Prologue to The Canterbury Analysis Text Evidence Writing Techniques

1. Week 4: Lesson 4
The Prologue of The Canterbury Tales

2. DO NOW
What was the last road trip
you have taken? What did
you do to make the time
pass?

3. AIM:
SWBAT analyze techniques Chaucer
uses to introduce the characters in
“The Prologue” of The Canterbury
Tales.

4. GAWKY
Awkward or
clumsy

5. PILGRIMAGE
A long trip;
travel for
religious
reasons

6. LUTE
A stringed
instrument
from the
Middle Ages

7. YEOMAN
A servant of
the knight
and expert
bowman

8. TECHNIQUES ANALYSIS
MINI-LESSON
Effective readers support
their ideas and arguments
about a story with evidence
from the text.

9. TECHNIQUES ANALYSIS
MINI-LESSON
They choose the strongest details
about characters and events stated
directly in the text to support their
analysis.

10. TECHNIQUES ANALYSIS
MINI-LESSON
Textual evidence helps them
illustrate that their ideas are
grounded in the text rather than
based on personal opinions.

11. TEACHER MODELING
RL.7.1: ANALYZE A TEXT
READING THINKING STEPS
Display:
TEACHER MODELING
Say:
Choose a literary
element that appears
in the text, such as
language or central
idea.
Think:
 How does it
contribute to deeper
meaning?
 What do you want
to understand better
about it?
 To analyze a text, start with a provided
question/prompt or choose an element in the text
you want to understand better or that you think
contributes to deeper meaning. This might be a
specific detail about a character or setting in the
text. It could be a detail that is unexpected or that
you want to explore to learn more about the
character or setting.
 The stories in The Canterbury Tales take place in a
different time period than today. I am interested in
the literary element of setting because of this
historic setting and how it differs from modern
settings. I want to better understand how the

12. TEACHER MODELING
RL.7.1: ANALYZE A TEXT
READING THINKING STEPS
Display:
TEACHER MODELING
Say:
Scan the text. Look for
several examples of
details related to your
literary element.
 Use questions you
ask yourself.
 Use key words
related to your step
1 ideas.
 Scan the text for details related to the element being
analyzed. For example, for setting description, look for
sensory language. These details will help you analyze.
You can scan with questions or by looking for key words.
 Since I am examining setting, I will reread for details that
provide information about when and where the story is
set. The narrator says he will “stay the night at the Tabard
Inn.” He will stable his horse in a manger for the night,
and he will be going to “Canterbury by first light.”

13. TEACHER MODELING
RL.7.1: ANALYZE A TEXT
READING THINKING STEPS
Display:
TEACHER MODELING
Say:
Study each use of the
literary element
carefully.
Think:
 What might it mean
for the text as a
whole?
 What clues can help
you draw an
inference about
(figure out) the
meaning?
 Examine the use of the element carefully. Use the
Thinking Steps questions as a guide. Use what you know
about the text and the particular element to draw an
inference that explains how the element affects the
text’s meaning.
 First, I know that Canterbury is in England, which means
that the story as a whole is set in England. Second,
details that the narrator is traveling by horse—rather
than car or train as a modern traveler would—suggests
that the story is set in the past. The details that he is
staying at an inn and his horse will be kept in a manger
also suggest to me that the story is set in the past,
probably in the Middle Ages.

14. TEACHER MODELING
RL.7.1: ANALYZE A TEXT
READING THINKING STEPS
Display:
TEACHER MODELING
Say:
Think:
What did you figure out about
text meaning?
What details in the text
support your ideas?
Choose several of the best
details to support your ideas.
Think:
• Are the details relevant to
your ideas?
• Are they precise?
• Are they specific?
• Effective analysis requires careful examination of all
the evidence and careful use of that evidence, such
as by quoting accurately. It also requires strong
inferences that can be supported with several
of good textual evidence.
• The best evidence is always relevant to your
(Some details are included just for interest.) In
literature, evidence that appears frequently in a text
is also likely strong.

15. TEACHER MODELING
RL.7.1: ANALYZE A TEXT
READING THINKING STEPS
Display:
TEACHER MODELING
Say:
Think:
What did you figure out about
text meaning?
What details in the text
support your ideas?
Choose several of the best
details to support your ideas.
Think:
• Are the details relevant to
your ideas?
• Are they precise?
• Are they specific?
• The story is likely set in England during the Middle
Ages because the narrator is traveling by horse to
Canterbury and stays the night at an inn while his
horse stays in a manger. This text evidence is
relevant because it shows that the narrator is not
traveling by modern technology. It is frequent
because there is more than one example, and it is
precise and specific because it provides information
about the setting and not some other aspect of the

16. TEACHER MODELING
RL.7.1: ANALYZE A TEXT
READING THINKING STEPS
Display:
TEACHER MODELING
Say:
Explain your ideas about
the text. Tell how:
 the literary element
connects to the text
as a whole.
 the details you
found support your
ideas.
 Complete your analysis by explaining how
the element helps you understand text
and its topic or ideas as a whole.
 For example, the fact that the story is set
in the Middle Ages helps me understand
more about the characters and the plot. I
can expect that the characters will face
situations and events that are different
than a modern person or character would
face.