Literary Analysis of the poem Beowulf Essay Example for Free

Literary Analysis of the poem Beowulf Essay Beowulf is considered as one of the longest poems in literature with more than 3,000 lines. It is has no known author, but it was considered as the national epic of England. Beowulf is a man a hero who faced three major battles in the poem. These battles were not against other humans, but were against monstrous creatures (The Norton Anthology of English Literature). It is a poem that deals with legends, of hero and his men, and his great battles. It is composed mainly to entertain, a work of fiction with several relations to historical context. And with this, some speculations were raised, saying that Beowulf was something more that a poetic narrative of the hero, Beowulf. The epic poem was then related to a Christian context, saying that it was a Christian allegory. The poem takes place in the late 5th to 6th century, following the Anglo-Saxon’s settlement in England, after making contact with Germanic tribes in Scandinavia and Germany. Beowulf may be based on real people and real events at that time in Scandinavia. The clans mentioned in the poem were clans which are found in the area, as well as some of the prominent personalities in the story. So basically, the epic poem is a work of fiction but was based on factual characters and events during that time. The time of Beowulf was a time of Paganism, but Beowulf himself addresses a higher being rather than man, wherein he presents himself to the Father Almighty. According to Helterman, â€Å"As the view of the intellectual setting has shifted from a pagan to a Christian context, this ‘something more’ has been seen as a Christian allegory or didacticism†¦yet the tone of the poem and the lack of specific Christian allusions cause difficulties for such an approach (Helterman). The poem didn’t mention anything regarding Christianity, and Beowulf was a pagan. But there were several â€Å"Christian sentiments of a general sort† which were attributed to the hero. Because of the Christian-like characterization of the hero Beowulf, there were several speculations saying that the author was a Christian in England who wrote about Scandinavian history, which then became the epic poem Beowulf. But some said that the Christian attribution in the hero’s character could mean that he was an archetype, the generic, idealized model of a person (Chickering). And at that time, Christianity was a budding religion, wherein Beowulf’s character could have been patterned into that of an ideal Christian. Beowulf as the hero of the epic was made the way he is, the ideal person. But then again, every hero has its counterparts. And just like Beowulf, his counterpart can be seen in a Christian context. The epic poem Beowulf is divided into three major battles. The first one is his battle with the monstrous creature called Grendel, which was the reason why he went to Hrotgar. Just like Beowulf, Grendel also has a Christian context. He is to be the descendant of Cain, the son of Adam and Eve which was banished for killing his own brother. Because of this, Grendel is given an antagonistic comparison with Cain, who was the first person to commit murder in the Christian bible. Grendel, along with his mother, was compared to as the kinsmen of Cain, whereas Beowulf was the pagan hero considered as the archetype of a human being. Beowulf and Grendel were great opposites, as manifestation of the forces of good battling with the forces of evil, or in the context of religion and Christianity, will be righting the wrong. Beowulf’s character is the manifestation of Christianity’s good; wherein his defense of Heorot was an act to â€Å"order the chaotic universe,† where Grendel and his mother on the other hand, were the forces that bring chaos, falling into pattern of disorder (Batchelor). This is manifested by their physical appearance wherein they do not resemble or have any human characteristics. They were monstrous in size and strength. They can kill people with the swipe of their hands, and they even eat people, as to what Grendel did to Hrotgar’s men. Another possible association with religion and Christianity was during the creation of Heorot, the great hall which was built for the people of King Hrotgar (Helterman). The creation of the hall was because of the word of the king. It is the same as that of the Christian’s Genesis, wherein with the word of God, there was light. And it was with that word that He was able to create day and night, and everything that he wished and commanded. Just as with Hrotgar’s word, Heorot was created, all for the sake of the people, since in this hall they dined, ate and sang, until the time that Grendel came into the story. When Grendel came, it was like introducing chaos into order so that you could cleanse it, just like the cleansing of the sins of the people, just like the Great flood, where chaos or the flood was added in order to cleanse the world of the sinners. When Grendel came into Heorot, chaos caused destruction, thus it would require reconstruction, where after reconstruction was the cleansed state. Grendel, even though he caused a great deal of devastation to the people, has served a purpose, which was to strengthen the then destroyed Heorot. His chaos has led to a good outcome in the story. It could also be viewed on another angle, where the battle between Beowulf and Grendel was actually the same as to that of the myth of creation, where light and darkness mixed and â€Å"fought† in order to create the earth and everything in it. Another instance that relates the epic poem Beowulf to Christianity was during the battle against the mother of Grendel. Beowulf was definite on the losing end at that moment, since his sword, Hrunting, lost its powers and cannot harm the creature he is up against with. In his desperation, he was able to locate a sword in the Grendel’s lair, which only he could be able to use. It was a heavy sword of the giant, which he used to behead the mother of Grendel and eventually prolong his life. Even though he was able to slay the monster and keep his life, he gives the credit of his victory to the â€Å"higher being,† the â€Å"Wielder of Men. † It was an indirect association to God in Christianity, since he recognizes His powers and that his victory wasn’t possible without him. Beowulf being a pagan is just a characteristic, since there was no evidence of him knowing about Christianity (Batchelor). But the fact that he addresses to a higher being is a manifestation of being Christian even in his beliefs. The epic poem Beowulf is truly a literary piece that was made to entertain, with the life of Beowulf as a hero, his adventures, his battles, and even his death, makes it a wonderful read. But there are other underlying concerns that could come about while reading the epic. It is undeniable that there are other meanings in what was written, rather than just to entertain. The poem Beowulf is associated with religion, especially Christianity. The main character’s recognition of a higher being is but one of many manifestations of this underlying messages.

