Crack It
Literature Questions
Q1: In the 1951 science fiction novel by John Wyndham, what ‘t’ is the name of the coniferous plants that threaten to overrun the world?
Q2: Use one word for each blank space in the following well-known nursery rhyme.
Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran after the farmer’s _______,
Who cut off their tails with a carving _______,
Did you ever see such a thing in your _______,
As three blind mice?
Q3: What 'L' is the name given to the poet who wins the Nobel prize?
Q4: What was the relationship of the author of Wuthering Heights to the author of Jayne Eyre?
Q5: Which character in a Bram Stoker novel is reportedly buried in Whitby?
Q6: What pasta is mentioned in the last line of 'Yankee Doodle'?
Q7: William Burroughs' 1959 novel was called 'The Naked what?
Q8: Complete the title of the well-known play: 'The Iceman..'?
Q9: The 19th century novel by the Russian author Dostoevsky is called 'Crime And..' what?
Q10: The Lottery, a short story about a small village that runs an annual ritual of sacrificing one of the villagers by stoning him/her to death in the expectation that this oblation will bring rain and an abundant agricultural produce, was written by which American woman writer?
Q11: In the eponymous story Young Goodman Brown, which is a short allegorical story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, what is the name of the protagonist's wife?
Q12: What is the title of Susan Glaspell's one-act play on which she based her short story A Jury of Her Peers, in both of which she denounces patriarchal attitudes to women as insignificant creatures?
Q13: In which short story by Herman Melville does the protagonist repeatedly say 'I would prefer not to' to reiterate his refusal to perform the duties that his boss asks him to do?
Q14: What is the English translation of the following Latin quotation from the Roman poet Horace, which Wilfred Owen used as the closing lines of one of his poems?
…Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Q15: The following quotation is from which major American poet?
'Poetry provides the one permissible way of saying one thing and meaning another.'
Q16: What 'a' is a figure of speech in which an inanimate object or a person who is absent or dead is addressed as though they could hear and respond?
Q17: When personified, the sun and the moon are referred to using the pronouns he and she. Which is referred to with he, and which is referred to with she?
Q18: In literature, an apparent contradiction, as in the quotation 'damn with faint praise' by Alexander Pope, is given what technical term?
a. irony b. metaphor c. paradox d. scansion
Q19: What is the title of the famous ironical poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley that starts with the following line?
I met a traveller from an antique land
Q20: In a literary work, a name, a word, or an incident may be intended by the author to be interpreted by the reader as a reference to something in history or in previous literature. What 'a' is the term for this technique?
Q21: If a work of art is symbolic, that means it is:
a. nonsensical
b. repetitious
c. has two layers of meaning
d. lugubrious
Q22: What is the name of the British poet and critic who composed the poem Dover Beach in the 19th century?
Q23: In poetry as well as in prose, the repetition of initial consonant sounds, as in tried and true, safe and sound, fish or fowl, rhyme or reason is called what?
Q24: In poetry, what is the name of the foot made up of one accented syllable and one unaccented, as in each of the following: Henry, went to, see her, daily?
Q25: In poetry, what is the name of the foot made up of one accented syllable and two unaccented, as in each of the following: multiple, colour of?
Q26: What meter and foot does Robert Frost's poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening have, as exemplified by the following lines excerpted from the poem?
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Q27: What 's' is the name of a group of lines of poetry forming a unit in a poem?
Q28: What is the name of the tragic hero in Greek mythology who kills his father and marries his mother?
Q29: What is the name of the English novelist who wrote Sense and Sensibility?
Q30: What ‘p’ is the common alternative name for a dramatic composition?
Q31: In the narration of a story, point of view is the question of who tells the story and how it gets told. Some stories are told in the third person by narrators whose knowledge and prerogatives are unlimited and who are free to go wherever they wish to peer inside the minds and hearts of characters at will and tell us what they are thinking or feeling. What is the type of point of view in such stories?
Q32: What is the name of the American novelist who wrote The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night?
Q33: What is the title of Shakespeare's play from which the following lines have been excerpted?
The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns-puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Q34: In literature, what is an anonymous work of art?
Q35: If a work of art is published posthumously, does that mean it is published during its author's life or after his/her death?
Q36: In grand literary works such as epics, a character may be described by a medley of titles denoting one or more of his/her qualities. What are these titles called?
Q37: In literature, what is the term for a figure of speech which takes the form of a comparison between two unlike quantities for which a basis for comparison can be found, and which uses the words "like" or "as" in the comparison?
Q38: Which English writer wrote a book describing the journey of a traveller to an imaginary, perfect, problem-free island nation called Utopia?
Q39: Which English poet introduced the sonnet into English literature in the 16th century?
Q40: Which French author is often regarded as the father of science fiction?
Q41: In the anonymous mediaeval English epic Beowulf, what is the name of the antagonist, who is finally slain by the hero?
