a presentation
Round I - Roundabout
15 questions
Clockwise, starting with Team 1
10 points per right answer
Part points at QM’s discretion
a presentation 1
X comes from two Greek words that mean
“common people” and “rule, strength”
Y comes from another pair that means “think differently”
Combine these two and provide a book title that came out in 2016.
Name the well-known author as well.
a presentation 2
This memorable dialogue states that someone’s preferences included
these three and the speaker himself, among other things.
Where would you come across all these in succession?
a presentation 3
This is Bill Maher’s witty comment on a news-making 2016 event.
The latter two blanks are filled – rather appropriately by two works
by an author – one from 1811, and the other from 1813.
What event? What are the two titles?
a presentation 4
In 1983, as a 17-year-old student, he resolved to prepare a lexicon for the ____ region, covering the districts of Coimbatore, Erode,
Tiruppur, Salem and Karur. He collected dialect words from friends and relatives, and from oral traditions.
The early attempt at lexicography would come to fruition seventeen years later, in 2000. In sum, his over 35 books provide a veritable
cultural map of the ____ region.
Who is this man, who became a well known public figure in the last year or so, due to unfortunate reasons? Also, fill in the blanks.
a presentation 5
____ _____ _____ ___: How the Sex-Drugs-And Rock 'N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood chronicles the 1970s New Hollywood era. This was when talented young filmmakers, along with a new
breed of actors, became the powerful figures who would make such modern classics as The Godfather, Chinatown, and Jaws.
The blanks are two films that bookmark the era: a low-budget cult classic that kick-started the era, and the other which ended it—a
biopic considered the supreme work of a partnership.
Name them both.
a presentation 6
This 1997 autobiography was an immediate best-seller, seeing how little anyone knew about the man’s life and methods. Among other things, he is believed to have been the inspiration for a character in
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
The New York Times’ review of the book was given a three-word title that very appropriately shares its name with 1960s comic creation by
a Cuban immigrant.
Who? What was the title of the review?
a presentation 7
He was an author, diplomat and former Royal Air Force pilot whose
chief claim to fame was a 1959 memoir of teaching in London’s
deprived East End. The book chronicled his efforts — as a courtly,
Cambridge-educated military veteran who had been denied
employment as an engineer because he was black — to motivate a
group of unruly adolescents raised in a slum in early-1950s Britain.
The title of the book comes from an inscription his appreciative
students wrote on a pack of cigarettes they gave him.
Who? Which book?
a presentation 8
In 2011, Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi was quoted as saying: “If you want to understand my situation, read Gabriel Garcia
Marquez’s book ____ __ _ ______ .”
Musavi and his wife had been under house arrest for more than six months, when he spoke about the book. It is an account of the 1990
abduction of people by drug traffickers and the terror they endure during their captivity. It also describes the suffering and the efforts by the
families to free the hostages.
Name this book.
Which person/group is the primary antagonist(s) of the work?
a presentation 9
Urban Dictionary defines a ___ as “someone who has odd interests,
and is often silly at times. A ___ is also someone who can be
themselves and not care what anyone thinks.”
Connect this, to this author and Twitter personality shown here.
a presentation 10
X is a 1941 short story/novelette is widely regarded as one of the greatest
in the history of science fiction. The story is about darkness coming to a
world permanently in sunlight.
Y is a 1993 story arc in which an iconic character is defeated and dealt a
crippling blow by one of his archenemies. One of the most influential
storylines in the genre, it also provided inspiration for a 2012 film.
What are X and Y, separated only by a letter?
Which 2012 film?
a presentation © Nexus Consulting 2016
Nightfall (by Isaac Asimov) & Knightfall
The Dark Knight Rises
a presentation 11
What two-word title connects two works of non-fiction by these two
authors? Although set in the same country, one concerns events in
the mid 1940s, while the other is about the early 2000s.
Identify the lady as well.
a presentation 12
This is an extract from a poem written after the death of the poet’s friend
Richard West. Two centuries later, it remains his best known work.
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike th' inevitable hour.
The ___ _ ____ lead but to the grave.
Identify the work whose title is a misnomer, and also fill in the blanks.
The blanks provide the title of the work shown here.
a presentation © Nexus Consulting 2016
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (by Thomas Gray)
Paths of Glory
a presentation 13
Following an announcement a couple of months ago, he dismissed
the controversy surrounding it by saying that “To me [it] is like
pinning a medal on Mount Everest for being the highest mountain.”
The announcement led many to believe that he could be next in line.
In an interview published a few days later, he announced soberly that
“he was ready to die”- a threat he followed up with a few weeks later.
