Why does the poet consider the spring season mischievous in "Mending Wall"?

The spring is the mischievous time of year because the gaps in the wall are found during spring.

The poem is about two neighbors who have a wall between their land.  They have an agreement to meet once a year and maintain the wall, fixing any gaps that have developed in it over the course of the year.  The speaker finds this strange or at least unnecessary, but his neighbor wants to continue the practice because, as he says, “good fences make good neighbors.”

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,

That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,

And spills the upper boulders in the sun;

And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

It makes sense that you would not find the gaps in the wall until spring.  First of all, during the winter the wall is probably covered in snow and it is hard to look at it closely.  Also, in the springtime the plants grow wild.  It is this combination of erosion and plant intrusion that is likely causing the wall to fall apart, and this is the reason why it needs to be mended every year.

The gaps I mean,

No one has seen them made or heard them made,

But at spring mending-time we find them there.

So the spring is the most mischievous time of year, because between the rain, the snow melting, and the plants growing, the wall doesn't stand a chance!  There will be holes all over it.  They have to fix the wall every spring even though there are no animals on either farm.  This is why the speaker does not want to bother with it.  His neighbor thinks that having a good stable wall between them creates good boundaries in their relationship.  It is a metaphor.  It also does get them together once a year, which is more than some neighbors do I guess!

Differentiate between intermolecular and intramolecular hydrogen bond giving suitable examples.

Hydrogen bonding is a special case of bonding which involves hydrogen atom and a strong electronegative atom (such as oxygen, fluorine, nitrogen, etc.). Since hydrogen acquires a relatively strong partial positive charge when it bonds with an electronegative atom, such a bond represents a special case of dipole-dipole interactions. Another way to think about the reason behind the dipole-dipole interactions is the strong pull on the covalently bonded electron pair that is exerted by the electronegative atom.

If the hydrogen bonding takes place between the atoms of the same molecule (that is hydrogen bonding within a molecule), such a hydrogen bonding is known as intramolecular hydrogen bonding. An example is the hydrogen bonding between the hydroxyl groups of ethylene glycol.

If the hydrogen bonding takes place between two different molecules, it is known as intermolecular hydrogen bonding. An example is the hydrogen bonding between ammonia and water (between a hydrogen from water and nitrogen from ammonia).

Hope this helps. 

What are the changes in all the characters of "The Outcasts of Poker Flat"?

After a secret committee has decided to rid Poker Flat of its wickedness, several of the residents find themselves abruptly cast out by an armed escort. The banished residents react in different ways to this exile, and, because of their experiences, they also undergo some changes in themselves.

Among the ostracized party of the sluice robber, the gambler, and the ladies of ill repute, one character who does not change is Uncle Billy. In fact, this drunkard and confirmed thief remains completely unconscionable. While all the others sleep at the end of the day of exile, he steals the mules on which they have ridden away, leaving the party in the snowstorm with no way of transporting themselves across the rugged terrain.

Another character who does not alter his basic nature is Mr. John Oakhurst, the gambler. He is described in the beginning of the story as "philosophic," and he remains so. His main offence in Poker Flat has simply been that he has won a great deal of money from men who resent losing and they retaliate.
On the second day of the group's ostracism, a young man named Tom Simson appears at the camp Oakhurst and the others have made near the mountain. Mr. Oakhurst tries again to help the young man from whom he once won an "entire fortune" of forty dollars and returned it. He advises Tom and his young wife to not delay with his party, but to continue on their way. However, Tom insists upon remaining. After the snowstorm of a few days that prohibits travel, Tom volunteers to go to Poker Flat for help. 
But, Oakhurst has sent the young man a day too late. So, if there is any change in him, it is his change from an effective leader to a failed leader. He also loses the courage to maintain hope. In despair, then, he walks out to the gulch, pins a "deuce of clubs" on a tree with his obituary written upon it that declares his having struck bad luck, so he has "handed in his checks."

It is, then, the Duchess and, especially Mother Shipton, who undergo major changes to their personalities as they move from petulant and self-serving women to motherly and self-sacrificing care givers.
When Oakhurst returns from his discovery of Uncle Billy's treacherous thievery, he finds Tom Simson's intended wife Piney sleeping peacefully beside Duchess and Mother Shipton, who tend to her as though she is their child. Then, in the days of waiting for a rescue party, Mother Shipton sets herself the task

of  amusing "the child" as she and the Duchess were pleased to call Piney.

Clearly, they have allowed their motherly instincts to be exercised.
Later, as Mother Shipton's health seems to fail, the Duchess cheerfully assumes the care of Piney. Days pass and it is discovered that Mother Shipton has gone without eating so that Piney will be fed well. Like a real mother who has sacrificed herself for her child, she calls Mr. Oakhurst over to her in order to give him her bundle of food that she has saved.

"You've starved yourself," said the gambler.
"That's what they call it," said the woman...as she lay down again and, turning her face to the wall, passed quietly away.

Also indicative of the motherly love of the Duchess, when the members of the rescue party arrive too late, they find her and Piney wrapped in each other's frozen arms because they could find no more kindle for the waning fire.

Describe two developments of industrialization that positively affected American lives or the United States in general.

Two developments that were positive for Americans as a result of industrialism were transportation and communication improvements. As companies moved to mechanizing operations, they became more profitable and grew larger in scope. As a result, improvements in transportation were needed to get goods to distant markets. Industrialism was directly tied to the expansion of the railroads and the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. Canals were built for the same reason, as was the interstate highway system later in history. All of these improvements in transportation made America smaller and unified the distant regions of this country.

Communication improvements had the same effect on the United States in terms of making the nation more unified. Companies needed to connect to various operations. The telegraph and telephone did just that. In general, industrialism was responsible for a variety of technologies that improved the lives of Americans.

Can you suggest some tips which I can use to write a good essay for a competition?

When writing an essay for any purpose, being sure to start writing well before your due date is a good idea. If you can, try to set aside time to work on developing and editing your essay on a regular basis. 

A great way to get started is to brainstorm! If the essay competition has a theme, try to make some notes related to this theme. If you get to write on a subject of your choice, choose something you are passionate or knowledgeable about. During this brainstorming session, feel free to write down any ideas that come into your mind! What do you already know about the subject? What do you want to know about the subject? Have you already come up with a thesis or main idea for your essay? If not, no worries! You can create one after writing the body of your essay. Take this opportunity to write down as much as possible without being too worried about spelling or grammar- what's important is that you explore the ideas you might convey in your essay.

The next step is to do any necessary research. Having narrowed down what you already know and what you want to know, go forth and look it up! Try to find academic, reliable resources for your information.

When you feel you have written a sufficient amount about the general subject of your essay, you can begin to form an outline. What are the important points you want to focus on in your essay? Try to limit these main points to three- any more might become a challenge to write or read. Is there a chronological element to your subject? If you are writing on something that has happened in history, you could describe the events and their implications or affects on society. 

After your brainstorming and creating an outline with the main ideas of your essay, you can begin writing a draft. The introduction of your essay should do two things: tell us your thesis statement and introduce us to what your essay will be about! If you still aren't sure of your thesis, move on to writing the body. This is where you can really elaborate on those main ideas you've narrowed down. (Your thesis should be the overarching idea or lesson of the smaller "main ideas" of your essay.) Finally, your conclusion should wrap up any "loose ends" or ideas you did not resolve in the body of your essay. It should also refer back to the thesis statement, which you have supported in the body of the essay.

