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201 Literature Trivia Questions (Ranked From Easiest to Hardest)

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201 Literature Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2023)

• You get a book! You get a book! You get a book! For 15 years, starting in 1996, what daytime talk show megastar’s book club recommended a total of 70 books leading to total sales of over 55 million copies? Answer: Oprah Winfrey
• The author of novels like "Snow" and "My Name is Red," Orhan Pamuk was the first Turkish person to win what prestigious literature award given out by the Swedish Academy? They also give out awards for medicine, chemistry, and peace. Answer: Nobel Prize
• A young boy takes a train to the North Pole on Christmas Eve in what classic 1985 children's book by Chris Van Allsburg? Answer: The Polar Express
• What classic Leo Tolstoy novel, first released serially from 1873-1877, tells the story of a titular woman and her affair with Count Vronsky? Keira Knightley played the title character in a 2012 movie adaptation directed by Joe Wright. Answer: Anna Karenina
• The Shujing, Chunqiu, and Shijing are considered the foundations of the literary tradition in what country? Answer: China
• In the classic 1957 children's book, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," what is the name of the town the Grinch steals holiday presents and decorations from? Answer: Whoville
• While promoting his sprawling novel "Freedom" in 2010, Jonathan Franzen was the first American novelist to appear on the cover of Time magazine since what legendary horror writer in 2000? Answer: Stephen King
• What is the name of the third book in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer? Scientifically, this title signifies an occurrence in which an astronomical object is temporarily obscured. Answer: Eclipse
• Literally the study of whales, "Cetology" is the title of the 32nd chapter of what lengthy American novel? Answer: Moby Dick
• Iambic pentameter is a type of metric line used in English verse, most famously by William Shakespeare. While "iambic" describes the unstressed/stressed pattern of each two-syllable "foot," the word "pentameter" indicates that there are how many feet within a given line? Answer: Five
• In "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," what magical country does the White Witch put a spell on so that it is always winter but never Christmas? Answer: Narnia
• "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus," translated as "Never Tickle A Sleeping Dragon," is the official motto for what fictional place of learning? Answer: Hogwarts
• 20th century Georgian writer Flannery O'Connor is well-known for her short stories in the Southern Gothic style. Her most famous collection of stories was published in 1955 under the title "A Good M______ Is Hard to Find." What word fills in the blank? Answer: Man
• Oakland, California features a neighborhood named after what author of "The Call of the Wild," who often frequented the area? Answer: Jack London
• At the conclusion of an 1835 literary fairy tale, a small object is placed in a museum because of its critical role in finding a suitable princess to marry a prince. What is this object that was placed under dozens of mattresses earlier in the tale? Answer: Pea
• Thestrals and Floo Powder are both forms of transportation invented by what internationally-renowned author? Answer: JK Rowling
• What 1847 Emily Bronte classic deals with two West Yorkshire families, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and in particular the adopted Earnshaw, Heathcliff? It was also a 1939 William Wyler film with Oscar-winning cinematography, starring Laurence Olivier and David Niven. Answer: Wuthering Heights
• Henry David Thoreau wrote about life in the woods in Massachusetts in what iconic 1854 work of nonfiction literature? Answer: Walden
• A large portion of what 2001 Yann Martel novel features the title character stranded on a lifeboat after a shipwreck with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker? Answer: Life of Pi
• First appearing in the children's book "Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys", what is the most famous character created by H. A. and Margaret Rey? Answer: Curious George
• Named after a London railway station, what fictional literary bear was originally a stowaway from "Darkest Peru?" Answer: Paddington Bear
• The international publishing group Random House merged with what "aviary" publisher in 2013 resulting in a new, merged publishing conglomerate? Answer: Penguin Group
• What color is the "badge of courage" in Stephen Crane's famous Civil War novel? The "badge" represents a battlefield wound. Answer: Red
• “______, 1916” is a 1921 poem by William Butler Yeats about an uprising in Ireland against British rule. Fill in the blank, also a major Christian holiday. Answer: Easter
• The Nike Literary Award (technically Nagroda Literacka Nike) is one of the most prestigious awards for literature in what European country? Past winners include Wieslaw Mysliwski, Jaroslaw Marek Rymkiewicz, and Karol Modzelewski. Answer: Poland
• Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are the caretakers of what famed female protagonist played by Judy Garland? Answer: Dorothy Gale
• Famed American author Louisa May Alcott lived in Boston for much of her life, but based her most famous novel on events from her childhood in Concord, MA. This novel about the March sisters had its eighth film rendition released in December 2019. What is this novel? Answer: Little Women
• The Berenstain Bears (we know it's weird, but it is spelled that way) live in what interesting type of home? Answer: Treehouse
• "The Cricket on the Hearth" is a holiday novel, not nearly as well known as "A Christmas Carol," by what British author? Answer: Charles Dickens
• Not signifying someone smart with Lincolns, but rather a sewer-dweller, what is the name of the dancing clown in Stephen King's famed horror novel "It?" Answer: Pennywise
• B.F. Skinner wrote a utopian novel in 1948, about an ideal place whose citizens are led to happier lives by structural implementation of behavioral psychology, called “______ Two.” Fill in the blank, also the one world title of Henry David Thoreau’s book about living the woods. Answer: Walden
• "Dog doo good god!" is a sentence that reads the same backwards and forwards. This is an example of what literary device? Answer: Palindrome
• What literary "S" term is intended to be both critical and humorous while poking fun at an institution or idea? Answer: Satire
• Prolific author Carl Hiaasen wrote more than a dozen humor-inflected novels dealing with crime, environmentalism, and political corruption in his native Florida. In 2002, he made his first foray into young adult fiction with what four-letter owl-centric novel that was named a Newbery Medal honor book? Answer: Hoot
• The Imagination Library is a free children's book gifting program started by what famous singer in 1995? The program started by offering a monthly book to each child in Sevier County, Tennessee regardless of family income. Answer: Dolly Parton
• In Herman Melville's famous "Moby-Dick," what species of whale is the "white whale?" The name comes from the semi-liquid, waxy substance found within the whale's head. Answer: Sperm whale
• Code-switching and police violence are major themes in what 2017 young-adult novel by Angie Thomas? Answer: The Hate U Give
• What internationally-renowned British author coined the following secret phrase? "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Answer: JK Rowling
• Two displaced migrant ranch workers are the dual protagonists of what 1937 novella with a title that starts with a preposition? Answer: Of Mice and Men
• In the late 14th century, Dirc Potter van der Loo, lord of Waddinxveen, wrote a poem of Biblically based amorous adventures called “The ______ Of Love.” Fill in the blank with a “C” word, sometimes used to refer to a path or a particular educational class. Answer: Course
