Winter Honors British Literature 1 Exam Paper by Mason Davis https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh Prompt: "People who read imagine the lives of others. Literature makes other people more real to us. It invites us to notice differences but, even more so, points towards commonality..." en-us 2018-12-07 00:25:58 UTC 2018-12-12 13:39:18 UTC hello@padlet.com Thesis mdavis115 https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312081783 he influence of literature comes from its’ power to highlight aspects of humanity to illustrate various outside perspectives, including faults and differences as well as sources of continuity. By empathising with villains, such as Satan from Paradise Lost, observing characters’ blinded actions, as in Julius Caesar, and recognizing personified traits from monsters, like Grendel, readers connect with previously unknown views of the world as well as alternative views of themselves that often change perspectives. 


]]> 2018-12-07 00:31:13 UTC https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312081783 Paragraph #1 mdavis115 https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312081814 By empathizing with the heros and villans alike, as in Milton’s Paradise Lost, people gain a unique, personal, and ‘unbiased’ outside perspective of parts of their lives, reflected. An author’s priority revolves around making an impact on the reader. In Paradise Lost, both humanity and Satan fell from the grace of God, condemned to a temporal world or eternal hell. “One man’s disobedience” caused the fall of man while one God’s vengeful nature preempted “the lost arcangel’s” fall (1.2)(1.243). From this, the author implies that mankind  relates more to the villainous Satan than to “Heaven's perpetual King”(1.131). The reversal of accepted notions of good and evil causes two opposing elements of nature to become ambivalent. The epic suggests that in addition to good, evil reside in all aspects of life “long under darkness’ cover” (1.659). Literature, like Paradise Lost, brings to light the vile monsters that reside everywhere, even within a reader.  By recognizing that commonalities between evil and monsters that exist in a virtuous people, a reader can create a new sense of good and evil beyond what society deems as ‘universally accepted’. ]]> 2018-12-07 00:31:25 UTC https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312081814 Paragraph #2 mdavis115 https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312081851 Beyond recognizing contrasts and commonalities across good and evil, literature gives people perspectives to determine what ‘monstrous or virtuous influence’ to choose in life. As Brutus acted as Caesar's misleading mirror, literature acts as mirrors for people: reflecting not only common actions to the reader but also juxtapositions of those actions. Therefore, it becomes pertinent not to rely on literature as a guide, but as a filter. Controlling monsters requires an understanding of the nature of good and evil and the ability to filter that understanding through belief systems, personal conclusions, and societal expectations . For men will “construe things after their fashion” as inner monsters whisper in the ears of mankind, misleading them. Pride and confidence blinds people to the reality of their monstrous actions. Every monster has a mind of its own; without noticing  “welcome wrongs”, a person becomes confused in personal sense of a “common good” rather than appreciating the larger picture (2.1.131) (5.5.73).   Paradise Lost reveals that people have both good and evil natures, while Shakespeare develops the idea that each individual also has an independent conscience to filter the revelations. A conscience breaks from the commonalities found between the monsters in literature and human minds. Characters cannot choose their fated outcome at the end of a plot and monsters can not change based on perspectives and situations; the human mind can evolve, faced with problems to solve and a conscience to guide it. Literature acts as an interpreter for monstrous commonalities but an independent mind has the ability to choose to listen to it. The control of monstrous choices becomes just as important as the awareness of them. ]]> 2018-12-07 00:31:40 UTC https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312081851 Paragraph #3 mdavis115 https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312081860 The epic of Beowulf expands upon the idea that monsters reside in every person but remain hidden, sometimes in plain sight.  The hero, Beowulf, represents the idea of foolish bravery. In his overconfidence, Beowulf explicitly considered Grendel and his mother as monsters, simply because they opposed him in his heroic quest for honor.  A human’s fatal faults often derive from such “sheer vanity” and pride (Beowulf 509).  