Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde is a very widely applauded work of poetry. His works, which include the extensive Canterbury Tales, have a history of being appealing to a variety of people, from the members of the Court to the lesser population. This, some would say, would probably be because Chaucer chooses to direct his writings at all types of characters through the medium of language topical issues and style, but Troilus and Criseyde is a work vastly culminating towards a fairly restricted audience. As it is, it talks of the Trojan war, which only a select crowd or elite would know about, and also, we cannot forget that Chaucer was a favourite at Court ; Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde is based to a large extent on Boccaccio's Il Filostrato, but he made quite a lot of changes to the way the protagonists are portrayed. Chaucer's art rests in the way he describes rounded characters and not really types as some might have thought. The two main characters have been dealt with in such an astute and crafty manner that the reader asks himself whether Troilus as the hero is the main character or is Criseyde the more appealing of the two.
Indeed, Troilus is the mythical, legendary hero in all senses of the word. Troilus's appearance itself demarcates him from the whole crowd of `knyghts' who follow him and for whom he is responsible. Troilus at the very outset is the epitome of heroic splendour and magnificence, a state which will amplify as the story goes on. He is this `fierse and proud knyght' (Bk1, 225)
But wel he wist, as far as tongues spaken,
Ther nas a man of gretter hardinesse
Thanne he, ne more desired worthinesse
(Bk1, 565-67)
As per the definition...
... middle of paper ...
..., but he is too much distanced from us. He is admirable, pitiable in the end, but Criseyde is the one who captures and sustains our interest, because she is a mortal in the end, human like us. She is the one we understand or deplore, who makes us go back to the poem to see where she goes wrong and where she is right. Although the story ends on Troilus ascension to the eighth sphere and his subsequent enlightenment on the smallness and brutality of this world, Criseyde is the one whom we remember long after because of the many shades she has to her character.' Indeed in this poem, Chaucer has not only given us a full and finished romance, but has endowed it with what, as rule, Medieval Romance conspicuously lacked-interest of character[...]' (The Cambridge History of English and American literature in 18 volumes (vol2 The end of the Middle ages))
Often through great literature, there is an epic hero. In the Odyssey, Homer tells the journey of one man’s journey home from the Trojan War. The protagonist of the epic poem Odysseus is often regarded as a great hero. However, Odysseus is not quite the glorious soldier that people often see him as. Odysseus shows that he is an antihero through his pride, disloyalty, and bloodthirstiness.
“Hence, segregation is not only politically, economically, and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful.”… Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the greatest speakers in all of history wrote these words in his letter from Birmingham Jail (King 48). His great use of rhetoric affected largely the freeing of an entire race. During his work in the Civil Rights Movement, he visited a small town called Birmingham in Alabama, and wrote one of his most rhetorically compelling letters there. In this letter, he used historical evidence, scriptural references, descriptive vocabulary, and great organization of points to respond to grievances raised against his movement: that he should wait, that he was breaking laws, that his peace brought on violence, and that his activities were extreme.
Woodstock started out as the brainstorm of a pig farmer name Max Yasgur. He owned a 600 acre farm in Bethel (White Lake) New York, and offered it free of charge to promote a rock/folk concert dedicated to three days of peace and music. He did this after learning that the town of Woodstock, New York turned down the offer because they didn’t want 60,000 hippies and acid heads converging on their town. Why the festival kept the name “Woodstock” is still a mystery to this day. Woodstock does have a better ring to it than the “Bethel Music Festival”.
After claiming their Rights and equality, Thomas Jefferson condemned the present King of Great Britain for his ignorance to their well being as a ruler, his tyrannical nature as a king, as well as his usurpation toward his colonies, and his unquenchable greed that terrorized his own people. Established by the Great Britain, the colonists were bound under it naturally, but after time they were seriously mistreated by their own governor, publishing high taxes and demanding unreasonably expensive fee to its army, disregarding of their (the colonists) situation. When Thomas Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence, almost the whole one-third of its length was to record of the Britain King’s evil doings, therefore, such ruler, “whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” Therefore, they must break free from this
Dr. King notices that the clergymen are anxious over the black man’s “willingness to break laws” (King pg.218). He understands their anxiety over that issue. King then refers to the “Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools," praising it for its civil rights initiative (King pg.218). By mentioning the Supreme Court decision, he is reminding the reader that even a credible source such as the Supreme Court supports racial equality. Since most citizens are law abiding, the addition of the Supreme Court decision might convince the reader adopt the belief of racial equality. King then streamlines into a rhetorical question and answers the question. King writes, “One may well ask: ‘How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying other laws” (King 218). This question is King admitting that his intention seems paradoxical since he urges people to follow “the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation," while he is apparently willing to break laws (King pg.218). He insists that it is not a paradox, but rather an acknowledgement of the distinction between “just and unjust” laws (King pg.218). He insists that everyone has a “legal” and “moral responsibility” to follow just laws, but one equally “has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” (King pg.218). In order to further provide evidence for his claims, King alludes to St.
King and his pro-black organization group presented the essay to argue non-violent actions against the racial discrimination and hatred among the black community residing in Birmingham. The letter was also aimed towards the freedom and equality to not just the black community but also to the white community, to the social, religious and political community. King wanted to address the stress of everyone having freedom and equality. King’s main thesis in writing the Birmingham Letter is that racial discrimination and hatred to the black community is due to the optimism of the white community.
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are filled with many entertaining tales from a variety of characters of different social classes and background. The first two tales told, by the knight and the miller, articulate very different perspectives of medieval life. Primarily, The tales of both the knight and the miller bring strikingly different views on the idea of female agency, and as we will discover, Chaucer himself leaves hints that he supports the more involved, independent Alison, over the paper-thin character of Emily.
