11. Order these works by Daniel Defoe chronologically:
Correct Answer: B
Robinson Crusoe (1719), Moll Flanders (1722), A Journal of the Plague Year (1722). Moll Flanders and A Journal of the Plague Year were both published in 1722, but Robinson Crusoe came first.
22. Which of these literary movements is the most recent?
Correct Answer: D
Absurdist Theatre (mid-20th century), Kitchen Sink Realism (late 1950s), Movement Poetry (mid-20th century), New Sincerity (late 20th/early 21st century).
23. Put these events related to the English language and literature in order:
Correct Answer: C
Printing Press arrives (Caxton, 1476), King James Bible (1611), First Folio (1623), Act of Union (1707).
24. Arrange these Gothic novels chronologically by publication:
Correct Answer: A
The Castle of Otranto (1764), The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), The Monk (1796), Dracula (1897).
25. Which of these literary ages came directly after the Commonwealth Period?
Correct Answer: B
Commonwealth Period (1649-1660), followed by the Restoration Age (1660-1688).
26. Order these British literary prizes by their establishment year:
Correct Answer: B
Nobel Prize in Literature (1901), Pulitzer Prize (1917, though mainly US, some British authors have won), Booker Prize (1969), Women's Prize for Fiction (1996).
27. Place these prominent dramatists in order of their birth:
28. Which of these works of literary criticism was published earliest?
Correct Answer: C
Defence of Poesie (Sidney, 1595), Preface to Lyrical Ballads (Wordsworth, 1800), Biographia Literaria (Coleridge, 1817), The Study of Poetry (Arnold, 1880).
29. Arrange these female novelists chronologically by their birth:
Correct Answer: B
Jane Austen (1775), Mary Shelley (1797), George Eliot (1819), Virginia Woolf (1882).
30. Which of these historical events happened first?
Correct Answer: A
English Civil War (1642-1651), Restoration of Monarchy (1660), Great Fire of London (1666), Glorious Revolution (1688).
31. Order these epic poems chronologically:
Correct Answer: B
Beowulf (c. 8th-11th century), The Faerie Queene (1590, 1596), Paradise Lost (1667), Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812-1818).
32. Which of these literary forms emerged earliest in British literature?
Correct Answer: C
Epic Poetry (e.g., Beowulf) is ancient. Sonnets (16th C), Drama (Elizabethan 16th C), and Novels (18th C) came later.
33. Order these satirists chronologically by their birth:
Correct Answer: B
Samuel Butler (1612), Jonathan Swift (1667), Alexander Pope (1688), George Orwell (1903).
34. Which of these literary terms defines a movement later than the others?
Doctor Faustus (c. 1592, Marlowe), Volpone (1606, Jonson), The School for Scandal (1777, Sheridan), Pygmalion (1913, Shaw).
38. Arrange these British Prime Ministers (who also had literary connections) in chronological order of their term:
Correct Answer: B
Benjamin Disraeli (1868, 1874-1880), Arthur Balfour (1902-1905), Winston Churchill (1940-1945, 1951-1955), Harold Macmillan (1957-1963).
39. Which of these literary movements was active latest?
Correct Answer: C
Georgian Poets (1910-1936), Angry Young Men (1950s), Movement (Poetry) (1950s), Beat Generation (originated in US, but influenced UK in late 1950s-1960s, later than the others listed).
40. Order these important historical documents/events in British history:
Correct Answer: A
Magna Carta (1215), Act of Supremacy (1534), Petition of Right (1628), Bill of Rights (1689).
41. Which of these literary figures was associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood?
Correct Answer: B
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (1848). Wilde was Aesthetic, Yeats Irish Literary Revival, Eliot Modernist.
42. Order these key British literary movements/periods chronologically:
43. Which of these novels is set furthest in the past?
Correct Answer: A
Ivanhoe (set in 12th century), A Tale of Two Cities (French Revolution, late 18th century), The Secret Agent (early 20th century), 1984 (dystopian future, published in 1949).
44. Order these prominent female poets chronologically by birth:
Correct Answer: A
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806), Christina Rossetti (1830), Emily Dickinson (1830), Sylvia Plath (1932). Rossetti and Dickinson were born in the same year.
45. Which of these literary journals/magazines began publication earliest?
Correct Answer: A
The Edinburgh Review (1802), Blackwood's Magazine (1817), The Yellow Book (1894), The Criterion (1922).
