Sex, Magic And The Golden Ass

Voltaire attacks the corruption within the church and its officials as well.  The Grand Inquisitor, a significant clergyman, makes Cunegonde his mistress at a Mass service.  Even more ironic is that he shares her with a Jew.  It was a Franciscan priest that robbed Lady Cunegonde of her money and jewels.  The old woman identifies herself as the bastard daughter of a pope, and the papacy is also identified as keeping soldiers for private use.  When Candide is ill in France, a clergyman is one of the many that harasses him in attempt on his wealth.  Ironically, the disease that Pangloss catches from Paquette, originated from a Franciscan priest.  Voltaire portrays the church as violent and corrupt and the clergy as parsimonious fortune hunters.

Gawain has left King Arthur’s castle in search of the Green Knight. On the way he finds, Lord Bertilak’s castle where he is greeted and welcomed to stay if he desires. The Lord of the castle and Gawain agree upon a deal to exchange treasures that they have found throughout the day. Gawain stays in the castle to find his treasure while Sir Gawain goes out and hunts for his. While the Lord is the Lady of the castle tries to seduce Gawain.

Humans are born from and return to earth at death; human beings and nature are bound up each other. Yet, the technological modern world has shaped humans to be oblivious of nature and the ethnocentrism has positioned human beings above all other things. Nature has become resources for people and nothing more than that. David Abram, the author of the Ecology of magic, travels into the wild, traditional land in search of the relation between magic and nature; the meaning nature holds in the traditional cultures. Abram intends to communicate his realization of the magical awareness of the countless nonhuman entities and the necessity of the balance between the human communities and the nature to the readers, hoping the Western technologized

One unknown to the game of basketball will assume Michael Jordan changed the game, or at least the one who made the game famous. However, before the ‘Gifted MJ’ there was one of the greatest rivalries in basketball, which raised television ratings, ergo, helped make the sport prominent. Magic Johnson and Larry bird’s rivalry was a sight to see. Magic and Bird’s contribution to basketball varies, their training techniques and personal life has led both of them to make phenomenal sport history, and everlasting legacies.

Society has progressively normalized judgemental behavior, which has caused an increase in social shunning and rejection towards people that "different". Many people tend to form opinions about others without educating themselves first. Instead of gathering facts, they immediately allow their fear of the unknown to form the basis of their opinions. This judgemental behavior has become more common, making it almost impossible for one to fit in if they can't conform to a certain social stigma. Two movies that prove this theory correct are Practical Magic and The Craft. Both movies have different ways of displaying similar themes and main ideas such as the effects of bullying, witchcraft and magic, and sisterhood.

In the introduction of the book Magic in the Middle Ages chapter, one emphasizes the definition of magic. During the medieval era, Europeans believed that there were two types of magic, which were called natural and demonic. As natural magic was considered to have a correlation with science as the Wolfsthurn handbook illustrated the usage of a combination of herbs and magic in conjunction. For example, using herbs to treat an illness with the addition of reciting specific words was deemed as natural magic. On the other hand, demonic magic was not thought to be a form of science but was a perverted depiction of religion. That demonic magic’s power source was from demons and that words that could not be interpreted were thought to be demon names. In addition, treatments that involved animal skin from the Wolfsthurn book would be considered demonic magic as it was suggested that it was a ceremonial sacrifice to demons.

In this story,the ass thinks it is stronger than the cock and feels the cock can scare away the lion,so can it.Its overconfidence lets it lost its life.Never look down upon others in some respects,I think.

