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My Senior Portfolio

Evan Warner

August 2008-May 2009

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Table of Contents

Foreword……………………………………………2

Chaucer Essay- Benevolent Ruler………….…….…3

Beowulf…………………………………….……….4

Gawain Critical Essay………………………………7

September 11, 2001……………………………........8

The legalization of Marijuana………………...…...10

Frankenstein Essay…………………….…..………12

The Lady of Shalott…………………….………….14

Literary Analysis of Hard Times……….………….17

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Foreword

All through my senior year, I have grown in my literary skills. Through reading

both short stories, novels, and poetry, I have gained valuable skills as a writer that will

help me throughout my scholastic endeavors. This growth is clear in my literary pieces I

have produced during my senior year. I believe that my growth can be attributed to my

legendary pieces that have been compiled over the course of the 2008-2009 school year.

Also, the difficult task I have been assigned have greatly helped me grow in my literary

maturity. I think that I am now able to better understand novels, short stories, and poems

of authors. Also, I can better identify devices such as diction, imagery, and hyperbole.

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Benevolent Ruler

Greetings! My name is Evan, and I am the ruler of a far away land called

Indianapolis. I have been the ruler of my subjects for twenty years. Even though I have

been a ruler for a very longs time, I think I could be an even better ruler. My subjects

have been very pleased with the choices I have made and the way I have ruled over them.

I suppose I could be called a benevolent ruler. I am a very understanding leader with

much knowledge. I have learned many things during my time as a leader; however I

think that I could learn new things that I have not learned before. This pilgrimage could

teach me things that only God could.

I am on this pilgrimage so that I may be able to grow closer to God. I may be a

benevolent ruler; however, I believe that growing closer to God could make me an even

better leader of my people. Through this journey, I want to learn to become wiser

through God. I think that through this pilgrimage, I could become a much better leader.

This pilgrimage is very important to my life, because without it I might not ever be able

to have a relationship with God.

I am also on this journey to keep the peace between the other pilgrims. With my

knowledge, and understanding, I can help keep the other people happy. These people

must spend a long time together, and I am an this pilgrimage partly to make sure that

every one gets along together. I can use my experience as ruler to keep the people on

this journey very happy with each other. I think that with out me on this trip, there would

be many arguments. These arguments might never get resolved without me present to

solve them.

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Beowulf

The epic of Beowulf is a great story that brings out the ideals of the Anglo-Saxon

culture in the character Beowulf. Throughout the epic, Beowulf expresses many virtues

highly valued by the Anglo-Saxons such as loyalty, strength, courage, and glory. In

Beowulf, Beowulf is consistently searching for glory, which is one of the greatest traits

valued by the Anglo-Saxons. The reason that Beowulf travels to defeat Grendel is to

obtain glory.

Also, during this epic, Beowulf does not change his personality much. He is

searching for glory during his whole life, even as an old man. The only time that he loses

sight of his goals is when he battles Grendels mother. During this fight, Beowulf is

overcome with anger and kills Grendel mother out of rage. During the battle with

Grendels mother, the excerpt says “And then, savage, now, angry and desperate”(ll 491-

492).

Loyalty is a major ideal that Beowulf expresses in this epic. In this epic, Beowulf

is loyal to his nation when he arrives on the Danish shore. Beowulf says “We are Geats,

Men who follow Higlac”(ll 156-157). Beowulf is proud of his heritage, and identifies

himself with the king of his country. Also in Beowulf, Beowulf is loyal to his country

even when he is an old man. He battles the dragon that is terrorizing his kingdom.

Although he is much older than he is when he fought Grendel, Beowulf stays loyal to his

country and fights the dragon.

