Introduction

Use this Real-Life Lens Plan to help students dive deep into Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales and examine the text’s characters and their tales through the lens of love and desire. How did people in medieval times view love and desire? Is the way we view love today influenced by a notion of love from more than 600 years ago? How do love and desire influence the actions we take and the decisions we make?

Materials

  • The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
    Buy Now

Introduce the Lens

To activate students’ thinking, choose one or two of the following Real-Life Links to use in an engagement activity. Have students read, view, or listen to and discuss the content. Encourage students to jot down notes, or record class notes on the board for future reference.

Pose the following Big Idea Questions to the class:

What are the similarities and differences between love and desire? 

How do love and desire motivate a person’s interactions with others?

Engagement Activity

Have students write quick initial responses to the questions. Then discuss the questions, either as a class or in small groups. Prompt students to consider their own experiences and the relationship between the need for love and the feeling of desire. Following discussion, give students time to revise their initial responses, and ask volunteers to share what they wrote with the class.

CCSS

Introduce the Driving Questions

Begin by having students write their own questions about the lesson topic. Encourage them to think about what they already know about love and desire and what they’re interested in exploring further. 

Hand out the Driving Questions Worksheet. Review the questions as a class. Students should enter initial answers to the questions as they read The Canterbury Tales. They will revisit the questions and revise their answers following the lesson activities, classroom discussion, and the completion of the text. Remind students to support their responses with text evidence.

Integrate the Driving Questions into your classroom discussions. Use them to help guide students’ thinking about the Big Idea Questions. 

1. How does “The Knight’s Tale” represent love and desire? 

2. At the end of Part One of “The Knight’s Tale,” the Knight asks the listeners who had the worse situation, Arcite or Palamon. How would you answer this question? Why? 

3. How does the view of love and desire in “The Miller’s Tale” contrast with that in “The Knight’s Tale”? 

4. Do you think the Wife of Bath is being portrayed as an early feminist, or is Chaucer ridiculing her views on love, desire, and marriage? 

5. In what context does the Nun’s Priest weave love and desire into his tale? Why do you think he does this? 

6. How does the social status of the pilgrims influence the views their tales take on love and desire? 

7. Is love viewed separately from desire in any of the tales? 

8. Do you think the views of love and desire expressed in The Canterbury Tales are still relevant today? Why or why not?

CCSS

Introduce the "Through the Lens" Activity

Activity: Personal Experience

In this activity, students will describe a romantic relationship. 

Ask students to choose a romantic relationship. It could be one of their own, that of a friend or family member, or one they saw in a movie or read about in a book. Ask them to write a paragraph about the relationship. In their paragraphs, students should answer such questions as, Did the relationship conform to what your concept of love is? Why or why not? How did love and desire seem to influence each partner’s actions toward the other? 

Pair students and have partners share their paragraphs. Encourage pairs to return to the Big Idea Questions and consider how their personal experiences informed their initial answers. 

Invite three or four students to share their paragraphs with the class. Prompt whole-class discussion with questions such as: What kind of love is being described? Is the love a positive or a negative relationship for each of the partners? Is love always good for everyone involved? Does love sometimes motivate people to do things they should not? 

Before moving on, explain that students will explore love, desire, and their effect as motivating forces on human behavior as they read the narratives of The Canterbury Tales.

CCSS

Differentiated Instruction

This activity can be modified to help all students access learning.
Decrease difficulty

Begin by asking students to think about the question “What is love?” and create a class definition of “love.” Then ask two or three volunteers to orally describe a romantic relationship they know about to the class. Proceed with the discussion as outlined above.

Increase difficulty

Have students write two paragraphs comparing and contrasting two different romantic relationships. Ask two or three students to read their paragraphs to the class and then proceed with the discussion as outlined above.

Introduce the Final Project

Before moving on, introduce the final projects to the class (see below for details). Have students choose the project they will complete and encourage them to keep their project in mind as they read the text. Facilitate the formation of project groups if necessary.

Assign the Midpoint Activities

Activity 1: Review the Cast of Characters

After reading “General Prologue,” students will analyze the characters of the pilgrims as representatives of medieval society and predict how class may affect views on love and desire. Students will: 

  • List and briefly describe the major pilgrims discussed in “General Prologue.” 

  • Group the pilgrims according to medieval social class—clergy, nobility, peasantry/workers. 

  • Predict which pilgrims will tell tales involving love and desire. 

  • Follow up on their predictions after they have read the tales. 


Have students make lists individually of the major pilgrims in “General Prologue.” Then have them add short descriptions of each pilgrim to their list. Put students in small groups to group the pilgrims according to medieval social class. Encourage them to discuss a rationale for each grouping. Finally, have each group circle the pilgrims they predict will tell tales of love and desire. Have each group share their predictions and the reasons for them with the class. Take note of each group’s predictions. Revisit these predictions as a class after completing the text. Which groups were correct?

CCSS

Differentiated Instruction

This activity can be modified to help all students access learning.
Decrease difficulty

Have students work with partners to make lists and write descriptions of major pilgrims.

Increase difficulty

Have students write short paragraphs to explain the reasons for each prediction they made. For example, did they build their predictions based on the pilgrim’s social class or the description of the pilgrim by the narrator?

