Critical Essay: Stage 3

Living in today’s world one has access to ample amounts of information collected from previous study, people today rely on this gathered research to develop their own views on topics. Legal views chastise and condemn people for using someone else’s work. From a legal standpoint, reusing anyone else’s work for any purpose is considered illegal. Even though this is considered illegal, in certain instances, modifying and adopting another’s work proves better than trying to work from scratch. Personal use and Profitable use demonstrate two different situations where remixing works of another person proves a better use of one’s creative energy.

Modifying a product for personal use represents the first situation where using another’s studies can aid a person in developing a foundation for a product. As viewed in the computer software field, many people use other people’s works as models for their own works. If people do not aim to market their product, then no harm will come from them using other people’s information as a basis for their own. Computer software modification in this situation would not hurt the sales of the product and instead help sales by satisfying the customer. For this reason, copyright laws should not apply when the person remixing does not plan on marketing this remade work. Ideas stem mainly from past research only a minute number of ideas spring from raw thought. Hindering these ideas with pointless copyright laws that have no effect on the sales of the original product are pointless and hurt society as a whole.

Industrially the world relies on modification of products for profit. Changing a product from an original proves a tricky business; the product must transform completely. When altering a product one has to remember to change the appearance, yet maintaining a similar yet different function from the original work. Competition within the industrial world leads to the creation of high end, efficient products. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales provides an example of this modification, giving insight into how to alter a product. Seeing a venue for improvement Chaucer revisited the original work, The Decameron, and revised it. Freedoms to manipulate alter and hone allowed Chaucer to generate a well respected piece of history.

Many people argue that allowing people to alter another person’s work has also caused more people to plagiarize. Concern that someone will only slightly alter an original work drives people to not appreciate what using other peoples work has allowed our world to accomplish. Chaucer’s remaking of The Decameron contained many similarities to the original, yet despite the similarities Chaucer conveyed a deeper meaning. Through the reconstruction of the Decameron, Chaucer unveiled how revisiting a work can lead to the unmasking of something superior to previous products. Despite the abuse of freedom to recreate many improvements to the world have developed leading to the conclusion that the enhancements outweigh the mistreatment.

So is there a time when remixing someone else’s works proves to be a better use of one’s creative energy? When one is remixing someone else’s work and only plans for its purpose to be personal use, the law should not hinder these people from modifying the original work to fit the needs of the modifier. When one is remixing someone else’s work for profitable use, though, there is only a fine line between whether the remade work can be considered plagiarism or can be considered one’s own work. To make this new work contains no similar features as the original work and make sure the new work not be considered plagiarism, the author must show a level of ingenuity and creativity that will improve society as a whole. For these reasons, there are situations where reusing or remixing someone else’s work is a better use of creative energy than starting from scratch.

Works Cited

Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. 14^th Century. Decameron Web. 30 Jan 2010.http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/decameronNew/DecShowText.php?myID=d01intro&expand=day01&lang=eng.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2007

Critical Essay: Stage 2

Very Rough Draft (Still needs conclusion)

Generally, using someone else’s work is considered to be stealing, but, is there a time when reusing someone else’s work is actually better than making your own work? From a legal standpoint, reusing anyone else’s work for any purpose is considered illegal. Still, there are times when taking someone else’s work and modifying it is better than trying to make your own work from scratch. There are two different situations where remixing someone else’s work is a better use of creative energy rather than starting over from scratch and one where remixing someone else’s work would be bad. The situations where remixing someone else’s work is better are when you plan to remake the product just for your own personal use and when you plan to make enough changes to the product so that it does not resemble the old product, and the situation where remixing is bad is when you change the product only a little and then you market the product as your own.

The first situation where using someone else’s work as a starting point is better is when you plan on modifying the product for your own use and no one else’s. This is especially prevalent in the field of computer software. If you don’t plan on marketing the product, why should you be forbidden from modifying the product you bought to fit your own needs? Modifying computer software in this situation would not hurt the sales of the product and it would make the customer that bought it much happier.

The second situation is when you plan on changing the product so much that it doesn’t resemble the original product at all. This situation is more questionable than the first situation. There is only a thin line separating this situation from the third situation. For this second situation to be alright, the product needs to be changed enough that there is no resemblance to the original product. This should be allowed because if you know that someone can make your product better and market it, you will be more inclined to make the best product that you possibly can. The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer is an example of this modifying a work and claiming it is your own. Chaucer saw how he could improve The Decameron and so he took this original work and made it better while changing it enough that it was his own work and marketed it as his work. This work was so much better that we still study it today. If there had been rules against this, we would not have this great work to study.

