The Canterbury Tales - eliGreenwich

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KEY PREPARING FOR PRELIMINARY PRELIMINARY PREPARING FOR FIRST FIRST

The Canterbury Tales

STAGE 1 STAGE 2 STAGE 3 STAGE 4 STAGE 5

Geoffrey Chaucer

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In The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer takes us back to life at the end of the 14th century. A group of pilgrims meet at the Tabard Inn and set out on a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury to pay homage to the sacred shrine of Thomas Becket.

In order to pass the time during their journey, each pilgrim tells a story and this is how the various characters come to life.

The tales of love, honour, honesty and betrayal are still relevant to today’s society.

Geoffrey Chaucer

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Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales

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He was born in London in 1343. He was a great English writer and is considered the founder of modern English literature, so much so that he was the first to be buried at Westminster Abbey in Poets’ Corner.

Although he wrote several important works, he is best remembered for his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales. In Chaucer’s time, French and Latin were the languages in which most literary works were produced.

Chaucer went against tradition by choosing to write The Canterbury Tales in Middle English, the language of the people, thus elevating English as a literary language.

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Welcome to The Canterbury Tales Information about the author, the story and the historical period.

The text with cultural details, brief summaries and glossary.

Brief description of the main characters.

A wide variety of activities covering Cambridge Exam Certificates, State exams, 21st Century Skills and 2030 Agenda topics.

Pre-reading activities.

A final test to check what you remember.

Script of one of the most important scenes from the story to act out together in class.

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Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales

Retold by Alex Peet

Illustrated by Andrea De Luca

Legenda

FIRST

Drama

INVALSI

Glossario

Esame di Stato

Agenda 2030

Costituzione e Cittadinanza

21st Century Skills

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Sign of Four E. Gaskell, K. Chopin, K. Mansfield, V. Woolf, E.Wharton Portraits of Women Robert Louis Stevenson The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales Jane Austin Pride and Prejudice Series Editors Paola Accattoli, Grazia Ancillani Art Director Daniele Garbuglia Graphic Design Emilia Coari Production Manager Francesco Capitano Photo Credits Shutterstock, page 82: courtesy of Baba Brinkman © 2021 ELi, Gruppo editoriale ELi

Printed in Italy by

Tecnostampa - Pigini Group Printing Division, Loreto - Trevi 21.83.266.0

ISBN

ENG004-01 978-88-536-3338-5

www.gruppoeli.it

Contents

6

Dossier 1 Chaucer: his life and works

10 Characters 12 Pre-reading Activities 16 Chapter 1 The Prologue 22

Activities

26 Chapter 2 The Knight’s Tale 32

Activities

36 Chapter 3 The Knight’s Tale continued 42

Activities

46 Dossier 2 Life in Chaucer’s Times 50 Chapter 4 The Wife of Bath’s Tale 56

Activities

60 Chapter 5 The Clerk’s Tale 66

Activities

70 Chapter 6 The Merchant’s Tale 76

Activities

80 Dossier 3 Films, Plays and More 84 Chapter 7 The Franklin’s Tale 90

Activities

94 Chapter 8 The Pardoner’s Tale 100

Activities

104

Final Test

110

Drama

112

My Book

Dossier

Chaucer: his life and works Who was Chaucer?

Geoffrey Chaucer is considered one of the greatest English poets and is often called ‘the father of English literature’.

The Canterbury Tales is still studied in schools today.

However, while he is best known for his poetry, he was also a philosopher, astronomer, civil servant and diplomat.

He was the first poet to be buried in Poets’ Corner inside Westminster Abbey.

Early Life The Chaucer family were wealthy and middle-class with connections to the royal court, which steadily increased over the generations. Chaucer’s grandfather was a successful London wine merchant and his father, John, probably continued this business.

Chaucer may have been educated at St Paul’s Cathedral school. One of the best ways to get a good education and succeed was to send children to serve in noble or royal families.

John Chaucer was able to afford to do this, and Geoffrey became a page*.

6

page a boy who is a personal servant to an important person

CURRICULUM VITAE

Chaucer lived in London during much of his early career, but later, his home was in Kent.

Chaucer was page to Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster, wife of King Edward III’s third son, Lionel.

Troilus and Criseyde is considered by some critics to be his best work.

I have had a varied career in the King’s service and developed many skills. I am an excellent communicator, both spoken and written, and have strong interpersonal and language skills.

I am hard-working and dedicated.

Name: Geoffrey Chaucer Date of birth: 1343 Address: Kent Marital status: married Work experience 1357 Page in a royal household.

