Where would one submit a play that one wrote?

The avenues for new play submission are plentiful. First, each region of the U.S. has a program called The (region) New Playwright Competition. (The playwright must reside in the region; for example The Midwest New Playwright Competition accepts playwrights from Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa.) Plays accepted receive a stage reading directed by a professional director, and are assigned a dramaturg. During the event, the playwright rewrites his/her play after seeing a staged reading.

Next there are regional/national festivals such as the O’Neill Playwrights Festival (where August Wilson got his start), the Bay Area Playwright’s Festival, and many others of this nature.

Then there is the New Playwrights’ Lab in New York, a workhouse for developing new plays and playwrights, with dozens of successful alumni.

Many colleges as well have new play outlets of various kinds, where a visiting playwright can see their plays produced with student actors, as part of their training.

The stage reading (where the script is held in the actors’ hands while they perform the blocking and paralinguistics of the text) is the most common way to move your play toward full production. No, you do not get to have a voice in casting; even when your play is produced professionally, you will seldom have much say in the actors who are hired.

In Chapter 20 of Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, of what does Atticus say Mayella is a victim?

Chapter 20 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird presents Atticus Finch's closing arguments in the Mayella Ewell vs. Tom Robinson case. Up to this point in the trial, Atticus has done his best to discredit Mayella and disprove her lies. During his final remarks to the jury, he decides to make a point that she is a victim as well. The following passage shows Atticus explaining three reasons why Mayella is also a victim:

"She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, but I cannot pity her: she is white. She knew full well the enormity of her offense, but because her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persisted in breaking it" (203).

Mayella is the victim of poverty and ignorance. First, poverty isolates Mayella from respectable society and education. As a result, she becomes a victim of ignorance. Her ignorance prohibits her from making calculated and wise decisions. The isolation she feels, coupled with her ignorance, is why she tempted Tom to kiss her. When her father caught her breaking the interracial "code," she felt the need to protect herself from society by claiming that Tom raped her. If Atticus shows that Mayella is also a victim, then the jury may be able to accept the fact that she is lying. If the jury agrees that Mayella is lying, then it is reasonable to assume that Tom Robinson is innocent and should be acquitted of all charges. 

In Seedfolks, are the interactions generally positive or negative when people of different races interact with each other?

According to Sam in Paul Fleischman's novel Seedfolks, interactions between ethnic groups are generally negative. However, later in the book, during Nora's account, we see that there have been some positive changes.

Sam is the sixth character we meet in the novel. He doesn't plant anything in the garden, but he does solve the problem of how to get water to the plants. He sees it as his job to mend rifts in the neighborhood. He does this by smiling and striking up conversations with people, particularly people of different ethnic backgrounds. Here is his observation of the interactions between the ethnic groups in the garden:

"One Saturday, when the garden was fullest, I stood up a minute to straighten my back. And what did I see? With a few exceptions, the blacks on one side, the whites on another, the Central Americans and Asians toward the back. The garden was a copy of the neighborhood. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. A duck gives birth to a duckling, not a moose. Each group kept to itself, spoke its own language, and grew its own special crops."

Later on, in Nora's account, we see positive changes that have taken place in the neighborhood.

"When the rain came that day, the other gardeners all ran in the same direction, as if in a fire drill. We followed and found them sheltered beneath a shoe store's overhang two doors down, apparently their customary refuge. In fifteen minutes, we'd met them all and soon knew the whole band of regulars. Most were old. Many grew plants from their native lands--huge Chinese melons, ginger, cilantro, a green the Jamaicans called calaloo, and many more. Pantomime was often required to get over language barriers. Yet we were all subject to the same weather and pests, the same neighborhood, and the same parental emotions toward our plants. If we happened to miss two or three days, people stopped by on our return to ask about Mr. Myles' health. We, like our seeds, were now planted in the garden."

This quote from Nora shows that though the accidental gardeners began the journey of the garden on Gibb Street isolated from each other, their shared experiences have bonded them together and given them all a sense of community that was strongly lacking when the book began. Their interactions have gone from nonexistent or mostly negative to largely positive.

What action demonstrates that Daniel has changed at the end of the novel?

