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 #532 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

What is another novel by the author of The Fountainhead?

Possible Answers:

Atlas Shrugged

Tender is the Night

The Stranger

For Whom the Bell Tolls

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Correct answer:

Atlas Shrugged

Explanation:

Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s third and final novel, is arguably her most famous work and was published in 1957. Tender is the Night (1934) is by F. Scott Fitzgerald, For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) is by Ernest Hemingway, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940)is by Carson McCullers, and The Stranger (1942)is by Albert Camus.

Example Question #533 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

During what decade was The Fountainhead published?

Possible Answers:

1930s

1960s

1920s

1950s

1940s

Correct answer:

1940s

Explanation:

The Fountainhead was published in 1943 after being rejected by a dozen publishing houses.

Example Question #116 : Contexts Of Prose

Which of the following is a central subject of Naked Lunch?

Possible Answers:

Drug addiction

Pedophilia

A cold case murder

Transvestitism

A famous abduction

Correct answer:

Drug addiction

Explanation:

Through a series of loosely connected, non-chronological vignettes, Naked Lunch (1959) portrays the adventures and struggles of the drug addict William Lee.

Example Question #533 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

Who is the author of Naked Lunch?

Possible Answers:

Ernest Hemingway

Thomas Wolfe

William S. Burroughs

Henry Miller

Hunter S. Thompson

Correct answer:

William S. Burroughs

Explanation:

Naked Lunch is a novel published by William S. Burroughs in 1959.

Hunter S. Thompson wrote Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971), Thomas Wolfe wrote the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968), Henry Miller wrote Tropic of Cancer (1934), and Ernest Hemingway wrote A Moveable Feast (1964).

Example Question #118 : Contexts Of Prose

During what decade was Naked Lunch originally published?

Possible Answers:

1970s

1950s

1940s

1940s

1930s

Correct answer:

1950s

Explanation:

This is a tricky question. Naked Lunch was first released in Paris in 1959, although it could not be published in the United States until 1962 because of American obscenity laws.

Example Question #534 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

Which of the following was not one of the reasons that Naked Lunch was censored in the United States?

Possible Answers:

Anti-Catholic language

Depiction of drug addiction

Depiction of pedophilia

Depiction of the murder of a child

Obscene language

Correct answer:

Anti-Catholic language

Explanation:

Burroughs’ highly controversial work did not include anti-Catholic language, although it did include a parody of anti-Semitic language. Burroughs was notably supported in his obscenity trial by writers Norman Mailer and Allen Ginsberg, among others.

Naked Lunch was published in 1959.

Example Question #535 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

Who is the author of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”?

Possible Answers:

Joyce Carol Oates

Mary Robison

Ayn Rand

Kate Chopin

Barbara Kingsolver

Correct answer:

Joyce Carol Oates

Explanation:

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” (1966) is one of Joyce Carol Oates’ best known short stories.

Mary Robison wrote Believe Them: Stories (1988), Ayn Rand wrote We the Living (1936), Kate Chopin wrote "The Storm" (1898), and Barbara Kingsolver wrote Animal Dreams (1990).

Example Question #536 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

Which of the following is not another work by the author of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”?

Possible Answers:

them

The Wheel of Love and Other Stories

What I Lived For

Too Much Happiness

Black Water

Correct answer:

Too Much Happiness

Explanation:

Too Much Happiness (2009) is a short story collection by the Canadian writer Alice Munro. All the other titles are works by Joyce Carol Oates.

Black Water was published in 1992, What I Lived For was published in 1994, The Wheel of Love and Other Stories was published in 1970, and them was published in 1969.

Example Question #537 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English

What philosophical system did the author of The Fountainhead engender?

Possible Answers:

Logical Positivism

Nihilism

Objectivism

Existentialism

McCarthyism

Correct answer:

Objectivism

Explanation:

Objectivism, which has been described variously as rational individualism and monomaniacal solipsism, claims that the pinnacle of human accomplishment is personal success and happiness. These philosophical views are developed most thoroughly in Atlas Shrugged (1957).

The Fountainhead was published in 1943.

Example Question #62 : Contexts Of American Prose

When was Sophie’s Choice published?

Possible Answers:

1940s

1930s

1970s

1960s

1950s

Correct answer:

1970s

Explanation:

Sophie’s Choice was originally published in 1979, although it did not win the National Book Award until 1980.

All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

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