Now, step away! After writing your first draft, take a little time to process the ideas in your essay. I really recommend you sleep on it- take a nap or re-visit your paper the next day. Don't forget to take a break about every forty-five  minutes while writing, to give both your brain and body a chance to refresh. Taking a break or getting some sleep between periods of writing work helps your brain to synthesize and retain information. 

When you read through your paper to edit, try this: read through it once without making any changes, just to see how the paper "flows." Next, read through again and feel free to make any changes in spelling, grammar, or wording you feel necessary. Reading through once before making edits helps you keep the big picture of your essay in mind rather than focusing on individual components. You may like to try reading your paper aloud to hear how it sounds. Asking a friend, parent, or teacher to read through it can also be a great way to get some feedback.

Remember that whenever you work on your paper, try to make sure your space is free of distractions. Turn off your cellphone, avoid listening to music, and choose a quiet, well-lit space to work. (Libraries are ideal!) 

With good preparation, avoiding distractions, and making sure not to over-work your brain, I think you will create some top-notch writing!

Best of luck to you!

What contributions did Montesquieu and Rousseau make to the structure of American democracy

With Montesquieu's belief in divided government and Rousseau's construction of the general will, both thinkers contributed to the structure of American democracy.  

Rousseau once argued that “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.”   The desire to avoid this reality was one of his most important contributions to the structure of American democracy.  Rousseau advocated a political structure that would recognize the "general will." The general will emphasized that people would embrace a vision that would overcome personalized or partisan interests.  The general will was a communitarian expression that should guide political decisions. Rousseau's idea of the general will heavily influences the structure of American democracy.  It guides how the framers of the Constitution viewed popular sovereignty and also how a government predicated upon republicanism should function. When citizens vote for their representatives, Rousseau's general will is the guiding framework through which decisions are made. Rousseau believed that true freedom is only evident when the general will, not personalized interests, is the structure that guides our political decision making.

Montesquieu's primary contribution to the structure of American democracy was his zeal for divided government. He believed that political power is best displayed when it is spread out over different branches of government.  This led him to embrace a structure of government built upon a separation of powers. Montesquieu's separation of powers can be seen in American democracy when the framers created the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government.  Each branch is vital to the business of governing, but each one holds different responsibilities. They must work in tandem with one another in order for government to function properly.  Montesquieu's contribution to the structure of American democracy helped to avert a state of political tyranny where one branch of government displays too much power over the others.

How do I cite a website in my MLA formatted paper? And how do I put it in my MLA works cited page?

To create an entry for your Works Cited page, you will need to know a few key pieces of information. If any of this information cannot be found, it is acceptable to leave it out—there should be enough information from the rest of your citation in case your teacher wants to visit this resource. The format of your Works Cited entry should be as follows:

• Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.

Note the use of italics for the name of the website. Your actual Works Cited entry may be much shorter depending on the information available to you. This information comes from the Purdue OWL website's MLA style guide, so I will create a sample Works Cited entry to show you what it ought to look like when one cites a webpage.

• Tony Russel, et al. MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications). Purdue Online Writing Lab, 6 July 2015. Web. 21 March 2016.

For an in-text citation from a webpage, put the first part of the corresponding Works Cited citation into parenthesis. (For my above example, this would be "Tony Russel, et al.") This citation should come directly after the material you have referenced. If you are using a quote, put your parenthetical citation directly after the quote. If you are paraphrasing, it can go at the end of the sentence or paragraph. When your citation comes at the end of a sentence, don't forget that the period should fall outside of the parenthesis.

You may also be interested in the website Citation Machine, which allows you to enter the necessary data for your citation and will format it for you. If you're not sure if you've formulated your citation properly, this is a good way to double-check until you get the hang of things.

How has agnosticism developed over the past two millenia?

The term "agnosticism" was first coined as a description of a religious stance in the English language in the work of Thomas Henry Huxley in 1869. He coined this term based on the Greek work "gnosis" meaning knowledge and the alpha privative prefix which indicates negation or absence (a- + gnosis). This means that the agnostic is not an atheist, or one "without god" (a- + theos), but rather one who claims to lack knowledge on the topic of either the existence of gods or their nature or both. 

The actual philosophical position Huxley articulates is first found in the following fragment from the Greek sophist Protagoras:

Concerning the gods, I have no means of knowing whether they exist or not or of what sort they may be. Many things prevent knowledge including the obscurity of the subject and the brevity of human life. (DK80b4)

The position of agnosticism could also be reasonably attributed to philosophers in the skeptical tradition including Pyrrho, Carneades (and other members of the skeptical phase of Middle Platonism),  and Sextus Empiricus. The position of deism, as it developed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, while acknowledging the existence of a Creator, was agnostic as to many of the Creator's qualities. The Scottish philosopher David Hume, with his emphasis on the unknowability of external reality, can be considered an agnostic in many respects. 

From the time of Huxley on, agnosticism has become a major component of several philosophical systems. Unlike atheism, which asserts that one can have a certain knowledge that no form of god can possibly exist, agnostics take a more nuanced stance, ranging from a weak atheist position (i.e. that they think it improbable that any gods exist but cannot claim to be certain) to one that simply dismisses all metaphysical statements as essentially unprovable, as can be found in logical positivism and many forms of analytical philosophy; a distinguished proponent of this position would be Bertrand Russell. 

Is Dupin reliable in Avi's The Man Who Was Poe, and what shows he is reliable?

In Avi's The Man Who Was Poe, Edgar Allan Poe goes by two identities—his own and the identity of a character from a series of his short stories named Auguste Dupin. In creating Mr. Dupin, author Poe created the very first detective character who relied heavily on the skills of observation and deductive reasoning, just like Sherlock Holmes. In Avi's novel, the author Poe is unreliable because he offers his assistance to Edmund but is really only interested in unraveling Edmund's mystery because he thinks it will make a good story; Poe is not actually interested in rescuing Edmund's sister. When posing as the detective Mr. Dupin, however, Poe is reliable because he doesn't stray from the fictional character he created.

One way in which Poe as Mr. Dupin behaves reliably is by throwing himself into the investigation of the disappearance of Sis. It is Mr. Dupin who realizes that, if Sis could not have left the room through the locked door, then she had to have left from the window. Because Mr. Dupin reaches this conclusion, Edmund finds a pearl button from his sister's shoe in the room in the next building; the button serves as excellent proof that Sis was kidnapped.

Mr. Dupin continues to demonstrate his reliability through his investigation despite Edmund's doubts of his reliability. At one point, Edmund distrusts Mr. Dupin so much that he decides to follow Mr. Dupin, who is supposed to be on his way to Mrs. Whitman's home for a tea party. Edmund is very disappointed when Mr. Dupin stops and enters the First Unitarian Church. While Edmund disappointedly waits for Mr. Dupin to leave the church, hoping he'll continue on to Mrs. Whitman's, the reader remains with Mr. Dupin as he climbs to the church's bell tower. There, he grasps a rope, then pulls the piece of string from his pocket he had found on the floor of the bank's vault and compares the string to the rope to determine, "It was the same substance, hemp" (Chapter 11). Later, when Mr. Dupin explains the mystery to Edmund, Mr. Dupin says his comparison of the string to the rope helped him draw the conclusion that Edmund's sister was stolen to be lowered into the bank vault through the air shaft in order to help the kidnappers steal the gold. Hence, even this scene in the church, despite Edmund's doubts, helps portray Mr. Dupin's reliability.

