Are there any examples of imagery in the poem "Disabled" by Wilfred Owen?

"Disabled" by Wilfred Owen depicts the life of a young man who has lost his arms and legs in World War I. It draws a sharp and drastic contrast between the young man's life prior to joining the Army and after having been injured. 

Owen uses skillful visual and aural imagery to underscore his meaning throughout the poem. In the first stanza, he describes what the soldier looks like: he is sitting in a wheel chair listening to children play. Owen captures the image of the soldier by describing his suit as "ghastly...grey" and then describing how it is sewn: without legs and with the arms cut off and stitched at the elbows. This is an interesting choice for the poet because it is far more profound to consider the suit than it is to be told "a man with no legs and no arms sits in a wheel chair." As readers, we can defend ourselves against such direct communication, but it's harder to ignore the atrocities of this man's life when his suit is described because the portrayal begins benignly with color and pulls the reader into the man's world. 

The process of the man becoming injured offers striking visual images that suggest that the soldier was complicit in his own wounds. He is described in stanza two as having "[thrown] away his knees" and having poured his own blood "down shell holes" in stanza three. By using this imagery, Owens forces the reader to see the absurd image of a young man actively getting rid of his own body parts. At the same time, the imagery sets up the next scenario, which describes the man's life before the war and his reasons for signing up to go. It also reflects how a critically injured person might feel guilty for having become wounded. This visual technique is also an extension of the technique Owen used in stanza one. If he truly described the carnage, some readers would turn off from engaging with the poem. Instead, he puts the incidents in these preposterous images. 

The soldier's life prior to the war and his reasons for signing up for the Army are described in the longest stanza. We see a young man who has fallen for the lies about war (see Owen's poem, "Dulce et Decorum Est"), who was underage and who signed on in order to impress his girlfriend. 

In the next stanza, it becomes clear that no young woman will be impressed because he notices women's eyes as they move from him to uninjured men. Just this one visual image, about the eyes, captures the entire tragedy of a young man who goes to war for glory and then discovers that war is actually a hellish catastrophe. 

Owen fought in World War I and did not survive it. He knew firsthand what war was like, in contrast to what he and his school friends had been told about it a few short years earlier. He was a gifted poet who knew how to communicate horror to those who have never experienced it themselves and who could not be counted upon to engage continually with the enormity of it. He pulls us into this world image by image and challenges us to consider how many more young men we should send to such a fate. He would have considered it an even greater calamity that we have yet to figure out how to stop this unending process. 

In Fahrenheit 451, what does Faber give to Montag to help him against Captain Beatty?

To help Montag, Faber gives him a device of his own design. It is described as a "small green-metal object, no larger than .22 bullet" and Montag observes that it looks like a Seashell Radio. The object is, in fact, a listening device that fits into Montag's ear. Faber keeps another version of this device. As Faber explains, this will help protect Montag against Captain Beatty: 

I can sit comfortably home, warming my frightened bones, and hear and analyse the fireman's world.

Montag knows that, when he returns to work, Captain Beatty will try and talk him out of his rebellion. Beatty will say firemen and book-burning are necessary and that entertainment is what the majority of people really want. Montag is desperate for ammunition against Beatty's eloquence, and this listening device provides exactly that. From now on, Faber can give Montag all the moral support he needs without being physically present.

In "Ulysses," why does the king want to travel?

In Tennyson's "Ulysses," the aged king of Ithaca leaves his home and his family in search of new adventures. Ulysses touches on the reason for his departure late in the poem when he says, "Some work of noble note, may yet be done,/ Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods" (52-3).

Basically, Ulysses wants to leave Ithaca because he yearns for the days when he performed heroic deeds ("work of noble note," in other words). While the duties of kingship might be enough for another man, Ulysses is unsatisfied. He feels that, compared to the valiant excitement of his youth, managing an island kingdom is pretty dull. As such, Ulysses is leaving home in order to seek out adventures that he feels are worthy of his legendary status, things that are "not unbecoming for men that strove with Gods." If this desire reveals the vain nature of Ulysses' personality, it also makes the character more human, as his experience of nostalgia and yearning for excitement make him surprisingly relatable.    

Who are the main characters in "A Christmas Memory"?

There are two main characters in Truman Capote’s poignant short story “A Christmas Memory.” The first of whom is the adult narrator as he reminisces about Christmas when he was seven years old. In the story, he is called Buddy, after the deceased friend of his cousin. Based on his emotions and actions, Buddy is an empathetic child who enjoys participating in adventures with his elderly cousin. He is an intuitive child, who realizes the special bond he forms with his cousin.

The second main character is Buddy’s mentally and physically disabled cousin, who is also his best friend. Although she is an adult, her reasoning abilities are often child-like but are profound in a number of ways.

My friend has never been to a picture show, nor does she intend to: "I'd rather hear you tell the story, Buddy. That way I can imagine it more. Besides, a person my age shouldn't squander their eyes. When the Lord comes, let me see him clear."

The two, who make an interesting pair, share adventures in the home they share with other relatives, and its local environs. In spite of her disabilities and quirky nature, the cousin is filled with an adventurous spirit, which Buddy finds infectious and heart-warming. The two understand each other as no one else can. She is Buddy’s greatest companion and he is hers because the other family members have no interest in them, or patience for their endeavors such as making fruitcakes for a list of people, including the President.

After they spend one last Christmas together, Buddy is sent off to military school, but the bond between the two remains in the form of letters. When the letters cease, and the cousin passes away, Buddy feels a piece of his heart slip away.

What are social networks?

Introduction

In almost every culture in the world, men and women live embedded within a network of other people. Young infants are surrounded by caregivers; toddlers, growing children, and adolescents have their peers; and young, middle-aged, and older adults have varying numbers of friends and relatives with whom they interact. Trained research psychologists and laypeople alike have recognized that the presence of others—friends, family, and sometimes even strangers—can be very comforting. A large body of research has focused on how the number and quality of one’s interactions with other people influence psychological and physiological health and well-being.

Within formal network theorizing, the term “network” refers to the ties that connect a specific set of entities, be they people, groups, or organizations. Social networks can be described as the sum total of an individual’s connections with others. They encompass the different contacts a person may have in one or more distinct social groups (people who are seen on a regular basis for business or pleasure); the types of roles a person plays (mother, coach); the number of friends, family, and relatives a person has; and even the different types of activities in which a person participates (such as attending weekly softball games, where the team becomes part of the network). In psychological writing on the topic of social relationships, a clear distinction is made between social networks, also referred to as structural social support, and functional social support (processes by which people give resources, information, or help to promote emotional or physical well-being). Although social networks can and do serve important functions, such as providing a person with emotional social support or tangible resources in times of need, research on social networks focuses more on the health benefits that are gained from the participation in one or more distinct social groups (the structure of, and stable pattern that exists between, one’s ties). This approach and understanding of social networks makes possible the use of more direct measurements of connections, such as how many people an individual speaks to in a week. The underlying assumption in much of this work is that others can influence how people think, feel, and behave through interactions that may not be explicitly intended to exchange help or support.

Historical Beginnings

Sociologists were the first to write on and study the psychological relevance of social ties or social integration. The French sociologist Émile Durkheim conducted the earliest study of the influence of social networks in 1897. He contended that the breakdown in family, community, and work ties that occurred when workers migrated to industrial areas would be bad for psychological well-being. Durkheim wanted to see if there was any relationship between the number of social ties that a person had and their likelihood of committing suicide. He identified people who had taken their own lives and looked into their social relationships, collecting information from those who knew them and local public records. He found that suicide was most common among individuals who were not married and lacked ties with the community and the church. Some years later, the American sociologist Robert Faris tested if being culturally isolated had anything to do with the development of mental illness. His paper, published in the American Journal of Sociology in 1934, emphasized the importance of social contacts and showed that socially isolated individuals were more at risk for developing schizophrenia.

One of the most important studies on the role of social networks was conducted in the late 1970s by the American social epidemiologists Lisa Berkman and Leonard Syme. Whereas the work of Durkheim and Faris was correlational in nature, in that they looked at cases of suicide and schizophrenia and worked backward to assess the factors that were associated with the outcome, Berkman and Syme conducted a nine-year longitudinal study. They first measured the social ties of close to seven thousand residents of Alameda County in California. They asked the participants in the study what hobbies they had, what groups they attended on a regular basis, if they were members of clubs, if they went to church, and other questions that tapped into their connections with others. Nine years later, they assessed how many of the people were still alive. They found that the people who were more socially integrated at the beginning of the study (had more social connections) lived longer than their counterparts who had fewer social connections. Having social contacts enabled women to live an average of 2.8 years longer and men to live an average of 2.3 years longer. These effects were not caused by differences in education, income level, health status at the beginning of the study, or the practice of health habits. This result was not a fluke. Similar results have been found in other large studies conducted since that time.

