No Tale to Tell

The pardoner’s tale is a type of story to emphasize the moral point of trust. The Pardoner shows the effects of greed as he believes that greed is the root of all evil. In this story three young men go out to kill death and are told that he is located under a certain tree. To their surprise, when they arrive they find a sac of gold. They decide that it would be too suspicious and people would think badly of them if they just show up in the town with all the money. They created a plan that two would stay under the tree while the other would go buy some wine. One of the two who stayed under the tree convinced the other to plot the third person’s death. This way the two would get more money when split instead of three people splitting the gold. Meanwhile, the one who went to go buy wine secretly placed poison in the wine, so the other two would die and he would take possession of all the gold. The two men who waited under the tree did follow through with their plan and killed the third man. They decided to celebrate their new riches with the poisoned wine. The two then died as well.

I found it ironic when one rioter told another rioter, "Trust me, you needn't doubt my word. I won't betray you. I'll be true."The rioter is telling another rioter to trust him and that he wouldn't betray his friends, yet he is plotting the death of the third rioter who he pledged to treat as a brother. Another part of this story that shows irony is when the third rioter tells the apothecary that he has some rats to kill. Literally, rats are creature that humans despise and don’t want but he is referring to other two rioters waiting for him under the tree. All the rioters trusted one another but ultimately they were provoked by the gold. They all got their consequences for their actions of greed. I think the whole tale is ironic as well. In the prologue the pardoner says that greed is the root of all evil. However, he only preaches to convince people to buy his pardons for his personal needs.

Word Count: 381

Modern Grendel

Modern Grendel:

When I thought of modern Grendel, I instantly thought of the military. I think that in some perspectives the soldiers fighting in war are both seen and feel like a Grendel to an extent. Grendel is seen as this bad monster that kills people for no apparent reason, and everyone fears him, desires his death, his presence unwanted. Grendel however claims to kill people for the better since he kills people that kill many others for the wrong reasons. To the countries you are fighting against, their citizens see you as the bad person who wants to take over. They fear of possible attacks. They only see you as the killer. However the country you are for glorifies you, looks up to you filling you with pride. Then at night time after killing others, nightmares attack you. Soldiers have inner conflict. They know they killed fathers leaving children without that parental figure. They know they leave many women without their husbands. They know they kill hard workers, loving men, and innocent people. Those thoughts taunt soldiers like they taunt Grendel. Even though they think they’re killing for the better, is it really justifiable? Similar to Grendel, they believe that after killing enough people, a difference for the better will be made.      

Truth

TRUTH

An infinite range of emotion was evoked in Grendel by a single song.  The shaper in this novel, in my opinion, is one of the most important characters. The shaper directs the hearts of people and paints this image in their minds of pride and victory.  Grendel calls the shaper’s stories lies and tricks. However, at first Grendel enjoys the stories, as if he wants to believe the shaper but ultimately knows the truth. After speaking with the dragon, Grendel realizes that the truth is more dooming and brutal than we are willing to admit. The so called reality sung by the shaper is something we choose to believe. The songs and stories is just an illusion, but the remolding of the past won’t bring a brighter future, which is what Grendel comes to learn. As Grendel says when conflicted, “did we kill each other more gently because in the woods sweet songbirds sang?” Grendel shows that even though humans claim to be more intelligent than creatures, when our hearts our influenced by what we want to believe is real, it overrides logical thought.  It’s as if our heart demands comfort and hope, which Grendel discovers in the shaper’s stories.  He surrenders these hopes after his encounter the dragon, he’s sees the people for who they really are and how pointless it is to gloss their lives with the belief of dignity. Grendel is the one who witnesses the lies of the shaper and discovers the consequences of truth. 

