The Greatest Portfolio EverBy Joe Sizemore

Table of Contents

1. Forward to Portfolio

2. Chaucer Paper

3. Beowulf Paper

4. Gawain Paper

5. Diary Entry

6. Modest Proposal Paper

7. Frankenstein paper

8. Lady of Shallott Paper

9. Literary Analysis Paper

Forward

The portfolio you are about to view is the tale of my senior year in English class. A lot of work and time went into the portfolio so it could meet its maximum potential, my senior year was jam packed with writing assignments. My English is like my jumper in basketball,

streaky to say the least. As a result I have never looked forward to writing a paper, but I must admit I partially enjoyed my portfolio assignment. This portfolio assignment allowed

me to be a little more creative and enjoy the class more than just doing the normal hard copy that I don’t think a robot would even enjoy. All in all British Literature was a good class that I didn’t have to dread going to and I hope the banned word list doesn’t apply to this

forward.

The Prime Minister’s Journey

I am Sir Sizemore, from the land of Chesterton. I have traveled for a long time in search of an honorable quest I must take. Upon my arrival I did not immediately tell the residents that I

was prime minister. Although they know their prime minister’s name, they do not however know his face. My duties at home include officiating with the government and all those

involved. I try to represent the people around me to the best of my ability. Though the nobles have a high rank, their rank was granted to them by their lineage. I had to work for my position

and I plan on keeping it for as long as the Lord sees fit.

I arrived at the Inn yesterday and have already met with many of the others that will be accompanying me on this journey. I have met a miller who doesn’t come from noble blood, but still seems to possess a great quantity of chivalry. As always on the journey there is a friar. The friar seems testy in his behavior towards the others, which shows me that he is a man of poor character. Many other participants in this journey have kept to themselves and I still do not know about them, this includes the knight, the nun, and the Innkeeper. The atmosphere of the journey about to begin is tense with the uncertainty of the weather.

I have come to participate in this journey for multiple reasons. By journeying with these people, I could gain their favor as a prolific prime minister. Also along the way I could gain valuable insight into the life and ways of my fellow countrymen. This adventure

could be strenuous but I’m up for the challenge as long as I can increase my capacity to succeed in my home land. God willing this journey will be smooth as many are tense because of the uncertainty of what is to come.

Themes between Grendel and Beowulf

In our modern world, many people are looked up to or idolized by main stream media along with the people. The names: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James have become household names due to this idolization of athletes in our society. This

idolization almost makes these athletes seem higher than what they should be; this can also be said about heroes throughout time. Throughout time there have been people placed above others

and this can also be mentioned involving Beowulf in a time where the hero was one in which they were famous because of their military prowess or the manner in which they conducted

themselves on the battlefield. This theme of the epic hero and his glory was prevalent in both Beowulf and Grendel.

In the poem of Beowulf, Beowulf is described in such a way as that his reputation and his demeanor was who he was as a person, ‘’greater and stronger than anyone anywhere in this world ‘’ (ll. 91-92). This theme of his greatness and reputation is continued throughout the poem and it is also included in the novel excerpt of Grendel by John Gardner in which he describes the reputation of the Anglos, however in a different view and conviction. Although Beowulf describes Beowulf as honorable and such, the poem also mentions his father and their heritage which provided the extra information for the greatness of Beowulf. The way in which Beowulf was introduced shows how the culture at the time was influenced by their family and their individual accomplishments.

In the novel excerpt, Grendel, he shows the point of view from the eyes of Grendel in which he just shows his own perspective into the method behind his madness. He describes what he does as being an honorable thing in that he is doing everyone a favor by taking out these barbarians that inhabit Herot. In the novel excerpt he mentions the barbarians as ‘’crafty witted killers that worked in teams’’ (31). This in contrast with Beowulf shows the audience the difference in which the two viewed the situations, giving each a unique theme.

Both Beowulf and Grendel show the theme of someone trying to help out a situation either for their own glory or for the benefit of everyone because fate already knew the outcome. By trying to help out a situation, both Beowulf and Grendel were willing to do whatever necessary to get the job done because fate already determined what was going to happen. This is why both had different views of the other. The theme of killing when necessary was evident because fate already knew the conclusion in both Beowulf and Grendel.