Only from another perspective, “will modestly discover to yourself/ That of yourself which you yet know not of” (Shakespeare 1.2.69-70). Without a differing viewpoint, pride becomes a mask over reality, only retracted at the brink of death as the tragic hero Beowulf learned. In mutual defeat with Grendel’s mother, he did not die because of the monster’s actions, but because of his own pride and confidence. He decided to confront evil alone, not only condemning himself to death but also putting his followers at risk in the process. The monsters in Beowulf extend beyond the physical manifestations of evil. The hidden and equally as destructive monsters reside in the shadows of a person’s mind "invisibly following them from the edge of the marsh, always there, unseen" (Beowulf 161-2). Beowulf’s inability to recognize the harm of his prideful actions becomes his fatal monster. The author of the epic demonstrates that stereotypical monsters derive from internal demons. Literature creates a manifestation of these hidden monsters, exaggerating of human faults, to expose their true form in a person. Exaggerating commonalities in literature foster understandings of monsters beyond simple awareness. The exaggerations of human faults, as Grendel's greed for wealth reflected Beowulf’s greed for honor, allows for people to not only recognize their monsters but know where they come from and in turn, how to ultimately defeat them. Literature becomes a person’s greatest defense against inhumanity.


]]> 2018-12-07 00:31:46 UTC https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312081860 Works Cited mdavis115 https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312082199 Heaney, Seamus, translator. Beowulf. W. W. Norton & Company, 2000.
McCormick, Patrick. Why Modern Monsters Have Become Alien to Us.
Milton, John, and John Leonard. Paradise Lost. London, Penguin Books, 2003.
Shakespeare, William, and Roma Gill. Julius Caesar. Repr. ed., Oxford, Oxford UP, 2010.
]]> 2018-12-07 00:34:13 UTC https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312082199 Editing/Reading mdavis115 https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312082227 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dd8wJuWy8mtsZH9eE_yzxHgnBL6SqwMq/view?usp=sharing]]> 2018-12-07 00:34:24 UTC https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312082227 Concluding Ideas mdavis115 https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312082541 Literature reflects the evils of the world and commonalities to human realities but also illustrates different courses of actions to allow man to use his independent conscience to choose based upon the character’s legacies but interpreted and made their own. Paradise Lost reveals that literature provides a voice to obscure the lines between good and evil, forcing the reader to empathizes with the villans and visualize the evil of heroes, making the ideas ambiguous.  Thus as Julius Caesar would reveal, the necessity of another voice or a different perspective that can help people interpret the ambiguity of good and evil from their own independent conscience. However, when monsters become uncontrollable or too obscure to distinguish from humanity, Beowulf uncovers the greatest defense against monsters: Literature. Literature acts as a filtered window into reality, illustrating good and evil in order to provide a greater understanding of people, their monsters, and the world around them. From such an understanding, monsters’ ability to control a person due to inexperience diminishes. A person no longer remains subjugated to their monster’s actions, but remain in control by independent will, informed through literature how their actions will reflect in their own stories. ]]> 2018-12-07 00:36:54 UTC https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312082541 Good thesis, Mason. With your second sentence starting with "within" get more specific to the three characters and texts you'll be referring to throughout your essay. megryan https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312913420 2018-12-10 13:55:54 UTC https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/312913420 Introduction mdavis115 https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/313821924 Patrick McCormick’s "Why Modern Monsters Have Become Alien to Us" proposes that stories make connections between the seemingly monstrous traits of mythical creatures and humanities’ actual inner beasts. He argues acknowledging the barbarity of a character’s actions “invite[s] us to reflect on our own … inhumanity” (McCormick).  During reflection, a person may find what they believe as good and evil. However, literature encourages a person to recognize the commonalities across the inhuman character traits found in stories and personal flaws or gifts which fracture previously accepted interpretations of good or evil. ]]> 2018-12-12 13:39:05 UTC https://padlet.com/mdavis115/7kmt9lgqhpyh/wish/313821924