Dickensians! discussion

A FUN QUIZ:



Now we've finished our group read of the wonderful Bleak House we might not want to leave behind the characters we've grown to love - or hate. So here's a fun quiz, to remind us of some great moments in the book, divided into "Who, What and Where?"

Come and tell us how you got on ... and maybe set us a couple more questions?

If you weren't able to join in our read this time, but know the book, why not have a go too :)

Bleak House - A Fun Quiz:

WHO:

1. Who said he was “a mere child”? (view spoiler)[Mr. Harold Skimpole (hide spoiler)]

2. Who had a grey umbrella? (view spoiler)[Mrs. Bagnet (hide spoiler)]

3. Who “didn’t know nuffink”? (view spoiler)[Jo, the crossing sweeper (hide spoiler)]

4. Who knocked everybody (and everything) over with her skirts? (view spoiler)[ Mrs. Pardiggle (hide spoiler)]

5. Who played the fife? (view spoiler)[The Bagnets’ son (hide spoiler)]

6. Who had an endless supply of half-crowns? (view spoiler)[ Mr. Snagsby (hide spoiler)]

7. Who could always tell when the wind was in the East? (view spoiler)[ Mr. John Jarndyce (hide spoiler)]

8. Who had a habit of pointing his fat forefinger? (view spoiler)[Inspector Bucket (hide spoiler)]

9. Who was nicknamed “Dame Durden”? (view spoiler)[ Esther Summerson (hide spoiler)]

10. Who was a model of deportment? (view spoiler)[ Mr. Turveydrop (hide spoiler)]

*****

Part 2: (perhaps some of these are a little trickier)

11. Who is Mercury? (view spoiler)[Any manservant at Chesney Wold (hide spoiler)]

12. Who has cushions thrown at her? (view spoiler)[ Grandmother Smallweed (hide spoiler)]

13. Who is Lady Jane? (view spoiler)[ Mr. Krook’s cat (hide spoiler)]

14. Who is bored with life? (view spoiler)[ Lady Dedlock (hide spoiler)]

15. Who has inky fingers? (view spoiler)[Caddy Jellyby (hide spoiler)]

16. Who wears rouge and pearls? (view spoiler)[Volumnia Dedlock (hide spoiler)]

17. Who is known for his conversation? Clue: (view spoiler)[ He’s a lawyer and this is his nickname (hide spoiler)] Answer: (view spoiler)[ “Conversation” Kenge (hide spoiler)]

18. Who is Mr. Weevle? (view spoiler)[Tony Jobling: it’s an assumed name (hide spoiler)]

19. Who are Malta and Quebec? (view spoiler)[ The Bagnets’ daughters (hide spoiler)]

20. Who has a growlery? (view spoiler)[Mr. John Jarndyce (hide spoiler)]

WHAT?

1. What does Miss Flite collect? (view spoiler)[ Birds (hide spoiler)]

2. What nationality was Dr. Allan Woodcourt? (view spoiler)[Welsh (hide spoiler)]

3. What basic skill does Mr. Krook wish he had? (view spoiler)[ (Reading: he can't read (hide spoiler)]

4. What did Nemo do for a living? (view spoiler)[ He was a copywriter (hide spoiler)]

5. What is Lady Dedlock’s first (Christian) name? (view spoiler)[ Honoria (hide spoiler)]

6. What title does Sir Leicester Dedlock hold? (view spoiler)[ Baronet. "Sir Leicester Dedlock, Baronet" (hide spoiler)]

7. What is Mr. Smallweed’s method of getting around? (view spoiler)[ He is carried in a chair (hide spoiler)]

8. What is Mademoiselle Hortense’s profession? (view spoiler)[ She is a Lady's maid (hide spoiler)]

9. What does Esther lay over the face of a dead baby? (view spoiler)[ A handkerchief (hide spoiler)]

10. What legal document was the Jarndyce and Jardyce case about? (view spoiler)[ A will (hide spoiler)]

WHERE?

