The Canterbury Tales REmix ToastName ______

A Creative Writing Assignment

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is about a group of 14th century pilgrims from all walks of life who travel together for several days on their way to a shrine in Canterbury. They entertain each other on this journey by telling stories. The person who tells the most entertaining story wins dinner at the local tavern, courtesy of the other story-telling pilgrims

Your task for this project is to create (as a class) a contemporary version of The Canterbury Tales. You will be creating the toasts that Chuck and Cindy’s friends and family are giving at their wedding reception. The person that gives the best toast will receive the biggest slice of cake. Everyone who is in attendance at the wedding and subsequent reception has ridden together in a Greyhound bus across the country on Interstate 40 since they are coming from as far away as North Carolina and winding up in California.

For your part of the presentation, you must explain how your character knows the bride, the groom, or the two of them as a couple. You should give an interesting anecdote about something that has happened in your past as friends/family/enemies; this is your “prologue.” You will also be toasting the couple; this counts as your story. Both parts of your presentation must include RHYMING COUPLETS; if you get stuck, check out RhymeZone.com online to help you find a word. Your stories and toasts should aim to be entertaining and clever; however, they should also meet the “appropriate guidelines” found at the bottom of this handout. Your speech at the reception should be at least 26 lines long. Your written work is due on ______.

On presentation day (______), you will need to come in COSTUME related to your character. Make sure to capture your character’s personality in dress and actions since it is part of the grading criteria. If you do not want to wear your costume on the way to school, you will have approximately 8 minutes to get ready before the toasts start.

Grading Rubric:

Creation of a Vivid and Interesting Character (Worksheet) – 40 points

Costume, Performance, & Delivery – 15 points

Length (26 Lines) & in Rhyming Couplets – 10 points

Explanation of Relationship to Bride/Groom – 10 points

Format (follow the basic guidelines on back) – 10 points

Grammar, Mechanics, etc. – 10 points

Appropriateness – 5 points

Appropriateness Guidelines:

While humor, wit, and social satire are encouraged in this assignment AND since Geoffrey Chaucer himself was a bit off-color, it is quite important to remember that this assignment should not cross the boundary of what is appropriate to say and do in a high school classroom. The point of the assignment (along with understanding how to develop character and being creative in our writing) is to ENTERTAIN an audience, not OFFEND them. Good social satire is delicate; we want to illuminate the quirks and flaws of our characters, but we also want to avoid stereotyping or culturally insensitive humor.

Not Appropriate:

  1. excessive alcohol references
  2. drug references
  3. sexual references
  4. swearing
  5. any comments that are derogatory or could be offensive to members of racial, cultural, religious, sexual orientation, or gender groups

** If you are having trouble determining if something is appropriate or not, determine if you would want to say it in front of your grandmother/father, your religious leader (i.e. priest, pastor, rabbi), and/or your own children in the VERY DISTANT future. 

Tips for Writing a Wedding Toast(adapted from

Before You Begin – figure out your responses to the following questions:

  1. How do you know them?
  2. Why did they choose you to make this toast?
  3. How would you describe each of them? What are the first five adjectives that come to mind?
  4. What was the groom like before he met the bride? How has he changed knowing her? (Reverse this, obviously, if you are acquainted with the bride)
  5. How did they meet? How did the groom tell you about her? (Or how did the bride tell you about him?)
  6. If you are married, you may wish to think about marriage advice you've received or have learned.
  7. Are there any particularly amusing anecdotes that illustrate who the bride and/or groom is?

Beginning
Start off by introducing yourself, as not everyone in the room will know who you are. You might say "Excuse me everyone, if I could have your attention for a moment. I'd like to take a few moments to say a few words about our bride and groom. I'm______, ______'s longtime good friend (or brother, cousin, etc.)" *This might also be an opportunity for you to say something about your incredibly long and crazy bus ride.

Middle
Tell a funny story about the bride and/or groom, give your thoughts on love and marriage, tell the story of how they met, or talk about how you've seen them change through their relationship. Give interesting details. At all costs, avoid ex-girlfriend/boyfriend stories and keep it rated PG for kids and grandmothers in the room.

Closing
It's often good to wrap up your toast with a wish, traditional toast, or blessing for the bride and groom. Raise your glass with a resounding congratulations, cheers, l'chaim or salud, and don't forget to drink to your own toast.

Based on an assignment found at