Happy Holidays from Mrs. Cook
This is a one-time only, extra credit project for Intensive Reading class. You must complete this project by Friday, January 9, 2008. NO LATE PROJECTS WILL BE ACCEPTED. You must complete this project entirely on your own; plagiarism will result in zero credit.
In order to complete this project, you may want to look back over the text of this story. You may find a copy at your local library or look online. Here are some web sites where you can view the text and summaries of the text:
- text online
- Wikipedia
- Sparknotes
For your project, you must complete the following activities. Put them together in a stapled packet or folder and turn them in to Mrs. Cook. This project will be worth 50 extra credit points.
A. First Task: Draw the Pentangle
When Gawain’s armor is described in the story, it is said that on his shield he has a pentangle, or a 5-pointed star representing the five virtues of knighthood. These virtues are:
(a) free-giving (or generosity)
(b) friendliness (or brotherhood)
(c) chastity (or purity)
(d) chivalry (or courtesy)
(e) piety (or compassion)
For this part of the project, you must draw a shield (on paper or on the computer) that represents these five virtues in a modern way. Use drawings and symbols to represent the virtues on the shield. It should be full-color and accurately depict what a knight’s shield would look like.
B. Second Task: Modern Gawain
Think about how the modern man or woman might represent these five virtues of knighthood. For each virtue, choose someone (famous or someone you know personally) who represents that virtue well. For example, you might choose a person who does a lot for charity for the first virtue, or someone who helps other people for the last one. Write out a short paragraph (2-4 sentences) for each virtue, explaining who represents that virtue and how they represent it in a modern way.
EXAMPLE – You may not use this one:
Mrs. Cook is an extremely compassionate person. She is so nice, that she let us complete this extra credit project as a way to improve our crappy grades in her class. I have never known a teacher as nice as Mrs. Cook, and this is why I am choosing her to represent piety, or compassion.
You must complete BOTH PARTS of the project in order to earn any points. You will be graded on effort, creativity, and understanding of the text.
New Weekly Grade System
From this point forward, I will be assigning regular weekly grades. The grades will be in three separate categories:
1. Class Work (25 points)
- Be in class every day, working on assigned work.
- This may include taking notes, participating in discussions, or completing group and individual work.
- Absent students may make up the 5 daily points they miss by making up written work for those days.
2. Independent Reading (25 points)
- Read your book every time Mrs. Cook assigns you to do so.
- Complete a weekly, written, active reading assignment about your book.
3. Odyssey (25 points)
- Work toward completing your Odyssey Reading Path assignments.
- Each week, you will earn points for making progress in your reading path during that week.
This means that students will earn at least 75 points per week, just for completing the assignments that week to the best of their abilities. Additional grades will be added for individual assignments, as they come up.
