Since the theme of a literary text is most often not stated, a reader must_[blank]_ to determine a story's theme.

(A) use context clues
(B) understand the topic
(C) identify the author’s purpose
(D) make inferences

(C) identify the author's purpose

Step-by-step explanation:

Chaucer's intention was for each traveler to tell "four" tales. geoffrey chaucer's 'the canterbury tales' and considered as his last work. the canterbury tales is a collection of twenty four stories. it runs over 17,000 lines. chaucer write this famous tale when he was working as the clerk of the king's work.