Leduc,+Patricia

I am excited to finally be able to begin my Wiki. My previous computer crashed and now that I have a new one I will have many posts to upload. I will be uploading many of my notes along with theses posts to make it easier for my own studying so feel free to take a look and leave comments :)

2/5 Honestly, beowulf was quite a struggle for me and at times I was unsure of the wording. But once we discussed it I came to really enjoy the story of a hero. The ending was quite sad because our hero died however he defeated the enemy and saved his loved ones in return. I wish I could have attended Gareth Hinds' speaking on his graphic novel islustrations because they were beautiful and really helped bring the novel to life. From others' wikis they said it did not even take long for such artistry,

2/9 Now I have finished readingt the wives lament. As I read it in my room I took it quite literally. However after listening through todays lesson I realize I must think "outside of the box". In fact this story may be relating to a woman who has already passed away and is reflecting on her own personal life and death.

2/14 Important Romance characters 12th century France Marie de Champagne- daughter à Chretien de Troyes Courtly love- literary construction/ not real Rules of Love by Andreas Capellanus They are pulled from separate places and hence contradict each other. Love triangle- platonic ideal- drive knights to greater things was the goal. Someone gets hurt and relationships don’t stay platonic long Goes against religion Usually ends fatal “When made public love rarely endures” Example King Arthur’s death over wife Guinevere cheating on him with best knight Love sickness is a real sickness people can die from in Middle Ages Womens roles in past à peace-weaving, childcare and cup bearing (taking care of guests) Cult of virgin Mary- very important intermediary People went to Mary for help elevating her and all women to a higher level Secular-purely non-religious Eleanor of Aquitaine comes over to England and things begin to take on British aspects Eliminate Triangle and fewer fatalities Kings were never punished for adultery Identity and Family are major points in English Romances Happily Ever after A problem was losing faith A Christian knight is courteous, faithful, loyal(king, church, God), and monogamous __Breton lais__- plural for story developed in a certain country for its supernatural elements. 1.)Supernatural “Other” 2.)Happily Ever After 3.)Identity Faries are full sized average people with some sort of powers  Lanval has a fairy woman known as the “other”  She appeared whenever he wanted he and had unlimited riches and was supernaturally beautiful  Arthur did not share his wealth showing that there are problems in his court harming his reputation (problem of identity)  In Bisclavret the werewolf was the “other”  Problem with identity is that he’s been changed into a werewolf  He is transformed back into a man and reconciles with king  Clothes were the trappings of civilization and when he changed them his identity also changed  Supernatural things always happen in the woods  Lanval meets the fairy in the woods  Arthurs wife Guinevere is known as the Queen in the text and is not very nice  She attempts to seduce the loyal Lanval and when he turns her down on page 113 she calls him gay and accuses him of treason  Lanval is accused and imprisoned for treason because Guinevere says he seduced her. The court agrees that his wife is prettier than Guinevere but the fairy leaves him and he rides off on horse to Avalon (supposed place where Arthur got healed and will return from when his country needs him) Bisclavret behaves as a wolf but is not an actual beast. He acts loyal and is a good to his King and Lord. Bisclavret the wolf’s wife arrives with her new husband and Bisclavret attacks him and everyone assumes that that man must have done something wrong because they know the animal is a good noble creature.
 * 1) 11 is for nobility. A night cannot be with a peasant

2/16

Caesura-natural breaks or pauses in a line Text started in troy Genre changes place in order to give story historical context with Troy and Rome making Arthur more legitimate. In this story we have a young Arthur completely different from what we usually see. à Inexperienced & naïve Anglo-Saxon warriors rarely go off on their own however a knight will quest on his own and go on adventures on a regular basis. This poem takes place on Christmas Green Knight is automatically supernatural “the other” à Size, color, ride & rich clothing In keltic world Green often symbolizes death He rides into the court and up to the fiest deliberately avoiding manners and knightly ways. Green Knight carries an olive branch in one hand symbolizing bringing natural world into civilization Guenevire is at Arthurs side and Gawain his nephew on the other.
 * __ Sir Gawain and the Green Knight __**

