Embedded Files
"There's never a new fashion, but it's old." Geoffrey Chaucer
The Pardoner's Prologue & Tale Group Work (and discussion): For most of my 32 years - I taught this Tale as a group work - I have uncovered an ancient (the loose leaf paper is crumbling) set of lesson notes for a discussion and will include it here.
Lesson Overview
Lesson Overview
Though I have Lesson Notes for a discussion (see below) - I strongly believe this works best as a Group Work. There is a lot of material - and I think it's great coming off of our General Prologue discussion, to have the students take a close look together - using what they've learned during their reading and discussion, together. Right away, in the Group Work - I bring up Grendel - the connection between that Tales and Gardner's novel are so important. Grendel's Shaper is overthrown by the very act of what Chaucer does. Rather than trying to make something horrible appear good (and even worthwhile), he instead exagerates to show the horrible aspects of society at that time (much of which, sadly, still exists today).
That said - let me quickly go over what this Group Work will cover:
A connection to Grendel and also our own predeliction towards conspiracy theories.
Why so little on the plague - how does that fit with works made during our own Depression?
The irony of the old man's directions on where to find death.
The connection between the General Prologue - This Prologue - and the Pardoner's tale.
Back to Grendel and the Shaper.
EC: An Extra Credit based on a very chilling video (found on YouTube): "Internet Story" - not for the faint of heart or overly sensitive students. Make sure you watch it and assess it yourself before assigning.
For more on this Group Work - see the handout below.
Handouts
Handouts
Most Recent Handouts & Quizzes (two different quizzes depending on how far the students were asked to read)
Most Recent Handouts & Quizzes (two different quizzes depending on how far the students were asked to read)
The Group Work (The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale ): Docx PDF
A version for the Regular (Class) of this Group Work Docx - there are a few less questions. Getting my regular students to complete the Group Work in a meaningful way was a challenge at the beginning of the year - to me this comes down to expectations. I would give my regular kids extra credit to sit in on an honors class during their lunch (I let them eat in class) and do the group work. It was such a great idea - they not only had a new sense of focus, but they brought that back to the class-at-large.
Reading Quiz - The Pardoner's Prologue & Tale Docx PDF (notes there are 4 versions)
I'm not sure how old these notes are - I don't even remember having a discussion about this - it's always been Group Work in my mind - but here they are. There is even a quiz here - when I first started teaching, I did most of my quizzes orally.
Remote Enhancements
Remote Enhancements
I have a much shorter version of the Group Work here - given that it was Remote - and we were just finding our "feet" so to speak.
The Group Work (The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale ): Docx - shorter for remote, though now I would give the one above, it is much more complete.
Links
Links
This is for the Extra Credit in the Group Work. As I said earlier - you want to make sure that you watch it before assigning it to anyone - it is pretty scary (and creepy) - but it really is a great video based loosely (and at times, not so loosely) on The Pardoner's Tale.
Class Recordings (for registered members)
Class Recordings (for registered members)
Audio
Audio
Video
Video
Chaucer 5 - The Wife of Bath's Prologue - Fighting for her Life - A Discussion in Text and Song. If I had to hold one older (pre-twentieth century) text to try and disprove the now almost universally excepted view that only modern, demographically diverse texts can hold interest or "speak" to modern students - this - "The Wife of Bath's Prologue" would be that text. If you want to see true learning take place in a classroom - this is the work to teach.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
Thoughts on the Lesson
Ok - I was surprised to find the Lesson Notes for a discussion - but I think this was back when "The General Prologue" was done as a Group Work, rather than as a Vertext Discussion. I am always reluctant to have two Group Works in a row. They are pretty intense and I think you need to grow what they learned in groups in the whole class discussion and visa versa.
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