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Joyce Carol Oates Trivia

Joyce Carol Oates Trivia Quizzes

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3 quizzes and 30 trivia questions.
1.
  Works of Joyce Carol Oates   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
A quiz about one of America's greatest living authors.
Tough, 10 Qns, HeathMor, Feb 18 09
Tough
HeathMor
176 plays
2.
  The Works of Joyce Carol Oates    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This quiz delves into the novels of Joyce Carol Oates, one of the most prolific and deservedly one of the most celebrated authors writing today.
Difficult, 10 Qns, susanjacosta, Feb 18 09
Difficult
susanjacosta
160 plays
3.
  Black Water    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This award-winning book was written by Joyce Carol Oates in 1992 and given the status as one of the '1001 books to read before you die'.
Average, 10 Qns, pennie1478, Feb 18 09
Average
pennie1478 gold member
158 plays
Related Topics
  Contemporary Literature and Fiction [Literature] (23 quizzes)


Joyce Carol Oates Trivia Questions
1. What Ivy League college did Kelly Kelleher attend?

From Quiz Black Water

Answer: Brown

Elizabeth Anne "Kelly" Kelleher attended Brown University where she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in American Studies. Her thesis paper was on the Senator and his bid for Presidency.

2. Which Joyce Carol Oates novel does not deal with a multi-racial relationship?

From Quiz The Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: Wonderland

"I'll Take You There" deals with a young white undergraduate and her relationship with an older black graduate student. In "Because It Is Bitter and Because It Is My Heart," a bond is formed between Iris Courtney, a white girl, and Jinx Fairchild, the black boy who kills a man to protect her. In "I Lock the Door Upon Myself," a married white mother pursues a relationship with a black itinerant worker, and the consequences are dire.

3. What novel did Joyce Carol Oates say was a mix of her mother's and her own biography?

From Quiz Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: Marya: A Life

Following a young lady from childhood molestation, to leaving her past behind.

4. On what holiday did Kelly and the Senator's car accident take place?

From Quiz Black Water

Answer: Fourth of July

Kelly's car accident took place on the fourth of July while she was at a barbecue on Grayling Island in Maine. Kelly and a Senator were driving to catch a ferry when the Senator lost control of the car and it went into the water. Kelly was twenty-six when the accident occurred.

5. Which Joyce Carol Oates novel includes an incestuous relationship?

From Quiz The Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: You Must Remember This

"You Must Remember This" delves into an incestuous relationship between teenaged Enid Stevick and her father's half-brother. Later, writing under a pseudonym in "Take Me, Take Me With You," Oates again tackles this topic as the quiet main character hooks up with her newfound half-brother.

6. This "sprawling gothic" novel tells the story of a family and its haunted manor, which is destroyed in the end.

From Quiz Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: Bellefleur

Oates said this novel consumed her until it was written.

7. What was the name of the creek that Kelly and the Senator's car drove into?

From Quiz Black Water

Answer: Indian Creek

The car accident took place at 8:15 on the fourth of July. Kelly and the Senator were leaving Buffy St. John's party to catch a ferry so they could get to a hotel for a romantic rendezvous.

8. Joyce Carol Oates has published books under which pseudonym(s)?

From Quiz The Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: Lauren Kelly and Rosamond Smith

As of April 2005, Joyce Carol Oates had published eight novels under the pseudonym Rosamond Smith and one novel under the pseudonym Lauren Kelly.

9. This Oates novel features a young man who is the only survivor of the day his father decides to kill his family. It follows the young man through his adoption to his practice as a doctor.

From Quiz Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: Wonderland

This novel is proof that JCO can convincingly write characters which are not based on her own life.

10. This novel features a white female college student who falls in love with a brilliant African American philosophy major in the 1970s.

From Quiz Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: I Will Take You There

Where she will take you: to the grave.

11. Which recording artist was playing on the radio right before the accident occurred?

From Quiz Black Water

Answer: Beatles

The Senator and Kelly were listening to the Beatles song "Eleanor Rigby". Kelly had heard the song before.

