Academic Decathalon 2026-27 Literature
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116 Terms
There are only two stories in all of literature
A man goes on a journey and a stranger comes to town.
Who was Erich Auerbach
Jewish-German philologist who wrote Mimesis
What is Mimesis
Greek for imitation
Homeric Narrative
Everything is clear and unambiguous
Biblical Narrative
A style of storytelling that emphasizes moral and spiritual lessons, often with ambiguous or layered meanings.
Quest narrative
Main character pursues a goal through hostile terrain
Discovery
Main character learns to see the world in a new day
Journeys
The destination is sel-understanding rather than a geographical place.
Elements of Quest narratives
Hero, goal, challenging journey
Geographical Transformation
Drastic change in location
Ethical Transformation
A significant shift in moral values or beliefs.
Existential Transformation
Change in how the hero understands themself
Bildungsroman
Genre; coming-of-age narrative; involves geographical, ethical, and existential transformations.
Travel writing
The main way humans encountered distant places and cultures before modern technology
Two strands of travel writing
Autobiographical project; documenting details of a specific place or journey
Who defined the two strands of travel writing?
Hamera and Bendixen
Travel writing is what as opposed to mimetic?
Constitutive
Who established the idea of “contact zones”?
Mary Louise Pratt
What is a contact zone?
A place with asymmetrical conditions, where one culture is more powerful than the other.
Who wrote Orientalism?
Edward Said
Where was Kazuo Ishiguro born?
Nagasaki, Japan
When was Kazuo Ishiguro born?
November 8th, 1954
Who was Kazuo Ishiguro’s father?
Shizuo Ishiguro
What was Kazuo Ishiguro’s father’s occupation?
Oceanographer
What event did Ishiguro’s mother survive?
The bombing of Nagasaki
When did Ishiguro move to England?
1960
At what age did Ishiguro move to England?
5
Why did Ishiguro’s family move to England?
His father was invited to work at the National Institute of Oceanography
Where was the National Institute of Oceanography based?
Guildford in Surrey
What primary school did Ishiguro attend?
Stoughton Primary School
After primary school, what school did Ishiguro attend?
Woking County Grammar School
What was Ishiguro drawn to in his teenage years?
Music
What singer-songwriters was Ishiguro drawn to?
Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen
Before considering writing, what career did Ishiguro consider?
Songwriting
Where did Ishiguro study?
University of Kent
What did Ishiguro study?
English and Philosophy
Where did Ishiguro learn creative writing?
University of East Anglia
Who was Ishiguro’s teacher at UEA?
Malcolm Bradbury
What was Ishiguro’s debut novel?
A Pale View of Hills
When was Ishiguro’s debut novel published?
1982
When did Ishiguro enter UEA’s program
1979
Who was another one of Ishiguro’s teachers?
Angela Carter
What was Ishiguro’s second novel?
An Artist of the Floating World
When was Ishiguro’s second book published?
1986
What were the main themes of Ishiguro’s first two novels?
Memories of Japan
A Pale View of the Hills won what award?
Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize
Who was the main character in A Pale View of the Hills
Etsuko
Who was the main character of An Artists of the Floating World?
Masuji Ono
What award did An Artist of the Floating World win?
Whitbred Book of the Year, shortlisted for the Booker.
Who were Ishiguro’s idols?
Chekhov and Dostoevsky
What was Ishiguro drawn to?
Universal human themes
How long did the final draft of the Remains of the Day take?
4 weeks, “The Crash”
Who was Ishiguro’s wife?
Lorna MacDougall
Who was Ishiguro’s British publisher?
Faber and Faber
Who was Ishiguro’s literary agent?
Deborah Rogers
What was the famous incident in the revisions of the Remains of the Day
Tom Gruff (singer-songwriter), Ruby’s Arms, “heart was breaking” line
Who said the remains of the day was “a triumph of craft”
Terrence Rafferty in the New Yorker
Who said Stevens was a false narrator?
Francis King in the Spectator
Who focused on thorny issues of Germany within the book?
Thwaite in the London Review of Books
What award did the Remains of the Day win?
The Booker Prize
When was the Remains of the Day adapted to film?
1993
Who played Stevens in the film adaptation of TROTD
Anthony Hopkins
Who played Ms. Kenton in the film adaptation of TROTD?
Emma Thompson
How many academy award nominations did the Merchant Ivory version TROTD recieve?
8
Who directed the Saddest Music in the World?
Guy Maddin
What screenplays did Ishiguro write?
The White Countess, Living
When did Ishiguro win the nobel prize in Literature
2017
Who won the prize before Ishiguro?
Bob Dylan
What was Ishiguro’s Nobel prize speech entitled?
My Twentieth Century Evening and Other Small Breakthroughs
When is The Remains of the Day set?
1956
Who wrote Travels with Charley?
John Steinbeck
When was Travels with Charley published?
1962
When was John Steinbeck born?
1902
Where was John Steinbeck born?
Salinas, California
What was John Steinbeck’s father’s occupation?
Monterey County Treasurer
What university did Stienbeck matriculate into?
Stanford
When did Steinbeck leave university?
1925
When did Steinbeck matriculate into Stanford?
1919
Did Steinbeck leave Stanford with a degree?
No
What was Steinbeck’s first novel?
a Cup of Gold
When was Steinbeck’s first novel published?
1929
What book of John Steinbeck won the Pulitzer Prize?
The Grapes of Wrath
When did Steinbeck go to the Gulf of California?
1940
Who did Steinbeck go to the Gulf of California with?
Ricketts, marine biologist
What book was produced by Steinbecks gulf voyage?
Sea of Cortez
What did Steinbeck do in WW2
War correspondent in Europe and North Africa
When did Steinbeck tour Soviet Union?
1947
What did Steinbeck write after Russia Trip
A Russian Journal
When did Steinbeck win the Nobel Prize in Literature?
1962
Who were Steinbeck’s three sequential wives?
Henning, Conger, Scott, two sons with Conger
When, where, how did Steinbeck die?
Dec 20 1968, NYC, heart disease
Who wrote Travels with Charlie?
John Steinbeck
Who wrote the Fourth of July?
Audre Lorde
When was the Fourth of July written?
1982
What was Audre Lorde’s original name?
Audrey Geraldine Lord
When and where was Audre Lorde born?
1934, New York
Who was Audre Lorde’s father?
Frederick Byron Lorde from Grenada
Who was Audre Lorde’s mother?
Linda Gertrude Lorde from Barbados
Where did Audre Lorde grow up?
Harlem
Where did Audre Lorde attend school?
Catholic Schools and then Hunter College High School