What do the terms epiphany, theme, and symbol mean in the context of "Tears, Idle Tears" by Elizabeth Bowen?

Themes, symbols, and epiphanies are literary terms that are used to speak about all different types of literary works.A theme is the main topic or idea of a piece of literature. Themes are often big abstract ideas, and they tend to be emotions that are felt or expressed in the work. Oftentimes the theme is a recurring idea that is repeated throughout the story. This is the case in "Tears, Idle Tears." The recurring theme of this short story has to do with how one handles grief, or how one should handle grief. This is seen in both Mrs. Dickerson and in Frederick. One can expand upon that and say the theme also speaks to how to handle someone else handling grief. Both themes are made clear at the beginning of the story when we learn that Mrs. Dickerson's husband (Frederick's father) died five years ago. This resulted in Frederick spontaneously crying quite often and his mother berating him for it. While it's a short story, it is clear that this sequence, and thus the theme of the story, plays out frequently.An epiphany is the "ah ha" moment in a literary work. This is the moment that the character becomes aware of something important or gains some kind of critical knowledge. In "Tears, Idle Tears," this takes place when Frederick meets the woman at the pond who tells him that there is nothing wrong with crying or feeling emotions and people of all ages do it. Not only does Frederick realize that his emotions are not something that he should be ashamed of, but his mother realizes that she should not be shaming him for them.Finally, symbols are a tool that an author uses to make something mean more than its literal meaning. An object, word, or phrase will be used to represent something else. In short, something seemingly simple has a greater meaning. At the pond, Frederick watches the duck swim by. The duck is simple and does simple movements. Frederick is a child, and his life should be simple and uncomplicated. The woman in the park also comforts and consoles him the way a mother should.

Literary critical terms such as theme, symbol, and epiphany are not unique to this story, but give you the tools to describe and understand narratives. A theme is a broad issue, concern, or point addressed by a literary work. In this case, the theme is signaled by its appropriating a line from Tennyson as a title. That Tennyson line refers to Virgil's lacrimae rerum (tears of things), a notion of an overwhelming sense of sadness not connected with personal emotion (i.e. not melancholia or depression nor triggered by a specific event), but with a sense of sorrow at the heart of life. An epiphany is a moment of realization, in this story perhaps applicable to the woman as well as Frederick. In the case of symbols, you might think of how George and Frederick act as symbols of sorrow and the ducks as simple pleasures.

Can you help with summaries and themes of The Decameron Second Day stories?

The theme of the Second Day stories is generally the vicissitudes of fate--that is, the way in which people's fates are unpredictable. The storytellers speak about the fickle nature of Fortune.
Here are summaries of the stories on the Second Day:
In the First Tale, a man named Martellino pretends to be paralyzed to be cured by the body of a dead saint named Arrigo; instead, Martellino is arrested but later pardoned.
In the Second Tale, Rinaldo is robbed by a band of travelers but then heads to Castel Guglielmo, where he finds a beautiful woman who takes him in and clothes him. Later, the thieves are apprehended, and Rinaldo's belongings are restored to him. 
The Third Tale is about Alessandro, the nephew of ne'er-do-well uncles who send him to England. On the way back to Italy, he meets an abbot with whom he falls in love. The abbot turns out to be the daughter of the King of England, and she earns the Pope's permission to wed Alessandro, who returns to England and earns the king's favor.
The Fourth Tale is about a man named Landolfo who becomes a pirate and loses his treasures during a storm, when his ship is taken over. He then washes ashore, where a woman helps him and where he finds his lost treasures. He goes on to live a prosperous and peaceful life.
The Fifth Tale is about a man named  Andreuccio who, while attending a horse show, is robbed by a woman named Fiordaliso who says she is his sister. After some mishaps, he winds up joining some other men to rob a tomb, and he eventually returns home with jewels.
In the Sixth Tale, a woman named Beritola has to flee Sicily when it is taken over by Charles I. She is pregnant and also has a son. She escapes to an island, but her two sons are lost to her. Later, the two boys are enslaved, the older son to a man named Currado. The older son, Giannotto, falls in love with Currado's daughter, but Currado jails him when he finds out. Later, after Sicily falls out of Charles I's hands, Currado realizes who Giannotto is and releases him from jail. Giannotto is reunited with his mother and is able to marry. They also find the younger son, and their father regains power in Sicily.
In the Seventh Tale, Alatiel, the daughter of the Sultan of Babylon, is sent to be married to the King of Algarve. She encounters a storm and eventually is passed into the possession of nine men before being restored to her father and marrying the King of Algarve.
The Eighth Tale is about Walter, Count of Antwerp, who governs France while the king is away. The king's daughter-in-law accuses Walter of rape, and he escapes. He has to leave his daughter and son behind, but eventually he is reunited with them and the king declares Walter's innocence.
In the Ninth Tale, a man named Bernabò of Genoa sentences his innocent wife to death for stealing money, but later, disguised as a man in the court of the Sultan of Alexandria, she finds and punishes the true thief and is reunited with her husband.
In the Tenth Tale, a man named Paganino captures a woman named Bartolomea, who is young and beautiful. Her elderly husband, Ricciardo finds them, but Bartolomea refuses to return to her husband and is later married to Paganino.

