In Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, what is the most important thing Brian does to survive?

The most important thing that Brian does to survive in Hatchet is develop his mental toughness.

Brian was in a state of panic prior to recognizing the power of mental strength.  He had taken over flying and landing the plane after the pilot suffered a heart attack. The crash landing was in the middle of the wilderness, severely wounding Brian. Hailing from an urban area, Brian had no real idea of what to do.  He found himself struggling for food and shelter, while being victim to animals and natural elements.  All of these realities begin to take a toll on him.  Anxiety settles in, and his survival chances decrease as a result.


Brian has to develop mental strength to confront the challenges that confront him.  Developing this element is the most important thing he does to ensure his survival. One of the first moments where we see this is in Chapter 5.  In the midst of his tension, Brian remembers the instruction of one of his teachers. This helps him establish the mentality needed to survive challenging situations:



Brian had once had an English teacher, a guy named Perpich, who was always talking about being positive, thinking positive, staying on top of things. That's how Perpich had put it—stay positive and stay on top of things. Brian thought of him now—wondered how to stay positive and stay on top of this. All Perpich would say is that I have to get motivated. He was always telling kids to get motivated.



Thinking about Perpich's words triggers the first instance of Brian figuring out how to survive.   Instead of dwelling on all of the things that have gone wrong or everything he does not have, Brian "gets motivated" about what he needs to do.  After thinking about Perpich's teachings, Brian identifies the need for shelter and food, and uses his shirt to keep the "vampires" or mosquitoes off his back. The ending to the chapter shows the value of Perpich's instructions:  "I have to get motivated, he thought, remembering Perpich. Right now I'm all I've got. I have to do something."


When Brian establishes the mental toughness to face down the elements around him, his survival chances increase.  Things begin to fall into place for him.  He gets his first bit of luck when he throws the hatchet against the cave wall, making sparks that allow him to figure out how to create a fire.  From this, Brian figures out how to find food and cook them over the fire.  He enhances his shelter, creating a food shelf and a door to keep out intruders.  Brian develops a toughness that enables him to survive attacks from a moose as well as a tornado.  Brian maximizes his chances for survival by developing mental toughness.  This enables him to endure the natural elements, and invariably triumph over them.

What is the Mayflower Compact?

The Mayflower Compact is an agreement signed by settlers who came to what is now the United States aboard the ship Mayflower.  In this document, the men (the document was signed only by male heads of households) agree to be governed by a government that they will set up.  This document is important in American history because it is the first written framework for a government produced anywhere in what is now the United...

The Mayflower Compact is an agreement signed by settlers who came to what is now the United States aboard the ship Mayflower.  In this document, the men (the document was signed only by male heads of households) agree to be governed by a government that they will set up.  This document is important in American history because it is the first written framework for a government produced anywhere in what is now the United States.


When the Pilgrims and others left England on the Mayflower, they expected to go to Virginia.  They had made a deal with the government in Virginia to live there.  However, storms blew them off course and they landed far to the north.  They decided to stay there, but they did not have a legitimate government set up at that point.  They felt that they needed to set up a government that they all could agree to.  They especially needed the non-Pilgrims to agree to obey the government.  In the Mayflower Compact, they did this.  They agreed to have a government and to obey that government.  This was the first time that a written agreement had been produced in what is now the US that set up a government in this way.  Because our Constitution is so important to us, we feel that the Mayflower Compact is important because we can call it the first constitution created on what is now American soil.

Do you consider the Anarchist in "The Stolen Bacillus" by H. G. Wells to be the victim of a prank?

In "The Stolen Bacillus," the Anarchist is not the victim of a deliberate prank, in the traditional sense. In fact, the Bacteriologist has no idea that his visitor is an anarchist who intends to steal the bacillus for the purposes of poisoning the water supply. Instead, he thinks that the Anarchist is simply a curious visitor to his laboratory and the Bacteriologist has no knowledge of the man's real intentions. It is for this reason...

In "The Stolen Bacillus," the Anarchist is not the victim of a deliberate prank, in the traditional sense. In fact, the Bacteriologist has no idea that his visitor is an anarchist who intends to steal the bacillus for the purposes of poisoning the water supply. Instead, he thinks that the Anarchist is simply a curious visitor to his laboratory and the Bacteriologist has no knowledge of the man's real intentions. It is for this reason that he shows him the bacillus and, as a means of impressing him, he claims to have live cholera in his possession. This attempt at showing off quickly backfires, however, when the Anarchist takes the bacillus and disappears from the laboratory. The Bacteriologist then gives chase but only because creating the bacillus is a troublesome process, not because the Anarchist has taken live cholera. This is demonstrated by his comment at the end of the story:



But the bother is, I shall have all the trouble and expense of preparing some more.



