Jeff Badu Essay-Analyze the function of The Prologue

Jeff Badu

Period 3

10/27/08

Canterbury Tales Prologue Essay

The purpose of a prologue is to introduce the reader to a story or poem. A prologue is a preliminary discourse, a preface or introductory part of a discourse, poem, or novel. In Canterbury Tales, the purpose of the prologue was to introduce the reader, entertain the reader into reading the story, and to educate the reader. The story introduces where the men were going to and what they were going to do on the trip. A prologue is something good because it will how the story is going to be told and it is basically a key to a lock.

The first purpose of the prologue was to introduce the reader. An example will be about how the characters are introduced. Some characters were the Knight, the Host and St. Thomas. The prologue talks about where the people were going. The people were going to Canterbury to meet St. Thomas. There were 29 people going on the trip and it would last some days. The setting of the prologue was in April, Spring. The men were in London trying to get to Canterbury. The introduction part of the prologue basically tells reader what the story is going to be about.

The second purpose is to entertain the reader. An example would be about the people traveling at night and the have to tell tales on the way to St. Thomas. Ever person had to tell two tales each. The person who can tell the best tale on the way there and the way there would recieve a free dinner and would be known as the best tale teller. The reason why they did all of this was to kill time on the way to the trip and the way back. The entertaining part of the prologue is to tell reders what is going to happen and why it will happen.

The third purpose of the prologue is to educate the reader. An example would be about talking about the how the town they were in was and some of the things they were doing. It talks about in March, how it smells good and about a got named Zephyrus who cured people with their sickness. Another exmaple would be when the author tells us about the Knight. The knight was a strong person and he is is a good reader and writer. The education part is to tell readers about the characters and things that they did that we did not know.

The purpose of a prologue is to introduce the reader to the story or poem. In Canterbury Tales, the function of the prologue is to introduce the reader, entertain the reader, and educate the reader. A prologue is a good beginning to the story because once you read it, it makes you want to read the actual story. The thing that makes you want to read Canterbury Tales is the fact that people were going to tell a whole bunch of different stories and they were trying to see who can tell the best story. I think that prologues are key to reading the book if the prologue is good, and if it is a bad prologue, you probably would not want to read it.