Literature Quizzes

Brown chihuahua sitting on the floor, resting and squinting at a camera on a white brick wall background. (dogs, pets)
What Did You Just Call Me? Vocabulary Quiz
See if you can tell the insults from the compliments.

New Quizzes

Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)
Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz
Prove you’re the best of the nest
Fiery heart or heart made of flames with a dark concrete wall background. (love, Valentine's Day)
Love It or Hate It Vocabulary Quiz
There is a fine line between love and hate. Choose which of these feelings is better reflected by the italicized words.
Royal golden crown with jewels on British flag. Symbols of United Kingdom. (British royalty, British monarchy)
A Royal Vocabulary Quiz
Get your dukes in a row.
Young woman with glasses reading a book, student
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz
Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All

All Literature Quizzes

Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)
Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz
Prove you’re the best of the nest
Fiery heart or heart made of flames with a dark concrete wall background. (love, Valentine's Day)
Love It or Hate It Vocabulary Quiz
There is a fine line between love and hate. Choose which of these...
Royal golden crown with jewels on British flag. Symbols of United Kingdom. (British royalty, British monarchy)
A Royal Vocabulary Quiz
Get your dukes in a row.
Young woman with glasses reading a book, student
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz
Needless to say, spoiler alert.
Chicken and an egg with a white background (poultry, chick, birds).
Which Came First? Vocabulary Quiz
Jeggings or mom jeans? Given a pair of words,...
Brown chihuahua sitting on the floor, resting and squinting at a camera on a white brick wall background. (dogs, pets)
What Did You Just Call Me? Vocabulary Quiz
See if you can tell the insults from the compliments.
Broken pencil on a standardized test. (testing, education, exam, SAT test)
Challenging Standardized Test Words Quiz: Vol. 2
No number two pencil is required. Find the answer that best describes...
High school student frowns and feeling stressed after reading question about SAT test examination in a classroom (testing, education, teenager)
Challenging Standardized Test Words Quiz: Vol. 1
Here are 20 terms to help you score 1600. Find the answer that...
Young chimpanzee dressed in a shirt and sweater vest, scratching his head thinking. (primates)
Wild Words from the Animal Kingdom Vocabulary Quiz
Find out if you are vulpine or asinine.
Portrait of young thinking bearded man student with stack of books on the table before bookshelves in the library
Famous Novels, First Lines Quiz
Can you identify these novels by their famous first lines?
Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens, Greece.
From Athena to Zeus: Basics of Greek Mythology
Do you know which hero took a dip in the River Styx? Or what...
Dog dressed with oversized sunglasses, pink jeweled dog collar, and flowing pink scarf. (pampered pets, fashionable pets)
Fashionable Words Vocabulary Quiz
A vocab quiz with panache
Book Jacket of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by American children's author illustrator Eric Carle (born 1929)
Classic Children’s Books Quiz
Hope you are very hungry for kids’ literature trivia.
Yellow thinking face emoji icon.
Commonly Confused Words Vocabulary Quiz
Take a (break/brake) and (pore/pour) over this (cash/cache/cachet)...
Yellow transportation sign with ASAP (as soon as possible) on violet color sky background. (acronyms)
Figure Out the Acronyms ASAP Vocabulary Quiz
Acronyms are abbreviations that can be said as words, such as...
Artwork illustration of a laughing clown (clowns, circu).
Face Your Fears Vocabulary Quiz
Everybody's scared of something, from insects to a whole country....
Chef tossing vegetables in a frying pan over a burner (skillet, food).
What’s on the Menu? Vocabulary Quiz
Sink your teeth into these questions about food.
Artwork of British Union Jack in a speech bubble.
The Great British Vocabulary Quiz
Make sure you know the difference between a loo and a lift.
"Hello my name is" badge paper sticker (identification, name badge).
Words Named After People Vocabulary Quiz
Find out who’s behind leotard, morphine, and...
YOLO "You Only Live Once" written in bright colors and repeated on a purple background (acronym, slang)
Slang Through the Ages Vocabulary Quiz
Find out if you’re a space cadet or the bee’s knees.
African hedgehog on an open book against a white background.
Challenging Words You Should Know Vocabulary Quiz
This is not a quiz for the pusillanimous.
Man in Suit Walking on Eggshells. Idiom egg shell figure of speech
Spanish Idioms in English
Put your knowledge of Spanish to the test. See whether you know...
James Barry (1741-1806) painting title: The Education of Achilles, oil on canvas by James Barry, c. 1772; in the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut. 102.9 x 128.9 cm Alternate title: Chiron and Achilles
Gods, Goddesses, and Greek Mythology
Do you know which hero took a dip in the River Styx? Or what...
Finger pointing to a word on a dictionary page (dictionaries, reference).
Match the Definition to the Word: 12th-Grade Vocabulary Quiz
Can you correctly match 12th-grade–level vocabulary words to...
Open book with letters flying out (alphabet, characters).
12th-Grade Vocabulary Quiz
Can you accurately match definitions to their words? Take this...
Close-up of hand of student holding a pen and taking an exam in a classroom (testing, tests, education).
How Well Do You Know 11th-Grade Vocabulary?
Can you correctly match 11th-grade–level vocabulary words to...