What three houses are important to the narrative of To Kill a Mockingbird and why are they important?

The three houses that play key roles in To Kill a Mockingbird are the Finch home, the Radley home, and Miss Maudie's home.

• The Finch home

The significance of the Finch house is obvious since much of what occurs inside or outside of it generates the narrative of Harper Lee's novel. The house is where the children feel safe and loved; even Dill Harris seeks it as a refuge from his emotional neglect. At the Finch home, Calpurnia is treated as a part of the family. In the evenings, Atticus sits behind the Mobile Register and reflects upon many things in the safety of his own house. This is his method of hiding his inner conflicts.
In Chapter five, Miss Maudie tells Jem and Scout about how genuine Atticus is when she says,

"Atticus is the same in his house as he is in the public streets."

When the men from town come to talk to Atticus, they stand in the front yard and do not enter the house, thus displaying their respect for the Finch family and their privacy. That evening, Atticus leaves his house and sits in front of the jailhouse door, risking bodily harm when he could be within the safe confines of his home.

It is in the yard of the Finch house that the children play and try to spy on their neighbor, Boo Radley. It is on the porch of the house that Jem tells Scout he does not want Atticus to catch his lie about losing his pants, so he runs back to the Radley house and retrieves them. And, it is in the Finch house where Boo is afforded safety and given much gratitude from Atticus when he tells Boo, "...thank you for my children."

• The Radley house

In contrast to the Finch home, the Radley house is described by Miss Maudie as "a sad house." She says there is no way to know what abuse has gone on inside the Radley home. Aware of how Mr. Radley, who was a "foot-washing Baptist," used the Bible against Boo, Miss Maudie intimates that there were tragic episodes inside this house. Unlike the Finch children, who can ask their father anything, Boo has been silenced and made a prisoner in the house for many years because of his youthful indiscretions.

For Dill, Jem, and Scout, the Radley house is one of mystery and curiosity. They attempt to communicate with Boo, but Nathan Radley, who assumes the role of his father after the man's death, fires his shotgun as a warning to the children. Nevertheless, Boo attempts to establish a relationship with Jem and Scout by leaving things in a knothole of a tree that the children pass on their way home from school. Nathan stops this communication, too, by putting cement over the knothole. 
Fortunately, Boo continues to listen for and watch Jem and Scout, perhaps living vicariously through them. On the night of Bob Ewell's vicious attack upon the Finch children, Boo braves leaving his house and with courage he saves the lives of the children. For the first time, the two occupants of the Finch and Radley houses become more neighborly when Boo enters the Finch house, later walking home arm-in-arm with Scout. Afterward, as Scout stands on the Radley porch, she perceives things differently and more maturely. Truly, the Radley house has played an important role in the lives sheltered by the Finch house.

• Miss Maudie's house

Across the street from the Finch house, Miss Maudie's house and yard always welcome the children. Hers is much like a grandmother's place; the Finch children are allowed to play and have certain privileges, such as playing in one yard as long as they do not disturb the grapevines. Miss Maudie will explain almost anything asked by the Finch children, while at the same time teaching them kindness and thoughtfulness. She invites the children into her house for tasty desserts that help heal whatever is bothering them. Miss Maudie's house is often a refuge for Jem and Scout.

Much like the Finch house, Miss Maudie's house is positioned as a comfort and defense from the pettiness and gossip on the outside. Miss Maudie dismisses the gossip about Arthur Radley as nonsense. Like a good neighbor and friend, Miss Maudie also defends Atticus's decision to take on Tom Robinson's case.

What is animal experimentation in the field of psychology?

Introduction

Before the general acceptance of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in the late nineteenth century, in much of the Western world, animals were considered to be soulless machines with no thoughts or emotions. Humans, on the other hand, were assumed to be qualitatively different from other animals because of their abilities to speak, reason, and exercise free will. Therefore, it was thought that nothing could be learned about the mind by studying animals.

After Darwin, however, people began to recognize that although each species is unique, the chain of life is continuous, and species have similarities as well as differences. Because animal brains and human brains are made of the same kinds of cells and have similar structures and connections, it was reasoned, the mental processes of animals must be similar to the mental processes of humans. This new insight led to the introduction of animals as psychological research subjects around 1900. Since then, animal experimentation has yielded much new knowledge about the brain and the mind, especially in the fields of learning, memory, motivation, and sensation.

Psychologists who study animals can be roughly categorized into three groups: biopsychologists (psychobiologists), learning theorists, and ethologists and sociobiologists. Biopsychologists, or physiological psychologists, study the genetic, neural, and hormonal controls of behavior, for example, eating behavior, sleep, sexual behavior, perception, emotion, memory, and the effects of drugs. Learning theorists study the learned and environmental controls of behavior, for example, stress, stimulus-response patterns, motivation, and the effects of reward and punishment. Ethologists and sociobiologists concentrate on animal behavior in nature, for example, predator-prey interactions, mating and parenting, migration, communication, aggression, and territoriality.

Reasons for Using Animal Subjects

Psychologists study animals for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they study the behavior of a particular animal to solve a specific problem. They may study dogs, for example, to learn how best to train them as police dogs; chickens to learn how to prevent them from fighting one another in coops; and wildlife to learn how to regulate populations in parks, refuges, or urban areas. These are all examples of what is called applied research.

Most psychologists, though, are more interested in human behavior but study animals for practical reasons. A developmental psychologist, for example, may study an animal that has a much shorter life span than humans do so that each study takes a much shorter time and more studies can be done. Animals may also be studied when an experiment requires strict controls; researchers can control the food, housing, and even social environment of laboratory animals but cannot control such variables in the lives of human subjects. Experimenters can even control the genetics of animals by breeding them in the laboratory; rats and mice have been bred for so many generations that researchers can special order from hundreds of strains and breeds and can even obtain animals that are basically genetically identical to one another.

Another reason psychologists sometimes study animals is that there are fewer ethical considerations than in research with human subjects. Physiological psychologists and neuropsychologists, in particular, may use invasive procedures (such as brain surgery, hormone manipulation, or drug administration) that would be unethical to perform on humans. Without animal experimentation, much of this research simply could not be conducted. Comparable research on human victims of accident or disease would have less scientific validity and would raise additional ethical concerns.

A number of factors make animal research applicable for the study of human psychology. The first factor is homology. Animals that are closely related to humans are likely to have similar physiology and behavior, because they share the same genetic blueprint. Monkeys and chimpanzees are the animals most closely related to humans and thus are homologically most similar. Monkeys and chimpanzees make the best subjects for psychological studies of complex behaviors and emotions. However, they are expensive and difficult to keep, and there are serious ethical considerations when using them, so they are not used when another animal would be equally suitable.

