The influence of Norman Conquest on Old English Essay Example for Free

The influence of Norman Conquest on Old English Essay The world of Old English Literature underwent a radical upheaval due to the invasion of the new French Language and culture which was an aftermath of the Norman conquest of 1066 which set into motion a very different trend of life and literature in the island of Brittany. The influence of the Norman culture, especially its literary aspect is immense. The debts of the vernacular literature of France penetrated very little into the English soil as the French were no apostles of culture. However, the Norman Conquest forced English into a subservient position from which it only gradually re-emerged as a language simplified in structure and its spelling, vocabulary and literary expression were strongly influenced by the arrival of the French language and culture. It has been very rightly put by Sampson that the asperities of the Northern Ocean and the Baltic were softened by the waters of the Mediterranean. The English had always been a poetic race and the Norman Conquest enhanced this trait by introducing the Romance Vocabulary which seeped into the English language and made it more beautiful and apt for poetry. An exclusive aristocratic taste for the forms, tropes, and subjects of contemporary French Literature shifted the subjects of writing in English away from its old Germanic insularity towards a broader, shared, Western European pattern. The warrior hero hung up his sword, took up a musical instrument and began to sing songs of love. The Trouveres of Northern France influenced War poetry, allegory became a popular sub generic form, and the lyric and the Romance which started being penned brought out the best of the French rhyme and assonance which became the new mode for expression of poetic ideas. In short, the Norman Conquest replaced the sinister and melancholic psycho sphere of English with the clear blue sky of the French counter-part, decked with glamour and vitality of youthful spring. The Norman Conquest opened England’s doors to Continental Literature and the Englishmen came in contact with the culture of Bagdad, Spain and they also became aware of the wisdom of the East which greatly strengthened the impetus of learning. Learning and Literature further gained by the coming of great scholars like Lanfranc who opened the famous monastic school at Bec and also by the interconnection between great centers of learning like Paris and Oxford. As a result of the Norman Conquest, Wessex lost its political and cultural importance because of which its dialect of West Saxon which had established its supremacy in the Anglo-Saxon Age lost its former stronghold which led to the flourishing of other Middle English dialects as the writers were now encouraged to write in the dia lects of their own region. The newfound political, economic and geographical importance of London and not Winchester as the administrative center of the kingdom also helped to determine the future written and spoken forms of the ‘standard English’ of today. However, with the growing prestige and popularity of French, the native culture and language had to suffer from aristocratic unconcern and neglect. This is noticeable in the fact that the alliterative verses of the Anglo-Saxon Age were replaced by the French rhymed verses, although they revived again later in the mid fourteenth century. The Norman Conquest stands for much more than a change of rulers. It altered the socio-cultural life of England and imparted a higher and more sophisticated and specialized order of civilization. The English language lost its rigid inflexions and was enhanced by ornamental vocabulary. The writers of English, at school under the new masters of the land were able to give fuller expression to their creative impulses. The stage was set for the full blossoming of the genius of Chaucer.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight :: Sir Gawain Green Knight Essays

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a Middle English romance poem written by an anonymous West Midlands poet also credited with a lot of other poems written during that time. The protagonist, Sir Gawain, survives two tests: a challenge, which he alone without the assistance of King Arthur's knights accepts, to behead the fearsome Green Knight and to let him retaliate a year later at the distant Green Chapel; and the temptation to commit adultery with the wife of Lord Bercilak--in reality the Green Knight--in whose castle he stays in en route to the chapel. This story is emblematic of life; how it issues tests and challenges and the consequences rendered as a result of failing or succeeding these challenges. Sir Gawain is a very symbolic character; symbolic in the sense that he represents innocence in life. He was not afraid to accept a challenge because it meant saving the kingdom from the affects of anarchy as a result of not having a king. Sir Gawain accepting the challenge from the Green Knight instantly represented one of the things that knighthood represented, fearlessness. People accept those kind of challenges everyday. This could possibly be where the term "sticking your neck out" could have come from. When people accept challenges, most do not want to accept the consequences as a result of being unsuccessful. Gawain was not like this. When the year passed he gallantly mounted his horse and set off for the Green Chapel. This showed that Gawain was brave. This was preceded by the warning "Beware, Gawain, that you not end a betrayer of your bargain through fear." Along this journey Gawain faces peril and self-reluctance in the form of the elements and the never-ending search for the chapel respectively. These feeling can be characterized as the inner turmoil suffered as a result of dealing with one's conscience. The journey also tested his faith in the sense that he was constantly in prayer during his journey, and not once did he curse or renounce the name of God. It seems as if the prayers were what kept Gawain sane and focused on the purpose of his journey. Gawain's prayers were answered when he rode along and finally came upon a place that he could petition for possible rest.

