Beowulf coming to a television near you??

What do you think of the concept described for this show?

TODAY IN CLASS
Completed and turned in the questions on "The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale."
Most students had plenty of time to get started with reading the Wife of Bath's Prologue (a one page excerpt of a much longer work) and the Tale that she tells (complete in your book).

FOR TOMORROW
Finish reading her Prologue and Tale.  No questions yet, but make sure you have read it carefully.
The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale

Here is the Pardoner's Prologue and Tale in case you DO want to work on it tonight! However, you'll have some flex time in class to finish the questions on this story before getting started on reading "The Wife of Bath's Tale."

If you were in class today, you already have the questions.  If you weren't in class today, it will be enough to read both the Exemplum description and the right-hand box on p. 169, and then read both the Pardoner's Prologue (in which he explains the way he operates his business) and the tale that he tells.  You can pick up the questions in class tomorrow.

Here is the link to the material in the lit book:
The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale

Quiz on WEDNESDAY

As noted in all three classes today, the Canterbury Tales Prologue quiz will be on Wednesday, Dec. 10, not tomorrow.  See the previous post for details on what it covers.

TODAY IN CLASS
We went over the additions to the lists on the board, and reviewed why Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is such an excellent overview of late medieval life:  all three "estates" are covered (land, church, and town); there are representatives of various status levels in each category, and the range of human ethics and morality is covered in each category as well.

In 1st and 2nd today:
Finished the Parson; also covered the Plowman, the Miller, Manciple, and Reeve

In 5th:  Still need to do the Manciple and Reeve==Be sure to read them carefully before class starts!

FOR TOMORROW, everyone
You received a two-sided graphic organizer, one side for the Summoner and one for the Pardoner. Fill them out carefully and completely.

Upcoming--
Quiz over the General Prologue--Tuesday, Dec. 9

• Will cover the "nuts and bolts" of the beginning and end of the Prologue (details about the pilgrimage itself and the contest established at the end of the selection)
• Will cover the pilgrims, asking students to match a particular pilgrim with a brief descriptive phrase, either an exact quotation from the text or a close paraphrase summary of something stated in the description for that pilgrim

TODAY IN CLASS

We briefly discussed the Cook--the shortest description among the 5 pilgrims assigned for today.  

Students identified the specific pilgrim they focussed on last night, and then wrote brief summaries that varied, depending on the pilgrim.

• For the Skipper and the Doctor, the individual brief written discussion was to summarize the professional or technical STRENGTHS/SKILLS of the person but then also to state his moral or ethical shortcomings.
• For the Franklin and the five guildsmen, the individual written summaries were more general:  summarize what the student thought stood out as a "good thing" about the person, but also to note anything that could be criticized, even mildly so.  

After getting this start, students were put into small groups for their character and asked to discuss all the features we've been routinely assessing for the pilgrims, and to expect reporting back to the class. This was not by means of a formal group presentation; instead all students stood and fielded quick questions about the character and were allowed to be seated after successful responses. 

We didn't finish. . . 

Skipper and Doctor will be tomorrow; in 5th we even have to complete the Guildsmen.  So review your notes/skim over the character again before class if your group did not "present" today.

FOR TOMORROW

Read three more pilgrims--with equal care and attention.  Everyone is equally responsible for all three of these (pp. 156-158):

• the Wife of Bath ("a worthy woman from beside Bath city)
• the Parson
• the Plowman (brother of the Parson)

FOR TOMORROW
Respond to the following questions with text-based support.  The first three can be fairly brief--just a few sentences each.  The fourth one needs to be at least a fully-developed paragraph, and probably the best-reasoned responses will require two paragraphs.

• Type your responses if at all possible; if not, you may use ink.  Use complete sentences and academic tone.
• Do not use page numbers, but DO put the line numbers in parentheses after direct quotations.
• Feel free to incorporate phrases that are merely parts of lines.  If you go over a line break with a quote, use the forward slash / to mark the end of a line. 

Link to the complete Prologue in your textbook:
http://my.hrw.com/la_2010/na_lit/student/ebook_gr12/osp/data/u1_canterbury_prolo_se.pdf

1.  Briefly account for how we know that the Monk is fairly wealthy.   Provide plenty of concrete details; some may be summarized/paraphrased, other elements might best be quoted exactly.

2. In what specific ways--besides simply having kept some source of personal income--does the Monk violate the expectations of  life in a monastery?  (brief)

3. In what ways does the Friar go beyond what he's allowed to do as a member of a begging order?(keep this one brief too).

4.  Show how the Friar's actions significantly mislead others and can bring direct harm. Be as complete as you can in explaining both his actions and their effect on other people.