The second factor is analogy. Animals that have a lifestyle similar to that of humans are likely to have some of the same behaviors. Rats, for example, are social animals, as are humans; cats are not. Rats also show similarity to humans in their eating behavior (which is one reason rats commonly live around human habitation and garbage dumps); thus, they can be a good model for studies of hunger, food preference, and obesity. Rats, however, do not have a similar stress response to that of humans; for studies of exercise and stress, the pig is a better animal to study.

The third factor is situational similarity. Some animals, particularly dogs, cats, domesticated rabbits, and some domesticated birds, adapt easily to experimental situations such as living in a cage and being handled by humans. Wild animals, even if reared by humans from infancy, may not behave normally in experimental situations. The behavior of a chimpanzee that has been kept alone in a cage, for example, may tell something about the behavior of a human kept in solitary confinement, but it will not necessarily be relevant to understanding the behavior of most people in typical situations.

By far the most common laboratory animal used in psychology is Rattus norvegicus, the Norway rat. Originally, the choice of the rat was something of a historical accident. Because the rat has been studied so thoroughly, it is often the animal of choice so that comparisons can be made from study to study. Fortunately, the rat shares many features analogous with humans. Other animals frequently used in psychological research include pigeons, mice, hamsters, gerbils, cats, monkeys, and chimpanzees.

Scientific Value

One of the most important topics for which psychologists use animal experimentation is the study of interactive effects of genes and the environment on the development of the brain and subsequent behavior. These studies can be done only if animals are used as subjects, because they require subjects with a relatively short lifespan that develop quickly, they may involve invasive procedures to measure cell and brain activity, or they may require the manipulation of major social and environmental variables in the life of the subject.

In the 1920s, Edward C. Tolman and Robert Tryon began a study of the inheritance of intelligence using rats. They trained rats to run a complex maze and then, over many generations, bred the fastest learners with one another and the slowest learners with one another. From the beginning, offspring of the bright rats were substantially faster than offspring of the dull rats. After only seven generations, there was no overlap between the two sets, showing that intelligence is at least partly genetic and can be bred into or out of animals just as size, coat color, or milk yield can be.

Subsequent work with selectively bred rats, however, found that high-performing rats would outperform the slower rats only when tested on the original maze used with their parents and grandparents; if given a different task to measure their intelligence, the bright rats were in some cases no brighter than the dull rats. These studies were the first to suggest that intelligence may not be a single attribute that one either has much or little of; there may instead be many kinds of intelligence.

Over the years researchers have developed selectively bred rats as models of a variety of interesting human characteristics. Of particular value are animal models of human psychopathology. For example, genetic lines of rats have been developed that serve as models for susceptibility to depression, anxiety, alcoholism, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These models are important not only in understanding genetic, environmental, and physiological factors associated with these disorders, but also in serving as early tests for possible drug treatments for them. Indeed, the area of behavioral pharmacology, where drug effects on behavior are studied in animal models, is an important and growing area of research.

Brain Studies

Another series of experiments that illustrate the role of animal models in the study of brain and behavior is that developed by David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel, who studied visual perception (mostly using cats). Hubel and Wiesel were able to study the activity of individual cells in the living brain. By inserting a microelectrode into a brain cell of an immobilized animal and flashing visual stimuli in the animal’s visual field, they could record when the cell responded to a stimulus and when it did not.

Over the years, scientists have used this method to map the activities of cells in several layers of the visual cortex, the part of the brain that processes visual information. They have also studied the development of cells and the cell connections, showing how early experience can have a permanent effect on the development of the visual cortex. Subsequent research has demonstrated that the environment has major effects on the development of other areas of the brain as well. The phrase “use it or lose it” has some accuracy when it comes to development and maintenance of brain connections and mental abilities.

Harlow’s Experiments

Perhaps the most famous psychological experiments on animals were those done by Harry Harlow in the 1950s.
Harlow was studying rhesus monkeys and breeding them in his own laboratory. Initially, he would separate infant monkeys from their mothers. Later, he discovered that, in spite of receiving adequate medical care and nutrition, these infants exhibited severe behavioral symptoms: They would sit in a corner and rock, mutilate themselves, and scream in fright at the approach of an experimenter, a mechanical toy, or another monkey. As adolescents, they were antisocial. As adults, they were psychologically ill-equipped to deal with social interactions: Male monkeys were sexually aggressive, and female monkeys appeared to have no emotional attachment to their own babies. Harlow decided to study this phenomenon (labeled “maternal deprivation syndrome”) because he thought it might help to explain the stunted growth, low life expectancy, and behavioral symptoms of institutionalized infants which had been documented earlier by René Spitz.

Results of the Harlow experiments profoundly changed the way psychologists think about love, parenting, and mental health. Harlow and his colleagues found that the so-called mothering instinct is not very instinctive at all but rather is learned through social interactions during infancy and adolescence. They also found that an infant’s attachment to its mother is based not on its dependency on food but rather on its need for “contact comfort.” Babies raised with both a mechanical “mother” that provided milk and a soft, cloth “mother” that gave no milk preferred the cloth mother for clinging and comfort in times of stress.

Through these experiments, psychologists came to learn how important social stimulation is, even for infants, and how profoundly the lack of such stimulation can affect mental health development. These findings played an important role in the development of staffing and activity requirements for foundling homes, foster care, day care, and institutions for the aged, physically and mentally disabled, and mentally ill. They have also influenced social policies that promote parent education and early intervention for children at risk.

Limitations and Ethical Concerns

However, there are drawbacks to using animals as experimental subjects. Most important are the clear biological and psychological differences between humans and nonhuman animals; results from a study using nonhuman animals simply may not apply to humans. In addition, animal subjects cannot communicate directly with researchers; they are unable to express their feelings, motivations, thoughts, and reasons for their behavior. If a psychologist must use an animal instead of a human subject for ethical or practical reasons, the scientist will want to choose an animal that is similar to humans in the particular behavior being studied.

For the same reasons that animals are useful in studying psychological processes, however, people have questioned the moral justification for such use. Because it is now realized that vertebrate animals can feel physical pain and that many of them have thoughts and emotions as well, animal experimentation has become politically controversial.

Psychologists generally support the use of animals in research. The American Psychological Association (APA) identifies animal research as an important contributor to psychological knowledge. The majority of individual psychologists would tend to agree. In 1996, S. Plous surveyed nearly four thousand psychologists and found that fully 80 percent either approved of or strongly approved of the use of animals in psychological research. Nearly 70 percent believed that animal research was necessary for progress in the field of psychology. However, support dropped dramatically for invasive procedures involving pain or death. Undergraduate students majoring in psychology produced largely similar findings. Support was less strong among newer rather than more established psychologists and was also less strong in women than in men.

Some psychologists would like to see animal experimentation in psychology discontinued altogether. In 1981, psychologists formed an animal rights organization called Psychologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PsyETA), which was later renamed the Society and Animals Forum. It is highly critical of the use of animals as subjects in psychological research and has strongly advocated improving the well-being of those animals that are used through publication (with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) of the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. The organization is also a strong advocate for the developing field of human-animal studies, in which the relationship between humans and animals is explored. Companion animals (pets) can have a significant impact on psychological and physical health, and they can be used as a therapeutic tool with, for example, elderly people in nursing homes and emotionally disturbed youth. In this field of study, animals themselves are not the subjects of the experiment; rather, it is the relationship between humans and animals that is the topic of interest.

