Welcome to the Wonderful World of Italian Literature: Trivia Time!

Question 1

Which author wrote La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy)?

Accepted Answer

Dante Alighieri

Question 2

I Malavoglia are a fishing family from...

Accepted Answer

Sicily

Question 3

The novel I promessi sposi (The Betrothed) is commonly described as "the most widely read work in the Italian language."

Accepted Answer

True

Question 4

Silone: A founder of the Italian Communist Party... Anti-Fascist author... Alleged Informer for the Fascist regime...

Accepted Answer

True

Question 5

One of 3 songs we will be listening to/learning about is called Valle Giulia. What event does Valle Giulia refer to?

Accepted Answer

A student protest in Rome in 1968

Question 6

In Pirandello's Il fu Mattia Pascal, what does Mattia Pascal do after discovering he has been declared dead?

Accepted Answer

Assumes a new identity

Question 7

Alfredo Bandelli, singer-songwriter of La violenza, is the third of our songs that we'll analyze, which best rep...

Accepted Answer

The 60s in Italy

Question 8

On the surface, what historical events are central in 'The Betrothed'? (Click all that apply)

Accepted Answer

17th century plague in Milan, Spanish domination of Italy

Question 9

Click on all the possible answers that Marinetti’s Futurist Manifesto DID NOT glorify!

Accepted Answer

Tradition and history, Political neutrality, Romanticism and nature

Question 10

FT Marinetti is the ideological founder of Futurism, an early 20th c. literary, artistic, and political movement that...

Accepted Answer

all of the above

Question 11

The works of Luigi Pirandello, Nobel Prize winner, Italian playwright and author, are heavily influenced by:

Accepted Answer

Sigmund Freud

Question 12

What was Galileo forced to do after his trial with the Inquisition?

Accepted Answer

Publicly abjure (recant) his beliefs

Question 13

Which novel is by Alessandro Manzoni?

Accepted Answer

The Betrothed

Question 14

What is a sonnet?

Accepted Answer

14-line poem

Question 15

Which century did Dante live in (the same century in which The Divine Comedy was written and takes place in)?

Accepted Answer

14th century

Question 16

Who is the lucky lady that Petrarca's sonnets are all dedicated to?

Accepted Answer

Laura

Question 17

Giovanni Verga's I Malavoglia is a prime example of literary...

Accepted Answer

verismo (realism)

Question 18

The stories told in the Decameron were considered raunchy and risqué at the time (...and some say still to this day!)

Accepted Answer

True

Question 19

Which work is a collection of tales by Boccaccio?

Accepted Answer

The Decameron

Question 20

Who is known as the Father of Humanism and author of Il Canzoniere?

Accepted Answer

Petrarch

Question 21

On a deeper level, what historical event is central to understanding Manzoni's rationale behind 'The Betrothed'?

Accepted Answer

Italian Unification

Question 22

What literary genre does 'The Decameron' belong to?

Accepted Answer

Framing Tale

Question 23

What is the central theme of Fontamara?

Accepted Answer

The struggles of Italian peasants under Fascism

Question 24

Galileo Galilei is most famous for being...

Accepted Answer

An astronomer

Question 25

True or false: Dante wrote La Divina Commedia in Latin

Accepted Answer

False

Question 26

Who wrote Il Principe (The Prince)

Accepted Answer

Niccolò Macchiavelli

Question 27

Both RAI Radio and Vatican Radio refused to play "Dio è morto" (trans. God is Dead) by I Nomadi (1967)

Accepted Answer

False

Question 28

According to Machiavelli, what is more important for a ruler?

Accepted Answer

Being feared

Question 29

Premise: a family's struggle to remain faithful to its traditional values when facing poverty, debt and social upheaval.

Accepted Answer

True

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Italian Literature: Trivia Time!

Questions 29

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Italian Literature: Trivia Time!

Questions 29