Yvain

Within the story of Yvain by Chretien de Troyes, our class was asked to analyze the difficulty of being a knight.  I personally believe that the difficulty of being a knight within the era the story of Yvain takes place in is almost the same as being considered “normal” within today’s society.  By contrasting the two societies, they both have numerous rules to be and/or act a certain way, no matter what era is taking place.

For example, in Yvain, knights have to uphold the characteristics of being noble, loyal, brave, and strong.  They are willing to lie down their lives if they need to; they’re noble in the sense that they fall in love with the women of that time period and nothing else matter to them.  On the other hand, within today’s society, in order for one to be considered “normal”, they must uphold a certain amount of characteristics depending on that person’s setting.

I believe that it would have been extremely difficult to be a knight because there was so much pressure forced upon them to, in a sense, be perfect.  If they were not willing to risk their life for their kingdom or true love, they were looked down upon and not withholding the expectations of being a true knight.

Honeymoon Flight

Within the semester of our class, we undertook the most dreadful topic within all of world literature, poetry.  We were assigned to take a quiz about the sound patterns within the poetry of Seamus Heaney; we needed to define the words ‘alliteration’, ‘assonance’, and ‘consonance’.  Alliteration can be defined as the repetition of some sounds at the beginning of a word; Assonance can be defined as the repetition of vowel sounds, while consonance can be defined as the repetition of the same consonant.

For the second half of our quiz, we were given a poem to examine and analyze.  “Honeymoon Flight” by Seamus Heaney consists of multiple uses of alliteration, assonance, and consonance.  However, along with determining the three sound patterns, we also were encouraged to interoperate our personal understanding of the poem within our explanation.  The poem goes as follows:

            Below, the patchwork earth, dark hems of hedge,

The long grey tapes of road that bind and loose

Villages and fields in casual marriage:

We bank above the small lough and farmhouse

 

And the sure green world goes topsy-turvy

As we climb out of our familiar landscape.

The engine noises change. You look at me.

The coastline slips away beneath the wing-tip.

 

And launched right off the earth by force of fire

We hang, miraculous, above the water,

Dependent on the invisible air

To keep us airborne and to bring us further.

 

Ahead of us the sky’s a geyser now.

A calm voice talks of cloud yet we feel lost.

Air-pockets jolt our fears and down we go.

Travellers, at this point, can only trust.

 

            The two examples that I think help Heaney communicate his ideas are, “and the sure green world goes topsy-turvy” and “and launched right off the earth by force of fire”.  I think these examples help readers understand the poem because of their alliterations and consonance that are portrayed.  As a reader, these two lines specifically communicate to me that the poem is taking place on an airplane and that it is about to take flight. 

The Tempest

Throughout the course of this semester, our class took a few quizzes on the readings assigned.  One particular quiz suggested that we analyze the representation of cultural exchange and conflict within the novel The Tempest.  We had to choose examples throughout the play’s narrative to best explain our thoughts; my choice of an example was the relationship between Caliban and Prospero.

            In Act 1, Scene 2 when Caliban is introduced, the hatred is clearly present between Prospero and Caliban.  For example, when Prospero calls for Caliban to come out of his cave, she uses a very interesting choice of words.  She says, “tho poisonous slave, got by the devil himself upon thy wicked dam, come forth!”  However, it almost seems like it is a love/hate relationship in Caliban’s point of view.  At one point, Caliban seemed to have thought there was some affection in his relationship with Prospero.  Nonetheless, after Caliban tried to rape Prospero’s daughter Miranda, Prospero hated Caliban even more. 

The conflict between the two of them is portrayed strongly based off of hatred and dislike throughout the text.  Caliban is treated more as a slave by Prospero than as an equal.  I believe that the relationship between Caliban and Prospero can easily relate to a lot of relationships today.  I know for a fact it can relate to my life in some aspects; it reminds me of my parents.  They have the type of love/hate relationship where no one really understands it.  That is what I kind of got out of Prospero and Caliban’s relationship; no one truly understands it, but it is what it is.