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 #578 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

During what decade was The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter published?

Possible Answers:

1920s

1910s

1930s

1950s

1940s

Correct answer:

1940s

Explanation:

The novel, McCullers’ first, was set in the 1930s and published in 1940.

Example Question #341 : Cultural And Historical Contexts

Which of the following is another work by the author of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter?

Possible Answers:

A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Parker’s Back

The Lame Shall Enter First

The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

The Life You Save May Be Your Own

Correct answer:

The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

Explanation:

The Ballad of the Sad Café is a 1951 collection containing a novella, poems, plays, and several short stories. (The rest of these titles belong to short stories by Southern writer Flannery O’Connor.)

Example Question #342 : Cultural And Historical Contexts

The title of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter comes from a poem by which Scottish poet?

Possible Answers:

Robert Burns

Fiona Macleod

Dylan Thomas

Mary Astell

W.B. Yeats

Correct answer:

Fiona Macleod

Explanation:

Carson McCullers’ title is taken directly from Fiona Macleod’s 1896 poem “The Lonely Hunter.” This answer gives you a helpful clue to narrow down the answer choices: The poet must be Scottish. Dylan Thomas was Welsh, W.B. Yeats was Irish, and Mary Astell was English.

Example Question #343 : Cultural And Historical Contexts

Who is the author of The Moviegoer?

Possible Answers:

Robert Penn Warren

John Updike

Nicholson Baker

Truman Capote

Walker Percy

Correct answer:

Walker Percy

Explanation:

The Moviegoer (1961) is a National Book Award-winning novel by the Louisiana author Walker Percy (1916-1990).

Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood (1965), Nicholson Baker wrote The Anthologist (2009), Robert Penn Warren wrote All the King's Men (1946), and John Updike wrote Rabbit, Run (1960).

Example Question #344 : Cultural And Historical Contexts

Which of the following is not another novel by the author of The Moviegoer?

Possible Answers:

Love in the Ruins

The Last Gentleman

The Thanatos Syndrome

Lost in the Cosmos

The Neon Bible

Correct answer:

The Neon Bible

Explanation:

Love in the Ruins (1971), The Thanatos Syndrome (1987), The Last Gentleman (1966), and Lost in the Cosmos (1983) are all novels by Walker Percy. The Neon Bible (1989) is the little-known first novel of John Kennedy Toole.

Example Question #104 : Contexts Of American Prose

In what region of the United States is The Moviegoer set?

Possible Answers:

the West

Alaska

the Northeast

the Midwest

the South

Correct answer:

the South

Explanation:

Like many of Percy’s other novels, The Moviegoer (1961) is set in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Example Question #105 : Contexts Of American Prose

Who is the author of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter?

Possible Answers:

Carson McCullers

John Irving

Eudora Welty

John Updike

Ayn Rand

Correct answer:

Carson McCullers

Explanation:

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940) is the first novel by American author Carson McCullers (1917-1967).

Example Question #1 : Contexts Of World Prose After 1925

Which of the following is not another work by the author of The English Patient?

Possible Answers:

Divisadero

Oryx and Crake

In the Skin of a Lion

Coming Through Slaughter

The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left-Handed Poems

Correct answer:

Oryx and Crake

Explanation:

Ondaatje wrote Coming Through Slaughter (1976), In the Skin of a Lion (1987), Divisadero (2007), and The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left-Handed Poems (1970). He did not write Oryx and Crake, a 2003 novel by Margaret Atwood. 

Example Question #2 : Contexts Of World Prose After 1925

What country is the author of Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage from?

Possible Answers:

Canada

Ireland

Denmark

New Zealand

Scotland

Correct answer:

Canada

Explanation:

Alice Munro is a Nobel Prize-winning Canadian writer.

Example Question #2 : Contexts Of World Prose After 1925

Who is the author of The Handmaid’s Tale?

Possible Answers:

Margaret Atwood

Alice Munro

Ursula K. Le Guin

Pat Barker

Angela Carter

Correct answer:

Margaret Atwood

Explanation:

The Handmaid’s Tale is Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s sixth novel.

Alice Munro (also Canadian) wrote Lives of Girls and Women (1971), Ursula K. LeGuin wrote The Dispossessed (1974), Pat Barker wrote The Regeneration Trilogy (1991, 1993, 1995), and Angela Carter wrote The Passion of New Eve (1977).

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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