Based on your readings in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and our discussions in class, explain your answer to the above question using personal commentary, text references, and references to dicussion in class. Once you have responded to this question, go back and read through your peer's posts. Comment on at least two of your peer's comments. Be professional in your personal commentary, you will receive 5 points for your comment, and an additional 5 points for each response made to a peer. Total 15 points
* You must set up your own google account to post. Please create a student google account that has a username that is recognizable. I suggest you use first name and last letter initial and a number that is important to you, or first initial and last name and a number that is important to you. I would not use both names in my username for security reasons. Use this account for student/professional reasons. We will be using our google accounts throughout the year.
Grading:
5 Points = Thoughtful, Unique, Professional, and Ellaborates using personal commentary,text and discussion from class
4 Points= Thoughtful, Mostly Unique, Professional, and Mostly Ellaborates using personal commentary, text and discussion from class
3 Points= Mostly Thoughtful, Professional, and Somewhat Ellaborates using personal commentary, text and discussion from class
2 Points= Professional and Ellaborates using personal commentary and either text and class discussion references
1 Point= Professional and Ellaborates using personal commentary
0 Points = Lacks professionalism
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I believe that teens should indeed read The Canterbury Tales. The way that the world is now is not like how it was before where the teen had not many bad influences or much technology at their disposal. The gruesomeness and vulgarity that Chaucer uses in the book is nothing new to the teens of today in the sense that teens are exposed to much more like drinking, smoking, and even things on the internet.
ReplyDeleteEven though the book is crude at some parts, it is also humerous and allows the teen to think and have fun reading at the same time. Some teens even get a kick out of the raunchiness too, making them get that much more into the reading. Take for example the Miller's tale. In it, the Miller makes fun of the Reeve by talking about a carpenter, which is otherwise known as a reeve. Teens would get into the reading because they like the fact that the character's are even poking fun at each other.
In conclusion, even though Chaucer may get raunchy a bit, it may in fact make the reading more enjoyable; and with the humor factor in effect, the teens have to think to understand the humor and that makes it that much more of a fun read. Teens should read the book because it's enjoyable and allows the reader to think about what their reading at the same time.
-Alex Hernandez, Pd. 7
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ReplyDeleteI believe that teens should read The Canterbury Tales, as the stories within it contain many lessons that people, even nowadays, can benefit from. For example, the essential moral to the Wife of Bath's tale was to treat one's wife with respect. This moral, while obviously much more meaningful back in Chaucer's time, can still account today; some women are still not treated as well as they should be.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to this, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales offers up humour that many teens can actually understand in today's world. Although it may be vulgar and naughty at times, it is nothing teenagers haven't seen before. However, back in the 14th century when this was first written, the language and subtle hints Chaucer uses might have gone over teen's heads. Because of this, teenagers back then probably wouldn't have read The Canterbury Tales; conversely, teenagers nowadays are more than capable of reading and comprehending the stories and morals that Chaucer relates to us. Therefore, it is only reasonable to think that teens should read Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.
I believe that teens should be able to read The Canterbury Tales because there is no valid reason as to why they should NOT be allowed to.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons that people might suggest that teens should not read The Canterbury Tales is because of the vulgarity that they contain. The Miller's Tale, for example, is full of crude, bawdy, and improper things; farting and adultery to name just a few. However, since these are things that teens are exposed to in their everyday lives, there is no reason to shelter them from a book that contains those things.
Other people might say that teens should not read The Canterbury Tales because the book is of no value in their lives. This is, however, not at all true. In class we specifically talked about the fact that each time a character does something wrong, they are punished in some way for their faulty morals. The morals that the characters break are still true today, even if the actions and punishments play themselves out differently than they did during Chaucer's time.
A third reason that teens should read The Canterbury Tales has to do with their origin. As the first story ever written in English, everyone should have the opportunity to read this work: it's a piece of history that directly relates to our English language and culture today.
