What is meant by legislature?

The term legislature is derived from the Latin word "leges" which is the plural form of "lex," the Latin term for law. A legislature, therefore, is a body that makes laws. 

In most republics and democracies, the law-making body is a large assembly. In direct democracies, such as that of ancient Athens, all citizens debate and vote on the laws. Larger, modern countries tend to be republics rather than democracies, meaning that rather than voting directly on laws, citizens elect representatives to assemblies and those representatives vote for the citizens who elect them on laws. These assemblies that vote on laws are termed legislatures.

The United States has what is called a "bicameral" legislature. This term is derived from two Latin roots, "bi" (meaning two) and "camera" (meaning chamber). The Congress of the United States is divided into two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The United Kingdom also has a bicameral legislature called Parliament, divided into the House of Lords and the House of Commons. 

Why is the woman glad to see the boy at the end of The Road?

In the ending pages of The Road, the woman is glad to see the boy alive, and she is also happy because she senses that this boy may carry a messianic message.

Before he dies, the father instructs his son about what life was like prior to the holocaust that they have experienced. He tells his son the names of creatures, and he describes activities in which he engaged with nature as a boy. In other words, the father attempts to instill in his son the memories of a world that once held beauty and was full of life and bounty. At times, he cries as he watches over his sleeping son:

He wasn't sure what it was about, but he thought it was about beauty or goodness.

It seems, then, that the woman who so gladly greets the boy perceives in this child a promise for the future. She tells the boy that

...the breath of God was his breath yet though it pass from man to man through all of time.

Thus, she may well view the boy as a promise for the future, as the things that he holds in his memory are those that long outlive individuals—those things of beauty and goodness of which his father has spoken. These things, she may feel, can be passed on by the boy and then from one to another. They are the "breath of God" of which she speaks.

In The Miracle Worker, what present do the blind girls give to Helen in Act I?

In Act I, Scene 4, of The Miracle Worker, the students at the Perkins Institution for the Blind presented Annie Sullivan with a gift to bring to her new student.  

Annie Sullivan was a recent graduate of the school.  She had been blind, but recent surgeries had improved her eyesight.  Annie had accepted a job in Alabama, teaching a young deaf and blind girl named Helen Keller.  In Scene 4, Annie had not yet met her new pupil.  

The younger students at the Perkins School decided to bestow a gift upon Miss Sullivan's far away future student.  A group of female students, who were aged eight to seventeen, entered the room where Annie Sullivan was in Scene 4.  All of the students were blind.  The gift was "an elegant doll, with movable eyelids and a momma sound."  The girls had pooled their money to buy the doll.

The group of female students also gave Annie a parting gift.  It was "a pair of smoked glasses."  These were to protect Annie's eyes from the bright Alabama sun, as they were still recovering from the surgery.

What legal issue is at the core of the Speluncean Explorers case?

L. Ron Fuller wrote The Case of the Speluncean Explorers. It was published in the Harvard Law Review in 1949. The case is about a group of 10 explorers who were trapped in a cave by a landslide.  Rescue efforts were underway to free the explorers. However, 10 members of the rescue team had already died.

The explorers were able to locate a two-way radio system and contact medical experts. The explorers asked the experts if they cannibalized a fellow explorer, if they would be able to survive ten more days. The medical experts reluctantly stated survival would then be possible. According to the case, it was Whetmore's idea. Whetmore also proposed casting lots and using a pair of dice to determine who would be cannibalized. At the last minute, Whetmore tried to withdraw. However, it was ultimately Whetmore who was cannibalized.

The legal crux of the case is whether or not the explorers committed murder in cannibalizing Whetmore. Initially, the explorers were found guilty of murder and were sentenced to be hanged. However, they brought a petition of error and asked for the case to be reviewed. Of five justices on the court, two upheld the conviction. One justice withdrew. Two of the justices asked that the conviction be set aside. 

Create your own war poem. Consider what opinion or thoughts you have about the concept of war. The format and structure is up to you.

Poetry is a very personal way of creatively expressing your thoughts. You may prefer to use rhyme, or not, to use punctuation, or not, to make use of figurative language such as metaphor, personification and alliteration to name but a few, or to use different line lengths depending on your purpose and the message you would like to convey. You may want to think of a title at the beginning or the end. The decision is up to you.

Some ideas for titles, especially when talking about war, may be intended to shock the reader or warn the reader. For example, you may want to include words like death, destruction, doubt, dread, (note the use of alliteration here where every first letter of each word is the same) in your title. 

War is a very controversial subject and you may think it's necessary or you may think that war only intensifies hatred. Therefore, in preparing to write your poem, think of all the strong words that come to mind when you consider what war means to you. The potential words from the title above may also help you and others such as fight, carnage, bombs, kill, and victim of violence, (note alliteration). You can make comparisons in your poem between, perhaps, life before war and life afterwards- peace and tranquility versus disorder, unrest and even anarchy. 

You may want rhyming words at the end of each line so think of words that rhyme and fit them into your poem. You could try words like calm (before the war) and alarm (as the fear sets in) or harm as people begin to die unnecessarily; how life was great but now nothing is left except the hate and could this really be your fate. 

You may want to add personal elements such as family and how families are affected. Husbands and wives have to leave children behind. There are tears and fears (more rhyme), orphans and widows, affliction and affectation, loss of limbs and loss of life. Note the use of more alliteration.

Hopefully , this will set you on your way to creating a poem unique to you and which reflects your feelings about war and the message you would like to send to your readers. 

Describe the work ethic of the Iroquois?

The Iroquois did not believe in individual ownership of property.  Their economic system is what might today be called socialism.  Every member of the society owned all of the land and resources.  One of the biting criticisms of socialism and communism is that it strips individuals of their desire to work hard.  Since every member of society is rewarded equally, there is no reason to overexert yourself on a daily basis.  The Iroquois understood the potential for this to occur.  As a result, they realized that a strong work ethic needed to be encouraged for all members.  If the Iroquois hoped to provide for all members, every individual needed to work as hard as they could to ensure this success. The Iroquois were able to establish in their culture that you were only considered successful if you worked hard every day and performed the role that was expected of you.  For that reason, the Iroquois people were respected for their strong work ethic. 

