Which best describes the author's perspective toward the outcasts of Poker Flat in this passage?ResponsesA The author is extremely critical of each of the outcasts.The author is extremely critical of each of the outcasts.B The author is indifferent to the fates of each of the outcasts of Poker Flat.The author is indifferent to the fates of each of the outcasts of Poker Flat.C The author believes the outcasts are less than humans and deserve mistreatment.The author believes the outcasts are less than humans and deserve mistreatment.D The author sympathizes with the outcasts and pities their being scapegoated by the town of Poker Flat.

he Outcasts of Poker FlatBret Harte1 As Mr. John Oakhurst, gambler, stepped into the main street of Poker Flat on the morning of the twenty-third of November, 1850, he was conscious of a change in its moral atmosphere since the preceding night. Two or three men, conversing earnestly together, ceased as he approached, and exchanged significant glances. There was a Sabbath lull in the air which, in a settlement unused to Sabbath influences, looked ominous.2 Mr. Oakhurst's calm, handsome face betrayed small concern in these indications. Whether he was conscious of any predisposing cause was another question. "I reckon they're after somebody," he reflected; "likely it's me." He returned to his pocket the handkerchief with which he had been whipping away the red dust of Poker Flat from his neat boots, and quietly discharged his mind of any further conjecture.3 In point of fact, Poker Flat was "after somebody." It had lately suffered the loss of several thousand dollars, two valuable horses, and a prominent citizen. It was experiencing a spasm of virtuous reaction, quite as lawless and ungovernable as any of the acts that had provoked it. A secret committee had determined to rid the town of all improper persons. This was done permanently in regard of two men who were then hanging from the boughs of a sycamore in the gulch, and temporarily in the banishment of certain other objectionable characters. I regret to say that some of these were ladies. It is but due to the sex, however, to state that their impropriety was professional, and it was only in such easily established standards of evil that Poker Flat ventured to sit in judgment.4 Mr. Oakhurst was right in supposing that he was included in this category. A few of the committee had urged hanging him as a possible example, and a sure method of reimbursing themselves from his pockets of the sums he had won from them. "It's agin justice," said Jim Wheeler, "to let this yer young man from Roaring Camp--an entire stranger--carry away our money." But a crude sentiment of equity residing in the breasts of those who had been fortunate enough to win from Mr. Oakhurst overruled this narrower local prejudice.5 Mr. Oakhurst received his sentence with philosophic calmness, none the less coolly that he was aware of the hesitation of his judges. He was too much of a gambler not to accept Fate. With him life was at best an uncertain game, and he recognized the usual percentage in favor of the dealer.6 A body of armed men accompanied the deported wickedness of Poker Flat to the outskirts of the settlement. Besides Mr. Oakhurst, who was known to be a coolly desperate man, and for whose intimidation the armed escort was intended, the expatriated party consisted of a young woman familiarly known as the "Duchess"; another, who had won the title of "Mother Shipton"; and "Uncle Billy," a suspected sluice-robber and confirmed drunkard. The cavalcade provoked no comments from the spectators, nor was any word uttered by the escort. Only, when the gulch which marked the uttermost limit of Poker Flat was reached, the leader spoke briefly and to the point. The exiles were forbidden to return at the peril of their lives.Question 1Which best describes the author's perspective toward the outcasts of Poker Flat in this passage?ResponsesA The author is extremely critical of each of the outcasts.The author is extremely critical of each of the outcasts.B The author is indifferent to the fates of each of the outcasts of Poker Flat.The author is indifferent to the fates of each of the outcasts of Poker Flat.C The author believes the outcasts are less than humans and deserve mistreatment.The author believes the outcasts are less than humans and deserve mistreatment.D The author sympathizes with the outcasts and pities their being scapegoated by the town of Poker Flat.

What caused the people of Poker Flat to be ‘after somebody’?ResponsesA A citizen was in big trouble.A citizen was in big trouble.B A citizen caused a fight in town.A citizen caused a fight in town.C Somebody had committed a murder and fled to the town of Poker Flat to escape capture.Somebody had committed a murder and fled to the town of Poker Flat to escape capture.D The town had lost several thousand dollars, two valuable horses, and a prominent citizen.The town had lost several thousand dollars, two valuable horses, and a prominent citizen.

What does the author imply in the first and second sentences?*1 pointA. It is difficult to contemplate the hardships the characters in the story faced.B. The Squid Game is associated with human life that is “as a triumphant poster child for global cultural dominance”.C. We are all casts in the TV series, and we just do not know it yet.D. We are experiencing a similar “apocalypse” presently with what is happening around the world.

The following text is from a translation of Dante Alighieri’s 1308 book Inferno.In the midway of this our mortal life,I found me in a gloomy wood, astrayGone from the path direct: and e’en to tellIt were no easy task, how savage wildThat forest, how robust and rough its growth,Which to remember only, my dismayRenews, in bitterness not far from death.Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?The speaker is speaking in anger about an unfair world and becomes angrier as the poem progresses.eliminateThe speaker is setting out to go on an adventure and is listing the perils he will encounter.eliminateThe speaker expresses an emotion and uses a metaphor to convey the emotion.eliminate

Please write a short essay (750-1000 words) to answer one of the following questions.The text should be self-contained and appropriately elaborate on a few main arguments. Please be as clear as possible.Also, your text should not be of the form “on one hand this, on the other hand that, so the truth is in the middle”. Instead, you should try to take a stand, while possibly carefully measuring the reach of your arguments.Topic/question 1Following our discussion of Carden and McCloskey (2018), McCloskey (2010), and Boudreaux (2014), among others, answer the following question and offer various elements in support of your argument.Carden, Art, and Deirdre Nansen McCloskey. 2018. “The Bourgeois Deal: Leave Me Alone, and i’ll Make You Rich.” Available at SSRN 3155530.McCloskey, Deirdre N. 2010. Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World. University of Chicago Press.Boudreaux, Donald J. 2014. “Deirdre McCloskey and Economists’ Ideas about Ideas.” Online Library of Liberty.Is there a Bourgeois Deal in Portugal?