Health Benefits of Social Networks

Having good social connections has many benefits. Along with being associated with longer life, having good social networks has been related to a large number of positive health outcomes. Socially integrated people have been found to be less likely to have heart attacks; tend to recover faster from colds and other illnesses; are more likely to survive breast cancer; cope better with stress; are more likely to eat better, exercise, and be physically active; and are less likely to start smoking and have a slightly easier time quitting if they do. In perhaps one of the most impressive demonstrations of the health-buffering ability of social networks, American psychologist Sheldon Cohen exposed a large group of consenting volunteers to a cold virus (delivered via a nasal spray). The participants who reported having more social support and higher quality social networks were less likely to develop upper respiratory illnesses. Cohen randomly sampled his participants such that anyone in the general population had an equal chance of being in his study, allowing generalization of his results and assurance that there was nothing else influencing his findings.

Good social networks are especially important for healthy aging. Many studies have shown that having a close confidant or intimate social partner is associated with increased longevity. Increased social network size is associated with a reduced risk of mortality. This is an important finding, as research shows that the networks of the elderly often shrink with age, as a result of both death and changes in activities that reduce social contact. Therefore, a large number of studies have investigated whether support from one source, such as a friend, can substitute and compensate for support from another, such as a spouse. Results on this issue have been mixed. Some studies show that friends and relatives can make up for less support from spouses or children, while others suggest that this may not always be the case. One clear conclusion is that studies of social support should assess support from many different sources.

One aspect of the health benefits of social networks needs special attention. Because Durkheim’s early work showing that people who were married were better off psychologically, many psychologists and studies proclaimed that just being married is enough. This oversimplifies the issue and is inaccurate. The fact seems to be that the benefits of being married vary for each sex. Whereas being married is very important for the well-being of men, it is not always the case for women. For women, having a close female confidant seems to be the critical element for well-being. This sex difference extends over many forms of social support. In general, women have been found to be better at creating social networks and keeping them alive and functioning, to benefit the most from networks, and to give and receive more functional forms of social support from networks than do men.

Measurement

Social networks can be measured in many different ways. To make them easier to understand and study, psychologists separate social networks into different components. The first main distinction can be made between the behavioral component of networks and the mental component of interacting with networks. The behavioral component consists of measurements of active participation in a wide range of activities (often a direct count of items such as the number of social groups to which people belong or the number of people they talk to on the telephone each week) and is perhaps the most common approach to studying social networks. Behavioral components are further subdivided into measurements of recognized social positions or social identities, termed role-based measures, and measures that assess the frequency and number of social activities, termed social participation measures. The mental component of social networks refers to how people think about their networks and what resources they believe they have. This category of measures, commonly called perceived integration measures, focuses purely on the perceptions of the individual, regardless of whether the perceptions are an accurate reflection of reality. Although this may seem like a problematic issue—how an individual’s perceptions of something can be measured other than by using that individual’s own report—psychologists have found that even believing that one has many people to whom to turn in case of need has many benefits.

One of the first researchers to study actively how roles influence social networks was the American psychologist Margaret Thoits. Using data collected from a large study of the community in New Haven, Connecticut, she constructed a tool assessing participation in eight key social roles: parent, spouse, worker, friend, neighbor, student, church member, and group member. Consistent with earlier work on this topic, she found that people who possessed more roles experienced less stress and had fewer psychological problems. Extensions of her work have added additional roles such as lover, son or daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, relative, hobbyist, athlete, and stepparent.

Building on this work, Cohen created the Social Network Index (SNI), a popularly used measure of social networks that assesses participation in twelve types of social relationships similar to those used by Thoits. Participation in a relationship is defined as talking to the person on the telephone or in person at least once every two weeks. The total number of persons communicated with thus provides a measure of network size.

Social participation measures assess how often individuals interact with others regardless of the number of roles that they may have. This work focuses both on the type of activities (going to church versus going to a party) as well as the number of activities (how many times things are done in general). For example, Swedish researchers developed a questionnaire, the Welin Activity Scale, that assesses the degree to which people participate in three main categories of activities: social activities, home activities, and outside home activities. Respondents estimate how often they engage in thirty-four different activities over the course of a year, using three main response options (never, occasionally, and often). A twelve-year study conducted in Gothenburg, Sweden, with this scale showed that people with higher scores on this measure of social participation were less likely to die from heart problems.

The American psychologist James House developed a similar measure of social participation in 1982. House and colleagues assessed participation in four main categories of social activity: intimate social relationships, formal organizational involvements outside work, active and relatively social leisure, and passive and relatively social leisure. Together, these measures of social participation help assess the extent to which social participation contributes to well-being.

Perceived integration measures often provide the most direct ways to capture the psychological benefits of networks. Believing that others will help one in time of need can provide a sense of security and comfort. Very often, perceptions actually map onto reality when members of an individual’s social networks help the individual cope with stressors and supply needed tangible resources such as money, materials, or information. Perceived integration has been measured in a variety of different ways, most commonly by asking individuals to think about whom they could turn to if they needed help.

It is important to note that researchers are not certain whether the effects of social support on health represent a slope (where a person is less likely to die the more social connections they have) or a ceiling (where social networks are very important for people with few or no connections, but not as important for people with many connections). Some answers to this problem can be found by looking at how social support changes over time.

Theoretical Approaches to Social Network Change

Two main theoretical frameworks have been proposed to predict and account for age-related changes in social networks. The American psychologist Toni Antonucci proposed that people are motivated to maintain their social network sizes as they age. Calling her theory the social convoy model, Antonucci suggested that although there may be many changes in the composition of the networks, people are thought to sift through their relationships, retaining those they value most. According to American psychologist Laura Cartensen’s socioemotional selectivity theory, people prune their social networks to maintain a desired emotional state depending on the extent to which time is perceived as limited. Correspondingly, whereas the sizes of older adults’ social networks are smaller than those for younger adults, the numbers of close relationships are comparable. Both theories have been well-supported and indicate that it is not the size of the network (structure) but the quality of transactions (perceived and received social support that may vary in function) that is critical. Even though networks may sometimes decrease in size, the quality of support may in fact increase. As social media has become an increasingly prevalent aspect of modern social interactions, inidividuals' social networks have expanded and become more varied. Preliminary studies on the affects of social media and its influence on social networks and people's mental and physical health have provided mixed results.

Bibliography

Campbell, Lorne, and Timothy J. Loving. Interdisciplinary Research on Close Relationships: The Case for Integration. Washington, DC: APA, 2012. Print.

Cohen, Sheldon, Lynn G. Underwood, and Benjamin H. Gottlieb, eds. Social Support Measurement and Intervention: A Guide for Health and Social Scientists. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. Print.

Kaufmann, Sarah, and Viktor Meyer. Friendships: Cultural Variations, Developmental Issues, and Impact on Health. Hauppauge: Nova, 2013. Print.

Laursen, Brett Paul, and W. Andrew Collins. Relationship Pathways: From Adolescence to Young Adulthood. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2012. Print.

Levy, Judith A., and Bernice A. Pescosolido, eds. Social Networks and Health. New York: JAI, 2002. Print.

Parks, Malcolm R. Personal Relationships and Personal Networks. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2007. Print.

Silverman, Philip, et al. Social Networks of Older Adults: A Comparative Study of Americans and Taiwanese. Youngstown: Cambria, 2008. Print.

Uchino, Bert N., John T. Cacioppo, and Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser. “The Relationship between Social Support and Physiological Processes: A Review with Emphasis on Underlying Mechanisms and Implications for Health.” Psychological Bulletin 119.3 (1996): 488–531. Print.

How can one deal with students who don't do their homework?

As you have not specified a grade level here, I will address the issue of university level students who do not complete homework.

Your main tool for addressing this problem is your syllabus, which should deal preemptively with the issues of late or incomplete assignments. Given the increasingly litigious nature of the university environment, and the increasing frequency of grade complaints or challenges, you must be extremely careful to set out policies clearly and to apply them uniformly to all students. If a student has a documented disability, you must follow accommodation plans which may include extended deadlines or creating alternative assignments. You should not accommodate disabilities without official documentation simply on the basis of students' claims.  

Next, you should familiarize yourself with your departmental and university policies and procedures for reporting students who miss classes or are in danger of failing. In many cases, there are special reporting procedures for students receiving government loans or grants or student athletes who miss a certain number of days of class or assignments or who are in danger of failing. 

Next, you should have detailed instructions in your syllabus concerning how assignments are to be submitted and what constitutes a late assignment. For example, you might specify that all assignments must be submitted on a course-management system by midnight on a specific date and that an assignment will be considered late or missing if not submitted in precisely that way. This deals with the problem of students who claim to have handed in assignments but have actually not done so. You should have fixed numeric penalties for late assignments and missed assignments and specify what constitutes a legitimate excuse for late assignments.

I tend to simply assign a grade of F (or 0/100) for missed assignments and a sliding scale of penalties for late assignments. In addition to these steps, after I grade a set of assignments, I go through my online gradebook and send a mass email to all students who have not submitted a given assignment stating:

If you are receiving this email, according to my records you have not submitted Assignment X, which was due on DD/MM/YYYY, and currently have a grade of F for that assignment. If you plan to turn in the assignment at a future date or have a legitimate excuse for not having completed it, please contact me.

