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'The Masque of the Red Death'

Total questions: 25

Worksheet time: 15mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Which are symptoms of the red death?

a)

sharp pains

b)

bleeding from the pores

c)

dizziness

d)

all of the above

2.

Why do Prince Prospero and his guests lock themselves in an abbey?

a)

to pray in seclusion

b)

to celebrate his birthday

c)

to escape an invading army

d)

to escape the Red Death

3.
Why does Prince Prospero decide to have a masquerade?
a)
to show off his good decorating taste to his friends
b)
to give the musicians and entertainers something to do
c)
to distract himself and his guests from the boredom and fear of their seclusion
d)
to taunt those outside the walls who are suffering and dying of the Red Death
4.
How do Prince Prospero's guests react to the black room?
a)
They fear it and do not want to enter it.
b)
They find it to be exciting and interesting.
c)
They avoid it because it is too dark.
d)
They are awed by its incredible beauty.
5.

What do the red windows in the last chamber symbolize in “The Masque of the Red Death”?

a)

blood and death

b)

passion and desire

c)

sus and imposter

d)

Shaq and Kobe

6.

Prince Prospero's guests seem happy and carefree, but they stop celebrating and get very quiet every time the clock chimes. What does this tell you about how they are really feeling?

a)

They love to watch NFL football on Sundays

b)

He is stabbed with a dagger.

c)

Under their happy exterior, they are still worried about the Red Death. It's the "elephant" in the room.

d)

the peasants' revenge

7.
What is unusual about where the masquerade takes place?
a)
There is a ballroom as large as the entire imperial suite
b)
Musicians play in a curved hall
c)
It begins at sundown and does not end until the ebony clock strikes
d)
There are colored rooms that are not connected to each other or situated along a straight hall
8.
How many rooms were there altogether?
a)
Seven
b)
Eleven 
c)
Nine 
d)
Ten
9.
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 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.  
10.
What happened to the revellers in the end
a)
They ran out of Prince Prospero's abbey or palace.
b)
They all died.
c)
They killed the stranger.
11.

The events of this story are related to

a)

a popular ballroom dance

b)

a spreading infectious disease

c)

the nickname of the prince

d)

the costumes for masquerade balls

12.

Prince Prospero is a person who desires____________

a)

only fun and extravagance

b)

the company of his family and loved ones

c)

to be adored by all and seen as a good leader

d)

to be one with all his people, both wealthy and poor

13.

The ________________symbolized time running out in one's life. It symbolized The End.

a)

The castle

b)

The clock

c)

The 7th chamber

d)

The masked stranger

14.

The masked stranger was a symbol for what?

a)

The plague

b)

COVID-19

c)

death

d)

time left in life

15.

Which statement best expresses the theme of this story?

a)

Live life to the fullest because you never know when time might run out.

b)

Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, but only if they aren't laughing at you.

c)

Money can't buy you happiness but it can buy you safety

d)

You cannot cheat death no matter what your social class is.

16.

The 7th chamber was a symbol of __________.

a)

death

b)

Hell

c)

safety

d)

fear

17.

This example of imagery contains all of the following except:

The Red Death was acknowledged and “Had come like a thief in the night, and one by one dropped the revelers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel and dies each in the despairing posture of his fall.”

a)

personification

b)

simile

c)

onomatopoeia

d)

alliteration

18.

How you feel when you read a story. It is how the author makes the reader feel.

a)

hyperbole

b)

mood

c)

imagery

d)

tone

19.

The Masked figure in the story is a symbol of ________

a)

The plague/disease

b)

Death

c)

a murderer

d)

fear

20.

The tone of this passage can best be described as_____________

“The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour.” 

a)

upbeat and cheerful

b)

dark and desperate

c)

melancholy and light hearted

d)

terrifying and grueseum

21.

There is an unfair balance of power and wealth and the social classes are separated intentionally.

This is symbolized in the story by the _______________

a)

Chamber 7

b)

clock

c)

masked figure

d)

castle

22.

What is the symbolism of the clock stopping and the lights going out at the end of the story?

a)

It was the moment when the Intruder was unmasked

b)

The people stopped worrying about the intruder and continued having a good time

c)

The party was over and people needed to go home

d)

Everybody had died. There was no more hours left until death.

23.

Based on the context clues, What is the best definition of the highlighted word?

"But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys.

a)

ignorant

b)

clever

c)

Carefree

d)

unapologetic

24.

"Gaudy and fantastic appearances" are created at the masquerade ball by ....

a)

the prince who wears a frightening costume and dances in several rooms.

b)

a man in a red mask who enters the various rooms and does a bizarre dance.

c)

flames that shine through red glass windows in each of many rooms along a hallway.

d)

the guests who take turns putting on a red mask, which makes them act in strange ways.

25.

Which is the best answer as to why Poe used 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