During the early 1300s, the English and the Scottish had very different views on the Scottish people; the English treated them as brutes, cowards, and greedy murders, and the Scottish glorified themselves to the point of calling themselves holy.
In the minds of the English, William Wallace -- a hero for the Scots -- was viewed as a corrupt, insane man who, when in danger, saved himself and let others do his dirty work. They took much joy in the gruesome and painful death of Wallace, believing that he fully deserved it for his crimes.
Robert the Bruce was a hero for the Scottish, but the English considered him a selfish, volatile man who murdered for his own benefit. He demanded to be the King of Scotland, and when John Comyn disagreed, the English report that Robert the Bruce was not at all hesitant to run him through with a sword.
The Scottish, however, consider the English villains, because of their desire to conquer more and more of Scotland's land, and thought that Scotland was favored by the Lord Himself. They even appealed to the Holy Father and requested for Scotland and its freedom to be sacred, so that the English may not disturb them.
The English and Scottish both exaggerated the truth of what Scotland was really like, and though there may be truth to their words, both nations were too biased against one another and to self-absorbed with their own territories to see what that truth really was.
Split up your first sentence
ReplyDeleteDon't say "at that time"
do the dirty work for him---> do his dirty work
get rid of apparent
get rid of for no reason but
though----> however
change -- because of their desire to conquer more and more of Scotland's land -- to ,because of their desire to conquer more and more of Scotland's land,
Let's focus on the thesis statement: what is the argument you are going to make -- and importantly -- how does that argument get to the "deeper issues" about identity and nationalism?
ReplyDelete