All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #11 : Contexts Of World Poetry
Of arms I sing, and of the man, whom Fate
First drove from Troy to the Lavinian shore.
Full many an evil, through the mindful hate
Of cruel Juno, from the gods he bore,
Much tost on earth and ocean, yea, and more
In war enduring, ere he built a home,
And his loved household-deities brought o’er
To Latium, whence the Latin people come,
Whence rose the Alban sires, and walls of lofty Rome.
Which of the following works was not influenced by this one?
The Rape of the Lock
The Divine Comedy
The Decameron
Paradise Lost
Beowulf
The Decameron
Boccaccio's The Decameron (1351), a 14th-century collection of Italian stories, does not demonstrate any direct influence by Virgil’s work; instead, The Decameron is often cited as the inspiration for other European prose (most notably, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (1475)).
John Milton's Paradise Lost (1674), Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock (1712), and Beowulf (975-1025?) were also used as alternative answers.
Passage adapted from Virgil’s Aeneid, trans. E. Fairfax Taylor (1907)
Example Question #12 : Contexts Of World Poetry
Of arms I sing, and of the man, whom Fate
First drove from Troy to the Lavinian shore.
Full many an evil, through the mindful hate
Of cruel Juno, from the gods he bore,
Much tost on earth and ocean, yea, and more
In war enduring, ere he built a home,
And his loved household-deities brought o’er
To Latium, whence the Latin people come,
Whence rose the Alban sires, and walls of lofty Rome.
Which of the following is not a major character in this work?
Dido
Creusa
Anchises
Juno
Menelaus
Menelaus
Although Aeneis is from Troy and Menelaus is the husband of Helen of Troy, Menelaus is in fact a major character in Homer’s The Iliad and not Virgil’s The Aeneid.
Passage adapted from Virgil’s Aeneid, trans. E. Fairfax Taylor (1907)
Example Question #13 : Contexts Of World Poetry
Le Bateau Ivre
Comme je descendais des Fleuves impassibles
Je ne me sentis plus guidé par les haleurs;
Des Peaux-Rouges criards les avaient pris pour cibles,
Les ayant cloués nus aux poteaux de couleurs.
(As I floated the impassible rivers
I no longer felt myself guided by the haulers;
The gaudy Redskins had taken them for targets,
And had nailed them naked to totem poles.)
What other work did the author of this poem write?
Les Illuminations
Poèmes saturniens
La bonne chanson
Hombres (Hommes)
Sagesse
Les Illuminations
Les Illuminations (1886) is an unfinished series of prose poems by Rimbaud. Poèmes saturniens (1866), Sagesse (1880), Hombres (Hommes) (1891), and La bonne chanson (1870) are all works by Paul Verlaine.
Passage adapted from Arthur Rimbaud's "Le Bateau Ivre" ("The Drunken Boat") (1871)
Example Question #14 : Contexts Of World Poetry
Le Bateau Ivre
Comme je descendais des Fleuves impassibles
Je ne me sentis plus guidé par les haleurs;
Des Peaux-Rouges criards les avaient pris pour cibles,
Les ayant cloués nus aux poteaux de couleurs.
(As I floated the impassible rivers
I no longer felt myself guided by the haulers;
The gaudy Redskins had taken them for targets,
And had nailed them naked to totem poles.)
What country was the author of this poem from?
Austria-Hungary
France
Prussia
Wales
Abyssinia
France
Arthur Rimbaud was born in Charleville, France, in 1854, although he would later abandon poetry and move to Abyssinia to work. Rimbaud died in Marseilles in 1891.
Passage adapted from Arthur Rimbaud's "Le Bateau Ivre" ("The Drunken Boat") (1871)
Example Question #15 : Contexts Of World Poetry
Le Bateau Ivre
Comme je descendais des Fleuves impassibles
Je ne me sentis plus guidé par les haleurs;
Des Peaux-Rouges criards les avaient pris pour cibles,
Les ayant cloués nus aux poteaux de couleurs.
(As I floated the impassible rivers
I no longer felt myself guided by the haulers;
The gaudy Redskins had taken them for targets,
And had nailed them naked to totem poles.)
Which of the following is a contemporary and confidant of this author?
