No New Tale to Tell

Greed plays a huge role in the pardoner's story in the Canterbury Tales as it does in our world today. I believe all evil stems from three things: pain, jealousy, and greed. For now, I will just extend on the point about greed. Greed is an act of selfishness, when one takes more than they need, and in most cases hurts those around. Greed can be found, mostly, where power and money is. For example, the government. I'm not saying all politicians are greedy, but isn't it amazing how many of them end up doing time in prison for trying to get money in illegal ways? Several of the people who are supposed to set examples and be leaders for citizens go to prison, where the people who disobey laws get put. Amazing how that works. These people have privileges, and in most cases don't need the money their taking or the affairs they're having, but do them anyway. That is a prime example of greed.
I'm all for looking at both sides of the story, and maybe there's something behind the greedy decisions people make. Maybe, we shouldn't put the blame all on their shoulders. Society and the media emphasize money in a way that would make it hard to deny it when put right in front of you. Of course, this is no excuse, but it is something to think about. Maybe, if there was more emphasis on morals and less on the exterior and wealth there would be less greed occurring, especially in hollywood and politics.

Truth

In Grendel there is a lot of discussion about the truth and how it can be "sugar-coated" or twisted to sound more pleasing than it is or to arouse the reaction desired from the audience. This is shown in Grendel during the scenes involving the Shaper as he tells the story of the Danes' history that isn't quite accurate to boost their pride. This is similar to propaganda that we are familiar with in politics.
One may ask, is it acceptable to twist the truth to make things appear better than they truly are? I guess, in my opinion, it depends on how ugly the truth is that is being covered. It is understandable the kings, presidents, dictators, whatever it may be, need to influence the mass of people to like and believe in them. To an extent that is completely acceptable, but I believe there is a way for leaders to refrain from advertising things that aren't true or that they know they will turn their backs on in the future. The name one creates for himself as a hero, leader, etc. will become notorious if the public discovers that all the reasons they believed in a figure turned out to be untrue. In my opinion, this defeats the purpose for most (good) leaders. That's why they should try to be as honest and stick as closely to the their public image is possible to avoid future conflict and most likely achieve the goal they were trying to obtain in the first place, which is mass appreciation and honor.

Modern Day Grendel

If I had to choose what I believe a modern day Grendel would look like it would be terrorists or a terrorists group. Terrorists are similar to Grendel because they target one nation or group of people that they feel anger towards, in Grendel's case it is the Danes and it some terrorists case it is Americans. They also kill many innocent people who they have no relationship with whatsoever, such as 9/11. The cause of both their anger is generally misunderstood and the nations they attack see them from a very negative light and seek revenge.

Me

I just figured out how to work this thing (it didn't work on the computers at school) so this post is a little over due. My name is Shiri Nicole Gross and I am a junior at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. I am involved in the Young Theater Company, the Guys and Dolls Dance Company, and I play and write music on guitar outside of school. English is by far my favorite subject because I love writing and I enjoy reading (when the books are good). I am a very analytical thinker which is why I enjoy English class because it challenges me to improve my analysis skills. My father and grandfather are both English professors in Chicago, my dad works at DePaul University and my grandfather is the president of Roosevelt University, therefore literature has been a part of my up bringing. I am looking forward to the British Literature curriculum and what it has Mr. McCarthy has in store for this 1st period class. Again, I apologize for the lateness!