• THE CRUCIBLE

In “The Crucible” explain a couple reasons why John Proctor hesitates throughout the story.

It depends on what part of the play that you are referring to. In Act Two, he has information about the accusations that are occurring that could possibly expose the entire proceedings in the…

1 educator answer

• ESSAY LAB

How do I write a hypothesis for the topic “why people cheat”? I am lost, I don’t understand how…

Well… I can’t really tell you what to write because I don’t actually know anything about why people cheat. So all I can really help you with is how to write a hypothesis in general. Really, all…

3 educator answers

• MATH

An Irish gentleman on holiday in Germany finds that his wallet contains $700. If he changes the…

Are you sure that you have the problem stated correctly? Given the information you have provided, this can’t be right. Think about it: if $1 is worth less than 1 euro, then any time you swap…

2 educator answers

• BRAVE NEW WORLD

Is John really more free than the World State members in Brave New World? How is he conditioned…

The people outside the reservation have been conditioned from a young age by science, which has taken the place of conventional parenting. However, someone who does have a parent can certainly be…

1 educator answer

• FAHRENHEIT 451

In Fahrenheit 451, what does Beatty explain that Man wants to invent, but never could?

Speaking to Montag, Beatty talks about the properties of fire, and why it is so important to mankind: “What is there about fire that’s so lovely? No matter what age we are, what draws us to it?”…

1 educator answer

• THE OUTSIDERS

Why did Sodapop drop out of high school and why does Darry worry about Ponyboy more than…

Sodapop, Ponyboy and Darry are the three handsome Curtis brothers in Susan Hinton’s teen novel “The Outsiders.” Sodapop drops out of high school when his greaser girlfriend Sandy gets pregnant. He…

2 educator answers

• JULIE OF THE WOLVES

Why does Miyax throw her i’noGo tied away in Julie of the Wolves?

Miyax throws her i’noGo tied away because it makes her feel different from the more Americanized Eskimo girls. Miyax had lived with her father at seal camp when she was younger, and at the camp had…

1 educator answer

• MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN

What does “the city comes to me” in My Side of the Mountain mean?PLAESE PLAESE TELL ME THIS IS…

In the last chapter of My Side of the Mountain, Sam’s solitary life in the wilderness changes with the arrival of his family, who have come to the Catskill Mountains to make a new life for…

1 educator answer

• THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME

How does General Zaroff lure people to play his game in “The Most Dangerous Game?”

There’s no real evidence how many men General Zaroff has hunted down in the Richard Connell short story “The Most Dangerous Game.” We do know that Sanger Rainsford is not Zaroff’s first intended…

1 educator answer

• A MODEST PROPOSAL

What response do you think Swift hoped to get from the readers of “A Modest Proposal?”

The purpose of all satire is to hold up for public inspection behaviors of which the writer disapproves. These can be seriously bad behaviors (Juvenalian satire) or ones that are just foolish…

2 educator answers

• THE CRUCIBLE

In “The Crucible” what struggles does John experience at the end of the play? What does his…

John is faced with several very difficult struggles at the end of the play. First of all, he has been in prison for months, struggling with whether or not he should confess to witchcraft in order…

1 educator answer

• “ART”

In a film, what is meant by the “exposition”?

The definition of the cinematic or literary term “exposition,” be it in a film, novel, short story or other dramatic work, involves background information about the characters or other situations….

1 educator answer

• MATH

Show that function F(x)=(x-a)^2(x-b)^2+x takes on the value (a+b)/2 for some value of xThis is…

The Intermediate Value Theorem (abbreviated as IVT) says that if a continuous function takes on two values A and B at points a and b, it also takes on every value between A and B at some point…

1 educator answer

• DEATH OF A SALESMAN

Explain how Biff could be responsible for the tragedy of the play?

If it’s a real tragedy, Biff can’t be responsible unless he is the tragic hero. He’s not. “Death of a Salesman” is Arthur Miller’s attempt to write a tragedy about an everyday guy. In classical…

1 educator answer

• A SEPARATE PEACE

In “A Separate Peace” why is Finny’s nonconformity accepted by the other boys, while Leper’s is not?

To sum it up in a very simplistic way, Finny is cool and Leper is not. Leper doesn’t quite fit in socially; he is awkward, laughs at nerdy things, likes nerdy things, and is never quite at ease…

1 educator answer

• ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST

What does “Black Boys” dressed in white pants symbolize?They were compared as black a telephone

The “Black Boys” dressed in their white pants, as the Chief refers to them, are Nurse Ratched’s aides. They do her bidding. They are strong, sudden and sadistic, and they keep order in the ward by…

1 educator answer

• THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME

Why doesn’t the general shoot Rainsford the first night?

