Introductory Overview of the Canterbury Tales

Introduction

The Canterbury Tales is the most famous and critically acclaimed work of Geoffrey Chaucer, a late-fourteenth-century English poet. Little is known about Chaucer’s personal life, and even less about his education, but a number of existing records document his professional life.

In or around 1378, Chaucer began to develop his vision of an English poetry that would be linguistically accessible to all—obedient neither to the court, whose official language was French, nor to the Church, whose official language was Latin. Instead, Chaucer wrote in the vernacular, the English that was spoken in and around London in his day. Undoubtedly, he was influenced by the writings of the Florentines Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, who wrote in the Italian vernacular. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrgsUuufg1g&t=2s

[video:https://youtu.be/7hoKh19d0Ys align:center]

Task

You will work independently to complete this assignment. You will need to use the links provided on the next page to locate the answers for each question. We recommend that skip a question and come back to it if you can't find the correct answer in a reasonable amount of time. No excuses for unfinished work. 

Use your time wisely to ensure that the work is completed on time. If there are extenuating circumstances that prevent you from being able to work from home during an absence, please let us know and we will work with you on a case-by-case basis.

 

 





 

 

 

Process

Use the websites on the next page to complete your evaluation. You are responsible for answering all of the questions on the worksheet you were given. When you are done, be sure to ensure that every question is answered before submitting your work.

You may look at as many items in each site as you would like but your goal is to locate the answers to ALL of the questions using the sites listed on the Evaluation tab.

Each of the questions on your worksheet is listed on the EVALUATION tab but ymagnifying glassou should use the worksheet provided in class (and on Google Classroom) to record your answers. 

DON'T get frustrated and DON'T expect all of the answers to jump up and wave at you... It wouldn't be a QUEST if you didn't have to do some hunting around for the correct responses!

Evaluation

How will be I Assessed?

You will be graded based on your ability to accurately and completely answer each question. Some questions have more than one part so make sure that you address EVERYTHING that you are asked for each question. All of the information you need can be found in each of the links, you just have to take the time to LOOK. Scroll down to see the questions... they match the ones on your worksheet.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/canterbury/context.html

Answer each of the following:

  1. What genre is The Canterbury Tales?
  2. What is the setting for The Canterbury Tales?
  3. What is a social satire? How does this apply to The Canterbury Tales?
  4. What is meant by the term "frame story"? Provide the name of a modern day example of a frame story.
  5. What was Chaucer's ORIGINAL plan for the Canterbury Tales?
  6. Chaucer still stands as one of the great shapers of what two important elements of writing?
  7. What language is The Canterbury Tales written in? Give one significant reason it is still read in this language by children today.

https://www.vocabulary.com/lists/210271

Write the definitions for the following:

  1. middle English
  2. pilgrim
  3. pilgrimage
  4. sundry
  5. martyr
  6. devout
  7. valiant
  8. heathen
  9. creed
  10. deportment
  11. sheaf
  12. mien
  13. monastic
  14. cloister
  15. prelate
  16. absolve
  17. arbitrate
  18. motley
  19. erudition
  20. felicity
  21. superfluity
  22. benign
  23. asunder
  24. augur 

Write an original sentence that contains at least THREE of the words listed above.

 

Conclusion

Your WebQuest requires a total of thirty-two responses. 

The short answer questions are worth FIVE points each; two-part questions are worth EIGHT points. Points will be deducted if you did not answer ALL that the question asked of you.

Each vocabulary word is worth two points. You do not receive credit if you wrote an incorrect definition.

Each correctly used vocabulary word in your sentence is worth two points, there are two additional points allotted for a completed sentence that makes sense and shows effort.

 

The entire WebQuest is worth 100 points! BE SURE to do your best!

 

 

Credits

This WebQuest was created by Miss Sonya Leigh McGee, Salem High School - January 2017

It was based on the British Literature Overview lesson developed for the 12th-grade curriculum at Virginia Beach City Public Schools.

This WebQuest is for instructional/educational use only