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Mark Twain
Contributed by: Guy
  • 1. What is Mark Twain's real name?
A) John Adams
B) William Shakespeare
C) Samuel Clemens
D) Thomas Jefferson
  • 2. In which state was Mark Twain born?
A) Texas
B) California
C) Missouri
D) New York
  • 3. Which of the following books did Mark Twain write?
A) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
B) Pride and Prejudice
C) Moby Dick
D) The Great Gatsby
  • 4. What is the title of Mark Twain's first successful novel?
A) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
B) The Innocents Abroad
C) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
D) Life on the Mississippi
  • 5. In what year was 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' first published?
A) 1885
B) 1850
C) 1900
D) 1876
  • 6. What is the name of the famous satirical short story by Mark Twain about two boys who switch places?
A) Huckleberry Finn
B) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
C) The Prince and the Pauper
D) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
  • 7. Which quote is often attributed to Mark Twain?
A) The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.
B) All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
C) I have a dream.
D) To be or not to be, that is the question.
  • 8. What profession did Mark Twain have before becoming a writer?
A) Doctor
B) Lawyer
C) Riverboat Pilot
D) Farmer
  • 9. What was the name of Mark Twain's wife?
A) Harriet Beecher Stowe
B) Emily Dickinson
C) Louisa May Alcott
D) Olivia Langdon
  • 10. What is the name of Mark Twain's childhood friend who inspired the character of Tom Sawyer?
A) Tom Blankenship
B) Huck Finn
C) Joe Harper
D) Ben Rogers
  • 11. What year did Mark Twain die?
A) 1910
B) 1930
C) 1920
D) 1900
  • 12. In which city did Mark Twain spend a significant portion of his adult life?
A) Hartford, Connecticut
B) New York City, New York
C) Los Angeles, California
D) Chicago, Illinois
  • 13. In which year was 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County' published?
A) 1865
B) 1894
C) 1884
D) 1876
  • 14. What mechanical device did Mark Twain invest in that ultimately failed?
A) Paige Compositor
B) Steamboat engine
C) Typewriter
D) Printing press
  • 15. Who helped Mark Twain manage his finances and copyrights after financial setbacks?
A) Grant Marsh
B) Orion Clemens
C) Henry Huttleston Rogers
D) Charles Dudley Warner
  • 16. What was the name of Mark Twain's brother who became Secretary of the Nevada Territory?
A) Pleasant Hannibal Clemens
B) Orion Clemens
C) Benjamin Clemens
D) Henry Clemens
  • 17. What is the title of Mark Twain's satirical pamphlet about Belgian atrocities?
A) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
B) King Leopold's Soliloquy
C) Pudd'nhead Wilson
D) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
  • 18. Which war caused Mark Twain to leave river piloting?
A) World War I
B) The Spanish-American War
C) The Civil War
D) The Revolutionary War
  • 19. What was the name of the steamboat on which Mark Twain's brother Henry died?
A) Mississippi Queen
B) Hannibal Clipper
C) Nevada Belle
D) A. B. Chambers
  • 20. Which organization did Mark Twain join as a member to explore parapsychology?
A) American Anti-Imperialist League
B) Virginia City Territorial Enterprise
C) Society for Psychical Research
D) International Typographical Union
  • 21. What was the cause of Mark Twain's death?
A) Explosion
B) Pneumonia
C) Colonialism
D) Heart attack
  • 22. In which year did Mark Twain join his brother Orion as secretary to Nevada Territory governor James W. Nye?
A) 1861
B) 1864
C) 1870
D) 1867
  • 23. Which community did Twain and his brother visit during their stagecoach journey across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains?
A) A mining town in Virginia
B) New York
C) San Francisco
D) The Mormon community in Salt Lake City
  • 24. What was Twain's first job upon arriving in Virginia City, Nevada?
A) Journalist at Territorial Enterprise
B) Stagecoach driver
C) Teacher
D) Miner on the Comstock Lode
  • 25. Under what pen name did Twain first write for the Virginia City newspaper?