However, if a student regularly attends class and fails to complete assignments, it is worth talking with the student to see what might be the issue. In my experience, the students who do not complete the assigned work rarely show up to class. 

Why did Fitzgerald link the behavior of the characters to the hottest day of the summer?

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, tensions come to a head between Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby in New York City on the hottest day of the year. 

There are several symbolic connotations behind this. First of all is the obvious association that readers will draw from his imagery-laden descriptions of the sticky, suffocating heat. Such incredible and inescapable physical discomfort contributes directly to the heated interactions, and readers would find these developments understandable. 

Secondly, there is a correlation between the inescapable oppressiveness and discomfort of the weather and the social situation that the characters find them in. They leave East Egg to try and escape not only the heat but the unbearable tension that exists between the different characters - their lust, anger, jealousy, and betrayal all hang in the air like the tangible humidity. 

Finally, this scene offers a striking contrast to the initial introduction of Daisy and Jordan in their white, light, and airy room, further contributing to the heaviness and darkness of this one. 

If you were the playwright, how would you alter The Merchant of Venice?

The answer to this question will be pretty subjective, depending on how you respond to The Merchant of Venice and how you feel about different parts of the play. However, many readers notice that Shylock is suspiciously absent from the final act, and so you might consider altering this aspect of the play. Though Shylock is not the main character, he's received a lot of critical attention as a marginalized Jewish minority living in a mostly Christian society. Indeed, it's possible to sympathize with Shylock at several points, and so his complete humiliation and defeat during the trial scene (he's essentially forced to give up his wealth and convert to Christianity) can be hard to stomach, even though he has his villainous qualities. As such, it's frustrating that Shylock is absent from the final act and that we do not get any closure regarding his experience in court. If I were to alter the play, I would include Shylock in Act 5 to show how he deals with his experience in the trial and what happens to him after the main events of the plot have taken place. 

In Chapter 16 of Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, how do Miss Thomas and the band make Bud feel welcome?

In Chapter 16, Miss Thomas tells Bud that he was the topic of a very long conversation between Herman Calloway and the band. She says to Bud that they were talking about him and wanted to know if he was okay with staying at the Calloway residence for a while. Bud tells Miss Thomas that he is extremely happy and thankful for the invite to stay with them. Miss Thomas then encourages him to stay positive around Herman and tells Bud that she thinks he is a godsend. Steady Eddie then asks Bud if he is attached to his suitcase, and Bud mentions that he is only attached to the contents inside. Steady Eddie then gives Bud his old alto saxophone case to put his mother's items inside. Bud thanks Eddie for the case and Dirty Deed tells Bud that he's glad to have him on board. The band then begins to discuss their rigorous practice schedule and Steady Eddie gives Bud another gift. He tells Bud that the band got him a recorder and explains to Bud that it will take a lot of practice until he becomes a good musician. Thug then suggests that the band give Bud a nickname to make him an official member. The band decides that Bud's new nickname will be Sleepy LaBone. Miss Thomas and the band made Bud feel welcome by not only inviting him to stay at Herman's home, but also by giving him a case and an instrument to play. The band also made Bud feel like a part of their group by giving him the nickname Sleepy LaBone.

What are some themes of the book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao?

Junot Diaz’s 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao tells the story of Oscar De León, who, like Diaz, is a Dominican growing up in New Jersey.

One theme explored in this work is the nature of masculine identity. Oscar is nerdy and overweight, not the ideal of male Dominican machismo. The character Yunior is the opposite in both appearance and values—physically strong, at times violent, sexually aggressive, and unemotional. The friends have a sort of yin-yang dynamic. Oscar sees Yunior as a guide to traditional masculinity while Yunior admires Oscar’s wit and ability to cultivate emotionally intimate relationships. This exploration of themes of gender and identity are also evident in the novel’s villain, the Dominican dictator Trujillo, who exemplifies the negative aspects of hypermasculinity.

Another important theme of the novel is the supernatural. Oscar has a preoccupation with the sci-fi and fantasy genres, and allusions to fantasy are woven throughout the novel. A prominent aspect of the supernatural in the novel is the fuku curse that haunts Oscar’s family, bringing violence and misery. The zafa works as a counterspell, the power to undo the curse. This treatment of the supernatural gives the novel an element of magical realism, blending fantasy and reality.

The novel also explores the theme of foreignness. Oscar and his family are in some ways outsiders as Dominicans living in New Jersey. However, when they return to the Dominican Republic, they still feel like visiting outsiders rather than true natives. Additionally, Oscar’s obsession with fantasy and sci-fi makes him somewhat of an outsider in his Dominican community. Diaz thus turns his attention to the many ways we distinguish the “other” and questions what it really means to belong.

In Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen, what does Sarny hear in the flowerbed? What does this tell you about Margaret and Alaine?

In Chapter Two, Sarny overhears a conversation between Margaret (the master's wife) and her sister, Alaine.

Accordingly, Sarny hears Margaret complaining that Clel (her husband) is spending too much money on purchasing slaves. She declares that, if Clel continues spending at the rate he's been spending, they will have little money left to purchase dresses for themselves. For her part, Alaine is described as an older, unmarried woman who despises the slaves and treats them poorly. Both women appear to commiserate with each other regarding Clel's spendthrift ways.

Margaret complains that Clel has just paid over a thousand dollars for a new slave, and she thinks that's too much money to spend. Margaret and Alaine's focus on dresses shows that they are shallow and selfish women. Just like Clel, the plantation owner, the women are more concerned about their material wants than about the welfare of the slaves in their employ.

What is the effect of moving the fulcrum?

A fulcrum is a term commonly used with levers, which are simple machines that help us lift and/or move heavy loads at the expense of smaller effort or force. 

One can think of a lever as a rigid bar or rod which is pivoted about a point known as a pivot or fulcrum. The load is located at one end of the lever, while the effort is applied from the other end. The relative distances of the load end and effort end from the fulcrum gives us the mechanical advantage of the lever. 

Mechanical advantage = length of effort arm / length of load arm

The closer the fulcrum is to the load end (as compared to the effort end), the lesser effort is required. That is, we prefer a large value of mechanical advantage. 

Now the location of fulcrum determines the mechanical advantage. If we move the fulcrum towards the load end, the length of load arm reduces, while the length of the effort arm increases. As a result, the mechanical advantage is more (and less effort would be required). If, on the other hand, we move the fulcrum towards the effort end, the length of effort arm will reduce and that of load arm will increase, resulting in a lower mechanical advantage and necessitating more effort to do the same amount of work. 

Hope this helps. 

Did the Civil War help or hurt the Southern economy in the long run?

In the long run, the South’s economy certainly improved after the Civil War.  However, it is impossible to say whether this was caused by the Civil War itself or by the overall process of modernization.

Before the Civil War, the South’s economy was based almost completely on staple crops.  There was very little industrialization in the South.  The region was not well connected to the national network of railroads.  Of course, some Southerners were quite wealthy because of their cotton plantations, but the region as a whole was rather economically backward.

After the Civil War, this changed, though not until a couple of decades had passed. By now, the South is very much part of the national economy.  There are many factories in that region.  For example, auto manufacturing seems to have moved out of the Rust Belt down to the South where unions are weaker and labor is cheaper.  The South is just as connected as the North to railroads and freeways.  Clearly, the South’s economy is much more diversified and much stronger than it was before the Civil War.

But did the war actually cause this?  Certainly, if slavery had continued to exist, the South’s economy would not have improved.  So, if we are going to say that slavery would have continued if it had not been for the Civil War, then we would have to say that the war helped the region’s economy.  However, I would argue that slavery would have died in the South as the country industrialized and as slavery became less economically useful.  For example, slavery ended in Brazil (the last Western country to have it) within 25 years of the end of the Civil War.  It had been declining for some time and was finally banned in 1888.  If slavery really would have died on its own, then the Civil War was not really responsible for the changes in the South’s economy.

The answer, then, depends on what you think would have happened to slavery.  Clearly, the end of slavery allowed the South’s economy to develop, if slowly.  To the extent that the Civil War caused slavery to end, it was good for the South’s economy in the long run.

What does Mr. Stryver look like in A Tale of Two Cities?

Mr. Stryver, a London barrister who represents Charles Darnay, is described in Chapter IV, "Congratulatory," as a man a little over thirty who looks twenty years older. Dickens also says of Mr. Stryver, "he was, stout, loud, red, bluff, and free from any drawback of delicacy." In other words, Mr. Stryver is abrasive and does not show any delicacy of manners. He also shoulders himself, physically and otherwise, into conversations, so he is aggressive and gets involved where he does not belong. In other words, he is a striver, or someone who is always trying to advance in life. Later, he is described as being "too big for any place." The reader gets the idea that Mr. Stryver is always loud and abrasive. 

Mr. Stryver is also described as having "Bacchanalian propensities." In other words, even while he is "shouldering" his way into a well-paying legal practice, he still finds plenty of time to drink. Even though he spends many nights out drinking with Sydney Carton, he is still sharp and ready for the court. 

What is affiliation motive?

