Final answer:
Chaucer's 'The Nun's Priest's Tale' is mock-heroic because it elevates the story of a rooster, Chanticleer, to the level of an epic hero's journey. Grandiose language and literary devices like hyperbole are utilized to create a satirical imitation of a classical epic tale.
Step-by-step explanation:
The tale of Chanticleer found in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, specifically in 'The Nun's Priest's Tale', is considered mock-heroic. This genre satirically imitates the style of a classical epic but uses a trivial or lowly subject — in this case, barnyard animals. One of the main ways Chaucer conveys a mock-heroic tone is through the grandiose language and lofty rhetoric employed to describe events that are ordinary in nature. Chanticleer, a rooster, becomes the 'hero' of this epic-style story.
His dreams, his courtship of the hen Pertelote, and his eventual encounter with the fox are all recounted with the seriousness and scale one would expect from a tale of noble knights and grand battles, hence creating a comedic and satirical effect. Chaucer also uses literary devices like hyperbole and detailed digressions to extend a simple fable into a more elaborate narrative that mocks the conventions of a heroic epic. This is a clever play on traditional stories where mighty heroes face life-and-death encounters; instead, it is a rooster's confrontation with a predator that takes center stage, framed within a brilliantly constructed parody.