In homeroom when Mr. Horswill handed out the permission slip for the Spring Fling, the all-school dance, I almost didn’t take one. Why should I bother when I was sure the answer would be the same? Even though I’m in ninth grade now, it would still be the same. No. Nyet is what they say, and I don’t want to hear this again. But I took a permission slip anyway. I don’t know why I didn’t just shake my head when this very popular girl Marcia Egness was handing them out. And even after I took one, I don’t know why I didn’t throw it away. Maybe I just couldn’t give up hope. It’s like that in America. It’s a place where things can change for people, and many people always seem to have hope. At least that’s how it seems to me. Maybe I was beginning to think this way, too, although my hope was very small.  In this paragraph, Maya asks herself the Tough Question “Why should I bother when I was sure the answer would be the same?” What clues does this question provide about the story’s main conflict?​

The main conflict of the story is Maya wants to go to the dance but, she is afraid her family will not allow her to. Maya says, “Why should I bother when I was sure the answer would be the same?” That makes us wonder about her self-esteem. This means the permission slip does not matter to her because ultimately the decision to go or not lies in the hands of her parents. In other words, it is not like a permission slip already guarantees her to go, rather she thinks it is her parents. Hence, this gives us a clue of the main conflict because her parents haven't adapted to the American ways, so she believes that the permission slip to the dance is insignificant when Maya believes she may not go. If her parents say no, she won't go even if she has a permission slip.

on my last

wordsworth tends to see nature as 'out there'; a presence which surrounds humans, and contributes to human life, but is different from humans. if you look at a typical wordsworth poem (there was a boy, ye knew him well ye rocks) - wordsworth talks about nature as something that needs to be learned about and understood, nature is different from us.  

if you look at a byron poem (the isles of greece is a good one) - byron looks at nature mainly for what it already means to man. wordsworth will look at a landscape and see the mountains, trees, valleys, and rivers as almost spiritual presences - wordsworth wants to get to know nature.  

byron will look at the same landscape and he will want to know who lives there, what are the villages? are there any farms or mines, is there some history?  

wordsworth looks at nature for what it is; byron is forever asking what it means.  

wordsworth thinks that humans are part of nature; byron thinks that nature is part of being human