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Quiz – Literary Events Timeline (8) 1870-1879

A new series beginning in 1800.
Beginning in the early years of the novel – as we know and love it – each quiz covers a decade of literary events – 2 questions per year. Births, deaths, publications, events; fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays and books for children.

  • Question of

    1870 – Dickens’ novel, unfinished at the time of his death is called The Mystery of Edwin Drood. What is the mystery?

    • Drood’s disappearance
    • Drood’s parentage
  • Question of

    1870 – ‘And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand/They danced by the light of the moon/The moon/The moon/They danced by the light of the moon.’ Who did?

    • The Owl and the Pussycat
    • The Walrus and the Carpenter
  • Question of

    1871 – Which huge Eliot novel has the feisty women, Dorothea Brooke, Rosamond Vincy and Mary Garth, as three of the central characters?

    • Middlemarch
    • Daniel Deronda
  • Question of

    1871 – Which of Charles Darwin’s revolutionary works was published in this year?

    • The Descent of Man
    • The Origins of the Species
  • Question of

    1872 – Finish the title of Turgenev’s famous play first performed in this year: A Month in the —

    • Country
    • City
  • Question of

    1872 – In What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge, how does Katy seriously injure herself?

    • On a broken swing
    • Falls from a tree
  • Question of

    1873 – ‘Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’ From which great Russian novel is this famous opening line?

    • Anna Karenina
    • Crime and Punishment
  • Question of

    1873 – What change was made to typewriters that hugely increased their reliability?

    • Qwerty keyboard
    • Removable ribbon
  • Question of

    1874 – Finish the title of Hardy’s famous novel: Far From the — Crowd

    • Madding
    • Maddening
  • Question of

    1874 – Verne’s The Mysterious Island is set during which major historical event?

    • American Civil War
    • French Revolution
  • Question of

    1875 – Which play opens in both London and New York and goes on to become the world’s longest running play with over 1,350 performances over the next 4 years?

    • Our Boys
    • Charley’s Aunt
  • Question of

    1875 – Which American novelist wrote Eight Cousins about a lonely orphan, Rose Campbell?

    • Louisa May Alcott
    • Edith Wharton
  • Question of

    1876 – Why is Eliot’s final completed novel, Daniel Deronda, unique amongst her works?

    • Contemporary setting
    • First person narrator
  • Question of

    1876 – What relation is Sid to Tom Sawyer?

    • Half brother
    • Cousin
  • Question of

    1877 – In Henry James’ novel The American, why is Christopher Newman visiting Europe?

    • On a ‘grand tour’
    • On business
  • Question of

    1877 – Which novel, teaching animal welfare and how to treat people with kindness and respect, has become one of the best selling books of all time?

    • Black Beauty
    • Wind in the Willows
  • Question of

    1878 – What key was added to the typewriter’s keyboard?

    • Shift
    • Tab
  • Question of

    1878 – Why did Hardy’s Return of the Native cause controversy?

    • Out of marriage sex
    • Atheism
  • Question of

    1879 – Ibsen’s play of feminist awakening is premiered in Copenhagen. Which play is it?

    • A Doll’s House
    • Hedda Gabler
  • Question of

    1879 – ‘Mistrust all enterprises that require new clothes.’ Which great British writer was born in London on January 1st?

    • EM Forster
    • TS Eliot

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