Literature Trivia Questions — page 10

T. S. Eliot's father, who came from a prominent New England family, was on the Board of Directors of Washington University. He was also a chairman at Hydraulic-Press Brick Company in St. Louis, a successful businessman and a chemist. He married Eliot's mother in 1868. What was her occupation?

• AA poet and a social worker
• BA music teacher at Washington University
• CA chemist and a painter
• DA homemaker

In 1962, the best known music theme from the movie Gone with the Wind often called Taras Theme, was made into a hit record on the pop charts. Which group had a 1962 hit with My Own True Love?

• AThe Duprees
• BThe Shangri-Las
• CThe Dovells
• DThe Coasters

She wrote her only best-seller novel bedridden, with a broken ankle only for her amusement, keeping it secret from her friends. Who is she?

• AMargaret Mitchell
• BEmily Bronte
• CGeorge Elliott
• DJane Austen

What Mark Twain book is the following line from: All right, then, Ill go to hell!?

• AThe Diary of Adam and Eve
• BHuckleberry Finn
• CCaptain Stormfield Visits Heaven
• DLife on the Mississippi

What is the name of Dolores Claibornes wealthy employer in the Stephen King novel Dolores Claiborne?

• AJamie ONeal
• BVera Donovan
• CSelena Cook
• DJoe St. George

This small publishing company is noted for its defence for freedom of speech. Can you name the publishing company that took on the United States Postal Service for the right to publish Lady Chatterleys Lover?

• ASimon Schuster
• BGrove Press
• CDoubleday
• DRandom House

Piers Anthonys fantasy land of Xanth looks strikingly similar to what southern state of the USA?

• AMississippi
• BFlorida
• CLouisiana
• DGeorgia

Famous fiction characters Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were from the small town of St. Petersburg, which was modeled by Mark Twain after his home town. Where was St. Petersburg?

• AJackson, Mississippi
• BLincoln, Nebraska
• CHannibal, Missouri
• DBoston, Massachusetts

Which of the following is NOT a work done by Shakespeare?

• AMeasure For Measure
• BTitus Andronicus
• CTrial of Temperance
• DCymbeline

In Tolkien's book The Silmarillion, the kings of Númenor increasingly became rebellious against the Valar and mounted an attack against them. The result was that the island of Númenor sank into the sea. What was the reason for their revolt?

• AThey wanted the Silmarils for themselves.
• BThey wanted the riches of the Valar.
• CThey were tired of Manna.
• DThey lusted after immortality.

Who saved Harry from Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest in the first volume of the Harry Potter series?

• AHermione Granger
• BFred and George Weasley
• CFirenze
• DAlbus Dumbledore

What statement about the novel The Grapes of Wrath is true?

• AThe author of the novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature and the Nobel Prize for Literature.
• BThe author of the novel won neither the Nobel Prize for Literature nor the Pulitzer Prize for Literature.
• CThe author of the novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature but not the Nobel Prize for Literature.
• DThe author of the novel won the Nobel Prize for Literature but not the Pulitzer Prize for Literature.

What 70s television series did Dean Koontz write an episode for?

• AThe Love Boat
• BLittle House on the Prairie
• CCHiPs
• DAll In The Family

In Song of Susannah, Roland and Eddie travel to New York of 1977 in an attempt to buy a plot of land from which man?

• AJohn Cullum, a retired businessman
• BEnrico Balazar, a gangster
• CCalvin Tower, a bookstore owner
• DJack Andolini, a gangster

Which of the following novels played a decisive role in Jack Londons life according to his own words, and turned him to literature when he was only eight years old?

• AHenry Adamss Democracy
• BOuidas Signa
• CJohn Esten Cookes The Youth of Jefferson
• DLouisa May Alcotts Little Men

Joshua Todd-Cothran is the head of what financial institution from the novel Left Behind?

• AThe World Stock Exchange
• BThe New York Stock Exchange
• CThe London Stock Market
• DThe London Stock Exchange

Which of these books by Terry Pratchett does not belong to his Discworld series?

• AEqual Rites
• BThe Unadulterated Cat
• CGuards! Guards!
• DFeet of Clay

In which novel does the evil Injun Joe appear?

• AA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court
• BThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer
• CThe Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
• DLetters From the Earth

Raskolnikov, Sonya S. and Porfry were characters in this novel.

• AWar and Peace
• BNapoleon
• CThe Idiot
• DCrime and Punishment

Which of these words best describes the attitudes of the novel The Grapes of Wrath?

• AAnti-union
• BPro-big business
• CAnti-American
• DPro-labor

What novel by Vladimir Nabokov was banned for obscenity in England, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa?

• ATerra Incognita
• BFanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure
• CLips to Lips
• DLolita

Finish this popular thought by Mark Twain: Compliments embarrass me—I always feel that they...

• Agive me too much credit for things other people have done.
• Bhaven't said enough.
• Cmake me feel old and too revered.
• Dpraise me insincerely.

