Two Warriors A Comparison And Contrast Of Beowulf And The Knight From

Two Warriors: A Comparison And Contrast Of Beowulf And The Knight From The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales Character Knight Beowulf Quest - fights religious wars - fights for god - fights for the good of others - kills evil things - fights in order to have bragging right - fights for the good of others Society's View - most admired person of all the tales - seen as a hero - seen as boastful and overconfident - seen as a hero Religious Beliefs - believes in God - goes to church in his torn war clothes - believes in God and pagan gods - it is never mentioned of him going to church **Compare and/or contrast the Knight to Beowulf** All throughout literature there are characters that can be compared to each other. Two examples are the Knight from the Canterbury Tales and Beowulf from Beowulf. These two fictional characters exhibit both similar and diverse qualities. Their quest, society's opinion, and religious beliefs show both of these qualities. Victory is the quest of any great warrior. The reasons for war between the Knight and Beowulf are to be disputed. The Knight fights in religious wars. This means that he fights for God. On the other hand, Beowulf fights only to kill. Beowulf fights to obtain bragging rights. Both of these men fight for the good of others. Although Beowulf wants bragging rights, he dies to save his people. ?I sold my life for this treasure, and I sold it well. Take what I leave, Wiglaf, lead my people, help them; my time is gone.? In society, the public's view of a man means everything. Both are seen as heroes, but the Knight's reputation shows better than that of Beowulf. The Knight, the most admired of all the characters in the Canterbury Tales, is very humble and modest. ?And in his bearing modest as a maid The Knight resists any temptation to boast. Beowulf boasts of all his victories and amazing feats. Though ridiculed by many, Beowulf thinks that popularity means everything. He enjoys hearing people talk of his greatness, and he especially likes compliments. In the Canterbury Tales, religion is the main topic of discussion. The characters in the story are satirically described as moral or immoral. The Knight is moral. He believes in God and goes to church in his battle clothes just to be near God. While in church he asks for forgiveness for the slaying that goes on in the wars in which he participates. Beowulf is also moral. He not only believes in God, but also pagan gods. In this age in time it is accepted to believe in God and other gods. Opposed to Beowulf's society, in the Knights age in time the worship of pagan gods was unacceptable and unheard of. They are both heroes because of the things that were acceptable in their time. Beowulf is a hero for slaying horrible beasts. The Knight is a Christian man who spends his life fighting in the name of God. The writer never mentions of Beowulf going to church. It also does not mention of Beowulf asking for forgiveness for the slaying of others. The Knight and Beowulf are two fictional characters that spend most of their time fighting. They both are moral, but some of their qualities are quite different. The Knight, humble and virtuous, loves God and does anything for Him. Beowulf, boastful and arrogant, loves attention but dies to save his people. Both men are heroes in their time. English Essays

