Is modernity allowing interaction among people?

The following essay will be focused on The Signalman written by Charles Dickens. First, it will start with the historical context of the story in order to have a clearer understanding of what the story is about. Secondly, the narrative will be analysed according to its main ideas and issues related to emotions. Finally, it will be provided an activity in order to use it in an EFL classroom.

The purpose of the essay is to relate what happened in the stroty with they way in which people are living now. The idea is also to show the actual reality through literature. Consequently, literature depicts reality and it mainly impies to state that there is a huge problem in society which is not unfamiliar to students’ life.

Having explained what the essay is going to be about and having mentioned the aim of it, it becomes important to give details of the story.
The Signalman is set in the mid 19th century and it tells the story of a ghost that has been haunting a worker. Each spectral appearance provokes a tragic event on the railway on which the signalman works. The signalman's work is at a signalbox in a deep cutting near a tunnel entrance on a lonely stretch of the line, and he controls the movements of passing trains. When there is danger, his fellow signalmen alert him via telegraph and alarms. Three times, he receives phantom warnings of danger when his bell rings in a fashion that only he can hear. Each warning is followed by the appearance of the spectre, and then by a terrible accident. The worker seemes to be afraid of something, which caused that the narrator to believe he had an "infection in his mind" (p.741). The first accident involves a terrible collision between two trains in the tunnel. The final warning is a premonition of the signalman's own death. Charles Dickens wanted to confirmate that modernity is a concept that brings benefits for some people but at the same time represents a lack of growth for others.

As it has been pointed out the signalman’s work is always the same. He is in charge of preventing accidents. His life is entirely oriented on his labor. Indeed, he lives in a box. The box is the representation of the main setting of the story. He is right beside a train tunnel where he spends the whole day letting trains go thorugh. Certainly, the time in which it was written reproduces the idea of modernity and progress. For instance, the train exemplifies development of society in terms of having a better life.
According to my interpretaion of the reading, the railway which is a central element in the story, illustrates the progress, modernity and comfort. The signalman is helping for the progress but he is not part of it. In fact, he becomes a slave of his work what causes his mental disease and his inmobility. Subsequently, there are some other factors like lonelinness and stress which contribute to his mental illness. As result of the pressure of his work, he notices the presence of a spectre. Therefore, one question came to my mind is modernity allowing interaction among people? If we think in the signalman, he does not have possibilities for expressing his fears, wishes and doubts. He works alone. So, in that sense modernity is not promoting interaction among people even worse it is fomenting individualism.
This story is a mirror for our society. Eventually, in our Chilean reality is occuring a similar situation. People prefer to have hi-tech stuff rather than having good interpersonal relatioships. Even worse, people are just working or studying, living by ourselves and just that. So, what is our purpose in life?
Individualism is the reason which demonstrates that our manner of living is not being the appropriate. We do not care about others and we do not know ourselves. For instance, empathy is not considered part of us.
It is important to mention that during the course we have pointed out so relevant topics that literature contributes in their development. As we have concluded so far, “as we become more self-aware, we gain a clearer sense of ourselves” (2004). Furthermore, the first step is to create your self- knowledge in order to know what you feel and how you make choices.
The Signalman is showing a reality that it is a living example of how human relationships are being destroyed by modernity which leads to materialism. As I have been observing in my internship, students’ wishes, doubts and fears are left out of the classroom and they have to be concentrated on their work which is to acquire the subject rather than sharing experiences and what they feel with heir classmates and teachers.
One activity for working in class with students is the analysis of this story because it promotes their cognitive development. In other words, the analysis gives students an opportunity to apply skills and strategies, such as identifying the themes discussed in that narrative. The idea is to give them quotes for discussing in groups. In that way they are going to contrast the story with their own experience.

