Thursday, January 31, 2019

In The Help, what are some of the issues raised by the fact that a white woman is the author and a contributor to a book about the experiences of black maids?

It tells us a lot about Southern society at the time that only a white person is able to tell the stories of African Americans. Aibileen and Minnie have one heck of a story to tell, but until Skeeter arrives on the scene, no one's interested in hearing it. As well as their lowly status as domestic servants, their race precludes them from being taken seriously by white society. The idea that African Americans—servants or otherwise—have anything important to say simply doesn't occur to many white people in this part of the world.
That's why it's deemed necessary for someone to whom white society can relate (i.e., Skeeter) to tell the women's story. This makes Skeeter's task all the more difficult. On the one hand, she has to shape the women's narrative so as to make it palatable to a largely white audience. On the other, she must do justice to the women's stories and convey the full range of their experiences with the utmost fidelity to the truth.


The Help is set in the early 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi. The Jim Crow laws are still in effect in the Deep South. Black and white people aren’t supposed to socialize or fraternize with one another. Many services are still kept separate. Black people have their own library and doctors. Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny are risking a lot when Skeeter meets them at Aibileen’s house at night to write down their stories. All of them could get into trouble with the authorities, especially the black women. Trust is also an issue. Can the black maids trust Skeeter to report the truth as they tell it to her? Or will she feel free to spin their tales in a way that will always make the white employers look good?
The black maids eventually realize Skeeter is not like the other women in the Jackson Junior League. She is truly interested in reporting fairly on the lifestyle arrangement they have all been sharing together, although it’s one they never talk about. She is giving them an outlet to let the truth come out.

Why do people tend to react the same way during the Two Minutes Hate programming and after Big Brother appears on screen?

They react the same way because they have to. This is a totalitarian society in which any sign of individuality is extinguished by the state; everyone must think the same and act the same. If anyone shows themselves to be less than enthusiastic during the Two Minutes' Hate they could be signing their own death warrant. Not going along with what everyone else is doing is a deeply suspicious sign to the Party; it shows that you're not fully committed to the goals of IngSoc. In some ways, the Two Minutes' Hate is another way for the Party to weed out potential dissidents and subversives, those who represent a threat to the existing political order and the Party's absolute power. The Two Minutes' Hate is also designed to bind people together, giving them a common object of loathing that will turn their frustrations with daily life in Oceania towards a convenient scapegoat such as Emmanuel Goldstein.
Just as everyone must hate the Party's sworn enemies, they must also love Big Brother. Nothing less than absolute devotion to the supreme leader will do. Once again, everyone must act in the same way, openly displaying their fanatical loyalty for all to see. Otherwise they will become objects of suspicion, paying a very heavy price for their perceived treachery.


To answer this question, take a look at Part One, Chapter One when Winston is describing the Two Minutes Hate. He says:

The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but, on the contrary, that it was impossible to avoid joining in.

In other words, Winston is saying that Party members do not have a choice about joining in. They are "obliged" to do so; it is non-optional. Failure to join in the with Two Minutes Hate would make a Party member look as though they sided with Goldstein and is, therefore, an enemy of the state. The consequences for this would be severe: imprisonment in the Ministry of Love or, perhaps, even execution.
Secondly, as Winston says, it is almost impossible to not join in with the Hate. The mentality of the majority is so strong that people cannot resist participating. Moreover, Party propaganda has brainwashed these members into believing that Goldstein really is the enemy, so the Hate gives them an opportunity to vent their anger. It is, thus, a cathartic moment.
Big Brother's appearance is almost like being saved from Goldstein and this is why his face is able to bring an end to the Hate.

What would you say is the climax of "The Tell Tale Heart"? Why?

In literature, the climax is the name given to the most dramatic and intense moment of a story. If we relate this to "The Tell-Tale Heart," then we see that the climax happens when the narrator breaks into the old man's bedroom and murders him.
All of the events preceding the murder have been used by Poe to build tension in the story. The narrator tells us that he has to murder the old man because of the "evil eye," for example, and that he has spent seven nights waiting for the moment to strike. Finally, on the eighth night, he seizes the moment and successfully carries out his murderous plan. The tension in the story has, therefore, reached its peak.
After the murder, Poe sets the scene for the falling action (when the narrator tries to cover up the murder) and the resolution (when he lifts the floorboards to reveal his crime).
Alternately, we might interpret the narrator's confession as the climax of the story; the moments leading up to it are full of tension as the narrator imagines he hears the old man's heartbeat and begins to act increasingly suspicious in front of the police officers. In this interpretation, the story cuts off before any kind of resolution or falling action; we are left to infer from the beginning of the story that the narrator has most likely been arrested (after which he recounts his story).

In Anne of Green Gables, is there a use of parody? What does the parody add to the text?

Anne of Green Gables parodies Romantic imagination. The book was written in the Victorian Era, but Anne's imagination plays off of notions held by poets like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
For Wordsworth, nature was a reflection of God, and wandering in nature was a spiritual act that could bring one closer to perfection. He believed part of the poet's job was to experience nature and then write poetry that filtered nature scenes through the powers of imagination in order to help readers experience the divine. Through the character of Anne, Lucy Maud Montgomery parodies this notion of Romantic imagination and nature in the names that Anne gives to the various locations around Green Gables.
In chapter 5, Anne calls Barry's Pond "the Lake of Shining Waters." The title helps the reader to see how Anne views a simple pond. It is larger than a pond to Anne, and the waters do not merely reflect the sun as waters will do, but they "shine"—as if embodying a divine essence.
As this instance shows, the parody serves to expose the impact Anne has on many of those who are close to her. Although her Romantic notions are often dismissed as silly or odd, she brings some transcendent beauty and larger-than-life experience to her family and friends with her worldview. Readers may also realize through the parody that this is what Romantic poets believed they had the power to do.
For many of the Romantic poets, this gift of coloring reality with imagination was exclusive to the Poet. Anne is a parody of this elitist notion when she discusses her names for nature in contrast to Diana Barry's name for Birch Path:

Beyond Willowmere came Violet Vale—a little green dimple in the shadow of Mr. Andrew Bell's big woods. "Of course there are no violets there now," Anne told Marilla, "but Diana says there are millions of them in the spring. Oh, Marilla, can't you just imagine you see them? It actually takes away my breath. I named it Violet Vale. Diana says she never saw the beat of me for hitting on fancy names for places. It's nice to be clever at something, isn't it? But Diana named the Birch Path. She wanted to, so I let her; but I'm sure I could have found something more poetical than plain Birch Path. Anybody can think of a name like that. But the Birch Path is one of the prettiest places in the world, Marilla."

For Diana—who is characterized by a typical Victorian perspective of nature—a simple, sentimental description of the area is enough, and Anne's Romantic names for various nature settings are perceived merely as "fancy." Diana fails to see the world as romantically as Anne, even with the poetic names Anne gives them. For Anne, the name "Birch Path" is far too simple to capture the divine essence of the scenery, and so she tells Marilla that she has condescended to allow Diana (who has called the area her home much longer than Anne) to name it.
Anne brags that she is "clever" enough to have given the path a name reflective of its supreme beauty, which also reflects a supernatural essence. In this instance, Anne's parody of the Romantic view of the poet's power of imagination is satirized as conceited and childish.
Coleridge believed that some poets were gifted with a "secondary imagination" that, when combined with the power of the personal will, could capture and recreate reality through poetry. His notions of imagination are parodied in how Anne uses poetic names to transform things. In chapter 2, Anne tells Marilla that she gives people and places "imaginative names" in order to recreate them to suit the reality she wants to experience. She says:

But they shouldn't call that lovely place the Avenue. There is no meaning in a name like that. They should call it—let me see—the White Way of Delight. When I don't like the name of a place or a person I always imagine a new one and always think of them so. There was a girl at the asylum whose name was Hepzibah Jenkins, but I always imagined her as Rosalia DeVere. Other people may call that place the Avenue, but I shall always call it the White Way of Delight.

As the quote shows, Anne believes she can imbue people and places with more meaning than they already possess with her powers of imagination. She can take in some sensory details of the world around her, process them imaginatively, and transform reality into something more tolerable.
This is also parodied when she uses her imagination to re-create her own identity and past. In chapter 2, Anne tells Marilla that she calls her life a "perfect graveyard of buried hopes" because the romantic notion brings her comfort. She also used her imagination to create friends when she was lonely and renamed herself Cordelia in order to feel more unique. Recreating her own life helps Anne to tolerate her hard reality of being an orphan with a plain name who has experienced disappointment again and again.
In this way, the parody of Romantic imagination helps the reader to admire Anne's strength of will in respect to her many hard experiences; she will not be brought permanently down into the "depths of despair," so long as she has an imagination to aid her.


The use of parody in Anne of Green Gables is gentle but consistent; its main effect is to allow the text to be appreciated on two levels, depending upon the age and experience of the reader. Some of Anne's more dramatic and hyperbolic dialogue, uttered completely in earnest by Anne, may be read in the same earnest vein by a child reader, but to an adult it is obvious (and amusing) that Anne has been overly influenced by the books she has read. There are also many instances where Anne makes a sincere comment without realizing that it is inherently contradictory.
The sequence surrounding her intimate friendship with Diana, for instance, is imbued with this kind of gentle parody as we see the friendship develop. Anne yearns for a "kindred spirit" of the sort she has read about in books. She is convinced that she will never find such a thing, until she becomes close friends with Diana. By the time she has lived at Green Gables for some time, she has developed friendships not only with Diana, but with Matthew and others, and after resolving a contentious episode with Diana's mother, she declares that "kindred spirits are not as scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find there are so many of them in the world."
The comment is amusing, because it is really the point of a kindred spirit that there are few of them. But at the same time, it is heart-wrenching, because the reader is aware that Anne has lived a genuinely hard life prior to the beginning of the novel and that she has been very lonely. The fact that she has lived so much in books is clear also in her request, "If you call me Anne, please call me Anne with an 'e.' " It's a humorous comment, but it also invites the question of how much Anne has seen herself written about and debated rather than spoken to by kind adults or friends.
Anne knows that her "big words" amuse people, but she is wedded to them, seeing them as necessary to convey the grand notions in her mind. Imagination is a key tenet of Anne's personality, and the novel both embraces this and invites the reader to laugh at it, an approach which relies heavily upon the unintended (by Anne) humor in Anne's commentary. Anne's utter conviction is what makes her extreme behavior both compelling and funny. Consider the passage in which Anne solemnly declaims verses from The Lady of Shalott as she floats downstream—Anne and her friends are all committed to the romantic tragedy of what they are doing, but to the reader, the scene is both a parody of Tennyson and a parody of childhood, giving the reader a charming insight into an earnest belief in romance that most will lose as adults.

