Final Jeopardy: Literature (3-13-23)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (3/13/2023) in the category “Literature” was:
A 2006 book was titled “The Poem that Changed America:” this “Fifty Years Later”
4x champ Stephen Webb, a data scientist from Longmont, CO, has now won $62,480. In Game 5, he is up against: Roy Camara, a grocery specialist from Crawfordville, FL; and Karen Rittenbach, an academic tutor from Freehold, NJ.
Round 1 Categories: ‘Tis Shakespeare – Advertising Icons – Fill in the Blanket – Blossom – The Big Bang Theory – Call Me “Cat”
After reading the Mayim-themed categories, Ken quipped “I’m not sure I was the intended host for this game board.”
Karen found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Tis Shakespeare” under the $400 clue on the 8th pick of the round. She was in last place with negative $800, $2,200 less than Stephen’s lead. Karen bet $500 and she was RIGHT.
These are Richard III’s “beastly” last 5 words show
Stephen finished in the lead with $8,000. Roy was second with $3,800. Karen was last with $700. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Water on the Earth – A Stone Groove – Governors – Deep Thoughts – Dynasties of Spain – Same Consonant Thrice
Roy found the first Daily Double in “Water on Earth” under the $1,600 clue on the second pick of the round. He was in second place with $4,200, $3,800 less than Stephen’s lead. Roy bet it all and he was RIGHT.
Switzerland claims about 134 square miles of this alpine lake; France, about 90 show
Roy got the last Daily Double in “Governors” under the $1,600 clue on the 20th pick of the round. In second place with $11,200, he had $4,000 less than Stephen’s lead. Roy bet it all and he was RIGHT.
The only Governor elected in 2 states, he held office in Tennessee from 1827 to 1829 & then, of course, in Texas from 1859 to 1861 show
Roy finished in the lead with $28,000. Stephen was second with $19,200. Karen was last with $1,500. All clues were shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS “HOWL”?
“Howl” was written by Beat poet Allen Ginsberg and published in 1956. It is quite likely the 20th century’s most analyzed poem. America in the 1950s was a time when conformity was the norm and nonconformists were outcasts. Censorship was strict. Lucy and Desi slept in twin beds. “Howl” addressed the extreme results of this repression in its opening line: “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness…”
Explicit language on topics considered “taboo”, such as sexuality and drug use, led to the arrest of the poem’s publisher, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, for disseminating obscene material. In the ensuing trial, Ferlinghetti was acquitted after experts testified to the work’s literary merits and the judge stated in his decision: “I do not believe that “Howl” is without redeeming social importance.”
In an essay on the Library of Congress website, David Wills says: “Alongside Jack Kerouac’s 1957 novel, ‘On the Road,’ ‘Howl’ helped launch the Beat Generation into the public consciousness. …it later spawned the hippies of the 1960s, and influenced everyone from Bob Dylan to John Lennon. Later, Ginsberg and his Beat friends remained an influence on the punk and grunge movements, along with most other musical genres. ‘Howl’ even helped put to the death censorship in the United States, changing what could be said on paper and in public.”
Karen had no response. She lost $400 and finished with $1,100.
Stephen got it right. He bet it all and doubled his score to $38,400.
Roy thought it was “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” which is actually the title of Maya Angelou’s 1969 autobiography. He lost $10,401 and finished with $17,599. And that’s how Stephen Webb won the game and a guaranteed spot in the next Tournament of Champions. Stephen’s 5-day total is $139,281.
2 triple stumpers from the last round:
DEEP THOUGHTS ($1200) Add -ism to a Swedish vodka brand to get this, the moral view that there are universal principles for judgment
DYNASTIES OF SPAIN ($1600) Home to the Alhambra Palace, this last Moorish kingdom of Spain was ruled by the Nasrid Dynasty from the 1200s to 1492
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “Radio History”
A 1949 broadcast in Spanish of this drama from 11 years before caused mass panic in Ecuador & the destruction of the radio station show
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I thought it was a little refreshing when Stephen worded his response as “Is it?”.
I did the math, and still got FJ wrong.
I met Alan Ginsberg at a function at WSU “back in the day” and this clue is, in Jacob Ska’s words, so far out of my wheelhouse, I didn’t even recognize it. I had to take the year (2006) and subtract 50 to have a relevant time line (for PUBLISHING – not even writing). I confess I never heard of the 2006 book by Jason Shinder. I know Final Jeopardy should be challenging but deliberately obscuring the writer seems odd to me.
P.S. Thanks VJ for the correct title and author of the poem.
Wow, what a game. Stephen started out like a house afire, with Roy standing like a statue and Karen spouting wrong answers. Very impressive the way Roy came back and nailed those DDs. I was hoping he’d come up with Houston on that last one.
Was pretty sure the FJ answer was from the Beat era, but my mind foolishly went to Kerouac instead of the Ginsburg poem which is very familiar. Really thought Roy would nail it and win.
That Swedish vodka stumper was tricky, but I thought someone might know it. The motor oil brand and Dukaks’ state were softballs.
A tough FJ, but regarding the censorship of the 1950s, I sure didn’t see anything wrong with Ricky and Lucy Ricardo sleeping in separate beds. As per what is shown on TV nowadays, a return to the strict censorship would be a very welcome guest in my opinion.
With 28,000 going into Final, Roy has to be seen as a frontrunner for a spot in the Second Chance Tournament. I think it is 100 percent confirmed that Roy will be in the second chance because of finding both daily doubles and betting it all and got it right and had the highest score but did not win.
“Sympathy” is The real title of the poem that the “I know why the caged bird sings” line comes from. It was written by Paul Laurence Dunbar and published in 1899. (Link to poem)