Describe the role of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire in the Nineteenth Century.

Nationalism was a very destructive force in the Ottoman Empire and was one of the primary reasons for its dissolution. The European concept of nationalism was that people should be governed by people of the same ethnicity. It was inspired to a large degree by the French Revolution. The Ottoman Empire was viewed as inferior because of its diversity and multiculturalism. This was true despite the fact that the different religions and ethnic groups had peacefully co-existed under the millet system since the Fifteenth Century. Under the system, the various ethnic minorities were granted a large degree of autonomy. This system was changed in the Nineteenth Century under the Tanzimet Reforms as the sultans tried to unify the vast empire into a single code.

The ideas of European nationalism started to take hold in the early 1800's in the Ottoman Empire. European powers like Britain and Russia instigated revolts against the Ottoman Turks for their own benefit. Ethnic groups like the Greeks (supported by Britain), Serbs and Armenians (supported by Russia) asserted their independence. Even many Muslim groups opposed the Tanzimet Reforms because they did not adhere to Islamic law. They started to exhibit nationalist tendencies. As all of these ethnic groups believed in the European ideals of nationalism, the Ottoman Empire grew weaker and weaker.

Throughout the play, Hamlet claims to be feigning madness. Do you think this true or is Hamlet actually insane?

Hamlet is upset, but not insane.  

Hamlet’s behavior is erratic, but calculated. Although his speeches do seem strange at times, and the way he behaves can sometimes seem bizarre, he is not actually insane.  One way you can tell this is that he goes through a great deal of trouble to make everyone think he is crazy until Rosencrantz and Guildenstern show up.  He lets them, and us, in on the secret. 

HAMLET

…You are welcome: but my
uncle-father and aunt-mother are deceived.

GUILDENSTERN

In what, my dear lord?

HAMLET

I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is
southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw. (Act 2, Scene 2) 

Hamlet wants his childhood friends to know that he is not actually crazy, but just pretending.  His crazy act is part of the plan to get revenge on Claudius for his father's murder, but he feels that they should know the truth.  He either feels embarrassed because they are seeing him like this or trusts them enough to let them in on the secret. 

Hamlet's intelligent and heartfelt pondering of the meaning of life and death, his famous “to be or not to be” speech, is not the babble of a crazy person.  It is the introspection of a young man full of grief and self-doubt.  It is a person who is hurting, but still able to look into the abyss and ponder the meaning of our existence.

Another way you can tell that Hamlet is not crazy is his reaction to Polonius’s death.  While he definitely intends to make his mother continue to doubt him, there is some sincerity in his words.

Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!
I took thee for thy better: take thy fortune;
Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger. (Act 3, Scene 4)

Hamlet feels bad about killing Polonius, despite the terrible mind games he plays with everyone else over his body.  He uses the untimely death of the man as a pawn, but he did not mean for it to happen and he grieves for Polonius.

How are elements of the quest narrative presented in "Through the Tunnel"?

A quest narrative is essentially the same thing as the heroic journey or the heroic cycle.  I've seen that narrative style explained in anywhere from five to twelve steps.  The additional number of steps is really just smaller divisions of the big, main plot chunks.  Let's keep things as simple as possible and use a six step quest narrative.  The six steps are as follows:

1. Hero introduction is usually mundane


2. Call to adventure


3. Early struggles


4. Rock Bottom


5. Success


6. Return to normal

Jerry, and his journey through the tunnel, does follow those six steps.  

First Jerry is introduced to the reader in a fairly boring, mundane way.  He is on vacation, with his mom, at the beach.  Not exactly something that screams danger and adventure. 

Second, Jerry sees the other boys jumping into the water and making a swim underwater for a very long time.  He discovers that they are swimming through an underwater tunnel. He wants to do the same.  He needs to do the same. 

Third.  Jerry attempts the swim and fails.  He blames it on a few things, and begins to work toward fixing those problems.  He gets a pair of goggles and begins to exercise his lungs in order to maximize his breath hold time.  If this was an 80's film, there would be a training montage with some great, inspiring music in the background. 

Fourth.  Jerry's rock bottom moment is caused by his mom.  She tells him that they will be leaving in just a few days.  Jerry realizes that he might not have enough time to complete his training.  Failure is a very real possibility.  

Five.  Jerry swims through the tunnel! 

Six.  Jerry goes back to his mother and follows her every word.  He no longer has the deep need to separate himself from her in order to achieve his goal and complete his quest.

"I don’t think you ought to swim any more today.”

She was ready for a battle of wills, but he gave in at once. It was no longer of the least importance to go to the bay.

Identify and explain the causes of European exploration.

There was a myriad of factors that went into the successful navigation of new lands in the Fifteenth Century. The motivation for exploration was primarily economic . Here are some reasons for European exploration of new lands.

The Renaissance had given Europe a sense that humans could achieve outstanding things. There was a belief that people do anything and go anywhere. This attitude prevailed as the Portuguese and Spanish took to the high seas.

The technology of navigating and shipbuilding caught up to the spirit of achievement fostered by the Renaissance. Ships were designed with stronger hulls, sails that could drive the ship with and against the wind, and navigation capabilities not known a generation earlier. Cannons were mounted on ships for protection.

The demand for spices and luxury goods from India and the far east was at a fevered pitch after the Crusades. Merchants knew that with this demand, they could make a fortune by directly trading with these places. The explorers were motivated to find a direct sea route to India.

The rise of the Turks, a Muslim empire in Asia Minor, was also an important factor. While Europeans enjoyed access to land routes before the Turks, these lines were cut off as the Turks were hostile toward the West.  

There was also a religious motive for exploration.  There was a desire to stem the tide of Muslim influence in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Europeans believed it was their duty to convert people to Christianity on these missions of exploration.

How can Louise Mallard from "The Story of an Hour" show empathy for Jeremiah Anderson from "The Wisdom of Silence"?

In "The Story of an Hour," Louise is under the impression that her husband has died. She is initially consumed with grief. But this is temporary. She is then overcome with the joy of being free. Louise describes her new freedom very much like an emancipation: 

There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. 

