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Assignment #11

1.Do the characters in Gulliver’s Travel symbolize something?    a.I believe throughout the entire tale the characters that Gulliver faced symbolized something. Gulliver traveled to Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and Houyhnhnm and every land had its own civilization. Lilliput was the land of small people and most of the people in that land wanted power and money. Brobdingnag was the land of giant people and most of them were very calm and peaceful, although they made fun of Gulliver for being small. Laputa is the island in the sky which was the land of “geniuses”, however, many of the people there couldn’t perform physical tasks like making houses. Lastly, Houyhnhnm, the land of the horse-like specimen, which wanted peace and justice throughout their land. 2.Was Gulliver’s Travel a form of satire?    a.I believe it was, as during the Elizabethan period Europe had many flaws. Therefore, Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver’s Travel as a way to symbolize and contradict how society should be run in Europe. For example, Brobdingnag and Houyhnhnm which were lands of peace, the horse king of Houyhnhnm stated himself he did not want any sort of violence in his land. Moreover, the land of Brobdingnag was overall peaceful. Therefore, Jonathan Swift could have created Gulliver’s Travel as a form of satire towards the Elizabethan period. To show how society should be instead of how it was at the time as shown by both lands present in Gulliver’s Travel.

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Assignment #10

1.Did Candide really love Cunegonde? Does love at first sight actually exist in Candide?      a.I don’t believe Candide actually loved Cunegonde, he seemed to only admire her by her looks. Therefore, there isn’t solid evidence he actually loved her, but there is evidence of him liking her. Although Candide followed Cunegonde throughout two continents he must have really liked her. Moreover, you can’t love someone if you don’t know how the person acts. Candide didn’t speak to Cunegonde much and there is a very low chance he fell in love with her by her looks. Lastly, I believe love doesn’t exist in Candide because the concept of “love” is not shown much in the tale.

2.Did Dr. Pangloss offer good advice? Were his philosophies good?      a.Dr. Pangloss’ main philosophy he told Candide was, that everything happens for a reason. As stated by the text, "For," said he, "all that is is for the best. If there is a volcano at Lisbon it cannot be elsewhere. It is impossible that things should be other than they are; for everything is right”. Moreover, Dr. Pangloss was very religious he referenced to many biblical related topics.  However, Dr. Pangloss’ philosophies sound a little too out of the ordinary and too extreme. He stated the world is perfect and the best one out of every other world there is. However, there is still a lot of evil, which doesn’t correlate with what his philosophy stated. Lastly, his ideologies were too absurd and believed everything he said which Candide follow as well.

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Assignment #9

Was it right for Ferdinand and Cardinal to control their sister although she is youngest?

To some degree, they should tell her what she should and should not do. As they are the older brothers and have experience with many more things that she has. However, Ferdinand being the one that is stricter with Duchess, he sets the rules down for her, Once both of her brother's leaves, she decides to not abide by Ferdinand’s rules and she does what she wants. Duchess wants to remarry, which was the main thing Ferdinand and the Cardinal told her not to do. Furthermore, it wasn't right to tell Duchess to remarry, it is her life and she should be able to do what she wants. Meanwhile, Ferdinand and the Cardinal should be there to advise her and point out her actions she should take over a certain event.

Would you have done what Bosola did? Do you think he did the right thing towards the end of the Story?

if I was Bosola I would have never spied on Duchess, I would have confronted Ferdinand and told him to let Duchess do what she wants as it is her life. Moreover, If I was Bosola I would periodically update Ferdinand on what was going on in the kingdom and Duchess. I wouldn't spy on Duchess so much. Towards the end of the story, Bosola accidentally kills Antonio and kills Ferdinand and the Cardinal to avenge Duchess. If I were him I would have told Antonio that I was told to kill him and I would let him actually run away with his kids instead of accidentally killing him. Lastly, I would have done what Bosola did towards the end as he did his actions out of justice to set things right.

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Extra Credit

I took the Survey

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Assignment #8

What does Shakespeare try to say when he makes two of King Lear’s daughter powerful, but one being an average woman in the Elizabethan period?    Woman during the Elizabethan time period were only known to be house wives and have babies. However, in Shakespeare play King Lear, its otherwise. Shakespeare is known to make comedic plays and plays that are absurd during his time period, Elizabethan Era. Therefore, this story proves what will it be like if women had more power than usual. Both Goneril and Regan used swords, which during the Elizabethan period, was very ridiculous. Along with the fact that both of King Lear’s oldest daughter take ownership of part King Lear’s Kingdom, may have caused the downhill of King Lear and his family. Shakespeare may have try to state that with women taking leadership of anything may cause a terrible aftermath. Therefore, in this case, many characters were killed or died because of someone’s death.

