Literature Analysis #3

The Road By Cormac McCarthy

1) The book opens with a father and a son walking down roads, constantly looking their shoulders for someone or something. They deal with the constant ever changing weather, short supplies and little to no food, pushing their shopping cart of supplies in front of them. In one encounter, the father and son come into contact without another person who threatens the son's life. The father is able to save his son by shooting the man in the head. However their encounter with danger is not over. The father unfortunately is injured and struggles to keep going. Heartache is soon to come for the son when his father dies in the winter. However luck comes his way and he meets up with another family, who takes him in.

2) In my opinion the theme is dedication and motivation is the key to hope in desperate situations. No matter how grim the situation appears to be the father uses his son as his motivation to keep going. He's dedication to keeping his son alive is what ultimately saves his sons life. The dedication and motivation they shared helped them survive sickness, hunger and weather.

3)Throughout the novel the tone changes from informative and descriptive to loving and caring to panic and frightened. Depending on the situation being described in the book shows the tone of the author. When the father and son are talking there is a protective, loving and caring aspect but when the duo faces a dangerous situation there is panic, fear and excitement portrayed. However the novel appears to have a mournful or melancholy tone.

4) The author uses many different types of literature techniques such as symbolism and foreshadowing. He uses symbols such as the bullets in the revolver which symbolize life and death that the father and son were facing. The technique of foreshadowing is used when a description of the son being between the father and death alludes to the later event where the father dies.

CHARACTERIZATION

1) The author uses indirect characterization to portray his characters. Although most authors use direct characterization to portray their characters, McCarthy alludes to their traits. He doesn't specifically say the dad was strong, he shows it through the way he is able to continue his journey despite the many obstacles he faces.

2) The syntax and diction doesn't change throughout the novel. However in the dialogue between the boy and his father, the boys words are more adolescent.

3) The protagonist is a static flat character. His views never change and his goal throughout the novel stays the same, to keep his son alive and to reach a better place. Unfortunately he died before they could reach their goal but his mental composure and characteristics stay the same.

4) I don't feel like I met someone new. With all the description of the surrounding area that the characters face, I feel like I've encountered a new area and a new world rather than new characters.

Hamlet Recap

When Dr. Preston said we were going to read Hamlet I admit I was skeptical. I mentally began preparing myself for the confusing road with Iambic Pentameter, language I wasn't going to understand and the typical heartache of Shakespeare. I was like any other student. However I was pleasantly surprised in the way Hamlet was taught to us and the way we worked our way through that tough hurdle of understanding the diction and syntax throughout the play. I have immensely enjoyed the opportunity to read Hamlet and it has quickly raced to the top of my favorite play/story lists. 

KUDOS

Kudos blog is up and running if anyone wants in!! We will be doing authorship over the next few days. Put in anything you want, new job, new friend, college acceptance, scholarship award, anything you want the blog is open to anything!! This is the time to brag about your accomplishments,  so start bragging!!

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot

If I believed that my reply was A person who never returned to the world , This flame staria no longer shock . But because of this never end I do not return alive any , s'i'odo true , Without fear of infamy I answer .

•  Etherized-anesthetize (a person or animal) with ether
• Insidious-proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects
• Lets run away go through half-deserted alley ways past one night hotels and restaurants with oyster shells
• Question "What is it?"
• Women come and go talking of Michelangelo
• Yellow fog, yellow smoke? What is that?
•  October night
• There will be time for for death and birth, time for work, indecisiveness of visions and revisions before toast of tea
• Do I dare, Do I dare
• Bald spot, morning coat and necktie
• Disturb the universe
• In a minute there is time For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.  
• Measuring life with coffee spoons
• So how should I presume?
• Formulated-create or devise methodically (a strategy or a proposal): express (an idea) in a concise or systematic way.
• Then how should I begin To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?  
• Should I, after tea and cakes and ices, Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis? 
• I am no prophet — and here’s no great matter; 
• And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,  Death?
• Lazarus?
• I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;  
• Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool, 
• Politic, cautious, and meticulous;  
• At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
• Almost, at times, the Fool.  
• I grow old ... I grow old ... 
• I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.  
• I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. 
• I do not think that they will sing to me.  
• Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

