Beowulf v.s.Macbeth

Beowulf v.s. Macbeth

      A leader is someone who can be trusted. A good leader has to be strong. A great leader has to have courage especially when it comes to defending their people. An excellent leader is able to overcome any obstacle thrown their way for the greater good. Between Beowulf and Macbeth there is a huge gap between their leadership styles and the way they lead their people.
     Before Beowulf became king he was already considered a great hero. He was known as an epic hero. He would sail the seas defeating demons, dragons, and monsters. The day he found out from the king that he would be next in line to the thrown he did not try to rush his fate. Even with such great and overwhelming news his heart did not change. While Beowulf was king he always displayed fairness towards all. While Macbeth too was considered a hero before his reign as king he decided to take a sharp curve left shortly after. Prior to his reign he was a general in the king’s army. He was given the honored title of Thane of Cawdor. After receiving the prophecy that he would become king, he lost all reason. Macbeth’s reign as king brought many untimely, unnecessary, and cruel deaths to the land. Unlike Beowulf he did not rule with compassion but ruled as a dictator.
     Beowulf ruled with kindness, fairness, mercy, and courage. While Macbeth ruled with fear, cold-heartedness, and had no remorse for the people he killed. The reason Beowulf was highly respected by his people was because even though he was king he was not above fighting side by side with and for his people. He fought the invaders that wanted to overrule his authority. Macbeth was the opposite he did not fight with his people; he fought against his people and for himself. He killed innocent villagers under his rule, as well as the previous king, King Duncan. Macbeth killed anyone that went against him or stood in his way including his war buddy Banquo.

     For the preceding two paragraphs I discussed how Beowulf and Macbeth differed in many ways. In the following paragraph I will discuss how they compare. The one thing they had in common is the fact that they both had a tragic flaw that lead to their downfall. Beowulf, although as great a leader, he could not resist Grendel’s mother, she promised fame and fortune. Greed got the best of him. He lost his life defeating the golden dragon. Macbeth created his downfall because he chose to test fate and to rush into the unknown. The moment the first part of the prophecy came true, he could not wait for the second prophecy to come to past. The second prophecy stated that Macbeth would become king. Macbeth then became enraged with power and the power ended up turning on him.

     Beowulf compared to Macbeth has very different leadership ways. Beowulf is what I would consider a strong and reliable leader. While Macbeth is a treacherous, manipulative, and insane leader who had what was coming to him. They also have different personalities and mindsets. Even though they have many differences they still had a similarity which was as I mentioned was that they lead their selves to their own downfall. In the end when you compare and contrast Banquo and Macbeth you can tell why one is considered an Epic Hero and another a Tragic Hero. 

Dress Code

          To me dress code is likable and not likable at the same time. Some people just don't like the dress code period and don’t look at the good reasons for dress code. One good reason for dress code is it lowers the chance of bullying. Another like is that it provides stability in knowing what to wear to a job. At the same time though it doesn't allow students to express their self. 

          Bullying is a rising issue among public schools. Bullying leaves kids emotionally and physically scarred. Now with the uniform put in place it leaves bullies with one less thing to bully people about, which is a good thing. Another reason for bullying is gang related. If we're all wearing the same color and article of clothing there's no distinguishing who with who. 

          To a job interview you usually don't know what to wear. Or in other cases you'll have the interview, if your of age, right after school. With dress code in place you'll be on time to the interview, the job if you get it, and will be dressed for the job most of the time. Seeing that bosses and interviewers look for that kind of stuff a dress code could be a major up. 

          Now on to the dislikes of the one and only dress code. Expressing your self is very important to a person whether they know it or not. Expressing your self doesn't always mean that you wear colorful clothing or even wear all black. I mean express what type of mood your in. In a way it gives people an upper hand. It let them know hey leave her alone. Or even hey she seems like fun today. 

          As you can see dress code has it's ups and down. To have less bullying means to have most likely less suicides. To me that's a major up. Then to be wear ready is an up to me. Now the express urself thing is a downfall it's nothing compared to having a lower bullying rate. 

3/24/14 Journal

People say the past shouldn't affect your future

But they don't know that the past is what determines where you'll be today, tomorrow, 

and the future. 

Whether the future is near or far, up or down, or even turned inside out.

You can and will always turn your future around.

 I've tried to cheat my way through life.
I was always told to

Keep a smile on even when it's rough.

Lie even when you know it's tough.

3/21/14 Journal

My life is like a jar full of nails.
Its seems like everything i do i fail.
I feel like i'm falling but not down.
I'm falling in reverse.

Beowulf Essay

            The story of Beowulf is an epic poem that was passed down orally for many years until one day it was finally written down. The story had both some likenesses and some differences between the text and the movie when it came to the main events of the story. One difference was the battle between Beowulf and Grendal’s Mother. Another difference was when Beowulf becomes a king. Then my final difference was the way Beowulf was buried.

