Writer's Bloc Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll wrote "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There" in 1871 as a sequel to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1865). It was set six months after Alice's visit to Wonderland and featured some new characters as well as revisiting some from the original story as she made her way across a life-size chess board. This book proved a bit less successful than the original.

Answer: Keats

The poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" was written by John Keats, one of the English Romantic poets. Like many other poets, his work was most appreciated after his death. He is now considered one of the stars of the Romantic movement. He died at age 25 in 1821.

Answer: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

An Eolian harp is a wooden box with strings stretched across two bridges. Placed in a window opening the wind will play the harp. Coleridge's "The Eolian Harp" was the first of his eight so-called 'conversation poems', in which the poet examined nature, society and poetry's role in it. "The Eolian Harp" was written during Coleridge's engagement to Sara Fricker and his vision of their lives together.

As it turned out, their lives together were less than happy.

Answer: The Hobbit

Hobbits live close to the land (apparently literally). "The Hobbit or There and Back Again" is a work by J.R.R. Tolkien in which a hobbit becomes part of a group trying to regain some treasure taken by a dragon. It was such a success that Tolkien's publisher asked for a sequel; the epic high fantasy novel "The Lord of the Rings" was the result. Tolkien made subtle changes and additions to "The Hobbit" in future editions to tie in with the "Ring" trilogy, so only the first edition is the original, unadulterated manuscript.

Answer: Percy Bysshe Shelley

While spending a Christmas holiday in 1817 with Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife, Mary, Horace Smith and Shelley talked of recent discoveries in Egypt which showed the power of those who ruled it millennia before. This turned into a challenge between the two to write and publish a sonnet on Ozymandias, or Ramesses II. Both sonnets dealt with the eradication of power and decaying glory.

Answer: Charles Dickens

With a favorable review from the queen, how could the 1841 novel by Charles Dickens not be a success? One of his early works, it was serialized in a weekly publication before being printed in book form. Not to give you any spoilers (even though it was published over 170 years ago!) it is the story of a young girl living with her grandfather in his curio shop.

It was so popular that when the ship bearing the last serialized part arrived in New York City, the wharf was mobbed with people wanting a copy of the magazine.

Answer: Joan of Arc

Southey was called a Lake Poet, mainly because he lived in the Lake District of England along with other writers of the time. "Joan of Arc" was written in two volumes, the first about Joan's quest to meet Charles, the Dauphin of France; the second volume was about the battle of Orleans.

There were mixed reviews of the poem with William Wordsworth calling it "on the whole of very inferior execution." Southey used the poem to express his anti-monarchial views of politics, views that were toned down in future editions.

Answer: E.M. Forster

A critique of English society as well as a romantic story, E.M. Forster's "A Room with a View" was published in 1908. Set in Italy and England, the story is about a young woman navigating societal changes after the Victorian era. One of Forster's early novels, it is less complicated than some of his later works but is lauded for its character development and examination of the changing attitudes of the day.

Answer: The Ruined Cottage

William Wordsworth was one of the "Lake Poets" and a major English Romantic poet. He began his writing career at age 17 in 1787 and continued writing until his death in 1850. "The Ruined Cottage" was the story of a young woman whose husband joined the army and never returned. As her life fell apart, so did her home. The poem became part of a longer work, "The Excursion".

Answer: Robert Browning

The story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin goes back to the Middle Ages. Several storytellers and poets have written about the folktale. The children of the German village of Hamelin were said to have been led away by a colorfully-dressed (pied) piper. The Brothers Grimm gave it international attention. Browning's poem was a bit more light-hearted than other versions. Browning was an admirer of the Romantic poets and is considered one of the foremost Victorian poets.