The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, is a well-known document in American history proclaiming the separation of the United States from Great Britain. Jefferson uses the document to explain the unjust laws King George III was pressing onto the Colonists and brings them to light. The use of rhetorical strategies in the script influences the audience’s opinion towards their loyalties to the King and ends with the United States’ newly gained independence.
Even after black people were supposedly free, they were still somewhat oppressed and expected to fail in society. Gaines shows this in his novel, also through Jefferson’s trial. In his trial, the whole jury, the attorneys, and the judge were all white males, proving that they were the only ones with higher and important positions in society, during this time. This easily made it unfair for Jefferson and other people of color. Since most black people also viewed white people as superior to them, when the attorney had called Jefferson a hog, it deeply affected him. Because of who the words were coming from, the power it had on him was great and it led him to actually believing it. In one instance, Grant is talking to the sheriff about getting permission to visit Jefferson in jail. During the conversation, he thinks to himself, “I used the word ‘doesn’t’ again, but I did it intentionally this time. If he had said I was being too smart and he didn’t want me to come to that jail, my mind would definitely have been relieved” (pg. 39). This further shows how much power white people had, how they used it to their advantage, and how they expected black people to be inferior to them. Through this conflict, Gaines illustrates how someone’s role in society and the power that they have can affect how they treat
One of the most famous pieces of history, the “Declaration of Independence,” was published on July 4, 1776, and was written by Thomas Jefferson. In the British colonies in America, Jefferson addresses not only the King George III of England but the American colonists with a formal document structured in a general to a specific list of grievances. The purpose is to explain why the colonies want to form their own country. In commanding and accusatory tone, Jefferson utilizes figurative language and rhetorical strategies to express his attitude towards the matter of American Independence and the King of England.
Initially, Woodstock was simply going to be a concert for people to attend and enjoy, free of repression and the outside war zones. Unexpectedly, an estimated 500,000 people were at the gates waiting two days before the concert even started (Evans 65). Woodstock was not anticipated to have such an infinite amount of people, but once word spread about the serene music extravaganza, it would be impossible to miss out. The majority of the people attending, were present those three days to protest the gruesome effects caused by war. Many people wanted to revolt against the Vietnam War and racial tension vastly developing across the nation (64). Once the festival began, all of the attendees realized that they united for the same message of openness, peace, and cultural expression that could not be asserted anywhere else. “This new counterculture suggested a new model for an alternative society which many felt would be synthesized and expressed most completely at the three days of peace and music that was to be at the Woodstock festival” (14). Woodstock was no longer solely for entertainment, but transformed into a defining moment when American youth and music had the power to influence the way the nation and the world was
The idea of a true hero is varied from person to person, because each viewpoint has a different idea of the personality that makes one a hero. There have been many fiction and non-fiction heroes that show different character traits, which influence people’s definitions of a hero. However, each person’s unique thought about a hero still focuses about one central idea: a hero must prove himself in order to earn his heroic status. This is the cornerstone of all the opinions about heroes because heroes have to show their heroism in order to become who they are in the end. At the beginning they are inexperienced, ordinary people who go on their adventures, and face their fears and weaknesses, but they develop greatly throughout these journeys. After comprehending what true heroism is and following it only then will they become heroes even though each of them has different traits. In the epic poem The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus gains the title of hero during his journey back to Ithaka, from Troy, by proving to be one. It is through his characteristics and experiences that he becomes the well developed man at the end of the book. In truth, because of his confidence, loyalty, and difficult struggles, Odysseus becomes a genuine hero to the people he defended.
In The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the stereotypes and roles in society are reexamined and made new through the characters in the book. Chaucer discusses different stereotypes and separates his characters from the social norm by giving them highly ironic and/or unusual characteristics. Specifically, in the stories of The Wife of Bath and The Miller’s Tale, Chaucer examines stereotypes of women and men and attempts to define their basic wants and needs.
Chaucer is not some unknown literary author who is known only by a dozen people in the English field. Besides Shakespeare, Chaucer is probably one of the most well-known contributors to English literature, if not the most well-known. His name is instantly recognizable, and many a high school student learned of him through the oftentimes-painful reading of his most famous work, The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer’s work is an extremely important text in terms of the evolution of the English language; The Canterbury Tales set itself apart from other literary works at the time by being one of the first pieces of literature to be written in English instead of French, and its extreme popularity spurred the creations of even more English literature, allowing the language to regain its prominence and evolve into the English we know today (“Chaucer”; Kemmer). Today, it’s the most prominent example of Middle English work, and is studied not just for its literary worth but as evidence of what the language was like at the time. The Canterbury Tales and Chaucer’s importance are extreme, and the author enjoyed his fame during his life as well as long after, largely due to his abilities to make sound decisions, take risks, learned to learn as a professional, and transfer knowledge, skills that people even today can utilize to be successful.
Woodstock was a three day music festival famously known for “peace and music” it happened August 15 to August 18, 1969 It was held at a 600 acre farm Bethel, New York in the Catskill Mountains. The festival created massive traffic jams and extreme shortages of food, water, and medical and sanitary facilities, it is still known today to be one of the biggest concerts in history. Woodstock drew 400,000 young people including a man named TJ Eck who was 28 at the time and had a thrive for music, Woodstock was the perfect place for him. “I decided to go to Woodstock as I had been a rock and roll keyboardist and singer, and from what I had heard, this was going to be a real "happening", as they used to say. Many of the performers that were supposed to be there were top notch.” He was very iffy on going though since at the time he had a two year old daughter who needed constant attention but his wife insisted that it would be a great experience. So “I piled into Bob's station wagon to drive up to "Yasgurs Farm" in NY state.” and they were on their way!