Literature Trivia Questions — page 12

The Catcher in the Rye follows Holden Caulfields experiences in this city in the days following his expulsion from a fictional school in Pennsylvania.

• ALos Angeles
• BBoston
• CNew York City
• DPhiladelphia

What Shakespearean character is resented by her son for marrying her husbands brother, Claudius?

• AElizabeth Woodville
• BLady Anne Neville
• CQueen Gertrude
• DLady Macbeth

What name was applied to the group of British playwrights and novelists from the 1950s, which included John Osborne, John Braine, and Alan Sillitoe?

• AThe Angry Young Men
• BThe Disappointed Young Men
• CThe Conformists
• DThe Rebels

Susannah had left a scrimshaw ornament behind before she was taken into the restaurant, which gave Jake and Father Callahan hope when they found it. What animal shape had the scrimshaw been carved into?

• ATurtle
• BBilly-Bumbler
• CBear
• DCrow

When was Terry Pratchett appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature?

• A1998
• BNever.
• C2001
• D1963

This tragedy, often referred to as The Scottish Play, opens with the appearance of three witches amid thunder and lightning.

• AMacbeth
• BKing Lear
• CThe Tempest
• DAnthony and Cleopatra

What does the phrase Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy refer to in the novel of the same name?

• Acode names for the British Intelligence Officers suspected of being the traitor
• Ban encryption key used to decipher intelligence material
• Ca pass phrase used to identify friendly agents.
• Dnames of safe-houses used by the British Secret Service.

During the battle in the book Wizard and Glass, Roland captures the Wizards Glass, a malevolent crystal ball that shows him visions of his future. What colour is the Wizards Glass?

• ANo colour at all
• BGreen
• CBlack
• DPink

Atreyu, one of the characters in the book The Neverending Story, is what kind of warrior?

• AOrangeskin warrior
• BPurpleskin warrior
• CGreenskin warrior
• DBlueskin warrior

In The Subtle Knife" Angelica's younger brother is Paolo. Who is her older brother?

• ATullio
• BOliver Payne
• CAsriel
• DWill

The famous Wedding March is incorporated in the music that German composer Felix Mendelssohn wrote in 1842 for what Shakespeare play?

• ARomeo and Juliet
• BKing Lear
• CMuch Ado About Nothing
• DA Midsummer Nights Dream

The protagonist of this Shakespearean tragedy is a Moor in the service of the Republic of Venice.

• AHamlet
• BMacbeth
• COthello
• DKing Lear

This book tells the story of a pilot and a scientist on an air expedition to Greenland who have separate dreams of being two long-dead lovers.

• AEaters of the Dead
• BAn Old Captivity
• CLost Horizon
• DThe Interpretation of Dreams

Bella, the protagonist of the novel Twilight, is tracked by a vampire intent on killing her. What is his name?

• AJames
• BLaurent
• CJohn
• DGeorge

Which of these is not one of Dean Koontzs pseudonyms?

• ARichard Paige
• BLeonard Chris
• CMarion Marquart
• DLeigh Nichols

Stephen King's novel The Gunslinger was written in five parts and published individually in which of the following?

• APlayboy
• BWeird Tales
• CRealms of Fantasy
• DThe Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Is Wormtongue really sad when he sees the army of Uruk-Hai in the book, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers?

• ANot in the least
• BYes
• CA little
• DMaybe

In the Harry Potter universe, who does Draco Malfoy end up marrying?

• AAstoria Greengrass
• BPansy Parkinson
• CMillicent Bulstrode
• DHermione Granger

Which allegorical novel by William Golding features a group of boys stranded on a desert island?

• ARites of Passage
• BFire Down Below
• CLord of the Flies
• DDarkness Visible

What is the correct answer to the following question according to writer an humorist Mark Twain: What's the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector?

• AThe taxidemist only takes your skin.
• BThe tax collector is an elected official.
• CThere is no difference. They both skin you.
• DThe tax collector has no warm blood.

This play is generally considered to be the most adaptable of Shakespeare's works, and follows two "star-crossed lovers".

• AKing Lear
• BHamlet
• CRomeo and Juliet
• DThe Tempest

What is the occupation of Hermiones parents in the Harry Potter books?

• ADentists
• BDoctors
• CWaiter/Waitress
• DTeachers

What was the name of the first wife of fictional British Royal Navy officer Horatio Hornblower?

• AMaggie
• BMaria
• CMildred
• DPenny

What was the code name of the former head of the British Secret Service, who died of a heart attack a year prior to the events outlined in the book Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy?

