Chaucer and 21st Century Readers

Chaucer and 21st Century Readers

Visit the Web site Visualizing Chaucer and explore the contents of the site: http://d(dot)lib(dot)rochester(dot)edu/chaucer

Then, discuss the following prompt, which first includes an excerpt from "Chaucer in American Higher Education, Past and present" by Alan Baragona.

"Chaucer is unique among British cultural exports to the United States because he is so inextricably tied to the classroom. Shakespeare as a general rule may first be introduced to modern Americans in high school, but his work has a life outside school in the theater, and it is possible for an American to discover Shakespeare first on the stage rather than on the page. British music, classical or folk, is known primarily in the concert hall and on radio; British films, in the movie houses; British art, in the museums. None of these really needs the classroom to be transplanted across the Atlantic. Although it is true that Chaucer is distinguished from his contemporaries like Gower or Hoccleve because he continues to appeal to modern sensibilities in a variety of ways, it is also true that, in the United States even more than in England, Chaucer depends on teachers to cultivate those sensibilities so that his work continues to be read." (Baragona, .)

In your view, is it difficult to teach Chaucer in American high schools/ colleges? To be more specific, is it difficult to interest students in Chaucer? Explain your rationale. Might the Visualizing Chaucer Web site be useful in engaging students with Chaucer? Why/ why not?

Respond to this prompt in short essay format. 500-700 words. Provide concrete examples and illustrations. Please use MLA format and keep in mind this is an academic essay and should not be in the first person.

Baragona, Alan. "Chaucer in American higher education, past and present." Chaucer: An Oxford Guide. Ed. Steve Ellis. Oxford:

Oxford UP (2005).