The Canterbury Tales Writing Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Canterbury Tales Writing Assignment - Essay Example Later on, the Miller’s Tale tells a rather lustful and vulgar story of a Carpenter and his wife who deceives her husband with a clerk. Overall, the loathsome and vulgar character of the Miller surpasses the aversion of other characters from The Canterbury Tales. The Miller’s Tale effectively illustrates the lecherous personality of the Miller who narrates a lewd story of a carpenter named, John and his wife, Alisoun. John, who works as a carpenter rents out a room of his house to a student named Nicholas. Another clerk named Absolon is also there in town who later falls in love with Alisoun. The story exhibits a high degree of deception where Alisoun becomes involved with Nicholas as well as Absolon at the same time while her husband leaves town for a few days. At another occasion, Nicholas fools John of a deluge of the same intensity as that of Noah’s time. John climbs into a basket to save himself from the flood while Nicholas and Alisoun are spending time toge ther in their bed. At the same time, Absolon arrives and brands Nicholas upon which he cries â€Å"Water!† (Chaucer 3815). Upon hearing this, John cuts the rope to his basket and falls down. The townspeople arrive at the scene and laugh at John. The whole story of the carpenter’s wife, Alisoun cheating her husband by having an affair with two younger men at the same time represents an indecent and boorish side to the personality of the Miller. Thus, this example suggests the lecherous internal character of the Miller apart from his already obnoxious physical outlook. The Miller is a character possessed not only by a vile internal nature but also an outrageous physical character. The detail regarding the Miller’s activities and interests build on to his strong and physical personality. In the prologue, Chaucer introduces its readers to the Miller’s most regular practice of wrestling where he always wins the ram (548). His ability to break doors with his he ad (Chaucer 550-551) and the wrestling matches he has won demonstrate his strong physical capabilities adding on to his huge and disgusting outlook. Further details of his appearance reveal his unappealing outward image that makes him an ugly individual. The descriptions of ugly features including his red beard, huge physique, wart with tufts of hair, and huge dark nostrils display a repulsive character that conjures up horrific images in the mind of the readers. As a person closely observes the explanation of the Miller’s personality, it is not hard to picture a disgusting character with repulsive features that is dishonest and vulgar by nature. During his conversation with the Host prior to the narration of his tale, he announces that he is drunk and that he should be forgiven in case he says anything wrong. When he goes on to tell his tale, his story points out the immoral side of wives. The Miller’s huge personality along with his red beard and hairy wart represent a coarse side to the character of the Miller who although has a large physique but little intelligence. Apart from the Miller’s rude and ribald inclinations, he is also a dishonest man in his business. The Miller is not only a lustful and physically disgusting character, but also a dishonest man who tricks his customers by stealing corn or getting them to pay more (Chaucer 562). With the huge

Electri City and From Telegraph to Internet Essay

Electri City and From Telegraph to Internet - Essay Example The French engineer Nicholas Cugnot (1769) invented the first self-propelled transport - a three-wheeled tractor. It was used by military to haul artillery and reached speeds of 21/2 mph. Cugnot recorded the first accident in a mechanized vehicle which landed him in financial problems when his financiers pulled the plug on him. Several improvements were done of this 'car' each model becoming faster than previous generation culminating in shift from mechanical to modern electrical cars. The steam engines introduced a revolution in transportation. Samuel Homfray funded adoption of steam power in 1803 and Richard Trevitheck (1771-1833) managed to build the first steam propelled tramway locomotive. It carried a load of more than 10 tons over a distance of 9 miles at an average speed of 41/2 miles. Man's desire for speed is illustrated by the story of Baron von Drais who invented the bicycle in 1817. This instrument which was initially made of wood enabled Drais "to navigate the royal gardens faster". The machine was initially powered by pushing using feet enabling the rider to glide along. Several modifications led to the bicycle as we know it today. All the transport inventions were driven by man's need for speed. ... All this was achieved by man's craving for greater speed. Space tourism beckons with the first space tourist having been recorded in 2004. Many more will follow as man's journey leads to other planets and beyond. The black spot of all this is that the earth's environment has been affected by the road and rail network that crisscrossing the earth bringing pollution and upsetting ecosystems and scenery. Telegraph to internet The invention of telegraph by Joseph Henry in 1831 speeded up long-distance communication by decoupling communication from human travel. Alexander Bell's telephone invention that followed later has evolved into the ubiquitous mobile cell phone network of today. The internet has taken mankind on another giant leap forward. From dawn of time man used signs and sounds to communicate with each other. The earliest appearance of printed messages is traced to the Chinese in 3500 B.C. They used paper-like material to pass messages in their primitive postal network around 900 B.C. Bound books started appearing around 100 A.D. and then newspapers and magazines followed around 1450. The typewriter only appeared as late as 1714 A.D. Henry's telegraph sent messages as a sound on metal wires. Bell reasoned that it should be possible to send complete human speech over wires. By 1876 he had perfected his telephone and by 1914 the first transcontinental call could be made. Around 1896 Guglielmo Marconi had shown that you could dispense with connecting wires and use radio waves to carry both telegraph and voice. For a time things remained pretty much the same on the communications front for a while as inventors as inventors explored the possibilities of other communications such as radio,