TODAY IN CLASS
1. finished watching "Becket"
2. short quiz on days 3-4
3. some class time to work on study guide

FOR TOMORROW
Complete the study guide.
In class tomorrow--a "Becket"-based writing assignment; alternate work for those who missed MORE THAN one day of the film (of the four). One additional activity.

TODAY IN CLASS
Day 3 of Becket; we finish tomorrow.  There will be a short quiz covering both today's and tomorrow's portions at the conclusion of the film tomorrow.  A different out of class assignment will follow.

1st period got the first part of the Renaissance study guide in class today (had been available online yesterday).All classes received the second sheet, and everyone was advised to staple them together.  

FOR TOMORROW
You should at least get through Part I, the historical and cultural section. 

THEN--
In class tomorrow, there should be at least some time following the film; you should get partway done with Part II, on the literature.

That should leave a very reasonable amount to do as Thursday night homework.

HOWEVER YOU PACE YOURSELF, this completed study guide is due on Friday, Feb. 1, and will be collected at the beginning of class.

TODAY IN CLASS
More of Becket--short exit quizzes in 3rd/5th.  First period did not have an "exit" quiz, but can expect a short accountability before we resume the film tomorrow.

3rd/5th also received the first part of the Renaissance study guide that's due on Friday.  It covers the historical/cultural section, and just the beginning of the Literary History section; tomorrow you will get the rest.

1st period--sorry, did not have it in class, but you and ANYONE WHO WAS ABSENT TODAY can access it here and print it out for yourself:
Renaissance Guided Worksheet Part I

FOR TOMORROW
You should get started on the Renaissance introduction.

TODAY IN CLASS
We started watching the film "Becket," which operates both as a culmination of the previous units and a transition to the Renaissance in terms of the church and state/political power struggles are concerned.

There will be super-quick "exit quizzes" each day (points compiled), and a writing assessment over the bigger ideas.  Pay special attention to Becket's own statements about "honor" (there were several in today's installment).

TO START NOW--DUE BY FRIDAY
The last literary/historical introduction that we will do in full is for the Renaissance.  You'll need to read it all outside of class time, respond to questions to make your own study guide, turn that in on Friday, and insure its correctness in class on Monday.  And yes, later on, there will be a quiz.

Page numbers:  292-305.  Start looking it over.  Study guide available tomorrow.

5th Period, This is for YOU

Yes, it applies to everyone else as well, but I'll be able to talk directly with 1st and 3rd even in our super-short class tomorrow.

But I want you to know where/how to apply your energy.  You should already know that your highest priority is to come into the final with two solid preparation sheets for two of your four potential essay topics.  (Remember, only THREE will actually be on the test; you don't know which one I will leave out.  You will choose from among the three.)

However, you also have a long study sheet that organizes all the potential material for the scantron section or the short paragraph response.   Here's what I want you to know about that:  I have decided NOT to ask General Prologue questions for Chaucer (so no pilgrim descriptions!), and I've even decided not to put the "Pardoner's Tale" on the test.  And I am asking fewer (hopefully easier)questions about "The Wife of Bath's Tale," "Le Morte d'Arthur," and the ballads. 

Le Morte . . .Reading Check Answers

1. Sir Gawain convinces Arthur that it is too late and if they retreat they will become laughingstocks/be humiliated

2. Every day Sir Gawain rides up to the city walls and challenges any one of Sir Launcelot's knights who will accept his offer, and he defeats them all.

3. Because of an enchantment known only to Arthur and himself, Sir Gawain's strength increases from 9 a.m. to noon and then diminishes until it returns to normal.

4. He had false letters written and sent to himself claiming that King Arthur had died in battle, and then read them to the assembled nobles and persuaded them to elect him king.

5a. He was seated on a chair on a platform (or scaffold) but falls down into a pit of water filled with frightening beasts that tear him apart.
5b. NOT to fight Modred the next day because he and his knights would surely die; instead, he was to wait for Launcelot and his reinforcements to come .

6. he was bitten by a poisonous snake (an adder)

7. As Arthur stabbed Modred with his spear, Modred uses his last strength to draw up and land a blow with his sword into the side of Arthur's head.

