What did the author do well? What did the author do poorly?

One of the most effective parts of Silent Springis the fable that begins the book. Carson uses a fable of a mythical American town that is suddenly struck with a strange blight. She uses vivid and startling images, such as the following image of missing birds: "The feeding stations in the backyards were deserted. The few birds seen anywhere were moribund; they trembled violently and could not fly." The fable presents the consequences of...

One of the most effective parts of Silent Spring is the fable that begins the book. Carson uses a fable of a mythical American town that is suddenly struck with a strange blight. She uses vivid and startling images, such as the following image of missing birds: "The feeding stations in the backyards were deserted. The few birds seen anywhere were moribund; they trembled violently and could not fly." The fable presents the consequences of pesticides in startling and concrete terms that make the concept of the dangers of pesticides more accessible to readers. 

Carson did exhaustive research, but it could be argued that she could have even strengthened her argument by using her own personal story. Carson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1960, which then metastasized. She could have written about her own battle with this disease, which ended her life in 1964 (at age 56), two years after the publication of Silent Spring. Her work led to the creation of a presidential commission and to the eventual banning of DDT, a pesticide. Though it is difficult to determine the cause of an individual's cancer, she was around pesticides a great deal in her work as a biologist and, later, as a nature writer. One of the major arguments of her book is that pesticides cause cancer in humans, and she potentially could have illustrated that with her own story.

Can I have a detailed analysis of the poem ''Death'' by William Bell Scott in terms of structure/language/themes/imageries/tone ?

The poem has an irregular structure: the three stanzas are roughly, but not exactly, the same length. The first is 11 lines, the second, 13, and the third 12. The rhyme scheme is also irregular. However, each stanza ends in a rhyming couplet: "and/expand," "place/race," "crown/down." Rhythm is also established through the repetition of words within the first two stanzas, such as "create" and "moth" in stanza one and "fear me not" in stanza two.

...

The poem has an irregular structure: the three stanzas are roughly, but not exactly, the same length. The first is 11 lines, the second, 13, and the third 12. The rhyme scheme is also irregular. However, each stanza ends in a rhyming couplet: "and/expand," "place/race," "crown/down." Rhythm is also established through the repetition of words within the first two stanzas, such as "create" and "moth" in stanza one and "fear me not" in stanza two.

The language is conversational: Death is personified, and he is having a straightforward talk with us.

The theme is not to fear death; death is a part of who we are. It is not death itself but our attitude toward it that creates fear. Death says: 

Fear me not, man; I am the blood that flows
Within thee,–I am change; and it is I
Creates a joy within thee

However, those who fear death "stumble" and for them death becomes a "cold chain around thy neck."

Imagery is description using the five senses. Some of the images in this poem include comparing man to a moth, a creature that has only a short time on earth, while death is likened to "hoary dust," sleep, the dark and blood. People who fear and worry about death are compared to those who fear walking on ice and as a result stumble. In the final line, the hair of the dead is likened to "thistle down," suggesting it is growing up out of the grave as the body returns to nature. 

The tone weaves back and forth between comforting and chilly, reflecting the theme that our attitude toward death determines whether or not it is frightening. Chilly moments include death as alone, having no father or brother, death as "dark and tongueless," and death, if feared, as a "cold chain." Comforting moments include the notion of death as freeing by clearing away the old. Death says:

I am change; and it is I
Creates a joy within thee, when thou feel’st
Manhood and new untried superior powers
Rising before thee: I it is can make
          Old things give place
          To thy free race.

 

Using examples from the story, how could the sacrifice of the nightingale be treated as unnecessary?

In "The Nightingale and the Rose," it can be argued that the nightingale's sacrifice was unnecessary because the red rose (which she dies for) does not bring about the student's happiness. At the beginning of the story, for example, the girl tells the student that she will dance with him if he brings her a red rose. Having fallen in love, the student dedicates himself to this pursuit. By the end of the story, however,...

In "The Nightingale and the Rose," it can be argued that the nightingale's sacrifice was unnecessary because the red rose (which she dies for) does not bring about the student's happiness. At the beginning of the story, for example, the girl tells the student that she will dance with him if he brings her a red rose. Having fallen in love, the student dedicates himself to this pursuit. By the end of the story, however, the girl has completely changed her mind about the student because she has met the Chamberlain's rich nephew and he has won her over by giving her some jewels as a gift. The need for the rose is, thus, negated because the girl has already found another boy to dance with.

Where were Mayella Ewell’s facial injuries concentrated?

Mayella Ewell's facial injuries are concentrated on the right side of her face.

When Heck Tate describes Mayella's injuries to Atticus and Judge Taylor, he first says that her facial injuries were on the left side. Atticus asks him whether it was her left or Heck's left, since Heck was facing her. Heck corrects himself and explains that her injuries were concentrated on the right side of her face. Harper Lee writes:

“Wait a minute,...

Mayella Ewell's facial injuries are concentrated on the right side of her face.

