An Assessment of Heroism in the Characters of Gawain and Beowulf

An Assessment of Heroism in the Characters of Gawain and Beowulf Who is more heroic: Gawain or Beowulf? Hero (n): a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities (Merriam-Webster.com). While deciphering the true meaning of heroism for a few minutes something stopped me. In general opinion, most readers would consider Beowulf more heroic. And, according to the pattern of literature, film, and storytelling Beowulf is more heroic. But truly, it depends on which context you are viewing this upon. If we were to read the two stories in the Anglo-Saxon era, of which took place from 410 – 1066 AD, we could all agree Beowulf is the true hero. He fought off two monsters and a dragon among other beasts. When he fought Grendel he proclaimed, â€Å"it won’t be a cutting edge I’ll wield to mow him down, easily as I might†¦ He has no idea of the arts of war, of shield or sword-play, although he does possess a wild strength† (Greenblatt, 55). He acknowledges the pure strength of Grendel, and declares he will fight him without weapons because that is the just thing to do. He wants to be fair and square. A cowardly or even just average person would use any advantage to best the monster, but Beowulf has a true inner-courage, incomparable to anyone else in existence. He won battles nobody else could. Gawain had one battle to fight. He only volunteered because nobody else would except for his king, and he kept the â€Å"magical girdle† instead of show ing up as he promised to (giving the green knight a fair blow to his neck). He was fearful, where Beowulf was not. Beowulf fought bare-handedly when he didn’t even have to. So, physically or externally Beowulf was the true hero. In parallel the two stories yield a different answer, when viewing them from the eyes of a person alive in the 21st century. The true hero comes from within today. For example, someone who can lift three cars has less of a place in society than someone who can travel to third world countries and give food and shelter to those who are unfortunate. Gawain has more inner strength than Beowulf does. For example, in the days leading up to the meeting with the Green Knight, he is tested by temptations. One of those temptations is sex, and yet, despite the Green Knight’s wife’s strong sex appeal, he turns her away in the nicest way possible. The Green Knight was testing Gawain up until the moment he struck him with the axe. Gawain, fearful, kept the girdle that the Green Knight’s wife gave him because he believed it’s magical powers would save him. Therefore, he broke his promise. He was supposed to bear his neck, no shield, no protection. He lost his â€Å"tr oth† or his word by wearing that girdle. When he finds out that the Green Knight was testing him in his ability to keep his troth he was furious. He admitted, â€Å" Dread of the death blow and cowardly doubts meant I gave into greed, and in doing so forgot the freedom and fidelity every knight knows to follow† (Greenblatt, 235). After that the Green Knight forgives him because, like the readers, he sees Gawain’s strength in admitting his downfall and being truthful and regretful in the end. Beowulf is the opposite. He is egotistical and arrogant. Yes, he is significantly strong, but it is never enough. He always wants more. He always wants the fame, as when he left his men behind to take on the dragon, alone, despite his old age. Beowulf’s fault led him to his death, whereas Gawain’s humility saved his life. In today’s world all of us are faced with numerous different amounts of temptation. It speaks a lot to ones character to avoid them, and to speak for themselves in regret when they falter in their ability to deny those temptations. Gawain does this, when Beowulf is blind to his own faults. Today, Gawain would be the true hero. This is why when reading and interpreting the texts we must always consider context. Gawain is the real â€Å"person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities† (Merriam-Webster). Gawain is the indisputable hero.

International marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International marketing - Essay Example Similarly, the increase in the competitiveness nature of international markets calls for improved quality and advancement in the production techniques (Ronkainen, 2005, p.97-8). The entry strategies in an international category involves making decisions on the goals and objectives of the firm, choice of the products/services, market penetration modes, and performance monitoring and control systems which are deemed appropriate for the market. After evaluating its potential, strengths, capacities, and limitations, a corporation then figures going multinational. Exploring an international market with more promising potential involves market screening of all the potential markets. The screening exercise is conducted based on economic, cultural, and political factors which have the potential of affecting operations of the firm in the foreign market (Keegan, & Schlegelmilch, 2011, p.37). Besides, geographical factors and demographic variables must be given close attention. These include lo cation, composition of the potential target consumers (based on gender, age, income, culture, and family structures), political and economic environment (covering from legal regulations, duties and taxes, to consumer protection standards), and market characteristics. Being the fundamental factors under investigation, size, level of competition, and distribution agents with the marketing environment must be valued (Root, 2009, p.56). Otherwise, if these factors are not considered, then the firm will not succeed in the foreign market as it will fail to command the much needed market share. The selection of an overseas market is conducted in five stages. The first stage entails conducting an investigation on the domestic market regulations and management preferences. The second stage involves conducting an initial entry assessment programs. The third and the fourth steps are conducting a survey on the competitiveness and market responses respectively. The final step in exploring foreig n market entails a detailed analysis of international trade-off possibilities (Wolfgang, 2008, p.67). After the completion of market selection, a firm then plans her entry strategy. A number of entry strategy options are made available for firms to choose from. Firms may either choose for enter the foreign market through distributors or agents or through direct methods such as partnerships, alliances, direct sales promotion, or agreements (Johansson, 2007, p.75). The method of market entry adopted by the foreign firm venturing in a new market significantly affects the outcome and success of the firm. These entry strategies may be undertaken in form of licensing, joint venture, exporting, and direct investments. However, independent of the entry strategy chosen by a firm, their access to the market is limited. Though using intermediaries and agents results into a fasters and greater command of the market, it is relatively costly and very bureaucratic (Pan, & Tse, 2007, p.87). This im plies that the venturing/investing firm has no direct control of the market and neither has any direct link with the customers/consumers. On the other hand, direct entry methods are better in building personalized market understanding, it is limited with the fact that the foreign firm will not have any control of the ma

Does organic pollution affect E.Coli growth Essay

Does organic pollution affect E.Coli growth - Essay Example The paper tells that biological analysis of water to detect and quantify water pollution is a non-sensitive process. Microbes such as E.coli, which is a fecal contaminant, are able to survive the effects of water pollution through genetic adaptation. The changes in cellular metabolism that take place during this adaptation can be detected at a sensitive level, such as the quantity of E.coli in the water, or the amount of stress proteins being synthesized by the bacteria. Therefore, E.coli can act as a bio-indicator of water pollution. My research question and experiments were designed to study what effects take place on the growth and protein synthesis of E.coli when the bacteria is exposed to environmental stress. The growth of E.coli from lakewater was also compared with that of genetically engineered E.coli DH-5, to determine whether plasmid-mediated mutations assist in the survival of lakewater E.coli under environmental stress. My results showed that DH-5 was inhibited by the po llutant benzene and by high and low pH and temperatures. E.coli from lakewater survived in a greater quantity under these stressors compared t the genetically engineered strain DH-5. Also, the growth of E.coli from lakewater was inhibited to a small extent by the stress of temperature and pH change until a limit. Beyond these limits in the conditions, E.coli could not grow at all. Thus, the adaptation of E.coli to pollution is a characteristic with limitations. In conclusion, the changes in the growth and protein synthesis of E.coli under stress makes it suitable as a bio-indicator of water pollution. Further studies are needed to examine the usefulness of detecting synthesis of specific stress proteins by E.coli as sensitive bio-markers of water pollution. Table of Contents Interest in Topic 5 Introduction 6 Methods 8 Results 12 Discussion, Conclusions and Limitations 13, 14 Images 15 Bibliography 21 Interest in Topic My selection of my research topic is based on my interest in con ducting biological research, my concerns regarding environmental pollution, and my ambition to reduce the consequences of pollution through the results of my research work. I have been highly concerned regarding the many severely polluted water sources in my environment that I have observed. Various unchecked and unregulated commercial and industrial activities near rivers and lakes have released harmful substances into the water, destroying the ecology of these areas. I learned that to prevent and correct these changes, monitoring of the water quality and changes taking place in the aquatic environment are necessary. I have always been fascinated by the science of how some microorganisms work to solve the problem of pollution by producing signals and changes. I was also interested in learning how biological studies are used to derive information and understanding of the many mechanisms happening in our surroundings. After background reading, I developed an interest towards solving the problem of effective biological water analysis, which would