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REFERENCE
Whether a substance is an acid or a base is dependent on its pH level. If a substance has a pH of more than 7, then it is a basic. If the pH level is lower than 7, then that substance is acidic. In…
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LITERATURE
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RELIGION
Freud’s use of the term “illusion” in regard to religion occurs in his book The Future of an Illusion (1927). In this book, Freud classed religious thought as one of the chief assets in…
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BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG
From July 1–3, 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg raged between the Union and the Confederacy in the state of Pennsylvania. After two difficult days of battle, the conclusive third day arrived. On…
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WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanathi is a work of non-fiction. Therefore most things that are referenced within it are drawn from real world experience. However, names have been changed from…
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OF MICE AND MEN
In Of Mice and Men, Slim is highly-respected by the men on the ranch. To find evidence which supports this idea, take a look at chapter 2. When the triangle sounds for dinner, for instance, notice…
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THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN
To best answer your question, I will refer to Benjamin Franklin’s journal entry “Plan of Conduct” as a guide for pondering what qualities he might have admired in the fictional Huckleberry…
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THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY
In a sense, the difference between Fortune and Providence is one’s point of view. Human beings, with a limited perspective based on living within time and seeing only a small part of the universe’s…
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THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY
Lady Philosophy tries to convince Boethius that goodness is its own reward. Bad things do indeed happen to good people, but they don’t stop being good because of that. Likewise, good things happen…
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THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY
In The Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius makes a distinction between appropriate and inappropriate desire. Examples of the latter are related to the things of this world—money, fame, power,…
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THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD
When Robin Hood comes across the foresters in the prologue, they are feasting in the forest rather than protecting the king’s lands. They are feasting like pigs as well, for they all share a huge…
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THE ODYSSEY
In Classical Greek mythology, the Underworld refers to a physical realm in which the dead’s souls existed for all eternity. Separated from the realm of the living, the underworld has several…
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THE ONES WHO WALK AWAY FROM OMELAS
“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is a short story by Ursula Le Guin that employs the common literary trope of dystopia—an overly idealistic society that has reneged or collapsed on its…
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THE VELDT
There are numerous examples of foreshadowing in “The Veldt.” Early on in the story, when George and Lydia are in the nursery, they notice that the lions are chewing on a carcass. They’re curious to…
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AMERICAN SLAVERY
In American Slavery 1619 – 1877, Peter Kolchin traces the institution of slavery in the United States from its beginnings to the Reconstruction era. In the book, Kolchin argues that slavery did…
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THE MASTER PUPPETEER
Among other things, The Master Puppeteer is a coming-of-age story. Over the course of the story, Jiro matures considerably, overcoming many obstacles and much adversity in his journey to manhood….
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THE STORY OF MY LIFE
When Helen first woke from the illness which took her senses from her, it was not apparent to either the doctor or her family that she would never see or hear again—they were just happy to know…
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MY FINANCIAL CAREER
As subsequent events demonstrate, the narrator doesn’t know much about how banks work. All he knows is that he gets incredibly nervous whenever he enters one. The clerks, the little windows, the…
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MOTHER TO SON
The speaker in Langston Hughes’ poem “Mother to Son” represents a mature woman who imparts her wisdom to her young adult child. The speaker uses the extended metaphor of a staircase to…
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A TALE OF TWO CITIES
The detail about the Dover Mail guard having a weapon on his person comes from Book 1, Chapter 2. The team of horses pulling the coach are struggling to haul the vehicle up the mud-covered Shooter…
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SCIENCE
Acceleration is defined as a rate of change of the velocity of a moving object: a⃗ =Δv⃗ Δta→=Δv→Δt Note that acceleration, like velocity, is a vector quantity. When an object moves…
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THE METAMORPHOSIS
To best answer your question, I will use the classical definition of comedy. Historically, a comedy involves a sympathetic character who achieves a happy ending. In the Shakespearean sense, a…
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FEVER 1793
The tolling of church bells often heralds the advent of a new year, the end of a war, the birth of a royal child, or some other such happy event. However, in Fever 1793, that’s sadly not the case….
