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WorksheetsChaucuer's Canterbury Tales
Total questions: 20
Worksheet time: 7mins
Chaucer was born in London and belonged to ___
an educated middle class
the aristocracy
the royal family
the lower class
During his frequent journeys abroad he _____
extended his knowlege of Italian, French and Classical literature
got involved in wars in Spain
happened to be kidnapped by bandits and ransomed by the king himself
became well- connected to revolutionary intellectual movements
He was a Member of Parliament for Kent and engaged in the politics of the day
TRUE
FALSE
He was the first to use ___ in his literary works
The dialect of London, which gradually became standard English
Latin
Old English and French
He was the first poet to be buried in ___
the Royal Cemetery
the Poets' corner in Westminster Abbey
the Tower of London
the Hall of Fame
The Canterbury Tales is set in spring. The narrative poem begins with a group of pilgrims who wish to travel to (1) (a) to the tomb and shrine of Thomas Becket.
The group meet at the (2) (a) Inn in London. There are thirty people, including Chaucer, of mixed backgrounds and professions. There are lay and religious pilgrims and both sexes are represented.
The (3) (a) of the inn has an idea for a pleasant way of passing the time on their journey.
He suggests that each one of them tell (4) (a) tales on the way to Canterbury, and two on their way back.
On their return the tale considered the best will receive a (5) (a) , while anyone who refuses to play their part will have to pay a penalty.
Chaucer himself acts as (6) (a) .
The narrative poem begins with a ‘General (7) (a) ’ which introduces the characters. There are then twenty-four tales, each of which is introduced by its own prologue.
The tales gives a realistic portrait of English society, though using the conventions of exaggeration, caricature and grotesque
TRUE
FALSE
He did not portray ___ and ___
peasants
aristocrats
the higher middle class
members of the clergy
Chaucer gives a deep psychological insight of the characters
TRUE
FALSE
His'individualisation' of the characters is rather static, as it was typical of medieval portrait
TRUE
FALSE
Chaucer probably borrowed from Boccaccio’s Decameron the framework to string together a collection of stories
TRUE
FALSE
In the Decameron seven young ladies and three young men from Florence take refuge in a country villa to escape the (a)
The story-tellers in the Decameron all belong to the same social class
TRUE
FALSE
What could Chaucer have borrowed from Dante? ( More than one answer is possible)
The central idea of the pilgrimage
The idea of a story-telling competition
The description of a spiritual journey which becomes an allegory of human existence
The division into circles