So, someone like Louise would certainly empathize and sympathize with someone who's been controlled by another person and then experiences freedom. Following the Emancipation Proclamation and the result of the Civil War, Jeremiah has become free. His previous owner, Samuel Brabant, tries to convince him to stay as a free worker. However, Jeremiah will not stay because his freedom and independence is much more important. Like Louise, he does not want to live for, or be dependent upon, someone else. 

Louise would probably also sympathize and understand Jeremiah's pride when he becomes independent and successful. Surely, she would also not begrudge him for bragging a bit about his success. Although Dunbar's story suggests a lesson in humility, some bragging should be understandable after a lifetime of servitude. Louise would understand this as well. 

Do you think that impediments push us to greater heights? How does "Harrison Bergeron" illustrate this?

Simply put, I believe the abilities to overcome impediments and learn from failure are absolutely essential when it comes to reaching greater heights. That said, while impediments are present in "Harrison Bergeron," the ability to overcome them is not, which restricts anyone in this society from reaching "greater heights." In fact, the one character who does overcome his impediments and is able to "kiss the ceiling" is shot and killed by the government representative. 

That is the great irony in the idea of "equality" in "Harrison Bergeron." While equality generally means that impediments are removed so that citizens can reach "greater heights," the word is used to lower expectations for everyone in the society so that "Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else."

Impediments in this case are used to keep people under control. Even when a character is able to overcome these hindrances, he is brought right back down and unable to achieve "great heights."

Where does the creature take Victor and what might this setting foreshadow?

At the end of Volume II, Chapter II, the creature leads Victor onto "the ice" where the "air was cold."  He has appealed to Victor, as a creature to his creator, attempting to impress upon Victor his own original innocence and benevolence, and his misery as a result of his being utterly friendless and alone.  Victor's own response to the creature is one proof that he meets with hatred and fear everywhere he goes.  The creature promises that it will be up to Victor whether or not he "quit[s] forever the neighbourhood of man" and is rendered harmless for the remainder of his life or whether he vows to wreak vengeance on Victor until he achieves his creator's ruin.

Once they reach the creature's hut on the ice, he tells Victor his history. In choosing this locale for their meeting, Shelley foreshadows their final months together in the Arctic.  It is there that the creature will ultimately achieve the complete ruination of Victor by weakening and depleting him to the point that he will no longer be able to survive.

When the three friends stopped for lunch below the Monkey Islands, what did the narrator have a sudden urge for? What was the alternative they...

This incident happens in Chapter XII of Three Men in a Boat. The men stop for lunch and eat cold beef. No one had remembered to pack mustard, however; and at least Harris and the narrator long to have some mustard to garnish the beef. This is one of many examples when just the lightest tidbit or slightest situation can set the characters into a funk or a tizzy. Or at least it seems this way, when described by the narrator:

It cast a gloom over the boat, there being no mustard. We ate our beef in silence. Existence seemed hollow and uninteresting. We thought of the happy days of childhood, and sighed. We brightened up a bit, however, over the apple-tart, and, when George drew out a tin of pine-apple from the bottom of the hamper, and rolled it into the middle of the boat, we felt that life was worth living after all.

But the friends had not packed a can opener either. Thus follows another one of the humorous scenes in the book. The men try using every heavy or sharp implement they find to open the can: a pocket knife, a stone, the boat mast, whatever is in sight. Nothing works. The can eventually ends up in the river, unopened.

Write the equation representing the ionization of sulfuric acid.

Sulfuric acid or `H_2SO_4`is a strong acid and ionizes in two steps. In the first step, one proton is donated and the chemical equation for this step can be written as:

`H_2SO_4 -> H^+ + HSO_4^-`

In the second step, another proton is lost and we obtain the sulfate ion. The chemical equation for this step is given as:

`HSO_4^(-) -> H^+ + SO_4^(2-)`

The overall ionization reaction is the sum of these two steps and can be written as:

`H_2SO_4 -> 2H^+ + SO_4^(2-)`

Thus, when sulfuric acid ionizes, it releases two protons and one sulfate ion, as per the above written equation.

The two step process is necessary because of two protons. In comparison, a strong acid like hydrochloric acid ionizes in a single step to release a proton and a chloride ion.

Hope this helps. 

How does the relationship between Scout and Jem change over the course of the novel?

Jem and Scout start off as play buddies and pretty much equals when it comes to fighting each other. With Jem being four years older than she is, he hits puberty first and understands the world around them a little bit better. As Jem makes this natural transformation from childhood to adolescence, there is a shift to an unequal relationship. For example, as the trial of Tom Robinson nears in chapter 14, Jem recognizes the strain it is placing on everyone in the house. In an effort to help solve this problem, he says to Scout the following:

"Scout, try not to antagonize Aunty, here? . . . he's (Atticus) got a lot on his mind now, without us worrying him. . . it's this Tom Robinson case that's worryin' him to death--" (137-138).

Scout doesn't see this talk as anything but Jem trying to boss her around, though, and she challenges him to the point that he threatens to spank her if she won't stop. This is the first time that he's threatened to say and do something that seems so above her--as if he's the adult and she's the child. The next thing he does, though, completely kicks him out of the realm of childhood. When Jem tells Atticus that Dill has run away from his home in Meridian to their house, Scout explains what happened next:

"Dill's eyes flickered at Jem, and Jem looked at the floor. Then he rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood. He went out of the room and down the hall. 'Atticus,' his voice was distant, 'can you come here a minute, sir?'" (141).

This is a turning point for Jem as he moves into the adult world of understanding how to deal with crises. He even tells Dill that he shouldn't worry his mother the way he did by running away. And as far as Scout's relationship with him, it seems to have greatly changed as a result. Scout doesn't hold Jem's transformation against him for too long, though. By chapter 28, Scout says the following:

"Jem was becoming almost as good as Atticus at making you feel right when things went wrong" (259).

Jem winds up being a good big brother who does his best to defend Scout and keep her safe. Their relationship changes as all do, but they certainly go through a few growing pains along the way.