Activity 2: Analyze the Theme of Love and Desire in “The Knight’s Tale”

After reading “The Knight’s Tale,” students will analyze the narrative through the lens of love and desire. Students will:

  • Create a schematic of the plot of “The Knight’s Tale.” 

  • Discuss how the events, conflict, and the conflict’s resolution relate to the theme of love and desire. 

  • Explore how the characters of Arcite, Palamon, and Emily reflect medieval notions of love and desire. 

  • Explain how love and desire motivate the characters. 


On the board, draw a plot schematic. The schematic should include the following terms: Introduction, Rising Action, Conflict, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution. You can find examples of plot schematics online. Review each term with students. Have students work in pairs to add information from “The Knight’s Tale” to the schematic to fully map the plot. 

Then put students in small groups to analyze and discuss how the plot relates to the theme of love and desire. They can refer to their schematics to inform their discussion. 

Draw a chart with three columns on the board. Label the columns: Arcite, Palamon, Emily. Have students work in their groups to complete each column with information about how each character reflects medieval views of love and desire. Remind them to cite the text to support their chart information. 

Have groups share their charts with the class. Hold a class discussion on how love and desire motivate the characters in “The Knight’s Tale.” Encourage students to refer to their plot schematics and charts to add to the discussion.

CCSS

Differentiated Instruction

This activity can be modified to help all students access learning.
Decrease difficulty

Have students work in small groups, rather than pairs, to complete their plot schematics.

Increase difficulty

Ask students to write a literary analysis essay relating the plot and characters of “The Knight’s Tale” to the theme of love and desire. Remind students to include text evidence to support their ideas.

Activity 3: Exploring Character Motivations 

Understanding the motivation behind characters’ actions—why they do what they do—is not only essential to understanding and appreciating a narrative, but it also helps a reader identify underlying themes. Use the Character Motivations Worksheet to help students identify both explicit and implied character motivation in the narratives. 

Pass out the worksheet after students have read “The Knight’s Tale.” Review as a class the examples provided from “General Prologue” and “The Knight’s Tale.” Review the process involved in making inferences about character motivation. Tell students we make inferences by using what the text tells us plus what we know about the world and people in general, and then we come up with an inference, or reasonable explanation, for a character’s actions. 

Instruct students to complete the rest of the worksheet as they read the remaining tales. Review the worksheets as a class when you have completed the entire text. 

Finally, have students write two or three paragraphs according to the prompt on the worksheet.

Final Projects

Students will work on their final projects after they have finished reading The Canterbury Tales. Project 1 will be completed by students working in groups, while Project 2 calls for individual work.

Final Project 1: Love and Desire in the 1300s

Student groups will give an oral narration and a performance about the theme of love and desire as revealed in The Canterbury Tales. Students will: 

  • Select relevant excerpts from each tale. 

  • Write a narration that summarizes the selected excerpts from the tale and explains the view of love and desire found in that tale. 

  • Choose one group member to read the narration while the other members play the characters in the tales.  

  • Perform their presentations for the class. 


Begin by putting students in small groups. Have groups comb through each tale, selecting relevant excerpts that together demonstrate a particular view of love and desire. Once selections are made, have groups work together to write narrations that both summarize what happens in the excerpts and explains the view of love and desire found in each tale. 

Have groups prepare a presentation of each narration. One student should read the narration while the other students play the relevant characters. Students playing characters should take on the persona of the character as described in the text. If possible, students should use costumes, makeup, and/or props in their performance. Make sure different students assume the “narrator” role for different tales. Also ensure students have adequate time to rehearse and prepare. 

Finally, have each group perform their narrations for the class. When all groups have finished, discuss as a class: How were the performances similar? How were they different? Did groups draw different conclusions about the theme?

Differentiated Instruction

This activity can be modified to help all students access learning.
Decrease difficulty

Have groups select one tale to analyze and present to the class.

Increase difficulty

Have students write their narrations in verse, to reflect the style of the narratives.

Final Project 2: You Be the Judge

At the end of “General Prologue,” the Host says he will judge the tales on the basis of “best wisdom, instruction and delight.” Students will put themselves in the Host’s place and choose which tale gives “best wisdom, instruction and delight” on the theme of love and desire. Students will: 

  • Read one additional tale. 

  • Write an argumentative essay defending their choice for the best tale, being sure to include text evidence to support their decision. 

  • Present their decision to the class, as the Host might. 

 

Begin by having students choose an additional tale to read. Take note of students’ choices. Discuss the elements of an argumentative essay with the class (if you have not already covered this). Have students create outlines for their argumentative essays, identifying several arguments in support of their theses and making text citations for the final essay. 

Review outlines in pairs or small groups and give students time to revise after getting feedback. Alternatively, you can comment on outlines before students move on to writing the full draft. 

Have students write their argumentative essays, defending their choices, and citing text evidence. 

Have each student present their decision to the class, outlining their arguments.

Differentiated Instruction

This activity can be modified to help all students access learning.
Decrease difficulty

Allow students to choose a tale from the tales they have already read and discussed. Group students together who have selected the same tale, and have them work together to find supporting evidence before writing their essays individually.

Increase difficulty

Have students read at least two more tales to include in their evaluation.

Assess the Assignments

Use the Rubric for Student Assessment to evaluate student work on the lesson assignments. 

Distribute the Student Reflection Worksheet. Guide students through the self-assessment and reflection questions.

Downloads