Medieval Lit: Canterbury Tales
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Name: __________________________
Canterbury Tales Prologue: The Remix
(100 points)
Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is about a group of 14th century pilgrims from all walks of
life who travel together for several days telling stories to entertain each other on their way to a
shrine in Canterbury. The person who tells the most entertaining story wins dinner at the local
tavern, courtesy of the other story-telling pilgrims
Your task for this project is to create (as a class) a contemporary version of The Canterbury
Tales Prologue. We have already decided on the basics of our fictional scenario in which a group
of diverse people find themselves traveling together for several days toward a common
destination. Please see the rest of the detail information below.
Destination: Newark Airport, Newark, NJ, USA
Mode of transport: A Boeing 747 departing from Heathrow Airport, London, England
Narrator: HS English Teacher from Central PA
Pilgrim Description: Your pilgrims are all trapped on the plane, waiting to disembark. Each
person on the plane will need to be described. These descriptions should also aim to be clever
and entertaining. Please be sure that you use satire and irony to get across whether or not you
“like” or “dislike” your character. **Please see notes on appropriate content.
Requirements:
 Minimum 30 lines
 Maximum 40 lines
 Heroic Couplets (Yup! That means it HAS to rhyme)
 Clearly name the character you are describing
 Use of at least three different literary devices
Use the following list as ideas as to what content to put in your description. You do not
have to use all of these ideas, but you do have to use the parts that are italicized. This list
will give you a jump start. If you have OTHER ideas, please feel free to use them.
attire
eating habits
occupation
physical attributes
reading habits
music choices
sleeping habits
voice
socio-economic class
emotional attributes
social skills
traveling partners
**Characters are allowed to have “other” characters with them (ex: the Prioress) that we hear about but don’t really ever “see”
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Notes on Taste and Appropriateness:
While humor, wit, and social satire are encouraged in this project, it is important to respect the
boundaries of appropriate and tasteful content. We want to entertain our audience, not offend
them. Good social satire is delicate: we want to illuminate the quirks and flaws of our characters,
but we also want to avoid stereotyping or culturally insensitive humor.
Not appropriate:
1. excessive alcohol references
2. drug references
3. sexual references
4. swearing
5. any comments that are derogatory or could be offensive to members of racial, cultural,
religious, sexual orientation, or gender groups.
**If you are having a hard time determining whether something is appropriate, ask yourself
whether you would say it in front of your grandmother.**
You have been assigned one of the following “Pilgrims”:
(Assume all pilgrims are American unless otherwise noted – you choose male or female)
1. CEO of large US
Company
4. Carpenter
7. Policeman
10. Congressman (or
woman)
13. English Boxer Breeder
2. Middle School Teacher
3. College Student
5. Zookeeper
8. Firefighter
11. Head Chef
6. Plumber
9. Parole Officer
12. Taxi Driver
14. Veterinarian
16. Male American
Honeymooner
19. Famous Athlete
22. Accountant
17. Female American
Honeymooner
20. Ceramics Artist
23. Famous Movie Star
15. Foreign Exchange
Student (Spain)
18. Pediatrician
21. Electrician
The Pilgrim you have been assigned is hi-lighted for you.
The Narrator (me) will begin this adventure. Your final products must be typed and handed into
my project drive to be put together into a complete prologue.
EXTRA CREDIT (10 points): If you choose, you can illustrate your pilgrim. You may handdraw or use manipulated clip art to best show the traits you want people to see of your pilgrim.
Your final product will be graded on the rubric attached.
**This includes an overall evaluation from members of the class!!!!
Medieval Lit: Canterbury Tales
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Canterbury Tales Prologue: The Remix
(100 points)
Name: _________________________
Pilgrim: ___________________
CRITERIA
OUT OF
TOTAL
Rhyme
5
Rhythm
5
Attire
5
Occupation
5
Socio-Economic Status
5
Physical Attributes
5
Traveling Partners
5
Literary Device 1
10
Literary Device 2
10
Literary Device 3
10
Overall Use of Satire/Irony
10
Overall Pilgrim Evaluation (Pilgrims)
10
Overall Pilgrim Evaluation (Narrator)
15
TOTAL
100
Medieval Lit: Canterbury Tales
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Canterbury Tales Prologue: The Remix
Pilgrim Evaluation:
10 being the best and 1 being the worst, rate the overall accuracy and entertainment of
each pilgrim’s prologue. Do NOT evaluate your own!
Pilgrim
CEO of large US Company
College Student
Zookeeper
Policeman
Parole Officer
Head Chef
English Boxer Breeder
Foreign Exchange Student (Spain)
Female American Honeymooner
Famous Athlete
Electrician
Famous Movie Star
Total out of 10
Pilgrim
Middle School Teacher
Carpenter
Plumber
Firefighter
Congressman (or woman)
Taxi Driver
Veterinarian
Male American Honeymooner
Pediatrician
Ceramics Artist
Accountant
Total out of 10
Canterbury Tales Prologue: The Remix
Pilgrim Evaluation:
10 being the best and 1 being the worst, rate the overall accuracy and entertainment of
each pilgrim’s prologue. Do NOT evaluate your own!
