Literary Works

Question 1

Essay encouraging readers to be self-reliant by following their own sense of right and wrong without letting the government have control.

Answer 1

Civil Disobedience Henry David Thoreau

Question 2

Novel of Manners

Answer 2

Details the customs, behaviors, habits, and expectations of a certain social group at a specific time and place.

Jane Austin and Edith Warton novels.

Question 3

The Lost Generation

Answer 3

Writers who came of age during WWI. They’re considered lost because their parent’s values were no longer relevant.

Question 4

Fireside Poets

Answer 4

Group of New England Poets who were among the first Americans to rival the popularity of British Poets.

William Cullen Bryant
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
John Greenleaf Whittier
Oliver Wendell Holmes
James Russell Lowell

Question 5

Account of the pilgrims and early colony years by the colony leader.

Answer 5

Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford

Question 6

Book of Poetry covering religion and family in the colonial period.

Answer 6

The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung up in America by Anne Bradstreet

Question 7

Autobiography about slavery, travel, spirituality detailing the author’s time as a slave and his attempts at being independent by studying the Bible before gaining freedom and working in business.

Answer 7

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Oladah Equlano

Question 8

Sermon that uses vivid imagery of hell, observations of the world and scripture citations that gives a glimpse into the first Great Awakening. In the sermon, Hell is described as a real place where people will go if they don’t follow God.

Answer 8

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards

Question 9

A pamphlet advocating for independence from England that uses moral and political arguments to persuade people.

Answer 9

Common Sense by Thomas Paine

Question 10

Yearly almanac that was popular for extensive wordplay Used 1732-1758

Answer 10

Poor Richard’s Almanack by Benjamin Franklin

Question 11

Narrative poem that uses musicality, stylized language, and a supernatural atmosphere to tell of a talking raven that visits a distraught lover and traces the man’s insanity.

Answer 11

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

Question 12

Details a murder the narrator committed. The narrator’s guilt wins out as he hears the thumping of the dead man’s heart.

Answer 12

The Tale Tell Heart by Edgar Allen Poe

Question 13

Set during the French and Indian War, it tells of Alice and Cara’s journey to safety along with two Indians–Chingachgook and Uncas, which are used as a symbol of the budding American society and racial makeup of the new world.

Answer 13

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

Question 14

Impromptu speech at the 1851 Women’s Convention about women having rights.

Answer 14

Ain’t I a Woman by Sojourner Truth

Question 15

Short story about Tom Walker who finds money protected by the devil. He makes a deal–the money for his soul.

Answer 15

The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving

Question 16

Hester Prynne has a daughter through an affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity after she is forced to wear a red “A” on her clothes and is shunned by her community.

Answer 16

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Question 17

Ishmal seeks revenge on the whale that bit his leg off. the story is influenced by epic poems.

Answer 17

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Question 18

Extended metaphor poem about the death of Abraham Lincoln.

Answer 18

Oh Captain, My Captain by Walt Whitman

Question 19

Walt Whitman

Answer 19

American poet, essayist, and journalist who was part of the transition between Romanticism and Realism.

Question 20

Essay stating everyone should avoid conformity and false consistency and follow their own instincts and ideas.

Answer 20

Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Question 21

Speech about the American scholar’s relationship to nature. Included thoughts that nature is the most important influence on the mind, the past manifests in writing, and action and it’s relation to the experience of life. Essentially encouraged people to think for themselves

Answer 21

The American Scholar by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Question 22

Detail’s the author’s experience of living simply by Walden Pond. A manual for self-reliance.

Answer 22

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Question 23

William Dean Howells

Answer 23

Editor of the Atlantic Monthly and realist writer. Wrote Christmas Every Day

Question 24

Novel about a boy and a runaway slave floating down the Mississippi River. It is noted for colorful description of life along the Mississippi and a satire about racism.

Answer 24

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

Question 25

Mark Twain

Answer 25

American writer known as the Father of American Literature.

Question 26

Autobiography about a slave's legal emancipation and life as a speaker.

Answer 26

My Bondage, My Freedom by Fredrick Douglas

Question 27

Speech focusing on equality, freedom, and national unity. Reminded citizens of America's purpose

Answer 27

The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln

Question 28

Personal narrative about the Civil War from the Confederate perspective including impressions about the war, commentary on race, status, and power within a nation divided.

