Chaucer's Social Politics Essay Outline (not in outline form just yet)

INTRO:

• Social classes have been around for a really long time
• In many instances, people can be against social order
• Chaucer seems to not like social order that much
• THESIS: Although Chaucer says that he is conservative and reverent, he hints in his work that he can be progressive and irreverent towards social order.

POINT 1: I think Chaucer is progressive about the social hierarchy but doesn't speak it out loud rather showing it through the characters of the different stories.

•    Chaucer agreed with the monk on being progressive?
•   "He took the modern world's more spacious way" (7).
• "That is to say a monk is out of his cloister that was a text he held not worth an oyster; and I agreed and said his views were sound" (8).
•  nagging wives want their husbands to do better (hint as raising social class) because they know that their work is better than the average men's for their social class 
•  "Their wisdom would have justified a plan to make each one of them an alderman they had the capital and revenue, besides their wives declared it was their due" (13).
• Wife of Bath description= progressive?
• She seems to be very successful and skilled compared to the normal idea of women in this time period.
• "In making cloth she showed so great a bent she bettered those of Ypres and of Ghent" (15).

POINT 2: I think Chaucer is irreverent because he has hidden sarcastic points about almost every character but he tries to hide it with a double meaning

• The Squire: not very squire-y "Of time, in hope to win his lady's grace. He was embroidered like a meadow bright and full of freshest flowers, red and white. Singing he was, or fluting all the day" (5).
• Yeoman: Doesn't really seem like a Yeoman "He was a proper forester, I guess" (6).

POINT 3: On the outside Chaucer likes to portray that he isn't progressive.

• In the case of anyone picking up the double meanings in his stories, he gives disclaimers
• I'm not that smart so don't be mad if I'm wrong: "Further I beg you to forgive it me if I neglect the order and degree and what is due to rank in what I've planned. I'm short of wit as you will understand.
• I'm just repeating what was said originally: "I speak plainly and with no concealings and give account of all their words and dealings, using their very phrases as they fell" (22).
• Obscures the lower class to hide their talent in their jobs with altercations in physical features
• The Cook: "Made good thick soup and bake a tasty pie. But what a pity - so it seemed to me, that he should have an ulcer on his knee" (13).
• The Reeve(cunning): "A better hand at bargains than his lord, he had grown rich and had a store of treasure" (19). "The reeve was old and choleric and thin " (19).
• 
  

The Pardoner's Tale .vs. the Tale of Three Brothers

The Pardoner's Tale and the Tale of the Three Brothers are alike because they both take a journey to battle Death. They come up with separate strategies to get what they want. In the Pardoner's Tale, the three men come up with strategies to kill each other to keep all  of the money that they find under a tree. In the Tale of the Three Brothers,the three men also go on a journey to battle Death. They allegedly defeated Death and they all got an item of their choice and used that opportunity to get something they want, whether it be a loved one, or to be free from Death's harmful grip. Additionally, in both stories, all three of the characters die and are taken by Death.
     However, the characters all die for different reasons. The three brothers all die because the items that they received all had loopholes except for one, who died on his own account of handing down his invisibility cloak. In contrast, in the Pardoner's Tale, all three die from their greedy plans to take the money for themselves. In the Tale of the Three Brothers, the characters die from their ignorance and Death tricking them. In the Pardoner's Tale, the three characters died because their greedy plans to kill one another worked.
   

Beowulf Film Explication / Assessment

     EXPLICATION

     My group did the scene in which Beowulf tells his epic boast. The first scene starts with a shot of the stain-glass window with a cross, a harp, and a crown and then it pans down to Beowulf standing directly underneath it. This shot shows the association Beowulf has with the things displayed on the window (cross= Christianity, crown= hero). Showing both the window and Beowulf in this single shot shows that Beowulf is related to the themes of heroism and Christianity displayed in the stain-glass window.
     When Beowulf was responding to Unferth with his boast about his monster-slaying journey, the camera has a extreme close-up on his face. the camera goes 180 degrees around his face back and forth during his speech. This close-up and camera panning shows the rate of intensity Beowulf is speaking with and how valuable it is for the story as a whole. This shot also shows the theme of heroism because the camera is focused on nothing but Beowulf and his epic speech.
     During Beowulf's boast, we added a flashback of him killing the sea monsters in his path. We edited in a flashback instead of 'Beowulf' talking to give the audience a better picture of what happened and show the importance of this scene since it is a big focal point in his boast. The camera almost moved with Beowulf at a reasonable distance to let the audience follow alongside him.

