Arts, Culture, and Humanities Trivia (YAY!!!) - OR - HELP!!!!!

Cafe Society
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I need help!!! …er I mean, hey everyone let’s have some trivia fun.

Here’s the game. Imagine, if you will, that there’s an event coming up in 4 days that would involve about 300 incoming freshmen (approx. 18 yo) to the Arts, Culture, and Humanities College at a major university, a portion (of said event) of which would involve a trivia competition. The eager young scholars will be broken up into 30 groups of 10 and be given a sheet of clues all relevant in some way to the college and the various fields of study within it.

Now imagine the person in charge of creating and executing this event is also the building manager of the College’s brand new center for AC&H and thus has to research and order materials for the new theatre including staging, lights, curtains etc., equipment for the new TV/Radio studio, security systems and insurance for the digital arts center, art gallery, and TV/Radio studio, and has to prepare for a job expo in order to recruit some work study students to help him.

He has also been put in charge of the collaborative art project for the same event which he has decided will be a communal sculpture built from 300 pieces of wood that will be painted and assembled by each new student one by one and he thus needs to work out the logistics of obtaining and distributing 300 pieces of wood made to interlock with each other at slits cut by a table saw, paints, and wood glue.

He also has to d… well, let’s not over work our imaginations with such details.

Imagine now, that of the 3 residence hall directors that have agreed to help create trivia clues, each covering a different specialty field such as: film, dance, literature, art, theatre, pop culture, music, philosophy, etc. only one has returned my… er the building manager’s emails, and his clues were not as well developed as they could be.

So the University is calling on you!!! Your mission, should you choose to accept it (please?) is to come up with some well-developed trivia questions covering a broad range of info under the rubric “Arts, Culture, and Humanities”. They should be at a level of difficulty that at least some 18 year olds would know, and they should be interesting in and of themselves. They’ll be in groups of 10 so figure some in the group might know music, while another might know theatre, and so on. In other words they shouldn’t be so obvious that everyone would know the answer - the point is to get them to collaborate. The answers to these clues will each provide a letter which will be entered into a large phrase (sort of like wheel a fortune), and the first group to obtain the whole phrase will win a prize.

The building manager in this game has a degree in music, but has little knowledge outside of this field. It would be difficult for him (or her) to research each of the other fields to create well-developed questions in the time alotted. Therefore part of your mission is to fact-check the questions of others.

Please put your answers in spoiler boxes so we can all have fun guessing the answers. Because this is all about having fun!!! Yay trivia game!!!

Here are some of my questions to get us started:

  1. The sharped note in the G major scale – F
  2. Throughout a professional career lasting 50 years, he played the trumpet in a lyrical, introspective, and melodic style, To examine his career is to examine the history of jazz from the mid-'40s to the early '90s, since he was in the thick of almost every important innovation and stylistic development in the music during that period, and he often led the way in those changes, both with his own performances and recordings and by choosing sidemen and collaborators who forged new directions. His landmark album, Kind of Blue in 1959, is considered the first “modal jazz” album whereby solos are based on scales rather than chord changes. In 1969 and 1970, In a silent way and Bitches brew were released respectively and these were important in launching the jazz fusion movement of the decade that followed. – Miles Davis
  3. first used with respect to the work of Georges Seurat in late 19th century France, this artistic movement was characterized by a form of painting in which the use of tiny primary-color dots is used to generate secondary colors. – pointillism
  4. The highest male singing voice is the tenor, the lowest is the bass. There is one in the middle of those 2 called the baritone
  5. Music that is sung without any instrumental accompaniment is performed – a capella
  6. The familiar modern piano, a stringed keyboard musical instrument that utilized a hammer-and-lever action letting the player modify the intensity of sound by the stronger or weaker touch of the fingers, was first developed in the early 18th century. But another stringed keyboard instrument, in which the strings were plucked instead of struck, was around as early as the 14th century. This instrument is called the – harpsichord
  7. This popular film composer has over 100 film scores to his credit. He has written scores for just about every single one of Tim Burton’s movies including Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetle Juice, and Edward Scissorhands to name just a few. He also composed the theme to the popular TV show The Simpsons. – Danny Elfman
  8. Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828) began composing in the Classical style, but by breaking conventions of the day regarding harmonic motion and form, his music looks ahead towards Romanticism. He is best known for his songs but, despite dying so young, he still managed to compose 9 symphonies. His 8th is perhaps the most recognizable today, with themes being used in the 80’s cartoon series The Smurfs, and in the recent blockbuster movie Minority Report, but unlike the typical 4-movement symphonies of the day, this one had only 2 movements. He had a sufficient number of years before his death to write 2 more movements, and he did go on to complete another quite large symphony known as the “Great” symphony, leading many to speculate that perhaps Schubert at some point decided the 8th was a complete work as is. Despite this possibility, history has named this work – The Unfinished Symphony
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Okay, here are a few. They’re not exactly stumpers, but hope it helps.