Pilgrim
CEO of large US Company
College Student
Zookeeper
Policeman
Parole Officer
Head Chef
English Boxer Breeder
Foreign Exchange Student (Spain)
Female American Honeymooner
Famous Athlete
Electrician
Famous Movie Star
Total out of 10
Pilgrim
Middle School Teacher
Carpenter
Plumber
Firefighter
Congressman (or woman)
Taxi Driver
Veterinarian
Male American Honeymooner
Pediatrician
Ceramics Artist
Accountant
Total out of 10
Medieval Lit: Canterbury Tales
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The Narrator begins the Bermudian-bury Tales:
When January with his snows cold and iced
The festive December has ended so nice
And covered each man with gifts and the power
To generate smiles and happiness upon the hour;
When Old Man Time, with his sweet kiss,
Quickened the hearts of couples and this,
Prepared them for the New Year’s start
To get home from abroad to play their part
In society’s game in a career and the race
That rats must play at a quickened pace.
(But Nature traps them in the fuselage)“Then do folks long to go on pilgrimage,”
Heading West but seeking out strange strands,
To distant homes well known in U.S. lands.
And especially from every traveler’s end
Of England to Newark Airport wend,
The homeward-bound voyager there to seek
A ride on Tuesday of the calendar week.
It came that, in that season, on that day
from Heathrow, on the airplane, as I lay
Ready to disembark upon the ground
To Newark, the pilot now has found
To tell us, all, at nightfall in that hostelry
Some three and twenty in a company
Of persons, we are trapped like birds
In fellowship, and caged, and with terse words
That plane for the night we would, unhappy, sleep.
The seats and aisles not spacious, made us weep.
But well, we were there, and smiled like the best,
And briefly, when the man’s voice had gone to rest,
“So had I spoken with them, every one,
That I was of their fellowship anon, “
And made agreement that we'd tell some tales
To pass the time, to ease the pitiful wails.
But before those tales, “whilst I have time and space,
Before yet farther in this tale I pace,
It seems to me accordant with reason
To inform you of the state of every one
Of all of these, as it appeared to me,
And who they were, and what was their degree,”
5
Medieval Lit: Canterbury Tales
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Canterbury Tales: The Remix
(100 points)
Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is about a group of 14th century pilgrims from all walks of
life who travel together for several days telling stories to entertain each other on their way to a
shrine in Canterbury. The person who tells the most entertaining story wins dinner at the local
tavern, courtesy of the other story-telling pilgrims
Your task for the second half of this project is to create a contemporary version of a tale told by a
pilgrim in the The Canterbury Tales. We have already decided on who your pilgrim is. Now you
need to decide what type of tale your particular character will tell.
Your choice must reflect the kind of person your pilgrim is. Choose carefully. Your final story
must include all the elements of you tale choice IN ADDITION TO the following specs. NOTE:
Your tale does NOT have to be in poem form, although you can write it that way if you wish for
extra credit.
FINAL TALE SPECIFICS:
 Minimum four (4) fully typed pages
 Maximum ten (10) fully typed pages
 Include a short, minimum 10 line rhyming prologue to introduce how your pilgrim begins
his or her story (see the original tales for ideas like the Miller’s Tale Prologue)
 MLA format (no citations necessary)
 Include all the elements of the type of tale you are telling
TALE CHOICES:
 Exemplum or Folk Tale
o Characters, events, and other things come in threes
o The main character’s moral fiber must be tested
o A mysterious guide comes to help point the way
o An fair and just ending that rewards good and punishes evil
 Medieval Romance
o People falling in love
o A struggle or conflict (usually forced by another character) that keeps the
characters apart
o A series of events that influence each other and bring the lovers back together
o A ending true to the plot that brings the lovers together forever
Medieval Lit: Canterbury Tales
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 Fabliaux
o Must involve at least three characters
o Must include a tale of the middle to lower class
o Characters must be tricked by each other
o Motives are usually a bit coarse and includes sexual innuendo
Notes on Taste and Appropriateness:
While humor, wit, and social satire are encouraged in this project, it is important to respect the
boundaries of appropriate and tasteful content. We want to entertain our audience, not offend
them. Good social satire is delicate: we want to illuminate the quirks and flaws of our characters,
but we also want to avoid stereotyping or culturally insensitive humor.
Not appropriate:
1. excessive alcohol references
2. drug references
3. blatant sexual references
4. swearing
5. any comments that are derogatory or could be offensive to members of racial, cultural,
religious, sexual orientation, or gender groups.
**If you are having a hard time determining whether something is appropriate, ask yourself
whether you would say it in front of your grandmother.**
We will read our stories aloud to the class on Monday, February 28-March 3. You will
individually judge each story as you did the Prologues. The final scores will be tallied and
THE STUDENT WHO EARNS THE HIGHEST GRADE
OVERALL WILL EARN A $50 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO THE
RESTAURANT OF HIS OR HER CHOICE.
**TIES WILL BE BROKEN BY THE HIGHEST AUDIENCE AVERAGE.**
Medieval Lit: Canterbury Tales
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Canterbury Tales: The Remix
(100 points)
Name: _________________________
Story Type: Exemplum Romance Fabliaux
CRITERIA
OUT OF
TOTAL
Criteria 1
10
Criteria 2
10
Criteria 3
10
Criteria 4
10
Overall Class Evaluation
10
Overall Teacher Evaluation
10
Grammar/Punctuation Errors
40
TOTAL
100
Canterbury Tales: The Remix
(100 points)
Name: _________________________
Story Type: Exemplum Romance Fabliaux
CRITERIA
OUT OF
TOTAL
Criteria 1
10
Criteria 2
10
Criteria 3
10
Criteria 4
10
Overall Class Evaluation
10
Overall Teacher Evaluation
10
Grammar/Punctuation Errors
40
TOTAL
100