GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Cultural and Historical Contexts
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English
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Example Questions
Example Question #4 : Contexts Of British Prose
Which of the following is not a theme of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein?
Politics
Secrecy
Aesthetics
The nature of knowledge
Insanity
Politics
Frankenstein investigates insanity in its probing of Dr. Frankenstein’s mental state; it investigates both secrecy and the nature of knowledge in its portrayal of the guilt and fear Dr. Frankenstein feels when he discovers but does not disclose powerful new information; and it investigates aesthetics when it contrasts the beautiful (various female characters) with the hideous (the monster). Politics is the only theme that does not play a major role in the novel.
Example Question #1 : Contexts Of British Prose 1660–1925
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is set in which of the following locations?
The Zambezi River
The Amazon River
The Congo River
The Nile River
The Mississippi River
The Congo River
Written in 1899, this classic and semi-autobiographical novella follows the adventures of the anti-hero Marlow up the Congo River as he seeks the ivory trader Kurtz. It examines issues such as racism, colonialism, madness, illness, and civilization.
Example Question #11 : Contexts Of British Prose 1660–1925
Charles Dickens’ 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities was set during which significant historical event?
the Hundred Years’ War
the Industrial Revolution
the Great Fire of London
the American Revolution
the French Revolution
the French Revolution
A Tale of Two Cities takes place in the years leading up to and during the French Revolution (1789-1799). It concerns the adventures of Sydney Carton, his doppelgänger Charles Darnay, Lucie Manette and her father, the Defarges, Jacques One through Three, and the Crunchers.
Example Question #12 : Contexts Of British Prose 1660–1925
Which of the following works humorously parodies the Gothic novel?
Northanger Abbey
Mansfield Park
Sense and Sensibility
Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
Northanger Abbey
Northanger Abbey is a parodic Gothic novel.
Example Question #191 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Who is the author of this novel?
Emily Brontë
Charles Dickens
Jane Austen
Oscar Wilde
Jonathan Swift
Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities is Charles Dickens’ novel, published in weekly installments in 1859.
Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver's Travels (1726), Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice (1813), Emily Brontë wrote Wuthering Heights (1847), and Oscar Wilde wrote The Picture of Dorian Grey (1891).
Example Question #192 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
During what major historical event does this novel occur?
The War of Austrian Succession
The French Revolution
The American Revolution
The English Restoration
The English Reformation
The French Revolution
A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is set in London and Paris immediately before and during the French Revolution (1775 and 1792).
Example Question #193 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Which of the following is not a character in this novel?
Ebenezer Scrooge
Lucie Manette
Madame Defarge
Charles Darnay
Sidney Carton
Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge is a main character in Charles Dickens’ 1843 novel A Christmas Carol. All the others are primary characters in A Tale of Two Cities.
(Passage adapted from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, (1859))
Example Question #194 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex. Their estate was large, and their residence was at Norland Park, in the centre of their property, where, for many generations, they had lived in so respectable a manner as to engage the general good opinion of their surrounding acquaintance. The late owner of this estate was a single man, who lived to a very advanced age, and who for many years of his life, had a constant companion and housekeeper in his sister. But her death, which happened ten years before his own, produced a great alteration in his home; for to supply her loss, he invited and received into his house the family of his nephew Mr. Henry Dashwood, the legal inheritor of the Norland estate, and the person to whom he intended to bequeath it.
Who is the author of this novel?
Charlotte Brontë
Jane Austen
George Eliot
Charles Dickens
Horace Walpole
Jane Austen
Jane Austen wrote Sense and Sensibility, although it was originally published anonymously, by “A Lady.”
(Passage adapted from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, (1811))
Example Question #195 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex. Their estate was large, and their residence was at Norland Park, in the centre of their property, where, for many generations, they had lived in so respectable a manner as to engage the general good opinion of their surrounding acquaintance. The late owner of this estate was a single man, who lived to a very advanced age, and who for many years of his life, had a constant companion and housekeeper in his sister. But her death, which happened ten years before his own, produced a great alteration in his home; for to supply her loss, he invited and received into his house the family of his nephew Mr. Henry Dashwood, the legal inheritor of the Norland estate, and the person to whom he intended to bequeath it.
Which of the following books was not also written by the author of this passage?
Persuasion
Emma
Northanger Abbey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre was written in 1847 by Charlotte Brontë. Pride and Prejudice (1813), Emma (1815), Northanger Abbey (1817), and Persuasion (1817) are all by Jane Austen.
(Passage adapted from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, (1811))
Example Question #196 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex. Their estate was large, and their residence was at Norland Park, in the centre of their property, where, for many generations, they had lived in so respectable a manner as to engage the general good opinion of their surrounding acquaintance. The late owner of this estate was a single man, who lived to a very advanced age, and who for many years of his life, had a constant companion and housekeeper in his sister. But her death, which happened ten years before his own, produced a great alteration in his home; for to supply her loss, he invited and received into his house the family of his nephew Mr. Henry Dashwood, the legal inheritor of the Norland estate, and the person to whom he intended to bequeath it.
What genre does this novel belong to?
Comedy of Manners
Gothic
Tragicomedy
Roman à Clef
Melodrama
Comedy of Manners
Sense and Sensibility is a classic example of the comedy of manners, a work in which a social class’s flaws and foibles are cleverly examined and satirized.
(Passage adapted from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, (1811))
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