In "Every Little Hurricane" from Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight In Heaven, what two things collide and cause the storm?

In the story "Every Little Hurricane" from Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, brothers Adolph and Arnold ("High-pressure and low-pressure fronts") fight in Victor's front yard creating a metaphorical hurricane. This story is told from a third-person limited point-of-view following the thoughts of Victor, who is a boy in this story (he's older in other stories in this collection).

The entire story is an extended metaphor comparing the plight of the modern Native American living on a reservation to the damage that can be created by a hurricane. This fight between brothers, although it causes major damage, is nothing large on an Indian reservation. According to the narrator, "One Indian killing another did not create a special kind of storm. This little kind of hurricane was generic. It didn’t even deserve a name."

Although this storm started with the brothers fighting, it was transferred from Indian to Indian at this party. The narrator discusses several of the terrible memories the party's guests have primarily because they are Indian. Victor's father remembers being spit on while he waited for a bus; Victor's mother remembers the Indian Health Services doctors sterilizing her without permission after she gave birth to Victor; the brothers remember their other battles during childhood because "[w]hen children grow up together in poverty, a bond is formed that is stronger than most anything. It’s this same bond that causes so much pain." 

Victor sees all these things happening—the negative feelings, the feelings of resentment—and continues to compare them to a hurricane:

"The forecast was not good. Indians continued to drink, harder and harder, as if anticipating. There’s a fifty percent chance of torrential rain, blizzardlike conditions, seismic activity. Then there’s a sixty percent chance, then seventy, eighty."

In the morning, all was good, but the Indians, "the eternal survivors, gathered to count their losses."

This extended metaphor suggests that what happens on an Indian reservation—alcoholism, violence—isn't caused by men, but, like a hurricane, is an outside force that is beyond the control of the people, but leaves tremendous damage in its wake.

What happens to the number of species as you go toward the equator?

In general, as you move from the poles to the equator the number of different species increases. There are a few different ideas about why this occurs, but many of them have to do with energy.

There are different amounts of energy available in different parts of the globe. Sunlight reaches the equator at more direct angles and more consistently throughout the year, providing more energy for photosynthesis. With more photosynthesis comes more plant growth and more net primary productivity. This forms the basis for food chains, and with more energy available from the primary producers, such as plants, there is more energy available to support more food chains, and thus more species. At the poles there is less energy from sunlight, so there is less energy to support food chains resulting in fewer overall species.

What is a quote about Atticus talking to Jem about Mrs. Dubose?

I'll put the most important quotes in bold text below for easy reference.

In the beginning of the novel, Scout only mentions Mrs. Dubose a little bit here and there, talking about what a mean old lady she is, how she finds fault with Scout and Jem and everything they do, and so on. The kids clearly hate her. But Atticus wants them to be kind, to show understanding toward Mrs. Dubose.

In Chapter 11, here's a brief conversation Atticus has with Jem:

“Easy does it, son,” Atticus would say. “She’s an old lady and she’s ill. You just hold your head high and be a gentleman. Whatever she says to you, it’s your job not to let her make you mad.”  Jem would say she must not be very sick, she hollered so. 

As you can see, Atticus is telling Jem to cool it: to recognize that Mrs. Dubose is elderly and in bad health, and that he should take the high road and not show anger to her, no matter what she says. Jem resists this advice, telling his father that the old lady can't be that sick, since she has the strength to yell so much.

Later in that chapter, after Jem has gotten angry and destroyed Mrs. Dubose's flowers, Atticus chides him:

“Son, I have no doubt that you’ve been annoyed by your contemporaries about me lawing for n******, as you say, but to do something like this to a sick old lady is inexcusable. I strongly advise you to go down and have a talk with Mrs. Dubose,” said Atticus. “Come straight home afterward.”

Here, Atticus is telling Jem that although Mrs. Dubose made Jem angry with her comments, Jem shouldn't have damaged her plants, and now he has to go back to her house and apologize to her.

Jem begins reading to Mrs. Dubose after that, and he discusses what this is like with Atticus, who reminds Jem to be tactful and to overlook any of the lady's bad habits:

“Did she frighten you?” asked Atticus.

