Resetting the Canterbury Tales: Stage 3

USING MY HIGH SCHOOL, IN PARTICULAR MY SENIOR YEAR AS A SETTING FOR THE CANTERBURY TALES


I chose my high school because:
• It integrated the general population, i.e. incorporated people from all walks of like. In this case, instead of people from all professions and estates like nobility and clergy, my high school represented people of different backgrounds, cultures, even nationalities. The student population of my senior year is analogous to the diverse pilgrims that Chaucer himself describes, that venture on the journey in the General Prologue of the Tales. Trinidad itself is very much a cosmopolitan country and so my senior year was merely a sample of this. There were Whites, Blacks, people of East Indian descent, Chinese descent, Spanish heritage and people of mixed races. In medieval England, the population was predominantly, if not completely white, and the only distinction would be in their estates. In resetting the Canterbury Tales to my senior year of high school, the diversity would come from culture and heritage as opposed to class.
• I chose high school as opposed to college, for example, because I figure that one has to be of a certain financial status in order to be able to afford college. Granted that yes there are provisions such as student loans, financial aid and scholarships, but even if these do foot some of the bill, students generally have to be able to somehow afford the fees in order to attend. In addition, not everyone can afford college, but high school is free in my home country of Trinidad and Tobago and so practically everyone goes to high school. Hence there would be, again, a diverse representation economically. The student population ranged from the very rich to the downright poor.
• The layout of my high school was such that seniors (those who were graduating in two years or less) had their own building section, where we would generally have our classes (except labs) separate from the rest of the school. On the ground floor of this building was a sort of open common area with benches and tables and a view of the whole school, and it led straight onto the recreational/sporting area we had for the students. It was a customary meeting place for the students on mornings before classes or afternoons after, during breaks, lunchtimes or free periods where we would share food, laughter, gossip and just good conversation and good times with one another. We called this area “The Grotto” and it reminded me of the tavern in the Canterbury Tales; the tavern in medieval times was also a place of community where it was more common to find a variety of individuals. It was loud, rowdy even, and more often than not crowded and bustling, yet people who were seeking time alone could do so in their quiet corners. In other words, the tavern seemed like a place where everyone could find what they wanted – those who were looking for a good time could definitely find it there, and those who were looking for contemplation could find it there too. This was what “The Grotto” was to us.
• Since it was a Catholic high school, we would often go on retreats as well, just as the pilgrims did in the Tales, except we would travel on buses, not on horseback (lol)