Question Specific Discussion (Maryland Spring 2014)
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 8:46 pm
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19. One story by this author ends “Glory to him who does die” and describes an Arabian king who leaves a Babylonian king in the middle of the desert. In another of his stories, a detective finds a dead rabbi in a hotel room and is lured Triste-le-Roi by Red Scharlach. The protagonist of one of this author’s stories is told of his ancestor’s work in the Pavilion of the Limpid Solitude by a man whom he (*) murders to send the name of a city to The Chief. In that story, Yu Tsun, a spy for Germany, learns of the title book from Doctor Albert. For 10 points, name this author of the short stories “Death and the Compass” and “The Garden of Forking Paths,” a blind Argentinian.Reesefulgenzi wrote:Hello,
May I see the 'Borjes' and 'Tolstoy' questions? The early clues seemed harder than the other lit questions, while the tossup on Howl caused a buzzer race with "Holy!" in the first line.
The DRM model suggests this behavior is partially governed by the accumulation of materials like chitin or cellulose in certain organisms. Handling and search times govern this behavior according to an “Optimal” theory about it. Arditi and Ginzburg challenged the classical equation modeling this behavior, which sometimes triggers trophic (*) cascades. Responses to this behavior include mobbing, aposematic coloring, and both Mullerian and Batesian mimicry. Nonlinear differential equations named for Lotka and Volterra model this behavior. For 10 points, name this central behavior of population ecology in which one organism hunts and consumes another.Off To See The Lizard wrote:Could I please see the following tossups:
Predation
Solvents
Hydrogen
Ravel (this may have been a bonus?)
Donizetti
After searching, it looks like the opening clue should be "Glory to him who does not die."Gonzagapuma1 wrote:
19. One story by this author ends “Glory to him who does die” and describes an Arabian king who leaves a Babylonian king in the middle of the desert. In another of his stories, a detective finds a dead rabbi in a hotel room and is lured Triste-le-Roi by Red Scharlach. The protagonist of one of this author’s stories is told of his ancestor’s work in the Pavilion of the Limpid Solitude by a man whom he (*) murders to send the name of a city to The Chief. In that story, Yu Tsun, a spy for Germany, learns of the title book from Doctor Albert. For 10 points, name this author of the short stories “Death and the Compass” and “The Garden of Forking Paths,” a blind Argentinian.
ANSWER: Jorge Luis Borges
I feel like it would have been better to write a tossup on Ginsburg's other stuff (Kaddish, Wichita Vortex Sutra, the billion other poems he did)Reesefulgenzi wrote:Hello,
May I see the 'Borjes' and 'Tolstoy' questions? The early clues seemed harder than the other lit questions, while the tossup on Howl caused a buzzer race with "Holy!" in the first line.
Thank you,
Reese
Indeed it should be, I'm surprised that I typed that and didn't catch it later. Glad you liked the lit!Reesefulgenzi wrote:Thank you.After searching, it looks like the opening clue should be "Glory to him who does not die."Gonzagapuma1 wrote:
19. One story by this author ends “Glory to him who does die” and describes an Arabian king who leaves a Babylonian king in the middle of the desert. In another of his stories, a detective finds a dead rabbi in a hotel room and is lured Triste-le-Roi by Red Scharlach. The protagonist of one of this author’s stories is told of his ancestor’s work in the Pavilion of the Limpid Solitude by a man whom he (*) murders to send the name of a city to The Chief. In that story, Yu Tsun, a spy for Germany, learns of the title book from Doctor Albert. For 10 points, name this author of the short stories “Death and the Compass” and “The Garden of Forking Paths,” a blind Argentinian.
ANSWER: Jorge Luis Borges
Overall, the literature was fantastic!
Reese
The high polarity of the monomers of nylon allow this interaction to occur frequently within itself. This interaction occurs between every four residues of a standard alpha helix, as well as the link between matching base pairs in DNA. On phase diagrams of water, a negative slope between the solid and liquid phases can be attributed to this phenomenon. This phenomenon, which is stronger than (*) van der Waals forces but weaker than intramolecular forces, causes water to expand upon freezing. For 10 points, name this weak type of bonding that occurs between atoms of oxygen, nitrogen, or fluorine and its namesake element.Off To See The Lizard wrote:Could I please see the following tossups:
Predation
Solvents
Hydrogen
Ravel (this may have been a bonus?)
