Pen Names trivia
Pen Names Mini Quiz
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
Which pen name did Mark Twain use for a series of humorous letters?
Clemens gave the comic letter writer rustic spelling and grammar, turning the correspondence into a recurring character.
Which work was George Eliot's first published fiction under her pen name?
The three linked novellas appeared in 1857, before her first full-length novel, Adam Bede.
Which river did Mark Twain pilot steamboats on?
Clemens's riverboat years gave him firsthand knowledge of the waterways and language behind his literary persona.
Which river-depth call inspired Mark Twain's pen name?
Riverboat leadsmen used "by the mark twain" when the sounding line showed a depth of roughly twelve feet.
From which feature did George Orwell take the surname "Orwell"?
The name refers to a Suffolk waterway that Orwell knew and loved, rather than to an inherited surname.
George Eliot was the pen name of which British writer?
The pseudonym first appeared with Scenes of Clerical Life in 1857 and remained on her later fiction.
What was Mark Twain's birth name?
Mark Twain was a pen name, not a family name; the author used it for his public literary career.
Which alias did George Orwell use while tramping?
He used the alias on tramping expeditions before selecting a different byline for his first book.
Which pen name did Eric Arthur Blair use on Down and Out in Paris and London?
The January 1933 publication marked the first use of the byline in print.
Which Lewis Carroll poem features the invented word "slithy"?
The word "slithy" blends "slimy" and "lithe," showing Carroll's playful use of portmanteau words.