Canterbury+Tales

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 * Canterbury Tales **



Introduction
[|Geoffrey Chaucer]wrote a book called the //__Canterbury Tales__// around 1380, originally written in old English. It has been translated to modern English, so we can read it. It's considered a classical poem style book.

**Early Life of Geoffrey Chaucer**
Geoffrey’s mother had him in 1345. He lived during the late middle ages with his family existed mostly of the bourgeois class. Geoffrey attended St.Paul's cathedral school, when he got influenced by the writings of Virgil and Ovid. He served as a public servant starting in 1357 to Countess Elizabeth while Geoffrey's father, John, carried on a family wine business. The Canterbury Tales later became his best known acclaimed book. He died in 1400, being the first to be buried in the poets corner of the Westminster graveyard.(Bibliography.com)

(Link to more info on Geoffrey Chaucer --->) Chaucer,Geoffrey

The Canterbury** Tales Summary **
//__[|The Canterbury Tales]__// tells a story of 24 pilgrims on a journey to Canterbury who try a contest to pass the time: to tell the best story. The pilgrims included not just fairy-tale, but things from their lives too. Many of the pilgrim's tales ended up a story within itself. He liked to detail images in the readers mind, people often calling them gross. For example, he describes the miller's pug-like nose. Or even the cook's pimple on his leg.(Shmoop.com) We called this satire (And we still do).

**Chaucer's Style and the Book**
Chaucer's style involved of rhyming, mixed perspectives, with intense description. He liked to write about real places, knowing that Canterbury, London ended up as a real place (Bowden 116). Chaucer wrote the general prologue with a few tales between 1380 and 1390 then published it. Before Chaucer's death, he published the finished version of the book. This version had the prologue, tales, and a glossary.

**Recognition** Many people recognized Chaucer, even people from poets to storytellers still recognize him. Spencer, a famous poet of the 14th century, recognized Chaucer as a great poet like him. He looked at Chaucer's work, which that ended up partly inspiring him. No other change in speech or fashion in that century, or any other, has been able to obscure it .(Gerould vii)

Summary
Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a book called the //__Canterbury Tales__//. His life included everything from his dad running a family wine business to him working as a servant for Countess Elizabeth. The // __Canterbury Tales__ // included a tale of 24 pilgrims on a journey to Canterbury trying to pass the time by telling each other stories. Many people recognized Chaucer, like Spencer, a famous poet of the 14th century.

** Canterbury Tales YouTube Video **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBa5nN_JyPk (<--- Thanks Carson!)

**// Websites: //**
"Geoffrey Chaucer." 2014. //The Biography Channel website //. Jan 8 2014, [] .

Shmoop Editorial Team. "The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue & Frame Story." //Shmoop.com// [] Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 8 Jan. 2014.

//**Books:**//
Bowden, Muriel. // Academic American Encyclopedia //. 4. Danbury: Grolier Incorporated, 1985. 116. Print.

Chaucer, Geoffrey, J.U. Nicolson, Rockwell Kent, and Gordon Gerould. // Canterbury Tales //. Covici.Friede.inc., 1934. iii-vii. Print.

Page of Canterbury Tales: . // http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22120 //. N.p., 3 Jun 2013. Web. 9 Jan 2014.
 * Pictures: **

Picture of Geoffrey Chaucer: . // http://fineartamerica.com/featured/2-geoffrey-chaucer-granger.html //. N.p., 10 Jan 2014. Web. 9 Jan 2014.

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