Class Notes (11/26/08)

Mourning Wives
- mourning wives dressed in black , awaited Theseus' return in hope for aid and pity.
- wives rich and noble women
- wives' husbands killed by Creon
- Theseus promised vengence for women towards Creon
- Theseus goes after him because he refuses to properly bury their husbands.
- Theseus travles to Thebes to fight Creon
- Theseus's wife Hippolyta and her sister Emily are sent to Athens

Fight At Thebes
- Theseus wins, takes over land, gives mourning wives' husbands bodies
- 2 royal Theban sons Palamon and Arcita survivors of battle, sent to Athens prison instead of being killed

Emily
- beautiful woman
- noticed by Palamon while in his jail chamber
- Palamon cries out his love
- Arcita falls in love with Emily too
- Palamon accuses Acrita of being a traitor
- Arcita claims he loves Emily as a woman and Palamon only worships her as a goddess
- Neither will get out of jail so both can love Emily

Arcita's Freedom
- Prithous noble lord, friend of Theseus and Arcita
- Pleads with Theseus for Arcitas release
- Arcita banished from Athens and will be put to death if he returns
- has freedom but can't see Emily, he is "dead without her"

Palamon's Lament
- Palamon feels Arcita has better life because he's free and will win Emily's love
- Palamon feels his own life is tortured

The Knights Question
WHO HAS IT WORSE?

Arcita's Vision
- sees god Mercury who tells him to seek out Emily and not worry about being killed
- Arcita looks different and for that he hopes he can sneak into Athens

Arcita Takes Action
- gets job working for Emily
- noticed by Theseus as a hard worker, promoted to squire
- Arcita becomes rich and becomes Theseus' best friend

Palamon Escapes
- 7 years in jail, gets away by drugging jailer
- flees to Thebes, finds friends to help him win Emily

Arcita/Palamon Face Off
- see eachother in Theseus' garden
- Palamon spies on Arcita, hears Arcita betrayed him
- try to fight to the death
- Theseus, Hippolyta, and Emily go hunting and find Palamon and Arcita battling
- Theseus realizes who they are and threatens to kill them, Hippolyta and Emily halt Theseus' decision


Theseus' Decision
- realizes what they've done is out of love
- offers them friendship, better ways to decide who marries Emily
- 50 weeks to prepare for battle for Emily's hand in marriage

The 50 Weeks
- Arcita and Palamon return
- Amphitheater built for the fight and dedicated to Venus and Mars
- Arcita and Palamon gather with army of 100 men

Lycurgus
- King of Thrace best warrior in Palamon's army


- Brianna Lee

Pilgrim Project Research Aid

While researching my pilgrims I was having a hard time figuring out how I would read my entire tale, while remembering all of the small details that would be important to incorporate into my presentation. I found a solution! Many Universities have done a lot of research on the Canterbury Tales and have written "notes" on each of the tales. For example, I have the Parson and Plowman as my pilgrims. I googled around a little bit and found a site made by a Harvard student that helps bring out the under-lying messages that Mr. Lazarow wants us to explain in our presentations. Here is the link if anyone wants to check it out. http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/canttales/parson/

Of course this is not a substitute for actually reading the tale, but it will help you break it down and understand the difficult concepts.

John Leskow

Blood drive and Class notes Nov.25

Late update, but my internet was down all day.

Blood Drive
There's a blood drive at our school on December 5th and anyone 17+ is eligible to donate some blood. See Mr. Lazarow to sign up and schedule a time to donate.

* See www.pleasegiveblood.org if you have any questions regarding the drive and whether or not you are eligible
* Blood drive is open from 7AM to 1PM
* When signing up, choose a time when you are not missing a test, quiz, etc. Your teacher has the right to hold you in class should he or she feel that the material being covered in class is important.
* You don't need to know your blood type - the Red Cross volunteers will type the blood for you.
* If you are donating, make sure to eat and drink plenty of food and fluids the night and the morning before. DO NOT donate on an empty stomach or else you risk passing out.
* There are cookies and other snacks being served for those who donate!!! Who wouldn't want free cookies?

