Sunday, September 8, 2013

BEOWULF ESSAY (AP English)

Compare Beowulf with a modern hero, both as characters and as symbols of the times in which both were created.  Support your thesis with at least three (3) literary techniques and three (3) textual examples that strengthen and illustrate your ideas for your readers.

The poem of Beowulf is know for the knowledge that it gives the reader about the world that it was written on. During the times that Beowulf was written, bravery, loyalty, and physical strength were highly valued. In the series of Dragon Ball, bravery, loyalty, and physical strength are also valuable. Even though these three traits are valued in both works, some difference exist between them. For example, Beowulf is in some extent arrogant while Goku  is humble. Another difference is that Beowulf is ready for a fight while Goku tries to talk things through and uses his martial arts skills as a last resource.Another difference is that Beowulf tells everyone his accomplishments to show his bravery while Goku never tells anyone he got second place in the first Budokai Tenkaichi Martial Arts Tournament when he was 12 years old. 

Through the use of the theme of good versus evil, one can see the hero being described in both works. An example of this is when Beowulf fought the "monster(Grendel)wrenched and wrestled with him but  Beowulf was mindful of his mighty strength .."(1269-1270) When Beowulf goes and fight the evil beast that has been terrorizing the kingdom, he proves himself a hero to the people there. This theme can also be seen in Dragon Ball when the second Budokai Tenkaichi Martial Arts Tournament took and Piccolo was introduced. Even though Goku was only 15 years old, he did was not afraid of the cruelty of Piccolo and still fought him. In defeating him, Goku managed to save planet earth from the evil Namekian.


Through the use of symbolism, both works show that the heroes are loyal. For example, when Beowulf first met the Danishes, he symbolized hope for the people in distress. When he got there, he told the people there where he was coming from and that way, everyone knew his loyalty to his native place. In Dragon Ball, when the Crane Hermit wanted to get Goku into his academy, Goku stayed loyal to the Turtle Hermit. 

6 comments:

  1. Maria i like how you had a couple of things/characteristics that linked both of the heroes. I believe your thesis: "During the times that Beowulf was written, bravery, loyalty, and physical strength were highly valued. In the series of Dragon Ball, bravery, loyalty, and physical strength are also valuable." gives the reader a glimpse of what the essay is going to be about. I am assuming that your body paragraphs are going to be about bravery, loyalty and strength and that is great it is very structured, but next time you might want to go with a less traditional format. Make your own :)

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  2. Hey Maria! First of all I want to say that I love how you chose Dragon Ball as your other hero, I find it really unique and interesting! Your thesis was able to set a clear path for the reader because it helped me know what I was going to read while reading your essay! One concern I have is some grammatical error but that's alright because nobody's perfect! (: Also, you should add a conclusion to sum up your essay!

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  3. I also have to agree with Kelly, I love that you picked Dragon Ball, or Dragon Ball Z. Same thing haha.

    During the times that Beowulf was written, bravery, loyalty, and physical strength were highly valued. In the series of Dragon Ball, bravery, loyalty, and physical strength are also valuable.

    I believe this I your thesis, its very clear to know what aspects you believe make up a hero, and how they compare.

    Although I believe some of the background information in paragraph 1, can be placed somewhere else, since after I prepared myself for knowing what you were going to talk about, then got some background info, I found myself going back to see what traits you were talking about again.

    Your textual example, made it clear for the reader to know how Beowulf was completely aware of his brute force. That's a plus! Your literary example was also easy to pick out.

    But overall, easily read and understood with only minor grammar.

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  4. Hey Maria,
    I definitely agree with Kelly, and Elisia and think the dragon ball z approach was creative and showed a cool approach and part of your personality. I definitely appreciated how you actually showed the line number from the Beowulf text you pulled your information from which really made it easy for readers to go back to the original text and compare their ideas with yours as well as build ethos with your audience. And although I have no understanding of dragon ball z, your examples were relevant and were easy to understand!

    Only other thing is that I felt that your essay was a little short, but as long as quality>quantity you are setting yourself up for success.

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  5. That Dragon Ball comparison was a curve ball to me because I was not able to see that it was comparable to Beowulf. I feel that this would be a tough comparison, but you were able to show me just how similar Beowulf and Goku were. One improvement you could make is the grammar because I was a bit distracted by one or two extra words that were added. Other than that it was very excellent and the Dragon Ball comparison was very creative.

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  6. "During the times that Beowulf was written, bravery, loyalty, and physical strength were highly valued. In the series of Dragon Ball, bravery, loyalty, and physical strength are also valuable."
    Maria! Your thesis statement was clear and easy to identify. I thought your comparison was creative and you did a good job of providing examples throughout your entire essay. I did find a few grammatical errors, but overall your essay was nicely written.

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