Heraldry: Team Knighthood!

Heraldry Defined• created to help tell who was who beneath armor• decorated with emblems of geometric shapes, animals and

symbols known as charges- charged with a bear, etc, if a bear is on the shield

• offered protection and identification • medieval version of a driver's license• could tell the morals and family traits with colors and symbols• fully developed within the tournaments-like present-day ESPN

-nobility (athletes) competed-Illiterate peasantry could identify knights based on shield design

Colors

Animals’ Significance-Charges

Your Assignment- 2 Grades• Design your own (no printed pictures,

shapes, words, etc) shield on full-sized poster board to include at least: - one geometric design- two animals/charges- three colors

• Write a minimum 1 ½ to 2 page typed exposition defending your choices for each selection above. Adhere to written guidelines.

Inclusion

- 1 design, 2 charges, 3 colors1 3 5

Neat/Attractive 1 3 5

Colorful 1 3 5

Board Usage 1 3 5

Layout 1 3 5

Score Content/Development Organization Voice Conventions

4 Clear, consistent focus; topic is completely developed with all elements relevant to topic present.

Clear introduction, body, and conclusion w/ smooth progression; paper is distinctly organized into separate paragraphs, etc.

No errors; shows understanding of editing techniques.

3 Focus sustained but undeveloped.

Introduction, body, and conclusion are clearly present .

Vivid vocabulary; sentence structure varied; consistent tone.

Minor errors do not interfere w/ meaning

2 Focus unclear w/ few details. Introduction, body, and conclusion attempted/ weak.

Adequate vocabulary; reading not mechanical; appropriate tone.

Errors in multiple categories distract reader.

1 No focus; no details. Information illogically ordered.

Simple vocabulary; mechanical; inappropriate tone.

Frequent, serious errors severely distract reader.

A Pigford’s Perception

John Donne once said, “No man is an island.” Donne means that no man can stand alone or be everything to himself all the time. The same can be said for a woman. Proverbs 31 says that an honorable woman “speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.” That is who I am. My shield bears witness that I am honorable, wise, and faithful.

I chose the infinity symbol, which has multiple crescents, for several reasons. A half-crescent, curved shape demonstrates the wearer is honored, or blessed, by God. That is how I hope to live my life. I also want my soul to live on forever. Hence the infinity symbol. If turned, as it is on the shield, the infinity symbol looks like the number 8 which is my birthdate. Eight, because of its link to infinity, represents a continued, uninterrupted path. That is how I live. I am not deterred or detoured by negative events in my life. I am faithful to my path.

The pig is often undeterred from its path, as well. Pigs are intelligent, clean, and unemotional animals. It has been proven that pigs are exceptionally smart animals. They can recognize patterns and identify objects. I am smart enough to figure things out, too, and I use all resources available to me. Contrary to popular opinion, pigs use mud to keep cool, not to stay dirty. This is unconventional, but I get it. I will do whatever I have to do to get the job done. While they like affection, pigs do not feel that approval is necessary for them to go about their business. That describes me. I know I can survive on my own.

Somewhat in contradiction to being on my own, though, I do enjoy socializing. I am faithful to my friends, family and savior just as the flamingo is faithful to its flock. They tend to stay in large groups for protective and survival modes. I, too, am close to my family. We live side by side and often share meals. My faithfulness is important to me. I value that loyalty.

It should also be noted that the colors on the shield represent some of these traits and others. The blue behind the flamingo represents loyalty, the red behind the pig represents my passion for life and learning, and the black indicates my purposeful decisions. Most of my wisdom comes from realizations that I have had over the years for right and wrong actions, so things are black or white in my world.

Honor, wisdom, faithfulness, loyalty, passion, and purpose guide my life, so whether I am stranded on Donne’s metaphoric island, or flocked by everything else I do for others, I am consistent in my behaviors and prepared for the battle of life.