Question

Read the excerpt from the General Prolgue to the Canterbury Tales. The pardon-seller’s hair was yellow as wax, And sleekly hanging, like a hank of flax. In meagre clusters hung what hair he had; Over his shoulders a few strands were spread, But they lay thin, in rat’s tails, one by one. As for a hood, for comfort he wore none, For it was stowed away in his knapsack. Which statement best describes how the pardon-seller is characterized in this excerpt? He is characterized as a man who is quite handsome. He is characterized as a man who is still very young. He is characterized as a man who has long, thinning hair. He is characterized as a man who has lots of money.

Answer 1

A man who wears long, thinning hair.  The clues are "sleekly hanging"  or dangling hair, his hair goes at least down to the shoulders "a few strands were spread" and the description of the thinning hair is found at "but they (the few strands) lay thin in rat's trails, one by one."

Answer 2

Answer: C) He is characterized as a man who has long, thinning hair.

Explanation: Characterization is a literary device that consists in describing a character, it can be its physical appearance or its personality. In the given excerpt from the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales we can see the description of the physical appearance of a pardon-seller, and the narrator characterizes him as a man who has long, thinning hair, we can see that in the phrase "Over his shoulders a few strands were spread, But they lay thin, in rat’s tails, one by one."