Federigo's Falcon quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Which literary movement best describes "Federigo's Falcon"?

   • Eighteenth-century Neoclassicism
   • Nineteenth-century literary Realism
   • Nineteenth-century Romanticism
   • Correct answer: Early Italian Renaissance humanism

   Correct. Boccaccio, with Petrarch, was a founder of early Renaissance humanism. His tale centers on human choices and feelings: Federigo's generosity and Giovanna's judgment, not miracles or saints.

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2. 2

   Question 2. How did Federigo try to win Monna Giovanna's love while he still lived in Florence?

   • He wrote her love poems and had them read aloud in the city
   • He offered his famous falcon to her husband as a costly gift
   • Correct answer: He took part in jousts and gave feasts, spending without restraint
   • He served as a knight in the army of her powerful father

   The story says that to win her love he took part in jousts and tournaments, gave feasts, and spent his money without restraint. She cared little for these things, and he ended up poor.

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3. 3

   Question 3. Why does Monna Giovanna's son never ask Federigo for the falcon himself?

   • Correct answer: He can see how dear the bird is to Federigo
   • He is afraid of the falcon's sharp beak and claws
   • He thinks Federigo would ask a high price for it
   • His mother has forbidden him to visit Federigo's farm

   The boy became friends with Federigo and longed for the falcon, but he did not dare to ask for it, for he could see how dear it was to Federigo.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Giovanna tells Federigo, "I do not doubt at all that you will be amazed by my presumption when you hear what my main reason for coming here is." What does presumption mean here?

   • Sorrow over a wrong done in the past
   • Correct answer: Boldness that oversteps what is proper
   • Modesty that keeps a person from asking
   • A guess made without enough evidence

   Presumption here is overstepping, daring to ask for something one has no right to. Giovanna knows that asking for a poor man's only treasure goes 'against good manners and duty.' The 'guess' sense of the word does not fit her apology.

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5. 5

   Question 5. When Monna Giovanna arrives at Federigo's house, what reason does she give him for her visit?

   • To ask him to come back to the city and live there
   • Correct answer: To make up for the harm his love cost him by dining with him
   • To buy his little farm at Campi with her late husband's money
   • To thank him for teaching her son to hunt with birds

   She says she has come to compensate him for the harm he suffered by loving her, and the compensation is to dine with him that very day. Her real reason, the falcon, comes only after they have eaten.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Why does Federigo kill his falcon?

   • He guesses the boy wants it and fears the bird will be taken
   • Giovanna has asked him for roast falcon as her simple meal
   • Correct answer: He has nothing else to serve his guest as a fitting meal
   • The bird had grown too old and weak to go hawking with him

   Federigo finds neither money nor a pawnable object and will not ask others for help. Wanting to honor the lady, he sets his eyes upon his falcon and decides it would be a worthy food for such a lady. He does not yet know she wants the bird.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Who keeps Giovanna company while Federigo sets the table?

   • His servant girl
   • Her son's nurse
   • Federigo's sister
   • Correct answer: The workman's wife

   Federigo says that this good woman here, the wife of this workman, will keep her company. The servant girl is busy plucking and roasting the falcon.

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8. 8

   Question 8. When Giovanna finally asks for the falcon, what does she appeal to?

   • Correct answer: His own nobility, not the love he bears for her
   • The promise he once made to give her anything
   • His friendship with her son and their days of hunting
   • The large debt that her late husband owed to Federigo

   She begs him "not because of the love that you bear for me, which does not oblige you in the least, but because of your own nobility." She asks as a mother driven by parental love, not as a lady cashing in on his devotion.

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9. 9

   Question 9. When Federigo begins to weep, what does Giovanna at first think causes his tears?

   • Joy that she has come to visit him at last
   • Anger that she ignored him for so many years
   • Correct answer: Sorrow at having to part with his good falcon
   • Shame at how bare and poor his house has become

   The lady at first thought his tears were caused more by the sorrow of having to part with the good falcon than by anything else, and she almost told him she no longer wanted it.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Why is the dinner at Federigo's house a strong example of situational irony?

    • Correct answer: The meal meant to honor Giovanna destroys the gift she came for
    • Giovanna says she loves Federigo but secretly despises him
    • Federigo pretends to be poor while hiding a fortune at home
    • The falcon escapes just as Federigo goes to fetch it for her

    Federigo kills the falcon to honor her, and she unknowingly eats the very bird she came to ask for. Neither knows the other's plan, so his greatest act of hospitality ruins her one hope for her son.

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11. 11

    Question 11. How does Giovanna respond when Federigo shows her what became of the falcon?

    • She praises him aloud but privately thinks he has been foolish
    • She forgives him at once and agrees to marry him on the spot
    • She accuses him of killing the bird to keep it from her son
    • Correct answer: She scolds him aloud but privately admires his great spirit

    She first reproached him for having killed such a falcon, but then to herself she commended the greatness of his spirit, which no poverty could diminish. The proposal comes much later.

