• WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Discuss how both Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Sonnet 130 cover the theme below.”A common theme…

To answer your question, let’s agree that in the motto, “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” the “book” refers to the true inner person while “its cover” refers to the person’s external…

1 educator answer

• SUMMER OF MY GERMAN SOLDIER

What opinion does Ruth have of white community members in Summer of My German Soldier?I need help…

Ruth, the Negro housekeeper in Summer of My German Soldier, understands her place in Arkansas society of the 1940s. She knows that black people–and particularly black women–are supposed to show…

1 educator answer

• THE OUTSIDERS

What did Cherry think of Ponyboy in The Outsiders?yes, can you please answer quicker because iam…

Cherry and her friend are Socs, a different group of kids from the Greasers. The Socs are from the rich side of town. The Greasers are from the “wrong side of the tracks” and are poor. Each of…

1 educator answer

• LITERATURE

Immigrant Novels in the USAll aspects of immigrant novels can be discussed. Specifically, I am…

It’s interesting to see Sinclair’s “The Jungle” in the light you identify. Certainly, the themes of integration are placed into strong context, as well as the idea of displacement as the…

10 educator answers

• FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON

What is the operation meant to do for Charlie?In the story Flowers for Algernon, what is the…

In the story Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon is a mentally challenged adult who works as a janitor in a factory. He knows that he is “dumb” and wants desperately to be like everyone else so he…

1 educator answer

• HISTORY

What impact did the book “Looking Backward” by Edward Bellamy have on America?

One can argue that Bellamy’s largest impact through “Looking Backward” was to envision a world where the faults of capitalism can seek remedy. At the time of writing at the end of the 19th…

1 educator answer

• TEACHERS

Primary Goal of Students and Teachers in a UniversityWhat is the primary goal of students and…

The primary goal of students and teachers in a university is the continual discussion of values, skills and knowledge. We are living in a world where not only knowledge is changing very fast, being…

4 educator answers

• BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON

In “By the Waters of Babylon,” what does John notice about the “drink of the gods”?

As John enters the “city of the Gods,” he realizes that he is hungry, and so goes on the hunt for some food. He states that it is a well-known fact that the gods didn’t hunt for food, but rather…

1 educator answer

• MATH

How do you solve this problem? (-9 x 4) – (8- -3) x 2

In order to answer to this problem, you need to know the order of operations. If you apply math operators (+, -, x, /, ^, etc) in different orders, you get different answers. So we have to know in…

1 educator answer

• THE THINGS THEY CARRIED

Tim ran from draft notice. Does this mean he was a coward? Explain his self-judgement; why was…

“On the Rainy River” is one of the few, if not only, completely fictional stories in The Things They Carried. The others are part fiction based on real events. Although the author O’Brien…

1 educator answer

• THE THINGS THEY CARRIED

In chapter 2 of The Things They Carried, what did Jimmy Cross carry after the war, both…

In “Love,” the second chapter of The Things They Carried, Jimmy Cross visits O’Brien at his home in Massachusetts. O’Brien learns that Jimmy is still carrying around a framed photograph of Martha….

1 educator answer

• INTO THIN AIR

In Into Thin Air, if the storm had not hit, would everyone have made it to the summit?

Since the book is a nonfiction account o Krakauer’s trip up Everest, it is difficult to answer this question with certainty. It is doubtful, though, that everyone in Krakauer’sgroup would have…

1 educator answer

• ANIMAL FARM

How does Napoleon express his contempt for Snowball’s windmill plan?In the novel Animal Farm, how…

I’ll bet some teachers wait a lifetime for a crack at this question… To show his opinion of Snowball’s drawings for the windmill, which he opposes, Napoleon pees on the papers. Of course, after…

3 educator answers

• THE BIG SEA

What is the theme or central idea of “The Big Sea”?

A critical element of “The Big Sea” is the exploration of one’s identity. Hughes uses his own background and upbringing to examine the forces that played a major role in his belief system and his…

1 educator answer

• GREAT EXPECTATIONS

In chapter 8, what does Pip conclude about why Miss Havisham and the room look as they do?”Great…

After coming into the dressing-room of Miss Havisham, Pip is halted by the appearance of “the strangest lady [he has] ever seen or shall ever see.” He notices that “everything within [his] view…

1 educator answer

• SUMMER OF MY GERMAN SOLDIER

When does Summer of My German Soldier take place and where is the setting?

Bette Greene’s 1973 novel, The Summer of My German Soldier, tells the story of a group of German prisoners of war who arrive at their new POW camp in Jenkinsville, Arkansas in 1944 or 1945. Patty…

1 educator answer

• THE LOVELY BONES

How has the main character changed in the book The Lovely Bones?

