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LiteratureHard

World Literature Classics #2

Which country does Cervantes's knight wander through? Which novel opens with "For a long time, I used to go to bed early"? Which Prague hero wakes up changed into an insect back in 1915? And Molière's real name? 10 demanding questions on the pillars of world literature, from Don Quixote to Cyrano de Bergerac.

10

Questions

2

Minutes

Tip: Use keys 1-4 to answer quickly

The 10 quiz questions

Question 1 : Which American novelist, considered the father of American literature, wrote "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884)?

Possible answers:

  • Herman Melville
  • Edgar Allan Poe
  • Mark Twain
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne

Explanation: Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910) is one of the most important writers in American literature. His pseudonym was inspired by Mississippi steamboat jargon. He wrote "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn".

Question 2 : Which Russian writer wrote "Crime and Punishment"?

Possible answers:

  • Anton Chekhov
  • Nikolai Gogol
  • Fyodor Dostoevsky
  • Leo Tolstoy

Explanation: Fyodor Dostoevsky published Crime and Punishment in 1866, a masterpiece of Russian literature.

Question 3 : In which country does the main action of "Don Quixote" take place?

Possible answers:

  • Italy
  • Spain
  • France
  • Portugal

Explanation: Don Quixote, written by Miguel de Cervantes (1605-1615), takes place in Spain. The hero travels through La Mancha believing himself to be a knight-errant.

Question 4 : What is Molière's real name?

Possible answers:

  • Jean de La Fontaine
  • Pierre Corneille
  • Jean Racine
  • Jean-Baptiste Poquelin

Explanation: Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622-1673) took the stage name Molière.

Question 5 : Which novel begins with "For a long time, I used to go to bed early"?

Possible answers:

  • The Red and the Black
  • Swann's Way
  • Bel-Ami
  • Madame Bovary

Explanation: This famous line opens "Swann's Way" (1913), the first volume of "In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust, considered one of the greatest masterpieces of French literature.

Question 6 : Which American author wrote "The Great Gatsby"?

Possible answers:

  • William Faulkner
  • John Steinbeck
  • F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • Ernest Hemingway

Explanation: F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby in 1925, a symbol of the American Roaring Twenties.

Question 7 : Who wrote the play "Cyrano de Bergerac"?

Possible answers:

  • Edmond Rostand
  • Jean Racine
  • Pierre Corneille
  • Molière

Explanation: Edmond Rostand created Cyrano de Bergerac in 1897, one of the most performed plays in France.

Question 8 : Which British author wrote "Pride and Prejudice" (1813), considered a masterpiece of the English novel?

Possible answers:

  • Charlotte Brontë
  • Jane Austen
  • Mary Shelley
  • Virginia Woolf

Explanation: Jane Austen (1775-1817), pioneer of the modern novel, wrote six masterpieces including "Pride and Prejudice" and "Emma". Her sharp portraits of Regency English gentry and biting irony influenced all Romantic literature.

Question 9 : Which Prague-born author wrote "The Metamorphosis", where the hero wakes up transformed into an insect?

Possible answers:

  • Franz Kafka
  • Hermann Hesse
  • Robert Musil
  • Stefan Zweig

Explanation: Franz Kafka published this novella in 1915. It became a symbol of absurdity and alienation in modern literature.

Question 10 : Which Russian author wrote "War and Peace", an epic saga of the Napoleonic wars?

Possible answers:

  • Leo Tolstoy
  • Fyodor Dostoevsky
  • Anton Chekhov
  • Ivan Turgenev

Explanation: Leo Tolstoy published this novel between 1865 and 1869. With over 1,200 pages and 500 characters, it is one of the greatest novels in world literature.

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