8. Nothing but the wind upon the waves (rippling waves)
9. A hand appears from beneath the surface, takes hold of the sword and waves it thrice (3 times),  then disappears with the sword

10. the Archbishop of Canterbury (the priest who had been banished by Modred)

(11 answers; 22 points)

Saturday Update

First, I put a composite list of virtues associated with chivalry on a quick post yesterday.  Please check it out--your book DOES cover most of these somewhere or other, but they are scattered through several different places.

Second, in case by any chance you have lost your review sheet, here it is again:
Jan2013 Semester Final Review Sheet

Third, I intended to also link the specific preparation instructions for the on-the-test essay to Google Drive.  Unfortunately, I apparently saved that only to the school desktop rather than to the server, so I'm reconstructing from the out-of class instructions for last year, and I hope I covered most of it right!!  If you DO have your own sheet from class, please just use that . . .

The Concept of Knighthood—A Comparison/Contrast Essay

          Knights were featured in four of our texts, though not every question requires all four:

§  from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales—both the knight in General Prologue and the knight in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale

§  the Pearl Poet, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight  (questions will involve Gawain)

§  Sir Thomas Malory, excerpt from Le Morte d’Arthur

SAMPLE PROMPT--the one we worked with in class (reviewing general traits, practicing how to change the general "Discuss . . ." into a working thesis.  You couldn't refine and strengthen the thesis, probably, until actually gathering all the hard-core "data" from the texts and shaping the deeper ideas for an essy.)

 Discuss the view of knighthood by comparing and contrasting Sir Gawain, the knight from the General Prologue, and the knight from The Wife of Bath’s Tale

CHOICES FOR YOU TO PREPARE--REMEMBER, YOU WILL NEED TO PREPARE TWO, BECAUSE i WILL PUT ONLY THREE OPTIONS ON YOUR ACTUAL TEST.  YOU WILL NEED TO HAVE TWO PREPARED IN CASE I LEAVE OUT THE ONLY ONE YOU WORKED WITH.

1) Discuss the role of a challenge/proposition/deal/game (you pick which term you like) by comparing and contrasting what happens in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (remember there are 2 games) and in The Wife of Bath’s Tale.

2) Discuss learning a lesson by comparing and contrasting Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wife of Bath’s Tale.

3) Discuss deception (and appearances) by comparing and contrasting Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wife of Bath’s Tale.

4) Discuss violations of the code of chivalry by comparing and contrasting Le Morte d’Arthur and EITHER Sir Gawain and the Green Knight or The Wife of Bath’s Tale.

Ground Rules:

§  Although each prompt begins with the general word “discuss,” you must create an appropriate THESIS for your essay. 

§  As a comparison/contrast paper, your essay must utilize a point by point or subject by subject organizational style and NOT an overview of similarities and differences.  [This is the part we addressed in class on Friday using the cat/dog comparison-contrast.]

§  Your actual on-the-test essay will have a shortened intro paragraph--just a get us started sentence that probably includes the works and some sense of focussing reader attention, and then your actual thesis (already written on the prep sheet, though you will be free to "tweak" it on your exam paper).

§  You must have at least eight (8) quotations from the texts, fairly evenly distributed among your body paragraphs.  What people say is fine, of course, but so are passages of description or author commentary.These should be fluently integrated into your writing, and it is fine--often even preferably--to cite only partial sentences from the text.

§  In-text citations:  Use line numbers for the poetry and page numbers for Le Morte d’Arthur.  For the sake of simplicity I am allowing you NOT to include a Works Cited page for this paper.

§  Use standard academic style 

Fourth, because 5th period will have their test on Wednesday, I went ahead and gave them the two 

sheets for writing down their basic structure and quotes for the two essay preps.  Everyone else will get 

those on Tuesday.  I didn't actually WANT you to have them, because I want to reinforce the idea that

planning, thinking, being thoughtful and reflective about what you are claiming and how to support it are all the key things now.  Do that on scratch paper.  You can list out quotes in shortened form, or where to find them.  BUT ABSOLUTELY KEEP TRACK OF THE LINE NUMBERS (pages for LeMorte) because you MUST have them in the essay your write in class.