In essence, then, the Anarchist is the victim of a misunderstanding as opposed to a deliberate prank.

What is a thesis statement about the theme of jealousy in Othello?

As it was in the ancient biblical story of Cain, the "worm of jealousy" moves into Othello's heart and causes him to commit his heinous act of killing Desdemona. Iago is the one who places this worm into Othello.


With the idea of the worm of jealousy, then, the student can write a persuasive essay designed to convince readers that Othello's jealousy is like a worm that burrows its way until it has destroyed the...

As it was in the ancient biblical story of Cain, the "worm of jealousy" moves into Othello's heart and causes him to commit his heinous act of killing Desdemona. Iago is the one who places this worm into Othello.


With the idea of the worm of jealousy, then, the student can write a persuasive essay designed to convince readers that Othello's jealousy is like a worm that burrows its way until it has destroyed the organ(s) it has attacked. 


Thus, there will be a need to write a thesis containing a blueprint of the three main points. This thesis will develop how this "worm" of jealousy makes its way through the heart of Othello and torments him to the point of suspicion and, later, madness. This thesis can state that the "worm" of jealousy is planted into Othello's mind by ideas suggested by others, and by two other situations or conditions such as false appearances (i.e. the handkerchief).


Here are some points to consider in formulating the thesis statement:


  • The seeds of jealousy are planted early in Act I even before Iago's worm has started to grow. When Brabantio accuses Othello of seducing Desdemona by witchcraft, he is defeated by Othello's testimony before the senate. Afterwards, Brabantio tells Othello:


Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see:
She has deceived her father, and may thee (Act I, Scene 3, lines 288-289).



  • In Act II, Iago schemes to have Cassio drawn into a fight. Because of the disturbance, Iago strips Cassio of his rank, blaming him for the mayhem. Then, Iago moves in and convinces Cassio to beseech Desdemona to convince her husband to reinstate him as an officer.

  • Iago then goes to Othello and insinuates that Cassio and Desdemona are possibly lovers, making Othello suspicious. At the end of Act II, Iago tells Roderigo his plan:


Myself the while to draw the Moor apart
And bring him jump when he may Cassio find
Soliciting his wife, Aye, that's the way.
Dull not device by coldness and delay (Act II, Scene 3, lines 348-351).



  • In Act III, Iago sees Cassio speaking with Desdemona as he pleads with her to ask Othello to reinstate him. Later, however, Iago tells Othello that he has seen Cassio "steal away so guilty-like" (Act III, Scene 3, line 40). Iago's insinuations heighten Othello's jealousy.

  • Othello demands “ocular proof” (Act III, Scene 3, line 365) of his wife's unfaithfulness, so Iago tells Othello he has seen Cassio “wipe his beard with” (Act III, Scene 3, line 439) the handkerchief Othello gave his wife. Hearing this, Othello vows to take vengeance on his wife and Cassio.

  • Iago's next act of treachery is to get his wife Emilia to give him the handkerchief Desdemona dropped. He later plants this handkerchief in Cassio's lodgings; then, he suggests that Othello listen as Iago questions Cassio. While he talks to Cassio, Iago tricks the former officer into speaking of his affair with a courtesan named Bianca. Iago whispers Bianca's name so softly that Othello cannot hear, causing Othello to assume the conversation is about Desdemona. Later, Bianca finds a duplicate handkerchief and accuses Cassio of giving her a second-hand gift; consequently, Othello believes Cassio originally received the handkerchief from Desdemona.

  • Finally, Othello makes Iago his lieutenant and asks Iago to accompany him and furnish him "with some swift means of death/ For the fair devil" (Act III, Scene 4, lines 479-480).

  • Enraged, Othello confronts Desdemona and strangles her to death.

Has airport security measurably improved since September 11, 2001? What measures do you believe could be implemented to reduce costs and offer...

Here is some information that you might include in your essay. Two months after the September 11, 2001, attacks, Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), forming the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). This effectively put the system of airport security under federal authority; formerly, each individual airport had control over its security and often hired private companies to carry out security operations. In November of 2002, the TSA was placed under the newly...

Here is some information that you might include in your essay. Two months after the September 11, 2001, attacks, Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), forming the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). This effectively put the system of airport security under federal authority; formerly, each individual airport had control over its security and often hired private companies to carry out security operations. In November of 2002, the TSA was placed under the newly formed Department of Homeland Security.


