Short and Sweet Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rip Van Winkle

Washington Irving penned this short story in 1819 while living in England. He set the story in the Catskills--an area he had visited as a child. The men that Rip meets are ghosts from a lost Henry Hudson expedition. The story was included in "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent."

Answer: Usher

Edgar Allan Poe wrote "The Fall of the House of Usher" in 1939. The tale follows the classic gothic elements. The 'fall' has a double meaning as the fall includes the end of a linage of Ushers and the crumbling of their home as well.

Answer: The Devil

The story was first printed in 1936 in the "Saturday Evening Post" by Stephen Vincent Benét, based on the legend of Faust and partly on Washington Irving's "The Devil and Tom Walker". The story stuck a chord in the American conscious with its strong emphasis on patriotism. In 1937 it won the O. Henry Award for short story. In 1938 it was adapted into a folk opera that garnered a Pulitzer Prize. In 1941 it came to movie theaters.

Thomas Mitchell was selected to play Webster. However, he was severely injured during the filming and had to be replaced. Edward Arnold took over the role on one day notice. Walter Huston played Mr. Scratch, nom de plume for the Devil.

Answer: Blue

The Swede in his agitated state accuses the Blue Hotel's owners son Johnnie of cheating and is killed in the struggle even though it was a friendly game with no money involved. The irony is that others know Johnnie was cheating but choose not to back him up.

As the Swede lies dead on the floor of the lobby of the Blue Hotel, his unseeing eyes seem to focus on the cash register that reads "This registers the amount of your purchase." "The Blue Hotel" was first published in 1899.

Answer: A baby

Cherokee Sal, a prostitute, dies in childbirth and leaves behind a baby that the miners call 'Luck'. It becomes a group effort(it takes a village) to raise the child, even to the extent of refining their bad habits, such as drinking and gambling, in order to become role models. Luck vanishes in a flood and with him the fortunes of Roaring Camp.

Harte keeps a delicate balance to steer the story away from being just a sentimental tale, and shows that there is humanity among the sordid.

Answer: The Lottery

When the New Yorker Magazine first published "The Lottery" in 1948, it was not prepared for the backlash. Cancelled subscriptions flooded in. Local areas and even foreign countries banned it. In the end it became a standard for high school literature classes and leaves a memory like no other.

As a spoiler to those who have not read it, the person who ends up with the 'black spot' is stoned to death by the villagers.

Answer: The Gift of the Magi

O. Henry is the pen name of William Sydney Porter, a master story teller who blended wit, characterization, and ironic endings into his short stories in the early part of the 20th century. A destitute married couple want to please the other with a special Christmas gift. He sells his watch to give her the gift of fancy combs; she sells her hair to a wig maker to buy him a new fob for his watch.

In researching this short story, I lost count of how many times it was adapted for the screen, musicals or opera, and animation, not just in the US but world wide are well. The Christmas tale cuts across all religions and borders.

Answer: a dram of poison

Before the old man sells the love potion he introduces customers to a clear liquid that he calls "a glove-cleaner... maybe it will clean gloves. I have never tried." The love potions costs a dollar but the 'glove cleaner' is five thousand dollars. People who buy the former return for the latter.

The love potion causes maniacal obsession with the purchaser. So strong that a 'glove cleaner' is needed.

John Collier was born in England but migrated to the United States in 1935. "The Chaser" appeared in the New Yorker in 1940.

Answer: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Much of Hawthorne's writings deal with the Puritan heritage of Massachusetts. A thin line is drawn between good and evil, and faith and depravity. Such diverse personages as Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, and Stephen King have praised the story as one of their favorites. It works best as an allegory as Hawthorne critiques the Puritan society and his mixed feelings.

Answer: Ambrose Bierce

The premise is that there may be a short time of some consciousness between the snapping of the noose and death itself. Bierce is the ultimate cynic with a long career in journalism. It was published by The San Francisco Examiner in 1890 where Bierce worked for many years. It is one of the short stories found in many anthologies. Bierce used his Civil War experiences as a base for some of his writings.

Bierce disappeared in Mexico in 1913 supposedly investigating the Mexican Revolution. His body was never found.

Answer: Change the game to what they would do with 10 million dollars

Parker finds an irony in the young women just upping the price. In Parker's words:
"Suppose there was this terribly rich person, see? You don't know this person, but this person has seen you somewhere and wants to do something for you. Well, it's a terribly old person, see? And so this person dies, just like going to sleep, and leaves you ten million dollars. Now, what would be the first thing you'd do?"

Answer: A mouse

A mentally deficient man, Charlie, is exposed to techniques to elevate his IQ. At first he is unable to solve a pencil maze before Algernon, a lab mouse, solves his physical maze. But as time elapses he becomes an individual with one of the highest IQs in the world. As such he begins to make scientific discoveries. Unfortunately, the treatment is temporary and he regresses to his former state.

Robertson's nomination was the only one for the film.

Answer: The frog was fed quail shot.

Mark Twain followed with some of the best loved novels, short stories, and travel books. Surely "Tom Sawyer",and "Huckleberry Finn" were great novels but "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is his most 'celebrated' short story. Twain lived and worked as a journalist in those mining camps.

Answer: For Esmé - with Love and Squalor

J. D. Salinger will forever be revered for his novel of teenage angst and alienation, "Catcher in the Rye" (1951). He became a classic recluse: his last published work was in 1965 and his last interview was in 1980. He died in 2010, yet he remains one of the most popular writers, especially among adolescents.

It is quite possible that Salinger was unhappy with the way he was treated. For instance, his short story "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut" was sold for film rights. The story is a examination of suburban life. It was rewritten and renamed "My Foolish Heart" (1949). Salinger was horrified when he found that the film had no resemblance to his story. He was horrified again when the film got two Academy Award nominations.

"The Catcher in the Rye" has never been filmed. Strong personalities have tried:
Jerry Lewis, Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, and John Cusack tried to either star in or produce it. Sam Goldwyn and Billy Wilder also lost out.

Answer: Ernest Hemingway

The older waiter's patience derives from the fact that he knows loneliness and the solace found in clean well lighted places. Where there is not light, there is darkness; and where there is darkness there is nothingness.

James Joyce noted that "[Hemingway] has reduced the veil between literature and life, (that) every writer strives to do ... 'A Clean Well-Lighted Place' is masterly. Indeed, it is one of the best short stories ever written." Hemingway biographer noted that it was Hemingway's favorite also.