There seems to be no valid reasons for teens NOT to read The Canterbury Tales, and there IS a valid reason TO read the book, so everyone--teens included--should be able to read The Canterbury Tales.
Angela R.
I believe that teenage students should be able to read The Canterbury Tales. Most students at Maine West watch R rated movies and say swear words all day long anyway.
ReplyDeleteMost of the humor in The Canterbury Tales is something that middle school students would find funny. Most English II accelerated students are more mature than that. Sure kissing someones butt is funny but I think most teenagers can look past that.
I believe that Geoffrey Chaucer didn't write The Canterbury Tales so that people wouldn't read it.
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ReplyDeleteIn response to Caitlin's comment, I would have to say that, overall, I agree: the tales contain lessons that we can still learn from today, and we can still understand the humor in them even in our modern lives.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are a couple things I question. She said, for example, that the morals were more meaningful back in Chaucer's time, but is that necessarily true? Another point was that teens in Chaucer's time wouldn't have understood Chaucer's story; but wouldn't you think that children would grow up and be part of the adult world sooner in those days, because their lives were shorter? And therefore wouldn't they probably be able to understand just as well as we do?
Those are the things that I was wondering about.
Angela Remus
I also agree with Mohammed's comment.
ReplyDeleteWhile some people said that the humor in the Tales made them interesting to read, Mohammed pointed out that as teens we would also be able to move beyond the humor. I think that's a really good point, because while the bawdiness is a characteristic of Chaucer's work, the important thing for readers to see is the meaning and morals that Chaucer's Tales try to illustrate.
Angela Remus
I believe that teens should be allowed to read the Canterbury Tales. The gaudy content of the stories parallels what we all see today in the public domain.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was reading the tales, I could clearly picture in my minds eye the story as something that would be in a movie or on television. It is simply the norm nowadays. Perhaps in the Time that this book was written, the "teens" (people in the midst of adolescence, not necessarily ones in their physical teenage years) would not be allowed to read this, but today’s society has evolved to the point where vulgar humor is mainstream, and one of the only forms of comedy
I strongly agree with Angela's comment.
ReplyDeleteTeens these days, including myself, are exposed to crude, vulgar and inappropriate things. As she mentions, the characters are the ones to express these flaws about themselves. Due to their imperfection, the characters are then punished. These days, however, those characters with flaws would learn from their mistakes and mishaps. With those experiences, they would be able to prevent it from happening again. This life lesson would be very helpful to our culture today in so many ways. It’ll probably occur in our lives more than once as we grow older and wiser.
In my opinion, teens should read The Canterbury Tales.
ReplyDeleteEven though the clothing we wear and the way we talk have changed throughout the years, they way people act and their personalities have always been the same. The characters that Chaucer describes are selfish, greedy, inappropriate and human. When I say “human” I mean that the characters have wants and needs that may or may not lead them to a certain punishment. Take the Pardoner’s Tale as an example. When the three main characters have discovered the sack of gold, they all agree to split it evenly among them. As one leaves for drinks to celebrate, the remaining two guarding the gold are plotting a secret plan to kill their friend so they would have the gold fifty-fifty. But as he gets the drinks, he has planned to poison his friends so he could have the gold all to himself. In the end, as the two have successfully murdered their friend by stabbing him with a dagger, they also die from the poisoned drinks they drank.
Although the Pardoner is the one telling us this tale, Chaucer is actually the brilliant man behind it all. This tale contains greedy characters, betrayal between friends and irony. With our culture today, teens are still greedy and they do betray their friends. Perhaps maybe not as wild and extreme as Chaucer describes but daily, it does happen. Friends betray each other’s trust by talking badly about them behind their backs and their respect by doing something that one disapproves of. Teens are greedy with money; maybe not enough to kill another, possibly enough to do almost about anything to get the money for something they want.
Chaucer may be bawdy, vulgar, naughty, and improper about explaining life’s moral lessons, but they are excellent attention grabbers that teens will find interesting. During class, majority of people said that they’d rather read something like Chaucer’s work rather than hear a long and boring lecture about the same moral lesson. Reading the Canterbury Tales will give us more than one reason to our lives; even if we’re still teens and maybe still too young to truly understand them.