Close up of child's hands doing math homework. Mother helping her daughter doing math homework. Student girl schoolwork. parent child
11th-Grade Vocabulary Quiz
Can you accurately match each definition to its word? Take this...
Close up of students hands writing in notebooks. Homework study school classroom high school
10th-Grade Vocabulary Quiz
Can you correctly match 10th-grade–level vocabulary words to...
Students taking exam in classroom (testing, school, education).
10th-Grade Verbs Quiz
How good are you at identifying a verb’s definition? Take this...
Japanese student boy doing schoolwork in a classroom at the school. Stock photo.
How Well Do You Know 9th-Grade Vocabulary?
Can you correctly match 9th-grade–level vocabulary words to their...
Man screaming with alphabet letters flying from his mouth (anger, rage, aggression, emotions).
Words with Negative Connotations Quiz
How well do you know the definitions of words with negative connotations?...
American writer Edgar Allan Poe working at his desk with his pet cat Catalina on his shoulder with his wife, Virginia Clemm, in the chair in the background.
Fact or Fiction: The Unbelievable Life of Edgar Allan Poe Quiz
Can you figure out which of the following astonishing details...
Red Riding Hood and the Wolf from "Journeys through Bookland" by Charles Herbert Sylvester, 1922. (Brothers Grimm, Little Red Riding Hood, fairy tales)
Grimm’s Fairy Tales Quiz
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the best fairy tale quiz taker...
Sir Alfred Hitchcock. Circa 1963 publicity photo of Alfred Hitchcock director of The Birds (1963).
Who Said It? Essential Writers, Artists, and Scientists
“I shall curse you with book, bell, and candle.” Can you...
American playwright Tennessee Williams, 1955.
Who Said It? Writers and Musicians Quiz
“Works of art are our chief means of breaking bread with the...
Battle of Bosworth Field, August, 22 1485, part of War of the Roses. Richard III, last Yorkist king of England from 1483 on white horse.
Battlefields and Places of Intrigue in Shakespeare Quiz
“Witness our too much memorable shame,” recalls the French king...
Facsimile of one of William Henry Ireland's forgeries, a primitive self-portrait of William Shakespeare(tinted engraving). Published for Samuel Ireland, Norfolk Street, Strand, December 1, 1795. (W.H. Ireland, forgery)
Animals in Shakespeare Quiz
In The Merchant of Venice, Lorenzo says, “In such a...
William Shakespeare, 1564-1616. c 1907
Shakespeare's Monsters, Demons, and Giants Quiz
Which magical character chides witches for taking it upon themselves...
Music Book, music note, scale, sheet music
More Italian Words Commonly Used in English
What Italian word literally means “bad air”? Which English word...
Ash cloud rising from the Kilauea Volcano Pu`u `O `o as crater floor collapses due to magma withdrawal. Incandescent rubble can be seen crumbling and rolling down the scarp. East rim of Pu`u `O `o is in the foreground, Kilauea, Hawaii on March 6, 2011.
Italian Words Commonly Used in English
Which Neapolitan dialect word originally referred to a kind of...
Books. Lord Alfred Tennyson. Lord Byron. Poetry. Reading. Literacy. Library. Antique. A stack of four antique leather bound books.
Ancient Libraries and Archives Quiz
Which Greek poet was appointed as the royal librarian of Antioch?...
Title page of The Boy's King Arthur.
A Quick Quiz on Arthurian Legend
Which author brought the figure of King Arthur into literature?...
Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland.
Folklore of the British Isles Quiz
Who is the author of Beowulf? Who were the Celtic priests,...
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) portrait by Carl Van Vecht April 3, 1938. Writer, folklorist and anthropologist celebrated African American culture of the rural South.
Who Said It? Quotations of Women in Literature Quiz
 “It always seemed to me a sort of clever stupidity only...
Photograph of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, Acme newspicture 1939.
Women in Art and Literature: Who Said It?
“Beware of monotony; it’s the mother of all the deadly sins.”...
Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) oil on panel by unknown artist, circa 1575; in the National Portrait Gallery, London. NPG2082
Elizabethan Vocabulary Quiz
What is a “doddypol”? What is a “galoche”? Test your knowledge...
The Procession of the Trojan Horse into Troy from Two Sketches depicting the Trojan Horse, about 1760, Oil on canvas, 38.8 x 66.7 cm, by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (Giandomenico Tiepolo). From the National Gallery, London. Inv. no. NG3319
The Trojan War Quiz
Who was the king of Troy during the Trojan War? Who was Troy’s...
mythology. Greek. Athena.
Jason and the Argonauts Quiz
What are Jason and the Argonauts looking for on their voyage?...
Pages of a dictionary from England (English dictionary, British dictionary, United Kingdom, words, opened book.
Ultimate Vocabulary Test: Part Two
You may have aced our first vocabulary test. But how will you...
mythology. Greek. Hermes. (Roman Mercury)
Ancient Greek Gods and Demigods Quiz 
Who is the god of the orderly universe and time, who swallowed...
Hades. Persephone. Hades (aka Pluto or Pluton)& Persephone enthroned. God&Goddess of underworld sit. 3 headed dog Cerberus at feet. Females on harp and rebec (L)men on harps or tortured. Les Echecs amoureux, Manuscript produced 4 Louise de Savoy,15th c.
