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What are the major changes Russel goes through in Dogsong by Gary Paulsen?

There are many ways that Russel changes throughout Dogsong. In short, Russel learns to value the old Inuit ways, to respect the value of his sled dogs, and to preserve life through the character of Nancy.

First, Russel learns to value the old Eskimo ways of the Inuit tribe, mostly through the character of Oogruk. Russel’s own father is so immersed in modern ways that he can only point his son to the town elder, who can help Russel. When Russel arrives, he learns a lot just from how Oogruk is living. Even though he lives in the same type of small home that the others do, he continues to observe the old ways. Oogruk doesn’t have electricity and uses animal skins for insulation. Hunting tools line his walls. Oogruk uses seal-oil in his lamp and wears only a breechclout. Oogruk teaches Russel to hunt using bows and arrows and tells him to direct them “to the center of the center” of his prey. Oogruk truly becomes the instrument or the catalyst for Russel’s change when he sends him “north” with only his sled dogs to learn their “song.” Oogruk instructs Russel that songs are different than words in that songs are always true.

Next, Russel changes in learning the value of his sled dogs. His sled dogs are what keep him alive on his esoteric journey “north” and become characters themselves. Russel learns to trust the instinct of the dogs over his own human thoughts. For example, when he hides under the ice ledge and decides to set out in the wrong direction, the dogs’ reluctance to follow Russel’s lead and their correct judgment in direction lead Russel home. On his “dreamrun,” Russel brings down four caribou only with the help of his dogs. Russel is sustained by them fully and knows now that he would die without them. The dogs continue taking Russel north until he runs into Nancy, the next person who allows Russel to change.

Finally, Nancy helps Russel learn the value of life. Nancy is an unwed mother who has been told she has “sinned” by the western missionaries, and so has run off into the wilderness to die. The sled dogs lead Russel directly to Nancy and, through her care, Russel learns to preserve human life. Due to his knowledge of the old ways, Russel is able to kill a polar bear whose meat sustains both Russel and Nancy. Even though Nancy has a stillborn child, Nancy remains alive due to Russel’s intuition and ingenuity. Because of Nancy’s worsening condition (due to the stillbirth), Russel instinctively knows he has to get her to a settlement. Nancy has great pride for Russel with all of his new-found knowledge. The dogs lead Russel and Nancy to an isolated settlement where medical help can be found.

Thus, Russel has learned the value of the old Inuit ways, the importance of his dogs, and the need to sustain life. Through these changes (and by the end of the novel), Russel has truly learned his “dogsong.”

`h(t) = ln(t)/t` Find the derivative of the function.

We'll use the formula of the derivative of a quotient: `(u/v)' = (u'v-u v')/v^2.` Here u=`ln(t)` and `v=t,` therefore `u'=1/t` and `v'=1.` So

`h'(t) = (1/t *t - ln(t))/t^2 = (1 - ln(t))/t^2.`

We'll use the formula of the derivative of a quotient: `(u/v)' = (u'v-u v')/v^2.` Here u=`ln(t)` and `v=t,` therefore `u'=1/t` and `v'=1.` So

`h'(t) = (1/t *t - ln(t))/t^2 = (1 - ln(t))/t^2.`

In To Kill a Mockingbird, which aspect of Mr. Raymond do the children find out is false?

Dolphus Raymond is an interesting character in Maycomb. He is a white man who prefers the company of African-American people, like his mistress and biracial children. He also acts like he's drunk all the time. At the beginning of Chapter 20, he offers Dill a drink from his brown paper sack, which everyone believes is hiding liquor of some sort. Scout believes that Mr. Raymond enjoys corrupting children by offering them liquor. However, when Dill takes a drink, he realizes that Mr. Raymond is only drinking Coca-Cola. Scout asks Mr. Raymond why he likes to fool people into thinking he's always drunk. Mr. Raymond responds that people in the town don't like the way he lives, by which he is referring to the his friendship and association with African-American people. He says he drinks because "I try to give ‘em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason." He drinks so that people will think he lives the way he does because he's a drunkard. He think it's easier for people to think that's why he lives as he does than to wrap their racist minds around the idea that he prefers to live with African-Americans. He tells Dill and Scout the truth because he says that children can understand his ways while adults simply can't.

