The Waste Land Quizzes

The Waste Land Quiz 1

By Damien Chazelle · Edited by Jordan Berkow · Last reviewed October 26, 2007

1 Which month is the "cruellest"?

April

May

September

December
2 Where is the Starnbergersee?

in Michigan

near Munich

just outside London

in Paris
3 "The river sweats...

oil and tar."

fumes and fire."

water."

saffron and lilac."
4 Who is demobbed?

Madame Sosostris

Lil's husband

Prufrock

Sweeney
5 "Demobbed" means:

"released from the army"

"lynched"

"awarded with a medal of honor"

"killed"
6 What battle did Stetson supposedly participate in?

the Battle of Britain

Waterloo

Mylae

the Battle of the Bulge
7 "By the waters of ____ I sat down and wept..."

Leman

the Thames

the Nile

the Seine
8 Which of the following cities is mentioned in "The Waste Land"?

Timbuktu

Novgorod

Vienna

Marseilles
9 Magnus Martyr is a:

football stadium

church

ocean

epic poem
10 The opening section of "The Waste Land" is entitled:

"The Fire Sermon"

"Death by Water"

"Shantih"

"The Burial of the Dead"
11 Who visits the typist?

a Bradford millionaire

Mrs. Porter

Prufrock

the young man carbuncular
12 Who witnesses the visit?

Ezra Pound

Tiresias

Madame Sosostris

Vivienne
13 The clairvoyant is named

Aldous Huxley

Vivienne

Mrs. Porter

Madame Sosostris
14 Mr. Eugenides is a:

merchant

poet

filmmaker

witch doctor
15 Mr. Eugenides invites the Narrator to:

the Ritz Carlton

Venice

the Cannon Street Hotel

the Plaza
16 "the _____ hour"

indigo

violet

turquoise

aqua
17 Who is "throbbing between two lives"?

Mr. Eugenides

Tiresias

Phlebas

the typist
18 The narrator is told that he should fear death by:

disease

fire

starvation

water
19 "When lovely woman stoops to folly" is an allusion to:

Ovid's Metamorphoses

the Koran

Hamlet

Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield
20 Who rapes Philomela?

the typist

Odysseus

Tereus

Zeus
21 Translate "Oed' und leer das Meer"

"Isolde is lost forever"

"Desolate and empty is the sea"

"The ship has arrived, appearing on the horizon"

"A kiss is just a kiss"
22 Which of the following works of literature does Eliot NOT cite?

The Inferno

On The Road

The Spanish Tragedie

Hamlet
23 In what city is Queen Victoria Street (in the poem)?

New York

Boston

London

Gloucester
24 What does the Narrator know when confronted with the hyacinth girl?

the way to restore fruitfulness to the wasteland

the meaning of life

nothing

the reason he is in love
25 Who is "known to be the wisest woman in Europe, / With a wicked pack of cards"?

Cleopatra

the typist

Madame Sosostris

Mrs. Porter

How is the poem associated with disillusion and loss

Loss in the poem is multifaceted. There is a sense of loss of faith in a higher purpose, a loss of connection between individuals, and a loss of a coherent identity. The urban landscapes described are sterile and lonely, and human interactions are...

Asked by Vision C #1385770

Answered by Larry B #1360870 on 9/12/2025 12:21 PM

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The Burial of the Dead

The title, The Burial of the Dead, speaks to the theme of death and loss and the continuity of suffering and spiritual decay.

Asked by bonface g #509926

Answered by jill d #170087 on 2/21/2024 11:04 AM

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What is the actual setting of the wasteland Eliot describes?

The Waste Land is set in a post war wastelend... a place destroyed by a massive war. The poem was written post WWI.

Asked by tingali

Answered by jill d #170087 on 7/7/2023 10:24 AM