Another trait extremely important to Anglo-Saxon culture that Beowulf

exemplifies is strength. Many times in Beowulf, Beowulf is described as the strongest

Geat around. During the battle between Beowulf and Grendel, “Grendel saw that his

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strength was deserting him”(ll 370-371). In this battle, Grendel is even realizing that

Beowulf is extremely strong. Also, before

Beowulf battles the dragon, he tells his men that “No one else could do what I mean to,

here, no man but me could hope to defeat this monster” (ll 755-757). He is saying that he

is the strongest man around, even though he is very old. He is saying that no one could

ever be as strong as he is. Also, when he is fighting Grendels mother, the excerpt says

“the iron sang its fierce song, sang Beowulf’s strength”(ll 449-450). This is again

displaying how strong Beowulf is.

Courage is also a trait throughout this epic displayed by Beowulf. Beowulf is

courageous when he goes to help Hrothgar by battling Grendel. Also during the battle,

Beowulf promises not to use any weapons against Grendel. Beowulf says “he needs no

weapons and fears none. Nor shall I”(ll 247-248). Another very courageous act is when

Beowulf dives into the lake to fight Grendels mother is another very brave act.

Finally, Glory is an exceptionally important trait in Beowulf. During this epic,

Beowulf is continually searching for glory. Glory is the reason that he did almost

everything during this epic. He travels to help the Danes by defeating Grendel, and

earning glory. He also battled the dragon for more glory. Before he fights the dragon,

Beowulf says “I am old, now, But I will fight again, seek fame still”(ll 735-736). Even as

Beowulf lays dying, Wiglaf reminds him that early he said “remember how you boasted,

Once, that nothing in the world would ever destroy your fame: fight to keep it”(ll 886-

888). This shows that even as Beowulf is dying, Wiglaf reminds him of his glory. He is

hoping that Beowulf will not die so that the dragon can not take away some of his glory.

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Throughout this epic the four traits of loyalty, strength, courage, and glory are

stressed as the ideals of the Anglo-Saxon Culture. Beowulf is an exemplary model of

these four personality traits of loyalty, strength, courage, and glory which the Anglo-

Saxons valued very highly. He portrays these traits throughout this epic poem in

Beowulf.

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Gawain Critical Essay

In this article, each critic believes that Sir Gawains first deviation from chivalry is

when he accepts the Green Knights challenge. However, each critic offers their own

opinion on the importance of this deviation. Weiss says “the potential lethality of

Gawain’s blow is his first failure, as it demonstrates a patent “lack of Christian concern

for human life.”” However, according to the article, Shoaf, Blanch, and Wasserman

believe that the failure is primarily hermeneutic, which is where the matter lies. These

opinions differ from Weiss, Nuis, and Strite who believe that the failure is ethical.

Agreeably, Sir Gawains first mistake was when he accepted the Green Knights

challenge. He should have never taken the knights challenge. In line with the article, Sir

Gawain ignores the merciful and Christian options available to him. Rather than looking

towards these opinions, he deviates from chivalry and accepts the Green Knights

challenge. If Sir Gawain had followed chivalry, he would not have accepted the Knights

challenge in the first place.

Sir Gawains first mistake was taking up the Green Knights challenge. This failure

to chivalry is primarily ethically wrong. This deviates from the idea of chivalry.

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September 11, 2001

Everyone’s dead. Thousands of people killed in a matter of minutes. Everyone I

worked with, many of my friends, and thousands of strangers are all dead. This still

doesn’t feel real. I should be dead along with them

On a normal work day, I wake up around 8 am. That gives me enough time to

take a shower, eat break fast, and get to the Trade Towers. Today was much different. I

will never forget what happened today.

I woke up at 8.30 today. This wasn’t much later than normal, but just late enough

to make me late for work. There was no way I could make it to work on time. I was

supposed to be there by 9. I called Steve, my boss at the advertising company I work for.

I told him that I just woke up late, and was still planning on coming to work, but I was

going to be late. In the middle of our conversation, the phone just went dead. I tried

calling back 2 times, and never got an answer. I tried calling some of my co-workers, but

none of them answered their phones.

