GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Contexts of American Poetry

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

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All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

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Example Questions

Example Question #41 : Contexts Of American Poetry

Which of the following is the title of another collection by the author of “The Man-Moth”?

Possible Answers:

Mad Girl’s Love Song

Marriage

Questions of Travel

Tulips

An Octopus

Correct answer:

Questions of Travel

Explanation:

Published in 1965, Questions of Travel reflects Bishop’s residence in Brazil and journeys in South America. The rest of the titles are individual poems by Sylvia Plath and Marianne Moore.

Example Question #42 : Contexts Of American Poetry

Who is the author of “The Man-Moth”?

Possible Answers:

Elizabeth Bishop

Elizabeth Gaskell

Frank O’Hara

Sylvia Plath

Amy Lowell

Correct answer:

Elizabeth Bishop

Explanation:

Inspired by a newspaper misprint, “The Man-Moth” (1946) is a poem by the U.S. Poet Laureate Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979).

Elizabeth Gaskell wrote Sylvia's Lovers (1863), Sylvia Plath wrote The Bell Jar (1963), Amy Lowell wrote Ballads for Sale (1927), and Frank O’Hara wrote Oranges: 12 pastorals (1953).

Example Question #43 : Contexts Of American Poetry

Which of the following is the title of a Pulitzer Prize-winning book of poems by the author of “The Man-Moth”?

Possible Answers:

Last Dawn

Poems: North & South/A Cold Spring

Brotherhood

Between Going and Coming

As One Listens to the Rain

Correct answer:

Poems: North & South/A Cold Spring

Explanation:

Poems: North & South/A Cold Spring is Bishop’s 1956 Pulitzer Prize-winning collection. The rest are the titles of individual poems by Octavio Paz.

Example Question #44 : Contexts Of American Poetry

Which of the following poets was a major influence on the author of “The Man-Moth”?

Possible Answers:

Mary Wollstonecraft

Marilyn Robinson

Mary Dudley

Mary Shelley

Marianne Moore

Correct answer:

Marianne Moore

Explanation:

Marianne Moore, whom Bishop met as a student at Vassar, was a mentor and friend to Bishop. Critics observe distinct similarities in the two poets’ oeuvres.

Mary Shelley was a 19th-century novelist, Mary Wollstonecraft was a 19th-century essayist and seminal feminist thinker, Marilyn Robinson is a 20th-century novelist, and Mary Dudley was not a writer, but was rather a confidante of Queen Elizabeth I.

All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

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