Around the World of Literature Quiz

Answer: Upton Sinclair

Sinclair's "The Jungle" tells the story of Jurgis and his family struggling in the brutal conditions of a meatpacking factory in Chicago. Sinclair's motive for writing the book was to promote his socialist viewpoint by striking out at the inhumane treatment of capitalist-owned factories.

However, the major public response was one of outrage at the unhygienic meatpacking plants. As Sinclair famously said, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."

Answer: "The Labyrinth of Solitude"

Although the others were works by Paz, "The Labyrinth of Solitude" is one of his better-known collections. In it, he discusses the Mexican identity and the combination of native and Spanish cultures. By denying one part of the culture, Mexicans become stuck in a labyrinth of solitude.

Answer: "The House of the Spirits"

"The House of the Spirits," Allende's masterpiece, is a paragon of magic realism, a generally Latin American literary movement. Isabel Allende was the niece of Chilean president Salvador Allende, who was in power from 1970 to 1973.

Answer: Mr. Biswas

"A House for Mr. Biswas" was Naipaul's breakthrough work about a Trinidadian man born of Indian parents. Generally regarded as his most important work, the novel examines life in the postcolonial era.

Answer: Macondo

"One Hundred Years of Solitude" may be the best-known example of magic realism. After Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula Buendia help found Macondo, numerous strange events occur as the family begins to break apart. Garcia Marquez's work shows that faults of one generation are repeated in subsequent ones, as characters constantly repeat the failures of their ancestors.

Answer: "Dover Beach"

"Dover Beach" is a touching poem that describes the sad and gloomy setting. Anthony Hecht, 1986 American Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry, wrote a parody of the poem where the second word in the title is slightly mispronounced.

Answer: "Six Characters in Search of an Author"

The play, greeted by shouts of "Madhouse" upon its premiere, is a classic example of the Theater of the Absurd. The six titular characters are The Father, The Mother, The Son, The Stepdaughter, The Boy, and The Child.

Answer: Cunegonde

Candide, a social satire written by Voltaire, pokes fun at extreme optimism through the eyes of Candide and his tutor, Dr. Pangloss. Pangloss represents German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz, whose belief in extreme optimism was rejected by Voltaire. As terrible events occur to Candide and his friends, Voltaire uses matter-of-fact and direct language, as though the events were commonplace.

In the end, Candide learns that the greatest happiness is through manual labor.

Answer: Franz Kafka

Kafkaesque has entered the English language after Kafka's works stretched the limits of imagination. Strange, disconnected things happen in Kafka's stories. In "The Metamorphosis", the protagonist Gregor Samsa is turned into a giant bug. In "The Trial", protagonist Josef K is arrested for no reason and is eventually stabbed.

Answer: "The Frogs"

Although "The Wasps" and "The Birds" are works by Aristophanes, "The Frogs" is the correct answer. The plot of "The Frogs" follows the story of Dionysus and his servant Xanthias as they enter the Greek underworld.

Answer: Oran

"The Plague" is a thematic novel about human nature in the time of catastrophe, specifically a bubonic plague epidemic. Despite Albert Camus' request not to be considered a existentialist, the novel is considered part of that literary movement. Camus also wrote "The Stranger", a novel about Meersault, a remorseless Frenchman who shoots a Arab on a beach and is eventually sentenced to death.

Answer: "No Longer at Ease"

"No Longer at Ease" follows the story of "Things Fall Apart" protagonist Okonkwo's grandson, Obi Okonkwo. Obi is forced to accept bribes, which he is arrested for taking at the end of the novel. The book's title comes from TS Eliot's poem, "The Journey of the Magi"; "Things Fall Apart" got its title from "The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats.

Answer: Stephen Kumalo

Although all of the above were characters in the novel, black pastor Stephen Kumalo is the protagonist. The novel begins as Kumalo goes to Johannesburg to help his sister Gertrude; while there, Kumalo finds out that his son Absalom was arrested for murdering white activist Arthur Jarvis. The novel itself is a moving story about South African apartheid and social segregation by race.

Answer: Omar Khayyam

In addition to writing "The Rubaiyat", Omar Khayyam was an accomplished mathematician and astronomer. He created the basis of the Iranian calendar, still in use today, and he also proposed a heliocentric view of the solar system. "The Rubaiyat" is his set of thousands of quatrains, translated by Edward FitzGerald.

Answer: "The Satanic Verses"

"The Satanic Verses" are a set of verses in the Koran that allow for the worship of three Pagan goddesses: Allat, Uzza, and Manat. After a 1989 Pakistan revolt, the Ayatollah called for a fatwa, that all Muslims should kill Rushdie and his publishers for his blasphemy about Islam.

Although Rushdie avoided death, some of his publishers and translators have been assassinated. The novel itself was successful, a Booker Prize finalist in 1988.

Answer: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Luzhn, Dunia, and Lizaveta are from his "Crime and Punishment". Alyosha, Smerdyakov, and Zosima appear in "The Brothers Karamazov". "The Underground Man" is an epithet given to the unnamed narrator of "Notes from the Underground", and Prince Myshkin is the title character of "The Idiot".

Answer: The Analects

"The Analects", by Confucius, was written hundreds of years before the other three. Collectively, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", by Luo Guanzhong; "Journey to the West", published anonymously; "Dream of the Red Chamber", by Cao Xueqin; and "Water Margin" (or "Outlaws of the Marsh" among other titles), by Shi Naian, make up the four classic novels in Chinese literature.

Answer: Murasaki Shikibu

Written in the eleventh century, "The Tale of Genji" is a subject of debate as whether it's the world's first novel, modern novel, or first classic novel; however, it has remained an important work of Japanese literature. The Japanese 2000 yen banknote features a scene from "The Tale of Genji" in honor of Murasaki Shikibu.

Answer: Thomas Keneally

In addition to writing the novel about Schindler, who saved more than one thousand Jews from concentration camps, Keneally was also a film actor. He wrote the novel "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith" and also played a minor role in the movie version. He also acted in "The Devil's Playground".

Answer: New Zealand

Keri Hulme, one of the the most significant New Zealand authors, is still alive and has changed her focus to poetry and short stories after the success of her only novel, "The Bone People". That novel won the 1985 Booker Prize and discusses the relationship between Western and Maori cultures in New Zealand.

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