Introduction

Social behavior is a characteristic of animals with highly developed nervous systems, in particular the vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish) and the invertebrate social insects (ants and termites). In all these species, there are behaviors that are exclusively instinctive (endogenous); however, in mammals and birds, the process of learning from environmental experiences (exogenous behaviors) becomes pronounced. In mammalian and bird species, complex social interactions have evolved in which individuals aggregate and work together for the benefit of the group as a whole.

Such highly social species form aggregations composed of both males and females. These aggregations usually are either migratory, as the individuals of the aggregate search for food, or territorial, in areas of abundant food supply. Aggregation can be defined as a grouping of members of a species for mutual protection and acquisition of resources. Social aggregation is thus designed to find food for the sustenance of the group, to reproduce, and to protect the group members from predators. Single individuals or very small groups generally have more difficulty in finding food and in defending themselves than do large groups. This easily can be seen in birds or cattle, which flock or herd, respectively, at the approach of a predator.

Dominance Hierarchies

Within such aggregates or societies, male and female associations develop; both associations are based on dominance hierarchies. Association can be defined as an accepted social organization into which individuals affiliate based on common interests for the attainment of the society’s cultural goals.

A dominance hierarchy, or pecking order, is a precisely ranked ordering of individuals from most dominant to most subordinate. Dominance hierarchies are important features of practically all mammalian and avian (bird) societies. They are dynamic social structures that are constantly changing because of continual interactions, encounters, and conflicts between individuals and groups of individuals. Several less powerful males may cooperate to usurp the power of the dominant male, for example. Young males or females usually start at the bottom of a dominance hierarchy and gradually work their way up the scale of dominance. Older individuals, as they weaken, generally fall down the dominance scale because of intergroup competition. The overall format of the dominance hierarchy guarantees the best territory, the most mates, the most abundant and best food supply, and the best protection from predators for the most dominant individuals. The most subordinate individuals usually have the worst territory, few if any mates, poor nutrition, and great susceptibility to predation.

Such dominance hierarchies permeate human societies, although their presence is often subtle within the context of extremely complex social and cultural systems. Human societies, whether primarily technological, agricultural, or hunting, consist of institutions, organizations, religions, clubs, and other groups with which individuals are affiliated. To some extent, many of these groups serve the same purposes as groups in other animal societies: food assimilation, reproduction, and protection from predators, enemies, or other “undesirable” people. Human societies, however, employ unique rationales for individual affiliation. Affiliation is defined as the joining of an individual to a group of individuals, many of whom may be unrelated, based on such things as cooperation, mutual interests, friendship, age, gender, and protection.

The affiliation motive behind an individual’s joining a particular group lies within all these factors. Nevertheless, lurking beneath these factors are some very basic sociobiological principles. It is to the individual’s advantage to affiliate with other individuals. Through interactions with others, one can assert one’s position within the existing dominance hierarchy, thereby gaining recognition for oneself not only in terms of dominance relationships but also in terms of meeting the society’s views of acceptable behavior. Outcasts and other individuals who fail to affiliate within the accepted social institutions are frowned on by their peers and are subject to prejudicial treatment and perhaps social exclusion. Antisocial behavior is strongly discouraged and is punished in many societies.

The dominance hierarchy is, without question, a major evolutionary adaptation for the survival of social animal species. In every association of individuals, the dominance hierarchy is expressed in the power structure of the group, as well as in peer pressure aimed at forcing all societal members to conform. Conformity means affiliation with acceptable societal groups and submission to the dominance hierarchy.

Social Motives

An individual’s drive, or motivation, to affiliate with other individuals may be attributable to common interests or characteristics, but often this drive is tempered by social pressures to conform to the stability of the existing dominance structure. In many instances, the motivation to affiliate is influenced by societal incentives—a motivating force or system of rewards that is presented to people if they behave or successfully perform specified tasks according to the norms of society. Affiliation with some groups may bring prestige, a better standard of living, and other benefits. Such affiliations usually are easier when kinship with group members exists. (Kinship is the primary social organizing force in many human and animal societies, based on the relatedness of individuals.) Otherwise, the individual may have to make certain sacrifices.

Human social groups include organizations such as elitist country clubs, social clubs, sport-related clubs, special-interest groups (gem clubs, astronomy clubs), professionally related organizations, women’s clubs, men’s clubs, teen groups, elderly groups, churches, volunteer rescue squads and fire departments, and sports teams. Even youth gangs, mobsters, and hate groups fall within such categories. Affiliation is a social behavior in which practically everyone participates in some way, either willingly or unwillingly.

One phenomenon of affiliation behavior that is prevalent in numerous groups is altruism, an unselfish contribution on the part of an individual for others even if they are not genetically related to the individual. Altruism occurs in numerous species, although it usually occurs between related individuals. Humans exhibit an unusual level of altruism even toward unrelated individuals. There is some philosophical debate over whether such behavior in humans is truly unselfish. A number of investigators seek other underlying motives in such behavior and dismiss the notion that people help others purely out of a sense of caring. For example, up until extremely recently on the evolutionary calendar, humans lived in clans and were related to every other human with whom they came in contact.

Affiliation motives, therefore, are based on mutual interest and characteristics between people, altruistic behavior, and peer pressure associated with existing social dominance hierarchies. Affiliation is an important component of the stable structuring of society. It is of major concern in specific cases when individuals are barred from groups because of intelligence, family background, political affiliation, religious beliefs, race, or personal wealth.

Study of Affiliation

Affiliation is a major subject of study for psychologists, sociologists, and sociocultural anthropologists. A critical behavior in the formation of the complex societies that characterize mammalian and bird species, it is very pronounced in human societies. Psychologists and anthropologists study group associations in many different human societies, comparing the characteristics of these different groups to ascertain the importance of affiliation and other group interactions in the development of the individual, the development of culture, and the evolution of human civilization. Studies are also made of group behaviors in primates and other closely related species to arrive at the sequence of evolutionary events leading to group adaptations.

Affiliation motives and drives reveal the psychological background of various individuals and, as a result, enable the researcher to understand differences between people in achievement of goals. Such knowledge can be of great value in uncovering the psychological and physical blocks that prevent some people from reaching their maximum intellectual and physical potential. Dominance hierarchies, while representing a central, structured component of practically all societies, are stumbling blocks to many people. Understanding how they operate can be of great use in assisting the smooth, nonviolent interaction of differing peoples. It also can be used to unravel the roots of antisocial behavior.

Cultural Differences and Similarities

Social and cultural anthropologists have studied the structure and organization of hundreds of different societies throughout the world. These societies exhibit many of the same social processes and patterns of organized behavior. They all exhibit dominance hierarchies, acceptable rules of individual and group behavior, and strong orderliness based on kinship. Some such societies (Hindu, for example) relegate their members to separate castes, permanent divisions based on genetic inheritance and particular trades. In advanced technological societies, large populations, fast-paced lifestyles, and high regional mobility result in social structures based less on kinship and more on other factors, such as mutual interests, age, gender, and race.

The study of social groups and affiliation motives for such groups provides an informative analysis of human social evolution within the context of rapidly changing societies. The psychological impact of such changes on the individual and on the group as a whole can provide an understanding of societal problems such as crime, social inequality, and intergroup tensions. Underlying all these situations is the natural biological tendency for individuals to aggregate for the common good of all members, thereby reducing the chance of danger to individual members. Humans, like all animals, have a need to interact and associate with other members of their own species. The drive to affiliate is related to the need for acceptance and the subsequent goals of recognition, power, protection, and mating.

Motivational Theories

Societal pressures to conform and to affiliate are great. Numerous psychologists have propounded theories describing the psychological bases behind an individual’s motives to affiliate with other individuals. These theories are in agreement as to the goals of affiliation—objectives such as friendship, mutual interests, mating, acquiring food, and ensuring protection. These theories differ, however, in the psychological mechanisms behind the affiliation motive.

Among the most famous of these motivational theories is one that comes from the work of the psychoanalytical pioneer Sigmund Freud. Freud proposed that all motivational drives within an individual center on two principal components of the individual psyche: the libido
and the Eros
instinct. The libido is an aspect of one’s psychological makeup whose prime focus is sexual reproduction, whereas the Eros instinct is one’s inner need to survive. The libido could actually be seen as a component of Eros, which would then be the need to survive and to reproduce. Influenced by Darwinian evolutionary theory, Freud for much of his career maintained that all motives, including the affiliation motive, are aimed at satisfying one’s sexual and survival needs. In his later work, however, he discovered a new instinct, Thanatos, or the death drive, which he described as self-directed aggression resulting from an inability to channel aggression outward at others and a consequent need to redirect it against the self.

The analytical psychologists Kurt Goldstein and Abraham Maslow maintained that an individual’s psyche organizes itself about a tiered arrangement of personal needs and goals. These tiers include basic bodily needs such as food and protection, the need to be loved, and “ self-actualization.” According to their theories, different individuals focus on different aspects of these psychological needs. They further maintained that one’s psychological needs all emerge from the need for self-actualization, the need to be recognized as an important member of society. Psychological disorders were believed to occur as a result of conflicts within these inner needs.