Cronenberg’s Videodrome and the Post-Modern Condition :: Cronenberg Videodrome Essays

Cronenberg’s Videodrome and the Post-Modern Condition      Ã‚  Ã‚   In past years, when an artist or philosopher critiqued the reality of the world, it was always presumed that there was a reality to be criticized. However, post-modernity has presented those people with a horrifying new challenge -- a world that has literally been so overcome by its technology that the important issues of man's existence no longer consist of finding answers to questions like "Why are we born to suffer and die?" but merely trying to distinguish between the real and the unreal, which to post-modern man is not esoteric philosophical speculation, but a practical day to day issue. The post-modern trajectory is one that leaves humans fighting not to maintain political supremacy or to break the shackles of injustice, but simply to maintain their identities as real beings in the face of technology's blurring of the lines between man and mechanics, humanity and machinery, reality and image. This struggle seems to be a losing battle for mankind, as each day the in ventions that were meant to bring us pleasure and increase our leisure time, instead dehumanize us by taking a piece of our selfhood for their own with every passing moment. The post-modern social theorist Jean Baudrillard posits that the world of today is a never-ending "virtual apocalypse" of reality yielding to the hyperreal--reality defined not as what, in fact is. but rather that which can be simulated, reproduced, or Xeroxed. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and never has this been more true than in the world of the post-modern, where the only viable strategy left is to take technology's weapons and turn them to our advantage, in one final attempt to preserve our humanity by somehow finding meaning in the hallucinatory, cybernetic, hyperreal spectacle that is the post-modern condition. Of all the possible means of gaining the insight into our nature and the nature of the world that is necessary to survive technology's siege on reality, few media are as powerful as cinema (after all, film provides a uniquely accessible and intense vehicle for ideas), and few film-makers are as adept at dissecting the concept of post-modernity as the Canadian author David Cronenberg. In an age where every passing moment constitutes a further obscuring of the boundary between reality and image, this prophetic director clarifies, cuts through, and captures the very essence of post-modernity, through masterfully done pieces of cinematography that bring technology, obsession, and carnality together and pit them against each other in the horrific battlefield of the mind, each fighting for control of the human psyche.