• Jesse Andrews made his novel debut in 2012 with “Me and ______ and the Dying Girl.” Fill in the one word “E” blank, also a British title above viscount and below marquess. Answer: Me And Earl And The Dying Girl
• In her novel "Bridget Jones's Diary," author Helen Fielding named love interest Mark Darcy after a character from what classic Jane Austen novel? Answer: Pride and Prejudice
• Where does the Wizard live in The Wizard of Oz? Answer: The Emerald City
• In his obituary in 1991, the New York Times said "English was too skimpy for his rich imagination." and that "his meter was irresistible." Who is this children's author? Answer: Dr. Seuss
• What British author wrote the classic 1964 children's novel "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?" Answer: Roald Dahl
• Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against author Salman Rushdie after the publication of what 1989 novel that mocked the prophet Muhammad? Answer: The Satanic Verses
• Aimed at an adult audience, the 1998 novel "Summer Sisters" is by what American author better known for children's and young-adult literature like "Superfudge" and "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret?" Answer: Judy Blume
• What is the titular city in "Tales of the City," a classic work of queer literature published in 1978 by American author Armistead Maupin? Answer: San Francisco
• The decade-long Trojan War was instigated by the eloping of a famous couple. With one guess, name either member of this couple. Answer: Helen and Paris
• Mr. C. Hillegass, an employee at the Nebraska Book Company in 1958, started a series of study guides in his basement with his wife. Often associated with shirking homework assignments, what is the common name associated with these guides? Answer: CliffsNotes
• Jack, Simon, Piggy, and Roger are four of the young characters that make up the cast in what 1954 novel? Answer: Lord of the Flies
• Indian author Vikas Swarup wrote a 2005 novel titled "Q & A" involving a game show that was (loosely) adapted into a 2008 British film that later won the Academy Award for Best Picture. What was the name of the adaptation? Answer: Slumdog Millionaire
• The ladies of Amy Tan's "Joy Luck Club" meet to play what game with plum blossom and chrysanthemum tiles? Answer: Mahjong
• The five categories in which Nobel Prizes are awarded are Peace, Chemistry, Literature, Physiology/Medicine, and what? Note that the Noble Memorial Prize in Economics does not count because it is technically a different reward. Answer: Physics
• Dwalin, Smaug's Delight, and Thorin Oakenshield are sandwiches at a Houston cafe named for what 1937 novel? Answer: The Hobbit (There and Back Again)
• What 1938 Daphne Du Maurier novel is about a woman who marries a wealthy widower, only to find that he and his house are haunted by the titular dead wife’s memory? A movie adaptation directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Joan Fontaine won the Best Picture Oscar in 1940. Answer: Rebecca
• A monk Of Egmond who wrote a history of Holland in 1305, later published in 1591 as “Verse Chronicle”, was Melis ______. Fill in the last name, also an “S” verb for adding coal to a fire. Answer: Stoke
• According to 18th-century satirist Jonathan Swift, "he was a bold man that first ate" what bivalve that comes in Bluepoint and Kumamoto varieties? Answer: Oyster
• "Alarm Will HOWL," reads an emergency exit warning at a San Francisco museum dedicated to what mid-20th century literary movement? Answer: Beat
• What 1995 coming-of-age comedy set in California is loosely based on Jane Austin's 1815 novel Emma? Answer: Clueless
• What 1945 British novel depicting animalian life was often accompanied with the subtitle "A Contemporary Satire?" Answer: Animal Farm
• What famously violent barber character was first introduced in "The String of Pearls" Victorian serial in 1846? The character also featured in a Tony award-winning musical and a 2007 film rendition. Answer: Sweeney Todd
• The title character of what Charlotte Bronte novel asks Mr. Rochester, "Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?" Answer: Jane Eyre
• What "phony" and "lousy" book by J.D. Salinger was Mark David Chapman holding when he killed John Lennon? Answer: Catcher in the Rye
• The most notable brewery in literature might be the abandoned, rusted-over operation once run by Miss Havisham, the eccentric woman young Pip meets in what 1860 novel by Charles Dickens? Answer: Great Expectations
• Although written under a "citrus-y" pen name, Daniel Handler was technically the author of a set of 13 books detailing the story of Sunny, Klaus and Violet Baudelaire and their struggles to escape their unpleasant circumstances. What is the name of this series? Oh, and here's a fun fact: each of the 13 novels includes a newly-discovered library as part of the plot. Again, we are looking for the name of the series, not the author's pseudonym. Answer: A Series of Unfortunate Events
• What English writer was born Adeline Virginia Stephen in 1882 and is considered one of the most important 20th century modernist writers? She's also considered a pioneer of stream of consciousness writing, and wrote novels including "The Voyage Out" and "The Waves." Answer: Virginia Woolf
• What was the profession of Marilyn Monroe’s last husband, Arthur Miller, who she divorced in 1961, a year before her death? Miller, meanwhile, did not die for another 44 years when he passed in Connecticut. Answer: Playwright
• What education-related word has two distinct meanings both related to books? The first is simply an organized listing of books (often at the end of a piece of research) and the second is a more systematic description of books as physical objects. Answer: Bibliography
• What author, famous for writing “The Outsiders” and “Rumble Fish”, set her 2004 novel, “Hawkes Harbor”, in Delaware? Answer: S.E. Hinton
• "Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!" is one of the most famous lines from what Shakespearean character? Answer: Lady Macbeth
• "Going to the mattresses," or hiding out from enemies, was a term popularized by what 1969 Mario Puzo novel and its film adaptation? Answer: The Godfather
• What American author, popularly known by a pseudonym, considered Hartford the most beautiful city in the United States and settled there to write what are considered his bildungsroman masterpieces? Coincidentally, this Missouri-born man lived next door to Harriet Beecher Stowe while in Hartford. Answer: Mark Twain
• Likenesses of Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins splash in puddles in a Portland sculpture garden dedicated to what beloved childrens' lit author? Answer: Beverly Cleary
• The winner of the 1994 Newbery Medal was ranked as the fourth best children's novel of all time by a 2012 US survey. What is this Lois Lowry-penned book which centers on protagonist Jonas's apprenticeship as his community's "Receiver of Memory?" Answer: The Giver
• "Sanditon," which she began in 1817 but did not finish before she died the same year, was the last novel by what English author? Answer: Jane Austen
• Which author wrote all her books (including Mrs. Dalloway) while standing? Answer: Virginia Woolf
• One of the youthful finders of a golden ticket in Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was a "great big greedy nincompoop" 9-year-old from the fictional town of Dusselheim, Germany. Who is this? Answer: Augustus Gloop
• Widely considered the best-selling true crime book in history, what 1974 book was co-written by the prosecutor in the 1970 trial of Charles Manson? The work shares its name with a Beatles song considered influential in the evolution of heavy metal music. Answer: Helter Skelter
• A "cranioectomy" on Violet Baudelaire is attempted for a live audience in an operating theater in the eight installment of what morbidly funny series of children's books? Answer: A Series of Unfortunate Events
• "Agnes Grey" and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" are the only two novels by an English author who was the younger sister of Charlotte and Emily Brontë. What was her first name? Answer: Anne (Brontë)
• The town of Pepin, Wisconsin is home to a museum honoring what author of the Little House books, most famously "Little House on the Prairie"? Answer: Laura Ingalls Wilder
