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Places in Literature Trivia Quiz

This is a quiz about places named in works of literature. Some are real places and some are fictitious. The range is anything from Winnie the Pooh to John Keats so there should be something for everybody!

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

Author
aggymemnon

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
316,344

Updated
Jul 23 22

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
547

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. From where, according to Keats, did Cortez and all his men stare at the Pacific? Hint

A peak in Darien

A rugged peak of New World splendour

A sandy shore in Ecuador

Mexico's burnished coast

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Question 2 of 10

2. Samuel Taylor Coleridge said, in a margin note on his manuscript, that he had taken opium for medicinal purposes before writing the poem Kubla Khan. But in which city was it decreed that there should be a stately pleasure dome?
Hint

China's ancient hills

Lhasa's gilded halls

Palaces of oriental splendour

Xanadu

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Question 3 of 10

3. The canon of literature is by far the richer for the writings of Oscar Wilde, but this time I want to ask about a comment supposedly said by him on passing through a customs hall: "I have nothing to declare except my genius?". Which customs hall was it? Hint

Dublin

Le Havre

Liverpool

New York

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Question 4 of 10

4. "Cargoes" is a wonderfully evocative poem by John Masefield but from which distant shore did the quinquireme of Nineveh hail? Hint

Eden

Persia

Ophir

Africa

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Question 5 of 10

5. Much of George Orwell's writing is based on his own experiences. In which two cities was he "Down and Out"? Hint

Paris and London

New York and Chicago

Edinburgh and Manchester

Detroit and La Paz

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Question 6 of 10

6. In "Peter Bell the Third", Shelley wrote that "Hell is a city much like..." which European city? Hint

Moscow

London

Glasgow

Rome

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Question 7 of 10

7. In the first Winnie the Pooh book Christopher Robin leads an expedition (or expotition as he puts it) to find which well-known geographical location? Hint

The Amazon Jungle

London Bridge

The North Pole

The Eiffel Tower

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Question 8 of 10

8. In which fictitious city did Thomas Hardy's tragic hero "Jude the Obscure" dream of attending university? Hint

Alfredston

Casterbridge

Christminster

Wintoncester

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Question 9 of 10

9. In Graham Greene's "Travels with My Aunt" which famous train journey do Henry and Aunt Augusta take together? Hint

Trans-Siberian Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

Orient Express

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Question 10 of 10

10. I couldn't leave this quiz without asking which part of the UK is the setting for "Swallows and Amazons" by Arthur Ransome? Hint

Norfolk Broads

Lake District

Loch Lomond

Exmoor

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. From where, according to Keats, did Cortez and all his men stare at the Pacific?

Answer: A peak in Darien

"Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He star'd at the Pacific - and all his men
Looked at each other with a wild surmise -
Silent, upon a peak in Darien."
John Keats - "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer". 1816

Answer: Xanadu

"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea."
Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Xanadu was the summer capital of Kubla Khan's Yuan Dynasty in China in about the 13th century by our calendar. The city was in what is now called Mongolia, about 160 miles north of present day Beijing.

Answer: New York

This saying is attributed to Oscar Wilde by Frank Harris in his 1916 book "Oscar Wilde; His Life and Confessions" but whether Wilde actually said it we may never know!

4. "Cargoes" is a wonderfully evocative poem by John Masefield but from which distant shore did the quinquireme of Nineveh hail?

Answer: Ophir

"Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine."
John Masefield. "Cargoes".

Ophir is mentioned in the Bible but its location has still not been identified. Contenders range from the Red Sea ports to present day Zimbabwe and Pakistan but as an exotic location for a poem it fits the bill perfectly!

5. Much of George Orwell's writing is based on his own experiences. In which two cities was he "Down and Out"?

Answer: Paris and London

Published in 1933 "Down and Out in Paris and London" chronicles Orwell's experiences living an impoverished life in both cities.

6. In "Peter Bell the Third", Shelley wrote that "Hell is a city much like..." which European city?

Answer: London

This poem was composed in October 1819. It is a satire of Wordsworth's tale of a debauched potter, Peter Bell, who renounces his immoral life after a train of events show him the error of his old ways.

7. In the first Winnie the Pooh book Christopher Robin leads an expedition (or expotition as he puts it) to find which well-known geographical location?

Answer: The North Pole

I'm sure you remember that Roo fell in the water and was rescued using a long pole Pooh found. After this great rescue Christopher Robin announces that the pole they used was not just any pole but "it's the North Pole". Pooh was very proud.

8. In which fictitious city did Thomas Hardy's tragic hero "Jude the Obscure" dream of attending university?

Answer: Christminster

Christminster was the name Hardy used for Oxford. "Jude the Obscure", first published in 1895, was widely condemned at the time as immoral and obscene. Hardy was so upset by this public reaction that he wrote no more novels after "Jude", concentrating thereafter on poetry and drama.

9. In Graham Greene's "Travels with My Aunt" which famous train journey do Henry and Aunt Augusta take together?

Answer: Orient Express

This novel was published in 1969 and chronicles the journeys taken by the young Henry and his Aunt Augusta until Henry gradually realises the truth about his Aunt.

10. I couldn't leave this quiz without asking which part of the UK is the setting for "Swallows and Amazons" by Arthur Ransome?

Answer: Lake District

"Swallows and Amazons", first published in 1930, is set in the Lake District, although Ransome significantly changes the names and the actual geography to better fit the story. The lake, for instance, is largely based on Lake Windermere but Wild Cat Island and the surrounding fells more resemble those in and around Coniston Water.

Source: Author aggymemnon

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