I believe teens in english classes like ours should be allowed to read the tales. The positives to reading this book far outweigh the negatives. Some people may think that this book is inappropriate because of the adult and sexual themes that it presents. To be honest, I have to say most of the time that the language that may have been considered vulgar or obscene in Chaucer's day or to people that know that type of dialect better is unrecognizable to me. How can we be influenced by something we don't even fully understand? The tales provide humor through some adult themes which I think kids our age can handle because they are written in a joking, unrealistic manner which we don't take too seriously. I think kid's these days are exposed to different types of vulgar language that we think is obscene, not the same as people of Chaucer's time would have. Since this book is also historically relevent, as it is one of the oldest books we have that is written in this type of english, I think that we should be allowed to read it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that teens should be able to read that The Canterbury Tales because there is no good reason to why not to read it, it gives a big life lesson and it is a classic piece of literature.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, there is no good reason to why not to read this book. People might think that it is a dreadful book because this book has a lot of sexual passages; this is not true at all. Adults might think that this book exposes their children with bad morals and stories, which is false because during these days children get exposed to a lot of thing because of technology and friends. While the book might be perverted at some points it has some funny parts and teen would want to read books more if they are funnier. For example people say that teens are not reading as much as we should, like we discussed in class, being a human being we would rather read a naughty book then a clean book anytime.
Next, the book gives a big life lesson that if we do something bad something bad is going to happen to us, for example during the millers tale, when he tries to commit adultery by, making out with Absolon, in return he gets his butt branded. Basically the lesson has to do with karma meaning what ever goes around comes around. Books with morals are good books, especially for teens so that they learn they difference between right and wrong.
Lastly the book is a classic piece of English literature, it was made during the old times and has old English words, and it shows a different time of life and has rhyming. The book has a lot of different perceptive of different characters, which you wouldn’t think would act like that because they are all church goers. It is really interesting how the author manages to put all that together into one great piece of literature.
Viral Patel
I agree with Mohammed's comment as well.
ReplyDeleteTeens are exposed to inappropriate, indecent and coarse ideas that they shouldn’t be aware of. He mentions that teens watch R-rated movies that we know most are still too young for them. Yet, they see it as they please. The Canterbury Tales does relate to the R-rated movies that teens watch with an additional of at least one moral lesson.
I agree with Mohammed, us teen are exposed to a lot of stuff through movies and other things that people shouldn’t blame a book for all the bad things it has. I also agree with how most accelerated would not laugh at the sexual parts, because our mines have developed so that we can properly take the information in. We also try to look past the general meaning of it and think of a deeper meaning behind it or a below the surface meaning.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Simon, society has evolved a lot and maybe Simon is right about how this would not have been an appropriate back when it was written. Times have changed and now these types of stories have become a part of comedy. I think that our culture had become really perverted because little children are now saying your mom or that’s what she said. The influences of these bad behaviors can’t be from a book so that’s why we should still read them. Plus we are older now and we can assure that we wouldn’t laugh at these passages as much as if we were to read it a couple of years ago.
ReplyDeleteI think that teens should read the Canterbury Tales because a lot of the morals that Chaucer tries to teach can still be related to by people today. Of course, some of the punishments that his characters receive are a bit ridiculous and would probably not happen to people today; but the lessons they learn are still relevant. It is understandable for a person to say that teens should not read the tales because of the vulgar situations that Chaucer puts in all his stories. However, teens already see these kinds of things in popular movies and t.v. shows. Also, there are consequences for the vulgar actions, which teaches teens not to get into those situations. The tales are also interesting and humorous and teens can enjoy reading them. The book is not as uptight and proper as other schoolbooks might be, but Chaucer can still teach the same lessons in his raunchy stories as a proper book might. Chaucer could figure out a more enjoyable way to get his morals and points across, which makes the book more interesting and memorable. If teens can remember the stories, then they will probably remember the lesson that Chaucer tried to teach.