How would the story playout if it kept going, if only Edgar, Kent, and Albany are the ones left in the story?    Edgar and Albany being young, and the only ones to rule the kingdom, the books states that there isn’t much hope for the kingdom since all three characters are left alive. However, Kent states in the story that he has to attend to his master, which is King Lear, who is dead. Therefore, Kent may have said to not take any responsibility of ruling the kingdom. I believe, Edgar and Albany will try to take order of the kingdom, however, the people will disapprove of them being the rulers of the kingdom and would like them not to rule their kingdom.

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Assignment #7

-Does the story correlate with the time period it was written in, by the role women had? o.  In the story, there was only three female characters, meanwhile, there was sic male characters. However, the women seemed to have higher authority in the story The Twelfth Night two of the main characters were female, Viola and Olivia. Moreover, Maria also had a role that was more important than other characters. Olivia, had many servants that did things for her, for example, Malvolio. Furthermore, Maria, being considered a “best friend” to Olivia, has become very attached to Olivia that she is able to mimic her handwriting. Moreover, she used this ability to manipulate people by writing letters to them. Lastly, Viola, by disguising herself as “Cesario” she is able to gain Orsino’s trust and is able to help Orsino in his decision making.

-How does Viola affect the story by disguising herself as a male in The Twelfth Night? o.  By Viola disguising her as a male, she causes a love triangle between, “Cesario” the character she was playing, Orsino, and Olivia. Viola, later on in the story, also gets into some problems because people believe she is Sebastian, her brother that she presumed drowned in the shipwreck. Moreover, once Sebastian is summoned into the story, more problems rise because people think Sebastian is Cesario. Sebastian is bombarded with questions and denies everything as everything that has happened, occurred with Viola. However, once Sebastian and Viola confront each other, everything is resolved. Almost everyone lives happily ever after as Olivia married Sebastian, Orsino gets together with Viola.

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Assignment #6

To coy his mistress by Andrew Marvell •.  Why did the male seem so aggressive in wanting to have sex with the female in the poem? o.  Although the reason is unclear, the male in the poem states that there isn’t enough time and that they should fornicate while they have time. Moreover, the male was very blunt in saying that both individuals needed to fornicate as soon as possible. The Mower to the Glowworms by Andrew Marvell •.  How does the Mower compare the ‘glowworms’ to his partner Juliana? o.  In the poem, the Mower says the glowworms have many meanings like, a prince dying or the start of a war. The Mower implied that the glowworms means that the grass will fall. Furthermore, the Mower states that the glowworms show the path, however, he says that he will never be home as he doesn’t have Juliana anymore. Meaning the glowworms may have something to do that may have reminded him of a tradegy. The Flea by John Donne •.  Why does the speaker express the flea as a sign of marriage? o.  The fact that the flea had blood from both the woman and the speaker, the speaker believed both of them were conjoined. The speaker took the flea into further consideration stating that since they shared blood the individuals would symbolize that they are married and that they basically had sex as both of the characters body fluids were mixed inside of the flea. The Good Morrow by John Donne •   Does “The Good Morrow” sound like a diary entry from John Donne? o.  The poem by John Donne seems to sound like if it was in his journal as he stated his love to his partner and how they acted when they are together. It can also be interpreted as a love letter as he goes specific with some lines stated in the poem, for example, “My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears”.

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Assignment #5

1.Would Volpone act differently if he was religious or exposed to religion?

a.   I believe Volpone would act extremely differently as in the story he was a con artist. Therefore, if he was religious or exposed to religion he would have not robbed from others. He might have given gifts instead of receiving. Moreover, he did lie about taking people’s gifts, therefore, he would have considered what he was doing wrong. Furthermore, knowledge about religion, Volpone would know where he would end up in the afterlife if he kept doing what he was doing.

2.Was Volpone getting arrested enough of a punishment?

a.   I believe Volpone being arrested wasn’t enough justice. He lied and was a con artist, therefore, he should have received a much harsher punishment. He should have given back everything he received, give his throne away and all his wealth to be evenly distributed to the people. He should be given a long time in prison. Lastly, Volpone should have received a far more barbarous punishment for everything he has committed.

