Name The Work Trivia Quiz

Answer: "Catch-22", Joseph Heller

"Catch-22" is a humorous, yet realistic, look at warfare. The story is about John Yossarian, a bombardier during World War II who was upset that enemies were trying to kill him while his army continued to increase the number of dangerous missions he was required to fly. Yossarian found himself in a Catch-22, a bureaucratic paradox that says men who continue to fly dangerous missions should be considered insane, yet if they make a request to be removed, they are proven sane and ineligible for relief.

Answer: "The Great Gatsby", F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Gatsby" was set in New York's Long Island during the Jazz Age of the 1920s. It is told from the perspective of Nick Carraway, a Midwesterner who moved to New York in search of a prestigious job. His rental bungalow in East Egg was near an estate owned by the mysterious Jay Gatsby, who liked to throw expensive parties but not attend them.

The love- and social-lives of several characters intertwined during a riotous summer.

Answer: "The Grapes of Wrath", John Steinbeck

Regarded as one of the great American novels, "The Grapes of Wrath" detailed life during the Great Depression for the Joad family and those forced by drought from their land in the American Plains and who traveled to California in hopes of finding work, the promises of which turned out to be illusory. Steinbeck's book is a realistic look at the brutal and humiliating conditions they incurred.

Answer: "Red Badge of Courage", Stephen Crane

Crane's novel is the story of a Union soldier in the American Civil War, Private Henry Fleming. In his first battle, Fleming ran from the fighting to the rear of the action. The Union soldiers won the battle so Fleming was not suspected of desertion. Feeling remorse, he wished for a wound - a red badge of courage - to make up for his cowardice. Further battles described a more mature Fleming.

Answer: "Walden", Henry David Thoreau

"Walden; or, Life in the Woods" is a memoir written by Thoreau of the two+ years (1845-7) he spent near Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, as a means of removing himself from society and finding a simpler life. Though not a best-seller upon publication, the book's reputation has grown over the decades and it was a favorite of the back-to-the-land movement of the 1970s.

Answer: "Barbara Frietchie", John Greenleaf Whittier

"Barbara Frietchie" is a poem written about a woman who lived during the American Civil War and supported the Union side, going so far as to wave its flag in the face of Confederate soldiers. It was published in 1863, as a boost to the Union. There has always been controversy as to whether the event actually happened, and if it did, was she the woman who did it or was it someone else? Either way, the city of Frederick, Maryland has used the story and her house as a tourist attraction.

Answer: "The Catcher in the Rye", J.D. Salinger

A coming-of-age story, "Catcher" relates the trials and depression of Holden Caulfield, a preparatory school student who had just been given notice that he would not be allowed back after the Christmas break. Not wanting to tell his family, he wandered around New York City for a few days, crossing paths with acquaintances and various denizens of the city and trying to find a way for a meaningful life.

In the end his angst and sense of alienation overwhelmed him.

Answer: "Howl", Allen Ginsberg

Ginsberg was most definitely a member of the "Beat Generation", writers who rejected much of the conventional mores of the 1950s in favor of hedonism and non-conformity. "Howl" was part of a collection of poems by Ginsberg published in the book "Howl and Other Poems".

Its frank discussions of sexual practices and illegal drugs caused the publisher and a bookstore manager to be arrested in 1957 for distributing obscene material. A judge ruled in favor of the defendants.

Answer: "Slaughterhouse-Five" , Kurt Vonnegut

"Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death" (to use its full title) is an anti-war science fiction novel about Billy Pilgrim, a soldier who became a chaplain's assistant in the U.S. Army during World War II. The story began with Billy's childhood and continued years after the war.

He occasionally traveled through time to reflect upon his life, humanity, and the effects of war. The parts about World War II reflect Vonnegut's own experiences as a U.S. soldier.

Answer: "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"Rime" was Coleridge's longest poem, written in a style much different from most other Romantic period authors. An old mariner related a story of how his ship was blown off-course to Antarctica, how an albatross appeared and apparently led them to safety, and how he killed the albatross with an arrow.

His shipmates forced him to wear the albatross tied around his neck. They then suffered great misfortunes and only the mariner returned alive. The poem is considered by some critics to be the beginning of a shift of poetic styles to a more modern one.