• JULIUS CAESAR

What is the character of Mark Anthony as revealed in Acts 3 and 4 of “Julius Caesar”?

Marc Antony, who is part of the “train” of Caesar as he victoriously enters the city of Rome in Act I, is obviously a follower of Julius Caesar. Immediatedly after the assassination, Antony…

1 educator answer

• JACK LONDON

“Fate asked to much of him” (“Love of Life”) by Jack London. What kind of figurative language is…

This use of figurative language can be seen in a few ways. One would be through the use of personification, assigning human qualities to a non- human entity. When “fate asks too much” from the…

1 educator answer

• WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

I am looking for a critical analysis of the poem “Fidele” by William Shakespeare.

The overall meaning of the poem is that there is a natural end to all human endeavors. This natural end could be death, or it could simply be the termination point for all that is done….

1 educator answer

• LITERATURE

Name a work on dignity that pertains to war/peace.Name a work on dignity that pertains to war/peace.

A rhetorical work that certainly reflects the dignity of the speaker whose topic is the potential of war in the pursuit of peace is Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention.” In this…

3 educator answers

• FRANKENSTEIN

Two quests: one of the monster seeking friendship/love, and another by Victor seeking revenge on…

Sometimes, the person who undertakes a quest gains knowledge that does not always result in a better understanding of consciousness. For example, Oedipus learns much of himself on his quest, but…

1 educator answer

• FRANKENSTEIN

What do the numerous murders and much rampant violence throughout the novel portray?Why would…

Much of Shelley’s use of violence is simply in keeping with the Gothic elements of Romanticism. Gothic works possess mysterious settings, dark deeds, and tortured souls. While many high school…

2 educator answers

• MACBETH

Help writing an eulogy for MacbethOur teacher would like us to compose a eulogy for Macbeth from…

I think you are off to a great start. I mean, your starting points are very solid in terms of its representing the point of view of someone in support of Macbeth. It’s going to be hard to dance…

2 educator answers

• FRANKENSTEIN

What does the monster’s ‘monster’ qualities and physical stature tell us about himself and the…

Good question. First, if this is your first reading of Frankenstein, you might have been surprised to discover that Frankenstein is not the monster but rather the scientist who created him….

1 educator answer

• FRANKENSTEIN

How do the constant rain/snow and winter vs. summer affect the reading of Frankenstein?Multiple…

Shelley’s use of weather or other natural elements to symbolize human emotion is a pathetic fallacy. In other words, while filmmakers, playwrights, and authors often set important scenes in…

1 educator answer

• ROMEO AND JULIET

What play does the quote, “Do you want me to bite my thumb at you sir?” come from?

I think you mean the exchange below, from the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet: ABRAHAM: Do you bite your thumb at us, sir? SAMPSON: I do bite my thumb, sir.ABRAHAM: Do you bite your thumb at…

1 educator answer

• FRANKENSTEIN

How does the symbol of fire (or possibly light too) function throughout “Frankenstein”? Quotes…

In the beginning, Robert Walton speaks, “What could not be expected in a country of eternal light?” As the book begins and ends in the Arctic (land of eternal light), the light symbolzies knowledge…

2 educator answers

• WAITING FOR GODOT

“Waiting for Godot” characterizes a mode of life in which man continues to wait merely because he…

Vladimir and Estragon, the “tramps” are the central images of waiting in Beckett’s work. Their existence in the play is predicated on waiting, meaning we only get to know them because of…

1 educator answer

• THE PEARL

What is the most important moral value a reader can learn from The Pearl?

One of the major values developed in the novel can be found in the Song of the Family, which is introduced in the beginning. It represents all that is good in Kino’s life: his wife, his child, his…

1 educator answer

• THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

Can you direct me to an analysis of “The Merchant of Venice”?my question is about an analysis to…

I think you can find much to assist you in helping you gain some more insight into Shakespeare’s work. The first source I would examine is the enotes summary of the play:…

1 educator answer

• THE CRUCIBLE

In Act I of The Crucible, what purpose is there in Miller’s introducing Rebecca Nurse in this scene?

Introducing Rebecca Nurse into the play in Act I serves several purposes. It establishes early the kindness and goodness of her character, which emphasizes the horror and injustice of the fate that…

1 educator answer

• LES MISÉRABLES

I got the book Les Miserables by Victor Hugo,but if they are the same title and author can the…

There have been many editions of this work published since 1862, and no two will have the exact same page numbers. This is often true of many books, but in the case of Les Miserables this can be…

1 educator answer

• THE DEVIL’S ARITHMETIC

Where can you get a summary of “The Devil’s Arithmetic”?