Throughout both Beowulf and Grendel many different themes are shown but the prevalent ones for Beowulf seemed to be the epic hero and fate. On the other hand, in Grendel the prevalent theme was that Grendel was not a monster but rather a hero. Beowulf’s themes give you evidence from the time in which it was wrote, this is beneficial in a historical context.

Next time when someone mentions about Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Kobe Bryant, or Tom Brady hopefully one will remember the significance of Beowulf.

Gawain

Hiding the Harm: Revisionism and Marvel in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Manish Sharma states her opinion on how she perceives Gawain’s actions. She believes Gawain only follows romance conventions and fulfills audience expectations by decapitating the intruder, but ignored the merciful and Christian options available to him. She saw the beheading as a failure because it was an impetuous and unchristian disregard for life.

I had a different view of Gawain’s actions especially the decapitation of the intruder. The reading tells very specifically the intent of Gawain “Gawain allowed to choose the nature of the blow he will inflict and the implement with which he will inflict it.” This quote showed that Gawain could’ve inflicted a larger blow but chose to do what he saw fit.

The author also persistently tried to show the refusal of Gawain to acknowledge Christian values. Although he did not entirely follow the way of Christ I do think he took it into consideration as evident through the quote I mentioned in the previous paragraph. Bringing Christian values into the actions of Gawain is just comparing apples and oranges.

09/11/01

I am sitting in my store watching tragedy unfold right before my eyes. A moment ago a commercial plane crashed into the twin towers. I can’t believe what has just occurred, my shop is down the block from the towers and close enough where I can see debris outside of my window. I’m still unsure on the details of what has just happened. I’m thirty-seven years old and I’ve never seen something as horrific as this, especially this close to home. People began to panic on the streets, but the police are doing a very nice job keeping order around the area. Everyone is on cell phones calling relatives that are either in the towers or watching TV at home to see what is going on. The plane was flying extremely low and then all hell broke loose as it hit the towers.

Wait, there is another plane flying low. Oh my God, it just hit the other tower. I’m officially freaking out. Now there is debris all over and I’m being signaled to leave the area. I’m packing up my stuff and getting out of the area. This has to be one of the most horrific days in New York history if not the worst. There is no way that two planes would hit the towers on the same day, just by coincidence. I have to leave my shop, luckily my cousin who works in the towers is on vacation otherwise there would be even more grief by my family. That’s not to say that I’m not worried about other civilians that are trapped inside the towers. Now I’m leaving my store and heading home to Jersey, to rejoin my wife and to find out what really is going on in this situation, Lord help us.

A Modest Proposal on The Shortage of Priests

How distressing it is to imagine going to mass to only find out that there is not an available priest to do the sermon. As Catholics we take for granted the priests who help our union with God run more smoothly, however this could come to a halting stop with the local

problem of shortage of priests. This growing concern is one not often thought upon by members of your liturgy. This problem is still on the downturn and doesn’t look promising anytime soon.

This has forced changes in churches all around Indianapolis, with thousands of people being affected. To combat this problem the archdiocese has proposed parishes sharing priests and even possibly shutting down an entire parish on the east side of Indianapolis. This continuing concern

can be fixed with the right strategy.

I would propose a new approach to the problems arising from the shortage of priests. It is universally agreed upon that the shortage of priests is not a light matter. To come up with a brilliant strategy would be very honorable in the church and worthy of great mention. My strategy is to change the prerequisites required to become a priest. To become a priest is a grueling adventure that no decent human being should have to put up with to serve the Lord. Priests are required to undertake many oaths to join the priesthood and maybe these require too much of a sacrifice. I would propose allowing priests to get married, what’s the harm in that? If anything it could be a possibility that this priest will have kids and some of his kids might be priests. This proposal would make more adults open to the vocation of priesthood and might even produce more priests. Tradition is often considered cause for not changing the church, but I say the only real tradition is the tradition of change.

With men being able to marry and have a family this would vastly increase the number of priests, but this still would not give the church enough priests that it would need to combat this growing problem of shortage. So I propose making more change and bringing a new direction to the church and the vocations associated with it. I would allow women to become priests, this would catapult the number of priests around the United States and abroad. As a

result of this there would be an unheard of amount of women helping around the church. Mary was a woman and she took care of Jesus, how is the priesthood any different? I am assured by women around the United States that this would be a great proposal for the Catholic Church.

