Literary Specialists – Flashcards
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What movement did Buckley lead throughout his life, particularly during the 60s and 70s?
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The conservative movement
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Why was Buckley considered the leader of his movement?
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He was the one conservative voice that could be heard through the liberal media at this time of change in the US
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What types of books did Buckley read?
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Conservative, nonfiction, political books and fictional mystery novels about CIA spies and international affairs
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What background did Buckley come from?
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Irish Catholic family, very wealthy
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What religion and type of government did Buckley think should the US government be based upon?
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Catholicism and democracy, specifically free market capitalism
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Where did David Foster Wallace get his idea for The Broom of The System?
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A girlfriend told him she would rather be a fictional character than a real person, he wondered why
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What is post-modernism? (David Foster Wallace)
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The focus on individual reality and reality is different for everyone
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What did David Foster Wallace major in?
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Philosophy and English
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What mental disorder is David Foster Wallace suffer from?
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Severe depression
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What novel was Wallace working on at the time of his death?
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The Pale King (never finished, but it was published posthumously)
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Where was Laurie Halse Anderson born?
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Potsdam, NY
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What challenge did Laurie Halse Anderson overcome as a young child?
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Needed extra reading support and speech therapy
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What did Laurie Halse Anderson do when she was 16?
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Lived in Denmark as an exchange student
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What is Laurie Halse Anderson's most famous book?
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...
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What are 3 themes prominent in her works?
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Rape, family dysfunctions, body issues
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How did Jean Weber's life at Vassar influence her writing?
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Many works were set at all-women's prep schools and her stories reflected her experiences with her friends at Vassar College
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How did Jean Webster show her feminist side in her writings?
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Most of her protagonists were strong female characters. She always encouraged women to get an education through her stories
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Which book of Jean Webster was nothing like the others?
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Four-Pools Mystery
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What social issues did Jean Webster address in her writing?
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Feminism/women's role in the workforce, economic status, slavery, care for children, divorce
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What was the literary device Jean Webster used in all her writing?
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Humor
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Which book did John Irving originally write while he attended the Iowa Writer's Workshop?
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Setting Free the Bears
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What literary technique does John Irving often use?
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Telling a story, within a story
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Which animal often makes symbolic, often physical, appearances in John Irvin's novels?
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A bear
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How did being sexually abused in John Irving's childhood influence his writing?
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Many characters he wrote about suffered from sexual abuse as well
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Which novel did John Irving receive the most praise for and what were the major themes of this novel?
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"The World According to Garp," with themes such as death, gender role, and sexuality were prominent
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What kind of people did Eudora Welty write about?
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Normal people who were not usually protagonists such as hitch-hikers, deaf people, and beauticians. She gave voice to the voiceless.
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What makes Eudora Welty stand out from other writers?
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Crisp imagery, wry preciseness
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What are some of the main themes of Eudora Welty's works?
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The South, time, and the journey
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How did Welty incorporate gardening into her works?
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She loved to garden and wrote about nature in her works, especially names of flowers
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Why does John Green write Young Adult literature?
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Teenagers are doing many important things for the first time in their lives. He believes they should be treated like intelligent people since they are so open to philosophical ideas.
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What is John Green's philosophy on reading?
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"Books belong to their readers," meaning that readers should be allowed to read books without having to worry about any other deeper meaning that isn't personally meaningful to them
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Which of John Green's novels is the most heavily based on his high school career?
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"Looking for Alaska"
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How did John Green's time as a chaplain and his friendship with Ester Earl influence his writing?
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He began to write about his experiences. Meeting Esther gave him a new perspective on what it was like to be a dying teenager
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Why is it important to imagine people complexly? (John Green)
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This allows you to feel greater empathy towards them. Knowing that they have hopes, dreams, and fears just like you do can help you to work better with them.
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How did the space race influence Isaac Asimov's writing?
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It aided his obsession with space, space travel, and other planets
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How did the atomic bombs dropped in Japan influence Isaac Asimov's writing?
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It gave him a way to show the fall of the Earth. A common theme was that the Earth and been destroyed in a nuclear war.
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What is psychohistory? What role does it play in Isaac Asimov's stories?
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The belief that the future of a certain group of people can be predicted by looking at their past. It plays a role in "Foundation Trilogy" where they use it to prevent the collapse of a civilization
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What are the three laws of robotics? (Isaac Asimov)
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1) A robot may not injure a human or allow a human to be harmed through inaction 2) A robot must obey orders given to it unless they conflict with the fire law 3) A robot must protect its own existence unless it conflicts with the first two laws
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What role did religion play in Isaac Asimov's writing?