1359 - 1360 On a military campaign.

1360 - 1388 In royal service, positions included diplomat and customs official 1370 Poet. Works include Troilus and Criseyde, The Canterbury Tales.

1385 Justice of the Peace in Kent.

1386 Member of Parliament.

1389 - 91 Clerk of the King’s works, duties were supervision of repairs and maintenance of royal buildings, e.g. the Tower of London.

1391 Responsible for a royal park in Somerset.

Skills

French, Latin, English, Italian.

Good interpersonal and negotiating skills, excellent writing skills.

Interests

Astronomy, philosophy, poetry.

We don’t know exactly when Chaucer was born, but it is thought it was between 1340 and 1343.

Chaucer married Philippa Roet in 1366. They had four children.

Chaucer accompanied Lionel when he went to fight in France during the Hundred Years’ War. Chaucer was captured and held to ransom.

From 1372-73 he went to Genoa to negotiate a port for the English and to Florence for loans for Edward III.

During his time in Italy, he read the works of Dante, Petrach and Boccaccio, all of whom influenced his writing.

7

Career Chaucer had a very successful career working in the King’s service for almost all his life and received a pension from the king.

However, such a full career left Chaucer very little time for writing.

His position as clerk to the King’s works in 1389 was also quite dangerous, and he was robbed twice and attacked.

In 1891, he asked to retire and took a quieter job as an official for a royal park and was able to spend more time writing.

8

Writings After the Norman invasion, French was the language used by the kings and those in power in England. One of the reasons for Chaucer’s fame was his decision to write in English instead of French.

His first work, The Book of the Duchess, written in 1370, is in memory of the wife of the Duke of Lancaster, who had died in 1369. This poem uses the dream-vision form made popular

by French poets.

The Parliament of Fouls, written in 1380, was a dream-vision about St Valentine’s Day, and Chaucer was heavily influenced

by Dante and Boccaccio. Troilus and Criseyde, written sometime during the 1380s, tells a tragic love story during the Trojan Wars. In this poem, he used a technique he invented of stanzas of seven rhyming lines. Some consider it his greatest work.

Chaucer also wrote The Treatise of the Astrolabe, which explained how astronomers used this piece of equipment to locate the sun, moon and planets. It is one of the oldest scientific works still in existence.

The Canterbury Tales This is Chaucer’s best-known work and the first major work of literature written in English. Started in 1387, it was unfinished by the time he died in 1400. It is the humorous story of a journey to Canterbury by a group of pilgrims*, including Chaucer, and the tales they tell to entertain one another.

Chaucer had intended all the characters to tell four stories each – two going to Canterbury and two on the return journey. In fact, Chaucer only wrote twenty-four tales, and the pilgrims do not even arrive in Canterbury before the story suddenly ends. The work demonstrates his accurate observation of people, the Middle Ages and his poetic abilities. Although none of his original manuscripts have survived, there are quite a number from the 1500s, which show just how popular these tales were. They remain so today.

pilgrims people who journey, often a long way, to a famous religious place to pray

CharactersCharacters

Palamon and Arcite, cousins taken prisoner

by Theseus, are both in love with Emily.

He is set a challenge by the queen.

10

Theseus’s beautiful and kind sister-in-law.

The noble and wise duke is the ruler of Athens.

She helps the young knight, is wise and has magical powers.

The hero of the story; she is extremely obedient and loyal to her husband.

The ruler of Saluzzo, he does not trust his wife.

Old knight who chooses to marry a young woman.

January’s young wife who loves Damian.

A young man who falls in love with May.

Wife of Averigus; she is noble and loyal.

Knight who marries Dorigen; he is humble and honest.

Loves Dorigen; he is generous and kind.

Death, an old man who represents death.

Three villains who decide to kill Death.

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PRE-READING ACTIVITIES

Speaking – Up to You! 1 You are going to read a story called The Canterbury Tales. What do you think it will be about? Tell your classmate. a b c

Stories that take place in the city of Canterbury Stories told on the way to Canterbury Something else – say what

Grammar – Gap Fill 2 Read and complete the text below. Do you want to change your answer to question 1?

Why Canterbury? has Canterbury, a city in the south-east of England, ___________ over 1400 years of history. It is home to the country’s first cathedral. The cathedral (1)___________ in the 7th century by St Augustine, who became the first archbishop in England and (2)___________ religious leader.

During the Middle Ages, religion was a major part of everyday life.

People travelled to cities like Rome and Jerusalem (3)___________.

These journeys were called pilgrimages, and those who went on them were called pilgrims. It was not just the rich who went on pilgrimages; (4)___________ poor people made the journey.

