Chapter Two: Opening Lines Trivia Quiz

Answer: A Room With a View

In Chapter One of E. M. Forster's "A Room with a View," Lucy Honeychurch and Miss Bartlett (a young Englishwoman and her older cousin/chaperone) complain that their rooms in Florence do not have a view of the Arno. The rest of that chapter gives the reader an amusing view of the characters and their society. By Chapter Two, they have been able to exchange rooms with other guests and have the views they desired.

Answer: Little Women

At the beginning of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women", Jo is lamenting that there will be no Christmas presents for her and her sisters. Chapter Two takes the reader to Christmas morning. Although there are no filled stockings nor packages under the tree, each of the girls does get a gift; their mother had made a book for each of them.

Answer: Pride and Prejudice

The names Bennet and Bingley should be enough to identify this line as part of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". Mr. Bennet is, of course, the father of five daughters, at least one of whom must marry into wealth in order to guarantee the future of all the others. Mr. Bingley, a man of means, eventually marries the daughter Jane.

Answer: Uncle Tom's Cabin

The word "mistress" may have a number of different meanings, but in this instance it means "a woman who owns a slave." Eliza is the slave girl in Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin", an 1852 novel that strongly influenced Northern attitudes about the evils of slavery in the period leading up to the American Civil War.

Answer: Anne of Green Gables

Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert are the brother and sister who took in the orphaned Anne Shirley at Green Gables when she was eleven years old. Matthew is a kind but shy man who indulges Anne at every turn and is one of Lucy Maud Montgomery's most memorable characters.

Answer: Great Expectations

In Chapter One of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations", we learn that Philip Pirrip (Pip) was orphaned at a very young age and was raised by his much older sister who had married the blacksmith, Joe Gargery. The reader does not learn much about Mrs. Joe (not even her Christian name!) except that she is exceptionally mean to Pip.

Answer: Wuthering Heights

The place located across the "heath and mud" is Wuthering Heights. The opening line in Chapter Two (and Chapter One) is spoken by one of the narrators, Mr. Lockwood. Lockwood is a tenant of Heathcliff many years after the main action of the story. Emily Brontė used the unusual device of having two narrators; Nelly Dean, who had been a servant in the Earnshaw household, tells Mr. Lockwood about the events that had occurred much earlier.

Answer: The Graduate

Charles Webb wrote "The Graduate" shortly after he himself had graduated from college. Benjamin, the graduate of this novel, is Ben Braddock. In Chapter One, Mrs. Robinson tried to seduce him. Already confused and unsure about his future, his walks provide a way to escape the questions that his parents have.

Answer: The Hobbit

The only clue needed is in the third word, Bilbo. Bilbo Baggins is the main character in J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit". He is also a supporting character in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Chapter Two of "The Hobbit" begins with Bilbo waking up the night after a party in which he is invited on a great adventure.

Answer: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Although the movie title is simply "The Wizard of Oz", the original name of L. Frank Baum's book began with "The Wonderful." Chapter One ends with Dorothy and Toto in the bed at home in Kansas as terrible weather is wailing outside. Chapter Two begins with the two of them awakening in Oz.

A children's tale or an economic and political allegory of the 1890's? Critics still debate the answer.