What was the symbolism of the field where Kiowa died?

Water symbolism runs throughout The Things They
Carried.  Water usually symbolizes baptism and renewal, but in O'Brien's novel it
infects and kills.  But, years later, the Song Tra Bong, the river whose banks overflow and
drowns Kiowa, is a place which triggers O'Brien's memories and inspires his
stories.

Mary Anne survives swimming in the Song Tra Bong, whereas
the innocent soldier, Kiowa, is swallowed by it.  Morty Phillips swallows a mouthful of it and
dies, and Bowker, the professional soldier, kills himself because of its stench.  The Song Tra
Bong is both a rite of passage and a sirens' song, and once baptized by it, one longs to return
to it (to bury Kiowa's moccasins) and be tortured by it (Bowker's suicide).  And lest we not
forget that O'Brien could have been saved from the whole Vietnam experience by a swim across a
different river.

The shitfield where Kiowa died is a metaphor for
the Vietnam War itself.  The land war in Asia is often referred to in similar terms as a
"quagmire," which is literally a swamp, bog, marsh, or mire.  Figuratively, a "quagmire" is
a mix-up, mess, predicament, quandary, confusion, sticky situation, or dilemma.  Personally, I
like "shitfield" better than them all.  The Vietnam War stinks and kills, literally and
figuratively.

So, the field symbolizes Vietnam, the quagmire of the
Vietnam War, the death of Kiowa, the death of Tim's innocence, and the place where so many of
Tim's memories are buried that he must return to it, with his daughter, so she too can tap into
its source for storytelling.

In the scenario below, how long is the ski jumper airborne, and where does the ski jumper land on the incline?A ski jumper travels down a slope and...

While landing the the ski jumper  makes a  slope of of 33
degree with the horizotal.

The ski jumper has the initial
horizontal velocity of 25m/s. The horizontal velocity componet of the ski jumper is not
affected by the gravity at any time during the fall. But the vertical velocity of the
jumper increases every second by the acceleration due to
gravity.

Therefore at the time of fall the slope of the
trajectory must be (dy/dt )(dx/dt) = Vertical velocity / horizotal velocity =  tan 33
degree.

Therefore the vertical velocity v = Horizontal
velocity * tan33 deg = 25tan 33 deg .

v = 25tan
33.

Therefore the vertical velocity is gained from the
gravitional acceleration g in time t seconds .

Therefore t
= (25tan33)/g = (25tan33)/9.81 = 1.65 seconds.

Therefore
the ski jumper was airborn 1.65 seconds nearly.

What examples of irony are there in The Kite Runner?Please help!

There are clearly a number of different examples of irony
operating in the book on a number of different levels. My own personal favorite example
of irony in this great novel, and one that is central to the action, is the relationship
between Baba and his son, Amir, and how Amir is so completely different from Baba, the
bear-wrestling, strong and unyielding individual who exudes his strength and charisma
throughout the entire novel. As Baba himself says in Chapter
3:

"If I
hadn't seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I'd never believe he's
my son."

The irony of the
situation is that Amir is Baba's son, in spite of how radically different he is from
Baba. Yet, although he has such an "unpromising" start, through the course of the novel
Amir goes on to learn and express the same bravery and strength that Baba possesses in
his quest to free Hassan's son.

Explain the irony in the following quote from The Taming of the Shrew and what type of irony it is."You will be schoolmaster, And undertake the...

This line, coming as it does in Act I scene 1, helps develop the
exposition of the plot. Tranio and Lucentio have just witnessed the exasperated Baptista's final
effort to marry off both of his daughters. He has decreed that Bianca, his youngest daughter who
is by fair the sweetest and most gentle, can only marry once the older sister, Katharina, who is
known as "the shrew" for her argumentative nature and her lack of patience with suitors, herself
is married.

Lucentio is struck at once with fervent and passionate
love for Bianca, and thus finds himself in a very difficult situation - how can he hope to woo
Bianca under such restrictions? Thus, talking with his manservant, Tranio, they devise a plan
that will enable him to court Bianca in secret - Lucentio will impersonate a schoolmaster. I
think there is some verbal irony in what Tranio says:

readability="8">

You will be a
schoolmaster,

And undertake the teaching of the
maid;

That's your
device.

Although overtly Lucentio will
play this role, he will be seeking to "teach" Bianca something apart from her lessons he will be
supposedly teaching.

Thus the quote you have selected contains
verbal irony and a possible innuendo concerning how Lucentio intends to court
Bianca.

What is the extreme of y=x^2-8x+16?

To extreme of a function, whose expression is a quadratic,
is the vertex of the parable f(x) = y.

We know that the
coordinates of the parabola vertex
are:

 V(-b/2a;-delta/4a), where a,b,c are the coefficients
of the  function and delta=b^2 -4*a*c.

y=f(x)=x^2 - 8x +
16

We'll identify the
coefficients:

a=1, 2a=2,
4a=4

b=-8, c=16

delta=(-8)^2
-4*1*16

delta =64 - 64

delta =
0

V(-b/2a;-delta/4a)=V(-(-8)/2;-(0)/4)

V(4;0)

Since the coefficient of x^2
is positive, the extreme point is a minimum
point.

Because the x
coordinate is positive and y coordinate is 0, the vertex is located on the right side of
x axis: V(4;0).

Assess the validity of Washington's and Adam's primary foreign policy goal: "the avoidance of war at all costs" related to the Citizen Genet...

I certainly think that there is some level of validation
of the quote in the case of Washington's administration.  One need only look at
Washington's measured and tempered response during the "Citizen Genet" predicament as
evidence.  He was quick to argue that it is prudent for America to extract itself from
the affairs of Europe, being mindful of how quickly and easy it would be for the young
nation to become embroiled in such contexts.  He reiterated this through his Farewell
Address.  I certainly think that his successor wished to follow this same idea, but with
the failure of the covert nature of the XYZ affair, it became apparent that while
America might seek to stand clear of European affairs, it does involve itself in them on
a diplomatic and political level in order to substantiate its own place in the world.  I
would say that part of the reason why the quote bears some level of truth would be
regarding the reality of domestic work that was needed at the time of both
administrations, precluding a concerted focus on international
affairs.

In Macbeth, why might Shakespeare have chosen to make Macduff rather than Malcolm the agent of nemesis?

This is a great questions. Usually a nemesis is considered
a "bad guy" but actually, Malcolm is acting as  the moral agent as well as a nemesis in
this play.  First let us look at some definitions of
nemesis.

Nemesis is defined in several way, generally we
know it as some type of unbeatable opponent.  However, another definition is a reference
to Greek Myth showing Nemesis as the Greek goddess of retributive
justice.

Even though modern movies show a nemesis as losing
to hero, such as Joker to Batman, in earlier literature, the nemesis usually ended up
victorious. 

Malcolm, as we can tell from early in the play
in Act I, is a young man.  He is being named Prince of Cumberland, so he is likely only
in his early teens.  This makes him a bit young to take on the role of nemesis, or to
adminster justice to Macbeth.  He also does not fulfill the prophecies of the
witches.

Macduff however, is roughly the same age and
position as Macbeth (before he became King, of course).  His entire home has been
slaughtered, and most importantly, he was not born of woman.  By convincing Malcolm to
return to Scotland, he takes on a greater, if temporary role, as mentor to a future
King.