Literature Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 383
Which Persian poet was writing the Rubaiyat during the time of Heloise and Abelard's romance?
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omar khayyam
Which Welsh poet began his first American tour in 1950?
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dylan thomas
Which author created a series of novels that introduced Americans to the Soviet spy organization SMERSH?
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ian fleming
Which author of 'The Scarlet Letter' passed away in 1864 while visiting New Hampshire with former President Franklin Pierce?
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nathaniel hawthorne
Which author wrote the 1948 novel 'The Naked and the Dead' while enrolled at the Sorbonne?
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norman mailer
Who is the author of the ghost story 'The Turn of the Screw', whose brother William researched spiritualism?
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henry james
Which author searched for gold in the Klondike six years before publishing 'Call of the Wild'?
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jack london
Which Frenchwoman wrote the novel that the musical 'Gigi' is based on?
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colette
Which 1945 novel uses a beast-fable to criticize Stalinism?
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animal farm
What novel, subtitled 'The Parish Boy's Progress', was published in 24 installments in Bentley's Miscellany?
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oliver twist
Who wrote a 1926 letter to Ernest Hemingway stating, 'You are all a lost generation'?
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gertrude stein
Which actress wrote a book with the alternate title 'How I went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall & Huston & almost lost my mind!'?
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katharine hepburn
Who is the author of the 1997 book 'Violin' that features a phantom violinist?
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anne rice
Which author based his 'The Son of the Wolf' stories on his experiences as a gold miner in the Klondike?
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jack london
In the song by Robert Burns, what color is described by how 'grow the rashes'?
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green
What is the name of the 7-day observance promoted by the American Library Association that takes place in April?
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national library week
In a sonnet, Shakespeare mentioned that rough winds shake the darling buds of which month?
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may
Who reveals to his daughter Miranda that he was once the Duke of Milan at the beginning of 'The Tempest'?
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prospero
About which kingly tragedy did George Orwell complain that one wicked daughter would have been enough?
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king lear
Which author, known for 'Love Story,' was inspired by his own class reunion to write the 1986 bestseller 'The Class'?
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erich segal
Which Scottish poet has a birthday celebrated by eating sheep parts and singing 'Auld Lang Syne'?
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robert burns
Which author originally published the novel 'Wuthering Heights' under the masculine pen name Ellis Bell?
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emily brontë
In which Asian country did Andre Malraux's revolutionary activities inspire his novel 'Man's Fate'?
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china
Which character from 'The Scarlet Letter' plans to take her daughter Pearl to Europe at the end of the novel?
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hester prynne
What is the title of the Fred Gipson classic about a dog who catches rabies?
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old yeller
Eudora Welty's first novel 'Delta Wedding' takes place in the delta of which river?
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mississippi
Which character created by Saint-Exupery is the sole human resident of a small, remote planet?
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little prince
Who is the author known for her novel 'Fear of Flying' and also known as a poet?
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erica jong
Which author wrote the horror story featuring Fortunato as the unfortunate victim in 'The Cask of Amontillado'?
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edgar allan poe
Which literary character, originally named James Gatz, became a bootlegger and a peddler of phony stocks?
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great gatsby
In what country did Elizabeth Spencer set her novel 'The Light in the Piazza,' where she also lived during the 1950s?
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italy
In Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry, what comes after, 'And, if God choose, I shall but love thee better'?
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death
Who is the author of the 1996 novel 'The Last Don'?
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mario puzo
Which author based the heroine Sophia in his novel Tom Jones on his beloved late wife?
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henry fielding
Which jester's skull is unearthed by a gravedigger in the final act of Shakespeare's "Hamlet"?
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yorick
Which book, written by a Massachusetts man who spent 2 years living alone in a cabin in the woods, is often summarized by CliffsNotes?
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walden
What is the name of the title character who learns the trade of pickpocketing in a novel by Charles Dickens?
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oliver twist
In which George Orwell novel does a narrow scarlet sash represent the Junior Anti-Sex League?
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1984
What is the most famous work by the popular Australian bush balladist 'Banjo' Patterson?
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waltzing matilda
In which season is Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' set?
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spring
Which author wrote 'Fools Die', a novel that focuses heavily on gambling and Las Vegas?
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mario puzo
Who is the science fact and fiction writer that published his 300th book, titled 'Opus 300,' in 1984?
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isaac asimov
Who edited 'Master Humphrey's Clock' which included the serialized work 'The Old Curiosity Shop'?
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charles dickens
What novel by Robert Louis Stevenson has a first part titled 'The Old Buccaneer'?
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treasure island
Which Danish author, famous for his fairy tales, has the middle name Christian?
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hans christian andersen
Who is the author of the book 'Gracie' and a person who loved Gracie?
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george burns
Which semireclusive author of 'Remembrance of Things Past' suffered from chronic asthma?
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marcel proust
In the John Hersey novel, what item does U.S. Major Victor Joppolo acquire for the Italian town of Adano?
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bell
Which goddess of love does Adonis reject in a Shakespeare poem?
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venus
In Shakespeare's 'The Taming of the Shrew', which character actually says the line 'Kiss me, Kate'?
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petruchio
Which author studied real estate to write his 1922 novel "Babbitt"?
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sinclair lewis
In 'The Betrothed' by Rudyard Kipling, a woman is compared to what related to a good cigar?
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smoke
Who is the author of the one-act play 'Tender Offer' and also wrote 'The Heidi Chronicles'?
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wendy wasserstein
Which poet wrote the line 'Good fences make good neighbors' in the poem 'Mending Wall'?
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robert frost
Petruchio, a character in Shakespeare's works, hails from which Italian city that is also known for 'The Two Gentlemen'?
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verona
Which poet's 1916 collection 'Mountain Interval' includes the poem 'The Road Not Taken'?
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robert frost
In which literary work does a poet journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven, meeting an old flame along the way?
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divine comedy
Whose first magazine article, titled 'In China Too', appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in 1923?
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pearl s. buck
Richard Armour wrote, 'Thrifty save it, misers crave it... gamblers lose it... I could use it.' What is he referring to?
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money
Who is the younger brother of novelist Heinrich Mann that wrote 'Joseph and His Brothers'?
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thomas mann