Dictionary Vocab. Activity

Using the vocabulary list below, follow the directions to help you understand the challenging vocabulary in our book, The Once and Future King.

1. Look up the word in the dictionary and write it down.
2. Check the text (page numbers are provided). How is the word being used?
3. Write a definition in your own words, considering the way the vocabulary is used in the text. Use context clues!
4. Finally, write a sentence using the word. Make sure you are using it with the same meaning as the text!

Vocabulary list:

Indignation (245)
Summon (246)
Inconsistent (247)
Monopoly (247)
Justice (247)
Distortions (315)
Salute (329)
Desolate (317)
Melancholy (317)
Jousting (318)
Siege (319)
Deceitful (331)
Nuisance (333)
Squire (335)
Infatuation (337)
Feudal (337)
Inclination (339)
Anarchy (340)
Sultry (342)
Halted (343)
Factions (345)

Journals for Regents Week

All sections:

- Choose four (4) topics you have already written about. Hove you changed your mind about your opinion? Is there anything you can add to your previous entry? Each topic = one journal entry.

- 2 Freewrites

(6 journal entries total)

Journal for the Day

All sections:

What kind of parent do you think you will be?

The Ill-Made Knight (IMK) Reading assignment Chapters 8-10

Read chapters 8-10 of IMK (p. 355-368)

"Say Something" for pages 355, 364, and 365

Reading Response questions:

1. Why do the "coleric (angry) barons who lived by Forte Mayne (Strong Arm)" hate Lancelot so much? (355)

2. Why does Arthur ask his knights to tell of their adventures? Why is the feast a fiasco (disaster)? (361-362)

3. How does Guenever feel about Arthur? How does she react when all of Lancelot's captives arrive? (363)

4. What problems does Arthur face as he tries to institute his ideal of Right? What is Games-mania and why is it a problem? (364-365)

5. What is one reason for Lancelot's dilemma about Guenever? (367-368)

Weekend Journals

All sections:

Saturday: "It is better to suffer wrong than to do it." Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?

Sunday: Do you think that "ambition, fear and greed will eventually and always triumph over reason?" Why or why not?

(The quote is asking if our ability to make right decisions will always be overcome by our own fears and our own greed. Do we eventually ignore what is right in favor of our desires?)

Journal for the Day

All sections:

Freewrite!

Close Reading - Deciphering the Details

Close Reading

Deciphering the Details

When you do a close reading, you are looking deeply into the meaning of a small section of your text.

Directions: On a loose-leaf sheet of paper, write a comment for each numbered sentence(s).

Part I

1. “[Lancelot] did not notice anything particular about [Guenever] because his mind was filled with previous pictures which he had made for himself. 2. There was no room for pictures of what she was really like. 3. He thought of her only as the person who had robbed him, and, since robbers are deceitful, designing, and heartless people, he thought of her as one of these.” (p. 331)

Part II

1. “The young man [Lancelot] knew, in this moment, that he had hurt a real person, of his own age. 2. He saw in [Guenever's] eyes that she thought he was hateful, and that he had surprised her badly. She had been giving kindness, and he had returned it with unkindness. 3. But the main thing was that she was a real person. She was not a minx, not deceitful, not designing and heartless. She was pretty Jenny, who could think and feel.” (p. 334)

Turn page over

Part III

1. “[Lancelot] had a contradictory nature which was far from holy. His Word was valuable to him not only because he was good, but also because he was bad. 2. It is the bad people who need to have principles to restrain them. 3. For one thing, he liked to hurt people. It was for the strange reason that he was cruel, that the poor fellow never killed a man who asked for mercy, or committed a cruel action which he could have prevented. 4. One reason why he fell in love with Guenever was because the first thing he had done was to hurt her. He might never have noticed her as a person if he had not seen the pain in her eyes.” (p. 339)

Part IV

1. “A man who was not afflicted by ambitions of decency in his mind might simply have run away with his hero's wife, and then perhaps the tragedy of Arthur would never have happened. 2. An ordinary fellow, who did not spend half his life torturing himself by trying to discover what was right so as to conquer his inclination towards what was wrong, might have cut the knot which brought their ruin.” (p. 339)

In-class Essay on Lancelot

Essay Prompt:

How does Lancelot feel about himself? How do these feeling affect his relationships to Arthur and Guenever?

Guiding Questions:

1. How and why did Lancelot's feelings for Guenever change?
2. How does Lancelot view Arthur?
3. Why does Lancelot try to be good all the time? What feelings does he have for himself that have caused him to overcompensate?

Journal for the day

All sections:

How do you discover yourself? (your identity, likes and dislikes, your attitude, etc.)

