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Quiz about How Tough is Your Modern Lit Mettle

How Tough is Your Modern Lit Mettle? Quiz

Think your knowledge of 20th-century classics is up to snuff? To see, simply read the quote I have provided and select the novel from which it was extracted among the possible answers below. Good Luck!

A multiple-choice quiz by sillygirl219. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
sillygirl219

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
181,034

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
451

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. From which classic work was the following quote taken?

"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do." Hint

Of Mice and Men

To Kill A Mockingbird

A Raisin in the Sun

Native Son

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. From which classic work was the following quote taken?

"Maybe that's why my mother cut my tongue. She pushed my tongue up and sliced the frenum. Or maybe she snipped it with a pair of nail scissors. I don't remember her doing it, only her telling me about it, but all during childhood I felt sorry for the baby whose mother waited with scissors or knife in hand for it to cry--and then, when its mouth was wide open like a baby bird's, cut." Hint

Angela's Ashes

The Woman Warrior

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Ceremony

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. From which classic work was the following quote taken?

"Tiger got to hunt,
Bird got to fly;
Man got to sit and wonder, 'why, why, why?'

Tiger got to sleep,
Bird got to land;
Man got to tell himself he understand." Hint

Slaughterhouse-Five

Cat's Cradle

Lord of the Flies

Brave New World

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. From which classic work was the following quote taken?

"I knew more than she thought I knew about the meaning of religion, the hunger of the human heart for that which is not and can never be, the thirst of the human spirit to conquer and transcend the implacable limitations of human life." Hint

Invisible Man

Song of Solomon

Black Like Me

Black Boy

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. From which classic work was the following quote taken?

"I was half in love with her by the time we sat down. That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are. Girls. Jesus Christ. They can drive you crazy. They really can." Hint

On the Road

The Sun Also Rises

The Catcher in the Rye

The Grapes of Wrath

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. From which classic work was the following quote taken?

"Vaguely he can recall a sense of calm, of peace, that he had laid claim to on leaving the hospital. There were one or two guiding principles to get him through the day. Some ambitious plans, also, for putting his life in order. But the details have somehow been lost. If there ever were any." Hint

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Ordinary People

The Chocolate War

A Prayer for Owen Meany

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. From which classic work was the following quote taken?

"I kissed her and saw that her eyes were shut. I kissed both her shut eyes. I thought she was probably a little crazy. It was all right if she was. I did not care what I was getting into. This was better than going every evening to the house for officers where the girls climbed all over you and put your cap on backwards as a sign of affection between their trips upstairs with other officers." Hint

For Whom the Bell Tolls

The Sound and the Fury

Things Fall Apart

A Farewell to Arms

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. From which classic work was the following quote taken?

"I know I fib a good deal. After all, a woman's charm is fifty per cent illusion, but when a thing is important I tell the truth, and this is the truth: I haven't cheated my sister or you or anyone else as long as I have lived." Hint

A Streetcar Named Desire

Gone With the Wind

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Tender is the Night

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. From which classic work was the following quote taken?

"There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars." Hint

Mrs. Dalloway

The Great Gatsby

The Glass Menagerie

East of Eden

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. From which classic work was the following quote taken?

"...and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes." Hint

Dubliners

Ulysses

Finnegans Wake

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. From which classic work was the following quote taken? "I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do."

Answer: To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee's 1960 novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" is the author's only work, and evokes the considerable racial tension in the American South that characterized the time. "Of Mice and Men" is a John Steinbeck work, "A Raisin in the Sun" is written by Lorraine Hansberry, and "Native Son" is a novel by Richard Wright.

2. From which classic work was the following quote taken? "Maybe that's why my mother cut my tongue. She pushed my tongue up and sliced the frenum. Or maybe she snipped it with a pair of nail scissors. I don't remember her doing it, only her telling me about it, but all during childhood I felt sorry for the baby whose mother waited with scissors or knife in hand for it to cry--and then, when its mouth was wide open like a baby bird's, cut."

Answer: The Woman Warrior

Maxine Hong Kingston's 1976 autobiography "The Woman Warrior" uses an inventive blend of myth and reality to conjure the hardships the author faces growing up as a Chinese woman in America. "Angela's Ashes" is an autobiography by Frank McCourt, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" is written by Zora Neale Hurston, and "Ceremony" is a novel by Leslie Marmon Silko.

