This quiz explores the nuances of 14th-century poetry and its poets, assessing understanding through questions on parables, poetry slams, and rhyme schemes. It tests knowledge on historical and contemporary poetic forms and their moral and aesthetic components.
The setting is a make-believe world.
The story contains animal characters.
Characters have superhuman abilities.
The story contains a moral.
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Poetry is performed to aggressive music.
Poetry is anthologized into a single volume.
Poetry is judged by audience members.
Poetry is improvised on the spot.
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Parables center on current events while fables focus on ancient tales.
Parables are set in a fantasy world while fables are set in modern day.
Parables portray humans unrealistically while fables portray humans realistically.
Parables have human characters while fables have animal characters.
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Poetry is still valued over prose.
Poetic devices are still rarely used.
Poets generally use the same meter.
Poems are still often recited orally.
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Abac
Abab
Abba
Abcd
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A sailor travels country to country to find his family after they are taken hostage by an evil ship captain.
The town shoemaker marries a beautiful young maiden despite the wishes of her rich family.
An adolescent girl flees her home after an illness takes the life of every person in her family.
A farmer fights to defend his crops against the trolls who want to take over his land.
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The way the plot is eventually resolved
The economic situation the author lives in
The quality of the author's work
The genre that the story belongs to
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Honesty, even in the face of personal loss
Adventure, even when you have to give up something costly
Wealth, especially the understanding that it is easily lost
Hard work, especially when living off the land
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They simulated natural conversation
They lengthened the lines on the page
They made poems easier to memorize
They helped poems stand out from others
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It focuses on mostly religious topics
It tells the results of different people's good and bad behavior
It contains stories of superhuman gods.
It emphasizes the important events of a particular time period.
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Abca
Abcd
Abab
Abac
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Both lost their eyesight.
Both lost their sanity
Both made golden images to worship
Both were kings
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Because evil people don't need fortune to help them achieve their schemes.
Because people don't work hard enough to keep her with them.
Because they become religious and depend on God, not her, to help them.
Because people become prideful and believe that she will always reward them.
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Samson
Moses
Adam
Nebuchadnezzar
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He does not know stories outside of the biblical ones.
He loses himself in the sermon he is preaching to the audience
He is angry with the church so he tells stories to make biblical characters look bad
He is jealous of the other storytellers from The Canterbury Tales and wants to outperform them
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Broken pencil, balls of crumpled paper / Deadline tomorrow, homework failure
Frozen in an icy glare / Tangible anger in her stare
Chocolate lollipops and a heart-shaped balloon / "Be my valentine" they all croon
A love squandered, clock ticks taunt, / Misspoke words that still haunt
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And when men trust in her she then will fail / And cover her bright face as with a cloud.
Fortune indeed had so enhanced his pride / That verily he thought to take his stand
That there was nothing that Fortune could refuse him
For if good Fortune makes your friends for you
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The development of the tragic genre
The use of frame narratives
The arrangement of poetry into stanzas
The growth of alliteration
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Meet me by the dock down south
"My, my," said the spider to the mosquito
Miranda took a bitter pill today
I don't know; maybe you know
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An elf, a human, and a gnome must come together to unite the Shards of Radaganadar.
A reporter tries to piece together the truth as she listens to three different plane-crash survivors tell their stories.
A detective discovers that the kidnapper she's been investigating is actually her other personality.
Two star-crossed lovers struggle to express their adoration for each other while their families fight a long-standing feud.
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Positive influx of knowledge created by the Renaissance movement
Poor education and treatment of lower-class Roman citizens
The supportive system of medieval knighthood
Strong hostility toward the Catholic Church caused by papal rule
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Chaucer reserved parables for the monk because he considered them sacred
Chaucer's intent was to make fun of parables and the people who told them
Parables are a form of parody that indirectly criticizes some aspect of society
Parables cast animals as characters, which 14th century audiences found safe
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Governments are overthrown at Fortune's whims
Fortune plays fair to those she meets, even if they are cunning
People have little control over their own lives
People don't expect good things to happen to them
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Abcbdb
Abcdef
Abaaca
Abaaba
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An open front door
A locked closet
An empty refrigerator
A dark basement
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Because many people still struggle with the age-old question of what it means to be a good person
Because the characters in the story are so well known in modern times
Because modern people don't view the church as the most powerful force of society like Dante's contemporaries did
Because its poetic form and language are still used widely among today's poets
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He wanted people to grasp the dangerous power that the Church has over society
He wanted to make a statement about the lack of education in his hometown and how it could affect the future
He wanted to express his ideas about Catholicism, Italian politics, and basic human nature
He wanted to memorialize his family in a story that told of their encouragement and love throughout his exile
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The playground echoed with giggles, high-pitched screams, and the screech of swings
Jennifer hoped that one day she could visit Paris and maybe London, too
Exactly four hours from now, you are to proceed to school
The teacher called the classroom to order as the principal entered
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Empty drink cans
Flashlight beams bouncing
A mere glow of coals
Deserted campsite
Paradiso (Paradise)
Catholicus (Catholic)
Synn (Sinner)
Terra (Earth)
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Dante publicly spoke out against the pope's desire to rule the city-states.
