EN311: Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

Portfolio of Response Papers and Summative Essay

At the final exam on Monday, May 7, the portfolio and summative essay are due.

For the portfolio, collect all of the response papers that you have written this semester and arrange them in chronological order, in hard copy. Then, read through the papers and respond to them in one of the following ways:

Option 1: In a 2-3 page essay, describe how your views of the topics we have explored in the course-- epic, nationhood, England, heroism, or some combination of these-- have evolved over the semester. Document this evolution with specific examples from at least three of the response papers, explaining as precisely as possible what the examples reveal about your views and thought processes. Feel free to elaborate your perceptions and opinions of English epic or related themes now, and how you think they might continue to evolve.

Option 2: In a 2-3 page essay, describe how your writing style or approach to composing written work has evolved over the course of the semester. Document this evolution with at leas three specific examples taken from different response papers. These examples might represent things that you think you could have done better, or things that you think show improvement or valuable qualities that you hope to incorporate into your writing more often. Feel free to consider any elements of style or analysis, and to refer to your graded essays as well.

Option 3: In a 2-3 page essay, describe how the literature, history, or ideas considered in this course intersect with other literature you have read, or with material you have studied in other classes. Using several examples from the response papers, try to identify points of intersection between the material of this course and other art or literature or other disciplines, and explain how you respond to these connections.

Option 4: Write your own Canterbury Tale. You might revise or modernize one of the tales, or write a tale that you think is more appropriate for the teller than one of those we read, or write a tale for a pilgrim who, in Chaucer's version, does not tell one. Your tale may be of any length (and may, but does not have to be, in verse.)

Attach your summative essay to the front of your portfolio and submit it at the start of the exam.