Why is it important to know the factors affecting an individual's health?

It is important to know the factors affecting an individual's health because we cannot help an individual to be healthy unless we understand and can address those factors. A person's physical and mental health does not exist in a vacuum. There are countless examples of this.

Let's take a person who has type 2 diabetes. If we seek to help this person manage that disease, we must have a fairly comprehensive knowledge of this person's environment. An extreme example would be a homeless diabetic person who has no means of keeping insulin refrigerated, no means of eating the regularly scheduled healthy meals that a diabetic should maintain, and no way of keeping any cut or sore clean and free from infection. This person, given a home, some education, and some financial resources, can remain in relatively good health for many years. If this person remains homeless, he or she will most likely lose a limb through amputation, destroy kidneys and other organs, and die far earlier than he or she should have. Homelessness is a factor that affects a person's health horribly.

A person who is bipolar should maintain as regular a schedule as possible for optimum mental health. This person may have varying shifts at work or live in a household in which meals are not served regularly, and people stay up all night making noise. The person may live alone and have no reminders to take medications or to take note of incipient mania or depression. All of these may seriously aggravate bipolar illness, or for that matter, any number of other mental illnesses.

Even in less extreme situations, there are so many factors that people in healthcare should have knowledge of. A person who has asthma is going to suffer in environmental pollution. The person who has had knee surgery and lives in a two-story house needs some help in arranging a way to heal. The person who is trying to lose weight, yet lives in a household of cookies, cake, and candy, cannot accomplish this without some help from a dietician who is aware of the problem. The elderly person who is living alone and who does not eat properly or drink properly is at high risk, but knowing of these factors, healthcare professionals can address these problems, to avoid dehydration, malnutrition, and even falls.

All individuals are to at least some degree a product of their environments. As such, their environments must be taken into account in order to help them be healthy in body and mind.

What is the conflict in Lois Lowry's The Giver, and how is it resolved?

The major conflict of Lois Lowry's The Giver has to do with Jonas figuring out who or what is his antagonist. At first, it seems as though the ones who run the government are to blame for limiting the freedom of its citizens by controlling what they see, hear, and do with their lives. However, as Jonas trains with the Giver, he becomes aware of what really controls their lives--Sameness. Sameness is the antagonist; therefore, the conflict lies within it.

Sameness is the controlling factor in his life and his community. During the first memory that he receives in chapter 11, Jonas experiences sledding down a snowy hill. Afterward, he asks the Giver why they don't have snow in their lives. The Giver explains the following:

"Climate Control. Snow made growing food difficult, limited the agricultural periods. And unpredictable weather made transportation almost impossible at times. It wasn't a practical thing, so it became obsolete when we went to Sameness" (83-84).

Jonas soon learns that over past generations, the people of the community had made similar choices depending on what they were willing to sacrifice to achieve specific goals. For example, the ability for citizens to see colors was sacrificed long ago in order to take away personal preferences. If people don't prefer one person or object over another, then life without prejudices can be achieved. The consequence of a life without colors, though, is that people's abilities to choose are sacrificed. For instance, when Jonas sees and understands colors for the first time, he complains as follows:

"It isn't fair that nothing has color! . . . If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?" (97).

If limited freedom to choose isn't enough to cause Jonas to revolt against Sameness, the fact that "release" means to kill someone does. Jonas learns that Sameness also requires that the rate of births is controlled in order to avoid hunger and starvation. As a result, Nurturers like Jonas's father have an obligation to kill the smaller of a pair of twins to keep population numbers down. In chapter 19, the Giver shows Jonas a recording of his father injecting a lethal drug into a twin's head. Jonas is devastated. It is after this that he and the Giver decide to overthrow Sameness.

