What'll a Degree Get Me? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Catcher in the Rye

"Catcher in the Rye" is a double-edged sword of literary value. On one hand, the novel has been regarded as one of the masterpieces of the twentieth century; its protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is an accurately-portrayed, alienated individual. The book has been used in the secondary school systems of North America for decades. On the other hand, the subject matter and language of the book has been targeted by many groups. At one point, the novel was the number one most banned book in the United States. "Catcher in the Rye" was J. D. Salinger's only full novel.

Nowadays, it seems all you read are menus and receipts. Perhaps you'll find solace in a book...who knows?

Answer: Latin

Visa is derived from the noun 'visum', which means 'a seen image'. 'Charta visa' refers to a 'paper that has been seen'. While credit card companies like American Express and MasterCard are a little lackluster in terms of their etymological histories, you can always take solace in knowing that Visa is a bit more classical. In English, Visa refers to the credit card company or a permit used to enter other countries.

Nowadays, you see a lot of these cards, day-in-day-out. Swipe, sign, next customer. At least you have your languages...you can curse under your breath and no one will know.

Answer: Paul Ekman

Paul Ekman is notable for his work in the field of psychology as his studies of micro-expressions have been quite interesting. Taking nearly every aspect of a person's bodily actions, a reading can be quite intricate in determining a person's motives, emotions, or thoughts. A major part of this involves human lie detection. Utilizing various aspects of speech and body language, one who has studied micro-expressions can easily determine who lies, when they do it, and even why. Much of this is dramatized in the FOX television show, "Lie To Me", which stars Tim Roth as a character based on Ekman.

All the lines in your psychologist's face are coming together. Perhaps he really doesn't care about your problems after all...

Answer: Auguste Rodin

The Thinker, or Le Penseur, is a bronze sculpture of Dante Alighieri as he thinks about his poem atop the Gates of Hell (a larger sculpture also created by Rodin now housed in the Musee Rodin). Since its creation, The Thinker has been regarded as a true symbol of Philosophy as its subject is caught in an eternal thought process. Many different casts of this work have been created over the years, many of which appear in art museums worldwide. Rodin was well-known for his sculpting, particularly in regards to bronze and clay. He passed away in 1914.

No time to think, though! People need to drive on through. You keep taking their money and turn on your iPod. Hide in a different world.

Answer: Cinematographer

Cinematography literally relates to the capturing of movement, so a cinematographer's job is highly integral to what you actually see in the film, from character movement to lighting to the overall mise-en-scene of a piece. Famous cinematographers are able to create a story space, the characters within that world, their settings, and everything else within make coherent sense. While many filmgoers won't be able to determine the name of famous cinematographers, their role is important. Academy Awards have been given to cinematographers for "Avatar", "Pan's Labyrinth", "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", and "Titanic".

Until your major motion picture is greenlit, you have time for these family events. Heck, maybe you can create that family comedy with the materials you scrounge up here.

Answer: CTRL-F

Basic function, really. CTRL-F on any Windows computer will bring up a search function. If you try it now on your browser, you can find any word on the page simply by typing it in, matching it by case (or not) or, in some cases, highlighting it. On a Mac, the function is performed using Command-F. CTRL-S is used to save a page or document to your hard drive, while ALT-F and ALT-S can be used/remain unused depending on the program you're running on your computer. Both the 'Find' and 'Save' functions can be found by scrolling through your application's menus as well.

Not only did you know this fact before going to school, you knew how to program it! If only life were that easy.

Answer: Pachelbel's "Canon (in D major)"

While all of the remaining selections are famous works for their composers, none have had the continuous rehashing as seen in "Canon (in D major)". This chord progression, as explored in Rob Paravonian's "Pachelbel's Rant" (now a viral video), is seen in oodles of songs including "Sk8er Boi" by Avril Lavigne, Aerosmith's "Cryin'", "Let it Be" by The Beatles, "Graduation" by Vitamin C, and "With or Without You" by U2. This is the tip of the iceberg though. For many instruments, the riff will always be the same two bars.

Sure, you've always loved music, but after four years of intense study it all boils down to notes. This is just one of those ones sets that digs at you. Keep your eyes on the road!

Answer: Hawaii

Found on the western side of the island of Hawaii, Kona is located near Mauna Loa, Hawaii's most famous volcano. Due to its climate, Kona is ideal for growing coffee and many famous brews can be found in this location. Kona is also home to the Ironman Triathlon World Championship and is the name of a successful mountain bike brand. The district's main city, Kailua-Kona, is at the base of Hualâlai, another of the big island's volcanoes. Coffee is grown here as well.

You? Make this up for money? You stop thinking about that and go back to your minimum wage job; there's still a line, and the scones need replenishing.

Answer: Gary (of "Pearls Before Swine")

While all four of these comics feature animals, only three of the match-ups involve cats. Garfield and Heathcliff are both titular cat characters in their own strips (with Garfield being one of the most widely-circulated comics of all-time, written by Jim Davis). Bucky is one of the main characters in "Get Fuzzy" along with his owner (coincidentally a cartoonist) and Satchel the Pooch. Stephan Pastis' "Pearls Before Swine" is the odd one out. Gary is the name of a coffee shop manager while the cat in the strip (merely a recurring character) is named Snuffles. "Pearls Before Swine" was created in 2001 and also features anthropomorphic animals as its characters.

Ironically, newspapers are only tossed on the floor (or in piles) in your house. No time to relate to a comic strip feline- you have too many of the real thing to keep you occupied.

Answer: Sega

While many companies faltered, crashed, then burned in the 2000s as a result of the Internet's changing ways and a major economic recession in the latter portion of the decade, some DID prosper. Kmart was not one of them. In 2002, they filed bankruptcy before being bought out, merging with Sears, and reopening. Tower Records hit bankruptcy in 2004, mostly due to internet piracy; it happened again in 2006. They weren't the only record stores to do so though. Pets.com was interesting. After investing hundreds of millions in starting up and advertising their pet supplies website, it crashed in 2000 (after only two years) and vanished almost entirely. Sega, the video games company, started the decade by releasing games that didn't have Sonic the Hedgehog in them. Their Dreamcast system launched and failed, but rather than dropping off the map they turned to games (as opposed to systems) and prospered on the Wii well into 2010. Other gaming companies weren't so lucky.

Hey, could be worse, right? All you need to do is pay back some loans (and heck, there may not even be a penalty for being a bit late depending on which country you're in). ;)