The Open Access Companion to the Canterbury Tales

Home

¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 This is not the current version of this project. The final, polished, and complete version is available at

¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 opencanterburytales.dsl.lsu.edu

¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 This site (opencanterburytales.com) contains only drafts-in-progress used for an open review of the project in its early phases. It is being kept up in case classes have already assigned URLs from this site. This site will be discontinued by Summer 2018 if not earlier.

¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 0 —

¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 0 Welcome to the online home of an early version of the Open Access Companion to the Canterbury Tales.

¶ 6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 0 The Open Access Companion to the Canterbury Tales is a free, scholar-produced volume of introductory essays for first-time readers of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. Essay chapters explore each of the tales in relation to an engaging topic of broad general interest, while reference chapters provide key context and tools for understanding the Canterbury Tales and its time period. This current version is a draft in progress. In an upcoming final version (location and hosting TBA), more chapters, and revised versions of current chapters, will appear. The polished chapter drafts from the Open custom book Review services are listed below

ESSAY CHAPTERS (Tale paired with topic)

¶ 7 Leave a comment on paragraph 7 0 Sisterhood and Brotherhood in “The Knight’s Tale” – Essay Chapter- by Chris Chism

¶ 8 Leave a comment on paragraph 8 0 Wages, Work, Wealth, and Economic Inequality: “The Reeve’s Tale” – Essay Chapter – by William Rhodes

¶ 9 Leave a comment on paragraph 9 0 Race and Racism: “The Man of Law’s Tale” – Essay Chapter – by Cord J. Whitaker

¶ 10 Leave a comment on paragraph 10 0 Love and Marriage in the “Wife of Bath’s Prologue” – Essay Chapter – by Emma Lipton

¶ 11 Leave a comment on paragraph 11 0 Animals and “The Friar’s Tale” – Essay Chapter – by Karl Steel

¶ 12 Leave a comment on paragraph 12 0 “The Summoner’s Prologue and Tale”: Gendered and Sexual Identities – Essay Chapter – Ruth Evans

¶ 13 Leave a comment on paragraph 13 0 Authority (Familial, Written, Political) in the “Clerk’s Tale” – Essay Chapter – by Susan Nakley

¶ 14 Leave a comment on paragraph 14 0 “The Franklin’s Tale” and Emotion, Feeling, Intensity, Pleasure – Essay Chapter – by Emily Houlik-Ritchey

¶ 15 Leave a comment on paragraph 15 0 The Body and Its Politics in “The Pardoner’s Tale” – Essay Chapter – by Kim Zarins

¶ 16 Leave a comment on paragraph 16 0 “The Shipman’s Tale”: Deciphering, Coding, and Confusion – Essay Chapter – by Jennifer Culver

¶ 17 Leave a comment on paragraph 17 0 Relating to the Past, Imagining the Past, Using the Past: “The Prioress’s Tale” – Essay Chapter – by Emily Steiner

¶ 18 Leave a comment on paragraph 18 0 Imagining the World in Maps and Stories: “Sir Thopas” – Essay Chapter – by William Storm

¶ 19 Leave a comment on paragraph 19 0 “The Tale of Melibee” & Local Government: Power, Lordship, Resources – Essay Chapter – by Kate Fedewa

¶ 20 Leave a comment on paragraph 20 0 Ability/Disability: “The Monk’s Tale” – Essay Chapter – by Jonathan Hsy

¶ 21 Leave a comment on paragraph 21 0 Entertainment versus Education: “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” – Essay Chapter – by Alex Mueller

¶ 22 Leave a comment on paragraph 22 0 “The Second Nun’s Tale,” Language Politics, and Translation – Essay Chapter – by Candace Barrington

¶ 23 Leave a comment on paragraph 23 0 “The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale”: Invention, Discovery, Problem-Solving, and Innovation – Essay Chapter – by Samantha Katz Seal

¶ 24 Leave a comment on paragraph 24 0 “The Parson’s Tale”: Religious Devotion and Spiritual Feeling – Essay Chapter – by Krista A. Murchison

¶ 25 Leave a comment on paragraph 25 0 Religious Debate and Polemic in “Chaucer’s Retraction” – Essay Chapter – by Christopher Michael Roman

¶ 26 Leave a comment on paragraph 26 0 Two Kinds of Anxiety in the Canterbury Tales: The Framing Narrative and the Host – Essay Chapter – by David Hadbawnik

REFERENCE CHAPTERS (general information and context)

¶ 27 Leave a comment on paragraph 27 0 Daily Life in England c. 1399 – Reference Chapter – by Kathleen E. Kennedy

¶ 28 Leave a comment on paragraph 28 0 English Society 1340-1400: Reform and Resistance – Reference Chapter – by Noelle Phillips

¶ 29 Leave a comment on paragraph 29 0 Chaucer’s Middle English – Reference Chapter – by Simon Horobin

¶ 30 Leave a comment on paragraph 30 0 —

¶ 31 Leave a comment on paragraph 31 0 Why the comment format? In August 2016 to December 2016, we ran a crowdsourced online Open Review of polished drafts for over half of the material in the companion. Comments from the Open Review remain on chapter drafts, and you can find more information on the review here:

¶ 32 Leave a comment on paragraph 32 0 Information on Open Review of Chapters

¶ 33 Leave a comment on paragraph 33 0 Why the distinctive look of this page? Every paragraph is numbered and there’s a comments section on the right. That’s because the site used the excellent CommentPress Core plugin for WordPress during the Open Review Process.

¶ 34 Leave a comment on paragraph 34 0 The Open Access Canterbury Tales is taking shape. We have completed an Open Review of polished drafts of roughly half of the content in the volume. Writers are revising drafts and additional contributors are preparing further chapters. We look forward to providing a definitive, finished version of The Open Access Canterbury Tales in August 2017 free of charge for download or web use. Additional seasons of material with more chapters will be added in future versions.

¶ 35 Leave a comment on paragraph 35 0 Thank you for your interest and support,

¶ 36 Leave a comment on paragraph 36 0 -The Open Access Companion to the Canterbury Tales Editorial Collective:
Candace Barrington
Brantley Bryant
Richard H. Godden
Daniel T. Kline
Myra Seaman