Other theories of social involvement and motivation include those of Carl Jung and Alfred Adler. Jung concentrates on individuals as being introverts or extroverts. Adler concentrates on inferior people overcompensating to become superior, with inferiority complexes arising when inferior individuals choose socially unacceptable means of becoming superior. All these theories and others employ many of the same basic concepts. They generally center on basic instinctive desires (sexuality, food acquisition, protection from danger) and the need for recognition (dominance, personal achievement). Consequently, they reflect the biological basis of behavior that has evolved in animals over the past few hundred million years.

Role of Sociobiology

The psychological theories of motivation and the cultural manifestations of association and affiliation fall within the domain of sociobiology, a branch of biological thought advanced by numerous behaviorists and analytical psychologists that has been considerably refined and compellingly presented by Harvard University entomologist Edward O. Wilson. The motive of individual affiliation in any animal society, including human society, is the achievement of personal and group needs, which essentially boil down to views of survival and reproduction similar to those expressed by Freud.

Psychology and animal behavior have isolated the basis of affiliation and of behavior as one’s instinctive needs as a living organism. This rationale stems from the fact that humans are animals and are the products of billions of years of evolutionary change on Earth. The nature of all life is to survive and to reproduce. Therefore, the activities of all organisms are centered on the achievement of these goals. In sociobiological theory, animal behavior and animal societies are driving forces in the survival, reproduction, and evolution of any given animal species. This theory has produced much controversy and debate; however, there is considerable evidence supporting it.

Affiliation is one of the foci of social behavior. Animals have a need to associate with other individuals of their own species. In so doing, they ensure their own safety and enhance their own reproductive potential. An individual’s behavior is directed toward these ends. Another sociobiological viewpoint is that of the “selfish gene,” a concept developed by modern molecular biologists and advanced by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book of that name. The selfish gene concept maintains that evolution occurs at the level of the gene and that individual organisms are the means by which genetic information is copied and transmitted to future generations. All aspects of the organism and populations of organisms are geared to this end. Biochemical changes within an individual’s nervous and endocrine systems facilitate such motivations. The physiology of motivation is an object of intense study.

Bibliography

Carter, C. Sue, I. Izja Lederhendler, and Brian Kirkpatrick, eds. The Integrative Neurobiology of Affiliation. Cambridge: MIT P, 1999. Print.

Chagnon, Napoleon A. Yanomamo: The Fierce People. 5th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 1996. Print.

Eidse, Faith, and Nina Sichel, eds. Unrooted Childhoods: Memoirs of Growing Up Global. Yarmouth: Intercultural, 2004. Print.

Hall, Edward Twitchell. The Hidden Dimension. 1966. Reprint. New York: Anchor, 1990. Print.

Hill, Craig A. "Affiliation Motivation." Handbook of Individual Differences in Social Behavior. Ed. Mark R. Leary and Rick H. Hoyle. New York: Guilford, 2009. 410–25. Print.

Manning, Aubrey, and Marion Stamp Dawkins. An Introduction to Animal Behavior. 6th ed. New York: Cambridge UP, 2012. Print.

Skinner, B. F. Science and Human Behavior. 1953. Reprint. Delray: Classics of Medicine Library, 2000. Print.

Vela-McConnell, James A. Who Is My Neighbor? Social Affinity in a Modern World. Albany: State U of New York P, 1999. Print.

In Johnathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, why does Gulliver refrain from breaking the bonds that hold him fast?

In Lilliput, Gulliver is tempted to break the bonds by which the Lilliputians have attempted to limit his movement.  In fact, when he first wakes up and realizes that he's been tied down with tiny ligatures, he does manage to free his left arm as well as loosen the bonds that tie his hair to the ground.  At this point, however, the Lilliputians discharge a number of arrows into his hand, which pains him very much.  Therefore, one reason he discontinues his attempts to free himself is that he doesn't want to experience this pain again, even though he is quite sure that he could best any army they'd put together to come against him. 

Moreover, though he is tempted to free himself and even snatch some of the Lilliputians up and cast them onto the ground, he says,

the Remembrance of what I had felt, which probably might not be the worst they could do; and the Promise of Honour I made them, for so I interpreted by submissive Behaviour, soon drove out those Imaginations.  Besides, I now considered my self as bound by the Laws of Hospitality to a People who had treated me with so much Expence and Magnificence.

Thus, in addition to wanting to avoid pain, Gulliver feels that he has made the Lilliputians an implicit promise not to harm them.  If he were to break more of his bonds, it would appear as an act of aggression, and, in his eyes, this would be dishonorable given their relatively hospitable treatment of him and attempts to satisfy his hunger and thirst.

In Chapter 8 of Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt, what does Dave Burdow send to Jethro?

The gift is a large quantity of logs.

If you head to Chapter 8 and read about ten paragraphs in, you'll see where Jethro is pleasantly surprised, and somewhat embarrassed, to be the recipient of a gift from Dave Burdow. It's a load of logs: a valuable resource in any situation, but especially now that the war has placed a strain on the availability and conveyance of goods. The logs will be particularly helpful to Jethro and his family, who are in the process of building a new barn. (And if they don't get it finished before the first snowfall, then their animals may suffer without the shelter they need.)

Jethro's reaction to the news of this generous gift helps us understand his character and how it's developing. His face turns red and he struggles to use good grammar as he offers thanks for the gift, and the abundance it represents even makes Jethro capable of forgetting, for a short while, that a war is going on. This intense, abashed yet humble reaction shows us how conscientious Jethro is becoming, and his attempt to use good English shows us how he's trying to rise above his humble background. Also, the fact that Jethro is receiving this gift from someone he barely knows shows us how his kindness has influenced others.

How are the themes of masculinity, poverty, political conflict, idealism and illusion vs. reality portrayed in quotes from Hemingway's short story...

"The Capital of the World" is one of Hemingway's many short stories which focuses on bullfighting. It is set in Madrid, the capital of Spain. The title reflects the fact that for the main character, Paco, Madrid is the world. As with much of Hemingway's work masculinity is a major theme in the story. It is suggested in the descriptions of the bullfighters and picadors who reside in the "Pension Luarca", some of whom are skilled, old or cowardly. It is also apparent in the figure of Paco, a young waiter who has come to Madrid from the Spanish countryside. Hemingway describes a handsome, masculine youth:

He was a well built boy with very black, rather curly hair, good teeth and a skin that his sisters envied, and he had a ready and unpuzzled smile.

And like other Hemingway heroes he is very much interested in proving his masculinity, especially within the scope of the bullfight. Paco also hopes to overcome his impoverished background. Hemingway writes:

He came from a village in a part of Extramadura where conditions were incredibly primitive, food scarce, and comforts unknown and he had worked hard ever since he could remember.

For Paco, his job as a waiter lifts him out of poverty and he revels in his city life that "seemed romantically beautiful." He's also keenly interested in the political discussion between the two other waiters, one an anarchist who spouts communist credos. The tall waiter speaks of destroying both the government, which he refers to as bulls, and the church. He says,

"Only through the individual can you attack the class. It is necessary to kill the individual bull and the individual priest. All of them. Then there are no more."

The political discussion fits well into Paco's idealism. He is replete with dreams and illusions of his future life of glamour as a bullfighter. When the dishwasher Enrique suggests that fear would overcome him in the ring, Paco denies it. He has fantasized of the moment when his dreams become reality:

Too many times he had seen the horns, seen the bull's wet muzzle, the ear twitching, then the head go down and the charge, the hoofs thudding and the hot bull pass him as he swung the cape, to re-charge as he swung the cape again, then again, and again, and again, to end winding the bull around him in his great media-veronica, and walk swingingly away with bull hairs caught in the gold ornaments of his jacket from the close passes; the bull standing hypnotized and the crowd applauding. 

Like many Hemingway heroes, the reality is quite different. Characters such as Nick Adams and Frederick Henry went off to war with the illusion that it would all be glory, only to discover the true horrors which awaited. For Paco, his life is cut short as he missteps in the play bullfight with Enrique and his femoral artery is cut, ending his life on the floor of the dining room. For Hemingway, there was often courage and glory in death. While on the surface, Paco's death seems meaningless, it is similar to other deaths in Hemingway's work, especially the violent ending of Francis Macomber, who dies just at the point when he finds his courage. 

How could the parenting styles of Atticus Finch, Walter Cunningham, and Bob Ewell be evaluated, including three quotations per character that...

Atticus is a morally upright individual who teaches his children numerous important life lessons and leads by example. Atticus shows interest in Jem and Scout's feelings, and in Chapter 3, Atticus is quick to notice that something is bothering Scout. Scout laments her rough first day of school and Atticus teaches her an important lesson on perspective. He says,

"if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—" (Lee 39).

Atticus continually encourages his children to maintain self-control and engage in respectful behaviors throughout the novel. In Chapter 9, Scout asks her father if he defends "niggers." Atticus explains to his daughter that he will be defending Tom Robinson and urges Scout to keep her cool if anyone attempts to provoke her. He says,

"You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down" (Lee 101).

Atticus never lets an opportunity to share advice and expose his children to experiences that will aid in their moral development pass.

