1. 1. LIT QUIZB Y B I S W A J I T S A R M A N A L B A R I C O L L E G E 3 1 S T O F J U L Y , 2 0 1 5
2. 2. Youre about to listen to two songs, one released in 1973 by David Bowie and other one in 2003 by the band Radiohead. What or who connects these two songs?
3. 3. 1984 by George Orwell. The first song, titled Big Brother by David Bowie, was inspired by and written for a musical adaptation of the novel, but Orwell's estate refused permission. The second one, titled 2+2+=5 by Radiohead, is a reference to the novel, where Big Brother teaches individuals to reject what they once knew to be true.Where 2+2=4, he was teaching them that 2+2=5.
4. 4. X started his career writing funny stories. Under the name Jovial Bob ___, he was the author of dozens of joke books in the 1970s and 80s and also created a humor magazine. Influenced by the surprise twists of Ray Bradburys novels and devoted to comic books, he came to appreciate the way some writers were able to combine humor with the macabre. He found early success with a teenage horror series called Fear Street. X said, when the co-owner of Parachute Press, Joan Waricha, persuaded him to aim at a younger demographic, this famous book series was born.After this, for three consecutive years, he was named the best-selling author in America by USA Today. For a time Scholastic, the publisher of his books, was selling four million copies a month. Stephen King wrote of X,Hes largely unknown and uncredited. But of course, John the Baptist never got the same press as Jesus, either. Identify X and his famous book series.
5. 5. R. L. Stine (known as Stephen King of childrens literature). Goosebumps series.
6. 6. He is regarded as one of the finest Hindustani poets of the 20th century. A contemporary of Dr Harivanshrai Bachchan, he was also a dramatist, litterateur, and ghazal writer. He is most remembered for bringing the Hindi ghazal to the fore with his celebrated collection Saaye Mein Dhoop. One of his poems Ho Gayi hai Peer Parvat Si was sung often by Arvind Kejriwal during the Anti Corruption Movement (20112012). Just identify him.
7. 7. Dushyant Kumar.
8. 8. This author gave various stories about the origins of his first novel. But the most common account he gave was what he said to The Paris Review in 1974: I was lying in bed in my four-room apartment on theWest Side when suddenly this line came to me:It was love at first sight.The first time he saw the chaplain, Someone fell madly in love with him. I didnt have the name ____(name of the protagonist)____.The chaplain wasnt necessarily an army chaplainhe could have been a prison chaplain. But as soon as the opening sentence was available, the book began to evolve clearly in my mindeven most of the particulars the tone, the form, many of the characters, including some I eventually couldnt use.All of this took place within an hour and a half. It got me so excited that I did what the clich says youre supposed to do: I jumped out of bed and paced the floor. The author and the book please, which was adapted into a film of the same name in 1970.
9. 9. Joseph Heller Catch-22
10. 10. The title of this novel, published in 1954 early in the Cold War, has two meanings, both charged with religious significance.The first is a reference to a line from King Lear, "As flies to wanton boys, are we to gods." The second is a reference to the Hebrew name Ba'alzevuv, or in its Greek form Beelzebub, who is synonymous with Satan. In addition to science, mythology, and the sociopolitical context of the Cold War, the novel was heavily influenced by previous works of speculative fiction. In particular, R. M. Ballantyne's 1857 novel The Coral Island, which tells the story of three boys stranded on a desert island.The author, who found Ballantyne's interpretation of the situation naive and improbable, likely intended his novel to be an indirect critique of The Coral Island. A continuing controversy surrounding the political message of the novel and its view of human nature has led some readers to challenge its status as a book suitable for children.Among literary critics of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, however, the novel has been revisited less as an allegory of human evil than as a literary expression of Cold War ideology. Which novel and author?
11. 11. Lord of the Flies William Golding
12. 12. This is a poem titled Anus Mirabilis by the well known poet Phillip Larkin. Just identify the two real-life events, marked as X related to literature and Y not related to literature which, according to him was when sexual intercourse began. Sexual intercourse began In nineteen sixty-three (which was rather late for me) - Between the end of ___X___ And the ___Y___. Up to then there'd only been A sort of bargaining, A wrangle for the ring, A shame that started at sixteen And spread to everything. Then all at once the quarrel sank: Everyone felt the same, And every life became A brilliant breaking of the bank, A quite unlosable game. So life was never better than In nineteen sixty-three (Though just too late for me) - Between the end of the ___X___ And the ___Y___.
