Friday, September 28, 2012

Beowulf: on the quest

After re-reading (and yes, I do expect you to actually re-read it) chapter one of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, list the five things involved in a quest. Choose a quest you've read about in a book or seen in a movie and identify those five elements of that quest. Each explanation should be approximately 2-5 sentences (remember, length is not so much important as getting your full point across is).

This blog is due no later than 8am Monday. I suggest doing this before reading Beowulf. Here is the rest of your homework for the weekend, in case you didn't see it on the fb page. 


Homework over the weekend:

1. DO THIS FIRST: Reread How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Respond to SHORT blog.

2. Read AND ANNOTATE Beowulf lines 1-300 (page 3-21). 
Pay special attention to kennings, caesura, characteristics of the Anglo-Saxon man, traits of an epic hero, elements of epic poetry, themes we discussed in class, etc.

3. Study your epic vocabulary. Be prepared for a quiz.

I know this seems like a lot of work for the weekend, but if you really look at it, this should take an hour at most. Being prepared on Monday will allow for us to have a fuller and more informed discussion on Monday. SO PLEASE, for my sake and the sake of your classmates, come prepared to class on Monday! Don't procrastinate on this and you may actually find it enjoyable.

19 comments:

  1. 1. A quester 2. A place to go 3. A stated reason to go there 4. Challenges and trials en route 5. A real reason to go there.

    Harry Potter
    1. Harry Potter is the quester. He believes that his only quest is to attend Hogwarts. He later finds out that there is a more important quest that he will embark on.
    2. Harry Potter must travel to Hogwarts for the first time. I kind of explained this one in the point above. Ooops.
    3. "You're a wizard, Harry." Lol. He must go to Hogwarts in order to learn how to use his powers properly. He also kind of needs a reason to get away from his awful Aunt, Uncle, and fat cousin.
    4. He basically always runs into troubles with Voldemort indirectly throughout the entire Harry Potter series. It's usually people dying, like in the Chamber of Secrets. A giant snake goes around Hogwarts and puts many students into a deep coma. This is when Harry finds his true quest--to save all of Hogwarts and earn points for Gryffindor ;)
    5. His real reason to go to Hogwarts is to ultimately put an end to Voldemort. If Harry would have never gone to Hogwarts, he never would have battled evil forces so many times. All of these battles along the way lead up to the destruction of Voldemort once and for all.

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  2. 1. A quester 2. A place to go 3. A stated reason to go there 4. Challenges and trials en route 5. A real reason to go there.

    Finding Nemo:
    1. A quester - Marlin is the quester in this movie. Marlin is the dad of an impaired fish of a son, Nemo, who lost all of his other children and wife.
    2. A place to go - Marlin has to go to P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sidney. He must travel through the scary ocean to this place which ends up being a dentist office.
    3. A stated reason to go there - Marlin must find Nemo who was caught by some divers and rescue him.
    4. Challenge and trials en route - One of the biggest trials or challenges Marlin deals with is a fish named Dory who has short-term memory loss. They encounter "friendly" sharks, old war bombs, deadly jellyfish, and many other threatening creatures of the deep that get in the way of there journey.
    5. A real reason to go there - Marlin's main reason was to find his son, but the moral character and friendship he finds along the way are the real reason he made it through this journey. He finds out about how independent his son can really be and they end up having a much stronger bond and a much better life. (At least for fish).

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  3. 1. A "quester".
    2. A place to go.
    3. A stated reason to go there.
    4. Challenges and trials en route.
    5. A real reason to go there.