The third situation is the one reason why being able to change someone else’s work and calling it your own is bad. There will be some instances where someone will only change the original work a small amount and try to market it as their own work. This would mean that people could make money off of other peoples workTo make improving someone else’s work legal, there would have to be rules on what would be considered enough improvement to make someone else’s work be considered yours. Chaucer’s remaking of The Decameron could be debated to be in this situation. Even though Chaucer’s story has its differences from the original work, the two stories are still very similar.

Insert Conclusion Here

Critical Essay: Stage 1

Thesis:

There are two different situations where remixing someone else’s work is a better use of creative energy rather than starting over from scratch. These situations are when you plan to just use the remade product just for yourself and when you are going to make enough changes to the product that it does not resemble the old product. The only situation where remixing a product is bad is when you only change the product a little and then you try to market the new product as your own work.

Main Points:

Using a remade work for just yourself does not hurt the sales of the product.

If you change the work enough that it doesn’t resemble the original work, you should be allowed to market it.

When you only change the product a small amount and try to remarket it, you would be infringing on the original owners profits and that should be illegal.

Multimodal Donne Annotation: Stage 4

Multimodal Donne Annotation: Stage 3

This rough draft doesn't have any of the pictures in it that I plan to have in the final draft. I am also thinking about putting music to it also.

Multimodal Donne Annotation: Stage 2

IV.

O, my black soul, now thou art summoned
By sickness, Death's herald and champion ;
Thou'rt like a pilgrim, which abroad hath done
Treason, and durst not turn to whence he's fled ;
Or like a thief, which till death's doom be read,
Wisheth himself deliver'd from prison,
But damn'd and haled to execution,
Wisheth that still he might be imprisoned.
Yet grace, if thou repent, thou canst not lack ;
But who shall give thee that grace to begin ?
O, make thyself with holy mourning black,
And red with blushing, as thou art with sin ;
Or wash thee in Christ's blood, which hath this might,
That being red, it dyes red souls to white.

Source:
Donne, John. Poems of John Donne. vol I.
E. K. Chambers, ed.
London: Lawrence & Bullen, 1896. 158-159.

Presentation:

For my presentation, I would like to make a slide show with slides about the annotations. I might also put some audio in the slide show that goes along with the meter if I can find any. I will put some pictures of Donne and some pictures that relate to the Sonnet. The pictures would help enhance the images in the Sonnet.

Outside Sources:

Kuchar, Gary. "Petrarchism and Repentance in John Donne's Holy Sonnets." Modern Philology: Critical and Historical Studies in Literature, Medieval Through Contemporary 105.3 (2008): 535-569. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 5 Mar. 2010.

This source is useful because it talks about Donne's views on redemption. It talks about how Donne's views are darker and more traumatic when it comes to redemption which relates to the darkness of this Sonnet. This is by a reputable author from the University of Victoria.

Hester, M. Thomas. "'Let Them Sleepe': Donne's Personal Allusion in Holy Sonnet IV." Papers on Language and Literature: A Journal for Scholars and Critics of Language and Literature29.3 (1993): 346-350. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 1 Mar. 2010.

This source is useful because it is focused on the 4th Sonnet alone. It analyzes each line of the poem and also talks about how the poem relates to Donne's past experiences. I will use this to help me analyze each line of the poem. This article is by Thomas Hester and it was published in Papers on Language and Literature so it is a reputable source.

Cefalu, Paul. "Godly Fear, Sanctification, and Calvinist Theology in the Sermons and 'Holy Sonnets' of John Donne." Studies in Philology 100.1 (2003): 71-86. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 5 Mar. 2010.

This source talks about how the darkness, fear, and doubt in the Holy Sonnets could potentially stem from his doubts about his salvation. This article talks about how Donne is having doubts about his ability to maintain a holy lifestyle, and this leads to the darkness in the Sonnets. This article is published by the University of North Carolina Press which is a reputable source.

Beaston, Lawrence. "Talking to a Silent God: Donne's Holy Sonnets and the Via Negativa." Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature 51.2 (1999): 95-109. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 5 Mar. 2010.

This source talks about how each Sonnet is not a complete spiritual journey by itself but when all of the Sonnets are put together, they make a complete spiritual journey of the speaker. It talks about how each sonnet doesn't come to a definite resolution. This indefinite resolution is representative of God not answering the speaker and yet the speaker still goes back. I plan to relate this to the overall theme of the Sonnet. This article was published in a journal which makes it a reputable source.