A) Dan DeQuille
B) Mark Twain
C) Samuel Clemens
D) Charles Langdon
  • 26. What was the title of Twain's first humorous travel account published on February 3, 1863?
A) "Roughing It"
B) "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
C) "The Innocents Abroad"
D) "Letter From Carson – re: Joe Goodman; party at Gov. Johnson's; music"
  • 27. Which book was inspired by Twain's experiences in the American West?
A) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
B) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
C) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
D) Roughing It
  • 28. What inspired Twain to write "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"?
A) A trip to Hawaii
B) A Mediterranean cruise
C) His journey across the Great Plains
D) His experiences in Angels Camp, California
  • 29. Which newspaper first published Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"?
A) The Saturday Press
B) New-York Tribune
C) Sacramento Union
D) Territorial Enterprise
  • 30. What was Twain's role on the Sacramento Union trip to the Sandwich Islands?
A) Travel agent
B) Photographer
C) Reporter
D) Editor
  • 31. Where did Mark Twain marry Olivia Langdon?
A) New York City
B) Elmira, New York
C) Buffalo, New York
D) Hartford, Connecticut
  • 32. Who was one of the abolitionists Twain met through Olivia Langdon?
A) Frederick Douglass
B) Harriet Tubman
C) Sojourner Truth
D) W.E.B. Du Bois
  • 33. Which invention did Twain patent that was commercially successful?
A) Self-pasting scrapbook
B) History trivia game
C) Improvement in Adjustable and Detachable Straps for Garments
D) Paige typesetting machine
  • 34. Who was the inventor with whom Twain developed a close friendship?
A) George Westinghouse
B) Nikola Tesla
C) Thomas Edison
D) Alexander Graham Bell
  • 35. Which city did Twain visit due to a cholera epidemic, canceling his lecture?
A) Australia
B) New Zealand
C) Honolulu, Hawaii
D) Fiji
  • 36. What book resulted from Twain's three months in India during his world tour?
A) Following the Equator
B) The Innocents Abroad
C) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
D) Life on the Mississippi
  • 37. What was the name of Twain's daughter who wished to study piano in Vienna?
A) Jean
B) Susy
C) Livy
D) Clara
  • 38. Where did Twain and his family spend the summer after consulting with Dr. Jonas Henrik Kellgren?
A) Belgravia, London
B) Sanna, Sweden
C) London, England
D) Vienna, Austria
  • 39. What was the name of Twain's home in Redding, Connecticut?
A) Stormfield
B) Buffalo Estate
C) Hartford House
D) Elmira Manor
  • 40. Which clubs did Mark Twain perform solo humorous talks for?
A) Authors' Club, Beefsteak Club, Vagabonds
B) Poets' Circle, Humorists' Haven
C) Dramatists Guild, Comedy Enthusiasts
D) Shakespeare Society, Literary Lions
  • 41. What was the title of Twain's speech in German that amused the audience?
A) "Der Zauber des Englischen"
B) "Das Wunder der Französischen Sprache"
C) "Die Schrecken der Deutschen Sprache"
D) "Die Freude der Italienischen Sprache"
  • 42. Which university invited Twain to speak in 1901?
A) Harvard University
B) Yale University
C) Oxford University
D) Princeton University
  • 43. In which year did Mark Twain form the Angel Fish and Aquarium Club?
A) 1904
B) 1908
C) 1910
D) 1906
  • 44. What was the value of Twain's estate estimated by officials?
A) $750,000
B) $600,000
C) $300,000
D) $471,000
  • 45. Which friend did Twain help by selling autographed portraits after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake?
A) Henry Rogers
B) George Washington Cable
C) Ina Coolbrith
D) Dorothy Quick
  • 46. What did Twain testify in favor of before a Congressional joint committee in 1906?
A) Extending copyright protection to the author's lifetime plus 50 years.
B) Reducing taxes on authors' incomes
C) Implementing stricter plagiarism laws
D) Creating public domain status for older works
  • 47. Which university awarded Twain a Doctorate of Law in 1907?
A) Cambridge University
B) Imperial College London
C) University of London
D) Oxford University
  • 48. What was Mark Twain's initial career focus?
