Why does Alcott want to appear "motherly" to all of her patients?

Poe’s narrator describes usher’s mind, as being able to “pour forth..darkness” as if it were an “inherent positive quality.” what is the significance of poe’s metaphor? and what does it suggest about the human tendency to project one’s thoughts or emotions?

Read these passages from when birds get flu and cows go mad by john

In the context of the passage, what does the word torpid mean? b. predatory a. energetic c. dormant d. aquatic