Brit Lit Blog - Modern Day Beowulf

I believe the modern day Beowulf in everyone’s eyes is different but all goes back to the same word, mom.  Beowulf was characterized as a fearless warrior as a youth and transitions into a more mature perfect hero. When being a fearless warrior he was confident and strong describing the traits of one’s mom at the beginning. As Beowulf grows he becomes wiser and wants to keep people safe also demonstrating as a mother grows. A mother wants to keep their child safe and away from harm. She wants them to be proud of her. A mother also shows confidence in knowing what she does. A mother doesn’t want to demonstrate fear, just strength. A mother, like Beowulf is a hero in every child’s eyes. A mother takes care of you when sick, when injured, when in need of help. The view on your mother as Beowulf changes as you grow however. When one is young a mother seems indestructible and as you grow you begin to see some weaknesses. Once you’re even older you begin to see that your mom was wise and strong and overall protected you your whole life. A mother has only good intentions for their children. One looks up to their mother as always being there for them, a true hero, just like Beowulf.  

Word Count: 220

Brit Lit Blog -Me

My name is Ashley and I was born on December 12^th, 1996. For elementary school I went to CICS Bucktown. I was there from kindergarten to eighth grade. From fifth to eighth grade I attended the accelerated program taking algebra in 6^th grade and geometry in 7^th grade and learning a year higher in all other subjects. In 5^th grade I was on our schools track and field team and then joined running mates in 7^th and eighth grade. Along with running mates I was also on our schools softball team and student council. One of my favorite field trips in that school was when our class went to Springfield. We were able to visit important memorial sites and even saw the statue of Abraham Lincoln. Everyone rubbed his nose for good luck, which looked really silly. Another fun trip that I had was ice skating. I first learned how to ice skate in that field trip. My cousin pulled me into the middle and told me to skate my way back and then left. Even though I fell, it was an effective way to learn to ice skate.  CICS Bucktown was like a second home to me and will remain as a great memory.

Word count: 205

Malcolm X

Malcolm Little was born in Nebraska but moves to Michigan where he experiences violence. The Klux Klux Klan murder Malcolm’s father and force his mother into a mental hospital. After living in a Michigan detention home and completing the eighth grade, Malcolm moves to Boston, to live with his half-sister, Ella. He passes for being much older than he is, with the type of clothes, gambling, drinking, doing drugs, and dating. He then moves to New York, where he begins working as a hustler in Harlem and commits robberies. Inspired by the faith, Malcolm stops using drugs he reads, prays, studies English and Latin, and joins the prison debate team. The prison releases Malcolm on parole and Malcolm moves in with his brother Wilfred. Malcolm receives permission to drop his last name, which a white slave owner gave to one of his ancestors. He adopts “X” as his last name, using the letter to represent the lost name of his African ancestors. Malcolm X soon meets the Nation of Islam’s leader, Elijah Muhammad, and rises quickly from the rank of temple assistant to the Nation’s first national minister. Thus far I am amazed at how Malcolm has changed throughout the story. I think that it all ties back to the idea that your past and experiences shapes your thoughts and who you are as a person. When Malcolm joined the religion he thought of all the white people in his past and realized he had a bad experience with all of them. Malcolm had a rough childhood leading him to act tough, and although he did drugs and committed robberies he was never violent, and kept his morals high.

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Hiding the Reservation

There is always the internal conflict between fitting in and standing out. In the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Junior does both. At Reardan he wants to be accepted, and in doing so he tries to fit in. In order to fit in he has to be like them leading him to hide where he is from. He isn't judged nor stereotyped in doing so of hiding his background. On the rez he stands out by doing what most Indians don’t, and doing more than what is expected of him. This is why he hides his background because Indians aren't expected to have long term goals. Fitting in at Reardan meant proving he wasn't just another Indian which led to hiding what was an Indian. When attending Whitney Young most don’t do what Junior had to do. Since there are many ethnic backgrounds, culturally most don’t hide anything. In fact, it is even interesting to hear of different cultures and traditions. In some way there are some people who hide their “rez,” or their past so to speak. When attending a new school, it’s a fresh start. People don’t know who you are until you tell and show them. Some people hide their past from their old school, or even pretend to have been something else. The reason for this I believe is neither to be accepted, nor to stand out but more to not have their history be their present again. It isn't the “culture” of Whitney Young but more an idea of starting again, getting another opportunity to become a better version of yourself without people knowing who you were. This is similar to junior’s case of not being like the other Indians and being a better version of himself, and giving himself higher expectations because whether one thinks they can or can’t one is always right.