In Chapter 11, he makes Jem read to Mrs. Dubose as a punishment for ruining her camellia bushes. At the end of the chapter, Mrs. Dubose passes away, and Atticus explains to his children that she suffered from a chronic illness and was addicted to morphine. Mrs. Dubose successfully conquered her morphine addiction, and Atticus tells his children,

"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand" (Lee 149).

Similar to Atticus, Walter Cunningham is a respectable individual with integrity. His son, Walter Jr., shares his father's ethical disposition. In Chapter 2, Walter Cunningham Jr. refuses to except a quarter from Miss Caroline for lunch and Scout attempts to defend his character. Scout comments,

"The Cunninghams never took anything they can't pay back—no church baskets, no scrip stamps. They never took anything off of anybody, they get along on what they have. They don't have much, but they get along on it" (Lee 26).

Unlike Atticus, Walter Cunningham is a poor farmer who struggles to make ends meet. Walter Cunningham needs his son to help him on the farm, which is the reason why Walter Jr. cannot excel at school. Although Walter is not "book smart," he is a good worker just like his father. Walter Jr. tells Atticus,

"Reason I can't pass the first grade, Mr. Finch, is I've had to stay out ever' spring an' help Papa with the choppin', but there's another'n at the house now that's field size" (Lee 32).

Despite Walter Cunningham Sr.'s pecuniary issues, the community of Maycomb trusts him. The Cunninghams' reputation precedes them, and Atticus comments on their loyalty. He tells Scout,

"...the Cunninghams hadn't taken anything from or off of anybody since they migrated to the New World. He said the other thing about them was, once you earned their respect they were for you tooth and nail" (Lee 298).

Bob Ewell lacks integrity, character, and respect. He is viewed with contempt by the citizens of Maycomb and is a notorious alcoholic. His children, Burris and Mayella, act similar to their father, and both lack a moral compass. In Chapter 3, Burris displays his negative attitude and Scout attempts to explain his background to Miss Caroline. Scout says,

"Ain't got no mother...and their paw's right contentious" (Lee 36).

Later on in Chapter 3, Atticus explains to his daughter how Bob's alcoholism negatively affects his family. Atticus says,

"and it's certainly bad, but when a man spends his relief checks on green whiskey his children have a way of crying from hunger pains" (Lee 41).

In Chapter 19, Tom Robinson is on the witness stand and tells the court that Mayella kissed him on the cheek. Tom says that Mayella told him that she had never kissed a grown man before. Tom comments,

"She says what her papa do to her don't count" (Lee 260).

Tom's testimony suggests that Bob Ewell sexually assaults his daughter, which is possibly the worst thing a parent could do to their child.

Harper Lee suggests that a father's influence has a significant effect on the character of his children. Scout and Jem look up to their father and both children develop into morally upright, tolerant individuals. Walter shares many of his father's character traits and is a quiet, respectful boy who values hard work. Burris and Mayella both are disrespectful, terrible individuals. They lack character just like their father because they were raised in an abusive home without a positive role model. A caring father with good morals will have a positive influence on his children, while an immoral father with many issues will negatively impact the lives of his children.

What is the difference between an atom and a molecule?

An atom is the smallest constituent of matter that still retains the properties of a pure substance. Atoms make up elements. For example, iron metal is made up of iron atoms. A molecule, on the other hand, is made up of atoms of 2 or more different elements, combined in a certain fixed ratio. Atoms are single, pure forms of elements. Molecules are two or more atoms, and can be the same atom (H2, O2). Molecules can also be made of two or more different atoms, in which case they are also called a compound (H2O, CO2). Water is a molecule, made by combining 2 hydrogen atoms for every oxygen atom, thus ensuring a 2:1 ratio.

Molecules are made up of atoms joined together by bonding (ionic or covalent), whereas, in the case of an atom, the binding energy is more important and there is no bonding between the constituents of an atom (neutrons, protons and electrons).

Hope this helps.  

In the story "The Sniper," what atmosphere does the author convey to the reader? Give concrete examples.

I think a pair of words that accurately describes the atmosphere of that story is cold and impersonal.  The reason (concrete example) why I think that is because the narrator does not use any names.  The characters are described, but never named.  "The sniper," "the enemy sniper," and "the old woman" are how the narrator identifies characters.  By not naming anybody, the reader feels that those people are nothing more than targets or pieces on a battlefield.  They are expendable, which is a cold way to look at a human.  

Another word that I think describes the atmosphere of this story is tense.  The story is short, but it packs a lot of intensity to it.  Once the sniper identifies the woman and machine gunner as targets, the narration of the story picks up in speed.  The sentence structure becomes shortened which gives it a clipped feeling of pace.  Each sentence is also action oriented.  This happened. Then that. Then this.  

The turret opened. A man’s head and shoulders appeared, looking toward the sniper. The sniper raised his rifle and fired. The head fell heavily on the turret wall. The woman darted toward the side street. The sniper fired again. The woman whirled round and fell with a shriek into the gutter.

The reader feels like a part of the firing action.  Spot target, shoot, work bolt, new target, shoot again.  It's tense, because the scene is happening quickly and describing a life and death situation.  

What is the most useful question to ask before reading “A Sound of Thunder” by Bradbury?

Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" presents a society in which time travel is not only possible, but a thriving business. Time Safari, Inc. provides customers with the opportunity to go back in time to hunt and kill a dinosaur. In the story, the strict instructions from Time Safari, Inc. are not followed, and as a result, the entire course of history is changed. This prompts the question: in the world of scientific innovation, should we do something just because we can? In a time when advancements are being made by the minute, we are constantly facing ethical issues related to our newfound abilities.

Readers may also want to consider questions such as:

Is losing freedom worse than losing life? (Would it have been better to be killed with the dinosaur?)

Is complete control ever possible? (Control over people, control over a country, control over the environment, control over time, etc.)

How did Ponyboy scare Dally back at the church fire?

In Chapter 6, Ponyboy, Johnny, and Dally return to the church and see that it is on fire. Ponyboy quickly hops out of the car to see what is going on and runs over toward the nearest bystanders to get information. After Ponyboy and Johnny run into the burning building to save the children, Ponyboy exits the fire before the building collapses. When Ponyboy lands on the ground, he turns back toward the church after hearing Johnny scream. Ponyboy attempts to run back into the burning building, but Dally clubs him in the head, knocking Ponyboy unconscious. Ponyboy scared Dally when he decided to turn around and go back into the flames. Dally knew that Ponyboy would be putting himself back into a life threatening, dangerous situation and was scared that Ponyboy would die if went back into the burning building. Dally made the quick, effective decision to hit Ponyboy over the head in order to prevent him from going back into the church, which saved Pony's life.

What is a comparison/contrast between Myrtle Wilson and Daisy Buchanan from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby?

Although they are from entirely different socio-economic class and they differ in personalities, Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson do share certain interests, as well as some personality traits.

Similarities

• Both Daisy and Myrtle have relationships with Tom Buchanan, and neither really loves him. Their individual personalities are lost to social ambition.


• Both women are materialistic - Daisy marries Tom because he gives her a $350,000 pearl necklace; she buries her face in Gatsby's many shirts and exclaims, 
  

  "They're such beautiful shirts....It makes me sad because I've never seen such beautiful shirts before."

  
  
  Myrtle likes how Tom buys her a dog and fancy collar for it; with Tom she has lovely dresses that she changes into in New York and goes to places with him that she could never go with her husband George Wilson.


• Both women are concerned about their own self-interests - Daisy enjoys her tryst with Gatsby, but when he takes her affections seriously and confronts Tom, telling him, "She doesn't love you," Daisy backs down, telling Gatsby, "Oh, you want too much." For, she does not want to lose Tom's wealth and position.


• Both women are unrealistic - Myrtle thinks that the only reason Tom has not married her is because Daisy is Catholic as this faith does not recognize divorce (but Daisy is not Catholic). She argues with Tom in her effort to get him to marry her, believing he loves her, but Tom becomes angry and punches her in the nose. Daisy is unrealistic about her relationship with Gatsby, reveling only in his attentions and the excitement of their illicit relationship.


• Both women are selfish - Myrtle never considers the feelings of George when she goes with Tom to New York and various places. Daisy is not willing to leave Tom Buchanan for the love of Gatsby. Furthermore, she conspires with Tom to protect herself after hitting Myrtle. "Careless people," they let Gatsby take the blame for Myrtle's death.


• Both women are amoral - They are only concerned with the satisfaction of their own desires, and will do whatever satisfies these desires. 


• Both women are superficial - Daisy does not concern herself with the feelings of others, nor does Myrtle.

Differences

• Myrtle becomes a tragic figure as she tries to transform herself in Tom's world. Daisy, on the other hand, enraptures men with her "voice that sounds like money" and her diaphanous nature that makes her seem vulnerable. Later, she becomes heartless and self-serving after running over Myrtle.


• Daisy is jaded: "I've been everywhere...." One day she asks, "What will we do with the rest of our lives?" as she has become bored with living. Nick remarks, "I felt the basic insincerity of what she said." On the other hand, Myrtle exhibits "an immense vitality"; it is "as if the nerves of her body were smoldering."


