Chaucer's Pilgrims
You have been assigned a pilgrim from “The Prologue,” from Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.
First, describe the character’s physical and personality traits in your own words. What does this character do for a living? What does he or she look like? How would you describe his or her personality, thoughts or behavior? What needs or desires motivate this pilgrim? Are his or her intentions good and honorable?
Medieval society was generally comprised of three groups of people: the feudal system (related to the land), the Church, and the city (merchants and professionals). Which group does this pilgrim fall into? Describe this person’s role in medieval society.
Then, analyze how Chaucer’s description—his choice of words and details—brings out the traits you described. Finally, discuss how your chosen character represents English life in the Middle Ages. You may refer to your research on the Middle Ages to address this.
Type your answers on a separate sheet of paper. Your analysis of your pilgrim should fill no more than one page.
This is due in class on October 29-30.
First, describe the character’s physical and personality traits in your own words. What does this character do for a living? What does he or she look like? How would you describe his or her personality, thoughts or behavior? What needs or desires motivate this pilgrim? Are his or her intentions good and honorable?
Medieval society was generally comprised of three groups of people: the feudal system (related to the land), the Church, and the city (merchants and professionals). Which group does this pilgrim fall into? Describe this person’s role in medieval society.
Then, analyze how Chaucer’s description—his choice of words and details—brings out the traits you described. Finally, discuss how your chosen character represents English life in the Middle Ages. You may refer to your research on the Middle Ages to address this.
Type your answers on a separate sheet of paper. Your analysis of your pilgrim should fill no more than one page.
This is due in class on October 29-30.