“No sir,” said Jem, “but she’s so nasty. She has fits or somethin‘. She spits a lot.”

“She can’t help that. When people are sick they don’t look nice sometimes.”

Finally, the whole last scene in Chapter 11 is worth rereading. This takes place right after Mrs. Dubose dies. Atticus talks to Jem about her again, revealing that she had been addicted to a painkiller, and that her fits that Jem had witnessed were the lady's brave efforts to end her own addiction. Here are some of the most memorable things Atticus says then about Mrs. Dubose to Jem:

"She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody. Jem, when you’re sick as she was, it’s all right to take anything to make it easier, but it wasn’t all right for her. She said she meant to break herself of it before she died, and that’s what she did."

"You know, she was a great lady."

"I wanted you to see something about her—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."

How does Mantag change throughout Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451? How does he feel towards the end of the novel?

At the beginning of the novel, Montag feels numb and indifferent to his meaningless life until he meets Clarisse, whose presence encourages him to analyze himself. Montag becomes disenchanted with his job, his wife, and society in general. Montag begins to search for answers and commits a crime by possessing and reading books. As the novel progresses, Montag's search for meaning brings out his anger, until he finally snaps and kills Captain Beatty during a routine call. Montag officially becomes an enemy of the state but manages to escape by floating down the river and living with a band of hobo intellectuals outside of the city. Initially, Montag feels discouraged about his drastic life decisions until Granger explains to him the essence of life, which is to create, experience, and affect individuals and nature in a positive way. Montag is unsure of his ability to remember The Book of Ecclesiastes but slowly realizes the meaning of his life. By the end of the novel, Montag has transformed from a lost, disillusioned individual to an enthusiastic man with a purpose. He begins to remember significant verses from The Book of Ecclesiastes as he walks towards the recently destroyed city, in hopes of rebuilding a better society.

How does Robert Frost interrelate nature into his five best poems, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," "Birches," "Mending Wall," "The Road...

In each of these beloved poems by Robert Frost, the poet uses nature as an extended metaphor for a part of the human condition—whether emotional, relational, or moral. In "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," the quiet scene of a woods and lake being blanketed by snow represents the speaker's desire for rest and escape from the responsibilities of life. The scene is described in a flawless iambic rhythm with many soft sounds, reinforcing the peacefulness of nature and the peace the man wants to find in his life. The man cannot stay in that state, however, for he has "promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep."

In "Birches," the narrator uses the trees to represent the vicissitudes of life, and he longs for the resilience he had in his youth. He imagines a boy, a "rider of birch trees," who "one by one ... subdued his father's trees." Swinging on the branches of the trees symbolizes tackling problems, not always succeeding, but enjoying the process and becoming an expert in the end. The poet writes, "I'd like to get away from earth awhile / And then come back to it and begin over." He misses the days of his youth and the feeling he had of trying hard and succeeding.

In "The Road Not Taken," Frost uses the setting of "two roads diverg[ing] in a yellow wood" to represent the decision-making process and the fact that decisions set a person on a path that can normally never be retraced. Choosing "the road less traveled by" can be interpreted to mean that the speaker chose what he saw as a nonconformist path, which, whether for good or ill, "has made all the difference" in his life.

"Mending Wall" uses nature to stand for an issue of human relationships. The "something ... that doesn't like a wall" in nature is used to represent a desire that humans should interact more naturally with each other and should be willing to reject traditional biases that obviously aren't working. The speaker wishes his neighbor could learn from nature the value of trust and cooperation rather than sticking to his father's maxim that "good fences make good neighbors."

Finally, in "After Apple-Picking," Frost uses the abundance of nature to represent what can be interpreted as the dissatisfaction caused by greed. The man wanted plenty of apples, but when it came time to harvest them, he found it wasn't worth it after all: "I am overtired / Of the great harvest I myself desired." This could represent how people who pursue only material gain will not find satisfaction. On the other hand, many also interpret the speaker's apple-picking as representative of Frost's own life's work as a poet.

Part of Frost's genius that makes his poems so cherished is his ability to relate nature to human emotions, relationships, and morals.

