What is the significance of Jordan's comment that "the pearls were around her neck" in The Great Gatsby?

Jordan's comment that "the pearls were around her neck" means that the lure of the $350,000 pearls and the life of wealth and luxury they represent were more than Daisy could resist, so she went ahead and married Tom Buchanan despite her love for Gatsby.

In Chapter Four, the narrator, Nick Carraway, describes the guests who arrive at Gatsby's lavish parties. The society that is portrayed is a fictional list of people much like the Vanderbilts, Morgans, Rockefellers, Duponts, and Astors—a corrupt society among whom everyone has a price.

This allusion to the power of money ties into Jordan's narrative about Daisy. One morning, Jordan walked by Daisy sitting in her white roadster beside a young lieutenant, also in white. Jordan says,

He was looking at her in the way that every young girl wants to be looked at sometime.

His name was Jay Gatsby, and Jordan did not see him again until now. Now, of course, Gatsby returns to the scene purposefully.

Jordan relates to Nick that Daisy became engaged to Tom Buchanan after Gatsby returned to the war. Daisy received a letter from Gatsby the day before her wedding day. Having received a string of pearls worth $350,000, a very drunk Daisy fishes in her wastebasket for this necklace and tells Jordan when she enters her room to return the necklace for her

to whoever they belong to. Tell 'em all Daisy's change ' her mine. Say 'Daisy's change' her mine!

Jordan hurried to find Daisy's mother's maid, and they put Daisy into a cold bath. She took the letter with her, and only released it when it became so wet it fell to pieces. Jordan and the maid redressed Daisy, using spirits of ammonia and "ice on her forehead" to revive her. Thirty minutes later, "the pearls were around her neck and the incident was over." Daisy married Tom Buchanan the next day and began a three months' honeymoon to the South Seas.

What are three gothic elements in "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment"?

1) In Dr. Heidegger's Experiment, the eponymous doctor tests four of his acquaintances by offering them water from a river in Florida near the Fountain of Youth. This supernatural element is the most central gothic pattern in the short story. More specifically, there is the presence of something esoteric (the elixir of youth) which breaks the bounds of ordinary mortality.

2) It is also interesting that the Fountain of Youth is to be found in Florida rather than some more exotic locale. This is yet another feature of gothic literature, particularly in the time of Hawthorne. Indeed, Hawthorne himself once remarked:

In truth it is desperately hard work when we attempt to throw the spell of hoar antiquity over localities with which the living world and the day passing over us have aught to do. ("Howe's Masquerade")

The legend of the Fountain of Youth is an ancient one and, in localizing it near Lake Macaco in Florida, Hawthorne is indeed investing it with gothic romance by throwing the "spell of hoar antiquity" over it.

3) The setting is also an important aspect of gothic literature. In traditional gothic writings, the setting was usually mysterious or sinister in some way and locales like castles were often favored. Here, we must look to the author's description of Dr Heidegger's study:

It was a dim, old-fashioned chamber, festooned with cobwebs, and besprinkled with antique dust. Around the walls stood several oaken bookcases, the lower shelves of which were filled with rows of gigantic folios and black-letter quartos, and the upper with little parchment covered duodecimos.

4) The presence of witchcraft is a gothic element that can also be found in quite a few of Hawthorne's works, and "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" is no exception. We are told of a "ponderous folio volume, bound in black leather, with massive silver clasps" that is, although this isn't obvious from the outside, a book of magic. We know it is a sinister work of magic because once, when a chambermaid tried to dust it:

the skeleton had rattled in its closet, the picture of the young lady had stepped one foot upon the floor, and several ghastly faces had peeped forth from the mirror; while the brazen head of Hippocrates frowned, and said,—"Forbear!"

Indeed the paragraph after the doctor's friends enter his study is full of gothic elements—the study has an array of gothic paraphernalia, from the enchanted mirror and the (possibly magical) portrait of a lost love to a skeleton in the oak closet and the book of magic. It is a very short story that nonetheless contains many stock gothic elements. However, it is Hawthorne's treatment of the gothic that is remarkable because it is not merely a gothic short story but rather a story that employs gothic elements in order to convey a parable by means of light satire.

What are the four best arguments for pipelines?

By pipelines, I am assuming you are referring to oil pipelines. Oil pipelines have a number of benefits:

• Safer transport: pipelines are the safest transport method for fluids. Other modes of transport such as tankers and ships are more prone to accidents and oil spills.


• Smaller transport cost: Tankers and ships use fuel for transport; pipelines do not. In the longer run, the transport cost of pipelines is much less than many other modes of transport.


• Lesser environmental impact: Other modes of transport generate emissions, while pipelines do not. Pipelines have a lower overall environmental impact.


• More jobs: Constructing a pipeline generates a large number of jobs.


• Economic benefits: Pipelines add to the economy of the counties they pass through because of tax revenue. 


• Energy security: Long-distance transport of fuel through pipelines provides fuel to the regions where it is in short supply and ensures long-term energy security.

Hope this helps.

In regards to the novella Animal Farm, what ways does George Orwell make us think about corruption of power?