Regulations

In response to such concerns regarding the use of animals in experiments, the US Congress amended the Animal Welfare Act in 1985 so that it would cover laboratory animals as well as pets. (Rats, mice, birds, and farm animals are specifically excluded.) Although these regulations do not state specifically what experimental procedures may or may not be performed on laboratory animals, they do set standards for humane housing, feeding, and transportation. Later amendments were added in 1991 in an effort to protect the psychological well-being of nonhuman primates.

In addition, the Animal Welfare Act requires that all research on warm-blooded animals (except those specifically excluded) be approved by a committee before it can be carried out. Each committee (known as Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees, or IACUCs) is composed of at least five members and must include an animal researcher; a veterinarian; someone with an area of expertise in a nonresearch area, such as a teacher, lawyer, or member of the clergy; and someone who is unaffiliated with the institution where the experimentation is being done and who can speak for the local community. In this way, those scientists who do animal experiments must justify the appropriateness of their use of animals as research subjects.

The APA has its own set of ethical guidelines for psychologists conducting experiments with animals. The APA guidelines are intended for use in addition to all pertinent local, state, and federal laws, including the Animal Welfare Act. In addition to being a bit more explicit in describing experimental procedures that require special justification, the APA guidelines require psychologists to have their experiments reviewed by local IACUCs and do not explicitly exclude any animals. About 95 percent of the animals used in psychology are rodents and birds (typically rats, mice, and pigeons), which are not governed by the Animal Welfare Act. It seems likely that federal regulations will change to include these animals at some point, and according to surveys, the majority of psychologists believe that they should be. Finally, psychologists are encouraged to improve the living environments of their animals and consider nonanimal alternatives for their experiments whenever possible.

Alternatives to animal experimentation are becoming more widespread as technology progresses. Computer modeling and bioassays (tests using biological materials such as cell cultures) cannot replace animal experimentation in the field of psychology, however, because computers and cell cultures will never exhibit all the properties of mind that psychologists want to study. At the same time, the use of animals as psychological research subjects will never end the need for study of human subjects. Although other animals may age, mate, fight, and learn much as humans do, they will never speak, compose symphonies, or run for office. Animal experimentation will thus always have an important, though limited, role in psychological research.

Bibliography

American Psychological Association. Committee on Animal Research and Ethics. http://www.apa.org/science/animal2.html.

Cuthill, I. C. “Ethical Regulation and Animal Science: Why Animal Behavior Is Not So Special.” Animal Behaviour 72 (2007): 15–22. Print.

Fox, Michael Allen. The Case for Animal Experimentation. Berkeley: U of California P, 1986. Print.

Gross, Charles G., and H. Philip Zeigler, eds. Readings in Physiological Psychology: Motivation. New York: Harper, 1969. Print.

Miller, Neal E. “The Value of Behavioral Research on Animals.” American Psychologist 40 (April, 1985): 423–40. Print.

National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. Committee on the Use of Animals in Research. Science, Medicine, and Animals. Washington, DC: National Academy, 1991. Print.

National Research Council. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Washington, DC: National Academy, 1996. Print.

Rose, Anne C. "Animal Tales: Observations of the Emotions in American Experimental Psychology, 1890–1940." Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 48.4 (2012): 301–17. Print.

Saucier, D. A., and M. E. Cain. “The Foundations of Attitudes about Animal Research.” Ethics & Behavior 16 (2006): 117–33. Print.

Society and Animals Forum (formerly PsyETA). http://www.psyeta.org.

Vicedo, Marga. "The Evolution of Harry Harlow: From the Nature to the Nurture of Love." History of Psychiatry 21.2 (2010): 190–205. Print.

What is the role of clothing in Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451?

The clothing characters wear in Fahrenheit 451 often defines them symbolically. Characters' clothing also represents the professions they practice in their society. For example, Montag wears a badge with an orange salamander  and a phoenix disc on his chest (page 6), and his captain wears a phoenix on his hat (page 26). In mythology, the salamander was thought to be able to survive fire, so that's why the firefighters in the novel wear badges with salamanders. The phoenix is a mythological creature who rose reborn from ashes, so it can also survive fire. Another example of symbolic clothing is that of the medical workers who pump Mildred's stomach. They wear "reddish-brown coveralls" (page 15), representing their connection to people's blood and innards. Clarisse, on the other hand, does not wear clothing that represents a profession. She instead wears a white dress, which symbolizes her innocence. 

What is the significance of the footnotes in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao?

When asked about the importance and role of the footnotes in his book, author Junot Diaz said that he first wanted to create a double narrative, meaning two stories carried on simultaneously. The main text is considered the higher narrative, and the footnotes are considered the lower narrative; the footnotes challenge and inform the main text. They also provide a bit of historical and cultural background to help the reader understand the legacy of pain and suffering that was left to the Dominican people as a result of the dictatorship. The footnotes provide a platform for the character of the "jester," a humorous voice created by Diaz which contests the statements made by the king. Diaz claims that his purpose for doing this was to use a literary device to prove his assertions about the dangers of not only dictatorships, but of presenting a single voice, a single viewpoint. 

How does Sofi begin building a community of resistance?

Sofia's civic action is how she begins to build a community of resistance.

Sofia's resistance operates outside of the traditionally prescribed realm for women.  Convention dictates that she find her life's purpose as a daughter, wife, and mother. However, Sofia recognizes that meaning in her life will not be found through these narrow constructions.  Her attempts at resistance exist outside of the reality that many women like her must endure.

Sofi builds a community of resistance through civic action. One example of this is when she runs for mayor:  "Then why stop at mayor? Why not elect herself la juez de paz or Ja comandante of Tome as they had had in the old days? Why not be Queen of Tome for that matter?"  Sofi recognizes that she can bring people together through political activism.  She works towards organizing laborers and farmers, the poorest of society.  Sofi builds community through public works that benefit more people and gives voice to the voiceless.  At the end of the novel Sofi founds an organization dedicated to mothers who have seen their children die young.  This is another civic action whose intent is to develop a communitarian form of resistance.  She does not accept that her powerlessness to combat pain.  Rather, she establishes strength through forging bonds with others. In doing so, her political actions help form a resistance in developing a stronger community. 

How does Katniss Everdeen change over time?

As the story begins, Katniss Everdeen, as portrayed by her first person narrative voice, is confident yet humble, brave yet somewhat foolhardy, honest and impulsive. She is aware that she may be chosen to participate in the Hunger Games, and she prepares for this by practicing her archery skills when she hunts for food. When her younger sister Primrose is chosen, Katniss and her mother are shocked because Prim is so young, and also worried, because Prim does not have the physical prowess or assertive character necessary to prevail in the Games. Katniss impulsively volunteers to take her sister's place. This act of bravery and self-sacrifice is perhaps the first step that puts Katniss on the road to becoming a hero of the people.

