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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• A Medieval Romance and a tale
• of chivalry

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Term Chivalry
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Definition of Chivalry

• 1.  Prowess  ability to fight

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Definition of Chivalry

• 2.  Loyalty  to God, King, and lady

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Definition of Chivalry

• 3. Generosity  includes gift-giving and
  hospitality

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Definition of Chivalry

• 4.   Franchise  that "something special" that
  distinguishes a knight linked to birthright

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Definition of Chivalry

• 5.  Courtesy  initially "behavior at court,"
  the term emphasizes behavior towards a lady

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A Few Rules of Chivalry Include
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• Live to serve King and Country.

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• Never use a weapon on an opponent not equal to
  the attack.

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• Exhibit courage in word and deed.

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• Always keep one's word of honor.

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• Avoid deception.

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• Be respectful of host, women, and honor.

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Term Medieval Romance
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The basic material of medieval romance is
knightly activity and adventure we might best
define medieval romance as a story of adventure.
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Aspects of a Medieval Romance

• Any "love interest" is likely to be incidental
  to the story

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Aspects of a Medieval Romance

• The stories were often woven around a well
  known figure.

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Aspects of a Medieval Romance

• The hero is always made to conform to medieval
  conceptions of a knight .

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Aspects of a Medieval Romance

• Often follows the loose pattern of a quest.

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Aspects of a Medieval Romance

• A tale of adventure in which knights, kings, or
  distressed ladies, are motivated by love,
  religious faith, or the mere desire for
  adventure.

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Aspects of a Medieval Romance

• Usually set in remote times or places.

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Aspects of a Medieval Romance

• Involves elements of the fantastic or
  supernatural

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Term Alliteration

• Successive words or stressed syllables begin with
  the same consonant or vowel sound in close
  succession.

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Term Allusion

• a brief reference to a person, event, or place,
  real or fictitious, or to a work of art. Casual
  reference to a famous historical or literary
  figure or event.An allusion may be drawn from
  history, geography, literature, or religion.

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Term Legend

• a tradition or story handed down from earlier
  times and popularly accepted as true but actually
  a mix of fact and fiction. The term is also
  applied to any fictitious tale concerning a real
  person, event, or place and is likely to be less
  concerned with the supernatural than a myth.

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Term symbol

• A person, object, image, word, or event that
  evokes a range of additional meaning beyond and
  usually more abstract than its literal
  significance. Conventional symbols have meanings
  that are widely recognized by a society or
  culture.

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• Author is known as 1) The Gawain Poet or 2) The
  Pearl Poet
• Composed around 1370

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Themes in SGGK

• temptation and testing
• hunting and seduction
• games
• time and seasons
• nature and chivalry

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Symbolism in SGGK

• the color green
• the green knight
• girdle
• pentangle
• numbers
• wounds

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Read handout entitled A Look at the Symbolism of
the Pentangle in Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight.

• Record what the five points of the pentangle
  represent.

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Use the handout entitled A Look at the Symbolism
of the Pentangle in Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight.

• Record what the five knightly virtues are..

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The Essay
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The Introduction

• It introduces the main idea of your essay. A good
  opening paragraph captures the interest of your
  reader and tells why your topic is important.
• The main idea of the essay is stated in a single
  sentence called the thesis statement. You must
  limit your entire essay to the topic you have
  introduced in your thesis statement.
• Provide some background information about your
  topic. You can use interesting facts, quotations,
  or definitions of important terms you will use
  later in the essay.

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Supporting Paragraphs

• What are supporting paragraphs?Supporting
  paragraphs make up the main body of your essay.
• What do they do?They develop the main idea of
  your essay.
• How do I write them?
• 1. List the points that develop the main idea
  of your essay.2. Place each supporting point in
  its own paragraph.3. Develop each supporting
  point with facts, details, and examples.

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Conclusion

• What does it do?It summarizes or restates the
  main idea of the essay. You want to leave the
  reader with a sense that your essay is complete.
• How do I write one?1. Restate the strongest
  points of your essay that support your main idea.
  2. Conclude your essay by restating the main
  idea in different words.

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Things to Keep in Mind
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Verb Tense

• Always write about literature in the present
  tense
• Always write about history in the past tense
• Be sure you do not change tenses in your writing

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Transitions

• Use transitions to give writing a smooth flow
• Use to connect one idea to the next
• Avoid transitions like first, second, third, etc.
• Use them between and within paragraphs
• Make sure transitions are being used properly

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Sentence Structure

• Simple
• Compound
• Complex
• Vary your sentence structure, and use
  introductory phrases and clauses for interest.

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Diction

• Avoid words like good, bad, things, a lot
• Avoid use of clichés
• Use a thesaurus to find more interesting words
• Avoid using the same words over and over

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Prepositions

• Avoid ending sentences with a preposition.
• Example In order to uphold the code of
  chivalry, Gawain must honor the agreement he and
  the Green Knight agreed upon.
• Remedy In order to uphold the code of chivalry,
  Gawain must honor the agreement upon which he and
  the Green Knight agreed.

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Personal Pronouns

• You, I, me, we, etc.
• Quite simply, do NOT use these in your essays!!!

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Common Grammar Errors
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Comma Splices

• What is a comma splice?
• an error caused by joining two independent
  clauses (sentences) with only a comma
• Example Sir Gawain is not only a knight of the
  Round Table but is King Arthurs nephew as well,
  he fights the infamous Green Knight.

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Remedies

• SEMICOLON
• Sir Gawain is not only a knight of the Round
  Table but is King Arthurs nephew as well he
  fights the infamous Green Knight.
• COORDINATING CONJUNCTION
• Sir Gawain is not only a knight of the Round
  Table but is King Arthurs nephew as well, and he
  fights the infamous Green Knight.

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Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement

• An antecedent is the word, phrase, or clause to
  which a pronoun refers, understood by the
  context.

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• Correct
• Although Gawain is considered to be one of the
  most noble knights of the Round Table, he
  occasionally falls short of meeting the
  expectations of the chivalric code.

• Incorrect
• Although Gawain is considered to be one of the
  most noble knights of the Round Table, they
  occasionally fall short of meeting the
  expectations of the chivalric code.

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Commas/Coordinating Conjunctions

• Only use a commas with a coordinating conjunction
  (and, but, or, so) when connecting two complete
  sentences.
• Example
• Gawain, a courteous knight of the Round Table,
  accepts the Green Knights challenge, and he
  stays true to the covenant upon which the two
  agreed.

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Commas with Introductory Words

• Introductory words like however, still,
  furthermore, and meanwhile create continuity from
  one sentence to the next use a comma to set
  these apart.
• Example.
• Gawain accepts the terms of the Green Knights
  game. However, the young knight must wait a year
  and a day to search for the mysterious, headless
  man.

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Proofread!!!

• Do NOT rely on spell check. The computer does
  not know the difference between there and
  their.
• Print a copy of your final draft, and proofread
  it with a pen. You WILL catch more errors doing
  this rather than proofing on a screen.
• Read your paper aloud to yourself. You will
  usually HEAR your mistakes.