What were the advantages and disadvantages of fighter planes in WWI?

Aerial warfare was still in its infancy in WWI, the airplane having been invented only fourteen years prior to the start of the war. One of the greatest disadvantages to fighter airplanes was the pilot's inexperience. Most pilots were killed during training exercises. If a pilot was lucky enough to survive this, he was often killed by pilots more experienced than himself. Fighter planes had limited armament and limited fuel supplies in WWI, meaning they could only inflict a minor amount of damage over a limited space.
The planes did have many advantages. A good fighter pilot could capture the imagination of his country and be used to promote the war and sell war bonds. Fighter aircrafts helped to promote the concept of air war in general and their effectiveness against the dirigibles, ended the idea that blimps would be the primary air arm in future wars. Fighter planes could also be used as reconnaissance, scouting enemy trenches and noting the effects of artillery barrages. Fighter aircraft could also be used to protect the early bombers of the period, though these bombers had limited payloads and range.


Airplane technology was still in its infancy at the outset of WWI, but despite their lack of complexity they were still able to play a huge role in the war. Early on in the war, planes were used by both sides mainly for aerial surveillance. They could safely scout the enemy's movements from the sky, as well as spot targets for the artillery. Eventually aircraft would be used more and more effectively as they became more complex. Bombers were developed, and fighter planes were built to hunt them in the skies. 
Regardless of the tremendous combat advantages they offered, flying planes in WWI was still very dangerous. No one knew about the stresses and fatigue that can accompany flying, such as hypoxia. The planes were not able to carry much fuel, so they had very limited range, and they were slow and made easy targets if they got too close to the ground. The early planes were also open to the elements, and entire aircrews were lost when they were exposed to freezing temperatures up in the air. 
https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/ww1-aircraft.asp

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/04/world-war-i-in-photos-aerial-warfare/507326/

Beginning Algebra With Applications, Chapter 5, 5.3, Section 5.3, Problem 54

Graph $\displaystyle 5x-2y = 10$ by using the slope and $y$-intercept.

$y$-intercept:


$
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}

5x-2y =& 10
&& \text{Given equation}
\\
5(0)-2y =& 10
&& \text{To find the $y$-intercept, let } x = 0
\\
-2y =& 10
&& \text{Simplify}
\\
y =& -5
&&

\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
$


The $y$-intercept is $(0,-5)$

Writing the equation in slope form, $y = mx+b$


$
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}

-2y =& 10-5x
\\
\\
y =& \frac{10-5x}{-2}
\\
\\
y =& \frac{5}{2}x - 5

\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
$



$
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}

m =& \frac{\text{change in } y}{\text{change in } x}
\\
\\
m =& \frac{5}{2}

\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
$


Beginning at the $y$-intercept, move to the right 2 units and then up 5 units.







$(2, 0)$ are the coordinates of a second point on the graph.

Draw a line through $(0,-5)$ and $(2, 0)$

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

What reason does Antonio give both for Salarino and Salanio to depart?

In act 1, scene 1, Antonio's feeling down in the dumps but doesn't know why. His friends Solanio and Salarino try to get to the bottom of the matter. They offer some suggestions as to why Antonio's feeling so blue. Perhaps he has business worries? After all, a number of his merchant ships laden with valuable cargo have just set sail upon the high seas. Salarino says that he'd be constantly worried if he were in Antonio's shoes. All it would take is for one single storm to destroy his ships and all their precious cargo.
But that's not the reason why Antonio's feeling miserable. Nor, for that matter, is it because he's in love, as Solanio suggests. Antonio's friends are trying their best to cheer up their old pal, but there's not much they can do to lift the gloom. They think it best if they leave Antonio to his "worthier friends"—Bassanio, Lorenzo, and Gratiano. In any case, Antonio doesn't want Solanio and Salarino to waste their precious time on him. They must have important business to attend to, and so he bids them farewell:

I take it your own business calls on you And you embrace th' occasion to depart.

What is the largest phylum of invertebrates?

Arthropoda is the largest phylum of invertebrates. But more than that, it is the largest phylum in the entire animal kingdom. 
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, about 84% of all known animal species are arthropods, a group distinguished by a jointed exoskeleton of chitin -- armor made from a complex sugar that is excreted by the epidermis.
The basic body plan is modular. Typically, most body segments bear a pair of appendages, and the body segments are grouped into three function units: The head, the thorax, and the abdomen.
Arthropods share some characteristics with vertebrates, like bilateral symmetry. But they also differ in many ways. For example, they possess an open circulatory system, in which blood flows freely within the body cavity, rather than through blood vessels.
The phylum Arthropoda is currently divided into four subphyla:
Myriapoda (including centipedes and millipedes)
Chelicerata (including spiders, scorpions, ticks, and mites)
Crustacea, (including crabs, crayfish, lobsters, shrimp, krill, barnacles, and woodlice)
Hexopoda, (including insects, springtails, and other, insect-like relatives)
To date, most arthropod species identified by science are insects. Researchers have described approximately one million species so far, and some estimate that there may be as many as ten million insect species total. Thus, the total number of anthropod species must exceed this number.
Over all, arthropods are a very diverse and successful group. They have been found in almost every habitat, including marine and terrestrial ones. Some arthropods species have adapted to the extreme conditions of Antarctica. Others survive in the Namib desert.
https://www.britannica.com/animal/arthropod

The invention of a self-milking cow machine allows cows to milk themselves. Not only does this reduce the need for higher cost human assistance in milking, but it also allows the cow to milk herself three times a day instead of two, leading to a healthier cow and increased milk production. a. Show the effect of this innovation through a demand and supply diagram. Show what happen to the equilibrium quantity and price of milk. b. Show the likely effect on equilibrium price and quantity of apple juice, assuming that apple juice is a substitute for milk. Answer this question by drawing a new demand and supply diagram for apple juice.

A) Effect of innovation on the equilibrium price and quantity of milkIn microeconomics, a technological innovation will reduce the cost of producing a good. In this scenario, the self-milking cow machine is a technological innovation that allows cows to be milked more frequently, three times per day instead of two, and at a lower operational cost, as no human assistance is needed. We will also assume that milk is an elastic demand and supply. As more milk can be produced at a lower cost, the supply of milk will increase. However, the demand for milk remains unchanged.The Y axis measures the price of milk, and the X axis measures the quantity of milk. When we increase the supply of milk from S1 to S2, the new equilibrium price falls from P1 to P2. This is illustrated in Figure 1.
B) Effect on equilibrium price and quantity of apple juice
Milk and apple juice are substitutes and both have an elastic supply and demand. Due to the fall in price of milk, more people will choose to buy milk instead of apple juice, and the demand for apple juice will fall. However, the supply of apple juice remains unchanged.
When we decrease the demand for apple juice from D1 to D2, the new equilibrium price falls from P1 to P2 and the quantity of apple juiced produced falls from Q1 to Q2. This is illustrated in Figure 2.
Conclusion
The technological innovation of the self-milking cow machine will increase the supply of milk, which will lower the equilibrium price of milk. As milk and apple juice are substitutes, and the equilibrium price of milk is now lower, more people will purchase milk, and the demand for apple juice will fall. Due to the fall in demand for apple juice, the new equilibrium price of apple juice will also fall, as will the quantity.


a) Effect of the Innovation of the Self-Milking Cow Machine on the Demand and Supply Curve of Milk (use the diagram on the left)
Assuming that milk has elastic demand and supply, the curves will be straight, as shown in the figure on the left. Any changes in the supply of milk will lead to a reduction in the equilibrium price from P1 to P2 and an increase in the equilibrium quantity from Q1 to Q2. This change is caused by a shift in the supply curve from S1 to S2. The equilibrium point also shifts from E1.
b) Effect on Equilibrium Price and Quantity of Apple Juice (use the figure on the right)
Since milk is a substitute for apple juice, an increase in the demand of one item leads to a decline in the demand of the other.
Assuming that apple juice also has an elastic demand and supply, the curves will be straight (see figure on the right). The demand for apple juice decreases because consumers prefer the less pricey milk. As a result, the equilibrium price reduces from P1 to P2, while the equilibrium quantity goes down from Q1 to Q2. This change is attributed to a shift in the demand curve from D1 to D2. The equilibrium point also changes from E1 to E2.
https://www3.nd.edu/~cwilber/econ504/504book/outln3b.html


This particular example is a bit weird, but the basic idea is that technological advancement has reduced the cost of supplying some good.This will shift the supply curve to the right—we can produce a higher quantity for the same price.
Assuming that demand and supply are both moderately elastic (neither is perfectly elastic nor perfectly inelastic), this will increase the quantity of milk sold and decrease the price at which it is sold. I've shown that in figure 1.
Now we consider what happens to a substitute good, apple juice. The supply of apple juice is unaffected by this technology, but since milk is a substitute and the price of milk has decreased, this means the demand for apple juice will decrease, shifting the demand curve to the left—people will buy a smaller quantity for the same price. Again, if both supply and demand are moderately elastic, the price will go down, but the quantity sold will still go down in this example. This I've shown in figure 2.

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

How does the father react when he realizes the ship is about to break apart?

Johann Wyss's novel, The Swiss Family Robinson, is meant to illustrate a sort of hardworking independence that uses practical skills and self-discipline to create a life in difficult circumstances. The father, William, is a model of foresight, whose careful planning and vast knowledge of the world enable the family to survive.
When the ship is abandoned by the crew, William reacts in two ways. The first is prayer—he is portrayed throughout the novel as a devout and upright Christian, but one who believes that God helps most those who help themselves.
Realizing that the ship has run aground on a reef and will eventually break apart, William has three priorities. The first is fashioning life vests for the family so that if they do get cast into the waves, they will be able to swim to safety. The second priority is constructing a raft which will enable them to reach the island they can see in the distance. The third thing he and his family do is scavenge, searching the ship for food, tools, and other useful objects that will help them survive on the island. They load these items onto their improvised raft.

College Algebra, Chapter 4, 4.6, Section 4.6, Problem 6

The function $\displaystyle r(x) = \frac{(x + 1) (x - 2)}{(x + 2)(x - 3)}$ has horizontal asymptote $\displaystyle y = \underline{ \frac{\text{leading coefficient of numerator}}{\text{leading coefficient of denominator}} = \frac{1}{1} = 1 }$

What feelings of nationalism led to the American Revolution?