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12. 12

    Question 12. Within the story, what does the falcon most clearly represent for Federigo?

    • A gift from Giovanna that reminds him of her love
    • Correct answer: The last treasure he owns and his only means of support
    • A hunting prize he means to sell to pay off his debts
    • A pet he keeps only to amuse his young neighbor

    Giovanna calls the falcon his only means of support and says his extreme condition has left him no other delight or consolation. Giving it up means giving up everything he has left.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does Federigo lay before Giovanna as proof?

    • The empty perch from his small room
    • The spit the bird was roasted on
    • Correct answer: The feathers, feet and beak
    • The leather hood the falcon wore

    He laid the feathers, the feet, and the beak of the bird before her as proof.

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14. 14

    Question 14. In his answer to Giovanna's request, whom or what does Federigo blame for his being unable to give her the falcon?

    • Her son, for wanting a bird that was not his to have
    • Giovanna, for hiding her reason until the meal was over
    • Himself, for wasting his wealth on feasts and jousts
    • Correct answer: Fortune, which he says has long been hostile to him

    Federigo says that Fortune has been hostile to him in many things, and that all of it is nothing compared to what she has just done: Giovanna asked for a small gift, and Fortune worked to make it impossible for him to give it. He speaks of Fortune as a person, a common idea in medieval stories.

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15. 15

    Question 15. How does the will of Giovanna's husband shape the story's ending?

    • Correct answer: After the boy's death, it makes Giovanna a very rich widow
    • It forbids Giovanna to marry again without her brothers' consent
    • It leaves the farm at Campi to Federigo as a gift to an old friend
    • It names Federigo guardian of the boy until he is grown

    The husband made his son his heir and made Giovanna heir should the son die without a legitimate heir. When the boy dies, she is very rich, and she brings all her riches to her marriage with Federigo.

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16. 16

    Question 16. Giovanna tells her brothers, "I would rather have a man who needs money than money that needs a man." What does she mean?

    • Her brothers should give away a share of her riches
    • Correct answer: A worthy man is better than a rich man who lacks worth
    • Federigo must earn a fortune before they can marry
    • She will marry only to help a poor man pay off his debts

    She values character over wealth. A rich suitor without merit is 'money that needs a man'; Federigo, poor but generous and noble in spirit, is 'a man who needs money.'

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17. 17

    Question 17. At the end, Federigo "managed his financial affairs with more prudence than in the past." What does prudence mean?

    • Reckless generosity toward other people
    • Shy modesty about one's own good fortune
    • A miserly unwillingness to spend anything at all
    • Correct answer: Careful, sensible judgment about the future

    Prudence is careful good sense. Federigo once spent far beyond his means; now he manages money wisely. Prudence is not stinginess, only the sense not to waste.

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18. 18

    Question 18. Which of these happen in the story?

    • Federigo moves to his little farm at Campi and passes his time hawking.

      Happened

      Knowing he could not live as he wished in the city, he went to live at Campi, where his farm was, and passed his time hawking.

    • The sick boy improves a little on the day his mother promises the falcon.

      Happened

      The child was so happy that he showed some improvement that very day.

    • Giovanna sends a servant to Federigo's farm to buy the falcon for her son.

      Didn't happen

      She decides she would not send for the bird, but rather go herself for it.

    • Federigo borrows money from his workman to pay for a fine meal for her.

      Didn't happen

      He did not wish to turn for help to others, not even to his own workman, and found neither money nor a pawnable object.

    • Federigo sets the table with the whitest of the tablecloths he has left.

      Happened

      He set the table with the whitest of tablecloths, a few of which he still had left.

    • Giovanna tells Federigo about her son's wish before they sit down to eat.

      Didn't happen

      She speaks of the falcon only after they have left the table and spent some time in pleasant conversation.

    • Giovanna knows she is eating the falcon but says nothing during the meal.

      Didn't happen

      The lady and her companion ate the good falcon without knowing what it was they were eating.

    • Giovanna's son dies only a few days after his mother's visit to Federigo.

      Happened

      The boy passed from this life only a few days later, either from disappointment or from his illness.

    • Federigo gives the boy a young falcon chick to make up for the lost bird.

      Didn't happen

      Nothing in the text. Giovanna returns to her son with no falcon at all.

    • Giovanna's brothers mock her choice because Federigo hasn't a penny.

      Happened

      Making fun of her, the brothers ask how she can want him when he hasn't a penny to his name.

    • The brothers forbid the match, so Giovanna runs away to marry Federigo.

      Didn't happen

      Seeing she was determined and knowing Federigo to be of noble birth, the brothers accepted her wishes and gave her in marriage to him.

    • Giovanna says she would prefer to stay a widow rather than remarry.

      Happened

      She tells her brothers she would prefer to remain a widow, but if they wish her to take a husband, she will take no man but Federigo.

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