ReplyDelete-Stephanie Vrablik
I think that teens should read The Canterbury Tales because it teaches an important lesson, that if you do something bad you will be punished. Even though the book was written a long time ago, the lesson is still applicable now. Some adults may say that the book is innappropriate for younger people, but I think it is more suggestive rather than explicit. Chaucer uses the vulgar humor to keep his audience entertained.
ReplyDeleteIn the Pardoner's Tale, the lesson is taught that one should not be greedy. Because it is taught through a funny and ironic story, the moral seems more relevant to real life. Without the context of a story, the lesson would be less likely to seem of importance. If teens were sat in a lecture that tried to teach the same lessons as The Canterbury Tales, they would most likely be bored and not listen or think about what the lecturer is saying. Because Chaucer presents the morals in an entertaining and relevant way, it makes audiences more willing to listen and learn.
- Kelly Pyzik period 7
I strongly agree with Kelly's comment about The Canterbury Tales. Although there is some wrongdoing in the book there is still a moral lesson that we are learning. I don't think think that there is anything wrong with that.
ReplyDeleteTait's comments about The Canterbury Tales are very well thought out. The positives really do outweigh the negatives. The way Chaucer wrote the book would have been humorous back in the day that he wrote the book. But now we have been exposed to much more than The Canterbury Tales has to offer.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mohammed's comment because he points out that most people our age are mature enough to handle raunchy things like the ones in The Canterbury Tales. Not only are we exposed to some of those aspects in out daily lives, but we know how to be mature about them. Also, he points out that Chaucer wrote the book to be read by people and considering we are reading it in class, that shows that their is much more behind the raunchiness of the book to look for. Their are plenty of things in The Canterbury Tales that you can learn from not just raunchy, entertaining stories.
ReplyDeleteI believe that teens should read the Canterbury Tales because it reveals what consequences can happen to you if you act a certain way. In almost all the Tales we read in class, a character does something bad such as being unfaithful to their spouse or mistreating their body with drugs and alcohol. As a result, the character receives a consequence for their faulty actions. An example from The Canterbury Tales specifically from The Millers Tale shows us how Alison is married to John but she is unfaithful to him with Nicholas. As a result Nicholas gets a red hot poker in his behind. This can teach teens what could happen to them if they choose to make a wrong or bad decision. Of course our consequences will not be as extreme, but you can understand the idea behind it.
ReplyDeleteAdding on to this, the teens can also enjoy the book itself and it will not just be a learning experience. The teen can have fun while they are reading the book. Some teens might enjoy reading about raunchy aspects that happen in the book. As well as characters going behind each others backs to receive pleasure. These kinds of actions can be very enjoyable for a teen to read. Considering we are in high school, most of us are mature enough to handle the raunchiness.
To rap everything up, a teen can learn from the book not to make poor decisions as well as actually enjoy what they are reading. Considering we had to read The Canterbury Tales in school, it made the experience of reading the book that much more enjoyable and not just another assignment. Also, you can learn how to have a better future for yourself by making wise decisions in your life.
I agree with Alex's comment because he says that teens in our society today, are already familiar with some of the raunchiness that is in the book. To not read the book because of the raunchy things in it would be pointless. Their are a lot of good lessons and deeper meanings behind the raunchiness that can be good for our lives personally. If for example, parents say that we should not read The Canterbury Tales because it has too many inappropriate aspects in it, they would not see the deeper meaning that Chaucer has to offer from the book. Therefore, we as teenagers would not have the opportunity to learn valuable lessons about life as well as understand how to look past the surface of a book and understand the deeper meaning it has to offer.
ReplyDeleteIn my belief, I think that teens should read the Canterbury Tales, becuase in each story it teaches them a moral lesson at the end, but it is not clearly marked. Not only do teens get a moral lesson out of the story, they also learn new literary techniquises that will help them in the future. So teens are actually learning twice as much as compared to just reading a book on literary techniques.
