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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All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

1 Diagnostic Test 158 Practice Tests Question of the Day Flashcards Learn by Concept

Example Questions

Example Question #146 : Contexts Of Prose

The author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was one of the founders of which school of journalism?

Possible Answers:

sports

churnalism

Gonzo

New

convergence

Correct answer:

Gonzo

Explanation:

Hunter S. Thompson was known for popularizing Gonzo journalism, a style of writing in which the journalist does not claim to be objective but rather actively participates in the story. Gonzo journalism is also known for its crude language, lack of detachment, and use of humor and sarcasm. 

Example Question #151 : Contexts Of Prose

To what genre does Fahrenheit 451 belong?

Possible Answers:

Tragedy

Psychoanalysis

Political thriller

Fantasy

Dystopia

Correct answer:

Dystopia

Explanation:

While much of Bradbury’s work is categorized as literary science fiction, Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopia that takes place in a society in which books are burned and knowledge is suppressed by an authoritarian state.

Ray Bradbury published Fahrenheit 451 in 1953.

Example Question #152 : Contexts Of Prose

Which of the following is not another title by the author of Fahrenheit 451?

Possible Answers:

Dandelion Wine

The Illustrated Man

The Martian Chronicles

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Stranger in a Strange Land

Correct answer:

Stranger in a Strange Land

Explanation:

The Martian Chronicles (1950), Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962), Dandelion Wine (1957), and The Illustrated Man (1951) are all novels by Ray Bradbury. Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) is a famous science fiction novel by American author Robert A. Heinlein.

Example Question #153 : Contexts Of Prose

To what genre does The Bushwhacked Piano belong?

Possible Answers:

Political thriller

Psychological thriller

Tragedy

Picaresque

Memoir

Correct answer:

Picaresque

Explanation:

The Bushwhacked Piano (1971) falls into the category of the picaresque, as it follows the comical misadventures of a central character (Nicholas Payne) through a series of farcical events.

Example Question #154 : Contexts Of Prose

Who is the author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?

Possible Answers:

Hunter S. Thompson

Nellie Bly

Seymour Hirsch

Truman Capote

Helen Thomas

Correct answer:

Hunter S. Thompson

Explanation:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (1971) is a novel by the famous American journalist Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005). Its central themes are substance abuse, the 1960s countercultural movement, excess, and ruin.

Seymour Hirsch wrote The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House (1983), Nellie Bly wrote Ten Days in a Mad-House (1887), Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood (1965), and Helen Thomas wrote Front Row at the White House : My Life and Times (2000).

All of the alternative answer options were American literary journalists.

Example Question #155 : Contexts Of Prose

Which of the following is not another title by the author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?

Possible Answers:

The Rum Diary

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72

Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs

The Curse of Lono

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Correct answer:

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Explanation:

The Rum Diary (1998), The Curse of Lono (1983), Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 (1973), and Hell’s Angels (1966) are all works by Hunter S. Thompson. Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a 1972 novel by Richard Bach.

Example Question #156 : Contexts Of Prose

Who is the author of Fahrenheit 451?

Possible Answers:

Ray Bradbury

Ursula K. Le Guin

Thomas McGuane

Cormac McCarthy

Robert A. Heinlein

Correct answer:

Ray Bradbury

Explanation:

Fahrenheit 451 (1953) is one of the most famous novels by Ray Bradbury (1920-2012).

Cormac McCarthy wrote All the Pretty Horse (1992), Thomas McGuane wrote Nobody's Angel (1981), Robert A. Heinlein wrote The Number of the Beast (1980), and Ursula K. Le Guin wrote The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia (1974).

Example Question #157 : Contexts Of Prose

Who is the author of The Bushwhacked Piano?

Possible Answers:

Robert A. Heinlein

Hunter S. Thompson

Walker Percy

Thomas McGuane

Cormac McCarthy

Correct answer:

Thomas McGuane

Explanation:

The Bushwhacked Piano (1971) is one of American writer Thomas McGuane’s ten novels.

Cormac McCarthy wrote Blood Meridian (1985), Robert A. Heinlein wrote The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1968), Walker Percy wrote The Moviegoer (1961), and Hunter S. Thompson wrote Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (1966).

Example Question #158 : Contexts Of Prose

Which of the following novels belongs to the same genre as The Bushwhacked Piano?

Possible Answers:

A Confederacy of Dunces

Tales from Earthsea

The Handmaid’s Tale

All the King’s Men

Blood Meridian

Correct answer:

A Confederacy of Dunces

Explanation:

Like The Bushwhacked Piano (1971), John Kennedy Toole’s acclaimed 1980 novel A Confederacy of Dunces is a picaresque novel featuring a hapless young American man and a comedic set of misadventures.

Blood Meridian (1985) by Cormac McCarthy is a revisionist western, Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin is a collection of fantasy stories, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood is dystopian speculative fiction, and All the King’s Men (1946) by Robert Penn Warren is political fiction.

Example Question #86 : Contexts Of American Prose After 1925

When was The Moviegoer published?

Possible Answers:

1960s

1950s

1940s

1970s

1930s

Correct answer:

1960s

Explanation:

The Moviegoer was first published in 1961.

All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

1 Diagnostic Test 158 Practice Tests Question of the Day Flashcards Learn by Concept
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