Notes

Interesting question! In the book My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, Sam owns and takes care of a falcon named Frightful. After finding and capturing Frightful, Sam takes care of the bird. He provides food and shelter for her. For example, after killing a rabbit, Sam feeds Frightful some of the more delicious parts of the rabbit from Frightful’s perspective.   Sam gives Frightful the brain, liver, and the heart. As the text reveals: “Here I dressed down the rabbit and fed Frightful some of the more savory bites from a young falcon’s point of view: the liver, the heart, the brain.” While Sam feeds her, he feels a sense of happiness. Although Sam does not have much human companionship in the wilderness, Frightful offers Sam happiness and companionship throughout the book. Thus, Sam takes care of his falcon named Frightful. For example, he feeds Frightful parts of a rabbit that are especially tasty to young falcons. Consequently, he feels a sense of happiness and eventuall...

There are two main things that were happening in the 1960s that caused anxiety in the United States.  One of these was the Cold War.  The other was widespread, fundamental change in society. Particularly in the early 1960s, the Cold War was a major source of anxiety for people in the United States.  As the decade opened, Cuba was just becoming communist.  By 1962, it was firmly in the Soviet camp and the Soviets placed nuclear missiles on the island.  This led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.  At roughly the same time, a crisis was brewing over the status of Berlin.  This eventually led to the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961.  Later in the decade, the Cold War caused the Vietnam War to come about.  Though this war did not seem to pose as much of a threat to the US as the missiles in Cuba or the possibility of direct war against the Soviets over Berlin, it still caused anxiety.  Throughout the 1960s, there was anxiety in the United States about the Cold War and the potential spread of c...

It was in 1934 that Hitler assumed the title of fuhrer. This came as a result of the death of President Hindenburg on August 2, prompting Hitler (who was already the Chancellor of Germany) to take power. He abolished the title of 'president' and instead declared himself the Fuhrer of the German Reich and people. Remember that Hitler does not renounce his chancellorship when he becomes the fuhrer: he simply combines the two offices. This is unprecedented in German history.   The assumption of this title signals the end of the Weimar Republic in Germany and of democracy, more generally. In its place, the Third Reich begins with Hitler's Nazi dictatorship. Over the next few years, Hitler uses his new powers to erode the civil liberties of Germany's Jewish population and to raise the general levels of antisemitism. He also hosts the Olympic Games in 1936 as a means of promoting Nazism on the world stage.

John and Nick have a lot of similarities. They are both narrators and major characters in their respective stories, for one. Interestingly, though, they are also both a bit on the periphery of the action. Nick is an outsider from the other characters, as he continues to live a moderate life (financially, anyway) and claims to hold Midwestern values while the Eastern characters live lavish, careless existences. Characters are always introducing Nick to people and confiding in him, but Nick himself doesn't do a whole lot to drive the plot and action. Similarly, John comes across as the only sane character in  Cat's Cradle , often standing off to the side to allow the eccentricities of the others to shine. Consider Chapter 43, where, after a bit of background information, John simply asks a question and allows Crosby go on and on about his philosophy, putting his "barn-yard clownishness" on full display. Additionally, both narrators act as a reader surrogates, introducin...

The occupants of the Secret Annex were discovered on August 4, 1944, when SS sergeant Karl Josef Silberbauer and three members of the Security Police arrested the Franks, van Daans (real name, van Pels), and Mr. Dussel (real name, Fritz Pfeffer), as well as Victor Kugler and Johannes Kleiman. All that is ultimately known about the betrayal is that someone contacted the German Security Police to inform them that Jews were hiding in the warehouse. There is still no definitive answer as to who betrayed the occupants, although several suspects have emerged. Some believe that Mr. van Maaren, the warehouse manager who had often behaved suspiciously and set up traps around the warehouse to see if there were intruders, was responsible. Others believe it was Tonny Ahlers, a violent anti-Semite, who turned them in. Still others believe that Lena van Bladeren-Hartog, a woman who worked as a cleaner whose husband was employed at the warehouse, let this information slip. Regardless of who actually ...

Ghana is a poor country by global standards, but not compared to many of its neighbors in Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, their economy has been growing fairly rapidly lately; per capita GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) has grown almost 50% in the last decade, about 4% per year. They have recently undergone debt forgiveness and a currency redenomination that seem to have yielded significant benefits. Their government is moderately democratic, which is very good by African standards. Ghana has a relatively strong manufacturing base, but it has been too focused on import substitution instead of exports; that needs to change. Historically, the way countries such as Korea and Japan have lifted themselves from Third World to near First World status has been by manufacturing for export, starting with relatively low-tech goods such as textiles and then rising into higher levels of technology such as electronics.  Eventually they reach the level of full high-tech capital-intensive manufactur...