Throughout the entire novel, Daniel seeks to avenge the death of his parents and manifests his hate toward the Roman Empire. Towards the end of the novel, Daniel finds out that a Roman soldier named Marcus is interested in his sister, Leah. In Chapter 23, Daniel loses his temper after finding out that Marcus gave Leah a basket of fruit as a gift. Daniel's tirade ends up sending Leah into another catatonic spell. When Marcus finds out that Leah is ill, he stands outside of Daniel's house and asks Daniel how she is doing. Daniel spits on the ground in disgust and comments, "What is it to you if another Jew is dying?" (Speare 249). When Marcus tells Daniel that he simply wishes to see Leah before he is transferred, Daniel tells Marcus that he would rather let Leah die before he let Marcus inside his home. Later on in the last chapter, Jesus and Thacia visit Daniel's home and Jesus heals Leah. Daniel accepts Jesus' message and decides to let go of his hate and bitterness. On the last page of the novel, Daniel walks over to Marcus and tells him that the fever has left Leah and that she would like to say good-bye to him. Daniel then invites Marcus into his home which demonstrates that Daniel has changed.

What is a premature birth?

Babies born later than the thirty-seventh week of pregnancy and
before the forty-second week are known as term or full-term infants, and birth
anywhere during this period is within the window of normal gestation. By
definition, babies born at or before the thirty-seventh week are called preterm or
premature infants. (Babies born beyond the forty-second week are post-term
infants.)

Every pregnancy and birth carry risk to both infant and mother. Preterm and
premature infants, however, are at high risk. They have both a lower survival rate
and more medical complications with potential lifelong effects than full-term
babies. In 2012, one of every nine babies in the United States was born
prematurely, accounting for more than 450,000 preterm infants, according to the US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preterm infants make up the majority
of the low-weight
births that occur annually and a large proportion of infant
deaths.

Developmental prematurity and survivability. Prior to twenty-four
weeks of gestation, fetuses are not considered to have developed sufficiently to
live outside the womb. Somewhere between twenty-four and twenty-eight weeks of
gestation, however, the fetus does become viable, although any baby born between
twenty-four and thirty weeks is called very premature. The lengths of these
infants range from eleven to eighteen inches, and weights can range from one
pound, five ounces to almost four pounds. At this stage of development, a few
ounces more or less make a big difference in the baby’s ability to survive.
Neonates at two pounds have little better than a one in two chance of survival;
infants at 3.5 pounds have better than a nine in ten chance.

Babies born between thirty-one and thirty-six weeks of gestation are considered
moderately premature. These babies do well, with a 90 to 98 percent survival rate,
and weigh from a little more than three to almost four and one-half pounds.
Typical lengths range from sixteen to nineteen inches.

Parents who expect their very premature baby at five to nine weeks of age to
resemble a moderately premature baby born at thirty-five weeks will be
disappointed. The very premature still appear much less like babies, are
significantly lighter, and remain behind developmentally. They are often unready
to be bottle-fed or breast-fed or to sleep in an open crib, and they are generally
less alert and have less behavioral control than the moderately premature. Simply
reaching the same number of chronological weeks as moderately premature babies
does not negate the substantial differences in their developmental beginnings.

Borderline premature infants are born during weeks thirty-seven or thirty-eight
are much like full-term newborns: They have almost the identical survival rate (98
percent) and approach average weights. Nevertheless, they are still at greater
risk for respiratory distress syndromes, neonatal
jaundice, unstable body temperatures, and a variety of
problems associated with feeding.

The causes of prematurity and preterm births. Although many
conditions result in premature birth, not all causes are known. Some well-known
causes include toxemia in the mother (a multistage disease that begins with
high blood pressure and rapid fluid retention and may progress to brain
hemorrhage, seizure, and coma), placenta previa (when the placenta
implants in the lower uterus), placenta abruptio (when a normally positioned
placenta detaches from the uterus), premature membrane rupture (when the tissue
containing the amniotic fluid tears or leaks before labor begins), incompetent
cervix (when the cervix opens mid-pregnancy), and multiple births (twins,
triplets, and so on). Cigarette smoking, alcohol use, or drug use during pregnancy
also increase the risk of premature birth. High blood pressure, diabetes mellitus,
sickle cell disease, and kidney disease are other risk factors for premature
birth.