PROJECT ASSESSMENT

     I think our group did exceptionally well on establishing the key themes in the first shot of the stain glass window. I think we also did a good job of explaining the sea monsters in the flashback and helping the audience understand what that part was all about.

     Overall I feel like we did a good job but I think we needed a few more pieces of mise-en-scene to depict the themes. Perhaps we could have used an establishing shot in the chapel for the first scenes to help give the audience an idea of where they are. 

     I feel as though our group worked very well together. We supported each other's ideas and we helped explain things in clearer detail on parts of the project that one of us may have found unclear.

PMW 10/31

Tone of the Prologue

     The tone of the prologue has kind of the same feel to it as the mood. It feels quite calm if I personally was in the author's perspective. Also like the mood, I feel an adventurous atmosphere in it. the passage "from every shire's end of England...they wend to seek holy blissful martyr..." shows the authors meaning towards the people's desire to go on a pilgrimage (15-17). Furthermore, Chaucer highlights a more desperate tone in the prologue. He shows this tone through his description of the people yearning to go on a pilgrimage.


Mood of the Prologue

          The mood of the prologue is very serene. The use of the different seasons and flowers add a very calm sense to The Canterbury Tales. For example, the first two lines of the prologue exemplify this mood, "When in April the sweet showers fall and pierce the drought of March to the root.." (1-2). Because of the multiple uses of the word sweet, it seems to get in my head that the mood is sweet. It almost has an adventure-y theme to it. The quote "Then people long to go on pilgrimages and palmers long to seek the greater strands..." really highlights the adventurous aura the prologue gives off (12-13).

My Boast: Award Show Acceptance Speech

     First off I'd like to thank God for giving me all of this amazing talent I have for the arts. With all of the awards that I have previously won, polished and on my shelf at home, I honestly was expecting this win tonight. Let's just say that my butler has one more thing to polish in my house.
     I just want to make a quick shout-out to that snobby girl in my fifth grade class who said I would never become a famous actress: LOOK AT ME NOW SUCKER. I have more followers on Twitter than the population of Macedonia! I bet you're sulking at home with only twelve.
     Anyways, I just want to thank my fans for voting for me, it was such an honor to receive yet another Grammy award. People should just call me the award-receiver because I have a whole walk-in closet designated for these guys *waves award*. You all should just wait around for next year, because I will be back and shining brighter than ever. Thank you and enjoy the rest of the show!


Explanation: I am a pretentious, stuck-up actress receiving yet ANOTHER award at the annual Grammy Awards. I talk about all my fame and popularity and shove in people's faces that I am going far in life.

PMW 10/1/14

Q: How is Grendel different from the Danes? How does he undermine their cultural values?

     For one, Grendel is different from the Danes in that he is a ravenous creature that kills the Danes on an almost daily basis. In Beowulf, Grendel is portrayed like he does not care about his actions. IN contrast, the Danes care about what they are doing. When Beowulf was talking about his heroic adventures in the ocean with his friend, of the Danes replied with, "...both of you daring and young and proud, exploring the deepest Seas, risking your lives for no reason but the danger?" (508). This underlines that the Danes care about their actions because of the possible consequences they have.

    In the story, Grendel disrupts the Danes' cultural values of community and heroism. Grendel broke down the feeling of community because he was single-handedly killing the community. The population of the Danes are decreasing and since the number is getting smaller, the feeling of a community begins to decrease. Grendel destroys the value of heroism because he is so destructive that the Danes are grateful of someone coming in from the outside to kill the monster. Heroism decreases because they are willing to be weak and let someone else kill the monster and completely degrade their people instead of them being heroic and killing it themselves. "No quarrel from the quiet Danes. Now the Geats will show him courage... that evil will be gone!" (601). This highlights the Danes letting Beowulf insult them, saying that they are quiet and meek. After Beowulf said these words, the Danes started a banquet, showing they are grateful for them coming to their rescue.

