Lesson video

Hi everyone, welcome to lesson three of "The Refugee Tales" Prologue, with me, Miss Kuhivchak.

Today we're going to be looking at the power of stories, and in particular, the links that we can make between Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" and "The Refugee Tales" Prologue.

I hope you're ready to learn and I hope you enjoy.

For today's lesson, you'll need three things.

You'll need something to write with, something to write on, and your brain.

As usual, the lesson will still work if you don't have a pen and paper but it won't work if your brain isn't switched on.

If you don't have a pen and paper, pause the video now and go and get them.

I'm going to take you through this lesson's agenda.

First you're going to learn a bit about Chaucer's "General Prologue." We're then going to look at "The Refugee Tales" Prologue, look at what the Prologue teaches us, and how they're similar and different.

At the end, there will be a short quiz for you to review your learning and see how much you've learned today.

We're going to start off with a quick introduction to Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales".

This might be a text you're familiar with or it might not.

But if you don't know a bit about the "Canterbury Tales," you won't be able to fully access everything that the Prologue is trying to explain in "The Refugee Tales".

So Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," I'm going to take you through some facts about it and hopefully you'll remember them for a little bit of a review at the end of the lesson.

The "General Prologue" is the beginning of Chaucer's "Prologue." And a prologue meaning before something is spoken is an introduction to a longer text.

Chaucer's "Prologue" is written in Middle English.

That's the version of English spoken roughly between 1300 and 1500 and it may seem a little different to the way we speak, though some of it may seem familiar.

It has lots of French influences.

And I'm going to show you a little bit in the next few slides.

In the "General Prologue," we have a narrator who narrates in the past.

That means he's talking about experiences that he's already had and he's already seen.

And it introduces the longer story, which is the tales of the pilgrims that he actually meets.

Pilgrims, if you remember from the previous lesson, are travelling to a place of worship.

In this case, the city of Canterbury.

The reason that Chaucer introduces his pilgrims is they're a very different set of characters.

They represent a variety of types of people in Chaucer's society, from the poorest to the richest.

This allows Chaucer to comment on how society is set up at the time and occasionally make fun of the habits that people have.

Now the way the story is set up is that the telling of these pilgrims' tales is a competition for entertainment.

The pilgrims' tales are there to amuse the readers and they're competing with each other to see who can have the most fascinating story.

Now, when we look at "The Refugee Tales," you'll realise that maybe the purpose of "The Refugee Tales" is a little bit different to the purpose of the pilgrims' tales in Chaucer's "General Prologue." this is the opening extract of Chaucer's "General Prologue." And if you look carefully at the words on the screen, you'll realise that they look at bit different to the language that we speak today.

You'll notice some different spellings.

Don't worry because we're not going to be using Chaucer's original English for this.

We're going to be using a more modernised translation.

But I wanted you to look at this original version because parts of this will be used in "The Refugee Tales" Prologue.

And we'll talk about why, in "The Refugee Tales" Prologue, Chaucer's original English has been used instead of a translation.

On the screen, you'll see a slightly different, modernised version of the opening of Chaucer's "General Prologue." I'm going to read it to you and then talk through what it means and I'll explain some of the vocabulary as we go through as well.

When in April the sweet showers fall and pierce the drought of March to the root, and all the veins are bathed in liquor of such power as brings about the engendering of the flower, when also Zephyrus with his sweet breath exhales an air in every grove and heath upon the tender shoots, and the young sun, his half-course in the sign of the Ram has run.

And the small fowl are making melody that sleep away the night with open eye.

So nature pricks them into their heart engages.

Then people long to go on pilgrimages and palmers long to seek the stranger strands of far off saints, hallowed in sundry lands.

Now there's a lot going on here.

Let's start with the basics.

The poem opens with a famous line, when in April the sweet showers fall.

Chaucer starts off his poem in spring and he discusses how spring changes the landscape around him including opening up the flowers, the birds waking up, the birds' song in the sky.

In fact, everything seems beautiful.

Spring here is a time of hope and a time of change.

And it's also the time when pilgrims start to think about travelling somewhere else.

Because with the warmer weather, that makes travel easier.

Chaucer focuses on the rain that causes plants to stop growing.

He talks about veins being bathed in liquor of such power that brings about the engendering of the flower.

Here we've got imagery of plants starting to flourish after they've been hibernating over the winter.

The word Zephyrus might be a new word to you.

A zephyr is actually a soft, warm breeze.

