In this task you will be given a text passage from a trivia quiz. You should choose the category this question belongs to from these categories: History, Science, Social Science, Fine Arts, Literature. You can only choose one category, so if in doubt, please choose the closest match.

The central character, a resident of the San Bernadino Arms, falls in with such characters as Harry, a purveyor of homemade silver polish, and Miguel, a Mexican breeder of fighting cocks. There's also Abe Kusich, a dwarf horse player, and Earle Stroop, an unsuccessful cowboy actor. This novel famously ends with a riot at the Persian Palace during which Homer Simpson likely dies and the protagonist Tod Hackett, barely escapes. FTP, name this short novel by Nathaniel West.
Literature

One poem by this author claims that "there's nothing sentimental about the technique of writing," which can be mastered by "any young man with a mind bursting to get out." This author argued that "The United States without self- seeking has given more of material help to Europe and to the world than have all other nations of the world put together in the entire history of mankind" in the chapter "Jacataqua," from a book which contains short biographies of people like Eric the Red, Walter Raleigh, and Daniel Boone. Another book by him begins with the section "The Delineaments of the Giants," which mentions "blank faces of the houses and cylindrical trees" to reinforce that there are "no ideas but in things," and describes a place that  "lies in the valley under the Passaic Falls, its spent waters forming the outline of his back." For 10 points, name this author of In the American Grain and an epic about his New Jersey hometown, Paterson.
Literature

One of this artist's protgs became famous for his erotic self-portraits and most notably painted a 1915 version of Death and the Maiden. This artist depicted two naked embracing pregnant women in  frieze that he titled after the composer of the Moonlight Sonata, the Beethoven Frieze. This artist created a set of works entitled Medicine, Philosophy, and Jurisprudence for the University of Vienna, but he may be better known for a protrait of Adele Bloch or several paintings which include one of a green-vested, bare-breasted woman, the Judith series. He is best known for a painting partially inspired by the St. Apollinare in Classe near Ravenna, which also features an embracing couple. For 10 points, name this major influence on Egon Schiele and painter of The Kiss.

Fine Arts