In the book The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman, who is Will Parry's father?

• ALord Asriel
• BStanislaus Grumman
• CSir Walter
• DLee Scoresby

What did Shakespeare leave to his wife Anne in his will?

• A30 pounds
• Ball his silver plate
• Ca silver bowl
• Dhis second best bed

What book by Dr. Seuss contains the quote: When a Fox is in the bottle where the Tweetle Beetles battle with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle, THIS is what they call......a Tweetle Beetle Noodle Poodle Bottled Paddled Muddled Duddled Fuddled Wuddled Fox In Socks, Sir!?

• AThe 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
• BFox in Socks
• CIf I Ran the Circus
• DOh, the Places Youll Go!

What gift did Lady Galadriel give to Samwise Gamgee in The Fellowship of the Ring?

• AA wooden box with a silver rune
• BThree hairs from her golden head
• CLembas bread
• DA dagger

This literary work, whose preface ends with the sentence, All art is quite useless, is Oscar Wildes only published novel.

• AA Woman of No Importance
• BThe Canterville Ghost
• CThe Importance of Being Earnest
• DThe Picture of Dorian Gray

Which of these is not one of the seven dwarfs in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first American animated feature film?

• ADoc
• BHappy
• CDopey
• DSleazy

This charm helps some Harry Potter characters to breathe underwater or just to block out a bad smell.

• AColloportus
• BAguamenti
• CAnapneo
• DBubble-Head Charm

What was the name of the Atlanta street where fictional character Scarlett OHara lived with Aunt Pittypat?

• AWeeping Willow
• BPeachtree
• CElm
• DSouthern Pine

In this tragic play by William Shakespeare, three witches tell a general in the army of King Duncan that he will never be vanquishd until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.

• AMacbeth
• BHamlet
• CThe Tempest
• DTitus Andronicus

In The Silmarillion, Carcharoth slew Beren after swallowing a Silmaril. What was Carcharoth?

• ABalrog
• Bdragon
• Cspider
• Dwolf

What is the name of Eragon's dragon in "Eragon"?

• ASaphira
• BThorn
• CArya
• DGlaedr

What is the name of writer Terry Pratchett's daughter, born in 1976?

• ARhianna
• BDorothy
• CMariah
• DJoan

Which character helped Frodo and Sam rescue Merry and Pippin from the trees?

• ABard the Bowman
• BBeorn
• CBarliman Butterbur
• DTom Bombadil

In the Magic: The Gathering universe, which plane does the Homelands expansion take place in?

• ALlanowar
• BTazeem
• CBant
• DUlgrotha

In the book The Golden Compass, who is the main characters best friend that turns up missing?

• ARoger
• BIorek
• CTony
• DBilly

All this happened, more or less is the first sentence of this book.

• AStalag 17
• BThe Devils Advocate
• CLittle Big Man
• DSlaughterhouse Five

This film, directed by Taylor Hackford and based on a novel by Andrew Neiderman, featured Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron.

• AThe Long Walk Home
• BSweet November
• CThe Devil's Advocate
• DMonster

Name King Lears brutal son-in-law who gouged out Gloucesters eyes in Shakespeares tragedy King Lear.

• ADuke of Cornwall
• BDuke of Burgundy
• CEdmund
• DEarl of Kent

What allegorical novel, included on Time magazines 100 Greatest Novels list, follows a group of young boys marooned on a desert tropical island?

• AThe Lord of the Rings
• BAmerican Pastoral
• CLord of the Flies
• DNative Son

What character from the play Julius Caesar incites the conspiracy against Caesar and plays a leading role in his assassination?

• ABrutus
• BCassius
• CArviragus
• DTaurus

In the Harry Potter series, who created the Ravenclaw House when Hogwarts was built?

• ARowena Ravenclaw
• BRicky Ravenclaw
• CRowana Ravenclaw
• DRonald Ravenclaw

What was the name of Shakespeares theatre, where his acting company performed?

• AThe Courtyard
• BThe Oscar Theater
• CThe Globe Theater
• DThe Theatre

He was born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri and began writing in the 8th grade even though his father discouraged him.

• AThurgood Marshall
• BLangston Hughes
• CBarnard Hughes
• DE.G. Marshall

Which of the following poems was not written by Edgar Allan Poe?

• AThe City In The Sea
• BThe Raven
• CAnnabel Lee
• DI Carry Your Heart With Me

They hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way is from a work by this author.

• AJohn Milton
• BWilliam Shakespeare
• CJames Joyce
• DGeoffrey Chaucer

In Song of Susannah, Susannah is pregnant with whose baby?

• AOy
• BEddie
• CJake
• DRoland

In the novel Gone with the Wind, what was the name of Scarlett's first house—the house she had her childhood in and loved more than anything?

• AYern
• BLeps
• CWard
• DTara

Mrs. Granger is a popular teacher who appears in this novel.

• AThe Best School Year Ever
• BFrindle
• CMy Life as a Fifth-Grade Comedian
• DSuperfudge