3. From which classic work was the following quote taken? "Tiger got to hunt, Bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, 'why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, Bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand."

Answer: Cat's Cradle

Kurt Vonnegut's 1963 novel "Cat's Cradle" is a satire on the dark aspects of and dangerous interplay between science and religion that are still omni-present in the 21st century. Vonnegut also wrote "Slaughterhouse-Five," but "Lord of the Flies" and "Brave New World" were penned by William Golding and Aldous Huxley, respectively.

4. From which classic work was the following quote taken? "I knew more than she thought I knew about the meaning of religion, the hunger of the human heart for that which is not and can never be, the thirst of the human spirit to conquer and transcend the implacable limitations of human life."

Answer: Black Boy

Richard Wright's 1945 autobiography "Black Boy" depicts the author's turbulent youth in the Jim Crow South, and his subsequent rise to fame as a prominent African-American writer. "Invisible Man" is by Ralph Ellison, "Black Like Me" is by John Howard Griffin, and "Song of Solomon" is by Toni Morrison.

5. From which classic work was the following quote taken? "I was half in love with her by the time we sat down. That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are. Girls. Jesus Christ. They can drive you crazy. They really can."

Answer: The Catcher in the Rye

J. D. Salinger's 1945 novel "The Catcher in the Rye" was one of the foremost texts to explore the theme of "teen angst." "The Sun Also Rises" was written by Ernest Hemingway, "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck, and "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac.

6. From which classic work was the following quote taken? "Vaguely he can recall a sense of calm, of peace, that he had laid claim to on leaving the hospital. There were one or two guiding principles to get him through the day. Some ambitious plans, also, for putting his life in order. But the details have somehow been lost. If there ever were any."

Answer: Ordinary People

Judith Guest's 1976 novel "Ordinary People" is the heartbreaking tale of an upper-class family's struggle to re-achieve normalcy after the attempted sucide of its teenage son. Four years later the book was made into an Oscar-winning film. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is a novel by Ken Kesey, "The Chocolate War" is written by Robert Cormier, and "A Prayer for Owen Meany" is by John Irving.

7. From which classic work was the following quote taken? "I kissed her and saw that her eyes were shut. I kissed both her shut eyes. I thought she was probably a little crazy. It was all right if she was. I did not care what I was getting into. This was better than going every evening to the house for officers where the girls climbed all over you and put your cap on backwards as a sign of affection between their trips upstairs with other officers."

Answer: A Farewell to Arms

Ernest Hemingway's 1929 novel "A Farewell to Arms" is often lauded as one of his finest artistic acheivements, denoted by his usual terse style of prose as well as the semi-autobiographical storyline. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is also a Hemingway title, while "Things Fall Apart" and "The Sound and the Fury" are written by Chinua Achebe and William Faulkner, respectively.

8. From which classic work was the following quote taken? "I know I fib a good deal. After all, a woman's charm is fifty per cent illusion, but when a thing is important I tell the truth, and this is the truth: I haven't cheated my sister or you or anyone else as long as I have lived."

Answer: A Streetcar Named Desire

Tennessee Williams' 1947 play "A Streetcar Named Desire" follows the mysterious and woeful life of Blanche DuBois, a mentally-ill Southern woman taken in by her sister. Four years later the play was made into a film starring Marlon Brando. "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" is also a Williams' text, while "Gone With the Wind" is written by Margaret Mitchell, and "Tender is the Night" by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

9. From which classic work was the following quote taken? "There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars."

Answer: The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel "The Great Gatsby" has been immortalized as both a reflection and criticism of the capriciousness and emptiness characterizing the wealthy upper-class of the Roaring 20s. "Mrs. Dalloway" was written by Virginia Woolf, "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams, and "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck.

10. From which classic work was the following quote taken? "...and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes."

Answer: Ulysses

James Joyces' epic novel "Ulysses" is a mammoth retelling of Homer's "Odyssey," and was written between the years of 1914 and 1922. The story is set entirely in one day, and reflects the thoughts and events of three Irish characters. Joyce made waves not only for his ultra-realistic subject matter, but also for his inventive new style of prose: stream-of-consciousness. Even though the book was banned in the UK for a matter of ten years, it has often been considered the best literary acheivement of the 20th century--an apt conclusion to this quiz, I'd say! The other three texts are all written by Joyce, as well.

Source: Author sillygirl219

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