Book Notes is a monthly email newsletter written by Gerald Lively. If you would like to sign up for his newsletter please email him at geraldlively@cox.net Here is the October quiz from Book Notes:
You read the titles of literary works all the time, but do you understand what all the words mean and why the titles were chosen? Here’s a quiz that will test your title knowledge. The answers appear at the end of the newsletter.
1. What is the name of the thin man in Dashiell Hammett’s novel of the same name?
2. What is the purpose of the lottery Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery”?
3. Who is Charley in John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley?
4. Name the two cities in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities?
5. Who are the title characters in John Grisham’s novel The Brethren?
6. Name the title character in Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
7. What are the dolls in Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls?
8. What is the source of the title of Ernest Hemingway’s novel For Whom the Bell Tolls?
9. Where does the title of William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies come from?
10. What does “wuthering” mean in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights?
11. In Robert Browning’s “The Pied Piper of Hamelin,” what does “pied” mean?
12. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, what is the letter, and what does it stand for?
13. In Arthur Conan Doyles story “The Five Orange Pips,” what are “pips”?
14. What is “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” in George Bernard Shaw’s play of the same name?
15. In D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover, who is her lover?
16. Name the title character in Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man?
17. What is the name of the title character in Stieg Larsson’s The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest?
18. What is the vacancy in J. K. Rowling’s new novel The Casual Vacancy?
19. In Nicholas Myers’ novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, what substance is the seven percent composed of?
20. In Neil White’s book In the Sanctuary of Outcasts, what is the sanctuary?
Want to see how you did? Head over to the answers on Book Notes Plus