This Russian actor/director electrified audiences by moving away from the grand performance styles of tradition and establishing a new method whereby theatre performance became much more naturalistic and lifelike. In collaboration with Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, he founded Russia’s first ensemble theatre.

Konstantin Stanislavski

This British playwright had a vocabulary of over 29,000 words. Throughout his plays, he added several thousand words and phrases to the English vernacular. Among them are the words fashionable, sanctimonious, bedazzle, vulnerable, and well-bred.

William Shakespeare

He is considered America’s premier playwright. He won a Noble Prize and four Pulitzer prizes for plays such as Beyond the Horizon and Anna Christie .

Eugene O’Neill

She pioneered the art of celebrity and played over 70 roles in approximately 125 productions. Among the roles she played were Margarite in La Dame Aux Camellias and the title role in Hamlet. Called “Divine” she died while shooting a film in Paris in 1923.

Sarah Bernhardt

Considered by many to be an American icon, his plays are timeless. His most famous play about the citizens of Grover’s Corners was recently revived on Broadway with Paul Newman in the lead role.

Thornton Wilder

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Thank you Izzy! (personally, I was stumped on 3 outta 5, or rather 3.5 outta 5 since I actually didn’t know Stanislavski’s first name).

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This French impressionist is known for painting series of works, of such subjects as the cathedral at Rouen, haystacks, and waterlilies.

Claude Monet

This American-born artist of the 19th century lived mostly in London and Paris. Loosely associated with the Impressionists, he often gave his works names intended to evoke musical associations, such as “Symphony in White No. 1.” His best-known work is actually titled “Arrangement in Grey and Black,” but you probably know it better as:

Whistler’s Mother

This French artist started out working in a bank, but eventually threw it all in and moved to Tahiti. He is:

Paul Gauguin

This 17th-century Dutch artist, known for his brilliant ability to portray light, was the subject of the 2003 film “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” named after one of his best-known works. He is:

Jan Vermeer

This Pennsylvania-born artist, a protege of Degas, was both an active member of the Impressionists and a patron of them, encouraging her wealthy family to buy works by Manet, Monet, Renoir, and others. She herself is best known for her paintings of mothers and children. She is:

Mary Cassatt

You need some art questions, right? :smiley:

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Handel’s Messiah first public performance was given in this city:

Dublin

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Charlie Chaplin’s wife Oona was the daughter of:

American playwright Eugene O’Neill

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Indeed I did, especially since I know so little about art. (I did know Vermeer because I saw GWAPE (whatta a beautiful movie)).

CBCD, just saw your 2nd one on preview. Thanks, I’ll combine that into the earlier Eugene O’neill clue.

I must admit, I’m being stumped on a majority of these. Anyone think these are too obscure for HS grads, or am I just less cultured than I thought?

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What’s the term for a short, humorous verse about a person, usually consisting of two rhymed couplets, with the subject’s name used as part of the rhyme?

a clerihew

What did Samuel Johnson define in his dictionary as “A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.”?

oats

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Mine might be a little hard – I can’t tell, I grew up in art museums. The Whistler and Cassatt questions are pretty hard – you could probably do something a little easier with “Whistler’s mother.”

Vermeer, because of the movie, is probably good.

I consider Monet and Gauguin basic cultural literacy, but I’ll admit I’m a sample-skewer on this stuff.

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My own contributions, from questions I set a few years ago for a University club. If you get desperate for questions, you might want to try a google search for Stanford Quiz Bowl Packet Archive - that’ll get you more questions than you know what to do with, though they’ll generally be formatted for interruptions rather than as table quiz questions.

This author trained as an architect, but found more fame as a novelist, writing works set in Wessex. He really wanted to be a poet, achieving some fame with works like Christmas 1914.

Thomas Hardy

In modern days applied to anyone who carries out orders without questions, this word stems from the name of Achilles’ war-band.

Myrmidon

Aleksandr Sukarov shot this 2002 film in the Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg, using only a single take.

Russian Ark

Time for screens: two of the named events occurred in Prague; one sparked off the Hussite wars in 1419, the other was the beginning of the 30 Years’ War.

Defenestration

Scipio is the first, in the wars against Hannibal. Others were appointed as such when their term as consul expired, if their leadership was still needed. Later it was used by provincial governors, as Julius Caesar in Gallia.

Proconsul

Police departments had to face a brave new world of civil liberties following a 1966 Supreme court decision, Arizona vs. this man.

Miranda

This creature from Jewish mythology could be described as a robot under Sagan’s Law: sufficiently advanced science appears to be magic.

Golem

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I loved Moe’s questions! However, with the massive cuts in many schools, I seriously doubt that high school graduates would know several of them. I get so angry at educators’ shortsightedness! :mad:

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Moe’s questions or mine? pout

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This is a bit awkward. “This American-born artist” suggests the question is looking for the artist’s name, but “you probably know it better as:” is looking for a title. (Granted, the name is in the title, but it’s still a tad clumsy.)

