Canterbury Tales: Modern Retelling
Part 1
Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is about a group of 14th century pilgrims from
all walks of life who travel together for several days on their way to a shrine in Canterbury.
They entertain each other on this journey by telling stories. 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. This means thinking of a fictional scenario in which a group of diverse
people find themselves traveling together for several days toward a common destination. It
also means creating your own character and rhyming story. As in the original contest,
whoever tells the most entertaining story wins dinner.
Canterbury Tales
Destination: Religious shrine: Canterbury, England
Mode of transport: On foot, horseback
Narrator: Anonymous, naïve member of the pilgrimage
Story-telling Theme: Each member of the pilgrimage tells stories to pass the time, and
also to entertain on the journey from the Tabard Inn to Canterbury. The Host judges
these stories, and most are told in rhyme.
Modern Retelling
Destination: Ex: Mars
Mode of transport: Ex: New Space Shuttle, which will get us to Mars in approximately
two days.
Narrator: Ex: Houston
Story-telling Theme: 1.) The stories will be told in rhyme, as were the original tales. 2.)
The stories will give us a window into the characters life through a story, whether it is
autobiographical, or a lesson they are teaching. 3) The stories will be a minimum of 60
lines.
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Canterbury Tales: Modern Retelling
Part 2
We have decided on the parameters of our contemporary version of The
Canterbury Tales. We have decided as follows:
Modern Retelling
Destination:
Mode of transport:
Narrator:
Story-telling Theme: 1.) The stories will be told in rhyme, as were the original tales. 2.)
The stories will give us a window into the characters life through a story, whether it is
autobiographical, or a lesson they are teaching. 3) The stories will be a minimum of 60
lines.
Additional Project Details:
1. We will dress in character and present to the class. How well your costume and use
of setting and props captures the personality of your character will be one of the
judging categories as well as a grading component.
2. We will view our video presentations along with a small, impartial audience on
Monday November 14th. The judges, of course, will be in the audience.
4. In the case of a tie, the winner will be decided by a third party judge who will view
the video of your skits, and come to a decision.
5. The winners will receive a gift certificate to a local restaurant, just as the winner of
the original story telling contest received food as a reward upon their return from
the journey.
6. You will write your stories following the form William Chaucer used in the telling of
the Canterbury Tales. This includes rhyme scheme and meter. You may have some
freedom with the meter, but once you decide, you must stick to it. (All the lines in
your story must have the same number of syllables per line)
7. You will write a 5-8 line introduction for your character (in third person) that I will
use to compile a prologue for our modern tales.
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Point Breakdown Part I
With Due Dates:
Rough Draft of Prologue AND Tale* (with revisions and peer review): due
Wednesday, November 6th (25 completion pts)
Final Draft of Story (Typed)*: due Wednesday, November 13th (25 completion pts)
Story Unveiling: Thursday, November 14th
Total Points for Part I: 50
* The story due dates include the story itself as well as the short character introduction
for the Prologue.
Point Breakdown Part II
Judging and Grading Criteria:
Creation of a Vivid and Interesting Character: 15
60 line Minimum: 25
Rhyme, Rhythm, Meter: 20
Explanation of Character through story and inclusion of lesson: 40
Format (Similar to that of Chaucer): 30
Grammar, Mechanics, etc.: 10
Presenation: 10
Total Points for Part II: 150
Modern Retelling Point Total: 200
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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. If you are still not
sure, I would be more than happy to help.
Please remember: be creative and have fun! 
Goals for the Project
Students will be able to:
 Demonstrate understanding of the fundamental characteristics of the
Canterbury Tales by composing their own Tales.
 Recognize spoken language and oral story telling as the beginnings of our
language by evaluating the text, and relating it to notes taken on the time
period.
 Design a theme for the story and integrate a modern setting by creating
and performing the tales.
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Timeline of the Project
November 2013
Monday
Tuesday
4
5
th
Begin Prologue
th
Rough Draft
Prologue Due
Begin Tale
11th
12th
Wednesday
6th
Revise/Edit
Rough Draft
Peer Review
Due:
Tale Rough
Draft
Type Final
Draft/Plan
Presentation
Type Final
Draft/Plan
Presentation
Due:
Final Draft
Lab 301
Lab 301
Lab 301
Thursday
Friday
7
8th
th
Type Final
Draft Prologue
EMAIL
PROLOGUE
Type Final
Draft/Plan
Presentation
Lab 301
Lab 301
13th
14th
Present
Projects
15th
Present
Projects
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