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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Phoebus' vice?

2. What kind of tale does the Host want the Monk to tell?

3. Who approaches the group after the Second Nun's Tale?

4. What does the Second Nun warn against in her prologue?

5. Who is Sir John?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is it fitting that the journey ends with the Parson's Tale?

2. What contributes heavily to the length of the Tale of Melibee?

3. What is the irony of the Pardoner in his argument with the Host?

4. Why is the Second Nun's Tale so appropriate for her?

5. What is Phoebus's downfall in the Manciple's Tale?

6. What question is at the heart of the debate between Melibee and Prudence?

7. Why does the Knight interrupt the Monk's Tale?

8. Why does the Host interrupt Chaucer's telling of the Tale of Sir Topas?

9. What is the parallel between the Prioress's Prologue and her Tale?

10. What becomes the downfall for both Chanticleer and the fox in the Nun's Priest's Tale?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Define fable. Explain the uses of fables in literature. Explain the use of fable in The Canterbury Tales. Why is a fable a useful tale in The Canterbury Tales?

Essay Topic 2

Explain the role of the Host in The Canterbury Tales. How does he join the group's pilgrimage? Is he effective in his role? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the setting of The Canterbury Tales. How does the setting of a pilgrimage contribute to the individual pilgrims' tales? How would the story be different if Chaucer had used a different setting?

(see the answer keys)

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