Donizetti
Yeah, although it was a good tossup it doesn't seem to have played very well.40th Day after death wrote:I feel like it would have been better to write a tossup on Ginsburg's other stuff (Kaddish, Wichita Vortex Sutra, the billion other poems he did)
This artist wrote “I don’t know if I’ll be able to paint the postman as I feel him” in reference to his portrait of a man with a forked beard in a blue uniform. While at an art academy, he painted a skull smoking a cigarette. One of his paintings depicts a man in a white (*) coat whose legs disappear behind a green pool table standing in the middle of a room populated by drunks. A large yellow bed appears in his Bedroom at Arles, and he painted himself with a bandaged ear in one of his last self-portraits. Known for his paintings of sunflowers, for 10 points, name this Dutch artist of Starry Night.Blue, Red, Blue, Yellow wrote:Sorry for being greedy-
van Gogh
Durer
NMR spec
England (art)
The Devil and Daniel Webster
elephant (lit)
Henry IV of France
I enjoyed the set. It seemed like a lot of school-assigned literature was in it, too!
Thanks
ahan108 wrote:May I please see the 1984 tossup? Thanks.
Apostolic Prefecture of Kompong Cham wrote:Can I please see the tossups on Cormac McCarthy, the Blackshirts, and American invasions of Mexico?
If I recall correctly, it is Mahler's fifth symphony, not the sixth, that opens with a trumpet call.Round 1, TU 8 wrote: Though not by Beethoven, another symphony of this number opens with a trumpet call and ends with two or three hammer strikes, which the composer’s wife called the “hammer blows of fate.”
I think it would be helpful to specify that the flute, violin, and harpsichord comprise the concertino of the fifth Brandenburg Concerto, because the current wording makes it sound like those are the only three instruments in the piece.Round 8, TU 17 wrote: Bach wrote a Partita in A Minor for this instrument, which appears alongside the violin and harpsichord in his fifth Brandenburg Concerto.
I agree.Dmitri Shostakovich wrote:I noticed a small factual error in the "sixth symphonies" tossup (Round 1, TU 8) in the clue that reads:
If I recall correctly, it is Mahler's fifth symphony, not the sixth, that opens with a trumpet call.Round 1, TU 8 wrote: Though not by Beethoven, another symphony of this number opens with a trumpet call and ends with two or three hammer strikes, which the composer’s wife called the “hammer blows of fate.”
Also, on the "flute" tossup (Round 8, TU 17), in the clue that reads:
I think it would be helpful to specify that the flute, violin, and harpsichord comprise the concertino of the fifth Brandenburg Concerto, because the current wording makes it sound like those are the only three instruments in the piece.Round 8, TU 17 wrote: Bach wrote a Partita in A Minor for this instrument, which appears alongside the violin and harpsichord in his fifth Brandenburg Concerto.
Overall, this set was an enjoyable experience.
TSIAJ wrote:May I see the following:
Dvorak Symhony No. 9
Cage
Schubert
Flute
United States
Britten
Swan Lake
Four Seasons/Vivaldi/Corelli bonus
?/?/Glazunov bonus
Sibelius/Karelia Suite/? bonus
Thanks!
Gonzagapuma1 wrote:I can't find the U.S. tossup. Do you remember what round it was in? Was it a music tossup?TSIAJ wrote:May I see the following:
Dvorak Symhony No. 9
Cage
Schubert
Flute
United States
Britten
Swan Lake
Four Seasons/Vivaldi/Corelli bonus
?/?/Glazunov bonus
Sibelius/Karelia Suite/? bonus
Thanks!
Many of the themes in this symphony were inspired by Harry T. Burleigh, who arranged it. This symphony’s second movement, its longest, is in 4/4 time in D-flat major and opens with a French horn solo. William Arms Fisher adapted a theme from that Largo movement into the song “Goin’ Home.” This symphony was composed shortly before its composer’s String Quartet No. 12, which was inspired by a vacation in (*) Spillville, Iowa. This symphony includes a first movement flute passage reminiscent of “Swing Low Sweet Chariot,” and scenes from Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha were a strong influence on its composition. For 10 points, name this symphony inspired by a trip to the United States, a work of Antonin Dvořák.
ANSWER: From the New World (or Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor)
Irvine Arditti mastered a set of virtuosic violin etudes by this composer originally written for Paul Zukofsky. This composer referred to the hexagrams of the I Ching to determine the compositional elements of his Music of Changes. This composer required placing screws, bolts, and an eraser between the (*) strings of an instrument in preparation for performing his collection of Sonatas and Interludes. Kyle Gann’s No Such Thing As Silence is about one of this man’s pieces, which consists of three movements of ambient noise for the title length of time. For 10 points, name this experimental American composer of the completely silent 4'33".
