At what point does Shakespeare's Macbeth become a tragedy?

Shakespeare's drama becomes a tragedy when Macbeth kills Duncan.  

I think that Macbeth's murder of Duncan is the point where the drama becomes a tragedy because it shows Macbeth doing something he does not want to do.  When confronted with the prospect of committing such a horrible act, Macbeth is uncertain.   He communicates this towards the end of Act I:

First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,Strong both against the...

Shakespeare's drama becomes a tragedy when Macbeth kills Duncan.  

I think that Macbeth's murder of Duncan is the point where the drama becomes a tragedy because it shows Macbeth doing something he does not want to do.  When confronted with the prospect of committing such a horrible act, Macbeth is uncertain.   He communicates this towards the end of Act I:

First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed; then as his host,
Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself.

Goaded by Lady Macbeth, Macbeth kills Duncan.  In my mind, this is where the drama becomes a tragedy. Macbeth, a noble warrior and powerful human being, is reduced to doing what he does not want to do.  It is tragic to see someone reduced to such a state.  

Macbeth's murder of Duncan  also marks how the drama is a tragedy because it is clear that nothing good can come from this moment.  Macbeth's deed is not one of construction.  It is not an act of restoration.  Rather, he sets in motion the chain of events that lead to his undoing.  Killing Duncan is where Macbeth's moral compass disappears. The struggle that he had in having to "bear the knife" reflects that he knows the difference between right and wrong.  In expressing his desire not to kill Duncan, Macbeth shows that he can be good.  However, this shred of goodness disappears when he kills Duncan. Macbeth ends up being incapable of going back to this potential for goodness. The permanent loss of Macbeth's decency is another reason why this particular moment marks the drama as a tragedy.

How do age and gender affect breathing rate?

After birth, a child's breathing is usually about 30 to 60 breaths per minute. When they are one year old, breathing tends to slow down to about 24 to 40 breaths per minute. This will remain so until the child is almost three, when the breathing rate will slow down to about 22 to 40 breaths per minute. 

From six to twelve, most kids will have a resting breath rate between 18 and 30 breaths...

After birth, a child's breathing is usually about 30 to 60 breaths per minute. When they are one year old, breathing tends to slow down to about 24 to 40 breaths per minute. This will remain so until the child is almost three, when the breathing rate will slow down to about 22 to 40 breaths per minute. 

From six to twelve, most kids will have a resting breath rate between 18 and 30 breaths per minute. Most people are in peak fitness when they are teenagers, and as such the lowest breath rate falls between the ages of 13 to 19. These people will breathe between twelve to sixteen times per minute.

As an adult, breath rate begins to increase again. Adults will breathe between 12 and 20 times per minute. At the age of 65, most elderly people will breathe between 12 and 28 times per minute; those 80 and above breathe 10 to 30 times per minute.

Women typically have higher respiration rates than men.

What are some similarities between current American society and ancient Greece with respect to art, architecture, and politics?

Much of western civilization developed from ancient Graeco-Roman traditions. Thus, the similarities one finds between elements of contemporary North American culture and ancient Greek culture are actually the result of direct influence. 

First, the notion of democracy originated in ancient Athens. Although the United States is technically a republic (or "representative democracy") rather than a direct democracy, many elements of contemporary government, including trial by jury, derive from ancient models.

In architecture, many buildings follow...

Much of western civilization developed from ancient Graeco-Roman traditions. Thus, the similarities one finds between elements of contemporary North American culture and ancient Greek culture are actually the result of direct influence. 

First, the notion of democracy originated in ancient Athens. Although the United States is technically a republic (or "representative democracy") rather than a direct democracy, many elements of contemporary government, including trial by jury, derive from ancient models.

In architecture, many buildings follow neoclassical models using elements such as columns of the three classical orders (Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian). The style known as "Federal architecture" is based on classical Greek models and can be seen in many iconic buildings such as the Lincoln Memorial, the National Gallery, and the American Museum of Natural History.

