{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"19354449","dateCreated":"1264597432","smartDate":"Jan 27, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"alfitzgerald","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/alfitzgerald","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1257388564\/alfitzgerald-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/epiphanybritlit.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/19354449"},"dateDigested":1532389452,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Matthew 6","description":"(*Click on MANAGE WIKI to the left, then click on FILES; find the document labeled "Matthew 6" to complete this reponse; if you cannot access this handout from the wiki, go to my class website.)
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\nExamine the handout from Matthew 6. Which of Jesus' commands in the passage would seem to condemn the hero Beowulf's actions and values? Might any part of Jesus' speech make a Christian audience sympathetic to Beowulf and his culture? Explain your thoughts...","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"19519101","body":"1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven."
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\nThe very first verse of this passage condemns Beowulf's actions and values if one believes that he is doing his good deeds for his own benefits. He should not be defending his people just for his own personal fulfillment. Matthew 6 warns against this type of action because it says you will not receive any rewards in Heaven and before the Father. Beowulf should be trying to protect his people so that he can feel like he has done something for someone else and not only for his personal ego boost.
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\nVerse 25 may be a passage that may cause Christian's to feel sympathetic to Beowulf and his culture. The people were only trying not to worry about their lives by enjoying themselves at the party. They did not mean to disturb Grendel, but by their loud partying, they made him very upset. The people didn't really do anything wrong, but go along with verse 25 which says not to worry because things will eventually work out and the Father will provide what they need. A Christian audience might seem sympathetic because they were not doing anything but not worrying about their lives at the party when they upset Grendel. Possibly, through a Christian's view and Matthew 6, one might feel sorry for Beowulf and his people having to deal with Grendel for something that they were doing for the good according to Matthew 6.","dateCreated":"1264889000","smartDate":"Jan 30, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"ndalhouse","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ndalhouse","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1251156790\/ndalhouse-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"19543619","body":"2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full
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\nI chose this passage because we saw that after Beowulf killed Grendle, he announced it to the world, so that they may reconize him for what he did. It is not necessary to make a big deal about what you did to help the people. You can have a silent deed and still have the same helping factor. You can be rewarded by God for things that you do in life, but you can be arrogant when you have to make a point to make sure everyone knows what you did.
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\nI think that the Christian's would be sympathetic for the village. This is so because the people were living on their lives and they had to worry about this horrible monster brining havoc to their life. The people we're forced to live in fear becuase Grendle was haunting them. The main person Beofulf, tried to help save the people of his village. Therefore people would look at his actions with honor. Even though he was really doing it for himself. Therefore, i beleive that the Christians would be sympathetic for what the people of this townj were living and dealing with.","dateCreated":"1264981476","smartDate":"Jan 31, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"erinhannan","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/erinhannan","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1255388971\/erinhannan-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"19549553","body":"vs.19-21
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\nThis passage directly talks to the boasting and spoils of the character Beowulf. Throughout the book Beowulf is embellishing about who he has killed and what he has taken from different enemies. The stories become real when the reader sees Beowulf take great pride in being able to kill Grendel. Beowulf believes that being able to have Grendel's head as a trophy is the greatest feat he has accomplished. Beowulf places value on his treasures of this earth, not the eternal treasures of heaven. Jesus specifically warns about this in the stated passages.
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\nvs.25 This verse reflects some of Beowulf's persona. Beowulf is a care free man. He takes risks and has seemingly no fear. Beowulf does not worry about being able to survive. He lays those troubles aside and lives life just as this passage encourages him to do.","dateCreated":"1264990281","smartDate":"Jan 31, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"derekrichey","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/derekrichey","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1251158057\/derekrichey-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"19552329","body":"this passage goes some what agianst the character Beowulf, in the story BEowulf treasures all of his accomplishments. these accomplishments are of that of challenges and murder of evil beings. Beowulf treasures i think would be sympathetic based on the tyme of monsteres he kills.
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\nVerse 19
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\n"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."","dateCreated":"1264995776","smartDate":"Jan 31, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"jglennthomas","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jglennthomas","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"19554855","body":""When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Beowulf as a character defies what is stated in the passage in just about every way possible. He flaunts his achievements - "announce it with trumpets." He tries to make his 'overwhelming manliness' apparent, and makes an attempt to fight his battles with an audience. When he cannot, be brings back a trophy. This is in direct defiance of the sentence: "...go into your room, close the door... Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
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\n"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." Beowulf does not store treasure as it is mentioned in the quotation. Instead he stores treasure in the form of fame and renown. He seeks recognition for feats of the earth. This is contrary to the teachings of the passage.