Some mothers blame themselves for the premature births of their infants. While it
is natural to look for a cause and a target to vent the often-powerful feelings
associated with prematurity, it is the rare mother who deliberately causes her
baby to be born earlier than necessary. In fact, some causes do not involve the
mothers at all, including congenital defects in the infant, intrauterine
illnesses, and defective placentas.

The vast majority of women will never deliver prematurely. Those who do, however,
run about a 30 percent chance of having a second premature birth, according to the
March of Dimes. In the rush to understand and find answers to prematurity, it is
important not to overinvest in probability statistics and comparative risk factor
data, which include race, paternity, and even a woman’s own mother’s exposure to
biochemicals. It is extremely important to realize that many women who are
formally classified as high-risk mothers have normal deliveries of full-term
babies, and that others, who are healthy and without known risk factors, deliver
premature, preterm babies.

In 2003, scientists announced an exciting discovery in the search for preventing
premature labor and birth. More than three hundred high-risk pregnant women—those
who had given birth prematurely before—were given weekly injections of the hormone
progesterone. This therapy reduced the chance of preterm birth by 34 percent, a
number that elated the study’s researchers. The use of progesterone therapy has
been especially effective in the cases of women with short cervixes. Another study
in 2002 suggested that measures used to detect early labor—including a medical
device worn on the abdomen to record contractions, ultrasound examinations of the
cervix, and a test for a chemical called fetal fibronectin—seem not to work very
well in preventing preterm birth, leading researchers to continue to seek ways to
predict and prevent premature delivery. Early detection of labor is important
because it can allow doctors to prescribe antibiotics, medication to slow the
contractions or help the fetus develop more quickly, or bed rest.

Warning signs of premature labor include a contraction every ten minutes within
one hour before thirty-seven weeks of pregnancy, menstrual-like cramps, pelvic
pressure, and an increase in vaginal discharge. If a pregnant woman suspects she
is going into labor prematurely, she should call her health care provider
immediately and continue to monitor her symptoms. Sometimes, lying down and
hydrating can cause preterm contractions to abate; however, if the symptoms of
premature labor continue, the pregnant woman should seek immediate medical
attention. Magnesium sulfate may given to slow preterm contractions, and
corticosteroids may be administered to accelerate the baby's lung and brain
development prior to preterm delivery.

The psychological impact. There may be no event with a greater
impact on a person’s life than becoming a parent, and few events in a parent’s
life equal the impact of seeing one’s tiny, struggling, and high-risk baby. It is
common for parents to have been forewarned of the baby’s chances, especially if
the infant is very premature. They may, in fact, have begun to prepare themselves
psychologically for the death of their baby even as the baby clings to life
outside the womb. They may try to protect themselves from bonding to one whose
death may be imminent.

Their distress, confusion, and contradictory feelings can overwhelm them. Their
babies may not look much like the babies they had pictured or prepared for, and
they may not feel much like parents. Premature birth can be a crisis rarely
equaled in a parent’s life.

Some couples react and adapt successfully, while others do not. Nearly all parents
of premature infants experience various forms of shock, denial, anger, guilt, and
depression. Researchers who study and compare parents who cope better and worse
have learned that those parents who accept and express their whole range of
emotions (versus only the emotions that they believe they are supposed to have),
who seek further information, who accept help in their caring for the babies, and
who begin to develop an early relationship with their babies adapt to the crisis
well and successfully.

Premature infants were thought, at one time, to be inactive, unaware, and inert.
Research and anecdotal observation strongly support the view that these infants
are acutely sensitive to their environment, though they usually respond in ways
too subtle to be perceived casually. When parents are present, even on the outside
of the incubator wall,
their babies behave differently, tolerate feedings better, and heal more quickly
and completely.

Bradford, Nikki.
Your Premature Baby: The First Five Years. Toronto:
Firefly, 2003. Print.

Curtis, Glade B., and
Judith Schuler. Your Pregnancy Week-by-Week. 7th ed.
Cambridge: Da Capo, 2011. Print.