    Lord of the Rings:
    1. "Quester"- Frodo Bagins of the shire. He's a hobbit who is happy with his quiet life in his seclusive home. Of course this all changes when he is given the ring.
    2. "A place to Go"- All-in-all Frodo must take the ring to Mt. Doom. Mt. Doom is a horrible place where the ring was made and must be destroyed. The location is surrounded by volcanic mountains and macabre of all sorts!
    3. "A stated reason to go there"- The reason to travel all that way to Mt. Doom is to destroy the ring. The ring can only be destroyed where it was made and so Frodo and his companions must take it and throw it into the fires of the Mountain in Mordor.
    4. "Challenges and trials en route"- The fellowship of the ring is broken within the first book. Next some are killed and of course the orcs are always causing heck for the travelers. Frodo is corrupted by the ring. Sam, Frodo's companion has to deal with the evil Golum who Frodo trusts. Yeah, so they had a lot of problems.
    5. "A real reason to go there"- Basically by destroying the evil ring, the world is saved from the darkness of Mordor. Also Frodo is saving his home: the shire, by taking on the task.

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  4. 1. A quester 2. A place to go 3. A stated reason to go there 4. Challenges and trials en route 5. A real reason to go there.

    School of Rock
    1. Quester- Dewey Finn is a wannabee rock musician, who tries to start a band by substituting at a school. He teaches the kids to play rock music.
    2. A place to go- Dewey takes the class to perform a concert. The concert is the Battle of the Bands.
    3. Reason to go there- Dewey needs to make money to pay the rent. He loves playing music and if he doesn't pay the money, then he will be kicked out.
    4. Challenges...- Dewey pretends to be his roommate, who is actually a teacher, and lies about being a real teacher. He has to hide the fact that he is teaching the kids rock music, and even has to sneak them to the Battle of the Bands.
    5. Real reason- Dewey wants to be the musician he used to be, rather than being a loser with a dream of being a rock star. He uses kids to accomplish this, and to help him pay rent.

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  5. 1. A quester 2. A place to go 3. The stated reason to go there 4. Challenges and trial in route 5. A reall reason to go there

    Spongebob Squarepants Movie
    1 in this movies Spondgebob and Patrick sent off on a quest.
    2. They embark on a quest to Shell City. Shell city is known as the most dangerous place in the ocean.
    3. The stated reason for them to go to Shell City is to recover King Neptunes crown and bring it back to Bikini Bottom. The crown was stolen by plankton who is plotting to steal the crabby patty formula.
    4. Spongebob and Patrick face a scary monster and a their who steals their "crabby mobile" (their car/boat). They also encounter Denis who is a bounty hunter that plankton hired to keep them from getting to the crown
    5. The real reason Spongebob and Patrick travel to Shell City is to save Mr.krabs and the crabby patty formula. They also embark on this quest to prove that just because they are kids doesn't mean they can't do great things.

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  6. 1. A quester
    2. A place to go
    3. A stated reason to go there
    4. Challenges and trials en route
    5. A real reason to go there

    Nacho Libre

    1. Ignacio is the son of two different denominational missionaries that tried to convert eachother but instead gave up and got married instead. Of course they died like any other good movie, and Ignacio was raised in the monastic orphanage he now works at as a chef. The monastic life of a monk didn’t fit him and as the chef, he had no respect by any of the other monks. So he devised a plan to change all of that.
    2. Ignacio’s childhood dream had always been to be a Luchador. Due to a series of unfortunate events, Ignacio finally found the excuse to participate in a Lucha Libre tournament.
    3. Ignacio was robbed of all the children’s tortilla chips in an alley. Money is scarce and finance for food for all of the children is hard to come by. So in order to solve this problem Ignacio must go and be victorious in the Lucha Libre tournament in order to win 200 peso’s to buy the children’s food.
    4. Ignacio loses many preparation fights before the official Lucha Libre. He listens to a gypsy and climbs up a mountain to eat the yoke of an eagle’s egg to gain power, however it is in vain because he loses the following match. Ignacio goes through a lot of mental trials with constant berating negativity from everyone because, let’s face it, he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.
    5. Really the real reason he wants to win is to earn the respect from everyone at the orphanage so he can win the heart of the new tutor that just arrived to the orphans, Sister EncarnaciĆ³n.

