EXERCISES. Page 30

 

1 . What do you generally associate the adjective Gothic with?

I generally associate the adjective Gothic with an artistic current that characterized the pictorial and architectural works of the medieval period. 

 

2 . Match the word with their Italian equivalent.

 

 

1  aisle

2  arch                                                              

3  column

4  façade

5  fan vault

6  nave

7  pier

8  pinnacle

9  relief

10  ribbed vault

11  spire

12  steeple

F  navata laterale

C  arco, Arcata

I  colonna

K  facciata

L  volta a ventaglio

G  navata centrale

B  pilastro

H  pinnacolo

J  rilievo

E  volta con nervature

A  guglia

D  campanile o guglia di torre

 

 

3 . Read the text below and answer the questions.

 

1 When was there a large cathedral-campaign in England?

There was a large cathedral-campaign in England during the end of the 12^th century.

 

2 When was a church called a ‘cathedral’?

A church was called a cathedral when it contained a cathedra, or a throne, for the bishop.

 

3 What materials were used to build Gothic cathedrals?

The most important materials employed to build it were timber, stone, marble and glass.

 

Page 31

 

6 . Look at the pictures of Canterbury Cathedral in the brochure above and tick the features that belong to Gothic architecture.

 

-          Rounded arches

-          High piers decorated with geometrical shapes

-          Vertically proportion

-          Massive pinnacles

-          Slender, continuous piers

-          Huge windows

 

7 . What do you think the high towers and pinnacles might symbolize?

I think they might symbolize the medieval research to get closer to God. Indeed the only objective of a medieval man was to reach salvation, as a result they translate their devotion in the high pinnacles that look towards God.

 

8 . Do you know what the function of stained glass was?

Stained glass became in the Middle Agesthe major pictorial form used to illustrate the narratives of the Bible to a largely illiterate populace.

 

EXERCISES. Page 45

 

THE MILLER – Geoffrey Chaucer

 

1 . What did a miller do? Look at the picture. Do you think a miller was an important figure in a medieval community?

A miller was the owner of a mill, an agricultural laborer, so his competence concerned the production of flour. I think that he wasn’t an important figure in a medieval community, since he belonged to the social class of peasants, that was the lower estate in the hierarchical social structure.

 

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2 . As you read the passage, complete the table about the Miller’s appearance. Then write a short paragraph to summarize the description of the Miller.

 

Build : “The miller was a chap of sixteen stone, a great stout fellow big in brawn and bone.”

“Broad, knotty, and short-shouldered”

Beard: “His beard, like any sow or fox, was red, and broad as well, as though it were a spade”

Nose: “His nose displayed a wart on which there stood a tuft of hair red as the bristles in an old sow’s ears. His nostrils were as black as they were wide”

Equipment: “He had a sword and a buckler at his side”

Mouth: “His mighty mouth was like a furnace door.”

Clothes: “He wore a hood of blue and white coat.”

 

The Miller appears as a rough person, stout and sturdy. The Miller has an ugly face: his beard is red, as his bristles; his nose is wide with a furry wart on it and his mouth is as wide as a furnace door.

He brings with him a sword and a buckler and he wears re a blue and white coat.

 

3 . Find the words and phrases referring to his personality and skills. What was he like? What was he good at?

“He did well out of them, for he could go and win the ram at any wrestling show […] he would boast he could have any door off hinge and post, or take a run and break it with his head. […] A wrangler and buffoon, he had a store of tavern stories, filthy in the main. His was a master-hand at stealing grain. He felt it with his thumb and thus he knew its quality and took three times its due”

 

The Miller is described as a rough person, who is able to fight and win against a ram, who could break a door with his head. The narrator highlights the brute force of the Miller through the violence of his actions. The narrator says also that the miller is a wrangler and buffoon: he likes to mix it up and he is not so intelligent. By telling that he knows a lot of tavern stories, that are mostly vulgar, the narrator alludes that the miller usually frequents dirty places and people. Until now, the Miller seems to be like an animal. But the narrator continues saying that the Miller was a master-hand at stealing grain, and he uses to feel the quality of it in order to steal an adequate amount. His dishonest behavior reveals a fine cunning: the Miller becomes astute when it comes to getting food.

 

4 . Identify the line where you relies that Chaucer, as narrator, is one of the pilgrims.

The reader understands that Chaucer is one of the pilgrims by the last line “and that was how he brought us out of town”.

 

5 . The rhyme scheme is AA BB and most words are monosyllabic. What effect does it have in this description of the Miller? Choose from the adjectives below.

The rhyme scheme make the description jolly, amusing, rounded and clear.

 

 

6 . A simile is an explicit comparison introduced by ‘as’ or ‘like’. Chaucer build up the Miller’s portrait through similes. Pick them out, then analyze them by using the diagram below.

 

Tenor: the first term of comparison

Vehicle: the second term of comparison

Common ground: the meaning they have in common

 

TENOR →	COMMON GROUND	← VEHICLE
beard	red	sow or fox
beard	broad	spade
tuft of hair on the nose	red	bristles in an old sow’s ears
mouth	(wide)	furnace door

 

7 . Physiognomy was a science that judged a person’s temperament and character based on his or her anatomy. What do the Miller’s exaggerated facial features tell us about his character?

 

The physical appearance of the miller, sturdy and stout, reveals his violent and impetuous temperament. The Miller’s exaggerated facial features tell us about his uncouthness and primitiveness, communicated by the red beard; about his gross mind, expressed by the simile with a sow; and about his dishonest behavior in stealing grain, since his mouth is compared to a furnace.

 

8 . Consider the method of characterization used by Chaucer. Tick the appropriate statements.

-          He provides information about his background

-          He describes his physical appearance

-          He describes his clothes

 

9 . Define the narrator’s attitude. Tick as appropriate.

-          Ironical

-          Humorous

 What does he mock in the passage? Altogether, the narrator mocks the millers, who were considered cheaters in the popular imagination and in particular he mocks their inelegant and vulgar way of life.