MEDIEVAL ROMANCE UNIT OUTLINE
Middle Ages / 1066-1485
Pages 72-88 in our text
Introduce the story of King Arthur
Read “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” / pages 159-167
Discus Christianity and Romance/Romance Hero
Read “The Death of Arthur” by Sir Thomas Malory / pages 171-176
Discuss Christianity and Romance Hero
Read “Tristan and Isolde” / handout
Review Thesis
Assign Romance and Romance Heroes Paper
Vocabulary
Archetype: a recurrent symbol or motif in literature, art, or mythology
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Romance and Romance Heroes Paper
Using your knowledge of the Romance genre, read and analyze the story of Tristan and Isolde, a popular story in
the King Arthur myth.
You will need to cite proof that the story of Tristan and Isolde falls into the romance definition. (See Gawain
Romance Hero assignment.)
Find quotes from Tristan and Isolde/”Tristan and Isolde” to support your thesis.
THESIS:
 Prompt reference (key words)
 Title – underlined (because you’re handwriting it) for long poems (Beowulf), novels, and plays
 Author (if there is one / Tristan and Isolde/”Tristan and Isolde” does not have an author)
 Theme (statement)
o What is the message for society/humanity?
Prompt A:
What does this Romance story say about the status and image of women? How does the Romance genre relate to
romantic love?
Prompt B:
Discuss how the end of the story supports the tenets in the Romance genre.
Grade
Thesis
Quotes
Quote incorporation
Strong Analysis
Clear organization
Introduction/conclusion
paragraphs
Pronouns
Sentence variety
Assignment
Deadline
A
B
Clear, focused, supported
7 quotes
Incorporated smoothly into
each sentence
Clear support for each
quote
Can be identified
5 quotes
An attempt to incorporate
into the sentences
An attempt to explain the
importance of the quotes
Multiple paragraphs with
clear topic sentences and
conclusion sentences /
transition between ideas
Interesting and organized
An attempt to organize
Omission of personal
pronouns and second
person pronouns
Omission of sentences that
start with “This…” /
Sentence variety
Includes the parts of
Romanticism/Romantic
Hero
Turned in within the
deadline parameters
C
Difficult to determine
3 quotes
Quote stand alone as
their own sentence
Difficult to determine
the importance of the
quotes
One long paragraph or
written in short answer
form
An attempt to include
introduction/conclusion
paragraphs
1-2 errors
Omitted
Some use of “This…” /
basic sentence variety
Many sentences that
begin with “This…”/
little sentence variety
Unclear, little
connection to the
assignment
Some deviation
One to three days late
More than 3
More than 3 days late
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QUOTE INTEGRATION GUIDELINES
Our goal: To learn how to integrate supporting quotes into your essays so that the quotes flow smoothly
out of your own words. That way, the quotes are given a context, they become part of your argument,
and they do not distract the reader from your ideas.
Some guidelines:

Do not leave your quotes "naked." Make sure they are clearly connected to the argument
you are trying to make.
NO: After June's humiliating piano recital, Waverly adds insult to injury. "You aren't a genius like me"
(Tan 151).
YES: After June's humiliating piano recital, Waverly adds insult to injury by declaring, "You aren't a genius
like me" (Tan 151).
Tan = the author
When there is no author (Beowulf), then the title goes in the parenthesis (Beowulf).
When the title has more than one word, “Tristan and Isolde,” the first main word goes in the parenthesis
(“Tristan”).

Use brackets ([ ]) and ellipses (. . .) to change verbs or other parts of the original quotes when
necessary. This technique is especially useful for maintaining present tense in your paper. P.S.
Know the difference between using
(. . .) and (. . . .).
NO: Dwight is a bully who takes out his anger and insecurity on those who are weaker than he is. "This
made him furious; on the way back to the car he would kill anything he saw. He killed chipmunks,
squirrels, blue jays, and robins"(Wolff 171).
YES: Dwight is a bully who takes out his anger and insecurity on those who are weaker than he is. While
hunting, he boosts his ego by "kill[ing] anything he [sees]. He kill[s] chipmunks, squirrels, blue jays, and
robins" (Wolff 171).

If you're quoting poetry, make sure you use a slash (/) to indicate where each line ends.
That way, you are staying true to the text, and the reader will know that you are quoting poetry,
instead of prose.
Ex.: When Duncan asks for an update on the battle, the captain describes the struggling armies as "two
spent swimmers that do cling together/And choke their art" (Macbeth 1.2.10-11).
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
At the end of the quote, use the QUO-PAR-PUNC Rule: Quotation marks-ParenthesesPunctuation. Within the parentheses, you usually write the author's last name and the page
number. If you are only quoting from one book throughout your paper, then you only have to put
the page number. If you are quoting Shakespeare or any play, you need to cite the play, act,
scene, and line numbers.
NO: When Waverly accuses her mother of showing off, Lindo's eyes turn "into dangerous black slits. She
ha[s] no words for [Waverly], just sharp silence. (Tan 102)"
YES: When Waverly accuses her mother of showing off, Lindo's eyes turn "into dangerous black slits. She
ha[s] no words for [Waverly], just sharp silence" (Tan 102).
Note: If a quote ends with a question mark or exclamation point, then put that punctuation before the
quotation marks, to make sure the intended emotion is retained.
Ex.: During their phone conversation, Toby's father tries to win Toby over by saying, "I've made some
mistakes . . . . We all have. But that's behind us. Right, Tober?" (211).

If there is a quote within the quote you are using, then use single quotation marks to set off
the inner quote.
Ex.: When Lena shows Ying-Ying around her new house, Ying-Ying complains that "the slant of the floor
makes her feel as if she is 'running down'" (Tan 163).
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Transition Signals: Why They Matter!
The use of transitional phrases is an integral ingredient in your essays. Using transitional phrases
improves the coherency of your paragraphs and makes the contrasts stand out. In addition, they draw
attention to the writer's movement back and forth from one subject to the other, emphasizing either
similarities or differences. Hence, transitions help the reader to grasp your logic and follow your
argument easily.
Here are a number of useful transition words and phrases.
To show contrast/difference/
apparent contradiction:
in contrast
however
yet
on the other hand
on the contrary
although
otherwise
conversely
as opposed to
unlike
nevertheless
still
despite
in spite of
instead
while
even though
whereas
rather
To show similarity:
also
like
likewise
similar to
similarly
by the same token
just as . . . so too
the same is true of . . .
indeed
in comparison
in addition
furthermore
moreover
not only . . . but also
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