Because Sameness is maintained by a Receiver who stores all of the memories of the world inside of him, they decide to release these memories into the community. Once that happens, everyone in the community will be aware of the sacrifices that have been made to limit their freedoms and Sameness will end. Therefore, the conflict between Sameness and Jonas is resolved when he leaves the community, releases the memories into the community, and ends the controlling grip that Sameness has over the people.

In Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, how does Shmuel exhibit heroic attributes?

Shmuel is the little Jewish boy discovered by Bruno within the fence of Auschwitz. Shmuel demonstrates heroic attributes by being kind, brave, and loyal during his time as a prisoner in a death camp. First, Shmuel is kind because he never discredits or vilifies Bruno's father. For example, Shmuel tells Bruno that he doesn't know of any good soldiers. Bruno quickly protests, "Except my father" (140) who happens to be the executive officer of Auschwitz and is probably pretty intimidating to Shmuel. Shmuel doesn't agree or disagree with Bruno about the Commandant, which is a kind and heroic act because he could have told his German friend how he really feels about all Nazi soldiers. Also, Shmuel could have told Bruno about all of the despicable things his father does inside of the fence, but he doesn't. Shmuel probably realizes that it isn't right to destroy a boy's image of his father.

Next, Shmuel is brave when Lieutenant Kotler catches him talking and eating food with Bruno in the kitchen. Bruno denies knowing Shmuel. This denial leads Lieutenant Kotler to tell Shmuel that he will have a discussion with him later about what happens to little boys who steal. Shmuel could have thrown Bruno under the proverbial bus at this point and called him out on his lie. However, the following happens:

"Shmuel nodded and picked up another napkin and started to polish another glass; Bruno watched as his fingers shook and new that he was terrified of breaking one. His heart sank, but as much as he wanted to, he couldn't look away" (173).

Unfortunately, Shmuel probably knows well that there would be no justice or mercy given by revealing his friend's secret, so he bravely finishes polishing the glasses and accepts his fate.

Finally, Shmuel is loyal to his friendship by not holding a grudge against Bruno after the kitchen incident. When Bruno apologizes for not sticking up for his friend in front of Lieutenant Kotler, Shmuel does another heroic act:

"Shmuel smiled and nodded and Bruno knew that he was forgiven, and then Shmuel did something that he had never done before. He lifted the bottom of the fence up like he did whenever Bruno brought him food, but this time he reached his hand out and held it there, waiting until Bruno did the same, and then the two boys shook hands and smiled at each other" (175).

Not only does Shmuel forgive Bruno, but he doesn't mention the consequences that he probably suffered at the hands of Lieutenant Kotler after he polished the glasses that day. Again, Shmuel's strength of character extends to heroic spheres because heroes never brag about what they face; they simply endure.

In Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick, what do the boys do after the bird is rescued?

The short answer is that they hang out and become friends.

This happens in Chapter 3, right as Max sees Kevin leaping up, trying unsuccessfully to reach an object that has become stuck in a tree. It's a toy of Kevin's: a little birdlike object that really flies. Kevin clearly is upset; he wants his beloved toy back. But he's too short to reach it. Even his long crutch doesn't help.

Max, though, is very...

The short answer is that they hang out and become friends.

Max, though, is very tall. After he helps Kevin by rescuing the toy from the tree, the two new friends talk about the bird toy (which is called an ornithopter) and Kevin impresses Max with his large vocabulary. Almost an hour goes by, and they have to stop playing with the ornithopter because its elastic part breaks. Kevin assures Max that it can be fixed later, and then Max wheels Kevin over to Max's house in the wagon to show him his room. That's when the chapter closes, as the friendship has begun.

This scene is important because it shows us how well Max and Kevin get along. They are instantly friends, even though they are so different--perhaps because they are so different. Max, with his enormous height, can get the toy down from the tree with no problem, and Kevin, with his enormous vocabulary, can dazzle and entertain Max.