Tips for Survey Course Readers of the "General Prologue"

        Most first-time readers in survey courses find the CT's "General Prologue" a daunting flow of information.  The footnotes are essential to understanding this thing, and not just because it's really in Middle English.  (If you are tempted to read it in Modern English translation, remember that the translator is giving you only a general summary of the prose-meaning, not the poetic "work," itself.  The humor will get right past you.)  If you want to concentrate your efforts on only a few sites of greater importance for our survey, here are some tips for what to read closely after you have quickly read the whole GP to get an idea of its structure.