Tiptoe Through The Titles Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fools

Porter's 1962 novel, "Ship of Fools," her only novel, has a kind of epic feeling to it. She is able to write a novel of ideas along with presenting the drama of humans caught in political turmoil. It takes place on a ship heading for Bremerhaven, Germany, just before the beginning of World War II. Porter addresses here the internal turmoils developing in people in this period before the onset of international hostilities.

Answer: Catch 22

This title phrase has become internationally synonymous with absurdist revolts in the 1960s, as well as many people's sense of overwhelming impotence in the face of invisible, impersonal powers.

Answer: Road

Journeys are central to people's sense of new beginnings. From the origins of literature, people have been known to go on adventures to find themselves, find their health or find other people. Some examples of such journeys have been made famous in "The Canterbury Tales," "A Pilgrim's Progress," and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," among many journey narratives.

Answer: The Tulips

People have written of the oddness of this title--the idea of people tiptoeing through fields of tulips gives an erroneous sense of a mad adventure through something which is simultaneously amazingly delicate and beautiful. Incidentally, originally, this was a song which appeared in 1926. There have been many subsequent versions of it.

Answer: Cherry

The title of Anton Chekhov's 1904 play refers to a place which was a symbol of a more secure life which about to disappear. The play ends with the harsh sound of axes cutting down the lovely cherry orchard.

Answer: Hedda

This play is one of many nineteenth century pieces of writing which dramatize women's increasing freedom and, often, their unfortunate problems in their new freedom, financial or otherwise. Some of these titles are Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" and Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina."

Answer: Hairy

Eugene O'Neill was one of the more experimental writers in American literature. His dramaturgy crossed through conventional lines of literature--in terms of both characterization and setting.

Answer: Prufrock

This poem is, of course, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." It is a poem which features many refrains, such as "In the room the women come and go speaking of Michelangelo." The poem deals with Prufrock's mixed sense of his own worth in the eyes of others. Many have found his to be a thoroughly tortured sensibility, typical of Modernist fragmented figures.

Answer: It

This play, classified as pastoral, has the famous speech "All the world's a stage." The play explores different ways of living and knowing. It compares country and non-country living, showing the different benefits and flaws in each way of liking it.

Answer: Travels

The hero's name is old fashioned--Lemuel. It is another famous travel narrative. From this novel we have the terms "Lilliputians" and "Houyhnhnms," among others. The novel presents Gulliver's encounters with different peoples--some very very small, others amazingly huge.

The novel deftly and sardonically portrays social inequalities in the guise of Gulliver's travels and imprisonments. It draws a picture of humanity's physical, emotional and intellectual struggles and impasses.