In the poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," what does "lovely, dark and deep" suggest?

At first glance, Frost’s poem is simple. It’s about a man going through the snowy woods and taking a moment to pause and look around. When his horse jingles his little bells, the speaker realizes he needs to move along because he still has miles yet to go. However, a closer reading suggests that there is something more happening.

There have been several interpretations of this poem, and the key seems to be in the final stanza: 

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.”

The phrase describing the woods as “lovely, dark and deep” suggests a mystery the speaker associates with the woods. The speaker does not see the woods as threatening, but by describing them as dark, there does seem to be something inexplicable about the woods. When this description of the woods is read along with the final couplet, it suggests a more serious purpose.

Some critics have written that the poem addresses the speaker’s sense of responsibility. He must stop looking at the woods and head home because he has miles to go and he has responsibilities to tend to upon his return. Another interpretation is that the speaker needs to continue moving along his journey of life before he dies (sleep referring to the final sleep or death).

Therefore, the phrase “lovely, dark, and deep” suggests that the speaker has more serious things to address, although the woods are bewitching and make him want to linger. This reflects other aspects of his life that distract him from his responsibilities or keep him from his fate.

Describe the issues and solutions in The Giant’s House.

Elizabeth McCraken's book The Giant's House is appropriately subtitled, "A Romance." This is because the book, at its core, is simply an old fashioned romance. A small-town librarian, Peggy Cort, falls in love with an unusual person, a teenager who cannot stop growing (the "giant" of the title).

The book is about many things; one of the most important is the inconsistency of love. Peggy grapples with this issue throughout the whole story. She frequently compares love and marriage to her library, whose system is fraught with overdue books and cracks in how it is supposed to work. Love and marriage, she thinks, must be the same way. 

"I had never wanted to be one of those girls in love with boys who would not have me," Peggy says. "Unrequited love--plain desperate aboveboard boy-chasing--turned you into a salesperson, and what you were selling was something he didn't want, couldn't use, would never miss. Unrequited love was deciding to be useless, and I could never abide uselessness."

But when Peggy meets James, the 11-year old giant, she finds herself falling in love with him. Her tune begins to change. She sees James differently than the small town around her. The town simply sees him as an entertaining freak; she sees a boy more curious than anyone she has ever known. 

Peggy and James get to know each other. They spend countless hours together as Peggy tries and tries to provide for James' welfare. When he becomes too big for normal furniture, she gathers money to build him a giant-sized house behind her own. As he comes of age, and she realizes she is in love with him, she reflects on the nature of love:

"This is the fabric of all my fantasies: love shown not by a kiss or a wild look or a careful hand but by a willingness for research. I don’t dream of someone who understands me immediately, who seems to have known me my entire life, who says, I know me too. I want someone keen to learn my own strange organization, amazed at what’s revealed; someone who asks, and then what, and then what?"

So, one of the core issues of the story is love, its nature and its reliability. The solution is that Peggy chooses to love James, despite that fact that his illness makes him keep growing and keep getting sicker. At the end of the novel, James dies and Peggy's life is forever changed because of him. 

Why does light move in waves?

Light does not "move" in waves. Light IS an electromagnetic wave, or electromagnetic radiation, which is created by the changing electric and magnetic fields. These, in turn, can be created by accelerating electric charges, alternating electric currents, and changes in the structure of atoms or nuclei of atoms.

The reason why electromagnetic radiation propagates, or moves (for example, a wire with alternating current in one place creates electric and magnetic fields that travel through the surrounding space and induce a current in a wire far away), is described by Maxwell's equations. These are the four laws of electric and magnetic fields:

• Gauss' Law: Stationary electric charges create an electric field


• Magnetic charges, or monopoles, do not exist.


• Faraday's Law: Changing magnetic flux creates an electric field.


• Ampere's Law: Magnetic field is created by moving charges, or currents. Maxwell made an addition to that law that states that magnetic field can also be created by changing electric flux. He suggested this from theoretical considerations, but this fact was later confirmed experimentally. Because this addition resulted in the realization that light is an electromagnetic wave, the four laws together are named after Maxwell.

The solution of these for laws, of equations, is an electromagnetic wave that propagates with a certain speed, which depends on the electromagnetic properties of the medium. In the vacuum, this speed happens to be `3*10^8` m/s, which was already known, at the time of Maxwell, to be the speed at which the light travels. This led to the understanding that light is a propagation of electromagnetic field.

The visible light is the electromagnetic wave with the wavelength somewhere between about 400 and 700 nanometers (a nanometer is a one-billionth of a meter.) This is a very narrow part of an entire electromagnetic spectrum, which ranges from the waves with the wavelength of several kilometers, such as radio waves, to the gamma rays, which have the wavelength of a few Fermi ( `10^(-15)`  of a meter).

Please read more about the phenomena that demonstrate the wave-like nature of light on the referenced website.

In The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, what do you think Ponyboy means when he says that the Greasers feel too violently? What does this say about their...

In Chapter 3, Ponyboy and Cherry are having a conversation about what separates the Greasers from the Socs. Cherry mentions that the Socs have more than what they want and are never satisfied. She says that Socs are also too cool to feel anything. Cherry comments that nothing is real to them and tells Ponyboy that the Greasers are too emotional. Ponyboy agrees and understands that the Socs hide behind a "wall of aloofness." Ponyboy mentions that the Socs are cold and impersonal individuals, and says, "That's why we're separated...It's not money, it's feeling---you don't feel anything and we feel too violently" (Hinton 34). What Ponyboy means is that the Greasers have intense feelings and are overly emotional. They are not afraid to hide or speak about their feelings, and their suffering is visible. The Socs are opposite, and act like nothing bothers them in order to maintain their "cool" persona.

Ponyboy's comment about how the Greasers feeling too violently reflects the tragic atmosphere of their society. The fact that there are children and teenagers who are under extreme emotional duress depicts the lack of social support systems available in their community. Families do not assist their children in the society Ponyboy grows up in, and kids are left to deal with their problems by themselves. Also, the Socs obsession with material wealth portrays a superficial society focused on tangible items rather than a person's character.