 

Everything's Going to be Alright by Derek Mahon

• Throughout the poem the author talks about bad things like death and the sun being covered with clouds, however he talks about good things that will come, that "everything will be alright."
• Our poem has a hopeful tone, even though the author is talking of bad things that are around him, he has this optimistic idea that it will all work out and be alright
• My mood went from pessimistic because it brought memories of hard times yet it changed to buoyant as I to believed that it will be adequate later
• The shift is where Mahon states "the sun rises in spite of everything and the far cities are beautiful and bright" It goes from this idea that there are bad moments holding the "sun" or "happiness" back yet dedication is pushing it "through the clouds" and making the surrounding areas, the cities, "beautiful and bright"
• The theme of the poem is that motivation and dedication will win any battle and bring about the happiness that are being impeded by the unsatisfactory variables.

Poem Remix

Here is our Poem remix. We had the poem "Everything is Going to be Alright" by Derek Mahon. Our group was Antonia, Naiomi, and Susel. We hope you enjoy!!

Hamlet quotes essays

"To thine own self be true" This quote was said by Polonius to Laertes and it has been used not only to help move the plot line of the play Hamlet by Shakespeare but also throughout our everyday lives. 

In the play, we see Hamlet engaged in a fierce internal struggle with his morals and his actions. He wants to take action and kill Claudius to get revenge for his fathers death but he also has morals that he manipulates to reach his end game. Although Polonius's famous quote says "Own self be true," we see Hamlet, the main character of the play, struggling with that throughout the entire plot. He acts foolish to trick others but in all the while losing sight of himself as well. Hamlet doesn't know how to be true to himself and in turn can't show his true self to others.

In our society today, we as individuals have placed a higher value on the idea of putting on a mask of makeup to make ourselves "better" for others. Polonius's quote has been manipulated to say "Be true to yourself." This quote is broadcasted across billboards for makeup or plastered on Facebook by someone that is hiding behind a mask. What Polonius said has lost its true meaning.

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" was said by Marcellus. Here we see a character other than Hamlet realize that something wrong has occurred here. This is unique because of how all other characters see to think that all is keen until Hamlet starts behaving irrational. By having Marcellus say this before the Ghost tells Hamlet of his murder, Shakespeare foreshadows the idea that lies and injustices are running the kingdom.

El Oso Spanish 4

Spanish 4 Video made by Gianni Rasgado, Kurt Gabriel, Antonia Arredondo and Naiomi Desai.

Hamlet essay prompt 2

Throughout the play Hamlet shows intelligence through the way he acts with other people and the way he acts with himself. However some of his intelligent acts come across as deranged, but Hamlet does this in a way to distract other characters well he plans his mischievous revenge. One character sees him as crazed over an unreachable love, and the mother sees him as troubled by the death of his father. Hamlet is able to use their inaccurate beliefs to his advantage as he goes undetected.

In his first act of "insane" behavior, we see Hamlet approach Ophelia with no shirt and is talking incoherently, but this act, as like every act Hamlet does throughout the play, was premeditated. He knew that Ophelia would talk to her father, Polonius, and he knew that he could use this encounter to his advantage. Polonius afterwards believe that Hamlet was driven crazy over his love for Ophelia. This is in the only instance where Hamlet has an encounter with Ophelia. At one point in the play Polonius and Claudius have staged a meeting between Ophelia and Hamlet to observe the way Hamlet act with Ophelia. Again the audience sees Hamlet treat Ophelia harshly and he uses his encounter with her to allude to the wrong doings his mom is also done to his father. He states that, 'women drive men crazy' and that they are deceitful in manner. This engagement between Ophelia has a greater meaning that Hamlet fully realizes at that moment. Since Claudius also witnessed this engagement with Ophelia, he decides the Hamlet might need to be taken away because he starting to pose a "danger" to those around him.

