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Dublin Core
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Title
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Connecting the Medieval to New England
Still Image
Catalog Entry
How exactly do Oxford University, Fitchburg State University, and <em>The Reeve’s Tale</em> compare with one another? I promise you it’s not because they’re all related to England in some form or another. What they all have in common revolves around education and universities. <br /><br />Oxford University is the oldest university in the English-speaking world and was only established as a university around 1167 when Henry II banned students from studying at the University of Paris (“Introduction and History.”). This fact alone sparked some interest in our tale, <em>The Reeve’s Tale</em>, since revenge and a bit of pettiness are sparks of inspiration for this story. Fitchburg State University hasn’t exactly been around as long as Oxford has. It was established in 1894 and was known as State Normal School in Fitchburg (“History of the University.” ). What’s interesting is that Oxford started out as a school solely for men while FSU started as a school solely for women.<br /><br />So how do these three compare to one another? Despite both of the schools' rich history, the comparison among the three focuses on the two college students who are main characters in <em>The Reeve’s Tale</em>. John and Aleyn are two students from a college in Cambridge. They’re your usual overly confident college students who think they can outsmart the miller, Symkyn, who is known for cheating and stealing from people who come to use his mill. The part that shocked me the most was when Symkyn actually looked down on the college students because of their educational background (Benson). Ironically, the students come from an educated class whereas the miller does not have an education. <br /><br />Oxford University is believed to have been established due to the fact that Henry II didn’t want students going to the University of Paris while Fitchburg State was only opened to women for teaching and was not allowed to offer bachelor's degrees until years and years later. Both the universities and the students were stumped by some sort of roadblock. Luckily for us today, that so called roadblock was cleared. Oxford is now a highly prestigious school that is open to both male and female and offers many more fields of study. Fitchburg State University has grown in size, is open to both males and females, and has moved passed from just offering an associate's or bachelor's, but now has several master’s programs as well. Lastly, in <em>The Reeve’s Tale</em>, the college students, John and Aleyn, took back control and not only did they prove their wits, but they were able to retaliate successfully (Benson). Now, whether that retaliation was positive or negative is up for debate.
Bibliography
<p>Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Reeve's Tale." Translated by Larry D. Benson, 2008, sites.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/rvt-par.htm. <br /><br />“History of the University.” Fitchburg State University, fitchburgstate.edu/about/history-of-the-university/. <br /><br />“Introduction and History.” University of Oxford, ox.ac.uk/about/organisation/history?wssl=1.<br /><br />“University of Oxford.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 27 Jan. 2017, britannica.com/topic/University-of-Oxford.</p>
Photographer(s)
Kisha G. Tracy
Catalog Entry Author(s)
Ivy Benoit, Student, Fitchburg State University
Research Assistant(s)
Emma Page, Student, Fitchburg State University
Accessible Description of Image(s)
First image: The photograph is an overlooking shot of a city from a leftward view. The main focus of the photo is an old-looking building with a dome roof. There are large windows scattering the building. It also has multiple entrance ways. This takes up around half of the photo. In the middle of the photo there is a walkway of sorts and people are walking on it. To the right is an open courtyard with building behind it in the city. The top of the photo contains the sky.
