1. The Canterbury Tales By by Geoffrey Chaucer The Knight
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The Knight
The Canterbury Tales
By by
Geoffrey Chaucer

2. Read and take notes on page 86
England’s first great poet

3. Mother - a member of the English court.
Father a wealthy wine merchant in London
Education – well educated and reared in high society- studied law
Held a variety of jobs and was well traveled
Knowledge of people is reflected in the tales
Began writing The Canterbury Tales around 1387 following the death of his wife,
Philippa Roet

4. Prologue- describes the people who will be making the pilgrimage (journey)
penance or spiritual renewal
Frame story – story within a story
A whole range of people from all walks of life. A Knight to a Plowman
Look at the map on page Tabard Inn to Canterbury Cathedral
to the shrine of Sir Thomas a Beckett
Iambic pentameter – the natural rhythm of language
unstressed – stressed syllables
pentameter- how man iambs?

5. How long will the trip take?
Figure it out……..
The distance from London to Canterbury is 55 miles.
The Pilgrims’ pace- slightly faster than walking 4-5 mph
8 hours of travel per day
2 days at the shrine
How long will the trip take?

6. A religious pilgrimage assumes a festive atmosphere
like going on a vacation.
What story would you tell for entertainment?
According to Chaucer, literature was supposed to be
entertaining and morally instructive.
The instruction was through the morals which taught people how to live properly.
The entertainment was in the storytelling.
Satire_

7. The Canterbury Tales is a reflection of life and times in the Middle Ages.
An anthology of the popular genre of the Middle Ages. The stories represent
The literary tastes of different social classes

8. Through the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer presents ideas on love, death, humor, and faith.
→ Learn more about the medieval period
→ Will meet a whole range of people
→ Will learn about different genre from the
anthology

9. If you could take a vacation or go on a journey when you get “spring fever,” where would you go?

10. The classes…..
Medieval society made distinct divisions between the social classes: Chaucer described his characters.. “According to degree…” Interior groupings (refer to handout)

11. Characterization- the process of revealing the personality of the character
Indirect:
What the character says
What the character looks like- general appearance and clothing
Inner thoughts of a character
What other people say about the character
What the character does

12. Direct:
The writer tells what the character’s personality is like