When I was almost to work, I saw something no one should ever see. As I turn

down West Broadway, I had a clear view of the Towers. I couldn’t believe was I was

seeing. A plane had crashed into each of the Trade Towers. The people that worked

above were the planes had crashed, were actually jumping out of the windows. The sight

was horrible.

As I started to run towards the Towers to see if I could help anyone, my heart

sank. The noise I was hearing was confirming my worst fear. The buildings were

collapsing. The noise was defining. I couldn’t believe that these giant buildings could

come down so quickly. What happened after the collapse is a blur. I remember people

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running through the streets. Many of these people were crying. Others were just trying

to escape the air filled with dust and debris. I will never forget what happened today or

the people that died.

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A Modern Modest Proposal: The legalization of Marijuana

Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the United States. Every

year, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) seizes thousands of kgs of marijuana. Also,

countless hours are spent dealing with the “problem” of illegal drugs. There many

reasons that marijuana should be legalized.

Firstly, in order to keep marijuana illegal, the government must spend billions of

dollars every year. Money is spent telling kids that marijuana is bad for and should never

be used. Then, money is spent to pay the DEA, which tries to keep marijuana and other

drugs off the streets. Then, more money is spent putting drug dealers and people in

possession of marijuana in prison. While all this money is spent on a lost cause, the

government could actually be earning money. According to Harvard Economics

professor Jeffrey Miron, the United States would make about $14 billion if marijuana

were legal. $7.7 Billion would be saved if the government did not have to spend that

money policing and prosecuting marijuana activity according to Miron. Another $6.2

Billion would be earned from the taxes applied to the sales of marijuana. If marijuana

was legal, the government could tax it, just like cigarettes are taxed. In the U.S., the

average tax on cigarettes is $1.00. In Indiana, it is 99.5 cents.

Secondly, the prohibition of marijuana is extremely ineffective. While tobacco

and liquor are strictly regulated and only sold to people that are legally old enough, the

people selling marijuana don’t care how old you are. Therefore, it may actually be easier

for a person that isn’t old enough to buy liquor to buy marijuana. According to the

National Institute on Drug Abuse, 14.2% of all 8th graders have smoked marijuana, of 10th

graders, 31% have smoked marijuana, and of 12th graders, 41.8% have smoked

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marijuana. If marijuana would become legal, the number of underage people buying

marijuana would decrease because of the governmental regulation rather than prohibition.

Thirdly, legalizing marijuana would most likely put drug dealers out of business,

and force them to get a real job. The drug dealers would be put out of business because

an actual store could offer marijuana at a lower price than the drug dealers. This would

also decrease the number of murders over drug debts and feuds.

With the prohibition of alcohol, came the introduction of major organized crime

and the gangsters. This is very similar with the prohibition of marijuana. People are very

often killed over drug and drug related incidents. The legalization of marijuana would

minimize these problems, just as the lift of the prohibition of alcohol stopped bootleggers

and gangsters from running their illegal businesses.

All of these points are very valid reason why the United States governments and

our state governments should legalize the use and sales of marijuana. Theses reasons

include the $14 Billion the United States would earn from taxing marijuana and ceasing

to police and prosecute marijuana dealers and users. Also, the number of children that

smoke marijuana would drastically decrease.

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Frankenstein Essay

In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein’s decision to destroy the female was

ultimately the right decision. If victor had created the female, he feared that something

bad could happen. On the other hand, the creature told Victor that if he didn’t make the

female, he would be with Victor on his wedding night.

The monster argued that a female monster would be able to relate with him. He

said “You must create a female for me, with whom I can live in the interchange of those

sympathies necessary for my being”(104). The creature wanted someone like himself

that he could relate to.

The creature also argued that “if you consent, neither you nor any other human being

shall ever see us again”(105). The creature tells Victor that if he creates a female for

him, Victor will never see either one of them again. The creature tells Victor that “I will

go to the vast wilds of South America”(105). The creature and the female would go far

away from Victor and would never see Victor again.

