Curated OER
Writing Application: The Canterbury Tales
Students read stories from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer and create their own tale. In this writing applications lesson, students read the tales and analyze the specific details that Chaucer use. Students work in groups to...
Curated OER
Details and Observations IQ or the Eyes Have it
Fourth graders study Chaucer as a master of details. Then, they create a short story linking unrelated details into a logical plot with a clear setting and established characters. This lesson plan has some excellent worksheets attached!
Curated OER
Multicultural Canterbury Pilgrimage
Young scholars create travel brochures that detail various people and places that are encountered on the way to Chaucer's Canterbury.
Curated OER
The Teller of the Tale, Part 2
Students discuss character types and their qualities. They select two characters and write about their dress, speech, habits, attitudes and beliefs. They write a monologue as the characters presenting a moral theme.
Curated OER
The Art of Charity in Characterization
Students garner knowledge of characterization of the pilgrims in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and see that even the less savory characters must be flushed out in description of personality and physical traits.
Curated OER
Satire in Fiction
Twelfth graders identify satire in various fictional texts. In this language arts lesson, 12th graders will learn to define satire, parody, and caricature. Students will identify different forms of satire in historical and...
Harvard University
Geoffrey Chaucer Page: Comparison of Chaucer and Ovid
Full text of John Dryden's (1631-1700) Preface to The Fables (1700), the English poet's translation of Chaucer texts from the middle English. Dryden compares the styles of Ovid, Chaucer, and Boccaccio.
Harvard University
The Harvard Chaucer Page: The High Style
Essay about Geoffrey Chaucer's use of the "high style" in middle English verse, characterized by an elegantly adorned diction reliant upon Latin and French borrowings.
Harvard University
Harvard: The Geoffrey Chaucer Page: John Lydgate
Resource provides a brief biography and general critique of his "high style" English lyric poetry, with links to several of his works, some annotated. Beautiful color picture from "Sege of Thebes."