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The Canterbury Tales

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The Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer

Quiz

1. Why are the pilgrims going to Canterbury?

(A) To meet King Henry III

(B) To see a medieval mystery play

(D) Because they are tourists

2. What does the Squire wear?

(A) A velvet doublet and hose

(B) Cloth embroidered with flowers

(D) A beaver hat

3. Who marries Emelye in the Knight's Tale?

(A) Theseus

(B) Arcite

(D) Palamon

4. According to the Wife of Bath, what do women most desire?

(A) Sovereignty over their husbands

(B) True love

(D) Great wealth

5. What does Chanticleer dream?

(A) That he will be killed by a wolf

(B) That Pertelote will desert him

(D) That his friend will be murdered

6. Who are the three men searching for in the Pardoner's Tale?

(A) The Wandering Jew

(B) Greed

(D) Death

7. Who is branded by a red-hot poker in the Miller's Tale?

(A) Absolon

(B) Alisoun

(D) John

8. Which of the following tales is a fabliau?

(A) The Knight's Tale

(B) The Nun's Priest's Tale

(D) The Miller's Tale

9. Which pilgrim has a forked beard?

(A) The Summoner

(B) The Merchant

(D) The Physician

10. What is the moral of the Nun's Priest's Tale?

(A) Slow and easy wins the race

(B) Greed is the root of all evil

(D) Never trust a flatterer

11. What is the Wife of Bath's Prologue about?

(A) Her life with her five different husbands

(B) Ovid's Metamorphoses

(D) A philosophical treatise on the astrolabe

12. When does The Canterbury Tales take place?

(A) In the Renaissance

(B) In pre-Christian Britain

(D) In the late fourteenth century

13. For which social classes did Chaucer write?

(A) The nobility

(B) All levels of society

(D) Merchants

14. What was Chaucer's profession?

(A) Poet

(B) Noble

(D) Civil servant

15. How many Canterbury Tales are there?

(A) 80

(B) 24

(D) 50

16. What is a romance?

(A) An erotic tale of love and passion

(B) A story about Romans

(D) A cheap book you buy in the drugstore

17. Which tale qualifies as part of a medieval sermon?

(A) The Wife of Bath's Tale

(B) The Tale of Melibee

(D) The Pardoner's Tale

18. Which pilgrims are the most richly attired?

(A) Miller, Yeoman, Summoner, Chaucer

(B) Wife of Bath, Squire, Monk, Physician, Franklin

(D) Friar, Reeve, Manciple, Man of Law

19. Which tales take place in the Orient?

(A) The Wife of Bath's Tale and the Nun's Priest's Tale

(B) The Prioress's Tale and the Knight's Tale

(D) The Miller's Tale and the Clerk's Tale

20. Which pilgrim carries a brooch inscribed with Latin words meaning “Love Conquers All”?

(A) The Prioress

(B) The Wife of Bath

(D) The Squire

21. At what time of year does the pilgrimage take place?

(A) In the dead of winter

(B) In the height of spring

(D) On a midsummer night

22. Which characters are connected to the Church?

(A) The Prioress, the Monk, the Friar, the Summoner, and the Pardoner

(B) The Miller, the Ploughman, and the Reeve

(D) The Canon's Yeoman, the Physician, the Clerk, and the Man of Law

23. Which tale is about a talking falcon?

(A) The Nun's Priests' Tale

(B) The Canon's Yeoman's Tale

(D) The Squire's Tale

24. Which tales are about the patient suffering of women?

(A) The Wife of Bath's Tale and the Prioress's Tale

(B) The Knight's Tale, the Cook's Tale, and the Nun's Priest's Tale

(D) The Tale of Melibee, the Parson's Tale, and the Friar's Tale

25. Why does the Pardoner upset the Host?

(A) The Pardoner is homosexual

(B) The Pardoner tries to sell indulgences to the pilgrims, after he has already told them that he cheats people

(D) The Pardoner refuses to give the Host an indulgence

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