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Quiz about First Lines from Famous Works of Literature 2

First Lines from Famous Works of Literature 2 Quiz

Here's another quiz for all you literature fans. I tried to make it a little more challenging than the last. Once again, I will provide the first line from a famous work of literature (novel, poem, play, or short story), you decide where it comes from.

A multiple-choice quiz by saturnchick23. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
saturnchick23

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
124,236

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
6 / 15

Plays
747

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 15

1. "My father and mother should have stayed in New York where they met and married and where I was born." Hint

"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"

"Angela's Ashes"

"Sister Carrie"

"The Grapes of Wrath"

NEXT>

Question 2 of 15

2. "They murdered him." Hint

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

"The Chocolate War"

"The Murder of Roger Ackroyd"

"Coma"

NEXT>

Question 3 of 15

3. "To get up in the morning, it is necessary to possess a guiding principle." Hint

"Go Tell it to the Mountain"

"Ordinary People"

"She's Come Undone"

"The Turning of the Screw"

NEXT>

Question 4 of 15

4. "Why you looking at me for? I didn't come to stay..." Hint

"And Still I Rise"

"Slave on the Block"

"A Day Late and a Dollar Short"

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"

NEXT>

Question 5 of 15

5. "Lieutentant Commander Peter Holmes of the Royal Australian Navy woke soon after dawn." Hint

"On the Beach"

"Clear and Present Danger"

"The Paris Option"

"Lord of the Flies"

NEXT>

Question 6 of 15

6. "The two girls were usually known by their surnames, Banford and March." Hint

"The Fox"

"Jane Eyre"

"Little Women"

"The Crucible"

NEXT>

Question 7 of 15

7. "On the pleasant shore of the French Riviera, about halfway between Marseilles and the Italian border, stands a large, proud, rose-colored hotel." Hint

"A Farewell to Arms"

"The Talented Mr. Ripley"

"Tender is the Night"

"The Bourne Identity"

NEXT>

Question 8 of 15

8. "When I was in the third grade I knew a boy who had to have fourteen shots in his stomach as the result of a squirrel bite." Hint

"Victory Over Japan"

"Hills Like White Elephants"

"Why I Live at the P.O."

"The Yellow Wallpaper"

NEXT>

Question 9 of 15

9. "The writer, an old man with a white mustache, had some difficulty getting into bed." Hint

"The Fires of Spring"

"A Wrinkle in Time"

"Winesburg, Ohio"

"The Spoon River Anthology"

NEXT>

Question 10 of 15

10. "It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York." Hint

"The Great Gatsby"

"The Bell Jar"

"Welcome to the Dollhouse"

"Breakfast at Tiffany's"

11. "One winter morning in the long-ago, four-year-old days of my life, I found myself standing before a fireplace, warming my hands over a mound of glowing coals, listening to the wind whistle past the house outside." Hint

"Great Expectations"

"Black Boy"

"Return of the Native"

"Uncle Tom's Cabin"

NEXT>

Question 12 of 15

12. "There were 117 psychoanalysts on the Pan-Am flight to Vienna, and I had been treated by at least six of them." Hint

"Girl, Interrupted"

"Fear of Flying"

"The Bell Jar"

"Normal Girl"

NEXT>

Question 13 of 15

13. "(3 May. Bistritz.) Left Munich at 8:35 pm on 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late." Hint

"Evil Under the Sun"

"The Diary of Anne Frank"

"Dracula"

"Night"

NEXT>

Question 14 of 15

14. "On January day, thirty years ago, the little town of Hanover, anchored on a windy Nebraska tableland, was trying to be blown away." Hint

"The Song of the Lark"

"Cold Comfort Farm"

"O Pioneers!"

"My Antonia"

NEXT>

Question 15 of 15

15. "When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch." Hint

"On the Road"

"Travels with Charley"

"The Wild Boys"

"Jude the Obscure"

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "My father and mother should have stayed in New York where they met and married and where I was born."

Answer: "Angela's Ashes"

Before publishing "Angela's Ashes", Frank McCourt taught at several public schools in New York City. McCourt did not begin writing "Angela's Ashes" until he was in his sixties.

