A Fictional Account of Early Iceland "The origin and evolution of saga writing in Iceland are largely matters for speculation. A common pastime on Icelandic farms, from the 12th century down to modern times, was the reading aloud of stories to entertain the household, known as sagnaskemmtun ("saga entertainment"). It seems to have replaced the traditional art of storytelling" (Hermann Palsson, pg. 1). Njal's Saga uses Old Icelandic writing convention and historical data to give a fictional account
As the United States was expanding, so were the prospects for my family. My ancestors arrived in the United States with the hope of bettering themselves and taking advantage of the opportunities that the United States was said to hold. This made my family excited about coming to a new land, one where their future generations, with me included, would be able to progress and prosper. Upon arriving to the United States, my uncle Ben made the journey to the lands in the Far West. They were rumored to
The 1996 film The Crucible is a fictional account of the Salem witch trials. While there are many historical inaccuracies in the movie, it does capture some of the themes in scholarship on the period. The film presents the town of Salem in a similar way to how it is depicted in the textbook. The film gets the basic outline of the Salem witch trials right. A group of girls started a panic by accusing an enslaved woman and two other women of bewitching them. During the event more than 200 people were
Home is Tony Morrison’s fictional account of a Korean War veteran’s experiences after returning to America. The veteran, Frank Money, faces particular challenges because he is a black man in 1950s America. Frank is attempting to return to his home state of Georgia in order to save his little sister, Cee, from danger. Along the way he faces the pitfalls of being a black man and a veteran. By writing from multiple perspectives, Morrison is able to compare Frank’s experience to that of other black people
Another example of fictional film elements comes from when the cameraman perfectly records the Taliban attacking the Danish soldiers. He puts himself in danger: right in the middle of the fight. If the audience did not know any better, this fight could have been perfectly staged
My face drips with sweat while riding the chariot across the velvet-colored muddy dirt. My heart was pounding quickly and constantly, almost jumping out of my chest. With the swing of my blade, my opponent drops to his knees, eyes rolling back. One Trojan slaughtered, many more Trojans to kill. This isn’t the end; this is far from the end. It’s time I prove myself to Akhilleus, breaker of men; it’s time I show him that I am worthy of wearing his armor. The only blood to touch this armor is the blood
For my dissertation I will be comparing the books Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and finally 1984 by George Orwell. All three books I believe share a common theme which will be the subject of my dissertation. They all hold many themes but the main ones I will be looking at are the perils of playing god, abuse of power, and lastly manipulation and control. One of the main themes of Frankenstein written by Mary Shelly in 1816 is the fall of man which can be
What defines a monster? Is it their grotesque, unnatural appearance that separates them from the rest of mankind, or is it their lack of remorse and compassion that makes them different? The word monster conjures up figures from gothic horror of exotic peoples with horrifyingly exaggerated features, and the kinds of impossible delusive beasts inhabiting the pages of medieval bestiaries. Well at first I thought exactly that. When I used to hear the word “monster”, my mind immediately pictured the
Dantès is also shown to be similar to Frankenstein and Jekyll, in that the three are unable to escape from their creations. Dantès and Jekyll are trapped more so than Frankenstein, as they are the same person as their creations, whereas Frankenstein is trapped by being unable to bring himself to create a female creature due to the effect it may have on society. Frankenstein’s identity is called into question here, as he becomes almost defined, in the Creature’s eyes, as being unable to keep his word
An interesting short story is "Letters from The Samantha" by Mark Helpin. This story tells the fascinating tale, in the form of never sent letters, of an ape brought aboard an iron-hulled sailing ship in 1909 by Samson Low, the ship's captain. Although the author makes a point to tell the reader, through Samson Low, that the animal does not symbolize anything or mean anything, in fact, "He stands for nothing" (280), several arguments can be made to contradict this. One could argue