So in this odd book we're reading there is a world rather different than the one we all live in today. It is all about conformity. And frankly if you don't "get around" there is something wrong with you. Personally, I find that concept rather undesirable, partly due to my own religious beliefs and just the way I've was brought up.
In the time that Brave New World was written, I am certain that it was more astounding to readers than it is today. I am willing to say that most of the people who read it today are probably still offended or surprised by it, but fewer now then back then. People's way of life has altered since when it was written. Now a days it is not all that uncommon for people to have many partners in life, but there are still some that hold views similar to those of Bernard's. Some people are still shy about the matter and would prefer to have only one partner. Although our society has grown closer to that sort of society, I believe that we are still a way away from actually being that society.
While this book still offends are surprises readers, we (as a society) have started to drift towards a society like that. People now do not care about their exclusiveness in relationships as much as they used to. In the author's time it was a big no-no to be open about sexual matters and to have many partners; however there are quite a few people now that do not find it that way. So while I would say a decent amount still hold those values, a lot of people do not.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Friday, October 31, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
what to do?
Well, I am very surprisingly the first to post on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, so I am unable to comment...which is not good because my mom has become a computer hoard since she started taking classes at Ivy Tech. So if any of you who have my number see this, it may be greatly appreciated if text me later to remind me to get back on and comment. please and thank you so much.
GREEN!!!
I finished reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight earlier today. So here I am to make my post. . .
1. An epic hero is often thought of as being braver, stronger, smarter, and more clever than the average person. Sir Gawain meets these stereotypes to certain degrees, but he also fails to meet them. In the beginning of his tale, he is not really that much more extraordinary than anyone else; he only takes the challenge because he thinks himself less worthy than others, therefore a less troubling loss. However, while his motives for taking the challenge seem strange, they prove him to be brave because he is willing to risk his own life to save that of King Arthur, or any of the other knights.
Sir Gawain does take on the Green Knight's challenge and holds true to his covenant to meet him a year after delivering him a blow to receive the same in return. Along his quest to find the Green Chapel and the Green Knight he comes to a lord's castle, where he stays and makes a covenant with him. At first he holds honest to it, but on the last day of it he does not. So, he can be seen as being flawed in the aspect that in fear of losing his life, he takes the queens corset and hides that from the king in spite of their covenant.
Sir Gawain is an epic hero type character because he is brave and goes on a quest to uphold his end of an agreement. He stays true to his knighthood ways for the most part, but at some point he proves himself to be human as well. He has his own flaws like an person. He, like most people, came to the point where his life seemed more important than other things and he was not honest in his covenant with the king to try to save his life from the Green Knight.
2. I did not find the Green Knight to be evil. While he was not the nicest man alive, he was not exactly evil either. He sought out King Arthur's court to test the knights of the Round Table. He made his challenge and it was freely accepted, he did not force it upon any of the knights. I would say that the Green Knight, while he was not evil, was rather deceiving and somewhat tricky. He tried to trick Sir Gawain into breaking the covenant he formed with him (the lord) by tempting him with his wife. He ends up succeeding, but only because Gawain feared for his life. He is able to tempt Gawain into doing something he ordinarily would not, which is breaking his covenant. He wanted to stay true to his word, but he has a weak moment and is unable to. The Green Knight did not come up with this scheme on his own; he was fulfilling a task set upon himself by Morgan le Fay to test the knights of the Round Table. So I believe that the Green Knight is not an evil being, but only a man fulfilling what he was sought after to do.
3. The color GREEN can have many meanings. Green can symbolize a lack of experience. I think that in that case it would apply to Sir Gawain, because it appears as though Sir Gawain is not a very experienced knight. His covenant with the Green Knight was probably the first he encountered of great importance, so the green symbolizes his inexperience and the growth he undergoes throughout his quest. The color green also often relates to nature and a large part of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight takes place in nature. Green can also represent a newness and growth. The first part of Sir Gawain's covenant takes places at the beginning of a new year, so it is a time for a new things. Sir Gawain changes throughout the course of the year that leads up to his quest. It is again a new years when he fulfills his half of the covenant. Gawain changes again right before and after his second acquaintance with the Green Knight, so the new year once again represents a new beginning for Sir Gawain.