Another similarity to ancient Greece is the notion of public art as a form of civic pride. Just as Pericles engaged in a massive public works program to glorify Athens, so we now have requirements that a small percentage of the budget for public buildings be set aside for art. 

In art, many of the techniques for portraying the human body, such as the S curve body shape, first appeared in Greek sculpture. The lost-wax casting process used by many Greek sculptors is still used in modern art. 

How does the personification of the storm in chapter 16 of Hatchet add to or enhance the conflict?

The personification of the storm enhances the conflict because it creates suspense, as Brian has recently faced the moose and his defenses are low. 

By this point, Brian is successful at getting food. A moose attacks him while he is getting more food. In addition to being frightened, Brian also injures his shoulder and ribs. He manages to get back to his shelter and falls asleep. That is when the storm wakes him. 

The...

The personification of the storm enhances the conflict because it creates suspense, as Brian has recently faced the moose and his defenses are low. 

By this point, Brian is successful at getting food. A moose attacks him while he is getting more food. In addition to being frightened, Brian also injures his shoulder and ribs. He manages to get back to his shelter and falls asleep. That is when the storm wakes him. 

The fear of the storm on top of the shock and pain of the moose attack is almost more than Brian can take. 

Low, almost alive, almost from a throat somehow, the sound, the noise was a roar, a far-off roar but coming at him and when he was fully awake he sat up in the darkness, grimacing with pain from his ribs (Chapter 16). 

This description of the storm increases suspense. The reader feels sorry for Brian and wonders what more this poor kid can take. He was practically starving, and is attacked when doing his best to get food. The attack frightens him, but he doesn't even have time to recover because of the storm. Like the moose, the storm is a new, unfamiliar obstacle and Brian doesn’t know what will happen. 

He found the spear and bow where they were hanging on the pegs of the shelter wall and brought his weapons to the bed he had made of pine boughs. More comfort, but like the comfort of the flames it didn't work with this new threat that he didn't understand yet (Chapter 16).

Brian feared the wind might be a tornado. He was not prepared for the intense wind that "whipped against the front wall of the shelter like a rag." Still, Brian survives this incident like all of the others.

How do the main characters in Hamlet face the question "To be or not to be"?

When Hamlet asks this question, he's essentially asking if it is better to be alive or dead.  Is it easier to put up with everything life throws at us or resign oneself to death?  In Hamlet's mind, death does, theoretically, end the heartache that results from life's harsh treatment.  When other characters are forced to grapple with this question, most seem to choose "to be," or live instead of die.  However, Hamlet claims, "I do...

When Hamlet asks this question, he's essentially asking if it is better to be alive or dead.  Is it easier to put up with everything life throws at us or resign oneself to death?  In Hamlet's mind, death does, theoretically, end the heartache that results from life's harsh treatment.  When other characters are forced to grapple with this question, most seem to choose "to be," or live instead of die.  However, Hamlet claims, "I do not set my life at a pin's fee," when he is about to meet his father's ghost (1.4.73).  He means that he hardly values his own life; in fact, he values it less than he values a pin.  Hamlet seems prepared to embrace the idea of death. 

Further, Ophelia seems to eventually choose death over the pain of life.  She is driven mad by being forced to spurn Hamlet, the man she loves, then by his ensuing madness (which she believes to be sincere), and his murder of her father.  When she falls into the water, Gertrude describes her "As one incapable of her own distress" (4.7.203).  Perhaps it is simply that Ophelia is not distressed because she has no more reason to live, and, with nothing left to live for, she accepts her impending death in the water.

No one else in the play wants to die (or be dead) though.  Hamlet's father is clearly angry that his life was taken away: he is most angry that he was taken "in the blossoms of [his] sin, / Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled, / [...] but sent to my account / With all [his] imperfections on [his] head" (1.5.83-86).  Old King Hamlet is angry, certainly, that he was cut down in his prime even before he could make confession.