Anglo-Saxon Views Today

     In Anglo-Saxon times, heroism was a very vital core value. Heroism was based off of your ability to fight and how many heroic missions you could complete. Most of the people in that time looked up to heroes. Their bravery and confidence were something that the townspeople looked up to and depended on to keep them safe.
     However, in our time, heroes are not described the same way. They aren't beefy dudes that fight the enemies and conquer every battle they are placed in. We still think of heroes as someone who helps us and saves us like they did in Anglo-Saxon times, but not to the full extent that they had in mind. A hero could really be anyone since some take the term lightly. For instance if someone helps their friend with last night's homework, that friend might say "Thanks for the help, you're my hero". That someone didn't do any life-saving task, they just helped their friend with one night's worth of homework.
    In contrast, even though some people see this as childish and cheesy, people do feel like their favorite artist (music-wise) or celebrity is their hero. If this person feels down or sad, they watch videos about this person and it brings up their mood or spirit, even if it feels like these sad feelings won't budge. I haven't really fully experienced this personally, but people have told me countless stories on how their favorite celebrity is their hero because they save them from sadness and misery.
    In conclusion, our view on heroism is a lot less serious than it was in Anglo-Saxon times. Their heroism was based mainly off of bravery and their ability to conquer and fight. In our time, we consider people for the smallest acts. however, some people still have the same view on heroism. They still believe that there are heroes that save them like people though in Anglo-Saxon times.

Character Alignment

Lawful Good: Josh Nichols is a prime example of a straight- A student in the television series "Drake and Josh". He follows the rules of the teachers and his parents and denies any chance to do something that will break any rules with his step-brother Drake. He will rarely side with Drake, but only if it is for a VERY good cause.

Neutral Good: Blossom is known as the "sweetheart" in the hit TV show, "The Powerpuff Girls". Her charming character is shown through her obedient attitude towards the rules and other people. However, if fighting crime means saving the town, that is exactly what she will do.

Chaotic Good: In the movie “Guardians of Galaxy”, Rocket is a particularly reckless character. During the movie, he tends to go on his own tangent instead of following with the rest of the group. He still wants to defeat the villain but he wants to do it his own way.

Lawful Neutral: Vice Principal Crubbs is not a force to  be reckoned with. In the TV show “Ned’s Declassified”, he is known as the rule enforcer. He doesn't care all too much about the feelings of the students, he just wants them to follow the rules of the school.

True Neutral: I believe Grendel is classified as a true neutral. His main goal that he is looking for throughout the book is meaning. He kills people without his conscience second-guessing itself. Grendel believed that the world had no meaning but as soon as he found something that possibly could, he would do anything to reach it.

       Chaotic Neutral: The “criminal” John Bender in the classic movie "The Breakfast Club" is an accurate example of someone who really doesn't care. Constantly getting in trouble, Bender serves a lot more time in detention than anyone else. Morals just aren't on his list of things that he thinks apply to him.

L    Lawful Evil: In his self-titled show, Dexter is known to be a certified serial killer. However, he thinks he is doing good for others by only massacring convicted criminals. In addition, everyone who has heard of Dexter views him as a killer in the bad sense of the phrase.

       Neutral Evil: In "Guardians of the Galaxy", Ronan is a sinister character. He has one central desire: to obtain the Infinity Stone. This stone has the ability to destroy everything except someone who has enough power to deflect it. Ronan believes he has enough power for it so he does anything to get it, even killing people.

C    Chaotic Evil: Daleks are the definition of destruction in the British TV series “Doctor Who”. Their main goal is to “exterminate” the Doctor. They end up creating havoc in most places they go, causing even more destruction and death.

The Catcher in the Rye: What's Next?

