To encourage classroom dialectic I often turn to the “quitting” structure of “The Canterbury Tales,” within which pilgrims offer requitals of previous tales that range from exuberant acclamations to
raucous attacks. Within these extremes lie productive forms of correction that emerge as subtle critiques, opposing arguments, and timely (or sometimes untimely) interruptions. The now well known
“Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog” embodies this spirit of corrective debate. The (then) anonymous author of this blog assumes the voice of Chaucer to “endyte” on topics ranging from the composition of “Troilus and Criseyde” to the death of Heath Ledger. Even the blog’s subtitle, “Take that, Gower!,” champions the blogosphere as a quitting space in which incisive commentary is de rigueur. When I first encountered this blog, I suspected that its imaginative role playing and Chaucerian requital could provide a model of interaction for students, which could intensify and enrich students’ discussions of difficult texts. Perhaps if I had my students impersonate literary characters, they could fully immerse themselves in their roles and quit each other through the voices of their characters.