And Chaucer talks about how after the rain and the flowers start to bloom, you get a warm wind that starts to, again, encourage the plants to grow and flourish.

Finally, you have the description of pilgrimages and pilgrims. The idea that far off saints hallowed in sundry lands.

Which really means there are different places that pilgrims want to go.

Sundry means many.

And people travel there for different reasons.

Palmers, an ancient word for pilgrim, just describes the kinds of people who want to travel.

And this is the introduction as Chaucer starts to explain the kinds of people that want to go on pilgrimage and their different motivations.

So, what has this got to do with people wanting to seek asylum? Let's think about what the similarities and differences might be.

There are going to be some questions on the screen you need to think about and it would be a good idea to pause at the end of this and have a careful think about what these questions are asking you.

My first question is that Chaucer's "Prologue" writes about spring which we've already said is a time of hope and a time of change.

I want you to think about how that could be relevant to refugees in particular, especially when we think about previous lesson and the fact that refugees are looking for a place of safety.

I also want you to think about the fact that Chaucer talks about many distant shrines well known across the world.

What has that got to do with refugees? And think about what might motivate a refugee to come to the UK in particular.

Pause the slide and have a think, and we'll go through some possible answers together.

Now, let's think about the first question.

Chaucer's "Prologue" is written in spring, a time of hope and change.

What has that got to do with refugees? Well, one option is, of course, if you're writing a time where you need hope, that relates to refugees because refugees hope that things will get better.

That's one of the reasons why they've chosen to leave their country of origin and seek a safe place somewhere else.

That's similar to pilgrims, who have hope that travelling on a pilgrimage, will have something, some kind of change for them in their lives too.

And secondly, a refugee might want change.

Particularly a change to happen in their home country so it becomes safe for them to return.

For example, if you're fleeing war, one of the changes you might want is you might hope for the world to end so you can return home and live your life as you did before.

Chaucer setting his poem in spring isn't a coincidence.

He picks it because it's a season that shows that things will renew and things will get better.

It gives us a sense of hope and that's something that refugees want as well.

Now for the second question.

I asked you what might motivate or encourage a refugee to come to the UK or to another similar country.

This was quite a hard question.

One of the reasons might be that actually the UK is known to be a safe place to move to.

For example, it's not a war zone.

It's a stable country.

And if you're fleeing a war, you might want to move to a country where you know you're going to be safe.

A refugee might also already have friends or relatives living in the UK.

And if you think about the stress of moving somewhere else, it might be quite encouraging to know there's someone in the country you're moving to who will help you get settled and help you understand what's happening in your unfamiliar surroundings.

Now I'm not saying these are the only reasons a refugee might want to come to the UK.

And it might not be that spring being a time of hope is the only thing that makes it relevant to refugees so don't worry if you didn't get all these answers.

However, these are things you might have put down.

So well done if you had these thoughts as well.

So the "Refugee Tales" Prologue, then.

What has that got to do with Chaucer's "Prologue" and the things we've already discussed? Well, similarly to before, the prologue coming before speech is an introduction to a longer text.

It's actually a poem written by the poet David Herd.

It introduces tales of anonymous asylum seekers.

Anonymous meaning not having names.

And often the asylum seekers are anonymous to protect their identity so nobody knows who they are.

However, these are true stories that have just been retold by poets and novelists.

They will have interviewed the refugees, heard their tales, and decided there are particular ones that need to be shared.

A lot of these stories can be quite distressing.

There's a reason for this.

It's a protest against the treatment of asylum seekers in the UK, particularly the practise of indefinite detention, meaning being kept, without limit on time, in a detention centre, of which there are 10 across the UK.

In 2015, a nine day group pilgrimage to Canterbury with refugees, asylum seekers, and volunteers was carried out to raise awareness of the issues.

And since then, the refugee walk has happened every single year in order to raise money and help support asylum seekers who've been detained in the UK.

We're going to look at the very first section of "The Refugee Tales" Prologue.

And then later we're going to think about how it's similar and different to the beginning of Chaucer's "Prologue." You'll notice, of course, that it is in modern English and it's set out as a poem.

Remember, it's written by David Herd, who's been influenced by the "Canterbury Tales," and it is much shorter.

I'm going to read it to you and get you to think about the themes and ideas that are in here and clarify some of the vocabulary.

This prologue is not a poem.

It is an act of welcome.

It announces that people present reject the terms of the debate that criminalises human movement.

It is a declaration this night in Shepherdswell of solidarity.