12. Which novel takes place primarily on a college campus, mirroring a setting very familiar to Princeton professor Joyce Carol Oates?

From Quiz The Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: Unholy Loves

"Unholy Loves" is the story of professor Brigit Stott and her struggles with the politics of academia.

13. What Joyce Carol Oates work features a girl from a family of migrant farmers who eventually marries a rich man?

From Quiz Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: Garden of Earthly Delights

Oates reworked this early novel, which was based loosely on the story of her grandfather.

14. As part one of the book came to a conclusion, what shocking incident happened to the Senator and Kelly?

From Quiz Black Water

Answer: Senator left Kelly in the car

As part one of the book concluded, the Senator was able to get out of his seat belt and swim away. Kelly thought he was coming back for her, but he never did.

15. Which film adapted from a Joyce Carol Oates novel featured a young Angelina Jolie?

From Quiz The Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: Foxfire

The 1996 film "Foxfire" was based on Oates' novel "Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang." Treat Williams seduces teenaged Laura Dern in "Smooth Talk," based on Oates story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" The film won the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 1986. Ann-Margret and Kirstie Alley both appeared in "Blonde," which was based on Oates' novel about Norma Jeane Baker (Marilyn Monroe) and debuted on CBS in 2001. "We Were the Mulvaneys" was also adapted for the small screen in 2002 and starred Blythe Danner and Beau Bridges.

16. This Joyce Carol Oates novel is a fictional biography of the life of Marilyn Monroe.

From Quiz Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: Blonde

Oates also wrote a short story about two college girls who spotted Monroe in the famous NY bookstore, "The Strand".

17. What article of the Senator's clothing did Kelly keep a firm grasp on while she was in the car?

From Quiz Black Water

Answer: Shoe

As the Senator was leaving the submerged car, Kelly grabbed his shoe in an effort to get him to help her. The Senator shook himself loose from her grasp and swam to safety.

18. Which novel is based on the Chappaquiddick incident from the point of view of the girl?

From Quiz The Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: Black Water

Oates again goes where few have gone before by choosing a dead girl as her narrator in "Black Water."

19. This Oates novel is about incest between a niece and uncle.

From Quiz Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: You Must Remember This

Although Oates is generally disturbing to me, this book so disturbed me I couldn't finish reading it.

20. What was the name of Kelly's boyfriend that she often mentioned in the book?

From Quiz Black Water

Answer: His name was never revealed

Kelly often referred to her boyfriend by the initial 'G', but his full name was never revealed to the reader.

21. Which novel is set in the 20th Century?

From Quiz The Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: Solstice

After writing three "gothic" novels, set primarily in the 19th Century ("Bellefleur," 1980; "A Bloodsmoor Romance," 1982; and "Mysteries of Winterthurn," 1984), Oates returned to modern times with "Solstice," a short novel which delves into the friendship of two women. After a long series of 20th Century novels, Oates again returned to the previous era with her story of a turn-of-the-century con artist family in "My Heart Laid Bare."

22. This Joyce Carol Oates title is taken from a Stephen Crane poem.

From Quiz Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: Because it is Bitter and Because it is My Heart

These lines are taken from Crane's "In the Desert."

23. When the first call for help was received, how long had the car been in the water?

From Quiz Black Water

Answer: One hour

The first call for help came from the Senator at 9:55 the same evening. With one shoe missing, the Senator walked until he found a pay phone and called one of his aides who was still at Buffy's party. The aide was going to call for an ambulance, but told the Senator to stay where he was.

24. In which novel is the main character seen from the eyes of outsiders for well over half of the book before it shifts to the main character's perspective?

From Quiz The Works of Joyce Carol Oates

Answer: Broke Heart Blues

In "Broke Heart Blues," loner John Reddy Heart is idolized by his peers, especially the girls in the affluent town where he lives through his teen years. It isn't until the novel is more than half finished and we see things from his point of view that we learn his life was far from glamorous and that none of his peers really knew him at all.

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