"Idea" by Grant Snider

Canterbury Tales (II): WHAT A CHARACTER

Character: A Knight

Approach to Characterization (In/direct, when, why):

Indirect and direct characterization are used in multiple instances.

Direct: used to describe his personality (“truth, honor, generousness, and courtesy”); Chaucer also directly states his will to fight, “riding into battle”;   

Indirect: it is used with his actions → “in Granada, Algeciras sank//Under assault, he had been there” → indirectly stating of his noble character; his grand clothing also characterizes him as an aristocrat, born in power

Direct

"To ride abroad had followed chivalry,

Truth, honor, generousness and courtesy.

He had done nobly in his sovereign’s war"

"And though so much distinguished, he was wise

And in his bearing modest as a maid.

He never yet a boorish thing had said"

Indirect

"In Lithuania he had ridden, and in Russia,

No Christian man so often, of his rank.

When, in Granada, Algeciras sank

Under assault he had been there"

Tone(in regard to characters):

Chaucer uses an appreciative, admiring tone when he talked of the Knight. He is respectful of the knight’s actions, using dictions like “wise,” “modest,” and “honorable.” He describes the Knight in the ideal way a “knight” is believed to have acted, to the point of calling him a “perfect gentle-knight.”

Humor:

Humor is used throughout the whole story. Chaucer uses it to heighten his usage of satire. The irony, juxtaposition, is added to create a more humorous environment. This allows a serious topic about society to be easily broken-up, making the readers think.  

MY DASHBOARD

Netvibes seem like an over-cluttered mess to me. Instead of organizing everything to how I want it to look, the "dashboard everything" takes away my ability to customize my dashboard my way. Because of those reasons, I intend on just doing what I already do. I put things on bookmarks; those bookmarks will go on their designated folders. Some folders even have another folder within them. Doing this keeps the clutter tucked away. It keeps me organize and keeps "my dashboard" free of any unnecessary trinkets and media platforms that will only prove a distraction to me.

Since I am able to have multiple windows open without hindering my sight on the window I am on, it enables me to work flawlessly without the use of an external product (netvibes). 

 

PHONAR14 VIDEO

• PICTURES AND IMAGES DIFFERENT
• Pictures have meaning; they tell a story (a symbol if you will)
• they’re important to take right (composition)
• they are done intentionally
• it is something you are itching to share
• Images are just there
• think Instagram and Pinterest; there’s no story present
• Evidence → documents, images, etc. (they are, once again, just present)
• Experiences → meaningful (they are your story)

• “Pictures there to tell story of us”
• Viewers now → more important
• they are there to interpret; bring out different meanings
• Photos are circular; photographers = shape them into rectangles
• commerce shape how we understand media
• New media = Old media
• new stuff described in old ways
• old habit of minds
• translates how we consume media
• Stories will not be told the same way → they have identities!
• “In order to change the world, you have to start describing them in different light”
• We embody the new

CANTERBURY TALES (I)

Prologue to Canterbury Tales (pages 90-115)

• Biography
• Geoffrey Chaucer (1343? - 1400) → varied experiences as a page, son of a merchant, soldier, diplomat, and royal clerk prepared him to write The Canterbury Tales
• Early poems based on works of European poets followed by translations of French poetry
• No one knows the reason behind Canterbury Tales → his experience during a participation in a pilgrimage to Canterbury might’ve inspired him to write
• A Closer Look: Chaucer’s Guided Tour of Medieval Life and Literature
• The Canterbury Tales begins with a prologue → Narrator, presumably Chaucer, meets 29 other pilgrims at Tabard Inn  where they are preparing for the pilgrimage
• Harry Bailey, host of the Inn, sets out a challenge: each pilgrim tell two stories en route to Canterbury and two other stories on their way back
• Prologue → Chaucer uses vivid imagery to capture each pilgrim
• Chaucer’s day = no science fiction stories or murder mysteries → popular genres  were romance (chivalry), fabliaux (short, bawdy, humorous stories), allegories and church-based

