Books and Novels
In this novel, a character recites Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" while hiding out in an abandoned church in Windrixville with his friend Johnny Cade after a fatal confrontation with a group of Socs. What is this book written by S.E. Hinton?
What is the Outsiders?
The narrator of this story tracks time using a pendulum that swings lower from a ceiling painted with a figure of Father Time, narrowly avoiding a deep abyss before being rescued by General Lasalle. What is this poem written by Edgar Allan Poe?
What is The Pit and the Pendulum?
If a captain shouts, "All hands on deck!" they don't just want severed hands—they need the entire crew. What literary device uses a physical part of something to represent the whole thing, as seen in this example or when asking someone to "lend me your ears"?
What is synecdoche?
Examples of this genre include the stories of a persistent tortoise racing a boastful hare and a small mouse saving a trapped lion. What genre of traditional literature features talking animals or objects and concludes with an explicit moral or life lesson, a form heavily popularized by an ancient Greek slave named Aesop?
What is a fable?
This story features a character named Mathilde Loisel, who is deeply dissatisfied with her modest social class. After losing a beautiful piece of jewelry lent to her by Madame Forestier, she and her husband spend ten long years in crushing poverty trying to pay back a debt to replace it. It ends with a famous twist when she discovers the original piece was actually made of fake glass. For 10 points, name this classic ironic short story by Guy de Maupassant.
What is "The Necklace"?
This graphic novel centers on twelve-year-old Astrid Velaquez, who attends a summer camp hosted by the Rose City Rollers, adopts the skater persona "Asteroid," and struggles to maintain her friendship with Nicole. What is this book written by Victoria Jamieson?
What is Roller Girl?
What is The Turn of the Screw by Henry James?
In the phrase "The White House issued a statement today," a building didn't actually speak; instead, the building's name substitutes for the president and their staff. What literary device replaces the name of a thing with something closely associated with it, similar to saying "the pen is mightier than the sword"?
What is metonymy?
In one appearance, this character refuses to help a creature retrieve a dropped ring from a well. In another tale, he causes a snake to get beaten with sticks after claiming he cannot measure the snake's length without tying it to a branch. This character usually acts on behalf of the Sky God, Nyame, to buy all the world's stories. For 10 points, name this clever trickster who frequently takes the shape of a spider in West African and Caribbean folklore.
What is Anansi the Spider?
This story features an eccentric protagonist named General Zaroff, who purchases a remote destination called Ship-Trap Island to pursue a new kind of game. The narrative builds tension as a big-game hunter named Sanger Rainsford is forced to survive for three days in a dense jungle while being tracked. For 10 points, name this Richard Connell short story where human beings become the ultimate prey.
What is "The Most Dangerous Game"?
This historical novel follows a minstrel's son who loses his harp and his dog, Nick, to a rival performer named Nickkin, leading to a long search across 13th-century English locations like St. Albans and London. What is this book written by Elizabeth Janet Gray?
What is Adam of the Road?
This story opens with the narrator calculating an exact budget of one dollar and eighty-seven cents. Its plot centers on Madame Sofronie buying a character's long hair for twenty dollars so she can purchase a platinum fob chain.
What is The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry?
If someone walks out into a massive thunderstorm and says, "It’s a bit damp outside," or says a brilliant student is "not bad," they are using a specific type of ironic understatement. What rhetorical device expresses a positive idea by negating its opposite?
What is litotes?
One protagonist in this literary subgenre is a young boy named Jack who swaps his mother's cow for a handful of magical beans. These stories are heavily associated with the German siblings Jacob and Wilhelm as well as the French author Charles Perrault. They frequently feature stock characters like wicked stepmothers, talking animals, or fairy godmothers. For 10 points, name this specific subgenre of traditional folklore that usually begins with "Once upon a time".
What is a fairytale?
One character in this story hides a massive stash of stolen money inside a hollowed-out guitar case. A secondary character named Lemon Brown passes down a collection of old newspaper clippings and harmonica pieces to a young boy named Greg Ridley. For 10 points, name this Walter Dean Myers short story about a teenager who seeks shelter in an abandoned tenement and learns the true value of a father's legacy.
What is "The Treasure of Lemon Brown"?
This Newbery Medal-winning work features a poor painter whose cat, Good Fortune, breaks Buddhist tradition by receiving a blessings after showing extraordinary reverence for painting depicting the death of Buddha. What is this book written by Elizabeth Coatsworth?
What is The Cat Who Went to Heaven?
This narrative, illustrated by June Jo Lee, recounts the life of a culinary figure who grew up in Los Angeles, co-founded the Kogi BBQ truck, and popularized the fusion of Korean barbecue with Mexican tacos? What is this work written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin?
What is Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix?
This device gets its name from the Greek letter Chi, which looks like an X. It is famously heard in John F. Kennedy's quote, "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country." What literary device reverses the grammatical structure of a phrase in the second half of a sentence?
What is chiasmus?
Scholars trace the origin of this specific character type to early human rituals involving boundary crossings and chaos. In Native American traditions, this role is often played by Coyote, while Norse myths give this role to the shapeshifter Loki. These characters disrupt the rules of society using intellect, humor, and deception rather than brute strength. For 10 points, identify this character archetype common in traditional literature who loves to play pranks and trick others.
What is trickster?
The narrator of this story notes that "dreadful things" are done in the name of custom, like a housewife selecting a pebble so large she must use two hands to lift it. After Mr. Summers finishes stirring a black wooden box, the central family draws slips of paper. The protagonist, Tessie Hutchinson, screams "It isn't fair, it isn't right" before being stoned by her fellow villagers. For 10 points, name this controversial, dystopian short story by Shirley Jackson.
What is "The Lottery"?
Subtitled "A Father's Love and Duty," this 2017 text chronicles its author's (a memoir) balancing act between navigating a potential 2016 presidential run and coping with his son's terminal glioblastoma diagnosis. What is the name of this book and its author?
What is Promise Me, Dad? by Joe Biden?
This classic anti-hero appears in a 19th-century novel where he disguises himself as a sick Arab to avoid being tied up on a raft, and later risks his freedom to help nurse Tom Sawyer back to health after Tom is shot in the leg. Who is this character from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain?
What is Jim?
Charles Dickens famously opened A Tale of Two Cities by writing, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..." What literary device is defined as the deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses?
What is anaphora?
This narrative serves as a textbook example of the monomyth or "Hero's Journey" structural framework. In its first half, the protagonist fails a critical moral test when he refuses to give a drop of water to an old woman, resulting in his transformation into a giant bear. He only achieves redemption after completing three impossible labors for a powerful witch, which includes retrieving a stolen, magical mills-of-plenty artifact called the Sampo. For 10 points, name this monumental 19th-century compilation of traditional folklore and mythology, recognized as the national epic of Finland.
What is the kalevala?
In this story, a character notes that a nearby line of trees looks like "three white stripes" on an old newspaper. Another character in this story is given a choice between a $50,000 payout and the life of a complete stranger. It ends with Nora receiving a phone call from Mr. Steward after her husband Arthur is killed in a subway accident. For 10 points, name this suspenseful Richard Matheson short story centered on a lethal, choices-and-consequences delivery box.
What is "Button, Button"?