• Daisy has some sophistication; Myrtle has none. Myrtle has the scandal magazines on her coffee tables; she speaks of things not talked about in certain circles.  

Ethan is observing chemical and physical properties of a substance. He heats a substance and observes that the substance turn from a brown solid to...

Chemical and physical properties of a substance are related to chemical and physical changes, respectively. For example, melting point is a physical property and melting is the related physical change.

A chemical change takes place when the chemical composition of the substance changes. It can be represented with the help of a chemical reaction. For example, during cellular respiration, glucose is broken down into water, carbon dioxide and energy molecules (ATP). This chemical reaction can be written as:

`C_6H_12O_6 + 6O_2 -> 6CO_2 + 6H_2O +ATP`

Chemical changes are, thus, accompanied by the formation of new compounds.

Physical changes do not cause any change in the chemical composition of a substance. In other words, no new substance is formed; only the state of the matter may change. However, at the molecular level, the same molecules are present before and after a physical change. For example, when we melt a piece of iron, it coverts to liquid iron; however, in both cases, the substance is still iron.

Ethan can best defend his conclusion by demonstrating that the chemical composition of the substance has changed during heating. In other words, he needs to show that the substance contains different molecules than it did before the heating. This would be his best defense for claiming a chemical reaction (or change).

Hope this helps. 

What are milk thistle's therapeutic uses?

Overview

The milk thistle plant commonly grows from two to seven feet in height, with spiny
leaves and reddish-purple, thistle-shaped flowers. It has also been called wild
artichoke, holy thistle, and Mary thistle. Native to Europe, milk thistle has a
long history of use as both a food and a medicine. At the turn of the twentieth
century, English gardeners grew milk thistle to use its leaves like lettuce (after
cutting off the spines), the stalks like asparagus, the roasted seeds like coffee,
and the roots (soaked overnight) like oyster plant. The seeds and leaves of milk
thistle were used for medicinal purposes as well, such as treating
jaundice and increasing breast milk production.

German researchers in the 1960s were sufficiently impressed with the history and
clinical effectiveness of milk thistle to begin examining it for active
constituents. In 1986, Germany’s Commission E approved an oral extract of milk
thistle as a treatment for liver disease. However, the evidence that it really
works remains incomplete and inconsistent.

Therapeutic Dosages

The standard dosage of milk thistle is 200 milligrams (mg) two to three times a day of an extract standardized to contain 70 percent silymarin. There is some evidence that silymarin bound to phosphatidylcholine may be better absorbed. This form should betaken at a dosage of 100 to 200 mg twice a day. Considering the severe nature of liver disease, a doctor’s supervision is essential. Also, milk thistle preparations that are designed for oral use should not be injected.

Therapeutic Uses

Based on the extensive folk use of milk thistle in cases of jaundice, European
medical researchers began to investigate its medicinal effects. It is currently
used to treat alcoholic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis,
liver poisoning, and viral hepatitis, as well as to protect
the liver in general from the effects of liver-toxic medications. However, despite
this wide usage, there is no definitive evidence that it is effective.

Standardized milk thistle extract is known as silymarin. Silymarin itself is a
mixture of at least seven chemicals. The most active of these chemicals is
commonly known as silibinin. However, silibinin too is, in fact, a mixture,
comprising the two related substances silibinin A and silibinin B. When injected
intravenously, silibinin is thought to act as an antidote to poisoning by the
deathcap mushroom, Amanita phalloides. Animal studies suggest
that milk thistle extracts can also protect against many other poisonous
substances, from toluene to the drug acetaminophen. One animal study
suggests that milk thistle can also protect against fetal damage caused by
alcohol.

Silibinin is hypothesized to function by displacing toxins that might bind to the liver, as well as by causing the liver to regenerate more quickly. It may also act as an antioxidant and also stabilize liver cell membranes.

In Europe, milk thistle is often added as extra protection when patients are given medications known to cause liver problems. However, milk thistle failed to prove effective for preventing liver inflammation caused by the Alzheimer’s drug Cognex (tacrine).

Milk thistle is also used in a vague condition known as minor hepatic
insufficiency, or sluggish liver. This term is mostly used by European physicians
and American naturopathic practitioners (conventional physicians in the
United States do not recognize it). Symptoms are supposed to include aching under
the ribs, fatigue, unhealthy skin appearance, general malaise, constipation,
premenstrual syndrome, chemical sensitivities, and allergies.

One small but apparently well-conducted, double-blind trial found evidence that milk thistle might improve blood sugar control in type 2 diabetes. Milk thistle may also offer some protection to the kidney. Highly preliminary evidence hints that milk thistle might help reduce breast cancer risk. Milk thistle is sometimes recommended for gallstones and psoriasis, but there is little to no evidence that it really helps these conditions.

In one small, placebo-controlled trial, the topical application of milk thistle
with methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) for one month appeared to be
effective in the treatment of forty-six subjects with the skin condition
rosacea.

A small preliminary study investigated whether milk thistle can help to relieve obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Thirty-five adults with OCD were randomized to receive milk thistle (600 mg per day) or the medication fluoxetine (30 mg per day), which is commonly used to treat OCD. At the end of the eight-week trial, researchers did not find any significant differences between the two groups.

Scientific Evidence

As noted above, there is considerable evidence from studies in animals that milk thistle can protect the liver from numerous toxins. However, human studies of people suffering from various liver diseases have often yielded mixed results. A 2007 review of published and unpublished studies on milk thistle as a treatment for liver disease caused by alcohol or viral hepatitis concluded that benefits were seen only in low-quality trials, and even in those, milk thistle did not show more than a slight benefit.

Acute viral hepatitis. A twenty-one-day double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 57 people with acute viral hepatitis found significant improvements in the group receiving milk thistle. In another study, 105 people with acute hepatitis receiving milk thistle (140 mg, three times daily) showed modest improvement in some symptoms compared with those taking a placebo for four weeks. On the other hand, a thirty-five-day study of 151 individuals thought to have acute hepatitis found no benefit with milk thistle, but this study has been criticized for failing to document that the participants actually had acute hepatitis.

Chronic viral hepatitis. Inconsistent evidence exists regarding whether milk thistle is helpful for chronic viral hepatitis B or C. The herb does not appear to affect levels of virus in the body, but it might help protect the liver from damage and improve some symptoms.

Alcoholic hepatitis. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study performed in 1981 followed 106 Finnish soldiers with alcoholic liver disease over a period of four weeks. The treated group showed a significant decrease in elevated liver enzymes and improvement in liver histology (the microscopic structure of liver tissue), as evaluated by biopsy in 29 subjects.

Two similar studies provided essentially equivalent results. However, a three-month, randomized, double-blind study of 116 people showed little to no additional benefit, perhaps because most participants reduced their alcohol consumption and almost half stopped drinking entirely. Another study found no benefit in 72 patients followed for fifteen months. It is more effective for people with alcoholism to quit drinking than to continue drinking and take milk thistle.

Liver cirrhosis. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 170 people with alcoholic or nonalcoholic cirrhosis found that in the group treated with milk thistle, the four-year survival rate was 58 percent compared with only 38 percent in the placebo group. This difference was statistically significant.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that enrolled 172 people with cirrhosis for four years also found reductions in mortality, but it just missed the conventional cutoff for statistical significance. A two-year double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 200 individuals with alcoholic cirrhosis found no reduction in mortality attributable to the use of milk thistle. However, in a analysis of nineteen randomized trials, researchers concluded that milk thistle was significantly more effective at reducing mortality from liver cirrhosis (mostly alcohol-related) compared with a placebo, but no more effective at reducing mortality from any cause.

Other double-blind studies of people with various forms of cirrhosis have looked at changes in tests of liver function rather than mortality. Some found benefit, while others did not.

Protection from medications that damage the liver. Numerous
medications can injure or inflame the liver. Preliminary evidence suggests that
milk thistle might protect against liver toxicity caused by drugs such as
acetaminophen, alcohol, phenothiazines, and phenytoin
(Dilantin). However, according to a twelve-week, double-blind study of 222 people,
milk thistle does not seem to prevent the liver inflammation caused by the
Alzheimer’s drug tacrine (Cognex).

Safety Issues

Milk thistle is believed to possess very little toxicity. Animal studies have not shown any negative effects even when high doses were administered over a long period of time. A study of 2,637 participants reported in 1992 showed a low incidence of side effects, limited mainly to mild gastrointestinal disturbance. However, on rare occasions severe abdominal discomfort may occur.

On the basis of its extensive use as a food, milk thistle is believed to be safe for pregnant or nursing women, and researchers have enrolled pregnant women in studies. However, safety in young children, pregnant or nursing women, and individuals with severe renal disease has not been formally established.

Important Interactions

Milk thistle might have a protective function in persons taking medications that could damage the liver, such as acetaminophen, phenytoin (Dilantin), alcohol, and phenothiazines. One report has noted that silibinin can inhibit a bacterial enzyme called beta-glucuronidase, which plays a role in the activity of certain drugs, such as oral contraceptives. This could theoretically reduce the effectiveness of oral contraceptives.

