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Why Honors Brit?
Growing Up Online
About Honors Brit
The Knight's Tale
Middle English Readings
CT Class Notes
Intro to Hamlet
Hamlet Class Notes
Devices of Satire
"The Rape of the Lock"
Satire Class Notes
Frankenstein & Romantics
Frank Class Notes
Wilde & Victorians
Wilde Class Notes
The Knight's Tale
Assignment for 7 Feb 2008 - Parts 3 & 4
Get into your groups from yesterday. If you were absent, get together with other absentees. If you were the only one absent, join an existing group.
For today's activity, you will need to be familiar with three different classifications for male-female relationships in "The Knight's Tale": M-F. m-F. and M-f
relationships are egalitarian relationships - the man and woman enjoy equal status in the relationship
relationships are female-dominant relationships
relationships are male-dominant relationships
In your groups, brainstorm a list of as many male-female dyads from this story as you can think of (e.g., Theseus & Hippolyta) -
note: these do not necessarily have to be romantic relationships
of those dyads, classify each one as M-F, m-F, or M-f, and write up a supporting paragraph for each one, incorporating
textual examples into each answer. Once again, post these to the "Discussion" tab on this page.
Once you finish, please refer back to
for what to do when you're done - you have some options.
Assignment for 6 February 2008 - Parts 1 & 2
Here's what you'll need to do today:
Read my response to Ben & Devin's questions on the "Discussion" tab - in addition to answering their questions, I also gave a super-brief outline of Parts 1 & 2.
Split up into six groups of 3.
Each group needs to consider the following questions, author a
, and post it to the Discussion tab on this page -
this must be completed by the end of class today and posted by 10:30 tomorrow morning, so don't waste time
. Each response
must include multiple examples
from the text
, properly cited and "woven" coherently into your responses
(these may be lengthy, but you've got 84 minutes to do this; knock yourselves out):
Refer to Monday's handout on courtly love (reverse of "Genres of Medieval Literature"). Identify which elements of the courtly love system we have seen in the tale so far, and provide specific examples from the text.
At the end of Part I, the Knight asks, "Arcite or Palamon, which had most to suffer?" Answer the knight's question - if you can't come to a consensus as a group, explain both sides, noting which one was the majority opinion and which one was the minority opinion.
points in the story where
plays a significant part (aside from the obvious plot point of Arcite & Palamon falling in love with Emily - that one's off limits). Are there any similarities across instances? What inferences can we draw about our narrator's attitude toward women?
Arcite & Palamon are willing to fight to the death over Emily, and Theseus even suggests that she should be a prize. Throughout all this, no one seems to care what Emily actually thinks. Discuss your group members' reactions to this fact (c'mon, did some of you even notice? Be honest!), and summarize your discussion in a paragraph or two.
If you have any time left over, start reading Parts 3-4 of The Knight's Tale - you'll need to have it read for tomorrow's activity.
Thanks for bearing with me this week in my absence. I promise we'll spend time Monday re-capping "The Knight's Tale", courtly love, and other Chaucerian goodness.
"The Knight's Tale" Questions - Parts 1 & 2
The Canterbury Tales
for the first time can be tough, and "The Knight's Tale" in particular can be a difficult read. Although I can't be there with you in person, I can try to deal with some of the elements of the story that are unclear in this forum.
Post any questions you have about Parts 1 & 2 in the Discussion tab of this page
by 10:00 P.M. Tuesday, 5 Feb.
I will log on after 10 to answer your questions and set up the following day's "lesson".
Of course, if you see a question that
can answer, please do so!
Ashley -I have no questions thank you!
help on how to format text
Turn off "Getting Started"