• What classic literary villain, described as a “Machiavellian schemer and manipulator” shares his name with an avian sidekick in the Disney film "Aladdin?" Answer: Iago
• What Canadian author, poet, and environmentalist with a "forested" name reached new levels of fame in 2017 after her award-winning 1985 dystopian political novel was released as a smash-hit television series on Hulu? Answer: Margaret Atwood
• What famous poet who went by his initials stated: "I have measured out my life with coffee spoons"? Well-known works include "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and "The Waste Land." Answer: T.S. Eliot
• First mentioned in "The Goblet of Fire," what is the name for a magically enchanted object in the Harry Potter universe that allows for the apparition-less transportation of multiple people at once upon touching the object? Answer: Portkey
• Since 2011, author George R.R. Martin has been working on the sixth installment of his A Song of Ice and Fire series, a novel alliteratively titled The Winds of ______. What word fills in the blank? Answer: Winter
• During his embassy days in Rome, 14th and 15th century Dutch erotic poet-slash-diplomat Dirc Potter van der Loo found inspiration for his epic poem "The Course of Love" in the works of what saucy Florentine "Decameron" writer? Answer: Giovanni Boccaccio
• What 1937 book with a four-word title by Napoleon Hill, which purports to teach the secrets that can make you wealthy, has been called "the granddaddy of all motivational literature?" Answer: Think and Grow Rich
• Reminiscent of something that might be used by someone with alopecia, what was the name of the snowy owl which Harry Potter received as an eleventh birthday present from Hagrid? Answer: Hedwig
• What famed Boston author of "Little Women" was previously taught by Henry David Thoreau and even penned him a poem titled "Thoreau's Flute?"? Answer: Louisa May Alcott
• "Little Women" is typically considered an autobiographical or semi-autobiographical novel based on the 19th century life of what American author? Answer: Louisa May Alcott
• A famous fictional member of the Army Air Forces is Capt. John Yossarian, a 28-year-old World War 2 bombardier in what Joseph Heller satirical novel? Answer: Catch 22
• The previously domestic Buck channels his feral instincts and ends up killing others as he ascends to the role of pack leader in what Jack London novel? Answer: The Call of the Wild
• What New England-born poet was famously prolific, but having written nearly 1,800 poems had fewer than a dozen published during her lifetime? Famous poems include "Because I could not stop for Death" and "Tell all the truth but tell it slant." Answer: Emily Dickinson
• What epic John Milton poem, first published in 1667, concerns the fall of Lucifer from Heaven, and Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden? Answer: Paradise Lost
• What author created the child protagonist who promptly explains his nickname to the reader in the following manner? “My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip.” Answer: Charles Dickens
• Johannes Gutenberg gets oodles of history book credit, but in fact there is clear documentation that movable type was invented 400 years earlier (circa AD 1045) in what country? Answer: China
• What science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut published in 1969 opens with the line, “All this happened, more or less”? Answer: Slaughterhouse-five
• Although her life tragically ended at the age of 30, what American poet and short-story writer is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for collections such as "The Bell Jar?" She posthumously won a Pulitzer Prize in 1982 for her collected poems. Answer: Sylvia Plath
• What 2014 Liane Moriarty novel is set in Australia, although its HBO TV adaptation moved the setting to Monterey, California? Answer: Big Little Lies
• What is the title of the popular book and recent TV series about two families living in 1990s Shaker Heights that opens with a family home catching fire? Answer: Little Fires Everywhere
• What famously witty American, who occasionally went by the pen name of Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass, wrote the following line to describe early-model, "high-wheeler" bicycles? "Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live." Answer: Mark Twain
• What American novelist was born in 1931 and is known for her prolific writings including "The Bluest Eye," "Song of Solomon," and "Beloved?" That last book was made into a 1996 movie produced by Oprah Winfrey. This Ohioan won both a Nobel Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Answer: Toni Morrison
• Stonehead McGurney and Sir Harry the Muse are owls in what colorfully-named fantasy novel series by Brian Jacques? Answer: Redwall
• According to ancient Greek literature, Argos, the dog of what wayward king of Ithaca, died of joy after seeing his master for the first time in decades? Answer: Odysseus
• The O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizarding Levels) are a set of standardized tests in the wizarding world that are traditionally taken at Hogwarts at the end of which school year? Answer: Fifth year
• According to the Harry Potter books, how many total balls are used in a standard Quidditch match? Answer: Four
• Justin Trudeau has a bachelor of arts degree in literature from what school? Answer: McGill University
• Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons are the famous writer-artist pair behind what graphic novel that is frequently considered the magnum opus of its medium? In fact, it was the only graphic novel to appear on Time's 2005 list of the "All-Time 100 Greatest Novels" list. Answer: Watchmen
• Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky are both characters in what classic work of European literature? The book was partially released in serial format as "The Year 1805" and was published in its entirety in 1869. Answer: War and Peace
• Fittingly, considering its definition, what literary term has roots in the Greek words for both "sharp" and "dull?" Answer: Oxymoron
• Presidential candidate Andrew Jarrett uses the slogan "Make America Great Again" in "The Parable of the Talents," a 1998 dystopian novel by what sci-fi author? Answer: Octavia E. Butler
• What novel begins with the following line?“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like …” Answer: The Catcher in the Rye
• "Hello, goodbye" was the greeting of the Tralfamadorians in what novel by Kurt Vonnegut? Answer: Slaughterhouse Five
• In 1832, at the age of 21, a member of a prominent religious family moved to Cincinnati to join her father, who had become the president of a theological seminary. Her religious conviction, progressive inclinations, the recently-passed Fugitive Slave Act, and the death of her own 18-month-old-son were said to be key influences for one of the most influential novels in American history. What is this novel? Answer: Uncle Tom's Cabin
• What acclaimed children's author and poet spent much of his career as a cartoonist for Playboy and also wrote songs for the 1960s folk scene? Answer: Shel Silverstein
• Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was an animal character created by Rudyard Kipling in his anthology "The Jungle Book." What type of animal is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi? Answer: Mongoose
• French citizens have won it a record 16 times, but this year Annie Ernaux became the first female French recipient of the Nobel Prize in which category? Answer: Literature
• What famed children's author said the following? "I answer all my children's letters – sometimes very hastily – but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, 'Dear Jim: I loved your card.' Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said: 'Jim loved your card so much he ate it.' That to me was one of the highest compliments I've ever received." Answer: Maurice Sendak
• Experiences with a commanding officer in World War II helped Richard Adams form the character of Hazel the rabbit, in what 1972 novel? Answer: Watership Down
