Summary
In this lesson on The Wife of Bath’s tale from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, students will examine different perspectives of characters from the story. They will do a deeper dive on “What Women Want?” and the history of women’s movements.
Essential Question(s)
How does literature serve as a mirror to society, offering insights into different eras, cultures, and human experiences? How can literature encourage empathy and understanding?
Snapshot
Engage:
Students read marriage laws, decide which are (or were) real and which are not, and sort them using the Card Sort strategy.
Explore:
Students listen to and follow along reading “The Wife of Bath” using the Categorical Highlighting strategy.
Explain:
Students use the Step In, Step Out, Step Back strategy to reflect on different characters’ perspectives and experiences.
Extend:
Students reflect on the article about women’s liberation using the Categorical Highlighting strategy.
Evaluate:
Students create women’s liberation–style posters featuring key elements they learned in the lesson using the S-I-T strategy.
Materials
Lesson Slides—Bubbling Personalities: Unraveling the Wife of Bath’s Tale (attached)
Marriage Laws Card Sort—Bubbling Personalities: Unraveling the Wife of Bath’s Tale (attached; one set per group)
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale handout (attached; one per student)
The Wife of Bath’s Tale Prologue recording (attached)
The Wife of Bath’s Tale recording (attached)
Step In, Step Out, Step Back handout (attached; one per student)
What Women Want handout (attached; one per student)
Highlighters (pink, yellow, orange, or three colors of your choosing)
Chart paper
Markers
Internet-capable devices
Engage
Introduce the lesson by displaying the title on slide 1 from the attached Lesson Slides.
Display slides 2–3. Review the essential question and the learning objectives.
Display slide 4 and share the instructional strategy Card Sort with students. Have students partner up and pass out the attached copies of the Marriage Laws Card Sort. Instruct students to read through each of the rules with their partners. Instruct the groups to sort the cards into rules that were or are real laws and the false AI-generated rules for marriage.
Explore
Distribute copies of the complete The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale handout (attached) and highlighters.
Display slide 5. Have students use the instructional strategy Categorical Highlighting as they read and listen to look for things that are Surprising, Interesting, and Troubling. Students will highlight the surprising things yellow, the interesting things orange, and the troubling things pink. Play the “The Wife of Bath - Prologue” and “The Wife of Bath - Tale,” located on the hidden slide 6, for the students. After students have finished reading and highlighting, direct them to compare and discuss what they have highlighted with a partner and then with the whole class.
Explain
Display slide 7 and share the instructional strategy Step In, Step Out, Step Back with students. Distribute the attached Step In, Step Out, Step Back handout. Direct students to think about the characters in The Wife of Bath’s Tale and choose one character to focus on. Instruct students to put themselves in the shoes of their chosen character and answer the following questions as if they were their chosen character.
Display slide 8. Read the Step In prompt: Given what you see and know at this time, what do you think this person might feel, believe, know, or experience? Direct students to the corresponding box on the handout and give them time to complete this section of the handout based on their chosen character.
Display slide 9. Read the Step Out prompt: What else would you like or need to learn to understand this person’s perspective better? Direct students to the corresponding box on the handout. Give students time to complete this section of the handout based on their chosen character.
Display slide 10. Read the Step Back prompt: Given your exploration of this perspective so far, what do you notice about your own perspective and what it takes to take somebody else’s? Direct students to the corresponding box on the handout and give them sufficient time to complete this section of the handout based on their chosen character.
Direct students to share what they reflected on. As they are sharing, remind them to take notes on the handout in the box labeled: Notes about other characters from the share-out.
Extend
Distribute the What Women Want article (attached).
Display slide 11. Direct students to read the article and once again use the instructional strategy Categorical Highlighting to look for things that are Surprising, Interesting, and Troubling. Students will highlight the surprising things yellow, the interesting things orange, and the troubling things pink. Direct students to compare and discuss what they have highlighted with a partner and then with the whole class.
Evaluate
Distribute chart paper and markers.
Display slide 12. Explain to students that they will be creating a poster similar to a women’s liberty poster. Have students use the S-I-T Strategy to complete this activity. Explain that their poster should include the following:
Surprising: an issue that women faced historically but still face today.
Interesting: a fact/information you learned from this lesson.
Troubling: include data or information that stands out and is concerning.
Explain that students should include images, words, phrases, titles, headings, color, etc., and that their poster should relate to the Wife of Bath tale. Encourage students to use the checklist on the slide for reference. When the posters are completed, have students present their poster to the class, noting their S-I-T choices.
Resources
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
Clark Law Group. (2017, January 30). 13 wacky marriage laws you might be breaking. [Web log post]. https://www.clgtx.com/blog/13-wacky-marriage-laws-you-might-be-breaking
Cliffs Notes. (n.d.). Summary and analysis The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/c/the-canterbury-tales/summary-and-analysis/the-wife-of-baths-prologue-and-tale
Clinton, H. (1995). First Lady Hillary Clinton’s address to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. Common Lit. https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/first-lady-hillary-clinton-s-address-to-the-united-nations-fourth-world-conference-on-women
Conley, T., Gunnell, H., and Woodruff, C., trans. (2019, December 3). Geoffrey Chaucer’s The wife of Bath’s prologue and tale. HONR 390: Diversity and Disability in The Canterbury Tales. https://digitalresearch.bsu.edu/canterburytales/items/show/12
K20 Center. (n.d.). Categorical highlighting. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/192
K20 Center. (n.d.). S-I-T (Surprising, interesting, troubling). Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/926
K20 Center. (n.d.). Step in, step out, step back. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/1585
Munoz, J. (2021, February 4). The powerful, complicated legacy of Betty Friedan’s feminine mystique. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/powerful-complicated-legacy-betty-friedans-feminine-mystique-180976931/
O’Connell, C. (2022, November 28). 13 surprising marriage laws you might be breaking right now. Reader’s Digest. https://www.rd.com/list/13-surprising-marriage-laws-you-might-be-breaking-right-now/
Shulman, A. K., and Moore, H. (2021, February 19). A brief history of women’s liberation movements in America. Literary Hub. https://lithub.com/author/alixkatesshulmanhonormoore/
The Wife of Bath's Tale. (2024, January 11). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wife_of_Bath%27s_Tale
University of Rochester Medical Center. (n.d.).The keys to a successful marriage. Retrieved February 6, 2024, from https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=1&contentid=4580
Wedition. (2019, July 18). Strange marriage laws from around the world. https://wedition.co.uk/blog/2019-07-18-strange-marriage-laws-from-around-the-world
Woman’s Day.com Staff. (2017, August 2). 10 of the most obscure marriage laws in the U.S. Woman’s Day.com. https://www.womansday.com/relationships/dating-marriage/advice/a1846/10-obscure-marriage-laws-in-the-us-110196/