1a. Which character is introduced first? What are his main characteristics?
2a. Which of the pilgrims are affiliated with the church?
3a. What did the Pardoner carry with him?
4a. What values are honored in "The Prologue"? What failings are pointed out?
5a. The narrator says that he is going to report the journey as it happens and is not to be held responsible for what he says. From his prologue, judge whether he does what he says he will do.
1b. Why is this character introduced first? What does he represent?
2b. What makes the Parson a "good man" of religion? How does he compare with the other religious figures on the trip?
3b. What is the narrator's opinion of the Pardoner?
4b. If you were to create a contemporary Canterbury Tales, what kinds of people would you include? What values and failings would you present?
5b. In general do you think reporters are objective or do their personal beliefs or feelings shape their reports? Explain your answer.
1a. What do the rioters agree to do?
2a. Who tells the rioters that Death is up the way under a tree? What do they find instead?
3a. How did the first rioter die? How do the others die?
4a. Identify the various ways in which the rioters show their greed.
5a. Judge whether the rioters got what they deserved.
1b. What prompts the rioters to make this pact?
2b. What does the meeting with the old man show about the rioters? Whom or what might the old man represent?
3b. What kills all three rioters?
4b. Why might the Pardoner choose a story on this theme?
5b. What flaws, other than greed, lead people to act irrationally?
Frame Tale. What is the basic story that provides the setting for The Canterbury Tales? In what way does the frame make it plausible for this variety of characters to tell stories?
Characterization. What are the main characteristics of the Pardoner? In what way does the story he tells contribute to his characterization?
Irony. What is the moral of the story told by the Pardoner? Why does the Pardoner tell this story? Why is it ironic that the Pardoner is telling this story?
1. Write a brief character sketch about the person you wrote about in your Reader's Journal for "The Prologue." Embellish quirks or interesting features if you like. How do you feel about this person? Let your opinion show in your description.
2. Create an interview of one of the pilgrims. First write a set of questions. Then imagine how the pilgrim you have chosen would answer them.
3. Write a tale with a moral. You might choose a moral like "Pride goes before a fall" or "Greed is the root of all evil." Think of a situation that will support your moral, and use the situation as the center of your tale.
Reducing Wordiness. Rewrite the following sentences to make them more concise and clear.
1. Geoffrey Chaucer was a talented, skilled writer who produced a large collection of well-written works.
2. Chaucer is probably best known for his stories within a story, The Canterbury Tales, which is an unfinished frame tale.
3. The stories for The Canterbury Tales are not all original creations of Chaucer, rather they are drawn from many sources, including love poems and other writings by Boccaccio, the lives of saints, and other religious works with which Chaucer was extremely familiar, and fables that were more commonly passed by word-of-mouth than by written words.
4. The tales are not randomly assigned, but are rather well chosen to fit the variety of characters. For example, the Knight tells a tale of courtly romance, the low-life Miller tells a bawdy story that is typical of his character, and the preaching Pardoner gives a sample of one of the sermons that he typically delivered as a preacher.
5. Because of the wide variety of stories and narrators, as well as the richness of its concise summation of English society in "The Prologue," The Canterbury Tales, even in its unfinished state, remains a masterpiece of English literature.
Multiple-Choice Questions. Select the correct answers to the following questions.
1. Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales click to select answer a. was written in Canterbury b. was written about a trip to Canterbury c. was found in Canterbury d. was set in Canterbury e. has nothing to do with Canterbury
2. The Pardoner tells a story about click to select answer a. a tavern-knave b. a poor, old man c. two prisoners d. three rioters e. the devil
3. "The Pardoner's Tale" takes place during click to select answer a. the winter b. the spring c. the summer d. the fall e. an unspecified season
4. The relics in the story are owned by click to select answer a. the Knight b. the Pardoner c. an old man d. a young man e. Jesus
5. The sin that leads to the deaths at the end of the story is click to select answer a. gluttony b. sloth c. greed d. envy e. despair
