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Quiz about Books I Was Forced to Read
Quiz about Books I Was Forced to Read

Books I Was Forced to Read Trivia Quiz


There are some books I never would have read to conclusion had they not been assigned. In this quiz, I raise a half-hearted glass to required reading. Just remember, there's no accounting for personal taste, so please don't chastise me.

A multiple-choice quiz by skylarb. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
skylarb
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
123,417
Updated
Jul 27 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
5196
Awards
Editor's Choice
Last 3 plays: Guest 172 (6/10), Guest 188 (5/10), babsvix (6/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. It's not that the author's writing was bad. It's just that I couldn't relate to his seemingly empty characters. Ursula and Gudrun seemed to me to flit through the world, totally consumed with selfishness. Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. The heroine of this book could not earn my sympathy either. She chose her spouse, and then felt bored and imprisoned. So she walked over the doting but weak Charles and into the arms of a stronger lover. Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. I somehow suffered through this book, but the language served as a constant barrier to easy reading. Here is but one tortured sentence, selected at random: "By this however, the Number of People in the whole may be judg'd of; and indeed, I often wondered, that after the prodigious Numbers of People that went away at first, there was yet so great a Multitude left, as it appear'd there was." Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. I can honestly say of this book that it is, at least in the first section, a tale told by an idiot. Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. The tension built and built and built, treading with excruciatingly slow steps, culminating at long last in the final words of a single man. I was poised; I was prepared to be startled with something deeply fulfilling. But oh, the horror, the horror. Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. When I read this book, I wasn't rooting for its protagonist. Rather, I was cheering on Stephen's friend Cranly when he verbally upbraided the hero. Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. It doesn't matter that I didn't like it, because Oprah Winfrey did. She acted in a movie adaptation of the book. Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. This book was written on about a fourth grade reading level, but some professor thought it fit for graduate school. Maybe there just aren't enough short story cycles to choose from these days. Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. I have read and enjoyed three novels by this author. But my "great expectations" were disappointed in ninth grade, when I suffered through a less palatable volume of his work. Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. He was unique. He wrote short sentences. His prose was stark. If you like that, read him. But if you prefer to immerse yourself in the rich complexities of the English language, you might want to avoid this American author. Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Oct 28 2024 : Guest 172: 6/10
Oct 26 2024 : Guest 188: 5/10
Oct 23 2024 : babsvix: 6/10
Oct 17 2024 : Guest 185: 8/10
Oct 12 2024 : Guest 15: 6/10
Oct 12 2024 : Guest 47: 8/10
Oct 11 2024 : Guest 58: 5/10
Oct 11 2024 : Guest 199: 2/10
Oct 01 2024 : Guest 94: 9/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. It's not that the author's writing was bad. It's just that I couldn't relate to his seemingly empty characters. Ursula and Gudrun seemed to me to flit through the world, totally consumed with selfishness.

Answer: Women in Love

D.H. Lawrence was a high school dropout, but eventually, after some private tutoring, he went on to college and earned a teaching certificate.
2. The heroine of this book could not earn my sympathy either. She chose her spouse, and then felt bored and imprisoned. So she walked over the doting but weak Charles and into the arms of a stronger lover.

Answer: Madame Bovary

"Madame Bovary" was considered very controversial when it was first published in 1857, but it is now an established staple of many curriculums. In Gustave Flaubert's own day, the book was put on trial, and the author was attacked for glorifying adultery.
3. I somehow suffered through this book, but the language served as a constant barrier to easy reading. Here is but one tortured sentence, selected at random: "By this however, the Number of People in the whole may be judg'd of; and indeed, I often wondered, that after the prodigious Numbers of People that went away at first, there was yet so great a Multitude left, as it appear'd there was."

Answer: A Journal of The Plague Year

Daniel Defoe participated in the rebellion against James II, which was headed by King Charles's illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth. The author was temporarily imprisoned for writing a satirical pamphlet called "The Shortest-Way With the Dissenters," which mocked the rhetoric of the High Anglicans.
4. I can honestly say of this book that it is, at least in the first section, a tale told by an idiot.

Answer: The Sound and the Fury

William Faulkner's book is narrated from several viewpoints. In the first section, the tale is told by the idiot Benjy. The book takes its title from a line in William Shakespeare's "MacBeth": "Life is a tale told by an idiot -- full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." This was the only time in my schooling history that I resorted to Cliff's Notes to supplement my comprehension.
5. The tension built and built and built, treading with excruciatingly slow steps, culminating at long last in the final words of a single man. I was poised; I was prepared to be startled with something deeply fulfilling. But oh, the horror, the horror.

Answer: Heart of Darkness

In this novel by Joseph Conrad, Kurtz's final words are, "The horror, the horror." The movie "Apocalypse Now" is loosely based on the concept of "Heart of Darkness." Sometimes, you're just too young to read and appreciate certain books.
6. When I read this book, I wasn't rooting for its protagonist. Rather, I was cheering on Stephen's friend Cranly when he verbally upbraided the hero.

Answer: A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man

"Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world," Cranly tells Stephen when he refuses to take communion to ease his mother's fears "a mother's love is not. Your mother brings you into the world, carries you first in her body. What do we know about what she feels? But whatever she feels, it, at least, must be real.

It must be. What are our ideas or ambitions? Play. Ideas! Every jackass going down the road thinks he has ideas." My appreciation for the book deepened, however, when I re-read it years later.

But I still don't admire Stephen.
7. It doesn't matter that I didn't like it, because Oprah Winfrey did. She acted in a movie adaptation of the book.

Answer: The Color Purple

The book was written by Alice Walker. Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon" was Oprah's first book club selection.
8. This book was written on about a fourth grade reading level, but some professor thought it fit for graduate school. Maybe there just aren't enough short story cycles to choose from these days.

Answer: The House on Mango Street

If you were able to read any of these other titles in the fourth grade, then I'd like to shake your hand. You are a veritable genius. But the difficulty of Sandra Cisnernos's "House on Mango Street" is nil, and it is often marketed as a children's book. Cisnernos has also written more mature works, such as "Woman Hollering Creek And Other Stories," which I was also forced to read.
9. I have read and enjoyed three novels by this author. But my "great expectations" were disappointed in ninth grade, when I suffered through a less palatable volume of his work.

Answer: Charles Dickens

Dickens's "Great Expectations" has its fine points, but in general the work was a chore to read. For sheer entertainment and constant wit, I recommend "A Christmas Carol." "A Tale of Two Cities" is another Dickens book I never would have forced to conclusion sans assignment; but in its case, I am very glad that I did.

The novel is unique among Dickens's works in its general romanticism.
10. He was unique. He wrote short sentences. His prose was stark. If you like that, read him. But if you prefer to immerse yourself in the rich complexities of the English language, you might want to avoid this American author.

Answer: Ernest Hemingway

The book I was given to wade through was "For Whom the Bell Tolls," which takes its title from a sermon by metaphysical poet and minister John Donne. But those who do not like Hemingway's novels might wish to try his short stories, a literary medium in which conciseness is always a virtue. "Hills Like White Elephants" is a particularly subtle piece.
Source: Author skylarb

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bullymom before going online.
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This quiz is part of series Mixed Literature Quizzes:

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  5. Great Literature Miscellany Average
  6. Pass, Code, Word, or Door? Average
  7. 25 Centuries of Literature Tough

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