Canadian Lit 101 Trivia Quiz

Answer: L. M. Montgomery

First published in 1908, "Anne of Green Gables" was the first in a series that Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) wrote about the adventures of Anne Shirley (later Blythe), a red-haired (to her everlasting disgust) orphan. In the first book, Anne is an eleven year old who comes to stay with a couple who had planned to foster a boy who could offer assistance in running their farm, but who quickly find themselves enchanted by her infectious enthusiasm.

Her final appearance, as a grandmother in her seventies, is in the collection of poems and short stories "The Blythes Are Quoted", completed near the end of Montgomery's life, but not published until 2009.

Answer: Stephen Leacock

First published in 1912, this collection is probably the best known from one of Canada's most renowned writers of humor, after whom the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour was named. Jack Benny and Groucho Marx have both acknowledged him as an influence of the development of their comedy styles. "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town", while based on his observations in the town of Orillia, is set in the fictional town of Mariposa, which is a composite of many small towns that could be found across the country, and which is inhabited by small town archetypes whose portrayal rings so true that one can still read them today with a sense of recognition.

Although he is best remembered for his humorous writing, Leacock (1869-1944) was also a serious academic writer on political theory, as well as producing biographies of Mark Twain and Charles Dickens.

Answer: John Kenneth Galbraith

John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) was an enormously respected economist, and the author of a number of books which made his ideas comprehensible to the layperson, several of which became best sellers. These include "The Affluent Society" (1958), "The New Industrial State" (1967) and "Economics and the Public Purpose" (1973), which are sometimes referred to as the American capitalism trilogy.

In "The Affluent Society", he argued that the United States economy was developing in such a way as to perpetuate inequitable distribution of incomes, with too little emphasis being placed on the development of public infrastructures.

He advocated a social change from a private production economy to a public investment economy, and urged investment in education as being essential for the future.

Answer: Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow (1915-2005) was born in Lachine, Quebec, although his family moved to Chicago when he was nine, so he technically qualifies for this quiz. He has won a number of prestigious awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1976, for "Humboldt's Gift"; the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976, 'for the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work'; and the National Book Award three times: in 1954 for "The Adventures of Augie March", in 1965 for "Herzog", and in 1971 for Mr Sammler's Planet".

"Herzog" is mostly composed of the letters mentally written, but never sent, by Moses Herzog, a middle-aged man who has just been through his second divorce, a particularly unpleasant one. Through them, and the flashbacks to earlier events in his life, we watch Herzog come to terms with his regrets about his life, and get ready to face the future.

Answer: Margaret Laurence

Margaret Laurence (1926-1987) was a major figure in Canadian literature during the twentieth century, writing novels and short stories with both adults and children as the target audience. She started writing around 1950, while living in Africa (where her husband was stationed for work), and continued until she returned to Canada in the 1960s. "The Stone Angel", first published in 1964, alternates between the present, in which ninety-year-old Hagar Shipley is living with her son and trying to avoid being placed in a nursing home, and various moments of her past, as she comes to terms with the events that have led to her present situation.

Answer: Marshall McLuhan

Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) is usually considered one of the founders of the field of media studies, in which one considers the nature of the medium of communication, not just the content. The 1964 best seller "Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man" introduced us to the concept that 'the medium is the message', as well as the fact that we are becoming a 'global village'.

His theories were widely discussed in the 1960s, but came to be seen as somewhat outdated until the rise of the internet made them seem relevant once again in the 1990s - after all, he had predicted it, in essence, in "The Gutenberg Galaxy" (1962).

Answer: Alice Munro

Alice Munro (born in 1931) was awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, which cited her as a 'master of the contemporary short story.' Among other awards, she received the 2009 Man Booker International Prize in recognition of her entire body of work to that point.

Many of her stories are set in southwestern Ontario, and that region often plays a significant role in her characters' attitudes. Her work has been compared to that of Chekhov, in its focus on one specific moment of insight rather than on plot development.

The collection "Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You" was published in 1974.

Answer: Margaret Atwood

MArgaret Atwood (born 1939) has published over a dozen books of poetry, but is best known as a novelist. While she does not like having her work called feminist, she often features female characters who are dominated by a patriarchy that surrounds them.

This is certainly true of "The Handmaid's Tale" (published in 1985), set in the near future when a totalitarian theocracy has taken control of the United States, and removed all rights from women. It is narrated by Offred (pronounced Of Fred), one of the handmaids who are used as breeding stock.

It won the 1985 Governor General's Award for English Language Fiction and the 1987 Arthur C. Clarke Award, as well as being nominated for the Booker Prize and a Nebula Award in 1986. A 1990 film of the book used a screenplay by Harold Pinter, and there have been adaptations for radio, stage and television.

Answer: Michael Ondaatje

This 1992 book follows the interactions of four people whose paths cross at an Italian villa during the late stages of World War II. The titular character (who turns out to be Hungarian, despite being tagged as English because of his accent) has been so badly burned as to be unrecognisable, and does not initially know who he is. The novel moves back and forth between events at the villa and his previous experiences in the African campaign, and Almasy reveals details of his story to those around him. The book won the Booker Prize and the Governor General's Award, both in 1992, before being adapted into an award-winning film in 1996.

Michael Ondaatje (born 1943) first started his literary career as a poet, with several acclaimed books, including "The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left-Handed Poems", published in 1970. However, it is "The English Patient" that first springs to most people's minds when they hear his name.

Answer: Yann Martel

Although his parents are French Canadian, Yann Martel was born (in 1963) in Spain, where his parents were studying. Between their various academic postings, and subsequent positions in the Canadian foreign service, the family lived in Portugal, Alaska, British Columbia, Costa Rica and France, with periodic stays in Ottawa.

His first short story, "Mister Ali and the Barrelmaker", was published in 1988, and his first novel, "Self", in 1996. However, it was his second novel, "Life of Pi", published in 2001, which brought him international attention, receiving a number of prestigious wards, and becoming a best seller in multiple countries.

In it, a young boy named Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi for short) survives a shipwreck in the Pacific Ocean, spending 227 days in a life boat he shares with a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. Or does he?