To conclude, teachers have to encourage students to build their personality based on the respect through social communication by means of literature. We have to promote self-awareness in the classroom as a tool for having clarity about who students are and what they want and why they want it. If students are able to recongize that, they will be empower to consciously and actively make decisions.
Secondly, it becomes essential to find what you. I strongly believe that being successful is not just an issue of making lot of money. On the contrary, it implies to love what do you in order to reach happiness. The real joy of life always comes from your inner being not the one that comes from what others think is good for you.
Finally, knowing yourself in a future will lead to success. If people are able to make the right decisions they will find what they really love and also as important is the fact that they will be happy. It is our mission to educate children to care about others, to respect others’ opinion in order benefit from the relationship among people.






Work Cited


“Essay Writing”. The owl at Purdue. 1995-2009. Purdue University. 29 Nov 2009 .

Marshall, Claudia, and Stern, Robin. Understanding Emotions in the Classroom. New York: Dude, 2004.
“The Signalman”. Coursework.info. 2009. 29 Nov 2009 .

“The signal man”.Page by Books. 2004. 29 Nov 2009.
.

Outline

My paper will be focused on the expression of emotions in relation to The Signal Man written by Charles Dickens

I. Introduction
(Historical background of the story)

II. Aim of the paper

III. Main ideas and issues related to emotions present in The Siganl Man

IV. The story in the EFL classroom

V. Conclusions

September 1, 1939 by W. H Auden

I had to read the poem twice because the first Redding helps me to have a general view of what the poem is about. In order to have a clearer understanding it was required a second reading.
The poem is very interesting from the beginning until the end and it points out one of the most difficult historical periods lived in 1939.

The way the author describes what happened in that period is really catchy. “… a low dishonest decade: waves of anger and fear…” this quote shows that it is a vulnerable period in which the main element is death. In my opinion, the poem is a criticism to religion, patriotism and progress. They are the central concepts which caused that men were left alone. You may ask why and the answer is because reality is not being shown as it is. On the contrary, reality is hidden behind the idea of a collective man.



Regarding to my point of view there is a bad understanding of religion which is the main factor that influences the way people live and act. It is believed that the idea of psychopathic god is because there is an intangible force which allows wars. . He also mentions that religion has controlled the way we see God and the way children have learnt about it. That is why they see God as a inconsequent force.
My doubt is why the author is in opposition to the bible if then he states that “we must love one another or die”. This sort of contradiction makes me fell a little bit confused; in spite of this I enjoyed the reading.

Victoria: The Waste Land

I decided to comment this entry because the poem is really interesting for me too.
I agree with Victoria when she mentions that the first line depicts that this piece of writing has been considered one of the most important poems.
It is really catchy to read “April is the cruellest month". It is evident that the author tries to put emphasis on the difficulties lived in those times. That is what causes that the beginning of the poem starts in that way, like a kind of warning in order to involve the reader.

I think it would have been attractive that you wrote about existentialism in order to understand better what Elliot wanted to reveal about life and death. The poem was written after the First World War that is why death was presented in the poem as a relevant issue.

I really liked Victoria’s entry because it really made me think some of the most relevant topics present in The Waste Land as realistic themes and not as an exageration.

The Waste Land by T.S Elliot

During one of our Literature class, we studied T. S Elliot. He was an American poet who was considered one of the most important writers in the 20th century.

The poem was written after the First World War. The first time I read the poem I was very confused. The author used subtitles as a way to introduce the main topics. That is why it is important to look at every detail in the poem because there is always a hidden intention in all what Elliot wrote.


According to my own understanding, the period in which the poem was written represented a time of great insecurity. After the war, society felt damage, misery, death and loneliness. A lot of people unjustly died as a result of the violence lived in those times.

To conclude, the waste land is a place where people feel desolation and fear. Nowadays, people are feeling the same in a certain manner. Violence and deliquency are making us feel afraid of what society is.