     I think that Holden will have a lot of time to think over what his life has come to up to that  point. Since he is most likely going to be by himself, I think he will spend a lot of time thinking about his family and the people at Pencey Prep. I think that as he is walking around the city, he is going to bump into someone, whether it be a stranger or someone he knew. Holden is going to try to act like an adult and swing his red hat around to the back like he always would do. But unfortunately she or he will still think of Holden as a child and will not treat him like the adult he was trying to be. Holden will feel a bit "shot down" for a while after he leaves the person he was talking to but will eventually get over it as he loses himself in New York City.
     I believe that Holden will try find some ducks in a fountain that he has an interest in and see if he can feed them and watch them swim. Later that day I think he will use  his ice skates that he packed and head over towards the big ice skating rink in Central Park. There, all of his memories will flood back into his mind.Perhaps it was because Holden and his family had been to the same ice rink when he was a child. I think he is going to remember all of the old schools he has been to and all of his friends he had met there. He is also going to think about Ally and Jean, two of the people who are very close to him. He might also think about his parents' reaction to him leaving Pencey prep and he might think about what he will say to them to not make them as angry.
     Soon enough, however, I feel as though something bad will happen. I don't know what it will be but I feel like he is going to lose something in the city. Maybe he might lose Ally's baseball glove and goes on a panic to find it, feeling miserable until he can. He is going to beat himself up for it, constantly in an depressed or infuriated state as he looks for his most prized possession. I think he is going to be so upset that he takes off his red hat and throws it away.

Letter to General al-Sisi

Dear General al-Sisi,

I am glad that I have the chance to talk to you before you become the next president of Egypt. Being the president of a place so vast will take a lot of hard work and dedication but I believe that you have the power and strength to fill the role efficiently and successfully. To become successful, I believe that four things should be in mind: involve the people of Egypt, as well as represent them, help build up the economy to its rightful spot, and try to be selfless in many of your actions as president.

In the work that you are faced with in the upcoming future, I think it is vital that the economy should be built to its full potential. The economy is a huge part of Egypt and it should be well thought out and planned. According to the revolution packet students are studying, the economy is not doing too well as of lately, “Youth unemployment is rampant, everything is in decay, tourism and foreign investment and reserves are down sharply” (14). I will let you become the decision maker on how to address the problems mentioned. Many parts of the world are cognizant of the problems that you are all facing in Egypt so hopefully you can work to resolve them and give Egypt a bit of a better image. Moreover, I believe that to build a strong country, the government should lean more towards a democracy. Letting the people have a say will earn you so much more respect from the people of Egypt. The people of Egypt want a democracy and a democracy is what will make Egypt successful in the future. “Egypt’s future will be found in neither a caliph nor a pharaoh” (2).  They will tend to listen more and have a more positive outlook because they feel more represented. In addition, getting the people involved is also a key role. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Mark Antony makes a speech that involves the people, bringing many, if not all of them on his side, gaining him more power.

In contrast, I believe that there are things that you must NOT do. First is making promises that you cannot keep. If this action comes up, all of the trust the people had in you would be mostly down in the dumps and they will feel betrayed. This will lead to little communication and all around uneasiness in Egypt’s future. Also, it is best that you not be overly selfish. It is perfectly fine to think about yourself in certain situations but not everything is based off of your opinion if you want the people to be happy. In Julius Caesar, Caesar was an overly-confident dictator. He said things such as “I am as constant as the Northern Star” (3.1.66), and you know where quotes like that ultimately got to? Murder.

In summary, I believe that the people be given a voice in the government and that all of this power over the people should not be going to your head. And I know you’re probably thinking, “Why should I listen to this guy, he’s only Secretary of State?”. I believe that this advice will work well for you in the long run of your spot as figurehead of Egypt. There has been much talk of Egypt and its possible flaws and I believe that what I have told you will be able to mend them. I hope you succeed in all that you do in your time leading Egypt. I wish you the best of luck!

Sincerely,

John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State

Mark Antony Propaganda

     My Propaganda poster is for Mark Antony being ruler. The text in red is a quote from the people about Mark Antony and it shows the Plebeians' trustworthiness towards him. The quote on the poster sends out a positive tone about Antony. It underscores how important he is to the people because it is showing that the people will do so much as to die for him. The fact that the picture and the text is light in color, even though it is mainly black and white, gives off an optimistic and comfortable feeling in the propaganda poster itself. The positive feelings people could get from the poster could help support Mark Antony in his future as ruler in some form.