2/23 Analyze Fitt III An important passage and maybe the key passage from FITT 3 was when the lady tempts Gawain and enters his bedroom while he was asleep. As the article “Undressing Lady Bertilak” tries to look into the situation I began to see the story from two different spectrums. At first Gawain pretended to be asleep hoping that she would leave. Then through a series of exchanged words they began to act in a sexual manner. At this time the author does not make it very clear of what is actually going on in this room. He is forced to confess but does not have to come clean to the round table until FITT 4. However in FITT 3 he made a big decision while in the Bertilak’s castle and although he is alive the Green Knight may have brought a huge burden to Gawain.

2/28 - respond to 'Undressing Lady Bertilack" This was in response to Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight. It brings the ideas of courtly love into problems because there are also th ideas of knights honor and respect for the king.

3/2  __Anachronism__- “ something doesn’t fit”- something out of time King and Queen are a love match not arranged marriage Queen falls asleep under ympe (crossbred) tree Body politic- body of ruler is the same as the kingdom Whatever happens to the king of the queen is directly affecting the people. è Shows that something is wrong within the kingdom Symbol of the harp constantly remains with him 1066 Battle of Hastings The middle class are merchants used to trade. It’s a new class which leads to resentment and rebellion Fabliaux Durring the 14th century 4 major things go wrong 1. Famine 2. 100 years’ war between France and England 3. Black Death Plague 1340’s 4. Rebellion – 1381 Peasants Revolt There is a high demand for workers so they realize they can demand higher wages. Starts with one story and then breaks of into many connecting ones. They are going on a pilgrimage (journey) hoping to find faith,health, salvation or social networking.
 * Orfeo **
 * 14th Century **
 * General Prologue-frame tale **

3/8 I tried to upload our grops pictures of our pilgrim classification. However the file upload required an image adress that I did not know.

3/21 The "Miller's Tale" is a fabliaux, or comical poem because it catches the readers attention. Some aspects of the tale that make it so humerous are that it is simply the opposite to the prior story about courtly love. Also its a story of trickery and decieving as they convince others that a massive flood is coming in order for an affair to take place. The "Miller's Tale' is drastic and that is what makes it a fabliaux. It s atirizes the Knights tale and courtly love with a double triangle  **Cuckold**- old husband whose young wife is cheating on him   · Says you can’t be a cuckold if you ignore it and do not   · Makes fun of genre and nobility   · Husband tries to keep 18 year old wife away from everyone and cage her in   · In the story he invites in a student( he may have added this clerk to the story to further offend other pilgrims)   · Nicholas the scholar is “hende” or handy and not so much religious   · There’s a second part Absolon who also likes Alisoun but has no chance   · Not love relationships   · Uses satire to show problems  **Nicholas**- named handy Nicholas from the start  Described as sly and very secretive from the first page  John respects Nicholas’ intelligence and thinks that the flood is coming  Absolon kisses her butt literally Absolon puts a hot iron on Nicholas’ butt when he tries the same trick When he yells for water John thinks the flood is coming

3/23 __ Midterm Layout __ Julian of Norwich __ Julians Rules __
 * Multiple choices **
 * Fill in the blank **
 * Essay1: ID passage/analyze **
 * Essay 2: Comparative/Thematic **
 * à Courtly Love **
 * à Knighthood **
 * à Women **
 * à Christianity **
 * Anchoress- removes themselves and lives in a room on the side of the church. Only had 2 windows one leading to the outside for food and one showing mass. **
 * When she was 30 she became ill and thought she was going to die and then received visions from God. **
 * Affective piety- personal relationship with God. Removes the church as the middleman **
 * Always trust in God. **
 * God comes before all else. **
 * Suffering makes you stronger. **
 * God is responsible for everything. **
 * Become closer to God through penance. **
 * God has a purpose for everything. **
 * Have respect and Compassion for all. **
 * Do not question Gods Love. **
 * All are equal in the eyes of God. **
 * All shall be well, have faith in God. **

