Sir Gawains Green Knight Character Analysis Essay Example for Free

Sir Gawains Green Knight Character Analysis Essay Why did the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight include a character with a bizarre complexion and magical abilities? Why do most people do weird things? Unfortunately, there is no obvious reason for the latter; however, there are quite a few explanations for the former. â€Å"The Pearl Poet,† as the unknown author is referred, wrote the poem around the late 1300s in England—a time and place in history in which knights, kings, and castles were not just parts of fairy-tales. One of the most important aspects of English society in the late 1300s was chivalry, or the ideal traits of a knight, which included courtesy, generosity, and romance. From the poet’s advanced literary techniques, many scholars consider him to be an educated man who had a purpose in creating such a peculiar character. Bertilak de Hautdesert, or the Green Knight, is a major character in the story for he serves as the antagonist to Sir Gawain. His set of circumanstances when deciding the challenges present the protagonist of the story with the main difficulties throughout the poem. Although he has multiple personalities throughout the poem (not only is Bertilak this fabled knight with abilities people can only dream that they have, but also The Host of the castle that Gawain stays at until the time comes to meet his own doom), which makes him a round character. The Green Knight is also definitely a static foil to Gawain. His entire character does not change throughout the poem—he has almost complete control of the events—and presents a contrast for the protagonist of the story. Although Gawain appears to be seen as possessing civilized characteristics, it is actually the antagonist of the story that possesses these traits. The Green Knight is not just a character with magical abilities, for he represents some of the most coveted human qualities—a friendly, well-rehearsed response to almost every situation and a strong desire to maintain the chivalric duties of society. From the start of the story, it is clear that the Green Knight possesses quite a few superhuman qualities. His description presents him as the toughest knight in existence. â€Å"Lightning like he seemed /And swift to strike and stun /His dreadful blows, men deemed, /Once dealt, meant death were done.† He is strong enough to carry a â€Å"helmet-smasher† with a four-foot long axe blade. Everything about his description in the beginning points to him being this freak of nature. His green hue, his green hair, the Green Chapel, and even his green horse represent the natural world. Like a tree being able to grow the same limb multiple times, Bertilak claims the ability to regenerate body parts. As Gawain is pretty confident that he has dealt with this mysterious force by striking off its head, the Green Knight, while bleeding from the deathly blow, picks up his own head and tells Gawain to meet him in a year for an equal strike. These magical characteristics set the stage for what seems to be the most formidable foe to the protagonist. As the antagonist to Gawain, readers should be terrified and repelled by the Green Knight, but many people are drawn to this mysterious stranger. For what reasons does Bertilak draw the attention of readers? Is it the same reason that many people are drawn to Iago from William Shakespeare’s Othello and to the Joker from The Batman Comics, or is there another reason than being pure evil, which he is not, that the antagonist of this story is so popular? There seems to be no stimulus that can anger the Green Knight. It seems he is unaccustomed to any negative feelings such as hatred or revenge. His emptiness of irrittability is seen throughout the poem. In the context of the time period, lordship and chivalry were important aspects of the cultural norm. As a member of the court of Arthur, the king’s nephew, Gawain, is committed to following Arthur. When Gawain enters The Host’s house, he is expected to be loyal and obedient to his temporary lord. Gawain receives kisses from this man’s wife. The Green Knight (The Host of the castle) is either unphased by this betrayal or very good at hiding his emotions as seen by the following quote: I pretended one stroke, a threat, a joke, /But left you whole; I had the right, /Because of our other agreement, in my castle; /You kept it faithfully, performed like an honest /Man, gave me everything you got. /Except that you kissed my wife: I swung /For that reason but you gave me back her kisses. /So all you got, for that, was a puff /Of air. /An honest man /Need never fear. No man would consider another an honest man when secretly kissing his wife, and not many people would do well when put in a situation like the one Bertilak is in during the poem. This is just one example of the Green Knight’s will to respond well to any kind of stimulus in the environment. The stealing of the girdle by Gawain presents the character foil of Sir Gawain as none other than Bertilak when he does not act violently as a result of Gawain’s non-chivalric behavior. Using magic would have been cheating, and cheating was strongly prohibited in the rules of chivalry. Chivalry—readers hear of this word every day when discussing Medieval Europe—had a strong influence on knighthood in the society in which the Pearl Poet lived. In the poem, Sir Gawain is supposed to represent this perfect knight, but his foil comes up the victor in almost every test of chivalry that Gawain is put in by the Green Knight. The Green Knight maintains his chivalric duties to society in almost every situation in the story. He might be a superhuman freak of nature who mysteriously appears at just the right time to King Arthur’s response for a marvelous story by someone in his court and demands for someone to play a game, but he does all of this in a well-behaved manner that seems to represent the most virtuous knight. As The Host, he is also seen as a respectable, noble man who clearly fits the definition of a civilized man. The most important aspect of all his characteristics is the fact that he is this immortal creature that determines the rules, yet he abides by the rules even when his foil tries to cheat and manipulate the circumstances so that he can win. It is this noble distinction that clearly sets the fine line between artificial knighthood seen in Sir Gawain and the real deal seen in the personality of Bertilak de Hautdesert. As is shown in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, misconceptions of reality can pose a threat to the naked eye’s perspective. Gawain definitely is not a chivalric knight: he steals kisses from a lord’s wife, he cheats when attempting to use the â€Å"magical† girdle, and he succumbs to his instinctual fear of mortality when put in the events of the poem. The Green Knight, on the other hand, represents not only the divine traits of nature but also the true representation of what a knight should be: his well-mannered response to stimulus and his duty to maintain the code of chivalry. Readers should take some time to examine the situation at a microscopic level. Even though he is an immortal force of nature that can design his own circumstances, he abides by the rules set fourth by himself and by society, which is why people are so attracted to him.

