Creating convincing characters using ‘The Canterbury Tales’ as stimulus
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can write a description of a character who is convincing and intriguing, inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer's character descriptions in 'The Canterbury Tales'.
Key learning points
- Chaucer creates 30 convincing characters in the opening section of his poem, 'The Canterbury Tales'.
- To create each character, Chaucer describes how they look, how they speak, how they act and how others respond to them.
- Chaucer also includes intriguing details so that we are curious to know more about each character.
- These methods of characterisation are employed by many writers and can be used in your own writing.
Keywords
Intrigued - the emotion someone feels if something is strange or mysterious and they want to know more about it
Invariably - always, or almost always
Furtively - secretly
Vacuous - empty, shallow
Audacious - bold, brave, outrageous
Common misconception
You have to include each aspect of characterisation in the same paragraph, and always in the same order.
Chaucer has a particular way of introducing and describing his characters. However, this is one way to do it, amongst many. You will see lots of different writers use the same methods of characterisation, but in different orders and structures.
Teacher tip
Consider how you would like to use the model from Andeep in Learning Cycle 2. You might want to walk through it with your pupils, or you could consider asking them to pick it apart themselves.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Depiction or discussion of peer pressure or bullying
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Who wrote 'The Canterbury Tales' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire')?
Q2.In 'Myths, legends and stories that inspire', we read sections of 'The Canterbury Tales'. What type of text is 'The Canterbury Tales'?
Q3.What do we learn about the character of the Miller when he is first introduced in 'The Canterbury Tales'? ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').
Q4.Match the subheadings to what we learn about the Miller in 'The Canterbury Tales' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').
large, muscular, red beard, sword and shield by his side
enjoys wrestling, steals corn, breaks down doors
accuse him of being drunk and ask him not to tell a rude story
loudly, and tells rude jokes
Q5.In 'The Canterbury Tales' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire') a large number of characters are introduced in the first section of the poem. What are the characters all doing?
Q6.Chaucer wrote 'The Canterbury Tales' Shakespeare wrote his plays and sonnets ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match each word to its definition ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').
always, or almost always
secretly
empty, shallow
bold, brave, outrageous
Q2.Match each character from Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire') to what we find out about them.
loud, violent, strong, sneaky
polite, gentle, tattered clothes, successful warrior
tattered clothes, very silent, extremely thin
good judge of beer, open wound on shin
Q3.Which of the characters from 'The Canterbury Tales' ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire') might we best describe as audacious?
Q4.Which of these sentences, all inspired by 'The Canterbury Tales', uses the word 'invariably' (or a form of it) correctly? ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').
Q5.Which of these sentences, all inspired by 'The Canterbury Tales', uses the word 'furtively' (or a form of it) correctly? ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').
Q6.Which of these sentences, all inspired by 'The Canterbury Tales', uses the word 'vacuous' correctly? ('Myths, legends and stories that inspire').
To help you plan your 8 English lesson on: Creating convincing characters using ‘The Canterbury Tales’ as stimulus, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 English lesson on: Creating convincing characters using ‘The Canterbury Tales’ as stimulus, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 English lessons from the Myths, legends and stories that inspire unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.