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1st 6 weeks 1st Semester

Sir Gawain cowering

The Green Knight awaits for Sir Gawain. He will see him in a year and a day. 

Monday September 29th- Friday October 3rd

Due THIS lab day: Completed reading/ studying of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

A TYPED page statement explaining characters Chaucer likes/ dislikes is also due. 

Please bring your book with you. You will need it to follow along with the next set of Chaucer stories.

In-Class:  Test on Canterbury Tales. Make sure you understand characteristics of each person AND the information on Chaucer himself. This info is located at the beginning of the Prologue.

We will read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Please bring your book with you.

Assignments: Read Chaucer's Pardoner's Tale. Be prepared for a test on this by next lab day. Also, please complete any remaining part of Sir Gawain.

TYPE up a page that explains what the Green Knight's purpose was in making Sir Gawain perform this head-cutting ritual. What cowardly mistakes did Sir Gawain do along the way? How will King Arthur react to his cowardice?

Links: http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/gawain.htm

            http://www.csis.pace.edu/grendel/projs4a/gawain.htm

          Short films of Canterbury Tales (includes some previews)

         Nun's Priest's Tale Movie, requires Real Player to view. You can save and download.

Information: Gawain is generally said to be the nephew of Arthur. His parents are Lot of Orkney and Morgause (though his mother is said to be Anna in Geoffrey of Monmouth). Upon the death of Lot, he becomes the head of the Orkney clan, which includes in many sources his brothers Aggravain, Gaheris, and Gareth, and his half-brother Mordred. Gawain figures prominently in many romances. In France he is generally presented as one who has adventures paralleling in diptych fashion but not overshadowing the hero's, whether that hero be Lancelot or Perceval. In the English tradition, however, it is much more common for Gawain to be the principal hero and the exemplar of courtesy and chivalry, as he is in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the other Arthurian romances of the Alliterative Revival. In Malory's Morte d'Arthur, however, he has a role similar to that in the French romances, in that Lancelot is the principal hero.

THIS IS THE END OF THE FIRST 6 WEEKS. GRADES WILL BE HANDED OUT IN SCHOOL OCTOBER 7TH  .