46. Order these British literary movements based on their start date:
47. Which of these famous literary characters appeared first?
Correct Answer: A
Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice, 1813), Fagin (Oliver Twist, 1837-1839), Dr. Jekyll (Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 1886), Sherlock Holmes (A Study in Scarlet, 1887).
48. Order these British monarchs associated with literary periods:
Correct Answer: A
King James I (Jacobean, 1603-1625), Queen Anne (Augustan Age, 1702-1714), King George III (Georgian era, 1760-1820), Queen Victoria (Victorian era, 1837-1901).
49. Which of these literary concepts/terms came into prominence first?
Correct Answer: C
Metaphysical Conceit (17th century), Gothic (mid-18th century), Stream of Consciousness (early 20th century), Angry Young Men (mid-20th century).
50. Arrange these playwrights chronologically by birth:
Correct Answer: A
William Congreve (1670), Oliver Goldsmith (1730), Oscar Wilde (1854), Harold Pinter (1930).
51. Which of these literary movements spanned the shortest period?
Correct Answer: C
Edwardian Age (1901-1910, 9 years). Romanticism (c. 34 years), Victorianism (64 years), Georgian Age (26 years).
52. Order these authors of children's literature by birth:
Correct Answer: A
Lewis Carroll (1832), Beatrix Potter (1866), A.A. Milne (1882), Roald Dahl (1916).
53. Which of these literary works is the oldest?
Correct Answer: B
Piers Plowman (c. 1360-1387), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (late 14th century), Le Morte d'Arthur (1485), Everyman (c. 1510).
54. Arrange these British poets laureate chronologically by their appointment:
Correct Answer: B
John Dryden (1668), William Wordsworth (1843), Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1850), Ted Hughes (1984).
55. Which of these literary movements is most closely associated with the turn of the 20th century?
Correct Answer: C
Romanticism (early 19th C), Realism (mid to late 19th C), Decadence (late 19th C, strongly associated with fin de siècle), Postmodernism (mid 20th C onwards).
56. Order these major literary awards for British authors by their establishment year:
Correct Answer: A
James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1919), Carnegie Medal (1936), Costa Book Awards (1971, formerly Whitbread), Man Booker International Prize (2005).
57. Arrange these figures associated with the Irish Literary Revival in chronological order of their birth:
58. Which of these literary theories/approaches gained prominence earliest?
Correct Answer: C
Psychoanalytic Criticism (early 20th C, based on Freud), New Criticism (mid-20th C), Structuralism (mid-20th C), Post-structuralism (late 20th C).
59. Order these major literary events chronologically:
Correct Answer: A
Opening of Globe Theatre (1599), Milton publishes Paradise Lost (1667), Samuel Johnson publishes Dictionary (1755), First performance of The Mousetrap (1952).
60. Which of these poets is from the earliest period?
Correct Answer: A
John Gower (c. 1330-1408, contemporary of Chaucer), Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542), Philip Sidney (1554-1586), Edmund Spenser (c. 1552-1599).
61. Order these literary ages/periods chronologically:
Correct Answer: A
Augustan (early 18th C), Age of Sensibility (mid-late 18th C), Romantic (early 19th C), Victorian (mid-late 19th C).
62. Which of these British literary locations is oldest?
Correct Answer: A
Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare's birthplace, 16th C), Grub Street (18th C literary hack, London), Dove Cottage (Wordsworth's home, late 18th/early 19th C), Bloomsbury (early 20th C intellectual group, London).
63. Order these critical works by T.S. Eliot chronologically by publication:
Correct Answer: A
Tradition and the Individual Talent (1919), The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism (1933), Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948).
64. Which of these major historical events in Britain happened earliest?
Correct Answer: B
Act of Supremacy (1534), Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1541), Spanish Armada (1588), Gunpowder Plot (1605).
65. Order these prominent literary critics/theorists by birth:
Correct Answer: A
Samuel Johnson (1709), Matthew Arnold (1822), I.A. Richards (1893), Raymond Williams (1921).
66. Which of these British literary movements is the most recent?
Correct Answer: D
Kitchen Sink Drama (late 1950s), Confessional Poetry (British, 1960s), Martian Poetry (late 1970s), Punk Poetry (late 1970s/early 1980s). Martian and Punk Poetry are very close in time, but Punk Poetry emerged slightly later.