Bibliography

Berardesca, E., et al. “Combined Effects of Silymarin and Methylsulfonylmethane in the Management of Rosacea: Clinical and Instrumental Evaluation.” Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology 7 (2008): 8-14.

El-Kamary, S. S., et al. “A Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of Silymarin on Symptoms, Signs and Biomarkers of Acute Hepatitis.” Phytomedicine 16, no. 5 (2009): 391-400.

Huseini, H. F., et al. “The Efficacy of Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn. (Silymarin) in the Treatment of Type II Diabetes.” Phytotherapy Research 20, no. 12 (2006): 1036-1039.

Hutchinson, C., A. Bomford, and C. A. Geissler. “The Iron-Chelating Potential of Silybin in Patients with Hereditary Haemochromatosis.” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 64, no. 10 (2010): 1239-1241.

Kroll, D. J., H. S. Shaw, and N. H. Oberlies. “Milk Thistle Nomenclature: Why It Matters in Cancer Research and Pharmacokinetic Studies.” Integrative Cancer Therapies 6 (2007): 110-119.

Rambaldi, A., B. Jacobs, and C. Gluud. “Milk Thistle for Alcoholic and/or Hepatitis B or C Virus Liver Diseases.” Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews 4 (2007): CD003620.

Saller, R., et al. “An Updated Systematic Review with Meta-analysis for the Clinical Evidence of Silymarin.” Forschende Komplementarmedizine 15 (2008): 9-20.

Sayyah, M., et al. “Comparison of Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn. with Fluoxetine in the Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.” Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry 34, no. 2 (2010): 362-365.

Which of the following is the strongest electrolyte based on the information provided?

I concur with Justaguide. Among the given electrolytes HCl is the strongest.

Electrolyte is a type of conductor which conducts electricity either in the fused state or in solution. For example, NaCl can conduct electricity in the molten state as well as in solution. Solid NaCl is, however, a bad conductor, as the ions are arranged in fixed positions and hence are immobile. Ions are the current carriers in an electrolyte.

In the question, you are asked to compare the conductance of solutions to determine the relative strengths of the electrolytes. The conductance of a solution depends upon the number of ions in unit volume of the solution. The number of ions depends upon various factors like nature of the electrolyte, nature of the solvent, degree of ionization, ionic mobility etc.Degree of ionization of an electrolyte is the fraction of the total number of molecules of it in the ionized state. It depends upon the nature of the electrolyte. For a weak electrolyte, like ethanoic acid, the degree of ionization is small in concentrated solutions. Hence its conductance will be low at high concentration. On dilution, the degree of ionization increases. As a result more ions are produced and the conductance increases.

In the case of a strong electrolyte, like NaCl, which is composed of only Na+ and Cl- ions, the degree of ionization is unity. Even for such electrolytes, the conductance increases on dilution. This is because, according to the theory of strong electrolytes, in a concentrated solution of a strong electrolyte, the ions are close to each other and as a result the force of attraction between oppositely charged ions will be strong. Due to that the velocity of each kind of ion decreases. On dilution, the ions already present, move far apart, thereby decreasing the force of attraction between them. As a result the velocity of the ions increases.

The equivalent conductance of an electrolyte is the conductance of a solution containing one equivalent ( one gram equivalent) of the electrolyte.  Its unit is S m2 (Siemens metre2). Equivalent conductance of any electrolyte increases on dilution and attains a limiting value, called equivalent conductance at infinite dilution. On further dilution, the value does not change.

From the above discussion it will be clear that conductance (or equivalent conductance) of an electrolyte is a measure of its strength. The relative strengths of different electrolytes can be obtained from the equivalent conductances of their solutions in the same solvent at the same concentration. Here equimolar aqueous solutions are used at the same temperature. The equivalent conductances of NaOH, HF, HCl and KOH are 238, 96, 412 and 228 Sm2 respectively. Hence HCl is the strongest electrolyte among them.

The option ‘a’ is the correct one.

H+ is the fastest cation and OH- is the fastest anion. Velocity of H+ is almost twice that of OH-.  Na+, K+, Cl- and F- have almost similar ionic velocities. Their velocities are almost half that of OH-. Cl- is faster than F-.

Hence HF has a lower equivalent conductance than HCl.

In the book, The Great Gatsby, how are Wilson and Gatsby more similar than different (with textual evidence at least with the chapter they are...

Gatsby has created an entire persona based upon what he thinks will be an ideal husband for Daisy. His very identity is constructed to suit her. This is such a huge theme in the novel that it sometimes goes without saying. If we consider that Gatsby's "self" is created for another person, we might say that his "self" is not his own. In other words, the self/identity/persona that he has created is to fit a role or a type. And in Gatsby's mind, this role or type is designed to suit Daisy's wants and needs as well as the requirements of a position in her social circle. Gatsby does create himself for his own reasons, but his resulting self is designed for her. 

Wilson also lives for his wife. Even when he finds out that she's having an affair, he doesn't leave her. He intends to keep her as his wife and move west. Likewise, Gatsby is not deterred that Daisy is with another man (Tom). He still intends to take Daisy away from Tom. Wilson intends to take Myrtle away from Tom. In the end, Gatsby's dedication to Daisy is similar to George's dedication to Myrtle. In Chapter 7, Fitzgerald writes about George, saying "He was his wife’s man and not his own." 

What is the most common way to dispose of hazardous waste in the United States? What are the two dangers of this method of disposal?

The most common way to dispose of hazardous waste in the United States is land-filling. Although land-filling is a highly regulated disposal method, environmental problems stemming from chemical contaminants still persist, threatening the health and safety of the larger public.

Two of the problems of land-filling are hydrological and atmospheric in character. The atmospheric effects largely stem from the production of methane gas. Methane is considered to be twenty times more effective in trapping solar heat than carbon dioxide and can further exacerbate the greenhouse effect. Furthermore, landfills also introduce other toxic gases, dust, and chemical contaminants into the atmosphere, and this contributes to the deterioration of air quality in and around landfills.

The second danger of landfills is hydrological in character: despite EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) regulations requiring landfills to include clay liners, groundwater barriers, and monitoring wells on location, toxic chemicals still leach into groundwater. These leachates pollute a wide variety of drinking water sources that the general public relies on. Wildlife in surrounding areas are also endangered by these drinking water sources, as the presence of TCE (trichloroethylene), a carcinogen, is a commonly reported substance in contaminated groundwater. As an example of its toxicity, just four drops in a twenty thousand gallon pool can prove fatal to humans and animals. TCE is mostly removed through evaporation in the atmosphere; however, when present in groundwater, evaporation becomes nearly impossible.

What are carbohydrates?

Digestion and Absorption

Dietary carbohydrates include monosaccharides, such as glucose, fructose, and lactose; disaccharides (two monosaccharides linked together), such as sucrose and lactose; and polysaccharides (many monosaccharides linked together in polymers), such as starches and fiber.

Starches are first broken down in the mouth by salivary alpha-amylase and then in the small intestine by alpha-amylases of both salivary and pancreatic origin. The resulting simpler sugars
are further digested by enzymes linked to the inner lining of the small intestine: maltase, sucrase, and trehalase, which yield absorbable monosaccharides. These sugars cross the cells lining the small intestine via specialized molecular transport mechanisms and then diffuse into the intestinal capillaries and reach the bloodstream.

Metabolism

In the body, the main role of carbohydrates is energy production and storage. Carbohydrates can also be joined to proteins (glycoproteins, for cell-cell interactions) or fatty acids (glycolipids, which provide energy and can be markers for cellular recognition).

The body converts most digestible carbohydrates into glucose, which is a universal energy source for cells. Excess glucose is stored as glycogen (glycogenesis), which can then be broken down (glycogenolysis) when energy is needed. Glucose is maintained at a constant level in the blood by the interplay of insulin, gulcagon, and other hormones.

Carbohydrate-related diseases are often genetic in nature, linked to inborn errors in enzymes or cellular transporters. Examples are galactosemia, glycogen storage diseases, and lactose intolerance. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by excessive blood glucose. Type 1 diabetes is caused by insulin deficiency; type 2 can be the result of insulin resistance, impaired insulin secretion, and increased glucose production.

According to current recommendations, carbohydrates, preferably starches and natural sugars, should represent 40 to 60 percent of total calorie intake. Refined simple sugars provide calories but very little nutrition, and their intake should therefore be limited.

Perspective and Prospects

Food availability in developed countries has reached unprecedented levels, and the per capita consumption of carbohydrates, particularly in the form of refined sugars, increased dramatically in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Since the 1990s, the incidence of obesity has been climbing steadily, and so has the incidence of diabetes and related health problems. Current research in nutrition and carbohydrate metabolism is addressing the problem, which has reached epidemic proportions. Great progress is being made in dietary manipulations and drug development.

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Carbohydrates." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, December 11, 2012.

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Stanhope, K. L., and P. J. Havel. “Fructose Consumption: Considerations for Future Research on Its Effects on Adipose Distribution, Lipid Metabolism, and Insulin Sensitivity in Humans.” Journal of Nutrition 139, no. 6 (June, 2009): 1236S–41S.