The Rocking Horse Winner and Odour of Chrysanthemums by D.H. Lawrence

It is really amazing to see the way the author mixes his own life with an irreal one. This is possible to observe in both stories.
The most noticeable in the stories is the existence of a very complex issue for society which is the desire of money. In the first tale, the protagonist is a boy that suffers because of the conflicts that the wish of money brings to his family. That is why he hides his sad feelings by gambling for money.
The second story is focused on the relationship between life and death. The relationship is mainly presented by the inhuman work world of the mine and the beautiful and vulnerable, natural world. For example, the important things that we can lose if the attention is payed to money instead of love relationships.





Thinking on what is happening in our society, it is part of our common sense notice that money cannot buy happiness and it represents a harmful force as well as alcoholism.
Nowadays is really common to observe children working in the streets or even worse begging for money. Is that what we want for our children? I am totally sure the answer is no. So, I think that our effort in schools can make the difference. If we contribute children to be comfortable at least when they are learning, things can improve.
D.H Lawrence points out very contemporary issues. I really enjoyed reading both stories because of the many issues that they bring, and that make sense in our society.

O l i v e r T w i s t

As we have seen in class, progress is the main topic for all the discussions based on the changes that society has lived. This topic is also related to modernity through industrialization.
According to what we have studied in class, the increase in population suffered in London was just the beginning of all the consequences which progress brought.

Charles Dickens in his story points out so important issues which deal mainly with society. For example, many children were alone in the streets; there were crowded places, etc. His main character Oliver represents the sacrifice that many people experienced in those times. He was raised in an orphanage under the care of different people because his mother died.
While he was living there, he was punished because of differente reasons.
His friends were young thieves who tried to find a better life. Oliver’s innocence was corrupted.
This is a serious problem that we still are living. Why do children become delinquents?
There is a lack of love and care which is really important to overcome poverty.

At the end of the movie Oliver was adopted by Mr. Brownlow and he found a better life.

“La palabra progreso no tiene ningún sentido mientras haya niños infelices”.

The signal man!

I really enjoyed reading this story. I had a great time interpretating this terrific narrative which contains social issues like the way life is influenced by modernity.
The signal man was in charge of avoiding accidents. He worked alone without company. This is why he became mentally sick. He was opressed in this kind of box in which he was not participating for his improvement. On the contrary, as a result of his hard work he started to observe a spectre in the railway.
Charles Dickens wanted to confirmate that modernity is a concept that brings benefits for some people but at the same time represents a lack of growth for others.

I think that this story is a mirror for our society. We are just working or studying, living by ourselves and just that. So, what is our purpose in life?
Individuality is the reason which demonstrates that our manner of living is not being the appropriate. We do not care about others. For instance, empathy is not considered part of us.

So, as teachers we have the mission to educate children to care about others, to respect what others think in order to build a society in which we can benefit from the relationships among people.

F r a n k e n s t e i n !

At the beginning of this course I thought incorrect things in relation to Literature. For example, I had never thought that writers could note down such wonderful ideas beyond their stories. Those ideas are mainly related to social issues like discrimination, self- esteem, happiness and so other things.

Honestly, my way of seeing life has suffered changes and the image of “the monster” I had in mind about Frankenstein is totally unlike.
I really enjoyed the story reflecting on the issues presented on it. The most relevant for me is the way in which all the things that enclose us have an influence in our life. Why do we assume what others believe about us is right? In this way we lose our authenticity. So, we must not let that differences affect the way we think or damage our feelings, as Frankie Jr. lived thinking he was a monster, a stain upon the earth from which all men fled and whom all men disowned.

In my opinion, Frankie Jr. was just the creation of Victor and he represented the desire of power. Frankie Jr. was not bad; on the contrary he just wanted to find his identity in order to reach his happiness. While I was reading the story, I felt very emphatic with him. I mean, every thought he had, made me reflect on how unfair life is.



To conclude, Frankie Jr. suffered discrimination, unhappiness, loneliness, emptiness, low self-esteem and rejection. This is the way poor people feel living in a society in which they can not be part of the progress.
This poem would be very useful to teach students to put themselves into someone else’s shoes.