• What author, who is far more famous for creating another character of page and screen, wrote the novel "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" in 1964? Many of the characters this author created were known by a single letter or a number. Answer: Ian Fleming
• J.K. Rowling is rumored (and has since denied) to have written the first part of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” on what uncommon writing surface? Answer: a napkin
• What Roman emperor from 161 to 180, who was also a Stoic philosopher, wrote the book “Meditations?” These self-explorations helped him guide and improve himself, and is used as a tool for leaders to this day. Answer: Marcus Aurelius
• Typically priced between five and 25 cents, small paperback books sent by mail were extremely popular in the early 20th century and known by what monetary name? Answer: Dime novels
• 1982 saw the release of “The Little Drummer Girl”, about an English actress who is drawn into a plot to help capture a Palestinian terrorist. This book was written by what by British novelist, famed for his espionage novels such as “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” Answer: John Le Carre
• What is the name of the narrator in "The Great Gatsby?" This man's last name sounds a bit like departing while holding an object. Answer: Nick Carraway
• In Cervantes's iconic work "Don Quixote," who is Quixote's companion who regularly quotes proverbs and rides a donkey? Answer: Sancho Panza
• Elisha Otis wouldn't approve of the meditation techniques used in Colson Whitehead's novel "The Intuitionist" to inspect what pieces of infrastructure? Answer: Elevators
• Lilly “Shug” Avery is the free-spirited singer known for both her beautiful voice and scandalous lifestyle for the 1930s American South (specifically, Georgia) in what award-winning epistolary novel by writer Alice Walker? Answer: The Color Purple
• The term "robot" was introduced in what form of literature (novel, play, short story, article, book, poem) by Czech writer, Karel Capek, in 1920? Answer: Play
• A classic of LGBTQ literature, "Orlando: A Biography" is a 1928 novel by what British author who also wrote "A Room of One's Own?" Answer: Virginia Woolf
• What "cold-blooded" American author wrote the short story "A Christmas Memory" about making fruitcakes from scratch in Alabama? Answer: Truman Capote
• Set just before the American Revolution, what Newbery-winning Esther Forbes novel's title character is a silversmith's apprentice who takes part in the Boston Tea Party? Answer: Johnny Tremain
• What author wrote "I'm right and you're wrong, I'm big and you're small, and there's nothing you can do about it?" In the 1996 movie adaptation of the novel, the line was uttered by actor-director Danny Devito. Answer: Roald Dahl
• Dmitri, Ivan, and Alexei are the three familial title characters in what 1879 novel? Answer: The Brothers Karamazov
• Although more well-known for his fiction and character creations, what famous author was also an ophthalmologist? He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh in the 1870s, was a determined supporter of compulsory vaccination, and partially based his most famous character on a former university teacher. Answer: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Although he was not able to speak English fluently until his mid-twenties, this Polish-British writer is often considered one of the great masters of the English language. He helped popularize the concept of an anti-hero, frequently featured nautical settings, and wrote both "The Secret Agent," "The Secret Sharer," and "The Heart of Darkness." Who is this author? Answer: Joseph Conrad
• ______ is the part of the sentence that contains a verb, and it typically consists of both a subject and a predicate. What word six-letter word fills in the blank? Answer: Clause
• Although he published over 60 books under a different name, who published 13 books under the name Theo LeSieg and one book under the name Rosetta Stone? Answer: Dr. Seuss
• What Shakespearean play, in which two couples wind up marrying, coined a modern day term for an unnecessary dispute? Answer: Much Ado About Nothing
• "Bless Me, Ultima" is a famous coming-of-age novel by Rudolfo Anaya centering on a young Antonio and his mentor Ultima along with her pet owl. The book is one of the most widely read and critically acclaimed novel in the Chicano literary canon. In what U.S. state is the book set? Answer: New Mexico
• What 2014 bestseller by Emily St. John Mandel opens with a performance of "King Lear," in which the death of the actor playing Lear is one of the first in an apocalyptic swine flu pandemic? Answer: Station Eleven
• What is the one-word title of the Detroit-centric Pulitzer Prize-winning 2002 novel written by Jeffrey Eugenides that is largely a bildungsroman and family saga centered on the intersex protagonist Cal Stephanides? Answer: Middlesex
• Because it was the setting for many of her stories, the city of Eatonville, Florida hosts an annual festival dedicated to her. She's often considered a central figure of the Harlem Renaissanc and 1937's "Their Eyes Were Watching God" remains the most popular of her 50+ published works. Who is she? Answer: Zora Neale Hurston
• "The Fire Next Time," "If Beale Street Could Talk," and "Giovanni's Room" are all books by what acclaimed Black American author that spent most of his professional life in France rather than the U.S. due to the racial discrimination he faced in the U.S.? Answer: James Baldwin
• What novel traverses a century of the Buendías while surfacing the tales of seven generations of the Latin American family? Answer: 100 Years of Solitude
• The 1965 science fiction novel "Dune" was the winner of the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel and was considered at one point as the world's best-selling science fiction novel. It is also being adapted into a film with a scheduled 2020 release. Who authored this work? Answer: Frank Herbert
• Named in part for the color of the Confederate flag, what is the name of the Scarlett and Rhett's child in "Gone with the Wind?" Answer: Bonnie
• Who wrote “Beauty is truth, truth beauty” in his poem, “Ode on a Grecian Urn?” Answer: John Keats
• The 1999 novel "Girl With a Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier was inspired by a painting with the same title by what Dutch artist? Answer: Johannes Vermeer
• What writer's works were printed over 100 million times by 2000, leading to the unusual honor of having a new dinosaur species after him? Answer: Michael Crichton
• What man committed suicide at the age of 31 and posthumously won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction after his mother doggedly convinced a publisher to print his novel "A Confederacy of Dunces"? Answer: John Kennedy Toole
• “Samuel Spade’s jaw was long and bony” is the first line of what famous detective novel with a bird's name in the title? Answer: The Maltese Falcon
• In 1971, John Gardner wrote a novel from the perspective of what monster from an ancient British poem? In the British poem, the hero was eventually killed by a monster known simply as “______’s Mother.” Answer: Grendel
• Lake Wobegon is a fictional, small rural town created by what famous Midwestern author and storyteller? Answer: Garrison Keillor
• What classic kiddie-lit book by Virginia Lee Burton features title characters who are a construction worker and a piece of construction equipment he calls Mary Anne? Answer: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
• The title character works as a maid at Talbothays Dairy in the third part of what 1891 novel by Thomas Hardy? Answer: Tess of the D'Urbervilles
• What Latina and Chicago native wrote "Caramelo," a novel about a Mexican-American family in Chicago who takes an annual road trip to visit their “Awful Grandmother” in Mexico City? Answer: Sandra Cisneros
• Bigger Thomas, a young Black man living in poverty in Chicago in the 1930s, is the title character of what novel by Richard Wright? Answer: Native Son
