...Canterbury Tales Webquest & Bookquest You are going to research background information about Geoffrey Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales. Anything not completed in class should be finished for HW. - Use the links to answer the questions listed below. Save answers into your Home Directory. Print a copy for your notebooks. - Please PARAPHRASE your answers rather than copying and pasting information. You may type your answers directly into the document and print when finished. 1. Geoffrey Chaucer 1. What kind of writer was he? 2. What were the years of his birth and death? 3. Where was he from? 4. What was his “masterpiece”? http://www.bartleby.com/65/ch/Chaucer.html 2. What is a pilgrimage? (You should already know this from our vocab. quiz.) 3. Define prologue. http://www.webster.com (or other dictionary site) 4. Where is Canterbury? What famous event happened there? What are the goals of the many people who travel there on pilgrimages? http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Canterbury,-England http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/history/history.aspx 5. When were The Canterbury Tales written? In what language were they written? • What are they about? • What is a frame tale? ...
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...The Canterbury Tales author · Geoffrey Chaucer type of work · Poetry (two tales are in prose: the Tale of Melibee and the Parson’s Tale) genres · Narrative collection of poems; character portraits; parody; estates satire; romance; fabliau language · Middle English time and place written · Around 1386–1395, England date of first publication · Sometime in the early fifteenth century publisher · Originally circulated in hand-copied manuscripts narrator · The primary narrator is an anonymous, naïve member of the pilgrimage, who is not described. The other pilgrims narrate most of the tales. point of view · In the General Prologue, the narrator speaks in the first person, describing each of the pilgrims as they appeared to him. Though narrated by different pilgrims, each of the tales is told from an omniscient third-person point of view, providing the reader with the thoughts as well as actions of the characters. tone · The Canterbury Tales incorporates an impressive range of attitudes toward life and literature. The tales are by turns satirical, elevated, pious, earthy, bawdy, and comical. The reader should not accept the naïve narrator’s point of view as Chaucer’s. tense · Past setting (time) · The late fourteenth century, after 1381 setting (place) · The Tabard Inn; the road to Canterbury protagonists · Each individual tale has protagonists, but Chaucer’s plan is to make none of his storytellers superior to others; it is an equal company. In the Knight’s Tale, the protagonists are...
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...Ransom Canterbury Tales Webquest Today you are going to research background information about Geoffrey Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales. - Working alone or with one other person, use the links to answer the questions listed below. - Please PARAPHRASE your answers rather than copying the information directly from the websites. Geoffrey Chaucer What kind of writer was he? Geoffrey Chaucer was a poet. What were the years of his birth and death? Chaucer was born in the year 1340 and when he was 44 he died in 1400. Where was he from? Geoffrey Chaucer was from London What was his “masterpiece” ? The Canterbury Tales is the book that most people remember Chaucer for. http://www.online-literature.com/chaucer/ What is a pilgrimage? A journey made to a sacred place as an act of religion Define prologue. The introduction to a play, book, novel, poem, ect. http://www.webster.com (or other dictionary site) Where is Canterbury? Canterbury is in England. What famous event happened there? The murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170. What are the goals of the many people who travel there on pilgrimages? Pray Repent or to be saved http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Canterbury,-England http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/history/history.aspx When were The Canterbury Tales written? In what language were they written? The Canterbury Tales was written in the time frame of 1387 to 1400. The Canterbury tales...
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...The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, is an eminent frame story written in the middle ages. The story begins with an abundant number of people traveling to Canterbury for a religious or luxurious purpose. To pass time, the people tell a story and whoever has the best tale wins a free meal. Chaucer deliberately makes the Prioress stand out more than other characters because she is supposedly a religious woman. The Prioress is a nun who enjoys showing people that “she [is] so charitably solicitous “(Chaucer 147). Throughout The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer gives the Prioress a distinct description, acknowledging her personality, morals, and appearance. In The Canterbury Tales, the Prioress is described as an alluring woman who desires the finest things. Chaucer portrays the Prioress to have appealing features: “Her nose [is] elegant, her eyes glass grey; Her mouth [is] very small, but soft and red, Her forehead, certainly, [is] fair spread” (Chaucer 156-158). The Prioress’ appearance signifies modern day beauty. It seems as if Chaucer is admiring the Prioress and viewing her as a perfect individual from God. In contradiction, Chaucer states how on her jewelry “there first [is] graven a crowned A, and lower, Amor vincit omnia” (Chaucer 165). The saying written on the Prioress’ jewelry means love conquers all, showing that she is more worldly than ecclesiastical. Chaucer establishes that the Prioress cares more about what people think of her than God’s judgment. In addition...
