GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Identification of World Plays
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English
All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #221 : Identification
Which four-part operatic masterpiece by the German composer Richard Wagner includes use of ancient Norse sagas, mythical structures, and musical elements such as the leitmotif?
Don Giovanni
The Valkyries
Lohengrin
The Ring of the Nibelung
Tristan und Isolde
The Ring of the Nibelung
The dramatic work in question is the Ring cycle, known in German as Der Ring des Nibelungen. The work’s structure is modeled on the ancient Greek dramas that contained three tragedies and a satyr play, with a full performance lasting more than half a day. Characters include Wotan, Fricka, Freia, Siegmund, Sieglinde, Siegfried, Gunther, and Brünnhilde.
Example Question #222 : Identification
Which famous Mozart opera is based on the legend of a seductive, lascivious Italian nobleman and has inspired such writers as Flaubert, Kierkegaard, and George Bernard Shaw?
Don Giovanni
The Marriage of Figaro
The Magic Flute
The Barber of Seville
La Bohème
Don Giovanni
This is Don Giovanni, named after the title character. Don Giovanni (or Don Juan as he is known in legend) seduces and takes advantage of many other characters in the opera before he is confronted with a ghost that kills him and carries him down to hell. This character has served as an archetype and as a common cultural reference for a young male philanderer in literature.
Example Question #403 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
This Nobel Prize-winning Caribbean poet, author of Omeros and Sea Grapes, also wrote such plays as Dream on Monkey Mountain and The Capeman. Who is it?
Derek Walcott
Aimé Césaire
Ama Ata Aidoo
Stanley French
Wole Solinka
Derek Walcott
This is the St. Lucian poet Derek Walcott, winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. Walcott often incorporates themes of post-colonialism and national identity as well as mythical and European elements into his writing.
Example Question #221 : Identification
This Caribbean writer’s best known play is A Tempest, based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest and written with a postcolonial slant. Who is he?
Mario Vargas Llosa
Aimé Césaire
Fernando Arrabal
Stanley French
Ama Ata Aidoo
Aimé Césaire
This is Aimé Césaire, a French-educated native of Martinique and an incipient member of the négritude ideology. His work is often preoccupied with power, colonial rule, and racial identity.
Example Question #11 : Identification Of World Plays
One of Peru’s most important writers, this poet and playwright used works such as There Is No Happy Island and A Certain Tic Tac to highlight urban crime, poverty, lingering colonial influences, and conditions on the streets of Lima. Who is he?
Julio Cortázar
Mario Vargas Llosa
Fernando Arrabal
Aimé Césaire
Sebastián Salazar Bondy
Sebastián Salazar Bondy
This is Sebastián Salazar Bondy, whose other notable works include Something That Wants to Die, There’s No Gasoline in Heaven, and Flora Tristán.
Example Question #1 : Identification Of World Plays After 1925
This French playwright and champion of the Theatre of the Absurd movement was known for dramas including The Maids, The Balcony, and The Blacks.
Harald Pinter
Samuel Beckett
Jean Genet
Eugène Ionesco
Aimé Césaire
Jean Genet
This is Jean Genet, whose work often features social misfits or people on the outskirts of a community. His work, which is heavily steeped in absurdism, investigates morality as well as the constructs of racial and social identities.
Example Question #13 : Identification Of World Plays
Which avant-garde Romanian writer was a significant figure in the Theatre of the Absurd?
Aimé Césaire
Eugène Ionesco
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Constantin Brâncuși
Jean Genet
Eugène Ionesco
This is Eugène Ionesco, whose works include The Rhinoceros, The Bald Soprano, and Exit the King. Ionesco plays often emphasize the pointlessness of human existence and utilize disorienting elements such as non-sequiturs, dreamlike storytelling, and jarring verbal feats.
Example Question #14 : Identification Of World Plays
What is the name of the Ghanaian writer who wrote the play The Dilemma of a Ghost?
Ama Ata Aidoo
Derek Walcott
Stanley French
Wole Solinka
Aimé Césaire
Ama Ata Aidoo
This is Ama Ata Aidoo, a poet, playwright, and novelist. She often incorporates elements of African legend, cultural identity, gender studies, and feminism into her work.
Example Question #15 : Identification Of World Plays
This Nigerian poet and dramatist, the first African Nobel Prize in Literature laureate, is known for plays such as The Lion and the Jewel, Kongi’s Harvest, and Death and the King’s Horsemen.
Wole Solinka
Ama Ata Aidoo
Derek Walcott
Stanley French
Aimé Césaire
Wole Solinka
The playwright in question is Wole Solinka. His work often concerns colonialism and contemporary African politics, government, and corruption. His plays have been said to be influenced by traditional Yoruba drama and theatre of the absurd.
Example Question #2 : Identification Of World Plays After 1925
The German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht wrote which of the following important anti-war plays?
Waiting for Godot
The Bird
The Caretaker
The Rhinoceros
Mother Courage and Her Children
Mother Courage and Her Children
Brecht’s works, among which are Mother Courage and Her Children and The Caucasian Chalk Circle, often encouraged audience participation and deep critical thinking. He is often considered a founder of Epic Theatre, although he chose to qualify or reject that classification. Mother Courage and Her Children is one of many of his plays written in response to the rise of Nazism.
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All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources
