Describe the setting and its significance in "Games at Twilight."

The setting of the story is a large garden somewhere in India. 

The general, broad setting is in India.  That's never stated, but the details about tea time and brown skin colors lead readers to know that the story is taking place in British ruled India.  All of the names in the story hint toward India as well.  

More specifically, the setting is in a large garden with a white wall, beautiful bougainvillea plants,...

The setting of the story is a large garden somewhere in India. 

The general, broad setting is in India.  That's never stated, but the details about tea time and brown skin colors lead readers to know that the story is taking place in British ruled India.  All of the names in the story hint toward India as well.  

More specifically, the setting is in a large garden with a white wall, beautiful bougainvillea plants, and gravel walkways.  The story takes place in the afternoon of a very hot day.  Those details are important because it explains why the children have been cooped up inside all day, and it explains why they are so anxious to get out.  The garden is a big, wonderful playground, and the kids are straining to be let out to play.  

"Please, ma, please,'' they begged. "We’ll play in the veranda and porch—we won’t go a step out of the porch.''

After the children are released, they begin playing hide-and-seek. Once the game begins, the story moves its setting from the garden to the garden shed.  The story's protagonist, Ravi, uses the shed for his hiding spot.  He remains in the shed until very late in the day.  By the time that he emerges, the other kids have forgotten about him and moved on to playing a different game. 

In Lyddie by Katherine Paterson, what happens when Lyddie goes to sign the petition? What is her reaction?

Lyddie goes to sign the petition for better working conditions in Chapter Nineteen.  By the time this chapter rolls around, Lyddie is already feeling fairly depressed.  In the previous chapter, Charlie tells her that their family farm has been sold.  He also tells Lyddie that the Phinneys want to take care of both Charlie and Rachel.  The result is that Lyddie is left feeling utterly alone.  Without her family and the farm, she feels lost....

Lyddie goes to sign the petition for better working conditions in Chapter Nineteen.  By the time this chapter rolls around, Lyddie is already feeling fairly depressed.  In the previous chapter, Charlie tells her that their family farm has been sold.  He also tells Lyddie that the Phinneys want to take care of both Charlie and Rachel.  The result is that Lyddie is left feeling utterly alone.  Without her family and the farm, she feels lost.  She feels as if her work no longer has a purpose.  If Lyddie signs the petition, it offers her a goal and some purpose again.   

When Lyddie goes to sign the petition, she is told that she is too late.  The petition has been sent in.  Lyddie's reaction is utter devastation.  She feels that all of her efforts have been too late.  She wasn't able to sign the petition in time, she wasn't able to earn enough money to buy the farm back in time, and she wasn't able to provide enough care for Rachel in time.  Lyddie's general feelings of being lost and purposeless only increase after discovering that she is too late to sign the petition.  

Why does Blanche say, "Now it's time to bury someone I hate?" in Brighton Beach Memoirs?

Blanche says this after she has had a long fight with her sister, Kate. The fight is instigated in part because Blanche's date with Frank Murphy has been canceled, as Frank has had an accident. Kate feels that Blanche is too self-centered, and it is clear that Blanche's route out of her sister's house--marriage--seems nowhere in sight. Blanche resolves to move out of the house and find a job.

After she fights with Kate, Blanche...

Blanche says this after she has had a long fight with her sister, Kate. The fight is instigated in part because Blanche's date with Frank Murphy has been canceled, as Frank has had an accident. Kate feels that Blanche is too self-centered, and it is clear that Blanche's route out of her sister's house--marriage--seems nowhere in sight. Blanche resolves to move out of the house and find a job.

After she fights with Kate, Blanche begins to fight with Nora, her daughter. Nora tells Blanche she feels unloved, and Blanche responds that she is sorry, but "I am tired of apologizing. After a while it becomes your life's work and it doesn't bring any money into the house" (page 96). Blanche realizes that she has been a weak, apologetic person who has tried to make her way in life by depending on others. She has now resolved to be more independent and to find a job, feather than depending on her sister and her brother-in-law, Jack, who has just had a heart attack. Blanche says, "I've already buried someone I love. Now it's time to bury someone I hate" (page 96). By this, she means that she already buried her husband, and now she wants to bury her old, dependent self and be reborn (metaphorically) as a more independent and active person. 

Othello is both a stranger and a hero, but which of the two words best defines him?

Othello is a notably heroic character, making his manipulated downfall all the more tragic. Although his nobility and honor are some of his primary characteristics, Othello is also a black man in a white man's world, and so, because of the prejudice of many of the the white characters in the play (most notably Iago), it would be more accurate to call Othello a "stranger."

Black individuals were often viewed as strange, rare, and/ or...

Othello is a notably heroic character, making his manipulated downfall all the more tragic. Although his nobility and honor are some of his primary characteristics, Othello is also a black man in a white man's world, and so, because of the prejudice of many of the the white characters in the play (most notably Iago), it would be more accurate to call Othello a "stranger."

Black individuals were often viewed as strange, rare, and/ or primitive in Shakespeare's time. Othello presents us with a robust contrast to this stereotype, defying prejudice with his nobility and honor. In many ways, Iago's scheme can be seen as a reaction to Othello's defiance of racist stereotypes. Indeed, though he's angry about being passed over for a promotion, Iago is also a white man trying to force a black man to fulfill a stereotyped caricature by provoking his jealousy and anger. In other words, Iago alienates Othello with his deception, forcing the honorable soldier to become a stranger to his community. As such, though Othello is a hero, Iago forces him to become a stranger and stay a stranger by using deception to alienate him from the white community. 

