Values of Modern America (edited)

It is a common belief that the core values we have today are somehow better than 7th century Anglo-Saxon ones, that ours are less "shallow" and more important. Is this belief really true? Are we any better off, in terms of what we see as ideal, than 600's England? On the contrary, it seems to me that we have circled back around to where we started.
The Anglo-Saxons greatly prized heroism, so much that practically the only literature we have from them is epic tales of heroes, like Beowulf. However, this heroism was less like the heroism we might think of today and more like simple expressions of one's physical prowess by fighting evil creatures. At first, with a glance at what we consider heroism today, this seem changed completely. However, one has only to ask what most of today's high school students place first. The answer is their athletics. This modern athleticism is the direct parallel to yesterday's heroism.

The Anglo-Saxons valued art, but only so far as it pertained to war. They carved intricate patterns and pictures into their armor, but little else.Today's Americans also value art, but only as far as it is easy to digest. We listen to mass-produced music and think a photograph much better than a painting. Consumerism has returned us to a limited understanding of art.

Thirdly, just as the Anglo-Saxons believed in fate, so, in a way, do many of us. As learn more and more of the biology of the brain and of societal influences, more and more people have concluded that we are not as in control of our own life as we seem. While this link is weaker than the other two, it is still worth bringing up.

Values of Modern America

It is a common belief that the core values we have today are somehow better than 7th century Anglo-Saxon ones, that ours are less "shallow" and more important. Is this really true? Are we any better off, in terms of what we see as ideal, than 600's England? On the contrary, it seems to me that we have circled back around to where we started.
The Anglo-Saxons greatly prized heroism, so much that practically the only literature we have from them is epic tales of heroes, like Beowulf. However, this heroism was less like the heroism we might think of today and more like simple expressions of one's physical prowess by fighting evil creatures. At first, with a glance at what we consider heroism today, this seem changed completely. However, one has only to ask what most of today's high school students place first. The answer is their athletics. This modern athleticism is the direct parallel to yesterday's heroism.

The Anglo-Saxons valued art, but only so far as it pertained to war. They carved intricate patterns and pictures into their armor, but little else.Today's Americans also value art, but only as far as it is easy to digest. We listen to mass-produced music and think a photograph much better than a painting. Consumerism has returned us to a limited understanding of art.

Thirdly, just as the Anglo-Saxons believed in fate, so, in a way, do many of us. As learn more and more of the biology of the brain and of societal influences, more and more people have concluded that we are not as in control of our own life as we seem. While this link is weaker than the other two, it is still worth bringing up.

What is this blog?

So my British Literature class required that I make a blog, and I decided to name it Literish Britature, after what I have jokingly referred to the class as for the past few weeks. Also, because I'm being random. here's a picture of a lemur.

On this blog I will be doing English assignments, but I might also post random observations on the topics we discuss in class. I might also eventually need to use it for Philosophy of Religion (henceforth refferred to as Phil-Rel) assignments. More on this later. Or maybe not. Who knows? Oh and by the way, my name is Alex Mason. That might come in handy someday.