1. Where do Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock live? (view spoiler)[ Chesney Wold (hide spoiler)]

2. Where does the debt collector Mr. Neckett work from? Clue: (view spoiler)[Harold Skimpole called him by the sponging house’s name (hide spoiler)] Answer: (view spoiler)[Coavinses (hide spoiler)]

3. Where (what type of establishment) does Prince Turveydrop work? (view spoiler)[ A Dancing Academy (hide spoiler)]

4. Where is Mrs. Jellyby’s gaze always fixed? Clue: (view spoiler)[It’s a continent (hide spoiler)] Answer: (view spoiler)[On Africa (hide spoiler)]

5. Where does Mr. Tulkinghorn reside when he is working for Sir Leicester?(view spoiler)[ In a turret room kept for his private use at Chesney Wold (hide spoiler)]

6. Where is Mr. Guppy’s heart? Clue: (view spoiler)[ someone has it (hide spoiler)] Answer:(view spoiler)[ with Esther Summerson (hide spoiler)]

7. Where does Inspector Bucket work out of? (view spoiler)[ Scotland Yard (hide spoiler)]

8. Where does the ironmaster have his foundry? Clue: (view spoiler)[ It’s partly a compass direction (hide spoiler)] Answer: (view spoiler)[ the North of England (hide spoiler)]

9. Where (which county) does Mr. Gridley have his farm? Clue: (view spoiler)[He’s known as “the man from …” (hide spoiler)] Answer: (view spoiler)[ Shropshire (hide spoiler)]

10. Where does Trooper George keep his pistols? (view spoiler)[ In his shooting gallery (hide spoiler)]

So how did you do? I like the "Who?" questions best :)

Feel free to make some of your own as well!

Absolutely love it, Jean! You got me on one...didn't know who played the fife. :o)

Me neither, Sara! I guessed Mr. Bagnet. Very fun! thanks Jean!

LOL Sara and Lori - I wondered about that one! Thanks for doing it.

The thing is that when we've just read a novel by Charles Dickens, we have the most extraordinary details floating round in our heads ... :)

I wonder if we'll remember who had a cough, who was like a black crow, or where the brickmakers lived, next time we read it!

The big questions like who dies and so on stay with you, but these Dickensian details are the ones I like :)

Sadly, and maybe because my brain is aging, I lose details very quickly now. It makes reading a book I've already read an almost new experience. But I do find that when I read one of these novels with this group, because of the depth of the discussion and the pace at which we go, the details stay much longer. I think I could still pass a test on Little Dorrit, and absolutely on Dombey and Son.

I agree with Sara on both points. It shocks me how quickly I forget details now. I assumed I wouldn't get many of these, but I did better than I thought! Only missed the fife (me too), Mr. Neckett's place, and Mr. Gridley's farm. Head slapping "of course" moment when I read those answers. But that's much better than I usually do, so know that discussing really helps.

Thanks so much, Jean. So fun! And I loved your question about Guppy. You've won me over to liking him--this was a clincher. :-)

I think I had the most problems with the early who questions but I enjoyed the quiz. The fife question definitely made me think of the Bagnets. My question was which member of the family?

The quiz brought back lots of good memories about the characters we just read about. Thanks for the delightful quiz, Jean.

Hi, saw you were discusding BH.

I have a WHERE question. Where is this?

"A place where few people care to go about alone, where a maid screams if an ash drops from the fire, takes to crying at all times and seasons, becomes the victim of a low disorder of the spirits, and gives warning and departs."

The quiz was fun. Thanks, Jean!
I did remember the majority of them.....ask me again in a week, that might change. LOL.

