First Post of the Second Semester

TODAY IN CLASS
A review of  "The Pardoner's Tale," some facts about the plague (both bubonic and pneumonic), and the relationship of the tale to the teller--paying special attention to the beginning and ending of what the Pardoner explained about his own process of preaching and selling the indulgences to a gullible crowd.

Transition to the "Nun's Priest's Tale"  -- it's a "beast fable," a form familiar to us in cartoons and children's stories, but widely used in the Middle Ages to debate serious subject matter.  We looked at the first two "paragraphs" (not really stanzas, because the poem is written throughout in heroic couplets) as a set-up for the beast fable itself.  There is a sharp contrast between the simple lifestyle of the widow living on her small farm and the great lofty heights that describe the rooster Chanticleer.  In 4th we pointed out some of his exaggerated traits; we ran out of time in 6th, but expect me to ask you tomorrow.

HOMEWORK
Read about 300 lines of this long story; read to line 290 on p. 127. 
Read carefully, doing your best to follow the details of both what the rooster was complaining about, what his "wife" suggested that he do about it, and the first round or two of evidence in the debate about dreams.