Some Black Friday Reading

So while everyone was at the mall I decided to read my tale. I actually found it very amusing. It seems like my whole tale is making fun of and getting back at the miller, which is the tale right before it. At some points it got very controversial which is going to make my presentation very fun. I was wondering if anyone else's story is really interesting and drama filled because my tale can get intense.

Jordan Levy

P.S. The Miller better watch out the Reeve is coming for you.

This one is specifically for Mr. Laz

Mr Lazarow the page that I wrote down my two characters for the canterbury tales has been misplaced and I have forgotten one of my characters. I know that I had the cook, if you would be so kind as to tell me my other character so I won't fail the presentation, nor my classmates on the test?

-Michael Rudolph

Class Minutes- Week of 11/24-11/26

11/24/08
Monday the 24th, we had our Coat of Arms projects due. We spent the entire period presenting them to the class. At the end of the period we found out that Mr. Lazarow wasn't going to be in class the next day so we were to bring any and all information we needed to research our pilgrim with us to class.

11/25/08
Tuesday the 25th, Mr. Lazarow wasn't in class and we spent the entire period working on our Canterbury Tales pilgrim presentations.

11/26/08
We started the Canterbury Tales presentations with Mr. Lazarow's presentation of "The Knight."

The Knight

• 1st of the 29 pilgrims
• lives by truth, honor, freedom, amd all courtesy
• one of the most highly regarded Knights in the world
• worthy to his lord in time of war
• "thrice in the lists"- Chosen 3 times for single combat
• honored everywhere for his worthiness
• his prize wasn't money or wealth, only fame
• traveled the world fighting enemies
• very wise, with no vileness
• came straight from a voyage amd is going directly on the pilgrimage-thus, in his clothes and not his armour
• his son is traveling with him (the Squire)

It is socially acceptable to begin with the knight, so when it came to drawing straws Chaucer made it that the Knight would draw the shortest straw.

The Knight's Tale

• A Roman- A tale originally told in Latin, it was a tale about adventure and sometimes love.
• Theseus-The Lord and Governer of Athens, Rich and Wise, fights against the Amazonians who are ruled by Hippolyta.
• Theseus and the Athenians defeat the Amazonians
• After the battle Theseus marries Hippolyta
• Hippolyta's sister Emily, comes back to Athens with Theseus and Hippolyta

Mourning Wives

• On the way back Theseus sees a group of Mourning Wives
• Wives were very noble, rich women
• Creon had killed their husbands in battle, and now refuses to allow them to retrieve their dead husbands off of the battlefield.
• Theseus made sure that he will go after Creon in order to get vengeance for the women's husbands.
• Theseus takes over Thebes
• As they are going over the battlefield, the Athenians discover 2 wounded Thebian knights, Palamon and Arcita.
• Theseus decides to imprison them for life with no chance for ransom instead of executing them.

Emily

• Among the most beautiful of women
• has a garden in the castle by Palamon and Arcita's Jail cell.
• Palamon is looking out the window, sees Emily and instantly falls in love with her.
• Palamon screams and Arcita runs to the window and also falls in love with Emily.
• Both decide that they can love Emily as much as they want but they will just have to love her from afar.

-Celia Coltre

HELP!

No one ever posted anything about the colors, and I just realized I was absent that day.
Can someone please post the notes about the colors - what they mean & their names.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
thank you
-ellen hassinger

Class Minutes 10/21/08

-Coat of Arms project is due on Monday.
-The Coat of Arms project must be in the front of the shirt, the blazon has to be in the back of the shirt. Written essay on the reason why you picked the elements for your Coat of Arms.
-Depending on your pilgrim you might not have or have an epilogue, tales and a prologue.
Important things to keep in mind while doing the Canterbury Tales project:
-Description of your character
-Behavior of your character
-Profession of your character
-Religious devotion of your character
Also its very important to say your character's reasons as to why they are going to Canterbury.
The story of Canterbury Tales is told in a Frame Narrative.

-Piero Benites

Class Notes 11/20/08

-Today in class we opened with questions about the coat of arms project.
-Then, we were assigned a specific pilgrim for the Canterbury Tales project.
-The Canterbury Tales was one of the earliest writings to use iambic pentameter which is 4 series of stressed or unstressed syllables.

