The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

We will be using Neville Coghill's translation in class, but in a pinch you will find these eTexts helpful.

Full searchable text in PDF of:
    General Prologue - an introduction to the Canterbury pilgrims
    The Wife of Bath's Tale - What do women most desire?
    The Pardoner's Prologue + Tale - Radix malorum est cupiditas!
    The Man of Law's Tale - Beware the mother-in-law!
    The Canon's Yeoman's Tale - Alchemist or Bamboozler?
    The Nun's Priest's Tale - Heed the warnings of your dreams

Required Reading & Downloads

The Short Story Project (precursor to reading The Canterbury Tales)

1 -- Short Story SIFT Analysis and Presentation
    -- How to Write About Theme (PDF)
    -- SIFT worksheet (use this to complete the assignment)
2 -- Short Story LRJ prompt #1: Experience, Interpretation, and Evaluation
3 -- Short Story LRJ prompt #2: Passage Analysis -- with Tips
        SAMPLE: Sample Passage Analysis (from Frankenstein)
4 -- Short Story Encapsulation Project

Short Story PDF downloads
"The Blue Lenses" by Daphne du Maurier (PDF)
"The Destructors" by Graham Greene (PDF)
"A Good Man Is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor (PDF)
"The Enormous Radio" by John Cheever (PDF)
"A Hunger Artist" by Franz Kafka (PDF)
"Bartleby the Scrivener" by Herman Melville (PDF)

Canterbury Tales Introductory Material
Introduction to Becket, the movie (1964)
Introduction to The Canterbury Tales (Rose)
How to Write About Theme

Vocabulary
Canterbury Tales vocabulary list #1 (PDF)
Canterbury Tales flashcard deck #1 at Dictionary.com
Canterbury Tales vocabulary list #2
Canterbury Tales flashcard deck #2 at Dictionary.com

Assignments
Theme & SIFT Sheets -- must be completed and printed out when turning in
Canterbury Tales Literary Response Journal (LRJ) prompts
Canterbury Tales Pilgrim Data Sheet
Canterbury Tales -- Theme & Thesis Worksheet
Canterbury Tales -- Preliminary Exam Study Guide
Canterbury Tales -- Unit Exam Study Worksheet

Other Required Reading
What Do Women Want? by Dennis Prenger (National Review) see LRJ prompts
Understanding Money and the Meaning of Life by Bill Taylor (Business Daily) see LRJ prompts
Daring Leaps of Faith by Julia Duin (Washington Times) see LRJ prompts

The Canterbury Tales Resources

Luminarium: The Wife of Bath's Tale page
Caxton's Chaucer-- original printings of the Canterbury texts can be viewed here (British Library)
Luminarium: The Pardoner's Tale page
Luminarium: The Man of Law's Tale page
Luminarium: The Nun's Priest's Tale page
Luminarium: The Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer Resources

Luminarium: Geoffrey Chaucer
An Annotated Guide to Chaucer Resources on the Net
The Geoffrey Chaucer Page (Harvard)
Dr. Wheeler's Chaucer Resources (Carson-Newman)

Medieval Literature Resources

Luminarium: Medieval Literature
Medieval Life.net: Medieval Literature
Internet Medieval Sourcebook
Dr. Wheeler's Medieval Literature Resources (Carson-Newman)