Literature Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 409
Who is the young man in James Joyce's 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'?
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stephen dedalus
What is the name of the James Thurber character whose name has become synonymous with a daydreamer?
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walter mitty
Which author published 'Rip Van Winkle' and other stories in 'The Sketch Book' using the pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon?
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washington irving
Who is the author known as the biographer with the subtitle 'Lincoln of Our Literature'?
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carl sandburg
In a novel by Edith Wharton, which New England farmer falls in love with his wife's cousin, Mattie?
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ethan frome
Who based the play 'Camille' on his novel 'La Dame aux Camelias'?
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alexandre dumas
On which continent does the American protagonist of Saul Bellow's novel 'Henderson the Rain King' have his adventures?
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africa
Which poet, known for 'The Faerie Queene,' wrote 'My love is like to ice, and I to fire' in his sonnet sequence 'Amoretti'?
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edmund spenser
Who is the regimental bhisti, or water carrier, that was made famous by Rudyard Kipling's poetry?
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gunga din
In which Shakespearean comedy do the foolish officers Dogberry and Verges appear?
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much ado about nothing
Which poetess wrote the lines 'I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you--nobody--too?'?
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emily dickinson
For 11 years, in which magazine did E.B. White write essays for the 'Talk of the Town' section?
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new yorker
What is the English translation of the title of Thomas Mann's novel 'Der Zauberberg'?
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magic mountain
What is the 'floral' name of the 'strikingly, admirably pretty' heroine from Schenectady in Henry James' work?
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daisy miller
Who wrote the line, 'Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful' in 'Waiting for Godot'?
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samuel beckett
Who is the author of 'If Jesus Came to Boston' and 'The Man Without a Country'?
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edward everett hale
In John Dryden's poem 'Heroic Stanzas', who is commemorated as the Lord Protector of England?
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oliver cromwell
Which contemporary author, known for writing 'The Cradle Will Fall', wrote a biography of George Washington as her first book?
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mary higgins clark
Which author is known for the famous line 'Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose' from 'Sacred Emily'?
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gertrude stein
Which author, known for writing 'The Song of Hiawatha,' was also called 'The Poet of the Commonplace'?
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henry wadsworth longfellow
Which allegorist wrote 'Pilgrim's Progress'?
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john bunyan
Which author, known for writing several novels including 'The Burden' under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, is also famous for her mystery novels?
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agatha christie
Who wrote the 1941 novel 'N or M?' where Tommy Beresford tracks down 2 German agents?
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agatha christie
Who wrote the play 'Toys in the Attic' that starred Jason Robards in its original 1960 production?
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lillian hellman
In which Henrik Ibsen play is the title character more formally known as Mrs. Jorgen Tesman?
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hedda gabler
What word completes the title of Fannie Hurst's 1933 novel 'Imitation of'?
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life
Which Illinois poet authored children's stories such as 'Potato Face' and 'Rootabaga Pigeons'?
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carl sandburg
Which author, known for 'The Last of the Mohicans,' wrote the sea novel 'The Red Rover'?
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james fenimore cooper
Who dedicated his 1885 book 'A Child's Garden of Verses' to Alison Cunningham, his childhood nurse?
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robert louis stevenson
Which Welsh poet wrote the lines, 'Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light'?
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dylan thomas
Which author wrote the line, 'That's some catch, that Catch-22'?
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joseph heller
Which poet subtitled his nonsense poem 'The Hunting of the Snark' as 'An Agony in Eight Fits'?
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lewis carroll
In which Shakespeare play does a king at the beginning ask his daughters, 'Which of you shall we say doth love us most'?
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king lear
Who is the Lebanese-American author of the 1923 book 'The Prophet', which consists of 28 poetic essays?
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kahlil gibran
Which author, known for 'The Turn of the Screw,' was the subject of Leon Edel's Pulitzer-winning Volumes II & III biography in 1963?
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henry james
What did Keats say should be a thing which enters into one's soul, rather than prose?
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poetry
What is the Hans Christian Andersen tale featuring the line 'When we perish we turn into mere foam on the sea'?
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little mermaid
Which cartoonist had three of his 'Far Side' books become best sellers in 1986?
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gary larson
Which regal pen name was used by both Daniel Nathan and his cousin Manford Lepofsky for their mystery novels?
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ellery queen
In which of Shakespeare's plays does a character ask, 'Is this a dagger which I see before me?... or art thou but a dagger of the mind'?
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macbeth
Which author wrote books featuring characters named Tom Thumb and Tom Jones?
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henry fielding
Which author, recognized for his novel 'Invisible Man,' died in 1994 at the age of 80?
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ralph ellison
Who wrote the line, 'It is an ancient mariner, and he stoppeth one of three'?
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samuel taylor coleridge
What word completes the title of Michael Lewis' No. 1 best seller about Wall Street, 'Liar's ___'?
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poker
Who is the author of the novel 'The Day of the Locust'?
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nathanael west
Which book publishing firm was co-founded by humorist Bennett Cerf in 1925?
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random house
Who is the playwright who wrote the novel 'The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone'?
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tennessee williams
What is the name of the Shakespearean character who purchases poison in Mantua, leading to his death?
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romeo
Which author wrote the autobiography 'Timebends: A Life'?
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arthur miller
What is the title of Richard Llewellyn's 1939 novel about a Welsh mining family?
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how green was my valley
Which satirical British author wrote the 1934 novel 'A Handful of Dust' that was later adapted into a 1988 film?
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evelyn waugh
In which Shakespeare play does the character Reagan first say, 'I am made of that self metal as my sister'?
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king lear
Which author, who wrote 'The Luck of Roaring Camp', later served as a U.S. consul to Germany and Scotland?
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bret harte
In which James Fenimore Cooper novel is the frontiersman Natty Bumppo the main character?
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deerslayer
Who delivers a final speech starting with 'I will not yield, to kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet' in a play by Shakespeare?
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macbeth
Which term did Gertrude Stein popularize for writers living in Europe and generally those who fought in WWI?
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lost generation
Who wrote 'A Little Tractate In Praise Of Dante' after completing the 'Decameron'?
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giovanni boccaccio
What object is featured in Whitney Otto's book titled 'How to Make an American' and includes sewing tips?
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quilt
Which author released the 1996 book 'Golf Dreams: Writings On Golf' that includes excerpts from his 'Rabbit' novels?
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john updike
Who is the other titled lady in the cast of 'Macbeth,' aside from Lady Macbeth?
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lady macduff