The Physics of Basketball Essay examples -- Science Sports Athletics E

The Physics of Basketball There are many aspects to the game of basketball and physics can be applied to all of them. Although to be good at basketball it is not necessary to play it from a physics point of view. Basketball players become good by developing muscle memory for the actions that must be performed in the game of basketball from years of practice. Nevertheless knowing some of the physics in the game of basketball can help a good player be a better player. In this paper I will cover the three most important aspects of the game, shooting, dribbling and passing. The most important part of the game of basketball is shooting the basketball, after all the object of the game is to put the basketball through the basket. A shot is taken by a player pushing on the ball and launching it toward the basket and upon the ball hitting the rim or backboard physics refers to this action as a contact force. Using this concept of contact force a shot can be calculated exactly. From a player’s height, the mass of the ball and a given position on the court which would include the distance from the basket it is possible to calculate the exact angle and force the shooter must apply to make a basket every time he or she shoots the ball. Of course if it were this easy basketball would not be as fun to watch or play. The problem with hitting a shot every time with the calculated angle and force is that the ball would have to travel toward the basket with the exact angle and force calculated for that particular shot. What makes this difficult is that the musc les in our body would have to be controlled flawlessly to push the ball with the exact amount of force and to give the ball the exact angle that is needed every time a shot is taken... ...the more energy is lost and the less the ball bounces back. The less denting that occurs, the more energy is kept and the higher the ball bounces back. Physics can be used to explain a lot of things. In this paper I described some basic concepts in physics that are relevant to basketball, particularly the three main parts of basketball, shooting, dribbling and passing. So the next time you are out shooting some hoops just think of all the physics that are being applied and you could be one step away from being a physicist, and have fun. Works Cited Kirkpatric, Larry; Wheeler, Gerald, Physics A World View, fourth edition Schmidt, Michael; Oberlies, James; Moogan, Kevien, The Physics of Basketball, 2002 http://www.sjprep.org/bio/basketball7/ Willis, Bill; The Physics of Basketball, 2001, http://www.geocities.com/thesciencefiles/physicsof/basketball.html/

Reflection on Cebu Pacific’s Issue

Due to Cebu Pacific’s runway accident last June 2, 2013 on Davao City, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) says that all flight attendants must have their licenses effective on the second day of July. This news stunned many people especially the ones who are in the Tourism Field particularly the Airline Industry. The story, until this day was a hot issue in our classroom discussions. As a college student whose dream is to be a flight attendant some time after my graduation, I felt happy hearing this news. When I read the article about the runway accident, I somewhat felt the grief of the passengers of the particular flight. As a human being our safety need is really on the top level. Hearing the Ateneo students share their experience inside the plane, I was really in shock about the recklessness of the crews. Cebu Pacific is one of our country’s major airlines and when I took my On-the-Job training last summer, it was the airline competing with the nation’s flag carrier in terms of the number of bookings. It is a shame, in my opinion, in the airlines name to hear that the crews they are very proud of are not properly. I also believe that this happening is the company’s responsibility for they must all the time ensure that their crews are well trained so that no accident like this will happen. To think that many people not only Filipinos trust their services and the passengers also trust their lives to them, how can they just do nothing and be insensitive to the their needs? In situations like this, I remember one of my professors saying that the passenger must always be the first than yourself. Being a flight attendant is one of my major dreams and seeing one whenever I go to the airport is like giving me inspiration to achieve this dream. But this accident made me think of the statement my group mate in research said. She said, why is that many people who is working in our industry did not take BS Tourism Management as their course but still had their way inside the industry? I am just happy that CAAP did something about this situation for my fear is that many people will not trust our airline companies anymore. Training the crews is really an important activity especially not all of them have backgrounds to the industry. It is also a great thing to not make the other dreamers of being a flight attendant stop their dreams and shift to another profession. By this way we can still promote ourselves and of course make people trust us again. I am just hoping no such accident will again happen for it is really bad thinking that the industry that I chose is somewhat dangerous. Traveling is very fun and I hope that all people will experience it if the authorities will just put their focus on things like this. Tourism industry is something that is not only about profession but serving people with love and with great passion.