Dante sold war secrets to a neighboring country who planned to assassinate the pope.
Dante was part of a secret organization that wanted to overthrow the government.
Dante participated in the burning of the Italian flag in protest of the government.
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He wanted to represent Christianity in a positive light but felt the state of the Church was too negative
He knew his audience would be larger if he wrote an entertaining story that wasn't too serious
He was not sure of his exact views on many Christian values, so he left room for personal interpretation
He wanted other writers to imitate his style of avoiding direct character conflict
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The cars symbolize the life opportunities Gina has missed
The city apartment is a symbol for overcrowding
The game of tag is a symbol for the fast pace of life
The apartment steps symbolize Gina's lack of motivation.
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The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin, tells the story of 16 people who are heirs to a large inheritance, but they must discover their benefactor?s killer in order to inherit the money.
"The Lady or the Tiger" by Frank Stockton is a thought-provoking story that asks a tough question: Would a woman rather see the man she loves with another woman or be mauled by a tiger?
O. Henry's "The Ransom of Red Chief" recounts the story of two bandits who kidnap a spoiled little boy for ransom but later pay his father to take him back.
William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies is a thrilling story about a group of boys surviving after a plane crash without the guidance of adults. It's also a tale about the struggle between civilization and savagery.
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A snake
A wolf
A vulture
A panther
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Flashback
Parable
Imagery
End rhyme
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Dante's character is educated and proud, which causes him to view Hell's punishments as reasonable
Dante's character appears to be unemotional and indifferent to the experiences of his journey
Dante's character comes across as accepting of the sins of those he encounters
Dante's character seems to be basically good, but his worldly innocence makes him surprised by the sights of Hell
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King Minos
The Minotaurs
An angel
Homer the poet
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They represent the most infamous sinners to ever live
They represent the number of days Satan lived in harmony with God
They represent the required actions needed to make it to Heaven
They represent the different levels of sin
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The main character is trying to navigate difficult life choices
The main character is hiding from a home intruder
The main character is looking for his or her missing child
The main character is learning to use a compass
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Both discuss the fates of famous men and women
Both give Fortune credit for punishing humans for their sins
Both encourage readers to form their own opinion about sinful characters
Both accuse religious leaders of being secretly greedy and sinful
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Dante is frightened by the demons wielding pitchforks
Dante meets his old teacher in Hell
Dante wanders from the clearly marked trail on his journey through the woods
Dante sees many of his enemies while he travels through Hell
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The real Dante is kinder and more accepting of those with contrary beliefs
The real Dante is unsure of his religious beliefs and seeks to find those answers
The real Dante holds highly unfavorable views of his political enemies
The real Dante is an average man with whom many people can relate
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It determines a story's genre
It forces the writer into writing from a specific point of view
It helps to create a story's mood
It defines a character's personality traits
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Irritation
Anger
Apprehension
Excitement
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It makes him feel frustrated
It makes him feel anxious
It makes him feel somber
It makes him feel excited
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The setting is important because the story is told from the Roman poet Virgil's point of view as he is guiding another character through Hell
The setting is important because the organization of Hell into regions whose punishments perfectly match each sin reflects Dante's belief in an orderly universe
The setting is important because it provides suspense as to what level of Hell Dante will be condemned to after Virgil guides him to the bottom and then leaves
The setting is important because its layout resembles the landscape of Florence, which was Dante's home city before he was eventually exiled
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Each sinner that Dante encounters entreats him to tell his or her story on Earth
Dante and Virgil follow a map through Hell given to them by an angel
Good is always rewarded, and evil is always punished
Dante's entire account of visiting Hell is a dream sequence
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Quiz Review Timeline (Updated): Mar 18, 2025 +
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