A) Chronicling historical events
B) Writing political essays
C) Creating scientific literature
D) Writing light, humorous verse
  • 49. What aspect of Twain's writing style is he particularly known for?
A) Rendering colloquial speech
B) Using complex, archaic language
C) Focusing solely on abstract themes
D) Writing in a formal, academic tone
  • 50. What was a challenge in preserving Twain's speeches and lectures?
A) They were written in an unknown language
B) They were all destroyed by critics
C) They were never spoken publicly
D) Many were lost or not recorded
  • 51. What newspaper did Mark Twain write for when he met Tom Fitch?
A) The New York Saturday Press
B) The Territorial Enterprise
C) The San Francisco Alta California
D) The Virginia Daily Union
  • 52. Which school did Twain become a writer of during his early career?
A) Sagebrush School
B) Silver-tongued Orators
C) New York Press Society
D) Virginia City Writers
  • 53. What was the name of the steamer on which Twain rode to Hawaii for his first commissioned travel letters?
A) Territorial Enterprise
B) Ajax
C) Quaker City
D) Alta California
  • 54. Which newspaper commissioned Twain to write letters about his travel experiences after the popularity of 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County'?
A) Virginia Daily Union
B) New York Saturday Press
C) Sacramento Union
D) San Francisco Alta California
  • 55. In which publication were the sketches that became 'Life on the Mississippi' originally published?
A) The Atlantic Monthly
B) San Francisco Alta California
C) Virginia Daily Union
D) New York Saturday Press
  • 56. What did Ernest Hemingway say all modern American literature comes from?
A) 'Life on the Mississippi'
B) 'The Prince and the Pauper'
C) 'Tom Sawyer'
D) 'Huckleberry Finn'
  • 57. What is a common theme in 'The Prince and the Pauper'?
A) Friendship and loyalty
B) Social commentary through role reversal
C) Travel and discovery
D) Adventure and exploration
  • 58. Who co-owned Charles L. Webster and Company with Mark Twain?
A) Ulysses S. Grant
B) Thomas Lounsbury
C) Henry Huttleston Rogers
D) Charles L. Webster
  • 59. Which magazine first published 'The Private History of a Campaign That Failed'?
A) Scribner's Magazine
B) The Century Magazine
C) Atlantic Monthly
D) Harper's Magazine
  • 60. Which author did Twain criticize in his article 'Literary Offenses'?
A) Robert Louis Stevenson
B) George Eliot
C) James Fenimore Cooper
D) Jane Austen
  • 61. What is the title of Twain's work depicting visits of Satan to earth?
A) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
B) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
C) Pudd'nhead Wilson
D) The Mysterious Stranger
  • 62. How many versions of 'The Mysterious Stranger' did Twain write?
A) One
B) Two
C) Three
D) Four
  • 63. In what year was the first volume of Twain's autobiography published by the University of California?
A) 1990
B) 2010
C) 1980
D) 2000
  • 64. Which publishing company in Hartford, Connecticut, published the first edition of several of Twain's books?
A) Charles L. Webster and Company
B) The American Publishing Company
C) Harper & Brothers
D) The Ash Ranch Press
  • 65. Which company was based in New York City and published some of Twain's works?
A) Harper & Brothers
B) Charles L. Webster and Company
C) The American Publishing Company
D) Pennyroyal Press
  • 66. Which work by Thomas Carlyle influenced Mark Twain's political views?
A) The Life of John Sterling
B) Sartor Resartus
C) French Revolution
D) On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History
  • 67. What political stance did Mark Twain identify with after reading Carlyle's 'French Revolution'?
A) Jacobin
B) Girondin
C) Bourbon
D) Sansculotte
  • 68. Which political figure did Mark Twain associate with his later identification as a Sansculotte?
A) Marat
B) Robespierre
C) Danton
D) Louis XVI
  • 69. According to Guy A. Cardwell, how would Mark Twain's political views be classified by present standards?
A) More conservative than liberal
B) Centrist
C) Primarily liberal
D) Socialist
  • 70. What economic principle did Mark Twain strongly believe in?
