You're Lion to Me! Online Quiz | Literature: Something in Common

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "Call me Ishmael" he wrote, although that is not his name. This Leo author was born August 1, 1819 in New York City. He was popular in the 1840s but his fame declined in the 1850s. Who is this man who wrote of sailors, whales and life on the high seas?

Answer: Herman Melville

Herman Melville had writing success in his twenties, after he had spent some time working on sailing ships; "Moby Dick or The Whale" (the first sentence of which was quoted in this question) was published when he was 32 years old. His fame waned in the 1850s; there was public speculation that he was insane.

He died in 1891. It wasn't until the 1920s, when his novella "Billy Budd" was edited and published, that he regained fame and attained the reputation of a great American author.

2. There is writing about strange things and then there is writing about things that are just plain weird. An American author who was good at writing about the latter is considered among the best horror authors of the 20th century. Would the name "Cthulhu" help you?

Answer: H.P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips (H.P.) Lovecraft was born on August 20, 1890 in Providence, Rhode Island. He is perhaps best known for "The Cthulhu Mythos", which was a collection of horror stories by several authors and included his novella "The Call of Cthulhu". Many of his works explored the idea that the universe is so far beyond human understanding that knowledge of it would drive men insane. Stephen King (no stranger to weird story lines himself) cites Lovecraft as a major influence.

3. A famous author born under the sign of Leo wrote many war novels from his experiences as a soldier and later, a war correspondent. His most famous novel, "Exodus", published in 1958, was the biggest U.S. bestseller since "Gone With the Wind". Who was this wartime author?

Answer: Leon Uris

Leon Uris, born August 3, 1924, was a U.S. Marine in the Pacific Theater in World War II. Following this he became a war correspondent. "Exodus" was about the founding of the State of Israel. He did additional research for it by covering Arab-Israeli fighting from 1956 to 1958. It was made into a motion picture in 1960, starring Paul Newman.

4. "O brave new world!" spoke Miranda in Shakespeare's "The Tempest". An English author, born July 26, 1894, used most of that quote for the title of a chilling look at the 26th century. Who is the man who wrote of a world dehumanized by scientific progress?

Answer: Aldous Huxley

Written in 1931, Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" was a speculative work about a peaceful world, peaceful because positions in life were determined at birth; birth in a manner we might now call 'test-tube' babies. A drug named 'soma' was used to keep the population happy and under control. Interestingly, Meda Pharmaceuticals Inc. now produces a drug named Soma (carisoprodol) as a muscle relaxant and antispasmodic.

5. A successful playwright, turned novelist, has become the most widely read of French authors. His novels often involved swordplay and chivalry. Which author had characters who lived by the motto "All for one, one for all".

Answer: Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre Dumas (p�re) was born July 24, 1802 in Picardy, France. After moving to Paris as a young man, he became a magazine writer, then a playwright. He was successful enough to be able to write full-time. He turned to novels, which were often serialized at first, including "The Three Musketeers (from which this question's quote is taken) and "The Count of Monte Cristo". As well as being the most read French author, his works have been translated into almost a hundred languages and have been the basis for over 200 motion pictures.

6. An African-American U.S. Coast Guard serviceman taught himself how to write stories. One of his stories, "Roots: The Saga of an American Family", became a huge literary success and was made into a TV miniseries. Who was this author born under the sign of Leo?

Answer: Alex Haley

Alex Haley, born August 11, 1921 in Ithaca, New York, taught himself how to write stories while in the Coast Guard and became a journalist for the service. He retired in 1959 with the rank of Petty Officer First Class in the rating of journalist, a rating created specifically for him in recognition of his ability.

He spent ten years researching his family history, starting with an African ancestor, Kunta Kinte. The resulting book, "Roots..." has been published in 37 languages; the TV miniseries of that story was watched by over 130 million viewers.

He was also the co-writer of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X".

7. An English poetess wrote but one novel, but what a novel! Who wrote "Wuthering Heights", now considered a classic of English literature?

Answer: Emily Bronte

Emily Bronte was born in Thornton, England, on July 30, 1818. She was the fifth of six children. "Wuthering Heights" was published in 1847 as part of a three-volume set, two written by Emily and the third by her sister, Anne. It received mixed reviews because of its depiction of mental and physical cruelty. The main characters were Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff; their torrid love ended up destroying them and many around them. It wasn't until the 20th century that the book was considered classic literature. It has served as the basis for books, plays, operas and a role-playing game.

8. An Illinois man wanted to become a magician but ended up being a highly regarded science fiction and fantasy author. Born in 1920, on August 22 (the last day of the Leo cycle of the zodiac), he wrote, among other things, "Fahrenheit 451". Who is this author?

Answer: Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury got into the habit of writing every day at a young age. Unable to afford a college education during the American Great Depression, he studied writing by going to local libraries three days a week for ten years. He started writing stories for science fiction fanzines, later turning to novels.

The first was "The Martian Chronicles", actually a collection of stories he had previously written. "Fahrenheit 451" was his first stand-alone novel, about a future where reading was outlawed (451 degrees fahrenheit is the temperature at which book-paper burns).

This was followed by "Something Wicked This Way Comes", "The Halloween Tree" and many others. Some additional trivia about Bradbury: his family can be traced to colonial America, where an ancestor, Mary Bradbury, was tried and sentenced to hang as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts, in1692.

9. Growing up black in 20th century America was difficult at best. One author confronted discrimination and class distinctions head-on. Who was the author of such works as "The Fire Next Time"?

Answer: James Baldwin

Born August 2, 1924, James Arthur Baldwin grew up in poverty, with an abusive stepfather. He learned about art and writing in Greenwich Village, New York City. His first novel "Go Tell It on the Mountain" dealt with racism and moral hypocrisy. His future works would deal with racial, sexual and class discrimination. "Notes of a Native Son" was published in 1955, "The Fire Next Time" in 1963.

The title of that book came from an old Negro spiritual, "Mary Don't You Weep", in which God gave Noah the rainbow sign and said he wouldn't destroy the earth by water again, it would be by fire the next time.

10. The oldest author in this quiz was born in 1802. The author who is the subject of this question was born 163 years later, in England, in 1965. Some of the characters in her books are named Harry, Hermione, Luna, Severus, Sirius and Albus. Who is this 'magical' author?

Answer: J.K. Rowling

Growing up in England, J.K. Rowling didn't have much of a writing background, just some little stories written when she was a child. Then, in 1990, while taking a train from Manchester to London, the idea of a boy (whose name would be Harry Potter) attending a wizardry school popped into her head.

She started writing about him when she got home. That turned into 4,100 pages in seven books over sixteen years. The final installment, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" became the fastest-selling book in history, selling 11 million copies on its first day of release.

Then there were the movies and the merchandising. No doubt, the goblins would love to have her deposit her gazillions of Galleons in the Gringotts Bank.

Source: Author CmdrK

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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You're Lion to Me! Trivia Quiz

When you think of famous people born under the zodiac sign of Leo, the lion, you might think of singers and actors. This quiz is in response to an Author's Challenge issued by kyleisalive, so let's take a look at some famous Leo authors.

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