Not going to lie, I found the end of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight a little bit unimpressive. Like 'hey! Congrats on still having a head but you still screwed up!' And then his only form of punishment or penance was turned into a fashion statement? Like I know they said it was a "solidarity" thing but it still seems like he got off pretty easy. He broke a deal, he broke his word, and all he had to do as penance was wear a sash? And yes, sashes are ridiculous, especially on grown men but it's still a pretty meager thing.
What really got to me was how much the Green Knight didn't seem to care. It was more like a slap on the wrist than a "you broke an oath" anger. That seemed kind of suspect for a guy who transforms himself into a magical, gigantic, GREEN KNIGHT. You kind of expect him to be a drama queen. But nope.
And Gawain just rolls with the fact that this Green Knight starts talking about how Gawain was hanging out in bed with his wife. He doesn't question the fact that the Green Knight was his host for the three days. He just accepts it! Without second thought! Who does that? (People who agree to favours for total strangers is who.)
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Half Way Point
Well, we are half way through the semester. There have been projects, papers, readings, and discussions. My favorite reading from this semester is The Knight of the Cart. To me, this story held many of the elements that I thought of when I thought of King Arthur stories. It had fighting, magic, love, and obstacles. My favorite part was the part with Lancelot fighting in the tournament. I liked this part the best because of his determination to do whatever his beloved Guinevere asked or wanted. When she told him to "do his worst" he did, and when she told him to "do his best" he did as well. I also really enjoyed the part when Lancelot crossed the sword bridge. He was cut and bleeding but he never thought about it because he was thinking of Guinevere.
The projects were both fun and challenging. Arthur goes to Hollywood was fun because I really enjoy watching movies and television. It was also fun because I love things dealing with magic and otherworldly phenomenons and happenings which my assignment, Merlin 1998, had throughout. There were only a few reasons this project was hard. Those reasons are it was hard to find, it was on VHS so we had to fit in a small space in the library for three and a half hours, and it was hard trying to find a time that would work for all the group members to do the PowerPoint presentation. Other than that, this project was fun.
The paper was a fun assignment to think about. It made me think harder about the issue of courtly love. I had a little trouble getting started because I wasn't sure how I felt about courtly love. But, after reading more about courtly love and thinking a little more about it, I was able to find my standing point on the issue and was able to write the paper. The other negative thing about this paper was the timing. I had four projects other than the paper due that same day and two other projects due that week.
The discussions in this class are never flat. The discussions are always fun and informing (unlike some classes where it is only lecture after lecture). Discussions are always about the readings which are most of the time interesting. Unlike some classes in college, it is not only the professor talking, it is also the students. This gives us more chances of learning the information and also keeps our interest and attention. Most of the time I have questions about the readings from the night before, but hearing the professor AND classmates, I have almost all of my questions answered.
I am not going to lie, I thought this class was going to be difficult and a time consumer. But this first half of the semester has proved me wrong. I am really enjoying this class and it is not taking up too much of my time. It is also not that difficult as long as you keep up with the readings and assignments. I am glad that I signed up for this class and am looking forward to the second half of the semester.
The projects were both fun and challenging. Arthur goes to Hollywood was fun because I really enjoy watching movies and television. It was also fun because I love things dealing with magic and otherworldly phenomenons and happenings which my assignment, Merlin 1998, had throughout. There were only a few reasons this project was hard. Those reasons are it was hard to find, it was on VHS so we had to fit in a small space in the library for three and a half hours, and it was hard trying to find a time that would work for all the group members to do the PowerPoint presentation. Other than that, this project was fun.
The paper was a fun assignment to think about. It made me think harder about the issue of courtly love. I had a little trouble getting started because I wasn't sure how I felt about courtly love. But, after reading more about courtly love and thinking a little more about it, I was able to find my standing point on the issue and was able to write the paper. The other negative thing about this paper was the timing. I had four projects other than the paper due that same day and two other projects due that week.
The discussions in this class are never flat. The discussions are always fun and informing (unlike some classes where it is only lecture after lecture). Discussions are always about the readings which are most of the time interesting. Unlike some classes in college, it is not only the professor talking, it is also the students. This gives us more chances of learning the information and also keeps our interest and attention. Most of the time I have questions about the readings from the night before, but hearing the professor AND classmates, I have almost all of my questions answered.
I am not going to lie, I thought this class was going to be difficult and a time consumer. But this first half of the semester has proved me wrong. I am really enjoying this class and it is not taking up too much of my time. It is also not that difficult as long as you keep up with the readings and assignments. I am glad that I signed up for this class and am looking forward to the second half of the semester.
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