1. An epic hero is often thought of as being braver, stronger, smarter, and more clever than the average person. Sir Gawain meets these stereotypes to certain degrees, but he also fails to meet them. In the beginning of his tale, he is not really that much more extraordinary than anyone else; he only takes the challenge because he thinks himself less worthy than others, therefore a less troubling loss. However, while his motives for taking the challenge seem strange, they prove him to be brave because he is willing to risk his own life to save that of King Arthur, or any of the other knights.
Sir Gawain does take on the Green Knight's challenge and holds true to his covenant to meet him a year after delivering him a blow to receive the same in return. Along his quest to find the Green Chapel and the Green Knight he comes to a lord's castle, where he stays and makes a covenant with him. At first he holds honest to it, but on the last day of it he does not. So, he can be seen as being flawed in the aspect that in fear of losing his life, he takes the queens corset and hides that from the king in spite of their covenant.
Sir Gawain is an epic hero type character because he is brave and goes on a quest to uphold his end of an agreement. He stays true to his knighthood ways for the most part, but at some point he proves himself to be human as well. He has his own flaws like an person. He, like most people, came to the point where his life seemed more important than other things and he was not honest in his covenant with the king to try to save his life from the Green Knight.
2. I did not find the Green Knight to be evil. While he was not the nicest man alive, he was not exactly evil either. He sought out King Arthur's court to test the knights of the Round Table. He made his challenge and it was freely accepted, he did not force it upon any of the knights. I would say that the Green Knight, while he was not evil, was rather deceiving and somewhat tricky. He tried to trick Sir Gawain into breaking the covenant he formed with him (the lord) by tempting him with his wife. He ends up succeeding, but only because Gawain feared for his life. He is able to tempt Gawain into doing something he ordinarily would not, which is breaking his covenant. He wanted to stay true to his word, but he has a weak moment and is unable to. The Green Knight did not come up with this scheme on his own; he was fulfilling a task set upon himself by Morgan le Fay to test the knights of the Round Table. So I believe that the Green Knight is not an evil being, but only a man fulfilling what he was sought after to do.
3. The color GREEN can have many meanings. Green can symbolize a lack of experience. I think that in that case it would apply to Sir Gawain, because it appears as though Sir Gawain is not a very experienced knight. His covenant with the Green Knight was probably the first he encountered of great importance, so the green symbolizes his inexperience and the growth he undergoes throughout his quest. The color green also often relates to nature and a large part of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight takes place in nature. Green can also represent a newness and growth. The first part of Sir Gawain's covenant takes places at the beginning of a new year, so it is a time for a new things. Sir Gawain changes throughout the course of the year that leads up to his quest. It is again a new years when he fulfills his half of the covenant. Gawain changes again right before and after his second acquaintance with the Green Knight, so the new year once again represents a new beginning for Sir Gawain.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
HUGE scroll!
Okay so Amanda and I went to the IMA today. We made it without the GPS or getting lost, aren't you proud of us? haha. :)
The whole point of venturing there was to look at the scroll version of Jack Kerouac's On the Road. I honestly do not remember ever having heard of this guy or his book until P-dise suggested we go look at it. I was rather amazed by the scroll. It was incredibly long and it wasn't even entirely rolled out. If I remeber correctly, I think one of the information things said there were like 6ooo some words. And I think it took him like a week (or maybe it was a month, I'm not sure) to write it. I found it interesting that two strangers got together and worked together like Kerouac and Robert Frank did. It was interesting because not many people wrote in the way that Kerouac did; he sat down and just typed continuously on a long sheet of paper until he was done. (I find that a bit crazy myself, but I guess if it works, it works.) He only transfered it to the typical form of a book to please the publisher and his lawyer.
