Anglo-Saxon Ideal Code of Conduct :: Beowulf Epic Poems Anglo-Saxon Literature Essays

Anglo-Saxon Ideal Code of Conduct The epic poem of â€Å"Beowulf† presents the characteristics of two heroes, Beowulf and Hrothgar. During this Anglo-Saxon time period, Hrothgar rules as the king of his Danish lands. However, this king faces many problems due to the disturbances of a monster known as Grendel. As an Anglo-Saxon warrior of the time, Beowulf hears of this creature and journeys through the hero's path to kill Grendel. Through this journey, Hrothgar and Beowulf reconstruct the code of conduct of an ideal Anglo-Saxon king and warrior. The Danish lands of the time are ruled by Hrothgar, a respected and generous king. These qualities of character were admired by the people of his time and place. All people of Hrothgar's kingdom respected this king, and they all accepted his â€Å"very word far and wide as a command.† The people also give him great titles such as the â€Å"Lord of the Mighty Danes,† â€Å"guardian of the Scyldings,† and â€Å"protector of warriors.† Much of these people's respect come in response to Hrothgar's generosity to everyone. This generosity can be seen towards Beowulf, when the king gives his thanks for the heroic deeds of the warrior. Hrothgar rewards Beowulf with priceless material as he says to the warrior, â€Å"You shall lack no earthly riches I can offer you.† The people of the land also trust their king, who holds a strong belief in God. In the scene where Hrothgar celebrates Grendel's death, he holds the monsters hand as he says, â€Å"Let us give thanks at once to God Almighty for this sight.† The followers of the king both respect and trust their ruler, and through his generosity and strong trust in good, Hrothgar displays the ideal code of conduct for an Anglo- Saxon king. Another epic hero that has qualities that follow the Anglo-Saxon code of conduct is Beowulf. This warrior, known to be the â€Å"strongest man alive,† leaves for a heroic journey when he hears of the evil Grendel. He first shows his strength and bravery when he sets sail to assist Hrothgar in defeating Grendel after hearing news of the creature in his own land. Beowulf is constantly referred to as brave, such as when he defeats Grendel, and Hrothgar must reward him for his heroics. As the â€Å"brave man moved forward until he stood immediately before the Danish lord,† Hrothgar says, â€Å"I will reward this brave man with treasures.† The unbeatable strength of Beowulf shows during his confrontation with Grendel, when the monster instantly realizes that â€Å"never had he met any man

Christmas As I Know It :: Personal Narrative Religion Papers

Christmas As I Know It Christmas used to be a tradition in my family — or at least I thought so. I had always associated Christmas with Storyland, and since we are Jewish, that always pleased my father. I think he felt comfortable labeling his children Jewish, and as long as that didn’t upset my mother, he would take us to Storyland to help us forget Christmas. But we still got to go to Storyland. Storyland was always closed in December. We drove by my favorite summertime childhood experience, and I watched as we sped by, wondering why I couldn't hear about Mother Gooses children. "Storyland is closed now, honey," my mom said as she glanced in my fathers direction. He seemed to hide behind the steering wheel, almost ashamed of telling me where I thought we were going. But I know that deep down, he was satisfied that for at least the rest of the day, I wouldnt ask him about Christmas. Instead, the real purpose of the drive was to go to the Christmas Farm Inn, a quiet, quaint inn in Jackson, New Hampshire. I think I was four years old when my family started coming to the Christmas Farm Inn. I still dont understand why my father agreed to go each year, but I guess it was only fair to my mom. My mom came from a Lutheran household where Christmas trees and Sunday services were the norm. She agreed to give up part of her past to raise my sister and I Jewish, but the Christmas Farm Inn was her way of celebrating Christmas. We may not have had a family tree, but we still woke up on Christmas morning with presents awaiting us. I remember I loved Christmas Eve dinner. But I also remember how I loved it too much. There was turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, you name it (its funny how I only eat that type of meal once a year on Thanksgiving, while most of my friends have it on Christmas and Easter as well). After dinner, my family went to a party with all the Inns guests, and I made sure I was the first to sit on Santas lap when it was time to read The Night Before Christmas. A tall, blond-haired man who looked like my elementary school principal read the story out loud and I spent my time listening attentively.

Essay --

When I was in upper form in secondary school, numbers were a nightmare to me. Additional mathematics was the major reason of this worse thing that could ever happened to me. Until one day, I got offer from MARA Professional College of Beranang to do a Diploma in Accountancy. It is totally a right one as I am able to get pointer 4.0 for every final semester examination. As time passes, I am sure that numbers are major concern but in a positive side now. The most interesting part of doing accounting is the feeling of being able to solve the problems, to get the correct figure and to get the Statement of Financial Position balanced is such a satisfaction for me. My academic achievement have always make me smile and sometimes cry also. For a person who is phobia of numbers, I managed to get excellent result for my final examination. Of course it required a lot of hard works but after all, no pain no gain. Today, I am glad and proud to say that I love accounting. During my college years, I was members of the Students' Representative Council holding the responsibilities of Exco of Arts an...