Describe the type of governments that Churchill believes are governing Eastern Europe?

The answer to this question can be found in Winston Churchill's famous "iron curtain" speech, delivered in Fulton, Missouri, in 1946. By asserting that an "iron curtain" had fallen over Eastern Europe "from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic," Churchill was saying that communism was threatening to spread throughout the continent. The Soviet Union, which occupied almost all of Eastern Europe in the aftermath of Germany's destruction in World War II, sought, under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, to establish friendly governments on its western border. This meant, to Stalin, setting up governments patterned after his own, which was a totalitarian communist state. First with Poland, and later in other nations including Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and East Germany, Stalin oversaw the creation of what have been described as "satellite" states in these countries. (Yugoslavia developed a communist state independently of Soviet influence, as did Albania.) Churchill's speech described this development as Soviet aggression, which in his mind posed a threat comparable to that of Nazi Germany ten years earlier. 

A spring exerts a force when released of 1000 newtons. The spring is pushing a mass of 3 kilograms. The spring fully extends in 1/50 of a second....

Hello!

Denote the starting force as `F_0,` the mass as `m,` the stiffness of a spring as `k` and the finish time as `t_2.` The starting time is `0.` Also denote the displacement of a mass as `x(t),` let a spring moves to the left and its final position is `0.`

Then we know from Newton's Second law that `F=ma=mx''(t).` Also we know Hooke's law, `F=-kx(t)` (minus sign because `F` acts to the left but `x(t)` compresses a spring to the right).

So we obtain a differential equation for `x(t),`

`x''=-k/m x.`

And we know `x(t_2)=0` and `x'(t_2)=0` (a mass starts from rest) and `x''(0)=F_0/m.`

The general solution is `x(t)=A sin(t sqrt(k/m)) + B cos(t sqrt(k/m)).`

From the bounding conditions we have `A=0` and `B=F_0/k.`

Because `x(t_2)=0,` we obtain `cos(t_2 sqrt(k/m))=0,` the first time it is when `t_2 sqrt(k/m)=pi/2,` or  `sqrt(k)=(pi sqrt(m))/(2 t_2).`

Our goal is to find `x'(t_2)=-B sqrt(k/m) sin (t_2 sqrt(k/m))=-B sqrt(k/m)=-F_0 /sqrt(km)=-(2F_0 t_2)/(pi m).`

This is the final formula. The magnitude of the velocity in numbers is `(2000/50)/(3.14*3) approx` 4.24 (m/s).

How did NATO and the Warsaw Pact change Europe?

As World War II concluded, the Soviet Union began to seize territory in Eastern Europe as so-called "satellite states," causing the west to feel as though an "iron curtain" (a phrase popularized by Winston Churchill) had descended across Eastern Europe. In 1948, the Soviets closed off western-controlled West Berlin, which was surrounded by Soviet East Berlin and Soviet East Germany, to ground traffic. As a result, the Americans and their allies had to airlift supplies into West Berlin.

In 1949, in response to these events, NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed. Countries in Western Europe and North America signed the agreement, which promised that they would come to each others' aid if attacked. Later, in 1952, Greece and Turkey also signed the agreement, as did West Germany in 1955.

In response, particularly to the alliance of West Germany with NATO, Eastern European countries and the Soviet Union signed the Warsaw Pact in 1955. East Germany was part of this pact, which effectively divided Europe into two competing alliance systems. The members of the Warsaw Pact also agreed to defend each other if one of them were attacked. In addition, the pact allowed the Soviet Union greater control over the member countries. For example, when the Soviets crushed the uprising in Hungary in 1956, they said they had carried it out through the Warsaw Pact. Effectively, NATO and the Warsaw Pact divided Europe into western-controlled and Soviet-controlled areas. 

To what extent should an ideology shape your thinking and actions as a citizen?

Here, we need to distinguish between "ideology" as is a technical term in critical theory and the popular use of the term. In popular culture, ideology is often used to mean any ideas, beliefs, or opinions you hold. In critical theory, the term refers to more deeply rooted shared frameworks for thinking, grounded in elements such as race, class, gender, political system, or even your subconscious mind. 

The first element of ideology is that it is inescapable. We all are influenced by various ideologies, whether we wish to be or not. Critical theorists argue that by becoming aware of how ideology operates, we can think about our preconditioned frameworks for thought critically and try to resist them. Thinking critically is always better than simply acting or voting blindly and unreflectively in politics.

Next, we should be concerned about another type of ideology, which is more properly termed tribalism. This means that we affiliate with groups of people with whom we share cultural or regional or social backgrounds or other commonalities. Often members of our "tribes" have distinct sets of beliefs and ideas. The problem comes when we don't actually look reflectively at our beliefs individually but simply follow all the beliefs of our tribes. 

For example, some groups in the United States favor the death penalty and oppose euthanasia and abortion, while other people would say that these two issues have no logical connection. In fact, it seems that to some that these positions are logically opposed. One way to resist tribalism is to think about each issue on its own merits rather than just unthinkingly accepting all the positions of your "tribe" (friends, family, coworkers, or school clique). 

What is the link between industrialization and the new imperialism of the 19th century?

There are two links between industrialization and the “new imperialism” of the 19th century.  First, the industrialization allowed the new imperialism to happen.  Second, industrialization made people in various European countries (and in the US and Japan) believe that they needed to engage in imperialism.

When the European countries industrialized in the 19th century, they gained the ability to mass produce advanced weapons.  They could churn out thousands of rifles very easily by using their factories.  They could not build thousands of ships rapidly, but they could build large steam-powered ships that could carry big guns.  None of this would have been possible if the countries had not industrialized.  They would have had rifles, but not as many.  They would not have had huge guns or large, steel ships.  Because they industrialized, they had weapons that could easily defeat the people of any of the countries that they imperialized.  In this way, industrialization made imperialism possible.

Once the European countries industrialized, they started to need huge quantities of raw materials to feed their factories.  In addition, they needed large markets in which to sell all the goods that they could now produce.  They believed that imperialism would solve both of these problems.  If they gained empires, they would have new territory from which to extract raw materials.  If they gained empires, they would also have captive markets who would essentially have to buy manufactured goods from them.  In these ways, imperialism would (they thought) solve the economic problems that imperialism had created.

