Block Day 10/16/14: Gawain

* Open

• Review

* Quiz
 
* AP M.C. 

* Gawain: Introductory Notes 

• Encyclopedia Britannica:
• "Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knight, also spelled Sir Gawain And The Green Knight: Middle English alliterative poem of unknown authorship, dating from the second half of the 14th century (perhaps 1375). [Arthur, himself, lived perhaps during the late 4th and early 5th centuries.]  It is a chivalric romance that tells a tale of enchantment in an Arthurian setting....The poem is technically brilliant. Its alliterative lines (some 2,500) are broken up into stanzas by short rhyming passages [bob and wheel]; they are tautly constructed, and the vocabulary is astonishingly rich—influenced by French in the scenes at court but strengthened by many dialect words, often of Scandinavian origin, that belonged to northwest England. The blend of sophisticated atmosphere, psychological depth, and vivid language produces an effect superior to that found in any other work of the time."

* Read Sir Gawain

• I'll check journals

* Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: Part IV: Journal 11: 3 Sentences of Three or More for Each (due Tuesday)

1. Note elements of the story you find interesting.  What is the style like?  How does the author describe things?
2. Identify potential symbols in the story.  What makes you think this (item, color, location, character, etc.) is symbolic?  What might it symbolize?  If you have found nothing symbolic by the end of the poem, you should do some rereading. 
3. Since numerology had an enormous impact on and in medieval and Renaissance works, take note of any numerological elements (also, check out the link here to help you make sense of numerological meanings in the poem). You won't find a great deal here...but the subtle reader will find a few instances.
4. Note juxtapositions you encounter in the narrative and consider their dramatic effect. 
5. How do Beowulf and Gawain compare, both as heroes and as examples of the heroic narrative?  
6. What is effects does the bob and wheel have in this chivalric romance?
7. Which AP Open Essay Prompts would work well with this narrative?

HW: Keep Reading Sir Gawain (I expect part three wasn't read very carefully last night; let's finish on Monday night instead)