I wandered lonely as a cloud by Wordsworth

It is evident that Wordsworth belongs to the category in which poets work collectively with nature, reason and emotions as in this case happiness. For instance, it can be seen through the poem that nature becomes the main subject of their work.

According to my interpretation of the poem, I relate the concept daffodils with human beings. For example, when the author says I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils; beside the lake, beneath the trees, fluttering and dancing in the breez. I think this phrase means that we, as human beings are always surrounded by wonderful things that most of the time we can not see. So, we continue living without taking into account how beautiful life is. Now, thinking on the stanza "A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company" it comes to mind the use of irony. He demonstrates that he can write showing to the world wonderful feelings and the lack of love existing between us. He seems to be very receptive and this poem really motivates me to continue writing.

I really enjoyed listening to the poem because it is narrated in such way that your attention is totally directed to the verse. The images are a good element for showing in general terms what this piece of writing is about.

When I have fears that I may Cease to be

I think that the first step before reading a poem is looking at the title. As part of my reading process I did it. So, I immediately realized that the author was pessimistic about his life and terrified of something.

According to what we have seen in this course, Romantic authors put emphasis on nature in every sense. That is why we, as human beings are included in a part of this nature. The poem read is based on fears, doubts and wishes and it deals with the value of nature and the way it influences and inspires our way of seeing things.

My question is why the author is so scared of passing away? In the poem “When I Have Fears that I may Cease to be”, written by John Keats the feeling of fear has an explicit meaning. It mainly has to do with death. The author is afraid of dying because he wants to be remembered forever.

If we really want to achieve something, we must be able to overcome fear in order to become stronger! Neither the scariest idea can make us their slave…

Kubla Khan by Coleridge

“Poetry is an art…of representing, in words, external nature and human thoughts and affections, both relatively to human affections, by the production of as much immediate pleasure in parts, as is compatible with the largest sum of pleasure in the whole”.


I chose this quotation because if poetry is an art, it implies that its main objective is to deal with author’s thought affections and way of seeing, for provoking a reader’s reaction through words. All of these previous concepts like affection and nature will lead to author’s pleasure. You may ask why pleasure? And the answer is because it is really rewarding to be able to express yourself in relation to what you are feeling.
According to the poem “Kubla Khan” written by Coleridge, it is evident the existing connection between nature and human thoughts. For distinguishing that link we need to understand that any kind of civilization is surrounded by an atmosphere which contributes to our way of feeling, thinking and acting. I think it is important to learn to see what is beyond reason. So, this means imagination is one of the paths to find pleasure.

The little black boy

I enjoy reading the poem because author’s perception about love is so evident that there are not confusions.
According to my interpretation of “The little black boy”, there are many concepts that deal with the idea of being the same. I think the main message is represented through some elements like nature, natural love, and race. In Blake's poem equality for all men is the key message that I mentioned before.
Through the relationship between the mother and the boy, we can see the best examplein which there is a supreme love that goes beyond race and beyond differences.
In addition, the author includes in his work the idea of God as an instrument of inspiration, which is considered intangible in relation to eternity.
The poem read can be useful for our future practice, because it deals with the idea of discrimination. So, it can be used as an example of this issue in order to show to our students that society has dealt with it over time.