13. 13. X Chatterley ban referring to the infamous trial of the Crown versus Penguin Books for the novel Lady Chatterleys Lover. Y Beatles' first LP referring to the obvious. Sexual intercourse began In nineteen sixty-three (which was rather late for me) Between the end of the Chatterley ban And the Beatles' first LP.
14. 14. Main Naahin Maakhan Khaayo is a popular Indian bhajan, set to Raga Ramkali. Written in Braj Bhasha, it epitomizesVtsalya Rasa describing an episode from the lilas of Krishna.The bhajan was popularised by singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Anup Jalota and Kundan Lal Saigal. Attached here is the audio of K.L. Saigals version of the bhajan. Which 15th century mystic-poet is the writer of the bhajan, who was also the subject of the film from which this version of the bhajan taken from?
15. 15. Surdas (known for his devotional lyrics dedicated to Lord Krishna and his book 'Sur Sagar).
16. 16. __ ___ _________ __ _____ :The GreatWorks of Physics and Astronomy is a compilation of scientific texts edited and with commentary by Stephen Hawking.The book includes texts written by Isaac Newton,Albert Einstein, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, and Nicolaus Copernicus, as well as some of their works and achievements. It also includes five critical essays and a biography of each featured physicist, written by Hawking himself. The title of the book alludes to well known English phrase, attributed to Bernard of Chartres in the 12th century. But its best known usage was in 1976. Either give me the phrase or fill in the blanks with the title of the book.
17. 17. The phrase is Standing on the shoulders of giants, best-known use of this phrase was by Isaac Newton in a letter to his rival Robert Hooke, in 1676:
18. 18. Photo taken at the award ceremony of Nobel Prize in 1938 in Stockholm, Sweden. The woman on your right won the award that year, whereas the other woman won it couple of years back.The latter strongly supported the formers nomination for the Nobel Prize. Identify both of them.
19. 19. Pearl Buck (r). Selma Lagerlf, who was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in 1909.
20. 20. He was an accomplished playwright and poet. He started writing poetry at age eleven. Besides composing poetry in conventional meters, he introduced a new meters called vainayak. His three musical dramas Usshaap,Sanyastakhadga and Uttarkriya, written during his internment at Ratnagiri, are notable for their dialogues and dramatic content.Sanyastakhadga - set in the time of Gautam Buddha - was also performed on stage in 1931 at Mumbai. Here, you can listen to the man himself recounting the background of his own play Sanyastakhadga. Who is this legendary figure from Indian history?
21. 21. (Vinayak) Veer Savarkar.
22. 22. Connect these two novels, which are set in St. Petersburg, Russia. Oru Sankeerthanam Pole by Perumbadavam Sreedharan. The Master of Petersburg by J. M. Coetzee.
23. 23. Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Oru Sankeerthanam Pole deals with the life of the Fyodor Dostoyevsky and his love affair with Anna. The Master of Petersburg features Dostoyevsky as its protagonist.
24. 24. In 1981, this person was 29 years old and a student at Nanjing University. In the summer while traveling on a guided tour in Turfan, he was seized with the idea to return home overland from China via Tibet.The country was on the verge of relaxing its rules towards foreign visitors, but in 1981 he still needed police permission to travel anywhere in China, even major cities, let alone sensitive areas likeTibet. Based on this experience, he went on to write a travel book titled From Heaven Lake: TravelsThrough Sinkiang andTibet.The book was probably his first popular success and won theThomas Cook Travel Book Award in 1983. Identify the author of this observant and delightfully written travel book?
25. 25. Vikram Seth.
26. 26. I was 37 then, strapped in my seat as the huge 747 plunged through dense cloud cover on approach to Hamburg airport. Cold November rains drenched the earth, lending everything the gloomy air of a Flemish landscape: the ground crew in waterproofs, a flag atop a squat airport building, a BMW billboard. So - Germany again. Once the plane was on the ground, soft music began to flow from the ceiling speakers: a sweet orchestral cover version of the ______ ___________.The melody never failed to send a shudder through me, but this time it hit me harder than ever. I bent forward, my face in my hands to keep my skull from splitting open. Before long one of the German stewardesses approached and asked in English if I were sick. Thus begins the English translated version which famous 1987 novel by which author? Many of his novels have themes and titles that invoke classical music and pop music.
27. 27. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. The blanks are BeatlesNorwegianWood.
28. 28. This is a song sung by Tarali Sarma from an Assamese music album (audio CD) titled XuwoniTora released in 2011.The album has twelve songs by popular singers like Pulak Banerjee,Tarali Sarma, Debajit Choudhury, Zublee Baruah, and many promising artists and two poem recitations by Anupjyoti Choudhury, all written by X, one of the most illustrious and outstanding personality of modern Assamese literature and language. He wrote and published only one novel Gaone-Nagare and Deepawali is his only story book. Identify X, an author of about 98 books, covering many literary genres.
29. 29. Dimbeswar Neog.
30. 30. This English phrase was expressed in print as early as 1390, when Geoffrey Chaucer, expressed it rather differently in The Parsons Tale, the poetic conclusion to The Canterbury Tales. It wasnt until the 19th century, however, that the modern incarnation of this phrase was written by Robert Southey in the motto to his poem The Curse of Kehama (1810): Curses are like young _____: they always ______ ____ __ _____. The poetic turn of the phrase entered the political arena after it was famously used by Civil Rights-era activist Malcolm X, who delivered a 1963 speech titled Gods Judgment of White America, in which he responded to the news of President John F. Kennedys assassination with the retort that, ______ ____ ____ __ _____ never did make me sad; theyve always made me glad. Which phrase?
31. 31. Chickens coming home to roost.
32. 32. After Akashvani Guwahati was established in 1948, the programme "Okonir Mel" ( ) became very popular and was one of its signature programmes. People still remember the show. Much of its popularity's credit, however, should be given to its host, whose insightful thoughts and knowledge attracted young and older listeners alike. Just name the host, who was one of the greatest scholars of Assam and also a fine author.
33. 33. Birinchi Kumar Barua ( ).
34. 34. All I wanted was to get away from the tremendous heat and rest in peace.The world about me was divided sharply down the middle into two halves. Both these halves were pitch black, but one was scorching hot and the other was notMy face hurt most. I slowly put a hand up to feel it. It was very sticky. My nose didnt seem to be there..And then the machine guns started off. I knew right away what it was.There were about 50 rounds of ammunition left in each of my eight guns and, without thinking, I had crawled away from the fire out in front of the machine, and they were going off in the heat. I could hear them hitting the sand and stones all round, but I didnt feel like getting up and moving right then, so I dozed off. A well known author wrote the above extract about his experience when he crash landed a fighter plane, which he was flying for 80th Squadron of the RAF in 1940. He claimed that this event directly led to his becoming a writer. This was not just because his first published piece of writing was a semi-fictionalised account of the crash, but also because he suspected that the brain injuries which he received there had materially altered his personality and inclined him to creative writing. Identify the author.
35. 35. Roald Dahl.
36. 36. A landmark novel of Assamese literature, it was the first novel of its author. It was serially published in the then well known magazine Prakash from 1979 to 1980 and in 1981 it was released in the market as a book. In the 1990s (not sure about which year), it was adapted into a TV serial aired on Doordarshan Gauhati and achieved remarkable success. When asked about the inspiration behind his novel, the author said, , () () , - - - ________ _________ Identify this well known Assamese writer and the novel.
37. 37. (Rongmilir Hahi) (RongbongTerang)
38. 38. This is a short clip from a six-episode TV mini-series aired on BBCTwo earlier this year. The mini-series is based on two critically acclaimed British novels by an eminent writer, both parts of a trilogy, with the final part The Mirror and the Light to be released sometime later this year. The protagonist was played by actor Mark Rylance, who was highly praised for his sheer brilliance in portraying the character. Three questions 1. Identify the author, who has achieved an unique accomplishment. 2. Name the protagonist. 3. Name the two novels, on which the series is based.
39. 39. 1. Hillary Mantel. 2.Thomas Cromwell, who was a powerful minister in the court of King HenryVIII. 3.Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies. Mantel is the first woman to receive the Booker Prize twice, as both these novels won the award.
40. 40. This statue in Central Park, NewYork, commemorates which literary work by which author? A film based on the work won the 1939 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons).
41. 41. The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen.
42. 42. X Y Y ( ) -, -, - ,- , , - , The above excerpt has been taken from the famous book written by Dr. Prafulla Borkotoky. In the book, he wrote this excerpt when discussing about provincial or regional novels, what we call in Assamese. In it, the author mentions the famous English novelist X, who set almost all his major novels in the area that he namedY. Give me X one of the earliest and most famous regional novelists and his creationY.
43. 43. X Thomas Hardy Y Wessex
44. 44. Which popular and widely used adage originated as the caption to a cartoon created by Peter Steiner and published by The NewYorker on July 5, 1993, what is now the most popular and well-known panel ever produced for the magazine? The cartoon has also inspired a play by Alan David Perkins.
45. 45. On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog.
46. 46. When she was in the University of Minnesota as a Fulbright fellow, she came in contact with the Native Americans. She learned about their culture, heritage and especially their Oral tradition.This exposure inspired her to record the Oral tradition of her own community.After returning from the University of Minnesota, she worked on the Oral tradition for about twelve years. She collected the myths, folktales, folklore, rituals, law, custom, belief systemThis ethnographic work was published in 1999 as the _______ Oral Tradition from Bhasha Publications in 2000.This book is the most authentic document about the _______ community. Born in October 1945 at Jorhat,Assam, identify this author of repute.
47. 47. Sahitya Akademy Award winner (2013) Temsula Ao. The community is Ao-Naga.
48. 48. Bassam Al-Baghdadi, a writer who lives in Sweden, wrote an unofficial Arabic translation of this famous and controversial book. Rather surprisingly, the pdf of the translation was downloaded ten million times, with 30 percent going to Saudi Arabia. Bassam said that there were over 1,000 downloads on the very first day after he uploaded it, and the numbers only climbed as the translation was picked up and shared on the blogs, websites and forums.The book has prompted unprecedented controversy and debate in the Arab and Islamic worlds.The translator received death threats and accusations. He was forced to close his social media accounts and stop posting for a while. Which book is this being talked about?
49. 49. The God Delusion by Richard Dawson.
50. 50. Created in 1976 by writer Bill Mantlo, who also gave Marvel the Micronauts and ROM, with artist Keith Giffen, this character made a much-overlooked debut in a small story within Marvel Preview #7. The characters first full appearance in the Marvel Universe came inThe Incredible Hulk #271 issue, which bears the title, Now Somewhere in the Black Holes of Sirius Major There Lived aYoung Boy Name of _____ _______! 1. Which character? 2. What is the title a direct reference to?
51. 51. 1. Rocket Racoon. 2. The title Now Somewhere in the Black Holes of Sirius MajorThere Lived aYoung Boy Name of Rocket Raccoon! is a direct reference to the first line of the Beatles song Rocky Raccoon which partially inspired the character - Now somewhere in the black mountain hills of Dakota, there lived a young boy named Rocky Raccoon
52. 52. From a 1967 Joan Baez album titled Joan, this song is based on a poem titled Annabel Lee. This poem is the last complete poem composed by which well known poet, who died in 1949?
53. 53. Edgar Allen Poe.
54. 54. In 1988, this writer, who had already written a trilogy and screenplay for a film, came across a missing-person notice in a Paris newspaper from December 1941.The mystery of 15-year-old Dora Bruder prompted him to write a novel, Honeymoon (1990), in which he imagined her escape and life after the war. He then began to research what had actually happened to her, patiently sifting through every bureaucratic scrap for clues. He found only one other official mention, on a list of names deported to Auschwitz. His account of the search, Dora Bruder (1997), is profoundly moving in its generosity and futility. Identify this writer, who had this to say about his literary works, I always have the impression that I write the same book, which means that its already 45 years that Ive been writing the same book in a discontinuous manner.
55. 55. Patrick Modiano.
56. 56. This novel titled Arunimar Swadesh is written by Arupa Patangia Kalita - presently one of the finest Assamese prose writers and Sahitya Akademy Award winner in 2014. Which gruesome chapter of modern Assam history inspired this novel?
57. 57. The secret killings of Assam (19982001).
58. 58. In this scene of the 2001 film In the Bedroom, actor TomWilkinson quotes the poem My LostYouth written by which poet, who was probably the most popular American poet of his time, and known for his poems that appealed to the general population?
59. 59. HenryWadsworth Longfellow.
60. 60. Paul Celan was Europe's most compelling postwar poet and one of the major German-language poets. Celan drown himself in the Seine river in 1970. On October 22, 1960, he gave a famous speech titled The Meridian in Darmstadt, Germany, on the occasion of receiving the Georg Buchner Prize. Here are some lines from the speech, Is it on such paths that poems take us when we think of them? And are these paths only detours, detours from you to you? But they are, among how many others, the paths on which language becomes voice. They are encounters, paths from a voice to a listeningYou, natural paths, outlines for existence perhaps, for projecting ourselves into the search for ourselves Poetry is a ____ __ _________. How is the last line from the above excerpt from the speech has been immortalized in the world of music?
61. 61. A Sort of Homecoming, the song by U2. The line Poetry is a sort of homecoming inspired the song.
62. 62. Excerpt from the autobiography of author X, titled An Autobiography. Peter Saunders, the original producer:Fourteen months I am going to give it, To which X replied:It wont run that long. Eight months perhaps.Yes, I think eight months. What were they talking about? Also, identify X.
63. 63. The Mousetrap, they did not expect it to run for as long as it has. It is now the longest running show (of any type) of the modern era. X Agatha Christie.
64. 64. It is believed that the plot of this literary work was based on an event in the writers own life. In 1870 a woman named Laura Kieler had sent the writer a book called Brands Daughters, and he had taken an interest in the pretty, vivacious girl, nicknaming her skylark. He invited her to his home, and for two months in the summer of 1872, she visited his home constantly.When she married, a couple of years later, her husband fell ill and was advised to take a vacation in a warm climateand Laura, secretly borrowed money to finance the trip (which took place in 1876). Laura falsified a note, the bank refused payment, and she told her husband the whole story. He demanded a separation, removed the children from her care, and only took her back after she had spent a month in a public asylum. Identify this acclaimed literary work, which Halvdan Koht, an early biographer of the writer, described that it exploded like a bomb into contemporary life and pronounced a death sentence on accepted social ethics. Name the writer, too, who was nominated for the Nobel Prize three times.
65. 65. A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen.
66. 66. Somewhere on his list of books, you will find Lecherous Limericks (1976), Limericks: Too Gross (1978), A Grossery of Limericks (1981), and ______ Laughs Again: MoreThan 700 Jokes, Limericks, and Anecdotes (1993). In two of these volumes, he sparred with popular poet and Dante translator John Ciardi, each writing dirty poems.They would each write a gross of poems, sometimes making fun of one another. Here's a limerick he wrote about Ciardi: To make friends with the lumpish John Ciardi Needs a spirit uncouth, rough, and hardy. When in line for a bit Of amusement and wit Did he get it?Why, no, he was tardy. Not all of his limericks consisted of sex jokes, however. In 1984, he released a limericks book for children. Who is the writer of these dirty little ditties?
67. 67. Isaac Ahimov.
68. 68. This monument was commissioned in 1891 by the Socit des Gens de Lettres to honor one of France's greatest authors, almost half a century after the writer's death.The sculptor, who was selected for the project, spent seven years preparing for it, studying the writers life and work, posing models who resembled him, and ordering clothes to his measurements.What he finally produced in 1897 was a revolutionary monument. However, this overly innovative monument caused such an outrage when it was unveiled in 1898 that the commission was cancelled. He never saw his monument cast in bronze.And so he kept the statue, returned the money, and refused all offers to buy it. It was not until 1939 that a bronze cast was erected in Paris. Identify the sculptor and the author.
69. 69. Auguste Rodin. Honor de Balzac.
70. 70. He was 27 when he quit his job writing for President Johnson to write his debut novel, which went on sold more than 10 million copies and turned him into a millionaire. He was inspired to write this novel after having spent summers on Nantucket, and he returned there again and again for topics for his other books, including "The Deep" in 1976, "The Island" in 1979 and "Beast." Identify this writer pictured here and his most famous book.Also, tell me where is this particular photograph of his has been taken from (not looking for answers like some blogs, website, etc)?
71. 71. Peter Benchley, Jaws. Thats from his cameo in the film based on his book.
72. 72. Listen to this wonderful audio clip. We can hear a famous Assamese author reading the opening passage of one his novels, which according to many critics, is his greatest literary creation. Name this classic Assamese novel and the author.
73. 73. Surujmukhir Swopno/ Syed Abdul Malik/
74. 74. Whose often-noted remark about his name: _____ means mirror in German, so my name co-mixes languages to form a sentence: ___ mirrors man.?
75. 75. Art Spiegelman, best known for his book Maus, first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize.
76. 76. THE END F E E L F R E E TO P O I N T O U T A N Y M I S TA K E S , I F YO U S E E A N Y.