.  Though we've talked about chivalry fairly extensively and there are several points in the textbook (overall medieval introduction; specific intro material for works that focus on knights), I decided to give you a fairly comprehensive list, in no particular order.  But you should be aware of the following virtues of chivalry:

            humility

            loyalty to God, king, and country

            courage

            honor

            being true to one’s word,

            protection of the weak

            respect for women

            generosity

            fairness to enemies

            courtesy

            developing one’s skills

            determination to fight evil

            

TODAY IN CLASS
1.  I collected the few remaining "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" "Finishing up. . ." worksheets from people who apparently did not realize I'd collected them yesterday.

2. I stamped yesterday's homework, the steps Robin Hood takes to keep the prisoners from being executed.  I did NOT collect those because . . .

3. In 1st and 3rd we did two more ballads, and I added questions on "Barbara Allen."  In 5th we spent time on the finals prep hand-out, and barely read one ballad.

In class tomorrow--
We'll spend a little more time on ballads, including a few more questions, and I'll collect your responses.

You will receive the prompts for the on-the-final essay.

1st and 3rd will have a chance to ask questions about the hand-out; be sure you've read it carefully. 

There will be a  bit of in-class prep time for the main essay portion of the final tomorrow; practically all of Friday and Tuesday will be further preparation time.

FOR TOMORROW
It's never to early to start studying; there's plenty to review now even though you won't get the essay prompt choices until tomorrow.

FOR WEDNESDAY:
• Read pp. 216 -217 on Ballads
• Read "Robin Hood and the Three Squires" pp. 220-223
• List all the specific steps Robin Hood takes to rescue the three squires

 from execution.

List them on a clean sheet of paper, marking it as “Robin Hood” #1.

We will do more with this IN CLASS tomorrow as we discuss the poem

and look at the other two short ballads

Gawain

TODAY IN CLASS
First, a correction to Hand-out #2, my summary for stanza 66;  on the second day, after the Lord presents the boar's head and flanks to Gawain, he bestows TWO kisses (not one).

I am going to combine the "what we did part" with "what you need to do if you missed class today--regardless of which section you are in.  There had been slightly different responsibilities on Thursday night.

1.  We read the very broad summary in italics at the top of p. 237 in the textbook, and discussed what aspects of the work as a whole are really undercut by such a sweeping and superficial account.

2. For classes which had not done so, we looked closely at the content of stanzas 71-72 (the start of Gawain hand-out #3 for most of you; 1st period had gotten that on Wednesday, but those stanzas were also the start of the longer 71-74 plus 75/77 hand-out I asked people to label Hand-out #3.)  Focus here was plot (what happened) as well as continued emphasis on Gawain's politeness and willingness to tell the truth, even if might have made things easier to lie.  (Be sure to know what that key issue was).

3.  Stanzas 73-74 on the hand-out; pp. 237 and p. 239 in the text.  Objects:  know what happens; trace the thinking/reasoning of both Gawain and the lady; understand when there is an unstated or more important reason.  Also, though most people feel that the translation that appears in the textbook is more clear overall, there are selected spots where students felt that the hand-out version was preferable (better/more effective).

People were supposed to have read farther than this--either finished the hand-out, or have read what was in the book, but in class we did not go beyond Stanza 74. Week-end:

1.  Everyone needs to have finished all the hand-out material:

• the rest of Packet #3 (stanzas 75 and 77) 
• Packet #4, which is John Gardner's translation of much (not all) of the poem's conclusion 

2. Our work on Monday will involve the textbook plus your hand-outs.  Be sure to have them all with you.  

I

Read with Care--Different for Each Class!!

TODAY IN CLASS
Part of what we did in each class was the same. We continued work on Packet #2 of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," focusing on the ways in which Gawain responds to the the aggressiveness of the lovely lady who comes to his bedside each morning.  The role of chivalry overall, the role of "courtly love," and the degree to which Gawain is tested to preserve his own honor and loyalties without offending the woman were discussed both in general terms and by looking at the precise strategies, language, and style of what Gawain does and says.  And this section also contains summaries of the first hunt (the deer) and some of the second hunt (the boar).

But then . . read carefully for YOUR class--paired with what you need to do for tomorrow:
1st period
I gave you one more page (stanzas 71-72) and had you staple that to the rest of Packet 2.  For tomorrow, you are to read the rest of the story in the actual textbook, starting on p. 237.

