Active Reading Notes Bede (pp.74-82) & Prologue to Canterbury Tales (pp.90-115)

Active Reading Notes Bede (pp.74-82) & Prologue to Canterbury Tales (pp.90-115)

History of the English Church and People (pp. 72-78)

• Historical writing- tells story of past events using evidence, such as documents from the period, that the writer has evaluated for reliability
• Bede (673-735) is a historian who documents the history of England and the spread of Christianity even if majority or people are illiterate
• Written in Latin so it died pretty easily because who clergy understood Latin
• Speaks of geography and areas around the city
• Abundance of fish products 
• Scarlet dye is symbol of power and endurance because it is a dye that does not fade
• Bede wrote of Ireland in a nicer way... he didn't speak of snakes or anything that could view Ireland in a bad/scary way

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (pp. 79-82)

• Written because Bede's account is not as accurate
• Invasions caused much danger
• the people were spread out so communication hard plus they never agreed on anything
• They are unified as a culture but not in opinions
• Picts choose kings from female blood line
• Britain contains four languages (English, British, Scots, Latin, and Picts)
• Picts settled in south of Britain
• Scots are called Delreudians…dal means division
• Prepare to Read “The Canterbury Tales Prologue” (pp. 90)
• Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) – soldier, diplomat royal clerk
• He gives broad spectrum of personalities/experiences
• He worked for wife of Lionel of Antwerp- close to aristocratic life
• He was captured as a soldier and latered freed when king paid ransom 16lbs
• He married Philippa Pan
• No one knows why he wrote stories perhaps when he went on his own pilgrimage=inspiration
• Tales varies from romance to comedy, rhyme to prose, crude humor to religious mystery
• He only completed 24 out of 120 stories

Characterization: (pp. 91)

• Direct characterization: the narrator or a character in the story tells us what we need to know about a character
• Indirect characterization: we find out about characters indirectly through thoughts, comments, or actions of the characters
• Flat: character with few personality traits (few details given)
• Round: character with many personality traits (many details given)
• Static: a character that does not change personality, beliefs, ideas, etc. throughout  the work
• Dynamic: a character that experiences some type of change during the course of the  story due to events
• Social commentary: writing that offers insight into society, its values, and its customs
• Chaucer’s Guided Tour of Medieval life and Literature (pp. 92-93)
• Pilgrimage-  long, annual trips to holy places (joyous event that gathered people from various backgrounds and occupations)
• Prologue begins with a pilgrim at the Tabard Inn.
• Host Harry Bailey proposes a challenge that along the way there and back, each pilgrim tell a total of 4 stories… the most interesting story wins.
• 24 different stories told…. Even though there are 29 pilgrims, not including Bailey 

• Chaucer uses French poetic forms… a heroic couplet is a pair of rhyming lines with five stresses syllables each

The Canterbury Tales (The prologue) (pp. 94-115)

• Canterbury town where archbishop Thomas a Becket (martyr) killed 1170, people go pay respects
• Zephyrus is west wind
• Ram- Aries, the first sign of the zodiac pilgrimage began april 11, 1387
• 29 pilgrims at Tabard Inn preparing for journey to Canterbury
• Chaucer describes a 1) knight-honorable, distinguishable record, he fought 15 battles, and some battles with narrator, he was usually vanguard (forefront soldier), wise, modest, a true knight
• 2) knight’s son- squire, lover, cadet, handsome, 20yrs old,  could write, joust, ride horse, and recite poems… carved to perfection
• 3) yeoman (attendant) at knight’s son’s side- “proper forester”, he wore St. Christopher pendant, bow & arrow
• 4) nun (prioress-nun ranking below an abbess)-simple, coy, solicitous (caring, compassionate), pretty
• 5) monk-hunterer, garnished, bald
• 6) friar- jolly, listened and gave penance, beggar, truckled people into giving him money, he was respected beggar
• 7)merchant-blunt, and egotistic, in debt,
• 8) oxford cleric- thin, intelligent (read Aristotle), he only cared about study
• 9) sergeant at the law-fame, scholarly, high position, knows every case up to King William’s time, 
• 10) franklin (weathly landowner)- lived for happiness, happy-fat man, liked to keep house full of food, change food with seasons
• 11, 12, 13, 14, & 15) haberdasher, a dyer, a carpenter, a weaver, and a carpet-maker were worthy burgess, wisdom and rich
• 16) cook-good cook, made a good creamy chicken dish (blancmange), he had an ulcer on knee
• 17) skipper-who was a good watch, good worker
• 18)doctor- best surgeon, rich
• 19) wealthy woman-she was a traveler, been to many cities, bad teeth, skilled in old dances, aiding in loves mischances
• 20)parson- holy man, not like taxes, like visiting people
• 21) plowman- brother to the parson, good worker,
• 22, 23, 24, 25) a reeve( estate manager)- old choleric and thin, a miller- big strong man, manciple (buyer of provisions)- rational buyer , pardoner- gentle singer blonde, and a church court summoner- red face bc of carbuncles pus filled boils) very drunk
• 26) narrator will be blunt with his descriptions and dialogue
• Host was definition of a man, strong, he told challenge and all accepted
• They drew straws to start