Quotes about Literature
Which author made the following statement about what literature does?
"Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become."
C.S. Lewis
J.R.R. Tolkien
Toni Morrison
Suzanne Collins
C.S. Lewis
Which of these women wrote more than 2,000 years ago?
Sappho
Christine de Pizan
Phillis Wheatley
Anna Akhmatova
Sappho
Who said "The road to hell is paved with works in progress"?
James Baldwin
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Joan Didion
Philip Roth
Philip Roth
Which American Playwright is responsible for the series of ten plays known as the Pittsburg Cycle?
Arthur Miller
Tennessee Williams
Suzan Lori Parks
August Wilson
August Wilson
Which author made the following statement about what literature is?
"Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree."
Henry James
J.K. Rowling
Ezra Pound
Sylvia Plath
Ezra Pound
For which Italian poet is a type of sonnet named?
Dante Alighieri
Antonia Pozzi
Francesco Petrarca
Mario Luzi
Dante Alighieri
Which writer explained "I don't care if a reader hates one of my stories, just so long as he finishes the book"?
Steven Crane
Sherman Alexie
Roald Dahl
Steven King
Roald Dahl
Which of these novelists had to go into hiding because of death threats?
Salmon Rushdie
Chaim Potok
Rabindranath Tagore
William Faulkner
Salmon Rushdie
Who is the author of the following statement about literature and literacy?
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them."
Virginia Woolf
Ray Bradbury
Octavia Butler
Sherman Alexie
Ray Bradbury
Which famous American writer believed that there was no such thing as a “long poem,” that the phrase was a contradiction, that a work of art (a poem) should be able to achieve its effect in one sitting, read aloud in no more than thirty minutes, probably around 100 lines?
Walt Whitman
Emily Dickinson
Edgar Allan Poe
Robert Lowell
Edgar Allan Poe
Which writer famously said "Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words"?
Mark Twain
Henry James
Thomas Hardy
John Updike
Mark Twain
What is the line Bartleby repeats in Bartleby, the Scrivener?
I would prefer not to.
With submission sir.
I am getting old.
Excuse me.
I would prefer not to.
Who is the author of this statement about what literary artists do?
“The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible."
Franz Kafka
Louise Erdrich
Stephen King
Toni Cade Bambara
Toni Cade Bambara
Which author said “If there's a book that you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it"?
Steven King
Toni Morrison
Amy Tan
E. B. White
Toni Morrison
"Successful professional writers are not withholding mysterious secrets from eager beginners. The only way anybody ever learns to write well is by trying to write well. This usually begins by reading good writing by other people, and writing very badly by yourself, for a long time." Which author said this?
Stephen King
Octavia Butler
Neil Gaiman
Ursula LeGuin
Ursula LeGuin
Where was novelist Chimamanda Adiche born?
Kenya
Uganda
South Africa
Nigeria
Nigeria
Which author made the following statement about how literature (specifically poetry) feels?
“If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”
Maya Angelou
Emily Dickinson
Shel Silverstein
Langston Hughes
Emily Dickinson
Which poet is famous for writing haiku?
Li Po
Basho
Du Fu
Gabriela Mistral
Basho
When asked what to do to be a writer, who said, "I recommend that they take classes because it’s a great way to rent an audience and make sure you’re communicating what you think you’re communicating [ . . .] and I recommend that they forget a couple of things. Forget about talent. I recommend that they go to the bestselling lists and see who else doesn’t have talent and it hasn’t stopped them, so don’t worry. Forget about inspiration, because it’s more likely to be a reason not to write, as in, “I can’t write today because I’m not inspired.”[ . . . ] Just keep at it, keep learning your craft and keep trying”?
Stephen King
Octavia Butler
Neil Gaiman
Ursula LeGuin
Octavia Butler
What genre is Marjane Satrapi’s book Persepolis?
Epic Poetry
Graphic Novel
Science Fiction
Mystery Novel
Graphic Novel