3rd period
You received two pages as a new hand-out to be called the 3rd packet, covering 71-74 on one page (front and back) and then 75 and 77. You had to staple this together yourselves.  Read it for tomorrow.  I am pretty sure you also received the final hand-out, which is a John Gardner translation (larger print; stanzas not numbered).Bring it with you, but you don't need to have it read for Friday. We WILL be working with this together as part of Friday though, with the remainder to be read on your own.  So if you are gone for DECA   tomorrow (or for any other reason), you DO need to have read it for Monday.

5th period
You received two pages as a new hand-out to be called the 3rd packet, covering 71-74 on one page (front and back) and then 75 and 77. You had to staple this together yourselves.  Read it for tomorrow.  You definitely received the final hand-out, which is a John Gardner translation (larger print; stanzas not numbered).Bring it with you, but you don't need to have it read for Friday.  We WILL be working with this together as part of Friday though, with the remainder to be read on your own.  So if you are gone for DECA   tomorrow (or for any other reason), you DO need to have read it for Monday.

TODAY IN CLASS
1.  Reading check quiz over the "Le Morte d'Arthur" selection.
2.  Logistical difficulties, but in a different group configuration.  People were to have covered 1-5 in their groups.  Some follow-up discussion first thing tomorrow.

FOR TOMORROW
Prepare two of the remaining questions by taking some notes and doing some reflection that will be useful in your group session. Choose ONE from 6-8 and  ONE MORE from 9-11.

Tomorrow's group time will be fairly short, because I'd like to finish discussion on these.

There will be further individual accountability. . . more details to follow.

An Extra Post: Week-end Reminder

Are you reading? Yes, there's a fairly important football game today . . . but maybe you finished reading on Saturday?  If not, win or lose today, don't forget to read.  I just finished re-reading and reviewing this selection myself; it's not easy to follow the plot, especially with the complicated relationships and the shifting loyalties.  Take it slowly and thoughtfully, trying to visualize each step of the action.

As stated in Thursday and Friday posts:  the selection from Le Morte d'Arthur on pp. 248-261.  There will be a reading check quiz to start the class, followed by some intensive group work and then by a whole class discussion.

TODAY IN CLASS
Introduction to Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur.  We looked at the Preface written by printer William Caxton for the First Edition of Malory's work, printed in 1485 (p. 262 in the text). After noting some archaic features of Early Modern English, we looked closely at the reasons that Caxton states for choosing to publish this work.  We also looked at question 8 on p. 263 as a preview of something to evaluate as you read; we also reviewed the definition and major characteristics of a medieval romance in order to provide a further set of features to watch for.

There was also some in-class time to get started on the reading of the excerpt from Malory's work.

FOR MONDAY
Read the entire selection on pp. 248-261.  There will be a reading check quiz first thing on Monday; there will be 10-12 recall/comprehension questions, 2 points each (assessment).  Afterwards you will have time to work in groups to discuss several other higher-level kinds of questions and literary evaluation of this work.  After the group time, we will finish with a whole-class discussion.

TODAY IN CLASS
I checked your plot summary notations for stanzas 29-34 of the Gawain hand-out, and we talked about his physical journey as part of the "hero's journey" concept.  (Medieval romances borrowed heavily from some of the conventions typically found in epics.)

Though today there were no additional hand-outs, I provided a quick summary of some key events from the point that your version left off:
1.  Gawain's arrival at the castle, brief meeting with the host ("lord"), his lavishly decorated bedroom, warm robes, and the Christmas eve supper of  several soup choices, a wide variety of fish, and ample wine.  Gawain called it a "feast," but he was told that this was penance--on the NEXT day he would feast.
2. Christmas Day was appropriately festive, and the next three days were spent in more eating, celebrating, and sociability.
3.  Gawain then said he had to leave because of his obligation at the Green Chapel (though he does not fully describe it). The Host tells him that it's nearby--a mere two hours' ride--so he can wait until New Year's morning to leave.
4.  The next three days will feature hunting, but Gawain declines to go (he's had enough of the great outdoors to last him awhile).  So the Host proposes a contest in which each one will deliver to the other whatever he has "won" during that day.

We went somewhat farther than this in first period, but I'm not summarizing further here; you'll have more hand-outs tomorrow.

FOR TOMORROW
Get started on the reading that is due on Monday: pp. 248-261, which is an excerpt from "Le Morte d'Arthur."
You will have to access the online textbook, since there will be no class time provided for reading this selection.  And there WILL be a reading check quiz on Monday.