But we learn that the Hunger Games, far from being a game of chance and skill, are heavily manipulated by the government. Katniss eventually begins to understand this manipulation, and her behavior and personality adapt to help her meet the challenges she faces. She becomes less impulsive, as she understands that every move she makes and every word she speaks are under surveillance. This also forces her to become more calculating, and she learns she has to sometimes resort to lies and subterfuge. By manipulating those who are observing her, she finds ways to gain the support of the citizens and to play along with the government plot to groom her to be a hero and martyr.

What allowed the kingdoms of West Africa to prosper?

The three powerful empires of West Africa acquired vast sums of wealth and power for two primary reasons: their military and the abundance of gold. The military was utilized to acquire vast areas of land and to control the lucrative gold-salt trade that existed with North Africa. North Africa had an abundance of salt and desired to acquire gold from the West African kingdoms. Salt was a hot commodity in West Africa because the heat made it necessary for the inhabitants to replace salt lost by sweat. Salt was also used to season and flavor food. Beginning with the Kingdom of Ghana, through the Empire of Mali, the king's control of the gold mines as well as the vast network of trade through his area led to the acquisition of enormous wealth. By leveraging the military power of the kingdoms the king profited from the trade itself. Taxes, tolls, and rents were collected by the African kingdoms as a result of the abundance of trade along routes in their territories.

What is the tone of the poem "Woman Before the Aquarium"?

In the opening stanza of the poem, the speaker watches a goldfish in a fishbowl and makes a metaphor of a gold watch. She collects the natural objects in the bowl: “water,” “rivulets,” “rocks,” “shells,” and arranges them into a painting. She is quiet, watchful, and reflective. This meditation takes her into a transformative state and she enters into the painting gently, “slowly,” by way of another natural object, a pinecone. A memory is released of a sexual encounter, perhaps a rape, and the word “fear” is used, but the speaker remains her meditative state. She is protected within the painting; her desire to be a “mermaid,” an “odalisque,” renders her “untouchable.” Although the fear is present, she is not afraid; rather she has “power.” Even the “face” and “haircut” she is “dressed” in are protections for her as the “plain desk of ordinary work” allow her to not know the fear.  The speaker sees the aquarium as a “lantern” and a “light,” something mysterious from the “underworld.” She easily places herself this “shore” as a shining “messenger” to “kindred.” The tone of the poem is ironic because even as women may be “crush[ed]” by memory of sexual subjugation and racial fear, the speaker creates a green and gold “souvenir” that acts as a beautiful message of hope, of “swimming” free. Rather than being imprisoned by the fishbowl, by beauty and femininity, the woman shows how to be powerfully unrestrained.

Why doesn't Roger run way from Mrs. Jones's apartment at the first opportunity in "Thank You M'am"?

Roger is stunned into obedience by Mrs. Jones’s unusual behavior and chooses not to run away.

I think that the reason Roger doesn’t run immediately is that he is so surprised by Mrs. Jones’s actions.  Roger doesn’t seem like a hardened criminal, so he was probably really nervous about the purse snatching.  It did not go as planned.  He definitely did not expect the woman whose purse he tried to snatch to snatch him instead.

“If I turn you loose, will you run?” asked the woman.

“Yes’m,” said the boy.

“Then I won’t turn you loose,” said the woman. She did not release him.

Mrs. Jones takes Roger home with her, basically dragging him behind her.  She tells him that once you make contact with her, that contact is going to last.  If he was her son, she would teach him right from wrong.  Roger is still completely baffled by the experience.  He set out to rob a woman, and she took him home.

Once Roger is in her home, he still doesn’t really know what he is going to do.  He is a little frightened of her, and curious too.

“Then, Roger, you go to that sink and wash your face,” said the woman, whereupon she turned him loose—at last. Roger looked at the door—looked at the woman—looked at the door—and went to the sink.

Hughes emphasizes the fact that Roger thought about it and then decided to wash his face.  The sink was really the first chance he would have had to run away, and he chose not to. This was the first time in a while, perhaps, that someone had taken an interest in him and tried to take care of him.  Besides, Mrs. Jones seems like a tough lady.  Who knows what she would do to him if he tried to run away now?

What did Mildred tell Montag when he asked if she had seen Clarisse?

Mildred is interesting because she is so self-involved that she doesn't really know what is going on outside of her own home. She's always watching three television screens at once, listening to her music, or sleeping. When Montag asks her about Clarisse, the girl next door, it takes Mildred a minute to grasp who he is talking about. After a little prodding by Montag, Mildred remembers who he means and says "I think she's gone. . . I meant to tell you. Forgot. Forgot" (47). Mildred forgets because she is too wrapped up in herself to remember someone else, or something as important as the following:

"The same girl. McClellan. McClellan. Run over by a car. Four days ago. I'm not sure. But I think she's dead. The family moved out anyway. I don't know. But I think she's dead" (47).

Mildred is the perfect citizen for an illiterate and hedonist society. Had she been able to tear herself away from her soap operas for one minute and taken an interest in her neighbors, she probably would have seen what Montag saw in Clarisse--life. This is just another reason why Montag feels something is wrong with their society. If someone, or a whole family, can disappear and the neighbors either don't care or don't take notice of it, there's something seriously wrong.

What is the tone of "The Minister's Black Veil"?

Tone, in literature, refers specifically to the author's feelings about the subject of a text.  We can typically use other aspects of the text -- characterization, mood, theme, connotation -- to help us determine its tone.  In this particular story, I think the characterization of Mr. Hooper is especially helpful in ascertaining the tone. 

The parson is a thoughtful man and devoted to his principles: a good spiritual leader.  He is willing to endure becoming a relative outcast, avoided and feared by his congregation because he feels compelled to point out something that no one else is brave enough to face themselves, let alone share with others.  By the story's end, Mr. Hooper has worn the veil for many decades, and, on his deathbed, he is angered by his community's hope that he will now consent to remove it because their desire shows that they still refuse to understand the veil's meaning: it is a symbol of the fact that all humans are sinful but that we try to hide our true sinful natures from the world, including ourselves. 

By characterizing Mr. Hooper in such a positive way, it seems that Hawthorne would agree with his assessment of human nature.  Further, by characterizing some others, especially his fiancee Elizabeth, as capable of understanding the veil's meaning but willing to pretend to live in a more comfortable ignorance, Hawthorne shows us that Mr. Hooper is right.  Thus, the tone of the piece is quite sad and yet resigned.  It is tragic that none of us can really know our fellows because we all insist on hiding our true, sinful, selves; however, Hawthorne seems to think that such a state of humanity is practically unavoidable because the vast majority of us are too cowardly to own up to these true natures. 

How many molecules are contained in 16.0 g of benzene?

One mole of a substance contains an Avogadro's number of molecules, which is equal to `6.023 xx 10^23` molecules. 

One mole of a substance contain one molar mass of that particular substance. The molar mass of benzene (chemical formula: `C_6H_6`) is 78 g/mole ( = 6 x 12 + 6 x 1).

In other words, 78 grams of benzene is present in 1 mole of benzene.

This is also the same as saying 78 g of benzene contain 6.023 x 10^23 molecules.

Here, we have only 16 g of benzene. Therefore, by unitary method:

1 g of benzene contains (6.023 x 10^23)/78 molecules

and 16 g benzene contains 16 x (6.023 x 10^23)/78 = 1.24 x 10^23 molecules of benzene.