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Religion because it reflected Asimov's personal beliefs that the ideas of the human were more important than the ideals of a God
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How did Robert Ludlum's job in the Marine Corps affect his writing?
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His job exposed him to war and life outside his sheltered life in the US. All he ever wrote about had to do with war and espionage/international affairs
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How did Robert Ludlum's jobs in theater, acting, and producing affect his writing?
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He always knew the exact image he wanted to portray, so this really came out in the excess description of his novels
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What is Robert Ludlum's most popular series, and what did it get made into?
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The Bourne Series, movies
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What are some common themes shown throughout Ludlum's novels?
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Excessive description, relatable characters, Cold War, corrupt government
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What are two reasons that Robert Ludlum might have written unders pseudonyms?
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Keep suspense going even outside the novel Incorporate his children somewhere in his writing
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What was Ernest Hemingway's style based off of?
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The style he learned at his first job for the newspaper, Kansas City Star
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What event caused Ernest Hemingway to be mentally unstable throughout his life and probably lead to his own death?
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His father committing suicide
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What were some major themes in Ernest Hemingway's novels?
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Love, war, wilderness, and loss
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What time period was Ernest Hemingway a part of?
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The lost generation
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How was Ernest Hemingway influenced by Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald?
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They shaped his writing especially Gertrude who became somewhat of an editor and she completely changed his writing style
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What tragic event did Stephen King witness as a child and does not seem to remember?
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His friend getting hit by a train while they were outside playing
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What book did Stephen King throw away?
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Carrie
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What are three common themes seen throughout Stephen King's works?
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Childhood innocence, strong women, the supernatural
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Why did Stephen King write under a pseudonym for a short period of time?
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So he could prove that his fame was real and it wasn't by chance that he got published
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What 3 kind of books is Stephen King known for?
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Fantasy, horror, and science fiction
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Which two schools did Fitzgerald attend before went to Princeton?
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St. Paul Academy and Newman School
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Which one of Fitzgerald's novels' was an instant success and lead him to his celebrity status?
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"This Side of Paradise"
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Where did F. Scott Fitzgerald move for a change of scenery and ended up being where he wrote the Great Gatsby?
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France
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Who did F. Scott Fitzgerald befriend in France that he had very different opinions than him?
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Ernest Hemingway
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What was Zelda, Fitzgerald's wife, diagnosed with?
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Schizophrenia
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What was Jack London's most famous novel and why?
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"The Call of the Wild," because it was an adventure story about a dog which was unique for that time period
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What are some jobs Jack London did other than being a writer?
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Gold prospector, seaman, hobo, rancher
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What was the Wolf House? (Jack London)
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His dream house that burned down and he never was able to live in it or rebuild it
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How many works did Jack London write in his lifetime?
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Hundreds of short stories, over 50 novels, and some essays/plays
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How many words did Jack London write in a day, how many a week?
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1000 words/day, 6 days/week
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How does Toni Morrison's background affect her writing?
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She knew a lot about African American roots and expressed this in her writing by creating plots, settings, and characters
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Name something about Toni Morrison's writing that is seen repeatedly throughout most of her books
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Themes, characterization, african american heritage
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How do Toni Morrison's stories usually end?
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Usually there is no clear ending, it open to interpretation
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What is one major theme in the novel "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison?
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Standard of beauty, innocence, abuse
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Toni Morrison was very versatile in the types of literature that she wrote. Which was her most popular?
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Novels
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Did did Truman Capote suffer with his whole life?
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Abandonment issues
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Who was a childhood friend of Truman Capote that is also a famous author?
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Harper Lee
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What novel by Truman Capote was semi-autobiographical and why?
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"Other Voices, Other Rooms" because it displayed homosexuality (he was homosexual) and childhood experiences
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What is Truman Capote's most popular novel?
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"In Cold Blood"
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What are two literary devices Capote used in his writing?
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Imagery, poetic prose, symbolism, similies
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What generation of literature does J.D. Salinger fit into?
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He's a link between other writers of WWII, the lost generation, and the Beat Generation
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What are 3 examples of J.D. Salinger's themes?
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Loss of innocence, insincerity of adults, need for balance
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How did WWII affect J.D. Salinger's life?
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After WWII, he went into a much darker place and his writing was more sarcastic
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What makes J.D. Salinger's characters so realistic?
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Dialoge and indirect characterization
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How is religion relevant to J.D. Salinger's work and life?
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He experienced new religions and wrote about the the Glass family doing the same
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What does J.D. Salinger's taste in women say about his view on childhood innocence?
