In this paper, I will discuss four aspects of society during medieval times. I will show these roles in society throughout the story "Thorstein The Staff-Struck." The four ways were violence, income, women's roles, and respect for elders. The first act of violence in the culture back then was horse fighting. For instance, it caused Thord to hit Thorstein "so hard on the eye-brow that the skin broke and the lid fell hanging down over his eye." I think horse fighting was their entertainment. Th...
Hyperreality is the theoretical incapability of the consciousness to differentiate reality from fantasy. For instance, Baudrillard's example from Jorge Luis Borges's "On Exactitude in Science" about an empire in which the cartographers designed a map so detailed that it covered the exact things it was designed to represent. When the empire declined, the map faded into the landscape and neither the representation nor the real remained but hyperreal. Carlos Fuentes's "Aura" is a story about a y...
Thorstein the Staff-Struck is a piece of literature produced in the thirteenth century which shows characteristics of a family saga. This story was not referred to as a saga, but as a thattr, which literally means a "thread". The thirteenth century Christian author is poking fun at the characters in this story, and appears to be focusing on the social norms of this society. The author also portrays a pre-Christian pattern, an ethical dilemma, which is unbeknownst to the protagonists and is im...
The Middle Age was around 500 to 1500 C.E. The Middle Age begins with the end of the Roman Empire and then it ends with the re-discovery of Greek literature and philosophy as stated in our lecture. During the Middle Age many stories normally reflected their author and/or society. One piece of literature I read portrays the cultural transition from pre-Christian Germanic to the Christian cultural norms. This piece of literature is none other than Thorstein the Staff-Struck. In this story, the ...
A similarity exists in both the author's writing which is in disagreement to the dominant culture and the 'standard' societal ideas of their time. This is shown by the two modern works which I will be analyzing; Isabel Allende's The House of Spirits and A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen which develop the conflict of gender roles in their works. Both authors use in my opinion an authentic female character(s) and that by the end despite the male domination are able to rebel against societal 'norm'...
Short poem by Adrienne Rich called Aunt Jennifer's Tigers consists only of three stanzas but it tells the entire story of aunt Jennifer's life. Hard life of women in male-oriented society is the main theme of the poem. The author does not express her ideas directly but makes the readers to understand her through allusions and symbols. Bright images and deep symbolism help readers to get the author's message. The author creates a picture of life of aunt Jennifer. There are several places in th...
In The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, Stephen Crane features the ordinary as well as its sometimes adverse consequences. In the story, Scratchy Wilson and Jack Potter confront a significant change in their nature. Crane's story shows the nature of social addition with the unanticipated change towards a new society. The inflexibility of the community to accept these eastern influences is presented within the depictions of Jack Potter and Scratchy Wilson. Stephen Crane reveals that whether a connec...
One of the most well known figures from Russian folklore is that of Baba Yaga. Baba Yagas name can be roughly translated as Granny Yaga; or Old Hag. In Russian Myths Baba Yaga brings many of the dominant themes of Russian fairy tales together: she travels on the wind, occupies the domain of the leshii, the forest spirits, and is associated with death. Also known as "Baba Yaga Kostinaya Noga," or "Baba Yaga Bony Leg" she possesses gnashing steel teeth, and penetrating eyes, and, in short, is q...
As two of the premiere African American Writers of their time period Toni Morrison and Ralph Ellison have had a profound effect on African American culture. Both confront the difficulty of defining an identity under the burden of different, dominant and racist white culture. In The Bluest Eye, Morrison describes several characters who accept the norms offered by that culture, with tragic results. Her characters show the obvious effects of white racist assumptions about the beauty and characte...
It's discouraging to survey the children of today suffering from stress and anxiety as they are burdened by homework and by principle forced to attend school. Too many children are conditioned to consider k-12 education is torture and they feel the need to play "hookey". It cost the government billions in resources to keep the schools in America operating, and some students take advantage of this, but for most students the learning is not occurring at an efficient rate. By obligating kids to ...