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  7. 1. A quester, 2. Somewhere to go, 3. A stated reason to go there, 4. Challenges and trials, 5. A real reason to go- always for self knowledge.


    Shrek

    1.Shrek is the quester. He is an ogre that lives in a swamp and lives a very secluded lifestyle. Shrek spends his time terrorizing villagers.

    2.After Shrek's privacy is intruded on by squatters, he goes to see Lord Farquad about the problem. After his visit, Shrek ends up being forced to go find Farquad's crush Princess Fiona. Princess Fiona is held in a castle and this castle is the place where Shrek needs to go.

    3.At first, Shrek's only reason to rescue Fiona is to convince Lord Farquad to give Shrek his land back. By giving Fiona to Lord Farquad, Shrek believes that the swamp will be all his once again.

    4.On the way to rescue Fiona, Shrek encounters a few different types of challenges. The most noticeable challenge is the dragon who later ends up marrying donkey. Another trial that Shrek finds is actually donkey who is quite helpful later on but is also a nuisance.

    5. In the end, Shrek falls in love with Fiona. He does receive his land back but finds out that the land is not important to him anymore. He gets the self knowledge that material possessions (his swamp) are not as important as finding true love.

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  8. 1. A quester.
    2. A place to go.
    3. A stated reason to go there.
    4. Challenges and trials en route.
    5. The real reason to go there.

    Dude, Where’s My Car?
    1. Jesse and Chester are the questers. They believe that their only quest is to find Jesse’s car. As the story goes on they find that there is an even more important quest they will have to endure.
    2. Jesse and Chester must re-trace their steps based on what other people tell them since they had no memory of the night before except for the party.
    3. Jesse and Chester forgot that their anniversaries with their girlfriends (the twins) were today, and realize the gifts they got for them were in the missing car. So they have to find the car to get the gifts, and in return get their “special treats” from the twins.
    4. During their epic journey, Jesse and Chester face a variety of challenges and trials trying to find their car. Like in the beginning, when they find that they stole a suitcase full of money from a transgender stripper, who threatens them if it is not returned. They also run into two races of aliens looking for the “Continuum Transfunctioner” which is a powerful device capable of destroying the universe.
    5. Their real reason to find the car is to save the universe. If they never had gone on the journey, they never would have stolen the money from the transgender stripper, bought sweet outfits, solved the Rubik’s cube which they discovered was the “Continuum Transfunctioner”, and trusted the men aliens that told them how they won the lifetime supply of pudding to stop the timer that will end the world. Along with saving the world, they find their gifts in the car and get the “special treats” from the twins.

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  9. 1. A quester
    2. A place to go
    3. A stated reason to go there
    4. Challenges and trials on route
    5. A real reason to go there

    Act of Valor
    1. The questers are the Navy Seals.
    2. The seals have to travel to Costa Rica. CIA agents have been killed and one is captured and taken prisoner.
    3. The seals are sent on a mission to save the captured agent and kill the combatants.
    4. The challenges faced are dense forest, armed fighters all over the sight of the rescue and and the person of interest is wounded and needs to be carried out. Along the way one of the Seals is wounded.
    5. This rescue mission turns into a full blown attempt at stopping terror attacks on the USA. The CIA agent was gathering information on a terrorist bent on the destruction of America.

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  10. (a) a quester, (b) a place to go, (c) a stated reason to go there, (d) challenges and trials en route, and (e) a real reason to go there.

    The Road by Cormac McCarthy
    1. The Man and the Boy
    2. They are trying to make there way south
    3. To reach warmer weather and survive the apocalypse
    4. Various cannibals, freezing nights, thieves, wild animals... but ya its mainly the cannibals
    5. While the reason does not exactly change away from trying to survive, surviving takes on a bigger meaning to the pair, especially the Man. The Man begins to think that even if he can save his own life and that of the Boy's that it will be a terrible, grief filled life. He begins to doubt that their lives are worth saving. However, the Boy ends up reminding him that not only are they striving to save themselves, but they are "carrying the fire". In other words they are keeping the human spirit alive by surviving without resorting to the terrible tactics of those that they meet on the road, like the cannibals. So the goal is still to survive, it just ends up taking on a larger meaning.