The same can also be calculated by knowing that 16 g of benzene is equivalent to 16/78 = 0.205 moles of benzene and then multiplying it by Avogadro's number to determine the number of molecules.

Hope this helps.

What steps did it take to invent the wheel?

A number of steps were involved, not to mention a long time period, in the invention of wheel. We can use the attached image of the timeline to answer this question. 

The first step in the invention of the wheel was the realization that logs can be rolled and can be used to carry very heavy loads. This method was used for a long time, till about 15,000 BC or so. This method evolved into sledges that were rolled over logs to carry loads. The first ever wheel was the potter's wheel and was developed almost 5,500 years ago. Around the same time (about 3200 BC or so), wheels were also used in chariots. These gave way to wheels with spokes. Europeans invented the wheel much later, around 1400 BC. Nowadays, we see the wheel in practically all modes of transport (except ships). 

So, basically, the invention of the wheel started with rolling logs for carrying weight, which gave way to sledges carried over rolling logs, the potter's wheel, and wheels for chariots (including the spoked wheel), and finally the modern wheel.

Hope this helps. 

What do the deceased soldiers get instead of flowers, shrouds, and candles in Wilfred Owen's poem "Anthem for Doomed Youth?"

In Wilfred Owen's World War I poem "Anthem for Doomed Youth," the deceased soldiers do not receive prayers, bells, or songs from choirs. Instead, their deaths are marked only by the sounds of guns, the "rifles' rapid rattle," as Owen writes. Mourners do not light candles for the dead. Instead, there are lights "in their [the soldiers' ] eyes" that are like the farewell lights of candles. And instead of white shrouds on the soldiers' caskets, the dead are met with the "pallor of girls' brows." In other words, the women who wait for them at home will turn pale when they learn of the soldiers' deaths. Finally, instead of receiving flowers, the dead will be met with "patient minds," or sorrow, and instead of people pulling down their blinds, the dusk will cause shade to fall on the earth where the dead lie. 

In this poem, a sonnet, Owen subverts the rituals of the normal grieving process. Each element of the normal funeral rites is twisted by the destructiveness of war. Owen shows that war does not even allow the dead to be buried with dignity, and therefore the soldiers are not given the respect they are due. 

Identify the three major ways that the U.S. Constitution addressed the institution of slavery. Would you say the Constitution was a proslavery or...

There are really only three areas (in four locations within the document) in which the original (ratified) version of the U.S. Constitution addresses slavery. In Article 1, section 2, the document provides for how slaves are to be counted in a census for the purpose of determining how many Representatives the state is entitled to. Slaves are to count as three-fifths of persons for this purpose. 

In Article 1, section 9, clause 1, the Constitution addresses the migration or importation of slaves, instituting a limit of ten dollars per person for an import tax. This clause leaves the choice up to the individual state as to whether to allow the importing of slaves.

Article 4, section 2 prohibits “free” states from harboring runaway slaves, and requires that they be returned to their owners upon the owner’s request.

Article 5 prohibits any change in the prescription of how a census is to be taken until 1808. This essentially maintains counting slaves as 3/5 of a person until the way the census is calculated is changed, and this cannot be done before 1808.

The Constitution essentially makes provision to maintain the practice of slavery as it was at the time, and in that sense is neither pro-slavery nor anti-slavery. However, in mentioning slavery in the document, slaves are referred to as “all other persons” (in which case every person not a slave is filled into a previous category) or a person “held to service or labour.” The term “slave” is not used. This could be interpreted as an effort not to acknowledge slavery for what it was, or it could be just an attempt to use less offensive language.

The fact that Article 1, section 9 allows an import tax on people, relegates slaves to a commodity. I’m not sure that can be interpreted any other way. The fact that the Constitution prohibits changing the census process until 1808 could be seen as a safeguard to allow the country to settle into its new legislation before debating such a serious issue.

Thus there are arguments for calling the U.S. Constitution either “pro-slavery” or “anti-slavery,” and you’ll have to decide which is more convincing to you given the context of the writing of the document. I've included a link to the government archive page with the full transcript of the Constitution. The red text indicates portions that have been changed over the years, and links to more information about that.

What are some rhetorical devices used in "The Son's Veto" by Thomas Hardy?

In the short story "The Son's Veto" by Thomas Hardy, the author uses several symbols and metaphors. For example, in the opening of the story, Hardy describes the mother's "nut-brown hair" which is "coiled like the rushes of a basket." The comparison of the mother's hair to the rushes of a basket is a simile, and the hair is also a symbol of the pains the mother takes to make herself attractive and pleasing, even though she is in a wheelchair and is less educated than her son.

The incident in which Sophy, the mother, becomes lame is also a symbol, as it leads to her being caught in a marriage in which she does not really love her husband. In addition, it means that she becomes a virtual prisoner of her city house, far from the rural village where she grew up and which she loves. As she becomes reacquainted with Sam, the man she initially intended to marry, she gains in strength and is even able to walk a bit. Her wheelchair is also a symbol of her entrapment in a marriage--and an urban life--that is not to her liking.

In the end, Sophy's son, Randolph, is also a symbol of her imprisonment. At the end of the story, at her funeral, he is described as a "young smooth-shaven priest in a high waistcoat [who] looked black as a cloud at the shopkeeper standing there." The son, in a simile, is described as "black as a cloud" as he looks at Sam, the man who wanted to free his mother from her joyless life. 

What is the mass in grams of 4.0 moles of oxygen (O2)?

Oxygen gas (O2) is made up of 2 atoms of oxygen. Since oxygen has an atomic mass of 16 g/mole, the molar mass of oxygen gas (O2) is 2 x 16 g/mole = 32 g/mole.

Since 1 mole of oxygen is equivalent to 32 g,

4 moles of oxygen gas would be equivalent to 4 moles x 32 g/mole = 128 g.

Thus, 4 moles of oxygen gas (O2) would have a mass of 128 g.

In general, when we have to find the amount, in grams, of a substance, given its amount in moles, we first have to figure out its molar mass. The molar mass is equal to the atomic mass of all the atoms that constitute that substance. Then we can multiply the molar mass with the number of moles to get the amount of substance in grams.

Hope this helps. 

What are the indications that Schatz is ill, and what does he think is the matter with himself in the story "A Day's Wait"?

Schatz is pale, he shivers, and he has a fever with symptoms of influenza; but because he mistakenly interprets his temperature in Celsius degrees, he believes he is going to die.

After a shivering Schatz awakens and comes into his parents' room to shut their windows because he feels the draft, Papa notices that he looks ill. He tells Schatz to return to his room; in the meantime, the father dresses and descends to the main part of the house only to find Schatz already dressed and sitting by the fireplace, appearing miserable. Placing his hand on his son's forehead reveals to the father that Schatz has a fever, so he summons the doctor.

Outside the boy's room, the doctor tells the father that Schatz's fever is 102 degrees, and there is no need to worry unless it rises to above 104. He also provides the father with three medications, one of which is designed to lower the fever. After the doctor departs, the father returns to the boy's bedroom and offers to read to him. But Schatz seems "very detached from what was going on," and he is pale with dark areas under his eyes. Without his father's knowing it, Schatz has overheard the doctor say his temperature is 102, and because he goes to school in France, he has heard from other boys that "you can't live with [a temperature] of forty-four." Therefore, Schatz thinks he is going to die.