Claudius and Gertrude have no desire to die; they seem to want to live on and enjoy their lives together (until Hamlet confronts his mother, at least).  She is very distressed to realize that her husband poisoned the cup meant for Hamlet from which she drinks.  She says, "O, my dear Hamlet! / The drink, the drink!  I am poisoned" (5.2.340-341).  These are not the cries of a person happy to die.  Claudius, likewise, wants to live.  When Hamlet wounds him, he begs, "O, yet defend me, friends!  I am but hurt" (5.2.355).  He asks for assistance to sustain his life, though it does not come.

How would you analyze the verdict passed against the tenant in Langston Hughes's "Ballad of the Landlord"?

Langston Hughes's "The Ballad of the Landlord" is told from the point of view of a black tenant living in a run-down apartment. The tenant asks the landlord to fix his roof because it's "sprung a leak" and the steps because they are so broken "[i]t's a wonder you don't fall down." While the point of view remains consistent for the first five stanzas, it shifts twice in the final two stanzas, first to the...

Langston Hughes's "The Ballad of the Landlord" is told from the point of view of a black tenant living in a run-down apartment. The tenant asks the landlord to fix his roof because it's "sprung a leak" and the steps because they are so broken "[i]t's a wonder you don't fall down." While the point of view remains consistent for the first five stanzas, it shifts twice in the final two stanzas, first to the landlord's point of view and then to a third-person point of view.

Hughes creates these point-of-view shifts, particularly the shift into third-person in the final stanza, to show how blacks in America at this time are often seen as aggressors. This tenant, who is threatened with eviction for asking that his housing problems be remedied, has been mistreated for a long time and attempts to alleviate the situation peacefully before he loses his temper. Outsiders, especially the police and the media, do not see this building frustration. Instead, they see a black man who threatened his white landlord with violence.

The newspaper headline for the man's sentence for threatening the landlord reads, "JUDGE GIVES NEGRO 90 DAYS IN COUNTY JAIL!" This Draconian punishment is typical of prison sentences blacks received in the first half of the 20th century. According to the third-person narrator who is speaking in the final stanza, this punishment seems perfectly acceptable.

Why does Norton call Lorraine a "screech owl" in chapter 9 of Paul Zindel's The Pigman?

A screech owl is known for its high-pitched, loud, and annoying call. Norton probably calls Lorraine a screech owl because of these well-known qualities. However, Norton's derogatory term is unfounded because Lorraine doesn't go around screaming like a screech owl. Norton most likely uses the term because he is jealous that Lorraine has been monopolizing John's time recently. A screech owl would certainly claim someone's attention in the wild if a person heard it screeching....

A screech owl is known for its high-pitched, loud, and annoying call. Norton probably calls Lorraine a screech owl because of these well-known qualities. However, Norton's derogatory term is unfounded because Lorraine doesn't go around screaming like a screech owl. Norton most likely uses the term because he is jealous that Lorraine has been monopolizing John's time recently. A screech owl would certainly claim someone's attention in the wild if a person heard it screeching. Similarly, Norton may feel that Lorraine has caught too much of John's attention.

Norton also knows that John and Lorraine have been spending time at Mr. Pignati's house, which makes him wonder why two teenagers would hang out with an old man. Norton's interest in the old man is to steal from his home, though, as shown in the following passage:

"'Has he got anything worth stealing?' Norton clarified, his eyes beginning to get mean and sneaky like an alley cat about to jump on a bird" (100-101).

When John won't tell Norton about the possible loot he could steal from Mr. Pignati's house, Norton attacks Lorraine in an effort to discredit John's association with her.

"Norton had reached a new peak of ugliness that day with the afternoon sun shining down on him. He paused a minute, then took a sip of his beer. 'Well, what are you and that screech owl going over there for?'" (101).

If Norton can make John feel ashamed for hanging out with Lorraine, then he thinks John will help him steal some valuable items from Mr. Pignati's house. Remember, Norton only calls Lorraine a screech owl after John refuses to provide information about Mr. Pignati's property; therefore, Norton calls Lorraine a screech owl because he is mad John won't help him steal from Mr. Pignati.