Under British control prior to 1763, the colonists enjoyed limited self-rule.  They were free to tax themselves.  Britain had tax laws, but seldom applied them--the colonists often bribed the underpaid and understaffed British officials.  The colonists also took up a large share of their own defense against the French and their Indian allies in the Seven Years' War.  After the war ended in 1763, all of this changed.  The British started to send more officials to the colonies to collect taxes and to ensure that navigation acts were followed.  Parliament insisted that the local assemblies that the colonists had depended on for local governance could be dissolved at any time.  Through boycott, Americans learned how to be more self-sufficient--this was the first "buy American" movement and helped to fuel the idea that the colonists were more "American" than "British."  Bad management by the British, such as trying colonial tax dodgers without juries and quartering redocats in meeting houses also led to the concept that the Americans were different than the British.  

How is sexual desire represented in Stoker's Dracula?

As the novel is set in the Victorian era where sexual repression was rife, Bram Stoker's Dracula unleashes the "monster," so to speak, and explores sexuality and its many manifestations through its main monster, Dracula, and its characters, who are at the mercy of their human desires.
Dracula represents the fullness of sexual desire unabashed. He stalks the night for women; his hunger for blood insatiable. Here, sexual desire is greatly linked to power. Feared and regarded with both awe and disgust, the idea of him loomed large though he lived secluded and in the dark—the quintessential place where one would deposit and hide one's sexual fantasies in order to operate on a level that was acceptable to civil society.
As Jonathan Harker finds himself in the company of this creature, he in turn finds himself confronting his own desires as they emerge from deep within him. Confined in the castle, he begins to perceive in himself a certain liberation in feeling, which places him in a dilemma, as it exists in conflict with self-ascribed Victorian decency. Even greater moral expectations were placed on women during this time, and the very appearance of Dracula's brides makes an irreverent, rebellious mockery of this. As Harker describes them:

There was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear. I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips.

It is important to note as well that Dracula was written as a compilation of journal entries and correspondences. This intimate style of storytelling employed by Stoker makes it even more in-line with the representation of sexual desire, as it echoes the way these thoughts exist—either as best-kept secrets or as subjects for self-examination.
Here, we see Harker reflecting on his own desires in a way that acknowledges their ability to wield tremendous power: a double-edged sword of pleasure and fear. When he recalls his encounter with the lustful women in his dream/nightmare, he refers to them as possessing "deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive."
In the same vein, Lucy Westenra represents the Victorian woman who was more in touch with her sexuality and, as such, displayed a rather liberated attitude in her dealings with men and her outlook on relationships. Here, she falls victim to Dracula after having sleepwalked and meets her eventual end with a stake through her heart and her head severed from her body. This death was dealt by the men who first sought to protect her and then later to protect themselves.
Perhaps Dracula is a representation (though gruesome) of just how powerful sexual desire is, even to a society that prided itself on protecting its people against it. It postulates how, when left unchecked, desire can incapacitate one's thinking— behead oneself, so to speak—and pose a threat to society and its children.
Nevertheless, it is a tale that does not shun the presence of desire. It seeks it in the darkness, follows it as it moves, struggles to wrestle with it, and shows us the complex nature of its existence within our very being, like blood.


Bram Stoker's Dracula depicts the Victorian ideals of sexuality and gender roles. Women are expected to be examples of purity and Christian morals. It shows the responsibility of men and women to show restraint and control their sexual desires.
Dracula is a monster who does not bother to control his sexual desires. He ravages women without a second thought. As Dracula drinks the blood of his victims, there is an exchange of bodily fluids, which can be likened to the the act of sexual intercourse.
In chapter three, we meet the weird sisters. These women represent everything a good Victorian woman should not be. They are sensual, wicked, and seductive. They accost Harker with an overwhelming desire for pleasure. He writes in his diary:

I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips.

This scene depicts a lustful male fantasy. But unlike Dracula, who has no conscious, Harker succeeds in resisting the weird sister's seductions. 
Another symbol of sexual desire in Dracula is the blood transfusions which Lucy receives. Once again, an exchange of fluids takes place. Lucy has this experience with a few different men, alluding to her questionable purity. She has already mentioned in her diary that she wishes she could marry more than one man, which brings up questions of sexual fidelity and integrity.

What was the most important thing Abraham Lincoln accomplished?

This question obviously requires an answer that is opinion-based.  While it is tempting to say that Lincoln's most important contribution to the nation was the Emancipation Proclamation, I think his work in preserving the Union is his most important accomplishment.  The Emancipation Proclamation actually only freed the slaves in the Confederate states and did not affect the border states or the states that remained in the Union.  The Thirteen, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, all of which were passed after Lincoln's death, were the real laws that granted African-Americans their legal freedom.  Lincoln, who felt that the secession of the Southern states was illegal, rallied the Northern states and the Democratic party behind the epic fight that was the American Civil War.  His leadership during this conflict is recognized as an important factor in the Union's victory.  Lincoln's tireless effort to preserve the United States was his most important accomplishment.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/abraham-lincoln/

Monday, January 28, 2019

How were Jewish people persecuted in Holland?

Prior to the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, Jewish people in Holland were relatively economically integrated and accepted by Dutch society, compared to Jewish people elsewhere in Europe. Tens of thousands of Jewish people living in Nazi Germany fled to Holland to escape persecution between 1939 and 1940, increasing the Jewish population of the country to 140,000. However, the Nazi occupation of Holland beginning in 1940 led to worsening conditions for this population. Nazis instituted laws that removed Jewish people from their schools, jobs, and houses. The Dutch government collaborated with the German government to deport Jewish people living in Holland to concentration camps including Auschwitz and Sobibor. By 1946, there were only 30,000 Jewish people living in Holland- only 20 percent of the population prior to the Holocaust. The population continued to decrease in the following decades due to emigration elsewhere in Europe or to Palestine. Today, the much smaller Jewish population of Holland does not experience direct persecution, but many Dutch Jews live outside of Holland or were descended from victims of Nazi occupation of their country.

What is King's definition of "civil disobedience"?

In his "Letter From Birmingham Jail," Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writes a response to eight white religious leaders who were expressing concern about the civil rights movement. In particular, these religious leaders were concerned with people breaking laws. They wanted blacks to wait for justice and, in the meantime, to obey the laws. Basically, they wanted them to be quiet and not make a fuss. 
Martin Luther King's response to them is composed of brilliant rhetoric and logical arguments. He points out the violence and injustice blacks in the South have endured. He defines civil disobedience as a refusal to follow laws that are not just. He considers a law that is not fair to be unjust. There was nothing fair about black people being treated as second class citizens. There was nothing just about black people having separate and inferior restaurants, movie theaters, schools, and churches. In every facet of society, black people were degraded, treated as less than worthy of dignity, and disrespected.
King was a Christian, a community leader, and an American citizen. He took a stand against the injustice he saw and experienced as a black man in the South in order to enact change. He engaged in debate and discourse in order to change the laws of society. He even went to jail for his beliefs. His desire to see injustice eliminated was greater than his desire to follow the laws of the day. He stated that he followed just laws, but an unjust law is no law at all. Here is a quote from his letter: 

One may well ask, "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "An unjust law is no law at all." Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine when a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality.

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Who is Miss Caroline?

Miss Caroline Fisher is Scout's first grade teacher. She hails from Winston County and has a rough first day of school. Miss Caroline is portrayed as an attractive, young woman. She is an inexperienced teacher and struggles to maintain control of her students. Miss Caroline is also portrayed as naive and rigid for criticizing Scout for reading at home with her father. Instead of praising Scout for her unique, advanced abilities, Miss Caroline discourages Scout by telling her that she should not read or write at home. Miss Caroline also fails to properly punish Scout for her apparent disrespect and instead humors the classes by giving Scout several swats on the palm of her hand with a ruler. The neighboring teacher, Miss Blount, is even forced to quiet Miss Caroline's class because the students are laughing hysterically.
Later on in the day, Miss Caroline loses her composure after witnessing a cootie crawl out of Burris Ewell's hair. After telling him to go home and bathe, Burris gets an attitude with her and ends up calling Miss Caroline a "snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher," which reduces her to tears. Overall, Miss Caroline is an inexperienced school teacher with a narrow view of education. She has a difficult first day teaching in Maycomb County. 

What are the themes of "Haunted" by Walter de la Mare?

The poem "Haunted," by Walter de la Mare, is similar to its more famous brother "The Listeners" in many ways. De le Mare here, as in "The Listeners," uses vivid and evocative imagery to describe the setting of an abandoned house in the woods; in this poem, the house is explicitly "haunted." As in "The Listeners," the poem is more atmosphere- and mood-based than dependent upon theme.
However, we can isolate a few themes in this poem—similar to those found in "The Listeners."
1. Isolation, or the theme of "one man alone." The speaker in this poem is very much on his own, looking on. He observes the haunted house from the cover of "wood," and the woodland seems busy with the sound of conversation from which he is excluded—a "thin voice piping airs," a "voiceless raven" who, nevertheless, is flying to "her mates," while the speaker is alone.
2. Watching, or invisible observation. In this poem, not only is the speaker describing how he "watched" the windows of the haunted house, but the "West," personified, "shut down a heavy eye," as if it, too, has been watching the scene. Meanwhile, like "last tapers . . . the watch-stars kindled in the sky." This theme of quiet observation lends to the eerie atmosphere of the poem.
3. Mystery and the supernatural. The poet leaves much to our imagination in this poem. We do not know who haunts "the haunted house," but we do hear a mysterious "thin voice piping airs," and "amidst the sedge a whisper ran." The poem is pervaded by the sense that, just beyond the quietude of the central scene, something unknown is lurking.

Saturday, January 26, 2019

When was The Ohio State Murders first published?

The Ohio State Murders, by Adrienne Kennedy, was originally published in 1992. However, the play was actually commissioned by the Great Lakes Theater Festival of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1989.
Adrienne Kennedy was asked to write a play concerning the history of Cleveland, where she had actually grown up. In an interview, Ms. Kennedy declared that she thought the assignment would have been easy, as she had already created a play about African Americans in Rhode Island, but it turned out to be much harder. She struggled with the creative process for quite some time; then, while she was teaching in California, the Loma Prieta earthquake hit. After experiencing the earthquake, she found new inspiration as new material simply came pouring out.
The play was then directed by Gerald Freedman in 1992. It features stories within a story: Suzanne, the fictional narrator, presents a series of multiple short scenes depicting debasing and humiliating experiences which happened to Suzanne herself as a black college student from 1949 to 1951. 

What Does Montresor accomplish by praising Luchesi as a good judge of wine?

Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Cask of Amontillado," is the tale of Montresor describing his revenge upon Fortunato, who insulted him. His family motto is "Nemo me impune lacessit," which is Latin for "no one insults with impunity." To accomplish his revenge, he plans to lure Montresor to the catacombs that lie beneath his house. In these catacombs, where the bones of his dead ancestors repose, he keeps a wine collection. He intends to lure Montresor to the lowest depths of these vaults and wall him in, burying him alive, where his cries for help will never be heard. 
In order to lure him to the vaults, Montresor finds the inebriated Fortunato at carnival. The story is set in Italy. Montresor describes Fortunato as a man worthy of respect, but Montresor finds his weak point and exploits it. This is one thing Montresor accomplishes by praising Luchesi. 

"He had a weak point, this Fortunato, though in other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared. He prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians have the virtuoso spirit. For the most part their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the time and opportunity--to practice imposture upon the British and Austrian millionaires. In painting and gemmary, Fortunato was, like his countrymen, a quack--but in the matter of old wines he was sincere." 

When Montresor greets him at carnival, he tells him he has received a cask of Amontillado and has his doubts about whether it is genuine. He tells Fortunato he has paid the full Amontillado price and asks Fortunato to come and see if he's been swindled. In order to entice him to come, he tells him he could ask Luchesi instead since Fortunato is presently engaged. This pricks Fortunato's pride, which is Montresor's intention. Fortunato says that Luchesi is no expert and agrees to go with him. 
As they venture into the vaults, Montresor continues his offers to consult Luchesi instead. He is toying with his victim like a predator toys with his prey. This is the second thing he accomplishes by praising Luchesi.  When Fortunato begins coughing, Montresor feigns concern and offers to go back in order to save his guest's health. He says:

"We will go back. Your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as I once was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back. You will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchesi--" 

Montresor knows that Fortunato will continue at the threat of consulting Luchesi instead. He has no true concern for Fortunato, as he is about to kill him. 
 

The emergence of the Atlantic world can be seen as a cause of new developments and the result of historical processes. What long-term political, economic, and demographic circumstances drove the expansion of European influence into the Atlantic? What subsequent historical developments can we attribute to the creation of this interconnected world?

One major reason that allowed Europeans to expand into the Atlantic was the Colombian Exchange. The vegetables brought over from the New World such as tomatoes, squash, and potatoes brought more vitamins into the diets of Europeans, thus boosting birth rates and longevity. As Western Europe became more crowded, people competed fiercely for jobs and land. Many people left Europe in order to take a chance on achieving a better life in North America. The European diseases, most notably smallpox, wiped out over ninety percent of the Native Americans living on the Continent, thus making it harder for them to compete against the encroaching Europeans.
Another major reason that allowed Europeans to expand was economic competition. The nations of Western Europe--most notably Spain, England, and France--sought the best routes to the New World in the hopes of one day finding a way through it to Asia. When this did not work, the nations began to see the New World as special in its own way. Colonists in the New World began to export lumber, sugar, food, and gold to Europe in order to enrich the mother country. In return, merchants in Europe sold the colonists finished products. It was hoped that as a nation became more self-sufficient, its competitors would become weaker. One major reason why Britain became the dominant player on the North American continent was its ability to use its navy to protect its merchants and to attack enemy holdings in the New World and all over the world.
Still yet another reason was the changing nature of European society in the Era of Exploration. The Catholic Church was losing control and many splinter sects of Protestantism sprang up in Europe. Many groups were persecuted for not following the state-sanctioned church. In addition to the widespread poverty among the lower classes, life was quite miserable for those without financial means who wished to follow the religion of their choice. England took advantage of the situation best when it exported its religious dissidents to Maryland (Catholics) and New England (Pilgrims). England also exported its "deserving poor" to Georgia and provided the means for someone to work off their passage in the form of signing a contract to become an indentured servant. By exporting its potential troublemakers and profiting off their labor, England was further able to distance itself from its competition in the New World.


European countries were motivated to expand in part because of political competition among themselves and the economic theory of mercantilism, which sought to maximize a country's exports and minimize imports in an effort to amass bullion (or gold). New World conquests helped European countries export more and import less because the New World was a source of raw materials and markets for finished goods made in Europe. Nationalism, or the belief that a country's destiny is to expand, also was a political motivation for European expansion. In addition, the growth of European populations was a demographic factor behind their expansion. 
As a result of the interconnectedness of the Atlantic World, there was an exchange of products, technology, and livestock. For example, horses were introduced into the New World from Europe, and agricultural products such as tobacco and sugar were brought back to Europe, where they proved very popular. Technologies such as guns were introduced in the New World, as were diseases that were unknown in the Western Hemisphere up to that point, including small pox. These diseases resulted in the decimation of some New World populations. Tragically, slavery was also introduced in the New World, as slaves were imported from Africa to the West Indies and to the mainland North American and South American colonies.

Friday, January 25, 2019

int (x^3+3x-4)/(x^3-4x^2+4x) dx Use partial fractions to find the indefinite integral

For the given integral problem: int (x^3+3x-4)/(x^3-4x^2+4x)dx , we may simplify  by applying long division since the highest degree of x is the same from numerator and denominator side.
(x^3+3x-4)/(x^3-4x^2+4x) = 1+(4x^2-x-4)/(x^3-4x^2+4x) .
Apply partial fraction decomposition on the expression (4x^2-x-4)/(x^3-4x^2+4x) .
The pattern on setting up partial fractions will depend on the factors of the denominator. For the given problem, the factored form of the denominator will be:
(x^3-4x^2+4x) =(x)(x^2-4x+4)
                            =(x) (x-2)(x-2)  or x(x-2)^2
For the linear factor (x) , we  will have partial fraction: A/x
For the repeated linear factor (x-2)^2 , we will have partial fractions: B/(x-2) + C/(x-2)^2 .
The rational expression becomes:
(4x^2-x-4)/(x^3-4x^2+4x) =A/x +B/(x-2) + C/(x-2)^2
Multiply both side by the LCD =x(x-2)^2 :
((4x^2-x-4)/(x^3-4x^2+4x)) (x(x-2)^2)=(A/x +B/(x-2) + C/(x-2)^2)(x(x-2)^2)
4x^2-x-4=A*(x-2)^2+B*(x(x-2)) + C*x
We apply zero-factor property on x(x-2)^2 to solve for value we can assign on x.
x=0
x-2 = 0 then x=2 .
To solve for A , we plug-in x=0 :
4*0^2-0-4=A*(0-2)^2+B*(0(0-2)) + C*0
0-0-4 = A*(-2)^2 +0 +0
-4 =4A
-4/4 =(4A)/4
A =-1
To solve for C , we plug-in x=2 :
4*2^2-2-4=A*(2-2)^2+B*(2(2-2)) + C*2
16-2-4 = A*0 +B*0 +2C
10= 0 + 0 +2C
10 =2C
(10)/2= (2C)/2
C=5
To solve for B, plug-in x=1 ,A=-1 , and C=5 :
 
4*1^2-1-4=(-1)*(1-2)^2+B*(1(1-2)) + 5*1
4-1-4= (-1)*(-1)^2+B(1*(-1)) +5
-1= -1-B +5
-1= -B+4
-1-4= -B
-5=-B
(-5)/(-1) = (-B)/(-1)
B =5
Plug-in A = -1 , B =5, and C=5 , we get the partial decomposition:
(4x^2-x-4)/(x^3-4x^2+4x) =-1/x +5/(x-2) + 5/(x-2)^2
 Then the integrand becomes:
(x^3+3x-4)/(x^3-4x^2+4x) = 1+(4x^2-x-4)/(x^3-4x^2+4x) .
                    =1-1/x +5/(x-2) + 5/(x-2)^2
 Apply the basic integration property:int (u+-v) dx = int (u) dx +- int (v) dx .
int (x^3+3x-4)/(x^3-4x^2+4x) dx = int [1-1/x +5/(x-2) + 5/(x-2)^2] dx
            =int1 dx - int 1/x dx +int 5/(x-2)dx + int 5/(x-2)^2dx
 
Apply basic integration property:  int(a) dx = ax+C
int1 dx = 1x or x
Apply integration formula for logarithm: int 1/u du = ln|u|+C .
int 1/x dx=ln|x|
int 5/(x-2)dx= int 5/udu
                  = 5ln|u|
                 =5 ln|x-2|
Note: Let u =x-2 then du = dx .
Apply the Power Rule for integration: int (u^n) dx =u^(n+1)/ (n+1) +C .
int 5/(x-2)^2dx=int 5/u^2du
                    =int 5u^(-2)du
                     = 5 * u^(-2+1)/(-2+1)
                     = 5* u^-1/(-1)
                     = -5/u
                     = -5/(x-2)
Note: Let u =x-2 then du = dx
Combining the results, we get the indefinite integral as:
int (x^3+3x-4)/(x^3-4x^2+4x)dx =x-ln|x| +5 ln|x-2|-5/(x-2)+C
http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcII/PartialFractions.aspx

how is fragmentation used in Preludes compared to how it is used in the love song of J.Alfred Prufrock and the hollow men?

It's difficult to respond to this question without seeming to express a critique of Eliot's verse that is not entirely positive. However, since Eliot has held an iconic status in the literary and intellectual world for a century, negative criticism is essentially irrelevant. Those features of his verse that do not conform to "traditional" poetic standards are those very things, often, that make his poetry so important and meaningful and that have been so influential in the modernist movement as a whole.
"Preludes" would seem to be, of the three named works in your question, the most straightforward, with each poem setting a mood and revealing the thoughts of those stuck in a grim urban milieu. If there is fragmentation, it consists of the use of truncated lines such as

The grimy scraps
Of withered leaves about your feet

and

The showers beat
On broken blinds and chimney-pots.

But there is also an arbitrary quality to the imagery, in which a disconnect is apparent, as in

The morning comes to consciousness
Of faint stale smells of beer
From the sawdust-trampled street.

