Truth (Chaucer poem) Quizzes

Truth (Chaucer poem) "Truth"

1 Which work is Geoffrey Chaucer best known for?

On the Consolation of Philosophy

The Revelations of Divine Love

The Canterbury Tales

Truth
2 In what sense is "Truth" uncharacteristic of Chaucer's work?

It is written for a courtly audience

It does not employ any wordplay or figurative language

It is sincere and religious

It is written in verse
3 Which line most specifically suggests the specific audience of "Truth"?

Therefore, La Vache, cease your old wretchedness

Rule well yourself, who others advise here

Here’s not your home, here is but wilderness

Let your thing suffice, though it be small
4 What is the original language of "Truth"?

Middle English

French

Old English

German
5 What is the tone of the first stanza?

Measured and rational

Urgent, almost panicked

Frustrated, even angry

Cynical, ironic
6 Which literary device does Chaucer most extensively employ in the first stanza?

Figurative language

Parallel sentence structure

Allusion

Alliteration
7 Which of the following best describes the irony of the first stanza?

The speaker gives good advice but does not follow it

Sir Philip wants to rule others, but cannot even rule himself

Sir Philip thinks he is such a good person, but he is actually selfish and judgmental

He who seeks good things on earth will only make his life worse
8 Which of the following BEST expresses the meaning of "the crooked" in line 8?

Dishonest people

Misled people

Wealthy people

People with crooked spines
9 Who is "her who wobbles like a ball"?

Philip's lover

The heavens

A fat woman

The earth
10 Which of the following BEST expresses the meaning of "busyness" in line 10?

Domestic work

Difficult but necessary labor

Work for the sake of work

Having a great deal to do
11 What does the metaphor "kicking at an awl" imply about trying to make the world a better place?

The world is delicate and you must not be violent with it

The world will injure you if you try to fight against it

The world will not affect you, nor you it

To change the world, you must also take on risk
12 Which literary device does NOT appear in the second stanza?

Simile

Alliteration

Apostrophe

Metaphor
13 Fill in the blank: The line "control yourself, who would control your peer" casts self-control and power as:

Mutually exclusive

Mutually dependent

Both necessary

Both impossible
14 What does the crockery represent in line 22?

The world

The speaker

Sir Philip

Wealth
15 Which of the following is NOT a similarity between stanza one and stanza two?

Both use parallel sentence structure

Both use figurative language

Both discuss similar things

Both employ a similar tone
16 Which of the following is most similar to the relationship between the speaker and the addressee?

Lover and beloved

Friends on equal terms

Enemies seeking to destroy each other

King and counsellor
17 What does the speaker mean when he tells his addressee to "know your country"?

Remember that your real home is heaven

Don't forget your family when you become powerful

Don't delude yourself into forgetting the flaws of your country

Don't forget English customs and values on your travels
18 What does the speaker mean when he tells the addressee to "hold the high way"

Retain control of the actions of those in your realm

Don't get lost on your travels

Conform your actions to Christian religious law

Don't try to change the world, just go along with everyone else
19 Which of the following did NOT influence "Truth"?

The Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich

On the Misery of the Human Condition by Pope Innocent III

On the Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius

De contemptu mundi by Bernard of Cluny
20 Which of the following BEST describes the role of "contemptus mundi" in late medieval culture

Universally accepted dogma

Fringe concept

Widely held belief

Increasingly influential idea
21 Which of the following contains a pun on the name "la Vache"?

Let your thing suffice, though it be small

Forth, pilgrim, forth! Forth, beast, out of your stall!

Here’s not your home, here is but wilderness

Beware therefore of kicking at an awl
22 What is the rhyme scheme of "Truth"?

abababb

ababbcc

abcabca

ababaaa
23 What is the "envoy"?

A satirical conclusion that undermines the preceding stanzas

A concluding stanza that summarizes the poem and identifies its addressee

A messenger who arrives and interrupts the speaker

An addendum added by another poet to summarize the poem
24 Which line of the final stanza is slightly at odds with the preceding stanzas?

And truth shall deliver you, have no fear

To the world cease now to be in thrall

For yourself, and others, for heavenly cheer

Cry Him mercy, that out of his high goodness
25 How does the depiction of God change over the course of the poem?

God is equally important throughout

The poem urges an increasingly intimate relationship with God

The poem increasingly emphasizes God's power over Philip

God becomes less and less important as Philip moves away from the true path

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