Literature 12
Ms. Pitchford-Yeung
Term 1 Essay:
The Canterbury Tales
Due date:
_____________________________
Length:
1000-1200 words
Format:
Typed, double-spaced, 12 pt Times New Roman font (or similar)
Mark value:
20% of Term 1
General topic: The Canterbury
​
Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
In a focused, well-developed and well-organized essay of 1000-1200 words, respond to ONE of the
following topics. ​This is NOT a research essay!​ Rather, it is an opportunity for you to ​apply your
close reading skills in response to a focus topic​. Wherever relevant, your essay should also include
some​ style analysis of Chaucer’s language​ (i.e., comment
​
not only on ​what Chaucer says, but also on
how he says it -- how he makes use of particular diction, imagery, figurative or sound devices, etc., to
establish theme or character).
If you happen to find information from external research that is relevant to your essay, keep it minimal,
and CITE YOUR SOURCES!!! Regardless of your topic, ​you must include a Works Cited list​ (MLA
style) as a separate page at the end of your essay.
Topic Options:
A)
What is Chaucer’s attitude toward the ​emerging professional and mercantile classes ​(the rising
urban, middle class) of fourteenth-century England? Read the descriptions of pilgrims that fall
into this category (Physician, Lawyer, Manciple, Merchant, Shipman, tradesmen*, Cook, Wife of
Bath, and the Host). In your essay, discuss Chaucer’s presentation of ​three or four​ of these
characters in the ​General Prologue​. Select your pilgrims carefully, to demonstrate your thesis
most effectively. Consider elements such as the pilgrims’ occupations, their degree of wealth,
their level of education, their appearance and behaviour, and their social or political power.
Your pilgrims must include the Wife of Bath.
* If you select the tradesmen (Haberdasher, Dyer, Carpenter, Weaver, Carpet-maker), count all
five men as one pilgrim.
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B)
What is Chaucer’s attitude toward the ​ecclesiastical sector​ of his society (in other words, the
Medieval Church​)? In your essay, discuss Chaucer’s presentation of ​three or four​ of these
characters in the ​General Prologue​. Select your pilgrims carefully, to demonstrate your thesis
most fully and effectively.
C)
Chaucer shows us the ​grotesque* aspects of medieval life​ through the description of some of
his pilgrims. Examine his description of ​three​ ​or four ​pilgrims from the ​General Prologue​ and
discuss ways in which he uses​ grotesque imagery to convey character i​n the narrative. Select
your pilgrims carefully, to demonstrate your thesis most effectively. You may also, if you wish,
discuss a pilgrim whose physical description is relatively minimal or even absent—this would
help establish contrast.
Suggestions: You could focus on the use of grotesque imagery for a particular sector of society;
for a particular type of personality, regardless of class; or for a range of critique, from mild to
harsh.
At least two pilgrims must be from our key list of 13 (see below).
​
* The ​Oxford Modern English Dictionary defines “grotesque” as “comically or repulsively
distorted; monstrous, unnatural” and “incongruous, ludicrous, absurd” (468).
(​Oxford Modern English Dictionary.​ Edited by Julia Swannell, Clarendon Press, 1994.)
​ ​
D)
Choose a ​Tale​ ​by one of the pilgrims​ from our key list of 13 pilgrims. Discuss its theme
development and what it reveals about the character who tells it. In addition to looking at the
Tale and the pilgrim’s individual prologue (if applicable), you should also refer to the character’s
description in the ​General Prologue​.
E)
Read the ​Prologue to the Wife of Bath’s Tale​, as well as her ​Tale​. Based on this evidence,
what are ​Chaucer’s views toward women in his society​? Do you think that Chaucer is critical
or sympathetic? To what extent? Defend your position. Your argument does not have to be
one-sided (i.e., you may show how Chaucer both critiques and supports women). Refer also, of
course, to the Wife’s description in the ​General Prologue​.
“Key List of 13 Pilgrims”:
Knight
Squire
Prioress
Monk
Friar
Oxford Cleric
Wife of Bath
Parson
Plowman
Miller
Reeve
Summoner
Pardoner
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Resources:
Side-by-side translation of the tales:
http://www.librarius.com/cantales.htm
Interlinear translation of the tales:
http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/tr-index.htm
A wonderful general website on Chaucer:
http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/
Some resources on MLA citation:
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.​ 8​th​ ed, MLA, 2009.
See me if you wish to consult this book.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01
An excellent overview of the MLA guidelines! Follow the chapter tabs for specific
topics and types of citations.
Essay Submission:
❑ Your essay must have a title page with the following information:
o Title of your essay
o Your Student # (NOT your name)
o Literature 12
o Ms. Pitchford-Yeung
o Date of submission
❑ Number your pages
❑ You must include a ​Works Cited list (MLA style) ​at the end of your final revision. The
Works Cited list should be on a separate page. Here’s how to cite from our Lit textbook:
Chaucer, Geoffrey. General Prologue to ​The Canterbury Tales. Translated by Nevill
Coghill, ​Adventures in English Literature, Athena ed., Holt, Rinehart
and Winston, 1996, pp. 59-79.
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