The Middle Ages - Caroline County Public Schools
Transcript of The Middle Ages - Caroline County Public Schools
The Middle Ages
The Middle Ages
lasted from around
the end of the 5th
century (late 400’s)
to the 15th century
(1400’s),
approximately 1000
years.
The Middle Ages: Estate
System • 1st: Clergy
(those who
prayed)
• 2nd: Nobility
(those who
fought)
• 3rd: Peasantry
(those who
produced)
Humours (Body Fluids) Blood Yellow Bile Phlegm Black Bile
air fire water earth
hot &
moist
hot & dry cold &
moist
cold & dry
sanguine choleric phlegmatic melancholic
amorous,
happy,
generous
violent,
vengeful
dull, pale,
cowardly
gluttonous,
lazy,
sentimental
Physigonomy physical
characteristic
physiognomic
interpretation
gap-teeth bold, sexual
ram-like strength
sow-like dirty
fox-like sly
goat-like lechery
thin bad temper,
irritable
flaring nostrils passion
pus-filled sores lechery,
drunkenness
high forehead intelligence, good
breeding
white neck loose, immoral
Chivalry and Courtly Love:
Ideal but Unreal • Chivalry-system of
ideals and social codes governing the behavior of knights and gentlewomen
• Rules of warfare: never attack an unarmed opponent
• Courtly Love: Adoring a lady (not necessarily one’s wife) was seen as a way to achieve self-improvement
Chivalry and Courtly Love:
Ideal but Unreal • Courtly Love: in its
ideal form, nonsexual
• Knight might wear his lady’s colors in battle, might glorify her in words and be inspired by her, but he couldn’t cross the boundary between courtly love and physical love
• Led to an idealized view of women, but did little to improve their actual position
Religion • Catholicism
• Pope
• Virgin Mary
• Indulgences
• Confessions
• Monks: obedience, chastity, poverty (self-sufficient)
• Friars (supported by donations)
• Nuns—women of the Church
St. Thomas a Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of
Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in
1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr
by both the Catholic Church and the
Anglican Communion.
Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury
Tales is set in a company of
pilgrims on their way to a shrine for
St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury
Cathedral.
A pilgrim is a person who is on a
journey for religious reasons.
Bubonic Plague
• Killed 1/3 of Europe’s
population
• Medieval society never
recovered
• Labor shortages:
peasants grew unruly
and demanded higher
wages
• Caused people to
question religious
beliefs
• Apocalyptic view of life
(doomsday)
Geoffrey Chaucer • ~1343-1400
• Father of English poetry
• Made English (Middle English) acceptable
• Born into a middle-class family in London
• Father was a vintner (wine merchant): $ for education
Geoffrey Chaucer
• Well-known
government
official-served
under 3 kings
• Sent to Europe
as the king’s
ambassador
(spy?) to France
and Italy
Geoffrey Chaucer
• Chaucer the
poet
• Chaucer the
pilgrim
• Buried at
Westminster
Abbey in
Poet’s Corner
The Canterbury Tales
• Chaucer planned to write
120 tales
• He died in 1400, leaving
only 24 tales, some of
which were not finished
• The ones that were became
known as The Canterbury
Tales
• Video on Chaucer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxqAwT5IpL8
Literary Devices for
The Canterbury Tales
Couplet
Iambic Pentameter
Personification
Simile
Metaphor
Frame Story
Satire
Social Commentary
Exemplum
Moral
Irony
Literary Elements for
The Canterbury Tales
Write the definitions for the
literary elements in the chart in
your packet. We will fill in the
examples from the text later.
Couplets and Iambic Pentameter
Couplet: sets of two lines that
rhyme
• Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
• When in April the sweet showers fall
And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all
Couplets and Iambic Pentameter
• Iamb: unstressed/stressed
syllable pattern:
• Pentameter: 5 iambs per line
• Iambic Pentameter: 10
syllable line with the
unstressed/stressed pattern
SIMILE
A figure of speech involving a comparison between unlike things using like, as, or as
though
EX."MY LOVE IS LIKE A RED, RED ROSE."