The "morning" is rather unusually personified as "coming to consciousness," but the disconnect, in my view, lies in the association of "smells of beer" with, specifically, the street. Not to be facetious, but one would think the smell, if it were really there, would be noticeable as one approached a beer house, not rising from the level of the street itself. The phrasing is typical of the free associations in modernist poetry and in stream-of-consciousness prose as well. In "Prufrock," the fragmentation of ideas is even more evident than in "Preludes":

In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

This has nothing to do, at least on first glance, with the ideas that come before or after it. The famous opening of the poem already shows a disconnect between thoughts, a deliberate one: a "patient etherized upon a table" has nothing inherently to do with an "evening, spread out against the sky." Of course, all similes and metaphors (like those of one of Eliot's major influences, Donne) are the bringing together of seemingly unlike ideas, but in this case the pairing is jarring and inappropriate by "traditional" poetic standards. Even the description of the "evening spread out against the sky" makes little sense literally. But Eliot is presenting a purposely dreamlike world, a shifting phantasmagoria of the state of Prufrock's disordered mind—and by extension, that of modern man. Idea follows upon idea without outward logic:

Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In an minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

The concept of monumentally disturbing the universe is juxtaposed with a prosaic question of making decisions which "a minute will reverse." And in the lines

And I have known the eyes already, known them all—
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,

the images are not easily reconciled, for the reader might puzzle over how eyes can fix one in a "phrase," whether a "formulated" one or any other kind. These are seeming disconnects that create an overall mood of randomness. They are non sequiturs that give the impression of a mental state of anguish and confusion.
"The Hollow Men," as intensely pessimistic a poem as any Eliot wrote, is relatively straightforward in its movement from thought to thought and image to image, and it is probably one of the least difficult of his poems to interpret. Yet we still see a juxtaposition of words and phrases that lack the continuity that would make them more obviously understandable:

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other kingdom
Remember us

Adjectives are often used by Eliot in unexpected ways, but here, though the meaning of "direct eyes" is fairly clear, it is still an eccentric choice of words. That very unexpectedness enhances the unsettling effect of the poem and its account of these hopeless hollow men who are a metaphor for man alone in a hostile universe. The short, choppy quality of the lines conveys that same fragmented sense we find in the other poems.
In summary, Eliot's intention is to jar the reader with seemingly arbitrary, fragmentary, and disconnected ideas. These enhance the unsettled, disturbing character of both the form and content of his poetry, expressive of a world from which the bottom has dropped out.

What form of government did the Articles of Confederation create?

After the American Revolutionary War ended in 1781 with the final battle and surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, and the Treaty of Paris being signed in 1783, this led to America creating its own first plan of government. At this time though, the people of America had a fear that government in their new country could have too much power.
Because of this, when the Articles of Confederation was created, by all aspects it would come to be considered a weak form of national government. One reason that the Articles proved to be weak was that Congress had no power to tax the newly formed states that were previously colonies of Great Britain. Congress could not even regulate trade.
There was also no common currency when it came to money between the states. In addition, when it came time to vote, each state only had one vote, regardless of their size. Furthermore, only one branch of government was created under the Articles: the Legislative branch. This was Congress and it began as the Continental Congress during the American Revolution.
Later, it would be decided that a new, stronger government would need to be created, and this led to James Madison writing the U.S. Constitution, which featured two (2) more branches of government: the Executive and Judicial branches.


The Articles of Confederation established a system of government without a central authority, in which ultimate sovereignty resided with the individual states. The Articles, and the concept of radical republicanism on which they were based, had proved remarkably successful at mobilizing American patriots from different states to fight and defeat the British.
Yet the Articles, and the system of government they established, proved incapable of dealing with the political and economic challenges of the new nation. The lack of centralized government institutions prevented the United States from developing as a nation and taking its rightful place among the international community.
The country had incurred substantial debt in order to pay for its war against the British. Yet without a central bank or any kind of federal authority, it was unable to pay for the war. The American economy, already reeling from the aftereffects of the war, was damaged further by the loose, decentralized structure of the Articles of Confederation.
Under the Articles of Confederation, territorial disputes with foreign powers could not be fully addressed or resolved. Although such disputes affected the security of the United States as a whole, they could only be dealt with at the local level by individual states. The lack of a central government made it impossible for the United States to adopt a firm, coherent policy when it came to dealing with foreign powers.
Issues of domestic law and order were inadequately dealt with under the terms of the Articles of Confederation. If there was a serious public order disturbance—such as Shay's Rebellion, for example—it could only be handled by the state authorities. Yet if the individual state concerned was unable or unwilling to deal with the relevant disorder, then there was no possibility of concerted action at a nationwide level.

Provide a brief description of a hypothetical unfilled position.

A hypothetical position is that of Human Resource Manager. A job description presents categorical specifications, which may include job summary, responsibilities, duties, job or supervisory skills, qualifications, education, other skills (such as languages, math, engineering, medical terminology, and critical thinking) and professional credentials (including licenses and certificates). For a Human Resources Manager, the following brief description applies.
Responsibilities: Enhances and maintains existing human resource planning, implementing, and evaluating of human resource and activities, such as career development, labor union relations, and compensation.
Job duties: Maintains employees through recruiting, interviewing, evaluating, testing, and selecting. Prepares employees through training programs. Identifies legal and government regulation and reporting needs.
Skills: Maintain scheduling records and assignments. Contribute through team environment. Performance evaluation and management. Compensation and benefit management. Excellent written and spoken language skills. Bi-lingual language skills in Spanish. Experience with Employment Law.
Supervisory skills: Temporary staffing. Management counseling.
Education and Qualifications: 4-year Bachelor degree. 3-4 years Human Resource experience. Employment Law certificate.
https://hiring.monster.com/employer-resources/job-description-templates/human-resources-manager-job-description-sample/

How is the essay topic "the significance of an individual's attempt to live unconstrained by convention or circumstances" applicable to the following works? The works are: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Hemingway, Hamlet by Shakespeare, and "Boys and Girls" by Alice Munro.

All the texts treat the theme of individualism or living "free from convention" problematically. One way to approach writing the essay is to pick a text, and move from the particulars of the text to an assertion about the text's significance which will become your thesis.
To take the case of "Boys and Girls," for instance, the notion of individualism is bound up with gender identity and family politics. Part of what happens in that story is that the girl has constructed a version of the proper roles for people in her family in which she gets to help her father, which becomes at odds with the way her parents view her as she grows older. Her understanding of herself, and her interpretation of her relationship with her father, for instance, is based in part on her lived experience: she is more useful to her father than her younger brother Laird, yet this fact is more than counterbalanced (in the minds of her parents) by the alternate fact of her gender. In this way, her understanding of her self worth, which she ironically affirms by letting the horse escape, becomes separate from (and antagonistic to) her family.
One possible thesis you could derive from this is the notion that "individualism" often involves a set of beliefs about oneself that make possible an alternative, better life, whether those beliefs are true or not. In the case of the Hemingway story, this has to do with the narrator's belief in himself as "a writer"; in The Kite Runner, it has to so with Amir's guilt over his betrayal of Hassan. Hamlet is a more difficult case, although Hamlet's notions about family are clearly at odds with his mothers'.


In completing this assignment, you should start with an introduction that focuses on this theme as part of the rise of individualism. You should make the point that as a literary, philosophical, and political movement it is associated with liberalism and the Enlightenment, although the Greek Cynics may be seen as precursors. As a literary theme or plot type, it becomes especially popular in the nineteenth century, and is also associated with the notion of the artist as a rebel against bourgeois conformity.
Hamlet is the odd work out here, not just in being a play and being considerably earlier than the other works listed, but also in having the least direct connection with the theme. Here you might discuss Hamlet as a reluctant hero. Typically, in Revenge Tragedy, the hero has suffered a deep wrong, quickly discovers the identity of the villain (or knows it from the start) and has no qualms about the pursuit of revenge. Hamlet himself is not a decisive "man of action" and struggles to conform to the stereotype of heroic masculinity.
The case of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini fits more consistently with the theme. Amir struggles with the constraints imposed on him by Afghan traditions of class and gender. He is not naturally hypermasculine and does not enjoy the need to behave in the aggressive fashion that would be admired by his father and respected in his community. He would like to be friends with Hassan but social pressures lead to his betrayal of his friendship. He is caught between Afghan and American cultural codes and struggles throughout the book to find a way to balance his own emotions and loyalties with cultural traditions and demands.
Harry in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Hemingway feels that he has betrayed his calling as a writer by his striving for material success. He thinks he came closest to evoking his potential as a writer when he was living in adversity and danger, exploring the world alone, and that rich women, such as Helen, who cater to his whims and provide him with financial support and conventional society are somehow to blame for the decline of his writing.
"Boys and Girls" by Alice Munro shows how puberty marks a time when children are forced into gender roles that betray their natural inclinations. We see that the narrator is about to be forced into a traditional feminine role that betrays her innermost character. Her freeing Flora is a defiant act in which she tries to give the horse the freedom she herself will not have.

College Algebra, Chapter 4, Chapter Review, Section Review, Problem 74

Analyze the graph of the rational function $\displaystyle r(x) = \frac{2x - 7}{x^2 + 9}$ by using a graphing device. Find all $x$ and $y$ intercepts and all vertical, horizontal and slant asymptotes. If the function has no horizontal or slant asymptote, find a polynomial that has the same end as the rational function.







Based from the graph, the $x$ and $y$ intercept is approximately $3.5$ and $-0.75$ respectively. Since the degree of the numerator is less than the degree of the denominator, then, the line $y = 0$ is the horizontal asymptote. Also, the zeros of the denominator is complex. So, the function has no vertical asymptotes.

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Single Variable Calculus, Chapter 8, 8.4, Section 8.4, Problem 52

Find the indefinite integral $\displaystyle \int \sec^4 \left( \frac{x}{2} \right) dx$. Illustrate by graphing both the integrand and its antiderivative (taking $c = 0$).

Let $\displaystyle z = \frac{x}{2}$, then $\displaystyle dz = \frac{1}{2} dx$, so $dx = 2dz$. Thus,

$
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}
\int sec^4 \left( \frac{x}{2} \right) dx &= \int \sec^4 z \cdot 2 dz\\
\\
\int sec^4 \left( \frac{x}{2} \right) dx &= 2 \int \sec^4 z dz\\
\\
&= 2 \int \sec^2 z \cdot \sec^2 z dz
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
$


By using Integration by parts...