A) Socialism
B) Keynesian economics
C) Protectionism
D) Laissez faire
  • 71. Which rights did Mark Twain consider secondary to property rights?
A) Civil liberties
B) Economic freedoms
C) Personal political rights
D) Freedom of speech
  • 72. What did Mark Twain believe was a driver of progress?
A) Religious reform
B) Military conquest
C) Technology
D) Agriculture
  • 73. What role did Twain hold in the American Anti-Imperialist League?
A) vice-president
B) president
C) secretary
D) treasurer
  • 74. Which massacre prompted Twain to write 'The Incident in the Philippines'?
A) Siege of Baler
B) Battle of Manila Bay
C) Bataan Death March
D) Moro Crater Massacre
  • 75. What is the subject of Twain's political satire 'King Leopold's Soliloquy'?
A) the Congo Free State
B) South Africa
C) India
D) Egypt
  • 76. Which magazine rejected 'The War Prayer' for publication?
A) Harper's Bazaar
B) Scribner's Magazine
C) The Atlantic Monthly
D) Collier's Weekly
  • 77. Which group of the French Revolution did Twain initially sympathize with?
A) Sansculottes
B) Royalists
C) Girondins
D) Jacobins
  • 78. Which movement did Twain support through his 'Votes for Women' speech?
A) Prohibition.
B) Labor rights.
C) Women's suffrage.
D) Abolition of slavery.
  • 79. How did Twain describe India in 'Following the Equator'?
A) As a place devoid of any cultural significance.
B) As a land of peace and prosperity.
C) As an extraordinary country visited by the sun, where only man is vile.
D) As a paradise untouched by human corruption.
  • 80. Which political party did Mark Twain support most of his life?
A) Independent
B) Libertarian
C) Republican
D) Democratic
  • 81. In which year did Mark Twain publicly break with the Republican Party to support Grover Cleveland?
A) 1907
B) 1916
C) 1884
D) 1895
  • 82. What group did Mark Twain join when he supported Grover Cleveland over James G. Blaine?
A) Independents
B) Republicans
C) Mugwumps
D) Democrats
  • 83. Which religious denomination was Mark Twain originally a part of?
A) Baptist
B) Methodist
C) Presbyterian
D) Catholic
  • 84. What was Mark Twain's opinion of organized religion as expressed in his later life?
A) Enthusiastic
B) Critical
C) Supportive
D) Indifferent
  • 85. Which lodge did Mark Twain belong to as a Freemason?
A) St. Louis Lodge No. 50
B) Polar Star Lodge No. 79 A.F.&A.M.
C) Missouri Lodge No. 100
D) Nevada Lodge No. 75
  • 86. What did Mark Twain raise money to build in Nevada in 1864?
A) A library
B) A school
C) A Presbyterian Church
D) A hospital
  • 87. Which pen name did Mark Twain use before deciding on 'Mark Twain'?
A) 'Josh'
B) 'Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass'
C) 'Sieur Louis de Conte'
D) 'John Snook'
  • 88. Who originally used the pen name 'Mark Twain' for river news?
A) Samuel Clemens himself before adopting it
B) An anonymous journalist from New Orleans
C) A fictional character created by Mark Twain
D) Captain Isaiah Sellers
  • 89. What did Mark Twain say about his use of Captain Isaiah Sellers' pen name?
A) 'I confiscated the ancient mariner's discarded one.'
B) 'He gave me permission to use it.'
C) 'I created it independently without any influence.'
D) 'It was a gift from Captain Sellers himself.'
  • 90. Which pen name did Mark Twain use for humorous letters?
A) 'John Snook'
B) 'Josh'
C) 'Sieur Louis de Conte'
D) 'Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass'
  • 91. Where can one find the Mark Twain Room that houses related materials?
A) Newberry Library
B) Tulane University
C) Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
D) St. Louis Mercantile Library
  • 92. Where can one find works by Mark Twain in eBook form?
A) Faded Page (Canada)
B) Standard Ebooks
C) Project Gutenberg
D) LibriVox
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