• from The Canterbury Tales: The Prologue
• Knight → distinguished man who followed the road to chivalry
• Wise, modest as a maid, never bore about his life, gentle knight
• He told stories about his heroic battles
• Possessions: horses; he wore fustian tunic stained and dark along with his armor
• He brought his son along → a squire with curly locks ( around 20 years old), and moderate stature; he is described as being young, fresh in personality and physique, but experienced in service with the cavalry
• Yeoman (attendant) → alongside the Knight and his son
• wore a coat and a green hood, peacock-feathered arrows, bright and keen
• had a mighty bow in his hand, face is described like a nut (brown face) → great in woodcraft; he also had a shield and a sword hung at his side
• Nun (a Prioress) → smiled a very coy and simple smile
• known as Madam Eglantyne
• would sing a service, and speak in French
• courtliness and manners → she was entertaining, friendly and pleasant
• she was sensitive, showed her concern
• Monk → one of the finest of sorts; rode the country
• liked to hunt, a manly man that owned a horse
• sleeves were decorated at the hand with fine fur, and his hood had a wrought-gold fashioned pin; bald in the head → fat priest
• Friar → a wanton and merry one; festive fellow
• he fixed many marriages, noble pillar to his Order
• highly beloved and intimate
• finest beggar of his batch
• Merchant → had a forking beard and motley dress
• his head had a Flemish beaver hat and his feet were buckled boots
• told of his opinions and pursuits
• expert at currency exchange, no one knew of his debt
• Oxford Cleric → still a student
• horse was thinner than a rake
• he was not fat → had a hollow look and sober stare
• he prefered books over fine clothing, fiddle, or psaltery
• never spoke a word that wasn’t needed → extremely formal, short and to the point
• Sergeant at the Law → wary and wise
• he was discreet → a man to reverence
• a busy man, but less busy than he seemed
• knew every judgement, case, and crime
• Franklin (alongside the Sergeant at the Law) → his beard was white as snow
• a confident man, high-colored and benign
• his motto was essentially “live a happy life”
• he lived for pleasure and his opinion was sensual delight
• A Haberdasher, a Dyer, a Carpenter, a Weaver, and a Carpet-maker → among the ranks, all in livery
• were trim and fresh → gear could pass as something new
• knives wrought with purest silver
• each seemed worthy burgess
• Skipper → hailing far west
• came from Dartmouth → rode a farmer’s horse
• wore a woolen gown that reached his knee
• he had a dagger on a lanyard
• an excellent fellow
• Doctor → he talked of medicine and surgery, of astronomy and charms
• a perfect practicing physician
• he had a special love of gold
• worthy Woman → somewhat deaf
• her herchiefs were of finely woven ground
• shoes were soft and new
• she’d have five husbands → all at church door
• Parson → rich in holy thought and work
• a learned man, a clerk
• knew Christ’s gospel and would preach it
• benign and diligent
• disliked extorting income or fee
• Plowman (Parson’s brother) → an honest worker, good and true
• lived in peace and perfect charity
• loved God with all his heart and mind
• a Reeve, a Miller, a College Manciple, a Pardoner, a Church-Court Summoner, and the narrator
• Miller → chap of sixteen stone
• stout fellow, brawn and bone
• broad, knotty, and short-shouldered
• mighty mouth was like a furnace door
• Manciple → came from the Inner Temple
• never rash, whether buying credit or cash
• used to watch the market with precise
• Reeve → old and choleric, and thin
• beard shaven closely to the skin
• short hair stopped above his ears
• kept his bins and garners very trim
• Summoner → had a fire-red cherubinnish face
• had carbuncles → eyes narrow, hot and lecherous as a sparrow
• he spoke only in Latin
• a gentle and kind varlet

       

Bede and Anglo-Saxon Textbook Notes

Bede (pages 74-82)

• The Situation of Britain and Ireland: Their Earliest Inhabitants
• Most British people were illiterate → Bede was able to access books and documents via monastery
• Britain → formerly called Albion, extends 800 miles northwards and 200 in breadth (promontories extends to 3,675 miles)
• Britain → rich in grain and timber; good pasturage for cattle and draft animals
• plenty of land and sea birds; rivers and springs full of fish
• shellfish full of pearls and dyes extracted from cockles (edible shellfish)
• both salt and hot springs, people bathe in separately according to age and sex
• rich veins of metals → copper, iron, lead, and silver
• abundant in black jet (coal)
• Britain → five languages and four nations (English, British, Scots, and Picts)
• all have their own languages but are united through study of Latin (common medium)
• original inhabitants were the Britons → crossed into Britain from Armorica
• Pictish seafarers asked for a grant of land to make a settlement → crossed into Britain and settled north of the island
• Scots migrated and through combination of force and treaty, obtained the settlements that the Picts received

• from The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle   
• Vikings split up → one part in East Anglia (kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England in the East, including modern Norfolk and Suffolk) and one part in Northumbria (Northern kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, including city of York)
• slaughtered many cattle and men, many were thanes (lords) in Kent, Sussex, etc.
• King Alfred commanded longships to be built against ash-ships
• Naval warfare occurred between the Danes and the English

My Masterpiece 1

We live in a really close-off community which has resulted in a lack of cultural diversity. Our community is set up in a way that essentially resembles that of a cliche high school cafeteria (think Mean Girls). Different means bad, no association. I would like to challenge that status quo. Photography is powerful. Remember that saying "a picture is worth a thousand words"? This is essentially HONY central coast style. I want to raise cultural, political, and social awareness. Sharing the stories would make it all real. It wouldn't just be statistics. Every story will be a puzzle piece, brought together to create a larger vision. 

