FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Quiz about TS Eliots The Waste Land
Quiz about TS Eliots The Waste Land

T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" Trivia Quiz


This quiz will test your knowledge of "The Waste Land". Some questions are quite hard, and require having read "The Waste Land: A Facsimile and Transcripts of the Original Drafts". Enjoy!

A multiple-choice quiz by the_waste_land. Estimated time: 6 mins.
  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Quizzes
  4. »
  5. Literature Trivia
  6. »
  7. Authors D-G
  8. »
  9. T. S. Eliot

Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
92,322
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Difficult
Avg Score
5 / 10
Plays
3270
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 14 (1/10), Guest 122 (4/10), Guest 157 (5/10).
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. What was Eliot's first working title for "The Waste Land"? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Who helped Eliot edit the poem, and, in the process, suggested the deletion of large portions of the poem?

Answer: (First and last name or just last)
Question 3 of 10
3. Where was the original (first intended) epigraph that Eliot had chosen for the poem from? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The line, "The ivory men make company between us", which was deleted from the final version of the poem from the second section "A Game of Chess", was taken out at whose suggestion? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. There are many quotations in different languages throughout the poem. Which of these languages is NOT present in the poem? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Which of these cities is NOT mentioned in the poem? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Before it was deleted, the line "Get me a woman, I said; you're too drunk, she said" was part of which section of the poem? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Eliot stated that his references to certain vegetation ceremonies were influences that came from which book? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. True or false: Eliot stated that "The Waste Land" was "an important bit of social criticism."


Question 10 of 10
10. Which of these works did Eliot NOT make a reference to in "The Waste Land"? Hint



(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

arrow Select a User ID:
arrow Choose a Password:
arrow Your Email:




Most Recent Scores
Oct 28 2024 : Guest 14: 1/10
Oct 25 2024 : Guest 122: 4/10
Oct 23 2024 : Guest 157: 5/10
Oct 23 2024 : Guest 106: 4/10
Oct 22 2024 : Guest 106: 6/10
Oct 21 2024 : Guest 49: 6/10
Oct 21 2024 : Guest 103: 5/10
Oct 20 2024 : Guest 171: 5/10
Oct 20 2024 : Guest 169: 6/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. What was Eliot's first working title for "The Waste Land"?

Answer: He do the Police in Different Voices

The working title was "He Do the Police in Different Voices", which is a quote from Charles Dickens' "Our Mutual Friend". Betty Higden says of Sloppy, "I do love a newspaper. You mightn't think it, but Sloppy is a beautiful reader of a newspaper. He do the Police in different voices." The title is supposed to reflect the many voices within the poem.
2. Who helped Eliot edit the poem, and, in the process, suggested the deletion of large portions of the poem?

Answer: Ezra Pound

Pound, a poet renowned for helping other poets to establish themselves, edited and made suggestions to Eliot for revising the poem. Whole sections were cut at his suggestion. Hence, the dedication of the poem is "For Ezra Pound, il miglior fabbro".
3. Where was the original (first intended) epigraph that Eliot had chosen for the poem from?

Answer: Conrad's "Heart of Darkness"

The first epigraph Eliot designated to the poem came from Conrad's "Heart of Darkness". However, Pound did not believe Conrad was worthy of the citation, so Eliot changed it.
4. The line, "The ivory men make company between us", which was deleted from the final version of the poem from the second section "A Game of Chess", was taken out at whose suggestion?

Answer: Vivien Eliot's

The line was initially in "A Game of Chess", between the lines, "And we shall play a game of chess/Pressing lidless eyes and waiting for a knock upon the door". Vivien, his then wife, suggested the removal of the line--one of the few suggestion she made. She felt the line hit too close to home.
5. There are many quotations in different languages throughout the poem. Which of these languages is NOT present in the poem?

Answer: Spanish

There are a total of seven languages in the poem: Latin (epigraph), Greek (quotations within the epigraph), Italian (two--dedication and near the end), German (two), French (near the end), Sanskrit (at the very end) and, of course, English.
6. Which of these cities is NOT mentioned in the poem?

Answer: Munich

Though there are quite a few German references--including Marie--Munich is never mentioned. The Stanbergesee is.
7. Before it was deleted, the line "Get me a woman, I said; you're too drunk, she said" was part of which section of the poem?

Answer: Burial of the Dead

The line was originally part of a large sequence which Eliot took out from the first section. The sequence precluded what we now have as the beginning of the poem, and it led into the opening lines "April is the cruellest month..."
8. Eliot stated that his references to certain vegetation ceremonies were influences that came from which book?

Answer: The Golden Bough

Frazer's "The Golden Bough" had a deep effect on Eliot. Although he was deeply influenced by Weston's "From Ritual to Romance" as well, the book had more to do with the Grail legend--and the Fisherking in Eliot's poem. "The Mabinogeon" consists of stories from Welsh mythology. "The Tain" is an epic story from the Irish.
9. True or false: Eliot stated that "The Waste Land" was "an important bit of social criticism."

Answer: False

Eliot's comment was that critics did him the honor of considering his work "an important bit of social criticism." However, he stated that to him it was "a personal and wholly insignificant grouse against life; it is just a piece of rhythmical grumbling." We are pretty sure he was just being funny and modest.
10. Which of these works did Eliot NOT make a reference to in "The Waste Land"?

Answer: Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure"

All the other works were referenced in the poem. A quote from "Measure for Measure" appears as the epigraph to Eliot's "Gerontion".
Source: Author the_waste_land

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bullymom before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
10/31/2024, Copyright 2024 FunTrivia, Inc. - Report an Error / Contact Us