Why I Chose the Word "Greed"

One reason why I chose the word greed was because of a recent viewing of Wall Street. Gordon Gekko has a speech to the shareholders of Teldar Paper that greed is good. Also, another that interests me is that the word "greed" does not have its meaning in its spelling which leads me to believe that the word has a rich history and it will be interesting to research.

My Monster/My Self

• Frankenstein offers a critique on parenthood. It relates parenthood to monstrousness.
• Frankenstein can be read as an autobiography of a woman.
• Victor's Creation of the monster somewhat parallels Mary Shelley's creation of her book.
• All the female characters in Frankenstein are beautiful and seemingly perfect while the male characters are flawed and have inner conflict. This suggests that women are so incompatible with monstrousness that Victor can't even create a female version of the monster.
• The most striking literary importance of Frankenstein is the story in relation to Mary Shelley's life.

Sir Gawain and Harry Potter

Honor, in today’s world, is not practiced nearly as much as it is revered. It seems that one’s virtues are often sacrificed for personal or monetary gain rather than preserved for one’s peace of mind. However, in the late 14^th century, honor and reputation was all a knight had. A knight was judged on his virtues and his actions that demonstrated those virtues. Essentially, a knight’s material possessions were worthless, but his reputation in adherence to the code of chivalry was everything. These values are clearly present in the famous Arthurian legend, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. These Arthurian legends of knighthood and chivalry are the source of inspiration for many of the values present in the stories of modern heroes. Therefore, even though The Harry Potter Series and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are separated by approximately 700 years of history, they illustrate similar chivalrous values.

            More specifically, Harry and Sir Gawain share these honorable traits. Both Harry and Sir Gawain are prepared to face death by the hand of a mysterious, supernatural foe in order to benefit the greater good. Both are famed and under exceeding expectations while not letting that fame affect their choice to always take the right or honorable action. In contrast, Harry is made out to be a seemingly perfect hero while despite a very successful and honorable quest, Sir Gawain feels he breached the code of chivalry.

            Throughout the Harry Potter Series, the main antagonist is “He who must not be named” or Voldemort who is seemingly immortal. Harry as a baby was the only person to survive Voldemort’s death spell. Throughout the seven novels there is a struggle between Voldemort and Harry which ultimately culminates with Harry vanquishing Voldemort. Before he actually does so, Voldemort gives Harry the ultimatum that if he does not come and meet Voldemort in the forest alone, he will invade the Hogwarts castle and kill every single one of Harry’s friends. Harry, knowing that he is facing imminent death, meets Voldemort in the forest and allows himself to be stricken with the killing curse. Similar to Harry, Sir Gawain faces the immortal Green Knight on New Year’s day ready to fulfill his end of the deadly agreement. Instead of protecting the lives of his companions, Gawain is defending the honor of himself and his king. Through their actions, Harry and Sir Gawain demonstrate a wealth of honor by willing to pay the ultimate price of death in order to preserve other people’s safety and reputation.

            A second similarity between Harry and Gawain is that they are famed figures in their respective realms and despite their celebrity status, they always succeed in doing what they perceive as the virtuous action. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain is considered the most famed knight of the round table outside of Camelot. This celebrity status that Gawain experiences is comparable to that of Harry. In the wizarding world, Harry is the most famous wizard because of his miraculous survival. Even though they are some of the most renowned figures in their respective worlds, it does not affect their decision making when it comes to doing what they see to be in adherence to their honor codes. For instance, Gawain courageously steps up to take the challenge of the Green Knight in order to spare his king’s life and Harry slays the fatal basilisk in order to save a helpless girl from certain death. Both of these actions attest to Gawain and Harry’s sound moral decision making skill in regardless of their celebrity status.

            Albeit there are parallels between Harry and Gawain’s virtues, there is also one crucial difference between the two. At the end of the Harry Potter series there is little to no lamenting done on the part of Harry that suggests he is ashamed of his mistakes in the past. Conversely, Gawain, even though his quest was overwhelmingly successful and honorable, still blames himself for the minor fault of accepting the green sash from the maiden. Gawain’s unforgiving self-assessment creates a major contrast between Harry and Gawain.

            When one analyzes Harry’s and Gawain’s actions, one can definitively see a connection in the sense of honor. In fact, the idea of the honorable hero created by the Arthurian legends can be found in many modern works one of the most prominent being Harry Potter. The resemblances between the Harry’s and Gawain’s responses in the face of death in addition to their actions despite their celebrity status clearly support this claim. Regardless of Gawain’s self-criticism, Harry and Gawain share many properties of the prototypical honorable hero.