• Rachel Verinder wears the titular gem to her birthday party and loses it the same evening at the start of what 1868 novel by Wilkie Collins? Answer: The Moonstone
• Considered a partially fictional autobiography by Charles Dickens, what are the two words missing from this well-known literary title of the 19th century? "The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of ______ ______ the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery." Answer: David Copperfield
• The impolite, unpleasant Katherina is referred to metaphorically by the name of a small mammal in the name of what Shakespeare play? Answer: The Taming of the Shrew
• Although it sounds like a friendless novel about a critical human organ, Carson McCullers's 1940 debut novel is actually about an isolated misfit in a Georgia town. What is the novel? Answer: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
• Truman Capote's famous non-fiction work "In Cold Blood" describes a burglary and grisly quadruple murder by Richard Hickock and Perry Smith in what state? Answer: Kansas
• The son of a literature professor and a dancer/choreographer, Cage has family roots in the movies through his uncle. What famous director is the brother of Nicolas Cage's father? Answer: Francis Ford Coppola
• Molly Bolt's coming of age is the focus of what 1973 classic of LGBTQ literature by Rita Mae Brown? Answer: Rubyfruit Jungle
• What repetitively named William Faulkner novel is told as a series of flashbacks from narrator Quentin Compson to his roommate at Harvard? Answer: Absalom, Absalom!
• What author earned his MD in California and practiced medicine for a decade before his breakout novel allowed him to pursue writing full time? The 2003 novel followed the story of a young Afghan boy Amir. We're looking for the name of the author, not the book. Answer: Khaled Hosseini
• What famed British poet had the middle name Bysshe? In fact, his first, middle, and last names all contained the letter "Y." Answer: Percy Bysshe Shelley
• Sometimes considered the quintessential novel of the 1980s, what NYC-set satirical work centered on greed, racism, and social class through the lens of a lawyer, investment banker, and journalist? The book's title is a reference to an actual 1497 conflagration. Answer: The Bonfire of the Vanities
• Set in the Indian state of Kerala, what "divine" 1997 debut novel by Arundhati Roy won a Man Booker Prize? Answer: The God of Small Things
• An experience as a young seaman being captured in the South Pacific by cannibals and imprisoned for mutiny inspired material for what American author for his future maritime fiction? Answer: Herman Melville
• The name of which punctuation mark is Greek for "together?" Answer: Hyphen
• What Boston neighborhood was home to Sylvia Plath, Robert Frost, and Louisa May Alcott for portions of their lives? Alcott published her first story while living in the neighborhood while Plath and Frost lived here later in life. Answer: Beacon Hill
• "The Pittsburgh Cycle" consists of ten plays about the Black American experience, including "Fences" and "The Piano Lesson," by what playwright? Answer: August Wilson
• What American novelist is well-known for his sparse use of punctuation and once claimed that to use quotation marks is to "blot the page up with weird little marks?" This author is associated with the Southern Gothic, Western, and post-apocalyptic genres. Answer: Cormac McCarthy
• What Anthony Horowitz-created character is sometimes referred to as a “Teenage James Bond?” He is the main character in a series of books that starts with “Stormbreaker.” Answer: Alex Rider
• Charles and Caroline Ingalls, the parents from the “Little House on the Prairie” series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, are buried in which northern state, which also served as the setting for the last 5 books in the series? Answer: South Dakota
• The collective name for owls is parliament. This noun arose because of a description of a meeting of owls in what author's works? Answer: C.S. Lewis
• Considered one of the innovators of creative nonfiction via New Journalism, what American author's best-known work "The Executioner's Song" won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for fiction? This "postal" author also ran in the Democratic primary for NYC's mayoral race of 1969 with a platform including the secession of New York City as the 51st US state. Answer: Norman Mailer
• Orleanna Price and her four daughters (Rachel, Leah, Adah and Ruth May) are living in the Belgian Congo near the Kwilu River in what 1998 award-winning novel by Barbara Kingsolver? Answer: The Poisonwood Bible
• Author John Green set his tearjerking 2012 bestseller, "The Fault in Our Stars," in what state capital that is also Green's hometown? Answer: Indianapolis
• Adapted into a 2020 Netflix film, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" is one of the ten plays about the Black American experience known as the Pittsburgh Cycle, by what playwright? Answer: August Wilson
• The most famous work of what Roman poet born in 43 BC begins "My intention is to tell of bodies changed to different forms?" Answer: Ovid
• What 13-letter German loanword means a novel that focuses on the psychological and personal growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood? Answer: Bildungsroman
• "Hell is other people" is the most famous line to come out of what Sartre play about three sinners trapped together forever? Answer: No Exit
• Although it is set in Harlem, New York City, what 1974 novel by James Baldwin has a title that refers to a thoroughfare in Memphis, Tennessee? Answer: If Beale Street Could Talk
• Set on the fictional Australian sheep station of Drogheda, what 1977 novel by Colleen McCullough was adapted into a miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward? Answer: The Thorn Birds
• Although this Thomas Pynchon novel was considered one of the "All-Time Greatest 100 Novels" by Time, the 1974 Pulitzer Prize jury on fiction was offended by its content, some of which was described as "unreadable, overwritten, and obscene." What is this two-word novel? Answer: Gravity's Rainbow
• "A Raisin in the Sun," the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway, opened in March 1959. The author was a 29-year-old woman who won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. Name the author. Answer: Lorraine Hansberry
• What language, in which "doubleplusungood" means "very bad," does the government of Oceania use to establish thought control in George Orwell's novel "1984?" Answer: Newspeak
• What author penned the best-selling 21st century NYC novel "Let the Great World Spin"? Answer: Colum McCann
• What 20th century Cuban poet was a rebellious critic of the Cuban government and Fidel Castro? His books include “Before Night Falls” and “El Color Del Verano.” Answer: Reinaldo Arenas
• Fittingly, what is the name of the hero of John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" who flees from the City of Destiny to the Celestial City? Answer: Christian
• Born in Cambridgeport, MA, the first full-time American female book reviewer in journalism wrote "Woman in the Nineteenth Century" which is often considered the first major feminist work in the United States. Who was this native New Englander? Answer: Margaret Fuller
• "A Visit from the Goon Squad" won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and intersected across characters and formats while the titular "goon squad" was simply time itself. What woman penned this novel? Answer: Jennifer Egan
• In what 1995 poem did Maya Angelou declare, "Pretty women wonder where my secret lies / I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size?" Answer: Phenomenal Woman
• What native Minnesotan won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his novel “Main Street”? Answer: Sinclair Lewis
• Mrs. Rupa Mehra is determined to arrange her daughter's marriage in what nearly-1500-page Vikram Seth novel set in a newly independent India? Answer: A Suitable Boy
• Featuring Bette Midler’s Grammy-winning rendition of "Wind Beneath My Wings," the 1988 tear-jerking film "Beaches" is based on what author’s namesake novel released in 1985? Answer: Iris Rainer Dart

