On the Shelf

America: A Quiz

Especially during this season of political campaigning (although, like wildfire season, political campaigning has pretty much become a 24/365 or 366 happening), one word seems to be getting a lot of play. If you watched either party’s convention, or just listen to political speeches, you’ll notice that it gets used a lot. That word is, of course, “America”. So, here’s a short quiz to see just how much we know about “America”.

1. What is the source of the name “America”?

2. What was the earliest use of the name “America”?

3. What rationale was given for naming the geographic area “America”?

4. What is the indigenous name for what is known as “America”?

5. What are the major geographical divisions of “America”?

6. What are the major subdivisions of “America”?

7. What are the northern-most, southern-most, western-most, and easternmost locations in “America”?

America in the Downieville Library

Here are the books in the library that have “America” (in some form) in their title (all are non-fiction, unless otherwise noted):

• North American Road Atlas, by AAA (reference)

• This Is the American Earth, by Ansel Adams

• The American Heritage Spanish Dictionary, by American Heritage

• Audubon’s American Birds, by J.J. Audubon

• Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America’s Leading Atheists, by Dan Barker

• The American Heritage Dictionary of Science, by Robert K. Barnhart (reference)

• America’s Working Women, by Rosalyn Baxanadall

• In the Trail of the Wind: American Indian Poems and Ritual Orations, by John Bierhorst

• American Dreams: The United States Since 1945, by H.W. Brands

• American Cooking, by Dale Brown

• Folktales of the Native American, by Dee Brown

• Native American Animal Stories, by Joseph Bruchac

• Made in America, by Bill Bryson

• One Summer: America, 1927, by Bill Bryson

• How Many Days to America, by Eve Bunting (juvenile fiction)

• Mammals of North America, by Victor H. Cahalane

• American Passage, by Vincent J. Cannato

• Native Americans of the Old West, by Benjamin Capps

• An Encyclopedia of Modern American Humor, by Bennett Cerf

• America Vulnerable, by James Chace

• Images of America: Wells Fargo, by Robert J. Chandler

• Russian America, by Hector Chevigny

• American Power and the New Mandarins, by Noam Chomsky

• In Pursuit of Gold: Chinese American Miners and Merchants of the American West, by Sue Fawn Chung

• The First Americans, by Robert Clairborne

• Emperor of America, by Richard Condon (fiction)

Well, that only got us partway through the “Cs” of authors’ names. So, to be continued…