introducing the poem literary focus: the romance reading focus: understanding cause and effect...

Introducing the Poem

Literary Focus: The Romance

Reading Focus: Understanding Cause and Effect

Writing Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight


What moves a hero to act?

Click on the title to start the video.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Introducing the Poem


Would you take a dare that might cost you your life?

Sir Gawain did.

Of course, as a knight of Arthur’s Round Table, he was expected to be brave.


The code of chivalry also bound him to

• remain loyal to his lord

• protect the oppressed

• treat women with courtesy[End of Section]

Many stories about Gawain and King Arthur’s other knights are about seeking justice and helping those in need.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Literary Focus: The Romance

Chrétien de Troyes, a French court poet, made stories about knights’ adventures popular between 1160 and 1190.

These stories are called Arthurian romances.However, they’re not usually love stories.


The hero typically

• undertakes a quest in the service of a lady or a high ideal

• faces a series of tests

• meets dragons or supernatural beings

Many medieval romances are about Camelot and King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table.


Romance describes any story that presents a happier, more perfect, or more heroic world.

Can you think of any contemporary story or movie that fits most of the criteria for a medieval romance?


• One of the most famous Arthurian romances

• Anonymous tale, probably written around 1375

• Ideals of knightly conduct were already beginning to fade


What element of the romantic tradition is represented by the Green Knight?

As the poem opens, King Arthur and his court are celebrating Christmas. Suddenly, an enormous green stranger carrying an ax rides into the hall. He challenges any knight to hit him with the ax.

Sir Gawain accepts the challenge and beheads the challenger. However, the Green Knight calmly picks up his own head, repeats his challenge, and gallops off with his head in his hand.


the presence of a supernatural being[End of Section]

washing hands with soapA cause is anything that makes something happen.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Reading Focus: Understanding Cause and Effect

An effect is the result of that cause.

removes germs

Recognizing causes and effects will help you understand the relationship between events in a narrative.

Gawain makes promise meets Green Knight

[End of Section]

Sir Gawain and the Green KnightReading Focus: Understanding Cause and Effect

Into Action: As you read, use a diagram like the one below to record a cause for each of the important events of the selection. Be sure not to create incorrect relationships or logical fallacies.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Writing Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer

[End of Section]

Find It in Your Reading

Writers often use imagery to share their ideas with readers. A writer might present a visual picture of a dream, for example, to share a character’s innermost feelings in a dramatic way.

As you read, note passages in the selection in which imagery helps you understand and “experience” the romance hero’s challenges.

Vocabulary

whetting v. used as adj.: sharpening a blade on a stone made for the purpose.

daunted v. used as adj.: made to lose courage.

shied v.: shrank or flinched away.

efficacious adj.: effective or useful.

covetousness n.: desire for what belongs to others.

Sir Gawain and the Green KnightVocabulary

The word whetting comes from an Old English word that means “sharp.”


The chef used the tool’s whetting edge to sharpen his favorite knife.

Whetting can also have a figurative sense.

What is being sharpened in the sentence below?

The smell of hot soup acted like a whetting stone on the

sick toddler’s appetite.


A whetting noise could be described as

a. grinding

b. pounding

c. sighing


A whetting noise could be described as


a. grinding

b. pounding

c. sighing

Later it came to refer to people who were made to feel discouraged.

The word daunted comes from an Old French word that means “to tame” a horse.

The competition was fierce, but Sean refused to be daunted.


Synonyms for daunted include

cowed

intimidated

scared

When you feel daunted, what are some ways to recover your courage?


Which of these words means the opposite of daunted?

a. fearful

b. noble

c. unafraid


The nervous colt shied away from the snowflakes.

The word shied comes from an Old English word that means “to avoid.”


Which person has shied away from a stranger?

People also flinch or shy away from things that make them nervous.


The phrase closest in meaning to shied is

a. went forward

b. moved on

c. turned away


Something that is efficacious has the power to produce the desired effect.

“There are so many headache medicines. Which is most efficacious?” asked Chris.

Antonyms include

• ineffective

• useless


Which method of study is more likely to be efficacious—cramming all night before the test, or short, regular reviews?


Which word means almost the same thing as efficacious?

a. effective

b. effervescent

c. efficient


a. effective

b. effervescent

c. efficient


Which word means almost the same thing as efficacious?

The person or object that is coveted belongs to someone else.

The word covetousness comes from an Old French word that means “long for,” but covetousness is more than simple desire.

Covetousness suggests the desire to take what does not belong to you.


Why might Gawain feel that covetousness is unworthy of a true knight?


Which word is most nearly the opposite of covetousness?

a. bravery

b. generosity

c. patience


a. bravery

b. generosity

c. patience


Which word is most nearly the opposite of covetousness?

[End of Section]

The End

introducing the poem literary focus: the romance reading focus: understanding cause and effect...

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green knight literary

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romance romance

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