It's not only with Ophelia that we see Hamlet use these premeditated acts to sustain others believes that he is insane. He has an encounter with Lord Polonius where he calls him a fishmonger. This strengthened Lord Polonius's beliefs that Hamlet is crazy. Polonius is the one who believe that Hamlet is just so in love with Ophelia, that he doesn't know what to do with himself. Claudius is the one who believes that Hamlet is just out of his mind with grief over the death of his father. He sees this to be the way that Hamlet talks and behaves with his mother. It is, however, through the play that Hamlet puts on that Claudius realizes the danger that hamlet poses to his rein. This was Hamlet's plan all along, to let Claudia know that he knows that Claudius murdered his father. Claudius's reaction to the play was exactly how Hamlet wanted and how Hamlet predicted it might be. Claudius even goes on to pray to God that he will be absorbed of his sin.

Throughout the play Hamlet shows a different level of intelligence compared all the other characters. He is able to plan his revenge without being detected. Yet towards the end we see him not lose control mentally but lose control emotionally. All the rage that builds up inside him that he's been harboring throughout this whole time was finally released after he killed Polonius and verbally attacks his mother. However is not evidence of a mental breakdown, it's evidence that Hamlet is human and he's angry and upset everything that's been going on around him. He's shown his anger through soliloquies but he did a good job of bottling it inside yourself until that instant with Polonius and his mother. Ghost of his father even has to come back and say 'keep your eye on the prize and remind your mother that you love her because you need her on your side.'

Although Hamlet has instances in the play where he puts on this appearance of mental defect, he's actually an intelligent and calculating character. He's able to secretly plan his revenge on the king and queen very covertly to where nobody has any insight into what he's actually doing, even with the tails and spies that Claudius and Polonius have put in to watch him and find out what he's doing. However he is not the insane person that everyone makes it out to be. He is crafty and he is mischievous enough to be able to successfully execute his revenge without detection.

Performative Utterance Lecture Notes Nov. 12, 2014

• application, analysis theories
• we create understanding within ourselves
• Jane Austen-Theory of performativity
• Hamlet is creating a universe through thought
• Perlocutionary- an act performed by a speaker upon a listener
• creating something that becomes truer as we talk about it
• Hamlet is reinforcing his lack of uncertainty
• He goes from "this sucks" to "I suck"
• "I'm not that good guy" which makes it really personal for him
• Can words change someone's personalities?
• Do we create ourselves as we go or is it all set in stones?
• Polonius is a creature of language and words
• Claudius isn't about negotiations, which we see through the way he kills his brother
• He is a sympathetic character
• He is rotten and possesses no morals
• Shakespeare portrays that it would be unsympathetic act to kill someone on his knees praying

To be continued...
 

Hamlet Act III

•  To Be or Not To Be soliloquy
• Hamlet is openly rude and harsh to Ophelia saying that he no longer loves her and she should just go away, mentions how women turn men into monsters and corrupts them but he could be alluding to his mother's actions with Claudius
• With this encounter, Polonius convinces Claudius to set Queen Gertrude up in the hope that Hamlet will reveal his secrets to her, he does this because he doesn't want to admit that his first explanation of Hamlet's unusual behavior was wrong
• Claudius however realizes the risk that Hamlet is posing on him and wants to send him away to somewhere he will do no harm, but Polonius fears that moving Hamlet might lead the kind to question his judgement 
• Hamlet is working very hard with the actors in the play because he wants it to be shown exactly the way he envisions it
• He later asks Horatio to watch over the King and Queens reaction to the play to see if they falter at any point, later on he does confide in Horatio of his plan and of his father's murder
• During the play Claudius panics and flees the scene and then confesses his sins
• Hamlet does indeed meet with Gertrude and talks deeply about his disappointments and his feelings
• Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius and becomes extremely angry and confused 
• My question is why did Shakespeare not use the opportunity to kill Claudius when the chance had arisen?
• Why take Polonius's life by "accident"?
• What does Polonious's death serve to the plot of the story?