Not only does General Zaroff love hunting more than anything else in life, he also prefers a wily prey. So, when Rainsford, the other main character in Richard Connell’s short story “The Most…

1 educator answer

• OF MICE AND MEN

In Of Mice and Men, what is Candy’s physical description? What is his personality & some of…

Candy is a somewhat lonely, worn-out ranch hand who temporarily enjoys the dream of owning some property with George and Lennie. Good-natured and kind, Candy works on the ranch cleaning up the…

2 educator answers

• THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO

What does the black cloak symbolize in “The Cask of Amontillado”?

Author Edgar Allan Poe no doubt dressed Fortunato deliberately in a jester’s costume to symbolize his foolish actions in the short story “The Cask of Amontillado.” But the author gives Montressor a…

1 educator answer

• TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

What page did this quote from To Kill A Mockingbird come from: “What kind of man are you?” -Bob…

This quote is found in the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird, but is actually not in Harper Lee’s novel. In the film, Bob Ewell says this when he confronts Atticus in the street before Tom’s…

1 educator answer

• TEARS OF A TIGER

What are the internal and external conflicts that Andy faces in Tears Of A Tiger?I’d also like to…

Andy’s internal conflict is guilt. He was the cause of Robbie’s death. He lived and Rob died. He feels that Rob had more potential on the basketball court and in the classroom than he did and…

1 educator answer

• BLESS ME, ULTIMA

Where is the spillway located in Bless Me, Ultima?

The spillway is located between the Blue Lake and el Rito, meaning “the rite.” Its purpose is to serve as an overflow basin for the lake. On this side of the lake there was a concrete wall with a…

1 educator answer

• THE CELEBRATED JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY

We are reading The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.What is the setting? Who is the…

First of all, the story’s called “The Celebrated Frog of Calaveras County.” Calaveras County is located in the state of California, 135 miles east of San Francisco, smack in the heart of California…

1 educator answer

• TEACHERS

What were the three main policy themes in early colonial times and how were they carried out in…

One elemental theme in colonial education was the idea that there was a distinct stratification element present in who achieved education and who did not. This could result in several themes off…

2 educator answers

• THE OPEN WINDOW

Does anyone have any deeper insight into the story, “The Open Window” by Saki? Any further…

I would have to say that the eNotes guide is fairly thorough when it comes to the themes of this story. The problem is with its length…it is hard to have too much depth in a story of this size….

1 educator answer

• SIR THOMAS WYATT

Can you help me interpret “Blame not my Lute” by Sir Thomas Wyatt?Just the general meaning of the…

Nothing much complicated here. The speaker tells his lady love not to blame the instrument he uses (a lute in this case) for the song of complaint he is singing about her: My Lute and strings may…

1 educator answer

• LORD OF THE FLIES

Are any of the boys ever “bargaining” in the sense that they are combatting depresseion or grief…

If you examine the scene where the fire on the mountain has gone out and Piggy is counseling Ralph on how to move forward after so many of the boys have run off to join Jack, it would appear that…

1 educator answer

• THE ODYSSEY

When is it believed the Iliad and Odyssey were actually composed?

The Odyssey and the Iliad, both credited to Homer (though no one really knows much about him) are seen as the foundations of Western literature. Both works remain influential down to the present…

1 educator answer

• THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH

What elements add to the harmony in Poe’s story “The Masque of the Red Death”?the masque of the…

Is this a question from your teacher? He or she is probably after the “unified effect” policy of Poe, a literary concept in which everything in a short story must add to one unique “feeling.”…

1 educator answer

• BRAVE NEW WORLD

What does “scatological” mean in the book “Brave New World?”

The word “scatological” means something like “having to do with excrement.” So typically, it is connected with bodily functions such as defecation and urination. If you are referring to the use of…

1 educator answer

• DOVER BEACH

This poem has a speaker and a listener. How do you visualize the setting and their…

It is night. I see the speaker in the upstairs study or den or bedroom of a two-story house. The house lies above Dover Beach on the extreme southeast coast of England. Across the straits can bee…

1 educator answer

• MACBETH

What do you think Macbeth should do to gain control of his feelings?What are things he can do to…

This is a question which calls for a personal opinion. Here’s mine: from the beginning of the play, Macbeth is governed by his emotions. In order to gain control of his feelings, Macbeth must…

2 educator answers

• LORD OF THE FLIES

Where does Simon go at the end of Chapter 3 of Lord of the Flies?

Simon went off to be alone. I see Simon as the most curious and aware of all the children on the island. He doesn’t have the grown-up, scientific sense of Piggy or the political strength or…

1 educator answer

• GOOD COUNTRY PEOPLE

How is “Good Country People” a story of moral blindness?

