Blog

How does Tacitus's statement "The more corrupt the republic, the more numerous the laws" connect to Animal Farm by George Orwell?

The statement, "The more corrupt the government, the more numerous the laws," directly reflects the environment created by the pigs after they usurped control of the farm.

When the pigs initially rise to power, two dominant pigs rule the animals: Snowball and Napoleon. Once Snowball is driven off the farm by Napoleon, Napoleon becomes corrupted by his absolute authority. To maintain his authority and oppress the other animals, Napoleon must subvert the initial "Seven Commandments"...

The statement, "The more corrupt the government, the more numerous the laws," directly reflects the environment created by the pigs after they usurped control of the farm.

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

3. No animal shall wear clothes.

4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.

5. No animal shall drink alcohol.

6. No animal shall kill any other animal.

7. All animals are equal.

As the pigs become corrupted by their power and their innate intelligence further divides them from the other animals, the pigs assume a more "human" role on the farm. They live in the farmer's former residence, sleep in beds, and consume alcohol.

To resolve their behaviors with the rules of Animalism and prevent a second revolution, the pigs systematically change and adapt the rules of Animalism to their needs. Commandment number four now reads, "No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets." Commandment number six reads, "No animal shall kill any other animal WITHOUT CAUSE." Ultimately, the final commandment reads, "All animals are equal BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS."

This manipulation of the Commandments illustrates that, as a government becomes more corrupt, the laws are more numerous (and in this case, more convoluted).

A counterargument could be made that Tacitus's statement is in direct opposition to Animal Farm, though. In Chapter 10, the pigs replace the Seven Commandments with a single rule: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." At this point in the novel, the pigs are essentially behaving like people—they walk on two legs and Napoleon uses a whip. The pigs are at their most corrupt, but now only have one rule, which contradicts Tacitus's statement.

How did the visit to Baltimore change Helen's life in a great way?

Helen's parents thought a trip to Baltimore to see a prominent oculist would be the answer to their daughter's problems. After examining Helen's eyes, Dr. Chisholm delivered disappointing news: he could not help her eyesight. He did, however, give them information that would start a chain of events. This chain of events led Mr. and Mrs. Keller to hire Miss Annie Sullivan, the woman who became Helen's teacher.

Dr. Chisholm told Mr. and Mrs. Keller that...

Dr. Chisholm told Mr. and Mrs. Keller that Helen "could be educated, and advised [her] father to consult Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, of Washington, who would be able to give him information about schools and teachers of deaf or blind children" (Chapter III). They visited Dr. Bell, and he referred them to Mr. Anagnos of the Perkins Institution. This was a school for the blind located in Boston. They wrote to Mr. Anagnos, and he found Miss Sullivan to be Helen's teacher. Miss Sullivan taught Helen how to communicate, which changed her life. She remained Helen's teacher and companion for decades.

What is the metaphor in the Henry Phipps epitaph in Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters?

Henry Phipps's story is one with which many people, particularly in contemporary America, can probably identify: someone who spent his life making a lot of money for other people, though this deed provided him with no spiritual fulfillment. When he converted to Christianity, he thought that his newly found righteousness would save him. God, he believed, would reward him with longer life for his sacrifices, at the very least. Alas, this was not Henry's fate.

Henry worked with important people and maintained positions of leadership, though in rather unglamorous roles:

I was the Sunday school superintendent,

The dummy president of the wagon works

And the canning factory,

Acting for Thomas Rhodes and the banking clique;

My son the cashier of the bank,

Wedded to Rhodes' daughter,

My week days spent in making money...

He was not the actual president "of the wagon works / And the canning factory," but only a "dummy," a puppet figure who made appearances, but no actual decisions. He "[acted]" for others. His son, it seems, was also destined to a subordinate role. Though he is married to Rhodes's daughter, he is a mere cashier. Thomas Rhodes, whom we meet earlier in the anthology, is a thoughtless, insensitive man only concerned with accruing wealth. Henry acted in his service during the week, but his Sundays were spent "at church and in prayer," making it clear that he was devoted to spiritual fulfillment.