Throughout the novella, Orwell depicts how positive ideology can be twisted and manipulated by power hungry individuals. Initially, Napoleon studies and helps create the tenets of Animalism, but shortly after finds an opportunity to usurp power by getting rid of Snowball. Napoleon enjoys receiving special treatment for being a pig and wants to be in control of the entire farm. Napoleon does so by using brute force. He secretly trained several savage dogs in the loft of the barn to act as his personal assassins and protectors. These dogs strike fear in the animals and force them to accept Napoleon's reign as leader. Napoleon also employs Squealer to spread propaganda which influences the animals to act in Napoleon's favor. Orwell warns his audience that anytime power is consolidated among a small group of individuals, there is a likely possibility that at least one person will become corrupt which could lead to tyranny. Once individuals experience a sense of control and privilege, they can easily become corrupted by the power they possess.

What do Ralph and Jack fight about in Lord of the Flies?

Ralph and Jack fight about a number of things but the underlying conflict is about what sort of direction the boys will take now that they understand that they are stranded on the island. Ralph clearly wants to put their effort into getting rescued. He hopes that organization and rules will help to make that happen.

Jack wants to have fun, wants to explore and hunt and get in touch with their more base instincts. He is also angry that he wasn't chosen as leader as he felt that he deserved it as leader of the choir. Jack quickly sees that the boys are terrified of the beast and he uses this to his advantage. Just like he was the leader of the choir, he understands how to use their fear and their desire to “have fun” to take control and become the undisputed leader of the boys.

This fight for control and leadership of the boys is what drives the conflict between Ralph and Jack.

Where were the principle strikes of the Tet Offensive?

The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong leadership in 1967 planned synchronized strikes against cities, towns, and military bases throughout the length of South Vietnam.  They assigned 35 battalions to the Saigon attack where the prime target was the United States Embassy; while the embassy was not the main center of the American effort in South Vietnam, its symbolism was enormous. After years of being told that "there was light at the end of the tunnel," the news that the embassy's defenses had been breached was indeed stunning.

The Mekong Delta, the southernmost of the nation's provinces, was the granary of South Vietnam.  This writer, as a matter of fact, was a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of CanTho from 1966 to 1967.  We were told at the time that the South Vietnamese general of the IV Corps (Delta) had a separate peace with the local Viet Cong.  Be that as it may, in 1968, American military advisors were astounded by the fanaticism, yes, and even the gallantry of the Viet Cong attacks.

The U.S. Military bases of Long Binh and Bien Hoa, northeast of Saigon were attacked, as well as Da Nang, South Vietnam's second largest city.

Perhaps the grimmest struggle was within the ancient capital of Hue.  We were totally unprepared.  Units of the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong rapidly controlled the city with the exception of the U.S. Army advisory compound and the Headquarters of the First Vietnamese Division.  It took American and South Vietnamese forces 25 days to retake the city. The carnage and destruction were indescribable.

(Information for this report was taken from Don Oberdofer's TET!, 1971) 

Why is the letter that Lady Macbeth receives so important to our understanding of two of the main characters in the play?

The letter that Lady Macbeth receives from her husband in Act I, Scene 5 reveals many things about these two prominent characters (Macbeth and Lady Macbeth). The fact that she is reading the letter alone gives the playwright an opportunity to introduce her to the audience without any distraction from another character, such as her husband or King Duncan. She reveals herself as an extremely ambitious and unscrupulous woman who has the power to manipulate her husband through her superior intelligence. They have a very close relationship, but she thinks he is too soft-hearted. It would appear that Macbeth would never have killed Duncan and never have become king if his wife hadn't goaded him into it. As well as characterizing herself by expressing her secret thoughts, Lady Macbeth characterizes her husband in the following lines.

Yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great;
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly,
That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false,
And yet wouldst wrongly win. Thou'ldst have, great Glamis,
That which cries, “Thus thou must do, if thou have it;
And that which rather thou dost fear to do
Than wishest should be undone.

Shakespeare very obviously is trying to retain as much sympathy as possible for Macbeth by casting much of the blame for their joint crime on his wife. Macbeth has strong misgivings about going through with the murder of Duncan and only does so at last because his wife will not allow him any peace unless he goes through with the murder. Some critics have even suggested that they had both discussed murdering Duncan before the play ever opens. And that they have simply been waiting for the right opportunity, which arises when Duncan announces that he will be staying overnight at Macbeth's castle because of the fighting in the region. This has never happened before. Duncan makes this clear when he says:

This castle hath a pleasant seat. The air
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses.    (I.6)

This is solely to show he has never been there before and to suggest that it is unlikely he will come back again. It's now or never. They have a golden opportunity to assassinate not only Duncan but his two sons on this night only. As Lady Macbeth tells her husband:

Nor time nor place
Did then adhere, and yet you would make both.
They have made themselves, and that their fitness now
Does unmake you.

Lady Macbeth's reading of the letter reveals many important things: the strong relationship between husband and wife, the fact that they have previouslybeen plotting, the fact that Macbeth is too loyal and too kind-hearted to commit treason and murder, the fact that his wife is the dominant figure in their marriage, and it excuses Macbeth to some small extent for going through with the murder. The play is supposed to be the "tragedy" of Macbeth. The audience must feel some degree of sympathy for the hero in order for it to be a tragedy. Lady Macbeth's function, as seen in her response to the letter, is to take some of the blame off her husband. At least we believe he deeply regrets his crime and believe that he never would have committed it without his wife's insistence.