Allegory of a letter: The image of values in a social context

The following paper will analyze how any piece of writing can have an influence on society in order to apply literature in class, as future teachers. It is important to mention that the arguments for this topic are going to be based on “The letter to Sir Walter Raleigh seen in class”.
The letter to Sir Walter Raleigh, written by Spenser, is the most famous literary resource constructed in “The faerie Queen”. In that book, it is possible to evidence that Raleigh's position of influence was greatly extended as he became one of Elizabeth's spymasters.
The importance of the letter is situted in the way the author represented values through an allegory. Seeing that Spenser wanted to inspire people through moral, religious and personal values, it can be raised a question: Do values have an impact on society? Then, after this introduction, it is important to define this concept before to start analysing it.
According to Literary terms and definitions, the word allegory derives from Greek allegoria which means speaking otherwise. So, it describes any writing in verse or prose that has a double meaning. An allegorical reading usually involves moral or spiritual concepts that may be more significant than the actual, literal events described in a narrative. It is really common in allegories the use of multiple symbols which create moral, spiritual, social, or even political meaning. You may ask what the purpose of an allegory is. Regarding to the previous definition, allegory has a moral purpose behind mans life. “An allegory is an act of interpretation, a way of understanding, rather than a genre in and of itself” (Wheeler). That is why the reader has an important role. Reader’s interpretation helps to understand the abstract concepts written in an allegory. In addition, “allegory might be a tool for discovering truth” (Quilligan 151).
After seen what an allegory is and its purpose, “The letter to Sir Walter Raleigh” is the best example of allegory in literature. Moreover, it will be analyzed in terms of its representation, and author’s purposes.
Certainly, Spenser used King Arthur because he represents an extremely good man who possesses the most recognizable and important distinctiveness in those times. In addition, this story can be related to an allegory because the author used symbolic figures for representing human characteristics that express the idea of brilliance. Spenser also wanted to put emphasis on the attributes that were significant. For instance, Red Crosse represented holinesse; Sir Guyon intended temperance and Lady Knight expressed chastitie. As has been said, all of them represented greatness.
In fact, the purpose of writing this letter was for protecting himself from social problems, religious conflicts and evil temptation. He sent the letter to Sir Walter Raleigh because he was the best example of magnificence; he was a well known man who could provide that protection and security.
Social issues are not something obvserved just in the past. Actually, they can be noticed in today’s society. Definitely, culture plays an important role on society. The culture is the basic area where a society conceives its values and transmits them among different generations.
According to all the text read in the literature course, society in the past was always following, reproducing the same model. For example, in terms of women’s rights, they had to be in charge of children and house and this was a precedent for discrimination. In contrast, in today’s world, women have the right to live as we want. Besides, we can have more participation in society. There is something that will always exist, that is, prejudices that we, as society, tend to have towards what is good and bad.
Norman Feather, a famous professor, believes that the concept of values enables the social issues to bridge the gap between the analysis of the individual and the analysis of the society in which that individual lives.
Therefore, it has been discussed that allegory has moral purposes which are in relation with values. Thinking on these values, they are going to influence the social context. That means the behavior of a society is considered appropriate when one seeks to improve the life in society without damaging others.
Similarly, all kind of values like honesty, perseverance, bravery, generosity, etc. make an influence in people’s way of thinking, and consenquently in their way of behaving.
After analyzing “The letter to Sir Walter Raleigh” and its influence on values which affect society, it is possible to see that literature is not just a matter of reading novels. It is equally important that “through literature teachers can transmit knowledge integrated to a culture; and to an ethical dimension” (Camps). That is why teachers can teach values like respect to the others. For example, reading poems together with students, representing plays, etc. Teachers have to bear always in mind collaborative work.
As Santos Guerra claims, “a school has to contribute to the improvement of society through the formation of critical citizens, especially forming people in all their dimensions” (1). Teachers have to forget that their main aim is teaching the subject. To me seems that it is a serious error to base methodologies thinking that only students are going to learn. Through this way of seeing education, students are seen as empty vessels that teachers have to fill in. In the same way, children are frequently ignored and unfortunately they are not being supported by teachers. For instance, students’ wishes, doubts and fears are left out of the classroom which means students cannot act as people and they have to be concentrated on acquiring the subject for reproducing what they are taught.