Now let's look at what this prologue is actually saying.

So it starts off with the idea of this poem being an act of welcome.

And it talks about the criminalization of human movement.

Criminalise means to make a crime.

And what it's protesting about is the idea that refugees who move, so the idea of human movement, which remember is a human right.

Refugees who move are detained very similar to the way that prisoners are detained.

Even though technically, they've not committed a crime.

David Herd says this is a declaration, which means a strong statement.

It's a declaration of solidarity, which means togetherness or unity.

This prologue is talking about how refugees need support and need to be strong, standing together with people who are welcoming them rather than being made to feel like they're criminals.

That's why he starts of by saying this prologue is not a poem, which seems a bit of a strange statement.

Of course it is a poem, but it's not a poem to entertain.

It's a poem that's serious.

It's an act of welcome.

And this poem argues that what refugees need most is to be welcomed with hospitality rather than being made to feel like they're committing some kind of crime.

Now let's put your learning into action and think about the question of what attitude the prologue suggests we should have towards refugees.

On the screen, you'll see some sentences with some gaps in.

And I'd like you to copy those out and finish them off in your own words.

If you're stuck, on the side of the screen, you'll see a bit of the poem and you'll notice some parts of it in bold.

And those are there as clues to help you with the question.

Question one, the poem suggests that when refugees come to the UK, we should make them feel.

Question two, the poet tells us that refugees seeking asylum should not be treated like.

And question three, the Prologue suggests the best attitude to have is when ordinary people and asylum seekers feel like they are.

Have a go at finishing those off in your own words.

Now hopefully your answers will look a little bit like this.

Question one, the poem suggests that when refugees come to the UK, we should make them feel welcome.

And the clue was in the second line of the poem when the prologue is described as being an act of welcome.

Question two, the poet tells us that refugees seeking asylum should not be treated like criminals.

And the clue again was in the line that this is a debate that criminalises.

The poem argues that refugees are not committing a crime by seeking asylum because, of course, it is a human right.

And finally, the Prologue suggests the best attitude to have is when ordinary people and asylum seekers feel like they're equal.

Remember, the poem talked about the idea of solidarity, which meant togetherness or unity.

Now you might have raised your answers slightly differently, which is absolutely fine.

These are just my own words and your words might have been different.

We're now going to review your learning with some true or false questions.

I'm going to put some statements on the screen.

Right down the number of the statement, and next to each one, write t or f for true or false.

We'll review them at the end.

Statement one, "The Refugee Tales" Prologue does not express a strong opinion about refugees.

Statement two, Chaucer's "Prologue" tells us that many people travel pilgrimages for different reasons and to different places.

Statement three, "The Refugee Tales" Prologue thinks refugees should be treated like criminals.

Statement four, "The Refugee Tales" Prologue thinks refugees should work alone without help from others.

And statement five, Chaucer's "Prologue" is to entertain through stories, but "The Refugee Tales" Prologue is designed to educate through stories.

Have a think about whether these statements are true or false.

Now let's go through the answers.

Statement one, "The Refugee Tales" Prologue does not express a strong opinion about refugees was false.

As we saw when we read the first extract, it clearly expresses that refugees shouldn't be criminalised and it expresses a strong message of solidarity.

Statement two was true.

Chaucer's "Prologue" does tell us that many people travel pilgrimages for different reasons and to different places and countries.

Statement three was false.

"The Refugee Tales" Prologue doesn't think that refugees should be treated like criminals.

It thinks the opposite.

It thinks they should be decriminalised for seeking asylum which is a human right.

And four, that was false as well.

"The Refugee Tales" Prologue doesn't think refugees should work alone, it thinks others should help and there should be a sense of unity.

And finally, number five was true.

Chaucer's "Prologue" is designed to entertain, whereas "The Refugee Tales" Prologue is designed to educate through the stories that it tells.

Well done if you got those answers right.

Next lesson, we're going to look in more detail at the prologue in "The Refugee Tales".

We'll think about the language that it uses and how it's borrowed some of the language from Chaucer's "Prologue" to create its own message about refugees and pilgrimages today.

To recap everything we've done, we've looked at Chaucer's "General Prologue" as well as "The Refugee Tales Prologue." We thought about what what the Prologue teaches us and how they're similar and different.

After this lesson, I hope you can review your learning with a short quiz so you can see how much you've learned.

Thank you for listening.

I hope you enjoyed today's lesson.

And I hope you enjoy the rest of your learning for today.