Middle English Literature

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. In 1381, peasants used phrases from this work in their revolt rhetoric. Piers Plowman Noah’s Flood Everyman The Second Shepherd’s Play

2. This work was written in Latin by a Welsh cleric during the Middle English period. The Canterbury Tales The History of the Kings of Britain Piers Plowman Everyman

3. Who, during part of the Middle English period, served as the archbishop of Canterbury? Thomas Becket St. Augustine Venerable Bede St. Jerome

4. Who dictated the first autobiography written in English? Margery Kempe Geoffrey Chaucer Julian of Norwhich Geoffrey of Monmouth

5. He translated “The Fall of Princes” from the French. William Langland Sir Thomas Malory Geoffrey of Monmouth John Lydgate

6. Who wrote a sequel to Chaucer’s “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale”? William Langland Geoffrey Chaucer Margery Kempe Robert Henryson

7. He wrote a series of Arthurian romances from prison. William Langland John Bunyan Sir Thomas Malory Geoffrey Chaucer

8. This work was written in the Midland dialect, from which Modern English descends. The Canterbury Tales Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Piers Plowman The Second Shepherd’s Play

9. This writer of “Troilus and Criseide” was the son of a wealthy wine merchant. Geoffrey Chaucer Sir Thomas Mallory William Langland Robert Henryson

10. What work contains these lines: “There hurls in at the hall-door an unknown rider . . . Half a giant on earth I hold him to be.” Piers Plowman Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Morte D’arthur Canterbury Tales

11. It is thought that this man was the author of “Piers Plowman” because of a play on words in the text. William Langland Sir Thomas Malory Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey on Monmouth

12. She wrote a book meditating on the meaning of her 'ghostly' visions. Margarey Kempe Queen Anne Jane Austen Julian of Norwhich

13. This play contains the characters Coll, Gib, Daw, and Mak. The Second Shepherd’s Play Everyman Noah’s Flood Piers Plowman

14. Characters in this play include Knowledge, Beauty, Five-Wits, and Discretion. The Second Shepherd’s Play Piers Plowman Everyman Noah's Flood

15. This Middle English ballad inspired many 20th century songs, including Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A Gonna’ Fall.” Lord Randall A Gest of Robyn Hode Judas Bonny Barbara Allen

16. In what Middle English ballad does the speaker say, “O mother, mother, make my bed / O make it soft and narrow. / Since my love died for me today, / I’ll die for him tomorrow”? Bonny Barbara Allen Judas Lord Randall A Gest of Robyn Hode

17. In this poem, Chaucer solicits his patron Henry IV to provide him with some cash. Merciless Beauty To Henry Truth Complaint to His Purse

18. In “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, Gawain engages in a “swap game” with his host. He takes three kisses and a magic belt from his host’s wife. Which of these does he then return to the host? The three kisses Two kisses The magic belt One kiss

19. What work begins, "It befell in the days of Uther Pendragon, when he was king of all England, and so reigned, that there was a mighty duke in Cornwall that held war against him long time"? Morte Darthur Canterbury Tales Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Piers Plowman

20. This Middle English writer once escaped from Coleshill prison by swimming a moat. He also escaped from Colchester jail, apparently by fighting his way out. Sir Thomas Malory William Langland Geoffery Chaucer Geoffery Monmouth