METAPHOR
A figure of speech involving a
comparison between unlike
things without using like, as,
or as though
EX."MY LOVE IS A RED, RED ROSE."
PERSONIFICATION
A figure of speech which gives
something non-human or inanimate
human qualities
EX. “THE TREES DANCED IN THE WIND.”
“THE SUN SMILED DOWN ON THE WEARY
TRAVELERS.”
SATIRE Writing that ridicules the shortcomings of
people or institutions in an attempt to bring
about a change—often uses exaggeration or
humor to invite laughter at someone’s
expense.
Exs. of shortcomings—greed, injustice,
cruelty, stupidity, deceit, etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M-KlV5cPUo
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M-
KlV5cPUo
SOCIAL COMMENTARY
A spoken or written act of
rebellion toward an individual or
group; commentary on social
issues or society
http://prezi.com/y1oywx_fheo8/chaucer-the-canterbury-tales-
social-commentary/
MORAL
A lesson about life or human
nature
(fables, parables, and satires
often contain morals)
http://www.umass.edu/aesop/fables.php
EXEMPLUM
An anecdote (a very,
very short story) that
teaches a moral or a
lesson– a fable is an
exemplum
IRONY
The difference between
what we expect or what
seems suitable or
appropriate and what
actually happens in a
story
TYPES OF IRONY
VERBAL IRONY
WHEN SOMEONE SAYS ONE THING BUT MEANS THE
OPPOSITE EX. SARCASM, DRY HUMOR
TYPES OF IRONY
SITUATIONAL IRONY
WHEN AN EVENT OCCURS THAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF OR
DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE EXPECT TO HAPPEN
TYPES OF IRONY
SITUATIONAL IRONY
http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=VigLgJEFP8w
TYPES OF IRONY
DRAMATIC IRONY
WHEN WE KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO A CHARACTER BUT THE CHARACTER DOES NOT
KNOW
TYPES OF IRONY
DRAMATIC IRONY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGikxIaOuNQ
SATIRE WRITING THAT RIDICULES THE SHORTCOMINGS OF PEOPLE OR
INSTITUTIONS IN AN ATTEMPT TO BRING ABOUT A CHANGE—OFTEN USES
EXAGGERATION OR HUMOR TO INVITE LAUGHTER AT SOMEONE’S EXPENSE.
EXS. OF SHORTCOMINGS—GREED, INJUSTICE, CRUELTY, STUPIDITY,
DECEIT, ETC.
“THE PROLOGUE” (pg. 119-120)
The Canterbury Tales Rap (General Prologue)--In Middle English
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E-0PaK4RtI
The Canterbury Tales Prologue in Middle English
(Listen to CD #2 Track 4)
“THE PROLOGUE”
Read the “Prologue”
(pgs. 122-142)
Canterbury Tales Prologue Summary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuX-gTpWsnI
“THE PROLOGUE”
Complete the “Prologue”
study guide questions and the
social commentary chart for
the “Prologue.”
“THE PARDONER’S TALE” (pgs. 146-153)
(background info on pg. 145)
• Irony
• Exemplum
• Moral
• Personification
“THE PARDONER’S TALE” (pg. 146-153)
Complete study guide questions
and social commentary chart for
“The Pardoner’s Tale.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR52GWgLuMk
“THE WIFE OF BATH’S
TALE” (pgs. 156-166)
Complete the study guide questions
and social commentary chart for
“The Wife of Bath’s Tale.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3cvOm7qStk
THE CANTERBURY TALES
Episodes 1, 2, and 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3zUoNG_P_0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep6tvT3NQ_o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCq6117mYqg
THE CANTERBURY TALES
REVIEW FOR TEST
1. Literary Terms
2. Power Point Info
3. Character Sheet
4. Social Commentary Sheet
5. Study Guides