Structure in
The Canterbury Tales
Symbol Key
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Heroic Couplet Lesson
Frame Narrative Lesson
Practice Quiz
Quiz
What is a heroic couplet?
A heroic couplet is made up of two things:
 Iambic pentameter
 Couplet
You can use heroic couplets
when writing poetry and music
Iambic Pentameter
 A line of verse that contains five iambs
 Iamb: one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable
Listen to the General Prologue and notice the stressed and
unstressed syllables:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE0MtENfOMU
Couplet
Examples
Take a look at the opening lines of the
General Prologue in Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales…
“Whan that april with his shoures soote,
The droghte of march hath perced to the
roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;”
And so on!
Heroic Couplet
 Notice how the lines are couplets…
 Soote
 Licour
roote
flour
 Notice that when read aloud, the lines are written in
iambic pentameter
Heroic Couplet
The Canterbury Tales are
written ENTIRELY in heroic
couplets!!!
What is frame narrative?
 A story being told within another story
 The introduction goes into another story
 The other story returns to the original story
 This is used in many books and movies
Examples of Frame Narrative
 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
 Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights
 Nicholas Spark’s The Notebook
 The movie The Princess Bride
And….
Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales!
Frame Narrative
 In the case of The Canterbury Tales, there are many
stories, or “pictures,” within the main story, or “the
frame”
 Examples: The Miller’s Tale
The Pardoner’s Tale
The Wife of Bath’s Tale
Practice
Quiz
1. What are the two characteristics of
a heroic couplet?
iambic pentameter, alliteration
two lines that rhyme, iambic trimeter
iambic pentameter, two lines that rhyme
iambic trimeter, alliteration
1. You are incorrect.
Explanation: A heroic couplet is not written in iambic
trimeter, and does not require alliteration.
Try again!
1. You are CORRECT!
A heroic couplet has two rhyming lines, each written in
iambic pentameter.
Next Question…
1. You are incorrect.
Explanation: Heroic couplets are not written in iambic
trimeter.
Try again!
1. You are incorrect.
Explanation: Heroic couplets do not require alliteration.
Try again!
2. Which is an example of a heroic couplet?
“And made forward erly for to ryse,
To take oure wey ther as I yow devyse.”
“The chambres and the stabes weren wyde,
And wel we weren esed atte beste.”
2. You are CORRECT!
 Each line is written in iambic pentameter
 The two lines rhyme (they are a couplet)
Next question…
2. You are incorrect.
Explanation: Although both lines are written in iambic
pentameter, the lines are not a couplet- “wyde” and
“beste” do not rhyme.
Try again!
3. Which is not an example of a heroic
couplet?
“And from shires ende,
Of Englelond they wende.”
“And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye”
“Bifil that in that seson on a day,
In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay”
3. You are incorrect.
This is not an example of a heroic couplet because a
heroic couplet has two rhyming lines and is written in
iambic pentameter.
Try again!
3. You are CORRECT!
BUT….
Why isn’t it an example of a heroic couplet?
4. “And from shires ende,
Of Engelond they wende.”
This is not a heroic couplet because it is not a
couplet- the two lines do not rhyme.
This is not a heroic couplet because the lines are
not written in iambic pentameter.
4. You are incorrect.
This is an example of a couplet.
Try again!
4. You are CORRECT!
The lines are a couplet, but they are not written in iambic
pentameter.
Next question…
5. The Canterbury Tales has what
structure?
classical epic
frame narrative
short story
5. You are incorrect.
Explanation: The Canterbury Tales is not short, and it is
written in poetic verse.
Try again!
5. You are incorrect.
Explanation: The Canterbury Tales does not have
characteristics of a classical epic, including the evocation
of muses and a superhuman.
Try again!
5. You are CORRECT!
The Canterbury Tales is a frame narrative, as there are
many stories told within the main story.
Next question…
6. Which is not considered an
example of frame narrative?
The Notebook
The Canterbury Tales
To Kill a Mockingbird
6. You are incorrect.
Explanation: This plot involves a detached story being told
within the main story, so it is a frame narrative.
Try again!
6. You are CORRECT!
To Kill a Mockingbird is not a frame narrative.
CONGRATULATIONS!
You’ve finished the practice!
You may now either:
 Review heroic couplets
 Review frame narrative
 Or, take the quiz
QUIZ
This quiz will consist of six multiple choice questions.
Start…
1. What is the definition of a heroic couplet?
two rhyming lines written in iambic pentameter
two rhyming lines written in iambic trimeter
three rhyming lines written in iambic pentameter
1. You are incorrect.
Try again!
1. You are CORRECT!
Next question…
2. What is the definition of frame narrative?
a story told in which a character is framed
a story told within a story
a story that is split into multiple parts
2. You are incorrect.
Try again!
2. You are CORRECT!
Next question…
3. “Whan that april with his shoures soote,
The droghte of march hath perced to the
roote” is:
an example of a heroic couplet
not an example of a heroic couplet
3. You are incorrect.
Try again!
3. You are correct
Next question…
4. Does the Canterbury Tales qualify as a
frame narrative?
yes
no
4. You are CORRECT!
4. You are incorrect.
Try again!
GOOD JOB!
You’ve now learned about structure in
the Canterbury Tales!