ANSWER: John Cage
Anton Diabelli published this composer’s Three Marches Militaires for piano four-hands. This composer’s associate Johann Vogl inspired one of his song cycles, which evokes images of the “Will o’ the Wisp” and “The Hurdy-Gurdy Man.” This composer wrote some incidental music for the Helmina von Chézy play Rosamunde. A Matthias Claudius poem inspired the name of a string quartet this man wrote while suffering from syphilis in (*) 1824. Another of this man’s chamber works omits the second violin in favor of a double bass and includes a fourth movement containing variations on his lied “Die Forelle.” For 10 points, name this Austrian composer of the string quartet Death and the Maiden and the Trout Quintet.
ANSWER: Franz Schubert
Bach wrote a Partita in A Minor for this instrument, which appears alongside the violin and harpsichord in his fifth Brandenburg Concerto. A solid gold one of these instruments was owned by Jean-Pierre Rampal, a 20th century master of it. Georges Barrère premiered a work for this instrument that takes its title from a physical property of platinum, Edgard (*) Varèse’s Density 21.5. This instrument represents the little bird in Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. This instrument, which plays the opening bars of Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, is closely related to the fife and piccolo. For 10 points, name this reedless woodwind instrument, which appears in the title of a Mozart opera featuring the Queen of the Night.
ANSWER: flute
A work written in honor of this composer opens with a series of pianissimo strikes on the tubular bells and was written by Arvo Part. William Plomer wrote the libretto of this man’s Curlew River, which was part of a set of church parables he wrote for the Parish Church of St. Bartholomew in Orford. This man’s included a first movement choral solo entitled “What passing bells” as part of a six movement mass created for the dedication of the Coventry (*) Cathedral. Another of this man’s works was inspired by a theme from Henry Purcell’s incidental music to Abdelazer and was intended to introduce children to classical music. For 10 points, name this British composer of the Wilfred Owen-inspired War Requiem and The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.
ANSWER: Benjamin Britten
A series of dances in Act II of this ballet borrows music from its composer’s opera Undina, while Act I ends with the Dance of the Goblets. Julius Reisinger choreographed this ballet, whose most performed version was arranged by Riccardo Drigo. In this ballet, the protagonist encounters his love interest while on a hunting trip with his tutor Wolfgang and his friend (*) Benno von Sommerstern. In this ballet, the evil Rothbart casts a spell on Odette and switches her with his daughter Odile at a ball in order to trick Prince Siegfried into marrying her. For 10 points, name this ballet in which Odette turns into the title bird at night, a work of Tchaikovsky.
ANSWER: Swan Lake (or Lebedinoye ozero)
Nigel Kennedy’s 1989 recording of this work is one of the best-selling classical recordings in history. For 10 points each:
[10] Name this set of four violin concerti originally included in The Contest Between Harmony and Invention that depicts the different divisions of the year.
ANSWER: The Four Seasons (or Le quattro stagioni)
[10] This Italian composer, known as “The Red Priest” for his fiery red hair, composed The Four Seasons.
ANSWER: Antonio Vivaldi
[10] This other Italian composer of several Sonata da chiesa and Concerti grossi greatly influenced the work of Vivaldi and is perhaps best known for his Christmas Concerto.
ANSWER: Arcangelo Corelli
This piece contains a leitmotif associated with Prince Gvidon, who is a character in the opera in which it appears. For 10 points each:
[10] Name this orchestral interlude about the journey of a certain insect. It is included in Act III of its composer’s opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan.
ANSWER: “Flight of the Bumblebee”
[10] “Flight of the Bumblebee” was composed by this man, who included chants from the Obikhod in his Russian Easter Festival Overture.
ANSWER: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
[10] Rimsky-Korsakov taught this other Russian composer, who wrote a Violin Concerto in A minor for Leopold Auer and the music for the ballet Raymonda.
ANSWER: Alexander Glazunov
This composer’s seventh symphony is his last and is notable for having only one movement. For 10 points each:
[10] Name this Finnish composer of the tone poem Tapiola and the symphonic poem Finlandia.
ANSWER: Jean Sibelius
[10] This set of pieces by Sibelius imagines such events as “The Siege of Viipuri Castle” and “Karl Knutsson.” It was commissioned for the students at Helsinki University in Vyborg and named for a region of Finland.
ANSWER: Karelia Suite, Op. 11
[10] Sibelius also wrote some incidental music to this play. The text of this play inspired the first of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Three Shakespeare Songs, which was entitled “Full Fathom Five.”
