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Lesson Plan
Varsity Tutors

Varsity Tutors: Web English Teacher: Joseph Conrad

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Explore the life and work of the famous author Joseph Conrad through this informative site.
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Website
British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Gender and Sexuality

For Students 9th - 10th
Examine representations of gender, sex, and relationships in medieval literature, from the works of women's writers to tales of courtly love to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
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Article
British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Middle English

For Students 9th - 10th
This article explains how Middle English developed from Old English, changing its grammar, pronunciation, and spelling, and borrowing words from French and Latin.
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Website
British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Language and Voice

For Students 9th - 10th
From the development of Old and Middle English to the innovations of William Caxton and the printing press: explore language and voice in the medieval period.
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Website
Harvard University

The Geoffrey Chaucer Page: Lyric Poetry

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief note about the English lyric poetry prior to Chaucer and how it relates to Chaucer's "tales." Links provided to related topics.
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Website
Harvard University

The Geoffrey Chaucer Page: Lease Granted to Chaucer

For Students 9th - 10th
The text of a 1374 lease document that sheds light on the legal affairs of Geoffrey Chaucer and the real world of The Canterbury Tales.
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Website
Harvard University

The Harvard Chaucer Page: The Great Vowel Shift

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from The Geoffrey Chaucer Page provides examples showing the difference between Chaucer's language and our own. The name of the site is the Great Vowel Shift and the text provided is medium in length, with several examples...
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Website
Harvard University

The Harvard Chaucer Page: "Flower and the Leaf"

For Students 9th - 10th
John Dryden's (1631-1700)translation from the middle English of a poem once attributed to Chaucer. Preface to The Fables (1700)Modern English translation by John Dryden of Chaucer's "The Flower and the Leaf."
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Unit Plan
University of Florida

University of Florida: Dante, Chaucer, and the Currency of the Word

For Students 9th - 10th
Website containing links to various medieval poetry and poets including Dante, Chaucer, and other famous works.
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Handout
Other

Goucher College: "Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale"

For Students 9th - 10th
The following from the Goucher College are examined in regard to Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale" from "The Canterbury Tales": Genre, Characters, Summary, and Issues and General Research Sources. Some thought-provoking...
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Website
Other

University of St. Thomas: Virtual Medieval Church: Chaucer: Canterbury Tales

For Students 9th - 10th
Fictionalized Geoffrey Chaucer introduces, you, the reader to The Canterbury Tales.
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Website
Bartleby

Bartleby.com: Barltett's Familiar Quotations: Geoffrey Chaucer

For Students 9th - 10th
A list of famous lines from Chaucer, mainly from "The Canterbury Tales."
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Unit Plan
Other

Librarius: "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer

For Students 9th - 10th
This site details a chronology of Chaucer's life and the historical events that occurred during that time. It also has the Canterbury Tales with the Middle English and Modern English in a side-by-side format, and provides a Glossary for...
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Handout
University of Victoria (Canada)

The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Heroic Couplet

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This site provides a short definition of the term Heroic Couplet along with a short example from a piece of poetry by Pope.
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Handout
Other

Fl International University: History of English Language

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This resource presents a brief history of the English language provided by an amateur historian of English and librarian.
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Handout
Stephen Byrne

History for Kids: Geoffrey Chaucer

For Students 2nd - 7th Standards
History of the famous 14th Century English poet and bureucrat, Geoffrey Chaucer, who wrote the well known, Canterbury Tales. Includes teacher resources.
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Activity
Shmoop University

Shmoop: The Canterbury Tales: T He Reeve's Tale

For Students 9th - 10th
This unsettling tale is looked at in depth in this site that explores, the characters, and themes in one of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
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Activity
Shmoop University

Shmoop: The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue and Frame Story

For Students 9th - 10th
Read background information on The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue and Frame Story in this informative site that includes a look at the characters.
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Activity
Shmoop University

S Hmoop: The Canterbury Tales: The Second Nun's Tale

For Students 9th - 10th
Found in The Canterbury Tales, the Second Nun's Tale is the story of how a woman converts her husband and brother in law to becoming Christians. Read about the other characters in this fascinating tale.
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Activity
Shmoop University

Shmoop: The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue

For Students 9th - 10th
A most interesting character in The Canterbury Tales, the wife of Bath reveals much about herself and others. This site analysis the themes and other characters in this fascinating story.
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Activity
Shmoop University

Shmoop: T He Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Tale

For Students 9th - 10th
Read and learn more about this fascinating tale in this comprehensive site about The Wife of Bath's Tale.
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Website
National Institutes of Health

National Library of Medicine: Medieval Islamic Medicine

For Students 9th - 10th
A discussion of how Islamic medicine was influenced not only by Greeks and Romans, but also by the restrictions of the Islamic religion.
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Website
Harvard University

The Geoffrey Chaucer Page: Chaucer's Ransom

For Students 9th - 10th
List of "Contributions for Ransoms Made by the King," which includes Chaucer's name and price (following his capture in France).
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Primary
Harvard University

Harvard's Chaucer Page: Compare Chaucer & Petrarch

For Students 9th - 10th
Chaucer, in his "Canticus Troili" from Book One of "Troilus and Criseyda," draws from Petrarch's "If Love Does Not Exist." The former is written in Middle English, the latter in Italian, both without glossaries or further translation, so...