ReplyDeleteAlso the stories in the Cantebury Tales are not boring, the stroies are well detailed and provide humerous details. For example in the Wife of Bath's tale, the knight was forced to marry an old, ugly woman becuase she had helped save his life. Even though when he was given the choice to leave her, he decided to stay with her, and in the end she turned into a beautiful young women. So there was humor, and a moral lesson to be learned in the end.
I think that Chaucer's form of writting, is humerous, but it also makes you think and learn a lot from his stories. I think that teens would like the Cantebury Tales, which is why I think they should read it.
I agree with Angela's comment because what she said was true about teens today. We are used to hearing and seeing vulgar and crude things because we watch lots of movies and t.v shows that may be vulgar and inappropriate but we still always watch them. So if we can watch these things on t.v, there should be no reason as to why we can not read things that are a bit vulgar and crude. Also compared to the things teens watch now a days this book is not nearly as inappropriate.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Lily's statement because not only do teens get to read a good book, but they also get a learning experience from it. Also most teens would think that the raunchiness, and inappropriateness of the book, would be funny. Because as teens we find some of that stuff to be funny, and it is a way for us to learn from the mistakes made by each of the characters. Which we can then use to help us make more moral decisions in life, just as Lily stated.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lili. I thought the stories were really interesting and kind of fun to read. This book was a lot better than all the other books we had to read in English 1 last year. Like Lili said, it didn't feel like an assignment.
ReplyDeleteI believe that teens should read The Canterbury Tales. The modern world has grown into where more adult themes are exposed to teenagers. All the raunchiness can be found on the radio, magazines, etc. The mild profanity is what creates interest in the readers.
ReplyDeleteThe Canterbury Tales also teaches valuable life lessons to the readers. For example, in the Miller's Tale, Absolon wants a kiss from Alisoun but ends up kissing her hairy butt. This tale shows that committing adultery can have consequences but in a humorous way which keeps interest in the reader. The tale teaches life lessons to the reader.
Based on Chaucer's creative way of writing and also incorporating life lessons, I believe that teenagers should read The Canterbury Tales.
I agree with Viral's comment because the story shows a new world to teenagers. Because teenagers aren't reading as much as they should, they are not exposes to classics, such as The Canterbury Tales. This story gives an insight to the medieval era. It is also true how human nature appeals to the raunchiness, on t.v. or in books. Teenagers would be interested in the story because the tales profanity would appeal to them.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Nicole's comment because The Canterbury Tales teaches teenagers about necessary life lessons. The media these days influences us to use drugs, and other bad things. The Canterbury Tales teaches us about what we should do in life and also incorporates humor into the story to keep us reading.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alex that The Canterbury Tales don't expose teens to anything they haven't heard about or seen before. I also agree that the humor is good because the reader has to think in order to understand why it is funny. It makes the reader more active in their reading than if they could just skim the pages to understand everything.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Simon that while The Canterbury Tales may have been innappropriate for teens at the time it was written, that is not really true any more. The book is less explicit than a lot of tv shows and movies that teens watch currently. I also agree that vulgar humor has become a commonly used source of comedy and is widely accepted in entertainment now.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kelly. The stories were more interesting than a lecture would be. If it was just someone telling a teen not to do immoral things (like the characters in the book), then a teen probably won't listen or actually remember what the person said. Through the context of a story the teen is more likely to remember it and take to heart the lessons that were taught.