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\nIt is, in my opinion, amusing that you specifically specified a CHRISTIAN audience (forgive the abuse of capitalization, but I do not believe this forum supports bolded text). The world and people of Beowulf are, as mentioned by you in class, pagan. While Christians have historically seemed to have a sort of grudging tolerance for such religions as Buddhism and Judaism, they have a major problem with pagan religions. Christians historically have viewed Pagan religions as aligned with the devil himself, though for good reason in some cases. Because of this, I believe that Christians would already be biased against Beowulf and his culture. Mayhap they might even believe that, if the people of Beowulf's culture were to convert, their problems would magically solve themselves, as stated in the passage. If anything, I believe that a Christian audience would take even more offense to Beowulf's culture in lieu of the speech. The culture of Beowulf is in every way contrary to Jesus' speech - something that is sure to garner everything BUT sympathy from Christians. Unless they are taking pity on the poor little Godless pagans, that is.","dateCreated":"1265003906","smartDate":"Jan 31, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"claudiaclippinger","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/claudiaclippinger","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1251163274\/claudiaclippinger-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"19558873","body":"Interesting posts, everyone. Why do you think then that a Christian "author" wrote down this story for all to read if the Christians would be opposed to him? Specifically noting the Matthew 6 passage, since this "hero" is so "anti-Christian," why would a Christian author even give this pagan story the time of day?","dateCreated":"1265029134","smartDate":"Feb 1, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"alfitzgerald","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/alfitzgerald","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1257388564\/alfitzgerald-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"19582075","body":"Well i guess in his view he is a man fighting evil monsters?","dateCreated":"1265050388","smartDate":"Feb 1, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"jglennthomas","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jglennthomas","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"19597531","body":" 24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
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\nI chose this one because I feel like Beowulf wasn't serving God like he should have been but instead was doing it not for money but for pride. Beowulf wasn't thinking about God when he was fighting off Grendel or the dragon he was thinking about the response he would get when he returned home.","dateCreated":"1265065288","smartDate":"Feb 1, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"macmcgath","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/macmcgath","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1254183368\/macmcgath-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"19603659","body":"1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven."
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\nThis verse applies to Beowulf I think because of why he chooses to act the way he does. We are not positive of the motive behind his actions, but we think that they are for his own glory. This verse says that we should act for God, and not for recognition or fame from men of the world.","dateCreated":"1265071307","smartDate":"Feb 1, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"hannahradford","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/hannahradford","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1251338589\/hannahradford-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"19353803","dateCreated":"1264596700","smartDate":"Jan 27, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"alfitzgerald","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/alfitzgerald","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1257388564\/alfitzgerald-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/epiphanybritlit.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/19353803"},"dateDigested":1532389454,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Modernized Beowulf","description":"A popular trend in Hollywood today is to modernize classic literature. For example, the movie "O" is a modernized\/updated version of the play "Othello" and the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" is an updated version of the play "Taming of the Shrew." After reading "Beowulf," how do you envision a modern-day or futuristic version of this classic story? (Do not take into account the movie version that was made last year; this is not an update, nor is it a reflection of the book.) Who would play the key roles? What would the setting be? What types of "monsters" would Beowulf be pit against? Cast and set carefully, considering all aspects of each character and significance of place\/time. Have fun and be creative!","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"19518813","body":"I would envision "Beowulf" as being a very dark movie, almost like Twilight. I would have Brad Pitt be Beowulf because he is one of the major actors that could be used as a hero in almost any setting. The setting would be in the land far far away, just like Shrek. The whole "town" would be a very peaceful place, but there would be a very dark place where nobody was supposed to go, like the Badlands in Lion King. This is where the "monsters" would live. The modern day monsters that Beowulf would encounter would be robots that cannot be killed easily because they are made of iron. Other types of monsters that would be set out to get Beowulf would be ones almost like dinosaurs that were over sized animals. Beowulf would come into contact with these creatures because he has a house that he takes all of his friends to on the weekends that is in the middle of the Badlands. This is where all of "monsters" live and they become very annoyed by the loud ruckus that Beowulf and his friends make every single weekend.","dateCreated":"1264887892","smartDate":"Jan 30, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"ndalhouse","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ndalhouse","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1251156790\/ndalhouse-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"19537145","body":"My Modernized "Beowulf would have Kevin costner as the main character(Beowulf), simply becouse he did such a good job in "brave heart". The setting would be in a village that is covered in much snow and were all the people are spooked, as in the move Van Helsing. In this Beowulf the monsters that he will encounter would be monstered like Godzilla, kingkong, Giant snakes, and giant insects like on "james and the giant peach". the