Excerpt from the alchemist by paul coelho "when you want something, all the universe conspires to you achieve it," the old king had said. but the old king hadn't said anything about being robbed, or about endless deserts, or about people who know what their dreams are but don't want to realize them. the old king hadn't told him that the pyramids were just a pile of stones, or that anyone could build one in his backyard. and he had forgotten to mention that, when you have enough money to buy a flock larger than the one you had before, you should buy it. how does the symbol of the desert affect the meaning in this passage? when he realizes the old king’s promises were empty, the desert symbolizes the empty future the boy will have if he continues this journey. by reflecting the universe and its endless possibilities, the desert symbolizes all the different paths the boy could have taken. the desert symbolizes the lies told by the old king who tricked the boy into selling his sheep and setting off on a fool’s quest. the desert represents the unexpected struggles that the boy has faced, showing that it is not easy to realize one’s destiny.

Read this paragraph from chapter 5 of the prince. there are, for example, the spartans and the romans. the spartans held athens and thebes, establishing there an oligarchy: nevertheless they lost them. the romans, in order to hold capua, carthage, and numantia, dismantled them, and did not lose them. they wished to hold greece as the spartans held it, making it free and permitting its laws, and did not succeed. so to hold it they were compelled to dismantle many cities in the country, for in truth there is no safe way to retain them otherwise than by ruining them. and he who becomes master of a city accustomed to freedom and does not destroy it, may expect to be destroyed by it, for in rebellion it has always the watchword of liberty and its ancient privileges as a rallying point, which neither time nor benefits will ever cause it to forget. and whatever you may do or provide against, they never forget that name or their privileges unless they are disunited or dispersed, but at every chance they immediately rally to them, as pisa after the hundred years she had been held in bondage by the florentines. what idea is stressed in the passage? the desire for liberty the establishment of an oligarchy the dismantling of an acquired state the tendency toward rebellion