armenian language in order to communicate with and relate to the family. One day, after his horse was gone for a month, Byro walked ten miles...

Using evidence from the text, the reader can find indications that John Byro suspected the boys had his horse in “The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse” by William Saroyan.

John Byro was not part of Aram and Mourad’s Armenian family. He was a lonely man who learned the Armenian language in order to communicate with and relate to the family. One day, after his horse was gone for a month, Byro walked ten miles to visit with Aram’s mother and uncle. He explained that his horse was missing, which rendered his surrey useless. The uncle becomes animated and tells John Byro to pay no mind to his missing horse. If a man walks ten miles just to have coffee and a smoke but brings up his missing horse in conversation, it is a good indication there was more to his visit than just a friendly discussion.

Then another visitor arrived, a farmer named John Byro, an Assyrian who, out of loneliness, had learned to speak Armenian. My mother brought the lonely visitor coffee and tobacco and he rolled a cigarette and sipped and smoked, and then at last, sighing sadly, he said, my white horse which was stolen last month is still gone. I cannot understand it.

Another indication that John Byro knows the boys have his horse arises when the boys meet the man as they are walking with the horse. As he closely examines the horse, he tells the boys the horse they are walking seems to be a twin to his horse. Yet, he never insists the horse is his or turns the boys in for having the horse. Byro understands the family’s honor and knows that once the boys are cornered, they will return his horse, which they do.

I could swear it is the horse that was stolen from me many weeks ago. May I look into its mouth?

Of course, Mourad said.

The farmer looked into the mouth of the horse.

Tooth for tooth, he said. I would swear it is my horse if I didn't know your parents. The fame of your family for honesty is well known to me. Yet the horse is the twin of my horse.

Why don't legislators' votes always reflect the wishes of their constituents?

We do not necessarily know why individual legislators decide to vote against the wishes of their constituents in any particular case.  But the list of possible reasons is lengthy. 

First, a legislator might have information that his or her constituents do not have, information that makes the legislator believe that this is a better decision than the constituents' choice.  Legislators have staff who are supposed to keep them informed about the matters they must vote on, for example, information about a particular industry, statistics on employment, or crime rates in a particular city. Legislators are also provided information by lobbyists.  Legislators often sit on committees whose job it is to have a great deal of information in one specialized area.  The average constituent is quite unlikely to have as much information readily available as the legislator.

Second, legislators are under no obligation to vote the way their constituencies wish, and sometimes they decide to vote based on what their own ethical mandates require. Notice, please, that I am referencing ethics, not religion.  It is important, I think, to make this distinction.  When legislators do this, we say they are "voting their conscience." So, for example, a legislator whose district does not want the legislator to vote for amnesty for illegal immigrants could vote for it, finding it unethical to break up so many families this way. 

Third, some legislators will vote in a way contrary to their constituencies based upon their religion. An example of this is civil rights protection for the LGBT community.  Polls make clear that most people are in favor of these civil rights, yet legislator after legislator votes against them, based upon their religious beliefs.  This is problematic, of course, in a democracy in which religion is not supposed to play any role in governance, but that certainly does not mean it doesn't happen.  Tim Kaine, who is the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, belongs to a religion that prohibits abortion, but he is very clear that as part of government, he supports a woman's right to make this choice for herself.  This is a principled position that allows him to serve properly. 

Fourth, legislators are influenced by others to vote a particular way. This is the job of the lobbyist, certainly.  And campaign donations and gifts can be highly persuasive.  There is nothing to guarantee that a legislator will vote for what the constituents want when offered a trip to a resort or primo seats at a concert.  Most legislators are allowed to accept at least some gifts, and while it might be difficult to prove causation, there is influence, conscious or subconscious. 

Finally, today, there are many issues that seem to be almost evenly divided in the polls.  If 49% of a district is for something, then 51% of the district is against it.  This means the legislator is quite often damned for doing something and damned for not doing it.  Voting as one's constituency wishes is sometimes an impossibility!

It is not reasonable to expect a legislator to vote exactly as the constituency wishes for every single vote that is taken.   Information matters.  Conscience matters. Religion should not matter, but it does. Then there is persuasion of one kind or another and the impossibility of representing an equally divided district.  All things considered, I'm so glad I've never run for public office.  

In Winter Dreams, what do you think Judy wants and gets from Dexter?

Interesting question! In the story, Dexter is infatuated with Judy, a woman who treats him with "interest, with encouragement, with malice, with indifference, with contempt." Because Judy is a great beauty and is used to being fawned over by men, she doesn't think twice about dismissing a suitor once she becomes bored. As a seductress, she is able to inspire both "ecstatic happiness" as well as an "intolerable agony of spirit" in any man. It...

Interesting question! In the story, Dexter is infatuated with Judy, a woman who treats him with "interest, with encouragement, with malice, with indifference, with contempt." Because Judy is a great beauty and is used to being fawned over by men, she doesn't think twice about dismissing a suitor once she becomes bored. As a seductress, she is able to inspire both "ecstatic happiness" as well as an "intolerable agony of spirit" in any man. It looks like Judy is the sort of temptress who prefers to have the upper hand in any relationship. She certainly does revel in the 'gratification of desires' and seems impervious to masculine attempts to usher her to the wedding altar.

Judy only pays attention to Dexter because he is independently wealthy; after callously rejecting a man because he is as "poor as a church-mouse," she becomes sexually involved with Dexter. However, to his humiliation, Dexter finds himself only one of many suitors Judy is juggling in her life. We get the idea that Judy wants a man who is sexually attractive, wealthy, and supremely confident. He would be nothing at all like the men who constantly vie for her attention, for the purposes of securing her interest. Judy becomes easily bored with men who are emotionally reliant on her, as we can see from the way she treats the son of the president of a New York trust company. She basically leaves this rumored beau dangling while she cavorts with another love interest.

By all indications, Judy is not averse to marriage. After all, she does get married, but to a man who is by all indications a deplorable husband. He drinks and "runs around" on her, and she is certainly not the center of his world. But it is rumored that she "stays at home with her kids" despite this. One thing is clear: Judy's husband does not appear to be emotionally reliant on her.

As described above, what Judy wants from Dexter, he cannot give her, and he is wise enough to recognize this.

...when he had seen that it was no use, that he did not possess in himself the power to move fundamentally or to hold Judy Jones, did he bear any malice toward her. He loved her, and he would love her until the day he was too old for loving--but he could not have her. So he tasted the deep pain that is reserved only for the strong, just as he had tasted for a little while the deep happiness.

All Judy gets from Dexter is his ceaseless infatuation with his idea of the woman she is. Even as he remembers "her mouth damp to his kisses and her eyes plaintive with melancholy and her freshness like new fine linen in the morning," Dexter comes to the conclusion that everything he has ever felt about his relationship with Judy is a mirage. He becomes greatly disillusioned, knowing that he can never retrieve all that he thinks he has lost.

What are the differences between Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss in Flowers for Algernon?

Dr. Nemur was not comfortable using Charlie as the subject for the experiment. However, Dr. Strauss was supportive of Charlie’s participation from the initial stages of the project. Strauss was supportive because he believed Charlie was sufficiently motivated for the experiment. Dr. Strauss was more patient compared to Dr. Nemur, who was more concerned with recognition than the experiment. Dr. Nemur wanted to publish Charlie’s test results soon after it was determined that they were...

Dr. Nemur was not comfortable using Charlie as the subject for the experiment. However, Dr. Strauss was supportive of Charlie’s participation from the initial stages of the project. Strauss was supportive because he believed Charlie was sufficiently motivated for the experiment. Dr. Strauss was more patient compared to Dr. Nemur, who was more concerned with recognition than the experiment. Dr. Nemur wanted to publish Charlie’s test results soon after it was determined that they were making progress. He also wanted to take full credit for the experiment, which showed he was selfish. Dr. Strauss was forced to remind him that he was the one who located and performed the operation on Charlie. He asserted himself as an equal partner in the project, which, if successful, would benefit people globally. Charlie realized that Dr. Nemur was ten years older than Dr. Strauss. At the end of the story, Charlie claimed that Nemur was an uptight person and suggested that he should loosen up.

Dr. Nemur wanted to publish the results of the experiment at the end of this month. Dr. Strauss wanted to wait a while longer to be sure. Dr. Strauss said that Dr. Nemur was more interested in the Chair of Psychology at Princeton than he was in the experiment. Dr. Nemur said that Dr. Strauss was nothing but an opportunist who was trying to ride to glory on his coattails.

How is Crake seen as a God in Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood?

The character of Crake, known in childhood as Glenn, is a genius geneticist whose plan is to create a new race of human-like creatures to replace the destructive and environmentally unfriendly Homo sapiens. Crake can be interpreted as playing god in the novel because he revels in the ability to create and destroy life. For example, when discussing extinction, he comments:

“All it takes... is the elimination of one generation. One generation of anything. Beetles,...

The character of Crake, known in childhood as Glenn, is a genius geneticist whose plan is to create a new race of human-like creatures to replace the destructive and environmentally unfriendly Homo sapiens. Crake can be interpreted as playing god in the novel because he revels in the ability to create and destroy life. For example, when discussing extinction, he comments:

“All it takes... is the elimination of one generation. One generation of anything. Beetles, trees, microbes, scientists, speakers of French, whatever. Break the link in time between one generation and the next, and it’s game over forever.”

Crake is fixated on the apparent ease of destroying life, and his own ability to exercise control over nature. Additionally, the following exchange between Crake and Oryx shows how Crake serves as a god figure for the Crakers, the human-like creatures he creates.

“Today they asked who made them.”
“And?”
“And I told them the truth. I said it was Crake. I told them he was very clever and good.”

This exchange shows how Crake is elevated to god status among the Crakers. Between his obsession with his own ability to control who lives and who dies and his status as creator of an entire race of human-like creatures, Crake exhibits a clear desire to "play god" and control nature.

What impact does culture have on family planning with women who are on Medicaid? Are there interventions to deal with this?

Family planning is considered a mandatory benefit under Medicaid, which implies that all programs must cover family planning. Individuals of child-bearing, age including sexually active minors desiring such services, would be eligible.

Most states provide prescription contraceptives as part of their Medicaid programs and over time, the concept of family planning expanded to include related services such as testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, promotion of health education and fertility preservation.

However, certain cultural...

Family planning is considered a mandatory benefit under Medicaid, which implies that all programs must cover family planning. Individuals of child-bearing, age including sexually active minors desiring such services, would be eligible.

Most states provide prescription contraceptives as part of their Medicaid programs and over time, the concept of family planning expanded to include related services such as testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, promotion of health education and fertility preservation.

However, certain cultural factors influence the ability of some women to derive full benefits from family planning services provided under the Medicaid program. These factors include religious influences, gender role inequality, the belief that contraceptive use implies promiscuity, difficulties in engaging in open discussions on sexual health, beliefs that women must bear children, and a host of other preconceived notions.

These culture-based health beliefs about family planning must be addressed if all women must have access to family planning services under Medicaid that meet their personal values and diminish the risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Cultural competency training must be given to service providers to ensure that they have the ability to acknowledge cultural differences and to give them the ability to view behavior within a cultural context. This is key, especially with family planning providers who engage with patients regarding very personal health issues.

Medicaid programs must ensure appropriate and timely referrals for women enrolled in faith-based health plans or provider networks that have religious objections to some contraceptive methods which may limit women's access to all the range of family planning services.

Other interventions to remove cultural barriers to having full access to family planning services under Medicaid may include involvement of men and women of influence in family planning and counseling procedures, involvement of religious leaders, and the provision of accurate information to dispel myths.

Solve cos^2(x)=sin(x)

First we must get everything in the same terms. Here I'll choose sin(X) because it is the easiest. So we need to use a trig identity to substitute for `cos^2(X).`

`Cos^2(X)=sin(X)`

`1-sin^2(X)=sin(X)`

Then we can treat this like a quadratic equation. So we will move all the terms to one side and have our equation equal to 0.

`1-sin^2(X)-sin(X)=0`

Now we can rearrange the equation so that it is in standard quadratic equation form. But instead of having the equation in terms of X, we have an equation in terms of sin(X).

`-sin^2(X)-sin(X)+1=0`

`-1(sin(X))^2-1(sin(X))+1=0`

Next, just as we could solve for x in a quadratic equation, we can solve for sin(X) in this equation using the quadratic formula.  

`sin(X)=(+1+-sqrt((-1)^2-4(-1)(1)))/(2(-1))`

`sin(X)=(1+-sqrt(5))/-2`

`sin(X)~~-1.618 or 0.618`

As usual with the quadratic formula, we have two possible values.  We will then need to find the degree measure X by finding the arcsine of the values we found above.  But because sine values must fall between -1 and 1, we can throw out -1.618 as a possible value. Thus we only need to use the value 0.618 as our sine value.

`sin(X)~~0.618`

`X~~sin^-1(0.618)`

`X~~38.17^o`  

 Note that this is not the only degree measure that will give this sign value. There is also a degree measure in Quadrant II that will have the same sine value. We can find that value like so:

`X~~180-38.17=141.83^o`

There are also infinitely many other degree measures that will have this sign value. Every time you move around the unit circle and come upon these degree measures in Quadrants I and II, the sine value will be the same. So all possible values of X are:

`X~~38.17+-360n and X~~141.83+-360n`

Why was it important to be a virgin queen, like Queen Elizabeth I, in Renaissance times?

In some ways, it was important NOT to be a “virgin queen” during this time.  There were some who questioned whether a queen would have the ability to rule in her own right, without a man to help her.  In addition, by not having children, a virgin queen put the succession into question. This could lead to conflict between people who wanted to succeed her when she died.  These were issues that Queen Elizabeth I...

In some ways, it was important NOT to be a “virgin queen” during this time.  There were some who questioned whether a queen would have the ability to rule in her own right, without a man to help her.  In addition, by not having children, a virgin queen put the succession into question. This could lead to conflict between people who wanted to succeed her when she died.  These were issues that Queen Elizabeth I of England faced during her reign and which did or could have compromised the stability of her rule.

However, there were also some advantages to being a virgin queen.  One of these advantages was religious.  For one thing, virginity was equated with purity, particularly among women.  Sex was seen as something that was necessary for most but not really good for the soul.  A virgin queen could be seen, then, as something of a moral paragon who forewent the pleasures of the flesh to care for her realm rather than children of her body. Secondly, some would have connected a virgin queen to the Virgin Mary.  This connection would have made people more likely to honor and venerate a virgin queen.

The other major advantage was political. At this time in Europe, marriages between royal families were an important political tool. Countries would form alliances by having marriages between members of their respective royal families. A virgin queen could, at least for a while, use the lure of a marriage as a bargaining chip with other countries. She could make them believe that she would contemplate marrying their king or some other royal. This would allow her to keep that country friendly with her own.  An astute queen could use her status as a single woman to bolster her country’s position in the world.

For these reasons, you could argue that it was important to be a virgin queen, but we should be aware that there were also drawbacks to this status.

Why does Eckels travel with Time Safari in "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury?

Eckels travels with Time Safari, Inc. because he wants to go back in time to shoot a dinosaur. 

Eckels is an expert hunter looking for a new challenge.  He spends a lot of money to hire the time machine so that he can go back to shoot a dinosaur.  Obviously, it is no longer possible to shoot a dinosaur on Earth since they are extinct.  Therefore this company offers brave hunters the opportunity to...

Eckels travels with Time Safari, Inc. because he wants to go back in time to shoot a dinosaur. 

Eckels is an expert hunter looking for a new challenge.  He spends a lot of money to hire the time machine so that he can go back to shoot a dinosaur.  Obviously, it is no longer possible to shoot a dinosaur on Earth since they are extinct.  Therefore this company offers brave hunters the opportunity to shoot an animal far bigger than any alive today. 

Eckels is told that his safety is not guaranteed and that if he does not follow directions he will have to pay an exorbitant fine.  The discussion with his guides is about a recent election, but they tell him not to worry about that.  He is going back in time well before the election ever happened. 

“All you got to worry about is-" 

"Shooting my dinosaur," Eckels finished it for him. 

"A Tyrannosaurus Rex. The Tyrant Lizard, the most incredible monster in history. Sign this release. Anything happens to you, we're not responsible. Those dinosaurs are hungry." 

Eckels is told not to step off a special path, and not to shoot anything else.  It is very important that he not change the future.  Any little thing he does could do it, and that is why the rules are so strict.  When Eckels comes to the point of actually shooting the dinosaur, he panicks. 

It ran with a gliding ballet step, far too poised and balanced for its ten tons. It moved into a sunlit area warily, its beautifully reptilian hands feeling the air.

"Why, why," Eckels twitched his mouth. "It could reach up and grab the moon."

He is so frightened that he is unable to actually shoot.  His guides end up doing it and during the commotion that follows he accidentally steps on and kills a butterfly.  When they return to the present everything has changed, including the outcome of the election.  Travis shoots Eckels.

What is the message of "All Summer in a Day"?

The message, to me, is about how someone who is "different" will always be singled out. Margot is different than the other children -- she's smarter, and more creative, but beyond that, she can actually remember living on Earth. She has memories of the sun, something the other children lack. In a sense, she is more authentically human than the others. This makes the other children jealous, and causes them to act out against her....

The message, to me, is about how someone who is "different" will always be singled out. Margot is different than the other children -- she's smarter, and more creative, but beyond that, she can actually remember living on Earth. She has memories of the sun, something the other children lack. In a sense, she is more authentically human than the others. This makes the other children jealous, and causes them to act out against her. When Margot is locked in a closet and forgotten about for the short time when the sun comes out, I think we have to consider this as more than simply a prank that has gone too far. The children are, in effect, appropriating (or even stealing) Margot's experience -- now everybody has the same memory of the sun as Margot. It's an attempt to erase what made her special. Kids will be kids, even on Venus.

In "The Sign of the Beaver" by Elizabeth George Speare, what is Matt's response when invited by Saknis and Attean to join them on the hunt?

When invited by Saknis and Attean to join them on the hunt, Matt is initially ecstatic. If he joins them on the hunt, he will not need to spend the long winter by himself.

However, Matt soon realizes that, if he chooses to leave, his father won't know of his whereabouts when he returns. Even though he wants to go with Saknis and Attean, Matt understands that he has given his word that he will...

When invited by Saknis and Attean to join them on the hunt, Matt is initially ecstatic. If he joins them on the hunt, he will not need to spend the long winter by himself.

However, Matt soon realizes that, if he chooses to leave, his father won't know of his whereabouts when he returns. Even though he wants to go with Saknis and Attean, Matt understands that he has given his word that he will stay and tend to the cabin faithfully until his family returns.

When Saknis argues that Matt's father may not return at all, Matt defends his father. He tells Saknis that his father would surely send someone to let Matt know if he couldn't make it. Basically, Matt defends the integrity and loyalty of his father. Saknis then tells Matt that he is a good son and repeats his invitation, but Matt is resolute that he must stay.

So, Matt initially responds with great joy when Saknis and Attean extend their invitation, but he soon becomes sad when he realizes that he cannot in good conscience go with his beloved Indian friends.

What is a modern-day song that could represent Tybalt's personality?

Bullying is a frequent topic of modern American society, especially in schools and among young people. Some might argue bullying has even infiltrated the highest levels of discourse in America. Not surprisingly, bullying has often been a topic in literature and music. Stephen King's novel Carrie is the story of a girl who is bullied so much that she perpetrates unspeakable acts.

Shakespeare delved into bullying in his plays. His work is replete with bullies....

Bullying is a frequent topic of modern American society, especially in schools and among young people. Some might argue bullying has even infiltrated the highest levels of discourse in America. Not surprisingly, bullying has often been a topic in literature and music. Stephen King's novel Carrie is the story of a girl who is bullied so much that she perpetrates unspeakable acts.

Shakespeare delved into bullying in his plays. His work is replete with bullies. Characters such as Richard III and the young Prince Hal are examples. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare portrays Tybalt as highly arrogant and often displaying the attributes of a bully. Tybalt is perfectly ready to insult or kill his enemies for the smallest of slights. He seeks to kill Romeo at his uncle's party in Act I and is again out to bully Romeo into a fight in Act III, Scene 1 before he is challenged by Mercutio, another potential Shakespearean bully.

Several modern songs deal with bullies, but the best might be Taylor Swift's "Mean." While this song is about modern life, it seems to fit Tybalt. In the opening lyrics of the song, it even mentions how the bully in question strives to belittle his victims and uses words like swords, much as Tybalt attempts to do in the brawl portrayed in Act I, Scene 1 when he threatens Benvolio and later in Act III, Scene 1 when he attempts to goad Romeo into a fight by calling him a villain. The refrain in Swift's song claims this bully will always be nothing but mean and that seems to ring true with Tybalt. Tybalt is so much of a bully that he cannot leave well enough alone and returns to the street where he killed Mercutio instead of seeking asylum. In her song, Swift indicates the bully's victim will go on to live a better life. If not for the tragedy of circumstances in the final two acts of Romeo and Juliet, one might argue that Romeo would indeed go on and live a fulfilling life with his love Juliet.

A toxin produced by an aquatic cell blocks voltage gated calcium channels. With your knowledge of the nervous system, propose a mechanism for why...

The primary cells of the nervous system are neurons. Neurons need to communicate with each other in order to send information, in the form of electrical signals, throughout the body. Some neurons simply send those signals directly into other neurons, but the majority of them do not. Instead, they release chemicals into the (very small) space in between one neuron and another. You can think of this like writing on a post-it note and handing...

The primary cells of the nervous system are neurons. Neurons need to communicate with each other in order to send information, in the form of electrical signals, throughout the body. Some neurons simply send those signals directly into other neurons, but the majority of them do not. Instead, they release chemicals into the (very small) space in between one neuron and another. You can think of this like writing on a post-it note and handing it to the person next to you. The messages (chemicals) that the neurons release are called neurotransmitters, and voltage-gated calcium channels are critical to their function.

The first step in communication is the arrival of an electrical signal (called an action potential) which triggers the calcium channels to open. This influx of calcium signals vesicles (small "bubbles" inside the cell, filled with neurotransmitters) to go to the edge of the cell, fuse with the membrane, and release their neurotransmitters.

If the calcium channels are blocked, this will interfere with the functioning of the neurotransmitters. If being used as an analgesic, the subject will be unable to feel pain, because the cells receiving the "pain" signal will be unable to communicate that message to any other neuron. The individual receptor cell still knows what's going on, but it has basically been muted.

What kind of relationship do Juliet and the Nurse have in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet?

Up until their parting in Act III, Scene 5, the relationship between Juliet and the Nurse might be compared to two very close friends or even sisters who share everything, including each other's private thoughts and secrets. Although tempting, it is not appropriate to say the Nurse was similar to a parental figure. Had the Nurse been like a parent (even though she literally nursed Juliet) she would have been more likely to be disciplinary...

Up until their parting in Act III, Scene 5, the relationship between Juliet and the Nurse might be compared to two very close friends or even sisters who share everything, including each other's private thoughts and secrets. Although tempting, it is not appropriate to say the Nurse was similar to a parental figure. Had the Nurse been like a parent (even though she literally nursed Juliet) she would have been more likely to be disciplinary in understanding the ramifications of Juliet's relationship with Romeo. Instead, the Nurse is a faithful confidante, who is only interested in the fact that Juliet is happy, and is willing to take part in Juliet's intrigues because of her devoted love for the girl. Like a trusted girlfriend, she acts as Juliet's surrogate in finding out Romeo's intentions in Act II, Scene 4. She shares this news with Juliet as if they are school girls talking about the boys in their class. Juliet's confidence in the Nurse is ultimately shattered in Act III, Scene 5 after being informed that Lord Capulet has arranged for her to marry Count Paris. When her refusals to marry the Count (she is already married to Romeo) are spurned by her parents, Juliet turns to the Nurse, who does a complete about-face in her opinion of Romeo and counsels Juliet to forget him and marry Paris because, as she says, "this match...excels your first." Juliet is shocked by this advice and vows that their close relationship is over.   

In "Raymond's Run," how does Squeaky show that she cares a lot about her family, her neighborhood, and the people who live in the inner-city?

Squeaky, the narrator in Toni Cade Bambara's short story "Raymond's Run," shows she cares about her family, her neighborhood, and the people who live in the inner city in several ways. 

She shows she cares about her neighborhood when she wins the race and says,

Then all the kids standing on the side pile on me, banging me on the back and slapping my head with their May Day programs, for I have won again...

Squeaky, the narrator in Toni Cade Bambara's short story "Raymond's Run," shows she cares about her family, her neighborhood, and the people who live in the inner city in several ways. 

She shows she cares about her neighborhood when she wins the race and says,

Then all the kids standing on the side pile on me, banging me on the back and slapping my head with their May Day programs, for I have won again and everybody on 151st Street can walk tall for another year.

Earlier in the story, Squeaky has stated that she's a poor girl. In a poor neighborhood, children don't necessarily have many possessions to be proud of. Their pride is in their character and their accomplishments. It's apparent that there is a strong sense of community in Squeaky since she runs not just for herself, but also to make her neighbors proud. Her win gives them all bragging rights for another year. 

Squeaky shows that she cares about her family by her protection of her mentally-challenged brother Raymond. She takes Raymond with her wherever she goes, and she will not stand for anyone saying anything mean to him or trying to take advantage of him. When she sees him running for the first time during the race, she considers giving up her running career to train him. 

And I have a big rep as the baddest thing around. And I’ve got a roomful of ribbons and medals and awards. But what has Raymond got to call his own?

The fact that Squeaky considers giving up something she loves and takes such great pride in shows her great love for her brother. She is willing to put his wants and needs ahead of her own.

The only textual evidence that Squeaky cares about the people in the inner-city is the same textual evidence that she cares about her neighborhood. It's the comment that she makes when she says that all the kids on 151st street can hold their heads high for another year because she has won the race. There are details contained in the story that show she lives in the inner city, like walking along Broadway street and crossing 34th Street. When she races with her dad, he gives her a "two fire hydrant" head start. These don't necessarily show that she cares about the people. In fact, she calls people stupid more than once in the story and is on guard all the time against ignorant comments people make to or about her brother. The fact that Squeaky does something that allows the kids on 151st street to hold their heads high for a year shows she cares about them. It shows she doesn't run only for herself. She also thinks of her family, community, and neighbors.

In "The Canterville Ghost" by Oscar Wilde, how does the ghost describe his time alive to Virginia?

Though Sir Simon is a prominent figure in the story, the reader doesn't really ever know that much about him.  We know some details from characters like Mrs. Umney, but we aren't sure if what she says about the ghost is absolute fact or not.  Throughout the story, readers get to see what the ghost is attempting to do to the Otis family and how the Otis family antagonizes Sir Simon right back; however, those things don't give readers any insight into what his life was like before he became a ghost.  

That changes in section five of the story.  Section five begins with Virginia stumbling across Sir Simon pouting by the window.  

To her immense surprise, however, it was the Canterville Ghost himself! He was sitting by the window, watching the ruined gold of the yellowing trees fly through the air, and the red leaves dancing madly down the long avenue. His head was leaning on his hand, and his whole attitude was one of extreme depression. 

Readers are told that he looked so pathetic that Virginia couldn't help but begin a conversation with him.  Early in the conversation, Virginia mentions that she knows that Sir Simon killed his wife when he was alive.  Sir Simon completely embraces the fact that he killed his wife.  

"Mrs. Umney told us, the first day we arrived here, that you had killed your wife."

"Well, I quite admit it," said the Ghost, petulantly, "but it was a purely family matter, and concerned no one else."

Sir Simon essentially feels that his actions were completely justified and normal. He provides Virginia with further "evidence" as to why his wife deserved to be killed.  He says that she was "plain" looking, not good at laundry, and not a good cook.  

"My wife was very plain, never had my ruffs properly starched, and knew nothing about cookery."

The final detail that Sir Simon reveals about his past life is how he died.  His wife's brothers starved him to death.  

From their brief conversation, it seems that Sir Simon's life is vaguely similar to his life as a ghost.  He is used to being the person that is running the show.  He enjoys exerting his power and opinion over other people, and he doesn't care who he hurts or offends while doing it.  That's why he sees no problem with killing his wife for minor offenses, and it's why he believes that he is justified in haunting the house all these years.  

"It is absurd asking me to behave myself," he answered, looking round in astonishment at the pretty little girl who had ventured to address him, "quite absurd."

A wave is incident on the surface of a mirror at an angle of 30° with the normal. At what angle will the outgoing wave reflect? 0° 30°...

Hello!

As I understand, a "wave" means "electromagnetic wave," or "light." These waves may reflect from a mirror (other waves also may reflect, for example waves on a water surface may reflect from a wall).

The main law of reflection is that an angle of reflection is the same as an angle of incidence. They are both measured from the normal at the point of incidence (normal is a straight line perpendicular to a mirror...

Hello!

As I understand, a "wave" means "electromagnetic wave," or "light." These waves may reflect from a mirror (other waves also may reflect, for example waves on a water surface may reflect from a wall).

The main law of reflection is that an angle of reflection is the same as an angle of incidence. They are both measured from the normal at the point of incidence (normal is a straight line perpendicular to a mirror at the point of their intersection). For a plain mirror these angles might be measured from a mirror's plane, and such angles are also equal. All normals to a spherical mirror, for example, go through the sphere's center.

So the answer is: the angle of reflection is 30 degrees with the normal (the same as for an incident wave).

How was the character Hamlet or any other characters, relatable to the younger generations of the Elizabethan era? Basically in what ways did the...

There are several characters in Shakespeare's Hamlet that the author uses to target the interests of young people during the Elizabethan (English Renaissance) period.

The first character is Hamlet. While Hamlet's father has just died and Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark, the throne has passed, instead, to his uncle Claudius. At that time, this would have been an acceptable procedure if Hamlet was believed to be too young or too experienced. Hamlet has been away studying at the university, and Claudius has obviously been judged to be better suited (than Hamlet) to assume the throne upon his brother's sudden death. Claudius assures Hamlet that he is still next in line to the throne:

...for let the world take note
You are the most immediate to our throne,
And with no less nobility of love
Than that which dearest father bears his son
Do I impart toward you. (I.ii.111-115)

This would certainly be something with which young people in the audience, specifically young men of nobility (though the audience was made up of people from all classes) could identify and empathize.

Another thing that would resonate with a young Elizabethan crowd would be the sense that one was expected to bow to the wishes of a parent, and also a king, pushing his or her own wishes aside.

Claudius is quick to tell Hamlet that he should put mourning behind him, which Hamlet (of course) does not appreciate. After all, Claudius sits where Old Hamlet once reigned, and more distressingly, has married Old Hamlet's widow—and Hamlet's mother—Gertrude. However, Claudius also does not want Hamlet to return to school, but to stay on in Denmark.

For your intent
In going back to school in Wittenberg,
It is most retrograde to our desire;
And we beseech you, bend you to remain
Here... (115-119)

We also see this pattern of socially accepted behavior as Laertes requests permission to be excused in order to return to France. As is appropriate, the King asks if Laertes has requested his father's permission (59).

Learning that this had been done, Claudius grants Laertes leave to depart from the royal court and Denmark:

KING:

Take thy fair hour, Laertes. Time be thine,
And thy best graces spend it at thy will! (64-65)

It is interesting to note that Laertes is allowed to leave to return to France—and he simply goes to have a good time! However, Hamlet, who desires to return to school is not allowed, and this has to irritate him as he does not like his uncle—in fact, he very much resents him. After all, it is obvious to Claudius and Gertrude that Hamlet is extremely unhappy. In that Claudius has asked Hamlet to look upon him as a father, we can infer that the King knows that Hamlet's dark mood has a great deal to do with his uncle. Keeping Hamlet at home might raise questions in the audience's mind: when we discover that Claudius is a murderer, might the sovereign not want Hamlet neatly out of the way at school so he is not there to question the circumstances surrounding Old Hamlet's death?

Ophelia, Polonius' daughter and Hamlet's sweetheart, is also at the mercy of her superiors, "." She is an obedient daughter who would not resist anything her father—or her king—might ask of her. We see Ophelia as a pawn of the men in her life. (In that era, women were not valued—considered weaker and less intelligent than men.) Polonius is not above using his daughter to spy on Hamlet, most importantly because he wants to impress Claudius. So with the King, Polonius arranges that they will hide behind a curtain ("arras") and eavesdrop on Ophelia and Hamlet as they speak.

I'll loose my daughter to him.
Be you and I behind an arras then;
Mark the encounter. (174-176)

Essentially, Ophelia is forced to spy on the man she loves. The idea of stepping away from one's personal desires is something a young audience of the time could identify with, most especially if they had been asked to turn their back on someone they loved so that it might benefit someone else—particularly from a financial or political standpoint. Ophelia's powerlessness would ring true to many of the young women in the audience, though most would know better than to complain, as they were at the mercy of the men in their lives regardless of their social standing.

These are things with which a young person from the Renaissance-era (or today) would not be pleased, and could well appreciate.

Why was Lyddie fired, according to the agent and the overseer, in Lyddie by Katherine Paterson?

Lyddie was supposedly fired for being immoral, when she was really fired for standing up for Brigid when Mr. Marsden tried to assault her.

Lyddie was fired from her job at the factory because she saw Mr. Marsden trying to assault Brigid.  She was not surprised that he would do this, since he had done the same thing to her.  When she was sick with a fever, he had tried to kiss her.  Clearly, he has a...

Lyddie was supposedly fired for being immoral, when she was really fired for standing up for Brigid when Mr. Marsden tried to assault her.

Lyddie was fired from her job at the factory because she saw Mr. Marsden trying to assault Brigid.  She was not surprised that he would do this, since he had done the same thing to her.  When she was sick with a fever, he had tried to kiss her.  Clearly, he has a habit of taking advantage of the girls he oversees.

When Lyddie saw Mr. Marsden and Brigid, she had to act.

Lyddie snatched up the fire bucket. It was full of water, but she didn't notice the weight. "Please-no--" She ran down the aisle between the looms toward the voice and saw in the shadows Brigid, eyes white with fear, and Mr. Marsden's back. His hands were clamped on Brigid's arms. (Ch. 20) 

Lyddie hits Mr. Marsden with the bucket, which may have been a little extreme but was her best solution under the circumstances.  They run, and Lyddie laughs. Later she regrets laughing, because he must have heard her. 

Lyddie is sent to agent Graves.  She wonders what Mr. Marsden said about her, but is still surprised when she learns that he reported her for being a troublemaker. 

"It seems," he continued, "it seems you are a troublemaker in the weaving room." He was studying her closely now, as closely as he had studied his papers before. "A troublemaker," he repeated. 

"I, sir?" 

"Yes. Mr. Marsden fears you are having a bad influence on the other girls there." (Ch. 21) 

So Lyddie is fired for “moral turpitude,” but she has no idea what that means.  She later looks in a dictionary and finds out they called her immoral. She is upset about this, because of course Mr. Marsden is the immoral one.  There is nothing she can do about this though.  She has no recourse.  She was fired, and will never work in the factory again.

What character experienced change during The Last Lecture?

Jai experiences change in The Last Lecture.

The question is a difficult one to answer because there is little room for change in the narrative.  Everyone concerned knows that "the elephant in the room" is Randy's inevitable death.  This end point is the beginning, and as a result, no one really changes as a result of the lecture. For example, Randy started off as a "Tigger" and still is at lecture's end.  

However, one...

Jai experiences change in The Last Lecture.

The question is a difficult one to answer because there is little room for change in the narrative.  Everyone concerned knows that "the elephant in the room" is Randy's inevitable death.  This end point is the beginning, and as a result, no one really changes as a result of the lecture. For example, Randy started off as a "Tigger" and still is at lecture's end.  

However, one change we can see is in Jai.  At the start of the narrative, she is not comfortable with Randy delivering the lecture.  Jai was "leery of this whole last-lecture idea" because of how much time it will consume.  She was not comfortable with it because it was going to take something that neither she or her husband could afford to surrender:

We had just moved from Pittsburgh to Southeastern Virginia so that after my death, Jai and the kids could be near her family. Jai felt that I ought to be spending my precious time with our kids, or unpacking our new house, rather than devoting my hours to writing the lecture and then traveling back to Pittsburgh to deliver it.

'Call me selfish,' Jai told me. 'But I want all of you. Any time you’ll spend working on this lecture is lost time, because it’s time away from the kids and from me.'

Eventually, Jai gives into Randy's demand.  Her initial apprehension is changed when she attends the lecture. She sits in the front row and watches her husband, "the showman," put on his last show for the public.  Since Randy delivered the lecture on her birthday, he breaks from his remarks in order to present a cake and has the entire audience sing "Happy Birthday:" "As we all sang, I finally allowed myself to look at Jai. She sat in her front-row seat, wiping away tears with this surprised smile on her face, looking so lovely—bashful and beautiful, pleased and overwhelmed…."  The "surprised smile on her face" is a change from the frustration Jai displayed at the start of the narrative.

What is the critical angle for a light ray traveling from diamond into glass?

The critical angle is defined as the highest angle of incidence that does not result in total internal reflection; it is the angle at which refraction will occur at pi/2 radians (90 degrees), the light traveling along the boundary between the two media.By Snell's Law, we know that angle of refraction and refractive index are related as follows:`n_1 sin (theta_1) = n_2 sin (theta_2)` At the critical angle, by definition `theta_2 = pi/2`,...

The critical angle is defined as the highest angle of incidence that does not result in total internal reflection; it is the angle at which refraction will occur at pi/2 radians (90 degrees), the light traveling along the boundary between the two media.

By Snell's Law, we know that angle of refraction and refractive index are related as follows:

`n_1 sin (theta_1) = n_2 sin (theta_2)`

At the critical angle, by definition `theta_2 = pi/2`, so `sin(theta_2) = 1`.

`n_1 sin(theta_1) = n_2`

Solving for theta_1 gives us the critical angle in terms of the refractive indices:

`theta_1 = sin^{-1} (n_2 / n_1)`

Notice how this will be undefined if `n_2 gt n_1`; total internal reflection (and thus, a critical angle) only occurs when light travels to a medium with a lower refractive index. All we need now is to know the refractive indices of glass and diamond. Diamond we know quite precisely as 2.417; glass varies a bit depending on its precise composition, but is usually about 1.5.

`theta_1 = sin^{-1} (1.5/2.417) = sin^{-1}(0.62)`
`theta_1 = 0.67 rad = 38 deg`
The critical angle is about 38 degrees.

In Night, what was Elie Wiesel's first impression of Auschwitz after leaving Birkenau?

Eliezer's first impression of Auschwitz was that it was better than Birkenau.

Witnessing the massive amount of killing in Birkenau was Eliezer's introduction to the horrors of the Holocaust.  He experienced personal trauma because it was the last time he saw his mother and sister.  They were sent to a different line than Eliezer and his father.  He also saw the extent of the Nazi death machinery.  Eliezer recalls the faces of the children he...

Eliezer's first impression of Auschwitz was that it was better than Birkenau.

Witnessing the massive amount of killing in Birkenau was Eliezer's introduction to the horrors of the Holocaust.  He experienced personal trauma because it was the last time he saw his mother and sister.  They were sent to a different line than Eliezer and his father.  He also saw the extent of the Nazi death machinery.  Eliezer recalls the faces of the children he saw enter the crematorium, and the vastness of suffering surrounding him: "This is what the antechamber of hell must look like. So many crazed men, so much shouting, so much brutality."  

Eliezer suggests that the prisoners "had already lived through a lot that night" and that "nothing could frighten us anymore."   As a result, Eliezer's first impressions of Auschwitz was that it was better than Birkenau.  He explains how the buildings were made of concrete, an improvement from Birkenau's wooden barracks.   Additionally, Auschwitz is the first place where Eliezer experienced being treated as a person.  As the prisoners enter their block, the Polish man in charge addresses them.  Eliezer describes him as smiling as he speaks about what the prisoners will experience.  Eliezer notes how he wished them a "good night" as they slept.  Such a gesture carried tremendous importance given what Eliezer had seen and experienced in Birkenau.

What did the poet wish to do in the future in "The Road Not Taken"?

This reference comes in the third stanza, with the lines:

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

The narrator had already chosen one of the two paths, “the one less traveled by.” Now he says at first that he could always come back and follow the other path on some other day in the future. But just as...

This reference comes in the third stanza, with the lines:

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

The narrator had already chosen one of the two paths, “the one less traveled by.” Now he says at first that he could always come back and follow the other path on some other day in the future. But just as quickly, he understands how life works. He knows that even though he can have the best of intentions to someday return to the point where the two routes divide, the reality is that he probably won’t come back. Another “future” scene appears in the final stanza, when the narrator says that from this moment on, he will be explaining to people how and why he made the decision he did. Will he then be happy about his past choice? This is the question we debate.

What are some literary devices used in The Picture of Dorian Gray?

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde uses a number of literary techniques to develop his characters and to enhance some of the novel's key themes.

Allusions, for example, are widely used in Chapter One to reveal more about Dorian's appearance and character. He is likened to Adonis, a man of great beauty from Greek mythology, to demonstrate his visual appeal to the reader. He is also likened to Narcissus, another figure from Greek...

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde uses a number of literary techniques to develop his characters and to enhance some of the novel's key themes.

Allusions, for example, are widely used in Chapter One to reveal more about Dorian's appearance and character. He is likened to Adonis, a man of great beauty from Greek mythology, to demonstrate his visual appeal to the reader. He is also likened to Narcissus, another figure from Greek mythology, who fell in love with his own image and died because he could not stop looking at himself in the reflection of a pond. By including this allusion, Wilde also foreshadows Dorian's future and suggests that his self-love will develop into an unhealthy obsession.

Wilde also uses a number of symbols in the novel. The portrait, for example, becomes a living representation of Dorian's soul which degrades as his levels of vice and immorality increase.  It also represents the unavoidable process of ageing which Dorian is so keen to prevent. In addition, the yellow  book, given to Dorian by Lord Henry, is another important symbol because it demonstrates Lord Henry's corrupting influence on the young Dorian.

Witty sayings, called epigrams, are also an important feature of Dorian Gray. They not only enhance Wilde's lively writing style but also reveal much about the character of Lord Henry. He uses them, for example, to add a humorous element to his negative views on women:

Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly.

That Dorian emulates Lord Henry's use of epigrams illustrates the extent of the latter's influence. One example comes from Chapter Four when Dorian speaks of Sybil Vane:

Ordinary women never appeal to one's imagination. They are limited to their century.

Furthermore, these epigrams are often ironic or paradoxical in nature:

There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that it not being talked about.

This use of irony suggests that Lord Henry and Dorian are superficial people; they are driven by a need to appear to be witty and intelligent. Dorian captures this idea in Chapter 19:

You would sacrifice anybody, Harry, for the sake of an epigram.

Unfortunately, Dorian's realisation comes too late: he cannot be redeemed from his life of vice and corruption as we see most clearly in his untimely demise.

What impact did the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act have on people's lives?

The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act was passed in South Africa in 1953. It had a tremendous impact on the people’s lives. This law was a part of the system of segregation that existed in South Africa. It impacted both whites and non-whites because it allowed a legal basis for separating the races.

This law allowed for segregation in public places. Restaurants, bathrooms, theaters, and hotels were some examples where segregation existed. Segregation was also found in the educational system at all levels, including the university level. Since the segregated facilities and institutions weren’t equal in quality, this law basically implied that the races weren’t equal in South Africa.

Segregation, or the apartheid system, was a part of the way of life in South Africa for many years. It wasn’t until 1990 that the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act was repealed. It took until 1994 for the apartheid system to end in South Africa. There was a great deal of worldwide pressure placed on South Africa to end the apartheid system.

What symbols best represent the idea of regret in "The Necklace"?

In symbolizing the life which Madame Loisel desires, there are several things that represent her regret that she does not possess the luxuries she desires.

Because she has no dowry, Mme. Loisel marries a minor clerk in the Ministry of Education. Disconsolate that she does not possess the finer things in life for which she feels herself deserving, she "grieves over the shabbiness of her apartment" and the chairs and the draperies that are worn...

In symbolizing the life which Madame Loisel desires, there are several things that represent her regret that she does not possess the luxuries she desires.

Because she has no dowry, Mme. Loisel marries a minor clerk in the Ministry of Education. Disconsolate that she does not possess the finer things in life for which she feels herself deserving, she "grieves over the shabbiness of her apartment" and the chairs and the draperies that are worn and unattractive.

The sight of the little Breton girl who did her humble housework roused in her disconsolate regrets.... 

These regrets roused by the appearance of the meager servant are for luxurious material possessions. She regrets not owning

• Oriental tapestries on the walls


• large, overstuffed armchairs


• stylish sitting rooms "just right for the four o'clock chat with friends"


• "gleaming silverware" on a lovely dining table


• "delicious dishes served on wonderful china"


• evening clothes and jewels such as a diamond necklace


• lovely wraps to throw over her dresses

Mme. Loisel no longer visits a well-to-do friend from her schooldays because she has always felt so "distressed" whenever she returns home. "And she would weep for days on end from vexation, regret, despair, and anguish."

Of course, the necklace is the greatest item of suffering and regret. For, it becomes the instrument of revenge that fate sets upon Mathilde Loisel for her pettiness, vanity, and hypocrisy as she has to cheat the grocer, do the heavy housework and cooking herself, and live in a garret apartment in order to repay the loan for the replacement of the necklace she has lost.

What does darkness suggest in the poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost?

Before answering this question, it helps to check out the final stanza in Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening":

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep. (13-16)

Many scholars, critics, and readers have proposed that this seemingly simple poem is actually a depiction of an individual contemplating death and/or suicide. One of...

Before answering this question, it helps to check out the final stanza in Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening":

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep. (13-16)

Many scholars, critics, and readers have proposed that this seemingly simple poem is actually a depiction of an individual contemplating death and/or suicide. One of the factors that points to such an interpretation is this final stanza, especially the first line: "The woods are lovely, dark and deep." The darkness Frost references, especially when combined with the reference to sleep, seems to symbolize a kind of death. Moreover, the idea that the speaker of the poem eschews such darkness based on the fact he has "promises to keep" suggests that he has some control in choosing whether or not to give into the referenced darkness. This fact could be seen as a suggestion of suicide and, once that idea comes into one's head, it becomes difficult to read the poem and its suggestion of darkness as anything else but a contemplation of death.

That's not to say that this is the only way to read the poem. The meaning of darkness remains fairly ambiguous and, while it certainly could refer to death, it could just as easily refer to something else entirely. Some readers, for instance, point out that the speaker could be talking about rest in general, and so one might not need to wrestle with death at all. In short, there are many readings of this poem, and many interpretations of its "darkness." That said, the idea that darkness suggests death or suicide has proven to be one of the poem's most long-lasting interpretations. 

In your opinion, which road in Frost's "The Road Not Taken" is better and why?

