Allusions & Literary Terms

Question 1

Augean Stables

Answer 1

Any difficult cleanup, actual or figurative

Question 2

Belling the cat

Answer 2

A person who bells the cat is a person who has courage to stick out his neck for his friends despite putting himself in risk.

Question 3

Big brother is watching you

Answer 3

Refers to nah government or ruler, that tries to dictate, eavesdrop, or gather personal information of citizens

Question 4

(Captain) Bligh

Answer 4

Any person is is cruel, unreasonable, and tyrannical

Question 5

Brahmin

Answer 5

Refers to generally to any socially prominent and intellectually refined individual

Question 6

Artful dodger

Answer 6

Any skillful crook

Question 7

Brave new world

Answer 7

Often used sarcastically of ironically to depict “advances” in our society which may lead humanity to ruin.

Question 8

Byronic

Answer 8

Any person who is like Byron himself (aromatic poet, considered a bit of a rake) or whose writing includes handsome, sad, brooding, and appealing characters like Byron’s

Question 9

Catch-22

Answer 9

Any situation where you lose no matter which decision you make

Question 10

Cheshire Cat

Answer 10

People who grin……………

Question 11

Any close friends are sometimes called

Answer 11

Damon and Pythias

Question 12

Any writing resembling an epic score, vivid detail, and allegory is considered

Answer 12

Dantesque

Question 13

Charles dickens wrote novels showing the poverty, injustices, and misery of Victorian England. Now situations or writings about similar topics are sometimes called..

Answer 13

Dickensian

Question 14

Anyone who tries to spoil something for someone else even though it has no use for himself is called…

Answer 14

A dog in the manger

Question 15

Someone who is considered a playboy (smooth)

Answer 15

Don Juan

Question 16

Anyone who clings to youth and is afraid of aging is called a…

Answer 16

Dorian gray

Question 17

Represents every man or all men (from an old play)

Answer 17

Everyman

Question 18

These characters seemed to be driven by hidden forces beyond their control, and plots included tragic violence set in the South.. Any work similar to these writings, characters, or setting is said to be ?

Answer 18

Faulknerian (William Faulkner)

Question 19

One who sacrifices everything to obtain immediate gratification, but plays the price later on

Answer 19

Faustian

Question 20

“No man is an island” and all people shared a common fate

Answer 20

For whom the bell tolls

Question 21

Someone who gives into his own fantasies and obsessions and represents ostentatious and lavish living

Answer 21

Gatsby

Question 22

Gilded age

Answer 22

Deals with greed in post-civil war America. Terms comes to denote post civil war era

Question 23

Dark side of human soul

Answer 23

Heart of darkness

Question 24

Holy grail

Answer 24

A search for the holy grail signifies any difficult or possibly unattainable goal

Question 25

Anything that is larger than life refers to

Answer 25

Homeric

Question 26

Anyone who makes good after being born in a life of poverty is referred to as

Answer 26

Horatio Alger

Question 27

Kafkaesque

Answer 27

Kafkas writings, often surreal and bizzare, often presented characters thwarted by red tape and authoritarian bureaucracy. any literature or situation similar to this ..

Question 28

Spithead and Nore

Answer 28

Any reference to them alludes to mutiny

Question 29

Lord Nelson

Answer 29

England most renowned naval hero. References typically alluded to heroism--military heroism

Question 30

Montaigne

Answer 30

Any allusions evokes his basic philosophy in which he believed that man can find truth in the universe though he is a victim of customs, prejudices, and self interests.

Question 31

Refers to the last speech or function of a prominent person, usually politician, before retiring or leaving office. Stand for the final action of a person before the end of a career.

Answer 31

Last hurrah

Question 32

Anything huge and monstrous

Answer 32

Leviathan

Question 33

Something very tiny that can control something larger than itself

Answer 33

Lilliputian

Question 34

Refers to anyone who is merciless, clever, and unethical to obtain goals particularly political.

Answer 34

Machiavellian

Question 35

Any respected person who stands up for his ideals under pressure

Answer 35

Man for all seasons

Question 36

Monstrous obsession

Answer 36

Moby dick

Question 37

Physically small person

Answer 37

Munchkin

Question 38

An uncultivated person who is really more worthy and sensible than some if his "civilized" counterparts

Answer 38

Noble savage

Question 39

A child's powerful erotic attachment to the parent of the opposite sex, creating rivalry with the parent of the same sex

Answer 39

Oedipus complex

Question 40

Anyone bleak and oppressive, especially a political situation

Answer 40

Orwellian

Question 41

Anyone who overcomes worldly problems is said to have

Answer 41

Pilgrims progress

Question 42

Any strong but nonsexual affinity for another person

Answer 42

Platonic love

Question 43

A person who is independent, defiant of authority, and willing to make sacrifices for his belief

Answer 43

Promethean person

Question 44

Any story or situation where mentor takes on a pupil, remakes the person, then falls in love with the resulting creation is compared with

Answer 44

Pygmalion

Question 45

Name has come to denote any petty, incompetent person in a leadership position

Answer 45

Queeg

Question 46

Anyone who pursues idealized, impractical goals

Answer 46

Quixotic

Question 47

(Complex machines drew) Any procedure that makes a simple task seem complicated is compared to a

Answer 47

Rube Goldberg

Question 48

We refer to any underworld person or even a likable or personable rogue as..

