How does Steinbeck develop the character of George throughout Of Mice and Men?

George's development is going to be throughout the novel
because he is one of the primary characters in Steinbeck's work.  If you are looking for
specific areas where his character is enhanced and "fleshed out" in great detail, pay
attention to George's conversation with Slim helps to form much of chapter 3.  The
discussion between the two men is one of the first significant moments where George
talks about himself and how he feels responsible for Lennie as well as his own
background.  Pay also close attention to how Steinbeck describes Slim as a priest in
this setting.  This helps to emphasize how George really does not open to anyone and
when he does it is a moment where much is revealed.  George is shown to be a character
that balances the demands of real world, and its propensity to deny dreams, with his own
visions of dreams that allow a transformative vision of reality to present itself.  It
is here where George is further developed in that he really wishes to embrace the world
of dreams, but is constantly undercut by the demands of a real world condition that
forces him to look out for others and put his own aspirations on
hold.

What is the symbol of the searchlight in A Streetcar Named Desire?Blanche: "I’d suddenly said--“I saw! I know! You disgust me” And then the...

I think that the issue of light is a larger element in the
statement.  Blanche is a character who is afraid of light.  The idea of light,
illumination, is something that would tear away at her like a razor because it would
highlight all of her falsehoods, as transparency would reveal her to be something that
she wishes not to be. In the quote that describes her husband's suicide, the light that
was "turned off" represented her need to recreate her identity, to embrace that which
could be constructed with as little "light" or truth as "this - kitchen - candle." 
Blanche was profoundly impacted by her closeted husband's suicide.  The idea of a
"closeted" husband brings the light issue back into even more relevancy.  The death of
her husband brought with it a need to recreate a facade and state of being that could
only exist in supposition and shadows, something that would not be able to withstand the
white, hot glare of modern scrutiny.  The "searchlight" was the last light of this world
that would damage Blanche's own attempt at creation.  From that point on, from the death
of her husband, Blanche felt that the creation of her own persona was vitally important,
something that could not be done without darkness and stealth, a sense of deception to
the world and, of course, to herself.

Identify metaphors in "To an Athlete Dying Young"

The entire poem does not refer to a specific athlete or a
particular sports event but to a universal condition. The condition of the
athlete becomes, therefore, metaphoric of the entire human existence and its inevitable
progression towards death. Significantly, in line 5, humanity is defined as formed by
different "runners". This second stanza is highly metaphorical, describing the
experience of death with terms such as "home" (grave) and "stiller town" (cemetery) that
usually refer to our everyday lives.

In addition to the
progression towards death, the characterization of humans as runners could also refer to
the equally inevitable competition among humans for fame. Such competition, as the
following stanzas make clear, may seem futile with hindsight as death is not simply the
culmination of physical decay but also of oblivion ("Runners whom renown outran/And the
name died before the man"). The paradox of the poem is that oblivion and disappointments
can be avoided through death, so that the dead person does not realize the transitory
nature of fame.

What were the historical conditions of the Cold War during the sixties for the American people?

This is a very difficult question to answer because it is
so vague.  There are many ways that the question could be
answered.

One way to look at this is to say that the
conditions were frightening.  The 1960s were a decade in which the Cold War was
relatively "hot."  The Cuban Missile Crisis, in particular, made this a time when people
were very afraid of the possibilty of an actual nuclear war.  In addition, it was during
this time that communism seemed to be advancing.  The communists had taken Cuba at the
end of the 1950s and were fighting against the US and its allies in Vietnam.  This would
have helped cause an atmosphere of fear in the US.

So, one
way to describe the historical conditions at this time is to say that it was a time of
great anxiety for the American people.

Explore the themes of love in Wit.

In the play Wit, the protagonist
Vivian Bearing reexamines her sense of compassion towards others, and this may be
considered as a thematic exploration of love.  Vivian is an English professor and known
for her strict rules and mannerisms with her students.  Vivian recalls a time when a
student asked her for an extension on an assignment because there had been a death in
the family, and Vivian did not budge on her rules.  At the time, Vivian reasoned that
bad things happen in life all the time and that the student would have to learn to deal
with setbacks.  But after Vivian is diagnosed with cancer and put into the hospital, she
begins to realize that people need others to listen to their problems and help them work
through the hard times.  Vivian is frustrated and angry because her doctors care more
about her physical self than they do about her mental and emotional self, and she feels
that no one really listens to what she wants and needs.  At this point, Vivian
understands compassion and regrets her past actions.

What are some quotes in the book To Kill a Mockingbird I can use that would support that Mayella is a perpetrator?Two quotes I can use to say that...

Atticus certainly believes that Mayella is lying when she
claims that Tom beat and raped her, and he spells out her reasons plainly in his
summation to the jury (in Chapter 20). According to Tom's testimony, Mayella asked him
to come into the Ewell house and, once inside, she kissed him and hugged him. He said
that she told him it was planned in advance, since she had saved nickels for a whole
year so she could send the other Ewell kids to buy ice cream. She told Tom that since
she'd never been kissed before,

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"... she might as well kiss a nigger. She says
what her papa do to her don't count. She says, 'Kiss me back, nigger.' I say Miss
Mayella lemme outta
here..."

An important point
here is her statement that what "papa do to her don't count," which suggests an
underlying possibility that an incestuous relationship was going on between Mayella and
Bob. Since Bob probably beat her afterward, this would also help to explain why they
chose to blame Tom to cover up Bob's own attack.

In his
summation, Atticus declared that

     "She knew
full well the enormity of her offense... she tried to put the evidence of her offense
away from her... she struck out at her victim... She must destroy the evidence of her
offense.
     "She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that
in our society is unspeakable: She kissed a black man."

Jimmy Porter, in John Osborne's 'Look Back in Anger', is both angry & unpleasant. Do you agree?

Jimmy Porter is the angry young man of the post war
generation. He is violent and unpleasant like Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams'
A Streetcar named ,Desire. He uses foul and dirty languages  like a
lumpen. His words about his wife and mother-in-law are horribly distasteful.Had there
been no buffer  character like Cliff, Alison might have been killed for her passivity.
He is a sexual maniac, but does not love his wife. He hates her for her class. A totally
frustrated man, Jimmy always suffers from a sense of inferiority to his wife. She looks
at her as if she were a hostage. Jimmy's bear and squirrel game with his wife shows that
he lacks real human feeling himself although he curses his wife for passivity. Jimmy is
notorious for his domestic violence. He makes love to Helena while his  pregnant wife
suffers all sorts of mental anguish and goes away from home. When she comes back to
Jimmy after the abortion, she falls almost prostrate. Jimmy is cynical and lacks the
pleasant nature of a revolutionary who discards the old and hopes for the new. He is
neither a revolutionary nor an ordinary man . He does not understand homely happiness.
Nor can he adjust with the outside world. He is aggressive, frustrated and a defeated
man. Osborne presents Jimmy as an angry and unpleasant character with whom a wife like
Alison can at best make a temporary compromise for living under one roof and a friend
like Cliff bear the taunts and insults only for giving him
company.

Dr.Ratan Bhattacharjee, Chairperson , Post
Graduate Dept.of English