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Angela's comment whole-heartedly. Her main point, that there is literally no reason that teens should NOT be able to read the Canterbury Tales, is very true. She states an example from the Miller's Tale, which is full of very improper things, and goes on to say that most teens are exposed to this daily anyways. This example, I feel, demonstates perfectly one of the main reasons teens nowadays should be able to read The Canterbury Tales: teens would not only be able to understand the content of The Canterbury Tales, but would also be able to apply it to their everyday lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stephanie. She stated that teens should read the Canterbury Tales because the morals that Chaucer writes of can still be applied even today. I agree with this, as the morals Chaucer implies through his writing are important, and would be able to teach teens about life. Stephanie also states that the Canterbury Tales are not as boring and uptight as many other schoolbooks are nowadays, and therefore can be more interesting. I agree with this as well, as this allows teens to enjoy the story more and still be able to get a lesson out of it at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI think teens should read The Canterbury Tales because it's not that bad of a book. Even though it has some vulgar humor, it shouldn't really be that bad, considering people hear/speak offensive words in the streets. The Canterbury Tales also provide moral lessons in each tale, having to do with sin or moral things people do wrong. Also, Mrs. Teuber mentioned that if Chaucer just wrote a book on morals, that it would be boring. That is why the morals are taken in better as tales. The raunchy words just add to the character's, who are telling the tales, personalities. -Marco
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mohammed. He mentions that most English 2 accel. students wouldn't get all giggly over a few vulgar scenarios/words. In fact, most teens are probably too mature to get all hyped up by this type of writing, so the raunchiness shouldn't be a problem.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Viral's comment about how The Canterbury Tales has many perspectives of different kinds of people. These perspectives help make the book more interesting and gives the reader a brand new tale each time, like if you're reading a completely different book each time.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion I think that teenage students should read the Canterbury Tales. This book gives the student an idea of how old English is. Also the stories in the Canterbury Tales teach the reader a lesson. Although at times Chaucer uses crude humor and also is raunchy in his writings... he makes it fun for the reader. I think that these elements that Chaucer adds to his stories would make a teenage reader more interested. Chaucer also uses language that makes the student think. I think that this is important for readers of our age.
ReplyDelete-Tom Sunny prd.7
I agree with Mohammed's comment.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Chaucer does use some humor that people mite think is inappropriate... most kids our age are used to this kind of language. I also think that it would be okay if middle schoolers read this book. It would probably catch their attention more than ours.
I agree with Alex's comment.
ReplyDeleteI think that the tales in this story use humor that catch the attention of the reader. The humor could also make it fun for the reader. Alex also makes good points throughout his explanation.
I believe that teens should read The Canterbury Tales. Mrs. Teuber had said that Chaucer wrote this book to teach the reader a value or two; but that if Chaucer taught them without the raunchy humor, then the reader wouldn’t be as interested in the story. I know that trying to decipher the jokes hidden in the tales was a lot of fun; like a puzzle. Besides, I believe that teens are mature enough to handle the raunchy humor used in The Canterbury Tales because many teens have already been exposed to such crude humor as it is. Plus, teens are now to the age where they would understand the hidden humor in the tales and think that it is funny. I think this book exposes teens to a new style that they might really enjoy. I know I personally enjoyed writing the prologue and tale based on Chaucer’s style, because it was different from the style you read in today’s society.
ReplyDeleteTo sum things up, teens should most definitely be able to experience The Canterbury Tales, for they are mature enough to handle/enjoy Chaucer’s crude humor and it will give them the opportunity to discover a new writing style.
I think that Simon brings up an excellent point saying that what we consider “young” in today’s society was the “old” in the time of Chaucer; during Chaucer’s time, our teens were their mid-twenties to early thirties. So, I agree with Simon in that teens can surely handle and appreciate Chaucer’s writing style and raunchy humor.
ReplyDeleteI very much so agree with Caitlin’s comment on what she said about Chaucer’s use of story-telling as an excellent way to teach a value or moral. Also, that the lesson’s he teaches are timeless; so they are relatable to teens in today’s society.
ReplyDeleteI, however, disagree with what she says about teens back then not reading The Canterbury Tales, because I believe that teens back then had to grow up faster; so they matured quicker as well. I mean, “teens” our age back in Chaucer’s time were already married and raising a family, while we are just on the verge of being an “adult” in today’s society. Therefore, I think that “teens” had indeed read and enjoyed Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales just like we can today.