** 3/28 ** Three different types of plays 1.)Morality- about how to live your life à ex: Everyman  2.)Miracle 3.)Mystery-biblical stories Second Shepard: Mak the devil figure steals a sheep (Lamb of God) They dress the lamb up in a cradle as in the birth of Jesus  3 Sheppard’s bring gifts including a tennis ball (all they had) __Themes of Beowulf:__ **Heroism & determination, Honor ,Identity, Succession, Good Kind vs. Bad King** __Wifes Lament:__ **Role of women, Love, Death & Seclusion** __Wanderer__:**Exile**,** Loyalty

4/11 - Ruminate on "To the Troops at Tilbury" In the article "To the troops at Tilbury" on page 687 Queen Elizabeth I tells the soldiers how proud she is of them and how she is by their side at all times. She often mentions God and her belief in her people.Although she is a lady she says she will take up arms and be their general if neccesary and will die amoungst them. I think that these are the words of a very brave and strong leader. Queen Elizabeth rode through Tilbury after the spanish ships disipated in order to let the soldiers risking their lives on the battlefield know that their service did not go unnoticed. Also they were preparing for the Pallas to return.
 * Unfortubnately, these speaches were rarely heard until they were publisheed later because there was no microphone so very few people could hear her.

4/21 Tone/delivery Contents: point Structure:rhyme,meter. Iambic pentameter Sonnet formed in Italy by Petrarch in 14th century Volta- counter argument where story flips and clearly changes (necessary to sonnet) Ben Johnson p890 Interesting bios: killed another actor and went to jail, late became a Christian. He was an arrogant man with very few friends however many other writers attended his Pick one poem: On my first son (page 893) Analyze: His least arrogant poem. He blames himself for his sons death

4/25 Brainstorm Ideas for final project --> __Thematic Essay__ I chose to write using the creative option. When I first began this class I did not know what to expect. This genre of liturature was not particularly something I was familar with. However, now I find it quite fascinating and therefore chose to mimic one of the writingsAt first, I came up witht the idea to mimic Thomas More's interpretation of how society should be in the Utopia I wanted to write about my perfect society using a similar style as More spoke through the charecter Raphael. However, unfortunately I could not find enough supporting journals on the topic or More himself. Now however, I chose to discus the changing relationships from Medieval times to the Renaisance by closely examining two seperate texts.

4/28 Our first pieces in unit 4 by Chaucer seemed ideal to begin describing medieval relationships. Hardman ,  Phillipa. //“Gender and Romance in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales//.” The Review of English Studies 47.188 (1996): 564+. General OneFile. Web. 04 May 2011.

Mahon ,  John W. "Romance and Reformation: the Erasmian Spirit of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure." Christianity and Literature 52.2 (2003): 268+. General OneFile. Web. 10 May 2011.

Vaszily ,  Scott. “Fabliau plotting against romance in Chaucer's 'The Knight's Tale.’” Style Fall 1997: 523+. General OneFile. Web. 01 May 2011. 5/2 For last thursday we were assigned a series of short poems. This was also a strugle as I had a hard time interpreting them. However I enjoyed the wording and hopefully i got the right story. For example Delia by Samuel Daniel sounded like a sweet poem describing the two sides to a lady. But as I re read it I understood how it was rather an explanation of youth and to live in the moment. --> 14 lines English: abab cdcd cfef gg Italian: abba abba cde cde
 * Extra credit: Write a sonnet

5/17 Today is the day of the exam and I can honestly say I have learned so much. Never did I imagine reading British Literature however, once we got into it and had discussion it wasnt too bad. At first I was intimidated by Beowulf. Then, I found a friend who greatly enjoyed the story and had him summarize it. When you discuss the stories with another person it helps so much and if I could have done one thing in this class differently it would have been to ask for help in interpretations sooner.