“He who breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.”
CYCLE 5, CLASS 2 10/7, 10/9
Today I’ll give my lecture on how we got from the Anglo-Saxon period to the late Middle Ages. This is the time period of Chaucer and the Gawain poet, the time of the great Middle English and Middle French Chivalric Romances. We’ll move into the Arthurian Legend and the genre of ROMANCE. Time permitting, we’ll learn a little bit about Middle English, what it sounded like and how it developed as it did.
The texts we’ll use to study this time period are
“Lanval” by Marie de France [PDF provided]
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by an unknown poet
Key questions for this unit:
(1) Beowulf is an epic; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a romance. In what ways is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight different from Beowulf? What are some of the more important values that appear in the world of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that did not appear in the world of Beowulf? In what ways are Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Beowulf similar thematically?
(2) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, like “Lanval,” is an example of Arthurian literature, although Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was apparently written about 200 years later than “Lanval” was. How are the two poems similar? How are they different?
HOMEWORK: By our next class I’d like you to read the poem by Marie de France, “Lanval.” You should use the paper copy I provided to you; if you were absent, you can find an electronic copy here.
CYCLE 5, CLASS 3 10/9, 10/10
Today we’ll use these study questions to move our discussion of Marie de France’s “Lanval”.
HOMEWORK: Please read Fitt I of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Stanzas 1-21, pages 23-42.
CYCLE 5, CLASS 4 10/11, 10/15
Today we’ll begin by giving you a little bit of time to work on the Beowulf and Grendel assignment. I’m very happy to answer any questions you have about what you already have and to help in any way I can.
Then we’ll move to discuss the first Fitt of Sir Gawain.
HOMEWORK: Please read Fitt II of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Stanzas 22-45, pages 42-66.
CYCLE 5, CLASS 5 10/15, 10/17
Let’s look today at a few of your Beowulf and Grendel assignments up on the board before moving to the second Fitt of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. What is chivalry, exactly, and how does Gawain demonstrate the chivalric ethos in the first two fitts of the poem?
HOMEWORK: Please read Fitt III of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Stanzas 46-79, pages 66-100. Please give yourself a little extra time to work through this reading.
CYCLE 6, CLASS 1 10/18, 10/21
Today’s class is devoted to the third Fitt of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. How does the journey of the hunt parallel the bedroom scenes?
HOMEWORK: By our next class please finish Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, pages 100-121.
CYCLE 6, CLASS 2 10/21, 10/23
Today, after a final discussion of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, you’ll take a quiz on what you learned from our discussions of both “Lanval” and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Today’s discussion questions:
Why is Gawain ultimately being tested, do you think? What aspect, or aspects, of his character are ultimately being challenged?
If Gawain fails, how does he fail, exactly, and what do you think Gawain has ultimately learned about himself when he returns to Arthur's court?
How does the quotation above from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy apply to the characters and events of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?
For the quiz, don’t look much further than the unit’s key questions I posted above:
(1) Beowulf is an epic; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a romance. In what ways is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight different from Beowulf? What are some of the more important values that appear in the world of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that did not appear in the world of Beowulf? In what ways are Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Beowulf similar thematically?
(2) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, like “Lanval,” is an example of Arthurian literature, although Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was apparently written about 200 years later than “Lanval” was. How are the two poems similar? How are they different?
HOMEWORK: Prepare for the reading test on our first outside reading of the year, The Remains of the Day.
CYCLE 6, CLASS 3 10/23, 10/24
The Remains of the Day Reading Test
what's due?
Beowulf and Grendel Assignment - 10/18
Arthurian Literature Quiz - 10/21, 10/23
The Remains of the Day Reading Test - 10/23, 10/24
The Power and the Glory Reading Test - 12/9, 12/10
current text to bring daily
current outside reading
Fall 2019 Outside Reading Assignment
texts to buy now
sir gawain and the green knight STUDY LINKS
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Study Guide
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Reading Questions
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Discussion Questions
ONGOING EXTRA CREDIT
Required reading can at times feel like drudgery. And while it's important to do the reading I set for the class, I fully recognize that you'd rather have a say in what it is we read. Unfortunately the freshman curriculum has little student choice built in, so your ongoing extra credit gives you the opportunity to read an outside text in your own time at some point during the semester. I'm very happy to reward you with additional course credit if you take it upon yourself to read a text outside of class and meet with me to discuss it. A few things:
(1) This must be a text you've never read before.
(2) It should be imaginative and of recognized literary merit. The text must be approved beforehand.
(3) The amount of credit awarded is variable depending on the chosen text and how our follow up conversation goes.
(4) While you may read as much as you'd like, I will only award extra credit once per semester.
enjoying literature
Literature's emotional lessons
Authors on the power of literature
How reading makes us more human
STUDYING LITERATURE
"6 reading habits from Harvard"
Achebe, "The Truth of Fiction"
Questions for analyzing novels
Poetry videos
