Narrative Poem: The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales

Benign

Obstinate

Zephyrus

Ram

Palmers

Wend

Guile

Frugal

agility

Which pilgrim would most likely give absolution to a character in The Canterbury Tales? Explain your reasoning.

Consider the many characterizations in “The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales of the men and women associated with the church.

From these portraits, what conclusion might you draw about Chaucer’s attitude toward the church and/or religious practitioners? Write an essay in which you present your conclusion and support it with evidence from “The Prologue.”

Which phrase describes Chaucer’s attitude toward the Nun? Support your answer with specific references from “The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales.

Read the following excerpt from “The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales. Then fill in the chart, using the who, what, where, when, why, and how questioning strategy.
It happened in that season that one day / In Southwark, at The Tabard, as I lay / Ready to go on pilgrimage and start / For Canterbury, most devout of heart, / At night there came into that hostelry / Some nine and twenty in a company / Of sundry folk happening then to fall / In fellowship, and they were pilgrims all / That towards Canterbury meant to ride (lines 19-27).

n “The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales, we learn that the Miller is “a great stout fellow big in brawn and bone” (line 548). Provide two images or quotations from the narrator’s description that suggest the Miller is large and strong.

In “The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales, the narrator provides many details about the other pilgrims going to Canterbury, but he says little about himself. The reader is left to infer the narrator’s character from what most impresses the narrator as worthy of reporting, what the narrator accepts as true—that is, how discerning he is—and from what little he says directly to the reader about himself and his manner of storytelling. Write an essay in which you explain the nature of the narrator’s personality, supporting your ideas with evidence from the text.

In describing the Cook, Chaucer says, “But very ill it was, it seemed to me, / That on his shin a deadly sore had he” (lines 387-388). Is this a direct or indirect characterization? Is it both? What do these lines from “The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales tell you about the Cook?

In lines 334-337 of “The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer describes the Franklin as “White was his beard as is the white daisy. Of sanguine temperament by every sign/He loved right well this morning sop in wine. Delightful living was the goal he’s won.” Choose the best definition for sanguine. Write two quotations from the text to support your answer.

The Haberdasher, the Dyer, the Carpenter, the Weaver, and the Carpet-maker are all —

The word commission means to

In standing by to carve meat for his father at the table, the young Squire is showing himself to be ____.

In “The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer calls the Franklin’s girdle “white as morning milk” to

By positioning his description of the Miller almost immediately after that of the Plowman in The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer accentuates

The Monk in “The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales is an avid hunter who “did not rate that text at a plucked hen / Which says that hunters are not holy men / And that a monk uncloistered is a mere / Fish out of water” (lines 181-184). The Narrator agrees with the Monk. How does the Monk’s life reflect this opinion? Discuss these questions in a short essay, using evidence from the poem to illustrate your points.

In “The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales, we learn that the Miller is “a great stout fellow big in brawn and bone” (line 548). Provide two images or quotations from the narrator’s description that suggest the Miller is large and strong.

Both the Nun and Parson serve their church and its people, but they have two very different personalities. Based on Chaucer’s direct and indirect characterizations, which of the two does he most likely consider the more devout Christian? What evidence from “The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales supports your opinion? Respond to these questions in a thoughtful, well-organized essay.