What accomplishments did Bill Clinton have as president?

Of course, Bill Clinton's presidency will be most clearly
remembered for the fact that he was only the second president ever to be impeached. 
However, you can argue that Clinton did have some accomplishments as
president.

Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of the
Clinton years was the reform of the welfare system.  Clinton (with Congressional
Republicans) changed the welfare system to encourage more people to work rather than
stay on welfare.  Clinton also presided over a boom in the economy that led to the
federal government actually running a surplus.

In foreign
policy, Clinton's biggest accomplishments had to do with peacemaking.  Clinton helped
broker an agreement between the various parties in the wars in the former
Yugoslavia.

What are some main features of the literature of the English Renaissance?

The so-called “Renaissance” in English literature is often
dated from the beginnings of the sixteenth century and is often considered to have ended
around 1660, when the English monarchy was restored (an event known as “the
Restoration). The word “renaissance” means “rebirth,” and in this case it mainly refers
to a rebirth of interest in the writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Of course,
interest in their works and ideas had never died during the Middle Ages, but a new
interest in them became particularly intense in Italy during the fourteenth century and
then eventually spread throughout Europe. Among various common characteristics of
English Renaissance literature are the
following:

1. An attempt to see (or make)
   connections between the writings and ideas of the pagan Greeks and Romans and
   contemporary Christian ideas. In fact, the chief project of the Renaissance might be
   seen as an effort to find (or assert) the relevance to Christians of ancient thinkers
   and their texts. Christians believed that their religion gave them access, through
   scripture and through study of the so-called “book of nature” (God’s creation) to the
   Truth (with a capital T). However, they also recognized that the ancient Greeks and
   Romans had already discovered a great deal of truth, even though they were not
   Christians. Yet any truth was, by very definition, compatible with Christianity, since
   Christianity was the very essence of Truth. Therefore, any truth discovered by the
   Greeks and Romans could (and must) be reconciled with Christian truth. The fact that the
   pagans, merely by using their God-given gift of reason, had discovered so much truth,
   and the fact that that truth was compatible with Christianity, made Christianity seem
   (in the eyes of Renaissance Christians) all the more
   credible.


2. An intense interest in finding the real value
   (which often meant the spiritual value) of life as it was lived on this earth rather
   than the life lived in the other-worldly realm of heaven. In other words, rather than
   focusing on the afterlife as especially important and feeling absolute contempt for the
   natural world (contemptus mundi), people in the Renaissance often
   found much to appreciate and interest them in their time on earth, even though they
   fully recognized that time on earth was very brief and was ultimately not of crucial
   importance.


3. A growing interest in nationalism, including
   the development of particular national languages. Whereas earlier Christians had tried
   to think of all Christians as part of an all-encompassing “Christendom,” Christians in
   the Renaissance were more likely to take pride in the achievements of their own nations,
   including their own national languages. Whereas Latin had once been (and still was, to
   some degree) the common, shared language of educated people in Europe, increasingly the
   people of different nations (such as Italy, Spain, France, and England) began to write
   literary works in their national languages.
   

For a superb and accessible overview of these
issues and many others, see Isabel Rivers, Classical and Christian Ideas in
English Renaissance Poetry: A Students’s Guide, 2nd ed. (London: Routledge,
1994).

Describe what leads Biff to realize the truth about himself in "Death of a Salesman."please answer by tuesday 5/10 2011 thank u

There are several events which lead to Biff's ultimate
discovery of the farce that is his life. They stem from the fantasies propelled by his
father, Willy Loman. Since Willy thinks of himself as a successful salesperson living,
or almost nearing, the American Dream, he naturally bestows upon his children the idea
that they are just as successful, and that success is easily attained by simply being
well-liked.

That alone is one of the worst paradigms of
Biff's life. During his younger years, he would continuously use his talent in sports to
belittle others and do self-serving behaviors, however wrong they might have been. As an
adult, Biff still carries on with the same self-serving behaviors that were never
corrected in him as a child: Lying, stealing compulsively, and creating fantasies in his
head.

Growing up, Biff followed his
father's strongest fantasy: That, one day, he would easily be a college football
champion, that he would enter college, and that he would never have any troubles in
life. Unfortunately for Biff he flunks Math in his Senior year of high school, loses his
chance to go to college, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. When he goes to
seek moral support from his father, by visiting him in Boston, he finds out that Willy
has been leading a double life:He has a mistress whom he treats better than he does his
own wife, Biff's mother.