3.Why did the play “Volpone” use animalization?

a.    Ben Jonson using animalization, adds a visual effect on the message the characters give in the play. The use of animals as a reference can give a further meaning to a character or even a little more meaning to complete what a character conveys. For example, Volpone being animalized as a snake, as he lied and took from people, he was hiding. He was just gaining wealth through the gifts he was given, just for the people who give him gifts will be included in his will and will receive some of Volpone’s Wealth

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Assignment #4

1.Why does Doctor Faustus keep making his life more difficult? Shouldn’t he have stopped once he decided to sell his soul to Lucifer?

a.I believe since he was a German Scholar he did say he wanted to learn more, outside of health, medicine, and math. Therefore, he decided to go to “the dark side” and find a further meaning of the world, as he wanted to become a magician from the influence of his peers Valdes and Cornelius. Which led him to summon a devil named Mephistopheles. With the summoning of the devil, Mephistopheles Faustus gained power and the amount of power might have led to him to make the bad decision’s in his life. Lastly, once you decided to sell your soul to the devil there is no point of return and Faustus could have found other ways to become a magician or the meaning of life.

2.Does Doctor Faustus have self-control? Why or Why not?

I believe Doctor Faustus had control as he was a German Scholar, so he had some grit to get his work done. However, over time he began to lose his self-control once he was being exposed to magic by his peers Valdes and Cornelius. He gained an ambition to become a magician, therefore, led him to use his magic to summon Mephistopheles. Once he signed the contract with his blood, the book stated that Doctor Faustus doubted it, however, he was given a plethora of gifts which quickly changed his mind. Lastly, the powers Doctor Faustus gained may have over-powered his control as well.

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Assignment #2

The General Prologue: Who is the narrator? Why is he a character and why is he reserved? I believe the narrator may be a character in Canterbury Tales as the narrator does say “I” throughout The General Prologue. His name is Chaucer, as shown by the end of the prologue, a section that is named “notes to the prologue’’. Chaucer is also the author of the Canterbury Tales, which may also show that The Canterbury Tales may have been a biography or a diary of some sort in which Chaucer wrote about certain events during his lifetime. However, Chaucer doesn’t really come up throughout the rest of the book. Therefore, it might be shown that Chaucer may be reticent of some sort. Lastly, I don’t know why Chaucer might be a character if there isn’t much told about him, as he could just be in the story to make the story seem as a diary.

Wife of Bath: Why was the knight given a second opportunity over his act of rape if rape is sinful? Should he have gotten a second chance?  I believe the Knight shouldn’t have gotten a second chance to redeem himself after what he has committed. Rape is known to be sinful and corrupt today. However, Canterbury Tales occurs during the Middle Ages which may have an impact on the outcome of the situation the Knight was in. The knight was given a second chance by the King Arthur’s Queen which is also a woman, which confused me. The fact that a female is raped and women from the court allowed the knight to have a second chance to redeem himself is bizarre.

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Assignment #1

1.What happened to Unferth? Why was he envious of Beowulf?

a.Although the book doesn’t go on about Unferth, I believe he would have changed since Beowulf’s departure from Denmark. Unferth knew Beowulf was a Hero and was jealous because he started to get overlooked and the Kingdom of Hrothgar liked Beowulf more than him, although he was a warrior he wasn’t one that will be remembered, therefore, he was jealous of Beowulf. However, in the epic Unferth did overcome his jealousy of Beowulf once he received his sword back, the “Hrunting” and Beowulf complimented his swords being a very good sword.

2.Did any other kingdom attack Geatland after Beowulf died? Would Geatland change without Beowulf?

a.In the story it doesn’t state, however, I believe if any other kingdom attacked Geatland, they would’ve gotten support from the Kingdom of Hrothgar. Moreover, it is stated in the story that Geatland wasn’t a popular kingdom, therefore, many wouldn’t want to conquer Geatland. Beowulf was a great warrior and with his reign as king, many didn’t bother to battle his kingdom as he was a legendary warrior. With Beowulf as king, the townspeople would live with no fear as Beowulf was king and he had alliances with the King Hrothgar of Denmark. However, with his death, a new king would have to take the position of Beowulf and the kingdom of Geatland would not be as strong as it was with Beowulf’s reign.