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Quiz about Book Titles from Other Sources

Book Titles from Other Sources Quiz

Many famous books have taken their titles from passages in other works. See if you can determine the original source of these titles...

A multiple-choice quiz by kmria. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
kmria

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
152,648

Updated
Jul 23 22

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
1129

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. We'll start with an easy one. William Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" originally derives from: Hint

The King James version of The Bible

Shakespeare's "Macbeth"

Milton's "Paradise Lost"

Donne's "Death Be Not Proud"

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Question 2 of 10

2. While not an exact quote, Mark Harris' great baseball novel "Bang the Drum Slowly" takes its name from the lyrics of which song? Hint

Red River Valley

And the Band Played On

Streets of Laredo

John Henry

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Question 3 of 10

3. Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" takes its title from: Hint

Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop For Death"

Yeats' "Easter, 1916"

Thomas' "Fern Hill"

Donne's "Meditation XVII - No Man Is an Island"

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Question 4 of 10

4. Steinbeck's "The Winter of Our Discontent" is from: Hint

Shakespeare's "Richard III"

"Beowulf"

Spenser's "The Faerie Queen"

Homer's "The Odyssey"

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Question 5 of 10

5. Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" derives its name from: Hint

Shakespeare's "The Tempest"

Tennyson's "Idylls of the King"

DeFoe's "Robinson Crusoe"

Milton's "Paradise Lost"

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Question 6 of 10

6. Which work handed Steinbeck the title to "The Grapes of Wrath"?
Hint

The Battle Hymn of the Republic

There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight

Red River Valley

My Darling Clementine

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Question 7 of 10

7. Evelyn Waugh's novel "A Handful of Dust" is indebted to: Hint

Eliot's "The Waste Land"

Byron's "Don Juan"

Tennyson's "Ulysses"

Wordsworth's "London, 1802"

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. Back to Steinbeck. From which work did he borrow "Of Mice and Men"? Hint

Carroll's "The Walrus and the Carpenter"

Arnold's "The Scholar-Gypsy"

Hopkins' "Spring and Fall"

Burns' "To a Mouse on Turning Her Up..."

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Question 9 of 10

9. "Look Homeward, Angel" by Thomas Wolfe takes its name from which work? Hint

Milton's "Lycidas"

Milton's "Paradise Regained"

Milton's "Paradise Lost"

Milton's "At a Solemn Music"

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. Joan Didion's book of essays, "Slouching Towards Bethlehem", is a near quote from which work? Hint

Eliot's "The Magi"

Herbert's "Redemption"

Meredith's "Lucifer in Starlight"

Yeats' "The Second Coming"

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Oct 17 2024 : 1995Tarpon: 10/10
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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. We'll start with an easy one. William Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" originally derives from:

Answer: Shakespeare's "Macbeth"

From Act V. Here's Mac's assessment of Life: "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

2. While not an exact quote, Mark Harris' great baseball novel "Bang the Drum Slowly" takes its name from the lyrics of which song?

Answer: Streets of Laredo

From a dying cowboy's burial request:
"Then beat the drum slowly, play the Fife lowly. Play the dead march as you carry me along. Take me to the green valley, lay the sod o'er me, I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong."

3. Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" takes its title from:

Answer: Donne's "Meditation XVII - No Man Is an Island"

"...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

4. Steinbeck's "The Winter of Our Discontent" is from:

Answer: Shakespeare's "Richard III"

Rack another one up for Bill. From Act I, Scene I.

5. Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" derives its name from:

Answer: Shakespeare's "The Tempest"

Another one from the Bard: "O brave new world that has such people in it... " Act V, Scene 1

"The Tempest" was also referenced in "The Maltese Falcon" when Sam Spade described the bird as "The stuff that dreams are made of." See "The Tempest" Act IV, Scene 1.

6. Which work handed Steinbeck the title to "The Grapes of Wrath"?

Answer: The Battle Hymn of the Republic

"He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored"

"Red River Valley" was a musical theme in John Ford's great movie version of this novel. Ford would also use "Red River Valley" in a number of other films.

7. Evelyn Waugh's novel "A Handful of Dust" is indebted to:

Answer: Eliot's "The Waste Land"

"I will show you fear in a handful of dust" is line 30 of Eliot's master work. This phrase was also used in some of the early promo ads for Neil Gaiman's excellent "Sandman" series

8. Back to Steinbeck. From which work did he borrow "Of Mice and Men"?

Answer: Burns' "To a Mouse on Turning Her Up..."

"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men, Gang aft a-gley,"

Aye laddie, they do.

9. "Look Homeward, Angel" by Thomas Wolfe takes its name from which work?

Answer: Milton's "Lycidas"

"Look homeward, Angel, now, and melt with ruth" l. 163

Milton, Eliot, Shakespeare, and the Bible seem to be the most likely source of titles.

10. Joan Didion's book of essays, "Slouching Towards Bethlehem", is a near quote from which work?

Answer: Yeats' "The Second Coming"

"And what rough beast, its hour come around at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"

This poem also provided the title for Achebe's novel,"Things Fall Apart" as well as a disc by the rap group, The Roots.

Source: Author kmria

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