***Okay, so anyone who went there to see it probably saw the typewriter that said you could sit down and type on it... well I did, and I just wanted to tell you what I typed....
ap paradise european :) tana & amanda :)
....so i just thought I'd tell everyone because I'm sure there are at least a few people would find it amusing. :)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Beowulf
Beowulf is of a very different sort of writing than I am used to reading. That is partly due to the fact that I don't tend to read about things along that type of story (i.e. warriors, fighting, kings, monsters, gold, etc.) and also because it has a very different way of saying things than the much more recently written books I read. I will probably encounter more books that are unlike my norm throughout this year of AP. Although it varied from my norm, I was able to comprehend the big picture and at least some of the details. So, while I know I did not catch every little thing, I do believe I generally understood it.
Now to the point of this post. . . I am going to focus on the last question. It asks about revenge being a theme of the poem.
Revenge is a very prominent theme in Beowulf. Many of the things that happen throughout the course of the story have to do with someone wanting revenge. From the very beginning there is a want of revenge, although it is very subtle at the beginning since it isn't personal between Beowulf and Grendel. Beowulf first comes to Hrothgar to help defend his people from Grendel. Then after he slays Grendel, Grendel's mom becomes angered and wants revenge for her son's death. She in turn comes to Herot to get her revenge. Upon her arrival she kills Hrothgar's advisor AEshcere. His death upsets Hrothgar so Beowulf goes after Grendel's mom to get revenge for Hrothgar for his friends death. Beowulf goes after her and defeats her as well. And I believe that is where that train of revenge ceases. However, there is more later on. Back in Beowulf's home area, there was a dragon that guarded a treasure. A man tried to steal it and was able to make away with a small portion, causing the dragon to seek revenge. To do so, he burned the village. The burning of the village angered the people, including Beowulf. So he and some other warriors went to take on the dragon for revenge for their homes. Beowulf becomes harmed in the battle, but he is able to kill the dragon, so he gets his revenge, even though it costs his life. Sooo, as you can see, REVENGE is a very distinctive theme in Beowulf.
Now to the point of this post. . . I am going to focus on the last question. It asks about revenge being a theme of the poem.
Revenge is a very prominent theme in Beowulf. Many of the things that happen throughout the course of the story have to do with someone wanting revenge. From the very beginning there is a want of revenge, although it is very subtle at the beginning since it isn't personal between Beowulf and Grendel. Beowulf first comes to Hrothgar to help defend his people from Grendel. Then after he slays Grendel, Grendel's mom becomes angered and wants revenge for her son's death. She in turn comes to Herot to get her revenge. Upon her arrival she kills Hrothgar's advisor AEshcere. His death upsets Hrothgar so Beowulf goes after Grendel's mom to get revenge for Hrothgar for his friends death. Beowulf goes after her and defeats her as well. And I believe that is where that train of revenge ceases. However, there is more later on. Back in Beowulf's home area, there was a dragon that guarded a treasure. A man tried to steal it and was able to make away with a small portion, causing the dragon to seek revenge. To do so, he burned the village. The burning of the village angered the people, including Beowulf. So he and some other warriors went to take on the dragon for revenge for their homes. Beowulf becomes harmed in the battle, but he is able to kill the dragon, so he gets his revenge, even though it costs his life. Sooo, as you can see, REVENGE is a very distinctive theme in Beowulf.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
SCHOOL. . . . . [[ugh]]
So my summer went by really fast. I don't know if everyone else's did too, but everyone I have talked to agrees. I hope everyone's summer was enjoyable, even if we had homework. Haha :) For me it was full of volleyball and softball and Jared. I just turned 17 about a week ago, so while some of you are turning 18, I am not :( but oh well. It just seems weird that you guys are 18 now. Well I think I have gotten everything on here done that I was supposed to, I sure hope so. So I will see all of you tomorrow.
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