What does bethhell mean when he writes, If the Creoles had one eye on their masters, they kept the other on their servants”?

You are given the first four terms of an arithmetic sequence. why might you use a recursive formula? why might you use an explicit formula? under what conditions might a recursive formula be preferred over the explicit formula? under what conditions might an explicit formula be preferred over the recursive formula? pleasss ! sorry if it's a long question: (