The Masque of the Red Death Quiz

Name:______________________ Per.__________

The Masque of the Red Death Quiz

1. The events of this story are related to...
A. a popular ballroom dance
B. a spreading, infectious disease 
C. a nickname for Prince Prospero
D. costumes for masquerade balls

2. What is unusual about where the masquerade takes place?
A. There is a ballroom as large as the entire imperial suite in Prince
Prospero’s palace.
B. Musicians play in a curved hall while quests dance in colored
chambers.
C. It begins at sundown and does not end until an ebony clock strikes.
D. There are colored rooms that are not connected to each other or
situated along a straight hall.

3. “Gaudy and fantastic appearances” are created at the masquerade
ball by...
A. the prince who wears a frightening costume and dances in several
rooms
B. a man in a red mask who enters the various rooms and does a bizarre
dance
C. flames that shine through red glass windows in each of many rooms
along a hallway
D. the guests who take turns putting on a red mask, which makes them
act in strange ways.

4. Few people dare to enter the black apartment because...
A. faces look frightening there, and an ebony clock makes a strange
sound.
B. without light, no one can see or dance without causing injury to
others.
C. it is the room where Prince Prospero wears the masque of the Red
Death.
D. in this room a strange voice can be heard whose origins no one can
trace.

5. Prince Prospero is a person who basically desires...
A. good company and entertainment
B. to face pain and suffering with courage
C. to be surrounded by people in simple clothes
D. others to share their feelings with him

6. When Prince Prospero confronts the strangely masked guest, the
prince...
A. Challenges the guest to a duel and then draws his sword in order to
fight
B. demands that the masked guest leave since he or she was not invited
C. draws a dagger, then chases the masked guest by going from room to
room
D. asks for the mask and costume so that he can wear them

7. An allegory is a narrative story...
A. with an unexpected turning point and climax in its plot
B. told by a narrator who knows more about events than other
characters
C. that uses imaginary characters to tell about a historical event
D. in which characters and settings stand for abstract ideas or moral
qualities

8. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” the red mask probably stands

for...
A. the bubonic plague that had been killing much of the population of
14th century Europe
B. the desire that all people had to become a prince or princess
C. Prince Prospero’s wish to be anything but ordinary
D. the people in 14th century Europe who survived the bubonic plague

9. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Prince Prospero stands for...
A. a terrible, deadly disease that had been spreading through Europe
B. a future people who learned how to fight infectious diseases
successfully
C. anyone who believed they could fool death by their cleverness
D. weak people who were easily infected by and died from bubonic
plague

10. Which statement expresses the theme of this allegory?
A. Money can buy you happiness.
B. Laugh and the world laughs with you.
C. Live life to the fullest.
D. Death can master life.

Masque of the Red Death Paragraph Activity

Chose to write from the perspective of one of the following

characters. Then, answer these questions in a paragraph form from

the point of view of that character:

~Prince Prospero ~The Partyers

~The peasants that are locked out

 ~The Red Death

1. How would you describe yourself?

2. What is happening around you, and how is it affecting you?

3. If you could pick another character to interview, who would it

be and what is one question you would ask them?

4. How is your character a part of the allegorical context of the

story?

5. Elaborate on how your character feels about their position in the

story.

6. What is your opinion of the other characters?

-Prince Prospero?

-The Partyers?

out?

-The Red Death?

-The peasants that are locked