Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 2

Study Guide Questions for Stanzas 11-21

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Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Decorum, Courage, Hospitality, Fortitude, Humility, Fear, Appearance vs. Reality

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. Besides fear, for what other reason did the knights of Arthur’s court remain silent?

2. What did the Green Knight say had “fetched” him there to Arthur and his men?

3. What did the Green Knight say he was not there to do?

4. In what way did the Green Knight describe Arthur's men?

5. What were the conditions of the game the Green Knight wanted to play and what did he offer to the one who took him up on it?

6. What did the Green Knight do when no one answered his challenge immediately?

7. Who initially took the ax from the Knight’s hand to play the game?

8. What reasons did Gawain give for why he ought to be permitted to take the king’s place in the game?

9. What did the Green Knight ask Gawain to restate before the game began?

10. What did Gawain want to know before the game begins which the Green Knight would not tell him?

11. When Gawain took his stroke at the Green Knight, what happened?

12. What did the Green Knight say Gawain would deserve if he didn’t keep his word?

13. What did the lords and ladies do after the Green Knight departed?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. The Green Knight makes clear that he does not want to make war on Arthur and his knights, so why does he want to play this game?

2. Why did the Green Knight insult Arthur’s men?

3. Why did Gawain think Arthur ought not to take up the challenge and that he should do it instead?

4. Why did the Green Knight make Gawain repeat the terms of the game?

5. Why won’t the Green Knight speak plainly about where he lives and can be found?

6. Why did the Green knight remind Gawain that he had made his promise “in the presence of these knights”?

7. Why did Arthur sit down to eat after the Green Knight had left?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. If we define the word “decorum” as “behaving as is fitting and appropriate to one’s situation, location, or role in life”, how do we see various examples of decorum among the lords and ladies of Arthur’s court in our present reading?

2. Courage is a virtue, cowardice and recklessness are vices. What makes someone courageous and how can we avoid becoming either cowards or reckless fools?

3. In this reading would you say there are examples of cowardice, courage, and/or recklessness? Which ones do you see and to whom do they belong?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Proverbs 20:25. What does this proverb mean and how might we relate it to this present reading?

2. Read Judges 11:29-40 and 1 Samuel 14:24-46. How might we relate these two passages to our current reading? What conclusion ought we to draw from these passages?