Literature 6: The Canterbury Tales

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• Middelbare school
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• Leerjaar 5

Literature 6: 
The Canterbury Tales

1. Take a guess: The travellers in The Canterbury Tales travel to Canterbury, but where do they come from?

1. Sheffield
2. Glasgow
3. Leicester
4. London

2. Take a guess: The Canterbury Tales was written in what language?

1. Old English
2. Middle English
3. Old French
4. Middle French

3. Take a guess: How many stories are there in The Canterbury Tales?

1. 10
2. 14
3. 21
4. 24

4. Take a guess: The Canterbury Tales is one big story that connects to series of other stories. What is this called?

1. Frame narrative
2. Web narrative
3. Box narrative
4. Casing narrative

5. Take a guess: True or False "Geoffrey Chaucer never finished The Canterbury Tales because he died."

1. True
2. False

The Canterbury Tales

- One of the few well preserved works in Middle English
- Group of pilgrims from London to Canterbury
- Innkeeper: each pilgrim tells 2 stories to pass the time
- Best story: free supper 
- Chaucer as a narrator introduces each pilgrim
- Various types: rude, moral, humorous, etc. 

Importance

1. Written in English instead of French
            - French was the language of those in power
            - English meant a larger audience
2. The work says a lot about the English medieval society
            - Description of the pilgrims
            - Customs and practices at the time 

Creation of The Canterbury Tales

- Started in 1387 until his death in 1400
- Original work doesn't exist anymore
- More than 80 copies survive
- Must have been very popular
- For many other texts only a couple of texts survive
- Story wasn't complete: only one group of pilgrims
- 29 travellers and tales

6. True or False: "Chaucer is both the author as well as a character in The Canterbury Tales."

1. True
2. False

7. What does the pilgrim with the best story get?

1. A new sword
2. A valuable book
3. A free supper
4. A loaf of bread

8. Which of the following is not a reason for why the Canterbury Tales is so important?

1. It was written in English instead of French
2. It was written during the Hundred Years' War
3. The work says a lot about medieval society

9. The Canterbury Tales contains stories about how many travellers?

1. 24
2. 29
3. 32
4. 36

10. How many copies of the Canterbury Tales have survived?

1. 50
2. 70
3. 80
4. 100

Check the reader:

Literature 6: The Canterbury Tales
- Read the background information
- Answer the questions (using the internet)
- Check your answers (see Its Learning)