Hulga is the representation of blindness in the story, although Manley Pointer serves as an example of a dearth of morality. Hulga considers herself quite experienced, far beyond the innocent,…

1 educator answer

• JULIUS CAESAR

What does the Brutus feel about Caesar’s assassination at the very end when Brutus is dying? The…

In the very final scene of the play, Brutus knows it is all over, and thus decides to kill himself instead of fleeing with his soldiers. In Roman times, suicide was actually a way of retaining…

1 educator answer

• THE STORM

Chopin once wrote that some had a philosophy that “Women are on earth only to serve men.” How…

In “The Storm,” we see a woman who acts against all conventional boundaries associated with marriage, and breaks her marital vows in order to grasp what she feels is a moment of happiness for…

1 educator answer

• THE STORM

Explain the following paragraph in “The Storm” by Kate Chopin.”Her lips were as red and moist as…

This paragraph explains, in a rather straightforward way, Calixta’s appearance as Alcee grabs a hold of her at her house during the storm. It is filled with imagery and vivid descriptions, written…

1 educator answer

• ODE TO THE WEST WIND

Can I have an explanation of the following lines from “Ode to the West Wind”?”Oh, lift me as a…

I see these lines as reflecting the basic tension between Shelley’s desire for transcendence, yet being bound with a sense of presence. One of the driving forces of Shelley’s poem is the obsession…

1 educator answer

• HISTORY

How has the look of telephones and their usage changed over the years and how have they impacted…

You have a few different questions here… I’m mainly going to answer the one about the impact on our society, but I’m posting one link with pictures of old phones. (antiquetelephonehistory…)…

1 educator answer

• MATH

Is it correct to say that no force acts on a body at rest?Multiple Choice A.) No force acts on a…

There are forces acting on a body at rest in all situations except theoretical ones. For example, a motionless bowling ball sitting on the floor has a gravitational force acting upon it. In fact,…

2 educator answers

• THE GUEST

Summary and conclusion of “The Guest”.Put some quotes from the text and support it

In the story, “The Guest,” Daru, a teacher living alone on a desert plain in a French province, is required (as this is a time of rebellion in his country) to escort an Arab who has committed…

1 educator answer

• JUST LATHER, THAT’S ALL

Why does the last paragraph change the reader’s point of view of the whole story?

Throughout Hernando Tellez’s short story, “Just Lather, That’s All,” the reader is led to believe that the barber’s secret–that his identity as a rebel is unknown to Captain Torres–is safe….

1 educator answer

• GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Why does Pip have such conflicting emotions about Magwitch when he comes back into his life (Pip…

The most general reason for Pip’s inconsistent feelings for Magwitch (Provis) is his lack of knowledge when it comes to the truth–his naivety. When Magwitch first shows up at Pip’s apartment…

1 educator answer

• ESSAY LAB

How can I get my 9 year old 4th grader to write better and have it not be so boring?How can I get…

I think one of the best ways to write better is to write more. This doesn’t mean writing lines or copying a glossary or anything else you and I would consider a punishment, but fun writing. Have…

8 educator answers

• ANIMAL FARM

In Chapters 5-7 of Animal Farm, please give examples of manipulative communication and state what…

In Chapter Five, the only official speech is reall that of Squealer sent to discuss with everyone the rise of Napoleon to power and the fact that Sunday meetings would be abolished. He says: Do…

2 educator answers

• THE JILTING OF GRANNY WEATHERALL

How is death portrayed in The Jilting of Granny Weatherall?

The last line of the story depicts Granny’s death, “She stretched herself with a deep breath and blew out the light.” Granny is a woman, who even as she is dying, denies that she is dying. She has…

1 educator answer

• SCIENCE

What is the function of the skull?

In many animals the primary function of the cranium is defensive in nature to the brain portion of the central nervous system. There are many other related functions. For example, focus of the…

1 educator answer

• SCIENCE

How do you think the knowlege from dangerous or destructive scientific discoveries should be…

How do you think the knowlege from dangerous or destructive scientific discoveries should be handled? take a stand and stae your opinion clearly. Use clear, coherent writing in your best style…

5 educator answers

• SOCIAL SCIENCES

how would you make a middle school better?no

I would be sure to have the kids in uniforms, so that issues of being able to fit in would be slightly less. If the kids don’t have to worry about their fashion, that’s one less thing screwing up…

6 educator answers

• SCIENCE

How do you think the knowlege from dangerous or destructive scientific discoveries should be…

That’s a really good question — one that should/will probably get put over on the discussion boards. Nuclear fission/fusion is the perfect example of this, I’d think. And it’s easier to say what…