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Bell Ringer

“Whan that April with his shoures soote / The droghte of March hath perced to the roote / And bathed every veyne in swich licuor / Of which vertu engendred is the flour, / . . . Then longen folk to goon on pilgrymages . . .” ( The Canterbury Tales 1-5, 12).

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Bell Ringer

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  1. “Whan that April with his shoures soote / The droghte of March hath perced to the roote / And bathed every veyne in swich licuor / Of which vertu engendred is the flour, / . . . Then longen folk to goon on pilgrymages . . .” (The Canterbury Tales 1-5, 12). Copy these original, Middle English, lines of The Canterbury Tales. Then, use your textbook to find the modern translation of the same lines; quote and site them as your bellringer. Bell Ringer

  2. Where does The Canterbury Tales fit? Old EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English 500 - - - - - - - - - - -1066 - - - - - - - - - -1485 - - - - - - - - - - present BeowulfCanterbury TalesMacbeth Frankenstein composedin 700started in 13871605 1818

  3. The Middle Ages(1066-1485)

  4. Middle Ages = Middle English • The Middle Ages, also known as The Medieval Period, began with the Norman (French) Invasion of Britain in 1066. This invasion was led by William the Conqueror, and, after his victory, it brought the French language to the Britain. The infusion of French and English words took place over many years, but we mark this time as the beginning of Middle English.

  5. The Middle Ages was characterized by a political system called feudalism, a system of power, in which the king was at the top, lords and barons beneath him, and knights and serfs at the bottom.

  6. The Middle Ages ended around the year 1485 due to several key changes in lifestyle including: The plague (which killed off the 1/3 of serfs or working class), A monetary system $ (the use gold coins which gave the serfs buying power), New weaponry such as the long bow and cannon which made a knight’s armor and a lord’s castle futile, or pointless.

  7. Literature of The Middle Ages • Authors of this time period include: • Giovanni Boccaccio, who wrote The Decameron which includes “Federigo’s Falcon” • Sir Thomas Malory, creator of the legends of King Arthur • Geoffrey Chaucer, a.k.a. The Father of English Poetry and the author of The Canterbury Tales

  8. Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400). . . • was a soldier in The Hundred Year’s War, • served on the British parliament, • was paid one pitcher of wine per day by the king for his poetry,

  9. Geoffrey Chaucer The Father of English Poetry • Chaucer is called the Father of English Poetry because he was the first to write literature in the English vernacular, or everyday language. Before him, literature and laws of Britain were written in French, while religious and science text of Britain were in Latin.

  10. “Tha Fatha” of E. to tha N. to tha G. Poetry He’s like the Run DMC of rap; whereas , he probably wasn’t the first to rap in English, he was the first to make it popular.

  11. Chaucer’s Literary Devices • Chaucer likes to use satire and irony in his tales and his prologue to The Canterbury Tales is full of direct and indirect characterization. • Satire is a style of writing that ridicules human weakness, vice, or folly in order to point out problems and bring about social reform. • In The Canterbury Tales, the majority of Chaucer’s satire is aimed at the clergy (church leaders), who were reputed to be corrupt and greedy during much of the Middle Ages taking advantage of the mass populace which was uneducated, illiterate, and poor.

  12. Chaucer also used irony to make his points. • Irony is a contrast between expectation and reality, or between what is said and what is really meant. • The three types of irony include: • Verbal irony = what is said or written is different from what is actually meant • Situational irony = what actually happens is the opposite of what is expected or appropriate • Dramatic irony = when the audience or reader knows something that the characters in the story do not.

  13. Characterization • In general, characterization is the methods a writer uses to show the personality of a character. • With direct characterization the writer makes straightforward, explicit statements about a character. • With indirect characterization the writer reveals a character through his or her words, thoughts, and actions, and through what other characters say about that character. • Turn to p. 107-108 of your textbook & write down some examples of direct characterization that you find. • Examples of indirect characterization are less obvious & require reading between the lines. Did you notice any indirect characterization?