At first, Victor agrees with the monster. Victor says “there is some justice in his

argument”(105). Victor felt as if the monster was making valid points for the creation of

the female monster.

However, Victor considered the possible downsides to creating a female. Victor

realized that “He [the monster] had sworn to quit the neighborhood of man and hide

himself in deserts but she had not”(120). Victor thought that even thought the creature

promised to go far away and leave Victor and never see him or any other human again,

the female had not promised this. She might seek revenge as the male had earlier.

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Another reason for Victors ultimate decision to kill the female is that “Even if

they were to leave Europe, and inhabit the deserts of the new world, yet one of the first

results of those sympathies for which the daemon thirsted would be children, and a race

of devils would be propagated upon the Earth”(121). Victor says that even if the monster

left and never came back, they could still create a whole new race of monster. Victor

didn’t want that to happen.

After considering all of his choices, Victor “tore to pieces that thing on which I

was engaged”(121). Victor made the right decision to destroy the female he had started.

After this, Victor took the pieces of the female and went out to sea. Victor threw the

pieces into the ocean. After the monster saw that Victor had destroyed the female, the

monster finally said “It is well. I go; but remember; I shall be with you on your wedding

night”(123).

Victor did the right thing by destroying the female. If Victor had finished

creating the female, a new race of demons would be created that could take over the

world. They would have a great size and would be very strong. This could prove to be

very bad for normal people.

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The Lady of Shallot

On both sides on the river are big fields with barley and rye growing, these fields

are huge and meet the horizon; and a road follows the edge of the field to Camelot that

has many large buildings, people walk up and down the streets that have flowers growing

along them, and Lady Shalott is there. The willows and aspens blow in the wind, and the

wind always blows by the island in the river that flows to Camelot. Four walls, and four

towers surround a large space that has flowers growing in it, and the quiet isle encloses

the Lady of Shalott. Slow horses pull the heavy barges. They go down to Camelot: but

who has seen Lady Shalott wave her hand? Or who has seen her stand by the window?

Is Lady Shalott known in the whole country? Only the people reaping early in the fields

of barley hear a song that is echoing from the winding river, to Camelot: and the reaper

tiredly piles sheaves of rye and whispers “it’s the Lady of Shalott.”

She weaves a magic web by day and night with cheerful colors. She has heard a

whisper say, she is cursed if she stays to look at Camelot. She doesn’t know what the

curse is, so she keeps on walking steadily, and the Lady of Shalott has few other cares.

And shadows of the world move through a mirror that hangs in front of her all year. She

sees the road near that goes down to Camelot: the river whirls, and the rude village

people, and the market girls wearing red cloaks, go onward from Shalott. Sometimes, a

group of women, an abbot on a slow moving pad, sometimes a boy, or a long-haired page

wearing crimson, passes by going to Camelot: and sometimes she sees knights in groups

of two passing by: but she has no loyalty to a knight. But she still weaves what she sees

out her window, in the nights she has seen a funeral with plumes and lights and music

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going to Camelot: or two lovers passing by that had been wed recently; the Lady of

Shalott said “I am half sick of shadows.”

He rode between the piles of barley, the sun came shining through the leaves, and

lit up the shiny armor of bold sir Lancelot. A Red Cross knight kneeled to a lady in his

shield that sparkled on the field, beside Shalott. The bridle sparkled free, like some stars

we see hung in space. The bridle rang cheerily as the knight rode down to Camelot. And

from his ornate belt hung a mighty silver bulge, and as he rode by, his armor rung, next to

Shalott. In the beautiful weather the jeweled saddle shone, the shiny helmet and the

feather shone brightly in the sun, as the knight went to Camelot. He doesn’t often ride

by, on his way to Camelot. The knight’s broad brow shined brightly: on smooth hoofs

the horse trod; from out of the helmet flowed his dark black hair, as he rode to Camelot.

From the river he flashed into her window, singing by the river. She left her weaving, and

walked around her room, she watched the knight, and looked toward Camelot. She threw

her weaving out the window and it floated down. The window cracked on both sides; the

Lady of Shalott cried “the curse is come upon me.”