From this, we can see that industrialization and imperialism are linked in two ways.  Industrialization made imperialism possible, but it also made imperialism necessary, at least in the minds of the leaders of the imperial powers.

What did Odysseus advise Penelope to do when he left?

When Odysseus heard about the impending Trojan War, he did not want to go. According to the Latin author Hyginus, Odysseus actually pretended to be insane so he could stay home. Unfortunately, the ruse did not work, and Odysseus had to leave for Troy, so he bid his wife and newborn son goodbye and boarded his ship.

Before he left, he asked Penelope to make him a promise. If he did not return by the time Telemachus began to grow a beard, Penelope must assume Odysseus was dead and choose a new husband. As she recalls him telling her:

when you see our son growing a beard, then marry whom you will, and leave this your present home.

Penelope had been swarmed with suitors during her husband's absence. She had put off their advances for as long as possible, but they were becoming increasingly aggressive by the time of Odysseus' glorious return to Ithaca. Thankfully, Odysseus returned and purged the house of those vile men.

Provide character sketches of Helen Keller's parents.

Helen Keller's father was Arthur H. Keller.  He had been married once before he married Helen's mother.  He had two older sons with his previous wife.  During the Civil War, Arthur Keller had served in the Confederate Army as a captain.  Later, he married Kate Adams, who was "many years younger."  Helen described her father as "loving and indulgent."  He was a man who was "devoted to his home."  His hobbies included hunting, gardening, and story-telling.  He was full of hospitality and loved to have guests over.  He also enjoyed spending time with his dogs.  He passed away when Helen was a teenager, after a "short illness."

Helen Keller's mother was Kate Adams Keller.  Robert E. Lee was one of Kate's distant relations.  Kate was a loving and devoted mother.  She was patient and watchful.  On many occasions, Helen told of how her mother held her and comforted her when she was upset.  Kate was delighted when Helen learned to communicate.  

What is arthroplasty?

Indications and Procedures

Joints
become painful when the cartilage
between them, which keeps bone from pressing on bone, deteriorates, a process called osteoarthritis. The joints can become sufficiently painful, particularly among the elderly, to indicate more than the analgesic treatment that most people suffering from painful joints initially try.

Arthroplasty, surgery undertaken to replace deteriorating joints, may be performed on the fingers, shoulders, and elbows. The most common sites of such surgery, however, are the hips and knees. Most patients requiring hip or knee replacements are over the age of fifty, but arthroplasty may be indicated for younger people who have suffered trauma. Specialists in sports medicine
frequently prescribe arthroplasty, which is typically performed by orthopedic surgeons.

The hip is a ball-and-socket joint. When people walk, the top of the femur slides into the acetabulum. Cartilage normally covers both bones where they meet, permitting smooth, painless contact between them. When this cartilage deteriorates, bones rub against each other, causing pain and restriction in movement that is best relieved by hip replacement
surgery.

A similar situation can afflict the knee. Using an arthroscope or endoscope, an orthopedist makes a small incision in the knee and inserts a narrow illuminated tube with a camera attached into the affected site to examine it. If this examination reveals worn bone and cartilage, then a knee replacement, in which the knee joint is replaced with metal and plastic substitutes, is indicated.

Typically, hip and knee replacements are performed on patients under general anesthetic, although a local anesthetic, either spinal or epidural, is sometimes used. In most cases, general anesthetic is preferred because patients must remain completely still during this surgery and general anesthetic causes temporary paralysis.

In hip surgery, an incision, varying in length from 2 to 12 inches, is made over the back of the hip. Tissue and muscles are cut or pushed aside to expose the hip joint. The femur and acetabulum are separated. A declivity made in the acetabulum accommodates the replacement cup and allows for the insertion of a plastic-lined metal shell. The ball atop the femur is removed and replaced with a metal ball attached to a metal stem, usually made of titanium, that is inserted into the femoral canal. The two parts are then cemented into place, making them adhere to the bone. Damaged muscles and tendons are repaired before the incision is closed with staples or sutures.

In knee surgery, a long incision is made in the front of the knee and the patella is removed to make the joint accessible. Holes are drilled into the lower femur to affix the metal replacement. Holes are also drilled in the upper tibia to anchor a plastic plate. The back part of the patella is excised to create a flat surface into which holes are drilled to receive a plastic button. The prosthesis is then secured with cement, and the incision closed, usually with sutures or staples.

Uses and Complications

Arthroplasty is used to relieve pain and restore mobility in patients who are reasonable surgical risks. Many have been disabled by their conditions. Because many such patients are elderly, extensive preoperative evaluation is necessary. Conditions such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, heart or lung disease, and anemia increase the surgical risk. Open lesions increase the risk of infection.

Nerve damage can result from cutting muscles and tendons during surgery. Blood clots can form in the lungs or legs of patients undergoing arthroplasty, and this risk may continue for two months following surgery. Blood thinners are usually administered postoperatively.

Physical therapy, essential following arthroplasty, usually begins two or three days after the surgery and continues for eight weeks. Most patients are completely ambulatory within six weeks postoperatively.

Perspective and Prospects

As life expectancy increases, incidence of joint problems is increasing exponentially. In the early twentieth century, many people who lived beyond their sixties were immobilized by chronic arthritis, osteoporosis, and painful joints. When an elderly person suffered a broken hip, it often marked the beginning of a physical decline with a fatal outcome.

Medical advances made during World War II had a profound effect on treating many physical problems that, although experienced in combat by relatively young people, required treatment that was soon used in dealing with the joint problems of the elderly. Hip and knee surgery were once more disabling than they currently are. Hip surgery now requires incisions as small as one inch long, although four-inch incisions are more common and ten-inch incisions are used by some surgeons.

Although arthroplasty usually involves a hospital stay of two to four days, it is likely that soon such surgery will become an outpatient procedure. The use of titanium in prostheses has extended the effectiveness of such surgery, with these devices currently expected to last for about two decades.