I'm so glad you all enjoyed it! And I think several of us agree with Sara ... although actually I regard it as one of the advantages of getting old. I did once know someone though who was tested for dementia, and her friend who cared for her had to argue with the doctor because she hadn't a clue to the answers to questions like "What day is it?" or "Who is the Prime Minister?" but could tell you all the keys Chopin's Nocturnes were in, or the Köchel numbers of all Mozart's piano sonatas. That was her reality, (she was a pianist) and she'd probably never really been aware of those other things anyway. Perhaps it won't be too long before that's me!

I hope you enjoyed the quiz too, Mark :) I believe the answer to your question is the same as the answer to my question 1 of the "Where?" section.

In fact it's the final quotation I used in my review as well: a powerful quote indeed! Am I correct?

I couldn't resist it - I've added a part 2 - some more questions to "Who?"

Charles Dickens's characters are so marvellous!

Missed #1 and had to have the clue on #17.

Would inverted commas have helped on one word in #17, Sara? It's an amazing "score" anyway :)

Don't think so, Jean...but as soon as I read the clue my head when "Duh". This is super fun. I need to come back and take the quiz again in six months and see how much my brain was able to retain. But, to remember to do that, I probably need to write it on my calendar. LOL.

I know - I'm exactly the same :D

Thanks for more fun, Jean! I did well--only couldn't get #13 (view spoiler)[I knew it was an animal, but couldn't remember which one! (hide spoiler)]

I love the quizzes - such fun. I find I can place the person or place in my mind - as in, "oh yes, that was such-and-such or so-and so" - but in some cases can't come up with the actual name - Ugh!

Kathleen - Yes, so often it's a (view spoiler)[ dog, or a bird, isn't it? (hide spoiler)]

Donna - I know what you mean ...

Another fun one, Jean! I couldn’t remember who had inky fingers. And I had to skip Lady Jane and come back but I did get it.

This reminds me of when I taught 4th grade and the kids would get sooooo excited to take an accelerated reader (AR) test on each book they read. These were computerized done by Scholastic, I think, and it kept their scores and generated a reading level for them. I feel like they must have!

I messed up on "Who had a habit of pointing his fat forefinger?" I thought of the person associated with the correct one instead. *facepalm*

Lori - I remember doing those AR reading tests in 5th-8th grade! They were always so much fun! I don't remember if it told me my reading level since I was so focused on getting all the points, but now I wish I knew since it was during the time I was learning English. I wonder if the AR system still exists...

These quizzes are so fun Jean! Thank you! I was okay on the Fife, but I couldn't remember which character's skirts knocked everything over. I remember laughing at that, but it was hard to find her name in my brain LOL. This whole reading experience has been - once again - wonderful. I am filled with gratitude, towards Jean, and towards everyone who participated.

Re my WHERE question, Jean you are correct. I think it is the real "Bleak" House.

Sounds like everyone enjoyed reading BH. Honoria is one of Dickens' great tragic figures.

Thank you so much for this fun quiz, Jean! I'm just now getting around to taking it, and it showed me just how much information I absorbed (and retained) reading Bleak House slowly and deliberately as we did. I was shocked that I only had trouble with the Gridley farm location question, and the place where Mr. Neckett worked (I put down Covesy instead of Coavinses... but still!)

I only hope that I remember this much later on. Unlike Sara, even though Dombey and Son has probably been my favorite Dickens novel so far (I've read five), I don't think I could "pass" a quiz like this one on it today. Unfortunately, I remember the broad picture, but not the small details like in this quiz. I'm sure it would all come back should I pick it up again.

Again, thank you for preparing this fun quiz for us. You're the best!

Lori, Lorena, Bridget and Shirley - I'm so pleased you all enjoyed it! I think remembering these details are a fun way of just living in Bleak House for a little bit longer :)

Oh I love quizzes, yay! Thank you Jean!

Missed 3 Who's - who's bored with life, who has inky fingers, and who's known for conversation.

Got all the What's right.

Missed two on Where - Guppy's heart and Bucket.

If I remember I'll come back and take the quiz again in a year and see how much I recall lol!