Lazarillo learns his second master counts and locks up loaves of bread. The priest greedily stores food for himself, which shows Lazarillo how much the priest values food. It is only when Lazarillo attends funerals with his master that he eats well and prays for more people to die. As with the blind man, Lazarillo struggles with the forbidden food stored in a vessel that Lazarillo must creatively learn how to trick and deceive his second master to not die from hunger. He says, “it was because hunger enlightened me, for they say that it sharpens a man’s wits, and a full belly does the opposite; and it was certainly so in my case” (318). Again, Lazarillo fools the priest after he finds the “bread ‘mouse-eaten,’ the cheese devoured” (319). Lazarillo “converted my mouth into such an ample purse” (320). Unfortunately, the cruel priest discovers the truth about Lazarillo’s hidden key and says, “I have found the mouse and the snake that were waging war on me and eating my property” (320). However, Lazarillo is forced to become the snake, which connects to the idea of him becoming the devil. Lazarillo disregards his theft and deems his crime is necessary for his own survival. Furthermore, the concept of materialism connects with food because the priest does not recognize he seeks too much money and power. At the expense of Lazarillo’s starvation, in fact, the priest’s gluttony shows he does not resist nor reject materialism since he is not committed to serving God. The priest’s “enormous stinginess” wanders from “meetings of religious societies and funerals” in a quest for more food since he eats like a “wolf and drink more than a faith healer” (215). He is unfulfilled no matter how much food he has unless he deprives Lazarillo. Afterwards, by hypocritically advising Lazarillo to “go with God,” the priest does not care for a “diligent servant” to keep him

The power of lust toward women has always been a way to uplift a community while creating a threat to men. Women were thought of as healers only to be persecuted for their natural maternal instinct. The ability to both heal a body and an erection gave women in 1692, a horrible fate ending in death or excommunication from their church. The way of women to have the sensual touch and to fulfill the desires in the darkness of night led many to believe women to hold a certain power over men. The warm mouth of the womb desired by many a man could only divert the temptation and cause of the man or woman to sway to the dark side. The Devil is known to work his evil intent on that of the idiotic woman who hath no thought for herself.

Fairytales, arguably some of the most historical forms of literature, have remained popular throughout the decades. Tales such as “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Frog King” and “The Swan Maiden,” were originally written between the mid-eighteenth century and mid-nineteenth century. Whether it is the fanciful love-story or the magical transformation which attracts and has kept attention throughout the decades, fairytales, specifically those in which either the protagonist or antagonist undergoes a physical change, teach an important lesson to readers. In this day and age, the media has put so much pressure on particularly young women to look a certain way; what seems to be missing is the idea that physical beauty does not necessarily parallel inner beauty. The theme of transformation in many fairytales serves to portray certain truths about

Imagine, every morning you wake up to the sound of the rooster singing. Not to the normal crow a rooster makes, but to a beautiful sonata that wakes your soul up from a deep slumber. It may not sound too realistic in our real word, but to a writer, this can bring special emphases to the story’s meaning. This literary practice is called magical realism. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines magical realism, or magic realism as they put it; 1) painting in a meticulously realistic style of imaginary or fantastic scenes or images; and 2) a literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction. It is the second definition that author Laura Esquivel, incorporates magical realism into her book, Like Water for Chocolate. Many of the themes and emotions in the book are emphasized with the use of Magical realism.

For nearly two centuries, witchcraft seemed to have disappeared. Although it was driven underground for a time, it is now the fastest growing religion in the United States. There are several reasons for its disappearance and now, for its return.

Wizard of Oz is a fantasy and at the same time adventurous story of a girl named Dorothy. It is fantasy because it shows the image of a scarecrow who wishes to have a brain which in reality doesn't exist. A Tin Woodman who wants to have a heart and the irony of the Lion who wishes to have courage. It also shows magic such as the wicked witch, good witch and the other characters who was portrayed in the story.

1. What is the genre of this story? Are there any other possible genres this story could fall into?

Fairy tales have been embedded into our culture and date back before recorded times, they provide a source of entertainment and imagination for children. Despite today’s fairy tales having positive moral intentions they have been adapted from earlier versions which often can be very different and much more sinister. The fairy tale “Sun, Moon, and Talia” by Giambattista Basile formed the basis for the more commonly known Disney interpretation called the “Sleeping Beauty” however they are vastly different, Basile’s original is a very dark and twisted story compared to the Disney version.