Defining Beauty Through Lucy Grealy’s Autobiography of a Face

The Oxford Dictionary defines beauty as â€Å"a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form , that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight† (â€Å"beauty†). In â€Å"Autobiography of a Face,† Lucy Grealy expands this definition by exploring her own interpretation of beauty throughout the various stages of her life. As she examines life before her diagnosis, she mentions little about beauty as a factor in her development. She was a â€Å"tomboy par excellence†, more concerned with play than lusting after David Cassidy (15).While Grealy is subjected to extensive surgeries and chemotherapy she continues to be unconcerned with appearances, though she was â€Å"still keeping myself ignorant of the details of my appearance, of the specific logic of it †(104). She was aware of her looks from the taunts and teases of classmates, but remained intentionally unable to judge herself with the harsh eyes of post-pubescence. It wasn't until Grealy experienced her first Halloween that she realized just what an impact her association of beauty had on her.Under the concealment of her Eskimo costume, she realized â€Å"just how meek I'd become, how self-conscious I was about my face until now that it was obscured (120). † As time goes on, other people seem to compensate for Grealy's lack of concern with her odd appearance. Her mother purchases turtlenecks in an effort to alleviate attention from the scar. As puberty reached her peers, she accepted that she â€Å"would never have a boyfriend, that no one would ever be interested in me in that way (159). Grealy accepted ideal of beauty, throughout her adolescence, concerns only the opposite of what appearance she could hope to achieve. This is a feeling that can be echoed through the hallways of every high school across America, but strikes particular chord in Grealy's psyche. It is not until reaching college that she feels fully comfortable in her outward appearance . Sarah Lawrence was a campus where the students were wrapped up in asserting their own individuality and bizarre aesthetic, and Grealy thrived in this environment.Grealy's personal definition of beauty cemented itself in individuality, as she grew unconcerned with the frivolous nature of the physical aspect of it. She concludes this beautifully by writing that society â€Å"tells us again and again that we can most be ourselves by acting and looking like someone else, only to leave our original faces behind to turn into ghosts that will inevitably resent and haunt us. (222)† Word count: 414 Works Cited: Grealy, Lucy. Autobiography of a Face. New York: Perennial, 2003. Print. â€Å"Beauty. † Def. 1. Oxford Dictionary. 2012. Web.

