GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Cultural and Historical Contexts

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English

varsity tutors app store varsity tutors android store

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 #648 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

What nationality is the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being?

Possible Answers:

Dutch

Hungarian

Polish

French

Czech

Correct answer:

Czech

Explanation:

Born in Brno, Milan Kundera is Czech. The Unbearable Lightness of Being was published in 1984.

Example Question #231 : Contexts Of Prose

What is another title by the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being?

Possible Answers:

White Nights

The Raw Youth

Poor Folk

The House of the Dead

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

Correct answer:

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

Explanation:

With the exception of The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (1979), all of the titles are by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. White Nights was published in 1848. Poor Folk was published in 1846. The Raw Youth was published in 1875. The House of the Dead was published in 1862.

Example Question #232 : Contexts Of Prose

Who is the author of I Served the King of England?

Possible Answers:

Ota Pavel

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Ivan Martin Jirous

Milan Kundera

Bohumil Hrabal

Correct answer:

Bohumil Hrabal

Explanation:

I Served the King of England (1971) is a novel by Bohumil Hrabal (1914-1997).

Milan Kundera wrote The Joke (1969). Ota Pavel wrote Golden Eels (1985). Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote Two Hundred Years Together (2002).

Example Question #233 : Contexts Of Prose

What is another title by the author of I Served the King of England?

Possible Answers:

Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age

Immortality

Life is Elsewhere

The Joke

The Festival of Insignificance

Correct answer:

Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age

Explanation:

Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age (1964) is a one-sentence novel by Hrabal. The rest are titles by the Czech writer Milan Kundera. The Joke was published in 1969. Immortality was published in 1990. Life is Elsewhere was published in 1969. The Festival of Insignificance was published in 2015.

Example Question #652 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

What nationality is the author of I Served the King of England?

Possible Answers:

Swiss

Hungarian

French

Prussian

Czech

Correct answer:

Czech

Explanation:

Born in Brno, Bohumil Hrabal is Czech and is one of the Czech Republic’s best known writers.

I Served the King of England was published in 1971.

Example Question #653 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

When was I Served the King of England published?

Possible Answers:

1960s

1950s

1970s

1980s

1940s

Correct answer:

1970s

Explanation:

Bohumil Hrabal published I Served the King of England in 1971.

Example Question #234 : Contexts Of Prose

Who is the author of The Gulag Archipelago?

Possible Answers:

Bruno Schulz

Günter Grass

Bohumil Hrabal

Ludmilla Petrushevskaya

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Correct answer:

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Explanation:

This is the novelist and social critic Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008). The Gulag Archipelago was published in 1973.

Bruno Schulz wrote The Street of Crocodiles in 1934. Bohumil Hrabal wrote Closely Watched Trains (1965). Günter Grass wrote Cat and Mouse (1961). Ludmilla Petrushevskaya wrote There once lived a girl who seduced her sister's husband, and he hanged himself : love stories (2013).

Example Question #235 : Contexts Of Prose

Which title is also by the author of The Gulag Archipelago?

Possible Answers:

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Harlequin’s Millions

The Death of Mr. Baltisberger

Too Loud a Solitude

Little Town Where Time Stood Still

Correct answer:

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Explanation:

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962) is also by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The other titles are all by Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal. Too Loud a Solitude was published in 1976. Harlequin’s Millions was published in 2014. The Death of Mr. Baltisberger was published in 1975. Little Town Where Time Stood Still was published in 1989.

Example Question #236 : Contexts Of Prose

Who is the author of The Street of Crocodiles?

Possible Answers:

Fernando Pessoa

Ludmilla Petrushevskaya

Bruno Schulz

Günter Grass

Milorad Pavić

Correct answer:

Bruno Schulz

Explanation:

This is the title of a short story as well as the collection in which it is found (alternately titled Cinnamon Shops). It is by the Jewish author Bruno Schulz (1892-1942). The Street of Crocodiles was published in 1934.

Günter Grass wrote The Flounder (1977). Ludmilla Petrushevskaya wrote There once lived a girl who seduced her sister's husband, and he hanged himself : love stories (2013). Milorad Pavić wrote Landscape Painted with Tea (1988). Fernando Pessoa wrote The Book of Disquiet (1982).

Example Question #10 : Analyzing The Content Of Drama

The story told in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is often thought to be derived from the story of __________.

Possible Answers:

Dido and Aeneas from the Aeneid, by Virgil

Pyramus and Thisbe from Ovid's Metamorphoses

Lancelot and Guinevere from Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart by Chretien de Troyes

Orpheus and Eurydice from Ovid's Metamorphoses

Samson and Delilah from the Bible

Correct answer:

Pyramus and Thisbe from Ovid's Metamorphoses

Explanation:

The general consensus among scholars reflects that Shakespeare derived his story and main characters for Romeo and Juliet from Ovid's story of Pyramus and Thisbe. The story of Pyramus and Thisbe depicts two tragic lovers who are separated by their families, who do not approve of their marriage. They communicate their love through a cement wall and plan to meet under a tree outside to confess their love. However, when Thisbe comes out first, she mistakes the blood of a lion for Pyramus' blood and, believing he had been killed, kills herself.

All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

1 Diagnostic Test 158 Practice Tests Question of the Day Flashcards Learn by Concept
Learning Tools by Varsity Tutors