Geoffrey Chaucer was a British poet during the Middle ages and is still considered one of the greatest English writers of all time. Through this intriguing biography, readers will learn about Chaucer's life as he took part in the Hundred Years War, worked for King Edward III, and went on to write the well-known collection, The Canterbury Tales. Featuring lively illustrations, fascinating facts and sidebars, easy-to-read text, an accommodating glossary, and helpful index, this book will have readers excited and eager to learn more about this influential author.
"More than any other canonical English writer, Geoffrey Chaucer lived and worked at the centre of political life--yet his poems are anything but conventional. Edgy, complicated, and often dark, they reflect a conflicted world, and their astonishing diversity and innovative language earned Chaucer renown as the father of English literature. Marion Turner, however, reveals him as a great European writer and thinker. To understand his accomplishment, she reconstructs in unprecedented detail the cosmopolitan world of Chaucer's adventurous life, focusing on the places and spaces that fired his imagination. Uncovering important new information about Chaucer's travels, private life, and the early circulation of his writings, this innovative biography documents a series of vivid episodes, moving from the commercial wharves of London to the frescoed chapels of Florence and the kingdom of Navarre, where Christians, Muslims, and Jews lived side by side. The narrative recounts Chaucer's experiences as a prisoner of war in France, as a father visiting his daughter's nunnery, as a member of a chaotic Parliament, and as a diplomat in Milan, where he encountered the writings of Dante and Boccaccio. At the same time, the book offers a comprehensive exploration of Chaucer's writings, taking the reader to the Troy of Troilus and Criseyde, the gardens of the dream visions, and the peripheries and thresholds of The Canterbury Tales. By exploring the places Chaucer visited, the buildings he inhabited, the books he read, and the art and objects he saw, this landmark biography tells the extraordinary story of how a wine merchant's son became the poet of The Canterbury Tales." -- Publisher's description.
Geoffrey Chaucer was a British poet during the Middle ages and is still considered one of the greatest English writers of all time. This biography tells readers about Chaucer's life as he took part in the Hundred Years War, worked for King Edward III, and went on to write the well-known collection, The Canterbury Tales. Featuring lively illustrations, fascinating facts and sidebars, easy-to-read text, an accommodating glossary, and helpful index, this book will have readers excited to learn more about this influential author. This book also includes an in-class writing activity to further students' understanding of the various jobs people had in the Middle Ages.
Geoffrey Chaucer is widely considered the father of English literature. This introduction begins with a review of his life and the cultural milieu of fourteenth-century England and then expands into analyses of such major works as The Parliament of Fowls, Troilus and Criseyde, and, of course, the Canterbury Tales, examining them alongside a selection of lesser known verses.
Geoffrey Chaucer was a British poet during the Middle ages and is still considered one of the greatest English writers of all time. Through this intriguing biography, readers will learn about Chaucer's life as he took part in the Hundred Years War, worked for King Edward III, and went on to write the well-known collection, The Canterbury Tales. Featuring lively illustrations, fascinating facts and sidebars, easy-to-read text, an accommodating glossary, and helpful index, this book will have readers excited and eager to learn more about this influential author.
A retelling of five of Chaucer's classic tales in simplified language for new readers. Includes activities to enhance reading comprehension and improve vocabulary.
This classic work of medieval literature features the pious and profane stories of commoners on a pilgrimage in fourteenth-century England. One of the most famous works of literature written in Middle English, The Canterbury Tales were penned by Geoffrey Chaucer, who was widely regarded as the greatest poet of his time. The stories “run the gamut of tales known to people in the Middle Ages and include ribald stories such as the ‘Miller’s Tale’ and the ‘Reeve’s Tale’; medieval romances set against ancient backgrounds such as the ‘Knight’s Tale’; animal fables such as the ‘Nun’s Priest’s Tale’; Arthurian legends such as the ‘Wife of Bath’s Tale’; saint’s lives such as the “Prioress’ Tale”; and the “Second Nun’s Tale”; tragic tales, sort of, such as the Monk’s Tale’; and cautionary tales, such as the Pardoner’s Tale.’ . . . It is rightly considered one of the masterworks of English literature” (The Kansas City Public Library). “A raucous read.” —The Guardian
