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WorksheetsPardoner's Prologue Review
Total questions: 20
Worksheet time: 17mins
The tone of “The Pardoner’s Prologue” could best be described as .
grave
satirical
melodramatic
jubilant
Which of these lines best explains the central irony in “The Pardoner’s Prologue”?
“By this fraud have I won me, year by year, / A hundred marks, since I’ve been pardoner.”
“When they are dead, for all I think thereon / Their souls may well black-berrying have gone!”
“For, when I dare not otherwise debate, / Then do I sharpen well my tongue and sting / The man in sermons, and upon him fling / My lying defamations”
“Thus can I preach against that self-same vice / Which I indulge, and that is avarice.”
Which of these sentences best summarizes the following passage (stanza 3)?
“ ‘Here is a mitten, too, that you may see. Who puts his hand therein, I say again, He shall have increased harvest of his grain, After he’s sown, be it of wheat or oats, Just so he offers pence or offers groats.
The Pardoner has a magic glove that he claims will bring bountiful grain crops to the person who puts it on, but only if that person pays the Pardoner first.
This mitten will help the wearer be better at math, so he has a better idea how much grain to plant and how to increase the amount of money he gets when he sells it.
The Pardoner is selling gardening gloves.
The Pardoner claims that if a person wears the glove and plants coins, or “pence,” in the ground with his wheat and oat seeds, his crops will grow very successfully.
What do these lines from stanza 5 reveal about the Pardoner?
I stand up like a scholar in a pulpit, And when the ignorant people all do sit, I preach, as you have heard me say before, And tell a hundred false japes, less or more.
The Pardoner is an unhappy person.
The Pardoner dislikes lying to his congregants.
The Pardoner is condescending.
The Pardoner thinks it’s futile to try to preach to people who are too simple to understand his sermons.
Which of these inferences about the Pardoner is best supported by stanzas 1-2?
The Pardoner is a man of deep religious faith who strongly believes in doing God’s work.
The Pardoner wants to look and sound official so that no one will question his motives and impede his goals.
The Pardoner varies the theme of his sermons, but always speaks in a clear voice.
The Pardoner knows the Pope, as well as other important religious figures, such as cardinals and bishops.
Which of these lines from the text best support the correct answer to the previous question?
“Our liege-lord’s seal on my patent perfect, / I show that first, my safety to protect,”
“First I announce the place whence I have come, / And then I show my pardons, all and some.”
“Then show I forth my hollow crystal-stones, / Which are crammed full of rags, aye, and of bones;”
“Thus can I preach against that self-same vice / Which I indulge, and that is avarice.”
Which of these sentences best explains the Pardoner’s motive for using the sin of avarice as the theme of all of his sermons?
The Pardoner preaches against the sin of avarice because he has a strong personal belief that greed is the root of all evil.
The Pardoner preaches about avarice because he cares about his congregants’ eternal salvation and wants to prevent them from living a life of sin.
The Pardoner preaches about the sin of avarice because it causes people to give him money to pardon their sin.
The Pardoner preaches about avarice because he thinks it is the most common of all sins.
Which of these lines from the text best supports the correct answer to the previous question?
“Thus can I preach against that self-same vice / Which I indulge, and that is avarice.”
“I preach no sermon, save for covetousness; / This should suffice of that, though, as I guess.
“But though myself be guilty of that sin, / Yet can I cause these other folk to win / From avarice and really to repent. / But that is not my principal intent.”
“Is all my preaching, thus to make them free / With offered pence, the which pence come to me.”
Which of the following occurred 1st?
The Pardoner proclaims that his scheme has made him a hundred marks a year.
The Pardoner explains how he brings “relics” with supposed miraculous properties to his sermons and how people offer to pay him for their use.
The Pardoner says he always preaches on the same theme: Radix malorum est cupiditas.
The Pardoner admits that he does not care at all about punishing his congregants’ sins or about the salvation of their souls.
Which of the following occurred 2nd?
The Pardoner explains how he brings “relics” with supposed miraculous properties to his sermons and how people offer to pay him for their use.
The Pardoner proclaims that his scheme has made him a hundred marks a year.
The Pardoner admits that he does not care at all about punishing his congregants’ sins or about the salvation of their souls..
The Pardoner says he always preaches on the same theme: Radix malorum est cupiditas.
Which of these happened last?
The Pardoner proclaims that his scheme has made him a hundred marks a year.
The Pardoner explains how he brings “relics” with supposed miraculous properties to his sermons and how people offer to pay him for their use.
The Pardoner admits that he does not care at all about punishing his congregants’ sins or about the salvation of their souls.
The Pardoner says he always preaches on the same theme: Radix malorum est cupiditas.
Another word for defamation is
patriarch
shrive
avarice
disparagement
Another word for greed is
patriarch
avarice
disparagement
shrive
Metonymy is the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant, for example suit for business executive, or the track for horse racing. What makes the use of metonymy in line 85 effective?
Tongue is associated with speech and the Pardoner uses his words to sting or condemn others.
Tongue is associated with animals and the Pardoner uses his tongue to sting people like a bee might
Tongue is associated with weapons and the Pardoner is saying that he uses his tongue like a sword.
Tongue is associated with loss of speech and the Pardoner is saying that he always knows what to say.
93 Thus spit I out my venom under hue
94 Of holiness, to seem both good and true.
What is the metaphor in line 93?
Venom is compared to the things the Pardoner’s listeners do that displease him.
Venom is compared to the greed the Pardoner has identified in his followers.
Venom is compared to the holiness the Pardoner expresses in his sermons.
Venom is compared to the Pardoner’s poisonous words.
93 Thus spit I out my venom under hue
94 Of holiness, to seem both good and true.
Considering the biblical symbolism of a snake, which statement best evaluates the effectiveness of metaphor in line 93?
The metaphor is not effective because the Pardoner is a holy man, not a deceiving snake.
The metaphor is not effective because a human being cannot spit venom as a snake does.
The metaphor is effective because if the Pardoner’s words are like venom, then he is like a snake that deceives.
The metaphor is effective because it compares the Pardoner himself to the poison that a snake uses against its prey.
The Pardoner's prologue let’s readers know his single purpose for speaking sermons and telling stories. What is his purpose? What is his purpose supposed to be as a Pardoner, a representative of the Catholic Church?
His real purpose is to make money. His purpose is supposed to be saving souls.
His purpose is to convert people and save their souls. He does this for the Catholic Church.
His real purpose is to save souls. His purpose is supposed to be collecting money for the Catholic Church.
His purpose is to give sermons. His purpose from the church is to collect sins.
It is ironic that the Pardoner preaches against avarice (greed), because he is –
a pious, devoutly religious man
extremely greedy
a very nice person
someone who gives to the needy
The theme of the prologue is
Practice what you preach
Death is inevitable
Money can buy happiness
''Radix malorum est cupiditas '' The love of money is the root of all evil
According to the Pardoner, which people are not allowed to make offerings toward his "relics"?
commoners
sinners
saints
poor people
