What general did Lech Walesa replace as President of Poland in 1990 to become the first non-Communist leader of that country in over 40 years?
Karol Wojtyla
Wojciech Jaruzelski
Stanislaw Kania
Edward Gierek
Czeslaw Milosz
Correct Answer: Wojciech Jaruzelski
What is the name given to the largely peaceful demonstrations, led by dissident playwright Vaclav Havel, that resulted in the 1989 fall of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia?
The Bohemian Rhapsody
October Revolution
Prague Spring
Defenestrations of Prague
Velvet Revolution
Correct Answer: Velvet Revolution
Trivia: “Gone with the Wind” takes place during what conflict?
American Revolution
Civil War
World War I
World War II
Correct Answer: Civil War
So why is this answer correct? : Before it became an Academy Award-winning film starring Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable, “Gone with the Wind” was a Pulitzer Prize-winning 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell. The book details the romantic relationship between Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler during the American Civil War and the turbulent years that followed.
Trivia: What character narrates F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”
Nick Carraway
Daisy Buchanan
Myrtle Wilson
Jordan Baker
Correct Answer: Nick Carraway
So why is this answer correct? : While “The Great Gatsby” centers around the millionaire Jay Gatsby, it’s written from the first-person perspective of a character named Nick Carraway. Published by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, the novel takes place on glitzy Long Island, New York, and follows Gatsby’s pursuit of his former lover, Daisy Buchanan.
Trivia: What Leo Tolstoy novel is over 1,200 pages long?
Doctor Zhivago
Anna Karenina
The Brothers Karamazov
War and Peace
Correct Answer: War and Peace
So why is this answer correct? : A bestseller despite its incredible length, Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” was published in the 1860s. The book’s story is set in Russia in 1805, around the time of Napoleon’s domination of Europe. In an effort to achieve realism and historical accuracy, Tolstoy spent countless hours researching the time period before ever putting pen to paper.
Trivia: What is the name of the pig who befriends a spider in “Charlotte’s Web”?
Wilbur
Babe
Napoleon
Hamm
Correct Answer: Wilbur
So why is this answer correct? : E.B. White’s bestselling children’s novel “Charlotte’s Web” (1952) chronicles a touching friendship between a spider, Charlotte, and a pig named Wilbur. Throughout the course of the novel, Charlotte writes several messages in her web about Wilbur in an effort to save the pig from being slaughtered at the end of the year.
Trivia: Which Nobel Prize-winning author wrote “100 Years of Solitude”?
Isabel Allende
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Jorge Luis Borges
Mario Vargas Llosa
Correct Answer: Gabriel Garcia Marquez
So why is this answer correct? : Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a Nobel Prize-winning, Colombian-born author. While he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982, Marquez published his best known work, “Cien Años de Soledad” (One Hundred Years of Solitude) twelve years earlier. Marquez’s other notable works include 1985’s “El amor en los tiempos del cólera” (Love in the Time of Cholera).
Trivia: “The Bridges of Madison County” takes place in what U.S. state?
Florida
New Mexico
Iowa
Oregon
Correct Answer: Iowa
So why is this answer correct? : Incredibly, author Robert James Waller wrote “The Bridges of Madison County” in less than two weeks. Born in Iowa himself, Waller was inspired to write the novel while photographing covered bridges in his home state. The book caught the eye of Oprah Winfrey, and it rose to bestseller status after she promoted it to her audience in 1992. The novel remained on the “The New York Times Best Seller list” for three years straight.
Trivia: L. M. Montgomery’s 1908 novel is titled “Anne of…” what location?
Red Valley
Blue Lagoon
Blue Lagoon
Green Gables
Correct Answer: Green Gables
So why is this answer correct? : “Anne of Green Gables” is a coming-of-age story about a young orphan named Anne Shirley. Anne’s adoptive parents initially intend to adopt a boy who can help out on the Green Gables farm; however, Anne is accidentally sent their way instead. Despite this initial mixup, Anne’s positivity brings joy to their lives and those of their neighbors.
Trivia: What fictional character is the protagonist of “The Catcher in the Rye”?
Scout Finch
Captain Ahab
Holden Caulfield
Br’er Rabbit
Correct Answer: Holden Caulfield
So why is this answer correct? : “The Catcher in the Rye” (1951) follows the life of 16-year-old protagonist Holden Caulfield. Written by J.D. Salinger, this bestselling novel covers two days in Holden’s life after he’s expelled from prep school. Holden and his family appeared in several earlier stories published by Salinger, though this novel was the first time that Salinger fleshed out the character.