In Sebold’s The Lovely Bones, the main character Susie Salmon changes as she learns to accept her death and lets her family get on with living. When the novel opens, the reader immediately learns…

2 educator answers

• WILLIAM BLAKE

How is the poem “The Tyger” romantic? (Not love but in the romanticism era.)

Blake’s work often falls into its own category; he was a philosopher, a spiritualist, a visionary. His work, however, is clearly romantic in the tradition of Romanticism as it developed in Europe…

1 educator answer

• BEOWULF

What battles does light come upon Beowulf?

During his battle with Grendel’s mom, there is much discussion about an absence of light. Grendel and his mother live in a dark cave under the lake. Not just any lake, King of the Danes,…

1 educator answer

• HARD TIMES

What would you recommend as some of the best quotes for the theme of education in Hard Times?

The best place to start in your critique of the presentation of education in this classic novel would be the way in which Mr. Gradgrind presents his personal philosophy of education in the first…

1 educator answer

• GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Who expects what in Great Expectations? Are the expectations really “great”?

Pip is the main character that has expectations in this novel. After he meets Miss Havisham and Estella, he becomes discontented with his station in life. Estella describes his hands as “rough,”…

1 educator answer

• BRAVE NEW WORLD

According to Mond in “Brave New World”, why can’t man be independent?

Near the end of “Brave New World,” in chapter 17, Mustapha Mond gives quite a detailed and fascinating dissertation to John the “Savage,” explaining the reasoning behind the society that has been…

2 educator answers

• BRAVE NEW WORLD

Is there instinct in Brave New World?

I would certainly say instinct exists in the society Huxley has created, but it has been so carefully controlled and manipulated that people either don’t realize it’s there, or misread it as an…

1 educator answer

• BRAVE NEW WORLD

In Brave New World, why is it ironic that the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning becomes a…

The irony lies in his title and personality. Remember that this is a society where concepts of “birth” and “mothers” are obscene beyond anything we could imagine. Life is created artificially;…

1 educator answer

• THINGS FALL APART

In Things Fall Apart, how is Ikemefuna similar to Okonkwo and his son similar to his father?

I’m not sure I understand your question. I’m not clear to whom “his son” and “his father” refer. however, I’ll help you out as much as I can. Okonkwo and Ikemefuna both represent virility and male…

1 educator answer

• HISTORY

What is the impact of Christopher Columbus’s voyages to the Americas?

One of the impacts of Columbus’ voyages to the new world was something called the “Columbian Exchange.” This does not merely apply to Columbus, but to many of the explorers of the time period….

2 educator answers

• THE CRUCIBLE

In The Crucible, why did John Proctor stop going to weekly church meeting?

John Proctor was very much an individual, his own man and an independent thinker. He detested Rev. Parris and viewed him with complete contempt. John recognized Parris’s vanity, greediness, and…

1 educator answer

• THE KITE RUNNER

I have a few quotes from The Kite Runner that I need explained! I need to know their significance…

In the first quote, Amir is talking about his father, trying to understand their troubled relationship. Baba is larger than life, strong, influential, with the ability to “(mold) the world to his…

1 educator answer

• SWEAT

In the story “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston, do you think Delia should have helped Sykes?

Delia’s has a fear of snakes and Sykes intends to get her to move out of the house using this phobia. If she does not move, Sykes will use the snake to get rid of her. This is the premise at the…

1 educator answer

• TEACHERS

What is the primary goal of the students and teachers in a university?

The university system as we know it in the west finds its roots in medieval Europe. It provided religious and legal education after the fall of the Holy Roman Empire. It evolved to include the…

1 educator answer

• YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN

How does Hawthorne use irony in “Young Goodman Brown” to illustrate the hypocrisy of the Puritans?

In a story replete with irony, Hawthorne employs dramatic irony at the beginning of “Young Goodman Brown” as Goodman fails to recognize the old man, described as “he of the serpent,” as the devil…

2 educator answers

• THE GIVER

What do you think was the difference between the terms “release” and “loss” based on the way the…

In The Giver, the community uses “loss” to describe the accidental death of a community member. The process of “release,” while not initially revealed by the author, is the manner in which the…

2 educator answers

• NATIVE SON

What elements of Wright’s life are mirrored in Book One of Native Son based on his biography?

