Final Jeopardy: Modern American Poetry (10-13-15)

The Final Jeopardy question (10/13/2015) in the category “Modern American Poetry” was:

A critic said this 1956 poem was “a tirade… against those who do not share the poet’s… sexual orientation”

Our current champ, Matt Jackson, now has a 12-day total of $390,411. If he wins today, it’s a sure bet he’ll go over $400K, but by how much? His challengers in his 13th game are these two players: Christine Gengaro, from Los Angeles, CA; and Corbett Hancey, originally from Halifax, NS, Canada.

Round 1: Christine found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “True Blood” under the $800 clue, with 6 clues remaining after it. She was in second place with $3,600, $2,600 less than Matt’s lead. She bet $2,000 and came up with “antibiotics.” Close but WRONG.

Some kind of white blood cells produce these proteins that destroy bacteria, viruses & other invaders. show

WHAT ARE ANTIBODIES?

Matt finished in the lead with $7,200. Corbett was second with $3,400 and Christine was last with $2,000.

Round 2: Matt found the first Daily Double in “Antonyms” under the $1,200 clue. He was in the lead with $20,400, $11,400 more than Corbett in second place. He bet $4,000 and he was RIGHT.

An antonym of order, Harvard’s Curtis McMullen studies its theory. show

WHAT IS CHAOS?

Just like yesterday, Matt’s very next pick was the last Daily Double. This one was in “My Kind of ‘Town'” under the $1,200 clue. With $15,400, he now had a $16,400 lead over Corbett. He bet $4,000 again and he was RIGHT.

About 2.5 miles northwest of the capitol, it’s at the confluence of the Potomac & Rock Creek. show

WHAT IS GEORGETOWN?

Another runaway for Matt. He finished in the lead with $30,800. Corbett was next with $10,600 and Christine was in third place with $5,200.

Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS “HOWL”?

Here is the theatrical trailer of the 2009 film “Howl,” with James Franco as Allen Ginsberg. He reads the opening of the poem “Howl” in it. There are a lot of readings of the poem by its author on Youtube, but this video depicts a bit of the controversy that it caused: “Howl’s raw, graphic language dealt with human discontent and despair, moral and social ills, Ginsberg’s homosexuality, and his mother’s communist beliefs. Many traditional critics were astonished. While some commentators shared the attitude of Walter Sutton, who considered Howl ‘a tirade revealing an animus directed outward against those who do not share the poet’s social and sexual orientation,’ others echoed the opinion of Paul Zweig, who argued that the poem ‘almost singlehandedly dislocated the traditional poetry of the 1950s.'”

Christine couldn’t come up with a response. She bet and lost it all.

Corbett got it right. He bet $150 and finished $10,750.

Matt wrote down “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop. (She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1956). He lost his $9,599 bet and that brought his winning score down to $21,201. He now has a 13-day total of $411,612.

During the chat, Alex Trebek asked Matt what motivated him to be on Jeopardy! Matt said he wanted to see what he was capable of and he is also doing that with cooking. So far, his success on Jeopardy! has exceeded his success in the kitchen.

2 years ago:: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “Novels”

Ch. 1 of this 1952 books ends, “This is about the way the Salinas Valley was when my grandfather… settled in the foothills”. show

WHAT IS “EAST OF EDEN”?

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