Sports Literature Fall 2018

Sir Gawain makes pact after pact, with little regard for possible dangers. Somehow, he never seriously violates any of these oaths, and they seem to help him. He didn't have to accept the Green Knight's challenge, but he thought it was the right thing to do under the circumstances that King Arthur created. He found it "unfitting" that Arthur "take on this trial"(Fitt 1, Lines 348, 350) because the King's possible "loss of life"(Fitt 1, Line 355) would be catastrophic, so he bravely volunteered. This pact is dangerous, but Gawain mentions loss of life as a possible outcome, which shows that he understands the risk, and still feels strongly about accepting. While staying in a stranger's house, Sir Gawain swears to "serve" this man, "whatever" the man "instructs"(Fitt 2, Line 1089). Although this is a very kind offering, agreeing to do "whatever" someone asks seems unbelievably ignorant. However, Sir G...

For this blog post, I wanted to focus specifically on Fitt Three and the part where Gawain is preparing himself to fight the Green Knight at the Green Chapel. As we have seen, Gawain has become much more comfortable with lady Bertilak because she comes into the bedroom regularly and asks for a kiss, which Gawain has to accept. Additionally, Gawain is being forced to talk about love and live up to the expectations that the lady of the house expects. In the second fitt, the lady felt attacked when Gawain didn't kiss her and made her not welcome. However, by the third fitt, Gawain now has to deal with the lady constantly coming into his room along with the fact that he is nervous to fight the Green Knight. On lines 1755-1756, the narrator states, "But seeing her presence there he surfaces from sleep, drags himself out of her dreams to address her" (Armitage). As you can see, Gawain is so nervous about his future fight with the Green Knight that he is constantly having nigh...

This week it's obviously appropriate to talk about Sir Gawain and The Green Knight. I wanted to propose the question, why do we think the Green Knight is such a bad guy. I get that we can perceive him as a little bold for riding in on the horse and challenging them to this game, but I feel like our first instinct is to treat him like the devil. In Fitt 4 he even is described as the devil. I see him as more of a challenger than anything, and not as in challenging them to competition more of challenging their character. He explicitly said he wasn't interesting in fighting and he comes in peace, and he acknowledged them as a brave court. His task was to find out who was the most formidable out of them all, and Gawain reigned supreme. Our opinions of every aspect in this poem are molded by the narration, and we're lead to believe that the Green Knight was an evil character.

At the end of Fitt 4 of SGGK, most of our theories that we made at the end of Fitt 1 did not correlate with the ending of the story. Some of our theories were ridiculous and seemed almost possible to be even true. However, the ending of Fitt 4 may have left the audience with some questions... For example, who exactly is Morgan le Fay. The only information we know is that she lives in the Green Knight's manor, "And in my manor lives the mighty Morgan le Fay" (Page 183, Line 2446). She was never mentioned earlier in the story and all of a sudden she turns out to be the one to send the Knight to King Arthur's court. There are many other scenarios in the story that leave the audience confused. Perhaps this is why there are several theories that are made at the ending of the story.

At the completion of fitt 4, Gawain has officially failed his test. It is revealed that the entire "game" proposed by the Green Knight was a test of Arthur's court, and Gawain, its representative has exposed the weaknesses in the court. One thing that I found interesting was the fact that every member of the court wore a lace that matched Gawain's out of support. While initially I assumed that this was simply a showing of support for Gawain, I now believe that it represents something greater. Gawain's failure is representative of the entire court, meaning the entire court shares his shame. The entire court wearing the lace represents the fact that every member of the court has failed, and they must all show this fact.

I am interested in the guide's knowledge about the Green Knight. He knows that the Green Knight kills those to go to meet him, but the guard clearly does not get hurt so he shouldn't be scared to visit the Green Knight. Gawain passed the test the guide presented him with when the guard asked him if he wanted to go into hiding if the guard didn't tell anyone about it. Gawain stays true to his word about seeing the Green Knight. However, when it finally comes down to keeping his word, Gawain flinched when the blade was being brought down. I understand this should be the natural human response but it is what Gawain should have been expecting the whole time. Given the Green Knight's wide scope of power as the leader of the castle Gawain was staying at, I think that the whole thing was a lesson for Gawain to prove to him that he is a great knight, but he must keep his glory throughout the battle. For example, the Green Knight cutting Gawain's head off would have been the...

In this blog post, I want to touch on something that stuck out to me in this weeks readings.  While reading Fitt 3 in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," the lord's wife, who had spent plenty of time with Gawain during the week, flirting and talking while the men were out hunting, gifted Gawain with a belt when it was time for him to leave.  As she handed it to him, the lady described the belt as such: "For the body which is bound within this green belt, as long as it is buckled robustly about him, will be safe against those who seek to strike him, and all of the slyness on Earth wouldn't see him slain," (lines 1851-1855, page 143). Since Gawain has the impending fight with the Green Knight, he is quick to accept this gift, as it has the power to keep him safe.  What I want to address, however, is this consistent theme of the color green and immortality.  We saw first with the Green Knight how he was able to survive his head being chopped off and now, thi...