ANSWER: The Tempest
I found it and edited it in.TSIAJ wrote:
Thanks!
Yes, the United States tossup was music-related (a bunch of clues on composers from here, etc.)
Yeah, that's absolutely right and it should have been specified. There are other instruments in the ripieno and that could have confused people.I think it would be helpful to specify that the flute, violin, and harpsichord comprise the concertino of the fifth Brandenburg Concerto, because the current wording makes it sound like those are the only three instruments in the piece.
Sure, it could have been specified, but I don't know why you would ever buzz there after 4 words.And for the flute tossup, I negged after "Bach wrote a partita" saying "violin," even though I would've powered it after "A minor."
Yes, it was a fault on my part, but still, writing the Partita in A Minor as a first clue is pretty odd.Giovanni I Participazio wrote:Yeah, that's absolutely right and it should have been specified. There are other instruments in the ripieno and that could have confused people.I think it would be helpful to specify that the flute, violin, and harpsichord comprise the concertino of the fifth Brandenburg Concerto, because the current wording makes it sound like those are the only three instruments in the piece.
As for the Dvorak thing, I think I just wasn't paying attention and wrote the wrong descriptor down. I had listened to it beforehand as well. Oops.
Sure, it could have been specified, but I don't know why you would ever buzz there after 4 words.And for the flute tossup, I negged after "Bach wrote a partita" saying "violin," even though I would've powered it after "A minor."
CONVERSION: 24 rooms, (0/8/4), 33.33%IS-126 wrote: “He composed the {tenor} {aria} "Ah! Mes amis" [ah may-zah-mee] for an opera about a girl named Marie, and included "Il dulce suono" [eel DOOL-chay SWOH-noh] in an opera about {feud}ing Scottish families. In one of his operas, Nemorino describes his love in "Quanto \`e bella" [KWAHN-toh eh BEL-lah] and sings "Una furtiva (*) lagrima" [OO-nah FOOR-tee-vah LAH-gree-mah] after buying a {potion} from Dulcamara [DOOL-kah-MAY-rah]. ~The Daughter of the Regiment~ is by--for 10 points--what composer of the ~bel canto~ operas ~The Elixir of Love~ and ~Lucia di Lammermoor~ [loo-CHEE-uh dee LAM-ur-moor]?
answer:(Domenico) Gaetano (Maria) _Donizetti_ [doh-neet-ZAY-tee]
CONVERSION: 80 rooms, (12/32/8), 55.0%HSNCT 2013 wrote: This composer wrote the aria "{Il dolce suono}" [eel DOHL-chay soo-OH-noh] for a character who marries Arturo. Another of his characters, Nemorino [nay-moh-REE-noh], sings "{Una furtiva lagrima}" [OO-nah FOOR-tee-vah LAH-gree-mah] when he sees Adina weeping, and believes she has fallen in love with him after he used a (*) {potion} on her. ~The Elixir of Love~ was written by--for 10 points--what Italian composer of an opera about a woman who has a "Mad Scene," ~Lucia di Lammermoor~ [loo-CHEE-ah dee LAH-mur-moor]?
answer: (Domenico) Gaetano (Maria) _Donizetti_ [doh-neet-SAY-tee]
I apologize for the weirdly large number of the suggestions that seem to solely address power marking. Allow me to elaborate: There were many difficulty-appropriate tossups in this set, but there were also many tossups that seemed far too hard for a regular high school audience. This is not necessarily a big problem, since you can usually just adjust for this by being more generous on power marking the "hard" questions (NAQT does this a lot, for instance). In the case of this set, however, both the "normal" tossups and "hard" tossups seemed to consistently have the power mark placed in the same place (around the middle). I think this caused a lot of consistency issues in question-by-question difficulty. I gave a lot of suggestions for power marking because I felt like it would be the easiest way for you guys to address these consistency problems, without having to rewrite much of the tournament.Gonzagapuma1 wrote:Thanks for taking the time and effort to post that, Jason. I agree with many of your criticisms of the set and we have worked on fixing the errors and toning down the hard parts. I will say that, in general, I find criticism of the placement of power markings a bit inane and not super helpful. That said, thanks for making the set better; your suggestions were incredibly helpful!
