CHAUCER ESSAY EXAM
PART ONE (20 points):
This response can be single paragraph and should not use any research sources. It should not take longer than 30 minutes.
Instructions: Choose one of the three main male characters in “The Miller’s Tale.” Explain what we readers are supposed to think about that character when we “meet” him, based on how the character is described in the Tale. You can look at clothing, speech, behavior, the language used to describe him, etc.
Remember what I am asking: not whether you like the character or not, but how you think the author wants us to see the character based on how the character is described.
You do not have to do in-text citations on this part.
Grading will be on whether you:
Respond to the prompt accurately;
Use evidence from the text to support your statements;
Reasonably proofread what you’ve written.
PART TWO (80 points):
This response should be the form of an essay, with a thesis statement that responds directly to the prompt, some sort of introduction, and body paragraphs.
You must use at least one of the two research sources I provided. Do not use any other research sources besides those.
https://opencanterburytales.dsl.lsu.edu/the-wife-of-baths-prologue/
https://brunonwords.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/the-miller’s-tale-the-true-feminist-or-anti-feminist-debate/
The research source(s) should be used in the text, and be cited in the text according to MLA format. There should be a Works Cited page at the end, containing the research source(s) you have used.
The two research sources I provided discuss Chaucer’s “Alison/Alisoun” characters in “The Miller’s Tale” and the “Wife of Bath’s Prologue”, as well as the “Wife of Bath’s Tale,” as examples of what we would call “feminist” characters. They argue:
Chaucer is presenting this material to challenge the medieval assumptions about marriage and the role of women;
We are expected to see the two ‘Alisons’ as relatively positive characterizations rather than as typical examples of “bad” women and why marriage is dangerous for men.
PROMPT: Do you agree that the two Alison characters are presented as positive characterizations? Could these characters be relevant in any way to our modern concerns?
Please respond using specific references to the texts and research sources – say what you agree or disagree with and why, with discussion supporting your thesis. You may refer to the description of the Wife of Bath in the “General Prologue” if that is useful.
Ask if you have questions, during the time the exam is posted. I will respond as quickly and helpfully as I can.
Grading will be on whether you:
respond to the prompt;
use the research source(s) in appropriate, relevant ways;
demonstrate a grasp of the texts and the issues;
Do in-text citations and have MLA citations at the end;
turn in something reasonably proofread — not a rough first draft.
I am treating this like an exam, not as a typical research essay, which means it will be shorter and less detailed in its analysis, and less finished. There is no length minimum, but students rarely achieve a successful complete response to Part 2 in fewer than 600 words.