Chicago Manual of Style: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html Writing Center: https://cornell.mywconline.net/ Interactive Gawain Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/viewer?mid=1F4ZiKzFAlbQjs30dpc4C2MMEyPA&ll=52.22813047248414%2C-2.868256649999921&z=7 Middle English Dictionary: http://www.columbia.edu/~hfl2110/med/search/ Oxford English Dictionary: http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/43415?rskey=dMQ9YE&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid Be sure to keep up with blog posts -- most of you have lost a huge number of points by 1) not posting, 2) incorrectly tagging your posts, or 3) writing insufficient posts. Consult the syllabus for guidance; email me if you have questions.

In this weeks class, I found it very interesting how we talked about the conspiracy theories relating to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I believe that King Arthur was testing the loyalty of his court. I think that whoever decided to step up, in this case Gawain , will be rewarded and seen as the bravest of all the soldiers. Since King Arthur was the one who agreed to the deal with the green knight and Gawain stepped up, it proves his loyalty to Arthur. I believe that King Arthur set this up as a test to see if some of his court would literally die for him in honor. If Gawain shows up to challenge the green knight when it is his turn to receive the hit, I believe Arthur will be there to award him a prize. I also wanted to talk about what The Green Knight could be. The green knight is clearly not human or mortal since he was perfectly alive after his head was cut off.

I read The Green Knight in a Medieval lit class last year. Seeing things from the perspective of sports in ancient Greece changes how I see this story a lot. I thought this was just a about King Arthur's men going on quests, but it actually seems to have a lot of origins in Greek and Roman contest. On one hand, Gawain’s challenge is for Arthur’s entertainment, which I didn’t notice before. On the other hand, the games are similar to the fight in Theocritus. It's both a physical contest and a mental contest of mindfulness. Gawain is essentially competing for glory that comes from winning and being a noble competitor. It’s a lot easier to see now that the game the Green Knight proposes is actually an athletic competition. It wouldn’t be surprising if the author of this story was relying on Greek and Roman literature, especially since the author mentions the Trojan war, Aneas, and Rome. The major difference with The Green Knight is that there is Christianity. In Fitt 2, the auth...

The David Foster Wallace readings really hit home for me. His struggles and triumphs in an, at times, lonely sport seemed aligned with my experiences as an athlete. Like Wallace, I began playing and competing at a very young age. Squash has been the only sport that I have pursued passionately. There are strengths and weaknesses to my game that I have learned to manage and adapt to over the years. I used to be a complete mess on court. I had tantrums when I lost and would dwell over a bad performance for days. My mental game was non existent. I was this little 9 year old playing all over the United States and world competing in a sport that I would, simply put, bully kids at. Wallace and I have had opposite experiences when it comes to the comparison of mental and physical aspects attributed to athletic success. Wallace relied on his mental game when he was young, focusing on the precision of his shots and taking the time for his opponent to make a mistake. On the other hand, I re...

From this week's reading on David Foster Wallace, I found it interesting that he became so talented in tennis at such a young age. From the article titled Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley, he was able to become such a good tennis player because he could read the court and use math to help him beat other players. For example, he said that "Calculus was literally child's play" (Wallace 1). Additionally, he also said that "The biggest single factor in Central Illinois' quality of outdoor life is wind" (Wallace 2). Because the conditions are so severe and hot, it can be hard to play tennis effectively. However, Wallace grew up playing in these conditions and he became so used to them that he didn't realize how to play in "good" conditions. While many high school players that he played against would get so frustrated and throw their rackets, Wallace was a very patient player, waiting for the other player to mess up. This connects to the Charles...

In the midst of the David Foster Wallace readings, I wanted to step aside and talk about some of the other aspects we observed in class this week. We spent an entire period analyzing another poem about  tennis personifying all of the mental aspects associated with it. I was interested in the fact that we were arguing about which passage was the most important in the 4 stanza poem. Was this just a preface for the argument just to get us to show evidence, or is it actually important to find the most important stanza? Nonetheless, I thought I was a good change of pace to the class and it would've been even more exciting if a debate was sparked. We did a debate activity in my English class in high school and it really brought out a lot of positive elements. When we have discussion in class, the conversation is always just agreeing and building on each others points, but do we really always agree? None of the groups actually prepared an counterarguments, but I think those would be healt...

One aspect of David Foster Wallace's work that stood out to me was how relatable his messages were on many levels, showing the power of writing. Not only did his passages remind me of tennis, but of other sports too, which is why I believe his books were so successful. In "Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley", he talks about being a young boy when the other boys his age get bigger and stronger than him saying, "it had looked like a boy playing a man out there." In every sport there is a time when the playing field is uneven size wise at a young age and it continues forever as there are always people who are bigger, stronger, and faster. The sense of disappointment felt when he realizes he is never going to be as successful as he once dreamed also was relatable, since everyone knows what it is like to not achieve what you once hoped you would. I have little tennis background yet I felt that between how relatable his message was and the level of description he...