Meanwhile, here's a tossup from Packet 13 on Chicago. I actually felt this question was more appropriate for ACF Regionals, or at least ACF Fall, than a regular high school tournament (see my explanation above in Jason's post).Packet 11 wrote: 15. This campaign is represented as a brown line in a pioneering infographic by Charles Joseph Minard. This campaign occurred after the Congress of Erfurt, and Peter Bagration died during one of its battles. It violated a treaty signed in a raft on the Neman river, the Treaty of Tilsit. This campaign ended after its leader rushed home to stop a coup, leaving (*) Joachim Murat in command. Retreating forces burned their own capital during this campaign, which saw the Battle of Borodino and numerous deaths by freezing. For 10 points, name this disastrous invasion conducted by a French emperor against a country led by czar Alexander I.
ANSWER: Napoleon’s invasion of Russia (prompt on partial answers)
Despite the clear difference in difficulty levels, however, both questions have the power end at almost exactly the same point (a little way down the third line). This results in two drastically disparate questions.Packet 13 wrote:6. The practice of redlining in this city was the subject of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s article “The Case For Reparations.” One longtime mayor of this city had an unauthorized biography titled Boss written about him by Mike Royko, a columnist based in this city. That mayor said that “the police are here to preserve disorder” during one event hosted in this city in which Abraham (*) Ribicoff was insulted, and Pigasus, a large pig, was nominated for president by the Youth International Party. The host of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, in the 20th century this city was also led by two mayors named Richard Daley. For 10 points, name this city currently led by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
ANSWER: Chicago
Well I guess judging difficulty is a pretty subjective process, but I'll give it a shot, through reverse clue lookup. For this, I'll be using Berkeley DB, which has all of the packets on quizbowlpackets.com and hsapq.com combined. I'll only count packets written after 2003, since I think that's when Andrew Yaphe once mentioned that quiz bowl clue content changed drastically.40 characters in search of a username wrote:I didn't write either question, and may have a weird knowledge base, but I really don't see why the second question is so self-evidently harder than the first.
It's not that subjective and this is dumb. Yes, the Chicago question is much harder; the fact that a very widely read piece published in MAY TWENTY-FOURTEEN doesn't show up means literally nothing. Reverse clue lookup is a poor way to judge clue difficulty (especially with any current events clue!) and this approach should be abandoned.Corry wrote:Well I guess judging difficulty is a pretty subjective process, but I'll give it a shot, through reverse clue lookup. For this, I'll be using Berkeley DB, which has all of the packets on quizbowlpackets.com and hsapq.com combined. I'll only count packets written after 2003, since I think that's when Andrew Yaphe once mentioned that quiz bowl clue content changed drastically.
Everything before Ribicoff on the Chicago question is really really hard. Ending power at Ribicoff is already hard enough-- as I mentioned in my previous post, that's actually less generous than the 2013 NAQT ICT Div II tossup on Richard Daley, which still barely got powered in the entire tournament.
Ta-Nehisi Coates and "The Case for Reparations" gets 0 results on the Berkeley DB. Mike Royko gets 4 results about Daley specifically: PACE 2013, 2014 Chicago Open, 2014 Chicago Open History, and 2012 QUARK. The "preserve disorder" quote gets another 4 results: 2014 Chicago Open History, 2013 WIT, 2012 QUARK, and 2013 JAMES. Anddddd... that's where power ends. Aside from JAMES, where the "preserve disorder" quote gets used as a throwaway clue at the end of a bonus, all of the clues are from regular-difficulty college or open sets. And none of them are particularly well known.
Yeah, I don't generally do reverse clue-lookup for current events clues, but I threw all of this together in 10 minutes so I wasn't really paying attention there. My bad. Anyways, the point stands that the rest of the clues in power for Chicago are way hard.Cody wrote:It's not that subjective and this is dumb. Yes, the Chicago question is much harder; the fact that a very widely read piece published in MAY TWENTY-FOURTEEN doesn't show up means literally nothing. Reverse clue lookup is a poor way to judge clue difficulty (especially with any current events clue!) and this approach should be abandoned.
Crazyflight wrote:Can I see the tossups on Mahayana Buddhism, lay investiture, Umberto Eco, Dover Beach, Thanatopsis, Nigeria, and Robert Frost? Sorry for the semi-long list.
Maryland Spring wrote: One text of this religious sect is addressed to Sariputra and famously states “Form is empty; emptiness is form.” One school of this sect is headed by the Ganden Tripa and is the Gelug-pa. A school of this sect reveres Amitabha and is known as the Pure Land School. Another school of this religious sect was brought to (*) China by Bodhidharma and emphasizes attaining enlightenment using paradoxical riddles called koans. This sect includes the Yellow Hat sect and Zen, and it is often contrasted with the Theravada branch. For 10 points, name this largest sect of Buddhism, whose name means the “Greater Vehicle.”