This is a major event. Biff's
image of his seemingly-almighty, protective, and loyal father goes straight to the
ground. Along with it also went his own dreams, as they are an extension of
Willy's fantasies. Slowly but surely, Biff reduces his potential to the minimum while
still perpetuating the absurd hope (perhaps inherited from Willy) that he is close to
"making it big" in business someday.

Yet, the final blow
comes when even this idea comes crashing down. In hopes of solidifying his affirmation
that he will create a partnership with his brother, Biff actually has the nerve to go
ask a former boss, Bill Oliver, to loan him ten thousand dollars. All his life Biff has
led himself to believe that he and Oliver were partners. In fact, Biff was insistent in
that Oliver would welcome his request. But when Oliver did not even recognize Biff, he
gets the final blow to his ego: He realizes that he has never been Oliver's partner, but
just a shipping clerk in the company.

This is the event
that directly prompts Biff to declare that all his life had been an illusion. He decides
to tell his father, and Happy prevents it. Yet, Biff carries on and, during the
restaurant scene, he openly declared that all that they believed in was a fake. As we
know, Willy would not accept this. Yet Biff realizes finally that he needs to move away
from the self-deception and open up to new horizons.

Discuss the various roles played by nature in The Last of the Mohicans.

Nature plays a significant role in James Fenimore
Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans. In fact, the setting of the
entire novel is the natural landscape of the New World. Cooper depicts nature as wild,
mysterious, untamed, dynamic, violent, destructive, and inescapable. He also tries to
present a contrast between nature and civilization, and, as we shall see, his preference
is definitely the “Nature”. The characters like Hawkeye, Uncas, Chingachgook and Magua
have a deep understanding of the nature and the landscape of the New World as compared
to the Englishmen. The Englishmen are not used to the kind of troubles that the hostile,
unfriendly land brings to them back to back. We also know that the French men are
privileged in the war as compared to Englishmen because they have the support of
American Indians (who have a native knowledge about the natural landscape). Characters
like Heyward, Alice and Cora seem to be helpless and troubled because of their limited
knowledge about nature. Magua easily cheats and misguides them in the forest. Colonel
Munroe’s sophisticated methods of fighting are of no use in the forest. He must take the
help of Hawkeye, Uncas and Chingachgook to free Alice and Cora. Hence, "Nature" plays a
very powerful and destructive role in The Last of the Mohicans. On
a metaphoric level, this novel talks about the invasion of natural landscape of the New
World by the civilized Europeans as unfavorable. Nature, in this way, is represented as
pure and uncorrupted.

In The Great Gatsby, describe the condition of George Wilson the night he learns about Myrtle's accident.Chapter 8

George Wilson is described as being rather disturbed in
Chapter Eight after the sudden and violent death of his wife. He is described as rocking
himself back and forth on a couch, and then we are told that he engages in "incoherent
muttering." As Michaelis tries to distract him, ironically by talking about his wife, it
is clear that George is piecing togther the bits of the jigsaw that lead him to the
conclusion that Myrtle's death was deliberate and done by the man she was having an
affair with. Note the following description:

readability="6">

Then the same half-knowing, half-bewildered look
came back into his faded
eyes.

George is therefore
clearly disturbed, not just by his wife's death, but also by his suspicions that she was
having an affair and that he probably could find out who killed her. Michaelis himself
says that George is "morbid" and overburdened with his
suspicions.

Please explain what is the primary theme of The Woman Warrior written by Maxine Hong Kingston.

In Maxine Hong Kingston's story, The Woman
Warrior, the primary theme of the story deals with a woman's place—her search
for identity and self—in Chinese culture, and later in the American culture (two
very different worlds).

In Part One, a
tragedy surrounds an aunt in China who was not just "dead" to the
family, but ignored as if she had never lived, recounting the circumstances of a woman
in "the old country." Whereas America provides more flexibility in terms of how one
leads his or her life, there is no such thing in China during Kingston's mother's life.
The social order was to be respected, and if one breached the conduct of that order,
especially a woman, society would do what it believed was necessary to correct
it.

In this case, the villagers go into the aunt's house
and destroy it. When the aunt is ready to give birth, she must do it in a pigsty. The
aunt's shame and sense of isolation are so overwhelming, that she drowns herself and her
baby in a well. The family further "punishes" the aunt, even though being dead means she
is beyond caring, by not mourning her death, but by pretending she never
lived.