Neither is better.  They are, essentially, the same.

The speaker says that he comes to a fork in the road, and he examines one road and then the other.  When he looks at the second, he says that it is "just as fair" as the first, and he claims that "the passing there / Had worn them really about the same [...]."  In other words, then, the roads -- although they are not identical and...

Neither is better.  They are, essentially, the same.

The speaker says that he comes to a fork in the road, and he examines one road and then the other.  When he looks at the second, he says that it is "just as fair" as the first, and he claims that "the passing there / Had worn them really about the same [...]."  In other words, then, the roads -- although they are not identical and do look somewhat different from one another -- have been traveled approximately the same number of times.  To say that they have been worn about the same amount means that there simply isn't one road that has been more or less traveled than the other.  They have been traveled equally.  In fact, on the morning on which the speaker encounters the fork, he says that the two roads "equally lay" in the leaves, and so they are really not significantly different from one another.  Therefore, when the speaker says that, when he's old, he's going to tell others than he took the road "less traveled by," he basically admits that he's planning to lie.  Everyone wants to believe that their choices are significant and that they are original and unique, but, this poem suggests that there really are no such unique choices.  They have all been made hundreds, thousands, of times before, and these decisions are really not as momentous as they seem at the time.

Thus, one road is no better than the other.

What did President Franklin Roosevelt do to lift America out of the depression?

Just after being inaugurated as the new president of the United States in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the American people, telling them he would "wage a war" on the economic emergency of the Great Depression just as he would if the country were being attacked by a foreign foe.

Roosevelt's commitment to help the American people caused them to be confident in his plans, which collectively became known as the New Deal. The New...

Just after being inaugurated as the new president of the United States in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the American people, telling them he would "wage a war" on the economic emergency of the Great Depression just as he would if the country were being attacked by a foreign foe.

Roosevelt's commitment to help the American people caused them to be confident in his plans, which collectively became known as the New Deal. The New Deal was made up of several projects and initiatives that were designed to bring the country more financial stability. Some of the more significant achievements as part of the New Deal included the following:

• A four-day bank holiday to keep people from taking money from shaky banks. This began the process of stabilizing the banking industry.


• Asking congress to end Prohibition, making the sale and purchase beer legal again.


• The establishment of the National Industrial Recovery Act, which guaranteed workers the right to unionize and bargain as a collective group for increased wages and improved working environments.

Roosevelt's initiatives and plans didn't resolve all the United States' economic problems, but they did allow the American people to have more confidence in their government's ability to help in a financial crisis.

Does Amir redeem himself at the end of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini?

Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner revolves around the sins and guilt of its protagonist, Amir. In his childhood, and at the beginning of the text, Amir witnesses the rape of his friend Hassan during a kite running contest. Hassan is raped because he refuses to give up Hassan's kite to the local bully when he is running it in the kite running contest. Amir says and does nothing to prevent the rape. In his confusion and shame, he rejects Hassan. Amir lives with this guilt for the rest of his childhood, and it ends up shaping many of his adulthood decisions. 

At the end of The Kite Runner, Amir has rescued Hassan's son, Sohrab, from sexual slavery. This rescue causes Amir significant physical, mental, and fiscal sacrifices. It's not until the final scene, in which Amir runs the kite for Sohrab, that Amir finally redeems himself. By making the decision to assume Hassan's role, Amir absolves himself of his childhood prejudices and sins. 

An electric clothes dryer is rated at 2,800 W. How much energy does it use in 35 min?

You can use the following formula to solve this problem: Electric Energy = Power x Time.  

You have already been given the power. It's 2,800 watts. 1 watt of power is equivalent to 1 Joule of energy per second.

That means you need to convert 35 minutes into seconds. Multiply 35 minutes x 60 seconds/ minute and you get 2,100 seconds.  

Now multiply that answer by the 2,800 watts of power being used....

You can use the following formula to solve this problem: Electric Energy = Power x Time.  

You have already been given the power. It's 2,800 watts. 1 watt of power is equivalent to 1 Joule of energy per second.

That means you need to convert 35 minutes into seconds. Multiply 35 minutes x 60 seconds/ minute and you get 2,100 seconds.  

Now multiply that answer by the 2,800 watts of power being used.  

2,800 x 2,100 = 5,880,000 Joules

The electric dryer in question is using 5,880,000 Joules of energy during that 35 minute time period. Compared to anything else in the house, that clothes dryer is probably the the highest electric energy consumer on the property. I've attached a link below that explains a few other formulas regarding electricity consumption, usage, and how the power company uses kilo-watt hours instead of joules.   

What are the different ideas about the way the law operates and the different views expressed in Chapter 23 of To Kill A Mockingbird?

After the trial and conviction of Tom Robinson, Jem talks with his father about the laws and conditions that relate to this trial.

• Jim Crow and the law

When Jem objects to the severe penalty imposed upon Tom Robinson--

"It ain't right. He didn't kill anybody even if he was guilty. He didn't take anybody's life"--

Atticus informs his son that in Alabama rape is a capital offence. Still Jem objects to the jury's severe sentence, and Atticus points to the one deciding factor that exists in their time: 

"Tom Robinson's a colored man, Jem. No jury in the part of the world's going to say, 'We think you're guilty, but not very' on a charge like that....It was either a straight acquittal or nothing."

Later in his conversation with his son, Atticus explains that the jury of white men who served at the trial are reasonable men, but during the trial something came

"...between them and reason....they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins."

• Circumstantial Evidence

Then, Atticus tells his son that he has no argument against rape being a capital offence, but he does have deep disapproval of the jury's having found Tom guilty on what was purely circumstantial evidence. When Jem points out that many others have been convicted on circumstantial evidence, Atticus qualifies his disapproval as he objects to the fact that judgments are made upon the basis of "reasonable doubt." He believes that when there are no eye witnesses, there should not be a conviction if there is even a "shadow of a doubt."

• Judgment by juries

Jem feels that juries should be done away with; Atticus feels that the law should be changed, not to eliminate juries, but to have the law state that only judges have the power of fixing the penalty in capital cases. [Interestingly, Alabama now allows for judge override of a sentence given by a jury.]

He does point out, however, that people often carry resentments into the jury box, subtly alluding to Bob Ewell who lied and made Tom Robinson a scapegoat for his daughter's conduct.

• Selection of juries

Jem wonders aloud why there are rarely residents from the town who serve on juries in Maycomb, and why someone like Miss Maudie is never on a jury. His father tells him that women are not allowed to serve on a jury, and the townspeople rarely serve because they would have conflicts of interest many times. Atticus illustrates this last point by saying that if a resident of Maycomb such as Mr. Link Deas, who owns a store in town, were called to be a juror in a case involving two townspeople, he would wish to exclude himself because he would not want to lose either person's business. For, a verdict against one of them may cause resentment by that person, and this feeling could spread to other customers.