The book is a quick read. When I say this, I only indicate that Yolen writes it in a style that makes it easy to read. Hannah’s story, her initial attitudes towards her culture and her…

2 educator answers

• READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN

What are some examples of rhetorical terms that develop the story and other themes?I have to…

I think the most straight forward and direct way to approach this is to analyze different sections or scenes in the book and examine how the author drives their point home in their writing. This…

1 educator answer

• NOTES ON THE STATE OF VIRGINIA

Can someone explain the importance of Thomas Jefferson’s “Notes on the State of Virginia”?Why is…

Jefferson’s work was fairly significant for several reasons. The first was that it was a detailed and thorough analysis of Jefferson’s beloved Virginia. There is a data collection technique…

2 educator answers

• SONG OF MYSELF

What makes Walt Whitman’s poem ” Song of Myself” a special of American literature?What makes Walt…

I would suggest a couple reasons. Perhaps the most obvious is the form. Song of Myself is written in a new and unique type of free verse, in some ways closer to the cadence of the human voice…

1 educator answer

• SOLDIER’S HOME

In “The Soldier’s Home,” why can’t Krebs pray, and how does his war experience connect to his…

When Harold Krebs comes home from the war, he is a far different person from the boy who went away to fight. We can only imagine the horrors he must have seen because his experiences have affected…

1 educator answer

• A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND

Is the grandmother more of a misfit than the Misfit?I’m having trouble explaining if the…

Certainly, it appears that the Misfit, unlike the grandmother, has few delusions about himself: I call myself The Misfit…because I can’t make what all I done wrong fit what all I gone through in…

2 educator answers

• FAHRENHEIT 451

Where can we draw the line with appropriate censorship and shameless destruction of information?…

This is one of the fundamental issues raised out of Bradbury’s work. It seems that he is articulating a vision of a world where government believes that perfection, some idyll of a world, is…

6 educator answers

• THE SILKEN TENT

What does the compass represent in “The Silken Tent”?

Frost’s poem “The Silken Tent” compares an unnamed “she” to a silken tent standing in a field, which is seemingly supported by its “central cedar pole,” representing “the sureness of the soul.” In…

1 educator answer

• THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

How does Robert Frost offer his values and ideals relating to his/the world in “The Road Not…

The main theme of the poem, “The Road Not Taken,” is that human beings are confronted with and defined by the choices they make. The main idea of the poem is that the speaker is confronted with…

1 educator answer

• WILLIAM BLAKE

How does William Blake offer his values and ideals relating to his world in the poem “The Tyger”?

Blake held the radical view that “Nature is Imagination itself,” and exercise of imagination leads to wisdom and insight.” In his poem, “The Tyger,” this aesthetic philosophy permeates his lines as…

1 educator answer

• THE CHOCOLATE WAR

The president of the Vigils always played what sport in The Chocolate War?

The president of the Vigils is always a football player. The current president of the Vigils is Carter. His job is to keep order at the meetings of the secret society, and, in the small room…

1 educator answer

• GUIDE TO LITERARY TERMS

What are some kinds and examples of pronouns? Especially demonstrative pronouns? this is my…

A pronoun refers to a noun, an individual or individuals or thing or things (the pronoun’s antecedent) whose identity is made clear earlier in the text. The student finished the assignment. He…

2 educator answers

• YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN

What does Brown expect for his life and for his journey by entering the forest? What his his…

Brown has promised to meet someone, “the figure of a man, in grave and decent attire, seated at the foot of an old tree (736.) What is curious about this man is his staff, “which bore the likeness…

1 educator answer

• TRIFLES

What is the setting of Mrs. Hale’s discovery inside the sewing basket? What are her facial and…

The setting for Mrs. Hale’s discovery is the Wright’s kitchen. The men have left the women to their own devices downstairs while they go upstairs to investigate the murder scene. Of course, they…

1 educator answer

• B. WHITE

In ”Once More to the Lake,” which instances of descriptive language or sensory details best…

As you reread the essay, I think you want to pay attention to a couple of things. Look at White’s description of the lake from his point of view as a child to how he describes it now. Examine how…

1 educator answer

• TRIFLES

What are the trifles that the men ignore and the two women notice, and why does this happen?

Some of the “trifles” that the men miss are the arrangement of things in the kitchen, such as the breadbasket. The emptiness of the bird cage is another “small” thing that the men in the play, the…

2 educator answers

• LITERATURE

Why did Byron and Shelley turn against Wordsworth?

