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Henry David Thoreau Trivia

Henry David Thoreau Trivia Quizzes

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3 quizzes and 30 trivia questions.
1.
  A Thoreau Understanding    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This quiz will test your knowledge of the life of the influential and multi-talented author Henry David Thoreau. Thank you to portgleep for the quiz title. Best of luck!
Easier, 10 Qns, Triviaballer, May 17 15
Easier
Triviaballer gold member
636 plays
2.
  The LIfe and Works of Paul Theroux    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
A quiz about the life and work of one of my favorite authors.
Average, 10 Qns, PJLBewdy, Jul 30 05
Average
PJLBewdy
200 plays
3.
  Henry David Thoreau    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This quiz is about the life and works of Henry David Thoreau.
Average, 10 Qns, WillowFlare, May 08 06
Average
WillowFlare
634 plays

Henry David Thoreau Trivia Questions
1. In which city was Henry David Thoreau born on July 12, 1817? This city is well-known historically for being one of the starting points of the American Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775.

From Quiz A Thoreau Understanding

Answer: Concord

Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts to Cynthia Dunbar and John Thoreau who was a pencil maker. Forty-two years earlier the cities of Lexington and Concord saw the first major battles of the American Revolutionary War. Thoreau's contemporary Ralph Waldo Emerson penned the "Concord Hymn" that described the first shot of the revolutionaries at the North Bridge in Concord as the "shot heard round the world".

2. Paul Edward Theroux, author of renown was born on 10 April 1941 where?

From Quiz The LIfe and Works of Paul Theroux

Answer: Medford, Massachusetts

The son of a French-Canadian father and an Italian mother, Theroux was one of seven children.

3. Where was Henry David Thoreau born?

From Quiz Henry David Thoreau

Answer: Concord, Massachusetts

Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord on July 12, 1817.

4. Which university did Henry David Thoreau attend from 1833 to 1837 during which he lived at Hollis Hall and was a member of the Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770?

From Quiz A Thoreau Understanding

Answer: Harvard

Thoreau's grandfather, Asa Dunbar, also attended Harvard and he was the leader of the 1766 Butter Rebellion which is considered the first student protest in the American colonies. Upon graduation Henry David Thoreau declined to purchase his diploma that was made of sheepskin vellum and he made the comment "Let every sheep keep its own skin".

5. Theroux attended several universities before joining the Peace Corps and ending up where?

From Quiz The LIfe and Works of Paul Theroux

Answer: Malawi

Theroux taught at Soche Hill College in what was then the Nyasaland Protectorate and now forms Malawi.

6. Henry David Thoreau attended:

From Quiz Henry David Thoreau

Answer: Harvard

Henry David Thoreau attended Harvard, where he majored in English Literature.

7. Why was Theroux was thrown out of the Peace Corps?

From Quiz The LIfe and Works of Paul Theroux

Answer: he was implicated in a failed coup d'etat

Theroux was not an active participant in the attempted overthrow of Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Prime Minister of Nyasaland and later President of Malawi but was associated with a lot of people that were. Banda went on to rule as 'President for Life' until 1994.

8. Which writer was a close friend of Thoreau?

From Quiz Henry David Thoreau

Answer: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson gave Thoreau a small piece of his land to live on.

9. In 1845 Henry David Thoreau built a cabin on land owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Adjacent to what body of water commonly associated with Thoreau was the cabin located?

From Quiz A Thoreau Understanding

Answer: Walden Pond

Walden Pond is a shallow, sediment-rich body of water known as a kettle hole. Located in Concord, Massachusetts, Walden Pond was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1962. The total shoreline of Walden Pond is 1.7 miles and it reaches a depth of about 100 feet. Thoreau only lived at Walden Pond for two years during which he read and wrote extensively.

10. In 1846 Henry David Thoreau was arrested for having six years of delinquent taxes and not paying up when confronted by a tax collector. What type of tax was he specifically arrested for not paying?

From Quiz A Thoreau Understanding

Answer: Poll Tax

Thoreau refused to pay his poll taxes as a way of expressing his opposition to the Mexican-American War and slavery. Thoreau only spent one night in jail because a family member remitted his unpaid poll taxes against Thoreau's wishes.

11. Thoreau lived here for two years:

From Quiz Henry David Thoreau

Answer: Walden Pond

Thoreau built a one-room house. He would write, garden, and entertain guests.

12. Henry David Thoreau is typically associated with nature and in 1846 he made a famous trip to the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. What 5,270 foot peak did Thoreau visit in 1846?

