Canterbury Tales Papers
Site Search Essay
There is a great deal of useful information to be found on the Internet but sorting
through it can often be a hassle. There are some sites that are useful and give a great
deal of helpful information but there are also many sites that just don't meet up to those
standards. Since anyone can put information on the web, it is often hard to tell a good
site from a bad one. Today, I am going to go through a few sites relating to Geoffrey
Chaucer and his book The Canterbury Tales and give examples of good and bad sites
relating to them.
One fantastic site that is on the web is The Litrix Reading Room at http://www.litrix.com. This site, which is edited by Sam
Jones, gives free electronic distribution of books for use by readers. It gives a list of
authors and the books that they have from them. This site has a great number of books and
some of the choices are American, Horror, Misfits, Mr. Holmes, Mystery, Sci-fi and
Westerns. This site is very helpful in the reading of The Canterbury Tales because it has
an updated, translated version of the book that makes it easier to understand and follow
the story line. I would recommend litrix.com greatly.
One very good site, which relates to Geoffrey Chaucer is http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/chaucer.html.
This site is large in depth with many features that will keep any Chaucer fan busy for
hours or help students find whatever they may need. Some of the features include:
different quotes from Chaucer, a paragraph summary of his life, links to many of his
works, audio excerpts from The Canterbury Tales, discussion groups and links to other
Chaucer pages. This site was created by Anniina Jokinen and it is clear that she did a
very good job.
Another fantastic site that relates to Chaucer is http://www.media.wright.edu/studorgs/english20403/chaucer.html.
This site has all the links that a person may ever need for Chaucer. Some of the many
links that are offered on this site is his biography, Chaucerian language, online reports,
and online texts of The Canterbury Tales and medieval sites. Each main link has a few
choices beneath it so a person can pick and choose between different sites and writing
styles, which is always helpful. Getting different perspectives on different topics
relating to Chaucer can only help a person in receiving a better grade and better
understanding the material.
One page about Geoffrey Chaucer that shows what junk can be put on the net is http://www.csc.calpoly.edu/~ercarlso/essays/Geoffrey
Chaucer.html. This page has no detail and it entails one paper and the paper isn't
even good. I could see having a good page with a paper if the paper is good, but this one
just doesn't do that. This page is injustice to the net.
There is a great deal of good information on the Internet relating to Geoffrey Chaucer and
his works, the only thing is finding the right location on the web. The three sites that I
gave good ratings to are more than enough to suffice and there is no need to look further.
If a person reads all the information on those three sites, they should have no problem
understanding Chaucer and knowing what his works are about.
Squire Analysis
The Squire is one of the thirty pilgrims travelling on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of St.
Thomas a' Becket in Canterbury in The Canterbury Tales. He is the twenty-year-old
son of the Knight, and he is described in contrast to his father, as "a lovere and a
lusty bacheler" (Norton, 83). He may become more mature and more like his
father, but that will have to come with age.
His hair is curled, as though it had been set, which tells us that he is more concerned
about his appearance than his father is. He also wears stylish but daring clothing - a
short gown with long, wide sleeves--and this is equal in modern times in shock value to a
miniskirt. In stature he is of average height, and he is also very active with great
strength.
The Squire was apprenticed to a knight before he could become a knight, and this is the
reason why he is "curteis, lowely and servisable, and carf biforn his father at the
table" (Norton, 83). He has ridden for sometime with the cavalry, and the
places that he went to were Flanders, Artois, and Picardy. He places importance on
fighting for his lady's honor, which is unlike his father, who fights for theoretical
ideals or God.
Chaucer compares him to the description of spring at the very beginning of the
"General Prologue". His clothes are embroidered like a meadow, "al ful of
fresshe flowres, white and rede," and "he was as fressh as is the month of
May" (Norton, 83).
The squire is also a happy person, which is good for a person of his age, and he also has
many talents, such as making songs and words come together. He also has many hobbies,
which are another part of his talents, and they are jousting, dancing, sketching and
writing. Since he is so young, and has such high spirits and energy, he sleeps
"namore than dooth a nightingale" (Norton, 83).
In summary, the Squire is a good character who one day will make a fine knight and make
his father proud. He is not only young, strong, and in love; he is courteous, eager to
serve, and perfect for his type, even though it may be a bit different than his father's.
The squire gets the greatest compliment from the Franklin who wishes his own son were more
Squire-like.
This page is created by Gerald
Paradine
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