I agree with Shiju. The teens in the modern era are indeed exposed to all different kinds of profanity and other things like it so the raunchiness is nothing new to us. Another good point Shiju makes is that Chaucer does in fact incorporate a type of humor to even the adultery thus keeping the reader's intrest. We do in fact learn life lessons through Chaucer's creative writing.
ReplyDelete-Alex Hernandez, pd. 7
I also agree with Nicole's comment. Chaucer sets morals into the tales of the book while at the same time incorporating humor into the tale as well. This makes the book that much more appealing to teens and make it a book that teens will want to read, not just have to read.
ReplyDelete-Alex Hernandez, pd. 7
I agree with Alex, that Chacer does teach the reader morals, but also one has to take into consideration what kind of world we are living in today. It's already full of bad humor and naughtiness. There is no purpose exposeing teens to even more of this kind of language and writing.
ReplyDeleteI believe teens shouldn't be forced to read Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" because it is full of naughtiness. Though the stories reveal morals and teach teens value, the writing is not G rated, not is it PG rated. I understand that teens today do watch R rated movies, but there has to be a limit. The reader might totally miss the point of the tales, and end up acting just as the characters did. What kind of world would that lead us in. The future has to be violence free and morally just, but reading "The Canterbury Tales" would not permit that to happen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kendall, that in the "olden" times, teens matured more quicker and had a lot more responsiblites than teens do today. I guess reading Chaucer's book opens teens' eyes to such behaviors of adults, which can possibly help them in the "maturing process" of life.
ReplyDeleteI like Simon's idea. I agree that the stories, while they may not reflect EXACTLY what happens in life today, they are paralleled in a way that will last for centuries. The stories will still be relevant and applicable in any society for many years to come. It is good for students to read something so adaptable.
ReplyDeleteI believe that teens should read Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" because it is full of things that are on thier minds. A teen is usually thinking about the things that Chaucer portrays like feelings for the poosite gender and confusion about our perona at all. It is also full of humor and people like to laugh.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sophiya and Simon. The conturbury tales reflect scenarios of what happen today in our lives. Everyone can relate to one of the storys and gain knowledge from the morals.
I Believe that teens should in fact read chaucer's "The canterbury Tales" because it contains big vocabulary and old English. It Forces Us to think about more in depth to deeper meaning of the book. I mean by this is that we don't fully understand the text therefor we must look up the vocabulary and try to make sense of it. Having to re-read it to understand, and maybe discovering the deeper meaning by re-reading it. It makes makes our vocabulary bigger by read this book.
ReplyDeleteAlso because it funny and gets to moral of the story in a gross but interesting way.
After reading everyone else's responses, I believe that their is a good moral that can be learned in each tale. Also, that we are old enough to be mature about the raunchiness in each tale. However, their still should be some limit to the amount of bad behavior that we as teens see on television, witness in our everyday lives, and read in books. I do not think that it is bad to read Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" but I do not think we should be forced to read it. Event though the morals are important to learn especially as teens, their are other ways to learn them and not be exposed to raunchiness. One book is not going to change everyones mind and make them decide to make good choices and be a better person in the future.
ReplyDeleteAs you can see, their are good points and bad points as to why teens should or should not read Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales". I believe one should be able to choose whether or not they feel they should read the book or not.
I have to agree with lili's comments. The book is a good read and even though it teaches morals that we can a learn from and relate to, it shouldn't be enforced. We are exposed to this raunchiness every way we turn and it wouldn't be so bad if we could limit some of it. After all, we did learn morals in different ways, like listening to our parents read us nursery rhymes and Mother Goose stories. Even watching kids shows on tv taught us morals in a non-raunchy way.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, kids out age like raunchiness, but being mature enough to be exposed to it is a totally different matter. Kids our age like being on the same level as an adult because raunchy is funny, and we like thinking that we know a few things. The raunchyness in these tales provide a fun, and outgoing way to learn some of the same morals that were read from Mother Goose.
Your'e All Wrong
ReplyDelete