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Home » History of English Literature Objective Questions » 300+ TOP History of English Literature MCQs and Answers Quiz

300+ TOP History of English Literature MCQs and Answers Quiz

History of english literature multiple choice questions.

1. Who is considered as the first English poet?

C. william langland

D. robert burns

Answer: B. caedmon

2. Who is the author of Ecclesiastical History of the English People ?

Answer: A. bede

3. Name of the Anglo Saxon epic

A. the wanderer

B. dream of the rood

Answer: C. beowulf

4. The Hundred Years of War between………..

A. england and france

B. england and germany

C. france and germany

D. ireland and england

Answer: A. england and france

5. In which year the peasant Revolt happened?

Answer: A. 1381

6. Who is the author of ‘Piers Plowman’?

Answer: C. william langland

7. The earliest surviving English poem

A. king horn

B. piers plowman

Answer: A. king horn

8. Who is the author of The Canterbury Tales?

A. william langland

B. geoffrey chaucer

C. robert burn

Answer: B. geoffrey chaucer

9. The Middle Age was held to begin in England with……………

A. hundred years war

B. peasant revolt

C. black death

D. the norman conquest

Answer: D. the norman conquest

10. Who led The Norman Conquest?

B. william the duke of normandy

C. julius caesar

D. william wycliffe

Answer: B. william the duke of normandy

11. Name of the elegy written by Chaucer on the death of Blanche, the wife of John of Gaunt

A. the house of fame

B. troilus and criseyde

C. the book of the duchess

D. the roman de la rose

Answer: C. the book of the duchess

12. When did ‘The General Prologue’ of Canterbury Tales compose?

Answer: A. 1387.

13. The first English Printer, who set up printing press in 1476

C. william bailey

Answer: B. caxton

14. In which year the first printing press was set up in England?

Answer: C. 1476

15. A short traditional and popular story in verse of unknown authorship is called…………

Answer: B. ballad

16. Who wrote Treatise on the Astrolabe?

A. john wycliffe

Answer: D. chaucer

17. Confessio Amentis is the work of……………..

D. robert burn

Answer: A. gower

18. The Magna Carta was signed in ………………

Answer: B. 1214

19. Who did start The Hundred Years War with France?

A. edward 1

B. edward 11

C. edward iii

D. edward iv

Answer: C. edward iii

20. Which among these was written by Chaucer under Italian influence?

A. the legend of good women

B. roman de la rose

C. the book of duchess

D. the canterbury tales

Answer: A. the legend of good women

21. Which incident is considered as the beginning of the Renaissance in England?

A. reign of queen elizabeth

B. death of chaucer

C. end of war of roses

D. birth of shakespeare

Answer: C. end of war of roses

22. In which year did the War of Roses end?

Answer: B. 1485

23. In which year did the Battle of Bosworth Field end?

Answer: D. 1485

24. Which period is considered as the height of English Renaissance?

A. 1500 – 1550

B. 1450 – 1500

C. 1550 – 1600

D. 1600 – 1650

Answer: C. 1550 – 1600

25. Which were the dominant art forms of English Renaissance?

A. literature and music

B. painting and sculpture

C. cinema and drama

D. singing and dancing

Answer: A. literature and music

26. Who wrote Astrophel and Stella?

A. william shakespeare

B. edmund spenser

C. christopher marlowe

D. philip sidney

Answer: D. philip sidney

27. Who wrote The Defence of Poesy?

A. edmund spenser

B. philip sidney

C. geoffrey chaucer

D. william shakespeare

Answer: B. philip sidney

28. Who wrote The Faerie Queene?

A. philip sidney

B. ben jonson

C. thomas kyd

D. edmund spenser

Answer: D. edmund spenser

29. Who wrote Tamburlaine the Great?

B. christopher marlowe

D. ben jonson

Answer: B. christopher marlowe

30. Who wrote Hero and Leander?

A. christopher marlowe

C. john webster

D. thomas kyd

Answer: A. christopher marlowe

31. Who wrote The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus?

A. thomas kyd

Answer: C. christopher marlowe

32. Who wrote Dido, Queen of Carthage?

B. john bunyan

D. christopher marlowe

Answer: D. christopher marlowe

33. Who popularized the Comedy of Humours?

A. oscar wilde

Answer: B. ben jonson

34. Who wrote the book Utopia?

C. philip sidney

D. thomas more

Answer: D. thomas more

35. Who wrote the essay Of Studies?

B. thomas more

C. francis bacon

Answer: C. francis bacon

36. The King James Version of the Bible was published in _____.

Answer: A. 1611

37. How many sonnets did Shakespeare write?

Answer: B. 154

38. Find the odd one out.

C. robert greene

D. thomas nashe

Answer: A. william shakespeare

39. Who wrote the play Every Man in His Humour?

A. thomas nashe

B. robert greene

C. william shakespeare

Answer: D. ben jonson

40. Who wrote the play Bartholomew Fair?

A. john webster

B. thomas kyd

C. ben jonson

Answer: C. ben jonson

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50 Literature Quiz Questions and Answers

Is curling up with a good book your idea of heaven? Do you marvel at the literary greats and love finding a new classic?

If you answered an enthusiastic yes to the above, we’ve put together the perfect rainy day activity for you (apart from reading, of course!), with our 50 literature quiz questions and answers.

Through our literature quiz, we’ll test your knowledge of all the classics – both modern and old-school – as well as quiz you on all the hottest books right now. We take a look at authors, sagas and all the good stuff that makes reading so magical.

There’s something for everyone in our literature quiz questions and answers, and who knows, maybe you’ll even find some new inspiration for your reading bucket list while you’re at it…