Answer 28

The Diary of Mary Chestnut

Question 29

Jim Burden and Antonia Shimerda are brought as children to be Nebraska pioneers. The first year in the new place leaves an impression on both kids. Noted for bringing the American West to life.

Answer 29

My Antonia by Willa Cather

Question 30

Set before, during, and after the Civil War it tells the story of three southern families' experiences through flashbacks.

Answer 30

Absalom! Absalom! By William Faulkner

Question 31

Set during the Great Depression, this novel follows the Woads, who have lost their home in Oklahoma, as they head to California to find work.

Answer 31

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Question 32

Tells of a woman's struggle between her unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood and the prevailing social views of the turn of the century south.

Answer 32

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Question 33

Short adventure novel about the Klondike Gold Rush and sled dogs. Focuses on nature vs. nurture.

Answer 33

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Question 34

Langston Hughes

Answer 34

American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was the leader of the Harlem Renaissance and early inventor of Jazz poetry.

Question 35

Countee Cullen

Answer 35

American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwright. Famous for his work during the Harlem Renaissance.

Question 36

Influential women's lit story follows Jaine Crawford from one bad situation to the next through abuse, becoming independent, and murdering her third husband in self-defense.

Answer 36

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Question 37

Coming of age story set during the Civil War and reconstruction detailing clawing way out of poverty and a love triangle.

Answer 37

Gone with the Wind by Margret Mitchell

Question 38

Autobiographical play about a family where the daughter collects glass animals. The figurines are seen as a symbol of her personality.

Answer 38

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

Question 39

This play examines the mental and moral breakdown of the lead character as she runs away from wealthy to New Orleans

Answer 39

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

Question 40

Story about a young woman who learns about her family as she goes through her father's belongings after his death and examines her feelings of loss and memories.

Answer 40

The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty

Question 41

Long poem consisting of 18 separate poems grouped into two sections. The first section is the author's autobiography and the second section introduces his struggling career and fate.

Answer 41

Hugh Selwyn Mauberley by Erza Pound

Question 42

Collection of poems noted for use of economy of language and clarity of imagery.

Answer 42

Ripostes by Ezra Pound

Question 43

Story of a mixed group of people sailing from Mexico to Europe on a German ship. Seen as an allegory tracing the rise of Nazism and looks metaphorically at the progress of the world on it's "voyage to eternity.

Answer 43

Ship of Fools by Katherine Porter

Question 44

Blend of multiple short stories about a returning WWII vet's decision to form an anti-religious ministry in an eccentric southern city after finding his family home abandoned.

Answer 44

Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor

Question 45

Novel of Manners detailing a love triangle between a man he's supposed to marry and stay with and her exciting cousin.

Answer 45

The Age of Innocence by Edith Warton

Question 46

Satirical novel about small town life as a woman comes to terms with the small-town mentality of her neighbors.

Answer 46

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

Question 47

Satirical novel about American culture and society that critiques the middle class life and pressure toward conformity.

Answer 47

Babbit by Sinclair Lewis

Question 48

E.E. Cummings

Answer 48

American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. Wrote 2900 poems, 2 autobiographical novels, four plays, and several essays.

Question 49

Collection of poems that are mainly short dramas or dialogues.

Answer 49

North of Boston by Robert Frost.

Question 50

Collection of poems said to be autobiographical that covers rural life, nature, philosophy, and individualism

Answer 50

A Boy's Will by Robert Frost

Question 51

Novel that is recognized for bringing female author's into Sci-Fi and tells the story of a human sent to convince Gethan to join the space U.N. Shows that we're all the same at the core

Answer 51

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Question 52

10 plays that chart the African American experience through the 20th century. Each play is set in a different decade, but relates to the others.

Answer 52

The Pittsburg Cycle by August Wilson

Question 53

Nikki Giovanni

Answer 53

American poet, writer, commentator, activist. Her writing covers race and social issues.

Question 54

Collection of poems discussing the revolution of black identity and the political nature surrounding it.

Answer 54

Black Feeling by Nikki Giovanni

Question 55

Story about the son of the inventor of the atomic bomb and an allegory for the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was written during the Cold War and addresses the nuclear threat.