From Quiz A Thoreau Understanding

Answer: Mount Katahdin

Thoreau recounted his travels to Maine in a journal known as "The Maine Woods". Located in Baxter State Park, Mount Katahdin is the highest mountain in the state of Maine. The first documented ascent of Katahdin came in 1804 when Charles Turner, Jr. reached the summit.

13. In 1854, a book about his two years of living in a one-room house was published. What was the book's title?

From Quiz Henry David Thoreau

Answer: Walden

Walden is a wonderful book. If you want to learn more about Thoreau's way of thinking, read it.

14. From 1845 until 1854 Thoreau wrote seven full drafts of what would become one of his masterpieces. What was the subtitle of this work whose main title was shared by the locale of Thoreau's cabin?

From Quiz A Thoreau Understanding

Answer: Life in the Woods

Interestingly, Thoreau's cabin was not in the wilderness but rather two miles from his family's home. Even so, Thoreau explored much of the area of wilderness near Concord when he wasn't reading or writing at Walden. "Walden; or, Life in the Woods" has themes of personal discovery and self exploration as well as social commentary by Thoreau.

15. Published in 1981, Theroux found a wide circulation for this allegorical novel; probably because it was made into a movie directed by Peter Weir and starring Harrison Ford (1986). What was its title?

From Quiz The LIfe and Works of Paul Theroux

Answer: The Mosquito Coast

I have read interviews with Theroux, Harrison Ford and Peter Weir about the making of 'Mosquito Coast' and have seldom encountered such a mutual admiration society; these guys LOVED each other and it shows in a good movie that's fairly faithful to the book.

16. Finish this quote: 'It takes a man to make a room ____'

From Quiz Henry David Thoreau

Answer: silent.

'It takes a man to make a room silent.' is from: Journal, Feb.9, 1839.

17. For what man that was executed on December 2, 1859, did Henry David Thoreau provide a famous public plea that defended the man's actions?

From Quiz A Thoreau Understanding

Answer: John Brown

John Brown was the leader of a raid on the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry that attempted to start an armed slave revolt. The raid was condemned by many anti-slavery abolitionists but Thoreau showed his support for Brown's actions in a speech known as "A Plea for Captain John Brown". Likely leveraged by Thoreau's writing and speeches, over time John Brown was looked at as a martyr by the abolitionist movement.

18. Enthusiasm for which sport/recreation prompted Theroux to write 'Fresh Air Fiend'?

From Quiz The LIfe and Works of Paul Theroux

Answer: Sea Kayaking

After reading this account of the author's involvement in this pursuit I was impressed by his unauthorly athleticism - he really sounds like he knows what he's doing and looks really fit and muscly on the book cover.

19. Thoreau died at the age of 44 after a hard time with:

From Quiz Henry David Thoreau

Answer: tuberculosis.

Thoreau is buried on Author's Ridge at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord.

20. Henry David Thoreau was a brilliant man that shared many of his ideas to the world in his writing. How many times did he share a pledge of marriage?

From Quiz A Thoreau Understanding

Answer: 0

Henry David Thoreau never married but in 1840 at the age of 23 he sent a letter for a proposal to marriage to Ellen Sewall but she rejected his proposal. While Thoreau is sometimes called a recluse or hermit, he actually spent the majority of his adult life living with either his family or Ralph Waldo Emerson's family.

21. Theroux divides his time these days between Cape Cod and Hawaii. As well as writing he's become a keen practitioner of another profession. What is his second profession?

From Quiz The LIfe and Works of Paul Theroux

Answer: Bee Keeping

Theroux is a successful apiarist and sells his honey using the brand name 'Oceania Ranch Pure Hawaiian Honey'.

22. How was Thoreau involved with slavery?

From Quiz Henry David Thoreau

Answer: He helped runaway slaves escape to Canada.

Thoreau often spoke out against slavery and other injustice.

23. Henry David Thoreau died at the age of 44 in 1862 after never fully recovering from contracting bronchitis in 1859. On his deathbed Thoreau said "Now comes good sailing" and then he uttered his final two words. What were these simple last words?

From Quiz A Thoreau Understanding

Answer: Moose and Indian

Known for his witty mind, on his deathbed Thoreau also said "I was not aware that we had quarreled" after his aunt had asked him if he was at peace with God. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote the eulogy that was spoken at Thoreau's funeral. Thoreau's grave is located at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.

24. What type of writer was Henry David Thoreau?

From Quiz Henry David Thoreau

Answer: transcendentalist

Thoreau and many of his friends, including Bronson Alcott, Ellery Channing, Margaret Fuller and Nathaniel Hawthorne, were into nonconformist thinking.

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