What is the conclusion of "The Happy Prince"?

"The Happy Prince" is a short story by Oscar Wilde. It is a children's fantasy story that is like a fable. In the short story genre, the ending or "conclusion" is called the denouement and the resolution. To find the denouement, which simply means the falling action, find the climax, or the high point of the action or point of highest tension. Everything after that point is considered falling action, so you might consider...

"The Happy Prince" is a short story by Oscar Wilde. It is a children's fantasy story that is like a fable. In the short story genre, the ending or "conclusion" is called the denouement and the resolution. To find the denouement, which simply means the falling action, find the climax, or the high point of the action or point of highest tension. Everything after that point is considered falling action, so you might consider that part the conclusion. The resolution of a story refers to the part of the story in which the conflict is resolved.The climax sets up a decision or action that results in the resolution of the conflict. When you speak of the conclusion of the story, you may mean the resolution of the conflict at or near the story's end. Fables are a specific type of story that feature talking animals and end with a moral. The moral provides a strong conclusion to the fable, often conveying a statement of advice or judgment. 

In "The Happy Prince," the conflict is that the prince--that is, the statue--is not happy because he sees so much suffering in the world that he cannot help. The swallow assists him in his desire to ease the suffering of others. The climax occurs when the swallow dies and the heart of the Happy Prince cracks; both of them have given everything they have to help others. Everything that happens after that, including the bickering and decisions of the Councillors and Mayor, can be considered the conclusion of the story. Specifically, the resolution occurs in the last line, where God grants eternal happiness to the bird and the Happy Prince. If you are considering the story as a fable, then the moral, which is the conclusion of a fable, occurs in the final two paragraphs with the idea that to God the two most precious things in the city are the dead bird and the leaden heart of the Happy Prince. Although it is not stated overtly, the moral is that self-sacrifice to relieve the suffering of others is precious to God and brings eternal joy.  

There are three ways of looking at the conclusion of this story: the denouement, the resolution, or the moral.

What are some quotes in Romeo and Juliet that contain dramatic irony and foreshadowing in act 1 & 2?

Certainly, the concern that Romeo expresses at the end of Act 1, scene 4, before he and his friends go to the big party at Lord Capulet's house foreshadows later tragedy in the play.  He says that his

mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars [that]
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
With this night's revels, and expire the term
Of a despised life closed in [his] breast
By some vile forfeit of untimely death.  (1.4.113-118)

In other words, Romeo has a sort of premonition that the party tonight will initiate some series of fated events in his life that will culminate in his death as a young man.  He, of course, is right.  Tonight, he will meet Juliet and begin the relationship that will eventually lead to his suicide in her family's vault.

When Romeo and Juliet first meet and kiss, the audience knows that they are sworn enemies, although they do not know one another's identity yet.  Juliet calls him "Good pilgrim," in part, because she does not know his name, and Romeo calls her "dear saint" (1.5.108, 1.5.114).  It is only after this first encounter, where they fall in love at first sight, that each learns the other's identity.  Their initial meeting when they do not know the other's identity constitutes dramatic irony because we know that they are sworn enemies before they realize it.

Later, in Act 2, scene 2, when Juliet believes that she is alone and speaking only to herself on her balcony, we know that Romeo is there, hidden by the darkness, and that he can hear everything she says.  Because we know more than she, this is another example of dramatic irony.

In An Inspector Calls, how is the light meant to change after the arrival of the Inspector? What does this type of lighting remind you of?

There are no clear stage directions with regard to lighting in the script itself, but one can assume that the bright and jovial mood in the room would definitely be toned down by the arrival of inspector Goole and, as such, the light would also, to reflect this, be turned down a notch. It would, therefore, be practical to dim the lights slightly once the inspector arrives. Even better would be a slight flickering of...

There are no clear stage directions with regard to lighting in the script itself, but one can assume that the bright and jovial mood in the room would definitely be toned down by the arrival of inspector Goole and, as such, the light would also, to reflect this, be turned down a notch. It would, therefore, be practical to dim the lights slightly once the inspector arrives. Even better would be a slight flickering of the lights and maybe a brief haze in the fireplace. This would indicate to the audience the significance of the inspector's arrival and would suggest a supernatural identity.

The slight adjustment to the light on the inspector's arrival would make the audience instantly aware that the he is no ordinary man and would add to the drama. It would also create an eerie atmosphere and ensure greater interest in the events about to unfold. The creation of such a mood would be supported later when the inspector displays his uncanny insight into not only Eva's unnatural death, but also his inexplicable knowledge of the relationships each of the characters had with this unfortunate girl. This awareness by the audience would keep it in greater suspense for it would want to know who or what the inspector actually is and would not betray the plot. An expectation of something would be created and would create deeper intrigue.

This type of lighting change would remind one of the supernatural elements and events present in one's daily life - those inexplicable little occurrences, such as, for example, deja vu, which we cannot always explain. These experiences add to our discomfort and uncertainty and act as a warning, I suppose, that we should not just take anything for granted as the Birlings and Gerald obviously did.