American Revolution – Essay 12

Carly Zeravica American Revolution Essay Period 3 9/20/11 When did the American Revolution start? Some historians say that it began after the French and Indian War ended in 1763 and others say that it began when the colonists first came to North America in 1607. Regardless, the colonists achieved separation from the changeless ways in Britain and created new ideas for the â€Å"new world. † After years of ignorance from Britain, the colonies began to form their own identity as a whole. They now had a vision of their future, but were restrained in numerous ways by the British. However, the colonists refused to tolerate British limitations. The American Revolution was a product of colonial rejection to Britain’s attempts at taxation, legislation, and economic control. Britain’s triumph in the Seven Years’ War came with a price. Britain acquired a large amount of land from the defeated empires of France and Spain, accompanied by a large amount of debt. About half of this debt was a result of defending the American colonies. Therefore, the British government began taxing the colonies in order to pay off their substantial monetary obligation. Americans became infuriated, especially with officials such as Prime Minister George Grenville, who imposed The Sugar Act. This placed a tax on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. The British viewed taxation as colonial compensation for protection. The Sugar Act excitement settled after the duty was lowered, but it was soon followed by more taxing. Charles Townshend, a British politician, influenced Parliament to pass the Townshend Acts. These acts placed an import tax on items such as glass, paper, and tea. Colonists rebelled once again, creating nonimportation agreements against the Townshend Acts. Although colonists were primarily angry with the tax on tea, they ignored the duties and began smuggling. Ultimately, taxation was a British effort to abuse the rights of the Americans. Taxes, along with Parliamentary legislations and economy, eventually built up, intensified, and led to the American Revolution. Throughout the seventeenth century, the American colonies argued with Britain about the level of freedom they deserved. Britain believed that the colonists had too much freedom, while they claimed there wasn’t enough. Britain took action by passing a series of laws and acts, restricting the thirteen colonies further. London government started their restrictions by issuing the Proclamation of 1763. This document stated that the colonists could not settle land beyond the Appalachian Mountains. The Proclamation was viewed as an â€Å"oppression† by Americans, particularly land speculators. They felt that their right to progress west was being taken from them, and were thoroughly angered at this. However, British government wouldn’t stop here. Until 1763, Navigation Laws were faintly enforced, allowing products to be shipped to the colonies without going through British vessels or the country itself. Then, Prime Minister George Grenville demanded that the British navy strictly impose the laws. The Americans wanted to have control of their â€Å"new world†, and saw no logic in confinement to British rule. Nonetheless, more policies were issued, including the infamous Intolerable Acts. These rules were placed on Massachusetts, Boston specifically, taking away the rights of the colonists living there. As a part of the Intolerable Acts, the Quebec Act was passed, expanding the Quebec borders to the Ohio River and granting French Canadians exclusive rights. Bitterness continued to brew in the colonies because these acts proved inequality within America. There was no colonial government whatsoever, and the British policies were strongly enforced. All that was left in the hands of the colonists was the growth of their economy, or so they thought. Wealth was power in the eyes of mercantilists, and wealth was determined by the amount of gold or silver a country possessed. The thirteen colonies were used essentially as a factory by London government, producing what was necessary to fulfill their mercantilist goals. They were solely meant to generate goods for Britain, who saw their aspiration to have an independent economy as a unrealistic. All gold and silver was going straight to Britain, and the Americans soon ran out of funds. Consequently, they were required to print and utilize paper currency. Parliament banned this, shutting down this step towards economic self-sufficiency. Colonial production was only beneficial to the mother country and when Americans grasped this, it was the inal straw of toleration. Upon departure from Britain in 1607, settlers were guaranteed the â€Å"rights of Englishmen†. Following their arrival, these promised rights were rapidly being taken away from Americans. As the colonies tried to stand on their own, Britain strived to maintain power. Restrictions and regulations began to infest the colonies, and quickly be came unbearable to the liberated Americans. Taking action against British smothering, the colonists revolted. The American Revolution was a product of colonial rejection to Britain’s attempts at taxation, legislation, and economic control.