The Origins of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

• King Arthur is based on the leader of the Britons who kept a Saxon invasion at bay until the Britons were forced back into Cornwall and Wales.
• The first literary remnants of King Arthur are found in Historia Brittanum, a text wrote by a 9th century Welsh monk by the name of Nennius. This text refers to Arthur as warrior rather than a king in descriptions of 12 battles including the Battle of Mount Badon where supposedly "940, fell by his hand alone".
• Nennius' text is largely considered to be greatly exaggerated and there are several incorrect dates and geographical features cited as well. However, the fact that he had access to 5th century texts is taken into account and used by historians.
• In 1133 AD a Welsh Cleric named Geoffrey Monmouth really solidified the Arthurian Legends in his work Historia Regum Britaniae. Even though his work was largely based on Celtic lore, he intended his text to be a work of nonfiction. Regardless of its factuality, his work inspired many fictional stories about Arthur all across Europe.
• Later, French authors Maistre Wace, Chretien de Troyes, and Robert de Boron created key ideas of the "Round Table", chivalry, and The Quest for the Holy Grail
• Finally, in 1450 Sir Thomas Malory published eight stories which condensed the former ideas of King Arthur into the accounts that we are familiar with today.

Robinson Crusoe

     When I first strolled into Barnes & Noble at Kierland Commons this summer I was not entirely sure what I was book I was going to select to read for the upcoming school year. I merely had a short list of books, all familiar titles, and yet I knew nothing of the stories that were inside. I proceeded to the "Classics"of the bookstore and as I was scanning the paperbacks Robinson Crusoe caught my eye mostly because I have heard the name before somewhere. When I picked up the novel up I flipped it over to the back cover like any curious reader to find a summary involving the survival of a man on an island for 20 years and cannibals. Needless to say, Robinson Crusoe sounded like an interesting story so logically, I made it my choice for summer reading. After reading I came to the conclusion that the story's greatest strength is that the plot of the story is very intriguing if viewed after finishing the book; however, the greatest weakness of the story is that it makes a captivating plot less interesting because of the rather dry language.
     Upon reflection after finishing the story of Robinson Crusoe, one can conclude that the story itself is a remarkable one with many interesting plot points. He is marooned on an island and somehow manages to survive by making pottery, growing crops, hearding livestock, and even building a house. All of this including is including a deadly encounter with cannibals and a rescue of his companion/servant Friday. All of these plot points direct one to feel that Robinson Crusoe is a well thought out and alluring.
     Although the plot is undoubtedly appealing, the actual story telling is somewhat diminished by Defoe's use of speech. For instance, if one looks at the scene near the beginning of the book where Robinson is experiencing his first storm on the boat, one will see that the description of the storm is somewhat lackluster when he says "all this while the storm encreas’d, and the sea, which I had never been upon before, went very high, tho’ nothing like what I have seen many times since.… I expected every wave would have swallowed us up…and in this agony of mind I made many vows and resolutions." In this quote, Robinson is not very descriptive with his word choice. This passage has the possibility of being full of action with crashing waves and a plethora of different emotions. Instead, he uses very simple and concise language which one could argue does not give the scene its appropriate portrayal.
    Robinson Crusoe is definitely one of the classics because it is considered to be the first English novel. The great strength of this story is that the plot of the novel is extremely strong as well as fascinating. However the weakness is that the plot is not illustrated to its fullest extent with Defoe's
dry and rather undescriptive writing style.
    

5 Books

1. The Da Vinci Code - Even though its a little bit of a beach novel I still found it very entertaining and I found the historical research behind it to be very impressive.

2. The Catcher in the Rye - I enjoyed this novel because it was very relatable to the american teenager. It basically symbolized teenage angst

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - This is also a series of novel that do not have a wealth of academic value, but it still kept me captivated for 7 books, 8 movies, and most of my childhood.

4. And Then There Were None - This was a book I literally could not put down because I was so caught up in the plot and finding out who the killer was. I feel like this book is one of the best murder mystery novels out there

5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - I really enjoyed this book because on the exterior it makes me feel nostalgic about the playfulness and carelessness of my childhood. But also the novel is mentally stimulating if you go beneath the childish shell and find a wealth of symbolism illustrating the major issues of the pre-civil war period down south.

Excellent Story Telling

"As I had once done thus in my breaking away from my Parents, so I could not be content now, but I must go and leave the happy View I had of being a rich and thriving Man in my new Plantation only to pursue a rash and immoderate Desire of rising faster than the Nature of Thing admitted; and thus I cast my self down again into the deepest Gulph of human Misery that ever Man fell into, or perhaps could be consistent with Life and a State of Health in the World"

This passage is from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe which is generally regarded as the very first English novel. Published in 1719, Robinson Crusoe uses a rather unorthodox style of language that was associated with England during said time period. Nevertheless, the story telling is still that of a high quality novel. In this quote he illustrates his feelings towards leaving his parents and his promising future for a seeming perilous nautical journey that eventually ends with him being marooned on a deserted island. What makes this passage a prime example of story telling is that it describes Crusoe's emotions toward his decision graphically employing the reader to empathize with his feelings.