GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Cultural and Historical Contexts
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English
All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #281 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
Which of the following is not another novel by the author of Portnoy’s Complaint?
Bullet Park
The Human Stain
Everyman
Sabbath’s Theater
American Pastoral
Bullet Park
Philip Roth published American Pastoral in 1997, The Human Stain in 2000, Everyman in 2006, and Sabbath’s Theater in 1995. Bullet Park is a 1969 work by the American writer John Cheever.
Example Question #519 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
During what decade was Portnoy’s Complaint published?
1990s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1950s
1960s
Portnoy’s Complaint was published in 1969, making it Roth’s fourth published novel.
Example Question #282 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
The author of The Corrections also wrote which of the following novels?
The Broom of the System
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Bluest Eye
Freedom
Invisible Man
Freedom
Jonathan Franzen published Freedom in 2010. The Broom of the System (1987) is by David Foster Wallace, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2005) is by Jonathan Safran Foer, The Bluest Eye (1970) is by Toni Morrison, and Invisible Man (1952) is by Ralph Ellison.
Example Question #283 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
How could The Corrections be classified?
Multigenerational novel
Dystopia
Science-Fiction
Western Novel
Murder Mystery
Multigenerational novel
The Corrections (2001) is concerned with the travails of the elderly Lambert couple (Midwesterners), their three adult children, and their grandchildren. It is a realist work that in part examines contemporary American family dynamic and in part investigates the nation’s paranoia, economic woes, and social structures.
Example Question #284 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
Who is the author of The Corrections?
Philip Roth
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Carver
John Cheever
Jonathan Franzen
Jonathan Franzen
The Corrections (2001) is American novelist Jonathan Franzen’s third novel.
Raymond Carver wrote Where I'm Calling From (1988), Raymond Chandler wrote The Big Sleep (1939), Phillip Roth wrote The Ghostwriter (1979, and John Cheever wrote Oh What A Paradise It Seems (1982).
Example Question #285 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
Who wrote Portnoy’s Complaint?
Philip Roth
John Updike
Don DeLillo
Saul Bellow
David Foster Wallace
Philip Roth
Portnoy’s Complaint (1969) is one of Philip Roth’s most famous novels.
Don DeLillo wrote White Noise (1985), Saul Bellow wrote Herzog (1964), John Updike wrote Rabbit, Run (1960), and David Foster Wallace wrote Infinite Jest (1996).
Example Question #286 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
Which of the following elements of Portnoy’s Complaint resulted in its frequent banning in America and abroad?
Violent imagery
A treasonous protagonist
A subversive plot
A Jewish protagonist
Explicit depictions of sexuality
Explicit depictions of sexuality
Although the book does contain a Jewish protagonist, Portnoy’s Complaint (1969) was most commonly banned for its explicit depictions of masturbation and other elements of human sexuality.
Example Question #287 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
Who is the author of the short story “Cathedral”?
Thomas Pynchon
Don DeLillo
Saul Bellow
Thomas Wolfe
Raymond Carver
Raymond Carver
“Cathedral,” (1983) a story about a blind man and a husband and wife, is one of the most famous works by American writer Raymond Carver (1938-1988).
Don DeLillo wrote White Noise (1985), Saul Bellow wrote Herzog (1964), Thomas Pynchon wrote Gravity's Rainbow (1973), and Thomas Wolfe wrote The Right Stuff (1979).
Example Question #288 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
Which of the following is not another work by the author of the short story “Cathedral”?
“What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”
“So Much Water So Close to Home”
“The Swimmer”
“Neighbors”
“Where I’m Calling From”
“The Swimmer”
“The Swimmer” is a 1964 story by the American writer John Cheever. All the rest are well known works by Raymond Carver.
“So Much Water So Close to Home” and “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” were included in Carver's 1981 collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. "Neighbors" was included in Carver's 1976 collection Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?. “Where I’m Calling From” was the titular story in the short story collection Carver published just before his death in 1988.
Example Question #289 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
How could the prose style of the author of “Cathedral” best be described?
Prolix
Anaphoric
Minimalistic
Garrulous
Fantastical
Minimalistic
Although the term "minimalism" offended and bothered him, like Ernest Hemingway, Mary Robison, and Amy Hempel, Raymond Carver is known for his sparse, minimalist prose style and commitment to brevity and syntactic conciseness.
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