He was a man who did his duty, without questioning any of it, as he was cleansed of possible wrongdoing by his faith:

In everything a cog in the wheel of things-as-they-are:

Of money, master and man, made white

With the paint of the Christian creed.

Finally, the bank was destroyed. In its dilapidated state, it was revealed to be a thoroughly rotten machine, sullied and broken constantly from within and showing signs of shoddy patchwork:

The wheels with blow-holes stopped with putty

and painted;

The rotten bolts, the broken rods;

And only the hopper for souls fit to be used again

In a new devourer of life, when newspapers, judges and money-magicians

Build over again.

The "newspapers, judges and money-magicians" are the manipulators who lazily maintained the bank, who rendered Henry a mere cog within it, and who find new "souls" to feed it.

Henry was one such soul, "stripped to the bone," though he now lies "in the Rock of Ages." This line seems to refer to his commemoration in immortality. Perhaps, on his epitaph, there is a note dedicated to all of his hard work -- not that this matters to Henry, for he "[sees] now through the game" and is "no longer a dupe." His faith convinced him (using Proverbs 2:21 and 10:27 as inspiration) that his moral uprightness would be rewarded with long life, while the lives of those like Thomas Rhodes would be shortened.

Henry experiences a sort of existential crisis and lapse of faith when Dr. Meyers "discovered a cancer in [his] liver":

I was not, after all, the particular care of God!

His senses of singularity and justness are diminished by the revelation. He could stand to be a "cog," knowing that God took an interest in his existence. He discovered, on his deathbed, that this was not true.

He characterizes his life as a climb. On the cusp of death he is "standing on a peak." His mortal struggles are "the mists through which [he] had climbed." Alas, he is ready for "larger life in the world," or some discovery of meaning which will remain with him in the after-life. Instead, "eternal forces / Moved [him] on with a push." The "push" here seems not to be one of encouragement, but dismissal. Poor Henry is as neglected in death as he was in life.

Where did Gothic architecture originate?

According to Indiana University, Gothic architecture originated in the North of France. Specifically, this style of architecture began in Saint-Denis, a town to the north of Paris, when the local abbot, Suger, began a renovation of the eastern section of his abbey church. These renovations began in 1140 and, from its inception, it was clear that Suger's style was very different to what had gone before. This has led historians to credit Saint-Denis as...

Once the renovations at Saint-Denis were complete (by 1144), lots of buildings across France were commissioned in a similar fashion and, soon after, across Medieval Europe.

In "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury, is it fair for Eckels to die?

This question is asking about the final moments of the story. Eckels, Travis, and the rest of the safari group have returned to the present. Unfortunately, it is not the present that they left earlier that day. In the past, Eckels stepped on a butterfly which caused cataclysmic changes to occur in the timeline. Eckels is completely blown away that such a small change in the past could have such huge consequences. He begs for...

Eckels moaned. He dropped to his knees. He scrabbled at the golden butterfly with shaking fingers. "Can't we," he pleaded to the world, to himself, to the officials, to the Machine, "can't we take it back, can't we make it alive again? Can't we start over? Can't we-"

He did not move. Eyes shut, he waited, shivering. He heard Travis breathe loud in the room; he heard Travis shift his rifle, click the safety catch, and raise the weapon.

There was a sound of thunder.

Whether or not it is fair that Eckels dies is entirely up to individual reader opinion. You can safely state your opinion, but remember to explain why you think what you think.

Personally, I don't think it's fair or justified that Eckels dies. I believe that Travis shoots Eckels more out of anger and revenge than punishment. Nothing can be done about the changes that happened, so I don't feel that Travis shooting Eckels is a punishment. If it were a punishment, it's a useless punishment. It doesn't solve the problem in any way. Killing Eckels doesn't help the situation. Leaving Eckels alive won't cause any additional harm, either; therefore, I don't believe it is fair that Eckels dies.

What are three character traits of Tessie Hutchinson in the "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson? What can you infer about this character?

