Masterpieces of the Printed Page Quiz

100 questions · by Qwiz Rush

Masterpieces of the Printed Page Quiz is a free 100-question multiple choice, letters and numbers quiz on Qwiz Rush, made by Qwiz Rush, split into 10 rounds. Test your knowledge on the timeless characters, profound themes, and iconic authors that shaped the history of classic literature.

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Every question runs on a 10-second countdown and the fastest correct answers score the most. All the questions and their choices are listed below so you can see what the quiz covers; the answers are revealed in the game. Want to change something? Make your own copy and edit it in your library.

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The 100 questions

"Call me Ishmael" is the iconic opening line of which classic American novel about a captain's obsessive quest?
- Moby-Dick
- Billy Budd
- White-Jacket
- Typee
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." This famous line opens which dystopian novel?
- Brave New World
- Nineteen Eighty-Four
- Fahrenheit 451
- We
Which Jane Austen novel begins with the observation that "a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife"?
- Sense and Sensibility
- Pride and Prejudice
- Emma
- Mansfield Park
"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." This line opens which Leo Tolstoy masterpiece?
- War and Peace
- Anna Karenina
- Resurrection
- The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Which Gabriel García Márquez novel begins with Colonel Aureliano Buendía remembering "that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice"?
- Love in the Time of Cholera
- Chronicle of a Death Foretold
- One Hundred Years of Solitude
- The Autumn of the Patriarch
"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show." This introduces which Charles Dickens novel?
- David Copperfield
- Oliver Twist
- Great Expectations
- Bleak House
In what calendar year was Mary Shelley's gothic masterpiece "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" first published anonymously, beginning with its epistolary opening letters?

Answer with a number.
In what year was George Orwell's classic dystopian novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" first published?

Answer with a number.
Identify the cynical teenage narrator who utters the iconic opening line, "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born..." in J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye".

Answer with a letter.
Name the fictional English estate that serves as the setting for Daphne du Maurier's "Rebecca", famously recalled in the opening line, "Last night I dreamt I went to... again."

Answer with a letter.
In Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula", which character is an American cowboy from Texas who helps hunt down the vampire count?
- Arthur Holmwood
- Quincey Morris
- John Seward
- Jonathan Harker
In Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", what is the name of Victor Frankenstein's doomed younger brother, who becomes the monster's very first victim?
- William
- Henry
- Robert
- Felix
In Edgar Allan Poe's classic gothic tale "The Fall of the House of Usher", what is the name of Roderick Usher's twin sister, who is tragically entombed alive?
- Madeline
- Ligeia
- Berenice
- Eleonora
In Daphne du Maurier's gothic masterpiece "Rebecca", what is the name of the cold, obsessive housekeeper of Manderley who remains devoted to the late Mrs. de Winter?
- Mrs. Danvers
- Mrs. Reed
- Mrs. Rochester
- Mrs. Fairfax
What is the name of the grand, malevolent estate that serves as the setting for Shirley Jackson's 1959 psychological horror novel?
- Hill House
- Bly Manor
- Blackwood Castle
- Belasco House
In Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray", who is the talented artist who paints the fateful, aging portrait of Dorian?
- Basil Hallward
- Lord Henry Wotton
- Alan Campbell
- Sibyl Vane
In what year was Horace Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto", widely regarded by scholars as the very first gothic novel, published?

Answer with a number.
How many volumes was Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" originally published in when it first appeared in 1818?

Answer with a number.
Name the respectable London doctor who creates a serum to separate his good and evil personalities in a famous 1886 novella by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Answer with a letter.
What historical region of Romania is home to Castle Dracula in Bram Stoker's classic gothic novel?

Answer with a letter.
In Elizabeth Gaskell's 1855 novel *North and South*, which fictional industrial northern town serves as the setting, representing the clash between working-class laborers and wealthy mill owners?
- Milton
- Coketown
- Rummidge
- Weatherbury
Charles Dickens's *Hard Times* critiques the harshness of utilitarianism and industrialization. What is the name of the cold, fact-obsessed school board superintendent who advocates for "Facts, facts, facts"?
- Thomas Gradgrind
- Josiah Bounderby
- Ebenezer Scrooge
- Seth Pecksniff
Which 1847 novel by Charlotte Brontë features a low-status protagonist who must navigate the rigid class structures of Victorian England as a governess at Thornfield Hall?
- Jane Eyre
- Villette
- Shirley
- Wuthering Heights
In Benjamin Disraeli's influential 1845 novel *Sybil*, he famously coined a phrase to describe the extreme disparity between the rich and the poor in Victorian Britain. What was this phrase?
- The Two Nations
- The Great Divide
- The Upper and Lower
- The Gilded Age
George Gissing's 1889 novel *The Nether World* is a bleak portrayal of poverty, crime, and the struggles of the working class in which specific area of London?
- Clerkenwell
- Whitechapel
- Mayfair
- Westminster
Which Victorian poet wrote the 1843 poem "The Cry of the Children," which powerfully protested the exploitation of child labor in mines and factories?
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
- Christina Rossetti
- Alfred Lord Tennyson
- Robert Browning
In what year was Charles Dickens's seminal novel *Oliver Twist*, which exposed the cruelties of the Victorian workhouse system under the New Poor Law, first published in its complete three-volume book form?