Paul Verlaine
Guillaume Apollinaire
Jean Racine
André Breton
Paul Valéry
Paul Verlaine
All of the poets on this list are French, but not all lived at the same time as Rimbaud. Not only was Paul Verlaine a contemporary of Rimbaud’s, the French poet was also Rimbaud’s lover and partner for a brief, tumultuous period.
Passage adapted from Arthur Rimbaud's "Le Bateau Ivre" ("The Drunken Boat") (1871)
Example Question #16 : Contexts Of World Poetry
His weary glance, from passing by the bars,
Has grown into a dazed and vacant stare;
It seems to him there are a thousand bars
And out beyond those bars the empty air.
The pad of his strong feet, that ceaseless sound
Of supple tread behind the iron bands,
Is like a dance of strength circling around,
While in the circle, stunned, a great will stands.
But there are times the pupils of his eyes
Dilate, the strong limbs stand alert, apart,
Tense with the flood of visions that arise
Only to sink and die within his heart.
Who is the author of this poem?
Hermann Hesse
Heinrich Heine
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Friedrich Hölderlin
Rainer Maria Rilke
Rainer Maria Rilke
This is Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem “The Panther.”
Passage adapted from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Poems, transl. Jessie Lamont (1918)
Example Question #17 : Contexts Of World Poetry
His weary glance, from passing by the bars,
Has grown into a dazed and vacant stare;
It seems to him there are a thousand bars
And out beyond those bars the empty air.
The pad of his strong feet, that ceaseless sound
Of supple tread behind the iron bands,
Is like a dance of strength circling around,
While in the circle, stunned, a great will stands.
But there are times the pupils of his eyes
Dilate, the strong limbs stand alert, apart,
Tense with the flood of visions that arise
Only to sink and die within his heart.
Besides German, which of the following languages did this author most frequently write in?
Hungarian
French
Czech
English
Russian
French
Rilke was known for his writings in not only German but also in French. More than 400 of his poems were originally written in his second language.
Passage adapted from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Poems, transl. Jessie Lamont (1918)
Example Question #13 : Contexts Of World Poetry
His weary glance, from passing by the bars,
Has grown into a dazed and vacant stare;
It seems to him there are a thousand bars
And out beyond those bars the empty air.
The pad of his strong feet, that ceaseless sound
Of supple tread behind the iron bands,
Is like a dance of strength circling around,
While in the circle, stunned, a great will stands.
But there are times the pupils of his eyes
Dilate, the strong limbs stand alert, apart,
Tense with the flood of visions that arise
Only to sink and die within his heart.
What other work did the author of this poem write?
Theory of Colours
The Sorrows of Young Werther
Letters to a Young Poet
Roman Elegies
Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship
Letters to a Young Poet
Letters to a Young Poet is a 1929 collection of letters that Rilke wrote to a young aspiring poet. The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), Theory of Colours (1810), Roman Elegies (1795), and Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship (1795) are by Johann Von Goethe.
Passage adapted from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Poems, transl. Jessie Lamont (1918)
Example Question #14 : Contexts Of World Poetry
His weary glance, from passing by the bars,
Has grown into a dazed and vacant stare;
It seems to him there are a thousand bars
And out beyond those bars the empty air.
The pad of his strong feet, that ceaseless sound
Of supple tread behind the iron bands,
Is like a dance of strength circling around,
While in the circle, stunned, a great will stands.
But there are times the pupils of his eyes
Dilate, the strong limbs stand alert, apart,
Tense with the flood of visions that arise
Only to sink and die within his heart.
What country is this author from?
Belgium
Saxony
Austria-Hungary
Serbia
Prussia
Austria-Hungary
Rilke was born in Prague, Austria-Hungary, which is now a part of the Czech Republic.
Passage adapted from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Poems, transl. Jessie Lamont (1918)
Example Question #15 : Contexts Of World Poetry
Mute sat Giray, with downcast eye,
As though some spell in sorrow bound him,
His slavish courtiers thronging nigh,
In sad expectance stood around him.
The lips of all had silence sealed,
Whilst, bent on him, each look observant,
Saw grief's deep trace and passion fervent
Upon his gloomy brow revealed.
Who is the author of this poem?
Alexander Pushkin
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Paul Valéry
Osip Mandelstam
Vladimir Nabokov
Alexander Pushkin
These are the opening lines of Alexander Puskin’s The Bakchesarian Fountain.
Passage adapted from Alexander Pushkin’s The Bakchesarian Fountain, transl. William D. Lewis (1849)
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