Thursday, October 8, 2009
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights Comprehension Question Answers for p. 345-383
In the comments section of this post, I have placed the rest of the comprehension questions and answers for The Story of King Arthur and His Knights p. 345-383. Because there are only a few days until the midterm, you can simply print out these answers to study off of now, but after the midterm, I expect you to copy them into your notes by hand.
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20. When Gawaine returns to Arthur’s court and tells the story of what happened with the white hound and deer, why is Queen Guinevere displeased? What does she think Gawaine should do with his sword?
Queen Guinevere is displeased because he hurt a woman and he didn’t show mercy to the knight, so she thinks that his sword is dishonored and that it shouldn’t be used, since it was used at a time where the code of chivalry was broken. (359)
21. When Gawaine hears Queen Guinevere say that he has a dishonored sword, what is his response? What does he decide to show her and what does he do with his sword?
When Gawaine hears what Guinevere says, he gets angry and frustrated with her. He decides to break his sword in half and he wants to show her that he is gentler and more chivalrous than all the other knights. (359)
22. When Spring came to Tintagalon, what did Arthur start to desire? What do he and his esquire Boisenard decide to do to have an adventure?
Arthur started to desire an exciting adventure. He and Boisenard decide to go on a trip and meet Guinevere at Carleon. He wants to surprise her. (361, 362)
23. When Arthur and Boisenard go on their trip, what happens to them when they go into the forest? What does Boisenard do to solve their problem? What does he see?
While they are in the forest, King Arthur and Boisenard get lost. Boisenard climbs a tall tree to see if there is a way to get out. He sees a light shining in the forest. (362,363)
24. When Arthur and Boisenard go towards the light in the forest, what do they find? Who meets them there? What do they ask this man for and what is his reply?
When they go towards the light, they finally find a mysterious looking castle that had many tall towers. The castle looks scary. They knock on the gate of the castle, and a porter meets them. They ask him if they can stay at the castle for the night, and the porter warns them that it would be better for them to stay in the forest. (363)
25. When Arthur and Boisenard are let in to the castle, what do they see? What is happening in the castle?
When they are let in the castle, they see a great feast that is being held. They hear music, and the sound of singing. There are many candles and other lights, and it looks like a big party is going on. (364)
26. Describe the knight that is sitting at the head of the table in the mysterious castle’s feast.
He was very big and strong, and he had a white beard. He was muscular looking, and had wide shoulders and a wide chest. He looked scary because he had a very serious face. He was wearing black and was wearing a gold chain that had a gold locket hanging from it. (364)
27. What is the game that the mysterious knight of the castle wants Arthur to play with him? What is this game supposed to prove?
The mysterious knight wants to play a game that tests courage, where each knight will have a chance to cut off the head of the other knight. The game is supposed to prove whether a knight is truly brave. (364, 365)
28. Does Arthur agree to play with the knight? What is the warning that Boisenard gives Arthur?
Yes, Arthur agrees to play with the knight. Boisenard warns Arthur that he should not enter into the contest because he is sure that there is some kind of evil and dangerous plan involved in the game. (365)
29. When Arthur and the mysterious knight of the castle start their contest, who gets to go first? Describe what happens in the first round of this strange contest.
When the contest starts, King Arthur gets to try cutting off the mysterious knight’s head first. In the first round of the contest, Arthur cuts off the knight’s head with Excalibur, and the head is knocked far away from the body, but after the head is cut off, the body of the knight did not fall. Instead, it walked over to where the head was, picked it up, and put the head back on the body—and the mysterious knight’s body was perfectly healthy and alive. (366)
30. When it is the mysterious knight of the castle’s turn to cut off Arthur’s head, is Arthur afraid? Why?
When it is the mysterious knight’s turn, Arthur is not afraid because he knows that every man must die at some point, and he simply assumes that it is now his turn to die. (366)
31. When the mysterious knight of the castle swings the sword several times but doesn’t cut Arthur’s neck, what does Arthur ask him not to do? What is the knight’s reply? Why would the knight want to swing at Arthur’s neck without cutting him (what is he trying to do to Arthur?)
When the knight keeps swinging the sword but doesn’t cut Arthur’s neck, Arthur asks him to stop tormenting/teasing him and asks him to just do it. The knight says that he will torment Arthur for a long time before he actually kills him. He wants to do it to see if Arthur is really brave, and he is hoping that Arthur will show fear. He wants to scare Arthur. (367)
32. Why does the knight offer Arthur a covenant? What is the covenant that the mysterious knight offers Arthur?
The mysterious knight offers Arthur a covenant because when the mysterious knight tried to frighten King Arthur by pretending to cut off his head, Arthur was not afraid, so he was impressed with his bravery. The mysterious knight says that he will spare Arthur’s life for one year if he promises to return at the end of one year. (367)
33. What is the second covenant that the knight offers Arthur? What is the riddle that Arthur must solve?
The second covenant that the knight offers Arthur concerns a riddle. If Arthur can answer the riddle, then the knight will spare his life. The riddle is “What is it that a woman desires most of all in the world?” (367, 368)
34. When Arthur and Boisenard leave the mysterious knight’s castle, what does Arthur command Boisenard?
Arthur commands Boisenard not to tell anyone about what happened, and to keep it a secret. (368)
35. After nearly a year passes and Arthur gets ready to return to the mysterious castle, Boisenard begs Arthur not to go. Why does Arthur say he must go?
