SCRIPTORIUM
QUIZ BOWL LITERATURE GUIDE
How to navigate work levels
Novice to JV level literature questions often cover well-known works of classic literature ranging from novels and plays to religious texts. Varsity-level questions cover a larger range of works outside of the European and American works frequently mentioned in JV~Novice along with more contemporary works too. All levels have clues of higher obscurity introduced earlier in the questions, which is why it's important to study with detailed summaries. When you click on each category, our works are roughly listed in order of frequency mentioned, though not always applicable. This doesn't mean that the more well-known works are not mentioned in higher-level matches and vice-versa. Try scrolling through the categories and study the works you want using detailed summaries and others with quick summaries. Good luck!
Color-coding guide
In our detailed summaries, notice the different colored highlighting and bold words. Here's a quick guide:
Names highlighted in pink are major characters. These names are also bolded.
Named highlighted in blue are minor characters.
Places highlighted in yellow are settings.
Events highlighted in purple are obscure events and clues occasionally mentioned in questions.
Events highlighted in red are major events and clues that are often mentioned in questions.
Notice! The ="cool" colored highlights indicate that the clues are not as mentioned in questions. The "warm" colored highlights indicate that the clues are frequently mentioned.
Categories
Shakespearean
Greco-Roman
German and French
American
English
Latin-American
Russian
Poetry
Plays
Resources
Along with Scriptorium, many resources are available online to help you prepare for your Quiz Bowl matches. We encourage you to go through past question packets, sample questions, frequency lists, and other websites and resources online to familiarize and study for Quiz Bowl, regardless of what your preferred specialty is.
Click the highlighted text for links!
NAQT
NAQT, or National Academic Quiz Tournaments, writes questions for the majority of Quiz Bowl tournaments. Their You Gotta Know list allows you to browse by category and expand your knowledge in your preferred subjects. They also provide sample questions and have purchasable frequency lists and practice question packets.
Protobowl
Protobowl provides questions from past matches and allows players to buzz in and answer like a real Quiz Bowl match. It has private and multiplayer practice rooms and allows you to choose which subjects you would like to be questioned on as well as level.
QB Reader
QB Reader is similar to Protobowl in the aspect that it has real-time questions to buzz in to like a real match. QBreader also allows more specific filtering on subjects, levels, and categories and is less limited, without scoring of points or restricted answer times.
High School Quizbowl Packet Archive
High School Quiz Bowl Packet Archive offers past Quiz Bowl question packets and practice questions sorted by levels. It also provides resources for those specializing in pop culture.
Literature-specific resources
SparkNotes, Shmoop, and CliffNotes are all websites that provide book summaries similar to Scriptorium. Folger Shakespeare Library provides summaries and full works of those specific to Shakespeare. Internet Archive often provides downloadable PDFs and full books of classical literature. Similarly, Project Gutenberg provides the same and can be especially useful for accessible reading of classical literature.
REQUEST A WORK
Our site is constantly updated with new clues, works, and summaries. If you would like to request a literary work, feel free to! Your suggestions help our website grow to provide maximum support and preparation for Quiz Bowl participants.
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