A Literary Nightmare

A Literary Nightmare - Exam

1. In what year was 'A Literary Nightmare' written by Mark Twain?

A) 1888
B) 1876
C) 1896
D) 1905

2. What is the alternate title of 'A Literary Nightmare'?

A) 'Earworms and Nightmares'
B) 'Twain's Troubles'
C) 'The Jingle's Curse'
D) 'Punch, Brothers, Punch!'

3. Who were the original creators of the jingle featured in 'A Literary Nightmare'?

A) Mark Twain and his friends
B) Isaac Bromley, Noah Brooks, W. C. Wyckoff, and Moses W. Handy
C) W. C. Wyckoff and Isaac Bromley alone
D) The New York Tribune editors

4. How did Mark Twain initially encounter the jingle?

A) From his friend, the Reverend
B) At a university meeting
C) In a morning newspaper
D) On a tram ride with Isaac Bromley

5. What did Mark Twain do to cure himself of the jingle?

A) Visited a doctor for treatment
B) Ignored it until it went away on its own
C) Wrote a new poem to counteract it
D) He transferred it to his friend, the Reverend

6. What was one effect of the jingle on the Reverend?

A) He forgot how to preach entirely
B) He became more focused in his sermons
C) He wrote a new hymn inspired by it
D) It influenced his homilies, causing churchgoers to sway

7. How did Mark Twain ultimately help the Reverend?

A) By praying for him
B) By writing a counter-jingle
C) By ignoring it until the Reverend forgot
D) By transferring the jingle to university students

8. What inspired the name of the progressive bluegrass band Punch Brothers?

A) A popular song from the 1970s
B) A famous poem by Robert Frost
C) An old folk tale
D) 'A Literary Nightmare' and its jingle

9. In which publication was the original jingle published?

A) The Boston Globe
B) The New York Tribune
C) The Atlantic Monthly
D) Harper's Magazine

10. What did Richard Dawkins cite 'A Literary Nightmare' as an example of?

A) A literary masterpiece
B) A meme
C) A psychological disorder
D) A historical event

11. Which languages were translations of the jingle attempted in, according to The New York Times?

A) Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek
B) Chinese, Japanese, and Korean
C) German, Spanish, and Russian
D) French, Latin, and Italian

12. Who translated the jingle into French for 'Revue des Deux Mondes'?

A) Mark Twain
B) Isaac Bromley
C) Swinburne
D) Noah Brooks

13. When did the first Russian translation of the jingle appear?

A) 1915
B) 1896
C) 1876
D) 1949

14. What was Nina Daruzes' contribution to the jingle's translations?

A) She composed a musical adaptation
B) She published it in The New York Times
C) She translated it into Russian in 1949
D) She wrote an Italian version

15. In which medium was 'A Literary Nightmare' referenced as evidence of earworms?

A) A Broadway play
B) A radio broadcast
C) A Ted-Ed video
D) A scientific journal

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