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John Knowles Trivia

John Knowles Trivia Quizzes

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John Knowles is best known for the coming-of-age novel 'A Separate Peace', based on his experiences as a student of Phillips Exeter Academy.
4 John Knowles quizzes and 55 John Knowles trivia questions.
1.
  'A Separate Peace', by John Knowles    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This is a regular quiz about John Knowles' WWII novel, A Separate Peace. It covers a 16-year-old boy's experiences as the war systematically breaks his "separate peaces". Beware! This gives away the ending!
Average, 10 Qns, Quinze, Jul 19 07
Average
Quinze
916 plays
2.
  A Separate Peace: Gene   top quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
"A Separate Peace" by John Knowles is one of my favorite books, so let's see how well you read it! All questions are about Gene, the narrator.
Average, 10 Qns, adams627, Nov 22 08
Average
adams627
288 plays
3.
  'A Separate Peace'    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
A quiz on the book written by John Knowles.
Average, 10 Qns, ashalia, Nov 04 07
Average
ashalia
1200 plays
4.
  A Separate Peace    
Multiple Choice
 25 Qns
A quiz on the book, 'A Separate Peace' by John Knowles.
Average, 25 Qns, ashalia, Nov 30 18
Average
ashalia
Nov 30 18
914 plays
trivia question Quick Question
At what time of day does the trial take place?

From Quiz "'A Separate Peace', by John Knowles"




Related Topics
  Contemporary Literature and Fiction [Literature] (23 quizzes)


John Knowles Trivia Questions
1. At the beginning of the story, Gene revisits the Devon School to go to two places of his memory. What were they?

From Quiz A Separate Peace: Gene

Answer: The tree and the First Academy Building

Respectively, these are the places that Phineas (Finny) broke his leg and his heart. Following a trial that breaks Finny apart, he tries to run out of the building and falls down the marble stairs. Upon revisiting the site, Gene makes a mental note of how hard the stairs were, and how that might have been an important factor in Finny's death.

2. Who are the two main characters in "A Separate Peace" the book?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace', by John Knowles

Answer: Gene and Finny

Gene and Finny are best friends in the book. They both attend Devon school in 1942 New Hampshire. Gene is the main main character, and the book is written from his first-person perspective. He is paranoid, excels academically, and has no distinct personality. His actions seem to always build around those of others. Finny, on the other hand, also known as Phineas, is outgoing, athletic, and has a distinct personality. He is one to think of new ideas, but always includes Gene and/or the other boys at school.

3. Who came up with the idea for the Winter Carnival?

From Quiz A Separate Peace

Answer: Finny

This is because the boys didn't have anything to do on a Saturday afternoon. Finny suggested that they have a winter carnival at Devon, and they did.

4. What does Finny call the game that he makes up during the first part of the novel?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace'

Answer: blitzball

Finny creates Blitzball so that he and the others will have some sport to play because the only sport available to the boys at the time is badminton. Blitzball becomes very popular at Devon (the private school they attend).

5. After Gene's final visit, the rest of the book takes place in a flashback. What does Gene first remember doing at the Devon School?

From Quiz A Separate Peace: Gene

Answer: Jumping out of the tree

He first describes how Phineas forces him through friendship to jump out of the tree. Although he hates it, Gene always jumps out of the tree to remain in friendship with Finny.

6. One of the characters lives in Boston, one lives in Vermont, and others come from various places. Who comes from the South?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace', by John Knowles

Answer: Gene

Gene travels to his home in the South when there is a break in school. Finny, on the other hand, lives in Boston. Leper lives in the hills of Vermont. I don't think any of the other characters' homes are mentioned, but it is clear that they mostly seem to come from afar.

7. Out of all of the students at Devon, who is the first to enlist for the war?

From Quiz A Separate Peace

Answer: Leper

Leper tells Gene and Finny he is going to enlist in the ski troops. Later on, he runs away from the war.

8. How does Finny fall from the tree?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace'

Answer: Gene jounces the limb and Finny falls

Finny encourages Gene to jump with him off of the limb. When Finny is standing on the limb, Gene jounces it on impulse and Finny falls off of the limb, breaking his leg.

9. What do the boys like to do as a school tradition?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace', by John Knowles

Answer: Jump from a big oak tree into the river

There is a large oak tree with rungs up the trunk from which the boys often jump. At first, Finny is willing to jump but Gene is not sure. Eventually, Gene jumps while the other boys watch. At a later time, Gene and Finny go to the tree alone and plan to set a precedent by jumping off of the limb into the river at the same time. However, when they are standing on the limb, Gene supposedly "subconsciously" jounces the limb, causing Finny to fall on the bank of the river. Finny suffers a broken leg, and through the rest of the book, Gene is faced with the fact that he has broken Finny's leg and ruined his prestigious sports career. However, it is not made clear that Gene deliberately knocks Finny off, and the reader must decide for himself/herself whether or not Gene is at fault!

10. What teacher confronts Gene about falling in the river?

From Quiz A Separate Peace

Answer: Mr. Ludsbury

Gene tells Mr. Ludsbury that he slipped and fell in the river because he didn't want him to know about his fight with Cliff Quackenbush.

11. What kind of record does Finny break?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace'

Answer: swimming record

Finny breaks a swimming record for swimming 100 yds. He beats the previous record holder's time and makes Gene swear he will not tell anyone he did this because he only wanted to see if he could do it.

12. When Gene and Phineas arrive at the tree that very same night, Phineas suggests a double jump, and they head up the tree together. What happens next?

