Dame Ragnell and Alisons Tale :: Canterbury Tales Essays

Dame Ragnell and Alison's Tale In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath (Alison) teaches her audience what it is women most desire through her tale. The tale she tells resembles the tale of Dame Ragnell. These stories are analogies, perhaps both arising from a similar folk-tale source. Both stories are set in the magical Arthurian times when the fields and forests teemed with gnomes and unearthly creatures. Although both stories have the same moral and end on similar note, there are some vivid differences that we simply cannot overlook. It is very possible that Alison's tale is a custom tailored version of the Dame Ragnell story. The knight in "The Wife of Bath's Tale" is portrayed as a selfish hedonist whose behavior is anything but courteous. It seems as if Alison twists the story of Dame Ragnell to suit her own selfish needs and makes the point that "men are scum" for her tale begins with a noble knight of king Arthur's court raping a maiden: And so bifel it that King Arthour Hadde in his hous a lusty bacheler That on a day cam riding fro river, And happed that, alone as he was born, He sawgh a maide walking him biforn; Of which maide anoon, maugree hir heed, By very force he rafte hir maidenheed; Norton, 888-894. As a result of the knight's behavior, the queen gives the knight an ultimatum. He now must find "what thing it is that wommen most desiren" within a twelve months time frame (Norton, 911). Alison does not depict the knight in the nicest light. I guess she is the one "painting the lion" in this case. Unlike "The Wife of Bath's Tale," the story of Dame Ragnell portrays Sir Gawain as an exemplary hero who is loyal to his King beyond belief. Sir Gawain promises to marry the loathsome Dame Ragnell in order to save the King's life and illustrates his devotion to the king by following up on his promise. When King Arthur gives Gawain the horrific description of the foulest maiden ever seen by men and poses the question to Gawain, Sir Gawain's reaction is the quintessence of loyalty: 'Gawen, I met today with the foulest lady That evere I sawe sertenly. She said to me my life she wold save†¦ But first she wold thee to husbond have. Wherfor I am wo begon- Thus in my hart I make my mone.

Endangered Species

I have selected endangered species as my topic because no matter what we do or where we go, everything around us is affected by any changes that we make in the surrounding environment. One of the articles that I have selected covers multiple attacks that have been made by gray wolves killing huge quantity of valuable cattle and other livestock and whether or not they should be removed for the endangered species list. The other defines and talks about endangered species themselves and the reason that the endangered species list was created in the first place.Endangered Species Author: Current EventsTitle: Man versus WildDocument type: Article (Informational)Primary audience: Educational| Author: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Title: Endangered speciesDocument type: Encyclopedia (Informational)Primary audience: Educational| | | In a search that I did in the AIU library, I can across an article from an informational magazine called† Current Events†. This is an informational article where the primary audience is teachers and students. They talk about a particular animal that is currently on the endangered species list called the gray wolf.According to the article, â€Å"In 2008, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) suggested that the gray wolf population had recovered to the point at which it no longer needed to be listed in some states† (Current Events, 9/27/2010). But according to the article, some wildlife protection groups took action to put an end to the proposal. The gray wolf was first put on the endangered species list by the USFWS in 1974. But according to estimates given by experts that the magazine collected the research from, â€Å"There are 1,700 gray wolves in Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.I came up with the thesis statement of â€Å"No matter what we do or where we go, everything around us is affected by any changes that we make in the surrounding environment†. In Michigan, Minnesota, and W isconsin, there are about 4,000, and gray wolves have been spotted in Colorado, Utah, and as far east as New England† (Current Events, 9/27/2010). Now the USFWS is making its’ fourth attempt to remove the gray wolf from the list in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan but Michigan and Wisconsin are both asking to decrease the wolf population by ten percent annually from the government.And a U. S. representative from Texas is proposing to ban the gray wolf from being listed as endangered or threatened in any state from the Endangered Species Act. But quite a few wildlife protection organizations oppose any change in the status and still say a wolf recovery plan is still needed even though there are reports of losses in Montana and Idaho. One case where a Montana rancher lost â€Å"at least three calves, valued at $2,400, to the Horse Creek wolf pack before wildlife officials took action† (Current Events, 9/27/2010).The McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology defines an endangered species as â€Å"A species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. â€Å"Threatened species† is a related term, referring to a species likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future. The main factors that cause species to become endangered are habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, and overexploitation† (McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology (2004). â€Å"The evidence of a recovery for the gray wolf is as plain as day,† says U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont. ), who supports Edwards's proposal. â€Å"Yet Montana †¦ wildlife managers have their hands tied when it comes to managing the predator. † (Current Events, 9/27/2010). Currently gray wolves are still on the endangered species list and can only be killed with the governments permission or by an authorized government agent as they deem necessary, but quite a few wildlife officia ls feel that the wolf population is stable however and are ready to â€Å"pull the trigger when packs pose problems† and believe that â€Å"part of having wolves is having o kill wolves,† Mark Collinge, director for Wildlife Services in Idaho, told The Associated Press (Current Events, 9/27/2010). Some wildlife advocates say that man will always come out as top dog in the battle of humans versus wolf and that human activity, hunting, and trapping put the gray wolf on the endangered species list in the first place. And there is the possibility of the wolves becoming endangered again if they were to be removed from the list. And some wildlife advocates still don’t agree that their population is large enough to recover from harsh winters and disease if humans are a threat as well.And simply reintroducing a certain number of wolves back into a particular region may not be enough according to Humane Society of the United States (Current Events, 9/27/2010). So in conc lusion, both the USFWS and wildlife protection groups will have to at some point come together at look at what is best for both the gray wolf and also what is best for the people that have to live in the regions that are populated by the gray wolf and come to a joint decision about the final action to be take in order to keep both parties out of harm’s way.This article agrees with my thesis statement of â€Å"because no matter what we do or where we go, everything around us is affected by any changes that we make in the surrounding environment† because it is giving both sides of the story that is presented and giving insight as to why each side is taking the actions that have been said and giving reference points on those actions instead of just saying something to say it and not having anything to represent their case on the subject.

The Ideas Of Reality And Ideal Life Of Women And Marriage

The ideals of marriage have changed drastically throughout history, but then it all comes around as history repeats itself. In medieval times there were several texts about the contradictory ideas of reality and ideal life of women and marriage. Chaucer explicitly refutes the misogynistic ideals when the Wife of Bath argues her point using scripture, behaviors of women from his other tales in similarity to the Wife of Bath and detailed events throughout the prologue of the Wife’s roles in her marriages. To begin with, the Wife of Bath argues and opposes the traditional rules of women by quoting scripture. First she quotes two men in the bible, Abraham and Jacob who in their times had many wives and were also holy men, followers and†¦show more content†¦Her point exactly is that if remaining a maiden was a command, then marriage would have been condemned. Also if women remained virgins how could there be any growth or reproduction in society. It is only fair that it be a â€Å"prize won to whoever claimed it first.† Although Paul wished and advised that everyone remained as he, a virgin because the body was a temple and pure, she argued that a body is that person’s own and they should do with it whatever they see fit. Furthermore, the Wife of Bath was referencing behavior of women from Chaucer’s other tales. In one of his first tales Chaucer created a character Emily, entwined in a Knight s Tale. She was the object of love, desire, and lust between two knights. Those two knights, Palamon and Arcite revolved around the idea of finding her and keeping her as their own like a prized possession they longed for and journeyed on to find at the end of their voyage. Emily was deprived of options and expressing her own feelings towards the situation. She was trapped in the societal ideal of arranged marriage to whomever proved themselves worthy and honorable. 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