  14. Which type of characterization are these examples? • “The Miller was a chap of sixteen stone, / A great stout fellow big in brawn and bone” (The Canterbury Tales 559-560). • “His mighty mouth was like a furnace door” (The Canterbury Tales 573). Direct Indirect

  15. Chaucer and Boccaccio both used the frame story format to tell their most famous tales. • Like Boccaccio’s Decameron, Chaucer’s Canterbury Talesis a frame story. • A frame story is a story in which one or more of the characters tell a story. It’s a character’s story within a story.

  16. The Decameron is about ten wealthy young people from Florence, Italy who leave Florence to avoid catching the plague. While traveling together, they decide to tell each other stories to pass the time.

  17. The Canterbury Tales is about thirty pilgrims on a religious trip to see the shrine of Thomas Becket. During their two-day journey on horseback from London to the town of Canterbury, they decide to entertain each other by telling tales.

  18. Although the story is fictitious, the Canterbury pilgrimage was real. Every spring thousands of people from all over Britain would travel to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury. Many believed his body and blood were sacred and had the power to cure.

  19. Who was Thomas Becket? Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury in England. He was murdered in his church by the king’s men because he sided with the pope in Rome as opposed to King Henry II. To add to the drama, Henry II was Becket’s friend and had appointed him archbishop in the first place. Becket is the icon of church resistance against the English crown: Becket began the battle of church versus state, which is still a hot topic today.

  20. Other Literature of The Middle Ages

  21. -The Medieval Romance- • A less serious and more popular type of literature during the Middle Ages was the Medieval Romance. • Medieval Romance = a story set in the Middle Ages in which the hero (usually a brave knight) goes on a quest and overcomes danger for the love of a noble lady or another high ideal such as loyalty or bravery.

  22. Other Literature of The Middle Ages-The Ballad- • The most popular type of literature of the Middle Ages was the ballad. • Ballads are songlike poems that tell a story. In fact the word ballad is Old French for “dancing song.” • Like songs are today, ballads were the poetry of the people. And, in order to entertain the people the subject matter was often sensational. Topics included false love, domestic tragedy, absurd husband and wife relationships, similar to today’s tabloids or Entertainment TV.

  23. Ballads • The rhythm, rhyme, meter, and repetition of a ballad are what make them so songlike. Ballads even contained a chorus-like refrain. • A refrain is a repeated phrase or line or group of lines used to reinforce the theme, like a chorus does for a song.

  24. What is Chivalry? • Chivalry is a code of ethics which emphasized good behavior among the nobility including: • Loyalty to the Lord or King, especially in the form of protection from invaders • How to treat a noble lady, also known as courtly love • Service to the oppressed • Death before dishonor

  25. What is Courtly Love? “Courtly Love?! She killed Kurt Cobain.“ • Courtly Love, not Courtney Love, is idealized (or perfect) view of the relationship between the sexes in which a knight performs brave deeds to win the approval of a noble lady. • Many scholars believe courtly love was a social practice thought up by the lords to keep their young and lustful knights away from their ladies.

  26. Topics of Medieval Literature: • Chivalry • Courtly Love • Satire – often aimed at the corruption of the church clergy • Sensational topics of the ballads.

  27. Hyperbole • A figure of speech that uses strong exaggeration to express emotion or create a comic effect. • Hyperbole is also know as an overstatement. • The following is an example of hyperbole from a character known as the Wife of Bath from The Canterbury Tales: • “And –Jesu hear my prayer!– cut short the lives / Of those that won’t be governed by their wives; / And all old, (stingy people) of their pence, / God send them soon a very pestilence!” (The Canterbury Tales 437-440). • What does it say literally? What do you think the Wife of Bath truly means?

  28. Paradox • A statement or situation where an apparent contradiction is actually true. • Here is an example from John Doone’s “Death Be Not Proud”: • “One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” • What is the contradiction here? How could it be true?

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