-Brandon Barrett

Class Notes 11/19

-We recieved our Beowulf test, and then our marking period grades
-Mr. Lazarow then went over the class blog participation grades at 30, 50, 70, and 100 points for each consecutive marking period
-We then discussed the Heraldry project, including charges and shields
-The charges should represent our personal qualities
-The project's due date has been postponed to Monday
-Consists of Coat of arms, Blazon, and an essay explaining the coat of arms
-Regarding the Canterbury tales project, we will each be assigned a pilgrim from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and will be responsible for reading and researching the pilgrim and discussing the pilgrim with the class
-We will then look at the pilgrim's tale (including prologue and epilogue if included), and we must be able to explain it to the class

Minutes for 11/18/08

Today in class Mr. Lazarow was absent again. The sub reminded us that our coat of arms project is due Friday. (Blazon and essay also).
In class we read from lines 43-90 in the Prologue of Canterbury Tales. These lines told us about the knight and a bit about his son.
The knight- one of the more noble pilgrims, loyal, honorable, generous, has good manners, and lots of military skill. Fought many battles, honored everywhere he's been, never says an unkind word, and is also very wise. Despite all this he is apparently not happy.
His son- acts as squire to his father, the knight. He's a lover and went on a journey to get a lover's grace.
That's about all!

Good luck everyone
-Emily Wallace

CLASS NOTES FOR november 17th

Today in class, Mr. Lazarow was not present...again. We had Mr Green as a substitute and he had us read that packet that elaborated on the Canterbury tales. The assigned HW was to read lines 1-42 in the Canterbury tales for tomorrow. Also, as a reminder, the Coats of Arms project is due Friday, and that includes the shield on a shirt with the blazon on the back, and an essay explaining why you chose what you chose on the shield.

Mike "DANGER" Rudolph

what stuff means?

Hey guys, I'm working on my coat of arms, and im having a tough time finding what different things symbolize - especially shields.  I have no idea what kind of design to choose or what it'd mean because I can't find anything like that.  I'm guessing I'm going to need this info for the blazon too, so if anybody knows a good website or something for that, please let me know. thanks.

--Pat Lafferty

The Cornell University Coat of Arms Consists of a shield that is first divided per chief, and the bottom section is again divided per pale creating three sections of the shield. The upper section contains two smaller shields, one divided per chief, with six vertical lines dividing the lower section. The adjacent shield depicts a ship at sail with mountains in the background and the sun above them. This makes sense, as Cayuga lake is in Ithaca, NY, and it is over looked by both the mountains and Cornell University. The lower section of the shield depicts an open book over the divided lower section. The entire shield is surrounded by a banner which reads: Cornell University Founded A.D.1865
-Chris

Class Minutes 11/14

We had a sub in class today. We were given a packet that we had to read.

-Jimmy

class minutes

Sorry this is so late, I had trouble getting on the site.

First we talked about the Coat of Arms assignment and were given three bonus opportunities. There were to make a Coat of Arms, with blazon and essay, for Beowulf, our class, or Mr. Lazarow. We spent the rest of class talking about English history which gives us a background for Canterbury tales. After 1066, French was spoken by the upper class, and English was spoken by the peasants. After the Black Plague a middle class, who spoke English, was created. Chaucer was in the middle class and he wrote some poetry in his free time from his job as a civil servant. His poetry was important since it was in English and showed that English could also be used for literature.

-Andrew Burke

Class Minutes

Hey everybody,
Today, we took the Canterbury Tales memorization quiz on the first 18 lines. After that, we were given the opportunity to recite the lines for extra credit. Everyone did really well, especially Ken who recited it in Middle English. Also, Laz reminded us that our Coat-Of-Arms t-shirts, blazons, and essays are due next Friday. Don't forget to do it!
-Sarah

class minutes

i hope everyones doing well with the poem..i know im not but sarahs commenst seemed helpful! today in class we went over shapes of the sheilds and what they ment. We went over reasons as to why they woudl change( marraige, disputes between families,new honors, new accomplishments) Mr. Laz showed us the NJ and PA sheilds as well. Our assignment FOR THE BLOG! (MEEEER) is to find the coat of arms for the colleges were looking at and talk about why whats on them is. Secondly, our assignment due in a week and a half (MEEER MEER) is to make a coat of arms for ourselves and put it on a tea shirt, with the blazon on the back. WEAR THEM TO SCHOOL! An explination (ESSAY OF COURSE) goes alongside the shirt.

Hope everyones studying is going well
kaitlyn

Memorization Tips

Hey everybody,
So a few people said they had problems memorizing the poem and I used to do memorization a lot at BC Footlighters so I can help a little. It definitely helps to break the poem down and memorize it in chunks. Do it 2-4 lines at a time. Also, it's easier to write the poem than it is to speak it so once you have it somewhat memorized write it over and over again. Once you get the quiz, your hand and your mind will just start writing it, kind of like muscle memory. Another important thing to remember is to make sure you understand the poem or else you really won't know the lines as well as you could. Anyway, that's all I got. Hope it helps.
-Sarah

Hey guys,
I was attempting to memorize the poem and was wondering what it meant. I think I would be easier to remember if I actually understood what I was reading.