Literature Quiz Questions and Answers

• Who wrote the classic novel ‘The Catcher in the Rye’?
• Winston Smith is the protagonist of which George Orwell novel?
• What magazine does Stieg Larsson’s character Mikael Blomkvist work at, and part own in ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ and its subsequent novels?
• Which small Yorkshire town inspired the setting for Emily Bronte’s ‘Wuthering Heights’?
• Where does Connell move to in the conclusion of Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People’?
• Jacob Marley and Bob Cratchit are characters from which Charles Dickens novel?
• In ‘Gone Girl’, what type of “girl” does Amy pretend to be when she first meets Nick?
• Answering to the nearest 100, how many pages long is Stephen King’s ‘IT’?
• James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ is loosely based on which epic poem?
• What job does Louisa take on a whim after being fired as a waitress in ‘Me Before You’?
• Who wrote the critically acclaimed 2015 novel ‘A Little Life’?
• In which mythical land are the ‘Lord of the Rings’ books set?
• In ‘Pride and Prejudice’, what is the full name of Elizabeth Bennet’s love interest?
• Co-written with John Fletcher, what is the last surviving play written by William Shakespeare, before his subsequent retirement and death two years later?
• How many books are there in the Harry Potter series?
• In whose thriller series do we follow Oslo detective Harry Hole, as he investigates violent crimes in the Norwegian capital?
• In ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’, which of the Pevensie siblings first enters Narnia?
• On which African river is Agatha Christie’s 1937 novel set?
• What is the name of Harper Lee’s debut novel?
• Who controversially won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016, making him one of only two songwriters to ever win the prestigious literary award?
• Natasha Rostov is the heroine of which classic Russian novel?
• In ‘The Great Gatsby’, what is located at the end of Daisy Buchanan’s dock?
• Which astronomically popular series of books, released in the 2000s, begins with a teenage girl moving to the small town of Forks, Washington?
• Where in Spain is ‘Don Quixote’ set?
• What do George Eliot, George Sand and Acton Bell all have in common?
• ‘Good Omens’, ‘American Gods’ and ‘Coraline’ are all books written by which author?
• What is the title of the first book to feature the character Sherlock Holmes?
• ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ was written by which British author?
• In ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’, who does Alex fall in love with?
• In ‘The Kite Runner’, how are Amir and Hassan related?
• What genre of book does Danielle Steel primarily write?
• Anastacia Steele is the main protagonist in which series of books?
• As of August 2023, whose autobiography was the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever?
• Humbert Humbert is the unreliable narrator and main character of which book by Vladimir Nabokov?
• What is the main character and narrator called in Daphne du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’?
• What literary movement does Ryū Murakami belong to?
• Which Bronte sister wrote the novel ‘Villette’?
• How many books are there in ‘The Hunger Games’ series of novels?
• The Republic of Gilead is a totalitarian and theocratic state in which dystopian novel published in 1985?
• Who wrote the novel ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’?
• Which book by Mary Shelley is often regarded as the first science fiction novel?
• What kind of ‘phile’ is somebody who loves to read regularly?
• Which of the following is NOT a book by John Green; ‘The Fault in Our Stars’, ‘Paper Towns’, or ‘The Sun Is Also a Star’?
• Who is attributed to the following quote: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one”?
• How many husbands did Evelyn Hugo have?
• Which of the following pieces of literature was NOT a book in its original format; ‘Gone with the Wind’, ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ or ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’?
• Elio and Oliver are the main characters in which LGBTQ book?
• Answering to the nearest five, what year was ‘The Bell Jar’ by Sylvia Plath originally published?
• Which of the following detective characters features in Jefferey Deaver’s novels; Alex Cross, Lincoln Rhyme, or Myron Bolitar?
• What is the most printed book of all time?

• D. Salinger
• A Christmas Carol
• A cool girl
• The Odyssey
• Carer/Caretaker
• Hanya Yanagihara
• Middle-earth
• Fitzwilliam Darcy
• The Two Noble Kinsmen
• River Nile (for ‘Death on the Nile’)
• To Kill A Mockingbird
• War and Peace
• The Green Light
• They are male pseudonyms used by female authors
• Neil Gaiman
• A Study in Scarlet
• Mark Haddon
• Prince Henry
• They are half-brothers
• Fifty Shades of Grey
• Prince Harry
• We never learn her name
• Postmodernism
• Charlotte Bronte
• The Handmaid’s Tale
• John le Carré
• Frankenstein
• Bibliophile
• The Sun Is Also a Star
• George R. R. Martin
• Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
• Call Me By Your Name
• Lincoln Rhyme

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Brief on History of English Literature: Questions and Answers session

Focuses on Chaucer, University Wits,Shakespeare, Elizabethan Age, Mystery, Morality, Miracle plays, Elizabethan sonnets, etc.

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Middle English Literature The second part of the anthology including examples of Middle English Literature starting with Sir Gawain and Canterbury Tales. The anthology is intended as a source of texts for students. English Literature – An Anthology for Students. Volume 1 - From the Old English Period to the Eighteenth Century. Poznań: Dom Wydawniczy Rebis, 2010, pp. 512.

Adelina Maria

With this study we hope to serve the needs of those students and teachers who feel particularly committed to the changes that have characterized our field in recent years. The renewed emphasis on historicism and the decline of formalist aestheticism in medieval studies have rendered it desirable to have a literary history that attends more singularly to the material and social contexts and uses of Old English texts. Although the need is greater than this volume can really satisfy, we hope that the present study will nonetheless prove useful to those who, like us, see literature’s relation to history and culture as our field’s area of chief pedagogical interest, and the respect in which it has most to offer literary studies at large.

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103+ Literature Trivia Questions and Answers

There’s nothing like a set of literature trivia questions to test the bookworm in you. In this set of book trivia, we cover everything from Harry Potter books, Agatha Christie, Tom Sawyer, Shakespeare’s plays, and other famous novels.

Table of Contents

Literature Trivia

How much do you know about classic book titles from famous authors? Let’s see as you take these book quiz questions. So pick up a good book, start gearing up, and see how many points you can answer from this collection of pop to classic literature trivia.

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Literature Trivia Questions and Answers

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History of English Literature MCQ

1. Who is considered as the first English poet? a. chaucer

c. william langland

d. robert burns

2. Who is the author of Ecclesiastical History of the English People ? a. bede

3. Name of the Anglo Saxon epic a. the wanderer

b. dream of the rood

4. The Hundred Years of War between……….. a. england and france

b. england and germany

c. france and germany

d. ireland and england

5. In which year the peasant Revolt happened? a. 1381

6. Who is the author of ‘Piers Plowman’? a. caedmon

7. The earliest surviving English poem a. king horn

b. piers plowman

8. Who is the author of The Canterbury Tales? a. william langland

b. geoffrey chaucer

c. robert burn

9. The Middle Age was held to begin in England with…………… a. hundred years war

b. peasant revolt

c. black death

d. the norman conquest

10. Who led The Norman Conquest? a. james i

b. william the duke of normand

c. julius caesar

d. william wycliffe

11. Name of the elegy written by Chaucer on the death of Blanche, the wife of John of Gaunt a. the house of fame

b. troilus and criseyde

c. the book of the duchess

d. the roman de la rose

12. When did ‘The General Prologue’ of Canterbury Tales compose? a. 1387.

13. The first English Printer, who set up printing press in 1476 a. gower

c. william bailey

14. In which year the first printing press was set up in England? a. 1400

15. A short traditional and popular story in verse of unknown authorship is called………… a. lyric

16. Who wrote Treatise on the Astrolabe? a. john wycliffe

17. Confessio Amentis is the work of…………….. a. gower

d. robert burn

18. The Magna Carta was signed in ……………… a. 1210

19. Who did start The Hundred Years War with France? a. edward 1

b. edward 11

c. edward iii

d. edward iv

20. Which among these was written by Chaucer under Italian influence? a. the legend of good women

b. roman de la rose

c. the book of duchess

d. the canterbury tales

21. A poem that generally has meter and rhyme a. lyric b. free verse c. narrative

22. Sylvia Plath married which English poet? a. Masefield b. Causley c. Hughes d. Larkin

23. Carl Sandburg ‘Planked whitefish’ contains what kind of imagery? a. Sea scenes b. Rural Idyll c. War d. Innocent childhood

