Onboard Note

William Shakespeare is widely regarded to be one of the best authors of English literature in history. His works have been translated into numerous languages and his plays are still being performed on stages today. The study of Shakespeare's work is relevant in today's society not only for its influence on modern language, theatre, and literature, but also because his plays contained themes which still ring true today. Shakespeare is credited with introducing more than 1,700 words to the English language, many of which are creative uses of previously established verbs or nouns. In doing so, he is perhaps the most influential single individual when it comes to English vocabulary. In addition, the body of work he created has influenced countless later plays, films, and novels. Famous musicals like West Side Story and films like The Lion King are adaptations of Shakespeare's plays. To study Shakespeare is to study the direction and development of the English language from the ...

Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll's House in 1879, and it was a contemporary drama at that time. All three acts of the play take place with the same set, which is the living area of the Helmer home. The home is situated in an unspecified village in Norway. The room is decorated tastefully but not ostentatiously, consistent with the middle-class lifestyle of the Helmer family. As act 1 opens, it is Christmas week. Nora has been Christmas shopping, and a porter brings the Christmas tree into the home. Act 2 occurs on Christmas Day in the same home. The confined setting of the play reinforces the theme of Nora's restricted lifestyle. She feels as if she is her husband's doll, and she realizes that her children have been her dolls. The setting, then, is the "dollhouse," which is a better translation for Americans of Ibsen's title than the British English equivalent "doll's house." Nora's slamming the door of her house when she walks out on her husband at...

The biblical allusions that O. Henry employs in "The Ransom of Red Chief" do reinforce the overall irony of the story's plot—a child getting the better of his kidnappers—but also feature delightful irony in their own right. Comparing Red Chief's flinging the stone at Bill to the story of David and Goliath is ironic because by this time in the story, readers likely already feel sorry for Bill and dislike Red Chief. It's the most natural thing in the world for people to take the side of the underdog (the David against the Goliath), yet readers know Red Chief is no hero. He has already pitched rocks at a kitten, after all. As a result, we're tempted to take Goliath's side. When Bill asks Sam if he knows who his favorite Bible character is, it's ironic on a couple of levels. First, we don't expect an outlaw to have a favorite Bible character. Even Sam thinks the question is a result of Bill's being temporarily knocked senseless. Second, though, Bil...

You need to find the absolute value of the complex number, using the formula |z| = sqrt(a^2+b^2) , hence, you need to determine a and b. a = 4, b = -6. Replacing 4 for a and -6 for b in formula of absolute value, yields: |z| = sqrt(4^2+(-6)^2) |z| = sqrt(16+36) |z| = sqrt52 => |z| = 2 sqrt 13 Hence, the distance of the complex number z = 4 - 6i from the origin is given by the aboslute value |z| = 2 sqrt 13 . The complex number z = 4 - 6i is displayed as the point (4,-6) in a coordinate plane, or as a vector from the origin to the point (4,-6).