Portfolio

Cover Letter

            Greetings, fellow Block 4 English-goers. I hope you’ve all had an exciting, eventful year in our class; I know I have. I also hope that you’ve learned something about yourselves as writers throughout the course of this year; again, guilty. But really, that’s enough about you guys for a while. Let’s shift our insightful gaze over to the real target of this assignment: yours truly.

            As you know, I have three other assignments in my writing portfolio besides this one. The paper I chose to revise was my History/English Research Paper. I feel like I did a good job with the draft, but when it came time to get the gears turning, I let myself down. So, I’m revisiting that to see if I squeeze the full value out of that paper.

The second assignment I have is the transformation, or “Writing Remix”.  I chose to revise my In-Defense-of-Food-style blog post, “In Defense of Electronics: A Nerd’s Manifesto.” I felt like that one would be the most fun to revisit, sense I really got to express things about my life that I truly enjoy. I thought, “If I go back to it, maybe I’ll have more fun [than normal].” Because, you know, we have fun on every assignment no matter what it’s about, right guys? …Guys?

The third assignment would be my Hits/Misses assignment. This one’s pretty straight forward: my two hits were my “In Defense of Electronics” and “Hurricane Moment”.  My misses were my History/English research paper and “I am a writer who…”.

I think that as a writer, I do a good job of using an above-average vocabulary, paired with a more or less flowing nature to a lot of what I write. Since the beginning of the year, I have improved upon my abilities to transition between paragraphs, and to incorporate a specific tone into my pieces of writing.

I need to work on motivating myself to write, for one thing. I know we’ve all been down this road before: We all admit that we don’t like writing about boring stuff, and we acknowledge that we need to find a way to get pumped for the stuff that comes along in life that doesn’t motivate us (not to mention the papers later on that won’t motivate us). Am I right so far? Well, that’s all fine and dandy, but when it comes down to it, I find myself rather reluctant to jump into the topics that don’t peak my interests.

I know this year hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows for us; I’ll be honest, it wasn’t my most fun year of English in my school career. However, as “horrible” and “gruesome” as it may have been, it was also not my least favorite year of English. Yes, it may have been hard. Yes, we may have had to read books that we didn’t necessarily enjoy, or even understand, for that matter. All this may be true… but you know what? We needed this, everybody. All complaints aside, I believe that we needed this year to happen the way it did, so that we could develop not only as writers, but students in general. We needed to be able to handle all this stuff. You know why? I’ll tell you why: it doesn’t get any easier from here. And if this year was really that bad, what’s there to worry about?


HITS AND MISSES

Hits: Hurricane Moment / In Defense of Electronics 
Misses: History- English joint paper / I am a writer who...

REVISION

Evolution of Weapons and Warfare during the Medieval Period in Europe

      Throughout the history of medieval Europe, warfare techniques evolved in response to changes in weaponry and culture, and used different tactics and utilities according to who they were fighting, and the conditions of the battle.  There are five major factors that impacted the evolution of weapons and warfare.

      The first major factor involves how and why the strategies of the commanders evolved throughout this era. Each commander no doubt had their own specific ideology, therefore making each one unique in some way. However, strategies had to be formed or altered around the knowledge that weapons kept evolving, and battlefields kept changing. In this instance, King James I of Aragon talks about how his army, which traditionally only wielded lances, changed  its battle strategy based on the identity of the enemy and the location of the engagement: (“Let us put twenty horse in armor in the upper road, and twenty more in the road below; we will give the shields to the esquires; the crossbowmen shall go behind the esquires, and the men who are to cut down the wheat will be just behind the crossbowmen.") On the day of the razing, the enemy army didn’t do a thing about James’ approach because they saw how prepared he was and the skill with which he had assembled his forces. They knew that open conflict would prove advantageous for the King’s forces (King of Aragon). In this way, with superior planning and greater knowledge of both his utilities and that of his enemy, James the Conqueror was victorious in his mission.