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  11. 1. A quester
    2. A place to go
    3. A stated reason to go there
    4. Challenges and trials on route
    5. A real reason to go there
    The Hangover
    1. Questers are Phil Stu and Alan
    2. The quest is Phil Stun and Alan retracing their actions before their friend Doug's bachelor party to find the missing Doug.
    3. The questers must find their missing friend in order to return him to his fiance for his wedding.
    4. Along their route to the finding of Doug they experience an angry tiger in their bathroom, Mike Tyson, an angry man named Mr. Chow, and some police officers with tazers.
    5. the real reason to find Doug is to find out what happened to them during their night and to find Doug in time for his wedding.

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  12. 1. A quester
    2. A place to go
    3. A stated reason to go there
    4. Challenges and trials en route
    5. A real reason to go there

    Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef
    1. Yousef, the eldest son of one of the leaders and founders of the terrorist group Hamas, is a devout Muslim who is expected to take his father's place someday as a key member of Hamas. Yousef aspires to be like his father, and at a young age displays radical Islamic behaviors and actions.

    2. Yousef plans to finish high school as quickly as possible in order to further devote his time to Hamas. His "place to go" isn't so much a physical location as much as it is entering the upper ranks of the Hamas and arriving at the place of leadership.

    3. Throughout the early parts of his journey, Yousef stated that he only wanted to be exactly like his father: a leader in Hamas with amazing devotion to Allah and all things Islamic. His reason for entering and climbing the rungs of Hamas was to become more and more like his father and to please Allah by removing the infidels as well as Israeli "occupation" of Palestine.

    4. At first, Yousef was achieving all of his set goals. But then, he was arrested by Israeli forces for terrorist activity. When he was arrested, he was contacted by the Shin Bet (Israeli equivalent of the FBI)and asked to become a double agent for them in order to receive a lighter prison sentence. After much struggle, he agreed, and was sent to several state prisons where he endured physical abuse and observed the firsthand evils of Hamas. Once released from prison, he ran into a Christian Bible study group in Jerusalem, who led him to the Lord.

    5. After accepting Christ as Lord, Yousef realized that he must use his influence and inside information on Hamas to aide the Shin Bet in saving lives. Instead of climbing the ladder of Hamas in order to glorify Allah and become like his father, Yousef chose to achieve leadership in Hamas only to help save innocent lives from Hamas by providing inside information to the Shin Bet.


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  13. 1.) a. a quester
    b. a place to go
    c. a stated reason to go there
    d. challenges and trials en route
    e. a real reason to go there

    The 13th Warrior

    a. Ahmad Ibn Fahdlan
    b. Ibn, a refined Arab courtier, who has been exiled for falling in love with the wrong woman, encounters a band of Vikings who have coerced him into traveling with them to the barbaric North.
    c. The Northmen have coerced Ibn into helping them defeat the monsters of the mist, who emerge out of the mist and slaughter the Vikings and eat their flesh.
    d. Ibn is forced to face his fears as he travels with these barbaric Northmen to their homeland. He is appalled at the Vikings customs while he is on this quest. He must learn to fight and defend the land of King Hrothgar.
    e. Ahmad Ibn Fahdlan learns the true meaning of a hero by seeing it in the leader of the Vikings, Buliwyf, and by conquering his fears and helping the Vikings defeat the “fire serpent”.
    This movie is basically Beowulf with a spin. Thought you would get a kick out of it Ms. J :)

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  14. 1. A quester 2. A place to go 3. Stated reason to go there 4. Challenges and trials en route 5. A real reason to go there

    The Wizard of Oz

    1. The quester, Dorothy, wakes up in the fairy-like land of Oz and must find her way back home. After all, there's no place like it.
    2. Dorothy is told that only the magical Wizard can take her home. So she must "follow the yellow brick road" all the way to his gigantic castle in order to meet him.
    3. Sort of already explained this. Dorothy needs to find her way home.
    4. Dorothy faces the evil, wicked witch of the west several times in the movie. Then the flying monkeys and talking apple trees try to harass her and her friends.
    5. The real reason for Dorothy's quest to find the wizard is so that she will also find herself. She learns to appreciate the home and life she has and desperately wants to return to it.