How can I identify exothermic and endothermic reactions? What am I supposed to ask myself?

In order to determine if a reaction is endothermic or exothermic you should ask yourself if energy is being transferred from the surroundings to the system or from the system to the surroundings.
Endothermic reactions absorb energy from the surroundings. A chemical ice pack that gets cold when two components are mixed and is then used to treat an injury is an example of an endothermic reaction. It cools your injured body part because heat is being absorbed from your body by the reaction system. The energy gained by an endothermic reaction system is equal to the energy lost by the surroundings.
Exothermic reactions release energy to the surroundings in the form of heat, light or electrical energy. Combustion is a common exothermic reaction, giving off heat and light. The energy gained by the surroundings as a result of an exothermic reaction is equal to the energy lost by the system. From a mathematical perspective you can determine if a reaction is endothermic or exothermic by the enthalpy change.  This is the energy transferred in a reaction and is designated ∆H. You can determine whether a reaction is endothermic or exothermic by the sign of ∆H:
If ∆H is positive, the reaction is endothermic.
If ∆H is negative, the reaction is exothermic.
https://www.thoughtco.com/endothermic-and-exothermic-reactions-602105

What are the salient features of Romanticism?

Revolution that swept Europe and America around 1776 created within artists a new appreciation for imaginative, unrestrained literature and other art forms. The Romantic literature that flowed out of this period embodies several key characteristics:
Imagination: Consider the following lines from John Keats's "La Belle Dame sans Merci":

I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful—a faery’s child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.

I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She looked at me as she did love,

Keats combines an emotion—love—with imagination. He has become enamored with a fairy woman. This isn't a realistic portrait of love or adoration, but that is key to the Romantic movement. There are endless possibilities, thanks to the imaginative power of literature.
Idealism: Consider the following lines from Lord Byron's "She Walks in Beauty":

She walks in beauty, like the nightOf cloudless climes and starry skies;And all that’s best of dark and brightMeet in her aspect and her eyes;Thus mellowed to that tender lightWhich heaven to gaudy day denies.

In this poem, the narrator presents this impeccable beauty, one that even the brightness of day impairs because it is too "gaudy." At the conclusion of the poem, the reader learns that this woman's innocence and virtue match her immeasurable beauty. She encompasses the ideal characteristics of women at that time.
Emotion: Consider the following lines from William Blake's "A Poison Tree":

I was angry with my friend:I told my wrath, my wrath did end.I was angry with my foe:I told it not, my wrath did grow.

Here we see a cautionary tale regarding harboring anger. The narrator notes that when he told his friend of his discontent, he ended the animosity. However, when he withheld this information from his enemy, the anger grew. Literature of this time period often reflected the emotional spectrum, both positive and negative experiences.
Nature: Consider the following lines from William Wordsworth's "Daffodils":

For oft, when on my couch I lieIn vacant or in pensive mood,They flash upon that inward eyeWhich is the bliss of solitude;And then my heart with pleasure fills,And dances with the daffodils.

In this poem, the narrator conveys that this beautiful memory of a scene of daffodils often lifts his mood when he is feeling rather gloomy. In this poem, the daffodils "dance" in "sparkling waves of glee." This idea of turning to nature for inspiration is key to the Romantic movement.
Simplicity: Consider the following lines from Percy Shelley's "To a Skylark":

Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!Bird thou never wert,That from Heaven, or near it,Pourest thy full heartIn profuse strains of unpremeditated art.

In these lines, we see that the narrator sees beautiful art in the simple call of a skylark. It was inspired by a simple evening walk that Shelley took with his wife, Mary.

In each poem, there are characteristics of the Romantic movement that overlap, but these authors and these excerpts show that the Romantic movement was a shift from the neoclassicism period prior to it, which focused on reason, order, and tradition.