      The second major factor that impacted the evolution of weapons and warfare was how and why the construction of castles for protection in Europe forced warfare techniques to change and weapons to evolve (i.e., development and use of siege towers, battering rams, catapults, etc.). As made clear in the previous paragraph, siege warfare was a crucial part of the conflict in medieval Europe. Mangonels, for example, were the siege weapon of choice in the beginning of the medieval period. They were stone-throwing catapults originally used by the Romans, which had been adopted by European forces. When stone castles began to be built across Europe after the First Crusade, they were of little use against the new defenses. The stone made it much harder for sieging armies to breach the walls of structures. However, when the counterweight trebuchet came into use, those responsible for designing fortifications were forced to make drastic changes. The counterweight trebuchet was a different type of catapult, able to send stones weighing hundreds of pounds flying towards the enemy. This new technology posed a large threat to traditional curtain walls, so architects began to layer castle defenses one after the other. There would still be an outer wall, but within it would be larger, thicker structures to block attacks. They also rounded towers located on the battlements in order to parry the projectiles being launched. If the catapults weren’t able to puncture the defenses, battering rams could be employed. Another tactic was to burrow under the castle itself, to weaken the structural integrity of the fortress. Moats were dug around the castle to hinder not only the progress of these assaults, but also the enemy’s ability to bring siege towers to the outside of the castle. The weaker points of the structures were bolstered by added reinforcements and auxiliary protection. All these advancements on both sides of the fight kept siege warfare more or less a fair fight, until the commencement of cannons into European warfare, during the fifteenth century, made stone castles antiquated and practically useless (Jones 82).

      The third factor that affected the evolution of warfare was how and why armies were recruited, organized, and rewarded. There were three principal types of soldiers in Europe during the Middle Ages: the foot soldier, the archer, and the most famous and probably most important, the knight. Men who were allowed to become knights evolved significantly during this period of time.  As time went on, knighthood became more enclosed in families, and it was nigh impossible for a man of the lower status to become one.  Those with the appropriate backgrounds would begin their careers as pages, before being promoted to squire. As a squire, they lived and served a full-fledged knight, who instructed them in the various aspects of knighthood, such as combat training and horse-back riding. After a number of years and/or when they were deemed fit to proceed into knighthood, they would participate in the “accolade” ceremony, something that has been associated with knights throughout popular culture and is even still practiced today; the touching of a sword on the shoulder. (Grant 67).  In Robert Jones’ Knight - the Warrior and World of Chivalry, he highlights how knights embraced the code of chivalry and took an oath to do virtuous things, fight fairly, be loyal to their comrades and lords, and respect women.  Overtime they began to think of themselves as more of an elite group and began to capture other knights versus killing them, out of a sense of fraternity.

      The use of mercenary soldiers, which included large numbers of highly skilled archers, also increased significantly during the Middle Ages as highlighted in the following passage by Peter Tudobode written in 1097-1098:  “All of our leaders and princes entrusted the protection of the castle to Raymond of Saint-Gilles because he had more knights in his household and also more to give.  …Raymond of Saint-Gilles secured knights and retainers through either wealth or compacts for the purpose of protecting the castle” (Tudebode).

            The next major factor that had an impact on weapons was how and why specific weapons were developed, and how they evolved to become more effective in battle throughout this period. Weapons evolved because people kept finding ways to stop them.  Take the bow and arrow for example:  use of shields mitigated the impact of wooden arrows.  Arrow tips that pierced shield were developed to improve their effectiveness.  In response to this change in arrow design, the shields were made stronger and were reinforced with metal versus wood.  The development of the longbow allowed archers to attack their enemies for far distances.  Use of the longbow affected the effectiveness of solders on horseback as well (McDonald).

      Another excerpt from Robert Jones’ Knight details how the evolution of weaponry can be seen in the design changes in swords, maces, hammers, and plate armour.  Use of swords against primitive shields resulted many casualties until plate armour was developed.  Once plate armour became widely used, swords were interchanged with maces and hammers because they were more effective against the tougher material.

      The last factor that impacted the evolution of weapons and warfare throughout medieval Europe was how and why the emergence of gunpowder affected warfare at the end of this era. In Military History - the Definitive Guide to the Objects of Warfare, Gareth Jones explains how gunpowder, which was developed in China in the 9^th century, entered the European military scene in the early 1500’s in the form of cannons.  The use of gunpowder made sieges shorter in duration because the castle walls were damaged more quickly, despite the fact that the earliest cannons were notoriously inaccurate.  Once the soldiers inside the castles acquired cannons, quite often from the armies that they defeated, the sieges became longer as the cannons inside the castle fired back at their enemies.