When Heck Tate describes Mayella's injuries to Atticus and Judge Taylor, he first says that her facial injuries were on the left side. Atticus asks him whether it was her left or Heck's left, since Heck was facing her. Heck corrects himself and explains that her injuries were concentrated on the right side of her face. Harper Lee writes:

“Wait a minute, Sheriff,” said Atticus. “Was it her left facing you or her left looking the same way you were?”

Mr. Tate said, “Oh yes, that’d make it her right. It was her right eye, Mr. Finch. I remember now, she was bunged up on that side of her face”

Mayella had a black eye, other facial damage, bruises on her neck, and damage to her arms. Mayella and her father both testify that Tom Robinson is the one who beat her. Atticus believes it was Robert Ewell, Mayella's father. Though Atticus makes his case to the jury, they still convict Tom Robinson because he is a black man and the Ewells are a white family.

“The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of...

What is important about this statement is that it marks a change in the Church's stance towards the adherents of other religions. The statement itself opens the door for the Catholic faithful to pursue mutually satisfying relationships with people of other faiths, notably those of the Jewish faith.

The document itself (although 50 years old) paved the way for an improvement in Catholic-Jewish relations. It argued that, although "the Jewish authorities and those who followed...

What is important about this statement is that it marks a change in the Church's stance towards the adherents of other religions. The statement itself opens the door for the Catholic faithful to pursue mutually satisfying relationships with people of other faiths, notably those of the Jewish faith.

The document itself (although 50 years old) paved the way for an improvement in Catholic-Jewish relations. It argued that, although "the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ," all Jews should not be held responsible for the execution of Jesus Christ. The Nostra Aetate also recognizes the contribution of Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims to matters of faith. It accepts that these three religions understand the "radical insufficiency of this changeable world" to satisfy the yearnings of the human soul. 

The tenets enshrined in the Nostra Aetate are a radical departure from the traditional Catholic theological stance. Its importance cannot be underestimated, as its publication inspired a similar Jewish document called Dabru Emet: A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity. The Dabru Emet acknowledges the common spiritual heritage both faiths share. Just as the Nostra Aetate reverses centuries of Catholic animosity towards Jews for the crucifixion of Christ, the Dabru Emet acknowledges that "Nazism was not a Christian phenomenon" and that only God can ultimately settle the irreconcilable spiritual differences between Jews and Christians.

So, respecting people of other religions is as important today as it was more than fifty years ago because it fosters peaceful coexistence in an increasingly volatile world.

Do you find any negative qualities of the duchess in "My Last Duchess"?

This is a good question. Most readers assume that the Duke is an unreliable narrator and that his negative insinuations about his dead wife are false. It is also normally assumed that the "commands" he gave towards the end of the poem were to have the duchess murdered. Although a significant amount of internal evidence, as well as the way Browning normally constructed the narrators of his dramatic monologues, points to the standard reading, it...

This is a good question. Most readers assume that the Duke is an unreliable narrator and that his negative insinuations about his dead wife are false. It is also normally assumed that the "commands" he gave towards the end of the poem were to have the duchess murdered. Although a significant amount of internal evidence, as well as the way Browning normally constructed the narrators of his dramatic monologues, points to the standard reading, it is also possible to side with the Duke and try to argue that his comments about his wife were true.

First, his reference to his "gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name" might suggest that they were not social equals, but rather that she was a social inferior who married him for his position and wealth.

Next, we could argue that she appears to flirt:

.. she liked whate’er

She looked on, and her looks went everywhere. ...

She thanked men, — good! but thanked Somehow —

Perhaps here, rather than the duchess being simply friendly and kindhearted, as most readers assume, we are actually seeing evidence that she was promiscuous and that the Duke's somewhat awkward and indirect phrasing are due to his embarrassment at being cuckolded.

One could also argue that she performed a form of "gaslighting" or belittling of her husband's concerns that she appeared overly friendly to other men.

Why does the earth revolve around the sun and not around the moon?

The simple reason is gravity. 

Gravity is, in simple terms, the force with which one object attracts another object. Heavier objects exert a much larger gravitational pull on lighter objects as compared to the gravitational pull of the lighter objects on the heavier objects. The sun is the heaviest object in our solar system and is more than 3,00,000 times heavier as compared to Earth. Conversely, the earth is about 81 times as heavy as...

The simple reason is gravity. 

Gravity is, in simple terms, the force with which one object attracts another object. Heavier objects exert a much larger gravitational pull on lighter objects as compared to the gravitational pull of the lighter objects on the heavier objects. The sun is the heaviest object in our solar system and is more than 3,00,000 times heavier as compared to Earth. Conversely, the earth is about 81 times as heavy as the moon. This means that the sun exerts a much larger gravitational pull on the earth as compared to the moon. This causes our Earth to orbit the sun and not the moon.

This is also the reason that all the planets in our solar system revolve around the sun and that our man-made satellites revolve around the earth.

Hope this helps.