LITERARY DEVICES

Books and arts

1. What were the talents of these Greek muses? a) Terpsichore b) Urania c) Clio

2. Identify the books and female authors from these four opening sentences: a) The old woman remembered a swan she had bought many years ago in Shanghai for a foolish sum. b) The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation. c) You better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your Mammy. d) Imagine a ruin so strange it must never have happened. First picture the forest. I want you to be its conscience, the eyes in the trees.

3. Identify the books and the male authors from these opening lines: a) Six North Africans were playing boule beneath Flaubert’s statue. b) Beyond the Indian hamlet, upon a forlorn strand, I happened on a trail of recent footprints. c) This is a true story but I can’t believe it’s really happening. It’s a murder story too. I can’t believe my luck. d) Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my beard; I am a lover of America.

4. Which famous authors have written under the following pen-names? a) Mary Westmacott b) Alice Addertongue c) Clive Hamilton d) Acton Bell

5. How are these painters better known? a) Domenikos Theotokopoulos b) Michelangelo Merisi c) Moishe Shagal d) Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi

6. Name these winners of the Nobel prize for literature based on the language used in their citation: a) for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past, b) who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden, c) that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny, d) for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment.

7. Name the authors of these novels, generally agreed to be post-modernist: a) You Shall Know Our Velocity b) 1Q84 c) Infinite Jest d) Inherent Vice

8. Name the authors who invented these fictional action heroes: a) Myron Bolitar b) Jack Reacher c) Alex Cross d) Harry Bosch

9. Scandi noir is a popular genre of thrillers. But from which Scandinavian country did the following TV series originate? a) Modus b) Acquitted c) The Killing

10. And which Scandinavian writers feature the following detectives? a) Harry Hole b) Kurt Wallander c) Konrad Sejer

11. The following titles have won the Pulitzer Prize for biography since 2000. But who were the subjects of the books? a) The First Tycoon b) American Lion c) American Prometheus

12. Which thinkers wrote the following influential books? a) A Theory of Justice b) The End of History and the Last Man c) Orientalism

13. Which genres are the focus of the following literary awards? a) The Newbery Medal b) The Hugo Award c) Ruth Lilly prize.

14. The Prix Goncourt is France’s premier literary prize. But which of the following never won? a) Simone de Beauvoir b) Marcel Proust c) Albert Camus d) Michel Houellebecq

15. Which authors set their works in the following fictional counties? a) Yoknapatawpha b) Maycomb c) Barsetshire

16. What do the initials stand for in these authors’ names? a) e e cummings b) V. S. Naipaul c) A. S. Byatt d) T. S. Eliot

17. Excluding religious and propaganda texts, what is the bestselling book of all time?

18. Where are the following ancient documents currently housed? a) The Mappa Mundi b) The Dead Sea Scrolls and c) The Book of Kells

19. Which works of art or artists received the following rejection letters? a) The girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the ‘curiosity’ level. b) Guitar groups are on their way out. c) An absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dull. d) I rack my brains why a chap should need thirty pages to describe how he turns over in bed before going to sleep.

20. Many countries change the titles of Hollywood movies to appeal to domestic audiences. The following are literal translations of four such film titles. What were their original Hollywood names? a) The Night of the Cold Noses b) The Rebel Novice c) He’s a Ghost! d) The Young People who Traverse Dimensions Wearing Sunglasses

21. The Golden Raspberry awards or Razzies are awarded for the worst films or performances each year. Which actor and actress have received the most awards?

22. Film directors are usually more famous than their cinematographers. But which cinematographers are linked to the following movies? a) The Shining b) The Seventh Seal c) Citizen Kane

23. The Academy Award for best foreign-language film was first handed out in 1956. As of 2017, which country had received the most awards?

24. The Indian film industry is called Bollywood. But where is Nollywood based?

25. If you adjust for inflation, what was the highest-grossing film of all time?

26. Six degrees of Kevin Bacon is a popular game for movie buffs, in which any actor can be linked to the Hollywood star via joint film appearances. But which of these six films did Mr Bacon NOT appear in? a) Wild Things b) The River Wild c) Mystic River d) A Few Good Men e) Twister f) JFK

27. Pride and Prejudice is Jane Austen’s most popular book and has been adapted for TV and film many times. But who played Elizabeth Bennet to the following Mr Darcys? a) Laurence Olivier b) Matthew Macfadyen c) Colin Firth

28. In which 2001 film did Colin Firth play a different character called Darcy?

29. Which novels were the following movies based on? a) Apocalypse Now b) Tamara Drewe c) Clueless

30. The following US shows were spin-offs from which original TV programmes? a) Frasier b) Better Call Saul c) Melrose Place

31. These British TV shows were adapted for the American market. What were their US titles? a) Steptoe and Son b) Till Death Us Do Part c) Man About the House

32. In which galleries would you find these artworks? a) Venus de Milo b) The Three Graces by Rubens c) The Birth of Venus by Botticelli d) The Night Watch by Rembrandt

33. The Turner prize is an award given to avant-garde artists. But in what media did the following artists work? a) Laure Prouvost b) Richard Wright c) Grayson Perry

34. George Balanchine is regarded as one of the greatest American choreographers, co-founding the New York City Ballet. Where was he born?

35. Pablo Picasso’s works are often divided into different periods. Which came first—the Rose period, the Blue period or Cubism?

36. Which artists painted the following works? a) Bedroom in Arles b) Le bonheur de vivre c) The Card Players

37. Which artists were the (main) subjects of the following movies? a) Girl with a Pearl Earring b) The Agony and the Ecstasy c) Lust for Life

38. Which sculptors are responsible for the following works? a) Lobster Trap and Fish Tail b) Bicycle Wheel c) Nuclear Energy

39. Which architects designed the following buildings? a) the Pompidou Centre b) the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao c) Guangzhou Opera House

40. Which architectural styles do these buildings represent? a) The Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo b) The Château de Maisons in Maisons-Laffitte c) Chartres Cathedral

41. New York’s theatre prizes are known informally as the Tony awards. What is the official title?

42. Which types of music are covered by the following awards? a) GMA Dove b) Mobo c) Lo Nuestro

43. In which Shakespeare plays do the following female characters appear? a) Hippolyta b) Isabella c) Hermione

44. Which Shakespeare plays feature the following male characters? a) Enobarbus b) Feste c) Orlando

45. On which Shakespeare plays were the following musicals or films based? a) Throne of Blood b) Kiss Me Kate c) She’s the Man

46. Which writing teams were responsible for these famous musicals? a) Oklahoma b) Chicago c) West Side Story

47. From which operas do the following arias come? a) Largo al factótum b) La donna e mobile c) Che gelida manina

48. Name the rock songs that feature these lyrics, all of which mention US presidents: a) “Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray” b) “Do you remember your President Nixon, do you remember the bills you have to pay?” c) “We talk about Reaganomics, Oh Lord, down in the Congress”

49. Billboard has been producing a top albums chart for America every week since 1956. Which album spent the most weeks at number 1 on the list?

50. Which album spent the most weeks on the Billboard chart? And which group had the most top 10 albums?