HEI GAIZ!

This'll help!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE0MtENfOMU

I know it's a little late, but you still have time to memorize the Middle English version. Hope this helps everyone!

~Ken

Class Minutes 11/10

Today in class we continued our discussion about Coats or Arms. We started off talking about charges. Charges are a part of the shield, and are usually land animals, fish and birds, but there are many different objects that can be charges. Of course like everything else on a coat of arms charges all have meanings, especially animals. Such things as a tongue sticking out means that you are fierce. Also when making a blazon if the animal is facing to the right it is called "dexter" while if it is facing the left it is called "sinister".

Jordan Levy

http://www.fleurdelis.com/meaning.htm

Here's a website I found that goes deep into the symbology and meanings of the Coat of Arms. 

-Ryan Grosso

If anyone else is writing the middle english translation for the Canterbury Tales quiz on tuesday or whatever day it is, is "eek" on line 5 supposed to be seek?
-Chris

Class Minutes 11/5/08

THE MOTTO:

• A phrase or collection of words intended to describe the bearer's motivation or intention
• Typically depicted on a scroll under the arms, or else above it as in Scots heraldry
• Traditionally in Latin or other Romance languages, as well as in English or German

THE SUPPORTERS:

• Figures - human or animals - standing on either side of the shield
• Often these can have local significance (the Fisherman and the Tin miner of Cornwall ) or a historical link (the lion of England)

THE HELM:

• Heraldic elements on the shield were often also used for the decoration of knightly helmets because, often, shields were battered and lost in battle.
• It then became common to include a helmet (or some other headgear) as part of the coat of arms, above the shield.
• In some systems, the rand of the bearer was reflected in the type of helmet, e.g. the type o metal and the number of bars in the visor, as in France.
• This practice continued in other types of headgear (e.g. a crown)
• Due to their traditional non-participation in combat, clergy and women display neither helm nor crest.

THE MANTLING:

• Drapery tied to the helmet above the shield, forming a backdrop for the shield.
• Originally a depiction of the protective cloth covering(worn by Crusading knights from their helmets to protect against the elements)
• Mantling is drawn or painted tattered or cut to shreds, as it were cut by sword blades.

THE CREST / WREATH:

• The term "crest" is often mistaken to refer to the entire coat-of-arms - don't do this
• The crest rests above the helm, usually on a 'wreath' of twisted cloth in the 2 principle colors.
• Often but not always an animal
• Crests can be used on their own (particularly useful when there is insufficient space)

THE SHIELD:

• The main part of the coat-of-arms
• Derived from the original use of the shield by knights in combat.
• Oldest, and most complex part.
• The shape:
• different shapes refer to different time periods or where it originated
  
• Women had a lozenge on their coat of arms because they did not fight.
  
• Some modern women do fight, and therefore may have a shield on their coat of arms.
  
• Shield colors:
• Colors are called "tinctures"
  
• There are 9 main tinctures: two metals (light) and seven colours (dark)
  
• Names from from French
  
• VERY IMPORTANT: 1st Rule - never metal on metal or color on color
  
• This improved contrast so that the coats of arms were more easily seen from a distance.
  

--Patrick Lafferty

MEDIEVAL ART OF HERALDRY

Medieval Art of Heraldry (or: make your own coat of arms)

~coat of arms- identifying flagmark of a nation, empire, family, etc; few could read and write, so pictures were important
~coat of arms later took on further significance and meaning, most notably, they became a way of showing membership in a society
~arms remained popular for visual ID
ex: sealing wax imprint, engraved on family tomb
Descent of Arms remains strictly regulated by inheritence; only certain actual descendants of a particular armigerous person are entitled to his arms or a related version.
Popular associations of a coat of arms with all bearers of a surname is a misconception
Coat of arms must represent a particular individual

Heraldry- the science and art of describing coats of arms
Herald- a person skilled in Heraldry
Blazon- to describe a sheilf in words using heraldic terms
Emblazon- to draw or paint a shielf from a blazon

PARTS OF A COAT OF ARMS:
shield, helm, crest/wreath, mantling, supporters, motto/scroll, compartment

Compartment- design placed under shield, usually rocks or grassy mount, or some sort of other landscape, upon which the supporters are depiced as standing
-usually a landscape, seascape, or piece of geography or notable landmark
-sometimes said to have intended to represent land held by the bearer

That's about it for the notes for today.

~Ken