Like Bigger Thomas, Richard Wright moved to Chicago from the Mississippi Delta area as a young child with his family. And like Bigger Thomas, Wright’s father had little to no role in his life. The…

1 educator answer

• HISTORY

Was the wife of Lenin, Nadia Krupskaya, married to another man before she married Lenin? If yes,…

I have found no evidence that Nadezhda (Nadia) Krupskaya, the wife of Russian leader Vladimir Lenin, was ever married to anyone else. Krupskaya (1869-1931) was the daughter of well-educated…

1 educator answer

• SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS

What is the comparison between Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 & Sonnet 116?

Several comparisons can be drawn between both sonnets. There is comparative language employed that seek to link love to natural phenomenon in both sonnets. In sonnet 18, love is compared to the…

2 educator answers

• LAW AND POLITICS

Why should the drinking age should be lowered to 18 years old?Why should the drinking age should…

One common reason people state for the drinking age to be lowered to eighteen is that citizens can vote and join the military at age eighteen. Therefore, if Americans can participate in their…

3 educator answers

• FRANKENSTEIN

What is the general plot of the tale of Prometheus?

The gods controlled fire. Its secrets were part of why the gods were immortal and humans mortal. In fact, the human race may have been on the verge of extinction, such was Zeus’ retribution again…

1 educator answer

• THE BELL JAR

Compare and contrast the life of Sylvia Plath and the life of Esther in The Bell Jar?

As a rule, I tend to not delve too much in assessing how a writer’s life is reflected in their work. I believe that there is too great of a tendency to do this and it might be against the…

1 educator answer

• THE OUTSIDERS

Tell why you agree or disagree with Randy’s assessment of what kids want from their parents (from…

When Ponyboy and Two-Bit stop at the Tastee Freeze for a Coke in Chapter 7 of Susan E. Hinton’s novel, The Outsiders, “the blue Mustang that had been trailing us for eight blocks pulled in.”…

1 educator answer

• MACBETH

Discuss the dramatic significance of Act 2, Scene 3 (the porter/knocking scene) in Macbeth.

Shakespeare would often insert a bit of comedy into his plays after a very dramatic scene, as in the case of Duncan’s murder. The porter’s speech lends this element as he pokes fun at various…

1 educator answer

• THE SCARLET LETTER

What social and philosophical changes have taken place in Hester in chapter 13?Nathaniel…

This chapter takes place 7 years after Hester first stands on the scaffold, receiving her punishment. The changes since this time are measurable. The first major change is the public opinion…

2 educator answers

• OBASAN

Point out examples from Aunt Emily’s diaries and news clippings, and explain how the change in…

The writing prompt you have been given seems to fall into a natural three-point outline: I. The Canadian society’s conflicting views of Japanese-born citizens II. The effects of society’s views…

1 educator answer

• TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Why does Scout wish her father was “a devil from hell”?

This question is answered in the Chapter 10 Question and Answers section here on Enotes: “3. Scout wants her father to be a devil from hell so she can brag about him to others.”…

1 educator answer

• SOCIAL SCIENCES

What is a good thesis statement in support of sex education in public schools?

A good thesis statement will let your reader know what your essay is about and what your position is on that topic. Sometimes we also include in a thesis statement a bit of a “preview” of how we…

1 educator answer

• GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL

How does Diamond explain China’s unity and Europe’s disunity?After this I am finished with my…

Believe it or not, this is one of Diamond’s easier concepts to understand. Diamond’s theory is that Europe was not unified, in part, due to the geography of Europe. On page 414 we read that…

1 educator answer

• WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS

What Chapter is the scene with the mountain lion in Where the Red Fern Grows?

The scene with the mountain lion occurs in Chapter 19. In that Chapter, Old Dan and Little Ann tree a bobcat. Although Billy tries to get them away from the ferocious creature, Old Dan will not…

1 educator answer

• BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON

Is the the theme of “By the Waters of Babylon” about your spirit and seeking out knowledge and…

That is definitely one possible theme of this story, and that theme is best exemplified by the main character, John, as he seeks knowledge. Despite the traditional rules forbidding going to the…

1 educator answer

• RICHARD III

What are specific examples of ‘kingship’ are seen in Richard III?My ideas so far: Contrast of…

One clear way in which kingship is presented and discussed in this play is through the presentation of the common people and their feelings and thoughts about the violence amongst the ruling…

1 educator answer

• SOCIAL SCIENCES

What is the right age to become sexually active?What is the right age for sex?

It is my opinion that there is no “right” age for a person to have sex. However, I believe that a person should not have sex unless and until he or she is able to be responsible for the possible…

6 educator answers

• GENERAL PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY TALES

The prologue functions in much the same way that the first act of a play does. What is…

The Prologue provides the frame work for the individual tales being told throughout the narrative. In this General Prologue, Chaucer outlines all the characters and briefly describes them. He also…