Multimodal Donne Annotation: Stage 1

IV.

O, my black soul, now thou art summoned
By sickness, Death's herald and champion ;
Thou'rt like a pilgrim, which abroad hath done
Treason, and durst not turn to whence he's fled ;
Or like a thief, which till death's doom be read,
Wisheth himself deliver'd from prison,
But damn'd and haled to execution,
Wisheth that still he might be imprisoned.
Yet grace, if thou repent, thou canst not lack ;
But who shall give thee that grace to begin ?
O, make thyself with holy mourning black,
And red with blushing, as thou art with sin ;
Or wash thee in Christ's blood, which hath this might,
That being red, it dyes red souls to white.

Source:

Donne, John. Poems of John Donne. vol I.
E. K. Chambers, ed.
London: Lawrence & Bullen, 1896. 158-159.

Outside Sources:

Hester, M. Thomas. "'Let Them Sleepe': Donne's Personal Allusion in Holy Sonnet IV." Papers on Language and Literature: A Journal for Scholars and Critics of Language and Literature 29.3 (1993): 346-350. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 1 Mar. 2010.

Recasting the Canterbury Tales: Final

For my project, I chose to recast the Miller from the Canterbury Tales as a redneck. The Miller was singing, being very loud and probably had a few drinks. Most of the time, people do not want to associate themselves with rednecks, much like the way people would not tend to associate themselves with the Miller. This blue collar style of humor is why the Miller would make a good modern day redneck. In the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer portrays the Miller as a slightly more crude and less dignified character compared to the rest of the company which is the reason why I chose to recast him as a modern day redneck. I felt that the Miller had the exact same sense of humor, morals and habits that one would relate to a redneck.

The characters in the tale would need to be updated to more modern types of people. The scholar could be updated to a Georgia Tech student, and the carpenter and the clerk could be UGA students. The much more intelligent Georgia Tech student would trick the Georgia students into doing something foolish while he did whatever he pleased. He would use his wit to try to get what he wanted but even his well laid out plans would fall apart in the end.

For the most part, the redneck’s tale would just be a modern version of the miller’s tale. It would just need to be updated to a more modern setting. Also, the hot poker would need to be changed to something more like a drunk person falling in a fire at a party. The part where the scholar tells the carpenter that the world is going to flood could be replaced with the Georgia Tech student convincing the Georgia student that their dorm was about to blow up and they needed to build a bomb shelter for themselves. While he is doing this, the Georgia Tech student would steal the Georgia student’s girlfriend. But, it is easily plausible that a redneck would tell a tale of this nature. It involves cheating and everything going bad for almost everyone.

The video shows what the new Miller would be more like. He would be very redneck and the songs he sings would offend some of the more high class people on the pilgrimage. The redneck is someone that people do not consider high class but they generally are fun to be around and can make some good stories up(especially when alcohol is involved). He would not have a problem with expressing his opinion on anything and he wouldn't care what anyone else thought of him. He just wants to have a good time and enjoy himself.

The video also has examples of how the redneck would live. This trashed room shows how the redneck isn't worried about his outward appearance to other people. It shows that he probably isn't too worried about hygiene and his personal appearance. He is more worried about just living life than dealing with anything that had no effect on his relaxation time or fun time. This carefree redneck lifestyle is exactly the way Chaucer describes the Miller from the Canterbury Tales.

Overall, the redneck is a good fit for the Miller. Chaucer wanted to make a character that wasn't afraid to say what he thought and who just wanted to have some fun even if it was by making fun of other people. He believed that if you wanted to do something, you should go out and do it. I tried to do this with the redneck. He should be a character that stands out from the other characters in the Canterbury Tales but still fit the persona that Chaucer created for the Miller.

Works Cited:

"larry the cable guy christmas carols." youtube. Web. 12 Feb 2010. .

"The Miller." The Canterbury Tales. Web. 12 Feb 2010. .

Recasting the Canterbury Tales: Stage 2

For my project, I chose to recast the Miller from the Canterbury Tales. In the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer portrays the Miller as a slightly more crude and less dignified character compared to the rest of the company. Because of this, I chose to recast him as a modern day redneck. I felt that the Miller had the exact same sense of humor, morals and habits that one would relate to a redneck. The Miller was singing, being very loud and probably had a few drinks. The redneck is someone that people do not consider high class but they generally are fun to be around and can make some good stories up(especially when alcohol is involved). Most of the time, people do not want to associate themselves with rednecks, much like the way people would not tend to associate themselves with the Miller. This blue collar style of humor is why the Miller would make a good modern day redneck.

