Chaucer Shortens a Tale.

Description: Analyzes Chaucer's use of the "narrative technique" of "self-conscious abbreviation"--when "the poet informs the reader that abbreviation is taking place." Clarifies statistically that Chaucer signals his abbreviations more often than do contemporaneous English poets and correlates Chaucer's abbreviations with his use of source material, gauging the writer's motives, his "tendency to prolixity," entailed ambiguities, the role of oral delivery, and impact on audiences--often sharpening "their perceptions and sensibilities."

Chaucer Subjects: Style and Versification
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relation