Arthur says he must go because if he did not go, his honor would be violated since he wouldn’t be keeping the covenant. He said that it would be horrible to live a life of dishonor. (369)
36. As Arthur travels looking for the answer to the riddle, he comes to a small hut. Describe the person who lives in this hut.
A very ugly old woman lived in this hut. She had huge and floppy ears, her hair looked like snakes, her skin was wrinkly, her eyes were filmy and oozed, and her eyelids were rimmed with red. She only had one tooth, and her hands looked like claws. (370)
37. When Arthur asks the old woman the riddle, what is her reply? What must Arthur do to get the answer? What is the answer to the riddle?
She replies that she knows the answer, but he must first agree to let her marry any of the knights in his court—her choice, and Arthur agrees to this demand. The answer to the riddle is all women desire, more than anything, to have their will, which means all women desire to get what they want. (371)
38. According to the old woman, who is the mysterious knight of the castle really? How can one kill this mysterious knight?
The mysterious knight of the castle is actually an evil magician. The only way he can be killed is if someone destroys the magic locket that is around his neck. (371)
Chapter 3
39. When Arthur arrives at the mysterious knight’s castle and says the answer to the riddle, what is the new sport that Arthur wants to play with the mysterious knight? How does Arthur kill the mysterious knight?
When Arthur arrives, he wants to play a game where Arthur trades his golden collar for the mysterious knight’s locket. Arthur kills the mysterious knight by ripping off his locket and breaking it on the ground. (374)
40. When Arthur brings the ugly old woman to his castle, how does he treat her?
When Arthur brings the ugly old woman to the castle, he treats her with a lot of respect as if she were a lady of royal blood and as if she were an incredibly beautiful woman. (375)
41. Which of Arthur’s knights does the old woman choose to be her husband? Why does this knight agree to marry her?
The old woman chooses Sir Gawaine to be her husband because he looks like he is the son of a king. He agrees to marry her because he made a promise that he will do whatever King Arthur wants him to do. (377)
42. What happens when they dress the old woman in fine clothing to prepare her for her wedding? How do the people in Arthur’s court feel about Gawaine’s wedding?
When they dress the old woman in fine clothing, she looks even worse than she did before. Somehow, the clothing made her look uglier. The people in King Arthur’s court feel sorry for Gawaine, and the wedding ceremony is more like a funeral rather than a wedding. (377)
43. After the wedding, where does Gawaine go and why does he shut himself away from everyone?
After they get married, Gawaine goes to his house and shuts himself away from all the world because he is humiliated. He is embarrassed that he has to be married to such an ugly old woman. (377)
44. Describe Gawaine’s feelings about being married to the ugly old woman. Why does he decide to change his attitude about her and treat her with respect?
At first Gawaine felt embarrassed about having to be married to the old woman, but then he decided that he should change his attitude about her because he knew he had made a commitment to her and he knew that he needed to treat her as a wife deserved.(378)
45. When Gawaine apologizes to the old woman for ignoring her, she tells him to turn on the lights. What does Gawaine see when he turns on the lights?
When he turns on the lights, he does not see the ugly old woman, instead he sees a beautiful young woman who has silky black hair, black eyes, red lips, and sparkling white teeth. (378,379)
46. What is the disagreement that Gawaine and his new wife have once she becomes beautiful? Why does Gawaine agree to what his wife wants?
Gawaine’s wife tells him that she can only be beautiful for one part of the day, so he must choose whether he wants her to be beautiful during the day or during the night. Gawaine wants her to be beautiful at night, but she wants to be beautiful during the day. Gawaine agrees to let her be beautiful during the day because she is his wife, and he wants to show her respect in all matters, (379, 380)
47. When Gawaine agrees to give his wife what she desires, what does she do to reward him?
She tells him that she was just testing him to see if he would give her what she wanted, and he did, so she will be beautiful all day and all night to reward him. (380)
48. Who is Gawaine’s wife? Why did she decide to put on a disguise and see if Gawaine would marry her?
Gawaine’s wife is one of the ladies of the lake. She decided to put on a disguise to test the honor of King Arthur and his knights. She wanted to test Gawaine’s nobility. (380)
49. What is the lesson that the author teaches the reader using Gawaine and his ugly wife as an example?
The author says that just as Gawaine decided to commit himself to the ugly woman and then was rewarded in the end by her becoming beautiful—so also the reader can be rewarded in their difficult responsibilities. The author says that sometimes, when we are first given a job, it is ugly and distasteful to us, just as Gawaine’s wife was ugly to him in the beginning… however, when we commit ourselves to that job, the job can become beautiful to us and people who see our commitment to the job will also see that it is beautiful. (382)
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