Ancient Greek Underworld Quiz
What is the name of the monstrous three-headed watchdog of the...
Newly remodeled science classroom in a high school.
How Quickly Can You Complete a 60-Question Vocab Quiz?
You’ll have to remember your high-school vocabulary lessons to...
Row of colorful books on a bookshelf. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
The Literary World
Hey, bookworm! In between reads, try this novel idea: a quiz...
Silhouette of detective investigate is following footprints
Quiz: The Writing of John le Carré
Tinker, tailor, soldier…quiz? See how much you know about the...
Playwright Arthur Miller works on a new play at his typewriter in the study of his New York apartment on July 21, 1959.
How We Write Quiz
Whether it’s Shakespeare or Stephen King, you probably know a...
Cattle. Cow. Bovine. Livestock. Farm animals. Pregnant brown and white dairy cow.
Can You Tell Which of These Things Were Named After People?
Which snack is named after a clergyman? Which nut is named after...
Pages of a dictionary from England (English dictionary, British dictionary, United Kingdom, words, opened book.
Ultimate Vocabulary Test: Part One
You may be smarter than a fifth grader…but what about an eleventh...
Students raising their hands in a classroom
Grammar Quiz
In the sentence "John kicked the football across the yard," what...
Letters used for typesetting.
Antonyms and Synonyms
You may know that opposites attract and likes repel, but how...
Encyclopaedia Britannica thistle graphic to be used with a Mendel/Consumer quiz in place of a photograph.
49 Questions from Britannica’s Most Popular Literature Quizzes
Literature is a broad term that—among Britannica’s quizzes,...
American dramatist Eugene O'Neill, 1936.
The Eugene O'Neill Universe Quiz
What was Eugene O’Neill’s only comedy? Which of his plays is...
A Mad Tea Party. Alice meets the March Hare and Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll's "Adventures of Alice in Wonderland" (1865) by English illustrator and satirical artist Sir John Tenniel.
Fictional Worlds Quiz
Whether you’re interested in Wonderland or Westeros, there comes...
Emily Bronte from a painting of a family group by Branwell Bronte. ca 1820-1848
Quick Quiz: Wuthering Heights
Love, loss, drama, and the strict social conventions of the 19th...
Silhouette of detective investigate is following footprints
Nancy Drew and the Case of the Online Quiz
What was Nancy Drew’s first mystery? What other teen detectives...
Edgar Allan Poe 1848. Photo of daguerreotype by W.S. Hartshorn 1848; copyright 1904 by C.T. Tatman. Edgar Allan Poe, American poet, short story writer, editor and critic. Edgar Allen Poe
Poe’s Scary Stories Quiz
What word does the bird speak in “The Raven”? What story comes...
Gulliver in Lilliput. Lemuel Gulliver, set ashore after a mutiny, regains consciousness and finds himself a prisoner of the Lilliputians. From Gulliver's Travels, Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts by Jonathan Swift.
Jonathan Swift Quiz
What was Jonathan Swift’s pseudonym? Which political parties...
Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, history and society.
Charlotte Brontë Quiz
What was Charlotte Brontë’s pseudonym? Which book remained unfinished...
Three stacked volumes of collected works by William Shakespeare. Shakespearean tragedies, Shakespearean comedies, books.
Literary Classics Quiz
Who wrote Moll Flanders? Who is the protagonist in Crime...
Books. Reading. Publishing. Print. Literature. Literacy. Rows of used books for sale on a table.
Name the Novelist
Every answer in this quiz is the name of a novelist. How many...
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) portrait by Carl Van Vecht April 3, 1938. Writer, folklorist and anthropologist celebrated African American culture of the rural South.
American Writers Quiz
Who wrote Beloved? How about Leaves of Grass?...
Nobel prize-winning American author, Pearl S. Buck, at her home, Green Hills Farm, near Perkasie, Pennsylvania, 1962. (Pearl Buck)
Novels and Novelists Quiz
What was Arthur Conan Doyle’s actual profession? Who invented...
Books. Lord Alfred Tennyson. Lord Byron. Poetry. Reading. Literacy. Library. Antique. A stack of four antique leather bound books.
Poets and Poetry of Great Britain Quiz
Whose book The Hunting of the Snark has been called...
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron. Lord Byron English poet (1788-1824) was a leading figure in the Romantic movement.
10 British Poets: A Quiz
This quiz will test your knowledge of ten notable poets from...
The Tempest. William Shakespeare. fairy. Fairies. Goblins. Pixies. Scene from by William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Alonso, King of Naples, shipwrecked with his court on Prospero's enchanted island, amazed by fairies, goblins and creatures... (see notes)
The Play’s the Thing
You’ll have grounds more relative than this quiz to catch your...
Sir Winston Churchill, print reproduced from the original oil painting by Sir Oswald Birley, published 1906.
Literary Awards Quiz
The most prestigious award a writer can receive is the Nobel...
Novalis (1772-1801), pen-name of Friedrich von Hardenberg, German Romantic poet and novelist. Died of consumption. Known as the Prophet of Romanticism. Friedrich Leopold, Freiherr von (baron of) Hardenberg
Byways of German Literature Quiz
Think you know the major figures of German literature? Goethe,...