Notes on IMK Chapters 4-6 (pp. 328-340)

Lancelots's feelings about Guenever:

- at first, he is jealous of her because she snatched "away [Arthur's] love for no cost at all" (p. 328)
- was unable to see anything good about her because of his jealousy: "his mind was filled with previous pictures he had made for himself." (p. 331)
- Lancelot is only able to see Guenever on her own terms because he hurt her feelings: "She was pretty Jenny who could think and feel." (p. 334)
- Lancelot feels angry that Arthur is taking him to the Roman war
   - he felt that it "implied lack of trust" (p. 337)
- however, Guenever "was able to come between them after all" (p. 339)
   - as soon as Lancelot notices that he really is in love with her, he asks to leave court.

Journal for the Day

All sections:

Write about a time when you realized that someone was not who you thought they were.

Journal for the Day

All sections:

Write about your weekend as an adventure story.

The Ill-Made Knight (IMK) Reading assignment Chapter 7

Read Chaoter 7 of IMK (p. 340-354)

"Say Something" for p. 352, 353, and 354 (3 sets)

Reading Response Questions:

1. Why does Lancelot fight Sir Carados? (341-342)

2. What does Sir Turquine usually do with his captives? (343)

3. EWhat does Lancelot promise the lady who helps him escape from the Castle Chariot? (346)

4. How does Sir Turquine exemplify the old order of knights who are more interested in Might than Right? (343, 354)

5. How does Gaheris feel towards Lancelot? Why? (354)

Weekend Journals

All sections:

Saturday: What are some of your quirks (strange, silly little things that make you you!)?

Sunday: Write a poem about your home.

Monday: Freewrite!

Journal for the Day

All sections:

Freewrite!

Chapters 3-6 of The Ill-Made Knight - Assignment

Read Chapters 3-6 of The Ill-Made Knight (IMK), pages 328-340

"Say Something" for pages 333-334, 336, and 339

Reading Response Questions:

1. Why was Lancelot jealous of Guenever and Gawaine? (328)

2. Who is the black knight? What is his reaction when Lancelot knocks him over? (330)

3. What is Lancelot's initial impression of Guenever? (331)

4. How and why do Lancelot's feelings for Guenever change? (334, 337)

5. Why is Arthur able to forget Merlyn's prophecy that Lancelot would fall in love with Guenever? (338)

6. Why does Lancelot leave the court? (339-340)

Journal for the Day

All sections:

If we could create a perfect society, what do you think it would be like?

Notes on IMK Chapters 1-3 (pp. 315-328)

Lancelot's feelings about Arthur:

- Thinks Arthur is a hero
   - agrees about Might:
   "You want to put and end to the Strong Arm (Might) by having a band of knights who believe in justice rather than strength" (p. 316)
- Perfected himself for Arthur
   - became very good at games and fighting
   - knew the rules of Chivalry very well
- Wanted to be the best knight in the world so his hero would love him back
- Jealous of Gawaine and Guenever
   - Gawaine was knighted first
   - Guenever did not have to train hard for 3 years to get the king's love

Lancelot's feelings about himself:

- calls himself the "Ill-Made Knight" (the poorly made knight, corrupted, broken knight)
   - has "something at the bottom of his heart of which he was aware and ashamed, but which he did not understand" (p. 315)
- Lancelot is extremely ugly (bottom of p. 317)
- is solemn and serious, hiding that he is "living on dreams and prayers" (p. 320)
- Lancelot's hero-worship is not enough to explain why he trained so hard
   - he must have had some hatred towards himself "to break his body so young" (p. 320)
- Lancelot also wished to perform a minor miracle

The Ill-Made Knight (IMK) Reading assignment Chapters 1-3

Read chapters 1-3 of The Ill-Made Knight (IMK), pages 315-328

"Say Something" for pages 326 and 327 (one for each)

Reading Response questions for Chapters 1-3 of IMK

1. How does Lancelot describe Forte Mayne? Why does Lancelot want to join Arthur? (p. 316)

2. What did it take for Lancelot to become Arthur's best knight? (pp. 322-323)

3. What was Lancelot's other wish aside from being the best knight in the world? (p. 323)

4. What gift does Guenever's father give to Arthur? (p. 326)

5. What does Lancelot decide to do after Merlyn's visit? (p. 327)

Journal for the Day

All sections:

What do you do when someone pushes your buttons? Do you resort to violence or do you try to solve the conflict some other way?

Close Reading - Deciphering the Details

When you do a close reading, you are looking deeply into the meaning of a small section of your text.

Directions: On a loose-leaf sheet of paper, write a comment for each numbered sentence(s).

