Author Identification: Style and Substance Quiz

Answer: Charles Dickens

I am convinced that I would love Dickens more had I been forced to read him less. Like Shakespeare, Dickens wrote to please an audience, and perhaps the faults school children and scholars alike find with his prose may be partially explained on that basis: his work resonated with his audience and his outlook mirrored theirs, not ours.

As one reads criticisms of today's popular authors (J. K. Rowling comes to mind), one wonders if resentment over popular and financial success might not have influenced the opinions of "better" but less widely read author-critics of Charles Dickens such as Virginia Woolf and Henry James.

Answer: Samuel Clemens

Samuel Clemens achieved both literary success and immense popularity within his own lifetime: a characteristic shared by a number of authors in this quiz. Although Clemens published mostly under the pseudonym Mark Twain, at least one of his volumes, which was entitled "Date: 1601. Conversation, as it was the Social Fireside, in the Time of the Tudors", was anonymous, and Twain did not acknowledge it until more than 25 years after it was first written in 1880.

Answer: Joseph Heller

"What's the Catch" was the tagline used in the New York Times advertisement for Joseph Heller's newly published novel, "Catch - 22". The narrative was disjointed, but became increasingly coherent as the plot unfolded. Perhaps one of the best kept secrets of the book was the reason Orr tried so desperately to convince his friend Yossarian to fly with him despite Orr's frequent crashes; why Orr stuffed his crabapple-cheeks with marbles every time he was tempted to just blurt out his plans to his friend. But, I won't spoil the secret for those who have not yet read this novel.

Answer: Ernest Hemingway

This paragraph above was modeled after the opening paragraph of "The Old Man and the Sea". Like most of Hemingway's work, there is a very sparing use of adjectives, a feature Hemingway credited, in part, to the influence of Ezra Pound. Sharing Pound and Hemingway's aversion to adjectives, Mark Twain quipped, ""When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable!" Author J I Rodale once warned, "[The adjective] is the one part of speech first seized upon and worked to death by novices and inferior writers."

Answer: Shakespeare

Shakespearean insult sites abound on the Internet, including my favorite "http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker/" where most of the insults come with specific textual references, e.g. " 'Thou'rt by no means valiant;For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork of a poor worm.' Taken from: Measure for Measure". If you prefer random, original insults generated from the Bard's repertoire of insulting terms you should visit "http://www.william-shakespeare.org.uk/a1-shakespearean-insults-generator.htm"

Answer: Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte Bronte wrote much of her early life into "Jane Eyre". The master of the school she actually attended was said to be the basis for headmaster at Lowood. As did Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte took a job as a governess after several years of teaching. The character of Mr. Rochester is presumed to be fictional.

Answer: Terry Pratchett

For the uninitiated, I should explain that repeated reader polls document that Death is Terry Pratchett reader's favorite character. However, those who have not read Pratchett's novels may have difficulty believing how sympathetic and lovable the Grim Reaper seems in a Discworld novel (Discworld being the imaginary world Mr. Pratchett has created for his humorous fantasy novels). To correct this deficiency, if present, I recommend reading "Mort", Terry's fourth Discworld novel.

Unabashed and unashamed, I declare myself to be not a mere reader of Terry Pratchett books, but in actuality, a fan of Terry Pratchett books with all that implies: attending book signings, ownership of a first edition of his first book, a trip from Redding, California to Leicester, England to attend a Discworld convention. So far, I detect no damage from this affliction... unless you count hearing voices in ALL CAPS.

Answer: Jonathan Swift

Published as a pamphlet in 1729, Jonathan Swift's grim and heartless proposal to relieve Irish parents of their burdensome children while improving the food supply, successfully aroused indignation at the plight of his Irish countrymen while also arousing indignation at his heavy-handed use of satire.

Indeed, it is said to have nearly cost Swift his patronage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal).

Answer: Oscar Wilde

Tom Stoppard's play "Travesties", which was patterned after "The Importance of Being Earnest", initially piqued my interest in Wilde's play. In Stoppard's play, the characters include dadaist Tristan Tzara and revolutionary Vladimir Lenin and the action takes place in World War I Zurich. However, the absurd dialogue and intricate plot are certainly borrowed from Wilde.

Answer: J. R. R. Tolkien

While teaching at Oxford and writing of Middle Earth, Tolkien was a member of a group calling themselves the "Inklings". Tolkien and C. S. Lewis were the best known of the group which included more than twenty authors and academics. The Inkling's interest in and encouragement of fantasy was unusual if not unique for academic culture of their time. Meetings were held both in C. S. Lewis' rooms and in various pubs. Tolkien shared ideas and read passages of his developing trilogy to the group who in turned influenced its development.