With these two solutions to the problem, we could end the shortage fairly quickly, but why stop there? Why not do something else that would benefit even more than allowing women to become priests and allowing priests to get married. I propose giving criminals the decision to choose jail time or the vocation of priesthood. The vocation of priesthood would almost certainly turn the lives around of thousands of criminals and give them a great alternative to jail time. With this increase in priests it would help out the archdiocese and also help out society by giving back the citizens who benefit society. It also will help with keeping criminals from being repeat criminals making the world a safer, more holy place for all different sorts of people. This is a proposal that could benefit all of our society.

Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein was faced with a difficult decision when the creature approached him. The creature proposed that Victor make another creature that could serve as his

companion. The creature saw all the happiness around him because of humans and their companionship. Victor, confronted with this dilemma, weighed his options and decided to do

what he decided was right.

Victor did however have some reasons to think about making the creature a companion. The creature told Victor he would leave and go off to South America to live in isolation with his companion if she were created. This made the decision even more difficult for Victor because if the creature didn’t leave he could potentially create a whole breed of these monsters. The creation of these monsters could potentially bring more damage done to society than what was already inflicted by just one.

Initially Victor hesitated when the creature asked him. I think he initially hesitated because he was caught up in the moment. By being caught up in the moment he wanted to make up for his past mistakes and thought that maybe he could by agreeing to the creature’s terms. I don’t blame him for hesitating; I think it showed human nature accurately when faced with a difficult decision.

I believe Victor made the right decision by not creating another creature. The negative consequences could have proved much more costly than the benefits. I wouldn’t trust the creature that acts like an animal anyway. If the creature made a monster breed this could have been the worst catastrophe mankind had ever seen.

The Lady of Shalott

On both sides of the river there were barley and rye. So much that everywhere you looked that’s all you could see. Through the field there is a road that runs on the path to

Camelot. Flowers were around the path to Camelot making the surrounding very beautiful all the while the wind blows upon all that are near. All throughout the fields the reapers hear the

songs echoing loudly and cheerfully. While they work they listen to the beautiful hymm of the Lady of Shalott.

All day and night she goes throughout, without little other care of how things would turn out. In the morning she sees the reality of what has come about. She sees the highway winding down to Camelot, and also the river. Even the red cloaks of market girls and people of all sorts, she watched them all pass by on their way to Camelot. Even a knight or two would pass by and she would think to herself how she never had one for her own. Through the night all different sorts of people came through all the way from weddings down to funerals, and the Lady of Shalott became half sick of shadows.

All of a sudden Sir Lancelot came through the field. He was a pretty famous and important knight. On his way to Camelot it was a spectacle, there were bugles playing and you could hear his armor as he rode on. Sir Lancelot was shining with all of his armor on. You could see his black hair underneath his helmet. His reflection was even present on the waterfront. The Lady of Shalott was moving around and saw Sir Lancelot. To her dismay, she broke a mirror and became cursed.

It was storming and raining ferociously on Camelot and the trees around it. The Lady of Shalott decided to get in a boat and make for Camelot. She found the boat and floated down to Camelot. She continued to sing on her way to Camelot. She floated down and on the way she froze. The first house on the shore found her and read her name, The Lady of Shalott. Sir Lancelot prayed for her upon his discovery of her.

Analysis Paper

Charles Dickens’ Hard Times was a satire that dealed with the failings of the English school system. He exploits the failings of the school system through a thorough story of how

Thomas Gradgrind goes through his life and his children’s schooling. His children’s schooling is the place where the most satire takes place. As one learns that they’re at the school the

audience realizes how their names correspond with how they act, thus showing the satire behind Dickens’ work. Charles Dickens exploits many issues that he saw wrong through his literary

work Hard Times.In other Charles Dickens works he exploits the effects of wealth and how it can

sometimes lead to behavior that is not to be proud of. Dickens goes in to detail that even leads some to say his writing has unnecessary detail. This unnecessary detail is a trait of Dickens that we have seen throughout many of his works. In my perspective, this trait is how he likes to show satire. The detail adds on to many people’s enjoyment of his literature.

Throughout Hard Times we see the theme of the conflict of opposites. Dickens is amazing at using this simple detail to enhance on what he is trying to accomplish through his literature. By doing this he can show the true theme behind each one of the opposites which helps the audience further their understanding of the rationale.