Who? What controversy are we talking about?
a presentation 14
In a 2012 debate on Radio 4 with the Rev. Giles Fraser, he made a bit of a mess of himself. Irritated by his constant baiting, Fraser asked
him to do a simple thing: name the full title of the book he championed above all others.
Much to everyone’s shock (and delight), he failed utterly. He also topped it off, quite ironically, by swearing “__ ___!” Needless to say,
the press had a field day.
Who? Which book’s title couldn’t he remember?
What unlikely two words came out on air?
a presentation 15
Identify this character, who was part of
an expensive 2016 film.
The title of this collection is a tribute to
the title of Book 1 of the collected
version of a seminal early 1990s work.
Name that work as well.
a presentation
Round II – Side Dishes
Six questions in writing, film posters of films based on books
In each case, identify the film/book and the author
+8 for each correct answer (+4 for each part)
No negatives
There is also a common theme that connects all the answers
(non-exhaustive), which gets you another 7 points
a presentation 1
Film Release: 2008
Book Release: 1999
After having an affair with a student, a
Cape Town professor moves to the
Eastern Cape, where he gets caught up
in a mess of post-apartheid politics.
a presentation 2
Film Release: 2013
Book Release: 2005
The story of a man who returns to
the sea where he spent his
childhood summers in search of peace
following the death of his wife.
a presentation 3
Film Release: 1983
Book Release: 1975
Anne is investigating the life of her
grand-aunt Olivia, whose destiny has
always been shrouded with scandal.
The search leads back to the early 1920s,
when Olivia, recently married to Douglas, a
civil servant in the colonial administration,
comes to live with him in India.
a presentation 4
Film Release: 1997
Book Release: 1988
They meet on a ship going to Australia; once there, they are for different reasons ostracized from society,
and as a result "join forces" together.
They are both passionate gamblers, and she bets him her entire inheritance that he cannot transport the glass church to the Outback safely. He accepts her
wager, and this leads to the events that will change both their lives forever.
a presentation 5
Film Release: 1993
Book Release: 1989
A butler who sacrificed body and soul to
service in the years leading up to World War II
realizes too late how misguided his loyalty
was to his lordly employer.
a presentation 6
Film Release: 2001
Book Release: 1996
A group of old friends reminisce
about their lives over the years after
the death of one of their crew.
a presentation 1
Film Release: 2008
Book Release: 1999
After having an affair with a student, a
Cape Town professor moves to the
Eastern Cape, where he gets caught up
in a mess of post-apartheid politics.
a presentation 2
Film Release: 2013
Book Release: 2005
The story of a man who returns to
the sea where he spent his
childhood summers in search of peace
following the death of his wife.
a presentation 3
Film Release: 1983
Book Release: 1975
Anne is investigating the life of her
grand-aunt Olivia, whose destiny has
always been shrouded with scandal.
The search leads back to the early 1920s,
when Olivia, recently married to Douglas, a
civil servant in the colonial administration,
comes to live with him in India.
a presentation 4
Film Release: 1997
Book Release: 1988
They meet on a ship going to Australia; once there, they are for different reasons ostracized from society,
and as a result "join forces" together.
They are both passionate gamblers, and she bets him her entire inheritance that he cannot transport the glass church to the Outback safely. He accepts her
wager, and this leads to the events that will change both their lives forever.
a presentation 5
Film Release: 1993
Book Release: 1989
A butler who sacrificed body and soul to
service in the years leading up to World War II
realizes too late how misguided his loyalty
was to his lordly employer.
a presentation 6
Film Release: 2001
Book Release: 1996
A group of old friends reminisce
about their lives over the years after
the death of one of their crew.
a presentation
Round II – About March
15 questions
Anti-clockwise, starting with Team 8
10 points per right answer
Part points at QM’s discretion
a presentation 1
Considering the subject matter of this book, the title is quite appropriate.
Some nice word play on the title of a breakout 1926 novel will get you the name of this book. The 1926 book was also published under the
name Fiesta, and is about a group of American expatriates.
Name the original book and author
(the cover will help!)
What is the title of this book?
a presentation 1
This book is the story of how ___ _____
produced his first film is legendary first film
on a shoestring budget. The title, a play on
the title of the iconic 1950s film shown
here, pays tribute to the fact that the
director did practically all the jobs by
himself for the film.
Who is this man?
What is the title of this book?
a presentation 3
The Permian–Triassic (P–Tr) extinction event, colloquially known as
the Great Dying, occurred about 252 million years ago. It is the
Earth's most severe known extinction event.