Why are all the failures blamed on Snowball?

After Napoleon sucessfully drives Snowball from Animal Farm, it becomes important to Napoleon's propaganda aims to demonize Snowball as often as possible. In reality, Snowball was a capable and popular leader, more capable than Napoleon, so it matters to Napoleon to keep denigrating him. He certainly doesn't want the other animals campaigning for Snowball's return or comparing him unfavorably to Snowball.  Second, Snowball is a convenient scapegoat. He isn't around to defend himself, so it is easy for Napoleon to blame his own failures on so-called "plots" by Snowball. When Napoleon wants to get rid of animal enemies, saying they were incited by Snowball is a foolproof way to demonize them and then have them executed. In his tactics, Napoleon mirrors Josef Stalin. Stalin exiled his rival Leon Trotsky, demonized him, and then in show trials in the 1930s, blamed him and his alleged followers for any number of problems suffered by the Soviet regime. 

What was Brutus speech in Julius Caesar basically saying?

In Act 3, Scene 2 of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Brutus delivers a speech in prose format to the Roman commonwealth explaining why Caesar had to die.  He begins his speech by asking the crowd to remain quiet until he finishes his explanation, and he asks them to listen carefully to his words so that they can judge for themselves whether or not Brutus acted justly.  The following excerpt is taken from the opening of his speech:

Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers! Hear me for my cause, and be silent that you may hear. Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor that you may believe. Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses that you may the better judge.

Understanding that he has committed a controversial act, Brutus offers an endearing plea to the Roman commonwealth in an effort to appear compassionate to the republic.  He wants to establish from the start that he has acted with the general public’s best interest in mind.  Brutus goes on to say that he genuinely loved Caesar as a dear friend, claiming he rose up against Caesar only because he loved Rome more: “ If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.”  Again, Brutus tries to appeal to the masses by emphasizing Rome as his number one priority.  Therefore, not only is Brutus defending his actions, he is simultaneously strengthening his position as a rising leader. 

Brutus then asks the crowd the rhetorical question of whether they would rather have Caesar alive and die as slaves, or have Caesar dead and live as free men.   Brutus again tries to emphasize that he did not act out of jealousy or anger by honoring Caesar’s bravery as a leader and soldier:  “As he was fortunate, I rejoice at it.  As he was valiant, I honor him.  But, as he was ambitious, I slew him. There is tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honor for his valor, and death for his ambition.” Here, Brutus provides the reason for killing Caesar: his ambition.  Brutus insinuates that if Caesar had continued to live, the Roman public would have been made slaves to an ambitious dictator, for he again poses a rhetorical question asking, “Who is here so base that would be a bondman?” 

Brutus goes on to pose a series of rhetorical questions: “Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak—for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak—for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.” Here, Brutus manipulates his language to suggest that anyone who opposes his actions is an enemy of the republic, which of course leads to the response from the crowd, “None, Brutus, none.” 

Brutus strategically crafts his speech to glorify his actions and vilify anyone who opposes him.  This not only protects him from prosecution, it bolsters his position as a seemingly fair, just leader to assume control in Caesar’s absence.  This is supported by his proclamation that Caesar’s honor and glory will be forever remembered and that he, Brutus, has not exaggerated the circumstances of the murder: “The question of his death is enrolled in the Capitol. His glory not extenuated wherein he was worthy, nor his offenses enforced for which he suffered death.” 

At this point in the speech, Mark Antony enters with the body of Caesar, and Brutus announces that Antony, along with the public, will all receive “a place in the commonwealth.”  This is again another effort to persuade the public to Brutus’ side, and Brutus even states that if he ever acts with the same greed and ambition of Caesar, that he will kill himself for the good of Rome: “With this I depart: that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself when it shall please my country to need my death.”

Brutus does an excellent job of defending his actions by appealing to the safety and freedom of the general public.  He claims to the crowd that if Caesar had continued to live, that they would all have been made slaves, and that he, Brutus, loved Rome so dearly, that he had to kill his best friend to protect and defend the rights of his people.  In summary, Brutus’ speech states that he killed Caesar for Rome, not for his own personal gain.