The Canterbury Tales-Prologue Test

Chaucer uses the pilgrimage primarily as a device to

• emphasize the characters' religious aspirations.

• frame the stories told by individual characters.

• describe the rigors of medieval life.

• create a vivid and realistic setting.

The narrator is portrayed as

• stern and judgmental.

• sophisticated and worldly.

• robust and merry.

• naive and observant.

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.6

CCSS.RL.6.6

CCSS.RL.7.6

CCSS.RL.8.6

The narrator says he plans to "give account of all their words and dealings,/Using their very phrases as they fell." For which kind of characterization would an author provide such details?

• direct characterization

• indirect characterization

• direct and indirect characterization

• dramatic characterization

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

Which best describes Chaucer's attitude toward the Nun?

• amused tolerance

• polite detachment

• marked scorn

• weary reproachfulness

Using the who, what, where, when, why, and how questioning strategy, choose the letter of the phrase that best summarizes the meaning of of the following passage:

He was an easy man in penance-giving

Where he could hope to make a decent living;

It's a sure sign whenever gifts are given

To a poor Order that a man's well shriven,

And should he give enough he knew in verity

The penitent repented in sincerity.

• He gave out easy penances and absolution in exchange for gifts.

• He gave out easy penances and absolution in exchange for gifts whenever he thought he could get gifts from the confessors.

• He gave out easy penances and absolution in exchange for gifts whenever he thought he could get gifts from the confessors. He knew that if he exacted a large enough price for the sin that the penitent person would feel truly sorry for what he'd done.

• He gave out easy penances and absolution in exchange for gifts whenever he thought he could get gifts from the confessors. He knew that if he exacted a large enough price for the sin that the penitent person would feel truly sorry for what he'd done. In fact, whenever a poor group of friars receives gifts, you can be sure that someone has just received absolution for his sins.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

What can the reader infer about the Friar from these lines?

But anywhere a profit might accrue

Courteous he was and lowly of service too.

• He helps other make money

• He is humble and servile.

• He has aspirations to be a merchant.

• He will use people for money.

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.6.3

Chaucer describes the Pardoner's hair as "rat-tails" primarily to

• furnish realistic detail.

• provide comic relief.

• suggest the Pardoner's obsession with current fashions.

• imply moral corruption.

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.6.3

What do the following lines suggest about the Wife of Bath?

In all the parish not a dame dared stir

Towards the altar steps in front of her

• She is a religious fanatic.

• She abhors (hates) the Christian church.

• She is selfish and arrogant.

• She disdains (dislikes) the company of women.

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.6.3

Chaucer calls the Franklin's girdle "white as morning milk" to

• reiterate (repeat) the Franklin's obsession with food.

• emphasize the Franklin's personal cleanliness.

• symbolize the Franklin's purity of heart.

• show the Franklin's weakness for fancy clothes.

Using the who, what, where, when, why, and how questioning strategy to understand the following passage, choose the letter of the phrase that best summarizes its meaning.

Whatever money from his friends he took

He spent on learning or another book

And prayed for them most earnestly, returning

Thanks to them thus for paying for his learning.

• He stole his friends' money, spent it on books, and then prayed his friends would return.

• Whatever money he borrowed from his friends he spent on studies and books, prayed for more books, and then sent his friends thank-you notes for paying for his learning.

• Whatever money he could get from his friends he spent on his studies and books, prayed for his books, and then returned thanks to his friends for paying for his learning.

• Whatever menoy he borrowed from his friends he spent on his studies and books and then prayed earnestly for his friends as a way of giving them thanks.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

CCSS.RL.8.2