67. Order these works of dystopian fiction by their publication date:
Correct Answer: A
Brave New World (1932), Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), The Handmaid's Tale (1985), The Children of Men (1992).
68. Arrange these British poets known for their war poetry chronologically by birth:
Correct Answer: B
Rupert Brooke (1887), Siegfried Sassoon (1886), Isaac Rosenberg (1890), Wilfred Owen (1893). Oops, actually: Sassoon (1886), Brooke (1887), Rosenberg (1890), Owen (1893). So the order for the correct answer is B but the explanation needs adjustment. Corrected: Siegfried Sassoon (1886), Rupert Brooke (1887), Isaac Rosenberg (1890), Wilfred Owen (1893). So, option B is correct as per the listed order.
69. Which of these literary concepts/terms came into prominence latest?
70. Order these important literary groups/circles chronologically by their formation:
Correct Answer: A
The Scriblerus Club (early 18th C, Swift, Pope), The Lake Poets (late 18th/early 19th C), The Bloomsbury Group (early 20th C), The Movement (1950s).
71. Which of these plays by Harold Pinter was first performed earliest?
Correct Answer: A
The Birthday Party (1958), The Caretaker (1960), No Man's Land (1975), Betrayal (1978).
72. Order these influential literary figures chronologically by their death:
Correct Answer: A
John Milton (1674), Alexander Pope (1744), Lord Byron (1824), Charles Dickens (1870).
73. Which of these collections of poetry was published first?
Correct Answer: A
Songs of Innocence and of Experience (Blake, 1794), Leaves of Grass (Whitman, 1855), The Wreck of the Deutschland (Hopkins, 1876, though not published until 1918), Prufrock and Other Observations (Eliot, 1917). Considering the actual *publication* date for Hopkins, Blake is still first.
74. Order these historical developments relevant to British literature:
84. Order these works by Joseph Conrad chronologically by publication:
Correct Answer: A
Heart of Darkness (1899), Lord Jim (1900), Nostromo (1904), Under Western Eyes (1911).
85. Which of these literary movements/periods is the most recent?
Correct Answer: D
Neo-Georgian (early 20th C, as a reaction to Modernism), The Movement (1950s), New Generation Poets (1990s), Performance Poetry (late 20th C onwards).
86. Order these figures from the British literary scene chronologically by birth:
Correct Answer: A
Samuel Pepys (1633), Fanny Burney (1752), Thomas Carlyle (1795), John Ruskin (1819).
87. Which of these literary forms gained widespread popularity earliest?
Correct Answer: A
Sonnet Sequence (Elizabethan era, late 16th C), The Essay (early 17th C, Bacon), The Picaresque Novel (18th C), The Dramatic Monologue (Victorian era, 19th C).
88. Order these notable anthologies/collections of British literature by publication:
Correct Answer: A
Tottel's Miscellany (1557), Lyrical Ballads (1798), Palgrave's Golden Treasury (1861), The Oxford Book of English Verse (1900).
89. Which of these literary movements was primarily a reaction against Romanticism?
Correct Answer: B
Victorian Realism was a significant reaction against the excesses of Romanticism. Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was related to art, but also had literary connections. Modernism was a reaction against Victorianism. Neoclassicism preceded Romanticism.
90. Order these important literary texts chronologically:
Correct Answer: A
Piers Plowman (c. 1360-1387), Utopia (1516), Areopagitica (1644), Common Sense (1776).
91. Which of these literary groups/schools is the most recent?
Correct Answer: D
The Imagists (early 20th C), The War Poets (WWI, early 20th C), The Auden Group (1930s), The Martians (late 1970s).
92. Order these significant literary events in British history:
Correct Answer: A
Closure of Theatres (1642), Publication of Pamela (1740), Great Exhibition (1851), Invention of the Internet (late 20th C - specifically the WWW in 1989/1990).
93. Which of these forms of publishing became popular earliest?
100. Order these literary movements/periods based on their beginning:
Correct Answer: A
Age of Johnson (c. 1740-1785), Age of Sensibility (c. 1745-1798), Romantic Age (c. 1798-1832), Victorian Age (1837-1901). Note: Age of Johnson and Age of Sensibility overlap and are often used interchangeably for parts of the 18th century, but Johnson's influence is more specifically mid to late 18th, while Sensibility extends to the cusp of Romanticism.
Join the conversation