Sex Ed and Premarital Sex Essay Example

Sex Ed and Premarital Sex Essay Example Sex Ed and Premarital Sex Essay Sex Ed and Premarital Sex Essay Controversial Speech- Eliza Froemel Should Sex Ed be taught in school? Intro: I remember when I was in 5th grade in Hayward Intermediate School in Mrs. Helander’s class. We learned songs that helped us remember The Preamble of the Constitution, and songs that helped us remember that before a bill became affective it was sent to Capitol Hill to be approved or vetoed. I also remember when we watched a video that had a singing sperm, and a singing egg. I thought it was the funniest thing that was taught in school and couldn’t keep myself from cracking up. But I understood what the video was talking about. I was a kid who, at a young age, was taught by my mother about sex because she got pregnant with me at such a young age she worried, and still does worry, about me following in her footsteps. So my mom had no problem when I came home from school that day and told her what I’d seen at school. Not everyone, though, is as cool with it as my mom was. I: Students who have Sex Education are more likely to have premarital sex. A. In the article Carnal Knowledge: The Sex Ed Debate By Molly Masland, she introduces Tamara Kreinin who is the president of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. Tamara says, â€Å"Young people are going to learn about sex and our question has to be where do we want them to learn? From the media? From their friends? Or from a educated, responsible adult? † So what Tamara is saying is that younger kids are going to learn about sex regardless of whether or not we teach it in school, so we should teach them in an educational way instead of them learning from unreliable sources such as friends or the media. B. NPR, The Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Gov’t did a survey that showed that only 7 percent of Americans say that sex educations should not be taught in school. For me, that brought up the question, well if only 7 percent of Americans disagree with the teaching of it, why aren’t we teaching it in schools everywhere? C. Genevieve Wood, Vice President of Communicators at Family Research Council said, â€Å"What people really want is for their children to be taught an abstinence-centered education. By an almost 5 to 1 margin, parents approve or strongly approve of character-based, abstinence sex education. † What Wood is saying is that a staggering 5-1 ratio of parents approve of sex education. This also brought back my question, if it’s that one-sided, and it clearly seems to be a one-sided argument by this information, then why aren’t we teaching it everywhere? II. Some experts argue that sex education shouldn’t be taught in school. A. Robert Welch, the founder of The John Birch Society (an American radical-right wing political advocacy group that supports anti-communism, limited government, Americentrism and personal freedom) decided that sex education is a â€Å"filthy Communist plot. † B. According to the article Carnal Knowledge: The Sex Ed Debate, A Florida mother named Jodi Hoffman sued the Broward County Public Schools, claiming that their sex education classes were too explicit. She believes that sex education should only be taught at home, never in schools, in order to teach children the values the parents want to instill in them. Also, she spoke of the religious aspect. The school’s program clashed with her family’s religious beliefs. Hoffman said waiting until marriage to have sex â€Å"is the way God intended it to be. That’s how it’s taught in the Bible and those rules were not written for no reason. † C. In the essay Sex Education Should Be Taught By Parents, Not Schools by Eric Badertscher and Denise Grier, they claim that â€Å"school programs are said to treat the concept of sex as purely biological, without taking into consideration its mental, spiritual, emotional and social aspects. † What they’re saying is that when sex education is taught in school, the school only teaches the science of sex. They don’t let students know there’s other aspects to sex besides science such as emotions and mental aspects. They don’t teach students how to deal with their feelings about it, and at home that would happen. Conclusion: Think back to when you were in elementary, middle, and high school. Were you taught a form of sex education at school? And if so, did your parents agree with it? Now, if you have kids or plan to have kids, which way will you prefer for them to learn about sex? I’m sure there’s divided opinions among us, so who’s to say which way is right?

Military strength in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Military strength in the US - Essay Example This is because of this continued increase in defense expenditure endangers the funding of an adequate level of domestic activity. Origins of the U.S. Military Strength and the Global-Power Image. The U.S. Military is the largest in terms of military personnel. The personnel are drawn from a wide pool of paid volunteers although conscription can be occasionally applied during certain periods of both war and peace. The military strength is enhanced by the government’s generous funding that enables efficient training of manpower and sophisticated intelligence operations. The U.S. military also possesses sophisticated and efficient military equipments alongside widespread and balanced global orientation. This gives the U.S a global power image. Funding Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. According to Belasco (1), the accumulated total funding for Afghanistan and Iraq war as appropriated from 9/11 for the war operations, medical care for the war veterans and diplomatic operations is $1.283 trillion. This includes $806 billion for the Iraq war, $444 billion for the Afghanistan invasion, $27 billion for the tightened security and a total of $6 billion that is still unallocated but waits spending in military related activities. Defense Department Base Budget of 2009-2013. The federal government has budgeted approximately $851 billion for security spending during the fiscal year 2013, compared to $ 523 billion for Medicare and $820 requested for Social security. The security funding includes the overseas contingencies, department of Defense and other internal security departments. The President requested $525.4 billion for the Department of Defense’s Base Budget. According to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, FY 2013 Budget Summary Table S-12 (230), this was $5 billion less than the amount approved in the 2012 fiscal year budget. The defense budget 2009-2013 develops a strategy that offers a smooth transition from