2. "They murdered him."

Answer: "The Chocolate War"

Although Robert Cormier is probably best known for "The Chocolate War", he has also penned several other popular children's novels, including "I am the Cheese" and "The Bumblebee Flies Anyway".

3. "To get up in the morning, it is necessary to possess a guiding principle."

Answer: "Ordinary People"

"Ordinary People", written by Judith Guest, was published in 1976. Four years later, in 1980, the novel was adapted to the silver screen by first time director Robert Redford. "Ordinary People" went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Timothy Hutton), and Best Adapted Screenplay.

4. "Why you looking at me for? I didn't come to stay..."

Answer: "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"

Maya Angelou, author of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", shares a bit of history with Robert Frost. They are the only two poets in United States' history to have had the honor of reciting their poetry at a Presidential Inauguration. Angelou took part in Clinton's inauguration, while Frost participated in Kennedy's.

5. "Lieutentant Commander Peter Holmes of the Royal Australian Navy woke soon after dawn."

Answer: "On the Beach"

Before Nevil Shute published works such as "On the Beach", he developed secret weapons for the British during World War II.

6. "The two girls were usually known by their surnames, Banford and March."

Answer: "The Fox"

D.H. (David Herbert) Lawrence, author of the short story "The Fox" is best known for two classic novels-"Lady Chatterly's Lover", and "Sons and Lovers".

7. "On the pleasant shore of the French Riviera, about halfway between Marseilles and the Italian border, stands a large, proud, rose-colored hotel."

Answer: "Tender is the Night"

Did you know that F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of such works as "Tender is the Night", "The Great Gatsby" and "The Last Tycoon" was a distant relative of the "Star Spangled Banner" author, Francis Scott Keye?

8. "When I was in the third grade I knew a boy who had to have fourteen shots in his stomach as the result of a squirrel bite."

Answer: "Victory Over Japan"

Ellen Gilchrist is the author of the short story, "Victory Over Japan", which won the American Book Award for fiction in 1984.

9. "The writer, an old man with a white mustache, had some difficulty getting into bed."

Answer: "Winesburg, Ohio"

Sherwood Anderson based much of his novel, "Winesburg, Ohio" on his childhood experiences growing up in Clyde, Ohio.

10. "It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York."

Answer: "The Bell Jar"

Sadly, "The Bell Jar" author, Sylvia Plath, suffered from mental illness and eventually committed suicide in 1963. Plath was only 30 years old.

Answer: "Black Boy"

In addition to "Black Boy", Richard Wright also wrote "Native Son". Both of these novels would go onto change the face of African American literature; ironically they were both banned in several US cities' libraries at the time of publication.

12. "There were 117 psychoanalysts on the Pan-Am flight to Vienna, and I had been treated by at least six of them."

Answer: "Fear of Flying"

First published in 1973, Erica Jong's "Fear of Flying" hit shelves during the height of the American sexual revolution and served as scripture for the women's liberation movement. "Fear of Flying" still serves as inspiration for women of all ages-pop singer Mya even named her hit 2000 record after Jong's novel.

13. "(3 May. Bistritz.) Left Munich at 8:35 pm on 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late."

Answer: "Dracula"

Despite its cult popularity today, Bram Stoker's "Dracula" was considered a commonplace Victorian gothic novel. Both Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde" and Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau" were a few of "Dracula's" contemporary (and more well received) novels.

14. "On January day, thirty years ago, the little town of Hanover, anchored on a windy Nebraska tableland, was trying to be blown away."

Answer: "O Pioneers!"

"O Pioneers!" is one of the novels in Willa Cather's Nebraska trilogy. The other two are "My Antonia`" and "The Song of the Lark". "O Pioneers!" is my personal favorite of the three.

15. "When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch."

Answer: "Travels with Charley"

John Steinbeck, author of "Travels with Charley" is one of America's most beloved and well known writers. Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962, and some of his finest works include "The Grapes of Wrath", "Of Mice and Men", "The Pearl", "East of Eden" and "The Red Pony".

Source: Author saturnchick23

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor MotherGoose before going online.
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