Part Two also deals with a woman's place. The author
recalls the story of Mu Lan, a woman who becomes a great warrior. Kingston imagines what
that kind of life would have been like in China. Her academic endeavors in America pale
by comparison, especially in the face of the pain she
experiences...

readability="5">

...when she hears her parents say that girls are
worthless.

In this section,
Kingston is searching for her identity and a sense of
self-worth.

Part Three is the tale of Kingston's mother,
Brave Orchid, who was a strong woman—a healer. However, in America she can no longer
practice healing, and we see that her power as a woman in a Chinese world has been taken
from her, another theme dealing with the plight of women and their sense of
identity.

Part Four is about Moon Orchid, Brave Orchid's
sister. Her power as a woman comes from her husband. She has been
left in China while he went to America. Brave Orchid brings her sister to America, but
she cannot work so they confront the husband—who has married a younger woman. While the
husband promises money, the truth of his infidelity drives Moon Orchid insane, and she
is placed in an asylum. The strength of a woman, this section suggests, must come from
within and not be dependent upon a man.

The final section
addresses the voice of a woman in her culture, especially in the Chinese culture, as
opposed to the American culture. This section speaks of Ts'ai Yen, a Chinese poetess,
who was captured by the Barbarians, but was able to assimilate into their culture
through music. When she returns to China...

readability="6">

...she brought the song for the Barbarian reed
pipe back with her, and it translated
well.

The message here speaks
to a woman's ability to survive if she is willing to work with what life gives her and
find her own truth rather than one thrust upon her. In this, the
sense of the indomitable woman is again seen, supporting the idea that the primary theme
of this book is about women surviving on their own terms, how difficult it is to do in
China as opposed to America, and what opportunities America offers to women who would be
"free" if they can only honor who they are and be proud of the woman
within.

What are the two most important themes John Steinbeck presents in Of Mice and Men?

It is difficult to be certain of the two most important
themes in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men because there are
several that are extremely meaningful. This question is subjective, so this is what
I think.

The first theme I find
central to the story is Idealism vs Reality. The second that
strikes a chord with me is Friendship. (Others that are central to
the story as well are: loyalty, mental disability, class conflict, alienation and
loneliness, and race and racism.)

"Idealism and Reality"
can be seen in the plans that Lenny and George make about having their own place. This,
during the Great Depression, when so many people were disenfranchised, becomes their
American Dream: to have a place of one's own without the need for be forever moving from
one place to another without the ability to put down
roots.

For Lenny, the idea of having a place to raise
rabbits is his one goal in life: for George has promised that he can care for the
rabbits. For George, it is a dream of staying in one place and not having to be fearful
of trouble Lennie might get into which would force them to move on. It also allows him
to dream of a life where he works for himself rather than someone
else.

Having such a spread is idealism on the men's part.
Crooks, the black stable hand, is quick to point out the foolishness of their
dream:

Nobody
never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It's just in their head. They're all the
time talkie' about it, but it's jus' in their
head.

However, the reality is
that being able to afford such a home requires money which comes from work. Work during
the Depression is hard to find, and it seems that the dream may never come true,
especially after Lennie accidentally kills Curley's
wife.

The second theme is "friendship." George promised
Lennie's aunt, as she was dying, that he would take care of Lennie who has a mental
disability. A tall man, Lennie is unaware of his own strength, and sometimes acts
inappropriately. George is forever correcting him, yelling at him, warning him, and
watching out for Lennie. Lennie depends a great deal on George and tries his best to
listen to what George tells him to do, when he can remember. George
is Lennie's only friend, and George gets impatient with Lennie, but also seems to
sincerely care about him. It is difficult in many ways to separate "friendship" from
"loyalty," as both men are extremely loyal to each other. When Lennie kills Curley's
wife, it is George who knows he must kill Lennie. Lennie has the heart and soul of a
child, and George wants to spare him the horror of being caught, beaten, and most likely
lynched or shot. This is very difficult for George, but his friendship with Lennie
requires him to do what he can for the man he has traveled with for so long. So he tells
Lennie to imagine the home they will one day have together: it is then that he kills
Lennie. George provides the most compassionate death he can rather than have Lennie face
the brutality of the men pursuing Lennie who could never understand
his mental deficiency.

Hope is something the two men share,
and allows them...

readability="6">

to...dream, but the reality of their brutal life
destroys the dream and the
friendship.