If we let $u = \sec^2 z$, then $du = 2 \sec z(\sec z \tan z) dz$ and if $dv = \sec^2 z dz$, then $\displaystyle v = \int \sec^2 z dz = \tan z$
So,

$
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}
\int \sec^2 z - \sec^2 z dz &= uv - \int v du = \sec^2 z \tan z - \int 2 (\tan z) \sec z (\sec z \tan z) dz\\
\\
&= \sec^2 z \tan z - \int 2 \sec^2 z \tan^2 z dz && \text{recall that } \tan^2 z = \sec^2 z - 1\\
\\
&= \sec^2 z \tan z - 2 \int \sec^2 z (\sec^2 z - 1) dz\\
\\
&= \sec^2 z \tan z - 2 \int \sec^4 z dz + 2 \int \sec^2 z dz
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
$


By combining like terms,

$
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}
\int \sec^4 z dz &= \sec^2 z \tan z - 2 \int \sec^4 z dz + 2 \tan z\\
\\
\int \sec^4 z dz + 2 \int \sec^4 zdz &= \sec^2 z \tan z + 2 \tan z + c\\
\\
3 \int \sec^4 z dz &= \sec^2 z \tan z + 2 \tan z + c\\
\\
\int \sec^4 z dz &= \frac{\sec^2 z \tan z + 2 \tan z}{3} + c\\
\\
2\int \sec^4 z dz &= 2 \left[ \frac{\sec^z \tan z + z \tan z}{3} \right] +c\\
\\
2\int \sec^4 z dz &= \frac{2}{3} \left[ \sec^2 z \tan z + 2 \tan z \right] + c

\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
$


But $\displaystyle z = \frac{x}{2}$, so
$\displaystyle \int \sec^4 \left( \frac{x}{2} \right) dx = \frac{2}{3} \left[ \sec^2 \left( \frac{x}{2} \right) \tan \left( \frac{x}{2} \right) + 2 \tan \left( \frac{x}{2} \right) \right] $

What is the meaning of the Cherokee Memorial? What is its historical significance?

In 1829, the Native American newspaper The Cherokee Phoenix wrote a letter to The United States Congress called the Cherokee Memorial. The Cherokee Memorial was written to petition Congress against both the forcible removal of Native Americans from their lands and well as the more general corrosion of Native American rights. The specific act which spurred this letter was the state of Georgia’s requiring Native Americans to leave their homelands and move west.
The substance of the letter reminded the government that Native Americans played a key role in the survival of the early settlers and urged the government to recognize Native Americans as valid inhabitants of their land. Instead the government took the view that Native Americans were living on land belonging to the government.
Upon delivery to Congress, the Cherokee Memorial was tabled. Shortly after, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act which was signed into law by Andrew Jackson and then led to the Trail of Tears.
The Cherokee Memorial’s historical significance is as a harbinger for the lack of regard showed by the government to the Native Americans. By refusing to acknowledge the rights of Native Americans, the government would be able to carry out forced removal which resulted in immense and senseless disease and death.


There were several memorials sent by the Cherokee nation in the nineteenth century to the United States Congress. These memorials were sent to petition congress to take action against the infringement on Cherokee rights and lands by the state of Georgia and by Andrew Jackson. The first of the series of Cherokee Memorials was a petition written and sent to the United States 21st Congress in 1829 by members of the Cherokee Nation. The letter was sent specifically by The Cherokee Phoenix, a newspaper written and operated by members of the Cherokee Nation.
They petitioned Congress to defend and protect the Cherokee people from Andrew Jackson's plan to forcibly remove Cherokee people from their lands and move them into lands west of the Mississippi River. They also wanted to arrest Georgia's attempts to exert control and ownership over Cherokee lands. The memorial was tabled by House Speaker, Andrew Stevenson, on February 8th, 1830. These memorials were an attempt by the Cherokee to legally fight against their forced removal and cultural genocide. These attempts proved to be ineffective, even after a US court ruled removal to be unconstitutional.


The Cherokee Memorial was a letter written to the United States Congress by The Cherokee Phoenix, an American Indian newspaper. It was written in 1829 as a petition for Cherokee rights due to the restrictions and legal changes being made against the American Indians.
The letter outlines the history of the United States with the "red man," or the American Indians, and how when the European settlers came, they reached out for the American Indians' help. However, in recent years, the United States government had been progressively limiting the Cherokee nation and other tribes and pushing them to the brink of extinction. They were losing land and the ability to provide for themselves, and it was concerning.
The main point of the letter is a petition in the final paragraph to change the provisions in the law which saw American Indians as tenants of the land. They were being treated as if they were simply borrowing the land from the American government, when they had as much, if not more, right to it as the United States government did. The letter implores the moral, Christian leaders of the country to reconsider the actions that were being taken that were forcibly removing American Indians from their homeland.
http://www.teachushistory.org/indian-removal/resources/memorial-cherokee-nation-december-1829


A memorial letter is a written request to a legislature to petition that action be taken regarding a specific matter. The Memorial of the Cherokee Nation was directed to Congress in 1829 to protest the state of Georgia's demand that the Cherokee move west and relinquish their ancestral lands. The letter was tabled, or disregarded without debate, by the House of Representatives on February 8, 1830, less than four months prior to the House's passage of the Indian Removal Act on May 26 of the same year.* The lack of action taken regarding this letter and other memorials from the Cherokee Nation, as well as the short timeline between this protest and passage of the law directly leading to the Trail of Tears, tragically impacted the history of the Cherokee tribe.
The Cherokee Memorial (original document available at the first link below) first addresses the history between American colonists and indigenous Americans, pointing out the benevolent reception extended to early settlers by natives. The letter relates the long history of the Cherokee nation in Georgia and asserts inherent rights to lands occupied by ancestors, reminding its lawmaker audience of treaties ensuring the rights of the Cherokee as a separate people. The most significant aspect of this letter is that it concretely illustrates the profound indifference of the United States government to the voices, history, and overall well-being of American Indian tribes in its systematic efforts to remove them from native lands in the southeast. The Indian Removal Act authorized the displacement of the Cherokee from ancestral lands in Georgia to territory west of the Mississippi River, disregarding the concerns expressed in this memorial letter and stripping the Cherokee nation of culturally significant land.
*President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act on May 28, 1830, two days after the House passed it.

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Many industry insiders attribute the recent falloff in audiences for movies, recorded music, network television, DVD, radio, newspapers, and video games to changes in technology; people are finding new ways to access content. And while this is certainly true to a degree, others say that in this age of concentrated and hypercommercialized media, audiences are simply being turned off. Would agree with the critics? Why? Can you give examples from your own media consumption?

This topic is something that I have been teaching in my media class for the last ten years. Based on the information that I have been tracking over those years, I think the initial writing prompt that is provided here is a bit misleading. The prompt seems to suggest that media consumption has fallen off. That simply isn't the case. Studies are abundant that show the overall amount of digital media being consumed has continued to rise over the past decade.
The question initially starts with saying, "Many industry insiders attribute the recent falloff in audiences for movies, recorded music, network television, DVD, radio, newspapers, and video games . . ." Perhaps what that is referring to is the falloff of audiences paying for certain items that are listed there. Movie ticket sales have had a general decline since 2002; however, current 2018 ticket sales are higher than they have been in ten years. In fact, the 2018 ticket sales are nearly up to what they peaked at in 2002. That movie consumption information just takes into account box office numbers. It doesn't at all take into account that paid movie viewing services like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu have all drastically increased their number of paid memberships in recent years. Video game sales don't claim that kind of drastic increase, but video game sales have been steadily increasing since 2015.
I don't think it's realistic to say that audiences for TV shows, music, movies, and video games have fallen off in recent years. There is too much evidence out there that shows media consumption is on the rise. With that said, I do think the initial writing prompt brings up a good point about changes in technology changing media consumption habits or formats. It makes sense that DVD or CD album sales have fallen off. People don't feel the need to purchase a DVD when they can stream the movie from a variety of sources. Even if a person wants to own the video, it's easier and more convenient to purchase a digital download copy from Amazon or a similar source. The prompt indicates that anecdotal evidence is acceptable. I digitally downloaded a film for my media class today instead of purchasing the DVD and waiting for it in the mail. Sales of DVDs might be declining, but movie viewership is not. Music sales are similar. Plenty of users still pay for single song downloads or even entire albums. Additionally, people pay for certain music services like satellite radio and/or premier memberships to things like Pandora, Spotify, or Google Play; however, all of those services also offer free music streaming with a limited number of skips. User growth on these kinds of services has continued to increase in recent years. A user can't necessarily listen to a particular song at any given moment, but that's what Youtube is now often being used for. Anecdotally, I haven't paid for music in nearly decade. That is because I have access to so much free music that I don't see the point in purchasing music albums. I'm sure that each person can give solid evidence of their own about how he or she listens to music without having to purchase anything.
Cable TV is possibly the one area in which declines are being seen. As competition from companies like Netflix and Amazon increases, more and more people are dropping their paid cable subscriptions; however, the number of Charter cable subscribers nearly doubled in 2016. Statistics like this and those that streaming services keep showing provide strong evidence that people are not being "turned off" as a part of the prompt hints. For example, American teenagers consume an average of eight hours and fifty-six minutes of entertainment media per day. The audience for various forms of media isn't falling off. It's getting bigger and staying on longer.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/research/census_researchreport.pdf

Why does Squeaky think the May Day dance is a waste of time?

Squeaky is portrayed as an aggressive, competitive tomboy, who is the fastest girl in her neighborhood and cannot wait to take first place at the annual May Day races. Squeaky mentions that the most popular event on May Day is the May Pole dancing, which consists of local young girls getting dressed up and dancing around poles in a celebratory manner. Squeaky's comments reveal that she does not see eye-to-eye with her mother, who would prefer if she wore an expensive dress and new shoes to dance around the poles with the other girls her age. Squeaky has no interest in behaving like a typical, feminine girl by participating in the pole dancing because she is more focused on winning the fifty-yard dash and beating her new rival, Gretchen. Squeaky has been endlessly training for the fifty-yard dash and is solely focused on winning the event. Her tomboy personality and affinity for running and competition prevent her from being interested in something as trivial and feminine as the May Pole dancing.


Squeaky thinks that May Pole dancing is a waste of time because for the dance she would have to buy a “white organdy dress with a big sash” and “white baby doll shoes,” items that she’d probably wear only once in her lifetime, hence a waste of her money. Also, the dances are not quite her thing. She would rather do the track meet instead of spending her time “prancing around a May Pole” and pretending to be someone she was not. She feels like the May Pole dance is a foolery of sorts, comparing it to the time she had to play the strawberry in a Hansel and Gretel pageant in nursery school and spent the day dancing “umbrella steps” and looking like an idiot just so as to please her parents. Squeaky is a tomboy and does not like to do girly things like dressing up for dances or just dancing. Her mother wishes that she’d sometimes behave like a girl and is always encouraging her to participate in events such as the May Pole dance.

How did the invention of the model T Ford change the lives of Americans?

