Review the old woman's arguments concerning gentility and gentleness, wealth and poverty. Select one point in her argument and explain why it is or is not relevant to our present social situation.
Joshua
10/24/2014 02:49:55 pm
The old woman argues that poverty is not necessarily a bad thing. Rather, it is something not to be ashamed of, because it teaches one to be rich due to the fact that they covet and want nothing of others.
Joshua
10/24/2014 06:25:10 pm
This argument concerning poverty applies to today's society. We can often see in the news about rich people's power hunger or scramble for richness, while the poor are content with what they have and live a good life. Suicide rates among the top rich are also higher than those of lower-income families/individuals. Thus, poverty does indeed teach people to be content with what they have.
Kim Steve
10/26/2014 12:46:13 am
I agree. In today's society, people living in poverty are frequently looked down upon because the public thinks it is the consequence of their laziness. However, having just enough to live on may just be enough, and may be even better since they are not under the pressure of losing any of their possessions.
Alex Lee
10/24/2014 03:42:00 pm
In the Wife of Bath's Tale, the old woman romanticizes poverty. She claims that poverty is "a great help to our capacity for wisdom" (lines 373-374). Yet in contemporary materialistic society, the rich dominates everything including education. Using their tremendous wealth, the rich educate their children while the poor barely receive basic education.This difference ultimately makes the rich wiser and the poor more ignorant, countering old woman's argument.
YuJin Yang
10/24/2014 05:37:29 pm
I agree with Alex because in our present social situation, the rich is in charge of almost everything and they are more educated. The poor people are unable to afford money to receive education, therefore most of them are uneducated. In addition, the rich people have more skills that enable them to earn more money.
Jeyson
10/25/2014 03:15:58 pm
I agree. It is sad to say that money is actually the most important thing in our lives now. People always say that time cannot buy money but in fact money can buy anything these days. If money can buy time, why can't it buy education?
Han Joo Kim
10/26/2014 02:03:43 am
I agree with you in that money can buy many things today. However there are still many things that money can't buy; honor, maybe, happiness, time, etc. Some people even claim that happiness bought with money is superficial. Happiness probably comes best when money is not involved.
Yu Jin Yang
10/24/2014 05:19:45 pm
The old woman in the Wife of Bath's Tale describes that "poverty is good/ A great incentive to a livelihood, / And a great help to our capacity/ For wisdom" (195 lines 371-374). She is trying to say that poverty means having true wisdom that is eternal. Furthermore, she states that poverty "teaches what is holy"(195 line 378). However, it is not relevant to our present social situation. Rich people have more advantages compared to the poor. For example, the rich have more access to resources and have a high standard of living.
Ariel
10/25/2014 11:27:36 pm
I agree. According to the old woman, she believes that poverty reveals humankind's true side. Because poverty "teaches what is holy", it brings people closer to God, the creator of humans. Thus, people will show their most native sides in front of God.
Guillaume
10/26/2014 12:07:17 am
The old woman argues that nobility and good virtue is not necessarily related to a person's family backgrounds or social connections. She believes that one can be born as a noble (duke, king, or the equivalent) and still be a contemptuous person, and the vice versa also holds true. This is especially relevant to the modern society in that there are always people who believe anything can be bought with money. This is also true for corrupt people who achieved high social statuses due to their relations with people who are actually respectable or capable.
Kim Steve
10/26/2014 12:16:21 am
Her ideas on poverty still applies today. The more people have, the harder it is for them to keep what they have. In our society today, the rich seems to be more stressed in keeping their possessions.
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Discussion Board
_Assignment: Students are expected to participate in the
class’ online discussion forum hosted at shrubber.weebly.com.Questions related to assigned readings will
be posted by the teacher each week.Students are expected to post a minimum of one original response per
week.When more than one question is
posted by the instructor in a given week, students may choose to which of the
questions they respond. Students are also expected to comment on at least one
other student’s response to the question.Although these are the minimum requirements for the homework grade,
students are encouraged to engage in further discussion with their classmates
using the forum. These additional responses are OPTIONAL. However, commenting will benefit your participation grade if you did not participate during our whole-class discussion on the day when you post your comment. You DO NOT have an opportunity to make up credit lost for lateness, lack or preparation or violation of classroom/school rules.
Student posts should NOT exceed 100 words.
All responses will be graded on content, organization and grammar.