Q42: In poetry, a line of verse which has five feet is said to have what metre?
Q43: In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which character says the following in a soliloquy?
'Deny thy father and refuse thy name!
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.'
Q44: In literature, the opposite of hyperbole is
a. anti-hero
b. suspense
c. direct route
d. understatement
e. epiphany
Q45: Which English poet said the following?
'To err is human; to forgive, divine.'
Q46: From a literary point of view, the following quote is an example of what?
'We die quickly because we work hard. If we stop working hard, we die more quickly.'
Is it an example of
a. paradox,
b. suspense,
c. reversal of expectation, or
d. pun?
Q47: Match the name of each poet with the literary movement he is often associated with:
Caedman Anglo-Saxon Poetry
W. B. Yeats the Mediaeval Era
D. H. Lawrence Renaissance Poetry
William Wordsworth Romanticism
Alfred, Lord Tennyson Victorian Poetry
Edmund Spenser Modern Poetry
William Langland
William Shakespeare
Q48: Following are the names of some English poets in the left-hand column. On the right, there are the titles of poems, each composed by one of those poets. Match the name of each poet with the name of the poem which he wrote.
Geoffrey Chaucer Unstable Dream
Thomas Wyatt Venus And Adonis
Edmund Spenser The Faerie Queene
William Shakespeare Hymn to Intellectual Beauty
John Milton Canterbury Tales
Andrew Marvell To His Coy Mistress
Christopher Marlowe The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
Percy Bysshe Shelley Paradise Lost
Q49: Many children's fairy tales end with the cliché: '…and they lived what ever after'?
Q50: What is the name of the Scottish poet who lived in the 18th century that the Scottish people regard as their country's national poet?
Q51: What 'p' is the literary term for the main character in a story?
Q52: Utopia is a fictional account of an island nation with a perfect system of government, written by English writer Thomas More in 1516. In which language did More write Utopia?
Q53: The English sonnet is a type of poem made up of 14 lines. The word sonnet is derived from the Provençal word sonet and the Italian word sonetto. What is the original meaning of the word sonnet?
Q54: What 'p' is the literary term for the sequence of incidents or events of which a story is composed?
Q55: Which American author wrote the short story The Most Dangerous Game?
Q56: In Earnest Hemingway's short story The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, who shoots Francis dead in the last scene of the story?
Q57: What 's' is the literary term for the quality in a story that arouses the reader's curiosity about what is going to happen next?
Q58: What is the three-word Latin phrase, which literally means god from a machine, used to refer to an abrupt turn or unlikely chance used by the author of a literary work to rescue a character from an impossible situation?
Q59: What is the title of Graham Greene's short story, first published in 1954, which is about a gang of juvenile delinquents calling themselves the Wormsley Common Gang of London who destroy a house and level it to the ground?
Q60: The literary term that refers to stereotyped figures who have recurred so often in fiction that we recognise them at once such as the archetypal strong silent sheriff, brilliant detective with eccentric habits, and cruel stepmother is the what character?
Q61: What is the literary term, coined by Irish writer James Joyce, that refers to the moment of spiritual insight into life or into the character's own circumstances in a story, and which defines a change or development in the character's personality or attitudes?
Q62: In a story, a character who does not change his/her traits or behaviour is a:
a. flat character b. round character c. static character
Q63: In Katherine Mansfield's Miss Brill, which is a short story about a naïve middle-aged woman who lives as a recluse, where does Miss Brill spend every Sunday afternoon sitting on a bench?
Q64: What 't' is the literary term for the controlling idea or central insight of a story?
Q65: What is the name of the main character in the novel Ulysses by James Joyce?
Q66: Which two English poets from the Romantic Movement jointly produced a volume of poetry entitled Lyrical Ballads?
Q67: Which English playwright (1929-1994) wrote Look Back in Anger, which is a play that centres on a rebellious young man who attacks the values and attitudes of post-war Britain?
Q68: What 'w' is the popular informal name of the type of fiction about a crime and the attempt to discover who committed it?
Q69: Which type of fiction is informally abbreviated as sci-fi, by analogy to Hi-Fi?
Q70: How many children did Shakespeare have?
Q71: What was Shakespeare's wife's name?
Q72: In which English town was Shakespeare born?
Q73: What was Shakespeare's father's profession?
Q74: What is the name of the Irish playwright who wrote the humorous play The Importance of Being Earnest?
Q75: What is the name of the Irish writer who wrote Dracula?
Q76: What is the name of the English novelist who wrote Pride and Prejudice?
Q77: In fairy tales, a fortuneteller looks into a crystal ball to foresee the future. In return for this, she asks people for money. What does she traditionally say to request payment?
Q78: In which literary genre do the verbs exit and enter precede the subject and have no 's' in the third person singular?
Q79: In which Shakespearean play does the following line of verse occur?
'To be or not to be; that is the question.'