To understand the impact of the Model T, consider an invention that was once the exclusive purview of the few that is now so widespread and affordable that no one thinks twice about it. Now imagine an invention that radically altered the way you moved over a geographical area and fundamentally changed--forever--the way in which people thought about transportation. That was the impact of the Model T.
Henry Ford did not invent the automobile. What Ford did, however, was make it affordable for the masses. The Model T was introduced in 1908. Prior to the Model T, cars were something only the wealthy could afford. By utilizing the assembly line, standardizing parts, and making a relatively simple product, Ford drastically cut production costs and made the car into something that the average person could own. In fact, Ford was famously rumored to have said "You can have any color as long as its black." Black was the only color offered for 12 out of 19 years of the car’s production because it dried the fastest, meaning Ford could make more cars.
Think about what people used before the Model T. Again, cars were around, but they were expensive luxuries. Most people continued to use a horse and carriage. These came with expenses such as feed and land. What's more, not everyone could afford them, especially if they lived in congested cities. And large animals produce large amounts of waste which, combined with the poor sanitation of the age, made cities horribly polluted. (Although to be fair, the exhaust from cars wasn’t an improvement.)
With the advent of the Model T, whole industries changed overnight. Horses became less common on city streets, which drove horse-related industries out of business. However, new businesses opened, such as mechanics and service stations, to attend to the proliferation of cars. This was in addition to the tens of thousands of new jobs that came with the expansion of automotive factories, as Ford's competitors quickly began to follow suit and produce inexpensive cars.
Lastly, individuals suddenly had the ability to travel whenever and wherever they wanted. This truly was something new that humans had never experienced on such a broad scale. Prior to the widespread availability of the Model T, people's freedom of movement was largely curtailed to the immediate area in which they lived. After its development, that area increased dramatically.
So, when thinking about the Model T's impact, it's important to keep in mind not just the immediate effects, such as easily moving from A to B, but the compound effects that came with it. Some industries disappeared, others appeared and expanded. Further, we also can't overlook the impact it had on people's sense of space and time. An individual's radius of interaction expanded greatly and with it came a new sense of freedom of movement.
https://corporate.ford.com/history.html

Single Variable Calculus, Chapter 3, 3.6, Section 3.6, Problem 3

a.) Determine $y'$ by Implicit Differentiation.
b.) Find the equation explicitly for $y$ and differentiate to get $y'$ in terms of $x$.
c.) Check that your solutions to part (a) and (b) are consistent by substituting the expression for $y$ into your solution for part (a).

a.) Given: $\displaystyle \frac{1}{x} + \frac{1}{y} = 1$
$\displaystyle \frac{d}{dx} \left( \frac{1}{x}\right) + \frac{d}{dx} \left( \frac{1}{y}\right) = \frac{d}{dx} (1)$
$\displaystyle \frac{\left[ (x) \frac{d}{dx} (1) - (1) \frac{d}{dx}(x) \right]}{x^2} + \frac{\left[ (y) \frac{d}{dx} (1) - (1) \frac{d}{dx}(y) \right]}{y^2} =0 $
$\displaystyle \frac{(x)(0)-(1)(1)}{x^2}+\frac{(y)(0)-(1)\left(\frac{dy}{dx}\right)}{y^2} = 0$


$
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}
\frac{-1}{x^2} - \frac{\frac{dy}{dx}}{y^2} &= 0 \\
\\
\frac{\frac{dy}{dx}}{y^2} &= \frac{-1}{x^2}\\
\\
\frac{dy}{dx} &= \frac{-y^2}{x^2} \qquad \text{ or } \qquad y' = \frac{-y^2}{x^2} && \text{(Equation 1)}
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
$


b.) Solving for $y$


$
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}
\frac{1}{y} &= 1 - \frac{1}{x}\\
\\
\frac{1}{y} &= \frac{x-1}{x}\\
\\
\frac{y(\cancel{x-1})}{(\cancel{x-1})} &= \frac{x}{x-1}\\
\\
y &= \frac{x}{x -1 } && \text{(Equation 2)}\\
\\
\frac{d}{dx} (y) &= \frac{d}{dx} \left( \frac{x}{x-1} \right)\\
\\
\frac{dy}{dx} &= \frac{(x-1)\frac{d}{dx}(x)-(x) \frac{d}{dx}(x-1)}{(x-1)^2}\\
\\
\frac{dy}{dx} &= \frac{(x-1)(1)-(x)(1-0)}{(x-1)^2}\\
\\
\frac{dy}{dx} &= \frac{\cancel{x}-1-\cancel{x}}{(x-1)^2}\\
\\
\frac{dy}{dx} &= \frac{-1}{(x-1)^2} \qquad \text{ or } \qquad y' = \frac{-1}{(x-1)^2}
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
$


c.) Substituting Equation 2 in Equation 1

$
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}
y' &= \frac{-y^2}{x^2} && \text{(Equation 1)}\\
\\
y &= \frac{x}{x-1} && \text{(Equation 2)}\\
\\
y' &= \frac{- \left( \frac{x}{x-1}\right)^2}{x^2}\\
\\
y' &= \frac{-\frac{x^2}{(x-1)^2}}{x^2}\\
\\
y' &= \frac{-\cancel{x^2}}{(\cancel{x^2})(x-1)^2}\\
\\
y' &= \frac{-1}{(x-1)^2}
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
$


Results from part (a) and part(b) are equivalent.

sum_(n=1)^oo (4n)/(2n+1) Confirm that the Integral Test can be applied to the series. Then use the Integral Test to determine the convergence or divergence of the series.

sum_(n=1)^oo(4n)/(2n+1)
The integral test is applicable if f is positive, continuous and decreasing function on infinite interval [k,oo) where k>=1 and a_n=f(x) . Then the series sum_(n=1)^ooa_n converges or diverges if and only if the improper integral int_1^oof(x)dx converges or diverges.
For the given series a_n=(4n)/(2n+1)
Consider f(x)=(4x)/(2x+1)
Refer to the attached graph of the function. From the graph we observe that the function is positive and continuous. However it is not decreasing on the interval [1,oo)
We can also determine whether the function is decreasing by finding the derivative f'(x) such that f'(x)<0 for x>=1  
Let's find the derivative by the quotient rule:
f(x)=(4x)/(2x+1)
f'(x)=((2x+1)d/dx(4x)-(4x)d/dx(2x+1))/(2x+1)^2
f'(x)=((2x+1)(4)-(4x)(2))/(2x+1)^2
f'(x)=(8x+4-8x)/(2x+1)^2
f'(x)=4/(2x+1)^2
So f'(x)>0
which implies that the function is not decreasing.
Since the function does not satisfies the conditions for the integral test, we can not apply integral test.

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

What is the significance of Reverend Whitfield?

Reverend Whitfield is the man with whom Addie has an affair during her marriage to Anse, and he is also the father of Jewel. Whitfield gets to narrate one chapter, and, during this section, we learn what a hypocrite his character is in terms of his religious beliefs and position.
As a reverend, we would first not expect Whitfield to be having an affair or fathering a child out of wedlock; however, it seems he and Addie had a brief romance during which she became pregnant with Jewel. In Addie's chapter, narrated from beyond the grave, she describes her affection for Jewel as being born out of her ability to make a choice to have the child with Whitfield; with Anse, sexual relations and childbearing become obligations. When Whitfield narrates his own chapter, we learn that he feels somewhat guilty to have committed adultery, but ultimately exposes himself as selfish and hypocritical. He has the misguided idea that he should go to Addie on her deathbed and confess their affair to Anse. This would only be to make him feel as though he is unburdened of the secret, but it would cause much confusion and trauma for the family on the eve of Addie's death. However, he doesn't end up doing this because Addie dies before he arrives. Whitfield sees this as a way of God forgiving him for what he did. He even refers to his situation as his own "Gesthemane," which shows his delusions of grandeur and self-centered nature (that is the garden where Jesus was praying when he was arrested by the Romans). He uses his faith to excuse his behavior, while presumably spouting guidelines of the faith, which he has not followed, to his congregation from his pulpit. Faulkner could be using Whitfield to expose the corruption of the Southern church and its clergy, as he similarly critiques class difference/poverty and the treatment of women.
Whitfield serves an important purpose in the plot as Jewel's father, explaining why Jewel is so separate from the rest of the family, but he also helps to illuminate some of Faulkner's themes.

Who killed John F. Kennedy?

Despite the conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy case, it has been determined by the Warren Commission that Lee Harvey Oswald killed John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
John F. Kennedy had made a great deal of enemies during his short time in office. Southern Democrats did not like him for his stance favoring integration. Organized crime did not like him since the president's brother, Robert Kennedy, was the attorney general and was quite tough on crime. Fidel Castro did not like Kennedy because of his attempts to assassinate him. Some in the Soviet Union did not like Kennedy for his hard stance during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Despite this long list of potential enemies, in 1964 the Warren Commission determined that Oswald acted alone in killing Kennedy. Despite recent investigations into other theories and the recent opening of the Kennedy papers, there has not been enough evidence to change this conclusion.

Intermediate Algebra, Chapter 5, 5.2, Section 5.2, Problem 16

Write the polynomial $3y^2 + y^4 - 2y^3$ in descending power of the variable. Then give the
leading term and leading coefficient.

Simplify the polynomial then reorder it left to right starting with the highest degree term
$y^4 -2y^3 + 3y^2$
A polynomial consists of terms, which are also known as monomials. The leading term in a polynomial is the highest degree term.
In this case, the leading term in $y^4 -2y^3 + 3y^2$ is the first term, which is $y^4$

The leading coefficient in a polynomial is the coefficient of the leading term. In this case, the leading term is $y^4$ and the leading coefficient is 1.

Monday, January 21, 2019

In the Odyssey, both the myth of Oedipus and his mother Jocasta and the myth of Clytemenstra and Orestes are mentioned. How do these two myths differ between their perspectives on violence?

Oedipus is born under a curse that dooms him to unknowingly kill his father (not realizing that the man he slays is his father) and marry his mother, Jocasta, and he does so without realizing what he is doing. Only after the fact, when Thebes, the city where he reigns as king, is under a curse, does Oedipus come to realize that he has not been able to escape the fate decreed to his parents when he was born.
Orestes is the son of Clytemnestra (his mother) and Agamemnon (his father). When Agamemnon returns from the Trojan War, Aegisthus, Clytemnestra's lover, kills him. Orestes gets revenge by killing Aegisthus and Clytemnestra.
The tales are similar in that both families are doomed, and both tales of violence involve killing a parent. However, the tales are different in that Oedipus kills his father unwittingly, while Orestes does so knowingly. Oedipus is regarded as a tragic figure who can not escape his fate, while Orestes is celebrated in the Odyssey. The violence that Oedipus commits is not sanctioned, while the violence that Orestes commits is sanctioned. Orestes has avenged the death of his father and righted the wrongs done to his father, and he is held up to Telemachus, whose mother, Penelope, is besieged by suitors in her husband's absence, as a model of a way to act. According to Greek morals, Telemachus would be justified in slaying the suitors in the same way that Orestes killed his mother and his mother's lover.