     The quote “We’ll hear him, we’ll follow him, we’ll die with him” (3.2.220-221) is said by a Plebeian during Antony’s speech after Julius Caesar was murdered.  Antony was showing the people of Rome Caesar’s body and explained how the stab wounds were created by the conspirators. Antony's plan was to get the Plebeians onto his side. To accomplish this feat he had to convince the people that the conspirators, especially Brutus, are the exact opposite of honorable. To get the Plebeians onto his side, he must manipulate the people to be on his side by showing valuable pieces of evidence, even if he has to lie a bit. To persuade the people, he brought out the body of Caesar, a giant piece of evidence to support his overall point in his speech. The Plebeians are very easy to persuade so they were on Antony's side in a heartbeat; hence the quote "We'll hear him, we'll follow him, we'll die with him" (3.2.220-221). 

Kilgore Trout Fan Letter

Dear Kilgore,

    I have found out about your splendid book, The Gospel From Outer Space, from my good friend Eliot Rosewater. We were both in a veteran's hospital when I met him and we both read your books while we were there. He read The Gospel From Outer Space to me so I got a better picture of what the book was about.
 We both believe that your sci-fi works recreate another world for us. The main character in your book makes me think of the Tralfamadorians and my experience on the planet of Tralfamadore 446,120,000,000,000,000 miles away from planet Earth. Tralfamodorians are not like the earthlings here.
The Tralfamadorians are aliens that had kidnapped me and showed me a completely new outlook on life. Every now and then, I can go into different points in my life; either in the past or in the future. FOr example I have been in different places such as the YMCA with my dad when I was a kid or to the day that I died. So it goes.
    I really enjoyed your book, especially when I felt like there was not much to enjoy in life. I really liked the part when you were explaining that Jesus was a nobody and everyone thought so until they crucified him. When they did, God came down from heaven and adopted the "bum", showing that he really wasn't a nobody after all. As far as I am concerned, I do not see any room for alterations in this book.
   So with that, I bid you farewell.
 
   Sincerely,
   Billy Pilgrim

Kilgore Trout Book Cover: The Gospel From Outer Space

    The Internet has so many positive uses. It can be the guide to an A+ for a student's paper with the webpages about how to properly write an essay, and how to source it. Sites such as easybib.com can make it much faster for a student to cite their sources. Most of the time, the information that their assignment is about is on the internet. For most students, it can also be a way to take their mind off of stressful things (such as essays). Looking at a dumb and mindless video can lift their spirits and brush off some of the built stress from their shoulders and let them have a laugh.
    More seriously, the internet can help people connect with their families and friends. There are different websites that have the ability to connect with anyone across the world. For example, Skype is a popular website people use to connect with others. All someone needs to accomplish this is internet access and a webcam. From there, you can see your friend or family member that you gravely miss; or you just want to say 'hi' to. Also, social networking sites can give you the ability to check on someone and see what they're up to. You can see where they've been, what they're thinking, and, for some people, every meal they have eaten. In conclusion, the internet is a brilliant invention that helps benefit people in so many ways.

The Song of Our Generation

    The song that I analyzing is "Team" by Lorde. I think that this song is a good fit for the song that is the voice of our generation of teenagers. It accurately describes the effect that society has on us. For example, the first verse says "call all the ladies out; they're in their finery. A hundred jewels on throats; a hundred jewels between teeth". What I think is trying to be said is that all of the girls are in their "finery" to look cool for other people. Most teenage girls these days like to wear the top-of-the-line clothing and accessories to try to be popular and fit in.  In the chorus, it explains the environment that teenagers are exposed to. "We live in cities you'll never see on screen. Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things". These lines are explaining how teenagers sort of run the town that we live in. Some teenagers like to go outside late at night and run around, acting like we're the king of the world and we are in control of the city we live in.

    A lot of teenagers (mainly girls) feel like we are already ready for a serious relationship in high school; fretting about what boy would ask them out on a date or which guy has been staring at them. In "Team", one of the lines is, "And eveyone's competing for a love they can't receive". This goes along with the idea that we are all worrying about our love lives but in reality, we shouldn't care about things like this. We're not adults yet, we still have time to mature.