Incas vs Aztecs

Incas vs. Aztecs Prior to Cortez landing, there were many civilizations that held power in the Americas. These groups included the Olmecs, Zapotecs, Mayans, Toltecs, Aztecs, and Incas. The two of these civilizations that had some of the most lasting effects were the Aztecs and the Incas. These two civilizations had many similarities and differences. One of the major differences between the two civilizations is their location. The Aztecs lived in Central Mexico while the Incas lived in the Andes Mountains. The location of the civilizations affected many of their customs. The Incans mummified their dead by leaving them on a mountain cliff side where the winds would dry the moisture out of their skin. Then they would take the mummies to large events and carry them around. The Aztecs did not mummify their dead or have any customs like this. Because the Aztecs lived in Mexico which is a fairly dry area, they needed a way to irrigate crops. They built chinampas which were floating farms that were always irrigated by the body of water it was floating in. The Incas used a form of agriculture called terrace agriculture were they would build flat layers into the slope of a mountain out of specific materials so they could grow food on mountain sides. That was another technique they formed because of where they lived. Another difference between the two civilizations was the size. The Inca civilization covered over 50% of the East coast of South America and had a population of about 20 million people. The Aztec civilization only controlled Central Mexico and only had a population of 15 million people. Because the Inca civilization was so big, they needed a way to get messages around. They developed a large messaging system with messengers called chasquis that used a way to get messages around called quipu. The Aztecs did not have anything like this. Inca was so large because it conquered many other civilizations that had their own languages. This made it difficult for some people to understand each other. That’s why they developed a unified language called Quechua that everyone had to learn. The Aztec civilization was more like the Persian Empire and allowed anywhere they conquered to stay the same and keep their language as long as they paid their taxes and accepted that the Aztecs’ rule. Another difference is the punishment that a village would get for disobeying the Incan or Aztec civilization. The Aztecs would go into the village and burn it to the ground. They would take everyone inside and either kill them or enslave them. The Incans would go into the village and relocate them. In Inca this is just as bad as killing them because the civilization is in the mountains and it is very hard to start living in the mountains with nothing to start off with. If they try to go back to their village they usually have to cross many mountains which was also very difficult. Something else that was different was the merchant class of the empires. While they both had good economies, the Incas did not have a large merchant class and the merchant class they did have only traded locally. The Aztecs had a large merchant class that would take very long journeys to distant lands. The Inca government controlled all long distance trading and they did not allow the merchants to have a lot of freedom. Also, the Incas did not have a currency system while the Aztecs used cocoa. The two civilizations also formed differently. The Aztecs started from three large cities forming an alliance and together they conquered land and people to establish their powerful civilization. The Incans started as a nomadic family or clan that settled down and started a trading colony. Then more and more people came and it eventually turned into a civilization. Those were the many differences between the Aztec and Inca civilizations. The Aztec and Incan civilizations also had many similarities. One of the major similarities was that they both flourished at about the same time. The Aztecs flourished from 1300 A. D. to 1521 A. D. The Inca flourished from 1300 A. D. to 1533 A. D. Another similarity is that they were both ruled by an emperor. They also both thought gold was very important. Incas used gold for everything because it was so common in the mountains. Aztecs called gold the sweat of the sun and their sun god was their most powerful god so they must have thought gold was important. They were also both monotheistic, worshipping many nature gods and goddesses. They also both thought their sun gods were very important. The Aztec sun god was named Huitzilopochtli and the Inca sun god was Inti. Inti was the most powerful god in Incan religion. It was thought that the people in the originally family that started the Inca civilization were children of Inti and they said all future rulers must be a descendant of Inti. Huitzilopochtli in the Aztec religion was the god that supposedly told the Mexica to find a place where they would see an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake in its mouth and that was where they were to settle. This place was Lake Texcoco. Both of these gods were very important to them. Another religious similarity was that they both perform sacrificial rituals. They also had the same style pyramids that had a wide square base that lead to a point at the top with stairs going up the side. Those were the similarities between the Aztec and Inca civilizations. The Aztec and Inca civilizations are still some of the most powerful civilizations that have ever existed. They had a huge impact on the countries that exist there today. The Mexican flag is even based off an Aztec myth. They had many similarities and differences which made them the civilizations that they were.

Progressive Perfect Tenses in Spanish

Although not particularly common in either language, the progressive perfect tense of Spanish is used much like the English equivalent. Since progressive verbs are used to indicate that the action of a verb is (or was or will be) continuing, and perfect verbs are used to indicate completed action, progressive perfect verbs are used to indicate that a completed action forms the background for the action of another verb. Some examples should make this concept clearer. As is suggested by its name, the progressive perfect tense in Spanish is formed by using the progressive form of haber, namely habiendo, with a past participle, the verb form that (with regular verbs) ends in -ado or -ido. (In English its much the same: The progressive prefect tense uses having followed by the past participle.) It is used more often in written contexts than in everyday speech. Here are some sample sentences using this tense. Note that the translation to English is usually straightforward: Habiendo salido de Guadalajara, llegaron a la playa. Having left Guadalajara, they arrived at the beach.Habià ©ndome conocido por espacio de siete aà ±os, pudo responder a muchas de las preguntas que le hicieron sobre mà ­. Having known me over a space of seven years, he could answer many of the questions they asked him about me.Habiendo matado sin querer a otro, decidià ³ expiar su culpa con obras de penitencia. Having killed another without wanting to, he decided to atone for his guilt with acts of penitence.Habià ©ndose lavado otra vez las manos, se sentaron en las sillas. Having washed their hands again, they sat down in the chairs.Ya habiendo visto todo  ¿quà © piensas de la serie? Now that youve seen it all, what do you think of the series? (Literally: Now having seen all, what do you think of the series?) Note that in many cases, the perfect infinitive, using haber followed by the past participle, can be used with little change in meaning: Al haber salido de Guadalajara, llegaron a la playa. (After leaving Guadalajara, they arrived at the beach.) The perfect infinitive is probably more common in everyday speech than the progressive perfect tense.