Indeed, it turns out frequent to listen that language and culture are intimately related, but, nevertheless, in the didactic practice, traditionally a separation has taken place between one and another reality. At schools, there are few hours of "grammar" and others of "culture" (Miquel, Sans). Despite that, teachers have to relate the English language with students’ background in order to make it meaningful.
As it was mentioned before, teacher training programs should be focused on constructivist learning models that take into account students as whole people. That means the role of the teacher in students’ learning is to make possible this process by providing a support in every sense of their learning. This does not imply letting students do whatever they want. In contrast, this means students can give opinions and in that way they will become more active in their learning process.
Finally, in my opinion, literature is a useful tool that allows us to have an approach to other forms of culture. In fact, other cultures with different characteristics from ours. In a future, this will lead people to have wider points of view that will help to understand diversity in social terms.

Representation of values through allegory

Outline

I. Introduction: -presentation of the topic
-do values have an impact on society?

II. Definition of allegory: -characteristic of this literary resource
-purpose of allegory

III. Example of allegory: The letter to Sir Walter Raleigh
-what did it represent?
-why did the author write it?

IV. How has society changed?

V. EFL: Literature in the classroom

Filial Love

“The merchant of Venice” is a play that can be recognized as a tragedy mixed with some elements seen as comedy. Because it is really common to observe in Shakespeare’s works both sides of life. There is no just one reality.
The following paper will discuss how your personal wishes can be the most evident way for proving what the real meaning of friendship is. Due to the fact that in those times, there were several social problems like racial discrimination, sexual discrimination, disqualification of women among others. That is why friendship reflects an important role that is stronger than people`s differences.

The movie started demonstrating that the Jewish community in those times was persecuted and they were identified by wearing a red hat. In that sense, discrimination was something very common. Jewish people were against Christians.
According to the movie, there are two main facts that gave the tension to the story. The first one was Bassanio's idea to conquer to Portia and the second event was in relation to the revenge that Shylock wanted to take on Antonio.

The first event can be considered the main conflict observed in the film because Bassanio needed to travel to Belmont with the purpose of reaching Portia’s love who owned huge riches. Antonio was the most famous merchant in those times. For that reason, Bassanio being his best friedn decided to ask him for money. But Antonio was not able to lend that amount of money. This leaded to the fact that Antonio borrowed the money to Shylock, a Jew moneylender. In addition is important to mention that he was the enemy of Antonio because Antonio claimed that Shylock made usury. Shylock accepted the treat but in case that Antonio did not pay the debt, he asked for one pound of Antonio’s flesh in case he was unable to pay back his debt. After the contract was signed, Bassanio went to Belmont where he chose between 3 caskets, he made the right decision and he picked up the casket in which portia’s portrait was. That meant they got married.



After having summarized the film, I think character’s role in the movie were really important. Shakespeare’s play included all the traditional characters that gave the emotion of a tragedy and the prank of a comedy.
Portia’s role was very important because she represented beauty and intelligence. She was the best example of bravery. Because at the end, Portia followed her ideals and she broke her father’s rules. It is also possible to find a hero as in this work Antonio was. He was the sacrified friend who was the debtor in front of a moneylender. Another relevant character is Shylock, a poor Jew that suffered for his condition being discriminated and most of the time being humiliated. This feeling of resentment made that Shylock intended to take revenge.That is why his life reflected a tragedy.
Bassanio represented to an adventurer man, fighter, persistent whose purpose of conquering to the beautiful lady became true as a result of his dedication. As I said before, all these characters made the film seen in classes more attractive.

The event itself called Bassanio’s wish is the best representation of friendship. His best friend made a sacrifice that meant the fulfillment of Bassanio`s intention. Through this fact, Shakespeare showed us the difficult moment lived in those times, like the lack of money which leaded people to get debts and loans. In spite of those difficulties, Christian characters value human relationships over business and Antonio lent money free of interest and put himself at risk for the person he loved. In other words, Bassanio’s aim is a symbol of filial affection.
The relationship between Antonio and Bassanio can be seen as a pure demonstration of love. Would you contribute in your friend’s wishes?

