About this Study Set
This study set covers Literature through
20 practice questions.
A challenging exploration of literary firsts, historical milestones, and foundational discoveries in global literature. Every question includes the correct answer so you can learn as you go — pick any format above to get started.
Questions & Answers
Browse all 20 questions from the
Pioneers of the Written Word study set below.
Each question shows the correct answer — select a study format above to practice interactively.
1
Which ancient Sumerian work is widely recognized by scholars as the world's earliest known great work of literature?
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A
The Enuma Elish
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B
The Epic of Gilgamesh
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C
The Myth of Etana
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D
The Instructions of Shuruppak
2
Who is credited with writing the first novel in the English language, 'Robinson Crusoe' (1719)?
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A
Samuel Richardson
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B
Daniel Defoe
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C
Henry Fielding
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D
Jonathan Swift
3
The 'Tale of Genji', often cited as the world's first psychological novel, was written by which 11th-century Japanese noblewoman?
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A
Sei Shōnagon
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B
Izumi Shikibu
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C
Murasaki Shikibu
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D
Ono no Komachi
4
In which city was the first printed book with a movable metal type, the 'Jikji', produced in 1377?
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A
Seoul, Korea
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B
Kyoto, Japan
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C
Beijing, China
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D
Gyeongju, Korea
5
Which writer is credited with inventing the modern detective story through the publication of 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' in 1841?
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A
Arthur Conan Doyle
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B
Wilkie Collins
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C
Edgar Allan Poe
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D
Charles Dickens
6
The first known signed literary work, an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, was composed by which high priestess?
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A
Enheduanna
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B
Puabi
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C
Kubaba
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D
Sammu-ramat
7
Which 19th-century author is widely considered to have written the first science fiction novel, 'Frankenstein'?
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A
Mary Shelley
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B
H.G. Wells
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C
Jules Verne
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D
Bram Stoker
8
What is the title of the first complete Bible printed using movable metal type in Europe, completed in 1455?
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A
The Complutensian Polyglot
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B
The Gutenberg Bible
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C
The Wycliffe Bible
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D
The Erasmus Bible
9
Which poet is known for inventing the sonnet form in Italy during the 13th century?
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A
Francesco Petrarch
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B
Dante Alighieri
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C
Giacomo da Lentini
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D
Giovanni Boccaccio
10
What is the first known work of Western literature to use a 'frame narrative' structure?
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A
The Odyssey
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B
The Iliad
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C
The Golden Ass
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D
The Canterbury Tales
11
Who is the author of the first picaresque novel, 'Lazarillo de Tormes', published anonymously in 1554?
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A
Miguel de Cervantes
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B
Mateo Alemán
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C
Francisco de Quevedo
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D
Unknown
12
The term 'utopia' as a literary genre was established by which author's 1516 book?
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A
Francis Bacon
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B
Thomas More
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C
Tommaso Campanella
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D
Erasmus
13
Which play is recognized as the first tragedy in the English language?
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A
Gorboduc
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B
The Spanish Tragedy
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C
Tamburlaine
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D
Doctor Faustus
14
What was the first literary work to be copyrighted under the Statute of Anne in 1710?
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A
A Treatise on the Art of Poetry
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B
An Essay on Criticism
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C
The History of the Works of the Learned
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D
The Gentleman's Magazine
15
Which author's work 'Pamela' (1740) is widely regarded as the first novel to use the epistolary form extensively in English?
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A
Samuel Richardson
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B
Henry Fielding
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C
Laurence Sterne
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D
Tobias Smollett
16
Who is credited with creating the first modern 'stream of consciousness' technique in literature through the novel 'Les Lauriers sont coupés'?
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A
James Joyce
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B
Édouard Dujardin
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C
Virginia Woolf
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D
Marcel Proust
17
What is considered the first 'hacker' novel, featuring themes of digital subculture and AI long before the term existed?
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A
Neuromancer
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B
The Shockwave Rider
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C
True Names
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D
Stand on Zanzibar
18
Which English author published the first professional literary journal, 'The Review', in 1704?
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A
Joseph Addison
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B
Richard Steele
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C
Daniel Defoe
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D
Samuel Johnson
19
The first autobiography written in the English language is attributed to which 15th-century mystic?
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A
Julian of Norwich
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B
Margery Kempe
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C
Hildegard of Bingen
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D
Catherine of Siena
20
Which 1922 publication by T.S. Eliot is often cited as the first 'high modernist' poem of the 20th century?
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A
The Hollow Men
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B
The Waste Land
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C
Prufrock and Other Observations
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D
Ash Wednesday
