Medieval romance is shown in Morte D’Arthur, “A Knight’s Tale,” and “Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail.”. In Morte D’Arthur, Sir Bedivere stays loyal to King Arthur throughout the story. He does what he asks and prays for him when he’s gone. Bedivere idealizes the Knight’s code and chivalry. In “A Knight’s Tale”, William’s memorable deed is that although he is not a knight, he honors the Knight’s code and in the end is made a Knight. The magical setting in Morte D’Arthur is when Bedivere throws Excalibur into the lake, and the Lady of the Lake’s hand catches the sword before it hits the water.

William must fight an internal battle in “A Knight’s Tale” when he goes to England and he visits his father who gave him away when he was young. In “Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail,” King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table go on a quest to find the Holy Grail, not knowing what it was. Throughout all these stories, there is repetition of 3’s and 7’s, with 3 queens who take the dying King Arthur in Morte D’Arthur and a 3 headed knight in “Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail”. These qualities still affect us everyday, because they are often shown in movies and books. Like Percy Jackson, for example, has a few of these qualities.

The Knight’s code is based off of chivalry and virtues. Chivalry is the set of rules a knight abides to, such as respect for women and your lord. Some virtues of the code are: fear God and maintain the church, serve his lord and obey authority, and preserve to the end of all tasks. While reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, I learned that being chivalrous is not the same as following the Knight’s Code. You can follow the rules, while having a different point of view on why you do things. For example, Gawain wanted to fight the Green Knight, but not for the reason he said he wanted to. 

In this story you see a change in language from the Anglo-Saxon time period to the Medieval Time period, and even to now. In the Anglo-Saxon time period, it is hard to understand what authors are trying to explain. They use an older form of English, and it’s hard to comprehend their slang. In the Medieval time period writings, it gives a better understanding of what is happening in the story. Nowadays, writing is so much easier because we don’t use as many synonyms and make it simple. One thing I noticed in this story that surprised me was the fact that Gawain was recognized as a very brave knight, but when it came down to it, he wasn’t as brave as everyone thought. This also appears in today’s society within many people.

I loved doing this project and learning about some interesting topics. My favorite, The Black Death. It hit Europe and Asia in the mid 1300’s. It spread through Europe when 12 shipped from the Black Sea docked at the Sicilian port of Messing. On the ships their were a lot of sailors but over half were dead. The sailors that were still alive were very sick. Some people believed this plague was a punishment from God to kill the sinners, I like to believe in that too.

I learned about Eric Bloodaxe. He spent time raiding in Scotland and around the Irish Sea. He established himself as ruler of the Viking kingdom of Northumbria. His death in 954 brought the independence of Viking Northumbria to an end. His sons later succeeded in establishing themselves as kings in Norway. The ‘Bloodaxe’ nickname is seen in his Viking raids in Scotland, and his historical end as the last independent king of Northumbria. I also learned about famous vikings, pilgrims, and Joan of arc but I didn’t find those as interesting.

What I took from learning about an Anglo-Saxon hero is that they accomplish things. The time period is a lot more heroic. They went after goals and dreams. Accomplished these dreams by fighting through it. Also by never giving up.

I think the elegies are still seen today in both different and same form. They are different because in our time period we don’t have the “monsters”, heroic war leaders, and the whole heroic view that these great stories have. We are a lot more modern and know what’s going on all the time from social media. We don’t wait for the hero to come back and tell his battle story because we can just look up the news in 5 seconds. They are also the same because we do have hero’s that go out and save people every day. 

What I took from learning about an Anglo-Saxon hero is that they accomplish things. The time period is a lot more heroic. They went after goals and dreams. Accomplished these dreams by fighting through it. Also by never giving up.

I think the elegies are still seen today in both different and same form. They are different because in our time period we don’t have the “monsters”, heroic war leaders, and the whole heroic view that these great stories have. We are a lot more modern and know what’s going on all the time from social media. We don’t wait for the hero to come back and tell his battle story because we can just look up the news in 5 seconds. They are also the same because we do have hero’s that go out and save people every day.

 My hobbies include hanging out with friends, going hunting and fishing. My interest are painting, drawing, and photography.

All rights reserved © 2019 Sami Hammeren

After reading “On Writing Well” by William Zinsser I learned a lot about clutter. I realized I use a lot of clutter in my writing. Also when I talk and tell stories. I have found that there is a lot of clutter in stories that I read every day. It also made me realize how unnecessary it is.

Some common words that are known as clutter words are in, of, for, with, this, that, these, there, so, often, always, and very. I believe the biggest clutter word that is used and hard to get rid of is to. In my English class we wrote an essay and after had to go back and get rid of all the clutter words. I had used “to” about 17 times. It was very hard rewording a lot of my sentences but after a couple paragraphs it became a lot easier. I think after learning about clutter words it will help my writing everyday.

	Important Detail:	Important Detail:	Things to remember for my writing:	Surprised me:
Chapter One:	Most people learn more by rewriting their writing.	There are many different methods with your work.	If you keep rewriting your writing that is your method and that’s fine.	Not everything can be taught about writing.
Chapter Two:	People use unnecessary words in their writing often	A clear sentence is no accident, writing is hard.	Don’t studder in your writing	Writers use words that they don’t know the meaning of
Chapter Three:	Writers are always behind.	You can’t catch clutter at a glance.	Using bigger words rather than small words clutter your writing.	Simplify your writing.
Chapter Four:	Clutter can creep into your style of writing and you won’t even notice.	Use your energy to keep your writing going.	Style is organic if you pick at it to much it will no longer be yours.	That 8 paged articles can be cut down to 4 by taking out all the clutter.
Chapter Five:	Be yourself when you write.	Decluttering will never become a natural habit.	First work hard to get the hang of it.	How basic your writing can be and still be good.

Dear to whom it may concern:

A quote by Winston S. Churchill personally relates; “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: Courage to continue, that counts.” My whole life I have had failure, but I have had courage during the hard times and overcome the failure. I am a great candidate for the Coyote Foundation Scholarship because I am independent, determined, and resilient.

I grew up fast because I have had many family problems. My parents got a divorce when I was nine. After, we lived with my grandparents. During 2012, my mom moved us to Williston, where her boyfriend’s family lived. Then my dad followed and moved to Williston, too. In 2014, I had my worst experience. My dad passed away in an ATV accident down in Kansas during his yearly hunting trip. Being fourteen, coping skills and mechanisms helped me get by. It was a tough path I went down, but I learned decision making without guidance from my father. I had my mom, but communication was not easy. In 2018, I got my first two jobs and since, I have realized I can be successful without someone holding my hand, both mentally and physically. 

My life experiences have made me independent and resilient because I have recovered fast from situations. I have been told by family and friends I am the strongest person they know, but they did not know I did it on my own. I know I can face what comes because I am determined. I will not disappoint my father – I believe he knows what I am doing. The past five years I have pushed myself and steered myself away from bad situations.

The future plan is cosmetology school in Fargo. Cosmetology interests me because I can help people who can not do it themselves, which makes people more confident; ultimately, helping solve problems emotionally. Life is hard but people should push through it, try their hardest, and get what they want. Thank you for taking your time and reading my letter.

Sincerely,

Sami Hammeren

Reflection to my Scholarship Essay: I believe I did very well for myself. I got 100% on this paper. I took out all the clutter, which was very hard and I had a lot.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: Courage to continue, that counts.”

— Winston S. Churchill