Bibliography

An, Yuehuei H., ed. Orthopaedic Issues in Osteoporosis. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, 2003.

Doherty, Gerard M., ed. Current Surgical Diagnosis and Treatment. 13th ed. New York: Lange Medical Books/McGraw-Hill, 2009.

Kellicker, Patricia Griffin. "Hip Replacement." Health Library, May 6, 2013.

"Knee Replacement." Health Library, May 3, 2013.

Morris, Peter J., and William C. Wood, eds. Oxford Textbook of Surgery. 2d ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Rose, Eric A. The Columbia Presbyterian Guide to Surgery. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2001.

Rothrock, Jane C., ed. Alexander’s Care of the Patient in Surgery. 14th ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby/Elsevier, 2010.

"Total Knee Replacement." American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, December 2011.

Why didn't Friar Lawrence stop Juliet from killing herself?

Shakespeare announces in the sixth line of the play that Romeo and Juliet will kill themselves:

A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life 

With that said, it would also be helpful to look at Act V, Scene 3 and examine the evidence. Friar Lawrence briefly pleads with Juliet to "come away" but does not urge her for very long. He is obviously afraid he will be caught in the tomb and associated with the deaths of Romeo and Paris. He must have considered that his entire career and maybe his life would be forfeited if caught in the tomb.

The Friar's suggestion that Juliet go with him to a nunnery probably didn't appeal much to the girl. She displays both a stubborn streak and her loyalty to Romeo as she tells him,

Go, get thee hence, for I will not away.

The following stage directions simply state that he exited. Juliet is relatively quick in her suicide as she first tries the vial of poison, which is empty, and then takes Romeo's dagger and stabs herself, dying just as the Page and Watchman enter the tomb. When questioned, the Friar basically admits he could do nothing and that he is guilty. He says,

I am the greatest, able to do least,
Yet most suspected, as the time and place
Doth make against me, of this direful murder.
And here I stand, both to impeach and purge
Myself condemnèd and myself excused.

The Prince, however, pardons him, the families reconcile and the play ends.

What central idea is presented in both "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain," by Emily Dickinson and "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe?

This is a great pairing. To me, the thing these two texts share is a descent into madness, or the idea that there is an understanding of things that transcends reason. Both texts share the theme of death: Dickinson is writing about a funeral, and Poe is writing about a murder. Both texts use a kind of monotonous rhythm to highlight this movement from reason to madness. Both texts seem to suggest that once you give into this alternate way of thinking, there is no going back.

In the Poe story, the narrator murders the old man because of his "vulture's eye" -- 

His eye was like the eye of a vulture, the eye of one of those terrible birds that watch and wait while an animal dies, and then fall upon the dead body and pull it to pieces to eat it. When the old man looked at me with his vulture eye a cold feeling went up and down my back; even my blood became cold. And so, I finally decided I had to kill the old man and close that eye forever!

In the Dickinson poem, the funeral inspires a similar kind of dread: 

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading - treading - till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through -

And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum -
Kept beating - beating - till I thought
My mind was going numb -

Dickinson's "numbness" and Poe's narrator's "cold feeling" at seeing the eye both suggest a kind of falling away from reason or the real world. For Poe, the case would seem to be one of simple insanity, but it is worth noting that for the narrator the "reasoning" behind the killing is self evident; the eye gives him the shivers, "and so" of course the old man must die. In the Dickinson poem, monotony of the funeral, whether it is an actual funeral she is attending, or a kind of "funereal feeling," brings on a similar quality of "numbness" which results in the "Plank in Reason" breaking

And I dropped down, and down -
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing - then -

The "beating - beating" of the drum in the poem, like the beating of the old man's heart in the Poe story, precipitates a similar fall from knowledge in each text. When Dickinson says she "finished knowing," that can be taken to mean that either she is "finished" with reason, or that she has finally understood something. In the Poe story, the beating of the old man's heart causes the narrator to confess. This confession could be understood as either the narrator giving in to a guilty conscience, or as his final capitulation to the irrational desires that drove him to murder in the first place.

What is the difference between Atticus’s cross-examination of Mayella in chapter 18 and Mr. Gilmer’s cross-examination of Tom in chapter 19?...

The difference between the two cross-examinations is Atticus shows respect and courtesy towards Mayella and Mr. Gilmer speaks to Tom Robinson disrespectfully and with contempt. To Kill a Mockingbird has a motif that shows kindness and disrespect existing in the same scene throughout the book. For example, Atticus is kind, professional, and courteous to Mayella Ewell even though she is disrespectful to him. On the flip side, Mr. Gilmer is disrespectful and condescending to the defendant, while Tom maintains his respectful tone at all times. This juxtaposition of positives and negatives interacting with each other helps to show how extremes exist together at different times in life. It produces an effect of wonder, such as, how one can act so mean one minute to one person and be so "nice" the next minute to a different person (Mr. Gilmer). Don't all people deserve respect? 

By presenting both cross-examinations, the author is able to show the quality of character that Atticus and Tom possess compared to the quality that Mayella and Mr. Gilmer possess. Furthermore, Atticus is the gentleman of all gentlemen. His character is a straight arrow for good no matter what type of situation confronts him. The best way to show just how good he really is would be to set him up against anyone who is the complete opposite of him (called a foil) such as Mayella, Mr. Gilmer, or Bob Ewell. By doing this, the story evokes empathy on the part of the reader for Atticus and Tom, while also adding suspense and intrigue to the plot. Atticus and Tom weather the storm of the trial with their dignity and integrity in tact; as Miss Maudie says, "Atticus is the same in his house as he is on the public streets" (46). He has no secrets to hide, he is a gentleman, and he stands for the truth in every situation in his life. The difference between the cross-examinations shows that Atticus proves Maudie right.

What was the Supreme Court's decision in the Dred Scott case?