From Quiz A Separate Peace: Gene

Answer: Gene jounces the limb, and Finny falls

Interestingly, Gene says that his knees bent, giving the impression that he didn't jounce the limb based on free will. Either way, the outcome is clear: Phineas can never play sports, or even walk normally, again.

13. Who twice suffers a broken leg in the book?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace', by John Knowles

Answer: Finny

Finny breaks his leg when Gene supposedly knocks him out of the tree, you know the story. Towards the end of the book, Finny rebreaks his leg after a fight with Gene. When Dr. Stanpole tries to replace the bone, a small amount of marrow escapes into Finny's bloodstream and stops his heart, thus taking his life.

14. How many years did Quackenbush row on the lightweight crew?

From Quiz A Separate Peace

Answer: 2

Quackenbush tells Gene this because he is bragging about how he has rowed so much and Gene has never rowed.

15. Who goes crazy and runs away from the war?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace'

Answer: Leper

Leper was a mountain boy from Vermont and he was not suited to army life. He is going to get a Section 8 discharge from the war, so he runs back home to Vermont.

16. From whom does Gene receive a telegram?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace', by John Knowles

Answer: Leper

The telegram from Leper says something like "Gene, I've escaped. Come visit me at Christmas retreat. Urgent" (I don't remember the exact wording, but he is trying to say that he's quit the ski patrol of the army and gone to his home in Vermont, where he usually goes on Christmas break from school). Gene goes to visit him to find that he has gone mad.

17. Who breaks up the fight between Leper and Gene?

From Quiz A Separate Peace

Answer: Leper's mom

Leper's mom breaks up the fight between Gene and Leper. Even after they fight, she still invites Gene to have lunch with them.

18. Who accuses Gene of getting rid of Finny so he can have a room to himself?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace'

Answer: Brinker

Brinker accuses Gene of getting rid of Finny by breaking his leg so that he can have a room to himself.

19. When Phineas comes back to school, what action was Gene about to take, an action that would have destroyed Phineas?

From Quiz A Separate Peace: Gene

Answer: Joining the war effort

After Gene agrees with Brinker to throw away his high school life and join the war, Finny returns to school. His statement "Hi pal, where's the brass band?" shows that his sense of humor has returned. At this point of the book, Gene and Finny's roles are switched. At the beginning, Gene was a parasite on Finny, desperate to get some popularity or success from the unintentional perfection of Phineas. Now, Phineas physically and emotionally needs Gene to help him.

20. In what season do the boys have a festival?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace', by John Knowles

Answer: Winter

Finny and Gene plan a winter festival with music, hard cider, games, and prizes. My opinion is that Finny thinks of the idea so his best friend Gene can take his place by winning the athletic games. However, Gene is interrupted by the telegram from Leper.

21. In what year were the Olympics supposed to happen in this novel?

From Quiz A Separate Peace

Answer: 1944

Since Finny was injured and couldn't compete in the Olympics of 1944, he started training Gene to be in them. Of course, Gene never does make it to the Olympics.

22. What do they call the summer club that you have to jump out of a tree to be a part of?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace'

Answer: The Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session

To be in the 'The Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session' you have to jump from the tree that Gene and Finny jump from everytime they have a meeting. When Gene and Finny are going to jump together, Gene jounces the limb and Finny falls and breaks his leg.

23. When he gets back to school, Phineas decides to help Gene with athletics. Together they train for what sporting event, that Phineas is sure would take place in spite of the war?

From Quiz A Separate Peace: Gene

Answer: The 1944 Olympics

Each morning, they go outside, and Gene runs and runs and runs. It shows that Finny had little or no pride to swallow when he aids Gene with the athletics. Although Phineas would rather be the one running, he tries to get his best friend to succeed just as well. In the end, it pays off when Gene finally finds his inner athleticism.

24. What work do the boys from Devon have to spend a day doing?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace', by John Knowles

Answer: Shoveling snow from the railroad tracks

When snow blocks the nearest train tracks, a train carrying army recruits cannot continue on its way. The Devon boys shovel the snow away so the train can proceed. It's one of many instances in which the war breaks a "separate peace".

25. Who said, 'If someone gave Leper a loaded gun and put it at Hitler's temple, he'd miss'?

From Quiz A Separate Peace

Answer: Finny

Finny didn't believe in the war. He said this because of the war stories that the boys had been telling about Leper.

26. Who does Gene punch?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace'

Answer: Cliff

Gene punches Cliff Quackenbush because he insults him from the time he arrives at the Crew House. Cliff is the manager, and he thinks that Gene is probably maimed because he isn't doing any sports but rowing. Gene gets mad at Cliff and punches him because he insults him and because he doesn't know anything about what Gene has been through ever since Finny has fallen from the tree.

27. Leper sends a telegram to Gene, asking him to come to the Christmas location following the Devon Winter Carnival. What incriminating piece of information does he add to it?

From Quiz A Separate Peace: Gene

Answer: It's signed "Your best friend, Elwin Leper Lepellier"

The letter says your best friend, not my best friend! Leper understands Gene and Finny's relationship probably better than either of them. When Gene goes to look for him, though, it's too late: the military has made him mentally unstable.

28. When the trial is being held in the auditorium (with poor acoustics), who storms out of the room?

From Quiz 'A Separate Peace', by John Knowles

Answer: Finny

Finny's reason for storming out of the room is not clearly stated by the author. My opinion is that when it's suggested that Gene is responsible for Finny's injury, and Finny denies it (Gene is his best friend), he really feels that it IS Gene's fault, and so, can no longer contain his anger.

29. Who says, 'Hi pal, where's the brass band'?

From Quiz A Separate Peace

Answer: Finny

This is the first thing that Finny says to Gene when he returns to Devon after he breaks his leg.

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