Gabbe, Steven G.,
Jennifer R. Niebyl, and Joe Leigh Simpson, eds. Obstetrics: Normal
and Problem Pregnancies. 6th ed. Philadelphia: Churchill
Livingstone/Elsevier, 2012. Print.

Gaines, Tami C.
Preemie Parents: Twenty-Six Ways to Grow with Your Premature
Baby. South Portland: Sellers, 2011. Print.

Goepfert, Alice.
Management of Preterm Birth: Best Practices in Prediction,
Prevention, and Treatment. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2012.
Print.

Hotchner, Tracie.
Pregnancy and Childbirth. Rev. ed. New York:
Quill/HarperCollins, 2003. Print.

Hynan, Michael T.
The Pain of Premature Parents: A Psychological Guide for
Coping. Lanham: UP of America, 1987. Print.

Martin, Richard J.,
Avroy A. Fanaroff, and Michele C. Walsh, eds. Fanaroff and Martin’s
Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine: Diseases of the Fetus and Infant. 2
vols. 9th ed. Philadelphia: Mosby/Elsevier, 2011. Print.

Oh, William.
Evidenced-Based Handbook of Neonatology. Hackensack:
World Scientific, 2011. Print.

Painter, Kim. "U.S. Preterm Birth Rate
Falls Again but Remains High." USA Today. Gannett, 1 Nov.
2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

Simkin, Penny, Janet
Whalley, and Ann Keppler. Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn:
The Complete Guide. 4th ed. Minnetonka: Meadowbrook, 2010.
Print.

Do you feel sorry for Walter Mitty? Why or why not?

In his external world, Walter is basically miserable. His wife constantly nags and criticizes him about everything he does (or forgets to do). His only means of happiness is to escape into his imagination. He is inept in a number of ways. Since he is always daydreaming, he is absentminded. This just leads to more criticism. The cop yells at him when he doesn't notice the light change. The parking lot attendant yells at him when he thoughtlessly drives in the wrong lane. In the external world, Walter is continually badgered, so it is no wonder that he retreats to the more glorious world of his imagination. In this respect, I have sympathy for Walter who feels the need to retreat from the world. 

On the other hand, consider the idea that most of Walter's time is spent daydreaming. Therefore, mathematically speaking, he is happy (in his imagination) most of the time. If he is happy most of the time, why would we feel sorry for him? It's true that he is not happy in his "real life," but who's to say that his "real life" should be more important than the life of his mind? This is just a philosophical point to complicate the argument. Clearly, if everyone just lived in his/her own mind, the world would be a chaotic mess. But for miserable dreamers like Walter, the imaginative retreat might be a good alternative. 

Also consider the notion that if Walter is miserable in his "real life," it is his fault. If he committed himself to the external world, he would be more aware. He would be more focused and would be more successful. Less mistakes would lead to less criticism. If he became more diligent in pursuing his dreams in real life, he might actually achieve them. So, in this analysis, I can't really feel bad for Walter if he is miserable in his real life because he is the one holding himself back. 

Give an account of Baldeo's fight with the tiger in the story "The Tiger in the tunnel."

An account of Baldeo's confrontation with the tiger in "The Tiger in the Tunnel" would detail his valiant effort despite an unfortunate ending.

Baldeo faced down the tiger with considerable resolve. He knew of the dangerous animals in the jungle.  He also knew the tiger's reputation as being a destroyer of men, preying on them for years. Yet, Baldeo felt confident that he could face down any challenges as he went out in the cold night to do his job as the night watchman.

Even though he was armed with his axe, Baldeo was overmatched as he entered the contest.  The tiger was accustomed to the techniques men used and sized up Baldeo as a "puny man who dared stand in the way."  As the tiger attacked with a quick run and a snarl, Baldeo used his axe to defend himself.  He moved to the side, giving him an angle to cut into the tiger's shoulder. However, the axe remained in the tiger's body, leaving Baldeo without a weapon.  After the tiger regrouped, he leapt upon Baldeo, who could not avoid the advance.  The tiger mauled Baldeo, "tearing at his broken body."  The end came quick for Baldeo, who felt an intense pain down his back and then nothing afterwards.