Saturday, February 18, 2006

Pop Quiz

Without Googling, match the quotation with the author who made it:

1. "I sometimes wonder when I read what even knowledgeable people say about writers and writing if they have any conception of what the life of a writer is like..."

2. "Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it."

3. "To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme."

4. "After great pain, a formal feeling comes."

5. "We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders."

6. "While you have a thing it can be taken from you . . . but when you give it, you have given it. No robber can take it from you. It is yours then for ever when you have given it. It will be yours always. That is to give."

7. "Courage -- or ego -- only extends so far, adrenalin runs out, nerves grow numb. Even fear and depression eventually collapse, unless you feed them parts of yourself."

8. "Blessed are they who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed."

9. "Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down."

10. "We live in an age that reads too much to be wise."


A. John Steinbeck
B. Carl Sandberg
C. PBW
D. PJ O'Rourke
E. Emily Dickinson
F. James Joyce
G. Herman Melville
H. Oscar Wilde
I. James A. Michener
J. Dr. Maya Angelou

Answers will be posted in comments later on today.

10 comments:

  1. Whew. Tough. Really tough.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 2 is P J O'Rourke
    3 is Herman Melville
    4 is Emily Dickinson
    9 is Carl Sandberg
    10 is Oscar Wilde

    The rest I don't know. But I can sing the them song to Bonanza. Does that count?

    ReplyDelete
  3. A. 1
    B. 4
    C. 9
    D. 2
    E. 10
    F. 3
    G. 5
    H. 8
    I. 7
    J. 6

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous10:05 AM

    Dean wrote: Whew. Tough. Really tough.

    This will count toward your final grade, too. Lol.

    Darlene Ryan wrote: But I can sing the them song to Bonanza. Does that count?

    That makes you the teacher's pet. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. This will count toward your final grade, too. Lol.

    Oh, man. I'm in trouble. I'd better ace the essay part.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous3:19 PM

    7. C

    I remember that entry pretty well, having pondered over it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I haven't a clue, since my brain doesn't remember that kind of thing very well. However, I wanted to share a favorite quote from one of the writers on the list.

    I bought a coffee mug for my husband a long time ago. On it is an Oscar Wilde quote: "Life is too important to be taken seriously." It got dropped and the handle broke off, making it unusable for coffee anymore. I keep my pens in it because I couldn't bear to throw away such a great sentiment. :)

    Linda

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous9:21 PM

    Pop Quiz Answers:

    1I. "I sometimes wonder when I read what even knowledgeable people say about writers and writing if they have any conception of what the life of a writer is like..." -- attributed to prolific historical author James A. Michener. An interesting bit of trivia: Michener's first book, the Pulitzer-prize winning Tales of the South Pacific, was not published until he was 40 years old.

    2D. "Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it." -- from the most quoted living man in the Book of Humorous Quotations, former National Lampoon editor and novelist PJ O'Rourke.

    3G. "To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme." -- the mighty bane of my high school years, Moby-Dick author Herman Melville, offered this one.

    4E. "After great pain, a formal feeling comes." -- so said the reclusive redhead, poet Emily Dickinson.

    5J. "We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders." -- the words that kept me from becoming another Emily Dickinson, provided by my favorite living poet, Dr. Maya Angelou.

    6F. "While you have a thing it can be taken from you . . . but when you give it, you have given it. No robber can take it from you. It is yours then for ever when you have given it. It will be yours always. That is to give." -- a rather beautiful quotation from the writer whose works I have cursed more often than any other in existence, James Joyce.

    7C. "Courage -- or ego -- only extends so far, adrenalin runs out, nerves grow numb. Even fear and depression eventually collapse, unless you feed them parts of yourself." -- Yep, mine.

    8B. "Blessed are they who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed." -- another Pulitzer Prize winner -- and ye gods I spelled his name wrong, didn't I? -- Carl Sandburg

    9A. "Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down." -- who could have guessed that the winner of the Pulitzer and the Nobel, John Steinbeck, was a bit of a cheetah? Lol.

    10H. "We live in an age that reads too much to be wise." -- the very wry, witty and wise Oscar Wilde came up with this one.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Terrific quotes. The only three I correctly identified were PJ, PBW, and Oscar Wilde.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sadly, I didn't get a one of 'em. I had my suspicions about a few, but that doesn't count.

    I like the idea of Steinbeck as a cheetah.

    Michener was motivation to me--until I realized I'd surpassed him in age and wasn't anywhere near publication. Well, maybe he was still motivation, 'cause I finally got started and began working the plan. Maybe when I'm 50...

    ReplyDelete

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