ANSWER: Mahayana Buddhism (prompt on “Buddhism” or specific answers like “Zen,” “Yellow Hat,” or “Pure Land” before mentioned)
Maryland Spring wrote:This conflict triggered a rebellion led by Otto of Nordheim and Rudolf of Rheinfelden, who was elected anti-king but died at the Battle of Elster. The Great Saxon Revolt was prompted by the resolution of this conflict, which led to the Norman sack of Rome. The Battle of Langensalza inspired the most famous episode in this conflict, which was resumed decades later by (*) Paschal II and Henry I of England. Leading to the appointment of Antipope Clement III and ultimately resolved by the Concordat of Worms, this conflict saw the famous groveling in the snow at Canossa. For 10 points, name this conflict between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII over who would appoint church officials.
ANSWER: Lay Investiture Controversy
Maryland Spring wrote:In one novel by this author, the city of Alessandria is saved from a siege by a trick involving an overfed cow; in that novel, the protagonist and his friends visit the kingdom of Prester John. The narrator of another of this author’s novels watches a ritual involving Count Aglee at a Parisian museum and recounts how he and two other employees of Garamond Publishing created The (*) Plan using the computer Abulafia. This author of Baudolino also wrote a novel in which Venantius is found in a vat of pig’s blood and William of Baskerville solves a series of murders at a monastery. For 10 points, name this author of Foucault’s Pendulum and Name of the Rose.
ANSWER: Umberto Eco
Maryland Spring wrote:A parody of this poem describes a woman who is told “things are bad all over, etc., etc.” and is upset to be treated as a “cosmic last resort.” The narrator of this poem claims that a “land of dreams” actually has “neither joy, nor love, nor light.” The narrator entreats “come to the window… sweet is the night air” and later says “Ah, (*) love, let us be true to one another!” This poem’s second stanza notes that “Sophocles long ago heard it on the Aegean,” and it begins “The sea is calm to-night.” For 10 points, name this poem that describes a “darkling plain… where ignorant armies clash by night,” a work of Matthew Arnold.
ANSWER: “Dover Beach” (accept “Dover Bitch” on the first clue)
Maryland Spring wrote:The opening of this poem describes a figure with “a voice of gladness, and a smile / And eloquence of beauty.” This poem lists “vales stretching in pensive quietness” and the “ocean’s gray and melancholy waste” as “solemn decorations.” A “still voice” from “nature’s teachings” speaks most of this poem which also urges (*) “take the wings / of morning, pierce the Barcan wilderness.” Its final stanza contrasts “the quarry-slave at night” with “one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams.” For 10 points, name this poem about death by William Cullen Bryant.
ANSWER: “Thanatopsis”
Maryland Spring wrote:In one novel from this country, the narrator returns from Dead’s Town with his deceased servant, a tapster. One author from this country wrote a play in which Simon Pilkings fails to prevent Elesin from (*) strangling himself with his chains. Another novel from this country features a character who once wrestled a man called “the cat;” that protagonist goes into exile after his gun explodes and kills a child and later hangs himself after decapitating a messenger of the district commissioner. For 10 points, identify this country home to Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe.
ANSWER: Nigeria
Maryland Spring wrote:In one poem, this author wrote of a desire that comes to him when he’s “weary of considerations and life is too much like a pathless wood.” That poem by him ends “one could do worse than be a swinger of” the title objects. The speaker of one poem by this author claims “he is all pine and I am all apple orchard” in reference to a man who he sees carrying (*) rocks like “an old-stone savage armed.” That poem also states “here there are no cows” and begins “something there is that doesn’t love” the titular structure. For 10 points, name this poet of “Birches” who criticized the notion that “good fences make good neighbors” in his “Mending Wall.”
ANSWER: Robert Frost
In an episode of Arthur, Muffy doesn’t want to attend one of these events, and Rodney Gilfry helps the kids stage one of them. In an episode of The Simpsons, Bart is forced to attend one of these events after being mistaken for a genius. In one movie, Herman Gottlieb performs at this kind of event, and that film also features the character (*) Otis B. Driftwood. A Marx Brothers movie is about “A Night at” this kind of event, and a Merrie Melodies cartoon about one of these events sees Elmer Fudd sing “Kill Da Wabbit.” For 10 points, name this kind of musical performance, examples of which include Carmen.ndikkala wrote:Can I please see the opera tossup? I'd also like to see the prime number bonus.