The teacher can sucessfully present Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" to 11th- and 12th-grade students by concentrating on "The Prologue" and one of the tales--e.g., "The Pardoner's Tale." The structure and plan of the entire work, however, should first be considered before its various parts can be fully understood. Chaucer's skill and subtlety, then, gradually become apparent as individual parts are (1) heard on record, (2) translated and paraphrased, noting French borrowings and differences between Middle and modern English in pronunciation, grammatical endings, and meanings, (3) compared with their literary antecedents from Italian Renaissance literature, and (4) examined for an understanding of Chaucer's milieu. Before "The Pardoner's Tale" can be properly explicated, it must also be identified as part of a master framework, and the descriptions of the physical characteristics, attitudes, and rank of the Pardoner, his cronies, and the other pilgrims considered in detail. Then, the ironies between what the Pardoner is and what he says become clear, and various interpretations of the tale's meaning can be debated. (Books and other aids pertaining to Chaucer's tales and times are noted.) (JB)