Description by: Colin Fagan, Student, Fitchburg State University
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Oxford, UK - Oxford University; Fitchburg, MA - Fitchburg State Univeristy
british literature I fall 2017
chaucer
england
fitchburg
massachusetts
middle ages fall 2017
university
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fb6bac6b9007661247777b00f2c1593d
Dublin Core
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Connecting the Medieval to New England
Still Image
Catalog Entry
<em>The Reeve’s Tale</em> from <em>The Canterbury Tales</em> by Geoffrey Chaucer, the photograph of St. Mary’s Church of Oxford University, and the photograph of Thompson Hall at Fitchburg State University have a connection that is revealed when looking in-depth at the cultural significance of both locations as well as the text. In <em>The Reeve’s Tale</em>, Chaucer tells us a story about a miller that steals from the townspeople. Not only does the miller partake in thievery, but he also has a negative view of the university students that are included in the tale. <br /><br />In Dr. Tracy’s photo, she captured a monstrous gargoyle overlooking Oxford University. The gargoyle follows the typical definition of a gargoyle, as its mouth is used as a water spout. Looking down upon the university as well as “spitting” down on to the university’s property is a fitting image to attach to T<em>he Reeve’s Tale</em> as the miller has negative thoughts towards the university students: “The gretteste clerkes been noght wisest men" (Chaucer Line 4054). This quotation in the story by Symkyn, the miller, shows just how lowly he thinks of men that look towards a fancy education as a means to attain wisdom. Combined with the fact that the miller has repeatedly stolen mill and recently increased the amount stolen by a hundredfold, this photo and text pairing work well as the gargoyle looks down on to the campus. <br /><br />Thompson Hall was built in 1896 and used as the only building on the campus of the State Normal School (previous name of school before Fitchburg State). The building was set on top of a hill with the entrance facing directly towards Myrtle Avenue. This was a beautiful site to see as you were driving north up North Street or Myrtle Avenue. However, after the building of Hammond Hall, the rest of the city was almost blocked off by the windowless brick side of the building facing North Street and Myrtle Ave (Jackson). This symbolized the relationship and the separation between the city and the university. <br /><br />As of today, the neighborhood that Thompson Hall faces is the ninth most dangerous neighborhood in the city ("Fitchburg, MA: Crime Rates"). According to the FBI’s 2016 Uniform Crime Report, the violent crime rate in Fitchburg sits at the tenth highest per capita in all of Massachusetts ("50 Mass Communities"). The crime rate around Thompson Hall reminds us of how lawless Symkyn is with his meal thievery. <br /><br />The interesting and ironic part of all of this is that John G. Thompson was quite the poet while also the first principal of the State Normal School. In line with how Symkyn looks at how one must be educated, Thompson says, “Learn by doing,” yet he was the principal of a formal higher education institution (Jackson). Imagine if John G. Thompson could travel into the story of <em>The Reeve’s Tale. </em>Could Principal Thompson influence Symkyn in a positive way? Would Symkyn see that formal education versus “street” education is not as black and white as he had previously thought? Beyond that, what if Principal Thompson travelled forward in time to when Hammond Hall was built? Would he allow for the building to be built with only brick facing the city? One would like to think that Thompson would be the saving grace to both of these situations. However, time travel is not available to us. This is why it is imperative that we continue to preserve all types of cultural heritage. We must continue to learn from our past to make our present the best that it can be.
Bibliography
“50 Mass. communities with most violent crime per person.” WCVB 5 ABC, wcvb.com/article/50-mass-communities-with-most-violent-crime-per-person/12485818. <br /><br />Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Reeve's Tale." Translated by Larry D. Benson, 2008, sites.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/rvt-par.htm. <br /><br />“Fitchburg, MA: Crime Rates.” Neighborhood Scout, neighborhoodscout.com/ma/fitchburg/crime. <br /><br />Jackson, Asher. Personal interview. 17 Nov. 2017.
Photographer(s)
Kisha G. Tracy
Allison St. Peter, Student, Fitchburg State University
Catalog Entry Author(s)
Aaron Canterbury, Student, Fitchburg State University
Research Assistant(s)
Kimberly DiManno, Student, Fitchburg State University
Accessible Description of Image(s)
First image: A decayed gargoyle watches over a campus with three entrances and pillars on top.
