Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The Thursday Quiz XXXVIII

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michael5000 is on the road. Scoring may not take place until as late as Sunday, depending on the availability of tolerent small-town librarians. If the formatting is screwed up, apologies. Persevere!
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The Thursday Quiz!

The Thursday Quiz is an "Is It or Isn't It" game. From the list of twelve items, your job is to determine whether each IS or ISN'T a true example of the week's category.

Remember always these eternal phrases:
No research, Googling, Wikiing, or use of reference books. The Thursday
Quiz is a POP quiz. Violators will find themselves on the cutting room floor.
This Week's Category will still be cherished by readers two hundred years from now!

Classic Novels of the English Language

Some of the following are proper matches of text and writer. Others have been run through the mill on the Floss. For each, tell me whether it IS or ISN'T a correct match of the novel and its author.
1. Bleak House, by Charles Dickens
2. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
3. Gulliver's Travels, by Henry Fielding
4. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad
5. Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen
6. Middlemarch, by George Elliot
7. Northanger Abbey, by Emily Bronte
8. Pilgrim's Progress, by Daniel Defoe
9. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
10. Tess of the D’Ubervilles, by Charlotte Bronte
11. Tristram Shandy, by Jonathan Swift
12. Vanity Fair, by Thomas Hardy

Overcome adversity, restore the social order, and gain insight into your own humanity in the process -- by posting your answers in the comments.

28 comments:

The [Cherry] Ride said...

I have no response to any of that stuff. But I do want to commend you on the new masthead (I've been away for a few days).

Anonymous said...

1 / IS
2 / IS
3 / ISN'T
4 / IS
5 / ISN'T
6 / ISN'T
7 / IS
8 / ISN'T
9 / IS
10 / ISN'T
11 / IS
12 / ISN'T
"I Don't Know Jack" by Karmasartre / IS

The Calico Cat said...

You had me second guessing when I had so many correct in a row... Could I be right? I feel so much bettrer with 1/2 & 1/2 - order in my brain.
1, 2, 4, 5, 6, & 9 are correct the rest are oh so wrong!

Christine M. said...

1. is
2. is
3. isn't
4. is
5. is
6. is
7. isn't
8. isn't
9. is
10.isn't
11. isn't
12. isn't

jovaliquilts said...

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. NO
4. Yes
5. Yes
6. NO
7. NO
8. NO
9. Yes
10. NO
11. NO
12. NO

This provides quite a commentary on our educational system. I have read only a few of these books, but I am pretty sure of the authors. (I guess we'll see about that!)

d said...

1y, 2y, 3n, 4y, 5n, 6y, 7n, 8y, 9y, 10n, 11n, 12n

at first, with the first couple, i was all, 'oh. i have this one sewn up.' then by the 5th one i was all, 'fuck. i'm clueless about these.'

isn't it tristam shandy? not tristram? is that a typo or a subtle mislead?

Cartophiliac said...

1. true
2. true
3. false
4. true
5. true
6. true
7. false
8. false
9. true
10. false
11. false
12. true

Anonymous said...

1. Is
2. Is
3. Isn't
4. Is
5. Isn't
6. Is (if Eliot was spelled correctly)
7. Isn't
8. Isn't
9. Is
10. Isn't
11. Isn't
12. Is

Elizabeth said...

1. Is.
2. Is.
3. Isn't.
4. Is.
5. Is.
6. Isn't.
7. Isn't.
8. Isn't.
9. Is.
10. Isn't.
11. Isn't.
12. Isn't.

Elizabeth said...

1. Is.
2. Is.
3. Isn't.
4. Is.
5. Is.
6. Isn't.
7. Isn't.
8. Isn't.
9. Is.
10. Isn't.
11. Isn't.
12. Isn't.

Elizabeth said...

Sorry about the double posting.

Sorry about the double posting.

Heatherbee said...

1. Yes (100%)
2. No
3. No
4. Yes (100%)
5. Yes (100%)
6. Yes
7. No (100%; Austen)
8. No
9. Yes (100%)
10. No...why do I think a man wrote this?
11. No?
12. Um...No?

G said...

1. Is
2. Is
3. Not
4. Is
5. Is
6. Is
7. Not
8. Not
9. Is
10. Not
11. Not (Always wanted to read this one, actually)
12. Not (A shitty book, too)

Anonymous said...

Finally! Literature!

1. Yes -- if you haven't yet, see the newest BBC production.
2. Yes
3. No, I don't think Feilding wrote that.
4. Yes -- and thanks for the stressful high school English flashback.
5. Yes
6. Yes -- one of my top 5 favorite books.
7. No, that would also be Austen.
8. Hm. No, I don't think Defoe wrote that.
9. Yes
10. No, not by Bronte. Hardy.
11. No, I think that is by Fielding.
12. No, not by Hardy. What a great story -- but please do NOT see the Reese Witherspoon adaptation.

Anonymous said...

Grrr. I was so excited about actually being able to participate in a quiz, I forgot to check for your misspelled misleading mistakes! I think dyslexic people should get credit anyway. Eliot. Tristam. You big meanie.

Nichim said...

