1. Bell Ringer:
Show yourself in action as you think others see you. Some ideas to consider:
How do you walk, talk, dress?
What mannerisms distinguish you?
What are your favorite clothes?
What do you like to do in your free time?
Choose some of these ideas to write a paragraph that shows you in action. How would a parent or friend describe you?

2. Review
Direct characterization: when the writer makes direct statements about a character's personality and tells what the character is like.
Indirect characterization: When the writer reveals information about a character and his personality through that character's thoughts, words, and actions, along with how other characters respond to that character, including what they think and say about him.

3. Background on Canterbury Tales
by Geoffery Chaucer

4. Chaucer Born sometime btw 1340-1343
His family was well off, though not nobility
Considered to be the greatest English writer before Shakespeare
Most famous book: The Canterbury Tales

5. Chaucer’s Life
Held many different careers (diplomat, courtier, soldier, writer)
Encountered people from all walks of life in his many diff. careers, so is able to write about people from all social classes

6. What made Chaucer awesome? Why he is revolutionary (“firsts”)
First to take a critical look at the medieval church, criticizing priests, monks, etc in his writing
First to focus on this world (everyday life, everyday people) rather than the next (God, heaven, etc.)
First to use English as a respectable, literary language – Up to this point, all literature considered to be quality was written in French or Latin, until Chaucer wrote C. Tales
First to create a female character who was outspoken, intelligent, and humorous

7. The Canterbury Tales A masterpiece of medieval literature
FICTIONAL tale of 29 pilgrims traveling from Canterbury (to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket) What’s the story behind TB’s death!?

8. 3 reasons people went on pilgrimages:
Why him?? B/c at least once in their lifetime people made a pilgrimage (religious journey) to his shrine in the city of Canterbury
3 reasons people went on pilgrimages:
To improve their chances of salvation
To be healed by the saints’ relics
To atone for their sins
Chaucer uses this idea of a pilgrimage to help form his frame story

9. Shrine of Thomas Becket

10. The Canterbury Tales
Frame story: a series of stories within a story, The Canterbury Tales are actually the “tales” told by the pilgrims on their trip
Chaucer’s original plan was to have each pilgrim tell 4 stories (2 on the way, 2 on the way back), but he died after completing only 24 

11. Society
Astrology and the four humours: believed that peoples’ personalities were determined by their birth date in astrological calendar and the dominance of a certain bodily fluid (yellow bile, black bile, blood, and phlegm)
Medieval church: the lives of people were ruled by the church, arts/literature was sponsored by the church
Paradox of women: women were believed to be all good and pure (like Mary) OR completely evil and leading men to sin

12. The Prologue Introduces the various pilgrims
All walks of life and social classes
Each pilgrim represents the “everyman”
Satirizes various institutions of the day
Shows popular culture of the time
Most people are hypocrites- allows the features to leap out w/out directly criticizing
Naïve narrator: creates dramatic irony b/c he understands less about the characters than the reader does

13. Chaucer’s Use of Characterization
In describing each of his 29 pilgrims, Chaucer relies on characterization
Directly commenting on character’s nature or personality
Directly describing character’s physical appearance
Indirectly describing character’s actions, thoughts, feelings, or speech
Indirectly describing other character’s reactions to a character

14. Physiognomy
Theory that the mental and emotional characteristics of an individual could be determined from physical characteristics.
Wife of Bath:
-Wide teeth=indicates that she's envious, irreverent, bold, deceitful, and likes luxury.
-It is also possible that her characteristics indicate her destiny to travel often.

15. The Seven Deadly Sins
*Keep in mind that people in Chaucer’s time were instructed by church officials to steer clear of particular vices or sins
Lust - obsessive, excessive thoughts of sexual desire
Gluttony – overindulgence
Greed – desiring too much (concerning wealth)
Sloth – then it meant apathy, “depression” now it means laziness
Wrath- anger or hatred
Envy –to lust after something that belongs to someone else
Pride (vanity) – a desire to be “more important” or “more attractive” than others
Will any characters be guilty of these sins??