main monster that Beowulf will be fighting. will still have the same causes for attacking the people, such as them being to loud. but instead of it being a trol like character it will be a giant dog that bites everyones heads off and chews there bodies this dog will be much bigger that the one in "Sand Lot". after beowulf killed the dog he would kill its mother and die while killing the mother.","dateCreated":"1264970758","smartDate":"Jan 31, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"jglennthomas","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jglennthomas","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"19541531","body":"If I were to modernize Beowulf, I would have a happy setting like in the movie the Wizard of Oz. Yet, the twist where the character Grendle could be in would be in the forest where the Wicked Witch of the West lives. There could be a happy setting where all the people live as in Munchkin Land, yet the evil monster would live in the dark and scary forest. They would have to fight against a flying dragon that lived in the middle of the forest. For the character like Beowulf, I would have Mel Gibson. I chose him because it seems as in all the movies that he is in, he is the hero in the story.","dateCreated":"1264978028","smartDate":"Jan 31, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"erinhannan","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/erinhannan","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1255388971\/erinhannan-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"19554337","body":"Beowulf is a tale that I find difficult to modernize in the same way as those examples mentioned. Instead, I would modernize Beowulf in the "modern day isolated hamlet" sense. For the setting I would choose somewhere in eastern Europe or Russia, a place with boggy terrain that is blanketed in fog. The village would be one that is isolated from the rest of the world, and, because of that, is of a different, older time. The people there would live simply, without the benefits of modern life. However, it would be so in a surreal, unnatural sense. As for the main character, I would pick someone like The Rock (does he have a real name?). He seems an apt fit for the character of Beowulf, though I must admit I have little knowledge of Hollywood actors to draw from. The 'monsters' I imagine Beowulf fighting are those from mythology, such as the Anglo-Saxon Black Dogs, Fenrir and the Jotun of Norse lore, or Banshees of Irish lore. Basically, the 'monsters' would be supernatural creatures that are still 'alive' in myths even today. The modern character of Beowulf could be a hero even in the modern world, perhaps a decorated soldier or something of the sort. Then, a mission takes him close to where the village is. While on the mission, something goes wrong, and he is attacked by one of the aforementioned supernatural creatures. He fights it off, but ends up lost in the dense fog. Eventually he happens upon the village itself, at which point he hears of the villagers plight and decided to help them out.
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\nWell, that is what my vision of a modern Beowulf would be. A disconnected reality set in modern time, it that makes any sense.","dateCreated":"1265001252","smartDate":"Jan 31, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"claudiaclippinger","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/claudiaclippinger","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1251163274\/claudiaclippinger-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"19590983","body":"I think a modernized Beowulf would be a classic good versus evil type of movie. I think Beowulf would be played by Brad Pitt because he' the classic good looking hero\/ king representative. Grendel would be a tricky person to cast because he would just be really ugly but instead of his lair being under water I picture it as being deep in the woods and the "castle" would outside or on the edge of the woods in a big fancy neighborhood. The setting would be a modern neighborhood like taberna and Beowulf would fight battles against bank robbers and murders","dateCreated":"1265058101","smartDate":"Feb 1, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"macmcgath","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/macmcgath","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1254183368\/macmcgath-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"19604399","body":"A modernized Beowulf is one that I would imagine to be based on a darker set, with heavy influence of the darker colors, like one of the Batman movies. I would cast Gerard Butler as Beowulf, simply because he has done plenty of action movies and seems like he would make a good Beowulf. He has the strong, athletic build that we imagine Beowulf to have, but he also has the certain quality that makes you question what side he is really on. Modern day "monsters" that Beowulf may encounter could either be robots like in Transformers, or just large super humans (the only connection I can think of to make is to go back to Noelle's reference of Shrek...). Another thing that would be changed to modernize Beowulf is the weapons they use. Obviously, no one typically carries a sword on their hip on a regular basis. Weapons in the modernized version of Beowulf would include small amounts of knives and daggers, but typically guns.","dateCreated":"1265071997","smartDate":"Feb 1, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"hannahradford","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/hannahradford","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1251338589\/hannahradford-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"19608097","body":"A modernized version of Beowulf would be an updated version of Fight Club and Gladiator. It would star Jason Statham. He would start out having a handler\/coach starring Morgan Freeman. The movie would start out showing Statham in a hand to hand combat tournament of the world. He gets to the Championship round and wins with little trouble. A few week later his handler calls him and tells him a location and time to meet him. Statham's handler flies him halfway across the world and takes him to a place no one has ever heard of a mile underground. Here, Statham learns of a new fighting arena, one with creatures from the depths of the earth and Hades. His handler and him take on a few fights and soon learn of the creature named Orgulath that Statham must fight in order to save the world from this creature coming and destroying humanity.","dateCreated":"1265075837","smartDate":"Feb 1, 2010","userCreated":{"username":"derekrichey","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/derekrichey","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1251158057\/derekrichey-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]}],"more":false},"comments":[]},"http":{"code":200,"status":"OK"},"redirectUrl":null,"javascript":null,"notices":{"warning":[],"error":[],"info":[],"success":[]}}