Sample Memo for Company Team Building

Memo that informs: Corporate Team Building in Alberta. You are the coordinator of staff development for Imperial Oil. It has been recently announced that Imperial Oil is moving its headquarters from Toronto to Calgary. The news has been greeted positively by employees, but a few are unhappy while others already working in the Calgary office are unsure how well the amalgamation of the two offices with their different cultures will go.Recognizing the feeling of uncertainty, you decide to hold a series of corporate team-building retreats shortly after the headquarters move to Calgary. The retreat will be led by the Great Canadian Adventure Company. Employees will meet in downtown Calgary at 8:00 a. m. and buses will pick them up and take them to the Sylvan Lake area. There, they will spend the day on team-building like map-reading exercises that will require employee teams to find their way through a wooded area to a â€Å"home base† where lunch will be served.The group will retu rn to downtown to Calgary by 7:00 p. m. Your task. As the coordinator of staff development, write a memo to all employees announcing the retreat. You recognize the fact that there may be some friction between the â€Å"new† people from Toronto and the long-time Calgary employees. Draft: To: All Employees of Imperial Oil From: Coordinator of Staff Development Date: October 22, 2012Subject: Corporate Team building in Alberta This is to inform all employees about the company retreat being held by the Great Canadian Adventure Company. Employees will meet in downtown Calgary at 8:00 a. m.Buses will pick them up and take to the Sylvan Lake area.Group will return downtown Calgary at 7:00 p. m.This retreat is being held to recognized the feeling of uncertainty from the two offices after moving of headquarters to Calgary.

Skin

Identity and Belonging Karen Ford May 14, 2012 Skin – directed by Anthony Fabian Skin has so much power on so many levels. It is both empowering and disabling. Protagonist Sandra Laing proves to be a survivor, but at what cost? She is alienated from her family, her home and her identity because of South Africa’s ‘‘Population Regeneration Act’’. For a long time xenophobia, fear and racism have been enmeshed and hidden within government policy. The issues explored in Skin are no different to those sometimes raised in connection with British settlement of Australia, the stolen generation and Australia’s asylum seeker policies.More specifically, a court case last year in which commentator Andrew Bolt was accused of racial vilification touched on attitudes reflected in Skin. Mr Bolt’s comments regarding ‘‘fair-skinned Aboriginal people’’ were found to be in breach of the Racial Discrimination Act. A theme in b oth the Bolt case and Skin is the way skin colour is used as a weapon against individuals and their rights as human beings. One of the ‘‘disabling’’ elements of Skin is that so much of the South African landscape looks so much like the Australian outback.It is ironic that the beauty of the landscape is countered by the ugliness of racism where the rights of individuals to belong are less valued than the fear of those powerful few. Is the landscape the only aspect we have in common? Sandra’s question — What did I do wrong? — could also be the question posed by any person rejected and isolated on the basis of ‘‘difference’’. Sandra is neither white nor black, and as a result is denied a happy life. Though the film traces her life over 30 years, with legislative change along the way, a more entrenched culture of discrimination remains.Though the end of the film brings happiness to Sandra, with her tuck shop, doesn ’t the fact that her two brothers refuse to have contact with her suggest a lamentation for true equality and the existence of persecution? In some ways, Skin is more about Sandra’s father than it is about her. He is a very complex character who insists justice be pursued. But what kind of justice is it that is based on denial? Abraham’s insistence on having Sandra reclassified ‘‘white’’ is not so much for her benefit. He admits he is doing it ‘‘for all of us’’.To have the young Sandra attend a white school and be subjected to furious media inquiries and to drag her to face a courtroom does not suggest an understanding of her needs as much as his pursuit of legal justice. Abraham needs her to be ‘‘white’’ to assuage his own ‘‘black genes’’ and racist philosophy. Working with the Text Skin is all about identity. Sandra is ‘‘born’’ one thing but ‘‘taught’’ she is another. Throughout the film she is ‘‘punished’’ for committing a crime — that of being neither black nor white.Perhaps the greatest tragedy is that her own family rejects her because she does not conform to the ‘‘Afrikaans’’ ways inherent in the National Party to which her family belongs. The nature-nurture divide is reinforced throughout the film and the idea that ‘‘without connection to others there is no me’’ (2011 VCAA English Exam) can be linked to the film in many ways. It is skin that causes tension with her father; it is skin that causes her to be humiliated in school and to gravitate towards the black workers on her farm.It is skin that forms an attachment to Petrus, the black employee and first male to show her any sense of happiness and comfort; it is skin that ultimately causes her to be abused by her husband and which made her a ref erence point for the multiracial elections of 1994 and the victory by Mandela’s African National Congress. Living among the black community, Sandra is confronted with racism from within — a racism created by racism. After the Government Issue destruction of the homes, Sandra and Petrus are exiled into the bush along with the many others exiled on the basis of their skin.One can understand Petrus’ frustration and malaise as he rejects Sandra because she is white. There is truth in his alcohol-infused dirge: ‘‘They treat us like animals †¦ and we’re supposed to believe we’re human †¦ ’’ The audience must wonder how anyone is this predicament would feel a sense of belonging. Indeed, several instances in the film reinforce Sandra’s literal and metaphorical nomadism. She is shown coming to and leaving an environment; she is shown walking over the country and back again to find a place where she can belong.Sandr a is constantly moving or being moved to find a ‘‘home’’. Even at the end of the film, when Sandra is shown happily working inside her rainbow-coloured tuck shop, it is a makeshift add-on to her brick unit. So where does that leave the text and the prompt? What does Sandra have connection with? How does the film reflect the idea of connection and identity? Sandra wants only to connect. It is those around her who prevent her connection — hence preventing her happiness and sense of belonging.Prejudice and bigotry — even from her own family — are endemic in those who believe there is something wrong in being different, something to scorn and deride. Throughout the film, though, there is one place where Sandra finds a connection, and that is with other women. Sandra is supported and empowered by the women in the film, including the black workers on the family property. The bond of motherhood connects them and, regardless of location, women find support in other women. The women pass on her letters.It is her mother who struggles to maintain a relationship with her; it is Petrus’ mother who supports and cuddles her during their exile and it is her mother she seeks out following her abuse. It is the women who reflect the importance of belonging through kindness, compassion and nurturing. The power of women to override the political and cultural divide, and embrace connection, is the empowering force in Skin. In the end, the film confirms that connection does not have to mean a physical or even emotional connection. It can be a spiritual one, and this is what Skin celebrates.Sandra’s struggle is less about skin colour than it is about knowing that where we find happiness is where we belong. And for Sandra, that is a simple life helping, caring and supporting those less fortunate from her Rainbow Tuck Shop. Identity and Belonging – Sample prompts * Conflicts can strengthen our understanding of where we belong. * Belonging enriches and challenges identity. * Choosing not to belong may be detrimental but rewarding. ‘Identity and Belonging’ quotations list An identity would seem to be arrived at by the way in which the person faces nd uses his experience. (James Baldwin – Actor)) From the beginning each human embryo has its own genetic identity. (Robert Casey) The value of identity is that so often with it comes purpose. (Richard Grant – US writer) We all need a past – that’s where our sense of identity comes from. (Penelope Lively – English writer) I think history is inextricably linked to identity. If you don’t know your history, if you don’t know your family, who are you? (Mary Pipher) We are shaped by our thoughts, we become what we think. (Buddha)You can’t change the past but you can change the way you view it. (Anon) To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greates t achievement. Ralph Waldo Emerson What a man can be he must be. Abraham Maslow Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. Kenyan Proverb Yes, your home is your castle, but it is also your identity and your possibility to open to others. David Soul – US writer We may have different religions, different languages, different coloured skin, but we all belong to the human race. Kofi Annan – ex President of the United NationsBeing human signifies, for each one of us, belonging to a class, a society, a country, a continent and a civilization. Claude Levi-Strauss Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is. Baghavid Gita The value of identity is that it so often with it comes purpose. Richard R. Grant Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds. George Eliot Topic ‘Sometimes we learn more about ourselves from our enemies than from our friends. ’ ‘When you know who you are, you know where you belong. ’ ‘Without connection to other s there is no me. ’ ‘Having a sense of being different makes it difficult to belong. ’