She then found a boat in the river, and left her name, The Lady of Shalott. She

looked toward Camelot. She lay down, and let the river take her. She wore loose white

clothing, through the noises of the night; she floated down the river to Camelot. The

fields and hills heard her singing her last song. She sang on her way to Camelot, but

when she reached Camelot, she stopped singing. She floated by gardens, and towers, and

balcony, silent into Camelot. Many people came out on the wharfs and read her name,

the Lady of Shallot. They asked “who is this? And what is here?” and in the palace, died

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the royal cheer, and they were all afraid. But Lancelot said “She has a lovely face; God

in his mercy lend her grace. The Lady of Shalot

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Literary Analysis ofHard Times by Charles Dickens

The novel Hard Times, by Charles Dickens, uses symbolism, imagery, and

hyperbole to show what society has turned into. He uses these literary devices to criticize

the industrialization of nineteenth-century England. Dickens believed that society had

become too industrial-oriented. In the process, society has taken away our ability to be

individuals, and has made us more like machines or robots. He also uses these literary

devices to emphasize the dystopia of Coketown, the fictional setting of his novel.

In the first two chapters of Hard Times, Dickens uses hyperbole through Thomas

Gradgrind. Gradgrind is a teacher who merely tries to cram facts into the minds of his

pupils. He believes that everything can be rational and calculated. All day long,

Gradgrind fills the minds of his students with facts. In the novel, Gradgrind says “Teach

these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else,

and root out everything else…nothing else will ever be of any service to them.”(Dickens)

In the novel, Gradgrind is used to portray the school system and society in general.

Dickens used this metaphor to further stress the idea of turning the youth into machines,

and taking away their imagination and dreams.

Gradgrind himself is very dry and monotone. He also has a very mechanized

attitude and appearance. Dickens uses Gradgrind as imagery and hyperbole to express

what the educational system has turned in to. Dreams and ambitions are no longer cared

for. Instead, only facts, calculations, and rational thoughts are needed.

The dystopian society created in Hard Times is the result of the educational

system. Without nourishing dreams and ambitions, society has become industrialized

and machine-like. If our dreams are rooted out in school, and replaced with facts, we

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would become very monotonous, and boring. Coketown is the setting for the dystopian

society that Thomas Gradgrind, and the other characters of Dickens’ novel live.

Coketown is described as an inferno, which Dickens sends Sissy Jupe, a nineteenth-

century equivalent of the unrepentant cities mentioned in Luke 10…a city which is

exalted to heaven, but which will be cast down to hell. (Sexton)

With Sissy Jupe, Dickens shows how the youth is changed through the school

system. James Sexton says “pitted against the promised land of utilitarian theorists and

their strange bedfellows the evangelicals, stands Sissy Jupe and the horse-riding group

whose free-spirited, vital, and imaginative way of living is symbolized by their domicile

at the Pegasus Arms.” Sissy Jupe is shown as a child, with a creative imagination, who

questions another main character used to show the harshness of the educational system:

M’Choakumchild. M’Choakumchild is equally obsessed with facts, statistics, and

calculations as Gradgrind. He consistantley cites statistics of GDP, until Sissy Jupe

questions the prosperity of the nation whose distribution is disproportionate. (Sexton)

This shows how even though Sissy Jupe is imaginative, she is still able to use facts and

rational thinking to question M’Choakumchild.

Throughout his Novel, Dickens uses the harshness of Thomas Gradgrind and

M’Choakumchild to symbolize what the educational system had turned into. Also, how

the instructors did not care much about the pupils they were teaching. They gave them

only facts, and told them that that was the only thing they needed to know. Dickens also

uses imagery to describe the monotone voice of Gradgrind, and the mechanization of his

attitude. Also, hyperbole is clearly used to emphasize the harshness of the school system.

Dickens uses these literary devices to emphasize his critisicism of the educational system.