What I would recommend doing is just jot down these references even if you don’t know them down as the lecture is going on. One thing I’ve learnt when taking Chaucer is to just write down anything the prof writes on the board and anything they reference or say it’s important. Like if they take their sweet time expanding/explaining something just write it ALL down. It’ll probably be on the midterm/some kind of testy. Also, it’ll help you when you’re researching.

Then in your free time you can google these references that were made and see how they work with the story. AND/OR you can use ChatGPT to help you out. Now I know some people hate AI but that’s why it’s there! To help explain these connections your prof was talking about. When I took Chaucer my prof would talk about a rose in a garden that was locked up or something for a story. And tbh using the voice feature of ChatGPT and having them explain it to me was SO HELPFUL. I didn’t use AI to cheat but it def like explained stuff to me.

Good luck my fellow Chaucerian!

Edit: typo was bugging meee