WorksheetsCanterbury Tales Study Questions
Total questions: 45
Worksheet time: 23mins
Why should we be weary (careful) of people who flatter (say nice things)?
Because there are no kind people in the world today
Because some people use flattering words to harm others
Because flattering words are mean
Who wrote the Canterbury Tales?
William Shakespeare
Jeffrey Saucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
How many people traveling to Canterbury did the narrator meet?
30
29
31
What sort of entertainment does the innkeeper propose for the pilgrimage?
telling stories
a horse race
play “I spy” along the way
Chaucer uses the prologue primarily as a device to...
describe the difficulties of medieval life
emphasize the character’s religious ideas
frame the stories told by individual characters
What is Chaucer’s primary theme (lesson to be learned) in the Prologue?
the evil of mankind
the great variety of human nature (how people are all different)
the dangers of pleasure
What does the narrator mean in the Prologue when he says the following about the Friar? “But anywhere a profit might accrue / Courteous he was and lowly of service too.”
The Friar helps people by giving them his time and money.
The Friar helps people when he can make money doing it.
The Friar helps people make money by providing his services
What do the following lines suggest about the woman from Bath?
“In all the parish not a dame dared stir / Towards the altar steps in front of her"
she is very religious
She is selfish and arrogant.
she hates the Christian church
Which words describe the three boys at the beginning of “The Pardoner’s Tale”?
smart and dangerous
friendly and fun-loving
greedy and rough
cautious and sneaky
9. What do the 3 boys set off to do in the beginning of the story?
kill the old man
steal some gold
kill Death
10. Where does the old man say to find death?
at the end of the rainbow
under a tree
in hell
11. What does the young boy decide while on his way into town for food and wine?
to tell the old man what they found
to find the old man and warn him
to look for Death on his way
to poison his friends
12. Who/what does the old man symbolize?
death
hope
a thief and a wanderer
a mean-spirited villager
Which character trait leads to the downfall of the three boys?
innocence
greed
jealousy
pride
What character(s) does the Pardoner most resemble (is the most like) ?
death
the three boys
the old man
What is ironic about the pledge the rioters make in these lines: “They made their bargain, swore with appetite. / These three, to live and die for one another / As brother-born might swear to his born brother.”
they later plot to kill one another to get a larger share of the gold
they have only just met
they really are brothers and have forgotten
What does the Pardoner want to do when he finishes his tale?
remember death
give up greed
act more devoutly
sell more pardons
“The Wife of Bath’s Tale”. What does the knight do to receive the death penalty?
cuts a woman’s head off
takes a women’s “maidenhead”
insults the King
insults the Queen
What question does the Knight have to answer?
What makes women happy?
What do women want from men?
What do women desire most?
How does the Wife of Bath describe the woman who gives the Knight the answer?
old lady
middle aged
young, fair maiden
What problem does the knight encounter on his quest for the answer?
A year is not enough time to fulfill his promise.
The queen expects the knight to fail.
No one can agree about what women want.
People are vague in their answers to the question.
What does the knight tell the queen that women want?
wealth, treasure, flattery, and pleasure
freedom to do as they please
the opportunity to remarry often
power over their husbands
22. The lady who gave the Knight the answer wants what from him?
all of his possessions
to be his wife
to imprison him
Which statement most accurately reflects the old woman’s words and actions before she transforms herself?
She persuades the knight that she is beautiful as an old woman.
She wants to prove to the knight that women can argue logically.
She enjoys torturing the knight a little before she rewards him.
She seeks to reform the knight’s judgments and values.
In “The Prologue,” Chaucer’s main objective is to —
analyze religious customs
describe a London inn
reveal the narrator’s thoughts
introduce his cast of characters
The pilgrims are traveling to Canterbury because —
the innkeeper has dared them to make the journey
it is part of a longer tour of England
they want to escape the plague that is attacking London
the shrine of St. Thomas à Becket is there
The Wife of Bath is a —
pious churchgoer and religious teacher
widow of a prosperous doctor in Bath
veteran of several pilgrimages and marriages
well-traveled vendor of fine silk clothing
The character in The Canterbury Tales who most closely resembles Chaucer himself is the —
narrator
Knight
Merchant
innkeeper
29. The narrator in The Canterbury Tales, 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 and indirect characterization
indirect characterization
direct characterization
dramatic characterization
30. Which of the following lines from “The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales is not an example of direct characterization?
“He wore a fustian tunic stained and dark . . .”
“. . . His mighty mouth was like a furnace door.”
“Children were afraid when he appeared.”
“He was an honest worker, good and true . . .”
In “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale,” which character trait almost leads to Chanticleer’s downfall?
taste for romance
arrogance/ cockiness
respect for family
fear of battle
In “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale,” Chanticleer is the one most sure that his dream is prophetic, and yet he fails to recognize the danger he is in when the fox appears and appeals to his vanity. This is an example of ____.
heroism
Flattery
hedonism
irony
In “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale,” the narrator’s description of Chanticleer’s remarkable beauty and unsurpassed skill helps emphasize and explain the basis for Chanticleer’s...
vanity and pride.
intelligence and nobility.
love of Pertelote.
inability to see danger.
.Chaucer’s characterizations of the Prioress, the Monk, and others connected with the church are mainly —
flattering
satirical/ negative
realistic
idealized
A Pardoner is an official of the —
feudal manor
church
local government
king
The Pardoner earns money from all of the following activities except —
selling relics and papal pardons
begging from church to church
preaching against greed
making and selling baskets
In “The Pardoner’s Tale” the stories about Death that the servant boy and the tavern-knave tell suggest that —
people looked forward to death
Death will be hard to find
people are dying of plague
death from violence and plague is rampant
The rioters go looking for Death because they —
know he has great treasure
want to banish him from England
plan to avenge the deaths of their friends
want to repent of their sins and find salvation
In “The Pardoner’s Tale,” Death is portrayed as —
an archangel who kills people through natural disaster and war
both a skeletal figure and an evil angel
an old man selling wares by the side of the road
both the price of wickedness and an actual person
Which of the following statements best describes the end of the tale?
The rioters meet death.
Death takes the gold florins.
Death takes a holiday
The rioters become rich.
The Pardoner’s pious story reveals his —
immorality
ignorance
honesty
sensitivity
It is ironic that the Pardoner preaches against avarice, because he is —
rude to the Host
a pious man
a friend of the Summoner’s
especially greedy
The Wife of Bath most likely retells the story of The Knight to
prove that the knight could not save himself
make a point to the Pardoner
show that women cannot keep secrets
reveal what women want most
Why did Chauncer write the Canterbury tales?
to make a social commentary on people of his time
to show how he disapproved of the acts of his time
to share the types of people he met in his own experiences
to show how he approved of the acts of his time
What qualities (character traits) did Chaucer approve of?
honesty
respectful
hardworking
greed