My other masterpiece idea relates back to my intended majors. A part of Red Cross, Naiomi Dasai and I intend on doing something beyond what has been done before. In order to create awareness about crucial health related topics (drunk driving, contraception, vaccination, etc.), we want to create a convention. We are hoping to partner up with Marian Hospital, health related organizations, and people in the medical field as a way of making this work out. This will be beneficial to all, even more so to anyone going into the medical field. I'm also thinking of creating something physical. Interested in energy production, specifically the use of an efficient energy source. I want to make a solar panel and/or algae fuel (bio-fuel). 

The Declaration of Learning Independence

I make an oath to keep doing the things I'm doing with the best possible efforts. I swear to keep my eyes wide open for opportunities and continue to widen my horizons through the usage of open source learning. In order to remain successful, I will continue to work hard and to take risks. I am to do the best that I can. Stress is unnecessary, so keeping it at a minimum is the key to a successful year. I will abide to my rules, question anything, and will continue to remain loyal to my work.  

Vocab #4

obsequious - adj. obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree

• The waiters were obsequious, fretting over everything so as to a higher tip from the costumers.

beatitude - noun a state of supreme happiness

• To be true to oneself, one must be beatitude.  

bete noire - noun person or thing strongly detested or avoided

• Politician’s have the connotation of having a dirty job and so, are often bete noire.

bode - verb indicate by signs; be an omen of a particular outcome

• Paranoid about everything, John thought that the unexpected bad weather was an omen that something terrible was going to occur..

dank - adj. unpleasantly cool and humid

• The abandoned house was dank and horrid.

ecumenical - adj. of worldwide scope or applicability; concerned with promoting unity among churches or religions

• The church had an ecumenical meeting concerning the funding for the extension of the building.

fervid - adj. extremely hot; characterized by intense emotion

• The couple had a fervid goodbye, one going to college out-of-state and the other staying behind.  

fetid - adj. offensively malodorous; smelling extremely unpleasant

• After a long, tiresome practice, John’s fetid aroma wafted throughout the locker room.

gargantuan - adj. of great mass; huge and bulky; enormous

• The gargantuan cake overwhelmed the little boy.

heyday - noun the period of greatest prosperity or productivity

• Selling all of her artwork for an average price of $100,000 made her a tremendously happy artist. It was obviously her heyday.

incubus - noun a male demon believed to lie on sleeping persons and to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; someone who depresses or worries others; a situation resembling a terrifying dream

• He was an incubus, always talking about death and decay.  

infrastructure - noun the stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area; the basic structure or features of a system or organization

• After the massive earthquake, the only thing left of his house was the infrastructure.

inveigle - verb influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering; persuade (someone) to do something by means of deception or flattery

• The woman inveigled him to do the dirty work so that she wouldn’t get the brunt of the charge

kudos - noun an expression of approval and commendation

• Kudos to anyone that doesn’t change themselves in order to fit in with the “ideal societal” values

lagniappe - noun a small gift (especially one given by a merchant to a customer who makes a purchase)

• The customer was given a lagniappe for her purchase of a $500 handbag.

prolix - adj. tediously prolonged or tending to speak or write at great length

• The writing was prolix, seemingly skirting around the actual prompt by talking about something that doesn’t necessarily need to be mentioned.  

protege - noun a person who receives support and protection from an influential patron who furthers the protege's career

• The protege swore revenge when his master was brutally murdered.

prototype - noun a standard or typical example

• The computer prototype was bulky and inaccessible.  

sycophant - noun a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage

• She was a sycophant, nodding along to everything being said even the most ridiculous statements.

tautology - noun useless repetition; (logic) a statement that is necessarily true; a phrase or expression in which the same thing is said twice in different words

• English teachers will often tell their students to avoid tautology when answering the prompts for the AP test.

truckle - noun a low bed to be slid under a higher bed; verb yield to out of weakness; try to gain favor by cringing or flattering

• She truckled under the withering gaze of her superior.