For the tale, not much needs to be changed. It would just need to be updated to a more modern setting. Also, the hot poker would need to be changed to something more like a drunk person falling in the fire. But, it is easily plausible that a redneck would tell a tale of this nature. It involves cheating and everything going bad for almost everyone. The characters in the tale would need to be updated to farm boys and farmers daughters of today.

The video shows what the new Miller would be more like. He would be very redneck and the songs he sings would offend some of the more high class people on the pilgrimage. He would not have a problem with expressing his opinion on anything and he wouldn't care what anyone else thought of him. He is just wanting to have a good time and enjoy himself. The video also has examples of how the redneck would live. This trashed room shows how the redneck isn't worried about his outward appearance to other people. It shows that he probably isn't too worried about hygiene and his personal appearance.

Overall, the redneck is a good fit for the Miller. Chaucer wanted to make a character that wasn't afraid to say what he thought and who just wanted to have some fun even if it was by making fun of other people. I tried to do this with the redneck. He should be a character that stands out from the other characters in the Canterbury Tales but still fit the persona that Chaucer created for the Miller.

Recasting the Canterbury Tales: Stage 1

Resetting The Canterbury Tales: Stage 4

Britain Dining Hall is a quiet, calm setting on the edge of Georgia Tech’s campus where you can meet los of new people much like the tavern in the Canterbury Tales. Chaucer describes the tavern as a place where people could meet new people. The dining hall is a place where people from all over campus come together to eat. This is one of the easiest places to meet new people on campus. Britain Dining Hall also has other similarities to the tavern in the Canterbury Tales. Besides being on the edge of campus and being a place where you can meet new people, it also serves food and has the same interior and exterior design feeling that one would expect from a tavern that is more out of the way. It has very high ceilings, chandeliers, and ornate windows that feel like a medieval tavern. The General Prologue talks about how the tavern also very big rooms like the main dining room in Britain. There are some differences though. The tavern in the story also has rooms for its guests to stay the night in. Britain does have other rooms for events, but it does not have rooms for people to stay overnight. Besides just talking about the lodgings of the pilgrims, the General Prologue talks about the path the pilgrims would take the next day.

In the Canterbury Tales, the pilgrims that met in the tavern that night all were planning on leaving the following morning to continue their trip towards the holy site in Canterbury. This relates to every Georgia Tech student’s trip to class every day. Every morning, each Tech student embarks on their pilgrimage to the holy site of the classroom. Students usually get together and walk with each other on their way to class and it is completely possible that during this pilgrimage, students could tell each other of stories of what happened during their day or interesting stories they have heard. This is very similar to the theme of the Canterbury Tales where each of the pilgrims tries to tell the best story during the trip. The pictures all relate to the details in the story. In the story, the pilgrims all meet at the tavern at some time after sunset and all the pictures that were taken show the path the Tech students plan to take in the following morning. The pictures also can relate to the beginning of the General Prologue when Chaucer describes how the pilgrims are traveling through nature. The trees in the pictures symbolize this nature and the beauty of Tech’s campus just like Chaucer’s description of the route to Canterbury.

The audio track also fits in with the new setting of the Canterbury Tales. The song talks about running away, which would symbolize the traveling done by the Tech students as they go to class. Overall, I felt that this song would best compliment the pictures taken that show the traveling. So now, please enjoy my short recreation of a modern Canterbury Tales.

Hoobastank. "Running Away." Hoobastank. Island Records, 2002. CD.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (Barnes & Noble Classics). New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2007. Print.

Resetting The Canterbury Tales: Stage 3

Audio: I picked Running Away by Hoobastank to symbolize the traveling done by the pilgrims.

Theme: I picked Britain Dining hall as my setting because of the variety of people that come though there. The dining hall has the same feeling of the tavern in the Canterbury tales in my opinion. It is also very likely that you could meet people with completely different lifestyles as yours in this place.

Thesis: Britain Dining hall is a quite calm setting on the edge of Georgia Tech's campus where you can meet lots of new people much like the tavern in th Canterbury Tales.

Resetting The Canterbury Tales: Stage 2

Resetting The Canterbury Tales: Stage 1