Notes on The Knight
* First of the 29 pilgrims
* Lives by truth, honor, freedom, and all courtesy
* Is more noble than the other pilgrims - highest social ranking person
* Worthy to his lord in times of war
* Had 15 battles and always killed his foes
* Honored everywhere for his worthiness
*His prize wasn't money or riches but only fame
* Truly a perfect knight
* Traveled all around the world
* Very wise and has no vileness at all
* Just came back from a voyage and now is going on a pilgrimage
* Depicted as wearing a stained tunic instead of armor unlike most illustrations of the knight - armor is heavy and not worn on a daily basis. Stained due to armor grease and sweat.
* On a pilgrimage to give thanks for a safe journey since he is highly religious.
* Never happy even with the rewards he received - material things don't satisfy him, only fame
* Has a son traveling with him: The Squire

The Knight goes first
* All the pilgrims draw straws and the one who pulls the shortest straw goes first
* The Knight gets the shortest straw
* Since most people who read Chaucer's works were in the highest social class, Chaucer intentionally made the knight go first to appeal to nobility

The Knight's Tale
* The story told by the Knight is a Greek story - most people were familiar with these stories even though they may not have learned them through education
* Lord and governor of Athens: Theseus
* Was rich and wise
* Gained the realm of Femininity (formerly known as Scythia)
* Femininity was ruled by Hippolyta

And that was all that was covered today.

Susan Kim

Blazoning

Found this website if anyone is confused about blazoning. It's from Notre Dame so I figured it was legit.

http://www.rarebooks.nd.edu/digital/heraldry/blazoning.html


Kristian Mayer

Class Notes Nov 21st

In class we took more notes on Canterbury Tales.

-The pilgrims are known by their appearances, character attributes, and their profession. They are all related to each to each other because each pilgrim is from the middle class.
-This particularly narrative on the Canterbury Tales never actually did happen. The tales being told are mostly from historical, mythological, and folk tales. Chaucer stole most of the tales that he used. All of his stories were of Italian and French influence.
-The Canterbury Tales were meant for upper class because they knew how to read. Mostly courtiers that Chaucer worked with read his tales.
-The Canterbury Tales is a frame narrative, story that borders other stories. Inside the frame there are little stories.
-In Canterbury Tales, the General Prologue established the frame. Inside the frame are the different tales that each pilgrim tells throughout the pilgrimage to Canterbury.
-Chaucer is the narrator of the tale, but invents his own character named Chaucer to tell it.

Coat of Arms project is due Monday, Nov 24th along with any other extra credit involving different Coat of Arms that was offered.


Matt Frank

Class Nov. 20th

-The due date for our Coat of Arms projects has been moved to Monday, Nov. 24th to give everyone an extra day to ask Laz any questions they might have regarding it since he was out a couple of days.

-Everyone in class was assigned assigned a pilgrim from the Canterbury Tales. Each person has to provide a 10 minute presentation on their pilgrim. Mr. Laz will do the first two (Knight and Squire) and everyone else will present according to the order their pilgrim appears in the prologue (see Mr. Laz if you are unsure of your date). Mr. Laz strongly recommended the use of handouts. A test will be given after all of the presentations are done so make sure you put everything about your pilgrim in the presentation.

-We took more notes on the Canterbury tales.

-Scantion is the use of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
-Multi syllable words have at least one stressed syllable, but they cannot all be stressed
-single syllable words are stressed or unstressed depending on the context they are in
-The Canterbury Tales is a narrative. The situation is a pilgrimage to Canterbury. The General Prologue tells us when the pilgrimage took place, where they were, and why each person was going, whether it was for social, professional, or religious reasons.
-The pilgrims are described by their look. This is also a description of each pilgrims character and behavior. The pilgrims are named by their professions.