From her first appearance in the story, Tessie is shown to be a charismatic character. She shows up late to the lottery, but her absence doesn't go unnoticed. When she finally arrives, the crowd is said to have "separated good-humoredly to let her through", and some of the other villagers begin to let the others know of her arrival. When Tessie reaches her husband in the crowd, the following exchange takes place:

...

Mr. Summers, who had been waiting, said cheerfully, "Thought we were going to have to get on without you, Tessie."

Mrs. Hutchinson said, grinning, "Wouldn't have me leave m'dishes in the sink, now, would you, Joe?" and soft laughter ran through the crowd as the people stirred back into position after Mrs. Hutchinson's arrival.

Her reply to Mr. Summers' comment and the laughter that follows, along with the crowd's warm welcome, all indicate that Tessie is a charismatic character. It can be inferred that she has a strong presence in the village, perhaps because she is the ideal "housewife" type in this time period, as her first line was in reference to being late due to the dishes needing washing.

Tessie Hutchinson is also an outspoken character. When things start to unravel for her, she does not stay silent, but rather tries to start a debate on the subject. In response to her family's name getting picked for the lottery, she seems to have trouble keeping calm.

"I think we ought to start over," Mrs. Hutchinson said, as quietly as she could. "I tell you it wasn't fair. You didn't give him time enough to choose. Everybody saw that."

The mention that Tessie said these words "as quietly as she could" shows that she was having trouble keeping her voice calm and even, balancing her panic with her need for the village's cooperation.

"Tessie," Mr. Summers said. She hesitated for a minute, looking around defiantly, and then set her lips and went up to the box. She snatched a paper out and held it behind her.

Tessie also handled further action with resistance in the above passage, indicated by her hesitation, her defiant look, and the word "snatched" to describe the way she pulled the paper from the box.

On the other hand, this also makes Tessie seem like a selfish character, because while she arrived at the lottery in good spirits and willing to carry on with the ritual, she does not take the same attitude when it is her and her family that are put in danger.

While this may seem like a perfectly reasonable reaction for someone in Tessie's position, it speaks to her character in that she had no doubts about going forward with the lottery when she was out of harm's way. We can infer from her initial arrival to the lottery, when she was laughing and grinning with the others, that she would have stoned anyone else if they were chosen.

This, paired with her outspokenness, means that she refused to speak up about the sadistic nature of the lottery not because she was afraid, but because she thought nothing of it until it was her own life on the line. Her only motivation to speak up was the possibility of harm coming to herself or her family.

Therefore, using substantial evidence from the text and making logical inferences and connections, we can confidently say that Tessie Hutchinson can be considered a charismatic, outspoken, and selfish character.

Express `sqrt(20) - (45/sqrt(5))` in the form `k sqrt(a).`

In general, it is in bad form to have a radical in the denominator of a fraction. When you come across this, you must do what's called "rationalizing the denominator". The best way to ensure you get rid of the radical is to multiply your fraction by by a new fraction that has the radical in both the numerator and the denominator (and therefore has a value of 1). It would look like this:

`(45/sqrt(5))*(sqrt(5)/sqrt(5))`

...

`(45/sqrt(5))*(sqrt(5)/sqrt(5))`

It is very important to multiply the top and bottom of you original fraction by the same thing so that you don't change the value of the fraction!

Next you multiply your fractions together and get:

`(45sqrt(5))/(sqrt(5))^2=(45sqrt(5))/5=9sqrt(5)`

Now we are looking at the expression

`sqrt(20)-9sqrt(5)`

You are only allowed to add or subtract radicals that are the same. So we want to simplify the square root of 20 in the hopes that it will contain the square root of 5:

`sqrt(20)=sqrt(4*5)=sqrt(4)*sqrt(5)=2sqrt(5)`

Now we can simplify our expression. We only add or subtract the coefficients in front of the radical (and keep the radical the same):

`2sqrt(5)-9sqrt(5)=-7sqrt(5)`

So k=-7 and a=5