The TSA carried out several reforms to improve airport safety. For example, passengers were not allowed to pass through security checkpoints unless they had tickets, and there were restrictions on what kinds of baggage they could bring on board the plane (and liquids, except in small quantities, were banned from passing through security). In addition, passengers were over time required to remove their shoes, and they were screened carefully. Cockpit doors were locked, and no one could enter the cockpit during the flight. These measures improved a situation in which there was lax airport security and little to no security measures during flights. Eventually, the TSA employed 65,000 federal employees, and passengers paid for some of these new expenses with a new fee added to their tickets, amounting to over $2.9 billion in fees from 2002 to 2010. According to an article in the International Business Times on September 11, 2014 (see the link below), some experts such as Victor Asal, a political science professor at SUNY Albany, think we are safer as a country than we were before 9/11. 


However, training and turnover at the TSA continue to be problematic. In past years, turnover among TSA employees was estimated to be 20-26%. That means that about one quarter of TSA employees left their jobs or were let go each year. In 2008, the TSA already had had 110,000 employees in six years, meaning that each year, they had many new employees and were in constant need of rehiring. In 2016, the TSA opened a new training facility in Georgia that will try to train TSA workers in the types of situations they will face on the job. This seems like a good step after a sting operation conducted by the Homeland Security Department found that many security checkpoints failed tests of their safety. Other measures to improve airline security might include more intensive training and continual checks to make sure airport security personnel are doing their jobs correctly. If screeners knew that there are routine tests, which would not be expensive to conduct, they might be more attentive to their jobs. In addition, perhaps personnel who met high standards could be used to train newer employees. 

What is the instrument used for broadcasting?

Transmitter is the name of the equipment used for broadcasting. A transmitter is an electronic device which generates and amplifies a carrier wave, which it mixes with the information to be disseminated and then broadcasts the resulting signal from an antenna.


Transmitters do this by first converting electric power from a battery or electrical mains into radio frequency. An electronic information signal in the form of an audio (sound) signal from a microphone or a...

Transmitter is the name of the equipment used for broadcasting. A transmitter is an electronic device which generates and amplifies a carrier wave, which it mixes with the information to be disseminated and then broadcasts the resulting signal from an antenna.


Transmitters do this by first converting electric power from a battery or electrical mains into radio frequency. An electronic information signal in the form of an audio (sound) signal from a microphone or a video (image) signal from a video device such as a camera or a computer is mixed with the radio frequency generated by the transmitter through a process called modulation. The radio waves generated by the process of modulation is called the carrier signal.


The carrier signal is then transmitted from an antenna. The antenna may be enclosed in the same case as the transmitter, as in portable devices, or it may be mounted on top of a building or on a separate tower, as it is in TV or radio stations.

Vanity leads to disappointments and despair. How is this demonstrated in "Mirror" by Sylvia Plath?

There are at least two ways of looking at the poem 'Mirror' by Sylvia Plath, as there is a possibility that vanity is not the only interpretation. It is true that many readers will think that a woman who cares only for her appearance is truly vain and shallow. However, the value of self-esteem is now widely held by professionals to be of the greatest importance in influencing the wellbeing of the person. Low self-esteem...

There are at least two ways of looking at the poem 'Mirror' by Sylvia Plath, as there is a possibility that vanity is not the only interpretation. It is true that many readers will think that a woman who cares only for her appearance is truly vain and shallow. However, the value of self-esteem is now widely held by professionals to be of the greatest importance in influencing the wellbeing of the person. Low self-esteem and a lack of emotional support can lead to serious consequences such as depression, mental health conditions, and even acute self-harm, as in the case of the author herself, who later took her own life. In the poem we see a woman who is only just beginning to fear the honesty of her mirror. The mirror is personified and tells us how objective it is; the later part of the poem describes how the woman responds to that. She turns to other, kinder reflectors, such as the moon, a candle, and a lake, but still she feels very low. the lake cannot understand why she has become even more unhappy. It is because she sees that her younger, prettier self no longer exists. It is as if her young self has drowned in the lake.


It is true that we see disappointment and despair, and the references to drowning and tears underline the mood of loss. We also see it in the 'spectre' of an old woman in the lake, representing the shocking truth. The speaker's response is not one of acceptance and confidence in a future with other rewards. Her utter despair and disappointment at what she feels she is becoming is represented by the scary vision of an ugly old fish, and readers may feel that there is more than just simple vanity going on here. It is a body blow to her whole raison d'etre as she fears she may never reach her potential; time is running out. The message seems to be more about loss of self-esteem and control over her own life than feelings of vanity over looks alone.

What are the problems with Uganda's government?

Youth unemployment and corruption are two problems that face the Ugandan government. Modern governments all over the world face many problem...