Teacher Model:

1. “You see, Might is not Right. 2. But, there is a lot of Might knocking about in this world, and something has to be done about it. 3. It is as if people were half horrible and half nice. 4. Perhaps they are even more than half horrible, and when they are left to themselves, they run wild. 5. You get the average baron that we wee nowadays, people like Sir Bruce Sans Pitie, who simply go clod-hopping round the country, and doing exactly what they please, for sport. 6. It is our Norman idea about the upper classes having a monopoly of power, without reference to justice. 7. The the horrible side gets uppermost, and there is thieving, and rape, and plunder, and torture. 8. People become beasts.” (p. 247)

As a Class:

1. “Now, what I have thought,” said Arthur, “is this. Why can't you harness Might so that it works for Right? 2. I know it sounds nonsense, but, I mean, you can't just say that there is no such thing. The Might is there, in the bad half of people, and you can't neglect it. 3. You can't cut it out, but you might be able to direct it if you see what I mean, so that it will be useful instead of bad.” (p. 248)

Independent Practice:

1. “My idea is that if we can win this battle in front of us, and get a firm hold of the country, then I will institute a sort of order of chivalry. 2. I will not punish the bad knights or hang Lot, but I will try to get them into our Order. 3. We shall have to make it a great honor, you see, and make it fashionable and all that. Everybody must want to be in. 4. And then I shall make the oath of the Order that Might is only to be used for Right. Do you follow? 5. The knights in my order will ride all over the world, still dressed in steel and whacking away with their swords—that will give an outlet for wanting to whack, you understand, an outlet for what Merlyn calls the foxhunting spirit—but they will be bound to strike only on behalf of what is good, to defend virgins against Sir Bruce and to restore what has been done wrong in the past and to help the oppressed and so forth. Do you see the idea? 6. It will be by using the Might instead of fighting against it, and turning a bad thing into a good.” (p. 248)

Journal for the Day

All sections:

"To study is not to consume ideas, but to create and recreate them." - Paulo Freire

What does this mean? Do you agree with this statement?

Journal for the Day

All sections:

When is war necessary? Is there always a better alternative to war?

Notes on OFK pp. 213-219

- King Uther Pendragon invited the Earl and Countess of Cornwall to London
- Then, "the bloody King of England" fell in love with the Countess (Igraine) (p. 214)
- But, Igraine "spurned the advances of King Uther Pendragon" (p. 215)
- So, Igraine and her husband, the Earl of Cornwall, run away from London
- As a result, King Uther gets mad and starts a war over Igraine
- When it seems that Uther will lose the war, Merlyn comes to help him
- Merlyn is able to get Uther into Igraine's castle (by turning Uther into an exact copy of the Lady's husband)
- meanwhile, the Earl of Cornwall is killed in battle
- on this night, Arthur is conceived

Weekend Journals

All sections:

Saturday: How do your parents influence you to be who you are at this time in your life?

Sunday: What do you think is your greatest flaw (lazy, anxious, etc.)? Why?

Journal for the Day

All sections:

Freewrite!

Journal for the Day

All sections:

Why is language important? What might things be like if we did not have language?

Journal for the Day

All sections:

Freewrite!

Dictionary Vocab. Activity

Using the vocabulary list on the previous post, follow the directions below to help you understand the challenging vocabulary in our book, The Once and Future King.

1. Look up the word in the dictionary and write it down.
2. Check the text (page numbers are provided). How is the word being used?
3. Write a definition in your own words, considering the way the vocabulary is used in the text. Use context clues!
4. Finally, write a sentence using the word. Make sure you are using it with the same meaning as the text!

Vocabulary

Finally, a new vocabulary unit! Each word is followed by a page reference to help you find the word as it appears in the book The Once and Future King.

Philosophy (188)
Ambling (188)
Rubbish (189)
College (189)
Solemn (189)
Scholarship (189)
Irresistible (190)
Paralyzed (191)
Evolution (191)
Defenseless (192)
Riddle (193)
Parable (193)
Plaids (213)
Chivalry (214)
Chaste (214)
Spurned (215)
Treacherous (216)
Dignity (217)
Tyranny (218)
Stench (218)
Feud (219)

Say Something - (OFK pp. 213-219)

Create a "Say Something" chart for each page of the assigned reading (The Once and Future King pp. 213-219.

Your entries should look similar to the graphic organizers distributed in class. Remember to:

1. make a prediction
2. ask a question
3. clarify something you misunderstood
4. make a comment
5. make a connection

For number 5, don't just write down "text-to-text." Simply stating what kind of connection you are making carries little meaning. It is the connection itself that is important.

For this assignment, you will turn in 7 sets of the "Say Something" exercise for 21 points.

Journal for the Day

All sections:

Why do we tell each other stories?

Journal for the Day

All sections:

Do you usually know the difference between right and wrong? How does it feel when you want to do the right thing, but you're not sure it's right?