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JANE EYRE
Before Jane discovers the existence of the deranged Bertha Mason, Jane believes that Grace Poole is the one responsible for all the mysterious happenings at Thornfield Hall. Grace is a middle-aged…
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IF
Rudyard Kipling’s “If” is a famous advisory poem addressed to a nameless young man. It contains many pearls of wisdom intended to help this young man realize his true potential as a strong and…
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ONE CRAZY SUMMER
Cecile makes a point of never calling her youngest daughter, Fern, by her name. She wanted to call her Afua, but she was overruled by her husband and Big Ma. From that day on, she’s insisted on…
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SONNET 29
The speaker in this sonnet is in a low state of mind to begin with. His attitude to life is to “beweep” whatever has led to his “disgrace” in the eyes of both fortune and other people; he is…
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ROMEO AND JULIET
When Romeo first lays eyes on Juliet at the Capulet ball, he’s immediately transfixed. If there was ever a case of love at first sight, this is it. More than anything, Romeo is drawn to Juliet’s…
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HISTORY
There were a number of political and religious rivalries in Europe at this time that caused quite a bit of turmoil. Let’s look at what caused some of the major ones. There had been attempts to…
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THE STORY OF MY LIFE
Helen suffers a panic upon leaping into the sea at Cape Cod, an expedition she describes in Chapter 10 of her memoir. Helen had read a description of the ocean in a book and had developed a longing…
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A. E. HOUSMAN
In these two lines, Housman is using both allusion and metaphor to describe the nature of early athleticism. In referring to the “laurel,” he is alluding to the practice in the Classical world of…
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RICHARD WRIGHT
Richard Wright’s “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” doesn’t explicitly deal with race, but as with all of Wright’s work, it is important to view Dave’s story through the lens of a racial…
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GOD SEES THE TRUTH, BUT WAITS
“God Sees the Truth, But Waits” is the story of a man, Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov, who is imprisoned in Siberia for over twenty years for a crime he did not commit. He tries to make the best of his…
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CHAINS
In Chains The Great New York City Fire of 1776 is presented accurately as a humanitarian disaster of epic proportions. Scores were killed or injured, creating a lingering stench of burning flesh in…
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JANE EYRE
When Mrs Fairfax shows Jane up to the third story of Thornfield Hall, Jane observes that many pieces of furniture are of older fashions, as if they had been removed to the third story once they…
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INVISIBLE MAN
This incident happens at the beginning of Chapter VI. When Mrs Hall enters the room in which the stranger has been staying, the bedclothes pulled themselves together, leaped off the bed in “a sort…
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THE SUMMER OF THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE HORSE
In the story, John Byro is the owner of the horse that Mourad and Aram have stolen. One day, as the boys are making their way to a deserted vineyard, they come across John Byro. After saying good…
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THE MONKEY’S PAW
Mr. White is a conservative married man, who is content in life but has relatively reckless tendencies. He is also the father of Herbert and is a friend of Sergeant-Major Morris. When…
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A DEVOTED SON
Rakesh is a brilliant medical student. He didn’t just graduate at the top of his class; he finished ahead of every other medical student in India. Having earned his degree, Rakesh heads off for the…
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LORD OF THE FLIES
In the story, the boys encounter a wild piglet at the end of Chapter One. The encounter with the piglet is indeed a significant moment in the chapter. It is the first time the boys are faced with…
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PRIVATE LIVES
We’re already told the location of the play in the introductory stage notes—”Act One: The Terrace of a Hotel in France. Summer evening.” However, even if we overlook the stage notes, we can still…
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THE VAGABOND
The vagabond rather enjoys his life of wandering the highways and byways. It’s a simple life being out in the open air; all the vagabond’s needs are catered for by Mother Nature. If he wants food,…
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FAHRENHEIT 451
Unlike Millie, over whose death Montag feels nothing, Granger’s grandfather contributed in concrete ways to society. He was sculptor who carved wood, he helped clean up the slums, he raised doves…
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THE DRAGON CAN’T DANCE
The Dragon Can’t Dance is a novel by Earl Lovelace set in Calvary Hill, a slum area on the island of Trinidad. The story presents snapshots of postcolonial life through the eyes of a group of…
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THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN
Rowdy flips out on Junior because he thinks that Junior has betrayed him. In the book, Junior and Rowdy are best friends. However, when Junior announces that he will be attending the Reardan high…
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LOUISE GLÜCK
Louise Gluck’s poem “The Mountain” begins, ”My students look at me expectantly.” Of course, this creates expectation in the reader. What do the students (and reader) expect? The next line…
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BARTLEBY THE SCRIVENER, A TALE OF WALL STREET
One could certainly argue that the titular character in Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener: A Tale of Wall Street” is representative of the alienation of modern life. Bartleby works…
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BARTLEBY THE SCRIVENER, A TALE OF WALL STREET
Herman Melville was required to take on many mundane jobs, as his career as an author failed to ever launch him into much success during his lifetime. The character of Bartleby, however, does more…
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BARTLEBY THE SCRIVENER, A TALE OF WALL STREET
The simple answer is that we don’t know for sure. It would require Bartleby’s examination by a trained professional to settle the matter once and for all. However, there seems little doubt that the…
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THE GREAT GATSBY
I absolutely find the major themes and attitudes of the book to be relevant today, almost a hundred years after its publication. Fitzgerald conveys the idea that the American Dream—the notion…