Stephen Crane Trivia Quiz

Answer: New Jersey

Stephen Crane was born in Newark, New Jersey, on November 1, 1871. Crane was often sick as a young boy, and his parents feared that he would die at an early age. Despite his frail health, young Stephen learned to read at about age four. He also began writing poetry before he ever attended elementary school.

Answer: He briefly attended Syracuse University.

Stephen Crane was probably destined to become a writer. His father was a prominent Methodist minister, and his mother published fiction and was a member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Both of Crane's parents died before Stephen reached the age of twenty.

In 1890, Crane attempted to study engineering at Lafayette University in Pennsylvania, but he then transferred to Syracuse University in upstate New York - he only lasted one semester at Syracuse. After that, Crane devoted his life to professional writing until his death in 1900.

Answer: Maggie

The full title of Stephen Crane's first novel is "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets." Crane vividly portrayed the squalor and poverty of the Lower East Side in New York City. Crane even dressed as a homeless person and lived in a "flophouse" in order to do research for this novel. Major magazine editors refused to print this manuscript because of its realism and "immoral" images. Crane ended up publishing "Maggie" on his own in 1893.

Answer: The U.S. Civil War

Stephen Crane's most acclaimed literary work is his novel "The Red Badge of Courage." The story takes place during an unnamed battle in the U.S. Civil War, 1861-1865. Crane effectively describes the horror and confusion of combat through the eyes of the story's protagonist, Private Henry Fleming of the Union army. Combat veterans who read "The Red Badge of Courage" could not believe that Crane had never experienced warfare - his descriptions of battle were powerfully realistic. "The Red Badge of Courage" made Crane an international literary star.

Answer: from a rifle butt

Henry Fleming quickly loses his delusions of grandeur and glory about combat and realizes that warfare is bloody and destructive. He deserts his battalion in the original battle scenes and escapes into a forest. Fleming eventually decides to return to his battalion. On his way back, he becomes involved in a dispute with a fleeing member of the Union artillery.

The artilleryman belts Fleming with a rifle butt, inflicting a head wound on young Fleming. This gash becomes a "badge of courage" which gains Fleming considerable respect with his fellow soldiers.

In a subsequent battle, Fleming fights with insane bravery against Confederate forces.

Answer: the oiler

"The Open Boat" is a short story which Stephen Crane wrote about a personal experience with a shipwreck. A ship on which Crane was traveling sank on a trip to Cuba in 1896; Crane and several other passengers were stranded on a dinghy off the Florida coast before being rescued.

In "The Open Boat" story, four men are on a small boat, at the mercy of the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Billie, the oiler, appears to be the physically strongest of the four men, but he is the only character who drowns near the shoreline; the captain, the correspondent and the cook manage to swim to safety.

Answer: The Blue Hotel

"The Blue Hotel" takes place in Fort Romper, Nebraska, inside a hotel during a raging snowstorm. The main action in this tale concerns a card game played near a wood stove. Scully is the owner of the hotel, and Johnnie is his son. The Swede is an unfriendly, paranoiac character who accuses Johnnie of cheating at cards.

The two men then get into a scuffle, and the Swede beats Johnnie up. The Swede then leaves the Blue Hotel and is later killed in a saloon. "George's Mother" was published in 1896 and "The Third Violet" appeared in 1897. "The Black Riders" was a compilation of Stephen Crane's poetry which was published in 1895.

Answer: Greece and Turkey

In 1898, Stephen Crane was hired by the "New York Journal" to cover the hostilities between Greece and Turkey. Crane and a close companion named Cora Taylor traveled to Europe in March 1898. Crane reported on one of the major battles of the war, the Turks' assault on the Greeks at Velestino.

After just one month of fighting, a truce was called by the two nations and an armistice was signed on May 30. Crane and Taylor then departed Greece and headed to England.

Answer: tuberculosis

Stephen Crane's health deteriorated rapidly during 1898 and 1899. He decided to seek treatment for his weakening lungs at a spa in Badenweiler, Germany. Crane's close friend Cora Taylor accompanied the author on this trip. One week later, however, Crane succumbed to tuberculosis; he was only 28 years old at the moment of death. Taylor arranged to have Crane's body taken to the USA. Crane was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Hillside, New Jersey.

Answer: Joseph Conrad

Polish-born English author Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) was one of Stephen Crane's literary friends. Conrad, Henry James and H.G. Wells spent Christmas 1899 with Stephen Crane at Crane's home in Breden, England. Conrad greatly admired Crane's realism and keen eye for description. Conrad first published his "Heart of Darkness" in 1899, shortly before Crane's death.