TASK DEFINITION: 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.
PROBLEM: This man wrote a novel in which the title character pretends to be president of Black Rapids Coal Company on the Fidele on April Fools' Day. In addition to The Confidence Man, this man wrote about a coworker of Ginger Nut who responds "I would prefer not to" to any request. The [*] Piazza Tales includes this man's story "Bartleby, the Scrivener." In one novella by this man, the titular sailor punches Claggart before getting hung by Captain Vere, and in one novel by this man, the crew of the Pequod, including Starbuck, Ishmael, and Captain Ahab, chase after a giant white whale. For 10 points, name this author of Billy Budd and Moby-Dick.

SOLUTION: Literature

PROBLEM: This dynasty continued a system in which one month out of every five was given to military service by those who lived within 500 li of the capital; that was the Fubing system. A Buddhist savings bank stocked by donations was liquidated during this dynasty and was called the "Inexhaustible Treasury."  Governors known as "jiedushi" first sprang up during this period under emperor (*) Xuanzong. A major insurrection during this dynasty ended after Shi Chaoyi killed himself. This dynasty was  interrupted by the second Zhou dynasty when Ruizong announced that his mother, Wu Zetian, would be  emperor. For 10 points, name this Chinese dynasty that lasted from 618 until 907 and faced the An  Lushan rebellion.

SOLUTION: History

PROBLEM: The Greeks Megasthenes and Deimachus were sent as ambassadors to the first and second rulers of this polity. Demetrius I of Bactria began his devastating invasion of this empire after a coup overthrew their last ruler; his new empire would share the region with the Sunga Empire founded by the leader of that coup. The first ruler of this empire was advised by the author of a treatise on statecraft called the Arthashastra, Chanakya. That ruler consolidated his power by defeating Magadha, and he left a vast empire to his son Bindusara. This empire's third ruler was so sickened by his expansive military conquests that he built thousands of stupas and famously converted to Buddhism. For 10 points, name this Indian empire founded by Chandragupta and later ruled by Asoka.

SOLUTION:
History