Canterbury Tales by Chaucer: AP Literature Roundtable & Composition Skills

General Overview

Here is a graphically themed and titled Roundtable meant to help hone specific AP Skills while preparing students to analyze and independently discuss Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales from an array of perspectives using different strategies. This activity should take about 1-3 classes depending on how you want to move through the text, use the role sheets, and build toward an assessment. Students work toward composing commentary about literature, discussing literature independently and confidently, reading closely, studying well, and appreciating fiction.

This activity will prepare students with the strategies they learn in their AP classroom to write an essay or analyze a portion of text, and should function as an exercise of the learning and skills already taught. If you want your students to dig into your themes and goals for class using the AP Skills required, let them actively analyze and discuss with Whippoorwill.

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Whippoorwill AP Literature and Composition Roundtable

Short and Long Fiction, Skills: 1A-1C-1D-1E, 2A-2B-2C, 3A-3B-3E-3F, 4A-4B-4C, 5A-5B-5C, 6A-6B, 7A-7B-7C-7D

Overview

Assign the roles and reading for homework, and when the class next meets students engage in an academic discussion that is independent of the teacher, fueled by AP Lit Skills, and fun. Each student has responsibilities while reading AND while discussing, so these can both be assessed as you see fit.

This is meant for students to practice the skills they have used in both investigation, analysis, discussion, and the first steps of composition. Form-fitting, you may pick and choose which roles to assign, whether to use the Composition roles as a secondary activity rather than simultaneously with the Literature roles, and/or use this as a springboard for their next essay.

Possible Teaching Guide

Day One: Assign the Literature roles then read with them at first, allowing time for you to answer questions about their roles.

HW: Assign the reading and Literature roles.

Day Two: AP Literature Roundtable Discussion — the Two Claims your class must make by the end of the discussion are essential for them to contextualize the reading into whatever goals you have for your next essay. You can always change the Two Claims, as well!

HW: Assign a single Composition Role, having them read back through the text with an eye toward Connecting to other Media, Connecting to a Theme, or just honing a Thesis with their Evidence.

Day Three: Work with them on honing a thesis using their Claim and shorthand Defenses.

HW: Work on outline/thesis.

Literature Roles

• Discussion Leader - leads our day’s discussion
• Scene Artist - draw, quote, and explain details that best establish the setting
• Language Highlighter - find and explain figurative language like symbols, images, similes, etc..
• Narrative Nose - find and explain events driven by the plot and details driven by POV
• Culture Commenter - find and explain meaningful comparisons between your culture and those of the characters
• Character Watcher - document character developments and conflicts
• Story Condenser - summarize the reading, choose three moments that would best ‘sell’ the story
• Perspective Perceiver - find and explain details that reveal perspective from either the characters or narrator
• Contrast Keeper - find and explain three contrasts, either character, narration, or values

Composition Roles

• Evidential Claimant - find five pieces of evidence you might use to make a defensible claim, explain your commentary
• Theme Manager - find and explain five details that relate to an overarching theme from class
• Media Connector - find and explain five details relating to another piece of media thematically, culturally, or otherwise

Other Teaching Possibilities

Use these as individual worksheets to hone specific literary skills. Do a class on the characters and their development, POV and its use, or how an author uses contrast by assigning only the appropriate investigation sheet. Or, better yet, assign all three and do small discussions…or whole group discussions around how characters are developed using literary strategies. These worksheets are highly reusable with your shared novel, and they’ll allow your students to provide their own interpretations of the text.

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