To conclude, I really enjoyed the film. I liked the way in which characters were portrayed. I definitely recommend watching the movie. Going beyond the movie, I think that the story make people to think on our actions. All we do bring consequences. That is why we have to admit good and bad things. So, acceptances in addition to friendship are the most important values that can help to overcome any kind of discrimination. I have to recognize that discrimination and other social issues are still part of our society.

Outline

• Introduction
• Brief summary of the movie
• Role of the most important characters: what do they represent?
• The main event: Bassanio’s wish
• Conclusion

F a e r y * Q u e e n e

When I read the letter for the first time, it was really difficult to understand it. Then, for the second reading I was more prepared.
Having a better understanding about the letter I feel able to answer the questions.

Spenser wrote about King Arthur because he represents an extremely good man who possesses the most recognizable and important distinctiveness in those times. In addition, this story is related to an allegory because the author used symbolic figures for representing human characteristics that express the idea of brilliance. He also wanted to put emphasis on the attributes that were significant. For instance, Red Crosse represented holinesse; Sir Guyon intended temperance and Lady Knight expressed chastitie. All of them seen as symbolism of greatness.

I think that the purpose of writing this letter was for protecting himself from social problems, religious conflicts and evil temptation. He sent it to Sir Walter Raleigh because he was the best example of magnificence he was a well known man who could provide that protection and security.

What women love most?

Thinking on the tale, the protagonist was just living as she wanted to. She had five marriages and they did not were successful. In spite of this, she enjoyed life. It is important to mention that Chaucer through the main character was breaking the model of what was considered normal for those times.
The wife of bath’s tale starts with the question what is the thing that most women desire? This is difficult to answer. I mean, it does not have just one answer. It may have a lot of responses because women are totally different from what men could think.

We love most to be independent for taking our own decisions and having our own space. We like to be considered with the same rights than men. In spite of our weaknesses, we can be as strong as men and to overcome difficult situations.To conclude, what we most like is to be understood, listened, loved and be respected.



La fuerza de las mujeres depende de que la psicología no pueda explicarla. Los hombres pueden ser analizados; las mujeres sólo pueden ser amadas. (Oscar Wilde)

T r u t h

First, it is important to mention that I enjoy reading poems because I consider that poetry is a meaningful way to express all what we have in mind.
This poem received the name of “truth” because Chaucer wanted to demonstrate that as a society we should improve our behavior to find the right way to be free. Because by helping others we can recah the salvation.

According to the phrase “for greed entails hate and social climbing uncertainty” he may refers to all what we do has a future consequence. So, he is advisin us to stop commiting bad actions in order to live in pecae with our peers. Now, thinking about the religious implications, I would say they are easy to find. The previous phrase is appropriate to represent that not hurting others we will be saved.

Why Chaucer says: Restrain yourself from giving advices to others but then he claims what is sent you, receive in obedience. This kind of contradiction makes sense to me because we need to be aware that every day life brings diffciult situations. So, it is important to struggle against them without fear to live in truth being a good person.

My definition of an epic poem!

We are travelling through a long trip called Literature. During this journey, we have stopped in an interesting topic "the epic poem".

For me an epic poem is a piece of writing in which we can find ficitonal facts which are described by the author. It also includes the narration of heroic achievments that important people have lived in the past.

Literature... a new challenge!

Todorov claims, “we are all formed from what other people gives us: first our parents and then other people near us. Literature opens to the infinite this possibility of interaction and thus enriches us infinitely.” (page 17) It is really important we realize that literature helps people to have an understanding of the world including our condition of human beings.

Our knowledge is formed by others’ experiences in relation with what we know. So, this interaction can be reinforced through books and literary works, because there is an association between students’ perception and teachers`perception. In fact, working as a teacher implies to generate ideas and develop critical thinking that can be skilled while we are teaching literature.Teachers do not have to impose to students a way of thinking. In contrast, together they have to form a conception of the world.
The most important is that a teacher must be the one who perceive him/herself and their students as part of a culture that absolutely learn together because in this interaction a teacher can not exist independently of students.