American writer Claude McKay; undated photo.
African American Writers Quiz
Who wrote Beloved? How about Home to Harlem?...
Colette, in full Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, outstanding French writer of the first half of the 20th century.
French Writers Quiz
How much do you know about the men and women who wrote some of...
French author Emile Zola in his office on rue de Bruxelles, Paris, France; undated.
Exploring French Literature Quiz
The roots of French literature can be traced, arguably, to the...
Illustration of Peter Rabbit with his family by Beatrix Potter. (children's books)
A Quiz About Children’s Authors
Take a trip from the land of Oz to Narnia alongside Max and Peter...
Chinese author Gao Xingjian, 2008, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2000.
A Nobel Prize for Literature (Mostly) Quiz
Every question in this quiz—except one—is about winners of the...
Page from the Mayan document Popol Vuh. The Newberry's manuscript of the Popol Vuh is one of the most widely known and possibly the earliest surviving copy. It was transcribed between 1700 and 1715 in Chichicastenango, Guatemala, by the Dominican...
Quick Quiz: Latin American Literature
This quiz has only three questions about Latin American literature,...
Margaret Fuller, oil on canvas by Thomas Hicks, 1848; in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
American Women Writers Quiz
Who wrote The Good Earth? How about Song of Solomon?...
American playwright Tennessee Williams, 1955.
Quick Quiz: American Playwrights
You need to know three American playwrights and their work to...
Shakespeare Reading, oil on canvas by William Page, 1873-74; in the collection of the Smithsonian American Museum of Art, Washington, D.C. (William Shakespeare)
Shakespeare and His Plays Quiz
“If quizzes be the food of knowledge, play on...” is something...
Colorized engraving of English author Samuel Johnson; undated portrait.
Literary Terms and More Quiz
This quiz will test your knowledge of literary terms—and a few...
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) only confirmed photograph of Emily Dickinson. Daguerreotype. ca. 1847; in the Amherst College Archives. American poet
Poets of America Quiz
Poetry derived from European traditions dates to the early 17th...
Sappho (early 6th century B.C.), engraving 1866
Ancient Greek Literature Quiz
How well do you know Old Comedy? Who wrote Oedipus the King?...
Handscroll is one of a set that illustrates the 305 poems in the Shijing (The Book of Odes), a work traditionally believed to have been compiled by Confucius, by Ma Hezhi and assistants, Southern Song dynasty, mid-12th century.
Chinese Literature Quiz
How much do you know about the history of Chinese literature?...
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) in 1876. Russian novelist and short-story writer. Also spelled Dostoevsky
Another Russian Literature Quiz
Who wrote Dead Souls? Which character is the protagonist...
French author Honore de Balzac; undated portrait. (Honore Balzac)
Literary Terms (Part Three) Quiz
Do you know what figure of speech relies on the words like...
Japanese poet Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (Kakinomoto Hitomaro), woodblock print by Yashima Gakutei, c. 1820; in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Japanese Literature: A Pop Quiz
Here’s an extremely short quiz about the long history of Japanese...
Beginning of the old English poem, Beowulf, believed to have been composed between 700 and 750. (Old English literature)
Poets and Poetry (Part Two) Quiz
Do you know which ancient Roman poet wrote Metamorphoses?...
Record of a haiku exchange on kaishi writing paper by Matsuo Basho and one of his pupils in the teacher's own handwriting, 2nd half of the 17th century, from a hanging scroll (ink on paper). (calligraphy)
Irony, Oxymoron, Alliteration, and More: A Quiz
Test what you know about literary terms with this quiz.
"The Feast of Sada", folio 22v from the Shah-nameh Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp, by Ferdowsi; painting attributed to Sultan Muhammad, c. 1525; made in Tabriz, Iran. (Shahnama, poems, poetry)
Poets and Poetry (Part One) Quiz
Do you know who wrote “The Wild Swans at Coole”? What’s the title...
Lobby card for the motion picture film "Things to Come" (1936); directed by William Cameron Menzies. (science fiction, futurism)
Science Fiction Writers Quiz
Science fiction has a long history and wide influence. Here’s...
Irish author Oscar Wilde, photograph (albumen silver print)by Napoleon Sarony, 1882.
English and Irish Playwrights (Part One) Quiz
The British Isles have a long history of theatre, with many notable...
William Shakespeare and Lord Chamberlain's Men performing "Love's Labour's Lost" for Queen Elizabeth I, from the Works of William Shakespeare; etching, dated c. mid-19th century.
English and Irish Playwrights (Part Two) Quiz
Do you know who wrote She Stoops to Conquer? Which 17th-century...
English author Aphra Behn, oil on canvas by Sir Peter Lely, c. 1670; in the Yale Center for British Art.
Women Writers of England (Mostly) Quiz
This is a quiz about the lives and works of women writers from...
Illustration of John Stuart Mill by G.K. Chesterton from "Biography for Beginners" by Edmund Clerihew Bentley. No date on book, but c. 1905.
Literary Terms: A Pop Quiz
Here’s a very short, very difficult quiz to test how well you...
Pamela having divided her clothes into three bundles..., etching and engraving by Guillaume Philippe Benoist, 1745. Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) by Samuel Richardson.
