Reading the modernized text.

There are a number of reading techniques, which we've used before in class, that will help you improve your reading skills, not only with Chaucer but with any difficult material.

1. Read smaller chunks.
When you're reading Harry Potter, you can read the entire chapter without stopping. That's because the book is easy enough that everything makes sense and the brain can process the information without even stopping to think about it. Yeah, yeah, Harry runs down stairs. Yeah, yeah, Harry drops his books. We're so familiar with books and stairs and running that we don't have to actually *think* about the reading.

When you're reading difficult material, you need to take time to "process" the information, in other words, your brain has to figure out what is really going on before it can understand the words. If you read an entire page (much less an entire chapter), there are too many new ideas. The more difficult the reading, the more often you need to stop and give the brain a chance to figure out the text. With Chaucer, I recommend stopping every three or four lines. More if you get lost.

2. Take summary notes.
If you just stop and stare into space, the brain isn't doing the work of understanding. Try to summarize the short reading selection in three or four words. Then, write the words down! <sarcasm > Taking notes, I bet you never had a teacher ask you to do that before </sarcasm > Okay, seriously--this time, don't just fake notes or write down some crap. If you write down the main idea of the lines, then when you're looking for a section in the story, it's a lot easier to find.

3. Visualize.
One of the reasons Harry Potter is so easy for many people to read is because they can visualize what the world looks like. However, with Chaucer, you don't have that benefit. So, use your imagination. What do the characters look like? What's the room look like? Where does the wife stand when the husband comes home. Find the clues in the story and then build on them. This also helps you check for understand because if you're picturing the husband and wife in the middle of the kitchen screaming, and suddenly, the husband shoots a deer he noticed standing some distance off, well, obviously you missed something. When I ask you to illustrate things, I'm really checking to see if you understand the content by seeing if you *can* visualize it.

4. Discuss the Story.
If you can describe the story to someone else, then you probably have a good understanding of it. If the person you're telling the story has to stop you and ask a lot of questions ("Wait, why did he do that?") or if you find yourself saying things like, "he somehow got to London," then you know you've missed important ideas in the story. Telling the story also means that you can visualize it, which means you understood it.

5. Read Out Loud.
Okay, this is a tricky one. If you're in a group, it's great to *hear* someone read the story out loud. That's why I sometimes read out loud in class. It helps to hear and see the word at once. Oh, and reading out loud only helps if, as the listener, you are looking at the text that is being read. Just listening does not help you. However, the advatage here is for the listener. Studies show that the person reading out loud focuses more on saying the word right than what the word means. None of us like to be embarrassed. So, if you're in a group, reading out loud is good because when you read, the group can help you figure out the bit you read out loud, and then you get to listen to other people reading, and the listening is a great help. Some people also benefit by reading out loud in their own rooms where it doesn't matter if they mispronounce every single word because they're focusing on the meaning. In short, try it. But don't let people talk you into being the designated "reader" for the group because you will end up suffering for it.

6. Ask Questions.
Way back when, Socrates found that his students learned better when he asked them questions instead of giving them answers. Why? Well, the minute someone asks a question, our brain has something to focus on. When it comes to reading, we have a lot of different ideas all trying to get our attention: the plot, the characters, the setting, the words, the way we feel about the characters. It can get overwhelming. By generating a specific question, we can focus on the specific answer. It's even more helpful to discuss that answer with someone else.

7. Make Predictions.
When you're reading, a prediction is a good way to check how well you're understanding the story. If you predict that a character is evil, and then you find you're right, then you know you're correctly interpreting the story. Sometimes being wrong is just as helpful. You predict that a character is evil, and then it turns out that he sacrifices his life to save everyone else. So, why did the author try and make you believe he was evil in the beginning? Predicting is a good way to focus on the story and to see where the author intentionally misleads the reader.

8. Take Reaction Notes.
Write down how a passage or character makes you feel. If you can read an entire story without any emotional response at all, you aren't visualizing the story. You're not allowing yourself to think of the characters as people and put yourself in their shoes. So, really focus on developing those feelings by taking reaction notes. Where do you feel sorry for characters? Who makes you angry? Who makes you want to take them home and give them hot chocolate and protect them from the world? Writing some simple reaction notes like "She's an idiot" or "That was stoooopid" can help you focus on the emotion in the story.

Reading the Medieval text.

There are a number of special reading tips when digging into Medieval texts. While this is just a starter list, it should be enough to get you through the limited amount of reading we will do in class.

1. Spelling wasn't standardized. Ya'll can complain about having to spell words correctly, but without spelling rules, this is what you get. Here are a few common swaps in Middle English

2. Because spelling isn't standarized, you need to sound words out. "Read" may appear as "rede" or "red" or "reed." Many words that look completely alien will make sense if you read them out loud. "Amonesteth" is just "admonishes" pronounced badly.

3) You will quickly get overwhelmed if you try to read a whole paragraph (or even an entire sentence) at once. Take it slow, one *phrase* at a time. Use the context of the previous bits to help you, but focus on the one phrase.

The trick with translating Middle English at this level is to not focus on all the individual word. If you don't know words, but you get the overall meaning, you're doing fine. It's about using your logic.

Middle English Dictionary (scroll down to get past the notes)
Concise Dictionary of Middle English (definitions start on page 15 --skip ahead using "Goto Page" function)