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He was obsessed with innocence
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What occupation did both of Thomas Perry's parents have?
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Public school teachers
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What were Thomas Perry's majors in college?
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English and American literature
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What were a few jobs that Thomas Perry had?
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Commercial fisherman, factory laborer, weapons mechanic
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Which one of his books did he receive the Edgar Allan Poe Award for?
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"The Butcher's Boy"
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What does Thomas Perry incorporate in all of his works?
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Precise detail
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Why are the settings in Barbara Kingsolver's novels extremely accurate?
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She only writes about places she has lived in or been to such as the setting in "The Bean Tree"
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What did Barbara Kingsolver's father do to influence her writing?
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He moved their family to different places to offer his services in less-fortunate countries. This really opened up her eyes to different cultures in the world
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What is a common theme seen in Barbara Kingsolver's writing?
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Different social and political issues in society today
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What did Barbara Kingsolver study in college and recieve her master's degree in?
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Biology
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What award did Barbara Kingsolver establish in the late 1900's?
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The Bellwether Prize
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What was the title of the first poem Dorothy Parker sold to Vanity Fair?
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"Any Porch"
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Dorothy Parker's writing was most noted for her what?
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Wit
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What group of writers was Dorothy Parker a member of?
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The Algonquin Round Table
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Why was Dorothy Parker fired from Vanity Fair?
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In one of her criticisms she gave an actress a bad review and her husband was an advertiser for the magazine
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What subject matter does Dorothy Parker's poem "Resume" deal with?
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Suicide
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What is Jack Kerouac main theme?
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Traveling
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Why did Jack Kerouac drop out of Columbia?
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He fought with his coach, got kicked off the football team, and lost his scholarship
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Who influenced Jack Kerouac when writing "On the Road"?
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Neal Cassiy
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What is Jack Kerouac's writing style?
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Spontaneous prose
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What was a major outcome of being famous for Jack Kerouac?
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He became an alcoholic
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At what magazine did Sylvia Plath do an internship?
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Mademoiselle
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Which of Sylvia Plath's works is autobiographical?
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"The Bell Jar"
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What are 3 major themes in Sylvia Plath's works?
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Death, darkness, isolation
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Which poet did Sylvia Plath end up marrying?
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Ted Hughes
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Almost all of Sylvia Plath's works were published _______.
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Posthumously
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Like his father, Raymond Chandler struggled with______
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Alcoholism
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What Raymond Chandler lacked in plot, he made up for in ______
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Imagery
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How is Phillip Marlowe different than other detectives in fiction novels?
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He was sexually, racially, politically, and environmentally aware
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Raymond Chandler made his money by writing _______
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Screenplays
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Raymond Chandler is considered the father of ____ fiction
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Hard-boiled detective
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Why did Robert Frost move to England for 3 years?
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To get published
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What poem from Robert Frost was read at JFK's inauguration?
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"The Gift Outright"
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What is the sound of sense? (Robert Frost)
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Making words go beyond their meaning to something deeper and more personal to the individual
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What 2 collections of poems by Robert Frost were published in England?
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"A Boy's Will" and "North of Boston"
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Who gave Robert Frost his first farm in New Hampshire?
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His grandfather
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What was the most important educational factor of Ambrose Bierce's childhood?
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His fathers library
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What was Ambrose Bierce's first short story?
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"The Haunted Valley"
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Why did Ambrose Bierce accept the job at the Examier?
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Minimal editorial intrusion
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What was Bierce considered the master of and why?
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Macabre because his stories either centered on death or instilled a sense of terror in the reader
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What are some techniques/themes used in "One of the Missing" by Ambrose Bierce?
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Strving to prove confidence, psychological mind play, death, terror, time
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What is Hinton's greatest strength in her writing?
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Characterization
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Does Hinton write using experiences from her own life or does she fictionalize everything in her novels?
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She uses her own life experiences
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What are some common themes found throughout Hinton's novels?
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Absent parents, gang violence, loyalty, friendship, coming of age
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How did Hinton change the young adult genre?
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She wrote about what was actually happening in the lives of teenagers
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What awards has Hinton received for her writing?
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New York Times "best novel" for the outsiders, and Oklahoma writing hall of fame
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What is the full name of the disease that killed Flannery O'Connor?
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Systematic Lupus Erythematosus
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What did Flannery do at age six to get recorded?
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Trained a chicken to walk backwards
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What did Flannery major in in college?
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Sociology and English
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What does the peacock symbolize in Flannery's works?
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Immortality and spiritual ranking
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What pope blessed Flannery when she was in Rome?
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Pope Pius XII