Literary Terms (Part One) Quiz
Do you know what a tercet is? How about the term for a passage...
"Milton Dictating to His Daughters" oil on canvas by Henry Fuseli, 1793; in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Who Wrote That? (Part 3) Quiz
Who wrote Anatomy of Melancholy? How about Man and...
British novelist. Charles Dickens; undated portrait.
Who Wrote That? (Part 2) Quiz
Who wrote Moll Flanders? How about Song of Solomon?...
"The Tyger" from the combined volume of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake, ca. 1825; relief etching printed in orange-brown ink and hand-colored with watercolor and gold.(poems, poetry)
Who Wrote That? (Part 1) Quiz
Who wrote Utopia? How about Cry, the Beloved Country?...
Part of a fresco showing Dante Alighieri and view of Florence by Domenico di Michelino located at the Duomo (Italy).
Literature of Italy Quiz
The peninsula now known as Italy has been a home to great writers...
Nobel Prize Gabriel Garcia Marquez on the Fifty Thousand Colombian Pesos Bill
Latin American Authors
How much do you know about the magical realists, poets, and novelists...
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron. Lord Byron English poet (1788-1824) was a leading figure in the Romantic movement.
English Romantic Poets
Are you well versed in English Romantic poetry? Do you know about...
Jane Austen an English writer who first gave the novel it's distinctly modern character through her treatment of ordinary people in everyday life.
Jane Austen
Test your knowledge about Jane Austen and her works with this...
Abstract question-mark background on black, punctuation, grammar
Punctuation
How do you use the Oxford comma? What’s the difference between...
Emily Bronte from a painting of a family group by Branwell Bronte. ca 1820-1848
The Brontë Sisters
Think you know Charlotte, Anne, and Emily Brontë, the trio behind...
Magazines on display in a store in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There are more than 1300 English and French magazines that are published in Canada.
Magazines: Fact or Fiction?
Test your knowledge of magazines with this fact-or-fiction quiz...
American author Toni Morrison, 2009. (Nobel Prize for Literature 1993)
Nobel Laureates in Literature
Are you a Nobel know-it-all? Match the Nobel laureates in literature...
Emily Dickinson, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing right
Emily Dickinson
How much do you know about Emily Dickinson? Test your knowledge...
Undated photograph of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.
Russian Literature
Do you think you know about Russian literature? Test your knowledge...
Miguel de Cervantes. Don Quixote. Miguel de Cervantes Spanish novelist, poet and playwright, author of Don Quixote. Engraving from 1843 by E.Mackenzie and published in London by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.
Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes is much more than Spain's most famous novelist....
Scene from the silent motion picture "Romeo and Juliet" with Francis X. Bushman (Romeo) and Beverly Bayne (Juliet), 1916. Directed by Francis X. Bushman and John W. Noble.
Romeo and Juliet
Wherefore art thou Romeo? Think you know all about this famous...
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) portrait by Carl Van Vecht April 3, 1938. Writer, folklorist and anthropologist celebrated African American culture of the rural South.
Writers of the Harlem Renaissance
How much do you know about the writers of the Harlem Renaissance?...
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) only confirmed photograph of Emily Dickinson. 1978 scan of a Daguerreotype. ca. 1847; in the Amherst College Archives. American poet. See Notes:
Poetry: First Lines
Who wrote these famous words? Test your knowledge of the opening...
Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dorian, Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, Fifty Shades of Grey(2015, Sam Taylor-Johnson
Fifty Shades of Grey
Are you a true fan of Fifty Shades? See how much you really know.
Book cover (circa 2015?) To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee. Hardcover book first published July 11, 1960. Novel won 1961 Pulitzer Prize. Later made into an Academy Award winning film.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Maybe this classic novel is your favorite, or maybe you read...
An undated photo of Virginia Woolf a British author and member of the intelligentsia circle known as the Bloomsbury Group.
Memorable Beginnings Vol. 2: Match the Opening Line to the Work
Consider yourself a great lover of literature? See if you can...
Leo Tolstoy. Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy, portrait. Russian writer, philosopher and mystic.
Memorable Beginnings Vol. 1: Match the Opening Line to the Work
Consider yourself a great lover of literature? See if you can...
Flannery O'Connor.
Writers’ Retreats
Where did famous writers spend their time? Test your knowledge...
Charlotte Bronte from a chalk drawing by George Richmond, 1850. English novelist author of Jane Eyre, Shirley, and Villette. Her family was literary. Her sisters Emily and Anne were also writers, both died before the age of 40.
Cross-gender Pseudonyms
Writers use pseudonyms for a variety of reasons—sometimes even...
Onomatopoeia. A red goldfish jumps out of water and the text Splash! creates an aquatic cartoon for noise. Onomatopoeia a word that imitates a natural sound.
Literary Devices
Do you know synecdoche from metonymy? Test your knowledge of...
Proofreaders' marks. proofreading, type, typesetting
Name that Mark
What languages use the tilde? What is a "tittle"? Test your knowledge...
M-W Article: alphabet; Art description: 26 capital letters of the English alphabet
Synonyms vs. Antonyms
Is "meager" an antonym for "abundant"? Is "meek" a synonym for...
Illustration of silhouettes climbing and sitting on stacks of books. Reading. Education.
