Name:
Date:
Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is about a group of 14th century pilgrims from all walks of life who
travel together for several days on their way to a shrine in Canterbury. They entertain each other on this
journey by telling stories. The person who tells the most entertaining story wins dinner at the local tavern,
courtesy of the other story-telling pilgrims.
Your task: Create (as a class) a contemporary version of The Canterbury Tales. This means thinking of a
fictional scenario in which a group of diverse people find themselves traveling together for several days
toward a common destination. It also means deciding on a theme for the competitive story-telling
element, and creating your own character and rhyming story. As in the original contest, whoever tells the
most entertaining story wins dinner.
Destination: ____________________________________________
Mode of transport: ______________________________________
Narrator: __________________________________________
Story-telling Theme: ____________________________________________
Example:
Destination: Chuck and Cindy’s wedding, San Diego, California.
Mode of transport: A Greyhound bus departing from West Virginia
Narrator: The bus driver (Hank)
Story-telling Theme: Each person on the bus will be giving a toast at the reception. These toasts will serve
as our “stories”. They will, 1) explain how your character knows either the bride or groom, and 2) be
written in rhyme (like the original tales). They should also aim to be clever and entertaining, as those are
among the criteria the judges will use to determine who wins the free dinner.
Additional Project Details:
1. We will read our speeches aloud on Tuesday, October 30. The judges, of course, will be in the
audience.
2. In case of a tie, the winner will be decided by a rap battle between characters. (I’m only half
serious about this one, but as a group, we should think about how to handle a tie.)
3. Your “dinner” will be a buffet of Halloween candy to be enjoyed on October 31st.
4. Please be careful to refrain from inappropriate content, such as excessive alcohol references, drug
references, sexual references, swearing, or any comments that are derogatory or could be
offensive to members of racial, cultural, religious, sexual orientation, or gender groups.
** If you are having a hard time determining whether something is appropriate, ask yourself whether you
would say it in front of your grandmother.
Be creative and have fun 
Rubric
Content
 Tale followed the parameters set by the class
 Story has a moral or message
 Writing flows so that it can be spoken easily
 All material is appropriate and crucial to the meaning
Organization & Presentation
 Tale has a clear beginning, middle, and end
 Writing rhymes
 Both partners participated equally
 Speech was read with enthusiasm & pose
/25
Total
/15
/40