Monday, March 8, 2010

The Canterbury Tales

So we just started reading the Canterbury Tales and its very interesting how Chaucer describes his characters in the book. First I will give you a description on what the tale is about. Chaucer is staying at a hotel and he meets these people. Then after talking to these people he decides that he will join their pilgrimage. Then as the journey begins he writes about what the characters look and act like.
First, Chaucer describes the knight. He says that the knight is a noble man which fought in the Crusades. He was dressed in a fustian tunic that has a rust on it. The knight brings his son along with him on the journey. He is named the Squire. The Squire loves to sing and play his flute. He is a 20 year old man that has red and white flowers embedded on his clothes. And the last person in their group was the Yeoman. He was a servant that was very heavily armed with arrows, a sword, a dagger, an arm shield, and a buckler. He also had his bow in his hands at all times.
Now Chaucer is describing the nun. Her favorite oath is “By St. Loy!” She sings religious tunes and has excellent table manners. She really cares about animals. She would probably cry if a mouse gets killed in a trap. She also has two dogs with her. She feeds them roasted flesh or milk. Her secretary rides along with her.
These are some of the characters in the book. They spread from the man of law, to the carpenter, to a doctor. I think Chaucer chose these characters because they all had a purpose for being there. They wouldn't just be on a pilgrimage if they didn't have a particular skill. You had the doctor in case you got sick on the way there. You had the knight and his son just in case you have trouble on the way there. They just all had a purpose to be there. When Chaucer describes these characters, he does it so well that I can almost see them right in front of my face. I think if I actually saw these people in real life this is what the people would look like.
In our game there isn't a human character. We have a trash can but if the people didn't know that it was a trash can then the game wouldn't make any sense. It is a huge part of our game. Describing characters isn't only important in books and movies. It is really important in games also. If the person playing the game doesn't have a good description of the characters then the they wouldn't understand the purpose of our game. I can't wait until we make our game!!\

This cite really help me understand the characters:
http://www.gradesaver.com/the-canterbury-tales/study-guide/section1/

1 comment:

  1. Becareful simply giving a summary of the characters. You started to talk about purpose. That is the direction I wanted this post to take. What is the purpose of Chaucer picking each of those characters to appear? Will you have any other characters other than the trash can?

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