Canterbury Tales Key Facts

full title  ·  The Canterbury Tales

author  · Geoffrey Chaucer

type of work  · Poetry (two tales are in prose: the Tale of Melibee and the Parson’s Tale)

language  · Middle English

time and place written  · Around 1386–1395, England

date of first publication  · Sometime in the early fifteenth century

publisher  · Originally circulated in hand-copied manuscripts

narrator  · The primary narrator is an anonymous.The other pilgrims narrate most of the tales.

point of view  · In the General Prologue, the narrator speaks in the first person, describing each of the pilgrims as they appeared to him. Though narrated by different pilgrims, each of the tales is told from an omniscient third-person point of view, providing the reader with the thoughts as well as actions of the characters.

tone  ·  The Canterbury Tales incorporates an impressive range of attitudes toward life and literature. The tales are by turns satirical, elevated, pious, earthy, and comical.

tense  · Past

setting (time)  · The late fourteenth century, after 1381

setting (place)  · The Tabard Inn; the road to Canterbury

protagonists  · Each individual tale has protagonists, but Chaucer’s plan is to make none of his storytellers superior to others; it is an equal company.

major conflict  · The struggles between characters, manifested in the links between tales, mostly involve clashes between social classes, differing tastes, and competing professions.

themes  · The pervasiveness of courtly love, the importance of company, the corruption of the church

Quiz about Canterbury Tales

1. Why are the pilgrims going to Canterbury?

(A) To meet King Henry III

(B) To see a medieval mystery play

(C) To worship the relics of Saint Thomas Becket

(D)Because they are tourists

The Titanic was the newest, most luxurious passenger ship on the seas when it was launched. Yet it sank on its first voyage. Why?

There were many factors. To begin with, it was night. The hole in the hull was just long enough to sink it. Another ship was near enough to see the Titanic’s flares for help, but failed to come to her rescue.
Yet there was one more factor: human error. The ship was moving too fast for the dangerous waters. If the Titanic had been moving more slowly, the calamity might never have happened.

CHILLING PARALLELS

A similar tragedy occurred in the harbour of Chicago, in the United States, three years after the Titanic sank.
The Eastland, a passenger ship, was built in 1903. It was popular for vacations on the water before the automobile became America’s way to travel.
But even from the first day, there were concerns about the Eastland’s safety. The ship was 82 metres long but had a width of only 11 metres. She was more than seven times longer than she was wide. Despite early fears, however, the Eastland was a profitable passenger ship for more than a decade.
By the end of the 1914 season, though, the teak deck of the Eastland was wearing out. Instead of replacing it with expensive hardwood, a new wonder material, cement, was chosen. Cement decking added much weight, high above the waterline.
To know more....
http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/ 

iPAD POSITION AND POSTURE: RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS

Studies are still going forward, but a few good recommendations have already emerged:

April fool's day

Practical Jokes, Pranks, and Buffoonery in Italy on April 1st
In Italy, as in much of the world, April 1st is traditionally a day of practical jokes, pranks, and silliness. The origin of this custom is ancient and ambiguous, but one thing is certain: much buffoonery and hilarity will take place.

CAR THEFT

Last week in the US, a woman reported to police that she had had her car stolen. In
the report that she gave the police, she mentioned that there was a car phone inside
the car.

Students' interviews

About London
What’s living in London like?
Great, cool, expensive. They like it but too many people.

What do you think is worth visiting in London?
Parks (Hyde Park, St. James Park), entertainment (theatres, cinema).