ANALOGUE

This refers to a story similar to the one under analysis. Such variants were common in oral literature and, if it has been proved that an author was familiar with the analogue, any changes could be considered a clue to the creator's intention. In the Middle Ages originality was not deemed as important as it is today and so borrowing a plot was normal.

Prescribe and proscribe

To prescribe is to recommend a medicine: to proscribe means to forbid.

FABLIAU

A fabliau (plural fabliaux) is a coarse short tale related bluntly for humour. Well known examples are Chaucer's Miller's and Reeve's Tales.

Paraphrase and Precis

If you are asked to paraphrase a passage you rewrite it, at a similar length, in your own words. A précis of a passage, is a summary of its main points which reduces it in length, usually to one third of the original. To remember the difference, think of the word precise.

Summary and Summery

Summary means a brief  statement of the main points and summery refers to anything typical of summer.
Perhaps one way of remembering is that main begins with ma which recurs in the word summary.

To rationalise

This verb is used of a psychological process whereby a person justifies with false reasoning an action which he or she wishes to take irrationally. In Jane Austen's Emma, the eponymous heroine wants to prevent Harriet Smith from marrying Robert Martin for selfish and meddling motives but rationalises her interference by telling herself that it is for Harriet's own good.

Trouthe

When reading Chaucer it is vital to realise that some words, which appear like modern English terms, have important differences in meaning. Trouthe does not mean truth but is a solemn promise on which a person's entire integrity resides and which must not be broken under any circumstances. The Franklin's Tale in The Canterbury Tales has its narrative base in two such conflicting promises.