      Gunpowder weaponry was already a tried and true method by the middle of the 15^th century. Historians know that the recipe for gunpowder was known by Roger Bacon in the 13^th century. After the first reference to “cannons of metal” in Florence in 1326, firearms were commonly brought up, specifically in urban records, along with stone cannonballs and the gunpowder recipe. Only 50 years later, gunpowder weaponry was making a big impact on siege warfare. (Keen 274).

      In Military History, Jones explains how the matchlock arquebus emerged in the late 15^th Century and replaced the longbow as the primary ranged weapon of the infantry soldier. Skill requirements for soldiers using matchlock arquebus were lower than those for archers which made it possible for more soldiers of varied skills to use them. He then goes on to talk about how gunpowder made it easier to engage enemies from further away, reducing the exposure of the soldiers to the attacks of their enemies.  Cannons made preparation for warfare more difficult, since the cannons were hard to transport over undeveloped terrain.    

      Gunpowder had a huge psychological impact on armies as well.  The sound of explosions and the sight of flashes of light and projectiles landing nearby frightened the average soldier and their animals and often caused them to flee from the battlefield. 

      The development of warfare during the medieval period in Europe centered on how the weapons and soldiers evolved, with a focus on making war more efficient and generating fewer losses. If smiths on one side could create weapons of superior quality than those on the other side, it made a remarkable difference. With that being said, credit cannot be given totally to the weapons and their creators. It must also go to the warriors; the commanders who taught their troops how to use them, and the troops  who wielded those weapons in times of great peril and strife, to fight for a cause they believed was worthy of their lives.

Works Cited

Grant, Nick. Warriors. Thunder Bay, 1999. Fact Finder Guide. Print. Pgs. 67

Jones, Gareth, ed. Military History - the Definitive Guide to the Objects of Warfare. First Amer.     Ed. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2012. Print. Pgs. 82-85, 86-87, 116-117

Jones, Robert. Knight - the Warrior and World of Chivalry. New York: Osprey, 2011. Print. Pgs. 62-93, 146

Keen, Maurice, ed. Medieval Warfare - a History. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. Print. Pgs. 113-135, 163-185

King of Aragon, James, I. James I (the Conqueror), King of Aragon: Chronicle. Cambridge:

       In Parentheses, 2000. Print. Catalan Series.

McDonald, James. "Medieval Weapons." Medieval Warfare. N.p., 1 Oct. 2010. Web.

Tudebode, Peter. Peter Tudebode: Historia De Hierosolymitano Itinere.

      Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1974. Print.



WRITING REMIX

               Screens that burn crimson

Words of concern hit stiff ears

We have the control

^^^ANALYSIS ^^^

     The audience for this piece is anyone who uses electronics that could be considered to have questionably appropriate content and/or detrimental effects on the human body. I chose this because I fall into that category, and it is easier for people to connect if they find common ground. This piece uses words like "control" to grab the reader's attention with its double meaning as the physical object, a game controller. Before, this post was focused more towards the people who judge the users, and now its directed at the users themselves. Furthermore, the audience has shrunk a little further to include only those that watch and/or play things involving graphic content. The purpose of this is to reassure anyone that might have doubts that they have the control when it comes to how games affect their lives. Its an appropriate purpose, because it still involves electronic devices and their connection to human health. As for change, the original purpose was to inform the outsiders of the situation, whereas this is to make a statement to those involved with the subject. I hope that even by simply bringing up the topic of gaming and control, this poem will make them think about how they live, and whether or not it is a healthy lifestyle for them.

     My stance on this topic is that it is not the electronics that pose a threat, but the manner in which people go about interacting with them. That has stayed constant throughout this process. As I mentioned before, I use imagery, such as crimson, to reach out to the 'users' and try to get them to evaluate their own situation. Crimson plants the thought of blood into the reader's mind Now, instead of a straight up informative few paragraphs, this is a haiku poem. Also, where the original only included the ideas of physical health issues and things of that sort, this poem takes it a step further and brings in the more mental aspects of the topic (i.e. how exposure to these things affects the reader).