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 #107 : Contexts Of Prose
Who is the famous Esquire editor known for working with the author of “Cathedral”?
Michael Pietsch
Max Perkins
Gordon Lish
Ezra Pound
Max Brod
Gordon Lish
While all of these men worked as editors, Gordon Lish is the editor known for paring down Raymond Carver’s work and contributing significantly to the author’s hallmark terseness in his collections prior to Cathedral (1983). After splitting with Lish, Carver's work took on a more hopeful, expansive tone.
Example Question #111 : Contexts Of Prose
During what decade was “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” published?
1960s
1980s
1950s
1970s
1990s
1960s
This question is particularly tricky, since Joyce Carol Oates has had a very long and prolific writing career. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” was first published in Epoch Magazine in 1966 and has since been anthologized frequently.
Example Question #112 : Contexts Of Prose
To which famous American musician is “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” dedicated?
Bob Dylan
Ray Charles
Aretha Franklin
Arlo Guthrie
Elvis Presley
Bob Dylan
According to Oates, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” (1966) was inspired in part by four real murders in Tucson, Ariz., and in part by Bob Dylan’s song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” (1965).
Example Question #113 : Contexts Of Prose
Who is the author of The Fountainhead?
Anton Chekhov
Ayn Rand
Barbara Kingsolver
Leon Trotsky
Kate Chopin
Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead (1943) is Ayn Rand’s best-selling second novel. It concerns the independent, cutthroat architect Howard Roark; his idealistic lover, Dominique Francon; and his competitor, the sycophantic Peter Keating.
Leon Trotsky wrote My Life (1930), Anton Chekhov wrote The Duel (1891), Kate Chopin wrote The Awakening (1899), and Barbara Kingsolver wrote The Poisonwood Bible (1998).
Example Question #114 : Contexts Of Prose
What is another novel by the author of The Fountainhead?
Atlas Shrugged
The Stranger
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Tender is the Night
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s third and final novel, is arguably her most famous work and was published in 1957. Tender is the Night (1934) is by F. Scott Fitzgerald, For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) is by Ernest Hemingway, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940)is by Carson McCullers, and The Stranger (1942)is by Albert Camus.
Example Question #533 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
During what decade was The Fountainhead published?
1930s
1960s
1920s
1950s
1940s
1940s
The Fountainhead was published in 1943 after being rejected by a dozen publishing houses.
Example Question #116 : Contexts Of Prose
Which of the following is a central subject of Naked Lunch?
Drug addiction
Pedophilia
A cold case murder
Transvestitism
A famous abduction
Drug addiction
Through a series of loosely connected, non-chronological vignettes, Naked Lunch (1959) portrays the adventures and struggles of the drug addict William Lee.
Example Question #291 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
Who is the author of Naked Lunch?
Henry Miller
William S. Burroughs
Thomas Wolfe
Hunter S. Thompson
Ernest Hemingway
William S. Burroughs
Naked Lunch is a novel published by William S. Burroughs in 1959.
Hunter S. Thompson wrote Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971), Thomas Wolfe wrote the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968), Henry Miller wrote Tropic of Cancer (1934), and Ernest Hemingway wrote A Moveable Feast (1964).
Example Question #118 : Contexts Of Prose
During what decade was Naked Lunch originally published?
1970s
1950s
1940s
1940s
1930s
1950s
This is a tricky question. Naked Lunch was first released in Paris in 1959, although it could not be published in the United States until 1962 because of American obscenity laws.
Example Question #42 : Contexts Of American Prose After 1925
Which of the following was not one of the reasons that Naked Lunch was censored in the United States?
Obscene language
Depiction of the murder of a child
Depiction of drug addiction
Anti-Catholic language
Depiction of pedophilia
Anti-Catholic language
Burroughs’ highly controversial work did not include anti-Catholic language, although it did include a parody of anti-Semitic language. Burroughs was notably supported in his obscenity trial by writers Norman Mailer and Allen Ginsberg, among others.
Naked Lunch was published in 1959.
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All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources
