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"Masque of the Red Death"

Total questions: 20

Worksheet time: 10mins

Name
Class
Date
1.
Prince Prospero is a person who basically desires
a)
good company and entertainment
b)
to face pain and suffering with courage
c)
to be surrounded by people in simple clothes
d)
others to share their feelings with him
2.
How many rooms were there altogether?
a)
Seven
b)
Eleven 
c)
Nine 
d)
Ten
3.
 Which apartment had the black velvet tapestries?
a)
The ninth 
b)
The seventh 
c)
The fifth
d)
The third
4.
What happens immediately when the ebony clock strikes midnight?
a)
A strange masked figure is seen by the whole company.
b)
Prince Prospero asks all of the guests to leave.
c)
The Red Death kills everyone in the castle.
d)

The party comes to an abrupt stop.

5.
When Prince Prospero confronts the strangely masked guest, the prince,
a)
challenges the guest to a duel and then draws his sword in order to fight
b)
demands that the masked guest leave since he or she was not invited
c)
draws a dagger, then chases the masked guest by going from room to room
d)
asks for the mask and costume so that he, the prince, can wear them
6.
Which of the following suggests that the revelers will not live long in “The Masque of the Red Death”?
a)
The white room
b)
The locked gates
c)
The red window panes
d)
The ebony clock
7.
Which statement expresses the theme of this allegory? 
a)
 Money can buy you happiness
b)
No one can hide from or escape death
c)
Laugh and the world laughs with you
d)
Live life to the fullest
8.
"The "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous." Define "pestilence."
a)
bugs 
b)
contagious disease
c)
famine
d)
war
9.

What order does Prospero give during the party?

a)
for the party to stop
b)
the new guest be seized and unmasked
c)
rooms to be locked
d)
for the new guest to be killed
10.
Why does the appearance of the masked figure fill the company with "terror, horror, and disgust?"
a)
People wonder how it got in the castle.
b)
They believe it resembles a victim of the Red Death.
c)
They are worried that it will ruin their masked ball.
d)
People are curious as to the identity of the figure.  
11.
What can be inferred from the following quote? "And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all."
a)
All those in the castle die, and the Red Death remains all powerful.  
b)
The company could not escape death and they died from the Red Death.
c)
Both 
d)
Neither
12.
Few people dare to enter the black apartment because
a)
everything looks frightening there, and an ebony clock makes a strange sound
b)
without light, no one can see or dance
c)
it is the room where Prince Prospero wears the masque of the Red Death
d)
in this room a strange voice can be heard whose origins no one can trace
13.
What happened each time the clock chimed?
a)
The party paused and everyone laughed nervously
b)
The gates to the castle would open and someone would be granted entrance
c)
Nothing: people ignored clock.
d)
The Red Death appeared and someone died.
14.
From the description of the masquerade, the reader can conclude...
a)
the people in Prince Prospero's abbey had no idea what was going on outside the abbey.
b)
Prince Prospero and his guests were determined to enjoy their time in the abbey despite what was going on outside it.
c)
Prince Prospero was desperately concerned for those suffering from the "Red Death."
d)
Prince Prospero and his guests were safe from the "Red Death" inside the abbey.
15.

The quote, "There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and the profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution," is describing:

a)

the people at the party

b)

the symptoms of the Red Death

c)

Prince Prospero

d)

the uninvited guest

16.

There were _____ apartments in Prospero's castle.

a)

6

b)

2

c)

7

d)

8

17.

Which quote describes the uninvited guest's appearance?

a)

"He had come like a thief in the night."

b)

"The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave."

c)

"...his brow reddened with rage."

d)

"Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be made."

18.

The guests inside the abbey are…

a)

terrified that their loved ones will fall ill.

b)

committed to helping the ill recover.

c)

unaware the people are suffering outside of the abbey.

d)

in a happy mood despite the clock's interruptions.

19.

The narrator describes the courtiers as resolving “to leave means neither of ingress or egress” in paragraph 2. What does this description reveal about the courtiers’ attitudes?

a)

The courtiers’ decision to allow people to leave the abbey but never to re-enter shows that they value collective security over individual freedom.

b)

The courtiers believe that the plague will never make it into the abbey, and in their arrogance they leave no options for escape.

c)

The courtiers have no desire to ever reconnect with the outside world and wish to build a new society in complete isolation.

d)

The courtiers take advantage of the rule that all homes be locked up in times of plague because it gives them an excuse to ignore the people’s suffering.

20.

Why did Poe use a masquerade ball in the story?

a)

because he loved to party

b)

his wife loved to wear masks

c)

to show that you can't hide from death

d)

because the Prince was a party animal