While reading the Canterbury Tales I learned a lot from the tales. In the prologue, I learned that many people are corrupt. The Monk is greedy and a liar. The monk doesn’t do anything that the other ones were doing. The wife of bath is a lady that has been married five times and loves money. All these people you can tell that Chaucer doesn’t like them. However, you can tell he likes the knight by the things he says about him. Chaucer speaks highly of him as if he were not corrupt at all.

In the Pardoner, I learned greed is a horrible thing. The three rioters we greedy and in the end that’s what destroyed them. I found it ironic that the pardoner was telling a story about greed when he is just as greedy. At the end of the story, he was trying to sell pardons and relics for his benefit. In the end, the rioter got what they deserved but I wonder if the pardoner did?

The wife a baths tale interested me because I learned it was about self-same sovereignty. It surprised me that a husband and a wife would be equal in there marriage at this time. Although, it didn’t surprise me that they thought women couldn’t keep secrets. I could kinda see that in the end something was gonna come about the old woman being able to keep a secret from the knight.

Today, I see a lot of self-same sovereignty in many marriages. Today women and men are more equal. Of course, some people in the world think the wife should not be equal. But I see more equality than not. However, I don’t see greed as the root of all evil today. There is so much greed in today’s society it is rarer to see someone that isn’t greedy. I think everyone has a little bit of greed in them about something.

Today almost everyone has a smartphone of some sort. I believe society has become addicted to phones. People use them for everyday tasks when they don’t need too. I believe that there are many pros and cons to having smartphones. The pros are that you can be in contact with family even if they are far away. They can be used as tools and help in many situations. There are many more pros to this situation.

Some cons are that they become a distraction. They have made cyberbullying so easy because you can have it with you anywhere you go. During family time, many people spend time just sitting on there phones. Is that family time when you are not even communicating with them? Don’t get me wrong I find myself on my phone not paying attention to others a lot. It is something I am trying to work on. But at what point do they not become helpful anymore when they can just do everything for you?

While researching the five historical background topics I learned some interesting facts. I learned that the black death killed off 1/3 of the Europe population. I learned only wealthy people could be Knights because all the equipment was too expensive. Also, the castles built first in the middle ages were not stable and sturdy. I learned Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the first writers to write in English. And the 100 years war started over a piece of land.

I used Prezi to put all my information together for my presentation. I ended up liking it a lot. It was easy to use and I liked the overall outcome and the way it looked. It looks better to me than a powerpoint, and I like how you can see the whole presentation in the beginning. I can see myself using this website again.

Click the button above to see my project.

Ray in The Field of Dreams and Beowulf are more alike then I thought. They both relate by helping others for there own benefit. Ray is helping the other ballplayers for his dad. Beowulf is killing the monsters to gain fame and glory. They are not helping just to help others.

Some similarities are they both go on a quest/journey, take on a task of there own, and the protagonist has a magical weapon. Ray’s quest is to build the baseball field and listen to the voice he hears. When Ray drives to get Terrance Mann he is taking on a task of his own. Rays magical weapon is the field where dead baseball players can come and play ball. In Beowulf, his quest is to defeat the monsters and become famous. His task on his own is when he goes to fight Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon alone. Beowulf’s magical weapon is the sword made from giants. There are also differences like there is no war or monsters in the field of dreams. The field of dreams relates more to today but also some of the same elements that Beowulf uses.

What did you learn about both an Anglo-Saxon hero and his time period, but also modern-day heroes and how they have evolved? I learned that being considered a hero hasn’t changed much over the years. One of the main differences I see is, in the Anglo-Saxon time period the hero’s were warriors, lords, kings that saved a village from a monster or ended a war. Today anyone can be a hero. The word hero is still used every day.

Are the elegies still seen today in a different/same form? Elegies are still around today. Most commonly found in the form of songs. What was one important thing from this unit that would relate to your life or the lives around you? Learning that it doesn’t take much to be a hero and it means the same as it did in the Anglo-Saxon period.

My scholarship letter is important because I am passionate about my college career. I learned a lot about myself while writing my letter. I learned I am ready and excited about college. I am excited about helping people after college. My future goal is becoming a radiologic technician.

When I was writing my letter the hardest part was decluttering. I changed my letter a lot and worked hard getting all the clutter out. After writing my letter I feel relieved I am done. I am glad we did it together. Receiving scholarship money would help me pay college expenses.

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Clutter is an unnecessary word use writing. Some clutter words are you, of, for, with, very, often, always, just. In the unit, I learned clutter is everywhere. I learned everyone uses it when they are writing and speaking. I did not realize how much I use clutter in my writing. 

I learned when writing one should go back and proofread the writing. I know I will be going back and proofread all my writing from now on. It is hard reworking a sentence without clutter. I have now noticed that I use it when I am talking. Clutter is inevitable when writing.