Q80: In stories and films about someone who turns into a werewolf, when does this metamorphosis occur?
Q81: What is the name of the British novelist who wrote Great Expectations?
Q82: In literature, what is an eponymous story?
Q83: In literature, what is an epistolary novel?
Q84: In stories, the imaginary character who represents Death is shown in pictures as a human skeleton in long black clothes that also cover his head. What is the name given to this character?
Q85: In Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, what is the name of the attractive, proud, and often angry man who is in love with Catherine Earnshaw?
Q86: What is the name of the British writer who invented the famous fictitious character of the very clever detective Sherlock Holmes?
Q87: Use one word for each blank space in the following well-known nursery rhyme.
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of ______;
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling ______.
Q88: What is the title of the Shakespearean play which is about jealousy and how it can destroy people's judgment and their love for each other?
Q89: Which Shakespearean play is about love and magic in which most of the scenes are set in a wood near Athens and which many consider to be Shakespeare's most musical play?
Q90: In the children's story Little Red Riding Hood, which is about a little girl who travels alone through the woods to visit her grandmother, what type of animal eats the girl's grandmother?
Q91: Which Irish writer said the following?
"There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."
Q92: The simple verses, often accompanied by a simple tune, used for the entertainment and education of small children are called:
a. morality plays
b. pastoral poetry
c. satire
d. nursery rhymes
Q93: A long narrative poem that is majestic both in theme and style is called what?
Q94: The English language has gone through three major phases of change called Old English, Middle English, and Modern English. During which of those periods were the poems of Chaucer written?
Q95: What is the name of the British writer who is best known for his books for children such as Winnie the Pooh and his collection of poems When We Were Very Young?
Q96: John Milton, an English poet who lived in the 17th century, is regarded as one of the most important writers in English literature. What is the title of his epic poem, which is considered to be his masterpiece?
Q97: A story between the length of a novel and a short story is called what?
Q98: What is the name of a part of a song that is repeated, especially at the end of each verse?
Q99: In the old English story of Robin Hood, who lives as an outlaw in Sherwood Forest in central England, who tries to arrest Robin and is his sworn enemy?
Q100: What is the name of the author of the Harry Potter series?
Q101: Because actors who act in Shakespearean performances believe that it is unlucky to say Macbeth, which is the title of one of Shakespeare's plays, what do they call this play instead?
Q102: What quality do snakes symbolise in stories, good or evil?
Q103: Which famous English novelist says the following paradoxical lines in one of his novels?
'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.'
Q104: In which Shakespearean play does the character Jaques say, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players"?
Q105: What is the American author Samuel Langhorne Clemens's nom de plume?
Q106: In Greek mythology, the Trojan Horse is referred to as being made of which material?
Q107: A common expression used by students of literature to mean that what a literary work tells is more important than what the author of the work could have meant to tell is 'Believe the tale, not the what'?
Q108: In drama, an actor on stage may turn away from the person s/he is talking to in order to talk directly to, or for the benefit of, the audience. This technique is referred to by what literary term?
Q109: In literature, the setting of a story refers to the place where events take place and to what?
Q110: In literature, there are three types of irony that may be utilised by writers when writing a story or a poem: verbal, dramatic, and situational. Which of these three types concerns the depiction of a contrast between what a character in the story or poem says and what the reader knows to be true?
Q111: In literature, what 'a' is a story that has a second meaning beneath the surface, endowing a cluster of characters, objects, or events with added significance?
Q112: Complete the following quote from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens:
"There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and ___."
Q113: Complete the following quote from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens:
"There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the ___."
Q114: Complete the following quote from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen:
“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people ___; it is not my nature.”
Q115: Complete the following quote from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen:
“Angry people are not always ___.”
Q116: Complete the following quote from Paradise Lost by John Milton:
“Solitude sometimes is best ___.”
Q117: Complete the following quote from Letter to Cobham by William Congreve:
"Defer not till to-morrow to be wise,
To-morrow's sun to thee may never ___."
117: Complete the following quote from Works of Samuel Johnson:
“A writer only begins a book. A reader ___.”
Q118: Complete the following quote from She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith:
“All is not gold that glitters,
Pleasure seems sweet, but proves a ___.”
Q119: Complete the following quote from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne:
“She could no longer borrow from the future to ease her ___.”
Q120: Complete the following quote from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll:
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."
"I don't much care where –"
"Then it doesn't matter ___.”
Q121: In literature, what 'f' is another term for 'analeptic reference'?
Q122: In literature, what 'f' is another term for prolepsis?
Q123: What two-word term means a main story that hatches a linking series of shorter stories?
Q124: What Latin phrase is a term for a literary technique whereby a story begins in the middle of a sequence of events?
Q125: In literature, a dramatic principle that requires every element in a narrative to be irreplaceable, with anything else removed, is called Chekhov's what?
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