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...The Canterbury Tales takes place in a tavern near London called the Tabard Inn. The narrator is staying at the inn with twenty-nine pilgrims who are all traveling to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The pilgrims are a wide range of people and characters. The Host, Harry Bailey, makes the point that they should all ride together and entertain one another with stories. I believe Chaucer uses this setting in order to tell many different types of tales. The first pilgrim to tell a story is the Knight. He tells a tale of two knights: Arcite and Palamon. They were wounded in battle by the Duke of Athens, Theseus. The Duke decides to imprison them rather than execution. During their imprisonment they both fell in love with the Duke’s sister-in-law, Emily. After fighting over who was more worthy of Emily, Arcite was freed from prison through the help of a friend. However, he was banished from Athens and was to never return. Arcite returns in disguise as a personal attendant for Emily. When his fellow knight, Palamon, is freed from prison, he confronts Arcite and they begin to fight over her again. The Duke apprehends them and arranges a tournament, with Emily as the prize, between the two knights and their best men. Arcite wins, but he is thrown from his horse and dies. Palamon then marries Emily instead. It makes sense that the Knight would tell this story because it is filled with knights, love, honor, chivalry, and adventure. I believe that...
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...Reverend Peter Popoff, who has a weekly program that promotes a miracle spring water, is most parallel to the character Pardoner from The Canterbury Tales. Throughout this article, Reverend Popoff tries to promote his miracle spring water with intentions of making lots of money. This idea can be supported by the description given in paragraph nine which states, “Popoff’s ministry soared from $9.6 million in 2003 up to $23 million in 2005...his home sold for almost $2 million, and...he’s been spotted driving a Porsche and a Mercedes.” Without making sales from selling the miracle spring water, he wouldn’t be able to buy all the luxury things that he has bought. Just as Reverend Popoff was greedy and had intentions of making money, the Pardoner...
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...The squire, son of the knight and knight in training, is a fine specimen to examine for imagery and physiognomic interpretation leading to characterization in Geoffery Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales”. These interpretations can be pulled from his outward appearance, his actual talents, and how his father differs from him. The squire, to begin, is a young lad who follows his father on this journey to learn how to be a knight. He has not yet faced a major battle, and he doesn't appear to possess the outward appearance of a knight. “A lover and cadet, a lad of fire with locks as curly as if they had been pressed. He was some twenty years of age, I guessed” (lines 82-84). Chaucer used this chance to describe the squire as being young, aware of his appearance, and a lover rather than a fighter. He uses the phrase, “a lad of fire” to describe the boy as possessing a passion, though that passion is not to be in a war. He also uses imagery when describing the squire’s hair by saying the locks are pressed. The squire has beautiful hair that leads the reader to picture him as a handsome young man who is well kept and conscious of his appearance. These are not the typical qualities of a knight. Furthermore, “He was as fresh as is the month of May” (line 94). Fresh is a word to describe youth and isn’t a positive reflection on his intelligence. He also says May, a month in spring. Spring is a time of youth and it is another parallel drawn to his age. Finally, “Short was his gown, his sleeves...
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...The intention behind Chaucer’s ‘character portraits’ within The Canterbury Tales is a widely debated topic with ideas ranging from Hulbert’s opinion that they are reflections of real people and therefore of humankind as a whole at the time to Jill Mann’s idea that Chaucer was satirising the estates rather than any one individual. Whilst many of the pilgrims introduced are thought to be hyperbolic allegories for specific classes used to satirise the estate system present at the time others argue that he instead chose to use irony to highlight the hypocrisy of the time. The credulous tone present when he accepts the pilgrims’ versions of themselves that they put forward rather than the self that they actually are proves Chaucer to be a less...
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...Introduction The Canterbury Tales Introduction Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne, And smale foweles maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open eye(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages); Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes; And specially from every shires ende Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende, The hooly blisful martir for to seke That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seeke. Bifil that in that seson, on a day, In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay When in April the sweet showers fall That pierce March's drought to the root and all And bathed every vein in liquor that has power To generate therein and sire the flower; When Zephyr also has with his sweet breath, Filled again, in every holt and heath, The tender shoots and leaves, and the young sun His half-course in the sign of the Ram has run, And many little birds make melody That sleep through all the night with open eye (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage) Then folk do long to go on pilgrimage, And palmers to go seeking out strange strands, To distant shrines well known in distant lands. And specially from every shire's end...
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...Zachary Scott Bryant Professor Engleking Humanities Cluster September 9th 2015 Themes in Canterbury Tales When dissecting the Canterbury tales for themes you can find about 30 thousand different ones to try to draw stories from your own life. However, in my opinion the three biggest themes that resonate with me are the ideas of Relationships, Companions, and Corruption. Let us begin with the easiest one, relationships. There are several relationships discussed within the Canterbury tales. The most important one is by far the Wife of Bath’s tale of the knight. I see much of the male youth of today in him he is a real smartass and at times is outright rude he is a piss poor example of what a Knight is in general but through his own development in the story he builds his redeeming qualities and ultimately succumbs to his wife’s will and better judgement. I have been in the Knights shoes, stuck between what you want in life and what is truly the right thing to do. Many times my wife’s better judgement has saved me from some unnecessary hardship. Whether it be my impulsive buying habits or my quick to anger personality, I think many men could do well to learn from the knight how to place themselves in the hands of their better halves. From the romantic side of things it is a very short step into the world of corruption. A lot of corruption comes out of romance or love. The knight at the heart of himself is corrupt he is at his deepest level no knight at all. However in my...