I have an example of how the actions of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches have impacted public school teachers in Wisconsin. In 2011, the Governor announced he wanted to curtail the ability of most public-sector workers, including teachers, to collectively bargain. The Republican-controlled legislature passed a law that curtailed the ability of most public-sector workers to bargain collectively. This allowed the employers to determine wages, benefits, and most working conditions without having to negotiate them. When this law was appealed in court, it reached the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. By a 4-3 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that this law, which was known as Act 10, was constitutional. The law impacted many public school teachers. Many teachers lost seniority rights, had benefit packages reduced, lost input on workplace rules, and saw their salaries either cut, frozen, or grow much slower. This led to a significant number of teacher retirements in Wisconsin betwe...

When Ralph and Piggy first meet, Ralph makes fun of his nickname but this is relatively harmless. Jack is the first one to really intimidate others and he starts with Piggy. Jack yells at him simply for trying to get all the boys' names correct. He says "Shut up, Fatty" and the boys erupt with laughter. Piggy feels like an outcast:  A storm of laughter arose and even the tiniest child joined in. For the moment the boys were a closed circuit of sympathy with Piggy outside: he went very pink, bowed his head and cleaned his glasses again.  At the end of the chapter, Jack hesitates when he has the chance to kill a pig. All three boys (Ralph, Jack, and Simon) are terrified at the thought of the violence in killing another living thing. "They were left looking at each other and the place of terror." After this, Jack insists that he will not hesitate the next time. He is embarrassed that he missed his opportunity to prove to himself and to the others that he is hunter....

In Chapter 11, we get a glimpse of what the relationship between the Fury (in reality, the Fuhrer, Adolph Hitler) and Eva (his blond companion) is like. Accordingly, Adolph Hitler (or the Fury) has invited himself to dinner at Bruno's home. Both Bruno's father and mother are very anxious to please their very important guest, as all their lives are dependent upon following the Fury's orders to the letter. When the Fury and his blond companion arrive, Bruno notices that the Fury is far shorter than his father and that he has a tiny mustache. Meanwhile, Bruno thinks that Eva, the Fury's companion, is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen in his life. As a guest, the Fury is rude and insensitive; he is awkward in his interactions with the children and is abrupt in his dealings with everyone. On the other hand, Eva is pleasant and adept at making conversation with the young children. As the chapter progresses, we see that the Fury is equally dismissive of his companion; ...

Although immigration to the United States began much earlier, the founding of the nation happened in the late 18th century. The major factor of the founding of the United States was the conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763. It was during this period that the British attempted to recoup losses from the war by strictly enforcing tax policies. The years of the war (1756-1763) saw the English stepping back from the colonies and allowing them a certain degree of autonomy. As a result, the thirteen colonies developed their own government systems and prospered because of their economic freedoms. Colonial leadership did not appreciate increased British presence and taxation and rebelled against British rule. They declared their independence from England in 1776 and concluded their military engagement with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. All the grievances the colonists had with England were outlined in the Declaration of Independence (1776). Taxation without representation in the Parlia...

There were many events in the Civil Rights Movement that had a great impact on the United States. One of those events was the Montgomery Bus Boycott. African-Americans in Montgomery were protesting the arrest of Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat in the section of the bus reserved for African-Americans. African-Americans refused to ride the buses until the segregation law was changed. This boycott lasted 381 days. This event was significant because it showed African-Americans were determined to bring about changes in the South regarding segregation, no matter how long it took or how inconvenient it was for them. Eventually, the Civil Rights Act of 1963 was passed ending segregation in public places. Another major event was the Selma March on Bloody Sunday. This march was supposed to be a peaceful march from Selma to Birmingham to protest the lack of African-Americans that were registered to vote in Selma. When the police responded by attacking the peaceful m...

The answer to your question is found in chapter two of Natalie Babbitt's  Tuck Everlasting.  Angus Tuck is smiling because he is having a good dream.   He snored gently, and for a moment the corners of his mouth turned upward in a smile. Tuck almost never smiled except in sleep. A few moments later, Angus Tuck tells his wife, Mae, that he was having the good dream about being in Heaven.   "I was having that dream again, the good one where we're all in heaven and never heard of Treegap." The reason that Tuck thinks that being dead and in heaven would be so great is because it is something that will never happen to him.  Tuck is an immortal, and he became that way by drinking from a magical spring in the Treegap forest. More than anything else, Angus Tuck wishes that he could die.  By being able to die, he would be truly living.   "If I knowed how to climb back on the wheel, I'd do it in a minute. You can't have living without dying. So you can't call i...