• AChief
• BControl
• CM
• DC

This novel by Charlotte Brontë includes the character Mr. Rochester, whose wife is a violent lunatic.

• AThe Turn of the Screw
• BJane Eyre
• CA Room with a View
• DWuthering Heights

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. is the beginning of this famous Dickens historical novel, concerning the French Revolution and dealing with some timeless moral issues, such as guilt, treachery and patriotism.

• AA Tale of Two Cities
• BNicholas Nickleby
• CDavid Copperfield
• DGreat Expectations

In the novel The Drawing of the Three, Roland tells his companions they are all essential members of his group, but uses a special word meaning one made from many or sharing the same destiny. What is that word?

• AKa-lel
• BKa-zaa
• CKa-tet
• DKa-boom

This type of poem is one that is relatively short and tells a story.

• AEpode
• BLyric poem
• CProsdic poem
• DNarrative poem

Angelo is a character from this famous play by William Shakespeare.

• AMeasure for Measure
• BMacbeth
• CTitus Andronicus
• DAs You Like It

In the novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, what was the name of the Operation launched by the former Head of the British Secret Service in a desperate attempt to root out the traitor in the Service?

• AEagle
• BTestify
• CWitchcraft
• DVengeance

Which of the following authors was not born in England?

• AGraham Greene
• BArthur C Clarke
• CH G Wells
• DArthur Conan Doyle

Where does most of the action in the novel The Mezzanine take place?

• AIn line at the office supply store.
• BIn the protagonists mind
• COn a park bench outside the office.
• DOn the escalator in the Mezzanine.

Draco Malfoy is a member of this fictional house at Hogwarts which values pure blood heritage.

• AHufflepuff
• BSlytherin
• CRavenclaw
• DGryffindor

What novel opens with this line: It was a cold day in April and the clock was striking thirteen.?

• A1984
• BA Clockwork Orange
• CBrave New World
• DThe Time Machine

The novel "Of Mice And Men" was written by what author?

• AMark Twain
• BGeorge Orwell
• CJohn Steinbeck
• DHarper Lee

Earnest Hemingway was born in 1899 in a Chicago suburb, and later attended this high school.

• AFenwick High School
• BCook County High School
• COak Park and River Forest High School
• DCarl Rogers High School

Who wrote the 1967 horror novel "Rosemary's Baby"?

• AIra Levin
• BStephen King
• CMary Shelley
• DRobert Bloch

Finish this stanza from the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: Water, water everywhere, And all the boards did shrink, Water, water everywhere, ____________________.

• ANor any drop to drink.
• BAnd then the ship did sink.
• CAnd the men were on the brink.
• DAnd boy did that water stink!

How long did it take Stephen King to complete the novel The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger?

• A3 years
• B12 years
• C10 years
• D5 years

What is the pen name of the Russian-born American novelist known for her best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged?

• AEdith Van Dyne
• BAyn Rand
• CSilence Dogood
• DPearl S Buck

Mark David Chapman was found with a copy of The Catcher in the Rye on the night he shot this person.

• ARonald Reagan
• BJohn Lennon
• CRebecca Schaeffer
• DYoko Ono

Often coming in at number one on 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century lists, what is the name of the James Joyce book that depicts a day in the life of Leopold Bloom?

• AA Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
• BDubliners
• CFinnegans Wake
• DUlysses

How old was the prominent English poet John Keats when he died in 1821?

• A26 years old
• B46 years old
• C56 years old
• D16 years old

Who penned the childrens story The Old Man of Lochnager?

• AHarold Wilson
• BDavid Beckham
• CEric Clapton
• DPrince Charles

In Stephen King's novel The Dark Tower, Mordred has the ability to transform himself into what type of creature?

• ASpider
• BCrow
• CSnake
• DWolf

What do the initials T. S. stand for in the name of the famous poet T. S. Eliot?

• ATerry Stephens
• BThomas Stearns
• CTheodore Sallings
• DTory Saunders

J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye opens in the week before this major holiday.

• AEaster
• BThanksgiving Day
• CChristmas
• DMemorial Day

This is a quote from a novel in which the action takes place in a mental institution: 'You have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy.' Name the novel.

• ALost in the Funhouse
• BSomething Happened
• C'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'
• DThe Winter of Our Discontent

Who is the protagonist of the book: "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger

• AJerome David
• BHolden David
• CHolden Caulfield
• DJerome Caulfield

What prominent Victorian author began his career writing humorous sketches for The Morning Chronicle, using the pen-name Boz?

• AOscar Wilde
• BThomas Hardy
• CCharles Dickens
• DD. H. Lawrence