For years there was a great debate about the cause or multiple
causes of this catastrophic event, so Douglas Erwin, in 1993, came to
a conclusion: all the causes together were responsible for it!
He called this hypothesis “The ____ __ ___ ____ _____ Model”.
What classic 1934 work fills in the blanks?
a presentation 4
This phrase originated from the world of musical instruments,
but got a different meaning once it began to be
used to refer to the mental state of human beings.
Writer Stephen Tignor borrowed the phrase as the title of his history of a great sporting rivalry that lasted from the late 1970s to the early
1980s. The title was particular fitting considering the nature of the main apparatus used in the sport.
What two-word phrase?
Which is the rivalry in question?
a presentation 5
The Last Letter is a poem that was discovered in 2010. It was clearly
the poet talking about a stressful period in his life. To some it seemed
like an apology, while some interpreted it as being just a man trying
to save his posthumous reputation.
Read the extract, name the poet and tell us what the poem is about.
a presentation 5
Still holding your letter,
A thunderbolt that could not earth itself.
That would have been electric shock treatment
For me.
Repeated over and over, all weekend,
As often as I read it, or thought of it.
That would have remade my brains, and my life.
The treatment that you planned needed some time.
I cannot imagine
How I would have got through that weekend.
I cannot imagine. Had you plotted it all?
a presentation 6
Tim ____ is an award-winning sculptor known for works that are
monumental in scale. He features in this quiz because of a work of his
in Birmingham – he created this as tribute to his great-uncle ____.
Take a good look, and
name the character portrayed in this sculpture.
Also name his uncle, a world famous author.
a presentation 7
It is one of the most important literary prizes in the Spanish-speaking
world – and one of the richest, with a prize of 100,000 euros. Named
after _____ _____, the former Venezuelan politician and writer, it is
awarded by the government of Venezuela.
The first three winners of the prize were Mario Vargas Llosa,
Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Carlos Fuentes.
Name this prize.
a presentation 8
The name ______came from the Latin text of the traditional verse spoken for ____ Sunday, the first Sunday after Easter. The verse
begins “___ ___ geniti infantes..." and is roughly translated as "As newborn babes desire the rational milk without guile...”
A titular fictional character gets his name because he was found abandoned a certain location on that day.
Who?
What location?
a presentation 9
Connect this painting to the author you see here.
Identify the painter as well; he was one of the most
important French painters of his time.
a presentation © Nexus Consulting 2016
A Dance to the Music of Time by Nicolas Poussin
Anthony Powell named his 12-volume series after the painting
a presentation 10
__ ____ usually refers to the revolutionary events of 1917 Russia.
A popular name during the Soviet era, it was used to
name factories, and many other locations.
We are more familiar with another, more deadly,
object that was given this name, and popular through
a 1984 book (and a film based on it.)
What name? Which author used it for his debut novel?
a presentation 11
The 2016 film Vor der Morgenröte chronicles the author’s
travels after his exile from Nazi Germany. One of the most
popular writers in the world in the 1920s and 30s, he
is largely a forgotten figure today.
However, two years back, he had a brief surge in popularity after a film about a stolen painting came out. The director confessed to basing the
main character, and indeed, the setting of the film, on ___’s works.
Who? Also name this acclaimed 2014 film.
a presentation 12
The novel hinges on a decision that the titular character makes:
Jan is sent to the camp, while little Eva is sent to her death;
that is the terrible ____ ____ of the title.
This 1979 novel won the US National Book Award and
three years later, was responsible for someone winning
her first Oscar for Best Actress.
Name the novel and the actress.
a presentation 13
Both these poets are Nobel laureates, and share a rather
airy connection. The woman was the first Latin American
author to win the Prize.
What connection, that might give you a whiff of France?
a presentation 14
Frederick Furnivall was the second person to lead this famed 19th
century project. A confirmed eccentric, his genius, energy, and
scholarship ensured the survival of this project.
One of his friends was the banker-writer X, who he inspired into
writing ___ __ __ _____. X cast him as the Water Rat, a cunning and
ever-keen creature imbued with a properly rattish pedantry: ‘We
learned ’em!’ says Toad. ‘We taught ’em!’ corrects Rat.
What project? Which is this book?
a presentation 15
According to the preface written by this man in the 1940 edition, the
overwhelming part of the work was done by himself. The only
exception to this were Chapters 29-43 in Part V, which was done by
his friend and colleague Pyarelal in 1928-29 while he was away.
Who is this man?
What is the specific task he carried out?
a presentation © Nexus Consulting 2016
Mahadev Desai
Translating My Experiments with truth
from Gujarati to English
Email [email protected]
Web www.consultnexus.in
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Twitter @funwithfundas