Joe Forline

Class Notes for Nov. 19

Today we heard about our assignment for the Canterbury Tales. We are not going to read the whole text, but instead each of us will be given a specific pilgrim to research tomorrow. We are going to be responsible for a 10 minute long presentation for all of the info for our pilgrim. You have to use the text and info from the prologue, the individual tale, and the epilogue.

We also started to discuss the rhyme scheme for the text. It was composed in iambic pentameter. This means each line is made of 10 syllables, using a pattern of stressed then unstressed syllables (with five sets of stressed and unstressed syllables). The iamb is one of four units used in English Language Poetry called feet.

-Paul Derickson

Coat of Arms

Has anyone found a good website that has pictures or clip art that we can copy and paste for our Coat of Arms? Preferrably the mantling, crest, and wreath.

Joe Forline

Lines 1-42 of the Canterbury Tales

I was reading the assigned lines over the weekend and every time I read them I got stuck on the meaning of these lines... 38.To inform you of the state of every one
39. Of all of these, as it appeared to me, 40. And who they were, and what was their degree,

These lines confused me a lot and I'm not sure what Chaucer is trying to say to the reader when he says what was their degree, or the "state of every one."

If anyone has any comments or suggestions of what the meaning of these lines are please comment.

John Leskow

Question ?
If I have supporters do I need to have a Helm and Crest?
Thoughts?


Sean Bronczyk

Examples of Heraldry

In the Harry Potter books the four houses each have a mascot that is a charge found in heraldry. There's a lion (for bravery), a raven (for wisdom), a badger (loyalty) and a snake (resourcefulness). There's probably other heraldry that shows up in that series but I don't know about it.

-Paul Derickson

Class Notes

For Assignments we have these so far just in case no one copied them down in class:

Create Your own Coat of Arms
minium= shield, atleast one charge, and motto/ scroll beneath shield
Can add: supporters, complicated shield design, etc. Be creative.
-Needs to have a written explaination and intelligent attempt at a blazon of your shield.

Due Date: November 21st

Extra Credit?
-post on blog examples and explainations of heraldry in daily life.

Class Notes:

Today we began with our quiz and then started to discuss the Canturbury Tales Unit.

Break down of Lines 1-18

When:Spring time
Why?
- matiing season/ social occasions
- desire to venture out of town a person had been stuck in for the majority of the winter time
- cycle of life significance/ new beginnings

Context: Pilgrimage
Why?
- religious ferver; religiously motivated
- if sick during the winter (black plague reference?) one would usually pray to get better, this pilgrimage could be of thanks to saint for helping them live through the winter
- sometimes was required

Where: Canturbury
Why?
- there is a shrine there dedicated to a matyr/saint, Thomas A Beckett
- Thomas A Beckett was murdered in church there, not same as Saint Thomas.

Thats basically call we got through,
Alex Taylor

Class Notes

First Laz handed back the poems that we wrote. Joe's was the hardest to figure out.

Notes on Heraldry

Blazonry- to define in words the Coat of Arms.
- a shield with a green field, a gold lion with its tongue out, in profile, standing on its hind legs
Represented as: Vert, a lion langue rampant Or.

A Proper Charge
Proper - colored with the most common colors in nature for that object
Examples:
Zebra Proper = black and white stripes
Tree Proper = brown trunk with green leaves

The term proper should only be used to indicate colorings that cannot be described in usual heraldric terms
A raven proper is just a raven sable. ( They only have one main color)
The colors of the object identified with proper should be absolute.
Examples:
Brown Bear Proper, Robin Proper
If the animal comes in different colors... it cannot be proper.
Examples:
Horse Proper, Fish Proper (these could be many different colors)
The 'Metal on color, color on metal' rule is not necessarily in effect when the charge is proper.

Dividing the shield
Most shields were undivided
As time went on, shields became segmented
Marriage, disputes between familes, the receipt of new honors esp. from a monarch, and new accomplishments are all reasons why the COA will be changed or segmented.