            The battle between Beowulf and Grendal’s Mother was one of the greatest differences. Due to the change in the movie in this one scene it changed some later events that occurred. In the text a group of Beowulf’s men and the Danes came with him to off to defeat Grendal’s Mother. Then also in the text Grendal’s Mother was killed by Beowulf. Now in the movie the only person with Beowulf when it came to the part when it was time to defeat Grendal’s Mother the only one to “see him off was Wiglaf.” Also Grendal’s Mother was nowhere near killed at the hands of Beowulf. Grendal’s Mother tempted Beowulf, and Beowulf ends up sleeping with Grendal’s Mom. Once back everybody questioned why didn’t Beowulf bring back the head of Grendal’s Mothers head along with Grendal’s head. In the text nobody asks why Beowulf didn’t bring Grendal’s Mother's head too. 

            In the movie and in the text Beowulf becomes a king. In the text Beowulf goes home to Sweden and becomes king there. Also he ends up becoming king there in Sweden is because the old king died of old age. While in the movie Beowulf never goes home and becomes the king of Danes instead. How he becomes king in the movie is when the king resides his throne to go to Beowulf when he dies. Then out of nowhere the king jumps off the edge of the Herot and kills himself.

          How Beowulf was buried was different in the text then the movie. There was one

likeness which was that Beowulf went with the treasures. Other than that there were no more likenesses. One of the differences was that in the text Beowulf was buried under the tower the dragon lived in. In the movie Beowulf was buried in a boat going into the sea. Then in the text the treasure was buried and put in the sand under the tower. While in the movie the treasure was burned at sea. 

Elephant Gone Bonkers

By: Xenavia Wright

           On October 15th in Moulmein, Lower Burma an elephant named Saari escaped. Witnesses say that the elephant was in heat and had gone mad.

         The elephant broke free of her chains, and went on a rampage through the bazaar. Saari stomped on tables containing various goods. The goods ranged from vases to fruits to even jewelry. As Saari went through the bazaar the Burmese people ran for any form of safety they could find to get out of the elephant's path. Once the elephant was through the bazaar the damage was death defying. Saari the elephant destroyed somebody's bamboo hut, killed a cow, and raided some fruit-stalls.

         Where is the mahout that attends to Saari we asked? Witnesses told us that he had gone out in pursuit of the elephant, but was traveling in the wrong direction. It is reported that he is twelve hours away. The people wait in desperation for the mahout to return. Meanwhile, the elders have contacted Constable Orwell to come and see if he can rectify the situation.

Next week on The Daily India we will speak up on what people speak down on. 

IMPERIALISM… For or against?

The Devil and Tom Walker

       In class I had to read the story The Devil and Tom Walker. In the story there were a couple of indirect characterizations about Tom Walker. For one it said "a meager misery fellow" which means he didn't like his life so much. Then it says about his wife "whatever the woman could lay hands on she hid." In other words she was a very greedy wife. The author also said Tom Walker "was continually prying about to detect her secret hoards" which I inferred to mean that Tom Walker was a nosy man. The author makes another indirect inference about Tom and his wife it was "he had a wife as miserly as himself." You can in infer that he had a characteristic the same as his wife. It so happens they're both miserly which can mean stingy and what they were miserly over was money. One direct characterization about Tom's wife was "a tall termagant, fierce of temper, loud of tongue, and strong of arm." One direct characterization about Tom was "a hard-minded fellow, not easily daunted, and he had lived so long with a termagant wife, that he did not even fear the devil." As you can see the author used a lot more indirect characterizations than direct characterizations.

       One theme I found out to be was Karma. The reason why that is a theme is because just as Tom started he had ended up but 10 times worse. Another theme of this story is greed. This story shows that greed isn't the way to go. Tom, his wife, and The Devil were all greedy but in the end The Devil's greed won out of all theirs. The next theme to me was to expect the unexpected. Tom had tried to change his life and get forgiveness for his sins he had kept the bible at his chest and the whole nine. As soon as he sat that bible down the Devil had come to take him with him before he could get back to the bible. A strong theme of this story is selfishness. Half this story wouldn't have taken place if Tom Walker and his wife wouldn't have tried to be selfish, and they learned that there are repercussions to trying to be selfish. Then a theme is trust. Tom trusted the bible and church to keep him from having his soul from being stolen, Tom trusted the Devil wouldn't take it, Tom trusted that the money would make him happy. As we read we realized that dealing with the wrong people, and money are two things that will not make you happy and you shouldn't trust either. My last theme is loyalty. If Tom and his wife would have been loyal to each other then the Devil, money, and greed wouldn't have even been able to get between them.