The Performative Utterance notes

• a play about a man who could not make real what was found in his mind ?
• Hamlet wavers is in the physical commission of this duty, in transcending the confines of his mental determination into the physical space
• unable to move that duty from the mental to the real
• Hamlet is able to speak but not to do
• philosopher of language J.L. Austin's theory of performativity How to Do Things with Words
  (1962),
• certain language does not merely describe action but acts in being spoken
• Austin divided the performative ability of language into three main forces: the locutionary force, the ability of language to deliver a message, the force of mutual intelligibility; the illocutionary force, what is done in being said, such as denying a request, giving an order, etc.; and the perlocutionary force, what is achieved by being said, the consequences of one's utterance, such as an order being followed (or refused)
• A man saying, "I order you to submit" is not merely describing his desire for the other to know he is asking for submission, but creates in the world the fact that he has ordered. The other hears it and understands (due to locutionary force), has had an order to submit put to him (due to illocutionary force), and may submit, or be offended by the order, or similar (and these are the perlocutionary effects).
•  Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human
  (1998), Harold Bloom argues that Shakespeare's characters frequently develop through "self-over hearing. "Shakespeare's characters, in this argument, overhear themselves speaking and in doing so gain self-knowledge
• the process which allows characters to realize their own utterances and in doing so realize themselves
• If Hamlet is a character who engages in this self-overhearing, and he is a man who, for most of the play, demonstrates a disconnect between what he says and what he does, it then becomes useful to consider the impact of his performative language on his overhearing self
• Shakespeare was a dramatist, his creations plays meant for performance.. What was available to audiences was what could be seen and heard on a stage
• characters therefore had to present their inner selves to the audience through speeches, soliloquies and similar
• involving concepts of self-overhearing, self-creation and performativity in an analysis of a play risks positing an interior world that, in some sense, transcends what is revealed through the utterance of lines of dialogue
• This would be a mistake; there is no Hamlet, and thus no "Hamlet's mind" to be explored outside of the specific and limited consideration of what is revealed through Hamlet's speech
• One of the most important and obvious scenes in which to consider the performative utterances in
   Hamlet is the meeting between Hamlet and the ghost of his father
• meeting contains two oaths, Hamlet's, and later Horatio and Marcellus's
• They create the fact, "a promise (or oath) has been made in the world," which by convention binds someone to some behavior. And the making of an oath demonstrates how the illocutionary force can influence or compel the perlocutionary:once someone has made an utterance of the type "I swear," the illocutionary force of an oath having been made exists in the world
• If the person who has sworn fails to perform his tasked action, the perlocutionary effect may instead be that he is called a liar, or a swearer of false oaths, and any additional punishment or consequences of this failure are themselves a part of the perlocutionary force of the utterance. In this way we can see the locutionary meaning of an utterance creating the illocutionary effect of that utterance which in turn drives the perlocutionary effect, thought to language to action
• this way it is easy to see how Hamlet, having sworn revenge against Claudius, might be driven to perform such a deed
• The problem is that Hamlet does not swear to avenge his father
• Told this incredible tale about his father being brutally killed, and compelled by his father's ghost to take revenge, Hamlet swears only to remember, an entirely cognitive act and one subject to no outside verification

• Hamlet and the ghost compel Horatio and Marcellus to swear oaths of their own. But these oaths are only of secrecy, of not doing something; their duty is defined entirely negatively 
• One of the consistent motifs in Hamlet is that of drama and playacting
• Austin considers performatives that for some reason or another fail to perform. Referring to these alternatively as "unhappy" performative acts, or "infelicities," Austin colorfully describes them as the "doctrine of the things that can be and go wrong" (Words14)
• Playacting in the context of theater or drama might be said to contain the locutionary force of intelligibility of a given utterance, but not it's illocutionary force
• A character in a play who says "I thee condemn" delivers the mutually intelligible message that he is condemning someone to the audience, but without the illocutionary force of a fact of condemnation having been created in the world, because his utterance lacks the context and appropriateness requisite for such a fact being created

To Be Continued...

Big Question

Today I had a small meeting with Dr. Preston about where I should start to go with my Big Question. We talked about people he knew and he gave me a few names a said he would pass on my Big Question with those he works with. We talked a little more about what this Masterpiece was supposed to be about and how it will represent my journey through researching and evaluating my Big Question. I have also decided that I would like to explore space as a part of my Masterpiece and add that into what I learn.

Adam Sandler To Be or Not To Be

Here is Adam Sandlers video Billy Madison where he does the beginning portion of To Be or Not To Be. The video quality unfortunately is not the best.

To Be or Not To Be

 Naiomi thankfully video taped my video for me so here is a link to her blog post.