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  15. The five aspects of a quest:
    1. A quester
    2. A place to go
    3. A stated reason to go there
    4. Challenges and trials on the way
    5. A real reason to go there(which is usually for self knowledge)

    The movie War Horse contains a quest, even though it is primarily about a horse.
    1. The quester in the movie is at first, the boy, Albert marricott, who owns Joey, the horse. He is from England and is on his quest as a soldier durring WWI.
    2. The boy wants to go to war. This is the location of his quest which ends up in Germany.
    3. He states that he wants to join the army because the horse is going, and once of age, he leaves to go to battle.
    4. The many trials and challenges along the way are fighting in battles. The boy also endures mustard gas and injuries.
    5. The real reason to go on this quest is actually not too clear. The boy might have been forcibly drafted, was searching for his horse, or wanted to do something noble and patriotic. In the end the viewer can see that it was because of his longing to find his horse.

    However, this movie can be seen as the horse going on a quest.
    1. In this case, the quester is the horse, Joey.
    2. The horse goes to war because he really has no choice.
    3. He is supposed to go to war because his owner, Ted Marricott sold him and he is in good condition.
    4. The horse switches owners throughout the movie, often times into the hands of the Germans (who were fighting against the boy’s country). Joey also endures many harsh conditions and injuries.
    5. Joey never gave up in the movie because he wanted to get back home and find his owner. He quest became that of survival and reunion with Albert Marricott.

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  16. Every quest contains: a quester, A destination, a *stated reason for going there, challenges along the way, and the actual reason for going there.

    "Glory Road" contains a fairly clear quest. First of all, we are introduced early in the movie to a quester, Bobby Joe Knight, a black man that loves basketball, but cannot play due to racism within the NCAA. Which leads us to his destination, success and acceptance in the NCAA. He, along with black teammates, encounter all kinds of racism and hate after being brought on to a Texas basketball team by Don Haskins. The boys say they want to get to the top of the NCAA for all the fame and glory, but it turns out, they would change the NCAA forever.

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  17. 1. A quester
    2. A place to go
    3. A stated reason to go there
    4. Challenges and trials on the way
    5. A real reason to go there

    Scooby-Doo (The movie with real people)
    1. Scooby-Doo and the gang are the questers. They are out to solve yet another mystery.
    2. They go to Spooky Island. A lot of weird things were going on there so the gang was called in to get to the bottom of things.
    3. Emile Mondavarious (the island/park owner) asks them to come. Many weird things were occuring that nobody could seem to figure out.
    4. People kept getting possessed. Almost the entire gang gets sucked in and possessed, too.
    5. The real reason they were there was to re-unite the gang. They had split up for two years and solving this mystery brought them all back together.

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  18. 1. a quester
    2. a place to go there
    3. a stated reason to go there
    4. challenges and trials en route
    5. a real reason to go

    The Lord of the Rings (Frodo as quester)
    Frodo and Sam are the questers who are seeking to destroy the ring.
    They are on their way to Mordor to destroy the ring.
    They are ascked to take the ring by Gandalf when Nazgul attack the Shire they go to save the people of Middle-Earth.
    On the way they are chased and hunted by Nazgul, attacked by Orcs and Urukai, and stalked by a creature called Gollem, as well as many other challenges along the way.
    The legitamate reason for going there was to destroy the ring by throwing it into the lava of Mt.Doom in Mordor.
    1,

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