The Dred Scott case involved two separate issues. One was whether Scott, as an enslaved man, had a right to sue in court. The other was whether Scott, having spent some of his life in free territory, was even enslaved at all. On the first issue, the Court ruled that Scott had no right to sue in court, and indeed that, as a black man, had "no rights a white man was bound to respect." These were the words of Chief Justice Roger Taney, who further ruled that Scott had not in fact become free by living in free territory. In fact, he went well beyond the issues raised in the case by asserting that the Missouri Compromise, which declared most of the northern portion of the Louisiana Purchase free territory, was unconstitutional. The Court's decision basically invalidated attempts to restrain the spread of slavery into the territories. Predictably, this outraged antislavery Northerners and delighted Southerners. It also raised questions about whether popular sovereignty, the preferred remedy to the issue of slavery's expansion, was constitutional. When northern Democrats continued to advocate this solution, southerners bolted from the party in 1860.

`_8 C_6` Find the binomial coefficient.

You need to evaluate the binomial coefficient, using the next formula, such that:

`nCk = (n!)/(k!(n-k)!)`

Replacing 8 for n and 6 for k yields:

`8C6 = (8!)/(6!(8-6)!) => 8C6 = (8!)/(6!*2!)`

Notice that `8! = 1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8 => 8! = 6!*7*8`

` 8C6 = (6!*7*8)/(6!*2!) =>  8C6 = (7*8)/(2!)  => 8C6 = (7*8)/(1*2)`

Hence, evaluating the binomial coefficient yields 8C6 = 28. 

How useful is The Pianist as an historical reference?

The Pianist is a book (1946) and a film (2002), both based on the life of Jewish composer Wldyslaw Szpilman. The semi-autobiographical story is based on Szpilman's life and experiences during the Nazi invasion of Poland and the horrifying events that followed. I use the term "semi-autobiographical" because Szpilman recounted his memories to a friend who helped him write the book.

When conducting research for a paper or other work, memoirs and (auto)biographies can be problematic as a source. In many cases, the individual has done their best to recall the events as they experienced them, but memory is tricky and can be very subjective. Making matters more complicated, the Pianist has been censored and edited many times over the decades; first by the Russians in the years just after the war and most recently by Szpilman's son, who likely changed very little. As a result, you should be cautious about using the book or the film as a primary source because you have no way of knowing what, if anything has been altered or omitted.

With that disclaimer out of the way, the book (and to a lesser extent the film) does provide a detailed and honest depiction of the events that followed Germany's invasion of Poland. For that reason, Szpilman's autobiography can provide a "big picture" view of the invasion, particularly the often overlooked Warsaw uprising. Nevertheless, if you decide to use this as a source, be sure to verify the information that you choose with information from other sources.

What were the social causes of the Morant Bay Rebellion?

The Morant Bay Rebellion, which took place in Jamaica on October 11, 1865, was a reaction by freed slaves to the poverty in which they lived, worsened by natural disasters and disease. Though Britain had ended slavery in Jamaica in 1834, with full emancipation for slaves by 1838, former slaves lived in desperate straits on the island. Few could vote because of high poll taxes. Though black people outnumbered whites by a ratio of 32:1, very few black people could vote. Only about 2,000 blacks were eligible to vote out of a total black population of 436,000. In addition, farming conditions were difficult because of droughts and floods, and smallpox and cholera were endemic on the island. The sugar-based economy was doing very badly, and the price of imported goods was so high that many people practically went without clothing. Of a population of about 436,000, only 60,000 blacks had jobs. 

On October 7, 1865, a black man was put on trial for trespassing, and a spectator in the trial got into an altercation with the police. Several men were arrested as a result of this altercation, including Paul Bogle, a Baptist preacher. On October 11, 1865, Bogle led a protest march to Morant Bay, and the British militia fired on the protestors, killing 7 black people. Government troops put down the rebellion, killing over 400 blacks. In addition, about 350 blacks were put on trial and executed, including Paul Bogle. Others were punished by flogging or given long prison sentences. 

What does the phrase "chimney sweepers" mean in London?

Depending on what literary text you are referencing, and what the context of the piece is, "chimney sweeper" may have a very literal or metaphorical meaning.

In a literal context, a chimney sweep(er) is someone who cleans chimneys as a profession. This used to be a very important job in many parts of the world. In homes which use fireplaces or wood-burning stoves for cooking and warmth, the chimney allows smoke to escape cleanly and safely. Unfortunately, smoke carries with it all kinds of particulate and tar, which can build up inside of the chimney. If the chimney is allowed to get too dirty, it becomes a fire hazard. The chimney sweep would come in with a large brush and sweep out the insides of the chimneys. During the Victorian period, it was not uncommon for children to work as sweeps because their small bodies fit more easily down the chimneys.

In some cases, to call someone a chimney sweep implies racist sentiment. Throughout some European countries, Saint Nicholas (Father Christmas, Santa Claus) has a sidekick who is either portrayed as a chimney sweep or man of African descent. Depending on the tradition, there may be no racism implied at all, as cleaning chimneys comes with the hazard of getting a very sooty face. Many have argued over the colonialist and racist implications of the character, though, and in places like the Netherlands, to call someone "Black Pete" can be a slur. It is possible that in London, depending on the influence of culture, one might use the term chimney sweep as a racist remark.

More recently, several entries in an online slang website (which I do not feel comfortable giving you a link to) have defined "chimney sweep" as a colloquialism for either a gynecologist or proctologist. This is meant to poke fun at the professions of physicians who deal with the more tunnel-like parts of the anatomy.

What is Atticus’ response to Mr. Ewell’s actions?

Bob Ewell was angry with Atticus after the trial.  One day, Atticus went to the Maycomb post office.  After he left, he ran into Mr. Ewell outside.  It was then that Bob Ewell "spat in his face, and told him he'd get him if it took the rest of his life" (To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 22).  Mr. Ewell proceeded to yell and curse.  He accused Atticus of being too proud to fight back.  

Atticus was not upset or afraid by the incident.  He wiped the spit off his face, and later mentioned that he wished Bob Ewell was not a tobacco chewer.  Jem later asked his father about the incident.  Atticus calmly told his son to consider walking in Bob Ewell's shoes.  At the trial, Atticus had "destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with" (Chapter 23).  He noted that Mr. Ewell was going to take out his anger on someone.  He preferred for it to be on him rather than on one of his children.