What stuck out to me most in the David Foster Wallace readings was actually in the footnotes of "The String Theory."  In class we discussed Agassi's vision and how it is one in a billion; how he is able to see the court in a way that defies the real world.  We talked about shape of the tennis court, which appears rectangular to the average human, but to great athletes such as Agassi, the court becomes distorted and they see it in a way that makes the game look easy. As I dove deeper into this topic, I looked over the footnotes, which mentioned Larry Bird, immediately catching my eye.  It referenced Bird with regards to a similar vision that he possesses, one that enables him to make "those surgical passes to people nobody else could even see were open."  This stood out for two reasons.  The first being that I am a huge Celtics fan so any reference to Bird will stick out.  The second, however, was the mention of passing with regards to basketball.  As...

One aspect of the David Foster Wallace readings from this week was the use of sports in a coming of age story. Traditionally, this is a standard of sports literature, however we had not yet read about sports in this context. Wallace's relationship with tennis is constantly reacting to his surroundings. When Wallace moves, tennis becomes a stabilizing element in his life. On the court, he is able to maintain a constant calm state, allowing his opponents to make their own mistakes. As time passes, Wallace physically falls behind his peers. This forces his life both off and on the court to end up short of his own goals. As Foster Wallace begins to grow up, he is forced to leave tennis behind, and shift his focus towards mathematics. In this way, the reader can be forced to associate tennis with Wallace's childhood, an unsustainable dream that must be left behind.

In our readings of David Foster Wallace we see that he never had a passion or a love for the game that he was so dominant in. It's saddening to see that DFW only played the game of tennis just because he was good and knew the courts so well that he was playing on. In his mind he always knew that at least some one was better or stronger than he was and he had so many doubts that we would never become a professional in tennis. So this may leave a question for some readers... How was DFW able to write so many articles about the game he never truly fell in love with? DFW is famously known for his writings about tennis. How is he able to write so well about a game he does not get excited for? This clearly states that DFW is an outstanding writer. Writing about a topic that you do not enjoy is very difficult and DFW is able to do this successfully. It's surprising and rare to find a writer who is able to do this so well.

David Foster Wallace, a skilled tennis player, knowledgeable mathematician, and impeccable author, realizes that no matter how good you are at something, there will always be someone better. We can see this through many levels of amazing Tennis players. In Derivative Sport In Tornado Alley, David Foster Wallace talks about his short lived time “between the ages of twelve and fifteen” when he “was a near-great junior tennis player.” He even managed to reach “seventeeth in the USTA’s Western Section.” He was so good because he could “Play the Whole Court:” he knew all 2,106 square feet of every rough court he played on, he could analyze the strong winds and the effects of wetness, bumps, and heat, and was better at adjusting than opponents. He could think n shots ahead, even with all these complications. He could play a defensive game, and wait for people to mess up. However, in his articles, he is at the bottom of the hierarchy, the worst of the best. Gil Antitoi was the other leade...

Most will agree that at the heart of American culture is competition, of which the most famous is sports. In "Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley," Foster Wallace offers the theory that sports are compelling to Americans because they embody the competition that we all love in an entertaining, exciting, and easy-to-quantify way. The easy-to-quantify characteristic of sports is attractive to Americans because quantifying many other job performances is much harder. In "Federer Both Flesh and Not," Foster Wallace describes in great detail a service point between Roger Federer and Andre Agassi. The description was describing the play in very minute detail to show how good at tennis Federer is- superior to every other human. The fact that authors write about sports play in such detail and that sports play causes these excited emotions in Americans embodies how important sports are to American culture. I thought a notable difference between tennis and other sports that t...

In this weeks blog post, I wanted to talk about the ways that the different authors in the essays talked about crowds. In Seneca Letters from a stoic , the author describes why you should never follow big crowds. The author states, " Associating with people in large numbers is actually harmful." The author is not only saying that crowds are non beneficial, but they are also harmful. The author even includes that he comes home ," more selfish, more self-seeking, and more self indulgent", after staying in a large crowd for a certain period of time. The essay that completely went against The Seneca piece was Dio Chrysostom. The author of Dio Chrysostom mentioned many times how he would follow the big crowds to see what was the most interesting. The author states," Wherever we saw the biggest crowd, there we would stroll." I think that this is interesting because the two authors disagree on Crowds. Part of the disagreement could be because the two authors grew...

It’s interesting how the philosophy of sports changes from the Greek writers we read to the Roman writers Seneca and Pliny. In Pindar and Homer, sports/athleticism were glorified because they represented one’s ability as a warrior. Even though the Phaekians in The Odyssey were mocked for being obsessed with sports, Homer did this to show that sports should be tied in with one’s ability to fight, not just achieving medals in games. I think Pliny and Seneca’s criticisms of sports during their time might be tied into the criticisms of the Phaekians. The Roman chariot races were known for being extremely violent and often resulting in death. The participants were slaves, not great heroes like Telesicrates from Pythian Ode 9. Pliny described the people watching the slaves as cold hearted people because “in the very same race, even in the middle, one colour should transfer to another, their enthusiasm and support shifts, and they suddenly desert those famous drivers and horses” (Epistulae 9...