2/12/20 Jason Chen PD1

2/12/20

Jason Chen Period 1

Aim: How does Grendel illustrate the commercialism of art and beauty through his analysis of the Shaper?

Do Now- “If the ideas of art were beautiful, that was the arts fault, not the shapers.”

Breaking down this quote, we start to see that Grendel begins to create the separation between the representation of art and the motivation behind it. Grendel understands that even though the Shaper's song boasts flattery and illusion, the job of the Shaper is to "reshape the world." This quote builds on the ideals of nihilism and existentialism because, in Grendel's situation, he is ostracized by society, which caused him to develop different morals and values as humans. Art is the expression of creativity and imagination, and in this case, Grendel directly opposes art because he represents the truth having lived to see past the Shapers flattery. Also in class, we discussed how Michelangelo's contribution to the painting of the Sistine Chapel was through deceit.  Originally, the church told Michelangelo to paint a mural to pay off his father's debt but he was asked to continue his work for extra pay he never received. This further builds on the quote because people today value and admire the murals found in the Sistine Chapel but do not see the context behind how they were created and the motivation behind them.

Cancer- The Crab Chapter 4

Deeply intuitive and sentimental, Cancer can be one of the most challenging zodiac signs to get to know. They are very emotional and sensitive, and care deeply about matters of the family and their home. Cancer is sympathetic and attached to people they keep close.

Come up with different hashtags that were trending recently:

#CoronaVirus #WorldWarIII #TBT 

From the different trending hashtags that we came up with, we discussed how little these hashtags affect our lives, but we blindly put value into them without knowing the full context behind them. This shows how humans often live in the moment and fail to consider the past or the future. This can be related to Grendal because the Danes blindly cheer and sing along to the Shapers flattery and in celebration construct mead-hall in honor of themselves.

“I listened, felt myself swept up. I knew very well that all he said was ridiculous, not light for their darkness but flattery, illusion, a vortex pulling them from sunlight to heat … My heart was light with Hrothgar’s goodness, and leaden with grief at my own bloodthirsty ways. I backed away, crablike, further into darkness” (48)

“I stepped on something fleshy, and jerked away. It was a man. They’d cut his throat. His clothes had been stolen.” (50)

In class, we discussed how Grendel is able to understand that he is viewed as a monster in the Shaper’s song but in his eyes, he is just going about his business. In this chapter, the Grendel’s Cancer characteristics are emphasized in his sensitivity and emotions as he listens to his horrid acts towards the humans. Grendel has been observing the Danes for 11 years now and as he listens to the Shaper’s song his dignity starts to diminish as he sympathizes with the humans. But at the same time, there is a great duality that Grendel is faced with watched children play around the mead-hall but then notice a corpse that had been killed and looted. We start to question who the real monsters are since we are fed all these stories of glory and honor from the Danes, but this corpse is evidence of sin that can be related back to the story of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel. Grendel is a descendant of Cain and his sins but humans still continue to commit sin causing the reader to reconsider if the story of Grendel is still so one-sided.

Reflection:

Today’s lesson opened my eyes to how the themes presented from Grendel are still consistent in society today. Taking a look at modern hashtags was able to help me make the connection to what a Shaper’s song would look like in today’s age of social media. In today’s society, we often consume media at a rapid pace and just often accept if without looking at the context and motivation behind it all. Many people on social media strive to maintain their “dignity” created by their expectations influenced by society. In Grendel, we are able to gain a unique perspective because of Grendel’s nihilistic and existential characteristics. His detachment from humans allows us to view society from an all-knowing outsiders perspective. This relates back to how humans strive to leave a mark in society, with the Danes painting themselves as the heroes.