PER = colors come together directly
A = colors are separated by a band

Fess = Shield separated horizontally
Bend = " " diagonally from top right to bottom left (holding the shield
Pale = " " vertically
Quarterly = " " Into four sections (Highly christian)
Saltire = " " With an X (St. Andrew's cross)
Chevron = " " with a Peak ( can be inverted and is supposed to represent a house)
Pall = " " by a Y
Cheif = " " top1/3 is one color and bottom 2/3 is another
Pile = " " Starting at top corners, separated by lines coming to a point at the bottom.
Tierce = " " Right 1/3 is one color, while the rest is another (as if you were holding the shield)

Field Divisions Example
Shield divided diagonally upper right to left, blue on top, black on bottom, a silver lion with its tongue out standing on hind legs

Per bend asure and sable, a lion langue rampant argent

Connor Tuck

Class Notes: November 3rd and 5th

The Medieval Art of Heraldry

Coat-of-Arms
-Knights used a coat-of-arms to identify each other during battle
-Few people could read or right, so pictures were very important
-Became a way of showing membership to the aristocracy
-Coat-of-arms were impressed in sealing wax on official documents
-Used to ID family tombs
-Can only be inherited by a direct line
-Heraldry: The art/science of describing coats-of-arms

The Herald
-One who is skilled in the description of coats-of-arms
-Blazon: To describe a shield in words
-Emblazon: To draw a shield from a blazon

Aspects of Coats-of-Arms
-Shield
-Helm
-Crest/Wreath
-Mantling
-Supporters
-Motto/Scroll
-Compartment

The Compartment
-Design placed at the very bottom
-Usually some kind of landscape/seascape
-Said to represent land held by the user

The Motto
-Phrase to describe the user's motivation
-Usually written on a scroll under the shield
-Traditionally in Latin
-3 forms
-Straight Line
-1 bend
-3 sections

The Supporters
-Figures (human or animal) standing on either side of the shield
-Often have a local significance or a historical link

The Helm
-Heraldic elements of the shield were often also used on knightly helmets
-The rank of the bearer was often reflected in the type of helmet (or some other type of headgear)
-Women and clergy displayed neither a helm or crest


The Mantling
-Drapery tied to the helm above the shield, forming a backdrop for the shield
-Depiction of the cloth covering worn by Crusading knights
-Usually shown as battered or cut to shreds

The Crest/Wreath
-Rests above the helm, usually in a wreath of twisted cloth in the 2 principal colors of the coat-of-arms
-Often, but not always, an animal
-Crests can be used on their own

The Shield
-Main part of the coat-of-arms
-The oldest and most complex part
-Since women didn't serve in combat, their coats-of-arms were shown on a "lozenge"
-Shield Colors
-Heraldic term for colors: tinctures
-2 metals (light colors) 7 colors (dark colors)
-Names of the tinctures come from French
-Rule of Tincture: Never metal on metal or color on color
-Or: gold- generosity
-Argent: silver- sincerity, peace
-Purpure: purple- royalty
-Cules: red- warrior, strength
-Azure: blue- strength, loyalty
-Vert: green- hope, love
-Sable: black- constancy, grief
-Tenne/Tawny: orange- worthwhile ambition
-Sanguine/Murray: maroon- victorious

Assembling the Coat-of-Arms
-Field: background color
-Charge: things on the shield
-Charges could be animals, objects, or geometric constructs

Kevin Storms

I'm pretty sure they are due monday. What version of the poem is supposed to be used ? any good sites?

Connor 

Canterbury Tales

When are Canterbury Tales due? Did Laz say Monday or Wednesday?


Kristian Mayer

class notes nov 5th

Does anyone have the class notes for yesterday, Nov 5th? Thanks.

-matt frank

Class 10/30

We had the Beowulf test on Thursday, which took up the entire period. We were reminded to start memorizing the first 18 lines of the Canterbury Tales in modern English, and old English for extra credit. The link can be found in the post below.

Sorry this was late.

Billy Saldutti