Daniel Radcliffe on Jimmy Fallon

Was shown this today, awesome, wonderful and impressive.

Hamlet remake video

New and Improved video here. Sorry for the confusion, some scenes left out and just minor minor fixes.

LITERATURE ANALYSIS #2

1. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, Winston (the main character) battles with his desire to be accepted into society and his desire to follow the rules. Although he takes many steps against Big Brother, the government, he is eventually betrayed by someone he suspected as an ally. At the beginning of the novel, we are introduced into two vital characters, Julia and O'Brien. Julia becomes Winston's secret and illegal girlfriend. O'Brien befriends both Julia and Winston, but after an ironic turn of events, ends up being the one turning them in to the thought police. In this totalitarian government, it is illegal to do anything against the government including having sex, or even speaking bad of Big Brother. Julia and Winston engage in a relationship and confide in O'Brien in their hatred of Big Brother. However what they didn't know was that O'Brien works for the Government and in the end of the book, he even takes part in the torture of the two in the Ministry of Love. In conclusion, Big Brother ends up breaking Winston and turns him back into the "model citizen" they have been grooming all into.

 2. A theme of the book could relate to the idea that defiance can only hold out, or that speaking out for what you believe in land you in situations where you are fighting for your life.

3. Throughout the novel the author's tone changes from anger and hatred of Big Brother to the thrill and excitement of disobeying to the acceptance, disappointment and submission to Big Brother.

4. The author foreshadows at the beginning part of the novel where he mentions Winston's mixed feelings towards O'Brien. It shows how Winston has mixed feeling about if he can trust O'Brien because he doesn't know if he is for the resistance or if he works for the government. Winston's suspicion proves correct due to the fact that O'Brien does work for Big Brother. That example also shows irony in the way that Winston decided to trust O'Brien yet it turns out that O'Brien betrays him and even takes part in his torture at the Ministry of Love.

CHARACTERIZATION
1. Although Winston could be seen as a direct character in his hatred of Big Brother and his support of the resistance, towards the end of the novel his views on everything reverse because he was broken and he becomes an indirect character. Julia however stayed true through the end. Although she had to hide her feelings towards the resistance, she continued to support it which makes her a direct character. 

2. Since the novel is focused on Winston, the syntax and diction relates to the situations he finds himself even if the novel isn't narrated in first person.

3. The protagonist, Winston, is a round dynamic character. As I mentioned before, towards the end of the novel when he has to make that crucial decision, he changes his views and changes his personality for his own gain. He goes from being a rebellion dangerous citizen to a puppet and Big Brother becomes his puppet master.

4. I didn't feel as though I really met a new character/person. That could be from the fact that I wasn't understanding the text or that I just didn't like the characters at hand. I enjoyed seeing how Winston was passionate enough to rebel but when he makes that choice to turn on Julia and becomes broken I lose respect for him.

LITERARY FICTION & EMPATHY

In my opinion, I don't agree with what the study is saying. Yes I think that people who read novels such as Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen have a tendency to be more literate than people who only read novels such as Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. However trying to say that reading more literary fiction novels allow you to read someones emotion is a different story. By saying someone can read emotions is like saying someone can read someone's mind. Technology is taking steps to do that but humans are not as advanced. Yes when someone frowns it is an indication that they are either sad or angry but to try and deduce that I can read that because I am more literate is misleading. I'm not arguing with the results, yes people were able to read an emotion but that doesn't mean that others cannot reach the same conclusion. Nobody can fully read an emotion or read someone's brain through it. The brain is a complex network that even at time the bearer doesn't even understand the full capacity at which its working subconsciously. While I'm sitting here focusing on typing this, my brain is telling my body to breath, to circulate, to create new cells, and kill the the virus that has been plaguing me for a week. However interesting that this experiment was I don't agree with the conclusion that reading literary fiction helps make an individual more susceptible to reading emotions.

