What type of literature is 'The Canterbury Tales'?

'The Canterbury Tales', written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 14th century, is a cornerstone of English literature, but it's important to understand its form. Think of it as a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims traveling together to Canterbury Cathedral. Each pilgrim tells their tale in verse, meaning they are written as poems. Chaucer used a variety of poetic forms and meters, making it a diverse and engaging read. While each tale could potentially stand alone, they are all connected by the overarching narrative of the pilgrimage. So, while the tales tell stories like novels or plays, they are fundamentally written as poems. Sonnets are a specific, shorter poetic form, and 'The Canterbury Tales' is much broader than that. Remembering that each pilgrim *tells a tale* in *verse* should help you recall that it's a collection of poems.