American Literature Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pansy

'Pansy' was rejected by an editor because of its connotation, in the 1930s, of homosexuality. Source: "Road to Tara," a biography of Margaret Mitchell.

'Violet' might have been a good choice of name for Melanie, another character in the book, because of its connotations of modesty and shyness.

Any Harry Potter fan can tell you that 'Lily' was Harry's mother's name.

I just threw 'Iris' in because I needed another floral name!

Answer: Anne Bradstreet

This poem, "To My Dear and Loving Husband," appeared in Bradstreet's collection "The Tenth Muse."

Sarah Pierpont Edwards was the wife of the Puritan minister Jonathan Edwards, and was famous for her piety, kindness, and the overall goodness of her life.

Rebecca Nurse was an exemplary Puritan matron who was a victim of the Salem witch hysteria--if such a pillar of Puritanism could be convicted on no solid evidence, who was safe?

Mary Rowlandson was the wife of a Puritan minister and is best known for her book based on her capture by Indians during King Philip's War, "The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson."

Answer: Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott, who wrote so warmly of family life, was a spinster.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was the wife of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and author of "Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus."

Julia Ward Howe wrote the poem "Battle Hymn of the Republic", which was set to the tune of "John Brown's Body".

Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was greeted by Abraham Lincoln with the words, "So you're the little lady who wrote the book that started this big war."

Answer: Carrie

King's only daughter, Naomi, is a minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church.

Answer: He wrote some humorous stories such as "Never Bet the Devil Your Head"

If I had run across "Never Bet the Devil Your Head" in anything but a Poe anthology, I'd have guessed the author to be Mark Twain.

Poe married his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm, who died of tuberculosis before the age of 18. There is some doubt as to whether the marriage was ever actually consummated.

Poe made very little on his stories, and his experiences taught me the value of copyrighting intellectual property.

As a matter of fact, John Poe, his foster father, disowned Poe in 1830, when Edgar A. was about twenty-one.

Answer: Slavery

Frederick Douglass escaped from a plantation in Maryland and lived in the North, where he was a noted proponent of Abolitionism.

Answer: Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Anne Morrow Lindbergh was the wife of Charles Lindbergh and was the first American woman to receive a first-class glider's license.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an early women's rights advocate who was involved with the Seneca Falls Convention.

Amelia Earhart was better known as an aviator than was Anne Lindbergh, and no conclusive evidence of her death while flying over the Pacific has been found--if you want to talk about cold cases, hers has got to be the ultimate one.

Gloria Steinem is an American feminist who once worked as a Playboy Bunny in order to write an article on it during her freelancing days.

Answer: F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, epitomized the 1920s, also known as the Jazz Age and The Roaring '20s.

Ernest Hemingway was known for such works as "The Sun Also Rises" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls;" he was a contemporary of the Fitzgeralds.

Charles Carroll's main claim to fame is as the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence, and he signed himself as Charles Carroll of Carrollton, just to make sure he wouldn't be mistaken for one of his numerous cousins.

Jack Kerouac is best known for the novel of the Beat Generation titled "On the Road."

Answer: Mark Twain

Jack London was the author of "Call of the Wild," which has a dog as its protagonist.

Ellery Queen was the pen name of Frederic Dannay and his cousin, Manfred B. Lee, as well as the name of their detective protagonist.

Raymond Chandler was the creator of Philip Marlowe and one of the innovators of the 'hard-boiled' sub-genre of mystery.

Answer: Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton went on to serve as a senator and later as Secretary of State. The title of her book is taken from an African proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child."

Martha Washington probably wrote little but letters and the occasional recipe.

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of Theodore Roosevelt and a fifth cousin of her husband, Franklin Roosevelt--she was one bride who didn't have to change her last name when she married! By the way, she also wrote a newspaper column for many years.

Mary Todd Lincoln likely could have written a book about her shabby treatment at the hands of Robert Lincoln, the only one of her sons who did not predecease her.