Word Play
Does "disquisition" mean "a formal inquiry"? Does "exemptive"...
9:024-25 Law: Learning the Rules, students voting for longer morning or afternoon recess, teacher tallies votes on the chalkboard
Plain English
Does orthography refer to proper pronounciation? Can a colon...
First five letters in the Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, and Russian Cyrillic alphabets. languages
World Languages
You may be familiar with such words as "hamburger" and "pretzel",...
This Mercator map of the world is attributed to Edward Wright, an English mathematician who first computed navigation tables to be used with the Mercator projection. It was published in 1599. The compass roses and crisscrossing lines are in the style oft
Word Meanings and Origins
What is the word used in the American desert for a sun-dried...
Person reading Bible, close-up of hands. King James Version (KJV) King James Bible Holy Bible Antique Christianity Church Gospel old book Religion religious Spirituality Homepage blog 2011 arts and entertainment history and society
The Meanings of Words
From "paradise" to "substitute", test your knowledge of words...
Child tracing letters of the alphabet
English 101
What is the term for words that sound like themselves, such as...
Weathy, upper-class lady reading, fifteenth century. Book.
From the Latin
See how much you really know about the Latin-derived words in...
Cyrillic inscription on sign, Macedonia. (language, letters)
Learning the Alphabet
How many characters does the Russian alphabet have? What is the...
Close up of the Quran or Koran written in Arabic Islam's sacred and liturgical language. text, words, Ramadan
From What Language...
From "Ubuntu" and "vindaloo" to "syrup" and "pajamas", test your...
The modern Greek alphabet, with English sound equivalents.
Languages of the World
What is the last letter of the Greek alphabet? From which language...
pile of international newspapers in various languages
Official Languages
What is the official language of Grenada? What language do most...
Child's alphabet blocks
ABCs of English
What letter begins more English words than any other? What letter...
book, books, closed books, pages
A Book Review: Fact or Fiction?
In The War of the Worlds, were the enemies of Earth...
Bunyan's Dream, 1680, (1893). Frontispiece to John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, 4th edition, 1680. Illustration from, A Short History of the English People, by John Richard Green, illustrated edition, Volume III, Macmillan and Co, London, NY, 1893
Read Between the Lines
What is Japan’s oldest major novel? In the Odyssey,...
Books. Lord Alfred Tennyson. Lord Byron. Poetry. Reading. Literacy. Library. Antique. A stack of four antique leather bound books.
Literary Hodgepodge
Who is the only one of Milton’s contemporaries to be mentioned...
Books. Reading. Publishing. Print. Literature. Literacy. Rows of used books for sale on a table.
A Study of Writers
What country was William Butler Yeats from? Stephen King is generally...
Sepia film still of Freddie Bartholomew (left) and Mickey Rooney in "Little Lord Fauntleroy" (1936), directed by John Cromwell.
The Littlest of Them All
From Stuart Little and Little John to Little Women and...
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) The Star Child and the planet Jupiter from the film's final segment "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" directed by Stanley Kubrick. Science fiction
From Moby-Dick to Space Odysseys
Who wrote a novel about a world of Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania?...
Ernest Hemingway at the Finca Vigia, San Francisco de Paula, Cuba, 1953. Ernest Hemingway American novelist and short-story writer, awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.
Profiles of Famous Writers
Was Charles Dickens from the American South? Which Russian writer...
Gulliver in Lilliput. Lemuel Gulliver, set ashore after a mutiny, regains consciousness and finds himself a prisoner of the Lilliputians. From Gulliver's Travels, Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts by Jonathan Swift.
Character Education
Do you know the names of the Three Musketeers? From Gulliver’s...
Sherlock Holmes explaining to Dr. Watson what he has deduced from the pipe left behind by a visitor (see Notes); engraving from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Yellow Face by Arthur Conan Doyle, The Strand Magazine, London, 1893.
Characters in Literature
What did the Wicked Witch of the West demand of Dorothy? Who...
Books. Lord Alfred Tennyson. Lord Byron. Poetry. Reading. Literacy. Library. Bookshelf. Antique. Four antique leather bound books.
Matching Names to Novels
From Rudyard Kipling and The Great Gatsby to C.S. Lewis...
Performer and audience. An actor with an outstretched arm performing with spectators, concert, crowd. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, history and society
Famous Quotes
From what play does the phrase "Alas, poor Yorick" come? What...
Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900-44) French aviator and writer of the fable Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) pictured on the left, on French paper currency.
The Little Prince
It was translated into over 250 languages and sold over 140 million...
Jules Verne (1828-1905) prolific French author whose writings laid much of the foundation of modern science fiction.
Famous Authors
You may be familiar with The Shining and Frankenstein,...
Summer red bird, Tanager from The Birds of America by John James Audubon, 4 vol. (435 hand-coloured plates, 1827-38), pl. 44, London. Engraver Robert Havell. Engraving, hand-colored.
Authors of Classic Literature
Who wrote Lord of the Flies? Who wrote I Know Why...
The Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens. The statue shows the boy who would never grow up, blowing his horn on a tree stump with a fairy, London. fairy tale
Famous Stories, Beloved Characters
Who is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi? Who is the little girl alongside Peter...