Smack me if I’m off base.

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Nope, you’re right, I changed horses in midstream. :smack: Thanks for pointing it out!

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Hey, if I can’t answer 'em, and I can’t create 'em, the least I can do is proofread 'em!

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I had the same reaction to that question. So no smack for you.

nancy, any ones of mine in particular? I was wondering if they were too easy actually.

But I want them easy for the most part.

Thank you all for your contributions, they are great! but I think some could definitely be a little easier. This event needs to be more fun than work. It should be cognitive to a degree, but it’s really more about getting a bunch of anxious young people to lower their guard and get to know one another.

Also I’d like them to perhaps learn something in the process. I’d prefer 2 or 3 longer questions from each of you than 6 or 7 one liners. Give a short bio about someone or provide some historical context, make it interesting. Use my Miles Davis question or my Schubert question as models.

The questions I’ve been getting from the other RHDs are too short too. I’m going to have to research each one that I use and develop them better. ::oy::

I’ll probably post more of mine today or tomorrow and then I’ll post the whole completed thing Fri. for last minute fact-checking.

Again, I appreciate this a great deal.

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Some non-Western history, perhaps?

What is the name of the period in Japanese history where the emperor became once again the main figurehead, and Japan rushed to modernize?

The Meiji Restoration

What anti-colonial war was waged in China by a group calling itself the “Righteous and Harmonious Fists”, and targetted missionaries and other Westerners?

The Boxer Rebellion

What Indian rebellion was triggered by a rumor that the cartridges used by local recruits were greased with cow or pig fat, instead of mutton?

The Sepoy Mutiny

Literature -

In C.S. Lewis’ novel That Hideous Strength, who is Silva?

“Silva is she who mortals call the moon”.

What is the name of the harpooner that Ishmael sleeps with in the opening chapters of Moby Dick?

Queequeg

In what novel does Shevek the anarchist travel from his world’s moon to its planet to teach physics?

The Dispossessed

Complete the line from the following poem, and, for extra credit, give the author:
“They reckon ill, who leave me out, when me they fly, I am _______”.

“the wings” - Brahma, by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Regards,
Shodan

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Sorry, I was taking my lead from the first question rather than the later two. Try the following for longer questions:

Clearly a hard worker, the IMDB credits this man as writer on 64 films, director on 32, and even as an actor on 4. Early films include ‘No Regrets for Our Youth’ and ‘Drunken Angel’, but international acclaim came after he won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival of 1950 with Rashomon. Name this Japanese director, whose later successes include The Seven Samurai.

Akira Kurosawa

He declared himself ‘Sahib Qiran’, or Lord of the Fortunate Conjunction early in his career. This expressed the extension of his policies over those his predecessors pursued, especially his full integration of the settled population into his empire. We know of his court from the Spaniard Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, an ambassador from Castille – this wealth of inspiration has prompted many works of literature. Name this Mongol emperor immortalized by both Marlowe and Poe.

Tamurlane (accept also Temur the Lame)

It had been a good day. "they hadn’t put him in the cells; they hadn’t sent his squad to the settlement; he’d swiped a bowl of kasha at dinner; the squad leader had fixed the rates well; he’d built a wall and enjoyed doing it; he’d smuggled that bit of hacksaw blade through; he’d earned a favor from Tsezar that evening; he’d bought that tobacco. And he hadn’t fallen ill. He got over it.” There are 3,653 such days left for which title character in a work by Solzhenitsyn

Ivan Denisovich

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Moe, first let me say you suck because you’re never online and we all keep hoping you’ll pop back in at open mic.

Moving on…are you doing this at USB? If so, you could incorporate the names of some dorms into the game. There’s O’Neill in G (aka Mendelssohn, and that’s another one you could use right there) and Hendrix in Roth, I’m sure there’s others you could use. There’s Sanger in Tabler but I don’t know if you could do a question about Margaret Sanger for this purpose.

Miss you!

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This medieval poet created works of literature that are sometimes considered to be “high-brow.” He combined the sublime (i.e., “The Knight’s Tale,” about Arcite and Palamon) and the delightfully earthy (think about “The Miller’s Tale,” wherein Absalom is branded on the arse). He also wrote Troilus and Cressida and Tales of Good Women. He was greatly influenced by the works of Boethius, and translated The Consolation of Philosophy.

Geoffrey Chaucer

Dante wrote The Divine Comedy, wherein he journeyed through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. Who started things moving so that he could take this great journey? This same person is his guide in Paradise, as well as his muse.

Beatrice

Who said, “What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not me.” HINT: He has been played on film by Laurence Olivier, Mel Gibson, Ethan Hawke, and Kenneth Branagh.

Hamlet