What impact did the triangle trade have on Europe?

Your question is about the impact of the triangular trade, also known as the Atlantic slave trade, on Europe. The triangular trade had several notable impacts on Europe, including massive profit opportunities, increased access to raw goods, more political power and colonization outside Europe, and the rise of the Industrial Revolution. 
The triangular trade consisted of goods like textiles, mirrors, and guns from Europe being shipped to Africa, where they were exchanged for slaves. The slaves were then shipped to the Americas, where they were exchanged for raw goods like sugar, mahogany, and cotton. These goods were then shipped back to Europe.
Creating shipping lines to Africa and the Americas boosted Europe's shipping industry, providing jobs and income. As the amount of product being imported and exported from Europe grew, so did the number of ports, ships, and workers. 
Doing business abroad helped create diplomatic relationships and opportunities to colonize countries outside Europe. European nations were able to more easily colonize African countries, for example, as they already had an established way to get supplies and transact business. The profit the countries received from the triangular trade helped them build their empires, which affected the political and social fabric of many countries both in and out of Europe. 
A continuous stream of raw materials from the Americas and the profit generated by the slave trade together helped contribute to the rise of the Industrial Revolution. European factories formed to make more manufactured goods. This growth in technology and business ventures was also largely possible due to money received from the triangular trade, made by selling goods and selling slaves. Dr. Will Hardy explains:

The British cotton mills, which became the emblem of the "Industrial Revolution," depended on cheap slaved-produced cotton from the New World; cotton would have been more costly to obtain elsewhere. British consumers also benefited from other cheap and plentiful slaved-produced goods such as sugar. The profits gained from the slave trade gave the British economy an extra source of capital. 

Without the triangular trade providing cheap raw materials, it's possible that the Industrial Revolution would have happened more slowly or focused on different types of manufactured goods in different areas of Europe. While the triangular trade isn't the only cause of the Industrial Revolution, it's likely it played its part.
One of the negative impacts of the triangular trade on European nations is the legacy of slave trading and colonialism. The awareness of slave trading also led to the rise of abolition movements in Europe that sought to end slavery. 
http://revealinghistories.org.uk/africa-the-arrival-of-europeans-and-the-transatlantic-slave-trade/articles/triangular-trade-and-multiple-profits.html

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/riches-misery-the-consequences-the-atlantic-slave-trade


Triangular trade was the name given to the voyage that began in Europe, where manufactured goods were loaded and taken to Africa.  Some of these goods included different types of clothing, gold and even weapons such as guns.  These goods were traded for African slaves provided by local slave traders.  These slaves were then taken across the Atlantic Ocean on the part of the voyage most commonly known as the Middle Passage.  Many slaves didn't survive the trip to the Americas because of how they were shipped.  Once they arrived in the Americas, the slaves were traded for goods such as raw cotton, molasses, sugar and tobacco which ultimately was returned and sold back in Europe.
The positive effects for Europe directly related to the economic benefit from having these new goods inserted into the market.  Exotic goods would catch a premium price, especially from the aristocracy that had extra income to spend to show off their wealth and status.
Another positive effect was to establish territorial dominance not only in Africa, but the Americas as well.  These areas served as strategic strongholds to expand in the future.
One negative effect on Europe has to be the dark cloud of slavery cast upon the Europeans, especially in the late eighteenth century.  Quakers and other religious groups made it their mission to end slavery and to bring the oppressive ways of economic imperialists to the public eye.  By the early nineteenth century, the slave trade had all but disappeared, but the legacy of the slave trade and those who played a role in it has carried on through time.

Sunday, January 20, 2019

What year did France invite delegates from the U.S. to discuss a new international version of the metric system?

The metric system, also known as the International System of Units, was invented in France during the French Revolution.  Although it was adopted in 1795, it was not required until 1837.
The Convention of the Metre (also called the Treaty of the Meter), which a delegation from the United States attended, was held in 1875.  It was signed by 17 nations and was designed to provide a common measurement system to aid in science and trade.  
Prior to the adoption of the Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), measuring systems varied not only from country to country, but also from one region to the next.  As the industrial revolution brought more international trade, it was clear that there needed to be a common measurement system.  There are now 48 member nations.  They meet every four years.
 

How did David's mother become a victim of her husband's tyrannical behavior ? Give 5 examples

There are few characters in literature easier to hate than Mr. Murdstone and his loathsome sister, Miss Murdstone. As David Copperfield notes:

I knew . . . that he could mould her pliant nature into any form he chose, as I know, now, that he did it.

Mr. Murdstone insists she not show her warm, abundant emotions, and instead practiced "firmness." "Firmness," of which Mr. Murdstone is the source, David soon realizes is a code word for his mother and everyone else bending to his tyranny.
He brings in his sister, who lives with them, takes David's mother's household keys, and from that time forward runs the household.
When David's mother protests to Mr. Murdstone that she wants some say in running the household, he sides with his sister, condemns his wife for not appreciating his sister, and threatens to withhold his love. Threatening to withhold love and approval is a potent way of controlling this kind, good-hearted woman.
Religion is a fourth form of control. The family is forced to go to church and David believes that the dark "taint" in the Murdstone blood influences Mr. Murdstone's view of faith:

which wouldn’t allow him to let anybody off from the utmost weight of the severest penalties he could find any excuse for.

Finally, he terrorizes and tyrannizes over his wife by beating David cruelly, even though she cries and begs him not to do it.

What language technique is in the quote "Link, that boy might go to the chair, but he's not going till the truth's told...And you know what the truth is"?

The most obvious language technique in this quote is alliteration, which is when words in close proximity begin with the same letter and/or sound. In this case, it's the consonant t and the phrase "'till the truth's told." Till, truth, and told each begin with a hard "t" sound. You wouldn't include "the" in the alliteration pattern because "the" is a th-sound as opposed to a hard "t".

More lightly we see the use of a euphemism, which is an indirect word or phrase people use in place of something that's harsher or blunt. "Go to the chair" does refer to a physical chair, but more often people use the phrase as a light way of saying that someone's going to die via electrocution. It's unpleasant in conversation to refer to the death of another person, so Atticus uses this phrase to make the conversation seem a bit less heavy to both Link and those who may overhear.


In this passage from Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is justifying his defense of Tom Robinson to Link Deas, who has questioned Atticus’s motives on moral grounds. The language technique used in this passage is alliteration.
Alliteration is defined as the repetition of the initial letter of a number of words in a phrase or line. An example of this is “pied piper.” The purpose of alliteration is to create emphasis.
The example of alliteration in this passage comes in the following quote, “till the truth’s told.” Each of these words begins with the consonant “t.” The use of alliteration here illustrates the importance of the truth in the case of Tom Robinson. For Robinson, the truth really is a matter of life or death. Therefore, using the alliterative construction within this passage underscores this reality.

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Beginning Algebra With Applications, Chapter 7, 7.1, Section 7.1, Problem 66

What polynomial must be subtracted from $2x^3 - x^2 + 4x - 2$ so that the difference is $x^3 + 2x - 8$?

Let $P$ = the polynomial that must be subtracted


$
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}

& 2x^3 - x^2 + 4x - 2 - P = x^3 + 2x - 8
&&
\\
& (2x^3 - x^2 + 4x - 2) - (x^3 + 2x - 8) = P
&&
\\
& (2x^3 - x^3) - x^2 + (4x-2x) + (-2+8) = P
&& \text{Rewrite subtraction as addition of the opposite}
\\
& x^3 - x^2 + 2x + 6 = P
&& \text{Combine like terms and write the polynomial in descending order.}


\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
$

Friday, January 18, 2019

Calculus of a Single Variable, Chapter 9, 9.4, Section 9.4, Problem 19

Recall Limit Comparison Test considers two positive series a_ngt=0 and b_ngt 0 for all n such that the limit from the ratio of two series as:
lim_(n-gtoo)a_n/b_n=c
where c is positive and finite ( 0ltcltoo) .
When we satisfy the condition for the limit value, the two series will have the same properties. Both will either converge or diverges. We may also consider the conditions:
If we have lim_(n-gtoo)a_n/b_n=0 , we follow: sum b_n converges then sum a_n converges.
If we have lim_(n-gtoo)a_n/b_n=oo , we follow: sum b_n diverges then sum a_n diverges.
For the given series sum_ (n=1)^oo 1/(nsqrt(n^2+1)) , we may let a_n= 1/(nsqrt(n^2+1)).
Rationalize the denominator:
1/(nsqrt(n^2+1)) *sqrt(n^2+1)/sqrt(n^2+1) =sqrt(n^2+1)/(n(n^2+1)
Note: sqrt(n^2+1)*sqrt(n^2+1) = (sqrt(n^2+1))^2 = n^2+1 .
Ignoring the constants, we get:
sqrt(n^2+1)/(n(n^2+1)) ~~sqrt(n^2)/(n(n^2)) or 1/n^2
Note: sqrt(n^2) =n . We may cancel it out to simplify.
This gives us a hint that we may apply comparison between the two series: a_n= 1/(nsqrt(n^2+1)) and b_n = 1/n^2 .
The limit of the ratio of the two series will be:
lim_(n-gtoo) [1/(nsqrt(n^2+1))]/[1/n^2] =lim_(n-gtoo) 1/(nsqrt(n^2+1))*n^2/1
=lim_(n-gtoo) n^2/(nsqrt(n^2+1))
=lim_(n-gtoo) n/sqrt(n^2+1)
Apply algebraic techniques to evaluate the limit. We divide by n with the highest exponent which is n or n^1 . Note: n is the same as sqrt(n^2) .
lim_(n-gtoo) n/(sqrt(n^2+1)) =lim_(n-gtoo) (n/n)/(sqrt(n^2+1)/sqrt(n^2))
=lim_(n-gtoo) 1/sqrt(1+1/n^2)
=1/sqrt(1+1/oo)
= 1/sqrt(1+0)
= 1 /sqrt(1)
= 1/1
=1
The limit value c=1 satisfies 0ltclt oo .
Apply the p-series test: sum_(n=1)^oo 1/n^p is convergent if pgt1 and divergent if plt=1 .
The sum_(n=1)^oo 1/n^2 has p =2 which satisfy pgt1 since 2gt1 . Then, the series sum_(n=1)^oo 1/n^2 is convergent.
Conclusion based from limit comparison test:
With the series sum_(n=1)^oo 1/n^2 convergent, it follows the series sum_ (n=1)^oo 1/(nsqrt(n^2+1)) is also convergent.

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