Answer 55

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Question 56

This non-linear novel follows a solider through WWII and his life after as he time trips and see's his whole life multiple times. It gives a commentary of unavoidable death and is considered an anti-war novel

Answer 56

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Question 57

This novel focuses on 4 Chinese-American women who play mahjong for money and tell their daughters the story of their immigration for a better life.

Answer 57

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Question 58

This novel details a former high school star who is unhappy with his adult life and tries to escape. The main character is a symbol for baby daddies and the novel represents the American Dream vs. Reality idea.

Answer 58

Rabbit Run by John Updike

Question 59

This memoir tells of a boy who was abandoned by his father, had a sick mother, and dead uncle, but grew up hungry for knowledge with a desire to write before becoming a communist. Details the effects of racism, individual vs society, and the power of art.

Answer 59

Black Boy by Richard Wright

Question 60

Follows the academic year of a small town professor. Focuses on the airborne toxic event and experimental study of psychological drug, Dylan.

Answer 60

White Noise by Don DeLillo

Question 61

Satirical novel about WWII and the absurdity of war and how there are no heroes, only victims. Told in non-chronological 3rd person omniscient narration so the timeline evolves with the plot using circular reasoning and paradox.

Answer 61

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Question 62

Series of Vignettes about a girl growing up in a small house in a poor neighborhood and wants to escape her situation. Considered a coming of age story that celebrates Chicanos.

Answer 62

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Question 63

Follows three characters during a bad drug deal near Mexico-America border and looks at good vs. evil, mortality, ethics, violence, and perseverance

Answer 63

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Question 64

Story follows a father and son across post-apocolypitic event that has killed everyone on earth. Considers isolation, survival, evil, compassion, and forgiveness

Answer 64

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Question 65

Epistolary novel about black women in the 1930s covering abuse, low social standing, power of voice, nature of racism and sexism.

Answer 65

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Question 66

A teenage screw-up gets expelled and tries to find himself before deciding he needs to protect kid's innocence. It is written in a subjective stream of conscious and the main character doesn't show any growth by the end of the novel.

Answer 66

Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

Question 67

Written about the author's partner, in the partner's voice. Details their time in Paris and created a new format.

Answer 67

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein

Question 68

A poetry book about mundane life that uses unconventional language. The book is split into three sections: objects, food, and rooms

Answer 68

Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein

Question 69

1st person account of the Italian Campaign of WWI that describes an affair between a solider and a nurse. It is considered the premier American War novel

Answer 69

A Farewell to Arms by Ernst Hemingway

Question 70

Set in the Spanish Civil War, this story details a plot to blow up a bridge during the war. It includes examples of love and tension between the helpers, love as salvation, the loss of innocence, and the value of human life.

Answer 70

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

Question 71

Poem that examines modern man who is overeducated, eloquent, neurotic, and emotionally stilled as he chases after a woman. It is notable for it's variation on dramatic monologue, use of stanzas, sonnets, fragments, and juxtaposition.

Answer 71

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Elliot

Question 72

Considered the author's magnum opus, it is a cautionary tale of the American Dream that covers the decadence, idealism resistance to chance, social upheaval, and excess of the roaring 20s.

Answer 72

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Question 73

Said to be a model of the author's real life, the story tells about a man and a woman. She's neurotic, he has an affair. It was his final novel.

Answer 73

Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Question 74

Epic poem that is considered one of the most important works of old English Lit. Hero helps the king defeat a monster, The king is attacked by the monster's mother. Hero goes on to defeat a dragon and get's a tower put up in his honor.

Answer 74

Beowulf

Question 75

Collection of 24 stories about 30 men who engaged in a storytelling contest. Each story features the contest host and one or more of the pilgrims.

Answer 75

The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer

Question 76

Legend about a man who becomes king, is trained by Merlin, and marries the princess before creating the roundtable to stop disagreements. The princess is a symbol of a moral compass

Answer 76

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Sir Thomas Mallory

Question 77

Morality play that uses allegorical characters to examine the question of Christian salvation and what man must do to obtain it.

Answer 77

Everyman by Sir Thomas Mallory

Question 78

Christopher Marlow

Answer 78

English playwright, poet, and translator. Foremost Elizabethan tragedian. He established blank verse and influenced Shakespeare.

Question 79

Edmund Spenser

Answer 79

Poet who wrote Faerie Queen, which is considered one of the greatest poems (tells the stories of Gloriana's Knights).

Question 80

John Donne

Answer 80

Poet considered to be the greatest love poet. He wrote religious verse, treatises, and sermons.

Question 81

Ben Johnson

Answer 81

Dramatist, lyrical poet, and literary critic

Question 82

Epic poem in blank verse that concerns the fall from grace, Adam and Eve's temptation, Satan, and being kicked out of the garden. He wanted to justify the ways of God to men.

Answer 82

Paradise Lost by John Milton

Question 83

10 year diary kept during the English restoration covering the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War, and the Great Fire of London

Answer 83

Samuel Pepe's Diary by Samuel Pepe

Question 84

Alexander Pope

Answer 84

Satirical poet, known for translating Homer and considered the master of the heroic couplet.

Question 85

Samuel Johnson

Answer 85

Created the first dictionary of the English Language

Question 86

Prose satire novel about human nature and traveler's tales.

Answer 86

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

Question 87

Francis Bacon

Answer 87

Created the scientific method. Also known as Lord Verulam.

Question 88

John Locke

Answer 88

Father of liberalism. Wrote essays concerning human understanding--outlines what we can claim to know and what we can't. He called for the separation of church and state.

Question 89

Jean Jacques Rosseau

Answer 89

Wrote Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract, which are cornerstones of political and social thought.

Question 90

Andrew Marvell

Answer 90

Poet, satirist, and political writer.

Question 91

George Herbert

Answer 91

One of the foremost British devotional lyricists. The Temple.

Question 92

William Wordsworth

Answer 92

Helped launch the Romantic Age by publishing lyrical ballads. Britain's Poet Laureate.

Question 93

John Keats

Answer 93

One of the main Romantic poets known for sensual imagery, odes, and natural imagery.

Question 94

Lord Byron

Answer 94

Leading figure of the romantic movement.

Question 95

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Answer 95

Finest lyrical and philosophical poets. Married to Mary Shelly (Frankenstein).

Question 96

Poem that tells the story of a sailor who has returned from a long sea voyage. Uses personification and repetition through the story.

Answer 96

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Question 97

A young scientist creates a monster through an experiment and the monster escapes. Considered first major work of science fiction.

Answer 97

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

Question 98

Alfred Tennyson

Answer 98

Poet laureate during Victoria's reign. Created many common place phrases.

Question 99

Robert Browning

Answer 99

Wrote poems known for irony, characterization, dark humor, social commentary, historical settings, challenging vocabulary, and syntax.

Question 100

Elizabeth Browning

Answer 100

Campaigned to end slavery and influenced child labor reforms. Believed to have influenced Poe and Dickenson

Question 101

Rudyard Kipling

Answer 101

Innovator of the short story Wrote the Jungle Book

Question 102

Charles Dickens

Answer 102

Greatest novelist of the Victorian Era.

Question 103

A woman is bored with her life so she has an affair and then they both drown. Noted for salacious treatment of affairs.

Answer 103

Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy

Question 104

Story about a man who desserts his crew on a sinking ship. The man is publicly censored for his actions and has to come to terms with his actions. It is considered an in-between era book.

Answer 104

Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

Question 105

Narrated voyage on the Congo River taken by a man who is obsessed with an ivory trader. It makes parallels between London and Africa

Answer 105

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Question 106

Follows two sisters who have very different relationships with their husbands. Looks at human nature.

Answer 106

Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence.

Question 107

Essay about someone who was asked to shoot an elephant, does it, and hates themself for it. Considered a metaphor for British Imperialism

Answer 107

Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell

Question 108

Play about a man who fell in love with a statue that then comes to life. Question femininity and gender

Answer 108

Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw

Question 109

The Ramsey family visits the Isle of Skye. The plot of this novel is secondary to the philosophical introspection in provides by using multiple focalization.

Answer 109

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Wolf.

Question 110

Katherine Mansfield

Answer 110

Changed how short stories were written.

Question 111

Doris Lessing

Answer 111

Wrote several short stories.

Question 112

William Yeats

Answer 112

Founded the Abbey Theatre and was the driving force of the Irish Literary Revival

Question 113

Dylan Thomas

Answer 113

Poet noted for his original, rhythmic, and ingenious use of words and imagery.