A Mad Tea Party. Alice meets the March Hare and Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll's "Adventures of Alice in Wonderland" (1865) by English illustrator and satirical artist Sir John Tenniel.
Getting Into Character
What dramatic character sold his soul to the devil? Who is the...
Sherlock Holmes, fictional detective. Holmes, the detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) in the 1890s, as portrayed by the early English film star, Clive Brook (1887-1974).
What’s In A Name?
Who wrote Things Fall Apart? From Sherlock Holmes to...
Edgar Allan Poe 1848. Photo of daguerreotype by W.S. Hartshorn 1848; copyright 1904 by C.T. Tatman. Edgar Allan Poe, American poet, short story writer, editor and critic. Edgar Allen Poe
Who Wrote It?
From The Divine Comedy to The Da Vinci Code,...
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Italian poet. The author of Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy), the great Italian epic poem which tells the story of Dante's journey through hell, purgatory and heaven, the three realms of the dead.
Name That Author
Who wrote The Wealth of Nations? Who wrote Inferno...
Hatter engaging in rhetoric illustration 26. by Sir John Tenniel for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Alice in Wonderland by British author Lewis Carroll. Cropped from source file asset 166534/ic code bolse1690 Mad Hatter tea party
The Life and Works of English Authors
You may be familiar with Alice in Wonderland and A...
Hathaway, Anne. Shakespeare, William. Anne Hathaway's Cottage, a farmhouse, where Anne Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare, lived as a child in the village of Shottery, Warwickshire, England, near Stratford-upon-Avon.
The Life and Work of William Shakespeare
Who was Hamlet’s mother? How many sonnets did Shakespeare write?...
William Shakespeare, title page from the First Folio edition, 1623, of Shakespeare's comedies, histories, & tragedies.
William Shakespeare: The Prose and the Playwright
Where is Shakespeare buried? Who says "Alas, poor Yorick"? See...
Starbucks, logo, original logo, Pike Place, Seattle, coffee
Literary Fun Facts: Fact or Fiction?
Does Starbucks Coffee take its name from the novel Moby-Dick?...
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, 1886. Stevenson's his classic adventure novel for children. Frontispiece and half-title of the 1886 illustrated edition showing a map of the island of Hispaniola with instructions for finding pirates' treasure.
Author Showcase: Fact or Fiction?
Is Frankenstein a novel by Percy Bysshe Shelley? From...
Hundreds of fables are credited to the legendary Greek person named Aesop.
Test Your Literacy Rate: Fact or Fiction?
Were most people literate in ancient times? Was reading once...
Scene from "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, 1843. The irascible, curmudgeonly Ebenezer Scrooge, sitting alone on Christmas Eve, is visited by the ghost of Marley, his late business partner. The same night he is visited by three...(see notes)
Literary Character Study: Fact or Fiction?
Is Jane Eyre a fictional explorer and adventuress? Was Sherlock...
An open book with pages flying on black background. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
Literary Library: Fact or Fiction?
Did the writers of the German Sturm und Drang literary movement...
Illustration of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," by Harriet Beecher Stowe, showing Uncle Tom, Aunt Chloe, their children, and George Shelby in the cabin.
Book Report: Fact or Fiction?
Was the first novel known to have sold 1,000,000 copies written...
Don Quixote (right) and his servant Sancho Panza are pictured in an illustration from the book The History of Don Quixote, Volume 1, Complete by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. 1880 edition of J. W. Clark with illustrations by Gustave Dore.
Literary Characters: Fact or Fiction?
Was Harry Potter’s Quidditch broom a Nimbus 2000? From Don...
Scene from "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens, 1837-1839. The Artful Dodger picking a pocket to the amazement of Oliver Twist. Illustration from "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens. (London 1837-1839). Artist: George Cruikshank
Who Wrote It: Fact or Fiction?
From J.K. Rowling and Oliver Twist to Anita Desai and...
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1342/43-1400), English poet; portrait from an early 15th century manuscript of the poem, De regimine principum.
The ABCs of Poetry: Fact or Fiction?
Are prose and poetry the same? Do narrative poems tend to be...
Scene from "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens, (London c1870). Joe Gargery, the gentle giant, is provoked into violence in his smithy. In the background his brother-in-law Philip Pirrip, known as Pip, the hero of the novel, works the...
Getting Into Character: Fact or Fiction?
From Tarzan and Dracula to Sherlock Holmes and Mowgli, test your...
Kabuki Theater. Unknown Artist, 'Scene at Kabuki Theater', 19th century. From a private collection. The strongest ties of Kabuki are to the Noh and to joruri, the puppet theatre that developed during the 17th century.
Playing Around: Fact or Fiction?
Is a soliloquy a section of a play in which two characters engage...
Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain, three-quarter length portrait, seated, facing slightly right, with cigar in hand.
Lives of Famous Writers: Fact or Fiction?
You may be familiar with J.K. Rowling and Dr. Seuss, but how...
Camelot, engraving by Gustave Dore to illustrate the Arthurian poems in Idylls of the King, by Lord Alfred Tennyson, 1868.
A Study of Poems: Fact or Fiction?
In the poem A Visit from Saint Nicholas, how many reindeer...
Frontispiece and title page of Phillis Wheatley's book of poetry, "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" 1773. Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753-1784). African American slave. Black woman poet.
