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Authors' Biographies as Works of Art

Description: Authors' Biographies as Works of Art Quiz
Number of Questions: 15
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Tags: authors' biographies literature biographies as art
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Which author's biography is considered a masterpiece of the genre?

  1. James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson

  2. Virginia Woolf's Orlando

  3. Leon Edel's Henry James: A Life

  4. Richard Ellmann's James Joyce


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Boswell's biography of Johnson is widely regarded as one of the greatest biographies ever written, due to its intimate and detailed portrayal of Johnson's life and character.

Which author's biography was written by his son?

  1. Charles Dickens

  2. Mark Twain

  3. Nathaniel Hawthorne

  4. Herman Melville


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Mark Twain's biography was written by his son, Albert Bigelow Paine, and published in 1912.

Which author's biography was written by his wife?

  1. Fyodor Dostoevsky

  2. Leo Tolstoy

  3. Anton Chekhov

  4. Maxim Gorky


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Dostoevsky's biography was written by his wife, Anna Grigoryevna Dostoevskaya, and published in 1883.

Which author's biography was written by his daughter?

  1. Charles Dickens

  2. William Makepeace Thackeray

  3. Anthony Trollope

  4. George Eliot


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Dickens' biography was written by his daughter, Mary Dickens, and published in 1870.

Which author's biography was written by his friend?

  1. Ralph Waldo Emerson

  2. Henry David Thoreau

  3. Nathaniel Hawthorne

  4. Herman Melville


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Thoreau's biography was written by his friend, William Ellery Channing, and published in 1873.

Which author's biography was written by his enemy?

  1. Alexander Pope

  2. Jonathan Swift

  3. John Dryden

  4. William Congreve


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Pope's biography was written by his enemy, Lewis Theobald, and published in 1733.

Which author's biography was written by a stranger?

  1. Jane Austen

  2. Charlotte Brontë

  3. Emily Brontë

  4. Anne Brontë


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Austen's biography was written by a stranger, James Edward Austen-Leigh, and published in 1870.

Which author's biography was written by a committee?

  1. William Shakespeare

  2. Christopher Marlowe

  3. Ben Jonson

  4. John Webster


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Shakespeare's biography was written by a committee of scholars and published in 1964.

Which author's biography was written by an artificial intelligence?

  1. Charles Dickens

  2. Mark Twain

  3. Nathaniel Hawthorne

  4. Herman Melville


Correct Option:
Explanation:

As of yet, no author's biography has been written by an artificial intelligence.

Which author's biography is the longest?

  1. James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson

  2. Virginia Woolf's Orlando

  3. Leon Edel's Henry James: A Life

  4. Richard Ellmann's James Joyce


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Boswell's biography of Johnson is the longest, at over 2,000 pages.

Which author's biography is the shortest?

  1. James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson

  2. Virginia Woolf's Orlando

  3. Leon Edel's Henry James: A Life

  4. Richard Ellmann's James Joyce


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Woolf's biography of Orlando is the shortest, at just over 200 pages.

Which author's biography is the most controversial?

  1. James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson

  2. Virginia Woolf's Orlando

  3. Leon Edel's Henry James: A Life

  4. Richard Ellmann's James Joyce


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

Ellmann's biography of Joyce has been criticized for its focus on Joyce's personal life and its lack of attention to his work.

Which author's biography is the most popular?

  1. James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson

  2. Virginia Woolf's Orlando

  3. Leon Edel's Henry James: A Life

  4. Richard Ellmann's James Joyce


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Boswell's biography of Johnson is the most popular, with over 1 million copies sold.

Which author's biography is the most expensive?

  1. James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson

  2. Virginia Woolf's Orlando

  3. Leon Edel's Henry James: A Life

  4. Richard Ellmann's James Joyce


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Edel's biography of James is the most expensive, with a price tag of over $1,000.

Which author's biography is the most beautiful?

  1. James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson

  2. Virginia Woolf's Orlando

  3. Leon Edel's Henry James: A Life

  4. Richard Ellmann's James Joyce


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Woolf's biography of Orlando is the most beautiful, with its lyrical prose and evocative imagery.

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