Since he thinks he will not live, he tells his father, 

"You don't have to stay in here with me, Papa, if it bothers you."
"It doesn't bother me."
"No, I mean you don't have to stay if it's going to bother you."

Misunderstanding Schatz's meaning, the father simply assumes that his son is light-headed from the fever and the medication that he gives him. He leaves to go hunting, hoping the boy will sleep quietly while he is gone. However, when the father returns, he is told that Schatz has forbidden everyone from entering his room so that no one will catch his illness. He approaches Schatz and discerns that the boy is yet pale, "staring still as he had stared at the foot of the bed." He takes the boy's temperature, and it has lowered to around 100. "It was 102," Schatz says. The father asks him how he knows this because he has not realized that his conversation with the physician was overheard. Schatz replies, "The doctor."

His father tries to reassure Schatz that his temperature is nothing to worry about, but Schatz seems to be "holding tight onto something." Finally, Schatz asks, "About what time do you think I'm going to die?" The father is astounded by this question, and he asks his son, "What's the matter with you?" The boy insists that he is going to die because the students at school have told him that "you can't live with forty-four degrees. I've got a hundred and two." Then the father realizes that poor Schatz believed that his temperature was in Celsius when he overheard the doctor. He explains to his son the difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit and reassures him that he will be all right. However, although the boy's hold over himself relaxes, the next day poor Schatz cries easily at little things as a backlash to his previous self-control.

In Lowry's The Giver, what are ten rules everyone must follow in the community?

The community that Jonas is raised in has many rules in order to keep the governing system of Sameness working perfectly. Since everyone must live according to said system, then there are sure to be many rules that everyone must follow. One of the first rules the reader learns about is "Precision of Language." Children are taught at a very young age that word choice is not to be trifled with. The old saying, say what you mean and mean what you say seems to sum up this rule; however, they must keep in mind not to be rude and not to brag at the same time. For example, Lily says that Gabe and Jonas both have "funny eyes," referring to them being light and not dark like everyone else's. Jonas feels Lily was being rude, but he says that it's not a defined rule not to be rude, but to call attention to differences is. Therefore, people should not notice differences and/or have preferences.

Everyone must always pay attention to and obey the voice that comes over the loudspeakers. For example, when the jet flew over the community, citizens were told to leave their bicycles where they were and go indoors immediately and wait for further instructions. 

When anyone inconveniences the community, like Asher did by being late for school one morning, he must make a public apology; whereupon, the community always must answer back, "We accept your apology" (3). This is a regular practice, too.

In family units, everyone must share their feelings about the day at the evening meal. Then, in the morning, everyone must share their dreams. This keeps everyone looking out for one another--or rather spying on each other so if anyone gets out of line, corrections can be made swiftly. Also, families can only apply to have one male and one female. Family units cannot have more members than two adults and two children.

Speaking of corrections, Jonas learned that "objects are not to be removed from the recreation area and that snacks are to be eaten, not hoarded" when he and Asher played catch with an apple after lunch and then he took it home to his dwelling afterwards (23). 

During service hours at the Home of the Old, Jonas and Fiona give elderly people baths. Other than when the Nurturers take care of new children, this is the only other time that it is allowed to look upon another's nakedness. Children and adults are not to look at each other while naked, ever.

People in the community are not permitted to lie. This is closely linked with the precision of language rule because even unintended lies could lead to misunderstanding; but intentional lying is unheard of, considered bad behavior, and rude.

Finally, everyone in the community must take the pill that suppresses the Stirrings when they hit puberty. Since the Stirrings can lead people to prefer one person over another, they must be controlled with medicine. Anyone who does not take his or her pill each day would probably suffer dire consequences if caught. The pills also ensure that people do not even have the desire to prefer someone else other than who is assigned to be in their lives.

Is "you should not believe everything you hear or see before you experience it yourself" a good theme for "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury?

I would say this theme doesn't quite get at the heart of the story. The children are envious of Margot because she remembers having seen the sun and they don't: it rains all the time on Venus and they arrived on the planet when they were younger than Margot. But that really isn't the most important part of the story. What matters is what the children do in response to envying Margot for having witnessing something that they haven't. They can't, it is true, really know what the sun is like until they experience it for themselves, but they do believe it is truly a good thing before they see it: as the story opens, they are anxiously looking forward to the hour of sun that comes once every seven years. A better theme would be that we shouldn't bully or treat people cruelly because we envy them or that the children may feel more remorse over locking Margot up after they have experienced the sun, an experience so thrilling that it caused them to forget all about her. 

What are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods?

Genetically-modified foods are part of a larger category of "genetically-modified organisms" and frequently abbreviated "GMOs." While the short-term advantages of GMOs are easy to quantify, the long term disadvantages may not be discoverable until they have been in use for many decades, and thus many people are concerned about the long-term effects of their use.

The main advantages of GMOs are that they can be tailored to solve specific problems. For example, GMO crops can be tailored to be resistant to specific pests or diseases. This has an obvious benefit of increasing agricultural productivity. The problem is that pests and diseases evolve quickly, and this year's pesticide or GMO may no longer be effective in a few decades, leading to a constant race between genetic engineers and natural evolution. 

GMOs can also be tailored to adapt to specific environments. For example, plants can be designed to be drought- or heat- or cold-resistant. Again, this can have obvious benefits, especially in light of global climate change. 

A major question concerning GMOs is that they increase the tendency towards monocultures, which are highly vulnerable to both climate change and new strains of diseases and pests. Also, GMO seeds are often more expensive than regular ones and tailored to create plants that do not produce viable seeds, making them especially problematic for farmers in developing countries. 

What steps are required to make a new law?

Bills go through a lengthy process to become law. There are multiple points at which a bill could die in the Senate or the House or even on the President's desk, or, metaphorically, in his “pocket.”

First a bill must be introduced on the floor of the House or Senate and then referred to the appropriate committee.

Once the bill is in committee, its initial fate is determined by the committee chairman, who decides whether or not the bill will be heard and amended by the committee. At this point, bills are often referred to a subcommittee for further study. Then the bill is voted on by the full committee; if approved, the bill goes back to the floor of the Senate or House.

The Speaker of the House and the Senate majority leader then decide whether or not the bill will proceed to the floor for debate. Obviously, this is a significant decision. If the bill doesn't make it to the floor, it won't have a chance to become law.

After debate, there is the all-important vote. If the bill is passed it is sent to the other chamber for a vote. If approved by the other chamber without changes, it is sent to the president. If it is approved, but changed, it goes to a conference committee with members of the House and Senate working together to try to compromise.

If it makes it out of the conference committee, it is sent to the president.

The president now has several choices. He can sign it and it becomes law. He can let it sit on his desk, unacted upon. After ten days of inaction the bill passes, if Congress is still in session. However, if Congress is no longer in session, the bill dies on the president's desk after ten days. This is the “pocket veto.”

If the bill is vetoed (or pocket-vetoed) by the president, the Senate and House can over-ride the veto and make it law with a two-thirds vote.