Students are to have the following completed for Friday 2/20:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight-Part II
1. When does Gawain leave Arthur's court?
2. What color is Gawain's armor? (See lines 603, 619.)
3. What appears on the outside of his shield? What appears on the inside? What does the pentangle stand for? What, especially, do the fifth five mean? (In the original, the five are fraunchyse, felawschyp, clannes, cortaysye, and pité.) The author stresses that all of the fives are linked (lines 656-661). What happens in such a structure if any one of the elements gives way?
4. What route does Gawain follow? What sorts of adventures does he encounter?
5. The "Christmas Eve" of line 734 is actually the evening of December 23. What does Gawain fear he will miss on December 24 (lines 750-762)? What happens after Gawain's prayer?
6. How is Gawain received in the castle? How does the lord of the castle respond? How would you describe the lord of the castle?
7. How well does Gawain maintain his Christmas Eve fast?
8. What do the castle residents expect once they know it is Gawain (lines 908-927)? In other words, what is Gawain well-known for?
9. What two women does Gawain meet after evensong? How are they described? How does Gawain behave with the women?
10. Why does Gawain tell the lord he has to leave? What surprising news does the lord have for him? What does Gawain then decide to do?
11. What arrangements does the lord propose for Gawain and himself for the next day? How does Gawain respond?
