General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales

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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. Chaucer was the son of a:
    Prosperous wine merchant
    Landed nobility
    Archbishop of London
  4. Chaucer spent most of his adult as a:
    Prosperous wine merchant
    Magistrate of a court in London
    Owner of rich baronial estate to the northwest of London
    Civil servant
  5. The major influence on Chaucer's life that probably led him into a literary career and to write The Canterbury Tales was:
    His association with Shakespeare
    His trip to France
    His trip to Italy
    His contacts with the author Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
  6. 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
  7. Chaucer probably began writing The Canterbury Tales in:
    1280s
    1380s
    1480s
    1580s
  8. 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).
  9. Pilgrimages like the one we see in The Canterbury Tales occur in the:
    Spring
    Fall
    Summer
    Fall
  10. According to The General Prologue, there are how many pilgrims (this would exclude the narrator and the Host):
    31
    30
    29
    28
  11. The narrator of The Canterbury Tales (the "I" in the stories and prologues) joins the pilgrimage in:
    London
    Canterbury
    Southwerk
  12. The destination of the pilgrims is:
    London
    Canterbury
    Southwerk
    Bath
  13. They go on this pilgrimage by:
    Foot
    Horse
    Carriage
    Boat
  14. The specific destination of this pilgrimage is:
    Shrine of St. Thomas à Becket
    Stonehenge
    Shrine of St. Augustine
    Monument to Beowulf
  15. 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
  16. The first pilgrim described is the:
    Miller
    Knight
    Pardoner
    Squire
  17. The pilgrim who is the young, fresh, singing poet is the:
    The Knight
    The Squire
    the Yeoman
    The Pardoner
  18. The pilgrim who lives by begging and hearing confessions is the:
    Friar (Frere)
    Monk (Nun's Priest)
    Prioress
    Franklin
  19. The Clerk who is on the pilgrimage is a:
    Student
    Office worker
    Monk
  20. The Sergeant, who is also on the pilgrimage, is more like a:
    Student
    Lawyer
    Knight
    Army officer
    Merchant
  21. The Franklin is a:
    Wealthy, non-aristocratic, landowner
    Religious man who lives by begging and hearing confessions
    Army officer
  22. One of the heartiest eaters and drinkers among the pilgrims is the:
    Clerk
    Franklin
    Squire
  23. One of the common characteristics shared by the Prioress, Nun's Priest (Monk), and Friar 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
  24. In Chaucer's time, diseases were thought to be caused by problems involving:
    The four humors
    Germs
    Viruses
    Evil spirits
  25. The Wife of Bath is a:
    Cook
    Clothesmaker
    Lady in waiting to a duchess
  26. The Wife of Bath:
    Has had five husbands
    Is quiet, meek and mild
    Is very aristocratic and French in her behavior
  27. Of all the pilgrims, the one who is the truest to his or her profession is the:
    Nun's Priest (Monk)
    Friar
    Person (Parson)
  28. The Miller makes his living by:
    Grinding grain
    Building houses
    Raising cattle
  29. The Reeve is a:
    Carpenter
    Farmer
    Lawyer
    Doctor
  30. 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
  31. 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
  32. The pilgrim who has a pimply, scarred face (perhaps due to venereal disease) is the:
    Miller
    Summoner
    Knight
    Squire
    Reeve
  33. 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
  34. As they leave on their pilgrimage from the inn, someone is playing on this instrument:
    Pardoner . bagpipes
    Miller . bagpipes
    Squire . guitar
    Friar . flute
    Miller . drum
  35. In The Canterbury Tales, the host is:
    The man who rents them the carriages by which they travel on the pilgrimage
    The owner of the inn from which they all set out on their pilgrimage
    The owner of a restaurant in London where they all intend to dine when they arrive
  36. Who actually proposes that they tell tales along the way during their pilgrimage:
    The narrator ("I" in the General Prologue)
    The host
    The Knight
    The Reporter
  37. 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
  38. What will be the reward for the best tale:
    Free dinner
    Free lodgings
    A gold ring
    One hundred pounds sterling
  39. The best tale will be picked by:
    The narrator
    The Host
    The Knight
    The Wife of Bath
  40. They decide on the order in which the tales will be told by:
    Rolling dice
    Having the most aristocratic and noble pilgrims go first
    Having the oldest of the pilgrims go first
    Drawing straws
  41. Who tells the first tale:
    The Miller
    The Wife of Bath
    The Knight
    The Pardoner

   

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