In 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket (5)___________ in the cathedral by the King’s men. Shortly after his death, people started to travel to his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral. Later, when there were reports of miracles, more people went. By the time Chaucer wrote his story, Canterbury (6)___________ one of the major destinations in Europe for pilgrimages. a had

b will have

1 a was built

c has

b is built

2 a the more senior

d have

c built

b most senior

d has been built c the most senior

d more senior 3 a to pray 4 a but

b even

5 a murdered 6 a became 12

b for pray c too

c for praying

d praying

d so

b murder b has become

c is murdered

d was murdered

c had become

d become

Writing & Reading Comprehension 3 Now answer these questions.

1 In which region of the UK is Canterbury?

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ 2 Who was the first archbishop in England?

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ 3 Why did people make pilgrimages?

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ 4 What initially caused people to visit Thomas Becket’s tomb?

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

Online Research 4 Look online to find out: a when the first cathedral was built in Italy b famous destinations in Italy for pilgrimages c who the head of the Church in Italy was in 1170 and in 1387

Vocabulary – The Canterbury Tales Characters 5 Match the people with the definitions. Use a dictionary if necessary.

1

knight

2

innkeeper

3 a merchant 4

clerk

5

franklin

6

friar

7

pardoner

a businessman who buys and sells things b (old meaning) an educated person, student c (old word) someone who owned land d soldier in medieval times e member of a religious order of men f (old word) man who works for the Church and officially forgives people g (old word) person who ran a type of pub 13

PRE-READING ACTIVITIES

Vocabulary – Crossword 6 Complete the crossword with the words below.

14

inn

he conquers

armour

humble

spurs

stockings

jester

cloak

Across 2 Knights wore it for protection in battle.

4 These will keep your legs warm.

6 Travellers ate and slept here.

7 The opposite of arrogant.

Down 1 Before coats, people wore this.

3 He entertained kings.

4 Use these to make your horse go faster.

5 If you defeat another country in war you _______ it.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Writing 7 A curriculum vitae is normally written when you are looking for a job. Use the one on page 7 as a model and write a curriculum vitae either for a famous person you admire or for yourself.

15

Chapter 1

The Prologue

2

The Tabard Inn, established in 1307, was one of the most famous inns in London, located on the road leading out of the city towards Canterbury and Dover in the south. Sadly, it was destroyed by fire, along with many other buildings in 1669.

A ‘tabard’ was also a piece of clothing worn by soldiers.

Chaucer meets a group of pilgrims and decides to travel with them to Canterbury.

When the April rains are over and spring is in the air, people often want to go on a pilgrimage. Some will travel abroad, but many make their way to the city of Canterbury, where Thomas Becket lies. And so it was, that one April, I, too, decided to travel there.

I broke my journey at The Tabard Inn in London and was joined later that evening by a large group of pilgrims. They were a mixed bunch, who had met along the way, all travelling to Canterbury. I fell into conversation with some of them, and soon it was decided that I would journey with the group.

Let me tell you about a few of my companions.

There was a noble* knight, for whom honour and justice were all-important. He had fought many battles for his king and never lost. He had helped to conquer many places and dined with kings and princes. Despite noble good, honest, full of honour

16

Chapter 1 The Prologue

his great success and noble family, he was modest and wise, respected others and was truly a perfect knight.

Although he rode a magnificent* horse, he was simply dressed. He wore a cotton shirt which had stains from his armour – for he had just left the battlefield. His son was travelling with him. A good-looking young man of about twenty, of average height with curly hair and an honest gentle face, he would be a knight himself one day.

Another of the pilgrims was a friar called Hubert.

He was a cheerful man who had found ways to make his life very comfortable. He was very good at begging and could persuade even the poorest old lady to give him money. He heard confessions and, for a price, he would pardon* anyone. Hubert knew all the inns and taverns* in his town very well and spent more time there than with the poor and sick. After all, they had very little to give him.

There was also a merchant among the travellers.

I am afraid I never found out his name, but he was a pleasant fellow. He had a forked* beard, wore trousers like a jester’s, a fur hat and boots which looked expensive. He told everyone how wealthy he was and certainly looked like a successful businessman. In fact, truth be told, he was in debt up to his eyes*!

The difference between inns and taverns originally was that people could also stay at an inn, not just eat and drink. However, taverns soon offered accommodation, too, and the words became interchangeable.

Neither word is used today, although ‘inn’ survives in the names of some pubs.

magnificent excellent (to) pardon to forgive tavern old word for pub forked split in two in debt up to his eyes he was in a lot of debt 17