Answer with a number.
In what year was the New Poor Law passed in the United Kingdom, a piece of legislation that heavily influenced Victorian social reform literature and created the infamous workhouse system?

Answer with a number.
What is the surname of Oliver Twist's cruel, hypocritical parish beadle who oversees the workhouse and famously declares that "the law is a ass"?

Answer with a letter.
What is the name of the fictional, soot-choked industrial Lancashire town that serves as the grim setting for Charles Dickens's critique of industrialization in *Hard Times*?

Answer with a letter.
Jonathan Swift's 1729 satirical essay 'A Modest Proposal' famously suggests that impoverished Irish families ease their economic troubles by selling what to wealthy English landlords?
- Their children as food
- Their ancestral land
- Their handmade textiles
- Their agricultural labor
In Joseph Heller's satirical World War II novel 'Catch-22', what is the name of the protagonist, a B-25 bombardier who desperately wants to stop flying missions?
- John Yossarian
- Milo Minderbinder
- Major Major Major Major
- Captain Flume
In George Orwell's allegorical novella 'Animal Farm', which character represents Soviet leader Joseph Stalin?
- Napoleon
- Snowball
- Squealer
- Boxer
In Aldous Huxley's dystopian satire 'Brave New World', what is the name of the soothing, hallucinogenic drug distributed by the state to keep citizens compliant?
- Soma
- Melange
- Vril
- Prozac
In Voltaire's satirical novella 'Candide', which optimistic philosopher constantly teaches that 'all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds'?
- Pangloss
- Martin
- Cacambo
- Pococurante
Sinclair Lewis's 1922 novel 'Babbitt' satirizes the conformity of the American middle class through its protagonist, George F. Babbitt, who works in which industry?
- Real estate
- Banking
- Advertising
- Automobile manufacturing
Ray Bradbury's dystopian social commentary 'Fahrenheit 451' is named after the temperature at which book paper catches fire and burns. What is this temperature in degrees Fahrenheit?

Answer with a number.
In what year was George Orwell's seminal dystopian social satire 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' first published?

Answer with a number.
Identify the fictional country of giants visited by Lemuel Gulliver in the second voyage of Jonathan Swift's classic satire 'Gulliver's Travels'.

Answer with a letter.
What is the surname of Winston, the protagonist who works at the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'?

Answer with a letter.
In John Bunyan's allegorical masterpiece "The Pilgrim's Progress", what is the name of the protagonist who journeys from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City?
- Faithful
- Christian
- Hopeful
- Evangelist
In Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days", what is the name of Phileas Fogg's loyal French valet who accompanies him on his rapid global journey?
- Jean Passepartout
- Pierre Aronnax
- Ned Land
- Michel Ardan
In Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel "The Road", what geographic destination are the father and son traveling toward?
- The Appalachian Mountains
- The southern coast
- The Canadian border
- The Great Salt Lake
In J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit", what is the Elvish name of the Lonely Mountain, the ultimate destination of Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves' epic quest?
- Erebor
- Angband
- Gundabad
- Orthanc
In Jack Kerouac's beat generation classic "On the Road", Sal Paradise's frequent travel companion Dean Moriarty is based on which real-life figure?
- Allen Ginsberg
- William S. Burroughs
- Neal Cassady
- Gary Snyder
In Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick", what is the name of the doomed whaling ship commanded by Captain Ahab on his obsessive voyage?
- The Albatross
- The Rachel
- The Jeroboam
- The Pequod
In what year was Jonathan Swift's satirical travel masterpiece "Gulliver's Travels" first published?

Answer with a number.
In Dante Alighieri's epic poem "The Divine Comedy", how many terraces of purgation must Dante ascend with Virgil during his journey through Purgatorio?

Answer with a number.
Identify the mythical vessel commanded by Jason on his quest for the Golden Fleece in Apollonius of Rhodes' ancient Greek epic poem.

Answer with a letter.
What is the name of the fictional, utopian valley in the Kunlun Mountains reached after a plane crash in James Hilton's 1933 novel "Lost Horizon"?

Answer with a letter.
In Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet', what is the name of Juliet's hot-tempered cousin who is killed by Romeo in a duel?
- Mercutio
- Benvolio
- Tybalt
- Paris
In Emily Brontë's 'Wuthering Heights', which elegant estate is the home of the Linton family, serving as a civilized contrast to the wildness of Wuthering Heights?
- Thrushcross Grange
- Gateshead Hall
- Thornfield Hall
- Wildfell Hall
According to the text of Shakespeare's tragedy, how many years old is Juliet Capulet when the events of the play unfold?

Answer with a number.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby', who is Daisy Buchanan's arrogant, wealthy husband whose infidelity and actions contribute to Gatsby's tragic demise?
- Nick Carraway
- Tom Buchanan
- George Wilson
- Meyer Wolfsheim
What is the name of the tragic Greek king of Thebes who unwittingly kills his father and marries his mother in Sophocles' famous tragedy?

Answer with a letter.
In Leo Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina', what is the name of the dashing cavalry officer with whom Anna has a tragic and socially ruinous love affair?
- Count Alexei Vronsky
- Konstantin Levin
- Stiva Oblonsky
- Alexei Karenin
In what year was Thomas Hardy's tragic masterpiece 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' first published in volume form?

Answer with a number.
In Boris Pasternak's tragic novel 'Doctor Zhivago', what is the name of Yuri's great love, the nurse who inspires his most passionate poetry?
- Tonya Gromeko
- Marina Shchapova
- Olga Vsevolodovna
- Lara Antipova
Who is the legendary Arthurian knight whose forbidden love affair with Queen Guinevere ultimately leads to the downfall of the Round Table?

Answer with a letter.
In Chinua Achebe's tragic novel 'Things Fall Apart', what is the name of the proud and influential Igbo leader and warrior who serves as the protagonist?
- Okonkwo
- Obierika
- Unoka
- Nwoye
In George Orwell's masterpiece "1984", what is the name of the protagonist who works at the Ministry of Truth rewriting historical records?
- O'Brien
- Emmanuel Goldstein
- Winston Smith
- Syme
In Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", what is the name of the sleep-teaching technique used to condition citizens into their pre-determined social castes?
- Bokanovsky's Process
- Hypnopaedia
- Malthusian Drill
- Soma Therapy
In what year was Aldous Huxley's seminal dystopian novel "Brave New World" first published?

Answer with a number.
In Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale", what is the name of the totalitarian, theocratic regime that has overthrown the United States government?
- The Republic of Gilead
- The New Eden Coalition
- The Dominion of Zion
- The Commonwealth of Gilead
Name the protagonist of Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" trilogy, a skilled archer from District 12 who volunteers for the games to save her sister.

Answer with a letter.
In Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", what is the name of the bounty hunter tasked with tracking down and "retiring" escaped Nexus-6 androids?
- Rick Deckard
- John Isidore
- Harry Bryant
- Rachael Rosen
In Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games", how many total tributes are chosen to participate in the titular games each year?

Answer with a number.
In Lois Lowry's Newbery Medal-winning dystopian novel "The Giver", what unique perception ability does Jonas possess that makes him suitable to be the next Receiver of Memory?
- The Ability to Read Minds
- The Capacity to See Beyond
- The Gift of Total Recall
- The Power to Heal
Name the fictional, Russian-influenced slang spoken by Alex and his "droogs" in Anthony Burgess's dystopian novel "A Clockwork Orange".

Answer with a letter.
In P.D. James's dystopian novel "The Children of Men", humanity is facing gradual extinction due to what sudden global crisis?
- Mass infertility
- A deadly pandemic
- Nuclear winter
- Extreme global warming
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's *The Great Gatsby*, what is the name of the fictional Long Island village where Jay Gatsby's lavish mansion is located, representing the 'new money' of the 1920s?
- East Egg
- West Egg
- Valley of Ashes
- Great Neck
Arthur Miller's classic play *Death of a Salesman* centers on Willy Loman, a failing salesman obsessed with a distorted version of the American Dream. What is the name of Willy's loyal, long-suffering wife?
- Linda
- Biff
- Happy
- Charley
In John Steinbeck's *The Grapes of Wrath*, which famous highway do the Joad family and thousands of other Dust Bowl migrants travel along on their desperate journey to California?
- Route 66
- Lincoln Highway
- Route 10
- Dixie Highway
Theodore Dreiser's monumental novel *An American Tragedy* follows Clyde Griffiths, whose desperate pursuit of wealth and social status leads to a trial for the murder of which pregnant factory girl?
- Roberta Alden
- Sondra Finchley
- Carrie Meeber
- Jennie Gerhardt
Sinclair Lewis satirized the conformity and materialism of the American middle class in his 1922 novel *Babbitt*. In what fictional Midwestern city does George F. Babbitt live and work?
- Zenith
- Gopher Prairie
- Winesburg
- Oakhaven
Named after a line in a Langston Hughes poem, Lorraine Hansberry's play *A Raisin in the Sun* portrays a Black family's struggle to achieve their dreams in segregated Chicago. What is the family's surname?
- Younger
- Walter
- Maxson
- Beneatha
In what year was F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece *The Great Gatsby* first published by Charles Scribner's Sons?

Answer with a number.
In what year did Arthur Miller's tragic masterpiece *Death of a Salesman* win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama?

Answer with a number.
What is the surname of the protagonist, Tod, in Nathanael West's 1939 satirical novel *The Day of the Locust*, which violently deconstructs the Hollywood dream?

Answer with a letter.
What is the first name of the narrator in Willa Cather's *My Ántonia*, who recalls his childhood friendship with a Bohemian immigrant girl on the Nebraska prairie?

Answer with a letter.
In James Joyce's classic semi-autobiographical bildungsroman, *A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man*, what is the name of the protagonist who undergoes a spiritual and artistic awakening?
- Stephen Dedalus
- Leopold Bloom
- Gabriel Conroy
- Paul Morel
Harper Lee's *To Kill a Mockingbird* is a seminal American coming-of-age story. Who is the narrator whose childhood innocence is challenged by the racial injustices of Maycomb, Alabama?
- Scout Finch
- Jem Finch
- Dill Harris
- Mayella Ewell
In Charles Dickens' *Great Expectations*, who is the eccentric, wealthy spinster who lives in the decaying Satis House and encourages Pip to pursue Estella?
- Miss Havisham
- Mrs. Joe
- Biddy
- Clara Barley
Which 1913 novel by D.H. Lawrence, centering on the emotional development of Paul Morel and his suffocating relationship with his mother, is widely considered a masterpiece of the genre?
- Sons and Lovers
- Women in Love
- The Rainbow
- Lady Chatterley's Lover
Set in 1950s New England, John Knowles's coming-of-age novel *A Separate Peace* takes place at which fictional boarding school?
- Devon School
- Pencey Prep
- Welton Academy
- Lowood School
In Carson McCullers's Southern Gothic coming-of-age novel *The Member of the Wedding*, what is the name of the lonely 12-year-old tomboy protagonist who dreams of joining her brother on his honeymoon?
- Frankie Addams
- Mick Kelly
- Mickens Finch
- Idgie Threadgoode
In what year was J.D. Salinger's seminal coming-of-age novel *The Catcher in the Rye*, featuring the disillusioned teenager Holden Caulfield, first published?

Answer with a number.
Louisa May Alcott's beloved coming-of-age novel *Little Women* follows the lives and growth of how many March sisters?

Answer with a number.
Identify the protagonist of Charlotte Brontë's famous Victorian bildungsroman who rises from an orphaned childhood at Lowood School to find independence and love at Thornfield Hall.

Answer with a letter.
Give the title of Hermann Hesse's 1922 Nobel Prize-winning novel that chronicles the spiritual journey of self-discovery of a young Indian man during the time of the Gautama Buddha.

Answer with a letter.
Which Shakespearean villain orchestrates the downfall of the Moor of Venice by using a misplaced strawberry-spotted handkerchief?
- Tybalt
- Iago
- Claudius
- Edmund
In Alexandre Dumas's *The Count of Monte Cristo*, which antagonist is the chief instigator of the plot to frame Edmond Dantès and later becomes a wealthy Parisian banker?
- Gérard de Villefort
- Fernand Mondego
- Baron Danglars
- Gaspard Caderousse
In Daphne du Maurier's gothic novel *Rebecca*, what is the name of the sinister housekeeper obsessed with the memory of Maxim de Winter's late first wife?
- Mrs. Danvers
- Mrs. Fairfax
- Mrs. Medlock
- Nelly Dean
Which corrupted wizard serves as the primary antagonist of J.R.R. Tolkien's *The Two Towers*, ruling from his stronghold of Orthanc in Isengard?
- Sauron
- Saruman
- Radagast
- Gríma Wormtongue
What is the profession of Victor Hugo's relentless antagonist Javert, who spends decades hunting down the escaped convict Jean Valjean?
- Police Inspector
- Prison Warden
- Military General
- Chief Magistrate
In Stephen King's psychological horror novel *Misery*, what is the name of the former nurse who holds her favorite author, Paul Sheldon, captive?
- Carrie White
- Beverly Marsh
- Annie Wilkes
- Margaret White
In George Orwell's dystopian masterpiece *Nineteen Eighty-Four*, what is the specific room number in the Ministry of Love where prisoners are subjected to their worst nightmares?

Answer with a number.
In what year did Bram Stoker first publish his classic epistolary gothic horror novel, *Dracula*?

Answer with a number.
Name the dark wizard, born Tom Marvolo Riddle, who serves as the primary antagonist of the Harry Potter series.

Answer with a letter.
Name the main antagonist of Charles Dickens's *Oliver Twist* who leads a home for juvenile pickpockets in London.

Answer with a letter.

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