Fractured Authors Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dickens

English author Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was the author of works such as "The Tale of Two Cities" and "David Copperfield" and "Oliver Twist". Many of his works deal with the appalling conditions that the poor people of England lived in at the time. In addition to this, he had a brilliant ability to bring many of his characters alive in a type of verbal caricature form.

Answer: Shakespear

William Shakespeare was born and lived in England from 1564 to 1616. From his pen dripped 38 plays and 154 sonnets, such as the tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" and the beautiful sonnet, "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day". His works have been translated into almost every language in the world and performed by actors worldwide as well, from the highest paid professionals to the least skilled but very enthusiastic amateurs.

Answer: Austen

If English writer Jane Austen (1775-1817) could be known for one work alone, it would be for her brilliantly witty work "Pride and Prejudice" featuring the proud and haughty Mr Darcy and the lovely, high-spirited but prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet, a work that has had as many adaptations as one of Shakespeare's plays himself. Yet, this talented writer has also given us several other equally entertaining works as well, such as "Emma", "Sense and Sensibility" and "Mansfield Park" - and hours of endless enjoyment for readers over several centuries.

Answer: Bronte

The Bronte Sisters wrote and lived their lives during the 19th century in Yorkshire, England, an area of that country they all dearly loved. They have given us wonderful works of literature, like that of "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte, "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne, and the amazing and brilliant "Wuthering Heights" by the tragic Emily, who, in her all too brief and tragic life, gave the world this lone incredible work of absolute breathtaking passion and undying love before her own early death.

Answer: Fitzgerald

American writer F. Scott Fitzgeralld, who symbolised perhaps more than any other writer the era of the roaring twenties, was born in 1896 and died in 1940. He has given us the heartbreaking works of "The Great Gatsby" and "Tender is the Night" and "The Beautiful and Damned." In many of his works, the loss of the great American dream is symbolised in the form of the beautiful, fragile heroines and heartbroken, disillusioned heroes he has created.

Answer: Twain

American writer Mark Twain, aka Samuel Clemens, makes me laugh. There's no doubt about it, but the man had a brilliant and incisive wit. Born in 1835 and leaving us in 1910, his notable works include "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", a symbolic work, if ever there was one, of man's journey through life. Following his death, his grave was adorned with a stone exactly 12 feet high. Why was this you ask? It was the height of two fathoms, or "mark twain", which is how he arrived at his pen name - from his early life on the Mississippi as a riverboat pilot.

Answer: Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway, born in 1899, was an American author who gave us such works as "A Farewell to Arms" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "The Old Man and the Sea". Such was the extent of his power with the written work, Hemingway won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954.

His private life was just as colorful and exciting as any of the characters he created, but alas, this great writer suffered greatly from physical and emotional ill health during the latter part of his life, and he finally chose to end that life himself by committing suicide in 1961.

Answer: Steinbeck

American writer John Steinbeck was born in 1902 and died in 1968. From this winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature has come such works as "The Grapes Of Wrath", "East of Eden" and "Of Mice and Men". In all, the prolific Steinbeck produced a total of sixteen novels, five books of short stories and six works of non-fiction - and that is a mighty impressive output.

Answer: Melville

Herman Melville was an American novelist, essayist and poet. Born in New York in 1819, he died in that city in 1891 - and his was the pen that gave us "Moby Dick" and of course many other works, but somehow that whale says it all. When Melville died in 1891, he had outlived his fame and success as a writer, and died virtually forgotten by the literary world. Fortunately interest revived in his writings early the next century - and today his works are recognised for their true and enduring worth.

Answer: Hugo

French playwright, poet and novelist, Victor Hugo was born in 1802 and died in 1885, but not before giving the world his mighty gift in the form of works such as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Les Miserables." The great writer never quite recovered from the sorrow and loss of his eldest and most loved daughter accidentally drowning at the young age of nineteen, and this grief can be seen in many of later works.