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 #53 : Contexts Of World Prose
Which of the following is an unusual attribute of Dictionary of the Khazars?
It consists of untranslated Serbian poems
Its chapters are in reverse chronological order
It features a ‘choose your own ending’ format
It features two editions: one male and one female
It has no narrative voice
It features two editions: one male and one female
Dictionary of the Khazars is known for its two editions (although they differ only by a single paragraph).
Example Question #402 : Cultural And Historical Contexts
What is a central subject of Dictionary of the Khazars?
Adultery
Religion
Bribery
Theft
Unrequited love
Religion
The novel is primarily concerned with the religious lives of the Khazars, a fictional people who Pavić has said represents the Serbs.
Example Question #54 : Contexts Of World Prose
Who is the author of Água Viva?
Machado de Assis
José Saramago
Clarice Lispector
Paulo Coelho
Fernando Pessoa
Clarice Lispector
Published in Portuguese in 1973, this first-person novel is one of the most famous works by Clarice Lispector (1920-1977).
Paulo Coelho wrote The Alchemist (1988). Machado de Assis wrote The Hand and the Glove (1874). Fernando Pessoa wrote Antinous (1918). José Saramago wrote Blindness (1995). All of the answer options are renowned Brazilian authors who worked primarily in Portuguese.
Example Question #641 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
Where was the author of Água Viva born?
Ukraine
Venezuela
South Africa
Nigeria
England
Ukraine
Lispector was the daughter of European Jews who fled the Ukraine to Brazil following World War I. Lispector worked primarily in her adopted language of Portugese. Água Viva was published in 1973.
Example Question #642 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
Where did the author of Água Viva spend most of her life?
Spain
Chile
Argentina
Brazil
Portugal
Brazil
Lispector lived for most of her life in Rio de Janeiro. She wrote and published primarily in Portugese. Água Viva was published in 1973.
Example Question #55 : Contexts Of World Prose
Which of the following is another work by the author of Água Viva?
The Alchemist
The Passion According to G.H
Aleph
By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
Eleven Minutes
The Passion According to G.H
The Passion According to G.H. (Portuguese: A Paixão Segundo G.H.) is another of Lispector’s most famous works. Published in 1964, it takes the form of a mystical monologue occurring during the narrator’s mental breakdown. The other titles are by Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho. The Alchemist was published in 1988. Eleven Minutes was published in 2004. Aleph was published in 2011. By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept was published in 1994.
Example Question #56 : Contexts Of World Prose
Who is the author of Bestiary?
Carlos Fuentes
Laura Esquivel
Paulo Coelho
Jorge Luis Borges
Julio Cortázar
Julio Cortázar
The short story collection Bestiary (Spanish: Bestario) was written in 1951 by Julio Cortázar (1914-1984).
Jorge Luis Borges wrote A Universal History of Infamy (1935). Carlos Fuentes wrote Where the Air is Clear (1958). Paulo Coelho wrote Brida (1990). Laura Esquivel wrote Like Water for Chocolate (1992).
Example Question #61 : Contexts Of World Prose
Which of the following is another title by the author of Bestiary?
Ficciones
The Library of Babel
Hopscotch
The Book of Imaginary Beings
Dreamtigers
Hopscotch
Hopscotch, a 1963 novel with an untraditional structure, is by Cortázar. The rest are titles by Jorge Luis Borges. Ficciones was published in 1944. The Library of Babel was published in 1962. The Book of Imaginary Beings was published in 1957. Dreamtigers was published in 1960.
Example Question #646 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
In what country did the author of Bestiary spend most of his life?
Colombia
Paraguay
Argentina
Chile
Mexico
Argentina
Cortázar is known first and foremost as an Argentinian writer. Most of his works, Bestiary (1969) included, were written and published in Spanish.
Example Question #62 : Contexts Of World Prose
Who is the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being?
Czesław Miłosz
Bohumil Hrabal
Ota Pavel
Bruno Schulz
Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera
Born in 1929, Milan Kundera is the author of the philosophical novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being (published in 1984).
Bohumil Hrabal wrote Too Loud a Solitude (1977). Ota Pavel wrote How I Came to know A Fish (1973). Czesław Miłosz wrote The Poem of the Pearl (1982). Bruno Schulz wrote Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass (1937).
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All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources
