Northwest Quiz: Literary Luminaries

Summer is the perfect time to catch up on your reading. Test your knowledge of these literary luminaries who have called our region home.

1. Which author was born in Oak Park but eventually moved to Paris, where he worked alongside fellow authors F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein?

A) Edgar Allan Poe C) George Orwell
B) Ernest Hemingway D) Charles Dickens

2. Which author began writing her debut novel during winter break from Northwestern University?

A) Gillian Flynn C) Tina Fey
B) Harper Lee D) Veronica Roth

3. Chicago native Sandra Cisneros wrote which novel about a young Latina girl growing up in a Latin neighborhood in the Windy City?

A) “The House on Mango Street”
B) “The Great Gatsby”
C) “Lord of the Flies” D) “La Casa de Mi Madre”

4. Which playwright, born on Chicago’s South Side, wrote “A Raisin in the Sun?”

A) Sandra Cisneros C) Gwendolyn Brooks
B) Lorraine Hansberry D) Tennessee Williams

5. Who wrote about a fictional town named Spoon River after living in Petersburg, Ill.?

A) William Faulkner C) Edgar Lee Masters
B) Virginia Woolf D) J. D. Salinger

6. Which Galesburg, Ill., native won three Pulitzer Prizes throughout his career as a writer?

A) Ray Bradbury
B) Carl Sandburg
C) Kurt Vonnegut
D) Robert Frost

7. Chicago-born Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote the books that inspired which Disney film?

A) “Beauty and the Beast”
B) “Mulan”
C) “Cinderella”
D) “Tarzan”

8. Which author from Wisconsin wrote the “Little House on the Prairie” series?

A) Laura Ingalls Wilder C) John Green
B) Jane Austen D) Alice Walker

9. Who wrote the book “Psycho,” which then inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 movie adaptation?

A) Cyrus Colter C) Robert Bloch
B) Frank Norris D) Edna Ferber

10. Who was the first African-American author to win a Pulitzer Prize?

A) Maya Angelou C) Gwendolyn Brooks
B) Richard Wright D) Amiri Baraka

 

 

Quiz Answers

1. B: Ernest Hemingway. The author moved in 1921to Paris, a city which he called “a moveable feast.” Some of his most popular works include “A Farewell to Arms,” “The Old Man and the Sea,” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”

2. D: Veronica Roth. Roth grew up in the Barrington area and currently lives in Chicago. Her “Divergent” trilogy, a dystopian series wildly popular in young adult literature, has been made into movies. “Divergent” takes place in a futuristic version of Chicago.

3. A: “The House on Mango Street.” Every year, students throughout the U.S. read this novel in English and Spanish classes.

4. B: Lorraine Hansberry. Chicago serves as the setting of Hansberry’s famous play, “A Raisin in the Sun,” the story of a black family struggling to improve its fortunes. This play made Hansberry the first black woman to have a show produced on Broadway.

5. C: Edgar Lee Masters. The poet, novelist and biographer wrote “Spoon River Anthology,” a collection of poems each from the point of view of a deceased member of the fictional Spoon River community.

6. B: Carl Sandburg. He won Pulitzer Prizes in 1919, 1940 and 1951 for two poems and one biography about President Abraham Lincoln.

7. D: “Tarzan.” Between 1912 and 1965, Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote 24 novels about Tarzan, a young man adopted by apes and discovered by marooned explorers. Disney’s 1999 film is based on Burroughs’ stories.

8. A: Laura Ingalls Wilder. Raised in Pepin, Wis., in the 19th century, Wilder wrote children’s books based on her own life experiences. The television adaptation, which aired in the 1970s and ‘80s, is still shown on Hallmark Channel.

 9. C: Robert Bloch. Born in Chicago in 1917, Bloch wrote numerous horror and fantasy novels and short stories throughout his life. He eventually moved to Milwaukee, Wis., where his writing career continued to thrive.

10. C: Gwendolyn Brooks. Born in Kansas but raised on Chicago’s South Side, Brooks wrote poems reflecting the realities of black America. Her prize-winning poetry book, “Annie Allen,” tells the story of a black girl as she matures into a woman.