24. Which influential American poet was born in Long Island in 1819? a. Emily Dickinson b. Paul Dunbar c. John Greenleaf Whittier d. Walt Whitman

25. In 1960 ‘The Colossus’ was the first book of poems published by which poetess? a. Elizabeth Bishop b. Sylvia Plath c. Marianne Moore d. Laura Jackson

26. In his poem Kipling said ‘If you can meet with triumph and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ‘? a. Glory b. Ruin c. Disaster d. victory

27. Which of the following is not a literary device used for aesthetic effect in poetry? a. Assonance b. Onomatopaea c. Rhyme d. Grammar

28. True or false: Writing predates poetry. a. True b. False

29. What is the earliest surviving European poem? a . The Homeric epic b. The Gilgamesh epic c. The Deluge epic d. The Hesiodic ode

30. Which of the following is not a poetic tradition? a. The Epic b. The Comic c. The Occult d. The Tragic

31. What is the study of poetry’s meter and form called? a. Prosody b. Potology c. Rheumatology d. Scansion

32. Shakespeare composed much of his plays in what sort of verse? a. Alliterative verse b. Sonnet form c. Iambic pentameter d. Dactylic hexameter

33. Which poet invented the concept of the variable foot in poetry? a. William Carlos Williams b. Emily Dickinson c. Gerard Manly Hopkins d. Robert Frost

34. Who wrote this famous line: ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day/ Thouart more lovely and more temperate…’ a. TS Eliot b. Lord Tennyson c. Charlotte Bronte d. Shakespeare

35. From what century does the poetic form the folk ballad date? a. The 12th b. The 14th c. The 17th d. The 19th

36. From which of Shakespeare’s plays is this famous line: ‘Did my heart love til now?/ Forswear it, sight/ For I never saw a true beauty until this night’ a. A Midsummer Night’s Dream b. Hamlet c. Othello d . Romeo and Juliet

37. What is a poem called whose first letters of each line spell out a word? a. Alliterative b. Epic c. Acrostic d. Haiku

38. Auld Lang Syne is a famous poem by whom? a. Sir Walter Scott b. William Butler Yeats c. Henry Longfellow d.  Robert Burns

39. How has Stephen Dunn been described in ‘the Oxford Companion to 20th Century Poetry? a. A poet of middleness b. Capturing a sense of spiritual marooness c. One of the leading prairie poets d. Has some distinction as a critic

40. ‘The Cambridge school’ refers to a group who emerged when? a. The 1900’s b. The 1960’s c. The 1920’s d. The 1930’s

41. George Herbert’s _______  shows his zeal for the church of England and concern with practical theology. a. To his Coy Mistress b. The Collar c. The Temple

42. Andrew Marvell was a tutor to the daughter of_________ . a. Lord John

b. Lord Foxfair c. Lord Fairfox

43. ________ assisted Milton in his duties as secretary for Foreign Tongues. a. George Herbert b. Andrew Marvell c. Donne

44. ________ loved Nature and the freshness of gardens in his work. a. Milton b. George Herbert c. Andrew Marvell

45. To his Coy Mistress is written by ____________. a. George Herbert b. Andrew Marvell c. Donne

46. The theme of the Song: “ Goe and Catche a Falling Stare is___inconstancy. a. Man’s  b. Woman’s  c. Parents’

47. In the poem________Donne breaks away from the Petrarchan tradition of woman –worship. a. The Good -Marrow  b. The Sunne Rising c. Song: Goe and Catche a Falling Starre

48.  _______ is a didactic poem of George Herbert. a. Love (III) b. Virtue  c. Hunter

49. Which word is repeatedly used in the third stanza in the poem “ Virtue”? a. Sweet b. Music c. Spring

50. In the last lines of the poem Virtue, Herbert metaphorically compares a  to the virtuous Soul. a. Seasonal flower b. Seasoned timber c. Seasonal food

51. Which of the following is not a work of John Keats? a. Endymion b. To some ladies c. To hope d. None of above

52. Who wrote the poems, “On death” and “Women, Wine, and Snuff?” a. John Milton b. John Keats c. P.B. Shelley d. William Wordsworth

53. “Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe, With loss of Eden.” This is an extract from: a. Paradise Lost b. Paradise Regained c. Samson Agonistes d. Divorce Tracts

54. William Shakespeare was born in the year: a. 1564 b. 1544 c. 1578 d. 1582

55. Which of the following is not a Shakespeare tragedy? a. Titus Andronicus b. Othello c. Macbeth d. None of the above

56. Who wrote ‘The Winter’s Tale?’ a. George Bernard Shaw b. John Dryden c. Christopher Marlowe d. William Shakespeare  

57. What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor? a. No differencE. Simply two different ways in referring to the same thing. b. A simile is more descriptive. c. A simile uses as or like to make a comparison and a metaphor doesn’t .

d. A simile must use animals in the comparison.

58. What is the word for a “play on words”? a. pun b. simile c. haiku d. metaphor

59. Which represents an example of alliteration? a. Language Arts b. Peter Piper Picked Peppers c. I like music. d. A beautiful scenery with music

60. What is the imitation of natural sounds in word form? a. Personification b. Hyperboles c. Alliteration d. Onomatopoeia

61. The theme is …? a. a plot. b. an character c. an address d. the point a writer is trying to make about a subject.

62. Concentrate on these elements when writing a good poem. a. characters, main idea, and theme b. purpose and audience c. theme, purpose, form, and mood. d. rhyme and reason

63. Which is not a poetry form? a. epic b. tale c. ballad d. sonnet

64. Which is an example of a proverb? a. Get a “stake” in our business. b. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too c. The snow was white as cotton. d. You’re driving me crazy.

65. Which is an exaggeration? a. Alliteration b. Haiku c. Hyperbole d. Prose

66. Which of the following is not a poet? a. William Shakespeare b. Terry Saylor c. Elizabeth B. Browning d. Emily Dickinson

67. Who has defined ‘poetry’ as a fundamental creative act using languages? a. H. W. Longfellow

b. Ralph Waldo Emerson c. Dylan Thomas d. William Wordsworth

68. What is a sonnet? a. A poem of six lines

b. A poem of eight lines c. A poem of twelve lines d. A poem of fourteen lines

69. What is study of meter, rhythm and intonation of a poem called as?

a. Prosody b. Allegory c. Scansion d. Assonance

70. Which figure of speech is it when a statement is exaggerated in a poem? a. Onomatopeia b. Metonymy c. Alliteration d. Hyperbole