Poetry Puzzle: Fact or Fiction?
Was the first published African American poet a woman? Were Emily...
English novelist Charles Dickens; undated engraving.
Famous Writers: Fact or Fiction?
From the Italian Renaissance and Victorian era to India and Canterbury,...
"Shakuntala looking back to glimpse Dushyanta" Painting by Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906). (Indian painter, India, art, oil painting, Mahabharata character, Indian folklore)
Indian Literature: Fact or Fiction?
You may be familiar with Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book,...
Helen Keller with hand on braille book in her lap as she smells a rose in a vase. Oct. 28, 1904. Helen Adams Keller American author and educator who was blind and deaf.
Write vs. Wrong: Fact or Fiction?
Who did Helen Keller dedicate her autobiography to? What was...
William Shakespeare etching. English poet, dramatist, and actor.
William Shakespeare: Fact or Fiction?
Is William Shakespeare nicknamed "the Bard of Avon?" Did Shakespeare...
The Tempest. William Shakespeare. fairy. Fairies. Goblins. Pixies. Scene from by William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Alonso, King of Naples, shipwrecked with his court on Prospero's enchanted island, amazed by fairies, goblins and creatures... (see notes)
Shakespearean Plays: Fact or Fiction?
Is the title character of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet...
The Adventure of Silver Blaze. 'Holmes gave me a sketch of the events'. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on train to Devon to investigate murder and disappearance of a famous racehorse. Arthur Conan Doyle story published in The Strand Magazine, London, 1892
Sherlock Holmes: Fact or Fiction?
Was the first Sherlock Holmes story "The Hound of the Baskervilles?"...
typewriter, hands, writing, typing
Writer’s Digest
With which U.S. state is the writer John Steinbeck closely associated?...
Title page of The Boy's King Arthur.
Open Books
In which decade did Anne Frank write her diary? To which literary...
The Minotaur as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man.
Getting Into (Fictional) Character
What is the name of the schoolteacher in "The Legend of Sleepy...
Ernest Hemingway aboard the boat "Pilar", off Cuba. Ernest Hemingway American novelist and short-story writer, awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.
Writer’s Block
What name was given to the generation of writers Ernest Hemingway...
French and English Stop and no Parking Signs
Official Languages: Fact or Fiction?
Is Spanish the official language of Andorra? Is Portugese the...
13:072 Reading: How Words Work, chart showing the word cat in English, French, and Spanish, in print and cursive
Foreign Language Club
What is the official language of China? What is the prinicipal...
5:149 Eyes and Ears: Eyes That Hear, Speech That's Seen, eight close-ups of mouths saying a different word
Parlez-Vous Français? And Other Languages
What language is spoken in Mexico? Which South American nation...
Edgar Allan Poe, American poet, short story writer, editor and critic c1909. Poe (1809-1849) was one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. Edgar Allen Poe
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
You may know what the raven "quoth," but in what story does the...
The Procession of the Trojan Horse into Troy from Two Sketches depicting the Trojan Horse, about 1760, Oil on canvas, 38.8 x 66.7 cm, by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (Giandomenico Tiepolo). From the National Gallery, London. Inv. no. NG3319
Greek and Roman Literature: Fact or Fiction?
Was the Trojan Horse a real horse? Did Homer really write the...
4:043 Dickinson, Emily: A Life of Letters, This is my letter to the world/That never wrote to me; I'll tell you how the Sun Rose/A Ribbon at a time; Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul
Famous Poets and Poetic Form
Who wrote the long poem The Waste Land? What is the...
Illustration of "The Lamb" from "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake, 1879. poem; poetry
A Study of Poetry
If roses are red and violets blue, in poetry, what does the word...
portrait of English playwright, William Shakespeare
A Study of William Shakespeare
How many sonnets did William Shakespeare publish? Where is Romeo...
Portrait of Plato (ca. 428- ca. 348 BC), Ancient Greek philosopher.
An Odyssey of Grecian Literature
Who was Odysseus’s wife? What author wrote The Republic?...
Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, history and society.
Literary Favorites: Fact or Fiction?
Love literature? This quiz sorts out the truth about beloved...
Chalkboard slate and colored chalk
Word Nerd: Fact or Fiction?
You love words. You adore alliteration. And you chortle at the...
Two costumed actors performing a dance onstage. theater, performers. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, history and society
The Literary World (Characters Quiz)
The March sisters, Beowulf, and even Tweedledee and Tweedledum...
Three stacked volumes of collected works by William Shakespeare. Shakespearean tragedies, Shakespearean comedies, books.
The Literary World (Authors & Poets)
Roses are red, violets are blue, this poem is bad, but our quiz...
Buddhist engravings on wall in Thailand. Hands on wall. Hompepage blog 2009, history and society, science and technology, geography and travel, explore discovery
Languages & Alphabets
Parlez-vous français? ¿Habla usted español? See how M-U-C-H you...
Textbook chalkboard and apple. Fruit of knowledge. Hompepage blog 2009, History and Society, school education students
The Literary World (Famous Novels)
How much do you really know about the stories and the authors...
Hand with pencil writing on page. (handwriting; write)
Word Nerd Quiz
If you live for word associations, derivations, and definitions...

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