TO BE OR NOT TO BE by William Shakespeare

To be, or not to be, that is the question—
Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing, end them? To die, to sleep—
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks
That Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes Calamity of so long life:
For who would bear the Whips and Scorns of time,
The Oppressor's wrong, the proud man's Contumely,
The pangs of despised Love, the Law’s delay,
The insolence of Office, and the Spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his Quietus make
With a bare Bodkin? Who would these Fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered Country, from whose bourn
No Traveler returns, Puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of.
Thus Conscience does make Cowards of us all,
And thus the Native hue of Resolution
Is sicklied o'er, with the pale cast of Thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment,
With this regard their Currents turn awry,
And lose the name of Action. Soft you now,
The fair Ophelia. Nymph, in all thy Orisons
Be thou all my sins remembered

Vocabulary #6

abase - verb cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of

“When the boy stood up to the bully, he abased him.”

abdicate - verb give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations

“When the politician became gravely sick, he abdicated his position to his understudy.”

abomination - noun an action that is vicious or vile; an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence; a person who is loathsome or disgusting; hate coupled with disgust

“Her disgusting dancing is an abomination.”

brusque - adj. marked by rude or peremptory shortness

“Her remark was brusque.”

saboteur - noun someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks; a member of a clandestine subversive organization who tries to help a potential invader

“Protagonists of a story normally are the saboteur of the antagonist plans.”

debauchery - noun a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity

“The party was a debauchery.”

proliferate - verb cause to grow or increase rapidly; grow rapidly

“Eating healthy can proliferate your body.”

anachronism - noun an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred

“Captain American is an example of an anachronistic person."

  nomenclature - noun a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline

“We use a nomenclature to remember the order of taxa in biology.”

expurgate - verb edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate

“When proof reading my essay I expurgated words that didn’t belong.”

bellicose - adj. having or showing a ready disposition to fight

“The young bull had a bellicose manner.”

gauche - adj. lacking social polish

“The boy had a slightly gauche attitude.”

rapacious - adj. excessively greedy and grasping; devouring or craving food in great quantities; living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey

“Vampaneze in Darren Shan’s Cirque Du Freak series have rapacious eating habit.”

paradox - noun (logic) a statement that contradicts itself

“And example of a paradox is found In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, ‘All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.’”

conundrum - noun a difficult problem

“The youth ae faced with conundrums every day, or so it seems.”

anomaly - noun (astronomy) position of a planet as defined by its angular distance from its perihelion (as observed from the sun); a person who is unusual; deviation from the normal or common order or form or rule

“The blood spatter was and anomaly and puzzled the detectives.”

ephemeral - adj. lasting a very short time; noun anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form

“Drugs only provide an ephemeral high.”

rancorous - adj. showing deep-seated resentment

“Girls act rancorous towards one another.”

churlish - adj. having a bad disposition; surly; rude and boorish

“The man in the movie theater was churlish.”

precipitous - adj. characterized by precipices; extremely steep; done with very great haste and without due deliberation

“Her essay had obvious signs it was done with precipitous haste.”

Canterbury Tales Transmedia

Throughout Chaucer's novel of Canterbury Tales, he explores individuality and diversity through each one of his characters. He plays on the use of stereotypes and he uses his characters to break through them and gives his audience insight into what it feels to look deeper into someone.
 

While breaking stereotypes through his characters, Chaucer adds an ironic touch that adds a satirical tone to his piece.

 


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Although Chaucer's inspiration for writing Canterbury Tales, it is thought by some that it came from his own pilgrimage. While he worked as a royal clerk and served as a soldier, he was able to travel the world and witness areas of the medieval world that helped spark interest in how he wrote his varied characters.

 








 
From Winter to Spring












From Sickness to Health

 









From Life to Death














From Heaven to Earthly










From Theological to Biological


 










From Supernatural to Natural

These are all the contradictory ideas that Chaucer displayed in the prologue of Canterbury Tales. Throughout the novel he relates and dives into each one throughout each characters story.

There are several genres that are directly related to Canterbury Tales that Chaucer does a very good job of incorporating. They are:

Romance told through the Knight's Tale,

 










Fabliau told through the Miller's Tale,

 









Saint's Life told through the Second Nun's Tale,

 













Moral's Tale told through the Pardoner's Tale,

 











Sermon Told through the Partisans Tale,
 
 

 








  
Lastly, Chaucer used the structure of Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio to write his tale.