Instructions
Forum Leaders:
Forum leaders, after reading the assigned sections of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, respond to 1 of the following questions, using specific examples and direct quotation from the reading to support your answer.
The Teller and the Tale: Choose one assigned Canterbury Tale and its teller, and discuss the juxtaposition of the two. Does the tale seem to you to particularly suit this teller? Why or why not? Support your response with specific, well-explained examples from the tale itself and the description of the teller in the Prologue.
Changing Perspective: This week, we've read the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales and four different characters' prologues and tales. Look closely at one character whose tale we read, and explain how you think that character's tale might be different if it were told by one of the other characters in the Tales. Do you think the theme would change? The perspective? Would the story end the same way? Support your discussion with specific passages from the text.
Gender Relations: choose 1 story (a tale, not a prologue to a tale) from the selections that we read from The Canterbury Tales and discuss its depiction of men or of women. Which one seems to be more sympathetically depicted in the story? Does this seem to be at all important in the story's plot or overall meaning?
A New Light on the Middle Ages: Explain one thing about medieval English culture and/or literature, as shown through these selections and/or the supplementary readings, that surprised you. Why did it surprise you so much? Did it change you view of the time period at all?