Introduction to Chaucer, General Prologue, and Miller's Tale

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  1. Chaucer was living and writing mostly in the:
    1200s
    1300s
    1400s
    1500s
    It is unknown.
  2. Chaucer was of the:
    Aristocracy, hereditary nobility
    Middle classes, professional classes
    Lower and working classes
    Clergy, the religious orders
  3. A famous contemporaneous literary work that most resembles The Canterbury Tales and that may have had an influence on Chaucer was:
    Boccaccio's Decameron
    Romance of the Rose (author unknown)
    Dante's Divine Comedy
  4. What is unique about The Canterbury Tales is that:
    Different characters tell stories; the stories reflect their personalities; the characters interact with each other.
    All the stories are told by the same character, and each story reflects some aspect of that character's personality.
    All the stories are off-color reflecting the personalities of their tellers (all of the pilgrims are lower class people).
  5. Pilgrimages like the one we see in The Canterbury Tales occur in the:
    Spring
    Fall
    Summer
    Fall
  6. According to The General Prologue, there are how many pilgrims (this would exclude the narrator and the Host):
    31
    30
    29
    28
  7. The narrator of The Canterbury Tales (the "I" in the stories and prologues) joins the pilgrimage in:
    London
    Canterbury
    Southwerk
  8. The destination of the pilgrims is:
    London
    Canterbury
    Southwerk
    Bath
  9. Most of The General Prologue is taken up with:
    Description of each pilgrim
    Discussion of the life of the saint to whom they are making the pilgrimage
    Description of the winter scenes along the way
  10. The first pilgrim described is the:
    Miller
    Knight
    Pardoner
    Squire
  11. The pilgrim who lives by begging and hearing confessions is the:
    Friar (Frere)
    Monk (Nun's Priest)
    Prioress
    Franklin
  12. One of the common characteristics shared by the Prioress, Nun's Priest (Monk), and Friar is that they:
    Are not what they should be; do not live up to the ideal or model of their vocation
    Are all very much what they should be; they do live up to the ideal or model of their vocation
  13. The Wife of Bath:
    Has had five husbands
    Is quiet, meek and mild
    Is very aristocratic and French in her behavior
  14. The Miller makes his living by:
    Grinding grain
    Building houses
    Raising cattle
  15. The Reeve is a:
    Carpenter
    Farmer
    Lawyer
    Doctor
  16. One of the common characteristics shared by the Person (Parson), Plowman, Knight, and Squire is that they all:
    Are not what they should be; do not live up to the ideal or model of their vocation
    Are all very much what they should be; they do live up to the ideal or model of their vocation
  17. The pilgrim who has a big wart on his nose with a tuft of red hairs growing out of it is the:
    Knight
    Squire
    Nun's Priest (Monk)
    Miller
  18. The pilgrim who carries relics (supposedly, pieces of St. Peter's sail, Paul's bones, Mary's veil) is the:
    Pardoner
    Summoner
    Nun's Priest (Monk)
    Friar
  19. How many tales will each pilgrim tell:
    2 . one going, one coming back
    4 . two going, two coming back
    1 . either on the way there, or on the way back
  20. The Miller's Tale is a fabliau which can be defined as:
    A story involving knights and ladies and some miraculous event
    A story involving middle- or lower-class characters and rather off-color events
    A story involving the trials and tribulations of a saint
  21. The Miller tells his tale after:
    The Knight
    The Wife of Bath
    The Pardoner
  22. The Miller comes next because:
    He had drawn the next straw.
    He bullies his way to be next.
    The pilgrim scheduled to be next gets too nervous.
  23. The pilgrim who objects right away to the Miller's tale is:
    The Knight
    The Parson
    The Reeve
  24. The Miller tells a tale about:
    Another miller
    A carpenter
    A lawyer
  25. One of the carpenter's main problems is that:
    As an older man, he has married a very young woman.
    He is not getting enough business as a carpenter.
    He needs to add another room onto his house.
  26. A cuckold is:
    A man whose wife has had an adulterous affair with some other man
    A type of rooster
    An astrologer who specializes in predicting fortunes
  27. The trick played upon the carpenter is that:
    The clerk tells him that a flood great than Noah's is coming
    The scholar/astrologer tells him that a flood great than Noah's is coming
    The clerk tricks him into staying in town all day
    The scholar/astrologer tricks him into staying in town all day
  28. In The Miller's Tale, who yells .Water!.?
    The carpenter
    The scholar/astrologer
    The parish clerk
    The wife
  29. Who breaks his arm?
    The carpenter
    The scholar/astrologer
    The parish clerk
    No one
  30. Who does the whole village think is a fool?
    The carpenter
    The scholar/astrologer
    The parish clerk
    The wife

   

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