Name: _____________________________
Date: __________________________
Chaucer Scavenger Hunt
Use the internet to answer the following questions about Geoffrey Chaucer:
1. When was Geoffrey Chaucer born?
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2. When and how did he die?
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3. In what language did he write? How is this different from most other authors of the
time?
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4. What form did he use most often in writing?
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5. What is his most famous work? Did he finish it?
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6. What does his surname mean?
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7. What did his father do for a living?
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8. What did Chaucer do for his living (not writing)?
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9. Where did he travel?
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10. Where was he captured as a prisoner of war?
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Name: _____________________________
Date: __________________________
11. How much wine did Edward III give Chaucer daily?
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12. When did he start working in the royal forest?
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13. Who was his audience? Did it change or expand over his career? If so, to whom?
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14. What is one fact about Chaucer that is interesting to you?
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Handout #1:
Transcript of Chaucer’s Introduction to Ulrich
Note the alliteration, particularly on the letter “s.” Also, note his exact phrasing – “gilding
the lily,” “with no further ado,” and “the one, the only.” These are phrases that are common
to introductions like this, so much that they are almost clichés, but they are effective. They
are comforting, well-known, and listeners know exactly what he means. Make sure to keep
this in mind when we start reading the real Chaucer!
My lords, my ladies, and everybody else here not sitting on a cushion! [crowd roars] Today...
today, you find yourselves equals. [crowd roars] For you are all equally blessed. For I have
the pride, the privilege, nay, the pleasure of introducing to you to a knight, sired by knights.
A knight who can trace his lineage back beyond Charlemagne. I first met him atop a
mountain near Jerusalem, praying to God, asking his forgiveness for the Saracen blood spilt
by his sword. Next, he amazed me still further in Italy when he saved a fatherless beauty
from the would-be ravishing of her dreadful Turkish uncle. [crowd, boo] In Greece he spent
a year in silence just to better understand the sound of a whisper. And so without further
gilding the lily and with no more ado, I give to you, the seeker of serenity, the protector of
Italian virginity, the enforcer of our Lord God, the one, the only, Sir Ulllrrrich von
Lichtenstein! [crowd roars] Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week.
Name: _____________________________
Date: __________________________
Handout #2:
Introduce Geoffrey Chaucer
Following the model of Chaucer’s introduction of Ulrich in A Knight’s Tale and using the
information that you gathered about Chaucer on your scavenger hunt, write an introduction
of Geoffrey Chaucer as a group. It should be about the same length as the movie Chaucer’s
introduction and include the same form of events/things about Chaucer that are pertinent to
understanding who he is and what he does. Make him interesting, compelling, and
desirable to get to know. Use language that draws the listener in – not necessarily frilly, but
alliterative and with some standard phrases that make people comfortable with the
introduction (if you think they are effective) – or make up some new phrases. Incorporate
the facts about Chaucer that you found interesting on the scavenger hunt for variety.
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