Answer 48

Runyonsque

Question 49

Any idyllic place

Answer 49

Shangri-la

Question 50

Refers to any dramatic statement or action that begins something important or greatly influences later events

Answer 50

Shot heard round the world

Question 51

Refers to any ecological calamity

Answer 51

Silent spring

Question 52

Question and answer method instead of lecturing

Answer 52

Socratic method

Question 53

Anyone who has (or tries to obtain) power over someone else through strength of personality

Answer 53

Svengali

Question 54

Clean slate, students mind fresh and ready to be inscribed with knowledge (John Locke)

Answer 54

Tabula rasa

Question 55

Any seemingly innocent maneuver that is designed to harm adversary is called

Answer 55

A Trojan horse

Question 56

Two things that are hard to tell apart

Answer 56

Tweedledumb and tweedledee

Question 57

To describe overbearing American policies or behavior in foreign countries

Answer 57

Ugly American

Question 58

Any perfect place, state of being, or government

Answer 58

Utopia

Question 59

A person who fantasizes about unrealistic, brave deeds is a

Answer 59

Walter Mitty

Question 60

Any person who us working hard trying to earn a living, but is not being very successful and is therefore a pathetic figure

Answer 60

Willy loman

Question 61

If you have faith and do what god asks, he will bless you forever

Answer 61

Abraham and Isaac

Question 62

A person who is sent by god with a message for the people. Jesus had 12

Answer 62

Apostles, the twelve

Question 63

Any fierce confrontation resulting in mutual destruction

Answer 63

Armageddon

Question 64

In present day, the Mark of this man is refers to the stigma of anyone who has committed a crime or is an outcast by social standards

Answer 64

Cain (Cain and Abel)

Question 65

This place appeared in sermon on the mount and would be a shining example and model to others

Answer 65

City on a hill

Question 66

A person confronted with difficulties is compared to Daniel in the lions den and is encouraged to hold up in the face of adversity or persecution, as he did

Answer 66

Daniel in the lions den

Question 67

Anyone who confronts great odds is considered a..

Answer 67

David going against Goliath

Question 68

This child of now his beared the curse of servitude.. Can be used as an allusion of this

Answer 68

Ham

Question 69

A ________ is now a shameless and wicked woman

Answer 69

Jezebel (Elijah and Jezebel)

Question 70

This person and her foster father helped deliver the Jews from persecution by the king of Persia

Answer 70

Esther and he king of Persia

Question 71

This expression now refers to the flaw of an otherwise strong and admirable person

Answer 71

Feet of clay

Question 72

His phrase is used to represent any four men if ill repute or those who will being catastrophe or destruction

Answer 72

Four horseman of the apocalypse

Question 73

Anyone who does the right and courageous thing

Answer 73

A Good Samaritan

Question 74

Sometimes people refer to any arguement or Greedy family members being like

Answer 74

Esau and Jacob

Question 75

His followers founded Christianity

Answer 75

Jesus

Question 76

People talk of "patience of Job" alluding to the story of

Answer 76

Job

Question 77

This story shows god love for Jews and Gentiles

Answer 77

Jonah and the whale

Question 78

A kind husband of Mary, and father of Jesus

Answer 78

Joseph

Question 79

Succeeded moses and led Israel in the conquering of Canaan

Answer 79

Joshua and the battle of Jericho

Question 80

Known as a traitor. He betrayed Jesus to the authorities

Answer 80

Judas of Iscariot

Question 81

Someone who survives a disaster or rises again from appearance of defeat is often called a

Answer 81

Lazarus

Question 82

God destroyed sodom because of its wickedness. She looked back at the burning city and turned into salt.

Answer 82

Lot and his wife

Question 83

Important disciple of Jesus. Called "the rock" on which the church would be built. He is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church

Answer 83

Peter

Question 84

My young man who is wayward and is forgiven by his family after he changes his ways and returns home

Answer 84

Prodigal son

Question 85

Any hard-hearted, disloyal woman and a well built physically strong man

Answer 85

Delilah and Samson

Question 86

Any place deemed unwholesome is referred to as

Answer 86

Sodom and gamorrah

Question 87

People refer to the wisdom of _________ when referring to someone who is fair and astute (right in descisions)

Answer 87

Solomon (king)

Question 88

Now anyone who doubts or questions things which others believe

Answer 88

(Doubting) Thomas

Question 89

Considered the first Gentiles to a knowledge Jesus divinity

Answer 89

Wise men, three

Question 90

Great Greek philosopher who may rely upon the heart as well as common sense for direction

Answer 90

Aristotle

Question 91

Representative of the grandest of all time periods in the modern era in western civilizations.the arts and literature flourished during the Elizabethan era

Answer 91

Queen bess

Question 92

Represents a daring plot to wage war against a most formidable enemy. Despite failure to conquer Rome. Remembered for the success of using elephants against Rome

Answer 92

Hannibal

Question 93

Satan, devil, personified as the evil spirit in the bible

Answer 93

Belial

Question 94

Pequod

Answer 94

Name usually implies a foreshadowing of doom extermination, destruction, some kind of complete disaster suggested

Question 95

Latin from Jupiter. King of all gods, equivalent to Zues. Represents the all powerful controller of the universe.

Answer 95

Jove

Question 96

Excessive self love and interest in ones appearance or importance leads to disaster

Answer 96

Narcissus

Question 97

Swayed by things negative and sinful. Suggests a dark evil inclination

Answer 97

Ahab

Question 98

Liked to surprise people in the forest and cause them to panic

Answer 98

Pan

Question 99

Greek warrior, hero of Trojan war. Despite all attempts to make him invincible he fell victim to one oligarch vulnerability.

Answer 99

Achilles

Question 100

Everlasting repetition of a task becomes never ending as a punishment for wrong doing and deceptions

Answer 100

Sisyphus

Question 101

English philosopher -- origin of all knowledge comes from the senses

Answer 101

John Locke

Question 102

German philosopher -- knowledge is not derived from the senses -- man should avoid the extremes

Answer 102

Immanuel Kant

Question 103

Angel of mercy

Answer 103

Gabriel

Question 104

These three control life-- the notion does not allow free will

Answer 104

Fates