GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Contexts of American Prose After 1925

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 #21 : Contexts Of American Prose

Who, by 2014, was the only African-American writer to win both the Pulitzer and the Nobel Prizes?

Possible Answers:

Richard Wright

James Baldwin

Langston Hughes

Maya Angelou

Toni Morrison

Correct answer:

Toni Morrison

Explanation:

This is Toni Morrison. Her novels, which include The Bluest Eye, Beloved, Sula, and Song of Solomon, feature deeply developed characters and examinations of race and history.

Example Question #82 : Contexts Of Prose

Which of the following writers was not an influential twentieth-century African-American novelist?

Possible Answers:

Zora Neale Hurston

James Baldwin

Toni Morrison

Don DeLillo

Richard Wright

Correct answer:

Don DeLillo

Explanation:

Don DeLillo is a white novelist known for works such as Underworld and White Noise.

Example Question #22 : Contexts Of American Prose

What is the subject of Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men?

Possible Answers:

The Teapot Dome scandal

Richard Nixon’s Watergate hearing

The Tuskegee experiments

Huey Long’s political corruption

The AIDS crisis

Correct answer:

Huey Long’s political corruption

Explanation:

Although Warren denied them, parallels were often drawn between Louisiana governor Huey Long’s rise to political power and the life of his novel’s characters.

Example Question #23 : Contexts Of American Prose

Which of the following is a short story by the author of The Shipping News?

Possible Answers:

“The Story of an Hour”

“Brokeback Mountain”

“The Monkey’s Paw”

“Bartleby the Scrivener”

“The Gift of the Magi”

Correct answer:

“Brokeback Mountain”

Explanation:

“Bartleby the Scrivener” (1853) is by Herman Melville, “The Gift of the Magi” (1905) is by O. Henry, “The Monkey’s Paw” (1902) is by W.W. Jacobs, and “The Story of an Hour” (1894) is by Kate Chopin. “Brokeback Mountain” was published in 1997 by E. Annie Proulx.

Example Question #24 : Contexts Of American Prose

Which of the following is not another work by the author of The Shipping News?

Possible Answers:

Accordion Crimes

The Big Sleep

Close Range: Wyoming Stories

Heart Songs and Other Stories

Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2

Correct answer:

The Big Sleep

Explanation:

Accordion Crimes (1996), Close Range: Wyoming Stories (1999), Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2 (2004), and Heart Songs and Other Stories (1988) are all by E. Annie Proulx. The Big Sleep is a 1939 novel by Raymond Chandler.

Example Question #15 : Contexts Of American Prose After 1925

During what decade was Blood Meridian published?

Possible Answers:

1940s

1900s

1980s

1920s

1960s

Correct answer:

1980s

Explanation:

Blood Meridian was published in 1985. Even if you didn’t know this, you could narrow down the answer choices by recognizing that McCarthy wasn’t born until 1933 and didn’t begin publishing until the 1960s.

Example Question #25 : Contexts Of American Prose

Which of the following is not another work by the author of Infinite Jest?

Possible Answers:

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

The Corrections

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men 

Consider the Lobster

The Broom of the System

Correct answer:

The Corrections

Explanation:

The Corrections is a 2001 novel by Jonathan Franzen. The Broom of the System (1987), A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again (1997), Consider the Lobster (2005), and Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (1999) are all works by David Foster Wallace.

Example Question #26 : Contexts Of American Prose

Who is the author of The Shipping News?

Possible Answers:

David Foster Wallace

Cormac McCarthy

Philip Roth

E. Annie Proulx

Jonathan Franzen

Correct answer:

E. Annie Proulx

Explanation:

The Shipping News (1993) is a novel by the American author E. Annie Proulx. Proulx was awarded both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for the novel.

Cormac McCarthy is the author of Blood Meridian (1985), David Foster Wallace is the author of Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (1999), Jonathan Franzen is the author of The Corrections (2001), and Phillip Roth is the author of Portnoy's Complaint (1972)

Example Question #92 : Contexts Of Prose

During which decade was The Shipping News published?

Possible Answers:

1980s

1990s

1950s

1970s

1960s

Correct answer:

1990s

Explanation:

E. Annie Proulx's The Shipping News was published in 1993 and subsequently won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Irish Times International Fiction Prize.

Example Question #31 : Contexts Of American Prose

Which of the following is not another novel by the author of Blood Meridian?

Possible Answers:

No Country For Old Men

All the Pretty Horses

The Road

Freedom

Suttree

Correct answer:

Freedom

Explanation:

McCarthy wrote The Road (2006), No Country For Old Men (2005), All the Pretty Horses (1992), and Suttree (1979). He did not, however, write Freedom; that title is a 2010 novel by Jonathan Franzen.

All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

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