It’s a very interesting and not really examined angle that you raise here. There was a division between Wordsworth/ Coleridge and Byron/ Shelley, and to a lesser extent, Keats. Part of the reason…

1 educator answer

• REFERENCE

The development of a sense of personal identity is often a difficult process.Can this affect…

I think that the question might have to be flipped a bit to say that one’s childhood has a profound impact on one’s sense of personal identity. There are many respected scientists who study human…

5 educator answers

• THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

How does The Importance of Being Earnest depict the social actions & behavior of a highly…

Oscar Wilde’s aim in The Importance of Being Earnest is to satirize (render ridiculous through poking fun at and being witty enough to prompt the audience to laugh at) the moralistically rigid…

1 educator answer

• LITERATURE

Can anyone give me a good quote about the importance of tone when writing a novel?

Tone is the emotional meat of the story. Is the story or novel apathetic, caustic, or sad? The tone sets the whole emotional scene. If you are reading a creative piece of work and there is no…

1 educator answer

• RAY BRADBURY

Which event takes place in the rising action of the story “All Summer in a Day”? by Ray Bradbury

There are a few elements that take place as part of the rising action in “All Summer in a Day.” The first event would be the collective isolation of Margot. I think that all the acts that set out…

1 educator answer

• THE CRUCIBLE

In “The Crucible” why do Parris and Hale want John to confess to witchcraft?

The answer to this one can be found in the beginning of Act four. At the beginning of this act, several highly reputable people are set to hang: Rebecca Nurse, Martha Corey, and John Proctor….

2 educator answers

• SCIENCE

How can the disease pattern or health record be analysed in an area?Epidemiological analysis of…

Epidemiology is the study of the spread of disease, and public health doctors routinely study patterns of disease and health in various sectors of the population. One such sector is geographical,…

1 educator answer

• THE EAGLE

I am not an English speaking student, so what way would help me to find the stressed and…

Listening to poetry with metered verse and music with lyrics (other than rap, which often accentuates the wrong syllable) would probably help. Only significant exposure to a language will help your…

6 educator answers

• SCIENCE

What are the steps involved in the immune response?

There are 3 areas of defense in our immunity system. The first consists of the outer body, such as our skin. The second line of defense is our mucus membranes in the body’s orifices that secrete…

1 educator answer

• A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN

What are two things a woman needs to write successfully, according to Virginia Woolf in Chapter 3…

In Chapter Three, Woolf talks about circumstances that prevent women from being able to access and express their artistic genius: distractions and indifference. A woman’s role, by nature, is full…

1 educator answer

• LITERATURE

Who is responsible for stopping counterfeiting?Please be detail and explain and be very specific

In general, the government, or a governmental agency, bears the primary responsibility for stopping counterfeiting money. In America, for example, the United States Secret Service is the body…

1 educator answer

• THE OUTSIDERS

Are the groups in The Outsiders a subculture or a counterculture?

Great question! The greasers and the socials are both subcultures of the larger culture of high school teen-agers in their city. A subculture is by definition a smaller culture that is part of a…

2 educator answers

• PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Elizabeth says Jane is “honestly blind to the follies of others.” Wha is the irony in light of…

When Lizzie first meets Mr. Darcy she is intrigued by him. As she tries to engage him, she finds him cool and aloof. When he tells Mr. Bingley, in a conversation overheard by Lizzie, that “she is…

1 educator answer

• HISTORY

What is the story of the Trojan War?

The Trojan War erupted following the elopement of Helen of Troy with Paris, son of the King of Troy. The war itself may be based in actual events (see Magill citation, below), but the mythology…

1 educator answer

• ESSAY LAB

How can I state a thesis about “single mothers” in a argument essay?I have to write an argument…

I think that your thesis statement is having a bit of trouble because you will need to point out something distinctive and unique about single mothers that you will be proving in the course of your…

3 educator answers

• FRANKENSTEIN

“No word, no expression could body forth the kind of relation in which she stood to me–my more…

The idea conveyed in this sentence is about commitment and relationship. One of the interesting parts of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the notion of personal responsibility. As you read through…

2 educator answers

• WAITING FOR GODOT

What was the role of the tramps in “Waiting for Godot”?

Vladimir and Estragon, the “tramps” are the central images of waiting in Beckett’s work. We can then make the assumption that these characters display the best and worst aspect of…

1 educator answer

• RUDYARD KIPLING

What is so special about the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling?

The poem “If” by Kipling is considered to be a very moving and motivational poem by many. Part of the reason that the poem is considered to be so special is because it seeks to answer a…