Oooh, books!
1. Is
2. Is
3. Isn't
4. Is
5. Is
6. Is (Eliot)
7. Isn't
8. Isn't!
9. Is
10. Isn't
11. Um, Isn't?
12. Isn't: William Makepeace Thackery. I just read this. It's not worth it.

Rebel said...

Having only read one of these... here goes!

1 isn't (Edith Wharton?)
2 is
3 isn't
4 is
5 is
6 is
7 isn't
8 isn't
9 is
10 isn't
11 is
12 isn't

DrSchnell said...

1. is
2. is
3. ain't (is Swift)
4. is
5. is
6. is, unless you're counting spelling, since Eliot only has one L in her last name)
7. ain't (Jane Austen?)
8. ain't
9. is
10. ain't (Thomas Hardy)
11. ain't (can't remember who,but it's not Swift)
12. ain't (that's Thackeray (sp?))

Anonymous said...

I may know more than two of these w00t!

1. is
2. is
3. isn't
4. is
5. is
6. is
7. isn't
8. Isn't
9. is
10. isn't
11. isn't
12. isn't


whew.

The Calico Cat said...

No grading yet - you're slipping...

Rex Parker said...

Awesome, I'm not too late:

Gimme all of these:

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. No
4. Yes
5. Yes
6. No! (SPELLING COUNTS!)
7. No
8. No
9. Yes
10. No Way, Man
11. No
12. No no no

rp

Michael5000 said...

K, I'm back.

Let's see, what have we got?

1. Bleak House, by Charles Dickens -- IS

2. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas -- IS

3. Gulliver's Travels, by Henry Fielding -- ISN'T; it's Swift.

4. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad -- IS

5. Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen -- IS

6. Middlemarch, by George Eliot -- IS

7. Northanger Abbey, by Emily Bronte -- ISN'T; it's another Austin

8. Pilgrim's Progress, by Daniel Defoe -- ISN'T; it's John Bunyan. Who's he? The guy who write "Pilgrim's Progress."

9. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne -- IS

10. Tess of the D’Ubervilles, by Charlotte Bronte -- ISN'T; it's Thomas Hardy

11. Tristram Shandy, by Jonathan Swift -- ISN'T; it's Lawrence Stern

12. Vanity Fair, by Thomas Hardy -- ISN'T; it's Thackeray.

Michael5000 said...



Holy Cow.

You had to be perfect to place in this one, but... a whopping SEVEN of you submitted perfect scores! That's FIVE Green Stars, people! I'll have to order some extras. Plus, I'll have to monkey with the Official Quiz Spreadsheet, which is only designed to handle up to three Greens. What I go through for these quizzes.

Incidently, I set this quiz up last Monday, and took it just now when I got home from my trip on Sunday afternoon. I scored 10/12.

Michael5000 said...

So.

The TQXXXVIII Gold Star goes to The Calico Cat! It's her second Gold, and third Star overall.

The Silver goes to M5K Decathlon Blue Medalist La Gringissima; it's her second Silver.

A very special Blue Star to the Blog's very own Dork, g! It's her first trip to the Thursday winners' circle. You'll never forget your first time, g.

Green Stars all going out this week to Kate, Boo, and DrSchnell. There's also one for Nichim, who announced her arrival at the Monday Quiz this week, and now adds a Thursday Quiz Star to the mantlepiece.

Finally, Quiz legend Rex Parker checks in to bag a Green, his 16th Star overall. Since Mrs.5000 has snuck all the way up to 14 Stars, this is an important one to keep him on top of the leaderboard. (And lest those two feel like relaxing, drschnell and Rebel are both in double digits now as well.)

Michael5000 said...

@[Cherry]: Thanks, man. But the masthead is only getting about 50% in the polls, and that won't do in the long term.

@Calico: I write and edit the questions BEFORE ordering them, and the order is almost always either alphabetical or by date. So, the sequences of ISs and ISN'Ts is really quite random.

@d: Yes, it is Tristram. That one was a subtle mislead.

@Critical, Kate, DrSchnell, Rex: Thank you all for having a high enough regard for the Thursday Quiz to expect high standards in the details. I misspelled "Eliot" even though it was a correct answer. Oops.

@g: Oh, Vanity Fair is not "shitty"! It's nowhere as good as Tristram Shandy, though. Also, I respect your opinion. Also, congratulations on your Star.

@Kate: Very well, on Reese Witherspoon adaptation boycotted.

@Nichim: Oh, Vanity Fair was too worth it!

What? Outvoted? OK.

Anonymous said...

YAY! I think that is a first for me.

G said...

w00t! I feel so validated!

Also, Vanity Fair is one of the very few books that I have read in its entirety that I wish I could erase from my memory and retrieve the time I spent reading it. ...books that I dislike as much as Vanity Fair I tend not to finish, but there are a special few (e.g., the Da Vinci Code) that I force myself to read to the end in vain hopes that they will redeem themselves (a la The Brothers Karamozov). Alas, completion of VF merely inspired me to throw the book at the wall.

Rex Parker said...

w00t, indeed.

I've grown weary of my overall star lead. I want only gold. I'm like Scrooge McDuck or Mr. Burns, bored with my piles of green.

Vanity Fair features my namesake, so I have minor fondness for it, though truth be told I never got more than 50 pages in.

rp