Notes

Nothing But the Truth by Avi is a book written from several points of view, where each person tells a different "truth." The main character, Philip, decides his English teacher, Miss Narwin, does not like him because she gives him poor grades and has high expectations for his work, so in trying to get out of her class, he disrupts her homeroom class by humming the "National Anthem." The rules clearly state that students should "stand at respectful, silent attention" during the playing of the anthem, but when Miss Narwin sends Philip to the assistant principal's office for being disruptive, Phil tells the AP that Miss Narwin just does not like him. Later, this becomes fodder for the newspaper, which accuses Miss Narwin of stifling Philip's patriotism. Miss Narwin never really follows up by calling Philip's parents or getting her truth across to the newspaper reporter, and in the end, she resigns and Philip does not get to run track due to his g...

I would classify the overall conflict as character vs. society, because Mathilde’s issue is that she is not wealthy.  She wants to be upper class.  She wants to be what she feels she was born to be.  She has an innate feeling that she was designed to be better than she is.  She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans. She had no marriage portion, no expectations, no means of getting known, understood, loved, and wedded by a man of wealth and distinction …  Mathilde sees her birth as an accident of fate, but this is because she was born into a class-conscious society.  She has been told by society that she is worth less because of her low birth.  She wants to be valued, so she wants to be rich.  If Mathilde had not desired to rise above her class, if just for one night, she never would have been in that situation. "I'm utterly miserable at not having any jewels, not a single stone, to wear," she repl...

Sodium and potassium metals are kept in kerosene or in dry mineral oil.  Both of these metals are in Group 1 on the periodic table.  All metals in that group are very reactive with water, including moisture in the atmosphere.  You may have seen videos where people have thrown chunks of sodium metal into bodies of water.  Potassium reacts even more violently.   The reaction proceeds as follows (I've used sodium in the example, but it could be any of the Group 1 metals): 2Na(s) + 2H2O(l) --> 2NaOH(aq) + H2(g) As you can see above, hydrogen gas is formed during the reaction.  In more explosive reactions (potassium, rubidium, and caesium), enough heat may be created that the hydrogen gas catches fire. In fact, caesium explodes when exposed to water. In summary, these metals are stored in kerosene because kerosene contains no water and protects these metals from being exposed to any moisture in the air that would cause these metals to react, potentially violently.

Johannes Gutenberg's printing press, invented around 1440 in the midst of the Renaissance, gave people more access to written literature, including religious texts and political pamphlets. Previously, literacy had been limited to members of the clergy, the aristocracy, and members of the merchant class. The printing press expanded the possibilities for people who had not previously had opportunities to learn to read. The Protestant Reformation would not have happened without the printing press. In 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church. His list of grievances against the indulgences of the Catholic Church was soon published and distributed as a result of the printing press. Gutenberg's press also allowed for the Bible to be printed and distributed for private use. Previously, worshipers were beholden to clergymen to explain to them what the Bible said and what Scripture meant. Now, Christians were able to read the Bible for themselv...

There are many examples of lines that foreshadow the deaths of these characters. Of course, the play's prologue tells us that fate dooms these "star-cross'd lovers" but the play text itself contains many more subtle examples of foreshadowing.  The link provided offers some examples, and I have included some additional ones here. Some examples are as follows: When Juliet says "Parting is such sweet sorrow" in the balcony scene, this can be seen as a foreshadowing quite early on that the lovers will be separated; it also somewhat parallels the scene where they spend their first night together and their reluctance to part the next morning. Romeo also says to Juliet earlier in the balcony scene: "Life were better ended by thy hate, than death prorogued, wanting of thy love." Here he is speaking to the hatred of Romeo's family by Juliet's family, even though he knows Juliet wishes to overlook the feud that keeps them apart. Later in the play, wh...

Romantic poetry was written by European and American poets beginning around the turn of the nineteenth century and lasting till approximately mid-century. As a literary movement, Romanticism was a reaction against what preceded it, Neoclassicism, and the more rational ideas of the Enlightenment. Romantic poetry idealized Nature, man's imagination, emotions, intuitive ways of gaining knowledge, spirituality, the supernatural, and an appreciation for history. Approaches to the subject of poems tend to be subjective rather than objective, and adherence to established forms and metrical regularity is common. Many of the more well-known Romantic poems were British, such as Blake, Wordsworth, Keats, and Shelley. American Romantics include Whitman, Dickinson, Longfellow, Holmes, and Whittier. Ralph Waldo Emerson and other Transcendentalists are also considered Romantics, and Poe is noted for his particular interest in the Gothic.

Nag hides in the bathroom in order to ambush and kill the man of the house.   By this point in the story, Rikki-tikki has proven that he is a threat to Nag, Nagaina, and their eggs. He killed Karait and successfully dodged an attack from behind. Both instances show Rikki-tikki is a threatening, quick predator. Nag and Nagaina need a way to get rid of Rikki-tikki. Their plan involves killing the people in the house. They both believe that the threat that Rikki-tikki is to them will go away once the people are killed. Nagaina believes Rikki-tikki will be easier to hunt with no people around. "Go in quietly, and remember that the big man who killed Karait is the first one to bite. Then come out and tell me, and we will hunt for Rikki-tikki together." Nag believes that Rikki-tikki will simply leave of his own volition if the house is devoid of people.   "I will kill the big man and his wife, and the child if I can, and come away quietly. Then the bungalow will be empty, and ...