Causes of the First World War - 1164 Words

World War I Essay When a nation’s hunger for power and control become too great, the nation may be pushed to do things that may have harsh consequences. This was the case in the early 1900’s when the world engaged in its first major global military conflict. There were a number of causes of the First World War; due to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany accepted full responsibility for the war. Although the Germans had a large contribution in starting the war, they should not be fully held accountable for starting the war. The world was a place where only the strongest nations could thrive and expand. The major powers of Europe were all doing whatever it took to gain power, wealth, and control different areas of land; this caused†¦show more content†¦France had plans of its own; they wanted to quickly overtake Germany’s industrial heartland, Ruhr Valley. France felt that if they could get into Ruhr Valley they could lower the Germany’s chance to start a modern war. The Russians planned on preparing their army for a war against the armies of both Austria-Hungary and Germany. The pressure that each one of these plans put on the other nations led to a war where speed was a major determining factor in the victor of the war. Once each army began mobilization, turning back was no longer an option and the war became more inevitable than ever. A new innovation that brought the ongoing naval battle between the major powers was the introduction of the dreadnought. The threat of the new more powerful battleship started a race to see who could produce the most dreadnoughts and control the sea. The pride of each nation became a contributing factor in the war; all the major powers felt they could reign supreme and that is exactly what they all tried to do. One of the dominant influencing factors of the war, according to the president of the United States at the time (Woodrow Wilson) and many others, was militarism. Military personnel had too much power in nations such as Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. Surely this could not be blamed solely on Germany as a nation, this type of military based mindset could not be blamed on any single nation in particular, and it was just the way things were run inShow MoreRelatedThe Causes Of The First World War1406 Words   |  6 PagesOption A: What in your view were the causes of the First World War? How have historians’ views on the war changed over time? Historical events are crucial in human thoughts since they understand themselves better in the present through analyzing their past occurrences. Historical events help us to know the causes of certain past events, therefore, making the cause to entail long-term ideology events and actions. Nevertheless, the causes of certain events may differ depending on the scale of historyRead MoreThe Causes Of The First World War1395 Words   |  6 PagesThe causes of the First World War were similar and differed from the causes of the Second World War politically, economically, and socially. Both of these significant, historical events were substantially affected by the interaction of dominating societies during this time period. During the First World War, these leading societies were the European authorities of Britain, Germany, and Austria, with slight assistance from the U.S. However, the United States allocated their full engagement duringRead MoreThe Causes of the First World War1166 Word s   |  5 PagesThis question has formed part of the historiography of the causes of the First World War, a historical debate that has endured ever since the conflict ended. 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Firstly, Germany was trying to expandRead MoreCauses of First World War Essay940 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction The First World War started in 1914 and lasted for four years to end in 1918 when Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman empires were defeated (Havers 7). There have been a number of causes identified to have led to the war but most of them are not as straightforward as many would think. In essence, the root causes of the war are deeper than most abstract reasons many authors have identified in the past. However, this does not mean that there was no trail of events which directlyRead MoreThe Major Cause Of The First World War838 Words   |  4 PagesLead To The First World War The events that result to or lead to the outbreak of a war form part of history that is highly analyzed and discussed over historical times for number of significant reasons. These reasons include giving answers to questions and shedding knowledge upon some particular patterns that may exist in war circumstances and giving an understanding on how and why they occur. For instance, the First World War was preceded by a number of events globally. The cause of war was introducedRead MoreCauses of the First World War Essay2064 Words   |  9 PagesCauses of the First World War â€Å"The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 grew out of a short term crisis in the Balkans, but any attempt to understand its origins must take into account a number of long standing developments.† (McDonough). To discuss this judgement, we must investigate the causes of the First World War, the consequences of these actions, and to what extent were they responsible for the start of the war. A long term and economical causeRead MoreBritish Empire : A Major Cause Of The First World War1694 Words   |  7 Pages 11/18/14 Global 10 Mrs. DelFavero British Empire in India (1850-1914) Imperialism was a major cause of the first world war; the reason being is that imperialism often led to competition for land as well to nationalism and complex systems of alliances that led to several world powers going to war in 1914; one of those world powers was the British Empire. The British Empire’s presence in India is a perfect example of imperialism and its effects going into WWIRead MoreIn What Ways Did the Causes of the Second World War Differ from the Causes of the First World War?2006 Words   |  9 Pagesways did the causes of the Second World War differ from the causes of the First World War? The First World War (1914-1918) was the deadliest, most destructive war that had occurred in history up to that time; it was of a scale unknown to previous generations. Nonetheless, the Second World War (1939-1945) proved to be by far deadlier than the First One. Both World War I and World War II were total wars fought between the major industrial nations and their empires and both were wars of attritionRead MoreCritically asses three major causes of the First World War2347 Words   |  10 PagesThere are many causes to the First World War, many of which are results of complex developments which took place for a number of years before the war, such as the conflict over the Balkans and the decline of the Ottoman Empire. The most obvious cause may be the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand. However, upon close examination of the events leading up to World War One, we shall see that this was merely the spark that set off the chain of events leading up to the Great War. One of the main