Romanticism was a literary and intellectual movement that lasted from the late eighteenth century through the mid-nineteenth century. Classic examples of Romantic novels are Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Though academics consider Romanticism difficult to define—the movement developed differently in European countries than it did in the US—there are a few key features we can talk about.
The first is important: Romanticism was reactionary. The movement was, at least in part, a response to the Industrial Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment. Rather than focusing on science, logic, or reason, as was the zeitgeist on both sides of the Atlantic, Romantic writers were nostalgic, looking to a simpler past for inspiration. Much as we, as contemporary readers, may look back to the pre-internet era with some sentimentality (remember when we looked things up in an actual encyclopedia instead of Googling everything?), Romantic writers fondly remembered a pre-industrial era.
Which brings us to our second point. Romantic writers expressed emotion and imagination, engaging with aesthetics and the beauty of the natural world. In the poetry and novels of the era, emotion was more important than reason or science. It stands to reason that Romantic writers also rejected some of the structure or rules that had previously governed both novels and poetry, experimenting with freer styles.
All of this could be summarized with a third point: Romanticism is about the individual and his or her thoughts and experiences, not the trends or tendencies of a larger society.

Zarroff also says ”Instinct is no match for reason.” Again explain his meaning in your own words. Is he right? Is he wrong? Give evidence from your life or the modern world to support you stance.

During their initial dinner, General Zaroff tells Rainsford that he has become bored with hunting animals because he always gets his quarry. The general says that animals simply cannot compete with him because they have nothing but their physical abilities and instincts. General Zaroff then says, "Instinct is no match for reason" (Connell, 7). In my opinion, the general is absolutely correct in his belief that reason will overcome instinct every time. There are numerous examples in nature that support this claim, such as man's ability to conquer rough terrains, build structures in nearly uninhabitable locations, and capture or kill almost any species of animal. General Zaroff's claim can also be supported by the fact that man occupies the highest spot on the food chain. Humans are nowhere near as physically or instinctually gifted as animals yet have conquered almost every species on the planet because of our ability to reason. For example, a black rhino can weigh upwards of three thousand pounds and run up to thirty-five miles per hour, yet it is critically endangered because of over hunting. Despite its opposing physique and natural instincts, humans have hunted black rhinos to near extinction. The same can be said for the African elephant, Amur leopard, and Bengal tiger.
https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/illegal-wildlife-trade

Who are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

The characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are old friends of Hamlet from his childhood. After witnessing Hamlet's strange behavior, King Claudius summons the two of them to find out the cause of his distressing "madness."
We first meet Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in act II, scene 2 of the play. They are welcomed immediately by their old friend, but it is not long before Hamlet sees through their fawning language and recognizes them to be spies of his uncle. It is here that Hamlet realizes he can trust nobody (except maybe Horatio).
In all the following encounters between Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the prince is cold and distant from them. He tells his mother that he trusts them as much as he trusts a poisonous snake. Later on, King Claudius sends them, along with Hamlet, to England with a letter instructing the English King to execute the prince. That they probably did not know the contents of the letter does not matter, and Hamlet changes the message to instruct the king of England to kill his former friends. It is clear that Hamlet's paranoia has taken control of him, and he is willing to coldly sacrifice two men who were once his close friends. When their ship is attacked by pirates, Hamlet leaves the two to die and returns to Denmark. We learn from the English ambassador, at the end of the play, that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been killed.
Hamlet's treatment of his former friends highlights his erratic and uncertain decision-making process. While he was quick to send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths, he hesitates and cannot seem to make up his mind over what to do about Claudius, who is much more guilty than the other two.

Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are characters in Shakespeare's play Hamlet.
Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are childhood friends of Hamlet's. They are warmly welcomed by Hamlet in act 2, scene 2 at a time when the title character seems most in need of emotional support.
However, Hamlet quickly realizes that both Rosencrantz and Guildernstern have been summoned to try to find out why Hamlet has been acting weird. The ulterior motive to Rosencrantz and Guildernstern's appearance makes Hamlet instantly begin to distrust them. Additionally, because Hamlet's strange behavior stems from the information he learns when he sees the ghost of his dead father (that Claudius killed Hamlet's father so he could take the throne and marry Queen Gertrude) and because Hamlet has vowed to enact revenge by killing Claudius, Hamlet decides that he needs to "deal justly" with Rosencrantz and Guildernstern.
Eventually, Hamlet manages to trick them in an act of deception that leads to their deaths.

In the novel Bud, Not Buddy, where do the Amoses lock up Bud for the night?

In Chapter 2, Bud is sent to the Amos household and gets into a fight with their son after Todd sticks a pencil up his nose. Todd ends up beating up Bud, and when his parents come into his room, Todd lies to them about what happened. Mr. and Mrs. Amos are extremely upset at Bud and make him spend the night in the shed. They lock Bud in the shed where he is terrified. While he is in the shed, Bud thinks that he sees a vampire bat hanging from the ceiling. Bud then finds a rake and takes a swing at the "vampire," which happens to be a hornet's nest. Bud immediately tries to break down the door with his shoulder but is unsuccessful. He then jumps on top of a woodpile and ends up breaking a window in order to escape from the shed.