Girls Education Essay

It is one the basic necessities to be educated for human, as world is full of competition, where one needs certain amount of skills to survive and be a threat to others. Education gives an insight to the person to differentiate between good and bad. Both men and women are part of our society so we need education for the females as well as for the males. In India despite of all the plans measures, initiatives and tall claims by the government and various voluntary organizations, a vast majority of the girls are yet illiterate in India. During the last four decades since independence, many schools and colleges are founded for girls. Education of girls is one of the basic features of the government plans. The female education is important for the society as mothers are the first teachers of the children. They are the first teachers of the future citizens of the country. It is being increasingly recognized that educated wives and mothers are an asset to a nation. Educated girls are working in banks, private firms, hospitals and government offices and supporting their families as well as contributing to the development of the country. Educated girls have an honored position in society. They have secured their rights from the reluctant men but all this is confined chiefly to the urban areas. Indians are conservative by nature. So, their blind faith and age old superstition stood against the female education. In rural areas most of the people are still against girls’ education. So much needs to be done yet. Special legislation should be enacted to deal with parents who neglect the education of their daughters. There are many villages where schools for girls do not exist. Every village must have a girl’ schools, or if that is not possible owing to lack of funds, parents should be persuaded to admit their daughters to the schools providing co-education. In recent years situation has improved considerably. People have felt the virtue of female education. Now in India we find women professors, lady doctors, lady scientists, lady politicians and lady ministers. Girls should be educated in the interest of our national progress. India is now optimistic in the field of female education. We had the female philosophers like Gargi, in the Vedic age. We had Mirabai, Ahalyabi and Laxmibai in the days of history. They were all learned. Hence, we had a great tradition during the days of our degeneration. Now, we have revived. So, we will certainly revive the female education in India.