A tragic hero starts out as generally a decent person who is powerful and high-ranking in his society. Because of a tragic flaw or flaws, and the actions that he takes as a result of his flaws, the tragic hero falls (often he dies at the end of the play, but this is not always the case). The tragic hero does evoke the audience's sympathy and pity at certain points in the tragedy, and he is human (flawed), so he exhibits fear. Although he may briefly protest his fate, he eventually comes to accept it. We can see Macbeth exhibit many of the qualities of the tragic hero in Shakespeare's  Macbeth . At the start of the play, Macbeth is a respected thane and battle commander. After the battle in Act I, scene ii, Macbeth is promoted by King Duncan, with whom he seems to have a strong relationship. Once Macbeth is told by the witches that he will one day be King, however, he becomes excessively ambitious, and in the beginning of Act II, he has already murdered Duncan and ascended to th...

In Paul Fleischman's novel Seedfolks,  Ana is the second character introduced. Her character vignette is only five pages long. Ana is an older woman and doesn't plant anything in the garden. Her role in the story is that of a watcher and one who can chronicle the many changes in the neighborhood over the years. Following are some quotes that show her character traits.   "I do love to sit and look out the window. Why do I need a TV when I have forty-eight apartment windows to watch across the vacant lot, and a sliver of Lake Erie? I've seen history out this window. So much."  This is the opening line in Ana's character vignette. From this, we understand that she is an observer, that she has a long history in the neighborhood, and that she lives in the apartments that overlook the vacant lot where the garden will be established. In the following quote, Ana describes the neighborhood. "This has always been a working class neighborhood. It's like a cheap ...

There are numerous incidents and quotes in Shakespeare’s Hamlet to which we can point as potential proof that Hamlet is mad. In the first act, after his father’s ghost tells Hamlet he has been murdered and asks him to avenge him, Hamlet returns to Horatio and Marcellus, who ask how things went with the ghost. Hamlet becomes defensive, claiming they will spread any news he shares, and despite the fact they say they will not, Hamlet tells them to go about their own business, and he will go pray. They respond, “These are but wild and whirling words, my lord” (1.5.127-134). They are essentially telling Hamlet he is not making sense. Later, Ophelia, the woman Hamlet (supposedly) loves, tells Polonius that Hamlet badly frightened her when he with his doublet all unbraced; No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle; Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other; And with a look so piteous in purport As if he had been loosed out of hell To sp...

If you are maximizing output for fixed cost or minimizing cost for fixed output (there is a duality that makes these two optimization problems equivalent), the price you pay for a given amount of marginal product will be the same. So if they were maximizing profit, they would be paying the same rate for marginal product of capital as for marginal product of labor. I can prove this using a Lagrangian; I will as a sort of "appendix" below. If that's too advanced for what you're familiar with, just don't worry about that appendix and take it as given that price of marginal product should be equal for maximizing profit. But they are not; they have too much labor, not enough capital. Since their marginal product of labor is 40 units per day, for which they are paying a wage w of $20 per day, this is how much they're paying for marginal product of labor: w/MPL = 20/40 = $0.50 per unit Since their marginal product of capital is 120 units per day, for which they are p...

Atticus addresses Mayella as "Miss Mayella" when she is on the witness stand for the trial of Tom Robinson. He also says "Ma'am" when he has not heard something, or pretends he has not heard so that she will repeat herself. When Atticus cross-examines Mayella Ewell, he is very polite and acts professionally. Nevertheless, Mayella feels affronted by Atticus's politeness. She complains to Atticus that she "Won't answer a word you say long as you keep on mockin' me." When Judge Taylor tells her that Mr. Finch is not making fun of her, she looks from under hooded eyes at Atticus and repines to the judge, "Long's he keeps on callin' me ma'am an sayin' Miss Mayella. I don't hafta take his sass, I ain't called upon to take it." Judge Taylor assures Mayella that Mr. Finch is always courteous to everyone: "He is not trying to mock you. He's trying to be polite. That's just his way." Scout wonders w...

Neutralization Reactions A neutralization reaction occurs when an acid and a base react to form water and a salt:     HA + BOH -> `~H_2O` + BA Neutralization reactions are also double replacement reactions. H and OH combine to form water. B and A combine to form a salt. A  salt  is an ionic compound. Bases Bases can be defined as substances that increase the concentration of `~OH^-` ions when added to water:     BOH -> `~B^` + `~OH^-` Since KOH would increase the concentration of `~OH^-` ions when added to water, we can conclude that KOH is a base:     KOH -> `~K^+` + `~OH^-` When KOH reacts with an acid (HCl), it produces water and a salt as follows:    KOH + HCl -> `~H_2O` + KCl KCl would be the salt in this reaction. Therefore, KOH reacts with an acid to form salt and water .