Boisseau,+Nick

For my final paper I chose to do a creative piece that expanded on the story of Sir Gawain. I was really taken by the story from the first half of the semester, but I can't really explain why. Something about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight just grabs me more than any of the other tales we have covered this semester. My idea is to create an idea where actual personal papers have been uncovered that link the events from the story to the day-to-day life of an actual Knight. I've taken a few of the details of the story and skewed them a bit to be able to place them in a realistic setting. For instance, much of my writing revolves around both the garter and the cut that Gawain was given on the back of his neck by the Knight. The papers imply that the garter (or sash) had been lost and as a result, "Gawain" started to have nightmarish dreams while the cut on his neck proceeded to grow. I really wanted to touch on the idea of living with past mistakes and owning up to responsibilities. I'm hoping that I do so well enough in my writings and I look forward to whatever critiques I may receive so that I may become better at writing creatively.
 * Project: Gawain Creative Writing**

Burrow, John. “The Two Confession Scenes in ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.’” //Modern Philology// Vol. 57, No. 2 (Nov., 1959), pp. 73-79
 * Sources For Project**

Markman, Alan M. “The Meaning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” //PMLA// Vol. 72, No. 4 (Sep., 1957), pp. 574-586

Professor Morgan's presentation and impromptu lesson was a very pleasant break from the same old routine of class. The man is incredibly gift and the amount of time and hard work he has put into acting really shows through in his delivery of the lines. I've no idea how many times he may have actually reheared the lines he read to us, but the conviction in his voice and the emphasis that he had on certain passages in the text really brought the character and the character's situation to life. I've signed up for one of his classes in the fall semester and am really looking forward to it. If he captivates an audience so well with just one class period, I can only imagine how interesting he must make things with an entire semester to work with.
 * Kelly Morgan**

4/11/2011 --- __Catching Up__

- At a time of impending battle, Elizabeth is doing her best to rally her troops in both support of the cause and in support of herself as Queen. She dramatically states her association between herself and the country and herself and her people in an effort to prove that she is just as valuable as any King would be. With being up against Spain and the Armada, Elizabeth had to ensure that her troops were ready to fight for their country and were willing to defend her honor as well. She associates herself with the people and the ground itself to destroy any implied social barriers that existed between monarchy and commoners. Elizabeth wanted to make it clear that this was a battle being fought for the people and under a member of royalty that cared deeply for the outcome of their lives and of the state.
 * To the Troops at the Tilbury**

- In line with the Protestant reformation, a major difference between the biblical passages is the interpretation of where God stands in relation to his followers. The "newer" translations, or interpretations, of the bible imply that while God is indeed above his followers, the concept of "faith" remains an action by the body of people. In reading the scriptures, a person would follow ideals based on their own personal translation of what God is, rather than be dictated by the scripture as how to follow him or her. A glaring difference is in the contrast of "offering" a gift versus "bringing a gift." Tyndale's translation of the Bible states to "offer a gift", which implies a degree or free will and initiative. The previous scriptures had written "to bring a gift", which implies a certain obligation that a follower MUST bring a gift. Also, Man was created in His likeness. Tyndale writes that Man was created in God's "similitude", this references that Man was perhaps made in the ideal mold of what God is, rather than just being a mimicked appearance of the idol.
 * The Difference in Biblical Passages**

- The Miller's Tale is a farce because of the hyperbole involved with the characters and their traits and actions. There are a lot of direct and obvious references to sexuality and/or the desire to have sex, as well as a blatant associations between between church goers and naivety. The exaggerated nature of the story lends itself to commentary on the social and political structure of the time period. Those that follow the word that is preached to them through church tend to be blind to the reality of what is happening around them. Through comedy, The Miller's Tale points out the insanity and chaos that breeds from unawareness. While colorful and humorous, the farce of The Miller's Tale holds more value to it than just being a story of drunken ramblings.
 * Why The Miller's Tale is a Farce**

--3/7/2011--

My favorite pilgrim in The Canterbury Tales would have to be the Prioress. I find the most intriguing thing about her to be the potential flaws in her character. She is a nun and part of clergy, but her brooch with the inscribed phrase of "Amor vincit omnia" hints at potential conflict between her personality and her responsibilities. I'm always more interested in characters that have the potential to either uphold the traits they seem prescribed to, or stary entirely from their original purpose. A nun that wears an item of jewelry with a message of "love conquers all" is a very intriguing character for the contrast that wearing such a line makes against the person she is assumed to be.

--3/4/2011--

I've recently upgraded my netflix account. After months of paying just 5 bucks for two DVD rentals and an underwhelming 2 hours of instant viewing a month, I felt it was time to step things up. Three extra dollars and a couple mouse clicks later and BAM, I've spoiled myself with the privilege of unlimited instant viewing. It's a pretty awesome deal, really. For eight dollars a month you have unlimited access to the vast instant viewing library that Netflix owns. An added bonus is that Netflix has partnered with the Starz movie channel, which allows instant access to more recent films, as well as the ability to watch the few original series that Starz produces. "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" is the most popular of their shows and I was pretty pumped to be able to finally watch an episode. I've always taken interest in both ancient Greek and ancient Roman history, so needless to say I took to the show instantly. I burned through the entire first season in only a few days. Granted there were only 13 episodes to the season, but I still spent way too much time lounging and staring at my computer screen as heads were chopped off, blood was spilled, and a bunch of naked slave-slash-gladiators wandered around in some kind of sauna room. However, beyond the fighting and gore, the story itself is fairly intricate with several characters intersecting and plenty of plot twists. As the story moved along, I noticed that there were some similiarities between the lead character of Spartacus and Sir Gawain. Both characters experienced lapses in their own morals based on the oppressive force that weighed on them. In the case of Gawain, it was a magical entity that could not be necessarily beaten. With Spartacus, the oppression came in the form of being a slave in a social structure that allowed him nothing other than what his owner would allow. Gawain was forced to uphold this responsibility to his deal with the Green Knight and folded under the pressure of it, losing some of his morals. Spartacus was forced to become this grand warrior and in the process embraced this entirely new identity of who he was, forsaking some of his values before returning to himself after something is revealed to him. I don't want to give too much away for anyone who hasn't seen the show, but both characters take this journey of beginning with what they believe in an identity, having that identity altered or stripped away, and then finding those pieces and fitting them back together again.

I found the presentation by Gareth Hinds of his work to be very interesting. What grabbed my attention right at the start was that he has a similiar interest of stories and character that I do. Stories like The Odyssey and Beowulf that incorporate adventure with mythology are ones that I've always taken a liking to. The dynamic added to our shared interest that intrigued me was how Gareth is primarily visual with telling these stories, whereas I actually enjoy to write at length. I thought it was great to realize that we both shared a common interest in story telling, yet also had these polar opposite approaches to how we take enjoyment out of understanding or telling a story.