Description by: Makayla Dones, Student, Fitchburg State University
Dublin Core
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Title
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Oxford, UK - University Church of Saint Mary the Virgin; Fitchburg, MA - Thompson Hall, Fitchburg State University
british literature I fall 2017
chaucer
education
england
FAMExhibition
fitchburg
hammondexhibition
massachusetts
middle ages fall 2017
photography ii fall 2017
university
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903265e06a1876ab03ffc86465643392
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Connecting the Medieval to New England
Still Image
Catalog Entry
<p>There are many ways to depict innocence in a story. Words used to describe innocence can be “small,” “little,” “young,” etc. These could also be related to a small or young child or a location such as a small town. <br /><br />Dorchester is a historic neighborhood located in Boston, MA. It was founded by Puritans in 1630 who emigrated from Dorchester, Dorset, England. It is currently Boston’s largest neighborhood. Dorchester is home to the oldest religious organization in Boston, a church that was originally created as the First Parish Church of Dorchester and still remains today. In addition to this accomplishment, Dorchester is also home to the first and oldest public elementary school in America, the Mather School. The school was created in 1639 and also stands today. Dorchester was founded only a few months before the city of Boston was founded, showing a scale of how important this neighborhood was historically for the growth of America. <br /><br />The story of <em>The Prioress’s Tale</em> takes place in a small Christian town somewhere in Asia. Children are a reoccurring topic in the story, representing innocence. The focus of the story is of a Christian boy, who is murdered on his way home from school by a group of Jewish boys who were told to do so by Satan himself. The neighborhood of Dorchester, to me, reminds me of these scenes. The schools and churches are small as well as the neighborhood itself. It was a religious town, which resembles the town in which the story took place. <br /><br />A marble font of Saint Nicholas in Winchester Cathedral is also a good reminder of the story. The Tournai Marble Font was bought from Tournai, in modern Belgium, in the 12th century and is still there today. The block this piece of art was carved from weighed around 1.5 tons and dates back to around 1150. It is the finest of ten fonts in England. In this time period, sculptures were created as iconic messages to be shared. This particular font is decorated with the extraordinary life of Saint Nicholas with symbolic animals such as birds and lions. It is thought to be a gift from Henry of Blois, William the Conqueror’s grandson. Saint Nicholas was known as a man who committed many acts of kindness, especially to children, leading to his identification with Santa Claus. The carvings on the font show multiple stories, but all of them revolve around Saint Nicholas. A few of the stories depict St. Nicholas bringing people back to life. Fonts are mainly used as a symbol of the start of Christian life. They also hold the water in which babies are baptized. It is still used for baptisms today. This relates to Chaucer’s <em>The Prioress’ Tale</em> due to the fact that Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of children by means of acts of kindness. The fact that he brought people back to life resonates with the story, specifically when the Christian boy who was murdered comes back to life singing the song of the Vigin Mary that caused the boys to murder him in the first place.</p>
<em>Photo: Western Union telegram sent from Dorchester to Fitchburg congratulating a family member on the birth of a child (from Fitchburg Historical Society collection).</em>
Bibliography
“A Brief History of Dorchester.” <em>MyDorchester</em>, mydorchester.org/history. <br /><br />Taylor, Earl. “Dorchester MA, Town History 1630-1870.” <em>Dorchester Atheneum</em>, www.dorchesteratheneum.org/page.php?id=52. <br /><br />“Tournai Marble Font.” <em>Winchester Cathedral</em>, www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/our- heritage/cathedral-treasures/tournai-marble-font/.
Photographer(s)
Kisha G. Tracy
Catalog Entry Author(s)
Mitchell LeBlanc, Student, Fitchburg State University
Accessible Description of Image(s)
First image: There are people etched in stone. The photo is in black and white. The main statues are men, and they are holding a stick-like object in their hands. The etching is on the side of a fountain.
Description by: Courtney Hastings, Student, Fitchburg State University
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Winchester, UK - Saint Nicholas Font (Winchester Cathedral); Boston, MA - Dorchester
artifact
cathedral
chaucer
england
FAMExhibition
fitchburg historical society
hammondexhibition
massachusetts
middle ages fall 2017
religion
saint