Anthropomorphism and Animal Rights

So you’ve just arrived home to find your couch shredded, the cupboard ransacked and your cat’s dinner dish lying empty in your bedroom. Your dog, you note with certainty, has a â€Å"guilty look on his face because he knows hes done something wrong. This is a perfect example of anthropomorphism. Dictionary.Com defines anthropomorphism as â€Å"ascribing human form or attributes to a being †¦.not human.† Most people who live with dogs know their dogs so well that any nuance of a change in the dogs facade is quickly recognized and labeled. But really, if we dont use the word guilty, how else would we describe that look? Some dog trainers dismiss these claims of guilty looks on a dog as nothing more than conditioned behavior.The dog only looks that way because he remembers the way you reacted the last time you came home to a similar scene. Hes not looking guilty, but rather he knows you  will react badly and its this expectation of punishment that causes the look on his face. Animal rights activists are dismissed as being anthropomorphic when we claim that animals feel emotions much like humans do. It’s an easy way for people who want to profit off the suffering of animals to dismiss their own evil behavior. It’s OK to say an animal is breathing, no one will charge us with anthropomorphism because no one doubts that animals breathe. But if we say the animal is happy, sad, depressed, grieving, in mourning or afraid, we’re dismissed as being anthropomorphic. In dismissing claims that animals emote, those who want to exploit them rationalize their actions. Anthropomorphism v. Personification Personification is the giving of human-like qualities to an inanimate object, while anthropomorphism usually applies to animals and deities. More importantly, personification is considered a  valuable literary device, with positive connotations. Anthropomorphism has negative connotations and is usually used to describe an inaccurate view of the world, prompting PsychCentral.com to ask, Why Do We Anthropomorphize? In other words, its OK for Sylvia Plath to give voice to a mirror and a lake, giving inanimate objects human-like qualities in order to entertain and move her audience, but its not OK for animal rights activists to say that a dog in a laboratory is suffering for the purpose of changing the way the dog is treated. Do Animal Rights Activists Anthropomorphize? When an animal rights activist says that an elephant suffers and feels pain when hit with a bullhook; or a mouse suffers from being blinded with hairspray, and chickens feel  pain when their feet develop sores from standing on the wire floor of a battery cage; that is not anthropomorphism. Since these animals have a central nervous system much like ours, it’s not much of a leap to deduce that their pain receptors work much like ours. Non-human animals may not have the exact same experience as humans, but identical thoughts or feelings are not required for moral consideration. Furthermore, not all humans have emotions in the same way - some are sensitive, insensitive, or overly sensitive - yet all are entitled to the same basic human rights. Accusations of Anthropomorphism Animal rights  activists are accused of anthropomorphism when we talk about animals suffering or having emotions, even though, through studies and observation, biologists agree that animals can feel emotions. In July, 2016, National Geographic published an article entitled â€Å"Look Into This Dolphin’s Eyes and Tell Me That’s Not Grief! by Maddalena Bearzi for the Ocean Conservation Society’s â€Å"Ocean News.† Bearzi writes of her experience on June 9, 2016 while she was working on a research boat with a team of Marine Biology students from Texas AM University. Leading the team was Dr. Bernd Wursig, a well-respected cetologist and head of the Texas AM Marine Biology Group. The team came upon a dolphin who was keeping vigil with a dead dolphin, presumably a pod-mate. The dolphin was circling the corpse, moving it up and down and from side to side,  clearly grieving. Dr. Wursig noted â€Å"For a pelagic creature like this is so highly unusual (to be alone with a dead one, and away from its group)†¦because they are scared to be alone†¦ they are just not lone creatures and the animal was obviously suffering.† The team described the scene with much sadness as it was obvious the dolphin knew his friend was dead but refused to accept that fact. Dr. Wursig cannot be easily dismissed as a sentimental animal rights activist  who anthropomorphizes animals carelessly. His report clearly described the dolphin as being in mourning†¦..a very human condition. Though this particular dolphin was holding vigil over a dead animal, many non-human animals have been observed helping  others of their species in need, a behavior scientists call epimeletic. If they cant care, why do they do it? Animal activists are calling people out who hurt animals, and their use of anthropomorphism is justified when  seeking justice and social change. Change can be scary and difficult, so people consciously or subconsciously seek ways to resist change. Rejecting the fact that animals suffer and have emotions can make it easier for people to continue exploiting animals without worrying about the ethical implications. One way of rejecting that fact is to call it anthropomorphism even though it is the result of direct scientific evidence. There may be some who truly do not believe that animals are capable of suffering or emotions, as French philosopher/mathematician  Rene Descartes  claimed he did, but Descartes  was himself a vivisector  and had reason to deny the obvious. Current scientific information contradicts Descartes 17th century view. Biology and research into the sentience of non-human animals has come a long way since Descartes time, and will continue to evolve as we learn more about the non-human animals with whom we share this planet.   Edited by  Michelle A. Rivera.