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Writers and Prisons Trivia Quiz

Many writers have written about prisons - or have spent time there. Here are a few examples.

A multiple-choice quiz by robert362. Estimated time: 3 mins.

Author
robert362

Time
3 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
191,396

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
2095

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Which poet wrote "To Althea, from Prison"? Hint

William Cowper

Walter Raleigh

John Clare

Richard Lovelace

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Question 2 of 10

2. Oscar Wilde served time in prison. Why? Hint

Charges involving robbery

Charges involving murder

Charges involving his sexual behavior

Charges involving treason

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Question 3 of 10

3. Which of the following served time in prison for embezzlement (which he committed while employed as a bank teller)? Hint

William Somerset Maugham

Jack London

Stephen Crane

O. Henry

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Question 4 of 10

4. Which of these writers had a play written about the night that he spent in jail? Hint

Henry David Thoreau

Walt Whitman

Ralph Waldo Emerson

William Blake

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Question 5 of 10

5. Which of these authors wrote "The Executioner's Song" about convicted killer Garry Gilmore? Hint

William F. Buckley, Jr.

Gore Vidal

Norman Mailer

Tom Wolfe

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Question 6 of 10

6. Which of these writers wrote about the murder of the Clutter family in "In Cold Blood"? Hint

Leon Uris

Truman Capote

Herman Wouk

John Fowles

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Question 7 of 10

7. Which of these writers was imprisoned - and tortured - due to charges of heresy? Hint

John Webster

Thomas Kyd

Ben Jonson

Christopher Marlowe

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Question 8 of 10

8. Which of these writers served time in the Bastille? Hint

Balzac

Gustave Flaubert

Andre Gide

Voltaire

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Question 9 of 10

9. Chidiock Tichborne wrote a beautiful elegy right before he was executed. Why had he been imprisoned? Hint

Kidnapping

Theft

Gross sexual misconduct

Political conspiracy

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Question 10 of 10

10. "The Man in the Iron Mask" was immortalized by which of these writers? Hint

Alexandre Dumas

Robert Louis Stevenson

Walter Scott

Daniel Defoe

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which poet wrote "To Althea, from Prison"?

Answer: Richard Lovelace

"Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage". Many people know these famous lines, but do not know the name of the man who wrote them.

2. Oscar Wilde served time in prison. Why?

Answer: Charges involving his sexual behavior

Wilde got into trouble for flaunting his homosexuality. While in prison, he wrote "De Profundis" about his experiences; "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" also draws on his prison experiences.

3. Which of the following served time in prison for embezzlement (which he committed while employed as a bank teller)?

Answer: O. Henry

During O. Henry's tenure as a bank teller certain "shortages" were noted by the bank. O. Henry spent a few years in prison for the crime.

4. Which of these writers had a play written about the night that he spent in jail?

Answer: Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau, author of "Walden" and "Civil Disobedience", was the subject of a play entitled "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail".

5. Which of these authors wrote "The Executioner's Song" about convicted killer Garry Gilmore?

Answer: Norman Mailer

Mailer championed the cause of Gilmore, believing that Gilmore had literary talent.

6. Which of these writers wrote about the murder of the Clutter family in "In Cold Blood"?

Answer: Truman Capote

This "non-fiction novel" may be Capote's best work. (Robert Blake starred in the movie.) Capote apparently "bonded" with the two prisoners before they were executed.

7. Which of these writers was imprisoned - and tortured - due to charges of heresy?

Answer: Thomas Kyd

Kyd, author of "Spanish Tragedy", was arrested and subjected to torture due to suspicions of heresy against him. Although ultimately released, he never fully recovered. (Marlowe was similarly arrested - but was able to get out of jail and escape torture. His curious death occurred a short while later under suspicious circumstances.)

8. Which of these writers served time in the Bastille?

Answer: Voltaire

Voltaire, author of "Candide" and an often outspoken and critical voice, was imprisoned for a while in France's infamous prison.

9. Chidiock Tichborne wrote a beautiful elegy right before he was executed. Why had he been imprisoned?

Answer: Political conspiracy

Tichborne was arrested for his participation in the Babington Plot of 1586. It was a plot by Roman Catholics to overthrow Elizabeth I and put Mary Queen of Scots on the throne. Prior to his (grisly) execution, Tichborne wrote an extremely beautiful and moving poem about the cutting short of his life. ("My prime of youth is but a frost of cares ...")

10. "The Man in the Iron Mask" was immortalized by which of these writers?

Answer: Alexandre Dumas

The "man" was apparently real - and not a mere work of fiction. Why was he in an Iron Mask? No one knows for sure. (One interesting theory states that the prisoner's physical appearance would show a keen resemblance to certain personages, thereby indicating a possible claim to the throne.) Dumas immortalized the prisoner by writing the novel.

Source: Author robert362

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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