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...ANALYSIS OF THE HOLY(!) CHURCH OF ENGLAND THROUGH THE CHAUCER’S PARDONER Chaucer uses the pardoner character in order to criticize the Church of England in the 14th century which was a wealthy, corrupt, dishonest and an unjust institution that was trying to maintain its position rather than providing spiritual leadership and guidance to the people. In the general prologue, the pardoner claims in his bag he has a pillowcase of Virgin Mary and a piece of sail that Saint Peter went on the sea. Then, he starts bragging about how he extracts money from people by using these relics that are parts of the body of a saint or something supposedly used by or associated with a saint and venerated as holy, and their influence on people in order to sell them. Since individuals have seen relics as a way to come closer to the saints and thus, to God in a way, relics became a large business and the pardoner uses people’s beliefs in his advantage by deceiving and selling them useless materials claiming to be relics. He also states that by using these “relics”, he earns more money in one day than a commoner can in two months. “His wallet lay before him in his lap Bretfull of pardons, come from Rome all hot.” Here Chaucer is making fun of the existence of pardons and the church as an institution and points the center of church being Rome as the creator of this absurd practice. These lines from the general prologue are two of the many exemplifying Chaucer’s critical approach towards the church...
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...Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer is a book filled with tales and prologues during the late medieval time period. Chaucer was born in 1342 in Paris. Chaucer lived the majority of his life privileged and on the kings’ (Richard II until 1399 then Henry IV) payroll. Chaucer began writing The Canterbury Tales in 1387, and worked on it throughout the 90’s. Of the few tales that I read (“The Prologue”, “The Miler’s Prologue”, “The Miller’s Tale”, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale Prologue”, and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”), it seems clear that love and marriage are underlying themes throughout. But, love and marriage are two separate things during this time period. What the characters perceive to be love is actually lust. This will become evident throughout the tales. “The Prologue” is where Chaucer introduces all of the characters that will be prevalent throughout The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer describes the season as being April, and goes into detail about each character. It should be noted that the 29 characters that Chaucer mentioned were brought together by chance and did not plan this meeting. Each character had stopped at Tabard Inn, while waiting to embark on the pilgrimage to Canterbury. The night before the pilgrimage was to begin, the host offered a proposition to the pilgrims. He suggested a simple task: Now listen for your good, And please don’t treat my notion with disdain. This is the point. I’ll make it short and plain. Each one...
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...The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer talks about a pilgrimage. In this story “a group is gathered at Tabard Inn to go on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Thomas à Becket at Canterbury.” (Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. South Carolina McDougall Little British literature. Ed. Janet Allen et. al. Houghton Mifflin, Co. 2009. p.140 ). The host decided to let the group to tell stories to pass time on their way. In this story there are Chaucer’s saints who are honest, ready to help, faithful and on the other hand, there are scoundrels who are greedy, hypocrites, liars. Chaucer's saints are Knight, Parson, and Plowman, and the rest where bad and good in ways. Every character on this pilgrimage have differences and similarities. Saints and...
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...Within English literature there may be no better descriptions of people than in the general prologue of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Every character so perfectly profiled. Much was told about appearance, dress, habits, backgrounds and stories. He distinguishes each character by his/her profession. This makes us curious as to how he would describe many of the modern professions in his same unique manner. In Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales it will be interesting to include three modern characters, an astronaut, an elected politician, and a computer geek. The astronaut would be a magnificent sight to all who see him. Dressed in glimmering silvery attire the knight had the latest and greatest of everything. His dagger had many sharps edges in a new metallic case. The astronaut’s eyes were bright, full of life, and showed nothing close to a lack of intelligence. He was quiet, never spoke out of turn. Many a mile he had traveled, over land, air, and space. His eyes had gazed at what few others had, the earth….from outer space. He possessed a certain calm about him. He was wise, strong,...
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...The medieval time were a time of sins, and everybody did not agree with the church lifestyle. Geoffrey, Chaucer was upset about the corruption in the medieval church he writes the general prolongs about many of the church members in the Canterbury tails. He informs the reader of all he saw going on also makes it clear everybody was not bad all the time in the church but still that no way a man of god should act. Chaucer, knew this because he could read the bible cause he spoke both language and people say he is the reason the United State is now speaking the English language cause he wrote his books this way. He wanted to make it clear that the stuff the people of the church was preaching was false such as the indulgences the church sold over the years. Chaucer lists specific characters and...
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